May 2004 babies - new thread

[helsy]

Well, d'you think anyone will bother?
I feel like I'm having a party and waiting for people to turn up. Dorito, anyone?

hi all!
nice to hear from you helsy. hope the sleeping improves.
well here we are in sunny singapore. dd wasnt in the least bothered by us going. at first when the car arrived i said 'right, mummy and daddy are going on an aeroplane' and she hugged me and said 'you stay back here.' gulp. i said 'come and wave at the window' and she did, quite happily, and according to mil hasnt mentioned us!? did try to speak to dd on phone tonight but she wasnt having it. thats fine by me, she cant be wanting me.

anyway, hot here, lovely place, very busy, fab shopping/nightlife. its actually 3.30am and i am still on gmt. bum. means i'll prob sleep in past breakfast. dh is fast asleep, but also pissed. met up with someone we used to live with in riyadh - oh its a small world. turns out the place we might chose to live in is jus around the corner from his! going to look at maternity hospitals and school next week. spent today lounging by the pool oh bliss. rather like that time in the murky past when we were childless. but i do miss her

right, best get some sleep xxxxx

Oh egypt it sounds like it is going as well as you could hope for. Enjoy the sunshine. Our windy day out in Blackpool yesterday doesn't really compare! The children enjoyed it though - we went with my Mum, two sisters, and nephew because my baby sister was 30 yesterday. Oh and she is pregnant so will be Auntie for 3rd time next May. The baby is actually due on DD's 3rd birthday. But DN was two weeks late. Still it might hit one of your LO's birthdays. DD and DN (who is a bit younger) came on the big wheel on the Central Pier with my sisters and I. DS went on the carousel instead. Grandma disapproved.

Glad things are going O.K. Egypt.

You're brave going to Blackpool in the wind Bozza. I love Blackpool. I haven't been for ages. My Grandma used to live in Lytham St. Annes. DS1 has always been fond of lights ever since he was a baby so I thought we should take him to see the illuminations one day. Congrats to your sister. May is a lovely month for a baby to be born, don't you think?

Well done on losing that weight, Helsy. That's a lot. I was doing quite well until yesterday when I had a body shop party at my house with lots of snacks and I went a bit mad. I haven't dared weigh myself though. The body shop party was great. I ended up getting £30 stuff of my choice free, just for having my mates round for a party and putting together a few drinks and snacks. Tonight we've just got a couple of people dropping in informally for a Jacket Potato and some mulled wine. DS1 will be a spider (if he'll wear it, which is not likely to be honest) and DS2 a devil. It's a bit busy at our house at the moment, for some reason.

DD enjoyed the lights - we went on a tram. It was windy but bearable, think today is windier.

We went trick or treating with DS as a pirate skeleton and DD as a witch (a rather round one because I layered her up under her costume) and went with some neighbours and their 3 and 1 yos. DD just said "treat".

hello everyone, sorry I've been awol for a while, it's a month since we got back from our hols and i did feel a bit down for a while and let things slide a bit. Have perked up now, re-dyed my hair (grey is very depressing) and bought new jeans and a skirt and boots and now feel more like me again!
I have given up trying to potty train DS1, he just screamed hysterically when I tried to persude him even to sit on the potty, even for a sticker. Even teddy sitting on the potty causes consternation, so I've put it away for a couple of months probably and resign myself to having two in nappies for the foreseeable future.
Glad everyone is well and you're doing ok in singapore Egypt.
Everyone else has probably already been through this, but DS1 has just started being invited to parties by nursery friends, and I found myself being pathetic to DH the other day cos I wouldn't know anyone there! It was like being 6, 10 or 16 all over again....
Sorry for long post.

Pepperrabbit I thought you were gone never to return. DD has started getting party invites from nursery but it is OK for me because I can guarantee on knowing a few Mums who have older siblings who were with DS at nursery! You will just have to put a brave face on it and go along.

Nice to hear from you Pepperabbit. I had been meaning to post to ask how you were. I wondered if you had lost your bottle to post. That happens to me sometimes.

I'm wondering how Spots is, too. Spots, are you lurking or are you too busy to even come on?

Oh Ponka do post. I love hearing from everyone - don't want it just to be me rabitting on in the wilderness as the tumbleweed blows past. How is your DH doing now?

O.K. Bozza. Here's some rabbiting on from me

DH is doing a bit better. MIL was readmitted to hospital because the wound wasn't healing as it should and since then, she's been a lot better. DH is always a bit prone to being depressed but he's not sunk down into a full depression as I thought he might with this. He's still not 100% right though.

DS has just started going to nursery 2 mornings a week now. My MIL asked us if we would let him go an extra morning, paid for by her. She wanted it to be on a day I didn't work so that I could spend some time with DS2 so that's what we've done. He gets really upset when I leave him but then has a good time. It's hard to see him upset but I think he is getting a lot out of it. I do feel quite bad about it, really. With me just having started work and this too, he's gone quickly from all the time with Mummy to only 3 full days (most of that being the weekend). He does seem to have become more clingy. I think he's finding it tough and I'm feeling guilty.

It sounds like he is still settling in ponka. I have had a little of that with DS when he moved rooms. DD on the whole has been much better. Although when she asks to go on a Monday or a Friday it is not much of a confidence boost for me! I think she feels she is missing out because DS is going to school.

i'm sure he is still settling in ponka. i think its not so hard for them as it appears. i reckon its us that suffer more. i'm dreading dd starting her new school, having a new home, a new comunty and new friends to contend with, as well as the lack of her usual friends and family. its such a big move. your dh sounds like he is managing ok. how are you bearing up? it must be so tough trying to keep on top of it anf be there for everyone.

well, i am in the departure lounge in singapore. not boarding for over 2 hours. dh has gone to mumbai. horrid saying goodbye to him and me being left her on my own. ok so it was only an hour ago but still...

can't wait to see dd.. my mum has had her the last week and made me feel quite guilty. i'm sure she hasnt meant to but told me that when dd gets upset or hurts herself she cries 'i want my mummy' and last night when she went to be she said the same thing. oh dear. other than that she really has been fine but she must be wondering where we have gone. bless. it has been such a long time.

on the other hand, we have had a great time.. found somewhere to live, that we are just waiting for confirmation for...so fingers crossed. found a school for dd which she can start when she is 3 - so in september and meanwhile a preschool until then. looked round two hosps which were rather swish and all private of course, but quite old fashioned in their birthing methods.. ie, not a birthing pool in sight (in fact the nurse practically gaffawed at my enquiry), not even a bath!!!! lay down on the bed and stirrup you when its time to push type thing. babies sleep in the nursery and are brought to you when they need feeding!!!! no way. i'm having a single room so i can have t with me all the time. one of the two hosps were slightly more lenient and would go along with your birth plan, prepared to let you squat/sit to give birth, etc, but its a mile away from the nhs in the way of practice and a mile away in the other direction in the way of luxury! bizarre.. intend to look at some smaller clinics when we come here in jan.

sorry, i'm rambling. cant believe i can use the net foc. i hope it is foc anyway!

xx

must change my nickname

Ooh Egypt so much happening. It sounds like Singapore is all starting to come together. I know you feel bad about DD but would you really want her to not miss you at all? It does sound like she has coped quite well overall. DH went playing golf this morning and it was a 7am tee-off time and because we had been up late at the bonfire we were all still asleep when he went. And he didn't bother telling DS and DD he was going. So when DD woke up this morning at 10 to 8 (DS already up and playing) she cried for about 10 minutes. This is not her usual reaction when he is away with work but I think it was because she didn't know.

I have seen this gorgeous dressing table in John Lewis I would like to get for DD. But it is £50. I think I can get a £10 discount on HotUKDeals so I am tempted.

lovely to see dd again. she was so excited, then her first words were 'where's daddy?' ahh. how awful. hes not home for another 10 days. dd has wanted me to play all day. each time i leave the room she asks 'where's my mummy gone?' i think she must think i'm going to desert her again!

go for the dressing table bozza! we bought dd a new bed and i have just splashed out on a gorgeous duvet set for her. £50 isnt bad at all, especially at john lewis.

off to bed now. havent slept for...oh blimey 44 hours! best go

Hi all of you; welcome back Egypt. What's the place you hope to get to live in like then? When do you hear about it? And I can't remember off the top of my head when you move out; is it January? Can't wait for your dispatches from Singapore. Isn't it lucky that the internet is everywhere...

We are staying at my mum's while our kitchen is being done. Thanks Ponka for giving me a prod... yes you do sort of lose your bottle don't you? funny thing really. Have been here for 3 weeks already and it's great in so many ways. Mum is such a voice of calm and experience! (And she keeps cooking our tea for us) (and doing the dishes) ... and there's loads to do in Edinburgh. I have taken the DD's to dance classes for tots, to toddler groups and animal parks and the museum about sixty million times over. And spending money like water, as if there wasn't enough being spent on the kitchen itself...

DD is having a pretty good time. The two of them were more unsettled when we went home for a night than at any point during the time here. And we are doing a bit more chipping away at the potty training thing, though very much still at the me-asking-her-every-two-minutes stage.

How did you all manage the clock change? We had a horrible week. Both girls rose at 4.30 until the day before yesterday. And they won't let DH do ANYTHING for them so it's either me who gets up with them or the whole house and neighbours kept awake by wild tantrums. Bad bad bad.

Luckily mum also has wrap-around CBeebies. Which I am using an awful lot and feeling hellish guilty about.

Oh spots - a new kitchen. I am very We didn't do that badly with the clock change, we kept them up late on the Saturday night, I can't remember what happened on the Sunday, but on the Monday I took them to Blackpool, DD had no nap and they were both totally exhausted and straight into the new routine. I am quite a strict mummy though. They both have wall lights (from Ikea, DS has a star and DD has a flower) which are set to come on at 7am and they are not allowed to get up before then. DD doesn't even get up then, she shouts "mummy, my light come on". But in fact last Saturday DS got her up. Now that is going to provoke a lot of I am sure but it was strictly a one off.

Egypt you are tempting me with the dressing table. And it could also be used as a desk so more practical than ELC or Disney ones. Need to measure up. I have just been to Toys R Us and bought her the My Little Pony Island Adventure which was half price.

thats a great idea about the lights bozza. strange but dh and i were looking at the flower lights in ikea in singapore and thought we'd get dd one for when we moved there! i am excited about decorating her a new bedroom,, all girly and sweet. she still has a cream one from when we didnt know what we were expecting. its nice, but not fairy princess enough for her at all!

dd coped well with the clock change i think, we were away, but i think she went to bed ok, was just waking mil at 530. saying 'but my eyes woke up' when she was told it was still nightime.

spots, you are lucky with the new kitchen. have been yearning for one for ages and now our kitchen in sng is going to be really really small and knacked. but, the place is lovely. its a small complex of terrace like townhouses, although they look much more like holiday homes on the med. set over 5 staggered floors, so have a basement (playroom!), then lounge, then up to dining room/kitchen,utility, loo, up to bedroom, bathroom, then up again to 2 more beds. oh and we have an ensuite. the basement has 2 rooms once you partition it off with a sliding door so parents have a room to themselves. outside there is a place to sit, with some decking that we are hoping to get done and the street is security gated off so all the kids play out there. also a pool and a gym, so very sociable and holiday feel. i'll try and post a link to it, must be some pics of it on the net.

we go at the beg of jan.

here you go!

look at the 2 ft drop onto marble floor in the lounge! luckily we didnt get one of those!

ah yes Eygpt - DS has had a light since he was 2. I did get the idea of here, of course. But it really works for both of them.

And that house looks gorgeous. I know it is going to be a wrench but it looks like it will be a real experience. How long do you expect to be there for?

That is very nice, Egypt! Yes, I noticed the lovely marble stairs in the lounge straight away, too. It's funny how you end up automatically tuned to checking out the safety of a house straight away. It becomes second nature.

Bozza, I like that idea about the lights, too. I don't think that's too strict. Just a good idea.

Spots . What's your new kitchen going to be like? We didn't really notice the clock change too much because we are a bit all over the place with our routine at the moment, anyway. We've got a lot of things on that are a bit out of the ordinary. I wonder how many other people I can get to post with a bit of name dropping then? Kbaby, Judd, Helsy, Pepperrabbit, Linnet, SusiS, GeorginaA, Prufrock, Cat (who are you now?, Serenity?), Libb, Twiglett,?!?!?!? Give us a pre - Christmas catch - up post, please? God there's always a danger of missing someone out if you do that. Apologies if I have!

DS is going through a real difficult stage this past week or so. It's since I went back to work part- time and he went to nursery a second day. I'm trying to cut him a bit of slack because I think he's missing me. He's gone from having me every day to only being with me 3 full days a week.

I am O.K. thanks, Egypt. I guess it has been a bit hard trying to support everyone and keep things going for the boys but I'm fine. I was really annoyed the other day though. I spent £75 in ELC on the boys main Christmas presents and was feeling so smug at myself for getting ready nice and early. That is, until 2 days later when the 20% off at ELC voucher came through my door . I started a thread here and was all set to lug all of the stuff back again and re-buy it but I'm holding fire because I think my Mum wants to spend about the same money there, too so I might give her the voucher and she says she'll give me the money she would have spent to buy an extra outfit for one of them.

Ooooh. When can we do Christmas names? December probably. I can't wait. I love mine! (thanks, Spots!)

So Ponka, come on, spill. What have you bought the boys? I ordered DD the dressing table from John Lewis last night. It was £49.99 and I found a £10 off discount for £50, but couldn't use it because I was a penny short, so I found a pack of Christmas cards to add to the order to push it over £50. I have also got her the My Little Pony Island Adventure which is half price everywhere just now.

And I have never come up with a decent Christmas name so doubt I will this year.

this is the dressing table . It is set up as desk on there, but it does have a mirror and in the catalogue it is set up as a dressing table. So could be used for either.

That is so cute! It's things like that which make me want a little girl to buy them for (no way though. no more).

Garage and cars for DS1 He's obsessed with car washes but really scared of them. He played with a garage with a car wash once in a hospital waiting room and has been going on about them since so it should be a big hit. Was also wondering about getting him a suitcase with wheels and am on the lookout for some pants with cartoon charcters on for his stocking.

walker and ride on thing for DS2 Because there's no way DS1 will let me change his bike back to a walker. He's very precious about it and DS2 already loves being on his feet.

That's a great garage ponka. DS loved his at that age. I always find Woollies quite good for character pants. DS is getting Pirates of the Carribean and DD is getting Dora the Explorer this time. I have always allowed character pants/pjs but prefer them not to have character outer clothes.

yeah i'm not into character outer clothes either. cant explain why, was just wondering yesterday in the disney store.

you are all getting so prepared. havent a clue what to get dd. grandparents always seem to take up any ideas and then there's nothing left for us to buy! am very grateful, but difficult. she has 3 sets of gps and they all like to equal or outdo each other. we have said that we cant have too much as have to ship it, but hasnt stopped mil getting a kitchen AND a pram.

we'll be there 3 years no doubt, bozza. we do have marble on the stairs down to the basement and all over the downstairs floors but everywhere is marbled or tiled so really, we'll just have to do. at least we'll be barefooted indoors so not much slipping perhaps.

BUT and shouldnt be talking about this to anyone, but you lot dont count of course ... dh was called by an ex-colleague/friend of his the other day to be told that his company, based near bristol, were looking for a product mgr and he's actually recommended dh to them! dh of course said 'thanks, but no, we're excitied about singapore and the balls rolling with that'. then his friend told him the salary. at which point he said 'well, in that case.... i need to do some thinking'. so there we go. it may not be happening in singapore after all. its not like he's been offered the job but it hasnt been openly advertised yet. just kept internal and to dh. the salary is almost double his current one. there would be great career opps which is as important to dh (i'd settle for the wage!) so he is in talks with them when he returns to uk next week. so its all a bit up in the air really. havent told even my mum - no one. dont want to put her hopes up. i would be quite disappointed tbh, the life we would have out there would be so much fun and the benefits for dd, schooling and swimming to name 2! would be missed. but at the same time it would be nice to be here, NEARER family as they grow up. told dh not to worry about me, i have no preference seriously, so he can truly consider the dis/advantages of each. hmmmmmm so now i darent buy anything else for our new place! bum

Oh my goodness, Egypt. What a rollercoater ride you're on at the moment! I can't beleive it's all up in the air again. Keep us posted. I'd certainly be tempted by double my salary.

Bozza, thanks for the tip. I've just been to Woolworths on my lunch break and purchased some Postman Pat pants. He's going to be chuffed with those. I don't really like character outerwear either. I'm not sure why.