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

[swottybetty]

New thread guys

The climbing frame is a really good idea. DS and DD both have winter birthdays and don't tend to have much outside stuff.

We went for the climbing frame option for th etwins too,just asked for money for their birthday insteadof more toys and clothes which they have in abundance.We then managed to get a great wee circular frame with lots of hidey holes and a slide which has taken up residence in our sitting room.
We have loads of snow today and jack is very wary of it he keep running to the door when it opens but looking out and running back inside -must say i dont blame him !!
Both twins have conjunctivitis in both eyes so look a poor sight wee souls,its making them really uncomfortable especially when going to sleep.
Both the twins still have a bottle of milk usually 7oz before bed plus porridge for supper and first thing in the morning bout 6.30ish,think they just wee more as they get older as jack is often wet when he gets up too,try experimenting with different nappies as we find pampers are sooooo no good for during the night.

Hi all. Not too much snow here - hopefully that'll continue as I take windy country roads to work so could do without slippy snow to contend with.

We've got ds a maclaren ride along car for his birthday as the other 2 loved their ride along but it was broken after much use. Actually got it reduced to £12.50 last summer with the intention of giving it to him from santa but dh did a poor job of hiding it and the other 2 spotted it in the garage.

Sorry your lo's are so poorly with the pox Sarah and Leesmum. Ds2 had a lot of spots but apart from the first few days of itchiness wasn't too poorly at all. Hope they're better soon.

Glad the nights out went well. I went shopping this morning and got a really nice wrap around dress from H & M for £20! But I have no plans for going out in the near future so not sure what I bought it for - dh will just have to take me out somewhere!

Got called into work for a meeting today. To try to avoid redundancies we're getting no bonuses or pay rise this year, and the pay rise we got last year is being reversed. My bonuses wouldn't have been that high this year anyway since I was out most of last year and I've only had last years pay rise for 2 months so won't miss that too much. Its a good solution I think as a lot of jobs would have to go to make the same saving and this downturn should be temporary.

Hope no one gets too badly snowed in!

Hello - hope everyone had fun in the snow! Nursery closed today so didn't get to do the last settling in session. Hope we get to do it tomorrow as starts properly on Wednesday!

Leesmum Malc's always soaking wet in the morning. Maybe that's cause he was more than a pint of milk between bedtime and waking up .

Sarah that sounds horrible. Hope they start to get better soon!

Strawberry did your DP not go on a skiing trip without you last year? Or am I thinking of someone else?

Yep, DP did go skiing without me. But he's a pilot so he all these lovely trips, well apart from last week's skiing with mates, are actually work . He did just ring me from Antigua to see how we are, apparently its very warm there - grrr!!!!

Hope your settling in goes ok.

Rozzy, that's kind of annoying but at least they are trying to get people to keep their jobs. Its a very scary time at the moment.

Oh poor LOs sarah!

Leesmum - what about giving him his bottle half an hour or so before bed to to give him a chance to wee some of it out before bed?

Antigua - mmmmmmmm I will go to bed with my hot water bottle and dream of Antiguan sunshine.

My work (school) was closed today and is closed tomorrow too. My DDs school was closed today and we are not sure about tomorrow yet. It has been a fun day for them - but we are going a bit stir crazy with all of us home and some of us trying to work!

Mini - your climbing frame sounds fun - is there any room left on your sitting room?! Hope their eyes get better soon!

I took Leila outside in the snow for 5 minutes and she was rather unimpressed! She looked hilarious in giant wellies - the only footwear I could find that was suitable was some old wellies that her sister wore aged 4! They came up to her thighs!

Lol Omy, stir crazy sums up my day perfectly. Am afraid to confess that I am dreading tomorrow . Still, at least I have the tv back.....

thought i would bring the list forward again,

lucyand2 and morningglory have 1st birthday tommorow, so
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISABELLE AND SETH, XXXXX

??-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

Thanks for the advice on bottles and my ds2 being piss wet through every morning!! Only gave him 5oz's at bedtime because he had half a croissant about 40 mins earlier, and he woke up dry...but at 4.30!!! might try porridge like mini and see if that fills him up a bit better.

Alkar it wont be long till Daniel is on that climbing frame and your heart is in your mouth!

Rozzy thats a bit crap about work, how disheartning for you and your colleagues I suppose it's a better option than being made redundant though! I know a few people who have been laid off or had to do 3/4 day weeks, it's very worrying, only plus side to a recession is that mortgage rates drop

Gill are you still feeding Malc or are you onto formula now? I've tried james a few times with cow's milk but he doesnt seem that keen!

I'm off to work soon, the snow is starting to melt a little round here but i think we're getting more..i love snow but not driving in it

Leesmum I just wish I could get ds3 to drink milk properly - its been a month since I stopped bf now and he still only has a few sips. We were giving him weetabix at bedtime but he started refusing it so don't bother now. Have to admit the extra solid meal was a bit of a pain - especially since I couldn't see how he could eat a whole weetabix with banana only 1.5 hours after tea. We've moved to cows milk now and he seems to like that a bit better than formula at least. Any YAY for mortgage rates - our fixed rate ended in Jan and we've moved onto a tracker - will be £175 less a month so we can cope with the pay cut.

We don't have much snow at all - so unusual for us to have so little (in Scotland) whilst England has been hit worst.

Anyway I'm supposed to be quickly finishing my online tesco shop before I go on my treadmill so better get going!!

hello all. we are so snowy here - most of the school site is untrodden so everything looks lovely and magical. school cancelled two days and only half open tomo... just boarders playing snow football and sledging. the countryside rocks .

leesmum - the only time we have wet sleeeping bags in the morning is when dd wakes herself up with a superpoo. unfortunatley that seems to be every other day at the moment . i agree with you about not being quite sure about the new MN. I hate the thought of being an old stick in the mud, but i'm having trouble getting around.

sarah - how are your dc today? that they feeling so scratchy and you must be having a miserable time of it. at least its out of the way well done at keeping us up to date with the birthdays, tho; it just reminds me that i scared morningglory off.

gill - GOOD LUCK FOR TOMO. sure you and malcom will do great.

a belated happy birthday to daniel . i have googled the little tikes stuff and now i want one of those climbing frames. i am rubbish at knowing what to get dd for presents as she just seems happiest sucking her coat or something. she likes her ride on she got for xmas and my sister is getting her one of those ikea tunnels, but i'm ind of lost after that. i just talked about this to dh and said "oh, but everyone's babies are a about a month older than dd".... to which dh pointed she will be the same age when she's one as all the other babies turning one ....

omy - just had a thunk and i remember what i was doing on my seventeenth . oh god, i do not want dd to grow up. luckily i think dh will be a much stricter parent than either of mine were.

strawb - your dh is a pilot. that rocks! take it he's a commercial pilot? what with him and rozzy's man we have nearly got all the key uniforms ticked off.

rozzy, sorry to hear about money and work. i guess like you said as long as you not been too used the the last pay rise and weren't banking on bonuses. does it mean no redundancies?

mini - what climbing frame did you get? sounds good. i can never tell whether dd has conjunctivitis or she's wiped some of the vast amounts of snot that covers her face into her eye....

i really need life to get back to normal tomo. trams not working and we too snowed in to get car out (we on outskirts of site, not a priority) so am going a bit bonkers here.

Sounds lovely Swotty - very idyllic!

Leesmum - Malc has formula in the daytime and cow's milk at night. He's fairly happy with cow's milk but does prefer it warm.

Was giving Malc his tea today and listening to the PM programme on radio 4 and an email was read out from our old friend Bean!

Yep swotty - plan is that this should avoid redundancies which is good. I know what you mean about toys - ds3 spends most of his time making beelines towards all the lego that's scattered all over the house,opening drawers and cupboards, chewing pens and just generally getting his hands on everything he shouldn't have. He has started pushing his cars along the floor though which is really cute! He also made it all the way up the stairs today - we did realise he was on his way up so dh went up behind him - ds1 and ds2 wanted to see if he could make it to the top. He then pulled himself up to stand at the gate at the top which wasn't closed so it swung backwards as soon as he stood up and he would have somersaulted back downstairs if dh hadn't been there. This is such a funny stage where they're getting more mobile and brave but don't have the common sense to back it up.

I've just seen the thread title 'why is my vagina vibrating?' Sorry but mumsnet is priceless sometimes

I have added a picture to my profile of the twins on their climbing frame,i have quite a big sitting room so theres plenty of room for it

well la-de-dah at the PM prog . way too cerebral for swotties - we more of a drive on five family....

dd woke at 4am and now still wont sleep. think maybe its her teeth. what;s all this about mothers instincts? i have no idea whats wrong with her most of the time.

got to find out about vibrating fannies.

Hello everyone and happy birthday to all babies I keep missing....... I am being crap at the mo due to a non sleeping in daytime dS1, and DH been working from home due to snow so absolutely no PC access really. Gah.

DD has an ear infection and so is on ABs. She was up screaming all of Monday night but thankfully ABs kicked in and she slept for 14 hours last night!

Hope Malc's first proper day at nursery goes well. Bet he will be a star and soon you will be meeting all his new little friends Gill .

Sarah and leesmum, hope your DCs are getting better from the pox. I really do want mine to get it out of the way but am dreading it all the same.

at Bean being on R4! I was once mentioned on Capital FM in London, not quite as highbrow!

DS1 was excited about the snow on Monday, but was a bit uninterested by yesterday as it was turning a bit slushy. All schools round here closed but THANK GOD our nursery was still open .

Cute pix, mini&me.
Yowza about the ear infex, Egg, what a bummer. They hurt so much...

I saw your various mesgs Egg about your DD's tiny feet. I just used soft-prewalker type shoes until DC feet outgrew them and were walking a lot outside -- but I can't do that with DS4 because it's so durn cold outside, the soft shoes just don't do the job.

SOOOOOOOooooo I confidently took baby to the factory Start-Rite shop last Friday thinking to get him something he could wear outside on his feet (should have cost £14). BUT they didn't have anything small enough (they measured him up as 2.5F?)!! So I had to go into Norwich City Centre after all, where they sold me some boots in European size 19F(?) that were £38.50 (lljkk faints over). They said I could wait until May to get him measured again, at least.

Walking babies are pests, he's climbing and into everything, his face is covered with bruises and scratches from face-plants, sigh. He just can't move his hands fast enough to break some of his falls.

On the plus side, his naps have lengthened so now I can manage some time to get things done at home in the day. I had a cleaner in yesterday, but cost £14/hour -- I am looking for someone else to do it regularly for much less.

That does seem a lot for a cleaner Lljkk - maybe I'm in the wrong job!!

How did it go today Gill?

Egg - how's your dd? Ear infections are so sore. Neither of my 2 were having daytime naps after about age 2 - is your ds1 3 soon? I think I remember he was due to be 2 about a month after the twins were due.

More snow expected tonight!

Swotty - I don't even know whats wrong with my older 2 some of the time and they can talk. With ds3 I put his grumpiness down to teething for about 6 months before the first tooth finally peeped through - so obviously I have no clue.

morning all,

We have lots of snow here today and were off too build a snowman!!!!!!

hope everyone is ok,

My 2 are on the mend much better and the spots are scabbing well,

have a great snow day guys if you get one!!!!!

Just popping in for quick update on nursery. Seems things went ok and he didn't cry too much - his key worker said "he's a very happy baby isn't he?" And he had three sleeps!!! THREE!!

At bedtime for the first time EVER we were able to leave him lying in his cot by himself - he just lay there chattering away to himself until he fell asleep instead of the usual screaming. And this morning again for the first time EVER he woke up and instead of crying straight away just started chatting again, quite happy by himself.

Unbelievable. And what on earth have I been doing wrong? Not playing with him for 10 hours solid I guess .

DP was taking him to nursery this morning and just realised forgot to bf him. Fk. Not sure if my supply will recover from this as already very small. Makes sense to do it now I suppose but feel very sad about it (and also it's a great strategy for getting a bit longer in bed once he's woken up)

Swotty we're a 4/5 family. LOVE those football phone-ins . Would like to listen to more music in the daytime but sadly R1 makes me want to bash my head against a brick wall.

Hope DD had another good night Egg. How can you tell if a baby's got an ear infection btw? DP was apparently very prone to them as baby.

OMG. Dreamt last night that came on to post and realised my MIL hda been posting on this thread!!!! Nightmare.

Not such a quick post after all. Better do some work! Laters.

PS lljkk shoes sound complicated I have already chucked a few little shoes down the hallway in a rage as can't get them on or to fit. Do you need them so LO can walk outside? Otherwise no shoes for indoors right? Can't wait for little wellies.

Yeah, shoes for walking outside and trips in bikeseat. And one of the tot groups we go to has cold floors, so good for there, too.

At tot-parent groups, even with warm carpet, ALL the other tots wear shoes indoors, I notice.

I would happily use wellies instead, but he has high insteps, wide soft feet, wellies just feel too risky.

Glad u had good night, Gill.
I'm a Rad4-5 addict too.
I would type more but squirmy baby on lap, bfn.

Arghhhh!!!! We still cant get out! I have cabin fever. We have long snowed in drive way and then a long path up to main bit of school - neither are proper thoroughfares so no tramping down. Thought it would have compacted and melted enough for me and dd to get out today but nope. Will have to borrow a shovel. DH trying the car again this afternoon - yesterday we scrounged food from the school kitchen... ok,ok we got one onion. but it still felt quite Blitz Spirit

gill - i guess malcom must be Unusually Intelligent and therefore in need of the stimulation of half a dozen other tots and two key workers a day. lucky you! i can lend you dd if that would help..... dh listens to Radio 1 and Radio 6 (Fresher FM grin) but i need to know what the cabbies of Britain think at any given moment,

He IS unusually intelligent! Just like his mummy. Check it out:

uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-Tc1CQAJ6oA

Was picturing you and DH tucking into an onion for tea!

OMFG Gill he is sooooo gorgeous. Loved watching that. He is indeed very intelligent. Mine cant do all of that between them (ok mine cant do any of that between them ).

Really glad nursery went well. Mine are usually happy there, they get more attention than from grumpy mummy at home. And fab on the sleep. We gained quite a lot of good things when DS1 started nursery at 18 months. He slept in a room full of people which he had never done since he was tiny, and slept with a blanket over him not a grobag, and ate with cutlery for the first time !!!

To be honest it is not obvious when a baby has an ear infection as they tend to hold their ears and cry a lot, but often babies do that anyway! With DD she kept pulling her ears, one of them leaked some gunk overnight (but that has happened before without ear infection), and the main thing that concerned me was her incessant crying. Nothing seemed to make her happy and she was waking up every 20 mins at night as she was obviously in so much pain.

Can't wait for today's neighbours! It is getting very exciting. TEENAGE PREGNANCY ALERT!

lljkk thanks for advice on shoes. At least DD wont be walking for ages so wont really need any shoes, and as you say soft ones are fine. I was mainly concerned that she had abnormally small feet and that she would be ridiculed during her teens!

Betty I know it's not funny but you and DH and DD sharing the onion does make a good image!

Gill that was brilliant!! i especially liked the fish impression, Malcolm is very bright for his age

Egg the ear infection sound horrid, Ds1 is covered is spots and now ds2 has the runs and has already been changed 3 times today!

We only got a dusting of snow today and i hope thats it!