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

[DairyBeetle]

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

Glad to keep you entertained Buck! I am still getting the flutterings, but I'll put it down to the amount of Pepsi Max I've been drinking to keep me awake!!

I too will only live vicariously through the TTCers on this thread

Oh, and I'm in the not-for-another-3-years gang!

I'm just really excited about other people being pg! I've got 2 colleagues pg at the moment, but neither knew about the other - they finally talked today! Brilliant!

Oh, and re BLW food, Kitty (more helpful than just jumping up and down excitedly about potential POASing!) - F has pretty much whatever we have now. If I cook him something separate, he has pasta & sauce, spaghetti bolognese, risotto, sandwiches (he looooves sandwiches). He struggles a bit with things like potato skin or leafy stuff like lettuce which need molars to grind up, but he's pretty good at spitting those bits out.

He had a full xmas dinner with my family.

I've found offering a combination of things together works well - e.g. a piece of cheese sandwich with a rice cake and raisins on the side. And I tend to keep putting food in front of him till he either chucks it on the floor (we have a big dyson and a cat!) or does more playing than eating. He usually does eat a good balance of stuff.

I do make him have the yoghurt last, or I think that'd be all he'd want!

We're still up at least once every night here, usually twice. I should go to bed earlier really!

Right, bath & bed time for us!

Fizz - I'm fully coil-ed up here!

Oh yes, the flutterings. I call them phantom kicks. They are very weird.

I am off to watch The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo tonight. Can't wait, I loved the books. Hopefully I won't fall asleep before the end

Hmm now we're all discussing it I guess maybe I have had weird tummy movements, I would describe mine as more like an actual kicking than flutterings! I had put it down to wind though!! Funny what your body gets up to after having kids!

Glad it was a false alarm for you Fizz although a teeny bit :( that there is no new arrival to get excited about in here, Kitty, we're all relying on you!!

Think the night time wakings here are teeth related, R went a bit crazy at dinner time, torn between desperately wanting to eat the food but being put off by the pain it was causing her, bless. I weighed her at work today (we have big walk on scales that I sat her on) and she's 9kgs exactly! Checked her rowth chart and that puts her well into the 75th centile so she's certainly thriving!! Am really quite relieved after her dropping centiles when she was smaller.
We ave her next stage car seat bought and DP is itching to get her in it but I have been insisting we wait until she is 9mo (end of this month) what is the correct weight they should go into next seat? Something in my mind tells me it is 9kgs?? She detests the baby seat with a passion now but hasn't totally outgrown it yet, so should I persevere unti 9 months or just do the swap now??

JKS Yay for M's tooth finally!

Frakk Hope you are recovered from your flight now?

We also just give R whatever we are having to eat but we are mostly doing traditional weanng so it is still of the mashed variety although I am trying to give her more and more finger foods, don't want her getting stuck at the mashed stage. She'll eat a whole orange straight out of the skin now, if it's quartered, even manages to spit out the pips that i didnt know were there too! Toast & dairylea is another favourite and appeases my calcium intake issues. For those who are FFing, how many bottles are your LO's on per day now? We had to bump back up to 4 after R's bug as I think she lost a bit of weight but I'm trying to get it back down to 3 for nursery etc. She's started faffing over them again so I think she's ready to drop again.

Sorry pretty crap catch up and mostly about myself

I would always keep a baby RF in their infant seat until they outgrow it, which is when their head gets to the top of the back not their legs get too long.

Even at 9kg, which is the minimum weight not a guideline, their head is still so heavy for their neck to support in a crash.

mrsw I went to the car seat safety centre last week and they said 9 months or 20 1b. Weight being more important than age cos of their neck muscles. S was no longer comfy in his car seat as the harness barely met so they suggested the britax first class as that stays rear facing now but can go forward when he's ready.

Poas tgis morning. - but not due til Friday. Feel like af coming but did when expecting sam. Also keep pulling abdomen muscles when I turn in bed which also only happened when pg. So confused. Hurry up Friday.

I think from safety point of view they are going towards RF until 13kgs minimum. Because we got our group 0 car seat from a friend its an older version and only goes up to 10kgs but the newer version goes to 13kgs. That's why we went for the britax first class as its a group 0+ & 1 seat. RF until 13 kgs because I just couldn't put B in the Ff seat yet. he's not quite 10kgs though so he's ok in the silver cross seat fir a few weeks yet.

Sorry if that's repeating others but that's my thought process behind it. Although B likes his car seat I might feel different if he screamed every time he was in it.

You're making me bizarrely excited about TTC again, although it would be an Immaculate Conception at the moment (no adjustment of religious perspective needed but I'd fail on the virgin count).

From memory some of you have Mei Teis. Good? Worth getting? Any recommendations? I'm looking and Didy-ties in a slightly longing way.

I love Mei Teis yummy yummy ...... Oh you didn;t mean the cocktails did you?

I was in bed at 8.30 last night. My sleepless night "counting the kicks" caught up with me! B slept through so aprat from DH coming to bed and tripping over my shoes I had 10 hours solid sleep. I feel amazing this morning!

B is going to the CM a little later for his last settling day. I'm going to get y hair cut, baby free!! Do you thinkmy hairdresser will just let me sit there for a while with a hot cuppa just relaxing?

Aaahh! In true R style she has waited until after everyone else to do her first roll off of the bed!!! I really should have known better than to turn my back for 3.2 seconds to pick up dirty clothes!! luckily DP had dropped one of his pillows on the floor so the landing was soft, wasn't too keen on the way she landed though (practically on her head!! :() she seems fine again now, took her downstairs and she proceeded to pull all of the DVDs out from the shelf on the TV unit. Should I take her to A&E as a precaution or jest see how she is!? I can sense the play pen coming out of the loft very soon!

Re: car seats I googled ours last night and it is a 0+ so good til 13kgs. Think we'll just continue with it until R is too big for it. Would never forgive myself if I put her in the forward facing one and something happened. You can be as careful as you like on the road but you can't improve other peoples bad driving!!

mrsw S fell off the sofa onto our wooden floor last night. He seems fine, so maybe just keep an eye on her :)

Oh MrsW! Keep an eye on her, if she is unusually drowsy or upset give NHS24 a bell.

You are right about other peoples driving too! We put so much effort in choosing a car seat but I think I forgot that the safety aspect only really come in if we have an accident the other 99.9999% of the time it's really just a way of keeping them in one place. Which I hope we never do. I was in an accident when I was 5, before car seats or even seat belts were compulsary. I was badly injured and lucky that I'm here to tell the tale. So I maybe am a bit compulsive about in car safety. I get so so angry at people for not wearing seat belts or using their phone when driving.

Just droppede B off at CM. She has been cited for Jury duty on Monday. She hasn't worked for 12 years and B is her first fixed mindee and she gets cited the day before he starts with her. She has called up but her "job" isn't on the exepmtions list. AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

DH can take Tuesday off but not Wednesday. Anyone fancy having B for a day?

Oh Fizz what a pain! If I wasn't 300 miles away then I would help you out like a shot :(
Emergency nanny? There is a website, childcare.co.uk where you can see people's details and CRB check etc, or contact an agency like Sitters?

Re. hairdressers, mine always asks me if I would like to chat or be silent

MrsW - T has fallen off our bed a couple of times and hasn't suffered for it. I think if they are playing normally and sleep as they usually do (ie. not for hours when they don't on a normal day) then you don't need to worry.

Does your CM have a network that she could ring round? OFSTED should grant an emergency variation for that.

Otherwise emergency nanny, try the CMs nannies and APs section, netmums or nannyjob.co.uk as well as agencies. Or if you see anyone on greataupair I have a subscription (it's not just au pairs!).

Her back up in our paperwprk is her sister who lives locally and is a CM too. I'll ask her when I pick B up. My mum would come down if she was in the country but she's living it up in Tennerife with my dad for 3 weeks i'm not jealous.

I've started a thread in Chat and will get something sorted. Why can't it just be smooth sailing for once. I'm fed up lurching from drama to drama.

oh crap fizz hope it all gets sorted

I'm sure some people have written and got their nannies exempted because of the impact on their 'business'. Have you posted in CMs eyc as well?

Stand down from panic stations! CM said "I've received a letter citing me for jury duty on Monday" she only received the letter on Monday not having yo go ov Monday. she must have missed the panic on my face. I had to nip round with more nappies and my misunderstanding became clear. Its the 30th Jan she's been called for. Spoke to dh eh knows about these things and he reckons if we give her a letter that should got her off as you suggest Frak .

Phew

Fizz Glad all sorted on the CM front ! & 10hours solid sleep sounds heavenly, i could easily get it, but cant bring myself to go to sleep when i should !

Mrs Wajs How's R ? I also think a playpen would be handy for those times ya just need to nip away, I leave DI for 1 minute and she has backed herself into some corner of the room ! MIL has a travel cot and she seems to love being in there, its quite big, just a kiddicare one, am considering one for here ! Re-Bottles, DI has 2 x 5oz bottles for breakfast & lunch before her nap & then 1 x7oz bottle before bed. Id also be interested in what everyone else is doing too.

Frak I will listen to the sling responses, i need recommendations for a good one for hot weather ! Also ive got a 24hour flight in under 4 weeks with DI, any recommendations for travelling with a baby ?

Kitty I cant wait till Friday for you, ive been reading your posts & feel like its me waiting to hear the results. Soooo exciting !

I didnt have any tummy flutterings when i was pg, or maybe i didnt realise they were pg flutterings ?!?

Ilike how was girl with the dragon tattoo ? ive also read all the books ! I didnt see the other films, is it the american version youve gone to see ?

Well we re-started swimming classes on Sunday, we are just doing a half term till we go, which can i mention again is in under 4 WEEKS, im so excited (not for the flight) home at the beach with my family & my little sister gets to meet DI !!

DP & I have been getting on great since our talk he has even been coming home extra early recently & been making a real effort & we are starting to feel like us again, which is so nice.

But my MIL is becoming a right pain, its hit her, she wont see DI for 2.5months and literally wants to take DI for the day everyday, or else come round for hours. How many times a week do i have to let her have DI to be nice ??

The one good part is i started going to the gym in a bid to get my body in slightly better shape before i go home & flaunt it on the beach, the bad part i pulled a back muscle so have been resting the past 3 days. I have even been eating healthy(Very un me!) Bloody weighed myself & i put on 1lb !!! WTF

Also whoever asked about passports, i picked up a form from Postoffice,photo taken at a snappy snaps for £10. Filled out sent with birth certificate via special delivery (form is super easy to fill out) sent on 14 Dec & received back on 28th Dec, super fast & easy !

Ok, now to get my ticket for Euromillions !! I won £10 last week on normal lotto, woo hoo ! (Im easily excited !)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was AWESOME. It was the English version. I haven't seen the Swedish version, but one of the friends I went with has now seen both versions and she said the English version was the best. You HAVE to go and see it.

I did giggle at the pulled muscle and the 1lb gain - sorry Aussie

I don't have any experience of those slings Frakk. I'm still using a woven wrap but I am thinking of moving onto a more formed type of carrier. maybe something like this

Ooh now someone "liked" Rose and Rebellion on my FB recently. Was it one of you guys? Arch maybe? I bought a carrier from Toys R Us for £20 a while back and it is fine for what we use it for. Which is mainly for nipping from the car into supermarket/library/chemist. Places where pushchairs are a bit of a pain. I can't walk any distance with B in it because he is so wriggly and heavy! DH is big and strong though!!

DH has done some enquiring and we think we can get the CM off jury duty with a letter on how it would affect/effect us and B. You just don't factor that type of thing in to your reasoning when you chosing CM or nursery! It's all a huge learnign curve this baby rearing!

I have an SSC ilike but it's a bit too structured for me, hence pondering a MT. I love my wovens but they're getting too hot.

Fizz glad you're sorted!

Aussie my top tips would be sling, feed on take off/landing only as she requests - it only needs a couple of swallows to equalise pressure and offer water or boob because from experience of travelling with babies as a nanny FF on planes is a PITA and they won't want most of the bottle so it'll be wasted. Preorder at Boots any supplies you want but do have backups. Cartons of formula if needed rather than powder because it's difficult to make it up correctly and baby with gastro is never pleasant but long haul flight it's disastrous. Take 1 nappy for every hour of the trip plus a complete change of clothes for both of you. Reserve a skycot for each leg - they make good playpens. Identify and befriend the baby friendly flight attendant to watch/hold the baby when you need the loo. Take plenty of little snacks. Adjust to the new time zones during the flight. Take quiet, shiny toys and it's no time to be precious about TV. Whatever works!