The Final Fruition of the Frolicking Forays for the First Time Frolickers

[Spirael]

We came, we saw, we frolicked.

Now our PFB has arrived and we can begin the stressful befuddled guiltridden exhausting wonderful journey of parenthood!

(Or at the very least we can stop bothering the antenatal bunch until they join us!)

Mindy did get her mouse wheelybug for Christmas, pixie. It has affectionately been named 'Mork', because we're all geeks... She's a little small to use it yet, but I doubt it'll be too long before she gets going.

I'm jealous that Will has teeth incoming, bunnygirl. Mindy still doesn't have any teeth! Though we get occasional movement (I think) when she gets fussy for a day or two, drools a lot and her cheeks are a bit red.

That's great with the cot, WorrisomeHeart! Glad it all went well. :) Glad the jabs went ok too, only one more set and then your little man is done until he's a year! (If it's the same routine as Mindy is under.)

Bedroom action hasn't really got back on track here yet. So none of you are slacking quite as much as I am! We've managed it...once. (Poor DH.) Aside from that one or the other of us has had a cold, and on the occasions where that isn't an issue then I still feel very unsexy with my wobbly tummy and oversized breasts.

I'm starting to wean Mindy off the breast though and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weight will drop off me once I stop breastfeeding, since I don't eat particularly unhealthily!

Worrisome - yay for an easy transition to the cot. We still haven't attempted it yet - anything for an easy life! How was Lochie after his jabs? Only one more lot to go.

Mumnerves I've only just managed to see your photo of Sean. He is gorgeous! All that lovely hair! I am very [benvy] - Tegs started out with lots of dark hair and it all came out. Now she is a little blonde baldie.

Bunny that bouncer thingy looks great. Tegan loves being upright a lot of the time so I might have to invest in one. We already have the Rainforest mobile and the bouncy chair - it is a lovely range.
I think Will will grow in to liking to amuse himself more and more if he is anything like Tegs. Give it a few weeks more and you won't find that you have to entertain him so much. I am very impressed by his rolling though [bshock]. Tegan responds to tummy time by squawking in a worried way and then lying still with her thumb in her mouth. She is more roll-ey lying on her back but still hasn't flipped over yet.

Spirael that makes me feel a bit better on the bedroom front [bgrin] [bgrin] Do you think we will get our Frolicker titles revoked soon for lack of Frolicking?? [bgrin]

Sorry if this post is a bit waffly - [whispers]I am a leetle bit pissed! [bgrin]
Our news is that Tegs has jumped back up from the 2nd centile to the 9th and everyone is very pleased with her -dont have to take her to be weighed again for a month. Hooray! She is now an enormous 12lbs I'm so happy she is gaining again. She will soon be able to get into her 3-6 month clothes and we are only one packet of nappies away from size 3. What a giant!

Woop!

Ooh Spirael, meant to say, how are you getting on with weaning Mindy? Are you stopping BF because you are returning to work? Is it a wrench for you? The idea of stopping has been on my mind because of Tegan not gaining so much weight and I thought formula might be useful to boost her but the thought of not breastfeeding her made me really sad. I wasnt really expecting that as I have been whinging about it quite a lot over the last four months! Never content, me!

I think our frolicking titles are probably ok, as we now have strong evidence of having frolicked.

However we might have to become the pre-second-time-frolickers? No threat of DC2 here yet though, I want a 3 year recovery gap if possible.

Weaning is going well. :) I'm stopping BF for several reasons...

a) Going back to work in April, can't be bothered expressing every single day! And I wanted the shift to be done before throwing other changes, like nursery, at her.

b) I seem to be catching every single darn cold going, I've had two in the last month! I don't know whether my susceptibility is BF related, but by stopping at least I'll finally be able to take some effective medication.

c) Mindy is getting big now, and strong. It's awkward to lay her over my lap, and she can kick and squirm all over the place. She also hasn't got teeth yet (slow poke) but does have very hard gums and a very strong bite.

d) My 32J breasts don't fit into any of my clothes and just look comedic oversized on me, really hoping they'll reduce. I also can't shift the last stone of baby weight, hoping that I can lose it once BF is stopped.

The weaning off is going a lot easier than I thought it would, to be honest. :) My breasts have been a bit uncomfortable as the milk supply has adjusted down, but it's not been too bad.

I was also worried that Mindy would miss it, but to be honest she hasn't cared as long as her tummy gets filled. I'm kinda glad, as it's made me feel less guilty!

I am a little sad about losing the closeness of BFing my baby, but continuing to BF won't keep Mindy a tiny baby. She's getting bigger every day and will grow up, whether I want her to or not. Stopping now before she's really aware will be easier than later down the line, I reckon.

That's great that Tegan is gaining weight well. However if you're worried, have you considered doing mixed feeding? At 4 months your supply will be pretty well established, introducing a bottle of formula each day shouldn't harm it.

Alternatively, if you think Tegan is ready then you could try her with a bit of baby porridge?

bunny that toy is so cool! I've got a hand me down door bouncer but we just got our house painted last year and am a bit reluctant to put that up. Will see if I can buy something similar here! you made me :) that Will's teeth are coming through, I bet he made you proud and he'll be brought up with perfect teeth.

worrisome pleased to hear Lochie is settling in his cot, I'd be half listening out and not be able to sleep, did you just leave the doors ajar or use a monitor?

pixie good to hear Tegan is putting weight on! It's such a worry isn't it? and isn't it nice to have a drink again? I keep eye-ing my red wine and have a glass most evenings which is such a lovely thing after tee-totaling for 9 months :o

spirael I can second the comedy breasts! I've got 34H and after losing the bulk of the pregnancy bump, I just looked like a pornstar, it was so ridiculous, also like you my clothes don't fit anymore :( I'm also sick of wearing a bra in bed, it's so uncomfortable!

I was a brave girl and took Sean to our local Odeon yesterday for the newbies screening. Movie was rubbish but it was bizarre to be in a room full of mums and babies, also once a baby cried the rest joined it which was quite amusing! I would recommend it to anyone if your local odeon does it. Our local independent cinema does the same thing as well which gives me a choice of cinemas!

I've also booked us in for babyswimming on friday and I can't wait! He loves his bath so I'm sure he'll really take to it :)

Have a good week ladies! Got our 6week check and first jabs tomorrow so I'll be a bit :( to see the GP jab my little baby!

Sorry I've been meaning to do a big long catch up post, but I'm going to admit defeat and just catch up with the most recent page, sorry .

Well in us news, DS goes from strength to strength. He's chatting away (well squealing) at us all the time now, he's managed a roll a few days ago and generally seems to be doing well.

Feeding is going well and we're getting out and about lots at the moment.

I'm in the middle of trying to sort out my return to work at the moment, but as with all things it is slow going.

Regarding DS's vomit comet episodes, I'm off to the Docs tomorrow. He's dropped from the 55th to the 45th percentile and the HV seems to think it may be reflux. I'm going to have a chat with the Doctor and see what she thinks and eitherignoreher go from there.

Also bedroom action wise, well I'm back in the saddle so to speak. It's a bit sore tbh at the moment but the more we do it the better it's getting. So really it's onward oh!! Seriously though, we've managed it a few times not loads. I feel like my body has been taken over by DS a little and my breasts are so sensitive at the moment that all I have to do is lean on them slightly and it makes me wince.

They never tell you about that side of BF do they.

In sleep related news, we are in the starts of a sleep regression so it's back to waking every few hours at the moment. I'm not too bothered, I'm not at work so really if I feel too tired I can just slob in the front of the TV.

Anyway, how are all of you?

Mumsnerves For both of our sets of jabs, we've done calpol straight after and before bed time and that seems to have worked with him. How're the nappies going?

Spireal When are you back to work? I was wondering about what happens when we all get round to no.2 (if we're all still around that is). We should totally have a second time frolickers at some point. [bgrin]

pixie Will is definitely becoming more able to amuse himself by the day. He'll quite happily sit in his swing and watch me get on with MNing the housework now.

It's great that Teg's gaining weight again - hope she keeps heading up those percentiles

Will really loves tummy time now he can roll - before that he used to just lie there with his face all squashed onto the floor. He got a Lamaze inchworm toy for xmas which I used to put under his chest to give him a bit of a help, and it only took a week or so before he had strong enough muscles to lift his head right up without the extra support

spirael I'm with you on the comedy boobs front as well. We're moving house at the weekend and as part of packing I had a clear out of my underwear drawer. My pre-pg bras looked soooo tiny in comparison to the industrial sized scaffolding I'm wearing now

mumnerves it seems like you're getting out and about alot. I keep intending to take Will swimming, but never quite get around to it. Mainly because it will involve me putting on swimwear and I don't have any that I don't look like a page 3 girl in at the moment

hermya hope you get DS's vomiting sorted

Hope the sleep regression doesn't last too long. We had a 3 month growth spurt thing last week, and I'm not looking forwards to the 4 month one

I went to yummy mummy bootcamp today. My arms are really hurting from all the pressups I had to do. Fortunately Sadly Will woke up from his nap early and started crying so I had to finish the work out a bit early

I might be awol for a week or so now as we're moving house and my mum and dad are coming over from the uk to meet Will. Hopefully we'll have some more Frolicker postgrads over here when I come back

Big wave everyone! I finally fruited on the 25th and have a beautiful baby boy, Kai, to show for it. Would love to make a real post, but just don't have the energy right now. We've been dealing with too much weight loss and jaundice, and all the worrying has made me a tired mommy. Kai is going to be fine, but we're having to do a good amount of tinkering with pumping, formula and breastfeeding to get things going. I didn't think breastfeeding was that important to me until this all happened. Hopefully we'll make it work- most important is my son's health though.

Also, has anyone had a baby that gets very clingy at night? Kai will sleep away from me during the day, but wants to sleep on me or DH at night. We've tried (in his 3 nights home) swaddling, his bassinet, his swing, a snugglenest, but the only time he'll sleep is when he's on one of our chests or cradled next to one of us. The closeness is wonderful, but I'm afraid one of us will crush him. Any advice or suggestions?

OK, must go rest now......

Congrats on the birth of Kai aly. I know what you mean about not realising how important BFing is to you - I wasn't that bothered about it until I had real problems and then I became determined to make it work.

Hope his jaundice clears up soon - Will managed to go nicely from newborn jaundice to breastmilk jaundice so he was a nice shade of orange for the first 8 weeks of his life.

Will was quite clingy at night for the first few weeks, and still is to an extent - he's much more difficult to put down for his night time sleep. No real advice for you though - I just tried to enjoy the newborn snuggles as it's only a few short months before they're running around and don't want to be held any more.

Aly, so many congrats and welcome to the other side! Kai is such a beautiful name. Sorry to hear you're having struggles wiht weight loss etc, it's such a tough time. Keep your chin up, it will all settle soon.

Have you tried warming his bed with a hot water bottle, or putting a t-shirt of yours/DH's in the bed with him? Just remember, he is very very tiny still, so doesn't really even realise he's apart from you - you can understand why he wants to be near you! Also, is co-sleeping an option? Could you think about a co-sleeper cot?

All is good with us, although poor Lochie has another cold and his nose is all red and stuffy! Poor wee mite, so miserable. He's such a cheery wee thing otherwise, we had the first sustained laughing session on the weekend (as opposed to just one-off giggles) and he has started rolling from his front to his back too! It's amazing all the developmental leaps they make, but sad in a way too!

mumnerves Lochie has actually been in his own room since about 5 weeks - I had terrible insomnia linked to the PND, and having him snuffling and gurgling in the same room as us was making things very difficult. So we have the monitor on and the doors closed (we have a small flat). I think he actually sleeps better in his room too! (Probably not woken by DH's snoring!)

hermya how did the Docs visit go?

bunny aren't the Lamaze toys brilliant? Lochie has the firefly and the pupsqueak and loves them both.

Anyway, am off to bed shortly to try and fight off the cold that my son has passed onto me! I need to be fighting fit for storytime at the library tomorrow! Hope you are all well.

worrisome hope you've managed to fight off the cold

I'm amazed by all the little milestones they reach too, although Will seems to do nothing for 2-3 weeks, have a big feeding frenzy for a day or two, then manage 3 or 4 new tricks all at once. Just to bring a bit of competitive mummy syndrome to the thread, Will first rolled from front to back at 7 and a half weeks.....according to my books that's super advanced

Poor Will got mugged today He was lying on a rug watching me do my exercise class happily sucking on his dummy, when one of the bigger babies crawled up to him and stole his dummy out of his mouth and crawled off with it The other mummy was so but I just couldn't stop laughing - it got worse when I was giving him a bottle of EBM at the end of the class and the same baby tried to steal that too!!

Congratulations on the birth of Kai, Aly! :) I can't really advise about clingyness... Mindy was anything but and couldn't wait to get away from me and have her own space!!

Just to help you feel super smug bunnygirl, Mindy's only just learnt to roll front to back at (virtually) 7 months the slow poke.

Unfortunately I now can't turn my back for a second as she can roll from one side of the room to the other in the blink of an eye. And frequently does... Childproofing just reached a new urgency!

She's well ahead of the game in sleeping and eating at least. Reliably 12 hours at night and just eats the same meals as DH and I during the day, including eating things off a fork! Though she still has no teeth...

LOL about Will getting mugged by the bigger baby. You'll have to start teaching him self defence!

Hope you managed to fight off the cold, WorrisomeHeart! I've picked up yet another one , two days after recovering from the last one. I've had three so far this year and spent more time ill than not! Very annoying, though at least I can take proper meds now and Mindy has somehow managed to avoid them all.

bunny Your mugging story just gave me the biggest laugh. What a thug that other baby is!

Worrisome and Spireal, sorry about the colds. I'm so bad about germs, I really nee to be more conscious about them. Luckily, DH is a PITA about them and is constantly reminding me not to touch things and to wash my hands. It's amazing how many sick, sneezy and coughy people you see when you pay attention.

mumnerves I'm jealous, it sounds like you two are having so much fun. I can't wait till we can do more. We went on a walk today and will go for lunch when DH gets back from his bike ride. A movie soundsexcellent.

Hermya any word from the doc?

Good news from our doctor's appointments. Kai has turned it all around with the weight loss/gain. He initially lost about a pound (more than 10%), but should have it all back by this weekend. Now that my milk is in, he has been awesome. He sleeps well, eats well and is generally charming. The clinginess must have been food related. Hopefully I haven't jinxed us. I'm now just waiting for our first growth spurt to throw a wrench into things!

BTW, DH, despite being rubbish at housecleaning, has proven himself to be an amazing father. It's so fun to watch him do his thing.

Belated huge congratulations Aly!!! Kai is a great name He sounds like a little star and you sound like you have everything sussed already. I'm slightly embarrased to say that Tegan slept in our arms for the first week of her life We took it in turns to stay up through the night holding her!! Naive first timers, I'm sure No2 won't get the same treatment.
Has the GD disappeared now? Are you back on the sweets and orgasms????!

Thanks for the breastfeeding advice Spirael. You and Mindy keep me sane sometimes you know - I was feeling a bit that Tegan still isn't rolling yet at 18 weeks (among other things... more down post) and your post reminded me to just chill out. They all have their own skills. Wowzers at her eating the food you do already! How many weeks is she now?
Have your 32J's deflated yet? That is some serious bustage!! I am currently a 40FF and look like a "dead heat in a Zeppelin race" as Jim Carrey would say.

Bunny - if we are doing the competitive mummy thing then I am backing out gracefully now. 7 and a half weeks FFS!!!! You win! You definitely win!

Hope you and Lochie are feeling better Worri. We have been ill on and off since the beginning of December. Its a real drag especially as I had nothing in the way of colds and coughs for the whole of my pregnancy - it feels like I am making up for all that lost time now, in the worst possible way!

Not doing too great in the Pix household at the moment I don't really know why, I just feel like life is a bit of a struggle at the moment. Breastfeeding is going pretty badly. We are expressing feeds, using a bottle of formula when needed, I'm on the Fenugreek but it still feels like a battle I'm losing more each day. Tegan fights the breast, cries in my face, wriggles all over the place - and this is months after its all supposed to have settled down. We started off so well, I don't know whats gone wrong.

Feeling quite bored and frustrated, and then guilty and worried that something will happen to her as a punishmnet for feeling this way - crazy thoughts I know.
I don't think its PND, I'm just a bit bummed out right now. I expect it will all right itself soon enough. I probably just need a swift kick up the backside!

Ooh look - all round girls?

pixie sounds like you need a few of these

You're not alone with the bored and frustrated feelings - I seem to manage about 2 weeks of thinking that life's great and then have a few days of feeling trapped at home and miserable, then guilty about not loving being a mummy 100% of the time. When I hit that point I command ask DH to take Will out for a morning, and I stay in bed and have some time just for me. I've also started going back to doing some of the things I did pre-pg, like netball, where no-one else has babies as it's nice to talk to people who aren't the slightest bit interested in Will's sleeping patterns etc. for an hour a week

Sorry if I made you feel bad with the competitive mummying. All babies do things at their own rate, and while Will's way ahead of the game on the rolling and now almost sitting front, he's still a bit slow in other areas.

From the limited sample of my friends with babies it seems that boys seem to reach all the moving around milestones early while girls reach the social ones, like talking. TBH I'd much rather have a baby that stays in one place and chats to me than one that is never where I left him

One of the girls in my mother's group has just had similar BFing problems to what you described - her baby suddenly starting fussing at the breast. It turns out that 3 months in she was so complacent about BFing she wasn't making sure her DS was latched on properly so he wasn't getting enough and her supply was reducing. Once she got the latch right again, he was much happier and she actually ended with overfull boobs for a couple of days while her milk came back in.

aly that's great that Kai's gaining weight well. When he does hit a growth spurt just keep telling yourself that all that feeding=more baby weight loss. I've lost about 5lbs each time Will's had a growth spurt. And they're related to brain development as well as size increase, so each time we've had one Will gets a whole new set of skills shortly after

My parents are over from the UK at the moment, so we took Will to the zoo yesterday. It was a disaster of the hugest proportions Poor thing woke up from his morning nap early, but rather than resettling him I decided to get him up as he'll normally doze in his stroller if I'm out for the day. So we set off, and he completely failed to sleep, so he got more and more and more overtired and cranky. I ended up sending my parents off to see the animals while I tried to get him calmed down and off to sleep. In the end he fell asleep in the pram, but as soon as I stopped moving he started to stir, so I just had to dash past all the animals on the way to the exit. By nighttime he was soooooo overtired it took 2 hours to get him off to sleep, and even then he would only sleep on my chest, which he hasn't wanted to do since he was about 4 weeks old.

Hopefully we'll have a better day today.....

Bunny you didn't make me feel bad at all - I felt a vicarious pride in Will rolling as I do for all the Frolickerettes achievements!! I'm just uber-paranoid at the moment as BF is going so badly that I manage to convince myself daily that I am starving Teg, that she is not rolling becuase I am stunting her by depriving her of food (yada, yada, yada I bore myself, I honestly do!)
What a crap day at the zoo Are you enjoying having your parents with you though? Are they totally besotted with their little grandson? And are they better behaved than your MIL?

Wonder where Roses has got to? Roses, get back here and tell us all how J is doing! Are you weaning him soon?

Hermya Nappies are going fab, I love my bamboozles and there's something about them having a big bum from the nappies that I find strangely alluring I have also found myself hunting for nappies all the time especially cute wraps! (saddo that I am) BTW I love the variety in your nick :)

aly I echo Bunny that I too didn't realise how important BF was to me, it's only now after about 6 weeks that I started actually enjoying BF. Before that, I thought how could anyone enjoy it??! Tip a MW gave me WRt sleep, when you're feeding him, put his blanket under the duvet with you so it smells like you and is nice and warm for when you tuck him in and hopefully he'll settle better. Congrats on the weight gain and perservering.
Also, isn't it lovely when DH is just there for both of you? My DH really surprised me too and it has really gotten us closer!

bunny :o and the baby thief! Hope you enjoy having your parents over and good luck with the move!

spirael 12 hours??! am so can't wait for the day when I can get more than 4 hours straight sleep

worrisome I wasn't aware that you had PND, poor you can't imagine how horrible that must be to go through! The baby blues were bad enough for me and I was really feeling sorry at the time for women with PND! Hope it's settled down now.

pixie so sorry to hear you're having so much trouble feeding, please don't feel like a failure, remember even if you end up just bottle feeding it's not the end of the world and you gave it your best. It's so easy to feel like the worst mother in the world, I did when he was losing weight and it's horrible! Do you think it's perhaps wind? Sean used to get lots of wind when he was little and I didn't know it then but he was pulling away and then crying his eyes out. It was a BF counsellor that told me after I started expressing. Perhaps try burping her after she unlatches? Big hugs for you x

I've got in-laws here at the moment Am just so at MIL who is a chain smoker. We told her she had to wait 2 hours after a cig to hold him and smoke outside. She threw a tantrum first day and went to her room to sulk, we suspect she smoked in that room and can't understand why we are making so much fuss! Sean has had a snuffly nose for the past week and was just getting better but got worse since she's been here...I wonder why! Sorry for the rant ladies but I really feel like screaming at her, DH is trying his best to get her to do it our way but thankfully she's going tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a good week!

pixie Will might be able to roll, but he's decided daytime sleep is for wimps (unless it's in mummy's arms....then and only then is it accepptable to take a nap)

I'm sure you're not starving Teg. Have you tried going to your local BFing group or calling one of the helplines for advice? And remember you've done brilliantly to BF her this long

My dad is great with Will, he spends hours pulling faces at him and trying to teach him stuff. So far he's successfully taught him to blow a raspberry

mumnerves I love Will's fluffy little bottom in his cloth nappies too And they're great for withstanding even the biggest poo explosion.

about your MIL smoking in your house. Hope your DH sorts her out. Have a to calm your nerves

Will has now spent 2 nights in his cot. He woke a few times the first night and needed cuddles, but last night was much better. He seems to like being able to spread himself out in there

Hello ALL,

Sorry for being MIA for so long will cite being back home and having a little monkey who didnt like to sleep as an excuse. We didnt have the best start to parenthood, the first month or so was a blur but we are feeling mch better now (read more human).

Will is fantastic now tho, sleeps almost through the night and has a few sleeps during the day now so i am able to do at least a few things.

My BIL visited us for 3 weeks over xmas and now my MIL & FIL are here for 3 weeks so we have been doing quite a bit of tour guiding also.

I have to go back and read all the pages (could take a long time) Congrates to all who have given birth recently. bunny looks like we both have great taste in boys names!

chance welcome back We clearly do both have great taste in names.

How did your PIL like the extreme heat? My parents are over at the moment and they almost melted - they went from 2 degrees at home to 40 degrees here in a 36 hour period

bunny they arrived last Tuesday when it was still 37degrees at 9pm...so they were melting. i have taken them to a few westfields just to break up time in the heat. And of course lots of swimming helps:)

How is your Will coping with the heat? I saw you have put him into the cot now - are you still wrapping him up? I am putting my Will to bed just in his nappy, still wrapping in muslin tho...he is too restless if i dont.

Lucky we have A/C both up and downstairs so we have managed to get some sleep, it has been really horrible.

How long are your parents here for?

I've lost track of how many weeks old Mindy is now, pixie. I just count in months! She turned seven months old yesterday, if that's any help?

And yeah, she's only really mastered rolling in the last week or two, so Tegan has time yet before she's considered the slowpoke of the group.

There was only about a month period that I managed to feed Mindy exclusively on breastmilk, and during that time I had to express a bottle every morning during her nap in order to give her in the evening, during which time she would squirm and fight like you describe. After about a month I gave up and just gave her a bottle of formula each night to supplement the breastmilk.

Once she started weaning it got much better. :) I think she was just tired in the evening, too tired to feed effectively, but also very hungry and not patient enough for the flow of breast milk. Once she was less hungry, having filled up on baby porridge, she got much happier and it all got easy again.

So don't panic, it sounds pretty normal to me! Don't feel bad about giving a bottle of breastmilk or formula, there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, I think it helps to ensure at least one bottle is given each day, it means when you do decide to stop breastfeeding then Tegan won't be so shocked by the sudden change in taste/delivery and will take to it much easier.

The 32J's have deflated a bit now, I think my milk is pretty much gone. :) I'm pleased to report they're not the 'spaniel ears' threatened though. They've still got some substance to them, and pretty much gone back to how they used to be, though a touch bigger. Oh well, means I'd better go shopping for new bras!!

Hee, I don't mind hearing about Will's achievements, bunnygirl. A bit of competition is healthy, after all! Maybe it'll prod my little LazyGirl into moving. Though I think each baby has their own area of expertise, and they'll all have balanced out before school anyway.

I have been particularly lucky with Mindy's sleeping, mumnerves! Hopefully you'll get more sleep soon. :) It was about four-five months when Mindy started reliably sleeping through.

I was going to waffle write some more stuff, but I need to get going for Sing and Sign class! Will try and return later.

ALY congrats on Kai - he sounds normal, not wanting to be away from you. I cant tell you how many nights we stayed up and let Will slepp on us, i found that wearing a baby bjorn made me feel that i wouldnt drop/crush him.

mumsnerves hope your smoking MIL has gone...that is really glad DH is backing you tho

pixie sorry cant help you with the BF, Will was so hungry that he was chewing on me...i tried everything (expressing and giving formula top ups etc) then gave in to the bottle in the end i have found the freedom excellent, and to be honest i realised how much time i was spending expressing etc it was turning me into a zombie. I guess what i am saying is if it doesnt work out there could be an up side for you.

bunny my Will has an inchworm too:) we also went to the zoo in jan - it is too hot to cope with walking up and down those hills with a pram!

Chance - lovely to have you back! Its mad to hear all about your hot weather - I have two jumpers on!!

Thanks for the hug Mumnerves Has your MIL gone now? It must have been a massive relief to get rid of her!

and at "spaniels ears" Spirael!! I'm resolutely NOT thinking about that! I spoke to a BF support worker at Teg's weigh in and she said that diffuculty at 4/5 months is totally normal and to hang on in there for another 6 weeks until weaning starts. So reassurring in a way, but also not that helpful - its all very easy to say hang on in there, but she doesnt have to fight with a hungy baby five times a day I was also thinking "6 weeks - you'll be lucky! The baby rice will be out before the end of the month I think!" I'm starting to read up on BLW and its really interesting, although I'm still freaked out by the idea of choking The paranoia just never stops in this house!

Tegan is now 12lb 10 and holding her centile line nicely which is a massive relief. Took her to Stay and Play today and she exhausted herself completely so I am having a lazy lunch and a quiet MN while she sleeps it off. I've been a bit crap at taking her to baby groups - I'm a bit shy and I don't really have anything to say to a roomful of strangers but I'm forcing myself out as Teg seems to love looking at all the other babies. One mum and I were laughing about how every single mum in the group is probably thinking "Wow my baby is so much better looking than all these potato-heads!" The evolutionary thing really kicks in strong, doesn't it? I'm sure Tegan is the most beautiful baby the world has ever seen but in a few years time I will look back at her pics and go "Oh wow. What happened there??"