June 2009 - terrible twos here we come

[bigcar]

Here we are ladies

congratulations zhen, fab news
take it easy and let everyone look after you!!

Congratulations, what a beautiful name!! And what a birth story!!! Sorry it was an emcs, take your time recovering x

Aww zhen what an incredible birth story. Congratulations, beautiful name too. I hope that you are being well looked after and taking it as easy as possible and enjoying your girls.
Welcome to the world little N

So shall we meet up? When's a good time and what's a good place?
We could wait a little bit for the weather to be nicer, May maybe?

No time for a catch-up unfortunately. Busy/hectic/insane days here. Bugs galore, lots to do (and wash grr) and no time at all. Feeling tired (and grumpy, boo hoo). Hope everyone's well. x

We're off to cyprus for a weeks holiday yay!
Gauchita how old is D now?
Hope everybody is well x

Evening all!

June, when are you off? Or have you left already? D just turned 6 months He's a big boy, sniff Hope you have a wonderful time away, rest rest rest! Ooooh a meet-up would be great! We should start planning one, yes.

Zhen, how are things? Hope you're healing well and resting as much as you can when N sleeps (well, both Ns really ). How's the big sister doing?

Snow, how are things at home these days? I've been thinking of you, hope work is not too hectic and things are well. Any trips soon?

Ninja, DC back in school now so time for warm cuppas, right?

As I said in my last post, we were full of bugs here, unfortunately. First it was M, then D and then DH! Then D again! He was getting better and after two days of feeling more or less well he came down with gastroenteritis He's doing better, fortunately, but I won't say anything for a few days... DH is already better so that's good.

Dbro is leaving on Tuesday, boooooo hoo so we're making the most of tomorrow and Monday. I'm going to miss his company, he's such a sweetheart.

We're thinking of facing potty training (with M) when my brother leaves, so it should be an interesting week

Oh, and I joined a course to become a breastfeeding peer supporter in our area

Hope everyone's enjoying the weekend. They say it might snow here tomorrow!!

Waves!

Hi girls, after 2 days at home, back to the airport. At least only Europe this time and only 2 days. Finally have enough frequent flyers for lounge access, so going to take advantage of that today.
gauchitahas m started a new nursery since you moved?things sound like constant go go go. You doing ok? I'm so pleased you had a fantastic time with your family. Will your mum come later in the year?
zhen how are you and then N's? How u feeling post CS. Hope u not trying to do too much and have some good pain relief. How is littlest N doing?feeding going ok? Hope everyone is rallying around. Did the builders finish?hope your impending delivery hurried them along.
june Cyprus! Enjoy the warmth and sunshine. And wearing a bathing suit with pride. And yes to meet up. May onwards calmer in this house.
ninja DH back to work?how things in yoyr house?wondering about having more kids,were you and dh equally keen? I am thinking about more but DH is v v happy with two.

Z is walking, occasionally sleeping through and just stopped BF. My baby is a toddler now. Not sure if it is all those reasons that caused these feelings about more kids.

Must post before I lose this

Oh and gauchita hope your house of germs feels better soon.l left my snotty babies at home. And wow to the BF counsellor course, I think you would be a wonderful support.

Hello everyone,

June hope you are enjoying your holiday and that it is nice and warm in Cyprus for you.

Gauchita sorry to hear about house full of bugs, can't believe that D is 6 months old already, it goes so fast.

Ninja how is everything going in your busy household?

Well we have settled in to life with two children, 'lil N' feeds and sleeps really well, I am so lucky her older sister was a nightmare for the first few weeks! Big N loves her little sister she holds her hand and talks to her and has helped me change a few nappies already I am on the mend, but over did it the other day walking to local park so am taking it easy.

Drama yesterday as DH had an allergic reaction to anti-b's he was taking for an infection and collapsed on the toilet floor. Had to phone for ambulance, but couldn't go with him to hospital for obvious reasons so his brother and dad went to A&E. My brother had to come over and sit with me until my mum could drive up from Dorset as I still can't do lots of stuff post-surgery. They gave DH oxygen and IV drip and wanted to keep him in, but he refused as he was worried about me being on my own so he came out last night. Got new anti-b's today and strong pain relief, but got to keep an eye on him because infection quite advanced and if anti-b's don't work he is at risk of developing septicaemia which has freaked everyone out as that is what his mum died of.

Never a dull moment here.

In other news, builders are coming in again in two weeks so I am off to stay at my aunt and uncles place with my mum for 5 days while they finish the work. Not really looking forward to uprooting N&N, but they have a lovely house with a massive garden so big N can run around with my mum outside and tire herself out.

Bloody scrolling on laptop, how could I forget you snow? Wow Z walking and no bfeeding, she's a big girl now :)

I am already feeling broody again, DH thinks I am mad! He is amenable to a third, but wants me to himself for a while before any talk of DC3. I would wait anyway having had another EMCS, am thinking 4-5 year gap between lil N and potential DC3. Always wanted 3 kids, DH has 4 including our 2 so is a bit more reserved about another.

morning all

zhen, fab news on good sleeper and feeder your two Ns sound lovely, does little N look like big N? Hope the remaining building work stays on time, not my idea of fun with littlies, even if your not there! Hope dh is well and the new abs kick in quickly and do their job. And no more overdoing it

snow, wow time flies, how lovely to have Z off and on the move I'm sure this is the time our bodies are primed to be broody again when our smallest is more self sufficient. It depends on which dc you're talking about but dh has never been against the idea of more dcs, we've never had a plan of, we'll have 5 dcs, it's just worked out that way, if that makes any sense! And at the time, they were all going to be the last one pregnancy and birth is not my favourite bit!!

gauchita, hope everyone is feeling a bit better now. Aww, I bet it's going to be hard having your brother leaving, sounds like you've had a lovely time having him staying! E still isn't properly dry, I'm leaving to the easter holidays to really get him dry, too much running around atm with the other kids. Will save a fortune on nappies!! Breastfeeding peer supporter sounds fab, you'll be great

june, hope you're having a fab holiday, I'm very it's freezing again here this week, could do with a lot bit of sun

dh went back to work last week [yay] he was driving me nuts so things are back to our usual routine now thankfully. E is loving preschool, keeps asking to go on non preschool days, can't wait until september when he can do 5 mornings, although he may not be quite so keen then, we'll see. They're referring him to speech therapy, so we shall see what nappens next, hopefully not too long to wait.

meet up sounds good as does waiting until the weather warms a little any ideas on where to meet/what to do? Do weekends suit better?

waves to all

Marking place for later!

Evening ladies,

Ninja, glad to hear DH is all better now and you are in peace M loves nursery, she'd be there every day if she could, but we'd be broke Roll on September, huh!? When's E being seen for his speech therapy? Is it related to him having a "glue ear" in the past?

Zhen, oh so happy to hear things are going well N sounds like a placid baby. It's great when second ones are like that, isn't it? Wow, DH's reaction to his ABs must have been a fright for you all! Hope his new ones are better for him and he's all OK now. Take it easy, lady

Snow, awww bless her how she's grown! She's a proper toddler now How was the work trip? Are you resting enough, Snow? Work sounds hectic these days for you. How are things at home with DH?

June, still in Cyprus? Hope you're all enjoying the sun and warm weather! Oh, and the 8-foot bed

Skillbo, how are things?

Bugs have left, thank the lord. D came down with gastroenteritis in the end and weaning has been postponed. He looked all better on Monday so I gave him a little bit of cheese and a finger of toast only for him to start throwing up again at 10pm Poor him I felt so guilty! So I've waited all this week to pass and will probably try again on Monday. Hope that's enough time.

Hard days over here with M. Jealousy has struck again all of a sudden and she's acting so differently. She whacked D on the head with a wooden spoon on Tuesday night, completely out of the blue. I almost died. He cried so much and I with him There's no sharing at all going on unless we talk to her, etc... so hard. She's coincidentally gone back to not telling us when she wants a poo We were going to start officially potty training this week when my brother left but now I'm not so sure. I think everything is related and until she feels better/less jealous/more confident I'm not sure it's the best idea.

I'm exhausted if I'm honest. But more so because of this new behaviour, it drains me. We've been discussing the possibility of an au pair but I'm not sure... I don't know what it's going to be like living with someone else at home, someone you don't know and who suddenly will be here all the time.

On a practical note, does anyone know how much is an acceptable expenditure on a birthday present for a 3 year old? Birthday parties have started for us and I need the protocol!

Sorry for the essay, hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Waves

Hello everyone,

I'm afraid I've been very busy these days and never any chance of getting on Mumsnet, but just wanted to come on and say 'hi'. It's been wonderful chatting online over the past few years and thank the lord for Mumsnet!!! However, it's also nice to be living a slightly more carefree life with an almost 6 year old and a 2 3/4 yr old.

I really do not know how mothers 'in the olden days' used to cope without all the advice and hand holding. I didn't know about Mumsnet when my daughter was born and remember worry all night about things that now I would just check online. She was relatively easy though, F has been a nightmare so I would have gone mad without you all.

I've just been out to NZ for 2 months to spend some time with my parents, and dp and I got married after a 5 year engagement, on 31st December which was absolutely lovely.

Now I'm starting up a little business so hopefully life will get very busy soon. I will try to pop on, once in a blue moon.

Lots of love to you all and all the very best with your babies etc.

Venetian

morning all

gauchita, sounds like a rough week! Don't worry too much about M, this is another of those, this too shall pass, things she is 2 so sharing is still going to be a bit hit and miss as is toileting. Unfortunately the hitting is a fairly common thing as well, I know it's really not nice when D is so young but I predict this continuing for around the next 20 years to a greater or lesser extent As for birthday presents, it really depends on the group of people, but once you get into the mass round of everyone inviting everyone else in class type parties then around £5-10 is fine otherwise you'd end up bankrupting yourself or getting a second mortgage to fund it all! The nice thing about turning 3 is that there is a much larger range of stuff to choose from with the added bonus of knowing craft stuff generally goes down well if you get a bit stuck for ideas or don't know the child well.

dd3 has chicken pox, so just wondering when E will get it too. It's going round E's preschool so slightly strange that dd3 has got it first not quite sure how that has worked out

waves to all

oooooh, cross posts venetian, lovely to see you again and massive congratulations Good luck with the business start up too

Heya!
venetian how lovely to hear from you again we were wondering what had happened to you. Good luck with everything and congrats on the wedding :)

gauchita sounds hectic, can u have some kind of au-pair who doesn't live in? Or share an au-pair with someone else somehow, might be worth calling a couple of agencies and see how flexible it can be.
Presents for 3yo i'd get a pretty necklace or bracelet from accessorize or a toy car or plane or digger ( what i it about diggers?????) or fire engine or a box/set of craft things (you know, feathers, beads, glue stickers etc)

ninja does that mean dh is better now? Sorry to her dd3 has chicken pox, staying in is a drag. it's not fun, but at least it's out of the way (until E gets it!)
We're still in Cyprus and it's 4am and im wide awake, i had a decaf coffee and i think they couldn't be bothered and just gave me a normal one and i can't sleeeeeeeeeep!! On the plus side i've packed everyting!! (leaving tomorrow.)
The weather had been cold!! There was snow when we went to the mountains which was lovely. We did lots of swimming with C, so cute with her armbands. She is fearless, jumps in the water (to us) and swims/floats back to the steps on her own. :D
Looking forward to going back home an back to training, i had a fantastic massage out here and my body feels really relaxed.

Zhen and snow hope you're well!!
Im goin to try and sleep again otherwise i'll be a mess tomorrow and i need to keep up with c at the airport and for the flight.
(she was really good on the way here and all week actually fingers crossed she doesn't have a massive meltdown tomorrow to make up for it;))

Morning all!

June, oh how annoying to be awake on the day before you leave! Hope the journey back was smooth. How lovely that C enjoyed the pool

Ninja, I know I know, this too shall pass How's DD3? Hope the pox has cleared by now. It's doing the rounds in the whole country, I think... You were the 4th or 5th case I heard of in the week.

Venetian, so lovely to hear from you (I'll reply to your PM today, I promise ). And huge congratulations! What a fantastic way to start your new year All the best in your business venture!

Snow, are you at home or travelling again? Hope things are well.

Zhen, how are things with little Ns?

A slightly better week this week. I'm almost certain once you get stuck in the cycle everything seems worse (they scream, you raise your voice scream louder, they get upset, you feel awful, etc etc). So we started by making a few changes ourselves and luckily M started responding. We've postponed official potty training until further notice

A bit concerned DS seems to have lost total interest in food after the gastro A few days before he caught it he had wolfed down toast fingers, grated cheese, banana. He's been fully recovered for two weeks now and I've offered the same things and nothing! He maybe picks them up but as soon as he puts them in his mouth awful faces appear and he chucks them away. Should I do something? Should I wait and offer later on? I was set to do BLW instead of purees like last time, btw.

M starts her swimming lessons this Sunday!

Oh, M calls, D cries, got to go. Back later!

morning all

june, yes he's finally back at work after driving me nuts for 3 weeks at home Your holiday sounds great, hope the trip back wasn't too stressful.

gauchita, good to hear things are improving with M, I loved that pic you put on fb, all those lovely dark curls. D certainly doesn't look like he's in any danger of wasting away he's such a sweetie, you're obviously doing something right food wise, he looks so grown up now. Carry on with blw, there's no reason not to, he'll decide he wants to eat again soon, I'm sure M will help with showing him how yummy his food is. Yay for swimming, let us know how it goes

dd3 is back at school now, she seems to have only got a small dose of chicken pox so has been fine, just waiting for E to come out in spots! E made me laugh yesterday, he'd sneaked down to the end of the kitchen while I wasn't looking and found ds1's nerf gun, I asked him who said he could get it, dd2 said apparently (she hadn't) so next it was dd3 (who wasn't home from school) and then he looked a little puzzled as he couldn't figure out who to blame next

does everyone else have the lovely sunny day we do? I always feel so much better when there's a bit of blue sky and sun around, just not loving the blossom on the trees so much

waves to all

Hi ladies,

June, all the best on the buggy walk today!

Ninja, yeah, he doesn't look underweight I can't actually believe how chubby he is, only on BM. You (and the ladies on the BLW site) were right, he's the one that decided when he wanted his food again. He started gnawing on carrot sticks, broccoli and even a raspberry yesterday! He looked so cute, I'll update a pic on FB. I'm not crazy about the mess but I'm coping I bought one of those long sleeved PVC-type bibs at IKEA, best thing ever! Glad to hear DD3 is back at school now. Any day for the pox to catch up with E, I guess. Hope it doesn't bother him too much. How's DD1 doing? How cute E blaming everyone at home and then running out of scape-goats

Off to a birthday party today at the museum and then to IKEA to buy a mattress for D to join M in her room We're going to try and see if it works. He's been falling asleep next to her when she goes to bed (because she wants me to stay with her until she falls asleep), and then wakes up at around midnight. He doesn't seem bothered at all I am the one who's sad so we'll see. M has an IKEA bed that can be single or double so he'd sleeping next to her

Hope everyone has a nice Saturday. Any plans for tomorrow? We're still thinking

Happy mother's day, ladies!!

happy mothers day juners

gauchita, he's gorgeous and he's supposed to be chubby you were brave heading off to ikea How was the party? Dd1 is on placement in a nursery at the moment and is finding it rather knackering, only another couple of weeks and then she's back for easter and a break! She has another placement after easter in a special school, she'll find out then what hard work is but she's still enjoying it and can't wait to be qualified. Judging by fb she's also making the most of the social life too!

no plans for today, other than visiting mil, E and dd3 made me a lovely card each at school so that was lovely and dd2 and ds1 bought me chocolate so that's me happy will try to get dd1 on skype later but she's got an assignment due in tomorrow and as usual has left it to the last minute.

hope you're all having a good day

heya!

Hope you all had a happy mother's day, pretty uneventful here which was good compared to last year's chaos that was 15 of us back at ours for lunch!

venetian it was good to hear from you, how is setting up the new business going?
gauchita how is everything? dh and his job all going ok? D and M are looking so cute on your fb pics :D
snow Are you travelling at the moment?
thegoose are you bracing youself for easter? It must be nice to have everyone back home (for a little bit ;)

I think the house feels pretty empty sometimes and I do want a sibling for C but I still feel (very strongly) like I would not be able to cope with another pregnancy, birth and work straight after
Unfortunately this has come up a lot in recent social outings (not that we go out a lot, at all) and I feel like a total wimp telling these women who have managed 4 kids, and breastfed them all that I can't face a second one.

C has been ill this week, chest /throat infection, she was back at nursery this morning for the first time this week.

Any tips for making C take her antibiotics? I put it in juice and that was fine, until she overheard me say that I was putting it in juice and now of course she doesnt want juice anymore. It's bright orange so can't put it in her milk (which she hardly ever touches anyway.) We had to threaten her with going to the doctor if she wasn't taking it (I tried everything else under the sun and nothing worked, then I got all worked up about it because we had to leave the house pretty soon and dh took over and managed to get her to take it (with the dr threat).

Argh, gotta go for now, talk later!

Morning ladies,

June, hmm tricky one. M's so used to taking medicine by now (I think I forgot to tell you all, she's being tested for allergies, poor little thing) that she takes them as if nothing. When she used to refuse them, what worked for me was telling her that it was going to make her better, that she wasn't going to be sick/be hot/feel poorly once she took it. Could you fill up the syringe with orange juice and pretend it's your turn and then tell her it's her turn? Maybe the role play works Sorry if you've already tried this, ignore me.

WRT another baby, June, don't feel pressure. Every single family is different, with regards to numbers, timing, etc. If atm you don't feel like you could cope with two then you can wait a little bit longer. I'm still in awe of ladies like Ninja, as some days I struggle with these two Logistics is what kills me many times, but you get on with it, I'm not going to lie... you have to I don't think we'll have another one, though. Being completely on our own with more than two children, plus two working parents just seems like too much. In a few years maybe I'll think differently, but now? No way Jose!

Ninja, glad DD1 is well and getting on with things The party was nice, M had a lovely time. It was at the museum and unfortunately they made them go downstairs to look for "Toby" the tiger... that did NOT go down well. Poor man in the tiger costume They all freaked out and cried their eyes out. We went back upstairs and they did some crafts and had some food, which they enjoyed much more.

D has a chest infection, boo hoo. On ABs atm (the orange one as well, June and he hates it too ) So we have a poorly baby at home. DH went to IKEA with M yesterday after work to get D's mattress and new bedding for M and once he had done it all he realised he had left his wallet at home So he had to leave everything and go home. Aaaaaanyway, I guess we'll try again this weekend

Hope everyone's well.