March 2013 - we're gonna need a bigger wine rack

[Plonkysaurus]

Ta da!

Ladies can I do a quick nap poll? storm I know you're on one as ministorm wakes late..what does everyone else do who has a 6 or 7 wake up? doli you don't have to answer if you don't want to. And eco I'm using the advice you gave me a month or so ago just wondering where the majority are at. We have just dropped to one nap on nursery days as he will only sleep once there but not sure what to do on my days with him...

shattered on the days I have DS, regardless of what time he wakes, it'll usually be one nap. If he wakes at normal time (7:30-8:00), it'll be any time around 11:00. If he wakes earlier, it tends to be any time around 10:00. This nap usually ranges from 1-3 hours. At CM and when he's at my mums, I wake him up at 7:15 and he'll have one nap there too, usually about an hour or so but I'm not sure what time-ish.

This week though, because he was ww-ing/under the weather, it's been 2-3 naps but all have been shorter.

We don't always wake late here. Particularly with the ww. 7 is the earliest I'll get out of bed. A few days ago she woke at quarter to bastarding six. I left her to it, she fell asleep just before seven, woke again at half eight. That's unusual these days though. Anyway, naptime is 11.30 regardless of how early she gets up, unless it's a very late wake up - 9am would mean about 12.15 naptime.

How tall? Is this in relation to my name? I'm of average height unlike Betty but I am married to a giant (not an actual giant, but a 6'6er so nearly) hence being the wife of Gerry the too tall giraffe (which was my fave book as a child).

If anyone in my immediate family reads this I'm totally outed

Did someone mention naps?! As everyone has probably gathered they are not the toddle's strongest point, but on the days when she does bother it is one nap only, at about 1.30pm, for anything from 20 mins to 2 hours. Hard though the no nap days are they do have the advantage that she then goes to bed at 7.30pm. When she naps it's nearer 9.30pm. I've worked out that she likes to sleep for 11 hours in every 24, and anything taken in the day is accounted for by way of a deferred bed time. Only a child of DH could form this kind of logic so young.

It's thundering. Dog1 hates thunder. Dog2 doesn't give a toss. They are both outside, but on the tennis court (now that really outs me. I must be the only person who keeps my dogs on a tennis court...). Theoretically I should go out and rescue them. WIBU to leave them there on the basis they have a perfectly safe, dry shed, with a bed each, and toys, and moving them isn't going to change dog1's view that the big bad god of thunder in the sky is trying to murder him.

Speaking of thunder, I've just been for a swim in it. That was cool!

Stormy milk from bees ??

Sugary crap has been largely avoided here on the basis I never have any in the house. I am also a very reluctant cook so home made cakes never happen. What she has been given at nursery and by MIL now, well that's a different story. I had to stifle a small laugh the time MIL turned up with a big bag of butter cookies, and ... wait for it..... pombears. Prior to MN I had never heard of pombears, but I have since been educated to understand they are the. work. of. the. devil. Dolitoddle rather liked them... Perhaps I should try her on a fruit shoot. If someone could tell me what a fruit shoot is sheltered life

Oh, sun's out. I can stop feeling bad about the dogs now.

Naps here are variable but we usually have two. She gets up sometime between 5.30 and 6.30 and naps are at about 9.30 and 2.30 for anywhere from 20 to 90mins. Some days it's just a one nap and these days tend to have worse nighttime sleep. She's a contrary bugger!

Doli, DDog is being a big brave dog and is cuddled under a blanket growling at the windows. She may not be quite as brave once I drag her out in it to go and collect DD.

Oh gerry haven't heard of that book. I know it doesn't make sense from your name but I had you pegged as 6'2!
Thanks for the nap info. Wondering whether to bite the billet and drop to one but not sure we are quite there yet. Never in my life have I spent so much time thinking about sleep! Apart from the early days when I wasn't having any!

doli hope the dogs are ok!

Naps here getting odder! He wakes c6:45-7 left to his own devices (needs to be earlier side of that nursery days) and at home naps at 9:30 pretty much like clockwork for 1.5-2.5 hrs. Scared dh by doing 3.40 today! Then naps again in the afternoon for anything from 30-40mins to 1.5hrs again.

At nursery they are lucky to get one nap out of him and an hour is good going . He's in no way distressed it's just that he's so nosy and can't bear to be missing out on what's going on.

Shattered the dogs are fine, if a bit at having to spend their afternoon on the tennis court. Just in case anyone has an image of them pootling about with tennis rackets, I should probably point out it isn't so much an actual court, as just a fenced, tarmac-ed area aka dog pen.

Much better day today thank god and some improvement in bedtime. 9.30pm tonight, not 10pm. Tomorrow, who knows, we might even get a 9pm!

Naps usually change. Ds will wake 6ish but 5am today.sometimes he will have an hour nap 9.30ish other days he will fight it until 11ish. His naps can range from 1.5 to 3hrs. If he naps at 9.30am he may have a second nap 3ish and completely messes bedtime.

On days i work ds will sleep around 6.30pm and wake around 5/6am however he will have one nap around 11am for about 30mins-1hr. He comes home exhausted. This is because he prefers to sleep in his bed.

Naps here are becoming more uniform. At nursery he always naps 12.15-2.30, no ifs, ands or buts. They give lunch at 11.30, which is way earlier than I prefer but I've started doing the same and it works a treat. If he gets disturbed (usually because we have to go out for exercise, food and sanity purposes) then he'll have a late morning nap and a mid afternoon hour or so.

I am a 'water nazi' now. I have been gradually weaning ds off the squash on the basis that I wouldn't drink it myself because it contains aspartame. I have had some success, but dp was disapproving. Possibly related to the wedding related spat we had just had.

Today while it was thundering (and biiiig lightning) we experienced a power cut. No biggie, ds was content to watch the torrential rain giving it the old Wuthering heights against the patio doors. But then we had a power cut for abut 45 mins. At dinner time. And he wanted something warm. Thank goodness for gas hobs. When the power came back on so did the faulty burglar alarm, which prompted a rather embarrassing call to our landlord to ask him the number. He didn't, and strangely wasn't narked at me for obviously never using the alarm thankfully I didn't mention the number of times I've left the house without locking it but the lady at number 6 knows it. So off we trek, ds wearing quite a lot of pesto and me in very inappropriate shoes, asking an old lady for an alarm number.

She mislaid it.

I went home, and just flipped the switch on the circuit. That's about the most exciting thing that's happened to me in months.

Plonky thats much more exciting than anything that has happened to me in months. I'm v jealous. Actually, thinking about it... perhaps not...

I think we have teeth. Well it's that or perhaps an unusual desire to be sociable, as the toddle just wouldn't agree to staying in her cot for 3 bloody hours last night, starting at 1am. Milk, new nappy, calpol, change of sleeping bag (it was a bit cold), cuddles, pacing, more cuddles, you name it we tried it. I'm so dead this morning.

Oh no, any chance of her letting you get some day time rest? She must be wiped out too! These molars are nasty buggers aren't they?

You know what I did. I did that thing where I looked at the mouse in the wrong way so it went and back paged and lost my post. I so don't get on with Apple. DH sold it to me on the basis it was the future. Like hell it is

Which just leaves me time to say yes plonky she did allow me some rest today, in the theoretical sense, as her insomniac efforts last night left her so zonked she did three house this morning, and second mini nap this afternoon. I however managed to find stuff to occupy me. Mistake. I'm feeling the pain now, whereas she's looking fresh as a daisy and ready for another night out on the tiles.

Speaking of tiles, any suggestions for a conservatory floor? Walls are sand blasted red brick, windows oiled oak, beams bare oak, general design pretty rustic. I was thinking some kind of flags myself, what with it needing to be dog proof, washable, and able to disguise a fair amount of grot. That however is as far as I've got and the screed is going in next week... so no pressure

Hope you've all been out and about having a fantastic time, free from the wonderful wonders of wonder weeking teething tantrums.

Hello you sexy Bastards. How did it get to be Friday again so quickly?

I'm sitting in my garden listening to the birds in my pyjamas with a glass of white wine and the monitor. Rock and roll. I have returned to Norfolk and left dh to go to London for weekend to play with his boyfriends. Ecotod and I intend to play hard tomorrow and sample some of Norfolk's finest sights. Whilst we battle through the hoards of half term tourists.

Shattered we're still on two naps but my girl was born at end of month so we're quite young. We wake her at 0700, nap from 0915 til 1000. Nap again 1315 to 1500. The start times might alter a bit but she does get 2.5 hours in total. Except on days where -ah have a life-- I am travelling in the car lots. She never sleeps longer than 45 minutes in car. Bed by 1915.

My life sounds a whole lot of fun doesn't it. Bloody routines.

Doli what about proper quarry tiles? The deep terracotta ones?

Plonky I hope you've got over your ordeal. Power cuts at dinner time suck don't they? Is spat over now? We spatted yesterday too. It must have been the day for it.

eco how do you fit in your adventures with those nap times as well as dinner/chores etc? naps do mess up my plans for the day sometimes. I can't keep up. Im always having to play catch up and trying to be one step ahead ie, getting ds bag ready and myself ready when ds is asleep so we are ready to go when he has woken up.

doli hope you have a better night tonight. We have suffered alot with suspected teeth but they take ages to come tnrough.

so its a 3 day weeked hope the rain stays away.

Eco your evening sounds lovely. And your routine actually sounds liberating - it sounds like she sleeps so well now that knowing what works for you means you can always plan around it. At least, that's how I see these things.

Yummy so I find a loose routine liberating. Ds's nap times are when I get a chance to have a quick tidy up, write the shopping list, stick some washing on and mop the kitchen floor. Everything else just gets done around ds (I like to think I'm encouraging independent play, ha). Enjoy your long weekend, it sounds like you really need it!

I'm trying to plough through a mountain of ironing so ss is surrounded by toys and Peter Pan is entertaining us both. Every time Nanna comes on screen he's saying dog. I think this means we need a dog.
Ds is still struggling with his nappies, and I can only conclude it's the molars wot dunnit. They're nasty aren't they? He now has seven teeth and I can see two more just waiting. And he has mega nappy rash. He's producing disgusting nappies but it's definitely not diarrhoea anymore, but they're really hurting his bum. He cried when I put him in the bath last night, and it wasn't the temperature.
I had a good cry to my sister about the stress I've tried so far to brush off this week. The idiot friend (such a silly billy), wedding stuff, constantly waiting for ds to cry and finding snatches of time for myself. DP is with his best men until this afternoon and I hope to god they manage to actually get a

Oops pressed post too soon.

Dp best get his plans done.

And Doli I hope dd wasn't too much in the party mood last night. Could you get a nocturnal babysitter? A possum or bat to watch her, perhaps?

The waiting for him to cry sounds very wonder weeky, Plonk. Deep breaths, cup of tea, remind yourself it will pass. In only a week, if he follows what the book says!

All housework is done with DD awake here. Her naptime is my downtime, buggered if I'm giving it up for housework. I agree it helps foster independent play though. A few months back when we were wonder weeking, any time I tried to do any housework she'd cling to me and screech. Now she just lets me get on with it. Handy, really. If she's being a grumpy little sod and doing my head in, I just brightly tell her mummy needs to go and do the washing up, and I get ten minutes' peace (and a clean kitchen into the bargain).

We still have canines threatening, but they're taking their sweet time about things. Curse them!

doli Apple is evil. The future my arse. Open source software is the future; Apple do their best to rule out the possibility. And their user interfaces are frankly bizarre. I'll second the vote for nice terracotta tiles though.

You'll all have to excuse me being quiet at the moment. I'm having issues with the app. I found a topic about it here so it's good to know it's not just me. I just don't know what to do with myself without MN in my pocket!

When ds sleeps I have my downtime too. I need to recharge my batteries for when he wakes up. Housework is done here and there when ds is awake. Can be hard when ww though but I do bare minimum during this. I agree with encouraging independent playing too and I have just realised I have been spelling independent wrong all my life. Ooppss.

Another one who hates apple. Can't stand iphone. I am used to samsung galaxy.

bad thing about online shopping is waiting for the delivery. Lets hope my delivery comes early. I have ordered a few summer clothes for ds from good old George.

Had an a replaced one of the es, yummy? I'd do a cat's bum face, but the amount of people who make that same mistake, if I started doing the face I'd never stop.

I have to say, pre-DC I was quietly scathing about supermarket clothes. Nowadays I love them. Asda's the only place I seem to be able to find toddler pyjamas that aren't a) garish pink, b) Disney, c) just ghastly, or d) all of the above. And they have t-shirts with decent sized neck holes, always a bonus when your child has an enormous and weirdly triangular head. At Christmas my sister got DD lots of lovely t-shirts with matching shorts, obviously all a set, some had monochrome butterflies on, some had stripes, all very cute. Size 12-18m, short sleeves, ideal for this summer, I thought. And once they're on, they fit perfectly. It's just getting them on that's the problem. Why don't all toddler t-shirts have poppers on one shoulder?

Hmm. I hear squeaks down the baby monitor...

Good evening. Sun's finally got his hat on here. Streaming in on me in the bath. Taunting me: 'you're home alone, you can't venture far'!

So Yummy the way we manage is much like you. We get organised early on. I make packed lunches and bags during her first nap and head straight out. We have a mini adventure and a picnic prior to heading back for nap. During nap two I might make dinner and then we have time for another mini adventure prior to bed. It's not always like that though. Take today for example, we planned a car nap for her first nap as our adventure destination was an hour away. She only slept for twenty minutes in car ahead of our puddle splashathon in the woods and lunch out. We were about fifteen minutes late home for nap and as a result she fell asleep in car. I let that last for thirty minutes and then took her to her cot for a nap. I heard her sporadically chatting or singing through monitor for over an hour so suspect not much nap happened but we managed to get some peace and quiet and we then managed to go to a friends for dinner. Ecotod went to bed at usual time and appears to be asleep. I reckon on being able to get away with this rather more freestyle days from time to time without it ruining night time sleep.

Plonky what was it you were hoping dh got sorted with his ushers today? I got muddled reading your message. Did he return victorious?

Stormy I'm having phone app issues also. I can log on for third evening on trot.

Can I ask you to share with me ideas for nice christening presents please? Ecotod won't be christened so I have nothing to go on really. The parents are churchy whereas I am not, but I would like to get something appropriate. Did you have achristening and receive anything you especially liked? Thanks!

Eco I'm the world's worst Catholic and still haven't got round to getting DD baptised but I bought my Godson and Goddaughter a lovely wooden Noah's Ark. It ticks the box for traditional toy, years of use, looks nice on a shelf too and biblical.

DH is on nights, DD missed her afternoon nap and is already wakey and I'm trying to ignore her so I can have wine and ice cream in peace so this might not be my favourite Saturday night ever.

I hope everyone else is fairing well on this rainy weekend. Is it bad that I love a really heavy rain shower?

Arrggghhh DH is a dickhead. An argument about the cat's food bowls has turned into me refusing to go to bed (because I'll just lie there and stew) and him saying he's going to sleep in the spare room. Except he won't, he never does when he threatens to. Which is very annoying because if really quite like him to eff off.

So, who wants to hear about the most ridiculous row ever?

I'm going to tell you anyway! Doing the 'cleaning before bed' that for me is crucial to a calm morning, and to DH is just another example of my inherent nagging. I go to feed the cats, their bowls are revolting, old stuck on food and general disgustingness. (Cats are his job, because everything else is my job). I start washing the bowls up. He dries them. I'm halfway through, he says 'fuck it, let's go to bed, we can just use their other bowls' and plonks the clean, dry bowls back in the sink full of skanky water. 'We'll leave them to soak', says he. 'Soaking isn't the same as cleaning, and they were clean already' says I, taking them out, putting them back on the side. He throws them back in the sink, covering me in skanky water in the process, kicks the clothes airer to the other side of the room terrifying the cats.

Wtf?!?

I tell him he's being a dickhead. He tells me to fuck off.

but you know when these stupid things become so much bigger in your head than they are? And silly things make you just think 'how am I supposed to stay with this man forever when he's such a wanker?'

That.

Hi gerry. That sounds like something that might happen in our house. Except it'd be me kicking the airer. Sounds like it might be product of overtired parents struggling with the adjustment in life that's apparently required when two become three? Not that that helps much presently. I just wanted to say I do get your point and I send calm eco seaside vibes to you.
My dh is in London this evening and, considering a chat we had before he left, his communications have been decidedly wankerish.
Knobs.
Let's all sell our stakes in our houses and buy a big pile somewhere and live as a community.
Having said all of this I'd always prescribe a kiss before sleep because sleep is too precious to mess around with when you're a parent. Kiss now and have the wanker chat tomorrow?