March 2010 - Babies: "Climbing like an evil genius". Mummies: "Avoiding the Shred DVD"

[Arcadie]

Welcome to those with a March 2010.
Happy Easter from me....
Unwrap it quick!..

Oh, it's a new thread. I was hoping for chocolate.

Oh, and
Me being a great birth partner: I like to think so! although I'm gutted that I have seen little Elliot since he was less than an hour old as I had to get into a car and drive to Oxford. That was a weird car journey. 4:05 - bF's baby crowning. 5:05 - just hitting the A64.....

Walnut - bikini: yes! And .

Melk: v v exciting re house plans, but rather you than me, m'love

Same goes for all you TTC or thinking about it: rather you than me!

Somebody drag me away from that thread in Bereavement .

I am off to sniff my childrens' heads and to see if Joe's fever is down - poor guy, was a little, unsettled hot radiator earlier. Wish me luck for the night...

xx

Good evening all, hope all are well.

PD I've not seen the thread in Bereavement, but am feeling rather :( tonight, we had a phone call earlier to say that one of DH and my colleagues lost her husband today. He went out to play golf this afternoon, and died on the course from a suspected heart attack. He can't be any more than mid 40s, and they've got two little boys. Such a sad, sad piece of news to hear. Certainly makes me appreciate what I've got here.

PD You could have bought me dinner first!

Just had a look at bereavement, now am in tears Terrible.

Flisspaps - Sorry to hear about your friend, very sad for you and his family.

Went shopping for a tankini this afternoon and am now exhausted! DD very good whilst I was trying things on, but walked smack into the change room mirror trying to play with the little friend on the other side. Howled so much I had to leave! Poor thing has a fat lip and scratches from falling over in driveway, a scratched eyebrow from her scooter and now a red patch on her forehead from the naughty friend in the mirror.

I have my interview on Monday for the job I really want. I got the offer in the post for the job which is second choice last Friday and have been sitting on it until Monday.

[Looks suspiciously at RKD's lipstick smeared face]

DS has started doing group hugs - grabbing me and taking me over to DP then hugging our legs. Aw. He now thinks it's great fun to spin on the spot until he's dizzy and falls over (terrifying for me).

Who's been snogging Arcadie? I don't wear lip stick, can't stand the stuff, so who?! Fess up!

I cannot believe how all these babies are turning into little people with all their frightening new abilities: Joe only runs, no walking, just running. Which is fine and dandy until the late afternoon when clearly the balance centre is no longer controlling the leggies and he is a bit like a pinball in our garden, bouncing off one obstacle into another and another until he eventally, mercifully falls over . It is breathtaking to watch - I mean literally, I am holding my breath watching him.
He has now mastered our climbing fort and can slide the big slide down by himself. He is also very fond of our ladybird Wheelybug, which he recently took outside and proceeded to tip himself face first off the curb unto the road while his incompetent morther was standing Right There unable to do anything about it in time... apart from a thick lip he is surprisingly uninjured. I have reached the conclusion that babies do, indeed, bounce. Normal Laws of Gravity don't apply. Apparently.

Shroomer, v best of luck on Monday, sounds exciting . But must be nice to know you have a Plan B already secured - good for you!

Walnut well done on the bikini shopping, sounds like it was quite a task.. Isn't it always the way when you take the lo's along?! I took ds1 bra shopping with me the other week and whilst I was trying one on he produced a crayon from his pocket and scribbled all over the mirror!

pacific indeed they do seem to bounce at this age. I watched helplessly as Miles crawled up our stairs super quick and slipped, headbutted a step and bit hos bottom lip

Thankfully he can't run yet but does
Break in to a bit of a gallop when pushing his trolly/walker He just started to walk about a month ago, so cute to watch him tottering around!

We have decided to 'let things happen' baby wise. Not strictly ttc, just not preventing anything

Miles has woken.. Back shortly

Back...

Shroomer Good luck for Monday!

Fliss Sorry to hear about your colleagues dh Makes you realise just how lucky some of us are..

I read the thread in bereavement and also shed a tear Devastating.

Baby whip :-o good grief!! NOT a good typo! I meant baby wipe

Good luck for tomorrow, Shroomer. And, as PD said, how nice to have a back-up already in place.

I've also read that thread in bereavement. Just heartbreaking.

And terrible news about your friend, Fliss. I've been there - my Dad dropped dead in a similarly unheralded manner - and it's awful. So....unreal.

Well done for shopping with toddler in tow, Walnut. Both of mine get super-bored pretty quickly now when shopping, which definitely kills any enjoyment.

Have spent the weekend in the company of a child-donated stomach bug. Grim grim grim. 'twas inevitable though, ever since DD woke me on Thursday morning by vomiting all over me. So, I hope everyone else has had a better weekend than mine!

Sariska stomach bugs are the worstHope you're feeling better now..

Sariska, you poor thing, stomach bugs are the absolute worst. And terrible about your father. Re your last post, funnily enough, I am writing a novel and have been thinking about a creative writing course.... (especially as I am sitting up once again at 11:01pm, finishing a legal document)....

How does anyone ever go out with two toddlers???!? I can barely manage one ... someone reassure me that eventually you do have a life again. I am both terrified and also so broody it's incredible ... keep having sly peeks at the pregnancy threads. Pathetic!

DD had two spills today. I came home from work and found a huge egg-like bruise on her forehead. Had to really struggle not to get cross with my MIL who was babysitting. I know it's not her fault and yet I can't help feeling I would do a better job. Unfair?!

BTW where is annamamma these days? Is she still around? She was there towards the end of the due date month when I was struggling to stay sane, so I really remember her!

oh and good luck Shroomer for today (or almost yesterday where I am!!)

AIBU to secretly be a huge bit pleased that DH really, really struggled when he went out with our 3 older ones yesterday? They came back quite late, everybody was fraught, and after they were all in bed DH had a little tearful moment at the awfulness of it all - and I could not help thinking: "Welcome to my world, mate" .
And that was with 3, not 4.
I am well aware that he sometimes books himself up with extra work at the weekend to get out of the house - which leaves me to it. Again.
I case you hadn't guessed, communication is not our strong point .

No idea re annamama.

Have you anything to report back, shroomer ?

Walnut, I always make a rather conscious decision when I hand any of my DSs over into somebody else's care, that their care is now entirely out of my control and either I am happy with the care provider, or I don't do it.
My DS3 fell face first down a shrubby slope when about 2 1/2 when my dad had been 'watching' him. Dad simply did not expect him to do anything so utterly insane and his response was "Did he not see that that was dangerous?" - Eh, no, Dad, he is 2 and therefore by definition certifiably insane! Anyhow, assuming you are in principle ok with your MIL looking after your DD, you probably just have to let it slide...

PD not being unreasonable ... DH and I very recently had a very loud argument about DH working late every night and then quite often leaving me as default parent on the weekends (ie if he wants to do something, he knows I will be there to look after DD). And we only have one child so can only imagine how you feel .... DH has a very well-paying, high stress job in finance and so is difficult for me to argue, at times, however.

And on the topic of care-providers, I always feel guilty, and not really entirely happy with anyone other than me or DH looking after DD ... however, as we have decided to take her out of childcare as we were not happy with the level of care, we are now "stuck" with family to babysit unless/until I decide to give up work. My DH spoke to MIL tonight and she has, of course, taken it badly .... I don't live anywhere near my parents or family, so I really don't feel like I have much choice

at "baby whip". Is that some kind of punishment device, or is it more like a Walnut Whip? Doesn't sound great either way, does it?

We got back from our weekend away this morning. The 5.45am wake-up today wasn't quite as painful as the 4am wake-up on Saturday, but I'm still knackered. Travelling with a toddler is hard work. Izzy was good as gold for most of the trip (she got upset when she had to have her seatbelt on for landing, but it was naptime and she fell asleep after 5 mins of crying) but it's still exhausting, somehow. We saw about 20 different relatives in various locations so it was a labour-intensive visit.

My brain is too scrambled for individual replies and I need to make Izzy's tea, but I hope everyone's well and I'll try to come back later for a proper post.

PD Not unreasonable at all. DH is usually destroyed after half an hour of sitting in the house with me and one of my mindees, never mind on his own with more than one small child.

Walnut8 I sympathise about the work/childcare thing. I was so PFB bothered about letting anyone else look after DD that I gave in work and registered as a CM. Family wasn't an option for us at all.

Walnut Whip? Yes please....

A Baby Whip?? This is where I have been going wrong all these years!

Re 'not doing anything to prevent it': this is what made DS2 arrive 12 months after his older brother had been born

I am no Nanny Search again with renewed vigour. I do think that I truly believe that if you feel strongly about how you want your DCs to be raised, you have no choice but to do it yourself. If others get involved, be that family or paid help, you have to reliquish your own ideas. DH gets much more het up about things he would have done differently from either my mum/his mum/CM when they are in sole charge of our little darlings. I, OTOH, think that if whoever is the Responsible Adult, then they have to do what they think is right/keeps them safe. I am jolly glad that I have never relied on family for routine childcare as I can see how difficult it would be to address differences of parenting styly (your nanny/CM you can chose; your gran of course not ).

It usually takes me 2 sleeps to recover from travel with kids...

Interesting thoughts on handing over our children to others to look after. My DS came back after a day at his granny's yesterday, very bouncy after a 1 hour nap in the morning, and 3 HOURS in the afternoon! Blinkin heck! Apparently he was 'no bother'. No s**t. I kept him awake longer in the evening to stop him waking up at silly-o-clock today.

The interview went well. They've asked 'the strongest candidates' to go back in today for a chat over coffee. So I hope I'll find out today.

I've submitted my thesis!!
I now have to wait a couple of weeks (minimum 6 to the big day: viva). But at least milestone 1 is done!

I'll come back later for a proper post
x

Oh evitas that's fab, well done you It must such a relief to have reached that milestone. Have a large and put your feet up.

Shroomer glad to hear the interview went well. Let us know how today goes :)

Poor Izzy fell backwards off the sofa and landed on her head this morning :( I think she got a fright more than anything, and calmed down after a few minutes. She's now been asleep for over 2.5 hours though.. I've checked on her and she's fine, I think she's just exhausted after the busy weekend. She also fell and smacked the back of her head on the marble hearth at DH's grandparents' house the other day. Maybe I should buy her a safety helmet.

Tomorrow I'm going to be babysitting a friend's 18mo DD while she and her DH go for their 20w scan (not the friend I mentioned last week, this is another pregnant friend). She should be alseep at least some of the time, but running around after two toddlers is going to be interesting, for sure.

well done evitas, that must feel so good!

and well done also shroomer, hope all goes well today. Am very familiar with the whole napping debacle. I have had to set very firm guidelines with family babysitters and even my DH as to how much DD is allowed to nap during the day as she is such an awful sleeper at night (and of course, they don't care, as they don't have to get up to her!). Having said that though, she has actually slept through to 5am for the past three nights. Massive cause for celebration. The best yet since we relocated (I'm used to her waking 4+ times a night and then ending up in bed with us at 1am when I give up out of exhaustion).

dalrymps, hi! i meant to reply to your last post but got distracted and it was deleted. i think my miniature tyrant would like a baby whip.

misspenteuth, if you find a baby-sized crash helmet, please send one this way too.