June 2013: Here come the terrible twos!

[HungryHorace]

New thread. :-)

I forgot to say: Ed have you tried reins? We have this one (not from here). It's worn like a backpack but there's a lead that comes from the bag bit (and can be bundled into the bag when not in use) so you can keep hold of them but they think they're walking All By Themself :o

In fact you can just about see it in the pic I posted above.

Sorry, I'll shut up now!

That's what I like about reins, Rue. DD is sure she's being independent, but we are retaining control of her. And she's happy to wear them.

I don't know about the children's centres and what they offer. I'd feel bad taking a place from somebody who couldn't afford it though when we can pay £50 or whatever it pro ratas to a month. The church is also only half a mile away, so she can walk that fine. The nearest children's centre is about a mile, so not as convenient for little legs!

We've discovered that giving DD a snack before bed seems to be helping sleep too. Even though she has dinner at 6 ish, it seems that hunger was getting to her.

Now to crack DS' bloody sleep. He loves sleep and hates waking. Yet still does. At the moment it's snot-related. But otherwise I think it's habit. I'm sure he'll get bored of it eventually!

I've been quite worried about the prospect of having two of them. But now he's here, it seems much less shocking than when DD arrived! I feel much more relaxed about it all. I've also been worrying that he'll wake DD in the night but he doesn't which is great! She adores him, it's so lovely to see. And the cats seem fine with him too; very different reactions to when they saw DD for the first time!

Strangest moment of the section was just after I'd been stitched up when the surgeon (or whatever they're called) came around and said that it had gone very smoothly and that she'd happily carry out a third section!!! DH's face was priceless!

We've turned down a free two week holiday in the sun (which would be in a couple of months). Thought it sensible after all my boob problems last time; would not want to deal with those abroad! I'm already paranoid as the area around my abscess wound has gone lumpy. Didn't realise my milk would come in so soon and that I should have started preventative measures in hospital!

We have similar reins with a puppy on them Rue. DD begs to wear them!

I wish we had a playgroup where you could leave them! I do actually enjoy the one that we go to (church group) but it would be nice to get a couple of hours to myself too!

Congratulations Cup! Boys are brilliant but widdle everywhere

Speaking of which, I seem to be accidently potty training today. DS (who often needs to be pinned down for nappy changes) brought me his change mat this am and lay down on it unprompted. And then decided he wanted to sit on his potty before a clean nappy went on. He wanted the potty again when I suggested a nappy change after his lunch. He sat, had a wee and then I put a clean nappy on.

He quite likes sitting on it and looking at his books so I'm just following his lead for now.

DD walks round the room with her (clean) potty on her head shouting 'wee wee'. This is not progress!

Sounds like progress to me! DS has no concept of wee wee or poo; it's a mystery to him when he wees on the floor between nappies!

I can't remember if I said this but Polly will sit on the potty, fully clothed, tell us she is doing a wee and then pick up the potty and throw it at the patio door. So we apparently throw our waste outside, like we live in some sort of medieval street where it was the done thing.

I remain in denial about the need for toilet training. Wish we had a bloody downstairs loo. I can't stand potties and really don't want what amounts to buckets of shit lying around!

I've just ordered a bed guard. This is also something I don't want to entertain but figure that I have to...

Two!

Congrats cup. I'm sure you'll manage fine. Once the baby gets more I interesting, then the joy of seeing the two interact outweighs any additional hardship. Now Ds and dd are 4 and nearly 2, I love seeing them play together and chase each other round. And Ds is such a lovely big brother.

Happy birthday to yours rae. Hope he had a lovely day.

Ooh yes and as for potty training, we might give it ago tomorrow. She seems to fairly consistently ask for potty (after the event) and is increasingly reluctant to wear nappies. We will see how we go for a few days and if it doesn't work try again in a month. Am a bit nervous as her communication isn't great so I don't think she understands concept of rewards, but we'll see.

Has anyone had any luck using a GloClock to get their early-waking mite to keep quiet until a human hour?

Great success using a gro clock with DS. I think we bought he when he was about 2.5. It was pretty successful. I would say he has advanced communication skills for his age and he totally got it. TBH I don't think DD would get it at all now and not even sure if she would in 6 months. I can't see her caring whether there were stars or not!

We've not tried it yet Sunbeam. I would love for it to work but there's no way ds would understand it yet. In the meantime we have a LOT of pre 6am wakeups. I'm currently calculating how early I can go to bed this evening as I'm totally done in today

DD detested the bloody thing so it went away in its box again!

Balls! Not what I wanted to hear

So it's now June. That means I can no longer pretend DS isn't nearly 2. La la la la la la

AND we put the high chair away yesterday. Sob!

I can't believe I will have a two year old in a couple of days.

Swing is up and as it's meant to rain today and tomorrow it shouldn't be too hard to keep it a surprise until the day. Excited to see her reaction!

Her face when she saw her present from baby was one of pure joy (a replica of a soft toy that she is obsessed with at tots group; took a bit of tracking down but was worth it!).

Juno bought Polly a bee that she can sit on. I think it is the basis on which she likes the baby.

Haha, it's probably the same here actually.

A sit-on bee, Bean? Tell me more (bee-obsessed DD!).

Gro clock here is used as an extra night light by the door.... Not sure that's overly useful!

Dd is getting a playhouse under the stairs for her birthday - it's been a creation happening for a few weeks. Final touches may continue a little while longer yet. But I have to say I'm quite chuffed.

Two years..... Where has that time gone, and loads of you have/are doing it all again!

Yep...I think it's 4 babies and 1 current pregnancy (that we know of) since the June babies arrived!

And time has absolutely flown. I can't believe that in 3 weeks I'll have a 2 year old. Bonkers.

Blimey. That seems quite a lot when you put it like that.

Someone at work keeps asking me if we're thinking about having another. I find it really weird although the secret answer is yes because I'm simply not going to say! And not many people would.

So this morning ds would only eat his breakfast out of one particular bowl with one particular spoon. I would LOVE to know how his mind works!

Pollys birthday this weekend. Am so tired but feel like must do something! As long as it's decent weather her little friends can just do laps of the garden!

Why did we think one baby was hard? That was so easy! And I realise now- mainly because everyone keeps telling me- that Polly was very easy. She rarely woke up more than once a night. If she woke twice I was shattered.

Juno is probably a normal baby. Milk before bed and then at 2 and 5 ish. Each feed takes a while. Have taken to the spare room after evening feed to let Sean do the 2am and then I take over at 5. That way we both get just about enough sleep. I've so far avoided having both on my own for the day which will be hideous as Polly gets up at seven, about thirty mins after I'm finally asleep from the 5am feed.

How long does it take normal non Polly babies to consolidate sleep? On the plus side she sleeps during the day. Polly never slept more than 45 mins in the day!