My city just got a new Super Wal-Mart. In the layaway section there are 3 bathrooms: one for men, one for women and then one they call a “family” bathroom.
Let’s say dad brings his 2 little girls to shop and they’ve gotta pee. Instead of hanging out in the women’s restroom, he can take them into the family one 
Handy, huh?
I really don’t like Wal-Mart - but that’s pretty cool, I have to admit.
I never thought about changing tables in restrooms until I had to deal with it myself.
I find myself rating places by the bathrooms. I say things like “Oh - that mall has great bathrooms.” or “That store has no place to change kids!”
The boy turned 11 months yesterday. He wants to walk so badly and every time he lets go of the couch and falls he gets so angry.
The girl has been very whiney lately. She wants to be my baby. I love her but having a 42 inch tall - 40 pound 3 year old lying in your lap squirming gets old after a while.
They also like to have screaming contests. My hearing will never be the same.
snort That made me laugh out loud! Nice to meet you, Aspidista!
dangermom Yay dangerbaby! Congrats on that walking! That’s great! You know, my kids aren’t all that physical, either, at least my daughter isn’t; it’s good to hear about enrichment opportunities that will be available down the road. Good luck on that road trip!
Kiki did you read that thread somebody started recently re: their baby’s first day of school? You’d get a kick out of it, made me cry. I think I posted on it, so you could search using my name if you missed it. I was an older baby in school & have heard many people (including my aunt, who teaches preschool) say they think it’s really a good idea.
JohnT I agree with you, both on the uses of technology and how difficult it must be to be a young parent. Although my hero Vicki points out that “nature designed it for young people to have babies and grow up together”; for us, that would’ve been a trainwreck! I’ve been wanting to ask you men about the adjustment to fatherhood - was it just instinctual for you from day one? I’ve noticed that although my Hubby has just as much love for our babies as I do, his patience runs out fast. I thought maybe the difference between us had a lot to do with gender programming, but I could be wrong.
Twiddle I’m still wearing my maternity clothes (ha-ha, not quite). Actually I got rid of mine ASAP. But that is a great idea. tanookie how does swapping at SDMB work?
And a general question re: cutting teeth - with two of them fussing, I have to say I’m not hesitant to pull out the Tylenol. They’re both over 18 lbs. so I have the right dosage info & my ped says it’s fine to give it daily if necessary. Any drawbacks to doing it this way? They both have tons of teething toys that they use happily, but when it’s time to give them the bottle my daughter in particular will screech and pull back, even though she’s hungry. In the evening, too, they tend to fuss more. I just saw the ped Tuesday to rule out other problems & the ears are AOK.
Happy birthdays to everybody - mine turn 7 months tomorrow. Time flies!
As far as I know, as long as they are getting the right dose and not going over the max per day they should be fine. I try not to give too much tylenol myself but if he’s shrieking and fussy it’s sweet blessed relief because then he calms down enough to drink some milk and sleep for a little bit at least. I did try the ora-gel but that didn’t go over to well. I think the numbness kinda freaked him out.
I’m somewhat haphazard with the babysigns… but then there’s also my Mom who forgets and the dayhome lady… so I’m not worrying about it too much.
You’ve chatted with your doc and he’s fine with the tylenol so go for it. A few days of tylenol that helps keep them sleeping and eating as normal is hardly overmedicating. I’m guessing they are starting to cut some of the harder teeth? We’ve been having lots of tears as the molars come in. I am also pretty liberal with the motrin for teething pain. A little oragel for the immediate relief and some motrin to keep the pain at bay.
I didn’t start signing with my daughter until she was about 13 months old or older. It took her a little while to pick it up, but once she did, she latched onto it. I’d started with teaching her “more” and noticed on July 4th, as we were watching fireworks, she would sign “more” every time one had faded from the sky. I was so excited! Now she does “more” “cup” “fish” and “all done”. A really great site for baby signing info is signingbaby.com. A friend of mine runs it and I never would have started signing with Em if it weren’t for her. It’s a very informative, well-done site.
My little girl is 18 months and is an unstoppable little ball of energy. Luckily, she’s usually a very happy little unstoppable ball of energy, so it’s pretty nice over here.
She sleeps pretty well. We never did CIO, when she was nursing I nursed her to sleep (I know, I know, but there wasn’t any way to prevent it, really.) Once she stopped nursing, I moved her to her crib, and she adjusted immediately (She was about 8 months old.) She’d still wake at night for a bottle, but she’d go right back to sleep. It took her no time to wean from her night time bottles, and now she sleeps with a pacifier, which is the next thing I want to get rid of. She doesn’t have it during the day, though, so it’s not so bad. She’ll have a 2 1/2 hour nap in the middle of the day. She’s had a little bit of trouble getting to sleep here recently, but I think that’s mainly due to the fact that dad was away for 6 months (military deployment) and just got back last month. She’s getting back to a point where we can lay her down, tell her goodnight and she’ll go right to sleep, though.
Can I post pictures too? 
Here is a pic of Em playing her bongos. People think we’re crazy for buying her drums, but they don’t have drumsticks, so they’re not loud. I’m no masochist.
That spaghetti pic is awesome angelicate!! I have pictures of both of my kids eating spaghetti by themselves… they’re priceless!
fessie, I’ll have to check out that 1st day of school thread. Sounds interesting. I didn’t cry when my little girl started kindergarten or first grade. She was so excited to be going so it was really hard for me to feel sad. All these other parents are standing around either openly crying or fighting back tears and I was just all smiles because my little girl was all smiles. I have a feeling that next year when my son starts kindergarten… things will be different. He’s kind of shy like his mommy (my girl is so outgoing it’s kind of scary!) so he may have a hard time and be a little scared on the first day and that will make me sad. I’ll just try not to cry until he’s in class!
As for teething, I always alternated baby Tylenol and baby Motrin. I’d give a dose of Tylenol and when it was time for the next dose I gave Motrin. That way their little body didn’t build up a tolerance for either one. You could also take a clean wet washcloth and put it in the freezer to get it good and cold and let them chew/suck on it. The cold will numb their gums a little.
I got hit by a kidney stone attack Tuesday night right after I’d put the little one to bed, and it lasted all through yesterday. So I wasn’t on the 'puter at all; just laying in bed popping narcotics every four hours. I’m not even going to try to catch up on all the posts since then, I’m just going to jump right in where I am.
mcms_cricket, about the flylady site; yes, it’s somewhat disorganized. The real trick is to sign up for the emails. You’ll get a bunch of them every day, and even if you delete them, having only read the subject line, you’ll get brainwashed by them over time. They will remind you to check your laundry, figure out what’s for dinner, etc. Like I said before, it’s not for everyone. It’s been wonderful for me!
And I don’t think two is too young to be learning signs at all.
kilt-wearin’-man, congrats on the new arrival!
norinew - oh no! So sorry to hear about your kidney stone! Do you have problems with that frequently?
Doesn’t it really stink when you get sick now? Moms don’t get time to recuperate, do we!? I’m loving flylady.com, thanks for the link! - still haven’t seen the bottom of my sink yet, though ;).
That frozen washcloth trick is a good one, baby girl really liked it. Of course, today she threw up her 7:00 a.m. feeding (when she wakes up at 6:00, she’s usually hungry by 7:00 so I give her 4 oz or so). Not sure if that means an illness is on the way - so far she’s behaving as her usual ornery self, no fever or symptoms. Baby boy is just hilarious, he wants to climb and wrestle all over me, bounces up and down, and is a major toe sucker. He kept his feeding down.
angelicate I like her hat, too!
tanookie I don’t know re: the teeth, she just got her first two in the lower front. I can’t see anything else going on. Those molars do sound painful!
You guys & the bathrooms cracked me up, that is so true. I love taking the kids to the Brookfield Zoo because it’s got all these wide grassy areas so you can change a diaper anywhere - my idea of heaven!
aspidistra here’s that r I owe you!
So how do you Moms & Dads feel about gender toys? I’m pretty liberal in most ways & never imagined myself directing my kids towards gender-specific toys. But it’s so funny, having this boy & girl - he’s physical, loves to roughhouse & is fascinated by how things work. She’s far more passive, does not like being jostled in any way, and loves faces. So when my Hubby said he was going to buy baby son a football (for his 7-month birthday), I recommended a doll for baby girl. Now doesn’t that sound old-fashioned?!
Many years ago I knew a former psych grad student who’d done her work trying to prove that baby boys & girls weren’t different and that all of the behaviors we associate with the genders were taught, not inherent. Bzzzzzzt! Thank you for playing - they couldn’t prove it. I do see that here, how different these two are, and I’m surprised at how stereotypical it is. 'Course it’ll probably change a thousand times.
Enough from me - Have a great day & weekend everybody!!
I figure I’ll let him play with what he wants. He wants Barbies, I’ll get him a Barbie… (okay and Ken).
He’s already fascinated by cars (we have a couple of big ones that he can grasp and pick up, but not shove down his throat) but that I think is mainly because he can chase after it when either he or I push it along the floor.
fessie, unfortunately, kidney stones are way too common in my life. I’ve had a couple dozen of them over the last 28 years! In fact, I started feeling crappy again last night, so I went to the doctor’s this morning. Good news: I don’t have an infection; more potential good news: he thinks the pain may be caused by the movement of a stone he tried and failed to remove a couple of months ago; he said if it’s on the move, maybe it’ll move to a place where he can get at it.
Being sick is tough, but it’s been so much a part of my life that my kids have had to learn to work with it. This morning, I was laying on the sofa, and my 4-year-old was bringing me toys to play with.
Gender toys: my two older girls were girlie girls right from the start. My 13-year-old still is (collector Barbies, porcelain dolls, etc.). My little one, however, has just as many Matchbox cars as Barbies. She likes “girl” stuff and “boy” stuff. Doesn’t bother me a bit.
RE: Gender toys
We were recently over at a friends house. They have a little girl who is just a little bit older than my son. She was playing with a toy stroller and doll, pushing it around. My son went over, turned the stroller over, and started playing with the wheels. It was pretty funny.
At home, he has a bunch of stuffed dolls and animals that he hugs and cuddles, but he does have a fascination with wheels, so he has quite a collection of trucks going on. His favorite is a set of soft, squishy trucks from Baby Einstein. There are six of them, all different (fire truck, school bus, ice cream truck, etc.) and the wheels move, so he can roll them across the floor. No little parts. They’re great.
OK guys - the Wee Kilt-wearin’ Lad arrived Thursday morning. Nine pounds, one ounce and just a shade over twenty inches long, almost a full head of brown hair, and one of the most active newborns I’ve seen - he flails and kicks constantly, and even kicks his swaddling off. It’s pretty impressive.
His big brother wasn’t real pleased to see Mommy and Daddy with another baby at first, but he seems to have come around. He now smiles, pats his litte brother softly on the head, and calls him “Kitty cat”.
We’re working on that. 
Kilt-wearin’ Man, that’s wonderful news! Congratulations to you and Kilt-wearin’ Woman!
Congratulations to the whole Kilt-Wearin’ Clan! I assume those are Highland kicks? 9lbs! Wow! Pix?
Yay! Congrats to the wee laddie
Wow 9 lbs… glad things went well, and congrats on the new addition to the kilt wearin’ family.
… let’s keep this one going…
Sophie and I had a wonderful weekend, like always.
Friday night, we’re sitting in the living room with Laura holding Sophie and rocking her on the glider we bought when she was expecting. Sophie jerks up and asks, quite clearly:
“You want me to read to you, dada?!?”
“You want to read to dada, Sophie?”
“Yeah!”
“That sounds fun! What book do you want to read?”
“Ma-wing-a-wing-a-ming-a-wing, mmm I’ll be right back!” Sophie still mumbles those concepts she can’t place into words (the option of not saying anything at all would never occur to Sophie, not in a million years). I vaguely recall doing this when I was a kid, so I know she’ll outgrow it. NBD: No Big Deal.
She stops, turns:
“You want a pillow, daddy?”
“Sure, Sophie! Thank you!”
“Sophie, that’s very considerate that you asked Daddy if he wanted a pillow. We appreciate that” Laura, quick with the moral lesson as always.
“We sure do, Sophie. Thanks.” Dad, quick with the supportive follow-up.
Sophie gets a couple of her board books, ones with different animals and their names… DK Publishers, I think. She also gets one of the pillows she has on her bed, brings it to me, and we lie on the couch as she “reads” to me. Opening the book, she names all the animals and colors and whatnots that she knows, and asks about the ones she doesn’t. She sees a butterfly, and then has to show me that on another page there is a butterfly as well.
This goes on for 15-20 minutes, absolutely adorable. Throughout I’m asking her if she recognizes letters (as one should expect she gets some easily, forgets others… NBD), “how many” and “how many in Spanish” (she can do 10, we’re working on 20… hell, I’m working on 20!).
Saturday, Mommy, Sophie and I went to Chili’s, where she behaved very well. Sophie was glad to have me back and was on her best behavior, highlighted when she started saying “See? See? Mommy, see?” and pointing to her plate - she had eaten all of her broccoli unbidden! After the usual oohing and aahing, she went back and quietly finished her meal.
However, she is a pretty forceful child: when we walked into Chili’s, Sophie looks at the hostess and says (loudly, Sophie says 'most everything loudly) “Hi!” The hostess didn’t hear her, and turned to get the menus. Sophie runs around to face her and says more insistently “HI!” After she didn’t react the second time, Sophie used the big guns in her repetrory: sticking her foot out, she asks “See my pretty shoes?” Don’t ignore me because I’m little!
“I see your pretty shoes! What’s your name?”
“Sophie!” pronounced sef-fee
“Sophie” me, sotto voce
“How old are you Sophie?”
“Mmmmm. Mwing-a-ming-a-wing-a-wing mmmm one… two!” counts and sticks out two fingers. She’ll be three in October.
We then went to the mall, a place that Sophie adores. We just walk around (I never use a stroller), Sophie taking the lead and Laura and I right behind her. The entire time she is walking, she sees the babies and goes over to say hello to the kids and the parents - Sophie is very outgoing. She always comes to the Abercrombe store and starts dancing to the booming pop music coming out of the place. We then go to the bookstore (B. Dalton), where we have a good time identifying things on the covers of the book: “Look, dada! Dino! Look, dada! Baby Bop! Look, dada! Scooby-Doo!” We then make our way to the Disney store (Sophie knows where she’s going, we’ve been walking her in the mall ever since she started walking) where we look for Simba and Nemo, and then close it off with a trip to see the puppies at the mall pet store. Not being fans of such places, we quietly never buy anything from there, but allow her to enjoy the animals as much as she can - at this age, loving animals is more important to instill than a dislike of chain stores, imho. At the end of the visit, Sophie has walked a good third of a mile, probably more.
I then had a business dinner to go to, but on Sunday I decided to take Sophie on an outing and give Laura a day from her: while Sophie and I were out, Laura got to shop sans child. Sophie and I went to go eat slices of pizza at this local pizzaria that was right next to the dollar theater - which happened to be playing Shrek 2. So after the pizza (we ate at the SpongeBob table, a table that is bright yellow), Sophie and I paid a $1.50 for 1 ticket (they had just raised their prices and are now more properly known as the $1.50 theater), with her being free.
She was a… well, she was a little girl going to the movies. Everything was bright and shiny and deserved our notice “Look, dada!.. look, daddy!”, and she introduced herself to no less than three ladies. We got our popcorn (“I wanna hold it! Please?”) and went to the movie.
Now we had both seen this before… this wasn’t her first time at the movies, and sure won’t be her last. So far she has seen Home on the Range, Shrek 2, Ella Enchanted, and Scooby-Doo 2 (“Look, mama! Buffy! It’s Buffy, mama!.. Where’s Spike?”) at the theaters, and our going to see the new SpongeBob SquarePants movie is so certain as to be pre-ordained by the prophets of the worlds seven major religions. She was well behaved, especially considering it was the second time she’s seen Shrek 2, and she had little problem staying still in her seat - as long as she got to hold the popcorn, that is.
We then went to the ice-cream place next door, and in keeping with my vow to keep the entire cost of our outing under $10.00, asked for a sample of their chocolate ice cream and “one of those little wooden spoons.” Getting it, I handed it to Sophie and we left the store, thanking them. Sophie’s dad can be a cheap bastard at times.
We then went home for our nap.
Monday we had a slow day, where Sophie took out her toys, played in the backyard “I wanna go outside. I wanna go outside, dadda, please?”, and more or less kept to herself. She had a couple of successful potty moments, but also a few unsuccessful ones, where she said she wanted to go, but didn’t. She also broke her streak of five days in her bed by coming into our bed around 4:00am, and then again at 6:00am (the second time I just let her stay). After she woke up, she broke us all up by asking, after I had just spoke, my head close to hers “What’s that stink?” :o
And yes, we told her about morning breath, a concept she has been running with all day today: “Mama, I have morning breath” was apparently as popular as the old warhorse “Mama, I have a boo-boo. I want a band-aid.”
We just adore our daughter and think that she’s the best thing that has ever happened to us, either singly or together. We’re just so thrilled that a person like her is in our lives, and we are very pleased with her development and personality, a true blessing in our lives. Sorry to be so maudlin’, but Sophie really is an awesome little girl - she’s going to be a fine adult.
And congratulations, KWM!!!
