Fab Feb 2011: Walking, talking and still not sleeping.

[blizy]

I hope you don't mind me starting a new thread? Lets hope it's a lucky one for me.

Fab photo Emski, Ben looks very smart. Noah is so cute too!
I had a nice relaxing day, went to a friends
for lunch and had lots of baby snuggles with her 12 week old .
I have the weekend to myself as Dh is away to wiggles land. I plan on doing nothing, well after i go to tesco later for some goodies.

Tad- your trip sounded fab!

44me- I bet the I and A are lost without their big brothers now they are back at school.

Hope you all have a fab weekend. X

Hi all

ems ben looks so grown up and smart. Noah looks v sweet too

blizy hope the baby hasn't infected you or any of the mindees and they are better and back soon, yuck!

deb glad you're enjoying work - are you still hoping to be a mw or are you changing your mind now?

Thanks for sympathy re: work. It's not as easy as just giving up work though you know - lots of things to think about.

We got a fancy pants home cinema system today. The old one broke and this one has an ipod dock and connect to iplayer and other exciting stuff I never even knew was possible! Alice currently using it to watch a Justin DVD .

Having a bit of a MIL worry as turns out when she was in hospital it all seems a bit more serious than she let on. She keeps telling DH she's hunky dory and me the truth about how she's actually not very good (so I'm not sure DH believes me as he only hears good things from MIL about her health). I feel guilty leaving Alice with her today as she looked awful when I came home. I'm also worried she might have another funny turn and need an ambulance again whilst she's looking after ALice. She had a clot on her lung 3 weeks ago which apparently people die of and she's not resting like I think she should to recover properly and the Doctors don't know why her heart isn't destabilising . I need to talk to DH about sorting out other childcare for the time being until she's recovered but I'm hoping DH doesn't think I'm just doing it being anti MIL - I'm genuinely worried about her health and also her ability to look after Alice (as in she could have a funny turn resulting in an ambulance). I don't think she's up to it but I don't know if she's admitting to herself she's not up to it. There's never a quiet moment at reastie towers is there

emski photos are fab, Ben looks so big [sob] and Noah looks like Anna

blizy hope you have a lovely weekend - with lots of spoiling yourself. Remember what happens in Belfast, stays in Belfast

reastie that's sad about your mil. I completely understand you needing to have a chat re alternate arrangements. I agree with you, she will need to rest up for a bit and then hopefully all will be grand.

God, the girls have been at school for a week and its already started - a party this weekend, a school trip for S next week Sofia does a whole load of new stuff in P4, they all learn sign language and the tin whistle, obviously as well as school work , but I'm on the ball this term (lest we forget my major meltdown over "making the rainforest") Its dinosaurs this term, so I've got my reference books and sticker books hidden away - ha I will not be crying over school projects this year

Anna was so funny today, we were watching some music channels and Crazy in Love by Beyonce came on and she started "singing" Oh Oh Oh (I even type out of tune ), but you know what I mean. It was really strange - I swear she was singing the chorus before she heard it, I think Mr W has been listening to his pop goddess songs on the i-pod again.

hi all can I have lots of sympathy please - Alice has been awake since 11:30 . I am literally propping my eyes open right now! Had plans for the gym later but don't think I will be able to muster the energy together

wiggles love the Beyonce story - oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh

reastie - I hope you get some sleep soon - can DH take over? Such a difficult situation with MIL, I'd just be honest and say you're worried about her health and think it best that she has some time to rest because you know what hard work minding a toddler is.

Ems - aww bless, they always look so much more grown up in school uniform. And well done on keeping it together!

blizy - Enjoy your weekend. xx

Being on my own with L all day is exhausting! He is bloody hard work and I'm bored out of my mind since we have no telly and DH has the laptop during the day. I am awaiting delivery of my new tablet, a massive bargain because it's refurbished. The cats have moved in to the cupboard above the fridge and only come out when L is in bed.

Don't know if I can be bothered to change my nn, unless someone suggests something very clever. Go on.

Hi american - at least you have a good reason to be awake at this time (with the time change!). Have you got your hands on some more furniture yet?

DH was up with Alice for the first 2 hours but unfortunately that meant alot of noise (especially screaming from Alice) meaning I couldn't get any sleep, and ended in DH shouting and swearing IMO aggressively and really quite nastily at Alice again and slamming the stairgate so hard it broke so I took over [sigh] . Times like that I really worry about him - not sure if I can count that behaviour as acceptable given how tired he was or never really acceptable under any circumstances - whenever I talk to him about what is IMO aggressive outbursts (well, aggressive as in his tone of voice, rudeness and how he kicks etc things to get out his anger) he thinks it's all my problem as I have the issue with it not him, I think it's the norm in his household of growing up so he sees no problem, whereas it's ll quite foreign and upsetting to me. I do sometimes wonder if I can put up with it the rest of my life and if I made a mistake marrying him. Gosh that sounds awful, I'm fine really, just shattered tired. I really shouldn't come on here when I'm too exhausted to think enough to not say things, I will regret this tomorrow

reastie you poor soul, life isn't fun atm is it :( Poor poor you with so little sleep. Your DH's way of reacting to it is obvs to get angry- mine is as well and I also find it very distressing. The only thing you can do (apart from the obvious, LTB!), is to talk to him about it, IME. Let him know how you feel. I would seriously consider contacting a sleep consultant about Alice's sleep. I remember reading on the sleep boards here about a mum who did- she posted a lot of information about what she did. Her DD starting sleeping better after a few days as far as I remember. Mucho sympathy, and don't regret posting, I have certainly been there with my DH, I can really empathise. Lots of love xxx

expat is it too hot to get out with Leo? It is dull being at home all day, you need an older child to keep him company. My 2 play together pretty well now.

wiggles well done organised mummy, YOU won't be signing the Naughty Mummies book this year

Just had a lovely walk on the beach with girls, dog and husband. There were rockpools with crabs in!!! [excited] I carried Imy on my shoulders back up the enormous cliff hill, and thought about how this time last year I was carrying 3x her weight (ish) round with me all the time. Bloody hell.

Thabks deb , I was just very very tired and stressed - I think I may have got 4 hours of broken sleep . It's nice that you understand though (well, not nice as you have to go through it too, but YKWIM). I don't think we'll get a sleep consultant in but it's a good idea if we get desperate, we thought we were getting somewhere as she had 2 or 3 nights sleeping through, and then we had last night . FWIW no point talking to DH about his anger as every conversation we have about it where I tell him how much it upsets me is just him shrugging and saying he needs to do it to get it out of his system and it's me that has the issue not him, as he gets it out and then is fine, so I should just ignore him. I tell him I can't ignore it and it's fine for him to be OK afterwards but me to be left very upset and shaken and have to deal with that and he just shrugs again and says I shouldn't get upset by it, I respond with if he knows it upsets me this much shouldn't that be enough for him to try to look at different anger management skills, he just shrugs again and says I'm not so perfect and I have lots of issues so I can talk [sigh] . We go round and round in circles!Sounds like a lovely time was had for you today. We went last week end to a little beach near broadstairs (can't remember if I said at the time) and it was lovely - I wish I lived nearer the sea!

Hi all, just doing a quick post in the garden whilst A chucks dry washing out of the basket and pulls the cats tail

Reastie I think it's the fact that your dh doesn't see his anger as a problem that's more worrying than the actual shouting? I'm not sure what to suggest but it's not on (as you know) have you asked how he thinks it affects A? Hope you're ok and she sleeps tonight, fwiw A has been shocking the last 2 nights including a 3am bottle so frustrating.

Deb wow to the weight comparison - 3x Imy's weight, is that right?! Amazing!

American no witty name suggestions sorry, I'm crap at stuff like that

Hi everyone else, I have been reading but have forgotten most of what was said.
Have had a nice weekend here because (whispers) it was my birthday yesterday my lovely mum came up and stayed over last night so dp took me out for Italian food, then mum got up with A at 6am so we had a lie in, brilliant! Better go A has spotted my can of diet coke and is squeaking

reastie Its all happening for you isn't it? Can you ask your head of year/dept for some strategies for behavior management or put the little fuckers on report!
When I went back to my job in a residential home for naughty children after having Ella,I had lost all my confidence and didn't have a clue how to cope with them.They all climbed on the roof and wouldn't get down and I felt like crying. It all came back to me in time though. Personally I tend to give them a massive bollocking if they play me up but I know its not that easy for you.
As for private school id say that if it means being unhappy is it worth it? Mine have all done extremely well at state schools. Ds3 won a scholarship to dean close (posh school) but we didn't like it as he would never had had any free time as they were at school so much.
As for dh and his tantrums well you know my opinion on that,shouting and swearing at babies indeed
Hello all. Been busy busy all weekend as the sun was shining and we made the most of it. Went for a barbie on Friday night up the hill and we all played dub dub in. I am useless,i get so excited and started screaming as dh was searching for me and he hadn't even found me haha.
Dilly has been hilarious. She watches me go to the loo and says "ugh,dirty" she also says "ouch" about everything even when it isnt ouch iyswim. I took her swimming yesterday and she was diving in the deep end and giving all the life guards a shock I went to get new shoes and she measures a 4.5 i felt a bit bad as she had been wearing 3's "ouch!"

ledkr Alice has been wearing 3's in wellies until last week and she's a 4.5 too - I thought they looked a bit tight! Re: work I'll just have to see I guess!

Can I recommend this nursery rhymes DVD to everyone. It's driving me insane and has the eternally annoying Justin on it but Alice loves it so much

Turns out Alice has a coldy bug and is teething - so no wonder she's been such a nightmare at night. DH and I barely got any sleep for 3 nights now - not looking forward to work tomorrow, especially as Alice being very clingy because she's not 100% so I'm worried about leaving her but she's not ill enough not to go IYKWIM. Just as well I guess MIL not coming tomorrow as I know ALice will probably be happier with DM when she's under the weather.

Hoping to go to Tescos today as apparently they have good reductions on toys at the minute but depends on if Alice permits

ledkr Alice gets really excited to come with me to the loo! She likes to take a bit of loo roll and throw it down my trousers then loiter by the sink to get me to wash my hands (not that I need prompting obviously!!)

ponyo happy birthday old lady!!! Glad you got a lie in

ponyo glad you had a lovely birthday - Happy belated birthday Its our anniversary this week - no big plans

ledkr A says "uh oh" all the time, if we go to the loo, she looks at us and says "Poo? Wee-wee?"

reastie Hope you have an easier week xx I picked up some bits and pieces in Sainsbos today - mainly things for class friends birthdays, and lots of London 2012 things - jigsaws down to 80p, both Olivia and Anna very impressed, Sofia not so much - she's too old [hair flick]

blizy how did dh get on? Is he back yet?

Happy belated birthday Ponyo!

Reastie- did you get much in tesco? I was in on fri night and managed I get a few bits for Xmas pressies.

Wiggles- dh is back and in one piece, theory pretty much spent the weekend in Benedicts.. how many years will you be married?

Oops to ledkr and reastie with the shoes.

I have a quiet week, 2 littlest mindees off sick, one with hand, foot and mouth disease the other with Bronchitis, poor little mites. I have had a mad toy sterilising frenzy today.

Ooo wiggs, it's our anniversary today!! 7 long years

We went out for a meal which was nice-ish and then I told DH I thought he might be depressed and it's affecting all our lives. And he's the only one who can do something about it. Everything went a bit quiet after that.... I hope he takes what I said to heart. He is so full of regrets.

MORE IMPORTANTLY my little sis had her baby last night- a girl called Lyla, 9lb4oz [wowzers]. She's home now and I'm hoping I can visit tomorrow.

Sorry for me me me, off to bed (DH is watching tv still ), will reply properly tomorrow xxx

Happy belated birthday and anniversaries! Congratulations on your new niece too deb. Glad dh had a great time blizy.

Hope you manage to get out of the flat with Leo soon american and that Alice feels better and you can get out reastie. Confidence and consistency are the only discipline tools that have worked for me. Show that you mean business. I hope you feel better about work soon. I'm with ledkr, you know how I feel about your dh shouting at Alice and breaking things. Presumably when she breaks something of his in a fit of anger he will be understanding that she just needs to get it out?

Parents are here at the moment, which is great as dh is away. Having a night with dh on Friday and I can't wait! Have a great day tomorrow everyone.

Hi all, A has been awake since half 4 I'm annoyed with dp as I've spent a while rocking her to try and get her back to sleep, put her in her cot and she lay down nearly asleep, then he came barging in with the light on saying "she won't go to sleep" erm she nearly was

Don't know what the deal is with her crappy sleep ATM but I'm still too soft to let her cry it out.

Happy anniversaries wiggles and deb! Good for you for speaking to your dh deb, you never know he might be a bit relieved you've said something to him, if you're depressed it can make getting help easier if it's someone else's idea iykwim?

Hi Tadj, hope you're all ok

Right I'm going to see what dp is doing the knob

debka its our anniversary tomorrow, I knew it was someone elses around the same time Glad you talked to dh, small steps, hopefully this will nudge him in the right direction but most importantly congratulations - lovely news about your sister.

blizy 14 gloriously happy fulfilled years Hope mindees start to feel better, poor little things

ponyo As sleeping has been a bit all over the place lately, last night she was very warm and couldn't settle even when she did her usual settling trick of listing all the words she knows in her sleep I just bring her into bed with us [lazy Mum shrug]

Have a lovely day everyone!

Whats up with the babies? After weeks of good sleep D is off again too. Woke at
1am and was a pain. Put her in with us but she doesnt like that and stood on my head to look out of the window, dh was great and offered to go in the spare room After punching him several times I reminded him I had work today too in the end she had to be put back in her cot and grizzle off to sleep. I woke up shattered planning to call in sick but then felt guilty but my dil then rang to say she is sick so couldn't have her so I have changed my working day to Thursday. D has decided she doesn't like nappies and takes them off all the time.However she doesnt use the potty and just pees everywhere so Im currently forcing the nappies on her to whichshe says "ouch" rather a lot.

deb happy anniversary,glad you told him straight.It must be so hard living with a depressive. Full of regrets?? Blimey,only he can change that. Maybe your new found slimness and confidence it having an effect. They love it when you are fat,it makes them very secure
I have started sw yet again.I am very determined to shift this weight.I have finally had to face how crap it is making me feel and its not illness making me tired and moody its fatnness.

Happy late birthday ponyo and happy Anni to the Wiggles.

Hey everyone,

Many sympathies to those with non sleeping babies. ponyo I would have been livid if DH had done that, seriously, that's grim.

reastie how's your MIL and how's work going? Have you been able to talk to your DH about the anger thing? Sleep deprivation defo brings out the worst in you, but as someone else said, the fact that he doesn't see what he did as wrong is rather worrying. DH is a knob sometimes but at least he knows he's being one and sulks apologises.

ledkr you're right, I am getting more confident. I realised I've got nothing to lose by telling him, no-one else is going to.

Weigh in tonight- drum roll please- lost 3lb and got my 8 stone award!!!

Saw little Lyla today as well, such a sweetheart, so cute and fell asleep in my arms. only a little bit broody

8 stone award! Well done debka.

Hoping all the babies go to sleep well tonight. Both my dps and S are asleep at the moment. V tempting to join them but E is wide awake! Better go do something with him. Bye for now.

Evening ladies...sorry, not been posting but have been lurking...stoopid work getting in the way (how rude!).

Happy belated birthdays & anniversaries. And wow debka...go you & ur 8 stone award..amazing!!

reastie you inspired me to do a bit if baking with N today....didn't quite go to plan as he wasn't interested in the cookies we were making....but did have a ball with some flour & oats. Think I'll leave the flour play to nursery . But cookies were fab...I scoffed 4

Need to get back to gym & running...ate like a pig last week, incl a whole pack of Oreos....in one day . Think I was bored at work that day. So hitting spin class tomorrow evening.

Is anyone else finding work a real bore since going back....I can't seem to get motivated. Think I'm feeling need for a change...

Hi all

Hope those wth anniversaries are enjoying themselves (well, maybe enjoy isn't the word eh deb). deb well done you talking to your DH about it - do you think he will admit it though? Hope things are OK. How is his new BBQ whatsit business going? Yey to the 8 stone - wowsers.

granny good to see you. Sorry the cooking didn't work so well. Maybe it's a girl thing . Btw I've been reading up and posting on the 'return to work' threads. It seems alot of people struggle finding work boring or just struggle to put all their energy into work like pre DC.

ledkr I read a thread on mn a while ago recommending to put nappies on toddlers backwards (ie with the sticky bit on their backs) so they cant take them off.

tad that's a good point re: anger - I'll bring that up!

Just feeling like I'm semi getting to grips with work and had to give up a couple of my free lessons for a school refuser to teach her one on one to be told by dept head I have too much non contact time and so nearly 2 hours of prep time is being taken away from me. I thought I had too much but no one said anything so I thought maybe I got too little before and this was the normal amount (i.e. I could semi get 3/4 things done in school time for a change). Now I have no time for teaching this school refuser and feel bad that either I'm going to really let her down (which I won't do) or have to give up the very restricted free time I now have, meaning I barely get any time now I mark/plan in school. Sorry for moaning again . It's just a tough few weeks. And add to the mix MIL still isn't right but won't tell me half the time whether she's capable of looking after Alice and tells DH she's fine so DH is happy for her to look after her and I know she's not really up to it and am worrying about her needing an ambulance/having a stroke or whatever whilst she's in charge of Alice (she actually nearly died FGS and still has a heart which won't regulate). Plus, Dsis is helping out MILs duty whilst she's home but she's off to uni in a couple of weeks so even if DH does agree that MIL isn't up to looking after DD for a few weeks, we have no one to look after Alice. It's all a bit of a nightmare. That was incredibly dull wasn't it . Can you tell I'm home alone with no one to talk to!

reastie sending hugs, you're having a really rough trot at the minute xxxx

debka well done skinnymalinkmalogin legs as my dad would say

Holy Mother of God, Sofia brought home her tin whistle, she murdered Mary had a little lamb. No other way to say it - I always thought she was quite tuneful - pfb rose tinted glasses methinks Even A - her biggest fan was aghast Not sure how I can cope with 4 more years of that!

But on the plus side - Anna has finally started to show an interest in the tv - yay Gotta love Chris and Pui! If you sing the Ma na ma na (see where S get its from) bit of the Muppets A goes Ooh ooh ooh in tune - I might add , tres funny.

Right off to visit my Nana, my parents are on holiday - I get all the good jobs

Reastie- sorry you are having a rubbish time just now. Wish I lived closer, I could have helped you out with Alice.

Granny- at the baking and Nate's "help".

Wiggles- your poor ears! I am at Anna singing along to the muppets.

Debka- well done you, you are such an inspiration! I am sorry your Dh isn't doing to good, has he said anything to you since you spoke to him? It is hard admitting that you have a problem, I hope he can get some help, it will life better for you all.

We haven't heard from robin in a while, h opens he is ok.

I made scones yesterday, I have seen thicker pancakes. Not been up to much this week, just cleaning and paper work.

Ledkr- I dreamt about you and Dilly last night, inward you new childminder and Dilly was a "little challenging".

Big waves to everyone, hope you are all well.

Jeez, I really should proof read my posts before sending! Bloody autocorrect.