Toddler Language Leaps and Newborn Diaper Blowouts – Ep. 143

Laura

Welcome to Big Fat Positive with Shanna and Laura. This week we have our weekly check-ins. We have our special segment, OMG I'm Freaking Out, where we talk about spooky sounds in the night and stressful siblings. And we close with our BFBs and BFNs for the week. Let's get to it! Hey everyone, welcome to the show. This is episode 143. Hi, Shanna. Hi. So we all want to know, what are you up to this week? How is that toddler of yours?

Shanna

She's good. So I think she's had a bit of a language leap, which is exciting. Yeah, because you know, I've been kind of concerned about her language development. her pronunciation and all that jazz. And just all of a sudden, I'm like, whoa, she's pronouncing her own name a lot better and her sister's name a lot better than she was before. Each of them have a three syllable name. So they're tricky anyway. Yeah, you gave them kind of tongue twisters a little bit. Yes, especially for a two-year-old to try to say the names. It's not easy. So she's getting better at that, saying longer sentences, and her counting is getting better. It's still really cute though. It's like, one, two, three, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13. I'm like, you've got the teens down, but you miss like four through sevens. It's funny. It's so boring, mom. Yeah, yeah, skip that boring part.

Laura

I feel like that's straight out of how to talk so little kids will listen, right? True. Making it fun.

Shanna

Yes, making it a game, making it fun. So that's what we're doing there. That's so cute. Oh my God.

Laura

Yeah. I think the pretend play is very cute slash very exhausting.

Shanna

I know. It's so taxing. Just wait till they get a little bit older and want you to come up with stories. Like Elle would do this too. She also enjoyed Paw Patrolment through a Paw Patrol phase where I had to be writer. And she would make me come up with like storylines. It's like, no, no, no, you're getting a call on your pup, Pat. So I'd have to make up some things that the dogs needed to come and save the day. And then I would have to play the bad guy and like, This whole thing it's like I like acting but this is just a little bit too much for me.

Laura

I think it's really funny that like We you know wrote scripts and you studied acting and we're you know Auditioning and stuff and now it's like oh no you get to do those with your kids But you don't want to I know I feel so bad

Shanna

But I think you hit the nail on the head with the repetitive thing. It is repetitive. It's not like they just want this one off. Like the first time I did it, it was super fun. It's like, oh, I'm the cool mom that can make voices and embody any Paw Patrol character. You know, and after the 10th time, it's like, okay, here we go again. Yeah. And then the last little thing I was going to talk about this week is we have been making up songs for CeCe. I mean, for the kids ever since they were born, really. We make up little lullabies or whatever. And so one recently I've been singing to CeCe is the daddy song. Because when I'm putting her to bed, sometimes she'll be like, I want daddy, daddy. And I'll be like, oh, should we sing the daddy song? And she's like, yeah. And I'm like, OK, I guess I better make up a daddy song. And you can't just ask Alexa to play the daddy song.

Laura

I mean, good. Yes. Good. She loves daddy. Great.

Shanna

Yeah. What about you? Yeah, exactly. What about me? I taught you this song anyway. So, you know, just getting punked by a two-year-old. That's my life over here.

Laura

I feel like it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Shanna

Yeah. Oh, yeah, for sure. Anyway, that's my life. How are things over there? What are you guys up to?

Laura

Yeah. So we're good. I have a three week old baby and my toddler is now two years and a month still. So I have an announcement to make actually in this episode. What's that? It's been a long time coming, Shanna. But I think I've finally figured out what I'm going to call the kids on the show. Okay. Because I as listeners know we don't use their names. We don't use the kids real names. And up to this point, I've just called my toddler my guy, my guy this, my guy that. And it would have been really convenient if my second baby was a girl so I could just continue that. Yeah, true. But nope, he had to come out as a boy, which is fine. He's wonderful. But I now have to come up with names for them. So I agonized over this. It was almost like trying to come up with another name for them. I mean, it is coming up. You know what I mean? Like it's trying to name them again.

Shanna

That's great.

Laura

So I'll probably call him August or Augie, depending on how it rolls off my tongue. So that's the older one. And then my three week old, his backup name that we like almost named him was Sebastian. Right. So I'm going to call him Sebastian because I still really love that name. It's almost like I get to have two names for my kids now. I didn't have to settle on just one. So, yeah, there you go. I might call it Sebastian or Bastille or something like that. So we'll see. So there are my children.

Shanna

OK, now I've got to memorize this and remember which child is being referred to.

Laura

I know.

Shanna

But I'll get the hang of it.

Laura

Well, I think the August thing, because it's been such a running joke, it might make it easier. That was the other thing I was thinking. So, but enough about them because I'm going to talk about myself first. OK. So, you know, I'm almost a full month postpartum now, like just a day shy of it. And I'm starting to just really feel normal again, which is kind of awesome. Like my stomach is kind of almost back down to like normal. And I don't mean like it doesn't have a lot of extra loose skin and extra fat and all that stuff. But like I can tell my uterus is back down to size. more or less. So that's kind of exciting because it means I can start wearing pants again without a very elastic waistband. So that's a plus. And I've just got more energy to do stuff.

Shanna

Wow. Well, are you using them? Have you started actually cleaning?

Laura

I'm waiting on my barkeeper's friend. You know what that is? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I'm waiting on that to come in from Amazon. I'm very excited about it. But part of the problem is that I have all these, like, fantasies of cleaning, but no actual time to do it. So my mom, when she comes over and, like, if Corey's out with August, the toddler, I'm just reminding myself and everyone else, that if Corey's out with August the toddler then you know the baby is sleeping or something because he sleeps a lot during the day that my mom and i will like frantically attack the cabinets or something we're trying to organize she can't handle what a mess our house has become and she's not a clean freak at all but.

Shanna

Oh my gosh. So what's one of the cool cleaning tricks you've learned? You need to teach me everything you know.

Laura

Oh, okay. I'm happy to. I mean, I don't know what I know yet. I'm working on it. I did find these really fun ways to like fold towels that I'm now compulsively folding all my burp claws in that way. You make like a little, you fold under a little flap and then you put it in thirds and then you roll it up and then once it's all rolled up, you flip that little flap you created around. So it creates a little bundle. So now I have all these bundles of burplas. My mom, my mom thought I was a bridge too far. She was like, what, why are you doing that? You're just going to grab it and then he's going to spit up on it. I'm like, it's making me feel more human. Leave me alone.

Shanna

Well, like you always say, inner, no, outer chaos, inner chaos. I don't know.

Laura

That old saying. That old saying. Yes. Yes. Oh, but anyway, I actually am going to talk a little more about this during our BFPs and BFNs, but I'm going to move on since I have two more children to talk about. So with the baby, with Sebastian, there's not much to report other than he's still sleepy, he's still very chill. He had his first blowout, which was exciting for me. Yay, good job, buddy. Good job, right? And I think it means we need to move from the newborn diapers to the size one diapers.

Shanna

Yeah.

Laura

Corey got the honors for the first blowout. Rightfully so, I feel like, you know, like, yeah. I feel like now that I've had that feedback, I can be like, I squeezed this baby out of my vagina. You changed the blowout. Oh, yeah. So I get to a lot of cred. But it works with C-sections too. It's like, I got this baby cut out of my abdomen. You've changed a lot. Yeah. Yeah. Also, once you've dealt with toddler poop, like newborn blowout, no one cares. It's very adorable and not that gross.

Shanna

Yeah. It's like a teaspoon worth of poop compared to toddlers.

Laura

And then the other thing is that my mom is convinced that my three week old is social smiling at her. And that's a little early. It's a lot early. Like six weeks is pretty typical. There's no proof.

Shanna

So you haven't seen this happen.

Laura

No, I've seen him smile in his sleep or smile when he's like having gas, you know Mm-hmm, but I have not seen this much social smile But there's nothing you can say to convince her otherwise. She's like he is he is social smiling So I just think it's cute. It's like very optimistic grandma stuff. Yeah, we'll let her have this one But she's gonna like take it to her grave. She's gonna, you know, my kid's gonna be old and he's be like, you, you were social smiling at three weeks.

Shanna

Except she's gonna rewrite that history too and be like, you were smiling at me when you were two days old.

Laura

Yeah, probably.

Shanna

Well, and when they're just easy newborns, I mean, I'd be 100% felt that way when Al was a newborn. I was just like, the newborn phase is easy and Steve would be like, I don't want to have another kicks. I don't want to go through newborn phase again. I was like, are you kidding me? That was the greatest. All they do is sleep and cuddle.

Laura

It's like easy peasy. That's true. It wasn't so easy last time. So maybe it's just Sebastian's cute little personality. Anyway, so on to August, my toddler. So he's having a bit of a hard time. I think it's interesting to me. He's not outwardly showing that he's having a hard time with this new transition in his life. He's super interested in the little baby. He always wants to see baby brother. First thing in the morning, I'll still be half asleep or getting ready to feed Sebastian. And Cory will come in with August and he's be like, hi, mama, see baby brother. Like the first thing he wants to do is see baby brother. But he is showing some signs of distress in that he's suddenly having a ton of pee accidents. Yeah, he's just like peeing without even trying to go to the potty. He's not prompting anymore.

Shanna

Yeah. Yeah, that sounds like a good way of handling it.

Laura

Yeah. I mean, Corey suggested maybe we should put him back in pull-ups just to make our lives easier. But yeah, you know, I talked about it on the last episode too, and it just is continuing. But I still think the plan is just to keep on trucking and not put him back in pull-ups for now. So we're going to try that. The thing that's starting to stress me out is that he's starting to reject his naps too. And he's starting to like really cry during the naps and be really upset. And Cory and I are kind of at our wits end about it because we don't know what to do. And he does all these delays like we'll put him down. Now he wants us to sing Twinkle Twinkle and Baba Black Sheep while holding him and then also in the crib. And then he ends up wanting to try to use the potty, and then he wants water. And then he wants more water. And then we give him a hug, and then we leave.

Shanna

Oh, well, that sounds stressful. What's your plan with this? What are you guys going to do?

Laura

So it's like really stressful. Google it of course trying to figure out if this is a two-year regression or if it's related to the baby brother I think it's baby brother related and the advice I could find was all stuff we already do like have a nap time routine keep it really dark in the room use white noise all that stuff that we already do but one thing that popped out at me was limiting screen time. And screen time has exploded in our house in the last three weeks because my grandmom is here and there's a new baby and it just happened. We watched a lot of Mary Poppins. That's his new favorite, which is very fun because I like watching Mary Poppins too. But I've decided that that's the only thing that we really have changed. And the new tactic is no more screen time until we get the naps under control.

Shanna

Okay.

Laura

Because as Augie has proven in the past, like he can't handle screen time very well, right? And this might just be a new manifestation of that. So my mom was really upset. She's like, but he really likes Mary Poppins. I was like, it's our job to keep him safe. And like, you know, we are the parents. I know he likes Mary Poppins, but we're just not doing screen time for now. So that's the new plan. So we'll see how that goes next week. Well, I hope that works for you. Yeah, me too. Me too. So anyway, that is me. Should we move on to our special segment? Let's do it.

Shanna

We are back and this week's special segment is, OMG, I'm freaking out! You know, as parents we freak out about a lot of things and we take this time to talk about it. So Laura, you are up first.

Laura

What are you freaking out about? Okay, so I am totally freaking out about how the hell am I gonna take care of two kids?

Shanna

All right. So you didn't think about this one ahead of time before you had to just kidding kidding. Okay. What are you going to do?

Laura

Well, okay. So my plan was to have my toddler Augie in daycare before the other kid came. I didn't anticipate the pandemic lasting this long. I thought it might last as long, but I thought it might be better. And I think we've talked about this. I've like gone back and forth about daycare and about a nanny like it's a safe to bring someone in. And the fact is that I haven't settled on anything or hired anyone and my mom is leaving in like three and a half weeks. So.

Shanna

And so what's Corey's schedule like and stuff nowadays?

Laura

Well, That's the thing. He is ramping up some projects. So for the last year, he's been working on just various shorter projects, and then he's been developing new shows, right? And not to get too much into it, but things are looking good on a couple of them. So he's going to have to start working more and more. And if the shows get picked up, then he's going to be really busy. Crazy busy. And yeah, right now he's in the office in the back, so I can always call him if there's some kind of emergency, but he needs time to work. It's not that he doesn't want to be an involved dad, but you know, he just has to work. Everyone has to work. So I think there's just going to be a lot of times where it's just going to be me. And I know that people do this all the time. And I guess logistically, I'm just trying to figure it out.

Shanna

Yeah, I think you will. Those options are both totally legitimate and things that I would do. TV and screens honestly help a ton. I know you're trying to get rid of those things, but they help the older one have some quiet time while you do what you need to do with the baby. And to be honest with you, for a very long time, I was terrified to be left alone with the two of those children. I did not want that to happen. And same with Steve, we would do whatever we could all be together. But now that they're older, it's a lot better and a lot easier. That's good to hear.

Laura

Yeah, I feel like I can kind of imagine how I manage it when we're home because we have a yes space, essentially. I've left Augie in the living room, for example, which is child-proof when I need to run to the bathroom or whatever. So I can see if I need to do something with the baby. I can leave him in what I know is a safe space. But one thing that really freaks me out is going to the park because Augie is Just not old enough to really listen all the time about like running away. And no, don't go on that. Don't go on that ladder that's built for five year olds and try and kill yourself. So and if the baby's in the stroller, you can't exactly run away from the stroller and leave the stroller completely unattended. Anyway, I think I'm going to have to work up to that.

Shanna

Yeah. And there's always carriers. You can put the baby in a carrier and that helps.

Laura

Yeah, baby wearing is definitely an option. I've already employed that quite a bit. I love my little Moby wrap. Yeah. But yeah, that's what I'm freaking out about.

Shanna

I don't blame you. That's a lot. And especially to think of it as day in and day out. Like I would tackle the two of them together like we would all go to the library and Menchies and get frozen yogurt, you know, the three of us, me and the girls. And I would be like, I got this, right? I would jump into Shanna mode and like, I can do this and like everything. I would get all the pieces moving and it would be perfect. And I'd be like, sweet, we did it. But that was a one-off. If I had to do that all day every day, I would definitely be afraid and exhausted. But like you said, people do it. People do it all the time.

Laura

And you didn't really have to do it, right? Because L was in preschool when you had CECE.

Shanna

Yes, she went back to preschool the day after we brought CeCe home from the hospital. So yeah, we just kept up her routine at school and she was gone five days a week at school.

Laura

That sounds lovely.

Shanna

I bet there are people out there that have a lot of really good tips they could share with you.

Laura

Please, please do let us know. Okay. So that was my freak out. Shanna, what are you freaking out about?

Shanna

Okay, let me tell you. The other night, dead middle of the night, I'm sleeping and I'm suddenly woken up by this piano riff in the living room. Oh my God. Okay. I'm like, what the fuck is that? And then I relax to go back asleep.

Laura

You don't recognize it? It's not like one of their toys or something?

Shanna

At that moment, I didn't. I sat up straight, and then I was like, oh my god, I think it's their play. table, like their music table. And I'm still just like, why the fuck is this going off in the dead middle of the night? Right? So it just played that little tune and stopped completely quiet. And then like five minutes later, it's great to see. And I mean, it is loud as shit. Like I can hear it clear as day in the bedroom. I sleep with earplugs, by the way. And this woke me up. Oh my God. And I'm like, oh my god, what is that? Obviously, I'm like, there's a ghost, right? There's gotta be. Definitely, yeah. A ghost playing this toy. The most logical conclusion, yeah. Right. So that's freaking me out.

Laura

See, I think it's designed that way to get the kids attention, like to get them to come back to the toy.

Shanna

That is definitely true because they'll stop playing with the toy and then like a few seconds later, it will sing again. And I think that is meant to draw them back to the toy. Yeah. And that I kind of get. It's still annoying, but I get it. But it's when it goes off like at the most bananas times, like in the middle of the night. Like what is that about? Is that the toy being like, come play with me. It's three in the morning.

Laura

Yeah, you know, I had a learning table that did the exact same thing. It would just, but the creepy thing that ours would do is it has a little door on it, right? And the door makes like the creaking door sound like a door's opening. And so, yeah, we would, but Corey and I would just be sitting on the couch watching TV and then it would go creak, like, hello. And we're like, oh my God.

Shanna

Well, they had a walker, like one of those little, it was like a Fisher price, looked like a lion face and had a lot of buttons and stuff. It was a little walker for like one year olds. That one I discovered would go off if I walked somewhat near it and like caused some movement, you know, like on the floors or something. You jostled it. Yeah. So that one used to always freak me out. But then I was like, oh, if I jostle it, it kind of goes off on its own.

Laura

So you can like burn some sage around your learning table.

Shanna

Yes, I definitely need to. You know what other toy I need to burn sage around? I think the worst one is we have these walkie-talkies.

Shanna

Walkie-talkies. They're these pop patrol walkie-talkies. And if you don't turn it off, like all of a sudden, like in the middle of the night, it will just be like, come in. They're back there. And it's just like some voice coming in over because it's picking up some frequency of someone else using a walkie-talkie somewhere. Oh, no. That's awful. That is terrifying. Yeah. Yes. I have to really make sure to turn those off in the middle of the night.

Laura

All right.

Shanna

Well, so I'm sorry, your house is possessed. Oh, thank you. Yes. That's what I'm taking from this, that my house is haunted. So should we move on to our BFPs and BFNs? Hopefully have a little more fun stuff to talk about? Yes. Ooh, I can't wait to tell you about mine. OK, good.

Laura

Okay, we are back and we close every episode with our Big Fat positives or Big Fat negatives of the week. Shanna, do you have a BFP or a BFN for us?

Shanna

BFP. I'm so excited. Laura, I read a book. What? I finished a book. That's amazing. What book? Tell me about it. We did our year and wrap up and I was so embarrassed to admit that I hadn't read a single book in 2020. I read a novel called Where Do You Go Bernadette and I loved it. It was so good. It's like It's hard for me to get going in a book because I get distracted constantly. And you know, in the beginning is when you really need to have some time to get into the story. So it took me a while to really keep going with it. But once I was into it, I just didn't want to stop reading it. I was reading it every day. And I'm like, I do have time to read. I do. If I just make the time and I'm excited about it. That's great. I've heard great things about that book. Yes. It's really, really good. Who wrote it? The author is Maria Semple. And it's a lighthearted book.

Laura

I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you for making time for yourself. Like, obviously, I know you are capable of reading a book. You've actually reminded me that I've read a book of hers of this authors. I read Today Will Be Different. Oh, yeah. How was that? I enjoyed it. I thought it was a really, you know, it was a page turner. It was really interesting. I don't remember that much about it. It was a couple of years ago, but I remember enjoying it. Oh, cool. It was also set in Seattle.

Shanna

Yeah, I think the author lives in Seattle.

Laura

Yeah, I should read, where'd you go, Bernadette? And then I should add it to my queue.

Shanna

Yeah.

Laura

Yeah.

Shanna

I recommend it for sure. Awesome. You know, the funny thing is Elle saw me reading this book. It's actually a book book. It wasn't a digital book.

Laura

Yeah. I was going to ask, was it Kindle? Was it audio book? What was it?

Shanna

Yeah. An actual book. Yeah. My mom had gotten it for me for my birthday like a year or two ago. and she saw me reading it and she was like, what is that? What are you doing? And I'm like, it's a book. It's a book for adults, right? Adults like to read too. And I like to read and she's like, oh, is it how to talk so kids will listen? That's the only book she's ever seen me read. Oh no. I'm like, no, no, it's not. It's a novel. Oh, and you know what else is funny? You've talked before about like the Kindle Paperwhite, is that what it's called? Uh-huh. You're like, it's so good. And blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, oh, I need to get one. That sounds so great. Well, I was looking through my drawer the other day, Laura, and I have one. I have had one in my drawer for like two years. Oh my god. I completely forgot about. So now I'm reading another book, but it's on my Kindle Paperwhite.

Laura

That's so awesome. I love my Kindle. I'm trying to read with it more like when I'm nursing and stuff. So I'm not just scrolling on my phone.

Shanna

Yeah, it's a good, I love it. It was a great discovery. So I'm very happy I found that.

Laura

Sweet.

Shanna

Yay. All right. What do you have for us this week?

Laura

I have a BFP as well. Woohoo. And if you remember all the way back to the beginning of my check-in, I talked about how I was getting obsessed with random cleaning things and hacks for cleaning the house.

Shanna

That's very satisfying. It reminds me of having a pressure washer, which I don't have, but it's one of those things that I feel like is so satisfying. Like you just clean something so hard and it looks great and it's so satisfying.

Laura

I'm sure I'll find out from listeners or something that you're not supposed to use these because it's like too abrasive, but you know, don't run on my parade. I'm enjoying it right now. It's my little sliver of joy.

Shanna

That's fun. Maybe I could get Steve to clean if the drill is involved.

Laura

Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's super macho, dude. Not that Steve cares about being super macho. He's a cool guy. But yeah, I can see how you could be like, hey, honey, you know, I would love to do this, but it requires the drill. So maybe you could do it. Yeah. You clean the grout, please, with your drill. Brilliant. Yeah, so that's my super exciting BFP today. Fun. I'm getting that right away. I can't wait. I think you would enjoy it immensely.

Shanna

Yes, totally.

Laura

All right. But I think that's our show for the week.

Shanna

All right. Listeners, if you have any BFPs to share with us or any OMGs I'm freaking out, We want to hear from you. Laura, where can everyone reach us?

Laura

We are on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at BFPpodcast. We have a website, BigBatPositivePodcast.com. And if you want to send us an email, you can always include a voice memo in that email to contact at BigBatPositivePodcast.com. Finally, join our Facebook community group. We're a private group, so just search BigBatPositiveCommunity, request to join, and please answer the two membership questions so we can send you right through to the awesome conversations we're having in there.

Shanna

If you love our show, please rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts and spread the word. Let your friends know about BFP. Our show is produced by Laura Birek, Shanna Micko, and Steve Yager. Thanks for listening, everyone. Bye. Bye.