November 09 - Autumnal times are drawing near, soon our babes will be one year!

[MsInterpret]

Hello ladies, hope no one minds me taking the liberty of creating a new thread and approves of the name choice. We've been moving a bit slower than antenatal so though we'd most certainly have some year-olds by the time we finished this one!

Hi all

Hanging in here just! German measles have now gone, but last night he projectile vomited after his dream feed so no idea what's going on! I've now had two nights of sleep though (i.e. 6 hours!) so feel a little better for that.
Sorry to hear about all the SA issues - we're lucky here in that we've never really had it as he's been at the childminder since he was 6 months so we got in there before it developed!

DWB thanks for asking. It's ok I think. I have good days and bad days. Today is a slightly sad day and I'm a bit mournful for the life I don't have if that makes sense. I never thought I'd end up in a marriage where only one person is putting in the effort so it's not what I thought i was signing up for.

Went for my pre-op assessment today for the sterlisation and my op is scheduled for 8th Dec. It is the right decision and I have 6 weeks now to confirm that in my mind. When Ioan reaches 20, I will have been parenting for 35 years - must keep that thought in mind!

Hope everyone else is well. All this talk of Christmas is just scary - so soon! Having both boys birthday's in November means I don't think of it until after that.

Hmm been a while on here.

DWB you looked so radiant - it sounds like you had a fab day. COngrats.
Scarlotti I'm sorry to hear about the GM and your sleepless nights. I hope Ioan is better soon. I think dd2 might have had that a wee while ago. She had such a raging temp it was frightening. We've been doing a wheat trial with her recently and her sleep (and ours!) has suffered. No fun. I'm amazed at katster and Laugs still surviving some very sleepless nights. DD1 was like that. All power to you. There is an end to it.
SA - I think dd2 has this too. She is fine at the CM, but when I am home she is unbearable sometimes. She has to be crawling on me, one hand down my top if I'm at floor level. She cries if I make to leave the room. If in bed with us she needs to be fondling me in some way. I'm getting a bit phobic about being touched as a result
Pav these cuts are affecting so many and morale is awful. I really feel for you, and hope that somehow things improve and soon. Not sure how though.

I'm trying hard to get birthdays organised before the holidays end up here. Work wise November and December are awful, which is when all our family birthdays are and also trying to organise Christmas. We've kind of decided to get dd2 a retro FP record player from Amazon I think. More for our benefit than hers! With having the 2 girls we were a bit stuck with what dd2 'needs'.

hobnob I remember those! With the plastic LPs all different colours? Loved them! Anyone remember BigTrak? I saw that in the shops recently.

I've just worked out that The Pudding is the same weight as dd1 was at 18 months, whilst being on a par for length. She can fairly pack it away...

I forgot to add that my period isn't back yet either. I'm amazed at this since it was back after 9 months with dd1 and dd2 hasn't fed at night for months. On the one hand it's great, but I can't help being a little unsettled by it since it returned after 9 months with dd1 and I was doing dream feeds with her. Dd2 hasn't fed after 8pm for months and doesn't seem to take a whole lot morning and evening. It's hard not to start projecting paranoias about age onto the situation.

hobnob your november and december sounds horrendous! what is an fp player? (dumb emoticon). I think we are getting the Bear Cub a garage for his birthday, you know, one of those old style ones with the wind up lift that we all had as a child. He will just absolutely love it as he loves everything cars and putting them in, on and up other things! I actually feel quite excited about it . Also thinking of getting him something special, a keepsake of some kind. DD has got some lovely Flower Fairy Figurines, one bought by mum and then we bought one the following year 'from mum' too. She also has an amazing snow globe by Giselle Graham, which plays 'let it snow' and has those wonderful stick type figures in, but that will become 'theirs' i expect. i just love her stuff, it is all very Hans christian Andersen. Anyway, as usual, i digress. So we thought we might get DS a steam locomotive, you know the ones I mean? made of brass i think they are, but not very cheap, so not sure. For christmas, he is getting some of his old toys wrapped up in a box with sparkly paper as he loves the boxes and paper as much as his toys!!!

OMG. 15,000 jobs to go in my profession. 15,000. jeeees. Good old liberals. I took my career down this path because i felt certain that in the face of crisis there would always be criminals and thus the need to manage those criminals, so work would be secure. wrong. So many of my colleagues will be going elsewhere, so all the jobs that I am suitable for will be over-run by many applicants. And, in Devon, its not exactly job city. But we shall see.

Pav I hope everything turns out ok with your job. I don't think anyone is feeling secure at the moment. Did your DH have any luck while I've been missing?

Hobnob I also had my period back much earlier with DD. Could it be something to do with second time around...?

Scarlotti Sorry to hear about Ioan's german measles, poor lad.

We're also stuck on presents. It's DD's 4th birthday in 10 days. We bought her a bike a month ago so she'd get some use out of it before the winter, so just need something tiny. Was thinking Sylvanian Families as she has one family, but just looked and it's so expensive! Then we have James to buy for and of course he has all DD's old stuff, so I am at a loss there. We are going to be in Ireland for Christmas, so just need something small to bring. I kind of think the stocking presents are more important at this age - way more exciting anyway. (DD's age I mean, I'm sure James couldn't care less - if we weren't travelling I'd steal your trick of wrapping up old toys for the fun of unwrapping them, Pav)

laugs not really been looking, concentrating on being house husband while we get into the swing of me working and DD starting school, its been ok actually, apart from him making more mess than tidying, but hopefully he will sort something out soon, we cannot rely on my job anymore. It will work out I am sure. Probably not bad to remove complacency.

oh meant to say we got DD Sylvanian Families restuarant for DDs 4th birthday in July, bought it on ebay, spent about £65 and it came with lots of animals familes and bits and bobs already with it, but you have to watch and watch and bid at the last minute as they often fly. DD loves it, but is a little rough with it, so we have removed the toys and she has to ask to play with them, picks out two or three families and just a couple of bits of furniture to play with, good to teach her how to look after her things. If she treats it rough, or anything gets broken, it is removed for a few days.

i have no idea what to get DD for christmas. DH wants to get her a bike, but it will be winter and she will hardly go out on it, and we have no garden, so i said not a great idea, she still has her isla bike which she doesn't use very much. one set of godparents have bought her a micro scooter, and so far we bought her an 'operation' game (remember those?!!) as she wants to be a Dr!! She really wants the sylvanian familes caravan and car and they are not cheap! She actually wants a real caravan, so i guess this is a bit cheaper

oof finally got my (2nd) period. Forgot how annoying they were off the pill. Crampy, irregular, breaking out in spots, yech!

I loooved Sylvanian Families when I was a kid! Never was interested in human dolls, only the animal kind.

Really sorry to hear about all the redundancies :( It's bad here too. I'm actually applying for academic positions in the UK right now. My family won't be pleased if we move away again, but I have to be open to all options right now, or we'll be homeless in a year.

scarlotti glad to hear you came to a decision on the operation (and that you still have 6 weeks to think about it).

MIL and SIL are in town, which is great but also totally disruptive to our routine. M was cutting her second tooth in as many days last night and there was a 2 hour screaming marathon before I got her to go down. Yawn!

Sorry to hear, that so many job situations aren't great. It's a tough period. Hopefully all that saving will at least lead to better times for everyone.

katster, walking is improving. She is actually able to cross the living room. Sometimes she stops when it gets too "dangerous". And then she continues. But she still prefers crawling when she wants to get somewhere.

I just discovered teeth no 9 and 10! They are already huge, I have no idea since when they are there as I kept looking in the wrong places [hhmm]

Well, I hope you'll all have a nice weekend, enjoying your family, thinking about birthday and christmas presents and not about any possible bad news.

Pav the fp record player is the old fisher price one of yesteryear here. On reflection, this is totally a present for dd1 and ourselves since dd2 will only be able to bash it about a bit. We were also considering the old garage, which I think is much more playable with for her (but I have such fond memories of that record player!). I read on amazon that the new version doesn't have a nice wind-up lift but a sticky one that you need to push up manually. Not so good. But you can still get the old ones on ebay.

DD1 is getting a vtech smile motion console for her birthday with a couple of games for it for Christmas. Not my ideal choice (I hate TV and computer games) but I one it in a MN competition last year so we thought we'd better put it to good use! It'll give us a rest from the same cbeebies programmes she gets to watch every day whilst I get tea ready.

Hobnob How I love that record player! Going to get it for H, I had no idea they were remaking it- so chuffed! :) Thanks! Remember that on mine, the lilac record was au clair de la lune and I think that must have been my fave. Also love that TV but can't buy both. We are hoping to get a wheelybug too by sticking all the family birthday money together. I can't believe the birthdays are all coming up!

Had my day off with H today but it was pretty bad- she is teething and excessively miserable and grumpy, wants to be held a lot, arches every time she is put in the pram, high chair, car seat and spends a lot of her day making a grouchy noise, a kind of 'eeeerrrrrrrrrggghhh' which drives me up the wall. :( She is really suffering with these teeth. And so am I! Feel like a crap mum for getting exasperated with her.

I won* it

wook - happy to be of help!

oh i loved the record players! I had one! I really want the proper wind up lift. It has to be. I am definitely into all things retro this year. I think it might be the last, or at least penultimate year of being able to do it before DD turns into a fashion victim because of school etc .

i also had a bus or something which you slotted the records into, something like that? anyone know what on earth I am talking about?

Hi all

I remember those record players!

Ioan has now been sick for 3 days.. although hopefully the worst is now over as he's managed to keep down some bread and a feed or two this afternoon/evening... fingers crossed.

He seems really hungry now though, so am wondering if I should give him his dream feed later, or whether that's asking for trouble as it's dairy..? Any ideas?

Sorry to hear people are worrying about jobs - it's been in the private sector for nearly two years now so guess feels more of the norm. Hopefully everyone will get through - at least in the longer term we won't be paying £12m in interest every day!

just looked in the tesco mag, sylvanian family is v expensive. I loved mine but think my dad got rid of it before moving to Tas.

One question, Its normal the dd still has three bottles (6oz) as well as her normal food isn't it? She has one when she's had breakfast, one before her nap in the morning and one before bed. met a new friend yesterday for a chat and she asked whether she still had formula, I said yes and she implied that she shouldn't be having these at dd's age. new friend said she'd put her ds2 on cows milk by 11 mo. surely she still needs some formula? confuuused!

Juicy From what I remember with DS1 who was on formula. He had 2 6oz bottles a day. He was a good eater at around 1yr so only needed morning and bedtime. I would just go with what you think she needs. I don't think you're far off the mark. You can switch them to cows milk at 1yr.

MIL had DH's old FP record player and gave it to DS1 when he was born. It still works. I must get it out of the cupboard. I have both DS' birthdays in the next week or so, they are 2 days apart. We are going out for pub lunch with friends for DS2's birthday and probably just get him a little something to open and lots of balloons! DS2 is having a party. With their birthdays being so close to Xmas, it's an expensive time.

Sorry I've been awol. Work has been busy, had an Ofsted inspection booked which was then cancelled. A teething baby with no teeth to speak of! Sleepless nights are getting worse and I feel generally drained and need sleep so badly.

Sorry to hear of the job cut worries. DH was made redundant but thankfully has walked in to a new job 2 months later. Tough times for everyone.

Belated Congrats DWB. You looked stunning in your wedding dress. Hope the MS isn't too bad for you. Oh and congrats to your DH with the job!

Scarlotti Hope you are managing to get a bit of rest this weekend and I is feeling more himself. How is your hand healing?

SB Congrats on the house! Let us know more.

Sorry if I've missed any news [hsmile]

Fruit Ethan is still toothless! Glad he's not the only one.

Juicy I've just recently stopped bfing morning and night so Ethan currently has three 7oz bottles of formula but I've been thinking about trying to cut out the middle one. Will try to replace it with a bigger afternoon snack. Ethan has had dairy issues so we'll gradually try to replace formula with cows milk but definitely not before twelve months for us.

Scarlotti Hope everyone is back to full health in your home!

PS Got my first antenatal appointment and scan on Wednesday. Quite nervous this time around. I was so naive with my first pregnancy, maybe second time around you're more aware of how precious and vulnerable it all is... Fingers crossed all will be well. Oh, and fingers crossed there will be only one... Being a non-identical twin myself and conceiving whilst breastfeeding makes twins about 12 times more likely. Eek!

Fruit we're about to head into birthday territory here too, 3 days gap for us. DS1 will have a party, and I'll have a little tea party for DS2. Both boys will then have a family party when all the rellies come to visit - they're all quite far away.
Hope you manage to get more sleep soon.

Ioan still not eating much but taking more milk now so hoping we can get back to normal eating tomorrow..? He normally has a bf morning and bedtime, then a dream feed at 10:30 so not that different to you DWB

Fingers crossed it's not twins then DWB!

I've been laid up in bed all day, feeling sick. Have just managed to eat some toast though so hoping I'm now on the mend. Am starting to wonder if I need to disinfect the house!!

DWB Glad C isn't the only one with a gummy smile . He was beside himself at bedtime with teething pain. I'm in for a long night I think. Thinking of you weds

scarlotti Sorry you've not been too well. This house has been full of coughs and colds. I feel like hibernating. How funny we both had our boys so close in birthdays.

C commando crawled for the first time earlier!He was so tired after a couple of mins.