I was wondering how much the parties cost. That is steep!  Hope you guys have fun.

I haven't been around much these past few months.  I've had plenty of life changes this year.  My little boy is going to be four months tomorrow.  Unfortunately, my mom lost her battle to breast cancer last month and passed away.  I am the executrix of her will, so that along with cleaning out her condo have taken up quite a bit of time.  After much thought, I also resigned from my job and will be taking a few years off from the work force.

 

The little one is doing well.  I started trying out different cloth diapers last week. 

I haven't been around much these past few months.  I've had plenty of life changes this year.  My little boy is going to be four months tomorrow.  Unfortunately, my mom lost her battle to breast cancer last month and passed away.  I am the executrix of her will, so that along with cleaning out her condo have taken up quite a bit of time.  After much thought, I also resigned from my job and will be taking a few years off from the work force.

 

The little one is doing well.  I started trying out different cloth diapers last week. 

 

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your Mom.  Good to hear the baby is doing well.  This time will be good for you, change is good and I'm sure something better will come out of it!

I'm so, so sorry to hear about your Mom.  Sounds like taking time off from the work force is a great plan for now, even though I'm sure it will be hard. It will be rewarding to spend time with your son, they change so very quickly.  If you need any advice about CD, feel free to PM.

I haven't been around much these past few months. I've had plenty of life changes this year. My little boy is going to be four months tomorrow. Unfortunately, my mom lost her battle to breast cancer last month and passed away. I am the executrix of her will, so that along with cleaning out her condo have taken up quite a bit of time. After much thought, I also resigned from my job and will be taking a few years off from the work force.

 

The little one is doing well. I started trying out different cloth diapers last week.

 

I'm sorry to hear that too. 

 

MTS is right though; life has a funny way of regenerating itself in times of mourning.

My condolences Melanie but also my blessings for your child!

Sorry about your Mom and glad to hear the little one is good. It's amazing how helpful hugging a baby can be when you're grieving. My Dad died a few months after my son was born.

A bit late in replying, xumelanie but I'm so sorry to hear that - my condolences.

Thanks, everyone.  Having the little one does help a lot.  When my father passed away when I was a child, my mom told me that I kept her going.  I now understand what she meant by that. 

I'm sorry to hear of your mom's passing, Melanie. Cancer is a hard way to go, and the fight to keep living is difficult for the patient and stressful for loved ones.

 

A small child can bring so much joy to life, and it's fascinating and inspiring to see how fast they learn. I'm happy that yours is doing well.

FYI, Dry Erase Marker doesn't erase off of leather. Also, if a 2 year old is quiet you should go check on him, even if the Browns/Panthers game is going well.

Both my kids have straight A's. 

Both my 12 year old and my 9 year old have straight A's.  Big ups to them.  Chorus concert for the girl Sunday, band concert for the boy next week.  Tonight we go cut a Christmas tree and hit up ollies skatepark if we have some free time. 

 

 

Congrats!

Thanks, I couldn't be more proud.

Last Friday at 8:12pm the City of Cleveland gained its newest resident.  Mom and baby are doing great, and dad is very tired.  Though Dad has already found the time to discuss the plusses and minuses of Cleveland's geography / topography and the benefits of a regional tax sharing structure with his daughter.  I think she will make a fine councilwoman, or perhaps Mayor some day. :)

^ Congratulations, McCleveland!  :clap:

Congratulations! That's wonderful news!!

Congratulations!

Last Friday at 8:12pm the City of Cleveland gained its newest resident.  Mom and baby are doing great, and dad is very tired.  Though Dad has already found the time to discuss the plusses and minuses of Cleveland's geography / topography and the benefits of a regional tax sharing structure with his daughter.  I think she will make a fine councilwoman, or perhaps Mayor some day. :)

 

CONGRATS!  Shaker Square couldn't be happier!

Congrats!

Great news. Congrats!

Awesome!

Welcome to the club.  Hug and kiss your little girl evry chance you get.  And don't forget to enjoy the time that she is not mobile.  As crazy as it seems now, there is a certain serenity at this stage that dissappears the minute she starts crawling.

 

FYI.... the Little Gym on Chagrin is great.  I think they start infant classes at 4 months.  My son has been going there since he was a baby and it really is one of tghe highlights of his week

Congrats, McCleveland!

 

XUMel, I'm sorry for your loss ... I couldn't even imagine ... ragarding you staying home, you go girl ... I don't know why American Society pushes mom's/women being in the workplace?! If she wants to work, great ... If she wants to stay home, even better! A lot of societies issues can be solved if there were more stay-at-home-moms!

 

I haven't updated this thread in a while, so ... yes, we're still in the city core with our little one - who is growing like a weed (wifey is short and he was short for his age, but is starting to sprout past the national avg. WHOO HOO! ;) )

 

Isaac is now 15 Months old!

 

TOTALLY cute.  Adorable!

I haven't updated this thread in a while, so ... yes, we're still in the city core with our little one - who is growing like a weed (wifey is short and he was short for his age, but is starting to sprout past the national avg. WHOO HOO! ;) )

 

Those growth charts are not the word of god like some pediatricians would have you believe.  I was in the 10th percentile in both height and weight until I was about 10 years old and I'm well over the average in both categories.  IMO, the usefullness of those charts is more to monitor growth rate and make sure it is steady and not stunted as opposed to predicting full grown size.

^ I know, I was being half serious about those charts.

Congrats, McCleveland!

 

XUMel, I'm sorry for your loss ... I couldn't even imagine ... ragarding you staying home, you go girl ... I don't know why American Society pushes mom's/women being in the workplace?! If she wants to work, great ... If she wants to stay home, even better! A lot of societies issues can be solved if there were more stay-at-home-moms!

 

I haven't updated this thread in a while, so ... yes, we're still in the city core with our little one - who is growing like a weed (wifey is short and he was short for his age, but is starting to sprout past the national avg. WHOO HOO! ;) )

 

Isaac is now 15 Months old!

 

 

Aww how cute!

He couldn't have given two sh!tes what else he got.  I'm surprised the motor hasn't already burned out the number of laps that train made this weekend.

 

 

 

BTW, if anyone has any Lionel O-Gauge tracks they want to get rid of or knows where to pick them up on the cheap, PM me please.

He couldn't have given two sh!tes what else he got.  I'm surprised the motor hasn't already burned out the number of laps that train made this weekend.

 

 

 

BTW, if anyone has any Lionel O-Gauge tracks they want to get rid of or knows where to pick them up on the cheap, PM me please.

 

They don't care, especially boys!

 

I swear those Buzz Lightyear PJ must be the most popular PJs for boys this year.  All the little boys in my family have BL PJs. 

Puffing smoke? Excellent.

 

I'll take this chance to plug the Youngstown Model Railroad club. They usually have their annual open house weekends in Nov/Dec of each year. They have a really cool space in an old clapboard church on the west side of Youngstown. I have been going since I was a kid and my parents took my kids again this year. They have modelled 1950's/60's Youngstown (see KJP photo threads on y-town to see how crazy busy the trains were) in a huge HO scale model in the basement. It's really impressive. Upstairs is the larger gauge sets with mountains and tunnels and such. They have added the tech goodies  like cameras on the trains and such in recent years. If you have a kid into trains, I highly recomend making the trip.

 

http://www.ymra.org/

^My dad used to take us there when we were kids, it's a great place. My dad models HO scale and sometime when i think of it i'll have to take some pic of his layout and post them here.

Want a safe place to raise kids? Look to the cities

by Carla Saulter

27 Dec 2010 9:00 AM

 

Cities have a bad reputation with parents, for a lot of reasons. One of the biggest: crime. Ask the average suburban parents why they've chosen to raise their family far away from the urban core, and chances are good the topic will come up early in the conversation. Cities might be enriching and green and beneficial for kids in all kinds of ways. But what most parents want to know is, are they safe?

 

Last week, I chatted with Lenore Skenazy, author of Free Range Kids, about this very topic. You remember Lenore. She's the mom who was crucified by the national media back in 2008, after she let her nine-year old son ride the subway alone and then wrote about it for The New York Sun.  A self-described "worrier mom," Skenazy encourages parents -- no matter where they live -- to move beyond fears and focus on facts.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.grist.org/article/2010-12-27-want-a-safe-place-to-raise-kids-look-to-the-cities

Here's a great story about a family urban-pioneering on the near westside of Cleveland:

 

http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/features/hovis021011.aspx

Baby boy is now over nine months old.  Time is flying by fast!  It is amazing to watch a little human being develop.  :-)

 

I have mixed feelings about Mother's Day this weekend.  It's my first one as a mom, but it's also my first one without my mom.

Your son has a little piece of your mom in him, as do you.  Your mom will be there.  Happy Mother's Day to you and all the urban mommies.

 

A few years back, for my wife's first mother's day, I found the cutest card which had a picture of a baby boy with a curled lower lip and a sour face that read "Without Mommy, life would be one big owie"

I can't believe your baby is 9 months already. How has it gone with CDing, were you able to stick to it and find brands that work for you? 

 

What mixed feelings for you on Mother's Day. Both bitter and sweet for sure.

For my wife's first mother's day I made a card and traced my daughter's hand on it as if it were her signature. My wife mentioned it a few months ago as still being one of my cuter ideas.

I can't believe your baby is 9 months already. How has it gone with CDing, were you able to stick to it and find brands that work for you?

 

We're using both cloth and disposable.  We use disposables for overnight, longer outings, and baby-sitters.  I use a combination of prefolds with Bummi covers, Flips, and pockets.  I only use the prefolds and flips around the home, and I'll use pockets if I will be out a short amount of time.  I have some Bum Genius and Fuzzy Bunz in the collection.  I don't feel that we went overboard buying cloth diapers, but I do feel that we have plenty in our stash.  I read the posts on the Cloth Diapering boards on Baby Center, and I'm surprised at how many diapers these women buy.  They are like fashion accessories. 

they can be addictive, there are so many cute ones out there.

My wife's cousin came up from Florida this weekend, with his family, including their 3 month old daughter. Yesterday, they were doing something inside the house and my wife and I were watching the baby. I guess I know I'm done having kids when my first reaction to the baby crying was to think to myself "Oh shut up!"

 

Meanwhile, my 3yo decided to poop in her underwear last night. That's karma for ya.

A babysitting Co-op in Ohio City decided to take school issues into its own hands:

 

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/06/west_side_cleveland_charter_sc.html

 

Near West Intergenerational charter school to open this year after push from parents

 

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A group of West Side parents agonized as their children approached school age. They were uncertain about the Cleveland schools in their neighborhood, but could not find a convenient alternative that didn't have a waiting list.

 

Their answer? Recruit one.

 

Near West Intergenerational School, a new charter school spun off from a highly regarded Cleveland model, will open in late August or early September with students in kindergarten through second grade. It hopes to add a grade per year until reaching the eighth.

 

The parents who brought Near West to the Ohio City neighborhood came together through a babysitting co-op that formed four years ago and now comprises about 20 families and 35 to 40 children up to age 7. On any given day, someone is taking care of someone else's kids, earning points that can be redeemed for future babysitting.

 

 

OMG.  This is a big shout out to you parents.

 

 

Man did I forget how hard it is to take care of a baby.  I babysat Mr. Fussy Pants this past weekend (Friday thru this morning) as his parents were out of town.  Usually I have him for a ½ day or on his parents "date night".

 

 

I left a diaper sitting on the bathtub and we went out.  I don't have to tell you what the second floor of the house smelled like when we returned.  :-[

 

 

On top of that he was moody as all get out this weekend.  Every time I changed his outfit, he was difficult. We were at the park and performed because I had to take him out of the swing so other kids could use it (there are only 5 toddler swings).  My nephew moved in this weekend and three of my cousins oldest kids came along w/ my 13 year old cousin.  Since they were there he performed when I put him to bed.  He wanted to "play".  We went to feed the Swans, it's our early morning weekend thing, and he didn't even want look at them, let alone feed them.  Hes never done that, as he loves birds.  I think he was mad, because I let him cry for 2½ hours straight the night before.

 

 

Thank God he sleeps through the night.

 

 

I can't believe my nephew has graduate high school, it's like I was changing his diaper yesterday. He started his summer internship.  They grow up so fast.

Man did I forget how hard it is to take care of a baby.  I babysat Mr. Fussy Pants this past weekend (Friday thru this morning) as his parents were out of town.  Usually I have him for a ½ day or on his parents "date night".

 

How old is Mr. Fussy Pants?  That is very nice of you to watch him and let his parents get out together.

 

On a related note, do parents here get babysitters regularly so that they can go on date nights?  If so, how do you find them?  Another thing I'm having a hard time is finding babysitters during a week day because I'm a stay-at-home mom still.  Sometimes I have doctors appointments.  My mother-in-law has been good with watching the little one, but she's currently on a long vacation.  Most friends and family members work 9-5 Monday through Friday, so they are not available.

Hi - we are doing date nights here and there but it's so prohibitively expensive between the cost of the sitter and the cost of your outing, we don't go as often as we'd like. Average $100-120 for a dinner out. It's just insane.

 

We had a lot of trouble finding sitters because we had very specific things we wanted and didn't want. So many of them want to sit in their home and not yours, they smoke or they have kids they want to bring along and it was just no, no, no and no. I've done 2 rounds on sittercity now and that's where we ended up finding sitters both times. Craigslist also brought us leads on sitters and while a couple were ok, some were downright frightening, like the one who broke down crying during the interview because she can't have any children of her own but oh I'll take good care of yours (BYE!) or the one who was so, so overweight she was huffing and puffing coming DOWN the 6 stairs into our apartment. Or the ones with so many tattoes and piercings and the smell of smoke on them, ugh.

 

We are pretty pleased with our sitter but we don't have a backup. The backup was an older lady and she screwed some things up that were upsetting for us so after 2 strikes, she was out. So if the main sitter can't make it (who is twentysomething and has an active social life, so that can be a lot of times), we don't go. However, this one seems pretty good if a little quiet. She just became an elementary school teacher and was a summer-long nanny for 2 different families with multiple children for a few years so I talked to those moms at length and felt very good about her references. She shows up on time, is pleasant, is always interacting with our child when we come home (if he's still awake - we often have daytime dates on the weekends as they're cheaper than doing dinner, plus she's more available), and I think it's going ok.

 

The good thing about sittercity is you have to pay to join so it's for real people, not just a bunch of f*cknuts. I think there were people available during the day but you will probably have to take your kid to their place because they are also SAHMs.

 

My suggestion would be if you want to find a sitter for during the day on occasion, try to set up a regular day/time and look to set your appointments up during that window. On days you don't have an appointment, go do something for you. Like, every other Tuesday from 4-6 or something.

This summer I'm fortunate that I do know some teachers who are off for the summer.  I will take a peak at sittercity. 

 

On a related note, I know someone in her 20s that just graduated from college in the past year.  She lives in the neighborhood, and she has mentioned that she misses babysitting.  I haven't know this person for long.  What is suggested that I do to check things out?  Should I ask for references? 

We have used a service called Babysitease several times to great success. 

 

Our favorite babysitting method is an exchange we have with another couple in the neighborhood.  We take our kids to their house every other Friday, and then in two weeks, we reciprocate, by watching their kids while they go out on a date.  It is great, because the kids can play together and best of all it is free.

Yes, I'd ask her for references.  Even if they're from a long time ago, families remember good babysitters. If she won't provide any references, I would be reluctant to pursue it further, though if she has regular job references, you could talk to them instead, and then have her over a couple of times to watch her interact with the baby. I would ask specifically about her experience in sitting for children that young. Many have sitting experience but it's for older kids, who require much less attention and are easier to take care of. I'd also ask if she knows CPR or if she would be willing to take a course in it.

In general, the age thing does scare me a little.  The little guy is now 11 months, and he does have some separation anxiety.  I am nervous how people will react to this.  My in-laws have watched him for longer times (three hours +).  We've had others watch him for 1.5-2 hours at a time, which is long enough for us to go out and eat dinner nearby.  I think I will also feel better as he gets older.

We really didn't go out much until he was at least 18 months old. I think it depends on both the baby and the parents. I was BFing until he was 20 months so being away for even just a few hours was difficult as there was pumping to deal with, the not drinking thing, and a lot of separation anxiety on the part of both mommy and baby. Once he got to be 18 months though and it was more occasional, things relaxed a little and we started to try to go out at least once every couple of months (I know, big whoop, right?). Mr. RNR is not a very relaxed parent so there is a lot of scrutiny around anyone suggested as a sitter. He wouldn't allow my Mom to sit in the evenings, for example, as she goes to bed very early and he was adamant that she not fall asleep at our place, even though she would have woke up if she heard him on the monitor and would have been able to take care of him just fine.  Most of the time, the dates start out pretty miserable for us. We spend the first half of the date worrying about little RNR, wondering if we left all the proper instructions, checking my phone for texts or messages, and talking about the kid. It's not very romantic and isn't doing a lot to foster the "us" feeling we're supposed to have. Once we got a real sitter, we started trying to go out more like once a month, or even twice, but now the expense of it is crushing us. $200 a month is just not a budget we have for babysitting, so we're probably cutting back once again. And half the time when we're out we just don't have that much of a good time. Because we so rarely go out, we have high expectations for service and food and if we go some place and things don't go well (which unfortunately happens more often than not), we're bitterly disappointed due to the cost, not just of the food, but of paying for a sitter at the same time. And we're still too scared to go too far away. We had booked a sitter to try to go see a friend's band in cuyahoga falls last week (not blossom, but at a club) and the original note said they started at 6, and then the day before, they sent notice they weren't starting til 9. Going an hour away for something that doesn't start til 9, which really means 9:30 or 10 in band language, and then trying to stay up for a couple of hours, and not drinking due to the drive back, it would have been $$$$$$ to try to do it and I would have been so tired, I mean, I go to bed at like 10 every night, so we ended up just going out to dinner.

 

While the child is in diapers it's imperative to get someone who is familiar with babies, or else they will not think to change them often enough. The older lady we had actually put LO's diaper on backwards while we were out, and this was a disposable! (we provide sposies for sitters to use) It had been over 20 years since she took care of any babies and she just didn't know which side. Plus she flaked out once and didn't show up when she was scheduled to arrive.

 

Once they are older and sleeping a little better, it's not as bad. We have less sadness and anxiety when we leave for a date now, but it isn't what I'd call a rip-roaring good time, particularly because most of the time we are going out on a sunday at like 11am and it's just not very "date" like. But as you say, as he gets older, things may improve.