October 2011 - we can hardly believe its true, our babies are turning two!!

[MummyDuckAndDuckling]

Hi!

Hope you don't mind me starting a new thread as once again, birthday season has begun and the first of our October babies are turning 2! Would be lovely to hear from everyone past and present
Ill try copy over all the stats again when I'm next on the laptop.

Hope everyone is well :)

That sound hopeful eng hope it keeps going in the right direction.

Glad to hear things getting better Engels

Re putting M back to bed, i had a week of it last month (so maybe same time as M now) where it was just non stop! I gave in a few nights and let her sleek with me but I just end up having a crap sleep as she's such a fidget . Did go back to normal eventually!
I did keep her in with me the other night though. She was so tearful at bed time and just said she wanted to sleep in my bed so I agreed. Poor girl was burning up all night and struggling to breath through blocked nose. She had better sleep last night but looks dreadful this morning. Her eyes are so heavy like she's not slept in weeks and she's really pale. I hate seeing her unwell . I'm doing a ladies charity night selling my hats so she's going to be with sil all afternoon /evening but I know she will be fine, just wish I was with her

No ideas on how to get them to stay in bed Engels unfortunately. P did have the toddler coat side thing on for about 1 month but it got too hard lifting her back over it in the middle of the night. Now one of us sits in her room (and slowly creeps our way out) as she falls asleep. If she wakes up in the night/5am though she is out of bed and in our room like a rocket ! Then we have to sit and wait for her to fall asleep in her bed again. It has improved but mostly because DH has been doing it and she has a Gro Clock now too. Hope you are feeling a bit better/less knackered today.

Hope cat and 'boy bits' are a bit better in your house now Strawberry

Good luck with the sale Mummy

Yes thanks Chesh both of them are better. I debated over whether or not to take cat to vets but she was eating and seemed happy (and after a good feel of her leg) I left it and over a few days the limp's gone so I think it was just a mild sprain, silly old puss. Boy bits are also back to normal!

Realised this afternoon that today is a year exactly from W's big head op. Can't work out if it seems a long time ago or not!

RE getting out of bed, not a problem here yet as W is still in his cot bed. We're putting off the bed move as he still has loads of room, hasn't tried to climb out yet and still likes to sleep against the bars! He does have a duvet now though which he loves and always seems so pleased to snuggle under.

How did the sale go duck is S feeling better too?

We have bed issues too! About a week ago I put A in his cot as usual (had tried to transition to big bed but gave up about 2 months ago) and about 15 mins he appeared in the living room - had no idea he was even close to climbing out and am just glad he didn't hurt himself! So, the cot's no longer an option

Got up 9 times on Thurs n7ght and had a meltdown on phone with dh yesterday when he rang up from work to ask how it was going (fuelled by lack of sleep but also the fact he did nothing in the house on his day at home so I spent the morning washing, cleaning, hoovering). He suggested I phone his mum to have m for a few hours so I could get on with my marking/reports and I shouted at him that I didn't need his mum's support, I needed his support.....an hour later he turned up at home and had taken a half day at work!

Managed to get a set of marking done while he took m out for an hour or two, but I lost it again in the eveneing with mand ddh's armchair parenting (sitting on his arse and barking orders at m from the sofa). In the end I had to leave the room for 10 minutes.

But...sleep! M woke T 11 and dh put him in bed and then he slept through till 6.30. I'd almost forgotten what it was like to have a full night's sleep (I was threatening to go and stay at a friend's for one night).

Reckon we're going to put up big bed this weekend, maybe it'll help.

Sorry for me me me post earlier (and awful typos on tablet).

DH is already reneging on our alternate bedtime nights as he's "done his back in" sorting out the cellar this morning so has asked me to do it tonight. I told him okay, but he's getting up tonight if needs be (I have a 15k race tomorrow) and then he'll have to do Sunday and Monday night bed time. I need my sleep! I feel like a different person after one night of proper sleep (and my friend who lives up the road has a very tempting sofa and no toddler!).

God, enough to make me glad I'm not pg or dealing with another DC!

M is very attached to his duvet as well strawb If I put a sleeping bag on him (had to do so the other week as he had pooed all over his duvet) he was asking for it, so gave him a blanket.

Have wondere about getting a GroClock too chesh

Hope S is feeling better duck .

Okay, off to put M to bed and then I'll be back at my computer trying to get my marking and reports done no chance before the deadline on Monday morning. Have done half my classes, but the last one will take me ages as I have a project to mark for them.

Straw Seb still in his cot too as he also ends up squashed against the bars! Cute isn't it? He's still in sleeping bags though as he is a wriggler (another reason why no 'grown up' bed yet). Pen at A appearing in living room. Presume you are on one level and he didn't come downstairs.

Engles hope things get better with the sleep and dh.

Proud mummy moment 1: Seb knows 4 letters! We have a set of foam bath letters and numbers and he loves holding them up one at a time and I tell him what they are. He's known Q for a week or so (although says coo) but last night I discovered he also knows C, P (for Peppa Pig!) and D (for Daddy)! I didn't even ask him what C was, he picked it up and proudly said 'See' clear as anything.

Proud mummy moment 2: This morning we were planning to go into Bath shopping:

Me: Sebby, where do you want to go for lunch
Seb: Hong Kong! [hmmm]

We went to Pizza Hut.

Engels good luck for the race and hope you get some sleep!

Tallulah yes it's only one level here! Thank goodness. A's in bed now crying "mummeeeee cuddle A come lounge mummeeeee cuddle" and I am trying to ignore him. Sleep is so hard at present - either he has a day sleep (like today) and does what he's doing now at 8.30pm or later, or has no sleep and spends the last couple of hours of the day being really hard work. Tricksy.

That's impressive about the letters! A only knows one - A, because it's both of his initials.

Chesh I hope the next few weeks goes ok for you and the HB works out! I got a home birth kit for L but didn't use it, although that was my choice in the end.

He knows O and Z too!

Morning all (and evening pen).

at HK tallulah

M doesn't know any letters

Well, I ache like no one's business today but managed to finish the race within time 1:38:01. Lost my running partner a few k in, but found her at the end after the finish line.

Finished my dreaded reports at 8.30 last night as well so can breathe easy today.

M managed to spew in our hallway yesterday morning so he and DH didn't come and watch me run though DH was already lining up the excuses

M crawled into our bed at 5am today and I just let him stay. DH got up on Saturday night and put him to bed last night - training is going well (and I mean trainging DH ).

That sounds like a good time eng I'm pretty sure I couldn't run that far at all! Hope M is feeling better now

W has been singing a made up song today on and off, it only had 4 words and was accompanied by him wiggling from side to side as he sang it, it went 'tidy,tidy, Billy horse' and was so funny I think it came about because he was pretending to be a horse (running around saying 'neigh') and then he closed a draw for me (he seems to find open draws offensive!) and I told him he was very helpful tidying me up.

Oh and just because I can!

Morning all!
Hope all goes ok for hb chesh. Apart for the fact the dr says its not an option for me, I don't think I could do it - MIL would be peering through the window/climbing over the fence in an effort to get in! At least in hospital all the MWs and locked doors can keep her at bay!!

engels in sorry you've been having such a tough time. Hope Ms op gets sorted soon. We ended up doing alternate bedtimes which does work fairly well for us. N has even waking loads through the night, and in desperation we tried cc last night. It did not go well (hysteria from N, big argument with DH ending up with me stubbing my toes and sobbing my heart out!) we did manage to get him to sleep B&G sitting the other side of his room instead of having to hold his hand so some sort of progress at least. Maybe gradual withdrawal is the way forward.
We keep ending up with him in our bed which is not going to work when DC2 is here so are desperate to get it sorted. Not long now though - im almost 37 weeks and huge. Very glad to have finished work. Keeping N at nursery 3 days a week until new year as I've been struggling with a number of pregnancy related health issues and N is such an active little boy it's helping me get the rest I need.

ips I have exactly the same feelings about hb. We live in a semi and ILs are on the other side of the wall!

I'm actually feeling much better this week thanks ips. I think finishing reports and cathing up with my backlog of work has really helped. And finishing the race has given me a bit of a boost - I'm stornger than I think!

Alternate nights for DH and I is going better. He asked me to do his night on Saturday whihc I did, but then I made him do Sun and Mon (and ignored his whinging). Awful sleep Tues night (M was in our bed and wriggling around). Last night M came into our bed. I put him back once, then when he came back in told DH that he had to deal with it as I was working today and had a lesson observation from the Headteacher, and DH was at home with M.

I can't imagaine how knackered you must be ips ! Will you take him out of nursery in January? I'd never get M's place back if I took him out.

strawb M is an obsessive draw closer as well. I love how M;s imagination is beginning to come alive. he was pretending to be a toger on all fours the other night and this evening when I got home he called me a horse and sat on my back

Okay, working week is over. Going to treat myself with a beer and finally finish the magazine I started reading a week ago

The plan so far is to reduce his days but still keep him in probably 1 day a week so we can be sure to keep his place. It'll also give me that day to just do stuff with the baby, plus he loves going there.
N also loves havin his "horsey rides" on DHs back - thankfully he doesn't seem interested in getting me to do it!

Come home to a letter from the health visitor about taking W for his 2yr check up - anyone want to place bets on how long I will have to argue with them to get out of this one! It took me at least 20mins to talk us out of his 1yr.

I just don't see the point in taking him when he's under the care of a full team of specialists at JR who are basically there anytime if we feel we need them (not that we have needed them thankfully) plus the appointment is on a Thursday afternoon and we're both at work!

Pene that happened here, I used to leave the baby gate open then thought I heard P on the landing - nearly killed myself trying to run up the stairs fast enough! .

Did you put the big bed up Engels? Congratulations on the 15k? (you sound far too active for saggy old me at the moment!). The GroClock has helped a bit I think, we say "night night" to the sun every night and P has made comments when she has come in to our room about the sun being up occasionally in the mornings. Long term I think it will work, not much yet though as she is usually awake early, yawn!

Tallulah love the fact S knows P is for Peppa Pig. Why are they all so into that damn Pig I really don't get it, and how the heck does he know about Hong Kong? .

Strawberry please can you send W up here to teach DH to close drawers, he seems to think they ALL have to be left half open. Drives me nuts.

Ips surely the sight of your naked bottom half would stop her coming in ? I would say you and Engels are very brave living next door to your MiL's ! Good luck with your birth though in a few weeks. I am knackered and still waiting :( P is not a fab sleeper either and I have been doing the slow retreat out of her room - moving closer to the door every 5 mins of so, then DH goes in if she wakes at night, rather than me as otherwise I get "I need a back rub/cuddle/big squeeze/snack etc"

Strawbs You don't HAVE to go to those HV appointments though, P hasn't seen the HV since the 6 week check-up. We said no to the 10 month check-up and so the 2 year one (even though they wrote to me twice). I couldn't see the point in taking her out of paid for nursery to go to a 20 min check-up where apparently when my friend went they stack blocks, need to say around 50 words and HV asks if they can see, hear and run . I know what P can do and I would expect nursery to say if they thought she was behind in something. As you say the HV check-up will be so pointless considering the care he is under anyway is far more intense.

Just to let you know ladies there has been a product recall on these monitors :-

Angelcare Movement and Sound Monitors With Sensor Pads, including those with model numbers AC1100, AC201, AC300, AC401 AC601, and 49255.

Yay for the potty training chesh we haven't really thought about it yet (and am secretly hoping nursery will do most of the hard work when the time comes) I agree re HV's all the ones I've seen have been useless I stopped going to clinic at a couple of months too. In the end it was surprisingly easy to cancel the check up I phoned up expecting a fight and instead got a very sensible receptionist who agreed it would be completely pointless! It does annoy be that they assume there will be a parent at home too, the appointment they sent was for a Thursday afternoon! Not much use if you work is it.

Here's another one who loves horsey rides on backs (Seb, not me!)

Engles - well done on the run. Dh used to do loads so I'm used to the other side - standing in the freezing cold or having tea and cake in M&S cafe waiting for him to finish.

Straw Love the made-up song.

We've got a GroClock. Seb is a pretty good sleeper anyway but the other day he woke up early and wasn't bothered about it still being 'night time' but shouted 'Sun' when it came up.

Chesh Seb loves Peppa, I mean loves. I can sort of see it, it's so simple and easy to understand (with a few in-jokes for the parents. And how many jobs does Miss Rabbit do?!). I taught him to say 'Hong Kong' in response to 'Where are we going on Holiday?' as we are going there in Feb on the way to NZ. He's so sweet, he says it 'HonnnngKong'. He can say New Zealand as well now but that's a bit harder to understand unless you know what he is saying.
Well done on the potty training.

M has just been called 'spirited' at a work sinterklaas celebration by one of my colleagues. He tried to open the prop presents during the puppet show, take other kids toys, see how many biscuits he could stuff in his gob in one go, squirt drink out of a carton in the direction of the big boss headteacher, trash the microphone (honestly, who ties balloons to a mike stand? Just ASKING for trouble imo!) And stole cakes and drinks left on tables. ?.he's making sure no one will forget him.

I need a lie down....

Ips if you can afford it I totally recommend sticking with nursery! A is still in 3 short days (9 - 3) and they are fabulous, although in the new year we will be changing him to a new nursery (his current one is only for under 2s and they've let him stay a little longer) and will go for two slightly longer days. Those days are great - catching up on sleep, going to appointments for L, and just spending time with the baby and recharging my batteries. Some days I feel guilty, but know it's for the best as it gives me much more energy for the other days.

A is watching Peppa right now as I type! He loooooves it and I am just trying to cap his TV watching at 1 hour a day. Is that a lot? I have no idea anymore. I don't mind peppa as he seems to learn from it in a way he doesn't from other shows because the themes are so basic. Although I didn't like it when he asked if he could drop my car keys down the drain AKA Daddy Pig. And is it just me or is he a bit of a knob??

A has finally made the transition to big bed but dropping the day sleep is a pain, as if he does sleep (and now he'll just put himself to bed some afternoons) he'll be up until 9. Can't wait until he's in a rhythm again

Had our No2 this morning ladies, about a week and a half early. Born in the lounge whilst P went shopping at the Trafford Centre with her Gran :)

Montgomery James (aka Monty), didn't have time to practice my hypno.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

What a lvoely name as well.