Dec 2008 - Hello 2011 the Year of the Toddler!

[DeidreBarlow]

Totally unispired but hope you all find it...

Effie These ones are very good:

www.amazon.co.uk/My-First-Signs-Baby-Signing/dp/1904550045

There's that one for simple stuff, then an animal one etc. DD love them as books, as well as to learn from.

Ah now gigglebiz tends to be met by moans in this house, they are just not that into it.

I now have a massive pile of buns in various flavours (well ok just plain, chocolate and coffee), the dcs have iced them so they are delightfully covered in a sticky mess of too runny icing and sweets and they have been piled up into a tower and had random candles shoved in them. It would be rather bad form if I ate one of the chocolate ones before dh came home and had Happy Birthday sung to him wouldn't it.

Indith - always best to test, for quality control purposes only, of course!

hello,

First of all I got my lovely secret Santa, thankyou very much! I can see why the book was chosen from reading the back don't worry , what a lovely thoughtful choice, a biking adventure hurrah....and I have not read either of the two books (though heard of) so bonus. Will definitely read when I have finished book I am on. Also ta for the bath stuff, lovely (not tried it yet, but will be straight in there when I next have a bath). I have a strong suspicion who it is from...thankyou..

Spot, I hope you are getting on ok. Sorry I haven't got any good advice re this stuff, but Rubes advice sounds fab to m

Happy birthday to your DH and DS indith. It's my DH's birthday on Sunday, I am not going to make him a cake though as I am on a diet and I know he will make me eat some. Is that mean???

On the diet front I have finally lost 2lbs. Which isn't bad considering the crap sleep situation going on round here (usually stops any attempts at food intake moderation when I am knackered)

Sleep is still shite/hit and miss. Last night DD didn't settle til 10, then awake at 11:30, 3 and 5. I don't think she's really hungry, I feed her as it's the fastest way to get her back to sleep. I think she might be teething but who knows. Massive screaming tonight but asleep for now.

Mr Tumble drives me nuts but DS also likes him. Less keen on gigglebiz but I think it's a bit beyond him at the mo....you know with it being so sophisticated and all . wg when are your DH's episodes of gigglebiz going to be on?

Oh also Lady, Rubes and Beans, what are your DC2s routines like. I just had a look at Gina for 4-6 months and it says 2 sleeps a day one in the morning and a big one at lunch. DD does more like 4 little sleeps! I think she is so confused or is this in the
realms of normal??

Oh wg you asked ages ago about VBAC stuff and I forgot to answer. The course I went on was quite good though they sort of said various things might be possible which weren't which was shit. Most notably that they have a mobile monitor which in turn meant I could use the pool. Which they said categorically no to when I got in. Which is shit. If I had known in advance I would have been tempted to say I wanted a home birth if they wouldn't let me use the pool and see if that blackmail worked (didn't partic want a homebirth just wanted to use pool). So my one bit of advice would say I would like to try a VBAC but I want XYZ and I want this written on my notes that this is ok in advance or I am not doing it. I stupidly thought I could try and bend rules on the day and this doesn't happen really. As it is I didn't find the non-mobile monitoring a problem as I persuaded them to let me wander around until I was in too much pain to want to by not letting them examine me and so they did not know how dilated i was or not, and once I was really having big contractions obviously I didn't want to go far, and I was still labouring sitting on a birth ball and standing up leaning over the bed for contractions, which I can't imagine would have been much different between if I didn't have the monitoring. They managed to mess up my only decent vein in my hand by putting a canula in that slipped around and ended up gory and useless though!
Other stuff they went through on the course was when to go in to the hospital, good positions for labour and good positions to sit in in general pre giving birth to help them not to be back to back.

Jam how was your DC free morning? mmm....sounds lovely!!

vag 8km in 40 mins is speedy! that's 12km an hr right? I'd like to run that fast, but I have little wee legs, that is my excuse.

no noise from titch upstairs. Maybe I should go to sleep and make the most of it...

Oh dear, day from utter hell here. DS miserable. He perks up for about an hour after a dose of Ibuprofen then comes off it and won't let me put him down, feed dd, stop giving him 100% attention. V tiring. He went for a nap voluntarily and I managed to do my workout but then the PS started playing up then I weighed myself and I have PUT ON half a kg!!! after 1 week of working out!! Might go back to boozing up and sitting on the couch.
Anyway, I think ds is getting better as this evening he had a bath (still no dinner) had some of his milk and then didn't want to go to bed (last 3 night's he's volunteered to go to bed)

Vag, thanks for reminding me of that - just told dh to get his act together re swine flu jabs request. Actually it's in the 2010/11 batch of regular flu jabs so we just all need that. I'll sort it at her 6 month mark since I'm a bit of a hyporchondriac.

Jam, that was hilarious!!

Kiwi - I can't even imagine that feeding thing / attached to you now, but I'd do what Vaggie says and perhaps a little cold turkey is in order.
And you will be clackered before you know it, I can feel it

PD - meet up, I'm good for it. Let me know when you think. Can't do from mid Feb though.

Mr Tumbele - Good God I hope he's not giving fashon tips! he's a disaster.... ds is quite keen on watching him, a little mesmorized by the spotty bag, but Mr Tumble really does my head in so I try to leave the room if he's on.

Summer, dd get's sort of left a little bit till she shows signs of needing stuff (nice parenting) but reason is, with her feeding, I just want to stuff as much as I can into her in the day since she's on Aussie time and likes to not eat much in the day but dine consistantly at night perhaps I should leave her like that till after our trip home!
RE sleep she's inconsistant, but generally up at about anywhere between 700-800am then has a half arsed feed, naps again at around 10am (always has this one) after her next feed for anywhere from 45 mins to an hour then either has a long afternoon nap of about 1-2hrs, or sometimes has another short nap over lunch and another short in the afternoon but that's usually because McScreamy has woken her with his high pitched grunting. She's usually more sleepy in the afternoon so I try to keep her up over lunch if I can and that way she will just have the 2 naps (afternoon one always longer) then she most days but not every day has a bath with ds at about 6-630 and usually without fail goes off to sleep with him as well around 7pm. Wakes again at anywhere between 11pm-12am for a decent feed, then has been waking recently after about 4 hours and has another feed, but after that, very hard to wake, and I usually wake her in the morning around 7 or 8 but I've left her before until 9 or 10 she needs to just push it back about 6 hours and it would be perfect!

Anyway, got loads to do here re holiday planning so must get on with it....

Happy to be home, SL? DD2's routine is rather typical of me, probably ridiculously laissez-faire. She feeds every three hours or so in the day, last feed sometime between 9.30 and 10.30pm, and then she was going through until about 6 or 7 but this week she has reverted to waking at 4 or 5. In the day, she doesn't have set naps. She just sort of sleeps when she wants to, which is a lot of the time. So Gina says 2 naps a day? Erm...I think that's odd. But doesn't she have no kids?

Well, I was a good girl after the party on Tuesday night. DP wasn't at work the next day so I was able to stay in town (and it was just as well as I felt rather hungover) but I forced myself to go over to my storage place and do lots of sorting and consolidating. And then today, we went over to the house and did some DIY. We were getting another chimney quote as well and basically he is going to do it for us - hooray! - at the beginning of Feb. Soooo, looks like a February move for us. Anyway, I feel a sense of achievement. And I feel ok with DP again. Staying away for a night probably did both of us good. How I love my shabby little flat.

Spot, you know my twopennorth about the feeding malarkey is going to be do whatever enables you to cope the best, but I recognise that for people who are passionate about BF, it's different. When DD2 was born, she seemed windy/in pain all the time. We tried comfort formula, different teats (JB is totally right, what teats you use has quite a big impact) you name it. Using the cartons of readymade formula as Rubes suggested did help too (even more than the comfort formula), but about a month or so in she suddenly improved massively and I think the early troubles were merely that her digestive system was so new and was just learning. Again, no help to you. I am surpassing myself tonight, with my useless contributions!

When you interview Justin, Kiwi, one thing I would do would be to avoid mention of the last time he was discussed on here. I think you missed it Sybs started it but there was some fairly faintworthy speculation about the size of the Tumble family jewels as they appear in his snowman suit DD1 likes him but her special fave is Show Me Show Me.

This talk about people just dropping in to people's houses makes my hair stand on end, by the way. I like the SOUND of it. But I know it isn't for me. I'm very much of the 'keep the front door locked and don't open it unless the person knocking appears to be in mortal danger' school.

DD1 is swearing. Not good. She announced that it was "bloody dark outside" earlier. When I was trying to clip her into the tricky car seat, I said "Oh for flip's sake!" in a feeble attempt not to swear. DD1's reponse? "Bugger" You have to laugh.

Vag, I bet you aren't obese! You are the same height as me I think (168cm/5'6") and I bet you are a darn sight lighter. I was doing ok but I have had a bad week with the too much champs on Tuesday night and then the inevitable craving of crap foodstuffs the day after.

ZJ, how lovely to stay in Soho! What sort of things are you thinking you might do?

Rubes, how is poor little DS? It was funny being back at the house today, it does make me think of you and your DH. Are you getting the flu jab privately for DD2? I am thinking about it (none of us have had it).

Haven't finished responding to people but I need to go and feed and settle DD2.

lady I crossed with you - oh dd1 comments had me crying laughing!!! not good, no, but Priceless! I remember my bro's littles girls first swearing when he took the rubbish out and it was raining and she half went out on the deck to watch then came in and said (just like he does) "it's bloody wet out there"! Love the bugger too
re flu jab - can't work out if the regular one (which now has the H1N1 included) is on request NHS or still for at risk people also? Will ask GP, but apparently if they are using up their old stock it doesn't have it in as Vaggie pointed out though I think our fam can get it since he's medical, but that said, getting dh to get sorted for that really takes an act of God, he wouldn't have had it first time around if i didn't organize it, so I might be better off just swanning on down to Fleet Street where they have a walk in clinic and calling it good! but yes I want to, and will get them done. Babies have to be 6 months apparently. We all had it last year (the straight swine flu one that was) when I was pregnant, ds was under 5's group and dh was medical.
Oh, I just read out your diy-ing sentence to dh, and he said he still wants to come back and help more, but just so busy at the moment. He normally does 2 on calls or so a month but this last 7 days he has been on call Thurs, Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues, and tonight - as had been asked to swap and has aso done some swaps to cover our holiday. SO stupid, even if he put's in his leave requestes for any given time, if he has an on call shift, it's still his responsibility to get it covered!!! Seems crazy to me - tyou've got leave approved, but unless you can get joe bloggs to cover your on call some day smack bang in the middle of your leave, you have to do that day. However he and I have had that argument to death and he swears it's the way it is - so crap.
Right, dd just woke slightly earlier for her late feed and dh did it. i swear she drinks that bottle in about 60 secs at night but in the day, chews on the teat, smiles, giggles, and acts like she's not really hungry

Oh and Lady, thanks again so much to you and dp for the help with passports.

Sorry you've had a rough day, Rubes. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Poor little chap. Oh, and the weight could be muscle mass!

Re: swearing, I wouldn't mind, but I'm not sure I even say bugger all that often. Or DP. Maybe we are kidding ourselves

Oh and please tell your DH not to fret. We would absolutely love to have him back, both him and his magic hands, but I know how busy he has been, and what a bugger it is with leave. (Ha! I said bugger!) DP's been busy as well. Him being off yesterday and today has probably been his only two week days off together since his paternity leave (ok, excluding Christmas). We lost so much momentum after Dahlia was born, just got it going again only to be foiled by the chimney, and since then the snow and Christmas and general despondency about it. But today felt good. For the first time I think I began to imagine actually living there. It won't be how I want it for quite a while. But hey. And no probs on the passport. Sorry it took longer than anticipated!

Is anyone else watching the Michel Roux thing about training the kids to be waiters etc? Vag and SL, you two watch Masterchef. I don't know what to think about it. So many of them seem to have a veneer of cockiness but with acres of fragility beneath it. Is that what people that age have always been like, or is it particular to a lots of kids today? Er, I realise this makes me sound about 900.

Happy birthday to your birthday boys, Indith. Nolda is right - chefs have to taste their handiwork. I have seen it on the telly!

Right, off to my crib.

Oh have had a good old giggle reliving, Mr Tumble-gate,& at Missladys potty mouth. Glad your getting the chimney sorted Lady, was it much cheaper?

Kiwi, the determination will put her in good stead when she's older....just keep telling yourself that.

I've had a bad day calorie wise. Went to a coffee morning at a friends and partook of far too many creamy, cakey yummies. Then tonight, I forgot I was going out with a friend for dinner cooked dinner for all of us. As we haven't eaten together all week I thought I would just have a small(ish) portion. Then met my friend at the designated pub, but she was running late so I bought a beer for myself and her, only to find when she arrived that she arranged the dinner out to tell me she is pregnant. Which of course is wonderful news but I then had to drink both beers, far more alcohol than I normally drink so was a bit tipsy. Oh well gym sesh tomorrow to work it off.

SL and indith had something to say to you ladies but can't remember. Oh yeah, indith, I know what you mean about the stopping feeding o/n when we were trying to stop DS2's o/n feeding but still give him an early morning feed, he just couldn't work out that the morning feed was different from O/N so just thought whenever he woke up he would get a feed so in the end I had to stop any feeds after bedtime. He needed a nap today so he got his nap feed, but not a bedtime feed because DH put him to bed.

Oh and Pubes,was going to say whenever DS1 had an ear infection he would be quite grumpy, compared to just clingy and cuddly with other infections.

V quick on stupid iPhone. Thx SL for the vbac info. Seeing consultant tomorrow to talk about it. Feeling v wobbly about the whole thing. Scared and uncertain. Also anniversary of mum's death tomorrow so all a bit shit. Mr T is beloved here too. Dh's contribution to gigglebiz is all in the new series. Love to all.

Oh WG, thinking of you tomorrow. Hope you can think of all the things she gave to you. Are you like her? Most of my good points come from my Mum. Hugs to you.

Going back to SL's post about the VBAC, I had the canula in the middle of my forearm. I know that sounds bizarre and I wasn't at all convinced, but Helgy the show off sexy Dane anaesthetist insisted it would be far less painful and and less tricksy and he was SO FLAMIN' RIGHT.

By shopping around, on the chimney, Vag, we have wasted time but saved £500. It's still dear but I am grateful.

I said I was going to bed didn't I? I ended up annoying myself by reading contentious threads on the wider board.

oh fark. Big popping sensation in ladies' area, trickling waters, mild CX every 5-10 mins or so. DH calmly asleep, have tried to avoid waking him as ironically enough we were having a chat before bedtime about having to call in tomorrow and say "Sorry, can't make it to work, have had baby". Blasted tempting fate. Would also mean have to go into hospital as HB not allowed before 37 weeks. A bit late to cross my legs though Well there may be news in due course, meanwhile big thanks to my secret santa for the lovely smellies, in fact I had a fabby bath with one of the exploders only this evening. :)

Holy crap! Good luck jj! Shall await update with excitement.

Have you rung hospital jj or are you putting it off?

Haven't called yet, am waiting to see if cx carry on or slow down - not really able to sleep as feel a bit pukey and dribbly down below (mmmm how gorgeous) but don't want to end up going to hospital only to be sent home. not sure if meant to call labour ward or midwife either?

I think you are MEANT to call them straight away if your waters go. Having said that they won't be as bothered on you having had a normal birth and all (assuming waters are clear no meconium?). Try calling midwife if you call either you might persuade them you can have hombirth as you must be nearly 37 weeks. Call the labour ward and they'll tell you to come straight in.

If you need someone to have s she can come and sleep here! You'd havento bring her over somehow though as I am home alone. Going to sleep now so you will have to ring me rather than post on here.

By the way if you need help my h

Home no is 8 8 0 8 0 4. Mobile playing up! Just got woken by 2 texts sent at 8pm. Bloody phone.

thanks SL, things have stayed pretty steady here so hospital says we need to go in as not yet 36 weeks, but no great rush so hopefully we'll be able to wait long enough to get S to nursery and then her godfather can pick up if we're still stuck there this afternoon. Send normal baby vibes please ladies!

Ooh how exciting JJ! I was wondering if you'd be early given the BH action and the general nausea. Lots of love xx

OH gosh, JJ, how exciting but I can see a bit scary as well. Am thinking of you all darling. Lots of love.

WG, I know today is going to be hard for you as you remember your dear mum, so thinking of you too. Hope the VBAC stuff goes well for you. Lotsof love XXX

Aaaahhhh JJ how exciting big shame about the HB but you've had one so that's cool, sounds like your hind waters broke, you must have a cheeky kicky boy. Enjoy!

Oh gosh I hope things are going well JJ :) Early but only a little bit early. All the best to you :).

Wow, JJ ,good luck! Got everything crossed for you