April 2011 - Hello Grindstone. Nose here, reporting for duty.

[DairyBeetle]

Plumps comfy pillows, shakes warm fluffy blankets, passes them round, sleeps

Star - unless the room is really cold that sounds like enough clothes and bedding to me. If it is just a cellular blanket you wanted to add I would be inclined to drape unless she lies still all night! T is a tummy sleeper though so I wouldn't tuck him in because he wouldn't be able to lift his head.

Jo - hope the second day has gone ok :)

DS1 is a Mike the Knight fan also. I have recorded some onto the Sky+ so that he can have his fix if we aren't TV watching at 4.05

DD has a vest + sleepsuit + sleeping bag & then I drape a blanket over her lower half.
She always drags a muslin over her face, lol.
She doesn't really move in the night either.

Hope I'm not tempting fate but DD has slept through the last 2 nights. Fingers crossed for tonight. Especially as I'm having some wine after a fraught walk round the block with the DC and DS2 having a meltdown because I told him to stop before a car ran him over resulting in me fireman-carrying him home screaming & kicking.

Oh Star I didn't mean to make you sad! I am soft as hell. On the sleepwear subject, I do the same as you - sometimes C's hands are chilly too, if P isn't waking up I wouldn't worry too much.

Day 2 wasn't fabulous. Started ok and I decided it was best to leave him to it - the point being to get him used to it without me around - I picked up, two hours later, a very tired, red, snotty baby who had clearly cried for most of the time! He didn't manage to nap (no surprise there) but was then really tired and didn't have his bottle. It was fine, as I picked him up, fed him and took him home for a mega sleep but he's going to be doing 10 hours a day there in a week. That was two and a half hours.

He's in there for three hours tomorrow. I hope he manages to settle in soon. On the plus side, I'm using the time to get my hair done. I look like a frizzy witch at the moment...

Yikes at having to get a new car seat. C is quite diddy, so hopefully I have time. What's the weight limit?

Ali, I agree re boots. At this time of year they are simply a good investment

I've got Pan Am on Sky Plus too. Is it any good? We've just finished Breaking Bad, which is one of the best things I've seen. Now we're on Dexter, still undecided. Some great bits but some horrible acting.

Good to see there are some other Mike the Knight fans - huzza!

I hope nursery is better tomorrow jo, it must be difficult for you both.

I still haven't got round to watching PanAm yet. However I did just catch up on ANTM while dh was out

DS has a long sleeved vest, cotton sleepsuit and 2.5 tog gro bag on at the mo. If he feels chilly I drape a knitted blanket over him.

Sounds like a fun afternoon jks It sounds like many a conversation I have had with ds. I don't want to scare the crap out of him about roads and cars, yet I am sure he has no real concept of how dangerous they can be.

God I think we must have a really hot house! T wears a cotton sleepsuit and has a cellular blanket doubled over him. He normally rolls out from underneath the blanket.

ILike - even T has a go at saying Huzza, comes out something like a raspberry, and DS1 for some reason says 'Buzza' instead of 'Huzza' which makes us all crease up :)

Oh Jo that sounds hard Weight limit on the first carseat is 13kg, or it is on ours anyway.

JKS - nightmare. Can you use reins for him?

DS1 didn't eat much dinner, but he had loads and loads of milk and he's gone to bed a much happier boy after lots of lovely cuddles :)
T went down first attempt

I think the fact is we have a cold house Ali, none of the bedrooms have any heating plumbed in at the moment!

Just a quick reminder from me about the Secret Santa! Ho ho ho! The Holidays are coming, the Holidays are coming!!

Hi All,

I also have been reading and meaning to post but something always seems to get in the way, but DI has just started nap so ive sat down with a can of coconut water, a homemade blueberry & ricotta muffin and am posting witha plan to post more often.

Fizz will pm you SS details, would love to be involved, i love and adore Christmas and buying presents !

Ali Our house must be warm to as DI also only sleeps in a sleepsuit with a light blanket.

Im glad im not the only crap tv addict, i love ANTM and am currently watching PanAm which is great on Sky+ recorded, along with Xfactor UK & American, How I met your mother,Glee & my new favourite Ringer !! I get so tired in the evenings that i only watch about 30-40mins of a show and then fall asleep so there is a lot recorded on my boxes !

JoewHope Day 3 at nursery went better and hair now looks fabulous ! I havent cut mine in forever, its now almost butt length so considering a mega chop ! We just finished the last season of Dexter, it is a firm favourite of mine & DP, cant help like character Dexter even tho he is a killer ?!?!

Caramel DI also loves steak, roast beef, meatballs, definetly not a veggy, love the idea of the rice paper rolls, we eat them all the time in our house, will have to go up wood green to the chinese grocery store !

Tiny we also have a little un here, DI also is still in most of her 0-3months except for trousers as she seems to getting longer and longer, so getting great use out out of her clothes, we also layer up so she wears all her dresses with tights and long sleeve bodysuits.

Well you may or may not remember DI was having trouble gaining weight, but we had a follow up check up yesterday after a couple month break as she had started gaining and my girl is now off the .4th percentile and almost on the 9th precentile at 14.2lbs, she was 7 months 3 days ago, so we were really happy, she is on the same percentile for length so is now all in proportion and no longer looks so scrawny and resembling E.T !

We did an underwater photo shoot the other week and get to see the pics on Sunday, im so excited, hope there is a good one, DI is a total water baby and loves swimming class.

DI has also taken to food and we are doing a mix of spoon feeding and BLW, i went cooking crazy yesterday and made DI cheese & lentil wedges which are actually super teasty, even DP loves them, and we are not really lentil people. Also made the cheese & spinach muffins, which are also super yummy. My puree's talents are minimal apple, parsnip, sweet potato & carrots in different combinations.

DI eats from her bumbo as even with baby insert is way to small for her highchair and tends to slide, plus she is not 100% steady, will sit up but still will fall back, forward, sideways, it always cracks me up as her feet stay in the same position, so looks really funny. She was rolling ages ago and then just stopped doing it for a couple of months and has just started re-rolling and pushing up on her hands then flicking the legs and moving backwards, a couple of times it looked like she was gonna tuck her knees under and then just kicks. Cant believe some of these babies are pulling themselves up, that must be super cute.

MY MIL came backa few weeks ago from Ireland, she left when DI was 3/4 weeks and was only meant to go for a month and stayed there 5months !! So she is round almost everyday which is ok except for the constant, "mummy, look she smiled", "Mummy look i got her to burp", mummy, look she's bouncing in the jumperoo", which i understand is exciting but she's does that all the time so im not quite as excited, she also likes to tell me "wow, she hasnt done that before" which i just nod and smile, and say"must be just for Grandma" Also thinks everything she does, means she is "Advanced" this includes, eating food, looking when you call her, watching trees, squealing noises, i hear everyday "oh my, she is so advanced" me & DP have a right giggle everytime she says it.

DP, has been getting right on my nerve, i had a big chat with him so hoping for some changes, he goes out for a day/evening drinking almost every weekend and has done since DI was about 2 weeks old, i think once a fortnight is enough, what does everyone elses other halfs do ?? Am i being unreasonable ?

Anyone, sorry for the mammoth post, i 2 plan on posting little & more often. Hope everyone & ya babies are well, i love hearing about them all, and seeing their pics on FB, which you probably see me on a little more often !

Nice to see you Aussie ,i lol'd at your tales of your advanced baby!

Dh doesn't really drink plus he's 40, so he feels his pub/club days are well and truly behind him - not that he was really into the scene when he was young either. His 'me' time is when he goes running twice a week, but that only takes up an hour or so. I don't think yabu to ask him to not go out so often, but you both need to have the same expectations of parenting and your free time as a family - otherwise it will always be an issue.

Ali - I read your post on another thread about 'fucking vile' chai latte's. It made me giggle. I keep wondering if I should try one and your comment pretty much answered it

ILike they are not worth the cost of even trying one IMO!

Aussie - good to hear from you Can't offer any advice on the DH front as mine is also 40 and got all his pubbing and clubbing out of his system years ago before he met me. I'd like to think I wouldn't stand for it, but it is easy to say that when not faced with the situation. When do you do things as family though? Visit friends, or other family or days out or whatever? When do you get some time to yourself?
What does he say when you ask him those questions? (hug) it must be horrid

Fizz - did you get my PM re. SS?

DS1 is a lot better today and we've had friends over to play this afternoon.

Yes I did Ali.

Here is the list of SSers so far. If you have messaged me and you are not on the list can you let me know please? I thinkI've got everyone, but in my sleep deprived fug I may have missed someone!

I will, at some point tomorrow send you all a message with who you've got. Gift limit is £5. Last parcel posting day before the big day is 14th December (whoever gets GGF will need to post a bit earlier as Postman Pat takes a while to swim the Channel!)
I will know who has me, but I can't think of any other way to do it.

CarmelloKoalaLover
MumtoTiny
DairyBeetle
ChilliKat
MrsWajs
GsyGascheFiend
ILikeToMoveItMoveIt
Starshaped
Architien
Fraktious
GlaikitFizzog
Alibabaandthe80nappies
AussieMum2Be
JoWe

Ooh, so excited about SS!

I think I got a blocked duct this morning :( Lumpy, hard section of boob which hurt. Used a hot water bottle on it which eased it a little and put M to work. She was a star - fed like a newborn all morning and now boob seems back to normal :)

Ouch chilli, by boobs/supply have been a bit all over the place (not literally!) as well recently.

Baby I is teething today I think. He has been a Velcro baby all day - joy!

Can't wait for ss

Well done for sorting it Chilli (& baby!).
DD is all over the place with feeds so i'm back to crazy over-supply issues - waking in a pool of milk, leaking even with the best breast pads, etc. Hopefully it will calm down again soon, she is definitely eating more solids now but has occasional wakeups at night so it's a bit of a seesaw.

think i've broken a toe

Definitely nit unreasonable Aussie, unless you're getting a night a week when you want it too then he's being a bit cheeky.

Went off to an open house today to introduce myself as the new cochair of the parent group and then had a confab with my cochair. Then it was off to drop off the last wedding paperwork, duh duh duuuuuuuh!

It's all getting a bit real and we've still kept date and venue a secret. It's like Mission Impossible fending off enquiries...

Cycle have I missed something????????

Hi Aussie, nice to hear from you. Will stick with Dexter. The parts with the main character are really good (and yes, you do like him). Very impressed with home-made muffins.

My DH is also 40 and has got being a lad out of his system but I would be pretty unimpressed if he was going out all day and evening for half the weekend. For me, that's a special occasion situation, not the norm. Could you go out with him for the day? We often do pub lunches with friends over the weekend or is this more boys and their pints? Wise Ali is right to say that everyone has different situations but if what you are interested in is whether others are in the same boat I would say no. In my view DH is as responsible for C as I am and there's no way I would tolerate that. If it's not working for you, and it sounds as though it's not, I think it's fair to ask him to rethink it.

Day 3 at nursery was a little better as they managed to get him to nap for half an hour, at least. He was crying when I arrived but they were really sweet and the girl looking after him told me that she'd used my tips to get him to sleep and sung his favourite songs, which made me feel happier. And I read Grazia and Heat at the hairdressers while drinking hot tea. Heaven!

Introduced C to figs today, I think I have Caramel to thank for that idea. Very sucessful.

SS is exciting. LOVE Christmas.

x posts, Cycle. Very exciting. Is it soon? Sorry....... so nosey.

Come on Cycle, spill. I remember you saying you were going to have a small low key jobby. We need details, or hints.

What did you do to your toe JKS ?

You should make homemade savoury muffins Jo, they are very easy to make IMO and very tasty. They also freeze well and are great for a quick lunch and are very transportable.

Cycle - i'm intrigued! So none of your guests know where yet?

Aussie - you are not BU. He is. Not sure how to correct it without aggro though. good luck. My DH is also 40 - weird!

I was rushing tidying up pre-sch run and kicked the edge of a door. Full on. it hust a lot at the time but i got on with going to sch, etc. Was relying on buggy though & limping lots.

Now it's kind of bruised and swollen & sore.

I am always crushing my toes by kicking things. I wear glasses so I am sure that affects my line of sight, plus I am always bare footed. If it hurts to walk on them I find strapping the poorly toe to one of the toes next to it really helps.

Dh was 40 this year, and about 5 of my friends dh's were as well. 1971 must have been a baby boom year!

I have a suspicion that Cycle isn't having any guests

Hi all.

Just been catching up on your posts.

I'm having trouble with s routine since I went back to work. He isn't sleeping brilliantly. Last night I ended up giving him a bottle after ab hour and a half which is a massive backwards step. He just threw up on me and he'd only taken 2.5oz so reckon I'm in for a great night. His dads out.

Can't wait to hear who I'm buying ss for :-).

Any Essex aprilites want to meet up?

Ps yes cycle spill. We won't tell.

JKS - ouch! Can you get it xrayed, or will that be like Mission Impossible with 3 DCs?

ILike - can you point me in the direction of a muffin recipe? I am struggling with lunch for T, as we seem to be on the hoof a lot at the moment and the poor child is getting fed random bits of whatever I can lay my hands on. My essential problem is that he doesn't seem to like fruit, or anything else remotely sweet for that matter, so my fallback of a banana-in-the-changing-bag which worked with DS1 doesn't cut the mustard. [bad mother emoticon]

Jo - I'm glad C got on better today, the nursery staff sound like they have taken a shine to him which is v.good :)

Cycle - ooh exciting! Are you having a frock or anything?