Gardening in the winter sun. 40-something mums Christmas thread

[somewherebecomingrain]

40-something mums with babies of all ages - please join us. The 20-something and 30-something mums will never satisfy you like this thread.

[rosiedays]

Oh scarecrow it's full moon again :)
It's really tough when you feel lonely. I know we can't help practically but we're all here to listen to your wows.
I remember being a single mum of 2 little ones and thinking how i had it easy compared to my friends with partners as i knew I was alone and just got on with it. Maybe when you go back to work the 1-1 time with the lo will be precious rather that a chore (meant in the nicest possible way)
Go do something nice with the smalls and bugger everyone else
Xx

[rosiedays]

Knotty dh is. ... egyptain! !! And i love him to bits. He does however sometimes make me jump through hoops to get what I want. He knows though that i will get what I want and if he pushes to much I'll leave him. Simple. [Grin]

[scarecrow22]

Both kids down by 6.57. My record

[EagleRay]

Wow Scarecrow that's fabulous timings!

Lots of poo here - visited DM on Friday and DD pooed through her clothes on the journey up there, and again on the journey back.

Then today, poo straight through clothes at lunchtime just as we were about to go out. And then this evening when I was in the bath, there's shouts from DP and he brings her upstairs as she has pooed through her clothes. Again. Tell him to undress her, clean her up and put her into the bath with me. Suddenly, a poo-covered baby is deposited in the water and then he produces the nappy to show me how bad it is and as he opens it some of the contents (peas and carrots mostly!) fall out into the bath. Was impressed by the peas as she had been fed them only 3 hours earlier.

That is all.

[knottyhair]

Scarecrow, how are you doing ? Eagle, thanks for the poo story! Yesterday, we were cleaning up ready for family descending for Rosa's birthday do, and Rosa did her usual disappearing under the dining room table for a poo. I was distractedly trying to finish her cake and DP was upstairs. She then bum shuffled all the way round the kitchen and into the playroom, at which point I noticed her nappy had leaked and she had decorated the whole floor in both rooms with poo streaks. Thanks for that. She was very pleased with herself . Had a lovely afternoon though, lots of cuddles from her grandparents & aunt & uncle, and great presents. She especially loves her wooden pushalong fairy! Off to my mum's for lunch today as my aunt is coming over to see everyone, and then her actual birthday is tomorrow. Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

[notsoold]

Eagle...I am laughing at that...:)
Will try to post more later..

[blueblackdye]

Scarecrow, thinkinh of you, sorry I can't offer company this week.
Wave to everyone, connexion is very bad here, can't post a lot but read
Xxxx sending over sun snd warmth to you all

[EagleRay]

BBD not at all jealous at your sunny holiday! Sounds like you're having a lovely time.

Knotty happy birthday to Rosa for tomorrow! Love the poo decorating - no wonder she was so pleased...

Madly busy day here today - nursery this morning while I raced to the gym and pumped iron and whinged cos it hurt then this afternoon we went to a friend's house for a baby christmas party. Was worried DD would do another epic poo, but no - she threw me a curveball and threw up spectacularly instead, narrowly missing the canapes laid out on the dining table.

The family's grandfather dressed up as Santa and suddenly appeared through the patio doors, with all the older toddlers going 'ooh it's Santa' in wide-eyed wonder. For some reason I seemed to get something in my eye and felt v emotional for the rest of the afternoon. Think it must be the childhood memories of the excitement of Christmas!

Once home, DD sat in her high chair for dinner then suddenly went red of face, frowned at me and it was game over for her party clothes. No idea what's going on with her - I really don't think it's a bug as it's just not frequent enough. Teething? Reaction to food? Please let it stop soon anyway

[notsoold]

Knotty...happy birthday to Rosa!!!

[rosiedays]

Happy birthday Rosa xxx

[knottyhair]

Thanks everyone! She's had a birthday breakfast of toast & honey, played with her new drum and is currently having her morning nap. Hope everyone has a lovely day x

[somewherebecomingrain]

scare I know I'm way too late but I hope you are ok. Big unmumsnetty hugs. We are always here xxx

[somewherebecomingrain]

Ps MARVELLOUS poo stories - golden (brown). Somelet has gone to pellets alleluia. Ds was streaky liquid poo all the way. X

[scarecrow22]

Thanks for kind wishes. Mean a lot and do help. Especially the Un-Mumsnetty hugs: so much better than Mumsnetty ones.

Eagle, hope Eaglet is okay. Has anything else changed? Tbh if T had a problem at either end I'd never notice as he pukes over me several times a day still, most days: oddly occasionally he manages a whole day without. Babies are a mystery....

Glad Rosa had such a lovely day. Such a smiley giving little thing deserves to be celebrated lots.

T has cut his first tooth. I bow to nobody in my adoration of him, but he s a bit of a Boy about the whole discomfort thing. Anyway, only about 20 more to go, so we should get a good night's sleep c mid 2019... He can also stand unaided holding on to sofa or whatever. Well for a little time. He is inordinately pleased with himself. Again, I bow to nobody etc., but there do seem to be some male traits emerging young. That said his smile is almost wider than ever when he does it. Melts me.

Dd was negotiating another story tonight and came up with another grownupism: " two more and we're done, mummy". Hard not to cede.

Am improving this week. Has been a strange downer: less sharp but quick and quickly forgotten, more invasive and stealthy. Still getting there I think. DH home from US tomorrow and has promised to have time off from Saturday.

[scarecrow22]

Okay ladies, this is where our support network really counts. What games can a group of mostly 2/3 yos play at a party. Kind of need each to end with a prize. Or thought I did. Now 13 children of prize winning age coming (plus three babies, Help!) maybe will do a few "winning" games and some non competitive ones...

Ideas so far :

Musical bumps
Musical balloons
Musical statues
Pass the parcel
Grandmother's footsteps
Beans (act out runner bean, baked bean, string bean...)
Sleeping bunnies (for the nano second of sleep )

....?!

[rosiedays]

Scarecrow glad you're feeling better, i love the way you write about you LO's. Rosebud too is blossoming :). She is almost sitting unaided and different prefers Fifi to Noddy. She smiles and getts excited when i get my boob out for a feed. Her cup skills are somewhat work in progress. In fear of jinking but the sleep dust is doing it's job. She also loves snow globe.

[scarecrow22]

:) Rosie: I love it when they get preferences. Bless their little uncool baby hearts. T loves his sister's Fireman Sam balloon best, then my old Fisher Price activity centre which I had 40-odd years ago, though nothing as much as bath time.

A few days ago DD took her balloon out of his reach (sharing is work in progress). He watched, looked down, apparently noticed the ribbon, looked from ribbon to balloon a few times and then grabbed and pulled it.... Cute! I'm so happy I'm around to see some of these things.

[EagleRay]

Glad you are feeling better Scarecrow and pleased that DH home v soon. As for toddler party games, I'm not much help really but having done Pass The Parcel twice with DD at parties in the last week, I really recommend having little presents between each layer as the poor things look so bewildered after tearing off the paper then having the parcel taken off them!

We've had a break from the explosive poo today - in the same way that carrying a brolly stops it from raining, sticking a nappy wrap on a baby stops them from even pooing (thankyou Somewhere for that tip which is now coming in v useful). She did poo a bit, but it had more, er, form than ones of late and am hoping that's the end of the explosions for a little while. She has been quite grumpy as well the last few days - can only assume it's the endless, endless teething. Today in Ikea she got really cross in the restaurant. I handed her a toy to distract her and she snatched it off me, whirled it around angrily then flung it like an olympic hammer thrower. Was quite funny to watch, although gave me a bit of insight into the toddler years!

Back to xmas card writing now - then bed v soon

[rosiedays]

sorry for typos! Sometimes my phone won't let me read back my post (have to type without being able to actually read what I'm typing) i have to hit send and hope or lose post! !
Dd is having mammoth feed. ... fx it will be followed by a mammoth sleep.
Love the balloon string ;)
No poo stories here either. Thankfully I've finally finished the antibiotics and her poor tummy is much better. :)
Right sleep.

[blueblackdye]

No time to read nor post, too many activities to deal with, half way through hols, bright crystal clear sky today, in the sun, it can be pretty hot, will have lunch in the garden, A has her morning nap at the bar !
Hope babies and Mums are all well despite cold, teething, antibiotics....

[rosiedays]

Oh bbd your holiday sounds awesome. Enjoy :) does the sun set over the sea?
I'm getting into Christmas finally. I have set my expectations very low to help avoid disappointment. I bought a tree an some decorations today but struggling to fit it in (i forgot how small our flat is! !!) Baby stuff has taken over !!!
I have some lovely things to wrap and put under it for rosebud including a toothbrush, hairbrush, and weaning bits. And I've bought her a lovely present for me :) (disappointment avoiding)
I have posted the cards and sent vouchers / flowers where necessary.
Really looking forward to coffee tomorrow fx for happy babies. :)

[rosiedays]

Tree space found (with accessible plug) and tree up. (Just need to work out where all rosebuds stuff is going! !!)
Dh out on work Xmas party so I'm going to indulge in tv, present wrapping and a glass of well earned

[scarecrow22]

this time three years ago - my due date - I was waiting to go to hospital to be induced....

[catdoctor]

Good evening and thanx for welcomes.

Scarecrow we're not meant to do this alone, Sending supportive vibes though I am clining to the wreckage myself!

DS2 a happy soul- Arrived 2 days early - I managed to avoid induction bby getting midwife to 'interfere' with me at 39 weeks (approved by consultant interestingly). Slowish labour - negotiated waters being broken when I was getting bored and then he shot out - bit intense! I had a doula this time which I recommend - she didn't have to do much but I knew if I started slacking she'd be after me to start up and down the stairs etc.

Gripe this time is the failure of overseeing midwife in hospital and paed reg to diagnose tongue tie despite me asking them directly to check. Luckily the community midwife saw it. Is it me or are some HCPs a concern?!

I find DS2 rel easy - I was like a rabbit stuck in headlights with DS1. It's DS1 I worry about -he is deranged at times - so loving to his brother but hyper on steroids. I get so guilty as our time together is now limited and often I'm shouty or manhandling him. I hope to pick your brains especially on pre-schooler wrangling!

Counting down now to DH going back to work.

Speaking of poo, DS2 hasn't pooped for a week - should I be alarmed or relieved?!

[rosiedays]

Oh that uunforgettable. ... waiting for induction feeling, :) enjoy your memories scarecrow.
So for those who weren't there a brief overview of today's meet up. ...
We were all late :)
The venue was closed. :(
The fall back venue did not accommodate prams (x3) and we were politely asked not to stay to long we did however enjoy an El fresco coffee.
All the babies were wonderful.
Baby Eagle is such a character, her facial expressions are adorable, Pudding and i sat wide eyed as we were (momentarily) ) left to mind an eating baby! !! She also gave baby pud the cutest kisses which baby pud happily excepted.
baby pudding has the best baby legs ever! It was lovely to see how much she has changed and chat about the little new things she and rosebud were doing.
Lunch was yummy. :)
Babies fed, slept, poo'd and played all behaving beautifully. .. We all agreed that scarecrows most crying is tiredness was the best advice we were given.
Coffee was served with yummy chocolate Brownies
It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon. Thank you ladies. I'm looking forward to our January meet.
I got soaked walking home :(