FEB 2010 Teeth, nosh and smelly bums - it's all go, six months on!!

[InmaculadaConcepcion]

Where did the last half a year go??!

Hello stangirl and hugs to those needing them (fizi, cc, bc, ml).

Very quickly, I'm near Croydon (S London or Surrey, depending on whether I want to sound posh or trendy). I'm Indian (but born and brought up in the UK) and DH is English.

I also have a good sleeper stangirl, and my DD sounds much the same as yours (backwards crawling having now stopped due to the mastery of unassisted sitting).

Gotta go...

Good night for us: feeds at 11, 2 and 5(when DH got up with her). No big crying, though my slow let down is proving a pain again, but she stuck at it (5 mins it took, I let her pull my hair to keep her distracted enough to stay on). She went straight off both times. I'm starting to feel human as well and no sign (yet) of the monster having the lurgy either.

It would now appear that she likes to get up at 5am (even though it's still dark).

This morning, she pulled herself to standing on the sofa and then proceeded to walk a few steps along it , wasn't expecting that. I wish she would just stay as she is a bit longer. I'm going to stick with the 'she learn soon' approach, thanks mamaloco. (though she does have a bruise on her head)

Our descent is all boring white English for the past 3 generations, so nothing exciting about us. Then I think a bit of Germanic creeps in, because I remember being told of somebody having to go one of the German camps in the war.

OK, mamaloco wins on the international stakes
Very interesting to hear about all your origins and whereabouts... me and DH are English (well, I'm partly Cornish), so our exoticism is restricted to our current location...

Another older mum, stangirl! I've just celebrated the big four-oh - anyone interested in pix and bloggery, go here

Right, more Cava for everyone then (luckily it's cheap and plentiful here ), especially mamaloco; bc and CC - sounds like you're all going through it a bit at the mo.

Good luck with the cot, bc! And you may remember, but I've only just changed to a "brutal" bed-time with DD from the previous soft one and by the third day, she had pretty much got the idea and seldom protests now. It's helped her overnight sleep almost instantly - although don't talk to me about naps! I'm walking miles with her in the pram to encourage daysleep longer than half an hour at a time. Good for the figure, I s'pose and it gets me out and about. Thank goodness the climate is generally dry.

Night Two in the cot wasn't as successful as the first, DD was quite restless and wakeful. I have a feeling she was a little cold though, so have changed her muslin sleeping bag for a thicker one. I can clearly see that first tooth coming through, but I don't think it's bothering her too much yet...
She's going into her own room v soon, but I'm not anticipating that will necessarily improve her sleep (though she may surprise me...)

X-posted, CC!

Glad things have improved. You can still have the Cava though..!

IC oi, I need cava too!! On the basis of being very annoyed with dh for procrastinating about getting our building site house in order. Haven't had a living room for months so feel like I am squatting in a bedsit. And we only just got our bathroom done in time before dd2 arrived when we told the builder we had a baby due in a few weeks time... . Does that qualify for a large glass do you think?

IC you look great in those photos on your blog (I should get round to updating ours)

IC churros.... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Now you do make me envious with your blog!!!! . I could happily live on those especially in combination with that disgustingly sweet and thick drinking chocolate.

mama change your dentist and go to see an ENT. It'll put your mind at rest and NO you are not a bad mum, you're great!

IC walking pushing the pram is how I drop a lot of my pregnancy weight in the few weeks following DS birth. (yes I was the mad woman pushing the pram up the hill in March while there was fog and rain... )

BG can you tell your builder you're expecting again? It may speed up the building/refurb of your living room?

Churros... I haven't eat some for years. Remind me of my teens!

Just manage to bake a carrot cake for work. We do cake day every month to raise money for charities. So for me, it carrot cake and apple cake (I plan to do this one tomorrow). I use to bake 3 or 4 (don't worry not every month) but having a young baby give me a pass!

CC DS had teeth pains well before they came out. So don't worry, this should pass and get better. DS had his first 2 teeth coming out within 2 days of each others and now he's far less grumpy.

Must go and do the dishes and sort the laundry.

Bear I meant to say (before I got all self involved) that it is not your job to keep the house tidy just because you're a SAHM. Your job is look after the kids and if needs be and time permits keep the house neutral (i.e. end the day as it started). If they're ill, then all bets are off. As for not having time, well

Morning all,
We had a good night again(fingers crossed it lasts. Go and find a piece of wood.). DS only woke up once at 3.30am for 10mn.

Have a good day all and I hope that you all managed to get some well deserved sleep

GF Yay for a good night!

BG your post reminded me of my shower room experience this year. I am the designated Project Manager in my relationship (DP is Head of Morale) and was overseeing the building work at the start of my maternity leave. It overran and wasn't finished until DD was 2 weeks old. On one particularly memorable day I had the head of the building company, his son and 2 workmen in the house discussing the final costs/payment and finishing off whilst also entertaining my mum, mother in law and 2 friends and breastfeeding my 2 day old.

IC love the blog

Gotta dash, Rhythm and Rhyme to get to (and with a raging hangover).

have a lovely day all

Thanks for the cava, IC, and rose too, my favourite! And all the hugs. Much appreciated . I'm still feeling sorry for myself today, DP found out this morning that he failed his exam by one mark . Which means he'll have to retake in November, which puts paid to us going away anywhere this year - he will have to study through October and November now, plus will have to use his annual leave for study and exam days instead of holiday. Oh well. At least we'll save the money. But a week somewhere would have been nice . I think this is the first year for about ten years that I haven't gone away anywhere, even in England. I suppose I'm very spoiled!

I cancelled my haircut this morning in favour of lying in bed crying . I really couldn't face the thought of trying to manage DD on top of my low mood and going to the hairdressers, which I hate at the best of times. A mum friend has said she'll look after DD if I need to run any errands, but it would mean me asking her to and... I just can't.

Stangirl how was R&R with a hangover?! (I'm secretly a bit pleased you had a hangover. I thought I was the only Bad Mother who had those.)

CC at your DD walking!! Really, it is enough to make anyone feel behind! Not that I'm in any hurry for DD to start walking - I'm quailing with fear at how I'll manage actually.

bear there is an interesting thread that's been in the most active for a few days, about cognitive dissonance; it's actually about sharing work in the home fairly (broadly speaking). I haven't had time to read it all but it's certainly food for thought. And it is NOT your job to pick up your DH's pants . I do pretty much all the housework too, but if I ever have to tidy up after DP he gets very short shrift. Doesn't stop him doing it again, mind...

I really should be using DD's nap time to do laptop wedding stuff, not MN!

Blimmin hell she's just woken up! Both her naps today have been 30 instead of 45 minutes, I hope this is not the shape of things to come.

Oh yes and I'm on the South Coast, East Sussex. South London born and bred (near Croydon actually watercress!).

Aw, fizi...
Bad luck on the holiday front - and the hairdo...
If you and DP and DD fancy a jaunt to Madrid on a cheap flight for a weekend, we have a spare room and could borrow a travel cot... (I'm afraid the best of the weather is now over, but at least it'd be a change of scene...)

Thanks for the comments about the blog, everyone! Always gratifying to know people have enjoyed it. (Yes, churros...mmm...)

Good show on the better night, GF!
Last night wasn't too bad here, either. She still woke 3 times, but went back down fairly easily and wasn't too restless.

Meanwhile, I'm pounding the streets for an hour and a half or more each day with DD in the pram to guarantee at least one long-ish nap. Probably a good job, considering the churros...

We could try and organise a meet up. There seems to be lots of us in the South East and London. Although I rather fancy popping over to Guernsey to meet up there as I have never been. Mamaloco I go to Bucharest with work occasionally, it's an interesting place I think. I read your thread about your dd and have to say that dentist was truly awful.

How and when is everyone doing naps? I really want to work on these to save my sanity and give me some time to myself. Ds has still been having 3 shortish naps a day but today he only seemed to want two, and of course was fast asleep when I had to leave the house just before 3pm to collect dd from school. I did get him to have a 2 hour nap on Monday, but had to sit on the bed next to his cot to pat him back to sleep the second he began to stir. I am hoping if I do this for a few days he will get the message and stay asleep longer (optimistic emoticon).

I have just read that thread on discussions of the day which is about teenagers. By the sounds of it the hard part of parenting is still to come...

Why is that when something goes well another falls apart?

DS is at the present sleeping well at night (touch wood) but he now is very difficult to settle down to sleep. It takes me about 30mn to get him to sleep at the moment where before his last bottle was making him sleep and that was it.

Ah well, you can't have everything I guess (it will be good tho)

I'm annoyed with nursery again! I picked him up at 3pm today instead of 4pm as I normally do. His key carer told me that he had a big nap today from 2.20pm to 3.45pm. How can he be asleep at 3.45pm knowing that I got him at 3pm? Unfortunately, I only noticed it once at home. And there is no way he slept for let say 1.20 to 2.45pm as once we got home he had a 20mn nap. Good thing I don't believe everything they tell me but still.

Rant over

It seems that DS is now sleeping so I can go down stairs and prepare dinner and deal with the laundry (I guess there is a theme emerging as I dealt with the laundry yesterday!)

chinook DS naps 2 to 3 times a day. His 1st one is around 9am - 9.30 and last 20mn. His 2nd is after lunch so around 2pm and last 20mn. If I'm lucky he'll nap at 4.30pm for about... what a suspense... 20mn

To get him to sleep, at home I most of the time have to be next to him, holding his hand or padding him. At nursery I don't know how they get him to sleep but I know that sometimes they fail! He doesn't nap in his cot.

Hmmm, I have the opposite problem GF. DD2 will only nap in her cot and has now started asking to go to bed after lunch... So when we are out and about over lunchtime she won't sleep. I can sometimes get her to nod off sitting on my lap facing me and cuddling into me but it happens less often now because she does not want to miss anything around her!
She managed to escape from her sleeping bag today which impressed me a lot. It's one of those with poppers over the shoulders and a zip down the side. She managed to undo the poppers and just wriggled out!
Absolutely no development on the crawling though or even sitting up unaided. She will either sit, fall over, get up on all fours or even on her toes with her bum in the air, rock back and forth, and then start crying. She really has no idea even though I keep getting dd1 to show her how to crawl...
Oh and she has almost four teeth now. 'Almost' because her top gums look like a snakebite with two holes in where the new teeth are coming through.

I had a much better night last night - unfortunately not with DS in the cot though. He was very unhappy and overtired (so was I) so we went into the room with the futon. He slept from 9 until 3 solid (and went to sleep from me lying beside him and white noise machine rather than being fed to sleep) and again until 7.20.

Felt like a new woman today. Had our first Monkey Music class this pm which was utterly brilliant and well worth the money. Gave me a real lift.

I do need to sort things out with DH. If I ask him not to do something eg. not to leave teaspoons by the kettle he shouts at me that I leave things around and if I don't mention it I bottle it all up until I explode. I might send him an email as when I try to discuss it things turn into an argument.

Thanks for the replies, and sorry for no personals today. xx

I think (hope) it will be a while before she cruising proper. She pulled herself into the sitting position yesterday as well (but am sure that was a fluke, she wasn't trying to, I don't think).

She's got yet another mark on the face (above her eye this time) but she does seem to be falling over less. We've given up trying to get her to sleep in the cot as she is just constantly turning back over and climbing the cot.

just marking my spot? sorry lots of us are having a rough ride at the mo with one thing and another? i feel like cack and still covered in bloody boils? ho hum

CC DD2 has plenty of marks too , she still thinks she can stand and walk without holding anything (she is almost there mind you).

We also have the end of sofa/selves... cruising problems. She will happily walk along holding on the sofa and then get distracted and missed the end and fall forward

DD2's naps are not at fixed times, when she is tired I put her to sleep (between 2 and 4 times/day), sleep can be from 10 min till 2/3h, depending.
Usually one in the morning, one after lunch (which I usually have to break to do the school run), often one before diner. If she is really tired I put her down for a catnap before the last bottle of the day.

I have NO patience with overtired babies (I put them in their cot and leave them to it, they would cry anyway in my arms so might as well cry in their cot)

I am lucky she goes to bed really easily and sleeps almost anywhere. But then when she was a tiny baby I would let her where she dropped (me, pram, car seat, cot, floor, sofa, DH...) for day time; at night she has always been in her cot (appart from a few co-sleeping episodes in my bed).
At night she sleeps 19h30/20h till 5h30, without waking (but not without bumping and/or crying )

chinook thanks, I will definitely change dentist, I am still that she said all that in front of DD1, she did heard because she has started to ask me about operation, she is already scared silly about doctors and injections .
Interesting bucharest is! but quite challenging with small children.

It wasn't a competition for the internationallity , sorry if it came out a bit smug. If you go in the extended familly it gets even worse Germany, US, Portugal, NI, Spain, West indies, Danemark, Turkey are added up to the mix. Which means no familly reunion (more than half of them can't even speack a common language), we are quite isolated, and DD1 barely knows her GP and cousins, and is really confused when somebody asks her where is is from Her answer is half english (No! they refused her a passport! ), half french and half romanian
When in the UK, we are in kent or south wales. My dad is close to Guernsey.

But next holidays might be to France for DD1 to have her tonsils/adenoids removed . She has a tonsillitis again today and is off school. She was much better last year, so we had hope we didn't need to do it but it seems to be getting worse again.

Fizi are you my long lost twin? I hate hairdressers. Here, I manage to find one who come to your house (MUCH cheaper , no wasted time, same shampoo...) can you try to find one?

bear
IC thanks for the cava

I am with IC and Stan on the other side of 40! Didn't leave France before I was 28!

GF I have the same nap technique as you - I lie next to DD2 holding her hand and pretending to be asleep. Or she falls asleep in her pushchair or car seat. Only two to three naps a day, and only half an hour at that.

Anyone going through the horror of applying for primary school at the moment (sorry, very England-centric question)? My brain is full of distances, Ofsted reports, open days and application form information!

Right - have read recent posts properly now.

Re meeting up for those of us in the South East - would love to.

Fizi So sorry about your DH's grade. What a bummer only missing it by one point. My sympathies, so sorry to think of you crying xx I'llhave a look for the thread you mentioned.

CC I am really impressed with the walking too. Less so with the 5am start to the day!

IC Happy (significant) Birthday for the other day - sorry I missed wishing you one earlier.

BG - Nightmare that your living room is still uninhabitable! Has DH said what he's going to do and when? My DS is at the same stage as your DD with the crawling thing. He just can't get how you move forward so he bounces up and down with his bottom in the air. He can sit for a few moments unaided.

Chinook - Naps - he has a long morning nap (ususally around an hour but has been known to be as long as two and half or as short as half an hour) in bed from around 9.30 until 11. If it goes to plan it is bliss. Then two shorter afternoon naps, usually in the pram whilst I'm out and about. I tend to stay in in the mornings because of his morning nap, occasionally I'll go out if I have to but I don't like to. As he's such a poor sleeper we both need the long morning nap. I don't have set times for the pm naps but they're usually about half an hour each.

stoof Sorry about the boils - must be agony. Have you had antibiotics?

mamaloco I need to be more like you with regard to crying/sleeping. From Monday it is all change round here.

I'm going to write some positive stuff now because it's about time I focussed on the good:

DS is babbling more, and says mum-um-um which is really sweet because I can kid myself he is saying "mamma".

He has the most beautiful smile. Sometimes he catches your eye, smiles and then looks away really coyly which is dead cute.

He had a great time and behaved perfectly at Monkey Music - it was so lovely to see his face full of wonder.

Yesterday I put him in a baby's swing at the park and took him on the roundabout and he loved that.

I can make him giggle by blowing rasberries on his neck or armpit.

He can stand holding onto the top rail of his cot or the bottom of the windowsill in the living room.

He can hold fruit - eg half a plum, a slice of mango with the skin on and gum the flesh off quite efficiently.

I have just this minute had a very postive response from DH about my email of last night - thanks ladies!

And DS is very beautiful - farm5.static.flickr.com/4074/5019362263_6056dc6c0c_z.jpg

BC what a cuttie