ILX Parenting 5: I'm a big kid now

I ordered a plain, Joovy brand walker even though August can walk. She will be so tired, ready for bed and shoot off walking, trip and fall back. Just too drowsy. I thought a walker in the evenings may help until she's got it down a bit better or learns to just get to bed. Don't know how correct my thinking is on this.

The other reason I got it is because I had a feeling she would enjoy eating in it. So far, I am right on that. She has eaten everything I have given to her in this walker. She can eat anywhere and I think she likes that. I also needed a place to put her on "pause" while I checked the oven, used the bathroom etc... It arrived today and has been a great upgrade to her playpen. She cannot stand the playpen, that is going away and her bouncer is only fun for five seconds. Hoping the interest in that returns. It is for up to 18 months and I'd use it if I could. Nice recliner/bouncer...

Oh man I miss the days of the bouncer. I think it was called a jumperoo or something. Abby had so much fun she would practically bounce right out of it. Eventually though, she realized that sometimes we were putting her in there and she rebelled against it. Probably only lasted a couple of months.

Going through a phase where she's really growing up mentally and suddenly able to engage in basic conversations about things, sometimes events that happened days ago. Her little imagination is developing and I'm starting to see her just get totally immersed in a little world of play with all her toys. It's so awesome, but suddenly I'm looking at her and she's a kid, not a baby anymore. I'm tearing up on the regular.

The jumperoo worked for us for a bit but given that K is a one-year-old nearly the size of a two-year-old (literally, not kidding), and that we live in an apartment building, we thought her thunderous jumping might not be pleasing the neighbors.

In addition to saying words (in both languages) K started to unleash these extremely long strings of babble, like she'll just sit there in her high chair and hold forth for five minutes straight as though delivering a lecture.

How's life: I am starting to tear up as this 9th month is passing by at a way faster rate than previous months....Tonight J said he wishes she'd stay this age a while longer. My dad told me he remembers me well at 9-12 months. But your post reminds me that there is just more fun to come...and tears.

Hurting: August has started that this week...not very long but short spurts of what sounds like speaking in tongues. Done with such conviction...

Looking like August will tolerate the walker long enough for me to get a quick chore done but will sit a lot longer in the evenings. She seems to relax a bit while in it in the evenings. But also J comes home and she misses him and stays by his side the entire evening.

I don't think I have more fun on Valentine's than I did this year. Not since I was five or six. Threw a lil party for August and it just became an occasion for us. So that's what a family of three is like :)

daughter now periodically adopting faux British accent, which is pretty funny

lol where did that come from

Julie Andrews movies? maybe episodes of Angelina?

it uh might be my fault too, as I periodically lapse into comedy cockney/Irish/scottish accents whenever any subject involving the British Isles comes up

Ha!!!

explaining cockney rhyming slang to your child also endless source of comedy fwiw

tera (re: the walker) we had one of these for both beatrice (pond style) and henry (jungle style). they both LOVED it. We would put henry in that thing when we got home and he'd be so busy in there like he was at the office and had a ton of work to do. Always good for a 30 minute break for the parents too.

http://www.nestingmode.com/uploads/product/12175343790.jpg

lol 'like he was at the office' - so cute

^^^ YES, this made me laugh too :) Okay so I know what I need to do!!!

Survived one year of parenting. Party this morning for birthday. DRINKING.

Awwww Happy Birthday, K and Hurting :)

yay dranks

for those of you that haven't run across this info elsewhere on ilx, K and I are joining your ranks (17 weeks in as of this coming thursday). which means that right now el kiddo is the size of an avocado iirc. the other weird thing is that k went from not really looking pregnant to looking like for sure pregnant over the course of a few days. odd world.

CONGRATS

babbys are awesome

anybody else experience the weirdo moment where you give yer pregnant person a hug and suddenly their belly is in a totally unexpected place and very firm? its so weird! i ended up hugging k to the point of annoyance once i noticed this, so i should probably cut it out to be honest

awww..yay! im happy for you two.

hi fives yall

Awwww Congratulations!!!!!!!

While on here...have a question: What are two year olds like in terms of stranger danger/ separation anxiety?

Is it not unusual for them to really want to go to a grocery store then freak out and want to be picked up or have a meltdown once in the store because their are too many people or they don't fee safe or something?

*there

I haven't had any problems like that with Ab by in a supermarket or anything, but she's reached an age where things scare her that hadn't before. We have a few Halloween decorations* up around our house and whereas she didn't used to care about them, sometimes she'll start to cower and meltdown and when I ask her what's wrong, she'll say "skull" or "monster" and so I'll turn the decoration away or act out something silly with it to show her that there's no reason to be afraid. She also gets afraid of ghosts and monsters in tv shows we watch. Once again, really family-friendly stuff like Scooby Doo or whatever.

Anyway, I know that's not what you asked, but at 2, I can definitely understand a little fear kicking in where it wasn't previously.

*very basic, kid-friendly stuff. Nothing gory or anything. Our son has always enjoyed them.

Also, regarding grocery trips, it might depend on how the parent in question is dealing with the child. I do the shopping in my house and like to bring Abby along. At our store, they have little toddler sized carts, which are her favorite. She'll push it alongside me with my big cart and I'll let her take a small, lightweight item and put it in her basket. On most days, she can hang throughout the whole shopping trip without getting tired. I dunno, that's our shopping experience. The only time she really melts down is if she's too tired.

Scooby Doo has some dark shit, man. Especially the newer ones.

Beeps goes from drawing ghosts and skeletons and spiders, hanging them on the walls around the house to being scared of zombies because her door rattles for a second when the heat comes on.

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/the_kids/2013/02/why_does_my_kid_freak_out_the_science_behind_toddler_tantrums.html

Given all this, is it really that surprising that tantrums happen as frequently as they do? There are certainly good and bad ways for parents to handle poor behavior (an issue for another column), but the existence of tantrums, and the tendency for toddlers to tackle their woes through screaming and hitting and throwing, is perfectly normal because it’s sometimes “the toddler’s only recourse,” says Tovah Klein, director of the Barnard College Center for Toddler Development. If your universe were amazing and terrifying and frustrating and unpredictable, and you didn’t have good communication skills or a whole lot of experience or much of a frontal lobe, you’d freak the fuck out every once in a while, too.

that bit about language helping them to name and express their emotions is totally otm, that was a big part of our preschool co-op's curriculum. instead of admonishing them when they freak out, help them label how they're feeling ("It seems like you're upset/angry/sad" etc.)

yeah communication is a huge factor in frustration obv

Beeps goes from drawing ghosts and skeletons and spiders, hanging them on the walls around the house to being scared of zombies because her door rattles for a second when the heat comes on.

― pplains, Tuesday, February 26, 2013 9:30 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i keep meaning to explain to her that zombies cant get up our stairs with those stiff legs and all. oh and they probably haven't retained enough high functioning brain matter to be so polite as to knock on her bedroom door

Dying at the 46 reasons my three year old might be freaking out.

A lot of these were adorable...

After reading these I remembered I was two or three when I would freak out at the sight of this dead tree at the end of my street. My mom took me walking and explained to me the tree had been struck by lightening and that is what killed it. I was so scared of it after that and would freak out halfway there. I thought lightning would kill me if I was near it.

Giving the twins purses and some spending money or a grocery cart was an idea, Life, going to try that.

Shakey, I tried to help them label but didn't stick with it at all.

That article is awesome, explains a lot. Thanks, Mordy!

lil nautilus (thats what we are calling it until we know what kind of thing it is) is now the size of a bell pepper apparently and waving its arms around and crap. k has not noticed the motions as of yet. i am disappointed that el prego website compares the kid to food throughout but does not refer to the ounces with comparisons to liquor (yes i know its not the same thing). your baby is 7 oz., about the size of a mickeys big mouth after you have had a few pulls.

I'm already enjoying this new phase of yr life

this is a song my wife wrote about the "your kid is now the size of this vegetable" thing but it's from our kids album so it's pretty twee (no alcohol comparisons) http://thepetrifiedforest.bandcamp.com/track/jumping-bean

thats pretty freaking adorable

the vegetable thing is so ridiculous - "your child is now the size of a rutabaga" etc

jeez n/a, that's just too cute. I might have to download.

this series of comic books/graphic novels for kids is pretty awesome: http://www.toon-books.com/. they have a bunch of them at our library but we ended up ordering "stinky" because evie loved it so much. "little mouse gets ready" and "maya makes a mess" are also recommended by me.

the fact that email preggo server just described young nautilus as the size of a "large heirloom tomato" gives me much insight into their target demographic

'the size of a handcrafted artisanal latte'

large heirloom tomatoes are a different size than large regular tomatoes you see

Yesterday, while i waited in line at Comcast to swap out another busted DVR, Rachael Ray was making some disgusting food on the ridic large tv in front of me. All I recall her saying, in a super excited manner, was 'Now were ready to use our Cherry Tomatoes!!!!' Then in a much MUCH more deflated tone 'I guess you could use Heirloom Tomatoes if that's all you have." AND THEN she had the audacity to SHRUG. Rachael Ray is an embryo and fetus hater. What a bitch.

tbf, I think cherry tomatoes probably have a lower proportion of water and therefore cook better than heirloom. sort of like roma tomatoes.

oh she actually cooks?

oh lol IDK. Maybe she was just dumping them into mac and cheese.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-mcWksBn1PmA/UUCblnD1nQI/AAAAAAAAAUo/HOd1yyIEGT0/w480-h480/DSCN0207.JPG

2 months old, already 15 lbs 4 oz, 25.5 in long
I love this kid soooooo much

!! what a love <3

Happy little chap. Surprised he's not in a Ginobli jersey tbf