Feb 2010 They're all walking and talking....and some are even sleeping. The babies are doing okay too.

[InmaculadaConcepcion]

Pull up a comfy chair, grab a cuppa and a piece of cake, switch the monitors on low and let's PARTY.....!!!

go on, we have to start somewhere

BC PA that good of you. I saw that thread too. But I had a transfusion after my emCS with DD1 so I am not able to give blood anymore.

I might ask my relative and friends to give blood instead of me for my birthday. Not sure how well it will be received though, thinking about it. hmmm, I will have to explain why to most people

BC sorry about the cold.

Hi everyone

Yy to the developmental spurt. DD1 has been soooo tired for a week or so now, back to 2 naps a day (when schedule permits). They are both asleep at the moment

She is also waking on average once a night, but that is pretty normal for her.

bethy oh poor you with the wedding dilemma. I'm afraid I have no magic solutions. It is a PITA when you can't leave the children with anyone because all your usual babysitters are at the event, isn't it? Sympathies and apologies for lack of lateral thinking.

Having read IC's response yes it may not be as bad as you think. Surely with all DH's family there, you will have some support? Will your family be at the wedding too? if not is there no way they can have the boys?

Mous that is a great idea for your bday. I doubt they would do it though. I just mean it's human nature not to get round to doing something like giving blood if you don't normally. (Sorry to pour cold water on your plan, i do think it's a great idea.)

Hi to LBH, FC, SB and BG.

Re their second bdays: we held DD1's welcome to the world party and 1st bday party in the function room of a pub that does food. Our house is just too small and we have a lot of family to invite before you even get to our friends and DD1's friends. We'd like to do the same again for her 2nd, combining it with a welcome to the world for DD2. But do you think parents of other toddlers will be a bit at having yet another party in a pub?! What kind of toys could I bring/ask other mums to bring to keep the 2yos occupied for a couple of hours?

scones I think it's a great idea. Stuff I'd suggest to keep two year olds occupied would be a paddling pool filled with balls and lots of tunnels and tents. Have some time rampaging and some more directed time - a craft activity like decorating biscuits, or putting stickers on cut out paper birthday presents? - then a bit of a singsong at the end.

mous asking people to give blood on your behalf is a great idea. I can't give blood either, though wish I could as I'm an unusual group (B pos). Not sure anyone would give blood if I asked them to on my behalf though.

Dates-wise for the Godstone Farm meet up, how does Feb 1, 3, 8 or 20 sound?

Oh, and meant to say yay at your DD's newfound independence and confidence IC. DD2 is full of her own opinions, but still a mummy's girl which is a bit of a shame as I'd like to not have to change every nappy her to be more confident without me when she can see me.

dd2 has started talking in very long sentences... unfortunately not in a language I understand . She appears to have regressed in her speech and it is less clear. I'm keeping a close eye because dd1 started from talking well to talking gibberish and it took me another year to realise she had glue ear and her hearing was poor

we have no babysitters which I do feel. At the moment for my monthly hospital physio appointment DH takes a half day of work and it soon adds up. Chuck in dentist and this job thingy.

DD has these vests. It's fair to say she likes them as she pulls them out her wardrobe and runs around shouting 'monsters'

scones no ideas I'm afraid. We're having a few family members over, well that's the plan. Since we lack friends around these parts I don't need to worry.

I've just been the sums of childcare costs and salary needed etc. I think DH will get to be a SAHD after all or I will just look around again in a year's time if it looks like my salary will be less than his.

scones nothing odd in having a party at a pub, especially as it's a private room. I agree with loads of activities to keep the toddlers entertained.

We went to visit a pre-school this morning as we thought it was cheaper (they also have French lesson three times a week) that the one DS is at the moment. After doing our maths, we realised it'll be £100 more expensive!!! [ahock] So DS will stay where he is

It's full moon tonight so it may explain the last unsettled nights

We did a clear-out at the weekend and are selling stuff on a local FB group. So far we've sold 3 items and made £28!

It's very quite today. Is everybody okay?

Was wondering the same!

Today Nigel was sick... a lot, DD pooed... a lot (and also joined in being sick by successfully activating her gag reflux by shoving her hand down the back of ther throat )

However, he slept 6 hours again last night and I could see the difference in my complexion this morning. He's also 3 months tomorrow

DD ran around... a lot but is now in bed after 20 returns, only took 30 mins though.

I am scoffing my face with donuts that I sent DH out for :)

I may be able to make 1 or 3 Feb at Godstone Farm...

oh yes, 1 and 3 work best for me as away the following weekend

PA great news on the sleep. It makes SUCH a difference. Also that the DD returns are heading in the right direction...

I am in no hurry to move DD1 from cot to bed, cot suits me fine as somewhere safe to put her while I shower (with A book or two, she's quite happy!
), but DH wants to move her to a bed when DD2 needs the cot - only a few weeks away, if that long. I'm more inclined to buy a bargain 2nd hand cot for a few months. Am I being ridiculous? I don't like the sound of all this returning to bed malarkey...

depends if she can open her door, you could go with a stairgate if she can (if we're seeing a light in a week we'll assume she needs a stair gate but giving her a go first). She had been fine in her bed for 2 months no problems, but if we didn't have a reason to move her (endless dummy throwings and climbing) we'd probably have left her. Her bed is a second hand one so if you can get one cheap enough, why not?

scones I think that if you can have 2 cots and prefer that option, go for it.

PA great news on the sleep and bed returns, she'll get there.

Made another £15 tonight selling things!

PA I trust you're having those doughnuts with custard?!
The bed-returning sounds like it's going in the right direction!

Scones I would go with the two cots option for now if t'were me....

Sorry to hear about DD2's speech regression, BG. How long are you going to give it before you get her ears checked?

Well done on the selling, SB!

Well, it's been a pretty good couple of days with DD, bar a supper refusal tonight (pasta with pesto and cheese - usually a banker, for gawd's sake!) I'm not too worried - at least I hadn't invested too much time in cooking what mostly ended up on the floor and she had eaten pretty well earlier in the day. She'd better bloody not wake up at stupid o'clock feeling hungry, though!

One other incident - DD fell off the worktop where she was perching while I was cooking yesterday. I was right there and caught her before she hit the tiled floor, but she caught her chin on one of the metal drawer handles on the way down, poor thing. Bless her, she was crying "Mummy, kiss it better!" - and certainly, she calmed down once I had done as asked. She's sporting an impressive dark purple bruise on her chin now.

Other than that, she was good as gold when left with her aunty for an hour or so while I was having some acupuncture today and enjoyed herself with me in the park, was very good at walking nicely home and a splendid little helper in the supermarket (she's got very efficient at finding items, putting them into the basket, handing them to me one at a time at the checkout (I usually self-scan) and then collects my change and puts it in my purse. It's very cute and I become aware of being surrounded with enamoured smiles when she's in action.

I've also found a good technique for moving DD on when I need her to co-operate and she's busy with something else. I say "I'm going to count from 5 backwards, then we're going to X,Y,Z" (no penalty). She mostly complies very well, which makes life a lot easier!

dd2 growled at another child her age at a playgroup today and made her cry . Well, this girl had it coming to be honest because she is normally very confident and will take what she wants and when she wants it. I was quite surprised she burst into tears but did not intervene... (actually rather glad dd2 is more confident and will not just meekly hand over the toys she is playing with!)

Finally getting round to a very quick update on staying with my parents for ten days. dd2 enjoyed the journey a lot (we left home at 1am to catch our plane and she stayed awake in the car the entire way to the airport!) and was good as gold. She recognised her grandma (last seen in August) and went up to her for a hug. dd1 did dominate somewhat by being older, but dd2 also got plenty of one to one time with her grandparents. She was also in bread heaven and happily munched her way through everything put in front of her (and in fact gave me a dirty look the first morning we were back home and I presented her with English toast ). She did seem to regress in her speech but I do wonder whether in a large family she simply did not feel it was possible to get a word in (she may have a point, when my mum and I get talking...). She was also quite unwell with bronchitis and croup. I will keep an eye on her speech and may have her hearing checked, but she already seemed clearer and more chatty today now that both dh and dd1 are out of the house most of the day and she has my full attention.

Still haven't caught up on all the posts I missed so just waving to everyone and hoping you are all okay. Finding no internet at my parents was a bit of a shock but my brother had warned me. Close neighbour with open network has moved away so we were unable to 'borrow' the connection . It worked so well for many years.....

dd2's favourite game at the moment is kerplunk... although my two have changed the rules and the person who gets most marbles wins . Her favourite book is 'owl babies' not because of the story but because she has always loved owls (which is why she got the book for christmas). Her favourite food is, er, everything except sprouts, liquorice and rice. Her favourite cuddly toy is 'Rosie cat' which she got from her cousin. Her favourite coat is the one with the furry hood that makes her look like a baby eskimo. Her favourite shoes are purple open summer shoes...
Just a quick snapshot on dd2's 'my favourite', which is her favourite expression right now
Night all...

Oops, have I killed this thread?

Nope, I'm here!!
at you being able to list the things your DD won't eat so quickly.

Mind you, we had a good mealtime today, thankfully. DD ate just about all of her cheese pie with reasonable enjoyment (not a huge challenge, but a relief nonetheless) - didn't touch her veg, but that's par for the course. She scoffed a clementine and half a banana plus some raisins with plain yoghurt for dessert, so that's okay.

In fact, DD's been charming all day - it's been a really lovely phase lately. She's very cheery and throwing herself into any activity we do with great gusto. She put on a good show at Spanish playgroup today and won lots of positive attention from the other children (a first!) and their mums. Honestly, when I look back six weeks, it's almost like having a different child (in a good way)..!

PS We missed you BG

I'm here too.

BG I'm impressed that your DD2 can list her favorites. DS can now do 'sentences' mostly cars vroom

PA how did bedtime goes?

SB She is really just copying dd1 . There have a few competitions going on...
IC I forgot to list roast parsnips... but she ate sprouts tonight [mean emoticon for using up Christmas veg that stayed in the fridge while we were away... well, they looked okay so I couldn't see a point in throwing them out).
Oh, and she doesn't like sweet things (except chocolate). She had a small piece of Christmas cake which she left, and when my mum offered her a jam doughnut she took one bite and burst into tears