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  1. #1
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    Default Introducing "head of household," my toddler!

    My toddler, Jack, is quite a little character. He was a colicky, unhappy, baby (trouble nursing, trouble sleeping, needed to be held all the time). I sometimes don't know how dh and I survived his first year. But, over time, Jack has become an incredibly active, spirited, funny, little guy with so much personality. He is relatively small in stature and has this little baby face with huge, shining eye, big cheeks, and a soft fine head of light-colored hair. He looks like such a little thing but when he opens his mouth, he always surprises people with how much he can express in his 4-5 word sentences and his engaging smile. He's a pied piper for adults--he just draws people in (and on those rare occassions on which he "fails", he'll make enough noise so that the person in question just has to pay attention).

    Jack is very musical (he's always singing and drumming in rhythm) and loves a varied selection of adult music, thanks mostly to his daddy. He is not shy about requesting particular songs such as "Particle Man" by They Might be Giants, "Night Night Song" ("River of Dreams") by Billy Joel, or "Jack of Speed," by Steely Dan, or "Hammer Song" ("Hammer and a Nail") by Indigo Girls.

    He is incredibly attached to daddy and is pretty securely attached to mommy and his nanny (who watches him 3 days/week) too. He's not a cuddly kid but finds creative ways to show affection and his feelings for us.

    Jack is a PICKY eater--he's incredibly selective about what he eats. It's really hard to eat anywhere else, because we either have to pack Jack Food or think carefully about what on the menu will be acceptable to him. However, his quantities are quite large--we don't worry about him being malnurished. Jack has a lovey named "Bear Friend" who we nickname "Thread Bare". This poor bear is so loved (slept on every night and for every nap) that he threatens to fall apart any day. We live in fear of the day when we lose Bear Friend. I only wish he could be replaced (but alas, no luck--long story). We may have to try the repair approach. Edited to add: Jack also still uses a paci (which he calls his "baby" at night, for naps, and around the house when he is tired). This is a battle that hasn't felt worth fighting to us. Given that he now sleeps 11 straight hours at night (a true miracle), I wouldn't dream of doing anything to mess that up! More about Jack's sleep: he goes to bed at 7:00-7:15 p.m. and wakes up around 6:15 a.m. Nap lasts from anywhere from 1-2 hours (usually closer to 1), beginning between 12 and 12:30 p.m. Though not a wonderfully long nap, he goes down without a fuss and goes to bed almost eagerly at night. I nominate him for "most improved" sleeper. The story of where we started off sleep-wise? Too long for now.

    Speaking of getting too long, this post is getting really long, so I'll stop for now. Can't wait to hear about the other toddlers and their antics. : )

    Lisa
    & Jack, 4/20/01
    & Little Brother, e.d.d., 12/15/03

  2. #2
    brubeck Guest

    Default RE: Introducing

    My daughter Amy started out as a very peaceful baby. She would generally behave well and not fuss too much after the initial first month colicky stage. She slept well. She was a bit of a picky eater but eventually I found a way to get her to eat.

    Then she turned about 18 months and the toddler time started. By this I mean the independence-loving, tantruming, attention-grabbing time. She is still wonderful but she now sucks up more time and attention than I ever imagined! When she doesn't get what she wants she whines (loudly) and occasionally lies down on the floor and kicks to emphasize her point and I've actually become deaf to it. It's amazing what you can ignore when you have to, although I sometimes get strange looks from other people for it when I am out in public!

    Most of the time though Amy is still a lot of fun and is a happy girl. She loves to play with me (that's a GOOD thing, right? :) ) and even her new baby brother (although she can be rougher than she intends). We are going through potty training right now and have made some serious breakthroughs recently. I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel.

    And as if to emphasize how grown up she is, the other day when I brought home fast food for my lunch (after work) she said very sweetly, "I want french fries Mama! Say please, I need some french fries! Please Mama?". How can I refuse that? Obviously I'm a bad influence. :)

  3. #3
    mom2kandj Guest

    Default RE: Introducing

    I'm so glad that there is somewhere to go with general toddler concerns!!! I never did a formal BIO in BB, because I felt like my kids were too old to be "babies"! So, in their formal TB debut, I'd like to introduce Katie & Jack!

    Katie - will be three at the beginning of December and some days it feels like she is going on 33. She is very social, coordinated, verbal, and ACTIVE! She definitely reigns as princess (though she'd rather be the queen) of our kingdom. Being the firstborn on both sides, she has had more than her share of attention! Currently she is a drama queen where everything (bugs, loud noises, dogs who get too close, new foods, etc) is yucky, ewwwwy, stinky, or scary. She also has a VIVID imagination which she uses to create new words and stories for her pet rock (ROCCO). Everything in the kingdom is also HERS! We've gotten the tantrums down to only when things are taken away from her, but the whining still lingers. She still uses a paci at night(this is the only place I can say that without feeling like a bad mom!), but is on the verge of potty breakthrough(thanks to ALL the library's potty books and a potty video). She is a beautiful, loving child who brightens every room she visits. Does she have to be so high maintenance, too? :) BTW - She is allergic to dairy, eggs, oranges, cats, dogs, and horses. She also has severe eczema on her hands and has had one asthma attack. Now that the potty training thing is happening, we can start looking for a preschool...

    Jack - is an adventurous, sensitive, happy go lucky, little guy who will be two in April. He's a climber who has had more than his shares of bumps, bruises, and stitches. He loves books and having mom sing to him. He also has a short temper that sends him into a tantrum whenever he is told no or his sister takes his toys away. He has been acting out(pushing, screaming, tantrums, etc) and I think that it all stems from his lack of words. He currently only has 8-10 words and our ped doesn't consider him speech delayed. It is very difficult to NOT compare my kids as Katie had 40-50 words at the same age. Jack is a beautiful boy who sleeps and eats well! Thank god! Jack is also very interested in Katie's potty training and he loves TP!

    Rose - I'm a 32 year old SAHM(left the HR dept at Disneyland in Feb) in South Orange County, CA. We are very active in our local parish and I'm the webmom for our moms' group. I recently passed the CA Real Estate exam and will be getting my Real Estate license in October. I don't plan on working until the kids are in preschool and that will be part time at best. I love garage sales, bargain hunting, shopping, and crafting. I'm currently in Christmas prep mode! :)

    BK(before kids), I skied, scuba'ed, and jetskied. We just got back from Palm Springs last night and my recap of our week long, hot vacation could be summed up as, "Wading pool, lunch, nap, wading pool, video, dinner, bathtime, lots of sleep! EVERYDAY!" I did manage to get away for a four hour block to do some outlet shopping by myself! Almost better than a massage! LOL! DH got TWO five hours blocks to play golf! :( We did hire a babysitter one night so that we could have dinner in an adult restaurant. What did we talk about? the kids! :)

    Now, the rest of the cast of characters. DH works for GE and deals with commercial financing. He is a hockey fan which makes us a hockey family! My parents live in Las Vegas and adore our kids. They gladly babysit if DH and I want to go on vacation. The only stipulation is that the kids come to their house(big side trip!). MIL lives 10 minutes away, but hates to drive. She watches SIL's DD 2-3x per week for 6-8 hours at a time, but says that Katie & Jack just tire her out way too much and that 3 hours with them is too long! SIL and BIL(DH's side) are known as Champagne taste on a beer budget! If you've read any of my posts on them, SIL is the one who bought a VOLVO when she was nesting and then complained about $$$ when she had to return to work 10 weeks after Paige was born. Alas, they can't afford childcare so they ask me(they are limited to ONE six hour request per week :), as I don't intend to raise their child) or make MIL do it! Another SIL(my brother's wife) who doesn't always get it. Thank god she is a BB devotee and avid book reader. The weird thing is that she almost memorizes the parenting books rather than digesting and taking the good advice to be used. They have a toddler and are expecting #2. I've also got a nice single brother in the Bay Area who needs to find a nice girl and settle down. Wow, this has been reallllllllllly long! If you got this far and don't think I'm too weird, we must be a lot alike! :)


    Rose
    mom 2 katie (33 months)
    & Jack (16 months)

  4. #4
    egoldber's Avatar
    egoldber is offline Black Diamond level (25,000+ posts)
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    Default RE: Introducing

    Well, Sarah just turned 2 about three weeks ago. I can't believe my "baby" is two years old!!!! She has always been a relatively easy baby. Slept through the night at 10 weeks, with a few exceptions has always napped well and slept well, been a good eater, self-entertained easily, etc. She's making up for all that time with a vengeance lately though! She has virtually stopped napping during the day. I thought we had made a breakthrough yesterday, but it was only a 50 minute nap today. Sigh.

    But generally, she's adorable (in my unbiased opinion :) ). She loves to "sing" and dance. She adores all music. She also loves books, puzzles, and all types of "art". And her pretend play is just too cute! Today I had the Swiffer out and she insisted on swiffering after I was done, including demanding new cloths when the swiffer was "full", and you should have seen her going after dust bunnies under the coffee table. It was a riot!!!

    As most of you probably know, she has some speech delay. Her receptive vocabulary is very large, but she only has the expressive language of a 14 month old (we just had her re-assessed). She has slight hypotonia (low muscle tone) and oral motor delay. She was always slow to meet gross motor milestones (crawled at 11 months, didn't walk until 19 months) so this is related. We also had tons of breastfeeding difficulty which we now know was related to her low muscle tone. We are working with a speech pathologist, but her lack of vocabulary is starting to make her very frustrated. We've had some bad days lately.

    I just enrolled her in preschool at my local Jewish Community Center two mornings a week, because, frankly, I need a break. I adore being home with her, but all day every day with a toddler is starting to wear on me. And with my DH's travel schedule (he's gone about 30% of the time) some days I just do not get a break. But we visited the school yesterday and met other students and the teachers, and I really think this will be good for her.

    Whew, that's long, so I'll stop now. :)
    Beth, mom to older DD (8/01) and younger DD (10/06) and always missing Leah (4/22 - 5/1/05)

  5. #5
    Kate888 Guest

    Default RE: Introducing

    Can't believe my baby is a toddler already :) Maya will be 19 months in about 2 weeks. She was a very happy and sensitive baby who got overstimulated easily by new things. We had a hard time with her sleep schedule in the first few months. She also stopped taking bottles at about 8 weeks, so we had to BF exclusively. We tried all bottles available on the market, but nothing worked. Therefore, we pretty much planned our activities around her sleep and feeding schedules (if I went out alone, I had to come home before she got hungry).

    Interestingly, at around 12 months, Maya had blossomed into a different little person. She had her first word at that time and became very vocal (LOTS of baby talk). She is passionate and shows lots of empathy with people and animals. She gives hugs and kisses to everything she likes (pictures in books, stuff animals, toys and people). A few weeks ago, we met a mom and a child (4-5 years old) who were looking for their lost toy in the library. When the girl started crying, Maya immediatly walked up to her, pulling on her dress and talking in long sentenses (baby talk) as if she was trying to comfort her. When the child didn't stop crying, Maya started crying with her really sadly. I was amazed, because it usually takes her 5-10 minutes to warm up to new people.

    Maya loves books, music (especially the Wiggles), singing and dancing. She loves water and can stay in her bathtub forever. Play-doh and Sesame Street are her new favorites. She is a not a picky eater, but doesn't eat a lot. She eats most veggies, meats and fruits, but dislikes fish and milk. Her schedule is almost the same everyday. Two 2-hour naps during the day and goes to bed at 8:30 and wakes up at 6:30. There are occasionaly tantrums (when things are taken away), but it's pretty easy to redirect her attention by singing or saying something funny.

    This year has been fun. I didn't realize I could enjoy her toddlerhood this much (or is it too early to say so ;) ). I didn't grow up in the States, so I feel like I'm learning together with her and experience a second childhood.


    Kate
    Mama to Maya 2-17-02

  6. #6
    stella is offline Platinum level (1000+ posts)
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    Default RE: Introducing

    Hi - I'm Claire and my children are Wade and Anna. "Stella" is our golden retriever. Before I had the babies and was working, some people in my office who had nothing better to do than worry about me started reporting that I was online by reading posts (very occasional posts - and on a different website), and I became paranoid about using my name. But now I'm out of the closet.

    I am 33 now and was 31 when Wade was born. We had trouble conceiveing and used IUI w/injectable fertility drugs. So imagine my surprise when he was 9 months old and I was pregnant again. We had a very easy early babyhood with Wade and when he was about 8 months we bought a new house. It had to be entirely remodeled - down to the re-wiring and installing central heat and AC for the first time (and we're in Texas, so it was absolutely necessary). We sold our house and lived in the guesthouse on the new property - one big room and a bathroom and small kitchenette. All three of us, and me pregnant. We almost didn't make it, but 6 months later, we were finally in our new house and it's all been a lot better since then. I started sending Wade to Mother's Day Out (9 to 1:30) two days a week at that time to give all of us some away time - and to expose him to some new settings and toys. And to let me rest. Because as you know (or probably will soon), that second pregnancy is just so different. There is no time to revel in being pregnant and lie around indulging yourself.

    I found Wade very difficult from about 10 months until about 20 months when Anna was 2 or 3 months old. I think it had a lot to do with his desire to explore and my having to follow him closely and keep him safe when all he wanted wasto go, go, go. And he couldn't talk at all, so he was frustrated. And I was big and heavy and tired from being pregnant. But he is a delight at 2. I even find myself wishing he'd wake up from his nap on some days so that we can play. But I don't actually wake him - I'm not totally insane.

    Anna, too, is a pretty easy baby. She has only just begun crawling at 9 months. She is a BIG baby. She weighs 21 lbs and is tall. Wade is tiny. He MIGHT weigh 24 lbs, but I doubt it. They both wear size 3 diapers. He really loves her and she just adores him. In fact, if he's around, I don't have to do anything for her because she is just enthralled with him.

    I'm a lawyer - a prosecutor in the DA's office in the past, but currently representing juvenile delinquents on a very part-time, flexible basis. I love my work - average 6 hours a week - some weeks not at all, some weeks I'm busy - and the main reason is that it gives me a reason to take a shower on some days. And to not throw in the towel and give it all up to being the mommy of two under two - as far as my looks go (not that I'm not overweight and now have the PMS and acne of a teenager since I've stopped nursing) and my wardrobe goes and and it keeps my brain going just a little bit.

    Wade is good, but he wears me out and I do send him to mother's day out 4 mornings a week now. He loves it and I am exhausted on days when I have them both all day without some sort of break. I know I sound spoiled. But two babies is just exhausting. I am in awe of the mothers of twins!!

    It's nice to be over here. I'm mostly a lurker on the stroller, clothes and lounge sites. Nice to know you all!


  7. #7
    Jeanmick Guest

    Default RE: Introducing

    My DD is 2 years, 8 months old. She enjoys music, dancing (especially in front of a mirror), "reading" books, legos, and conversing with others. Her favorite videos are from the "Baby Songs" series and her favorite TV show is "Hi-5." She'll be starting "toddler school" or what I call "pre-preschool" :) next week, going once a week for one hour.

    She has a baby brother who is seven months old and is very nurturing and loving towards him. Every morning when she sees him, she always lights up and gives him a kiss, saying "Good morning Baby Brother...nice to see you!"

    It's hit and miss w/ DD's naps, but she's a GREAT night sleeper! She has surprised me in how she had transitioned so easily to a twin bed in a new room (we kept the nursery for our DS and fixed my DH's old music room into her bedroom). She's usually in bed by 8:30-9:00 and wakes up between 6:30-7:00. I'm very lucky; I don't really have to worry about her, since her baby brother still wakes up each night.

    Like many other toddlers, she's a picky eater. She loves soy cheese (she's allergic to milk AND peanuts :(), Gorton's Fish fillets and bread...yup, she's a carb freak like her mom....oh well.

    She's still in the middle of potty training...we've now got her in underwear during the day and diapers at night. She still doesn't tell us when she needs to go and as a result, we've had a couple of accidents. We're making progress, though. Any suggestions to encourage her to tell us would be most appreciated.

    Right now, her favorite word is "No." To everything.







  8. #8
    mom2kandj Guest

    Default RE: Introducing

    Jeanette -

    Totally OT of intros!

    Which soy cheese does your DD like? Katie can instantly taste the imitation stuff and then will refuse to even touch it. Her dairy allergy is moderate(3/15), so a bit of cheese once in awhile isn't a big deal, but she really loves cheese. We're looking for a good mild cheddar flavor with good melting ability for grilled cheese! TIA!

    BTW - Katie's current favorite phrase is, "NOT FAIR!" Geez! She's only TWO! :)
    Rose
    mom 2 katie (33 months)
    & Jack (16 months)

  9. #9
    muskiesusan is offline Platinum level (1000+ posts)
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    1,790

    Default RE: Introducing

    Nicholas will be two October 1st and is a very spirited, inquisitive, red headed toddler! He has his own way of doing things, which first revealed itself by his breech position at birth. As a baby he was colicky, rarely slept, had latching problems that persisted our entire bfing relationship due to his mouth formation, and refused all bottles. After deciding that I had completly misjudged my abilities to be a mother and was a complete failure, around 6 months I called in reinforcements to tell my what I was doing wrong. It was at this time, my mother, who raised six kids and had an in home day care, told me that Nicholas was not like most babies and I should accept that and learn how to adapt to him. It was then that I realized that even though I had read just about every child rearing book available, Nicholas hadn't, and he wasn't a car that I would find a manual for that would allow me to fix him.

    Around a year things started to get better, he was sleeping through the night (napping would come around 18 months) and was finally on a schedule that we both found acceptable (and I don't dare mess with it, I pay for days when we deviate from it).

    Every month it gets better and better. I love watching him discover things and mimic whatever we are doing. I definately love this stage the most, but I say that every month! He is part monkey, and can climb in and out of anything; this morning he was scaling the dishwasher to get to the fig newtons. He loves music and is constantly dancing. He only became intested in tv a few months ago, but is now unfortunately obessed by it, and the Wiggles in particular. He still won't play independently, and is a very pickly eater, but I take these challenges over the first year any day!

    He gets cuter and cuter every day, and continues to amaze me with how he approaches/deals with new things.

    Susan
    WAHM to Nicholas 10/01/01

  10. #10
    Jeanmick Guest

    Default RE: Introducing

    Hi Rose,

    We use a brand called "Galaxy (Nutritional Foods) Veggie Slices." It's in a green wrap and individually wrapped inside. They also have the cheese in shredded form. A variety of flavors like Cheddar, American, Swiss and Mozzarella are available. My DD likes to eat the Cheddar and American flavors by itself, in a grilled cheese sandwich and as a quesadilla. The slice version melts better than the shredded form. I've tasted the cheese and it tastes pretty good...it does have a slightly different taste to cheese, but when in a grilled cheese sandwich, it's pretty good.

    We buy it at our local grocery store "Vons." Do you have one up there in Orange County? We live in San Diego.

    Hope this helps! :)

    OT to cheese: Our goal in the next couple of months is to visit Disneyland...my DD LOVES the Small World Ride (she can sing the song and both verses w/o help). My only concern is if I can do Disneyland w/ a nine-month old in tow...but that's another post. :)




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