Brooklyn Elise Countdown Is Over - She's Here!

[bashfulpixie]

5 hours ago, nastyhobbitses said:

Yup. I slather on that SPF 50, but I still tan (and my hair gets way more blonde) if I just step outside. Perks of inheriting a lot of the Italian genes, I guess. Meanwhile, my sister is ludicrously pale and burns if she looks at a picture of the sun. We joke that she's secretly a vampire.

Sounds like my brother and I (except we both have darker hair- his is a little darker than mine).  He goes in the sun, instant tan.  I step outside to check the mail without sunblock, boom.  Instant burn.

[Trapdoor]

I've been lurking for a bit and the power is out so I decided now is a good time to join while I still have some phone power. 

I have two sons (and two step kids) and they have different fathers. My older son is white and with blonde hair and my baby is 1/4 black with dark hair and this summer he has gotten some serious colour. I slather both boys with sunscreen all the time and I have busy bodies ask me constantly why the baby is "so tanned" even his doctor asked me why is he is so dark. (He  hadn't seen his father in a while lol) 

some kids just tan I'm not a bates fan but I'm sure they are keeping up on sunscreen  

 

[sndral]

On September 6, 2016 at 10:54 AM, Timetraveler said:

I don't know what's worse. The horrible headbands or the nailpolish on Kaci's toenails.

IMO what's even worse is that choking hazard bead bracelet around Kaci's arm.

My niece has started the flowered head band thing with her 7 wk. old twin daughters. So far the babies are amazingly successful at getting them off

[LawsonBatesEgo]

I'm half Latina and had my ears pierced when I was a few weeks old because it is actually customary in my mother's culture (Colombia). So maybe I'm jaded from that, but assuming it is not actually harmful, I don't see the problem with the nail polish. 

 

9 hours ago, nastyhobbitses said:

Yup. I slather on that SPF 50, but I still tan (and my hair gets way more blonde) if I just step outside. Perks of inheriting a lot of the Italian genes, I guess. Meanwhile, my sister is ludicrously pale and burns if she looks at a picture of the sun. We joke that she's secretly a vampire.

My brother and I inherited our father's German (with some Polish ancestry) genes and have super fair skin that burns from looking at a picture of the sun, me in particular. Yet my brother's wife and daughter tan easily even with SPF. So I agree a baby/toddler being more 'olive skinned' doesn't necessarily mean the parent is neglecting sun protection. Some kids just pick up a tan from being outside for a mere 10 minutes, other's don't. 

[Fundie Bunny]

7 hours ago, LawsonBatesEgo said:

I'm half Latina and had my ears pierced when I was a few weeks old because it is actually customary in my mother's culture (Colombia). So maybe I'm jaded from that, but assuming it is not actually harmful, I don't see the problem with the nail polish. 

 

I wouldn't see a problem if it was an older child (but maybe it's because i'm spanish). We've done it with my 10 month old baby niece. She looks delighted when we do it. But the difference is that tha little foot is not going to end up in her mouth anymore. Can't say the same about Kaci

[twinmama]

On 9/2/2016 at 1:31 AM, LawsonBatesEgo said:

I don't have kids, but I found it difficult to adjust to the level of housework demanded when I moved out of my family home. I was used to just being expected to keep my own room tidy and do a few little things to help out, like unloading the dishwasher, wiping things down when I was done with them, giving the house a vacuum once a week etc. But all of a sudden, it was my job to do everything for myself. I had to do all the cleaning, all the chores, all the washing, all the ironing all the meals, all the car-washing etc etc. All if it was MY job. And it was a hard adjustment and I didn't realise just how long that kind of stuff took. 

It's been a few years now, but I know my boyfriend and I still struggle with it a little and we've been living together over a year and are 29 and 24! 

I legit have no idea how people with full times jobs, children and homes do it. I am home with my kids so I get to do all the cleaning and laundry during the day while they play. But if I was at work all day, I guess my evenings would be spent doing those things? When I worked before having kids, my husband and I would clean together on the weekends. As ass backwards as it sounds, a home just runs better IMO when someone is there all day to take care of that stuff. Waiting for the cable man, cleaning, running kids to dr appts, etc. For my family at least. Working parents must never get time to themselves.

On 9/6/2016 at 2:26 AM, Melissa1977 said:

I don't see him sunburned. My 2 year old is blonde and white skinned in winter but now he's very tanned after a whole summer in swimming pools and beaches, despite avoiding high-sun hours and using skin protection. Some people, kids including, react easily to sun lighting and get a natural tan. It's not bad at all, in fact it's a natural protection and gives you a lot of D vitamin. Of course, a kid must be indoors when sun is high but it doesn't avoid tanning if you have this kind of skin.

My twins are two different skin types pretty much, one a bit toward olive skin, the other practically see through pale. I slather both in the same amount of sun block and one stays white as can be and the other has a little farmers tan. Both their hair bleaches even blonder in the summer. Then in the loooong Minnesota winter we all become pale nordic folks

[alba]

@twinmama:

I don't know how working parents manage, either. The moment I got a full-time job Mr Alba and I hired a cleaner, so we just need to make sure that once a fortnight the floors and surfaces are accessible. And our flat is still kind of messy

We both have hobbies that take up a lot of our time, and judging from the way my mom took up canning (peach jam!) and my dad tore up the downstairs loo within weeks of their youngest moving out, I'm guessing working parents sacrifice hobby time.

Totally agree with you on things running more smoothly with an adult at home. Hell, I have to carefully organise my Amazon orders because we live in a key-controlled tenement flat, so if none of our neighbours are home when the parcel carrier arrives, the parcel doesn't arrive.

[Percy]

I have often said to my husband 'I need a wife' . ( meaning in the traditional stay at home mother). We both work full time and found it very difficult if someone needed to be at home because sick child or waiting a tradesman.

Now we have young adults with university schedules that are not full time so someone is at home most days.  Also they can look after themselves if they are sick.

Cooking and cleaning are now shared but it did take a big chunk of time when they were little.

[QuiverDance]

I don't know how people work and have small kids and manage a home either.  I share custody of my two with my ex, and as much as I hate it, it does enable me to focus on getting things done at home and at work when they're with dad and on THEM when they are with me.  

[VelociRapture]

New video on Instagram. Chad playing/training with Puppy Paine. Carson is toddling around the grass like a champ. Special appearance by Erin and Brooklyn too. Believe it's Carlin filming.

I'm a sucker for dogs, so this video kind of touched my withered little black heart. Puppy Paine looks so happy to run around and play.

(Also, I know Puppy Paine is really named Max. I just laugh really hard everytime I call him Max Paine. )

[GreyhoundFan]

It looks like next week's BUB is Brooklyn's birth episode. The preview flashed back to Carson's difficult birth.

[EmmyJay]

On 9/7/2016 at 10:00 AM, wikinggirl said:

Why would you put nail polish on a baby? Whyyyyy?!?!

My mom did it when I was a baby because she was tired of people thinking I was a boy, even in pink and ruffles. Nail polish comes off, it isn't forever anyway. 

[VelociRapture]

6 hours ago, EmmyJay said:

My mom did it when I was a baby because she was tired of people thinking I was a boy, even in pink and ruffles. Nail polish comes off, it isn't forever anyway. 

My mom says it doesn't matter what you do. You can dress your baby in all pink everything, put massive head bows on them, paint their nails, or have a neon sign pointing at the baby proclaiming they're a girl. There will still be people who think the baby is a boy. Mom says it was usually little old men who had the most trouble. She would just smile nicely and either correct them or thank them depending on the day because it wasn't that important to her.

I'm having a girl early next year. I don't think I'll really care if people get confused about what sex she is. I don't intend on dressing her in stereotypically girl colors constantly and I definitely won't be painting her nails - I don't have the patience to paint my own, let alone a tiny baby's. 

If someone is purposely an asshole to my baby, that will be a problem though. Momma Bear is NOT going to play nicely with those people. 

[HereticHick]

^ Isn't the proper response to "Is it a girl or a boy?" going to be "Neither, its a velociraptor?"

[VelociRapture]

1 minute ago, HereticHick said:

^ Isn't the proper response to "Is it a girl or a boy?" going to be "Neither, its a velociraptor?"

Absolutely! 

When we first announced publicly we kept getting asked what we wanted. My response was that we'd be happy with a human, but we were really hoping for a Velociraptor - because built in security system. Most older people didn't get it, which was disappointing. 

[alba]

Absolutely! 
When we first announced publicly we kept getting asked what we wanted. My response was that we'd be happy with a human, but we were really hoping for a Velociraptor - because built in security system. Most older people didn't get it, which was disappointing. 

One of my coworkers, when asked if he and his wife had found out his baby's sex, informed us they neither knew nor cared but he was hoping for a puppy. Unfortunately, a perfectly normal human boy is what he got

[VineHeart137]

23 minutes ago, VelociRapture said:

My mom says it doesn't matter what you do. You can dress your baby in all pink everything, put massive head bows on them, paint their nails, or have a neon sign pointing at the baby proclaiming they're a girl. There will still be people who think the baby is a boy. Mom says it was usually little old men who had the most trouble. She would just smile nicely and either correct them or thank them depending on the day because it wasn't that important to her.

I'm having a girl early next year. I don't think I'll really care if people get confused about what sex she is. I don't intend on dressing her in stereotypically girl colors constantly and I definitely won't be painting her nails - I don't have the patience to paint my own, let alone a tiny baby's. 

If someone is purposely an asshole to my baby, that will be a problem though. Momma Bear is NOT going to play nicely with those people. 

People asking if our daughter was a boy or a girl was a huge pet peeve of my husband's, to the point that if I let her leave the house without a dang bow on her head he would be like "Where's her bow??" Um, she doesn't have one because she's not going to keep it on her head anyway, plus I have a weird fear of her strangling herself with it in the car. I usually just thought it was amusing how unobservant people are. No she doesn't have a bow but her clothes were usually pretty girly. I think the best one was when she had on a pink shirt that said #1 Princess and a lady at the grocery store still asked if she was a boy or a girl. Thankfully we don't really hear it so much anymore (she's 14 months).

The only time it annoyed me was when a stranger was like "Oh she's a girl, you need to pierce her ears so people know she's a girl!" No, I don't need to do anything. It doesn't really matter whether or not strangers know she's a girl. We don't plan to make any alterations to her body until she's old enough to ask for them, that includes putting holes in her ears. Sheesh. ETA: Nothing against people who pierce their kid's ears as a baby, my mom did that with me, the way the comment was made just bothered me and apparently still does lol.

[EmmyJay]

I don't think my mom would have been so bothered by it, except she had some pretty extreme infertility and I'm her only baby.

I hope Erin is okay. I worry since she has a medical issue with such a huge chance of catastrophe.

[SassyPants]

Where my daughter lives in Latin America, all baby girls get their ears pierced in the hospital, right after their first bath. Well, my daughter declined, so of course everyone thought our GD was a boy. Luckily, my daughter is one of those moms who does not give a flying fig. No bows, no pink stuff. Gender neutral playroom- 

Everyone kept asking her why they did not pierce her ears and my daughter what reply, "why does a baby need pierced ears"?

[elliha]

Strange how someone would believe you need to pierce an ear at any age, it is in no way a necessity ever. I have said 6 years of age as the minimum age for my daughter and she thinks I am the strictest mom ever because we live in an immigrant area where many girls get pierced ears as babies or toddlers. Nope, 6 is early enough, I would prefer she waited until she is an adult. And yes, my son can have his pierced at 6 too.

[SassyPants]

3 hours ago, elliha said:

Strange how someone would believe you need to pierce an ear at any age, it is in no way a necessity ever. I have said 6 years of age as the minimum age for my daughter and she thinks I am the strictest mom ever because we live in an immigrant area where many girls get pierced ears as babies or toddlers. Nope, 6 is early enough, I would prefer she waited until she is an adult. And yes, my son can have his pierced at 6 too.

Yay, my daughter is also very practical. I think she was happy to also have one less thing to have to maintain-

Best to wait until the person can maintain them on their own.

[Carm_88]

I was bald for so long that my parents had me in those big ruffly dresses with the flowered patterns. Thing late 80s/early 90s and people would still call me a sweet little boy. It's funny and it happens, I've made the mistake a few times myself and I felt bad. But hey, they're babies they won't know. 

As for skin types, I'm so white that I glow in the dark but yet everyone else in my family tans. 

[twinmama]

On 10/21/2016 at 8:37 AM, VelociRapture said:

My mom says it doesn't matter what you do. You can dress your baby in all pink everything, put massive head bows on them, paint their nails, or have a neon sign pointing at the baby proclaiming they're a girl. There will still be people who think the baby is a boy.

Works both ways! I dress my twins alike sometimes (at 4 years old, it's mainly to avoid fighting over who gets to wear the beloved shirt, both of you do, no fights! but as babies it just seemed like less decision making for me). So one time I was in the store when they were about 1 year old, they were dressed alike in blue. The check out lady started the Twinquisition:

Twins?

Yes.

A boy and a girl?

Two boys!

But that one has curly hair (points at my curly boy).

Still a boy.

He looks like a girl.

Umm? Ok? Can I have my receipt?

10 hours ago, elliha said:

Strange how someone would believe you need to pierce an ear at any age, it is in no way a necessity ever. I have said 6 years of age as the minimum age for my daughter and she thinks I am the strictest mom ever because we live in an immigrant area where many girls get pierced ears as babies or toddlers. Nope, 6 is early enough, I would prefer she waited until she is an adult. And yes, my son can have his pierced at 6 too.

My mom said once I was 16 she would take me to a doctor to have them do it, which I thought was BEYOND ridiculous because everyone I knew got theirs done at the mall. So I never did it, went when I was 17 with a friend to the mall, they asked for ID, so we left because we weren't 18 yet lol. I finally got mine pierced at 25, at a Claire's. Didn't catch any diseases  To be fair to my mom, it was the late 80s/early 90s when I was begging for it and she was probably worried about AIDS because she was uninformed.

[just_ordinary]

I can understand why some people don't seem to get the obvious signs about a baby's sex. It happens to me too:  you get so caught up in the little cute face. The nose, the eyes, it is all so small- I LOVE babies. Everything else just blurres. I could not tell what they wear. On the other hand I don't get annoyed when someone gets it wrong, because I don't care if blue/pink are for boys/girls!

[VelociRapture]

8 hours ago, just_ordinary said:

I can understand why some people don't seem to get the obvious signs about a baby's sex. It happens to me too:  you get so caught up in the little cute face. The nose, the eyes, it is all so small- I LOVE babies. Everything else just blurres. I could not tell what they wear. On the other hand I don't get annoyed when someone gets it wrong, because I don't care if blue/pink are for boys/girls!

True story - baby boys are ADORABLE in pink clothes. At least my 8 month old nephew is. He would look adorable in anything though (said the total unbiased in anyway proud Auntie. )