December 2012: the little monsters continue to surprise us.

[MaMaPo]

I for one have a very surprising baby.

Hello all! I've been reading but not posting. Thanks for all the advice on wake ups and milk. I can't believe I made the fatal error of saying DS's sleep was "getting better". After 3 DCs you would think I'd learned my lesson. Anyway that night he came down with a cold and I got about 2 hours of broken sleep, it's not been great since. When do they work out that they can breathe through their mouth if their nose is blocked?? And relax.

The menus are really interesting. DS used to eat well but since he's been ill over the last few weeks he's mostly breastfeeding and having the odd spoon of pear puree

nutella I'm not surprised that you made sad, do you think he'll have a change of heart? Ooh wedding dresses! Have you got a particular style in mind?

lazza DS seems to choke on most things so not sure when I'll be brave enough to try grapes or raisins!

MaMa I think I'm in your camp at the moment. Now DS has dropped the dummy he self settles half the time, and the rest of the time I have to feed or rock. I'm zen about it

Just got my payslip with my last lot of SMP I knew it was coming, and will also hopefully be able to use annual leave to stay off until October but still felt a bit teary.

I really need to get a grip. I'm lucky to have a job I enjoy and pt hours that fit round my DC. Also, think I've persuaded DH to use some of his leave so that N probably won't be starting nursery until he's almost 1 - think it will be really good for both of them to have that time together. I know all this, and that we are in a much better situation than many people but for some reason I still feel sad. I thought I'd be ok with it all this time. Think someone needs to shake me/give me a slap!

Really sorry to hear DS has been poorly Seymour. Hope he's on the mend and you can get back to sleeping.

No slaps from me ISpy, it's so sad that the world has changed and that most mums need to go back to work so soon to afford to live even though we'd probably all crack up if at home full time. Sob away, I'll rub your back. You're on your own with the snot though.

Mumumum mum mama ma mamamama is all I've heard allllll day. He's so grumpy today!

Oh no ISpy I'm going back 2nd September

Seymore sorry things aren't great with ds still. Any more news on moving back to the UK (or did I imagine you wanted to do that?)?

Nutella I would be upset too! Actually, I would probably be angry, surely it would have only cost them a small percentage of that money to come out for your wedding? I've already found the style of wedding dress I LOVE just need dp to propose now Do you have a friend who could do the cake for you?

Thanks. I'm ok really - there are even some things I'm looking forward to, like having a hot cup of coffee during the day! I think it's just seeing it in black and white made me realise it's not long now, and also because this will probably be the last time I'm on maternity leave it feels a bit like an end of an era.

Hope DS is better soon Seymore. Sounds like you've been having a really difficult time of it.

That would make me sad too Nutella. Wedding planning is fab though. Have you set a date yet (apologies if you've said and I missed it)?

Will keep fx for you too Spotty - would be lovely to have two weddings on the thread

Going back to the grapes chat, I cut them and cherry tomatoes into quarters but always end up fishing them out of DS' mouth anyway as he can't chew the skin due to no teeth!

Why isn't the cake pic showing up on the app?!

Nice cake spotty

Epic nap fail here this arvo so am now feeding to sleep an overtired little one. Still, DH home so lie in for me tomorrow

Saw this on the Christmas bargains thread these books are perfect for 1 year olds

Just ordered a book bundle . it's a bargain, and can split for nice birthday/christmas presents too. Guess that means I've started my Christmas shopping! Got totally hooked on that thread last year...might pop over for a browse.....

I bought a few bits today that threads dangerous!

Dd's been at mil's today and napped isn't going to bed

I've got the new iPhone and I'm struggling with the new shape of the keypad it's taken me ages to type this stupid fat thumbs

Where's that thread?

I think I might get that bundle too. I saw a book bundle in Costco which I think is a good deal - 10 books by Julia Donaldson (author of The Gruffalo) for £10. Going to try and pick it up tomorrow now I've got my dad here with his Costco card.

I give DS grapes and cherry tomatoes in halves or quarters. Usually halves for grapes. Never fished any out of his mouth, even without teeth he either swallows the skin or spits it out eventually. I try to never fish anything out of his mouth, and he's not choked yet :) I'm far more relaxed about BLW and choking than I thought I would be, he's really good now and noticeably better than his mates, even the much older ones.

I'm going to go into work tomorrow and resign I think. Does anyone know what happens with holidays though? I've been accruing them as normal, so how do I get them?

Stacks they have to pay it to you. Julia Donaldson is dd's favourite she knows the stories off my heart it's so cute. Oh ds doesn't choke they just stay in his mouth for ages whilst he grins at me!

Oh and the thread is in Christmas which is in fun and games

The books are out of stock now! I couldn't order on my phone and by the time I had the laptop set up they were out of stock! Maybe they'll come back in stock?

Oh no! I didn't order any either

Im trying to do some christmas shopping here in the UK for my nieces and nephews! If you have any ideas for girls aged 11, 9 and 7 and boys aged 8 and 4 do let me know!

8 month review at HVs today - done in a group. There was a boy there who can stand independently! C was the loudest and most chatty - typical. One of the mums had another older boy there, probably about 4, who kept nicking all the toys and being a bit unsafe around the babies. The mum didn't do anything to try to distract or warn him, she left that to the HVs. One of the other mums commented to me 'Someone needs to give that boy a smack!' which I thought was a bit out of line. Overall a weird experience. It was at 1.30pm, bang in the middle of naptime, so C had a good cry once or twice, and then didn't go to sleep until 3.45, napping until 5.10! Took her a while to drift off to sleep tonight but at least she did it herself.

Still - free books, toothbrush, toothpaste and sippy cup. A good haul.

Stacks - good luck resigning!

ISpy - oh, good luck for your return. I hope it goes okay.

My husband's last day at work tomorrow! He has going away drinks tonight and I am making up a bed in the lounge as I bet he comes home very drunk.

Evening all! I've been trying to keep up but miss a day and a lot gets typed! We had a lovely day at peppa pig world, it is really nicely done but we did spend a ridiculous amount of time queuing. All dds were very good though.

nutella I would be v sad and cross. I can't imagine missing my brothers wedding, even if I had to borrow money to go.

spotty we took dd1 to a production of tiddler and other stories about 18 months ago, it was immense! She still talks about it now. Look out for it - I have seen it come round again.

In preparation for my return to work next week my mum came and stayed with Tabs while I took bigs to dentist in the morning and dd2 to a hospital appointment in the afternoon. She tried to give her ebm from a sippy but T was not interested and kept pushing it away. Good luck with that on Monday DH!

Mama j has his 8 months check next week but the hv is coming to the house. Your group experience sounds much more fun

Where did you go for that WL?

We don't have an 8 month check round here I think it's 1year

We went to the rose theatre in camberley but I did see it advertised at Guildford.

No health checks round here.

It seems the pay off for sleeping through the night is getting up at 5 - still the bloody night if you ask me! Really hoping as she gets used to going through she'll start to sleep later (yeah right!). Will be fine if I manage to get to bed a bit earlier.
Hope everyone else had decent nights.

spotty I meant rose theatre in Kingston!

Not sure if we have 8 months either. O slept from 8.40-12, 12,30-4.30, 4.50 to 7.20 and yet somehow I have mega boobs. Too full even to rest him against when I picked him up just now, but he is at least having another decent go at emptying...

Good luck with the return to work WL I spy, spotty and those I've missed.. hope the resignation goes well stacks and yes they owe you pay for accrued holiday not taken. Hmrc wrote to confirm that my previous employer do still owe me £1400 in SMP and that they'll be going after them for it, so we'll see how long that takes, but they did also give me the last month's payment in the interim, whoop!

Still harping on about weaning, those with bigger DC, when did they swap fully to solids only?