ILX Parenting 3: Back In (Potty) Training

yes, ss, i know of one. but it's a rarity. :-)

is it my imagination, or did everyone stop posting pictures after that "do you want to have kids" thread?

Here's a few of Owen:

Owen with his first Thomas toy (he is already addicted to Thomas):
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2369/2410617598_00f6291757.jpg

Owen reading to his mommy:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2411/2410608720_dc736ce8db.jpg

Owen, close-up:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2393934990_207de2a605.jpg

here's a pic of abby that really sums up her personality these days, equal parts adorable and mischievous:

http://www.appelstein.com/daddyabby.jpg

it's as if you can see her thinking, "what can i get into next?"

re crying it out: we didn't really do it for either one. c and i have used many elements of of attachment parenting for both kids, which includes co-sleeping. i know that there are some that warn that co-sleeping makes the kids needy and dependent, but we haven't seen that with either one. if anything, it took the edge off of moving them into separate rooms. take abby: as an infant, she cried and cried for hours at bedtime. the moment we moved her into her own room (about 11-12 months old), the crying stopped almost completely. she's got a wicked independent streak anyway.

I posted this already on the cellpwn thread:

http://www.axcessmypics.com/photos/photo05/95/60/14e0e00e3c9e.jpg

Beeps backseat drivin'.

backseat telekinesisin'!

where is everyone? pick up the photo pace, people.
Here are some beeps at the zoo pics:

On the carousel:
http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/792/zoobeats1tp4.jpg
Chillin
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/3606/zoobeats2mm8.jpg
Her best elephant impression:
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/7357/zoobeats3rl8.jpg

Yay for Beeps!

No arty shots this time, but something a bit more representative of home life - which is, increasingly, Ava and Lulu playing together reasonably harmoniously. There are still tears and tantrums but also some unprovoked bouts of sharing and cooperation - Ava is fiercely protective of little sis and gets wobbly-lip upset when I tell Lulu off... "Don't talk to my sister like THAT!"

You can guess what happened next here:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2235/2410584208_c2d0aa379f.jpg

Story time:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3282/2442046416_9322ab0d7d.jpg

Ava is fiercely protective of little sis and gets wobbly-lip upset when I tell Lulu off... "Don't talk to my sister like THAT!"

That is unbelievably sweet.

I cant believe how much Lulu has grown up! It seems like she was a teeny tiny thing in leopard print a few weeks ago.

The boys are probably getting sick, just in time for T and I to head out to "Higher Wiscombe" in the UK for a wedding. Mom-in-law is coming to take care of them for a whole week! I can't imagine how much they are going to change by the time we get back. And I can't imagine what an awesome break it will be to take a week off from them ;)

These days, the boys are pretty fun. They already know all the letters and numbers 1-10, which is pretty impressive for 17 months. Owen has an unhealthy Thomas habit, and Ben is working on his sense of humor. He makes all these funny-sounding voices to see if he can crack us up (it works).

Owen delivering an "R"
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2235/2438176040_057f85f776.jpg

"Hello? Hello?"
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2326/2437371667_e20e473a1c.jpg

Ben mackin' on his sheep blankie
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3226/2443647429_25bd968991.jpg

OK, David, way to destroy my "aweness" of my own daughter cause she can count. ;-)

Ophelia really likes her sister! She loves to share toys (!!!!!), say her sister smiles,... She sometimes feeds her. Well, shove a spoon in her mouth. hah.

I'm addicted to breastfeeding, I fear. I did start solid food a little earlier than planend, but on the whole I'm still BFing about four times a day.

Liesje is waking up early. Five am most mornings. *sigh* :-)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2107/2422578813_b5153a3e1f.jpg

Hoodie in training:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/ColveyClan/SBto1nQ1wfI/AAAAAAAAGiw/t0BmCneIAqQ/s144/CIMG0319.JPG

Oh yeah I thght her third tooth was coming out... but then I noticed it was on the side of her gum. Like a pearl. The doctor (on the phone) said it wasn't a tooth but some pearl and I needn't worry. Urgh. Anyone else experience this?

Oops, bit bigger:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/ColveyClan/SBto1nQ1wfI/AAAAAAAAGiw/t0BmCneIAqQ/s400/CIMG0319.JPG

Oh and next week she's going to the creche two half days a week (from July it'll be more). I feel sad already. :-((((((((

Meg, those EYES! So beautiful!!!!

Don't know much about pearls, except that I think they are pretty common and not a big deal. We have just had the top molars coming through, which was pretty nasty.

H has been walking holding hands for ages but doesn't really seem that bothered about going it alone, he takes a few steps now and then but that's all. We took him caravanning this week and he loved it, even slept well in his travel cot, although we too have had some early mornings recently. Must be the early sunrise <sigh>

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/1053/greatfairypf7.jpg

Cuteness! All over the thread, but particularly the tutu

Aidan still has no teeth, I fear when they come they will come all at once. Doesn't stop him eating though, I thoroughly recommend baby led weaning, one of the best decisions I ever made. He's been crawling just about 3 months now and cruising the furniture nearly two but I don't think he'll be an early walker because he can get around so quickly and easily as it is, there's not really any incentive.

Early awakenings are a common occurence in our house too.

I'm going back to work on 21st of July, three weeks short of his first birthday. I'm not sure if he'll have dropped his daytime feed by then, He did manage to go a whole 8 hours during the day on wed, so hopefully by then, and with me not there for easy access, he'll not be bothered about it and we'll just do mornings and evenings.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2092/2457516158_b702d33e97.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2288/2362513672_34623f9d8e.jpg

We dropped Howie's daytime feed at 13 months, he accepted it fine when presented with a plate of cheese and grapes (his favourite food) instead. Now he doesn't have any milk in the day, just breastfeeds morning and bedtime, and has water from a cup in the day.

Thanks Meg, I've made sure Aidan is used to drinking water, I know he doesn't need to until he stops having so many breastfeeds, but I thought it would be easier to get him used to drinking water with food as soon as he started solids rather than introducing it later.

I think I'm hoping that out of sight will mean out of mind and he won't miss the feed. Though the nursery is attached to work, so I guess I could just pop in at lunchtime to give him a feed if needbe, I keep forgetting that!

Also once he is one he can drink ordinary cows' milk so the nursery could always offer that in the daytime if you think he needs it.

I'm in the throes of another "solo dad" weekend (wife went to visit friends). It's also chilly and rainy out. Grrrreeeet.

http://photos-h.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v237/213/42/619069358/n619069358_870951_3744.jpg

How did the solo weekend go, Alex?

All these kid are so cute but Howie's eyes - WOAH.

Here is Beeps being Beeps:
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/8017/raspberryhg1.jpg

And heres a little monkey see monkey do after hanging out with me for 14 months:
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/715/cocacolakidwf3.jpg

I've just become a Dad. Woo-hoo!

Congrats! Boy? Girl?

A girl, 'Lucy'.

awww Lucy.

Congrats!!!

Hurrah! Welcome to the world, Lucy NB&S. I'm sure you'll be neither N nor B, even if you are (at the moment) quite S.

(We should have a headcount sometime - we must have a schoolbus full here now. Lots of car seats required, obv.)

Woohoo congratulations!! Do you actually spell her name with inverted commas? It reminds me of the Australopithecus of the same name, seeing it written like that, thought I am sure yours is cuter, and with far greater cranial volume.

Congrats to NB&S (are you the poster formerly known as Teh Hobb?) and welcome to the world Lucy!

Congrats! Pictures, please...

Thanks (for congrats), No (to inverted commas, although I suppose I could start that naming innovation, but it might mean people doing that thing with their hands whenever they say her name), Yes (the artist formerly known as Teh HoBB), No (pictures, unless my wife has a change of heart about putting them up on the world wide interweb). I'm back off to the hospital now...

Are they at Whipps Cross? How was it?! I'm quite glad that we moved and got to use a midwife led birth centre, but I hope you had a good experience.

Hope you get them both home soon, enjoy!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3003/2470312039_88073bdb05.jpg

Mr Nasty, congrats! It also made me realize that Elisabeth is now half a year and no longer a newborn. It's amazing how quick time flies. That said, she's still not used to sleeping through the night.*sigh* But all in all I shouldn't complain: she sleeps about ten hours. I feed her at five am and then she plays in our bed, sleeps a bit and then wakes up again. I have to remind myself that Ophelia in said respect spoiled us rotten with a perfect bedroutine (seven to seven from 4 months). :-)

And since it's the thread title: I have to admit whenever I thght of babies and childrearing, potty training is what scared me the most. Silly no? Anyway we've gently started to potty train her. She wears underwear (no diapers) at the creche but at home we just ask her (after every diaper change). She's already peed once on the pot (while crying so much!) and also did it at the crech once. This after a few days. I'm proud. She can take her time. :-)

After half a year I can one thing: two kids is exhausting but so rewarding. I am so SO SSSOOO happy to have two kids even though time flies quadruple style (compared to one/no kid). :-)

I can also say: my spelling has gone down the drain. ;-)

xpost: Yeah, whipps cross. C-section, so 'mum' will be kept in for a few days. All seems to have gone quite smoothly so far (although that's relatively easy for me to say when I've got the flat to myself).

The boys both had a gnarly stomach flu this past week, barfing all over the place, pooping in the bath, and basically being super-bummed. Here's Owen on Tuesday:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2221/2517266861_980a83ab05.jpg

Here's Ben rockin' his mommy's vest:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3180/2518086258_e6444eedd7.jpg

And here's Ben in a nerdy little onesie:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3240/2517266453_e0f0c37293.jpg

OK folks - any help or advice would be useful on moving our 2 yr old boy from his cot to a proper bed. He's obviously too big for the cot now because he's a big boy - in 3 to 4 years clothes already. So yesterday the cot was dismantled, the bed installed and his room rearranged and made safer than safe - including a door gate.

Last night he totally freaked about going to bed, we tried the usual bedtime routine of bottle, stories, bed but he didn't like it at all, had to be coaxed off on our bed and then moved to his bed around 9:30pm by which time he seemed quite happy to be in it, tucked himself into his duvet, contented smile as he fell asleep. Come 5am, he was at the door gate screaming at us and no amount of consoling could get him back in his room or into bed, so we've been up ever since.

I can understand his reluctance - he's not used to beds and it's a big shock to him - but if there's any advice anyone can offer which can help the bedtime routine, it'll be useful.

Come 5am, he was at the door gate screaming at us and no amount of consoling could get him back in his room or into bed, so we've been up ever since.

This is possibly not what you want to hear, but this is precisely what happened to us with Ava 15 months ago (a month past her 2nd birthday) and we went with the co-sleeping option: getting her off to sleep in her own bed (which held no real fears for her beyond the first week), then opening her gate and closing the stairgate later in the evening. She then just comes in with us sometime between midnight and 2am (sometimes she's crying at the gate before we're ready to hit the hay, sometimes she doesn't come in until 5-6am, very occasionally she sleeps through the night in her room).

This was in response to weeks of crying-at-the-gate and trying to coax her back into her bed. Four months after graduating Ava to her new bed, we moved her little sister Lulu from the rocker-cot on the landing into Ava's old cot in Ava's room and, after an amazing few nights where they both slept like lambs, we were back to crying-at-the-gate. It was at that point that we decided that we simply couldn't go through the ordeal of trying to get Ava back in her room as she'd just wake her sister and we'd be up all night with both of them. So, co-sleeping it was and we really haven't regretted it. I can almost always get Ava & Lulu off to sleep in their room but Ava is almost always in with us by the middle of the night.

It'll get interesting next year when Lulu is in a bed too...

Things I've learnt in the last twelve days:

1) Newborns have no concept whatsoever of the difference between night and day and may well decide that they are perfectly content sleeping all day long (except for feeds) and then becoming hyperactive around midnight.

2) That brief moment between finishing cleaning up the baby and reaching for the new nappy is taken as the baby's cue to poo - be prepared for this.

3) You can't just turn up at the Registry Office to register your baby. You have to phone up and make an appointment to see them in a few weeks' time. And in fact there is no such place as a Registry Office, it's a Register Office.

4) Bath time is really not much fun for a little baby.

You can't just turn up at the Registry Office to register your baby. You have to phone up and make an appointment to see them in a few weeks' time. And in fact there is no such place as a Registry Office, it's a Register Office

The appointment date I was initially given for Ava was actually beyond the the latest date I could legally register the birth! Fortunately the Croydon office for Marriages, Births and The Other One have a couple of drop-in sessions each week, so you can just turn up and take your chances. I think I waited about 45min in each case.

Rob, I am one of those nasty parents: I actually did a bit of co-sleeping and also had Elisabeth (and Ophelia) in the same room but decided three months (and in O's case 4 months) was the time to move'em out of our bedroom. I do think it helped'em to adjust to sleeping alone much quicker. So sorry am not much help here. :-(

In response to Mr Nasty:

1) This will change depending on temperament of baby. Ophelia was a blessing (and a curse as this made us naively think all babies slept through the night from about 3 months old).

2.) Oh Elisabeth has done this countless of times. Once I was just in time to "scoop" it up with a wet towel. This is not much fun in the middle of the night, but you quickly learn to put a clean diaper right after taking the dirty one away ;

3.) Yes, you can. Here anyway. :-)

4.) Ophelia still hates washing her hair. I am so serious but she SCREAMS the whole neighbourhood together as soon as Thom touches the showerhead. It's HELL for everyone involved. She wants to stand up but this is of course bit dangerous when you're washing her hair. Elisabeth enjoys the bath so much she wants to spin around, which is also a bit dangerous but at least we're all having fun. :-)

4) Oh, yeah, and wait until you have to brush their hair.

Here are my two - growing up fast - dressed up like it's 1660 at Isaac Newton's birthplace.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2108/2504223375_fa563637cd.jpg

Sorry, not sure what 'co-sleeping' is. Does that mean him sleeping in the same room as us? Josiah's been in his own room since he was 6 months, so he knows the room well enough. It's just sleeping in a bed rather than a cot that freaked him out.

ANYWAY... last night was far better. I let him fall asleep in his sleeping bag on our bed around 8:20, moved him into his bed around 8:45 (to make sure he was fully asleep), and he slept peacefully until about five to six this morning, which is only slightly earlier than he normally wakes up anyway (he likes to be up for "Teletubbies" at 6:30 with his morning bottle). So a big success after the night before.

OK, looked up co-sleeping on Wiki. I know what it means now.