December 07 - I'm still standing, yeah, yeah, no!

[Wizzska]

Hello people, is anyone there?

Thanks for all your kind messages, everyone! To be honest I can't afford to resign, I would have to find another job PDQ. Not sure what to do but am seriously considering asking if I can drop a day a week next year when my pay rise comes through.

Skid - oh no about your mum!!

Clairey -woohoo on your ds's first tooth!!

Louise - difficult one isn't it? Ultimately, you are the one who'll be carrying the baby and looking after it, so you do need to call the shots but I can see your dh's point a view. I don't think that being an only child is necessarily a bad thing, I think there are advantages/disadvantages to being an only and having 1/2/or more siblings!

WRT TTC, I think we're pretty much made up our minds to start trying when ds is 2.5. Would like to have another one when he is over 3, basically so we can take advantage of the free nursery places.

Thanks for all your kind messages, everyone! To be honest I can't afford to resign, I would have to find another job PDQ. Not sure what to do but am seriously considering asking if I can drop a day a week next year when my pay rise comes through.

Skid - oh no about your mum!!

Clairey -woohoo on your ds's first tooth!!

Louise - difficult one isn't it? Ultimately, you are the one who'll be carrying the baby and looking after it, so you do need to call the shots but I can see your dh's point a view. I don't think that being an only child is necessarily a bad thing, I think there are advantages/disadvantages to being an only and having 1/2/or more siblings!

WRT TTC, I think we're pretty much made up our minds to start trying when ds is 2.5. Would like to have another one when he is over 3, basically so we can take advantage of the free nursery places.

I'm very at the ttc talk!!!
I think dp we have pretty much decided we are not having anymore
I honestly don't know how i feel about it. We've been so lucky with the ds's, they have both been such easy babies, excellent sleepers etc and i'm so blessed with them..but i'd love another.
I know practically its not a good idea, i suppose we'll just have to see next year after our wedding

yeay! Millie has taken her first independent steps. She stood up holding a toy then took two steps before carefully sitting down again. 9 months and 2 days old - you go girl!

Hi everyone, thanks so much for your messages. We are still waiting to hear our fate - whether we will all be sent home or not, and if so when, and where will we go (another posting?) etc. Apparently there is a meeting for us all this afternoon so we are hoping to hear some proper news - they are waiting for Ministers to make the final decision but they are all busy at the Labour Conference!! Anyway, in the meantime we are all getting ill through the stress and worry of it all so it's not much fun at the moment. Luckily my two children are too young to have picked up on it, so we have to keep life going as normal for their sakes. And now dd1 has finally settled in nursery and seems happy to go there every day, we might have to take her away again .

suey well done to Millie!! Martha has taken a couple of steps too but I'm not sure how well balanced she was. She is getting better at standing independantly but doesn't seem in a great rush to toddle.

only children and having more - I am very happy to stick with two and actually would not have been too unhappy to only have one. It is bloody hard work, I think you have to love babies to want to keep going - some people just have it in them (Clairey!) and some just don't. I am constantly knackered with two, I can't imagine how I would cope with more! And I think louise as long as you surround your dd with other children (friends, cousins etc) as much as possible, being an only child doesn't have to be a negative experience at all. My mum is an only child and she's fine. Although she went on to have four so maybe that is saying something...

BT sorry you are having a tough time of it, it does all sound a bit crap. Dropping a day at work sounds like an excellent idea though because that will give you a full day with just you and ds, which I am sure you will both enjoy.

skidaddle - woops about your mum, that is the sort of thing I would have done.

Welcome arcadie - I think I missed your arrival, do you have just the one dc or? Sorry there was a period when I just didn;t have time to read it all!

Sorry there are many more posts I would like to reply to but need to get on and make food (which is what I seem to do most of the time at the moment!). Hi to everyone, x

ok it must be independently, why can't I spell any more????

Hi all

Just a quickie to say thanks for your input on my question about only children.

It's reassuring that so many of you feel the same as me about the first few months being awful. I just thought it was me being a bad mother (again!)

The real problem we have is that dd has no cousins and at the moment it looks unlikely that she will (dh is only child and I have one sister who is 35 and as far as I know has no intention of having kids)

I totally agree with you dundee - being a mum means feeling guilty an awful lot!

wow clara - can't believe they might be sending you home/elsewhere - would you be pleased to come back to the UK now? Must be so stressful for you but glad the girls don't seem affected

Dundee - I am so in awe of your absolute honesty re motherhood - I think it is so brave when people say things like that and it makes it so much easier for the rest of us to admit to feelings we wouldn't have otherwise. I promise you it does get easier (up to age 3 anyway, don;t know after that), well with the little blip of toddler tantrums at age 2...

suey - well done to Millie!!! Milo took his a week or so ago and hasn't done it since at all - think he might have scared himself

re another baby - louise - I wouldn't worry about cousins - just make sure she has lots of friends, maybe go on holiday with another family with children, and make an effort to take her to friends' houses after school etc so she has lots of time with her peers. Only children do better than those with siblings in many respects and I don't think one is better than the other - they just have different advantages.

Having said that, I am definitely in the clairey/insy camp on this one. I do sometimes think I am addicted to babies - did anyone see that programme on a couple of months ago about women having 13 children, and saying, oh there's just nothing like having a newborn baby - I am a bit scared I will end up like that - so is DH.

Hello everyone. I've missed you all but have been really busy going to weddings and on holiday in America. We had a great time in New York and DS was good as gold, he even slept in a couple of restaurants in his pushchair so I could have a bit of an evening out. He was a dream on the flight although too big for the bassinet and kept trying to crawl out of it. He flirted with all the flight attendants. We also went to North Carolina which was much more family orientated where he could go swimming with us at our friend's lake house.

Skid - oops about your mum.

Clara - hope it works out for you, wherever you go. Poor you.

Bouncing - how awful for you back at work.

I started back at work yesterday full time. I really miss DS. DH is looking after him at the moment but hopefully we'll be doing our gardening full time soon. It's just a bit too quiet atm and a tough time to start a new business. I'd really prefer to be a sahm - but I think I may have to stay here and hope for redundancy, or get up the duff again soon and leave after that.

Am really sorry I've not had time to catch up properly with you all, have just skimmed snippets.

Hello Wobbegong if you're lurking!

ClaraQTN Thank you I kind of snuck on here really. Have 2 kiddies - older one: ds is 2& 3/4 younger: dd is, well, the same age as most people's here I guess! And yes it is independently!

Insy Bless your heart ... really? Looking forward to poo conversation!? OK: DS prior to potty training used to produce the world's most splattery nappies. As we use washables this was particularly disgusting. In my infinite wisdom I decided that it was a wheat intolerance (happens much worse after weetabix/shreddies etc) and tried to get some support from doctor. To no avail blah blah "If he's happy and growing and not failing to thrive then go away and let us deal with the people who might really need our help" Now he's potty trained I'm not sure how it's going because it all gets flushed

Thought DD might have escaped from the splatter as post weaning she's had lovely, firm easy to clean up poo. But this last week has been a return to DS form. But eventually I relented and went to the doctors about the fact I feel lousy and that DD is all croaky and splattery and it turns out.... (drum roll please) ...hat we both have a virus. [Not remotely surprised emoticon]
Any thoughts anyone or should I just go and do my marking and stop freaking out about stuff that doesn't matter?

lol was only joking bout looking forward to poo ocnversation but actually not that much going on in life at mo so any conversation is greatly received!
if virus then it'll clear soon, give DD probiotic stuff (yoghurt or powders) and banana to help - hope it gets better soon, we also do washables and ds2 already being put on potty to avoid too much poo in washing m/c

will hopefully get back on here later and catch up with everyone x

Seems to be a common theme amongst December babies to take two steps at 9 months and two days! Well done Millie!

Still no walking here although he is trying, just leans his body forward though rather than moving his feet

Arcadie dd's poo has always been a bit loose too, in fact ds' is already firmer than hers has ever been!

Skid dh thinks I will be like that woman too, I think that is why is is saying no now, he is probably thinking if I let her have another one she'll never stop. All of you that haven't enjoyed the baby stage as much, I bet you'll be those amazing parents who spend hours doing crafts/baking/entertaining your older children. I'm a bit crap once they get past 6 tbh-am hoping I'll be better when my own get to that age but with my cousin's dd there is only so much time I can spend listening to her read/playing princesses etc before I get bored

Insy you are so good with your pottying! You did it with ds1 too didn't you? He trained really early so that must be an incentive.

Well ds's poo has firmed up again after days of very runny poo, agree not fun with washable nappies!!!

Now if he could just sleep a bit longer at night that would be nice!

Claraq - what an awful position to be in! What will you do though, if you are sent home, you are renting your house out, aren't you - will your DH's company rehome you? Glsd that the girls are okay.

Many thanks for allowing me to discuss poo. Funny how many people in RL won't sit down and listen to my concerns

Mighty impressed with all your walking 9 months olds. Am taking heart at the fact that by next summer DD will be walking and so won't have to be plonked on the grass outside where she pulls up fistfuls of earth and leaves and then stuffs them into her little mouth.... Hmm - potentially why she has the runs? ?

Just spent the evening at school ( ON MY DAY OFF!) doing an open evening for potential parents. Spotted an 11 month old and spent the next 5 minutes talking to the parents about little Polly rather than about their daughter who will be joining our school. Have clearly had brain turned to baby mush by dc2. Mush I tell you.

Arcadie - I'm the same. 2nd day back at work yesterday and we had a private view last night. Instead of talking about paintings I ended up just chatting about kids to a client who has five and was full of advice. It was the only subject I could summon up an interest in. I've had to buy a nice photo frame with DS's picture in to put on my desk to keep me going through the day. I'm so upset to be away from him still.

Poo conversation! DS's have been all over the shop lately. Runny, firm and all in between. It's a mixture of teething and the fact that we've been on holiday and his diet has been a bit strange because I've not been cooking. We had what we call the 'Broadway Incident' in a nice healthfood restaurant in NY. The queue for the ladies where the changer was was long so I asked the women in line if they would mind me changing him on the floor in front of them (not in the restaurant bit, it was downstairs). Of course it was Pandora's box when I took his shorts off - everywhere. All over his back, his legs, his armpits, his shorts and t-shirt, my jeans too got a healthy helping and the changing mat. I just kept saying 'Oh my god!' as found more and more. I had to ask one of the ladies in the queue to fetch my DH. Luckily she was really nice about it and DH didn't mind because he thought she was fit. I'm sure we all have these moments.

oh no wizz! Think about the pleasure it will give you to retell the story when he brings a girlfriend home [evil emoticon].
I am going into work today on my only day off this week. But it is to interview some poor sod who was working for a certain investment bank that went under last week. Don't have anything at the mo but she has an awesome cv

Oh no Wizz! The worst poo incidents always seem to happen in public. Glad you had a good time though.

All of you back at work I don't know how you manage, I find it hard enough just dealing with my two let alone having to think about anything else on top! I already don't seem to have enough hours in the day so god knows how you do it.

Exactly 4 weeks since I felt all sicky etc and I do again! Hope it isn't going to be the case every month. Maybe it is my body's way of reminding me just how awful morning sickness is and it is saying "Just because you are ovulating doesn't mean you should get pregnant". Or perhaps it is just a coincidence...I've never heard of anyone having ovulation symptoms before! Sorry you are all a bit too familiar with my cycle now!

DS took a step this morning. Only from bedside table to bed though and am not sure he is ready to do it without something directly in front of him to catch hold of yet. Still, he looked very pleased with himself when he did it

clairey - i am exactly the same - I love love love tiny babies and often get a bit bored and frustrated with older children (including my own ) - DH thinks it is because they are so helpless and I like feeling needed! I don't know if that makes me some kind of awful control freak! I think my DH is also worried that if he lets me have one more it'll never stop although I do think I'll be happy with three...

wizz at the poo story and your DH not minding because the woman was fit!! It is awful going back to work at first, isn't it? But it really does get easier as it becomes normal, hang on in there

Arcadie - with you on the splattery poos and washable nappies . Happily for me DS has lovely solid poos which is a very welcome treat after DD's horrid splattery ones. I often come downstairs having just changed DS's nappy and tell DH how much I like DS's poos! Hmm maybe I need to up the quality of my conversation ...

Have finally uploaded a couple of pics from my sister's wedding. DS did have a waistcoat too but he was sick on it before we got a picture!

Clairey - They look gorgeous!

Just where is everyone?

I'm here!

Wizzka - I was both and at your poo story!!

Arcadie - people who don't want to discuss poo? Strange, people

Clairey - oh your ds looked so cute in his suit and your dd looked like a little princess in her pretty dress, they are both so gorgeous!!

Spoke to my boss yesterday and he is open to my request that I could work 4 days a week from Jan, if I want it! It still has to be agreed with those above!

Wizz LOL At your poo story. I often find that when dealing with truly awful situations that I try to remember how funny they will be when I retell them on Facebook or Mumsnet....

BT Pleased to hear that your work are playing ball.

Clairybee STEPS!!! My word. Clever chap. And on the going back to work front: I really don't have enough hours in the day ( except for reading MN of course) and therefore quit the day I went back after maternity leave. Just working out my notice now. Finding that a "nine month holiday" followed by a letter of resignation is not the best way to ingratiate yourself with your work colleagues

And Suey how high powered a job do you have that you're interviewing investment bankers? Blimey.

hi all - photos are scrumptious clairey

speaking of facebook, for those in the dec07 group that is me that has just requested to join so please accept me ... it's so quiet on here these days i need some more babytalk!

arcadie - lol I can imagine resigning onyuor first day back didn;t impress them! Must eb a relief for you though now it's done