Austere August come join us!!

[takeaway2]

New thread.

What made them refer him to salt?

I asked them to at his 2-year check, 4 months ago (he will be 2.4 this week). He has only about 10 words, none very clear, although a fair few animal/vehicle/general sounds. At that time he didn't seem to understand many instructions & didn't do many actions to songs or pointing etc. He now does point, understands a lot more, does actions to songs, but still not very many words. Just seems behind most other DC his age . He has had a hearing test which showed fluid in the ear which the audiologist thought was impairing his hearing, but they won't do anything about it or even confirm their suspicions on this until he has a second test, which I couldn't get until after the SALT appointment (next week or the week after, I think). Like everything in my life, it's a wait & see situation

confused, I hope you DS's test goes well tomorrow.

Adora, good luck with the viewings. Any idea where you're aiming to live when you get back to the UK?

£1.50 on muffin for DS today. No other spends. Will need to go food shopping tomorrow - we get through an obscene amount of fruit and veg so need to go to the supermarket to re-stock plus there will be other stuff to buy...DS wants noodles!!

They are making you jump through hoops aren't they? He is progressing though from what you say.

Poor little love.

Had NSDs Saturday and today but yesterday wasn't so good. We wanted (and it was wanted rather than needed) a few things so went to shopping centre. Got a new collar for the dog (that actually was a need as his old one stank), toy to hang from handle of cars seat for baby (who was due yesterday but is being lazy!) a GIANT slice of cake, a frozen coffee drink, a safe and floor cleaner from Argos, and coke, caprisun & a Sunday paper from Tesco.

Really the only thing we NEEDED was the dog collar, everything else we could have done without. We have been talking bout getting a safe for ages though so wasn't quite an impulse buy.

NSD! Finally.

Sorry to hear about your DS confused. If its any help at my DD's 2 year check I worried about her non speaking. She'd nod and point but more significantly she was vvvv shy. To the point that I started to think she might be selectively mute.

She's now nearly 3 and she's fine. I don't think she'll be super chatty but she's getting on fine at nursery and when her friends come round to play she's really chatty and really plays with them. I hope they can reassure you some how.

NSD for me too, although have been really struggling with it being the holidays! Am going to try for another tomorrow as we are going to have spendy week next week with uniforms etc......they just won't stop growing

Confused - ds2 was the same at 2, he had about 5 words. In his case, ds1 was talking for him (we think) but now at nearly 9, he never shuts up! Also the problem with fluid in the ME space, is that it can clear up just as quickly as it comes (and is very common in young children), the audiologist wants to see if its persistent or if it goes away on its own hence waiting - they don't want to interfere if there's no need due to anaesthetic risks for grommets (as with all ops & most people choose grommets over hearing aids as a first resort). Fingers crossed the fluid clears up, SALT are not worried and ds starts talking!

Spoke to ds2 re birthday party - he wants to go to swim pool with slides but as I've reminded him, his best friends are not good swimmers (& as i dont swim, DH wouldn't cope with 4 kids on his own). Apparently having friends here is boring....(!) I'll think a bit more... maybe we can do a family day out and then just have his bf's over for pizza & play after school...

Ended up spending today £34 on dog meds... plus dh buying on ebay again... Got to food shop & go to the post office tomorrow... but am hoping nothing else for the rest of the week.

Thanks Rogue, people who came back today really, really, really like it but want too much off the price. Apparently they are going To have a family conference. It's GPs buying with an adult DD living abroad and adult DS who wants DD To move back. Families eh!

confused good luck with the assesment. I really think the only reason mine were moré chatty at that age was because of there being two of them.

Spent £1.30 on bread and £1.90 ish on roads.

Mine keep out growing clothes too, I have tríed To stop them but they assure me it's natural

Thanks everybody for your good luck wishes. The speech assessment went OK, I think the therapist pretty much confirmed what I thought. She said DS has a fairly severe language delay, as well as some delay in play skills (eg in pretend play he will give a pretend cup of tea to a person not a teddy). He will have further sessions in September/October to give a fuller picture as to whether the delays are wider spread. She did say that as he did other things on the late side, it was quite possible that his speech was just following this pattern & could well catch up of its own accord. She also said that he attempts to communicate well & has good eye contact, and that he's made good progress in the last few months, so that's positive. I think I just feel a bit sad, to think that my boy is 'behind'

Anyway, not spent too much today, just £1 on cookies for my grandparents for looking after DS1 & 40p on a Paddington book from the charity shop as that's our current bedtime read.

Will catch up with others later, hope everyone's being frugal!

Confused, these things can be treated. He's still your perfect little baby.

£10 petrol.

£10.50 on three packs of ecloths for the new house. You can never have too many.

Huge spend (£125.00) on food shopping today but that was fruit and veg for the week (and beyond) and some meat and larder goods. Bought some bio washing powder as my washing machine has been very smelly - apparently the liquid, low temp, non-bio stuff that many people use nowadays causes massive build up of mould in the machine!! Yuk.

My dishwasher has gone phfffut . DH trying to fix it but it may be we need to buy a new one .

confused, I am sure your lovely boy is taking things at his own pace and, if he needs help, you are doing the very best thing by getting it addressed now. He sounds like a gorgeous, lively little chap and is, I'm sure, just taking it all in his stride.

You need to do a service wash rogue, hottest cycle run empty with no powder.

It gets all the crap out of the drum, I put detergent straight into the drum so the pipes don't get mucky.

Fluffy, I do that and it has still got quite smelly. I tend to use the tabs that go straight into the drum too. I did some research on t'internet and many appliance engineers say that there has been a significant increase in mould (especially in the funnel that runs from the drawer to the drum) because washing temps are lower and, strangely, the liquid-tabs are causing massive gunking up!! I bought some bio powder anyway and have put a very hot wash (90 deg c) through and the smell has gone. Another tip I read with regard to this is emptying a full bottle of white vinegar into the drum and running a hot wash - apparently that works?

Yes, Fluffy vinegar is a really good cleaning agent - doesn't even have to be clear, I just use malt. You can use it for other household cleaning, too - kettle cleaning, toilet cleaning, window cleaning.

Feeling a bit better now, thank you. Having dinner at home & I have got out dolly & her highchair for dinner - DS is quite happily feeding her, one of the play skills ST said he was lacking. TBH, we'd never tried this specific thing before, as the only dolly we had was DS1's which he guarded with his life, so maybe I just need to play more things like that with him.

Also, on a frugal note, the ST did mention that DS might be able to get some funding for nursery sessions, so that would save some money.

Finally - I have won a competition Don't think I'll be able to use it though. Tickets to a golf tournament in N Ireland (we live in Essex) but travel & accommodation not paid. Still, it's something

Eeew mould.

Least it's gone.

Rogue have you looked at the detergent tray, mine went mouldy on the under side all over the bit, technical term there, the tray goes into. Yuck! Now I always leave the door wide open and take the tray out when not in use, and I put my vinegar in the tray so it goes through the pipes. Don't know if I'm killing my machine doing that but I can't stand the mould

Spent a tenner today getting pizza, salad, bananas, bits and bobs. Don't know if tomorrow will be another NSD as OH hasn't been forthcoming with the cash this week and I'm bloody well not asking him for it. I can feed the DDs and myself if he's "forgotten".

Morning all
Spent £5 on a donation to a gig and £12 for dinner yesterday. Hoping for an NSD today.

Feeling v tired. Partially because I didn't sleep well at all last night. Through coming home late... And worrying about something that's happening at work. It potentially is a good thing for me but still. Worries....

£40 weekly shop yesterday, no other spends. Going to visit my cousin in law and her kids today, should be frugal and fun :)

takeaway that sounds intriguing about work. Hope it turns out well for you.

Adora have you had any news from your viewings yet? What is the housing market like in Chile, is it fairly easy to sell & do people tend to own their own homes?

Low spend day planned today. Staying in this morning then going to the farm later with a friend & her DC. Farm is free to get in & can take own food & drinks, but may have ice cream/cake in cafe as a treat.

£99 on led lightbulbs, 18 of the buggers for the spotlights, 11 are for the kitchen alone. I got a code off hotukdeals, that sites addictive.

At least it won't cost me 550 watts to light one sodding room plus a pendant fitting .

I got a really good tip on the food bit the other day, freeze ziplock bags of soup flat, it takes up less storage space and defrosts quicker too. Genius idea.

£40 for a weekly shops very good exasperated, do you shop in Aldi or Lidl?

Adora - that's it exactly!! The funnelly (tech term!!) bit that takes the water/detergent combo from the drawer to the drum - really disgusting. Bearing in mind that that I put a calgon tab in the first section and fabric conditioner in the middle - the detergent goes in the drum - it is the fabric conditioner that is helping towards the mould build up. Can't get over how many repair people say that the non-bio stuff and liquid is responsible. Yuk, yuk, yuk. Hate the mould, hate it hate it hate it. .

Was on course for a NSD today by DH has just handed me an envelope for the post office (he works from home when in the UK) and has asked me if I would post it for him - does that spend still count? Even though I'm paying can I lay it off on him?????

Fluffy, I bulk buy at Costco (mince etc) and use the ziploc bags to freeze portions - I always squeeze it flat as it does take up much less space and if easier to stack.

Fluffy when are you moving in, or did I miss that?

I also freeze stuff flat means I can cram much more in

Takeaway hope it works out in your favour and you don't have too many sleepless nights.

Confused the economy still seems to be booming ATM but what most don't take into account is the mining industry, which brings the expats who pay huge amounts for houses and pays locals extremely high salaries too, is getting a bit wobbly. More people own now than when we arrived ten years ago. Then the very rich owned everything and no one else owned anything, but a very large middle class has emerged, less people are willing to work in domestic service a pittance, etc.

We haven't heard anything more yet.

It's tipping it down here.

Rogue I think you can sneak that one past, not like you volunteered is it?

We haven't moved yet, I've decided that what we are doing is actually a highly refined form of window shopping were you arrange everything, give notice on the house you currently live in potentially leaving yourself homeless and then NOTHING happens. Nothing, except you put stuff in boxes and hand out cheques to everyone. Luckily dh has paid for it all so far.

And Dh bought me an induction hob which they've fitted so every time I clean the gas hob here I moan under my breath (ok, I whine like fuck) and I'm sick of cleaning that gas hob

So, it's you, me and confused in property hell.

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