When Eric was a baby he never had a set bedtime.

When Eric was 3 he ate nothing! He just started really eating a lot and he is 6 now.

I can’t really help you with the fitness sites. Sorry.

I was on Facebook for about a day then removed my profile. I did find some old friends though.

For our 9-month old’s bedtime, we follow his rhythms. He went to bed at 6:30 or so for a while. Lately it’s been around 8. His wake-up time has also moved from 6 a.m. on the dot to 7:15’ish. I read in a sleep book that putting babies to bed earlier does not mean they will wake up earlier. Only when they wake up, they will be more rested.

I just started using Facebook a little under a year ago, but am now a regular user. Let it search your email accounts to see who you know on there. Connect with them. If you aren’t feeling comfortable with it, wait for them to message you, post pictures, update their status, whatever. You’ll soon get the hang of it and find yourself much more in tune with their lives than in the pre-facebook days.

Regarding your earlier post about your older son’s fears, I just got a book called It’s a Boy, published a few months ago, that has a section on just that subject.

I personally found 1 and 3 to be the hardest age combo (which is essentially where you are). And if one of them is sick, God help us.

It gets better.

I went on a bitchfest about my twenty one month old this week, my five month old is the easy one (so far). The older one doesn’t really talk yet but I’m sure my level of frustration will be escalated when that happens. He’s just a destructive, defiant little shit. Who I love dearly.

Facebook appears to be more than it actually is. Basically it’s just a way to find people and then you post shit on their walls for everyone to see. Kind of like a blog, I guess but I keep my profile super hidden since I didn’t like those jackasses in high school and don’t feel like rekindling any old relationships. Guess I should delete the account.

My five month old goes down between 6:30 and 7:30 (depending on how long her last nap was). Then we wake her up and feed her at 11 and she sleeps through until 7 or 8 the next morning. My twenty one month old goes down at 7:30 unless he’s particularly bitchy that day and had a short nap, then we put him down earlier.

Fitness? What’s that? I actually ordered that 30 day shred you recommended from Netflix but haven’t had the balls to try it yet.

Oh lady I hear you. Theo’s in that stage now too and I’m all “Really? Why you be hatin’ on me boy?” Ugh. But yes, they grow up so quickly but at the same time. . .well, you know.

1).Theo goes down between 5:30-6:30 (depending if it’s a day care day) every night because he is so sleepy. Then is up between 6-7 a.m. after getting up once around 2:30-3:00. Not too shabby. Why don’t you try putting Dylan down earlier on a weekend, just to test it out, so if he gets up earlier JB will be around and no one as to go to work.

2). Don’t have a 3 year old yet so I have no idea. But rumor has it that most don’t.

3). No, but I should really poke around and find some.

4). I’ve tried looking for you on FB. C’mon! Drink the Kool Aid–it’s fun! :-)

Well if Cheeto’s, Macaroni (Roni n cheese) and pancakes are real food then HELL YEAH he eats. But that is it. Nothing else..Oh wait, this week he has decided he LOVES CEREAL. But only if it is covered in sugar or bright colors. Nothing taste better then Red 4 and Yellow 5 right?

I hear you about this stage… it’s HARD. Right now, I’m all whiny about feeding my almost eight-month old solid foods. Like it’s SO INCONVENIENT for me to feed her these tiny messy bites while simultaneously dealing with her three-year old brother. (Geez. Even I get sick of my own complaining sometimes.)

Anyway, re: the baby bedtime thing… I recommend trying to put him down earlier and see what happens – especially if you are having a hard time keeping him up. I discovered through extensive experimentation that my baby wakes up at the exact same time regardless of the time she goes to bed! Weird but true. At this point, she actually goes to bed at 6:00 pm (sometimes even a little bit earlier, SHEESH) and she wakes up between 6:00 and 6:30 am.

So, in the world’s longest comment, the bottom line is that it’s worth a try.

The eating thing…don’t worry about it too much. Just make sure that there is always a healthy option. If he’s actually hungry, he’ll eat. At this age they slow down in the growing department and don’t need as much food as before. They will also tend to not eat ANYTHING then go on an eating BINGE where you feel like he is eating you out of house and home. Typically, this is just before a growth spurt.

I hate facebook, I feel like I’m a million years old when I use it! As for fitness I like buddyslim.com

My boys are only 18 months apart in age, so I was dealing with a toddler wanting to feed himself and an infant who wanted to feed himself too, none of that mama spooning carrots to him. I was so happy he got many teeth early and solid foods were able to be given, as his little fists would jam as many green beans in as he could, but he’d be quiet at least! I miss the days when he was more dependent on me, but then again, no I don’t! Bipolar much?

My oldest is now 3 and his eating is still pretty steady. Right now he’ll eat anything that will stay on his fork, otherwise he gets fussy. Also, banana’s and apples are his favorite foods by far. Neither of my boys eat cookies or candy, nor do they ask for them, so if fruit is their dessert/treat, I’m happy to please them!

My little one, who is 20 months old, is in bed between 7-8pm every night. He’s getting his 2year molars, so he’s snotty as heck and usually gets up at 11pm for his nightly fuss-attack and snot removal, but otherwise he’s great. It’s the 3 year old that we’ve been fighting to get to sleep, he’ll fight us until 9pm, then at 3 am crawl in with us, which is getting damn old! Last 3 nights he’s been in his own bed until 6am, so I’m praying to the Lord this is a new step in the right direction.

Fitness? What’s that? Really, I’m studying for my state high school biology teaching certification, so my free time that I should use on fitness is being dedicated to re-learning all I can about biology and educational methods! After I get the license I’ll start back with the yoga and treadmill! I swear!

Facebook is pretty easy, but I don’t have a blog, so that’s coming from someone who is an admin. assistant and is constantly on the computer all day. I don’t play with the flowers or the other wacky stuff like that, but I really enjoy connecting with lost classmates and cousins who are on the east coast or overseas, versus here in Idaho.

My daughter is 16 now, and when I read your 1st paragraph, I laughed SO HARD. For a long time. I don’t know if you meant it to be funny, or if its just your incredible writing that lets it be anything to anyone. Anyway, I hope that you make it to where I am, where you can look back at these times (Riley sounds exactly like my daughter was at that age)and laugh. Or maybe it’s just dealing with 16-year-old issues that make this sound funny. Hoping not to sound insensitive.

Fitness websites:

http://www.videofitness.com-site has a forum and reviews of exercise videos/DVDs

http://www.cathe.com-site of one of my favorite video instructors

I found with my son that bedtime didn’t affect his wake-up time. In fact, often when he went to sleep earlier he slept better and woke up happier. He’s mostly an 8pm-7am kid now (15 months), but up until last month he would often be dragging by 6:30 or 7pm. Also, I’ve noticed (my first kid, so I’m learning here) that there’s a delicate “line” where he gets really tired and then has a Second Wind, which might as well be called “Fucking Hell” where he gets all wound up and over-tired and insane. For whatever that’s worth.

Our 5 week old goes to bed around 10:30 every night. I’m not sure how you guys get your kids to sleep so early. This kid would definitely not go for it. He won’t even take a real nap during the day, though sometimes he’ll give me an hour’s respite if he’s in his swing.

My kids, 4 and 2, are in bed and asleep by 8:00. Clean up at 7:00. Showers and baths follow, STRAIGHT to bed. If we finish early, I get a bonus glass of wine.

My 4 year old just started to eat yesterday.
(Fruit Snacks, and Soy Milk have kept him alive until now)

Facebook took some getting used to, but I think I finally have it. Until next week when they totally change it, again.

Oh and fitness related websites? LOL I better find me one, I could sure use it.

Ash has slept at 7pm since he was two months old (he’s now a year). If he goes to bed later, he still wakes up at the same time. I’ve been told it tends to not matter when babies go to bed, they’ll wake up around the same time.

It never really hurts to try, right?

Oh my hell the whining. From an 8 month old. I totally hear your pain. Quite literally.

My 8 month old has been going to bed at around 8 or 8:30pm. He stays home with his daddy so his second nap is 3ish to 5ish. If not for this late nap, I doubt he’d be able to make it until 8:30! He’s up around 7am like clockwork.

I love Facebook for the gaming (wordscraper and twirl are addictive) and for reconnecting with old friends. I think it’s much easier than Myspace but still not intuitive by any means. We need an over 30 social networking site that’s made for the generation that DIDN’T grow up glued to a computer.

• If he sleeps, he sleeps. If you’re going to adjust his bedtime, I would try it out for more than a few days…I’m not an expert, just trust your mom-gut :)
• My 2.5 yo has eating spurts. Give him a cheeseburger and he’ll make it disappear. Give him a fun pasta dish and he won’t touch it. Go figure!!
• I just checked out The Biggest Loser website today, and I actually enjoyed the tips.
• The format of Facebook is definitely different, but once you get used to it…it’s really easy to understand. Stick with it, and tinker around.

Yes, three is very hard! Questions gallor and independence all at the same time.

8 months, still going down very early (7:00ish) and sleeping pretty late 6:30-7:00.

Facebook, I’m too old to learn. I thought it was only for people in college and younger!

I’m lucky, my 3 year old eats like crazy and always has … and it’s real grown-up food.

All I can answer for you is the question about Facebook. I. Don’t. Get. It. At all. I prefer MySpace (as lame as people think it is). I find it much easier to navigate. Facebook makes me feel stupid! I can’t even figure out how to post more than one photo! Grrr!

When my Emmett was a baby he went to sleep at 7:30pm and got up at 7:30am.

Try putting him down 15 minutes earlier each day for a couple days (so like a 30 minute change total) and see how it changes his AM wake up time. A lot of kids can go to bed earlier with no problems at all and sleep to their natural “body clock” wake up time. It may make no difference at all and he may be a little more bearable during the day as a result.

If you have any sleep questions let me know. It is what I do for a living (no joke.).

TWO NAPS. My daughter had two naps. One a couple of hours after she got up and then another one around 2ish. God I miss those 2 naps although I’m grateful that she’s 2 and still naps for a couple of hours every afternoon. No matter what time I put her down for the night she ALWAYS gets up at 8:05. Like every day- she’s a freak of nature.

sorry you’re having a crappy time at the moment.

I’m guilty, I’m one of the don’t panic people, but not because I have a magic eight ball, because what the fuck can anyone do about it? Anyway….
Eating: 4 year old has always been a good eater; 2 year old, meet Riley’s double, possibly worse.
On sleeping: when Owen goes down earlier than normal he wakes up earlier, when August goes down earlier he wakes up earlier. Maybe it’s age? no clue, sorry that’s no help.
Facebook: I don’t get fancy with it, but dude it’s your turn on scrabble!

that was supposed to be: when August goes down earlier he wakes up at the SAME TIME…sorry about that

Dude. Fitness Fixation. You won’t regret it.

http://www.fitnessfixation.com

Funniest, most bad-ass fitness shit on the internet, no lie. Bonus: CUSSING!

Facebook is totally confusing at first. And I almost gave up, but I figured it pretty quickly after my inital “feeling way too old to social network” week.

And I totally just sent you a fake plant for you to care for on Facebook.

* When I discovered I was having trouble keeping my then-10-month-old up until 7, I started putting him down at 6 or 6:30. He still wakes up at the same time (6 or 6:30, as it happens.) And he’s more cheerful.

* My 3-year-old eats a good variety, and will at least TRY anything, but the amount she eats seems microscopic to me. Like, a bite of granola and a sip of milk = breakfast. Two bites of soup and 1/8 of a roll = dinner. How does she live on that?

* I resisted Facebook for a LONG time, and now I’m moderately enjoying it. I can’t believe the people who’ve found me on there. Like J.D., from second grade. Whoa.

1. That whole first giganto paragraph sounds Exactly. Like. My. Life right now. Read it to hubby and it was like I was describing my exact day.

2. Bedtime: Approx 7 pm…. both kids (2.5 yrs and 8.5 months) And trust me, they are ready then. Awake around 6:30-7am. Letting them stay up later doesn’t make them sleep later. We tried.

3. Food: Daughter (2.5 yrs) mostly loooves PB&J. That’s her main food. She also eats most fruits, mac & cheese, pureed sweet potatoes (if the moon is aligned properly), waffles, lots of yogurt, grilled cheese, rice and french toast sticks. No meats, nothing with sauce and nothing with a funny texture That about sums it up.

My equally single/childless friend and I were talking recently about what motherhood is really like, and will anyone ever be honest about it because we both feel shitty about not really being sure if we want kids? I mentioned your blog to her because you seem to be the most “this is how it is” when it comes to, uh, how it is…yeah. Anyway, I sent her the link to this post and she responded “Oh my god that was thoroughly enjoyable.”
I don’t know what my point is. I hope things fall into place for you.

• Bedtime – Always had ours in bed before eight until they turned five.

• 3-year-olds: does yours eat? No, shove in what you can.

• Are there any fitness-related websites that you particularly like? Persian Kitty

• Facebook: am I the only one too stupid to figure it out? Face who?

Someone asked me today, “so when do you think housing prices will go back up?” Ummm…..?

No fitness websites, but I’m always interested in what Gina Kolata writes:

http://tinyurl.com/kolata

And I am totally scared of Facebook making me feel OLD.

Regarding the bedtime for Dylan…put him down at 6:30 p.m. Seriously. It works! He’ll sleep through until 7 (at least) just like always. It doesn’t make him wake up any earlier – I promise. I am a total devotee of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and learned it through there. Worked like a charm.

Thank you for being you, Linda. In my own little head, I often think that I’m the only one going through this kind of parental (and personal) self-doubt, and I only have an 8 month old. No toddler…yet. I too get irritated. Hot breakfasts and teas grow cold. Teeth go unbrushed. Pajamas stay on. House continues to be unkempt. Baby requires all my time and energy. It’s enough to make me cry every single day. And I still have a job to go to at night. Sitting there right now even.

Calvin goes to bed around 7:30 usually. Used to be 8:30, but this new time allows whichever parent is there to relax or get something done. Sanity saver for us.

I hardly have any time for any kind of physcial fitness nowadays, but I when I did I liked Self.com, Mayoclinic.com, and any random ones mentioned in magazines or web articles.

I have both Facebook and MySpace pages, but I prefer MS because FB has become clogged and difficult to navigate. I only have snippets of time to toodle around on either one anyway, so why waste my time accepting or rejecting the myriads of requests that bombard you on FB.

My just-about-3 year old eats anything and everything. BUT, I am too busy FUCKING PANICKING over too many things to be too elated about it:

(in no particular order)

-Current events (don’t TELL me not to fucking panic! I’m like Chicken Little over here…”OMG! We’re all GOING TO DIE!”)

-Um, I’m going to be having another baby soon…and dude, I REMEMBER YOUR FIRST SIX WEEKS WITH A SECOND BABY. Am afraid.

-How the HELL have I been paying HALF MY INCOME towards student loans for THREE YEARS NOW and STILL not made a dent in them? Dear god.

-Did I mention a second baby?

-With this economy, I’m going to be stuck in this damn state FOREVER. I am NOT A YANKEE; I do NOT BELONG HERE.

Also, I signed up for Facebook and have pretty much just looked at it since then going “Ok, uh, now what?…Durrr.”

Currently have no interest in fitness. Am pregnant. Pass the doughnuts.

I started using FB right after they changed the layout, so I don’t know what it was like before. I just heard a lot of people bitching about it. I do get irritated with all those damn plant/pet/karma/flair requests though. It’s fun to find people I knew in high school, but I wish it’d let you see their page without friending them.

Tori (19 mos.) goes to bed right around 8 and then Payton (3) goes down right after that. It usually takes him almost an hour to actually go to sleep. And during that hour he is getting up literally every minute or two. My hubs works 2nd shift, so I get to go through this routine every single night by myself and, quite frankly, it’s maddening. *I’m* exhausted by the time I get them both in bed for the night!

Our hombre goes to bed around 6:30pm, eats at 11:30ish, eats at 5 and is up around 7ish. I think daycare just cleans his clock.

I’m scared to get pregnant again for the main reason that it would mean that I’d have a baby and a toddler. Holy. CRAP.

Facebook makes my head hurt. Why the hell would I want to send a virtual cocktail?

When my daughter was 3, she lived on peanut butter and jelly with the crusts cut off, goldfish crackers, carrots, milk and juice.

I think our golden retriever got most of the pb&j, he gained like 15 lbs when my girl was a toddler.

I can only speak to the bedtime issue; we have no three year olds (although my very-picky-eater-husband may qualify), and I drank the Facebook kool-aid years ago.

Bedtime for my 10 month old used to be 8:30. He would wake up at 5:30. Then I read something on Ask Moxie about the magic of putting them down earlier.. and they sleep later. She caveated that all children are different, naturally, but why not try it?

So we did and WELL HELLS BELLS, it worked. The child now goes down between 7:15 and 7:30, and we often have to rouse him for his/our morning routine at 6:30.

Joe’s bedtime was usually around7pm but he always slept 12-14 hours, so some nights we would put him in at 9 or 10 and he would sleep until 10 the next morning.
Eating- he was always a good eater
I like Sparkpeople

I have to tell you Dylan sounds a lot like my son did, rarely content on his own. And dear god! he is no differnt now at 5!! It has become so much harder. He just cannot amuse himself for any amount of time, he is constinly calling my name or needing something. As I type this my blod pressure is rising casue he won’t stop asking me too look at him or his cars or his dog!! grrr!!

My sister called me this afternoon because her 2 year old said he wanted to talk to me…but of course, then “I don’t want that” as soon as she got me on the phone. So we took that opportunity to chat and I heard, “Mommy, look at that spider. Look at this monkey (which was actually a vampire). Look at this tiny cat.” So not as many “why’s”, but lots of “look ats”. Totally adorable trait in a nephew…but while his mom is very patient and sweet, she did mention his Dad would probably be happy to read him a book!

re “3-year-olds: does yours eat? Like, actual food? Because what the hell, mine doesn’t.”

I got nothin’. Just want to say I wish I had this behaviour myself occasionally.

Re fitness web sites. I’ve been a long time fan of Krista. http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/ (She’s been a long time proponent of women doing weight training, is a great example, has loads of high quality info and demonstrations.) A sort of pre-Jillian Jillian.

P.S. I’m picturing you hiking the Great Wall while JB feeds Little D banana. Who’s turn is it to go to the bathroom now? Yours. :)

I also can only comment on the bedtime, but sleep begets sleep. Put him to bed earlier, and he will sleep longer. You don’t have to do it in 15 minute increments. Put him down at 6 and see what happens. When my daughter was 8 months old, I had to switch her from 6:30 to 5:30 and that helped a lot. She always slept until 7 or a little after. She is 14 months now and she is always asleep by 7 and gets up at 8. As a mom, I learned to NEVER complain about anything because my munchkin sleeps so damn well.

Also, your blog rocks my world. You always let us know how OK it is to be honest–especially with ourselves.

My five month old goes to bed between 6 to 6:30. I too tried to keep her up a little later but she is just too exhausted. And she wakes up anywhere between 6-7am.

I’m jealous of all the other people whose babies wake up at the same time each morning. I wish! I never know exactly when she’ll wake up. I also am not sure how long she’s awake in her crib before I get her as sometimes she talks to herself but other times lays there quietly and tries to eat her sleep sack.

• Bedtime for baby: My son is only 5 months and he goes to bed at 6:00…but I have the same problem with getting him to actually make it to 6:00. With my daughter, we were religiously putting her down at 7:00 and it was generally a fight with her as well from what I remember.
• 3-year-olds: Again mine is younger, like 2.5, but the only thing the kid will eat is oatmeal. She has some 3 year olds in her class and those moms tell me they are going through the same thing. You’re not alone. :)

• Facebook: Laughing my ass off about this because I sent my sister an e-mail about this a few weeks ago! I have since figured it out (for the most part) and have been addicted since. I’m so nosy…must see what those people from high school look like now! haha

I spend way too much time on Facebook – you asked on your other page what applications were good. I hardly use any anymore, ’cause I just got sick of…pretending. But my favourite is Nations, which is really similar to http://www.nationstates.net where you build your own country by answering questions. It’s a little funny and pretty fun.

Bedtimes: I have an 8-month-old too, and she also goes down around 7:30-7:45. Lately she too, has been starting to freak about 7pm, so? Guess I’m reading answers along with you…

Facebook: The new format is AWFUL. I mean, I know the good people of the internet complain about any new format, but this one really does suck. Since they started this I haven’t been able to do anything with my account.

SO… No help at all, apparently! But misery, it loves company. :)

My baby goes down about 7:30. My first went down at 6 as an infant and was up at 6. My four year old doesnt eat a damn thing. He drinks juice to sustain himself and thats about it.

Re: baby bedtimes, at about 3 months someone suggested that we put the twins to bed no later than 6-6:30. So we did, and what do you know — they started sleeping better than ever, and were happier too. This, combined with not keeping them awake more than 2-2.5 hours at a time improved our lives greatly. Even now, at 14 months, they’re asleep by 7 at the latest. 5:30 on meltdown nights.

DH and I were talking about this tonight (over bedtime bottles at 6:30), wondering how EFFING hard it must be to have a toddler and then an infant. We’re got lucky and had our two at the same time, and we’re happy to be done. Because we can’t even imagine how to effectively manage an infant with toddlers! Many of the moms in the moms group I went to when my girls were born are expecting baby #2 now. Boggles my mind. You’re doing great — you’re rational, you get up every day and you do your best. That’s an A+ in my book!

We sucked at bed times with our first so I wont even offer advice here. My 3 year old still wont go to sleep until 9pm.

My 3 yr old: breakfast is hit or miss. Lunch is the big meal of the day and dinner is minimal at best. We can definitely tell when he hits a growth spurt because he will eat like mad and then nothing. I just keep offering stuff he likes and does not like and hope for the best.

No to the fitness stuff. I am still trying to lose pregnancy fat without killing my milk supply.

I love facebook and find it a lot easier then my space (HATED IT) and Twitter which I do not get AT ALL.

My now 16 mo year old goes to bed btw 7 and 7:30. My 3 yr old doesn’t eat shit, except, well, shit (choc milk, ice cream, chips), so since I don’t serve that junk, she mostly eats a few bites for many meals, and then eats whatever isn’t nailed down for one meal. Then, repeat the cycle. She seems to be growing, so it mustn’t be too bad I suppose. It seems to help when I let her “help” me cook the meal. And I offer choices (oatmeal or cereal?) and sometimes that helps too. I don’t do facebook. And I like fitday.com to track meals and exercise.