Jan '07 part 3: Final score - 69 days, 28 boys, 21 girls weighing over 26 stone in total (thats over THREE TIMES Kate Moss's body weight!)

[2Happy]

And huge respect to EaH, without whose efforts we never would have had a list

(And yes, I am one of those sad people who finds things like temperature sensors in cars really interesting. Nerd.)

Wilkie - what is it that J doesn't like about grobags? Is it a particular type of grobag? I have two different sorts - one cotton-y with a front zip (official grobag) and one fleecy with side poppers from M&S. Otherwise I can only copy the swaddling idea that Trixy and Shimmer have suggested.

Hi all. Freddie had a really good night last night so feeling much more awake and cheerful today! He still had 1 night feed at 4(dragonhart can't believe ruth sleeps for 12 hours! Lucky you!) but went straight back to sleep after, so we were only up for about 20 mins, and then slept until about 8am!! He has never done this before, he always normally wakes up in the morning by about 6, and often around 5. So I got a stunning 9 hours sleep (minus 20 mins)!! And when he woke up he just lay grinning and making cute little noises rather than screaming for attention. I was so happy this morning I almost cried!

Love the pics RGee. Looks like you have the same pram as us- the M&P Pliko Pramette?? Freddie loves his and naps in it all the time. I have a picture of him in a white pramsuit from his first outing that looks almost exactly the same as the one you posted! What is your LOs favorite toy that was attached to the pram in the picture?

Wilkie only used to put a cellular blanket on her if she only had vest and fleece suit on and if it had got colder when I went to bed otherwise didnt bother as she always felt warm.

Rgee emailed you

Got Ellie a sandpit today as shes finally given up her dummy (shes into peter pan and thinks that tinkerbell has taken it to the lost boys) just a very subtle one that blends in with the garden (ooops a magenta pink plastic hippo shape doesnt blend it that well ) looks lovely with the lime green trampoline, red swing and yellow slide one day I'll be able to claim my garden back

what a huge grin candyfloss

Thanks PCF

HEY!!! Guesss What......he just had a nap!!!!!! I swaddled just his legs with a swaddle blanket after a feed (thanks for advice), laid him on my bed (rather than cot as I really don't want to put him off sleeping on it whilst I try to get him to start napping) with his dummy. After 5 mins the dummy popped out but his eyes stayed shut and 1 WHOLE HOUR LATER he woke up. (Wilkie honestly didn't lay down next to him and shut her eyes at the same time!!! )

hurrah wilkie !!!!!!

2happy hope you've started thinking about a new title for the next thread

well we're at the IL's and i'm just wondering WHEN WILL I LEARN!?? come down to surrey, i thought, have a nice relaxing weekend in the country, i thought....WRONG!! if MIL suggests just ONCE more to give Zac sips of boiled water i may well punch her in the face. she drenches herself in cheap perfume then wonders why he cries when she gives him a cuddle. she insisted on pushing him round Asda. MEIN GOTT i will KILL her if we stay here till monday!!

however, on the plus side, after we got here last night at about 10 i gave him a feed cause he woke up while we were transferring him from his car seat to his bed and he slept till half 6!! (a fact that MIL, bizarrely, seems to take credit for!!)

ok, and breeeeaaaaathe. rant over.

on the work front, i'll be going back for 16 hours a week, which will be 2 mornings and 2 afternoons, then 1 sunday in 4. i really don't want to, but hey ho, whaddya going to do? does anyone know how to work out the tax credits thing? i need to figure out if we're actually going to be better off if i go to work...

UD rememebr to keep breathing and counting to 10!!! Don't get me starte on tax credits when I went back to work after Ellie phoned them and told them my hours and estimated salary but all other details stayed the same, got the amended notice though which showed dh working 40+ hours a week for NIL salary so phoned straight away (they had also paid £900 Child TC & WorkingTC 'backpay' into our account we dont even qualify for working tax credit and only the minimum Child TC)

Even though they amended it on the screen there was no way of stopping the monthly payments (what a shite system) so had there £900 plus they were paying us £250 per month in my salary for 10 months phoned them over 50 times, wrote them a letter every month trying to sort it out never got sorted so decided to appeal to keep the money after a year they compromised it was their error and although I realised and had kept the money to one side we came to an agreement over the inconvience etc that meant I had to pay half back as I had kept all my phone bills and spent over £100 phoning them but couldnt just send a cheque instead they have stopped our monthly payments until the half we 'owe' them is paid back. Saying that I would prefer it if they paid it in one lump sum each year rather than monthly so its been quite nice having this lump sum sitting in Ellies savings account earning tax free interest

Finally uploaded pic of Hattie in christening gown have a look and let me know what you think?

awwww EAH what a cutie!! makes me wish i was religious, i'd love to get Zac up in a gown like that! however, it's another one of MIL's bees that she keeps stored up in her bonnet (one of many) "Oh we still have

Have to say if she has been a he that gown would not have gone anywhere near 'him' according to dh.

We aren't over religious but am glad that bit dd's have had/will have been christened and good excuse for a bit of a party if I had known about naming days before Ellies christening probably would have done one of those instead.

ooh by the way Kat, we are using Fluffles (i think 8 or 10 plus wraps obv) for the day and then Bumbles (3 or 4) for the night. think the Fluffles are £8.50 each and they are made by Tots Bots, and the Bumbles are £6.50. go to nappylady.com and get some advice from there as they may suggest something different for you depending on what drying facilities you have!

EAH the christening gown looks soooo prettty!!! Hope you all have a great day tomorrow.

I felt a right wally today, went to pizza express for lunch with a friend and of course Ellen did a huge nappy while we were there which I noticed when my jeans were damp....found the sign to the toilets and followed it upstairs, thought it was odd there was no baby change so just managed in the toilets using my mat on the floor. Another lady came in and said 'They have a baby change here you know' Dippy me had walked right past it at the bottom of the stairs! Felt like I had 'NEW & INEXPERIENCED MUM' plastered all over my face. I did stop in the baby change so I could use the toilet myself though so the lady's advice wasn't wasted!

DH is out again this evening....a bit fed up of it all really although he has said he won;t be late or have drunk too much I can't see either of those happening.

UD I sympathise with you and your IL's, particularly the bees in your MIL's bonnet. My IL's are coming tomorrow and I'm wound up about it already. Must try and calm down. My MIL thinks I dress Ellen in too much pink, she is bringing us vests and sleepsuits in 3-6 months which we need but am hoping they are pretty, if they aren't i want to say thank you but please can you buy pretty next time. Here's hoping I like what she brings!!! [sounding really ungrateful here aren't I]

vinorouge christening is next week but thanks for saying shes pretty

your dh sounds like mine 'I wont frink much/be home late'then staggers/falls in at 3am (have to say since our big fall out the other week he has only been out once and stayed at his mums so didnt disturb me!!!)

Hope everyone has a lovely mothers day especially all the first time mums I got 2 lovely cards (and ellie 'made' me another one) and some flowers and the take that album so am feeling rather pleased, now got to cook roast dinner for 7 people bet somethin will go worng

drink although it sounds like frink when he has had to many!

well i had a lovely surprise when i woke up this morning to give Z his feed at 7:30, there was a card with a pirate on saying "To the best Mumma" and a book about the "Zombie Wars" and a Transformers Generation 1 Soundwave toy!! Bless my little Zachary, he knows exactly what to get his mumma! (think daddy may have helped him a little bit) I got all tearful thinking "It's my first mother's day. this will never happen again!" silly mare aren't i??

well today has so far been ok, MIL hasn't said anything about giving Z boiled water (maybe she's been reading this and fears for her life!) but she seems obsessed with getting him to smile at her! the thing that really makes me laugh is that every time FIL speaks Z does this massive beam at him! think it really pisses MIL off! haha!

Vino - what does your MIL expect you to dress dd in? i thought all the older people were well into pink for girls and blue for boys? like it matters anyway - Z spent the first 3 days of his life dressed in the "Early Baby" pink vests and sleepsuits our next-door neighbours gave us!!

Hi,
Just got a question, Josh is almost 10 weeks old and when i was playing with him this morning he laughed a couple of times, quite loud like a chuckle. According to some baby books i have they are'nt meant to do this until they are a bit older. Have any other babies laughed at this stage? you would think i would know with this being my 5th but i just cant remember. It was so cute though!

Tracey

Kaylasmum - freddie is almost 10 weeks too has been 'laughing' for a couple of weeks already. Well, i think its a laugh. The noise actually sounds like he's crying, but he's obvsiuoly not and he smiles at the same time.

UD- I think your MIL and my mum have been talking. The last few times I spoke to her she's been on about giving him cooled boiled water! It is annoying isn't it!!!

Especially today as i've been a bit worried about LO. He's really not his usual self. He's been crying a lot, and just sleeping in between. I often struggle to get him to nap for more than an hour in the afternoons and today i had to wake him up after 3.5 for feeding He's been quite cranky all day and had a few sessions of really screaming and has been making unhappy whipering noises almost all day Not a good mother's day - we had his first proper wet tears this morning (though i did get a lovely card and champagne & choccies and a dvd from the little man) He doesn't have a temperature and as been pooing & weeing normally so there's nothing obvuosly wrong with him... (mum said babies just sometimes have "off days" and to give him some cooled boiled water!! Not helpful!!)
He has been chewing furiously on his fists and dummy all day long though so wondered if he might be teething?? I know its a bit early though- my book says thats not til about 6 months. Anyone got any ideas? Should I worry? Or should I just give him some cooled boiled water and put it down to an "off day"???

Hi all. Hope you had a fab mothers day. I was treated to some chocolates and a lovely card. But the best was we moved lo to her own room last night and she slept from 7pm - 4am, then until 7.15am (DH did both feeds), then DH took her out for a walk until 10am. I had a lovely lie in!

Shimmer - I do have that pushchair and love it. Impressed you could tell from the photo alone! The toy was a present - 'Mr Whoozit' made by the Manhattan Toy Company
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EAH - love the Christening gown. She looks really cute!

Vino and UD - I hope the MIL visits passed without the blood pressure rising too much

Wilkie - any more successful naps?

Kayla - Pippa is 11 weeks today (11 WEEKS!!!! Where has the time gone? Prob about 5 of those on MN!). We keep waiting for a laugh or chuckle but she's not quite there. I think from about 10 weeks they start to laugh, so enjoy it!

Shimmer - we've had a couple of 'off days'. One of those she was poorly, and was doing lots of runny poos and only resolved when she did a huge projectile vomit. The other there seemed nothing outwardly wrong, and I spent most of the day cuddling her when she wasn't sleeping. Both times she displayed similar symptoms to what you describe. I really don't know what the problem was the second time around.

shimmer - we had one of those days yesterday and Hattie seemed to either be asleep or crying (she hardly ever cries) and sucking her fists/thumb/dummy although she seemed to have fitful sleeps today she is back to normal so put it down to one of those things.

But saying that she had a bottle at 6pm last night and fell asleep and slept from 6.30pm till 5am yipee (did do a dreamfeed at 10)but decided to stay awake from 5am so that was the start of my mothers day so wonder if I let her sleep to much in the day normally which is why she wakes around 3?

Had a lovely mothers day my mum,dad and brother came for roast dinner and my mum and dad have taken Hattie home with them as Mum was going to have her tomorrow morning so thought she may as well have her tonight. Ellie and I are going to spend some 'quality' time together tomorrow (although I still have this throat thing and she has a cold ) but at least I can spend some one on one time with her.

Kaylasmum - we have had one chuckle from Hattie yesterday (10 weeks + 1 day) but she has also started 'talking' back to us which is so cute.

Cant remember who said about teething. I said Ellie was teething from about 14 weeks and she was actually 8 and half months old before she got she got her first tooth (well teeth as she got 2 bottom together followed by 2 top together a week later) ooops think I may have been slightly wrong by several months

Hello everyone im back from my week at my mum and dads it was good they looked after the kids whiCh was nice but im glad im back to my own bed as at my parents I had to share a room with lauren and im not used to that as dd is in her own room at home also I missed mn . Well went to my parents as dh was away for a week at cheltenham races it was all booked before I found out I was pg he picked me up yesterday and left again this afternoon to go to birmingham for a weeks conference with work so I miss him loads however he made up for it by putting £ 50.00 in my mothers day card and I got flowers and 2 cards one from the kids and the other from him saying how much he loves me thanking me for giving him 2 beautiful children and how I am the most precious thing in his and his kids life, what I want to know is what he did last week when he was away he never says s*hit like that . Actually he wrote the cards before he went as they were discreetly hidden on our dressing table aaah my dh loves me. Dont know if anyone is interested but iv got a early learning voucher for 20% off toys untill end of april I got sent it in the post and there is one for a friend so if anyone is interested let me know and ill post it to you.

Shimmer - Ellen chews her fists and fingers all the time at the moment casuing lots of dribble. My friend who is a doctor said babies might chew fists etc if the teeth are pushing down the gums even if there is nothing to see. Ellen has also had a few days like you are describing so maybe it is just one of those baby things, she just wants holding until she wears herself out crying and falls asleep.

I had a lovely card from Ellen this morning thanking me for taking her on lots of fun days out and a big bunch of flowers. DH getting quite good at writing with his left hand now!!!

Day with IL's wasn't too bad after all and the sleepsuits they bought weren't awful, not what I would choose but hey she's only sleeping in them. They also got her a pretty red spotty dress so will look forward to her fitting that - won't be long the rate she grows!

I had been thinking that antibiotics had healed my thrush and cracked nipples but today have started to ache again so hoping it will go away. Am fed up of going to the doctors I've been so much in last few weeks. On first name terms with the receptionist now although it has meant I've been making good use of my free prescription card! Tee hee

Well we had a lovely day today although DH was at work all day so I went to my mum's for the day. My Dad spent all day walking around holding Jacob looking very proud. Bless him!! I got some flowers and a card from Jacob and DH has promised to do the night feeds tonight - yey!!

Rgee - no more successful naps on his own , has to be on my chest and then he sleeps for a good hour at a time but I can't do much! I'm sure he will grow out of it.

Jacob has also had a couple of 'off' days - exactly what you are describing, crying and sleeping.

He too has discovered his fist and constantly sucks it. He hasn't giggled yet but is still a real smiler and gurgles a lot.

Still only pooing once ever day and a half or two days

EAH - Hattie looks very cute in her gown

UD - your MIL sounds a nightmare. I'm lucky, mine is a sweetie.

Where have Lizz, LTH and 2Happy got to? We seem to be waning in numbers.