Parenting Check-in (Nov 9th)

[kh826]

Good Morning Parents!

Here is our roster for this check-in:

Parenting
healz413
Manada
kevinandjesse
foodislove
megd893
calsurb
andstilltrying
jazibel
kh826
karlamo
jgy
sherminator
mahler5
wittyandwaiting
kona
strings
mrsnorris
2mrsks (mrs&mrsk)
jennicole
amberreva
shemarie82

*If you would like to be added to the list, just let us know!

So, tell us about your parenting experiences this past week? Any new milestones? Anything exciting in your house?

QOTW: Tell us about the funniest parenting moment that you have had recently -- it can be adorable, embarrassing, or anything in between. Just try to make us LOL!

[karlamo]

Life is good over here.

The boys are doing well. L is currently asleep on me. I love these moments. He's been sleeping in our bed since we brought him home. It makes nursing at night so much easier. We started putting him in the RNP at the beginning of the night and he'll sleep for about 3-4 hours in it then wake and we bring him in bed with us at that point. The past few nights while he's in bed with us he acts like he would rather have his own space. So tonight we're going to try to put him back in the RNP after his first wake up and see what happens. I'm not sure how I feel about him sleeping in the RNP all night but we'll see what comes of it.

Onto R. He's getting so much better over his fear of planes flying overhead. We started signing plane when we saw one and when we read his plane book and last week he made the sign for plane. I'm so impressed since that is not an easy sign to produce. Perhaps I have the makings of an Interpreter on my hands. He got bit by a tick on Saturday so now we're on the look out for Lymes disease. I think we're going to get him tested at 5 weeks even if he shows no signs just to be safe.

This is my last week of maternity leave. I'm sad to bring L to daycare even though it's just 2 days a week. I am looking forward to getting back to work and earning money.

QOTW: A few weeks ago I went to change L diaper in the morning and noticed that he was wearing R's diaper. Apparently in the MOTN I put R's diaper on him.

[kh826]

William is 17 months.

He is jibber jabbering CONSTANTLY. About 70% of it makes sense to us, and the other 30% is just his own little language that he seems to be speaking to no one in particular in throughout the day. He has so much inflection in everything he says though, it is just too funny sometimes. Sometimes I think he is "telling us off" about things, and it is better that we don't know what he is saying. Every once in a while he will break out a new 3-4 word phrase/sentence and totally crack us up. Yesterday I was trying to get him to eat cheese at lunch and he pushed it away and clear as day said "I don't like cheese." It is hard not to laugh at moments like that. Alright, kiddo, if you really don't like cheese that's fine!

When we ask him if the baby is a boy or a girl, he consistently says girl every time. It's pretty funny. Wondering if he is super intuitive or if he just likes the way the word girl sounds better!

His obsession with "doggies" and "puppies" continues. We went to the Walk to End Alzheimer's yesterday, and a lot of people bring their dogs to the event. He pointed out every last puppy he saw. He was in heaven.

He is doing pretty well feeding himself with a fork, but the spoon is still a challenge. He doesn't seem to get that when he turns the spoon upside down, the food will fall off all over him/his tray/the floor. So not a lot makes it to his mouth...

The transition from bottle-to-sippy for night time milk has gone SOOO much better than expected (I think we dragged our feet b/c we were so worried we would ruin his bedtime routine). He didn't miss a beat when we cut out the bottle at night, and now we are bottle free! Well, at least for a couple of months until Dosey arrives!

He is still afraid of large groups clapping and yelling "yay!"... but we have been trying to immerse him a bit in more group clapping in the hopes that it helps him to get beyond his phobia/dislike of this faster. Not sure it is helping - we have had mixed results. Yesterday though, he did well at the Alzheimer's Walk, and only cried once due to large group clapping. I think a lot of the issue is he just doesn't like crowds and loud noises. I am hoping this is a "phase," but we shall see...

He is thoroughly obsessed with "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" -- it is his current jam, and he can't get enough. If you try to sing a different song he says "No!" -- the kid knows what he wants!

His size 5 shoes are starting to get too small. I think he needs to go up a size. Different brands seem to run differently though. I think we need to get him fitted again.

We are having a real problem with William wetting through his overnight diapers BIG TIME. This has been a periodic issue that has come and gone, but lately he is wetting through every night to the point where he is totally soaked from his tummy to his knees in the morning. We use pampers overnight diapers (always have) and we go up a size (he is a 4 in his regular day time diapers, but we put him in 5s for overnight). The diapers are plenty big, but not too big. He is a tummy sleeper, which seems to be why he is always soaked in the front. He will also sleep for 10-12 hours at night in the same diaper. We also always make sure to point his "boy parts" downward when putting his diaper on, as we have been told that makes a difference. I have heard of people putting maxi pads inside their kiddos' diapers as a way to sort of "double layer" the diaper, but this seems like it would be really bulky and uncomfy for him. Any other suggestions?

QOTW: I know this was my question, but now I can't think of anything good... I will try to come back with a funny story later!

[healz413]

Ellis is 12 weeks old tomorrow. She is simply lovely. She's becoming more interactive every day and she is using her hands more. It's fun!

Recently she has been waking up at 4:40 AM three nights in a row. I wish I knew what was going on. We tried implementing a 8 o'clock bedtime starting Friday night because she seemed like she was ready for it. It went slower than expected in that it took us a long time to get her settled enough to put her down but she was in her own bed by nine or 930 on Friday night and Saturday night. After she woke up at 4:40 on Saturday morning we decided to try a dream feed Saturday night when we went to bed. We did this and she woke up so we just treated it like a normal feed. She still woke up at 4:40 on Sunday morning. So on Sunday night we just got decided to skip the early bedtime and put her to bed when we went to bed. And then she woke up at 4:40.
I don't know what is going on. She seems bigger today so maybe she's been having a growth spurt but I thought it wakings and feelings are more erratic support during a growth spurt. Each time she was woken up at 4:40 it is taken an hour to an hour and 15 minutes to get her to sleep enough to put her back down and then she sleeps until seven very loudly; so loudly that I have to leave the room to sleep.
I know that we have no place to complain about sleep because we've been very lucky with her nighttime sleeping. That said, I do wish she'd go back to not waking up at 4:40. Any thoughts?

I have a cold. And I'm and I'm feeling pretty sorry for myself because I'm all stuffed up and headachy. But Amanda stayed home from work this morning and I got to get A two hour nap. That helped for sure. I really hope ellis doesn't get my cold but I don't know how good the chances are that will happen.

QOTW: we cloth diaper Ellis during the day and we generally use prefolds and covers. But we have a lot of cloth papers of various sorts that have been handed down to us. Recently Amanda told me I should try one kind and told me that it was just like a disposable diaper. A couple hours later Ellis's entire outfit was soaked. It turns out (duh, Healz) that it still needed a cover which I should have been able to figure out for myself. I blame baby brain.

[2mrsks (mrs&mrsk)]

R is really getting along with the standing/crawling/ supported walking/ cruising. happy & nervous about this!

[jazibel]

Flying Solo again until Thursday evening, Kaden is sick but seems to be feeling better today which is great. Sienna is at Doggie Daycare - I am getting spoiled sending her to daycare but it makes life soooo much easier, and she loves it.

Our new nanny-to-be sprained her ankle and will be on bed rest and crutches for the foreseeable future and can't start working with us. It's possible we'll reconnect in the future - but in the meantime its back to square one in the nanny search. Work for me won't start until late November/ early December so I have some flexibility and not paying for childcare when I'm not working is a plus. Still I am really bummed about it.

We were invited by another lesbian couple to join them and their 3 year old daughter to play pool on Saturday night. Kaden loved it. He and Owen had a blast, and Kaden played 2 games and did pretty well (with bumpers and a ramp). If he knocked over 1 pin or 10 he'd jump up and down and ask for high 5's. So cute!

Owen definitely has two feet firmly planted in toddlerhood, complete with mischievous, stubborn traits. He's such a love though and is finally getting into books.

Our little guys are so active, the love playing together it has been really fun lately. Intense but fun.

[2brides]

Here is my story from tonight.

G is applying to be a docent at the school art show (be still my heart) and had to write an essay about the techniques they are using in art class and the things they have been doing. I was trying to help him think through the projects they have been doing.

Me: Tell me about the projects you have been doing in art.
G: Well, we did a family tree in watercolors.
Me: That is cool. Tell me more about it.
G: We used watercolors to paint the tree and then we used pieces of paper to write the names of people and draw something about them.
Me: Neat. What did you draw?
G: I drew a soccer ball for C because he loves soccer. I drew a cross - you know for a hospital - like the Red Cross (I work in a hospital) and I drew a heart for Mom.
Me: What does the heart represent?
G: That I love her.

[jazibel]

OMG 2brides, heart melt! That is the sweetest story ever.

[mahler5]

I've been bad at posting this week between SAH and having morning sickness it's been hard. Just woke up from nap and C is still down.

C has been surprising me with a few 4 word sentences the last few days. "Mommy Sara, read it!" As opposed to L reading the book. And "I see yellow bus".

We did story time this morning and it was obvious I need to discipline her more. She actually sat still during story time but after was running around throwing books off the shelves. I would stop her hand after a few throws and then tell her we needed to clean up. Then I would put the books back and sometimes she would help but mostly not and would try to pull more off before I removed her from the area. At home i often let her arrange her books all over the floor so I'm sure she is wondering what the big deal is at the library.

She has also figured out how to take her pants off which subsequently allows her to take off her diaper. At least she didn't try this at the library. I will then see if she wants to use the potty and she will sit on it for maybe 10 seconds before getting distracted. She hasn't peed on it but she does like to sit on it now so I guess that's good. A lot of times she will take the diaper off after she wets it, so I guess that's a good sign too. And she will say "potty" sometimes when she potties but other times when she just wants me to take her pants and diaper off so she can be naked. Then she won't want to sit on potty.

And C is awake!