September 2014 - Rocking and Rolling

[FATEdestiny]

Our babies are rocking and rolling, crawling and climbing into the second half of their first year.

Let the fun continue...

Wow parties are expensive! Better start saving!

End of week six weight loss update...

• maintained my 4.5 lb loss
• missed one day of the seven minute workout, but did it all other days

I'm ok with my progress this week. I've only got two more weeks until work starts, and then I'll be walking loads and it will be easier to eat healthily. First workout I've missed in the six weeks of doing it! I've started to notice my body isn't looking quite so wobbly, so I'm generally happy

Well done Team!

I don't think we'll do a party for Jessica this year as she won't remember it, and they sound so expensive! I think we'll take her out somewhere for the day instead. I'm sure there will be cake though for me and DH!

Plus if we have a party PIL will compare to nephew's first birthday last year... which had about 100 guests and took place in a very posh barn type-place (normally used for weddings)! I think it cost them about 2 grand! It was all very PFB and we just don't have anywhere near the money to compete so aren't even going to try. Lol!

Blimey @ your nephews party KitKat

Glad M is sleeping better for you Ella.

After a series if inexplicable dreadful nights here, a good 3 weeks worth, DD seems to now be sleeping better at night again having changed nothing. So just as suddenly as the poor sleep started, it has ended. No teeth appeared or anything and no obvious illness. Must just be a little phase.

Thanks so much for your support about the name ladies; so funny that most of you know what I am talking about but not saying it load (after ds was born something terrible happened to us which made me be more careful with privacy overall; so although I feel safe here, it is still public domain... )

After reading your messages It is less likely that we change the name, although dh is not sure yet.

The issue, by the way, was not about introducing him in person and people thinking he is a girl at all, he has a very boyish face since ages ago and that never happened- but it has happened very many times that I told his name to others, and they just assumed a girl- like different classes, nhs staff, etc. Etc. One time this guy was referring to him as a boy, but as soon as I told his name the guy started saying "she..." And I said, no, he is a boy... And he said, oh so I was right... We live in Great London, but not central London - it is very diverse here, so you would have thought it is OK here, but apparently not many people watch TV or are interested in comedy (!!!???)
Dh says there is no doubt that even if he is not bullied, he will get letters/messages with "dear miss/ms" and etc. And etc. Because we now know it will definitely be the case that people confuse it here. And he says now we have a little time we can easily change it.... I am not too sure though... Such difficult decision

In other news : ds has a cold ! AGAIN ! Honestly, I'll do anything now so he gets sick less often...

Oh and parties - My idea for this year was to combine our summer trip - a beach one- with his birthday and invite both side grannies - but August is such an expensive month to do anything like that - aagh- so am thinking of alternatives. To be honest if I had the money I would spend 2k for his birthday but never for a party; for something that he would enjoy a lot himself .... And we would enjoy seeing him happy !

Fate I would never combine birthdays... The most important part of a birthday for a kid imho is being centre of attention; before the presents.., sharing it prob would not feel nice for a 5 yr old

Thanks Ella for heads up. When do these parties start and when do they end? At what age I mean

Oh don't get me wrong I thought it was crazy too. To be fair they did combine it with a naming ceremony (but I'm not really sure I see the point of those to be honest) so everyone was in smart attire etc. It was a nice day but the whole day was very pfb. We had to bring a birthday present as well to go in a time capsule for him to open on his 18th birthday (and of course another present for him to open for his 1st birthday as well). I mean how on earth do you know what to get for someone's 18th when they are 1? The 2k as well is a conservative estimate I reckon for the venue hire, catering etc. It may well have been more than that. It was nice but the whole day I kept thinking 'I bet he would have rather have gone to soft play for the day and had some fun and it probably would have only cost a few pounds'. I just thought the whole thing was a bit OTT (and insanely expensive).

Oh and even the birthday invites were proper formal invitations specially made at the printers (the type you usually have for personalised wedding stationery).

Well done, Team! Firming up wobbly bits feels great.

Sounds like quite a party, KitKat! People are delightfully weird, aren't they? It makes for fun gossip, at least. The time capsule thing has the potential to be hilarious, too. It's not just that you don't know what he'll be like 17 years from now, you don't even know what the world will be like!

Fate my brother and I are about 11 months apart and we frequently shared parties all through our childhood. But we mostly had small family parties, and then maybe we'd go to the cinema with a few friends. I guess parties were less of a big deal for us in my family.

ella Glad your LO is on the mend.

Team Well done on the weightloss and general firm up !

kitkat at your nephews birthday ! I have been to a few PFB extravaganzas - but not quite that scale. What did you buy for the tume capsule ?

I am dreading the whole parties thing. The twins always had big parties - I could warrant it on the fact that there were two of them and I was looking at inviting at least 20 kids - so up until age 11, they have basically had the whole lot - soft play, skatepark, sports hall, disco, hall+entertainment etc. This year they did their own thing with their different groups of friends - which was much easier. In regards to sharing a birthday party, they have never cared because they got "double the presents" - although it may be different for kids of different ages who are used to having their own birthday.
I don't like birthday parties - it's a big anti climax for just a couple of hours - usually ruined in some way by another kid . It got even worse as the kids got older and the parents didn't stay - and I realised that I have NO control over other people's kids ! I am hoping J may want to do things on a smaller scale with a few good friends. I will start praying now ....

Oh gosh the kids parties! Can't say i'm massively looking forward to that carry on! I never had big parties growing up, and you are right Jay that they are usually ruined by another child! There's always tears from someone!

Nazly - I don't think the letter thing will be a problem. I can't think of a situation where you are sent a letter based purely on your name without you having had to give other information including title and gender. There are plenty of unisex names, and I really don't think it's an issue people encounter.

Ella, I think PFB is precious first born??

I never had birthday parties as a kid, me and my siblings all have summer birthdays (within a week or so of each other) so we were away on holiday every year. I'd really rather not have parties, and definitely not till school age if I can help it.

Having a miserable time here, DS has gained another 4 teeth in the last couple of weeks, has a cold and has been perfecting crawling with much frustration. His sleep has gone even more to pot didn't think that was possible and he's been waking at half 5 the last few days. Hopefully once this settles down he'll sleep better

Acorn how many teeth does that make altogether? DD has 2 but 2 more on the way.

Team super well done on your keeping fit. That's so impressive. Which are the exercises you've been doing each day? Was it an app? I've been meaning to start exercising properly again but keep excusing myself because I'm very thin atm, but I am thin and weak/flabby if you see what I mean, not strong and toned and healthy.

Nazly I wouldn't worry about boy/girl confusion. Think about all the people called things like Sam or Alex. There are loads of names that could be either and it's very rare you'll get any important post from anybody who doesn't know what sex you are. If so they usually just put your initial and surname, and are usually trying to see you something I've remembered what the name is too and it's lovely!!

Yes sorry PFB is 'perfect first born'. It's a bit of a mumsnet term for rather over-zealous first-time parents.

Acorn I feel your pain. Jessica is getting her first tooth through and she's being a right misery-guts. She's refused to eat anything all day which I think must be related (although she's still wolfing down her milk so I'm not too worried).

Oh and JayKay we bought silver cufflinks personalised to our nephew's name. We were really stumped for ideas! I think a lot of people bought things like coin and stamp sets, but I can't imagine many 18 year olds being that into those things!

hello lovely ladies.
loads to catch up with.
I read baby whisperer and forgot it all but do love wonder weeks app.

bed time wear he is currently in short sleeved vest and sleeping bag even tho quite warm here cos he likes it. I would prefer a 1.5 tog but don't have one here.

nazly I'm a teacher but can safely say it has made me mpre anxious cos I felt I should know stuff and I don't

I was more anxious with my first for similar reasons holls. Also teachers are on the whole control freaks (well, I am anyway) and learning to cope with the complete lack of control over your own life, with everything revolving around baby instead - well it was very hard for me to cope with and accept.

Oh, Fate, totally. I have found that the hardest. I am so used to being utterly in control that the lack of routine and control at the start really threw me. Now, less so, but I'm looking forward to going back to work now!

Apples he has 6 teeth now. Hopefully that'll be it for a few months.

After moaning about his sleep, DS slept only fed twice last night. And slept from 7.30-2.30 without waking so that's 7 hours! That's the longest he has ever ever slept!! Now if only I could recreate my day yesterday

Lol Acorn! Last night at dinner I was saying that he slept so well the last time we had risotto that it was amazing we haven't been eating it every night since. Sadly, it seems to be unrelated.

He had pasta for tea and ate loads of it, I'm very tempted to have it again tonight! And I used a different white noise, maybe he was just needing gentle fan noise rather than the harsher hairdryer noise (clutching at straws alert)

Sounds like a plan, Acorn. Pasta every night! Tho we frequently find that a good night of sleep is followed by a bad one. The tease. I hope this isn't true for you.