March 2013- the one where plonk gets married!

[Gerrythetootallgiraffeswife]

Perilously close to filling the old thread suddenly!

On the potty training, I was recommended Evil Gina. By someone who said, "Yep, she's evil with everything else, but she's bang on the money with potty training." All I know of it so far is wait until they're ready and you'll probably be done within a week, which sounds good to me!

Stormy in with you on the potty training. I was talking to my DM about it the other day and she said the fad at the time was to do it early and most of her friends struggled for months but she waited until I turned around one day and said I wanted to wear pants and it took about a fortnight. Months of wet clothes, dashing to loos and multiple outfit changes don't sound fun!

God yes Stormy, I completely agree on potty training. Wait til they're absolutely ready, it'll be over quickly. If you're lucky it could happen by the end of the year. If you're average it'll be another year of changing nappies. If you're rainbow you have lots of patience

We're tantrums a-go-go here. If he's doing something we don't like and tell him no we get hitting and a very wobbly bottom lip. We can usually give a snack or distract but sometimes, like Betty, we have no choice but to leave him to it. He's just so unreasonable.

Doli poor DH's poor nip! Yowch!

Evil Gina's book on potty training is really good and although we have potty trained early I have actually used tips from that book as part of the process. I suspect the main reason early training with DD is working is that she has always associated the potty with nappy changing as it has been present by the changing mat since she was 6 months old. She knows what it is for and has been signing to go for quite some time. She can say potty now and goes and gets it when she needs it. However it is not foolproof and she is still in pull ups and has many days where she says no to the potty. I don't think she will be fully potty trained much before normal age of readiness. We do it because we are of the montessori encourage independence at every opportunity view rather than because we expected full potty training early. Mind you I guess iit does no harm to have a potty as a feature of the bathroom from any age to build up that association whether or not you actually use it.

eco I am in awe at anyone who writes a book regardless of subject matter. I actually think the work you do sounds awesome - how wonderful to have an outdoor element to your work - I have always loathed being stuck in an office (although better now I am working at home). I totally picked the wrong profession!

Tantrums here too - DH's tactic is to distract DD with raisins and mine is to breastfeed, both of which are very effective at averting full scale melt down. I am praying these tactics continue to work on our 8 hour flight which we are due to go on soon!

I was also going to ask for recommendations for toddler apps for android. We don't use any screens here with DD at all yet but figure that the tablet may be a very handy tool for distraction on our long flight, especially given the high novelty factor!

Rainbow ds hates the toddler apps. His favourite things on a screen are episodes of Sarah & Duck (Cbeebies), Mumsnet and Facebook for photos.

rainbow the toddler app/game thing I use to distract DS is called Baby Rattle. It's pretty good because he can't get off it unless he enters the pin. And he's not mastered numbers yet. DP has got one on his where he can put the phone/tablet on Babymode and chooses which apps are on there (Disney Junior, rattles, etc) and, again, there's a pin to get off them. Just have a look on your app store, there are plenty.

I am happy to work White Post around people with plan changing ILs because we tend to be free all the time forever.

plonk cream...in yoghurt...you're cray! But, you're also my inspiration so, who am I to argue? I'll do it!!

We also have the leave-him-on-the-floor-to-tantrum-it-out tantrums, and the wobbly bottom lip. I can't help but occasionally smirk at both.

Re: the potty. We have it out in the living all the time so he knows it's there, and knows it's for sitting on. Once or twice, he's pointed at it, tugged at his nappy and done a wee on it once nappy was removed. I'm putting this down to fluke but I'm also quite impressed. We're going with the "when he's ready" approach too.

DP was working away last night so I had a very calm evening (post babybedtime) watching trashy tv and eating dark chocolate. And a surprisingly very calm morning getting ready for work and sorting out pup and bub. Who needs DPs, eh?! (I do. I missed him after only one night and had to cuddle a giant monkey. Soppy git.)

Hope you're ok any and having a pantry-free day

Potty training you all say? I think I may have to start thinking about that one in a slightly more than just theoretical light. The toddle gives very obvious cues when she needs to do a nappy nappy so to speak, and takes herself off for a bit of private time behind the sofa, so it should be pretty easy to get a potty out in good time for that one. Wees, more difficult, but again she does seem to have fairly specific times for going, so not impossible. I have started taking her into the toilet with me (wees only I hasten to add!), mainly because the house isn't even remotely childproof, but I don't like to constantly use the play pen, so she is kind of getting the hint in the right direction from that as well.

Morning is going well. Chicken is in the oven, and the sauce tastes great. I am relieved, Stormy put the wind up me a bit there. The description does nothing for it I guess, as it doesn't taste remotely of chocolate or cinnamon, and I think it would take a fairly committed cook to suss they were in there. It just tastes rich, with a slight kick, but inoffensive. The brownies however, less successful. Oven thermostat was way off whack, 50C off whack to be precise now I've tested it. That matters for brownies. They're too dry. I'm either going to make a second batch this afternoon, or Nigella's 'decadent almost flourless chocolate cake' (because that's quicker and requires fewer ingredients), and this time the oven thermometer is coming out! Goodness knows why I didn't use it yesterday. Can I blame baby brain? Stupidity more like

Speaking of things baby, I love the second trimester. I feel great! Forget all that whinging I was doing before, if you want a second, go for it, it's wonderful, and you get to have lovely hair

Eco, Betty spots on the chest you say? I had an impressive crop of those... about 2 weeks before I conceived the babax. Just saying like

Or there's a recipe for chocolate trifle which uses broken up brownies as the bottom layer... Drenched in alcohol so no longer dry and smothered in whipped cream... Just a thought.

I'm sure your sauce is lovely, doli, it's just the red peppers that put me off. Can't stand them, and I can always taste them no matter how well they're hidden. Sorry to make you paranoid!

There's an older lady at my charity shop who reckons her daughter was potty trained at ten months. On the outside my face was . On the inside it was more "I call bullshit..."

Today we are going on an exciting excursion into town to pick up some new shoes for Fartypants. Did well with her first pair, she's been in them five months and only just outgrown them (sneaky child had a growth spurt while I wasn't paying attention). New ones are twelve quid from Next, which beats the hell out of paying £30+ in Clarks.

Doli is it nigellas chocolate cloud cake? That's one of my all time favourites. I can take or leave most chocolate, unless it's a super dark, rich, flour less cake based affair. Mmm. Cake.

No wonder I'm a natural fatty! The chicken does sound delicious though. I'm a big fan of cinnamon and try to sneak it into a lot of things. Chili con carne, spag Bol, most curries and even the odd splash in some yoghurt (yes, with cream Something). It's incredibly good for you, just don't eat it by the spoonful

stormy did you want to throw your tea at her? What a ridiculous thing to say. I encountered some spectacular child rearing gems at the weekend, mainly from older relatives who have the luxury of being able to pass a grandchild back to its knackered parents whenever there's a tantrum/bedtime/nappy brewing. I was also roundly chastised by my perfect sister for having a routine loving child who "needed" a daytime nap at lunchtime. Because it's inconvenient for her. But smiling and nodding is the best course of action I suppose! And pulling a piss off face when they turn their back.

Speaking of ds he's been asleep for 2 and a half hours. This is our last day here and we're waiting to go for a walk on the beach. Damn his silly routine

Wotta that is an excellent idea, and who knows, some may well end up that way before very long, but I have however now made the Nigella cake... which appears to have worked. Phew. Not sure if it's the cloud one Plonky, I cut the recipe out of a magazine a very long time ago, possibly 10 years. Back then she referred to it as her little black dress recipe, although there would be nothing little about any dress one might be wearing after too many helpings of this one. Equal weights butter, chocolate, sugar, a lot of eggs, and 1tbsp flour.

Stormy I hear all kind of sh*te on a daily basis spouted by parents of pfbs and grandparents. I choose to ignore it. If anyone asks I tell them dd is absolutely rubbish at everything, especially food, and sleeping, and talking, but what can you do. She's not, I just like seeing the reaction, and watching them trying to work out what to say.

Question, how much water are your toddles drinking at the moment? Nursery have just flagged dd is drinking a lot, and she is. A 250ml bottle before nursery, 3.5 full bottles whilst there, another 300ml when she got back. That's 1.425 litres before 3pm . Lots and lots of soaking nappies as you'd expect, but I'm thinking I should get her checked out.

About 10flozzes of juice daily, plus 5flozzes cows' milk and the same of formula. No idea how much that is in litres though.

The question that always stumps me is: "Is he good?" A) stop assuming my child is male by default just because she isn't wearing anything pink, and B) what the hell constitutes good? She's very good at being a toddler. Naturally talented. But I don't think that's quite what they mean...

Oh dear. Bad mummy. He has 210ml milk in the morning and then some water during the day (2-4 tomee tippee cups worth but hard to tell clearly given some gets poured on the tray/floor) and some milk at bedtime (from none to 180mls). Lots of fruits, still quite puréed food so lots of moisture there too... But I have I idea!

Defo get her checked ASAP doli. That's a Whole Lot of water. Is her weight ok?
Fwiw I would love to be served that for a dinner party. I like healthy but tasty food, but would also have to have a large piece of that cake!

A book eco impressive

No cues for potty training here yet. Although we also have the nappy fights resistance so I wouldn't mind!

plonk did she mean DS shouldn't be napping in the day or be more flexible? You'll have the last laugh when she's got a sleep fighting pom bear eating toddle. if that doesn't sound too mean.

Thanks Shattered will do first thing Monday. Weight is fine, a bit chunky to be honest, but we do have type 1 diabetes in the family so it is niggling.

Good that she's a bit chunky though, that's reassuring. I do so love chunky toddle thighs to squeeze

Yeah probably a trip to the gp Doli. Hopefully it'll just be something simple, like slightly increasing her salt intake so she can absorb water better, but if it isn't then nip it in the bud before you experience a crisis type problem.

Fwiw yesterday ds had about 10fl of milk over two bottles, and probably the same of water, but it's hard to tell when he's using cups without measures, drinking from our cups and using other vessels. Eats lots of wet food like fruit too.

Ps shattered she meant he should be more flexible. She is clearly of the opinion that a toddler can fall asleep in their pushchair anytime, anywhere. I bloody wish he could!

Doli from what I know of it, and it's been a fairly long time since I worked on a paeds ward, increased drinking is usually habit, as they drink more they feel thirsty sooner so drink more, but before you can say it's that you need to rule out diabetes and diabetes insipidus so a trip to the GP is called for! Has she always drank a lot or is it a new thing in this heat?

How was the dinner party? Now that you've said about that I can't actually remember the last time we had people round for dinner! We're becoming increasingly antisocial with age!

Hello everyone and happy weekend. I have been in bed for 24 hours. That should be bliss but it's far from. The ibuprofen have kicked in and allowed me to raise my arms to the phone. Seriously. Very odd. Temperature, blinding head ache, aching back/neck/legs/arms, super sore throat, fat glands, can't sleep because literally every couple of minutes I have switch from hot to frozen. Fun times. At some point over the long night I planned my funeral and dh/Ecotod's plans for after I've gone. Melodramatic? Me? No no no.

Betty and Doli it's interesting about the chest spots. I'll assume they'll settle down when I stop with the breastfeeding. Betty, your way of dealing with tantrums is the best way so I hear, not bad mummying at all.

Rainbow I've been idly speculating about where you're off to that's eight hours away! Business or pleasure? Until yesterday we'd not done screens either really, although she likes looking at photos on my phone, so much so that when she finds my phone she points and says 'baby'. But what I can say is that the novelty factor was good yesterday, I put cbeebies on whilst I was waiting for dh to come back from work to rescue me and she sat cuddled up on sofa with me watching some crazy programme called small potatoes, paying attention and sucking her thumb, like she'd been doing it all her life. I have high hopes you'll get some good action from your Ipad on your flight.

Plonky pre baby I said I'd have a baby who slept wherever we were if it was tired. Ha ha. I have a routine loving baby and yes, it's a pain in the bum in some ways but it does ensure some baby free time during which you can do stuff. Your sister will learn. We're all so wise now we have our own! Are you back home now?

My addled brain can't remember anything else....but I did want to say hello to yummy. Are you ok? And shattered, other than nappy fights, what's going on your end? Is all well?

Hope your dinner party was fun Doli and that people were appreciative of your efforts whilst mothering a toddle and baking a baby. Lovely to hear about the nursery love btw.

right, back to sweating and fidgeting and planning my demise!

That doesn't sound odd, eco. It sounds like flu! Good excuse to spend several days in bed.

I'm probably acquiring umpteen bad mummy points every day, but I don't care, because CBeebies gives me blessed peace, for whole minutes at a time. Fartypants is fascinated by Mr Tumble still. Tempted to record it all for whenever she's being particularly trying.

Eco No! That's rubbish for you. Sending feel better soon vibes your way, together with a DH prompt to spoil you as much as is humanly possible.

Betty thanks for the advice. The excessive drinking is a relatively new thing, and did start with the hot weather. The nursery also wondered if it was a comfort thing, as her bottle is something from home, and she likes to carry it around with her together with her box of crackers. The one upside of all the extra water is she is no longer constipated, so DH's theory is she is playing catch up after a period of dehydration. Lot's of theories but no definitive conclusion, so I'll take her to the GP and see what they say. Couldn't be vaccine related could it? Definitely started after her bad reaction to the last set of vaccs.

Plonky my SIL is currently pregnant, and so far reckons she will never co-sleep, and will have a sleep routine in place from the word go. I'm saying nothing

Dinner (or as Stormy would say Tea) party is actually tonight, so wish me luck ladies! Everything is made, everything has worked (I think), so unless I manage to make a right pigs ear of assembling a salad I'd say we're good to go. My cunning tip if you try this, borrow a local teenage girl to babysit. I had one volunteer! Well I'm paying her, but she approached me. It's kind of nice to know that for once I will actually get to eat a meal without many any interruptions.

Betty I know what you mean but entertaining falling by the wayside. When we first got married we had an endless stream of guests, most weekends. Then I got sick of it, and took about 10 years off! We're starting things up again now, as well, why not really. The useful thing about being previously quite dedicated to the cause is I have a scrap book of recipes I have either made up, or pinched, that work. Well they do if you set the oven right that is! Speaking of which, according to DH the brownies are fine, just the edge is crusty. He might regret saying that. There is an entire tray, and a cake, and I don't eat either. Death by chocolate could take on a very real meaning

Checking in so I don't lose you all again, I'll be back later!

Doli hope the soirée goes marvellously - you've inspired me to bang out a Mary Berry chic cake for DSis's birthday tomorrow. It's cooling now and smells amazing so can't wait to try it although I may have already scraped the bits off the silicon moulds and made cake balls, which i've eaten