MAY BABIES 2004 GIRLS - LOOK HERE PLEASE!!!!!

[Egypt]

Sorry to do this, but for some reason I can't get into our old thread! Have tried for days, internet explorer bans me and shuts me down!!! Can you all convert to this one please?!! pretty please?

Hi Linnet.

Egypt. There's no great mystery. I just meant that she seems to have stopped posting, like so many others.

We had a lovely day. Having everything sorted yesterday really paid off and I was able to spend a lot of time with the boys. They were both very happy all day, especially DS2. All grandparents and my brother came. They are all the type to pitch in with the work, too. We had to take DS2 for an impromptu bath straight after lunch. He was just covered in Chocolate cake. He appeared to be experimenting to see if he could eat it through his ear

My friend who is pregnant with twins had a false alarm this week at 32 weeks. She thought her waters had gone but it turns out they haven't. They kept her in hospital 2 nights though.

Bozza. We have booked a holiday to Blackpool this summer. If there's somewhere off the top of your head you can recommend is good, please could you let me know? We will deffo spend a day in Lytham St. Annes because that is where my grandparents lived when I was little. So many memories there.

Ponka I don't really know that much about Blackpool, we tend to go for day trips and then just do the same things every time. I think Judd knows more about it than me. Our typical day out starts on the beach - there is actually a free car park between Blackpool and St Annes right on to the sea front and just there, there are masses of open sands. So quite handy although I can't remember if there is a toilet there. Then drive into Blackpool and park and go for a wander around - central pier and a few rides, on the prom, an ice-cream etc. There are loads of other things though like the aquarium, the tower, the zoo etc. Also by the pier in St Annes there is a small pool (I think it is supposed to be for boats, but there were masses of children using it as a paddling pool and both mine loved it.

How's little DD2 then egypt? And DD1? My sister is due next month and I am quite excited for her, and one of my friends who has had a hard time due to placenta praevia and on and off bleeding, but she is due 10th May so feels like she has got well on.

Anyone got any more ideas about birthday presents for a little 3yo girl. I am being asked by all and sundry and am very short of ideas. DH thinks she is a bit young for a doll's house. And DD says she doesn't want a bigger pram.

Here are a few random thoughts for you, Bozza

Letterbox is a great place for ideas:

FairyCottage

Paint a flower

Woolie dollies

Personalised stuff? Room plates, bowls/cutlery

Anything for the summer? Novelty beach towels, balls, buckets and spades, sunglasses
A Kite
Arts and Crafts things? Paints etc.
A wheely case/bag
Doctors/nurses kit
Bubble machine
Farm set
Trip out somewhere nice/kids show
Sing along CD player
Music CDs
Kids baking kit

Thanks for going to the trouble ponka esp because you have boys so you are not just reeling off a list of stuff that you already have in the house! I quite liked all the items you linked to but quite a few of the items in the list we already have. She wants a wooden Thomas, even though DS has already got one. Not sure whether to get her one or not. She also wants Rosie which is a new engine out in ELC in pink (obviously why she wants it). She also wants a pink power ranger. Do you see a theme developing here?

Well DS now has a pair of testes in the right place. It has been a long day but all went well. Although we had to be there at 7.30 and DS had to starve from last night, and he didn't go to theatre until 12.30. He did really well considering. He was given an epidural injection so was fine until about an hour before bedtime when he started getting uncomfortable. DD is at her Grandma's because she is rough and inconsiderate aka a 2yo.

No problem. I was going to add tap dancing lessons or costume to the list too but I decided I didn't want to risk a virtual black eye

I forgot to add this raincoat . I got this and the wellies for a friend's DD. She loves it.

I didn't realise your DS was going in for the op. I must have missed that. I'm glad it went well.

I'm having the night off tomorrow. In Leeds. Can't wait.

glad the op went well bozza. i didnt realise it was yesterday either.

dd is getting a proper bike, a scooter, some swimming toys, she wants a tool box , a peg board - the one where you put coloured small plastic pegs in a plastic white board of holes - because she loves it at school. great choking hazard, i have just realised.... oh and a remote control car...this is FANTASTIC! she already has one, which is a present from the baby, but mil is getting her another on dh's request, that flips and keeps going if you hit anything or roll it over. she loves the one we have. would have said she was too young, but she can make it go forwards and backwards, hasnt yet ,mastered right and left simultaneously yet, but it is superb for co-ordination skills and learning direction. get one of those!!

right, those of you with 2 children, (is that everyone?) how do you do a bedtime routine with two? please?! and when did you start? dd2 is going to bed when i do, sleeps in the lounge most of the eve, but tonight i put her down at 7 as she had fell asleep on me. no bath or routine or anything, but then again, she is only little and wears a vest all day, all night...
dd on the other hand was at the neighbours house til 8pm so had her milk and went to bed without a bath at all, quick teeth brush, and total lack of routine, which is becoming the norm i am afraid to say.

Love that coat, ponka, but DD has a wardrobe full of handmedown coats. And Egypt, believe it or not DD already has, courtesy of handmedowns a bike (though I am going to get girly stickers for it), a Barney scooter, a tool box and some hama beads which go on a peg board.

When I had my two I think we started a joint bedtime routine at about 3 weeks which basically followed on from what we were doing already with DS:
7pm both undressed, DD on mat on floor, DS into bath. Wash DS and get him toys out. Then DD into bath, washed and swished around. DD out, dried and dressed and laid on mat. DS out dried, dressed and teeth.

Into DS's bedroom. Start breastfeeding DD while reading DS's story. Put DD down while tucking DS in. Then into my bedroom to finish feed.

If DH was around he would read to DS and I would feed DD straight away and DS would come into to give us a kiss. Until DD was about 1 I found it easier to settle DS first, then it swapped over. So I read to DD first if DH is away. Usually we do one each and take it in turns.

DS has been struggling a bit today although we can see an improvement already. He insisted on being carried until mid afternoon - and carrying 21kg of 6yo round is no mean task - had to be carried like a baby because couldn't do it upright due to location of wound. DD came home in a right mood, so I ended up putting her to bed at 3.30. MIL kept saying how good she had been all the time and I was thinking yes, because I sent her to you well-rested! DH tried to wake her at 4.30 and failed. So I woke her at 5, she was really moody, then scoffed a huge chicken dinner and got really giddy. She kept asking questions about DS then saw him hobbling and decided she didnt' want to give him a goodnight kiss. Obviously abdominal surgery might be contagious. Still both in bed and asleep by 8 so not too bad.

I can see the next few days getting wearing though. I have promised to take DD to Asda to buy some pink flipflops tomorrow though. We will be stuck in the house on Monday so might as well get out tomorrow.

Hope you have a good night out in Leeds, ponka.

And even though we started the routine with DD at 3 weeks, it was some weeks before she joined in.

As a newborn, I just put DS2 down when he was tired at this stage. I don't think we had a bedtime routine for him until he was about 3/4 months. Then we just started putting him down at 7 - 7:30 with no particular ritual. Throughout the whole time we kept DS1s bedtime routine consistent. Tea, playing, change into pyjamas, milk and story, teeth, snugglies then bed somewhere around 7:30. We just tried to keep his life as it was before he arrived as much as possible so he felt like his life hadn't been turned completely upside down but obviously it was quite chaotic at times and we didn't always acheive that!

I hope it's going ok

Thanks girls. We are putting dd2 down when she falls asleep in the evening at some point from now on - i think. it's usually around 7 or 8 anyway, naturally, she wont stay awake for more than an hour or so at a time. last night we tried a bit of a routine. bathed dd1 and dd2 in her tummy tub. dh was helping or i dont think i could have done it. dried and dressed dd2 whilst dd1 still in bath, then dh took dd2 downstairs whilst i finished dd1's bath. this is the prob, dd2 wants feeding straight after her bath, but dd2 wanted me to dry her and her hair needed drying too, so i kind of had to do it. then dh brought dd2 up to me for a feed whilst he got dd1 her milk, took her to bed and read to her. i finished dd2's feed and put her down then went to dd1 to tuck her in. all ok - then dd2 starts screaming and dds starts calling and whinging, so got dd2 up and took her into dd1 - (dh on a phonecall). was saying things like 'it's ok dd2, don't cry, just go to bed and shut your eyes like dd1. see - she's a big girl....' dd1 went to sleep ok then.

can't do it like this on my own though. think i may forget about bath for dd2 until she is old enough to sit and join in and just bath her at another time in the day. would be good to have them both in bed before 8 though, no matter what routine is! trying to keep dd1's routine the same, although even she doesnt have a bath every night anymore, due to late nights!

apart from that, all going ok. dd2 is sleeping from - whenever? til 4am ish but waking 2-3 hourly for a feed. then from 4am she just wants to be held, won't sleep in her crib. so i end up sleeping with her next to me, boob in mouth! scared i'm going to roll onto her though. or like the other morning, forget she's there and pull my duvet over myself and whack her on the head. - result, screaming baby who wakes dd1 early. extra tired mummy....

thats ddONE wanted me to dry her ! cant remember who's who now!

It is still very early days egypt. I think the first time I did bedtime on my own DD was about 3 weeks. And yes there is that tricky time once you have got the baby out of the bath but still have the older one to sort and the baby needs feeding. It took months for that not to be an issue for me. But most of the time DH was there to ease it, and with DS once he was in bed that was it, never a murmur.

My Mum and Dad have been in a car accident on the M25. Luckily they are both OK, my Dad has a bruise and they are very shaken up. But they were in the middle lane doing 70 and got 4 times by a Czech lorry pulling over (left hand drive, they must have been in the blind spot) into their Fiat Punto. They were on their way back from France and it happened last night. My heart was really racing when they were telling me, they were really so lucky, although my Mum did say she thought they were going to die. Obviously car is a mess but who cares about that.

DS has done much better today. We managed to go out for a picnic with some friends and DS sat on a blanket and played top trumps and coloured with his friends and DD played with her friend. Then we swapped and I had the boys for a couple of hours and she had the girls, so it really broke they day up for me. But he got hysterical when I tried to bath him so I can't get the dressing off.

Bozza, I'm so sorry to hear about the accident. It sounds like they were really lucky.

You wrote "...got 4 times by a Czech lorry pulling over..." Do you mean got hit?

Glad to hear your DS is a little better.

Egypt, I bathed DS2 at another time in the day for aaaages. I couldn't face it any other way. I only really started putting them in the bath together when DS2 could practically sit up. I just did whatever to make things easy in those hard first 3 months.

Bozza,

I had a good look through my letterbox catalogue for my DS today and came across this and these that I thought might be worth mentioning.

bozza, so sorry too, to hear about the accident. how are your parents bearing up now? they must have been in shock for sometime. it is scary just how easy accidents can happen.

ponka, its good to know i can shill about dd2 and lack of routine for sometime then - as you are proof that they settle into one at the end - aren't you?! dd2 was dumped with dh whilst i sorted dd1 out last night and it was fine.

now then - nightime nappies?! dd1 is still wearing pull ups at night. she is super toilet trained in the day. but, drinks loads of milk before bed, and there is no way she could go through the night. she is at the point now where she'll actually consciously WAIT for me to put her nappy on at bedtime in order to do a wee in it! so it's not just a wee in her sleep, she chooses to do it. i'm actually not bothered by this, and happy for her to have pullups for as long as she likes, but trouble is last 2 nights she has refused to put a nappy on. dh and i were persuading, threatening, then realised that we obviously shouldnt be punishing her for trying to achieve the next stage in her development, so i fetched the potty. told her that if she needed a wee she should do it in there, or go to the toilet. had a story and as i left the room, she wanted the nappy on! fine, but if she refuses again do i just let it go? expect to have wet bed for nights on end until she gets the idea? or put a nappy on her when she is asleep? (like i have done millions of times- usually too late). what do i do?

Yes, I think I'm proof, Egypt (she says tentatively). O.K. you can see from my post before the last one that I'm not having totally restful nights but that's because he's got a nasty tooth coming through at the moment. He generally will go through the night from 7 - 7. I think I'm lucky that he is a good sleeper though.

I've been bothered about nappies at night recently, too. We went through a phase of him not wanting to wear a nappy for a few days some months back. He quite often has a dry nappy in the morning. We ended up trying him after a few nights of gentle coaxing and he weed in his bed. He wanted his nappy on after this. It's coming up to summer though. I know that I wouldn't want to wear one of those great clonking things in the hight of summer. I bet it's really hot in Singapore. If you do end up having to go for it, I think you'll need to cut down on the milk so late. I've been thinking about looking for old threads for tips on this because I bet there's a lot. I'd say, however, if you can stave it off without having a battle, I'd try to avoid doing it now, being as you are so occupied!

I would cut back on the milk, get her to wee in the potty and consider lifting. We did with DS when we night trained him but he was older 3 1/2, because I couldn't be bothered when I was heavily pregnant/had a newborn. With DD she very amazingly did it herself - I don't even know where the potty is. Although DS had it by his bed for months.

I think Mum and Dad are doing OK - yes I did mean the lorry hit them 4 times - mainly along the passenger side, with the car ending up facing the wrong way on the hard shoulder. I haven't seen them, but will probably do so at the weekend. I am a bit limited atm because of DS. Although he is doing fantastically well and DH managed to get the dressing off.

ponka I love those brush and mirror sets, although will have to question whether I can justify, when she already has OK stuff. I think DD would love the stickers too. I am tempted by those because I am so bored with bathtime and the toys - 6 years of baths, the novelty has worn off.

thanks for your advice girls. the thing is cutting back the milk will be as much of an issue as the dry nights training! she uses it as a comfort i'm afraid. anyway, will see how things go as she was ok to have pullups on last night, so not going to think about it for a while again, if i can help it.

having one of those days today. just want to cry at everything, like burning the pizza, because i was feeding dd2 and dd1 was being annoying. she isn't even dressed yet and i dont have the car. disney playhouse on all day! and just to top it off we have wood mites on all 3 bedroom's wardrobes, bedroom doors, dd2's cotbed, the futon.......bloody hell. dh is giving the agents hell and threatened them with paying for us to stay in a hotel until its sorted. great. i just have the time and energy to move.

and i've decided i can't do with dd1 being at home all day. i NEED her to go to school every morning!!!!!!

sorry bozza,
i'm pleased your parent are doing ok, and dh got ds's dressing off! how is he ?

Poor you, Egypt. Wood mites are all you need now. Those first three months are so hard, aren't they? There were days when I didn't get dressed until the afternoon in the early stages! I promise it will get better, just like it did with DD1. My friend wrote the day that her DS was 3 months on the callendar and just worked towards it and that really helped her.

So exactly what time was that that DD was not dressed, egypt? I am not sure how many hours ahead of us you are. If she will wear the pullups I would stick with that, with everything else you have got on. It is exactly the reason that DS was in them. He had a few dry nights but I couldn't face the hassle at the time and he started wetting again. The wood mites sounds like bad news. It does sound like you are having a hard time. Can DD go to school somewhere? I definitely found it much easier that DS continued going to nursery when DD was newborn.

DS is fine but can't really run around. He has got to the annoying stage IYKWIM, which is good really but.... Still I am at work today so not my problem. DH is working at home today so will probably be in a bad mood tonight if DS continues as he was yesterday. Work is not fantastic, mind you, don't know if I mentioned it but my job is being offshored to India in the next few months.

Sorry I seem to be moaning and mentioning everything except DD who is supposed to be the topic I am on. She has started refusing naps at nursery, so has not had a nap since Sunday because she was playing with a friend on Monday. She is very tired by 5. She also is having spells where she "can't walk very properly". Strange co-incidence that, after seeing DS hobbling around.

oo the phantom leg injury! we had that.

it was about midday when i posted that dd wasnt dressed! we're 7 hours ahead.

well the pest control co. came with the agents and told us that the mites aren't termites, in the sense that they are wood-boring. aren't living in the wood, just like to feed off it!? they took 2 of the little blighters away for analysis. he said he didnt know what they were but they weren't harmful they're going to find something to treat them. but they didnt clean them off, so they continue to hop around from wooden furniture to furniture. tbh, they look like headlice kind of. or fleas? oh god, have we got fleas? they also said they need to work out where they are coming from, as not breeding in the wood. how odd. i have a dooming feeling that we have brought them with us in our shipment, maybe from stuff that was packed in the loft.......that is still packed in bin bags.....in the wardrobe oh bugger

no no no no

anyway, what will you do re your job bozza? i take it they're not sending you off to india!

dd does go to school 3 mornings a week and does love it. i think 5 mornings would be great for her. its hard for me to entertain her now, which isn't fair. thing is, its very expensive, until she reaches 3, in which case the company will pay for her (to equal UK - nursery vouchers). dh isn't keen though. he thinks she is too young to go everyday, although its only mornings. thing is she is missing half of the curriculum at the moment. not that it matters imo at that age, but all the other kids in her class are there 5 days.

we'll see!

bless her, she is outside at the moment, only time of day when kids are about and it is cool enough. she's wearing her nurses outfit and seeing to people. and bossing everyone around.....

dd2 asleep. i have a solution to the rugrats time of day (quote HV) ie tea time. put dd2 in sling and she sleeps her way through me making dinner and tidying round.

as long as i can keep from burning her or something...

You sound brighter today egypt. I have never been in your position re - DD and school because of always working those 3 days - apart from when I was on maternity leave with DD obviously. Will the company pay for DD from her 3rd birthday (not that long now) or will you have to wait until September like we do?

Don't understand why you would have imported the mites - surely you didn't have this problem in the UK?

I don't know about work yet, it is really still very early days. I work on a sub-team of an overall team of 24 Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) of which 6 FTEs are to be retained in the UK as front office with 18 going to India. So I may retain my job. Or they may find another position for me which may be here or in another location (doubt that would be really possible for me), or they may make me redundant. While redundancy sounds bad I might at least get a payout rather than being offered impossible alternatives and after a while they just say well tough and I end up with no job and no pay out (I have been here 11 years).

I cannot think of an alternative career that would pay as well (currently on about £15/hour) but there are not many part time IT jobs offered. It will not be until later in the year though, so DD will be on nursery grant and if I did end up unemployed for a while I could keep her on for 5 sessions on my workdays, pay for lunches and send her 9-3.30 while I look for something else.