Disney Tour Train

This is going to be at South Station tomorrow (Fri. 9/25) if anyone is interested:


http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/christmascaroltraintour/#/tour/

http://calendar.boston.com/boston-ma/events/show/88518150-disneys-a-christmas-carol-train-tour

All about mom

Okay mom friends. I need some advice. Mia is going through a phase where it is all about Mom right now. It is as if I went away for a month and she missed me and doesn't want me to go again. Of course this is not the case. I know it is not unusual for kids to go through this, but it sort of came out of no where. I have been back at work for almost two months and this has been going on for a week or two. It could be that or it could be the novelty of a new baby (4 1/2 months now) is wearing off. She is starting to act up when I have to tend to Anna is another room to get attention. Anyway, I guess it doesn't matter why, but what do I do?

I feel really bad for Ben (my husband) because he is so involved and she is basically "giving him the hand." She will let him do things for her (read, help brush teeth, etc.), but she gives him attitude and brushes off affection from him and says she just wants hugs or kisses from me. One funny example is he went to sing her "Hush little baby" and said "daddy's gonna buy you a mockingbird" and she said "No, mommy buys me a mockingbird." She won't even take a gift from him!

Anyone been through this? Recommendations on how to handle it?

Killer Vocabulary

Okay Julie, here's an anecdote for you:

Matt has been working with Addy (almost 5 and learning to read and write) on playing hangman. Yesterday she comes out with a piece of paper with a game all set up and the blank lines for a word ready to be filled in.

She and Matt sit on the couch and he starts guessing letters. It appears that she has rigged the game so that he will guess incorrectly so she can draw more of the hangman and he's getting a bit confused.

Finally they are down to all but one letter. The paper reads CU_T. He shoots me a bemused look and guesses L for cult. Nope. He starts running through every letter of the alphabet and starts to look a little panicked. He gets to M and Addy tells him, "Nope! But you're close!" So he, prudently skips N and says "O?" "No, Dad! It sounds like "M!" Finally, he looks a little afraid and says, "N?" Addy's eyes light up, "You guessed it!!" Now more afraid than ever, Matt asks her, "and what word is that?" "Conut, Dad! It's COnut!! I invented it so you could guess it!!"

That's a page for her scrap book that ought to amuse her in about 15 years...

Traveling Toddlers in a Taxi

Does anyone have any experience traveling in cabs with small children?

I have a friend that is going to NYC this weekend by train with his family and will most likely have to take cabs while in the city.

His son is about 15 months old and of course would normally be in a car seat. Ideally he would bring the car seat along but if he could avoid it, that would be his preference.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Thinking ahead

My daughter's daycare closes July-August & I am starting to look for day camps or classes she can take next summer. She will be 3 years 10 months - so I need pre-school level activities. If anyone has experience with a program or camp - please share. Thanks in advance!

Tufts Community Day

Tufts, and the cities of Somerville & Medford pull off a great event every year on Community Day:
http://cday.tufts.edu/

I recommend it! If anyone wants to meet up - let me know - I plan on going with the kids!

Random thoughts

Some random thoughts on this Monday evening...

Some times I catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror and think "is that what I really look like?" That happened tonight and I realized I look like... wait for it... a mom. I don't think I look like what I saw my mom as when she was my age (with three kids ranging in age from newborn to 13), but maybe I do. I have a new mom-ish hair cut, a 2nd baby has left me with a mom body (I am not kidding myself, it was pretty mom-like before baby #1) and I had on some mom knee-length shorts. Weird.

Part of this revelation came up because the girl I nannied for when I was in college is starting a graduate program at Harvard this fall (talk about feeling old). I had lunch with her last week and I realized how she sees me. She sees me as someone old with kids. And I think of us as being sort of the same (even though we are not at all). This didn't happen when I saw her last week, but I remember seeing her a few years ago and she was talking about music and movies she liked. She mentioned pretty common bands and movies and asked if I'd ever heard of them. I thought - I might be older, but I don't live on Mars (and I love music and movies). If she said that now, she wouldn't be that far off though. I went to a movie without a baby for the first time since Anna was born a few weeks back and was stunned at how many people are out on a Saturday night. They aren't home trying to Ferberize a baby or watching a 2 year old sit on the toilet.

Finally, to complete my random thoughts...I hope people can use this forum for sharing random kid stories in addition to looking for advice. So here is my funny story for the day. Two actually. Ok, not funny, but cute. Cute to me and probably no one else, but here I go anyway. The first was this morning in our chaos trying to get out of the house. I was the last one to get dressed because spit up on work clothes, while common, is not my best look. Anyway, Ben, Mia and Anna were sitting on the bed getting shoes and socks on and I come out with my shirt, which was a little fancy for me (meaning not a v-neck cotton T from Old Navy) and Mia said, "Oooooh, Mom, nice shirt" in a sweet, sincere voice. This was a simple compliment from a 2-year old in mismatched clothes, but a compliment none-the-less and it kind of made my day. Unfortunately I don’t think the people in my meeting this morning agreed when I started to leak on that lovely shirt. Why do I forget something every morning and why did it have to be breast pads this morning?

The other funny thing - my daycare sends us a daily email with what the kids have done during the day and they include "quotes of the day." My kid is a bit of a ham and some times has funny things to say (often things completely made up and not at all true). Well, today the teacher told me that during lunch a boy in the class was saying "I don't want to eat this, I don't want to eat that" and Mia turned and looked at him and said "Boy (she used his name, she didn't call him "boy")! What DO you want then?" Ok, that may not translate without the delivery, but it amazes me how she comes up with some of this stuff.

Infant Nipple confusion

Anyone have any real life experience with infant nipple confusion? I have a 5 day old here who only takes the bottle(long story), and while I am not worried about his intake(he has a hearty appetite), it is a huge drag to pump all of the milk that he wants/needs. Not to mention that I have a 2.5 year old; it is tough enough to keep up with him without dragging around a pump! I have the books, I have previous experience with difficult latching, I have advice from our pediatrician. What I am looking for is your real life stories about what worked for you and what did not! I am pretty sure that I have a good plan, but it would be great to hear some encouraging words that "this too shall pass!"

Seriously?

What is wrong with people?!

http://tinyurl.com/m6dvg3

More potty talk

Ok, we've had some major potty training developments in the last week and I need some feedback. Mia has been in "big girl underwear" all week. A big shout out to daycare because this would not be the case without them. We tried over the weekend and had a great 1/2 day Friday and a very unsuccessful Saturday and then gave up on Sunday deciding to revisit it in a month or so. However, Monday morning she wanted to wear underwear to daycare and I said fine knowing she generally does better at daycare. She had one poop accident the first two days and no accidents today and has only been in diapers at night. So, we are happy with the start, but... this is in a daycare environment that is very structured.

The catch is she is NOT telling us she has to go. We ask if she has to go or we just put her on, and she goes. But... I don't considered it potty trained until she can tell us she has to go. Right? At what point should she be telling us she has to go? I know with most kids it would be by now. Is there anything we can do to encourage her to tell us? Does this mean she isn't really ready and we are just getting lucky with her going when we ask and staying dry the rest of the time?

Also, I know for some kinds it is harder to master poop on the potty. Anyone have any experience with kids being potty trained to pee, but not to poop. I can't believe I've typed the word "poop" so much in this entry. This is my life now I guess!

Toddler - 3T Winter Clothing

I'm looking for suggestions on where to pick up some winter outerwear for my 2 1/2 year old son. As we all know they grow out of their clothing in about 3-6 months so I do not want to spend very much.

I'm specifically looking for;

winter coat
leggings for snow play
hats/mittens
sweaters
boots

I'm open to good quality second hand shops or if anyone knows of any upcoming fall sales, please share. :)

Thank you!!

Woot

Woot offers random things - mostly silly - sometimes useful at low prices & minimum shipping.

They just launched a kid's version. Today's deal is a Crayola pack & it retails $30 elsewhere - and is $20 (with shipping) today.

http://kids.woot.com/

Each day a different item is offered until it sells out. The wine.woot is unfortunately not available in MA! Sigh.

Morning breakfast ideas

School is starting soon & I know our mornings are going to be super hectic - getting 2 kids & us ready and out the door by 7:15 is going to be a challenge. Does anyone have good breakfast ideas or getting ready advice? Lindsey will be able to eat a morning snack at school but I want her to have something nutritious before leaving.

Target baby coupons!

Click here : Target Baby Coupons good until September 5th

Natick: KidtoKid Sale

FILL-A-BAG SALE (Starts Thursday August 20th at 9:30 am)

Stuff as much as you can from our great bins of clearance items in a Kid to Kid bag and pay only $10 for the bag. We have a lot of stuff in all sizes so stop by early.

The Sale will run Thursday through Sunday while stock lasts.

WHAT WE SELL

Check out our huge selection of:

• Kids clothes sizes 0 - 10 years in girls and 0-12 years in boys sizes
  
• All types of equipment like strollers, cribs, exersaucers...
• Little Tikes and Fisher Price toys at prices that are less than half of what you would pay new.
• Hair bows--KiD to KiD has one of the biggest selections around
• Dinosaur puzzles, dino digs and more
• Wood puzzles
• Science and craft kits
• Learning toys
• Watches
• Girls princess dresses

http://natick.kidtokid.com/

Do I even dare bring it up?

Potty training. Ugh. My daughter will be 3 in about a month and things are basically at a standstill. She was making progress during the Winter and then things stopped. She basically became afraid of the whole process and the dr. said to follow her cues. She has sat on the potty a few times since her baby brother arrived in May with limited success. We tried the m&m ("letter candy") method as incentive - but it doesn't seem to help. If I mention it to her - she says she will try "tomorrow" - and then never does. We have the Once Upon a Potty book, the Mr. Rogers potty book, Everyone Poops. She loves reading them - but they don't seem to have any influence. I also bought her a potty chart and she likes to look at it - and says she'll use it when she is a "big girl" on her birthday. She doesn't even want to take the stickers out of the package. Luckily her pre-school does not require the kids to be potty trained - she starts after Labor Day - but I'd love her to be on track by then. Advice? Do I really just follow her cue? Thanks in advance!

Bite Me

My 10-month-old son bites. I don't think he realizes that it's not OK, and since his top teeth have come in, it's pretty painful. I constantly have bite marks on my shoulders. Especially if I'm holding him when he doesn't want to be held. Yesterday I noticed he even had them on his own arm!

Any ideas on curbing this bad habit? I say "no" when he does it to me and pull him away. He often looks at me, shaking his head no, but then he'll do it again. We have recently weaned off the breast (ouch!), and I used to think the biting my shoulder was a request for milk. He's now taken to biting toes and knees, too, though, and on my husband, so I don't think he's asking for anything but attention.

Will it maybe just go away in time?

For use and for fun: great iPhone apps?

By no means is this a serious parenting issue, but I know at least a couple of you mamas on here are avid iPhone users and might have some good recommendations for folks like myself who are new to the world of phone apps.

What are the applications you just can't live without? I'm a cheapie who prefers free apps, but will pay .99 for one that gets rave reviews from people I trust.

So far, the apps I've come across fit into one of 2 categories: 1. useful to me, or 2. occasional impromptu entertainment for my daughter (which can also be useful to me).

So far for me, I use and like:
+Maps/Around Me
+Mover
+HeyWAY
+Bloom (Eno inspired music composing app that entertains the 4 y.o. and soothes the baby--I too think it's fun to play with).

My daughter likes:
+Tic Tac Free
+Hatch
+Dress Chica
+DoodleIt
and a few others on my husbands' phone that I'll have to get the names of.

What are your favorites?

Sleep - Night one update

Thanks to all of you we made progress in night one of our new bed time "plan" (as Mia likes to call it - everything is a plan). We created a list of our bedtime routine and at the bottom a sticker chart. She was into it all day and followed it at bed time. She did not come out of her room once. She did call us crying and we went in once. She had her litany of issues (more hugs, missing Anna, needed to talk about something she wanted to do tomorrow) but we were able to settle her without a problem and not another word. We did tell her if she could do this for two nights in a row she could get a toy. I asked her what she might like and she said a scooter. I was thinking something more like some stickers so that may be a new battle in a few days.

I really do appreciate all the advice. I feel like these new tools really made a difference.

Defiance!

I know that it is a natural and important aspect of development. I have read the books. I recognize that my 2.5 year old son(nickname Rabbit) is exercising his independence, and I love and celebrate that he has such a strong sense of self and space and will. Except when we are running late for a doctor's appointment and he has thrown his shoes behind the couch. Or when it is time for a diaper change and he runs away, laughing. Or when we are out for a walk around the block and he wiggles free of my hand, running away even though he knows(HE KNOWS!) that running away on the sidewalk/street is our Number One Rule not to break. Some of these things I have found small, workable solutions for: the running away thing is solved by--sadly--strapping him into a stroller/wagon for everywhere we go...sigh. (I am currently 36 weeks along in a tough pregnancy, so chasing him is not really an option.) But it is like putting socks on an octopus to get him to do simple things like get out the door, or eat dinner without spitting out milk for comic effect, or throwing toys at the cats.

Any advice? We have used "time-out" as well as the "toy time-out," with mixed results. I know I shouldn't try to reason with him, and I know that I need to keep my emotions in check so that he doesn't know that he is on my last nerve, but gosh, it is SOOOO hard to maintain a Good Mama demeanor in the face of outrageous defiance. As we have a new baby joining us soon, I am especially eager for some suggestions on how to keep order and peace in the house. I have a feeling that, whereas Rabbit is excited to welcome his new brother, he will undoubtedly act out as the attention he used to command gets reduced/shared.

So when he turns three, this defiant behavior stops, right?? Or is it when he turns 22?