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

[musicalmrs]

New thread time!

Hair looks lovely Hawthers - really really good. Definitely not mumsy IMO. And f looks super cute too - so grown up!

Oddly though I realise now I'd always imagined you as a brunette - Don't know why!

Are biscuits generally egg free then? Could make some birthday cookies I suppose. Can I make them a week in advance?

Checking in. Pass the glittery matchsticks...

I'm so impressed by the birthday cakes, I just did a Victoria sponge and chocolate cake with smarties on for dds first birthday... Think yours will work well hawthers, sounds great, and i would put jam/ buttercream in the middle biscuits I think, to make it particularly moist and yummy. Being totally thick, and I think I'll be slapping myself as soon as you say, but what's ganache jaggy? Two weeks til dds birthday, now I've got cake stress!!!! Still think I might end up buying one as I have no time to make one as blardy babies don't even settle in the evening. When she's 3 is more important than 2 though, right? We tell her she's going to be 2 soon but she doesn't really understand I think.

I really like the hair hawthers, I'd say yummy not mumsy!

What can I do with mine?? Used to be really curly but is limp/wavy only since pg with the dts. Can hormones do this?? Will it ever curl again? Ponytail is all I ever do now...

Madeira doesn't usually have ground almonds in it. See this recipe

Our wedding cake had a sponge top tier. We went on honeymoon the Friday after the wedding and hadn't eaten it all. We were away for 2 weeks and the cake was still ok to eat when we got back. It was sponge with jam and buttercream on the inside and icing on the outside. I'm sure I heard that if you are going to freeze the cake then you take the icing off so if you wanted you could make the sponge, get it all cut to shape and then freeze it. When you get back from holiday, take it out to defrost (or get someone to take it out the day before you get back so it is ready) and then ice it.

I pictured you as a brunette too hawthers, funny! And I think F looks just like you in the top picture. He's gorgeous, impressive sitting too.

Mum used to make my cakes growing up. Until I was 12, most of my cakes were clocks. 12 chocolate buttons around the outside for where the numbers are and chocolate fingers for the hands. Buttercream on the top of the cake made it easy to stick the chocolate on. The time would be my age, i.e. 1 o'clock when I was 1. Didn't take very long to do but yummy :)

hard work catering for lots of allergies!

other things I make that are eggless are the base bits of some tray bake things. they have texture somewhere between biscuit and cake and then get icing and/or chocolate on top.

oh i really want to bake something right now! maybe DS1 and i could do some quick cookies this week...

we're on a day out today. is it bad that I'm just going to take DS1 in a nappy? he's only just getting the hang of it and is likely to be so distracted accidents would happen. we'd not be far from home, but not ready for being out with loads of spare clothes yet and it's in a field with portaloos.. he just weed in a pull up at toddler group so think we'll leave those for now.

i will be brave and take him to friend's house in pants this week...

Thank you for all the cake help

I feared the answer might be yay for the jam and buttercream for the cake - will have to cut the blardy cakes in two! . Or that website I linked to suggested doing the jam and buttercream in different layers (so three layers of sponge) so that the jam and buttercream don't slide against each other. At this rate it will be a life sized fire engine .

I must have mis-remembered the Madeira thing rubber - it's a year since I made one for ds's last birthday.

Dream I bought cakes for ds's 1st and 2nd birthdays. He wouldn't have cared / known / understood I don't think. First cake I made was last year. I made a dinosaur one (madeira covered with green buttercream - i think i put a photo up at the time?)I am quite geekily excited though that now I'll get 2 opportunities to mess up make birthday cakes each year . Chocolate cake and smarties though is totally fail safe. What's not to like there? And then you can get the obligatory photo of your dd with chocolate cake all over her face .

I think if I do make it before the holiday I would cover it at least in icing, not freeze it and just do the features when I get home. Too stressful otherwise and not enough time for it to defrost (less than 24 hours between is getting home and the party)

Hair wise - Dream I only ever do ponytails now . I just don't have time to dry and straighten my hair, which is the minimum effort required to not have to tie it back . I wish I had the guts to get it cut off and have a proper style. I am very attached to my hair (which is currently an inch or two longer than shoulder length) but since I never wear it down I don't know why I'm so bothered. I would love a nice yummy mummy do. Need to find a good hairdresser though.

Oh Jaggy I don't have to cater too much for the allergies - party is at soft play so their problem . I just have to rock up with the cake. Good job too since I'm making such hard work work of it

I like the idea of making egg free cookies I think. I can make a batch for DS and just take one or two for the allergics. I have some number cutters so will just make some 4 shaped ones. We made 3's last year (oddly enough ) so might be quite a nice thing to do for each birthday.

Wow I have cake envy!! I have nothing to add I'm afraid (hopeless baker here) but I'm hoping someone will come along with an amazing yet simple idea for a girl's birthday cake at some point

Biscuits it seems above and beyond to make something from scratch for the one kid with an egg allergy. Is it worth finding out where you can buy something suitable nearby (like an eggless cake from a nearby health food shop or posh patisserie) and just picking it up that morning? Or even just notifying the party venue and having them provide something?

AF has arrived with a vengeance this morning. I shall have died of anaemia by lunchtime The upside of this is avoiding the snarky cousin

Oh and Biscuits our hol starts mid-Sept. So not long now (soooooooo excited!)

really odd question, did any of you ever have a sharp pain in my case bottom right of bump? Have had it twice this morn. I'm 34+2wks. Its different to what I had guessed were BH and sharper too. Baby been moving well though today so bit confused.

ganache is an awesome substance made from chocolate and cream. I'd only ever read it on M&S cake packets before last year...

you just heat up double cream and melt good quality chocolate in. then you mix it up a bit and leave it to sit and go all thick. it spreads nicer than icing and looks quite shiny, even if you're crap at icing like me.

butterfly scream? make round cake, cut in half and swap round to make wings. decorate with icing (the one i saw was pink) and sweeties for antennae and patterns on wings. i think it's in a children's book book i have!

Butterfly cake sounds ace and v easy, Jaggy! Ganache also sounds yummy.

Cakes, sorry, no idea what that could be. If it's worrying you, though, you should call your MW rather than fret.

I've been setting a timer on my phone to wake me up if we both fall asleep. just vibrating not a big noisy one. my back is getting v sore from sleeping sitting up. if i wake up and put DS2 back to bed, i barely get lying down before he's up again if more time has passed than i think!

this too will pass...i believe that's the motto.

too - A did that to me on Thursday night. utterly horrendous. However last night was her best night EVER, She slept 6pm to 6.20am waking for quick feeds at eleven and five. I feel EPIC.

I'd put the sheepskin in her cot and purchased a ewan the sheep which I used at bedtime but I believe that the biggest thing was having her naps in the cot. She naps well out and about but I think all naps in car/pushchair seems to lead to cot hatred at night time.

I'm awful at baking. DD1 has cakes bought for her at birthdays. But bought from Waitrose :) so it's like home made :)

wants - from ages ago, hair is good, colour hiding the fluffy regrowth around hairline a bit. Am waiting for another 6 months before attempting any form if style. And I used my 15% on a sparkly jumper that is awesome although even with 15% too much money .

I've been making a little hamper today for my pg best friend. So much fun :)

I think I just had the normal aches and pains cakes. I don't remember any sharp pains. The baby has probably moved position and it's something digging in, but it's always best to get things checked out if you are concerned.

Wow I'm soooo impressed with all this baking talk. Biscuits our local bakery chain do fab celebratory sponge cakes. I'm sure you know the one I mean.

There's no way I can every make one for DS's birthday as his birthday is 3 days after Christmas. We have everyone at ours for Christmas day and then his birthday, I'd never have time to bake a cake as well as do everything else that needs doing. That's my excuse anyway I guess I could probably have a go at making one for DD though.

Sorry to hear AF's made a reappearance Scream I was hoping she'd keep away a bit longer for you.

although sometimes i fall asleep before i set the timer!

Meant to say lovely hair Hawthers. Your bedroom colour scheme and decor is very similar to mine

DH has taken M into town to see a friend's brother play at the Festival. He hasn't taken any food for her, but she'll sleep in the car for 30 mins each way, so he ought to get away with it. I fed her just before they went. Her natural nosiness should keep her mind off her tummy in a crowd of people. I don't know what to do with myself - nap? Make a cup of tea? Have a glass of wine? Oooh, the wild and crazy lifestyle!

I don't think I've ever actually baked a cake. DH does a lot of baking but it's not really my thing. The most I've ever done is cookies. I like the idea of trying, though. As you say, if it doesn't work out there's always Waitrose/Tesco/M&S.

Scream, hope your holiday goes well and that you and DH resolve your difficulties without you having to move in with your mum on your return. Sorry AF got you. Is it really heavy? All of you who have AF back, was your first post-bf AF really bad? As we're closing in on 6 months I was wondering when mine would make its appearance. Nothing yet, but I'm not sure I'd recognise EWCM when I saw it.

Pomme, your night sounds great - I want one! Hopefully M going to this concert thing will wear her out. How much older is A again? It's not much, is it - 2 or 3 weeks, is that right? It's not cot hatred with M, though - she goes into her cot fine and falls asleep at the beginning of the night, it's that she keeps bloody well waking up. She almost always goes back into her cot in the night pretty well too, but then it only lasts for an hour and she's awake again. She's either not eating enough to keep herself full for longer than 2 hours max, or else she needs to learn to self-settle. When she slept for 6/7 hours at a stretch a couple of months back she used to spend a really long time feeding before bed - now she's asleep within 10/15 mins.

Dream, have been encouraging M to stand up a lot after reading your post. Best aid to this is the dog - she stood for ages grabbing at him (I was holding her under the arms, but she was taking her own weight quite a lot of the time) and squealing with excitement. Any other physio tips for baby development? She wouldn't practice sitting afterwards, though - kept arching backwards to try to stand again.

I really want sponge cake now after reading all these posts!

Oh, and I forgot to say that the Rug Doctor thing was ace! [saddo emoticon] I did it on the rug first, which wasn't very impressive - stains didn't come out and it didn't seem to make that much difference, really - but on the carpet it was a different story. Cleaned off some ancient stains and really made it look clean. I should have hired one years ago, instead of getting a rug to hide the stains! Don't think we'll put the rug back down for a while.

Very impressed by the cake and party plans. Hope the cakes turn out just as yummy as they sound! Think Jaggy's traybake suggestion sounded good for egg-free stuff, or you could try cornflakes cakes, Biscuits? Does rocky road have egg in it? Dream I'd buy one for DD - as you say, at this age she won't mind either way, or remember (except for the photos of course :) ) Rubber your clock cakes sound brilliant - what a great idea!

Have replied to the Gumtree ad re the jumperoo. Haven't heard from the seller yet though. Think DS will love one as he enjoys standing. And presumably once he's crawling it will keep him in one place? Too M sounds so cute in hers - but how could she fall asleep in it?! DS has never shown the least inclination to fall asleep while playing!

Loving the hairstyle descriptions but on phone so can't see pictures. I just had my hair cut - a below-shoulder trim. Wish I had a 'style' but really can't be bothered to look after one - a quick comb is the most I manage in the morning! But does anyone have tips for stopping DC grabbing hair? DS pulls it out of my ponytail if I tie it back so that isn't the answer. Dream I hope your curls do return, though I believe having babies can do weird stuff to hair (eg one of my friends went from blonde to brown).

Pomme yay for a great night! Maybe that's the breakthrough you needed...

Scarlet I hope DS's feeding problem isn't to do with reduced supply. I read some Kellymom stuff and have been feeding him every 2 hours or so during the day to try to increase my supply, and I've done a 4am feed if he's woken in the night, but I'm going to go back to more of a 3-hourly thing during the day unless he asks for food sooner as I'm not sure feeding more often has made any positive difference.

Sounds like your supply should be ok then Pet. Ignore me!

M was clearly exhausted by being up all night, Pet! Also, I was using the Rug Doctor at the time and I think the noise probably helped. She's never looked remotely sleepy in it before. Usually when she gets tired she cries to be picked up/fed, but not this time.

Don't know how you stop them grabbing your hair, short of cutting it all off. M was sick the other week and there was one of my hairs in it! I too spend all my time removing my hair from her grasp, or unwinding hairs from her fingers. My hair's quite long - comes down to my bra strap. I've had it cut once since M was born and it could probably do with another cut. It's very split-endy and previous medium brown dye faded into a dark blonde, which was not the idea! I'm refraining from dying it again, though, because I was looking at photos of myself from the last 10 years, and when my hair was its natural brown it just looked so much better in pics. Better condition, shinier, and went better with my skin tone. I've got quite pink cheeks and so blonde/red/black look silly on me because natural blondes/redheads etc have much paler skin. I have therefore sadly come to the conclusion that I was born to have brown hair and I'd better revert to it. At least I've yet to find any grey, so it could be worse!

Madly I wrote the message on here and not had it since. Baby still having the occasional move so I don't know what it was but its gone again :)

sounds like maybe a sharp muscle stretchy pain cakes, hope it stays away.

i feel i may trump your hair sick too. i have a vivid memory of finding a hair of mine in baby DS1's nappy, but it was actually still not quite all out of his wee bum i think i had to pull it out.

when he was a lot bigger and crawling i found a bit of a plastic tag that attaches labels to clothes in shops. DH was all 'aha i told you he'd eat them' as they were everywhere from all the new baby stuff and he was paranoid about them. he is still grumpy if he finds them anywhere.

attempting to get an early night instead of letting DS2 sleep on my knee all evening. feedathon just now though.

Well that's good, Cakes. Hope things stay that way now! :)

Scarlet I fear it may be a supply issue though. I just hope not. Jaggy I know you once mentioned switching sides with DS2 - how often would you feed on one side before he asks to swap? I hate it when DS fusses after only 3 mins. How can he possibly be getting a full feed if he gives up that quickly?

erm he most often falls asleep on one side after decent feed, so then I'd do the next side next time. if he has a short feed on a second side I'd start there next time.

the swapping is when he just wants to feed and feed. i start on whatever side and if he bobs on and off and wriggles/cries he's either away to do a big poo or still hungry. so if he won't latch back on I'll swap sides and if he fusses again swap back etc till he falls asleep usually. sometimes he gets so worked up i have to stop and do a wee cuddle and rock or maybe shh a bit and pat/rub his back when he latches on to calm him.

i think it happens when he gets overtired or maybe too hungry if I've been busy with DS1.

hope that made sense and I've answered the right question