March 2005 part 5 - Can't believe they're almost 1!

[busywizzy]

This time last year, we were all enormous, waiting for them to arrive - now they're almost 1

Busy - hope your dd is doing ok and will be on the mend soon. What a worry. You feel so powerless when they're ill, don't you.

We just had Iris's first birthday party, which went really well. Four three year olds, five one year olds, not too much chaos! They did dancing, and shaking musical instruments with great gusto. Then the big kids did a treasure hunt. And finally everyone tucked into a kiddie's tea-party. There was Iris's favourite "bang-bang chicken" from Annabel Karmel, and cheese sarnies, and homemade sausage rolls. And we even manged to persuade the kids to eat some carrot and cucumber sticks before the cakes emerged. Dd1 and a friend had helped me make pink-iced flower cupcakes and cornflake crispies, and then there was a Victoria Sponge cake with a candle, which Iris kept pointing at and shouting until she was given her piece which she shoved in her mouth all in one go!

She now has an elephant noise to add to her duck, monkey and lion impressions. Obviously going to be an animal imperonater!

A quick one from me before I slope off to bed - have come down with some lurgy and have spent the day asleep whilst dp looked after the kids. Very boring. And am feeling bit worried about having to manage a full day with them tomorrow. Best strategy seems to be to get under my duvet again even though it's not even 8pm.

On the meet-up front. I can do Fridays easily, as that's one of my days off. Weekends are also possible, but I would probably rope in dp and would have to check our diary which I don't have to hand.

Hope everyone had a good weekend ...

Sorry you're feeling rough Pidge - I think we'll all be glad when Spring arrives and chases away all these horrible bugs. Hope you're feeling better tomorrow.

Glad Iris's party went well though - sounds like fun . I can't believe it's going to be Grace's party a week today - still not sure what we're going to do foodwise as the other babies range from 10mths to 1yr and some of the younger ones are not good with finger food. I also think I need to do nibbles for the adults but may make a trip to M&S for those!

We have a new strategy with the early-morning waking now. Instead of battling to get her back to sleep at 5am-ish, I bring her into bed with us and feed her - she then will fall back to sleep easily until about 7am. Am a bit worried that we're encouraging a bad habit but it seems to be the easiest solution at the moment. She is most definitely hungry at that time as will not settle after just one breast - she has to have both!

Pidge, so sorry to hear you're poorly and after having such a lovely party for Iris Hope you feel better soon. I had a 24hr sicky bug just before Xmas and honestly didn't believe I'd manage to get through the next day, never mind look after the children but I felt like a different person after a good nights sleep. Fingers crossed for you.

DD is still poorly but it seems to be hitting her in waves. When she's indoors doing nothing, she seems absolutely fine but the minute we go out and do anything, she comes over all weak and tired. Took her to Tescos yesterday as we desperately needed some food as I haven't been able to shop as she's not been well. Got half way round and we had to stop and find a chair for her to sit down on for a while. Today I took her across to see nan and grandad. We only stayed for an hour but she fell asleep in the car coming home.

We've got a doctors appointment tomorrow so we'll see what he says.

Fussy eating - hmmmmmmmm ..............no, definately don't recognise that with my little piggy Today he had his milk when he woke up (at 8.15 ), he had cereal for breakfast then ate DD's toast which she didn't want and a yogurt she wouldn't eat either. He scoffed a whole load of grapes at the grandparents, followed by half a banana. He had cheese sandwiches for lunch, more grapes and some raisins, a bottle of milk after his nap, roast dinner at teatime, blackcurrant jelly and ice-cream and some banana cake No wonder I'm finding him difficult to carry

He's been a right grump today although I think that's more to do with having been stuck in the house for days whilst DD has been poorly. Could have cheerfully throttled him today, he was soooooo whingy.

I wonder if Leo has had a good time in the mountains.

BonyM, M&S sounds good to me I'm even buying Harrison's birthday cake there - that's how much effort I'm putting into this party

I'm definately of the thought that whatever works is good at 5am. Hideous time to have to get up I think so if Grace goes back to sleep in your bed then go for it

v soeedy catch up while expressing so excuse typing

having to pluck up energy to do controolled crying - ds2 is getting much worse. didnt sleep longer thab a 90n minute stretch for last few nights,,,,

Oh Popsycal, he's a real little monkey isn't he You must be so tired - how do you manage. I'm a complete whinge-bag when I have just a few bad nights (and bad in my book is having to get up once )

I did CC with Harrison to crack 5am wakings. It took 15 minutes and just one night. I know it won't be that easy for you but I really hope you get some success. Good luck

BW - Sorry to hear about DD. Will you have both of them at home tomorrow while you are trying to work?

Pidge - Poor you with the sickness bug. I was really poorly Friday and didn't get out of bed all day. DH had to take day off work to look after the kids. He has never had to do that before, but I really couldn't even move. Felt much better by Saturday, though I did feel a bit fragile cos of all the sickness and a bit weak cos I hadn't eaten anything. Couldn't do 19 mile run I had planned, but did manage 11 miles today so hopefully I should stay on track.

Whoever said roll on spring and good bye to all the sickness bugs definitely gets a big thumbs up from me. Trouble is it still seems so cold at the mo, I remember last year when I was waiting for Freya to be born that it was pretty mild. While I was in hospital I was sent out for a walk round the park and DH and I sat on a bench and had some lunch in the sun - can't imagine sitting out in the park at the moment.

Re meet ups, then Fridays are good for me. I can't do 5th/6th May though cos I am away for the weekend (yes, on my own without kids or DH - hurrah!!) or the weekend of 20th May cos I am doing the Playtex Moonwalk, but I think I am free apart from that.

Getting ready for Freya's birthday on friday (St Patrick's Day!). We are having a bday tea after school on Friday for a few friends so that DS1 can be there. Also we are having a family get together the week after on 26th March for a kind of bday cum Mother's Day celebration - 2 parties for the price of 1, I guess!

Enough - must get the school stuff sorted and then off to bed - Goodnight!!

11 miles JoPG ... wow! After being ill that is very impressive.

I'm back on the mend today, but no way am I running anywhere today or tomorrow for that matter! So I'll be giving my running club a miss till next week.

Typically I managed to get Iris to take a nap, and then got dd installed in front of CBeebies and decided to have a nap myself, and my head had been on the pillow less than 30 seconds before Iris woke up! Why does that always happen? Sometimes I think she's psychic.

BoneyM - that's exactly what I do at 5am too. Unfortunately in our case Iris doesn't go back to sleep any longer, and hasn't done since she was about 7 months old. She feeds for about 30-40 minutes and then is up and about. What's more she's often really grumpy, which adds insult to injury. I'm sure she needs more sleep. But given I breastfeed her lying down, snuggled in a warm duvet in a pitch black room for half an hour and THAT doesn't send her back to sleep I don't really think there's any hope! Still, this morning she went through till 6am which is totally manageable. What a difference half an hour makes at that time of day.

Is anyone else who is still breastfeeding finding top teeth a problem? Iris has got one top tooth, and suddenly feeding is not such a comfy thing any more. I do remember this with dd1 and I seem to recall it just got easier, maybe they improve their latch to adjust for the top teeth or something. Hope so .... !

pidge 0- when harry's first top teeth came in it took ages for him to readjust his latch. he now has 6 teeth in total - 2 on the bottomand 4 on the top - all of which are prettyy much fully in. Fine now.

If you try to tip her head back a little bit when you feed I found that helpful. I also used to have harry in a headlock almost at this stage as he used to pull off while biting
nice
:)

Big decision made - I've handed in my notice at work and have decided to be a SAHM, for a while at least. Coffee mornings and meeting up with other yummy mummies is all that awaits me now
Was finding it very hard to find any suitable childcare for DS1, and the only real alternative was a nanny which costs ££££££ and would mean I was working for a pittance.
Good news is work apparently owe me for 12.5 days holiday - so off to Bluewater for me!

DH's birthday tomorrow. He has got pretty lucky cos I decided to have a practice run for Freya's birthday cake and it has turned out pretty ok, so I am going to quickly decorate it and give it to DH. He will feel loved! I have bought him tickets to go a see Derren Brown, the illutionist / magician guy, who he really likes.

Unfortunately no longer breastfeeding atall. Freya is an all or nothing kind of girl. She really liked bfing, but then once she got the hang of a cup she completely rejected it. To be honest it was getting hard being to only person who could give her any kind of drink, so maybe it is for the best.

Good luck with the cc Popsy. We did this with dd1 and it worked like a dream - all sorted within 2 nights and she's been a fantastic sleeper ever since.

Jo -majorly impressed with the running. I don't do any "formal"exercise but was cheered by an article in the weekend papers that said regular exertion ie. fast walking, vigorous hoovering etc. was just as good as gym sessions! As I seem to be always late for the school run (some days it almost is a run rather than a walk!) I reckon I can get away without doing anything else .

Congrats on the decision to be a SAHM as well - will be nice to have someone keep me company on this thread - I was beginning to feel a bit left out!

With regard to the breastfeeding, I didn't really notice a difference when Grace's top tooth came through - luckily she gave up biting me some time ago. She crawled over and bit my little toe the other day - blimey her teeth are sharp!

She has another cold and was awake between 2.30am and 5.30am this morning . Dh and I did 1.5hrs each - every time we thought she had dozed off, whoever was with her would make a move for the door and she'd sit bolt upright and start crying again. Ho hum, let's hope tonight is better.

Sylvia has 4 top teeth now (and 2 bottom ones) but she doesn't bite too much. She scratches my neck and chest, though, and pinches my other nipple.

Jo - good luck with your new SAHM life. I hope it works out well for you.

Sylvia's been waking up earlier and earlier, she was up before 6 today. I've had a bad cold this past week and DS was poorly at the weekend (miraculous recovery to attend a birthday party on Sunday, though).

Gosh these early mornings are a killer aren't they? It was back to 5.30am this morning. And whereas I used to be able to feed Iris for 40 minutes in bed it's now soo painful with her teeth digging into me, I can only manage about 10 minutes each side. It's not that she's biting me, just that her really sharp tooth digs in hard as she sucks. Pooh. Hope she sorts out her latch soon. It's better when I'm sitting up, but I'm not that keen to be separated from my duvet at that time of the morning .

JoPG - congrats on the job decision. It must be such a relief to have reached a conclusion. And how exciting to be able to devote yourself completely to life at home. Your lucky dh with the cake! What kind was it? I opted for the totally basic Victoria Sponge with jam and cream in the end. No decoration other than a bit of sprinkled icing sugar and a manky candle we found at the back of the cupboard. Iris was thrilled of course!

I'm back :)! I've read all your posts and have a feeling that mine is going to be a long one so I'm off to get a huge mug of tea first :)!

Welcome back, Leo. Eager to hear your mountain story!

Busy - how is dd1? What did the doctor say? It sounds very worrying. I hope she is OK and recovering. So sorry you have had a tough time with her.

Popsy - you have to believe that Harry isn't hungry when he wakes up in the night. He shouldn't be if he is eating well during the day. Good luck with the CC if you go through with it.

Jopg - Well done with the marathon training :)! Fantastic! A friend is trying to persuade me to do a 20K (very hilly but wonderful) run in Lausanne at the end of April, not sure if I can even get fit enough to do that! Great about the decision to be a SAHM :)!

Such a shame that you didn't all meet up! I was so looking forward to hearing how it went and what you are really all like.

Cristina - I was going to ask teh same thing about Sylvia's name. I think Sylvia is nicer, it looks somehow softer. As for thinking about another baby... we too are thinking about it, but we won't try until the summer - fistly I think spring babies are the most beautiful:o (and I would like maternity leave in the summer again) and secondly some funny thing in my health insurance means that I can't go to the hospital I want to before 1st March next year! I am not keen on the whole pregnancy thing again, but hope I can be more relaxed about it when the baby is planned (Niklas wasn't) I am also worried about my stomach muscles. I have a big ridge down the middle under my belly button. I need to do some work to sort it out before getting pregnant again I think - anyone got any advice for it? I don't find Niklas easy, compared to friends babies he is very hyperactive and very demanding, he has also been ill so much in the past months and that is also physically and emotionally exhausting. Another one will be really tough, but we want another one (I can't imagine only having one) and don't want a big gap between them.

Pidge - symapthies with the biting while breastfeeding. It makes me shiver to think of breastfeeding Niklas now when I see his mouthful of teeth (he has 8 and a back one trying to push through), he bit my finger the otherday, so painful!

Bonym - I hope Grace is better and you had a better night last night.

Jambot - make us jealous and tell us how wonderful the weather is in Cape Town at the moment. Over here we have had a very long, long, long cold winter. We have had snow on the fields and in the forest where I live since the end of November. Its quite unusual.

Well, the holiday was ok, up and down. Saturday and sunday were just nice days, visited DH's parents on the way up to the mountains which was nice. Sunday a nice day, took Niklas sledging and walking in the snow. Monday I went snowboarding in the morning, fantastic snow :o, met Niklas and DH for lunch, after lunch Niklas was sick and continued to be sick until tuesday morning :(! We called the doctor who told us to give him teaspoonsfull of flat diluted coke , but he was even throwing that back up, by tuesday morning he was throwing up blood. Took him ot the doctor who gave him an anti-sickness pill. He was then really not well, miserable, tired and had diaorrhea (sp?) until Sunday when it was time to go home. We had 2 days of rain, but then loads and loads and loads of snow. I went snowboarding again on saturday and sunday (when the sun managed to come out), it was amazing!
Niklas is 100% better now, but is completely out of his routine and sleeping badly. He cried this morning when we left him at the nursery :( and I hate my job :( so it was really tough coming in this morning.

Misdee - great that you drop in and post sometimes. its nice to see you here. Keep us upto date with Serena's modelling career :)!

Leo - Sounds like you had the best of times and the worst of times on your holiday. Poor Niklas, it sounds as if he was very poorly. I find it very dificult at this age when they are poorly cos they often seem to fight sleep, and they can't tell you what is going on or what hurts. Glad to hear that he is well and on the mend now.
Also, must have been good for you to get some snowboarding in.

Pidge - DH' cake is just a sponge really, but I have a lovely star shaped dish tht I have made it in, so it looks fancier than it really is. Will let DS1 decorate it with some choccie buttons tomight when he gets in from school, and since I am suffering from PMT I will probably eat loads of the choccie buttons at the same time.

Btw - Am thinking of taking Evening Primrose Oil for PMT symptons. Has anyone ever tried this? I suffer quite badly and am very irritable. One big advantage of being pregnant and then bfing was that I avoided this for a while, but now back with a vengeance. Any ideas? Might get brave and start my own thread on the subject.

Leo. sorry to hear that your break wasn't 100 perfect and that little Nilkas was ill. Is he walking yet? Leo, I used to know the name for what you are talking about. If you do a sit up and feel in the middle between your stomach muscles, can you feel a gap between the two sides? That is very common for women who have had children and I was lucky that I exercised with a pregnancy exercise specialist and she made sure that my gap didn't widen very much. One essential thing she was very strict about is that I never pulled myself up using my stomach muscles when pregnant. I always had to roll over onto all fours and get up that way. She says trying to do sit ups to improve the situation only makes it worse. You rather need to do 'core stability' Pilates type moves to improve things. Maybe you could look into that.
Cape Town weather is gorgeous - sorry all! Lovely and warm at around 27 degrees, but not too hot. Nights are getting cooler and I am already starting to stress at night, convinced that Lauren might be cold. I get very cold in bed and always think she must be the same. As she doesn't stay under any covers, it's always a problem. I did use a sleeping bag when she was really small, but haven't used on since. Anybody still using one?
Busy - Hope DD is feeling better.
Lauren has her one year check up of Thursday with the Paediatrician. Only thing I'll be really bringing up is that she has a funny toe on her left foot ( inherited from my dad's side of the family).It kinks very strangely and I'm worried it's going to effect her walking. My Aunt has exactly the same and she said it used to bother her until she had it fixed, so will see what he says about it.

Wow, you guys have been busy chatting. I feel like I've missed out when I log in and see loads of posts

Lovely to have you back Leo but so sorry to hear about Niklas. Glad he's on the mend and that this spell of poor health hasn't put you off having anymore. Have fun trying

Jo, well done with the running, I'm still amazed by how far you can run. I seriously would have a heart attack if I had to run 11 miles when I was fit and healthy, never mind after being ill Fantastic news on your decision to be a SAHM Hope you enjoy your decision.

Jambot, good to hear from you

DD went back to school today and seems much brighter this evening than she has for ages. The doctor checked her over yesterday and has taken a water sample and is going to do blood tests if that doesn't show anything up. He thinks the ear, cold, nose bleeds, fainting etc are all part of the virus she had about three weeks ago but he's worried about the tummy pains she keeps getting and thinks she might have a kidney infection. She's had more time off in the past six months than she's had in the whole time she's been at school Let's hope this phase passes soon.

Harrison is gorgeous as ever and I can't believe my baby boy is going to be 1 at the weekend. He's so happy all the time and such a joy to be with. He can't do as good animal noises as Iris, but other than that, he's perfect

Oh forgot to tell you all, a friend of mine from Harrison's ante-natal group has just been admitted to hospital to have her second Imagine that, a 13 month gap !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jo, have been fortunate enough never to suffer from PMT but had a friend who did and she swore by Evening Primrose oil. Hope it works for you.

Just back from book club and noticed my horrid spelling. Nilkas? Sorry Leo.
Glad DD is on the mend Busy. I would love to know her real name. Would you mind telling us?
In fact I'd love to know everyone's real first name, seeing as we've all been together for so long now. Mine's Louise by the way and DH is Peter.

Almost exactly this time 1 year ago my waters broke! All over DS1's bedroom floor, lovely. DH was out for his bday, still 10 days til baby due so all ok - or so we thought. Yes, I know her bday isn't until 17th March, but I just seemed to have the longest labour ever! Feel distinctly calmer tonight than I did then.

BTW - I'm Joanne, DH is Matt, DS1 is Ethan and you all of course know Freya
Pleased to meet you all!
Goodnight for now