FEB 2010 Coming on in leaps and bounds and little steps

[InmaculadaConcepcion]

Where did our babies go?!
Anywhere and everywhere, the moments our backs are turned!!

scones hope the emotional rollercoaster over the next week is kind to you

Not trying to make light of any problems, but PA and LBH I am glad you went for it anyway because you got very very cute cheeky daughters out of the done deed

as I said it's not like it's a chore for me and I didn't want LBH to think she's alone, it's a lot more common than people realise.

Does anyone's Lo have quirky habits? dd2 likes things to be in twos if possible eg. two bits of banana, two rice cakes etc. I have been known to break things in half to keep her happy...
And she is like a magpie and collects shiny things (hairclips, coins, cutlery). She was very cross in the car earlier when she could not get my wedding ring off to add to her collection
Oh, and I hope her fourth canine comes through soon because she's like a dripping tap at the moment and her tops get soaked through all the time because she is drooling so much.
Anyway, back home and trying to think of what to do with the rest of the half term week. At least the weather looks like it's improving.
[Waves at everyone...]

PA Absolutely. And sex drives can vary enormously even without putting lack of confidence into the mix. LBH I am sure things will get better! Waiting lists for counselling on the NHS are very long but if you put yourself on it at least it's a step in the right direction? There is nothing wrong with you but you may learn ways to overcome your insecurities. I had PND after dd1 and still struggle with lack of confidence (not my strong point before)... Wish I had taken up the offer of counselling however long it would have taken to get it.

PA how much do you rely on a reference from you boss? If not important I would have a few ideas how to deal with him Try to not let it get to you (easier said than done)...

not a quirky habbit but she does also like stuff in both hands. Then if you give her a third bit of food, she stuffs one hand's belongings into her mouth so that she can take the new bit

I will never ask him for a reference, but at the same time I want to leave relatively OK as it's a small community at times

Talking of cheeky LOs, our two gave us a lie in this morning until 7.45, which meant that both dh and I looked barely dressed and very dishevelled when the builder knocked on the door at 8 (as arranged) to give us a quote on some work that needs doing . I think he felt a little sorry for us and thought we weren't quite on top of things with two small children... well, his quote was surprisingly good value

PA agree, it's a small research community in many ways... Just my nasty streak coming through

It is so tempting Soc but I remind myself I'm better than him

PA good luck with the review and can you offer him a deal as you go on leave so he won't see you again IYSWIM?

DS likes habits as the same toys in his bath, maman been a clown to keep him quiet on the changing mat.

sc at the unexpected lie in.

Good night all. I hope our LO let us sleep

PA Good luck with the review. Hope horrible boss doesn't try and dock your pay. Anyway soon you will never have to see him again (hopefully) and you'll be on your amazing road trip.

I am feeling a bit tired this morning. DS got up around 4 and went back to sleep after a bit but I couldn't sleep. We have a very hard mattress and I have been suggesting we get a new one for some time but DH is a lot heavier than me so he can sink into it and I can't - bits of my back don't even touch it. Maybe a memory foam topper is the way to go. Also I was raging internally about us having whittled through all our savings and needing a new car and a few other big bits. He kept tranferring bits from the savings account into the current account (not for personal things, for bills and shopping and probably too many takeaways) and saying he'd replace it when he got paid but it has all gone now.

SC How great that you got a good quote from your builder. What are you having done?

LBH Hope the feeling under the weather hasn't developed into you being properly ill. I think it's a really good first step that you spoke to us about the sex thing - I hope that you don't have to wait too long to see someone. Private therapy is very expensive, but Relate run specific sex therapy clinics andthey don't aim to make a profit so I believe they charge according to means - more info here: www.relate.org.uk/sex-therapy/index.html

It's 7am and DS is STILL ASLEEP! If only I were too...

soc I have heard DD2 say "Danke is in german" "it is really raining today" "endiamo" "manana" and a lot of "I don't know" too.... I don't believe that she actually meant any of that, it is just babbling which she does a lot and sometimes it comes in something you can recognise.
A cheap builder! who knew they existed , follow up his references.
pa scones good luck
Waves at absB
BC bad luck with the sleep hope you can rest later.

DD2's development is not of the very clever sort. she has learnt how to put her fingers in her nose and flip her lips with her hand saying "booloo booloo booloo' or something . She is also very interested in toilets, hands you the paper, will sit on her potty saying psii or caca, but nothing ever happens.
She will also make steps by opening drawers at different depths so she can climb (hugely dangerous we have securities to lock them though it only works if DD1 and DH remember t close the drawers ). She has also stop crying (finally) if I say "I need to pee" she will take me to the toilets instead.

She has a nap a day around 12h, for about 1/1.5 h (never for me but it can be up to 3 h). Goes to bed around 20h and wake up around 5h30. She is happy with that no over-tiredness or anything, a very happy and active baby .

She is trying to climb on the suitcase at the moment, and there is a distinct smell of sewage in the room, must go

soc I have the drooling monster too even if the final canine is finally there, can it be the 2nd molars already? I don't remember when they are supposed to come (I thought around 2/2.5?)

DD1 has an art exhibition today with her paintings and scultures .

DD has had one molar through for a couple of months now and no sign of the corresponding opposite, although plenty of dribbling and stuffing her hands in her mouth (and everything else). All her other teeth so far have come through in pairs.

She's looking adorable today in a brown flowered dress donated by my cousin She gave loads of pink stuff too which I'm not so sure about.

It's a glorious day and I feel weird about not having any washing to put on the line even though the basket is only about a quarter full. I'm so used to taking advantage of nice days to get it on the line. DH finally bought DD a plastic slide for the garden, after threatening it for a while, and has put that up in place of my washing line (only room for one thing at a time in our garden)

Soc at lie-in!

PA best of luck with your boss. The man really does sound a total arse. I bet you are just counting the days until your road trip.

LBH I echo Soc, get yourself on the waiting list even if it's long, time passes so quickly (it zoomz by) and you'll be at the top of the list in no time - but you won't unless you're on it... My DSis just had 8 counselling sessions on the NHS for long-buried issues to do with her adoption (she's half sis, eldest, mum gave her up as young single mother). Yes it through up a lot of stuff she doesn't particularly want to deal with, but these issues have been poisining her life, she can see it's better to get them out in the open and dealt with.

Also ex-P had CBT on the NHS and it helped him enourmously with his depression. He was a different man at the end of it.

Another essay, sorry. No more words or new developments from DD other than she now says "Ee-or" for a donkey (whenever she sees a horse) and is stomping about very confidently all over the place. Nothing is safe (but you all already knew that!). I'm still Daddy and so are most people

mous art exhibition... not bad! What are you going to do from September? Do you have any international schools were you are? I'm still feeling very dubious about my not yet 4 year old (late June birthday) starting full time school in September

Abs Good luck with sorting out your mortgages! Your new house sounds exciting

Scones your time in Paris sounds fantastic. The thought of a lie in and a leisurely breakfasts ...

mous at your way to stop DD2 crying

No words here, lots of chatting but no proper words (except dada and maman). DS decided to climb into my flower troff to see what was inside the soil container, my newly planted pumpkin wasn't impressed!

LBH I agree on putting your name down the list, your turn will come quicker than you think.

Drooling toddler here too, but no sign of any tooth yet, canine should be next I guess. He has had his 4 1st molar for a few months now.

I hope IC is okay. She's been quiet recently. Maybe busy packing?

She's active on the feminist boards.

DD loves 'my little piggy' and she want us to do it, she sits on her laps, puts her foot up, starts tickling it saying 'da da da daa' in a very similar pattern to my little piggy. 3 wakings last night but not up until 6.

Here I am!! Sorry to be lax and I was very touched that you were concerned about me, SB
We have indeed started packing and the flat is starting to feel strangely empty already as all the inessentials are going into boxes to be shipped back separately.

But PA is also right - she and I have been doing a bit of tandem posting/lurking in Feminism. I got accused of being a feminist insurrectionist on a thread in Parenting when I suggested boy and girl babies are not born with innate "boyish" and "girlish" characteristics. Coo, that stirred up a few posters..!!

Most amused Soc at your DD2 monitoring the family excretions

Sounds like you had a lovely time in Paris, Scones - and deserved a getaway too after your recent sleep issues with DD. How typical she sleeps through for your DH...!!

School, Mous, Soc ! I bet it feels as if it were yesterday that your eldests were scrawny little newborns...!

What the others said about counselling, LBH. You could always take yourself off the list again nearer the time if it doesn't feel like the right thing to do. How frustrating that there's such a wait....I bet the bloody cuts won't help, either...

DD slept through for a hat-trick of nights (although I woke very early on the the third because I had come down with a urine infection thanks to all our vigorous SWI.... ....luckily, our local health centre came up trumps and managed to wangle me a quick urine test followed by an immediate appointment with my doctor who gave me some anti-bis and the infection cleared up almost immediately. Last time I had one, it hit my kidneys quite seriously, so I wasn't taking any chances) but last night she was fidgety and restless for two hours. I'm pretty certain she wasn't too hot or too cold, so I think it was teeth - those canines are taking their time. She went back off after a dose of ibuprofen. She doesn't do any of the other teething symptoms the rest of you mention, it just seems to hit her sleep until they're through. I hope they hurry up. I have a friend whose LO has been growing her canines for the past 6 months and they're still not through....

Mind you, one helpful thing is that after previously making a big fuss and me having to force the ibu syringe into DD's mouth to get it into her, she's obviously decided she likes the taste because last night she stopped whingeing and leaned back with her mouth open as soon as I'd loaded up the syringe.....

I haven't tried DD on cow's milk for a while, I must remember to offer her some again in case she's changed her mind. I was thinking of mixing some up as a kind of fruit milk-shake to see if that would help. DD loves drinking water, though. It's quite a comedy watching her smacking her lips and saying "ahh..." appreciatively after a good swig....

IC I went back to that thread and found it hilarious (their posts about you) but also rather :(. I didn't post because I wouldn't have said good things. Glad the UTI got fixed easily, red wee is never nice. I got one with conception on both pregnancies, I need to not do it in bursts (especially if it leads to babies).

Hah, yes PA I couldn't resist a chuckle at what was being said about me on that thread - funny how people on internet forums seem to think you can talk about someone else as if they're not actually there...!!
I think a year or so ago I would have been quite upset about it, but the feminism board has toughened me up somewhat. The thread is still going, but I can't be bothered to get back into the argument - everything's been said really and if they still prefer to ignore the points I and various others made, then so be it....

Luckily we never got to red wee stage, it was well and truly nipped in the bud. The last one I had was awful, hence wanting to blitz it before it got worse...

PA did I mention that I've blown several raspberries in your boss' general direction. Thank goodness you won't have to put up with him for much longer.

IC Good that you got the ITU quickly. I used to have many before been pregnant and hate them. Have you got accomodation back in England?

Yes we have, SB. Very handily, a friend of ours is moving back in with his ex-wife (reconciliation) and is happy for us to rent his house contract-free and for a reasonable price.
It's removed a huge area of stress from our re-entry into Blighty, otherwise trying to convince a private landlord that we'd be good tenants would have been challenging. (Just back from overseas, no jobs etc.)

but plenty of time to see MNers, that's what I plan to do before Nigel arrives