Die Kaffeestube - German and Austrian cyber Kaffee und Kuchen

[admylin]

Kaffeeklatsch for anyone in a German speaking country or interested in German, Kommt herein und setz euch!

Hello!

We didn't get scooters til the older 2 were 3 and 5 I think, so never looked at ones with more than 2 wheels - we just have relatively cheap ones, one was one of the offer items they sometimes have at KiK, the other was on clearance from a toy shop - each was about ?20 but they do the job - the kids only scoot to friends houses within the village, they use their bikes more, and always if the distance is more than about 500 meters. DD also uses her in-line skates more than the scooter. Some of the kids around here have enormous ones that are big enough for adults to ride, but those are ?60 + so birthday present type items, and we just bought the scooters "casually" if that makes sense. I haven't actually seen kids around here with the 3 or 4 wheel types come to think of it, but I think that's because under 3s tend to be on balance bikes or bobby cars/ pedal tractors or sometimes the tiny ones on trikes with parent handles.

Had DD's first "proper" parents eve on Thursday - the kind where you actually get feed back on your own child rather than the kind where all the parents sit together and listen to the teacher waffle on about dull trivia, weird demands and pedantic admin - apparently dd is "schlampig" - shock horror! Actually it is true, and DH says she gets it from me! (Also shock horror but probably true...) Apart from that she is doing well though - her reading and writing is well above average and her spelling and "free writing" particularly good (although of course her hand writing is messy) but her maths is only OK - not a worry though it seems, and the teacher puts the fact she does not always grasp what to do in maths down to the fact she is "very young" - she said only 6 of the class of 23 have not yet turned 7, and dd is only just 6 and a half.

Tried to night wean DS2 last night but it was not a success - DH went to him (he never gets up in the night with him so Henry was shocked and unimpressed) but after Henry alternating howling at the top of his lungs and sobbing and gasping for half an hour DH shouted at him, and I took over and resisted feeding him for a further half an hour, but gave in and fed him around 1am, by which time he was so worked up it took a solid hour of feeding to get him to sleep. Weirdly though he did only wake for one more feed after that, where most nights he wakes 5 or more times for a feed, so I have no idea what to make of that - progress or just exhaustion? Feeding 5 times a night really is unsustainable for much longer with a 4 and a 6 year old who are only out in the mornings though, and tbh I am heartily sick of BFing but feel I have no choice as he won't take a bottle nor anything but water from a cup - feel like Henry only sees my breasts when he sees me! Silken how did you go about it when you night weaned? You mentioned it in passing in a post to Gator about moving dd out of your room I think.

DS1 had his swim course today - seems to be going OK though today he was reluctant to go for the first time since week 1, but for no clear reason - seems to have wiped him out though as he is asleep on the sofa now!

It was beautiful sunshine here this morning, but I jinxed it by hanging out 2 loads of laundry before I left to take DS1 to his lesson, as it has clouded over and gone cold and uninviting now :(

Hope you are all having good weekends and more sunshine!

You've all inspired me to go FB hunting and my brain is now melting.
I blame you, Linzer. Far too complicated for a Saturday night. :)

Sorry, Gator! At least you have wine... I'm working again this evening so can't allow myself any yet.

Thatis Good luck with the night weaning - five times a night would be absolutely exhausting even if you didn't have any other children to look after. I went through it with DD1 for about three months and even that was bad enough.

I did some Fb stalking, but nothing exciting came up.

I looked up schlampig, Thatis! I hope they meant scruffy rather than slutty!

Have just ordered DS a scooter! I am very very excited, he is going to absolutely love it! Hope there are decent areas close to our new home for him to ride about on - some ramps would be good too! Got him a really funky helmet too. :)

DH's work have emailed photos of our apartment. I guess I should manage my expectations better! The kitchen is so under equipped, I can't imagine anyone cooking anything other than Pot Noodles there. It is more a kitchenette than a kitchen, and more ette than kitchen, at that! DH is going to ask if they have anything else, though it's so close to us leaving, I am not holding out much hope. I think we may live as raw vegans if not. Oh well, always meant to try that for a while!

Not got a date to fly yet, am thinking Thursday or Friday. Have pretty much packed, there's a van coming early in the week to take most of it, then we are set!

That's come round quickly, NoHun - for some reason I thought it was another few weeks before you were off. Very exciting, anyway!

Btw have only ever heard schlampig used here to mean messy - DH is constantly saying it about DD1's school work, the way she puts everything in her school bag, etc.

Have had a lovely afternoon with friends, with Kaffee und Kuchen followed by a walk up to the local Ruine ("local ruins" sounds a bit strange, or maybe it's just me). Am now preparing next week's English lessons so that I can get on with my "proper" work tomorrow morning.

Very fast! Well, we are pretty ready, so Frankfurt here we come!

Schlampig can be my word of the day! :) Really hope the language sinks in!

Is it really this week, Nohun? Wow, that really has come around quickly.

I don't know Frankfurt all that well but would be happy to come and explore with you at some point if you fancy some company. Otherwise if you would like a guided tour of Wiesbaden do let me know :)

It might be a bit far for you but there is a lovely English-speaking playgroup here that I've been taking DS too. It won't help your German but might be a way to get to know a few people. I think Frankfurt has a massive expat community too so I'm sure there will be even more on offer there.

Linzer The Kaffee & Kuchen sounds like a nice early reward for a busy day of work today!

DH's friend called last night to say that he and his wife are expecting a baby boy in July, which is lovely news. We're off to see then for a bbq on Easter Saturday - I'm really excited already. We haven't seen them since before I was pregnant with DS.

Gorgeous weather here again today. Think a trip to see the ducks (and to get some sun on my pasty legs) is in order!

Morning! Gorgeous weather here too - long may it continue.

Wow nohun - thats come round fast. Good luck for this week and try not to get too stressed (easier said than done!).

thatis - i'm sure she's only a bit messy with her writing because she's one of the youngest. Its bound to improve as the year goes on.

linzer - glad you had a good day out.

gator - should we warn the locals that you're getting your pasty british legs out??

I'm drowning in washing this morning. The washing machine was on nearly every day last week but somehow there's still 2 or 3 loads to go on today. 3 dc wear a lot of clothes! Roll on summer.

Ha ha Ploom, that's not a bad idea. Esp as our park is usually full of yummy mummies (whereas I am definitely in the schlampig category!)
There's a reason DH's auntie calls me Käsebeine.....

ploom same here, just got the basket empty and washing all dried and ironed by the weekend and the basket is over flowing again today!

Lovely weather in Hanover too and the first day of the 2 and half week easter holiday. One child is still in bed being a teenager and the other is getting excited about going into the city for the 1st time just with her friends - and looking forward to shopping!

NoHun good luck with th emove, and hope the kitchenette isn't too bad - iof it's any help for 3 years we lived in a student family flat with 2 electric hobs and a tiny fridge when the dc were toddlers and even managed to cook for 20 people when we had a party! It all takes a little longer and alot more planning!

Gator enjoy the sun on those legs! I've been sunbathing all weekend but it has only brought me more freckles although if I keep going they'll eventually join up on my arms and I'll look as if I'm brown atlast!

Linzer Sundays are just made for walks to Ruinen and such like! Lucky you that you can get the family to go with you. Mine won't budge and I don't enjoy solitary walks, think I need a dog.

thatis good luck with the night weaning. I know I managed it by making a big thick milk rice bottle for the bed time feed that sort of filled them up so much that they slept through but then again my 2 were such good sleepers. I don't know how you manage. Could you get a week Kur break from the doctor? A friend of mine got one every year as she was exhausted. I think your doctor has to see how exhausted you are and you have to ask for it.

Well, better get myself to the Baumarkt, the guest toilet cistern needs a new washer to stop it running.

Morning! Thank you all for your input about scooters. I still haven't decided whether to nudge the GP about getting one as a birthday present, but have convinced PIL to go with play fruit as an Easter present instead (they've bought an enormous play kitchen for her birthday - DH is not amused ).

nohun wow, moving this week! Good luck with everything and don't worry too much about the language - you'll pick it up over time.

A teacher once told me the way I'd just played a piece was "schlampig". He then quickly added, "you've been here long enough to know what that means, haven't you?" Actually I knew the word "Schlampe", meaning slut, and hadn't come across "schlampig" before, so was slightly confused...

Thatis Do you really want to hear this?
The answer for us was to get DD to fall back asleep at the first night waking without feeding (to break the need to feed to fall asleep habit). The first night she woke at 11:30-12ish and finally went back in her cot asleep at 3am . She then slept until 6am, by which time I was desperate to feed! The next night she woke at 1am and needed 1.5-2 hrs to go back to sleep; woke at 5ish, so I fed then. Next nights she woke progressively later and went back to sleep quicker and was sleeping from 7-7.30pm to 5am by night 5 .

My mum pushed us into doing this and took over during those five nights (slept on the sofa outside DD's room). I don't know if I would have had the will power to do it myself, since I was so sleep-deprived (I probably could have done it if I'd known in advance how quickly it would work!)

DD didn't have to cry much. Mum held her and jiggled her and sang so she didn't cry (I had noticed before that she was happy when held upright - not so if I tried to lie in our bed with her without feeding.) Whenever Mum thought she had fallen asleep, she tried to put her in the cot, at which point DD would cry again and Mum would pick her up again. So I don't think it was cruel in any way, but it definitely required a determination to see it through that I didn't quite acknowledge the need for at the time.

Glad you are all having such lovely weather over there! Enjoy the Easter holidays! We have a week off for Spring Break and dh has Friday off but we still haven't decided whether to go to the coast whale watching or do some skiing here! I went skiing with a friend who is more my level yesterday and it was much more fun.

I can't believe you are moving this week nohun! I hope it all goes smoothly for you and you settle in really quickly. One tip re the language (as a German teacher) is to watch films in German that you have seen several times in English, watch game shows like Family Fortunes (Familienduell) as they repeat questions quite slowly. Does MDR still have Je t'aime - wer mit wem? When I lived there it was a dating show and people would make little videos talking about themselves (quite slowly) in order to attract dates. I don't know if these shows are still on but I think they are useful for beginners.

I think I was lucky night weaning S. I just picked him up when he woke up but didn't feed him and after 20 mins he'd be asleep again, as he wasn't hungry. It was just habit. After a week he didn't bother waking up. He's waking up a bit more now as my milk is drying up but I feed him and then give him a bottle of cow's milk. I couldn't cope with 5 times a night, I don't think. I hope you have more success v soon, thatis.

Thanks all for the good luck wishes.

I am already a bit stressed. Just seems like so much to do. Have gotten rid of the furniture we were getting rid of, and the fridge freezer goes tomorrow, so will have a couple of days without a fridge. Need to sell the car still, a friend sounded keen, but decided today she wouldn't take it, oh well.

admylin, well done on catering for so many with so little to cook on! I know I will manage, I just feel like we could have better, for the money they are spending.

Gator, what a lovely offer! I will probably take you up on that once I have settled in a bit and have a vague idea where I am! Thank you!

Thanks for the tip, tadj! We have lined up quite a bit of German tv to watch, quite a few aimed at toddlers, so this should suit me! And the books I ordered arrived today - German versions of The Gruffalo, The Bedtime Bear, Ticklemonster, Guess How Much I Love You, and a few others. I love children's books!

Morning!
nohun - we didnt manage to sell our car before we moved so had to bring it with us. Wouldnt recommend this - we had to pay a lot of money to get the lights altered for right side driving & people stare at me like i'm an alien. And the car is now unsellable so we'll have to keep it till it dies.

admylin - did you get control of your washing? I had to use the tumble dryer in the end to get the towels & bedding out the way. Felt bad since the weather was so nice but the outside dryer was already full.

jenny - glad you enjoyed the skiing. Seems so springlike here that skiing is a distant memory.

Off to have a dodgy looking freckle removed this morning - hope the local anaesthetic does a good job. Feeling v nervous already.

Morning all,

Hope the freckle removal goes OK, Ploom. I had a dodgy mole removed last year and it was fine - I could feel the stitching a bit, but it wasn't painful.

NoHun Children's TV is always good for both adult learners and children! I also learned quite a lot (slang, the everyday speech that you don't get taught in German lessons, etc.) from watching rather too much daytime TV before I found a job, although it sucks the life out of you a bit...

When is spring break Jenny - is it at the same time as Easter?

silken I find it quite worrying that I also knew the word Schlampe well before I learned the word schlampig.

I found that the night waking sorted itself out automatically with DD1 as soon as I'd sorted out her daytime sleep. I did CC with her out of sheer desperation as there are only a certain number of months that you can survive on a max. of two hours of sleep at a time but, although she did cry when I put her to bed in the evenings, she would go back to sleep straight away after I'd fed her in the night (only after I'd started CC at naptimes and bedtimes, though). Can understand it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it only took a couple of days and helped restore my sanity.

Gator Great news about your friends. All our friends seem to have abgeschlossen their Familienplanung now - I would love a tiny baby to coo over.

admylin That's a long Easter holiday - we only get just over a week here (next week plus Easter Monday and Tuesday). I'd far rather have a couple of weeks off at Easter and Christmas and a shorter summer holiday, as it's just far too long here.

We were advised against putting rice in bottles (think that was in the USA) but as none of them would take a bottle it wasn't an option anyway. I was hoping that they would miraculously start sleeping through the night as soon as I introduced solids, but sadly they all had other ideas.

It's been much chillier here this morning. We all cycled/scooted to school and KiGa yesterday and it was fine, but I had to come back this morning for gloves for DD2 and DS; DS was crying as his hands were so cold. As a result, I only just managed to get DD2 to school on time. DD1 went off on her own, taking a shorter route (i.e. not via the KiGa), so would have got there in plenty of time. Fortunately she prefers going on her scooter to school rather than her bike, as it means she can come home on her own after school. She's not allowed to ride her bike on her own until after she's taken her cycling proficiency test, which is in a couple of weeks' time.

Morning all!

Just been trying to catch up on all the news. I´ve not been on much because I´ve been visiting kitchen showrooms and confusing myself about what we want/need - I wish there wasn´t so much choice, it would be much easier.

Ploom - I had a mole removed a few years ago and didn´t feel a thing - well apart from the injection of local anesthetic and even that wasn´t really painful. I´m covered in moles and did get sunburnt quite often as a child, so am always really vigilant about looking for changes to existing moles.

Nohun Good luck with the move. I know you say you are really stressed, but you always come across as really relaxed in your posts.

jenny I´m sure you´ll have a great time whatever you decide to do. We´re off skiing on Saturday, but it feels really wrong because it´s been about 20C for the last few days. Apparently there is still snow, but if it stays this warm I think we´ll be hiking rather than skiing.

Thatis I hope you sort out the night weaning soon. I can´t imagine how you´re surviving on so little sleep.

Hope everyone else is well and making the most of the gorgeous weather.

Morning!

I read and started typing yesterday but got interrupted. Actually now I've started typing Henry is restless again, argh...

No Hun when we moved we had 2 weeks from accepting the offer to DH starting the job (it was an internal transfer and they needed someone in post asap aftzer firing his predecessor!). After he left I stayed in the UK on an extra week to finish up selling the house, packing everything, freecycling a lot of stuff (even bay trees in pots and a rabbit hutch lol), winding up my childminding business, and selling the car - then DH and his dad drove back over with a hired lorry to put everything I'd packed plus furniture in, and drove right back (then they both slept for 24 hours straight). I took the car to a car supermarket place near Heathrow and sold it, then dd and I got a taxi from there to the airport to fly to Munich!

The company that bought our car were: webuyanycar.com - sounds dodgy but was fine - obviously got less for it than we would have if we'd sold privately but they stuck to what they offered us in our online quote, and as our move was permanent bringing the car with us made no sense. The actual dealership I went to to hand it over and pick up my cash was carcraft in Chertsey.

Silken and Jenny why is my baby the one who howls as if I'm murdering him and head buts me repeatedly in fury if I try to cuddle him back to sleep at night instead of feeding him then? When DH tried it he alternated 10 minutes of howling with 5 minutes of gasping sobs, and repeat... I took it into my head to offer him a bottle of cows milk 2 evenings ago, and despite having been a staunch bottle refuser since I first offered bottles at 6 months, he drank it! He then slept through til 2am, and breast fed at 2am, 4am and 5am, which is a fantastic night for him and I had great hopes, but last night he drank the milk again but still woke at midnight, and then hourly or more, I lost count, so not sure what to make of that but will carry on with the bottles for a week or so and see what the average is...

admylin I wondered about the kur thing after I read your post yesterday, but I never go to the doc myself - there's no point going in a whining that I'm tired or have a sore throat (as I do a lot of the time) as there's nothing he can do, and I'd be sitting about in the doc's waiting room with bored children for no reason half the time, so he'd have nothing on record to back up my claim that I needed it due to long term exhaustion or whatever. Another mum in the village had a kur when her youngest was about 9 or 10 months because she was "run down" but I guess she was similar, but went to the doc every couple of weeks and was always wrapping scarves around her neck and having her MIL take the older one to KiGa so she could sleep in after bad nights - it's fair enough if you have that support but it also gives you evidence - if you're on your own you just plod through and have nothing on record lol. Anyway I don't know how me being away a week would work - I'd take DS2 with me so still wouldn't get any sleep, I believe they make you put the child/ren in a Kita during the day, and I've never left him with anyone but DH and it would seem cruel to "settle him in" somewhere he would only go to for a week, too traumatic, and DS1 would be an issue too - I believe I could take him as he is under 5, but he would also hate going to a new KiGa where he knew nobody for a week and would kick off if I tried dropping him off - so leaving him at home would work better, as with dd at school somebody would have to take my place at home - I imagine DH would not want to take the week off work but would want his parents to move in for the week, which the kids would like, and MIL might even clean the house, which sorely needs it, but it would be like printing a licence for MIL to lecture me for hours and hours every time she saw me for the rest of her life, in the guise of "Tips", on how I should be managing my household/ life/ cleaning/ children and I don't think I could stand it - smile and nod doesn't cut it as she interprets anything less than "Yes oh wise one, teach me the ways of the great wise cleaning women, that I may be like you" as not understanding her and requiring a translator, and I'd end up murdering her and spending the rest of my life having a kur in a German prison! :)

So I guess I won't ask the doc for a kur :o

Ooops am I rambling? Henry is awake anyway - sorry I have not done proper answering of things!

Ha ha ha Thatis! I laughed out loud at your Kur thought process :)

:) @ the kur break! :) Hope you manage to relax and recuperate, Thatis. I really hope your DS is ok. This too will pass, this too will pass!

Ploom, definitely don't want to bring the car. If we don't sell it before we leave, I guess we are ok to leave it here, we'll probably be back in a couple of months to get the ball rolling with the house renovations (long boring story but we can't start yet as we are waiting on next door getting planning permission, which affects what we want to do, so can't start ours til we know what they are getting). So DH or all of us will be back anyway. But ideally, we'll sell the car now. DH looked at webuyanycar.com, haven't decided what to do. Would be a few hundred pound down. Chertsey isn't too far from here. It's where I was born too!

hupa, good to see you! Happy kitchen shopping!

Linzer, sounds like a good excuse to watch daytime tv! I wonder if there is a Jeremy Kyle equivalent! :)

Thatis I'm not sure you would need evidence to get a Mutter-Kind-Kur, going by what friends have said and the poster in the Familienzentrum which says "feeling overwhelmed? you are entitled to a MKK!"

It sounds like a real nightmare with your ds2 at night. He's obviously very active during the day, so he must be tired. Does he eat well? It's very easy for me to blithely type advice, so just ignore the following if you want:

He's probably not hungry, or at least could learn not to need milk at night. I would aim to get him back to sleep at the midnight (first) waking without bm, cow's milk or even water.

Personally, I beleve that letting a child cry in anger or frustration at being denied what it wants in the presence of a comforting parent is not cruel - even Dr Sears agrees . It possibly depends more on you, though. If you are thinking, this is cruel, then fine, you know your own child best. If you are thinking, this is going to keep DH awake/wake the other dc, or I can't stand this, if I feed him I can go back to bed, then it's probably (imho) worth trying.

The only other options I can think of are drastic measures like walking round the block with your ds in a sling or buggy, or go for a midnight drive. I know I wouldn't have been able to transfer DD asleep to her cot at that age, though.

That's just my take on the situation, please ignore it if you like. I've just written it down because I needed that kick up the backside myself (from my mum) to change things. I really hope that things get better for you very soon.

Silken sounds like your mum was a real help. Does she visit often?

NoHun hope you get the car sorted. You sound so calm and organised! Maybe you are an organised type and you can give me some tips?! I usually have a breakdown every time we move! Dh has 2 job applications running in Scotland and I'd quite like to live there so if it worked out I would be very calm and happy to move I think!

Hupa sounds like stress, I hate it when there is too much choice and there definately is too much choice for kitchens! Did you manage to get an idea what you'd like?

thatis I think you would take all your dc on a MKK! My friend went for 3 weeks a few times and they even do school for the older ones and they do activities together with the smaller ones and the mum, then when/if the dc get used to being in the play room with the Erzieherin you get to go for massage or whatever to relax. They don't force you to separate from your dc though. I'm not sure how you go about proving your exhausted but I'd think a good doctor would be able to see the obvious.

I had a home help prescribed when dd was born as I had bronchitis and it wouldn't clear up as I was just not getting any rest. I had a helper from 8am to 4pm, she cooked, cleaned and went to playgroup with ds and picked dd up when she cried, changed her and brought her to me to be fed so I could recover.

Ploom how did it go? Dd has a asked to get her mole on her chin taken off but I'm not sure about there being a scar. Should get it looked at - where did you go first to get yours sorted?

Linzer your summer holiday is really too long isn't it? Atleast you get to go on holiday and back to UK with time inbetween too. No idea about the rice in bottles, it was available in Rossmann in the baby section so I tried it as ds was always hungry. Some sort of rice flour with mil formula I think.

My niece just had a baby boy in London. Dh is going to se ethem in April for a few days. I've already bought the cutest little socks and an outfit and dd chose a toy like this <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.de/imgres?um=1&hl=de&sa=N&biw=1024&bih=606&tbm=isch&tbnid=DQaG7_urAHRxNM:&imgrefurl=www.nunon.de/babylove-schmusetuch-mit-softbeisser-schaf-paul-p-2171.html&docid=LRK9ZS4Edp7J7M&imgurl=www.nunon.de/images/produkt_fehn_schmusetuch_154436.jpg&w=303&h=400&ei=_KNxT4brCsLdsgb5qIiYDg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=95&vpy=224&dur=23&hovh=258&hovw=195&tx=85&ty=173&sig=112655793405662212761&page=1&tbnh=139&tbnw=105&start=0&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">in blue as she always wanted one as a baby (so she says!)

Just a quickie - it went fine. You were all right - the local anaesthetic injection was the worst bit - wow it really stings. I was lying down so I thankfully couldnt see what he was doing but he said it needed 4 stitches. Seems excessive since it was only a big freckle. But need to go back tomo for a wound check (money spinner more like!) then stitches out next week.
Only went to my hausarzt admylin but I would take your dd to a proper hautarzt if its on her face. Will tell you how this scars in a few weeks.

ploom glad it wasn't too terrible. I found having the cannula put in the back of my hand the worst part of my caesarian, so can really relate to the local anaesthetic being the most unpleasant bit.

A weird thing just happened: I stopped outside DD's kiga behind another mum's car and noticed a sticker in the window from a car dealership in Winchester. I then saw it was RH-drive! Of course I nosily asked the woman about it and apparently she had lived in the UK for a while.

Glad it went well, Ploom.

admylin, I am very organised, but when I am reliant on other people or things, and they don't run well, I do get stressed and frustrated. Just seen the neighbour whose planning permission we are waiting on, and he's told me there is a three month delay now! We need to wait on his permission being granted before we can do our loft conversion, because if he gets it, it means a higher wall which would be good for us. Real bummer, means we can't get cracking, and can't rent this place out. Means quite a loss of money for us, every month that goes by that this place is not bringing money in. So feeling stressed about that. Stressed about the apartment we will be moving into, it only has one of the few things I asked for, and isn't up to standard. No oven!!! And I'm no entitled princess. Still no flight details, no date for when our stuff will get collected. And DH is meant to start work in six days! Do I sound more panicked yet!? :)

Yes, you are sounding panicked now! No flight details with 6 days to go? Well dh often has to book a flight leaving in the next couple of days, so it is doable, but when you are going out there to live, it is not what you need. Sorry about the delay in planning permission too. That really is a bummer. The flat will work out ok. The weather will be good soon so you will be taking picnics in the park etc. You will make it work!

Glad it went ok ploom. I had a mole removed a couple of years ago from my back but it was large so hurt a bit. Better off than on.

of all these Mutter-Kind-Kur! You have to fight to get the doctors to pay for anything here!

Thatis, he can't need all those feeds, can he? I think maybe choose one of the night feeds to drop and concentrate on that with your dh's help. Even if it takes a couple of nights a week or so to get the message, then move on to the next one. Your dh has to help though as you have been doing this for nearly a year. It won't kill to help out at night for a week or two, will it? Fingers x'd for you.

Hope you find the kitchen of your dreams hupa.

Spring break is this week, but not much in the way of spring weather. I'm hoping it warms up next week so I can cycle to school with S in the trailer and A on her bike (when E is at preschool).

Watching S wander around like a zombie is really amusing. He just appears round the corner aimlessly!