Postgraduate brookers - Brooking No Argument for happy, healthy and sleeping DCs..

[musicalmrs]

New thread time!

Oooh, I didn't know there was a Baking section! Fireman Sam cake sounds v challenging. On a side note, I was rather p*ssed off by DH suggesting to MIL that she would be making M's first birthday cake. That's my job! Even if it goes terribly wrong.

Go for the Jumperoo, Pet - M loves hers now!

Did you tell him too? We have issues with my MIL but my dh is so weak with her - he thinks she's just loving being a granny rather than batshit crazy with some real issues around pretending she has children with her son.

at that pomme. We have always had a bit of that going on too...
As well as the way we parent our kids being compared negatively to the way SIL parents hers.

Have told him - he says he meant there would be a party to which she was invited, not that she would be expected to make the cake. I can't remember his exact words, but I certainly took whatever he said to mean that he wanted her to make the cake. Oh well, we'll see in 6 months. It won't matter - DH is pretty good at telling PIL things, so he'll be able to explain if need be.

Just fed M a whole pureed banana! She scoffed the lot. She refused to fall asleep at her normal time, so I got her up again and she was just wide awake, so I decided to try her on it. She then sat in her Jumperoo and went mad bouncing - must be the sugar. She's still not looking very sleepy...

Err can't remember what I was going to say....

But DS1 birthday on Monday and apparently he wants a fireman Sam cake.... Will check out biscuits post on the night shift

too, i held dds hands and walked with her. I did try to drop them lower to get her to use more muscle power/find balance and tried to move onto holding just one, she walked independently at 10.5 months. Don't think its so bad, because they can take less and less support from you as they get better but I do know people who've refused to hold their childrens hands for walking and just le t them get on with it themselves. I can't bake for forces but did dds first bday cake. Stand firm! Will never have time this time :(

I feel like I'm wading through treacle atm. I'm usually busy settling fretful babies til 9:15pm earliest, then dt1 up by 11,12 latest. And constantly from then. I have no time for myself at all- I'm scrambling to get laundry done/ get in bed from when the boys go down. The ongoing lack of more than 1-2 hours sleep in a row is really getting to me. We were out this morning so short (30 min ish) two naps in the car for DT1, then I took the three out in them buggy so Dh could nap (he isn't lying when he says he needs his sleep- bear and sore head come to mind). DT2 slept for the whole 2 hours, DT1? 20 minutes of course...on top of his rubbish nights. Can he just genuinely not need much sleep?? My dad says he'll be like Margaret thatcher, happily doing well on 4 hours a night when he's grown up. Argh!!!@ poor DD running a temperature and not eaten much at all all day too, so i expect all three will be up tonight. Into the night shift I go!!

at Pomme's MIL comments! Great description! Also thanks for asking about the move to my Mum's house. Due to decorating dilemmas we now can't move in until after the hol unfortunately, but we can at least move our stuff in before the holiday, so when we get back we go straight to my Mum's from the airport. I'm hoping that will be less disruptive for DD. We've agreed DD and I will stay there until xmas then reassess.

Scarlet I share your receding hairline pain, mine's suddenly dipped really far back at my temples or I've only just noticed a change that might have happened a while ago I'm soooooo scared it might not grow back :(

Yay for M and the whole banana! Good work! Now go to sleep for Mummy

I've also heard lots of bad things about baby walkers slowing development, so I was planning to avoid them. I'd never come across a jumperoo though, glad to know there are other options!

For the No Brookers who've got their AF back... what was the first one like? Was it particularly bad? A while ago (not sure how long, more than 2 weeks) I had EWCM, and this eve I've had really bad period-like pain. I'm pretty certain AF will be here shortly, which is particularly annoying when my nips have been extra sensitive the last couple of days and thus bfing has been uncomfortable. Surely I should only have the discomfort of bfing OR the discomfort of AF, not both simultaneously!!

In other news, DD is amazing She can sit unsupported for quite a while not even a full minute and she's only 4 months old today. She can also stand by herself only if she's holding on to her play gym I'm just trying to get all the annoying first-time parent thoughts out of my system before we meet up with one of DH's cousins tomorrow. This cousin is snide and superior at the best of times, and now she has a PFB who is only 3 weeks younger than DD the potential to get sucked into a poisonously competitive conversation is rife... I, however, am going to rise above the temptation to engage secure in the knowledge than DD is better than the cousin's DS in every way

Loving the sound of all the baking!

Too I love the fact that you're working on your boys name list! Can I put in a vote for Logan? It's a great list btw!

Ooh, good luck with the cake-making, Biscuits and Hawthers. I'm quite looking forward to making creative birthday cakes for DS though I'm a bit rubbish at baking.

This afternoon DS kept bobbing off the breast and fussing. At worst he was having 3 mins max on one side (and that was after me putting him back on a few times) before I had to switch him to the other side. He probably only fed for about 10 mins in total which is really unlike him. After the last feed he was crying and I was really stressed. Wish I knew what was wrong. Hope it doesn't last. :(

Well done with the banana, Too! hope M is fast asleep now. DS had a few spoonfuls of pureed pear at lunch time. I'd rather stick to milk for him but DH is enjoying some high chair feeding!

Scream you need to be careful - PFB-itis might be catching and we might all start arguing over whose baby is most perfect!

But Scream your DD does sound very strong! Well done little A!

Good luck for tonight Dream.

Scream A sounds as though she's doing really well. Very advanced! How have things been with your DH since last weekend? How long now til your hols? Still no AF here yet, but I have had period pains a few times over the last couple of months and I keep thinking it'll be soon but so far nothing. Sorry to hear you're also suffering with bad hair loss. I'm at a loss what to do about it. The hairdresser who booked me in said it didn't look too bad, then the one who actually did it noticed how bad it really is when she did the colour so I don't know what to think. Me and DH are sick of seeing my hairs everywhere, he had to pull it all out of the bottom of the vacuum cleaner earlier as it was all tangled up in in it My scalp is also really really itchy which I've never suffered from before. I'm going to buy some nice Aveda shampoo and hope it gives it a boost.

Pet DD's been like that the last few days and I've put it down to me cutting down on BFing and bringing in more FF. Have you been doing the same? Could be that supply is reducing. I've been doing it by choice but if it's not what you're wanting to do then you probably need to keep perservering to keep supply going. We're currently at 3BFs a day a 3 FF a day. FF's are 6oz each.

We're just watching Inception for about the 10th time and we're still impressed every time we see it. But still can't quite get our heads round it

Pet all the mini No Brookers are amazing! I've been hugely impressed with all the sleeping, rolling and munching that's been going on in No Brooker Land! Sorry to hear that your DS has had a difficult evening, I hope he feels better soon. It's so horrible when they're unhappy and you can't figure out why. No Brooking this will pass asap!

Scarlet I've had the itchy scalp too! Sucky :( Thanks for the AF comments, fingers crossed my cramps might just fade away without AF truly materialising. DH and I are arguing just as much as usual, no change. It's sad but I'm looking forward to time off from the constant bickering.

I've got baking to do too for DS1's 3rd birthday cake. my MIL thought she would buy his first birthday cake and DH failed to correct her even though I'd always told him i was looking forward to making birthday cakes like my mum did for me.

you can maybe guess what mouse will be the theme of DS1's cake. he did ask for fireman Sam once but i decided that sounded too hard. think I'll use lots of chocolate ganache again since i discovered how easy it is to make. it looks all shiny and smooth when it's done as well.

DS1 is coming down with a cold so expecting he'll be up sometime tonight too.

Wow that was a busy night for posting

Now let me see of I can remember who said what.....

Scream - A is doing amazingly! To be able to sit unsupported for any length of time or to bear her own weight is fabulous at such a young age. What a superstar she is! When is your mega holiday? Not long now I think? Are you and DH still going to go for some counselling? Will that start before your hols?

Pet hope DS has slept / fed a bit better. It's so frustrating when you just don't know what wrong with them isn't it .

Ds1 has given me a cold - boo . Ds2 wriggles up the crib right to the top and wakes himself up when he's all crumpled up at the top. The first time I made DH get up and sort him but thought is better take my turn at 4am but then having got up I couldn't get back to sleep because of my general snottiness. Gah! I couldn't stop thinking about blasted birthday cakes either. DH and I had worked out away of making a cake in the shape of the fire engine and it was going to be cool I think probably wouldn't have worked so I'm a bit sad that I don't think we can attempt it because of the holiday. I was so looking forward to seeing ds's little face as he tried to work out what the heck the cake was supposed to be. But common wisdom seems to be that I can't make and ice a sponge cake a week in advance

Dream hope the night wasn't too terrible and S opted for a bit of sleeping. Hope dd isn't too poorly as well. Actually I hope she isn't poorly at all

Lots of hugs for everyone else xxxx

Oh, Jaggy I can't figure out a mouse theme for a cake . My head will only let me think of Danger Mouse and I fear he's not big with the kids these days

Rasta mouse!!

hehe the famous Dis ney mouse is still favourite here. ;-)

i figure i can just do a silhouette type thing if i work out the correct proportion of ears to head...

snuggled in here with DS2 again, he seems to want to be close and isn't settling so much in the crib. think it is the 4 month thing, he's trying quite hard to roll now. not getting much practise though, as he tends to get abandoned in corners while we sort out big brother on the potty.

could you have a delayed Sam cake when you get back?

Ah of course Jaggy - I'm a dope! That wpuld be a good cake though. One big circle and two smaller circles for the ears cut to fit. That would be awesome.

We thought about doing the cake when we got back but we come home on the Friday and his birthday and party are on the Saturday so it might seem a bit weird to just whip it out for tea one after all the birthday stuff is over .

I have been looking at this website and it seems to suggest I might have 1-2 week shelf life for a cake so maybe I could do it before we went. Or at least make the cake and cover it and then add the detail when we get back. If its just sticking stuff on that isn't too bad because we can make each bit and if it isn't right just do it again. If the worst comes to the worst we'll have to ring my parents to take him out on Sat am? Shelf life wise at least if it goes to his party it will pretty much get eaten on that day won't it.

Oh, another cake question. Do you think I need to have jam / butter cream in the middle of it? I think it would make it a lot harder to do but do you think a cake needs it iyswim?

I think I might start wrapping his presents now as I fear I've got a lot on with the holiday and cake right before the day!

We usually our masses amid raspberry Jan in the middle if our cakes to dilute the chocolate.

So we're doing a fireman Sam cake by found two square sponges, cutting each in half the putting on top if each other to make an oblong shape and covering in chocolate butter icibg. Then adding jammy dodgers for wheels, strawbwerry laces for the hose, jelly tots for lights and a curly whurly for a ladder. And crossing our fingers it look something like a fire engine. Will this do? Any other ideas?

That sounds AWESOME Hawthers

We WILL need to see pictures you know

I am, however, struggling to decipher the first sentence in your post

put masses of?

i have been lying awake pondering one layer of sponge or 2.. it's quite rich with the ganache so jam might be interesting. hmm

this cake might not work so well if i made it tall.

am enjoying a snuggle here even if I'm not asleep. at least I'm lying down! this is why I'd be rubbish at full time co sleeping, I'm too nervous to go to sleep.

DS1's Karvol vaporiser plug must have helped as he slept fine and is still asleep, yay.

That would make sense Jaggy

Hmmm, I'm wondering whether to make a choc or Madeira sponge for mine? My Mum won't eat any if it's chocolate though...

Oh and another question. I have one little boy attending who is allergic to eggs so can't have any birthday cake. I'd like to do something else for him instead - any ideas? I have a nut allergyer attending too and I think Madeira cake has ground almonds in it. I think he'd be fine with it as he's allergic to peanuts only but could do the same thing for him perhaps?

Ideas gratefully received

how come DS1 always seems to wake up just as DS2 fills his nappy in the morning? can hear DS1 chatting away on the monitor, but DS2 is busy having a post poo feed.

trying to think of egg and nut free things but sleepy brain can only think of biscuit things. worth a Google?

Yes put masses of raspberry jam in the middle.... Damn fat fingers.

Photo will be forthcoming in due course. In the meantime have put a pic of my new haircut on my profile for a very limited time only. Please tell me its yummy mummy rather than just mumsy....

Will ponder the egg and nut thing but as jaggy says biscuits are all I can think of or chocolate rice crispie/cornflake things.