March 2005 part 6 - Toddling towards summer!

[leogaela]

And her it is!

Busy, its so funny that people make assumptions on such old fashioned ideas isn't it!

Pidge - lol at the reason for Iris & Niklas crying when waking up! Do the other early babies cry when they wake up? When will they grow out of it and wake up with a smile? I kind of blame dh because as soon as he hears Niklas stir in the morning he jumps out of bed (almost in panic) and picks him up, I think we should leave him bit!

Jambot - you are really lucky to have a mum who is so happy to help out with your little one. Sometimes i feel a bit sorry for us that we don't have any family close by to look after Niklas so we can go out. We are joining a babysitting thing here, they have a training course for girls and boys to be babysitters, however I am not very hopeful as I think they can do the course at 13 years old and I don't think I would be happy for such young people to be looking after Niklas while we go out.

Bonym - I finally received the mummy tummy book, have you done any of the exercises yet? Has it been successful?

Niklas is still not well. Last night he had a temperature of over 40, we gave him some medication and he slept until about 2, then I was up with him for a couple of hours, he was completely miserable, he eventually he fell asleep in bed with us. I realise how much better I have been feeling since Niklas has been sleeping through the night, feeling terrible again today after 2 nights of not enough sleep.

Oh dear Leo - Isn't it terrible when they aren't well? Especially at this age when they can't tell you how they are feeling. Fingers crossed he'll get over it quickly.
Yes, I am very blessed in that I have my parents two minutes drive away and In-laws about 15 minutes away. My mum has Lauren the whole day on Tuesday and Friday mornings, plus they normally see her over the weekend. She sleeps over with them or the In-laws about twice a month. I'm lucky in that she has always been such a good sleeper, so don't feel worried that she's going to keep them up all night. Lauren is the light of my parent's life! It really has enriched their lives immensely having Lauren and it's lovely to watch her with them.Specially my dad who turn into such a soppy old Grampy as soon as he sees her.
Having Lauren has actually improved my relationship with parents which has always been fine but not really, really close, especially with my father.
As much as I adore my daughter I cherish the time I have to myself. I'm quite a private person and enjoy spending time on my own away from other people.

Hi everyone - have negelected this thread all week and now struggling to keep up1

Glad you had a good weekend Busy - it sounds wonderful, and happy belated anniversary.

Pidge - poor Iris, falling over like that - glad that she was ok though. Well done on her walking though!

Leo - hope Niklas is feeling better - it's so awful when they're not well.

I have to confess that I haven't done any of the exercises in the mummy tummy book , really need to though. Grace very kindly pulled it off the shelf for me the other day!

Lovely that your parents can look after Lauren overnight jambot. Unfortunately Grace still has a feed at about 5am so have never been able to leave her overnight. My mum hasn't been too well for several weeks now so dh and I haven't been out for ages as there's no-one else we can really ask to babysit at the moment.

Grace walked 18 steps on her own yesterday! She'd previously only done 2 or 3 maximum before falling on her bottom, so I was so chuffed with her yesterday (as was she with herself!).

Felt terrible this morning, I was unloading the dishwasher and had turned my back on Grace for a moment when there was a huge crash. She had pulled a Pyrex casserole dish out of the cupboard and it had smashed all over the floor. I really shouted (out of fear really as I was worried she might hurt herself). I felt so guilty for shouting, but bless her, she must have known she'd done something wrong, as I scooped her up and put her in the travel cot that we keep in the kitchen (as a playpen) and she sat in there very quiet, looking at her books for ages! She usually complains loudly if she's ever put in there! I had to keep telling myself Pidge, that she's only exploring the world!

Have a good weekend everyone.

Just to add to my already long post () - Grace is another one that wakes up crying every morning. Makes me a bit sad, as Phoebe always woke up very happy and would chat to herself for ages at this age. She was also a mcuh better sleeper - 7.30 - 7.30am.

Isn't it funny how all us 2nd time mums are having very different experiences this time around?

Hmmm - I could do with that tummy book boneym - it's the one bit of me that says "here were two babies!" - and frankly running is going to do nothing to change it.

What is it with second babies. Is there anyone here with a second baby who sleeps as well or better than their first!

Speaking of which it's 9.20pm and I'm off to bed!

Have a nice bank holiday weekend UK people, and a nice not so long weekend those elsewhere.

hi

has anyone elses baby learnt to scream? serena does a really high pitched scream that souns awful if i pop her down or dont wake att he whimper.

she hasnt been sleeping much during the day or at night either. since i had to move her back to my room in preparation for dh coming home, she has got really slingy and fretful. she knows doesnt she? after almost a year of having her to myself, and only seeing daddy at weekends/few hours every few days, i am getting worried about how this big change is going to affect her.

pidge
no

:)

Freya sleeps much better than Ethan did at the same age, and in fact sleeps later than him right now! I have resigned myself to the fact that he is an early riser (6am every day) and at least now I can leave a jigsaw in his room or whatever so he can ammuse himself for a bit before he comes to wake us - at 6.45am at the absolute latest!

Oh well, JO, there goes my theory of second baby insomniacs!

Misdee - you know babies this age often go through clingy phases anyway, Iris is certainly permanently attached to my legs, or patting me saying "hello", whining to be picked up etc. And if dp is is holding her she leans over arching her back reaching out to get into my arms. Also I think even if your dh coming home is unsettling for a while, babies are pretty adaptable and I'm sure she'll be ok. My two barely bat an eyelid at grandparents coming and going - staying for a week, then not being around for three months, not to mention friends staying for a couple of nights then disappearing.

Anyway, it's wonderful that your dh is heading home. So pleased for you. And fingers crossed Serena settles well into new life with daddy around.

No stopping Grace now - walking all over the place .

Hey Everybody!

How is the bank holiday, the shUK one and the short one goes?coz over here we have 4!!! days in a row of bank holiday and next week as well.Thanks to socialistic past of my country and to those who won the the second world war.

About sreaming.Ksenia never wakes up sreaming in the morning she normally smiles or even laughs.So i leave her in the bad for about 10 mins and then the potty for 10-15 mins. But day sleeps,both of them, OMG!!!she wakes up every half hour sreaming and crying so i have to hold her in my arms for a while intill she off agian.
And the last few days she dosnt sleep much iether in the day.

Misdee- i think everything will be just fine when you dh comes back home coz there is such thing like relative blood. We've been away for a year now from my dh but first word was PAPA and she recognizes daddy in the picture and Ksenia loves to listen to his voice when he is calling.

Leo- is Nicklas doing any better?I even dont know what to say and not because i am first time mum its just Ksenia had been sick only once so in this cases i am very new.

Girls sometimes it seems like nobody reading my post.And i feel left out of you Marchbabies Circle:( If my english is not so understandable just correct me but dont ignore me please coz i really like your thread.btw it a new word that i learned reading and writtting the post on March2005 babies.

I hope we can be friends.

Take care

Oh Ukranianmum I'm so sorry you feel a bit left out. I think you're English is brilliant and I love hearing about you and Ksenia. I think we've all been 'chatting' together for such a while now that we take it for granted that we're reading each others posts and don't actually acknowledge that we've done so (I hope that makes sense). I'll definately make more of an effort from now on

How come you've been away from your DH for such a long time. Is he working away from home or are you not together?

We've had a lovely weekend and went cycling again yesterday. Harrison just loves it and smiles at everyone in his little red helmet. He's been out in the garden all weekend and doesn't like the feeling of grass Cried everytime I put him down on it and held his arms up to be moved to the patio.

He's getting quite confident moving around on his feet now and even takes a few steps just holding onto one of my hands. Maybe one day soon I'll be posting about walking - well done Grace on that front

Misdee I agree totally with Pidge and Ukranianmum that Serena will adapt to Peter coming home. That's such fantastic news and I hope it all goes well for you

Yesterday Harrison woke at 5.15am and was still wide awake and chatting in his cot at 7am when DH eventually got up to him. Today he slept until 8.15am - so who knows what tomorrow holds - and yes I am lucky that he'll sit in his cot for so long happily.

Alex - you can be sure that your posts are read by everyone. Your English is fine and quite easy to understand although I do sometimes smile at the way you use some words in a very cute way. Lauren is also luckily a happy bunny in the morning. Her little face peering over the cot at me makes up for the early mornings. She's not really interested in being picked up, just wants her little star light that changes colour on. Only thing I can't do is make her wait too long for her morning milk. Soon as she's up she MUST have it ASAP or much crying.
We have also had a four day weekend. Freedom Day on Friday and May Day on Monday.
Good Luck with your husband coming home Misdee. Is he much better now? You really have had a hard time of it and I hope things are easier for you from now on.

ukrainianmum - I love reading your posts - Ksenia sounds great. Often I'm posting in such a flurry I don't get time to respond properly.

We just had a great bank holiday monday - a long, long lunch with friends, kids all playing happily in the garden and then in the playground at the end of our road. Both our girls were so worn out they were in bed before 7pm, so dp and I are rounding off the holiday weekend with some rather large glasses of red wine!

Me too Alexandra I enjoy reading your posts, its really nice to have you and Ksenia around :)! I remember feeling the same when I first joined mumsnet and was posting on the March 2005 pre-natal thread. And definitely no problems with your English.

How is Ksenia getting on wiht the potty? We bought one for Niklas but he just plays with it :o!
Thanks for asking about Niklas, he is kind of better but not completely back to his usual self. His temperature is back to normal but he has a rash now. He is really clingy and demanding. Unfortunately both mine and dh's patience has really been tested with him this weekend :(, its hard because we don't really know if he is still feeling unwell or just being difficult. We are going to phone the doctor tomorrow, I feel uncomfortable that he has a rash.

Well done Grace for the walking!!!!

Busy, that's really funny Niklas looooooooooves the grass, he can sit for hours picking the daisies and dandelions. Unfortunately the people that lived in our place before produced a perfect lawn and we don't have any of eihter in our garden.

We too had a public holiday today. Gosh, we've had such a busy day that I don't remember what we have done the whole weeekend! Today i ran a 10K, and this evening we had two sets of friends with babies over for a bbq. We had lovely weather today and sat outside this evening although it did start to get cold.

Leo and Pidge You sound like you had lovely days although I'm sorry to hear that Niklas has been difficult. I know what you mean about not being sure if they're still unwell or just playing up. Hannah still keeps me guessing and she's 8

We've had a lovely weekend. Cycling on Saturday, a lovely restful day at home yesterday (although I did run 2.5 miles which I was really proud of until I read you'd done 10K Leo ) and today we went out on the bikes again for over 2 hours and cycled along a canal near to where we live. Harrison fell asleep on the back so I cycled along in absolute peace as DH had the job of chivving Hannah along

I'm off now to follow in Pidge's footsteps and have a nice glass of wine

Hope Niklas is OK Leo when you speak with the doctor. I'm sure it's just a viral rash after he's been poorly but always best to get these thngs checked.

Oh yes and Harrison is having his MMR jab tomorrow. I'm off work all week as childminder is on holiday so thought I'd get it done this week in case he reacts and is poorly.

Jambot, how's the diet going. I've just had weigh-in this week and I'm finding the final few pounds I want to loose really (really, really, really) tough.

DH is away this week so I'm not sure if that means I'll be good as I'll be busier than usual or if I'll be bad as I'll have no-one to chat to in the evenings.

Leo, how is Niklas this morning

Busy, sounds as if you had a very fit, sporty weekend :)!
I think Niklas is much better today :) thanks, his rash has almost gone so we didn't call the doctor. He has been really clingy over the last few days though and cried (actually screamed and threw himself on the floor) this morning when we left him at the nursery :(:(:(:(! I think he may have just been hungry though as he only had milk before we left this morning. They give him breakfast at the nursery so if possible we don't give him breakfast at home, maybe he needed it this morning .
DH was complaning last night about having a stiff back and not sure why... he has been taking my comments about backache from having to carry Niklas so much far too lightly (i have backache at the moment so trying not to pick him up so dh does instead when possible)! After my run I had to drive home as dh was too tired to drive , an hour of running around behind Niklas on his own was more exhausting than running a 10K!

Leo, they're just useless sometimes aren't they. DH had to look after the children for one day in the week as I was away in Oxford overnight. He had to get the children up, fed, dressed, packed up (school and childminder) and dropped off before going to work, which is just what I have to do 5 days a week. He admitted when I got home that he was exhausted and stressed when he got to work (late I might add) and ruefully added that he knows how I must feel everyday. Ha - I LOVE IT when that happens

So glad to hear Niklas is feeling better today and I'm sure his being clingy will pass soon enough. Harrison started getting really grumpy about 11, so I thought I'd quickly give him some lunch early, then put him down for a sleep. Put him into his highchair, turned around to make a sandwich and when I turned back (about 2 minutes later) he was fast asleep

Snuggly tucked up in his cot now so I'm off to have an early lunch myself before he wakes and catch up on some chores.

Busy - So cute about Harrison falling asleep in his highchair! Can't imagine bionic Iris ever doing such a thing. Is Harrison down to one nap a day now? Iris in theory still has two, and I'm thinking if maybe we can get her to drop the morning nap in the hope that this will make her sleep later than 5.30am ....

Maddeningly my dp is always ultra-capable and manages fine with the kids He did 3 days with them, whilst I was at work over Easter, now admittedly he had his mum to help two days, but he seemd to cope without any problem. I guess he's quite well practised - on my working days I'm out of the house at 7.15am and he's left to get them dressed, breakfasted and up at the childminder's by 8.15am. I'm not sure I could manage that as well as he does, I get in a tremendous flap and end up yelling at everyone to get a move on.

Leo - well, now at least your dh knows what it's like. I too have permanent backache from hoisting 12kg Iris around the place. And whenever my parents come to stay they go home with back problems too!

Pidge, it's really only been the past 4-5 days that Harrison has been trying to drop his morning nap. I put him down last Friday at about 10am like normal but he just chattered away to himself for half an hour so I got him up. By 11.30 he was way, way tired so I put him down then instead.

What I'm finding is that he needs to sleep about 11/11.30ish and goes for an hour and a half to two hours. But it's really hit and miss if he can last the afternoon. Sometimes he needs a short power nap late afternoon or I try and get him to bed early (he's fast asleep now). Be careful what you wish for though as Harrison was sleeping until 7/7.30ish but since his morning nap has moved later, he's been waking at all sorts of times. In the past four days we've had 5.15, 8.15, 6.50 and today was 5.55

Luckily he'll stay in his cot quite happily but I'm still awake, keeping an ear open to his noise level in case he wakes Hannah as both of them up at that time of day would completely do me in.

Harrison had his MMR today. He cried for about three seconds and then he took the raisins I had in my hand and that was it, drama over. Now it's just a waiting game to see if he reacts

Oh yes, got Harrison weighed whilst we were at the clinic - 27lbs 4oz which is about 12.4kgs. It's official, I gave birth to an elephant

Good eve to all of you!
Busy- Harrison falling asleep in the highchair made me smile.I just cant imagine Ksenia falling asleep like that.I just wonder how normally do you put Harrison to bed.You Just put him in the cot and that is it?Coz with Ksenia it really long proccess- First bottle, then she is making herself comfy in my arms and it can take a while and only then she is dreaming away.So normally it takes 20-25 mins.Poor Harrison and His MMR dose.Ksenia had it about 2 weeks ago and she was so ok dont know the word but like snake and so strong trying to get out that when the nurse took the needle out it was bend

Potty training are going well!But now we spent a lot of time out so back to nappies again but at home none.POtty gives me about 15 more mins to sleep in the morning .I know bad mummy.and to be honest i cant imagine now our life without a potty.
Ksenia is talkling non stop now .not the real words of course but still the effort. My poor cat dont know where to hide from her coz apparently she thinhs he is better listener than me.

And about my dh.We are still tigether but we are here in ukraine and ne is in UK.I had problems with my visa he is was waiting aand still do for his status as british citizen.And it is a long complicated story like here we say a bottle of vodka will be not enough to get to the truth.We pray and hope that this summer will be all together.

Ok, so late for me now time difference is 2 hours.Huge thanks to all of you for the support.All you posts made my heart melt!Thank you all one more time!

Ukranianmum, Harrison goes to sleep very easily - I am blessed in that sense. When he gets grumpy, I take him up to his bedroom, close the curtains, put him in his cot, put his music machine on (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) and off I go. 5 minutes later, he'll be asleep if it even takes that long. He's really good at sleeping at my childminders as well so it's not me who's got the magic touch - he just likes to sleep

It makes me really laugh to picture Ksenia chatting to your cat. Harrison chatters away all day too in his own little language and I often wonder what he's saying as he potters about. Still only says Ta and No (oh the shame of that being his first word) but he seems to know what he's talking about

Hope everything works out with the visa - are you hoping to come here or your DH to the Ukraine?