June 08 - 79 days (and counting) til Christmas, has Deb started her shopping yet?!

[KnittingisbetterthanTherapy]

Thought we should update the thread!

Liam was very nearly Michael, except that both our closest friends at the time were called Michael and it would have been too confusing; then I had Will and Liam as my shortlist and weirdly didn't think of William till months later! Daniel is lovely too and all the diminutives of it work really well, depending on their character - Dan, Danny, all lovely and all signal different sorts of people to me somehow.

Lol sybil, you should see some of the completely illiterate bonkers spellings we get in school nowadays . Have I told you about the Mykel my friend used to teach? I kid you not!

We love the name Michael - although I think quite a few people were v about it initally. I love that it is classic but not too common anymore- we have two at school, but out of a school of nearly 500 kids that's not too bad! Whereas poor old Alex . . .

Lol at your son and school - I would get your teacher to have a stern word with him personally and tell him it's not on. You'd be amazed how much more seriously a lot of kids take their teacher's word rather than their parents!

Dewin told me about a kid called Channel (prounounced Chanel!)

Neenz - I need you! I have a shortlist of two buggies. Mountain buggy or Nipper?? Mountain buggy is double £ but has a gorgeous pram attchment although that would only last 4 months. Nipper is cheap and light but less robust/comfy. Help!!

DGIT Can't have an Emma, it's my sister's name, and Emily is super popular round here, though also lovely.

To go back a bit, we are also Strictly a Strictly family, but we record xfactor have a short break at the end of strictly then watch, have normally caught up with the live show before it finishes by the time we've fast forwarded through the adverts and silly recaps etc!

C is getting her first haircut today! Our neighbour has a hairdresser who comes to the house and charges a child's age to cut their hair, so will only be £2 - bargain. she's going to give me a ring once her colour is on so I can nip next door with C, no sitting about getting bored waiting. hopefully this will make it stress-free...

meant to ask, bugger and DGIT how was room on the broom?

I'm thinking Amber's names are Eloise and Martina and I was the one to diss both of them. Sorry!!!

DH has Daniel in his top 5, so you're on the right lines Knitting . I was considering last night the MNettiquette of using Neenz's name though. I think it's fine seeing as we have never actually met and are unlikely to. However after the hoo-haa with Neenz and her SIL over Daniel. I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of her.

there's the call - we're off next door!

I think I told Dewin that story! (Apologies if it wasn't me Dewin!). She was registered at the same time as one of my friend's sons and the registrar was telling my friend that the parents had said "we want to call her Chanel" but they spelt it out C-h-a-n-n-e-l . Apparently registrars aren't allowed to say "that's not how you spell it and it is a bloody stupid name anyway" .

I know your question is directed at Neenz, but personally I wouldn't go for the nipper for twins. The reclined position becomes a problem as the children get older and this would be a problem for longer with twins. One of my twin mums started off with a Nipper and sold it for a Mountain buggy when the kids turned one because they hated being constantly reclined.

Lol spider !

Good luck with the haircut Biscuits!

I want to put Michael down for a sleep but he's showing noooo signs of being tired - little pickle!

No sign of a nap here either Knitting. S is hard to put down in bed for a nap now, so I usually either time a car journey, trip in the buggy or a lie down on the sofa with a dvd at around nap time. However, I've just been told 'no toy story mummy'. Here's hoping he changes his mind soon as the weather is awful here today.

Biscuits Room on the Broom was fab. Unfortunately we didn't get to time the boys naps well - B slept through half of the show and S slept through most of lunch! We went to pizza express afterwards. It was lovely to catch up on the chat with Bugger.

Knitting as you may have gathered I'm with you on the spelling, however, MN has made me a bit wary of being to judgey re: name spellings in case it's a foreign spelling. So now when I see Mykel I think, ooh, maybe some Eastern European type spelling. I jump straight into my judgy pants at Channel though.

It's funny re: the registrar not being allowed to comment on spellings etc. I had a right old hoo hah with mine over the spelling (and indeed the content ) of my job title. I do think that they should be allowed to check the spelling and point out the 'conventional' spelling of a name before going ahead. Some people deliberately choose 'unique' spellings, but for some people I think it's generally that they don't know.

Ooh, request for Toy Story. Fingers crossed for nap...

OMG, Knitting - we've got to hope that your registrar took over after my friend the midwife delivered baby Channel, because midwives aren't supposed to say "that's not how you spell it and it is a bloody stupid name anyway". Otherwise there's two of them.
Same midwife also delivered the twin girls, Shakira and Britney. Both lovely names and should be on Amber's wishlist.

A friend of mine with a difficult name - her dad is Spanish but she was brought up in Port Talbot - had nothing but problems growing up, so when she had her daughter she went for a super-straightforward Welsh name - Mari (pronounced marry, so I guess not so straightforward in England...!). (Ooh, and Hardandsleazy Mari's second name is Seirian. Really unusual and lovely. Is it H&S?) Anyhow, she has a gorgeous little girl called Mari, who was dressed in pink, but she has no hair. And at the postnatal group someone asked what her daughter was called, was told Mari, misheard but didn't flinch and insisted on calling her Barry throughout, despite my friend's protestations...

Knitting every time I hear you mention Dan I have to smile. I think if you have another one it will be a girl. And I'm a witch. No vibes on Spider - I thought boy but not sure why. Possibly only because I'm used to seeing Spider with a girl.

I'm waffling, I'm supposed to be writing an exam paper so off I go...

Unconventional spellings - DH and I were discussing this the other night. Go for an unusual spelling and you can be guaranteed a place on X-factor.

I've stuck T in her cot in the hope that she has a nap (although she never has daytime naps). I'm waiting for a skype from a friend who I think has bad news to tell me and I want to be able to give me my full attention.

Rolf, hope you're wrong and your friend has good news rather than bad!

I spoke to my friend last night and she's undergoing IVF for the 4th time, she's v excited to have had an embryo implanted this week.So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it works this time, she would make such a lovely Mum.

My only contribution to the name chat is Eleanor which I love but didn't get to use.

I had a mammogram this morning as part of a routine health MOT here, which is good for my age, would be waiting another 9 years in the UK.Everything was OK apart from the fact it was a very young man manhandling my boobs and squashing them unflatteringly flat!Then I waited another hour for an ultrasound scan too, by that time I was late getting back to the car park and got a 20 Euro parking fine.

How weird Dewin - the incorrect spelling of Chanel must be sadly more common than we realise. As must the awful use of the name for a girl!

If I do have a girl next time I have only one name I want - has been mentioned but I'm not telling you which one!

Deb, v impressed at the mammogram at your yourhful age - as you say, in the UK you'd be waiting years. Glad all ok, but bugger about the fine. Hope your friend is successful - the pain of IVF is still there, although slowly fading, so I have an idea of how she is feeling right now .

Rolf, really hope you're wrong .

DG, all the "don't be so judgemental" bollocks on MN winds me up a treat - it's one of the most judgemental places I've ever been! (This thread excepted of course!) What they are saying is you can only hold the same judgemental opinions as the dominant minority do or else you're wrong!

She has a huge tumour on her spleen and has to have it removed asap. They'll be able to tell her then if it's malignant or not. She's a single mother and moved to the far east a few weeks ago so she's all alone out there .

Oh god Rolf - that is horrendous.

Oh Rolf, how awful, let's hope that the results are good when it's removed.Has she got any support at all? What will happen when she
has to go into hospital?

Hey Knitting, just read your post again, sounds very pro baby no 3!

I think her ex-husband is going to come over for a few weeks which will make things much easier for her and for their child. She'll be in hospital for about a week and convalescing for a further 2 weeks. She's had the shittiest year imaginable and I just can't imagine this is happening to her. We're hoping that once her spleen is removed, that will be the end of it. But she won't know for a bit. And it's all happening in a language she doesn't speak (literally, not just medical-speak. The doctor had a dictionary in front of him).

Oh Rolf - how awful for your friend x

PS KNitting I read about the incline on the Nipper on MN reviews but the lady from twins club said pretty much everyone has one! It won the M&B Gold award too. The only thing stopping me is the carrycot and the fact Neenz really rates the MB!

Oh Rolf, your poor friend.

So sorry about your friend Rolf, that's rotten.

About 10 minutes ago I saw what looked like an airplane on fire fly across the sky. I had to ho in the garden to look properly in case it was distorted through the glass of the window. Maybe it was a UFO! I hope it wasn't a plane on fire

Amber the mountain buggy is by far the best designed buggy from a handling perspective (bike geek husband here got very involved) so if you can afford it, I'd recommend it. (We've the single).

Rolf so sorry about your friend :(

amber are you checking the news?