August 2007- Half a year of sleep deprivation later... (but we're finally back in our skinny jeans!)

[JamesAndTheGiantBanana]

New thread! Whoop whoop!

Good luck banana - does he know you know?

Ds2 - babbles and smiles - put him in one place and you can come back 1/2 later and he'll be in exactly same place just babbling and and smiling - to me the perfect baby! Not got any teeth or any signs of them, can just about sit up hasn't rolled but could if he put his mind to it. No signs of crawling (the velcro on his bum is working well!). Eats anything you give him but prefers finger food (screams when he sees a chocolate digestive - what a terrible mother i am!). Also have had 2 nights of sleeping till 5.45am - bliss!

I will brave it to(can only find marigolds cover in mud) gingerly holding onto the tips of james's pooey fingers.

See we are all with you.

I sent it! Go me!

Cor, you can tell we've been mums long enough when pooey hands are no biggie!

Pants stayed on, but I was clenching all the way just in case!

Loler, no dad has no idea I know. I haven't told him in this letter either, I pretty much just said that he was doing my head in and he had to give me some space. Bit cowardly I spose but I can't hack it all right now, just want him away from me and J. My sis is coming over to keep me company tomorrow as I'm scared of him coming round. Anyway, don't want to clutter up this thread with that crap, it'll all be fine.

In better news, I have been given a caravan to sell by my sister, so that money should mean we can afford to move finally! So I'm looking for houses as of...now! Haven't seen any online so we might have a drive round the town this weekend. I can't wait!

Loler, James loves biscuits too, today we were stuck in town without any snacks for him and it was teatime so I went to greggs and got him a gingerbread man (no, not a sausage roll, MN police) to keep him going til we got home. It was pouring down and blowing a gale so I was quite envious of him tucked in his pushchair in a cuddly snowsuit with the raincover over, munching on his gingerbread man. I looked like I'd been thrown overboard! lol

James-big hugs for today with your dad-you're so brave. I was kidding about the food thing, though it would be nice for Callum to add a bit more in quantity! We'll be thinking of you for tomorrow and holding hands if you need them(poo and all )

I had my scan today which was clear of gall stones so the doc said i prob had a bad kidney infection or kidney stones which had passed!

Tasha-hope ds2 is on the mend and you got his medication this afternoon. Also forgot to say a BIG congrats on your essay score.

p.s james my nephew (who'll be 2 next w/end) loves greggs sausage rolls and has done for the last year, they're his special treat!

That's great news about your scan Helibee, that must be such a weight off your mind! How are you feeling now? And how's Callum doing?

well done james . here's my hand - it's abit soggy as it's been chewed non-stop for ages by dd2 but still holdable . i hope you have a nice peaceful day with no visitors.

helibee - that's a relief that nothing showed up on the scan. hope you are keeping well and callum is much better?

someone's hungry - bye for now!

Hi
still trying to catch up, but not sure i can.
Although everyone seems coy about my pg question

Tasha- how are u? sorry to hear of ds sickness, hope he is better now, we don't seem to get much of a break with sickness either, someone always has some thing, although mostly mild TG. great result in essay, how did you do that?

JGB- Hope things are going well, and you and sis had good catch up?

My 2wee- TBH it gets rather annoying when they talk loads, especially as mine shouts in excitement more than talks.

Yes we did go somewhere nice. We went to New Zealand, had a great time LL was great on plane and with all the travel- different hotels every night ds1 was less good, but got more reactions from him, with the sea lions on the beach, penguins, chocolate factory and train ride -his favouirite.
Although i definately don't recommend flights longer than 3 hours with 2.5 year olds, nightmare.

LL is slide crawling loads now, and yes also loves biscuits. he also 'Ah' a lot. He has a bit of a temp and chest thing, poor husky cry.

Hi Uki! Always good to hear from you, glad you had a lovely time in NZ. YES! we do have a newly pregnant aug 07 lady, knickersonmahead who joined us recently has just found out she is pg with her second. We actually took tests the same day as my period was absent too, but mine was - and hers was + ! I think we're both happy (now) with our respective results!

How are you doing now, Knickers? Hows the morning sickness? Have you tried seabands?

God, feel pooey this morning, my jaw is really achy, think I've been either clenching it or grinding my teeth in the night. Oh well, off to find something for my lo to eat scatter over the carpet.

james well done go you! do you feel like a wieght has been lifted? heres my hand also covered in gunk hope you find somewhere nice. how exciting

uki-i dont no how i managed 83% as my head has been all over the place. i was really shocked. it makes me think i can do a whole lot better than that ds2 seems in better form today. hes not liking the abs and the lump hasnt gone down any yet but in better form. i know uki its just one after the other. hope he feels better soon.

my mouth is all numb as i had to get a filling today but only one more appointment to go!

Hi everyone. Me and ds both have chest infections. We're both on the mend though thanks to the abs. Everyone at work keeps asking why I'm not at home. My voice is croaky so I must sound a lot worse than I am.

It's dd's birthday party on Saturday and dh decided he was going to volunteer for overtime so I've had to ask my mum to come over to help. It's probably for the best though - he'd only get stressed and go upstairs to get away. I would ask my sister but her idea of coming early would mean about 15 minutes.

Well done tasha - that's great! I admire you for being able to look after the kids and the house and study.

James - agree you are really brave. Fingers crossed that he doesn't try to come round.

It's been manic this week here - toing & froing from here there & everywhere!

I'm looking forawrd to lieins next week.

ds2 has yet another cold,but hes happy enough with it. no teeth & no crawling as yet.

car seat - still rear facing as I want to keep him that way as long as possible for safety so I shoehorn him in to his wee seat! I'm hoping that dd puts on some weight towards the summer so she can move to her HBB & ds can then have her tobi!

I find doing purees more hassle - maybe because i'm doing veg for everyone else anyway that it's easier for me to give ds2 the same. I love out cheapy ikea highchair cos its soo easy to clean & getting a wood floor i the dining room was the best move ever!

well best go wake dd so she's not foul walking up to school to get ds1. he won beaver of the week last night

hey bogwoppit! beaver of the week!!! how cute. my nephew's in the beavers and loves it. it's so funny listening to him talking about what they have to do for their badges. i was a brownie for a very short period of time!!! not my cup of tea. wish i'd done something like venture scouts though. hope dd does something worthwhile with her spare time when she's older. guess that will be down to our influence - scary!

sorry to hear about all the poorly mums and babes. hope you all get better soon. maybe once sring arrives we'll feel rejuvenated!

well done james for posting the letter. it's a big thing for you to do. i hope you've had a hassle free day. big hugs!

today was swimming day, my favourite day of the week! bit sad because the whole group was going to continue once this course finishes but thursdays is the one day they really need me at work so won't be able to go. might se if i can gatecrash another group but the waiting lists are crazy and we only managed it this time because we approached the pool as a group and they freed up a slot for us. we'll definitely keep going though. lo loves it!

so i've been perusing ebay for car seats and i know everyone says don't buy second hand but we have! managed to get two maxi cosi priori XP seats which is what we wanted. do any of you with older children know how easy it is to transfer from car to car? we need one for my car as i'll be collecting dd, one for dh as he'll be delivering dd and one for dsis who'll be chauffering dd!! just thinking if it is worth getting a cheap thrid one. just seems excessive buying three!

good luck with the house hunting james. will you be renting again? popped round to the new house yesterday. my oarents were looking after my niece for the day so they came over to see it. they really liked it too and i met the neighbour who seemed nice. they have grandchildren so my immediate thought was great, babysitters!

hiya, yes the scan was a weight off my mind and callum seems fine again. This evening we were too tired to cook and went to get chicken suppers from the fish and chip shop. Callum devoured the small bits of chicken that we gave him and had the middle of a chip(no salt on it and no oute skin)! He also seems to be finally getting to grips with his cup-he's got the tommee tippee first training beakery thing and he used to get very confused at not having to suck for the juice like his bottle teats but he seems to have mastered it today!

James-As for the fruit shoots and gregg sausage rolls, I don't mind the odd fruit shoot, i quite like the water ones (how sad am i? ) and as i say my nephew has a thing for the sausage rolls. I'm fairly chilled about these things, the odd treat doesn't hurt anyone well thats my excuse for the odd (er daily) treat of chocolate etc!!

uki-glad you had a nice time in NZ, we'd love to go to Sydney as my bf lives there but think we may need to wait a while, i don't relish a 26 hour flight with a 7 month old!

I think we may get the Britax first class for the next car seat but just having a look at the moment, i think Callum can squeeze into his other one for another 3-4 weeks.

Gill-hope you and ds get better soon-big hugs for you both!

Well, two days ago I said that Caitlin was a big baby and had no teeth yet and today she has two !!

Discovered them last night at bath time - obviously didn't give her too much trouble although I did give her a pear puree ice cube in her safe feeder last night ( so it was like a pear ice lolly) and she went mad for it and cue massive slurping noises and lots on mmmmmmmmm sounds.

The safe feeder has been great as we've been using it previously for slippery fruits that are difficult for her to hold like ripe pears, melon, mango etc.

James I hope you are ok.

I hope everyone is having a better day then me.

I have caught Lexie/mum's cold. So i ache all over and my head feels like it's going to explode. Got up this morning to Lexie having a very sh*tty nappy, then i gave her milk and she then nicked my biscuit and then she was sick all over me. Then while i was sorting her out Lizzie was sick (but it ok because she caught it ) so i had to DH up to help.

I can only hope today will get better .

Morning,

Sorry about the colds Lizzie, get well soon! Sudofed is good for an exploding head.

Hersetta, wow, two teeth just appeared overnight? that's impressive. Still no sign of J's, but his gums are white. of her saying "mum" how cute is that?

Helibee, J has a range of drippy sippy cups now, but he prefers the tiny 2oz bottle I bought him (bit naughty I know) as it's light and he can hold it himself. Must try him with cups more often but he generally just batters himself with them. How are you feeling?

Leifmum, we have just got a second hand car seat off freecycle last night off a lady with twin 18 month old boys, (she has obviously assured me she would never give anyone a carseat which had sustained any damage) it looks like a good 'un, J snoozed happily in it on the way home and looked really cosy. Yes we will still be renting, we won't bother with trying to buy until houseprices come down a bit, we're in no rush. When's your completion date now

Bogwoppit, we almost bought an ikea highchair but last time we went ikea J was dwarfed by it, he's still far too small for the highchair we did buy. I feed him in his walker with a tray for now, but means he bounces and runs off whilst eating lol

Gill, men just have their own agenda don't they? They always make sure they're number 1 on their priority list! Ah well, hope you're both feeling better by your dd's party (is she four this birthday?) and she has a lovely time.

Tasha, hope ds2's lump goes down soon, sounds nasty. I hope the good mark on youe assignment has filled you with confidence, shows what you can do even when your head is all over the place! Well done. How's your lo doing these days?

I'm fine, thanks for all your messages. I unplugged my phone yesterday to avoid having to sit here worrying about nasty phonecalls and messages, it's helped my stress levels a lot, I was getting a pounding headache every time the phone rang or if I saw a red car outside thinking it was dad. By this evening I will know for sure he'll have read my letter, and if he has any decency left in him he'll leave me alone. Fingers crossed, eh!

Ds slept through for the second night running He hasn't done that for months. He was up at 5:30 but I don't mind that cos I'd been asleep since 9:30pm.

Bogwoppit - do you feed ds2 at the same time as the rest of the family or do you save the veg for him for the next day? I'd really like to give ds what we have but dh insists on putting salt in everything during cooking and I'd worry he's getting too much. I can't remember what age I started giving dd the same dinners as us.

I'm feeling a bit worse today. Although my cough isn't so bad, my cold is coming out and my sinuses are swollen which is giving me a bad headache, not helped by the fact that it's so hot in the office today. I don't think there's ever a day here when it's not too hot or too cold.

Hope your day has improved lizzie. Can't get much worse than an evil nappy and being vomited on.

James - dd will be 3 this birthday. We've got to spend time this evening baby proofing the living room and putting up some decorations. Only her 5 cousins are coming but they're mainly between the ages of 10 months and 3 (the oldest is 6). We're going to have to get everything we possibly can out of the way. We'll also have to move the arm chair out of the room to make more floor space as it's not a particularly big room. Dh isn't working now but I've told him to make himself scarce. Wish me luck - I'll need it. I don't normally drink but I might need one by the time the party's over.

James - hope you are ok , seem like you have had a rough time lately!
Not much to report really, DS2 has cut his other bottom tooth which we didn't even know until 5 year ds1 pointed it out must say we are very lucky that we have had no tears with the teething!
GillL - Lovely when they sleep through,, i think we are on night 9 now but he also gets up at 5.30/6 am as he is always in bed for 7!
Hersetta- Love the safe feeder, he will sit for ages eating pear in his, crys when you take it away to refill! what else do you put in yours?

Need some ideas if poss, i brought so cod and salmon for ds yesterday but have no idea what to do with it ( i don't eat fish) so would like so ideas please ladies !

James - lol @ the bouncing & running off! hes just scared you'llpinch the dinner from his tray maybe! we got an ikea inflatable insert for the high chair, so ds2 isn't completely drowned by it. you can get sippy cup type teats for the little bottles - maybe that would be a good tranistion?

gill we all eat at the same time in an evening, but sometimes i might save left over bits for his lunch the next day (if i'm organised or the gannets leave anything!)I take ds2 portion out 1st to cool down a bit then i add any sauces or spices that I don't want him having just yet - tell your dh to add his salt afterwards!
hope the sinuses improve - sit with your head over a bowl of steaming water with a towel draped over. add a couple of drops of olbas oil too.

lizzie - poor you - hope your household are all well soon

hersetta - we use the safe feeder thing too for slippy food - might try the homemade fruit icecubes this weekend.

I love gregs sausage rolls & their sausage bean & cheese melts.

well only an hour left til school finishes for Easter. got MIL & her new fiancee coming on Sunday - we were supposed to be going to theirs in Gimsby & to the beach but weather didn't look so good so suggested they cam here. that way if we have to stay in the kids have room & toys to play with. taking them out to lunch to a really nice family friendly Italian down the road. they have an area set aside on a sunday with face painting, toys etc with a play leader so kids can play while you have a nice lunch!

it's very confusing here next week as the kids still have classes like tumble tots. we live on the Calderdale/Kirklees border & while we are off from today, Kirklees aren't off til next Thurs!

Pink, we put other soft fruits like Melon, mango and banana in it. The biggest success though is with the ice cudes of fruit (have to cut them into a couple of pieces to get it in. She absolutely loved it. Must be lovely and cool on her little gums.

Another success was her pressie from Mummy for going back to work. It's a fisher price jumperoo. Caitlin absolutley loves it and quite happily bounces around in it chatting to all the attached toys for 30-40 minutes at a time. She even complained with other day when DH took her out of it after 35 mins. Obviously it was just a pressie to ease my own guilt about leaving her!

Pink I poches come cod in milk last weekend then made a cheese sauce, snipped in a few chives and them mixed the lot together in the hand blender. I give it to her with a cube of mashed potato and a cube of peas - seemed to go down OK with Caitlin. The salmon I would cook the same way and add to a white sauce with some cooked brocolli/

Haven't tried J with fish yet, although he had a jar of fish pie once. I'm tempted to try making homemade fishfingers, but need a baby friendly recipe. I'm a little bit scared of doing blw with fish in case there are bones in it. Perhaps homemade fishcakes would be safer.

Trying hard to ignore the shrieks J is coming out with today! He's only exercising his voice, but he then stares at my face to see what I think of his shrieks. I did have a bad mummy moment earlier though as he was shrieking whilst munching on a whole ricecake which was lining the bottom of his mouth and looked like a huge row of white teeth. I burst out laughing at him, and then had to cope with five minutes of solid shrieking as he tried to make me laugh again. I had to leave the room!

Talking of laughing - my DH just sent me this clip. The cutest video I have seen - really makes me laugh

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayOCYhMh490&feature=related

Great vid Hersetta

J is still awake and screaming, as he has done for the past few nights. He was awake til gone 10pm the other day, just screeching and arching his back, bright red and sweaty from screaming so much. I think it's his teeth but I've given him calpol 3/4 of an hour ago and it doesn't seem to have worked. Gave him ice cold water last night and he chewed the teat but didn't drink much. Wish the little swines would cut already and give him some relief, he's been teething now for the last four months.

Oh thank god, I've just looked and he's asleep. (He's in his travel cot in front of me) my ears are ringing! I'm not used to him crying, the past few nights have been difficult. I know it's trial and error but as their mother it's you who is supposed to KNOW what's wrong with them, and sometimes I feel like I have no idea. I end up just ticking off the list, milk, bum, wind, tired, teeth... can't wait til he can actually tell me what's wrong.