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.....!!!

SB dd2 refused to drink from bottles when she'd just turned 1 and hasn't had milk as a drink for almost as long... . I think you may be right that he knows he'll get two bottles of milk. Difficult one though...Can you try giving him a bottle/glass of milk alongside dinner and then some water at bedtime to break the associating with milk in bed?

Two more sleeps until dd2 is two years old . I am getting as excited as she is!!! (And quietly wonder to myself where the last two years have gone..)

BG I hope your DD1 is better. My DD1 had a stiff neck (torticoli) yesterday and is going back to school wrapped in cotton wool today .

I talked about you in this thread. Your NN makes me think about sophie la giraffe.
PA your are those in my head!

IC great that it is working for you.
DD2 spat the pasta as predicted, but she also said "yuk, caca" which means her speech is coming on . Not on!
Yesterday was slightly better 1/4 of a toast, a handful of corn flakes, a banana, 1 fish finger and a half, a piece of red pepper, a piece of cheese she never had before, 2 tea spoons of plain yogurt, DH sneaked in 2 biscuits and an actimel. So of course she refused the curried chicken/root veg. we had for diner. She does try food all the time though, it is the spitting and "caca" which gets to me! I am hoping that she will get use to the taste. It is just very low in veg. grrr.

rainbow and scones I agree most of it is luck of the draw. And don't forget your DH's influence (mine is a picky eater/snacker, he is not helping!) and the genes (I clearly remember my mum putting back the spitted food in my brother's mouth many times until he swallowed it, screaming and in tears. I am not going down that road I am only 15 months older than him so it must have marked me. DB must have been a fussy eater too, my dad was too)

SB BG -14 today, bbbrrrr. But we still live in a communist bloc so heating is on max, it is 26C inside with most of our radiators turn off.
We have to go shopping for food to stock though as they are predicted a record breaking snow fall, in 1954 it was 5 m in town!

Eek at the cold where you are, Mous!
I guess we have to be satisfied with tiny steps when it comes to our fussy toddlers widening their repertoires. I've read in several places that you often have to offer a food maybe 20 times before it becomes accepted. The fact your DD2 actually tries things is a good sign (although the "caca" comments would drive me up the wall too.....)

Happy Birthday Stangirl's DD!!

DD woke twice last night. I think she was cold. Both times she went quiet fast after a slurp of water and addition of a blanket.

I hear her waking up now.... at least she could sleep in a bit

-3 here but feels more like -14 . dd1 slept straight through for 15 hours, got up fever free, had breakfast and went to school [mean mummy emoticon]. She wasn't very keen but I had a word with her teacher to phone me if she is really struggling.
mous at sophie la giraffe at potential snowfall

I have just rescued a toy from DD1 up the nostril of DD2 . She is not the sharpest tool in the box! At least she came to me for help and before it required A&E...
Getting ready for the school run (no school tomorrow as there is a 3 days blizzard warning!)

mous wow, time off for snow. My dd1 will be to hear that. I've never had that myself but often got sent home early in summer when the temperature in the headmaster's office reached 30 by about 10 in the morning...
Hope you've stocked up on food etc and are ready to brave the blizzard! And if they say blizzard in your area they mean it - not the kind of UK blizzard with 5cm high snowdrifts...

The food talk is very interesting. I used to really stress with DD1, but she basically eats everything (though she isn't keen on cake). DD2 is much fussier (though does eact a wider range of foods than mous DD2), but I am much more relaxed about it with her. I do the same as IC in not witholding yogurt and fruit, and also the same as PA in that I don't worry about her going to bed even if she hasn't eaten much.

I tend to look at food intake over the day or the week to make me feel better! And I tend to try and make sure food is balanced, eg. we have wholegrain and seeded bread but biscuits as well! One thing I do find with DD2 is that she seems to focus on one food group at a time when she eats, so one meal she will only eat chicken (and push aside the potatoes and veg) and the next she will eat pasta but not the bolognaise sauce. I only cook one thing, and that's what both DDs get.

One thing I used to do to lift us out of a bad food rut was to do backwards meals with DD1. So we'd start with yogurt and fruit, and then have a sandwich. Or we'd relocate from the usual dining table, and I'd do an indoor picnic. She was always tickled pink by it!

scones great news on the sleeping!

PA hope you are feeling better? There isn't much evidence for children's cough medicines and my personal experience bears that out. I always find that some menthol rub on the chest, back and neck really helps though.

BG my DD2 is also getting very excited about her birthday and I keep hearing her sing Happy Birthday. But she's a bit poorly with a stomach bug at the moment, so I'm keeping her off dairy in the hope that she kicks it in time for my brother's wedding on Saturday and her birthday next week. HOpe your DD1 is better.

SB good luck with the bottle battle. DD2 only has open cups now (or normal water bottles) and manages fine, but she's not terribly addicted to milk.

mous I'm aghast at your snow.

Well tonight went fine. I gave him his dinner and a glass of milk, he ate and drunk all, no fuss and even had cheese. So it might have worked or it just a coincidence.

I've started DS cake - it's in the oven at the moment.

SB just read your post and wondered why on earth BG said he.... too much . good for you!

Hmmm... Any left?

yes! two or three and some Palinka! about a litter of that in the freezer but it makes snaps feels good...

Cake turned out fine... Tomorrow it's icing time.

I'll have some too please

Happy Birthday to my little darling on a frosty morning (-6 outside right now). Day not starting so well with dd2 doing the most revolting runny nappy just as I realised I have no nappies left (but found an old pack of pull ups) and I am about to take dd1 to the GP because she's cried with tummy ache all week (plus fever, want to rule out appendicitis). Ho hum.

Oh dear BG. Hope your girls are OK and DD2 manages to have a nice birthday.

I'm assuming you're next on the birthday front SB...?

BG I hope your DD1 is Ok. And that DD2 had a nice birthday anyway.
SB there is some left but it might be too early!

So I have been to the 2 yo review. And the pead. is pleased with DD2. She is not concerned at all about the non talking. We will do something if she is not talking at 3. She also said that 2 is still a baby and not to expect too much.
Regarding fussiness and all, it is completely normal and I should carry on doing what I am doing trying and offering different and not make a fuss. Cook her favourite from time to time to make sure she as a balance diet. And switch to growing up milk, which is better regarding protein content (lower so it might motivate her to eat more) and in case she still refuse to eat it is fortify with vit, omega 3&6 and iron. It is bloody expensive though.
14.5 Kg and 94 cm or something, she moves so much that anything between 92 and 97 is fair game. (94 cm put her on at 50% BMI charts which she has been on before so deal it is).

The pead. has been trained in france and worked there and here. They are expecting less for the 2 y review than in the UK. Mind you when DD1 had hers it was at 2.5 y and the HV told me she delays it on purpose because too many children without any problem "failed" at 2 and were much better at 2.5.

My laces were frozen when I came back from the doc. I do understand now why the laces at top of the boots are not in holes. Doh!

I had to ask DH to untie me

mous I read your last post first and went , then realised you were talking about shoe laces . Hehehe. Glad the paed was able to reassure you all is well

Well dd2's birthday is not quite a proper birthday so far although she pointed out to anyone who would listen in the shop earlier 'Happy birthday... Me!' and got a few smiles and congratulations. She loved opening her cards this morning too. She'll get her presents tomorrow morning over a leisurely breakfast when dh is here and not about to rush out the door to go to work. dd1 had a serious attack of sibling rivalry this morning and casually remarked whether I remember that she also got a small present the last time her sister had a birthday. (Of course I remember, and she will also get a small present this time ). After a quick GP appointment dd1 is now at school... Learnt something new: dd1 has a throat infection and the GP explained that in children the glands all over the body can react, not just the ones where the infection is. So effectively she has a sore throat in her tummy .

BG . I wouldn't trust DH to tie me! He would go and do something else and forget .

Gosh! that what my exPead. said too about DD1 and her constant complain of tummy ache (and repeated tonsillitis to go with it) . Does that mean I have to check her throat every time she complain about a tummy ache?

The pead. also said "the fussiness will pass soon it is usually much better after they reach 4 yo"

Happy Birthday to BG's DD2!!
Glad to hear it's not too serious with DD1, hopefully it will clear up soon.
Funnily enough, I just read a thing in the toddler book you lent me BG which said children often say they have a sore tummy when in fact the problem is in the throat....

Good to hear the pead is relaxed about your DD2's progress, Mous x

mous It's never tool ate for a drink I'm known to be at Gatwick airport with a fry up and a pint of beer at 8am!
Good that the paed has reassured you.

BG glad that your DD2 had a good day.

Yes DS's is tomorrow and don't have a clue it's his birthday or what it means.

Need to go and ice his cake and wrap his present...

Happy bday BG's DD2, and have a lovely 'official' bday tomorrow

Happy bday for tomorrow to SB's DS. I doubt I'll be online tomorrow, have my DSis coming to visit. Yay! You must post a pic of the cake SB. I predict major cake envy from me...

Great to hear DD2's review went well Mous. I think perhaps HV are too zealous here. A friend's 16mo DS has been referred to speech and language therapy because he doesn't speak yet, it seems a bit early for intervention to me (but also can't hurt I suppose). at your temperature and blizzard warning. Shoelaces frozen?! That is proper weather. Here the trains will probably stop running if we get a smatter of snow (better not stop my DSis coming ).

I just woke DD2 from a 3hr nap, that's after sleeping 12.5 hrs overnight (woken as we were going out) and a good morning nap too (or early afternoon in her case). It's bizarre. She still won't go to bed before 10pm tho

Any left? Thank goodness dry January is over, not that I lasted anyway.

Feeling a tad nostalgic here... At around this time two years ago dh and dd1 had just dropped me outside the hospital with an overnight bag and I had walked halfway through the hospital (major building work at the time so no easy access to maternity) to the maternity assessment unit. They took my notes and asked me to stay in the waiting room. My file was about the 5th on the list... I lasted about 10 minutes and went to ask the reception staff how long it might be because my contractions were about a minute apart. Cue frantic activity finding someone to assess me (8cm!) and equally frantic transferral to maternity . They wouldn't even let me walk there...
Ah, happy memories. She was furious when she was born (cord around her neck twice didn't improve her mood) but soon calmed down cuddling up to me for ages. That hasn't changed much .

Happy Birthday SB's ds