JulieNG - welcome! The sprities ones sure are fun, but a handful too. I also have a toddler (28 mos this Sunday) and boy do I go nuts some days. Wow - 17 mos apart, eh? And I thought mine were close at 20 mos apart! It's so good now compared to when Brooke was younger (she'll be 8 mos on Sunday). As for naps, it's like learning a magic trick and once you find the right thing, you'll be all set! Lots of trial and error here. Tell me, what's your winddown like? Do you have the room darkened? Paci, lovey, etc? How much A time are you at? Hope I can help!
Sherrylnn - LOL that we were trying to AP while others were trying to avoid AP! Brooke always screamed for the catnap. She would go down for it, but boy was it rough. I finally decided it just wasn't worth it as she would scream and be so annoyed for 20-30 min for just a 20-30 min sleep. And it didn't seem to affect her when I dropped it as I pushed up bedtime. Now she goes to bed at 6:30 (asleep by then I should say). You so reminded me of me posting that Brooke would be up from 2:30/3:00 until bedtime if she didn't catnap and it was far too long at that point, so I just cut out the catnap at 6.5 mos and pushed bedtime. She's so much happier now. She literally asks for bed by starting to fuss at 6:15 and the minute we start putting on jammies she's fine as she knows where she's going. Too cute.
Fiona - OMG - too funny! Kian does sound exactly the same! Thankfully we've found each other here as I thought I'd go mad. Esp. with my mother saying "I've never seen a baby that wouldn't rock to sleep." I was like, well, you have now! And my first fell prety to every AP with no effort. She was AP'd to the max and that must be why I got the complete opposite this time. Even dressing here these days is like climbing Mt. Everest. She literally sits up, tries to crawl away, then stands up using my clothing as her pull up. AHHHHHHH!!!!! If I gave up she'd be crawling/standing around naked! Always changing clothes here too. No official reflux diagnosis, but P had it and I'm sure B does. She's happy, so the paed said not to worry, but I think my new carpet is completely covered in spit up. And the hiccups are just the best. How great that he says "da da da." Brooke has been saying something resembling "ma" and "mmmm" and the "ooooooo" is hilarious. She pretty much copies Paige, so it should be interesting.
As for his sleep...Brooke will be 8 mos on Sunday and is doing 11.5 at night (sometimes 12) and 3ish during the day. She sometimes surprises me with more during the day but not often.
Linds - I too wish I could be more lax in my attitude. On the 6-12mo thread I have said over a million times that I'm going to "go with the flow"...yeah, right. No, seriously, I had a major problem with that earlier, but I have learned that it's just not worth it. If we have a crap nap or a crap day, I just adjust the day and roll with it. Much easier. That said, I am like a nut sticking with the routine though. It's like I savor every little sleep bit they both take (Paige is spirited too, but more angel). When I feel myself getting frustrated I just tell myself that we'll be fine. She's so good at playing now and moving all about so she really entertains herself (or Paige does), so it's a lot better than when I would have to carry her around for the entire day if she got off track.
Brooke is pulling up now. Of course she did it for the first time in the crib. She was awake yesterday morning and cooing and stuff, so I always leave her be (as it's usually earlier than I would prefer). I peeked at the video monitor after a bit as she was starting to sound annoyed and there she was in her Grobag, standing...peering over the side of the crib gumming the crib rail and yelling for her binkies that she had thrown overboard. She did it again at first nap today, so DH dropped the crib down one more level so she can no longer stand over the rail. She's now confined, in jail, going nowhere...phew! I think she'll be the type to try and climb out at 18 mos...please pray for me that she doesn't