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

Hi Leo - good to have you back with us. Sorry that your break was tainted by Niklas' illness, but glad that he is feeling better now.

The separation of the tummy muscles is called diastasis - I bought a book a few months back called "Lose your Mummy Tummy" () which explains about it and gives you exercises to correct it. It involves wearing a fabric "splint" around your stomach while you excerise to prevent the problem from getting worse. Unfortunately, reading the book is as far as I have got - not even read all of it yet, it's just gathering dust on the shelf. It's supposed to be very good though....

Jambot - we are still using sleeping bags. Grace moves around the cot so much that it would be hopeless with sheets and blankets - she'd be out of them within minutes, and we've had some very cold nights recently.

Busy - glad that dd seems to be getting better, it must be a relief for you.

Funny that we should be revealing real names now - I had a dream last night that Leo sent me a text message and her name was Rachel! (I hope it's not btw - that would be too spooky !) Anyway, I'm Maria, dh is Chris and dd1 is Phoebe.

Dh off to the States for 2 nights today, Grace and I both have colds and I was supposed to be going to a "cluster choir" concert that Phoebe is performing in tonight, but mum and dad (who were supposed to be babysitting Grace) have both got terrible colds as well! Phoebe does have a bit of a cold but nothing on earth would persuade her not to go tonight - really sorry that I'm going to miss it. Oh well.

Hope everyone is having a good day.

Ohhhh, aren't we brave revealing names

I'm Suzanne, DH is Michael and DD is Hannah. Come on Leo - are you Rachel or not

How weird hearing the real names! Almost as if you're introducing totally different people to us! Busy, think I'll always think of poor Phoebe as DD. That should become her nickname. Does she know you tell us about her and that she's DD?
Took Lauren to a petting farm today. She saw all sorts of animals and was nearly pecked by a goose. Nearly jumped out of her skin when a cock crowed behind her! Very funny.
At last we have 'mama' coming out of her mouth!! About time. She's only said it once or twice, but the 'm' sound is a new one, so hopefully within a week the constant 'dadaing' will have more variation.

jambot - Phoebe is my dd1! Busy's is Hannah

Oh hell, sorry! Maybe we should just have stuck to the nicknames! At least then we wouldn't have to remember all the other names.

Nice names though they are.

Hi all. You know my real name by now. Nice seeing others' too (knew Suzanne's).

Just a short message to say welcome back, Leo. Glad to hear Niklas is better now. Snowboarding sounds v adventurous to me.

Sylvia was sick last night, for the first time ever. I think it's because she licked some mussels we had (the shells only, but they'd been in a bowl with sauce and other opened mussels) and maybe she was allergic to them. She was fine this morning.

I stayed at home again today to try and get over my cold. I have a job interview on Friday, so I need to finish my presentation tonight and email it tomorrow morning.

This evening we had parents' evening at school. Dominic (year 1) is top of the class at maths, he scored 100% at some assessment they had, the only 100% in his class. At reading he got all 113 words and at spelling he got 111 of the 113. Very, very proud of him. He's deaf and wears hearing aids and goes to a very good local school (mainstream school).

Tomorrow we have a hospital appt for Dominic (ENT), then Woodcraft Folk in the evening, so I won't be around much, as I also need to prepare the presentation for the interview. One of my friends is coming round to babysit for me while I attend the interview, Richard had booked a course for that day so couldn't take the time off.

you want names now, oh no ;)

i am Sarah, my dh is Peter (as most of you all know), we have 3 girls, Nicole, Lauren and Serena.

Bonym (maria)- how funny that you think my name is Rachel, people have said before that I am a rachel. But no........

I am Laura.
DH is Andreas.

Busy (Suzanne) How is Hannah doing? Is she really better? did you get results from teh doctor?

Jambot (Loiuse) - I have thought before that Pilates would be a good idea, right that's it, I am off to join the gym tomorrow :o, I've been meaning to for ages, its just I prefer to be outside cycling or running. Still too bloody cold for cycling though! How did Lauren's 12 month check go?

Cristina - GOOD LUCK with the interview!!!!!!! And I hope Silvia is better.

Niklas is still not 100% well, he was sick and had d (can't be bothered to work out how to spell it every time!) again Tues and d yesterday :(, but he seems quite happy though, so I guess it is just the bug lingering.
Loiuse - yes, he is walking really well now, he doesn't look drunk anymore, but still looks really funny :)! I still haven't got used to him walking.

Going to the doctor this afternoon for the check-up.
Did a very 'dumb blonde' moment today. Was trying to make a cheese sauce for Lauren's lunch. Must admit I normally buy it ready- made as I couldn't be bothered myself. Sauce was taking forever to thicken and I kept on adding more and more flour. Still nothing. Once I'd added the cheese it thickened slightly and I decided it was good enough and Lauren wouldn't know the difference anyway. Poured the lot over some veggies I'd just steamed and then tasted it. Ughh!! I'd been using icing sugar instead of flour! No wonder it wasn't thickening. The whole had to be thrown and I had to start again. Lauren wasn't charmed as she was already in her chair, ready and waiting and when she wants to eat, she wants it NOW!! SILLY MUMMY

LOL at your icing sugar moment jambot! I'm always doing dumb stuff like that. I can imagine Lauren's impatience. Iris goes mad if she gets a sniff of food and then has to wait. And she often throws a huge fit when the food is all gone and shouts for more.

Names - gosh that feels a bit weird! I'm Ali, dp is Daniel, dd1 is Cleo, and then there's Iris of course. And I can say now, that I'm never going to remember them all. I have a hard enough time with the nicknames!

aahhh so sorry I didn't post congrats on the baby birthdays!! Big happy birthday to all babies hope you had a wonderful day and lots of cake!

If DP (shaun) isn't dying from something Caleb is throwing up on me, just having one of those weeks. Have a job interview today and Caleb weed up my leg as I changed him earlier and I only have one pair of smart trousers. Apart from that life is good and Caleb is now throwing little tantrums, he screams puts his head on the floor and shakes it, he now has a big fat carpet burn on his forehead. Trying hard to stop BF and caleb still not sleeping through the night.

Cristina good luck with the interview, and I hope Silvia and Niklas are better soon.

Felicity

Just made the most delicious bite-sized burgers for Lauren. 250gm of lean mince, 1 egg, some grated wholewheat breadcrumbs, half a grated apple and two tablespoons of sweet potato. Blitz all together and fry in a little olive oil. Yummy hit with her.

Happy birthday, Freya! I hope you have a lovely day.

Many happy returns Freya . Hope you're having a wonderful day.

No time to post more atm - Grace still ill (not sure if I said this before!) and just catching a couple of minutes while she's asleep.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Sorry it's so late in the day but here goes -

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR FREYA
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

Hope you've had a lovely day Jo (wasn't too surprised to hear your name ) What are your favourite memories of Freya's first year.

Happy Birthday Freya and well done Jo! Hope you all had a lovely day.

Haven't posted much this week as I've been busy, busy, busy at work (very appropriate MN name for me at the moment). Yesterday, I left the house at 5.30am for a meeting in Birmingham and didn't get home until just before 8pm. Harrison was asleep when I left and asleep when I got home so decided to wake up at midnight and again at 3am as he'd clearly missed me and needed to say hello a few times

Hannah definately seems better this week and is much brighter, has more energy and is starting to eat again and sleep better. She's very thin though (and there wasn't much of her to start with) and she's still complaining of tummy pains. I have to take her back to the doctors next week to get the results of her tests.

Despite all that, she represented her school today at a cross-country running competition and although she didn't do as well as she usually does (who can blame her), she finished the race (1 mile) and was really proud of herself, as was I

Jambot, loved the story about the icing sugar - I thought only I did things like that. And how lovely that Lauren's saying 'mama'. Won't be long I bet before you wish she wasn't

Cristina, I bet you're sooooo proud of Dominic. What a star. How did the interview go?

How is Niklas?

OK, best go as have things to do for the birthday boy tomorrow - just little things like buying a card and a present

Happy Birthday Freya!!!! :):):):):):)!
Congratulations Jo! How was the big day? How did you feel?

Niklas was really lovely today, we had a great day together, not doing much but it was really lovely! He has started to play almost properly with things now, not just throwing them around and banging them :)!
His poo still isn't normal (creating a lot of smelly washing!), and if it isn't properly solid by monday then we will phone the doctor.

Cristina & Felicity - how did the job interviews go????

Cristina - very impressed with Dominic! What a genius!

Well done Hannah for the cross country :)!

Bonym - i hope Grace is getting better. Is it just a cold or is it getting worse?

To impress you all - I went running today wiht Niklas in the buggy :), unfortunately half of the way was still covered in ice and snow and not very runnable but still it was good.

I was really angry at Niklas's nursery again yesterday, there was only one person looking after 6 children again (the others were all off sick), its totally unacceptable, they should have back up - its the last time we will leave Niklas there without proper care.

I did pilates exercises for my tummy today and the mummy tummy book is on my Amazon book list :)!

Happy birthday, Harrison! Have a great day.

Happy Birthday little Harrison. Hope you have a lovely day.
Love Lauren

Happy Birthday Harrison.

Lots of love and kisses, Freya

xxx

Happy Birthday Harrison and Freya!! Hope you both have wonderful days.

leogaela can you report the nursery to Ofsted? A friend of mine recently did this and there was a high ratio of babies to minders. Ofsted were brilliant and did a visit to the nursery the followng week. Might be worth giving them a call??

On the job front, god what a nightmare!! My only pair of black trousers were too tight but I wore them anyway, the more I walked to the interview the higher up my crotch they climbed. Also before I left Caleb weed on the floor and splashed my trousers but I dried them with the hairdryer and still wore them. So even though I had a dreaded camel toe and smelled of wee they offered me a job!! So will be a library assistant in the medical library. Work 2 nights a week 4.45pm - 9.45pm and Saturday morning. Hope your job interview went better than mine Cristina.

Manages 20 miles today for my long run in 3hrs29mins. Very tired, but quite elated!
Have set up a Just Giving page for sponsorship. Please do not feel any pressure to sponsor me, but I think you should check out the page for a great photo of me and my training partner..
\link{http://www.justgiving.com/JoanneGall\JoPGJustGiving}