July 2010: the "a ffffew more birthdays, a ffffew more walking but are they all sleeping? Are they ffffeck!" one

[CakeandRoses]

woodlands how was your first day? I couldn't believe how chilled out I was! I used to be a complete wanker workaholic (in hindsight) whereas now it felt like just a bit of a fun diversion from the real business of changing nappies and sweeping floors.

how're you feeling now tsc? and how's tiny? hope you're both getting some sleep.

granny certainly has loo seat ishoos. maybe you can offer her the potty next time?

toy storage-wise: A has a big wicker chest in her room, in his room F has a Victorian chest, a pirate chest thingy and a small cupboard with shelves and drawers - AND he still has freestyle toys like his garage and pirate ship on the floor , in their playroom they have a large bookshelf which I've put wicker baskets (with categorised toys in, natch) on some shelves. In the utility they have another old chest with all F's puzzles and some of A's toys.

The bookcase with baskets works best as it looks ok, F always knows where certain toys are and they're all easily findable - it sounds similar to Memph and chul's storage.

melissa things sound awful there hope this evening was miles better, dh went and got a takeaway and you're tucked up in bed.

wss was A in preschool again today? are you missing her?

chul you gonna try one more day of 1 nap or go back to 2 tomo? A has 2 shorter ones at nursery as that's what the others do. not sure if that's going to be an issue or not.

A is as bad as the rest of the babies sleepwise at the mo. I did not feel refreshed for work this morning. was Little Ms Grumpy to say the least until dh reminded me i only had about 20 mins left of precious time with my babies before leaving them for the day .

Storage we have plastic boxes all over the house, we also have some low shelves I have just bought that boxes can fit in too. I need to get some more though, we just seem to have a lot of crap everywhere.

tsc you must be knackered, hope it improves soon

cake, yes A is at pre-school 4 mornings a week, I am missing her but 4 hours a day to get stuff done with just 1 child is fabulous. I don't know quite what to do with myself when I'm not being asked to play "being the shop lady" every 5 minutes

trudy I wasn't texting in labour, (that would be quite impressive from my experience of labour i.e. with no breaks between contractions!) I had an elective c section with G so I was just waiting to go into theatre.

more to write but got to go, g is crying, she is coming down with something, is v red eyed and grotty

memphis he screams like theres no tomorrow and stands up.

I eventually went back in there just after 9pm once Id calmed down a bit and fed him and he went straight to sleep. It seems his body clock has changed again and this is the time he gets tired. He woke twice before waking at 7.

Bedtime here.

Pluses: Dh just came home a bit pissed after a big work lunch and brought me a big bunch of flowers.

Minuses: G just projectile vomited her entire bottle of milk all over me, herself and the sofa, 5 mins before bedtime, when everyone was in clean clothes and pyjamas...

oh cripes wss hope it's not a rough night

I know what you mean about work just being a minor diversion, cake! I am going back to a more project-based role, reporting to the person doing the job I used to do, so there's less responsibility and at the moment I'm very dependent on her to give me work to do. It's odd not having a massive to do list! I think I quite like working from home. It's certainly nice to get 5 hours' work done by 1.30pm and have all afternoon to spend with J.

J woke up at 3am and was inconsolable for a while - not sure if he was too hot or what. He went off to sleep in our bed (for the first time in ages, normally he would just crawl around) after a very long feed. Trouble is then he woke at the first trill of the alarm at 7 - I reckon he might have slept longer in the cot.

Morning all

I'm seeing the psychologist this morning regarding my weight/body issues just about to go in so will fill you in when I come out.

Glad you both had a good day at work cakes and woodlands

wss hope G's ok

Talk soon

stac round here 'fill you in' means give you a right old kicking...no thanks! Seriously though I hope you get some good progress with that!

wss fingers crossed it was a one-off and you have a good night's sleep.

cake I must admit to being a little jealous. I wish I had something I could go back to just a couple of days a week. I get so fed up of the constant-ness of if but I wouldn't want to work full-time because this age is so precious! Glad A seemed to enjoy herself :)

dh what time is D's last sleep during the day? I don't let either of mine sleep beyond 2.30pm (unless I'm asleep myself) because otherwise night time is a battle.

tsc that sounds absolutely awful. I can't stand it when I've just got S off after a big fight and someone tramps around and wakes him, and that's without 2 hourly wakings during the night too. Was last night any better? How long do you have to do the inhaler that often?

Well, I was going to give S back his morning nap today and then we were woken by the alarm at 6.30. I'm aware it could be a one-off but he's not getting his nap today til lunchtime.

chulita im supposed to be going to soft play too, not looking forward to it, think I can use the excuse that L has had his jabs to not stay long.
dh L used to stand up and pull on cot sides while going wappy but in the end he realised I wasnt giving in and it does pass and over time he will just settle down.
stac hope all goes ok today.

L has had his jabs, he really cried and then knew what was coming for the next 2, then we had to sit outside for 5 mins after and everytime he looked into room at nurse he cried again, hes fine now watching cbeebies
going to soft play and then shop on way back thats all im doing today, but I want an early night as L woke every 2 hours again, he just needs his dummy and shush pat for a minute but its still getting up thats killing me!

cake lol at cripes, I havent heard anyone say that for yonks!

chulita it varies alot, sometimes its at 1pm sometimes it can be 4pm if I happen to be in the car at that time. I find it doesnt really make a difference to when he goes to bed. Id rather he had an early afternoon nap but he seems to only nap in the car now not the buggy which can make life difficult.

memphis I think I might have to be v stern one day and just bloody do it!

dh People must think im mad singing at the top of my lungs to stop L falling asleep in thecar after a certain time, I get some funny looks! I think you will have to be stern, L is a happier boy when he goes sleep earlier, its hard at first but when it wirks its brilliant

Fuckawfful night after a ffuckawful day with another ffuckawful halff a day already.

Nufff said.

Assume m is back to crying again trudy? What's happening about getting a nanny and could she cover when you go in to have no2?

Any more name ideas?

dh the oldies are the best :)

Like memph says A can't go down later than 3pm otherwise she's up all evening, even if she just had a 10 min nap in the car at 5pm, she thinks that's her done for the evening. Like memph F and I go to embarrassing lengths to keep her from dropping off in the car now.

Think you need to have a routine for daytime sleep before you can look for connections between that and night sleep too.

stac good luck with the appt. Hope its useful.

Round to our friend's house later - it's cool as there's a friend for each of us as she has a nearly 3yo ds (same name as my F too!) and a 1yo dd. They have a great wooden pirate ship in their garden which F loves so hopefully we'll mainly sit and chat whilst they all play :)

woodlands it is weird having a 'smaller' job than before isn't it? i'm fine with it tho as keep reminding myself that this will be easier round F & A and also for setting up the new business. also, i still get paid the same as before, i just have far less pressure on me so it's all good really

chul keeping fingers crossed it wasn't a one-off.

what would you like to do part-time work-wise if you could?

That's the trouble cake, I have no idea at all. I like people, cooking, 'doing stuff', drinking tea and chatting...not sure there are many jobs that do that. I wouldn't mind volunteering at an old people's drop-in or something when the dc are older. Being paid would be lovely but it's not the be-all-and-end-all.

dh I agree with cake re daytime routine. I'm rigid as anything with my two on nap times and it helps them know where they are wrt night time. On the odd occasion that we're out all day they nap when they can but then the next day they're back on track again.

Naps are all over the place here at the moment. Some days recently he's only had 20-40 minutes all day which has not been fun. Today, on the other hand, he slept on me for 1.5 hours this morning (9.15-10.45), so I was wondering if and when he would sleep again today. Yesterday he slept 10-40-11.20 t nursery and not again all day. But he was getting really tired and grumpy after lunch, so I put him in his cot at 1.30, and he's been asleep ever since then! I will have to wake him in half an hour to go for his jabs. I guess it's the heat. I have blown up the paddling pool and carted buckets of water downstairs to fill it up so we can play in that when we get back from the doctor's.

I feel a bit like it's a backwards step in my career, cake, which it is, but it at least means I can keep things ticking over for a few years while J is so little, and pick things up a bit more later on. It's a bit less money, but not actually all that much less.

Had a nice morning at soft play, there was a party there but when they went to the party room to dance and eat we had the whole thing to ourselves, L was in his element friends lad is 8 and he followed him to the very top on his own, he fell down the soft stairs and laughed the whole way!

But now is a differnet story. he is crying and sobbing in his sleep, when I change his nappy he screams as his legs hurt where the injections went in, he hasnt eaten a thing either, im in for a rough night I can feel it and ive got bloody work tomorrow

oh and chulita you have said your choice of boys name but have you got one for a girl? and have you told the rest of your family yet?

Quick question regarding naps. Do you all put little ones in cots in their own rooms with curtains shut?

The psychologist wants me to participate in a group that focuses on disordered eating as I have history of emotional eating/starving or over eating so whilst I don't fit in the category of anorexic or bullimic I don't eat properly iyswim. It will also tackle low body image and self worth but of course I have just missed a group so have to wait 2m.

Lol chulita wasn't threatening You honest.

wss how's G?

mlic garden furniture is lovely.

dh have you heard from the two witches since the other day?

trudy what's happening?

tsc how's sleep training? Is fong any better?

cakes did you miss the kids loads yesterday?

woods R's naps are much like J's that's why I'm trying the lights out approach. Its also meant I can get stuff done (mumsnet) I got to the stage where I thought anythings worth a try. Oh and no later than 2pm here either.

Sorry memph missed you, poor L. R got hers in her arms but seemed irratated when removing clothes. Calpol helped her. Hope he's ok.

stac rubbish you have to wait but sounds like the group could be good for you. Ive just given him some nurofen and put him down, its late for a nap but he really isnt happy, regards to naps I used to put him in a chair in living room but now put him in his cot with curtains shut, then I can get stuff done and he gets a better sleep as he isnt disturbed.

Yep, back to "normal" here Don't wanna bore you with it all anymore

I do see your point, all of you who say it would be unfair for DP to miss the birth of his son, and he doesn't like the idea either. And neither do I, cos he was bloody amazing during M's birth and really, really helped me through it. However, I'm not sure M wouldn't suffer. She def would hate it if we're both away, and then we come back with someone who will completely change her lifeff. I just don't want to make it anymore traumatic than necessary for her. Also, I'm not sure if I could relax fknowing that she is screaming and crying her littel eyes out somewhere and my midwiffe says, iff I cramp up it might stop or disturb labour. Oh well, nothing's decided yet and it's still a while to go. And we are gonna try time without us with different people (starting Friday), so it might all work out.

cake The nanny is gonna start in Septemberffff but her and M and me are gonna meet next Monday to see if they get on.

chulita Where did you mention names? I really hope S is gonna have a repeat perfformance of this morning. Fingers crossed.

stac Goodf news about that course. I think I'm a bit like that. Yesterday, when I was feeling really, really down, I bought myself a Kitkat chunky and felt better at first, followed by immediate guilt.

tsc How is it going there? I bought some lovely flowery storage boxes for M's toys. They are actually pretty enough to be left out of a shelfff so we just leave them in corners of our rooms and M can go and help herself to toys. They are probably not so much for boys though. Mhhh, must think about that.

wss How was the night with G? Any more puking?

memph Poor L, how is he doing now?

mlic Wow to W's nap. I'm impressed. If anything, the heat makes M sleep less than normal.

Right, hope I haven't missed anyone.

My cat is extra cuddly these days so I'm just gonna sit and relax and stroke her. It's so relaxing, listening to her purring.

Enjoy your evenings all.