October 2011 - my, oh my, how the first years flew by!! It's birthday season!!

[MummyDuckAndDuckling]

So excited that the first birthdays are upon us! Will try get a copy of the stats..

[CheshireDing]

Duck Glad everything went okay at the hospital. I guess if they were worried about S's little growth they would have been eager for it to be investigated rather than waiting until next month. Loving the recent pics of S, she looks so grown up now, how fast they have gone from scrunched up newborns :(

Have just had another look at the stats I never realised that beside and BB3's and Ips' twins and Baby Bea my little P is the smallest! Better not tell DH he already freaks out that she's little anyway. I don't know why he is so surprised, he constantly tells me when I am old I will be the size of Yoda (don't know if that's how you spell it).

Sounds like everyone is coughing and sneezing, P has had it for 2 weeks, had a temp of 39 and she too sounds like a smoker. Seems to be improving slightly now, we went to the walk-in centre on Sunday and GP said it's viral and unless her temp goes up again there is nothing to give her. She sounds very rattly too on her chest and lots of lovely snot !

Happy Birthday so far to Baby Cup Baby B's and Baby Scheh .

Hope the weather improves for Sunday Duck (not that it could really get much worse)

I love winter too Ed, I love all the festival type things and I ADORE Christmas. Am so excited as to how many years I have ahead of me to get P wound up in to a Father Christmas frenzy. She is going to her first bonfire in November as they do one at 6pm for the children. Have you got the coat for M?

MrsH hope nursery is going okay and there are less tears today (from you) At least you didn't cry when you read L's book about what she had eaten for the day like I did 'cos I'm a big weirdo

Bilb hope the eye scan went okay and DH your DH has got an appointment to see the GP now, fx

Glad you had a great time in the UK Engels, you must have the patience of a saint though to deal with work, M and DH/lack of housework too. Since I had a MASSIVE tantrum before I started work DH has definitely wised up to the housework situation (thank God!), the standards of house cleaning are nowhere near what they were before P came along though

Aww that made me smile Strawberry thinking of you jigging. I got home tonight and by the time P and I had picked her clothes for tomorrow, she had emptied my work bag, eaten dinner it was bedtime. So I reckon I have seen her for 90 mins today in total but am trying to think of my wage slip at the end of October. It certainly won't be amazing but after Mat Pay then nothing hopefully it might seem amazing (kidding myself).

I was confused about the whole milk thing and I read the other day that if they are having a varied diet and cereal, yoghurt, cheese etc etc they get enough milk. P has cereal and crumpet/teacake (so she has milk on the cereal) then bf at bedtime but other than that the only milk she has is in cooking (scrambled egg etc). She drinks water in the day. I hope no idea if that is right but it's what I read < shares bugger all knowledge with October Mummies>

Right sorry for epic waffle, am off now to do some work watch Bake Off

[bilblio]

Hi all, please to report my scan went well, there's nothing in my eye that shouldn't be, no tumour, cyst etc. Still no proper explanation for the bulge, but the optician said the iris can adhere to the lense sometimes, what this means long term I've no idea, but no-one seems concerned.

Just thursday to get through now.

Bobux shoes, I'm sure I've seen them in TKMax. I think we're going shoe shopping this weekend. S has been doing lengths of the living room using his walker and he loves it. TKMax is near Clarks, so I think we'll do the usual get measured then shop around. I don't mind doing it with soft shoes for now. Once he starts walking I'll stump up for proper Clarks shoes.
I hate, and can't afford the expense, but when DD was 2.5 I bought her some pumps from tesco. We walked to the park and back one day, she loves walking and never complained, but at bathtime I took her socks off and found she'd rubbed deep blisters into both heels. I felt terrible! and it's only in the past year when I know she'd moan if she was in pain, that I've started buying cheaper shoes.

Off now to read about why the babies need operations & scans. Hope they all go well though.

[Scheherezade]

That sounds good to me Chesh - it's so easy to get worked up, especially when you hear other people are doing something you're not!

It's just so stressful working out if I should give a bottle before cereal, or a cup of milk after... I'm giving him plenty of cheese, and yoghurt in the afternoon.

[Penelope1980]

Hello everyone! I am three days into a week off work and A is in creche today so not quite sure what to do - so many options! So, of course I am faffing on MN until I decide ... I am really enjoying being at home with A, although feel odd taking him to creche today but the creche insisted as wanted him to at least one day for continuity. Makes me wonder how I spent my time before he came along. More sleeping, I suppose.

Bilbio good your scan went well

[Climbingpenguin]

bilb I only seem to realise DD's (also 2.5) shoes are far too small, rather than thinking oh she'll be due a new pair soon. Cue frantic dash to shops. glad scan went well and ducks. Hope you get answers soon.

sorry only skimmed read. I need to get shoes for DS that can handle crawling over wet grass. He's still ages from walking despite his few steps. It's odd, once DD was walking that was it. In half an hour she went from two steps to across the room and so on.

We have moved house, go on holiday on Friday (Scotland) and DS's sleep is bad again but think he is getting a cold.

[MummyDuckAndDuckling]

Anyone noticed babies appetite has suddenly changed? Could just be her cold, but dinner time is becoming hard work. She will eat breakfast and lunch fine, but not dinner...

[EdwardorEricCantDecide]

cheshire no still no coat yet it's been on order for 2 weeks now so hopefully soon.
I'm so excited for Xmas I'm doing loads of crafty things including making my own advent calender. And this will be our first year with elf on the shelf and been taking deliveries all week for sequins, foam balls raffia and other arty stuff

DH and I have now had our kid free weekend away and I did enjoy it, and his company, still not sure if ill ever get that spark back though.

[Penelope1980]

Mummy my Mum in all her child-rearing wisdom says that there is usually one or two meals young kids favour, and others that can be harder. A eats oodles for lunch, but never so much for dinner and he will eat a truck load for breakfast.

ed glad you enjoyed the weekend away!

I had a very sick baby yesterday and last night, the dr said it was an ear infection. He seems a bit better today (yesterday he just wanted to sleep on me) but still not 100%

[CheshireDing]

Mummy P did not really eat at all with her cough and cold and at nursery she must STUFF her face because she hardly eats any evening meal on those days. Maybe S is a secret food hoarder at lunch I wouldn't worry too much I think at this age they basically just eat if they are hungry (unless they are actually ill). It makes sense what Pene's Mum says too, I have favourite foods so I guess why would babies not (cheesecake is my favourite!).

Hope A is feeling better today Pene :(

Ed that sounds FAB, I am soooo looking forward to doing crafty stuff when P is older.

[Climbingpenguin]

DD does this and I think DS is starting to. If you think it makes sense, they need their calories to move about during the day, not the sleep. Historically I think, people used to consume most of their calories at the start of the day as well. Not sure if you've heard the phrase 'eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper'? I guess with our work days we do it topsy turvy now. At this point is when fussiness can come in (between one and two) where they go from eating everything to just the same things. Breakfast and lunch tend to be the same things each day.

Saying that DS seems to spend most of the day feeding and he had more feeds than normal last night.

[MrsHende]

On the subject of food, is it possible for our babies to overeat?!

Lizzie is ALWAYS hungry - even if she's just eaten she is desperate to have food when she sees someone else eating. She cries when her food is finished!

I veer between worrying that she's hungry and I'm giving her portions that are too small and that I'm giving in to her begging too much and might end up over feeding her!

I don't give her food to pacify her but relatives (MIL I'm looking at you...) seem to think I'm cruel for not giving her food when she's crying for ours, even though she's had a lovely two course dinner!

[Scheherezade]

C eats a moderate amount for breakfast, lunch is usually hard work, but he does well at dinner.

I didn't give him his morning bottle today as he woke up late, but he still ate the same amount of breakfast, and not much lunch. I'm just scared to cut it out in case I can't get enough into him, milk especially. But I guess as long as I make sure breakfast is a cereal with milk, and not just toast or crumpets etc.

Just not really sure what to do about the 11am/3pm snack, what to give him, and whens best to offer the milk. I was giving him yoghurt at 3, but should I give that after lunch as a pudding, and then a beaker of milk at 3 instead?! My head is spinning!

[TallyBear]

We've not started beakers of milk yet as Seb just waves it (sippy cup) about and gets water everywhere. Not brave enough to try milk in it yet.

Is anyone else finding it hard to get the LOs dressed and changed? It takes two of us at the moment as he just wants to roll over and crawl off; one to distract him with toys and hold him down if necessary and the other to put it all on! I've become an expert in putting a nappy on while he's crawling away and I now put his sleeping bag on when he's standing up.

[Scheherezade]

I dress C standing in the cot :)

[MummyDuckAndDuckling]

i'll write down what S ate today, tell me if you think its about average..

8.30/9am cup of milk and about 2 heaped teaspoons of rice krispies with milk, few of my shredded wheets and then a crust of toast she managed to nab that i left on my plate
10.30am she had a few little rice cakes while i was getting showered/dressed
1pm small pancake and butter, cheese triangle, raisins
4pm cup of milk
6pm quite a big portion of pasta with red pesto and some gratted cheese on top. slice of pear.

im noticing she is starting to refuse fruit and veg (typical eh?). i still sometimes make fruit puree as i know she will eat it that way. she likes to hold and eat banana and raisins but thats about it. went through a phase of loving blueberries, but these are being rejected now aswell. i did mush them up and put through yogurt last night though!

mrsh what you say about L begging for food, S does this to. she stares you out if your eating something she doesnt have then starts to wimper, even if she has just ate! im putting it down to curiosity rather than greed!!

re nappy/getting dressed. i have to give her something to hold while i change her on the mat. ususally tub of sudocrem or even a wipe as she likes cleaning her face

[TallyBear]

I've not thought of rice crispies, i wonder if seb would eat those. Seb likes to steal some of my toast if I'm having some at the weekend .

[Climbingpenguin]

I'd err on the side of feeding them

DS today

7 porridge
8 slice of toast (yesterday also a whole bowl of his sisters cereal)
9 bf
10:30 biscuit and banana
12 bf and what crusts of DD's sandwich he steals/she gives him
2 lunch
4ish fruit snack
6 dinner
6:30 bf, then night feeds at 10, 2 and 6

he'll often have an extra snack

[Penelope1980]

I think A eats a bit more than that Mummy but at creche it's become a running joke how much he puts away. He eats a small bowl of porridge and a mandarin at breakfast, a slice of toast and peanut butter for lunch as well as some grapes and some cheese, rice cakes for snacks and fish fingers and beans for tea (the last day he was well anway). He's finally well again today - am so releived.

I've started changing A standing up as well, with his hands against a chair like I am about to arrest him. Works about 50% of the time, the other times I just need to chase and trap him in a corner. He moves so quickly now

[EdwardorEricCantDecide]

Mhairi is another who is a PITA to dress/change and she's so fast! She can literally make it to the other side of the room on the time it takes me to pick up the clean nappy!

On average M will eat
A whole weetabix with cows milk @ 7.30
A 6oz bottle @ 9.30 although doesn't always get/finish it.
Lunch eg large soft boiled egg mashed with a little butter and a brioche roll followed by a petit filous yogurt @ 11.30 (need to have an early lunch to get C to nursery)
6-7oz bottle at 3pm sometimes with a couple of breadsticks
Dinner (half a jar of stage 3 purée or a bowlful of whatever we're eating @ about 5pm
8-9oz bottle @7pm
And 6oz bottle between 10pm and 12am.
She is another who would literally keep eating if you let her an you can't eat anything without sharing with her. As a result she has now tried lychees, raw onion (which she actually liked) and arribata sauce which had 2 chopped chillies in again she loved it! Her nappy did not!
Irony is that it's a daily battle to get Christopher to eat even half of what M eats and she regularly steals his leftovers

[Engelsemama]

starwberry good to hear you have a date for Ws operation.

pen Thanks for the shoe advice. I have actually found a pair of baby slippers/leather things that my sister sent over from Oz, not the same brand you mentioned, but they just about still fit and they stay on and he's still managing to walk (inside). Am going to pop into town today (helmet check-up) and have a look at what I can find for outside. Still need to do some more online research though!

glad your scan was all clear bilb

have a good holiday climbing

ed I am also SO excited about christmas. one of my sister's friends is making M a personalized stocking, I bought myself him The Jolly Christmas postman for Christmas eve and am on the look out for christmas pyjamas - I saw some on amazon that are like an elf costume!

Our first christmas in our own home as a family. am also going to make stockings for myslef and DH (whihc means I get to by myself lots of lovely things! already got the chocloate money!) to make it a bit special, and even though we'll go to see the ILs in the morning, we'll be eating a trad British Christmas dinner at ours (with no fussy ILs allowed!). was even looking for christmas crackers in the supermarket last weekend (they don't sell them here) but they didn't have them out yet. rwckon I can pick some up in Oct/Nov when we're back in the UK for weddings.

[AwkwardAnnie]

Sorry I've name changed. I didn't feel comfortable talking about DH with the nickname I use all over the net.... I'm the one who's just had a scan on her eye.

Everyone panicking about milk is worrying me now. S doesn't have any during the days when I'm in work. BLW means there's minimal sloppy food (until tea time then straight in the bath.)
On work days he'd normally have a feed at about 6am, then nothing but solid food and water till 7pm, another at 11pm, then ideally another at 3am... although at the moment it's 11pm-3am some nights. I'm exhausted, and hating teeth!
On the days I'm home he might have a feed at 11am to get him to sleep, but not always. We did try getting him to have a bottle but he started refusing it after a couple of weeks. He does like to drink the dregs of DD's milkshake if he gets chance though so I think he'll be fine having milk in a cup in a few weeks.

DH went to the Dr's WooHoo! I didn't tell him until half an hour before the appointment, but he agreed to go and went on his own. The GP said they normally have an assessment period, but as it's been going on for 18+ years and he's never seen a GP they're skipping the assessment step, he's got a couple of types of medication and he's got to go back in 2 weeks when they'll start doing full assessments and looking into therapies. The tablets are making him feel dreadful at the moment, but we were expecting it to be worse before it got better, and at least he's not going through a really bad patch at the moment. He does at least seem positive about taking the medication.

[EdwardorEricCantDecide]

annie when my DH started his meds he was told by doc that they would make him worse initially but they didn't so i dont think it works that way for everyone FX.

[CheshireDing]

I don't think they can eat too much at this age MrsH (although somebody feel free to correct me if I am wrong), unless of course they have that illness where you eat and eat and get massive - can't remember what it's called but I mean a proper medical illness (think it's quite rare too).

P is back to her human hoover so yesterday she had:-

8.30pm Breakfast - apricot wheats with whole milk (a level bowls worth, so it's prob about 20 wheats) , crumpet with butter

10ish Snack - Toasted teacake, whole small pear

12.30 Lunch - Makerel and Philadelphia sandwich, mango, raisins

3pm Snack - Yoghurt, banana, potato cake, Fig, home made flapjack

6pm Dinner - Mushroom Rissotto, strawberries, tangerine

7pm-Midnight - Bf as and when she wakes

She has water with every meal and always around to help herself to.

2x poo's per day (if that's relevant)

We do give her food is she is asking whether we are home or out, if she doesn't want stuff she will just throw it on the floor. She stops once she is full.

[Engelsemama]

Well done to your DH for going to GP annie (and well done to you for getting him there )

DH felt awful the week after he started his meds. He was exhausted and also really nauseous.

I bought a book about depression last weekend when I was in the UK called "Depressive illness: The curse of the strong" Have only just started it but it's really good. The first time I have ever bought a book after hearing a radio interview (on radio 2, author was talking to Jeremy Vine).

sending you a big hug.

Milk wise M only has one bottle of formula before bed, have just moved to his cup rather than bottle with teat. He has porridge for breakfast as well.

[ipswichwitch]

N has gone from barely eating to stuffing his face with anything we give him. Today he had
B'fast: porridge
10am: fruit salad
Lunch: chicken dinner and jelly with pineapple
2pm: 3oz ebm plus half the emergency bottle of ready made aptamil nursery keep for his extra hungry days
3pm: soup and bread
Tea: tablespoon of baked beans with 3/4 slice of toast, 2yoghurts and a bit of my cheese scone

No wonder he's getting a pot belly!

annie, when DP started citalopram he was worse for about a week then I noticed a big improvement. He's off the meds now, but we've reached a place where he recognises himself when he's getting down again and we can talk things through better. The hardest thing is to go to a dr and admit you need help. Well done for him taking that step and I hope things get better