Saturday, September 24, 2011

Lots of Topics. Take Your Pick.

I don't even have anything specific to post about today, but I can't stand leaving that horrific BARFING post up any longer. I mean, what if I died in a car accident today and the last thing I published on my public blog was about throwing up on my own shoes? *shudder* What a way to go.

So I guess I'll just ramble about something or other for a few paragraphs... Um, Halloween! Two questions: What are your kids going to be? Are you going to make their costumes? And will YOU dress up, too?

Whoops, there were three, weren't there? My answers are: Addy wants to be a cheerleader or a cowgirl. We're still undecided on that, but I'm rooting for cheerleader because we already have that costume. Eli will be either Batman or a dragon, and he got both of those costumes for his birthday, so we won't have to buy anything new for him for sure. (Are you sensing that my kids are really into costume wearing in their everyday life?)

Don't know yet about Jameson. We have a Tigger costume that both the other kids wore when they were his age, but he is totally different in size than either of the other two were (Eli was really chubby, and Addy was really small- the costume totally sagged on her- but Jameson is more just thin and long, not tiny in general) so I don't think it's going to fit him right. Any adorable ideas for one year old costumes? I thought about dressing him as a dragon-slayer, if Eli does indeed opt for dragon, but then that seemed awfully... involved. And I am nothing if not uncreative and lazy about such things. Which brings to me to my answer re: whether or not I will make the costumes, which is a big fat NO. As for whether I will dress up with the kids, just depends on my mood that day, honestly. I have before (once as a cat, and as Sarah Palin, last year :) ) but it was pretty spur of the moment.

And hey, as long as I'm not writing anything creative or funny or touching, or, my specialty, humiliating, I will ask anther question! At what age do kids usually transition from a morning and an afternoon nap to one long afternoon nap? Jamie is still very hit or miss in this area; some days he's not tired until one or two, but other days he's falling asleep by eleven and I have to put him down.... BUT then he won't nap at all in the afternoon, which, weirdly, means a horrible bedtime because by then he's overtired and miserable. It's awfully hard to try to plan errands and library trips and so on when I never know when the kid is going to be asleep!

Oddly, I worried about his napping LESS when he was younger because he would always fall asleep in the car, so if he hadn't napped yet, I'd just take off for the store and he'd be out by the time we got there, and then remain asleep in his car seat for at least an hour or so. Ah, memories. This is no longer the case. He hardly ever sleeps in the car anymore, and if he does finally nod off, he inevitably wakes up furious during the transition into the house, and won't go back to sleep but is then grouchy and fitful for at least an hour. So car sleeping just sucks, now, and I'm always playing loud music and shoving toys and sippee cups at him to try to keep him awake until we get home.

You know what does NOT suck anymore, though, and which I keep meaning to do a big Gratefulness Post about? Eli does not. have. accidents. anymore. At least not on a daily basis, and never of the horrifying number two variety which was killing me slowly just a scant six months ago. Gosh, that seemed like it would never end, and then there was the constant leaking and multiple underpants a day, every single day, and now... now it is over. At last. Thank God. We've also noticed that he's actually using the bathroom less often and pees a lot more at a time, and we're wondering if maybe his bladder just finally caught up in size with the rest of his body? or something?

It makes me feel bad for ever giving him grief about it, if he really couldn't control it. I mean, I didn't give him MUCH grief, don't get me wrong. We certainly didn't punish him or anything. But one senses, after awhile, that people are tired of cleaning up your pee and rinsing your underwear. One catches that drift, I would think, after hearing sighs and muttered grumbles for months on end. So, if anyone's still stuck in that technically-potty-trained-but-never-quite-making-it-to-the-toilet-in-time phase, let me say: I don't think there's any magic trick to fix it. You just have to grin and bear it until it's outgrown, and try not to give your kid a hard time about it, because they probably can't help it.

Also, once they outgrow it, be sure to celebrate with new Transformers underwear.

10 comments:

Swistle said...

I have a couple of bins of Halloween costumes I bought at 75-90% off, and I let the kids root around in there for whatever fits, and/or make their own costumes out of what they can find (we have some basics like a cat ear headband, a rabbit ear hat, and I can make a bunny tail out of cotton balls). I don't dress up.

You'd think I'd be ALL OVER the nap question, but I can't remember. It's all blending together now.

Nik-Nak said...

Boo is probably going to be a cowgirl. Last year she was a pirate. She's still at the age where she can be what *I* want her to be so I'm taking full advantage of that. And hell to the no I won't be making her costume. I think the 15 dollar ones work out just fine.

I have always wanted to see a toddler be a garden gnome (google it if you haven't see that yet) I think it is adorable but I can't even find any in our area and a one hour costume is not worthy of me paying shipping and handling charges on.

Oh, and Boo with be two on Halloween. She quit taking two naps at around 18 months. She currently sleeps from 1ish to 3 30ish. She's very good about telling us when she wants to sleep and going to sleep well at night time so we just kind of let her make the rules when it comes to naps.

Jess said...

Callum has started doing the one-long-nap thing (though not every day... but most days) and when we told the pediatrician he was doing this she laughed and said that doesn't usually start until around 15 months. That's the extent of my knowledge on the subject.

Nowheymama said...

We have tons of costumes, too, so I don't know for sure. I think Kit Kittredge, Ladybug Girl, and...Indiana Jones? Obi Wan? No idea. Oh, and a duck. Because I will get photos of baby #4 in the same duck costume.

Graham is still taking two naps because he wakes up so early. His first 'nap' is about an hour after he gets up and eats breakfast. The second one is from @ 1-3.

Tracy said...

Olivia is going as a ballerina (ahem. free costum since she's in dance class)
Baby girl is going as ballerina (dyed onsie and small tutu. cheap again.)
Isaac is going as a lion that was Austin's costume when he was around this age. (free again. score!)
Austin is going as fireman. He says he wants a "real ax" to carry around. I think not. His is the only costume I bought this year.

Me? I'm going as a post-partum mom.

Tracy said...

oh, naps! Isaac dropped his morning nap around 9 months. :( boo hiss. No fun. Olivia was MUCH older. Around 20 months or so when she dropped hers.

Jessica said...

I'm sure the boys will change their minds ten times before Halloween. Last I heard Gabe wanted to be Hulk and David wanted to be Wolverine. It figures that those are two of the superhero costumes we DON'T currently own. lol

I'll probably make their costumes, which will be easy this year. Green sweatsuit for Hulk with a pair of cut off jeans, stuffed to make look like he has big muscles. Flannel shirt, jeans, fake lamb chops, hair parted down the middle and some cardboard claws painted silver for Wolverine.

If I'm anything like I was last year I'll be scrambling to pull these together the night before trick or treat.

Jessica said...

Forgot about the naps - my kids have always given up the morning lap pretty late. Right now Grace does morning from 9ish-10ish and then afternoon from 1ish-3ish. Eventually it will turn into one long nap from 12-3. That's what has happened for all my kids (mainly because I force them all to nap at the same time). I want to say both boys were doing one long nap by age 14 months.

d e v a n said...

My kids are going to be Superman, Batman, Iron Man, and Wonder Woman. I bought the first 3 last year after Halloween and spent a few dollars on each. They've played with them all year and still want to be that - so I bought L a Wonder Woman to go with them.
We will probably dress up, we usually do for our play group party.

Naps... all mine transitioned from 2 naps to 1 nap sometime after 1 and before 18ish months. It sucks.
I hated that period where they can't quite get used to one nap but they damn sure aren't going to take 2. *sigh*

CAQuincy said...

We have NO CLUE what the kids are going to be for Halloween. Tween is having a bit of angst about that right now. Actually, I just remembered today that Izzy should dress up as Astrid from How to Train Your Dragon--but I'm not sure what all that might entail (and therefore what effort *I'm* willing to put into it). Keith said he wants to be Darth Maul. Um.... Anyway, we usually buy (if we don't have a hand-me-down). And I almost always dress up. I have three or four costumes that I change out each year. Not sure what to be this year--this may be a cop-out year.

And no, I can't remember the nap thing, either. I keep thinking around 10 mos to 1 year. They were all three pretty young.