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

[DairyBeetle]

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

chilli - you seem to have the same as us, if it isn't one thing disturbing the sleep then it is another :(

My two are playing really nicely together today, tumbling about on the floor like a pair of puppies

T has discovered how to open the kitchen cupboards and keeps going in and opening the one where his cups are and pulling the whole lot out. I really don't remember DS1 being this bad, but he was a lot older by the time he was this mobile. He also knows where his snacks are kept but can't quite reach

Me ecuse me!

I wasn't posting but I went to bed at 2am after taking down the xmas decs. I never got any housework done when it was just DS, now i've got 2 i'm even worse1234568900=[]ytgbnmbQWERG ALEX. I've been following the flylady thread but still ha2vvvvvvvvvvvvvvn'4t rrrrrrrfddcxztgyth juuuuuuuuuzb scrubbed my sink

Sorry about the spelling above DS was helping me to type whilst begging to go on the CBeebies website.

Ha! I've been following the flylady thread too, but got put off by the sink scrubbing first step. I'm of the opinion that there are plenty more pressing chores in my house at the moment!

We only had one wake up last night, but yet again it lasted for well over an hour. I feel shattered. It's not helped that her recent wakes up have come about an hour or so after I've gone to bed, which means that I'm getting two relatively short blocks of sleep rather than one really short one and one longer stretch. We've had worse times though I suppose, so I shouldn't complain too much.

We do seem to have had a napping epiphany this week though. P has self settled for two proper naps a day in her cot. It's a miracle! Until this week, she never slept for more than 30 minutes at a time in the day and needed rocking to sleep. These longer naps have come out of nowhere but I really hope they continue.

Hi all

Sending coffee to those that need it. SAMs had two more teeth and three bad nights. Last night wasn't too bad.

Got Sam's new car seat today. His seatbelt was barely meeting in the middle. Went to the car safety centre in Rayleigh. They recommended a britax first class as he can use it now rear facing until he's 9 months and we can turn it forward facing. Result. £60 off in mothercare. So £99.

I don't get much done around the house. I just about keep on top of the must do's like hoovering, cleaning the bathroom, cooking, clothes washing etc, everything else gets done rarely. Which is why we need to get a cleaner........

Fab news about the daytime naps Star, fingers crossed you might see a knock on improvement with the night time sleep in a few days time

M went to lunch club at his pre school this morning for the first time. I was so nervous about it . So nervous that yesterday when we had lunch at home I put his lunch in his lunchbox and done a practice run to make sure he could open everything Of course he enjoyed eating lunch with his friends and didn't seem to give it a second thought!

Then this afternoon M was at his Granny's, so I and I pretty much had a whole day just us two. It was lovely

ILike - liking the practice packed lunch run :)

Re housework:

• tip 1; lower your standards
• tip 2; if you can, get a cleaner.

Even if it's only an hour or two a week, it can really save your sanity.

• tip 3; let your baby realise you won't be there for them the second they squeak, so chat to them but carry on loading the dw or whatever. I often get stuff done when M is in her highchair. She will sit with a selection of toys around her while i get some stuff done. She especially loves a box or basket full of bits to empty :)

Been away for a few days, was lovely but soooo nice to be back home.
M slept awfully the first night, fine the next 2 then terribly last night - including a one-off vomit at midnight. Fine afterwards, weirdly DS2 did the same yesterday afternoon, so think they must have both disagreed with something from TGI Fridays at lunchtime

now just the unpacking & laundry mountain to deal with tomorrow.

Oh thank god I feel so much better! Thought everyone else lived in a nice clean house and sat down with a glass of wine in front of the telly at 7.30 when their kids were in bed!

Ecuse - I do aim for the second bit

Here here JKS! I DO sit in front of the tv at 7.30 with a glass of wine, which is one of the reasons why my house is never clean and tidy

I have woken up with a headache. Which is nice

Yes I aim for wine by 8.30 - boys to bed at 8 then half an hour clearing the dinner up and putting away the toys, and folding any clean washing.
That is about all I do in the evening in the way of housework but then I'll do mealplanning, the online shop, and other admin things while I have wine

Better night again, we might be getting somewhere here...

We've had a better night too. I heard her wake a couple of times and resettle herself, which is definitely progress.

We aim to be eating our tea by 8, once P has gone to bed. Then it's the telly and chocolate for me. Bliss!

As long as it's either/ or for everyone I feel better

H is better and better

I'll join the put baby to bed, wash up then zone out in front of TV crew. Life is too short dammit!

Same here. We blitz the house if visitors are coming

I'm not even going to attempt to catch up but I new to placemarks before I lose the thread. We plus 50kg of luggage are home. Crap flight just as M wanted to sleep in his skycot so no sleep

Kitty thanks for the heads up on the car seat! That's the one we are going for and with £60 off is now purchased and on the way!!

Frak - sympathies, hope you get some decent sleep now you're home :)

M has her first tooth!

both boys had 8 by this age. She is truly a slowcoach, no crawling, bum-shuffling, and only one tooth - hope she maintains this laidback approach to life :)

Welcome back frak

Oh fab stuff fizz. my cousin put her one on fb yesterday for £15. typical. BUT we are ttc and the inlaws can use it in the meantime. They are driving to Glasgow in march for a week and we are flying there for a long weekend so at least we won't have to cart / hire a car seat. Must sort s's passport actually.

Yay jks

Welcome back Frakk, the flight home sounds, erm, interesting. I think you're very brave. We'll be flying for only 2 hours later on in the year and I already have the fear about that!

Hurrah for first teeth JKS and hurrah for a laid back baby. Long may it continue. I fear baby I is not as laid back as his brothers .....

We've had a very quiet weekend here. I think we all need a shot of vit C & D to get us over the pst Xmas slump. Saying that, I have defo noticed the nights drawing out already

Sorry for my post and run earlier! Busy weekend here, friend was staying Fri night with her 2 DDs, then my DBro was using us as a doss house B&B for a night out last night. We had a our new bed delivered, but not had a chance to build it yet. Do you think I could build it myself tomorrow??

Frak flight sounds pants, hopefully you are all tucked up asleep now though.

Yay for teeth JKS.

We are in the camp of I try to keep ontop of washing and dishes/kitchen through the week and only do a big effort of mopping.hoovering etc if we are expexcting someone! Although, I bought myself ahandheld Dyson with Christmas money and it is the best thing if you are BLWing. No faffing with big hoovers and plugs. If only there were something similar to do the mopping!!

Fizz - I have one of those, and I love it. A word of caution though, on using it to pick up damp/moist food. It smears round the part that holds the dirt, and is a bugger to clean

Frak - sounds grim :(

Yay for teeth! T seems to be done for now, although he has been really chomping on everyone's hands/knees/toes (basically whatever available body part) for the last couple of days so there are some more on the move I think.

We got the walker out for T today, we've got one of those wooden ones with bricks in the tray, and he loved it! Charging up and down the living room with DS1 galloping along next to him encouraging him. DH and I were in fits
It is lovely, but I do often wish he was more like DS1 was - ie. not even crawling by this age! - because I might actually get something done.

It's ok Ali I leave the wet food to crust over before hoovering it up , but it is fab isn't it!! Can;t believe I'm excited about a bloody hoover. I used to be young and hip with swishy hair and funky hats. Now I only wear hats to hide the fact I haven't washed my hair

I have rediscovered Batiste dry shampoo. I used to use it when I'd been out and got up too late and didn't have time to wash my hair before work.
Now it enables me to do the preschool run even if I haven't yet made it into the shower! Doesn't happen often, but there are days.....

Yep I totally love my baby Dyson, all my friends have one too, even the ones without kids because I raved so much. Thankfully everyone loves them!

H Batiste, I always had a mini can on me when I cycled.

Flight sounds bad Frak, at least you're back on the ground now.

You think you're sad Fizz? I get excited when H does a solid poo after the great bug of Christmas and New Year.

Work on getting H to sleep off boob continues. We're getting there but it's hard going. I feel like a horrible cow although the screaming is already markedly reduced after only a couple of days. Plus,H sleeps much better when I succeed. Last night he went 8-6.30