March 2005 Part 7 - Welly Boots and Toddler Tantrums!

[JoPG]

Here is the new thread

Wow, that is some undertaking. I hope that they enjoy their time getting to know their new family.
My SIL and husband have just added to their family aswell, they had a little boy on 19th January. We are hoping to get down to visit them this weekend. Must not get broody, must not get broody (continue with chanting for whole visit!)

Freya is still not a great linguist! She has got a vocabulary of about 30 words (maybe more if I stop and think about it), but she is not even close to forming sentences yet. I often wonder why she is not as good at speaking as Ethan was, but I guess that comparisons are not useful. Hopefully she will get there in her own time. Her understanding is brilliant, and she is attempting to form words so I guess there is nothing seriously wrong. I do feel that her frustrations and tempers would be a lot better though if she could communicate to us what she actually wanted.

Leo - You look fantastic. How exciting that you will be adding to your family soon, it's gonna be a fantastic year for you.

Tamula, great to hear from you, your girls look absolutely gorgeous (forgotten the name of dd2, sorry )!

Jo, wow, loads of respect to your BIL, do they already have children? Do they know what they have let themselves in for? I really think you are broody, don't have to read between the lines too much for that!
Congrats to SIL also!

Busy, sorry to hear you've had such a bad time of illnesses, we had it really bad last year but this year seems to be much better! LOL at Hannah cutting Harri's hair!

Pidge, taking some time off running to recover properly won't set you back, you still have loads of time. I am , wonder when I will ever be able to start running again!

Umum, How is Ksenia doing? I she all healthy again? She has the most beautiful perfect big brown eyes, what a little angel!

Niklas is also definitely not coming out with anything resembling sentences yet (he did say 'mummy tea' and 'Pappi car' (that's how he understands that dh has gone to work, he goes in the car) and can say goodbye in at least different ways (tchüss, byebye, ciao...), but is very, very vocal and understands English and Swiss German well. he is very curious and wants to know what everything is points and says 'da da?' and when he wants some he can't say points and says 'da da!', actually he says 'da da' quite a lot!

I think my body has struggled to grow 2 babies and support itself, hence little weight gain and never ending tiredness. The total baby weight (not to mention placenta) is more than I was carrying when Niklas was born, but I have gained quite a lot less weight. Can still wear my normal knickers which I couldn't with Niklas! Its 33 weeks now and I have to admit that I am really starting to struggle, very much looking forward to reaching the end of this pregnancy although I know it doesn't mean an end to the tiredness and struggle for a while... oh dear, no rest for the wicked!

Leo - you are doing amazingly - nearly there now. And then you are going to be a mum of 3! How incredible is that!!

And you'll get running again. My dp is now all geared up for babysitting in the evenings for my occasional run. Plus I have a new strategy to squeeze in a very quick run in my lunchhour at work. I'm now coming down with a cold, so was in something of a stew about missing more running, but just did a gentle 4 miler and have stopped panicking! Still can't quite believe I've got to run 26 though.

Tamula - have just seen the pics of your girls. Aren't they beautiful.

JoPG - I found myself looking at baby pics of Iris and got seriously broody! I do still think I'll go for number 3 at some point, but not just yet thank you.

Hi Guys. Anyone heard of click together blocks called Popoids and where I might be able to find them?

I have never heard of them Jambot. Amazon is always a good place to start, or ebay?

I'd never seen them until today and they are great. Lauren spent ages playing with them and I want to get some for her birthday. Found a educational supply company that sells them, so think I'll order them and have my cousin send them over.
Lauren's vocab has gone from about 4 words 10 days ago to about 30 words now. Quite amazing how fast it suddenly comes together. Todays word was turtle. Her favourites are still "oh no", "more" and "gone".
Stinking hot day - nearly 40 degrees. Just back from swimming and a braai at my parents. Lauren is spending the night so a chance for a slight lie-in in the morning.

Jambot, those popoids look great. Iris likes to tackle Cleo's lego, but can't do it yet, so generally just chucks it all over the floor.

We've had a lovely morning of Iris-focussed activity at the local soft-play, then a cafe with friends. I still can't quite get over the novelty of Cleo being in school and being able to direct all my attention to Iris. It is GREAT!

We had the first of what will no doubt be many 2nd birthday parties to attend at the weekend. Iris spend most of it marching around telling everyone "It's my party in March"! She is obsessed with it already.

Hello ladies,

bit late but I can I join this thread? My ds Toby was born on 18th March 05 and is nice to hear what other wee ones of the same age are up to.

(I also have Chloe, 6mths )

Welcome soph28. Lovely to have another mum of a nearly 2 year old. Personally I can't believe it's nearly second birthday time.

How has Toby taken to having a sister? I guess he was young enough to adapt pretty fast.

Iris is my nearly 2 year old (the one who is obsessed with her party). And I also have Cleo who is 4 1/2. And I must confess I am considering having another ... not just yet though. Am going to run the London marathon, then contemplate my options for a few months. Maybe this autumn we'll start thinking about number 3 seriously.

Hi everyone. I haven't posted in a while. We were busy with holidays and then got a bit tense about Dominic's cochlear implant surgery. Now that's finally over. He had it done on Wednesday and is already out of the hospital and feeling fine. The scar is very small (2 inches) and immediately behind the ear, which is still a bit swollen and painful. Switch on will be in about 3 weeks' time.

Sylvia is doing great. She's such an amazing chatterbox, both in Romanian and in English (mostly English, although her Romanian has improved since my mum has come to visit for a few weeks). She's started full sentences, questions, pronouns etc. She's still tiny, though, 10 kg with her clothes on (weighed her at the hospital yesterday). It's a lovely phase and it gets better all the time.

Soph - welcome on here.

Cristina - great to hear that Dominic's op went so well. And that he's on the mend.

I'm sitting here listening to Iris crash around in her cot when she should be asleep. She's been up there 1 hour and 10 minutes - totally happy, singing the wheels on the bus, happy birthday to you, and talking to her toys!! But no sign of sleep. I've been back 4 times to rub her back but she's like a windmill tossing about.

Can't think what's got into her.

Surely not the end of the daytime nap. Cleo kept hers till she was 3. Aaaaaagh!

That was something I meant to ask you all about. Sylvia has also started to skip naps or take them later and later in the day. So if she has a nap at 4-6 pm she goes to bed very late. Not happy at all with this change and I'm sure Dominic was still having a nap at lunchtime at this age. I suppose he was at nursery and it was more scheduled then.

Cristina - I'm a bit of a dragon about naps (totally laid back in most other respects), but even I failed to get Iris to sleep yesterday afternoon!! And personally I don't let her sleep later, as I really need to know that come 7pm she'll be tucked up in bed. But that's just my personal preference.

She's always needed less sleep than Cleo, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised if she shows signs of dropping the afternoon nap sooner.

Not today though - dp has worked his magic on her. Which is a good job as we have BIL's 40th birthday party at 6pm in a restaurant in North London, so it's going to be a late night for the kids.

And it was an early start for me - started running 13 miles at 7.30am. Have felt great ever since though - rather than being tired I feel full of beans. Have just made a wheat free choc cake for BIL (he has an allergy), and am about to take dd1 to a party (she has two on one day!).

Lauren shows no sign of dropping a nap. Sleeps 2 hours most days, but today she's been asleep since 11:30 and still passed out. Never let her sleep later than 2:45, as she's normally in bed between 6:30 and 6:45.
So glad Dominic's op went well. Interested to see how it all works out.
Lauren has finally started to say more than the same three words. She's gone from that to about 30 words in a week.
LEO - Can't exactly remember your due date but must be counting the days now. Hope we get to hear from you befoe the big day. So exciting. Can't wait to hear about it and whether you end up with brothers or sisters for Niklas
(or both!)
Sad news - my friend in Australia, 35 weeks with her second child, has had him diagnosed with Dwarfism at her last scan. They are pretty shocked. One in a 30 000 chance of it happening, but they are trying to keep a brave face on; at least it's not a mental condition and he will more than likely live a full and active life. It's just that people can be so cruel and the poor little chap's going to spend all his life being stared at!!

Oh, Jambot, sorry to hear about your friend's baby. I don't know if you've followed emakan's story on here with her son, he has a similar condition, it might be worth CAT-ing her to get them in touch.

You must be so excited to hear Lauren's speech blossoming.

Sylvia has discovered she can frown. So now she struts around the flat frowning, wielding imaginary swords and muttering things about Jedi (Dom's a bit of a Star Wars fan at the moment).

jambot - how sad about your friend's baby. I hope she is getting good support.

Cristina - I have just had a good chuckle about Sylvia and her Jedi obsession.

I missed the kids bedtime again tonight, being late home from work , though when I came in I could hear Iris singing "The driver on the bus, says move along please" very loudly . I didn't want to go in to her though, as dp had already settled her and explained that I would be back later.

Freya also copies Ethan a lot. At the moment he is collecting Shoot Out cards (a football card trading game). She has a couple of her own cards and she walks round saying 'Double, double' and trying to do swaps with Ethan.

Apart from that Freya has a stinking cold at the moment and has been up the past few nights, really not sure why I am still up, should be getting some sleep in now while I can!

Hi to Soph28, look forward to hearing your news. (Your DS is a whole day younger than my DD)

Hello to everybody!!!

How is life going on?Hope everyone is healthy.
Jo-wishing to Freya to get well soon and you have some good sleep.

We have been very busy these days enjoining winter and all the fun that it brings.Lots of snow,making the snowman or how do you call that riding down the hill not in slays but using the bum and belly.I adore winter and i think Ksenia does as well.But pity in the last two days we had very warm weather and all the snow melted and left only huge puddles.

Ladies,have a couple of questions.
First, do your babies still drink milk at night.Coz Ksenia does and she does it a lot.Like literary every hour and it makes up to two full big avent bottles at night.

And the second.I dont know for sure when e
verybodis birthday.I know that somebody is born in Feb and the rest is in march but need to be updated,Please!!!!

Ksenia speaks very well now.But the only problem that she doesn't pronounce all the sounds and she tends to make words shorter.Seems like she is lazy to tell thw whole word.
The funny story happened the other day.Mu dh called and at that time Ksenia was read the story about the fluffy-stripy cat.So,when Ksenia was asked what the name of her dad she said "Stripy".She is very into reading books.She can seat for hours listening the story.In fact her first word when she wakes up is "read,read".

Leo-saw the pics.I think you look fantastic.I hope you enjoyed this whole tome of being pregrant and looking forward to the new begining.ANd thank you for asking about Ksenia's health.She is fine know.She is taking know some medicine that make her immune system stronger.And in march i hope the doctor will let us go back to nursery again!

Ok,i am off to reading very serious book.T.Driser"American Tragedy".I find it very interesting to read.

Good to hear from you U Mum

We have had snow here too today, (though probably not to the levels that you are used to). Freya was a bit better today so I wrapped her up in loads of clothes and I let her out in it for a little while. She loved it, she cried loads when I made her come in. I will post some piccies later.

To answer you questions. Freya does not have any milk at night, and has not since she was about 6 months old. She has a big cup (probably about 8 ozs) of cows milk before bed, and that sees her through until breakfast the next morning. You must be very tired if you have to get up with Ksenia to give her milk.

Freya's birthday is 17th March - should be fun!

Hi everyone, sorry I have been a bit quiet recently, just waiting.... patiently, looking for every sign and expecting that my next post will be a birht annoucement!
On Tuesday the babies were estimated to be around 2.2Kg each (that's about 9.7lb total baby weight), not bad hey!

Jambot, what a shock for your friends to find out so late in the pregnancy about their babies condition.

Hello Soph28 !

Umum, Niklas still drinks milk before he goes to bed and when he wakes up in the morning but not during the night. He has around 350ml before he goes to sleep but we give him a lot less in the morning. I am happy with it and it is very comforting for him (he still has it in a bottle).

Enjoying the prenancy [hmmm], its kind of tough, much harder than with Niklas, I carried on as normal wiht him to the end but this time... well, i keep wondering how much more my body can take, but amazingly it keeps going.... but I am happy and looking forward to meeting the babies now!

Niklas's birthday is 23rd Feb - we may end up completely postponing it for a month this year.

Hope everyone else is well and the 'babies' are all fit and healthy again.

Pidge I hope the training is going well!

Hi all.

Leo - you must be so looking forward to not being pregnant any more!

Iris was still having a feed from me last thing at night until a few weeks ago, then she lost interest and we haven't really replaced it with milk, though she has some with supper generally. Then in the morning she gets a feed from me - that's the only feed I'm still doing now. I can't believe she gets much milk though, and she's always pretty keen to get downstairs for breakfast. She hasn't fed in the night since about 8 months.

The marathon training is going great. My trainers finally wore out, so I invested in some new ones today, which feel very springy. I'll be wearing the old ones for my 15 mile run tomorrow though. I need to break the others in. Still very excited about the challenge ahead.

Good to hear from you Leo, you must be getting very excited now, and a bit apprehensive I expect!

After 5 days of whingeing and high temeprature and 5 sleepless nights I took Freya to the doctor's today. She agreed that Freya was very run down and poorly, but believed it to be a virus. However, she prescribed antibiotics cos she said that she could easily pick something up in her current state. I'm now not sure whether to give them to her or not. She has never had antibiotics before and don't want to give them unnecesarily, but we are off to Center Parcs on Monday and I don't want her being poorly then.

Glad to hear that you are still hanging in there Leo.
Lauren hasn't had milk at night since she started sleeping through at 3 months. She has a cup of milk before bedtime and about 200ml upon waking in the morning. Think it's mainly a habit when they get older, they don't really need it, rather they just like it and it's what they are used to and it helps them to get back to sleep. Good luck getting her to drop the bottle, if that's what you are planning.

Hello everone. Sorry I've been so quiet recently but I just seem so busy all the time and there don't seem to be enough hours in the day to do everything that needs doing.

We're all well here although Hannah has a runny bottom (as we politely call it) so I've had quite a few quick dash toilet runs in the middle of the night recently. We've also been late for school a few times because she's had to do a toilet detour before getting in the car. She hasn't got a bug or anything but suffers from this when she's feeling anxious poor thing. This probably sounds a bit wacky but she's seeing a Developmental Delay therapist who believes she has an underdeveloped moro reflex (the one that controls adrenaline levels in the body) which is why she has these attacks when somethings bothering her. We were doing really well and she hasn't had an attack since she started seeing him last August so this is a disappointing setback really.

Other than that, Harri is gorgeous and a real chatterbox. He never stops talking and can communicate really well. His latest is to point his finger at me with a stern look on his face and say 'Mummy, stay there' whenever I'm about to get up and remove him from something he shouldn't be doing.

He still has milk in a bottle at night-time UMum (about 9oz) and has milk again when he first wakes up but usually from a cup. He often asks for milk during the day as well.

So much news for me to catch up on so I'll quickly say - Leo hope it's all going OK and can't wait to 'meet' your little ones, Jo hope Freya gets better soon. Harri had something similar before Xmas and it lasted for weeks. Pidge, deepest respect with the running. I find fitting 30 minutes in twice a week a challenge. Cristina, so glad Doms on the mend and that his op went well. And finally, welcome to Soph28 - Toby has the same birthday as Harrison.

Misdee is having a rough time see here

Why not pop over and send her your best wishes ?

We are off the Center Parcs for half term, so I will catch up with you all when I get back.

Freya is ok now and so will hopefully love the holiday. Didn't give her the antibiotics she was prescribed in the end and she has pulled through without them, so I am pleased about that.

Busy - Hope Hannah is better soon