December 08 Supermums: We are all doing fine and our LOs love us!!

[kayzr]

Hello.

Trace I went with your idea!!

Hello,

X-ray went well. Just got to wait 10 days for the results. Hopefully it isn't anything too bad.

SIL and BIL popped round today and neice is tiny!!! She is in early early baby stuff despite only being about 3 days early. So of course next to DS2 she looks even smaller. She made me feel really broody though!

Evening All

Calmness reigns in the Artichoke household. As of last night we have started putting DD2 to bed upstairs instead of sleeping down here with us. We seem to have achieved the holy grail of self settling in the cot (at least temporarily) so we decided to take advantage of it. It feels so weird having both kids in bed asleep at 6.45pm.

Our other exciting news is that we accepted an offer on out house today and put in an offer on a house we love. Keep your fingers crossed they accept it. We will find out on Monday.

Gosh I wish I was off to LA KMP. I hope you have a great time. I am not sure about the jet-leg with babies as we have never travelled long haul. When we have travelled short haul (Greece etc) DD's body clock has stayed on UK time but that has suited us as she has slept 10-10 instead of 7-7 which has allowed family evenigns out and lie-ins . I hope your DS adjusts quickly.

How do you feel about the plastic sucking machine how you have tried it WG? I had the fear when I was BFing DD1 and tried it about twice. Moo is a great description of my feelings. This time I am using it more but it is manual rather than electric which feels less Unigate-esque.

Hope the mice go soon Rosmerta. Nice to see you back .

Right, I am off to sample a glass of cheerfulness and make a spiced cod dish that we used to eat in Turkey. It is healthy yet yummy. Perfect. If only we had a good DVD to watch. Friday night TV is pants.

I'll keep everything crossed for you Arti

Hello everyone!
I feel like a bit of a stranger - have been reading on and off but not really had chance to post.
Kayz - hope the xray result is ok
Arti - hope you enjoy your relaxed evening and that your DCs stay sleepy for a long time...

Well we've had a busy week really. It's half term so we've been trying to do a few fun things, and I've actually really enjoyed focusing on DD1 for a while, and she seems to have settled down a bit behaviour wise. Today DH is having a blokey gamey day - lots of mates round to play the new street fighter game and various other things which don't interest me - they came round at 11 and are showing no signs of leaving yet...so I escaped into town with the girls (I love saying "the girls!" and had a day of treats - we went to Mcdonalds, bought tap shoes, bought a clown biscuit from the bakers, went for a (very over-priced) ride on an open-top bus and had a smoothie in Starbucks! I think Lucy loved it but she's pooped now so will hopefully sleep well! She's in bed now but has spent the last hour testing her tap shoes out on the kitchen floor! they work
The house is not as messy as I feared it might be on my return, but it does smell of boys! Too much testosterone. yak. Have retreated to Phoebe's room to feed her and put her to bed, so now she's snoozing nicely and I'm catching up on MN.
I think I'll get some tea and chill out with a book...
hope you all have a good evening xxx

oh and I can now add the top of an open top bus to my list of places where I have breast fed Phoebe! It was more than a little chilly round the midriff I can tell you

trace, at bf on the bus, well done! Sounds like you've had a lovely day.

arti, fingers crossed for the house! We also settle ds2 upstairs as he was starting to get disturbed by us when downstairs. He's been sleeping so much better since then. And we have our evenings back!

kayz, hope you get the results soon. What have you done to your knee by the way?

Trace That sounds like a great day!!

Rosmerta The GP thinks I have torn my cruicate ligament. But not sure how I did it.

Evening!
Kayz The word cruicate just sounds like something painful!!! Hope you get sorted soon.
Ros That is lovely that your DS1 was asking after mine! They played so nicely. I think (famous last words) that mine might be out of his random violence phase!
He has suddenly decided that he doesn't want to sleep in the day anymore . From having to be woken up with bribery of a jelly worm after one and a half hours, he now has nothing! And it hasn't improved his night sleeping or early waking. Bloody nightmare!

Trace I love days like that when you just pootle around doing kid things. We went to Bushey Park today and DS and his friend spent ages hunting deer poo and shouting out 'mooooore ppooooooo' everytime they found some. There are also loads of 'tuffets' for want of a better word, which are great for jumping! You should have seen the state of him when we got home! Mudtastic!

DH has gone to poker and I have just pinched DSs chocolate buttons (hence my prolonged absence from the fatties thread!). I think I might catch Eastenders and then go to bed.
Saw a good film the other night called The Prestige. First film I've seen since H was born (which by the way was 7 weeks today!).

Verso Just remembered your giggle! That sounds lovely. We are still only getting the windy sleep laugh things which are usually accompanied by scary rolling eyes! Getting some beautiful smiles though (and some shocking bottom noises!)

I'm trying to think of some fundraising things to do. I'm really tempted by a sort of black tie ball. I think it would be great fun. I'm going to ask to see if we can use the memorial hall and if we can hire it for free as it is for charity. I'm also thinking of doing a treasure hunt but I'm struggling for a prize or clues.

Bad mummy alert...just been reading some of the active threads and checking facebook and was shocked by a sleepy grumbly noise. I had TOTALLY forgotten about DD asleep on the mat infront of me!! I was in a world of my own and had blocked her out entirely!!!!

Kayz..I love(d) black tie balls and yoy can always ask for things to auction. People usually get really piddled and buy stuff they don't need at prices way above retail!

Arti we are flying in to LA but actually driving down to san Diego to stay with DH's rellies. Looking forward to it, but not really looking forward to the flight and I have no staff parking while on ML so getting the tube there which is a little daunting as we are usually late for everything! LT we are going for just under a week. Found a nice kennel for our dog, but i'm still hopefully she has fun and somehow knows we are coming back!
I my a new Baby Bjorn today - the one I have wanted for ages! It makes DS feel so light! And he seems to really like it! Who said Fri night TV is pants! Idol is on

that was meant to say "I got my"

hi all - have indulged in a spot of cheerfulness, or rather a few - in fact i am somewhat pished - hurrah!

madam had her jabs this morning - she was screaming blue murder anyway before we had even had got to the doctors, and she didn't even notice the first one - the second one produced a scream which barely registered on the richter scale of her possible screams, so quite honestly it was a piece of proverbial. she then slept and slept and we spent a lovely afternoon with a friend and her dd and explored ally pally and even indulged in my first gin and tonic since april 13th last year, 2 days before i discovered i was preggers (the next day i downed nearly a pint of red wine - holiday in italy with friends - nuff said?).

arti - fingers crossed for the houses. the plastic sucking machine scared me - but i seemed to do pretty well, getting an alarming amount in a short space of time. don't know how dh could ever find me attractive again, though.#

trace - sounds like a lovely day. i have breastfed in front of Les Dennis!!!

olipop - loving mooooooore ppooooooo!

can you tell i'm pished???

Yay WG...glad you are slightly 'undeer the taaable' (bad faulty towers reference there)!! Sounds like a lovely day (minus the jabs of course).
Right...I really am going to go to bed in a minute!

Heidi is still asleep on her mat and keeps doing the odd stretch and fart routine which then sets off all her rattly, jingly toys. How can they sleep through that and then go from zonked to alert if you so much as dare to get a plate of food infront of you.

Just back in brief. Not at Northampton dinner party due to a little local difficulty. Kayz, that sounds painful... Trace, what a lovely sounding day! Arti - Free Agents is on tonight on Channel 4 - I think they are making life at a management agency seem more glam than it is, but there you go. It's a bit eyewatering but there's not much else on.

Hi everyone, I seem to have had a week with some strange ban on t?internet as I?ve not managed to catch up on emails, MN or anything else less important ? it wasn?t self or DH imposed, so some higher being must have kept me away . Anyway back now and catching up

Arti we too have a sure start centre, just opened last month, and its fab. We also have a BF support centre, both of which do baby massage so DD is in heaven, plus all the rest (including a pamper morning once a month, where local beauty therapy students practise massages and manicures for free on the poor tired mums - love it!) I do think its sad though that those who really should use these facilities don?t, but also very lucky that we have access to them. And fab news about your house

LadyT I?ve also been looking around my house today in despair and have just announced to DH that this weekend will be devoted to cleaning, putting away all the piles of junk and making it nice again. I will report back on Sunday night with a success report

Trace/WG at the bus and Les Dennis

Verso how lovely your DD is giggling We?ve just got a playgym this week and DD is shouting at it in excitement, I can?t wait for giggles!

WG my DH took one look at me after using my plastic sucking machine and said my boobs looked like an old balloon - what a nice man ...

Someone mentioned swimming (sorry 10pm approaches and my memory has reached its limit). DD is starting classes next week (she?ll be 9 weeks) ? I?m worried she?s a bit little for it, but there?s a big waiting list (the new leisure centre opened last month and is v popular) so when I was told we had a place I snapped it up rather than go down the list. They don?t have a problem with her age, just me finding swim nappies small enough!

And finally I have a question about mobiles (just run it by DH and his response was that I think too deeply about things, but please humour me on this one) ? we?ve finally assembled DD?s cot ready for when she grows out of her moses basket. She?s (usually) pretty good at self settling in her moses, at bedtime and after feeds. So if I put the mobile on her cot, will it actually distract her and stop her settling, rather than being soothing? Any ideas?

Well my bed is calling, see you all soon xx

Morning,

DS2 slept from half 11 until 6!! A vast improvement on the previous night.

We have a sure start centre here too but I haven't been yet. The HV has asked us to go to some meetings to get the views of parents but not heard anything yet.

morning all,

zj, it might help to settle her. Ds1 always had a musical light which helped him settle (he still has it actually!). If it doesn't work you can always take it away again. Great that dd is loving her mat, ds2 loves his as well, especially looking at himself in the mirror!

kayz, that sounds really painful, hope it gets sorted soon. A black tie do sounds great, you could contact local companies & see if they will donate prizes for an auction, like a gardening company giving a day's gardening, or getting a massage etc?

I have a day to myself today, dh is taking the boys to his mums for her birthday! I will be cleaning & studying, not MN-ing

Oi Ros go and clean the kitchen!!!! . I used to do things like say if I do 45 mins cleaning I can finish the last 15 mins of the hour off by having a drink and a flick through a magazine or something. It doesn't quite work that way now though as I am constantly sidetracked by requests for Play Doh, boobs or 'you be Rhino Man and I'll be Spiderman' .

These Sure Start centers sound fab. I'll have to look into them round here.

Zoe If you're worried about messing up self settling why don't you just pop the mobile on and off depending on whether you want DD to actually go to sleep or just have some safe resting time? I have a few places around the house with things dangling so that I can plonk Heidi down if I need both hands free (see above for scenarios!!!!!).

Thinking of nipping into town today to get 'what to expect, the first year' I have the toddler one and it is really good.
What was that other book? 'What mothers do'? Who is it by? I'd like to get that too.

What Mothers Do especially when it looks like nothing by Naomi Stadlen - my new bible

Oli, I can't start yet, as still have the boys, will get going when they've left! I'm just going to spend 15 mins in each room today, enough to get it tidied & cleaned otherwise I'll spend all day on one room!

Spiderman! Ds has now got a spiderman costume so I constantly have to sing the Spiderman song now. Only problem is I only know the first line - Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can. If anyone knows the rest it would be a big help

Oh my Gosh! Not only did both DDs go down like angels last night but DD2 only woke once in 12 hours! And that was for a quick 10 min feed! I am so refreshed. We are off to some friends' for lunch and she is pregnant so I am taking the Moses basket to give her- it makes DD2 seem so old.

wow arti that's ace! Enjoy you lunch with friends

I have a mega headache today. Brufen and paracetomol have done nothing. grrrr. And dh has a cold. bad news.

Phoebe only woke 3 times - it's weird because the first time she feeds at night she goes back down beautifully, then after her later feeds she snorts and snuffles and farts and pukes and cries and it takes me over an hour to get her asleep. odd. She does it every night

well my task for today is to try to ignore the muckiness of my house because I've promised to make a cake for a church event this afternoon. I'm making a Gary Rhodes Giant Jaffa Pudding - a sponge layer, then a tangy orange layer then a goooooooey chocolatey creamy layer then a crispy chocolate layer. It will take ages because you have to wait for each layer to set before you can do the next one. And when it's done there are only 4.7 million calories per serving The challenge is having to let Lucy 'help' me!!!

I'd better get on with it...
see you later xxx

Hello hello!

What is all this sleep that is going on? Sleeping 11-6? Only waking once for a feed? I don't believe it. Nope, I refuse point blank to believe any of it. Babies don't do that. Mine don't anyway Actually mine only feeds twice aorund 12 and 3 but at some point after her midnight feed she starts tossing around and fussing. Fun fun.

Mobiles- I tend to use ours more for if she needs to chill a bit before going to sleep (put it on then go back in when it has finished and put her down properly) or to entertain her while I hang washing/have a shower/am doing stuff upstairs.

Swimming- jabs have nothing to do with it, you can take them as soon as you like.

We have a surestart centre, I must register to get the whats on stuff sent in the post. Not great for me though as although it is really close by most things that I would take ds to are early afternoon which just seems daft to me as that is nap time for the majority of toddlers. They do massage and have a bf support group (which is jsut like a baby group so I'm told, coffee and chit chat) but I don't think ds would be all that welcome!

She is very cute though, all smiles . Had her jabs on Wed poor thing, spent the afternoon permalatched on the sofa, falling asleep latched on but I was not allowed to move!

Feeding is something of a battle at the moment/still which makes me sad as I have all these lovely memories of feeding ds but with her it is just how she gets food. I think much of it is bad latching habits as she has been stuffy and coldy since about 5/6 days old so she gulps a lot and doesn't form a proper seal. PLus she hates the letdown and will start screaming at it then gagging and coughing. The only way to get her feeding again then is to lie down.I hate that I feel worried about feeding her out and about, I was always a get your norks out anywhere kind of feeder! Ah well someone is coming on Monday to take a look.

Does anybody know where I might find long sleeved body suits at the moment? Dd has outgrown the 0-3 and we don't have any from ds. Could really do with some to go under dresses etc but everywhere seems to have the spring/summer stuff because of course if you have a newborn right now what you want is clothes for in 3 months time, since everybody knows in advance what sex they are having and is well prepared . Suggestions gratefully received, I think we'll go to Newcastle next weekend to expand the range of shops a bit.