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

Hello all.

Been a-lurking but when you all disappeared from 'threads i'm on' I knew it was time to chip in

My absence can only be explained by a mixture of working (yay!) but having to do it all in the evenings as DD loves to attack my laptop and also DD being an absolute changeling (urgh ). Past two nights have been 10pm before she'd go to sleep - thinking teeth but administered every legal form of pain relief and she just carried on bouncing around the cot, cuddling, teeth grinding (her, not me), shrieking when I leave the room, using soft toys as missiles etc until DH finally got her to lie down and give in (probably exhaustion). Last night we had two hour-long wake ups so praying not the same tonight. DH will be at work until midnight tomorrow so will have to fly solo but am dreading it.

In other news.... we also have pants as necklaces, and bras and anything from DD's laundry bin. Speech is coming on - she even said 'shhhhh' with her finger on her mouth yesterday. Awwwwww. Now go the f* to sleep

Happy manic Monday all and I'm sure i'll be back tomorrow night...

Any that sounds a lot like separation anxiety, and it's horrible and normal and so so stressful. Especially at bedtime! Great news on the work though, that's really good.

Yummy I think DS's nursery had parents evening last week but I didn't find out until afterwards. I think DS's keyworker is one of the 'good with kids, not so much the parents' type. He likes her anyway. I should probably request a meeting with her in lieu.
I also think Gerry is a star for putting up with teaching. I've read some of the teacher threads on MN and the Secret Teacher column in the Guardian to be thoroughly worried that good teachers like our dear Gez are leaving the profession in droves, and it'll be no hopers and temps left to pick up the pieces.
PS Yummy there's 4 years between DSis and DMe. Works for us as a family, especially as DSis was at school when I was tiny.

Worse your pro con list is very instructive. Like you we also made the decision to have two when we created DS, because we've always pictured two. DH wants three - he can go sing. But I'd originally thought 3 years would be a nice gap, and I think your list is making me think about it properly. It's so easy to get into the feeling that 'I want another baby, I want it now' without stopping to consider the reality. This of course means waiting a little bit longer, but I'd like DS to be out of nappies before I get pregnant again, and to have actually properly started my photo business before taking time away from it.

DS is a snotty delight. I'm keeping him off nursery today for both our sakes. He didn't nap yesterday which meant lots of bedtime histrionics. Thankfully he went 8.30 to 2 in his own bed, then he came in with me and made me cry at 5am when he didn't know what he wanted because he was so effing tired. But the light's nice again today so I think a traipse around the woods should let me take some good photos and knock him out for a few hours. We're back to doing whatever we can to get him to nap, including letting him drift off on the sofa. The cot is OUT for naps and I thoroughly blame nursery for this one.

Sorry that was quite a moany post. I think a week without DH then a very nasty cold and chest with DS refusing every meal and nap since Thursday has worn me down. Yes, I definitely need that angry stomp around the woods!

PPS Stormy is it just me, or is Mr Bloom is a bit orange? And he's not even really that northern, is he?

He's from bloody Cornwall!

Whaaaaat? He doesn't sound remotely Cornish!

I think the accent may be affected

worse are you trying to frighten us with your disadvantages list? Because I'm frightened. All that, and a new hotel, I don't know how you're doing it! What's your secret? I'm still keen on baby no 2 soon-ish though. DP wants our next one before he's 30...he was 28 in September...

yummy I'm glad parents evening was good. DS sounds like a little star I am settling into work now. It's still not the position that I want and I'm not enjoying that side of it, but I'm hoping to have a meeting soon to discuss some changes and some progression. Hopefully that'll be positive. I guess when moving into a new industry, sometimes you have to start at the bottom to move up through time. How are your work woes? Any moves forward for you?

any nice to see you! Sympathies on the bad nights. I hope tonight is a dream for you both instead. I think these are little phases they all go through. For the past couple of nights, DS has woken up needing a cuddle. I put the heating on at 3:30am wondering if he might be cold. Might need a middle of the night blast of heat from now on. The finger shushing is a hit here too. I figured it must be something he's learned from the childminder. He's started shushing us all and saying "go t'seep" before lying down and closing his eyes. He does that, roughly, 326 times a day.

donkey How's the snot? And how were the woods?

I know I said that DS wasn't getting much for Christmas but...those Amazon Black Friday deals are too good to miss!!

Next one before thirty, eh? 180 days until I'm thirty. It'd have to be bloody premature!

Plonk I never thought Mr B was northern anyway - Midlands sort of accent, which is south to me.

My working day ends at 1630 and being as I am my own boss I am going to finish 7 minutes early and say hi to you guys ahead of racing down the village with an empty buggy looking slightly maniacal to collect my girl from the CM.

My work has stepped up like Any's (well done on that....I love your photos) and being self-employed means that you mop up spare minutes of free time with work things. Going solo is very motivating. But tiring.

Toddle wise things are good in her world I think. Blippy nights but I think it's teeth. She's happy enough but just disturbed. She is generally ok 1930 through to 0200 at the very least so DH and I should look to go to sleep earlier and get some in the bag. I'm starting this week after 4 nights of short sleeping (not on a Worse scale though) and that's not ideal. There's snot here too so that might be impacting things.

Rainbow how have you got on with your getting dd off to sleep woes? Has it passed?

Worse, you can be sick with indigestion through pregnancy? This is news to me and would be a massive con on my list of whether to have another or not. Years of various mind meddling treatments for emetophobia (vomit phobia which people often feel the right to mock for some reason) have not helped. Yet. I remain positive :-) And Worse, with everything on your plate are you feeling unhinged or just about in control?

Donkyplonk (sounds rude) it sounds a bit rubbish your end. You need a big pork sandwich with crackling and an early night.

Ah, time to fetch toddle gong has just rung. Better dash. Hugs and kisses and everything else inappropriate to Any and Something and Stormy and Yummy and others I've not mentioned by name. I'll be back.

Something I reckon you'll sail through having baby no 2. Everything tells me so and I am very psychic you know. Your DS is so scrummy, any chance he could pop over and tell DS to go t'seep?

The snot's snot gone yet and the woods were a real treet. I'll get me coat.

Stormy I think he's supposed to sound like he's from Manchester and/or Leeds. There ent nowt Midlands about is accent!

Eco glad you finished 7 mins early. Your account of self employment sounds quite good actually. The minute we've moved furniture into the new place I'm going for it all guns blazing. Glad things are working out for you. I don't have a pork sandwich but I do have leftover piggy stew for tea, and a carrot cake about ready to come out of the oven!

Shame I've also got the world's grumpiest toddler to contend with. I think he'll be in bed quite soon. Bah!

But he doesn't sound like he's from Leeds (or Bradford, and yes I can tell the difference). And he's definitely not Mancunian! I'd have said Birminghamish. We're going to have to google this one, aren't we?

No, not Birmingham, there's nothing WM about him*. I reckon generic north. He says "allooor" and "'ey there tiddlers" - if he was Brummie it'd be "urright, bab!"

*Am honorary Brummie.

We can't go a day without a post. I can't lose you lot! I'd go even madder.

Worse, the car sick thing. We had this a few times and noticed when she'd had her antihistamine syrup for hay fever she was better. Upon investigation it seems travel sick medication is anti histamine based..... We did give Ecotod a dose before our last long trip. That's probably terrible parenting. I think age two they can be prescribed this medicine for this purpose. Worth a try.

Betty are you too busy having loads of child free sex are you having a lovely time in dubai? (I'll keep an eye on Ikettles in your absence )

I discovered today that a box of raisins administered at start of a buggy walk keeps Ecotod happy in buggy for 31 minutes. We then get another five minutes of ripping the box up and a further ten with a rice cake. Result. I get a long stompy walk without baby moaning about being in buggy. Bribes. Slippery slope and rod for back or a tiny bit genius?

I'm off on seven fifteen train to London for work tomorrow. I realise this is lots of mum's reality. It sounds hard to me! I'm hoping for some sleep tonight. I've thrown calpol at the snotty one and hope she feels better by morning.

I feel decidedly between two camps in real like with my parenting. The baby wearers don't like me because I don't Co sleep and baby wear and feed on demand any longer. The other lot (everyone else I know) don't like me because I once used real nappies, am doing extended breast feeding and take a general no TV/sugar route. It's weird isn't it that if one chooses one parenting tactic that one is supposed to follow through on a plethora of others. I think we should consider each element of our child raising as individual choices and choose the mish mash that suits us. That's why I like us. You guys. We're a tolerant, non judgemental and diverse group. Thanks for that! Am feeling I don't quite 'fit' anywhere at present in my mummy peers. I miss my old nct chums....they were much more like you guys.

Wine Wednesday anyone?

Bribes are good, eco, but use them sparingly! Fartypants sometimes gets a biscuit in the playpen while I go for a smoke. On several occasions she has told me, Mummy cig," trotted into the playpen, pulled the gate shut, and then asked for "Cock bitch pees Mummy." Her reasoning skills are excellent, but her pronunciation of chocolate biscuit still needs work.

Eco SEVEN FIFTEEN? By golly, take it easy on the wine. Hope it's a fun adventure for you though (don't they say a change is as good as a rest?)

I don't think I particularly fit in a discreet mummy category, starting with...failure to breastfeed, using cloth nappies for about 9 months ("but what do you do with poo?!"), sometimes doing babywearing, doing purées and blw, resorting to tv when I'm losing my mind, and being a tad iffy about sugar. Basically I just do whatever everyone else on this thread does - what I can to make us all happy. Works for us, and everyone else can shut up I think I'll feel more able to defend/justify choices with any subsequent kids because ds has taught me to go with what he needs. Don't they say your first baby is a trial run?
Wine Wednesday it is, and my glass is charged with Aussie Riesling. Yum!

Ds fell in love with the gp today. She let him play with the stethoscope and made a right fuss of him. I realised I quite liked her too, and on the way out I figured out why: she fit my coil and told me I was a star for not flinching

Bribes Eco? You use bribes??? I'd never sink so low lies through teeth , although the power of the baby wotsit should never be underestimated .

As for baby number 2, I hope I haven't put any of you off! Although my list shouldn't really, as the downsides are pretty much all down to having 2 close together, and as no one else is as yet (knowingly) pregnant, you've all got at least 6 months on me. 6 months is a long time in the world of toddle development, and core recovery. It'll be fine! Promise.

And Eco night vomiting is pretty much restricted to those lucky people with chronic acid reflux. If you didn't get it last time, I very much doubt you would next. Tis a luck of the draw thing. Me, I got the short straw, I've had acid reflux all my life, it just steps up a gear when I'm pregnant. Looking on the bright side I have yet to vomit blood this time round. With the toddle that was a regular thing, until I got prescription strength ranitidine. Ah the grim reality of the third trimester.

On the car sickness front, it seems to be limited to morning journeys, making me think dd just isn't a morning kind of girl. The trip home from nursery is 9 times out of 10 fine, and that one is directly after lunch. Odd. Or it might be the toothpaste effect. Gaggy stuff at the best of times, and not a great partner to car smell.

Ugh do people really get snitty about parenting choices? I'm kind of out of the loop on most things baby group at the moment, and my close mum friends are so far so normal - some more lentil weaving than others, but all perfectly fine with everyone else.

Speaking of parenting groups, having not done the NCT thing last time I decided to sign up for a refresher course for second timers, so Tuesdays I get a night out and DH has to be home, on time, no excuses, no last minute changes of plan, or unavoidable late running meetings.... a concept that is truly alien to him. But he's coping, and hasn't let me down... yet! Those of you planning number two might be interested in the age gaps - the majority have left 5 years so dc1 is at school, a couple have 3 year olds, in full time nursery, one mum has a 2.5 year old, and then there's me, the stupid brave one, just skimming into the two under two bracket. It's a helpful course actually, I'd recommend it, and it isn't the ridiculous price of the standard course.

I was thinking of doing NCT next time too Worse. Good to hear a positive account of it. I didn't do a single group thing with ds and regret it slightly.

Bribes amundo in this house!

Hey guys. Sorry about radio silence. Life rather shit hectic and didn't want to just whinge all the time.

Decided that I really can't see us having no 2. Unless we adopt, which I think I would be up for but know dh wouldn't (his work puts him in the way of the very many issues that would go with that decision). So think it's one only here barring any very genuine accidents .

I too am a rubbish example of any parenting style. I haven't used the pram for probably six months, mostly cos I hardly see my baby cos I work ft. I baby wear at weekends which is when it's most relevant to me, or he walks or he sits in a trolley. I have been so crap about food compared to what I expected, in that as soon as he's ill or toothy all he'll eat is pouches directly out of the pouch and I'm still so sketchy about his weight (my hang up not his, he's tracking the 9th perfectly) I won't stop this behaviour and am just grateful he'll eat anything. I don't give him biscuits but he has occasional homemade cake and enough fruit that he's probably a diabetic dream anyway as fructose is still sugar . We don't really do TV, the occasional in the night garden, but when he was ill last week dh ended up with raa raa and peter rabbit both of which went down well!

Ahhhh, posted too soon! What I was trying to say, as others have rather better, is that we do what we can and what works.

And I have a washing machine again. This is good, as I still use cloth! Not for the last week though . Proof that a cloth bum does not an attachment parent make .

Wotta! Indeed it does not. Sorry you've been having a poo old time of it. Does your full time suit you? How are things on the house front, any offers on yours yet? I'd buy it in a heartbeat!

I said generally no sugar which which as you highlighted is an untruth as Ecotod is a fruit monster. And yesterday she had some almond bakewell at a friends house and an advent test run choc button And we've watched the original Disney robin Hood too at my sisters when she was poorly. Look at me boasting

I am on the train. It is dark and wet and early and everyone is returning my enthusiastic smiles with grimaces. Don't they know this is exciting for me ffs?

I got up an hour earlier than normal today, woken by my alarm. Ecotod was nattering away. I wonder how many other days I go into her at seven and congratulate her on a lovely long sleep when in actual fact she's been awake for hours.

I'm hungry. Long time since breakfast. I need a cock bitch.

Wotta don't beat yourself up, parenting is about compromise. I'm sure we all have an 'ideal', and I'm sure all of us deviate massively from that as a coping strategy . Me, well I buy her biscuits, although to be fair she doesn't eat them, she prefers savoury things, but she does like the Pink Panther, and watches it every day when I eat dinner. I wouldn't get to eat dinner if she didn't, and I figure feeding babax takes priority. I also still let her drink from a bottle, which I know I shouldn't, but the alternative is dehydration. She'll take a cup or beaker when she's in the mood, but the bottle is her comfort blanket. As for her weight, I have no clue. She hasn't seen a HV since her 1 year check. I have made the executive decision that I am a responsible enough adult to take her to the GP if she's ill, and I can't be doing with pointless nanny state interference.

Eco the morning commute.... well, there is a rule. You do not make eye contact. Ever. If you do you will be grimaced at. Eye contact is almost as bad as standing at someone else's spot on the station platform, but not quite. People can wait years for a prime spot, and once they have it it is theirs. As for the 7.15am, you light weight! A true die hard never travels later than the 6.10am. Tis a fact. Or so DH tells me when I'm whinging about his 5.30am shower

Good day today - no one was sick on the nursery run.... not even me. This is progress of a sort, and I would say is almost entirely due to the fact that I was prepared and had her decked out in a long sleeved bib with a towel on her lap. Proper full on vomit days are reserved for the rare occasions that I have dressed her in something pretty.

Stormy 180 days until you are thirty. Wow! 30 is so long ago for me I can't even remember it. Although I do remember my sister telling me that post thirty your skin loses its bloom. I thought she was talking out of her ar5s. she wasn't . Enjoy!

Right, back to the batch cooking. Guess what it is?! Fish bloody pie of course. What else?

Worse I wish my toddle would eat fish pie. He was fairly adventurous with food and textures until about June, when he decided that anything sweet was good, and vegetables were absolute poison. We've persisted with offering things, but usually give in and just offer what we know he'll eat. I'm not interested in the battles - he'll get there, it might just take time. But yesterday I was triumphant! He ate a whole bowl of gnocchi with tomato sauce and kale pesto because he's so bloomin' posh. I've found sitting and eating with him is better than not, but it means I do expect my meals at 7am, 12noon and 5pm. DH does not approve. But he can get lost

Isn't it always the way that when you're super duper prepared the vomit never comes? DS spent Monday covered in muslins because his cough is very erm, loose, and phlegmy. Poo I can cope with but sputum can fuck off. Anyway, he finally coughed it all out while we were in the car yesterday. Four times. Thankfully he's washable and managed to get it all over his coat rather than my precious new panda.

Eco ooh exciting! I can just picture you now, like a new kid at school. Eat your lunch, be nice to everybody and remember your manners. You'll learn 'em. And that commute is all backwards. For years my working hours were 10am to 8pm, so the idea of leaving the house before 9 is frankly, absurd.

Wotta Hello! Don't neglect to post because you're worried about having a moan. If you can't moan to us then who? We like to hear it and do the supporty thing. I love that you're still babywearing, your photos with DS look so snuggly and cosy. Yum. Don't let the work and house bastards grind you down.

I feel like a fraud. When I got married my Ocado delivery pass expired. I also changed my name and got a new bank card. I didn't renew my pass because I'm not as rich as I like to believe, but I did sign up again under my new name with my new card....bad Donkey. Anyway, I got £25 off my order today (and a free tea towel!) because I'm a 'new' customer. Oh well, someone had to buy that poor lamb's shoulder.

In other news, DS slept nearly 13 hours again last night. No day time nap, and getting over a cold, but still! And he did it all in his own bed. I woke up at 5.30 thinking 'surely not?' then blinked and it was 6.30 and I was still waiting for the inevitable grumble. At this point I started wondering if he'd succumbed to SIDS, so out of character is this amazing sleep. Thankfully he was beaming at me when I went in to check on him at 6.45. Snotty, but well rested.

stormy it's a good job my DP doesn't want another by the time you're 30 then

hi wotta how are you finding balancing full time work and family? Please do come on here to moan if you need to. That's all I ever seem to do on here anyway!

eco enjoy that there London today. The working people in London scare me. They look like they mean everything. They mean that walk to the office, they mean that tube ride. I don't mean anything. I casually saunter to work and I never mean to be late like I am most days

Bribes, eh? In the plentiful in this house. Four early mornings a week, he gets bundled into his pushchair to walk the dog armed with a tub of blueberries/orange segments/prunes/whatever I can find, to pacify him. It must get a boring journey for him but needs must. Bribes work for DS and I am not ashamed to use them

Can I have a little moan? I'm angry at DP. And I'm angry at his playstation. Three days this week, I came home from work to find every one of DS's toys was out so that DP could play his playstation without needing to entertain him. I asked him to stop playing it (violent game) when DS was with him and he told me he wouldn't stop. Just like that. Then, last night, he told me a time he wanted to go on his game (fine) but we lost track so I got DS ready for bed later than usual and as we always watch an ITNG before bed, I put that on and he kicked up a fuss. I said would he rather his son go without his bedtime routine so he could play his bloody game, and he said yes. What do I do? He's so brash and "end of discussion" about it.

On a lighter note, the 10 foot real Christmas tree is currently going up at work in front of me, and it's providing great comedy value for me.

So when is everyone putting up there Christmas tree? I have an image of worselet climbing up her tree.

Bribes? Every bloody day. Cbeebies comes on when I want mn.

The less said about my work situation the better.

wotta you sound very busy. I hope someone makes a huge fuss of you once in awhile.

Little 13 hours of sleep? Well done toddlesaurus. Any tips on how to get phlegm out of little toddlers? Ds is full of yucky stuff in his throat. I am trying to teach him to blow his nurse but he's not getting and does the opposite.

eco can you see me waving at you? How did your trip go? I love travelling out of London and observing all the changes in the landscape. As a Londoner myself I am petrified of rush hour commuters. It's dog eat dog for a space on public transport and lets not start on the roads.

I mean nose not nurse.