Where Nate Fits At This Point

I have noticed that in many blogs, we never comment on the clothes and the sizes that our kids wear. No suggestions on great places to find things or how we may have to alter the clothes that we have. I thought that I may start with a little bit of that.

Nathan 20 months:

• Shirt size: onesies or one piece outfits 12 mos. T-shirts 18 mos. for the length. (He actually still fits into his 9 mos summer clothes which will be the last for the summer)
• Pant size: Fits perfectly into 9 mos but can wear 12 mos if hemmed
• Shoe size: Wearing 4W toddler. He probably could use an extra wide but does okay. Will be retiring his 3W sandals from the summer.

For clothes it varies between maker how the sizes fit. Some run big some run small. I’ve had good luck with Carters and Osh’kosh. Those are my favs. Grandma and Grandpa outlet shop. They’ve gotten Nate outfits from Ralph Lauren (Polo), Tommy Hilfiger, and Kenneth Cole. The only problem is that Kenneth Cole runs big. I’ve had to take in the waist so they will fit Nate. I’ve also gotten Okie Dokie (JCPenny), Jumping Bean (Kohl’s) and Chirco (Target).The best thing was the jumping bean clothes I got on clearance for $2 an item. I held onto all the clothes that Nate wore in the winter in hopes that I could reuse them in the fall. I don’t think it will work. I have 3/6 mos. pants and 6/9 mos. tops. So, those will be heading to the donation pile. The last that I may be able to do. Now that I’m getting into altering the clothes, I’m not sure what to do with those.

For shoes, this was a little harder for me. Nate needs wide width which isn’t easy to come by. There are only a few to select from and I can’t believe that you have to pay $30 or more for toddler shoes. They really take advantage of you pocket book. Lucky for me there is a stride rite outlet in FL where my in-laws vacation. They found Nate 2 pairs and he had one pair found at JCPenny’s. I hope that he will get good use out of all three pairs. Also, I never got to check at the Sketchers store but I noticed online that they may have shoes that could work for Nate.

Picture Time!!

So, I wanted to get this post all ready last night. I needed to scan some photos to my computer but my scanner wasn’t cooperating. I have a 4 in 1 printer and it ran out of color ink. So, every time I turn it on, I get the alert about needing a new cartridge. Like I don’t know but after many frustrating moments gave up last night as it wouldn’t let me scan. This morning, I’ve cooled off and realized I just had to close out the message so that it would scan. That took one minute. God, sometimes I really hate technology.

I’ve been busy spending time with the kids and capturing their cute moments. Nate just amazes me everyday. He’s such a ham! When I raise my voice about something, he waits till I’m done and then goes on his own babbling rant. I love watching him dance. I’ve been wanting to get it on video but he’s camera shy when it comes to dancing.

Audrey has really started to change now that she starts Kindergarten in 3 days. She’s still my little girl but she’s growing up too. Wednesday, we had an Open House at her school. We got to see her classroom and meet her teacher. The classroom was nice and her teacher seemed to be nice and gentle. I wonder if she can handle my daughter. I hope so. I feel that she may not know what to do with a strong opinionated, outgoing child. We’ll just have to see.

The other day, Nate learned how to climb up into the big rocking chair. I realized I had never gotten his picture in this chair like I did with Audrey. She was about 9 months old when I tool these pictures. Nate is 20 months. But they are just adorable.

Here’s my messy face!

This hat works for Mr.. Potato Head!

Nate snapped this picture of me. And then we got one of Audrey.

Audrey before Open House. Her in her classroom. Audrey and dad throwing the BB around in the gym.

I’ll let you all know how the first day goes.

Mommy Smack Down, Sort of!

I don’t know if there is a good post title. I’ve stepped into the hard part of parenting. What to say and do when a child’s behavior is not appropriate. Audrey has a few friends in the neighborhood to play with. I see that she gets along better with one friend over the other. There has been insistence where the girls have reverted to hitting, but today mom lost it. Ahh, no I was not the one hitting. Maybe I should be more clear? My daughter was the recipient of not one but two hits and some pinches (girls like to pinch). Mostly because the girl didn’t like to hear “no.” There has been other things said by this girl that were hurtful and I left undressed. My mistake. Today, all those feelings caught up with me as I marched over to her house and said to her mom, “We gotta talk!” I could have waited for her to get off the phone but I felt as if this monster voice came out of my mouth as soon as I opened it. None the less, the problem was addressed appropriately and I did call and apologize for my inappropriate barking.

I feel like I need a class on how to address these issues. Either I’m too soft or I’m too hard. Most the time I can’t even think of the words that need to be said. I know that this is a job that none of us want to do, but have to. Sometimes I wonder if I’m on the defense for all the teasing and such I got when I was younger. I know that we all want to protect our kids from hurting, I just hope that I can learn to handle things better in the future. This is more of a vent to clear my thoughts. Thanks for listening.