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[ladymuckbeth]

Here we go. More unexpurgated chat about our darling angels, all of whom are gifted and have exceptionally calm and admirably-coping parents.

I hear you re the lack of naps tarti. They REFUSE to nap now they're in beds and our life post 3pm is frankly SHITE because of it. Girls so ill and grumpy we put them down at 5pm tonight - please god let them not wake up at 5am!

I am so tired too. And now almost a bottle of wine down. Oh help me god....

Haha, it really was a rant probably best left in my head mucky otherwise my return could be cut short before I get there. Can you tell I'm starting to think too much about going back?

Ds2 had a sicky night last night. Surprise, we'd been to soft play on Friday. Friend's dd was sick yesterday so he could have picked something up from her. Or could just be his insane need to lick everything. Strange child. He's been fine today though.

We're in big boy beds tonight! I thought they'd be ok because they've had quite a few weekends in beds recently but their very own bed in their own room... well, I thought we were going to have spontaneous combustion . They were so excited & ran round like loons. We sat in to calm them down & all 3 were asleep by 8pm. Result! Boys ok but dd woke up & has been v unsettled unless attached to me. So success of sorts. Morning will be the most interesting. We've recently been sleeping til 7am so hoping we don't go backwards on that. We've pretty much dropped naps too lately so..... fingers crossed!

ugh, I had a minor version of that discussion the other day Mucky. People keep asking the boys what they want Fr Xmas to bring for them but they have no idea of that concept yet. They can name Father Christmas & are aware of the increased xmas tat etc but that's about it. & nothing wrong with that imo. We have years of fending off `i want' / expense to look forward too - keep it simple while we can imo

Glad big boys' beds have kicked off so well ALL - long may it continue. I wish I'd waited until the girls were naturally dropping the lunchtime nap

When people ask me what they want for Christmas my stock response is stickers - small, can be used for distraction in cafes, enjoyed rapturously while used then shortly thereafter thrown away: my favourite kind of toy

Have caught up with the thread again. You all sound like you are forging ahead with everything ( potty training, beds, dummy removal) I`m very impressed and slightly jealous. We seem to be stuck in a rut here. Miles away from potties, beds and in J's case talking. D is doing really well and you can hold mini conversations with him. J however still only has a few words, and those words are very mumbly. It's difficult to not compare . It's also tricky as D is more physically developed than J ( or maybe just more physical) so D & H play a huge amount together and J is always left out. He doesn't seem to mind at the moment, but not sure how to deal with it if he does continue to be left out.
Anyway, enough worrying. Things in general are fine. The boys seem to be settling at nursery OK, though there is still tears and cries of Yuk Nursery when we take them.
Will try and keep up with the thread more! Hope everyone is doing ok

We're just getting into stickers, but yes! Just a few weeks ago I thought it'd be a good idea to get them out while I was busy but there was so much mummy help me' that it didn't really help. Now my problem is to let go & not be precious about <span class="line-through">my favourite for them to destroy</span> chucking them out. I made biscuits today & can't believe how much more helpful they were than previous. Normally more hindrance than help but today they really got' flattening the dough & using the cookie cutters quickly and efficiently.

Beds are going well so far. Though dp went in to J wailing the first night and had to drag him out from under his bed by the ankles after he got stuck. Apparently he was looking for his cup. Dp said it was a good job J was crying cos he'd have had no idea where he was. & W threw up all over his new, hand-crafted duvet cover last night.

Ooh Chesti - missed you in the x-post! You weren't there when I checked! I guess being left out comes with the territory of having 2+. Dd & W are going to be good friends I reckon cos they are v similar in `nutter' stakes & roll around / giggle together well now. J is far more considered in his approach to life & is happy playing on his own much of the time & def isn't too fussed about playing with C so it works OK at the mo. We recently swapped the table positions so J is nearer to C to encourage them to interact more at mealtimes.

It is so hard not to compare, though I think our 2 sound more similar in developmental milestones than it sounds your boys are. Still v different in other ways though. & both are not comparing favourably to dd in terms of milestones. She is going to be trouble .

We very nearly braved nursery in big boy pants today after a v successful morning of traipsing upstairs to empty the potty. Then W had a poo disaster just before we left for nursery. Put paid to those thoughts......

Lovely to hear from you chesti. Please don't be disheartened by the apparent progress. I feel plagued with despondency re. potty training. Some of you may have seen my FB and know that we've spent most of today in A&E with Juliet. All hopefully okay now she's dosed up with Anti-Bs and a Ventolin inhaler thingie :( but... what a day. Ambulance n' all...

Prior to that I was capitalising on our being housebound by trying Eve in pants. It's just such a bloody non-starter. Three days in and she still hadn't managed ONE wee on the potty. Wees everywhere but. Sitting on the potty for an hour, then standing up and peeing all over the floor five minutes later. J too ill to try right now but it's getting too close to their birthday and Christmas for me to be bothered this side of 2012. I really didn't think they'd be hitting their 3rd birthday still in nappies - really feel like we've missed the moment or something. They both scream every time we want to change their nappies, but scream if you want to try them in pants, and are utterly reluctant to try the potty or toilet. I've tried rewards, 'ooh look big girl pants!' conversations, books about Princess Polly's potty and suchlike.

I hear you re. concerns about their differences, although I've found talking on here about it very therapeutic. In our case differences which were more pronounced a few months ago (J had much more advanced speech for example) have melded away a bit now they're both talking quite well. BUT Eve remains much more sociable, much less 'needy' of Juliet than Juliet is of her. Juliet staunchly claims Eve as her best friend always, yet Eve will prance off with any interesting new person who comes her way with J often left behind to play on her own ( :( :( :( - I'm such a wuss) Whenever I've discussed it on here I've come away feeling like I need to stop putting my interpretation onto what's going on, because frankly Juliet never seems particularly bothered. It would be worse if she was, and I guess I'm anticipating that on her behalf. Sorry to have to ask but how old are your boys now? I took the girls to a speech therapist recently and was given some info which put my mind at rest - it said that between age 2 and 3 it's only 'expected' for close family to be able to necessarily understand what the child is saying. E has always been very mumbly and a bit behind on the speech but suddenly from nowhere she seems to have quite a decent vocabulary and people are even starting to be able to vaguely comprehend what she is trying to say sometimes :)

Now then, I must get to bed. BUT. Anyone fancy coming and potty training my girls while I sit in a darkened room listening to whale music for a week?

Sorry I am keeping up but am being v rubbish at posting but just wanted to quickly say hello to everyone and give Mucky a big & one of these
I am not partaking in the as since I did a week bootcamp diet and lost 7lb I've put on 11lb since need to sort it out before CHristmas then start again

Well I've been so successful potty training my pair of reprobates that I wandered in after what I laughingly call 'nap time' today to find M had smeared copious quantities of shit all over her sheets, duvet cover and pillowcase with her bare hands

Hugs mucky x

Oh LadyM Hope J had a good night and that she is feeling a bit better this morning. We are also the house of colds (consequence of starting nursery) but nothing on that scale. Hope E is doing fine and doesn't catch it too.

Oh Tarti that indeed sounds totally disgusting

Yes tarti, you LUCKY girl having to clear up such artistry...

J not much better today - hurry up antibiotics, do your stuff!

Kate - hope all's okay with you, haven't heard from you for a while.

Tarti, that is beyond grim! Something I dreaded in their nappy-removal days but luckily our boys both seem to have a deep dislike of anything `messy' and so flip at the merest hint of poo not being contained. Not a bad thing....

I braved sending boys to nursery today in big boy pants. J was fine (he was initially the disinterested one like your E Mucky) though filled the potty once he got home. W had 2 accidents and came home in a nappy. Thing is though, the potty isn't readily available for them like it is at home. They have to ask for it or agree to be disturbed from their more interesting activities go when staff ask if they need it. That might take some getting used to. I'll see what progress we have by Monday.

I hope you see the anti-b's magic soon Mucky & J feels better soon. They should be starting to do their stuff now.

Well done ALL, that sounds like good progress. - I'd be happy with that outcome!! :)

Just watching the Savile Exposure programme... what a vile man. Must go to bed though, am shattered. Hope all are well..x

Yey, I definitely think it's some progress. They've both been great at wee and J is getting there with poo, but yet to master getting distracted / it in the potty & not next to it / not standing up to have a peek midway. W has done poo x3 in his highchair but says `yes' enthusiastically when we explain he needs to tell us before it happens clueless. We're yet to brave going out & about without nappies though. I think I'll keep that to nursery & back for now.

We went to the dentist for the first time today & the boys got a pile of stickers for being so good. Apparently they've never seen anything like it & usually have a child with mouth clamped shut on a good day, and kicking / screaming on a normal day .

How's J doing now Mucky?

Well done those boys, on both counts ALL!

J has turned a corner, but it's been a horrible week for her. She's barely been out of her bed all week, other than to be carried downstairs for an hour occasionally, to watch TV. She hasn't had a proper meal since Saturday :( - today she's had some milk and a couple of mouthfuls of mango, plus some Special Get Well Cake, and that's the most she's had all week. I am hoping that it's just the antibiotics which have wiped her out, because we really were getting a bit worried - although her chest had improved, she has just been so weak.

Forgot to mention that I've booked the girls in to go on a Shetland Pony on Sunday - hope she's better for it. Am fully prepared for the Surrey Shetland Pony Club to be full of shockingly irritating people but I took the girls to a city farm last week and they were utterly transfixed by the horses in the stables there, so I thought I'd give them a pre-birthday treat. :)

Am still massively Ebaying and really getting into the swing of decluttering. Listing things on Freecycle too, and emptying our storage unit - finally - of all the excess furniture we ended up having to buy in Switzerland. It feels good to be doing it, having procrastinated about it endlessly for months. Next stop - my CV!

Glad J is beginning to turn the corner and feel a bit better. Fingers crossed she is well enough to go to see the ponies tomorrow.

I've had the day from hell, work is a nightmare, J the up at tots, and thena gain later all over the carpet, and tesco website is driving me insane. Sitting drinking wine watching rubbish old no1s on bbc3

Good to see J feeling a bit better Mucky - hope you get to the ponies tomorrow. Initially read that you were looking forward to becoming part of the Surrey Set' (guessing there's a Cheshire set' equivalent anyway).

Isn't that the annoying thing with procrastination - actually doing isn't as bad as you dread & often makes you feels so much better & wish you'd done it sooner. Must remind myself of that

ALL re. cow boobies. I have shown the girls lots of clips of cows being milked on Youtube; they are fixated with it, and with the fact that when they were babies they had milk from Mummy's boobies.

Hope all the sickliness ends soon, although of course as we're at the beginning of that season I doubt it'll be the last. I can't believe we've had a girl here who has been in bed all day, every day, for the whole week. Do any of you have anything similar in that J is very stoic when ill, E is the complete opposite? On holiday one day Eve fell over and grazed her knee ever so ever so slightly - she must have mentioned it 20 times a day for the following week, about her knee, and how was it, and DID EVERYONE KNOW I FELL OVER LAST WEEK? J on the other hand is practically comatose before she'll mention that anything's amiss, and we'll go into her room hearing her coughing loads but not crying to see that she's been sat up in bed alone dealing with it for ages. Eve cries at the first hint of a cough/cold and has been known to have a total meltdown just because "I done a bogey"

chesti "Sitting drinking wine watching rubbish old no1s on bbc3" ... Ohh how I know that state of mind... sorry to hear you had a rubbish day. We've had a day of getting jobs done, went to our storage facility and sat the girls down with a bag of crisps watching Charlie and Lola while we dug through everything. Not quite the parenting of my ideals...

I've bought a few pressies for the girls now - birthdays and Christmas approaching. Bought a doctor's bag (they are Doc McStuffins fans) with kit inside (£8.50 - bargain), and a Melissa and Doug pair of binoculars. Also about to press the big red button to get them an easel and paints/etc, magnetic letters/numbers, plus maybe some sort of play/make believey type of thing like a garage or pirate ship or castle. Am rearranging our reception rooms at the moment and trying to get something of a proper play area set up with loads of storage and maybe a play table. I really want to get rid of loads of their crap soon and get things more organised. Ahh, a girl can but dream...

ALL we had similar letter two months ago from our allotment committee. DH was gutted, I was consumed with shame that people would have been tutting at our plot (ashamed to say I don't even know how bad it is/was as I have hardly been down there this year - it's become very much DH's territory. Anyway just to say I know exactly how you feel, not a nice feeling at all. We seriously debated letting it go, but DH is determined to keep it on and make a good go of it next year. If the weather is less awful we might have more of a chance as the girls will be a better age to get more involved (possibly).

Like the sounds of your Christmas purchases muck. I too am desperate to bin all of their existing toys to make way for new stuff which will be coming their way. It's all the irritating little bits and bobs I hate. Purses, plastic necklaces etc - no play value at all really, it all just gets pulled out and strewn all over the floor.
I am trying to make myself deal with their dolls' hair - it has gone like wire wool and badly needs coiffing (oh the problems we have )

Sorry for being incommunicado. We are the house of illness again. Have been beseiged by colds since the boys started nursery, but this last week has had all of us struck down by a vomiting&diarrhea bug. Not great. 1st J, then me and D, then DH, now MIL. Only H has survived so far. She has an ear infection instead, have a drs appt tomorrow and will have to push for further investigation, this is her 7th ear infection this year, and her eardrum has burst each time. Work still hellish too. Boss is signed off with stress now which unfortunately just passes all her work/stress onto me! Was supposed to be having friends round tomorrow for catch up but had to cancel as the house stinks of sick and I have to suddenly go to Edinburgh with work (after dr appt) and won't be back til late. Feeling a bit frazzled at the moment

Sorry for being rubbish, I read but but don't post

I am manically busy with driving lessons doing my Stella & Dot which I'm loving and trying to entertain 2 crazy toddlers!
We've had a bit of random morning vomiting lately, not nice at all plus lots of tantrums and death stares, they are hard work! it really feels like it is getting harder! they are SO unreasonable, and DP is a total pushover and completely spoils them roll on January and 2 mornings a week of nursery!

I have put on over half a stone so my new plan is to get DP to drop me and the girls at nursery and I will run the mile home each morning! (let's see how long that lasts!) I really want to encorporate exercise back into my life as I'm starting to see the middleaged spread and I don't like it!

Lots of love and festive wishes to all