Hello Mudduh Hello Fadduh: ILX Rolling Parenting Thread

We'll probably start testing solids (i.e. cereal) in the next week or so. Oh, the mess that is. Plus, it takes about five times as long to feed and you have to drag food stuff out of the house with you all the time...way more planning involved.

Teeny and Gypsy: the worry about school never ends. Ever. My three year old is starting to read and I had some private school snob come up to me and warn me that the public school would probably "give him a bad early reading experience." I wonder if that bitch rude woman heard me curse her under my breath as she walked off.

This sounds wonderful. Still waiting for Ava (14 months) to learn the value of the gentle touch (starring Jill Gaiscogne) - she slaps and smacks and pokes and prods and we're wary of letting her interact with her neighbourhood contemporaries for this reason. We guide her hand in a soft stroking motion to persuade that there is another way to touch Daddy's face which doesn't involve drawing blood, which she finds hilarious, and eventually builds up the stroking to a frenzy of scratching. Original nuttah.

I taught Edith to say cock-a-oodle-doo.

It comes out as doodle-oodle-oodle-oodle-oo.

I am not very keen on other parents. On the whole, they seem like a bunch of twats.

Present company excepted, of course.

But it does strike me as a problem, how to interact with others without feeling like an alien.

They're never too young for call centre work.

xpost

Here's Ava at 14 months, 8 days:

http://static.flickr.com/45/132975662_d6b85944fe.jpg

Ophelia is now exactly 100 days old. I know this because we are celebrating this. It's a Japanese celebration. Strange? Maybe, but you gotta remember my parents live in Japan. :-) It'll be a blast. :-)

I feel so weird for recognizing that label on Ava, ie Quinny. Anyhow, Ava is so beautiful! Those eyes!!!!

My awww moment this week: watching Emma and Sammy work together on their project for their school's science inquiry fair. They didn't fight hardly at all, and Emma was very patient with her fact-laden but kinda-hyper lil bro, whereas Sam tried hard to stay on task and not just let his sister do all the work.

UNO--OH NO. Must scrounge up. There were some baseball movies at the library but they were too sporty for me. Games, and arts, and crafts? Don't the kids like to vegetate anymore?

My mom says they are happy just drawing and making up their own games together.

mary, why don't you like Uno? I don't know how down an 11 yr old might be with drawing and making up games. My cynicsm tells me that playstation-attention-span already has a hold by that age.

And oh my god Ava's eyes. They could be prescribed as therapy :)

Oh well, they stayed with their grandparents. Perhpas they read this thread and were turned off by my entertainment ideas.

Edith was trying to hop yesterday, influenced by the boy next door.

http://static.flickr.com/49/134993365_70be31eb07.jpg

Baby K is now 2 1/2 months. It's remarkable how distinct she is to our other child at the same age. They're like totally different people.

Latest phase for 2 y/o is that when both parents are present, he's totally fixated on me, always underfoot, "up, up, up, up?!", cries when I leave the room, but he's dismissive and difficult w/ Mrs. Hunter, "NO! GO AWAY!" *push*. Do I just need to be the less permissive or more distant parent for a while? He's not like that to her when I'm not around.

anyway around here we've had slightly sick boy for a few days. he threw up a few times and has run a low fever. we think it's teething-related, because he's got a whole set coming in (his mouth is getting full of teeth, it's a little frightening really). i'm not sure why teething would make him throw up, but it seems like it's caused by gagging (maybe because he's not used to all those teeth being there?). anyway, last time he was like this with the teething it just lasted a few days, so maybe today he'll be more himself. poor kid. when he's sick i just feel like i'd do anything for him, you know? like, there's some kind of "sick kid" switch that gets turned on and i'm willing to put up with any amount of fussing or vomiting or whatever's going on, until he feels better again. one of those parenting mechanisms that you don't know you have until you need it.

Met an old college friend up on Merseyside this weekend and got to cuddle his 9-week-old daughter; I'd forgotten how tiny, light and fragile they are at that age. A timely reminder, I suppose.

Baby K is beautiful.

My little one (5 months last week, WTF!!!!!!!!!!) is getting rice cereal before bed every night now. She's probably teething. She's had a nasty cold, too. Misery for like three weeks. What is sex like, anyway? I can't remember.

here's a few from easter weekend, one in his easter outfit and one not:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/gypsyfrocksbedlam/Zollereaster06.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/gypsyfrocksbedlam/ZollerApril06.jpg

Anyhow, gotta go breastfeed Ophelia now. :-)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/gypsyfrocksbedlam/zollerblaine.jpg

(and is not terribly impressed)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IIuIiC5ZLY

(sorry for the shitty quality)

So how about crying? I have been told I should leave her crying (without ferberizing) which TOTALLY FUCKING freaks me out. I know I should not spoil her, but I can't just leave her crying. :-( How do I find a middle road? I think ferberizing (sp?) is the way to go.

Ophelia still doesn't sleep through the night but then I do give her last bottle around 7 or 8 pm and she now sleeps until about 3 or, like this morning, 4 am. I don't really mind, but I know that sooner or later I'll need to *stretch* it.

http://static.flickr.com/51/141391974_33a30705f5.jpg?v=0

This is on her 100 days. My parents bought this Gap dress.

I'm afraid Ava raspberries a little too often - usually a third of the way through meal-time. Other developments: a seventh tooth and a terror of bubbles. We thought we'd be in for guaranteed roffles when we bought one of those bubble magic guns but, no - she screams and shakes with fear. I pick her up to console her and her eyes dart around, making sure they've all popped.

We Ferberize now (without knowing it was referred to as that) but certainly not at the age Ophelia is; we just couldn't leave her to cry at that age. Also, as I'm sure you know, there are different intensities of crying and some just aren't going to dissipate after 5 or 10 minutes. We were fortunate in that Ava was always a good sleeper so we weren't tested too often; if we'd had a colicky baby (and who knows with #2) perhaps we'd have been Ferberizing at every opportunity.