August 2005 toddlers

[Azure]

Here is the new thread for the new year.

Update on DS2. He is confident walking and has a very camp run. We have taken down the main stair-gates as he can cope well enough with walking up and down (the stairs have lots of spindles), and he worked out how to open the gates ages ago anyway. Not many words - a form of mummy, daddy, grandma and grandad but that's it. He is a lovely, happy child with a beautiful laugh. If he wants you to come with him he grabs your clothes and pulls you along. He loves playing with cars (lining them up) & trains (we have all the Thomas ones plus tracks from DS1) and his favourite toy is the big sit-in coupe car at his grandparents', although he can't move himself forwards in it yet, only backwards. He's never needed a haircut, although his curls are long when wet. He loves baths and the swimming pool. I just wish he would sleep later than 5am.

[Azure]

Oh, I completely failed to fil in baby books for both my DSs other than the initial details. TBH I found quite a lot of it too twee - first smile etc - and difficult to distinguish. As I now can't remember how old DS2 was when he first sat up etc I wish I had kept it up - but then, it's not really that relevant in the great scheme of things. I only put DS1's photos in an album last year but am now really good at doing it - as we now use a digital camera I get the photos developed via the internet and put them in an album as soon as they arrive.

[bramblina]

Hello everyone. I have been reading all your posts but hardly had time to breathe let alone add on ds's progress.
Pookey and QR I hope you're both doing better.
Josey, good luck with the move.
My exam and studying are all over now...that made for a very stressful time. (Won't get reasults for another 6 weeks though so just chilling till then) One afternoon FIL offered to take ds for a walk, I asked could I come and collect him in an hour so I could study..when I arrived FIL was lying on the couch, ds playing alone and FIL had removed the batteries from one of his electrical toys, because "they were driving him mad" . The first time he's ever taken him on his own adn I have a feeling it will be the last for a while.
I went down to Glasgow to see my friend and her 11 month old ds which was lovely, ds was so helpful, putting the lo's dummy in when he dropped it, and bringing him his milk etc. My friend left me with him from 8.30 till 4 the day after we arrived and we had a lovely day, ds loved having him around. Thought it would have been a good age for us to be having another but need to get my coil removed first! Keep putting it off as was so sore getting it in! Will do that soon then prob use the pill till May/June and begin ttcing!
We have booked a week in Majorca end June, really looking forward to some lovely family time not having to do anything.
Ds is becoming so much more aware, knowing when "no" is (or isn't in some cases!) an appropriate response! If we count, I say 1, he says 2, I say 3 and he says 4! If I don't join in though he just likes numbers 2 and 4! He's putting 3 words together, like tody when I sent my cup of tea flying, "Oh oh Mummy tea", for about 10 minutes, he likes to be heard and makes no bones about his opinion! His favourite things just now are books, his tea set, music, water (to be in it, drinking it, playing with it, anything), corn (on the cob), hummous, animals, tractors, buses, lorries, phones, and my Mum . He has done really well with self feeding and I usually just leave him to it now. Unfortunately as I sometimes give him finger food for lunch or a snack, he forgets to use his fork sometimes! The hummous didn't fare well at lunch today...
He manages a wee in his potty before bath each night but I'm wondering if taking the "sometimes" approach (albeit possibly too early, too) is giving him the wrong idea, rather then giving it one ggod go, does anyone else have thoughts on the next stage?
On the subject of photos, we bought a new digital camera for our holiday last year, I filled the memory card when we were in Cnada so developed some pics out there. Came home with a full memory card, put them on computer and fille dit again. Rather than bothering to develop theose, I bought a new memory card! Needless to say I have nearly filled it and have to get them developed tonight. We have had glorious weather here since last Thur (had to make the most of it and spent the mornign on the beach!) so we have done loads outside, it's been lovely.

[pookey]

Hi bramblina What are you studying? Snap with many of my ds favourite things: lorries, tractors, books his nanny - he also loves my braclets though! He sometimes does the counting thing in the same way but usually follows the 4 with a big cheer as he associates it with a game! He is beginning to get the concept of letters thanks to "Peepo!" and his "B!ng" books but tends to think most letters are O and that exclamation marks are spoons! He copies me by rapidly pointing to the letters one after the other and making random noises as if spelling out a word.

Less favourably he this eve smacked dp on the head with a toy car really deliberately and when we told him off he would pat/smack us in the faces saying ouch. He has been smacking my face gently in the evening before bed a couple of times now it is quite weird. He kind of goes hyper after his bath and runs and spins, maybe thats got something to do with it.

Sleep has been a real worry recently but he slept through last night .

[Azure]

Bramblina well done for finishing your exam etc - what was it? It didn't take DS2 long to get used to the new time - after a few days of waking up after 6am (bliss) he was back to 5.15 this morning. He's had a bit of a cold and the night before last was quite bad, so that probably didn't help. DS1 breaks up from school for the Easter holidays today. We are hoping to go a way for a few days, just to the Cotswolds to be near DH's mum, but as I was leaving DH to book a cottage it hasn't yet been done! DS2 has got even worse about looking at books - they just don't hold his attention - but could spend hours in the playroom with the train track.

[pookey]

Azure cotswolds sounds lovely. DS may be good with books but physically he isnt as agile, dare devilish as other children his age and i still carry him a fair bit. DP would be sooo of you having a playroom, he cant see so well and gets really frustrated tripping over ds' toys. Is your playroom downstairs?

[bramblina]

I studied the CPC (certificate of professional competence ) in international road haulage. Yawn yawn! Actually it was quite hard going and the final week was awful, I'm so glad it's over. It is a qualification necessary to be able to apply for an operator's license, which you must have to be legally allowed to trade in road haulage. Provided I pass, I will hold the necessary qualification to be an international transport manager. More importantly, dh's boss .

Pookey, ds has been just the same after a bath, having a mad half hour. The last three nights he has cried when I put him to bed and I've had to go back through, twice the first night but just once the others, he just wouldn't relax in the evening. Then tonight he was fine. He has reduced from 14 hours a night to 12-13, but still doesn't have a nap in the day, so I'm looking forward to the warm weather when we can do so much more outside and tire him out! We have been to the beach twice in the last week as we've been so lucky with the sun here. He would spend all day outside I think. We went swimming thismorning, so hopefull he'll have a good sleep tonight.
Ds is loving his books, Spot, Choo choo clickety clack and dig dig digging, and touchy feelies or anything with animals. We're going to a wedding in Dalkieth next month and are hopefully going to Edinburgh zoo the following day, can't wait!

[Azure]

Wow Bramblina that's quite impressive (and unexpected!). LOL at being DH's boss. My DH and I work in the same company and I often have to approve the payment of his expenses - obviously I have a good nose at the same time. He is at a higher level than me, though. Pookey, our playroom is a bedroom on the first floor. It's not ideal when I want to get on cooking lunch etc , but we also have a few things downstairs (which keep on breeding). We have a largish hall which is great for the ride-ons. I would really like an open-plan kitchen / family room, as long as I had a separate living room not inundated with toys. My Dad built shelves in the playroom, which are full of boardgames etc (remember I have a five-year-old as well) and there is a playtable in the middle, which Dad also made. DS1 keeps his castle and pirate ship etc (the larger items) in his room.

[pookey]

Bramblina that sounds very impressive! Mad half hour is exactly the right description I pretty much rub ds back until he falls asleep not great really and he does wake a fair bit during the night at the mo.

Hmmm Azure its tricky we have almost got a kitchen diner and it is uselful for me but it doesnt solve dp triping up on the ride ons (our hallway is really narrow) and if we have people for dinner (has happened once since christmas lol) they are dining in a play room, office tv room affair. The 2 childrens rooms we have are basically boxrooms. Ds is in the smallest which looking back was a mistake because the younger child will have a slightly bigger room unless they share and we do as dp wants and have a playroom (would be more like a storage cupboard though!). Not sure what to do seems silly to move ds from the room he knows.

[suzi2]

I'm just trying to catch up with everything going on here! Sounds like our toddlers are all the same. Mind you, DS still isn't talking . We get occasional real words but mostly hours and hours of babble. He really believes he's making sense though. He's really out of sorts at the moment. I think it's a mixture of boredom since DD came along, teething and general toddlerness. He's hardly eating, tantrumming, sleeping badly but overall OK. He's at his grans tonight which is good for all of us I think.

Bramblina - my top tip for Edinburgh zoo (we're members there) is to arrive early and take the Hilltop Safari bus up to the top of the zoo. That way you can work your way downhill - far easier than pushing a buggy up that hill!

[suzi2]

Oh, also guilty of not doing photos and videos and things. And poor DD is now almost 7 wks and we have a dozen photos and no video at all. And no photos of us all together!

I have been known to search through old antenatal club threads to find out DSs milestones. My friend was asking when he sat up and I couldn't remember and had to search for a boasting post about it lol.

[LazyLine]

Hi all, just wanting to butt into your thread. Not been on this thread before, but my DS was born on the 24th August and is possibly the most persistent child ever!

[pookey]

Hi lazyline!! Cool to have a newbie . Persistent is an interesting description, I think ds might be quite persistent, for example the trick of distracting them from naughtiness by pretending to see a spider is a very bad idea because he will go 'spider', 'where?', 'gone' etc for at least the next half hour!

Suzi you always manage to sound cheerful even when describing a tough situation lol Its good that your ds' gran is supportive, hope he has a lovely time and you get some rest. On the baby memories front we only have one scan picture (where nothing can be made out) for the one I am expecting, but for ds we have lots of clear scan pictures and a 3d dvd of him in the womb set to music!

Bought ds some shoes from Clarks today he is a 4 1/2 G and they cost £26 -thats more than shoes for me - my last pair of trainers were second hand and the ones before were a fiver!!!!

[LazyLine]

He really is persistent to an amazing degree. If we were at someone elses house, and they had a cupboard door that didn't have a lock on it. for example. He would try to open it and be moved away. However, he would not give up on that door until we went home. He won't be distracted, very single minded. He did it recently and he must have tried 30, 40 times to get in this cupboard! I'm not sure why, because I never let him win, so it's not like he's learnt from that. Maybe he's hoping against hope.

Aside from that, he is an angel boy. He's big for his age and his feet are slightly wider than an H fitting which is an arse but he is so well behaved and loves nothing more than being outside in the garden. Well, apart from his Taggie.

[LazyLine]

Meant to be a comma after "lock on it"

[josey]

Hi all not posted for a bit, all getting a bit mad here, we move out on the 12th, however our new house isnt ready due to the fact the electric company cant be bothered connecting the electic so the builders cant get the cleaners in etc! going to stay a couple of nights with MIL them go and stay with my mum so ds can start his new school after the easter break, still not packed as had to change removal company and they havent droped off the boxes yet - oh the joys!!!

welcome lazyline

Brambalina well done with the studying how you had the time of the brain power, i cant read a paper anymore and remember what i have just read lol!

dd is great fun just now, loves being outside so is sleeping like a dream 2-3 hours during the day and 12 hours at night, tantrums are shocking she either stamps her feet or if you take her in from the garden and shut the door when she isnt ready she runs and head buts the door, or walls
Her fav thing to do is take her baby for a walk to the swings just round the corner so we have to do that everyday!
Words are coming on she knows everything you ask of her though and either nods wildly or says yeah!
oh as im on here she has just taken her top off! better go

[PanicPants]

Welcome Lazyline.

It seems ages since I last posted, doesn't time fly now that they're keeping us on our toes.

Lol at persistant - thats exactly what ds is. He's recently discovered the outdoors too, and yes, the tantrum is shocking when it's time to go in or time to actually sit down and eat something!

[suzi2]

lol at the outdoors. If I ask DS what he wants he always points outside. In fact, we think 'outside' might be a new word... he has about 3 in total now lol. I wouldn't mind if we could go a walk or something but he generally just wants to pick up the stones from the drive and put them on the path.

[queenrollo]

lol at suzi's ds picking up stones and putting them on the path!! my ds likes to pick up next doors gravel off the path and put it back on the drive for them!
dp is hoping to make a start on our outside because we only have a small garden which is in front of our house and we have no fence so ds just heads straight for the road.....we're hoping to build a brick wall (conservation area so need planning permission)

ds has several words which have more than one meaning....botball for example usually means apple, but also applies to grape, banana and tomatoes....or anything that looks like an apple in a picture.

we managed to get tickets for Glastonbury so now the preparations start!! i am really looking forward to it

[Miaou]

Hello all. Ds is a hilarious little chap now - don't you just love all their idiosyncrasies? Ds loves to pick up the dried cat biscuits (both cats are messy eaters) and put them back in their bowls ... he also likes to help load and unload the washing machine (and yes, he really does help!!). Sometimes, when he's got loads of toys out in the living room he looks round, sighs, puts them all in the toy box and starts again ... LOL!

He sometimes finds waking from his nap difficult, and will cry for quite a while, but that's not every day, and he can often be persuaded out of it. He's quite an easy-going child really and not given to tantrums (yet!!). He loves to walk and we have all but abandoned the buggy now except for long trips.

Yesterday I looked after a friend's little boy (just over 2) and was so pleased to see how well he shared his toys - I was afraid we were going to have tears! He is still a bit clingy though and will cry as I get out of the car and go round to his side to get him out ...

I'm now 5 months pg with no. 4 and we have bought a minibus to carry around our growing brood! It is fab, I am so pleased with it, lovely to drive. And as it has 8 seats we can easily throw in a couple of friends and go out for a picnic in this lovely weather . I am also starting a new job in a couple of weeks (amazingly I passed the interview despite being pg!!), running the local pre-school, so I am going to be very busy this next term!

[PanicPants]

Lol at everyones toddlers picking up stones - snap! Ds likes to take the dustpan and brush out side and sweep them up and put them on the path. Drives me mad sometimes, I am forever sweeping up stones!

Ds is attached to the dustpan and brush, we have had to buy him his own and he would play with it all day long if he could - that and his toy dyson.

I'm tempted to buy a dustbuster and show him how to use it!!

[suzi2]

lol panicpants - we have a manual carpet sweeper and DS loves pushing it around which is great!

[pookey]

lol Ds goes bonkers if we get the hoover out, he pats it and moves it around and hangs the tubey bit round his neck then cries if we take it away - infact we have to hoover when he is asleep. Took ds to supermarket without pushchair, not a good idea , he kept running here there and everywhere I left with one loaf of bread - toddlerdom here we come but I am sooo not ready! The checkout girl gave me an easter pack for ds I think she felt sorry for me lol.

Suzi and anyone else who has another baby recently, did you get a double buggy and were you pleased with it? This has become a real quest, I will have spent a ludicrous amount of time on the internet researching double buggies!

Aagh he is teething and keeps hitting us and saying ouch think he is just showing us his pain poor thing.

[queenrollo]

went out last night and ds was showing no signs of going to sleep (bedtime is becoming an issue) so we left him up with my parents. we thought at the very least he'd be asleep on the settee when we got back but nooooooo he was wide awake, running around laughing and playing with my dad.
ds has a terrible runny/stuffy nose, so disturbed sleep and has one molar broken through the gum and another one coming through (that i can see anyway, he won't let me get too good a look in his mouth)

[suzi2]

Pookey, I spent an insane amount of time researching and test driving double buggies. And in the end I didn't buy one! We're managing quite fine with what we have. I have a Quinny Buzz that I had for DS. I can put the car seat on it for DD if it's just a short outing and DS will happily walk everywhere. If I'm out for longer, I put DD in the pushchair part of the buzz or in my combi dash stroller. If DS gets tired (which he doesn't often) then I can put DD in the sling and DS in the buggy. More often than not I'm not out for long periods of time these days. Well, not out with the buggy anyhow. If DH or my mum is with me, we take a pushchair each. I also have a buggyboard which DS is getting the hang of now and then.

The things that put me off buying a double...

1. DS won't let us take long walks in the country so other than around the shops I didn't know how much it would get used. Can't imagine going round the shops for hours with 2 of them!
   
2. I like the option of putting DDs car seat on the frame for just nipping in and out of places. No double/tandem could take her maxi cosi seat and I wasn't compromising her safety with a less safe seat.
   
3. The tandems were a more convenient width but almost are were a nightmare to handle with DSs weight in them alone.
   
4. The twin ones, even the narrowest (such as the nipper - 10cm more than the buzz!) were a strugle to fit through the local shops doors.
   
   Conclusion was to wait and see if we needed one and so far we don't. Favourite to drive and for weight/width was the nipper twin. Fab buggy but couldn't justify the £300 if it wasn't being used daily. Phil & Teds seemed a fab idea at the time but have heard some awful reports about safety and also if DD is anything like DS, she won't be happy lying flat at 3 months old staring at the back of a seat. I also like the First wheels city twin but it's heavy, bulky in the car and very expensive.
   
   I did get a double mothercare stroller off someone on freecycle (for free, obviously) but have only used it once. I can't imagine when I'll choose to use it overwhat I already have.
   
   Hope my brain dump helps somewhat. IMO, I think it's best to wait and see what you need come the time. But to have some solutions in mind.

[pookey]

QR did you do anything nice when you went out? DS is teething at mo and sleeping poorly. If it is any comfort I was really getting worried about putting him to bed a few weeks ago but he has settled back down now that he is only having one nap and going to bed later.

Wow suzi thanks, hmm it really is hard to decide. I think you have a good point about 'wait and see' as dp will be taking at least a month off and by that time ds may be very different temperamentally than he is now.

Just been informed DP is not in favour of waiting and seeing though (just told him what I was posting about), partly he is worried that a double might be needed to prevent ds escaping and running off! I guess DP's visual impairement makes this an extra concern. Another thing that makes me think we will end up going for a buggy sooner or later is that ds was a late walker and he still naps in the buggy. At the moment he will only walk for a few minutes and then he wants to be carried so I could see some potentital for jealousy if we are carrying the little one. Also we dont drive so that has an impact (not sure in what way exactly!). If we get a double we will also need to sell the bugaboo and I might have more energy to do that before the baby is born. OMG I am going in circles!! think I will have to continue with my quest sigh. It is good to know the nipper is a good pram as that is on my list of maybes and also your points about P&T back up concerns we have. The sling idea is food for thought though and I think I will put off buying a double for as long as possible before the birth incase ds suddenly takes to walking and not running off in supermarkets