Parenting Check in Feb 15

[karlamo]

Happy Monday Parents!



How was your week/end? Anything new going on with your LO's?

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
sdfonz619

QOTW:  Give me your best parenting short cuts that make your life easier.

[kona]

O is 18 months.

She is climbing everything lately. She continues to talk up a storm. She's using 2 word phrases. She also will finish your sentence if you are reading a book that she knows. I figure that's why we have to read a new book a million times, so she can memorize it. She's also starting to become a toddler with strong opinions. We did 2 different puzzles together yesterday too and she was really attentive to them for quite a while. She's had a little cold the past few days and has been very huggy/lovey which we both love. We went to her 18 month appt and she had gained a pound and grew and inch in 3 months. The poor kid, all of her pants are so short!

QOTW:
I don't know that I have any parenting short cuts. I've gotten better at planning in advance to try to avoid disasters or meltdowns.

[wittyandwaiting]

DS is going through a thing where he is too cool to wear winter clothing; we've basically been leaving him be about it as long as he has his winter stuff with him because he ends up putting it on once he realizes that it's actually cold out and we figure that's better than turning it into a power struggle.

However, this week the weather has been looking like this:


And we are not willing to let him walk out the door with his coat undone and without a hat or gloves. So now it's a thing. *sigh*

Besides that, things are good; no major teenager drama, a decent report card and he's been super helpful around the house lately. I'm feeling like a super lucky Mum.

[karlamo]

Life in our neck of the woods is going alright.

Both kids have an apt with ENT for chronic ear infections. Poor L has already had 3 so far. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if he got tubes put in.

L is getting better at sitting up unassisted and over the weekend L had his first taste of solid foods. We went with pears. It was suppose to be apples but I burnt them. So pears it was and he did not like them. OMG, the look on his face was awesome. I almost felt bad for him. I think we'll try apples or peas next. It takes sooo much work making baby food. It's one of my least fav baby tasks to do.

R has added a new phrase to his vocabulary. He says, "I'm a mess" or "What a mess". Gee, I wonder where he heard that one? Otherwise he's doing well and shows no signs of wanting to wean. He turns 2 next week. I never would have guessed that we'd have a BF 2 year old but here we are.

QOTW: I make all our meals for the week on Sunday. It saves so much time during the week and makes the evenings easier on us. I also get the kids clothes ready and R's sippy cup ready in the fridge the night before so all I need to do in the morning is hand it to him. These things sound insignificant but it makes taking care of 2 kids alone much smoother on me. My wife is the first to leave so I have about 2 hours alone with them before I need to get out the door.

[wittyandwaiting]

QOTW: My parenting shortcuts....
1. Always carry a snack.
2. When DS was younger if he'd get loud I would get quieter so that he'd have to quiet down to hear me, it worked for us because he didn't want to miss hearing what I was saying.
3. Everybody uses the bathroom before we leave the house - always.

[karlamo]

wittyandwaiting, I was driving the other day and saw a teenage kid get off the bus in shorts....in -4 weather. I was like WTF! Before I had kids I was like, well you just make them wear it, and then I had kids and now I take my 2 year old out without a hat because he was screaming so hard in Old Navy people thought I was kidnapping him.

Anyway....so as I was watching this kid walk around in shorts like it was summer, I wondered if I bought my kids expensive in style cool winter gear, if they'd wear it. This is my current parenting teenage boys plan.


So in summary...

Dear Witty,

If I buy my kid North Face or Patagonia winter gear, will they wear it?

Signed,
Mother who doesn't want her boys to freeze their balls off.

[wittyandwaiting]

Dear Mother who doesn't want her boys to freeze their balls off (cc: karlamo),

I regret to inform you that it doesn't matter if you spend more than a mortgage payment to buy your boys the coolest, most in-style gear or if you take them to a huge mall in another city and let them pick out whatever winter coat they want, if they don't want to wear it they will still determine that it looks cooler being carried or not done up.

But apparently many generations of men have survived doing this so I can only assume that balls do not like to be warm.

However money spent on thick, warm, bulky hoodies is money well spent and they will want to wear them all day every day even in the summer.

Sincerely,
Witty, and waiting for my son to put his toque on.

[karlamo]

wittyandwaiting, You are wise about these teenage boys. The kid that was walking around in shorts.....had on a bulky hoodie.

[2brides]

Feb 15, 2016 14:31:06 GMT -5 wittyandwaiting said:

Dear Mother who doesn't want her boys to freeze their balls off (cc: karlamo),

I regret to inform you that it doesn't matter if you spend more than a mortgage payment to buy your boys the coolest, most in-style gear or if you take them to a huge mall in another city and let them pick out whatever winter coat they want, if they don't want to wear it they will still determine that it looks cooler being carried or not done up.

But apparently many generations of men have survived doing this so I can only assume that balls do not like to be warm.

However money spent on thick, warm, bulky hoodies is money well spent and they will want to wear them all day every day even in the summer.

Sincerely,
Witty, and waiting for my son to put his toque on.

This made me LOL. My kids refused to wear coats this weekend when the wind chill was below zero. They did however wear Under Armour hoodies (which make me cringe every time I buy one for $$$.)

[jgy]

Feb 15, 2016 13:12:36 GMT -5 wittyandwaiting said:

QOTW: My parenting shortcuts....
1. Always carry a snack.
2. When DS was younger if he'd get loud I would get quieter so that he'd have to quiet down to hear me, it worked for us because he didn't want to miss hearing what I was saying.
3. Everybody uses the bathroom before we leave the house - always.

This truly made me emit audible laughter.  #2.  Many times G will scream louder and and longer because he's actually trying to drown me out.  He has absolutely NO interest in what I might be saying.  Like, ever.  As in, even if I tell him he can have ice cream for dinner and watch Shrek on a 24-hour loop, doesn't care.

[wittyandwaiting]

Feb 15, 2016 15:27:16 GMT -5 2brides said:

Feb 15, 2016 14:31:06 GMT -5 wittyandwaiting said:

Dear Mother who doesn't want her boys to freeze their balls off (cc: karlamo),

I regret to inform you that it doesn't matter if you spend more than a mortgage payment to buy your boys the coolest, most in-style gear or if you take them to a huge mall in another city and let them pick out whatever winter coat they want, if they don't want to wear it they will still determine that it looks cooler being carried or not done up.

But apparently many generations of men have survived doing this so I can only assume that balls do not like to be warm.

However money spent on thick, warm, bulky hoodies is money well spent and they will want to wear them all day every day even in the summer.

Sincerely,
Witty, and waiting for my son to put his toque on.

This made me LOL. My kids refused to wear coats this weekend when the wind chill was below zero. They did however wear Under Armour hoodies (which make me cringe every time I buy one for $$$.)

Yes!!!!! I'm with you, it hurts my soul.

[2brides]

Feb 15, 2016 16:06:17 GMT -5 wittyandwaiting said:

Feb 15, 2016 15:27:16 GMT -5 2brides said:

This made me LOL. My kids refused to wear coats this weekend when the wind chill was below zero. They did however wear Under Armour hoodies (which make me cringe every time I buy one for $$$.)

Yes!!!!! I'm with you, it hurts my soul.

I always think, "I wouldn't pay this much for a hoodie for ME!" And don't get me going about sneakers. ?

[kona]

karlamo were you able to nurse R through your pregnancy? Any issues being away for the birth of L? Forgive me if I'm missing something obvious or if you don't want to share. Curious because our pedi mentioned last week that she's never had a mom be successful at it. We are looking at that most likely as O is very attached to her boobie.

[karlamo]

Feb 15, 2016 16:32:08 GMT -5 2brides said:

Feb 15, 2016 16:06:17 GMT -5 wittyandwaiting said:

Yes!!!!! I'm with you, it hurts my soul.

I always think, "I wouldn't pay this much for a hoodie for ME!" And don't get me going about sneakers. ?

You ladies need to stop this talk! You're killing my financial plans. 2 weeks ago I was bragging to my sister that by having 2 boys we lucked out and will be saving a ton of money on clothes, hair, etc.

So how much are these sneakers and hoodies gonna run me? They only need 1 pair of sneakers at a time, right? Surely this can't be a more than like $70 bucks right?

[karlamo]

Feb 15, 2016 16:48:07 GMT -5 kona said:

karlamo were you able to nurse R through your pregnancy? Any issues being away for the birth of L? Forgive me if I'm missing something obvious or if you don't want to share. Curious because our pedi mentioned last week that she's never had a mom be successful at it. We are looking at that most likely as O is very attached to her boobie.

Complicated answer get ready.

My wife carried R so she's the one currently breast feeding him. I did induce lactation for R and breast fed him till he was 9 months, then I stopped so I could do a frozen FET. I got pregnant with L and hoped that once I gave birth I could go back to BF R again but apparently our 10 month nursing hiatus made R not want to BF from me anymore. He did randomly nurse from me when my wife was out of town in January.

My RE told me she had no problem if I wanted to nurse through out my pregnancy I just couldn't nurse while taking the fertility meds in the beginning. The idea of pumping for 2 months was no appealing to me.

As for how R did when we went to the hospital for L? Friggin' nightmare. My older sister stayed at our house to watch him. She has 2 teenagers, so knows kids. R was up every hour for 5 straight nights. When my wife went to check on them on day 4, the poor thing had a breakdown and was sobbing in my kitchen. She said she always thought we over exaggerated R's crappy sleep. She was so sleep deprived. My wife ended up staying the night and let her get some sleep.
My 1 1/2 year old broke a grown woman!

The kicker is the following week after we came home with L, R started STTN. Ha.

We were gone 5 nights, if it had been 2, I think it would have been fine.

[mahler5]

I took C to daycare this morning for the first time in a week since she has been sick. I had to be at work super early and had to wake her up half hour early to get her there. I managed to get most of the clothes on while she was still half asleep but then she started having a " why are you waking me up" tantrum which lasted while I was getting her in the car, which took 10 minutes. L could hear her crying from inside ( and I was parked on driveway) so came out and helped. She calmed down by time we got there but had a rough day since she hadn't been in a week and both her teachers were home sick. There has been some serious sickness going around lately. We had a nice afternoon and evening together though.

She still has this nasty dry cough (as do I and L). It appears to not be serious, just annoying and interrupting her sleep.

I have been way to easy on her the last keep. Mainly because she is sick and I was trying to keep her calm since she feels awful m. But also because I have been sick and don't want to deal with disciplining and tantrums. Now she is acting very spoiled, so that's not fun. And I feel there are still many things I haven't even started disciplining her for yet. I'm just doing some basic things to try and not overwhelm her. I had the thought I really need to up the ante or I'm going to have more issues than I can handle when baby #2 comes.

She really is so much fun and sweet most of the time. She is just emotional and volatile too. I need to do another writing of all the rules so I keep myself and L consistent.

QOTW-- shortcuts? What's that? Seriously, I can't think of any. I'm sure I must do something with a shortcut though.
If I am going to attempt to do her hair I always do it when I let her watch a show. Also do a lot of wardrobe changes then. If she protests I pause the show. If I really need her to nap, and often need it to be on the early side I do a car ride. I don't know if these are shortcuts but they shorten a very long and painful process otherwise.

[2brides]

Feb 15, 2016 19:17:25 GMT -5 karlamo said:

Feb 15, 2016 16:32:08 GMT -5 2brides said:

I always think, "I wouldn't pay this much for a hoodie for ME!" And don't get me going about sneakers. ?

You ladies need to stop this talk! You're killing my financial plans. 2 weeks ago I was bragging to my sister that by having 2 boys we lucked out and will be saving a ton of money on clothes, hair, etc.

So how much are these sneakers and hoodies gonna run me? They only need 1 pair of sneakers at a time, right? Surely this can't be a more than like $70 bucks right?

Sneakers (Nike and the like) are about $70-90...but they last about 4 months before they are too small/fall apart (they wear them to school daily.) C will be in men's sizes next school year (Nike runs small) and then they are $90-$125. We set a limit and then they have to pay the difference if they want pricier shoes (but since we pay their allowance....) We try to shop at the outlet when we can, but they aren't much cheaper. Under Armour hoodies at about $35 for youth sizes at the outlet. Thankfully, my kids wear uniforms to school so we don't need that many casual clothes (we buy what they need and anything above that, they need to buy...but see above.) And we spend a small freaking fortune on haircuts for them. We don't feel qualified to cut their hair (C has a big cowlick and G needs to be cut and thinned since he has such thick hair that it turns into a mushroom. They need haircuts about every 4-5 weeks at $20/each.

The kids' BFF is a girl and her mother spend significantly less on clothes and haircuts for her. She doesn't care what she wears/where it comes from/what brand it is. And her hair is pretty long, so they get it trimmed every 6m or so.

So..you never know.

[2brides]

Aside from griping about how much we spend on clothes and shoes life has been pretty good around here.

C made the honor roll last quarter and G was very close (more As than C, but had one C.) C has gotten into an annoying thing where he argues any decision you make.

C: Can Evan come over and play this afternoon?
Me: No. Mom isn't feeling well and when he comes over you guys are really loud. Mom needs to rest.
C: I'll tell him to be quiet.
Me: I know you want to be quiet, but it is hard to remember when you are having fun and playing. If mom feels better tomorrow, he can come over.
C: I will tell him he can't talk.
Me: I've said no. I know you are dissapointed, but you saw him yesterday and if mom feels better he come over tomorrow.
C: What if we play something quiet?

*my head explodes*

QOTD:

Prep as much as you can the night before. I used to have all breakfast sippy cups poured and in the fridge the night before, bags packed, lunches made in the fridge ready to throw into the lunch box. I still do this. Backpacks are packed and by the door, sports bags are packed. I don't want to do anything extra in the morning. I have 45m from the time my feet hit the floor to get the kids and I out the door.

Buy one kind of sock. We have all white Nike socks for one kid and Adidas socks for the other. Easy to match up (kids do it) and if you lose one, there are 100 like it in the drawer. (we would do the same brand to make it super easy, but they wear different size socks.)

All shoes have a home (basket by the front door.) No hunting for shoes left around the house.

[sdfonz619]

It seems like Mila surprises us with something new each day and it is so exciting seeing her develop into her own little personality. She is so sweet and overall a happy baby, but the last couple of nights sleep regression (at least I think that is what it is) has been making naps and going to bed at a decent time difficult.

She is sitting up nicely on her forearms and putting her knees under her butt during tummy time. This, along with making small movements inch worm style, has us thinking she will be crawling at some point in the near future.

She is growing like crazy! I feel like we can barely keep up with her. We have had to buy weather appropriate clothes since she zoomed past 0-3 months right into 3-6 during winter months. Currently, she is in wearing 6-9 month onesies and 9-12 month pants. We attended a funeral yesterday and she fit into a 12 month dress. Yikes!

QOTW: I feel like this is something that we are still learning as we go, but I do have a couple so far.

- +1 for always having a snack. Also, water!
- Carry more than one back up outfit and an extra shirt for myself.
- Baby wearing not only for closeness but also to have the ability to get things done is genius.
- Gripe water is a miracle potion.
- Having an extra set of car keys to jingle at stop lights can be a lifesaver for a baby that hates their car seat.

[kh826]

William is 20 months & Lucie is 3 weeks!

We are surviving. Some days are really good, and other days are a big struggle. Tis life 3 weeks into 2 under 2.

Yesterday we went to the mall with J's mom. She wanted to buy some things for Lu. It was a super long day, but it was good. Both kids got some new clothes, William did a lot of walking in the mall holding my hand and did really well, we had lunch, William played in the play place -- it was good. William has gotten better about taking physical risks while playing, and yesterday he went down the slide in the play area all but himself and he was so proud and excited. He started shouting "mama watch this!" Before he went down the slide again. It was so cute.

Today Lu had her first real bath in our infant bath tub. She just lost her embilical cord stump on Sunday, do before that it was just sponge baths. I was sooo glad to finally give her a real bath today. She smells delicious!

Gotta run, but will try to post a TTT with more updates later!

[cetcar]

M will be one month on Thursday! This may be our first check in here (we've been slacking!!)

It feels like the time is going both very fast and very slowly. M is wonderful, and we're both in love. It's so fun to start to see the little changes in her already. She's already starting to outgrow some of her NB clothes and into some 0-3 month sizes. Last weight check she was up to 8lbs 4oz, from a low of 6lbs 13oz.

We're adjusting to being parents, and are thankful that (so far anyway) M has been a fairly mellow baby. She's a pretty good napper, lets us get around 7 hrs of sleep on average at night (with some wakeups) and generally lets you know what she needs when she's fussy. She's definitely getting more and more alert, and her eyesight and some motor skills are starting to develop. She can manage to get enough control over her hands now and then to suck her fingers, which is cute, and she's staring at/reacting to toys with patterns. Makes diaper changes much less fussy sometimes. She's also been good in her carseat both in the car and stroller, so that's been very nice so far.

We've been trying to more or less follow the nursing schedule and techniques from the lactation consultant, and it's definitely improved her schedule and temperament. However, it's very time consuming. She'll start an occasional bottle soon, which should start to give us more flexibility, which we're looking forward to.

CAR's parents have been in town a lot, which has been nice help-wise, but also makes for a full house. We're looking forward to this weekend to get some family time. CET's mom comes to visit the first week of March.

QOTW- Not sure we've been doing this long enough to have short cuts yet....just trying to keep on some kind of a schedule has been helpful though.

[jazibel]

2brides, as always such wisdom.  I've had a heck of a time getting them in matching socks.  Often times the socks are both striped but one is blue and one orange. I am about to invest in a pile of all white socks. ;-)

Feb 16, 2016 9:45:50 GMT -5 2brides said:

Aside from griping about how much we spend on clothes and shoes life has been pretty good around here.

C made the honor roll last quarter and G was very close (more As than C, but had one C.) C has gotten into an annoying thing where he argues any decision you make.

C: Can Evan come over and play this afternoon?
Me: No. Mom isn't feeling well and when he comes over you guys are really loud. Mom needs to rest.
C: I'll tell him to be quiet.
Me: I know you want to be quiet, but it is hard to remember when you are having fun and playing. If mom feels better tomorrow, he can come over.
C: I will tell him he can't talk.
Me: I've said no. I know you are dissapointed, but you saw him yesterday and if mom feels better he come over tomorrow.
C: What if we play something quiet?

*my head explodes*

QOTD:

Prep as much as you can the night before. I used to have all breakfast sippy cups poured and in the fridge the night before, bags packed, lunches made in the fridge ready to throw into the lunch box. I still do this. Backpacks are packed and by the door, sports bags are packed. I don't want to do anything extra in the morning. I have 45m from the time my feet hit the floor to get the kids and I out the door.

Buy one kind of sock. We have all white Nike socks for one kid and Adidas socks for the other. Easy to match up (kids do it) and if you lose one, there are 100 like it in the drawer. (we would do the same brand to make it super easy, but they wear different size socks.)

All shoes have a home (basket by the front door.) No hunting for shoes left around the house.

[calsurb]

Feb 15, 2016 13:12:36 GMT -5 wittyandwaiting said:

QOTW: My parenting shortcuts....
1. Always carry a snack.
2. When DS was younger if he'd get loud I would get quieter so that he'd have to quiet down to hear me, it worked for us because he didn't want to miss hearing what I was saying.
3. Everybody uses the bathroom before we leave the house - always.

I love the bathroom one! We call it making a lulu. I've started making my wife make a lulu before we head out on a trip or to just run errands.

[2brides]

Feb 16, 2016 23:07:55 GMT -5 jazibel said:

2brides , as always such wisdom.  I've had a heck of a time getting them in matching socks.  Often times the socks are both striped but one is blue and one orange. I am about to invest in a pile of all white socks. ;-)

Feb 16, 2016 9:45:50 GMT -5 2brides said:

 Stripped socks are so much cuter! And we throw the white socks in the laundry with bleach every week to keep them white.