March 2013 - time to wrap them all up in tinsel

[StormyBrid]

Old thread here.

worse we're like Plonky on the timings - we keep mealtimes and milktimes separate. I spotted something in Evil Baby Whisperer that suggested around this age milk should be at the time you'd give a snack. Thinking about it, that's pretty much what we do - milk at the crack of dawn, 11am, 3pm and bedtime, food at 9am, 1pm and 5pm. It seems to work, and Fartypants is definitely in the process of reducing milk herself. Those middle two feeds, she's having about four ounces now.

How is the worselet on mush? Does she show any preferences? If we were sticking with baby led weaning we'd be getting absolutely nowhere. Savoury mushes, she'll try a mouthful then get distracted by the cat. Fruit mushes, she practically inhales. For a reduced stress option, can I suggest getting yourself to Asda? They've a hell of a range of cheap fruity mushes, and then at least you're not having to throw away purees you've spent hours lovingly creating.

Incidentally, six month old Molly may love her porridge, but all that means is that Molly's a total weirdo - porridge is vile. It's weetabix all the way round here, with mashed banana in.

eco hang in there, it does get better. How long until 37 weeks for you?

I am thanking my heathen gods we don't have crawling yet. Nappy changes with rolling are bad enough. Especially when it's a particularly horrific one.

Erm... Not you in search of a bacon Sanger I'm guessing? Scary stuff...

Way to go Mini-storm!!!!!!!

No walking here, just high speed jerky crawling accompanied by much puffing and panting. The more dangerous the object she is heading for, the faster the puffing. It's hilarious. Until she reaches said object at which point it is panic. When someone said the best way to child proof your house was to wriggle round in on your stomach I thought they were joking. They weren't. If you haven't already done this I suggest you do

Betty, Stormy how're the heads? Healing I hope . Did the big meeting go well Betty? Fingers crossed for you.

Not much doing here, as after all my whinging someone somewhere would appear to have swapped the contrary worselet for a boring normal baby. I'm almost disappointed. Not only has she eaten the same food I have, only mushed, she has also napped twice for 20 mins each time. Astounding. There always tonight though. I probably ought to dread tonight.

DH on the other hand needs a good slap. It doesn't matter how many times I say 'please don't water down her milk' he has decided that the best way to warm up fridge cold formula is to add a third as much boiling water, so does this anyway. Infuriating. If she wakes up tonight hungry, his problem

Woohoo stormy! cruising or look ma, no hands style walking?

Worse does the Worselet actually drink her skimmed version of formula? Very pleased she's eating (at the moment anyway, this could all change). So maybe she's slightly less contrary now - does it feel like an anticlimax?

How'd it go, Betty?

DS is slowly getting closer to crawling. I know boys tend to do this physical moving about thing later than girls sorry Something and I rather suspect he's his fathers son. Constant babbling, pretty sure he's trying to say hello, but very much sat on his arse, will launch himself at me and elbow shuffle if I have food.

We went to dp's work Christmas do last night. It was pretty overwhelming, lots of different companies covering something like 80 tables with a huge dance floor etc. too many people! I drove so stayed sober as a judge, and fucking boring to boot. Also, I realised just how short I am. But my mum has the baby and I got to wear a dress and have a meal out.

We got home at 2, dp drank too much and is now dead to the world while I'm wide awake. AIBU to go off in search of bacon and eggs without him?

You would never be unreasonable to go on a bacon hunt, Plonk.

The man and I were sitting facing each other. DD holding my hands facing him. About a foot of space to cover. She did it all by herself. Fell into his arms when she reached him, then turned round and walked back to me. Very wobbly, but that's to be expected.

In other news, I have the plague. And no voice.

She's back.... the gremlin that is my child. 3 hours sleep last night. Yup 3! Thanks for that. Made my morning run feel like a special form of torture. I'm on bottle watch today. The merest hint of a watery tinge and DH may find himself drinking it. It's just me who has a problem with the skimmed version Plonky, dd drinks it happily enough, but it doesn't fill her up overnight.

A party Plonky I'm beyond envious. DH's work do is staff only as the ultimate boss prefers to keep profits in his pocket rather than waste them on partners. Needless to say DH isn't going . I'm more than used to doing the solo shift to accommodate work commitments, travel and nights out with his friends. This magnanimity does not extend to him getting sh*t faced with his colleagues.

Right, time to be terribly middle class and go to the farmers market aka 3 stalls of local ladies selling rubbish hand made efforts. Nothing there worth buying but I always buy something I don't want to be nice.

Ah Wors, that's not good. Give him a good kick if you see the watering, either that or threaten to abandon ship any night he does it!

Meeting was ok thanks. I'm going back the days I wanted but having to go in to do on calls during my annual leave and our rota is a bloody nightmare as they've gone from 11 registrars to 4. It's going to be like hell! Something to look forward to.

I went out last night again (check me out) with some other mummies from out antenatal classes, had the same to drink and no hangover. Only a few hours sleep though so I'm going to have a nap in the bath in a bit!

Yay on the walking Stormy, the cruising here is unbelievable. She an get to everything. Nothing will be safe again. The worst bit of it is she stands up in her cot at bedtime and it now takes about an hour of repeatedly lying her down to get her to sleep. Plus when I go in overnight she's stood up crying and banging her hands on the sides. I've tried to explain that she can't possibly be old enough for this but it appears she thinks otherwise!

I'm on my phone and have completely forgotten what everyone else said, sorry! I'll try again later.

Stormy I took the even more reasonable option and went back to sleep for an hour before cooking breakfast. And it was good.

Worse buy any handmade soaps? Ostrich burgers? Home fired clay?Artisan this n that? The only thing ever worth buying at farmers markets is, in my opinion, scrumpy.

Betty how does on call during annual leave work? Sounds a bit griefy, but you know you do a hero's job.

I'm at my parents while DP lives it up at yet another party. Secretly I suspect he's nursing a lager and playing with the friends new puppy. It sounds like ds kept my mum on her toes last night, and for the first time in about 5 months he had a bottle at 3am. So far today he slept 10-1, 5-7, and has only just gone back down. He's been rubbing his ears a lot and has a bit of a temperature so I'm gearing up for a very disturbed night...

I've had a wonderful day, it's unreal. After all those weeks of stress the worselet is finally eating normally, napping normally, and even doing nappies.... wait for it... normally! Dinner tonight saw the mystical sight that is dd both shovelling food into her mouth on a spoon and laughing. I appreciate such model behaviour cannot possibly last, but for now... smug mummy

Plonky I managed to successfully dodge all things artisan and buy some raisin bread. So something edible that I did actually want. Result!

Betty aw cr*p, the on call bit sounds glum. Why so few registrars? Not the dreaded cuts I hope.

Night all, hope you have quiet uneventful ones. I'll leave you with this little gem from the Pampers news letter. Might explain the fun we've been having of late:

'Over the next month or so, your baby will be focusing on moving around – by crawling, bottom-shuffling or cruising along the furniture. Skills like self-feeding or sleeping all night may suffer as a result. But don't worry - this is only temporary.'

Great news Wors, long may it last! The lack of registrars is because the hospital is skint and nobody wants to do obs and gynae at the moment because they work you like slaves and then everyone wants to sue you, but I can't help it, I loves it!

Plonky I'm glad the extra sleep cured the hangover, a bet a small glass of wine tonight would help too!

Something I hope you haven't had a day of teething misery!

Glad someone's pooling normally, worse. We had half an hour of straining and howling this evening. I could feel something solid in the nappy, so took it off and saw poo still coming out. Epic turd. Looked like something a medium sized dog would produce. She certainly perked up once it was out though.

We've been out with MIL and FIL this evening. Topics included male and female brains, and the trouble with immigrants. The effort of biting my tongue nearly broke me. Thank God FIL lives in Germany so we hardly ever see him. And at least DD was very good for my dad - coughed a few times (and followed it up with brrrm brrrm noises once) but otherwise not a peep. I'm amazed how well she's dealing with this cold. And she was walking some more this evening. I'm so proud I may have to make a smug competitive parenting post on facebook.

stormy im glad the appointment well. Congrats to mini stormy on walking and comiserations (sp?) to you. This is when the fun really starts. DS has broken 3 chargers now and all my posessions are hidden. My place looks bare now.

Well done worselet on eating food happily. Long may it continue.

Betty its good you got the days you wanted but rubbish you have to be on call on AL. I have never heard of arrangements like that. Is this even legit? Surely AL means AL.

Just come back from Big Reunion concert and it was great. I felt like I was 13 again. Two saturday nights out in a row. Bad thing is I get even less sleep especially with a teething baby.

Aha! It's been so long you lot disappeared again!

So, mysterious illness has gone, and mysterious it was. Some bizarre GI bug that involved horrid stomach cramps, bloating that made me look 6 months pregnant, slight upset stomach. And caused 2 huge puking incidents for dd. Fairly minor really compared to those of you who have been through much worse but still pretty gross... I've been lurking but silent all week, how much can I remember?

Eco- I'm a bit jealous of your big move. I love it round here but I find the new start thing hugely exciting.

Stormy- mini stormy is 1 day younger than mini Gerry. I can't believe you have walking! We still haven't worked out that good things happen if one foot is moved in front of the other! We have, however, moved from commando to proper crawling.

Plonky- was this your first plonk-less (in the employment sense) week? Did it feel incredible?!?

Worse- did you go to the music thing on Wednesday? My mum was there but despite descriptions AND pictures shown, she swears she doesn't recognise either you or the worselet. But then she can be a bit slow on the uptake for a clever woman.

Stormy, you are a woman after my own heart. The fact that your drunken postings are even more erudite than the sober ones implies to me that you spend a long time poring over what you've written to make sure you don't seem drunk. This is what i am doing do. I text and talk better drunk than sober. Shame wobbly knees give me away every damn time.

By the way, anyone wish they had the strikethrough feature in everyday life? I often find myself thinking funny little phrases including a strikethrough then realise it's not going to work...

Yes Gerry. I miss it on facebitch Facebook especially.

Christmassy nc for me, but assume you can work it out...

Off to friends for lunch today... Am a bit nervous about feeding DS spaghetti Bol in someone else's house (I am informed that's what we're having) though she has a boy herself so hopefully remembers what it's like!

It's official. She's broken me. Up and down so often I finally gave up at 4.20am having had no sleep and DH took over. He's not well so probably shouldn't be near dd, but I couldn't do it any more without either being sick or passing out. She has eczema over her entire trunk and is scratching at night. It breaks my heart. No idea what is causing it or how to solve it.

Gerry ah, that would be because having got the tiddler into her car seat and ready to go, I then didn't. Skip lorry was blocking the drive, and rather than stomping out in a 'lady of the house has a problem' manner I figured we'd just go for a walk instead. I'll be there next week. Promise! Builders allowing.

Speaking of which the worlds slowest conservatory build has now reached the stage where we have all the roof struts in. Based on this spectacular rate of progress I'm figuring glass sometime summer 2015 . This is what happens when you do builds on a shoe-string using local small tradesmen to each do a bit. Keeps the money in the local economy though, which is something that matters to us.

Poor Worse and Worselet. Re eczema have you tried some dietary elimination? Big culprits would include dairy (though if she's been ok on formula this is slightly less likely) gluten, some fruit like strawberry, egg. Could try cutting one out for a fortnight and seeing if there's an improvement? Hard to see them uncomfortable though.

We're not at friends for lunch. Were about to leave and got call saying felt under the weather and rotavirus has been going round at her work so we rescheduled. Shame but didn't want to risk it.

worse where is dd's eczema? Ds had 2 red patches on each cheek. This coincided with having a cold and teeth so it could be reaction to either of those. Hope you are able to have some sleep today at least.

Loving the nc pud.

gerry glad you are feeling better. I agree with the strikethrough. Sometimes I get confused and try to use it in texts.

Im waiting for my afternoon crash from lack of sleep last night. Ds decided to wake up at 3.30am and wanted to play. DH brings him to our bed only realising it is still in the middle of the night. DS was put in the cot with dummy and left alone until he went back to sleep. It sounds harsh but I can't let him think 3am is playtime.

Glad you're feeling better, Gerry, and glad you found us again. The only reason my writing is so erudite (good word, by the way) when I'm drunk is because I tend to forget that not everyone used to read the dictionary for fun. It's the same when drunkenly speaking, but then the slurring gives me away.

Hugs to worse, and here's hoping for a better night tonight.

yummy leaving DS to go to sleep sounds fine to me. Sure, he might not like it, but you're absolutely right: 3am is not playtime! With a bit of luck you might find he generally sleeps better after being left to it, because he'll learn how to just sort himself out and go to sleep.

We're having a nap fail... But on the plus side, FIL is gone!

Wors DD has eczema too, just small patches but loads of them on her trunk, arms and legs and a couple on her face. I moisturise her with Aveeno after her bath every night (doublebase from the GP is good too) and if they're not shifting I stick some steroid cream on them. The one on her cheek and the one under her chin both got really red and nasty for a bit and she was scratching at them so I asked my GP friend and put a bit of canesten+hydrocortisone (from the chemist) on for 2 nights and they settled. Plus I'm in solidarity about the nights. The last 3 have been bloody awful!

Gerry you're so right about the strike through, I keep wanting to use it in all kinds of places.

Pud I love the name change, I want a festive name!!

Thanks for the eczema advice everyone. It started with a red patches on her cheeks and under her chin and has spread to pretty much cover her back, chest and stomach. Her back is particularly bad, and I suspect this is what is waking her at night now. I can't just leave her to cry it out as I know she is waking because she is suffering, rather than just waking and wanting attention. I've been using Oilatum Betty but will try Aveeno.

I'm trying elimination Pud. She was fine up until weaning so I'm hoping either gluten or egg are the culprits as those would be an easy fix. It's handy she has started eating properly and has gone off toast really! Today has been another storming success. Kind of makes up for the rubbish nights.

As for tonight, well it would be fair to say I am actually dreading it. Going to bed seems such a pointless exercise I might just stay up.

hello everyone. feeling Christmassy now?
worse ecobaby and I are both sensitive to wash powders of various types. in USA we didn't have our usual and got quite bad, including faces because of bedding. have you ruled that out and tried aqueous cream in the bath? maybe worselet senses a wheat intolerance and that is why she is off toast. happens sometimes in babies apparently. brilliant to hear all the tales of eating though. a breakthrough!
Betty your cruiser is a cutie! great skills!
stormy you have an advanced one there! all those hours of her demanding to be walked around paid off!
plonky how has your weekend been and how are you feeling? is it good being at home again or have you started with your parents now?
yummy who played at your gig?
gerry have you broken up now?
it is blowing a gale here. lovely to listen to from bed. our crawler is now pulling up to standing. it is suddenly all go! stormy dh has accepted a job in Bedfordshire and so I will hand notice in at some point and join him down there. just trying to figure out how to work those logistics out. I will need to find a job down there, nothing sorted for me yet. daunting all in all, what with house moves thrown in too! I will miss beach plonky but I will try and get to wherever is local....Essex coast I guess. any?
tonight I started making ecobaby her own heirloom stocking. lovely thing to do on a dark evening with a glass of something nice and a bag of maltesers.
our already organised child minder fell through last week so, in case I am going to hang around and do my three months at work, we are off to see a nursery tomorrow. that will be interesting.
oh, and we had our nct Christmas party. nine free range babies and their parents. chaos! but fun.
on silly app on silly phone so cannot even scroll back up so please forgive typos. night all and hang onto your hats!

eco it was a mixture of bands from the 90's whom previously disappeared but made a come back. They included five, atomic kitten, bewitched, 911, honeyz and liberty x. You could probably guess my age now.

Making a stocking is a lovely idea. Im sure baby eco will love it.

worse I hope you and everyone are sleeping. I have insomnia again. Grrrrr.

Well done to all the babies who are learning different skills. At this age they are amazing and extremely funny. I still look at ds in amazement and think this utterly cute snotty baby is mine, go me!

She slept . The first summons we got was 6.30am by which time we were both up and showered anyway. What a difference a night's sleep makes.

Eco I'm sorry you and Ecobaby are also sufferers. It could be washing powder, but I haven't changed it, and she used to be fine. She's scratching now . I've cut out wheat though, so fingers crossed that helps. It's handy gluten intolerance is the yuppie ailment of choice really as there are quite a few alternatives out there.

The entertainment for the day here - flies. Yesterday in a moment of madness DH disturbed the flies, which was both very stupid and very annoying. If any of you are harbouring a secret desire to live in an old house, (and don't already) let me put you off. Old houses in this neck of the woods have lots of hanging tiles, and cluster flies like nothing more than hanging tiles. They creep under them in their 1000s in autumn, and from there get into the cavity walls. Once in the walls it is a mere step for them to sneak into attic rooms, and every time the heat goes on come out in their 100s. Literally. So up until yesterday we had probably 1000s of flies in the walls, and now we have 100s dying all over the house.... because the man got sick of the constant stream of them appearing up through the floor and sprayed a load of flea spray under the floor boards. To be fair to him he did vacuum the house every hour afterwards, but they are still everywhere... I found one in the fridge, and the worselet was split second away from eating one. Argghhhhhh

So that's what I'm doing today. Vacuuming.

worse DS had pretty bad eczema when he was teething, everybody said they'd never heard of the two being linked but it seemed to go as soon as teeth appeared. The doctor also told me it'll only be food if there is a history of allergy in the family, but it's still worth trying. We cut out cheese with DS.

eco that sounds like a really lovely evening. DM is making us a stocking since I'm not crafty in the slightest!

yummy I am so jealous! I really really wanted to see the Big Reunion. I adored Five when I was younger. I also really want to see McBusted. And no, I'm not ashamed

Christmas holidays have officially started for us here and the small one has just coughed himself awake and isn't happy about it, so I better dash!

Worse I've no advice re the eczema, but would like to offer you a magnum of virtual champagne. Sounds like you've had a really hard time the last month, between sleep, food and now this, not to mention your slow build. Has the gp seen her? Ooh I do remember my mum filling a sock with oats and putting it in my bath. I had sensitive skin (hives) as a child but not eczema.

Eco were you nursery-averse? I was until I viewed DS'. He loves it there, and everyday they fill his book in with what he's been up to, his temperament, nappies, sleeps, food. Do you have to pay back extra mat pay if you don't return? Also, do you have a house to sell? Ah the adventure! We relocated 3 years ago for my job and haven't looked back.

Yummy sorry to hear about sleep. They really are funny though. Apparently me blowing my nose is hilarious. Who knew?!

Gerry come on tell us how skinny you are these days bet you're looking fab. It has been lovely having time off with DS again. I start work on jan 7th, and I'm actually nervous! They've given me homework!

Eco I'm starting to feel incredibly festive now. DS and I stayed at my parents in Saturday so I put another tree up with the muppets on in the background. I can't wait for it this year, it'll be lovely to have DS with us. Have got monopoly out ready, and am buying the wine this week.

Latest baby news : we have two handed waving; his fifth tooth is almost through (he literally just wants his two from teeth for Christmas); he's getting better at launching himself onto his belly from sitting, so perhaps crawling is imminent; he sounds dangerously close to saying hello. In fact he never shuts up. We've had a few disturbed nights but I'm certain it's teeth. And my dad described the way DS eats as genteel. Very proud of my lazy but posh chatterbox.

You're not wrong Plonky. I will openly admit that there have been days of late when I have really struggled to put my happy face on. Today isn't one of them though as on top of sleeping last night the worselet is having a really long nap, so I have actually for the first time in what seems like forever been able to sit down, have a cup of tea, and just rest without anyone anywhere wanting anything from me. Utter bliss.

Oats in the bath you say? I'll give it a go. It can't do any harm and if it does some good the tiddler will be eternally grateful. I accidentally put a polyester bib on her after breakfast (I had no idea, it looked like cotton...), and in the 5 minutes it took me to sort out some washing it had irritated her neck so badly she'd scratched herself to the point where she was bleeding. Poor mite.

Eco good luck with the move. I'm viewing a nursery this week too, as seeing how much my niece benefited from being around other babies I'd like dd to get that social interaction too. Probably only for 1 morning a week though, that's if I can get her a place. The good nurseries have waiting lists.

The builders are currently masonry drilling. I really wish they wouldn't. If I wanted my teeth to rattle I'd go for a bike ride over the pot holes.