Thursday, November 15, 2007

Shouldn't I Know?

I feel like I've lost my mind; like I have no idea what I'm doing. Maybe it's because I am sleep deprived for the last week.

All of a sudden, Olivia will NOT eat dinner. Every time I mention the word, her immediate response in the whiniest voice I have ever heard (which, by the way, hardly ever rears its ugly head anymore unless I say "dinner") is...
"I dooooon't liiiiiiiike diiiiiiiinnnnnnnner".
WHAT?!#$%^&*
What do you mean you don't like dinner? What kind of statement is that? It makes NO SENSE! STOP SAYING IT!!!!!
What the hell is going on there?

I began wondering today - are the babies eating enough? enough bottles? enough formula in each bottle? should they be drinking water? juice? should they be eating mashed fruit? veggies?should Jake be able to grab and put his passie in his mouth himself? shouldn't they be sitting up on their own by now? saying more? babbling more?
I feel like a first time mom on speed. I don't feel like I have a handle on anything right now. I have forgotten everything I have ever known about milestones - even when Olivia hit them.


The babies are not sleeping well at all. I am getting up 2 or 3 times a night because they are screaming their heads off - and ALWAYS, it is because they have lost their pacifiers.
I've had enough! I made an executive decision about 20 minutes ago. NO MORE PASSIES!
I know, I know. I'm crazy, right? I can't take it anymore. I will gladly trade a few nights of screaming for a lifetime of self-soothing. Olivia never took a passie and always hummed to soothe herself. She still does it when she's tired and eating. So they can self soothe too.
There! I've drawn my line in the sand. I'll let you know how it goes if I don't jump off a bridge first. (GULP)

I am anxiosuly awaiting suggestions...about anything! Even for a new hair do.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Perhaps you could call dinner something magical. Or hide it and make it a game for her to find....as for the little guys, it sounds like you have a plan!

Anonymous said...

As you know we have boy girl twins as well. Linus needs just one nuk (pacifier) and his blankets. The Cup needs at least 2 nuks, one for her mouth and one for her hand. We inadvertently solved our getting out of bed to retrieve nuk problem when T picked up a purse for The Cup. We fondly refer to it as the "nuk purse". Before naptime and bedtime we search the house for as many nuks as we can find. We give Linus his one and the rest are for the purse. Throughout the night we can hear restling in the monitor as The Cup reaches in her purse for another nuk. We rarely have to make the trip to retrieve anymore. Our twins are a bit older than yours but this was the answer to that problem.

Anonymous said...

Good luck with the plan. We would never last taking them away. The screaming would do us in!

Have you asked O what she thinks dinner is? Our toddler is picky about what she eats, maybe O thinks dinner is a certain food?

The other thing to keep in mind is not to compare the kids. They will reach their milestones when they are ready. If our ped said it to us once, she said it 10 times! Took us a while to realize that they are and they will reach their milestones when they are ready.

K J and the kids said...

Ok so my friend and I have a running joke...that if either of us starts a sentence with.."what do you think ?" The other replies with, "I think you should cut it !" regardless of what the question was going to be. We both think that the other should cut their hair short again :)
So...."I think you should cut it !" :) ha ha

I'm so going against what the SUPER NANNY would tell you but that's because I HAVE to pick and choose my battles...it's a BATTLEFIELD at my fucking house.
I would make her sit to dinner with the family. I would not make her eat anything. I would suggest and offer, but I wouldn't force her to eat. If she's hungry...she'll eat. She's not wasting away. She's not going to starve missing one meal. I would also let her know that she will not get an evening snack unless she has at least one bite of this and two bites of that.
She knows what the stakes are and after one night of following through...she'll eat one bite of this and 2 bites of that for an evening cookie. (oh and dessert when you normally don't have it is a good idea ;) ha ha
Also. maybe try letting her pick and help prepare dinner. Syd LOVES to help me cook.

I have 2 boys who don't seem interested in the English language. Syd was singing twinkle twinkle at this age. They have to aquire 5 words in just 2 short months to hit quota and I'm freaking out. :)
I've heard too many people speak of milestones and speech therapy.
I liked the book what to expect the first year. It gives you reasonable milestones and a LARGE RANGE. It would say things like...they SHOULD and they MIGHT...they will PROBABLY.
I have it. I have no problems mailing it to you tomorrow if you are interested :)
If your pediatrician is fine with the way your kids are developing then you shouldn't be worried at all.
My ped thinks my boys should be saying at least 5 more words in 2 months !! AAAAAAAHHHHHH !!

Denise said...

I am tired, and I have nooo suggestions. Hang in there, I promise to have suggestions by tomorrow :)

ECand3 said...

Thanks for all th suggestions.
Amy - cool idea with the purse. We will see how it goes here - hopefully we will stick to our guns.

Tracer - Exactly! Snack means ONLY granola bar. I have explained about dinner, but to OG it means everything she hates to eat. Maybe we just need a new word.

KJ - YOU ARE BRILLIANT!
That being said, these are EXACTLY the things we do. I can't believe how smart you are (wink). Although, I could get her to help more with dinner - good idea.

I know all kids reach "milestones" at different ages, but I seem to worry about Jake for some reason. He is just way too sweet and he doesn't like to touch and grab things and it worries me. He also stopped laughing - I can hardly get him to giggle anymore. Worrisome.

Tammy said...

I would not worry about Olivia not eating dinner. I remember one of my kids going through that stage too and my pediatrician said that she will eat when she is hungry. If she has two decent meals for breakfast and lunch--do not worry! My kids never had passies so I can't help you with that. I would not worry about the twins either--let your pediatrician monitor them and what they should be doing. Each child is different--trust me! At age 2, I could hardly understand Gabrielle's babbles. And, by the way, I love your hairdo--no need to change it!

Denise said...

Call dinner a snack, then serve fruit and maybe a few other items. pick just one thing that is questionable. Oh and I am letting my hair grow out so I cant advise you to cut it.