*~*~* August 2010 *~*~* where does the time go?

[CherryPie3]

Only 5 spaces left on the old thread - wonder how long it'll take us to fill ths one up?

Happy chatting :)

I keep starting a post and then having to rush off/see to Elodie! maiden it sounds like you're in a much better place now, glad work is good. nat good luck with back at work stuff - hope you find that you enjoy it more than you expected rather than it being a necessity. Great to hear from you elusive!

E's birthday party was fab - ended up being about 14 adults and two babies and despite an unpromising start to the day, it was really sunny and we got the paddling pool out and filled it with water for the first time. Can't believe a year's gone by. Oh, and the new bike seat has gone down a storm - first time I took her on it she giggled the whole way round. She is less keen on the helmet and it's a bit of a fight to get it on - think I end up hurting her chin but I'd rather do that than leave it dangerously loose. Especially as she actually managed to pull it off on one occasion before I tightened it up, not good!

I worked over the Bank Holiday weekend, which is one of the reasons I wasn't around, and it was a pretty miserable few days. Normally I work Mondays and Tuesdays in the office and Wednesdays and Thursdays at home, this week I did Sunday through to Tuesday at the office and on the Monday I didn't get home until E had already had her bath, which really sucked. It made me realise how lucky I am to be able to work from home, just that extra bit of time with her at the beginning and end of the day, plus the chance to come in for a cuddle at lunchtime, makes an awful lot of difference. We're making up for it now though, I was off yesterday and I'm not back until next Monday.

Hope all is well with everybody - keep posting. Would be nice to hear from a few of you lurkers... let's not let the thread die a slow death...

Hello from this lurker and happy birthday to all our amazing 1 year olds! Bonkers isn't it! S turned 1 last Sat and started walking about 3 weeks ago. I didn't have a party as such, just a slice of cake with the grandparents and her little baby cousins. I went back to work yesterday and apart from the bastard commute (6.44am train to London from Brighton anyone?) I had a really good day - enjoyed feeling attractive and polished, great to catch up with everyone. We do plan to start TTC for no2 at the end of this year though so I doubt I'll be so enthusiastic about commuting and working then! I only have 3 days in London though and 1 day (today) working from home. S starts nursery Sep 12 and until then, my lovely parents have come over from Ireland to look after her. She was totally fine with them but as soon as I got home, she became very tearful and clingy and went to bed that night cuddling the top I had worn that day :(

To round off a crazy year of mat leave, i took S to visit my brother in Texas for 10 days. It was a lovely visit but a 10 hour flight alone with a near 1 year old was pretty challenging at times! Luckily she can be very charming so didn't incur the wrath of fellow passengers. She also self weaned while we were away and I am amazed, both happy and sad. She was a massive boob monster but gradually was taking less and less and then totally refusing. I persisted for 3 weeks in case it was a nursing strike but my efforts were rewarded with enthusiastic biting so I stopped offering breast and we have never looked back. Pretty good timing with the return to work and she drinks cow's milk from a cup with a straw.

maiden I do know how you feel and even though it didn't last as long for me, I certainly experienced some real darkness in those early months.

Much love everyone and yes, let's keep this thread alive!

Finally have internet! Glad to see the thread is still trundling along :)

J is walking now which is incredibly cute but is going through a bit of a bad patch with sleep. He does have a molar coming through though so that's probably why. We're going to our under 1s group today for the last time (he was 1 last week but they're letting us come one last time). I'm quite sad about it cos it's a lovely group and I haven't found anything else to do yet.

I hope work is going well for everyone who's gone back. I have slightly mixed feelings about being a SAHM. I am glad I can do it but do often think a day or two doing something different would be good for me, especially as lots of my friends are going back to work soon.

Hope everyone's well. It's feeling very autumnal today - I can't believe a whole year has gone by!

Hi everyone,

Good to see that everyone has been having nice first birthdays. Isabelle had hers a couple of weeks ago and cried through a great deal of it - bit overwhelming methinks!

maiden everything you have said resonates with me, although you reached your own conclusions yourself, I had a few months of counselling to get me to that stage, I never realised motherhood would be this hard, but at the same time, I would not be without her.

Have found out today we are being referred to a physio as Isabelle is not attempting to crawl or walk, so now feeling like shit mum, that I could have and should have done more to help with her development. In terms of all the other medical issues they all seem to be under control (fingers crossed) and the reflux has totally gone since solids and sitting up, so much so I think I could do this again!

Work is going well too but hard to fit everything in but also nice to be having a bit of adult conversation again!

Do doctors contact you about MMR or do we have to make the effort?

'Tis me! I'm still alive!

Now into my second month back at work, and loving it. Had a fab day with F yesterday, her routine at nursery seems to be filtering into her days with me so she has one long nap at lunch time rather than 2 small "can't get anything useful done" naps which she normally has.

I dropped her off today and there were NO TEARS (from either of us...) I was gobsmacked!

She is starting to toddle about now, 12 steps is our winning total so far, so more "baby proofing" is the order of the day in our house at the moment - if it's not screwed down or shut away she'll have it away.

Her favourite toys at the moment are (in order of embarrassment) a novelty bottle of bubbles in the shape of a penis (from my hen night in what feels like a previous lifetime), some gaudy neon pink and yellow beaded necklaces and a Madonna style pink net glove (from same hen night - it was an 80's theme...) and a box of tampons that she snaffled from the bathroom cupboard, she wanders around with the beads around her neck, the glove on her head and holding the "willy" in her hand (please god, don't let her put it in her mouth, Social Services would have a field day!), dropping tampons behind her like she's leaving a trail a la Hansel and Gretel. However much I wave her Tomy/Fisher Price goodies at her these are her prized posessions. Needless to say she never has any of these unsupervised!

Sparkle as has been said to me on more than one occasion, you are not a a shit mum, if you were you wouldn't give a toss. Shit mum's don't care ergo, you are not shit (is that enough shits??)

My surgery contacted me about the MMR - the minimum age was 1 year and 2/3 weeks because they get given an extra injection now, but I could have said just give the MMR and we'll be back for the extra jab in a few weeks, when we got there she was reasonably OK had an absolute paddy so they did all 3 at once (in her legs, they said they normally do it in the arms, but she is quite petite, fortunately she has chunky thighs -like her mum )

Sparkle ditto what Maiden said. You are not a shit mum! Kids do everything at their own pace and I'm sure Isabelle will be up and about in no time. It's no harm to get a bit of advice about it if there's extra things you can be doing to help her along. Let us know how it goes.

Maiden so many LOLz. But the bubble penis? Priceless. Eli enjoys playing with the lid of our camping kettle (so now that lives on the kitchen floor), toilet roll, receipts, and a leaflet on corneal abrasions from our local hospital. Because on Saturday night, my DH had to go to A&E as E poked him in the eye and had rather a sharp nail, leading to a cut on the eyeball. Awful. Hilarious. Awful. DH had to lie in bed for 2 days with his eyes closed while he recovered.

And in other news, work is pretty odd/stressful (there has been a lot of layoffs/restructuring since I went on mat leave, so I feel quite unsettled) and our landlord has just decided to give us notice to quit our house. So we have to find a new place to live and move out by the first week of November. It's a nightmare. I feel so attached to this place because I had a homebirth and we just had no idea this was coming. Rents are extremely high in London right now, and decent rental properties are thin on the ground. Plus we're sharing a nanny locally, so our search area is really small... It's all a bit overwhelming really - does anyone else find it harder to cope with this kind of thing with kids? I think if it was just DH and I we'd muddle through okay, but I feel so cross/upset about the disruption now that we have Eli... I'm not sure why. I just feel families shouldn't be put through this kind of upheaval unnecessarily.

Anyway, much love to you all. How are our pregnant ladies doing??

Sparkle I agree with the others you are not a shit Mum at all. All kids develop at their own pace and it's not easy to motivate/teach a young one to move, it's not like they understand what you are trying to tell them. Thomas went from rolling around on the floor, to standing up and cruising. He didn't show any interest in crawling at all. 1 week before his birthday he suddenly started crawling and last week he ditched the cruising and is now walking unaided. I was worried about him not crawling, thinking he wouldn't develop properly but it's all turned out just fine and so will Isabelle. Don't worry and we are all here for you if you need a chat

Had a party for Thomas's birthday, I couldn't help myself. There were 6 children there and 14 adults. Busy house that day. Thomas enjoyed himself even though he had no idea why he had loads of new toys. His fave is a helium balloon, which he takes with him everywhere.

Officially started ttc last week, not that it worked as AF arrived today. DH and I got to get our act together, quite literally , before he goes away for 6 months. I am so broody

Hope everyone is well. Take care

hi all! I've been away (only to Hadrian's Wall and Blackpool) and you've all been sooo quiet! It's been an eventful couple of weeks - E was quite poorly while we were away, unsettled, off her food and then came out in a rash but fortunately it was a viral thing ehich has cleared up. Then I slightly concussed myself by banging my head on a mounted tv and had to take a day off work - 1st time since I came back off mat leave. Then today my mother was poorly and couldnt look after e so today I've been supermum, working and doing childcare simultaneously. I don't recommend it for prolonged periods...

Anyone up for a survey?

Walking/crawling/cruising
Teeth
Sleep
Back to work?
Pregnant/ttc
Last night out with DH and no baby
Words
other cute stuff your little one does

E is crawling and cruising but won't be walking for a while I reckon
she has 6 teeth, 4 top, 2 bottom
she sleeps 7ish until any time between 6 and 6.45 and still usually naps for 2 hours in the morning and 1 in the afternoon - although not always the afternoon
I went back to work at the end of May and do 2 days from the office and 2 at home.
Not discussing baby number 2 for at least a year.
Went to a festival with DH and spent one night sans baby.
We have mama, dada, something a bit like cat and a rather disappointed oooh when stuff doesn't go her way.
E loves dancing, clapping and copies us all the time

That does sound eventful Belly - poorly babies on holiday are not fun. Nor is bumping your head and getting concussed! Bloody hell. Hope you're feeling better.

No news here on our housing situation. It's all very unsettling and quite stressful looking for somewhere. Added to that, I've had to put the midwifery degree plans on hold because we found out that you can't get a second set of student loans when you go back to do an undergraduate degree if you've already had one before. This makes it impossible finally for us, until Eli is in school. It's really very disappointing, but I'm trying to look on the bright side. I'm going to try and become a breastfeeding peer supporter and maybe also volunteer a few hours a week at our local hospital - just keep my hand in.

It also means that we're going to start trying for our second baby very soon, otherwise the gap will be so big between Eli and his little brother/sister, plus running the gauntlet a bit with my age! I can't believe it really - wasn't planning on it at all for at least a year. Oh well! At least it cheers me up a bit about the degree!!

QUIZ

Eli has walked twice, for 7 steps total. He does some random standing, but usually falls over laughing. Mostly crawling/cruising.

He has two teeth up top and two on the bottom.

He sleeps 7pm (ish) until 6am (ish) and has a crappy 30 min nap in the morning and maybe 1.5 hours tops in the afternoon. Bad napper.

I went back to work two weeks ago and it's rubbish! Weds, Thurs and Fri mornings.

TTC...imminently! Oo 'eck.

Haven't had a night away from Eli yet. Last time we went out for the evening, we went to see Pulp play at Brixton Academy! (Reliving our youth!)

Eli says 'dada' a lot, about everything. And 'ah do'. About most things. In fact he makes talky noises all the time, but I don't hear any real words yet.

Hope you're feeling better now Belly

well here goes on the survey

Thomas is walking
he has 9 teeth, 5 on the bottom and 4 on the top
he sleeps from 7.30 until 6 ish in the morning. he has no sleep in the morning but 2 hours in his cot in the afternoon.
I went back to work 5 days a week in May wish I was a SAHM
started ttc last week, thomas is dc1 and I am not getting any younger
went out for a meal with 2 other couples last weekend, but have not been away from him overnight.
he says Mummy, daddy, dog, cheeky monkey, ta. When i say to him, belly, nose, mouth, he touches the said area, now trying to teach him, ears, eyes and toes but no success there yet.
he also loves dancing, talking lots and lots, by that I mean baby babbling and pushing the dog out of the way and he absolutely adores bath time.

How stressful about the house nat. It's rubbish that you can't get more secure tenancies in the private sector in this country. I hope it all gets sorted out x

J is walking
He has his 8 front teeth and a 9th (molar - eek!) on the way
He sleeps roughly 7.15-7.15 (with several wakings though, grr) and has 1 nap of about 2 hours
I'm not going back to work which is what I want but i am finding being a SAHM really hard at the mo (well being a mum full stop really)
The earliest we will start ttc is next may/june.
Can't remember when we last had an evening out and have never left him overnight.
He says something resembling 'again' and 'no'!
He is currently obsessed with climbing into boxes and loves the quiz show 'Pointless'

Good luck with ttc dogwalker :)

Oh Nat, what a bummer about the house. But TTC, big congrats and lots of luck.

Walking/crawling/cruising - Walking quite confidently now (she's 13 months 2 weeks). She doesn't have to fall over to change direction now and uses her arms to balance rather than grabbing random bits of furniture/the dog's tail/ears. Not got her any shoes yet, going to see how long I can leave it, maybe another few weeks. Nursery don't allow shoes on indoors anyway and she wears her padders outside in the garden (on grass/wood chippings)

Teeth - I've lost count - about 14? Lots of big molars now, and she's permanently wearing cute dribble bibs - DH says she looks like Clint Eastwood because they're like little neck bandanas (never saw CE in a pink polka dot one though...)

Sleep - Hmmmm, 45 minutes-1 hour lunch time ish if we're lucky, but then 7pm -6.30am so I can't complain.

Back to work? Yes, loving it, should have done it sooner. Horses for courses and all that.

Pregnant/ttc - Absolutely not. Sore subject. DH and I have agreed to not even discuss it until end of 2012, with a view to maybe/possibly/perhaps trying at the start of 2013, but I'll be nearly 38 then so who knows. We couldn't afford 2 in childcare anyway.

Last night out with DH and no baby - March 2011, (we've only been out twice on our own since she was born!), but I am determined we'll go out for our wedding anniversary at the end of this month, we need to get some spark back in our relationship.

Words - nothing discernable yet, sometimes something that sounds like "yes", but she makes herself very clear if she wants/doesn't want something, no words needed! "Talks" constantly though so I expect when she starts, there'll be no stopping her (I wonder where she gets that from?)

Other cute stuff your little one does - steals food (a lot) I can't remember the last time I had anything to myself and the dog has to eat his kibble pretty quickly when she's around. I threw some toast in his bowl the other morning and caught her eating it - oops. She pulled a bit of toilet roll out of DH's bum this morning that he'd missed - he was just about to get in the shower, I absolutely peed myself laughing, he was v. embarrassed Cute dancing (head bobbing really), grabbing my face with both her hands for a kiss (big open mouthed slobber from her). And her laughing, oh it's just fabulous, proper belly laughing, I hope she is always this happy - sheds a little tear!

Oh I love a survey!

Walking/crawling/cruising - walking - very fast and often sideways like a crab. Like maiden, I'm trying to put off buying shoes for as long as possible. If anyone has had good recommedations about where to buy - apart from Clarkes - do let me know!

Teeth - the same 6 for months and months now, she must be due more surely? 4 on top and 2 at the bottom.

Sleep - 8ish to 6.30ish on the days when she magically wakes up when I'm trying to get out the door to work, otherwise until 8ish. When we are at home, she'll nap 2-3 hours in the morning but at nursery, she'll probably just have an hour all day and gets home exhausted and overwrought.

Back to work Since August 31, 4 days a week with one of those days (today) from home. This means I do the godawful Brighton - London commute every other day (getting up at 5.30 for a 6.30 train)

Pregnant/ttc - On the folic acid! Going to try towards the end of the year but we've got a wedding in New Zealand in January at a vineyard for god's sake so I'd like a some local tipples before getting all knocked up again.

Last night out with DH and no baby went to the cinema about a fortnight ago but evenings out together are few and far between. We've had one night away from her when we went to a wedding in July. Missed her terribly!

Words - this little madam says "no", "stop" , Teddy, Daddy, Gracie (her cousin), shoes and errr, baboon . She also roars like a lion and trumpets like an elephant while waving her arms like a trunk.

Other cute stuff- similiarly dancing, singing tunelessly to the radio, puts socks on Teddy, washes her own face and belly in the bath and tries to wipe her own botty during a nappy change.

She recently had her 12 month check and at 22lbs is at 75th centile for weight and 98th for height - this is shocking as DH and I are a very average 5' 9 (him) and 5'5 (me) - is this likely to continue??

interesting LCR, J is 98th centile for height as well but DH and I are 5'10 and 5'7 respectively so not particularly tall. I'm guessing he'll slow down at some point but who knows?

I think there must have been something in the water last August because Thomas is also 98th centile for height . DH is 5' 10" and I'm 5'6" so not tall at all.

e 91st centile for height and 50th for weight. I'm 5'3'' but DH is 6'2'' so she must get it from you. Feeling much better - though having a bit of a mad week nonetheless. Loving everyone's survey results. Was also wondering if I'm the only one still BF?

How funny that we all have tall babies! Glad you're feeling better belly.
I'm still BF. He went through a bit of an annoying (bitey and pinchy) phase and I thought about stopping but he's settled down again so we're still going

Oh how I wish I was still bf, but Thomas pushed me away at 9 months and would only bite. I was really upset by it, but the bottle hasn't done him any harm. I hope to bf for as long as possible with the next.

I can't wait to conceive again, now that we've started, maybe I should nt think about it so much, or else pressure might get the better of me.

Hope everyone has a great weekend, take care and mind your heads, no bumps this weekend

Are we all still on this thread before I post??

28 weeks pregnant now- this is most definitely my last if Dh wants anymore he can go elsewhere!!

T took her first steps the other day & continues to be a joy.

The other two turned 3 & 4 last week and are really testing my patience!
Thankfully nursery starts in 2 days and they go 1230-330 five days a week which I'm looking forward to in a very bad mother type way :-/

Hi GYA great to hear from you. Yes some of us are still plugging away on this thread. We don't get much time with the LOs running around, but we keep it ticking over.

So 28 weeks now, do you know the sex or are you not wanting to know. Hope you are feeling well. Some of us are ttc, so hopefully there will be a few more of us soon counting down the weeks again.

Hi GYA, glad to hear things are going well, you must be run ragged!

F is a little 'un, she still wearing her 9-12 month clothes and she's 13.5 months, she weighs a flippin ton though, I really notice it these days if I have to carry her any distance, my back and arms kill me.

I cracked and bought F her first pair of proper shoes today. We went out at the weekend to watch the America's Cup yacht race on Plymouth Hoe and her feet got drenched because the ground was wet from an earlier downpour. Turns out her little leather padder shoes aren't waterproof, her socks were soaking by the time I realised, poor thing, fortunately I had a spare pair (I now have one of those proper "mum" bags that contains everything from spare outfits for F and me, mini first aid kit, needle and thread, emergency snacks, mini samples of everything I get from hotels/aeroplanes/department stores, sunglasses, toys for F and an iPad amazingly intellectual book for me - DH says "why do you need to lug all that around with you?" oh to be able to shove a wallet and a mobile in my pocket and walk out of the front door!)

She had an absolute melt down getting her feet measured, it was akin to getting her MMR done again - she doesn't like strangers touching her at all. The poor girl in the shop must have had to go for a lie down afterwards! Of course, once we were out of the shop she wanted the shoes on and was strutting her stuff like she was at New York Fashion Week - "Hey everyone, look at me in my new red shoes with the funky flower and sequin detail, you'll all be wearing these next spring!"

DH has been hinting today about starting to think about no.2 despite us agreeing it was off the agenda for at least another 12 months. Better make sure I don't miss any of my Pills in case he tries to take advantage of me in a weak moment (usually a couple of glasses of Vino Collapso will do it)

Much love to all x

Oh come Maiden you know you want to, a bit of vino and way hey, F is just the right age now for No 2 to be planned. I can't wait to get pregnant again, very broody and when I'm out and about and I see a pregnant woman it makes me very envious, in a nice way.

Those shoes sound very interesting, much better than boring hoy ones, my Thomas's are plain blue and very functional.

Hope everyone is well, take care xx

GYA not bad mum at all! You sound like a saint! I can't imagine being that preggo, with a toddler and other little ones on top. You deserve the time off!

Ha! Maiden You made me laugh re the vino collapso confession! Ditto here, I'm afraid. But yeah, I second what Dogwalker said! Go on! You know you want to! Plus we can then be lazy and not have to worry about shifting threads to discuss bumps and what not ;)

Seriously though, in theory DH and I are TTC as all of our best-laid plans have gone tits up and so we might as well crack on with the family side of things, but in practice... well, I just don't know if we're ever going to find the time! Or the energy... Eli has had a vomiting bug (awful, awful...holding him tight talking to NHS Direct whilst he was retching up bile after the 5th vomit of the night last Thurs night was a new parenting low) and a terrible cold with a hacking cough that wakes him up 3-4 times a night ... it's all taking it's toll, basically. And the whole house move thing has been super stressful, so, to be honest, sex is the last bloody thing I want to think about when I flop down into bed at night!!

On that front (the house one, not the sex one!) we may have made progress and found a pocket of South East London that we can just about to afford to live in, that isn't 1,000 miles away from everyone/thing we know and love. Watch this space. Although it occurs to me it is miles away (in practical terms) from the nurseries that I have E on the waiting lists for... Oh for God's sake! Life isn't simple is it?

Lies down with vat of wine in front of telly

Oh dear Nat poor Eli, hope he's feeling better now. Gosh that must have been very worrying for you. Hope you feel better too as it does take it's toll on us as paretnts too. Fingers x for the house hunting too, exciting for you but nerve wracking as well. Hope you find what you are looking for.

Well worked out that I'm at my most fertile this weekend, so DH already been primed that he best get his act together, I am so bloomin broody it's unbelievable . I can't wait to be pg again.

Hope everyone is well. Take care and sending you lots of get well vibes nat

Oh you girls do make me laugh (in a "slightly hysterical, are they completely nuts?" kind of way). I feel like I'm just coming out of some kind hostage situation, I love my hostage taker (Stockholm Syndrome?) but now she's let me go, I'm going to make the most of my freedom (even if freedom is just coming to work 4 days a week!)

I'm not completely anti having number 2 any more (which I most certainly was a few months ago - thank goodness I didn't get my tubes tied or send DH for the snip in a moment of madness!), but I really need to have a bit of time to myself (and DH) now she is much more manageable. I really want to get back on track with DH as well, we've neglected each other this last year and if we're going to even think about number 2 (child, not poo) I need our relationship to be at it's best point, not at its lowest, otherwise we'll have a toddler, newborn and a marriage that's being held together on a wing and a prayer - not a good combo.

DH & I have both booked a day off work next week to spend together, F is going into nursery for the day as usual (will probably have to put my work stuff on to drop her off, otherwise she'll know we're up to something ) Hoping to get some jobs done in the house sans little one which are impossible to do with her around (like vacuuming - the noise really upsets her), have a long lazy lunch in a proper grown up restaurant and go to the cinema.

Nat that sounds like a hideous time in your household, all you can do is wait for it to pass and be fastidious (sp?) about cleaning - F has had 2 serious bouts of S & D since she was born once requiring a stay in the children's ward for dehydration, it's horrible to not be able to do anything other than cuddle them isn't it? No life's never straightforward re the housemoving/nursery. You can guarantee as soon as you find a house a place will become available at the nursery you want...

Best of luck for this weekend Dogwalker, get yer bum and legs in the air girl (afterwards not during, actually do whatever floats your boat...)

Since no morsels have been left for ages, I've just put some scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam on the table in the corner with a big pot of tea - it might encourage some of the lurkers out of the shadows... x