Dec 08 Mums - Introducing our new joiners, TrudyV and Al Fresco...

[Beans33]

Hope this is ok? Thought it was subtle enough for the wider MN and not offensive!!

Trudy DD is pretty good at thank you, although she has a habit of repeating it, getting continually louder until she is formally acknowledged. But please needs prompting and prompting and the only time she chooses to say it is when she's whinging for something 'purrleeeaase, puuuurrrlleeeeeaaaase'. I'd rather not hear it! And she hasn't got the point of sorry either, seems to think it negates whatever naughty thing she's doing if she is saying sorry while she's doing it . V cute about the play doh biscuits

Seems like you've divided the jobs and skills pretty well between you and your DP manservant Pd. BTW, how do we find out the top poster? I want every thread closing from now on with some lovely stats

Jolly you of all people don't want to know about my clacker symptoms - a touch of heartburn in the last 2 weeks was as bad as it got with E. I'm hoping for similar this time

Enjoy the christening Beans, and ignore the squabbling older generation, they can be worse than toddlers sometimes

Rubes/Trace DD gets really confused with you, me, we, I etc. And the other day she was telling me about 'Mummy's Henry', instead of Henry's Mummy

Curry night tonight with our friends, to thank them for having E last weekend. I'll be pretending to drink wine as they've asked to stay purposely so we can all get sloshed together. Bet I get rumbled within about 7 minutes!

Good luck with pretend boozing ZJ! Say something wildly inappropriate and they'll.think you are sloshed.

DD1 does ok on the manners front buy does sometimes say 'sorry and thank you'. It sounds like she's being really sarcastic. We're working on 'please can I leave the table' at the mo. Not very successfully at times.

OMG JB we are sooo far from "may I leave the table" lol! Manners really matter to me so I'm surprised M seems immune. DD's table manners have really gone downhill since she switched to a school where they eat their packed lunches in their classrooms and she's far worse when it's all six of us eating and she has an audience. I hoped that by nine she'd have got over this but she's always been a pain at mealtimes, always. The rest of the time she's a mature, articulate and pleasant young lady, albeit with a tendency to get a bit carried away. I just don't know what comes over her at mealtimes.

Right, parents arriving for Scrabble in 10 mins, best go and de-scuzz the sitting room and plug in brain

enjoy the scrabble Trudy, and ZJ hope your evenin goes well. Will you mind if they guess?
Re manners, P says 'Thank you' quite a lot without prompting, but does the demanding thing, like "my want eat", so I say "can you ask nicely please?" and she changes it to "please may I eat" (or rather, "be may my eat" - I'm good at interpreting!). Like ZJ's E, she is quite good at saying sorry ("gorry") but seems to think it means she can be naughty as long as she says it! She will copy L a lot too, so if L says "please can I get down" after tea, then P will say "be may my det down?" too :) Cute!
Well I've just put Phoebe to bed up until the point where I say goodnight and leave and she did her usual scream/get out of bed/shout "no mummy"/ follow me downstairs scenario :( DH stepped in and had a quiet word with her which calmed her instantly, put her in her bed, and we haven't heard a peep. Will I ever be able to put her to bed again? This makes me feel so very useless as a mum.
Anyway, DH was supposed to be going out tonight, but now isn't, so my plan to watch tv and spend ages on MN is ruined we get to spend a lovely evening together
Happy Friday everyone xxx

trace this is where I part company with "sorry" too. I have seen so many people insist a child says sorry for something as if that's all that matters. Of course there's a place for sorry, but I'd always rather the deed was undone or atoned for in some way than sorry be seen as a magic cure for any naughtiness. It's not something I've ever made my children say, but it really bothers me that DS won't say please

Hello all! Huge apologies for my rubbish posting these days. Used to do some serious catching up in the evening but at the moment am putting DD to bed, having supper then pretty much passing out. Anyway, as I've probably bored people with on FB, DD2 is, well, a DD. DH was a bit taken aback at first, muttering about "I don't stand a chance!" and being outnumbered. I pointed out he never stood a chance. . She's due October 19 btw but sure she'll be early like DD1.

And that brings me on to reason for morning post - does anyone else have an ASTONISHINGLY grumpy toddler of a morning? DD wakes up in a FOUL mood pretty much every single day. Most of the day DH can magic her into a better one in few minutes with talk of breakfast and Peppa pig and cuddles, but about once a week she just goes totally feral. Kicking, screaming, throwing things (we put her back in her cot and tell her she needs to stay there until she calms down, and she reaches across to the bookshelf and throws all the books on the floor, toys on the floor etc etc). General toddler beast from hell-ness.

Any tips on what I can do about it??? Suspect maybe some of it is low blood sugar (not tiredness, she's just had a MEGA strop and she slept a good 11 hours last night) - but I don't know that brandishing food in her face the second she wakes up would go down very well either.

hello hello. back from portugal (actually last week, but been busy) which was lovely - lots of lie-ins and afternoon naps for me. i was really looked after, didn't have to cook, wash up, anything and due to madam LOVING the swimmingpool (and thinking she can swim - worrying), i got a tan, too - hurrah. got back with the 2 monsters fine on the plane - baby in sling, toddler with trunki, baby slept all the way, toddler got befriended and watched peppa pig with another family. when i had the baby in the sling, toddler holding my hand, all the bags, plus car seat and buggy base on the trolley coming out of baggage reclaim, i must admit to feeling very proud of myself and looking round at the other couples with single children and thinking "amateurs".

had a list of things to reply to but can't find it now. bugger. off the top of my head.

jj - we are having an unbirthday party for madam tomorrow - we'll get her something summer appropriate, but it's less about presents, and more about having a birthday party with friends, as her b'day is christmas day. i tend to buy her stuff through the year, too, with only a big thing for b'day/christmas.

zj - a very quiet hurrah!

lady - a very loud hurrah!

and now my memory fails me.

how is it that i am the one who is up and about in this house this morning, when i'm also the one who was up 4 times in the night with both girls? grrrrr. however it is lovely to have the house quiet - everyone else is still asleep - v v v unusual. and the baby slept all night in her cot last night, which is a first for a while. yay.

hi kiwi - cross posted. lovely to hear from you. we have it after naps - feral is the word. i leave her to calm down on her own, although a bottle of milk tends to help as well. does she drink milk? could you bring a bottle to her as she wakes up?

glad you are well and to hear about dd2. dh knows the feeling of being outnumbered. he consoles himself with the idea he will be like mr bennet in pride and prejudice (although believe me we're sticking with 2, not 5 or however many there are).

oh, just remembered another thing: the ginger/red hair conversation. i have always wanted to be a redhead. always. and had a massive crush on the terrible actress who played maid marion in robin of sherwood when i was little, who had the most wonderful long curly red hair. i simply don't understand when people don't like red hair of any variety.

Hey kiwi and waiting, great to hear from you both. Really well done on the super parenting on the flight and at the airport waiting, what is your secret? And kiwi how early was dd1?

I have a real bee in my bonnet about manners too trudy, in fact I have been known to ask shop keepers/bus drivers/general grumpy folk to be more polite. I don't think it takes any effort to be polite, but I don't often get the response I hoped for . Agree with you on the sorry too, it's nice, but it's nicer if the mess gets tidied up or a cuddle is offered. trace P is so cute, asking to leave the table

Trace I wouldn't mind if those friends guessed, as whatever the outcome they'd be the ones I'd turn immediately to for support. It's just breaking it to them is going to be quite a big deal. Their DD is an IVF baby and they can't have any more so are now battling with being approved to adopt. Us, or anyone, having a second child is really difficult as it is the only thing in the world they want but can't have, so I'm painfully aware that when we tell them it will be the best and worst of news for them to take in. Maybe it's better that they guess and then don't get a shock when we do tell them? My friend did make a comment about me 'pretending' to drink, and whereas as normally she'd accuse me of being a lightweight (which I am) and top my glass up, she didn't push it, so I think I did quite a poor job of fooling them. Still a lovely evening though

Oh ZJ that sort of thing's really hard. I can understand 1% of how they feel, as before DH changed his mind on having another child I used to feel really terrible when I heard that yet another friend was having baby no 2 or even more. One of the greatest gifts DH has ever given me is DS. DD too, obviously, but having that second child has made all the difference in the world to me. I hope your friends do get approved for adoption - the system would be seriously flawed (which I can well believe it is) if a couple with such a desire for another child and such good intentions don't get approved.

Changing the subject completely, is anyone else's LO a big croc-wearer? M lives in them in dry weather but I've noticed today that he has lots of peeling skin on his feet and I wondered if it was because they were getting sweaty? It doesn't seem to bother him and there's a strange satisfaction to pulling it off but I'd just like to understand why it's happening.

Eugh, not a good time chez spot atm, B waking 3+ x night and T up for the day at 5.30 without fail. And I'm ill. As is DP.
Rubes, didn't you have a period of DS waking super early quite recently? Did it resolve itself or did you do anything? I'm wondering about trying Wake to Sleep but fear it could mean just another night waking, or, worse, up for the day at 4.30.
Was thinking on your food q as well, have you tried giving DD 90% of an Ellas pouch but with a teaspoon of something else a bit thicker in it and then just increasing it to 2 teaspoons each day, 3 etc?

Hi WG, so glad you had a good time in POrtugal, am vv .

Kiwi we brandish fruit in T's face when he wakes from a nap in a foul mood and it seems to help. Or juice.

Oh Kiwi - we have that after naps 50-80% of he time if not more. He is feral. it's mainly the reason I try to avoid him taking naps now if possible. No solution found yet except ignoring him as I have tried everything. if I start doing something he likes (vacuuming) he will usually get distracted from screaming and wants to do it so that works. He aint gonna be happy when I purchase a new Roomba irobot this week

Sorry to hear Spot - yes we went through that. he is steady at 630 wakings now (this morning 730 yay! But he was in bed late) Could not work out why it was happening. Tried everything but nothing really changed then he just gradually got a bit later at waking. Mind you he doesn't always nap now in the day. Maybe that's it?
Re dd - yes I have tried that, tried everything. She just totally clamps teeth shut if anything changes whatsoever with Ella's kitchen stage 1 from it's original form yesterday though, mil was gmil were here and they were amazed! However, I went out for the after noon (lovely pedicure and some shopping thanks) and they continuously tried to feed her and she had a bit more than usual (stage one stuff and yogurt only still) and oddly she woke at 945pm, had 4oz then another 4 oz at 130am but then nothing until 815am. Not a clue why as she ate what she normally does on a "good day" but no idea why the wakign times changed ???

Glad you had a nice trip WG And it was a good flight! hate to say I told you so...... but I told you so.....

Evening ladies.

Rubes DH is quite adept at changing locks, but we have only just changed all our locks when we first moved in and it cost over ?250. So DH has swapped some of the new locks with the old locks so we have a combination of new & old locks.

Trudy DS1 wears crocs & yes he does have the skin peeling, I thought it was a fungal thing so have bought him some cream.

Well done WG, yay to nice relaxing trips away. You deserved it.

I am currently doing an impersonation of a boiled lobster. It was quite cloudy this morning but we wanted to show our friends the beach so we took the bare minimum of sun shading stuff. Anyway it became very sunny so we spent the afternoon on the beach with no sun screen and are red as a London bus.

Right there is more I should write but I'm tired so I'm orf.

Oh Vag - poor you. I hate being like a lobster. We sunbathed yesterday and wore factor 30, which I was very proud of. Haven't really got a tan, but haven't burnt either. DH got DD1 to apply his, intending to finish later and forgot. He consequently has a few white handmarks on his back and the rest is bright red! HAHAHA! I shouldn't laugh, but it's hilarious!

Rubes - I have discovered finger food for DD2. She absolutely LOVES it, despite not having many teeth. She will now eat most things, as long as she can pick it up. I can still feed her spag bol, but for the rest of her meals she loves to pick with her fingers. Yesterday she ate chopped up sausages, potato waffles and peas. Peas are a particular favourite! Not that healthy, but she likes sandwiches etc too. I am going to make her some healthy burgers and other Annabel Karmel stuff this week. I am feeling bad about her packet diet!!!

WG - you are a legend for that journey on your own - it's amazing. I am so impressed.

Re manners - I am also big on please and thank you. DD1 starting to learn to say "Thank you very much for the lovely lunch/supper, please may I get down"!!! Takes ages for her to say it all, and she repeats after me, but it's what we always had to say to Mum and I rather like it! It became a bit of a family joke after a while and am hoping the same will happen with us. I notice my nieces and nephews say it too! And re sorry - is becoming an issue in this house as DD1 has started beating up her sister, which is awful. BUT it takes a lot of effort to get her to say sorry, which I'm glad about as I think it means that she doesn't just glibly think it'll get her off the hook - she has to really mean it!!

Christening went really well. DD2 seems to be giving up her morning sleep, which is a pain. And meant I was a bit stressed about her behaviour at the church. But she was a dream. The vicar is gorgeous and was such fun. Then we all went back to Mum and Dad's for drinks and lunch. Mum had recovered pretty well when we got down to Kent and so we had a cookathon. The food was delicious. FIL brought the champagne. There was one bottle left at the end, and yes, they did take it with them. He is an utter twat, I've decided. Nice enough not in company, but the minute he gets an audience, he turns into a wanker. Properly idiotic comments and unfunny stories about how generous he is. And he made a point of making sure everyone knew he'd brought the champagne. It was embarrassing. And when my Dad opened up wine at lunchtime, FIL said, "Oh, now we're onto the H's drinks and not the champagne I brought any more, let's get stuck in"!!! Then made DH go and get the bottle left over of champers and take it to their car. I was utterly mortified for him.

THEN, and this is the bit that made me more furious than anything, he made a comment that made my blood boil. Bear in mind, that this man is 20 stone. As Mum walked towards him at the drinks before lunch, he said to me "Sal, your mother's putting on weight, isn't she?" in this really gloaty voice. I'm afraid I rather lost it and said "That's rich coming from you, a spot of pot calling the kettle black. No she isn't, and why can't you think of something nice to say?" Then walked off. And I didn't speak to him for the rest of the day. I have no intention of speaking to him for a while either. His whole scene over the champagne and having to say some nasty comment makes me absolutely seethe. And he knows it. GRRRRR. He is a fool.

Hello everyone

Vag, I am so sorry about the sunburn. i have burnt very badly in the past and it is agony. Would putting some natural yoghurt on help?

Beans, I am so glad that the christening was lovely but how DARE you FIL be so rude about your mum when he is her guest? That really annoys me, almost as much as being a meanie, which I can't bear.

WG, you are a hero for your lone flying adventures, well done you.

2 new baby girls coming onto the thread, how fab, many congratulations to you both. Hope you are both feeling good.

I am a bit worried about the lack of small boys around though generally. I can't remember the tally on the thread but everyone I know seems to have girls, and I worry that boys will be in short supply in later life. My wee boy has gone off to nursery, plastered in sun cream and with his bottom lip out. He has taken to me wrapping him in his blanket which my mum knitted and letting me sing lullabies to him when he goes to bed. It's very sweet, but not ideal in 30degrees of heat. "Sing, mummy, sing!"

I have today off. Some light clearing up beckons, followed by booking a hair appointment, a mani, 2 builders, a holiday and waxing. Better get on. We have people over tomorrow so I need to cook as well. Should I sneak out to Brockwell Lido to have a wee swim? That might be glorious, if a bit crowded.

Sneak to Tooting Bec Lido this afternoon and see me, Sybs!! xx

Bloody hell its hot! Too hot for ironing must sit in garden and relax to keep cool

beans I'm glad DD2'sChristening went well, but your FIL sounds like such an arse, I don't blame you for giving him the cold sholder for a while. Your poor dH though, I bet he was mortified!

WG You made your travels sound so easy, well done you! Sounds likeyou hada fantastic time.

sybs Too hot for all that, get thee to the lido asap!

vagOuch ouch ouch - hows my lobster today??

Well its was my cousins wedding this weekend and we had a fantastic time. DH wasn't even a teeny weeny bit of an arse so that was good. The DC's stayed up late and were absolutely fine. I have to say though it was by far the most lavish wedding I have ever been to - a true footballers wives affair. My cousin had 2 dresses both costing ££££!! The champagne reception was Bollinger on tap , the flowers cost around £10K I'm told and I believe are now rotting in a skip, they had a room with Wii/PS3/bouncy castle/ball pools etc for the children and after the meal a team of entertainers came and whisked the children away to their own party for a couple of hours so we could enjoy the speeches free champagne. And the fire work display at the end of the evening would rival Sydney on NYE. But it was great to have all the family there and have such a good time. Feet now completely ruined from dancing like a loon in 3" heels!!

Crikey. It's hot as anything. It makes me quite relieved to live in England and we don't have this weather all the time. ALTHOUGH, I suppose I could get used to it. It's rather lovely to have the choice of sitting inside or out. Am plumping for inside as am doing ironing and watching Murray. He is a rather unpleasant little man, I always think. Maybe I'm wrong.

DB - that wedding sounds immense! How fantastic! Glad DCs were good. how lovely. Both mine upstairs at the moment, doubt DD1 is asleep, but never mind. Think we'll head to the Lido at around 4pm today, once the weather starts to cool down somewhat. Right. Must drink water.

xx

PS We're off to cinema tonight. Very exciting. A friend is coming to babysit and we're heading to see the new Xmen Film. I can't wait. It's my birthday tomorrow, so it's my treat! Hurrah! Also am having dinner with a few friends on Friday at a restaurant, which is the proper celebration. Yay!

(will be the age of the page number we're on now. Sob)

Crikey it is boiling! Too hot outside for L who has announced we have to go in.

Deids wow! Sounds fantastic!

Have a good day Sybil. Def go for swim.

Our new garden is producing lots of goodies. Raspberries to pick later. Yum!

Beans you are a complete fraud with your youthful usename . Have a lovely day, so glad you've got a treat planned.

Raspberries in the garden, Jam? Will you be making some of you with them?

Deids that wedding sounds amazing! Glad your DH stepped up.

T in a terrible state, can't sleep (up all night then up permanently at 5.30), can't eat, says it hurts to eat. Think it must be his back molars coming in. Have anyone else's DCs really struggled with the final teeth? It's odd as it's the first time he's complained of sore teeth (he couldn't talk when he was teething before) but isn't dribbling or red/swollen cheeked).

Vag how's the burn?

Spot - for you! I am now an older and wiser username! And truthful...

Oh poor T - v hard for you too.

Apparently queue for Tooting Lido is an hour long. DD1's friend coming here to use our paddling pool instead! Hurrah!

G has just rolled off the sofa and dropped a foot and a half onto her head on our wooden floor. i am surprisingly fine about it. probably delayed shock. hope she's still got a braincell. ouch.

Happy birthday for tomorrow Beans or should I say 36. Take my advice and stick at 36 though. So much more dignified than 41, believe me.

Vag/waitingbabe/spotlet ouch!

Deids wedding sounds great - especially the kids entertainment bit. I've not really enjoyed the last few we've been to cos I always seem to get landed with the childcare bit. We're going to my uncle's wedding on Saturday, which will be very much the opposite end of the spectrum to your cousin's, ie full on pie & peas. Hopefully I will be able to persuade DP to bundle the DCs off when it gets past their bedtime. Anyway the happy couple have asked for cash rather than presents, which I don't have any problem with normally, but it feels a bit wrong to be sticking cash in an envelope what with him being my uncle and frankly much older than me. What does everyone think?

Really could have done without this weather today. I rely on the DCs as my alarm clock but they chose this morning to sleep past 8am, when I had my most important meeting in this job so far first thing with lots of movers & shakers I hadn't met before. Meaning that I could either have a shower or be on time. Not only that but I had to cycle there in this weather, so I arrived there looking and probably smelling like I'd crawled out of a skip. Then I had to cycle back to my office (uphill) for another Very Important Meeting. Grim.

ZJ the thread counter is here (I found it by can find it by googling mumsnet trudyv). Seems Beans is a late challenger for the crown - gonna be a thrilling gallop towards the finishing line. Trudy's performance is also impressive. Still about 100 posts to go though for the final scores on the doors so