June 2008: new year, new diets, new resolutions, but when push comes to shove creme eggs are still the solution!

[KnittingRocks]

Sorry, couldn't cope with Christmas anymore!

What biscuits said ! Yes, baby would have to have been small at birth and MILs talk lots of bollocks .

It is very hard not to stress about baby weight and I've had one of each but if I had a 3rd I don't think I'd even have them weighed - ignorance is bliss!

Hope S has calmed down now keepcalm!

Spider I thinks ds2 went from the 80th percentile to the 0.02nd or something. But he dud much better on the WHO growth charts, never dropping below 9th. My dh is slender and there's a family history of growing later on his side so we refused formula when it was recommended. I did get ds2 checked out with a good gp though just to give me the confidence I was doing the right thing.

Knitting - I started with Fraser in the summer and had to stop for a few months too - it was much easier in the autumn. I'm sure if you give it a few months it'll be fine! And it's not worth stressing about, I promise!

Sorry if that post sounded a bit short, on phone!

Thanks AH .

Forgot to refresh before posting. Ignore me!

I remember the stress of dropping down the percentiles (and a lovely Wimbledon MNr phoning me to reassure me). If it helps your friend to know Ry stats were:
Birth 75th centile
16 - 26 weeks 9th centile
1 year 50th centile

MIL comment would be funny if it wasn't serious.

Thanks Maya. One of the great things about this thread is having an instant sample of the range of "normal".

Agree with others about weight gain... if the baby is weeing and pooing normally and seems contented then I wouldn't worry. esther started off on 9th and dropped off bottom of chart! When your friend starts weaning the weight gain should be better. But it doesn't even seem that worrying going from 50th to 25th - some babies have artificially high birthweights if they are holding lots of fluid (eg if the mother had fluids during the birth) so maybe 50th was not his natural level anyway.

I am using Cbeebies and Learn&Groove as babysitter this afternoon - feel so tired even though all the kids slept through last night! It has been a tough week though with various sickly children.

Knitting, you might find it easier in the summer anyway, he will get there. He definitely won't still be in nappies at graduation . But don't expect too much too soon - Theo the lazy little arse wet himself on the stairs today (my carpet [cry]) because he couldn't be arsed to climb the stairs and get to the loo .

Panic over, my period finally started yesterday. At least 2 days late and very painful. I often daydream about getting pregnant even though we are certainly not trying but I really panicked when I thought I might be as we really can't afford another one at the moment and will be hard hit by the loss of child benefit next year. I had 3 near sleepless nights over it and was really relieved when my period started! Thought the sleeplesness was due to worry but am having the same problem tonight!

Going glad you are relieved and can stop worrying. Hope you can have a better night's sleep tonight.

Going I hope you got a much better night's sleep tonight!

Quick question for you all - if you had a spare £50 to spend on one of the DCs what would you buy? My gran passed away last year, she didn't have much but we got a cheque for £50 for S yesterday. My DB put my DN's cheque straight into her CTF, but I could tell my dad was disappointed - he hoped we would spend the money on something the children would enjoy just now.

So what to buy? Thanks to having a ridiculously generous set of family members, S has got most of the 'big stuff' for 2/3 year olds already - scooter, balance bike, kitchen, easel, wooden train set... Any suggestions for something that has a bit of long-term play value? Not sure whether or not to get some extras for his kitchen/train set or something else? I had thought about something like a wooden garage, fire engine etc but we're a bit short of space. Mind you, he does already have the more baby-ish garage from elc which he doesn't really play with so I could pack that away. What do you think?

My immediate thought was a CTF too (dullard that I am). What about some kind of classy musical instrument? Peter has a plastic keyboard that he loves but it isn't right for a keepsake type of gift as it even has a dancing bear on top.

likethis ??

A dress up box (a few outfits rather than a box).

A box set of books such as Dr Seuss.

A special photo of S and Gran made into a canvas print.
Or a day out like Sponge did and paint some pottery that you can keep?

Something fun that you can keep to remind you of your Gran.

Going - Glad you got the result you wanted.

Neenz - I have become shameless in using digital babysitters ATM. They mean that R stays on the potty and F gets BF. BTW what is Rastamouse? I keep hearing about it on FB. Is it suitable for our toddler age group?

Spider - Not sure the shoe issue is a Boden one, I have the same problem with my converse.

OMG - just googled Rastamouse, I have to get it. No one here would have any idea what R was on about if he started copying it! No dvds on amazon yet though.

I love those little pianos Spider - sadly, S has zero interest in any musical toys he already has so I'm not sure he'd appreciate it.

Like the dress up box idea Maya - any suggestions from anyone about good things for a boy's dress up box?

Any other suggestions?

Another shopping question... S has grown out of his wrap type thing he wears at swimming and I wanted to get him a little shortie wetsuit (our local pools are freezing according to DH). Can anyone recommend any for little people?

I hope everyone is having a good w/e (and that Amber is getting some sleep). We unexpectedly had friends round for dinner last night which was lovely, but does mean that I'm a bit weary today...

Needless to say, my study day isn't going so well...

Maya, I hear that BBC iplayer is going international this year which would help you get a Rastamouse fix?

Splashabout are good keepcalm. On phone, will post properly later.

Art? We've just bought the boys a print by a local artist (actually I was trying to buy one for myself but the one I wanted ended up being sold out so the kids demanded this one) and it's up in their room and they really love it and I think it's special to them. I framed it in a £10 frame from Tesco which is a way less than it deserves but it did mean that it's about your budget.

A dressing up box needs a doctor's/nurses outfit, a fireman, a policeman, superhero, animal masks, etc... we have one at the playgroup and it's a bit hit but might be expensive to put together for S.

Vey excited today, one of my friends is being induced, her little boy is the same age as my son so we've known each other since baby groups with them, they're at the same school now and good friends. I've been on standby for emergency child care night and day if needed for the past few weeks but her family are here now to look after her son - so I'm looking forward to a couple of glasses of wine tonight, hopefully to celebrate good news (though I know it might take longer than that!)

Rastamouse is fab

How exciting System! Hope you (and your friend) are celebrating before too long!

Am quite liking the idea of a dress up box for S - I think he'd quite like that. Easily something that can be added to over time too.

Biscuits we have a plashabout wrap - but despite S being quite small and things generally being too big for him, DH insists the large wrap is getting a bit tight on him. I really like their stuff, but I could only find sleeveless wetsuits and I think I'd prefer short sleeved.

H&S, if you're around, DH took S to see Thomas at the weekend. He loved it!

I hope everyone is having a good day - it's beautiful here, but sadly we're waiting in for a plumber to come this afternoon. So I think we'll make some rice crispie cakes instead!

lovely day here too. We've been at soft play with a friend this morning, she announced her 3rd pregnancy today - exciting!

keepcalm I'm sure our splashabout wetsuit has sleeves - don't use it much to be honest, C wears a normal swimsuit and swims very energetically, so has never been too cold!

systems hope your friend has a straight forward delivery.

abdn I like the print. We are planning on buying a picture for us and a couple of prints of quentin blake illustrations of Roald Dahl stories for the girls room with an inheritance that DH was left last year - haven't done it yet though.

Ooh we might go to see Thomas in April as we're going on holiday to near Lake Windermere and there is a Thomas day that week nearby. While C like it even if she's not an avid fan?

Where are Deb? and Rolf? I was letting them off last week as it was half term...

I FB-ed Deb last week and heard nothing .

Did I miss something about her being without internet connection? Hope her and Rolf ok.

Just texted Deb. Will let you know if I get a reply. I think she said they were going to Austria for half term?

Do you want a wetsuit made of neoprene or just one with UV fabric? We got the latter for P's last two suits. One from Next and subsequent one from Blooming Marvellous (who are now in administration I think). It was an O'neill one in the sale. Red as White and looked great.

Looking for neoprene Spider. I've seen some TWF ones that look ok but will check out O'Neill's too.

I think Deb did say they were going away for half-term, I guess both her and Rolf might be just about be getting time to catch a breath about now

I think you're right about Blooming Marvellous. Not surprised though, they were way overpriced for things like toys etc that you could buy elsewhere.

Biscuits - do you mean the thomas stage show or the steam engine days out? I took Thomas to the stage show at the weekend - he loved it, but he is a big Thomas fan. H&S took E and I think they liked it, but E nota big Thomas fan either IIRC. I've not been to the Thomas days out yet, but you've just reminded me to see if this year's dates at Bo-ness and Kinneil are out yet!