Feb 2011 - major topics include PIL abuse, DTD, early waking, odd habits of DP's. And Luther

[40Weeks]

Here we are girls get stuck in

Sorry, we're out of

Thanks for being interested needto!

Well, fed her at 10.30, then she woke at 12, I went for a wee and left her to moan, came back, still moaning a bit, left her a bit more- and she went back to sleep!!! Till 2.30 where we repeated the exercise! Again at 4.30 but then she woke again at 4.50 so I thought she must have been hungry so I fed her. Back to sleep till 6.20, left her for 10 mins but started crying so now we're up. I had a fairly rubbish night but I thought this was all tres promising!! May try leaving her when she wakes up after 45 mins at naptime and see if she'll go back off again too.

Glad to hear your sleep has been better needto :)

BTW wiggles I loved your photos- nice to see the object of all or fantasies Mr Wiggles!! Well done Anna in the highchair, now if they did mini highchairs then S would be fine- don't think she'd be able toi see over the bar!

deb I've just been putting alice in her bumbo with tray instead of high chair as she just flops all over the place in her high chair. It works quite well (although maybe you have been doing this already/don't have a bumbo)

needto so glad you had a good night. We had another night of alice up screaming for ages again - dh took care of it but I could't sleep as I could hear all the screaming really loudly and I just feel so for her screaming. I also [naughty] think I could probably stop her crying alot quicker than dh but know if I'm up alot in the night all my 'issues' become quite uncopeable with

My mums big party tonight [exciting social life] so fingers crossed for good weather and alice behaving herself for at least one round of excited hellos from all mums friends without getting overtired or moany please. Got to spend the day hanging up outdoor fairy lights, bunting and baloons

All v quiet on here today- hope everyone's off having fun :)

reastie I never got S a bumbo, glad I didn't now because she sits up so well on her own. She sits on my or DH's lap at teatime and I give her a spoonful of banana, then myself a forkful of dinner. Hope you're enjoying your decorating, sounds fun :)

Ooh reastie have a fantastic night tonight, note to Alice to be on her best behaviour! Do you have any pics of your cake to make me jealous? I know what you mean about not being able to sleep even when you're 'off duty', I just can't sleep when B is crying. Do you ever have to wake DH to get him to see to A? I always end up kicking nudging OH when it's his turn.

deb really really hope things pick up for you soon, I have no idea how you are functioning at all! Come on Sabine!

B had his first taste of wallpaper paste/ porridge today and was actually fascinated by it. Not sure if he liked it but he loves getting his hands in the bowl and using the spoon a bit. Had bad anxiety today and no idea why, I know I'm loads better than a few weeks ago so that's a positive and trying to keep thinking of it that way.
I don't think B is going to crawl, he gets so incredibly frustrated and has just discovered he can stand up by holding on to the sofa and that's ALL he wants to do now, doesn't even want to sit down
I wonder how American and ledkr are getting on?

Hi, decided to head for the seaside today as weather was gorgeous here today, we're all absolutely knackered and a wee bit red

reastie hope weather is fab for your mums party, and Alice is cooed over, of course she could be like Anna and do a big, smelly, leaky nappy just while she's being passed to an extremely fragrant well dressed woman Post some photos and enjoy yourself.

debka hope Sabine keeps up the good work

NeedToSleep Anna has been lying beside Mr W screaming the house down and he hasn't woken, seriously I've heard from downstairs and he still hasn't woken up by the time I've come up He's not that bloody great Change of career sounds great.

Haven't heard from delia (is she still on holiday?), byron (in the UK now?) or borg for a while. Hope all well with the Quiet Ones.

Well S did some great sleeping today and ate, wait for it, HALF a sweet potato at tea time , couldn't believe it, she gobbled it down in no time!! Imy was never that fussed about food, still isn't now really, perhaps S will really get going with the food and do some growing.

wiggles nice to have a day at the seaside- I actually looked at the map when they did the weather the other day and found out that Belfast is Quite Near the Sea!

needto what is this 'Off Duty' you speak of?

Just wanted to pop on and say Knittakid has started a thread in parenting asking if we all struggle with motherhood but dont tell. She sounds like she's really struggling. I've posted on the thread but just wanted to point you all in her direction to see if any of you can help het.
Hope we are all ok

debka Sofia isn't the worldest biggest eater, somedays she won't bother with much at all, I think she'd be happiest if she could just pick at bits and pieces, she's not a fan of hot dinners - little bit of cold meat, cheese, cucumber and some bread would do her, half her luck The only problem with spending the day at the beach is that I'm absolutely ravenous . Anywhere is Northern Ireland is only about 40 mins by car from a beach/large stretch of water, pity we don't have the weather for it

Waving to all those who are lurking!!

Kept meaning to say Tarlia I can't remember whether you are in Norway or not . If you are - thinking of you and yours xxx and if you're not - hello anyway, how you doing?

morning . party good thanks. alice was mucho cooed over but we kept her in her pram for people to look but not touch as everyone was desperate to get their mits on her and i was mean and didn't want an over stimulated tired baby. Forgot to take a piccie of dh/alice/me which is a shame given i looked half decently presentable with proper make upand a coordinating outfit . My sister might have taken on of the cakes though needto which i will post if she does. caterer was nightmare hillariously unprofessional though so I'm hoping noone got foodpoinsoning . weather held off so people got a nice walk around the estate and admired much the balloons/bunting

needto change of career sounds really interesting - is there much training involved?

wiggles of you living so near the sea

Glad you had a good night reastie.

Morning/afternoon :)

reastie good for you on the look but don't touch approach, well done! Glad party went well.

deb at half a sweet potato, what a good girl! I've been looking everywhere (well waterstones and mothercare) for that weaning book, annal karmel (?) and its out of stock boo. So am just randonly giving dd bits of mush when I remember, hope thats ok

NeedTo that wasn't a boring answer about your work, sounds very interesting! Doing speech and lang therapy would be good and challenging I imagine, ooh keep us up to date if you do decide to do the training :)

wiggles hope you're back by the sea today

right got to go as madam is whingy and needs a nap, v sad about Amy Winehouse btw.

Hi all

Yes ponyo very sad about Amy, and also those in Norway. Shocking. Those poor poor families. On a lighter note, have you tried Amazon for the book? Or eBay?

Glad your party went well reastie I have made a red velvet cake for my nephews bday. I have a photo on my phone but don't think I can upload from here onto mn, it looks good though!

How are Ben's nights emski?? hope he is better, poor love. Thanks for the heads up re knitta I was thinking of her a while back, and eaurouge as we haven't heard from them

needto great about the retraining, good for you. Am far too lazy myself but love to hear about others doing exciting stuff

I did write a long post on Friday but then lost it, can't remember what it was about though. Can't have been interesting! Hope you are all having a good weekend

40 sorry yes didn't mention those in Norway, hope I didn't sound ignorant.

I have tried amazon and ebay but I want the book now dammit Think amazon is the way to go tbh. I love red velvet cake, it looks fab too, go on try and get a piccy up!

glad the party went well reastie.

we took j camping this weekend with a group of people from our nct group (t babies in total). Was really fun, and not too much hassle, despite J screaming the campsite down at 5am! was all v civilised - cafe on site for the needed fry-up! this afternoon I've been playing her amy winehouse songs in tribute.

I'm also considering becoming a speech therapist needto, but probably not until I've popped out another DC. Could be a while!!

Your posts have inspired me to try J on proper bits of food rather than just veg puree. Just don't tell anyone over in AIBU!

freya has now decided to only eat finger foods, refusing bottles and puree's unless she's got something proper in her chubby little fists. Having a tough couple of days as she's refusing to sleep unless your with her waking 3 times a night and just being generally grumpy. I think it's either teething or she's coming down with something probably chicken pox as 3 of our baby friends have it at the moment. Plus dh seems to be turning into a petulant child complaining about everything (housework, dinner etc) at which i've told him he doesn't like it he knows where the door is or do it himself and disappeared upstairs. I can now hear the vacuum. Sorry for the rant ladies.
Hope all are having fab weekends

hello all!
am sitting here in tears, just watched the saddest documentary ever called letter to zachary. i didn't make it to the end as it made me feel so sick.
replied to knitta, i miss her and hope she finds time to come back here.
reastie it sounds like your mum's party was a success, even with the didgy caterers and i bet alice was given lots of attention! she is so beautiful!
pussinglads how odd that we're thinking along the same lines, what do you do at the moment other than work every hour of the day as a mum?
ponyo i have the anna karmel book and it's good but at the moment it sounds like you're doing what it says anyway! B had porridge again today and tomorrow it's sweet potato, woo hoo! Just off to make a batch to freeze with some normal potato and cauliflower. The only thing she recommends is that you introduce foods separately so that if your lo has a reaction to something you know what it is. I'm quite jealous at the more experienced mums here that are doing blw and think that I'll go that way after a week or two if all goes well as it soinds like much more fun!
sorry if I've missed anyone out, still upset from that damn documentary. made me never want to leave B's side again.

Hey all, had a baaaaad night again last night, sigh. S woke at 9.20- I left her but she just kept crying, so went in to try and feed her but she took a tiny bit then was just wide awake. Got her up, calpolled her and finally got her back down at 11 :( Then 2.30 feed and up at 6.15, so the rest of the night wasn't bad. I just do not get it, she settles to sleep herself during the day, what are these night time shenanigans?

She's been a hungry little sausage today too, feeding every 3 hours at least which is NOT a joy any more, she is MANGLING my nipples, plus the other 1/2 of the sweet potato at lunchtime and some mashed up mango at tea. Imy was having mostly finger foods at this age but S's hand-eye coordination is nowhere near as good, and she seems to like what I'm giving her.

I've bought a Moby Wrap, which I am v v excited about, use my baby bjorn LOADS but it does make my back ache. However it means that we can't afford a highchair this month, not that she'd fit she'll ahve to carry on sitting on my knee.

reastie glad the party was good, sorry there are no photos though! BTW you're only about an hour from me and the seaside!

pussing v brave going camping, TBH I can't think of much worse

hubbard my DH has been an arse today too, he watched the Grand Prix then did some welding outside on his Land Rover whilst I had the girls and dog all day, plus making meals and doing the washing etc. All on v little sleep last night. Hope F is ok and a good girl for you tonight. It's so bloody hard when they're this age, in so many ways!

OK GROSSNESS ALERT- went to the bathroom to pick up S's pooey nappy and the poo had gone- and the dog was looking rather guilty.... [boak]

Hello, weather still unseasonably good here, no rain for 2 days No beach today, went to friends for lunch, then up to my Mum and Dad. My dad still works and has a long commute, so he only gets to see the girls at weekends, he didn't see them yesterday, so he was dying to see them today, he absolutely dotes on them, so it was great, he took them out on their bikes, did some gardening, tried to stop Anna eating the plants

Ponyo I have the Annabel Karmel book, its gathering dust beside my Shred Dvd , I just mush bits for Anna and give her some food from a jar some days, she loves the Hipp apple and pear cartons.

NeedToSleep I get really upset watching some things now because of the girls. We are watching The Killing and I had to keep checking on all of them, I usually love dramas like that and its really good but the victim in it is only 11 years older than Sofia, I think its because the Mum in it is so believable.

reastie glad party went well and Alice was cooed over, well done on sticking to your guns re picking her up. Hope Alice sleeps well for you x

hubbard Anna loves grabbing and trying to eat everything in her hand as well as shoving some crusts on toast in her mouth Thats the way forward with your dh - if Mr W ever grumbles he gets a raised eyebrow and a "feckin' do it yourself" Hope Freya cheers up and you remain pox free!

Hi all, glad to see some of us have managed to post to Knittakid.
Ben was ok last night but I have given him my dressing gown over his duvet and said that if he misses or wants me in the night he can snuggle into it. Also today he said he heard a bang in the night that could of been a monster, so I said but monsters aren't real so how could you have heard one. He seemed to really think about that one.
Reastie, dont want to make you envious but I live 10 minutes from the seaside, we went there today for lunch, went on the pier and got blown away!
Glad your party went well, apart from the caterer.
Hope you've all had good weekends

Oooh deb where are you thn as I am near reastie Margate way by chance?? Can't understand Sabine's nocturnalness. How much does she sleep in the day? Will you move to formula soon? I might try M on bedtime milk once he hits 6m. He went mental for a bit of bread today, I was eating at my sisters and he watched the food intently go from plate to mouth and was trying to grab it from me. So I gave him a crust and he sucked on it for dear life. I heard him screaming when I went to the loo, only to discover on my return that it was because he dropped his bread.

I am soo tired, Owen is being very tiresome at the moment and his behaviour can be quite challenging and I now dread going out with him to certain places as he just cries or says "I don't like you" at the top of his voice. Am at end of tether. And to top it off Top Gear is now on. I try to like it but just can't. And the boys are asleep in our bed after a major strop so I can't even go up to watch Telly.

Sorry for whinge whinge whinge. How do I find knittas thread??

ponyo didn't sound ignorant, sorry if my post suggested that, just have been thinking about those two sets of terribly sad news this weekend and one reminded me of the other.

Meant to say wiggles thanks for posting the pic of the legend that is Mr W

hubbard good for you re: dh, if mine ever had the cheek to moan about housework etc I would respond the same way you did!
I thought he would do my head in over summer hols as he is off work but got a feeling he might realise what its like for me with dd everyday, the other morning he got up and let me have a lie in, when I got up he was a bit flustered trying to feed her half an hour too early (she was screaming) saying "i don't know what her routine is" bless him. (though he should know what the bloody routine is, I bang on about it enough)
Though it is only the weekend and he's still got 6 weeks to annoy me

pussin I have to agree with deb re: camping, glad the weather was nice for you though :)

deb sorry about your bad night, that dog/nappy story is one of the grossest things I've heard - yuk! Good luck tonight.

NeedTo I've not heard of that docu but kind of want to hunt it out now, imagine I'll blub though. Let us know if you start blw, sounds interesting but I'm a bit too precious about choking atm!

emski good reasoning to Ben re: monsters, I like the fact he pondered on it, cute. Thanks for link to knittas thread, have replied.

40 you didn't sugest ignorant - just me being abit paranoid I think :) How old is Owen? Saw a very patient mum with challenging little boy today in Tesco, tried to give her sympathetic look but hope she didn't think I was being judgy I just searched on Parenting board for knittas thread, if you have a look you'll spot it.

wiggles sounds like you've had a lovely day and the girls have been spoiled :)

dp and I went for lunch today and halfway through dd did an exploding poo all over her babygro and leg, that usually never happens so was a treat to clear up half way through food
Then I gave her a bit of lemon to suck to see her expression but she loved it and was happily sucking and chewing away funny girl, she cried when I took it away as I suddenly remembered you aren't supposed to give them citrus fruit? What a bad mummy

Right am going to stop rambling on and hope we all have a peaceful night xx

evening,

Just spent ages trying to upload a few new piccies to bore excite you with but alas mn won't let me

ponyo I'm the same re: blw - love the idea of it and thought I'd go that route but in practicality I'm too scared of dd gagging on things so will prob do the puree route. Speaking of weaning, i have ordered my annabel whatsit weaning book . I have no idea on weaning at all and want to make purees but am scared about doing it wrong - for example we had a free sample of ella's kitchen pear puree and when I went back to it from the fridge on second day of it I had no idea whether alice could have it cold from the fridge or if I had to heat it up, and it I heated it up did I just warm it or did I cook it through to kill bacteria. Anyone help me out here?

40 I think deb is in folkestone. I know it's only an hour from the sea where I am deb but it's not like I can easily just pop there for a walk along the sea or sth. DH and I were planning a holiday to the coast (prob suffolk or devon) in sept but I can't find anywhere I want to stay that's really nice, yet cheap, and is available for that week and suitable for alice. We are now wondering whether to stay at home and do day trips for a week but arn't sure if that's a waste of potential holiday time to go away properly. Just seems like such an effort to pack up the car with all the stuff we need for a week and the money we save on not staying anywhere else we can spend on important things like dvds and chocolate

needto I've not seen that docu. I googled it and decided I'd avoid that one for fear of blubbering too much. I'm getting really soppy in my old age I know it's a cliche but I think motherhood changes you and how your outlook to life, the future and your love for your dc.

deb I'm still feeling appauled by the actions of your dog

pussing camping? you are v brave

Aftermath from mums party is 2 big red wine spills on their brand new very expensive new carpet - dad spent the whole day trying desperately to get it out unsuccessfully

Evening all. Not been able to post much as at parents and am expected to partake in actual conversation, the cheek! Will catch up properly in a bit, just read the last few posts.

Nice to see 40 is still lusting after Mr Wiggles. How old is Owen? Not looking forward to these stages, quite like my non-speaking (apart from todays "okay!" and "cat") baby after reading that. I really don't have much patience so am a bit worried I wouldn't be able to respond in a calm and adult way and probably yell "well I don't like you times 20 so there".

Deb your dog is rank! We have had a bad time with sleep after the brilliance of last week, 5 nights now of rubbish. He is doing 2-3 hourly wake ups with a final flourish starting from about 4am when he just does not settle, sleeps on and off for 20mins or so. Have given up and just lie there in bed with a boob in his mouth now from 4, too tired for anything else. Am hoping he'll go back to a mere 1-3 wake ups when I go home tomorrow. I don't know what to make of the self settling thing either, he generally goes down awake and is always awake after a nappy change and goes back to sleep no problem so I have no idea what to do! If I leave him to whinge he just escalates into a proper cry and I am a wuss so don't leave him any longer.

Is everyone on food now? We are still milky milky (said in Hugh Dennis voice). Tried him with a strawberry, he picked it up, put it to mouth, wrinkled his nose and then squished it . Tried baby rice, same wrinkled nose face! Have ordered the Karmel book and a BLW one too off amazon as I clearly have no idea what I'm doing!

Oh reastie you just reminded me I have put up 2 new pics of dd being a bookworm

I think re: Ellas pouches (of which I have bought a few ) you heat it back up properly then let it cool down to kill bacteria. Thats what I have been advised to do with any puree you make and then freeze yourself too. Need to order my anabel whatsit book too! Glad its not just me worrying about choking.

Am watching The Lovely Bones, I've read the book but its still hard viewing atm