It's the Christmas party at Mugabe nights, pull up a bar stool and order your shots! August 2015

[FattyNinjaOwl]

New thread for all the regulars at the bar, and the not so regulars too.

MaGrat - where snouts in east Anglis are you? That's my home stomping ground 😀

Glad you're home ok Clstow - keep on topping up the mulled wine.

Food shop done bar one reblochon. The supermarkets were a war zone, but I'm done - thank fuck! I'll be celebrating with some mint matchmakers tonight!!!

Obvs though as I was shopping DD was sooooo hard to look after for 2hrs. DH had a right sad on when I came in, as he'd had it so tough... 🙄 Yes love it's hard isn't it.

Oh well off to Glasgow town now for a look at the lights, a hot choc and cake obviously!! 🍰😁

Fanby I second what the others have said on sleep - do whatever gets you the most sleep, so if co sleeping and boob settles her I'd go for it. Like loves said, it does get easier! I'm starting to plan the solids and though it doesn't magically make them sleep through ime, once they're crawling, eating meals etc they get much more tired and sleep longer. I can't wait to buy some of the Ella's strawberry porridge which was dd1s favourite

How long are the bfers planning to bf? I'm aiming for a year or so, I don't want to start buying formula and having to sort bottles as I'm too disorganised.

Is anyone else finding they have a very clingy baby? Baby giraffe is nearly five months and suddenly she wants to be carried everywhere, hates being put in the sling or bouncer or play mat. In fact she tries to fling herself out of the bouncer so I may have to retire that one now I'm hoping it's just a phase, but I can't remember dd1 being this clingy, baby cries every time I leave the room (unless her sister is there clowning around as that entertains her!).

Just a quick alert to all you frugi lovers that they have a flash sake on with loads at 50% off!
Between that and the next sale, I've just kitted Ds out for the next year in 10 minutes! Good job I'm not spending any money going out this Christmas 🙂

Mzzf we're in Ely. M and Co have a good sale on at the mo too.

Giraffes I'm planning to get to 6 months BF and then review what I want to do. I'm desperate to be able to leave DS with DP occasionally, and I hate expressing so I might think about whether formula would be easier. I think DS would miss BF, though. He's not much of a cuddler, but he does love feeding and dozing in my arms. So I'll probably stick with it until he weans naturally as much as possible. I have to go back to work in March, and I'm dreading having to pump to feed hm while I work. :(

Giraffes yes yes yes. DS attention span for bouncy chair / playmat dramatically reduced recently. As I am a human mattress during the day play may / bouncy chair time is vital.

Breastfeeding is an interesting one. Really really struggled and hated it to start with so was only going to do 3 months. However 3 months came and went and we were more 'in the zone' with it. So was thinking 6 months but actually is now going ok have decided will just see how it goes. Maybe still stop at 6 months. Maybe give it a bit longer. Just going to take it a bit at a time.

Frolic noooooo what did you tell me that for. Now am going to have to browse and end up spending more money there.

Siani I hate pumping too and get next to nothing!!! Thinking maybe bit of mixed feeding (he's already had formula as mix fed at start) along with solids will get me some baby free time but still allow breastfeeding to continue a bit longer.

Fatty - ooh was sauce on cake! It's also really good in porridge!

Loveandsmiles - glittery pious excellent! She is really in the Christmas spirit

Clstow - ive still got my stick too lol! How was Westfield?! Brave girl!!

Giraffes - Yep clingyness here too! And lots of 'fake' cries with the downturned mouth!

Frolic and magrat - thanks for the heads up on sales. Need some retail therapy!

Not sure on bf length. I originally said 6 weeks!! Now way past that obv. She's yet to have any formula but DH and I did talk about possibly doing the bedtime feed with it for sleep reasons - however we all know even ff bubbas don't sleep lol! Soooo who knows?! I'm 'quite' good at expressing, I try and do it every day and stop when I get 4oz.

Evening all!
I'm in a better mood today 🙂 Had a great time visiting one of my oldest friends and her baby this morning, then a big walk with dog and baby this afternoon. I've been lacking in fresh air lately, so it was good to get out.
I went to do a bit of last minute shopping and forgot a pregnancy test. I really don't think I can be, especially as I was throwing up a million times a day at this stage with Ds.

I still bf Ds to sleep and mostly co-sleep fanby. I'm all for anything that gets me the max amount of sleep possible.
How was your trip to ikea? Did you get anything good? We have bought Ds some soft toy baskets of fruit and veg from there for Christmas- they're adorable.

Fudge sauce for cake is a genius idea fatty. I'm going to have to make a cake tomorrow now, aren't I?
I hope you're getting on with your super busy week and that everyone at yours is better.

Lol at glittery baby poo loves. The baby massage class we go to is in a room used for a play school. There is glitter all over the place and, without fail, loads of it stuck to Ds' balls when we get home.

Glad you are sorted for a car over the holidays clstow.
I'm exactly the same in not being able to throw the old pregnancy test away but not knowing what to do with it.

Well done on braving the food shop mzzf. Poor mr mzzf - it must've been so hard for him 🙄

I've noticed Ds wants to sit on my lap a lot more this week giraffes - he won't be 4 months until the 27th.
I've no idea how long I will bf. I initially wanted to do 6 weeks, but it's gone so well that I'm just going to keep doing it as long as it's still working for us. I'm very lazy, so love not having to get up or deal with sterilising. I tried Ds with a bottle again today and he just howled- so I doubt I'll be stopping any time soon.

Sorry kbro! I've just spent loads if that makes you feel any better.

Right, Ds is fast asleep. I want to go downstairs and wrap presents, but he usually wakes if I'm not in the same room. Shall I risk it?

God yes to clingy baby. It's non-stop. I have to carefully orchestrate the toys on the play mat to keep her busy whilst I rush about.

Been upstairs for 45mins so far trying to get her into her cot. She was fast asleep in my arms but wide awake in seconds after I transferred her. Arrrgghh!! Now back in arms and asleep. Wouldn't be a problem if she would do this downstairs but nope she wants to be up here... Grrr!

X posts fanby.
Definitely have a look at both the next and frugi sales. We've got some really lovely stuff 🙂
We've not given any formula yet either, mainly because we can't be bothered with bottles.

YY to not being able to throw away the pregnancy test! I eventually chucked grumpy 1's stick just before her 2nd birthday when we were packing up our London flat to move up here. DH, quite rightly, pointed out that it didn't need to move house with us as the resulting child was most definitely coming in person I have grumpy 2's at the back of my sock drawer but its with all the random odd socks and the ones I never wear so that makes it better, right??

We have had the in-laws here today for present swapping and a pre-Christmas visit for the girls. It's been a nice day and they bought us a takeaway Indian for tea so no washing up - yay!

kbro grumpy 1 does a good line in comedy sneaking around. We had a phase where we had to padlock the kitchen door because she kept sneaking downstairs really early and helping herself to snacks. She used to claim, with a totally straight face, that her teddy bears had eaten the biscuits so DH threatened to dissect her favourite to check its stomach contents. She abruptly stopped the flapjack snaffling after that...!

fanby what were you doing in Ikea two days before Christmas? Crazy lady. I hope it was to buy cool toys Good luck for tonight's sleepathon. And you clstow, Westfield you nutter!? Did you make it out alive?

Grumpy 2 isn't particularly clingy but then, rather like dozy I haven't really noticed any effect from the supposed 'wonder weeks' with either girl. They definitely both go through growth spurts and developmental leaps (even grumpy 1 now has phases where she sleeps, eats and grumps more than usual just before mastering some cool new skill like saying 'diplodocus' or reading a whole book) just not when they are supposed to! She does like sitting facing out on my lap a whole lot more now and enjoys being 'sat' on the floor, although she has to still be supported by me. She's one of the younger ones on here though and not 4 months until the 28th.

Re: bf'ing. I haven't set myself a time limit, I'll feed her until she self-weans. With grumpy 1 I was all set to go to a year and she weaned at 9 months. Will be interesting to see if her sister is the same. I haven't pumped since she went on bottle strike and have now sold my pump and all the bottles etc. I'd rather start her on a cup now than keep trying to force the issue with the bottles. Fortunately she can go for up to 5 hours between feeds and has never really cluster-fed so I am able to go out for the evening or take grumpy 1 off for the afternoon if I want to. If I didn't have that freedom I'd probably feel quite differently about it all.

I'm off to bed now, grumpy 1 is getting so excited about Christmas that I feel that tomorrow maybe a long one. We also have to do the Christmas food shopping as sadly we cant really survive on £30 worth of Waitrose cheeses alone (well I could, but the others might have something to say about it!) Fortunately it's also DH's last day at work before the holidays so I just have to survive 10 hours solo parenting and then it's a night out with my friends - hooray!

I'm still bf dd1 so who knows when I'll stop feeding dd2! My parenting strategy is wing it. It's stood me in good stead. I certainly never intended to breastfeed a toddler. She's reduced her feeds loads lately so I'd say it won't be long now. Dd2 is such a different baby I'll be really interested to see how long she wants to go.

As far as feeding to sleep I've always seen it as one of the big advantages of Bf is that you can do that. Having to get a baby to sleep without it was a major pita! Dd1 refused boobs for the first couple of months and it was a huge relief when boobs comforted her. I've never understood why some people think it's a bad thing. It's one of the things they're designed for.

I did a pregnancy test last week. Negative, thanks be! We can't squeeze anyone else into this house! Was just a bug. Gave myself a fright though. Must be more responsible!

Just watched Luther. Holy moly but it's good! And Idris- oof!

Dd1 had a temp of 40 earlier. Hope she is better tomorrow. Poor wee toot.

We are poo #6 today. What's got into this kid?!

Quiet bar tonight!!are you all asleep? I really, really hope so!
We've had our first stretch of the evening from 9-2. Pretty good going.

I love grumpy 1's eating the goodies and blaming her teddies slow! Genius!
I'm thinking of trying a cup for Ds if the bottle refusal goes on. I've got some different tests to try, but definitely won't be buying loads of different types of bottles.

I hope dd1 is ok jockstar.

Waved at frolic!! Of course I'm here, where the hell else would I rather be than sitting on the edge of my bed waiting on DD to be ready to transfer post feed. Frickin' chilly tonight no?

DH and I had a little set to earlier. This normally happens when he's looked after her solo and it didn't go to plan. He thinks strict timings and 'making' her drink at set times so we can make sure she's had enough milk. He's a solutions kinda guy bless him and wants to fix me being drained/upset by the lack of evening as I'm putting her down. And fix her do that she gets more sleep in. It's hard not to feel criticised when he says stuff like that even though I'll ask what he thinks as it makes me think I'm doing it 'wrong'. I'm literally just trying to follow DDs cues the whole time with a tiny bit of proactive ness thrown in as there are things that I k ow will happen etc but maybe I'm wrong. Should I be setting a stricter routine maybe so we all know what we're doing?! I fear this'll see me spending hours fighting a baby who's on he own agenda. I don't know why I gave this faith (despite frequent wobbles!) that it'll eventually come good no matter what we do, so we may as well take the path of least resistance but what if that's utter shite and babies really do want strict routine. I know 4 months is a stormy time anyway but what say you experienced mummas?!

What greedy teddies you have Slow!! That's a brilliant story. Makings of an evil genius maybe?! 😁

Not got into Luther - should I delve?!

I'm still addicted to pretty little liars! How many more plot turns can this series make?! 😁

Ok time to transfer. Happy sleeping y'all!! (I can rock a cowboy hat btw 😁😁!)

Im here too. First wake up since 8pm. About to go to back to bed but just wanted to say all of you wondering what to do with pregnacy tests, memory box! I just bought two big storage boxes one for each boy and I am going to put all that sentimental stuff in there. I threw my stick out but I have scan pics, hospital wrist bands, cards, first playgroup pictures etc... in mine.

I stopped bf ds1 at 7 months as I went back to work at 8 and didn't fancy pumping at work. I think i'll probably bf ds2 a bit longer as not going back to work till 10 months and might see if we can keep it up for morning and night feeds. I would like to try and avoid bottles this time too because ds1 was addicted to his and only stopped having a bottle of milk at bedtime a few months ago. I have to admit I never sterilised them. My aunty is a midwife in a sbcu and she told me they don't sterise bottles just wash in hot soapy water I I figured if that was good enough for sick babies they mine would be fine too. I also figured once they start teething and chewing whatever they can get their hands on it seems a bit pointless.

Right oh. Ds2 is asleep back to bed. Night night

I love Luther but too wussy to watch it on my own. Will try and check out the new ones over Crimbo. Pretty sure Idris and I would get together if it wasn't for DP...

Hope your DD isn't poorly for Christmas Joskar. Found out today one of my nephews has chickenpox so we're not gonna see those guys till next year now.

Fist bump to the east Anglia crew. I didn't grow up there but my parents moved to Suffolk when I was at Uni and I lived there for a couple of years as well.

Laughing at Grumpy 1, and at the threat to dissect her teddies 😂 Still can't quite believe we've got all that to come.

I've no idea about strict routines but I'm sure DS knows bedtime is close when his Dad puts him in the bath. Last night he fell asleep on the way home from Westfield (we survived... Just!) so I wasn't sure he'd go to bed just an hour after waking from that nap but he went down ok after the usual bath and bottle routine. I reckon they do respond to consistency. Mind you I also think there is no one size fits all when it comes to babies so who knows...

Just feeding DS and he seems a bit unhappy. Wondering if he wants bottle not boob overnight. Hope not, this is the only BF I do now and I want to end it on my terms. Will persevere and see how it goes over Christmas.

Hope everyone is managing some sleep, happy Christmas Eve-eve!

Don't worry frolic I am here (and have been at 1:15am, 3:57am and now again at 5:18am). Clearly last nights good sleep was either (a) to ensure Mummy and Daddy don't actually expire from lack of sleep or (b) to ensure Mummy and Daddy don't leave baby out with the recycling. Or (c) both.

I watched the last series of Luther on I-player when grumpy 1 was about this age while I was bf'ing her in the afternoons. Could be where she gets her evil genius tendencies from... . Have this season recorded and waiting for me. Love Idris Elba, we were massive Wire fans - it was never as good after Stringer Bell got bumped off.

Right, have to go. We are very unsettled tonight so I need two hands x

I must have missed those toys frolic! They sound ace too!! I'd have liked to play with them! We went for highchairs! One for us, one for in laws so madam can join us at the table Christmas Day and one for my NCT mate!

Slowwife - excellent news on the Indian, I actually could eat a curry now!! DD1 is an actual comic genius isn't she??! She's too, too funny!!

Hope DD1 is ok joskar xx

Mzzf - not that I can offer any advice after my meltdown but I'd say do what's best for baby first and then you as you're in charge most of the time unfortunately. I hope my DH will get the hang of him not coming first/not everything on his time scale soon!

Can I just do a name drop, idris owes me several lighters the man is a thief, a gorgeous one at that!! He is so cool it hurts!

Co sleeping has worked a treat and she hasn't been up every hour!! HURRAH. She's slept from 8:30-12:30 then a feed, she woke at 2 but we held hands back to sleep, fed at 4 and more hold handing at 5 and just had a 6am feed! Now This I can cope with!!! xx

Grumpy 1 is pure genius. You're going to have a lot of fun with her in years to come.

Bf....I'm just carrying on for now and see what happens. Mixed feeding is working well for us no .

Yesterday though she fed at 5 ish and then 9:30 then fell asleep about 1 and slept ages so didn't feed till about half 4!! That's a long time to go without though isn't it. I wasn't sure what to do. I had friends round and she was sleeping so peacefully. I'm sure she would have woken sooner if she was desperately hungry. She woke up in a good mood too and didn't immediately want feeding. Very strange.

She's been up in the night but once I got her into bed with me she fell asleep so she didn't want food. Think she likes feeling me close to her. It's cute.

Yes to clingyness. Well not clingy but not wanting to be away from people. She ll happily play in her jumperoo but if I go out of the room to do jobs she cries. If she can see me then she's fine. So I guess this is the start of separation anxiety.

Dp still doesn't understand why I struggle to get housework done with looking after dd. Of course yesterday because she slept for so long and he's off work now it made me look stupid because she slept for so long that I could have easily done house work. Anyway he did most of it yesterday. Even cleaned the kitchen. He's been off work though for Xmas so he's feeling a lot more energised. But i wish he'd stop making fun of me for not having time. I try my best but she is my priority. I do go out most days but that's for both of our benefits. She'd be bored being at home all day.

We've been up as well - J refused to nap most of yesterday, then passed out at 4pm for 2 hours. Tried to feed to sleep just before 9pm and he slept for about 15 minutes before waking up. Tried more feeding and he started throwing it back up. Spitting out the dummy became a fun game (he was grinning at me round it), so I gave up and went to bed just after 10. We then had some whinging, but no idea when he fell asleep, as I passed out soon after. Got woken for feeds at 3am and 6am. Feel exhausted and bad that I haven't been able to spend more time with my parents on my own. They're not, they are delighted to have J and can't wait for us to come back on Boxing Day. Me? Am going to get home, sleep and let DH take over, as he's had 2 days off. To be fair to him, he's had a lazy few days, but is missing us already, so think he will be fine with that.

Bfing? Wanted to do at least 6 months and see what happens then. I am expressing, although J is not keen on bottles at the moment. Will try him on different teats when we get home. Am quite enjoying bf at the moment, although am currently getting backache which is rubbish.

Sorry ladies Idris is MINE!!!! I love the way he rocks his very old Volvo. He would be perfect security on these long dark nights, though he does seem to attract a murderer or two so maybe not so ideal...

mzzf I'm not a fan of strict routines, they've never worked for me. I do think a rough routine helps babies know what to expect though, eg a bath means feed and bed is coming next. I tend to be led by baby and when she's hungry, tired etc, she seems to get tired approximately the same time most evenings, usually by 7.30pm she wants to go to bed and gets grizzly if I keep her downstairs, sadly she seems to big and alert to be comfortable sleeping in arms while I watch TV.

I have to say I'm finding the 4-5 month stage hard. I think their physical abilities need to catch up with mental at this age. Dd is eager to look around ie be carried about, she wants stimulation most of the time, but obviously she can't crawl or walk, so it falls to me to entertain her. I'm looking forward to friends and relatives entertaining her over Christmas so I can spend some more time with dd1.

Morning all! Jabs day chez frolic today ☹ he's woken up in a lovely mood, I'm gutted that we will have to ruin it.

I was talking about the whole routine thing with my friend yesterday mzzf. She followed one with her eldest and he was a great sleeper. Her youngest hasn't had any kind of routine and is also pretty good. Her opinion was that they probably aren't necessary, but that it helped her massively with her first to have a bit of a 'guide' about what to do and when.
Is you dh off over Christmas? Maybe it would be a good time to try out some of his ideas and see how mini responds? You'll be able to tell in a few days if it's going to work and then you can go back to doing things your way.
What season of pretty little liars are you on now? There are twists and turns all the way to the end.
I got married in cowboy boots!

Yay for successful co-sleeping fanby.
What's the deal with you and idris then? You can't just drop a name like that and not expect to explain yourself!

dozy, can you go out and leave Piper with dp for an afternoon over Christmas? Than come back and make fun of him for everything he hasn't done? Sometimes showing them is the only way.

I get the bf'ing backache too tindel. No matter how hard I try to support myself properly I always end up doing one awkward feed and ruining it.

I have not enjoyed the past few weeks that much either giraffes, although we aren't at 4 months yet. It will definitely be nice to have lots of others around for entertainment over the holidays.

It's fascinating watching our lo's learn new things isn't it. We went out for tea last night so I took a bottle. About half way through I put it on the table and piper was eyeing it up so I let her reach over to it with her hands and she actually picked it up and put it in her mouth! She seems too young to have that good hand eye coordination but she's really good with the . She does it with her dummy too because it's attached with a dummy clip but didn't expect her to do it with the bottle already.

She's really found her voice too and chats all day long.

What things have fascinated you about your lo's?

Dozy - try and let DP's comments go in one ear and out the other. I'm in the same boat (altho thankfully no comments) it really is hard for me to get stuff done. I'm queen of kitchen cleans though as that's a room for lots of entertainment for molly lol. We really could do with a big Hoover clean though lol! Still she's not rolling and no where near crawling so I figure it's low down on the priority atm haha!

Frolic - if it helps you the third lot of jabs were fine for us. They've actually got better and better each time! She was no more grizzly and even only woke up twice during the night! Fingers crossed for a similar experience for you! Be brave, I swear it's tougher for us! Well obv 3 needles being jabbed in your thigh also isn't very nice!
Re: idris - he used to come in my work a lot lol! Nothing more than that unfortunately