ILX Parenting 5: I'm a big kid now

It's like, we give K meatballs and broccoli, which she likes, she eats two bites and then

K: Want pickle.

Me: No we're having meatballs for dinner.

K: Want pickle.

Me: No, eat your meatballs.

K: Pickle!

Me: no.

K: WANT!!!

Me: No, meatballs

(this goes on for several minutes, she finally gives up on pickle)

K: Water.

(I give her her sippy cup)

K: Water in a cup!

(I pour her water into a little plastic cup)

K: Big cup! Big!

Every dinner is like this the entire dinner.

yeah the move to once a day poop (or even enery other day) is totally normal. and wonderful imo, concentrate the horror into one 5 minute WHERE ARE THE WIPES MY GOD panic attack

Oh man seriously, if my little girl wanted a pickle, I'd give her a pickle. She's so picky about her food, I'll give her anything she expresses a desire for.

One of our boys absolutely despises pooping, to the point where we brought it up with our pediatrician because the amount of horror expressed every time he has something even vaguely resembling a bowel movement led us to believe he had some sort of horrible digestive issue, like maybe an unnoticed hernia. He doesn't, but the terrified "OH MY GOD WHAT IS HAPPENING" wails when he poops/farts are a little wearying.

eventually he will smile and beam at you while doing it, which is better but somehow far more insulting

That's where the other one is, accompanied by concerted attempts to backflip out of your arms as he contorts himself around pushing food through his guts.

Ivy did the same poop wailing thing!!! I think it just freaks them the fuck out, like "why is my body doing thingsssss omg." She grew out of it by 3 months.

I admit that while 95% of myself cringes in horror while watching my son go through his screaming poop contortions, there's a horrible 5% that is far too amused at the horrified expressions he makes and how quickly they come and go when he's in crisis; he basically flips between binaries states of "ho hum, I'm napping" and "WHAT FRESH HELL IS THIS" over the course of about 5 seconds and the speed of change and absolute commitment to the platonic essence of each emotion is amazing.

(our doctor said the poop wailing was a very common thing, especially in premies, and that he'd grow out of it, so I am not TOO worried about it, but damn)

How many weeks were your boys?

I sort of feel like Ivy's digestive system just took awhile to come fully on line.

he basically flips between binaries states of "ho hum, I'm napping" and "WHAT FRESH HELL IS THIS" over the course of about 5 seconds and the speed of change and absolute commitment to the platonic essence of each emotion is amazing.

LOL redefining living in the moment.

They were 31 weeks. They were incredibly small well-formed babbys; neither was intubated and only one had a CPAP to give his lungs extra pressure while breathing for about 12-16 hours after delivery (coincidentally the same one who is terrified by the act of pooping).

Whisper softly to him that it's only a CRAP that's coming... Shhh

haha I have tried that, for some reason six-week-olds are curiously resistant to reasoned arguments

That's fantastic for 31 weeks! Super babbies!

I love that speed and purity of emotion thing so much. "You ... You ... Tickled my chin? Wait.... HAHAHAHAH I AM THE HAPPIEST PERSON ALIVE OH ... Hang on, I think I AM HUNGRY THIS IS THE WORST THING EVER FIX IT"

Being woken at 5am by Fartacus aka Baron Trumpington: C or D?

xps, pickle was just the first thing that came to mind. The problem is not so much whether or not to give her a pickle, but whether to giver her a pickle, then a cracker, then a cookie, then five blueberries, then some grapes, then a slice of cheddar cheese, when each thing you're giving her she's taking one bite of and asking for something else (ok not the cookie, she'll finish the cookie).

Wait how did I totally miss/not know about Dan being a dad? Congrats!

He did a low-key kinda roll-out.

it's good to read this thread after what has seemed like weird negativity w/r/t kids 'round these parts of late

speaking of, how is babby omar these days?

though I'm guessing not so much of a babby now

Negativity where? Maybe I don't want to see it.

I just experienced my first "baby spews formula all over you" moment. It's not fun.

why are you so negative dan

Am I supposed to be psyched when one of my kids vomits all over me?

yep you're supposed smile wistfully and shake your head as vomit drips off your neck and onto the floor

dammit

I need a pamphlet

You're supposed to call it "spit up" to further distance you from the reality of what's running down your shirt front (or pooling in your bra).

BARF

"Spit up" seems worse, like he intentionally saved up a bunch of formula to yak at me in retaliation for feeding him.

Do Americans call the little spit-ups possets like we do here? Kind of Shakespearean, makes me feel learned when I say it.

what wd possets u to call baby barf possets

sorry there was some opinions abt kids on a couple other threads that were bummers to me. my kid is great, VG! he's "a big boy now" as he says. Especially now that he uses the potty for most #1s. (#2s are still training pants-centric.)

This morning I learned how many times in a row an angry three-year-old can shriek "I WANT YOGURT RAISINS" in a 15-minute period. Answer: about 800 billion.

Like if you don't say anything other than I WANT YOGURT RAISINS for 15 minutes and you just say it over and over again, you end up saying I WANT YOGURT RAISINS a lot.

Not a challenge but a sincere request for advice: how do you not just give her the damn yogurt raisins because if you have to hear I WANT YOGURT RAISINS one more time your head is literally LITERALLY I MEAN LITERALLY going to melt off your neck? Because that has to be the hardest thing and I don't know if I'll be up for it.

Once again, I would die of happiness if my little girl wanted to eat yogurt raisins. : )

I'd eat them all right in front of her, then the request can no longer be fulfilled.

This morning I learned how many times in a row an angry three-year-old can shriek "I WANT YOGURT RAISINS" in a 15-minute period. Answer: about 800 billion.

― Immediate Follower (NA), Thursday, April 17, 2014 11:40 AM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

looool

one time we counted how many times J pleaded "mama mama mama, mama, mama, mama, mama...mama...mama..mama mama mama" in a particular 5 minute period, it was 120 times i think

Not a challenge but a sincere request for advice: how do you not just give her the damn yogurt raisins because if you have to hear I WANT YOGURT RAISINS one more time your head is literally LITERALLY I MEAN LITERALLY going to melt off your neck? Because that has to be the hardest thing and I don't know if I'll be up for it.

― carl agatha, Thursday, April 17, 2014 10:43 AM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Like with basically every other aspect of parenting, the annoyance is balanced out by guilt and fear (in this case, of being a terrible parent who doesn't enforce any rules or encourage a healthy diet).

I constantly worry about being too lenient and giving in too easily. Yesterday we gave her three VERY easy chores to do before dinner and she did half of one of them and then sat on the floor and cried because no one was helping her.

These stories are hilarious! Is it, like, the flip side of discovering that learning & using language gets results? Is it like when a kid learns that flipping a lightswitch has an effect and they want to do it 100x in a row?

think most of that stuff is not worth worrying about. it's annoying but I don't think it augurs any long term problems. also chores suck

xp

Yeah, ounce of prevention, etc. A bit of not giving in when they're wee usually (not always, of course) leads to less of that nonsense when they are a bit older. At this point as soon as I hear any digging in, I'm like "oh, so you want to PLAY?!"

Didn't know until just now that yogurt raisins were unhealthy! Palm oil? I've been fooled.

No, they're fine. There was other stuff going on too (she had already picked out another snack, we were on our way out of the house, she only wants to eat sweet things so I'm hesitant to give her more sweet stuff, etc.).