November 2014 - the one where they answer back.

[MrsAukerman]

New thread.
Hop aboard.

No he was on a rolling yearly contract. And actually they're happy to renew.....but the new hours he works would be slashed to very little. So it's not worth it. He's been applying for stuff today. It's bad timing but we have some contingency savings thank goodness.

It's just his last job was v family friendly and flexible hours and could work from home etc etc obvs his next one might not be, which may definitely impinge on my job search as mine involves long shifts and we definitely can't afford two in childcare so one of us would have to be a SAHP.....you know the drill. All a bit unnerving!

DS has napped in crèche every single day this week! So Strawberry It could be like yours where naps are dropped only at the weekend, we'll see how it goes.

You are all amazing with toilet training. I suspect DS will be dead last, lol. He is oblivious.

Oh wow Halfstar, that's amazing! DD tonight was talking a lot about poo and potty, but when I took her to the bathroom, she wasn't to let me to get her pants/nappy down. She just sat on the potty fully dressed and then did the stint of riding on it.

Anna don't worry about flexible hours in the new job yet. From what I see with DH jobs in last 5 years, he has been constantly working from home and when he has been looking for new job, most of the jobs on offer involved 2-3 days working from home.

But it does give me a rage that the cost of childcare is so high that it makes impossible for so many women to go back to work. Just to break even after childcare, commute and other basic being at work related costs, one has to earn around 1.5k.

I agree about working from home, I think this is becoming more and more culturally acceptable or expected (obviously depends on the job, but most certainly for anything IT-related). When it comes to looking for work, over the last few years I have become quite baldly honest about what I can and can't do (re. the kids and my personal commitments) and to my surprise it seems to work as a tactic, maybe people like the assertiveness I'm always quaking inside

Thanks strawberry I'm dead impressed by DD as I wasn't quite sure she was ready to go but thought we'd have a shot anyway. The first day was a disaster but we had a good rate by the end of day 2 and day 3 was better again, etc. We have not used a potty at all with either DC. Some people find them great but we have done straight to the toilet (with a toddler seat) and straight to proper pants, lots of reading and distraction on the loo and then if something happens a chocolate button straight away. That is the important part.

Weirdly DD doesn't seem to differentiate between wee and poo...if she has an accident (she had one this evening) she says 'poo! poo in mah pants!' but it is a wee?! Oh well. There is absolutely NO rush anyway and DD2 is one of the oldest on the thread.

Well, first week in January down, everyone. Dh is out tonight, he doing Dry January and being all healthy, but I've had a slightly hectic week and am on the wine tonight.

You are all doing so well with potty training. I haven't started that yet though DD1 announced this morning that she thinks we should (5yr old parenting expert!) I did buy a potty ages ago when DD was talking about wee and poo but didn't get very far and she never mentions it now.

Last night DH insisted on putting DDs to bed even though he had a nightmare with it the night before and persuaded me to go to bed very early. I was asleep by 9! DD slept all night until 7.30 and today I feel like a whole new person. I moan about DH, but he is great really.

Well we have decided to turn cot into bed let's see how crazy an idea that is after tonight!!

I am doing meat free January not a huge meat eater and wanted a change its going OK although dh cooking bacon this morning was hard.

Ds2 had nursery 2yr check no concerns so def not bothering doing HV its gets done around 2.5yrs here

eastmids bacon is the reason I'm not vegetarian. DH is and I can't be bothered with cooking seperate meals so we don't eat much meat. I could probably do without bacon for a month but not forever. You reminded me that I never heard anything after DD's 2yr check at nursery that we couldn't go to. At least if we could have gone to the HV clinic, we would have known the outcome (not that I think we have anything to worry, she could do almost everything on the questionnaire I found via google since I was never sent one to fill in).

We were to do dry and healthy (more veg, less chocolate) January. Hm... we do more veg, not a problem. I got bit depressed about idea of no Friday night glass of red after a hard week, so poured a glass. After 2 sips I thought I was more sleepy than anything and never finished it. Will be wine free tonight as DH seems to have a fly, in bed with a cough and fever. Not too good on chocolate front...

I think we'll be last for potty training. Dd shows zero interest in the loo or potty. We're thinking of trying at easter.

Props to the healthy eaters, I gained 8 lbs over xmas, back on 5:2 this week and 5lbs gone already. I'm also doing the '31 day yoga revolution' which I love but it is hard, I'm aching all over. It's free on youtube if anyone is interested.

Dd totally over tonnsilitis now and seems pretty happy day to day. Still getting the odd wake up and seems to have twigged what it means if either me or DP are out so she asks for the one that's out of she wakes up. Cunning.

Ladydolly despite DD doing a lot of poo and potty talk, I think we are many moons away from her actually doing something on the potty. I think she sees the potty more like a toy chair to be honest. I might follow Halfstar advice and just put her on a proper toilet instead.

Last night saw her straining so asked if she would like to go on potty. She was all excited "Yeah potty!". So I whisked her upstairs to the bathroom, leggings down, nappy off, on the potty, just to see that things have already happened in the nappy. Minute later she was off the potty, mess everywhere, and requested she would go to bath. It was fairly late, so I did run the water and started to clean her up with toilet paper. DD had to have some paper and pretend to wipe her own bum in between (with dress down obviously). When I didn't give her any more paper, she even tried to fish out the used paper from the WC bowl. Needless to say I spent cleaning up everything all the time she was in the bath. So lots of fun in the strawberry household... It's like her constantly talking about chocolate cake, but if you put cake in front of her it's not guarantied she will even show an interest.

We've bypassed the potty here too, found it much easier to pop him on the loo (and cleaner). He's been dry for a couple of weeks now, even after naps and sometimes overnight. So, we're going to start thinking about learning to dress and undress next. He does it a bit, but would be nice if he could start taking his own pants down etc. Might also start leaving him a bit longer between wees so he will get the idea he needs to tell me.
First day for a while where it's just been the two of us. We baked, did playedoh, built a railway, read books, played with cars all by 12 o'clock. I was out of ideas by the time he woke from his nap. Really got to encourage more independent play....

Babydolly (toddlerdolly?) Is sick again, just a cold this time. Also a fungal skin infection, nice. Great fun talking to the pharmacist about it and gesturing to my own crotch to explain that it's not at the front of the nappy area... mortifying once I realised what I was doing.

Ha-ha-ha ladydolly you made my day.
Not all too healthy here either. Last weekend DH was down with fever, Tuesday DD went down and I feel that I am going. Keep sneezing and have a funny feeling in the nose. Good fun all around...

We have had dreaded bug here ds2 from mon onwards temps of 41 gp checked over hadc eye infection but otherwise viral and yesterday i have come down with it hoping ds1 and dh don't get it

How is he now? Poor thing.

We have an epic puke stain on our sitting room carpet from a very unexpected projectile incident last night. Poor DH got the full force of it as he was sitting cross legged on the ground with DS playing with the people on Daddy's t shirt. Said t shirt may never be the same again!

By 8.30 this morning we were all fed, dressed and had dinner for this evening made and one load of laundry done. On a Sunday. God, my life has changed!

Oh wow! Its the ines without warning that'll get you! So far DD has only puked on her dad. If we do have another I don't know how I'll cope if it's a sicky one, dd rarely lost a drop, I'm sure she wouldn't want to waste the food. She eats so much. Regularly asks for a sandwich mid morning and mid afternoon. But she's not overweight, in fact she's under 50th centile. I guess its from all the running around.

I have the morning 'off'. Dp and dd have gone to 'active ants' at the gym for a couple of hours. I've done an hour of yoga and am now in the bath. I can't remember the last time I had a bath alone. Heavenly.

Hi Anna ds2 a lot better now still cough n snot but temp gone I still feel awful not gone to work getting some rest while no one is home.

How is puking your end?

Well he woke up at 1am night before last, sat up, and SPRAYED the entire bed. Also the wall! So everything stripped and changed. We didn't put him in the bath though as he himself wasn't too sticky and he was so upset it would have distressed him further. My friend was shocked at that. She always plonked them in the bath at 1am. Honestly unless he had actually puked on top of his own head, I wouldn't do that. Actually even then, I'd probably just use a baby wipe and bustled him back to sleep again!

So as it was, he was only awake 10 minutes. Next morning though he slept in till 10am!!! And he was very subdued and stayed home and we had a cbeebies day cuddled up on the sofa with baby sister.

It was lovely to get the cuddles as he squirms away most of the time these days, but am still glad he's back in crèche today! Am up at least 5/6 times with baby during the night (still! At 4 months!) So I am so shattered that I feel weak most of the time.

I am going to transition to formula at the end of January I think. This sleep deprivation isn't good for mental health. My postnatal thread for her never got off the ground which is a real shame as this one has been so helpful with DS.

Get better soon poorly all your DC!

I'm waiting on a phone call from the HV team. At the end of last week they sent a letter inviting me to bring DD to her 2yr check, so I rang and said that she had surely had that at nursery in December (although there had been no input from her parents and we had received no information on how she did). The person I needed to speak to wasn't there so I was told they would phone back and leave a message on my answerphone as I was at work yesterday, which didn't happen so I called back today. When DH took DD to nursery today he asked her keyworker, who helpfully said she wasn't sure if it had happened or not! Hopefully, someone is now checking on the HV's system to see if she has been assessed or not and will call me back soon to let me know. Madness!

I would leave dd to sleep after being sick if I could wipe her off with baby wipes as well. There has been one time last winter when she actually vomited all over herself, her hair was dripping how bad. So she was put in the bath at 3am, that time she decided it was the right time to crap in the bath wearing the guilty dog face. :)

Apparently DD is going to get 2 y assessment in the nursery by her current key worker. To be honest, I don't think much of her "assessments". The previous she did was in october, the only observation which I could consider development related was about her being able to drink from cup and put it back on the table without spilling the water. The rest felt more like describing her personality (prefers to interact with the peers she knows, likes to play solitary, joins with others only when she likes the activity), many of which could easily be said about myself. Or she would say DD has highly developed listening/attention, but her understanding wasn't so great. Contradictory in my opinion, I'm still to meet a small child he listens intently and pays huge amount of attention without understanding what it's about.

DH is the a "roll over" personality, while I am constantly leaving comments, sending emails and being general PITA. I'm just really aware that if I let something slip once, I might start to get used to it and missed an important moment when we should definitely step in.

My lovely toddler has properly commenced the terrible twos :-( I'm not sure if it's a wonder week thing, the terrible cold she has, molars, or a permanent change but I'm wondering what the hell has happened in the past week. We've gone backwards with sleep again and she's demanding we stay in her room while she falls asleep and waking in the middle of the night and not going back to sleep. Her interest in the potty has reduced to zero as her wish to please us seems to have buggered off too (that was so very helpful!). I get a sullen 'no, no, NO' to everything I ask. sometimes she even says No to things she loves (like cake) which is quite funny when she realises what she's done. No shoes, no coat, no car mummy. which is annoying as she wants to go outside when it's -2 but she can't without shoes and coat. No to all food apart from yoghurt and potato waffles. (which I've discovered can be cooked in the toaster, very handy when it's the only thing you're cooking). Only good thing is that she's quite happy playing on her own a lot at the moment. She's rediscovered this vtech pop up train toy she had for her 1st birthday which asks things like "can you find the dog?" etc, she takes it very seriously and replies "Yes!" then pops open the dog bit and gets a round of applause from the train. She'll do that for half an hour. But woe betide if we have to interrupt her playing to get dressed or change a napppy or anything.

I want my happy girl back :-( I do realise many of you have been dealing with this for a long time but it's the first time we have. Need to start going to bed earlier, I don't have the energy for this!!

Oh moggle the no no no gets quite wearing and we to have had the no before he realises what I have asked such as cake.

Waffles in toaster are great I love them the boys both hate them actually annoyingly they both hate processed foods ds1 will now eaten chicken nuggets but even fish fingers are proper hm gougons. Quick meals here are pasta with grated cheese (with peas for ds2 and carrotas for ds1).

Cheese is usually DD favourite thing actually but I cannot convince her that melted cheese is equally delicious! She will not even try it! She will eat cheese and bread usually, but I have made her watch progression to cheese on toast under the grill but she will not eat it after it comes out :-D
That is annoying that they won't eat processed food... I have to pick the breadcrumbs off nuggets and fishfingers usually if she will deign to eat it. Haven't mastered cooking plain chicken and fish to her liking yet!

oMG moggle you have just described DS, it's so funny. Well, not for you, obvs!

We have started making a game out of the NO! thing. He says no even to things he likes, just out of principle, so then we start offering ever more.outlandish things like gold plated peacock etc just to see him shout "NO gogeecok!"

With the coat thing we have been lucky as we got lots of hand me downs so he has three coats. This has saved our ass many a time. "NO RED COAT!" But then he'll consent to wear the blue one.

He also tried to insist on choosing which car to travel in. DH fucked up one morning by switching the car seat over for a quiet life after DS threw a snot about going in my car. We have rued the day. Now whenever he demands Mammy Car we say Mammys car is broken. Then he demands "Mammy fix car!" like a little Lord. But nope, car is broken oh well!

All last week he became hysterical when we left the room at bedtime. So we shit ourselves it was back to the bad old days. But we discovered leaving the door ajar helped, as did waiting till he was distracted by swigging from his bedtime water bottle before legging it. So this week it's ok again.

I actually think he's through the worst of it. It's only about one strop a day now. Or maybe we've gotten better at manipulating him with a load of lies and misdirection!

Haha the gogeecok thing is hilarious. DD loves attempting to say long words so I might try that. We can't understand the small words, mind, so it's like "ga ga duh bee LETTERBOX mummy?". "du dee dennee PTERODACTYL". Brilliant.

We've had a couple of whole nights sleep now so feeling more human again. The having to stay in her room til she falls asleep is so tiresome as it can take her an hour however I've managed to escape by just repeating "Mummy is really hungry, I'm just going to have my dinner, I'll come straight back up, I'm just going to eat dinner..." and she doesn't object too much. She also doesn't like having it very dark in her room - always used to be fine - but now the landing light has to be left on (there's a window over her door so it makes her room quite light). She was awake earlier than usual today thanks to the light on the gro egg going blue cos it was so cold. It's so bright when it's blue she thought it was daytime already. Must remember to cover it tomorrow.

Love the car seat swapping. We'll look back on these things and roll our eyes like when I think back to the ridiculous hoops i jumped through to get DD to sleep, or ensure she stayed asleep, etc. Anythign to get through the day!

Just having a coffee here while indulging in a bit of work-dodging and laughing so much at your posts. Strawberry's DD doing a poo in the bath and Anna, your DH changing the car seats shakes head that is so funny. I could see DH doing something like that one day, he is all talk about not pandering and then some mornings he just crumbles before the wrath of DD2 (he does her drop-off).

Yeah lots of 'NO DAT COAT ODDER COAT WAHHHHH' here too. And getting very cheeky and chatty. But no complaints from me at all since she's being brilliant at night at the moment. I used to have to do 3 songs with her on me knee before she'd allow me to deposit her into the cot. Now she doesn't really care any more, in she goes, cuddles her new teddy that Santy brought, and chats herself to sleep. I'm sure it won't last as there's bound to be another virus or cough around the corner, but right now it's great. I just need to go to bed earlier myself. I went in good time last night and did 8 hours in a row. I have not done this since I was about 7 weeks pregnant with DD2.

Doing well with loo training but still quite a few poo accidents which happen mostly at nursery as they have their hands full with loads of them. It's a bit annoying as she goes well for us at home but we are able to keep on top of it more. I'm hoping it will improve soon, she's perfectly happy to do a poo on the toilet, it is just a matter of getting to her in time.

Anna sorry to hear you're in 4 month sleep hell with DD and a puking DS - that's no fun at all. I honestly think there is little as grim EBFing a non-sleeping 4-5 month old. You just hit the wall don't you? It's crazy crazy hard. I am actually scaring myself as I am having some insanethoughts about trying for another. Need to decide soon.