'January 08 shiny new - year babies , Keep rolling , rolling , rolling !'

[lilyloo]

hope everyone finds it

Lucky bless you you sound very down actually dp got 3 weeks of training away from home in next few weeks and i am looking forward to time on my own but know i will miss his help with dc's!

Thats the thing he annoys the hell outta me sometimes when he's here and I kinda wish he'd go to work but other times I miss him and need his help so much but I can't help but feel guilty to ask for it cos he's working and i'm not.
However, there's a little thing in me that said if I was working I'd probably still have to do the same amount I do anyway.

Lucky i still do as much as when i was working , let's face it work has a beginning and end time being a sahm doesn't!

YANA Lucky you've got us lot

DS crawling like a whirling dervish and climbing too. Have deduced this increased activity coincided with him not sleeping through (d'oh! why did I not spot this before?) - have therefore upped food portions. I've been spending a lot of time pondering how much to feed him, being as he is now the weight of an average 1 year old , and how much milk to give him.. He won't take more than a sip of water or juice from bottle or cup either MM.

Its gone cold up here - I bought a 2.5 tog sleeping bag for DS from Asda thinking I had got a bargain. However it has poppers up the front and last night when DS woke up he had pulled all the poppers open and escaped it! So went to TK Maxx today and got a proper Grobag for £17 that's a lot cheaper than Mothercare. He had a lightweight one in the bigger size but he didn't half faff about in it - kept sticking his legs uright in it -looked very comical but soon became wearing.

Whats the saying "this too shall pass"? Hope so and right bloody quick please. I think it will actually get easier once she's more mobile, although i'll have to watch her like a hawk. I think she's just mostly frustrated at the moment.

well trying to catch up but not much luck but .....

charlie is fantastic eating brilliantly trying all sorts of stuff, laughing being good sleeping etc, however has rolled about 4 times ever will sit but absolutely no attempt to do anything like crawl move etc, apparently i was exactly the same as a baby and never crawled and didnt walk until i was nearly 2, but spoke perfect sentences by 10 mths!! Charlie talks all day and says on repeat dad dad dad dad dad, but no words what a load of rubbish they should be able to speak properly.

Chalrie uses a cup no spout etc as i thought i couldnt be bothered to teach her to use 2 different things even if it took a little bit longer, she will now drink from a cup - i only give her water but she never drinks that much, i just try to give her food that contains water like fruit vegatables, cheese sauce etc.

Holiday was fab hard to believe a week ago i was in the pool rubbish weather here pouring with rain.

Been busy this week though decided the final 1/2 stone needs to go otherwise i will ahve to buy new work suits - so have found a lovely gym with a brilliant creche which is free once you buy your £3 membership card. Apparently maternity benefit counts as being on benefits hoorah .

Also have got my cleaner who also used to run a nursery and has her childcare exams to look after charlie 3/4 of a day per week as I have bben trying to prepare my case in charlie's sleeps which was proving not very practical so am pleased.

Trying to sort out nursery but the new nursery where i want charlie to go is running behind schedule (being buit) although all staff are employed and ready to go they hope it will be ready for november i go back to work middle of november so bit tight on timing.

Anyway - going now as dh out and i am going to get an early ish night

Nicky hello sounds like you have produced another barrister then . Someone told me that babies either walk or talk early never both.

Lucky, funny you should say that. dh just told me tonight that he considers me as having a full time job plus. He loves his little son to bits and they are very close but he does find him very demanding at times. I think it is time your dp gets weaned onto some normal baby sounds. After all what are you going to do when she starts talking, tell her not to talk all day as daddy sleeps? I am sure he can get used to it.

Nathan kept on waking this evening, he did some big farts but I think he was cold and I have swapped his summer grobag for a 2.5 one. Of course he is in this double bedroom posing as nursery all by himself after months of all three of us cosied up together, and the weather does not help. Although i am glad that we did not have a scorcher of a summer as I would have worried over heat strokes and dehydration.

Night all!

Hope you all can reassure me.
Toby is sleeping on his front every night now. Think he takes after Mummy. The worst thing for me while pregnant was not being able to sleep on my tummy. Anyway, I put him to bed on his back but 10 minutes later he is asleep lying on his front and there is nothing I can seem to do about it. Is this ok? Anybody else's baby do this?

betterhalf he is old enough now, he can turn over, lift his head, turn his head.

I think the NHS book says that you should turn him back but not get up at night to do so, so what is the point then if he turns back the moment you turn him. As long as he cannot stuff his head under things he should be fine.

BH - As long as he can turn himself back over its fine.

In fact I'm sure that as long as they can lift their head off the bed (which by this age they should all do) then its fine. Its just when they're young they can't stop themselves from suffocating cos they can't lift.

Thanks for the reassurance What are you doing up so late?

tidying the house [yawn]

Hey ladies

Lilyloo ? what a scary time you?ve had, bloody beasties! So glad to hear your DD is on the mend. My Mum doesn?t seem to realise that she has caused scratches or if she does, she thinks they are trivial wow, your DD is crawling!!

Madmouse & LaTrucha ? sorry to hear about your sibling troubles LaTrucha ? Xavier is not moving yet either, just thinking about it!

Hey Filly ? buy anything nice?!

Hello Betterhalf

Fragolina ? LOL at the hairy masseuse!

Gingme ? I bet you are glad that court appearance is over. That?s good that DH is ok, hope he feels better soon. It must be lovely having your big boys closer

Lucky ? sorry you are having a hard time, totally agree with LaTrucha, sleep makes everything better, don?t miss out. Can?t DP help more? And I agree with you, I?m worried that when I go back to work I?ll be doing all I do now plus a job and I really don?t know how I?ll manage.

Bluebell ? sounds like you?ve had a sad life to date, sorry hon. Xavier spends a lot of time in his playpen, and I don?t feel guilty because he is safe in there

Amani ? I?m glad you are feeling better having listened to some MNetters

Hi Angechica

well its time for bed. I reckon its gonna take another hour to sort that room out [yawn] and i'm knackered so he's gonna have to help me in the morning.

Morning all.

DD sleeping on an improvised bed in the front room, DH upstairs sleeping on his own. Did we have a good night? Did we hell.

Tummy trouble I think.

Lucky. Hope you got some sleep and some help.

DH going through tough times at work. Which is why he's up all night working instead of going to his office all day - he goes part of the day. He's a very generous person, and very passionate and he's worked in his department - he's a lecturer - for 5 years trying all sortso fthings to make it better and he really made a difference for a while. It was in such a state when he arrived. But now there's been a massive change of staff and all the new staff seem to want to do as much for themselves, and as little for the department, as possible. DH is horribly disillusioned that people can be so selfish and he told a colleague yesterday what he thought and that he was leaving them to it and is now extremely anxious and unhappy. He's started smoking in the night He gave up shortly after I got pregnant. It's difficult because tension at work always spills over into home and I'm doing some massive lip-biting, which is not my thing but he needs it at the moment. He said to me yesterday, 'Is the baby really so demanding that you can't get anything done in the house during the day?' I think I bit THROUGH my lip with that one but managed to stay cheery and asked him where he wanted some of his things put. I think it was a good way of being nice and sending a 'watch it!' message.

Does anyone else's DC liek to go to sleep with a bit of fabric over their face? Sabela has started pulling down her hood if she wnts to sleep in the pram and I caught her doing it with a blankie this morning. That was a bit unnerving!

susie did you sleep at all? How is Sabela now? Sound slike dp and therefore you are under a lot of stress . I must say dh once worked with some guys who knew how many working days they had to go until their retirement (several years away . The effect on him was not good either.

Try to get some rest today and forget the housework. i do all bar the vacuuming in the evenings btw.

[proud mummy warning/emoticon]

Nathan is on his back on the floor talking to time team on tv waving arms and legs. Yes, arms right arm is waving rather than in a fist behind his head praying hard that this is good news. I also got him to stand holding on to the table for a few seconds byhimself.

LaTrucha ? sorry about DH having a tough time at work but it must be hard to bite your tongue when he says inflammatory things like that! Xavier likes to cover his eyes to sleep in the light too, that said he does play peek-a-boo a lot now too

Madmouse ? Nathan?s mobility sounds great

My sis and family arrived yesterday my sis puts me to shame, she is so slim and really committed to running, doesn?t drink etc etc, she must think I am such a fat slob running isn?t my thing though, I?ve never felt right running..

MM - congratulations on Nathan's arm waving. DH took Sabela between 10 and 1 and then 4 and 6 last night, so it wasn't too bad for me. We've had a nice relaxing day together, so I hope that's put work in perspective. Sabela's been full of beans all day. Must be that turbo-charged breast milk!

MrsMC - I bet she's not as fab as you though . Sabela remains totally unconvinced about peek-a-boo!

Oh god...the catch up has taken even longer than I thought it would....and I'm pretty certain even more will have happened by the time I post this...and I have no brain left....

Ds' 3rd birthday last Sunday was brilliant fun, although heavy rain meant we had 15 sugar-high toddlers indoors for almost all of it! Simspson - its so much easier at 3 than 2: we played musical bumps for about 20 mins (with fun 60's music not nursery rhymes! ) and prizes for 'good dancing', 'best jumping', 'best sitting' etc. Then pass-the-parcel (with 15 layers and prizes in each, of course), then a (really really) good friend did a round of singing/dancing including sleeping bunnies and hokey pokey, ending with the 'grand old duke of york' to march into tea with. Tea was just a long 'Thomas' plastic tablecloth on the floor, but the kids sat around it really nicely and the food was all up the middle. Amazing the difference a year makes. We had some toys out for the littler ones and then all of them played inside/outside for about 30 mins after tea until they went home. All very lovely and unstressful, susprisingly! And the Thomas cake really worked - all the kids were really impressed and it didn't fall apart when I cut it!!!

Tamara is still a chilled, happy, very self-contained little girl, but really hates being left on her own....thats where having an older ds becomes very useful as he's great at playing with her/keeping her company when I have to do things (eg go to the loo !). She's still not sitting on her own (tends to slump forward into sumo-position, then land on her tummy or topple over) and she's emphatically still not crawling...she was born 29/01 but I doubt will be moving by 8 months either!!! And whilst she's chatting away, she's definitely not saying 'mama' 'dada' or anything else meaningful either. And forget standing up/pulling up or cruising. And still has absolutely no teeth!!! Does that reassure any first timers out there? Hope so! They all do things differently, so there's no point in comparing them with others as long as they seem happy/healthy etc.

Ds started all-day nursery this week (only including lunch for the next couple of weeks but building up to a 3.30pm finish)...been quite an emotional wrench for me! And its meant we all have to get up earlier...we used to be an 8am household (dh mopeds to work in the city so can get away with a late start) but now we have to wake the kids at 7.30am....its been quite a shock for all of us!!! Luckily both kids slept until I woke them at 8.30am this morning, so hopefully we'll still get some weekend lie-ins.... (sorry to those still not getting a full nights sleep ...)

Susie - sorry about your bro, that sounds really stressful. Feel free to unload here, sorry can't be more helpful. But with regard to DH and Sabela - maybe (just maybe...don't shout at me!) you should back off a little bit and give him the space to make some mistakes with her, and then fix them himself afterwards. In other words, don't 'helicopter' parent, swooping in as soon as he messes up and then martyr yourself on his mistake (eg missing the best parent group of the week). Far better just to say 'ok, you didn't settle her this time...this is how I normally do it, but since she's up and probably going to be grumpy why don't you take her for a walk/play with her until x - I'm going to the shops/gym/out'...and then leave him to cope with the result. Same goes for you a bit too, MM!! You really don't want a situation where you are the 'only' one who can look after your dd....first, its not good for your, or her, relationship with dh (or with you, for that matter), and second, what the heck do you do when you have #2, or go back to work, or get sick or something? Far far better to let your dh develop some confidence dealing with the baby than to undermine him and make him feel he has to leave it all to you...OK, sorry, lecture over...!!!! Sorry dh having such a tough time at work, it must be so demoralising for him. Tamara sleeps with an entire flipping elephant on her head...extremely disconcerting but if we take it off she yanks it straight back on...and its almost bigger than her!! Ds did the same thing at this age and still pulls his rabbit onto his head to go to sleep....I don't think it matters that much once you realise they won't suffocate but i do get a bit when I go to check my kids at night and find them both under a pile of stuffed animals !!

Nicky - welcome back, hope Charlie has settled back into normal sleep patterns? Tamara is happily using a spouted cup - ds shifted from bottle-spout-cup with no issues along the way but it definitely helped introducing each thing fairly early. Tamara is also babbling away non-stop

MrsMc - I try to keep Tamara's nails trimmed but she still has scratches regularly. Its horrid but doesn't seem to bother her... As you say, the best way to baby proof your marriage is to try to keep on communicating...and (according to my dh) to try to avoid one parent becoming the 'expert parent' and excluding the other...All I bought in town (after an entire day in the West End!) was a hairbrush for ds... I just don't know what's happened to me...!!!!

Gingeme - hurrah for the move!! You must be so delighted that you'll be seeing ds 1 & 2 so much more Am so so so pleased for you Hope dh's back better soon (but enjoy having him around for another 2 weeks...very !!)

Lily - that bite sounds like it was amazingly stressful. Poor dd, glad its getting better now

MM - ditto Nathan's lump. I guess you need to find some coping strategies for all these doctor visits - you are an amazing mum and have to find a way to not take it personally when it feels like there is constant criticism. I bet most of these doctors don't take the time to think about how it feels to hear what they are saying from the parents point of view Congrats on the arm waving

Awen and Amani - hi (Name change from Fluffy....its been a while!)...lovely to see you again...sorry things still so tough with dd Amani

Bluebell - we bought a BabyDan playpen for ds and he absolutely hated it....totally loathed it...so not sure we're even going to bother with dd! Thing is, ds didn't even crawl until 12 months...if dd is similar it just isn't worth it And dh hated having it up in our living room cos he thought it looked like a cage....

Lucky - hope the visit goes well tomorrow. And stop feeling guilty about asking dp for help...being a SAHM is a full time job(actually more than full time - at work you can get a quiet cup of tea now and then!) so he also has to help out at home.

I can't believe I'm going back to work at the end of October...that only about 7 weeks from now ...where has the time gone? Of course since my company have just been taken over in a very agressive share buy-out by a much bigger company with offices on the very far side of London, the chances are that I will be out of a job (with awful redundancy package in my contract ) within about 4 months...am trying (failing) not to get too nervous about that, especially since I've just applied to go back 4 days a week instead of full time....would be a real shame if I had to find a new (full time) job somewere at this point....

Right have finally caught up!! Hugs to everyone, sorry to anyone I missed out (Katie...that includes you!!! ) Any of the London ladies up for a meetup in early October before its all too late? Hope you all have lovely rest-of-the-weekends xxx

Ahem ...sorry for a monster post!

Filly, we will need a new thread at this rate

Thanks for the lecture , there is a bit of a complication for us though. I am very happy to leave dh in charge. i trust him and he is fab with ds if he would only believe it. I have encouraged him from day one when he asked what is the best way to top and tail him I would say 'the way you do it' and stayed out of the way so he could do his own thing. Problem is, dh had an abusive stepfather and has this enormous fear that he will be abusive too, so he then sees Nathan in his own shoes. So when Nathan drives him potty (ie crying and refusing to settle) things get very complicated as dh then starts talking that he should stay away from Nathan for his benefit etc.

Oh, and with the doctors, I do not see it as criticism, I just kinda don't want to hear it, I just want to enjoy my baby 'like everyone else' (in quot marks as I know it is not everyone else)I am glad I have an observant gp.

MM yay Nathan

Nicky bet it seems ages ago now!

LaTru it must be v stressful if he has taken up smoking again and if dd isn't sleeping we still going 4 hrs max at min!

Mrs Mc i know what you mean i am very unfit and feel like a slob but just can't be bothered with exercise after running round with dc's all day would much rather have glass of wine and choc!

Ange you grown eyes in the back of your head yet i can't cope with a moving lo it's a nightmare thinking of getting playpen and poor dog is worn out with her she won't leave her alone!

Lucky good luck for tom you must be exhausted!

Betterhalf agree with others he can lift his head now no prob!

And Filly that must have taken all day! Am sharing your dread at returning to work my mat pay ends in 1 mth and we skint but really want to take no pay till Jan fingers crossed emotion i can!

We just used our 50% off voucher for pizza hut from here and dd2 loved it she just devoured the salad bar and even had a marshmallow

Ah LaTrucha ? you are sweet

Wow! Filly! that was some post! DS?s party sounded great what a fun Mummy you are!! I hadn?t realised that your DD was only born 5 days after my DS in the end!! I stopped reading when I got overdue as I got too miserable when another MNetter popped and I was still waiting LOL at your shopping spree, I am the same these days, end up buying things for DS instead! Sorry to hear about the buy-out of your company, I hope you get what you want from them.

Madmouse ? your poor DH, it sounds like he needs his confidence with Nathan boosted.

Lilyloo ? I?m in the same position as you, mat pay ends this month and I don?t want to go back to work (or rather look for new work) but financially, I will need to soon

How many ice cubes worth of food would you say your babies are eating at each meal?

mrsmc not counting in icecubes anymore. I bought lovely little pots from lakeland here they are great. They are 100mls, which is about what he eats at dinner time, about half a large hipp jar. In the morning 2/3 of a weetabix with whole milk plus a few spoons of pureed fruit, then some jar/home cooked casserole and some yogurt, but only just introduced lunch so not eating much, then half a jar or so for dinner (I happily mix jars and homecooking). Not doing any snacks yet, well, breastmilk .

Have prepared everything for his first ever bottle of formula if he insists on feeding again later tonight. Bought hipp organic following recommendation from the bottle and breastfeeding topic, contains no prebiotics, which is good as I have just spent 7 months giving him my bacteria, and it is supposed to be gentle. see how we go. expect refusal

MM good luck is this in prep for going back to work ?

Mrs Mc we doing BLW for the most of it so no idea on ice cubes sorry! Wish we could all stay at home and enjoy them can't believe i had left my other two in child care by this age dd2 is still such a baby