The new "New Moms" thread!

[k_reile]

Becky and Kelly...I hope you two have great trips. I'm soo ready for our Feb trip! My parents are taking us and my brothers family and I was hoping I could convince my DH to stay an extra couple of days because is 7 days really enough with a toddler?? But that takes extra vacation time and we'll need to save some for Canada next year too...so we will probably only go 7 days (we like to go sat-sat so we have sunday to rest and get clothes washed for the work week)

ShootingStar...sorry about feeling sick. Thats no fun. Hope you get to meet your little guy soon. when is your due date...it looks like it could be around my bday (June17)

Well...I forgot to mention this but I have been taking Caleb to the chiropractor. Apparently when babies are born they are all out of alignment and this could be causing the spitting up still. So I took him last friday and about cried when he was crying. I don;t think it hurt him he was just scared because he was all smiles afterwards. My DH told me friday night that he couldnlt believe i took him to the chiro. I figured all i was out was the doctors visit. So on Sunday while I am at a bridal shower he texted me and said "I think its working...he;s not spitting up!" He had some episodes over the weekend but I would say nothing worse than he has been doing. I took him again on Monday (they want to keep up on it until healed) and he did much better being adjusted and was of course all smiles this time. He has barely spit up at all this week. I take him again for another appointment in the AM...so I am hoping this will be the last one. I think he is doing much much better...who knew that you could take a baby to the chiropractor to eliminate them spitting up. And apparently they are also good for ear aches and bed wetting.

 

[k_reile]

oh and on the cute 2 yr old sayings... my newphews is when you call and want to talk to him...he says "I too busy...call back later."

My mom had him a couple of weekends ago and she was not expecting to have him that weekend...so she didn't prepare and get his food items he likes. Well he wanted his Elmo juice (the little juice boxes you get at walmart) and my mom was like i'm not sure I have any?? SO he goes and looks into her fridge and he finds a lone elmo juice. He goes mawmaw...you have everything...just like kelly (from handy manny hardware store)

and he too is OBSESSED with Tractors (Trac Tracs) and Trucks. There was a build site behind his preschool and he would spend his whole recess watching the men work.

I can't wait to go to WDW with him...we are thinking about not telling him about the trip at all...then have my brother and SIL go to the airport and take him to WDW but still not knowing that we are all going to be there...and either meet up with them at the resort or the airport...i guess depending on when all of our flights get in (my mom wants us all to fly on seperate flights because she is afraid of the whole family getting wiped out at once) and i so want to watch his face when he realizes we are all there. He will be sooo much fun! Now with Caleb..he will have no clue about anything so it will be easy to keep the secret from him!

 

[Pollito916]

Becky - that sucks that V is getting sick - I hope the rest of you don't get it! Sorry you're having problems with your mom again. I don't know how she could even enjoy a lunch at 2:30 with a toddler, it's hard enough with Alex when it's NOT nap time. I think your requests are reasonable, but your mom may never change. I know my mom lets Alex do/eat/drink things I wouldn't, but she is good about making sure he gets a nap at the regular time. Now that he's older, he understands that he only gets certain things at Mema's (Grandma's) house. The other night, we were out running errands and I did not feel like making dinner, so we drove through Arby's. As we were pulling in Alex said, "Mommy! We going to get burgers and fun fries and chicken nuggets! Like Mema!" He was so excited since I rarely pick up fast food. Apparently Mema gets it more often since he only sees her once a week and he already associates it with her. Oh, and good for you for keeping the purse, you do deserve it!

Kara - Disney trips could always be longer, but 7 days is pretty good. DH can't usually get off work longer than that, so we've never had a longer stay, max 8 days. It's good that the chiro is helping Caleb's spitting up - I never would have thought of that before! Your nephew sounds cute!

*******************

I booked a hotel for Disneyland - Portofino: http://www.portofinoinnanaheim.com/index.php

The HoJo's looked nice, but I didn't want to wait and miss getting a hotel, since a couple of the ones I looked at were already full on Saturday night. We got a really good rate too - $306 for 3 nights! I'm getting so excited now!

 

[hotveggy]

My mom thinks naps are optional, and to occur at HER convenience, rather than on schedule, and then I inherit a comeplete and total CRAB in the evening. And, my mom apparently thinks that it isn't necessary to let me know if she'll be taking my daughter somewhere (to me this is a big deal if she'll be going say, 20 miles away from home). I just think it's common courtesy to let me know where my kid is going to be- yesterday I was out shopping/waxing, and when I was done I decided that I would like to go get Vaylie (I missed her and wanted to come home and play outside). But I call my mom to tell her I'm coming, and lo and behold- she's not there. They decided to go to some restuarant 30 mins away, at 2:30 pm. Which would have been V's naptime, if my mom cared (yes, she IS AWARE of this, she just chooses to ignore it over and over and then lie to me about it), and 2:30 is just a little bit off for lunch time, so then Vaylie didn't want dinner, but did want to eat at 9:00 pm last night. I am furious because it's not the first time, and I have tried to be nice, tried to put my foot down, and now mom and I are going to have a serious conversation about my rules. That I will be enforcing.

I am still new here and don't post much, but had to comment on this! I am really nervous about this with my mom. I go back to work at the beg of July and she will have my daughter 3 days a week. She already likes to poke at her when she is sleeping and I am here so who knows what it will be like when I am not. We are trying to get Allison on a schedule ASAP and mom will only be watching her for the summer until she goes to daycare in Sept. I would like her to be on a relatively good schedule by then...

So beckmrk04- I don't think you are being one bit unreasonable! Please let us know how it goes when you have the talk. I may need some pointers as I am sure I will be having a talk with my mom too!

 

[beckmrk04]

Pollito- Portofino was my next runner-up!!! I think it looks great! Take lots of pics!

And yeah- see, you get it. Lunch at 2:30 with a toddler is a recipe for disaster. Another example: about 2 weeks ago my mom had a couple of doctors appts. So, she let Vaylie sleep until 10 AM!!! I don't even want to know how late she was up. But anyway, she sleeps until 10 am, and then mom's appt is at like 2:30 pm. But, Vaylie didn't get up til 10, so she's not ready for her normal 1 pm naptime. So, they go to the doctor and Vaylie is a complete terror. (shocking). But then, my mom decided she wanted to go to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. WHich is 40 minutes away. And, would you believe that my child screamed and cried the whole time?! Mom called me to tell me how awful Vaylie was being!!! I'm like, "HELLLO? You didn't give her a nap, hauled her around to boring doctors offices, and then choose a place 40 minutes away to eat, where you'll have to wait 30 minutes for your food (putting dinner around 7:30) and you're upset because my kid is tired and hungry and lashing out?" I told my mom that she reaped what she sowed. You just don't do that! It's asking for trouble. She acted like Vaylie was a brat, and don't get me wrong, she certainly has her moments, but I just felt bad for her- THAT was not her fault.

And I let a lot of things slide with my mom, Grandma, and MIL too- but the thing is, one of them always has her. Grandma watches V on Mondays, My mom on Tues and/or Wednesday, MIL has her on Thursdays (although out of all of them, she is by far the most respectful of my wishes). So, I feel like ALL of them let her slide with juice and cookies and fruit snacks, and it's wouldn't be so bad, but even though each one of them only has her once a week, they are all giving in and letting her have crap all week!

But, MIL and Grandma are VERY conscientious (sp?) about naps and Vaylie's schedule, and my grandma doesn't take her anywhere, but if MIL does, she ASKS me first! Or at least gives me a heads-up, "Oh, by the way, we have to run here and here, do you mind?" Nope- no problem. My mom just thinks she shouldn't have to answer to me, I guess. *sigh*

Ugh. But, at least I don't have to deal with her for almost 2 weeks. And then I'll bring it up, she'll yell at me and tell me how awful and ungrateful I am, and I'll end up looking for someone else to watch Vaylie, even though I would love for her to just be like, "Ok. Yeah, I can make sure she gets a nap, and I'll make sure she only gets 1 or 2 small cups of juice and water or milk the rest of the day. And, from now on, I'll make sure to let you know if I'm taking your kid out of the general area, so that if something happens, you won't be like, "***? I didn't even know where my kid was!" " And then I'd say, thanks, Sane Non-defensive Mom!

But, that's just not how it's going to go. And I don't want to sound ungrateful about my mom watching V, because she does love her sooooo much and it helps us out, but it was my mom's idea to do this, not mine. She practically begged to watch her, because she didn't want me to put her in daycare. But, daycares at least follow your rules because you pay them to do it.

Hotveggy- I don't mean to scare you with this. My mom has issues. Big time. And the only reason I even let her watch my daughter is that I feel like it would be unfair to deny them a grandma-granddaughter relationship. Otherwise, we'd probably never even talk. And really, she has never done anything downright dangerous- just things that make my life (and my kid) a little harder. So, my advice (and of course, I think a lot of moms/grandmas mean well!) would just be like, "hey, we're really trying to keep Allison on this schedule, she is SO much easier and happier when she gets her naps on time!" This worked on my MIL and Grandma- this way it's not about what they are doing "wrong", you know? My mom just thinks that everything that comes out of my mouth is naive or optional (funny, she always thought I was pretty smart until I gave birth).

Ok. enough rambling for now. Or venting. Really, that was a good vent. I had a crap day at work too, and now I am all pent up and SOO ready to be on vacation. I just have to work tomorrow, then I have Sat and Sunday off, and we leave Monday morning! I'm so nervous/excited!

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Becky, I'm sorry you've got more drama with your mom. I agree - how on earth can you expect a kid to behave if they are tired and hungry?! Seems like common sense - a well fed and rested child will be a happy child! And bummer that Vaylie is getting sick. I've been nervous that Owen's getting sick, too, but DH thinks I'm imagining symptoms. Hope you have a great trip!

Everyone talking about waxing eyebrows reminds me that I'm WAY overdue to get mine done. These caterpillars need some serious taming again. I used to go to a little place in Japantown a few blocks away, but it's been crazy trying to get in with DH's schedule lately. I'm going to suggest that my step-mom and I go have a mini-spa day while we're in Canada and get my brows done then.

DH has finally finished all his classes and studying, and he's passed his project management professional exam! And his company is paying the $5K for the class and test, so that's a huge help, especially since if DH gets laid off again having this certificate will help him find a new job. And now hopefully he won't have any more long hours and late nights.

Well we're mostly packed - just a few last minute things to toss in tomorrow morning like Owen's blanket, blue's clues pillow, a million binkies, and the baby monitor. I've borrowed a DVD player and have 2 blue's clues DVDs, 2 Thomas DVD's, and the Disneyland sing-along DVD. I've packed books and color wonder finger paints, lots of snacks, and I'm crossing my fingers that maybe Owen will sleep for part of the 3 hour flight. We're travelling right over Owen's usual nap time, so hopefully he'll conk out, so I'm hoping for the best but planning for the worst!





Hey, have any of you taken your kids to the dentist yet? What age did you/will you take yours in? Owen has 14 teeth now, and 2 more on the way, so I'm thinking it's time to start getting him used to the dentist and just check things out in general to make sure everything's coming in fine.

 

[k_reile]

wow....are all of you going to be on trips this week??? LOL! We are attempting to do a test camp night while the inlaws camp this weekend to see how Caleb will do when we go to Canada in July.

And speaking of all the cute (and sometimes not soo cute) 2 yr old saying and doings....my sister in law caught my newphew taking down his pants and peeing outside in their yard. She asked him why he was doing that and he said "I pee outside like my doggies!"

Oh the joys of raising boys! I should be glad caleb is not mobile and talkative yet!

 

[ShootingStarMom2]

Hey, have any of you taken your kids to the dentist yet? What age did you/will you take yours in? Owen has 14 teeth now, and 2 more on the way, so I'm thinking it's time to start getting him used to the dentist and just check things out in general to make sure everything's coming in fine.

Hi,
Yes we've taken Brycen twice. The first time he was about 12m because he had some white spots on his front teeth. I took him to a baby dentist specifically because I was worried it was decay. I took him again about 6 months later, figuring that's when we go again, and our regular dentist was much better with him. He pointed out Brycen's teeth in a mirror and then counted them with him. He just sat in my lap and was pretty calm. They put some cherry flavored paste on his teeth to help with any sugar and bacteria. He got to pick a new toothbrush and some stickers.

The white spots weren't decay just a mottling that could have been there before he was even born. I had the same thing and they went away once I got my adult teeth. They said I wouldn't need to bring him in again for a year unless there was a problem. You could ask your dentist what they recommend. His appointment cost more than mine did, and all the dentist did was count the teeth and put on the paste! Gee... if only our appointments were so easy.

We finally got Cameron's room painted and we got a mattress tonight for his crib. It was on sale from $99 to $60 so I couldn't pass it up. Now just to build the furniture and finish putting everything away. Good thing it's a long weekend. I hope everyone has a nice holiday.

Jen

 

[clgwli]

I know it has been forever since I've been here. Shortly after we got back I slammed my finger in a car door. Typing hasn't been fun.

I hope all those traveling enjoy the trips! I'm looking forward to planning our next one (WDW) for next year.

I am laughing about the postcard I got for a discount at DL though. I'm not sure why they even bothered to send me one. I haven't been since 2004 and I stayed on points. Makes you wonder how Disney works

Becky I am so sorry with the mom drama. That's kind of why a cousin of mine stopped letting the grandmothers watch the children. One was fine but the other wouldn't punish the little kid when she did something wrong. and she wouldn't follow any rules. Instead of dealing with a little 'hellion' of a child, they found outside care.

K_riele how old is your son? I remember you speaking about the spitting up and reflux. Just as an FYI kids outgrow spitting up at about 9-12 months. It's a physical immaturity with the stomach. Our son stopped at about 10 months with the meds and hasn't spit up (with the exception of a big hic-burp) since he was 11 months old. There is light at the end of the tunnel

We haven't taken DS to the dentist yet. We asked ours and they don't need to see him before he is 3. The eye doctor told us the same but said our state does a free eye exam for kids under 1. With that appt they can find some of the major eye issues that people miss until they are much older. Otherwise we won't take him back to anyone else but our ped.

 

[k_reile]

clgwli....Caleb will be 8 mos old on Monday and pretty much as soon as i started taking him he stopeed spitting up! Its been working great! he has been off the meds since he was 3 mos old because he was not fussy anymore. i would have never believed it myself that the chiropractor has worked until i heard about it...i figured i was not out anything expecpt a doctors visit.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Well we survived the plane trip despite all kinds of airline issues. Sorry that is is long again...I just need to vent about the mess from our very long day yesterday (left home at 8am and didn't get to our destination until 7:30pm - supposed to be here at 4:30pm).

First, when we booked the flight they told us that seats for this flight would be assigned when we checked in. I told them that we needed to sit together, in the same row, and they said to check in very early to get seats together. So we got checked in 2.5 hrs before the flight, although even then the lady checking us in was all confused and wanted to check Owen's car seat with our bags and put him as a lap child. We kept showing her our reservation papers and telling her that we had bought a seat for him and his car seat is FAA approved for use on an airplane and it finally sank in.

So we got our boarding passes, got through security (although they had to hand check Owen's bag and DH got pulled for a "personal inspection"). At the gate we had to check in with our passports again, and this time they tell us that we don't have a boarding pass for Owen, just some extra documentation showing he can fly. So the first lady messed up after all, although he did show up in the computer as having a seat when the gate people checked. We get a boarding pass for Owen, find seats by the window so Owen can watch all the trucks and planes (He LOVED watching everything out the window), and then find out our flight is delayed by 30 min. Then it's delayed by 1hr. Then 2 hrs. We finally left San Francisco 2.5 hrs. late - at the same time we were supposed to be landing in Calgary!

When we went to board, the woman taking our tickets notices that we've been assigned to an EXIT ROW! So she scrambles and gets Owen and I together in one row, and DH is 3 rows behind us. Then the flight attendent says she doesn't think the car seat will fit, and the second flight attendent says she has no idea how to install it, so I do it myself. BIG problem there later on as it turned out - I got it buckled in just fine, tightened the belt, and didn't think anything else about it. He was secure, it wasn't moving; great.

The flight was fine, Owen did great, and then we go to get off the plane - and I can't get the car seat out. The buckle for the seatbelt was under the car seat, and it was impossible to lift the buckle to release the seat belt because it was jammed in the little slot in the car seat (make any sense?). Anyway, the flight attendents were once again no help whatsoever, and I was having visions of having to cut off the seat belts to get the car seat out and trying to decide if it was cheaper to buy a new car seat or pay for the damage to the airplane. Fortunately, the pilot was able to recline the seat and slide the belt up a bit and loosen it so he could get his hand in there and unbuckle it. But I tell you, it was not fun. I am bruised and scraped up all over my arms from trying to get that car seat out, and I have some really bad spots on each arm that hurt like crazy and starting to turn some lovely colors.

Anyway, we got here, it's lovely, and Owen is enjoying time with his grandparents and JJ the dog. He didn't sleep well last night (so neither did anyone in earshot), but he's gone down for his nap with no problems and everyone is taking some rest time this afternoon.

And now I know to ask for a seat belt extender for the flight home so the buckle is on the outside of the car seat! OY! That was just a nightmare I don't want to repeat again. And I am going to have them triple check our seat assignments, too.

 

[beckmrk04]

ok- weird. I saw on the CB this thread, which said that ImarriedGrumpy posted the last post, but it's missing?! Hm.

 

[beckmrk04]

ok- even weirder. Here's the post I missed. now I have to read it.

(ps- we leave tomorrow morning, I have eaten 1/2 a bag of Pepperidge Farms Chessmen cookies, and although I love all things Disney, I HATE this stupid Sing-Along Disney video that V is watching- it's horrible and the songs get stuck in my head which is infuriating).

 

[beckmrk04]

Bethany- what a pain in the you-know-what!! Please tell me it wasn't American Airlines! We're flying out tomorrow and I just hope everything goes smoothly.

But, I'm glad you made it and things are looking better from here on out. Hopefully the return trip will be on-time and hassle-free!

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

ok- even weirder. Here's the post I missed. now I have to read it.

(ps- we leave tomorrow morning, I have eaten 1/2 a bag of Pepperidge Farms Chessmen cookies, and although I love all things Disney, I HATE this stupid Sing-Along Disney video that V is watching- it's horrible and the songs get stuck in my head which is infuriating).

I know, wasn't that weird? I saw that my post was missing, too, and I thought "I can't re-rant! I just got it out of my system!" But then it showed up...

Which Disney sing along is Vaylie watching? Owen was at his quietest on the airplane while he was watching the Disneyland Fun one, and I even managed to doze off for a bit - I think I cat napped through all but 3 of the songs.

The color wonder finger paints were awesome - I had to hold the paper and the paint tray for him, but he just sat and played with those for a good 20 min of the trip, and even was into them an hour later when I got them out again.

At the airport during our delay, I took him into a bookstore that had kids books and we sat on the floor and read through all their board books so that the ones in his diaper bag would still be fresh and new for him on the plane. That worked, too, and I'm glad we did that, because after 2 readings of each book he was done with them on the plane. I can't imagine getting on the plane with him already bored with those books. I'm sure we looked funny in the bookstore, but who cares! My kid wasn't screaming!

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Bethany- what a pain in the you-know-what!! Please tell me it wasn't American Airlines! We're flying out tomorrow and I just hope everything goes smoothly.

But, I'm glad you made it and things are looking better from here on out. Hopefully the return trip will be on-time and hassle-free!

Nope, it was United. Hopefully AA will treat you better! And now I've learned the important things: Make sure (triple sure!) we're not in an exit row, and get the seat belt extender for the car seat!

I hope you guys have a blast!!! Ride Pirates for Owen and I! We'll be singing "Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me" over and over in your honor. (Owen's very good at the "yo ho" and "me" parts of the song but just sways for the rest. )

 

[clgwli]

clgwli....Caleb will be 8 mos old on Monday and pretty much as soon as i started taking him he stopeed spitting up! Its been working great! he has been off the meds since he was 3 mos old because he was not fussy anymore. i would have never believed it myself that the chiropractor has worked until i heard about it...i figured i was not out anything expecpt a doctors visit.

Glad to hear that! My son needed the medicine. It wasn't just spit up it was acid that make his esophogus raw. He actually didn't spit that much (amount), but what he spit up always smelled like well, puke. He was a screaming machine for hours on end. But he had severe reflux as well so not quite normal. We were just happy at about 8-9 months when we could stop upping his dose and then when it all stopped.

Bethany, so sorry about all the issues. What brand of carseat did you use? Just curious so I know never to suggest that one to fly We used a cheapy $40 seat that was an extra and it fortunately had tons of room for my hand to reach in and get the buckle undone.
What a PITA that person was with all the check in everything. I can't believe they were dumb enough to put you in an exit row too

Becky to make you feel better we had none of those issues flying out a few weeks ago to MCO. The hardest part was walking up the aisle with the seat, a carryon and my bag

I do wish DS watched TV or something because he did get bored on the plane and we didn't have anything good to have. We survived going there okay but coming back something soothing to get him to nap would have been fun. I assume our next trip when we actually will allow TV will be better for us so we can just watch a movie on teh way there.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Bethany, so sorry about all the issues. What brand of carseat did you use? Just curious so I know never to suggest that one to fly We used a cheapy $40 seat that was an extra and it fortunately had tons of room for my hand to reach in and get the buckle undone.
What a PITA that person was with all the check in everything. I can't believe they were dumb enough to put you in an exit row too

Becky to make you feel better we had none of those issues flying out a few weeks ago to MCO. The hardest part was walking up the aisle with the seat, a carryon and my bag

I do wish DS watched TV or something because he did get bored on the plane and we didn't have anything good to have. We survived going there okay but coming back something soothing to get him to nap would have been fun. I assume our next trip when we actually will allow TV will be better for us so we can just watch a movie on teh way there.

Yeah, it was our Britax Diplomat that we got jammed on the seat. A $40 car seat would have been a better choice for this flight! Owen wasn't really interested in any of the videos we brought until we hit the Disneyland sing-along. And even then I think he was really only into it because he was tired. He sort of zoned out watching it, and I dozed off with my head propped on the side of his carseat.

Well, even with 5 adults in the house this boy is managing to run us all ragged. We've got a baby gate up so he can't get to the stairs and he keeps running around the great room saying "go go go go go!" The rest of us are wiped out, but he's got energy to spare, despite being a little short on sleep.

And I definitely have an urban baby. We were out walking on a beautiful trail, surrounded by amazing snow-capped mountains with a stream flowing downhill next to us. And my boy kept saying "all done! Trucks? Car? Eee-ooo, eee-ooo? (his siren sound) no! all done! see? trucks see? airplane? see airplane?" and on and on...totally unimpressed with the scenery. Oh well. Maybe when he gets older he'll develop a better appreciation of rural areas. Apparently we need to get him out camping more often!

 

[DMickey28]

Becky - I don't know if you will check this before you get on the flight. One tip that I have from flying with the car seat. When you go to buckle the seat belt, flip the side of the belt with the latch over. That way the latch that you lift up is NOT backed up against the back of the car seat. Did that make sense? I had to get a seat belt extender on one flight for some reason but on ever other flight I have had with him I have just been able to do that and it's fine. You usually do need to lower the seat back once you land to loosen the belt but it's no big deal. I am going to post this on facebook too ... Have a great trip.

 

[exwdwcm]

Pollito- lol at Alex's new sayings----love the 'good idea' and yeah for booking portofino!! how exciting!

Kara- yeah for Caleb sitting up! They grow up so fast! so did you accept the new job officially?


Jen- how did the early intervention go?

ShootingStar- the 4 day was fun, but it was just so busy for me. it was only because i was on the special podcast cruise- in addition to the activities on the cruise itself (sailaway party, pirate party, nightly sit down dinner and show), we also did the spa, martini tasting and then had 3 parties with the podcast group, a disney historian presentation, Lee Cockerell presentation and live podcast recording, so i was jumping from one event to another. i don't know that i'll do it again next year and future cruises will be relaxing! not all the crazy events. I think you would enjoy it and Castaway Cay was HEAVEN! folks did dress up more on Monday night as the 'formal night', although it wasn't tuxes or anything. it was fun though- if you have done the 7 day, you might prefer the 7 day though!

Bethany- so sorry the plane ride was a pure disaster- sounds like you guys managed though, given all the challenges- good tips on the extender and leaning the seat back. i haven't flown with Will yet in a car seat, only as a lap baby at 4 months. we will be taking his car seat in dec to WDW. I do have a Britax, but we also have a cheaper $40 set in DH's car, since he rarely rides in there, it is lighter and smaller, so we will take it on the plane. The Britax is just so heavy and large (we have the one that grows with him). I hope you guys are having a great time now that you made it in safely.

Becky and Kelly- hope you guys are having a fabulous time on your respective trips!!!

We took Will to the zoo today and he had a blast. got rained on a bit, but it was fun. Got totally off schedule though- we got home at 4pm and so he missed his nap and i tried to put him down, but he wouldn't go to sleep until 5:30 tonight....we all napped until 7 and just had some dinner. so he is staying up late tonight. ugh! i hate having off schedule, but we don't do it often. We might hit the waterpark tomorrow- he loves the water (we take weekly swim classes).

great points on the dentist- we haven't taken him yet- he is almost 19 motnhs. i have his 18mo appt (they couldn't get me in earlier- doh!) so i'll ask the doc about the dentist then too. great tips guys!