December 06: For my first birthday mummy I would like.......

[Indith]

Here you go Eli!

I almost put 'your clothespegs' on the end there. Ds loves clothespegs. Came home from Rainbows the other day and dp had made a deal with ds. He could play with the clothespegs as long as he did it in his playpen and let dp make dinner.

BP, what IS a 'Buche de Noel'?

Temperature wise, when I spoke to NHS Direct they said not to forget the 'old skool' things for bringing a temperature down, less clothing, cool room, cold compress etc. I find when ds is ill and has a temperature that I seem to automatically dress him more! 'cos I don't want him getting cold if he is ill, which kinda doesn't help matters.....

Yay, Sacha, you're back! Congrats on the house

It's a chocolate log thing. That'd be the Canadian in me coming though (before you think I'm an interminable ponce )

Hello Sacha! Yay for shiny new house with windows!

We filled a gap between the window and window frame in with expanding foam stuff today in an attempt to make this wretched loft room warmer but I'm still shivering!

BP a Buche is a great idea!

Ds has slept all night long for 4 nights in a row We even went for dinner at a friend's house last night and he sat at the table with us and munched some bread then went to sleep in the carry cot in the living room for an hour or so and we left when he woke up!

House not so shiny, just the windows. I'm looking good in rubber gloves cleaning up about 20 years worth of kitchen grime - yeauugh!
What a well behaved ds Indith!
Last week we spent the night away and didn't even rush back in the morning as where we were staying had a jacuzzi [double]
Mmmmm, chocolate log, mmmm, It's already the shape of a '1'.

House not so shiny, just the windows. I'm looking good in rubber gloves cleaning up about 20 years worth of kitchen grime - yeauugh!
What a well behaved ds Indith!
Last week we spent the night away and didn't even rush back in the morning as where we were staying had a jacuzzi [double]
Mmmmm, chocolate log, mmmm, It's already the shape of a '1'.

Well windows are a good start A night away though...wow.....double jacuzzi.......

Mind you the day is coming when I could spend a night away from ds. He only has an evening feed now, just doesn't want it the rest of the time. Tonight I have to take the Rainbows to the panto and I have to be there earlier than bedtime. The past 2 days of pumping have given me about an ounce so I shall feed him early and let dp get on with it!

Hello, all. Long time no typing again .

Glad to her all the lurgies are clearing up and you're all on the mend.

All the birthdays sound lovely - Happy birthday to babycastles, babyAQ, babyFGS, babymargo and babygodzilla - there's lots of older ones with birthdays around now too, aren't there? What happens in March that makes it a good month for so many of us [fgroin].

DS2 is still his usual clingy, non sleeping self but he's finally cut all the teeth that were lurking for ages, and his cold is easing so I'm going to get a bit tougher on the night wakings again when dh is home for the xmas hols. None of this 3-4 times a night waking any more. When he's happy he's such a cheeky little monkey and he loves having an audience. He's walking a bit but as soon as he gets close to his target he tends to dive headlong at it, which is fine if it's me but less fine if it's the kitchen chair. He seems to prefer crawling though, because it's a lot quicker. He has this habit of crawling at supersonic speed but gets his arms and legs mixed up and pitches forward onto his nose then into a big heap - it's very funny, especially the slightly bemused expression on his face as he untangles himself .

We're into the mad season here again. My birthday is next weekend, then Christmas, then ds2's birthday, then ds1's birthday and finally dh's birthday at the beginning of Jan. It's a manic fortnight and organising the presents is chaotic but I'm all sorted now, thank goodness. DS1 is having a pirate party so I'll be using the cake ideas you gave AQ!

We've just had a new shower put in our ensuite - the old one leaked into the kitchen the first time we used it so we've been showering sat in the bottom of the bath for 7 months. I can't wait to have a proper shower tomorrow!

Oh, and the best news is, DH has a new job and will be living at home permanently from March! HOORAY . Only 9 more weeks of him working away all week. His new job is a less than 20 min commute too, so he'll be home at a reasonable time every evening. I'm so excited .

Olihan, that sounds wonderful, at last, you must be so looking forward to it!
Pirate party is excellent, in the end there were only 6 kids so it was rather overcatered and too many party bags (Party Ark has some great pirate stuff btw). Grandma made ds1 a Capt Hook outfit, I must post a photo as it is quite incredible. He even had a moustache
Still sinusitis here, I am soo sick of being bunged up. I collapsed twice yesterday as my balance goes. May have to try for ab's again as I can't face Christmas like this!

LOL at the [fgroin[ - very apt typo there!

BP, I meant to say, DH perfected the art of giving ds2 medicine and he guarantees your dd2 will swallow using his method .

What he dis was lie ds2 back in his arm, tilt his head back, squirt a little bit of medicine to the back of his throat and immediately pinched his nose closed for a second or two. Apparently it made him swallow it everytime.

I was a bit too soft to do it that way but when ds2 temp was really high it was the only way we could get it down him.

Having said that, ds2 now LOVES medicine and sucks it out of the syringe himself . Because of the teeth/cold/more teeth/another cold scenario of the last month he's had a dose most nights it seems. Last night I realised just how often he'd had it when I put his bag on, read him his story, tried to feed him and he refused and started pointing at the syringe on the windowsill instead . That's really not good, is it?! Time to ease off the medicine, methinks.

at olihan's keenness for the syringe and fgroin. My birthday is in March

Our anniversary is late feb, responsible for ds1!

Dh's birthday is in March, come to think of it

Oli, that is such fantastic news. So happy for you. (How on earth do you stay sane in Dec/Jan with all those birthdays and Christmas? I'm cracking up just with DD2 and Christmas)

Yes - I agree with BP - Oli how do you stay sane?

Happy birthday baby Godzilla!

Dh is putting the christmas tree up as we speak. I'm so excited!

Wonderful news Oli, you must be so happy, if slightly mad with the birthdays!

We got our tree today and have put it up tonight, looking forward to seeing how ds reacts in the morning!

Ds went to bed fine without me last night though he woke a couple of times. Cue very angry me shouting at dp for doing everything wrong Well I did get home at 1am after panto hell with Rainbows followed by getting a mite squiffy with people from bumps and babies........

Our tree went up today, too. We had decided that we would wait until after DD2s birthday, to ensure that she felt she had a 'special' day. But I don't think she'll notice this year and we'll ask her what she thinks when she's old enough to express her opinion!
DD1 went to bed completely exhausted with excitement. I love this time of year

Indith, was the panto hell, or was it the going to panto with loads of excitable small girls that made it difficult

We put our tree up last weekend and ds2 spent about an hour pointing at it and squealing when he got up .

Is anyone else in possesion of an absolutely mad 4yo (or nearly 4yo) at the moment? Ds1 understands the whole christmas thing this year and is completely over the top and wild, all the time. He's getting up too early, not sleeping well and struggling to cope with life in general. I think it's just excitement but it's very wearing. I want Christmas to be tomorrow, just to get him back normal !

The girls were great, it was the fact that is started at 7, finished at 9.45, was totally unfunny and the theatre was a sauna that made it hell! One of my girls was ill and didn't come so I did get to eat 2 chocolate ice creams though

Hello All. I HATE my broadband. When I finally get some time to sit down to catch up the silly(I've being banned from saying"stupid" by my 4yr old!) connection is down or REALLY slow.

happy b'day to all the LOs I've missed(sorry that's really awful that I'm not naming them,but I fear if i scroll back to our list, my connection will die(again!)

Spina-almost-a toddler slept through for the third time this year. Last time was in June!!
I've ordered his cake for his birthday lunch(with grandfolks) at end of this month(Despite his Jan birthday,I felt it only right to celebrate in his spiritual month Was pondering today with a friend who shares his 1st Jan b'day whether his mum used to bake his b'day cake. I just can't see myself managing to bake birthday cakes over xmas since I have to work through.

Ds2 is leaving the xmas tree alone Really like the idea of soft/wooden baubles low down and posh stuff up high! Not sure ds1 will leave the presents alone though.

Better go to bed. early start again tmw!!

PANTS! It's almost 11. how did that happen??

Congrats on the jobfront oli! I know that will be so super having your dh working closer.

Am loving reading about all the birthday parties. Things ahve been wild here. We did our family Christmas early adn then dh and I have made an offer on a house so lots of paperwork going on right now.

Will try to do a proper catching up tomorrow but have read through most of thread.

Olihan - great news about the job. My DD (3.8) is ecstatic about Christmas and there is much anticipation going on

I had some terrible news yesterday. My friends DS (6 months) has a tumour and she has gone from seeing the GP on Friday to having a biopsy and then chemo. I have offered practical help like babysitting and shopping. Is there anything else I can do, do you think?

Oh FGS, that's terrible. Your poor friend. I don't know what you can do really, apart from be there for her. Maybe some meals that she can put in the freezer, in one and two person portions, so she has something to eat that doesn't need preparing. How are you feeling about it all? Have a (((Hug)) and a big bar of virtual chocolate from me.

Thanks for all the congrats about the job. I'm just so pleased that i've only got 8 more weeks of being a single mum all week then we will be back to being a family again. I didn't anticiapte just how hard it would be, to be on my own all week and it's just the best feeling in the world to know that it's nearly over .