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!!

I am away in kindle land and style and beauty

DD2 is napping, DH and DD1 in IKEA

I tried to post this morning from my phone which just proves that I really can't post from it!

Just to clarify, DS2 is I believe 27lb 10oz - just shy of 2 stone. 32lb would make him the same weight as DS1 already. Either way, he is seriously doing my back in and is in danger of being dropped when he does a dramatic 'throw back' in 'tantrum mode'. I fear he will catch me out in the end and will land on his head.

SB sending good wishes to your friends. My friend's SIL had twins yesterday at 30 weeks so they are quite tiny too. Let's hope they are all strong little fighters.

SC Grr about your DH leaving DD2 to come down the stairs unattended - my DH would have been on breakfast-in-bed-making mode for weeks to make up for that .

LeMous I can see your name this time! Like the idea of sending the others to IKEA! DS2 tried climbing some shelves this morning so is definitely trying to follow in your DD2's footsteps! The bits that PA posted also again sounded very familiar about the current favourite activities.

My two are in bed (DS1 for an hour) so I'm off to make the obligatory gluten and dairy-free stodgy pudding for DS1's weight gain campaign. He managed a whole 140g last month and has officially gained 40g now since January-having regained what he had lost.

Oh, and we had a random 'sleep through the night unaided by drugs' on Friday night. I always wake up completely confused after an undisturbed deep sleep! It didn't get repeated last night, but at least there are signs that we are heading in the right direction and they can do it!

MIL is coming in an hour to have the boys for 90mins for us so we can have some time off. Not quite the overnight that was planned pre-chicken pox, but better than nothing! Off to a pub via a short country walk I think.

Yay for the sleep, bethy!

Blimey, Soc I bet your heart was in your mouth - time to whop your DH over the head with a rolled up newspaper...

SB prayers for your friend's baby.

BBB lovely to hear from you and good news on DD2's mobility!

Yes now you come to mention it LeMous, Scones there is a developmental spurt at around 66 weeks (I think) so that may account for your DD being a bit unsettled. The Dutch researchers behind the Wonder Weeks basically count that one as the official end of babyhood and entrance to toddlerdom....

Ah, DH comes bearing food! Must go - love to all x

dd2 went to the beach for the first time today and her comment was 'U-oh!' She wasn't particularly impressed with all that water, sand and wind but the huge seagull standing about two feet away waiting patiently for crumbs was a bit hit.

Typical DD eats no dinner all week, then on the day I mention this to my mum, she wolfs down half my plate (followed by an orange and then half a yogurt, which she has been having all week). I'm sure she'll go back to not eating dinner again for the next week

soc love the pictures

Time for Dr Who

PA I always try and think of food over a week or two, as sometimes DD2 eats loads and other times hardly anything. Similarly, some meals she'll eat loads of carbs but no protein, then the next time will scoff lots of smoked salmon and ignore the bread.

beth hope you had a nice bit of time off.

Soc, Mous my DH is exactly the same - present in body but not mind much of the time, and completely fails to notice most things.

SB hope your friend is getting on OK.

IC you are posting but not saying much about you. Everything OK?

BBB yes my DH is completely switch off at the moment, not to mention that he is going to be away for the next 2 weeks at least...

Bethy good job on the weight, finger crossed. It is probably difficult to have both DSs needing different diets.

lovely picture soc

Pouring with rain here with thunder and lightning... Glad I didn't believe the forecast of sun and put my washing out (turning into such a housewife it's embarrassing... )
I've just ordered a pressure fit travel safety guard, one of those mesh things that can't be opened like a gate (but stepped over by someone as tall as me). I will put it in doorways when needed to keep dd2 safe until she can be trusted on the stairs. It won't let dh off the hook but gives me a little more peace of mind.

I felt that DD was 'off' yesterday, not proper ill but not right. Then last night she woke every 90 mins, so I didn't get to work until 9 today, which means I won't be home until 10. Hopefully she'll be back to normal today.

I guess we'll probably end up somewhere with stairs so I'll have to think of stair safety.

If it helps soc the sun is back out in force today :)

Hi everyone. I've been busy having a miserable time being 30 weeks pregnant. I love having a child/ren but I bloody hate getting them. I don't even have particularly rough pregnancies but the anaemia has wiped me out this time.

Anyway - DD is also a little off today and I had to bring her home from nursery and Calpol her. I was relieved to find a new nursery for her last week - closer to my home for when I go on mat leave. Hope it'll be ok. She is unbelievably active and will no longer sit down to play with anything. I'm knackered. She is using more and more "words" and keeps pointing at things and saying a word that sounds a bit like "duck" or maybe "fuck" - I think it's meant to me "look". DP is mortified.

I'm rubbish with stair gates so we don't have any - but of a risk as we have 4 flights of stairs in our house - but we just close the door to whichever room DD is in. Has worked so far.

Anyone mentioned gransnet to their DM/MIL.

tbh I had a quick look and it felt rather patronising. Plus my mother is the same age as a lot of posters here (42) so I don't think I'll mention it. Probably up MILS street though, she could vent all her worry there.

stan see above for DD's 'shit' word.

sorry you're rough. I guess you're at the stage of going downhill again. It's hard when our DD's are so active and you're so tired, but I'm lucky in having DH to help so much when I'm there.

My main worry with the stairs is that she's not used to them and I'll be 7 months pg and DH will (hopefully) be working.

Good to hear from you though

Regarding stairgates, make sure you know the measurements - we were going to order the standard stairgates up to when I decided to measure our stairs and realised they'll be too small!

Thanks for all your good thoughts on my friend.

sc forecast over here wasn't for rain, so I put my laundry out and it rained this afternoon (it was probably dry by that time but I wasn't home) so the laundry is now in the tumble dryer. Nice pictures.

Xposted stan glad you're back and sorry about the rough time. Take care of yourself. at your DD vocabulary

PA my mum doesn't speak english MIL doesn't have a computer
I would be scared that if I mentioned it anyway they would be looking up here and stalked...
God PA your mum is my age I would be slightly pi..ed if you mention gransnet to me.

Stan I was exhausted with DD2 pregnancy just take it easy... There is not much you can do. It will get better when the baby comes though! (still very hard no doubt but the exhaustion will be less, just sleep depravation )

my mum was grateful to make it to 30 (in case we followed in her footsteps) so 40 was a bonus . That's my concern with MIL, I know DM has no interest in forums, she's too busy with work and the youngest two.

I'm with you LeMousquetaire. My mum doesn't speak English and MIL would be in her 90s if still alive...

Aw, BBB, that's very sweet of you! I'm fine - blame my addiction to the Feminism section for being less prolific here! There's a Buffy The Vampire Slayer thread that's had me in its thrall for the last couple of days
BTW what's your brainwashing technique for keeping your DDs in their beds (without undue protest) until 07.00? It sounds extremely useful!

PA, just keep Skyping your Mum to tell her your DD hasn't been eating very well, maybe that's where you've been going wrong

I'm sorry the final trim is exhausting you so much, Stangirl - although I guess it's not surprising, especially with anemia and a rip-roaring toddler to contend with. I did LOL at your DD's new word and your DP's consternation!

I had a little look at Gransnet. I think the posters will shape its character as a forum more than anything else - as they have here. It'll be interesting to see how it evolves.

LOVE those pix, Soc

DD and I had a pleasant day today - we went for a mums and toddlers playdate with a friend of mine and her DS, who is a couple of months younger than DD. Then on our way back through the park, we bumped into another mum who I've chatted with once or twice at playgroup, so I joined her and hermum for a drink while DD and her DD pushed the buggies around us and ate bits of biscuit.
Not surprisingly, DD was pretty zonked tonight after all that socialising and fresh(ish) air. She made it clear she was too tired to finish our story book and it was with almost palpable relief that she snuggled down in her cot.

IC there's a Buffy thread going on Feminism? I'm there! My favourite programme ever.

Glad you're OK IC. stan sorry it's so tough. You have my sympathies as I'm also dreadful at being pregnant (and giving birth, I hope you're better than me at that).

I can't watch Buffy since my DH started calling it Muffy...

No secrets for 7am rising here IC. When DD1 went into a bed just before her 2nd birthday, she started getting up at 6am. So I put a clock next to her bed, and drew a seven on piece of paper, and told her she could get up when the first number on her clock matched the piece of paper. It worked! And she learnt her number 7 before all others!

PA, stone I don't do stairgates and have managed just fine. Each to their own and all, but just keeping an eye on them and saying no if I don't want them to go up or down has always worked for me.

Right, serious question time. Does anyone else's DCs have awful tantrums? Twice in the last week DD2 has been beside herself - kicking, crying, throwings things - and I can do nothing to placate her. If I pick her up, she pushes so hard against me I'm in danger of dropping her, and I've tried teething gel, books, music, singing, dancing, bubbles, cuddles... Last time she calmed down when I took her in the car, tonight I left her in the hall (where there is a carpet) and just loitered nearby then ran the bath and put her in as normal and she eventually calmed down. Last week's was 45 minutes, tonight's was 30 minutes but she still wasn't herself until I did milk and story some 15 minutes later.

Help! DD1 never did this - but I'm wondering if I was just lucky as she was talking in sentences by 15 months so never got frustrated?

BBB Funny you should say that... dd2 has also started having most impressive tantrums. Yesterday just before lunch she started throwing herself around her highchair (bashing her head against the back of the highchair) and was so beside herself I ended up giving her calpol and put her to bed early after trying everything else. No chance to cuddle her either because she kept throwing herself backwards. I thought it was earache or teething pain plus tiredness. But then she did the same over dinner when I dared to offer her some help to get spaghetti on a spoon. I put her on the floor to scream (I hate her hitting her head on her highchair) and ignored her, carrying on dinner with dd1. When she got up and stood by her highchair, still howling, I lifted her up but she did the arching her back thing again, so on the floor she went. It took a good 20 minutes for her to calm down, then she sat down and started eating her (cold) dinner as if nothing had happened.
I'm also totally at a loss here because dd1 never did this...

How is it that men can be very senior at work but surprisingly useless at home? A child's rucksack, strategically placed inside the front door to me signals it is meant to go to nursery with said child... No? dh saw it simply as obstructing his way and swept it aside . Sometimes I really want to ask him to engage his brain for a change...
dh in charge this morning while I go off for yet another interview for a post that will most likely go to an internal candidate again. Sigh.

My mum got back from holiday in Croatia yesterday. Five times she told me they had turbot for dinner "and you know how expensive turbot is!". I think she is turning into an Alan Bennett character although without the northern accent. She always goes on coach holidays and meets other oddballs. This time there was a 70-something woman who refused to pay to use loos so peed in bushes everywhere gaining herself the nickname 'bushlady' and would sit with mum and friends at cafes and just not order anything even though she had plenty of money.

We go off to my dad's in Italy next Sunday for a week. I'm really looking forward to it.

Buffy? I love Buffy so much. I refused to watch the last series for years because I didn't want to believe it had ended. I used to have a massive crush on Xander but then he porked up a bit and now looks like a massive cocaine/booze casualty. Did you watch Firefly as well? Such a shame it was only one series. Am currently getting my geek fix with Game of Thrones - much more po-faced than Whedon but very good. I have a bit of a crush on Sean Bean too so that helps.

DS's walking is going really well although he has a few bruises on his forehead from (just had to pause to wipe up the cat's water that he knocked over) tumbling over.

DH also does daft things - puts DS's clothes and shoes on back to front regularly but we're getting on quite well at the moment. He's just left to go to Paris to interview a Cuban singer, and will be back tomorrow.

We didn't get a chance to have sex because I was ill so no peeing on a stick for me this month.

SC Good luck with the interview.

SB Hoping very hard that your friend's baby will do well.

Stan Sorry you are so tired and miserable.

I have noticed that DS does get quite shouty if we try to make him do something he doesn't want to (mainly trying to get sticks out of his hand). He is quite single-minded, if he's doing something (involving sticks), he does it for ages. I'm sitting there thinking "there's a whole playground why are you just sitting on the floor hitting the grass with a stick". Last time, in the end, I took him to sit under a tree where there were loads of sticks and read my kindle while he got his fill of stick action.

Also like SB's DS he loves trying to help with the housework. He's so cute dragging a broom around the house.

Interview went well but they do have an internal candidates (if he/she can do the job they have to be given it)... and he pointed out that I was rather overqualified for the post and it is a little beneath me (it's a pay cut of 10k)... Yes, but it's a job, I'd enjoy it, and it's three days a week and a four year contract! All I want at the moment is a bit of money and the last thing I want is a full time full pressure senior post which is the other alternative. Sigh.

Sodding Sky...still not on line. Another week apparrently!
No boss in tomorrow, read and update then!!