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!!

and at your DD2 climbing out of her chair Soc!

Glad your DD is better Mous, your DS too SB.

It is HOT today here. So far I have only been to the grocer's and back, 5min away. This afternoon I'm planning to walk into town to run errands and change DD's library books, but am slightly concerned it'll be too hot for her. We have never got round to fitting a shade to the buggy We're really hardly needed it this year to be fair! The raincover on the other hand has been well used

I really do have to go out. I have just sat and had the biggest chocolate binge They usually happen in the evenings, not sure why one came on just then.

BBB glad you've got your diagnosis and that you're feeling ok with it.

LBH we left DD's windows open all night and she was in her normal 2.5 tog sleeping bag - I think she was an ok temp though - fairly normal night, 2 wake-ups. DH wants to go cold turkey on the dummy to see if it stops the wake-ups. I'm not so sure I can cope with the stress of it.

I had a lovely weekend in the cottage with my sisters although the weather wasn't great for most of it. But at least no rain. We did lots of walking, eating, chatting, neither of them really drank much as both on a diet which made it easier for me.

DD woken up really crying, better go.

IC have a good journey!!

mmm chocolate binge, sounds like a lovely weekend

I made chocolate cake the other day. OK so I left it in slightly too long but me and DD will still get through it valiantly

We have some quite big cushions on our sofa's and DD managed to get on top of those before falling, luckily we caught her mid air

LBH we had a similar night, fine until 2/3am and then about 4-6 resettles. I think if it was heat she would be more fidgety earlier in the night. We've put her in her travel cot so she can get used to it before the road trip so it could be that.

SB is DS better?

What is WOMAD anf Bestival, I've heard of them but never looked them up?

DS still has a small temperature but I can't put my finger on what it's due too. My guess is on the weather as he's not acting sick (comparing to last week when he was a sick baby iyswim).

I'm impressed by the words, but as mous said there may be some delay due to bilingualism...

bc we probably will be able to afford another child by the time DS reaches school but it'll mean we'll be 5 years older (especially DH). Only time will say.

LBH DS slept in a short sleeve romper and 2.5 tog sleeping bag. He slept fine.

Just had a steroid injection in my wrist to heal my inflamed thumb tendon. It really hurts now!!!

It was 38 degrees in Madrid today - DD's been sleeping through ever since we put her in nappy and 0.5 tog sleeping bag and pointed a small fan at her all night. FX it works again tonight....

Ouch SB I hope your hand feels better soon!

BBB we've got another book lover here - DD does exactly the same as your DD2, pulls books out of her cupboard and leafs through.

Thanks Soc - one more day to go and we're off! Good job DH got the air-conditioning in the car fixed today, that will make the journey through Spain a whole lot more comfortable.
DD seems to be equally dubious about paddling pools and swimming pools, even in super-hot weather with warm water. She went in pools with us this time last year, but when we've tried it the last few days she's thrown big wobblers to let us know in no uncertain terms that she's not keen.

Yes, Mous, putting DD on my back solo does rely somewhat on her remaining fairly compliant. I've managed it with her fidgeting and complaining, but there's no way I could manage it if she was throwing a full-on back-arching tantrum.

I'm glad you had a nice birthday, LBH, sorry about the tough night. I hope tonight is more restful for you both.

PA good shout on acclimatising your DD to the travel cot - what sort did you get in the end? I must admit, I'm not very hopeful my DD will settle in hers, I think the fact it's an enclosed one may cause problems. I could be wrong, but I don't feel terribly optimistic about it. Still, it's been useful to take on daytrips as a little soft play area with some sun protection, so even if DD doesn't sleep in it, it's still had its uses.
WOMAD is World Of Music And Dance - the UK one is held on a country estate on the Gloucestershire/Wiltshire border and it's great. Lots of good stuff for kids - workshops, a parade, a funfair etc. - and a lovely ambiance with a mixture of festival colour and eccentricity and a family-friendly set-up. It's world music mainly and I've made some fantastic discoveries there.

Nice to hear you had an enjoyable weekend with your sis, Scones!

Tomorrow is our last day of packing (although most of it is done, thanks to DH's awesome organisational abilities) then we're off on Wednesday lunchtime. Eek!

Arrrgh 38 degrees IC I am struggling with 32.
DDs room is currently 29 degrees. (last night was 27)

Started a thread in chat!!

dd2 shouted 'bubbles' in M&S earlier and pointed at a very large wall picture of a glass of bubbly... Well, it did have bubbles in it . Woman at the till thought it was hilarious and told her very sternly that she really was a little too young to be drinking

Soc my DD2 did something similar last week in the supermarket. She was babbling away and pointing at the wall - I was busy trying to control the trolley and DD1 and didn't realise what she meant until she hit my hand, pointed to the wall and shouted "Banana". There was a picture of a bowl of chopped up bananas and cream!

IC good luck with the travel cot. I have a Nomad travel tent that is enclosed, but I leave the top unzipped so it doesn't feel too claustrophobic. Both my DDs have slept fine in it. Keep the faith!

Anyone else in the UK wishing we could have something between the usual 15C and the 32C we had yesterday?!

Sorry stone meant to ask how your hand and DS are today?

BBB my hand still hurts but not the same way that it did before the injection - so hopefully it's getting better I took the afternoon off in order to rest it, so I've made a summer fruit pudding!
DS is fine, no temperature this morning so I guess it was linked to the weather - it's about 10C less today than it was yesterday.

DS has a 'normal' travel cot and as no problem sleeping in it, but I think he could sleep anywhere at night.

soc at the bubbly bubbles

He's getting more confident in his climbing on window sill and armchair everyday.

bethy I didn't need to enter a new email address to change my name - just do like said above (sorry I can't remember by whom )

I wonder how fc , Abs , chinook and rainbow are doing at the moment?

Waves to everybody else.

We received the update nursery fee - £50 increase a month!!!

SB I'm sorry that everyone is trying to steal your money. Does DS start to get free nursery hours at some point?

DD went on a climbing extravaganza yesterday climbing things that look far too tall for her. Since we sold her changing table we have a set-up on the coffee table. So about 3 times now she has pulled down the mat, laid face up, when asked does she want her nappy changed she then pulls her vest

We have the cheapest travel cot available Since we only a few days after the road trip, we assumed the stuff won't sell or be given away for free. Also the road trip budget is rather thin. Had the choice between a 10 day 'good' holiday or a stretched road trip, we chose the latter of course.

Free nursery hours unfortunately doesn't exist over here. The fee will reduce when he turns 2 then 3 but has the fee increase every years, the cheapest will catch up the now expensive one at some point iyswim.

PA when are you leaving for your trip?

Good advice, BBB - although I worry that DD can get out of the cot too easily if I do that! The zipper zips very low, IYSWIM. Anyway, we'll see...

Arf at the bubbles, Soc! I let DD walk around the supermarket holding my hand today and her favourite aisle was the loo-paper one because the packets all had pictures of either dogs ("oof-oof") or babies ("aaah...!")

Blimey, that sounds a bit steep, SB! Ouch!
I hope your hand's feeling better today.

LBH my preference is for temperatures around the mid 20s and no higher. The ten Euro fan we bought from the local Chinese bazaar has been the main thing to keep DD comfortable overnight. That and the 0.5 tog sleeping bag. It's a bummer when it starts hot then gets very cool, though. PA can attest to that...

Well, we're pretty much packed and will set off tomorrow after an early lunch (the ferry sails at 21.00). The strike may cause a delay at passport control, but we're keeping our fingers crossed it won't take too long. The forecast says calm weather with waves of around 1m in the Bay of Biscay, which will be less of a swell than last time. I'm going to make sure DH doses up on sea-sickness pills, though...!

Hasta pronto, companeras!

Have a great journey IC, speak to you when you're settle down in Bristol.

Good luck with the journey IC.

Sorry LBH I think I forgot to wish you a belated happy birthday the other day and now it's even later!

SB hope your hand is better soon.

Still working and not enough red wine!

IC Good luck

We tired DD on baked tofu (marinated overnight) and then finished off by frying to crisp up. She really liked it and it worked great as finger food. Even DH liked it and he normally gags when he tried tofu. She finished it off with some left over peanut butter sandwich and chocolate cake. Great to see her stuffing her face.

SB We'll be making a loss next year, hope to break even again once I go back to work.

Happy travelling IC!

Ouch at the increase in nursery fees SB What did you do to your hand? (Sorry if I've missed it)

I have been wondering how long the 15 free hours nursery for the over-3s will last here... and if they'll still exist once our LOs reach 3...

I don't like Wednesdays I had errands to run on Monday, the ILs had DD yesterday (more of which in a minute) and I have activities Thursdays and Fridays. But Wednesdays are a bit of a blank. I suppose I will take DD to the park. It's just a bit lonely by ourselves.

So, the ILs having DD... I still can't work out if I'm being PFB or not. I'll try to summarise succinctly. They don't seem to talk to her much (in my presence, when picking her up and dropping her off) even when reading a book to her - just let her turn the pages but didn't say anything. Is that wierd or what. I'm sure two weeks ago they hadn't taken her beaker out of her bag, so had she not had a drink the whole day? Yesterday mentioned they ate lunch at 1.30, her lunch time is 12.00. Clearly not bothered by her having a nap although I have stressed how important it is and now bought a travel cot so there's somewhere for her to sleep. But the worst is, yesterday they brought her home (40 mins late so she's late for her tea, bath and bed) crying - I immediately smelt poo - took her upstairs to change, and a very pooey nappy and a very sore bottom. She gets nappy rash very easily. She was obviously in a lot of pain and it took me a good 20mins to calm her down. I asked MIL when nappy was last changed and she said 'lunchtime' she then amended it to 2.30, well tbh both of those make me cross, either the long times between nappies or the very late lunch.

Clearly I'll have to broach my concerns with MIL. For one thing I can't believe she didn't smell the nappy. But should I just stop her having DD at all? I love the opportunity to get things done (cleaned the windows yesterday!) and have a rest. But DD's welfare is obv more important than that.

Tricky one, Scones as I assume you're getting free childcare from the ILs - that said, from what you describe, it sounds rather neglectful - or at the very least, forgetful - to me and there's no excuse for that, even if they're doing you a favour.
Would it be possible to chat tactfully about how it's useful to try and keep (roughly) to DD's familiar routines and would it be helpful if you gave them something written down as you know how easy it is to forget some of the details etc...? I don't know how touchy they are and how carefully you may have to tread. They may be grateful for a few pointers, especially if if comes with ideas of "things to do with DD" that are offered from motives of helpfulness...??
Or could your DH chat to them?

That tofu method sounds yummy, PA - I'm keen to get DD into tofu as it's such a good source of protein, but the results have been mixed so far.

Thanks for the good wishes, everyone! I'm now waiting for DH to return from running an errand (dropping stuff off at the second-hand shop) and for DD to wake from her morning nap, then we'll have an early lunch and hit the road. The general strike looks like it's going to hit passport control - I just hope we won't be kept hanging around for TOO long with DD getting fed up in the car...

Our internet is likely to take a while to get properly installed, so big kisses to all of you and I'll talk to you again once we're back in Blighty with access to Broadband....

Hasta Pronto!

scones I'm feeling a bit cross on behalf of your dd... I have no inlaws so can't comment on the complexity of treading on toes, but I would never let my mum treat my dds like that, esp the not speaking part. Can you ask them, tactfully, why they want to look after your dd when they appear to not interact with her??
I am a little more flexible with sleep and meal times (my mum once managed to undo any semblance of a routine in one afternoon of looking after dd1 ) - it undoes any routine you have but does no real harm. The nappy thing may genuinely be due to your PIL not having much sense of smell left. Like IC said, a kind of timetable may be helpful (whether they follow it is another matter)

IC you are probably gone already, but just to say fingers and toes firmly crossed for you

Good luck IC!

scones you have my sympathy. I also have ILs who provide childcare one day a week (for both my DDs), and it is a difficult thing to manage. My MIL, in particular, can be a bit of handful, and sometimes it feels as though she doesn't respect my ways of parenting. Like the others have said, try giving them a sheet that outlines your routine. And do definitely mention the nappy changing - as Soc (rather charitably, IMO) says, maybe they didn't notice, but if your LO has sensitive skin, that can't happen again. And get your DH to have a word - they are his parents, after all.

I understand your feeling of dread at having days with nothing to do - I feel the same if it happens to me!

stone are your nursery fees very high? DD2's are about £45 a day for 8am-6pm. I don't know how that compares to other people's, but it's the going rate where I live. We have benefited from the 15 free hours for DD1, but still pay for extended hours, and will continue to do so when she's at school. From September, it'll be about £10 a day for breakfast and tea club (two days a week), and the local holiday playscheme for her is £35 per day (8am-6pm), though we usually only book her in for one day a week and I juggle the rest with my ILs. Much as I struggle with my ILs, they save me a fortune in childcare! I don't think it would be worth be working otherwise.

BBB hehe, charitable, me? Was basing my assessment on my own dad who has lost most of his sense of taste and smell. Mind you, he's in his mid 80s.
You are lucky to be able to combine childcare with inlaws. One of the reasons I turned down the job I was offered was that the salary was such a pay cut that it would not have covered nursery fees for my two for three days a week... I didn't want to pay to work!

Soc I know I am lucky to be able to work three days a week because I only have to pay for two days childcare. But I still only make £5 a day (once everything else is taken out), and MIL is currently going through a "I'm an indulgent granny" phase because she perceives that I am too strict with DD1. This means she lets DD1 run riot at her house (lets her put on her make up, buys her things all the time, gives her whatever she wants to eat even if she and FIL are having something different etc), which, in turn, makes my boundaries seem even tighter to DD1!

As you can probably tell, this is a reasonable issue for us at the moment. DH agrees with me (shocker, I know) and is going to talk to them about it this evening.

scones For those reasons when we get back I'm not prepared for ILs to have DD for a whole day. They listen and kinda of say yes, but I can tell they just don't get it. Last time they were nearly 2 hours late, I wouldn't have minded but they didn't call or anything, me and DH could have stayed out longer and not stressing. Still not convinced she wouldn't try and force feed her either and 'naps' are only for when she's at home and they hate us being around as well. They can't let her just play so ends up doubly overtired. Can they have her for half a day or two half days? If they are like mine no about of talking will really help the situation. They also don't like changing nappies. Were their children more content babies? Both MILs were and I think this makes a big difference as they don't believe DD could be that different and it's probably something we do. I keep in mind that it's not hatred or done on purpose they genuinely don't seem to get it.

BBB could you sit your dd1 down and explain to her that staying with granny is a treat and different rules apply? My dd1 is quite clear that anything she is allowed to do with her 'Oma' is not something she gets away with at home... Mind you, we only stay with my parents three or four times a year and then for 10 days or more. If dd1 saw my mum one day a week the situation may well be different.

PA I've also had the listen and say yes but do the opposite with my mum [sigh]. I was quite clear that I do not wish salt added to meals esp for dd2 but noticed last time that her food tasted distinctly salty. My mum denied all knowledge but eventually admitted she had added 'a pinch' of vegetable stock because it 'didn't taste of anything'......