Feb 2010 - we're stroppy, sassy and splendid (and that's just the mums!)

[BigBadBear]

New thread!

Yes, i'm very lucky with my dds' sleeping. Even on holiday they maintained around 12 hours though dd2 found it tricky going to sleep. Much patting and shushing required. Things with dh are ok thanks ic though I had to have query words the other night when he came home from work and decided to watch the football followed by a film, all pretty much without saying a word to me (i made dinner, put away laundry, straightened my hair, washed up, did some mending in the same time). At the point of him starting to watch another film, I drew the line!

I know I'm lucky with DS sleeping 12h/night. But I had my fair share of sleepless night before November 2010 and sleep training. IC it will come especially as you're training her at the moment.

BBB at your DH and his attitude!

BG and beth :o at your LOs new tricks!

Had a very busy weekend with lots of people visiting, staying over and/or requiring catering. DH pulled it out of the bag by realising this afternoon that I was knackered and telling me to have a nap, then leave the girls to him for the afternoon and evening. So I did! Feeling a bit more lively now, especially as DH has said he'll do dinner :)

DD2 is suddenly walking everywhere (or trying), so I think it may finally be becoming her main method of getting about. Hurrah! Her speech has also taken off (she has always been super-expressive, but not many clear words), and it feels as though she is suddenly becoming a proper person rather than a baby (though with her mop of curls and big cheeks, she is still very cute!).

Three days of work to go...

BBB great news on the nap and your DD2 walking! Good luck with the last 3 days

Thanks stone.

I meant to ask about everyone's LO's naps . DD2 had a nap today (for an hour and a half) but for the last three days hasn't had a nap at all. I think DD1 started dropping her nap at a similar age, and just wondered if anyone else was finding the same thing?

Hi...I've started writing a new blog distinctsingleparent.wordpress.com

Check it out. So far I've been divulging a lot of my day to day antics, but I have two kids under two and have tire out a lot of methods to get them weaned/potty trained/sleeping through etc etc.

If you would like me to post more about how I've got them both sleeping 7pm-7am, and anything else you're tearing your hair out about, please come by and give me a shout, and i will post a blog on your particular query.

look forward to seeing you :D

Thanks for that, DSP.

I'll be surprised if DD becomes a 12-hour sleeping toddler anytime soon, SB but that's fine - I'm just happy she's been sleeping through!

Good luck with the remainder of your work, BBB! I'm glad to hear your DH stepped up to the plate for you. In answer to your nap query, (arf at your apostrophe dilemma!) DD has recently started taking longer naps - around two hours, more often than not. It's still unpredictable, but she's showing no signs of dropping her nap yet (thankfully...!)

Speaking of which, DD slept for two hours upstairs in her buggy at PILs' house today - while an anniversary party was going on downstairs. I was pretty impressed by that. Someone asked me if DD is "a good sleeper" and I realised I was able to answer truthfully that she is - at the moment!!

BBB fantastic news on your dd2 walking! And good on your dh for giving you a break! Wish mine would get the message. I have felt seriously knackered since coming back - if I didn't know better I'd wonder about being pregnant...

IC welcome back! I did wave in your general direction on Saturday when we went for a day out in Bristol :-) (Well, Redland and Clifton to be precise). Laughed out loud at your blog!! Can't wait to meet Rosie!

PA settling in alright? Hope your internet is restored quickly!

Stone Ta, put a few things on ebay this afternoon. We really have zero storage in our house so need to get rid of a few things. Did finally manage to give a few baby things to someone via freecycle. Really nice foreign person who had his sister visiting with baby for a few weeks. I even threw in a few toys as well because it was quite genuine.

Rainbow lovely to hear from you. Love your routine but am also quite impressed by your LOs late bedtime. As much as I love my two, I am always quite relieve to have some private/couple time from about 7.30/8 onwards...

mous If you need more shoes, I'd be happy to get them here and send them over! Shoes certainly are cheaper in the UK. I have been at the price in Germany but what you paid takes the ! How is your dd1? Is she okay to go back tomorrow? I am sure once the teacher has assessed all the children she will be given appropriate work for her ability. Fingers crossed! I have the opposite problem with dd1. She's not stupid but has only just turned four and I expect her to lag behind quite a bit... Hope it does not affect her confidence too much.

Regarding naps, I may have to adjust both dd2's naps and bedtime. She currently sleeps from about 12 to 2 and is then in bed by 6.30. May have to move more towards 12.30ish and then keep her up later in the evening. I'll see how dd1 copes with full time school next week and then adjust. I can't be in three places at once (bedtime stories for dd2, then dd1, then cook dinner!) so may have to do some trial and error to get it right over the autumn term...

As for bilingualism, my two are totally bilingual at the moment and I have been quite keen on them to speak both languages because my parents don't speak English at all. I was very happy with dd1 chatting away to them on our holiday. She does mix languages a bit still but I guess that will resolve itself when she gets a bit older. dd2 speaks mainly German at the moment but clearly understands English and her vocabulary in English increases quickly every weekend when dh is around. Today she added 'playground', 'outside', 'walk', 'dirty', 'wet' to her vocabulary, in that order It rained last night so they came back filthy .

BBB well done to your DH :) I wonder if sometimes he's just not aware. Mine is sometimes like that but when he is on the ball he's normally pretty good. On the replying in English, my brother did the same when my parents spoke to him in chinese (we spoke a different dialect at home - not mandarin). In fact I only learnt mandarin in the UK, never took it up in Malaysia, used to hide from the poor lady whom my parents had come over to teach us when we were young. To this day my brother still doesn't speak our dialect well though he understands fine.

On the naps front I read somewhere that it doesn't matter if they take a nap or not as long as they're not cranky and they make it up during their night sleep. Around this age I think it's about 12-13 hours of sleep each day.

SB I'm from Malaysia, but of chinese origin. There's quite a few different races in malaysia (the British brought the many of the chinese and Indians in!), and in fact many chinese malaysians in the UK as well as elsewhere. We tend to leave due to the policies for favouring the malays and natives there. But miss the food a lot.

BG Very impressed with your DD2's vocabulary. Especially playground!

IC DD's Yes is a giggle and a pleased / approving sound
No is a shake of the head, and if very definitive then a frown and sometimes a stern sound.

Her favourite expletive atm is "Egad" of Archie and Jughead comics fame. DH and I didn't think we used it that much, but she must have picked it up somehow. Misspent youth reading too many of those must have altered our speech patterns. Better that than some of the other words DH and I usually unwarily come up with! DH more than me at least. Very cute - if you can picture a little toddler going around saying "Egad! Egad!".

Couldn't remember what else I wrote in the earlier lost post so I'm just going to hand out some cakes, and camomile tea and retire for the night! Good night all, and sweet dreams!

dd2 is walking around this morning asking anyone she encounters 'appy?' Of course we are all happy although would have been even happier if she'd slept another half hour or so this morning instead of shouting 'Mama!!' at the top of her voice... We have a new neighbour who currently sleeps in the middle bedroom next to dd2's room (due to lack of curtains and furniture generally ) and I now often get dd2 straight away because I feel a bit sorry for our neighbour (esp at weekends - she's living on her own and would probably prefer a bit of a lie in rather than be woken by shouty dd2).

Morning everyone!

dd2 just experienced the pleasure of stomping through puddles for the first time and gave a huge sigh of pleasure when we got home... I haven't been unusually mean to keep her out of puddles but today was the first time she managed to walk in size 5 wellies without falling over her feet .

Scones When dd2 came along I kept to dd1's usual bedtime routine but dropped the bath most days because that was just one activity to fit in too many for me... Did her no harm and even now the girls often go two or three days without a bath (they get washed obviously). I found that even if dh was home early enough to do bath and bedtime dd1 wanted me to do it because she was jealous that I was feeding dd2, so there wasn't so much he could do to help except make a huge fuss of her when he was around . She's been very good with her baby sister and people often comment how kind she is to dd2, so I guess we did something right...

BBB fantastic with the walking. DD2 has been difficult (for me) with naps, she seems to want to skip it (i am insisting though: some screaming and a little bit of crying, but then it is almost constant all day as I usually try to stop her killing herself... )

BG DD1 is also the best big sister in the world, not sure it has anything to do with us...
She will do OK at school I hope, she told them she couldn't read at all so is learning the alphabet (or she is having a block on reading ), that will compensate for the math. I think she is testing them testing her IYSWIM. I will let it go and see how it is in a few weeks. DH wants to jump straight in, ultimately as he is away all week, I will do it my way and not embarrassed myself or worse DD. BTW I do expect DD1 to lag behind as she hasn't been schooled yet and the majority of her peers have since they are 3/4.

DD2 is still not talking and compensate by saying "mama" continuously which drives me crazy (that and the screeching)

IC rainbow good to hear from you

scones it is terrifying with 2 but not more (probably less actually) than the 1st day alone with 1... You will manage after a bit of unnecessary panicking .

DS is starting to be better with the speaking using both French and English words (or I'm getting better understanding his own language ). So far we have 'caca' (poo), chaussure (shoes), maman, daddy, hiya, bye. In his own language we have numnum - which he takes from the French 'miam miam' i.e. food.

I'm taking him to the HV tomorrow, FX he'll be fine and not screaming!

BBB DS doesn't seem to be ready to drop his nap yet. He still has a 1 hour (ish) sleep around 12.30pm.

scones I found the jump from one to two far less terrifying than the jump from zero to one! You'll be fine, don't worry.

I wish my DD1 as the best big sister in the world like mous and BG. Sadly, she seems fixated on telling DD2 that she needs to share toys, which apparently means stealing them for herself! Glad your DD1 is getting on OK, mous.

I meant to say how brilliant DD2 is now walking, BBB! Great news!

Yes, Scones, my DSis (4 DCs) says the jump from 1-2 is more a logistical thing, but the "fear" has gone. Be prepared for a bit more guilt, but you'll be fine I'm sure! The advice I always hear is to follow the toddler's routine and fit the baby into that as best you can.

04.00 night-waking.....combo of nappy rash causing stinging urination and feeling a bit chilly, I suspect. DD back to sleep eventually (but stirring now) - DH and I didn't manage much more than a bit of light dozing. Ah well. We'd had seven clear nights.
Time to procure some fungicide, boil wash the nappies and put DD in disposables for a few days methinks.....

Better go and get her...laters!

mous your DD1 seems to have things right - work on the foundations first :)

SB speaking of poo, DD has just started preferring to poo in corners, though still in her nappies. Wonder if now would be a good time to strategically place a potty in her preferred poo corner...

PA hope the move is going well, has it been a week yet?

On the words front, DD has bit for rabbit, dog, cat, spider (sometimes used inetrchageably with spicy), Tops for her triceratops, ple for apple (and sometimes my nipple), and we think she's started to say thank you or "ta" but we could imagining things. Also sometimes yao which is yes in mandarin. Ah I think she's awake.....

IC make sure her rash in not thrush as that's what makes DS's worse every times. He's back in reusable now but I wash both inserts and covers at 60C with a bit of bleach to clean them throughly. FX the rash hasn't reappeared yet but he's in disposable at night because of leakage and also his bum is less in contact with the dampness.

We had a wake up at 2am last night, very unusual so it was quite weird to think what to do!

Awful weather over here, lots of rain, wind F6. I got soaked getting to nursery

I had a terrible night with dd2 as well. Do you reckon they organised it between themselves as a special treat for us?!

I knew I shouldn't have let DD use my mobile phone, BBB!

Yes, SB, I think it could have turned thrushy, hence the fungicide. I need a prescription for it, but as I'm taking DD to the doctor's on Thurs for her jab anyway, I'll wait until then to get it, rather than try and book another appointment. Meantime, I've got some Metanium to see if that helps matters. Bepanthen has usually cleared her rashes up in the past, but it doesn't seem to be making much headway this time.

DD was already in disposables at night because of leakage issues with the Pop-Ins. But the most spectacular poo-leak we've yet had was out of a disposable today at the end of DD's nap. Soaked through to the buggy itself, plus a complete change of clothes required, absolutely delightful to clear up

IC it was your DD and your phone?! I thought DS facebooked the others Yuk on the leakage.

I hope DS goes back on sleeping okay as my mum is arriving tomorrow and they'll be sharing the same room.

Well, dd2 had a tough day. She was excited taking dd1 to school but wasn't so sure about coming home with me on her own. She then tried a few times to entice me to get her back by bringing me my shoes, coat and handbag... When she woke from her lunchtime sleep and there was still no big sister to play with she burst into tears! When we did finally collect dd1 after what must have felt to dd2 like weeks, she was beside herself to have her sister back. I think dd2 will have some adjusting to do this autumn. I even took her out shopping and to see a girl her age (she kept calling her 'baby', not realising she is the same age...) but nothing could console her that she was 'losing' her sister to something called 'school' (or 'shool' as she calls it). She went around the near empty house muttering darkly 'Papa Arbeit (work), dd1's name Schule (school)' (dd1 by the way had a fantastic day and came home buzzing )

:)

but for 36 hours only :( apparently ours is another week and today was just the phone being connected. Am at the ILs for a few days. Sorry haven't read back thread yet, hopefully tomorrow.

Ooh, hello PA - I hope it's all going well!

Aw, BG, poor DD2. Right, I MUST get my act together and come and descend on you soon with DD in tow. That might at least offer your DD2 a diversion.... Week after next might be a go-er....

DD woke again last night, so cue more intermittent sleep-training (well, the sleep-training is consistent, the need for it is intermittent). I think it must have been the sting from doing a wee that upset her into full wakefulness. DH was in a deep sleep when she woke (it was only about 23.00) and was totally bemused and confused. He stumbled in initially and resettled DD, but when she started up again, begged me to give it a try. I went in, gave DD some water, a quick cuddle, then laid her back down. This time she went quiet, thankfully. And didn't demand "mick" or a "catt-ow", so hopefully she's got the message that Mummy's boobs are no longer available as night-time comforter.

The nappy rash was looking less angry and slightly less extensive this morning, so hopefully it won't disturb her as much tonight. But we haven't had a poo yet today and she's now asleep in her buggy. I'm hoping we won't have a repeat of yesterday's nappy breach....