My proud parenting moment is better than yours, dtb.
 

That is so fucking cute.

My proud parenting moment is better than yours, dtb.
 

You bet yor fucking ass it's cute. Don't worry. I'll send the baltspawn over to properly educate the littlest puppy in a couple of years.

My proud parenting moment is better than yours, dtb.
 

That won't be necessary. I have the cutest motherfucking kid in history, cocksucker, and we don't need your spawn to teach her shit.

My proud parenting moment is better than yours, dtb.
 

Fuckin' A.

Random Holiday Thoughts
 

* I vaguely remember some Xmases during my childhood when everyone in the house was passing nasty colds back and forth, and the breakfast beverage was Sprite, all to keep the stomachs calm. I remember looking over at my parents on the sofa, who looked happy for my undiluted joy at Santa's bounty, but also remember that their faces still bore some degree of discomfort and pain.

I also remember one or two Xmases from my youth where I simply could not fall back asleep. I awoke at, say, 12 or 1am, and it was o-vah. The night became a series of increasingly tense negotiations with Dad to see when "morning" actually began, and I could go downstairs.

Friends, let me just say that cosmic payback -- combined cosmic payback, for that matter -- is a bitch.

* Given the circumstances, I've had the opportunity to watch Finding Nemo a good number of times over the weekend together with my boys as we recuperate together. I liked it when I first saw it, and am impressed with it the more that I think about it. Nemo* is tightly written, clever, funny, and plays to universal themes of fear, loss, and love. And the room keeps getting dusty near the final scenes.

Carry on.

Gattigap




* As are most Pixar pictures, but that's for another day.

#1 made out like a bandit. #2 got a set of baby bath books and a couple teethers (and his first tooth!). For those of you with kids close in age, what do you do for the 2nd kid who wants for nothing due to copious hand-me-downs? Next year should we just re-wrap the stuff #1 has grown out of and that #2 hasn't seen yet? I assume that we'll be buying a lot of the same toys in two different colors down the road.

#1 can't figure out quite how to work his new tricycle, but he likes to sit on it and yell, "Go, Go, Go!!!"

Gatti, we're all sick too. Given that I seldon take the boys to public places, I can pretty reliably trace our colds to going to see Santa at Dada's workplace on the 20th. Thanks, Santa. Also, my parent's definition of "morning" was "after the sun comes up...all the way" which buys you until at least 6-6:30am - this wouldn't be my preference, but it's certainly better than 4 or 5am.

Random Holiday Thoughts
 

My mother and I go to a spa each year and there is this guy Ed that tends to go the same week we go. At the spa you generally eat dinner with different people each night if you want, to meet people and be social. My mother was seated beside Ed one night and he asked her what she did and she said she is a semi-retired teacher. She asked Ed what he did and he said that he worked at an animation company. My mother said "oh", dismissing this boring statement out of hand and proceeded to regale Ed with tales of her second-graders. Which was probably what Ed wanted, being a low-key guy, but I found it quite amusing seeing as the "animation company" is Pixar and Ed is co-founder and president. I have never told my mother this fact.

This post has nothing to do with kids - I'm just bored. Happy Holidays!

Razormouth
 

Sorry for being so slow to respond, but yes, the pumping at work is feasible, so long as you have a lock on your office door and get access to a fridge. I went back to work after 3 months, full time, and breastfed the trepidation tyke for about 13 months. Just alert your office manager/HR person/ranking female administrative type that you will be breastfeeding and therefore require a lock, and then just do it when you need to. Hell, I even used the thing during conference calls. (I also used the nearby coffee-room freezer, and no one seemed freaked out so that was OK.)

Whatever you get (I had a Pump in Style, it was great), get it now, because it is also going to come in handy while you are still at home. Having it around can actually be helpful with getting the hang of breastfeeding (and keep you lactating if you get so f-ed up that you can't let the little Razormouth near you at all - my kiddo damaged me up so badly that the hospital lactation consultant told me to pump only, so he was on bottled breastmilk more than he was on the teat for the first 3 months). Also, if the little bastard doesn't always eat on schedule, it can be really, REALLY uncomfortable.

And, you will want to stock up - and start early, 'cause you'll dip into it while you're still at home, to manage a dinner out, or an extra-hungry kid, etc. I'd recommend having at least a 3-4 day supply in the freezer by the time you start work again. If you have to travel, or work so late that the kid is asleep before you get home, you will need at least that on hand and probably more. (I was sent suddenly out of town for a week within my first week back, and it sucked but I was prepared. Except for the hotel fridge - check with any hotels that when they say they have an "in room fridge/mini-bar", they don't mean a box with a block of ice it in but a real, actual fridge, 'cause a weeks worth of breast milk in a sub-par fridge is, um, not good.)

Re: breastfeeding generally, don't let nurses sneak in formula when you've told them not to (actually, don't listen to the nurses at all, by my and everyone else's experience, insist on seeing the lactation consultant immediately), and don't let the lactation nazis convince you that one little bottle (of formula or breastmilk) is going to end it all, or cause nipple confusion, or whatever. The whole process is a lot more flexible that anyone would have you believe, so you can make it work around whatever problems (be they sandpapered-off nipples or messengers who don't knock) arise.

If you want it to - don't let yourself get guilt-tripped or whatever into feeling like you HAVE to breastfeed if it is just so unpleasant that you want to jump out the window. In all honesty, the first 3 months for us were sheer constant misery, and, frankly, it wasn't worth it in retrospect, but the last 9 months were nice so there you go. Of course, Trepidation Tyke still tends to reach down the front of my shirt to grab at my nipples, but maybe he's just being a guy. I'm alarmed that he's learned to distract me by pointing over my shoulder and saying "uh oh!" and then grabbing at them when I look. I guess need to teach him to say "Look, Elvis!"

Nighttime Potty Training
 

So my older kid is 4, almost 4.5, and she's still wearing pull-ups to bed. She claims she is trying and occasionally will make it through the night dry, but she doesn't get up in the night, ever. She seems content to keep doing this. Do I need to get tough and get rid of the pullups and let her wet the bed, or is this still acceptable?

Nighttime Potty Training
 

Thoughts....

Is she afraid to get up in the night? I remember being very small and afraid to leave my room at night. Maybe a nightlight in her room and the hall and the bathroom or even a flashlight by her door she can use to go down the hall, even if she claims not to be afraid.

I would think wet sheets will just add more trouble for you, not her. What about a positive incentive program? Stars/stickers on a chart with so many stars in a week or a row or whatever adding up to an outing/treat/movie. I had a friend who agreed to give her 5.5yo the money she would have spent on diapers each night (like $.50) and the child was old enough to understand it and greedy enough to agree to it - it worked. Is she motivated by new clothes, new hair clippies, new goldfish, trip to the zoo? Whatever. I've got no problem with bribery if it keeps the pee in the pot!

Nighttime Potty Training
 

When she's ready to stopr wearing the pull-ups, then she will either get up and do her thing or she'll slep through the night. Where did you get the insane notion that a child is supposed to potty train on your schedule instead of hers?

Nighttime Potty Training
 

Yes, sometimes. Idid just get her a flashlight (for the occasional bad dreams and having to walk quite aways to my room), but there is a nightlight in her room and the bathroom (next door to her room). I'll maybe try to spin it as useful for a potty trip as well.

Tried the new clothes bribe, but nothing seems quite important enough to her. Also tried the "big girl" talk, to which she replied she wanted to stay little.

I agree about the wet sheets, though I know some who have found success with it.

Thanks for the suggestions. Getting really tired of yucky pullups in the a.m.

Nighttime Potty Training
 

Thanks, helpful.

Nighttime Potty Training
 

Maybe a chart would work better so she can see her progress and have some pride in the accomplishment? Little kids live in the now and maybe it would be better if she could see the big picture? Target has packs of 1800 stickers for $.78 in the Crayola aisle.

Also, if she is a really deep sleeper, she may just not wake up and I'm not sure what you would do about that.

BTW, since the Lexling (25mos) replies "noooo" (rhymes with Moo) when I ask if he wants to do pee-pee in the potty, I'm not sure I should be giving any advice on the subject. I am potty trained myself, so perhaps that counts for something?

Nighttime Potty Training
 

Because we're the parents that's why.

My 11 year old thinks he's old enough to drive but he'll learn to drive on my schedule: when he's 35.