August 2007- Happy Birthday babies!

[JamesAndTheGiantBanana]

New thread. Happy birthday to all our gorgeous girls and beautiful boys!!

Message withdrawn

bloody buggery weather.

We've got Cait's birthday party on Sunday and it's supposed to piss down for most of the day. bah - will be a right squeeze if everyone has to be in the house with six 1 yr olds to trip over !!

Hersetta

I know what you mean we have Lexie birthday on sunday and we have only family coming. But that's 18 people .

DH wanted to do a BBQ, but i have decided to do a buffet so i don't have to panic on sunday if it rains.

Have change all my food order from stuff to make my own burgers to a huge joint of prok and a whole leg of lamb so everyone is having hot meat in rolls instead. Am also making chicken kebab marrinated in soy, honey and terriaki and lamb kofte kebabs which can be whacked on the BBQ if it doesn't rain or can go in the oven if it does.

40 people in my house won't fit!!

Every one will have to become good friends .

I'm just doing Cold Roast Chicken with sausage sage & onion stuffing and a mustard & orange baked boiled bacon. With boiled pots and salad and french bread.

And then sausage Rolls, cheese and Onion rolls, cheese and crackers. Crisps and snacks.

Message withdrawn

hi james is James's bottom any better. Callums got worse again whilst we were away but it's almost cleared up now. It sounds identical. If it's still bad i'd ask the doc for trimovate-it really helped Callum and then apply lashings of barrier cream on top.

Callums temp went up to 39.6 the other day and then after that nights sleep he woke up looking more himself than he's been for the last 3 weeks, hopefully he's all better now. I also fell down the stairs and landed on my back and have put my back out-thats why i've not been on here all week. I can't lift C at the mo under docs strict orders so have needed help from MIL all week.

We are also concerned that Callum is intolerant to normal cows milk so doc said to keep him on formula, unfortunately he ardly eats if he has that more than twice a day so then doc said to get cow and gate no 4 milk (the cows milk version of formula for over ones) to see if that helps-so far so good!

Will try and upload pics tomorrow and catch up with everyone-sorry it was all me me me.

Message withdrawn

Morning all [yawn]

We had a completely child-free evening yesterday. Ds hardly slept all day while I was out. I went home about 6pm and both dcs went to sleep in the car and stayed asleep so they both went straight to bed. Ds disturbed at 3am and keeps making noises. I haven't been back to sleep yet so I decided to come downstairs.

I've been researching local schools for the past few days. It's already making me stressed and I think that's one of the reasons why I can't get back to sleep now. The original plan was to apply for the school near my mum's but having looked at the Ofsted report I'm not too happy about it now. There are much better school's near us and I would rather change my hours at work or find a local childminder than compromise her education for convenience. I think there are a few of us looking for schools this year - My2, shrinkingsagpuss, snot? Any advice Lizzie?

Hope the parties go well today Hersetta and Lizzie. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a dry day where you are.

Helibee - sounds like you've both been in the wars. Hope you're both feeling better soon. I can't imagine what my dcs would be like if I couldn't pick them up!

James - hope J's bum is better. Alex's is very red at the moment. Yesterday he had 6 or 7 foul smelling watery dirty nappies. I think he may have the same stomach upset that dd's had for the few days. Neither seem bothered by it other than having sore bums.

hi all

gill/helibee i am sending the sleep fairies your way (but you need to send them back). since dd2 has been walking her sleep is disturbed at night - she's obviously got to much to be doing! having said that she's sound asleep in the buggy just now and DP has taken dd1 to the falkirk wheel (again - she loves going there).

i've got 4 presentations to do at work in the next 2 weeks and i'm supposed to be getting with writing them - but i just can't build up the enthusiasm for it adn have come on here instead .

gill - yes - dd1 will be starting school next year. we're lucky though as there are 2 very good schools near us and dd1 falls into the catchment area for the slightly better one. i don't always trust the official reports, do you know any parents who send their kids elsewhere? could you register her a couple until you decide for sure (not sure how it works in england....). i always wondered on here what the hell mums were talking about when they said their child was in reception - i though it meant that they were waiting in a reception surrounded by potted plants and superefficient receptionists and didn't realise that's what primary 1 is called in england .

lizzie/hersetta - hope the parties went well?

have completely forgotten everyone else's news - will come back later - off to do some work

Horaaaaaay everyone gone home . The party went well, Lexie took herself off to bed half way through .

GillL

If it was me I would change my hours and dd into the nearest school to where i live. Not only because the school better but because having spent a year taking Lizzie to a school which was a 30min walk away (new school is only 5mins walk away) the time wasted while walking to and fro.

Hi, oh god I really can't keep up, sorry girls.

Tasha, best of luck with Bradley's operation tomorrow, I hope he's ok and you don't get too stressed about it.

Leifmum I've got J's second lot of jabs on thurs, dreading it. Glad she was ok! How was cornwall?

Joe, J's eating has slowed way down too. I was disturbed at first but he's still got a little pot belly, so I guess he's getting enough!

Conker, how and you doing now, hon? J loves his books too, they're his favourite toys.

Gill, J is generally having porridge/weetabix with oodles of milk in the mornings rather than a bottle now. He still has his bedtime bottle. Can't believe we're finally here! 1 bottle a day! I rememember the days of having to take 2 or 3 bottles up to bed at night, and umpteen little nappies. I feel oddly spoilt now! lol

loler, glad you enjoyed your holiday, sounds lovely. How have you found your first week back at work?

Lizzie, lol at lexie taking herself off to bed mid-party, funny little thing! Glad you're feeling ok with no ms.

Helibee, sorry to hear you hurt your back, did you faint again? James's bottom isn't much better unfortunately.

It's my fault, I thought he seemed better yesterday and I fed him two plums. Then tonight, an hour after his last nappy change where he was pretty much ok, he pooed and I went to change him and his whole crotch was bright red and so sore, with a bit of fresh blood on top of the acidic poo. (Blood from his raw skin, not blood in the poo, iyswim) - We have trimovate. I bathed him, put some on and then slathered him in bepanthen too. I don't know if he has some kind of tummy problem or if it's just a case of the fruit being far too acidic for his bum right now. Any opinions?

J is walking now too, he can do about 7 or 8 steps before he sits down. He has 4, possibly 5 teeth now (will NOT let me look, stubborn git) and is getting sooo much better about brushing his teeth, thank god, the result of me standing by the bath every night like a cheerleader on acid, cheering and praising him so he'll keep gnawing on the brush lol

Today I attempted for the fourth time to get J to do some drawing with his crayons, and it finally worked! He finally put crayon to paper and drew a few faint wobbly lines. I was immensely and unreasonably proud!

Sorry for the mammoth waffle, goodnight all xxx

Thanks for the sleep fairy My2. I woke up at 5 this morning after having one of those 'going to the loo' dreams. It felt like it took me a while to get back to sleep but probably only 10 minutes.

Alex has started to let go of the furniture as if he is going to walk but he just falls forward. He is very good at walking if I hold his hand but he's not quite confident enough to walk on his own. I'm sure he'll get there soon.

Glad the party went well lizzie. Dd slept most of the way through her cousin's birthday party once but she was only 5 months old

I'm feeling a bit calmer about schools now. I discussed it with dh and he now agrees with me that we should put down our 3 closest schools as top of the list and I would change my working hours. Our 2 closest schools are listed as oustanding and good in the ofted reports. Apparently there's no such thing as catchment areas any more and, having looked at admission policies, it seems that distance from school is bottom of the list of considerations when schools are choosing their pupils. I don't really understand how it works. I thought kids just went to their closest school.

Poor little James. Hope his bum starts to get better soon. Lol about the 'cheerleader on acid'. I've got a mental picture of you in the bathroom shaking pom poms

gill- that does sound complicated about schools - where i live there is a village school for 60 children, and a choice doesnt really come into it, although I suppose if you really wanted them to go elsewhere and you could drive them, I suppose you could apply.

james- after saying you cant keep up, you always give the best summaries of whats going on - i too was lol at the cheerleader picture. cant help with the plum thing - but what you said sounds logical so maybe a few days with bland foods might help.

slightly bad mummy moment last night - ds has been waking more than usual, and coming into our bed then wanting to suck for half the night - did an experiment, and he was happy sucking my arm for 10 mins, so I know its not always milk he wants. So last night, when he woke at 11.30 and wouldnt settle, I gave him calpol night.

He had a quick feed at 3am but apart from that, slept till 7am - best sleep I've had for ages so maybe it wasnt a bad mummy moment - maybe he actually needed calpol. maybe his gums are hurting.

Conker, no idea how you feel about dummies (especially at this late stage) but they really were a godsend for us as J was such a sucky baby. You may be right about the teething though, it messes everything up. Oh, James's sodding bum... think I'll put James and the kittens on a bland diet this week, I'm so sick of runny bottoms now!

Gill that school stuff sounds really confusing. Not looking forward to all that, I have no idea how it works round here. Alex will be walking before you know it! It was only a matter of days between J letting go of furniture, to him toddling across the room.

Finally got a new sofa yesterday to replace the broken one, red suede effect (complete freak bargain on ebay at £11 as it's only a year old) only thing is it's dry-clean only... so naturally J has weed on it and rubbed gingernut biscuit into it already.

lol at james and the sofa- you could have put a bet on that happening i'm sure - or the cats if it wasnt him .

would love struan to take a dummy but i think i tried to introduce it too late cause i didnt ever intend to give him one - i think he'd love it though. might keep trying.

Oh, don't talk to me about cats, my blood is boiling right now! I put some scrambled egg down on James's highchair tray just now to cool and went to get J, came back to the sodding kittens both on his tray greedily gobbling the scrambled egg, so now he can't have any. It was the last bloody egg! Now I don't really have anything that bland to feed him. I have locked them in the utility room with food, water and litter tray for a while, I'm so annoyed with them! Ooh!!!

poor you james- and rather you than me - we have chickens and they are very easy pets as they just stay outside and happily cluck away, put themselves to bed when the sun goes down and get up when its light again.

and they will try to get in the house if they have the chance to eat things, but a gentle nudge with the foot gets them moving back outside.

and free eggs.

sorry just realised that was not nice to point that out when you've just used your last egg .

i would send one down, but i think it might get squashed in the post.

lol conker, I do have a touch of PMT today I think but not about to cry over an egg! I've forgiven the shitbags kittens now, and have let them out, thought they were perfectly happy, and probably oblivious, in the utility room. They're just so naughty I despair of them sometimes!

I'm envious of your chickens, I've often heard they make great pets, friendly little things which follow you around etc. Do you get a lot of eggs from them?

James - missed that you'd got cats. Have been trying to get rid of ours for last few years! Good luck with 2!

Gill - my dd has gone into her 2nd year of school. seem like a huge decision to make but after a year of school and speaking to other friends they all seem to much of a muchness, so try not to worry too much. We went for the closest, which in the morning drag to school is really really important (every second counts!). Also important as all her friends live in our road and they all play out after school and weekends. So my advice - got to be the nearest to where you live. DD has just been for her first after school to a childminder. When I asked her what the best part of her week was she said going to the CM house! - Much more fun than coming home with me!

Hello. I'm sooo tired. Dd went to sleep in the car and then woke up hungry at 1:30am I'm sure I'm nowhere near as tired as you conker but having had a spate of unbroken sleep it's wearing me out.

conker - you're not a bad mummy for giving Calpol night. Definitely worth persevering with the dummy if he just wants to suck. I find them a godsend. I took all of dd's away on her 2nd birthday [nasty mummy] and never looked back. She complained for a few days but then was fine.

James - what a bargain. Ours is red too - makes it easier to hide the food, baby sick and cat sick stains that won't come out. Our cats are both a PITA. One of them is always vomiting up the food she has just wolfed down and getting in the cot with Alex and the other one keeps losing her collar and costing us a fortune to buy a new one, a new tag and a new cat flap magnet. She lost the last one within a week of getting it. I've told her she's not having another one so if she goes out at night she stays out.

Thanks for the advice loler. I'm starting to relax about it a bit more. I've been mulling over how to work it so that I can pick her up from school and not lose any/much pay (as I work 37.5 hours per week). I'm thinking I might just have to work til 2:30pm in the week and then make up the hours at the weekend during term time. Dd loved going to her old childminder too and it's the devil's own job to get her out of mum's house in the evening. I could always get a cm to take her to school so I can get to work normal time and then pick her up myself. Sorry - thinking aloud here.

Everyone busy today?

Ds will be having his vaccinations right about now Dh has taken him. He wouldn't pick dd up at the same time though for some reason We've just had a letter through for dd's pre school booster. I've told him he's taking her too! I'm the one who always takes time off when they're ill so he can make up for it

hi everyone! hope the jabs went ok gill. dd still has no side effects so i'm hoping the rash they warned about doesn't show up either.

tasha - hope everything's ok. thinking of you and little one.

sorry to hear james' bottom is still sore. no advice i'm afraid.

knickers - i've not forgotten about the nappies. just finding it difficult to gt my hands on them. not sure where they got packed up to but they're not for newborns so you should still get them in time!

we had fab weekend in corwall. was very hard leaving dd friday lunchtime but only shed a couple of tears. journey down was quite long in horrid weather but could have been worse. we were staying in a backpackrs and had bunk beds!! dh not happy! just had take away that night then met up with the others in the group on saturday morning. had two lessons that day. worse part was the warm up, running up and down sand dunes in wetsuits in public. i have never been this unfit in my life! much better once we got in the water although i am not a natural surfer! was in so much pain on sunday morning i skipped the lesson and just sat on the beach with a book. lovely! was great getting home, fab welcome from dd! she'd been good as gold for my parents although they were quite tired!

dh has taken her up to yorkshire today for a coupld of nights so i was really upset last night and this morning but i'm not too bad now. busy day in the office yesterday and did overtme today and more overtime tomorrow and normal work thursday so at least i won't have much time to dwell on things!

off to have a long hot bubbly uninterrupted bath with a bar of chocolate then snuggle under the duvet with book and dd's spare giraffe comforter!!!!

have good night everyone

Glad you had a good time leifmum. Soooooo of your evening That's so sweet taking giraffe to bed with you.

Ds was a bit whingy after his jabs so we gave him some calpol. He was right as rain this morning.

Last night we asked ds where his nose was. He thought for a few seconds and then touched his nose with his finger. I was so proud.