Dec 08 Mums - happy new year, happy new thread and soon some happy new babies!

[sybilfaulty]

Happy new year!

Sorry for the rubbish title but wanted to get the new thread underway. Let's close the door on some of the sad events of 2011 and look forward to a better year in 2012.

Vag, your poor DS - cuts in the mouth are pretty messy can be kind of scary for them even if not too much harm done. DD did similar a couple of years ago and it really upset her.

Thanks for all your good wishes. All doing OK here, though I must confess to being properly shattered, DH even more so. DH has one sister who lives in London as well, so FIL is pretty much on his own. At the moment he is with us, but is planning to go home at the end of the week, but I imagine he'll be up and down a lot more. In the medium term I expect he'll move to London. He's pretty good for 80 and reasonably competent at looking after himself - MIL was more or less bed bound for the last year or so and he had looked after both of them, so in some ways a relief.

Morning ladies, it's looking like a lovely week here, the weather temperature getting up to the dizzying heights of 15 degrees.

Beans I theory you could get to a level where you could run the race. You just have to accept that you are going to have to do some hardwork. So it just comes down to you whether you really want to do it. I'm sure you could download a training program or DH could help you with one but as a guide you will need to do at least 2 sessions a week but really you should be doing 3. You need a sprint/strength training session, a race pace medium length run & a long run. I'm not sure what sprint training you do now but just stick to it or ask DH to talk you through what you should do. If you have not done it before you could just start by running as fast as you can for 200meters then slow for 200, then slowly increase those distances. Eventually you will reduce the rest run. Now for the medium run and the long run these should be the same length in the first week. Start with 6 miles each run then each week add 1mile to the 2nd run so in 2 weeks time you will be running a 6 mile run and a 8 mile run. You will need to make sure you leave at least a day between each session to allow your body to rest and your muscles to grow. Now this should mean by the race day you are running 13miles. However, if you feel you are doing ok and want to increase your longer run quicker then that's fine. But this way your longest run increase will be the race so you are not actually having a taper period (that's when you tone down your training to rest in the lead up to a race). I wouldn't give yourself a time to do but I think conservatively, I would expect you could do under 2hrs 15mins. But really don't put pressure on yourself just aim to do it. That's a start closer to the race you can give yourself a time to aim for when you know how long it is taking you to run a mile. Try when you run the shorter run to run a little faster than you do the longer runs.

Does that all make sense? I'm on my phone so can't read it back easily so hope it hasn't got too many errors.

Gosh I missed loads of commas in there, sorry if it doesn't make sense let me know.

Invisible Sorry to hear about your MIL. Love to all of you.

Off to my grandad's funeral this aft.

DD2 has gone on nursing strike again. We were on 3 feeds a day a week ago (after her latest illness) but since Sat morn nothing at all. I've hand expressed a bit but can't decide whether to just let her wean or keep trying to coax her. I'm sore and full and she is teething and miserable. Any thoughts very welcome!

Hello all - sorry for the long absence, life has been busy and then we all got the flu and felt very sorry for ourselves. Bring on Spring, I say. Lady: did I catch something about you heading over to Essex soonish? What dates and where? It would be lovely to see you.

Spot: so sorry to hear about your sister - I agree about the offer of practical help. I don't think I would want to talk to anyone either. Hope your boys feel better soon.

Indith: congratulations on baby Arthur! A great name and a lovely birth story, thank you for telling us. Vag: I'm afraid I won't be stepping up with another baby, I love to see tiny babes but have no desire to have a third at the moment. Two is enough to cope with!

Invis: I'm sorry about your MIL. Hope you are looking after yourself as well as the rest of the family.

Jolly: I love the idea of a guerilla tickler! Maybe he's found his career path :)

Poo tribulations: DS1 struggles with this, a routine helps but he still has accidents. DS2 on the other hand has been fine for a while.

Hope you are all enjoying the longer days and the new daffs - I love this time of year. Am feeling pretty cheerful since DH and I went out to a party at the weekend - MIL looked after the boys - and I wore heels and stayed out past midnight. Haven't done that in too long. MIL now keen to have the boys for the weekend. DH very bust at work but will try and nag him into a jaunt somewhere.

Vag - thanks so much for those tips. In all honesty, with the move in a couple of weeks etc, I don't think I'm going to be able to dedicate the time to it. Maybe later in the year. But I just wasn't being realistic last night - was buoyed up on post-run adrenaline and endorphins, I think! I have woken up with the usual sore ankle and wobbly toenail this morning, which has put me off anyway! Ha! I am a lightweight. But you are so so kind to spend so much effort on me. But reading your email, while encouraging, also made me realise that I don't have the time at the moment. You are an angel, thank you.

Effie - great to hear from you.

Invis - second the sympathies for your MIL. death is always such a sad thing. I'd be so sad if my MIL died, I must say.

We've had such a lovely few days. I will come and bore you about them soon. Today particularly, been out all day - blissful. Exhausted now. All of us!

MOrning all. Wow Beans that would be pretty hardcore to get to half marathon in such a short time. I've just entered a 10k for the end of May and I"m nervous enough about that!!

Invis - Sorry to hear about your MIL.

Jolly - Hope the funeral went OK.

Vag - Well done on the run, I'd be delighted to do 5k in that time even without a dodgy ankle.

Kiwi, I put my name down for a 10k yesterday, the run is middish-May. I don't think I could ever run as far as a half-marathon! I am very old though.

What is going on with all these runners? I am slightly intimidated in awe of you all. And your pelvic floors of steel.

T got a second course of antibiotics today as he's had a temp of 40 + for 4 days in a row. Delirious at night. Am going slightly loopy on the sleep deprivation front. Who knew that kids still got scarlet fever? I thought it was just Beth from Little Women...

They are a lot of fun together now though, I can see why people have more than one child (yes, it's taken until now for me to appreciate this).

Hi Effie, lovely to see you, glad you had a good night, you dirty stop out. Muy .

Eeek, been meaning to get on here all day. DD1 is ill again so you know how that can be - her temp keeps soaring. She was sick on Saturday and complains of this and that but then has hours of being normal with a normal temperature. Funny you mention Scarlet Fever, Spot - there have been two cases of this at O's pre-school recently. Poor old T, sounds horrid. And for you too.

Invis, I am very sorry to hear that sad news about your MIL. What a nasty shock. Your poor FIL (and DH). Gosh, I hope he does move to London so he's got his kids closer.

How did your Grandad's funeral go off, JB? I hope it was ok.

I was thinking about our merry band in the middle of the night (DD1 got me up about four or five times, which I must admit is incredibly unusual. It was bad dreams but I think it's actually cos she is ill). We have got lots of absentees, haven't we? Stick your heads round the door, you rotten lot!

Well, as usual I need to come back and do an extensive catch up but I need to get the girls off to bed (early, for them ). There is soooooo much I want to say/ask about.

I know there are lots of absentees and you are all naughty, but most of all, where is Trace? I was thinking about you on Sunday Trace, how is the GNR training going.

Also hope the funeral was ok JB. Was that a long time to wait for the funeral?

Sorry you've got the ills Lady, not fun. And Cat, does he have a tongue like a strawberry? I've only once looked after a child with scarlet fever, though that doesn't mean much as these days they don't often need hospitalization. As much as people moan on about evil antibiotics, if it weren't for them diseases like Scarlet fever would be life threatening and more widespread. Though they should stop giving them to perfectly healthy cows & pigs.

I have been writing this for days, and every time I'm about to post someone else posts and I need to update what I've written. At this rate I'll still be trying to keep up at Christmas ...

That is such sad news Spot, I'm so sorry for your family. Is your sister home now? I hope being back with her DD brings her some comfort, she must have missed her terribly. How are your boys now Spot? Do they both have SF? I also thought it was one of those 'old' diseases that was no longer around

I'm also thinking of Invis and your family. It's really awful that their house was broken into, rubs salt into the wound

Gosh, and also Jolly, I hope the funeral went well? He lived to a marvellous age, so a lot to celebrate

Indith your birth story was really lovely, well done you. Did you know you were having a boy, or was he a surprise? You'd said a few times he was just like his brother, being late etc etc, so I wondered if it was a good guess!

How is S doing Jump? Potty training reduced me to tears and tantrums, so to effectively do it again sounds really tough. I hope there is some progress. I love the plight of the firemen Nolda! I've been following the suggestions for Jump with interest, as DD1 has regressed on the TT since DD2 has arrived. It's clearly an attention thing, as she only does it at home and when we're engrossed in DD2, such as feeding or changing her - I've used the tips of creating a routine, and Jump's comment that S was seeking one to one time made me think that E wants the same, so I'm taking her to the loo and having a girly chat in there. And of course, blatant bribery. Had I got round to posting last week, I would have been ranting and crying as I'd just about reached the end of my tether, but with all your tips we've turned a corner this week. I hope the same is true for you Jump?

Jolly chip spice is a very orange blend of e numbers spices, similar colour to the flavouring on prawn cocktail crisps, that is shaken liberally over hot chips, not the fat fish and chip shop type chips, takeaway ones. So tasty, especially at an unearthly hour of the morning when there are no taxis to be found! I love DD1 offering herself as tickler to the untickled!

Fortunately I'll still be a young whippersnapper in my forties in 15 years time Beans, but our little ones will be 18 then! Adults! They'll be voting, drinking, some maybe heading to uni, others making their first million. I wonder if any of us will be grannies by then?

Kiwi have you started to address the sleep? Good luck, I can't believe how little sleep you must be getting right now

I agree with Vag, someone else needs to support Kayz and have another baby. By my reckoning, there has always been someone clackered in our lovely group since Beans got the ball rolling with P, we can't stop now

I've been missing Trace too, are you lurking? Hope all is going ok with the house?

I too love this time of year Effie, there's so many flowers and leaves opening every day. It always puts a spring in my step

Right, I think I've done my best to catch up now, if I've missed anyone, hellooo! I've been typing this whilst watching OBEM and weeping (as usual), but this week because I've got DD2 in my arms and I looked at the new babies on OBEM and DD2 doesn't have that brand new look anymore, she's already getting a bit rounded and less wrinkly. She was a month old yesterday and she's growing up too quickly

I must go to bed now, but I've got loads to add about my life with 2, so will come back again soon. Night all

One month old ZJ, wow!

Yes I did know he was a boy. I wasn't supposed to but the sonographer blabbed . He is half asleep on the sofa with me at the moment. 10 days old and already losing the newborn look, skin clearning up after flaking off (due to being overcooked), cheeks looking rounder .

I'm a litle at scarlet fever too! You never hear about it now, it does sound very Little Women.

HV due this morning. Got appointments coming out of our ears for one child or another at the moment. Ds1 has glasses and has an appointment to do more detailed eye tests at the hospital next week. Dd has her sleep test tonight. Ds2 has newborn hearing screen tomorrow......plus the usual run of MWs and HVs, relatives, registering birth etc. Half scared and half looking forwarrd to next week and getting back into routine with dh back at work.

Ds1 having been dry at night for a couple of eeks has wet 4 nights in a row and completely slept through it. Back to nappies then. Urgh.

Hello all,

ZJ Glad all is well with you. The TT regression sounds hard. They all regress to some extent. L asked to be spoon fed 2hen J started on solids!

J is still refusing to bf. Has been 6 days now. I've been expressing tiny amounts and she drinks that enthusiasticly from a cup. I'm going to give up I think. I feel so emotional about it though. I'd have been happy to carry on longer. I'm sure it is related to her getting more top teeth. It is such a faff expressing though, I can't keep doing that.

Sorry, bit of a stream of consciousness there!

Spot I had no idea Sf was still something you could still get. Hope things have improved in your house.

Hello,

Sorry I have been awol for a while. I have another sinus infection and feeling pretty rubbish as usual. I think I have SPD starting too. I worked out that on average I walk 22 miles a week. Mon, Wed and Thurs are 6 miles as I have 3 school runs to do. Why I don't have legs like a supermodel I don't know!

DP should be home next week, was meant to be Saturday but might be earlier now.

I really hope you are all well and that little Spot and little LadyT are feeling better soon.

Hi chaps! How are you all doing? Kayz - so sorry you're feeing so crap. Horrible.

ZJ - I can't believe your DD2 is a month already! Scary! Time is fleeting past.

I'm afraid I'm going to be fairly absent for a while as we move next weekend and it's time to start packing this weekend. Although DH is doing the lion's share as someone has to look after the girls. Plus we had a massive row about it and he has refused to let the removal guys do it. It was an extra £250 and he won't fork out. I know that's quite a lot, but I thought it was worth every penny for the stress-relief. I have quite enough on my mind at the moment, without fretting about that. Anyway, the upshot of it was that he said he would do it all while I look after the girls. So I agreed. Although I haven't been through my wardrobe and halved it and the garage and chucked out a ton of stuff. Feel much better for it. Oh and I input 100 CD barcodes onto Music Magpie. We're getting £27 for them. Hmmmm.

Anyway, I must run as, once again, I have loads to do while DD2 snoozes and DD1 goggles. A manic week or so. Then we're in and I think I'll have to get ready to be lonely for a while!!

xx

JB I'm so sorry I meant to comment about DD2's nursing strike when you first mentioned it and completely forgot. Oh I feel terrible now. I was going to say, try posting about it on here as I'm sure I've seen threads about this in the past, and also contact either LLL or BfN. If you want I can ask on one the litter forum group I'm with? Again I'm so so sorry, I'm a bit of a flake at the moment.

LITTLE forum not litter forum!

Thanks Vag, I started a thread last time and got some good advice. It is like she can't work out how to accomodate her emerging teeth as she feeds. It makes her cross and she bites. I've been expressing but get tiny amounts. I am torn as to whether to give up entirely and stop offering or keep expressing/offering. It has been nearly a whole week now since she fed. I've looked on lll and kellymom but the tips seem more applicable to smaller, less stubborn babies!

Beans I think your Dh is crazy not to pay tje extra! Maybe he'll change his mind once he starts!

Ah jeez Beans, I think £250 IS worth it for the stress relief. We moved and packed ourselves this time but if we'd had the spare cash at the time would most certainly have forked out for packing and removal. On a more postive note...it is possible, and we came out the other side ok and we had tons of gear. So you will be ok. IN FACT, unpacking is deffo worse than packing and unfortunately one usually has to do that bit oneself, whatever the removal plans!

Sorry DD2 isn't feeding, JB. That sounds hard. I hope she either changes her mind or you feel better about it soon. xxx.

Thanks Kayz, DD1 is fine now. She's just been dancing around in her princess dress. You have all this to come! Sinus infections are vile - I do hope you feel better soon.

Speaking of dresses, her bridesmaid dress arrived the other day for her godfather's wedding at Easter. It's gorgeous. Heaven knows what I am going to wear though. Still haven't lost the 3k to get me to my target (not my FINAL target, just A target) so might have to get drastic. My ribs now feel good enough for me to get on the rowing machine so I really do have no excuse....

ZJ, I was thinking about you the other day and remembering how after I had DD2 I was so many weeks in and thought I simply CANNOT cope with all this. I seem to remember we all had that However, in a few weeks, you will have a magic day when you just think "Hmmmm....actually, I will and it's all getting easier." Indith - I cannot speak with any authority about having three, of course DD2 is 18 months now and I cannot believe that in 4 months she will be the same age that DD1 was when she (DD2) was born.

DD2 is still such an adorable ray of sunshine. A genuinely cheery child. They are both fabbo of course, but DD1 is (still) super sensitive so takes more looking after.

Sorry to all those who are having TT relapses. How stressful. JJ, I do hope things have improved for S.

Jam and Effie (and PD) - I am going to be at the Crowne Plaza 16-18 April and will be available all day on the Tuesday, the 17th. It's here and it looks like it's pretty much in the middle of nowhere - not near your office, PD, unfortunately. Yep, because DP has a trial nearish by, we are all off there as I refused point blank to be abandoned on my 40th birthday Would love to see any or all of you, if it's convenient. Effie, I too love this time of year and like you am a massive fan of daffs. Adore them.

Vag, you did make me laugh a lot with your idea that a village sounds like "a little cluster of houses made from resources available locally". HA HA HA! You aren't too far wrong. Plus, in my village lots of locals have married each other and the focus of the whole village is the shop!

What a lot of you are running! Beans/Vag/Nolda/Kiwi and I believe Summer and DB's running programmes are keeping them off here! Well, no running here, except up and down the stairs 1,000,000,000 times a day....

Aubi, your trip to Kosovo sounded so interesting. I don't want to sound like a berk but sometimes when trips are more challenging they can be so memorable. I have bored you about my trip to Armenia and Georgia before, which was so tough and not just because DH was mega ill (actually Armenia is nice, but I really hated Georgia) - but it's a trip I've probably thought about and learned more from than almost any other. As I say, I don't want to sound like a pretentious nit cos I also love a good sunshine hol to somewhere cheerfully commercial as much as the next person.

Ah, it's the next chapter in my midlife crisis tour at the weekend. Northern Germany here I come. I am staying in a slightly better quality hotel this time, the one in Pisa was just too grotty (25 Euros a night - what did I expect). I am hoping there will be no dramas like the purse snatching incident this time.

Aubi, you asked how things were with DP. I will probably curse us now but things have been quite nice for a couple of months now. He hasn't been drinking since Christmas (not that he drinks loads, but steadily I guess, and he is better off without it) and has also had a lot of work so that seems to help as I get annoyed if I see him loafing around a lot (I know that probably sounds horrible, but he would spend all his time supine if he could and it irritates me). We had a very rare night out last week as I mentioned, and it was really nice. Any more thoughts about DC #3?

Kiwi, any more thoughts on the dummy? I know I have bored you all with this before but with DD1, tying the dummy to a muslin helped her find it at night. And when we wanted to wean her off the dummy, she still had the muslin to cuddle and that made that easier too.

And I STILL haven't finished with my catch up but cannot sit on my nearly 40 year old ass a moment longer! So much to blinking well do.

Sympathy on the nursing strike. How old is she now? I've lost my marbles track. I guess if she wants it she'll come back to it and if she is happy without and doesn't come back to it then it is a job well done and you certainly don't need to feel any guilt.

Last time we moved I swore that if we ever move again we are getting someone to do it all for us. £250 is a drop in the ocean when added on to cost of house, solicitors, stamp duty etc.

Ds2 being a fusspot today. I guess next week will be easier in a lot of ways as with me doing all the school runs he will be forced to space his feeds more (while I feel stupidly guilty about it) so hopefully in the afternoons I'll be able to put him down a bit more and play with dd who is pretty much ignoring me now and wanting daddy all the time.

Hello everyone

Sorry I haven't read or posted. Having a nightmare. Working 5 days this week and tomorrow have a party for DD2 and 30 of her pals. Am going to be making cakes into the wee small hours. Will I ever get this sodding work done? Am exhausted, skint as I have had to buy 2 extra days nursery and a bit fed up, but otherwise fabulous. Hope you are all doing well.

I'll be on for a proper catch up as soon as I can. Love to you all XXXX

Sybs. Don't make things harder for yourself. BUY THE CAKES!
That is all. Good luck getting through the work

Spot it's a shared party with T's friend who is 1h 9 min younger! Friend's mother had HB, in water, very relaxed whilst I was at Kings with planned CS, nice music, lots of drugs and very very relaxed! The girls are so sweet together and lovely mother is making 48 cupcakes, but I said I'd do the birthday cake. We have had a topper made with a pic of the 2 girls (pre haircut in T's case thankfully) so I am crafting an A4 size sponge. It's the least I can do really.

(but am buying all the rest, inc booze for the parents. The scout hut won't know what's hit it!!)

Have a great day.

Morning all,

Thanks everyone, I feel much better today about the bf ending. I was having such a wobble! End of an era. Looked in her mouth before and she has 3 top teeth emerging at once. No wonder she is grumpy!

Ladyt Have a great trip! Sounds marvelous. Are you going to Hamburg?

Vag Did ds2's lip heal up ok?

Syb Hope the party goes well. I had tje same thought as spot re buying the cake!

Indith Being forced to space feeds around school run might encourage longer naps. If he likes the pram.

L was sick in the night and has a raging temp. More illness!