Sept '07... I'm forever blowing raspberries and my cheeks ache from smiling so much....

[PurpleLostPrincess]

Here we go! (or should I say here wii go!?). I'll try doing a link too...

Incidentally, I had a dream last night that Cerys suddenly learnt how to blow proper raspberries! Don't know where it came from but it could be that she has been trying since she was about 4 weeks old and did it entirely by accident yesterday!

PLP xxx

[dal21]

hoorah...new thread!

fio - dont think you are disorganised. its easy doing a routine when your world can revolve round one baby....i doubt very much it will be the same if i have no. 2!

[HammerHeadShark]

Oohh - raspberry blowing sounds fun - can Cerys do a masterclass for Millie - her favourite at the moment are face splitting gummy smiles so huge it makes her squeak!

Happy New Year all - will resolve to try and catch up more often on here, probably be as successful as my diet and fitness regime - HAHAHAHAHAHA.

MrsFish - hope you feel better soon and brilliant about the potty training - my DTs are fine in the day now but still need nappies at night definitely.

PLP - glad to hear Cerys is doing so well but sorry you feel on your own at the mo - hope DH settles with his tablets soon and is able to be there for you a bit more. Sorry about your mum's comment too, would have made me feel too - do you think you will say anything?

What is this Wii/Mii stuff you and Kinki are on about - sounds like the sort of game I might want to buy actually

kinki - sounds like your potty training is going fab too, clever DS2! I used to love rounders at school too, wasn't captain though.

Dal- glad you had a great holiday and respect to your amazing routine - am in awe! Am trying to get Millie to have a bedtime routine of sorts but she takes a lot of settling and would prefer to stay up late and play.

Fio - sympathy with the feeding, same here too for feeding during the day loads - the only thing that makes her go a little longer is going out in the pram for LONG walks, but she will not tolerate pram being still for long so cannot go round the block and park her sleeping peacefully in the hall (have tried very hard!) Was tempted to stop BF too as DTs have been quite demanding and stir crazy and Millie very reluctant to take a bottle of EBM despite perseverance, but like you decided to hang on til weaning - am too lazy and slack to be faffing with formula and sterilising. Hope your milk supply settles down again.

Hopey - fab to see you and love the pics of Niamh - she is so gorgeous and looks quite skillful at bowling

Quick poll - do the rest of you with toddlers get charged for pre-school nursery sessions during the holiday? I have just got a bill charging for six mornings each for the DTs when they only attended 2 each so am expected to pay full price for eight sessions in total which they did not go to over Christmas as nursery was shut. Appreciate that staff need holidays too and not their fault I have twins so double cost but would asking for some sort of reduction be cheeky as eight sessions seems like loads to pay for when they couldn't go and we are soo skint?

Have a good one x

[HammerHeadShark]

PS. Have finally put some photos on!

[MrsBumblebee]

Hi all.

PLP, sorry you're having a rough time with DH at the moment. Sounds like Cerys is doing brilliantly, though .

Dal, I'm going to be a SAHM with just one LO. Main reason was that the job I was in wasn't really suitable for combining with motherhood, and I haven't thought of anything else to do yet. Also, DH is a teacher and doesn't really fancy the job of 'primary carer' during the school holidays! For now I'm really happy with the idea of staying at home with Paul, but we'll have to see how long it takes before a) I get bored and/or b) we run out of money. If we have another LO any time soon, I can easily see this turning into a six or seven year career break, which is a very weird thought.

Well, we were on a lovely four hour routine, but Paul has suddenly started refusing food after three or four ounces at quite a lot of his feeds, and then crying for food 2-3 hours later. I really want to resist this, as you can imagine, so I'm trying to persuade (bully ) him back into a four hour routine, but equally I don't want to starve the poor boy. He's not waking at night, though, so I guess he can't be going too hungry. I'm seeing the HV on Tuesday, so I'll see how his weight's doing then. I fear I may just have to accept that he's going back onto three hourly feeds though .

Sorry not to reply to everyone else individually. Must dash, as someone is very overtired and badly needing a nap.

[sophus]

Hi all, haven't posted for ages but have been keeping up with the thread. It's great to see how everyone is getting on and growing up. Raspberries haven't visisted our house yet, but he smiles and laughs out loud a lot.
Linus was ill before christmas with a chest infection then a horrible cold and then i got a cold so we were a bit housebound for a while. Then it was the ILs for xmas which was a bit of a struggle. I missed mum a lot but was able to pretend it was okay whilst we were away then when we got home i got very blue. Spent a couple of days almost in shock at the state of my feelings but have since rallied.
Only consequence of Linus's illness and our time away is a complete mess up of nighttimes. He slept with me when he was ill as couldn't sleep on his back and now he thinks that being snuggled with mum is the way to go. So he goes down fine at 7.30 and then come about 11pm he thinks "aha time to get in with mummy". So just when we were going to move him into his own room i am back to square one again. Oh well.
Anyone else thinking of weaning soon? I am going to wean L at 20 weeks which is 4 1/2 weeks time. He is over 17lbs now, but i want to wait as long as possible as there is a lot of eczema in my family. But he is beginning to get very hungry a lot of the time and draining me dry often at feedings. The HV told me to eat more - huzzah!
HNY to everyone and here's to a whoel year of babies.
S
x

[MrsFish]

MrsBumblebee - Ben has gone back to three hourly feeds since he started sleeping through the night, I think it is their way of getting all their milk in I got him weighed today, 15 pound 15 ounces so thats 9 ouncesz in two weeks so he has slowed down a little on the gaining.

Oh and he did his first almost raspberry this afternoon, so apt title, mind you I have been practising with him

Sophus - I am going to start introducing food at the end of this month, he will be 17 weeks then, he's a big boy so I don;t think it will hurt, besides they used to wean them at 4 months so I don't see the harm

[PurpleLostPrincess]

I weaned DS and DS1 at 4 or 5 months and they were fine - I just waited till the milk simply didn't cut it and they were still very hungry so I'll do the same with Cerys this time. I can't believe she is 4 months already!

Today has been a bit better - DH fed her TWICE and has been making a noticable effort with her so I feel like the pressure is easing. She seems to respond a little better to him now so I have dropped hints that its because they have bonded more today than usual.

Sophus, big hugs to you - I did think of you over Christmas. Thats partly why I have chosen not to say anything to my mum because I know that the year will come when I will miss her (hopefully many years down the line) and I just need to bite my lip. To be fair, she was under a lot of pressure as my auntie and uncle came to stay with my parents over Christmas and she ends up being the interpreter because they are deaf, when she is supposed to be relaxing from working so hard.

Hammer - aren't the big gummy smiles just the best!? So sweet that Millie squeaks too, how adorable! I wish Cerys could repeat her raspberry but there's no sign of it just yet - I'll keep you posted lol! As far as the fees go, it can't help to ask at least, I know I'd ask if I was in that situation.

Well, my big news for today is that Cerys has been awarded middle care rate DLA - not sure if I should say yay or not . They've advised me to apply for carers allowance too so I'll fill out the forms when they arrive. I have to say I'm not sure how to react to this... at the moment I'm not sure if it will effect our other benefits or not (sometimes they give with one hand and take with the other type thing). If it doesn't effect them, I may be in a position where I can stay at home rather than return to work but I suspect that probably won't be the case. I'd love more than anything to not have to go back to work but at the same time I don't want to be seen to be bludging off the state. Saying that, I've paid plenty of taxes all my life; oh its such a quandry!

Oh dear, I've done a mammoth post again - sorry! Hope everybody is doing OK ((hugs))

PLP xxx

[PurpleLostPrincess]

(DS and DD1) sorry!

[kinki]

The advice when to wean when ds1 was a baby was 4 months, and when ds2 was a baby it was 6 months. Tbh, ds2 took to food a lot easier and quicker than ds1 and I put this down to the extra age. With ds1 it was a lot messier and more hard work for me as he was on puree-ed food for longer. Ds2 was more ready for a high chair which made things easier too. Just based on my previous experience I'm going to wait until Liam is about the 6 month mark. I think I'm just lazy - it's far easier to just stick a boob in.

Dal/Fio - routine? What's routine? I've no idea how many times I feed Liam in a day. Maybe 5 or 6, or could it be 4? I've no idea how long he goes between feeds either. Anywhere between 2 and 5 hours probably (though lately more like 5 nanoseconds). The poor little fella just has to fit around the chaos that is common chez maison-kinki. I've no idea how much he weighs either, maybe about 13lbs? Good job he can't use a phone yet, or he'd be on the blower to childline. The poor neglected child.

We've been getting a few raspberries lately. But these are mainly in defiance to the spitty ones that ds2 does to him on a fairly regular basis.

Hammer - the wii is a game console. It's different from the playstation in that a lot of the games are interactive, eg when you play a bowling game, you actually do bowling actions while holding the remote while watching yourself on tv doing exactly what you are doing (iyswim!). The mii is what you look like on the screen. You can make this cartoony character look very much like yourself - or not, whatever you wish. It's all good fun.

Also Hammer, ds2 goes to pre-school, not a private nursery. I only ever get charged for the sessions he is booked to attend. I keep meaning to ask if I'd be charged if he is off sick, not sure about that. But certainly don't get charged for when the pre-school is closed. When ds1 was in a nursery we had to pay for his place all through the year, regardless of whether he was there or not.

Dal/MrsB - I'm a sahm to 3, so I don't really count! Well I say sahm, I work one day a week around dh's hours and dabble a bit with portrait photography too. But essentially I'm on a career break. I did return to work after ds1, but when he was 3.5 I had an extremely strong urge to pack in my job and spend as much time with him as possible before he started school Which is exactly what I did, and I am so glad I did it. I have costed childcare to see how much it would be to look after my 3 now if I were to go back to work, and it comes to about £20,000. Factoring in the taxman I'd have to earn about 30 grand before I made a single penny. Not sure I'd want to do that.

Plp, if you can get dla and carer's allowance and it doesn't affect your income, then get it. It's there to help you help Cerys. You do not sound the sort who 'bludges off the state' at all. My sil and a friend get them both. Not too sure about my sil's finances, but my friend can work up to 16hrs a week before it affects the dla and ca. Other than that I've no idea how it all works. Hopefully you'll get some answers soon, and things work out for you.

[kinki]

Fio, not got a lot on then? What degree are you doing? Are you doing it locally? I was at Christ Church many years ago, (and more recently for a pgc). So are you having to study at the moment or can you take a breather until Sept? Can't remember if your dd is school age or not? I think most kiddies have gone back to school now haven't they? Term time certainly makes a big difference here. I'll shut up now for fear of sounding nosey and/or stalkerish.

[MrsMar]

Hello everyone, I haven't been on for ages, been so busy with family and such like. My mum broke her arm and several ribs in her back the day before christmas so we've had a pretty hectic time, makes us all realise how much she normally does!! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. We're off on our hols for a couple of weeks so just wanted to wish everyone a happy 2008 before we go!!

Take care everyone xxx

[MrsFish]

Sorry to hear about your mum but have a fab holiday

[MrsBumblebee]

Wow, quiet day on the thread. Sorry about your mum, MrsF, but also hope you have a great holiday. Where are you off to?

We're very chuffed today because Paul gave us his first proper laugh last night - a real ha-ha-ha. In case anyone's interested, it was in response to having raspberries blown on his tummy button.

[Chattyhan]

Hello everyone - hope you all had a good christmas and new year? I'm glad to be back home after 2 weeks away and i definately don't want to do it next year! Christmas was great except for my alcoholic depressed dad trying to ruin it for everyone! New Year was less eventfull with PIL but very dull and i've been having awful nights with alex! Things haven't calmed since his growth spurt 3 weeks ago and in the day he's feeding every 2-3 hrs at night it's still every 3 hrs and about 3 am he is wide awake and refusing to go back to sleep! I've tried giving dummy again and again but sometimes have to resort to picking him up as he's disturbing DP. He's only having 3-4 hrs from 7am until 8pm so i don't think thats the prob? Any suggestions much appreciated! It's really annoying as i was hoping to move him to the cot which means he has to go in with DS1 but with him waking so much i'm worried it'll be a nightmare! Just for comparison Alex is 16wks and approx 13lb.

Sorry for the me post have been reading all your posts and thinking of you xx

[kinki]

Hi Chatty, sorry to hear you're having a tiring time. I haven't got any advice, but could maybe offer a little hope ... Liam is a 2-3 weeks older than Alex and it is in the last couple of weeks that he has settled into long sleeps at nights. So maybe sleeping through the night is just round the corner for you. I haven't really done anything different with Liam to get him sleeping through. He has had an extra layer on the last couple of weeks, perhaps that has helped (he has vest, babygrow, cardigan, sleeping bag, thin quilt, room is quite cool, prob 16-18deg). Also he has had a ferocious appetite lately during the day - I feel like I'm feeding non-stop, he also takes ages feeding on the hindmilk particularly in the evening (last feed taking up to an hour). Maybe that is filling him up and helping him going through. I really don't know. Hopefully Alex will sleep through too for you soon.

[sophus]

hi chattyhan, linus is same age as alex and feeding like crazy at the moment. he hasn't had a night feed since about 8 weeks old but for past week has been having one or two a night and taking full feeds.
i'm having an extra meal a day, expressing to boost my milk and giving him a top up of EBM, he's gradually settling again - basically anything it takes to get my sleep back again, plus I don't want to wean yet so want him to feel satisfied by milk for a while yet.

[kyala]

Ooh looky! New thread
On with the show eh?!
Hope everyone has had a lovely time over the holiday, we did and now it's definately time for dtermined potty training for DD1 and onto cloth nappies for Lucy! Should be fun

Having probs at the mo!
Be Back Later if she settles (she's having poop probs and I think it's a continuous battle with her tummy, am trying fennel tea to help re-hydrate her. . . finger's crossed)
xxx

[kelmcd]

Hi all!!
Loving the thread title, so so true!!!
We are getting on not to badly. Arben is now having bottles during the day and breast during the night, it seems to be suiting him much better and a lot less stressful for me and him.
We had a quiet new year but had loads of fun and wine never a good idea with a 4 month old
Arben is also doing lots of good laughs, raspberries on his tummy are always a winner he is becoming so much more interactive now its wonderful

[kelmcd]

is anyone else taking NORIDAY mini pill???
I have not had a period in two months hoping its just the pill but i have also put on weight!??

[kelmcd]

Oh and jut updated pics!

[MrsFish]

kelmcd - How old is Arben now, he looks proper grown up in that football kit