October 05 - First Birthdays

[Yokefleet]

Happy Birthday to Joey!

Congratulations DLAMIS!! It's exciting isn't it. Now the hard work begins.... My one piece of advice is don't give the parents an inch right from the beginning. I made that mistake and got the piss taken out of me something awful and it was hard to then start laying down the law IYSWIM. And keep everything on the business side up to date on a daily basis to save heartache at tax return time. (Boast boast, I got my tax return submitted before the end of April becuase everything was done as I went along rather than the mad scramble the day before it's due )

Not a lot going on here. Ploughing through my change of address spreadsheet (yes I am that anal) and doing things like joining the library etc etc. I wish it would stop raining

Nice to see you back on the Oct board RTL. You'll be glad to know that we didn't lose your Bob the Builder cup when we moved. You will have to come and visit so I can give it back to you!

Afternoon all

I'm at home in my dressing gown - sent home from work after throwing up my breakfast and cup of tea, ewwwww. Evelyn still at the childminders so I am having a skivey afternoon.

We're going to wait to potty train Evelyn I think, she's been showing some of the signs one book I have read lists and she often gets the potty out, but by the time I've taken off her bottoms and nappy, she has already been, so I'm not sure whether to hold off, or try to train? I dunno!!

That's not so good Elf. You certainly seem to be having a pretty rough time of it just now. I hope you feel better soon. How is Evelyn?

Johnny and I went a quick shopping trip this afternoon. I didn't bother with the buggy so he could walk a bit in the shopping centre. Today he was walking like he had drunk 20 pints. I think he was concentrating more on the surroundings than the walking and it was quite hilarious to watch. Pretty good effort though considering he only took his first steps less than three weeks ago.

We were at a party at the weekend where there was a little girl who is one day older than Johnny and she seemed so much more grown up in comparison. He seems quite babyish still and now I'm paranoid that I am babying him. Gawd, there's always something to worry about, eh? In my defence though, he couldn't sit loose at the wee table with all the other kids because there were cakes and all sorts of other nasties with egg which he would have snaffled off someones plate and the highchair was the safest option for him. And for the same reason, I kind of had to follow him around everywhere as there were all sorts of crumbs of food lurking and he would certainly pick food up off the floor. Are you guys still using highchairs? I know Johnny could cope (and has done) with sitting on a booster right up at the table, but he would probably fall off the thing and that would be after he had tipped all the food out onto the table making the most godawful mess....

MB - we still use a highchair, its one of those ones which turns into a table and chair so most of the time we just take the chair bit out and sit her like that.

Yes, you're right with the worrying aspect! I worry that Evelyn is too thin, she's 24lbs, but babies less than a year old I know are 22lbs so she seems really thin and still fitting in the small clothes. I also sometimes worry that she does not speak enough, though this is due to others planting the thoughts in my head, lol. I think she speaks quite a lot but MIL compares her to her other granddaughter and with ref to speak its always a negative compariaon - ie "oooh, well, although Evelyn was walking at 10 months and X wasn't until much later, at that age, X spoke much more clearly than Evelyn does"... as if we dont have to worry about without that!!

LOL I'm sure Evelyn is just fine Elf and it's probably better to be on the lean side. I worry that Johnny is too heavy! He's around 27lbs and has a huge belly, but he's still a very baby shape seeing he has just started walking, you know, the sticking out bum and the roly legs! I'm sure he'll thin out a bit soon though once he starts standing up straight.

I left Johnny with his granny today from 8.45am until 4pm which is the longest I have ever left him. I couldn't wait to get back and see him. How soft is that!!

Aw bless MB!

I did read a thing on the internet last night which talked about the average weight of babies at 15 months and at 2 years, which was reassuring.

Also, brought her home today and we were walking to the bus, she'd been to a party today at toddler group and our conversation went like this

"Where did you go today?"
"Jinnys" she replies
"Did you go to toddlers"
"Yes"
"What was there at toddlers?"
"Party" shouts she
"What did you have to eat"
"Dinner" she replies
"Yes but what did you eat?" asks I, expecting her to yell 'cake' or 'ya-ya' (she cant manage youghurt yet!
"Food" she replies and I swear to God she tutted at me, as if to call me an idiot!!

Aw that is sooo cute Elf. We communicate well but it is with signs and noises rather than "proper" conversation. Yesterday I asked Johnny "where does Johnny go after lunch?" he then did the sign for bed/sleep (which he has done before when I've asked this question) but this time he made his way up the stairs on his own!! He is starting to sign some of the colours, but I think he is guessing with most of them except red.

Johnny now has a nasty cold and our plan of sending dh in at night didn't work last night. He was howling and howling and for the first time ever he was shouting "mummy mummy" when dh was trying to calm him. There was no way I could lie in bed ignoring that so I am knackered today after getting up three times with Johnny in the night.

We're back from our hols in Cornwall

Had a fab time, even despite the rain, and Joey had a whale of a time on the beach while i gorged myself on clotted cream and ice cream. Didn't get down to Land's End sadly (decided it was too far to drive for a day trip with my back still being bad), but we did go to a seal sanctuary, which Joey loved, the sea life centre in Newquay, and a cider farm for DH! (as well as a shopping trip in Truro for me!!)

Joey's talking well now, learning new words every day, and he seems to have had a sudden growth spurt - must be all that cornish sea air!(and clotted cream)

Unfortunately, got back to find my MRI scan results show that i have definitely prolapsed the disc in my back, so probably going to have to have it surgically removed and definitely no more babies for a while. My nursing union is looking into things, and it would seem that i have a strong case against the hospital, so i might get some compensation, but i'd rather have a healthy back!

Hope everyone else is ok? I hope Johnny is better soon Mawbroon - Joey seems to be getting his typical post-holiday cold. Cue the green 11 under his nose! SM x

rtl I don't get onto MSN these days hun, never enough hours in the day
elf what a lovely chat you and Evie had all I would get off Thomas is wow wow wow. Are you feeling any better now?
mb we have always used a booster seat with tray and will continue for quite some time yet. I have no idea how much Thomas weighs Hope Johnny is doing better now hun and hope you get a better nights sleep.
sm Glad you had a good time Sorry to hear about your back how long do you think before you can start ttc again?

Its my 30th birthday today and tonight Paul & I are going out to the cinema which I am really looking forward too as we haven't been since I was pregnant with Thomas my parents are stopping at ours with Thomas and we are going to stay at there house and have a night away, this is also our first night away from Thomas

Hey Yoke fleet we share the same birthday!! wWell apart frmo a few years!!

happy belated birthday YF!!

Hope you are all surviving this rain. I feel bad complaining about the rain we are having here when really it's not a lot compared to down south.

mawbroon is on the warpath again...

Phew, its quiet at the moment, is everybody okay?

Evelyn fell off the bed again yesterday - she tried to get off herself but slipped. Poor child, she's going to have a bumpy bum at this rate!

Hello, I'm still here just Paul has been on holiday then started a new job yesterday so I should be around a bit more again now

Hope Evie is ok Elf, at least you know she bounces! lol Thomas has only done it once, I was in tears and he was happy as larry wanted to be back up onto the bed!
Baby dust to those ttc I think we are going to start next month - dependant on the builders having finished or not

Good luck with the TTC Yokefleet - sadly, if i need surgery on my back (which is looking increasingly likely, due to find out Thursday), i'm not supposed to even consider trying until at least a year post op By that stage Joey will be at least 3 (assuming i have my op sooner rather than later, and you all know what the NHS waiting lists are like!), which is a much bigger age gap than we would have liked. Oh well! Maybe Joey's destined to be an only child after all...DH would probably prefer it to be that way anyway! SM x

Blimey! I appear to be a bit of a thread-killer Sorry Guys! SM x

SM Don't worry, thread has been quiet for a while now! Hope your appointment on Thursday goes well.

I'm sorry to hear that you are having such trouble with your back SM. It must be disappointing having to postpone the ttc

Good luck with your ttc YF still nothing happening in that department for us.

Elf I'm sure Evie will be none the worse for wear with all her bumps. Johnny is constantly covered in bruises and in fact we are going to the doctor this morning as I noticed a few days ago that his thumb isn't straightening properly any more. I am assuming that it used to straighten but I can't say I know for sure. He is forever toppling over or jamming his fingers in drawers and supermarket trolleys and the like, so he could easily have damaged it but I am going to seem like a really neglectful mother if it turns out he's (eg) broken it previously and I didn't notice . I hope it's nothing serious.

Doc has referred us to orthopaedics at the sick kids hospital will get appointment card through the post

Oh MB, hope you get an apointment quickly.

SM - sorry about you not being able to TTC, good luck at the hospital.

YF - wayhey, keep us informed on the TTC. I'm months (up to a year) off in my plan to TTC, though if it happened in the meantime, fair enough!

Evelyn almost got ran over by a car yesterday. Slight overstatement, but it could have happened!! When we leave the childminders she often runs to the next door neighbours drive while I'm putting the bags away, and the she'll giggle as I "catch" her. But yesterday she ran off from the driveaway towards the car, onto the road before I could catch her, and fell into the road (scraping both knees and hands) and a car was coming down the road. I swear my heart beat has only just returned to normal.

And DH think she is having nightmares as she keeps waking up at 2:00 SCREAMING the house down but nothing sooths her, she screams for about half an hour and then finally settles back to sleep. I have no idea what is wrong with her!

mb hope you get the appointment soon

You lot are an excitable bunch, I said "I think we are going to start ttc next month"

Stinky - glad you had a nice holiday. Sorry to hear about your back and having to delay ttc. Hope your appointment goes well today.

Mb - did the doctor say what he thought might be wrong?

Elf - Eek, that must've given you a fright! Poor Evie, hope her knees and hands aren't too badly hurt. We are having a similar thing with ds but only with his daytime naps.

YF - Good luck with the ttc. We're already trying, on 3rd or 4th cycle, I'm temping but other than that we aren't half as obsessed with it as when we were trying for ds

Elf you must have had a terrible fright. Johnny isn't fast enough yet to run off like that, but it will only be a matter of time I'm sure. Not sure what to do about the waking though. johnny sometimes wakes in the night still but I just bf him for 2 mins and he's away again.
DLAMIS - nope, doc didn't give any indication which is fair enough. I am trying to convince myself that it might not be damaged, it could be something like the tendon hasn't grown long enough or something. Don't know what the ortho folk will do, presume x ray first to see what's what.
I have hired an ergo carrier to see if it's worth buying one. I carried Johnny for an hour and a half round the zoo this morning and he actually feels lighter in this carrier than he did in my old one almost a year ago. I am now annoyed that I could have been carrying him for the last year instead of using a blooming buggy. We have moved back to the city and are using the bus quite a lot and folding the buggy was just too much hassle for me. The ergo can be used from birth, so it would also do a new baby as well .

Well, good news and bad news from my Consultant today. The good news is that he doesn't want to do an operation for now, as the disc has collapsed inwards, around my spinal cord so my risk of paralysis would be high (eek!). The bad new is that it could take months to heal of its own accord again, even with intense physio, which means i've got to be off work long-term again, and will be in pain for a lot longer than if i'd had 'quick fix'surgery, all of which has to be fitted around me still being a mother!

On the plus side, Joey got accepted to our local pre-school today(smile). They take children from 2 years old, so he could theoretically start at the end of September, but i'm thinking maybe not until after christmas. Having been to the childminders before, i know he'll be fine with interacting with other children. Given the state of my health at the moment, he'll probably get to do a lot more there! I bought him a chalkboard easel in the Mothercare sale (down from 70 quid to 25, if anyones interested, they're still selling them!), and he absolutely loves it. He's turned into a proper little Picasso now! [proud mummy emoticon!]

my budding little Picasso