October 2005 - and then they were 2!

[stinkymalinki]

My darling boy's birthday today

We gave him a Fisher Price Little People garage as his main present, which he loves, as well as loads of Bob the Builder trucks and Thomas the tank engine bits.

He's currently having a nap, then we're having a little birthday tea later.

A good day SM x

How is everyone doing?

I was online looking for a pic of a tractor cake to give me some ideas, and up came MN and I got all sucked into it....

Johnny is all excited about his birthday and we have been practicing the hokey cokey and the birdie dance!! Do kids these days know any of these things?

Johnny is losing a little of his dependence on mummy. I have been told a couple of times "don't kiss me mummy" as he wipes off my kisses

aawww Happy Birthday Johnny, I hope that you have had a nice day sweetheart xxx

Thomas hasn't done either of those dances yet but has started to sing ring a ring a roses and happy birthday.

Big day here in Thomas world tomorrow as we are going to meet his teachers at the Welsh medium school as he starts in the nursery class on the 3rd November. OMG I can't believe that my little lad is off to school!!

Sorry I aren't getting on here much these days but when I do get on I get sucked in and don't get anything else done!

Daniel is going to be 11 weeks old on Thursday and I just don't know were the time has gone. He is a good baby and the colic seems to have settled down now with him now waking for a feed at 4am ish which is fab as at this stage with Thomas it was still up every 2hrs.

Hello. Anyone still around?

Anybody elses 3yos waking an hour early still because of the clocks?

I did a phased in thing, 20 mins later/earlier every night when he was younger, but this time i thought he would be able to handle it better, but no, still waking at 5am. AAaargh. Not that we get up at 5 of course, but still.

We are having a nice quiet day today. We were at Hallowe'en parties on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Toddlers were doing one today as well so we skipped it, and Johnny and mindee are just having a quiet day at home and round about.

Hope you are all well.

hello I am still here! didn't want to post again as i didn't want to talk to myself!! lol
all well here, thomas started at the nursery today but I was called back at 2.30 as he had had "a toilet accident" so I am going to ring them tomorrow to see if he can join the january intake instead. we only started the toilet training just over a month ago and he has done so well so far but i don't think that he is clean enough for the school iyswim x on the plus side THomas loved it there so I have no concerns once the toilet training is complete

Hi YF. Great that Thomas loved the nursery. I think you are probably right to keep him back until Jan if they call you any time there is a toilet incident. Does that mean that he was wet/dirty until you got there?

Here, they don't start nursery until the term after they are three, so Johnny will be going in January. There are visiting sessions every wednesday in November, so we will go along this afternoon. I will ask about the toilet thing too, because although it is very unlikely that Johnny will have an accident, he can't wipe his own bum, and he can't even put his own pants back on. For some reason, he can't pee with his trousers and pants round his ankles, no they have to come off all together!!

In fact, he is showing no inclination whatsoever to get dressed or undressed by himself at all. I am all for leaving things until he is ready, but at this rate, he will end up annoying some poor wife who has to do everything for him..... Come to think of it, there are very few things I can think of that he insists on doing himself. Hmm, might start another thread.

Going to the doc this morning about lack of pregnancy. I bet I get laughed at and told to wean Johnny.

Mb, I spoke to the school and found that they won't take the children until fully toilet trained (why didn't they tell us that before??????) yes he was sat there in dirty pants which I thought was awful, the school is only 5 mins drive away but still not nice. Anyway when I rang them they said that if i think Thomas is ready before January then give them a call and they will get him back into the class which is good but tbh I think January is going to be soon enough. We weren't expecting him to start til january either we were suprised that they took an intake in November tbh. We had left the training til a month ago as we wanted to do it when things were settled then the week we started it we got the letter so all in the last month, we have started the toilet training, taken him out of his cot into big bed and stopped his 2hr afternoon nap as nursery is in an afternoon, so I think he has done very well tbh.
Re the getting dressed THomas always let us dress him but we have been getting him doing it this last couple of weeks and although to everything he says "I can't" (god I hate that phrase!!) he is doing really well.
Thomas takes trousers/pants off too!!! glad hes not the only one.
How did you get on at the Drs? I hope that they offered some useful advice.
How is Johnny sleeping now?

Oh the poor wee soul having to sit in his dirty pants. I bet it's not easy for the staff to leave them in a state like that either. Johnny gets really distressed if he has an accident.

Maybe just as well that you are waiting until January. I am sure I was chatting to someone who got presented with a big nursery bill as they don't get funded until they are three!

Doc wasn't that helpful. She was going to refer me to the hospital for blood tests, but then I asked her if she was sure that the hospital weren't going to just tell me to wean. She had no idea, so was going to speak to one of the partners in the practice and then phone me back.

Johnny's sleeping is going not too badly at the moment. I have a new mindee who I take to school three mornings, so I think that the new routine is tiring johnny out! He has taken to sleeping in the buggy on the way to school (have had to throw in the towel carrying him, he is just too bloody heavy!! 16kg or so i think) and then he is only waking once in the night, around 4 or 5am which means I can get a decent stretch of sleep if I go to bed at a reasonable time.

I got my first call today for the breastfeeding support. I have to call her back tomorrow as she didn't have time to chat!! Hopefully my first new mum isn't going to be too challenging!!

Oh, doh, but he is three!!! Silly me

Hi mb, just seen what you wrote about blood tests. IMO, weaning won't increase your chances of conceiving if you are already ovulating regularly, so the hospital should still do investigations despite you continuing to bf. Are you having regular periods? (this is the best indicator of ovulation, and a blood test 7 days before your period is due should confirm this). Also, you did get pregnant earlier this year, didn't you, so you must be ovulating. Make sure your dh goes along for tests too, as it's easy to tell whether there is any problem on his side, and the hospital will want to know this before they start investigating you. Hope you get some answers

Alice started going to playschool 2 mornings a week last week and really enjoyed it. She's not starting state nursery in January as there are no places in the local ones, and the one with places is in a failing school that is about to be closed, also not close enough to dd1's school to do pick-up/drop-off easily. So I'm hoping she'll get a place in the local nursery next September.

Yokefleet, hope you're well and enjoying your new baby. If you're ever in Cardiff and want to meet up, let me know.

ponto - the other doc said that they wouldn't do blood tests (other than a thyroid test) whilst I was still bf. I am in last stage of sub fertility caused by breastfeeding where although I am ovulating and having a fairly regular cycle, my luteal phase is too short to allow implantation. They said if I am still having problems 6 months after ds stops feeding (that'll be 2011 then ) then they will do tests then. It is pretty much what I expected them to say. I will just wait I think

Hello. Hope everyone is ok.

I am working loads of hours at the moment childminding and by the time I get all the chores done, there's not a lot of time to catch up on here. (LOL saying that, I would probably be shocked if I searched all my posts!!)

Johnny is loving it having other children around which is just as well as it would be a nightmare if he hated it!

How are all the wee ones doing? Johnny has got very independent suddenly in the last few weeks. He is hardly feeding at all during the day compared to what he was like before and if I'm honest, I am missing the cuddles from him. My baby is growing up and we were at a wee drop in session at the nursery today and I felt like I was going to cry because he just went in there so confidently. Gawd, what the heck will I be like on his first day! I guess I have to remember that it's about him, not me....

We are going to London tomorrow to stay a few days with my sister which will be nice. They stay near Heathrow, so Johnny would probably sit happily all day looking at the planes.

Is anyone else's obsessed with numbers? Johnny can recognise most 2 digit numbers. i know he is reading them because sometimes he gets them round the wrong way. If he sees 23 he might say 32 because he isn't reading from left to right. This obsession started with the bus numbers, but he seems to think about numbers an awful lot of the time. He can count items (eg toy cars) and can tell me how many he will have if I take one away, or add one on. I don't know whether just to leave him be, or encourage his obsession!

Anyhow, I hope you are all well.

Finally found time to pop on and cathc up.

Ds1 started pre-school in Sept and so far seems to be enjoying it. We are also trying to toilet train which pre-school are helping with.
They've been very good that way. (He had a trial at another pre-school who left him in a pooey nappy for along time - no suprise then i decided not to send him to that one)

He likes numbers too MB. He has his breakfast and then watches Numberjacks while he sits on the potty and i tidy up.

Ds2 is doing well apart from poor weight gain. He has just broken through the 14lb barrier at 9 months. It took him a while to take solids too but suddenly he's decided he likes food and now i can't fill him lol and his weight is finally creeping up again. I'm not too worried though as he is such a happy, active little fella and now he is commando crawling and terrorising his big brother lol

lol I think our thread title is a bit out of date now.

LOL I agree. will we start a new one?

NOt a lot doing here. Childminding 36hrs a week just now, so by the time you add on paperwork, cooking/cleaning etc, then it's more like 50hrs

Johnny is enjoying it though, but there are mornings I think he could do with not being dragged out of bed to be up for the school trudge.

He is getting so grown up. Some of the things he says seem way beyond his years (just copying of course, but still..)

I threw his arms round me the other night and said "mummy, I love you soooooo much" It was lovely

sounds like you are busy MB! I don't know how you do it!! I just love every new thing that Thomas has to say!! aw bless Johnny with his love you!! how nice! (can't wait for that one!)
Not a lot happening here really all of us are recovering from colds and Daniel is teething so sleepless nights here again!!
DLAMIS is ds still enjoying pre school? As Thomas needs to be fully trainned I think we are still quite a long way off. I can't believe that your little one is 9months already!!! were has that time gone!! OMG glad to hear that he is doing well now hun. Daniel weighed 17lb 3 weeks ago so god knows what hes up to now! He is a lump though. Weight wise he is about a month in front of were Thomas was.
PONTO - I didn't realise you were in Wales too!!

Better go as Daniel is waking for a feed. Hope you are all keeping well xxx

Yup, busy. But you know what? It's all stuff I would be doing anyway, you know, making lunch, tidying up from lunch, finding something to keep kids occupied etc. It really doesn't feel like all that much extra work tbh. And doing the school drop off/collection gives us a bit more stucture to our day than we used to have.

Poor Johnny is a bit under the weather just now I think. He hasn't been visibly ill for months (not even a runny nose and we managed to avoid chickenpox despite spending 6 hrs with an infected child 4 weeks ago) but now and again he gets a slight temperature and gets clingy. I guess he is busy fighting something when he is like this. We had to leave the toddlers Christmas party early today. It was a shame as it was our last time at toddlers seeing he starts nursery next month. I think he was a bit bored going there though, ready for the next stage.

Hello all (is it just the 4 of us now?) Don't get on here as much as I used to and have been using all my online time for Christmas shopping recently. I am an Amazon convert!

I can't believe how grown up Alice is these days, she chatters on all the time and is quite good company. She has been going to playschool 2 mornings a week since half term, which she has been enjoying, but she missed a week because she wasn't well and now I'm worried she won't want to go back after the Christmas break.

Does Johnny still not watch telly MB? I remember being very impressed how long you had held out against it! Alice just loves CBeebies, she would watch it all day if she could. I've decided though that it needs rationing so since yesterday she's allowed half an hour morning and afternoon. She doesn't like to play with her toys alone when dd1 is at school though, so I've had to do lots of activities - we were painting and baking Christmas biscuits today.

Yokefleet, Daniel sounds like he is doing well. Bryony is a delicate little thing now, her weight's dropped to the 25th centile but she's very bright and alert and is trying to sit up. She's 21 weeks now and still exclusively bf - planning to start weaning in the new year.

Phew, mammoth post, will try not to be away so long next time!

Hi ponto. Good to see you.

I know what you mean about being good company. Johnny and I chat away about all sorts of things. Wednesday is Mummy and Johnny day at the moment as I have no mindees until after school, so we go and do stuff like going down the town and having lunch or whatever and we have a lovely time. LOL mummy and Johnny day and here's me on MN

Still no tv for Johnny, no. And the mindees don't watch the tv either. Rather than come over as a raving anti tv lunatic to the parents, I tell them that it is all about balance, and if they know there has been no tv here then they can know for sure how much their child has watched that day because they are in control! Same goes for sweets/biscuits etc because when minding, we only have them on special occassions like someones birthday or Hallowe'en or whatever. I am very concious however that Johnny should watch some tv when he is a bit older because we had none growing up and it was a real sore point at school when the other kids were nasty about it, however school is a good way off yet. He does see some when my ILs babysit (not very often) because Granny is too soft and lets him come downstairs instead of sending him back to bed, but it seems to just be Strictly come dancing that he has seen. He likes the dresses apparently and then falls asleep on the couch 2 mins after watching it.

I am looking forward to the Christmas break. Johnny enjoys having my mindees here, but I do often feel that the times during the day when I have an hour or so are spent doing chores rather than having one to one time which is a bit rough on him sometimes.

How are all the 3yos sleeping? We seem to have settled into a routine where Johnny goes to bed fine at 7-8pm or so, then wakes later and then I co sleep with him until the morning. Having me come into the bed with him seems to be enough for his to go back to sleep, he doesn't always ask for milk, so i guess that is gradual progress and eventually he won't need me in the bed any more. I will miss it though. He is a cosy bundle.

Hi All, Thomas is sleeping ok now (he only came out of the cot in Oct and he is still getting used to being able to get out himself bless him He is going down at 6.30pm now (used to be 7pm til we dropped his afternoon nap) he wakes around 7am.
Thomas is really chatty now too and loves to spend ages nattering to Daniel.
Thomas loves cbeebies too Ponto, I have stopped putting it on in a morning now (before I used to have it on in the morning whilst I sorted Daniel out but Tom helps me now) so I don't put tv on til late afternoon when he is getting tired to divert him til tea time.
Are we all ready for Xmas now then? I have got everything bought (I think!) but still have half of it to wrap.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to us all xxx

Take care and will chat again in the new year xxx

Love

Hannah, Thomas & Daniel xxx

Hope you all had a great christmas. Johnny is delighted with all his presents, especially the calculator he got from his auntie. He spends ages typing in two digit numbers and telling everyone what they are!

He has had the really nasty cold that is doing the rounds here, but it seems to be on it's way out now. He had two days of fever and congestion, but seemed right as rain at bedtime tonight.

We are enjoying being on holiday and are having some lazy mornings where we are still in PJs well into the day. It will do us all good I think.

Hi everyone. Hope you are all ok.

Johnny started nursery this week. He is going to go two days a week and we did settling in this week.

We had already visited the nursery before Christmas, so he knew what it was like. He had already planned what he was going to play with when he got there but I reminded him that the staff might say no, and he wasn't to be sad etc.

Anyway, the first day we stayed for an hour. He was fine, but a bit unsure. Then the second day, he stayed for an hour and I went away and left him there. I am not in the habit of leaving him anywhere, so I found this very hard. I didn't show it in front of him of course, and he was absolutely fine. In fact he didn't want to leave.

So next week is the biggy. I drop him off and go away for the whole 2.5hrs. I will have a younger mindee with me, so it will be very strange spending one to one time with another child.

Nothing much else doing really. Just a bit crazy with full time childminding. The weekend looks very far away on a Monday morning, but I am finding that the time is just galloping past.

aw glad that he enjoyed it MB!! Thomas is starting the nursery school after Easter now which I am really happy with as he is doing well with the toilet training but its nice not feeling too rushed iykwim. Took him to playgroup this morning only been twice since Daniel was born as DH had loads of Fridays off so we had been busy but today he really enjoyed it again so gotta make the effort to go again regually. Although not next week as we are off up to Yorkshire for a long weekend for a wedding!! lol
Had a crappy new year so far as we have all been poorly today was the first time I had been anywhere other then to the Drs or hospital since New year as Thomas got an ear infection so we had to take him to the out of hours dr at the hospital then 3 days later I was there as I got a sore throat that became a throat infection that I then had an allergic reaction too so I was covered from head to toe is an awful rash. The hospital gave some advise to help but wanted me to go the the GP's next day for swabs anyway next day at the gps can you believe I had to tell him about my allergy to Penicillan?? I could see it highlighted in my notes but that was what he was gonna percribe!! ah well Although the rash has now gone my skin is still itching like mad and I have peeled now too. On top of that Daniel is teething and has got 2 teeth so far!! right better go as this is becoming a novel!! lol
Glad that the CM is going well MB.

Hope you are all feeling better now YF. I have had a terrible cough for about 10 days now, and a sore throat. Not ill enough to cancel everything and take to bed, but still annoying and making me tired and grumpy (what's new [)

Johnny has now done two full sessions at nursery (2.5hrs) and he seems to like it. I am getting a surprising amount of information from him afterwards when we talk about it. He told me very proudly today that he poured the water from the jug at snacktime all by himself, and that they sung a song called Ally Bally Bee (which he knows already). He was excited to get a story bag home today and that he played in the sand. But then he tells me that he doesn't like going to nursery He seems keen to get stuck in when he arrives, but rushes to see me and give me a smacker on the lips when I arrive to collect him. It is soooo strange being without him but I guess I will have to get used to it.

Not much else happening really. We were at the dentist the other day for a checkup and he stood beside the chair while I was being seen and didn't move or touch anything. I gave him his calculator to play with which mesmerises him for ages. Then when it was his turn in the chair, he co-operated really really well. Mind you, we had been practicing a big wide mouth for days beforehand.

Hope everyone is well. Can you belive that it is coming up for four years since we got pg with these children! Perhaps ttc luck will come my way this cycle and they will have the same birthdays!

just wanted to pop in and sprinkle you with baby dust MB