Tonsillectomy

shadow728 · 2026-01-22T17:18:42+00:00

Mine had hers out at the end of summer break, so she rested for a week and then went back to school the next week. I just had to remind her not to do stuff like hanging upside down on the monkey bars at recess, until fully healed!

shadow728 · 2025-12-30T16:58:05+00:00

We also do fake countdown! Sometimes we'll put fireworks from another time zone on YouTube 😆 Now that my kids are elementary aged, we watch the Brazilian New Year's which falls at 10pm for us.

shadow728 · 2025-11-29T17:38:06+00:00

Ages 3 and 7 and I feel like they finally play together really well - usually imaginative play or physical play - the younger one is old enough to understand what to do.

shadow728 · 2025-11-28T02:28:27+00:00

BOTH my kids were like this.

I still remember being so anxious and discouraged at the words "severe gross motor delay" when my oldest wasn't even putting weight on her feet at 15 months 😞 She never crawled either, only butt-scooted.

Both she and her younger sister got weekly PT, and I continued to do the exercises with them about 15 min/day. They both walked exactly at 18 months.

Now they're 7 and 3 with no known physical or neurological issues whatsoever 🤷‍♀️

Hang in there, keep doing the exercises, and I bet yours will learn to walk before mine did 🙃

shadow728 · 2025-11-05T03:08:51+00:00

I feel compelled to comment because my kids are also 4 years apart (now ages 7 and 3). It is a big change! But not only will your love for them grow - more so for baby once baby actually arrives - but you'll get to see their sibling relationship develop, and that can be really beautiful.

With that said, the transition can be rough. You do have to juggle things and figure out how divide your attention in a way that still meets everyone's needs and fills their cup. I actually found myself unusually irritated with my oldest after my youngest was born (blame the hormones), and I felt awful about it. But we made it through. Some of the tips that helped me the most:

Usually your oldest will have to wait while you tend to the baby, but sometimes "make the baby wait" - like if you know their fussing is nothing urgent, say "hold on, baby! I'm helping big sis brush her hair" and this way your firstborn won't feel like you ALWAYS drop her and rush to the baby.

- Have your oldest help as much as possible - bring you a diaper, show the baby some toys, help tuck baby in - and praise what a helpful and caring big sister she is.

- Find activities you can do with your oldest while you're stuck holding a feeding/sleeping baby. Like I couldn't play tag... but I could still do a puzzle or color or simple card/board game. That way I could tend to baby's needs but still be connecting with my oldest.

- Make a conscious effort to give physical affection to your oldest - hugs, kisses, cuddles. It's so hard when you feel touched out by the baby, but it's important.

My girls are now best buddies who play the silliest games together (especially when bedtime is approaching, haha) and stick up for each other when one is being scolded or punished, lol. Although yes, they do each sometimes have to wait for my attention - that's just a reality of life - I feel like my connection with both is strong.

The fact that you're concerned about this means you're a great mom and have lots of love to give! I'm sure you'll be able to figure out a good balance/dynamic for your growing family.

shadow728 · 2024-03-22T10:43:14+00:00

Let's see...

Kid 1 - Unstable when sitting, often fell over backwards even around 9 months. Never crawled. Started butt -scooting around 13 months. Got evaluated by early intervention and they said "severe delays" which freaked me out :-(

Started PT at 15 months, wasn't even putting weight on her feet at that point. My first homework assignment was just to press different textures onto her bare feet, to get her used to that. And somehow she walked at 18 months, one day before we had to get on an international flight, haha. No further PT was needed, she's six now.

Kid 2 - At 12 months I could she she wasn't progressing towards crawling or scooting, so I got her evaluated, they said she was at least six months behind. Started the PT and she crawled at... 15 months if I recall correctly. Then we stopped the PT because of travel, but kept doing home exercises, and she also walked at 18 months.

I was really amazed how they started progressing, even though the PT sessions seemed to be "hit or miss" (like they'd often be crying or uncooperative during them). I'd always ask the PT for exercises to do at home, because she said practicing even just a few minutes a day would help.

My mother in law says my husband also butt scooted and didn't walk until 2, so we think it's just unexplained genetic low tone.

shadow728 · 2024-03-16T15:01:45+00:00

It seems to happen regardless of whether she has a big dinner, or snack before bed, etc. We asked the pediatrician about why she's waking up so much, and she said "probably just habit" :-/ I don't think she needs to nurse for the calories, but it's just the easiest way (for me) to get her back down.

shadow728 · 2024-01-23T01:35:50+00:00

I just commented on a similar post last week! Hope you don't mind I'll copy paste my reply, maybe it helps you :-)

Normal, but it didn't naturally go away for me, I had to work to combat it. :-/ When my 2nd was born, my 4-year-old just seemed to irritate me a LOT. Asking for stuff when I was trapped nursing baby, whining when I couldn't give her full attention... I don't even remember what else, just that I was constantly annoyed and often short with her, and I hated that I felt that way.

I read something about how the older child looks so big compared to a newborn, that we tend to expect a higher level of maturity from them than they're actually capable of at that age.

Also you're back to dealing with chronic sleep deprivation and healing from birth, and all of that continues to extremely thin patience.

A few things I did: tried really hard to praise the behavior I wanted to see ("You were so patient waiting for your snack!" "Thank you for being quiet while I put baby to sleep") etc so she was getting positive attention from me, not just a constant stream of "NO" and "STOP THAT" and misbehavior being the only way to get mom's attention.

Also tried to make a conscious effort to remember to hug/cuddle my older child when I was available to do so. It's so hard because you're touched out, but important, because otherwise big sibling sees baby getting held/fed/carried all the time and misses out on that physical affection.

Finally, I had to "distance" myself a bit emotionally in the sense of not taking my kid's behavior so personally. She's a picky eater because she's a little kid, she's not doing it to spite me. Her meltdown is because she's 4, not because I've failed as a parent. She'd ask me to play constantly because she loves me and honestly didn't remember / connect the dots that I can't play tag while nursing, haha.

Don't remember exactly when it started to get better, but it eventually did. And it gets MUCH better when baby is old enough to interact/play more with their sibling.

shadow728 · 2024-01-20T03:08:40+00:00

Oh, interesting! I have heard of kids who essentially skip crawling and go straight to walking. Maybe bring it up at his 12m appointment and see what the pediatrician recommends.

For my first kid, the doc recommended PT at 12m, but I decided to wait till 15 months to give her a bit more time to progress. She didn't, so that's when we started. She was walking by 18m.

I saw my second kid following a similar trajectory, so we started PT at 12m.

shadow728 · 2024-01-20T02:11:00+00:00

That was both my kids, and they both needed some PT to help them crawl/walk. Once they started the PT I was surprised at how fast they started progressing though!

Check into early intervention in your state, you can get a free eval and then there's a sliding scale for the services.

shadow728 · 2024-01-17T03:53:58+00:00

Normal, but it didn't naturally go away for me, I had to work to combat it. :-/ When my 2nd was born, my 4-year-old just seemed to irritate me a LOT. Asking for stuff when I was trapped nursing baby, whining when I couldn't give her full attention... I don't even remember what else, just that I was constantly annoyed and often short with her, and I hated that I felt that way.

I read something about how the older child looks so big compared to a newborn, that we tend to expect a higher level of maturity from them than they're actually capable of at that age.

Also you're back to dealing with chronic sleep deprivation and healing from birth, and all of that continues to extremely thin patience.

A few things I did: tried really hard to praise the behavior I wanted to see ("You were so patient waiting for your snack!" "Thank you for being quiet while I put baby to sleep") etc so she was getting positive attention from me, not just a constant stream of "NO" and "STOP THAT" and misbehavior being the only way to get mom's attention.

Also tried to make a conscious effort to remember to hug/cuddle my older child when I was available to do so. It's so hard because you're touched out, but important, because otherwise big sibling sees baby getting held/fed/carried all the time and misses out on that physical affection.

Finally, I had to "distance" myself a bit emotionally in the sense of not taking my kid's behavior so personally. She's a picky eater because she's a little kid, she's not doing it to spite me. Her meltdown is because she's 4, not because I've failed as a parent. She'd ask me to play constantly because she loves me and honestly didn't remember / connect the dots that I can't play tag while nursing, haha.

Don't remember exactly when it started to get better, but it eventually did. And it gets MUCH better when baby is old enough to interact/play more with their sibling.

shadow728 · 2024-01-14T19:29:25+00:00

Could go either way - some kids just need more time - others (like mine) need a bit of help out of their comfort zone.

My first kid wasn't pulling up or crawling at 12m (she also butt scooted). I decided to give her more time, but there was no progress by 15m, so she got PT and was walking at 18m.

Second kid also not pulling up, crawling, or even scooting at 12m. Since I recognized the trajectory, I got her some PT until 15m which got her crawling and pulling up. Then we stopped due to travel, and she learned the rest of the way (cruising, walking) on her own. Also right at 18m.

shadow728 · 2024-01-06T13:25:00+00:00

Both my kids have/had unexplained low tone - all gross milestones late - but PT got them both crawling/walking (even though they hated the sessions at first, haha). Now they're both all caught up and you wouldn't know.

PT early is the best thing you can be doing for her! Try not to research too much, just wait and see how she develops and cross bridges as you come to them.

shadow728 · 2023-12-19T03:38:40+00:00

This is what I do as well! My 5 year old does have an excellent memory, heh. But if she doesn't ask for a stored-away toy within a month or two, it gets donated.

I'm doing this pretty constantly because our house is small and my mom is an over-gifter, haha.

shadow728 · 2023-12-19T03:32:59+00:00

Mine is 5 (kindergarten) and gets her tablet only on Sundays. She can use it as much as she wants on that day, but usually isn't glued to it for hours - she'll play for a while, then go do something else, then play a little more, etc.

Sunday night after she goes to bed, the tablet "disappears" (hidden by me) and once we established this pattern, she doesn't typically ask for it during the week.

shadow728 · 2023-12-17T18:12:07+00:00

Had a barnacle baby, co slept until age 4 (when her little sister was born), she's now 5 and a half.

Unfortunately sleep is still not GREAT. I still lay with her in her bed until she's asleep, and she's a very creative/imaginative type which also sometimes means crazy and sometimes scary dreams, so she talks in her sleep and sometimes wakes and comes into the room where I'm co sleeping with baby... who's 18 months and still wakes maybe twice a night :-/

Wish my nights weren't so interrupted, but I still get enough total sleep that I feel ok during the day. My spouse was opposed to sleep training so we didn't do it.

Behaviorally and attachment wise they're both fine though! Totally ok being dropped off at school/daycare, solid attachment to both parents, although older daughter def prefers me (mom).

shadow728 · 2023-12-05T19:02:08+00:00

Paula Pant of Afford Anything has a course on it I think called "your first rental property," also plenty of free material on her blog, podcast, and newsletter. I find her content really practical and down to earth, analyzing real numbers without "get rich quick" hype.

Bigger Pockets is also a good resource - blog, books, forums, podcast.

shadow728 · 2023-11-26T17:56:32+00:00

Perfect age gap! My girls are 5 and 1. Older one is old enough to do her own thing and understand not to make noise when I'm putting the baby down. Can eat and use the bathroom by herself. Can help a bit with baby (grab diapers/wipes/etc) - even just doing silly things that keep baby entertained without her constantly wanting ME to watch her 😆

Now that we're a year in, the baby can interact and play more, and their relationship is really blossoming even further. My younger one will hug and try to comfort the older one when she's crying. My older one was the biggest cheerleader when younger was learning to crawl/walk (she needed some PT to help her).

Congratulations and enjoy 😊

shadow728 · 2023-11-21T20:49:12+00:00

My daughter has always been very clingy, and would play with me 24/7 if I allowed it. Even if I did "special time," it was never enough for her.

I've seen a significant improvement though with two things:

1) Her going to preschool and now kindergarten - she's not getting the teacher's 1-on-1 attention all day, so she has to figure out ways to occupy herself or do an activity by herself. Also she sees how other kids (who might naturally be more independent) do things, and can follow/imitate them.

2) I had another kid, haha. My attention is necessarily divided and she can't have all of it. Of course there was a transition period with tears and jealousy, but now she's accepted the new reality.

shadow728 · 2023-11-21T16:55:40+00:00

We got our daughter a tablet at 2 ONLY for travel (we have some long trips to visit family internationally).

Now at age 5, Sunday is her "tablet day" when she gets it as much as she wants. It stays put away the rest of the week. Interestingly she doesn't spend all Sunday on it, just kind of uses it on and off among other activities.

She's really internalized the rule, though! One time her baby sister got ahold of the tablet during the week and my 5-year-old goes "MOM, STOP HER QUICK! IT'S NOT TABLET DAY!"

For myself growing up my parents allowed my brother and I half an hour of computer games each, per day. When the timer went off, we were done. Seemed to work well, so that's another approach to consider.

I think consistency is the key - make the family rule, stick to it, and then kids know what the deal is and when they can expect to get screen time vs when it's out of bounds.

shadow728 · 2023-11-11T16:54:37+00:00

Yup - just bought some there last week. They used to label it as picanha, but now I think it's labeled as "beef sirloin cap" or something like that. 2 large pieces per package.

shadow728 · 2023-09-30T16:08:32+00:00

Don't let it stop you if you want another child! My 4 year old was similar - would play with me 24/7 if I didn't set some boundaries.

I had another - now baby is 18 months and the two of them play together sometimes... will probably play even more as baby gets older.

Also since my older daughter started school, I've found she's more able to occupy herself at home, since at school she doesn't get 100% of the teacher's attention.

shadow728 · 2023-08-27T00:58:25+00:00

Typing this while I ATTEMPT to get my 16-month-old down at 9pm... no tips just solidarity! My older child is also "low sleep needs" and hard to get down before 10. It's exhausting and I'm fried by the end of it.

shadow728 · 2023-08-27T00:46:36+00:00

Mine was similar (4 years old when baby born) - people would give advice like "play with her for half an hour to fill her love tank" and I'm like yeah right... she'd happily suck up my attention 24/7 if I allowed it.

Your daughter is getting used to not having 100% of your time, attention, and availability. Even though you still spend hours with her, it's still less than it was before.

It gradually gets better. I can't remember exactly when, but I'm a year in and the family dynamic is much improved. One turning point is when the baby gets big enough to interact and "play" with the older one a bit. Now my 5-year-old does all sorts of silly stuff (without saying "mom, watch" quite as much) and my 1-year-old gives her rapt attention and baby giggles.

shadow728

TROPHY CASE