August Check In

[shauni27]

Hi all. Hard to believe that August is almost half over! Even weirder that I keep seeing kids going back to school on my newsfeeds. We still have at least 2 weeks around here.

We had our staycation a couple of weeks ago and S pulled a miracle and slept in from 7-9 every single day. It was so nice! He has been having a lot of tantrums lately if he doesn't get his way. Slams his head on things, hits us, etc. It only lasts a couple of minutes but it is out of nowhere and so annoying. His language skills are expanding and he is loving summer and wants to be outside all the time. I, on the other hand, am looking forward to less humid weather so we can be outside more with less bugs and sweat,

[scm1011]

Hey! We spent a week in Barcelona earlier this month and it was both great and incredibly exhausting to "vacation" with a 2.5 year old and 2 month old. Surprisingly, my easy baby was the cause of all grief and my needy AF toddler was relatively go with the flow. The flights were nightmares both ways, but thankfully the flights were full of babies and toddlers so we weren't the only ones dealing with loud cranky kids!

DD (10 weeks) has become less chill and more needy lately which is a bummer, but I guess it was good while it lasted lol. My mom BFF went back to work this week and we'll be on our own from here on out (I go back 9/23). It was nice to have a maternity leave buddy. It almost felt like summer vacation when I was a kid, most days we'd wake up and text each other and be all "what do you want to do today?". It was fun.

[Mushe]

Happy August! DS started back at school this week, and seems so grown up now I’m second grade. DD is freaking adorable and in such a good stage. She’s 13mo/11mo adjusted. She’s cruising some but not really interested in testing her balance without holding on, and babbling a lot. She says mama dada na-na (for brother) sometimes, but not consistently. Big mama stage right now, though.

Our new au pair arrived and she’s amazing! I’m so happy. I hope having an infant FT isn’t too overwhelming, though. I know she can handle it 100%, but she could also match with an easier gig, so I want to make sure she’s happy with us. 😂

We are looking forward to vacations next summer already, and had thought to do the Grand Canyon, but DS was such a whiner on a short hike last weekend that we’re worried. Blah. Maybe Yosemite because it’s not as far?

[Mushe]

shauni27 so glad S slept well for you! I’m sorry about the hard stage. I honestly found young toddlerhood to be pretty trying, but then suddenly we were just BAM out of it. Hoping that happens for you soon.

scm1011 you are a brave nutter, but I love it! We went to Tahoe for 4 nights and I almost didn’t make it. Having baby in our room sucked, as she didn’t sleep without her blackout shades. We rented a 3bd house but brought my parents and AP.

[shauni27]

scm1011, I loved the pictures! I am glad you are home but sorry you are dealing with fussy kids.

Mushe, I cannot believe your son is in 2nd grade. And seriously SO handsome and grown up looking!! I am thrilled you are finally happy in your childcare situation. Smooth sailing from here on out!

[EllenGriswold]

Hi all!! I’ve been reading but rarely post these days! It’s been a whirlwind for us recently. We finished up summer with a few weekend trips and are now getting ready for back to school. H just got a new job as a middle school coach/teacher so he is in for a whole new world and our whole routine is getting thrown for a loop. But he’s wanted to get into teaching for a handful of years now so I’m extremely excited for him! G just turned three and I think we are getting paid back for a relatively non-existent “terrible twos” phase. He is still generally sweet but when he gets upset it is unpleasant. He’s starting back at his preschool tomorrow so I’m hoping getting him back into a routine with his regular teachers will help. And as for me, I’m almost 24 weeks with baby #2 and I’ve officially popped. And baby is a GIRL! We haven’t done anything yet for her and I’m starting to get a little antsy considering she is coming in 3 and a half months. I need time to slow down but I’m also pretty OVER summer right now. I’m done with this 100+ degree heat every day, and it just makes it miserable to try and do anything.

[scm1011]

Mushe, lol at brave nutter! That was the general consensus among friends and family, too And yeah, we had a 2 bedroom AirBnB and I co-slept with DD in one room and DH co-slept in the other with DS. Good times! We were more than ready to go home by day 7. We'll probably wait until the kids are 2 and 4 for the next big trip. And perhaps drug the children so they don't terrorize a plane full of people again =P

I'm glad the new au pair is a good fit! Your DS is so handsome (and looks SO much like your DH!). I hope he has a good school year

shauni27 toddlers are assholes. I feel like every other week I love or hate DS (ETA: hate is a strong word, I do t mean that literally!). He can be such a charming and funny little person, then he morphs into demon spawn.

EllenGriswold, congrats on the baby girl!

[red]

EllenGriswold- yay for a little girl! I’m over the heat too. I had the worst cankles yesterday at a baseball game we went to.

I’m 22w now, had a few weeks off from work and back to work for the school year. We bought a Halo bassinet off a neighbor, figured it’s only used a few months and I don’t want to spend almost $300. No progress on starting a nursery, it’s still full of random junk since our move in June, oops.

[kellikans]

DS is 17 months and so fun. He's learning so much. I love hearing him talk and watching how excited he gets about things. He's so smart and picks up on things so quickly. He does have his moments - I think we're tip toeing into the terrible two's early given the tantrums he throws. It's hard to handle sometimes since he's always been such a chill baby.

DD is 7 weeks. She is definitely not as easy as her brother was. If she's awake, she's fussy 90% of the time. We think she has reflux. We have her on a hypoallergenic formula, but I think she may be a candidate for medication. But she's adorable and DS loves her so much. He is constantly giving her kisses. I want to embrace this newborn stage as much as possible since she's our last, but I can't wait for her to be a little bit older.

Taking care of the two of them has definitely been a challenge. I've only had both of them by myself for no longer than 2 hours. My parents were here up until this last weekend and were such a huge help. I'm a sahm 2 days a week (I work 3 days and DS is only in daycare those 3 days), so I'm really dreading when I'm home for 8+ hours with the both of them. I'm guessing next week is when that will start. Send lots of wine.

We also picked up a new car today since my previous car got to be way too small with two kids and their gear. The payments are a little bit less and insurance is a bit cheaper, so yay for saving some money!

[cactuscookie]

DD2 has reached such a cute stage - I remember this was my favorite with DD1 too. Sitting pretty stably, adorable smiles and coos, but can't crawl yet. The sweet spot in low-maintenance! She's just so sweet. She's going to daycare for five hours a day, and she's doing pretty well there. She's a sweetheart there too, but she isn't really interested in drinking milk from a bottle. She'd rather just wait until she's with me again, and then make up for the lost calories by crying for food several times overnight... So that isn't great. Hopefully she starts drinking more at daycare as she adjusts to being there. We're offering more solid foods now too.

DD1 starts preschool next week. She's going to love it eventually, but I know she's going to be sad to leave her friends at daycare.

[thoseareradishes]

We had to make an emergency trip to Buy Buy Baby to get a new wubbanub this morning. E's old one got a hole in the pacifier, and when I got the back up out, it had a hole too. I am NOT ready to wean her off of it, it's been a crap week with illness, the cat's sick, etc etc and so we spent $35 on two new ones. She was so funny, she kept saying baby? (go to baby store) cat? (get a new wubbanub) hole? (the old one had a hole).

[Chrysanthemum]

Hi! I’m almost 13 weeks pregnant and have been pretty sick since 6 weeks. Already pretty big and obviously pregnant. I think the “morning” (hahahaha) sickness is starting to subside, so hopefully I can enjoy the pregnancy more pretty soon. C is 2.5, running fast and talking up a storm. He’s such a sweet boy and so funny. He believes he has a baby in his belly too, so we’re in this together!

[loira]

Hi! We've been having a busy summer. We're off camping again tomorrow - hopefully it goes better than our last camping trip, which was fun but chock full of tantrums.

I also had a chemical pregnancy 3 weeks ago. We hadn't officially decided on another, and I was not thrilled about timing, so was weirdly fine with the outcome. I don't know if we'll throw our hat into the ring again, but the only clarity that came from this is the fact that pregnancy is very unpleasant for me.

[G22]

I'm 27 weeks along with #2. I've been a lot more on edge this pregnancy than I ever was with Z. I'm so ready for baby girl to get here. We've picked her name out which coincidentally enough also starts with a Z. lol so I'm gonna have to take a page out of Pooh's book and start calling them Z1 and Z2 on here now I guess

Z is still a sassy stubborn kid, but so sweet when he wants to be. He'll be 4 in a couple months and I cant believe my baby is getting so big. He started back to school this week and loves it. I love getting a few hours to myself again each weekday morning too!

[knx9211]

Hi! I am very tired.

P has stopped sleeping. So that’s fun. I’m 33 weeks pregnant so it’s perfect timing. We got him to sleep in a full bed in our spare room pretty well. He just won’t stay in the toddler bed. So we may be converting it to a full bed after testing that for a few more nights. Fun.

Only a few more weeks until DD arrives which is so crazy. I still feel surprisingly good. This pregnancy is so different. I was SO huge and swollen with P. This time I look like I swallowed a basketball.

In OH HI WE’RE INSANE news, we’re seriously considering putting an offer in on a house. Yes, when I’m 33-34 weeks pregnant. I told you. Insane. We would much rather move in the spring but we don’t want to miss out on something if it would be a really good fit for our family.

What also makes this insane timing is that, effective September 13, I’ll be a SAHM. I am both terrified and excited.

Send help?

[G22]

How exciting about moving knx9211! It might be crazy but it can be done!

Slightly different because being military we didnt get a choice, but we moved when I was 34-35 weeks pregnant last time. It was stressful but mostly because we didnt have a house before we flew overseas to a new country, so house hunting for a place before the baby came stressed me out. But once we had a house and could move stuff in, it wasnt bad at all.

[shauni27]

loira, hugs. I imagine that was a weird/triggering/overwhelming feeling. I am glad you feel at peace with it.

[mpc]

Hi! We are a little over a month away from the baby's first birthday and I am finally starting to feel like a person again. Like I have a little room to breathe again. This has been a hard year, no doubt.

My DS just started 1st grade. He loves school and learning which is awesome and I hope it lasts. But otherwise he is pushing my buttons all the time now. I find that I yell more now than I ever did when he was a toddler. He drags his feet about doing everything. He defies me, or just ignores me. I guess toddlers do all those things too, but now I know he's old enough to know better and it frustrates me to no end. He's either delightful or the biggest pain in my ass. Mushe did your DS go through this? Tell me I'm not alone! lol.

DD1 is 2 and fully in the terrible 2s. She is absolutely adorable, but now she cries and whines all the time about everything. She has been waking up multiple times a night for a few months now which has been rough. H is ready to turn off the monitor and just let her cry all night, but I am not there yet. A few days ago I gave her one of those seahorses that lights up and plays music and I'm trying to teach her to use that when she wakes up. So far she really likes it but in the middle of the night she's not making the connection yet to find it in the crib on her own. I'm working on it though.

DD2 is 10.5 months now and by far the easiest kid we have at the moment, lol. She's crawling and pulling up but I don't expect her to walk til sometime after her birthday. She's starting to show more personality which is fun.

[mpc]

EllenGriswold, my DS did the same thing - no "terrible twos" but once he turned 3 it's like the switch flipped! Congrats on your baby girl.

scm1011, maybe you are a brave nutter but I was so jealous of your trip! I want to be the kind of person who doesn't let kids stop me from traveling. When we only had 1 kid, we did 2 weeks in Greece which was exhausting but amazing. Our trips have slower gotten shorter and closer to home. Now we have to plan around the school calendar too which is another challenge. Next summer we are planning to do a Jamaica all inclusive - it's not nearly as adventurous but sitting by a pool and beach with kids sounds so much easier lol.

kellikans, I'm sorry you're daughter is so fussy all the time. It's hard! Taking care of two of them on your own will be touch but you will get used to it and even get good at it. Hugs.

cactuscookie, I always say sitting but not crawling is the absolute best baby stage!

loira, that's got to be a lot to process. I'm thinking of you.

knx9211, congrats on the SAHM plan! and good luck, hahaha

[Mushe]

mpc, I was reading that and nodding along, even before I saw you tagged me! Absolutely yes, and my baby group (~100) have pretty much all said the same. There’s definitely this stage where these kids think they’re grown, and are pushing back and trying to establish their...what’s the word, dominance? Lol. DS tells me ‘this is the worst day everrrr’ whenever I force him to do things like a big pick up of the play room, and things like that.

What’s working for us these days is giving him specific jobs, and now we’re giving allowance if his jobs are done.

[scm1011]

Aug 22, 2019 7:52:09 GMT -5 mpc said:

scm1011 , maybe you are a brave nutter but I was so jealous of your trip! I want to be the kind of person who doesn't let kids stop me from traveling. When we only had 1 kid, we did 2 weeks in Greece which was exhausting but amazing. Our trips have slower gotten shorter and closer to home. Now we have to plan around the school calendar too which is another challenge. Next summer we are planning to do a Jamaica all inclusive - it's not nearly as adventurous but sitting by a pool and beach with kids sounds so much easier lol.

An all inclusive to Jamaica sounds amazing! I think our next big vacation will be something similar. My DH HATES the beach (maybe you could tell from the photos of us at the beach and him in street clothes under a giant umbrella. The man doesn't even own a bathing suit lol), but I've proposed Hawaii and he's intrigued by the hiking and other stuff we could do there. Fingers crossed! Also, as the wife of a teacher I so hear you on the struggles of working around the school calendar. That's a big reason we pulled the trigger on this vacation: overlapping time off.

Big hugs, loira. That's a lot to digest.

[insominac]

I had my baby on Aug 3, 3 weeks before her due date. My blood pressure was creeping up and my ob thought it was the safest decision for me in light of other risk factors. I was annoyed because my the decision was made in Aug 2, the same day my maternity leave started. :/

Adjusting to life with a newborn has been the rollercoaster that I anticipated, but it’s getting easier. The biggest challenge has been feeding and pumping, but I’m hanging in there. Barely. Lol