January 2008 Shiny New Year Toddlers - first steps to mischief !!!

[Lilyloo]

Hope that's ok all

Bless...Nathan.

DD sucks her thumb and fore finger together...thats how I know she is tired..

Aww bless him -- no this is definatly to make you laugh as she does it and then looks at us expecting us to laugh if we dont do it she gets a snitch (this is gonna be hard to explain - she kind of sniffs through her nose so it sounds like she's got a cold all the time?) till you laugh! lol.

Is Nathan better in himself MM?

Nope the other two were 'normal' in the escapist act sense

He is getting better in himself Lucky, we got some good old fashioned cheeky grins but he is not bouncy yet and not holding 10minute badadadaddlatatata dialogues. roll on tomorrow. oh no, good sleep first

I'm glad he's returning to himself slowly. I can imagine its very quiet in your house without Nathan's conversations

George does that too screws his nose up and does pretend sniffing and the red indian noise. Sweet aren't they? Makes the crap nights seem a little more bearable doesn't it?
Madmouse ds3 does that when hes tired. Iask 'are you tired David?' 'no Mum' yeah right

I've (happily) managed to decipher some of DD's meanings. Lol. I ask her something and if its yes she says mummmmm (this is also the same word for I want) If I ask her something and its no she turns away from me and tries to run away! lol - pretty simple signs there.
Also I know juice is wanted when she prods me with her cup shouting mummmm. lol

Although she can be sooo annoying sometimes I really love her and she is sooo cute sometimes too.

Just realised I never told you all about my words with DP - although not really very eventful.

I discussed the fact that he doesn't help much with DD and thinks that "entertaining her" while I go do something else is his fair share.

EG: I asked him to watch her while I went for a shower and after about 15 mins (I was enjoying a long shower cos of my cold) he was asking how long I was going to be cos DD wanted some food. I told him to make some and he just huffed and said ok. So I let that one go (that time)
Then cue football night, he knows DD likes to be fed at 7 and in bed at 8 but cos of the footie I said we'll see if we can get her to have a longer kip and she'll stay up later.
So she got up at about 7:20pm (that worked ) I noticed her bum was REALLY sore so I ran her a bath and played with her - he asked what I wanted for dinner and I said I wasn't hungry and after bath went downstairs (just as football started) to find him sitting in front of TV no food for her or nothing - me with snivelling cold)
So I get her dressed, cream etc all the while thinking he must have something in the oven for them both.
Settle down to watch match and still no dinner so I literally Said "have you seriously not made her anything?" FOOTBALLS ON NOW. So I bit my lip and went to make her something.
So - Half time, DD getting naggy I suggest she goes to bed as she's obviously tired and get her a bottle to drink on the sofa she didn't go to sleep but started wingeing (just as 2nd half started) so DP got naggy went banging off upstairs "knocking things over" so I went up after him and told him to go away and watch his football (Which I spose to his credit he didn't) but I actually felt scared for her a little.

Anyways.... all this made me speak to him and he says that he's gonna try and change but i've heard this before. Maybe I should try to find a way to MAKE him change like get a job where he has to stay up. I've been so busy working around his work and sleep but I wonder what he'd do if he had no choice?

Ok i'm going to bed as I'm coughing like someone who's smoked 40 a day! lol goodnight all.

Lucky - hope you get better soon. Sounds like DP is being particularly unhelpful - one tip I have found even with having a helpful DH is that men do not understand things in the same way as us. Eg asking to look after child to them means stick telly on and let child roam - so long as child is in one piece that's fine. To a man "look after" does not involve considering playing/feeding/changing/offering a drink. So really bite your tongue (think I've gone right through mine before LOL!) and ask specifically - eg "I'm not feeling too good, please could you get DD some food with you as I can't face anything?"

Amelie's latest trick - climbing. Flippin' mountaineer, she is. Found her sitting on DD2's plastic chair (those ones that look like garden chairs for kids) and looking v smug. Later she pushed the box of bricks next to the train table to climb up. And then she stood on the bottom step of DD2's Tripp Trapp chair trying to reach her little legs to the seat. Still not walking but makes up for it in climbing Can't take my eyes off her for a second
(unless I remove all furniture from the house and sit on the floor...)

Ange - hope the plasterer turns up and does a good job. Must go to the pet shop this weekend for more bird seed for the garden (and maybe some cat treats!), there are normally lots of animals to have a look at so will take the boys

Fragolina - hope you are feeling better today?

LaT - about FB, once you start looking through your friends friends you find more and it can be addictive! i go through phases when i don't use it much, sometimes.
Really hope sabela picks up soon, so worrying for you, with everything else going on too.

Madmouse - good news on Nathan's eating i know exactly how you feel re stopping bf at times like this
Did you get the work done? i'm in awe of anyone who's brain is still functioning, mine is mush after so long not being used properly

Lilyloo - we like a bit of C & L too, though sometimes we worry it gives ds1 'ideas', eg 'i will never eat a tomato' or 'i am not tired and will not go to bed'
We went through a major peppa phase before Christmas, now ds1 seems more into Diego & Dora, occasionally asks for old favourites like Thomas & Fireman Sam.
M is a true wriggler/escape artist isn't she? you certainly have your hands full with her

Mixedm - bad luck re CP hope he doesn't suffer too much.

simpson - you should ask on the allergies board for brands of baby/jar food that are allergen-free. or just carryon as you are as you sound like a fab cook
ds2 produced the tip of another tooth yesterday = number 13 and the other canines look/feel like they are on their way too.
(Checked ds1's book and his teeth came at the same time, 13, 14, 15 & 16, then we had a gap to 20months before the last 4 started appearing. he was done before 2yrs.)

Yes ds2 loves feeling my teeth which is fair enough as i'm always feeling his i guess.
loves trying to 'feed' me things too.

Gingeme - the passport office has a bit of a cheek suggesting that!! Hope it gets sorted out soon.
(got your message re Wed thanks, may aim to leave here at 10.30, get to you for 12? then leave at 3ish, would that work with you? and simpson? anyone else?)

We must get organised with ds2's jabs. i've now had 2 letters, one for the 5-in-1 booster and one for the Men C booster. and we will have the mmr letter soon i'm sure. must ring on monday to get an appt to start....

We have been using baby sign here and ds2 is very good at it (proud mummy!), he can sign 'more' very clearly (was demanding more towers to knock down yesterday, i couldn't build them fast enough!), he also signs drink, milk, sleep and duck.
Ds1 didn't get them so quickly, think ds2 might be a bit more switched on.....though not as physically advanced as still no sign of walking...

Lucky - hope you are feeling better too. Not sure what to say re dp. but did you tell him his behaviour scared you a little? that might shock him out of things.

Housemum - you've got another climber on your hands then too!

had a lovely birthday dinner, ate too much! then went to the casino for £20 of roulette (i'm quite strict and don't allow myself to get any more chips when i've run out), won a few times but nothing really, and ran out far too quickly as we chose the £1 table instead of the 50p one!! anyway, came home early instead and had a baileys. stayed up chatting/watching tv, then ds1 up crying at 5.30 (bad dream i guess) so knackered now.
right, long enough sorry!

How are you Fragolina? And your cough Lucky?

JKS posting early again

Ange the finished result will be worth it

Heavy night nappy, big solid poo and a baby grotty with hunger - I've had worse starts to the day .

gingeme - glad the news from the doc was good.

mm - glad nathan is on the mend.

tbh we watch quite a lot of cbeebies... ds1 loves mr tumble and big cook little cook and lazytown which are quite good progs. i didnt like LT at the beginning but i done some research and in Iceland the creator has made a massive positive impact on children. ITNG is awful, and i found DS1 liked it when he was younger but we never bought the toys.

LUCKY- sorry abt caps... my dh is as housemum says as long as they are ok he will not bother with much. He expects them to be quiet alot as he is a telly addict which drives me mad and we have had many discusions about this. It does make the moments when he sits down and properly engages, like this morning making eggy bread with DS1 so special tho.

DS2 has CP much more severly, he has as many on his belly that DS1 had on his whole body.

Hi all

Lucky - with regards to your DP my DH will feed DCs but I have to tell him exactly what to cook iyswim.

If I said can you feed Dcs he would expect/assume I have put food on. If I want him to put food on I have to say DS having X and DD having Y iyswim.

Grrr annoyed with DH this morning as he took all the stuff to the bottle bank this morning (I know he was only trying to help)while i had my lie in and I had been saving stuff to take to bottle bank today with DS as it would kill at least an hour today and Ds loves it...

Oh well....I predict a loooong day....

simpson not sure you should be annoyed with dh

dh can do jars yogurt and breakfast as long as he knows which one

had a lovely walk to town in the sunshine. picked up some parcels from the sorting office. lovely things , I bought 8 tops for Nathan on ebay for a few quid and some are new.

my friend in Norway knitted him a real proper norwegian cardigan, gorgeous. and a Dutch friend sent red pyjamas with stripey bottoms and the word 'lief', which means sweet/cute.

lovely unpacking it all

To add to DH issues... I went to the market with DS1 and asked DH to make sure DS2 did not go to sleep as we have got into a routine of starting lunch around 11.30 and then nap from 12.30-2.30 which works really well as DS1 then has quiet time and naps from about 1.30-2.30... came back to find DS2 asleep.. and i know that DH willhave put him to sleep so he didnt have to watch him.. IYSWIM... annoying. Ditto I have to leave strict instructions with DH to get him to do anything proper.

Madmouse - how exciting, i love getting packages.

Well DD is not herself today. Seems happy enough not too much whinging (yet) but went down for nap and 11.30 and only just got up now

She totally missed lunch and I have offered a 7mth jar which has been totally refused and she has had half a small jar...

But I can see lots of white under gums so is probably teeth...

Simpson - hope you get a good night with those teeth!

Gingeme - at the name issues. Don't even get me started as Sabela has a Spanish surname and they don't even HAVE one of the letters of her name!

Lucky - Sorry DH being unhelpful. He's pulling a fast one. Did you get him in line? HOw's the cough?

JKS - LOL at 'more towers'. How on earth did he get 'duck'? Glad you had a good birhtday.

Mixedmama - how's it going with chicken pox?

Lily - LOL at your escape artist.

Madmouse - I'm glad he's eating again. You might feel differently if Nathan was feeding like a newborn . And tantruming if you try to deny him. . We do that withthe toothbrush too. Sabela thinks it's hilarious. Are we hoping for too much to think we are laying down good habits?

Housemum - I must say DH is an exception. He's a bit benused as to clothes but is very proud of himself when he puts together a matching outfit!

So, I think I've found out how our LOs communicate then (LaTrucha tries doing the Indian thing with the back of her hand). Sabela loves doing it when she's bouncing on my knee.

And yes, ther is nothing more funny than my nose, nostrils, ears, eyes - all to be poked. And now she lieks to see what I'm eating - and I mean when I'm chewing it. A bit at the family dinner table.

Sabela and I both much better today, I'm very happy to say. Oh! Yes Madmouse the weather is mild here, although today we were out without coats. I'm even going to have to get the sunblock.

Sabela is obssessed with books and pointing at pictures of words she recognises. I have ordered some books pretty randomly on amazon. I hope they're good. They're this and this. Anyone know them? Flaps are in big-time too, you might have guessed!

LaT glad your feeling better. We don't have those books but have some Maisy that were ds and now dd1 growing out of them so will be passed on to M! Dear Zoo is a good one too..

MMama hope ds2 feels better soon we had the same ds was quite mild dd1 was really quite bad!

MM ooh love packages. Have been good and waitinguntil i sell some things on ebay tom night before i buy anything!

Simps hope M perked up and it's just the teeth. And poor dh for you being cross with him

Housemum , snap, i might take up your idea on clearing the house soon. If i have to chase her up the stairs one more time! We do have stair gates and doors but does anyone shut them

Lucky agree with the others men cannot multitask. They are looking after dd they cannot possibly do anything else or plan food , sleep , routines etc!
Have you tried leaving him a list one day and going out ? He may surprise you. FWIW my dp would never miss the footy to put dc's to bed !!

Well had marathon cleaning day here. Have gutted every room in the house. I have taken all toys back into the conservatory and decided we are going to have to heat that room again! They were taking over so now have nice clean adult front room again!

Hi all

No more sick today hurrah, and a very smiley boy. His big friend dropped by as he finished his dinner and he was beaming so hard he forgot to wail while I wiped his face

So funny we have a new battle, he refuses to wait for me to zip him in his grobag before turning over

LaT found cute anti-slip socks at Tesco, they will start their journey to Spain on Monday

Madmouse - yey for Nathan feeling better today and those parcels sound lovely

mixedm - hope ds2 isn't suffering tooo badly & grr about Dh messing up nap times. would annoy me too. Luckily DH is great with the boys, he has plenty of other faults, lol

simpson - it wold have annoyed me too if i'd had thoughts/plans that dh messed up, even if well-intentioned. How is DD now? hope she went to bed ok...

LaT - the sign for duck is quite easy (one hand opening and closing as if miming someone talking, chatterbox like!) and we have ducks in the bath. Plus he loves the song '3 little ducks went swimming....'
We have the Spot book, well loved bought more books in WHSmith today as i had some vouchers, bought Dogger, made me tear up and a fab book about Tom who rescues Katy and has dinosaurs & volcanoes in

Lily - yes we like Dear Zoo too you are being good about Ebay. I am selling some bits and pieces but buying faster than i can sell! cleaning sounds good!

Tested DH with some socks of his that he left on the landing, i refused to pick them up & didn't say anything....it took him about 48 hrs but he did put them in the laundry basket eventually

He took Ds1 out to a new playgroup for dads & kids this morning, did offer to take both boys but ds2 was asleep all morning. So i got some peace & quiet then i went into town this afternoon to do lots of jobs/shopping and he had the boys so i've had lots of 'time off'
always makes me feel more 'me' if i can get some things done rather than just more childcare at the weekend.
No plans for tomorrow, although...ds1 asked to wear pants this evening so we had a play with the toilet seat thing, he wore some reindeer pants (a christmas pressie!) for a couple of hours no wees or poos in that time so we were just lucky and he won't actually sit on the potty or the loo but let's see what tomorrow brings....

Hi all,

MM - so glad nathan getting better

Ok, I've come to a realisation that this is how DP is and I've put up with it before so maybe I should just shut up while putting up with it lol. Although I did mention to him today that he scared me that night with DD and he's apologised but also upset that I thought he'd hurt her - I did tell him I didn't think he'd do it on purpose but by accident while he's having a temper (like kicking something and it hurting her)

Also arranged today to go to my local trekking centre (which is run by my mums friend) once/twice (well, however much they need me really) a month to help out in exchange for a horsey day (where I get to act like I own a horse for the day ) I haven't told DP yet but am planning it for one of his days off so that he can deal with DD for a day and I get a day to "relax" although I'll be coming home hurting. lol. Because its on the way to my mums she's said she'll watch DD on the days I'm "working" there too. I think he said he might give me abit of cash on the side too if I work more than I earn (if ya get me) so I'm dead happy.

Spent the day at my mums today and found out that my uncle and auntie have had to go back into hospital to terminate another baby due to the same disease the one before had She was 14 weeks again.

Morning all

How are all ill people this morning???

Lucky - that may be a chilled approach to dp
The horse thing sounds fab Good physical activity too and maybe you could take A when she's bigger so she gets to like it too (though that could work out expensive, lol).

So sosososo sad about your uncle & aunt x 100's. Can't imagine it but lots of sympathetic vibes from me....

light off last night at 9.30, got up at 9 ds2 was up in the night crying, think due to his cough, but dh dealt with him so i didn't get up for 11.5hrs!!!!
and dh got up with ds1 at 6.20, then ds2 at 9.

right, should get dressed soon...

at the horses Lucky. So, at the same time you adapt to DP he has to adapt to you, eh? Horrible about your aunt and uncle. It must be very hard.

JKS at 11.5 hours in bed. Yay!

Madmouse you are lovely. Thankyou! [gri n]

All well here. I tried to do a bit of cooking today and bathed Sabela. The cooking went ok, although I soaked the bathroom floor with water. MIL was very nice and said it was my house just like at home. Well, no. If I'd been at home, I would have known how the quirks of the shower and wouldn't have done it - but I know that's me being very precious! Sablela is a bit more accustomed to PILs.

Now, bumpers in cots. We're supposed to have taken them out, right? SO the LOs don't climb up and escape? (Lilyloo? ) The advice here is to leave them in so baby's feet don't get caught and MIL keeps showing me articles that tell me to put it in, but I haven't. Am I wrong?

LaT - never used bumpers at all here. thought i read somewhere not to use them in the beginning, and then not to use them when they can climb, which seemed to leave a small window so never bothered.
ds1 occasionally slept with one foot stuck out (have a photo somewhere!) but it was never a problem, he sorted himself out.
good news on the cooking, better luck next time with the shower

I never bothered at home either. All the babies here seem to bundled up all the time. The culture is completely different.