Dec 11: Not tonight dear, I've got a haddock.

[PerilousStiletto]

I liked this one. :)

He can't say fork very well. It sounds a bit rude. Last night he wanted to get out of his cot and was running through all his words that could possibly communicate this; out, up, cuddle, down, open, floor. You could see his little brain whirring away trying to work out which word would work. Most thing are 'my fork' 'my cat' 'my brush'. More mini sentences as well 'mummy sweep' while I'm doing the floors. He also thinks the song goes 'hump-eh-ty trumpty' and if you fart he giggles and says 'twump!' If he wants you to sing he say 'bah black sheepy' though it doesn't always mean that that is the song he wants - he interrupts with 'no mummy' until you get the right song. He's figured out the cat's name as well now, rather than just 'NO CAT!' Oh, and he's given up saying beep beep when people are in his way and now just points and says 'move!'

BJR yep, got my list all written down!

Just got the date of my section - Friday September 27th, yay!! I guess that means hospital bag packing asap.

All the newborn clothes are washed and drying in the sun, our mother's help raised an eyebrow at all the tiny stained vests and threw every last thing into a hot wash

Rather annoyed here atm...the bloody vendors have withdrawn from the sale two days before the survey was due to take place . I don't know if it's because they're fixated on this place they can't afford, but apparently their plan is to extend the ground floor of the current place so they can sell it for more money to enable them to buy bigger/better in the town they're moving to.
Absolutely nuts, and of course leaves us in a crap position.
Humph.

Anyhoo...

Can't believe that's come round so quickly Xiao, just a month to go. Guess you're not a Mary Poppins/Queenie of the washing machine then...
So glad to hear your DH is talking to people about it all. I wonder if he'll find the CS a cathartic experience; one where you're in control, pain free and done in an hour, compared to last time?

Your DS is really coming along with his words Hop. I love the giggling and 'twump'!

I'm so sorry to hear about your DH and your skunk LadyG, you're managing to sound relatively upbeat given all the crap that's going on. Hope your DH does make it to the Doc's on Monday: depression/breakdowns like that can spiral suddenly and horribly, and the sooner he's getting treatment the better. If he does get a diagnosis of lupus, there will also be a support group that he can tap into- as depression is one the symptoms I'd hope that either the doctor or the national org. could point him in the right direction for counselling.

And sorry to hear that figgyboy is still not well- sounds like he's been hanging out with BOi, poor things. And I know what you mean about the nana-magnet though, DS gets coo'd over with being slightly chubby, blue eyed and with blond curls- the ultimate!

DS fever is shooting up to around 38.5c like clockwork every couple of hours as the neurofen/calpol wears off so just trying to keep an eye on him and keep him cool. Bloody teeth! Thank god I'm still breastfeeding otherwise he would have had almost no fluids at all today. Even the all-powerful ice lolly was refused Will try again tomorrow.

Hop as cute as I could have hoped Love the imperious "move"!

Oh nooooo northern, what an absolute drag!! Do you have a backup option?

It's weird, the stains are sort of yellowy blotches around the neck even though DS wasn't a sicky baby really. But I guess when DS was a newborn we lived in a flat with no outside drying area, and it was December (remember? ) so no sunshine to speak of. I used to put a couple of really stained things on the kitchen windowsill to try and catch the sun but most things just dried indoors, and I was too PFB to use any bleach or stain remover or anything on his clothes. (How the mighty have fallen...)

DH was very pleased to have a c-section date so he can let his head of department know which days he'll be off, and which rugby matches he'll need to get cover for. I think the timing is good too, it means he'll have 2 weeks' leave, go back and teach for 4 days and then it's half term so another week at home with us. He's out for a drink and chat with the same therapist/chaplain colleague tonight which should be another step on the way to feeling better about everything.

Interestingly it seems that both my mother and MIL are planning to come stay that weekend after the baby is born! We'll see how that works out...

Apologies - I need to read back to catch up, but before I do, that little minx Emmy has bitten the Boi again. 3rd time in 2 weeks. She got sent home, and they are going to separate her more.
There was no altercation. It just happened and the Boi didn't cry or anything. But he has a ring of teeth marks on his wrist.
I'm not so concerned. He's fine. I just need to ensure that the cm is being properly vigilant.

Congratulations on the CS date Xiao. Really exciting! It sounds like your DH is doing better too.We need to introduce MrFiggy to his chaplain friend.
Poor MrFiggy, even the skunk is having a go at him. It is a shame about having to put the skunk down. I hope that MrFiggy can accept it. I think he is going to have to get counselling or something. There are a lot of big things going on in his life, and it must seem impossible to carry that burden and think about them. He has to get help to deal with each thing separately, and not lump them all together. Maybe an action plan is needed?
DH and I are not getting any better. It seems we have periods of calm where we can get along OK, - we are just like friends sharing a house. there's no intimacy. (Unless really alot of martini is partaken of, there could be some Northern-induced rumpus pumpus... But that's once a month and very rare - ha ha! Not 3x a day BJR!)
But most of the time, I just spend my time swearing under my breath, and wanting him to just leave and let us get on with it.
In the latest Relate session, we spoke about spending quality time together. At the moment, we come home, play with BOi, put Boi to bed, cook dinner, turn TV on/play with phones, go to bed. there's not a lot of interaction. So to make the interaction happen, I'm going to plan it in a calendar. Thursday - play a board game, Friday decorate the utility, Saturday...etc. there will be good things, the odd date etc, and there will be practical things. At least this way, if i do kick him out it doesn't work out, the utility will be decorated and the house will be in good shape.
Northern - so sorry to hear about your stupid vendors... they will never recoup the expense of major works. But you already know that - shame they can't see it! (My little house was valued at 120k when the economy was at its height. I then spent 35k extending and making it fabulous. I enjoyed fabulous for 2 years and then sold it for 100k). But it must mean that this was not the house for you. Something better is just around the corner. (Or, let them spend their money, go into rented until the work is done, and then make them a new very cheeky offer.)

Urk. Just landed home, Canada was great (GPs treated us to a two night break at a FAB waterpark hotel near Niagra, they had an amazing interactive roleplaying activity called Magiquest. The DDs absolutely loved it). Unfortunately now my body clock is five hours out and so my brain is fried as it thinks it's 6am....
Apologies to anyone I don't namecheck. Have read the thread and offer good luck vibes to figgy for your DH getting some answers, and a for the letterbox of northern's vendors. Perhaps it's worth asking the estate agent to point out to them the unlikelyhood of extensions raising the price over their cost, it's in the EA's interest for the sale to go through! As peril said, if it's not meant to be there will be another, keep on Rightmoving.....

Northern how has the house situation been today?

Dh has applied for some jobs today ds and i went out gromitting had a very successful day though it was hard going up some of the largest hills in bristol sin the heat straight after swimming class.

Taking ds on a train into bristol tomorrow for last gromitting session as he is obsessed with choochoos atm. We have 49 of the 80 will get a few more tomorrow and then i am done i think that is enough and the others are further afield and i am not going excessively out of the way for them. Am putting the pictures into a mega collage for my mums 60th bday present so it will have been worth it

House situation still grim, and no back up plan xiao other than find somewhere very, very quickly! Thanks for the sardine aethel; it was interesting to hear an EA sound so monumentally pissed off not as insanely-fakely chirpy as normal, and she did say that their plan wouldn't work....which is massively clear to everyone but the morons vendors. The EAs have tried everything to get them to shift, but to no avail.
The real sod is that I am in fact working on two Saturdays and up North for another in September, so not actually sure when we'll find somewhere !

How's DS today Xiao, has the fever at least gone? And get your DH to take those four days as leave and have a lovely three weeks' extended babymoon.

And welcome back aethel and co! Hope the next week of waking up at 3am and cleaning, then collapsing in your dinner at 7pm isn't too trying

Rightmove furtling here I come....

Morning everyone, I'm having my supposed lie in this morning although I can't get back to sleep!

I've been driving every day since Tuesday and I'm definitely feeling happier driving DH's car. I've had a couple of people overtake me on countryside type roads where I'm driving dead on the speed limit, I suppose if they overtake me and can't see the road ahead I've just got to be ready to brake in case they crash into an oncoming vehicle!

DS is finally starting to copy words, he tried to say 'dirty' yesterday and he's been saying 'uh oh' very clearly!

On the house selling front I think I was quite naive and thought our flat would sell as fast as our neighbours (1 week), but I guess that was a case of right person right time looking! We've had over 20 viewings now and two offers which we've turned down. I don't think there's anything wrong except for the lack of parking, but there's nothing I can do about that! I've been so busy with everything else that I haven't had time to think about it all much anyway which is good!

Great news on getting your date Xiao less than a month to go now! Hope you're getting a bit of relaxation time in!

Northern that is rubbish! Hope things will work out. House selling/buying is poo and I won't be doing it again until I'm 60!

Aethal sounds like you had a great holiday! DH and I went to Canada a few years ago and loved it! We spent quite a long time just staring at Niagra Falls, it's an amazing sight!

LadyG hope things improve for your family soon! Glad you're getting out and about gromitting though, nice to have something fun to do!

A holiday has been booked! We're off to Turkey for a week. We picked a lovely hotel, all inc, and we go on 12th sept! Now the panic starts to lose a stone in 12 days and find complementary swimwear.
We intend to teach Ali to swim, so I need to research the best floaty things.
DH and I fell out before we booked it. The booking lightened the situation, but I'm daydreaming about just the Boi n me going. (Must not think in this manner!)

Looking at some very snazzy floatation jackets. They have removable floats, and the boi's arms and legs will be free to move. Look perfick!

Yay peril I love turkey in fact had their national beer (efes) today in a whetherspoons whilst on our train adventure. Dh and I actually met in turkey am so jealous where r u going resort wise?

DS loved the choo choo it started off badly though as train at local station was so full they wouldn't let us on so drove to next much bigger station and went from there. So glad I don't use trains a lot far too many lifts required to platforms and how big are the gaps between trains and platforms ended up having lunch before coming back. Another 9 gromits today DS charming all the people at them with his lack of understanding queuing systems. that's us done as they are taken away next weekend when we off to brixham with my mum for a holiday park adventure hope this weather holds its lovely today

Sorry to hear about house problems northern, fingers crossed they suddenly come to their senses.

Oi turkey sounds lovely. I know what you mean about daydreaming though, I often find myself planning things I can do with DS if I split from DP Feel briefly guilty for thinking like that then go back to thinking it would be simpler without him. He is incredibly irritating at the moment.

Oi did the travle person have any concerns about you going to Turkey? Its next to Seira (sp?) thats about to get attacked by the US?

Hope it will be fine and you all have a lovly time. Im sure Boi will love going on a plane and going swimming.

Congratulations on the grommiting!
We're off to the Hilton Dalaman, don't cya know? It looks tres glamourous.
I did think, would it be ok being next to Syria. And, well, as long as they don't bring out the nukes, we'll be oblivious. (In fact, if they did get the nukes out, we'd be even more oblivious.)
It might add more interest having a few aircraft carriers in the bay.
(I'm being blasé, but the whole situation is bloody awful. Just not getting into politics here.)
Ditto BJR. Di-tto!

[[http://m.hilton.com/mt/www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/turkey/hilton-dalaman-sarigerme-resort-and-spa-DLMHRHI/index.html here]

As long as you and your family stay safe and have a good holiday thats all that matters

Swift check in. I'm reading but not posting much. Coffee and side orders of frozen fish as needed...

Well, I've had an interesting day in the chinese sense. Kids, never put up picture hooks when you are jetlagged and tired. If you must, then do NOT accidentally bang the nail into electrical cables hidden in the wall. Fortunately I only got a relatively minor shock (and got myself checked over at A&E who were lovely about my numptitude) but even so, ugh. Just relieved it wasn't worse really.

DS's speech is coming along nicely now. His favourite is still "lol-lol-lol" but that's due to a continuing lolly obsession. And he loves animal noises and any excuse to make them. We're getting lots of ya and no type answers and new words are being copied. His body clock is still well and truly Canadian though, and sleep last night was distinctly fragmented.....it will get better.

Hi BJR, sorry you're still needing a haddock supply for your DP... cheung hang in there with the house, the right buyer will (hopefully) come along soon... Or you may get a surprise second viewing from a previous buyer, that's how we sold ours in the end.... peril turkey sounds interesting, I suppose you have to balance the likelyhood of any risk and see what you're happy with. At least it will be good weather!

Jesus aethel Poor you! Glad you're OK!

That must be so easy to do. I mean, how can you tell? (Before 240 bolts run thru you?!?!)
Glad you're ok! X

Well peril, if you're NOT tired stupid, the way to tell is 1) check there are no sockets/switches straight above/below/to the sides in any direction (wires usually run straight up/down/horizontally by convention) and we have a checky-hidden-wire thingy from the DIY shop (looks like a mini iron, beeps when you sweep it over the wall). Unfortunately I was so tired I forgot to check it first, and was just unlucky. There is already a nail above where I was putting mine but it's a centimeter over so I was lulled into just not thinking about it.
I now have a sore/achy hand and forearm but am grateful that's all.

Can't believe it's September tomorrow! The summer has flown and I need to get my childcare sorted asap so can start to look for work. Joy!

He started sleeping mostly through about six weeks ago!

Hope the arm mends soon. And I'm awfully glad it was a minor ding!

Ugh. Up most of the night. Think minim had wind. Wrecked. How did I do this every night when she was tiny?!