Parenting Check-in (Dec 21)

[kh826]

Good Morning Parents!

Here is our roster for this check-in:

Parenting Roster
healz413
Manada
kevinandjesse
foodislove
megd893
calsurb
andstilltrying
jazibel
kh826
karlamo
jgy
sherminator
mahler5
wittyandwaiting
kona
strings
mrsnorris
2mrsks (mrs&mrsk)
jennicole
amberreva
shemarie82
officerofthelaw
ionaerebor
firstcomeslove2013

*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: Let's talk about vacation time with Kiddos!

If you have older kiddos, tell us about how your family likes to take vacations with your little(s)? Do you prefer staycations? Long weekends/day trips? One big trip away every year or two? What has been your favorite vacation with kiddos so far? If your kid(dos) are babies and you haven't had a chance to vacation with them yet, what are you most looking forward to? Any plans or ideas for where you would like to go? Anxiety about travel? Or you think you will focus on staycations close to home for a while?

[kh826]

William is 18 months old.

This is going to be a super quick check-in, because we are getting ready to go to the mall and try to see if William will sit with Santa (probably not based on our Breakfast w/ Santa experience!)... but we are going to try again just to be sure. Because we are crazy...

Parenting highlights since last check-in:
* William has started to say "I love you"
* We had a great time at my BIL's bday party on Saturday, and William was such a good boy and had a ton of fun playing with their chocolate lab. He has been talking about that dog ever since!
* His ability to have a conversation has been growing by the day. I am loving it. He literally never stops talking HAHA

Parenting challenges:
* More frequent toddler "tantrums"
* He has definitely been testing boundaries more lately
* Diaper changes are still a battle at least 50% of the time
* He has decided he NEVER wants to get out of the tub, so he cries like he is being tortured when bath time is over recently

I will come back to answer the QOTW later b/c I have to run now. Talk to you all soon!

[karlamo]

Here!

R is 22 months and L is 4 months. We're getting close to 2! EEEKKK!!!


R has really been playing independently lately. It's a great developmental milestone to reach. His new favorite thing is trains. He will play with his trains for hours, all day long. It's so cute. I ask him if I can play with him and he says "yeah" and he wants L t play too. He'll hand L a train to hold. My heart melts each time. Now that L is getting older, he and R interact more and it's awesome to watch. It's the reason why I wanted a sibling for R. You can see the love they have for each other already and it's so easy to picture what life is going to be like once L is old enough to be a true playmate to R.

QOTW: We love going on trips, anytime and any place. I swear people use this against us. They know we can't turn down a good vacation. Over Thanksgiving we decided to join my in-laws on a Disney cruise in April 2017. I'm actually really excited for it. R will be 3 and L 18 months.
One thing we talked about with having kids is we didn't want to not be able to travel like we're use to. It's one of the big reasons why we're content with 2 kids.
We take a combo of big trips and weekend getaways. We tend to take a lot of big trips, meaning flying somewhere and staying at hotel/resort.
We've never done a staycation and I'm not sure I'd enjoy it. We've flown so much with
R and now L that I've decided next year, we are going to rent a beach/lake house for a week that within a 4 hour driving distance. I'm really looking forward to this and need to find a place soon since things around here, especially Cape Cod book up months in advance.

[mahler5]

C is 22 months.

She went with me to the OB this morning and didn't do great. Then she didn't want to get back in the car. Getting her in the car seat is really becoming a battle. I literally cannot do it at times. So I have to try and calm her down first.

She is loving Christmas music and the ornaments on the tree. She knows who Santa is. I don't think she gets that he brings presents or any of those details but she recognizes him and likes him. She didn't at photo time though.

She is still talking like crazy. She will repeat hersel all the time. Like if she asks for something, "more milk" and I say sure she will keep saying it over and over and in a more whiney voice until I get it. I ask her to ask nicely and she will add a "please" but she will still repeat herself in a whiney voice. I don't want to encourage it but it's hard to get her to stop.

QOTW-- we have only taken one big trip on a plane to LA. It was stressful because we had to drive so much once we got to LA. We drove 4 hours to a cabin on a lake with family. That was much better. She did great and that was early on. We are going to Atlanta in January. We decided to drive because with time waiting in the airport etc it isn't that much longer, and having her in the car is way less stressful for us than the plane.

I do miss traveling more though. We should try more. Maybe we can squeeze in another before baby number 2 comes.

[2brides]

OMG C is excited about Christmas. He hasn't stopped talking about it...mostly about what he wants. Aside from one thing that L will pick up today, we are done. Now, if only those 10 things that were supposed to be delivered on Saturday show up. Fingers crossed.

Nothing else really new. The kids have 3 more days of school and then they are out for a week and a half. They will be going to camp at our gym 4 of those days even though L is home because she wants to get stuff done at home and they love to go to camp - plus is gives them a ton of time to move and be active.

QOTD: I said until the kids were 6y or so that taking a vacation with the kids was more of a trip...not a vacation. Trying to find 'kid friendly' things to do, messing with sleep schedules, schlepping baby gear and car seats, etc weren't terribly relaxing. But now? Awesome. They can do most of what we can do. They can stay up a bit later. They can read the exhibits at museums, we just need to pack clothes (and booster seats...that is the last vestige!)

95% of of trips are to see family. With both sets of grandparents living far away, it ends up being our vacation. Plus, we typically do a staycatation between the end of camp and the beginning of school to recharge batteries and have some down time between the 2. I'd love to do a real vacation where it was just us...but I don't know if that is happening any time soon due to $$$ (because even going to see family is pricey.)

[karlamo]

mahler5, How long of a road trip will that be? My kids are car screamers so I'd rather fly than be stuck in a car with them for even 3 hours.

[mahler5]

Dec 21, 2015 14:49:54 GMT -5 karlamo said:

mahler5, How long of a road trip will that be? My kids are car screamers so I'd rather fly than be stuck in a car with them for even 3 hours.

It's around 9 hours. Keep in mind it's 2 hours to the airport. We plan to break it up and stay the night somewhere on the way down. We figure she will sleep well in the car after 7 pm. Flying might be better but after our LA trip we aren't feeling it.

[2mrsks (mrs&mrsk)]

9.5 mo

parenting experience- first rash. UGH> benadryl= crazy little boy.
R opened his first christmas gift at a christmas party yesterday. not so eventful. However he did learn how to go up (2) stairs.... eek! and watched a train go around the tree about 20 times without losing attention (wow!)

vacation- just booked our first for february! going to go visit my sis in KC. AHHH super scared and excited. so much to bring, so much to worry about. I'm getting a huge list together.

[mahler5]

Dec 21, 2015 14:58:48 GMT -5 mahler5 said:

Dec 21, 2015 14:49:54 GMT -5 karlamo said:

mahler5, How long of a road trip will that be? My kids are car screamers so I'd rather fly than be stuck in a car with them for even 3 hours.

It's around 9 hours. Keep in mind it's 2 hours to the airport. We plan to break it up and stay the night somewhere on the way down. We figure she will sleep well in the car after 7 pm. Flying might be better but after our LA trip we aren't feeling it.

And I should add that driving is a lot cheaper. But after factoring in time waiting at airport etc., it's still am extra 3 hours. So, we may be crazy. I would just rather deal with any meltdowns in the privacy and comfort of our own SUV Also, we don't have to try and time the flight around C's nap time. We leave and stop when we want to!

[kona]

O is 17 months.

She is still enthralled with her Christmas tree every time we walk downstairs to the living room. I think she will be very sad when we have to take it down. She has done really well for the most part not messing with the tree. We have some ornaments that play music and she likes to hear those play.

She's becoming more of a toddler with an opinion. I usually prepare dinner in the evenings before M gets home. She really wants to see what's going on now. So far I have put her on a kitchen chair pushed up against the cupboards. We looked at the kitchen stools on amazon. $150 for a kids stool??? It's hard to justify that but I also want her to be safe.

QOTW: We have only taken one trip with O. It was normally a 5 hour car ride that turned into eternity for me. I was literally ready to jump out of the car by the time we got there. The trip itself was great since we had my sister and her wife (no kids) who could also help. I won't do another car ride like that. We have toyed with going to visit my sister (10 hour car ride one way) but we would have to fly. For us keeping O settled for 2 short flights with the opportunity to run around in between sounds a lot better than the car trip we had.
When she is older we do hope to vacation. My family growing up typically went on 2 trips per year (usually one to visit my gma in Florida). I would like to be able to provide that for our family too.

[firstcomeslove2013]

Hello! Here is my update...sorry it's so late!


H is officially a year. She is doing so great. She's really turning into a sweet and kind person and I love watching her personality change and grow. She's walking like crazy and is getting braver every day.

C made her a sensory table for Christmas and we got her a ball pit..she loves it!

QOTW: we travel A LOT with H. C's parents live 3 hours away and mine are 2. We go up the Lake Erie once or twice a year for the weekend so H has been there once for a weekend and once for a week. We also traveled to Alabama for a week this summer, we flew for that trip and she does great. We've always taken her in the car and on trips just like we've always done before kids BUT we are also really lucky because she's super chill in the car.