Parenting Check-in (Nov 23)

[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
officerofthelaw

*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: Any exciting holiday plans this week for those who are celebrating? Any upcoming holiday travel with kiddos? What is your favorite part of the holiday season with kids? What are you most looking forward to this year related to the holidays and parenting?

[karlamo]

First to check in! Wow! How did that happen?

R is going to be 21 months and L is going to be 3 months this week.

R is teething his canines and boy are they beasts! My word, he was a train wreck last night. I felt bad for him. Over the weekend he started saying the word "Goya" we have no idea what he's talking about and he keeps repeating it. He has started "petting" L and saying nice when he does it. It's very funny because that's how we taught him to pet our cats. Speaking of our cats, R has learned to feed them meat off his plate. Both him and the cat love it. I however, do not.
L is packing on the pounds and smiling. He has yet to roll over but as my sister put it; he needs to be put down in order to learn how to do it. We are guilty of holding him way too much:) Before we had kids I never would have guessed we'd be letting our kids sleep with us and baby wear all day. But that is what feels right to us. Plus I know now how fast they mature. Look at R, he went from not STTN to now doing it and I actually miss rocking him and him being in bed with us:(

QOTW: Tomorrow we are flying out to Indy. We are as ready as we can be. I bought new toys for R for the plane and we have plan A, B, C and D ready if needed. I'm looking forward to getting to spend a whole week with family. We haven't seen them all since December of last year.

[kh826]

William is 17 months.

Not a lot new since last week's check-in, so will try to keep this update short and sweet...

He had a good weekend, and we got to see J's mom (we won't see her for Thanksgiving), and William always loves spending time with her.
He continues to eat ridiculous amounts of food at each sitting. However, he also seems to be "slimming down" a little -- mostly in his face and arms (he still has a little belly and chubby thighs) -- he is starting to look more grown up though with each passing day, and I think he recently got taller again. This kid grows like a weed! His hair also grows like a weed. He had a haircut 3 weeks ago and he is already starting to look scraggly again. J is going to need to learn to cut little boy hair, b/c this is going to get expensive (monthly haircuts?!?! Really?!?!)

QOTW: We are driving to Boston on Wednesday (about a 6 hour drive typically - TBD with Thanksgiving traffic). We will be there until Saturday and then will drive home. I am looking forward to seeing my family, since we have not seen them since William's bday in June, but I am worried about being out of our routine (and our house) and more importantly worried about people being too loud/pushy/overbearing and freaking William out. He is definitely of the age where he does NOT like large crowds, does not like people getting in his face unless he initiates it, gets overwhelmed by people who don't give him space and let him come to them, etc. My family is LOUD and kind of obnoxious (I love them, but they are)... if they all come at him at once he is surely going to melt. We will have to try our best to manage it, but it is already overwhelming me. Mostly b/c I feel exactly the same as he does and I don't like crowds and lots of loud people all up in my space, but I am supposed to behave like an adult so it isn't appropriate for me to burst into tears LOL. Combine that with the fact that I am 31 weeks pregnant, and I also tend to be a bit of a mama bear when my kiddo is upset, and I am just worried it is going to be a sh$t show. Hopefully all of my worrying about this is for nothing, and it will be a great visit. We shall see....

[jazibel]

Spending the morning drinking cold coffee and waiting for Southbound traffic to subside so we can head to the Children's Museum.

We had a great but super busy weekend. EV got back into town late Thursday, so Friday after Kaden's preschool we ran errands together and prepped for a Saturday's dinner party. Saturday was my nephew Hunter's 1st Birthday party. It was great to see family even though the party wasn't that fun otherwise. We rushed home to meet two other lesbian families for dinner at our house. A friend brought all the ingredients for an Indian inspired meal and cooked like crazy in our kitchen while three 3 year olds and two 18 month olds tore the house apart. Kaden and Owen (and even Sienna) had a blast.

Sunday was just a mellow day at home while EV was out working on a new project with a friend and co-worker.

The biggest shift is that we're not going with the nanny we'd interviewed. We had our first trial run on Thursday night and she almost cancelled last minute. It was awkward and just highlighted other white flags that had come up over the last month of interviewing. I have to trust that the person we hire will make working for us a priority since my success at work will be tied to that person showing up for work too.

Our friend and midwife Rebecca was my "date" to Thursday nights event and in complaining to her I had a moment of inspiration and asked her to nanny for us in the interim while she establishes her new business. Her first day is Tuesday, and she'll nanny a couple days next week. This might be a 1 to 2 week thing or last longer - we'll see. In the meantime I'll keep searching for the perfect fit.

QOTD: We're staying local for Thanksgiving it'll be just us on the actual day. On Friday we're doing family photos for Christmas cards. Saturday we're having dinner with the extended family in Half Moon Bay, CA (about 2 hours away).
I think our next trip might be to the Florida Keys in January (EV might have a work thing in Miami that we'll tag along to, though I kind of want to go even if that doesn't pan out). And/or maybe Vegas for a long weekend before that. We'll see. I am definitely nervous to fly with both kids. Kaden will happily watch TV now - yay! But Owen doesn't really care he just likes to wiggle around.

[2brides]

Nothing big. School is out for the week - it was so nice last night not to have to get ready for the week. ILs came into town yesterday and are hanging out with the boys while L works (mostly from home) and I have to go into work. ILs will take them to the mall, to lunch, and to movies. C is in 7th heaven - he loves the grandparent experience.

QOTW: We've gone to the museums downtown every year since the kids were 2y or so. We don't cook a big meal since we aren't home most of the day and in reality no one has ever cared. C was a bit distraught that we weren't having turkey on Thanksgiving, so we'll have a turkey breast on Friday with a few fixings - cranberry chutney, brussel sprouts, green beans, mashed potatoes. I am scheduled to be off on Friday because I thought that MIL wanted to take an overnight road trip - but I think she changed her mind. If we aren't going to do anything, I am going to work - no need to sit around the house doing nothing and lose a vacation day.

[healz413]

Ellis is 13 weeks and six days. She turned 3 months old last weds.
She's doing great. As long as we feed her and help her nap on time she's a pretty happy baby.
She is developing lots of new skills and it's really fun to see her interact with her environment. She starting to grab things and put things in her mouth and she's looking around a lot and really looking at things. She's "talking" more and more every day and smiling and laughing.
We are headed to Chicago on Wednesday for Thanksgiving. We are flying which will be an adventure but most likely much less of one than driving would have been.
I'm looking forward to having her get to spend time with my family but I'm not looking forward to being in a different place and out of our routine.
It's cold here which is to be expected but is not that much fun. I'm a bit worried that the next few months will be a lot of time in the apartment.

[2brides]

Nov 23, 2015 10:23:44 GMT -5 kh826 said:

His hair also grows like a weed. He had a haircut 3 weeks ago and he is already starting to look scraggly again. J is going to need to learn to cut little boy hair, b/c this is going to get expensive (monthly haircuts?!?! Really?!?!) 

We spend far more on haircuts for the kids than I do on myself. C has chosen to have pretty short hair and after 5 weeks or so it looks shaggy and drives me nuts. But with his cowlick on the top of his head, neither of us feel comfortable doing it. G's hair is a bit longer - regular boys haircut - not long long.. but his hair is crazy thick and involves not only cutting it, but thinning it out so he doesn't have a mushroom on his head....and like C, 5 weeks is about as long I can take it before the mushroom starts to take over. L is very particular about their haircuts and after searching for a long time, we finally found someone at Cartoon Cuts that does a great job...but at $18 per head... OUCH.

[kh826]

2brides - if the kid in my belly is a boy, I think we will have two little heads getting haircuts every 4-6 weeks as well. Geez!

My hair grows super fast as well, but I have the luxury of just letting it. I get a haircut 2-3 times a year. I will chop off 5-6 inches or so and then just let it grow back.

Who knew little boy hair would be so high maintenance?

[karlamo]

I can't even with my kid's haircut. He got a lousy haircut over the summer. They cut it way too short and we just had it cut again 3 weeks ago and they butchered it! He looks ridiculous. I love my kid but his hair looks so bad. Any of you who are fb friends with me can see how bad it is. I'm annoyed. Now we need to wait till 2020 to cut it again so it's long enough and won't look stupid. And our holiday photo's are going to be a hot mess with that hair...

[2brides]

Nov 23, 2015 12:50:52 GMT -5 karlamo said:

I can't even with my kid's haircut. He got a lousy haircut over the summer. They cut it way too short and we just had it cut again 3 weeks ago and they butchered it! He looks ridiculous. I love my kid but his hair looks so bad. Any of you who are fb friends with me can see how bad it is. I'm annoyed. Now we need to wait till 2020 to cut it again so it's long enough and won't look stupid. And our holiday photo's are going to be a hot mess with that hair...

It took a lot of trial and error (and really really really bad haircuts) to find someone who we will trust with the kids' heads. If I could afford it, I would have C's hair trimmed every 2 weeks - with it being so short, it looks crappy fast - but I don't have time for that...nor the cash. His hair would look so much better in those last weeks with some product, but he refuses to put anything in it.

[kh826]

William's hair has started getting wavy in the back and on the sides (my hair is naturally curly, so I have been waiting to see if this would happen)... but right now it just looks like he has little wings on the side and in the back if we don't get it trimmed super often. We might resort to snipping the wings ourselves. I know some people are perfectly fine with letting their kids' (particularly boys) hair just do whatever it is going to do up until a certain age, but it bugs me. I feel like it looks messy on my kid, and I don't like it. I like him to look clean cut. J is much more laid back about it. I usually have to start asking for a haircut for him a couple of weeks in advance so she can warm up to the idea. Especially since he lost it at his last haircut. Ugh!

[kh826]

P.S. karlamo - I totally have not noticed R's haircut in recent pictures. I am willing to bet that you are noticing it MUCH more than other people do/will. I totally get that, because it would drive me nuts too if William had a "bad haircut," but if it makes you feel any better I think R looks as dashing as always!

[karlamo]

Nov 23, 2015 13:10:26 GMT -5 kh826 said:

P.S. karlamo - I totally have not noticed R's haircut in recent pictures. I am willing to bet that you are noticing it MUCH more than other people do/will. I totally get that, because it would drive me nuts too if William had a "bad haircut," but if it makes you feel any better I think R looks as dashing as always!

You're being too kind. My sister came over on Friday and described it as "interesting".  Ha

[kh826]

Nov 23, 2015 13:19:43 GMT -5 karlamo said:

Nov 23, 2015 13:10:26 GMT -5 kh826 said:

P.S. karlamo - I totally have not noticed R's haircut in recent pictures. I am willing to bet that you are noticing it MUCH more than other people do/will. I totally get that, because it would drive me nuts too if William had a "bad haircut," but if it makes you feel any better I think R looks as dashing as always!

You're being too kind. My sister came over on Friday and described it as "interesting".  Ha

Maybe it is more noticeable in person. I bet you won't be able to tell in holiday photos!

[karlamo]

Nov 23, 2015 13:04:07 GMT -5 2brides said:

Nov 23, 2015 12:50:52 GMT -5 karlamo said:

I can't even with my kid's haircut. He got a lousy haircut over the summer. They cut it way too short and we just had it cut again 3 weeks ago and they butchered it! He looks ridiculous. I love my kid but his hair looks so bad. Any of you who are fb friends with me can see how bad it is. I'm annoyed. Now we need to wait till 2020 to cut it again so it's long enough and won't look stupid. And our holiday photo's are going to be a hot mess with that hair...

It took a lot of trail and error (and really really really bad haircuts) to find someone who we will trust with the kids' heads. If I could afford it, I would have C's hair trimmed every 2 weeks - with it being so short, it looks crappy fast - but I don't have time for that...nor the cash. His hair would look so much better in those last weeks with some product, but he refuses to put anything in it.

They used the clippers and I think they set it wrong.  He has the 90's George Clooney ER look going on but with 3 cow licks added in.

[jgy]

kh826, karlamo, 2brides, you all are killing me with the haircut talk.

Our donor has a VERY noticeable cowlick. In fact, the lifetime series of photos looked like one giant study in how to hide it. I swear he tried every different style possible but never conquered it. One of the first things I noticed when big G was born, was that he had that same cowlick. Ugh.

G's hair also grows like crazy, and up until the most recent time he's completely lost it during his haircuts. We've had mixed success at Kid's Hair, but we honestly don't have the time, money, or energy to seek out anyone else. Looks like little g will have the same issues, so perhaps I should explore our options ...

[karlamo]

Nov 23, 2015 13:48:57 GMT -5 jgy said:

kh826 , karlamo , 2brides , you all are killing me with the haircut talk.

Our donor has a VERY noticeable cowlick. In fact, the lifetime series of photos looked like one giant study in how to hide it. I swear he tried every different style possible but never conquered it. One of the first things I noticed when big G was born, was that he had that same cowlick. Ugh.

G's hair also grows like crazy, and up until the most recent time he's completely lost it during his haircuts. We've had mixed success at Kid's Hair, but we honestly don't have the time, money, or energy to seek out anyone else. Looks like little g will have the same issues, so perhaps I should explore our options ...

Cowlicks are reason enough to buy the donor pictures. We didn't do that so yeah..lots of cowlicks over here.  We have yet to see if L shares this problem.  Right now his hair isn't any better.  Bald on the sides and hair in back.

[jgy]

G is a little over 2 1/2 years, and g is 3 months.

Big G is learning and growing and it's an exciting time. Some of the things that have driven me bonkers in the last few months seem to be changing, and that's awesome. He's still a bundle of headstrong energy, but he seems to be just beginning to comprehend how his actions contribute to the family dynamic, and how he is often best served to listen and cooperate rather than contradict every single thing. Just this past weekend we had numerous "Okay Mommy!" moments whereas just last week he would have yelled a resounding "NO!" or just run in the opposite direction. As always, these developments creep up on me and I'm left completely shocked when they happen.

On Friday G woke up in 2 giant piles of vomit, so he had to stay home from DC. My Mom was still here, and S was able to come home, so I did go to work (it being my first week back and everything). He seemed okay for the rest of that day, but on Saturday he threw up again all over me and the den and the bathroom. Poor kid. So we tried to lay low. Yesterday he seemed much better, but it turned into a diarrhea mess in the evening. Luckily we made it through the night with no issues and he seemed fine this morning.

Little g went to DC for the first time this morning. For the 3 work days this week we are utilizing a backup care center, so it's in a totally different part of the city than where I take G. S is not available to help with anything in the mornings, so it was quite a bit of running around for me. I called the center and little guy is doing well, but at 12:30 they were already on bottle #3 (!!!!). Ugh. My supply seems fine when I'm nursing him on the weekends, but I can't keep up with his demands from bottle feeding during the week when I pump. I don't know if they're overfeeding him or my pump isn't as effective or what, but it's frustrating. We ran into the same issue last week when my Mom was watching him. The only time things seem to line up is when he's with S.

Anyway, this afternoon I have to do both pickups and I'm really dreading it. Because big G's DC has a hard and fast pickup deadline of 5:30, I'm going to have to get him first and then head into downtown to grab the little guy. That means taking a headstrong toddler into a parking garage, through a downtown skyscraper's lobby courtyard and into a different DC setting where he will undoubtedly encounter toys and activities that he MUST EXPLORE! And then back to the car, this time pushing an infant in a stroller. Yikes. Can you tell I'm freaking out a bit?

As for development with little g, he started grabbing at toys this weekend which is very exciting. No rolling yet (he fell asleep doing tummy time yesterday) but that's just fine with me. He is giant ball of smiles and alien eyes and mohawk hair. I absolutely adore him. OH, and I successfully got him to sleep on a flat surface this weekend so I'm patting myself on the back for that. We head to Indy for the holiday (flying, with both kids, yikes) and so I knew he needed to be able to sleep in the pack n play. Cue massive relief.

QOTW: So yeah, as mentioned above we are flying to Indy on Wednesday evening. G is now at an age where I think he'll be manageable since he's already excited about getting to watch a movie on the iPad. I'm sure he won't be without some squirms, but overall I think he'll be okay. The flight is also right at his bedtime, so hopefully he'll crash for a while as well. Little g mostly likes to be held and nursed in the evenings, so hopefully he'll be okay too. He also likes to be walked though, so we'll have to see. I have confidence.

I'm really excited to spend time with S's family. Our 2 nephews (10 and 6) will be there and they looooooove G and vice versa. It always makes my heart burst to watch them play and interact. And I'm sure we will have lots of good food, and lots of relaxation time. Who knows? I might even get a nap! Best of all, I always feel REALLY connected to S when we visit her family. And we could use that connection reminder right now. There's nothing wrong, no big problems, it's just been a while.

Have a good week everyone!




Also ...karlamo, we didn't buy the donor pics until we were pregnant already. Which is fine, it wouldn't have changed our decision, and it gave us a good laugh.

[mahler5]

C is 21 months.

Speaking of bad haircuts, I had her bangs cut for the second time and she cut them too short and at one angle they look a bit uneven. The first time she did a good job so I can't decide if I should go back again. She cuts my hair too and has a toddler. I'm very happy with her for my hair so I don't want to stop going but don't want to hurt her feelings if I find someone else for C. I'm hoping it was a fluke.

C has figured out how to open our fridge (when it doesn't latch well, which is often now). She will then pull out whatever she wants to eat (usually yoghurt and an occasional raw carrot or bag of cheese) and sit at the kitchen table in an adult chair and eat it. So after a week of this off and on I finally put a childproof latch on the refrigerator door. She wasn't happy.

She has also had worse toddler tantrums. A lot worse. L noticed too. And we have had to really watch that we don't give her what she wants in response. L is less used to it since she works a lot more but is getting better too. C gets so upset and doesn't want to be consoled at all so it's hard sometimes.

She is much more interested in people. She will ask about my mom and brother (and their dog). She will ask if me or L are coming back, or if we are working or sleeping when we are not there. And she has started asking about one of her little friends and friend's mom that come over often. It's really sweet. It's funny because then if she sees them she is shy all of a sudden but yet she knows their names and asks about them at random times. Sometimes it makes me feel bad that we don't get out as much but we will be starting part time care again when she is 2 so that should help. Plus, once I get out of the yuckiness of 1st tri I should be up for going out more.

I may have mentioned this before, but she loves running around without a diaper. She can take her diaper and pants off. The other day my friend was watching her and told me our dog somehow got into a poopy diaper that she had no idea where it came from. Then I looked at C and noticed she had some poop on her pants and no diaper. She had taken off her poopy diaper without my friend noticing. She is a little stinker. I'm trying to go back to cloth since those are much harder to take off (and I should anyway) but I am so tired lately the idea of doing an extra load of laundry every other day is too much for me. I am seriously lazy right now.

Also, our gymnastic class is just so so. She is the youngest kid and has the worse attention span and is hard to direct (I'm hoping that's the age) karlamo-- is R's class going well?

Halfway through she will ask if we can go, or ask if we can get an "end of the class" sticker. Maybe I'll start doing swim lessons with her again instead.

QOTW-- going to my mom's in KC. I was a little nervous because a relative (my dad's cousin's wife) I haven't seem since I was tiny is going to be there. I don't really know her and was afraid she would be uncomfortable with gay thing. But apparently she knows I have a wife, so that's good. She's probably fine but I hate that I worry about stuff like that.

Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels to everyone!

[Deleted]

Cowlicks=surfer hair. Dude has to have longish hair. Which is fine, hes growing it "like Elsa".

[kona]

O is 16 months.

We had our first snow here yesterday (only an inch or 2) and she had a blast playing outside. We really need to get her some real winter gear. She LOVES to be outside. Me, not so much when it's cold anyway. It should be an interesting winter. M and I have discussed getting a children's museum membership. The museum here is nationally known (and it's odd to see out of state cars parked there) since we are not really a big tourist destination city. The membership is $100 I think for the year. Part of me thinks that's too much $ to spend but we spend that on lots of other things and it would be really nice to get out of the house. I doubt anyone will buy it for us either.

I am struggling with entertaining a toddler all afternoon lately. She is so different than even a few months ago. She is really good at independent play but I feel like I should be teaching/instructing/offering engaging activities. Yesterday I tried making a tent/fort, she was afraid of it I think. Then I tried playing with the laundry basket, which went over better but is exhausting to me since it involves me pushing her around the house in the laundry basket. We have been working on more signs too even though she talks more and more. I finally taught her the sign for work since she asks where "mom, mom" is all afternoon long. By the end of the day she was just walking around saying 'mom, mom' and doing the sign simultaneously. So cute.

QOTW: We are hosting Thanksgiving for my mom and M's parents. We are having dinner with my dad on Wednesday. I haven't really been a fan of the holidays as far as family gatherings go since my teens. There is no family my age other than my sister and she doesn't come home consistently anymore. M's extended family is great and we see them a few times per year. I hope that O has a good time with everyone, that's really what it's about now.

[2brides]

Nov 24, 2015 7:15:14 GMT -5 kona said:

O is 16 months.

We had our first snow here yesterday (only an inch or 2) and she had a blast playing outside. We really need to get her some real winter gear. She LOVES to be outside. Me, not so much when it's cold anyway. It should be an interesting winter. M and I have discussed getting a children's museum membership. The museum here is nationally known (and it's odd to see out of state cars parked there) since we are not really a big tourist destination city. The membership is $100 I think for the year. Part of me thinks that's too much $ to spend but we spend that on lots of other things and it would be really nice to get out of the house. I doubt anyone will buy it for us either.

I would go for it. We had a membership to the Science Museum for several years and it was great. It was easy to go for an hour or two to get out of the house and not feel like we needed to stay all day to get our moneys worth since we'd be back soon. They often had special events for members that were fun and not too crowded and it was nice to have a place that was safe for the boys to play while I either zoned out a bit and/or talked to other parents and got some adult interaction. Yes, it is a lot of money - but even if you just go 1x/month it is less than $10/visit.

[healz413]

Nov 24, 2015 8:25:28 GMT -5 2brides said:

Nov 24, 2015 7:15:14 GMT -5 kona said:

O is 16 months.

We had our first snow here yesterday (only an inch or 2) and she had a blast playing outside. We really need to get her some real winter gear. She LOVES to be outside. Me, not so much when it's cold anyway. It should be an interesting winter. M and I have discussed getting a children's museum membership. The museum here is nationally known (and it's odd to see out of state cars parked there) since we are not really a big tourist destination city. The membership is $100 I think for the year. Part of me thinks that's too much $ to spend but we spend that on lots of other things and it would be really nice to get out of the house. I doubt anyone will buy it for us either.

I would go for it. We had a membership to the Science Museum for several years and it was great. It was easy to go for an hour or two to get out of the house and not feel like we needed to stay all day to get our moneys worth since we'd be back soon. They often had special events for members that were fun and not too crowded and it was nice to have a place that was safe for the boys to play while I either zoned out a bit and/or talked to other parents and got some adult interaction. Yes, it is a lot of money - but even if you just go 1x/month it is less than $10/visit.

We are also planning to get a science museum membership for the same reasons.
Also many museums are part of networks around the world so if you have a membership, you can go to a museum of a similar type in another city for free. If your museum is a part of that, it could make it even more worth it.