Dec 08 - tears, tantrums, giggles and piddles - and that's just the mums!

[traceface]

Or maybe piddling whilst giggling is just me?
It's so sunny here I feel Spring has sprung - where's that daffodil emoticon gone? Had a friend round this morning for a natter and cake - muchos snot and tears but all good. Think I might go for a little bike ride now to blow the cobwebs away.
And no vag - not a chance!
rubs don't you dare spend all your time tweeting - your first loyalty is here!

That's odd Vag, cos DD1's weight puts her on the 25th! (Which is great as it's what she was born on)

Sorry Lady I lied I just checked his 'groen boek' :) and he was actually 11.8kg at 2years and that was just a smidge under their halfway mark. They don't really have centiles here, they have a kind of upper limit and a lower limit but the same as good HVs in the UK they are more interested if they are tracking on the same line. They do constantly like to point out that it is 'Ok' that our boys aren't anywhere near the upper line because they are not Dutch thanks. I'd love to say something to the HV about Dutch footsize (they have seriously small feet, I don't know how they manage to stand up), but I'm happy with my boys size, they are too goodlooking to worry about size . The parameters are based on Dutch children and are updated every 5 years.

Hello! Am back. I don't advise getting quite hammered at a wedding in Ibiza then straight to a 2am (Not so) Easyjet flight then over an hours drive from bloody Stansted. Have to pick up the dog, but will be back to catch up later when I feel more human. Fabulous time though, and not a glow stick in sight

Hello just quickly as am on phone as in Scotland for a wedding.
Kiwi I also had the slapped cheek thing - though with me it had been in ds nursery so I wasn't sure I had def been exposed. I tested negative both times, ie like you I hadn't had it but second check showed I hadn't caught it so all was ok. Sorry that is not much help but I remember at mid stages it is least dangerous if you do catch it. Fingers crossed not. I got the impression it is quite rare and they just do it to be on the safe side. Got to go as phone is playing up.

How was your interview Kiwi? Like Spot I really enjoy your writing so I hope they've seen sense.

No TT or big bed here. I've started leaving the potty out for DS2 but after some early successes he's decided it's too much like hard work and is having none of it. DS1 on the other hand has successfully negotiated sweeties for poos in the loo - he's still having the odd accident as he hates sitting on the toilet - and is much more regular you'll be pleased to hear. I should hire him out to the UN to sort out peace settlements.

Lady - DD1 is 11kg and on 9th centile! Don't fret about your DD1 at all, she's doing well! So's mine, she's just petite.

And you're right re Dad, I just think it gets a bit wearing for Mum, who is exhausted as a result of it. She's a non-complainer, so have to keep an eye on her!

Glad you had a lovely hammered time at the wedding Rubes! Sounds unfun with the journey back though! Am going to a fancy dress party this weekend as Sandy off Grease. DH was meant to go as Danny, but he's never seen Grease and doesn't know who Danny is, so has opted for Laurence of Arabia as he has a white dress thing he got in Egypt years ago. I am going to feel a bit of a twit as Sandy on my own. Never mind.

Rubes, I really didn't cotton on to the fact that Ibiza was NOW! I thought it was in a few weeks! Oh gosh, hope you had a lovely time and look forward to hearing about it. How was the weather? How was being away from the DCs? I know you hadn't done that before.

Thanks Beans, I am really happy with DD1's weight now, and as you say she is merely petite. It was just when she fell off the percentiles chart completely last year, then hovered around the 2nd for what seems like ages, that it was all a worry...Your DH has never seen Grease? Wowzers! Mind you, I have nevr seen Star Wars.

Right, MIL is coming at lunchtime so best look lively, have loads to do before then. DP won't be in until quite late this evening so that's hours just the two of us

Good Sandy or dirty Sandy, Beans?

Oh no, MIL has decided to bring her husband. Just shoot me now. He is probably worse than her! And he and DP have a terrible relationship, and there's always friction. And there is NO space here, they are sleeping on a sofabed in the (horrendously crowded) living room. And, on a minor note, that means she won't be coming in her 4x4 which DP was going to borrow to take loads of stuff to the house on Sunday. There are lots of others 'ands' but I will spare you Bum and triple bum.

Good Sandy....

Yeah, it always annoyed me a bit, that. Why should Sandy have to change to conform to Danny's expectations? I mean, she wasn't like that when they met.

Anyway, I am just fiddling whilst Rome burns. So must go and put out a few flames.

Oh bum, Lady - what a pain in the arse. How long are they staying for?

Until Sun or Mon, so not that long. And they are babysitting the DDs tomorrow so I shouldn't be so ungrateful. But even with that - MIL wilfully ignores any instructions I leave. I am hardly the most routine heavy of people, either! And she will cook salmon in the microwave as per usual because her DH only eats salmon or gammon and the smell hangs around for days. (Is it normal to microwave fish?? I don't eat fish so am no expert, but I have never know this before). Anyway - mustn't start carping or I will never stop....

Why would you microwave salmon when it takes no time to poach it in milk or bake it with some lemon & wine (I'm sure Beans will come on with some much better examples), microwaving it kills all the omegas and digestive enzymes, and leave a yukky smell in your microwave if not your house. Lady that all sounds a bit difficult but at least you get the babysitting. Why can't they still bring the big car?

I used to think the same about Sandy changing for Danny, but then I watched it more recently and was surprised that I saw it as a good thing, a bit of an awakening of her sexuality! Get in.Sandy.

Rubes glad you had a good time in Ibeeffa, woop woop.

Vag - cos MIL's DH (ie suppose technically DP's Stepdad) will ONLY drive his brand new Mercedes with his personalised numberplate. Which he never stops talking about (unless he is talking about how you meet a better class on person on a CRUISE). He.is.a.berk. He is one of those 'knows the price of everything and the value of nothing' type-fellas. And he asks me continually if I know any 'famous' people. Last time I saw him, he asked me if I knew whether I had any royalty in my family tree As DP choked into his coffee, I nodded solemnly said "Yes, but Very Far Back".

And don't forget that Danny also changed for Sandy
"Danny Zucko, turned jock. Are you leaving us Danny?"
"Hey you guys can't follow a leader all your lives"

Arse about the ILs LadyT, and why can't they still bring the big car. With you on the gammon, foul stuff, and on the 11lb daughter. You don't get diamonds as big as bricks - my mantra to justify being a short arse

Welcome back Rubes, pleased to hear you had a great time

Spot I'm sure I baby DD, because I love my little baby and don't ever want her to grow up. She's going to learn to do everything she needs to at some point because that's nature, so I don't see the point in pushing things

I'm sorry your Dad is in pain Beans

Christmas hols sound amazing Vaj

I took Spot's advice and pulled a sickie today, glad I did as it turned into a stomach bug. DD is at nursery and then DH taking her to a party and I'm quite enjoying the opportunity to lie in bed in a completely peaceful house, almost makes the regular dashes to the loo worth it ...

Oh my god, royalty in your family tree , as if he even had to ask!

Feel better soon ZJ. And yes he is quite bonkers. It would be quite funny were it not for his more unsavoury views...I will spare you those as it might impede your recovery. Right! Better go, they are due any minute.

Crikey, I feel almost human. I really want a Bloody Mary (always fix me right up) I'm old, and certainly not able to tolerate the cheerfulness I once could. The wedding was brilliant. Ibiza is the last place on earth I would ever choose to go even on hols, but we were on the "non party side" apparently and the reception venue was breathtaking. The pictures don't do it justice. Said to someone I felt slightly like I was on the set of an Usher or JLo music video, and apparently it IS where Kylie M had her Aphrodite Album launch - Lady, MIL's dh would be well impressed I'll put some photo's up on FB but better wait until the bride puts hers up first.
Had a great time but yes the flight home with the over indulgence at the wedding followed by a 3am drive back from Stansted wasn't ideal.
The kids were fine. MIL and GMIL stayed at ours and although she looked knackered she said she had fun with them. DD has gone back to her 3am wake ups after sleeping through the week before we left but she had vommed up a feed one night from coughing, so was expected she would get hungry. Hoping she will go back to those nice nights of not waking soon. DS was apparently quite peeved every morning to find mil in our room and threw himself face down on the landing in protest, but came good after his brekky both days and was quite pleased to see us this morning. I missed them a lot and felt like I'd forgotten something the whole time, but it was also nice for the break. Ate and drank FAR TOO MUCH and I officially hate hotel buffets why do I feel the need to eat everything just because it's there layed out? When on earth would I ever slice myself some ham and cheese plus bacon scrambled eggs, cereal, fruit muffins etc at home? And as Michael MaIntyre says, those shot glass sized juice glasses do my head in. I had to have 4 glasses standing at the buffet and then take one to the table just to get initially rehydrated to stomach a coffee

I haven't had much luck properly catching up, so did I miss anything big way back?
Salmon microwaved? no no no. Oven, in foil with lemon olive oil etc, strewth.
great sounding trip Vag. My bro ex wife is from Penang. I got invited to my (ahem) 20 year high school reunion and I'm half considering going (must be still pissed)
I didn't catch up properly on the mini Lady dd1 weight thing but agree she is petite, it is nice, she looks healthy and fine.
On the weight thing - you would have to lose weight on that diet - is there and thyroid-y type prob or something else which could affect your metabolism?
I'm sure I had remembered more of what I read.... it will come to me!

hi all,
sorry for mini absence. I've been lurking and smiling/ groaning/ crying/ with you all as appropriate, but not really feeling like posting. Normal service will be resumed soon I'm sure. Just off to get P but will try to come back properly later.

Hope you are ok, Trace. How's work going?

MIL and DH aren't here yet, they must have been held up in traffic! The narrower the gap between their arrival and DP getting home, the better, obviously.

Rubes, that sounds amazing! As for breakfasts - well, if you are going to blow out on a meal it's definitely the one, you've got the rest of the day to work it off! I am sure DD will get back into the sleeping again. Maybe I should get my thyroid levels checked again, it hasn't been done for a while. (I actually need to go back to my endocrinologist to see if I need to go on Metformin again).

Oh-oh, I think that's a knock on the door...

Hi Trace nice to see you, and nice to know your lurking, miss you a bit. How were school holidays for you?

We are off down south for a little camping weekend with some friends. Rain is forecast but we have decide to push ahead with our plans, so fingers crossed. We have large quantities of alcohol so should be ok.

Rubes my high school reunion was last year, apparently it was good. They want to have one every year now.

Lady your stepFIL is quite gross, how bizarre. However, I love your response, I nearly laugh spat all over my phone. One of AKs school friend's dad is the official photographer for the dutch royal family and the government. DH was chatting to him the other day (he thinks if he gets friendly with him he might do some family photos for us ), & he was telling DH how he met Nelson Mandela. DH is all excited now because that means there is only 2 degrees of separation between us & Mr Mandela, bless him. I'm waiting for Arti to meet Mr Obama so I can drop that one into our dinner conversation.

Oh Rubes, wedding sounded good. I know what you mean about breakfast. I find having children with us at breakfast really curbs the over eating, as I either can't even get to the buffet for myself or whatever is on my plate suddenly becomes DS2's breakfast. These days I tend to over caffienate at B.Bs. I do love a good Brunch though. When I did night duties in Brisbane on our last night a bunch of us would go to the Sheraton or Hilton for breaky. Both hotels would give a $2 discount on the buffet to nurses coming from night duty.

ok I'm back. Girls in bed, pizza in the oven, lap top all mine :)
firstly, apologies for not responding to people on here when I really should have, and indeed wanted to, but somehow couldn't. I won't try to go back over everything I didn't comment on, so sorry.
Secondly - a couple of things you asked of me 1) Urbs you are welcome to PM or email me re prem babies or to pass my details on if you think it might be any use, although JB's experience is obviously much more recent. 2) ZJ you asked about P's speech referral - yes she went to a drop in where she was assessed and as a result was referred for the hearing test, which she has now had 2 of, both showing mild hearing loss, so is off to see ENT for further investigation on 25th May. She's also been going to a weekly 'play with language' group at ou local children's centre, which has been fab and has helped me to simplify and focus my language with P, so hopefully helping her speech develop - which it now is doing.
Welcome to trudy - fab to have a newbie join us :) Hope you're settling in nicely.
So in Traceface land...having a bit of a wobble but not a major one. Tearful times keep sneaking up on me and my confidence and mood are a bit low, but I'm not too worried because I know I will soon pick up.
Here are my bullet points for life at present:

1. Toilet Training - good days and bad - still in pants but sometimes it's all too much and I put a nappy on her to give myself a break. Spoke to nursery about it today (and cried) and they feel we should perservere with the pants. They are completely fine about all the accidents (I had been worried about how annoying it might be for them) and feel that if we put her back in nappies, then she will find it harder to train her down the line. They are happy to do whatever we want to do, but I think I'll follow their advice, seeing as they've tons more experience than me and my instinct is remaining silent.
2. General Behaviour - lots of strops - usually short lived - but enough to reduce me to tears in Tesco this week when I physically couldn't put her in the trolley seat.
3. Bedtime - getting harder - she has stories and songs and seems calm, lies down, then as I leave the room she stands back up and yells and cries and bangs her cot and the walls. She settles usually once DH has been up to calm her, which means I am unable to put her to bed successfully on my own, and is therefore crap when he's out and she screams and screams...
4. Bed v cot - still in cot. Have no faith at all that she would stay put and as she can't yet climb out of the cot, that's where she's staying.
5. Milk - hasn't had any since the day she stopped BF, but seems fine for it.
6. Babying - I know I want her to stay little and worry about whether I'm babying her at times. Drinks are generally in a sippy cup, and I worry she shouldn't have a lid on (especially to help speech development) but I still give it to her with the lid (to save on spills mainly). She still sits in a high chair for meals, although she is starting to want to sit on a big chair, which results in her getting up and down and climbing on everyone and everything.
7. More kids - No. Would love to be pregnant again and would love another, but really don't believe it's the best thing for our family (my mental health, finance, DD1...)
8. Work - Great to be back and getting stuck in. Been tearful a few times but am well supported and doing fine.

9.House sale - had 2 more viewings yesterday so just waiting for feedback from them. Are you bored yet?

NO! It's nice to see you back xxx