*~*~* 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 :)

Hi MakeTea, yes we are indeed friends on fb :)

I know what you mean about short age gaps, there is 16 months between my dd and ds1, it was tough going but amazing as they get along really well (apart from the normal brother/sister squabble). I do wish Corey had a sibling closer to his age as he is rather left behind when the older 2 are playing. Dd is still like a mini-mummy at times though. She picks out his clothes on a morning, makes her brothers breakfast cereal on a morning sometimes while I make packed lunches beside her. She's amazing and she really enjoys having this small amount of independence/responsibility.

How exciting for you! Do you think you will go for it? I'm extremely biased but I definite would

Hope you're well xx

Definitely would.

As for her troubles at school. I think it's an anxiety issue, she is super shy and does not like to cause a fuss or have the spotlight on her (except at home!). I think this teacher has sent her back into her shell :(

She told me she wants to move schools today, which has crossed my mind anyway, but for to ask! I'll get to the bottom of it, we've had a good chat and she seems to understand that she must go if she needs to - tried explaining her bladder is a little pocket near her tummy like a glass of water. If you let it get too full without emptying it, it will overflow and that's what happened to Sophie. It's something visual that will stick in her mind.

Happy bank holiday!!

Anybody doing anything special? The weathers nice enough for it. We're not, sadly, as it's operation tidy up the house and find stuff to eBay at the moment.

Have a nice day everyone x

Can I join?
DS was born 23rd September 2010
In the terrific 2s stage :)

Hi beautybox, this is a bit of a quiet thread but you're very welcome.

I had a baby girl on Thursday, she's lovely and J is being lovely with her too. We're struggling a bit with the heat though!

Hello everyone! It's nice to see this thread (sort of) bubbling away again.

That said, I'm so sorry to hear Vix and Belly's news. I hope you are both healing and looking after yourselves.

And congratulations to Marzi! That's fantastic! Having a tiny newborn in the heat is not much fun though. It's easier to know how to cope with cold, I think. Just put more layers on!

We're currently in NYC and have been here for almost 3 months. My DH's work has an office here and we decided at the end of winter that we were exhausted, depressed and generally sick of life at home and needed a real break to blow away the cobwebs. So we're lucky enough that he could get a short-term transfer over here. I have missed my friends heaps but my parents live here, so it has been nice getting help with the kids from my mum and seeing them really get to know my folks.

We're back home to Blighty at the weekend and I am definitely ready to come home. Lots of change to return to, I think, as I'm thinking about returning to work, we might look into moving and Eli will be starting nursery with his 15 hour free provision in Sept. I'm excited about all of those things.

We have definitely found the 23 month gap between our two a handful. Eli is quite a clingy little guy - gosh, I love him to pieces, but I wish I could somehow bring him out of himself a bit and cheer him up as he can be quite gloomy for an almost-three-year-old!! Anyone else have this? He has also spent the last six months being really horrid to our little one. Lots of pushing, shoving, pinching and bashing. I am terrible about dealing with it consistently and often lose my rag, which just isn't helpful. I think I would be calmer about it but for the fact that both of them wake up so early - between 5am and 5.30. We often have wake ups. I see glimmers of hope with our youngest, but I'm not clear why Eli is erratic in his sleeping again. Perhaps things will improve when we get home. But three years of sleep deprivation is MADDENING! Argh!

That said, I am a crazy person and am thoroughly committed to the idea of having a third at some point in the next two years - probably the back end of that time frame, but still. My husband is really, really unsure as he feels we have suffered so much with the whole not sleeping thing and feels we don't always have the energy for two - let alone each other. Someone else said it in the thread above though that they know they have enough love for a third and that's exactly how I feel. I feel like I will feel complete as a mother, if that makes sense. But how to convince my OH?

Gosh, as ever, essay. Sorry!

Cherry did you manage to have words with that horrid sounding teacher? I don't think I'm ready to navigate the world of school yet!!

Love to all. So glad we're still here! xx

Howsa ladies of Aug 2010?!

I'm never on Mumsnet anymore but swung by to see if Kate was in labour yet.. Mumsnet will prob ace Sky News on that one I'm betting..and look what thread popped up on Topics!

Recognising a few names from the past and Facebook - can't believe how many 2nd & 3rd babies are on the go now. Makes me feel really old - at 40 I'm still hoping that no 2 might be a reality one day but I'm quite pragmatic about the whole thing - I'm trying hard to live in just now not the future & appreciate my little pride & joy, Alastair.

We're doing great - potty training done, finally finished bf in Jan (thought i'd be the one sticking my 32jj's through the school gates - I'm ruined up top), alphabet/numbers done..got a really funny, bright & athletic wee thing with a mop of blonde hair on my hands. On the flip side, he's never going to master in fine art or get through an audition on X Factor...amazing you can see these things already, isn't it?

Feeling pretty good about whole parenting & family thing just now but still not got round to finding a job which is making me a bit anxious because I might find I've tImed myself out my old career. Nursery time will be crunch time.

Anyways, good to see you here - off to Google RoyalBaby & buy a toy dog on a lead on Amazon as a bribe...we are night 3 of 5 of Sleeping All Night In My Own Bed without calling or getting out of bed. I fully expect a little pair of feet by the bed at 7.30 telling me he needs his dog for being a good boy now.

Love to all. Wee hector xxx

Oooh, this thread has come back to life, yay!! Congrats to Marzipan on your new arrival.

Felicity is 3 in 2 weeks and is a joy/nightmare - take your pick at any moment in time.

We spent this weekend doing Peppa Pig World/Legoland/London sightseeing - some bits more successful than others as we are also potty training so had to lug a potty around with us - no accidents which was amazing and she's also dry at night as well - we left potty training very late (according to my mum who insists that I was PT by 1 year...) but it's worked for us very quickly. So Pampers - 2 fingers to you, you ain't getting any more of my hard earned cash

I'm 38 very soon, so I think we've decided she's enough for us, though her pram/cot are still in her room and baby things are in the loft - she and I still co-sleep... Wouldn't change her for the world, but boy is she hard work - sleep is still very hit and miss, she's very clingy, and prone to proper hysterical meltdowns on a daily basis (since 5 months old so nothing new there.) I think the age gap would be too large now for me to really enjoy having another one - she would need to be in school as 2 in nursery would be too hard financially which would put at least 4 years between them and I want to be able to do things with F that would be scuppered if there was a baby as well. Call me selfish, but I like it just me, DH & her - our family feels complete, I suppose like most people feel after 2 or 3.

After seeing a group of school children going on a day trip on our way to nursery this morning, she has decided that she would like her school uniform to be pink. I shan't break the news to her that if she gets into the school I want, it will be grey and navy.

Her favourite thing at the moment is her trammerline (trampoline) and anything to do with water - she's fearless which is giving me grey hairs!

Leaving some clotted cream ice cream in a nice cornet (the posh waffly ones lined with chocolate, not the nasty wafer ones a la Mr Whippy) on the side table --> here - get them before they melt.

Had to come back, enjoyed myself having a peek into the past last night. So nostalgic...this thread (and you guys) was/were such a huge part of my pregnancy before the reality of motherhood came along - it was like a crush on being a mum back then.

Congrats to marzi ...very casual reporting of your second child but chapeau anyway!

maiden are you really Alice? You are aren't you? Liking the effort to send proper cones & decent ice-cream not that rubbishy stuff. I'll admit that standards have slipped here slightly - a box of Fabs has been slipped into the shopping baske every now & then but we are off berry picking in Friday so i'll be back to homemade rainbow fruity lollies soon.

As these ones approach three - how are we doing with those impossible standards we set for ourselves all those moons ago?

I'm giving myself:

Diet 7.5/10 - pretty much every evening meal is home cooked, we're good with fruit, B- with veg, could do better with only giving water rather than Ribena. Too many biscuits thanks to granny.

Toys 7/10 - the wooden rainbow & wheely bug are gathering dust in favour of cars & toy boats. I get stopped in Morrisons & told that my wee one is amazing on his balance bike in the skate park.He is. Every day we have to read the Playmobil catalogue while he tells me everything he Needs & every day, he asks me for a skateboard, usually whilst doing somersaulty cartwheels on his 10ft trampoline. I've seen the future & it's definitely A&E.

Books/education - 9/10 doing great here. Engaged & desperate to learn to read...without me actually trying. We can count pretty high & complete a full set of unprompted alphabet flash cards. We're putting small words together now. I guess a fairly stranded toddler library - tiger who came to tea, where the wild things are, everything Julia Donaldson. We probably need a bit of inspiration for the next stage though...what ya all reading (next)?

TV - 3/10. I was so sniffy about this!! Now we know all the Cbeebies presenters, have a drawer full of Peppa Pig & Pixar & we've even been to see Justin live. And Peppa Pig World was awesome even if we did favour that big waterslide over the actual Peppa rides.

Bribery - fail. Mostly choccie buttons & stickers but small toys now slipping into my armoury now.

So not bad, few areas for improvement but when you see some of the news coverage recently (that poor wee soul that starved to death & was locked in a room before being battered) I'm not going to beat myself up about a bit too much Peppa & a few extra white choccie buttons.

I'm so hoping we can all come back & chat...:)

I like your summary weehector :)
J has watched so much peppa pig since dd was born. We have a mini tablet and he can find them for himself on youtube. I've noticed quite a bit of bribery creeping in, mainly cos DH is in charge of looking after him at the mo I think! He's also quite into letters and numbers and loves quite long stories with lots of words. Topsy and tim books are quite popular.
On the subject of having more, it's funny but before dd arrived I wasn't sure I wanted 2, but now I think I might want 3! I am enjoying her so much more than I did with j at this stage. Bf is going really well, sleep hasn't been too hideous and she's so gorgeously cute! Trying not tothink about the end of paternity leave though.
Nat I hope the travelling goes ok and settling back into life here.

Hey everyone! Congrats to Marxi

I was very lucky, after my miscarriage in march we fell pregnant again and now I'm 13 weeks pregnant. Had the scan on Monday and all is well

Marzi! Not Marxi. Silly iPhone

OMG hi everyone! So good to hear from you all! Congratulations vix great news and to you too Marzi!

Little T is almost 10 months now, cruising, sleeping pretty well and proudly the bearer of two little teeth. S turns 3 at the end of August and is a total joy - precocious, gorgeous and madly loves her baby brother. Also aggravating, frustrating and prone to massive meltdowns. Like some of you, more chocolate biscuits and TV has crept into our lives than I originally anticipated and was really quite sniffy about these things - the arrival of no 2 soon knocked me off my high horse.

DH talks about no 3 but I'm really not sure. I'm 38 next birthday and found the 2 year gap very hard in the early months. I'm also looking forward to returning to work in October.

DH and I are going to Mexico for a week in November - without the kids. Not sure how I feel about that!

Hello everyone,

I was on the thread under a different name and can't remember what it was I'm blaming baby brain as ds 2 is due in October.

B is still not potty trained and has changed from a perfect sleeper to a regular visitor in my bed. B now refers to the spare room as "daddy's room"- I have no idea how we managed to conceive this one!

He loves pretend play and acts out his books from memory with props and big bows when he finishes. He can count to about 15 and recognises most of his letters and numbers. B is a whizz on the iPad and can search for his programmes on the iplayer by memorising the sequence of the buttons (either that or he's learnt to read on the quiet and doesn't want to tell us).

He's starting preschool in September (could have started him at Easter but decided he was too young). I worry about him being so young compared to other children in his school year. My friends son is 4 in October and will be in B's year at school and the difference between them in development is huge.

Lovely to hear everyone's news

Hello, hello! I am over the moon to check back in and see the thread simmering away! Excellent. Mistyshore couldn't agree with you more about being a bit freaked out when I meet kids who are going to be in Eli's school year who are almost a solid year older. They seem like grown ups! Eli's birthday is 30th August, so it really is about the youngest you can get. He's starting nursery in September with his 15 free hours and I think it's going to be tough going the first few weeks. Months. Whatever! He's just not happy in a crowd. And, my goodness, he will be wearing a uniform! At three! falls into a faint

Hmmm, how are we doing on Weehectors scaleometer? Terribly. If you'd asked me before I had number 2, I would have done a lot better on food (organic, cooked from scratch, great variety) and telly (used as a treat when ill). Now I have a toddler who eats fish fingers and baked beans and asks for ketchup with everything (help!) who gives me murderous looks when he sees chickpeas going into his dinner, whilst at the same time screeching at me to watch his favourite Bob The Builder episodes. Standards have fallen. Massively. Heh. I'm hoping to get my shit together again when he is in nursery and my youngest is asleep to get my cooking mojo back. The telly, alas, may be here to stay.

What else? He's quite clumsy, bless him, but finally getting to grips with his scooter and balance bike now that he's had a little growth spurt and is a bit taller. He really loves books and would be happy if we sat for an hour at a time reading. He has memorised his favourites - actually, he's even memorised the library books we got out on Friday, so that's a bit scary. We've got a bit of an American flavour to our books - Dr Seuss, Maurice Sendak, loving Jon Klassen's stuff (on a side note, if your kids enjoy books a bit spooky, rush out and get Lemony Snickett's book called The Dark which is illustrated by Jon Klassen. Best book of the year!!) but also all the Gruffalo-related ones, my old Richard Scarry's, Meg and Mog and...well, loads.

OK, 10pm is past my bedtime. The kids wake up between 5am and 5.30am which is BRUTAL. I must have done something bad in a former life.

Much love to you all. x

Vix how are you? And misty - has your baby arrived? I've just gone back to work after my second round of mat leave boo!

MakeTea I'm well thank you (Vix here - name changed). Had a terrible few weeks, my sister committed suicide :( so it has been awful but everything is ok with pregnancy. 11 weeks to go...

Oh lastnight I am so sorry to hear that, such sad tragic news. That must be hell for you and your family. Had she been ill? You don't have to answer that. Christ, bloody awful.

I hope your new baby brings you much joy, not long to go now. Have you been feeling well? Xx

She had recently been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and was behaving strangely. She ran away and was missing for 5 days before we heard the news. I still haven't accepted it to be honest... She was 41.

This pregnancy so far has been easier than with DS. I am having a girl this time, due 22 January x

That is too sad. Looking forward to hearing news of your little girl and hope she brings you all some light in these dark days x

lastnight I'm sorry for your loss.

Ds2 is now 4 days old, a dream delivery and I was home the same day. Ds is a proud big brother but a little bit unsure when it comes down to it. Early days yet and he's starting to show more of an interest

Thanks both and huge congratulations Misty!! So happy for you. I still can't imagine having 2!

A belated happy new year to you all. In now 38 weeks pregnant and hoping for an easier birth this time - any time now!