December 2012: This too shall pass, this too shall pass

[HoneyMumandSon]

keep repeating the mantra...

Writing it down made me realise we needed to talk about heating again. We compromised and bought a little oil filled radiator to warm just our room over night (and for the nursery in future) and we'll leave the heating off. I just said DS won't go in his crib till its warmer in our room. Since DH has been dropping hints about getting our bed back for sex, this argument worked well :)
Pidg, we have one fleece sleep suit, I can't find any more as everywhere seems to think its spring just now setting stock by date and not weather is such a silly idea. They should at least stock side by side. Can you get wool sleep suits? Or do you use longies and a top?

Gladys hear there are other people who ate thinking about TTC again. It took us 2 years to get pregnant this time and I am 37 so don't want to wait. We have started trying now which us scary.

It took us 18 months to conceive DS. I ended up having an exploratory procedure to see if there were any problems - turns out I have one blocked tube, the other was probably cleared out by the op, as I conceived 2 months later naturally, rather than the IVF they were pushing for (slight sperm issues too). I'm really hoping it won't take as long next time, as tube should be clear still refusing to admit the csection could have blocked it. We'll maybe TTC when DS is 18m, but I'll see how easy/hard he gets as he grows! I definitely want 2 or 3 kids :)

Thank you everyone for your support, me and DP have sat down and talked. He said he doesn't feel he can come whenever he wants because he feels like hes invading my dads space. I told him i resented him for the time he spends away, getting sleep. We know one of the solutions would be to move in together but my dads health makes it impossible for me to move yet. So we're going to try and figure out something better for us.

For those discussing heating and bed clothes. We don't have our heating on at night, or at least is set so low that it only kicks in when its really cold. I have ed in a sleeping bag, with vest and sleep suit plus he then had a wool cardigan on but undone, so that his arms and hands don't get so cold that he wakes. I have it undone so that he isn't too hot on the body. If you want to do something similar do check its either wool or cotton if its acyrilic or nylon they will overheat quicker.

Stacks soaker, sleep suit, sleeping bag. I got some wool in a charity shop but haven't got round to making longies from it yet. Are you in cloth?

We'll be having at least 3 years gap. I want R to understand what's happening, and dp needs to be back up to strength first.

Either my washing machine has done funny things, or A has really had a growth spurt.

Put him in dungarees last week and they were big on the tighter shoulder strap setting. Put the same pair on today and they were slightly tight on the bigger setting!

Also had to replace his newborn snow suit, after deciding it was cruel to try and squeeze him in. Had hoped buying one yesterday would mean the weather would improve and render it pointless...

If anyone is near an M&co (think they're also called McKays), they have a pretty good mid season sale on. The snow suit was half price.

We thought we had the heating on at 16 overnight, but it turns out the settings were changed when the new boiler was installed, and it's been off over night since January!

Pidg, yeah, we're on cloth. Lollipop bamboo 2 part system (I recommend them highly Nutella they last us 12 hrs over night just with the insert that comes with the nappy, and can be bought for just over £4 each).

How do you all play with your LO during the day? I'm stuck in today as DH is out with the car. Struggling to think of stuff to do with DS (nearly 13w).

Ds still gets squeezed into his newborn snowsuit tbh though I usually just use blankets and a hat as he hates thick jumpers and the snowsuit.

There's no mains gas where we live so have crappy storage heaters.

Stacks I just coo at him put him in his bouncer or on his play mat or just leave him to it whilst I get on with things. He's currently laying on the sofa next to me sucking his thumb and smiling at me.

Ds has got really red eyes do you think it's just his cold?

Nothing does us overnight, R reacts to being wet/dirty by grumping and refusing to latch properly! I have him in either a bamboo fitted or a cotton prefold and bamboo booster with a home made fleece liner over night. Wool over the top. Daytimes, i have 5 easyfits, 5 realeasies and 8 pf-stuffed cheapie pockets and use 3-4 per day

Wrt playing, he goes in the jumperoo thing, door bouncer or under his toy arch. Walks in buggy or sling. Sitting on me watching the telly world. We sing some action songs, go to groups, meet friends for coffee etc. I try and find a compromise between his needs and me staying sane having a life. His favourite time at the moment is when i take his night nappy off of a morning and leave him naked on the change mat. He does 30-40 minutes!

Stacks I rotate him between the door bouncer, play gym and bouncy chair, with cooing, singing, feeding and sleeping in between. The feeding and door bouncer exhaust him and make him sleep lots!

Thanks. Maybe I'll look into a door bouncer. DS doesn't really like his bouncy chair or mat unless he's in a good mood and even then only if you're talking to him directly. I've struggled today as he'd normally nap in the car and sleep for a couple of hours, plus nap on the bed with me for anywhere up to 4 hours. Today he's had 3 x 30 min naps in his pram as I'm trying to get him to sleep without me sometimes. He goes to sleep quick in the pram with about 10 mins of back/forth pushing in the living room, but wakes quickly without any seeming reason.

Stacks i bring my quilt cover downstairs fold into a quarter and lie her on it, and put all her toys around her so she can pick them up. Then when shes bored of that i alternate her between her play mat, her play ring and bouncer. I've just got her a summer stage 5 thing off Amazon as well, its like a bumbo but has a tray on it which has things to play with it attached. I'm not brave enough to try her in the door bouncer yet.

Ds just took a bottle from me! Only two oz but I'm happy with that means I can go out to lunch with my friends in a couple of weeks

C seems to be anticipating the changing of the clocks next week - she's getting sleepy earlier and earlier it seems. Fx for another amazing night tonight. I'm bracing myself for disappointment already.

Moved her into the seat unit of her buggy today - she did well, barely cried and slept for over 2 hours. Trying to find a pram suit for it but of course that's winter stock and this is spring. Ha ha.

Had friends from France this weekend and they missed their flight home! They'll get a flight in the morning and will stay with us, but I wonder what they'll do with work, school for the kids etc (the kids were with GPs for the weekend). A complete pain for them.

MaMa, I've got a Boots padded pram suit in 0-3 that R wore once. He's always in the sling! I'll post a pic on fb :)

Re: growth spurt DS has only just gone into 3-6 months (2weeks ago) and the vests and sleep suits are already tight, he has a long body so vests are outgrown first. Also he has belly overhang on a lot of his trousers chubby little monkey!

hales re: door bouncer I was worried about it but he loves it and doesn't bounce anywhere near hard enough to do any damage.

Pidj, thanks! But C is a monster baby and deffo needs 3-6 months. We have a 0-3 suit I've borrowed but she's squashed in it. :)

DS's legs are too fat for his 6-9m snow suit I'm buying him a coat this week instead, his thunder thighs are not mirrored in his skinny arms!

Put him in his cot for the first time, had to move some furniture out of our b'room to fit it in, so now we have a dressing room!so far he's been asleep for 10mins and not made a fuss.

The door bouncer is fantastic, F bounces until he is exhausted. His head control has been really good since birth so that's not been an issue.

Ha, R is 18 weeks tomorrow and still mostly in 0-3!! Teeny squish :o

DS still has 0-3 month stuff hanging off of him!

Mamapo- I think John lewis have one online, and m&co certainly have them because that's where I got ours yesterday. And Jojo Maman Bebe have an outlet section (and a couple if outlet stores) which might have one.

I don't mind Anthony's growth spurt- it means he's pretty much growing out of 0-3 at 15 weeks!

Need to rant ds1 has come home from XH saying XH has told him DNeice isn't his real cousin (step-cousin officially I suppose) and ds2 isn't his real brother! So fucking how dare he tell my son who he can class as his family. He was bought up with 4 half brothers/sisters and never referred to them as anything other than his brothers/sisters! Why does he feel he can dictate what my children call each other?! I wish he would fuck off to the far side of duck and even he gets there duck off some more! On top of that as if that wasn't enough for one weekend the highlight of ds1s whole weekend was drive thru McDonald's on Friday night and they had to drive back to his to her dd's glasses before he dropped them off as they'd forgotten them. When I asked her why she wasn't wearing them she told me XH told her she didn't need them as she 'can see'. So he's a fucking optician now too!

Arrrrrgh!!!

Sorry ladies as you were.

He's a dick isthat which is why he's xp. That's a really horrible thing to say anyway, but my opinion is that family is who you feel is family no matter how thick or thin the blood ties. Poor you and poor ds, he must feel pretty confused right now. Totally crap re the glasses t. Outraged on your behalf.

Oops posted before finished! Glasses too obviously. Having an ex involved with your children must be so so tough. I can be a bit of a control freak when it comes to my babies and what is best for them. The thought of someone saying something upsetting to them turns me into the hulk. Dbs xw is a bit of a fruitcake and would def have said things like that to their kids if he'd had any more with dw2.
Do you have a good enough relationship with him that you can raise it?