March 2005 part 4 - The nights are getting quieter.....

[BonyM]

Not that I want to tempt fate...

Have just mentioned the 11th to dp and he said why don't we do Iris's party on the 12th, so all good from here!

Dd1 had hand foot and mouth too when she was about 2 and inevitably me and dp got it too. She seemed absolutely fine with it, but we had yuksome mouth ulcers for weeks on end. Hope she bounces back quickly.

Oh Pidge, that's excellent news. The 11th it is then

Caleb is gorgeous - what a shame you don't think you'll be able to get to the meet-up, it would be lovely to see both of you. As you say though, maybe things will be different by March - fingers crossed for you .

As far as breastfeeding goes, Grace is becoming less and less interested in her daytime feeds. I was giving her 3or 4 a day - early morning (5am-ish), bedtime, and then before her morning and/or afternoon sleep. However, she has been going through phases of refusing the daytime feeds. She's not great at drinking anything else, from anything else so I'm hoping she doesn't drop the 3rd feed altogether as I will be concerned at the amount of fluid she gets. I'm with Pidge though on keeping going until she seems to want to stop, although having said that I don't really think I would want to carry on past 2. The longer I continue though, the longer I can see myself continuing iykwim.

Hmm - just realised I said that before on an earlier post . Memory like a sieve these days - wonder why...!

The 11th is fine for me btw - can't wait to meet everyone!

Busy - poor dd , hope she recovers soon. It is such a worry though isn't it if there is any illness in the family - you just pray that the baby doesn't get it. Dh has had a terrible cough and this afternoon, sickness and diarrhoea and I am so worried that Grace will get it.

We're not really getting her much for Christmas - in fact have only got her one thing at the moment - a Frog in a Box which is a bit like a jack in the box but the frog jumps all the way out! From my memories of dd1 at this age, she will be more entertained by all the wrapping paper anyway .

Am cheesed off because our monitor has just failed - it's always been a bit dody but now seems to have gone for good. I bought it off Ebay and it was new but I reckon the seller must have had some "seconds" 'or something as my friend had the exact same one which also failed (don't know for sure that it's the same seller but seems like a big coincidence if not). Because we've got an old house with thick walls etc. we can't hear her unless the monitor is on so dh has gone upstairs to lie on the bed and listen out! She was bit unsettled tonight which is unusual these days otherwise we wouldn't worry too much.

Oops - sorry, long post! I don't half waffle on sometimes .

Hooray, BonyM can come as well - am sooooo looking forward to meeting you all

DD is now covered in blotches all over her arms, face, back and shoulders and she's started complaining this evening that her mouth is hurting which probably means she's getting blisters inside. Poor little thing and yet she's been so good today when she must have been feeling so awful.

Right, off to see who wins Strictly Dancing and X Factor (oh the excitement of my life)

11th March is ok with me - see you then!

BW - Hope DD is feeling ok. She should be ok by Xmas, I hope. DS had hand, foot and mouth when he was about 10 months and he was under the weather for a while, but bounced back pretty quickly.

Newsflash - Freya is crawling! She has already attacked the Xmas tree and the cat - nothing is safe anymore. She is sooo pleased with herself though and she has been a delight this weekend.

Also, she fell off the bed on Friday. She has got a really nasty scab on her nose where she fell on the carpet. She screamed her head off for ages. Must remember to leave her on the floor from now on.

Have been busy today making cranberry sauce and sausage meat stuffing in preparation for the Big Day! Have an ocado delivery for thursday next week, so I do not need to go to the shops again - hurrah! Am definitely not going to brave Bluewater.

Have bought Freya a Tumble Time Tigger for Xmas and a tambourine. They are both pretty noisy, so may regret these purchases later. Grandparents are mostly getting her some clothes, which is very handy.

Am looking forward to next week as DS1 is off school and we are planning to meet up with some friends on a couple of days. It also means we don't have to be out of the house by 8.15 every day.

Anyway, off now....

Hi. Check out pic of Lauren and Santa. Can't believe how grown up she looks. Still not crawling but I think it will be any day now.

Hi all. Hurray for Freya crawling. Sad to hear Busywizzy's DD is poorly.

We are fine here. We had a busy weekend, shopping at Borough Market and a party on Saturday, The Snowman at the Peacock Theatre yesterday.

We are having Richard's brother over for Christmas. He lives nearby (Surbiton, we are in Wimbledon) but he's so busy usually - single man, likes travelling - we don't see him too often. DH is cooking goose and Daniel is bringing a starter. I might make some dessert or just buy it.

Sylvia's new game is to pick something up and hand it to us. She laughs so much. Off to find her, she's just crawled "pat, pat, pat", I think she's gone to their bedroom to take clothes out of the chest of drawers. Yes, I can hear the sound of the doors opening.

I'm still breastfeeding Sylvia and also plan to go on for as long as she wants and we both can (going back to work at some stage might change things). One of my friends asked me on Saturday if I plan to breastfeed her until she gets married...

Dominic wrote a really long list for Santa, Star Wars, PS2 games etc, ending with "a real £200000000 cash note". He's only 6, plenty of time left to wish for world peace, an end to poverty and the like.

Jambot, Lauren looks absolutely adorable and how happy to be sitting on Santa's lap. If Harrison had been given to a stranger, he'd have howled the place down.

Cristina, lol at Dominic's Xmas list. What a wise little man. Hope you're not going to disappoint

Well DD is still covered in spots, although they're working their way down her body so her face is now clear but her bottom and legs look a right sight. She seems much better in herself though so that's a relief. No signs yet on Harrison but it could appear anytime this week (incubation is about 7 days) so we're not in the clear yet. Was planning on doing my last few bits of Xmas shopping today before DH breaks for the holiday on Wednesday, so that's scuppered that plan !

Harrison's cutting two teeth at the moment so I really hope he doesn't get HFM as he's grumpy enough as it is. Woke at 4.30am yesterday morning and just didn't want to settle again. This morning, we had a lie-in until 5am !!!!

Have a good day all It's my ante natal group Xmas party tonight. What with DD and her itching and Harrison and his teeth, don't think I'll be going too mad on the alcohol.

Oh yes and hooray for Freya

Can't remember who asked about bf, but for the record I am feeding Freya 2 or 3 times a day. Not sure how long I will be going on for, but I know that I am going away for the weekend in May so must stop by then (or at least make sure she will take sufficient from a cup for that period of time) or it will be a pretty hellish weekend for DH!
Braved a soft play centre today, and tbh it was fine. The 3 older ones (all 4) played nicely together. They had all had a pep talk beforehand about not asking for sweets, drinks, crisps etc. and it seemed to work so there was no nagging from them either. Freya crawled all over the place, completely wore herself out and has now been asleep for over 2 hours! Must try it again .

Anyone know much about eczema? Lauren has this really bad rash that she's had for a month or so. Thought it might be due to her constantly being wet around her chin and neck due to her dribbling, but it has been getting worse and flaring up at odd times during the day. When the doctor saw it today, it wasn't flaring up all red like it can, but just looked dry and rough. She said it looked like eczema and prescribed some cream for me to try. Really hope she's wrong. There is a history of asthma in the family. Both DH's mother and grandmother have it, and his nieces have also inherited it - one quite badly. Know that these complaints are often all related. Just praying that Lauren is not in line for this as well.
Anyone know any good products that I could try on Lauren?

DS1 had bad eczema, so far though Freya has been spared (touch wood). I use diprobase as a moisturiser every day on both of them after the bath. Also, freya does not have any cows milk or cows milk products. She is still b/f and then on cereal etc. she has goats milk - she also has goats milk yoghurt when I can find it to buy. There is some evidence that cows milk can contribute to eczema. Also, try to keep things really dust free and wash bedding etc. at 60c to kill all dust mites. There seem to be quite a lot of threads about eczema on mumsnet, and I am by no means claiming to be a expert. Good luck, and hopefully you'll find out it is pretty short lived.

jambot harry has eczema

get some lanolin free aqueous cream and some oilatum bath stuff

Shall we do a quick update?

Harry born 3rd March 2005
Feeding: still fully breast fed plus solids obviously
Sleep: hahahahah. One or two naps per day. wakes every two hours in the night but settles himself to sleep on an evening and for naps
Teeth: four. Two bottom middle and two top (not the middle two but the next two incisors)
Movement: rolling everywhere, crawling backwards, trying to pull to standing but not very successful. From all fours, he will stand on his feet with his hands on the floor
Feeds: morning, small one late morning, medium one mid afternoon, evening, 10pm then whatever his majesty demands in the night!

OMG
he was not born the 3rd of March it was the 6TH

(DS1 was the 3rd of August

Thanks for advice. Will see how the cream the Doc prescribed works first and then have a go at other options if need be. Still only confined to under her neck and she doesn't seem at all bothered by it. Hopefully it stays that way. Think it looks worse than it is for her.
My poor child dunked her entire head under by accident in the bath tonight. Came up coughing and spluttering. She got such a fright. Was actually quite funny and she cheered up pretty quickly. Will be doing lots of swimming on holiday so am sure she'll be doing it again.
Lauren was born 9 March.
Is 68cms and weighs about 10.7kgs
On three bottles a day (550mls), plus her three meals. Has a fruit snack at about 11. Quite happily polishes off a whole nectarine - sucking every last bit of fruit off the pip.
Sleeping from 9:30 to 11:00 and from 1:30 to 3:00. Goes to bed at 6:30 and wakes between 6:30 and 7:00

Well done Freya on the crawling!

Busy - enjoy the xmas party and hope dd recovers quickly.

jambot - Grace was diagnosed with eczema when she just a couple of months old but it seems to have disappeared completely the last couple of months. I still always put something moisturising in the bath though - either Oilatum or Baby Organics moisturising bath milk. Also massage her with baby organics cream after the bath.

Grace - born 20th March
At last check (2 weeks ago) - 17lb 7oz, 74cms
Sleep: bed at 6.30pm, usually wakes for a feed at 5am (although was 6.20 this morning - hooray!) 2 daytime sleeps - 9.30 for about 2hrs and one afternoon sleep (time variable!) for about an hour.
Feeding: 2 reliable breastfeeds a day - early morning & bedtime and usually one other during the day (although sometimes refuses this).
Movement: Crawling all over the place, pulling up to standing and "cruising" and can get from all fours to sitting and back again.
Teeth: 2 bottom ones.

Oops. Thought Lauren seemed a bit short compared to Grace. She is actually 77cms.
Not crawling but rolls everywhere. Does lovely steps when walking supported. Pulled herself up once some weeks ago but hasn't done it again.
Are Harrison and Lauren the only ones not crawling yet? That is right isn't it Bizzy? Don't think she will be long. Might even crawl by Christmas.

Pidge - I want to stop BF around his 1st birthday as i'm still getting engorged, leaking breasts and the odd blocked duct so it's a bit of a pain! However, boob is the best thing in the world when he's tired and grumpy or needs comfort. Will see how finances are around March and see if I can make the meetup! Would be nice to finally all meet in the flesh.

Jambot - Caleb has eczema on his head but as long as I use that aqueous (sp) cream he's fine. Caleb also got a rash on his chin and cheeks from drool so keep putting sudocrem on and that helps.

We travel down to Farnham on Thursday to spend Xmas with DP's family so won't have computer access for over a week. Hope you all have a wonderful 1st Christmas with your beautiful babies, love and hugs to you all

Caleb - born 21st Feb
At last check 23lbs
Sleep: Bed 6.30pm - 7pm, with 2 naps in the day time around 1hr each.
Feeding: 3 breastfeeds a day - early morning & bedtime and usually one other during the day
Movement: Crawling all over the place, pulling up to standing and "cruising" Also a master of climbing the stairs and can now open the bottom stair gate!
Teeth: nothing yet

Sylvia, born 1 March '05
Teeth: two bottom ones
Sleep: 9pm-7.30am (wakes up 1-3 times during the night for a feed), one 2h nap mid-morning, sometimes another nap at lunchtime
Movement: crawling, standing with little support, cruising, sitting
Food: short breastfeeds 6-8 times/24 hours, 1-3 solid meals a day
Social: smiles, laughs, initiates games with us, shy with strangers

Last weight & height: 16 lbs, 69 cm

I can't believe how big Caleb is!! Lauren too!

Dominic dribbled a lot when he was a bit older. I used to put some Sudocreme for it. He didn't seem disturbed but it looked raw and painful. I don't think it was "proper" eczema.

Don't know if I can get Sudocreme here. Also going to try a weak solution of Rooibos tea (our local herbal tea which has fantastic healing properties and is great for nappy rash) washed over the rash and see if that helps.
Lauren has two bottom teeth. Got those at 6 and a half months. Top 4 are swollen beneath the gums but no sign of them emerging yet.
Lauren is very social and will go to anyone. Think it's because she has grown up surrounded by builders and our office staff who work from an office attached to our house. She is used to lots of people carrying her around and she will happily go with them.
Yes Lauren is very big. She is the average height and weight of an 18 month old girl! Hope she slows down soon. She is getting so heavy to carry around. Don't know how I'll manage when she's two! She's still growing a couple of centimetres every month.