March 2010. A lesson for much of life: Shut the door. Find the corkscrew.

[Arcadie]

Happy Christmas MMMs. This is my gift to you!

MIssPenteuth How was the 10K run? Very very impressed.

Hi all, sorry I haven't checked in for a while. House moving stuff rather taking over.

Thanks for all your birthday wishes, we had a fab day and DS was spoilt rotten. For those of you on FB check out the pic of the wooden motorbike rocker, its amazing, courtesy of his GP's

Happy birthday to all the TODDLERS

rinders lovely to hear from you sorry things are so awful for you. thinking of you and your family

MissPenteuth loving the name change and well done on the 10k

flip massive congratulations, I am sooo pleased for you

manda hope the second trimester is better than the first and glad your DD is eating more

scooby no advice I am afraid but much sympathy. I have so much admiration for shift workers with kids.

Very impressed by those doing exercise. The name 'shred' would be enough to make me put the DVD to the back of the cupboard to gather dust!

siamese you looked fab in your 80's outfit

Can't remember what else I was going to say so big waves to everyone else

got the next jabs on wednesday, not loking forward to that.....

bluey yep, wriggler here. He is usually off down the hallway before I have wiped his bum properly but hey we are moving soon!!!
Speaking of which did the kids cope well with the move? am currently worrying that it will upset DS and in particular his sleep.

littlAng happy birthday! Good luck with the move. Hope everything goes smoothly.

Scooby I don't have much advice. We sometimes have a 5am early bird. Usually we give him a bottle and it might work,l if not we just let him in his cot for as long as possible. If the crying is uncontrollable (and after waking all the neighbours) we just take him to the leaving room... but we keep the same routines (breakfast at the same time, etc, etc).

Sarah well done on the weight lost!!

Fliss sorry that things are not easy at your DH's job. Fingers crossed and things will be ok

MissPenteuth well done on the running, very impressive! I'm rubbish at running (or any sports!)

Rinders J. sounds like the most amazing baby! so sorry to hear about your DH :( (hugs)

Flip have you booked your antenatal appointment? :)

Siamese good luck for today. First day at work is always the hardest, but I'm sure you'll survive

PD hope everything is well with you. Do you still have snow? Saturday was terrible over here.

Manda How is J., you and your DD?

Sariska How is DD? Hope the bug has cleared

Pixie how are you doing? Have you decided on the name?

IWCAS Hope you are well and enjoying your 1 year old. Saw his photos on FB - lovely!

Donttry nice to see you around. Glad that DD is an angel - and they all scream, believe me ;)

Heckle hope you have enjoyed your free DC-morning and managed to do all you wanted/needed

Smac of 3x/week to the gym! Sorry to hear about the bleeding - Have you booked your appointment? My cousin had the implant and I remember she also complained in the beginning about the bleeding. But now she's happy with her choice

RKD S.'s dedication sounded lovely

Bluey my sympathies! Changing DS's nappy is a nightmare. What a wriggler :) CM is always complaining!

Talking about CM. I promise myself that I wouldn't think much about it, but I can't really let it go. I think our CM is very competent and very efficient but two weeks ago she called me and asked if I could collect DS because he had been screaming for more than 45 minutes and she didn't know what else to do. Fair enough, I know that when he screams he does it from the top of his lungs and he's terrible. When I got there, I think she was trying to excuse herself and explaining she was really has a bad time with him, but she said something like : "in 12 years, a never had a child like him" :( I felt so upset, and sad! I felt like my sweet baby was the worst baby in the world... Now every time I drop him I'm always afraid how he's going to behave - just hopping he'll behave well. She has been trying to reassure me that he's fine, that he's just an "intense baby" (in her own words). I don't know... it all feels a bit strange at the moment.

Evening

Bluey- bed here is around 7.15. It used to work.....

It was 4.30am today.... 90 mins, two vomits on my bed from coughing his milk and two sets of pjs and eventually he was persuaded back to sleep. Sadly not me....stuck cuddling him- sweet tho that is. Got to bed just after 11pm last night and been up since 4.30 ( course at work in between) off to bed so I can keep my eyelids open for the second day of the course tomorrow...

Evitas- really sorry DS is a bit unsettled at CM- go with your instinct... You will be right....

Congrats pentuth on your run!!! Wish I had the energy. I joined the gym with pool in January and I sooo wish I could get there more

i thought MissPentheuth was welsh too! Obviously I get who you are now :) I may need to name change too soon, as with Monty gone, Im no longer Siamesecatwoman really, just a woman with one annoying siamese left, who really gets on my tits. Shes not cuddly, just shouts at me so she can get on my lap and claw me, and nip my arm if i forget to stroke her. Grr.

Thanks for all your birthday wishes/ comments on 80s outfit/ luck for today back at work.
Working backwards - today was fine, the traffic wasnt as hideous as it couldve been, and I enjoyed eating lunch and peeing and drinking tea. I didnot enjoy catching up on stuff I thought I had left behind 15 months ago. I also realised that I was irrationally getting cross with my job-share other half because she was telling me what felt like 'my' job, but realised it was actually important to listen because things have changed, slightly. We got on very well after that. Any one got any tips on how to make a job-share work really well? Im not going to physically see my 'other half' again after this week.
I have a huge headache from concentrating/ lack of an afternoon nap

80's night - had a lovely time, thank you, and got sufficiently drunk to wander back to the train station in full costume. A couple walked past and said something like 'I told you there was an 80s revival' . Which, to be fair there is a bit - it really wasnt too hard to put together an outfit. Lots of people said really nice things to me too, inc my friend who said she couldnt put her finger on it but I reminded her of someone, then said she realised who, it was my little sister who is 22 and someone else said I looked really young too. The secret of my youthful looks is, I guess, the fact I havent been out properly since March 2009! But i can look very old indeed after a shitty night with DD.

Speaking of whom, she had a great birthday and small party. She was being really pleasant to be around, I was very proud of her. But she still has the tail end of the croup so is still coughing at night, keeping us all awake.

evitas what a silly thiing for your Cm to say. Stuff like that sticks on my mind too. The nursery nurse said 'blah blah.. then threw her banana on the floor! blah blah' at which point I felt like I had to apologise and teach DD some manners! They are 1 - still very small really. Does he have good days too? Maybe it was just an off day?

fliss Im glad DD had a great party - she looks so much older than my DD - I guess because of her lovely thick hair, and her walking so well. Hope your DH's job is ok. Did DD arrive on your wedding anniversary?

shroomer I hope things happen for you soon. I wont be taking my place on the bench until much later this year, I hope. Like Smac I have the implant, but its always worked ok for me - no bleeding ever, although I do wonder about its affect on my moods. Am i just a bitch or is it affecting me? Also - Am I mis-remembering this or did someone on this thread get pg while having the implant?

scooby 5am is frequently my get up with DD time too. I have ordered 'healthy sleep habit happy child' from Amazon on the recommendations of MN, so Ill let you know if it solves our problem. From what Ive picked up, it could be to do with not enough sleep during the day..

bluey Dd is also a crazy wriggler, and crawls off bare bummed at the smallest opportuntity. The nursery nurse also once said to me 'how do you change her?' which confirmed to me that she is Not Normal :) but at Ang moving house soon inspite/because of nappyless DS?? :)

Got to got get ready for Glee. Not been watching OBEM as religiously as some of you, it sometimes feels a bit traumatic for me!
Speaking of which, Ive spent the whole weekend gobsmacked by the footage coming out of Japan. I just dont know where to start thinking or praying or anything. We went to Japan on our honeymoon and travelled around for a month. We also have a few japanese friends here in Britain, who are just beside themselves. I cant imagine how it must be for them, even though their relatives are safe, to see your home country being torn apart and washed away. I am so very glad sometimes that we live here in dull old UK where the worst thing that happens is a bit of snow.

happybirthday to miniHeckle tomorrow and flip's DS(1?? :) ) on wednesday

Siamese DD arrived five years to the day that we got together, not on our wedding anniversary :) Her lovely thick hair was not such a joy at 1am when she was first ill :(

evitas How long has DS been with this CM? Babies can take a long while to settle in, especially if they are part time. Or perhaps he was just having an off day - we all do from time to time, but these little ones only have one way of telling us! I'm sure your CM didn't mean to make you feel bad though, and don't worry about how DS 'behaves' - I'm sure that 99% of the time he's with her he's fine, which is why she was so worried about his shouty day.

Thanks for the birthday wishes, DD had a lovely day yesterday and it was really lovely to get all the family together to celebrate.

Today, however - ARGH! DD has been throwing up since last night (mmm, who knew milk sick could smell SO bad?) and today introduced me to the wonderful world of projectile vomit today. She has spent the day asleep on me (she Will Not Go Down) and us currenly dozing on DH :(

Normally she too is a wriggler and will bugger off at the first opportunity, I just wrestle with her. DH however, lets her run off and do as she pleases

I have no intention of getting on any bench any time soon, before DD I had a desperate need to get pregnant which has not returned, despite many hints from GPs and DP.

Siamese- so pleased it went ok. How much sleep dies DD have during the day? We had a phase for 4 weeks where DS had 20m at 9.30amd 2hrs at lunch. One wet 5am nappy an it's never been right since. Today he woke at 4.30. I finally got HIM back to sleep at 5.45 and DH (hmmm) and then he was up from 7.45. He refused his morning nap for DH bit then had his 2hrs. As he's waking so stooped early I can't work out what to do with his sleeps to fix it!

How much daytime sleep does everyone elses LOs have that do sleep 11/12 hr nights?

Scooby two 45 min naps normally, has been extra sleepy this weekend - 3 and half hours yesterday, slept till 7 today. Something in it, or just sleepy? Hmm.

Poor DD fliss will this affect you minding?

evitas I think your CM did the right thing to call you if DS was so distressed but in her effort to justify her inability to settle him she has made you feel bad. I know it's hard but please don't take it to heart. It seems she is trying hard now to reassure you. Please remember he is only just 1 and you can't be responsible for how he behaves, if he has sore teeth and gums then he will scream, that is what babies do!
scooby sorry to hear you are struggling with the early mornings. DD1 did this for ages (not quite as young as your DS is though but it did go on for ages unfortunately) it is so hard when you can't explain things to them. Now for example if DD1 wakens before 7 I just tell her it is night time and to go back to bed
DD2 is sleeping through - mostly but the downside is that she now wakes at 6 or 6.15 most mornings, frequently with a massive poo, still at least it's not 4.30am.
I feel absolutely drained today. I have been fighting off a cold, sorry failing to fight off a cold plus this constant bleeding is pulling me down. I need to see the doctor I just haven't quite got round to making an appointment. I need to find a time when DH is home to at least have DD1 as I don't need a little parrot with me for a contraception/hormones/menstrual cycle chat with the Doc.!
siamese I had no bleeding initially which was great but since early January it has been pretty much non stop. I've had it in since June - don't know how long it takes to 'settle'. I also feel a bit shouty but not sure if that is just dealing with 2 littlies on my own most of the time or whether it is implant related

Shroomer- it was me i fell pg with Elliott whilst having the implant- i also Bled for 2 weeks every 2 weeks! from the week it went in- not good(had it in 18 months before falling pg though!

glad 1st day back was ok Siamese- no advise on job share though!

MissP- did u check ur measurements? amd WD on the 10 k run! :)

ICWAS- lovely bday pics!

Scooby- hope u start getting more sleep soon-really dont know how u do it all sometimes!

Lovely to 'see' u bluey!

Fliss - glad dd had a fab day!

Evitas- hope u are ok- i am sure the CM hasn't meant to worry you,

Right showert hen bed, have just finished the 30 day shred- havent had time al day so had to do it after work tonight! must be mad but am loving it:)

Happy Birthday to Heckle's DD! Hope it's a lovely day :)

sarah I did indeed take my measurements this morning, although they're nowhere near as impressive as your inch loss. I've lost 1cm off my waist, tummy, and each thigh, and 2cm off my bum. That's after 11 days, so I'm hoping to have lost about an inch everywhere by the end although I could stand to lose about a foot off my tummy.

The run was good fun, for those who asked, although it peed down with rain at least half the time. I didn't realise until I found DH afterwards, but my mascara was running down my face!

Glad your first day at work went well siamese. And the 80s outfit looked fab

Fliss how is DD doing today?

scooby Isobel usually naps 90 mins in the morning and an hour in the afternoon, and she sleeps about 10 hours most nights (9pm till 7am). Atm I'm utilising her morning nap to work out and shower; if I ever manage to lose these last few lbs and can finally stop exercising every day, I'll probably cut her morning nap down a bit.

Flip how are you feeling? Excited, I'll bet :)

And Pixie dear, you've been notably absent for a bit, I hope everything's ok with you.

Today I've been shopping with Izzy and MIL; lots of fun apart from the high-pitched screaming at lunch time. I'm at a loss as to how to prevent it; she doesn't understand (or ignores) being told off, and I obviously wouldn't punish her as a) she's too young and b) she's not being 'bad', just testing her lungs. So I'm mostly just ignoring it, but I feel, in public anyway, that I need to at least appear to be trying to stop her. The judgy auld wifey elderly lady at the table next to us at lunch time today did not seem amused.

MissP= TBF i have so much more to loose than you but well done on your loss too!

Happy birthday to HeckleJR!

I noticed pixie was not around too! Hope all is ok hun

waves to everyone else- Oh also do we have plan for the MMMM next month? times etc- (i have booked a family foto shoot for that mornning at 10-(only for about an hour and i can be in birmingham in 1/2 hr)

Does anyone else find that things their baby has dribbled on smell afterwards? (quite a sharp smell). The shoulders of anything I wear tend to cop it, and his soft toys...

I watched Davina's Buff dvd today. That's right - I watched it. While sat on my arse. Well, one has to get a feel for these things first.

My doc has referred me for having no periods. So progress on that front.

Scooby - Worse case scenario, do you both have to work? (obviously I don't know your financial situation/mortgage size etc). Maybe you could focus on how to wind down after work so that you can get to sleep quicker than you are (sleeping tablets?) Is your DS getting too many daytime naps? No scrap that - I see that you've answered that one. My DS sleeps (you won't want to read this) 7pm to 7pm. Gets 1 hour anytime in the morning, plus 1.5-2 hours at about 2pm.

Smac (puts amateur doc hat on) - are you getting enough iron given all this bleeding?

MissPent Aw yes, that 'must look like I'm doing something to avoid people thinking I'm a bad mother' feeling . It's crap isn't it? I'd ignore it. Perhaps by interacting more with her when she screams she'll figure out that it gets your attention.

Of course, I meant to say DS sleeps from 7pm to 7am. 7pm to 7pm would b incredible indeed.

Thanks for the birthday greetings folks - we've had a lovely day, pretty low-key but a nice birthday tea tonight with GPs and she seemed to have fun unwrapping her presents this afternoon. She was also trying to join in with the laughing and giggling at the tea table and has learned (finally!) how to say 'Mummy' in the past couple of days so even though she's still a crap sleeper she's still my wee star, a wee snuggly monster!

shroomer at you watching Davina

Saying "Mummy" - way to go smallest Heckle - and Happy Birthday, too.

No words here, unless you count "Ma-ma" and "Da-da", which I'm not sure I do. Makes herself perfectly well understood though .

I like the sound of watching exercise DVDs from the comfort of the sofa, Shroomer. I spent the afternoon on the sofa too, trying to keep an eye on work emails while DD slept on me. Had a call from nursery at lunchtime to say that she'd succumbed to a second round (well, I say a second round; I hope it's not a new bug) of her D&V. So work got scratched and I have 4 or so hours to make up or else accept I need to take it as a half day holiday . So should really get back to work now.

Oh, and am saying nothing about babies who sleep from 7 til 7 other than to ask (in a very small voice) whether mine is the only baby here who has never slept through....in fact who has never slept more than, um, 6 hours in a row.

heckle at "mummy"

DD is much better today, it's been 40 hours or so since she was last sick so mindee is back with us today, the pair of them are wreaking their usual havoc leaving me 5 mins to dash on here...back later!

Does any of your DC speak/make noises/is a sleepwalker?
I don't know what happened, but we had the most surreal night. DS was awake/or seemed to be awake most of the night: either chatting/giggling or sitting/standing up in his cot, but not really crying. Very strange
I'm knackered!

sariska I will definitely join you in the 'never slept through' club. This is reassuring for me as I was beginning to think I was the only one in it too! DD2 never gets past a couple of hours in the evening without needing resettled, and if I have the resilience to make her stay in the cot all night I'm up at least 3 or four (or more!) times in the night. If she's not in the cot she sleeps reasonably well in our bed but has been waking around 6/6.30 am [eyebags emoticon]. Yup, sleeping is definitely not her strong point .

Back to work went ok, but appreciate any tips ?

Back later.

Sariska DD has slept through perhaps four times in a year. Three of them when I have been on night duty Woke up each time feeling like I'd been drugged

DD was sick again on her way to her highchair for tea, but then munched merrily on chicken, jelly and yoghurt , screamed in the shower (due to discovery of trots in her nappy on the way to the bath) and then in the bath, and has eventually Gone Down In Her Cot

So instead of cleaning up and getting tea done, I am wasting more time on here

Ang, the move messed up Alex's sleep for about a week but we persisted with the usual routine and he figured it out eventually. He would settle fine at bed time but then would wake around 2 and want cuddles so I think it was definitely unfamiliar new environment. Hope the move goes well.

After all the tales on here, wriggly babies are clearly the norm. I just got slightly alarmed when one of the nursery staff commented on how strong he is. She works full time with babies all week and is then a bouncer at weekends so she has a pretty good comparison base!

Evitas, I can't believe your CM. Just what you don't need.

Sariska, rats about more D&V. Is she better today?

MPT, now I get you. Congratulations on the 10k!

Pixie, I stand in awe. Have a . good that DD is home.

And at those watching exercise DVDs. Any good?

There's nothing any of us can really do but things not looking good for Rindercella's DH. Here Just thought you'd all want to know - and maybe we can somehow make her feel less alone.

HAPPY birthday to Flip's little R