January Multiple Moms Chat anyone?

[Melaine]

How is the New Year going for all the MoMs? I started the New Year by going back on Prozac so things are definitely looking up for me. I'm thankful to start 2010 off with Potty Training officially behind us (well, except night time).
Lately I have been getting a lot of, "When are you going to have more children?" questions and I'm completely baffled as to how to respond, because I just don't know. But I'm working on enjoying the girls where they are and not looking too far ahead. I'm facing the question of school and am still leaning towards homeschooling. Overwhelming, but still exciting.

So what is going on for everyone?

[fivi2]

Congrats on the potty training! That is great!

The girls turned 4 in Dec and are still as crazy as ever. They love preschool and we are trying to figure out preschool for next year. They also started swim lessons, which they enjoy, but we had a scary (for mom) first class. I am trying to convince dh to move to a bigger house... not much success.

We are still torn on the more kids thing. Long complicated drama that I don't really want to get into right now...

But, you are still young and have plenty of time to decide. Good luck with the homeschooling. There are times when I think it would be fun, but I don't think it would work for us right now. I toy with the idea of taking them for a year or so in middle school and doing a lot of traveling and homeschooling (especially if they are our only dc). Our jr high is terrible and that is such a hard time any way.

Happy New Year!

[mikeys_mom]

Our girls will be 1 year next month. I still can't believe how quickly the year flew by. They are crawling, climbing and cruising all over the house. I love this age. They are just so cute and snuggly, are not as needy as newborns and can't talk back to me yet !

I went back to work a few weeks ago (4 days a week) and we are all adjusting to the new routine. So far so good...

My wonderful nanny of 5 years just told me she is going to nursing school in September and wants to go home (the Philppines) for the summer. We are sponsoring a new nanny from abroad again and hoping that she gets her visa approved in time so that I have some overlap between the 2 nannies. It will be a huge adjustment for my kids, especially the twins because they are really attached to her.

As for more kids...we are 100% done! Mine are fraternal, so I now have a 1 in 5 chance of multiples again . I think we have our hands full right now. I do think it would be a harder decision if I had the twins first. For now I am excited to just enjoy my kids as they grow and mature.

That is great news about the potty training. DD#1 just turned 3 and has zero interest.

[TwinFoxes]

The girls are 19 months now! Preemie days are far behind. They are solidly on the growth charts. In fact they are in the 80s for height...but below 50 for weight. They don't look skinny though!

My big decision is whether to send them to pre-school for a couple of mornings next year. I feel like they need the interaction with other kids. They aren't technically speech delayed, but they're certainly not talkative. But it makes me sad to think of them away from me! I can't imagine what I'll do (cry!) I'm not thinking about going back to work for awhile, but a colleague of mine emailed me to ask why I hadn't applied for a job opening she's hiring for. Good to know they haven't forgotten me! I am thinking of doing some part-time work on the weekends just to keep my chops up. It's an early morning gig, so I would still get to spend weekends with DDs and even more importantly, DH...I wish we were independently wealthy so we could all spend more time together as a family. But don't we all!!!

What do you guys think about the pre-school idea? I may post about it in the lounge, but I'll get barraged with answers. Is 2 mornings a week pre-school good for two year olds, or should I wait until they're three?

[fivi2]

What do you guys think about the pre-school idea? I may post about it in the lounge, but I'll get barraged with answers. Is 2 mornings a week pre-school good for two year olds, or should I wait until they're three?

I think it depends on your family (not helpful, I know). I certainly don't think it is necessary, but neither do I think it is harmful.

My girls just started preschool at 3y 9m and they only go two mornings a week. But, we have always been very active - gymboree for a while, two different playgroups, dance classes for a while, library storytime, and last year we did a mommy run co-op at a rec center (moms stayed). My girls are very outgoing and probably would have liked preschool, but I wasn't ready! And we were busy (and tuition times 2 isn't fun). And while my girls were a little early, they do not appear to have any developmental concerns or delays (knock on wood). If any of those variables had been different, I certainly would have considered preschool.

I guess that my thinking is that for most typically developing kids, school before age 3 or so is for the parents (which is fine, not a criticism). I don't think much academic learning is going on before then, and toddler's social skills are really hard to influence also. So, while I do not think it is a bad thing, I don't really think it does much for the kids either. But, if it provides mom (or dad) with some much needed down time (or work time) then that is a good enough reason for it. eta: and of course if your dc have special needs, the appropriate school can be beneficial.

JMO!

[Momof3Labs]

The girls are turning 6 months next week! I don't want to start solids!! I'm not ready for the extra work, the extra mess, the extra time sitting in the kitchen, the higher food bills, lol... It took us long enough to find our rhythm pumping and bottle feeding - why shift gears now??

[Momof3Labs]

What do you guys think about the pre-school idea? I may post about it in the lounge, but I'll get barraged with answers. Is 2 mornings a week pre-school good for two year olds, or should I wait until they're three?

ITA with fivi's response. Do it for you if you want, but don't feel like you have to do it for them. DS1 started preschool weeks before his 4th birthday (missed the cutoff by a few weeks), and DS2 started preschool at 3y 7m. Both did a once-weekly, 1.5hr park district class for a year before preschool to get them used to being dropped off by mom/dad (and give us a short window for kidless errands) but it wasn't essential.

[twowhat?]

Mine are 16 months now and just getting into pretend play - it is fascinating to watch! I'm also struggling with naps (two naps or one??) and wishing that my kids weren't so fussy, stranger-anxious, and clingy in new situations. And feeling guilty that I think it's because I don't get them out often enough because it's just hard to. I struggle just to go out and get groceries.

The girls are turning 6 months next week! I don't want to start solids!! I'm not ready for the extra work, the extra mess, the extra time sitting in the kitchen, the higher food bills, lol... It took us long enough to find our rhythm pumping and bottle feeding - why shift gears now??

We started with solids at 6 months and it was a STRUGGLE. They were not very interested and it was a struggle to get them to try ANYTHING! They didn't start eating significant amounts of solids until 10 months, when they could pick up food and feed themselves. In retrospect I wish I would have been a LOT more laid back about it. I wish I would have just offered a spoonful or two of pureed stuff maybe a couple times a day, but if they refused it then just forget about it for that meal - completely! They were MUCH more interested in eating when they got older and could pick up foods. Then I just gave them really soft things like banana, avocado, sweet potato, etc. And Cheerios or similar which are easy to gum. I guess I felt like they were going to be hungry if they didn't eat but they were completely satisfied with just breastmilk at that age.

Ahhh preschool - I am thinking about it, but for when I go back to work. Then we'd have to put the girls in preschool full-time unless I can find a part-time job that makes part-time preschool worth the cost. The thing I dread dread dread is that they will start to get sick often. And it is already so hard when they get sick because it can be a month-long ordeal with ONE illness (Baby A gets fever for 4 days, then as fever breaks, baby B gets fever for 4 days, then stuffy runny noses follow during which Baby A doesn't sleep well at night for 2 weeks, followed by Baby B for 2 weeks. And that's just a regular cold.) I mean, I DREAD this. It just makes me sick to think about it, no pun intended. There won't be enough PTO to cover it all and just the lack of sleep due to babies being sick is so hard, and I already rely on a full night of sleep to make it through the next day. But I need our girls to get out and socialize and I would like to return to a job I enjoy because I think it will make me a better parent. There's just no good answer, is there?

[caheinz]

Our little guys are just about 16 months now. Finally cut teeth # 3 and 4 (I was beginning to wonder how long they would be going with only 2 apiece!). The other big "milestone" this week was that they tried to "tell" me that D was B (coordinated effort, too). Sigh... we're going to be in trouble when they get older...

All done here. Three boys is enough!

As for preschool... I think I'd agree that it's not necessary yet. Our nanny does take the twins to the library for story time every week, and they apparently love seeing the other kids, but they have each other and big brother (outside of his school). I do think we'll want to do something when the little ones are older... I'll be thinking about it for sure when they're turning 3.

[Momof3Labs]

Finally cut teeth # 3 and 4 (I was beginning to wonder how long they would be going with only 2 apiece!). The other big "milestone" this week was that they tried to "tell" me that D was B (coordinated effort, too).

The first part - believe it or not, but E has four teeth and M has five already! They had been neck and neck, and then M popped out the fifth from nowhere, literally. It seems like one day it was not there, and the next it was completely out. DS2 had a full mouth by a year (we blame the fact that his grandpa is a dentist).

The second part is too funny. Tell us how that went down!