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D.C. Area Babies
AgrippaRidesAgain
member
How about a check in?
AgrippaRidesAgain
member
I don't have a ton to say, but I always love hearing about how everyone else is doing. :-)
This discussion has been closed.
Re: How about a check in?
DD will be 15 months on Feb. 3. She is kind of walking. If she happens to be standing up and wants to go somewhere within 10 feet, she'll walk there. She can't stand up in the middle of the room yet though, and won't crawl to something to help her pull up. She'll just crawl the entire way instead. So, I'm thinking maybe it'll be another 2-4 weeks until she's a full time walker. She has been working pretty hard on her walking skills, so she isn't doing much else new these days.
DS is going through a "doing exactly the opposite of what you said is hilarious" phase. It's extremely frustrating, because he doesn't seem to be able to recognize when we're being serious and when it might be a dangerous situation. He'll run into the road, dodge between people in crowds, dangle off of carts in the grocery store, etc. We're working on coming up with better punishment/discipline techniques for dealing with this, as time outs mean nothing to him any more and taking away toys and privileges doesn't seem to work well either. He IS doing better with playing with other kids though, so that's a plus. We've really been pushing it and working on it. Perhaps we'll even manage to get him a few friends in time for his birthday. :-)
I love your sig pic!!
My update:
DD#2's birthday is today, which is wacky to me...I don't really know where the last 2 years went. She is a fun kid, with an ever growing and developing vocabulary and personality. She has some of the most priceless faces. She's also a VERY stubborn little girl. So it should be a "fun" couple of next years;) We are in the midst of PT, which is not going as well as I had hoped...I'm kind of wishing we had started in the fall when she was demonstrating a lot of interest. At this point, she'll go when we ask her (most times) and she loves her underwear, but she doesn't ask to go, which means we're in a constant state of watching the clock and asking her. So over it, but I know this too will pass;)
DD#1's reading ability has really taken off the last few weeks, which is amazing to see. When we came home from daycare/school last night, she actually started to read to DD#2 while I made dinner. Awesome. As you all have seen from my recent posts, we are trying to sort out summer camp options, which is like a ridiculous logic question from the LSAT. I'd be happy to share what I find...I know a lot of the people on this board have younger kids, but it may be helpful for the future. Otherwise, it's also amazing to me how old and how young DD is at the same time. It's amazing what she can do and handle, so much so that I forget that she's 5 and sometimes she needs a little more TLC.
I recently fb'ed that it is amazing how the time flies and how they grow up so fast - I had been looking at pics from when Molly was a baby and Maggie had a such a baby face and Molly was SO little.
Maggie - I can pretty much get her to do anything by herself by telling her she needs to do it by herself or they won't let her into kindergarten. This includes, eating without making a huge mess, getting dressed and undressed, wiping herself after #1 and #2, using utensils, cleaning up her toys etc. I don't know what I am going to use as a bribe once she actually starts K, which she is obviously ridiculously excited about.
Molly - We have had a tough time with her separation issues from me and just in general the screaming every time she doesn't want/wants something. We got a little more strict with the TO's for screaming and it has really helped a lot; we are all a lot happier when she isn't being a little terrorist. Another screaming issue was at bedtime, she just started screaming every time I left the room but had been 100% happy up until that point in her whole usual routine. So DH did bedtime a few nights which helped and then when I went back to doing it I just had to tell no screaming and no crying before I left the room and it has been much better. That is such a relief because while I am OK with CIO and I believe everyone needs a good night sleep, the screaming for 30 min every night was really wearing us all down.
Overall - I am SOOOO excited for our first big family vacation! We go in April on a Disney Cruise with my sister's family (niece is 9mo older than Maggie and nephew will be 16mo), but I just made a countdown calendar (and left it at my other work location but I will retrieve it on Fri). I think the girls are going to love it - riding in an airplane, getting to meet the characters, pools, a pirate party, fireworks, a beach day and shows. Maggie keeps asking me if the characters have bones, ie are they real or just balloons? We have a lot of fun with my sister and her family too, Maggie loves her cousin and Molly loves to follow them. I think it will be a great (but exhausting) time.
With DD#1, the clothes battle has started. Each morning, she wants to decide what to wear. It can be really dramatic with her throwing herself on the floor with a agonizing facial expression like I just told her that her husband died in the war. It's sort of funny. My parents said that I was very picky about clothes and wanted to change outfits all the time starting around this age, so I guess this is payback. Otherwise, I'm enjoying my time with her more and more. We have fun doing things together. Sometimes we "cook" together and I let her get on her stool and stir things, pour in the ingredients, etc. This tends to go very well except for the time that she dumped an entire container of red pepper flakes into the recipe while I was looking in the drawer for a teaspoon (which is the amount the recipe called for!). She also runs errands with me and it's just getting more and more fun to do activities together.
DD#2 is my smiley little sweetheart. Thank goodness that she is over her recent issues that have been plaguing her the past few months. Around Thanksgiving, she was having major constipation/gas problems which kept her up a lot at night. Then after Christmas she got a horrible diaper rash which required two trips to the doctor, two medications, and 3 weeks to clear up. Then she got a cold and was coughing a lot. And lastly, her second top tooth was cutting. We are finally sleep training and it's going well so I'm really hoping she'll start reliably STTN soon.
Oh, and DD#2 started crawling. I have to keep a constant eye on her because anytime she's in the living room, she crawls into the kitchen to splash in the dog's water bowl (gross!). She also likes to pull on the curtains.
Overall, we're doing well. I'm just over the cold weather and I want Spring to arrive. This time of year is rough being cooped up in the house all of the time.
DS is now officially 2...I have no idea where teh time has gone. I am loving every minute with him. His vocabulary is amazing and he is learning new things every day, like a sponge. We have been TTC # 2 for a few months now since my m/c in September so hopefully I will have news to report in the coming months!
I love reading these updates as well:-)
DD and DS seem to be taking turns giving us a run for our money!
last time i complained about DS here, it was b/c of his attitude causing symptoms that mimicked allergic reactions (coughing when we tell him it's time to put away toys or go home or eat green stuff). well we took him to the doctor where they tested his blood for allergen antibodies and turns out (according to this test which i have gotten mixed reviews on from other physicians) he is allergic to everything. only, when he used the inhaler they gave us after coughing when it was time to eat green stuff, he decided he didn't like the inhaler and hasn't had a coughing fit since. go figure.
DD went from STTN to a stomach bug that woke her up with stinky runny poop at 4;30 every day. we are just now getting back into a good sleeping rhythm again since the holidays.
for the good stuff!
DS got his red belt at tae kwon do on friday. brown, advanced brown then novice black are next! he is on track to be a 5yro black belt! isn't that just crazy???
he is also learning to read. he gets frustrated easily, so i'm finding i need to be really careful not to push too hard since i don't want him to reject this activity. he has been super helpful with his sister lately and seems to enjoy teaching her to say things. so far, she can say the alphabet and count to ten -- with prompting from him and yesterday he taught her to say "who's there" when he says "knock knock" -- so very cute!
DD is growing into quite the diva...who was it on here who foresaw that when i was expecting?? i think it was FarBeyondRubies or Artslvr! yesterday, DCP complimented A's shoes and A looks at her and says with sauce "BOOTS." she's very particular that way.
she has taken to sleeping wtih a cutesy stuffed pink dog. she MUST have it when we nurse at night, which led me to a breakthrough worthy of a separate post. she is SOOOOO much less distracted when she has something in her hands when we nurse. i can't believe this didn't occur to me before, but they sell these neat little necklaces (example: https://www.mom4life.com/mommy-necklaces-dangling-donut-nursing-necklaces.html)
we had to upgrade DS carseat this week. a) it's expiring soon and b) he's too big for it. made me a little sad that my little guy is growing up so fast.
i'm afraid of the first day of kindergarten!
hysterical.
when we went through this phase, i found it helpful to put together 5 outfits on sunday evening. i let him pick them out (with as much guidance as was necessary/he would allow), and we set them aside after he decided which outfit he would wear each day.
if i'd ever get the closet in their room cleaned out, i'd hang shelves in it for him to put his weekday outfits. thinking something like these: https://www.amazon.com/KIDS-DAILY-ACTIVITY-ORGANIZER-HANGING/dp/B000LZ1QNO/ref=sr_1_2?s=storageorganization&ie=UTF8&qid=1327432826&sr=1-2
M has become really interested in anything transportation-related, like trucks, buses, construction equipment, airplanes, trains, and fire engines. He especially loves if they're actually in motion. We took him to the Air and Space Museum at Dulles a couple of weeks ago, and he was moderately interested in the airplanes, but his favorite thing was this random construction lift that was in a roped-off corner of the exhibit floor. He kept running back to it, pointing, asking us what it was, and trying to touch it. This must be something ingrained in boys, because he definitely didn't get it from me. It's very cute.
I gave up that fight a while ago. :-) As long as it's weather appropriate, DS can wear what he wants. I'll make suggestions about what matches (or doesn't) but then let him go for it. Plaid and stripes? Sure, as long as you aren't naked in 30 degree weather. :-P Our only rule is no pajamas in public unless you're sick and going to the doctor. A few other times I've forced outfits, (for things where he must be dressed up) but overall, letting him have the freedom to choose what he wants has reduced our stress level significantly. I think it also makes it easier when I do have to force an outfit, because it's not an everyday thing that we're butting heads on.
I love these threads
Guinevere has just exploded with "firsts" in the last month, I can barely keep up. At Christmas, she was a slug baby still. Now, she's sitting up (and get can that way by herself), rolling both ways, crawling, waving to everyone and every thing, eating purees like a champ and had diced steamed carrots last night and ate every bite, and just showing loads of personality.
I think my favorite part is seeing her interact with the dogs. She loves to chase them all over the main level, and they usually let themselves be "caught" and are so patient when she gnaws on a tail or tugs at fur. I love that they constantly come check up on her when she's playing quietly with her toys, and the look of delight on her face when she sees them walk over. They also have started bringing her their toys, and Kimchi is always trying to get her to play tug of war. SO CUTE. I love love this age.
DD is still my little "chill" baby. She's not crawling but loves to stand and hold onto the furniture and can move from the ottoman to the couch and back again. She has started saying "hi" whenever she sees the cat or sees an animal in one of her books. I don't know if she thinks "hi" is the word for animals, but she's very consistent. It's also ridiculously cute.
She LOVES books. She'll play with other toys but totally prefers books over anything else. Last night I was sitting on the floor with her while she played with one of her toys and I pulled a book out of her toy box and she crawled right up into my lap and sat there while we looked at the book together. It felt so good because last night was the first time I came home from work and didn't nurse her, and it reassured me that we can still bond in other ways.
She's eating and sleeping like a champ and loves almost all solids - except mashed potatoes for some reason - although she's been a challenge to get to bed at night lately. But we're working on a few new tricks at bedtime that seem to be working.
I love reading everyone's updates.
DS is turning into a little monkey. He *loves* to climb. He can get on the chairs and then onto the table, he wedges his little feet in between the box spring and mattresses and climbs onto beds, he gets on the couch, the back of the couch and onto the console table.... You name it, that boy can reach it. This weekend he upped his climbing game by taking the stool out of the bathroom and moving it to the pantry so he could get to the peanut butter crackers. (He learned this from his sister). He's 12 months, i am in trouble. His other big development is that he learned the word "no". Everything is "no" now. It's a lot of fun.
DD is turning into such a wonderful little girl. She is so sweet to her brother most of the time, a trait I really appreciate. Her creative brain is really taking off. We've been into imaginary play for a long time, but now she makes up stories, songs, and tells me what meaning there is in her pictures. It's really amazing to see. She's really excited for her third birthday. I haven't decided what we are going to do yet. It's high on my agenda.
J is doing pretty well. He is getting more fearless on the playground, and he was infatuated with the recent snow--I think this is the first time he's really been cognizant of it. He remembers everything, and is starting to speak in more complicated sentences. The other day, I was impressed with his comment that "Yesterday, I kicked that shelf, and it fell down." (Which was true.) It's funny, he gets the concept of past tense but a lot of things seem to happen "yesterday" or "last night" (regardless of whether they happened a day or weeks ago).
I've been away since Friday, and I'm so glad I can talk to him on Skype. I actually Skyped him from the car, what a world we live in, eh? I can't wait to get home and smooch those cheeks. It is a little scary how adept J is and used to the concept of being able to talk to me on the computer at any time . . . I'm using in-flight internet on my way home right now and I've been watching videos of him--even just from a few months ago, it's amazing how much he's grown and how much his vocabulary has expanded!
TTC #2: BFP 12/17/11, m/c 1/7/12 and D&C 1/12/12
baby blog/cooking blog
Ahahahaha! This made me LOL.
Our only big update is the potty training thing. I guess it's going pretty well - we're definitely too late to turn back now. Like amh_navyblue, we are in a constant state of asking if he has to go which is kind of exhausting. We are averaging an accident every other day or so for various reasons, but I think he really "gets" it. The in laws are doing better, but it's still mostly pull ups in their house.
Well, we finally moved in to our new house about a week ago. It is fabulous, except that we have no internet! There aren't even any lines run...I can't even tell you how many times we have called the "big" companies to get an answer. I mean, it is a new section of the neighborhood, but the rest of the neighborhood has lines. The funniest part is we don't have smartphones. So, after I leave work I am internetless, unless we go to my parents. It is such an odd feeling!
DS is loving the new house and the space. He is a constant chatterbox, and always amazes me by what he knows as far as letters/numbers/colors. That is totally DCP and I adore her for it. He has gotten really into cutting and gluing, so we have spent lots of time at his little plastic table doing art projects. I love that he can stay focused for a little while on something. We haven't even started potty training and he's still in the crib. I would usually be the type to obsess over these things, but eh, for once, I'm just going with it.
I can't believe I'm almost 30 weeks pregnant. DS is fairly laid back and such an easy going kid, despite all my anxiety and issues in the beginning with him. I'm sure #2 will throw me for a loop!
DD is turning 3 on Friday!!!! OMG, what happened to the time?
She's freakin' hilarious. Think, Jim Carrey physical comedy-type hilarious. She'll pretend like she's losing her balance, and going to fall - make a weird face, and go "whoooa -wooo-whhhhoa!" Or, making other weird faces and dancing around. She is still loving her art supplies, and has recently started taking to her dolls. The plan to teach her French hasn't panned out so well, but DH is finally starting to try to teach her. And, now she's asking for us to play her Care Bear DVD (or, EVD as she calls it) in "Fwwench"...
She's also a little stubborn kid. I can't get her to potty train for the life of me. She used to LOOOOVE Dum-Dum suckers - until I bought them as a PT bribe. Now, she says "No, I don't wike wowwypops!" I am now telling her that she can't start gymnastics class until she goes potty on the big girl potty. I also love that she's now remembering stuff, and telling stories about what happened.
I'm still on the TTC bandwagon. For the past 9 days, I've been taking the stuff that is supposed to make you have your period, and then I'll start my first round of Clomid. Keep your fingers crossed!
I am not sure if DD is going through a growth spurt or what but she has been a handful for the last week! Maybe it is just the approaching 3s. Everything has turned into a battle and I had to leave the house late on Sunday because I thought I was going to lose it. Of course, she has been wonderful at DC all week.
On the positive side, she slept in her bed last night for the first time in over 6 months. She has been telling people for the last few weeks about how comfortable it is and how she likes it but last night she just climbed into bed and went to sleep. Maybe the days of the floor are over?
We applied to two preschools and have the parent interview part set-up. I am hoping we get into one but I am also sad about potentially leaving DCP in the fall :-(
I have decided DD is a little princess - she generally prefers to have things done for her if possible. She thinks I should bring toys across the room to her (HA!), carry her up and down stairs, and pretty much tells me the "right" way to put on her clothes. She's had a rough time with me being sick - it's always mommy's turn to change her diaper or carry her downstairs, and she flips out when I can't physically do it. (Poor DH - for whatever reason I've pretty much always been the favored parent, but it's only getting harder for him the better her language skills get and the more clearly she expresses her opinions.)
We're also looking at preschools/daycare for next year - we love T's in-home, but it's getting to the point where she needs more. We have a favorite, but T still has to pass her play date (I guess it's basically an interview with a teacher) in a few weeks before we see if she's offered a spot. I think the best thing is that it's a Montessori school with mixed-age rooms. She would be able to get more interesting things to do now (than starting a 2 year old classroom in the fall just before she turns 3), but it won't be really obvious when her peers go off to Kindergarten and leave her behind. I worry that her October birthday will be rough on her academically for a few years.
Last night I was trying to explain to T about disappointment. (She was a pill from cake at a daycare birthday party and wasn't taking "no" for an answer to anything.) She started looking off into the distance with a ponderous look in her eyes. Either she was really considering my explanation, or I totally bored her with too many words - either way, it ended the screaming for at least a few minutes!
DS is doing well. We're trying to decide when he'll start kindergarten and how many days to send him to preschool next year. THey grow up fast......
DS #2 is doing well. It' been a crazy pregnancy. I'm on 8 prescriptions, and see 4 doctors. I have GD again. With DS it was controlled by diet. It's been out of control with this pregnancy and they've upped my insulin 3 times. We're starting to get things organized for the new baby. The nursery is painted, just need to get things set up. I still have moments when I can't believe we're actually having another one after everything we've been through.
Uhm, can I add to mine? Dd figured out how to open the stairwell gates tonight. Being the awesome mom that I am, I took a picture of her opening one and going through instead of stopping her. I will PIP when I get off of my phone. I thought she would hit that particular milestone later than DS since she is barely even walking, but apparently not. Apparently 14 months is "defeat safety measures" month for my kids. Time to get on teaching her to go down stairs correctly.
ETA: Picture
C just turned 1 on Friday, and we had a party with some family and friends on Saturday. He did really well, but was entirely too neat and clean with his smash cake!
He is really close to standing on his own, and when asked, he can point to his head and his (or our) nose, and he loves playing the "Soooo Big!" game. He also loves playing catch with us. He is actually really good at throwing a ball to us, and if the ball rolls past him, he understands that in order to continue playing, he has to go get the ball and toss it back to us. My little Strasburg.
I think his first word is "book" because whenever he sees a book, he says "ook" over and over.
Ahh so much to say.
DS is about 2y and 3 months and I wish all children were born as 2 year olds. I can understand exactly what he wants at any given time (because he tells me explicitly with complete sentences) and we can have actual conversations where we understand each other. I feel like the complete sentences thing happened overnight about a month ago. He's always had above average language skills for a boy, but he blows me away. As my dad likes to remind me, I didn't even speak until I was 2... not to mention, he knows more about dinosaurs, dinosaur names, planets and the solar system than I do. I'd totally fail on that Do You Think You're Smarter Than a 5th Grader show. And clearly in some aspects, I'm not smarter than my 2yo.
Liam has been potty trained since November, so that makes life a lot easier... although it is a pain in the ass taking a kid to the bathroom every hour and a half
But, it's better than the alternative for sure. I hope he doesn't regress too much in that regard when DD arrives. That's one of my biggest fears.
We moved him over to his new room last night and so far so good. He slept all night and he took a nice nap in there today. Here's hoping that continues!
We have done next to nothing to prepare for DD's arrival in 5 or so weeks. We have the nursery furniture (thankfully) and will paint the nursery this weekend and I guess DH will build the furniture some time after that. A dear friend threw me an English Tea Party recently and some of my friends brought some beautiful clothes for DD to wear so we're set on that front, which is nice. Yesterday I made a list of things I need to get done, and I'm still working for another 3 weeks, so this should be interesting!