November 2014 - the one where they answer back.

[MrsAukerman]

New thread.
Hop aboard.

I don't know if my post worked cause I'm using the app

Ark I'm so relieved things are starting to settle down!

Ladydolly I am massively jealous.

Our night of sleeping through was a fluke of course. But still! It happened! It wasn't my imagination!

Actually DS has had a filthy cold since so the following night woke crying hysterically 8 times. Eight!!!

And at the weekend it went into his ears and he was screaming with the pain. We had to physically pin him down to pour Nurofen down his throat whilst he sobbed and screamed - god, parenting is fucking traumatic, isn't it?

Thanks Anna

Im still struggling to get over some of the things he's done and the way he's been abusive. I keep finding myself feeling sorry for him! Which isn't good. He's done all this damage not me. Have to keep that in my head.

Dd hasn't slept through since we moved. I think obviously I was very distressed the first couple of weeks and she knew that. As much as I tried to hide it from her you just can't all the time. Hope I've not done her any long term damage

My mum asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I said ' a full nights sleep'

I so thought we would all have properly sleeping babies by now! Oh how wrong was I

At least it must be some consolation to come on here and see the others aren't sleeping either!

I actually think we only get one sleep through a week now I think of it.

Ds is a lot better thanks still amazes med how quickly children go downhill and equally quickly bounce back he has impressive cough although has had a night time cough for 3+mths doc wants to review him so will discuss different inhalers. He is as clingy as ever though.

Ark good to hear from you. I know what you mean about wanting sleep as a present. I dropped hints to DH around the time of my birthday after I read a MN thread about someone who had a night in a hotel on her own as a present enjoying peace and quiet and a whole night's sleep.

eastmids glad he is better

Jury service started today. They have airport-style security scanners when you go into the court building, and they asked everyone to empty their pockets before going in the scanner. Wow, I had so much junk in my coat pockets thanks to DDs. The security guard looked amused when I pulled out several conkers and put them in the tray (I put most of the other stuff in the bin)!

It was parents' evening at nursery today, but the keyworker didn't have much to say other than DD has settled in well as she has only been in the room for a couple of weeks. A letter came home today inviting me to her 2yr check next week at nursery with the health visitor and the keyworker from the room she was in until recently. That didn't happen when DD1 was 2. Is that what happens everywhere or just where I am? I can't make next week as I will still be on jury service anyway (and I would be surprised if the health visitor can make it if they only gave her a week's notice).

Terrifyingly, DD didn't have a nap at nursery today. I will be very upset if this is the start of no more naps. Nap time is my favourite time of day, and she has only been having naps in her cot rather than in my arms for a few months.

Happy yep if in nursery its done in conjunction some do the ASQ (assessment forms) for nursery then you see HV with child others its joint meeting.

Personally I dont bother with 2yr check, I have no concerns neither do nursery its to tick a government box, they don't see you after 1yr check and WO t see you again after 2yr unless concerns I am capable of ringing iif I haven't concerns and my time off with children iis far to precious to be sitting waiting iin a clinic with ds2 bored and then him expected to be a performing monkey with a stranger to tick right boxes.

Excuse my rant 😁

Great news ark!

We had DS's 6-12 month check today (he's 1 next week) and hv said about 4 times that she could've done DD's 2 year check if she'd known. it's not like they have it on record or anything... anyway, she wasn't happy about them both still using dummies. Do any of your toddlers still have them? When I was pregnant with ds we decided that we'd go cold turkey on dummies for both kids at the same time to make things easier. Dd is much more into it than ds and often asks where the dummy is if she can't see one. If I just had the one child i probably would have addressed it by now but when you've got 2 under 2 you pick your bloody battles.

So those who've taken dummies away- what was your approach? Did they accept it after a few days?

east my hv made a few comments about how she never sees me at clinic and how the kids haven't been weighed for ages. Because it falls during naptime, you aren't allowed to take buggys in so I'd be wrangling both of them for however long they make me wait and then they both hate getting undressed. Not my preferred way to spend a day off.

Argh I'm getting myself worked up. Ex has dd on Sunday, every time he's had her so far it's been with his mum there too ( he had never taken her out on his own when we were together, and I mean even into the garden...) she's just told me she's not going to be there on Sunday which means it's just ex and dd together all day.

She will be fine won't she? I want to cancel him seeing her but I know I can't. I'm going to spent the whole of Sunday in a panic till my baby is home

It seems our 2yr assessment is done with the health visitor at the nursery and it can't be rearranged for a time I can make (even though they do them on Wednesdays and I could make every Wednesday for the rest of the year except next week when the appointment is), so they will be doing it without input from a parent. I'm not that bothered as I have no concerns about her development, but it seems a bit odd that I have not even been asked if we have any concerns or worries or questions.

Oh, Ark, sorry to hear you are worried. I'm sure your dd will be fine. Your ex will probably have a very stiff wake up call. How are you finding life on a day-to-day basis?

Happy, strange that they will do the check without you. I'd be sending a list of questions to the nursery in advance of the meeting, even if I don't really have any concerns! There are posters at our nursery saying they will do them, but not heard anything quite yet. As east says, it's just box ticking isn't it?

Not much to report here. Work is going OK, ds has a cough and a bit more cuddly than usual, but other than that, fine. His current obsessions are lighthouses, clocks, and finding pictures of mushrooms in 'the gruffalo'.

Ark they'll be fine. She may have chips for tea and be a bit bored but that's DS every weekend here!

annatha there is NO WAY I am even considering dumping the dummy yet. DS is an addict. We're not thrilled with it, but it would be cruel to even attempt taking them away as they give such comfort.

Also it's nuts to try when the little one has one too (essential as is a boob monster). I absolutely agree with doing both at the same time as it's just mean.

We're going to see where we are at age 3. And even that is dependent on how addicted DD becomes!

We've cut down to just having dummies at night and during naps and she spends the day asking "where dummy? Dummy, where are you?" I've got DS's 12 month jabs coming up and I'll be using dummies to deal with the aftermath of that. I think my hv is just a bit arsey. She wanted to know why dd wasn't in nursery yet (erm, because I'm very fortunate and have free childcare from mil) and why I hadn't taken her to the optitions and why she wasn't drinking from open cups. I just felt like shouting at her "look! I've got 2 under 2 and it's bloody hard!"

annatha your hv is scary... Didn't know that drinking from open cups is some sort of milestone, tbh. DD pesters us with drinking from our glasses the water every time we sit down for a meal, but it would never cross my mind it being a "thing". Independently she drinks from closed cups because I don't want to spend couple of hours between coming from work and going to bed wiping spilt water from everywhere and I want to relax instead of being all eyes in case she drops/breaks the glass.

DD still has a dummy for night time and we have it with us if we travel because that's the easy and quick way to avert a meltdown on plane etc. I realise that I am basically stuffing her mouth instead of dealing with whatever the upset was, but hey I don't give a flying sh...t about it.

And why a child should definitely attend the nursery of all things?! Not exactly compulsory education or something. Just don't let it get you.

Happy - personally I would say you do not give consent for it to take place without you present. (Bet Another app will then become available for you - yep such a cynic)!

Annatha - dummy fairy seems good way to get rid and works with 2+ google it loads ideas. Open cups ERM no thanks too much mess we use 360 cups n sports bottles as do nursery.

Ds2 is 2 on Sunday where have 2yrs gone and my oh my did I never realise how easy ds1 was.

Oh god, another milestone missed. I can't believe she should be drinking from and open cup, she still makes a mess with a beaker. And she still has a bottle at bedtime but I'm weaning her off that now.

After a week away dd didn't seem to miss me much at all although dp seems to be in favour, probably because he fed her the foods I don't allow. In the car this morning he told her 'thank you for being such a good girl this week' to which she replied, 'no problem daddy'!!! She sounds more like me every day.

Exactly! Dd also likes taking a sip from our glasses and has drank from normal water bottles when we've been out and I've forgotten to pack a drink for her but would pour it everywhere. Think I'll pass on that. Apparently I should be trying to get ds drinking from open cups at mealtimes too. Pour soul would soak himself.

Dd suddenly seems very interested in her toilet habits. She's been saying "poo poo" when she's doing a poo for a while now but she's started telling us when she's having a wee, and saying "bum bum?" When she wants her nappy changing.

She's also given a nickname to one of her toys- she got a TY unicorn for her birthday and decided that it was a cat. I told her it was a unicorn and she replied "no mummy. Cat. Meow. Cat" and then started calling it snow. She learnt the word snow last week after a little dusting of it and the unicorn is white so she's put two and two together. When asked where snow is, she goes to find it every time. Really impressed with that!

2 yr check must be coming soon for us but so far no letter. DS's childminder is all prepared for it and thinks he's really clever so I'm sure we'll be fine.
We're in a huge "mine do it" phase as well as saying hello and bye bye and night night to everything. It's very cute but annoying when you're in a rush and he's trying to climb into his ERF carseat while wearing wellies (impossible).
DS turns 2 on Thursday but will be at CM all day but we're having a big party on the Sunday. DH turns 33 Wednesday so busy week in this house!
Can't remember if I've mentioned it here but DS is obsessed with his balance bike and can easily ride it down hills and round parks for up to about 2 hours at a time so we've booked him into a toddler balance bike session at the national cycling centre near the Etihad stadium. Can't wait!

Out of interest I just googled the questionnaire for the 2yr assessment (I'm supposed to send one back to nursery on Wednesday when she is being assessed without me, but I haven't received one to fill in). I remember there being ridiculous questions on the 1yr one, but some of these are just crazy.

Can your child string small items such as pasta or beads on to string or a shoelace? How the fuck would I know? I spend my life removing small beads that DD1 leaves lying around the house, our pasta is in the shape of minions and we don't own any string!

Does your child put things away where they belong? No, of course not. No one in my house does that.

Does your child kick a ball by swinging his leg forward? I don't know. We only have one ball big enough to kick, it is in the garden and I won't see her in daylight hours before the assessment to find out.

Does your child stack 7 small blocks or toys of about 1 inch in size on top of each other by herself? Seven?

And, yes, one of the questions is can they drink out of a cup and put it down again with little spilling? So apparently that is something they are supposed to do by the age of 2.

annatha Your HV sounds crazy. Why does it matter whether your DC goes to nursery? As long as you have responsible childcare in place and don't just leave her at home while you go out, what has it got to do with the HV? Children don't need to go to nursery until pre-school age, and not necessarily then either. I say that even though some of my friends are HVs or have been in the past, so I don't usually complain about them.

Ha ha happy I wrote answers like that over the 1yr one but then my HV thought they were tosh if taken literally!

Ds2 is 2 today where has time gone, where has my sleep gone!! All his wooden farm bits were a hit and play food. But biggest fav was helium paw patrol balloon best £3 I have ever spent (until it deflates)

happy if I will have to complete that questionnaire, I will respond yes to most of them. If not for other reason then because we have already spent awful lot of time on nonsense when DD's head was wrong size.

happy

As for putting a cup down without spilling it- dd would go out of her way to spill it as she is obsessed with puddles/bubbles/making a mess with water. Earlier she decided to paint on the walls by spitting in her hand and drawing with it.

oMG eastmids I bought the exact same balloon for DS yesterday! We were at a Christmas market and all the other kids were going around with them and even though he wasn't remotely asking for one, I couldn't bear him to be the only one without one, poor pet. I'm so soft, lol.

I'm now very relieved my 2 yr check was so relaxed. None of those goals here. Like I said, it mainly concentrated on pointing out things. There is no way he'd be able to stack 7 things! Though he can kick a ball - indoors, shrieking KICKKICKKICKKICK! whilst we try to shield the baby.

He is definitely going through the two year sleep regression. Poor DH, he had his friend stay over on Saturday and they had beers watching the rugby here then went out to the pub (till all of 10.30, lightweight!) and then DS proceeded to wake up every two hours all night long. So poor DH, full of beer, didn't get a wink of sleep. He was hanging together all Sunday, and DS was screeching and bouncing all day. I feel guilty of course I can't help more but I have my hands full.

And even last night, three wake ups. He hasn't slept through in a good week or longer.

It's nuts! He's like a newborn, except he's much worse than our actual newborn!

Wow lots going on!! Happy birthday to all babies who've had them in the last couple of weeks!!
Sorry for everyone having shit nights :-(
Don't have much to say really but didn't want this to drop off my threads list.
We had a birthday party for our NCT group at the weekend, it was really lovely. Amazing to see how all five toddlers are progressing with different things. One of them was singing beautifully and tunefully to us. One is talking in full sentences. One was so nimble fingered, drawing tiny little squiggles and holding her pen perfectly. One can count past 30, and DD can identify half the letters in the alphabet now. One was so kind, sharing her toys with anyone who was crying or shy. And one is potty trained already. Just a really good example of how they are all progressing so fast at the moment, but doing things in a different order. Nice and reassuring :-D