@hrh19 , S & DIL’s next baby is going to be another girl. That will be 3 girls for my family. It should be fun for D’s new baby to have a cousin so close in age, although they will live far apart.
^My granddaughter and her cousin are just a few months apart. I think it’s going to be grand them growing up together. They live about an hour apart so could ordinarily see each other fairly often. it’s too bad that just when they’re getting super mobile (16 and 20 months apart), they can’t visit now. Hopefully this summer.
GD will be getting a bed this week. Infant GS, almost 5 mo, needs the crib, therefore the change. They’ve been having alot of trouble with GS not sleeping well at night, which is really difficult for DIL who starts WFH at 6am. I would’ve suggested the move myself, but I wouldn’t do that. Glad their pediatrician recommended it.
They’re also planning to get into toilet training in earnest with GD. She’ll only get on the potty infrequently now, even though she’s very aware of when she poops and sometimes pees. Maybe they’re trying too many new changes at once, but my lips are sealed. Their child, their choice.
D and my niece are three days apart - they live(d) only three hours apart, so saw each other several times a year. They are still close.
GD is currently exploring and playing with all of GS’s toys while he is outside playing with H. GD is in heaven because GS isn’t taking things away. ?
My youngest is only 17 mos older than our oldest granddaughter. (They are 10 and almost 9) They are best friends. It is the most precious thing in the world. We moved this summer to be near ds and his family, so we are less than 2 miles apart. The 2 of them are suffering major withdrawal from each other bc gd practically lived here and they haven’t gotten to be together since quarantine began. Our dd is struggling without any younger kids to play with. (Our ds has 4 kids, so gd has 2 younger brothers (almost 8 and almost 6) and a baby sister (18 mos) to play with.)
How is everyone handling being away from the grandkids? I so want to see the girls; luckily both my son and daughter FaceTime with us almost daily and send tons of pictures and videos. My daughter lives just shy of 1000 miles away and is struggling a bit with work from home with a 10 month old that has learned to crawl, pull up and stand, and thinking about cruising! I offer everyday to drive there a be the baby sitter while she and her husband work. I am furloughed from work, so would be perfect for me! While my daughter would love the help, we all know that if I drove there, I could not guarantee I won’t pick up the virus on the way. Anyone have a private airplane I can borrow 
Being away is so tough. We’ve become lunch buddies with 2.5yo GD once or twice a week - on videochat, that is. It’s one way to guarantee she stays in front of the camera. She’s a riot - talking all the time, making up stories and songs. Those lunches brighten our day. We also get to see her 5mo brother, who keeps changing all the time. S and DIL post new photos/vidoes on a daily basis to the family album, but it certainly doesn’t substitute for being there.
S and DIL are worn out. DIL starts WFH at 6am and works til GD goes down for her nap after lunch.She also takes breaks to nurse the baby. S is with the kids while she works and starts his workday when she takes over the kids and often he does WFH til 9pm, with a break for dinner. We wish there was something we could do to ease their burden/stress.
I really miss my eighteen month old granddaughter. I had been babysitting for her two full days a weeks until seven weeks ago. We have been doing Zoom calls with them and it’s great to see her (and her parents, of course)but it’s still sad. We’re in Massachusetts and I have some underlying conditions so we’re not going to let up until it’s safe.
My D and SIL announced this week that they had done a huge shopping trip and got all the possible errands done, specifically so they could go into total quarantine mode, so that in two weeks, we can hug our granddaughter.
I was in tears on the phone when D told me. 
So, no one sings baby shark to GD age 7 mo. Last seen IRL March 7. FaceTiming today and I started singing it (as I did a lot this winter). She gave full attention and was staring at their their phone through the whole song. It was obvious she recognized it!
Yes, I miss her.
@rockymtnhigh2 Do you change the words like my husband does? He sings it with both our grandparent names instead of grandma and grandpa shark!
No , just grandma/ grandpa. Guess I could use both sets of grandparents names.
HUGS to all of you missing your time with your grandchildren. ? ?
I think I’ve said before that D and SIL are physicians and are working quite a bit right now. I worry a lot, but I am also very proud of them. I continue to care for their children. I have been their only caregiver. We are all very careful - cleaning surfaces, no adult hugs ?, hand washing/sanitizing, etc. They shower and change clothes before joining the family.
Today I participated in a ZOOM ‘distance learning’ with GS. What could go wrong with four teachers and twelve three-year-olds?! We had a greeting, show and tell, sang several songs, listened to a story, and said good-bye. It was fun. GS would rather be playing outside, but a little bowl of Nilla Wafers kept him near the computer. ?
GD will be ONE in a few weeks! Time flies. She is cruising and walking when she has something to push, like a little stool or a push toy. She is such a happy baby! She was difficult when I first started caring for her and refused bottles most of the time. Thankfully, she is much easier now!
Baby Shark! D made up her own version and recorded it so I could play it for GD when D was away at work. It really helped when I struggled to calm GD!
My 19 month old GD learned weeks ago how to unzip her sleep sack. Not a problem unless one realizes she can how remove her diaper while in bed! Luckily the parents have only had to deal with one wet bed; those video monitors sure are helpful.
So this week GD learned about pockets and would like to take and put things into/out of her dad’s pockets. During nap today, she unzipped her sleep sack, took it off, and made a pocket for her stuffed animal; or at least that is the story from her mom. The picture of the monitor is sweet.
Last week my 2.5yo GD locked herself in her room during naptime. She’s been in a bed for a few weeks, wasn’t going to sleep, played around with the door lock and was stuck. I don’t know what’s with their door handles, but S said they have keys from the previous owners to unlock room doors (sounds strange to me), but didn’t have the key for GD’s room. After 3 hours of trying to get the door open, they called someone. GD’s out and now she can’t lock the door again.
When my kids were little, we had door knobs you could poke an opened paper clip into to unlock a door. I remember having to do that for GD’s dad and her uncle.
@shellfell we have doors in our house like that (use a little screw driver poked in the hole to unlock the door) - I wish I had done that when I allowed my then 3 and 5 year olds to watch a show in the master bedroom (I had not child proofed the bathroom cabinet). DD1 decided they would ‘clean’ the carpet - it would have been fine if they picked up the window cleaner, but no, the bleach spray bottle. $1000 Insurance deductible and 3 year premium penalty on homeowners to replace the carpet (that room’s carpeting was $5500 at the time). Lesson: do not trust kids. DDs are 24 and 26 now. My mom would always side with my H on things, but her home was her castle. H was talking about living with the carpet stain. Mom agreed with me to have it replaced.
The GKids are a real joy, and even with 3 adults we all get exhausted. The 10 month old is teething, so has needed a few doses of Ibuprofen. A few nights he has had a lot of energy right when we all needed sleep, so I took him for most of the night. The next day I was dragging. SIL was working at the office later last evening, so I was putting 2 year old to bed (which normally is very drawn out with SIL reading book after storybook, over and over until she falls asleep with him rocking her). The night before, he spent 10:30 pm to 11:45 pm with this ‘ritual’. Last night I took the 2 YO into her bedroom at 10 pm and laid next to her on the twin bed. She had a 20 minute tantrum - screaming and crying like being tortured, then fell asleep w/o pacifier in her mouth. I put the pacifier in place and she had a great night of sleep. 10 month old was still awake and DD was exhausted, so I rocked him and he was asleep in 10 minutes. DD was asleep when I laid him in the pack N play next to her bed. I had one of the best night sleeps last night with a calm evening and all tucked in bed by 11 pm.
We have had pretty good routines during the day. I certainly have gotten to know SIL much better. It kind of amazed me that SIL would make suggestions to DD’s cooking while she is making the meal, but he has no cooking skills! I suggested he finish cooking the meal and he admitted that if he cooked it, it probably would not be tasty. I have learned how to make suggestions to SIL and when to make them - and he does see how things are going well.
I think our state won’t open up for next week, so home with H over the weekend and back again. I imagine the 2 year old may remember some of our time together or stay familiar with me. 10 month old looks intently at the person holding him and his look is of such trust. SIL will find out sometime soon about his June Army Reserves drill.
@SOSConcern - The good thing is that you get to spend so much time with your grandkids. The bad thing is that you are spending so much time with your grandkids that you’re exhausted. You have to do daily routines with the kids, not just fun grandma stuff. I envy the time you get to spend with those young 'uns, but, for your sake, hope you get to be just grandma soon.
We have a new granddaughter born this morning at 5:03 a.m. Mom and babe are doing great and Dad is over the moon. This is our youngest son and his wife. First child for them, third grandchild for us. I am so happy. She is precious. [pictures]
Congratulations @VaBluebird!
@VaBluebird, congratulations!