August 2007- Happy Birthday babies!

[JamesAndTheGiantBanana]

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

never mind hersetta - i just read back and saw they booked her direct for it. great pictures on your profile too.

Sorry to say it but it does sound like the start of it, yes. Hope I'm wrong, but it doesn't mean it'll get terrible anyway, everyone's different. Don't do that long walk again if you can help it. I found it really uncomfortable sitting at my desk all day at work too. I took regular walking breaks, and experimented with cushions, different chair heights, etc but I can't remember if anything really helped. If your chair gets too uncomfortable, ask for a better one. I'm pretty sure they have to do a desk assessment when you tell them you're pregnant, and they have to get you a better chair if it's crap.

thanks james - i will start taking the bus to the midwife and if it doesnt get any worse, thats fine. If it does or if I have more bad nights, I'll speak to the midwife.

cant see work doing a risk assessment though - very male dominated (at least the bosses) so dont fancy discussing my pelvis with them . Will try a cushion and see if that helps - and try and take regular walking breaks.

thanks again for your advice.

Conkertree - might not be SPD - the more pgs you have the more achey you get (well I did) - particularly if they are close together - I think your ligaments don't get a chance to recover. 3 in 4 years killed my knees and they are still recovering!

hi all - very quick catch up from me

conker - hoep it's not spd, you can get round, bobbly, rubber cushion things - it's flat like a disc but with air in it - if that makes sense. one of the ladies at work who is pregnant swears by it.

hersetta - she's such a cutie!

helibee - happy birthday (belated) - did you do anything nice? how's c's bum?

loler - my knees still hurt too - and that was 2 in 2.5 years! still on the brufen 3 times a day. i've got to say i found the afterpains a bit sore with no 2 (should maybe whisper that bit....)

knickers - congratulations, looking forward to seeing the photos of baby!

gill - sorry to hear about your cat. how is dd? we are lucky we've got a good primary school close to us, so i don't need to look...

james - have you tried carrie and david's popshop? dd2 loves this and her dancing is incredible! she also loves to walk backwards - giggles whilst she's doing it. i like this stage too, before the real tantrums start. though would like it even better if she slept through the night!

well DP and both DDs have have this sickness and diarrhoea bug that's going round. DP and DD1 are ok now, but DD2 still has diarrhoea - i'm thinking that i'm goign to have to starve her to settle her tummy. i've been choked with the cold which developed into sinusitis - so had a crap week or so.

oh well off to get stuff done - take care everyone and apologies if i've missed anyone out!

Wow lots going on with you all! James, fab news about you planning the next one! Awww, James sounds like such a sweetheart. Joe has decided he rather likes walking backwards too and if I'm sat on the floor playing with him he sort of walks forwards and then reverses back to sit on my knee, then turns round and gives the wettest open puthed kisses! I really can't imagine loving another baby as much as I love him. DH would love another baby and I'm sure the love just grows out of nowhere but I can't picture it just yet. One day though. I think you're being really sensible about the age gap too. I'd like to wait til Joseph is at preschool (maybe college, lol!) til we dare have another. DH would have one tomorrow!

My2, Joe had a tummy bug a couple of weeks ago, i was posting on here for about a week about how worried I was! He had diarrhoea for about 9 days I think. We had to get him some pweders to rehydrate him. It did go eventually though and the doctor never really seemed concerned so I think it's normal for babies to take a while to recover. It took a few days for his appitite to return but was soon back to his old self and eating me out of house and home. I hope she's better soon, it's grotty for them.

I love this age so much but my2, you are lucky that the tantrums haven't stared with dd2 yet! My ds tantrums like a 2 year old, I only have to say 'no' to him sometimes and he throws himself to the floor and sobs, kicks, screeches. I just ignore it and it doesn't last long. I think it's great he's so strong willed and determined though. He has amazing spirit and was just born to explore and learn everything. Stubborn little git but I love him for it! At least at this age the tantrums don't last long and he is relatively easy to distract. i'm dreading the terrible 2s. My friend's 3 year old screams for up to an hour sometimes if he doesn't get his own way. I'd put money on Joe being like that.

Joseph seems to learn something new every hour. My dad was here earlier and Joe called him 'Nadad', bless him, my dad was soooooo proud I thought he would cry (first grandchild!). He also pointed out the window at the school bus outside and said 'bus' (Joe, not my dad!), he normally points at it every morning and says 'was dat?' but obviously the past months of saying: 'it's a bus!' have paid off!

He is growing up so quickly and I am more proud of him everyday. It really is a lovely lovely age. Hated the miserable baby phase which is why I'm am reluctant to dive straight back in again!

Anyway off to spend some time with my lovely dh and the dog.

Woah that was longer than it seemed as I was typing, sorry!

Joe, I should really be working but just popped on to share a bit of MN wisdom I picked up from a random thread t'other day. Someone said that when you have a second dc, you don't halve the love, you double it.

i should probably know this James, but what do you do that means you are working at 12.15am?

struan reverses backwards to sit on my knee too - he's finally managed to stand up on his own now too instead of crawling to a sofa etc and pulling himself up, so I guess he's fully mobile.

loved you post meandmyjoe - seems like you are having a great time with your ds just now. the halving the love has worried me too lots and made me feel really guilty for having dc2 so soon after ds, but james' mn advice is what i'm sticking too, and i'm now excited to see what ds thinks of the new baby - i am quietly confident that he will like it. [naive emoticon]

Couldnt sleep last night (hence the posting at 6am). Pelvis sore particularly at the front in the middle. Also we are doing a pantomime at church - just for fun - shouldnt be worrying me, but dh and I are running it - and suddenly realised that there are only about 5 weeks till we are meant to be putting it on. Dont know why we didnt start earlier - think I thought November had about 7 weeks in it. Oh well, will just have to get everyone to learn their lines right now.

Off to see my grandparents this weekend. Havent seen them for ages so will be nice. Just hope ds doesnt break anything (their house is full of lovely but breakable things).

Hope you all have good days/weekends.

Yeah the joint at the front in the middle is the symphysis pubis thingy, the bit that is affected during spd. From memory, I think it happens because some women are more susceptible to the softening hormones, so the bit at the front of the pelvis softens and widens more than it should, causing the pain etc

HOWEVER, I should add that I'm going to defer to loler's advice on this one as I've only had the one baby. It's entirely posible it could just be one of those 'orrible pregnancy "things" - Hope it's not too bad and you find ways to get comfortable anyway.

MeandmyJoe, I'm so envious of Joe's talking! he's doing so well. Do you have any tips for getting them to speak, or do you think it's just one of those things? I repeat words slowly with James, like car or mama etc, and his standard response is either "GA!" or "babababa" - it's like he doesn't even try. I'd love to hear him say something with a meaning.

Oh, forgot. I work from home for an online company, they send me assignments to complete- it's pretty much just data entry with some photo manipulation thrown in. Nothing terribly exciting but the money helps.

Anybody else on facebook? my name is on my profile but I'll have to take it off soon.

meandmyjoe - don't get me wrong she does have tantrums, lie down on the floor, thumnping her head - but they really pale into complete insignificance compared to her big sister - so i don't really class them as tantrums just now!

her latest 'trick' today, is to stand at the patio doors, swaying from side to side with her tongue licking the glass - eeeeeyuck!

J has those little diddy tantrums too, I find the head thumping quite funny as he always lowers himself down gently then bashes his head, as if to say "Now look what you've made me do!"

Once he put a cushion down first and headbutted that, angrily. He looked bemused when we laughed at him.

Awww I am relieved that my ds is not the only tantrum thrower on this thread! My friends all seem to think he's bad tempered as he protests to things at such a young age, he's been doing it since he got mobile at 9 months but actually was just generally miserable before that so who knows when it actually started!

I assume it will pass. My sister was a grotty, cry-y baby with a fowl temper til she was about 18 -24 months but was fab after that so I tend to think that the earlier they start the earlier thay finish! (Perhaps rather naive)

Anyway, belss james for having the sense to get a cushion first! I find this age so wonderful, they are just so clever and even when protesting, Joe has a way of making me melt.

My2, yuk about the windows by the way! Joe has decided that he likes licking the wooden flooring in the dining room and often tips his drink on it then crouches down and slurps it off . I'd like to say that the floor is perfectly clean and hygeninc but I can't lie, my dog sleeps in there so who knows what he's ingesting! Urrrgghh.

James is a little sod at the moment when I tell him off (for climbing on the TV cabinet or touching the oven) he either laughs, or comes up and kisses me so I can't keep up the stern voice. He carries on doing whatever naughty thing he was doing, with a highly amused smile on his face! How do you get round that? He thinks mummy being annoyed is hysterically funny...

Oooo not sure James, Joe is the same. Either that or he just cries when I tell him 'no', the rest of the time he just smiles and shakes his head, then carries on doing exactly what he was doing, grrrrrr. I find it quite adorable though but I must admit at some point he's going to have to learn that no means no but how? I have no idea! I think we just have to be really consistant.

I don't know James, Lexie just lays on floor screaming and waving her limbs about. Which is quite funny . I just say that didn't work with Lizzie do it will not work with you, i'll be in the kitchen/sitting room when you have finnished.

And speaking of Lexie she fell out of her cot yesterday. She sort of cartwheeled over the top . Lizzie was nearly 2 when she climbed out of her cot and was moved into her bed. She was fine just a bit like 'oh what happen then' but i was shaking and bit upset.

her cot at it's lowest point, so DH is going making some hole lower so we move it down today.

Morning all (yawn). I woke up at 3:20 and I haven't been able to get back to

sleep so I thought I would come on to mn and catch up. It's a good job I

did, it's been so busy I'd have no chance with the dcs around

I think the reason I can't get back to sleep is because I'm thinking about

schools again. I keep weighing up the options for which school to go to and

how I can work around school drop offs/picks up etc without my salary

reducing too much or without having to make up time at the weekend. It's a

nightmare. Dh's boss has put in a request for a pay rise for him so if

that's approved then I might stand a chance of reducing my hours enough.

The first school we went to see was very big (reception intake of 60!!) and I

didn't like the woman who showed us round. Also, she kept going on about all

the remedial classes which really put me off. I think dd would get lost in

that school. It's the only one she's seen so far that she said she didn't

like. Its only redeeming feature IMO was the fact that they had a breakfast

club. None of the other local schools do this. The second school we saw

couldn't have been more different. It was small and very friendly.

Reception intake is 18 and 7 students passed the 11+ last year. The

facilities weren't brilliant, lots of pre fab buildings used as classrooms

but it seemed to be a lovely place. I think it will still have to be second

choice though after our closest, which we couldn't fault.

loler - I was thinking about you the other day. Sorry to hear you're so busy.

Housework is rarely done in this house. We actually dusted the living room

for the first time in probably getting on for a year

James - don't worry about spoon feeding. My dd didn't master it til she was

nearly 2. Lovely to hear you're planning dc2 even if it is quite a way off.

In my mind we'll be ttc when ds is 2 or thereabouts. Lol at James headbutting the cushion. If I tell ds to take something out of his mouth he normally throws it on the floor and then crosses his arms and frowns.

conker - sorry to hear about the suspected spd. Hope it doesn't cause you

too much pain. I remember my hips hurting more when pg with ds.

hersetta - glad the shoot went well. Can't believe you'll have to wait so

long to see the pictures.

my2 - sorry to hear your family have been ill. Hope you don't come down with

it too.

meandmyjoe - that's lovely that Joe's talking. Ds says daddad for grandad and the other day he looked at his photo and said 'oo dat' (we're always pointing at photos saying 'who's that'). He doesn't say these things very often though. He started saying chair the other week. He said it a few times and I haven't heard him say it since.

lizzie - hope lexie is ok after her fall. I worry about ds doing something like that, although he's not really tall enough. I'm sure the fall out of the cot would be bad enough but he might come out of the bedroom and fall down the stairs. He can actually open doors by himself now.

oops, really should have previewed my post.

Morning all (yawn). I woke up at 3:20 and I haven't been able to get back to sleep so I thought I would come on to mn and catch up. It's a good job Idid, it's been so busy I'd have no chance with the dcs around

I think the reason I can't get back to sleep is because I'm thinking about schools again. I keep weighing up the options for which school to go to and how I can work around school drop offs/picks up etc without my salary reducing too much or without having to make up time at the weekend. It's a nightmare. Dh's boss has put in a request for a pay rise for him so if that's approved then I might stand a chance of reducing my hours enough.

The first school we went to see was very big (reception intake of 60!!) and I didn't like the woman who showed us round. Also, she kept going on about all the remedial classes which really put me off. I think dd would get lost in that school. It's the only one she's seen so far that she said she didn't like. Its only redeeming feature IMO was the fact that they had a breakfast club. None of the other local schools do this. The second school we saw couldn't have been more different. It was small and very friendly. Reception intake is 18 and 7 students passed the 11+ last year. The facilities weren't brilliant, lots of pre fab buildings used as classrooms but it seemed to be a lovely place. I think it will still have to be second choice though after our closest, which we couldn't fault.

loler - I was thinking about you the other day. Sorry to hear you're so busy. Housework is rarely done in this house. We actually dusted the living room for the first time in probably getting on for a year

James - don't worry about spoon feeding. My dd didn't master it til she was nearly 2. Lovely to hear you're planning dc2 even if it is quite a way off. In my mind we'll be ttc when ds is 2 or thereabouts. Lol at James headbutting the cushion. If I tell ds to take something out of his mouth he normally throws it on the floor and then crosses his arms and frowns.

conker - sorry to hear about the suspected spd. Hope it doesn't cause you too much pain. I remember my hips hurting more when pg with ds.

hersetta - glad the shoot went well. Can't believe you'll have to wait so
long to see the pictures.

my2 - sorry to hear your family have been ill. Hope you don't come down with it too.

meandmyjoe - that's lovely that Joe's talking. Ds says daddad for grandad and the other day he looked at his photo and said 'oo dat' (we're always pointing at photos saying 'who's that'). He doesn't say these things very often though. He started saying chair the other week. He said it a few times and I haven't heard him say it since.

lizzie - hope lexie is ok after her fall. I worry about ds doing something like that, although he's not really tall enough. I'm sure the fall out of the cot would be bad enough but he might come out of the bedroom and fall down the stairs. He can actually open doors by himself now.

Wow lizzie, scary stuff! Our cot is in its lowest position but there's no stairgate at the top of the stairs cos I thought it'd be ages til we had to worry about all that. cripes... glad she's ok.

Well my little bugger made an escape attempt last night. He climbed on his ride-on toy, reached the front door handle which was unlocked as we hadn't been back long from asda, and quietly let himself out! Spotted him straight away and grabbed him, but was shuddering at the thought of him toddling away down the street (although I doubt he could have managed the front gate to be fair, I struggle with that) - Keep your doors LOCKED girls! Mine bloody is now...

Gill, if you go with your instincts on the school thing I'm sure dd will be happy. We've had to kinda look into all that with moving (although obviously not in-depth) and found there are two schools which the new house is in the catchment area for: one catholic school run by nuns, and one ginormous primary school which is apparently the biggest in the county.

Ideally I would have liked for him to go to a smaller school like I did (this one has 60 teachers and over 500 kids) but apparently it has a good ofsted report, good facilities, an early years/pre-school bit, and a breakfast club. Sounds okay so I suppose we'll go with it unless it seems rubbish when we go to have a look. Long way off yet though.

Alex sounds so cute with his arm-crossing sulk thing! lol aren't they funny in their mannerisms. James can actually get himself into the highchair now, which is bad. I left him playing on the kitchen floor the other day while I ran to the loo, came back and he was sitting in his highchair expectantly! He pulls out a dining chair, climbs on it, gets up on the table, then into his highchair. Great party trick, not so great if he falls off the table.

Bloody hell James, all the way up in his highchair??? That is scary!

Hope Lexie is OK after her fall.

Joe seems to be concentrating on his language at the minute and thankfully not on climbing everything in sight but just last week he was obsessed with climbing on the sofa and crawling on nto the back of it, I'm terrified he'll fall. He chucks himself about like a little mini gymnast.

The small school sounds nice gill but agree with James that you need to follow your instincts. We are lucky that we actually bought this house based on the fact that it was so close to the best infant and primary school (mind you, it's the school I went to and I can't say I am a high flyer so it's more about where they will be happy rather than the ofsted reports imo)

Anyway, Joe has another back tooth through now, all on the top, he still only has 2 bottom teeth so he looks very top heavy!

hello everyone!

another milestone has been reached chez leif. dd no longer has her bedtime bottle for two nights running she only took a couple of sips then didn't want it so thought i'd bite the bullet and not offer it any more. i'm pleased that she's decided and i haven't had the trauma of weaning her off it but it was my favourite time of day and i was happy for her to have it until she was a teenager really!!! can't believe how grown up they're getting. making me broody again especially as two friends are due in may. think it'll e a while yet though before we ttc.

glad you spotted james making his escape attempt. dh's friend left her little one downstairs and he managed to open back door and wandered off. they found him a few streets away, police had been called but he was fine. obviously terrifying for his mum and dad. they didn't know he could open doors. so mine is now always locked. of course it's not as though dd lets me out of her sight ever anyway!

oops freinds just arrived, best go!

Hiya everyone, sorry I have been crap at keeping up to date with everyone.

I have made a pact to check in on everyone's news every couple of days as I leave it this long then find I cant keep up

at all the escape artists.

Leif, at dd not having a bedtime bottle anymore. I took dd off her bottles when she turned one but she still has her sippy cup of milk just before bedtime.

Cuple of recent pics of dd on my profile and also of new DS

Awwww blackbird he's gorgeous! How's things going? I guess it must be a bit manic at the minute so I think you are doing great to be even thinking of catching up on this thread! Hope everything went OK and that you and dcs are adjusting well.

Leif, wow I can't believe dd no lnger has bedtime bottle. I think my ds will be havin ghis for a while yet, he still has the full 8 oz! Same in the morning too, I keep wondering if he shouldn't really be having 2 bottles anymore but he ALWAYS drinks them so I may just swap the morning one for his cup and see how we go. I love the bedtime feed though, we do it with the lights dimmed and he snuggles into me as he gets all sleepy, then afterwards he snuggles into my shoulder til he starts rubbing his eyes and getting fidgety. I will miss it when he does give it up.

I was thinking yesterday how much I miss the night feeds . He slept through after 10 weeks so it's ages since I fed him at night (apart from odd incidents around 9 months) and he really did just have a feed and then just conk out to sleep again when he was tiny. It was beautiful just cuddlng him and being with him although at the time I remember willing him to sleep through! Isn't it odd that I didn't appreciate it at the time?? Now I look at him charging about and just wonder where the hell my little baby went??? He's huge and so grown up and doesn't need me at night, feeds himself, it's like he's a proper toddler now

Enjoy it blackbird, I am .