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7 Month Old Baby Drinks Beer

First, let me state for the record, that it is Suburban Mommy’s hand you see holding the bottle. I would never let a baby drink beer. I was, however, the one holding the camera. Does that make me an accomplice?

It started when Thing 3 put his fingers in the bottle, then put his fingers in his mouth. Note the look of wonderment, surprise, and joy, as if to say This is way different from my usual bottle.

From there, he decided he wanted the whole bottle, so he could get a real taste.

Finally, here’s the look after getting a taste. Judging from the strong grip he kept on the bottle, he liked it. And after a few more of these, he took an unbelievable nap!

Major Toddler Milestone

Thing 2 reached a major milestone this week. The milestone has one of the biggest impacts on all of our lives. No, he isn’t potty trained (I wish!).

It was really two milestones which converged to create a perfect storm. First, he stopped sleeping in his crib. Not because we wanted him to, but because he suddenly realized he could climb out. And since he is also going through a wake-up-and -cry-4-times-a-night phase, with his newfound skill it became wake-up-and-jump-out-of-the-crib-and-cry-4-times-a-night phase.

So we put the crib mattress on the floor and told him it is a big boy bed. Of course, Thing 1 is quick to point out it isn’t as big as his bed.

The second milestone, which came about after a couple of the nights described above, is that he learned how to turn the knob and open his door. Getting out of his crib into his child proofed room is one thing. Roaming all over the house in the middle of the night is quite another.

So far, he has only ventured as far as our room. And we do have a gate at the top of the stairs to slow him down. But it’s only a matter of time before he decides to take a midnight stroll into his brothers’ rooms and wakes them up to play.? I can’t wait.

Family Meals Made Easy

At our house, meal planning is one of our great struggles. By our, I mean it is a struggle for Suburban Mommy, since she does 95% of the grocery shopping and meal preparation for the kids. My 5% struggle comes in when I get home at 6pm, after picking up the kids at preschool, and there is nothing for me to eat because I didn’t plan for myself. That’s why I end up eating Cheerios for dinner after the kids are in bed.

If you also struggle with planning meals, here is a great solution. Dine Without Whine (love the name) sends you an email each week with menu recipes AND the grocery list for everything on the menu. The meals are kid tested, meaning they won’t look at it and instantly say “I don’t like it”. Having the grocery list already made is the key to making meals simple.

All the planning work is done for you, and you can go back to your other daily struggles, like potty training and bedtime.

Toddler Comfort Objects

A comfort object can be an important part of a toddler’s emotional development. It can also be quite amusing, depending on the object.

We never experienced comfort objects with Thing 1. He isn’t really the sensitive, emotional type. We’re lucky when we get a goodnight hug from him. Thing 2 is the opposite. He’ll randomly walk up to someone, anyone, and give them a hug. He also has quite a stable of comfort objects.

Since he was a year old, he has slept with a “night-night”. What is a night-night? It is one of daddy’s T-shirts. He uses one or two as a pillow, and another as a blanket. And, since his nose is always running, by the morning the night-night is covered in snot and needs to be washed. So, as a result, I never have a clean T-shirt to wear.

Right now, another of his favorite comfort objects is this two and a half inch character that came as the driver in a toy dump truck. What you and I would call junk, Thing 2 affectionately calls Mustache Guy. When I pick him up at preschool, the first question he asks is “Where is mustache guy?” Lord help me if I don’t know.

Mustache Guy

Also very popular right now are baseball hats. He wears one pretty much all the time. Even while sleeping. Like I said, comfort objects can be amusing. As long as you don’t lose them.

What comfort objects does your toddler have?

Meet The Chubbiest Baby In The World

At five months old, Thing 3 looks like an offspring of the Michelin Man. For a long time, he wasn’t able to turn over because of the extra, shall we say, chub. This kid has a great future as an offensive lineman in the NFL. Or maybe as an actor playing a young Jabba the Hut.

Michelin Man

Jabba the Hut

Oh No. It is Friday Again.

I can’t believe it is Friday again. That means tomorrow, to quote Thing1, is a Stay Home Day.

Stay home days are difficult. Much harder than weekdays when all I have to do is go to work, where it is quiet and no one fights or whines or cries (usually).

With the holidays over the last couple of weeks, there have been a lot of stay home days recently. In fact, a stretch of 7 out of 11 days were stay home. Sure, to be home with your kids for 7 of 11 days may not sound like much to SAH moms and dads. And I wasn’t doing it alone. I had SuburbanMommy to join in my ~~happiness~~ torture. (By the way, I have no idea how you SAH types do it every day!)

But when you aren’t used to it, when it isn’t part of your kids’ daily routine, it is not an easy undertaking for the parents OR the kids. The last time we spent this much time together was on our summer vacation. And you know how that went.

My kids are used to, and really enjoy, being in preschool/daycare full-time all week. I rather like it too. They thrive on the structure, constant activities, and socialization.

So, when it comes to stay home days, by lunchtime they are bouncing off the walls and we’re usually out of activites.? Especially when the weather is too cold to go outside. Getting them to nap is near impossible, even though they take one every day as part of the routine at school.

We resort to a “divide and conquer”, 2-1 zone defense, where one parent stays at home with two kids, and the other parent takes the third kid out of the house somewhere. Anywhere. Around 5pm, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and we get our second wind. It is also the time we crack open a bottle of wine, which doesn’t hurt.

TGIF? Right now it’s more like TGIM for Monday. Wish me luck this weekend.

A Better Way To Buy Shoes

It was time to get new sneakers for the kids. Somehow, Thing 2 had managed to wear a hole on the top of his shoe. Probably from all the time he spends on his belly, kicking his feet, during meltdowns.

Naturally, we have to get both kids new shoes at the same time, or else there will be major trouble. And, whenever possible, we get the same style for both. Remember: variety is a bad thing.

So, off to Target on a full family outing. We have to take two shopping carts to keep all three contained. Luckily they had one of these double carts.

Letting the oldest walk is simply not an option. First of all, there is no way Thing 2 would sit down if he saw his brother walking. Why not let them both walk on their own? I might as well just hand a blank check to the cashier on the way in, as a retainer to cover all the damage they would do. No, they must be contained.

The store didn’t have a great selection of shoes. Thing 1 quickly found a Transformers pair in his size. But the only acceptable size 8’s (to a toddler) were the ones with Lightning McQueen.

He instantly fell in love with them and refused to put the old ones back on, so we continued shopping with his new shoes still attached to each other by the security device.

Double carts are great if you have two kids to contain. The problem with the double cart, however, is that the riders are facing, and within arms reach, of each other. It didn’t take long for them to draw the attention of everyone else in the store with their standard preschool humor consisting mainly of potty words, laughing, pointing, singing, and fighting.

If only there was a better way to buy shoes…well I found one, and it’s called Shoebuy. Shoebuy has every brand and you can always find the right size, with whatever kids characters happen to be popular that month. Shipping is free. No sales tax. Low price guarantee.

And here’s the best part, returns are free, too. You can try on as many shoes as you want, just like in a store, and return the ones you don’t like. If you’re like me you hate shoe shopping. But Shoebuy is so easy. Really.

And you never have to deal with the dreaded double shopping cart.

New Years Resolutions

Do you have resolutions for the new year? I do. I’d like to exercise more, take better care of myself like get more sleep, eat better, spend more time on my blogging hobby, and, uh, I better stop myself.

Those aren’t resolutions. Resolutions are things you intend to do and actually have a chance at completing. My resolutions are more like pipe dreams.