December 2011: They're one Jim, and highly illogical!

[LittleMissFantabulous]

I went with Gary's suggestion, as it was quite awesome and indeed factual!

:o

Onwards?

Muddy oven here too Plu, DP didn't really get the idea that they had to be cleaned, happened by magic when he lived at home I guess
On the ceiling front, they have to do the hallway ceiling, and then paint them. We will have to paint the rest ourselves. I've also got them doing a small job with the (for want of a better term) wonky skirting board that goes up the side of the stairs. The two sides are completely different, and I'm getting our builder to match them up- has bugged me for ages!

That does sound a wee bit pants faffin, to put it mildly; what's up with DD?

Y'know aethel, it won't be too long until yours are at the age where they're highly susceptible to wontwearanythingwarmandsensible-itis. My sister, now 15, is just starting to recover from a terrible bout, and will occasionally wear a coat. Some of her shoes are made of more than thin cotton too. Keep 'em wrapped up for as long as possible, though I agree about the cost of tights.

Debating about whether to try and make it in tomorrow- normally with snow I wouldn't bother, but a) we have builders in, so it'll be noisy, b) I've arranged a meeting with a lot of people that I want to make and c) the trains are allegedly going to be running....
WWYD?

Tights are great. And leggings/ thermals. I was perving over some silk thermals in the Patra online catalogue today, after having been looking at the Telegraph's shop for winter-related stuff, and having had to leave that when I found myself on a page with an ad for a old dears' and geezers' home chiropody kit. Yikes, demographic targetting fail (I hope)! Age is v important, though: you're absolutrly right, Northern! In Russia, we Western girls were the only sensible ones over 15 and under 40, as a friend was told by the babushka in her host family. I wore tights, leggings (x2), jeans, t shirt, rollneck, jumper, sheepskin coat, snood, scarf, fur hat. .

Sorry, slightly manic enthusiasm!

As for lack of enthusiasm, though, thank you to those who also confessed to muddy ovens! I told DH this evening, and he laughed his head off, even though he's actually in a better position to clean it, as he generally comes in after the little ones are in bed! Humph.

Tights are great. And leggings/ thermals. I was perving over some silk thermals in the Patra online catalogue today, after having been looking at the Telegraph's shop for winter-related stuff, and having had to leave that when I found myself on a page with an ad for a old dears' and geezers' home chiropody kit. Yikes, demographic targetting fail (I hope)! Age is v important, though: you're absolutrly right, Northern! In Russia, we Western girls were the only sensible ones over 15 and under 40, as a friend was told by the babushka in her host family. I wore tights, leggings (x2), jeans, t shirt, rollneck, jumper, sheepskin coat, snood, scarf, fur hat. .

Sorry, slightly manic enthusiasm!

As for lack of enthusiasm, though, thank you to those who also confessed to muddy ovens! I told DH this evening, and he laughed his head off, even though he's actually in a better position to clean it, as he generally comes in after the little ones are in bed! Humph.

Morning all.

Sky was up half the night think her teeth were giving her jip! She is wide awake now and laughing away in her cot. Nursery is open this morning so just getting her ready for that.

School isn't open till late this morning so will be dropping Darcie off after her hospital appointment and then having a snow afternoon off work - as by time I get there be time to head home!

My oven is muddy (only, I wish it was mud - that'd be soooo much easier!).
The GPs rang in sick yesterday, so I have taken an impromptu holiday.
I cleared and gritted the lane yesterday (get me!), so was expecting a day at the Trafford Centre shopping for wedding outfits with the BOi.
But my lovely clear lane is covered in snow (how?!?), so we couldn't have gone to work/the GPs anyway.
'Scuse me, BOi is kissing the TV again. Stop!!!

Lots of snow fun. Have just done lots of socially useful exercise (no gritting, though, Oi!), and am now feeding and cuddling DD for a sleep, as she seemed tired; she doesn't always last long enough for a PM nap.

Enjoy the snowday, Queenie. Northern, did you get to work, in the end? And did the builders get to work at yours seven?

Ahhh, DD now asleep. They are so lovely when they do sleep; it's such a pity when they don't! DD , bless her, is starting to try to self settle a bit, but her methodologies include yoga, gymnastics and primal screaming.

Builders turned up at 8:10. Now if only the bin men would turn up, our black bin is emptied once a fortnight, it's overflowing and should have been emptied on Friday .

I'm feeling really dizzy today, builders are being noisy and the snow is too deep to want to trek to my parents with the pushchair.

Ohh, seven, sympathies about the bins. Do you think your parents might be able to help, by visiting you, and also taking the rubbish away when they leave? When we visit my mother, if her rubbish day isn't till the next week, we take the nappy bag away with us (yuck), and this Christmas, she was due a rubbish day before us, so she took a bag away to put in her bin (which was pretty empty, as she had been staying with us).

have had a nanny fail here today so having to take a day off in our busiest month of the year. not very popular with colleagues and i've got loads to do so trying to fit it in between naps but suspect I'll be working late into the night.... arse

how do other people cope?? I know if ds2 was in nursery then he'd end up missing days as he was ill and that is the benefit of a nanny but since christmas we've not had one straight forward week and its really unsettling for the boys and makes it hard to focus on work. not sure we can continue like this. gah!!!

Thanks for the sympathies northern. DD had a high temp, pukey thing but fortunately seems a lot better today. Things seem brighter all round in fact. Made it out of the village (very slowly) so DS and his dribble are at nursery. Plumber is here starting to install shiny new boiler too :-)

Didn't get off to the greatest start though, when DH went off to work with my car keys and without his train ticket!

I heard similar stories from an antenatal group friend about her nanny, raaboonah; there doesn't seem to be any easy way of telling beforehand whether a nanny will be very reliable or a flake... Can I ask why it's you who has to take the time off? I'm sorry: because I was away fro the thread for so long, I still haven't caught up with all namechanges and newbies, so I don't know your situation. Have you got an OH who could and should take his turn?

Good news about the boiler, faffin! I do hope you had backup, as I don't think there's a single part of the country which has got away without some cold! Backup heaters can be very useful to have around anyway, and not a wasted investment. One of the heaters we bought recently (when our heating was buggered in the last cold snap and the landlords/agents were pissing around about fixing it) has been doing duty even now that our CH is working: I have it on standby in DS's room overnight, ready to kick in if the temp drops below 18C. Of course CH always runs off a thermostat in some incredibly impractical and little-used part of the house, so cold bedrooms overnight don't necessarily trigger the CH! Such heaters can also be lent out to friends/relatives if their heating conks out!

plu yes, it could have been a lot worse. We have two boilers so only half the house was out, and we have heaters to use in some rooms. Looking forward to being back to normal though, and not having to keep the wood burner going all day (and keep DS away from it all day!)

Raboonah DS has been at a CM for the last 7 months and has never had a single sniffle or illness in that time he is constantly around other LO's too would that maybe be an option if you worries about nursery bugs?

The trouble is I have a DS1 at kindergarten who needs picking up at 12 so we need someone to pick him up and look after DS2 all day. A nanny seemed like a good idea and her references were really good so hopefully its just a bad run. Will def reconsider options is there is more of this.

plu DH does his share don't worry!

Feeling a bit woozy and the day has completely run away from me. Almost time to set off to get the 'dinks!

I've got a poorly Darcie at home. Been sent home from school with a migraine after throwing up :(

Eek! DS just had his second settling in session at nursery, he cried when I left and cried when he saw me come in to pick him up :( He's not himself at the moment, very interrupted sleep last night and swollen gums, so I think he will be fine when he's feeling normal! He's got another 3 hour session on Friday and then into the full day next week!

Oh, dear, the little ones all coming home to roost/nest!

CheungFun, what did the nursery staff say to you? Did they let you know when he stopped crying? Was it as soon as you left? As for crying upon seeing you, it;s an overwhelming emotion, to see you again, so don't treat that the same as the other tears!

raaboonah, have you got your coffee cannon ready for the work?

We got the results of our full survey today, and it's horrendous. I was really shocked. We knew there would be a lot of work, but there's practically nothing which doesn't need doing (though thank God internal walls and the staircase are fine). The worst thing of all is that there is no insulation in the loft. HOW do people live like that? It's just crazy; that's the first bloody thing people are told to do if a house is cold. Practically no point putting in double glazing (a couple of windows had been replaced), if the heat all goes out of the roof! The person who owned it and died in it was an elderly woman, and I was quite depressed by the evidence of how she lived. It made me think of that thread about the OP's 100 year old grandmother, whose house was in such a mess. Thankfully (yes, I know), having had a heart attack or broken hip or something, the poor lady was actually warm and dry and her incontinence managed, in hospital when she died.

DH is still keen on the house, though. Men! Love a bargain!

DS is trying to talk he "says 1,2,3" and "ready steady go" well it sounds like those sounds anyway

Cheung that all sounds very normal. He will cry, but he will stop after you've gone, and he will settle. The tears of relief when you arrive are normal too. In fact, when I picked DS up today it was the first time he didn't do that. He's been going for two months now, but only one day a week, and it seems he's finally settled. They said he's been like a different baby today - the only time he got upset all day was when he was tired, and he ate everything . In fact he took the spoon from them and fed himself with it. He hasn't done that before - he's had a bit of a practice at home, but nothing has successfully negotiated the journey from bowl to mouth

It seems the offering no alternatives at mealtime is having some effect. He didn't eat loads more at the weekend, but gave some things a go at least (including some very wet satsuma and melon!)

figgy the words sound promising! Good stuff! Every word here sounds like "tsch", but alongside the magic pointy finger, we understand each other very well. Bonkers, but there is real communication. He understands so much.
I don't feel I'm getting the role reversal thing quite right... I earn loads more than DH, but I'm the one who takes a holiday when childcare fails, and I'm the one who's just spent an hour outside shifting snow and gritting the road. Again.
Grrrrr!
Still, he's making dinner! Haggis!! Love it!

Rather broken night here, with DS waking at about four, and then I'm not sure how much sleep I got after that with my brain 'kicking in' as it were about work.

Then poor DS got sent home from nursery- I wondered if he were sickening for something yesterday as he actually sat on my lap. They tried him on Calpol but he wasn't right, so DP went and got him.
And, Bob love him, I come home to find DP looking up meningitis symptoms and threatening A&E. Cue me getting some milk and fruit down DS and you'd barely know anything was wrong.

Think it'll be another broken night though, with the four molars and whatever bug it is....
Glad to hear DD's getting better faffin!

I did go into work Plu, did 10-4, but three of my team didn't make it in. Feel virtuous, although I'd've got bugger all work done with the builders here...

It will get better Cheung, and you can be reassured he won't be spending all the time crying or they'd call you- he will get used it (and you will stop feeling guilty in the end!)

Right, need to look up carpet cleaning firms...

Hss hire fo carpet cleaners, uf you want ti spend £25 not £200+!

Well they said he did stop crying after a few minutes of me leaving, but he cried a couple of times (mainly when the door opened and it wasn't me!). He was playing when I came to collect him and then he saw me and burst into tears! Poor little Chunk!

Plu I don't envy that amount of DIY & renovation I must say!

Figgy that's cool! It will be a whole new world with walking talking babies :o

Oi Ahh yes but you're still a woman therefore childcare issues are still your issues ;-)

Faffin that's good news, hopefully he will keep on eating more and trying new things!

Haha! Sometimes a bit of common sense is needed Northern!

Thank you everyone for the reassurance, I think DS is teething and not at his best at the moment either which doesn't help! They did all comment on how much lunch he ate which was funny! One of the staff did comment that she thought he probably would have eaten more if he'd had more....I might ask on Friday if there's any spare food, can he have seconds!

Ah, so many broken nights and teething from all the babies... northern and cheungfun we joined you last night with waking every hour, on the hour, with tooth hysteria. So now a bit zonkled.

We moved DS into his new car-seat on Saturday - a Britax Two-Way Elite. He was still in his infant seat till now, even though he is now 12kg and looked seriously squashed. Now he shall face backwards till he is 25kg, hurrah.