PS Mommy thread with toddlers 12-36 months

[amc80]

Hey gals, quick question. B had this rash/bite looking thing on his torso. It's been there for over a week now. Any ideas what it could be? It almost looks like flea bites but we don't have fleas at our elevation. It seems like a dumb thing to take him in for so I thought I'd ask here first.

 

[monkeyprincess]

amc, sorry, I have no idea what that might be. Is that the only spot he has of it? Can you just put a call in the with the nurse to see if they think he should be seen based on the description? I wonder if you could email them the pic. Ev has been excessively itchy on his legs and tummy recently, so we're thinking about bringing him in for that, even though I'm sure they'll just say to put more lotion on it or something (or cut his fingernails )

 

[amc80]

amc, sorry, I have no idea what that might be. Is that the only spot he has of it? Can you just put a call in the with the nurse to see if they think he should be seen based on the description? I wonder if you could email them the pic. Ev has been excessively itchy on his legs and tummy recently, so we're thinking about bringing him in for that, even though I'm sure they'll just say to put more lotion on it or something (or cut his fingernails )

It's only in that one spot. It's not bothering him at all. I considered taking him in but I think it would be more for my curiosity than an actual needed treatment. I'm going to keep an eye on it and if it's still there in a week I'll call. Man, kids sure get the weirdest things. B gets really dry skin on his legs so I've made it a point to put lotion on after his bath, and again in the morning if necessary. I can't wait to move to a climate with higher than 20% humidity.

 

[JGator]

AMC, it looks like a bug bite to me. I have no experience or advice though other than maybe put Bacitracin or Neosporin on it.

Pancake, congratulations on your pregnancy! I'm sure S will be an adorable big sister!

Mayerling, are you on the West coast now? How was the flight over? I hope it went smoothly. Good luck with the time difference too.

MP, that is a scary Santa. Congrats on the incisors. K is up to 4 teeth now - 3 that we can see and I think the 4th one has broken the surface.

AFU, K has a cough/chest cold and was up a lot last night. She has taken a few steps several days in a row so we are feeling relieved on that front since she is just over 14 months old now. I got 72 hair bands for her for Christmas so I have been having fun putting her hair in pigtails and other interesting pony tail combinations to keep her bangs out of her eyes. We had a low key Christmas just the 3 of us. My mom is visiting to help cover for K's nanny who is on a long vacation so that DH and I can work.

 

[monkeyprincess]

JGator, yay for K! That's exactly how I felt when Everett finally started taking steps and walking at 13-14 months. Relief! He's getting pretty good at it now, but it is still a lot more work to watch him now. We try to keep him from walking on the wood floors because they are more slippery and falls are more risky, but we really can't keep him down now. We have also been dealing with some sort of cold and having a lot of wake-ups because of it. Hope they are both feeling better soon. Love her little dress in that picture. She's getting so big!

 

[FrekeChild]

Hey ladies!

Well, A is 25.5ish months and it's an interesting stage.
-she is starting to look like a little kid
-she climbed out of her crib this past weekend
-Big girl bed (convertible crib into a full size bed) sleeping commenced, but it's really high, so one of us has been sleeping with her every night until we feel more comfortable with her sleeping alone on a bed that's so high. The first couple nights were pretty awful!
-knows her ABCs, counts to ten
-her vocabulary is HUGE, she's absorbing everything, even though it doesn't always come out right, she says so much!
-she makes a lot of demands for certain foods
-no potty training yet, but she tells us when she has gone and makes sure that we change her diapers right away. We talk about it a lot, but I'm kind of letting her go at her own pace for now. She knows the concepts behind it, she's just not ready yet. I don't want to push it right now, especially with moving to a big girl bed and that transition.
-We put a convertible car seat in my car (tiny 4 seater with ridiculously small backseat) and the seat has to be forward facing. So now she LOVES going in my car, and HATES going in our SUV.

I think we're going to wait until 3 to go to preschool stuff. I'm trying to get into a Master's program, so I think I'm going to do full time school stuff, which would mean I'd get to stay home with her for a while still. Lots of transitions going on right now. I'm tired!

ETA: She's really devoted to her toys. I swear she insists on sleeping with 20 stuffed animals right now, and they all have different names and personalities!

 

[jfo]

All,
Sorry it’s been so long since my last check-in. Every day happenings and the holidays got the best of me and something always seemed to come up every time I thought I had a moment to sit down and post. Happy new year to everyone!

I love seeing the recent photos of the LO’s. The Santa photos are the BEST. We didn’t try to do photos with Santa, but if we did, L would have guaranteed been screaming her head off… I envision something similar to what K looked like in her photos, NEL! We did have a neighborhood holiday party and one of our neighbors dressed up as Santa and handed out a gift to each of the neighborhood kids. L was closely watching Santa as he called out each child’s name and gave them their gift and when it was her turn, Santa looked at her directly and asked if she was L, and she immediately burst into tears. I can’t imagine what it would have been like had I handed her over to him for a photo opp!

Welcome Dandi and MLK! Happy 1st b-days to your little guys. Didn’t that first year just fly by?

Kunzite, what little cutie monkeys you have there!

MP, love the photo of Ev happily walking! Sounds like he is doing really well. Hope TTC’ing is going all right. Thinking of you!

LC, also thinking of you and the TTC’ing front. Hope all is well with E. How is potty training going?

Mayerling, are you in the US now? How did the flight/time adjustment go? I wish I had advice about food throwing. I think when you originally posted about that, L was not doing that, but now she is… and it’s incredibly annoying. I tell her no and give her a stern face as she is doing it, but I can tell she thinks it’s a game and actively does it and throws her sippy cup on the ground too while looking right back at me with a serious face. She usually only does it to food that she doesn’t feel like eating or when she is no longer hungry. I’m wondering if it’s better just to ignore it.

Pancake, Congrats!! Hope you’re feeling good and lots of sticky dust for you. S sounds like she is thriving! Her language skills sound very impressive.

Freke, great update on A! I hope that her transitioning to a big girl bed continues to get better and better. That is too cute about her stuffed animals. L only recently sort of became interested in her stuffed animals. She likes to point at them and have me name them. If I make them snuggle with her, she will snuggle back or give them a kiss, but that’s kind of the extent of it right now.

NEL, how is K doing? How are you feeling these days? Out of curiosity, are you doing anything to prep K for becoming a big sister, even just talking to her about it? I’m not there yet (not even TTC’ing yet, but still in the wanting, but waiting status), but I am interested in how to best ease the transition.

amc, that’s awesome that B is doing so well at his new daycare. Did you ever find out what that spot on his skin was?

Monarch, how are you and A doing?

JGator, that’s fantastic that K is starting to take steps! She is looking gorgeous as always and, wow, her hair is getting long! I love that you can style it. L’s hair is starting to thicken up and get a bit longer, but it’s slow going. How is K sleeping these days? I’m so sorry that things were rough coming back from Europe between her being so sick and all the changes in time, etc. I also hope she gets over her cough/cold quickly.

Hello to anyone else that I may have missed…

AFU, I’m trying to get used to officially having a toddler (she’s 14 ½ months now) and all the willfulness that goes along with one! I already mentioned the food throwing/dropping. She also loves to shake her head no, or say, “nah nah nah” for things that she obviously doesn’t want. At the same time, I’m very much enjoying her blossoming personality, all the new fun words that she’s saying and the things that I recognize now that she somehow knows… She likes to repeat everything that I name for her, and the wacky part is that she mostly remembers later when I ask her what something is and she tells me! She’s gotten more comfortable with walking around everywhere and is starting to use a fork and spoon to feed herself.

She also started in the toddler room (typically 15 month to 24 month olds) at daycare after the holiday break. It’s been a big change for L in that the toddler room has an established daily schedule in which they have set times in which everyone sits down to eat breakfast, lunch and snacks at a table and chairs (no more high chairs) and they take one nap a day after lunch in cots (versus a crib). There are also up to 12 kids in the room versus the 8 babies in the infant room. So far, L has adapted quite well although she still is upset at drop-off in the morning, but her crying has gone done a notch each subsequent day. I nearly cried myself the very first day after dropping her off in the new room because she was so upset and clinging to me. It was such a change from her happily going to the baby room like 40 feet away at the very same daycare. I’m sure being at home with her dad and I for a couple weeks over the holidays didn’t help things.

Quick question for you mamas with kids on 1 nap a day: what time is bedtime? Now that L is on 1 nap a day in the afternoon, it’s been a little hit and miss now in terms of her being ready to go to bed at 7:30pm. Sometimes she naps only for an hour (1-2pm) and she’s very ready to go bed at 7:30pm, but other days, she’s slept for almost 3 hours (waking up around 4pm), and when I put her down at 7:30pm, I’ve heard her toss and turn and fuss for up to an hour in her crib on the monitor, but I don’t go in there. The good part is that she will eventually put herself to sleep. The bad part is that she has been waking up earlier than normal regardless of what time she falls asleep… around 5am and then I hear the same thing of her tossing and turning and fussing for the next hour and a half until I go get her. So she wakes up tired and then the cycle starts all over again. I’m starting to worry that she’s not getting enough sleep now that she is on one nap a day, especially with her potentially being awake from 5am-ish until 1pm...

 

[amc80]

Jfo- thanks for asking! Um, not really. I took him to the doc the other day and he was stumped. He thought it might be fungal and gave us a prescription cream to try. So it's still a mystery, and still there.

As far as bed times. Man, that switch to one nap a day was rough. Up until a couple of weeks ago B would still take two long naps on the weekends. But suddenly, poof, no more He naps from about 12pm-3pm and then we start bath time at 7. He is usually in his crib by 7:30 and will wake up around 7am.

 

[JGator]

MP, how is Ev's cold? How is the walking going? Thanks for the compliments on K and her dress - it is from H&M - a gift from my DH's cousin.

Freke, A sounds so advanced for her age. Good luck with the big girl bed transition. Can you put some rails up?

Jfo, great to hear from you again. K is still sleeping horribly. I think she is over the cough now. Thanks for asking. L sounds really advanced with her speech repeating words that you say. K doesn't really repeat us and pretty much says Mama when she's crying only. She does point to people if we ask where they are including Grandma who was visiting from FL. But, she usually ignores us when we ask where Mama is.

AMC, I am so jealous of B's night time sleep schedule!

AFU, K has been kicking my butt with night-time wakeups. She's 14 1/2 months so I know I should not be dealing with this at this point. I have been trying to let her cry a little before going in when she wakes up in the middle of the night. So, a few times that has worked and she's gone back to sleep, but she is into the habit of having 2 bottles overnight and I really need to break her of that because she should be able to sleep without it, and I need more sleep! I held her for 30 mins at around 545am today before caving and giving her the 2nd bottle. I need to not pick her up, but I feel so sad for her when she's standing in the crib and grabbing on to me when I try to just pat her back to sleep. I feel like there are so many issues and I just don't know where to start.

1) Bottle at bedtime before falling asleep in my arms and being placed in crib.
2) Wakeups in the middle of the night
3) Screaming untils she gets a bottle in the middle of the night
4) Naps when the nanny is not here on weekends involve me giving her a bottle and rocking her to sleep. She will sleep for 20-30 mins if I put her in the crib for a nap and then wakeup/sit up and refuse to go back to sleep. If I hold/rock her, she will sleep for an hour or more for a nap.

Any advice? Should I just let her CIO for a few nights and then she'll miraculously start sleeping?

 

[amc80]

AMC, I am so jealous of B's night time sleep schedule!

AFU, K has been kicking my butt with night-time wakeups. She's 14 1/2 months so I know I should not be dealing with this at this point. I have been trying to let her cry a little before going in when she wakes up in the middle of the night. So, a few times that has worked and she's gone back to sleep, but she is into the habit of having 2 bottles overnight and I really need to break her of that because she should be able to sleep without it, and I need more sleep! I held her for 30 mins at around 545am today before caving and giving her the 2nd bottle. I need to not pick her up, but I feel so sad for her when she's standing in the crib and grabbing on to me when I try to just pat her back to sleep. I feel like there are so many issues and I just don't know where to start.

1) Bottle at bedtime before falling asleep in my arms and being placed in crib.
2) Wakeups in the middle of the night
3) Screaming untils she gets a bottle in the middle of the night
4) Naps when the nanny is not here on weekends involve me giving her a bottle and rocking her to sleep. She will sleep for 20-30 mins if I put her in the crib for a nap and then wakeup/sit up and refuse to go back to sleep. If I hold/rock her, she will sleep for an hour or more for a nap.

Any advice? Should I just let her CIO for a few nights and then she'll miraculously start sleeping?

Don't be too jealous, he didn't start consistently STTN until November or so. But that was quickly interrupted by teeth. He was also addicted to the MOTN bottle. I am not sure if I did anything to stop it, he just sort of stopped wanting it. He still wakes up in the MOTN most nights, but he will sort of whine for a minute or two and then go back to bed. I don't even get up most of the time. One thing I do do is make sure he has a decent dinner, which is hard with the pickiest child in the world. If I don't think he had enough real food I will give him a squeezy food to top him off. Then he gets a sippy with coconut milk when I put him in the crib. He spends a long time sipping that, like 20-30 minutes, and then passes out.

 

[pancake]

jgator, how does she sleep for the nanny?

 

[monkeyprincess]

JGator, I'm so sorry you're still having so much trouble with K at night. Ev has given up needing a bottle in the middle of the night for quite some time, but he still wakes up about 3-4 times a week and cries until we come get him. We've never really tried to let him cry more than a couple minutes. I'm afraid we haven't really dealt with our issue; rather, we just take him out of the crib and sleep with him on the floor in his room or if it is 4 or 5 am, we just bring him into bed with us. So, you are not alone in having a 14 (in my case almost 15 month old) who doesn't sleep through the night. I would be really frustrated if he needed MOTN bottles still. Like amc, we really make an effort to load him up at dinner and give him a full bottle or sippy cup of millk right before he goes to sleep. He also gets milk and snacks throughout the day, so I think that has helped him not need anything in the MOTN. Hugs. I hope it gets better or you find a solution. You must be exhausted!

Jfo, hi! Ev will be making the transition to the next room soon too, and I am worried about how he'll react when a schedule is finally imposed on him. Up til now, he has never really had a set schedule. Even now when he is free to take naps when he wants, he still ends up only taking one a lot of the time at daycare, and then he is tired and crabby and sometimes falls asleep on the way home. He usually is sleeping by 8 or 8:30 (at the latest) and sleeps until 6:30 or 7. I think he ends up getting an hour-long nap most days. Probably not getting enough sleep, but it's hard to force him to go to sleep! Unfortunately, TTC is not going that great. I had my third IUI about a week ago, and if this one doesn't work, we might take a break for awhile. We are kind of at the end of how much intervention were okay with, so at a certain point, I'll just have to accept that I may not be able to have another baby.

Hi everyone else!

 

[JGator]

Pancake, the nanny gets her to sleep by patting her in the crib and she sits in a chair in the room and pats again if she wakes up. I think her sleep cycles are 30 mins so she has to pat her often at the 30 minute mark. She said if she leaves the room, she won't catch her quickly enough to get her back to sleep so she sits with her Ipad in the room for the entire nap. She will take 2 naps usually one is about 45 mins to and hour and the other could go up to 1.5 hours.

AMC, thanks for making me feel better. There is possible hope for me too!

MP, she may not be eating enough during the day. She has yogurt for breakfast, usually a chicken pouch for lunch (sometimes also a vegetable or fruit pouch or cut up fruit/veg, and oatmeal often with avocado bites for dinner. She snacks on a multigrain rice cake like thing from costco or string cheese or American cheese. She has been refusing cheese lately. She eats a lot of avocado, sweet potato and pear chunks, but I doubt they are very fillling. She gets most of her milk at night. She drinks at most 8 oz in a sippy cup during the day.

 

[pancake]

JGator, I will preface this as usual by saying that S is a really easy-going bub, so my experience is obviously totally different from yours. But from my (mama and professional) perspective, here are some thoughts...

I think you have some tightly interlinked issues here.

Firstly, I think that K probably could do with a) more and b) more variety in her diet. HOWEVER, if she's having 20oz+ of milk between bedtime and the morning, you are going to struggle to get more into her. Part of that is because of her temperament - she's clearly a bub who has very strong ideas about what she wants and will dig her heels in to get it! But a large part of it is also a self-perpetuating problem in that if she's having eg 28oz of milk in 24 hours, she's not hungry. She's getting enough calories to get by without eating much so her dietary intake is not being driven by hunger. This in turn makes it possible for her to be even fussier with what she will accept, solids-wise, and because of that, she fills up on milk at night.

Secondly, re the sleep - she obviously has some very set-in-stone sleep associations - the patting from the nanny, and the rocking from you. In order to change her sleeping habits it is going to take some hard work, a lot of tears (probably also yours), and absolute conviction on the caregivers' end so that she understands that a change is happening and that she can't do anything about it. Whether you choose to do some form of attended CIO, non-attended CIO, CC, whatever you want to call it, camping out, etc - you need to decide in advance what you are willing to do, what your limits are, and stick to your guns with absolute consistency. You also need to be prepared that it may take a couple of weeks and that it may be that nobody sleeps well in the meantime. It's about the long-term gain, and that is hard to remember when you're listening to your beloved LO screaming so you need to have faith that it's the right decision before going ahead. If you start and stop, it's a bit of a disservice to both you (collective 'you' - you, DH and nanny) and K.

If it were me, I think the first thing I would tackle is cutting out the bottles at night. You could go cold turkey, or you could cut back the volume incrementally, or you could replace with water (she'll lose interest as water is boring). A stepwise plan with eg. the three main things you want to change, would be helpful to keep the big picture in mind. It sounds like the key things would be cutting out the night feeds, cutting out the rocking (again, you might do this incrementally by rocking less and eg. patting or something instead, and gradually cut that back too), and then eventually self-settling overnight.

 

[monarch64]

Oh wow, JGator, definitely don't feel like you're in the minority regarding STTN at her age! Alex took forever (it seemed) to finally stop her one remaining MOTN wakeup/need a refill. It took me a really long time to drill it into my husband's head that she needed to be weaned from the bottle and that all she could have was a sippy cup with about 2 oz. water in it at night. I thought I had all the bottles packed away, then suddenly one would reappear in her crib. WTH? He would say, "well, maybe she just isn't ready." So, now I have got them both weaned, ha ha. We had to let her CIO several times, and it was not easy. Then she got a head cold so wasn't sleeping well. Then a growth spurt. For now we seem to have overcome the hurdles and she is finally doing pretty well most nights. Instead of crying now, though, she wakes up and talks to herself. I am totally fine with that, of course.

Here's a couple recents:

 

[mlk]

JGator, I really feel for you with K's sleep issues. Up until Christmas, L was a terrible sleeper (well he started out ok but then we had a myriad of problems which completely messed up with his sleep). It got so bad tat for about 2 months he ended up in the spare room with me, mattress on the floor and me holding him own all night as he would be awake for hours on end trying to crawl off the mattress!)

His naps were also 40 minutes only. He has not been fed overnight though since about 5 months and he would fall asleep on his own but could never stay asleep.

It got so bad that we had to do CIO. It was about 2 nights where he would cry himself to sleep. I only when into his room to lay him back down, never had to pick him up and the first night I only had to get out of bed once. After 2 nights he was sleeping through 7.30-7.30 and rarely ever wakes. If he does wake it is only for a second. His naps have also gone back to at least an hour and a half if a morning, sometimes I have to wake him after two and a half hours! I hope it will continue but he is often badly effected by the wonder weeks so that will be the real test when the next one hits in a purple of weeks.

I agree with Pancake re iK's eating. I would suggest giving K some protein at dinner time. Also could all the grains at night be giving her some tummy upset/wind? Our finger food is a bit of a non event but we have fruit and porridge for breakfast and meat and vegetables for lunch and dinner.

Hugs to you and K, I really hope you are able to sort it out without too many more tears

 

[JGator]

Pancake, thank you so much for your detailed reply to my request for help. I decided to focus on the overnight bottles for now. I watered down the milk by 30% over the weekend. She still drank 2 6 oz bottles each night and tried for a 3rd one night (but I would not let her have the 3rd bottle!). Also, I am letting her cry a little before going in (about 5 mins). She really gets hysterical and it seems she is going right to the hysterical cries faster the 2nd and 3rd time she wakes up because she remembers I didn't come right away the last time. She gets so worked up she's sobbing for a long time even after she falls asleep. This is going to be tough as you said. I did cut out one bad habit already over the Christmas holiday which was bringing her to our room in the AM to get some more sleep myself. - now I get less sleep as I'm in her room with her trying to get her back to sleep at 5am so I think that's part of the reason I'm at my wit's end right now - sleep deprivation. And, I didn't mention it before, but she only wants me at night. She gets hysterical if my DH goes to her. On the eating, I am trying to ger her diet more varied. She only has 3 teeth which is why I haven't really given her much meat protein other than baby food. I tried giving her small pieces of scrambled egg multiple times and she spits them out. I tried hummus this weekend and she spit it out on 2 different days. She loves tomatoes and will eat those chopped up into bites. Any suggestions on proteins or other variety that we can add to her diet that she can eat with 3 teeth?

Monnie, I can't believe your DH was sneaking bottles to A! I'm so happy to hear she is sleeping well for you now. She really is a beautiful girl!

MLK, I took your advice last night and swapped out the oatmeal for a chicken puree. It didn't make an immediate impact on sleep, but I am going to focus on filling her up as much as I can during the day.

AFU, this weekend I focused on limiting/watering down the bottles at night and getting more food into K. The only real success there was she had a large container 200 ML chicken puree for dinner instead of oatmeal last night. She refused to eat scrambled eggs, hummus, small pieces of deli ham, and raspberries. I also watered down her bottles but she still drank them, and didn't seem to notice they were watered down. I had to give her 2 bottles per night, and I spent a good hour with her at 6am not giving her a bottle one morning. I ended up just bringing her downstairs and offering her sippy cup with milk which she refused. So, i really have a tough cookie which I will blame on my DH. Oh, we went to Gymboree play class this weekend for the first time for 10-16 month olds. K was the only one not walking or crawling (she scoots) so she actually missed out on a few things like the tunnel you are supposed to crawl through. My DH is afraid she's developmentally behind because she sat back and watched a lot and didn't participate much and then of course, couldn't get around like the other kids. I think she she just needs to be in the environment a few times before she will be comfortable. Have any of you been to these classes? We are going to try My Gym this weekend to see how she likes it before signing up for a monthly membership.

 

[monkeyprincess]

JGator, I think getting K involved in a gymboree class is a great idea, especially since she isn't around other children on a regular basis. Since Ev is in daycare and gets to be around kids around his age all day and try out all of the daycare's different equipment and activities, I haven't really felt a need to get involved in any other outside activities, but if I were in your situation, I would think gymboree would be a great one to try. One thing we probably need to do is get him in a swimming class.

Good for you for taking a stand and trying to sort out K's eating and sleeping issues. It sounds to me like she is a bit of a sensitive/high needs little one, so you have a bit more of a challenge than those with easygoing kids. (My little guy is pretty headstrong too, so I can relate somewhat). But I hope that with some persistence, you will make some progress. And I'm starting to think we need to play a little hardball with Ev too because he is waking up nearly every night and crying until we take him of the crib and sleep on the floor, but like you, I often choose to get more sleep rather than having a fight. I've just been so exhausted lately, so the thought of losing any more sleep panics me! Good luck!

Monarch, A looks like such a little girl now!

 

[JGator]

MP, I have been contemplating putting K into pre-school/daycare when she's 18 months either full or part-time because I don't think she's getting enough challenging/interesting activities at home with the nanny all day. We're going to start going to a few open houses and see what K's been missing. I also want to put her in swimming. Our county offers classes which we need to sign her up for soon. Right now, the nanny takes K to storytime weekly, but that's the extent of their activities outside the house since it's too cold to walk to the playground now. Sorry you have been exhausted lately. You have my sympathy. Here's hoping we both get over this huge sleeping hurdle with our kiddos soon!

 

[lliang_chi]

Hi JGator, don't let the lack of teeth fool you. Soft foods like overboiled pasta, small pieces of cut up meat, and cooked veggies are all fair game for her. She can actually gum a lot of food so keep giving her different choices. Maybe she doesn't like the mushy texture of baby food, so try giving her real food, like peas, carrots, and small pieces of meat (ground beef, cut up chicken or pork, sausage), cut up fruit, 1/4" slices of banana (not mashed), bread with no crust (spread some butter or spread on it to sneak some more nutrients in). It's all about exploring for her. Give her utensils too. Eat with her (and have the nanny eat with her) so she sees you guys using spoons, forks etc. And if you're worried about choking (my DH has a phobia about this) start with pea sized food and move to bigger and bigger pieces. Fair warning, it's going to get really messy and know you'll probably throw away a lot of food.
I think once she starts getting more food in her during the day you'll see her sleeping better at night. If it were me, I'd try feeding her something ever 2 hours. Literally offer something: cheese, bananas, cut up chicken, lentils, pita with hummus. When Ethan was in this stage, I just had a bunch of different food prepped in the fridge. I'd cut up a bunch of fruit, meat, pasta etc and put it in little containers. Then whenever I needed to feed him, I would just grab a prepped container.
And I agree with MP, K having more interaction will definitely help her. She sounds like she needs to observe first then will join in. Stay with her so she knows you guys are supporting her, and just let her watch and take it in. I'm sure after a week or two, she'll make her way over to the action.
Lastly, don't feel like you're doing anything wrong. Babies all have their own timeline. It's like saying something was wrong with me, since I didn't get married until 29 or have my first kid until 32 instead of the national average. Y'know? Stay strong and keep with each change for at least 1 wk before giving up and trying something else. The key is you need to stay strong and consistent. Make sure your DH and nanny are onboard too.
Also re: K's short naps, Ethan had short naps too. Until he dropped to 1 nap. Then he'd still only sleep 1.5 hrs (usual) 2 hr on a good day. Now He's more like 1.75 usual, and on a really good day over 2 hours. I think him eating more helped. Also with the bottles, we also watered down bottles. We got it to a 50% watered down bottle, and would always offer straight up water first. Until he was furious then we'd give him the bland water. Like Pancake said, water becomes boring and not worth the effort to wake up for. Between getting less milk @ night, and getting more food (especially protien) during the day, it could be enough to help K STTN more consistently. Fingers crossed for you. And FWIW, we did sleep train E (Gradual Fading: increasing increments of time up to 15 mins (2, 5, 7, 12, 15-15-15), with only verbal reassurance). But I'd sort out K's food intake before doing CIO. Once you feel that she's getting enough calories during the day, and shouldn't be hungry at night, then I'd be ready for some form of sleep training.

Monnie, I love the pics of A! She looks so grown up and absolutely adorable. How does she get along with your pup? And how does your pup get along with her. Quizas is very upset that E is so mobile now, She really can't run away from him too much. She runs into her crate and we make sure Ethan stays away when she's in there. We have started having him giver her breakfast and/or her treat wheel when we're leaving for the day (we still crate her). So I think she kinda likes him. LOL.

JFO, L sounds like so much fun! I *love* this stage when they're good. But OMG when E is having one of his fits I feel like I'm white knuckling the edge of sanity. LOL He can be really stubborn and have LOOOOONG fuss fests, like 45 mins-1 hr. But afterwards he's 100% normal, so I know he's just putting on a show. Ethan was waking a lot earlier, especially in the summer. I need to put blackout liners on his curtains before next summer rolls around. Potty stuff is going. He's peeing on the potty like a champ, but still no poops. And sinec you asked, Ethan's bedtime is 7:30, but sometimes he delays until 8PM. that's when we start the stories and bed. But stories is pretty quick, and we just put him in his crib and walk out. He might fuss a bit, but he'll roll over and go back to sleep (as long as he has his duck).

Freke, how's crib to bed transition going? Maybe you can get bed rails if you're worried about her falling out. Good signs that she's getting ready for potty training. Good luck on the master's program.

MP, is Ev in transition to the toddler room yet? We need some more pictures of your little man.

Pancake, How has S done in undies? In Kunzite's potty training thread, you said you were going cold turkey with S last week.

AFU, not much to add. Ethan's is talking a lot more now. He'll make up "stories" and can respond to other people when they talk to him/ask him questions. It's super cute and everyone loves it. He still loves books and reading. His latest food craze is apple sauce and asks for it all the time. He's too big for bibs anymore, except for his one bib that has a train on it, he'll wear it maybe 20% of the time. Still not poop success for potty training, but his sticker chart for peeing is getting CROWDED. He's counting, and it's funny because his "sixes" sound like "sh!t" so DH and I got that one on video. Lately he's been LOVING his nakey baby time, and likes to run around nakey whenever he gets a chance. He asks for it too, but I tell him he can only do it at home. I think he understands. His tantrums/fusses are getting commonplace whenever he doesn't get something he wants. Little ones at least once a day, but DH and I are pretty used to it now. Definitely Terrible Twos territory, but I really can't complain too much. He'll be turning 2 in just over a month. Not planning on doing anything big for a birthday party, but my sister will be flying back to see him, so we might just do a family zoo trip. He loves the zoo.

Attaching some recent pics. We had some crazy temperature swings: Park with just a hoodie on one weekend and snowy wonderland the next, LOL.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

JGator, you've already gotten really good advice on the sleeping and eating issues--and it sounds like you're making some headway. I was just going to chime in and ask if you might be open to having your nanny take classes with K. My K is in daycare M - Th, but I take classes with her on Fridays (rotate between swimming, art, tumbling and music). K loves the kids at daycare, but is really shy in new social settings, so I do the classes because we both enjoy them and I'm hoping to bring her out of her shell a little around unfamiliar kids. Anyway, there are a lot of nannies in the class--the parents basically sign the nanny and kid(s) up for 2 - 3 classes per week. I think it's great--in fact, if I could afford the nanny + all the costs of the classes, I might go that route myself!

I feel like I never post anymore, but that's just because there isn't much to say. I love hearing how everybody's kids are saying and doing new things. K has completely plateaued. In her defense, she's been sick for at least a month. Was sick before Christmas. Had a fever while we were travelling. Came home with a double ear infection. Just had a stomach bug last week and now she has pink eye. It's been a terrible month for us, but hopefully she starts feeling better soon!

Still following along even if I don't post as much anymore!!

 

[amc80]

JGator- Welcome to my world. B is SO picky. At least you have a kid who will try stuff before spitting it out. B just tightens his lips and shakes his head. Cheese is a good suggestion. What about some sort of nut butter? We can't do this since B is sensitive to peanuts (not allergic, but his scratch test showed a mild reaction), but that might be an option.


AFM- It seems that B has exploded, developmentally, the past few days. It's amazing how fast it happens. Suddenly he is comprehending a lot more (or listening more, hard to tell) and communicating more. I can ask him a question and he will respond/react appropriately. For example, I will say it's time to change his diaper and we need to go upstairs, and to the stairs he goes...and then right to his changing table. Or I will see him standing in the corner and he will point to his diaper and say "poop." I'll ask him if he pooped and he will walk over to me, turn around, and sort of bend over so I can check. It's really amazing how fast these changes are happening!

Oh, and can we all say a prayer that this poop realization will mean he will be eager and quick to potty train?

 

[lliang_chi]

NEL, Oh poor K! I really hope she catches a break from all the sickies Ethan will be sad that his girlfriend has had a rough month... I hope she gets better before the new baby arrives.

AMC, wow, go B!!! I really hope the potty training will be coming easily for you. E can sit around completely unfazed by a poopy diaper. So I'm definitely jealous.

 

[monkeyprincess]

amc, that is cute B is starting to know his routines and respond to commands. Ev is pretty funny because I've noticed a lot on the weekend that when he needs to go #2, he goes under our table or DH's desk. One time, before I caught on to what he was doing, he waved me away when I came up to him. I guess that is good that he is starting to at least know when he is going. But like LC's E, Ev could care less about sitting around in a dirty diaper!

NEL, I hope K feels better soon. Life is about to change for her big time, so I'm guessing there will be more ups and downs while she adjusts to the new baby.

LC, I just love E. He is so cute and sounds like such a sweet kid. I can't wait until Ev starts talking more! Too funny about the "sixes." Ev babbles constantly, and one of the sounds he makes all the time sounds like "sh#$" too. DH and I are always looking at each other like did he just say what I think he said.

Since everybody else is sharing, I felt compelled to share Ev's lates things. He keeps trying to pick things up and walk with them even if they are way too big or cumbersome. Yesterday, he was petting the cat, and all of a sudden he gets up and starts grabbing the cat and grunting like he is going to pick him up. Our cat is not petite, and weighs only a few pounds lighter than Ev! He says "wow" to everything he finds cool. If you turn on a light or the tv, he looks and the light and yells "wow." If you show him a new toy, he yells "wow." He also has this Mirror Me book that he likes me to read to him. Does anybody else have that? It's really short and basic and every page has a mirror and encourages the baby to imitate a sound or make a face, etc. Ev used to look up at me and laugh when I made the sound or made a face, but then he started doing it himself. Now, even without the book, whenever we say to him, "Gecko opens his eyes big and wide." He knows he's supposed to say "Wow." And when you say, "The frog sticks outs his long, pink tongue," he says "Blah" in a monster voice. Cracks me up every time. Oh, and if you sing the Wheels on the Bus, he tries to sing the "All through the town part." I could go on and on, but I won't. Needless to say, I love this age!

 

[amc80]

He keeps trying to pick things up and walk with them even if they are way too big or cumbersome. Yesterday, he was petting the cat, and all of a sudden he gets up and starts grabbing the cat and grunting like he is going to pick him up.

OMG B just did this last week. Except he did actually pick up our large (18lb) cat and was carrying him around. The cat did not look thrilled. Maybe not so impressive since B is 31 lbs so there's a decent weight difference between him and the cat. On Christmas he found a gallon jug of water, squatted down, picked it up, and brought it to the kitchen. He likes to lift boxes of diapers as well.

 

[FrekeChild]

JGator - wow it sounds like you have a lot going on right now! I'd do the same - get as much solid food in her during the day as possible and start cutting back on the bottles. I'd also let her CIO. It sucked so bad when we were doing it, but she was over it within a week. I'd really starting hitting it hard right now because man, as they get older, they get even tougher and more stubborn, and more clever about things! We made so many mistakes with A with sleep from the very beginning, and spent a lot of time, effort and money trying to fix them.


Last night was the first night A slept alone in her big girl bed. I woke up at 9am, couldn't hear any noise through the baby monitor and freaked out. I went in there to check on her and actually woke her up. Oops. Oh well, it was time to wake up anyway.

I have pillows, rails, and even a pool noodle under her sheet(since we have a pool, it has a future use!) blocking her from falling off, and then I also put her naked crib mattress on the floor, just in case. Which she loves to flop around on. She's bordering on 3 feet tall (at last measurement she was 34.75 inches) and the top of the mattress is a few inches above her head. So falling off is a pretty serious concern of mine!

Have you guys done haircuts yet? A's hair is actually pretty long, but it's so curly that it doesn't look that long yet. and she has my hair, so it's thin and fine, and tangles SO EASILY. I'm thinking about getting it trimmed, but haven't made the move just yet...

 

[amc80]

Freke- Her hair is SO cute! We've gotten B many haircuts. His hair isn't baby hair- it's adult hair. It's not fine and whispy- it's thick and plentiful. I just took him for a cut yesterday, actually. He was sobbing. But he sat really still, so that is the upside.

And thank you for the description of the bed. We are a few months away from having to move B to a bed and it really freaks me out.

 

[JGator]

LC, thanks for your input and ideas on foods K can try. I was able to give her some bites of Toddler organic ravioli last night in addition to her usual chicken puree. I also found 2 new teeth that broke the surface so she's up to 5 with 3 visible. I liked your analogy on the getting married/having kids timeline since I'm a late bloomer there too (got married at 39 and had K at 41!). I followed your advice and gave K a bottle of water first during both of her overnight bottles last night. She gulped happily for a few seconds and then turned her face and started crying! Love your pics of Ethan. He looks so happy and that's great that he loves his nakey time.

NEL, I am open to having the nanny go to classes with K. I would prefer if DH or I could attend with her though. She does a storytime with the nanny now. We are trying to find some weekend options like Gymboree/My Gym. Our county offers a lot of classes (many are 18 month and older though), but most of those are during my working hours so I will likely sign up K for one of those also. Sorry to hear K has been sick lately.

AMC, I can try peanut butter but I think the texture may be too much for her since she didn't like hummus. I will try though. That's great that B is really understanding and communicating with you more lately.

MP, I will have to look for that Mirror Me book. Ev sounds really advanced with his verbal and cognitive skills. And, physical too, trying to pick up your cat.

Freke, I love A's curls and her boots too. Thanks for your advice and empathy on K's sleeping troubles. I know we are going to have to do some form of CIO to really get her sleeping. I dread it though. We haven't done a hair cut, but K's hair is always in her eyes if I don't have a barette or rubber band in her hair to keep it out of her face.

AFU, we had another fun night last night. DH was travelling. I was able to give K more food than usual at nighttime. She had an 8 oz bottle of milk at bedtime. She woke up briefly a couple hours after falling asleep, and I just patted her. At 330, she was up for about an hour (couldn't get her to go to sleep in her crib) and had a 6 oz watered down bottle and again she was up at 545 for a 2nd bottle which she didn't finish. And, then she was up again at 630 when she finished the 2nd bottle. And, then she was up again at 7am, and I just took her to our bed because I was exhausted. She slept till 8 in our bed and looked refreshed this AM! However, I was not feeling peppy this AM! One day at a time!

 

[Puppmom]

Jgator, just wanted to send you a *hug*. N1 was a terrible sleeper. He's 3.5 now and still not great but it's manageable. It sounds like this is just habit for K at this point. N1 is very much a creature of habit so we have to be careful what things we let infiltrate our routine because we often ended up just replacing one bad habit for another. Nursing in the MOTN turned into rocking turned into patting etc.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Freke, just had to chime in since we have not cut K's hair yet, either. She also has curls, so her hair looks shorter than it is. I am actually all for getting it cut because right now she's rocking a mullet, but D is afraid that she'll lose her curls when we cut her hair (neither of us has curly hair). Anyway, I'm slightly concerned that the longer we wait, the more afraid she's going to be when we do finally cut it. I wonder if I should pretend to cut her hair or something?

LC, I feel like I always forget to respond to you! I love the pictures of E and if I'm at home, I show them to Katie and tell her that it's her friend Ethan. Once she even said "Eeeee", which I'm considering Katie's effort to tell Ethan hello.

JGator, sorry you had another tough night. You have to be exhausted. K went through a phase at 15/16 months where she would wake up at 5:30 and want a bottle (I think it started as a growth spurt and turned into a habit). I'd decided to CIO after we got back from a vacation and she ended up dropping the bottle during the vacation--I think she was so tired from being worn out that she just slept through it. Anyway, I wish I had some helpful advice...sometimes all you can tell yourself is that everything is temporary.

MP, the "wow" thing is so funny. K just started something similar and I find it to be hilarious. I guess I never realized how comical toddlers could be, but they are!

amc, you've got a little weight-lifter on your hands!! I can't believe he carried around a gallon jug of water--that's heavy!

Pancake, I can't believe that S is in undies, that's amazing! She seems like the perfect PT candidate--communicative and easy-going...I really hope the transition was easy for you!

Quick question for all of you: are your toddlers really particular about things? Like hands getting dirty, toys being a certain way, food being cut a certain way, etc.? I know that toddlers can be that way, just trying to figure out if my kid is a little OCD. She doesn't like it when her cups leak, she doesn't like getting her hands dirty, she likes her doll a certain way in the stroller...you get the idea. I try to encourage her to get her hands a little dirty when she eats, not worry about milk that leaks from a cup, but I'm worried that she's inherited our bad OCD genes.