Sept 08 - No no no, ME do it!

[CappuccinoCarrie]

Shiny new thread for Christmas!

becaroo I'm relieved Toby is a size 8. I was starting to think DD was a giant child, she's been a size 6 shoe for a while and judging by the amount she eats I think she's going to have a mad growth spurt in the spring. She fits 2-3 clothes but she still has a toddler tummy and stubby legs. DS used to be like that, now he's a string bean with long legs and little boy knees .

DD has been refusing to go in the pushchair when mum takes them out so she'll change shape now she's walking more. Mean mummy will keep her in the pushchair for some time to come as she doesn't have the patience for 2 dawdling toddlers when she's trying to get things done .

Has anyone planted anything for spring yet. So far I have sowed;
Mini peppers
Parsley
Red onions
Cauliflower (ie: slug food)
Spinach

All on the kitchen window sill to get it going.

meglet The only thing we have sown is the crocuses last year and they havent come up yet - sob! Am V impressed with your veg plans

I get comments all the time re: tobys size. People are always surprised he doenst talk much but then I tell them he is only 2 and they always comment on how big he is Doesnt bother me at all having had the opposite with ds1!

I dont know what he weighs or how tall he is (bad mummy!) I just know he is healthy and happy...he has been on the large side since birth tbh - he was 8lbs 4oz and didnt really lose any weight, just piled it on! He was VERY podgy before he started walking but he walked at 9.5 months. He is in 2/3 clothes but his head is HUGE...seriously! Its 54 cms!!! It was 38 cms when he was born, mind Have just got all his summer stuff and have had to buy age 3-5 hats for him

Hmmm...might measure and weigh him now......

just spotted my previous typo.. I meant to say that DD is refusing to get in the pushchair when my mum takes them out. (Mum is very patient and lets her toddle).

becaroo I'm determined to have a decent crop of veggies this year. I have so many seeds to use up plus lots of pots & bagged compost, not to mention a nicely dug over small veg patch so it would be a shame to not go for it. In true credit crunch style I'm not going to buy any more seeds this year and just use up what I have. I even saved up the lolly sticks last summer for labelling plants.

Have you got patched dungarees a la Barbara Good??? If you are Barbara I'll be Margot and swan around in a turban and housecoat and harrass tradepeople, ok?

Sadly not, I potter about in my old jeans and old uggs.

I was nick-named 'Margot' when I went to Glastonbury in the 1990's as I took a washing up bowl, real cutlery, plates, mugs, wine, parmesan and extra salt and vinegar (as they never put enough on in those festival take away places). How everyone mocked me....... how they all changed their minds when the realised the washing up bowl could be filled with water to keep cans of beer cold .

Now thats how you go camping!

Meglet Robyn is now walking almost all the time. It's them pesky puddles that she likes to jump in.

At last she is all better, pity she passed it on to Lucy. How do you get a 6 month old to take calpol? She just dribbles it out or gags on it

debs Have you tried a syringe for the meds? Or hiding it in yoghurt?

Hope she is on the mend soon x

As usual meglet you have inspired me...we're going to the garden centre this Sunday to buy some more seeds (no idea where the ones I saved from last year have disappeared).

debs glad to hear Robyn's on the mend, second the syringe idea for Lucy, you can push a bit in at a time if she gags on too much.

bec nice to see you back with your old name. How are you feeling now?

starlight yay for dad being on the mend. Boo for statement review. And also v sorry to hear of your CP . My first mc was similar - although was breastfeeding at the time so hadn't had a period for 11 weeks, but got a positive pg test followed by very heavy painful bleed 2 days later. I'd already got my hopes up, browsed double buggies and done the financial sums by that point, so it was v upsetting.

Still feeling v on edge about this pregnancy, and will no doubt have another panic attack at some point between now and the next scan, but hopefully being v busy at work will provide plenty of distraction.

DS cried when we dropped him off at the CM today, I think it was because they had a new baby settling in who was screaming the place down. Hate leaving him like that.

How on earth did Lucy get to be 6 months old Debs. Surely she was only born a few weeks ago!??

I second the idea of a syringe or yoghurt.

Life finally going back to normal after me being in London for a week and then all 3 of us being in Bristol last week (DP and I for work, sharing childcare). Was great but DP and I both knackered!!

Tell me ladies, how do you deal with throwing, screaming and running off?
C is almost 2.5 and still won't come back when we ask her to. We have to take the buggy everywhere as we still use it as a threat if she doesn't behave. I would love to get rid of the buggy but she still refuses to hold my hand for more than 30s and still loves the game of 'i'm running' - she ran off at the zoo on Saturday and just kept going. Cue mad woman, shouting at her DD to 'stop or you'll go in your buggy' (ie me). I haul her into the buggy everytime, but it doesn't work as a threat as she still runs off.
I have no idea when/if she will ever be able to walk beside me on the pavement. We have to use reins anywhere near the road, which she loathes. I have visions of her going to school wearing reins or running under the wheels of the nearest car.

The throwing and screaming are easier to deal with as 'this will pass' (I hope).
It's when she wants something and so for attention will either scream or throw the nearest thing she can grab (or do both). It's quite hard to deal with when we're in a restaurant, especially when the nearest thing to hand is a glass of orange juice in the hotel restaurant!

Meant to say also digi so so so so pleased for your scan and hoping beyond hope that you've cracked it now and have healthy full term pg.

Star good to see things are looking up for your dad. Wish i could say something to help re DS but I can't, so i won't embarrass myself by trying. Thinking of you.

how do I deal with N's stropping off like a teenager?

i take away his chocolate. (plain yogurt I add brown food color too---very long story)

but generally i use a harness...except i left it at my sisters bf house two weekends ago, and they broke up this morning. argh!

Mrsa Sometimes it only feels like a few weeks but that would of been Pacita

Have tried the syringe and she still gags. We are doing BLW again and I am trying to be strict and only letting her feed herself so she hadn't seen a food until she had some calpol the other day.

When Robyn wants to run off we carry her, she hates it. I do use reins sometimes but she is pretty good about holding our hands. when she doesn't want to and we tell her she has to hold our hand she holds hers together.

Ah Debs i was pulling your leg about lucy's age - I knew you'd had her last year, it just seemed like time had flown by!

Eandz like your style re 'chocolate'!

I sound like such a terrible mum sometimes: "if you won't hold my hand you'll have no chocolate cake". I get funny looks but she does occasionally get a malteser if she behaves. Bribery or forcing her into her buggy are the only things that work, and even then not always.

'she's a rum un' as my 91 yr old grandma says. She has a glint in her eye that's purely from me - if i ask her not to do something, she does it anyway to test me. I swear if i told her not to put her head in the lion's mouth, she would anyway (reverse thinking may well work when she's a teenager though!)

Debsif I pick her up, she kicks me, so we have to resort to the buggy. (she is so me!). She is very funny when shje doesn't want to hold hands - she shoves her hands into her pckets.

I know mrsa she is just starting to outgrow her 3-6m clothes and I cannot believe how much she has grown fron the tiny scrap that she was. She has gone fron anorexic looking thighs to michelin tyre legs.

Afternoon. Ugh . Have just dropped T at nursery for session number, and he was more hysterical than he has been so far. I really don't know how long I persevere for before giving up, as I just cannot cope with seeing him like that. I just don't know what our options are if I give up - will he be better in a year's time? Or is the difference between 2.5 and 3.5 not much in terms of things like that? And We just cannot afford for me to continue not earning, so how can we manage with him not in childcare at all? Ugh ugh ugh.

session number 4

Hopefully when I drop robyn off she usually cries and tries to make me stay. I make sure she has a NN on hand then tell her 'I am going now see you soon'.
I know she cries for a few more minutes after I have gone but she is pretty easily distracted and is always happy when we get there to pick her up.
There is a viewing area at our nursery so you can pop in and watch them, can you do that? I always tell them to ring me if they haven't settled, they never do but you could try ringing them after 10 mins to see how he is.

Hopefully if you feel good about the nursery and think it's an environment T will thrive in, then stick with it. Yes, it is hard - C took at least 6 weeks to settle into nursery properly but I agree with Debs - how is he once you have left?
A good nursery will always call you if things are not OK. You may find that as he is older now, he knows the crying gets to you and so does it to let you know that he is annoyed at the changes in his life.

However, this is a gentle way to get him used to coping with change (and there's a big one coming!) and also to build trust between you. If you always smile, wave and tell him you are coming back and then do always come back, he will trust you to be away from him.
I promise you, even as old as 2.5, he will NOT remember the crying but he will remember how people around him dealt with it.

IMO if you have no doubts about the nursery, try to go with this and remind yourself how this is preparing him for big school.
I do remember how awful it is - I used to feel like crying every day but it did get better.
C now tells me regularly she wants to go and live with nana or at nursery

Can DP do any drop offs? C coped much better when DP did drop off and I picked her up. Even if it's only the odd occasion.

[hugs]

hopefully we used to text the CM after 20 minutes to see how A was after we'd left him crying. Was always absolutely fine. And for the first few weeks he'd get a little bit overemotional when we'd pick him up and have a little wibble then too.

mrsa I bloody hope we've cracked it. Glad to hear you're back from all your travels and things settling now. We often have problems with DS's tantrums, but I'm afraid I don't have any advice on the hand-holding thing as DS is pretty good at holding our hands. On the occasion that he isnt he gets picked up - but 99% of the time he's being stroppy when we're out and about its because he's tired. So the buggy or a short jog back to the carseat is usually what he needs.
He has got quite bad at throwing things, but slightly different context - when he's overexcited. If he hurts anyone or damages anything then he gets told off and put on the naughty step. If he can't have something or I need to take something away from him that he really wants then he throws himself to the floor. Which I can ignore, wherever we are.
My Dsis thinks he's really naughty, but she doesn't have kids so she'd think that of any 2 year old. His 'sorry cuddles' are really the sweetest thing though. Be good if he actually said 'sorry' but seems to proud/shy to do that.

Toby is a real handful too and can be quite naughty when in the mood.

My mantra is just "ignore, ignore, ignore" but sometimes you cant i.e. at busy roads etc. He is not too bad woth roads but runs off regularly when at MILs and my mums and I cant catch him.

Toby throws etc when overexcited...its a nightmare when he has spent any time with my dnephews...they really rile each other up!

hopefully Gosh, its hard isnt it? Took my ds1 weeks to settle when he started nursery - although he was 3.3 when he started. am not sure starting later is any better tbh. Might just be a case of persevering unless T is really very unhappy/distressed....are there any other nurseries ot a CM in your area you could check out? Am dreading Toby starting in Sept

Am still feeling pretty rough tbh. May be the gallstones, may just be that I am old and knackered Not sure. Will be glad when the better weather arrives.....

Fraser is a runner, it drives me mad if he starts to run off I stop and say goodbye and walk in the other direction, that normally works, as long as it's not near a road or where he could harm himself.

lolly I have tried that with Toby...he just says "bye mummy" and keeps running!

Little monkey

Becs with you on that one. Nothing works on C, she's like the battery bunny who doesn't stop (the duracell one!).
She has no fear and I am convinced she would just keep on going till she gets to a road and then would continue.
My nephew was similar. Dsis once took him to a deserted beach nr their house and at 3 he ran for half a mile or more without glancing back (her DH was at other end of beach!)

I just get frustrated when I see other kids behaving or I get the anti-rein brigade glares.

mrsC - your post about C running off and grabbing and throwing the nearest thing available could have been written by me!
However there is one walk we do (to and from pre-school) where he behaves like a model child - he even takes hold of my hand well before we reach the path - and I think that's because the walk is routine, familiar and habit.
So, maybe a familiar and habitual walk is the way to start?? It's just a guess though!

Debs - have you tried to slide the syringe along the gum and into the cheek, rather than onto the tongue? When it goes into the cheek it trickles into the mouth and down the throat.

Hopefully - speak to the staff and get their opinion on the situation. They will have experience on how to deal with it.
Also, do you talk to T about nursery? The day before pre-school I always mention to M that 'tomorrow is pre-school' and I mention it again the next morning.
Does he have a bag that he takes? Maybe get him involved in packing it 'oh look, lets pack your nursery bag. What shall we pack in it? What would T like to pack in it?'. Does he have something special in his bag that reminds him of home, so if he needs to he can hold it while at Nursery.
I have found with M that talking about things before they happen really seems to help prepare him, maybe it's the same for T?

eandz - if he's stropping off in a safe environment like your home or a friends home - just ignore him. If it's not safe for him to strop off - diversion tactics are the way to go!