Hey - I made that cake for my daughter’s second birthday too!
Sorry about the link. I’m kind of a computer dummy.
Oh, and a cake dummy, too.
tanookie , I was totally thinking of you when I posted about that. Don’t you make cakes professionally? How on earth do you have the patience?!
Or, perhaps you are not doing them at 9pm when you’re 38 weeks pregnant. (Yeah, I know I already bitched about it.) In retrospect, it actually didn’t come out so bad. I’ll know in a few hours what the Little Lady’s reaction is.
It’s okay it happens even to us who aren’t half bad with computers 
I remember in elementary my best friend’s mother made cakes. She was the one who made cakes for birthdays and whatnot. It was amazing what she could do. When I moved away she put a dinosaur on a cake for me (I was dino mad).
I don’t have the patience though. By the time I get done baking a cake I just want to slap some icing on it and eat it.
My wife wants to buy a cake.
I want to make home-cooked chicken nuggets.
We have things backwards at our house. 
Having spent quite a few years as a professional cake decorator I always make the cakes for family occasions.
I like to make other things too but I’m not as confident in my cooking skills as I am in my baking skills. My hubby is quite helpful with the technical stuff but refuses to try anything “artistic.”
Oh - Zackie took his first steps today!!!
That’s exciting!
We’ve had an interesting weekend. My son got a virus that involved a high fever (104.2 for a while there), a rash, and a sore throat. As soon as the fever came down and he was willing to eat something, three :eek: molars decided to make an appearance.
Poor little thing. Ibuprofen has been our friend.
Wow, congrats Zach!!
And Baby3 on the teeth.
The Elmo cake was moderately successful—actually more so with the adults than with the bday girl, who was already too overwrought by that point to really care. In fact, she was so overwhelmed that, when we were singing ‘Happy Birthday’, she just laid down on the floor face down. She had simply had enough, and it was actually a nice chance for me to quietly rub her back and try to impart some soothing without a gaggle of relatives trying to “help”.
What do you do with 2 sets of grandparents (particlularly the grandmothers in my case) who won’t stop trying to out-grandparent each other?? It was all oh-so-<cough, cough>-subtle, but I know it didn’t help how overwhelmed my poor girl got. At one point, I cornered my sister and said, “I wish they’d just settle this with an old-fashioned fistfight, y’know?” Boy, did I want a drink (or ten) at that point.
My girl and I have the day off together, so I’m hoping to re-introduce normality and quiet time to her. Oh, and to myself 
Well, I’ve been out of town for a few days, visiting a friend of mine in Fredericksburg, VA, so it looks like I’ve missed a lot!
First steps, new teeth, fancy cakes and relatives subtly duking it out at birthday parties, oh my! Sometimes, for me, it helps to remind myself that whatever stage the kid is at, it’s only temporary. This serves as a reminder for me to really treasure the good parts, and comfort for the rough patches!
My friend I went to visit has a Baha’i Center in her area, so Sunday morning we all went to Baha’i school on Sunday. At my 4-year-old’s class, the teacher asked “What do you know about God?” and my little Mariah pipes up “Well, I know He don’t got a belly button!” You gotta love stuff like that! I know I do!
As far as birthday cakes, my youngest wants a Blue’s Paw Print cake again this year. I’m happy, as it’s the easiest thing in the world: an 8" or 9’ round, and four cupcakes arranged strategically, all covered in blue frosting; voila! A paw print! I’m not good at fancy stuff, so when my kids have wanted Barbie, dinosaurs, horses, etc., I bake a cake from a mix and decorate it with little plastic toys! And yep, I cook in a Crock Pot at least twice a week; I’m a lazy cook!
Hey, I have an idea, for the next week, whenever one of us cooks a good family recipe for dinner, let’s post it here so we can all take some new stuff to cook for dinner instead of doing the same old thing! When I figure out what I’m cooking tonight, I’ll post it here!
I’ve explained with the distinct lack of tact I am famous for that:
These are MY kids.
I will NOT be overruled.
I’ve stepped on grandparent toes quite a few times but I have explained that my kids come first and their feelings come second. We’ve had plenty of “You’re overwhelming her” or “She doesn’t like that - leave her alone” or “Stop feeding her! I’m the one dealing with the upset stomach later” conversations. Things have been pretty good in the last year or so - they got the message!
I know she’s quirky - she’s 3 - 3 year olds are all quirky. I go with the harmless ones. Getting that across to the grandparents has been interesting. I know she looks like a rainbow on acid some days but she dressed herself - let her be proud. The only mac n cheese she wants is elbow macaroni - this is not a hassle - when I tell you this please don’t pout about the fact that you bought rotini and cheese. I told you specifically before you went shopping that she only will eat the elbow ones. I know they are the same thing. She does not. She’s 3 - you are not. :rolleyes:
Congratulations BabyZackieBoy! Seems like just yesterday was the DopeFest when he kept falling over while sitting up.
Life ChezValley is difficult lately. ValleyGirl’s sleep has gone into such regression that I’m about to scream. My little princess used to go to sleep at 7pm, wake up for some milk at 3-4 am, go right back to sleep and wake up around 6-7 am. She also used to go down for naps with her eyes wide open, talking herself to sleep. Starting last week, she began waking up twice a night. Then three times a night. Last night, she was up every two hours. The worst part is, she’ll no longer go back to sleep on her own – I used to be able to do her night feeding then put her down to sleep with eyes open. Now she screeches her head off. And forget about putting herself to sleep for naps. (Actually the only reason I can type this now is that she’s napping in her car seat in the garage – connected to our house – right now. Call me a bad mother, but when it’s been 6 hours since she last slept, I’m not going to risk waking her by taking her out.)
I have no idea what’s going on with my soon-to-be 8 month old. I’m living with a constant sleep deprivation headache and I’m getting rather moody. Meanwhile, Miss ValleyGirl is happy as a clam during her waking hours, and smiles and laughs at everyone. So of course everyone says, “How lucky you are to have such a good baby!”
Sigh. Any ideas?
On a more positive note, I picked up some devil’s food cake mix and chocolate frosting on sale today at the grocery store. This thread was making me too hungry!
Yay for first steps and new teeth!
I’m not looking forward to molars, we’re just getting the uppers now (or so it seems, yesterday he was all fussy and didn’t nap or eat much, which is how Caterpie was when the bottoms came in)
As to the Grandparents thing: I don’t have to deal with another side (single mom) and my parents are pretty easy going… but my Grandmothers. Oi. So far we’ve only had a discussion about solids. It basically went “Why isn’t he eating cereal yet?” “Because he’s not old enough, the doctor says no and he’s not interested. We’ll start when he gets interested and not till then.” I had to repeat that a few times but it got through. Anticipated discussions: Why isn’t he baptised? and when he’s 2 Have you started potty training yet?
I wouldn’t say your a bad mom Lily. We all deal how we can. What I end up doing is if Caterpie is still asleep when I get home, I just leave him to nap in the stroller. He’s fine, I can hear him when he wakes and I get a little break. Usually just long enough to put the groceries away.
I really don’t have any tips except maybe see if you can find a toy to leave with her that she might play with and go back to sleep instead of shrieking. I have a toy and a box of pens (yeah, it’s his favourite toy right now) in the crib.
Eh, my parents defrauded my little girl out of 3 months of health insurance (part of a severance package that they stole from me when I left their company). You think y’all have G’parent issues!
On the other side, at least my child hasn’t been polluted spiritually and psychologically by spending time with my stepmother. 
Lily any chance your daughter’s got an ear infection, perhaps in its early stages? I’ve read that the pain is more intense when they’re laying down. I know you said there aren’t any other symptoms - my daughter was asymptomatic when she had an ear infection, except that she’d fuss at feeding times. It didn’t occur to me at the time that her fussing had any cause.
BTW, my kids sleep wherever they land. Floor, crib, stroller, in the car - wherever! I’ve been driving them around extensively for the past 10 days, trying to instill a sleeping schedule. They sleep great, just cuts down on my Internet time.
Re: recipes - how about nuked hot dogs? That was my dinner last night 
. Today it’s going to be a huge salad, doggone it, inspired by that salad thread.
I hear you guys about kids’ limits & family not understanding. That’s one of my strongest beliefs, I’m convinced that working within their capacities is key to a harmonious household. Once, many years ago, we were at the Zoo for their Christmas lights festival & this dad was over at the side, just whaling on his toddler who kept squirming away in his winter jacket. The violence of the dad’s fury struck me and I screamed out loud, involuntarily, and my MIL intervened and calmed the situation down. She was a social worker & knew how to talk to parents; apparently they’d been out doing the “family thing” all day w/ G’parents etc. & the kid had just had enough and become quite difficult. I think about that, about how people can set themselves up for a mess by not taking children’s needs into account.
JohnT I might be able to trump your G’parent woes - this same MIL, when informed of my pregnancy last summer, told Hubby that she didn’t think we should have kids because we’re too self-centered to be parents :eek:. This is the woman we took in and cared for in recent years when she was homeless and penniless (through her own choices) - TWICE! No, she hasn’t been to see the babies, and no, I’m not about to take steps to bring her here. I think she’s been waiting for us to fail & call her for help.
Tonight we will have home made chicken nuggets, cole slaw and fried apples.
Ranch Chicken Nuggets
3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1/4 c. dry ranch dressing mix
1/2 c. Wheaties, crushed (corn flakes will work; I like the added whole grains of Wheaties).
Preheat oven to 350. Cut chicken into chunks using sharp scissors. Mix ranch dressing mix into crushed cereal. Coat chicken chunks in mix. Put on lightly greased cookie sheet and bake for about 10-12 minutes.
Cole slaw
1/4 head cabbage
1 small apple (cored but not peeled)
1 med. carrot
2 or 3 Tbsp. mayonaise
2 packets Splenda
Put cabbage, apple and carrot in a food processor and shred. Put into a bowl and add mayonaise and Splenda, mix well. Can be served immediately, but is best if chilled first.
Fried Apples
5 medium sized apples
1 Tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
3 packets Splenda
Core and slice apples. Melt butter in a heavy skillet. Add apples to skillet and fry, stirring constantly, until apples reach desired softness. Add cinnamon and Splenda and mix thoroughly. Best if served warm.
fessie, I have great in-laws, but of course horror stories about in-laws are so common that they’ve become cliche. Your story is one of the worst I’ve heard! I will say that when I was pregnant with my first child, several of my sisters expressed concern that I might not be cut out to be a good mom. Their basic feeling was that I couldnt’ even keep a house plant alive! How was I going to manage a baby? The difference, of course, is that house plants don’t make any noise when they need something, but babies do!
Hijacking slightly back to sleeping issues… but please tell me that newborns outgrow the “catnaps”? My 8-week old (born 2 weeks early so his adjusted age is 6 weeks) has been on a spurt of 20-30 minute naps a few times a day. I can’t imagine he’s getting enough rest this way and I can’t get a damn thing done around the house knowing he’ll be awake before I can even get out of the shower. His naps have ranged from 20 minutes to 3+ hours, so I know he’s capable of sleeping longer but this past week I can’t get him down for more than 30 minutes.
He’s doing pretty well at night, only getting up once to eat and goes right back down. I just worry about the daytime overtired think after reading “Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child.” It kind of scares you into worrying about accounting for every minute of sleep, and I’m terrified I’m doing something that’s keeping Noah from getting quality sleep during the day.
Winnie, he’ll most likely outgrow it. The problem with all those books is that the little babies can’t read them!
Actually, winnie, scratch that “most likely” bit. He’ll definitely outgrow it. After all, have you ever known a 20-year-old who sleeps for 10-20 minutes on and off, all day? (They actually resume this schedule when they reach about age 80).
Congratulations on your new one, Winnie. I promise he’ll grow out of it. Anyway, who needs showers? I don’t think I showered before 4 pm until ValleyGirl was 3 months old.
Last night was a smidgeon better (back up to 3 hour stretches and going down easier), so I’m a bit more cheerful. I hadn’t considered an ear infection since she’s so happy during the day. I think I’ll look into that.
Meanwhile, I have to share yesterday’s adventure! We took 'Girl on her very first bike ride on the bike path near our house. Picture a tandem bicycle towing a bright yellow child trailer (ok, so we had a huge turning radius ). We went for half an hour (8 miles) and she didn’t fuss at all. Hooray! Great fun was had by all. I got a special kick out of passing a bunch of other cyclists while towing our “deadweight”. Guess I’m not in such bad shape after all.
For some reason, LilyoftheValley, babies just love to be in motion! Bike rides certainly do the trick! Helps you get some fresh air, sunshine and exercise, too. Fresh air is especially helpful if you’re too busy with your little one to shower daily .
Seiously, something that may be helpful for shower time for those of you having trouble, is to get a clear shower curtain; put your baby in a baby seat facing the shower so they can see you the whole time. I didn’t need to do this, as I have clear shower doors on my shower.