December 2009 - Still waiting for our Silent Night

[BlathIceSkate]

New thread

Forgot to say, Catherine managed a wee in the loo today! We've been doing the same as we did with Alex and encouraging her to sit on the potty for a few minutes every night when we get her undressed for the bath. She hated the potty though - i think it was too big for her little bottom - so I dug out Alex's old padded toilet seat thing with the handles on. She loves it and will now sit for ages. You can see by the little concentrated look on her face and occasional straining noises that she's trying to go but for the first time tonight, we timed it right and she got a wee in the loo!

Cue lots of "yey"s and a huge grin on her face before trying to do some more :)

I know it's pure luck at the moment but at least she's getting the idea. Alex was just past 2 when he decided he hated being dirty and all but demanded the potty so it wouldn't surprise me if she's ready soon too.

I wondered where you'd gone Lee! Glad you're back :)

I sway between wanting to take the sides off Catherine's cot because I think maybe she'd get up and do her favourite thing of sitting on the chair in her room reading - giving me an extra few minutes in bed in the morning and wanting to leave the sides on because I have visions of her getting up and wandering into Alex's room to wake him up - meaning I end up getting up earlier than usual.

We're definitely getting more sleep since we swapped the sleeping bags for duvets, she just seems a lot cosier at night.

I will look for some of those mini biscuits for the party, they sound very cute :)

The wee has been a one off despite her sitting there every night. On the plus side she seems to like perching up there so hopefully we're one fight down for potty training, when we do attempt it - in the Summer too.

We need a reminder for birthdays so we can all say Happy Birthday. Catherine is the 17th, when are Andrew, Imogen and Noah again? I can't believe that's all that are left!

Have we lost ABF now too? I saw someone on another thread the other day who I was sure used to be here (can't remember the name now though!) but I wasn't brave enough to demand she came back :o

I'm not planning to start potty training til the summer either :)

Noah's birthday is the 9th :)

Hope we're all ok and looking forward to the double whammy of birthday and Christmas :o

ABF is till on MN occasionally I think but she hasn't been here for ages

Would be lovely if everyone came back wouldn't it.

So, Birthdays:
Noah 9th December
Catherine 17th December
Andrew ??
Imogen ??

I know exactly what you mean Lee. Catherine exasperates me far more than Alex ever did so that while she's my second, I feel a lot more lost a lot of the time.

Noah 9th December
Catherine 17th December
Andrew 29th December
Imogen ??

That's interesting to hear, I was just going to come on here to ask Lee and Blathers about your feelings towards a second baby.
I love Rosa, I really do, but she doesn't fill me with the same excitement and delight that Noah did/does. I don't know if it's because everything was new with Noah or if it was just because of his personality. He is very likeable, even from tiny, people really responded to him and I definitely see other people reacting to her differently too as she is a lot more serious than Noah was/is. Do either of you feel differently about each of your children?

I think Lee's right. We have different relationships because they are different people.

With Alex, everything started off very scary because he was my first and we were both so poorly after his birth so I felt very lost with all the conflicting advice from the midwives - but then he ate everything and slept so well so it felt easy.

With Catherine, I knew what I needed and what to expect and she was born by Elective Section so we knew when she'd arrive and I wasn't ill and I could plan better and Alex loved her immediately so everything felt very easy - then, she refused to have expressed milk and was so fussy with food and never slept very well so I felt very lost.

People definitely react differently to them too. PIL's doted on Alex and yet very rarely seem to bother with Catherine. Whereas I feel like Catherine gets a lot more attention from everyone else because she is so dinky and cute so we get random strangers coo-ing at her in the street.

I do think I enjoyed Catherine's babyhood less than Alex's too. Probably because I knew by then that for me, toddlers were much more fun and so I was more looking forward to that than enjoying the here and now like I did with him when it was all new. She didn't help by not sleeping and making her babyhood such hard work though!

All I know is that I adore them both - for different reasons and that I am very glad that they have each other because they adore each other too.

And I'm glad that we're not doing it again

Thank you both :)

I'm also glad we're not doing it again, I definitely feel like it gets easier when they are toddlers! I don't mind the mental challenges that toddlers present, but the physical challenges that pregnancies and babies present I find really exhausting (and I'm getting so much more sleep this time than last time ), so am quite happy to be seeing the back of pregnancy/tiny baby land.

Like I said, I do love Rosa, she is like a mini me, she looks like me (I think anyway, prepared to be corrected :o) and is looking like she has the same stubborn streak. But she is fairly serious, and doesn't enchant people in the way that Noah does, he is incredibly likeable, and I'm not just saying that as his mum :o Thank you for reminding me that they are different people, I guess I also need to wait for more of her personality to come out a bit too :)

That's interesting Lee.

I often look at both of mine and wonder what it must be like to have their lives. I am so, so grateful that their childhoods so far show no resemblance to mine whatsoever but it does make me feel a little bit lost sometimes.

I wouldn't change it for the world obviously - No one should have to grown up like I did - but sometimes I even feel a little jealous of them.

I can see me being a bemused bystander for a lot of their teenage years :)

Yes, it's tough sometimes but I try not to feel sorry for myself, I can't change my past but I can make their future different. I read/heard somewhere once that abused children were more likely to become abusers and I promised myself then that I would break the cycle.

I get lost sometimes. With no past to fall back on I feel like I'm making it up as I go along a lot of the time but luckily I have DH who had a happy childhood so I tend to go with him.

We're doing OK so far. The children seem happy and confident and bright and mostly well behaved so I must be doing something right. Hopefully it won't get too tough when they become teenagers! Catherine does seem to have inherited my stubbornness though so I don't hold out much hope

Well that killed the thread!

Hello!! I am still here, I just usually check on my iPhone and I can't type on that properly so forget to come back and post... I promise to make more of an effort and if I don't tell me off!!!

Blathers, deffo didn't kill the thread. I remember seeing a post of yours on a thread about smacking a while back and realising how tough your childhood sounded. In my experience I have learnt so much from copying how my parents interact with Imogen and I don't know what I would be like without that to follow. You are most definitely doing more than something right - your children are clearly so happy and loved and I really agree with Lee when she says you have turned something so negative into something so positive.

Well not much new news here, big bed still going well, I am so, so glad that we did it. She loves her bed and when two of her little friends came round on Friday, she was trying to get them to come upstairs to see her bed!!! She is hilarious with her speaking and it is so nice at this stage to have conversations with her - my favourite today was I asked if she had a nice day and she said yes, then I said what was your favourite bit of today and she said "um.... Imogen!!!!" which had both DH and I in fits of giggles. She has just learnt her own name and when DH said to her earlier (after writing her name on aquadoodle) "that says Imogen" and she said "yes, that's me!". Every day she comes out with words that I didn't know that she knows so we are trying to be v, v, careful with our language, just in case!

We have had a lovely weekend making pizzas (v easy, I didn't know how easy the dough was!) and playing mostly. Have finished christmas and birthday shopping I think. We aren't getting her much for her birthday (8th) or Christmas as going to wait to see what everyone else is going to get first and then maybe buy her something afterwards, or put some money aside and buy something 'big' in the summer instead.

For her birthday DH has the Thursday (her birthday) and Friday off so we are taking her to the London Aquarium on her actual birthday and then back her for tea and cake with my parents and MIL. Friday we have invited over 5 of her friends her age and aren't having a proper party or anything, but going to do decorating little cakes and just general playing - it will be extra nice that DH will see all her little friends as he often misses out on that. One of our NCT friends dads is also around so he is coming too so that will be nice. On the Saturday we are having a celebration at my parents house for my brothers, DH's brothers (and other halves!), our parents and my gran and Imogen's 'supporting adult' and his wife!

Blimey, I have waffled on, sorry!!!! What is everyone else up to? All ready for Christmas?

Hello! Am still alive! Will probs take me about a week to catch up on the thread, but will be back at some point!

Hello everyone, am deffo trying to post more!!! Immy has a high temperature - she had it last night and this morning, then seemed to perk up a bit and then today at about 5 pm suddently had a bit of a relapse and was very clingy. Not sure what is wrong, but I think maybe a throat infection as she seemed to be trying to tell me her throat was hurting. Did speak to GP on phone this morning and am just keeping an eye on her for now... fingers crossed for tomorrow anyway.

Other than that, just trying to stay organised with everything. Have managed to do all christmas shopping and have half of it wrapped, hope to finish wrapping tomorrow and write cards on Friday. Have got tonnes of work today, but was on strike today so got loads done, whilst Immy slept this morning. I cannot beleive she will be two next week - where on earth has all the time gone?

Ethelred, how is everything with your dad now? How is your step mum?

It's OK Lee, I didn't really think you were ignoring me :)

I can't believe Catherine is almost 2 either! I will officially no longer have a baby very soon She is so much more fun at this age though so I'm not too upset.

I hope Imogen is feeling better Hercule

I did and I had a great time. Can't say much more though as the MN meet up is a little like Vegas - what happens on meet up's stays on meet ups

I'm really glad I went though, it was fab