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

[InmaculadaConcepcion]

Where did the last half a year go??!

Well, I thought there was some hope of sneaking on here for 20mins this pm while the boys were sleeping (in the middle of my day which is resembling a particularly slimy scene out of Ghostbusters (think toddler sneezes that connect his nose to the floor, his eyes dripping to match, and DS2 sick as usual and rubbing into the floor!!) However, both have woken and DS2 is trying to eat throuhg the laptop lead (a new form of BLW!) while DS1 wrestles all of his trains from him so I guess I have to go and supervise .

Have erected the playpen to separate the DSs and, having put a blanket on it as a roof, it's DS1 who is taking refuge in his new 'house'!! DS2 has an evil glint in his eye as he prowls round the outside!! He's going to be such a handful...

Sorry to hear about the spots Watercress. Hope you all get mild doses and don't lose too much sleep with it. Back later when the DSs are under control (sedated/asleep)

I know a fantastic guest house (Spanish speaking only but very friendly) near Santa Ana.... [planning escape to Madrid....]

Hello from the Lake District [waves to stoof]. We are having quite a nice holiday and I finally decided this afternoon that I will not go to the interview tomorrow (they could not change the date for me) because it really is too much to drive a 600 mile round trip and spoil what is our only family holiday this year. Ah well. We have done two walks of 2 1/2 to 3 hours and dd1 has coped better than expected. Dd2 loved it too but then she has it easy being carried in our bushbaby carrier!

CC we'll probably be in Leicester over New Year if you are still around and fancy meeting...

watercress so sorry to hear about the chickenpox! Hope it's not too bad.

Have survived the day (unlike many of the rest of you - where are you today? ) and just back on to say thanks CC for the tutorial on how to upload a photo. Have realised that until DFIL removes his camera from my grasp and uploads all the pics of the boys on holiday onto a stick for us, I don't have a recent one to share, so will hold fire for a week or so. May have to bore you with one of each DS though .

Was it BC who we saw a picture of at a MN event? It was nice to put a face to the name! Anyone else willing to put up a photo of themselves so we 'know' who we are talking to? I will once I have the technology!

DH is out tonight putting up a blind for my mum (so DS1 can stay there for a night at the weekend while DH is away!) so I've had all evening to speak to people on the phone and to browse on here. Bliss. Hope you are all okay - just busy living life in the real world perhaps?

Good evening all! (Or good day to CC who I think is behind, I am very rubbish at time zones and very tired right now).

I love the idea of a meet up. Let's do it in Madrid!! Not really, I suppose. But that would be very fun. I could make Godstone Farm, if that is to be the plan!

Commiserations on the pox watercress. How have you got it again? I thought you could only have it once. I hope that you're not feeling too ill .

bethylou I got a start when I read where you were in Cornwall, because DD is called Lerryn! DP used to go on family holidays around there and it's where we went for our first weekend away together. It's such a beautiful part of the world, we are taking her to see her namesake as soon as we can (i.e. wedding out of the way and now, exam resit out of the way too).

Very pleased for you that you're not pg!

CC it sounds like your DD is going great guns with eating. That is so much more than my DD eats. But I know that I am very lazy. It is so much easier (and less messy ) to BF her than feed her solids. That's another thing I'll concentrate on After The Wedding...

IC sounds like your DD will settle into her room just fine. Sleeping in until 8 must have been briliant (if you managed to get back to sleep too!). We will move DD into her own room post-wedding (there's a theme emerging here) as we'll have to collapse the bed in there to put up her cot. I am hoping that she sleeps better without me in the room. She certainly has slept better for both my mum, and DP, when they have done the occasional night duty, than she does for me.

stoof get well soon, your flu sounds awful. Surely you are not going to work? Hope that your DH is looking after you (even if you need to tell him what needs doing)
.

I would love to post photos but even reading CC's instructions to bethy made me glaze over. Sorry not that they're boring just I am so not technologically minded. I should learn I suppose . After the wedding....

So far we have

Virginia Waters
Godstone Farm
Madrid I have to say this is very tempting!!

Very short post today as it's a workday so am just lurking and reading through everyone else's posts.

[waves]

there's a picture of fabulous me on our latest (though already outdated) blog

fizi, the instructions ARE boring don't worry. How long until the wedding?

watercress hope the next week isn't too bad for you.

The guys at work are claiming they're cold isn't the same as mine as they clearly have flu and not a bad cold. It hit 100oF over here today, it's not suppose to be that hot here. I need to buy some beach stuff. I also instigated a British style tea break at work today as well, went down really well, but they still don't understand the concept of having it daily so we'll see if it continues past the first week.

Me and DH had a big heart to heart the other night and we've seemed to turned a corner. Which is good as was starting to dread the idea of loving up for our wedding anniversary next week.

First night in cot in our room last night.

He woke once.

Let me say it again.

He woke once.

I feel like I could run a marathon/climb a mountain etc.

I was steeling myself for a fight but he went to sleep so easily - I fed him first and Joe transferred him while he was drowsy (about half 7). Then he woke around 4, had a very short feed and I plonked him back and he slept until the alarm went off at 7.

What may have helped is that I fed him quite a lot of food before bed. He had a small bowl of porridge and then nearly a whole sachet of organic banana and apple puree. The reason I got him to eat so much is that I fed him in the bumbo in front of the telly so it distracted him and he didn't get bored of eating as quickly as usual. Not something I would have condoned pre-parenthood - but you do what you have to!

We had a cheeky visitor to our garden yesterday - www.flickr.com/photos/26339121@N00/5032009987/ I'd been foraging for sweet chestnuts, had left them on the garden table and a bold squirrel came to help himself.

Watercress - How are you all today? Hope it is not too bad a bout of chickenpox.

Bethy You paint a very-easy-to-imagine picture of snotty DS1 cowering in the playpen being terrorised by his baby brother.

Oh, and Godstone farm looks like a good idea. Shall we try and fix a date? Maybe the 6th or 7th of Nov?

Godstone farm Freakingly close to where lateFIL and family live! If we were due to visit the UK I would definitely go, as it is still one of our anchor sites... Have fun.

Heh, loving the idea of a Madrid meet-up!
But seriously, the invitation to fizi is extended to all - we enjoy having guests to stay and once in a while we have total strangers from globalfreeloaders.com staying over for a night or two - they've all been very pleasant so far.

You are indeed looking fabulous, CC!! I'm glad to hear you and DH are sorting things out. Have you had a downturn since he become SAHD, the emigration and you returning to work?? Not to mention a baby? It's a lot for any family to cope with in one go, so try and cut yourselves some slack, I'd suggest. Easier said than done, though, I know. Hope you have a good anniversary.

Awesome news, bc!! Fingers crossed it's the start of better sleep in general...

bethylou, anyone who's looked at my and DH's blog will have seen pix of me... but I am certainly nosy curious enough to see pix of the rest of you!

The second night for DD in her own room - alone - went well. She settled straight away at bedtime, woke at 23.00, but resettled herself in five mins, then only woke twice more before 07.30 and was resettled fairly easily with feeds.
My own sleep was a leetle better, but I'm still getting used to the new arrangement - and my head cold isn't helping, but it's not too bad.
Our neighbours tapped on our door to tell us not to worry about DD disturbing them now we've moved her into a different room - very sweet of them! Mind you, they haven't had to put up with any prolonged screaming sessions as yet...

Hey hey, thanks for all the good wishes. My girls are actually doing OK (DD1 is fine during the day but a bit disturbed at night, whereas DD2 is a bit fractious during the day but sleeps serenely through). MIL is being great as well, and has taken DD1 off my hands this afternoon so i can catch up on MN some chores.

I'm not going to show a pic of me as I'm much less glamorous than all the yummy mummies on this thread! I'm so camera averse that one of my friends complained he couldn't see me when i put some wedding pics up on Facebook! And I'm also usually the one holding the camera to avoid being papped!

Can't quite remember everything to do personal responses, but CC are you OK? And hope those who are poorly are also feeling better.

Ah, that's DD2 waking up. Have a nice evening all x

I am also usually the one with the camera and cleverly stay out of the pictures... but here's one where someone managed to catch me out at dd2's christening, looking rather tired after an unsettled first night at my parents' house.

Come on watercress, your LO is so cute, you can't look too bad yourself...

Wouldn't it be lovely to go to Madrid? Actually I have very fond memories of the place as I was there with work when I did a pregnancy test. It was positive and the result is ds. I had a massive migraine on the flight home and no-one could understand why I wouldn't take any pain killers!

Godstone Farm would also suit me fine. In fact I feel a bit cheeky because it is right on my doorstep. November sounds good, though I guess we should see when Fizi is getting married. She can add it to her list of things to do after the wedding!

Very of those with improvements in sleeping. It is very hit and miss here. Some nights he does a 6 hour stretch then the next night he is up every to 3 hours.

Thanks to everyone who told me about their naps. It seems that everyone is completely different. Ds has dropped his 3rd nap for the last 2 days so he is very tired at bedtime. He hasn't worked out either that if he is only having 2 naps they need to be longer to compensate.

Hope you are getting better CC and stoof and having a lovely holiday GF and BG.

Stoof I remember that we have similar issues with our mothers and was wondering how things are with her now you are back in the uk? My dd has been getting a bit tearful when I take her to school in the morning and my mum's solution was to shove her in to the classroom and run away asap. How I turned out so normal I will never know....

CC The hot weather in California has made the news over here! What a difference to us... dd2 has been in a snowsuit for our walks the past few days to keep her cosy in the wind.

I am loving seeing what you all look like. No one looks like I imagined. But I have got one question. Where are all your mummy tummies? I shall post a picture of me when mine has gone. Am really working on it at the moment and hope it won't take too long. In the meantime you will just have to guess...!

snowsuits

LO slept in just her nappy last night, but then did a wee on me when I fed her this morning (apparently no sideways containment).

As for mummy tummies chinook, not that I can speak for anyone else, but that's what front on pictures are for .

I'm fine thanks watercress. Though IC made a good point, there has been a lot of change in our lives for just one year. We don't not get on, we just don't REALLY speak to each other a lot of the time and we both blame being so tired.

Thankfully the weather is a bit cooler today. If I wanted a hot summer, I'd have moved to Madrid

We generally escape Madrid during the summer - temps in the high 30s and early 40s are just too much, and it doesn't get very cool overnight either. We're not alone, either. Born and bred Madrilenos hate it too and all skedaddle to the coast in July...!
We're still in the mid-20s and more during the day, temperature-wise, but it's much cooler overnight, thankfully.

Nice pic, BG! Great to put a face to a MNer!

Aw, go on watercress...

Yeah, naps are a bit rotten here, chinook. 20-30 mins max and even the moving pram magic failed to work yesterday beyond 20mins. I'm wondering if DD is also wanting to cut down to 2 naps, but like your DS, if those 2 are at the current length, she'll never last until bedtime (in any kind of a bearable mood, anyway).

Another reasonable night, though. Wake-ups at 01.00ish and 05.45, although she didn't really settle back beyond another 20mins after that last one. Mind you, she must have been tired because she's conked out again now (from about 07.50, it's now 08.20), so I suspect if I'd tried a bit harder to resettle her, she would have gone back.

Tiredness is crap for relationships, isn't it CC? I know it makes me and DH snippy with each other at the best of times. Kills off the sex rather, too. TTSP, TTSP etc...

BG You look fantastic. And DD looks darling in her christening gown.

CC You look great too. You look like a teenager!

Bethy Yes, it was me that went to interview Boris Johnson. There are a couple of pics of me and DS on my mumsnet profile too where I'm less glammed up.

IC Yes, sex. Hmm. We've done it once since DS arrived. Just to check everything still worked. But now that DS is sleeping better (praying that it continues) hopefully there'll be more time for a bit of romance.

He slept well in his cot again last night. From 7.30pm until 7.10 am with a quick feed at 4am.

I can't explain how happy I am. The sleep deprivation was doing me in.

We're not that keen to move him out of our room just yet. I like being able to see him from my bed. The older generation are encouraging us to do it within the week.

DH has a couple of weeks work out of the home next week and the one after, so we won't be on top of each other so much. This is probably a good thing but I do like being able to dump DS on him for 10 mins here and there.

Today my mum is coming round shortly and this afternoon we're going to Monkey Music.

Yesterday I went to a mum-and-baby film screening at a local pub (Crazy Heart with Jeff Bridges) and I was the only one there! I said to the guy running it that I'd go home, but he insisted I stay and watch and even paused the film for me when I went to the loo/had to change DS. DS behaved really well (even had a nap on the floor for half an hour in the middle of the film but did manage to poo out of the side of his nappy on the one day I didn't bring spare clothes. I just scrubbed the stain withh a baby wipe and put his trousers back on...

BC I'm shocked at the wiping up poo incident. I would never do that. Well, not more often than once a week...

How lovely to have a mum and baby film to yourself. I went once with DD1 and it was an unmitigated disaster - as soon as the lights went off she started screaming. I left the cinema, she clamed down. Went back in and guess what? I haven't even tried with DD2!

Pretty tired and fed up with all the illness in the house at the moment - I know I've had nothing compared to some of you and I take my hat off to those who have been coping with much more than just shingles and chicken pox.

Illness is always a tough deal, though watercress, even when it isn't worryingly serious. Hope everyone gets well again soon.

Fantastic news, bc!! I SO know how you feel about the sleep deprivation. I'm still getting my own sleep levels to adjust to DD's new improved overnight wakings, so not feeling the benefits fully yet, but that sense of hope that finally we're moving into something better is hard to describe...

On the subject of which, DD only woke twice again last night, but on the second of those took 1.5hrs-ish and three attempts on my part to resettle . But still, I felt okay because I managed to sleep a bit better again betweentimes, so onward and upward. Naps are still a PITA, but I won't go into that.

bc, for the uninitiated, what exactly is Monkey Music??!

BC congratulations on the sleep
It is going downward here. Is there 8 months sleep regression as well? .
Last night was bad, but then teeth 7 and 8 are coming through, plus fever and blocked nose.
During the day DD2 is acting like a newborn again: feeding every 2 hours (solid or milk, little of both), and plenty of naps in between . If the fever is there tomorow I guess it is back to the doc, again!

DH is away on site, not sure if it is easier or harder. I know I can't expect any help so I get on with things without getting as frustrated. He did manage to spill half a bottle of beer in the fridge before leaving though, just to make sure I had extra work .

You are all lovely. CC you do look very young! May be we should post only pictures of us at the age of the youngest of the group
picasaweb.google.com/103527318755071340524/5Months#5522765075419825250
I am the one making a face with the big baby on the tummy (obviously!). About a month ago, not when I was 26 (obviously too!). We were melting at about 40 C (obviously again!)

DD is 8 months and I am buying winter clothes for 2 yo! She is in 18 months at the moment. Standing on her own for short period of time. CC FYI, she has stopped falling now, well exactely she has learnt how to roll over judo like when she falls so there is no more thump when the head touch the floor. It comes quite quickly if it can reassure you .

I think there is another sleep regression, guess the range will be quite wide at this age.

Mamaloco that is a BIG baby (no offence), we still 13lb summit, but she's still not quite 7 months yet.

LO has already learnt to fall on her bum and is quite happy traversing the sofa (providing there is something shiny to reach fir i.r. laptop, my cup of tea). It's great cos she stands there for ages, occupying herself while I MN we get stuff done. She's starting really exploring the whole house, so we need to find a new home for the bins and make sure the bathroom floor is clean.

She's also started finding my nipple by herself i.e. she see's it and actually goes to it if we're laying around in bed. She also started trying to tweak it so time for her to learn it's not a toy.

Sleep also seems to be going better for us. She goes 3-4hours day and night between milk feeds now. Quite often she goes 5 hours from 5am-10am without food (not that she is asleep mind). We're roughly giving her food every 2 hours in the day switching from milk to solid feeds. She's also had a good nap for the last few afternoons, so maybe the solids and the crawling is finally tiring her out enough. DH is loving it. Mind we're not teething at the moment. She only seems to wake for food atm which is good (but think also related to the not teething).

Can babies have too much solids? I'm sure she would eat a whole orange if we put it front of her. We often finish the feed because she's getting tired, but she would carry on eating. (She had bean curry and actually ate the beans). We do a mixture of BLW and spoon (at the same time) as she has what we have and most of the time it's not finger food. DH is most glad of the big girl poos as they're much easier to clean up apparently.

I know I look like a teenager, can make things difficult at times, but you can't change these things can you.

She went to the bottom of the pool in her swim class the other day.

Trying to decide whether to send the rental pump back or not. It's much easier to use and I often leave work early and do my second pumping session at home. If I sent it back, I'd prob just do it at work. I can't imagine going back to a single pump that is less hands free now.

Sorry this has been a very my baby post, she just seems to changes so much in just one week.

Hello all!
It's been ages I know... I am reading all your posts but never seem to have time to write. We have been on holiday to Devon for a week and now DP, DD and I all have terrible colds and DD's second tooth is coming through so no sleep here. Really of your sleep and film visit bc!

Just quickly... two comments to make.

1.- I would love to meet up... Virginia Water is better for me, as it's about half an hour from my DP's, he is in Hampshire, I'm in West London. Godstone Farm is a little too far... my DP is going away tomorrow for five weeks on tour so my day will be shortened with dog walking mornings and afternoons so can't really drive out too far. Obviously if it's more convenient for everyone else then I will do my best!

2.- On the sex front, my DP and I have revived our sex life by organising a daily 'rendez vous' in the bedroom as soon as DD goes down at 7pm. We had been leaving it til our bed time, but we were both too hopelessly exhausted or DD would wake up just as we were starting so we came up with our 'date'. It's hilarious as we are behaving the way we did when we first met and I've had to dig out all my pre-preg lingerie!!!

CC I love the video of your DD crawling, she is hilarious! And straight to the computer... she'll probably be able to follow your instructions on how to post a pic better than we can soon!

Watercress poor you with shingles and chicken pox. That sounds terrible! I probably shouldn't even moan about DD having a cold.

BG You look fab at your LO's christening.

Oh, and I'm a quarter Greek, half English and the rest is French and American. I grew up in France, England, US and Barcelona so a bit of a mix.

Sorry just reread post and it's a bit weird!

AbsB Was just thinking of you. Sounds like things are going well for you guys (minus the colds)

Thanks CC! And minus the sleep too... my DD EATS loads like yours but doesn't sleep much. Even as a newborn she would be awake and busy...

I was wondering if babies can have too many solids too. We are doing puree and finger food, two meals a day, and she just loves to eat, it's such a joy to watch! She rocks backwards and forwards banging the table and smacking her lips asking for more... she BFs every four hours around those meals...she had such a slow start with her weight gain, and now looks so bonnie, I feel so relieved!

at big girl poos... it really is a bonus and all easily flushed - much easier!!!