The Grandparent Thread

So does GD but it’s the “wearable blanket” version with legs. Didn’t stop him :rofl:

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My GD likes to unzip her sleep sack and put all her stuffed animals in, then zip it back up! When she was here visiting a couple of weeks ago, she took her sleep sack off and climbed out of the pack n play. She was suppose to be napping, and when I looked at the monitor not 5 minutes earlier, she was still rolling around, but quiet. I hear a door slam, and said a few choice words thinking my husband had slammed the door, knowing she was napping. A few moment later, she comes down the stair; she said she was done with her nap, so she climbed out because, “Daddy said he was coming back and he didn’t.” My son had told her he would come in with her for a little bit after he did something.

She has been taking her sleep sacks on and off since she was about 2; she is now 2.5. While here, she climbed out of the pack n play twice, so we were worried she would try to get out of her crib once home, but she hasn’t. I think due to the mesh sides, she was able to get better footing, plus it is lower than a traditional crib.

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I think it’s just a matter of time before she figures this out. As far as Pack and Play–sadly, over the summer when they visited, she developed a sleep problem in it. Had trouble getting and staying asleep on the thin mattress, and actually–gack–developed a hair pulling habit as she slept fitfully. We ended up buying a crib for our place identical to her home one, and she sleeps fine in it. always with a knit hat, though. Just in case.

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For the past couple days, GD has been grumpy because she has two teeth coming in. Today, GD was at her other grandparents’ house & D’s MIL sent her a video clip. In the video, my little sweetie is calmly chewing on a teething ring as she listens to Arabic music. Now I know the trick … next step is to figure out where I can get some Arabic music! :grin:

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For those of you whose grandchildren have moved from a crib to a toddler or twin bed, have you had any trouble with the little ones wandering at night or early in the morning, especially while you’re asleep?

I think we’ve done a good job of baby-proofing our house, but I can still imagine the trouble a little one could get into unsupervised. When our second child had to be moved to a bed too early, due to parental medical problems, we had to put a latch on the outside of the nursery door. Back in the dark ages, my parents installed a net cage on my older sibling’s crib. I think that might be frowned on these days. :wink:

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Visiting with my granddaughter for the first time since February 2020. She’s a sweetie. I cried when she crawled onto my lap.

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Love, love, love these posts about grandparents reuniting with their grandchildren. They make me smile! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Finally got to see and stay with our new granddaughter! She and her parents live 900 miles from us. We drove here after we and her parents had vaccinations. Baby GD was four months yesterday and is adorable. H and I will watch her tonight while D and SIL go to dinner with friends. I’m thrilled to be babysitting!!

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GD turned 3 today and her party was Saturday. GS will turn 2 in July and DD1 is expecting another boy in Sept. Both GD and GS love Nana and Grandpa; they see more of me but know Grandpa when he visits with me. GS likes sitting in my lap and some 1 on 1 time when he is not busy doing something else like playing or looking at books. GD later in the evening didn’t listen to her mom who said Nana will not play the ‘horsy’ game if she doesn’t come as called (it is a lap thing I invented and both GD and GS love it) - well GD didn’t do as she was told. Later she asked me to play the lap game and I said not this time because you didn’t listen to your mom – and she accepted that w/o a fuss. GS was busy looking at books and didn’t miss it. DH and I left about the time they needed to go to bed.

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There is a tee shirt saying “If I knew it was this much fun having grandchildren I would have skipped right to them” or something similar. One forgets all the ‘investment’ with having the kids and enjoys the bonus of the grandchildren.

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D1 likes me to stay over on weekends because I could do the first feeding and they could get up later. I love getting GD in the morning. When I start to unwrap her and say, “Good morning,” she would just flash me a biggest smile with arms flapping. She is a bit over 3 months now and is becoming a little person.

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Twins turned 6 months old yesterday and Twin A signed her first word today: milk.

D, Sil, nanny and (me when I was there) started using baby sign language with the twins about a month and a half ago. Everyone simultaneously signs and uses oral language. TodayTwin A signed milk several times because she was hungry.

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The signing was a godsend when GD was pre-verbal. Wish we’d thought of that when my kids were babies.

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My GD (23 months) signs. I agree I think it helps relieve their frustration because they are able to communicate. It helped that my son took ASL as his language in college Over the past few months her verbal vocabulary has exploded. Now some words she signs, some she says and some she does both.

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GS, just shy of 2 1/2, used some signing before his language exploded and he had pretty much stopped using it. However, for the first time in months, he signed something this past weekend - we wonder if it’s a response to the new baby.

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Happy Mother’s Day to all the Grandma/Nana ladies! Fun to see our Daughters and Daughter-In-Laws as mothers and enjoying their day.

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We had a wonderful celebration today. It was with my mom, D1’s family (with the baby) and D2 (with her SO). My mother was very happy to see her great granddaughter. The baby also met D2’s dog for the first time. the dog was very curious, but didn’t know what to do with such a small creature.

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For those of you who babysit your grandchildren, is it common for the parents to give any advice on meals, naps, and new developments and to ask questions afterwards?

In our case, D and SiL rarely volunteer information. Instead, we have to ask specific questions each time. H often forgets to ask when he picks up, so I have to text them and don’t always get a reply. When the baby was <6 mo., we had to document every bottle, diaper change and nap. Since then, there’s been little interest shown.

When H takes the baby home, neither parent asks anything about how the day went. I usually text a couple of photos during the day or after H leaves for the return trip, but rarely get a response. We usually babysit for 7 - 8 hrs. twice a week.

I can’t think of any way to ask the parents about their lack of interest without sounding very critical, so we haven’t said anything. Would this bother or concern you?

If you have been caring for this child for more than 6 months, my take is that the parents have become comfortable with your care and judgement. They are probably relieved not to have to focus on the details.
I would certainly continue to share any out of ordinary highlights or concerns you think they should be aware of.

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Mominva nailed it. They have absolute trust in you. I noticed the same thing with S and DIL.

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