Jan '07 part 11: How clean is your thread? Coz EaH'll come clean, bag and give you laminated labels for it!!

[2Happy]

The cushions are plumped, the cake is baked and RGee's cat hasn't depositied any birds in the corner: the new thread's ready to move into!

Where's Lizz when you need her - is she still unpacking her PC? I want to brag that I did some baking today. I cooked a chocolate and orange cake. Nom nom.

my laptop is being annoying so just seeing if this message will post. Have lost 2 already.

oh, that worked straight away....who knows what I was doing.

Ok, seeing as I love meeting people I'll see if I can arrange a date to meet in London for those who are interested. We could meet in Parliament Square for a picnic weather permitting or go to Pizza Express (there seems to be one nearby) if weather is crap.

• Who is interested?
• Any dates you can't make Aug/Sept?
• What day is best for you to get there?

Have been to the doctors and LO has an ear infection poor thing.

I thought it might be that, he has pulled at them a bit for the last couple of days and not been himself. He has had nights where he's been a pain at waking up but never crying, and this was serious screamimg, he looked terrified.

Doc says they're nearly always viral so to see how it goes. I gave him calpol last night and that helped, he went to sleep a bit after 4 ish. First dose for him!

Hope he sleeps better, dh is away and I'm shattered. Hope you're all ok?

Wilkie, has J been ok today? hope your night's better too.

Vino- I'm away the beginning of August and maybe sept would be better in terms of kids being back at school, unless it was a saturday?
I'm fairly flexible though

Where is parliment square?? How close to Kings Cross??

I can't do Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri sorree!

Vino - got your voicemail today but was too blissed out to ring back. Thanks for ringing xx

PILs looked after J today. AIBU that MIL had tidied our bedroom?? Just feel a bit...intrusive. Downstairs - great! Bedroom, our privacy. Maybe I am just being unreasonable.

MrsC- poor LO hope all is better soon

Hi all, I'm still here - just lurking and not getting time to post.

Went to see George Michael at Wembley on sunday and he was fab - we had golden circle tickets and were right at the front, no-one in between us and him .... it was very exciting!! But did discover that my pelvic floor is not what it used to be with all the jumping up and down

Meet up - I'm definitely on for a meetup in London if it's in August. Weds or Fri are the best days but can prob swap work around to make any day with a bit of notice.

This spa thing must be catching, I've just booked a day at The Sanctuary in Covent Garden for a week on sunday ... can't wait.

Hmmmmm, J has a temp of 38.4 tonight. He seems OK in himself but his little body is red hot to touch. Have taken his sleeping bag off and he is just in his vest. Have given him some Calpol.

Anything else I should do?

Poor little J. I've always found Nurofen for children works better at getting temp down than Calpol. You can alternate them, giving one dose every 2 hours (this is what NHS direct told me last time dd had a temp).

Hope you get some sleep and he's better in the morning.

Thanks Hattie - will buy some today.

Am prob being a paranoid first time mum but after his episode in hospital at 10 days old I suppose it is to be expected. I really reaked out with his temperature and started imagining all kinds of awful scenarios. DH got a bit cross with me in the end and told me to calm down and that I can't stress every time he has a temp.

Gave him Calpol but he woke at 1.45am absolutely screaming, like a proper wailing scream, so I went in and calmed him down but he was really upset and his cheeks were absolutely bright red and burning. Took his temp but it was down to 36.8. Could this be teething?? The only way to settle him was to sit in the rocking chair and snuggle him till he was nearly asleep then put him back down. He woke again at 5.00am ish.

Seems fine today, head and cheeks are still hot but no temperature and he is feeding and smiling normally.

Sorry for long post but am confused (and paranoid). xx

Wilks you have every right to worry about j its only natural. I think it may be his teeth they all react very differently to teething I always new with Aidan as he always got a bad cold followed by a really bad rash on his bum, my bf little girl is always sick when she is teething. I do second what hattie says about nurofen it works better than calpol as it is a little stronger especially if it is his teeth and with him screaming in the night it sounds like it is. Try and not worry to much and remember if you get really worried nhs direct are pretty good.

wilkie could be teething, could just be a little bit of a virus keep an eye on him and nurofen is much better imo than calpol.

London meet up sounds great wednesday best day for me (looking at posts so far wednesday seems good for most people) because someone can look after ellie (I am not doing london transport with buggy and toddler only dates i can't do is 7th-14th sept as ellies birthday and we are on holiday (eandh gets very excited at thought of meeting some of you)

rgee money going towards new carpet for hatties room and then we are saving to retile kitchen(had new cabinets but kept tiles that were already there)/new sofas in lounge

Wilke - don't worry about high temp in itself it's only if he is ill with it ie not himself, crying lots, in pain, floppy etc that you need too call the dr. Ethan was over 39 a few days ago but was just nothing and calpol helped, he was red hot too and was up until 11pm that night, all fine now though. Unless temp is very high (about 104 and above I believe) then there's no worry of a high temp alone. Temp can be lower and worse if the cihld is also ill so if he was 38 and ill I would call gp. Will catch up on rest later, typing one handed with Ethan asleep on me.

Thank you girls. I am just being paranoid - it is horrible holding your LO against you and feeling them boiling hot Must learn to chill. Have dr appointment at 11am to put my mind at rest.

Meet up - I am on hols 10-14th Sept (14th is my b'day).

I can't meet mid-week as dd is at school and ds2 at pre-school. If anyone wants a weekend meet I'd be available, maybe bring dh's too they could watch the dc's hehe.

Still haven't caught up but will when I can put Ethan down later.

ds1 not ds2 lol

Inlaws have gone. Will catch up properly tonight. Just wanted to say...

2 poos in the potty yesterday and today! And he told me he needed it!!!

Wi lkie- hope j is ok today. xxx

Hi all. Definitely (I should really stop saying that..I really don't know how to spell it!) up for London meetup. Parliment square is nice though praps one of the bigger parks would be a good idea? Regents Park or Hyde Park? Or you could come to Russell Square?? It's very pretty, about the same size as parliment square (for those that have been)and very easy to get to. If you're coming into Kings X its 1 stop on the tube or about a 15 min walk. There's a little cafe & quite a nice childrens playground thing (Freddie's just discovered the joys of the sandpit!) nearby if anyone fancies a walk. It's also about 30 seconds away from my flat so if there's any accidents etc. people can always come up here (or EAH if she wants to clean!). So... to summerise... i vote for Russell Square. Wednesdays are fine with me too.

Wilkie & MrsC hope the LOs are doing better today.

Freddie had his first "meal" this morning! Pureed banana with milk. Yummy. He loved it! The first 2 spoonfuls mostly went downhis chin, but he soon got the hang of it and started grabbing the spoon and trying to feed himself! DP was videoing the whole thing and I took some pictures, which i'll but on my profile later. All the books i'd read said 'don't worry if they only take 1 or 2 spoonfulls to begin with' but none said the maximum you could give them! I honestly think Freddie would have just gone on and on and eaten the whole banana if we hadn't stopped him. I know he wasn't really hungry as he had a full bottle only about half an hour before...Those who've started weaning... how much do you give them?

I'm making apple, pear and carrot purees today to freeze. Do you have to have one of those mouli (sp?) things to make potato?

Rgee- I'm in deepest darkest Herefordshire so not very close to you either!

Wilkie - Hope J is feeling better its really scary when they're ill isn't it? I think its 100oC that you're supposed to seek medical advice for babies but it takes quite alot to raise the bodies temp by 1oC so don't panic if he's 99oC that he's getting close IYSWIM. NHS Direct are really hot on probs and usually are overcautious about getting to gp so if they're not worried you can relax a bit. Easier said than done I know! when dd had v + d thing a couple of weeks back we went to out of hours surgery and I was complaining to dh when gp sent us home just to "keep and eye on her" that he hadn't looked her over properly. DH pointed out that prob only MRI scan would have satisfied me!

Ok, for the meet up shall we say Weds 22 August to meet between 12-1? I will be working Weds but seeing as its a good day for everyone else I'll just take the day off, I'm comipiling a list of all the days off I need to book as soon as I go back already!

Shimmer - I like the sound of Russell Square so lets make it there. I haven't given Ellen banana yet but think I will after Freddie loving his. I give Ellen 2 ice cubes of food for brek and tea which she normally eats most of, we have only been doing it a ffew days though. My friends ds ate 6 ice-cubes at his first meal so she stopped making them after that.

Wilkie - I would be peeved if PIL had tidied my bedroom. Did you go to the spa with DH or a friend? Ellen is loving her elephant. Hope doc reassured you this morning.

I am so excited about the apprentice final tonight!!!

Hello all. Well, rushed J off to the GP this afternoon (he seemed better this morning so cancelled my appt) as he fell asleep on me about 4pm and didn't wake up for an hour. When he did he was boiling hot (102/38.7) and threw up all over me. So took him to drs and......he has a really bad ear infection in both ears Have antibiotics, nurofen and calpol to dose him up with and GP wants to see him again tomorrow morning. My poor little soldier

Think I could make that date. Will check the train line to check prices.

Back later, tea ready xxxxxxxxxxx

just told dh to book 22nd off work as he'll be having a 'daddy/ellie day' ooooo am very excited now

sorry forgot ((((hugs to wilkie and j)))) hope antibiotics kick in soon

oh no, Wilkie, what a coincidence, they were up the same night and have the same thing. F is just in one ear though, not as bad as J.
No anti-b at the moment, doc said see how he is by thurs and he's not better but we'll see how he goes tonight.

I can't garuntee that I can come on that date as it's midweek and the school holidays. Dh may be able to take a day off work but I couldn't say at the moment. I'd do my best though.

I could get to kings cross for 11.27 and leave at 15.10. What time would other people do?

or what I could do, is get dh to have a day off and we all come to London and they can go to the science museum or something.

They'd like that, it's be nice for them to have a day out too.

Prob would be similar times to you, Wilkie, 11- 3 ish, an extended lunch. Ooh it's exciting!