April 2007 - back to the wine please ladies (one sip and I'll fall over - hwich)

[PillockInThePumpkin]

thanks to Pinions, Runny and Captaindippy for the title

Hello all.
Is there anyone in London who can tell me a good indoor activity for the under 5s at a weekend in central London, or tell me a good website please.

Re going to work. Luckily for us, we have really low salaries (DH suffered brain damage in an accident some year ago, and I gave up a career to get pregnant) so (phew to all of that) it seems God works in mysterious ways, because we are now entitled to have our nursery fees paid. Unbelievable luxury.
However, having said that, I am not ready to return to work yet, not due to start until 19th Dec anyway. I don't want to leave R but I'm slowly feeling the need to do something more. I trained as a Legal Sec during maternity leave, so hopefully I can afford to work part time.
I won't mind leaving R for short spells (A is already in full time nursery),but have told DH I'm not doing 3 jobs, ie house, children and job. I cannot imagine how anyone manages it all.
I'm hoping to get part time work with overtime, so I can still be home in time for tea!

as for parsnip, it is so sweet when cooked or roasted, it is really lovely.

When I was pregnant I looked forward to getting away from work for a while, but now I'm quite looking forward to returning. It will be full time for me though I do want to have another baby and have to start trying quite fast as I'm so ancient already. I wouldn't make any money after paying for childcare for two - D's care will probably take half my take home pay on its own, and I get very marginally more than dp, but if I get the chance to have a second the plan would be to return for a minimum period before moving out of London. At that point I may well choose to work part time to get a balance of something away from babies but to spend some time with them too.

I do have to sort out childcare though - I'm glad that I have a few months yet to get my act together. And I hope also to make good use of the time I have left at home - my mum is coming either next week or if not probably early next month to help me organise getting a new set of kitchen units. I really enjoy going out and have liked getting to meet up with other women who've just had babies, I also discovered someone I first met about 15 years ago, then was on the same union course 9 years ago, is now a local NCT contact, and before our holiday D and I had a lovely morning round at her house.

I'm thinking of how to prepare for weaning not doing quite yet. I'm looking forward to it as feeding on milk has been such a big upsetting issue for us and I think it will help me to move on. I like the sound of BLW ideas. As D was late and a May baby he's one of the youngest of this group (I know there are others) but he has two teeth and he's started to really look interested just in the time we've been away.

I love Petit Filous and flavoured French set yogurts for me but would prefer something with less extra sweetening for D. Can you use fruit and plain yogurt together? OK, I need to go and find something proper to read on the subject.

Morning everyone!
Auntie - another parsnip lover!
elkie, I think so, but am a bit clueless with the weaning thing myself, someone else will be able to answer you soon!

yaaaaaawwwwn - morning! Feel pretty good this morning, N woke at 3am and 6am which is an improvement, however small, and I´m all for that But when he finally wanted to get up at 7am I refused to get up so dh had to and now I think he´s in a bit of a strop with me (he denies it but he is so lying) I´m sorry but I get up almost every weekday morning with N, if it´s a day I work I get up because I leave first anyway and if it´s a day I don´t work I get up so dh can sleep a bit longer. And today I just went - uh-uh.. but then at 7.30 I heard N´s voice and could tell he´d go back down for a bit longer, went and told dh to bring him back to bed but he was being all stubborn and moody and ignoring me so I just took N back with me and we both slept until now. Dh being awake and grumpy on his own in the kitchen. tut tut moody boy.

Off to shower and dress, have to nip to the village and then have allowed myself the unheard of luxury of a woman coming to give me a 30min back massage at home. My parents get her round from time to time and it´s only 15quid.. not bad eh? So I thought why not, between breastfeeding, holding N, driving to and from work and sitting at a computer now I´m back at work, I feel like my shoulders are around my ears half the time. Can´t wait! Then I´m off to get my highchair.

Oh the untold excitement of being me

Elkie I can´t see why you wouldn´t be able to add fruit to yoghurt, sounds like a very healthy snack but I guess you´d still have to make it sweet enough to cover the tartness of plain yoghurt or D might not like it?

Okay off to shower..

Elkie, they can have plain yogurt. I'm sure you can add fruit(pureed, or mashed) And IMO babies have never tasted anything so they won't need it sweetened and you're not supposed to add sugar or salt to anything you give them anyway.

When dd was this age MIL had her for the night and gave weetabix in the morning. She said she HAD to put sugar in it because dd didn't like it. I just laughed. She NEVER has sugar on it even now. She is used to having it without. The first mouthful a young baby is given always looks like they're being poisoned as they don't know what's coming. Their face is always great but once they've had a few mouthfuls of something they get used to it and the face disappears

It's a matter of what you're used to. I always had sugar on shredded wheat for example. But with dd i'm trying not to add sugar to things. I don't want her growing up with my sweet tooth

Hi SMB and Maveta.

Off to do brekkie, porridge, no sugar

Morning.

Cameras WO! How exciting, do we all get free copies of the DVD ?

It's d-day tomorrow - I'm starting solids. Ds is acting hungry after feeds & is 26 weeks on monday.

I'm going back to work one day a week. Suits me as I like being at home but if I stopped work completely it's the sort of job that would be very hard to get back into after a break. Financially though I'm probably going to have to start doing ad hoc extra sessions to help towards the mortgage.

DH keeps on at me about when I'm going to go back to work "properly" ie full time which p*sses me off & makes me think he doesn't value me as a mother to his children.

Eddas - my mum did the sugar on the weetabix thing too! Not as annoying as the Christmas port trifle episode though!

she didn't

oooggs someone's replied on your highchair thread, it's on my 'thread's i'm on', not stalking you, honest

Morning all

Just a quick one for MMK. Can I recommend you Google all4kids, as this is a huge directory of all things for kids, as the title suggests. You should be able to find something. Or try www.yell.com (Yellow Pages online) as you should find something through there too.

Need to run.

Dippy says hello, but her computer is playing up again so she doesn;'t know when she'll be on
Right better run, have an appt at bank xx

of course you shouldn´t add sugar to their food, i meant sweeten with enough fruit but I guess even then that´s my preconceptions of the need for things to be sweet.. I have a VERY sweet tooth and love weetabix but ONLY with sugar on.. will feel a little bit mean (but only a little ) not offering N sugar but do think it´s better that he enjoys the taste of something, or not, but that he doesn´t get used to adding sugar... I read in Jools Oliver´s book that she gives her daughters (slightly older mind you!) dried apricots cut up into little pieces and they think they are sweets! thought that was a great idea.

Meant to say thanks for the link to that book Katy, think I am going to get it..

Not sure how much longer I will wait to wean once we have the highchair, he´ll be 24 weeks on saturday so while I might not go the whole hog I think I might start giving him bits and pieces here and there to play with... really looking forward to it [geek]

sorry maveta wasn't aimed at you re the sugar just that I don't think people(and by that I mean people like MIL and sil who gave dd tea ) realise that a baby doesn't know what they like. I had to try and retrain myself when i had dd. I remember going to get her some juice and picking up only what I like. Then thought, hang on, it's not for me, so picked up things I hate like, blackcurrent. I am the fussiest person EVER and find it difficult not to just give dd what i like. Still find it hard now. DH is better than me though as he eats pretty much anything so she does tastings with him or SIL and then I continue giving her stuff if she liked it. She loves apple juice. That came from SIL, she'd never get that here

hehehe Eddas you reminded me I forgot to say about Erin's tea yesterday...every time I put a spoonful in her mouth she made a retching noise like it was yucky, she still ate almost all of it tho

Crap night here, Erin went to bed ok then woke about midnight and was unsettled all night - didn't want to lie down. Dh had to walk round the room with her then I got up and got her to sleep...and what did dh do??? He bloody did a great loud sneeze, woke her up and scared her and it was another 30mins before he got her settled again.

Oh and MILs...tell me about it. When we went down the other week, despite MIL complaining that we were giving Erin too much food she asked if Erin wanted some of her chilli I think not...

No Eddas, you´re quite right - the fab thing about MN is getting advice and info from people who have done it before so don´t - you did make me stop and think why I would presume it should be sweetened..and you´re right, they DON´T know.. I´m also a pretty fussy eater and think I´ll have to make a big effort to offer things I wouldn´t normally touch with a bargepole..

One thing I am not sure of re. BLW though is that I thought the whole point of it being easy is that you don´t have to cart around specially made purees etc. but if e.g. we go to MILs house for saturday lunch, it´s unlikely N could just tuck in along with everyone because everything will be loaded with salt added during cooking. And I can´t just ask people not to cook with salt so N might be able to pick at things. So I´ll still have to take along something for him or cook some veggies seperate once I´m there, right??

nutty - your MIL seems really worried about the dangers of overfeeding??! Very weird.. what exactly is she scared is going to happen? You´ll have a chubby baby? Lord no!

My ILs are a pita about overfeeding which is rather ironic as Erin has never taken the recommended amount of milk. The last time they visited us and went on and on about it, after they went back FIL emailed me an article on overfeeding and the new WHO weight charts (somewhat f'ing useless cos they're based on bf babies therefore don't apply to Erin...)

Actually I have a feeling it's all because I didn't manage to bf...they have a big problem with it (only cos MIL ff her ds1 and he had colic but bf dh and he didn't). Dh warned them before they visited not to mention it to me...think if she had I'd have thumped her cos I was def in that sort of mood!

grrrrr I can imagine how infuriating that must be..

Nutty, it must be really hard not to slap MIl My Mil is generally very good and I let anything that annoys me wash over since she is my only help. And she has 3 sons who've all turned out ok, well okish so don't feel I should be telling her anything TBH! But your MIL sounds like a nightmare

Maveta, glad you didn't take offense No idea about BLW, but if I was to take ds to MIL I would just feed him what was there, because it's only one day and i'm sure a little salt won't hurt them. But that's just ME i'm sure others would take stuff with them. I think it's important not to worry too much. 'advice' is just that. What's recommended. and who takes notice of everything they're told by hv/mw etc etc? I'm not saying I'm right BTW just my opinion.

Right off now before I dig myself into a hole and someone calls social services to collect my salt infested/jar fed/bottle fed/sugar less children

Nutty, your inlaws sound like a pita.

I was under the impression that bf babies were more likely to get Colic - I am sure I read that somewhere. No dis-respect meant to you lovelies who are bf'ing btw.

Lovely day here.

What is everyone up to?

Nutty I think your IL's need introducing to "Le Pinions" .

Morning all. Just back from haircut then off in a bit to meet a friend for a cuppa.

Maveta, if you go to your mums could you ask her to do a few bits separately for N? If I am cooking for all of us I tend to set aside one pan for F with her veg/potatoes or whatever else in. Hers is cooked minus the salt but done at the same time IYSWIM, so no extra cooking involved! I dont use huge amounts of salt myself as I dont like it, but prefer to do hers with none at all.

Nutty, I remember your FIL emailing that chart to you! Do they have any issues with being overweight? Not necessarily themselves, but my friends mum really does not like large people! She must bloody hate me! She just cannot bring herself to talk to someone who is overweight. Strange woman Just wonder if their concern for erin's overeating stems their own issues. That was very rambly, hope it hasnt caused any offence as it wasnt meant to!

Have a good day all

Meant to add that the same friends mum has a young grandchild. He is 10 months. When he is with her she barely feeds him. My friend has had many arguments with her. He always comes home absolutely starving, but she cannot bring herself to give him more than a tiny portion as she wouldnt eat much herself Wonder if she is any relation of that woman off bringing up baby