FEB 2010 Three is a magic number, yes it is......

[InmaculadaConcepcion]

Come and take shelter from the DC here, folks!

[ClimbingPenguin]

She kinda wimpers, it lasts a few days each time. The first time I think she did have a mild ear infection as that ear was running a fair bit hotter. Now it seems she suffers a bit each time she gets a cold.

[InmaculadaConcepcion]

Ah, sorry to hear about the dodgy ears CP - your poor old DD....

Mous great news on the speech! Your HT is a bit by the sounds of it....I think you're right to just go by your own instincts on the matter...

Survival ahahaha at the changing room comments! And oops, bit mortifying about the lad's burns. But very tough to avoid that sort of thing with outspoken toddlers. Sounds like you took every precaution, it was just bad luck.

Lovely to hear how well your DD2 is doing at pre-school, NK!

DD had a great week at nursery, thankfully. Bringing her bubble wand in has helped break the ice with other children and now she's definitely starting to interact with various individuals in a positive way, so that's great progress. When I arrived yesterday, she'd just matter-of-factly informed one of the staff that she'd had enough and wanted to go home to play now - good timing! She wasn't upset, just firm about it. And she's been very positive when telling us about things she's done at nursery. I think it's helped that she's doing a poo most days at lunchtime, so is energised and cheerful by the time we leave for nursery....
The nursery does a journal for each child where members of staff make a few comments every session based on what they've observed the child doing. Parents can take them home at any time to read - it was lovely, actually. A really nice touch.
Roll on next week.

[LeMousquetaireAnonyme]

Great news IC.

I don't think DD2 is violent at all. She is strong though so any disagreement with anybody her age will look like she is bullying even if she just stand her ground. I have seen mums accusing her of pushing in the park (right under my nose) while she was just standing there and the kid just ran into her and bounced off .
Her sister was teaching her karate, and we have put a stop to that I can't imagine the troubles she would get in if she starts doing kicks and punches .
She is not verbal enough to argue back or defend herself either.

Her tantrums are mostly about miscommunication. She had a meltdown at school (which she won) because she had to stick a monster together. No amount of cajoling from her teacher managed to make her changed her mind so her monster was pink everything on a pink paper. She obviously had a reason. She showed it to me and I said it was a pity we can't see it it is pink on pink. Nodded... after a long discussion with 3 languages and half words, I managed to understand that the monster was hiding. She was told to do a scary monster and monsters are only scary when hiding or something like that... Which her teacher thought was clever! but god it took us a huge amount of time to figure out what it was!
In my school when I was a kid they would have put me in a corner for naughty behaviour and told me I was stupid . Glad we are not in France!

[ClimbingPenguin]

That's impressive mous you must have felt very proud of her in that moment

[NK2b1f2]

'Mous' I love your dd2's monster!!! And glad her teacher gets her...

[LeMousquetaireAnonyme]

Actually, I am more proud of her teacher not completely dismissing her and wanting to get to the bottom of it .
Reading my post again it sounds like I think DD2 can do no wrong though! I do not! I am sure she can fight but she is not violent! I talk to her teacher everyday and she would tell me. She mostly say she is good and caring. She shares her comforter with and stroke children who cries... Hardly violent! She does have arguments, she is not passive, but ...

Or may be I am completely blinded by her cuteness and her being my baby...

[StoneBaby]

mous I think you are right when saying her hight may mean other parents (or HT) see her more violent than she is. I would not say that my DS is violent but he is rough in his actions (even a cuddle seems to be a tackle). If she was a violent child she would be the same at home. Great news that her teacher understands her.

DS has been dry 2 mornings in a row and as a result of us making a big fuss about it, he told me after his bath that he'll not be wearing a nappy to sleep . I think he needs more dry nights before I agree!!!??

[LeMousquetaireAnonyme]

Oh! yes SB! we said a week of dry nappies for DD2. She was refusing to get a nappy on last week! wet yesterday dry this morning...
wait and see

[LeMousquetaireAnonyme]

still not 100 % reliable a night a year after

[NK2b1f2]

dd2 is either totally dry in the morning or sopping wet . No intention to do away with night time nappy yet!

[LeMousquetaireAnonyme]

seen since

[StoneBaby]

Oh don't worry, I'm not in a rush to give the night nappies yet (I'll be dealing with the wetness in the night morning too).

My issue is the argument with DS about it!! I finally managed to convince him to wear one tonight after a 10mn conversation!!!

[StoneBaby]

Glad he wore a nappy last night as it was wet this morning... Maman knows best

[NK2b1f2]

Completely random question.. Do you use moisturiser of some sort on your LO after a bath, generally, on face in cold weather, in nappy area, not at all? I'm not normally using any creams at all on mine except Sudocrem on bottoms if necessary and sun block in the summer (hollow laugh... If we have a summer). Dd2 has a touch of what looks like exzema on her face (cold weather related) and behind her knees and I am slightly at a loss how to treat it.

[LeMousquetaireAnonyme]

I use vaseline for winter shafts. If not strong enough "8h cream" instead.
DD2 doesn't need cream but I have to lather DD1 entirely everyday with Ictyane cream to keep her eczema at bay. (Aveeno cream is good also but not strong enough for DD1)
When DD2 was a baby I used Sanosan sensitive oil. It was good too.
I did use a lot of olive oil too for everything...

[ClimbingPenguin]

I put diprobase on DDs cheeks before we head out. I'd probably try vaseline instead. DS has his normal eczema creams. Bath bit of baby or olive oil, no bubbles.

[NK2b1f2]

Just remembered that I bought some special wind and weather cream for dd2.... Pretty useless though if I forget to put it in .

[NK2b1f2]

'on'

[Bearcrumble]

DS at nursery and baby asleep. Just doing myself a bacon sarnie. Hope she doesn't wake.

[Bearcrumble]

Just catching up on Friday and the weekend's posts as haven't been able to log on.

DS also hates the wind - he will shout "GO WAY WIND" at it. Then shouts at me for laughing at him. He never uses a buggy now - except for briefly if we are going for full days out into town etc. - what I do is put the baby in the mclaren and hang the ergo over the handle then when DS is a bit tired after lunch I'll put him in the buggy and her in the carrier for an hour and that's all he needs.

NK So glad your DDs are enjoying nursery, I'm sure there will always be issues between siblings but it sounds like they have a really lovely relationship. Good news on the hearing.

Survival Kids just do that thing - the blurting, it doesn't mean they are bad or didn't listen to you, just that their impulses get the better of them. I think you did the right thing doing what you could to prepare them for what they might see. That poor lad. Hopefully they can improve the way he looks a lot - plastic surgery for scars and burns is amazing these days.

When I was at primary school there was a girl in my class with very bad facial disfigurement - we were all a bit 'uhhh' and I remember asking her a stupid question when we started but very soon no one ever commented and I don't think anyone really thought about her face. I'm sure that boy's friends will be the same. She travelled the world and is now married with a lovely little boy so obv it didn't hold her back. They improved how she looked a lot as well.

Mous Glad to hear about the talking. I'm sure it is connected to the number of languages she's exposed to.

IC Lovely to hear that DD is enjoying nursery. Thanks for reminder about the written record. I have been meaning to have a read of DS's (you have to request it in writing though so I've always been a bit nervous to ask in case they think I think they are doing something wrong). Will ask manager when I collect him today. They call it their 'learning journey' and it's full of photos etc. I had a quick look back when they did parents' evening.

DS is dry at night (had one accident last week though) - we said if he woke up dry for a week we'd try without, he did, so we did and he wet the bed so he went back into nappies for a week, we took them off he did exactly the same thing but the third time he stayed dry without nappies and has been for about a month or two with only about 3 accidents.

We use a bit of Aveeno on his face if it seems wind-burnt. Don't moisturise him other than that. Would recommend Aveeno for your DD, NK

Had inlaws this weekend. Yesterday waiting for them to arrive (they stay at cousins' nearby as we don't have a spare room) they didn't come until after 11! We were sat in all morning for them. Had been up since before 7 of course. Other than that, nice visit. We went to Downe House (Darwin's old home in Kent - just half an hour's drive) and DS told me Darwin has a beard like Santa Claus.

DS, just in the past two weeks has really started taking an interest in letters. Can name about half of them and knows what some of the noises mean. Knows that double 'O' makes an oooo sound. He pointed to the swimming pool sign and asked if 'pool' said 'zoo' - because he reads Dear Zoo a lot, I guess, and knows what the word looks like. He is starting to attempt to count from 1 - 20 but he gets his teens all mixed up.

His favourite programme at the moment (apart from How It's Made which is always his number 1) is Nina and the Neurons go engineering.

I think, if he carries on with the same sort of interests he has now he will be some sort of scientist or engineer.

[Bearcrumble]

DD's sleep has gone awful again for the last 2 nights. Again wants to feed constantly and won't sleep long periods at all, barely spends any time in cot.

Only benefit is that she seems to nap better when we have bad nights so I can come here and catch up with you lot!

She has been asleep over an hour now. Hurrah!

[ClimbingPenguin]

Glad you are getting the rest BC for however long it may last.

DD slept through last night and DS only woke twice. DD is sleeping through a few times a week now, which is very nice.

[InmaculadaConcepcion]

Bleh to the crappy sleep, Bc! Very impressed at the dry nights, though - god, that seems such a long way away for us. The withholding continues and there really is no point to another PT attempt until she's cracked that....

Another vote for Aveeno NK, it's really nice stuff - makes skin lovely and soft and smells nice too.
That said, I have a big, hardly-used pot of Diprobase which didn't have any effect on DS' eczema - anyone want it? NK? CP? I could stick it in the post, seems a shame to just chuck it away if someone could make use of it....

DD was sick yesterday after being quiet and under the weather all afternoon. She brightened up a bit afterward, but was a bit wakeful overnight (although not distressed - it may have been hunger keeping her awake because of lack of appetite/upchucking what she had eaten) and her appetite hasn't entirely returned yet. So no toddler group or nursery today. She seems reasonably chipper, though - so here's hoping it was just a bit of a tummy upset rather than anything worse....

That said, we went to a gig with DD and DS yesterday afternoon (before she was sick!) put on by a couple of local musicians and aimed at families - it was great and both LOs were impeccably behaved (DD probably because she was feeling a bit poorly...she was unusually docile, but didn't want to go home...) It was ace to go to something like that! DS was great - slept through the first half, watched and listened with interest during the second, didn't require me to walk him round or anything, which meant I got to see the whole thing, yay!

[ScienceRocks]

survival your story of your hospital trip made me My two girls would be much the same - they are not shy at all! Is your chest better?

CP I am amazed at how far your DD can walk. Mine are both pretty good (DD1 can literally do miles and I ditched the pushchair a long time ago with DD2, just because I find it a faff). surivival I do notice that DD2's hypermobility makes her clumsier than most kids her age, but gymnastics has been fantastic for her. Oh, and CP if you PM or FB message me your email address, I can send you a sheet that has correct phonic pronunciations that DD1's school gave me when she started reception.

mous glad your DD2's language is coming along. Ignore the head teacher. I think the tall kids often geta rough deal, with adults forgetting their age because of their appearance (this happens a lot with my nephew, who has always been really tall for his age).

NK glad your hearing is slowly returning to normal.

IC glad your DD is doing better at nursery. How is she today?

stone how are you feeling about nappy free nights? DD2 has been nappy free at night since summer She was early doing it though.

bear sorry that your nights have gone to pot but at least you get daytime napping.

DD2's day at holiday club was a great success, the staff absolutely adored her It bodes well for her starting there in September for her pre-school year. We do a calendar with her every day, which has been great for her number recognition - today she picked out 25 even though we hadn't done the calendar since Thursday (because of being away) and it wasn't just the next number.

Both DDs had a great time with their GPs and DH and I enjoyed our little break.

Someone asked about moisturiser. Both DDs have it after their bath as they have inherited my dry skin . DD1 slathers herself in body butter and DD2 has Epaderm on her face, arms and legs. It stops her eczema flaring.

[NK2b1f2]

Thanks for all the ideas for dd2's dry skin. Now I just need to actually remember to put something on her face...

IC Hope your dd feels better today. How is ds doing with trying real food? I hope he will try absolutely everything you put in front of him and dd feels inspired to become more adventurous watching him munch away