Jelly and ice-cream and candle shopping here we come for our amazing ONE year olds!

[beaditAli]

Hope this covers it! Not sure what cakes we'd all be making so kept that out

Hope she's better soon saoirse.

I think Olly fell down the stairs today! He hasn't climbed them before but there was an almighty thud & a scream & I found him face down at the bottom of the stairs! Think he only did a couple but he took some settling! We really need to look for a gate. We've got 1 at the top and 1 for the bottom but we can't use it cos it pushes the bannister out so isn't secure!

I've just checked my bank account to see if we can afford to eat this week & some kind person has put £134 in! Not sure where its from but I'm not complaining !

Oh my goodness! I've just sold ALL Ollys baby stuff, travel system, crib, gym, bouncy chair, change box, steriliser and loads more!!! Everything. Its all gone!

looks like we've got a load of dare devils on our hands!

Just booked the function room for grace's christening. That's the church booked, function room booked, invitations sent out and cake ordered. just gotta make a list of food and get people to cook it, buy decorations etc and find her dress and everything is done! I bought a lovely dress on Saturday on sale for £7 which is not too dessy but not casual so perfect for her christening.

can anyone help me wth simple ideas for buffet food. We're doing the buffet ourselves (well my mum and dp's mum are) i've thought of the usual stuff like chicken legs, sausage rolls, sandwiches etc but what do you all put on buffets when you do them. I'm not used to being in charge of stuff like this!

How about the mini samosas, onion bhajis, spring rolls, that kind of thing? Nothing too messy or that needs cutlery!

maple I think I'm going to use the syringe from the ibuprofen because we've wasted loads already and we've only done 2 doses! She's been in bed for an hour without crying so fingers crossed for a better night.

cinnamon the holiday was good generally, we just relaxed really and did a bit of walking round the towns nearby, but it was so hot we couldn't do much. Maybe next time we'll go away somewhere that's not 35+ degrees!

banana what are you pushing him around in and what is he sleeping in?!

newmum I have no advice, I'm a terrible cook! For my 25th my dad's DP did lovely food. There were canape type things that were bread rolls cut into slices, toasted under the grill and then different pate type things on top. She said it wasn't too difficult because she just did a batch of the pate and toasting them was easy enough. It looked a lot more difficult to do than that and rather posh.

newmum how about some mini pies? Use bought puff pastry, roll out, cut into small squares and put a spoonfull of something in the middle (eg fried mushrooms, grated cheese and cream) then cook for 15mins ish. Also, for saoirse's "pates" you could use some of the more exciting purees you made for Grace, maybe with a bit of salt, extra garlic etc - you don't have to tell people how you came up with them

saoirse got my fingers crossed for you...

newmum it's only 4 wks away and I haven't even sent my invites out! I'm being very brave by having a garden party afterwards so fingers crossed it won't rain! I've booked a chef to come and cook a big pork joint with baps but intend on doing a cheeseboard and a few other bits and bobs too. As far as buffets are
concerned, samosas are a must where I'm from! You could try looking on catering website menus for some ideas. I seriously need to order his cake too! Gosh, I'm so behind!!! Need to do a to do list in the morning. The only reason I've bkd a chef is because I had a BBQ recently and felt I spent all day preparing, cooking and waiting on people and I really just want to be able to chat to people and enjoy the celebration.

saisorse hope u have a better night and that The antibiotics kick in soon. Poor Orlaith x x

maple i doubt a dollop of hipp organic would go down very well even with a bit of garlic stirred in. i never made purees i was too lazy

jodey your idea sounds lovely!!

Is that like a hog roast JodeyBogeyPicker? My friend had one as she for married in November, several friends also bought bowls of chilli, curry, baked beans and they hired an oven for jackets. Was lovely next to the bonfire with fireworks at the end (although her husband and friend did them and they were very drunk so a bit nerve wracking!)

I like cold pizza too newmum001 and although they're old fashioned love vol au vents. I also do sticks of carrot, cucumber, peppers, celery with houmous, quiche and chicken goujons are nice if you have kids they can't always handle drumsticks!

Both boys slept until 7.30 today what a luxury, Luke demanded instant milk but can't complain about that!

I'm very jealous of your 7.30 wake up cinnamon as I've been up since 3.30! and grace now has a matching bump on the other side of her head as she fell and landed on one of her plastic toys this morning! So a truely shit day has been had so far and it's only 7.45!

I want a mix of all your buffets now.
We'll just have little finger sandwiches, mini sausages, quiche, veg sticks, dips, sausage rolls, chicken legs, Lucy loves to gnaw on a chicken leg. A nice selection of easy puds is a must, min cheesecakes, mini eclairs, mini muffins....I could go on for hours, better have some breakfast before I reach for the biscuits.

Saoirse Hope Orlaith feels better soon. DS had impetigo when he was little and he was in loads of pain. He had it on the top of his foot and if anything touched it he cried buckets. I use the syringes all the time for Lucy and dd2, much less mess then spoons and the are really cheap(35p) to buy.

Hi Ladies, hoping all little ones are feeling better.

Not really thought about getting Maria-Ann christened yet, Casey was christened at 18 mths might of left it a bit late but money was a real issue and it is now really.

I'm not sure if Maria-Ann is going through sleep regression which isn't good when Im up for placement at 5am most mornings. She has been crappy lately not sure if it's her two front teeth that have made an appearance or that it's because she was constipated. Latolose has seemed to work and today she has filled 6 dirty nappies and seemed more settled. Got 2 days off from placement now, I've been so shattered and I'm hopeing she sleeps tonight!

Maria-Ann had her first bumped head so far, I was on placement and got a phone call from the O/H saying Casey had sat on our bed and Maria-Ann rolled off that's all I need to hear when I'm at work, luckly she was ok and the bed is quite low to the floor. I should imagine there will be many bumps a long the way!

Could really do with a holiday, cant wait till i'm qualified a year so at lease I have some decent money, planning on getting married September 2012, dress already paid for due to the wedding being put off two years due to money issues. I'm hoping to book a holiday next year which will be our honeymoon but will be taking the kids which will be nice for them.

Well the syringe isn't working either, she still spits it out (that's when she's actually opened her mouth enough for me to shove it in!). I don't think it helps that she hates sweet stuff and they insist on making children's medicines super sweet.

newmum I thought last night wasn't great as she was waking up every hour to hour and a half, but Grace wins! You must be exhausted now!

watersprite crossed posts. I hope you're enjoying your placement, and fingers crossed things get easier money-wise soon.

Orlaith has had soooooooo many bumped heads/arms/legs/bums that she's usually got about 6 bruises at any one time. She's not usually that upset by them, she'll maybe cry for 30 seconds but very rarely more than that. I guess that's just part of them getting more adventurous!

saoirse have you tried mixing it with juice only a bit, my next door neighbour does this with her little one when she is off colour. She hates taking medicine and will spit it out even if she uses a syringe. I'm quite lucky in that respect, Maria-Ann has no trouble and cries for more when I take the syringe out

Today has been a struggle to say the least. I'm so exhausted I keep bursting into tears. I should be in bed really but needed a bit of wind down time when grace went to bed. I know I should just accept that there's nothing I can do to stop her waking in the night but it's really getting me down. I'm exhausted and so is grace and neither of us are in very good moods during the day cause we've had disrupted sleep. I'm snappy and horrible and being a complete bitch to dp cause I'm so knackered all the time and arguing with him is breaking my heart. Last night I told him I hated him!

I don't know why I said it and I certainly didn't mean it but he made a comment about grace waking up and it being ok for me cause I don't have to go to work and I just flipped. He didn't mean it the way I took it but at 4am when all you want to do is go to sleep rational thought isn't always possible! I feel fucking horrible, I'm such a mess today!

Hi All,

Sorry I've been absent for a while, only just been released from the Police Station after being banged up for doing the nasty in the monkey enclosure....

No, in all seriousness, I've been feeling a bit down and have been in a foul mood for ages and I didn't want to take you all down with me or end up saying something that didn't sound how I meant it too and offend anyone!

We had a lovely day out on the Tuesday last week, shopping, bowling, nice meal etc. Was nice to have some time to ourselves, although I though about Olly all day!

Saoirse - sorry Orlaith isn't well. Hope she gets better soon, as well as all the other poorly babies. Olly has had diarrhea today at the CM and his bum is red raw. Really wasn't himself went he went down, so not anticipating a great night ahead. Hope those with early waking aren't to tired and that it improves soon.

Re clothes sizes Olly is well in to the 9-12 month tops, however the bottoms are still a bit big. Think he is like his dad - long in the body and short in the legs as he is 75cm tall now but 9-12 pants still way to long.

We are having a joint b.day party and christening for Oliver on 18th Sept. Thought this would save a few pennies! We have the church booked and a reception room for after. Thinking of hiring a bouncy castle and DP's cousin will be doing the food, my friend is doing the cake. You are ALL very welcome to come and if anyone would like to then please let me know and I can give you the details. I appreciate it is too far for most though, but I just wanted to let you all know you are very welcome.

I sat watching Olly on Sunday when we went out for breakfast. Feeding himself toast, picking his own juice up and drinking it, sitting up properly in his highchair and just nearly cried....don't know where my baby has gone. With that and all the walking around and constant babbling he is just growing up too damn quick!

Sorry if I've missed anything. Too much to catch up on sorry....!

Hugs to all.

Hi all, been away from MN for a bit, no particular reason, just a bit busy with being at work and having stuff happen at home - visitors and suchlike, plus trying to keep stuff ok round here because we're trying to sell the house (plenty of viewings but no luck actually getting an offer yet, boo).

Sorry for all those poorly babies - get well soon! A friend at work said that the thing that was horridest for him to get from his kids was impetigo so I feel for Orlaith.

We are having a small family get-together for Aphra's birthday, nothing apart from having close family round to ours with a tasty meal.

Talking of bumped heads and so forth - we're basically following Aphra around as she cruises, crawls, and climbs, so that's how we're hopefully preventing too many bumps and bruises (though not stopping them entirely!). What's everyone else doing about childproofing their places? I did read at some other point on MN that it might arguably be best to do fairly minimal childproofing because otherwise you're liable get a nasty shock when you go round to other people's houses that aren't child proofed at all! That is, that it's better to teach your child to eg go down stairs safely - backwards, for instance - than to purely rely on stair gates. What are everyone's thoughts?

cinnamon yes its similar to a hog roast but only part of the pig as I'm only having 30 people (including kids) and the smallest hog was for 100. Might do a chilli too! that sounds nice!

sorry some of u are feeling a little down. It can be such hard work being a mommy and I still have massive hormonal ups and gowns. I had a massive row with my sister after our gig last Friday over something so stupid but I flipped too and we rarely argue. Defo a pre menstural/hormonal moment though as I came on my period yesterday (after a 6 wk gap).

Harlyn too had his first bump on the head yesterday trying to stand up against the door frame! Doors are my biggest fear as I keep thinking he'll get his fingers caught!

As for child proofing, i haven't done much spart from move object up one level. He discovered the lurched drawers yesterday so either need to secure them or get yet another gate! My house is fast becoming child gate hell!

Downs!!! Not gowns! Though I do have a couple of gowns

Enjoy your days off watersprite, hope Maria-Ann behaves for you!

I can advise with medicine Saoirse86, both my love it and it one has it the other wants some too!

So sorry you feel like that newmum001, tiredness does all sorts of horrible things to people I know I'm mega grumpy without enough sleep. When you're not feeling as fed up perhaps just talk to dp and say that although he is going to work, and you appreciate that's difficult with little sleep, you find it difficult to function too and that Grace is more grumpy and you don't get a lot of time in the day to catch up so it's still very difficult. I find if I'm really upset at dh I write it all down but don't show him, have a book full of me explaining my feelings late at night, probably very odd but it really helps.

Had wondered if you got stuck somewhere in the zoo SeaChelles!! Sorry you were down should have come on anyway! Ds1 has the same body shape and pyjamas are hilarious, either has his belly out or is tripping over the bottoms. We've had several bugs going around, one of minded children had diarrhoea which lasted almost a week, she gave it to Luke but neither unhappy with it. Another minded child, my mum and my neighbour had sickness and diarrhoea for just 24hrs last week too, I have escaped so far thankfully!!

Good luck with the house comixminx, it's horrible having viewings and no offers. Are you moving out of Oxford or just a new house? I am in the camp of letting them get on with it, children will fall where ever you are and they are definitely less aware if there's nothing for them to hurt themselves on at home. Plus you can't enjoy yourself when you go anywhere if you're chasing your child around, a few bumps won't do any harm. A lady I know made the mistake of following her dd around everywhere she now she isn't great at playing on her own and doesn't really run, jump, skip a lot. She has done exactly the same with her ds who is now 20 months and is constantly trying to give his mum the slip so she is tired all the time but still continues to never leave him alone!! Sorry little rant, her dd is in ds1's class at nursery and we often have to walk home together and she drives me mad! Ds1 always fell on his face :( had fat lips all the time, he crawled a week before he was one and from then on was constant injuries. He also have turned in feet so even now trips over more than others but we dust him off and go again!

Ds1 was up last night because of a dream with a monster that was eating and getting bigger and bigger! He knew it was a dream but just wanted a cuddle, took himself for a wee and got back in bed. It's things like that that make me realise just how big he is and it's very sad. Like you say SeaChelles, they grow up too quick and Luke is much further forward than ds1 was at this age :(

Sorry JodeyBogeyPicker, x-posts writing my huge one! Hope you and your sister have made up, hormones are horrible things too :(

WOOHOO! Just got in to work and boss called me in to his office, and he gave me a payrise! He says am doing a great job and has no bought my pay in line with the other girl here and taken me off my probabation/trial period. Yay! No more living on £stupid/hour! A wage we can actually eat with!!

Congrats SeaChelles, you obviously deserve it