Can you say PSYCHO??? in a funny way...

My Sister in law strikes again at how protective she can be with her 11 month old son:

Message from her this afternoon:

"oh hey last night we watched The Blind Side on tv, and there's this scene where sandra bullock takes her son the football player to his first day at college, and she hugs him goodbye

and i started crying
NOT bc the movie was sad, or it was a touching moment

i grabbed XXX's arm and i said, "(wah) I'm not ready to let our 11 month old go to college!!!!!"

if he wants to go far away, like more than 30 minutes, will you move with me so we can be closer to him?

he didnt answer me.."

"i went into XXX's room and put my hand on his head and whispered, "but you'd never want to be that far from me. i know. i love you too baby!"

Your Baby can read!

Well ours will have to wait. 

After seeing his parents last week, Joe brought home a mysterious box.  My in-laws ordered the program advertised on TV called, Your Baby Can Read.  Not to bash the program, and I am sure it works if you have time!  But I don't have time to cut my fingernails when I want to half of the time!  Full time jobs, a dog, 2 kids under the age of 3 and a house....leaves little time to watch 3 videos a day and go through flash cards 4-5 times a day with both kids!

I guess they mean well, but when I actually think about it...
The program retails for:  $200! They didn't give my kids birthday gifts!  Can't afford dinner out...and have to borrow money for their cell phone bill...make sense to buy this program so a 6 month old can read?????

Birthday Cakes...

My son is turning 1 tomorrow. So we are having a small party for just family. My in-laws offerred to get the birthday cake. I thought that was very sweet of them.

The catch is...and there always seems to be a catch...my husband has to go pick it up and pay for it. They ordered it, but don't think they will get tot he party on time, so Joe has to drive about 40 minutes out of the way to get the cake...the craziness just never ends!

They live!!!!!

For some reason when I started this website, my husband did a covert mission to my in-laws house to take pictures and these lovely things were missing!

They are BAAACCCKKKK!

30 year old Cabbage patch dolls. My husband has a brother, no sisters (not to be sexist), these dolls were never their dolls. These were my mother in-law's dolls! For the past 30 years they have travelled with her from couch to couch. Pretty freaking scary!

I didn't realize I had my number changed to 411

A couple of weeks ago my father in law called my cell phone and left a message urging me to call him immediately back, it was important. My husband came home minutes later and I told him that his father had just called and it sounded important. Joe said that he had already talked to his father and he just wanted the movie times for avatar!

That is what was so important??? YES, to them, yes.

There aren't enough moths in the world...

to even justify having that many moth balls in your house. We went to my in-laws' house on Christmas eve for dinner and present exchanges. We also didn't realize we were being subject to the strong dose of pesticides along with our Christmas dinner.

Really though? We live in the Northeast region of the country and sweaters are a big part of our attire, however in all of my 34 years of living, I have never once heard one person say, wow, my favorite sweater was eaten by MOTHS! Never!

I hate to put anyone out of business, but i think moth balls go along with pet rocks...should be discontinued...forever.

Perdue University posted this warning on moth balls after extensive laboratory studies:

Use: Avoid these products. If you do use mothballs, use them sparingly. Mothballs which contain paradichlorobenzene may be safer, if only because they do not promote hemolytic anemia.
Storage: Store away from children and pets in a well ventilated area. Mothballs, if stored indoors, should be tightly wrapped in two plastic bags.
Disposal: Mothballs should be taken to a licensed hazardous waste handler or saved for a professional household hazardous waste collection program.

My sister in law just sent this to me....

Because we are not home enough we need to make the best of the time we have, so to get my husband's cooperation in this task, i sent this article to him, highlighting in blue what we need to make our first priority from the time we get home til the time the baby is asleep. Once Archer successfully completes the list of abilities in this development chart we can move on to the next milestones, for 12 month olds. I've graded his ability to do each of the milestones.

By 6 months of age does your child:

Motor Skills

1. hold head steady when sitting with your help (I would give him a "C" in this ) reach for and grasp objects (B-)
2. play with his toes (B. he only does it when getting diaper change or in bath. Also seems to favor the right foot, I dont' know why. I've offered him the left foot but he is less inclined to play w it.)
3. help hold the bottle during feeding (C- he can hold it, but then pushes or pulls too hard and only makes it harder to feed him)
4. explore by mouthing and banging objects (A+)
5. move toys from one hand to another (A)
6. shake a rattle (A)
   pull up to a sitting position on her own if you grasp her hands ( the dr tried this when we went there, he wasnt that able to get up) (D- he was barely able to do this, I felt like his arms were going to pop out of hte shoulder when dr tried to lif thim this way).
7. sit with only a little support (D- he needs you to hold his back, otherwise will fall over and/or spit up b/c it's so uncomfortable)
8. sit in a high chair (B- can only do this b/c we have a great high chair w straps that help hold him in place. otherwise wud slump over a little to the side) roll over (F . only happens once in a blue moon)
9. bounce when held in a standing position (A)

Sensory and Thinking Skills

1. open his mouth for the spoon (A.)
2. imitate familiar actions you perform (B - does some, but it's unpredictable)
   

Language and Social Skills

1. babble, making almost sing-song sounds (A+ he loves babbling & singing) know familiar faces (A+ started to recognize us very early)
2. laugh and squeal with delight (A+ did that very early, does it often too)
3. scream if annoyed (A+ can make very distinguishable sounds when annoyed)
4. smile at herself in a mirror (A+ smiles and laughs at himself every time in mirror. )
5. should also be able to say P's B's M's and D's. ( by 8 months latest) (B- he did this before but not consistently)