It's looking like that's all mine's getting!

I am/will be seeing a PT for my abdominal separation (as well as a couple of other issues). She recommended this belt. I'm not sure if it would help 2 years after birth, though. I don't know what your insurance/financial situation is, but it might be worth it to find a PT who specializes in these kinds of issues. Mine has been more helpful than I had expected so far, and I anticipate her being a huge help postpartum as well.

Anyone else?

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Thanks for the info. Those Magic Schoolbus ones look fun, and they have one about space! Maybe even better than dinosaurs.

Anyone? :bigear:

I was flipping through the Timberdoodle catalogue and saw their science kits. After doing some research on Amazon, these are the ones I'm considering: Be Amazing Blast of Color Mind Blowing Science Kit for Young Scientists My First Dinosaur Science Kit Little Labs Stepping into Science This would just be for something fun to do on a couple of Fridays a month. I will probably be including her 3 year old sister in the activities. It looks like the Dinosaur kit would be a one-time deal, though it might be worth it, since dd is into dinosaurs these days. The Stepping into Science kit looks like it has the most experiments with more explanation of the principals behind them. Has anyone used any of these or any others successfully with young kids? I'd love to hear any reviews/suggestions.

I really like bumGenius one-size pockets as well. I use more prefolds and prefitteds for the first few months, though. I also like Thirsties covers. This thread may inspire me to try a couple of the Duos in the new prints.

If you're nearing or past 41 weeks, accupuncture could do the trick. It's been the magic pill for my first two. With my first, I had the treatment at 9 days past due and gave birth at 11 days post. With my second, I had the treatment at 5 days past due and gave birth the next day. I'm due this Sunday and wondering how soon I can get it done and it be effective (you can't do it without a prescription before your due date). I've been 2 cm dilated with baby at -2 station for 2 weeks now. If I've made some progress when I get checked by my midwife tomorrow, I'll probably schedule a treatment for Monday.

Can I ask which SL books you are referring to? The Landmark books or The Story of the USA? Or, are you talking about books they have since pulled? I think they previously used The Light and the Glory, which I wouldn't touch with a 10 ft pole, but have since regretted it and changed their spines (to Landmark and the other).

Why not Sonlight?

This has been the first pregnancy in which I have exercised consistently. What's most help me do it are exercise videos because they're cheap and convenient. I've really enjoyed Erin O'Brien's prenatal fitness video, and I have her Postnatal Rescue waiting once the baby comes (due in a week!). That may be a gentle way for you to start. It's only 15 minute segments of increasing difficulty. So, you start with the easiest, and once you're doing that one easily, you move on to the next. It's not a lot of cardio/calorie burning, but it will rehab your muscles so that when you're ready for more intense exercise, it will be more effective (and your body will be ready for it). Certainly eat when your hungry, and make it healthy, but I wouldn't be concerned about a little exercise burning too many calories. I find that when I'm exercising regularly, I eat better too.

:iagree: I think workbooks would feel tedious for a kid who is already reading. I think just going through Phonics Pathways or OPGTR would help give exposure and solidify good habits (left to right tracking, sounding out when a word is unfamiliar) fairly painlessly. He'll whiz through them, and that's ok. It will be a very small part of your day.

I've spent the last couple of days making a list for my dd from the I Can Read site. She's right at Level 1 now - Little Bear is perfect for her. I'm reserving others from the library - titles from Syd Hoff (Danny and the Dinosaur, Grizzwold, etc). Also, there's an author named Alvin Schwartz who has written some retellings of folktales and rhymes for this level that look interesting. Level 2 has all of the Arnold Lobel titles, Frances, Amelia Bedelia, etc. The Level 3 list is shorter, but almost all of them look good (as opposed to the pages of titles like Fancy Nancy and movie take-offs from the earlier levels). I'm hoping this list will get us through the next year-and-a-half, until her 1st grade year, when (tentatively) I plan to get her a Sonlight 2 intermediate reader package. Up until now, we've used Bob and Nora Gaydos for phonics readers. Then, some Dr. Seuss, and the Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems is fun and unitimidating with few words on a page.

OK, well, you guys win because I was *born* in 1979. :lol: Didn't learn the song for a while after that.

Oh my gosh, flashback! LOL I sang the Fifty Nifty United States song as a part of some performance back in... 4th, 5th, 6th grade? I can't remember exactly. I could sing it for you! :lol:

I thought CWP does have a weekly dictation exercise. Also, the copywork selections in CWP are fairly lengthy compared to WWE 1 and 2 (from what I've seen). CWP does do some light grammar and phonics/spelling as well. For my dd, who is midway through OPGTR and has finished HWT K going into her kinder year, I plan to use CWP as a complete 1st grade LA program (that is, when she's 6, not this coming year when she's 5). Then (tentatively), in 2nd, move on to WWE3 and start formal grammar then (FLL, CLE, R&S?). I think if you have a kid who would benefit from the very incremental nature of WWE, CWP would not be a great fit. But for kids who are early-ish readers and comfortable with writing, I think it's a great gentle LA program.

Exercise has really made the difference for me this pregnancy, not only with sleep, but with other pregnancy issues. You mentioned you had already tried that, though.

I'm also not totally sure what you mean by typical Kinder activities, but if it is what I think you mean, that stuff gets done more informally around here. We have a toy shelf with lacing cards, tangrams, card games, pattern blocks, cuisenaire rods, puzzles, sequencing cards, peg mats, etc. I rotate them out as each kid's developmental stage changes. If you're looking for fine motor/craft kinds of things, we've really enjoyed the Kumon cutting/pasting/craft series of workbooks here. Also the mazes and number games (dot-to-dots and color by numbers). We tend to cover gross motor with gymnastics classes and outdoor play. We do Musikgarten classes off and on, and I'm a trained MG teacher, so that stuff happens fairly naturally at our house. It seems like the simplest thing for you to do is just cover LA and Math at his level and let him do ECC with big brother. I know my 5 year old would love the geography stuff. I'm guessing ECC has some good activity/craft ideas as well. With the reality of a 3rd (who will be born in a month or so) coming, I'm leaning more towards combining my older two as much as possible (read-alouds, history, science) and just doing skill stuff on level for each of them (in my long term plans).

My daughter is the same age, and in pretty much the same place as your son. My plan for next year is pretty simple. Every day we will: Continue with OPGTR and checking out readers from the library for practice (I plan to go through the SL 2 Regular readers list). We will alternate, OPGTR one day, reading practice the next. Continue with HWT 1 (she's almost finished with HWT K) and some copywork (using Bible verses and poems). Again, alternating between the HWT workbook and copywork. Do Singapore EB (we haven't started yet, though she's figured out much of Kinder math on her own) and Miquon Orange. We'll do Singapore 3 days a week and Miquon one day a week. Then, I plan to do these things weekly: Nature walks, with some nature journalling and researching things that we find. Read a fairy tale OR do a picture study, and then have her do a picture/oral narration. Listen to various kid-friendly classical music pieces checked out from the library (Carnival of the Animals, Peter and the Wolf, etc) and move to them and paint/draw to them. Read to her from the following: Random House Book of Poetry Complete tales of Beatrix Potter Winnie the Pooh The House at Pooh Corner Uncle Wiggly's Storybook Milly Molly Mandy The Classic Tales of Brer Rabbit Lion Storyteller Bedtime book You'll notice many of the books are from SL P4/5. I think for a Kindergartener who is already reading and has learned letter formation, you want to focus their LA on solidifying reading skills and on copywork and narration. You could, of course, do that with WWE1. I just decided to do narration with fairy tales, pictures, and music. I'm choosing to wait on grammar/spelling until next year. My tentative plan is to do CW Primer with her next year, and then start more formal grammar/spelling in 2nd. If you don't want him to just listen in with his older sibling, you could always pick SL P4/5 or SL K. The core is just lit/readers/history. I'm not sure what you're doing with your older one next year, or what you plan to do with this one after Kinder, and that will probably factor in your plans for this year as well. I didn't feel like I needed an all-together program. We'll do the 3 R's every day, and then pick one of the weekly things to do each day. I think that should be pretty simple, even without a teacher's guide/schedule. Hope that's helpful.

Actually, I am quite familiar with Dr. McIlhaney... my Dad knows him, his daughter went to my family's church for awhile, I've heard him speak before and know his professional history. I have a feeling the article did a poor job of explaining the research that is referenced. Now, it's disappointing that they include quotes from the guy who does teen ministry. This kind of thing is not going to be taken seriously if it's given a Christian spin. I think there is growing evidence that abstinence-only education is more beneficial in the long-haul, that kids do want their parents to give them guidance and boundaries about sex. I wish those who were doing this kind of research would let the evidence speak for itself and stop using scripture to support it, since so few people believe in the authority of scripture anymore. I think that causes people to automatically dismiss it.

I would agree with the pp who said that everyone has *some* sensory issues, some kids have more than others, but don't get too concerned unless it really interferes with normal functioning. My sister is a pediatric OT. My 4, almost 5 year old is a bit of a sensory seeker. My sister's advice has been to give her a good "sensory diet", especially during stressful times, and that can help prevent future issues. My dd does gymnastics, which has been a really good input source for her. She also can have her rest times outside, and she will literally ride laps on her bike around our tiny patio for 1 hour straight. She's recently had more oral needs (chewing and licking things), so I've just ordered her some OT "toys" to give her an acceptable outlet for that (things to stick on the end of a pencil, necklace, bracelet, tubes). I also ordered her a therapy ball to sit on, in anticipation of schooling next year. The pp's are right - he's still young, and this stuff is typical for any kid. Pay attention to the needs he has and find ways to meet them in socially acceptable ways without shaming him. He'll probably be fine.

My first was actually a "textbook" baby in many ways. Not high needs, pretty predictable. But, she was absolutely not ready to take regular naps like Babywise defines at 6 weeks old, when I decided I was going to put my foot down and make it happen. She was absolutely not ready to sleep all night at 6 months without nursing when I decided to put my foot down and make it happen. Actually, she pretty closely met the sleep/feeding stages outlined in "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child", which are based more on brain development than the convenience of the parent (like the recommendations in Babywise). I do not put my breast in my baby's mouth every time they cry. But, I don't let schedules/time determine when I can and can't feed them. I find that my babies were ready to take 2-3 fairly regular naps around 3-4 months. We're pretty religious about that, when they're ready for it, and of course the routine benefits them. Around 9 months to a year, most babies are ready to sleep all night without nursing. A little effort on the parents' part to make that happen is totally reasonable. But, the problem with the Ezzos is that they suggest you push schedules before many babies are ready for them. And, as I said, I'm coming from the perspective of a mom who has had pretty easy going, predictable babies. Never mind families with babies that have reflux, colic, or other issues going on.

:iagree: I have now become wary of *any* parenting book/system that uses a lot of "we vs. them" language. The Ezzos (and the Pearls, from what I understand... I've never read their books), create a false dichotomy, making it sound like anyone who doesn't follow their method is going to have out-of-control children, a terrible marriage, etc., etc., and is never going to recover from it. I thought I would do the Babywise-type scheduling until my first arrived and wouldn't fit their mold.

OH MY GOSH! :lol: This thread is cracking me up! I think I've mostly done hospital gowns, though I ended up with nothing but a bra with my 2nd from the pics. It was as modest as a sports bra. I'll be able to labor in the tub this time around, so I'll probably bring a bathing suit top. With my first 2, I was already in active labor by the time I got to the hospital, so I wasn't walking the halls or anything. Why in the world were you ladies getting blood drawn during labor? Am I totally blanking? I don't remember that at all!