March 2013 - by the time we finish this one we'll be shopping for elf outfits. Eek!

[ecofreckle]

Here we go again then ladies. Plenty more shiny new space to fill up with ramblings :-) Link to last thread

wotta keep a bucket and lots of wipes by ds. Little sips of water. Only tiny bits of toast. Try not to use the dummy because the sucking makes them vomit again. Lots of cuddles. Then you just have to wait it out. Just be aware that as he is sleeping he may wake up to vomit so just keep an eye on him as he is sleeping. A vomiting bug is very grim. I remember when I was a novice I didn't have a sick bucket and I got caught out. I caught the vomit with my hand. I think that was my graduation ceremony to motherhood.

plonky grab a tape measure and head down to a shop with buggies/pushchairs ie, mothercare to do some research then look for the cheapest one online. I got my buggy online without looking at it properly and regret it.

Not much to report here. Ds slept through from 8pm until 4am the other night which is great. This morning he knew it was my day off and decided to wake up extra early.

Small name change here!

Wotta, sympathies from here too!

Plonky, what about a Baby Jogger City Mini or something similar (I think Mamas and Papas do one too)? I secretly wish in the back of my mind that I'd got a BJCM instead of our insanely expensive one and a Maclaren too!

I've opted for a Mamas and Papas Armadillo. It fits in the boot with lots of room to spare. And it's bright yellow, so what's not to like? I'm keeping the P&T for off roading, it can live in the garage. A bit gutted that I have to get rid of the Maclaren because it's perfect for this age upwards. Silly Plonky. The pram huns do take the piss though. Selling a £300 RRP pushchair for £80 ish and have had a few "hi hun r u intrested in a swop? i have iCandy but want mclaren now bubz is bigger, want £400 for icandy" type responses. Bloody Gumtree.

Great name change Betty do you want a Maclaren or are you in the same predicament as me?

Oooh, we have a Maclaren! It is basically a chair with wheels. And no break. Assuming you're thinking of slightly fancier styles, Plonk? Do us some photos, I haven't had a good dose of buggy envy for ages.

No advice for vomiting, except Wotta is it not vomitous? Is that even a word? It should be. I shall check Dictionary Corner in a bit.

Another comedy exchange with Fartypants, this one mid-nappy:
F: Mummy look!
Me: I'm looking. It's your bits. What about them?
F: I fart!

Old pushchair pictured. It's cleaned up a right treat. But not as fancy as the new one! I'd do a photo but it's currently parked up in the shed at nursery so it's a stock promo photo only I'm afraid.

I'm astounded that FP is so aware of her bodily functions. She's truly earned her moniker. DS just holds his nappy and declares POO whenever he's doing a wee. Or doing nothing. His bum and his willy are both on the front, according to him.

They need to make pictures work on the app! Will check on the desktop during naptime.

A couple of months back we were running through body parts, asking her to identity various parts. I asked where her bum was and she pointed to her, ahem, front bum. So I taught her bits (while aware of the wrath of mumsnet just waiting to descend). Easily understood confusion though. Without sitting there with a mirror they can't see well what's down there, so makes sense to not distinguish between different parts of the downstairs region.

Stormy that's actually what I typed both times on the bloody iPhone I give up.

You ok, Wotta? Want a dino hug?

Hey Plonk. I'm ok. I'm stupidly busy at work (8 client meetings in this week so far, two more tomorrow and each takes 2 hours and about another 3 to process before I've done anything else so a bit ). Worried about what kind of day the boys have had - last check in suggested TV was involved .

Dad had a suspected TIA yesterday. I should mention that he's had loads in the past but they've been rarer since his heart surgery stopped the bits of disintegrating valve getting to places they shouldn't. But he's pretty wiped out by it.

And the poor sods giving the garden a sort out had to cry off today due to the gales. I just want to get the bloody photos done and get the place photographed so we can start actively marketing.

Could do with a break is all really. Sorry for me me me whinge .

All pile on to Wotta! Dino hugs. Stormy hugs. Yummy hugs. eco hugs. Sending plenty your way. Sounds pretty naff your end. How did your boys cope and are you well yourself? I had two crazy friends from Israel and Cambodia on my masters and they used to say 'just chop it' meaning 'just let it go, forget it, remember the important stuff etc' so I shall say ' just chop it' to you and encourage you to remember work can just sack off for a day if needs be. I hated it when my boss used to say 'you're not indispensable, none of us are, the world will continue without you'.....but she was right. A day of no Wotta will be ok. And it'd probably make you feel a hell of a lot better. Hope you feel on top of everything soon.

Hope you're feeling a bit better today Wotta, it all sounds very stressful. Eco's advice is, as ever, superb. How's DS today?

We've had the survey report and I've received a load of property info in the post today. The solicitors got the draft contracts and has begun the searches. So tell me, you home owner types, how long it could be from now until completion? Obviously there's a certain amount of how long's a piece of string but am I right in thinking the next stage is exchange of contracts then completion? We have exactly a month to get it all done. Eek!
Had a busy morning in town buying DH's christmas presents. Ds is napping so I suppose I'd better get some work done. I feel like such a grown up. Except I ate tea bread for lunch.

hi Plonky. Presume you're happy with survey and building society happy with valuation. The searches can be a bit painful but just in a more paperwork way....like chancel (?) indemnities and er ...stuff. Have you got the fixtures and fittings list and are you happy with that? Are all of the alterations (if any) kosher with appropriate planning and building regs? I'd guess it might not be long now; your chain is tiny. You get onto that conveyancer and kick her/his butt. In for Christmas eh? That'd be rather lovely.

Anyone else worried about Worse? Worse! Talk to us. Are you guys ok?

Wotta how are you today? It's the weekend now

Rainbow how are things with you and your dd? Not heard from you since you returned from your awesome holiday I don't think.

And hellos to all of you other beautiful (Overfamiliar Friday remember) women!

Yes Worse you've been unusually quiet for an unusually long time. Everything ok? Hope you're not marooned in the pantry.

And everyone else. It's been awfully quiet around here lately. Worrying me as I'm facing five days solo and think I'll rather need you lot for sanity and company!

eco yep no chain, we've nowt to sell and the seller moved in with the family yonks ago, so it's been vacant since July apparently. We've had the list of items included and that's fine, the survey made us laugh. The path to the back garden needs replacing - think cracked concrete - and the understairs cupboard needs new flooring and shelves (it'll be a utility cupboard) but both have been given the bright red fix it lest you die rating. So it's just searches then? Apparently building not registered with land registry! So that'll need to be sorted, and I'm prepared to purchase indemnity insurance if need be. We actually want to complete by the 12th! Eek!! I've got visions of hosting a meet up for the northern marcher contingent in my funky new kitchen :)

How are you and yours, anyway Eco?

I'm always around if you need company, Plonk. Just got nothing much to report at the moment, except that naps are apparently for the weak.

Thanks for checking up on me Eco/Plonk. And for the hugs (dino and otherwise ). Well we have the possibility of MIL finally needing to go into a home (Alzheimer's) added into the mix of 'Wotta's best week ever' but it is as you say the weekend.

DS seems to be segueing into a cold - no vomit since thurs am but very clingy and miserable, then cough arrived last night and snot this morning. I am off for a haircut later but then dh will be heading to the other end of the country to catch up with dbil/dsils over dmil. Back Monday.

Gardeners should finish makeover today so hopefully we can organise photos this week. At last!!!

Worse? All ok? Not trapped in a hotel room in the lakes without a master key I hope?

And shattered, rainbow etc trust all good with you.

DS said his first truly original sentence the other day - nana on pork, or banana on fork for those not fluent is DS! He has lots which he has learned to use - up I get, all gone, where's sheep etc but this was the first he worked out start to finish. We have lots of words but not much grammar yet!

On the contrary, Wotta, DS has lovely grammar there! Sure, an adult would have put more words in, but the three he used were in the right order, and the preposition used correctly. Go Wottatod!

Also, hugs re: MIL. Never a happy point to reach. Hope it's a relatively painless process with minimal being-dicked-about. Our latest care home drama involves paperwork for the funding. Council can't seem to grasp that my mum isn't in receipt of ESA. Of course she's not - you don't qualify when you're in a care home permanently! But their paperwork requires being on appropriate benefits. Sigh.

We don't yet have two words together. I think he's getting there though, our 'sentences' kind of go "Mama......TEA!"

Wotta and Stormy sounds so tough. It must be like banging your head against a wall some days, especially with a layer of bureaucracy blocking you from the help you need. Hope these things settle down soon.

I think I've finally found a buyer for my pushchair. Well, two actually. Oops. Maybe I could let them fight for it on the drive. Is it wrong that I feel I now need to give the house a deep clean as we have strangers coming into it?

Just had my brother over for a brew. The littlest niece can say mummy, daddy, and no. So he can be smug if he wants, cos it's only in the last month or two Fartypants has got the hang of those names! Still mostly just names things, though we have the odd creative two or three word sentence. Listening to her, you can just tell there's another big mental leap to come.

No nap again today. Couldn't be bothered to even try. I'm going to miss naps...

stormy how old is your niece now? Maybe good speech runs in the family. We had nap refusal today but he lost against sleep at 3pm so now I know we are going to have a late night. He slept until 8am so I can't complain too much.

plonky I am here too so don't fret about going solo.

Nothing much to update you all apart from a funny and cute ds moment. We have a big box of baby wipes ds opens them all and sticks the sticker on (the sticker on the opening of the baby wipes) to himself. He made me laugh.

Just turned one a few weeks back, yummy. Got the hang of walking while pushing things now too!

Sticker appreciation is good. Means you're one step closer to being able to use star charts to encourage good behaviour. Or one step closer to being able to use stickers as bribes (healthier than biscuits!).

What is the appeal of stickers? I'm sure I loved them when I was small too, but why? They just get all fluffy and unsticky anyway.

DS was a nap refuser extraordinaire today, and has just gone to bed. Half an hour early, so hoping for a nice late start. Ha!

I am as baffled as you, Plonk. Don't recall ever having a sticker fondness. Eldest niece was obsessed though. Made for very cheap birthdays, until the day my sister found a sticker in her knickers, decided enough was enough, and banned them.

I think kids see stickers as magic because it stays put without holding it.

We are just back from a shopping trip from hell with ds. Ds saw a toy he has at home and runs up to the little girl playing with it and pushes the toy back saying 'mine'. Then he has a tantrum because he doesn't want the little girl to play with it anymore. Another tantrum because his dad tried on new trainers and another tantrum because how dare we buy ds new trainers. So you get jist we go shopping and everything resulted in ds having a tantrum. He is now snoring in the car seat while dh buys us a coffee to recover.

Hope you are all having a good tantrum free day so far

Uh oh. I broke the thread.

Worse? Shattered? Rainbow? Where are you all?

Plonky I think you can start singing again.

Just checking in to say 'hi' I've not fallen off the edge of the world, just not had a minute. You know the kind of week... too much to do, too little time, and too few naps . I'm fairly sure the toddle is dropping the whole nap thing now, which isn't such a bad thing. More flexibility, if less free time.

Just got back from a trip to see PILs, and SIL with her new ds. Awww... so cute. Well wizened actually. I'd forgotten just how scrunched up tiny tiddlers are. To think I'm going to have one of those in less than 3 months! Scary. Bit worried about SIL though as she doesn't seem very happy, or positive about anything baby. PND maybe? I'm not close enough to talk to her about it though, so I'm kind of relying on DH and his zero EQ to cover that one. It'll be interesting to see how he approaches that one!

28 week appointment last Friday, and guess what, he's measuring big. You have got to be kidding. Big???? I am not big. I have a bum the size of an ant, and correspondingly tiny hips. C-Section here we come...???