August 2005 toddlers

[Azure]

Here is the new thread for the new year.

Update on DS2. He is confident walking and has a very camp run. We have taken down the main stair-gates as he can cope well enough with walking up and down (the stairs have lots of spindles), and he worked out how to open the gates ages ago anyway. Not many words - a form of mummy, daddy, grandma and grandad but that's it. He is a lovely, happy child with a beautiful laugh. If he wants you to come with him he grabs your clothes and pulls you along. He loves playing with cars (lining them up) & trains (we have all the Thomas ones plus tracks from DS1) and his favourite toy is the big sit-in coupe car at his grandparents', although he can't move himself forwards in it yet, only backwards. He's never needed a haircut, although his curls are long when wet. He loves baths and the swimming pool. I just wish he would sleep later than 5am.

Suzi, I've just read a 'your child at 18 months' email, and that said something like you child could have between 5 - 20 words.

So thats not so bad.

As for the tantrums, I wholeheartedly agree with you. Terrible 2's CAN'T be any worse, can they?

It's OK miaou - it wasn't your list... I think it's just me feeling guilty for turning DSs world upside down with DD being here and trying to find reasons to worry about him!

Oh the tantrums... how is everyone else dealing with them? Before DD came along we would ignore completely or distract if possible. However, since DD has been here they have been quite aggressive and involve hitting and throwing things. And we obviously want to curb that as DS is in danger of injuring DD with a flying remote control. So we've been shouting and telling him off and all sorts. We haven't really been consistent as we have no idea how to tackle it. What seems to diffuse the current tantrum is to lift DS and put him in the hallway on his own for a minute or so. But then we try to explain what he did wrong and it maybe kicks off again. Or he throws the same tantrum and does the hitting thing again. Also, DH is prone to temper tantrums and often has a 'tone' of voice with DS. And the pair seem to be rubbing each other up the wrong way at the moment. DH just can't seem to ignore the bad behaviour and ends up getting angry himself.

Any words of wisdom greatly appreciated.

Sorry no words of wisdom, DS isnt really tantruming yet but he is quite demanding and makes annoying noises that drive me round the bend. We were actually shouting at each other today
him: beebies (hands me remote)
Me: this is beebies
him: beebies (hands me remote)
Me: this is beebies
this went on for quite a while I was too tired to think straight and take him off to play

ds has been awful today.....he's suddenly developed quite a temper, which manifests itself in him hitting me, pulling my hair and poking at my eyes. his cheeks were bright red at lunch so i'm assuming he is suffering with his teeth.....

he's whinged at me all day and my brain feels like it's going to explode.

went to dr's this am about feeling so rubbish, and he's sending me for a run of blood tests.......

Sorry you're feeling bad Queenrollo. Sounds like all our little ones have found their tempers. DS2 has a real meltdown when he can't do exactly what he wants (what he wants being often along the lines of me lifting him up so he can turn on/off the light switch). I'm guilty of giving in to him a lot, which is not fair if it means not being with DS1 (eg trying to read with DS1) and so am starting to say No to DS2 on some of those occasions, and ignore the subsequent wailing. TBH I've found that after 30 seconds of DS2 realising he's not having his own way that time, he wanders off to play with something else quite happy. Both my boys have been poorly recently - DS1 with a cold, DS2 cutting teeth I think - and so not much sleep has been had in our household the last few nights. DH was away last night (lucky him!) but at least work is a comparative rest.

well fingers crossed dd has really got the hang of bedtime, when we say its bedtime she is going round each of us kiss, cuddle and a wave then trotts off towards her room and thats her

we had to go to our new house yesterday which is a good 2 hours drive and she was awful car sick twice it really took it out of her, is there anything you can do for car sick babies?

tantrums are in full flow usually when tired other times i can talk her out of them, DS was awful at tantrums I remember once he was so bad in piza hut when about 2 he made his nose bleed but you could only see blood smears all over his face and arms, the looks i got were as though i had battered him! I hope dd never puts me through that stress.

Queenrollo - teething makes such a difference with our ds aswell - its like jekle and Hyde. Feeling rubbish doesnt help at all when they are grisly, I seem to have perm colds, coughs etc feel really rundown. Bit concerned I have pregnancy depression I feel like my posts on here are just not those of a sane woman at the moment! I have posted on the thread about postnatal care and I think hormones are affecting me because i am just ruminating on my hospital stay with DS when he was born and getting really upset. I dont want to go to the GP about it but i guess if I stay low I will have to or I may have a tough time once baby no 2 is born. I remember feeling a mixture of really well and happy and low and lethargic when pg with ds so maybe its just normal hormones.

Azure sorry your lo have been unwell we havent been getting much sleep either, brought ds in with us last night and he always ends up sleeping with head on DPs pillow, feet on my pillow and us clinging on to the edge of the bed for dear life!

Josey i am sooo of your DD putting herself to sleep - adorable

Hope your feeling a bit better now QR, when do you get your results?

Pookey - I'm so sorry you're having such a tough time of it atm, perhaps you should go to the drs. I remember my midwife saying to me that she thought I had pg dep, and would almost certainly go onto have pnd (I did). So go, even if it's only to put your mind at rest. Let us know how you get on.

I think it's natural now for the tempers, and I'm trying hard to remind myself about that when ds is in full swing. But you're right Azure, when we ignore him, it only takes a few seconds for him to forget about it. And we have the light switch scenorio too!

Actually ds has been lovely over the last few days, so I'm feeling quite good at the moment!

well we have to book blood tests here and they were fully booked until today but first appt was 11.55 and i have to have a fasting blood done so the best they could do me is tomorrow at 9.55.....then 3-4 days for results to come back so i'll probably be at the gp's again on Monday.

i've got this cold that's been lingering for months, felt really bad again at the weekend but i feel much brighter this morning for the first time in ages. have been making an effort to eat better and keeping my fluid intake up.

ds seems a bit more like his old self but he's shifted a lot of snot over the weekend, so think he's finally shifting this cold too. he's really reduced his diet though....we can barely get him to eat anything other than grapes and marmite on toast. he was sharing all our dinners with us but now he won't touch any of it. i'm trying not to get worked up about it, because i don't want to make it an issue.

Hi All

Thanks PP, I think I will mention things to my midwife at the next appointment. I am beginning to feel a little better(basically i am not thinking about giving birth too much!). I am trying to get on and do little jobs rather than put things off which helps me feel more positive aswell.

Hope it goes ok QR - i guess perversley in a way it will almost be a better result if you have got some small easily remedied problem rather than the all clear because that means you can do something to make yourself better?

miaou lol at your tip of the day!

Hello everyone DD is 4 weeks tomorrow - no idea where that time went. I was certainly awake for most of it! Things are still very hectic here. I'm just about coping wth the two of them... I do a lot of feeding, a lot of saying "no" and telling DS off, a fair bit of rocking and very little sleeping. But they're worth it!

Pookey, I was up and down and all over the place when pg with DD. But if you're more down than up definately speak to someone. Was your last birth experience bad? If so, you might want to get a copy of your notes and talk it through with your mw before this little one arrives. I know that has helped friends of mine. But rest assured that not all births are horrid and they're all different - I can safely say that I LOVED giving birth to DD.

Glad things are going well Suzi I think I need to hold on to the good second birth stories like yours and think its going to be ok for me too. Just think, when those of us due again around July are in the thick of it and introducing our august babies to their new brother or sister you will hopefully be at a really cute less breastfeeding 5 month stage and your ds will probably be so different aswell - its amasing how much they change over just a couple of months!

Suzi glad everything's going well. Pookey I think it's a good idea to let your midwife know your feelings - she can hopefully help to put your mind at rest. Queenrollo hope you're feeling better.

We had a scare with DS2 on Sunday - he was playing around on his pushchair which was wheeled into the kitchen and tumbled off. There was a lot of blood in his mouth and it looked like he had lost a tooth. Fingers crosses it appears to be hanging on in there and once the initial shock was over (and blood cleared up) he was back to wanting to climb up on his pushchair. I felt so bad. He's been having a few more tantrums - a particularly spectacular one in the Science museum - and when a child he doesn't know dares to come anywhere near him he almost growls. He's also not got the hang of taking turns, e.g. going down a slide - his preferred approach is pushing the other child out of the way. Looks like we've got our work cut out for us.

Oh Azure poor you. Hope the tooth continues to hang on - I was horrified by a tiny bit of blood when ds fell and got a slight fat lip - i am useless in a crisis! I have rang the community midwives so will hopefully get an appointment soon.

Hi all, hope ds tooth is ok azure, dd fell last week and put her teeth through her tonge it bled for hours she has a huge rip there now its horrible.

Pookey hope you get on ok at the midwife and its just a hormone increase.

QR how did you get on at the docs?

I have had the flu this week and i can honestly say its the sickest i have ever been in my life, Dh had to phone his mother to come for the kids as he had to leave for work and boy have I paid for it with horrible comments ever since

DD has been great fun just now, her words have really come on the last few days,when she was little her granda used to say burp to her in a funny voice when he was winding her, its become a bit of a thing granda says burp, but now if you ask her "what does granda say?" she says "burp" it makes me giggle cause its a bit like what does the dog say.
She also has a real sense of humor now, she loves to be chased or for you to run and hide then jump out to make her jump she giggles so hard she falls over, then she tries to do it back and finds it hysterical when you pretend she has scared you, yes we are a bit mad in this house

I got tickets to take dd and ds to see the tweenies, its not till august so can be a birthday treat for dd hopefully she will enjoy it.

Josey.....horrible comments from who? well i hope you are feeling better now. i had to phone the MIL one morning when my head hurt so bad i could hardly stand up.....but my MIL is worth her weight in gold.

i haven't been to the dr for my test results yet because i can't get a suitable appt (don't drive so have to work round mil's schedule) but i am feeling brighter....something to do with having sunshine!
ds has been a bit of a terror, and i thought it was his top premolars coming through all the way but when he was screaming at me yesterday i noticed his bottom left molar has just poked through the gum. no wonder he's been mardy!
hide and boo! is a fave game here too....and we are definitely a little insane in our house. actually we're like it outdoors too....we get some strange looks but our lives seem to be filled with laughter and people comment on how happy ds is. he's a typical Leo and i think he got daddy's performing streak, which i'm sure will serve to cause me much embarrasment in the future!

glad you are feeling a bit better QR the sunshine does make a big difference, hope you manage to get to the doc and get your results soon though.

Oh the comments are from my MIL unfortuanltely she isnt worth her weight in gold more like poo! sorry bit mean of me! but she keeps saying things like poor mummy had a little cold and couldnt cope, my sil had twins in jan so she has been there 24hrs a day feeding changing bathing and housework while my sil stays in bed till lunch time, i know twins must be hard but i think its time she pulled her finger out a bit especially when im getting it in the neck for a couple of hours rest when i was ill grr. Thankfully i only have a month till wee move away and i will be living near my mum heaven!

sorry if i sound mean they just annoy me so much im always so nice about people she just brings the worst out in me

oh moan away Josey.....believe me i know only too well how lucky i am with both sets of parents. i have friends with varying degrees of 'in law' friction and am so thankful i don't have to contend with it!

Josey, glad you're feeling better, despite your mil. I wouldn't even bother ringing mine if I was ill - she'd be far too busy to come and help out!

You're right QR, the sun does help to make things seem a bit better and brighter. Good luck when you get your results. Let us know how you get on.

Azure - are you sure you don't have my ds? They share the same concept of taking turns! Ds is really exploring his boundries atm and has started to hit - a lot, particulary the other children at the childminders. We ignore him at home which helps but it's harder to do at the cm. Any ideas?

at the dr's tomorrow.....i just needed to come in here and have a virtual scream.

i feel like i have such a short fuse at the moment and ds is really testing my patience. i'm really not enjoying this whole motherhood thing at the moment.

Scream away Queenrollo. There are highs with having kids but there are certainly lows. Hope the doctor helps.

well...good news and bad. the good news is my blood results all came back normal.
which means the bad news is there's nothing medically wrong with me to 'put right'......i think i'm going to have to go back to basics and completely overhaul my diet, and exercise. actually that means find time for exercise other than running around after ds.
both friends i socialise with who have lo's too are experiencing the same frustrations at the moment......children who can't communicate what they want so go into meltdown. i've phoned someone about intensive driving lessons because i know a BIG part of how i feel is being isolated in the town. i do see other mums at M+T group but don't really have much in common with them (i'm a bit of a hippy) and can't get to see my friends i do feel comfy with.
and my house is a mess...ds won't tolerate me cleaning, as soon as i try he wants picking up. except the laundry which he gladly helps me with, so we have lots of clean clothes!

QR at least you have a really positive plan of action! Sympathise with short fuse, DS was driving me potty today - it sucks cos he is gen lovely but when he is at all poorly/teething like today he just cries over nothing and acts up and I cant help but go and hide in the kitchen and feel bad cos I know he isnt feeling well but he is still doing my head in! There is a corner of the kitchen where he cant see me but I can see him - very useful for counting to 10 scenarios.

QR glad the blood tests came back normal & hope you manage to do your driving test. DS2 is also very demanding at the moment and gets irritable if I can't see to him the very second he wants me too - which simply isn't possible with 2 kids and is unfair on DS1. His sleep at night has been bad, waking up at 3.30am (yesterday) and 4.30am today and never really settling again. I gave up at around 5am this morning and was watching Thomas the Tank Engine on DVD soon afterwards - at least it keeps his attention and I can sit down on the sofa.

We looked at the camcorder film we had taken of DS1 at around DS2's age the other night and it was fascinating comparing the two. DS1 looked somehow different to how I had remembered, at least quite different from DS2, and it was incredible how much I had forgotten about him. Almost all the footage was taken at my parents' house, so it looks like we lived in a big place in the countryside, when really we were in a flat in London. I wish I had filmed some more everyday things in the flat, as we moved 3.5 years ago and my memory is obviously appalling. It's spurred me on to do more filming of the boys - in particular them just mucking around in the house - and not just save the camera for holidays and Christmas.

Azure I have so much guilt around film, baby books, photos etc. None of ds' photos are even in a photo album and as for the baby book it will probably get filled in when he is 18! DP insisted on buying a camera and we have very little footage, I must take some while he is still a little unsteady on his feet and spinning around and falling on his bum bum.