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

The hiiiiiiills are alive with the sound of... Oh hey, Worse!

And where do you think you've been eh? I was about to start ringing round all the hospitals in the SE to see if you'd checked in prematurely. Thank god you've shown up, I almost looked mental. Congrats on the nephew! How old is he? I think apathy is one of the PND watch words but it can go hand in hand with earth shattering change and general knackeredness. Hope she's ok.

DH is in Dubai. I'm a softie and cried this morning when he went. My parents took pity and took me and ds in so I'm snuggled up in their attic listening to the rain. Been discussing the house and the garden plans (allotment!) and the joys of purging our old furniture via gumtree. So rather boring here. I seriously need to start doing some exercise again, I'm currently the embodiment of the post wedding day cliche - the spouse who has stopped caring and eaten too much cake and bread. The bread really does me in, so I'm paying for my sins by not only jiggling when I walk but also by having some interesting pains. And a face like a pizza.

Solo here too at present. Dh back from ils later though. I just need to shower and dress and dress DS and get both of is breakfast before off to work... But bins are all out, fire is lot, cat tray is changed, milk is warming, fruit kebabs made (anything to tempt him at present ) so fx I'm on it...

All that before seven am, Wotta? Very impressive!

worse dear, good to see you. We were starting to worry!

Solo here too, as the man has a migraine. He was due here 1pm yesterday. At 1.25 I texted to ask if he was running late, and he replied saying migraine, can't make it. Which is fine, except he knew he wasn't going to be where he'd arranged to be, so why in the name of buggery didn't he contact me beforehand? He does this every bloody time, and I'm sick of it.

Hi all! Sorry for radio silence - have been reading but not had energy to chip in for a while. Life has got a bit manic. I accepted a new job starting next year. It is a bit of a high pressure job which I have been stressing and preparing for and which might mean a house move because of the commute which would be awful as I love our home. Also means I will spend less time with DD so constantly agonising whether it is the right thing to so. However it is a fantastic long term career move and will hopefully make me feel like a normal adult person again so am also excited all the same time.

Pretty sure DD is going through another massive developmental leap and it's exhausting at the moment. She is speaking in short sentences and her memory is scarily good - she is particularly good giving instructing to others like "mummy go away, I busy now!". Basically suddenly realised I have a fully functioning human being with her own stubborn strong will who is still pretty irrational. Argh! She has also always been fantastic at going to bed but suddenly decided in the last week that it's overrated and refuses to curl up and sleep like she always has. Absolutely refuses to stay in bed or her room and throws a tantrum like no other if we try. We have absolutely no appetite to leave her to cry nor do we want her to associate bedtime with crying and battles so trying to think of some strategies - any suggestions would be very welcome!

plonky your house news sounds exciting - can't believe you might move so soon. Our conveyacing has always taken far longer than it should so it's fantastic yours is moving so quickly!

worse cannot believe you jjust had your 28 weeks appointment. It always amazes me how the beginning of pregnancies goes so slow and then suddenly rushes towards the end from about 20 weeks onwards. As for big babies - DD measured very big from 12 week scan onwards (and I am small too) but my midwives assured me that in most cases, baring conditions and obviously subject to exceptions, generally you grow a baby as big as your body can birth. I was absolutely huge towards the end and DD was big but I remained confident that the birth would be a breeze and my body would instinctively know what to do and it really did - I ended up squatting to give birth (no idea how I got down there!) and apparently that's a great position to give birth to large babies.

sorry for missing news from everyone else - on phone and can't scroll back. But hoping everyone is getting more sleep and facing less tantrums than me!

Hello Rainbow, good to see you're still here too. With refusing to stay in bed, I've heard good things about the rapid return strategy, where you basically imitate a yoyo for a few evenings and constantly head upstairs to put them back into bed while being quiet and boring. Eventually they realise there's no point getting out of bed because nothing exciting's going on. Dunno how it'd work if she's kicking off though. Good luck, and do let us know if and when you find something that works, because I can see me having the same problem in the future!

stormy we tried a variation of rapid return although we stayed in the room (as this is what we normally do) and just repeatedly put DD back into bed but the rage that DD was not at all conducive to her getting to sleep - she just got more and more worked up! I'm really hoping it's a short phase and we get our lovely bedtime cuddles back and mostly my free evenings which keep me sane!

Reminds me of when we tried the pick up / put down thing for going to sleep. Cuddle until calm then put the baby down when they stop, was the idea. Except she just didn't stop! Unfortunately my only other suggestion involves duct tape, so is probably best avoided.

worse lovely to hear from you. Glad you and bump are well. Congratulations on being an auntie. You will have a squishy newborn soon.

rainbow lovely to hear from you too. Congratulations on your new job. I think you should go for it. You may surprise yourself and adapt well to it. Sorry I have no advice on the sleep front but to just ride it out. I am sure dd will forget about this phase by next week.

plonky how are you coping solo? Is dh on a business trip or having fun?

wotta has ds fully recovered from his bug?

betty I need you (and anyone else who can help). I had mirena coil since June 2013. Since June/July 2014 I haven't bled but tonight I have only it is very light. Is this normal?

Only a small update but ds has parents evening next week. How cute is that.

Rainbow the work situation sounds exciting but tough. Would the move be to a completely new place, or an other side of town kind of move? Would the job make you happy?
Dd's sleep will get better again. We've usually gone in at the first moan and done a kind of rapid return. Sometimes this works and for the times it doesn't we have left him for a few minutes here and there. It doesn't always work though and I'm not going to tell you to do it, I just want to tell you that if you feel unable to cope with rapid return there is no shame in trying other ways. Alternatively could you lay down with her and leave when she's peaceful?

Our conveyncing appears to be moving quickly because I've been a complete pain in the solicitors bum! It's now at the wait and see stage, which feel nail-biting because theres nothing we can do until the searches are complete.

Yummy dh is away on business. It was nice having a night at the parents but has confirmed that ds hates his travel cot. Unbeknownst to me he woke up at midnight and slept in my mums bed!

DS is very funny these days. He asked to try my dinner and was horrified at my suggestion that he eat fish. Because the only meaning he knows of fish is the brightly coloured toy in the bath. He's trying to jump and copies the characters in Peppa Pig when they literally fall about laughing. When he pushes his toy tractor around the floor he whispers "tractor" over and over. Absolutely precious and soooo broody making. Except the lack of naps.

Disaster! Zebra is missing. What do I do if we can't find him by bedtime? I've turned the house upside down, but he's just... gone.

Take DD toy shopping and let her pick a toy.

It won't be the same. Knew I should have bought half a dozen of them. No longer sold now, I don't think.

We had the same problem when DS dropped his jellycat monkey in a busy shopping centre. Purchased a very soft rabbit of a similar size and now Bunny is his absolute favourite toy.

DD will be fine. This experience will be good for her emotional well-being

Sods law, you tell the world what a terrible zebra-losing mummy you are and two minutes later he turns up. On a chair under the kitchen table, with the tray from the booster chair on top of him. Only visible from toddler height while standing by the washing machine.

Disaster averted. Phew! My working at home day was going to involve trawling eBay

Ooh, that's an idea! Although it seems unlikely something that cost a quid in Tesco will be on eBay. I'll have a look when DD is asleep anyway, because a spare would be handy.

Just ... Phew. Have a .

DS doesn't have an "always" toy. He has Bear who lives in his cot, along with Caterpillar and Doc. Sometimes, one of them accompanies us to the changing mat but they always go back to bed after. His decision, not mine. Then, often, his toy cars come with us on journeys and he gets ever so cross if I take them off him, like when we arrive at the childminder's, who has toys in their plentiful so he'd only end up losing his cars anyway. I had four cars in my car this morning. So glad you've found Zebra, stormy, I'd be devastated if we lost Bear!

rainbow new work opportunity sounds like it could be a great career move for you. As far as DD's sleep, or lack of, goes, DS was like that a couple of weeks ago. Cuddles, milk and a whole heap of patience are all I can suggest. It was a killer and I felt like a zombie, but now he seems to be sleeping from 7:30pm-gone 9am.

And on that sleeping front, can I join the group of no-nappers? Three days without a nap now, but it seems to be going ok. I get the time before he wakes up to get myself ready and it means we can do stuff without having to rush back. I had a quick google and it told me that by the time children are between 2.5 and 3, they should be dropping their afternoon nap. DS hasn't had an afternoon nap since he was 9 months!! I think I'll direct him to that website, because he clearly didn't get the memo!

Cute moment though - he walked around Ikea this morning, clutching a bear, almost as big as him, in one hand and holding my hand with the other. Ain't these toddles just adorable?

Sorry I'm late Yummy! It's not unusual to have an odd light bleed even if you're otherwise bleed-free on a mirena. It often coincides with something else like a particularly stressful time, viral illness, unaccustomed exercise etc but not always. It's just a variation on how much your endometrial lining thickens depending on a very delicate balance of hormones that can be thrown off kilter by all kinds of stuff!

Rainbow congratulations on the job! Brilliant news! I think it definitely sounds like something to take a risk for! What's the worst that will happen? It's tough to pull ourselves away now these toddlers are getting so damn cute but it is good to keep a bit of your own identity too I always think in some way and for me that's what work gives me because I have very little social life.

We had a nasty morning here. DD slept until 6.15 with no wake ups that we heard but when I walked into her room it stank and she sat up and said "Mummy.....poo-poo" in a very sad voice. She's obviously done a poo very early on that had leaked through everything and down her legs and dried on in clumps boak so needed a bath and full decontamination when I was due to be leaving for work! Bless her she's really sore from being in poo for that long too! Poor baby!

betty awww your poor dd. Don't beat yourself up about it these things can happen. We have had a couple of times when ds has slept in poor when his bowel movements have been at an odd time when he is sleeping. It will be another tale to tell our dc when then thy are older.
I have flu like symptoms and really stressed at work so both of those combined may be the cause of bleeding. I am experiencing some shooting pains down my lower back too.

I have told my manager today that I want to leave. So hopefully that stress will be reduced when I sort out my work situation.

stormy. Glad you found zebra. Ds doesn't have an attachment to his cuddly toys but he has an attachment to his shoes. I have bought him trainers and shoes and he refuses to wear them.

something please don't hate me but I am of your sleep times. I must say ds is usually good with his afternoon nap if we are at home and no one is round so that is something.

Last night ds went to sleep at 8. Woke at 9.30pm and decided he didn't want to sleep until 1am then was up for 6am. I have just spent an hour trying to get to sleep. In the end I sang twinkle twinkle little star and he fell asleep. I think I should audition for x factor. Ds is asleep so I am going to sleep too. Tomorrow is my Friday at work. Yippeee

Festive name change here :)

Betty that sounds quite stressful, and a wee bit yucky. Hope her skin gets less sore quickly. Big for you today.

Yummy what did you manager say? Well done you for plodding on for this long. Ultimately they can't do anything about your role if they don't know what the problem is, so it's good you've opened a dialogue. Just hope they're supportive. Would you want to stay if they could provide a slightly different workload? Are any changes possible?

Snot city here. I appear to have caught DS's cold. But I only have to get through today and tomorrow and then DH will be back. I think I may plod on with work for a few hours then go and have a wee nap and see if that sorts me. I keep going deaf and having nosebleeds. Sinuses are SO MUCH FUN.

Hello everyone (I seem unable to start a post without viewing it as some sort of letter).

Ooohhh Betty, youch....poor love. Has the rash cleared up a bit now? That yellow gunk seems to do the trick here.

Donkey (arf arf) how you coping solo? Big reunion later on? I have been exempt of sinus problems thus far but my Mum lumped sinusitis in with migraine and mastitis in terms of pain. Sudafed works better with peanut butter cookies I heard.

Rainbow hello there! Lovely to hear from you (we just need to lobby Shattered and Any and Gerry to give us a quick wave). It sounds like it's all been going on your end. If conveyancing has started does that mean that you are certainly on the move? Would your new job be full time? I guess if you're moving for work you'll have minimal commute so DD will still get plenty of time with you. As for the sleep thing I would try what we tried with Ecotod when she was having middle of the night distressed times and which worked in our situation: have a sliding scale of 'intervention' starting with (for the most distressed) cot cuddles (or bed cuddles in your case) where you cuddle and chat but leaving the baby in their sleep setting, patting and singing, hand holding and chatting, chatting, lying by the bed, being in the corner of the room. The idea is that you use the minimum intervention you feel appropriate. And you just sit it out with them. For a couple of nights just make sure you have some pillows and a blanket in there to make you more comfortable and be prepared to be there for a while (an hour or more maybe). The sleep lady who we worked with gave us lots of research to read over about crying in babies and toddlers which left us (and I realise that this is personal and everyone feels differently and that's fine) feeling it's ok for her to cry if we're there to validate (or listen to) her feelings (I realise that will sound life wafty hippy shite to some people). It was pretty hard but she had settled into feeling happy in her cot in a few days. Good luck with whatever route you try. I'm sure it'll pass naturally without interfering at some point.

Worse welcome back :-) Have you both had chance to think a bit more about a plan for your birth, in terms of having a birth partner? And, is hotel going through relatively nicely?

Something we like a walk around Ikea too. Yours sounds lovely. We generally end up in the cafe for a dime bar based healthy snack.

Stormy did you find zebra on ebay? Luckily Jenny Bunny is a jelly cat staple and once a relationship was formed we were able to buy another. Imposter bunny has been used when Jenny Bunny got plunged into rancid stagnant water. Ecotod did a very brief double take when she noticed that imposter bunny had fluffy unmatted fur but didn't mind. They have been interchangeable since then.

Yummy you need to get you some ecinacea and time with your feet up. Get feeling well again soon.

We had a look at our village pre-school this morning. She can start after Easter. It's very sweet. Maximum of 12 children. Great indoor/outdoor flow. Run by an ex-teacher and a nursery nurse. I feel reassured now I've been to look around. Anyone else considering pre-school? My motives are mostly child-care related as it will give me another day a week to work.

Speaking of which, I'd best get on being as a nap is happening right now.

Hello eco

Preschools eh? So they'll take her from two? Wow. It sounds lovely, and it's nice to be able to send them to such a small setting. I think we have to wait for free hours before DS can go to the preschool local to our new house, so 2016. We'll address it closer to the time as what we have now works really well for us.

Sudafed does wonders for the sinuses but wears off too quickly. I gave up on work today as I have that head swimmy feeling and keep getting dizzy. So I had a very long hot bath, a good sleep, and a bit of MNing. I'll just catch up with work at the weekend, and hopefully I'll feel a bit better tomorrow.

I'm feeling quite philosophical today. A friend I used to live with had skin cancer 5 years ago and had chemo which made her terribly ill. She lived with me and a few other friends for part of her treatment, but after awhile decided to move home (France) and continue the treatment there. I skyped with her last night and it's back. Immunotherapy this time so not feeling as dreadful (she actually looks fantastic!) and it appears to be working. Her mum died last month. And she's just so incredibly upbeat. The house stuff has frazzled me a bit, and some stuff's come up that I could ideally do with having DH around to help out with, and this cold's not helping but...bloody hell it was just one of those perspective giving moments. She and her fella (one of my best friends in the WHOLE world) sat and sang and played their guitars with me and we ate our dinners 'together' and I showed DS off to them until it was bedtime. Not sure what the whole point of this post is really. DH would usually hear my streaming consciousness but looks like it's you lot instead . Fish curry tonight with lots of chilli to clear the sinuses, and maybe a bit more singing on Skype.

Exciting news of the day chez Stormy: Fartypants had a wee in the potty! My face is like this: It's weird though, because I kind of feel like no one should get quite this excited about a wee.

Something when they say the afternoon nap, they just mean the one and only nap, at this age. Apparently most kids slowly push their morning nap later and later until it turns into an early afternoon one. Which I suppose explains the thing about not letting them sleep after 3pm. We do the opposite though, nap before lunch.

Speaking of lack of naps, the past two days have had successful naps here. I instigated twenty minutes of TV off and story books out before we head up with milk, and it seemed to do the trick. I know most of you don't succumb to the dread CBeebies quite so often as I do, but still, could be worth trying extra winding down activity before attempting naps?

Betty I have no words for such an epic poo. It's a rite of passage though. Every parent needs a tale of embarrassing poo for when the kids grow up and start bringing boyfriends or girlfriends round!

Plonkidonk I am jealous of your sinuses. Not the snot part, but the nosebleeds. Is it weird to find nosebleeds fun? I pretty much never get them, much to my dismay. Have you reached the stage where you'd happily gouge your nose out with an ice cream scoop just to have a good clear out in there yet?

eco thank you for the reminder. Just checked ebay. Four zebras! Three of them say condition: used which is a bit yuck. One brand new with tags for twenty quid (ouch!).

Stormy, used is perfect. It'll be worn and similar to her existing zebra. Buy it, shove it on a hot ish wash, job done!Get buying!