More Transitions

We were chugging along the past yr. But I have hit a bit of a bump in the road with our loose daily routine. We are not clock watchers and I am ok with that. I am not a strict enforcer of routine but we do maintain as little chaos as possible. My children do not respond well to strict anything - it has a very adverse effect on accomplishing the task if I get too strict. What I am looking to see how others managed to helped the transition from 3, to 2, to 1 nap with the 1 yr old and have it match up or overlap with the 2 yr old.

G has been taking 3 (cat) naps for a while and now wants 2 (1 short 30 min nap in the am and 1 2hr nap that sometimes may or maynot overlaps A's afternoon nap) . G is VERY strong-willed and when he wants a nap - He wants/needs a nap NOW. I have tried to push through but end up letting him nap because he is a screaming crier. But what ends up happening is I am stuck at home in nap mode from 11-5 with both kids napping that fills up 11-5.

So if you have been through this and can help suggest some tips, I would love help. Or maybe I just need reassurance that "this too shall pass" .... I just miss the adult connections that you get at playdates, running errands and just leaving your house. Since my husband is gone a lot and with most playdates happening from 10-1 or 3-6, Everything is happening while we are stuck at home in nap mode and when it is not nap time, it is so late we have to ger dinner done, then it's bath/bed time ..... Leaving little time for running errands and leaving the house. Which is counter-productive to a clean/tidy house.

I am really craving adult conversation and my house is never getting tidy due to having at least 1 child up most of the day and needing entertaining all the waking hrs of the day. At night, I am so exhausted, with little motivation to clean or too overwhelmed to clean.

thanks in advance and thank you for just having such a great group of moms that I feel comfortable sharing/getting help w/ some parenting stressers.

edited to add more info:

Don't be fooled, We do have a "schedule", We aren't out wandering around with the kids ruling the function of my day. I had a daily rhythm going, and it was going quite well until recently, Thus, my dismay of now entering a phase were our rhythm we had is not working. G is extremely fussy, needy and somewhat overwhelming dependent which is ironic because he is doing this in order to try and declare his Independence , more so than A ever was at this age. A is just now hitting a patch where he too is trying to declare his Independence and I am trying to parent the best I can and still allow them to grow their personalities under order and keep our daily life as functional as possible with as less friction as possible.

I also suspect G is finally teething

I am just interested as many responses as possible. The good thing about raising children is everyone w/ or w/o has an opinion - So I figured everyone would love an opportunity to chime in and I would get many different responses and find/try tips that will help us. Because, it does take a village and there are many different ways to get the same goal which is happy momma, happy kids.

I know I am not inventing the wheel here and I think I am just looking for tips that others did/wish they did or learned along the way to ensure the best way to work through and cope through transitional phases and maintain a bit of sanity and less damage to the kids along the way. I supremely hate having unhappiness and chaos for most of our day because Momma/children have a learning curve to adjust to. It seems that for the first year. the transitions seem to be faster and quicker because I swear the whole first yr IS all transitional. But now, we (garrison) are changing less and seem to be trying to find more of a steady rhythm and struggling and I am low on creativity of things to try

The Ruler ...

This is me being honest as a parent - Please do not judge me.

The past 12 days have been very trying. MT isn't sleeping well, Back to teething and drooling buckets. Middle of the night wake ups, etc the whole shebang. It's been miserable. And now We have added tantrums during the day. I know that he is an independent spirit and is not a fan of the word No when he is determined. He gets this VERY honestly. This is manufactured by My DNA. I know this very much. I also saw this coming. I am still trying to figure out What/How to handle it. He wants to do things ..He MUST be the one to do it. As an example, For months now, I have had to move to only finger foods, Because He does not tolerate being fed anymore by anyone but himself. I have tried very hard to allow him to explore his abilities. It is quite a challenge. If i put a bite in his mouth, He will take it out, and put it back in himself. Same with picking up toys, paic, etc. We have been working on comprehending the word No. I think he gets it now. Because He does listen to it mostly or I am able to redirect. But then, He gets that Wild hair and evil look and Laughs when I say no.... Oh My gosh 40 trillion apologizes to my parents .... Really ....!!! Oh It's uncanny. It is so unbelievably frustrating. I have been doing just the "no" and redirect thing for about two month now. This week, I started saying No and If that didn't work, smacking his hand. It was suggested to me that he was old enough to understand and I needed to start some type of discipline. Can I tell you how much I HATE THIS. I can't stand myself. He is unfazed anyway. It doesn't even seem to help. I am going to stop. I don't know what I am going to do, but this is not working. Maybe I didn't give it a good long go, but it Just feels wrong and really I hate how unnatural it feels. And in the same sentence about how unnatural it feels, I can see this being a horrible habit to get into. And I do not want to be a hitter or have a hitter. Hitting is not the answer in my book. I don't know What to do. It's just a phase. We will get through it, But I just can't do it by smacking his hand. Maybe when he is older, we will try again, Or maybe not. I know that I can not let him control me or the household but I think this is just a phase and when he gets alittle older, and We can communicate better this will work itself out. Like maybe when he is 32 yrs old.. I know that kids search for their boundaries. I just was/am not prepared for the 10.5 month old to start.

The "Only dad" phase ended a few weeks ago, and we are in an only mommy phase now. So , It just goes back and forth for us. I just had to get this off my chest and out of my head because it was making me so ill. I want to make sure I teach MT respect, right/wrong, but I am not sure what/how or what great lengths I am willing to go to do that. This is just so more more complicated than I ever imagined.

Orange you Praying for Stellan

First and foremost. Our Orange for Stellan:

Saying our prayers for you Little Boy.

Today MT has hit some new milestones. I was informed by my parents that he started doing "itsy bitsy spider" and clapping for the "If you're happy and you know it" songs. SO I tried it and he did it. How cool is that. I tried to get him to do it a few more times and he was very much over it.

MT also deliberately took 3 steps today. He has been slowly letting go of a hand while walking but today, He was walking by holding onto the wall for balance and let go and took 3 steps towards me. I am floored. So excited. We may have this walking thing down .... I need to get hte video camera out. But I have a question: Um, Shoes? What kind? We never put him in shoes ..It's so warm here, I thought no shoes helps them walk faster ... But if he is going to be getting down and trying to walk, Don't I need shoes?

I leave you with This Face:

A Bunny and a Mouse

Sounds like the start of a bad joke right?



Our first Easter was not quite as I expected it would be. My sister, her husband and my grandmother all came to visit and celebrate MT's first Easter. On Thursday, My grandmother started having diarrhea/vomiting.. Saturday morning, my Sister and Mom took her to a walk in clinic, She was in a bad way. They came home and by the time they got home, My mother got it. Then they started dropping like flys. By Sunday Everyone had it. Since I worked all week, We had not seen them since Tuesday. And there was No way we were going to see them if it was that contagious. My head spun thinking about me sick trying to care for an infant or an infant sick or worse case scenario both sick ... So, We just stayed far away. I was sad that they came to hang out with us and all got in pretty bad shape.



So, we did Easter w/o them. We were invited over to a family friend's house and had a blast. Ate lots of good food and got to spend time with some great friends.



They had a puppy just his size and speed. They loved on each other.



Then Monday was an adventurous Day in Orlando. We got to hang out with Jen and Elizabeth and Barb. So MUCH FUN! I believe that Elizabeth is going to tell the story of our day. Here is a picture after we got home and had a bath. Very Tired MT.



I had my follow up dr appointment to check on my thyroid. I also asked them to run the whole panel for anemia, diabetes, cholesterol, etc.. Like a work up when you get a physical. *if you don't do this - I highly suggest it.



Good news - Everything was very normal. All results were in the normal range.... Thyroid, Glucose, Liver Function, Cholesterol ..



Bad News - Thyroid, Glucose are normal .... Explains nothing on why I am having weird symptoms. The Dr wants me to make an appointment with my gyn and figure out where my period has gone and why the weight gain is all of a sudden, She strongly suggested a u/s of my ovaries. She also suggested that the weight gain could be my adjusting to not nursing anymore. It's been about 2.5-3 months since I have pumped/nursed. Seems, I am just an overweight, headachey, sluggish, brainfogged person. And that's my norm.



I have an appointment on the 27th for a pap and to discuss what is going.

Growing Boy

The past few weeks have seriously been trying. My baby is teetering on the infant/toddler line. As I have mentioned (way too many times) the past few weeks have presented challenges I was not at all prepared for. Mobility, Language, Comprehension, Independence and more surprising changes.


Mobility - Whoa can this boy move when he wants to. He is crawling and pulling up on everything like he has been but he has added using furniture/stationary objects or people to move around the room. He stood w/o holding onto something a few times. But just a split second. Today, He tried to take steps while letting go of my hands to run/lunge at his granddaddy. He was leaning too far over and toppled. If it wasn't for his leaning too far over while attempting to walk, he would master this quicker. I am not rushing this, though.


Language - MT is not really saying words. He is still very vocal through sounds, raspberries, and laughter. Every now and again, we hear Da da da. Mu mmum uumm is in his cries now. We think he is trying to say Kitty. He makes a certain word sound that sort of sounds like Kitty when he sees one of ours. We also told him the Easter Bunny was a Big Kitty. I am pretty sure that is what made him not afraid! He was petting the Easter Bunny's arm like he tries to do to our cats. His favorite noise is still Boooh boooob, booop, booouuugh. Anything Bah related. He makes this very deep noises too. We think he said "Hi" again to my Mother tonight.


Comprehension - The boy has finally learned NO. This.Is. a very big deal. He actually stops whatever he is doing at the time I say no. Mostly. Not 100%. I don't think it's ever 100% so I will take what I can get for now. Atleast, I know he understands. He also understands the words Go, Bye bye, hungry, and bottle. He has been waving for weeks now, just never at the appropriate time. This weekend's development, When someone says bye bye to him or we ask him to wave bye bye, He waves. Makes my heart swoon. Yesterday - He just got the sippy cup. It's like a light bulb went off and it just clicked. He downed a whole sippy of water with lunch today. Que the Hallelujah praise chorus. I will admit, I was stressing over this. I know it's petty, but It's liquid intake. I am beaming! Needless to say - this weekend has been THE weekend for huge developments.


Independence - MT has decided that he is all grown up and no longer requires assistance while eating. He has decided it's time for him to hold his own bottle. YAH! Sometimes, he does like if I lift on the bottom. Other times, He wants my hand no where near the bottle. Another thing that we are going through, He is wanting to feed himself. With.His.Fingers. This makes mealtimes somewhat stressful and extremely messy. Stressful because if you do not have enough finger foods for him to do it by himself, he will not eat. He locks his jaws tighter than Fort Knox if he doesn't get to do it. If you put the food in his mouth, he will spit it out, pick it up and do it himself! So we have added new foods. I made black beans from dried beans the other day, peeled Chick peas, butter beans, blueberries, cheese, banana, apples, grapes, crackers. Anything he can pick up and cram in. Needless to say, his aim isn't perfected. He also likes to use his hair/head has a napkin . Fantastic ...... What other finger foods are you feeding lil ones?


Surprising Changes - He is rearranging his nap/sleep schedule again. Which means we are changing bottle times also. This started a week ago. He did this around 6 months too. While this happens, It takes a few weeks to get things flowing smoothly again. Because not every day resembles a pattern until we figure out what works best. Some days he now wants to continue with his current sleeping routine of taking 2-3 20-30 min naps, mid morning, mid afternoon, and mid evening nap. (on a good day) But Now, He seems to be trying to move towards wanting to stay awake longer in the morning and having his first nap after lunch. Somewhere in the ball park of 12:30- 1:30ish. This nap has been running about 40 mins -1 hr (more so 45 mins). Then an afternoon nap around 5 ish. Bedtime has moved up to 7:30-8:00pm. Waking up anywhere after 7:30-8:30 am. The only thing that seems to be consistent lately is being ready for bed around 7:30-8pm. We are working through this new nap development to determine what works best for everyone.

Rackin' up the Firsts

Back to the Dr at 8 this morning - Rough Night, No sleep, still fevered. Actually after a few doses of Mo.trin, it was still 102.4 f at the dr's. Good news is that we do not think he is not allergic to the anti-fungal meds. He has his very first ear infection. I did mention that I am not completely convinced that He has ri.ngworms. She did admit - some spots look alot like eczema, but some look like ring.wo.rms .... Thanks to the great help/comments/suggestions from those that left info on yesterdays post, I think I will pick up some of that Aq.uaphor and see what happens. Off to get more meds ....

Here is what I went in and saw yesterday:

No way to say it discreetly

Happy 9 months to us - today I celebrated by taking A to the Dr's.

I noticed about 3 ish weeks ago (guesstimating) that MT started have what I thought was a dry patch of skin on the back of his left arm right above his elbow. I assumed this was from the roughness of our carpet and his new found maneuver. The army crawl. It was a likely scenario that made sense to me. Especially since he has extremely sensitive skin. Every night after bath time I would apply some avee.no lotion to it in hopes that it would start to go away. Well, a week ago, I looked and saw about 10 more rough patches and got concerned but E and my parents all agreed that I was being overly cautious and alil over protective about the whole thing. He has sensitive skin and I just need to accept it. Friday, I was with a friend and her 4 kids and I asked her what she thought. She said that it looked like her husbands eczema. I was quite saddened by the suggestion but figured it was time to call the dr. So, I made the appointment.

The dr walked in, took a few good looks and declared. Ri.ngworms ... I cried. I will admit, I think I actually panicked and wanted to vomit right there. She assured me that it was not as bad as I was thinking it was, but it needs to be treated through medication.

I learned that it is not actually a worm but a fungus. There seem to be 3 different types(strands?) Athletics's foot/jock itch/cradle cap/diaper yeast infections/rashes are all forms of Ringworm. The treatment is using anti-fungal cream. The dr wants us to try the cream and a prescribed oral anti-fungal med because A has sensitive skin, the cream may cause skin irritation. It seems to be the same med You/and baby can take if you get thrush.

The Dr's first statement was about the foam floor mats being a huge culprit/carriers of it. She asked if I had taken him anywhere like a kid gym, playground or any other place that has mats and shared toys. (towels, hairbrushes, pools) And actually we have been to a few over the past weeks. Plus, my husband mentioned that when I was looking for day cares I took him with me and placed him on the floors/mats/play areas to see how he responded to the other babies/teachers.

I told her that I have indoor cats that have been taken to the vet every yr for shots/etc. but they have never stepped foot outside do not have the signs of patches of skin with no hair and such. She tends to think that it is highly unlikely that it came from our cats. She tends to think that it is harder to get it involving the pets. BUT you can bet that I am going to schedule an appointment for my cats regardless. My parents have an outside kitty. Also could be the culprit. We may never know ...Ugh Frustrating.

I gave him the oral med at 1:15 At 3 I picked him up from his nap and he felt really warm. I took his temp. 103.8 F. New milestone - First Fever. Immediately phoned the dr. I asked if it could be related to the med's since we were there at 10:30 am and no fever or any really sick symptoms. No real advice/guidance other than to give him Motrin and a bath. I was given a number for after hours care and an appointment at 8:45 am tomorrow.

It's been a day ... E just walked in the door from tactical training with a hurt/banged up shoulder with ice wrapped on it. .... Hoping it gets much better soon.

Following a Trend, Keeping my word

E and I had a huge, adventurous weekend. It was quite an undertaking, really. We rearranged our whole house basically. It was a lot like the song about the Little Ole Lady that Swallows a Fly.

I am not sure if any one has ever moved within their own space before. Especially a Condo. There is no driveway/carport/garage or empty spot to help store things in before the hauling.re-arranging takes place. It is not a blank canvass per se. This purposed lots of challenges and extra steps to the whole process. Actually, It has been a 3 day process and although we are at a functioning level now, it is no where near finished.

With the song on repeat in my head, I also ended up having to clean out MT’s room and box up all 0-6 month clothes. I will not lie, I was using his crib as storage for the clothes/toys/etc. that he had outgrown so in order for him to sleep in it, that also had to be tackled. Being that everything was so physically exhausted, I tried not to think of the emotional aspect of folding little tiny clothes that may never been worn again. Some not worn at all and others worn maybe once or even for an hour ....

With every room affected, we basically overhauled the whole place. I think the only thing that is in the same place is our couch. I have a feeling that will be moved very soon though. I received a beautiful 8 top dining room table for our wedding. I have finally agreed to put it in storage at my parents' house until we have somewhere more appropriate for it. We swapped it out with a little round 4 top. This gave us more floor space. I feel very good about it actually. We are aching and exhausted but I finally feel like we are getting something accomplished. It feels like a fresh start. I am excited to keep decluttering our condo. Purging is good. It feels good. Overwhelming but Good

As I type this, My son is asleep in his crib in his room for the first time. So far so good.

The Shiner

With all this development and exploration, It was bound to happen:

It was simple and quick. He was standing up by holding on to one of his toys. He slipped and landed on the pig.(i think ) He didn't even cry about it. It just puffed up and started turning purple instantly. I surprised myself, I didn't even freak out or panic. After his bath, I noticed that it was already fading.


I am sure there will be many more of these in our future. He is my bam bam.