December 2007 - Oh what fun, they are almost ONE!

[Caz10]

OK here we are ladies!

beckle - it wasn't that big ragdoll from M&S, was it? I got it for DD and OMG she LOVES it - has to sleep with her every night and sit next to her at every meal (v. cute). She also changes her 'nappy' about a million times a day and then I have to put her pants and skirt back on because she can't do it (less cute)!

cool bt. I too will be ttc in summer. It is weird the days off ads: no panic attacks, but a bit more grumpy and lively dreams

loucee - sorry to hear ds been so ill, we've escaped pretty lightly but the 3 wks we've been down has been hard going, well done on weight loss (always a silver lining to the stress!) and we're not using our p&t too much now as dh's nan bought us a maclaren and buggy board (which I switch between the mac and my quinny as ds2 loves being able to see his big brother) I use it to walk to play group or long days out but neither of mine have ever slept in buggy past about 6 months so I don't worry about reclining - still hoping to get my money's worth when dc3 arrives anyway

drskid... just practising

had great christmas here - very busy seeing family, in laws just moved to 20 mins away rather than 3 hrs so now we have 2 sets of grandparents in same town, hurray! (although a little worried about politics of them having the boys and it having to be 'fair')
boys loved christmas - I found xmas last year a bit flat as we didn't make any plans as no idea when ds would arrive (obviously) so had most of it on our own which was a bit weird, been lovely to see everyone this year - roast dinner every day since xmas eve!

work is on shut down this week, I'm already dreading going back on monday.. having a lovely week with dh and boys but feel like next week is hanging over me

Hope everyone has had a good festive season, I spent 3 days over Christmas in a bit of an alcoholic haze, didn't actually get drunk but had just enough to feel a bit fuzzy headed. Lucky there were 6 adults to share the childcare

DS back to not sleeping for now but has been quite cheerful during the day so it's not too bad.

Anyone have new years resolutions? None here although I am going to try to budget a bit better (have relied on credit card a few times recently what with Botswana trip and Christmas) and will hopefully find the energy from somewhere to be a more fun mummy

I also feel vindicated that Arcadie didn't bet on me being on here on Christmas Day. See, I don't spend too much time on here!
Bonne année!

Happy New Year everyone - can't believe I got on here first in 2009....does that mean I have the least exciting life?

Which reminds me of my NY resolution Clairey - apart from all the usual lose weight etc, I want my life back! I can't wait to move home and start seeing my friends again regularly etc.

Suey - Vietnam? Cambodia? Have I missed something - when did all this get planned???? I am very apart from the fact the thought of a long-distance flight with my two at the moment makes me want to run screaming into a dark hole somewhere and stay there until they are independent beings (say about 25 years old).... I hope you are having a lovely time - are you going to Siem Reip (how's it spelled?) - fantastic. Ohhh and the food.....mmmmmmm.

I was on earlier just didn't post here... I want to maintain the illusion that I don't spend all my waking hours on MN!

Happy new year ladies.

BT Have lurked almost everyday but just not posted. I mean you don't want to look like a saddo. Feel grumbled about last night's festivities and will vent spleen later but have more family fun tonight.

LOL BT I spotted you! Not that I was on of course...

Happy New Year all! Hope you have dark hair Clara, don't they say that the first person to cross your threshold in the New Year should be dark haired to bring luck??? (and bring coal I think!), hehe!

I second what you say Clairey, I would like to be a more fun Mummy this year too - is my only real resolution.

Skid, the ragdoll is quite a big one but it was from Mamas and Papas, searched for ages for a nice one - didn't think to try M&S! She carries it by its feet and slings it over her shoulder (that's her way of hugging it) - v cute!

Insy, I'm sure the politics of the in-laws will be much simpler than you imagine, lucky you having lots of support close by too!

DD has grown again and is desparate for new clothes but I can't find any I like anywhere! Even Next (my rock when it comes to baby clothing) has let me down! I love her in dresses the best, she looks too grown up in separates - especially now she has her first shoes

Happy new year everyone!! I wonder how many babies we'll produce in 2009 - only one we know of so far...

I got my period for the first time in nearly 2 years today - ma so not impressed - maybe I should get pg again so i can have another year or two off again

claireybrations (like it!) - my 2 new years resolutions are:

1. maintain the house in a slightly less minging state
2. stop BF

Started number 2 last night and didn't feed him at all overnight. DH went to try and rock him back to sleep and he cried his little heart out for over an hour . I felt so awful like I had broken the bond of trust between us - he doesn't know why he suddenly isn't allowed a feed . I was shouting to DH to bring him in and I'd just feed him but he sensibly pretended not to hear! Hopefully tonight won't be as bad

clara - when do you move back to your house? It will be fantastic to get back to normal after the year you've had. Do you think this will put you off going away again? I suppose DD1 will be starting school soon so that might make it difficult..

insy - good luck going back to work. It is awful when it hangs over you, isn't it?

Right, back to work

Beckle - I have sort of brown hair,not dark but certainly not blond, does that count? I can't think who was the first over our threshold, one of us I guess....

Skid - we should be moving in about three weeks, not sure yet whether we will move again but it will have to be somewhere good if we do! dd1 is starting pre-school (again) next week but not real school for another year and a half so a while to go yet. If we do do another posting she will have to start over there so it will be important there is a decent local British school/school that follows the British curriculum.

Happy New Year everyone!!
Babies in 2009 - won't be me that's for sure
Bea had a lovely quiet birthday on the 30th. She's getting very confident in her furniture surfing, don't think independent standing can be too far off.
I think I would just like this year to be a bit less manic than last year!! My key objective is to hold off as long as possible before increasing my hours above the 75% I currently do. In the end financial pressures may dictate a change...

Just discovered my cat had been locked up in the neighbour's house!! She's been lost for 3 days and after much calling I looked up and saw her in their window!!! They're away on holiday and I can't imagine how she got in. Managed to open the "locked" catdoor from the outside so she could get out. I hate to think what sort of mess she might have left in there...

morning all and happy new year!
On way back from heathrow through the snow!
Claraqistmas I don't think I mentioned the hol on here: I did go to siem reap and it was dead good.

New years resolutions: to keep my work life balance: lose the last stone of pg weight and ttc from the summer. Er, that's about it.

Welcome back Suey.

Feel like crap, had migraine all weekend.
Still fill really woozy now..

Happy new year all!. Got not much time at the mo, and lots to catch up on. Had a good Christmas with my mum and family and then to Scotland to DH's family for New Year. Am now v. tired from all the travelling about.

Hopefully I'll be on the list for a 2009 baby. It will be one of my new year's resolutions. The others are get the loft done, give up bf(am with you there Skid) and win the lottery.

The wee man is absolutely brilliant at the moment. He seems to have grown up a lot this holiday. Walking everywhere, using his spoon to eat yoghurt, much more expressive. He loved the airport when we went to Edinburgh. He was beside himself looking at the planes and baggage trucks, pointing and squealing at them.

Hello everyone

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!

I've had a quick scan as have not been on since before Christmas. Our Christmas was a bit mixed. DD got a really high temperature on Christmas Eve so had to take her to doctors in the afternoon. Doctor reckoned she had the beginnings of a chest infection and gave her antibiotics. I was a bit as that was the 3rd time in 3 weeks I had taken her to the doctor as she hasn't been right for ages. DD was awake approx every hour overnight on Christmas Eve and wasn't really well on the day itself but I think she enjoyed herself as much as she could. We were at my mum and dad's so we got a bit of help. I have another appointment for dd at doctor tomorrow as she is still really wheezy and coughing all the time.

New Year was really quiet. We didn't even stay up until midnight!

I'm feeling a bit down at the moment but I'm hoping it's just the time of year and because dd is STILL unwell and not sleeping very well after approx 6 weeks.

DH raised the subject of trying for another baby last night and I nearly threw something at him!! I don't want dd to be an only child but am a bit worried that I'll never get past the 'never again' stage.

Sorry to be a bit miserable. I hope you are all in better spirits to start the New Year.

Louise sorry to hear you are feeling down, the time of year is definitely a factor I think, Jan and Feb are generally quite a blah time for me. Hope dd is better soon.

Clara I know what you mean about getting your life back...I have mummy friends here but all my real friends are the other side of the country and it can be quite isolating (prob why I spend so much time online-it's my main way of communicating with them all!)

Very of all this ttc talk!

Skid, BT how is the night weaning going? Since Christmas eve ds has been a nightmare and up all night only sleeping on the breast so yesterday I said I'd had enough and dh went to him whenever he woke. He really cried and was up most of the night. At one point DH came into bed with him and ds reached out for me so I cuddled him for a bit but DH said don't you dare feed him now, I haven't done all this for nothing. I wouldn't mind feeding him if he was up just once or twice but can't keep doing the all nighters and we think going cold turkey is the only way to stop it. Hope tonight is a better night...

Buzzy hope your cat hasn't made too much mess next door!

DS has wellies now (after he kept throwing tantrums wanting to wear dd's pink peppa pig ones) and he is obsessed! He runs into the hall and tries to put them on (by standing them on top of his feet ) and yells at us when we take them off. Yesterday I put him in the buggy for a nap and took them off and he shouted NOOOOOOOOO and cried til I put them back on then went straight to sleep once he had them!

Clairey - the neighbours haven't returned from holiday yet...I dread to think.

I took DD to the doc again and he thinks she may finally have shaken off the chest infection/cough she's had for the last 6 months which is a relief.

Is anyone else having more problems getting their LO to go down in the evening than before? DD sits up immediately I put her down, moves around, grizzles and generally takes ages to settle now where before she'd go down like a dream. I'm hoping its a phase...

hi all,

buzzy - nightmare about your cat!! At least she is safe and sound though

louise - no wonder you are feeling rubbish when you aren;t getting any sleep and your poor DD isn;t weel. Hope things have improved since your last post. It's amazing what a single night's good sleep can do to boost your mood

clairey - that is interesting about your experience last night. We had a pretty much identical night and I found it quite traumatic as DS just cried and cried and cried. Then I read a thread about feeding a 10 month old at night and I had a complete turnaround and decided I didn't want to upset DS when I had created his feed-comfort association and it was cruel to just take it away when he didn't understand why. So I am back to feeding at night! However, he only has one, occasionally two feeds per night so my suffering is nothing compared to yours! If you can bear it I imagine things will improve after a couple more nights. Good on your DH for stepping up to the mark as well. Good luck

hello all,
sorry to read so many of you are struggling with illness and feeling down. You feeling better now, BT?
Louise- i am not surprised you are feeling so low. lack of sleep really sucks: even worse at this stage imo, when you expect it to be better: you expect it with a newborn.

Louise - feel your pain! It is very frustrating and lack of sleep is a killer!

Suey - yes I'm good, for now... back to work tomorrow just doing weds & thurs this week n ot sure what I'll be doing but I'll be having a long chat with my boss.

Skid/Clairey - fellow night feeder here! Ds did manage 6.30pm - 4am Saturday night, sadly didn't manage it Sunday or last night!

Buzzy - oh no, your cat will be fine, but I bet your neighbours won't be too happy!Hope they return soon!

Skid I saw that thread too, it's so hard isn't it? Something makes you feel guilty no matter what you do! Did the same last night and the night before with ds, he cried when dh initially went in but stopped once he was being cuddled. The first stretch of sleep was far longer than it has been, he had an hour or so of being unsettled (dh kept having to get up and go to him but he wasn't crying the whole time)but only two real wakings (I count the hour as just one waking cos he wasn't really sleeping in between). So some improvement... Think will continue for the rest of the week and see what happens, hopefully we'll manage to get it down to just one or two wakings (which is what I had with dd until she was 2 and it was bearable though not ideal with pregnancy/a newborn!)

DD and DS are really fighting at the moment, DD is quite good and isn't too rough with DS but he really pulls or pushes her and this morning he was smacking her round the face. Nightmare to think this is just the beginning!

oh good luck clairey - i really hope it works for you. Am half regetting giving up now after last night of hair pulling when DS came into our bed at midnight!

BT how was it back at work? hope the chat with your boos was helpful. How are you feeling?

suey- are you off the ADs now? How are you feeling? Are you back at work as well? How is that going?

clairey - it is the other way round with my two fighting - DD is a NIGHTMARE - pulling at him, pushing him over, grabbing toys off him, telling him off (that can actually be quite cute) and DS just sits there smiling up adoringly at her! (They have started calling him Smilo at nursery - suits him perfectly ). I suppose he will start fighting back eventually..

that was supposed to be boss BT