November 09, new skills are fun - look what I can do now, Mum!

[DontWorryBaby]

New thread for our little handfuls!

ooh thanks DWB!
Glad to hear he is doing macaroni cheese! Haven't had that for years, must do it soon. It may be simple but it is still good.

Thanks DWB! Your naughty DH! Hope you get yourself an early night.

pav good stuff

It's Fruit by the way.. I change my name on the childminder threads and then forget to change it back!

Thanks dwb good title!

{arrrrgh} I just got DS settled. It took me 3 mins. 3 mins. Exactly. Very proud of myself, got a 'hmmm' from DH and then 2 mins later he hollared from the kitchen 'have you put DDs school tights up to dry?' cue crying baby. .

ok, it took another 3 mins for him to settle, lets see if we can keep him settled now...!

Wow, I have missed SO much! Been away for the weekend to Dorset with a host of families for a friends birthday/leaving do - they are moving to NYC, lucky them...poor us!

Pav - hooray for the 3 minutes settle, that is brilliant news and I hope it means that the stressful last few nights have been worth it after all.

Argaghgaghagh! Congratulations skorpion!!!

DWB doghouse is not the word. 5.15 coming in I could just about deal with if it was a big night out but going in to play with Ethan then dumping him once he was ready for some zzzz? Hope there has been serious grovellage going on today...

ah my neck of the woods MsInterpret.

Pav thats really good. Hope Roo sleeps through for you!

sorry forgot to say congratulations to Skorpion!!

ooooo just popping in, and saw Skorpion's news!!! Fantastic - congratulations, how exciting I hope the mw app goes well.

DWB crikey, I am for you - I would have gone mad.

HI to everyone else!

DWB hope your DH did some grovelling, I've been a 5:15 widow in the past and it's not amusing.

Pav great news on the settling and sleeping. You are inspiring me to sort the night feeds out, although I might wait for the latest tooth to come through first. Wimping out ... moi?!

Great thread title btw.

DH wasn't bad at all yesterday so he's forgiven until the next time! Seems to have a blow out once or twice a year, just wish I had advance warning but he always says he won't drink much & won't be late. It's usually the truth...!

As a result, we were pretty well organised with ironing etc and Ethan was snoring by 7pm, the adults by ten which is early for me. Feeling much better this morning.

It's amazing how quickly sleep can improve, it's nice to see more positive sleep news recently. Scarlotti how are you doing, have you had a break yourself - why not book a massage or something? x

Ah, much better mood all round, so nice to see.

DWB thanks for the new thread, lovely title. Your early evening with the nephews and niece sounds very cosy. I am really looking forward to proper conversations with Lucy as well.

Pavlov I am in awe. I have always wipmed out of the cc option and just zombied through. I think you will be an inpiration if it comes to it for us as well.

Thank you again, still doesn't seem real. Well, the feeling sick all the time confirms it, but it is still hard to believe next Christmas will be about two children. (Sorry for mentioning the C word...)

Had a bit of a throwing up episode early Sunday morning. Lucy, that is. Perfectly timed it until I brought her into our bed in the morning. I am hoping it was something she had eaten and not a bug, I am liking this stretch of no calls from nursery.

Hope you all have a great day. Very nice weather in Oxford, hazy sunshine and very cold, all misty and misterious driving in.

Not too much to report from here, saturday was rather bad nausea-wise. I wonder if it is much worse when you can actually think about it. During the week I am busy with Paula but on the weekend I had time to feel really sorry for myself and it was soooo much worse.
Oh, and DH is really disappointed that there are already so many other pregnant ladies on this thread, even much further along than me. Apparently next time, we'll have to be quicker

All in the planning, eh...

Sorry to hear that you're suffering. I am constantly nibbling on oatcakes and rich tea biscuits, any excuse. I don't remember anything shifting the feeling last time, but I was never sick, just feeling it constantly. Hope it gets better soon.

Ooh, a nice new thread, just got to catch up on the old one and then I'll be back!

Hello, caught up, phew!

Massive congrats to Skorpion woo hoo! How exciting, all you pregnant women are making me broody and that is just not on!!

My pregnant friend who was due a week ago has emailed to say that she thinks the baby is back to back and that for the past couple of nights she hasn't been able to sleep as she has been getting contractions every 10 mins, but as soon as she gets up everything stops. Poor love, have tried to reassure her and advise on keeping active, just hope things get going for her soon.

pav glad the word that should not be mentioned is going well Millie slept through until 2.20am and then 5.30am, an improvement but still not great.

I'm down to just breast feeding Millie once in the morning and before bed, is that enough milk at this age? She has yogurt too. Actually, this afternoon I gave her a cup of cows milk to see if she's drink it and she downed the lot! I'm not quite ready to stop breast feeding yet but at least I know that when the time comes, Millie will be happy to have milk from a cup.

In other news I had my hair chemically straightened over the weekend and it has literally changed my life! This morning I washed my hair and left it and by the time I got home from dropping ds to nursery my hair was dry, straight and shiny, woo hoo! No more wangy hair for me!

Helips I would love to do that! Was it expensive and how long does it last? They're supposed to have around 500ml of milk, or equivalent in other dairy, per day. I supplement with lots of cheese and yoghurts during the day as well, which always go down well.

Ursi I laughed out loud at your husband's disappointment! One has already been born remember - Grace09 had a little boy just before her daughter turned 1... I'm not sure if she still lurks on here or not. (Come out, come out, wherever you are!!) I'm definitely looking forward to maternity leave more this time as I think Ethan will be excellent company and keep me smiling.

helips is chemically straightening expensive? have been considering it with mine as it is really frizzy at the moment and straightening it all the time cant be healthy for it.

skorpion, I'm not really suffering, it comes and goes but really only mild if I compare it to others. It felt worse on saturday but I really think half of it was just me feeling sorry for myself.

DWB, yes I remember that and I really hope we won't have to beat Grace09 next time! I wouldn't even have been able to do so this time. My period only came back 9 months or so after giving birth. phew

Helips this is how often I feed Lucy now, too. I give her lots of cows milk on cereal, cheese, yoghurt, etc to supplement. So far she has refused cows milk straight up, bottle or cup. I have recently bought a cute cup with cow hide pattern on it, it's not see through like her other cups, so am hoping she will be OK with drinking milk from that. Must get on with it, actually, as I have a feeling I haven't got long for my milk to last...

ursi loving your DH being disappointed you are sharing the limelight quicker next time?!!! you planning your third already?

So. Last night. 7:15pm - 4:50am. then into bed with us, and milk/sleep with us til 6am not a sound from him. AND. AND. I went to bed at 7:30pm with him. So, I slept from 7:30pm-4:50am. 9 hours and 20 mins. O.M.G. I am not sure what to make of it all. And not convinced it will last.

scarlotti and skorpion. All I can say with the CC, is that I had to be absolutely sure this was the only way. I had reached the absolute end of my tether and could see no way out of this sleep deprivation. The last time we half hearted tried it, I actually struggled not to go in to scoop him up in my arms, and I was so not ready. This time, I spent a lot of time wanting to scream 'shut the f* up!!!' and that indicated a change - I knew then I would be able to persevere for 3/5/7 days, if I had to. I absolutely saw nothing else that would sort this. It was almost like it was not a choice, but the only conceivable option left. And I felt, and still do feel horrible about it. No, not horrible about doing it now, but i recall the utter wretchedness that I felt. So could not go back, as that feeling had to be for something. Not sure if that makes sense. But since that first night on thursday last night when he screamed and cried so loudly his voice was hoarse until today, there has been no more nights like that. So it does appear to work or it could be that we stopped feeding so much like ursi suggested. Or that I leave his door slightly ajar now, or that I changed his bear...

pav I'm so pleased you're getting some more sleep. I could have written your post above. I got to desperation point with C not sleeping. I couldn't continue doing my job if the sleep didn't improve. I looked and felt washed out and couldn't enjoy anything social or felt I wanted to see any of my friends. So CC method was the only other option we had as nothing else worked. C still wakes between 2 and 3.30am for a bf. I don't mind this whilst I'm still bf. He isn't a big eater and I believe his tummy needs something at this time of morning. Depending on the time he may stay in our bed or I put him in the cot. We seem to start our day around 6am. He does go to bed early at around 6pm so not a bad night sleep if I don't go to bed too late.

fruit I am really pleased it is getting better for you too. It is the pits isn't it, to reach a point where we feel we have to do things we would not normally choose? I think I am realising, only just realising the enormity of personality in our children and how they can direct our decisions. We did not need to do this quite so aggressively with DD, so it was to us, a choice, the way we dealt with our DD's sleep issues where calmer, and we felt like we chose how we managed it, and she responded to us. when looking back, it was possibly nothing to do with our style of parenting, but how our DD was, and we responded to her, and this is how our DS is and we have had to respond to him. I have felt so out of control with the sleep this time round.

I suspect this will not be the first eye-opener in terms of different styles of parenting for each child. I always knew it would happen, DH and I talked about how we need to adapt our styles to suit each of our babies, but, talking/theory is not the same as 'doing' .

My experiences with both DS' sleep are very different. DS1 was formula fed and slept through the night around 8-9 months (i think). DS1 wasn't a cuddly type of baby (until he was a toddler!) and liked his space and enjoyed being in his cot. We never had him in our bed. We did a little bit of CC when he was older as he started being more difficult with sleep. Nothing too stressful and DS1 got the message very quickly without many tears. DS2 is bf, very affectionate and he feels like my extra limb, which I love as I'm very affectionate and enjoy all the love he gives me. There will be different styles of parenting with each child but it will happen very naturally.

I'm finding being a second time mum more fulfilling in a way. I love nothing more than to watch my DS' playing on the floor and DS2 kissing and cuddling DS1. DS1 shared his smarties with DS2 this evening. DS2 loved it . I was very proud to see my eldest showing such lovely qualities. Those are moments that will stay with me. Sorry.. proud mum moment

fruit don't apologise, that is lovely! I think your DSs sound like my babies. DD was very happy, and still is, to have her own space, she likes to take herself off for a while to play on her own, has always enjoyed her own company and was settled in her own room by 8 months, and even though she was breastfed she self weaned at 9-10 months of her own doing. We also did some vague attempt at CC, more like pu/pd, when she was about this age, but same as you, nothing too much, she responded well to it, she is a very affectionate girl, but not so much as a baby. Roo is much much more clingy/huggy/kissy and he spends much more time attached to me. And I find it harder to leave him than I did DD as she was fine without me, but he gets very upset.

siblings are wonderful together though aren't they?

Aw, it is so lovely to hear about your DCs together pav and fruit. Almost makes me broody for DC2....but not quite yet. Am enjoying being pregnant vicariously (if that is possible) through DWB, katster, ursi and now skorpion for the moment.

So, so glad you have had a good solid night's sleep Pav and glad that you are able to come to terms with the CC decision you made. Long may it continue. Really interesting hearing you compare the DCs. I love your reflective posts - they're very thought-provoking.

And on that note, I must get to bed too. Rosa has a terrible snotty cold and I was up with her last night several times Poor wee thing and a ratty mummy at work the next day. Fingers crossed for fewer wake-ups tonight...