June 2008 babies: rolling, sitting, crawling, babbling, teething, laughing, sleeping (not yet!)

[spongebrainbigpants]

New home!

It's going to be fun isn't it ernest? Seriously though, mine have just got Geomag out - that is dangerous stuff. Will have to vigilant with the tidying up - as in , we will have to tidy up.

Just done something either very stupid or very well organised. I have made a huge batch of leeks in cheese sauce with tiny star pasta (think apple sauce in the baby film - can't remember the title) Problem is that Ethan hasn't tried it yet - he's going to hate it isn't he? I'll let you know.

send some this way. oh and snap re tidying

Just looked at your profile - come on woman - get some recent pics of Adele on please!

Apparently I am quoted in the new Mumsnet book on Toddlers, don't suppose anyone has it and wants to find the quote for me? I can't believe I said anything worth the ink.

It's OK panic over, some strange remark I made about skiing, goggles and sunglasses has appeared in the book - weird eh?

You guru Deb

deb am at you being in the book, you are now a published person, think that makes you quite famous
Did the full day today, dropped Isaac off at CM at 8.25, picked him up at 17.25, tis a long day.

I know that it will get easier, but I think that I might need to up my AD's for a couple of months just to help cope.

Have only had to fish cardboard from Isaacs mouth at the moment, but obviously don't have the older siblings issue either.

neenz hope things are getting easier with your nan

ernest I second Deb, where are some new photos of your DD?

Evening all, quite tired here doing rather a lot of single parenting - apparently people have to train to become judges. And it's quite intensive. There's me thinking they'd just let any old bigot sentence petty criminals. (Rolf, Neenz, anyone else with close knowledge of the law, don't say 'but they do'! )

Not a great deal to report. My HV cancelled the 8 month check last week because she's pregnant and sick (!!), but she's coming tomorrow. Iestyn is wonderful and all the staff at nursery tell me I am fortunate to have such an easy child. Admittedly, they're not bfing him and he still won't take a bottle. So presumably he behaves pretty well but how bad can an 8 month old be? He is eating really well now, and so far has not rejected any foods really apart from a horribly bland bought jar - I rejected it too - but he eats all meats which is more than can be said for me!
We've had a sudden improvement on the sleeping too. He appears to be heading towards sleeping through - he's dropped his 11-11.30 feed and wakes once in the night. We've been at the 8-8 stage for a long time, but often with 2 feeds, one at 11/11.30, and one around 3am. (BTW, I'm aware that I'm extremely lucky to have a baby who sleeps till 8am, and has done from 6 weeks really! So civilized! But I'll admit I'd rather have a couple of short wakings for feeds than have to get up at 7 or earlier with a baby who sleeps through.) Once Tim is around for more than 2 nights in a go, we'll drop the one remaining night feed. But currently the only reason he has it is because I cannot be arsed to settle him when I can whip a boob out and we're both back to zzzzz in 10 minutes max.

Work is going ok, trying to be more motivated with my next lot of publications. HH 'quite famous' for being a published person? I must be at least a Y list celebrity seeing as my Amazon sales rank is...er, 1,156,132. How I wish this 'fame' could get me a slot on Strictly. I so, so want to take part. Might start a petition for a Strictly series for ordinary people. It would be more interesting with ordinary folks.

Hi all,

Day three back at work and I must say I have never felt so tired in my whole life. My whole day is one long rush, rushing in the morning and then rushing to pick Luke up again. Then I am really busy all day. I am enjoying myself at work though. I feel like me again - I even put nail varnish on and bought some mascara. Luke was so pleased to see me when I picked him up earlier he held my face in his little paws and gave me loads of open mouthed baby kisses . I miss him and I am really looking forward to having him all to myself at the weekend. I also love seeing him in the morning - especially as he hs slept well for the last 2 nights (I however am still waking!).

Neenz - I am thinking about you and your nan. The paliative care team are always lovely - when my mum was dying they were so lovely to me and they helped me to come to terms with what was happening and understand what I should expect.

My sister did a possitive pregnancy test over the weekend but it was all a bit strange trying not to get too excited after 2 miscarriages. She lost it again last night. I feel so sorry for her but at least now the doctors have to help her right? What do they do first? I have no idea.

PS I have never heard of an 8 month check- are all babies meant to have one? It's not in my red book and the docs haven't mentioned it - am worried now!

Caitlin keeps finding tiny bits of paper or stickers and eating them. I am having a feeling low day today and tidying up seems huge and impossible. Think the disturbed nights for the past couple of weeks have caught up with me, that and they slept in shifts today and I didn't get a minute's break, and we've viewed a couple of houses today which has depressed me - one completely impossible, like a squat, the other one really quite nice but not particularly exciting, and I think I'm realising that's the sort of thing we are going to end up with. Realistic but not something to aspire to. Just feel blah today.

But C's monster teeth are now almost at the gumline, so surely sleep (and so everything else) must improve once they cut, right? And my best sales rank is 298,624 Essie - I must be a proper sleb!!

Off to clean kitchen up after extremely messy dinner. Sorry v. self-centred today.

Amber, I'm so sorry to hear about your sister - she should hopefully be referred to St Marys now. There was a thread on this last year:

St Marys info

As for eight month check, don't worry! I think it's fairly standard (I've got mine on Friday), but just give your HV a ring. They just do weight, general health and then have a chat to you about milestones, etc. Luke is doing brilliantly so you really have nothing to be concerned about but double check to reassure yourself.

Glad you're enjoying work .

Essie, nice to hear from you and fab news on the sleep.

Hi everyone else.

Been AWOL for a while had stomach bug that Fleur had

Neenz so sorry bout your nan, having been in same situation last year with DP mum i know how it is BIG HUGS TO U xx And bout you feeling like routine is all to much etc i have been like that in the past I try and get a break like a 3 hr kip while Dp looks after Fleur or get my hair done etc.

5 go mad gggrrh at bank I couldn't believe when i got a snotty letter from HSBC telling me i was 3 pounds overdrawn and that when they agreed to an overdraft they didn't expect me to be in debt etc if i needed help to contact them. They even sent me a brochure entitled Putting your finances in order!!! Cheek i never use the account!

HH Sorry you are feeling down bout work I am too think it's combination of now weve handed in notice i just want to leave!! I would love to be SAHM in Holland but not sure if finances will permit

Rolf sympathies with u on house clutter front we have removers round constantly for quotes and i get so embarrassed by state of it

Talking to children bout my wedding today as it cropped up in conversation one of them said "but you have a baby and you are not married then"" oops thought it was just my grandparents who were of that opinion!!!

eating things Fleur loves playing with leaflets and envelopes that come in the post but we keep finding bits missing

Debs- it was 'Baby Boom' with the apple sauce (I love that film!) And congrats on your new celeb status.

HH- well done on doing it all yourself. YOu go girl [puree does weird Jerry Springer styleee motion!]

Amber, sweetie. So so sorry to hear about your sister. But well done on making it to the middle of the week. Now if we can get you sleeping, we're on a roll!

I spent all morning clearing the snow from the driveway (DH conveniently on a trial in Peterborough) for some tosser next door to block me in. There's a reason they call it manual labour. Needs a man to do it!!

I'm tired and sad.

Got a letter from someone I was friends with at school. She was kind of a frenemy, so haven't seen her for years. Anyway her dad found out at the start of January that he had a few weeks to live, so they brought her wedding forward and arranged it in 4 days so that he could give her away. I remember he was a very quiet nice man who was devoted to his kids. He used to drive miles and miles round the county for us. The letter had a photo from the wedding and has just left me feeling completely flat. Combined with having been up with Peter since 5.30, I have just about had it today.

The thread generally seems q down.

Neenz thinking of you and your Nan.
HH sorry it's so hard.
Ernest welcome back
Aberdeen at least your willy story made me laugh
Deb hope boob is still improving. Like the image of you wearing a cage round em
Poppy are you around

ali so sorry to hear about your friend's dad . I heard the other day that an old family friend had died and it also made me feel very sad.

neenz thinking of you and your nan, that must be very hard

HH sorry you're finding work hard. I went back today and was in bits this morning when I left the house, it was awful. Actually being at work wasn't too bad, but I'm sure after a few days I'll be shattered

amber glad Luke is sleeping better - I wish A would! He woke many times in the night and all I could think of was how early I'd have to get up for work

essie I know what you mean about the boob thing in the night. I do it too to get back to sleep quicker, even thought I know it's probably a bad habit and now DH can't really settle A in the night as all he wants is a nice warm boob

Sorry for anyone I've left out, in a rush

Aberdeen, that willy story is hilarious!

5GoMad - don;t even joke about it...

Puree - do i take it you are ttc again already? I have some Clomid in the cupboard too but I think I would be too scared to take it. I am being monitored next time!!

Sorry H and Amber for tought days and Ali for your friend's dad.

Hi Allnew, I do the boob thing too even though I stopped feeding them in the night at New Year . They slept through last night and it makes such a difference whenI get a good night's sleep. I do not know how you guys do it getting up 2/3 times! I would hve resorted to CC long ago (er, actually I did )

Very impressed with your Amazon rank Essie! Well done Iestyn for sleeping better. Are you giving him oatibix

My gran was a bit better today, she has asked to be sedated which is good and we are trying to get her a hospice place.

Amber, that is such a sweet story about Luke grabbing your face - Theo does that too, I love it. And he clapped hands today! I was so proud.

Sorry about your sister, hope she gets the proper investigations now.

amber also meant to say, sorry to hear about your sister. I had one mc and I don't know how anyone can cope with any more, so my thoughts are with her

Amber sorry about your sister. Must be awful for her.

Ali what a sad letter to receive. Your poor friend.

Paro - hope you're over the bug.

Essie glad work is going well.

Hope I've not forgotten anyone.

The rash on Thea's leg has come back. The hydrocortisone/antibiotic cream cleared it up but a few days later it is looking all soggy and red again. I didn't mind using the cream to clear it up but I don't want to have to use it all the time on her. It's not the same as DS1's eczema, which is very dry. This was soggy but beginning to crack and I felt it needed treating because of the risk of it cracking and becoming infected. Does anyone have any ideas?

I've had various people getting in touch offering to take over jobs for me (church stuff). I'm alternating between feeling very touched that they have taken some pressure off me, and mortified that I'm so obviously not coping very well.

Lots of us are a bit down at the moment aren't we?

I think it might be the hormones Rolf. You do have four kids to look after and a DH who works long hours in a stressful job so don't be too hard on yourself. I gave up all my church jobs when I had the twins, but the guy who took over the parish mag is trying to palm it back on to me .

Did the metanium not work on Thea's leg?

No, the metanium didn't work. I took her to our pharmacist after a couple of days of metanium and no improvement, hoping she could suggest something gentle but she thought I should get a GP appointment that day. It gets to the point where it looks as though the skin is about to break, and I reckon that if it did break we'd have an awful time getting it to heal.

I'm trying homeopathy for DS1's eczema. We've never seen the GP about it as some GP friends diagnosed it and said to use hydrocortisone but DS1 didn't like the cream and I have enough reservations about it not to push it. We've been seeing the homeopath for a couple of months and it's definitely a bit better than when we started. I guess I'll ask him to suggest something for Thea next time we see him. When the homeopathy doesn't help, DH and I make mean jokes about sugar pills and snake-oil, but when it works I think the guy is a genius. Fair weather friend, that's me

Hope your grandmother is comfortable today Neenz.

Thanks for the congratulations, you know where to come to for advice on ski goggles or sunglasses

Am in awe of people with Amazon rankings Essie(seen your book on there) and Systems (what's your book?) dh has this keyboard book on Amazon and is ranked at 565,533 !

Amber - sympathies to your sister and fingers crossed she gets some help now, love the welcome you got from Luke.

sorry to hear things are getting you down HH, Systems, Alli for your friend

Puree - I knew you'd love that film (spooky eh?)Dh spends a lot of time snow clearing, whilst our old neighbour spends a lot of time putting her snow on the road at the end of our drive making it very slippy, but it means her hedge doesn't sag!!!!

Allnew - that's all dh wants at night but he rarely gets one!

Neenz - Ethan was clapping his hands very loudly, in his cot, in the dark, at 5.00 am yesterday morning!I wasn't so proud then

Boob nearly fully recovered thanks

Rolf - I think you do a great job, I know I have 3 and the extra work with the business BUT dh is at home with me. I was just thinking today how hard it would be if he wasn't, especially at what can be stressful times like teatime, etc... I hope you have accepted their offers of help.

My lovely friend(who hates to ask for help) here who lost her dh in the summer has gone into hospital today for a hysterectomy. I said I could take 2 of the children but someone else who already has 3 has taken in all 4 younger children, for a week at least. I think she needs a medal, especially as it's half term next week!!I think a few of us will take the children for a day each to relieve the pressure.

Rolf - could it be a fungal infection? I'd go back to the GP tbh. Although I have been told to use hydrocortisone for an extra couple of days after the skin looks better, to ensure that the deeper layers are fully healed, so you could try a few more days of that first.

Deb, book here - though I'm editor rather than author, so don't know if that counts! I do have a chapter in it though ... Might buy your dh's keyboard book for when ds starts piano

Sorry for all having a hard time, there is some tough stuff going on on top of cumulative baby exhaustion. Paro good idea about the break, I am going to try and work out how I can get one. It is so hard doing this with no family nearby and no-one who can take them even for a couple of hours. We are doing fish and chips for tea tonight so maybe after kids are in bed I might have a bath, if Caitlin settles. She didn't sleep well last night for coughing, we have given up sleep hygiene for now and she was in bed with me all night (dp on sofabed in ds' room) as we both need to maximise our sleep for now. neenz yes I am desperate to CC her but each time we get to this point it's because she's ill or teething and I can't do it till she's well - vicious circle!