FEB 2010 Tottering into our second year...!

[InmaculadaConcepcion]

A few first birthdays left, then we're full tilt into walking/talking and a mountain of mischief

Schro thinking of you and sending hopeful thoughts to your friends and colleagues.

Abs hope you are feeling well again soon and are not too traumatised by the events-sounds scary.

Working as a mum of two is a bit mental, I have to admit, but does keep me sane , although I was lucky enough to have nearly a year at home. I do earn enough to make it worth me going back (just) but I don't feel like I do a good job at home and often not at work either. It's a phase...

Have been to the pub with a lovely neighbour and have had two glasses of wine instead of the usual one and now need a little lie down/sleep!! Night all. x

Schro I fervently hope all your friends and colleagues are ok.

Abs your illness sounded awful. I hope you continue to improve today.
Have managed to re-start my social life after a few weeks of going back to work. Had good mate round last night and managed to buy cold meat and good cheese to eat. DP is in the wine trade (I've mentioned before) and so mate brought round some dead posh red wine - 1987 red burgundy something or other - which caused DP to open equally expensive dessert wine (my fave with cheese) and even I got a bit drunk. Very nice.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend planned.

Schro have you heard from any colleagues in Japan? Keeping gingers crossed.

Abs how are you doing? What a horrendous experience. If it was from a bought meal I would defintely contact the restaurant to complain.

Stan did you really get a bit drunk? It's been six weeks now (almost) since my BFP and I've only allowed myself the odd 75ml of wine (exactly one unit of 13% wine). I was a lot more carefree in my last pg for some reason. I drank a proper glass of wine on a few occasions per week. I must say your evening sounds divine. I just love wine. Why didn't I marry someone in the wine trade

Ah good, DH is back from hockey. And DD is still asleep. Hopefully we can fit in a quick roll in the sack. Happy weekend all

scones well I reckon I had 2 and a half glasses of wine and because I'm not normally drinking that actually made me quite merry. I also ate shedloads of all the wrong kinds of cheese. To be honest, wine's a bit wasted on me - I'd rather get blitzed on good gin or cheap vodka. Poor DP has our cellar full of wine worth £300 a pop and I'm just as happy with a bottle of cheap prosecco or a sea breeze.

another Saturday another day in work

DD's sleep has gone downhill again, apparently it can get worse than waking every 1.5-2hrs, she can take a few hours to go to sleep having not had a problem in months. I suspect her recent teeth are going for one last push to the point of full extension.

Phew DS is asleep. I love him to bits but he is so full on all the time that as I'm not feeling at the top today (cold plus I suspect the start of a chest infection) I am knackered!

He spent most part of the afternoon nappy free in order to help drying his nappy rash, only problem is that he didn't understood why he was nappy/trousers free but still had to wear socks

stan I like my wine but I drink it what I call the French way meaning only with food, otherwise I'll drink lager, ale or spirits!

PA sorry to hear that sleep as gone out of the window again.

schro any news?

Stone I had DD yesterday by myself, it has been a long time. Now I'm panicking I'm not cut out for the SAHM business and how will I deal with two of them for mat leave. I mean I used to do it, but DH never seems to lose his patience with her, but I get a bit stroppy when she won't go down for a nap and feel like a lazy mum because I want to sit down all the time.

Do the other (working) mums ever get like this?

Oh yes PA. I sometimes just want to seat for 5mn and I get grumpy because I can't get anything done.
Since he's in bed (since 6.10pm, I have empty the washing machine, empty the tumble dryer, filled it again, done the dishes, tidy his toys away. I still have to cook dinner but I can't be bothered right now. (In case you wondered DH has been at work since 2pm and I don't know at what time he'll be home)

but stone I don't do those things. DH does nearly all house stuff and while I feel guilty, it's not enough to motivate me to get up and help. I know I should, DH knows I should, but he doesn't ask (and he shouldn't have to). I try to tell myself that I do the night feeding but now she wakes more and she isn't always fed, DH now does night stuff as well so it's no longer fair. I just feel tired all the time but at same time even when I do stuff that lazy feeling doesn't go away because I know it's not half of what DH does.

PA I do those stuff most of the time but I don't empty the dishwasher, vacuum (my excuse is that the only time I could do it is when DS is sleeping so obviously can't do it), do the shopping... Also you are the working parent and also pregnant (not an excuse) but it can explain the tiredness. Can you be lacking iron? I was tested during my pregnancy as I was tired all the time.

PA you're pregnant!!! You're allowed to feel too knackered to do housework and stuff.
As for being a SAHM, well, chances are you'll be working again before too long anyway. And if not, you'll evolve you're own way of doing things, just as your DH has.
(That said, I must say the thought of the logistics of two LOs is not a little daunting at times....!)

SB, boo, sorry to hear about the cold and chest infection. I hope both they and your DS' nappy rash clear up soon.

Shro - any news?

Have fun, Scones

Hah, yes, Stan, give me a decent dram of cider or a tipple of Port any time. Wine - I can take it or leave it, to be honest.

Good luck with the campaign, Bc!

We are in full 1-year-sleep-regression mode.

He wakes about 3 or 4 times a night and is up for the day at 5 again.

.

I thought we were over this.

He's just started crying half an hour after I put him down.

BC That's exactly what DD has been like, we've not had a problem putting her down for night sleep for months, but I don't know what's happened the last two days.

Well we've found out what was wrong with the machine so the 12 hour work day starts from now. Tomorrow I may not do much, but we will go to a local butterfly grove.

Thanks for the support ladies but I was that lazy before I was pg, but I don't have a sleeping through baby and that's bound to affect things. Like DH says she clearly loves me and I'm her favourite (still :)) so I'm obviously doing something right.

btw she loves the bubbles that we got her for her birthday, even if she tries to eat the ones that settle on the floor.

[waves back at IC]

dd2 thinks 'No' only applies to when I look directly at her... so if I turn my back she carries on what she was doing

DD doesn't giggle when you say no, but she runs towards whatever she's not allowed or picks up a object and runs away with it really excitedly, so she knows it's a forbidden thing all right :)

She also giggles and does things quicker which is a real problem when I catch her halfway up the stairs... If she rushes in the knowledge she is not allowed on her own I always fear she will fall. In that situation I always prefer to creep up to her rather than say 'No' straight away. Our stairs are a real problem actually because she is so quick. It's almost impossible to fit a stair gate at the top because the walls are crumbly black mortar and the banister is curvy. With dd1 we tried to fit a stair gate (with a plank of wood nailed to the banister) but is was so insecure that she managed to push the gate through (trying to close it) and fell down the stairs. The only other solution would be a gate with a bar at the bottom, but at the top of the stairs that's just a recipe for disaster because I could see myself, dh and dd1 stumbling over it. so be baby would be fine but we may fall down

Sorry for mistakes... on my netbook again as we are away for the weekend. Hate typing on this thing.

We also have some sort of sleep regression but thankfully only related to her lunchtime nap. she is now down to as little as an hour which cuts my time to do anything (mind you, with PA on having been lazy before children... )

PA as IC says, you are pregnant and allowed to feel tired, and if you end up being at home while your DH works, then you will find a way.

To be honest, the leap from one to two LOs is nothing compared to the adjustment you have to make from zero to one. When DD1 was born, it felt like chaos for the first few weeks, then we settled down into a way of being (reluctant to use the word "routine") that suited us. I was dreadig that same feeling with DD2, but the chaos just didn't happen. I suppose we were more confident (though I had had a lot to do with my sister's children, so I wasn't naive about babies), but also we already had a routine set by DD1, so DD2 naturally fell into it. Not that we enforced it, but she started wanting to go to bed at 7:30pm within two weeks of being born, and I'm sure it was because DD1 was going to bed. Similarly, she would often have a nap at 5pm or so, because she would be in the carrier or pushchair when I went to collect DD1 from nursery.

Honestly, two is fine!

As for going from career woman to SAHM, you'd be surprised how you can get your head round it. I never thought that I'd want to be a SAHM, but now I see how little I actually earn after taking out everything else, and think about school holidays and wraparound care etc, I just don't know that I can balance it with working, and I would rather be a SAHM than rush around all the time, and have my children shuttling between different childcare settings. I have friends who do it, and I admire them for making it work, but it looks ever so hard, and I can see the toll it takes on both them and their LOs. Equally, I can see that the lot of a SAHM is not all lovely baking and coffee mornings, but then as I've said before... Mums can't have it all!

Gone on too long. I'll disappear now.

CS could have written most of your post myself... . For me, no 2 was a totally pleasant experience compared to my first and the adjustment from none to one baby. Mind you, I can't imagine going through pg tiredness etc now so hats off to those with developing [established in Stan's case] bumps . Luckily I went off alcohol for 2/3 of each pregnancy and then had the odd sip of wine for the last trimester. I think I was more cautious than most because I have worked with children with fetal alcohol syndrome and resulting learning disability and it was no picnic in the park for families. What shocked me most was that the affected children were not necessarily from alcoholic mothers.. there really is no absolutely safe amount you can drink in pregnancy

PA sorry you're worrying. I'm not really in the right headspace today to reassure you much, as DS1 has been a little git most of the day and I've not dealt with it very well.

I'm not cut out to be a SAHM longterm but I think I did a reasonable impression of it while I was at home for the year. It was easier the second time round and DS2 was in DS1's routine by about day 4!! They still sleep at the same time now so I went to bed this p.m for an hour (and have no pregnancy as an excuse!)

While I was pregnant with DS2 I had glandular fever type tiredness (as I did with DS1) and DH had to do most things for the first 20weeks. He still goes to Sainsburys each week now as I couldn't push the trolley due to the SPD - it's a job he can keep in the name of 'sharing responsibility'. I'm very lucky as I know he does a lot more than most DH/P. He has always got up in the night too for half the wake-ups - I can't imagine how you two are managing with so many wake-ups. Give yourself a break. Keep telling DH how much you love him, but he knows you are carrying DC2 and I'm sure he thinks that's your job at the mo. . Oh, and my kids would have much more fun with DH at home as I'm too stressy and try to do too much housey stuff. The house would be in chaos, but the kids would be more laid back and happy!

In DS1's good spell today, we gardened together and he managed not to dig up any plants (although trod on a few!) Meanwhile, DS2 has done a wee on the potty 5 out of the last 8 evenings and seems to be showing some intent (i.e. I say, "Can you do a wee wee for mummy?" and he looks at his willy and starts to wee). Not under any illusions obviously.

I also totally avoided alcohol during pregnancy, due to the same reasons as BG, but am making up for it now!!

Er, and BG, DS2's favourite tricks at the moment are: picking up the heaviest thing he can find and lobbing it, whilst saying "Uh-oh!" - today it was the bathroom scales (an old-fashioned and heavy set); licking the slate (filthy) kitchen floor; clamping his teeth around the toilet seat while DS1 is having a sit down wee without me noticing , whilst generally still being extremely cute.

He's totally mastered the Princess Diana 'looking out from under the eyebrows' thing. Still walks round saying, "Oh WOW!" to everything and now says, "Ah!" as he gives teddies a cuddle! Oh, and he finally said, "Mummy!" tonight which was, of course, the most important thing of all and has finally turned my mood into a more pleasant one! Maybe DH paid him?!!

beth me too (making up for it)
Sounds like you are having your hands full with your two . I am hugely impressed with the potty success. Sat dd2 on one as a laugh inspired by you and she thought it was a fabulous seat but had no idea what it might be for...

DS has sat on his potty, looked scared and started crying! But it's a work in progress.

BG and CS I like to wait you present DC2 to your lives.

DS new tricks is to bite either fingers or clothing.I tell him a loud no and he looks at me smiling like if he was innocent. (the little devil)

Where is everybody?