June 2009 - terrible twos here we come

[bigcar]

Here we are ladies

On our way to the farm. Not much reception already

Just wanted to say

Happy birthday E!!! (ninja's E, that is)

Hope he has a great (and super sunny) day! Paddling pool celebration I think

Don't think I'll be able to post from there so talk to you on Friday!

We really need to start the new thread. Didn't make it to 1000 but at least we are 'well' into the 900s

gauchita, thanks, he's had a lovely day so far Hope you have a fab week away!!

Sorry to be absent another mad week away and now floored with the flu. Just wanted to pop on and say a big Happy Birthday to E ninja. I hope he has had a wonderful day.
Hope to resume normal service soon.

Hello and happy belated birthday wishes to E xxx great news about your new nephew too - healthy size! Any name yet?

Must go to bed - sorry for the post and run x

A quick hello in passing. I'm off to the holiday page to get some ideas on campsites for a lastminute.com campervan trip.

Hope you're all good. Terrible twos ended for us about a month ago when my son turned into a charming joy! He is chatty, smiley, not nearly so destructive and has taken to potty training like a duck to water. Very proud of poos and wees. It's hard to take in the difference!

June - how much weight did you loose in the end. And how long did it take? I was off to Weight Watchers this morning as just can't get motivated to loose it.

Got to pick up at school soon, so just a very quick note. What have you all been up to?

vene x

Hello everyone :)

A belated happy birthday to E! Glad your nephew arrived safe and sound Ninja, congratulations to your bil and sil :)

Enjoy the farm Gauchita :)

Sorry to hear you have the flu Snow, hope you feel better soon.

Hope you got your lie in Skillbo, they are like gold dust round here as big N has started waking before 6 some mornings due to the light.

Hi Venetian lovely to hear from you, glad to hear that terrible two's is passing. Big N never really did the tantrum thing, but she does sulking and it's not fair very well instead.

All well in Zhen household, saw my mum yesteday and went to lovely playground near Thames river which is in a sort of field and makes you feel you are not in London at all.

It was a welcome break. I have spent most of this week helping a young, vulnerable, 19 year old homeless boy find somewhere to sleep. He used to be in care and the social services and housing were both saying that it was the other one's responsibility to house him, while they were arguing they left him sleeping rough in parks His family don't care either

Little N has been dragged around to various council offices as I am breastfeeding. Luckily big N had her Nana and Dad to play with, I have been too tired for much playing. I am going to relax this weekend and avoid the Jubilee madness by the Thames as I don't fancy getting stuck in a crowd with two little ones.

wow zhen finding someone a home sounds ike quite a mentally draining thing to have to do. It must be quite frustrating when the system lets you down like that :(
We went to central london for the jubilee but couldn't get near the river for the roads were closed due to too many people, went to see the flotillas up in Canary wharf which was nice too, but it was raining and we had to pretend the queen was in one of the boats for C?
The crowds were not too bad were we were (trafalgar square) I think the rain put many people off.

venetian I lost 8.5 stones. It's actually been 2 years this week. I lost most of it in 1 year, my weight has been maintained since around september last year.
The first year I took up exercise and started watching my diet, saw a nutritionist a couple of times to go over food groups, portions, and supplements to take (I was low in iron etc, she suggested vitamins and something to help with digestion). I took on a trainer and did loads of cardio mainly for a year, joined classes (body combat, body pump, viper, box fit, spinning, whatever was happening at the gym.)
I signed up for a couple of jogs and races for charity, 10k, which gave me a specific goal to train for. Also sis a half marathon in september last year. Got a new trainer who is more into bodybuilding and now I do a lot more weight lifting and gymnastic based stuff. Nutrition and eating clean has taken over my life, it's so so so important, it's 75% nutrition, 25% exercise and exercise is the fun bit.
Are you on Facebook? or do you want to send me your email? I can send you a couple of pictures of what I looked like after C was born, then on 01/01 of this year, and I just made another progress picture of my in a swimsuit last summer and me in my bikini this summer. I'm very proud of it. (but i'm not sure about posting it on Facebook yet, it is stupid because loads of people will see me on the beach. .

It's hard work but it can totally be done. I'm not finished yet because I have the dreaded overhang belly still but I have seen pictures of people with the same belly and it has gone completely, it just takes time so I carry on.

I wish my toddler was over the terrible twos, C is quite demanding and it's fine when I have time but work is stressful at the moment and that makes it harder to cope with I think. It should all be better by august, then C goes to preschool full time, it's just bad timing :S

snow sorry you're unwell. how are the children? dh's job? Were you looking for a nanny a while back?
I got your pm thank you! I can see now you sent it ages ago I'm so sorry?I'm not sure why but I can't see them on my phone on the mn app and I don't log in with my computer very often.

skillbo* alloverit use to be ineed, are you on Facebook? I can't remember.
Who else is on Facebook?

gauchita hope you're good, I keep up loosely with Facebook, it's easier than logging in on mnet as Im on there quite a lot. the pics of the children are very cute :D

goose happy belated birthday to E :D hope all the children are well, is dd1 coming back for half term?

We're off to dubai on friday for a few days, I cannot wait. We've been saving air miles for ages and upgraded our flight to business class on points which is REALLY exciting :D

Marking place!

Man, I need more hours in the day! Hopefully I'll come back tonight for a catch-up.

Hi ladies,

Right, let's catch up!

Could we post the dates of the Juners' birthdays? I remember some but not all M's is on 14/6

Snow, hope the cold/flu has left the household and you're all better now.

Vene, when are you off on holiday? Glad the terrible twos have gone! Yay! We don't seem to have tantrums here, but we have a very opinionated little girl at times We've been following the "How to talk" approach for over a year now so it's been gradually growing and bearing its fruits Although at times I'd like to click my fingers and disappear, of course

June, I guess you're all in Dubai now, yay! Hope you're enjoying the lovely weather and the heat! Over here no joy yet... fingers crossed for next week. Oooh business class, lucky you, hope you enjoyed that, I did that twice and it was brilliant. Agree re. FB, it's so much "quicker" to keep up to date with everyone there. But we're still going strong, ladies, over three years now!

Zhen, how are you all? Poor boy Did you manage to find a place for him?

Right, we should start a new thread, shouldn't we? Titles? Ideas? I'm useless at this stuff.

Farm holidays were fantastic. Glamping in all its splendour but it was great. No fridge and no electricity but two bedrooms, a loo, running water and a stove so not bad M loved the animals and all the big space to run around with no limits. There were other families as well so she made some "temporary friends" during our stay as well. It's great how we could relax a bit as we knew she was busy enjoying herself with other children ha! Definitely my idea of camping so we'll certainly do it again

I have a poorly boob again, apparently. A blocked duct right at the very end, in the nipple, which hurts like a b*gger. It's the same breast every time, and doctors won't do anything about it until I stop breastfeeding D So I was told to just suck it up, basically, if I wanted to continue BFing.

Oh, any ideas on how to distract a little boy during nappy changes? D discovered his willy about two months ago now but only this week the whole "oh, I can reach during a nappy change as well!"-thing came up... and when changing a pooey nappy it can get tricky DH had to come to the rescue today as I couldn't handle the legs, kicking feet, pooey hand and soiled nappy at the same time Ideas from those with boys?

Waves

I'm glad you posted that gauchita, because I can't remember either! E is 28/5

for D, give him something to occupy his hands, something he can't have the rest of the time, keys and mobiles usually do the trick

waves to all

Hi girls, I will get back to you this week for a proper catch up.shattered as z was in hospital overnight with vomiting,now I have it. She is home now and infinitely better thank goodness.
A is day before M 13th. Wed eeek.he has requested a v complex cake.Tuesday is going to be a busy day of baking and creating. I wish I was a teensy bit artistic.
Must get to sleep

Oh no Snow, how worrying for you Glad to hear she's doing better (pity now you've caught it!) Hospitals do it for me, I'm such a worrier and put a brave face but inside I'm dying.

What kind of cake does he want? Any help I can offer at a distance? (looking up stuff for you or something?)

Ninja, thanks for the tips! Phone is not possible as water and iPhones don't get very well but keys is a good one. Or wipes he loves pulling them out one by one

Off to work, hope you all have a nice day!

Z well on the mend, I'm feeling much better.
Helicopter cake for A. God help me know. About to start.

Quick questions- has anyone ever got one of those photo mugs? Thought I might get it for DH for Father's day. Nothing like the last minute.

gauchita how are D's teeth today? Any help with the powders? Pinata finished for M?
ninja I haven't congratulated you on your new nephew- wonderful news. How are they getting on? How are the family dynamics?
vene great to see you. Did you get caravan site inspiration? There are some lovely places round here (we lsh borders)
skillbo how's the sleep? Any improvements?
zhen that poor poor boy. Thank god for your looking out for him. Any joy? How dare they risk a vunerable young man because someone couldn't pull their finger out. I really hope it is sorted
alloverit Is DD ok now? High temps always scary
june how was Dubai? I hope you are feeling refreshed and you and DH had some time to reconnect.

I think I need to read 'how to talk' . A is SO defiant about everything. Everything is a battle and I seem to be yelling more and more. Crap parenting indeed. He has been v rough with Z and doesnt care to stay in time out. I do the put back in with a calm voice over and over again but yesyerday we spent more than an hour doing this for the sake of 2 mins. Any ideas?

DH is heading oop north in a few weeks for a three month job. I will stay here with the kids until we know if anything longer comes up. I am really really tired of living my life 3 months ahead. I am v v grateful it is a job, but I have always been a grand planner and I hate that we can't even book tickets for a holiday home as we don't know if DH can come, when etc. A isn't enrolled anywhere for nursery in Sept because we have no idea where we will be living and how long for, except that it won;t be here. Tis a bit shite. Glad that my travel has stopped for now, thank goodness.

Anyway, enough of a whinge, this cake isn't going to bake itself.

snow, happy birthday to A!!!!!!!!! Hope you all have a fab day x

Happy Birthday A!!!! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Just had a quick peek on thread.....just finished getting house ready for F's party tomorrow - it's from 10.30 - 12.30 as in summer (!) often people have family plans in the afternoon, so I opted for morning/lunch. It's a pirate theme. Hopefully I survive. Happy 3rd birthday to all the other little June beansprouts!

x

June - I'm so impressed. I just started weightwatchers. Are you able to message me your fb site or email address?

Hi all, gauchita how was m's party?that pinata is magnificent.
vene how was the pirate party? Recovering now?
We've been to see the wiggles today,last time the original line up together.twas magnificent, we all enjoyed it, not sure whether the adults enjoyed it more than the kids :)
Hope our birthday babies are all ok. The helicopter cake turned out ok, A loved it which was the most important thing

Marking place for later!

Evening all!

DC in bed early and I've done the henna-dying thing on my hair Now I have to wait 4 hours and I'm done! That's 3hs30m to go

Anyway, how are you all?

Snow, that was a lovely cake! Bless you, you were getting over your bug and pulled up enough energy to come up with that fantastic helicopter I can only imagine A's face when he saw it How's Z feeling? All better now? I hear you re. uncertainty We're keeping everything crossed and praying for things to go well with DH and his new job and for a loooooooooooong contract to come Re. powders: they seem to do the trick for a couple of hours as he does seem calmer, but then he starts again. This week was tough with teething. Nappies were poonamies, all of them ha ha. Four top ones have now come through, the front ones. Poor babies, that must be horrible.

Skillbo, I saw on your FB your new home has been truly christened by gazillion children who came to J's party Hope she had a blast! Still impressed with the 5hs play-athon from her bday

Vene, how was the party? Hope F had a great time. Pirates is a very fun theme, M does the "ahoy, maties" in a pirate voice it makes me laugh. When are you off on holidays? Again, apologies for the ubber-late PM, but you have it in your inbox, I think I sent it a few days ago.

June, how were the holidays? I saw a few pictures, wow, those are great beaches Hope the flight home was smooth for you all.

Zhen, how are you? Hope the Ns are doing well Any news on the teenager and his home situation?

Ninja, poor cat, I saw the picture of it all wet the other day. It can't say you didn't warn him/her

Right, busy days over here, this week was manic. There were 15 children invited to M's party (nursery + 3-4 dc of friends of hours). The arty part of the party went down really well, they all loved it. They did some work with clay (lots of hedgehogs amongst other animals) and then canvas masterpieces. They felt like true artists very proud of their work, it was lovely to see them.

DH made a picada for the adults. Argie thing we do before a BBQ, more like a starter, consisting of bread, different types of cheese, hams, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, etc etc and that also went down well the parents seemed to like it. Children had party boxes with food, which they thankfully liked.

No cake, a cupcake tower instead, and then the pinata, which thank God opened when they all pulled the strings with a little help from DH

It was lovely but we ended up completely exhausted We cleaned the hall before returning the keys and when we got home we felt like a lorry had ran over us M had a blast though, so it was worth it

Unfortunately another manic week ahead, lots of work, an afternoon at M's new school on Wed, HV's appt for D

Did you do anything special for father's day? M had made a card at nursery and I bought DH a vintage type of box to put his wine. Unfortunately it's so vintage it came mouldy on one side so I've emailed the company, let's see what they say ha!

Waves

Man, that was long sorry!

Hi everyone, hope you are all well :)

Happy birthday to A, glad the helicopter cake worked Snow :) I hope that your DH can get something stable soon jobwise, it must be really exhausting not knowing and having both A & Z by yourself for such long periods. Good to hear you and Z are recovering from your bug.

Re: A's behaviour have you tried taking away favourite toy/activity/treat and a sticker chart for good behaviour towards favourite toy/activity/treat? Partly it is a phase, N is becoming more defiant as she becomes more aware of her likes and dislikes and seeks to have her own way.

The thing that works for behaviour is consistency so if you take an approach you have to really stick at it for months for it to show results. In teaching it can take a whole term to get a class of 30 behaving as you would like the majority of the time, then as soon as you have got them into a good pattern they go on holiday and you have to spend a few weeks at the beginning of the next term going over the rules again.

Happy birthday to M :) Gauchita glad to hear the birthday party went well, you brave lady.

Happy birthday to F :) I love a good pirate theme, hope the party went well Venetian.

I couldn't face the whole party thing and we will not be able to be at home on big N's actual birthday (19th), so we took big N and her cousin to Gambados soft play yesterday, they had a great time playing in the gym and going on the bumper cars and cups rides that they have there. She chose a Gruffalo cake for her birthday. We went with a bath toy theme for her birthday presents as she got her scooter a bit early. We have had great fun playing with the bath crayons and water pump and she has had two baths today just so she could play with her toys

We had another of her cousins to stay in the week and will see her again tomorrow as we have to escape the drilling and mayhem for the next two days while they do works on our balcony and put in new windows.

Update on the homeless boy: It took a lot of pressure and some legal speak from Shelter but we got the council to give him a room until they can fully assess his situation thank goodness.

Actually didn't know it was Father's Day today until SIL text earlier, but then DH forgot Mother's Day too, oops

Must go and deal with the mountain of clean clothes that need folding and putting away, waves

zhen, happy birthday to big N, hope you have good day xx

Happy birthday to big N, Zhen! Hope she has a fantastic day. I wish we had a balloons emoticon [balloons]