December 2006 - The sun has got his hat on, hip hip hip hooray, tshghho now let's keep these bugs at bay

[LenniEd]

I got all brave and made us a new bug free thread...

OMG, and AQ, well done on taking the whole crew to the crem!! (dh always had his lunch in one when he worked in Brompton Road a few years back, very nice on hot days). What a milestone

Thanks, everyone. Yesterday he seemed a bit better. He was well adn cranky in turns but not getting as hot as previously. Mildly warm at times but that's all. We turned in another urine sample and I guess now just wait it out. I had made myself literally ill from the lack of sleep and worry so dh banished me to the guest room downstairs for some sleep. It has helped. I didn't know if I would be able to stay down there but the exhaustion took over

castles, I did post in children's health but never got a response so I guess it's just too unusual even for MN.

AQ, lol at the crematorium! Good for you for getting out with the lot of them

Well done AQ

So having stuck ds back into nappies yesterday this morning he told me he wanted to wee in his potty and promptly did and then just as we were coming home from town for lunch he informed me that he had done a wee in his nappy and lo and behold he had. There is hope yet! Clearly he is happier with the security of a nappy still.

Dd is very purty. Especially now the weather has broken and she has crashed out having not slept for the past couple of days . I'll be heartbroken if I have to stop putting dresses on her due to crawling! She has so many beautiful ones thanks to doing a clothes swap with a friend who conveniently has a dd a little older than ds and a newborn boy.

Really hope you get answers soon Jabber, will be thinking of you.

Jabber, pleased he is feeling a bit better, and you got some sleep!

AQ, well done and lol at the crem though I used to live in Highgate (sigh) and the cemetary is a tourist atrraction. Amazing place. Shoes are good news and handbags

I'm so glad you and ds are feeling better, jabber - do try and rest/relax where you can.

Eli, end of august! Goodness that is drawn out. I hope the news this week is good though? Do you have a holiday coming up before then to look forward to?

yay for the tt indith and eli jr

you guys I have taken them several times up to the crem tbh, just felt pretty pathetic to have only managed that thus far! Woman at school yesterday telling me she takes all 4 dc's (she has same mix as me inc 5mo dt's) to the supermarket. Mind you I think she's 15 years younger than me and the dt's sleep through but still.

But I basically feel at the moment that spending time with 3 or more of them just has no good stuff, it's so demanding and no respite from it. I'm sure it must get better, but then I did read Oli's thread so maybe not. Had the dt's and ds2 today and I shall frankly say that ds2 was a little sh&t for most of it. His language is not great anyway, but when he tantrums he just reverts to grunting, no clear words at all and no chance of figuring out what the hell he wants. He just stood in the garden, in the pouring rain (with dd in her bouncy chair under the parasol!) screaming his head off for 20 mins whilst I ran round trying to get the washing in and other things. Kicked dd at one point, spent quite a lot of time trying to hit me all day, I did timeout 5 times to no avail. And he has no idea what's going on in his nappy, says 'big poo' constantly regardless! Though I don't suppose his bigger brother any better as he could have a massive poo in his pants and still ignore it!

My new pretty shoes are here So little to make me happy. I've been wearing sensible horrible ugly shoes for over a year because of my foot problems.

What am I doing up at 1am? I cannot sleep so have just reserved a pile of stuff at Argos to pick up tomorrow and make our garden a better place. Or something. Anyway, it's nearly 1.30 now, must go reserve a kettle and get to bed!

So to be MIA on here, and not be in touch sooner AQ. Trying to get telephone interviews set up for my final bit of dissertation research. 'Tis a minefield, but am so close to finishing now that I can taste the relief.

Shoes are pretty - I need nice shoes! I'm also a size 8 right now, so all my size 7 sandals don't fit after DD I was back in my regular size by now... I wonder if I am stuck with bigger feet this time?

Oh, how I know those days with a toddler AQ. Far too familiar. Have you read toddler taming? I don't wholeheartedly go with everything in there, but it does kind of help you get a lid on things, and made me feel more serene for a while. Must read it again actually since my serenity seems to have worn off.

Jabber - glad you've had some sleep but make sure you get some more when you can. And keep us posted, am thinking of you all there.

Eli - August at least the buyers must be keen. Are you in a chain? I hope not for your own sanity. Good luck with the meeting. What a PITA. Chocolate, lots of it.

Indith - at dresses. How I miss those.

No news here of newsworthyness. Plodding on. Melting, and drowning intermittently. DS eating like a horse and a little grinner. I feel blessed with him at the moment, such a different baby to DD. I hope he is as lovely a toddler as she has been...

Another one MIA but returning to the fold .

I made the mistake of agreeing to make 100 cupcakes with little scarecrow faces on the top. Never again. I've got tendonitis in my index finger from piping for 3 hours straight and backache from 2 days bent over the worktop. Honestly, I need to risk assess myself. Wonder if I could claim for a workplace injury .

Anyhoo, well done AQ. Small steps is what you need. No point in attempting the supermarket and having a 'mare, they're hellish places at the best of times. I only go if I've got ds2 with me and sometimes I need valium just with him! I think the toddler years is fairly relentless but I'm making an effort to look for positives in my day and ignoring mess until they're in bed. It's working a bit .

DH has decided I need a break so he's sending me to my Dad's during the school holidays . Part of me is really looking forward to it but a (bigger) part is feeling really apprehensive at being away from the dcs for 11 days. It's a long time. I would have been happier with a week but Dad booked the flights before dh could suggest a shorter stay. I'll be fine when I'm there, won't I?

Jabber, hope you're hanging in there and not fretting too much about the results. Sending lots of love and positive thoughts your way.

Indith, fearless girls are fab . Dd frequently gives me heart stopping moments, but she seems to becoming more cautious as she gets older.

Bebe, glad you've had a couple of better days.

Has anyone heard from BP recently? She hasn't posted since 6th Feb as far as I can see, I was just wondering how her ME is and how she is feeling now. Might CAT her if none of you know.

humph no toileting reports today. Shall just have to try again in a few weeks.

We got a letter today form solicitors to say that contracts are ready for exchange and the sellers want to complete on August 4th

AQ I like the shoes. The lady who takes all her children to the supermarket is clearly a loon. I get a monthly delivery and I only have the 2! Why don't you try somewhere like the farm shop in Cottingham? Animals to look at (they have chickens, goats, pigs etc) and a coffee shop serving scrummy homemade cakes with a play area so easy to keep them entertained and all in one place. Oh and when ds is in a huff he shuts down, puts on a glassy expression and totally forgets how to talk, doesn't respond to questions at all and I just want to throttle him. I have discovered that "what can mummy do?" and "do you want a cuddle?" get far better results that "what is wrong?" since he can't talk well enough to explain himself most of the time.

Oli you are either mad or a saint for wokring so hard on cupcakes. The trip will be wonderful, you will miss the dcs, of course you will but it will be blissful to have the time away and you will apprechiate them so much more when you come back.

I've been having a run for the hills couple of days. Feeling the lack of close friends, wonderful as you all are I don't think it is entirely healthy that he people I can offload on most are a bunch of random strangers on the interweb (or is the fact that you are a bunch of random strangers the thing that makes it easy to offload?) Tis the usual thing that I can't just go to the pub or round to someones house for pink wine and chat as childless friends do hence they have become more like aquaintances than friends and mum friends are just people I see at toddlers and if you do stuff outside of that then you never actually have a conversation anyway due to small children .

Dd has spend the morning going "Dadadada dadadaddadadadadadada dadada dadadaaddad dadadadaaddada" in an incredibly high pitched shriek. Very proud of her obvious genius but rather glad that she is now snooooooooozing

Indith, some of those acquaintances will become good friends one day. Take it from me as someone who has been there

Oli, break sound's wonderful. Enjoy it and don't ruin it by missing the DCs How lovely to 1. have somewhere to go 2. have such a wonderful competent DH.

I have got BP's email address. I often think of her but wouldn't want to hassle her esp if she is 'done' with MN IYKWIM. However, I do worry about her.

Am cream crackered after a day of birthday parties on top of a hangover and a bad back and damaged achilles heel and general hurry-up-end-of-term-feeling. Whinge whinge! Does everyone else feel like there is just sooooooooooooo much to do and you just get through the day doing the bare minimum?

Btw, I am one such loony lady who takes all her DCs to the supermarket frequently. Mostly because I am too disorganised busy to order on-line They aren't too bad though. Or maybe I am just immune these days

Of course (aimed at Castles)

I think, probably, BP wouldn't mind a 'we're waving at you and hope you're ok but not hassling you' kind of email/cat? I used to have her email too...what d'you think?

Indith, but vicariously excited for you re house: its going to be great, and as dh just told me (I enrolled on a course for Septembe ) nothing exciting is ever not a bit scary too...she said, breathing deeply. As for the friends bit, sympathies -my two oldest ones are moving away. Its hard to find time/space with 2 very young LOs to nurture adult friendships, beyond a certain level. Also, it seems to take a long time for the majority of people to open up and talk about anything very important/vulnerable, in RL, in this country - and being impatient/half-French I find that frustrating when making new friends. Hence my passion for you lot

Oli, I know I would have mixed feelings too, but I also think it'll be great and you'll be fine once there. I wish I could be packed in your suitcase and come too - its been a looong time since I walked down Orchard Street. Please can I send dh on a dh-course with yours as tutor?

Jabber, hope ds still improving, been thinking of you.

AQ, supermarkets with 4? WHY?! Isn't that what internet shopping is for ? I can have good ones with my two, on occasion, but am always on tenterhooks, speeding through aisles at ever-increasing speed to avoid melt-downs/boredom etc. I vote crem every time. Or a small, safe, playground maybe.

Am still struggling with frustration over the house sale thing, but am determined to focus on other things: hence booked course, and am starting to sort junk anyway (a trifle defiantly, but am never going to be perfect)!

oops, that took so long we x-posted

I send DH and DD1 to the supermarket on Sundays if I havent sone an online shop.

Course Eli? Enlighten us...

Oli - I'm with the others, you'll miss them, but it'll be lovely. And you'll come back refreshed and suffer enjoy them more for it.

AQ - I'd also stick to the crem, but am going to haul my two over to accompany you sometime before Christmas, I've added it to my mental list of plans for the year. I'm determined!

Indith - I know how you feel. Perhaps once you've moved and settled somewhere you know you'll stay a while you'll have more chance for friendship. It's hard with a baby and a toddler since playgroups are no longer as much for you as them... we are now the frantic women dashing between precarious baby and tantruming toddler rather than the serene mothers-of-one sipping coffee whilst organising playdates. I haven't made any new friends since DS arrived. Fortunately I have a couple of close Mum friends with DCs DDs age, but both of their husbands have been made redundant and one has already moved away. I've started taking DS to a free baby massage course run by our local surestart children's centre and there are two Mums there with older DCs who I think could become good friends, I'll have to brave asking them over or something. MN is great since there is none of the complication, although have to say it takes just as long to get to know people on here - my other PN thread only started to feel like a nice place once we were all about 7months pg.

I always try to shop without dcs If I take them with me they are consigned to the cart.

Indith, exciting news on the house - only a month away! and dd sounds adorable.

eli, you do have to share more on this course you are taking. I can't imagine taking on anything like that. Kudos!

oli, can't even begin to imagine 100 cupcakes!!! You so deserve a vacation. very

Ds2 much better today. He had perked up enough last night for a little family outing. And since today is Fourth of July we went to my parents for a little holiday/family at the lake day. It was nice. I made my annual Twinkie cake decorated like a flad. It's very white trash and very, very yummy

Jabber, v glad re ds

Sounds nice, eli. Good to stretch the brain a bit beyond toddler/pre-school talk I always think Dh complains that he gets too bogged down when he hasn't been around adults in a while.

We are doing summer cleaning/organizing - somehow missed doing it in the spring

Jabber - we are now at the point with cleaning and organising where so much time goes between that we can't even remember what the neatly organised piles of junk are for so I wouldn't worry about missing the spring! I dug out a load of boxes from the nursery last week and took the one marked charity shop into town with me, feelign all efficient only to get there and find it is full of size large nappies that I am waiting for DS to grow into. I looked a little miserly when I refused to hand it over! I did part with the last of my maternity clothes though - I gave my sister the good things that suited me as she is the same shape and the rest went to the charity shop. I won't miss them!

Course sounds lovely Eli - and 1 morning a week will be enough to give you a break. Plus there will be things to do at home. Am looking forward to hearing about it.

Have applied for another job - this one 4 days a week. A better balance I think. Working for the hospital education service with children with brain injuries and mental health problems. Won't hear for ages though

Sent BP an email but haven't heard back. Hope she is ok.

GL with the job application Lennied. Sound's interesting.

Lol at the charity shop giving LenniEd. And good luck on the job. It sounds interesting.

wonder what's up with bp?

I won the 02 survey! I get £100 voucher for the store of my choice! All suggestions gratefully received Oh and I get one of them there joggler technological jobbies to sit and gather dust/get covered in muck or drowned by a leaky water bottle should I put it in my bag

Hope BP is ok.

Course sounds good Eli

Good luck on the job Lennied

Ds still struggling with constipation, we've been getting overflow He has managed to go today after much screaming but we have an appointment with the GP this afternoon.

Congrats on the vouchers!!

pooor little ds. Have you tried the "P" diet? peas, pears, prunes and peaches?

Wooo Indith

Sorry about the constipation, missed that one. Poor little DS. My DS was bunged up for 10 days post MMR vax and a few doses of lactulose unbunged him.

Just been told my step-father has prostate cancer. Starting to wonder if I have a case of Typhoid Mary

Oh Castles

Re constipation I have been giving him lactulose but as soon as I stop he goes right back. He doesn't hold it in for long (max has been 3 days) but he screams like hell and especially this time has been very distressed, spent the other night with him in our bed massaging his tummy all night

He loves nectarines (same effect as peaches?), peas and pears but prunes are a no no. Have been trying to get him to drink prune juice but he is on to me.

I used to manage to slip a teaspoon of califig (or prune juice) into diluted apple juice for DS. Can you try doing that?