December 2010 - 'I read the manual, she shouldn't be doing this just yet!'

[DuelingFanjo]

Tah-Dah! New thread, hope this is ok.

old thread here

So our babies are becoming more independent, saying more, eating more and bumping into stuff... Seems to have gone so quickly!

How are you all doing? How is it being back in work (some of you)? I have a month left before I go back and leaving Bob with my mum is getting harder rather than easier :( I want to spend more time with him not less, though I do understand that I have to let him go and get used to being with her. Not looking forward to the settling in at the nursery but hope by October it will all seem normal for both of us.

Hi there, thought I'd better get my oar in on the new thread . Well done DF.

Francesca is still in our room at 8 and a half months - I can't see the point of moving her while she still wakes 2-3 times in the night. I'm also still bf, but starting to become a bit shyer at doing it around people (I know, I know )

She can sit up, bite (4 teeth ) and cough on demand. I'm amazed at all the stories of crawling and pulling up, although my DD was slow to master these milestones so I'm not worried yet

Good luck to those going back to work! I'm off to read the sleep nightmares thread again

Hey all! Nice to see so many of you popping your heads back in the door! :) still all rolling along I see...

Bea did her first 'oh, my, i'm not holding onto anything... so, this is standing up, eh?' and then promptly sitting on her bum. :) made me smile so much, but hasn't done it since.

DH was home last week, on a staycation, but ended up still doing so much just from home. What's the point of paying a foreman fcuk loads of money if he can't manage a week on his own. So in dribs and drabs we finished a lot of DIY and I managed to find the veg I'd planted earlier this year :)

I had the haircut from hell last week and avoided t'internet in case I get on the AIBU when I know I'm not I just don't know how to complain. I went in to have my bob, bobbed and a fringe cut in as don't normally have them. Came out with short back and sides, my hair was shorter than DH's. To put the cherry on the proverbial cake. Bea did not recognise me, DH had to dash so was left with a baby that thought I was a stranger as she's used to all my hair. Both stood crying in car park/coffee shop/car home/home etc etc. A full 24 hours until she excepted it was me. Wouldn't even take boob! Was distraught to say the least. Have to get used to it now, cold neck and ears all the time.

Bea has reverted on the weaning thing. We were moving into the chunkier stuff, but won't open her chops for anything except the smoothest of purees or yog's. I'm thinking teething, but no sign of the blighters.

I have to meet with my manager to hand in my notice, but it's the busiest time of year with all the new students registering as we speak so he can't see me until November, but have to have notice in by 1st October after enforced early start to mat leave with SPD. Typical. And he'll be pissed if I just hand it in without speaking to him. Has anyone else given in their notice. DH already has me doing a ton of his admin work, can't wait until that's all official and I have some money coming in again.

Bea was weighed last wednesday and was 13lb 8oz, into 6-9 month sleepsuits as she's tall. I have no idea where she is getting this slim and tall gene from as DH is tall and chubby and I'm short and round.

Kellestar your haircut sounds really traumatic, at least short hair is in at the moment, 2 friends of mine have gone for very short styles recently, and think of the time you'll save washing and drying it

I don't know what to suggest with your manager other than emailing him and saying you need to meet with him in the next couple of weeks. He can't refuse a direct request can he?

I haven't had Francesca weighed since she was 4 months , but I can see that she's a bit chunky healthy and is eating/drinking everything I put in front of her.

We're off to Longleat Safari tomorrow so I'm very excited, although there's a chance we'll never make it out of the Postman Pat Land part. I can see tantrums ahead and that's just me

Longleat is so fun, i like pets corner very much. It's about 30 minutes away from where I am. Used to take the neice and nephew quite a bit.

It's certainly low maintenance in terms of washing and drying!

Have a nice time!!

kelle sorry about the dodgy haircut. I had a horrendous one before going back to work with DD a couple of years ago - was totally gutted! Luckily I managed to get it rescued at a different hairdressers. I didn't complain to the original ones either.

WRT weight, William was 20lb about 4 weeks ago when I last got him weighed. He also still likes to carried a lot - I've got the shoulders and arms of a shot-putter. Shame the rest of me is still flabby.

I'm back to work in less than a month and need to lose about a stone!

kellestar I sympathise re your hair - I had a hideous one done 3 weeks before my sister's wedding, so the whole thing was made worse by the fact that I knew it'd be captured in the photos for posterity! I'm getting mine cut tomorrow - fingers crossed it'll be ok. I can't believe Bea is only 13lb - she must be dinky Matty was 23lb+ a month ago . Weirdly both my DC's have always been big for their ages (DD turned 5 in July and is already in age 6/7 clothes ) but neither DH or I are tall.

Re your manager, I'd call/email him and tell him that you don't want to hand in your notice without talking to him first but if he can't find any time before 1st Oct that's what you'll have to do.

esian have a good break.

DF are you back at work yet or is it next week? good luck either way.

Matty's crawling all over the place so we're going through a baby proofing phase around the house. The hardest bit is trying to remind/persuade DD not to leave small things lying around where he can reach them. She's pretty good though and she's quite quick to alert us if he's going near something dangerous. Matty's had a cold this week (courtesy of DD's return to school) - he's been grinning away through a face full of snot bless him. He's so good tempered it's almost unbelievable.

DH and I are off to visit Buckingham Palace next week. Must buy a new hat

I had a dodgy haircut just before Bob was born but thankfully my 'back to work' cut has been ok and Bob still recognises me. It's really hard to complain to a hairdresser isn't it? I have only done it once and then had to endure a frosty half hour haircut while the haidresser attempted to rescue what she'd done.

I am back in work on Monday :( Bob had 2 hours settling in this morning and seems to have coped ok although he did look really upset when I left and tehn cried when I came to pick him up. He was doing a really sad panting thing for ages. He's back there for an hour and then starts next week properly though I am doing half days to ease myself in. I am trying to cope by telling myself that this was wat I always intended and it will all be ok once we've got used to it but all the threads and news stories about sahms vs childcare don't help, infact I feel like I am doing something really horrible. Eventually I do want to drop a day or two but my DH has just got a new job and he needs to see how that goes before I make any big decisions.

Esian, bob is still in with me too - in my bed! although I did put the cot up hoping to move him into it before he started at nursery but it's just not happened. He still wakes me almost hourly after 2am and so I just cope with it the best I can. Not sure how this will pan out when I am back in work. He is not a self-settler but both my mum and the nursery have managed to get him to go to sleep by himself so here's hoping they can keep that up.

wholelottalove DH and I have been working hard to get the spare room sorted with vague ideas of it being Bob's room. We put up a wardrobe today which DH then sat Bob in who promptly fell out he seems ok, it wasn't far but just showed DH how easy it is for there to be an accident!

Thanks for all the sympathy about the DR Pepper, BIL is back from his holidays now so we will probably see him around. One of my NCT buddies assumed I must have been talking about a teenager but he's 33 so should know better!

I have decluttered my wardrobe in preparation for work - managed to get rid of 8 bags of clothes already which just shows how much crap I was holding onto. However I have just spent £50 of my first return to work pay packet on new things for work so am sure it won't take long to build up the collection again - I am impressed though that I can now fit all my clothes into one wardrobe and one drawer!

wave to everyone - I find it hard to post these days but may get more chance once I am back in work

DF don't worry about the Childcare DD was in FT nursery from 11 weeks and she really did love it, she was loved and looked after and became a well socialized little girl who was 6 yesterday
Also remember 10 months is when separation anxiety tends to hit so it may make the transition slightly more challenging but Bob will get used to it quite quickly children are resilient and he is a loved and wanted child who has a loving supportive family. He WILL be alright honestly. The only reason DH is now SAHP is cost of Childcare for 2 otherwise he would be working as well. Have confidence in yourself, enjoy your time with him and save being tired for when he is in bed
The smiles and love I get from Hugh when I get in from work make it all worthwhile

DF ditto to what MrsS said really. DD cried at the start of all her settling sessions and for the first 2 days she went but after that she loved it - she used to run off and play when I arrived to pick her up! I can honestly say I don't think it did her a moment of harm and in fact, it probably offered her far more creative opportunities than she'd have had if she'd been at home with me (due to the drag of having to tidy up!). Hope Bob's ok after his fall.

MrsS happy belated birthday to your DD.

Survived my haircut & I'm really pleased with it. Had a different hairdresser as mine is on mat leave - turned out we went to the same primary school so we had a good reminisce (sp?).

DF - just more reassurance on offer here. DS (3) started nursery at 8 months and DD started at the beginning of this month (8 months). DS has always loved it and DD has settled in beautifully (thank god emoticon!). There are days when she will cry and it always makes me sad but overall she does really seem to enjoy it. Like max, they get more opportunities than if they were home with me (I am not the most creative bod in the world) and as MrsS says, the smiles when you pick them up are priceless; it doesn't mean that they have had a crap day, just that you are still the centre of their world and love you more than anything (that's how I think of it anyway )

oh, and I am off for a haircut with new hairdresser tomorrow - it could all go soooooo wrong!

Thank you all for the reassurance. Seems Bob's start in the nursery may be slightly delayed, as will my return to work. When I picked him up from his settling in on Friday he was really not himself and had a runny nose. I had woken up that day with a really sore throat so I think he has what i have. He's been really distressed, feeding loads and so on all weekend so I have contacted my boss and arranged to start on Tuesday if he is better. I feel awful too as I have the runny nose etc and had hardly any sleep last night plus I am quite disappointed that I won't make it into work tomorrow and really hope my boss doesn't think I am just pulling a sickie. It's all extra stress I could do without.

The worst thing was I thought at first that he must hate nursery so much and that was why he was being so clingy. I'm quite relieved that he is just ill and that going into nursery probably wasn't the reason he changed so much over the weekend.

Poor you DF hope you and bob get through it soon. I came down with a sore throat Friday but it seemed to be just a day thing, a little sniffly on Saturday but it passed. Bea seemed to escape without a worry.

A friend went back to work last week, her daughters in the campus nursery, which is lovely, she was really upset that DD was enjoying herself so much and wasn't fussed about being left. She was really tearful when I saw her on the weekend.

I had a bit of a wibble today when MiL said Bea doesn't seem to be growing and should I go and see a specialist. Worried me as she's normally been so supportive of the fact she's bottom line for weight. Her hair is growing like mad and it makes her look even smaller with all the curls around her face. I know she's alright and all good, but when someone you trust says something you can't help but question yourself.

Still adjusting to my hair, glad your hair cut was good Max and hope your's goes well CJ

Sorry, me again. I am using this thread for all my woes at the moment but it's the only place I can really. Bob woke up for a feed at 2am this morning, I put him back down and not long after he choked and projectile vomited. As he's never been a sicky baby it really freaked me out. He was then sick on both my shoulders. After waking DH, checking he was ok, cleaning it all up and changing the bedding he went back to sleep and was fine for the rest of the night. All today he's been really active but still had a runny nose. I fed him tonight after his bath and he projectile vomited all over me again...

I called NHS direct and they think it is just his cold and the runny nose causing him to vomit if he lies on his back too long or straight after a feed. I feel really bad though as one of the questions they asked was has he had a fall or hit his head. I told them just the usual bumps from crawling then about him falling from the wardrobe last week. At the time he really was ok, upset but ok, no big bumps and not sick or distressed which is why we didn't take him to A&E but now I am worrying that the NHS direct people think we have caused some injury because 'he fell out of a wardrobe' sounds so awful :(

I know the vomiting is linked to the cold we've both had and he's so chirpy and active otherwise that I really don't think the fall (or any of the other bumps he's had) have caused it. I just feel awful though, like they think I have been neglectful.

I can't stop worrying about it.

My boss has been lovely and told me not to worry about not coming back. She has 3 sons so knows how going into the Creche can cause sickness. I feel so under-prepared though, I just didn't imagine it being like this. I thought I would just go back when I said I would and everything would work itself out.

meh.

Kellestar, hope you feel better about MIL's comment soon. Some babies are just small aren't they.

Df - just to reassure you- Francesca has a cough and cold at the moment and has been sick quite a bit. I took her to the dr who said that babies this age can't get rid of the mucus and phlegm and so it 'pools' inside until they're sick or cough it up.
We have raised the head of her cot on books, and put olbas oil drops nearby and this does seem to help.

I hope you and lo feel better soon! Try not to get stressed, you're definitely doing the right thing postponing work.

Sounds like we are all in the same boat -Hugh has been full of cold this week, awake all of Sun night and ended up in with me and DH to try and settle him, mon night I was up 6 times with him after midnight and last night it was a bit better and only up twice after midnight. We put a small dot of Olbas oil on his cot matrress (normally down the bottom near his feet) this means he has it in "the air" but not on him. Seems to help clear his nose but is not too harsh.

Kellestar I wouldn't worry about your MIL comments - just ignore them - I spent 3 years with "D"M suggesting DD had Cystic Fibrosis because she would cough every now and then - drove me batty but had to learn to ignore it.

Good news at work, finally I have been given a permanent medical grading with my CFS so no risk of being medically retired which was a big concern for me.

DH and I disagreeing a little on "discipline" with Hugh - obviously DH is SAHP so he does everything during the day and is objecting to me "swanning in" and changing the ground rules when I get home from work - mainly because I am a lot more relaxed about getting Hugh to eat, don't mind a bit of faffing and find it quite funny when he blows his food back out as if blowing a raspberry but then I don't have to do it all day so I can understand what he means - must support him more! I can just imagine if I posted that on AIBU with no indication of my sex everyone would assume I was a bloke criticising his wife

Right I am supposed to be working but really can't be bothered better go

Hello, we are having a quiet day at home after an awful few days. I will catch up with everyone's news another day but felt I should warn you about what we've been going through...

M is cruising and on Sunday pulled a very hot cup of coffee over himself that had been stupidly left on a table he could reach. It was an accident but it could have easily been avoided. He has partial thickness burns to his chin and most of his chest. We were visiting family at the time so ended up in the burns unit at Salisbury hospital for a couple of nights and got out last night. Happily he should be fine and as long as he has had some painkillers he is is usual happy self but it has been horrendous.

So glad I did a first aid course when dd was little so we were able to do the right thing - straight under the cold tap. We were able to take his clothes off then wrapped him in cling film and rushed to a&e with a cold compress on him.

pjb oh my gosh!!! What a worry. Hope M is recovering alright, poor little chap. Hope your nerves aren't too frayed.

It's my biggest worry with Bea, the family are big tea/coffee drinkers, but I am not. I do nag them about hot drinks about now she crawls/pulls up/cruises.

93pjb oh my goodness that is awful for you - hope M is ok, aloe vera gel is very good at reducing scarring on burns when the skin has started to heal - either buy some from the health food shop or get an actual plant to keep in the house, split the leaf and squeeze the gel out from inside, sticky but fab.

Oh pjp so sorry to hear this and hope M makes a full recovery.

93pjb sorry to hear about M's accident. It can happen so easily. The other night Matty pulled a full glass of wine off a side table - thankfully it was only wine so no harm done, but it was a timely reminder of the need to keep hot drinks well out of reach from now on. Hopefully M'll make a speedy recovery and well done on the first aid.

DF sorry your return to work hasn't gone to plan and hopefully Bob is on the mend. Ditto to the suggestions of olbas oil and propping up the head end of his cot. You can get the GP to prescribe him some nasal drops which can help breakdown mucus. I remember having them with DD a few times when she was a baby.

talking of returning to work, I've just worked out that my first day back is the last day of the spring half term - I'm wondering how a request to take that day off as a/l might go down

mrsS good news on the medical grading.

DH & I went to visit Buckingham Palace today. It was beautiful. They had Catherine's dress, shoes, tiara and earrings on display as well as replicas of her bouquet and wedding cake. Will be going back next year with DD as they'll have some new displays to commemorate the diamond jubilee.

I'm going out with my colleagues from work on Friday night. It'll be nice to catch up with them especially outside of work, but I'm a bit worried that they'll be shop talk about cuts and redundancies etc etc. I know that might be the reality, but I don't really want to get all stressed about work before I go back iyswim.

Thank you for your kind thoughts. He should be fine eventually but it will take a while. He has lost all of the skin on his chest and has a wound under his chin. It's his chin that is bothering him as it can't be dressed. Blood-stained babygros are never good look...

93pjb that sounds awful, how horrible for you all. Like Max said, it is so easily done. I hope he recovers soon.

DF sorry your start back to work hasn't gone to plan. Hope Bob is on the mend and you can both get settled in. I'm back to work in another week and am feeling a bit anxious, even though I've done it before once!

kelle sorry your MIL's comments have upset you. I used to get the opposite - endless 'are you sure you're not overfeeding him' comments as he's high up the charts. I ended up ignoring as I knew he was fine.

MrsS I laugh when William blows his food everywhere. Although I am generally the one scraping it all back off. He chucked his spoon on the floor the other day and as I bent down to get it slimed me with some mashed potato in my hair.

Max hope you had a good night out.

William has had a couple of falls this week. He hit his head hard against the wall a couple of days ago - it was awful, really horrible bang. He also has a new party trick of waving which is really sweet and he seems very pleased with himself. His little grins are almost making up for the fact his sleep is shocking at the moment, although to be fair he has a cough/cold and has also cut two more teeth in the last 10 days - he's got six now and he is STILL biting. We've been telling him no firmly, but he seems to think that is amusing, so now I am trying to move him away and ignore in the hope no reaction will make it all seem less fun.

I'm having a wobble about going back to work. I didn't think I'd feel like this but I really just don't want to leave him. Feel really sad. I can't believe the time has gone so fast. :(

WLL I think Matty is trying to set a record for how many times he can fall over and bang his head on the floor. All our floors downstairs are concrete so there's no give in them either. It seems he always does it just out of my reach so I get to witness it but can't stop it happening.

When I was on ML with DD, I pretty much couldn't wait to get back to work. This time round, I feel quite different and I think I'll have a bit of a struggle, even though I'm extremely lucky as I don't have to go back until next Feb. I'm reassuring myself with the fact that it all worked out well with DD so I'm sure it'll be ok once I get back into the swing of working.

I had a good time on Friday night and there was no negative work comments. It was nice to see everyone.

Having avoided the back to school cold that DD, Matty and DH had a week ago, I've caught some other germ. Typical. We have nice weather and I'm going to see Lee Evans tomorrow night so I get ill . Still, at least DH is home today and tomorrow so he can do all the running around and I can just laze in bed.

Matty is really desperate to walk. He's taken to crawling but using his right foot to propel himself forward, so essentially he's walking on his right foot but crawling with all the other limbs. It is funny to watch! He's also got 2 more teeth coming through at the front, but thankfully, he doesn't seem too bothered by them.

Hope you're all enjoying the weather.

Hi all, hope you are enjoying the sunshine!

Things are getting better here, M has had 2 pain-free nights which is a huge relief. He's still waking a lot for milk which he probably needs for healing (but I bet he decides to keep up the habit after he's well again). Bandages came off today which means he can have a bath tonight which he will love. He's now just got plasters on the deepest bits which haven't healed yet. There is a scar management team at the hospital who we'll see soon but thanks for the Aloe Vera tip mrssl.

Hope the weather holds until the weekend for those at work!