July 2010: It's about time, that we all went back to rhyme!

[Spirael]

Though mutiny is always an option.

memphis fridge lock! I never had to get one for A but last week G learnt to open the fridge and literally constantly went in there, got stuff out, opened yoghurts, poured them over the floor, etc etc etc. Yes I could spend months saying "no" and moving her away every time she went there. Or I could buy a fridge lock for $3 and relax (which I did).

Worktops - everything is pushed to the back where she can't pull anything down. Sharp knives are in the top drawer which she can't reach. I could get those drawer lock things too but she's not too bad with drawers.

mlic I think it's a hard age with them knowing what they want but not being able to communicate it yet, G spends half the day going "Ergh! Ergh!" at me and I'm meant to know from that what she wants. Actually, about 90% of the time she's happy if I give her food. She drags me around the house by the hand/leg to try to show me what she wants too.

We got teeth 13 and 14 here last week.

Off to walk to shops, park and fruit and veg shop today (we could drive but it will fill the morning in nicely if we walk). I am thinking of things to do each morning as there's no pre-school for A. The playgroup we go to has finished for summer too but we are having meet ups twice a week at a local park which helps. Then a birthday party Thur morning so only Friday to fill now!

Oh yes, A used to spend hours standing on a chair at the sink "washing up". She loved it - kept her busy for ages. I sometimes stick G in high chair with crayons/paper/playdough/whatever while I'm cooking or doing stuff in the kitchen

I found out at the weekend that S can use scissors to cut things...very, very scary seeing a tiny boy standing at the table cutting up pieces of paper into little shreds.

I agree with distractions, I bake/cook when the dc are running around but try to give them stuff that keeps them busy. The main problem I have is when I want to chill out on the sofa and they're determined to get me off it.

Mine have to be wherever I am. I am very thankful to have an integrated double oven that they can't reach, and a tall fridge freezer so ds2 can't reach the fridge. However it's a galley kitchen, so there is nowhere for them to play/pretend to cook/draw/colour/do anything whilst I'm cooking. And I have the added bonus of having at least one dog stood staring at my feet, waiting for me to drop something.

Teeth 13 and 14 wss We're still on 10 :(

See the dog thing would piss me off. S has taken to sitting on my feet when I cook and won't be shifted for any money. I hate it, it's so dangerous with fat/knives/hot water etc so I'm forever picking him up, putting him back in the living room with whatever I've got to entertain them, legging it to the cooker and doing the dangerous bit before he's back in sitting on my feet again. When it all gets too much or I'm too sore to walk, he goes in his chair with drawing/play doh/raisins and screams til I get him down. But yea, the dog staring at me would seriously be the last straw, I can't stand that fixated look they get!

See with it being a galley kitchen, I have no chair to strap him in, I would prefer that option.

The dogs have got worse recently. I feel like they're contantly following the kids round waiting for them to drop something But the worst thing is that one of the dogs is allergic to everything, so I can't even let him hoover up dropped food. And I've caught them a few times in the last few days taking food of the little table Bastard dogs.

I got one of my bandages wet this morning so had to take it off. I couldn't get a nurse appt to get it redressed so have just taped the bottom of my finger up with a plaster over the steri strips. It was really annoying me so I took the other one off tonight and did the same with that one and ohhhhhh, the relief! My fingers feel so happy to breathe fresh air again

Vik where are you? Any more twinges?

Chul ds1 loves scissors. I've bought him safety scissors for Christmas and I bet he loves them as much as any of his big pressies

Ours is a galley kitchen too mlisc but I bring the high chair over to the doorway of it and put G in there with playdough/food/crayons etc. I really only do it when A wants to do some baking with me as that can take a while. Cooking etc - I try to do easy things that can be done really quickly or can be put in a pot and in the oven and don't require hours of preparation mainly cos I don't enjoy cooking

Our dog doesn't get under my feet too much, he's much better the older he is getting, he quite likes just snoozing in a quiet corner of the house for lots of the day. He loves coming out into the garden for a play but in the house he doesn't hang around us too much.

I'm quite lucky our kitchen is open plan next to a little sitting room area so we have opened up D's old playpen and bolted it to the arch way that separates the kitchen and sitting room so they can play in there to their hearts content while I cook or do stuff and I can see them at all times. I'm also luck that B isn't a climber like her big brother otherwise see would of been over the gate long before now. :o D is also really good at keeping get entertained.

The dog also gets put out to the garden to play if she is under my feet.

Does everyone else's lo's have a shed load of teeth? B still only has her front four with no sign of any others. I'm beginning to wonder if there ever going to come.

D is quite good generally when I'm cooking, I'll give him some frozen peas to eat if he's moaning buy he usually watches tv or potters around me with his toys or something.
My fridge is built in so it's above the freezer and they both have cupboard type doors so D can't reach the fridge which is a big bonus.

chulita ironically enough I get a full nights sleep when D is in our bed now, it's trying to keep him in his bed when the trouble starts.

tsc He is normally so good, not bothered with anything in the kitchen apart from cereal being thrown on the floor if I leave the cupboard open, we have a kitchen diner and thats where his toys are but as soon as his dad comes in he played up, it was because he was exhausted, but he wouldnt listen to me. I dont want to make a habit out of smacking, my grandad only smacked me once and that is it my parents never smacked me no matter how awful I was.
mlic they will probably heal quicker with air getting to them, Our dog doesnt come into the kitchen part when im cooking but does stalk L, he even snatched a cheese straw off of him yesterday, I went up the wall, he sits in wait under the high chair for a crumb!
wss we have intergrated units, I have cupboard and drawer catches but the way the the fridge is set I cant get a fridge or freezer lock.
chulita I forgot I bought some play doh for L last week, wonder if he will like it, he hates funny texture!
Today im staying in until tea time as the car is making worse noises now, then im going shopping with my step mum to buy by christmas presents, booked myself for some treatments on the 24th, nails and eyes!
My mate had her baby early yesterday emergency c section as hey found the babies intestines were outside the body, both doing ok but baby will be in for quite a while

Oh and im feeling a lot less on the edge today eventhough L was up 8 times in the night!

wails the hair, the hair! don't have it all cut off mlic!! i wonder why he gets the girly comments whereas F doesn't? F has a proper mullet at the mo - i love it!

how's things there today? did dh do the wake-ups and give you a lie-in?

how're you doing today memph?

it won't surprise anyone to know that i'm in the non-smacking corner but can see how it can happen in the heat of the moment or to illustrate real danger like chul says. i've come very close a few times with F which really upset me afterwards. tis amazing how cross you can feel towards someone you love more than life itself isn't it?

A usually just sits in her booster seat up at the kitchen table when i'm baking or cooking, she usually happy enough if she's got stuff to do/eat/draw/play with. F's sometimes freerange but knows not to come anywhere near the cooker etc. he's always been Mr sensible - had very few/no breakages, mess, or accidents with him - he's always been a mental challenge rather than a physical one iyswim so it will be a shock if A's different (altho thankfully so far she seems similar in that way).

if i've got something cooking and it only needs to be checked/stirred/dished up i'll leave them in their playroom on the floor above but i can hear them easily and F will grass A up in seconds if she's up to something altho they rarely get up to anything other than getting shit loads of toys out and arguing over the same bloody thing.

Thank you by the way memph you got my arse in gear yday. gave up on my usual creative/home-made standards and went up bought the half price M&S paper!

i thought i was out for a meal last night but got my nights muddled so wrapped presents all last night cos i'm now out every night til Christmas day [shocked] so will be having to fit the rest of the buying wrapping into every spare moment i get. feeling much more sorted now tho.

oh i thought of something this morning which i thought i'd share as it's so cute. A's the toothbrush monitor here: she takes hers and F's toothbrush from me, gives him his, collects it again for the rinse, gives it back to him and then takes it again when he's finished then gives them both back to me. she takes the duty very seriously too.

tsc I have never heard of incredible years/webster stratton course, i may have to google them, how did you get to do stuff like that? You havent mentioned anything about work lately, or DD1's dad or anything, hows things going there?
mylife I must admit my dog drives me mad, he follows me where ever i go and whines and whines and is an absolute nightmare when people come round, he gets shut in the kitchen but whines like mad. We have the tiniest kitchen in the world and D botheres the crap out of me, clinging onto my leg and 'ugh' 'ugh' ing to be picked up and i dont even cook much, so mylife and chu it must really drive u up the wall! Very occasionally i have picked him up and brought him back into the living room and plonked him down with various things and told him very firmly to stay there and do 'whatever' and, much to my amazement, he hasnt cried and he's stayed and played. I think they really know when you really mean it but are not angry, i sooooo need to harness that!!
No twinges for a while the closer it gets to the end of the week and xmas day, the more anxious im gona get i recon. No one is going to want D on christmas day, honestly. My friend who is going to have him on xmas day came round yesterday and they interacted really well so that was nice to see.
dylthan sounds like you have a good set up there, my kitchen is off the diner part of the living room with a sliding door on, which never gets used, so it feels a bit open plan. D has 16 teeth, the molars are mostly through now and they look massive in his tiny mouth, they must blumin hurt!
Well D had a bad night, poor boy, he has a cough which kept waking him up from about 4, could have been worse i suppose. He's gone to the cm today and dh is off, we have a small list of things to do like trip to the tip/charity shop with crap that i have thrown out to make room for #2. I really want to just go out and buy a double buggy and cot and a nice bouncer but we are talking about £500 at least and we just dont have that sort of dosh!

vik do you want to buy our baby jogger double? tis perfect and i'll be sad to see it go but F always walks now so need to think about selling it.

probably only worth it if you/you know someone coming up this way or the courier fews would be expensive (i guess).

cakes I was really upset with myself and was shakey and teary all night, he wont listen to the word dangerous he plays with plugs all day long, on, off, on, off and he did it so much he blew the fuses so we had to electricity for a bit, then he played with the fridge light on, off, on, off. I pull him away get him to eye level, preach the its dangerous and you will hurt yourself, he just laughs, if you say it will go bang he thinks this is the funniest thing ever. one thing he understands is that radiators, cups of tea and the oven are bad as he blows at them as if to cool them down, so why does that go in that hot is bad but plugs are great?

It didn't go accorsing to plan cake :( DH got up the first tme ds1 was sick, but then told him to go back to bed while he sorted the bathroom out and he'd be there in a second...but ds1 ran straight in to me. He ended up in my bed for most of the night, burning up and being sick but wanted me not dh (as kids often do when they're poorly ime). He was sick on me at one point so that was fun. And ds2 spent a significant part of this morning screaming too. For no reason, cos the second I picked him up he stopped.

I do like his hair long cake, I just think it's too long now. And I also think he's getting older but his hair still seems babyish iyswim. I think it needs tidying up. And it's only hair, if we hate it, we'll just grow it again! It grows like wildfire so won't take long

memphis god knows what goes on in their tiny minds, i suppose its all about pushing those boundarys right now and he sure sounds like he's doing that. You just need to stay consistent and keep doing what ur doing even though its hard work. Easier said than done though i know.
cake HHhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmm is it a city mini? What colour is it? Maybe we should pm about it. We are hoping to buy new for not much more than £330, thats the cheapest i can find on the net. My folks are paying for the cot but the blumin mattresses are almost as expensive and i dont have any cot sheets so that will be an out lay too. DH has just told me hes cleared his credit card and would be willing to put some on there temporarily if we sell the icandy. Will be well sad to see that go, i have loved it.

oh man mylife that sucks your end, whats wrong with ds1, is it just a bug? Hope it runs out quickly and no one else picks it up. When does dh finish work? He does sound like he's being a little more hands on but theres nothing they can do when the child wants mama!

viksam kiddicare online do cheaper matresses, I got a sprung one for £40, its identical to the one that mothercare sell for £89 and they deliver. And go to Asda (they sell them online) for the sheets, 2 fitted cot bed sheets are something like £6 for 2 and 2 packs for £8, they have won gold mother and baby awards and they have washed better than the mamas and papas ones we got bought. What else do you need?
Your right about trying to push bounderies I hold his arms when im telling him why its bad and he smirks like he is trying not to laugh in my face, something a 17 month old would never do!
I have put L to bed, Im determined that he wont get over tired today, he ate a whole huge bowl of ready brek today, the first time I tried him with it!

His hair is cut :) Although I think it's a bit too layered at the back He was good as gold as always because he's so used to it.

I got ds2's mattress off Amazon vik for about £40. I have amazon prime so got it something like half the rrp with free delivery.

I don't know what's wrong with him. He's pretty much fine through the day except for a fluctuating temperature and not much interest in food, but three nights in a row he's been sick more than once overnight.

I think teeth 11 and 12 have just popped through. Until about six weeks ago J only had six teeth, so they can all come in one go! I think I see one of the canines under the gum too.

I cannot get J to nap! It's my concert tonight and I still have to print, collate, staple and fold a zillion programmes - I need to do some more printing but the printer is v noisy so don't want to start until I'm sure he's asleep. I wanted to go along to the start of the rehearsal at 2.30 but I don't think that's going to happen, especially as my car is still in the garage. grr. I woke J up at 7.45 this morning as I needed him to nap early so that I could go to the rehearsal, and then also he needs to be in bed really early tonight. I need to leave the house by 7pm but DH won't be back by then, so we've got someone to babysit but obviously I need to get J in bed by then (and preferably asleep). aargh! He was really tired by 10.30am, I held out till 11am but then tried to get him down. At 12 I decided to get him up and give him lunch in case it was hunger stopping him sleeping. Tried again at 12.30, still no joy... he's not crying or anything, just talking to himself in his cot. I'm going to have to give up if he's still not asleep by 1.30. I bet he had 5 minutes at some point and so that'll be all he has, but he still seems really tired.

Right, am going to shut the living room door and do the printing anyway - it has to be done.

woodlands D does exactly that if I try to get him down too early. He will sometimes look tired at 10:30 but its fake! Or at least he's not ready to sleep because Ive made that mistake before. Even if he just lies on his bed that seems enough to refresh him for a few hours!

I know now if hes up before 7 he'll want an early nap but if its closer to half 7 it'll be an after lunch nap.

That must be what it is, dh. Will try to keep him going a bit longer next time. It's so hard to pick the right moment!

He's just about still going now. DH is actually going to be home by 6.30 in the end anyway so didn't need to worry after all... will prob still aim to get him in bed before I leave as he will be so tired. I also need to get myself some dinner and get changed...