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Feb 08 - Lessons in Dressing An Octopus (Or Cooo-eeeee, We're Overe Here!)

939 replies

swottybetty · 24/11/2008 19:16

New thread guys

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
leesmum · 10/01/2009 12:17

Gill i'm very jealous of your hangover..i'm getting a lie-in tomorrow but can't even have a drink cos i'm on my second lot of antibiotics, the chest infection i got before christmas still hasn't gone. I dont want to risk drinking and it cancelling them out!! On the plus side i've lost 8lbs over christmas with being so ill....every cloud has a silver lining eh?

rozzyraspberry · 10/01/2009 13:05

Happy birthday eggy twins and mini twins. Hope you all have a lovely day!!!

We had ds2 in our bed a lot too when we hadn't done it with ds1. Have learnt my lesson this time round though and ds3 doesn't get into bed with us (he doesn't seem to settle back to sleep in our bed anyway). I think ds2 was about 2 when I decided enough was enough I wanted a full nights sleep without him coming through (or waking up with him sprawled out in the middle of us!). He's always been a much worse sleeper than ds1 - we didn't realise how lucky we were with that first time round until we had the other 2!!

Hope you feel better soon Leesmum - 8lbs loss is definitely a plus point.

No rush of energy here when I stopped bf omy - going back to work and ds3 getting up at 5.30am the last 3 days would probably negate any extra energy I might have!!! Especially since I've been working 9 to 5 and dh has been working 6pm to 8am so it's all been a bit hectic!

Anyway hope you're all well.

princessllama · 10/01/2009 14:27

Happy birthday to jack and abby and jacob and rebecca. reminds me of the endless wait before ferdie was born! will add my name to list in a mo. he won't be 1 til 17th march.
swotty i love the new pics especially in bath -she looks so sweet with her beautiful colouring (yes biased as usual)
leesmum, what a nightmare you still have the chest infection. i think ds still has his, his temp is up and he's coughing again and looking blotchy and breathing fast. also he has blue lips but don't know whether that's because it was so cold in our kitchen earlier (heating not working). ds is determined he's fine and we have to go to his godson's first birthday party. i'm worried. don't want to end up in a and e in middle of night.
gill and rozzy well done being back at work. i used to have to get up at 5.30 for work and it was so difficult. hope the chickenpox is over soon. ds had it really mildly-i think, or maybe not at all? did take him to gp but they said was too early to tell and couldn't see point of taking him again after that.
sally-we also had that list thing in my dormitory at boarding school-someone had the idea at school of listing one thing they liked about someone and one thing they didn't-omg! it was a nightmare-thankfully the fall out was so bad it never got to my turn. i long for dh to say being at home is harder than work-sort of a running theme in our house! he has promised to look after both kids for 2 nights whilst i go to hay book festival. can't wait. he's also promised to do it on his own so he can see what it's really like-he's never done it before. i did panic him by fibbing and saying it was 4 nights-his face was a picture.

princessllama · 10/01/2009 14:29

??-01-08 - Ladlemonke -
04-01-08 - Gingermumi - Toby
10-01-08 - Egg - Rebecca 4lb 11oz and Jacob 5lb 4oz
10-01-08 - Miniandme - Abby and Jack
19-01-08 - Leesmum - James
23-01-08 - Beansprout - Theo Daniel
26-01-08 - Gill79 - Malcom
31-01-08 - ALKAR - Daniel Joseph
??-??-08 - Expectingkat -
21-01-08 - Saskia71 - Boy
29-01-08 - Countto10 - Jack
04-02-08 - Lucyand2 - Isabelle
04-02-08 - Morningglory - Alexander
31-01-08 - Merlypuss - Thomas William -6lb 14oz and Isaac Jamie -5lb14oz
06-02-08 - Jooseyfruit - seth - 9lb 5oz
07-02-08 - Sarahmikeandharry - Rosie Olivia 7lb12.5oz
09-02-08 - Slacker - Felix
??-??-08 - Mutha2beagain -
10-02-08 - Ayshirelolo - Alexis Zoe - 7lb 7oz
08-02-08 - Jo9977 - Daniel Brian -6lb 12oz
??-??-08 - PK616 - Kya
11-02-08 - missnatalie - Henley Ethan - 6lb 7oz
11-02-08 - Rozzyraspberry - Andrew - 8lbs 3oz
09-02_08 - Loobyt - James Edward - 8lbs 2oz
??-??-08 - Rapunzelle -
12-02-08 - Omy - Leila
13-02-08 - Cosima - Isaac Louis
06-02-08 - Blondiep15 ? Charlie
15-02-08 - Lljkk aka OneHandedTypist
??-??-08 - Manamana ? Stanley
14-02-08 - Mymissus -'Digby' -7lb 30z
14-02-08 - Blue Domino - Clara - 7lb 9oz
16-02-08 - Sallyinyorkshire - James
17-02-08 - Wotsits ? emyr
??-??-08 - Sherida -
19-02-08 - Widgetsmummy - Bethan Grace - 9lb
20-02-08 - Amy78 - Zoe Isabella - 6lb 11oz
??-??-08 - Filly -
??=??=08 - Pobletsmum
24-02-08 - sireedubs-Daniel James Henry
22-02-08 - Bessie123 - Daisy Hannah - 9lb 10oz
27-02-08 - Readytopop - Olivia Rose - 7lbs
26-02-08 - Violeta - Sophie 7lbs 3oz
24-02-08 - K27- Noah Jack 8lb6oz
23-02-08 - Bovril Sarnies - Seren Fenella 9lbs 3oz
13-02-08 - Ruva - Saba
26-02-08 - StrawberryCornetto - Joseph 5lbs 12oz
27-02-08 - Lovemymum - Katherine Natalia
28-02-08 - Mitford Sisters - Hector James
28-02-08 - Tallulah1978-Elijah
29-02-08 - lailasmum - Toben Spencer 7lb 10oz
01-03-08 - Samsmam - Sophie
07-03-08 - tyaca - Esther Dear, 6lb 10oz
??-03-08 - Redbush- Annabel Holly 8lb10oz
17-03-08 - ferdie 9lbs

strawberrycornetto · 10/01/2009 16:02

Happy birthday Egg twins and mini twins. Its amazing how quickly the time has flown, bet you both remember this day last year!!

Its freezing here. Still -3 so we are hiding in the house, although dh is away. DS is trying to run before he can walk so to speak. He's walking behind a walker now, although he's very wobbly. I don't think he has the balance or the strength to walk but he certainly has the desire and determination

Leesmum, poor you with the chest infection. ALthough am at the 8lbs, I have gained 8lbs since i stopped breastfeeding over Christmas

omy · 10/01/2009 19:20

Rozzy! Your schedule is awe inspiring! I hope you get some time off together soon!

Princess - I hope Ferdie doesn't get worse - no heating is no joke in this weather.

Leila just got the lid off her water beaker! i am so proud! She has bruises all over her face from little bangs and bashes she does. Arnica is my best friend.

Gill - I do yoga on Sat mornings too - when I can get there. It is a life saver.

Leesmum - How crap to be so ill over christmas. Losing 8lb! I put on 2 kilos which I count as good - it could have been much worse.

Gill79 · 10/01/2009 19:45

Evening all.

DP and his dad are trying to move a wardrobe. They've been trying for about an hour and I can hear comments like "if we just take the corner off this door...." . I think dinner and Malcolm's bed going to be very delayed. Time for mummy to start on the wine I think. Not as much as last night though!

Omy my yoga class is at the end of my street-how amazing - I would never go otherwise.

Had no idea you'd been so ill Leesmum - amazing weight loss though!

sarahmikeharryandrosie · 11/01/2009 11:47

did u manage to sort the wardrobe without destroying the house Gill!!!!

Hope the twins and thier families had a fantastic birthday,

its my dads birthday today and i think we are all going out to dinner later so should be nice,

have a good day everyone

sarahmikeharryandrosie · 11/01/2009 11:49

oh meant to add dd is walking behind her walker now too, she looks so plweased with herself,

i think we may be going thru a little seperation anxiety though she cries if i sit her down and move away, sometimes it drives me potty!!!!!!

jooseyfruit · 11/01/2009 12:02

hi ladies.
I've been lurking for AGES!
not a prolific poster before mind you!
Seth doing good, is one next month.
He's massive and lovely, has 5 teeth and STILL ISN'T SLEEPING THROUGH!!!!

anyone else with wide awake ones?

hope everyone is o.k.

any more impending patters of tiny feet??

princessllama · 11/01/2009 14:55

Hi joosey lovely to hear from you. yes, ferdie is in the same boat as seth. he wakes between 4-5.30 and then is up anytime from 6.15. one day sleep will be mine again.
gill, i'd like to know too-did the wardrobe situation resolve?
massive-argie-bargie going on on thread on private/state schools. really surprised me how vitriolic it was

Gill79 · 11/01/2009 22:41

The wardrobe (now with sawn-off corner) is going to have to stay in Malcolm's room. What a palaver. We're moving out of his room and wanted it in our new bedroom. Will just have to be organised to get things out before he goes to bed.

Hi Joosey - yes, wide awake too! Malc was up at 3am this morning. Lying inbetween us in bed chattering away, blowing raspberries and trying to get to his feet so he could look at the picture of a cat behind the bed . I ended up getting up at 4 and not going back to bed until 6.30. I felt like absolute s**t today and didn't manage to do any of the exercise I'd promised myself.

We have a sudden plague of big black flies. Yuck.

Got our party invitations out - am very excited. And a bit unsure if I'm going to survive it all!

Hope dinner was nice Sarah!

swottybetty · 11/01/2009 22:54

hello omy and joosyfruit v nice to hear from you

omy - leila loads more advanced than dd with the water beaker than esther. esther looks v put out when it isnt held up and actually tipped into her mouth. she can just about sip some out if its full, otherwise she's lost!

joosy - i am tyaca and i am four and a half months pregnant. due late may and v excited.

did you go to boarding school princess? yeah, people get heated re private and state schools so much. i used to be anti private education til i got a free house out of it am also now considering sending dd to the pre prep here cause looks brilliant and we get half price... oh how i used to laugh at those people who told me it would be different when i was thinking abiut my own kids ....

!!Great Big Happy Birthday To Jacob and Rebecca and Abbey and Jack!!

Leesmum --- ughhh, chest infection sounds painful and uncomfortable. the not drinking sucks doesnt it? i have just finished another course of anti-b's and the fact that i'm only allowed teeny weeny amounts of booze anyway makes it all the harder to go without.

rozzy - how is work going?? dh has always been convinced that dd is a difficult baby while i think we have done ok. i dread being proved right when number two comes to show dh what tricky sleeper// fussy eater//great big screamer really is....

wd sarah for dd's walking with walker. esther's separation anxiety has got a lot better now that she can finally crawl. she just follows me. fast. its v sweet. today i couldnt find her and she was in the spare room in the dark just gently pushing the door .

hello to gill and alkar and sally and everyone else i havent managed to catch up with. egg too you sounded quite low last post hope twins had nice b-day and all is good.

OP posts:
strawberrycornetto · 11/01/2009 23:23

Hey all, hope you had good weekend and that the twins had a lovely birthday Egg /

Swotty, late May sounds really soon!! Were you late or early last time?? How exciting for you.

Sarah, we also have the separation anxiety thing. DS cries if I come into the room where he is and then leave again without picking him up. He's ok being dropped at nursery so far though thank god. A little bit of me likes that he does that as it proves he's attached to me

Hello Joosy. Joosy/Princess/Gill, we also have night waking now. DS was sleeping through until he got sick but now he's awake every night and its tough to combine with work. I really should be asleep now but have been working and felt like a bit of down time first. I feel I should be trying to settle him without feeding him but he's definitely hungry, he drinks a full 8oz bottle and its the only time he will!

Gill at the wardrobe nightmare! What are your plans for the party? I might still do one perhaps.... I do want to celebrate my little man!

Haven't seen the school thread. Might have a look. We were considering private for DS and she had an assessment yesterday but I also went to see our local school and loved it, so I don't think we will do it. Shame though, the girls school is really lovely (although DD's preference is the state school "because it has a nicer playground!! "). Its such a tough and personal decision though, we are lucky to have a good local state primary I think. I can't believe my baby is almost at school .

What's everyone got planned for next week. I have a romantic trip with DH planned for the end of the week. I am really excited, although DS has started coughing and wheezing really badly again so I am worried that if he gets worse we will have to cancel. I am so desperate now for the spring!

sarahmikeharryandrosie · 12/01/2009 10:46

pmsl- Gill, cannot belive all the hastle ur dh went to only to leave it there!!!!!!

had a lovely family meal yesterday for my dads birthday,

my bday is thursday--- 25 OMG, not really sure what i am doing yet though, as for the rest of the week i dunno house work i guess!!!!!

hope u r all well, oh btw if anyone is interestied i have just ordered this for dd's bday thought it will make a lovely keep sakelook

lljkk · 12/01/2009 17:02

Hi Ladies and your many already/nearly birthday babies...

DS has a spotty bottom... thrush? Plus with teething he pulled a nursing strike yesterday, although now he seems to have cracked it again, but his latch is very very soft, I can hardly feel it. Much better before when he seemed to hurt and nip with each new top tooth.

My big problem is he's been walking about 6 weeks now and in theory I ought to get him some outdoor walking shoes, but he can't walk at all even if he's merely wearing 2 pairs of socks (has to be barefoot), so what point is there in getting him shoes? I am pretty flummoxed on this one. You'd think after 3 other DC I'd know what to do, but I'm at a loss. Keep persevering with him trying to walk in soft shoes, maybe??

Gill79 · 12/01/2009 17:31

Hello everyone. Second night in a row I was up for 3 hours in the middle of the night. This time we didn't let him get up I just fed him (twice) and then did controlled crying. Between 2.30 and 5am. . He had a hoarse voice this morning . I felt so low this morning, like yesterday. Always seem to pick up in the afternoon though and just had a lovely visit from a mummy friend. I've bought a load of baby food (1/3 off baby stuff in Sainsbury's till 15th) so am going to be on strike from cooking his meals for a while until things feel more manageable.

Anyway - am so unsure if this controlled crying is a good thing or not. Two and a half hours? But I get in this thing where I don't want to pick him up and cuddle him to sleep a it will have made the whole session a waste of time. So hard last night though when I could have had him asleep in a jiffy if I'd picked him up and cuddled him. (Strawberry like you said with the difficulty in enforcing strictness at night with a bottle - this is the point where I'm really trying to do things properly). Am going to ask GP to refer us to sleep clinic. Might have said this before but the issue seems to be an aversion to awareness of being asleep. He doesn't wake up slowly; before his eyes are even open in the morning he is on his feet and screaming.

Strawberry have just counted and we've invited 50 people for Saturday afternoon / evening. Was thinking about half would make it but 25 is still an awful lot for our little house. Plus MIL has decided to come and stay too. Ok- still calm going to have paper plates and cups and make simple food. And hostess not to touch a drop before 6pm!! Staying calm....... staying calm..... Then on the monday which is his actual birthday I'm having some of the mums from our baby group round for afternoon tea & cake type thing.

Lljkk keep persevering I think! Maybe you should try with proper shoes straight away - they night be easier than soft shoes in some ways?

princessllama · 12/01/2009 19:28

sarah you are a spring chick! how time has flown. get out there and celebrate.
lijk-have no idea-keep trying soft shoes for small periods of time. poss. with pavlov approach bribery? ferdie would do anything for food.
swotty, yup, i did 3 years at boarding school. wasn't v good at dormitory life, sharing with 10 other girls did my nut.
strawberry i know what you mean about watching the cough and wheeze. i am a newcomer to the game but learning fast. ds was back at gp today who sent us to hospital. waited ages to end up seeing a junior dr who didn't seem to listen. he reckons ds has a new virus which is causing another bout of bronchiolitis.
strawberry and the rest of you any ideas on following- i think he hasn't kicked his bacterial chest infection because as soon as his antibiotics stopped he started to go downhill. he now has a fever, cough, wheeze and crackly chest and conjunctivitis (which apparently dr says is not conjunctivitis it's just burst blood vessel from coughing, didn't want to know about pussy stuff coming out). could i be right?
meanwhile, i went for a routine gynae check and they now think i may have the pre-cancerous cell changes again that i had before. i had to go back for a double biopsy after taking ferdie to gp and before going to the hospital agony agony. now have to wait for a week to hear result.

princessllama · 12/01/2009 19:31

gill-when we first moved in dh measured up and decided our bed wouldn't fit up the stairs. we slept on a mattress on the floor for several weeks before he sawed the top of the bannisters off. it turned out this was completely unneccessary as the bed cleared the stairs by a mile .

princessllama · 12/01/2009 19:33

also-we did sleep training with the gently gently method-eg holding them, then not holding them but rubbing the back, then not touching them, then not going in for 5 minutes, then 10 etc. you probably already been through this gill so excuse the above.

rozzyraspberry · 12/01/2009 20:17

Sarah - you are very young

Strawberry - I think you stopped bf about the same time as me (around new year?) - how on earth do you get your lo to drink a full bottle? Andrew won't take a bottle at all and will still only take about 1cm out of a cup. Pretty sure I'm getting enough milk into him through his food though.

Swotty - work is ok. A new computer system was installed when I was off and there are quite a few problems with it which I'm trying to sort out whilst my temp covers continues to do my job. Will be much better when I can get back into my normal workload. Am really missing my boys but am off tomorrow and weds this week so looking forward to doing the normal things like taking ds1 and ds2 to school and nursery.

We're really lucky that our local schools are really good so don't need to consider private. Didn't see that thread. I'm taking ds2 to school next week to complete his enrolment forms - will be so strange when only lo is here during the day.

Gill that is quite a party you're planning!! We'll probably just have family over the weekend before and then probably a birthday tea on his birthday with just the 5 of us. I hope you get the sleeping problems fixed Gill - must be really hard. Is he screaming really hard the whole time or sort of going quiet for a minute then having a little cry? When I started refusing to feed Andrew in the night he would go quiet for a minute and the periods between crying would get longer until he fell asleep if you know what I mean. I don't think I could have coped with extended periods of solid crying. Can you ask egg what tactics her night nanny used to get her dd to sleep through - might be something new you could try.

Not sure what to advise re shoes lljkk - those little soft shoes are good (daisy roots etc) but wouldn't be suitable for walking outside. If its just in the house I think they say walking without shoes is best whilst they're perfecting their balance!

Anyway hi to everyone!

omy · 12/01/2009 20:43

LOL Princess! at your banisters story! Did you get any more antibiotics for ferdie? He sounds rough poor thing.

Gill - Sleep clinic sounds like a good plan - 3 hrs crying is VERY tough - poor all of you. 50 people! My God you're brave! keep breathing....

lljkk - shoes already? I seem to remember being told to not buy them shoes till they had been walking about 6 months! (agony for a shoe fetishist like me!) - those Daisy Roots leather slipper shoes are brilliant for this stage as they actually stay on! You CAN wear them outside - they get a bit wrecked but that is ok as they grow out of them really fast.

omy · 12/01/2009 20:45

Sarah - 25!!!!!! now that's just boasting! Happy Birthday

Egg · 12/01/2009 20:54

Hello all sorry I keep reading everyone's posts and then not posting myself .

Thank you for all the birthday wishes for the DTs! Babies are now one year and two days old [proud]. Their birthday was fine, nothing spectacular. My parents came down for lunch and DS2 and DD ate cake for the first time! DD ate all her small piece and got more . DS2 was not interested and proceeded to smash the cake as hard as he could until he had created a thin layer of cake across his side of the table about 1mm thick!

Gill my top tip for your party is... GO TO M&S! I did this on Saturday with only 4 adults and 3 children . You can get soooo many nice things. Definitely get paper plates etc, will really lighten the load.

Princess I am at your day! You sound so blasé and calm about it all. I found one trip to A&E with DS2 bad enough, you have had such a year with Ferdie you poor thing and now having to the biopsy yourself. I know from a friend that it is agony (although she did say that fortunately the pain stopped as soon as the procedure did, so whilst it killed during the biopsy she felt fine afterwards - hope you feel ok now too). Fingers crossed it is nothing and you are ok. Hope the week goes quickly for you.

lljkk - with DS1 he started wearing his soft shoes before he could walk (but was cruising) and he never had a problem walking with them on. He then seemed fine with the "proper" shoes I got once he was walking outside a couple of weeks later. DS2 has been cruising for 4 months... he has the ability to walk but not the confidence and as soon as he realises he is not holding on he does a dramatic fall! He has only worn the soft shoes once or twice but I think I will put them on him a bit more to get him used to them.

Gill - my heart goes out to you with the sleep issues. I think it was easier with DD as she was fine going to sleep on her own, just wanted to be given some love and a drink in the night. The night nanny would check her when she woke up to ensure she was ok, check she had her blankie etc and then ignore her, and basically just check she was ok every 5 mins until she fell asleep. She was in the same room and tried to check DD without much intervention, I think she would touch her back very briefly to reassure her and then get back into bed. The longest DD cried I think was about an hour, but dont forget it took ELEVEN NIGHTS to get her to sleep through. Do you have any possibility of trying a night nanny? They are a bit pricey but DH and I both agree it was well worth it, god knows what we would be like if we hadn't done it (it is a lot easier to leave your LO crying when there it is "someone else's problem"... we knew she was safe and also knew we didn't have to get out of bed, we were whoopping with excitement when we went to bed that first night (not knowing how long it would take...).

Sarah you are ridiculously young... I am 33 .

Gill I also nipped down to Sainsburys today. Sadly I already have 14 of those economy huge 60 packs of nappies (yes I am still hoarding), so I only got 3 packs and also the entire remaining stock of Pampers Sensitive baby wipes!

Welcome back to joosey and also to Omy (we missed you... Omy not seen you since that I was stalking you and kept popping up on the same threads).

Have not read the private schools thread. DH was boarding school educated, as were both my parents. I went to the local "slapper" school (it was nicknamed XXX Slappers ). We had thought we might try to privately educated DS1 and his sibling, but then when we got twins we realised it was impossible financially. Round here lots of very good state primary schools, incl the one only 5 mins walk from our house, which is next door to the DCs nursery. Not sure about secondary here though.

Rozzy glad work is going ok. I really miss my DCs when they are at nursery, but at the same time soooo enjoy the time without them. We always have a lovely 5-7pm time when we get home on a Monday as I am usually so much more relaxed having spent the day without them. Not sure why I am relaxed as I rarely seem to even sit down on a Monday now, so many things seem to need sorting / doing etc. Been trying to do blooming tax return which has been doing my head in.

Swotty if you are 4.5 months you must be coming up to Scan No 2 in the next couple of weeks!!! When is it? I cant remember if you said whether you are interested in knowing the gender. How exciting for you.

Sorry have written a novel. Will post this before I lose it!

Oh and I forgot. Hallelujah but DS2 is finally holding his own bottle... so I dont have to sit breaking my back trying to feed them both at the same time.

strawberrycornetto · 12/01/2009 21:01

Princess, did they do an xray on your DS? It does sound very similar to my DS. He had bacterial pneumonia which cleared up but came back as soon as the ABs finished. For us, they seemed to take the high temperature as the difference between virul bronchiolitis and bacterial chest infection.
I hope he's better and I also hope everything is ok with your biopsy. My friend just had the same thing done and all was fine.

Gill, sounds like your night was a nightmare. Not sure what a sleep clinic, what do they do? It is debilitating missing sleep so often, so its worth considering anything that might help. Hope tonight is better [crossing fingers!] Your party sounds cool, I am thinking smaller scale!!

Happy birthday Sarah, I can't believe you are so young

Lljkk, not sure what to suggest about shoes. Like Gill said, perhaps get proper walkers now so he can practice

DS went to the doctors today and he's back on antibiotics . Really hope he's able to fight it off this time without another trip to hospital.