Fab Feb 2009: attack of the zombie mums

[dinkystinky]

So here we all are, complete with babies and gro-bags under our eyes

spotty... my parents were and impressed to see i was able to eat venison while feeding aaron, including cutting it up all 3 of mine have had a knack for wanting to eat just as i sit down to food everytime so have had to learn to eat around baby or starve

i ate alot of cereal bars, nuts, dried fruits and bread dipped in soup when dd was tiny to try and get proper food into me alongside the 6 billion biscuits i survived on.

Am very adept at eating one handed, it's just the cooking it part I cant do

i'm just about managing by alternating feeding while cooking one handed and slinging him for as long as he and my back can tolerate.

choppings a bit rustic but no-one has complained out loud

like i said though, considering how good he is at night i can't complain really, the other 2 slept more during the day and ds1 was much happier left down playing but i was sleep deprived for most of the first year with both of them so didn't do me much good!

Oh Spotty - you really are having a shocker at the moment! Hope your mum is ok after her op and the boys let you get some sleep today and tonight... Danny is very good at wanting to be held/fed whenever it is dinner making time too - I've taken to making sandwiches while he's sleeping for later for lunch and making dinner several hours before dinner time (so it just needs a quick zap in a microwave at the relevant time which can be done while juggling baby on boob). Am going to be trying out the slow cooker tomorrow to see if that totally foxes him....

Calico - sending you a hug. Sorry your DH is being a pain; hope things get better.

Pinktulips - am impressed at Aaron's size! Are you and your partner tall?? Sorry the GP was useless - hope your usual GP is more helpful.

Thanks for the nice comments re the photo - its uncanny how much Danny looks like DS1 did as a little baby (even down to the fact that he's developing a baby mohican in exactly the same way DS1 did). And yup Beantin, am planning on making sure my boys are big Princess Bride fans too - already training DS1 to say "Hallo - my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father - prepare to die" (though it comes out as "Hallo - my name Indigo Moya. You kill daddy - peppa must die..." or something along those lines )

my family on both sides are giants and my genes seem to be overruling dp's shortarse genes with the dcs

it's a pain though as sleepsuits with feet are a bit of a no go for the most part as they're too short in the right size and voluminous in the right length, and dd and ds1 have pants either rolled at the top to tighten them or up to their shins

spotty, missed that about your mum hope she's ok. poor you, as if you don't have enough on your plate.

dinky, had to at baby mohican... ds1 had one and it's incredibly cute

I've been cooking mass batches of things like spag bol/lentil dahl/pasta sauces when dc's are in bed and freezing/reheating. Unfortunately they are Harry sized pots though so must make some mummy sized ones. I did just find a very large pot of what I thought was lentil bolognaise and manage to boil some brown rice to go with it. Turns out I need to label my containers tho as it was soup but it was still ok It might have been rice sludge but at least I ate - yay for the moby! He's still asleep in it now and i'm getting very hot!! Am trying the slow cooker tomorrow too.

Have the same probs with sleepsuits as his feet are massive. He's in 0-3 gros already but they are huge on him everywhere but his feet

@ your DS Dinky. I was repeating that phrase after Mamagoose had Indigo and had to go and watch the film again

ds1 and aaron never did newborn size, straight to 0-3 [sighs wistfully in memory of dd and all her teeny tiny babygros]

he's in a fair bit of 3-6 stuff now as between the cloth nappies and freakish length he's not quite squeezing into 0-3.

rice sludge sounds oddly tasty spotty

Yep, his big butt nappies haven't help but he looks soooo cute in them

DS1 was in tiny baby gros until 6 weeks I have a beast this time!

Crap. The preschool we applied to for DS1 to start at in September in the mornings has just called to say they dont have a morning space for him but could offer afternoon sessions from 1-5 (not ideal as he needs his lunch time nap and is a nightmare at tea time if he doesnt sleep at lunchtime). Back to the drawing board...

But your rice sludge story cheered me up Spotty

Guys, I have read through the last day of posts and am sending huge hugs and virtual support to all of you going through difficult times. The advice you've been giving each other is so sensible, I'm not going to try and add my own two-pence worth. Living in a strange (for me) country with a DH who, whilst a million times better than other Greek men, still follows his fellow men's manly code (and surrounded very closely by 'well-meaning' in-laws), I can say that the help that this website gives me is invaluable.

Thanks for the posts about slings - I am considering my options and will let you know the final decision.

Re bath supports - I had the towelling one Mrs Y, but Harry grew too big for it really quickly, his head was hanging over the edge so now I have this bath chair and it is BRILLIANT, much more comfortable than it looks (I imagine so, anyway. Harry doesn't complaing when he's in it.)

dinky... alot could change between now and sept with his naps.

ds1 still slept 4/5 afternoons for up to 2 hours just a few months ago... now he never does unless he dozes off in the car.

might be an idea to put your ds1's name down anyway and wait and see what he's like in a few months.

I'm only on here until one of them gets the ump, but will finish catch-up later.
dinky You're boys are sooooo cute, that is a lovely pic of them in the bath too, haven't been brave enough to have them in the bath together yet here.
I also love Scrubs, can't decide who my fav character is though, I love Dr Cox's rants, and Ted makes me laugh but think I like Dr Kelso most. Big Buffy fan too, I had a little crush on Spike a few years back
spotty My love for dc's is completely different too. It's unconditional for them but nit for dp. He'd be out on his ear if he did half the stuff that ds1's done, like piss in my face, shit on my rug, throw up all over me, slap me in my face, headbutt me etc, the lisst goes on.......
dinky that's a PITA about the nursery spot. I'm looking at one in a few weeks but won't be sending my terror until he's 3 so that's a year and a half away.

Ds1 has spent the afternoon running around the living room with a plastic box on his head, he is such a freak! he has been very good again today, he has been 'showing' Luke how to play with his new activity bar and Luke has really been smiling and laughing at him, heart melting stuff and already I see it'll all be worth it.
Luke, for the most part of this afternoon has cried unconsolably(sp?) so I have ended up feeding him every couple of hours just to keep him calm which I know isn't a good idea. There is no way he is hungry after 2 hours, he is still having about 4oz 3-4 hourly, however I do think he'd take a bit more if it wasn't for these pains and the choking but he's been taking a full 4oz near enough after 2 hours again. He has to stay up a bit late now because I fed him at 5:30, which will upset my much loved routine, oh well.

ROTF pissing myself!!!! SMS @ the analogy of Dh v's DS1 the way you post dont arf make me chuckle sometimes

Sympathies Dinky, DS1 has 2-3 hrs early p.m and is a nightmare without it. We cant apply for the government funded 5 sessions a week type nursery until Nov (for him to start in April 2010) and I'm already dreading there being no morning spaces as it's a 2 min walk from ours - so convenient. Actually if i'm honest I put his name down at 15mths for a 'big' school as it's one of the top 10 in the Country/ 1st place in the County and am already buttering up the head stressing about whether he'll get in

Rice sludge did not cut the mustard. I'm on crisps and a glass of wine . DH has been at cricket practice since 5 and an old friend (no DC's) decided to turn up unannounced (I HATE THAT!) just as I was 'doing bedtime'.

Evening all...
DD's been for her 8 week jabs today so hoping she gets through the night without any fever.

Dinky - gorgeous photos of your little boys and lovely legs [hee hee] on the bigger one. Your DS1 is very like his Daddy isn't he?. On the pre-school place, I second the nap thing and September being a while away. DS was a champion lunch time sleeper and then we hit 2 yrs 3 months and he just decided it wasn't happening any more - I couldn't have predicted it. He was miserable without a sleep before that. Saying that though, I do find that DS definitely needs some quiet time on the sofa in front of cbeebies for an hour or so in the previous "nap" time otherwise he's usually nodding off by 6pm...so perhaps doing a 4 hour stint in the afternoon from that time might be hard for him. I'd put his name down anyway like PT says and then if you don't take up the place then it'll just go to someone else on what is probably a long waiting list. We have a great pre-school about 5mins walk from our house where DS is about 8th on the list of about 150 kids. Only problem is that siblings take priority and there are lots of siblings within that 150 who will come first. I'm crossing my fingers- haven't heard yet but hope I will soon. I trawled DD down there a couple of weeks ago and also had a nice chat with the lady who runs it and put her name down too so if DS gets in, DD's a cert....

DS was all excited when he got home from nursery today as he'd had a lovely day and we had a lovely calm bathtime, snuggles under the duvet and easy bedtime. Made me feel a bit better after him going off a bit wobbly this morning. God motherhood is such an emotional rollercoaster and I know this phase will just be replaced by another, and another and another and it probably won't end even when they're all grown up with their own kids - I know my mum still has sleepless nights over all three of us - bless 'er and really there ain't much to worry about.

Wow - that IS organised Spotty! Will try out other local nurseries/preschools for DS1 but to be honest, think the original nursery we put him down for have left it abit late for us to get morning places anywhere... Oh well, as Pink says, he may well have dropped his nap by September...

I've just eaten 3 packets of crisps. Ready salted, S & V and Steak and onion. Have concluded for the million-th time that I really dont like meat flavoured ones.....may need another glass of wine to wash out the flavour [hic]

herb - I was already thinking of sibling placements for DS2 at the fab primary school whilst I was 2mths pg with him . My poor DC's... I'm going to be one of those pushy all american soccer moms

spotty Glad it made you laugh, it's because it's true

morning all, crap night in the overseas household. Youngest two kept waking and DH kept whinging and at one point demanded that I leave the bedroom as he wouldn't accept that I wouldn't agree with him get used to it mate. I very un(politely) pointed out that mummys don't go into the naughty corner! twat. Don't know what is wrong with him at the moment, he is so up and down I'm treading on eggshells all the time. Am putting it down to tiredness, hope thats all it is He really pissed me off yesterday and we have been arguing non stop since he got home from work and am so relieved he has just gone to work and I've got peace and quiet, well as much as you can get with a baby and toddler. Maybe I'm overeacting but I went mad when he had a whinge that I hadn't returned a dvd to the dvd library. He wouldn't take on board the fact that he'd said he would return it on his way to work as he has to drive past it so I (wrongly) assumed it had been taken back. He made the mistake of asking what I'd been doing all day in 'that' tone

Anyway, enough about me.
SMS, have to agree, you make me chuckle too with some of your comments and I have to wonder if our OH's are related

dinky, your boys are so gorgeous and Danny looks spookily like Harrison but I guess a lot of babies look the same at their age.

I suppose I'm lucky here with the nursery (one of the few plus points of Saudi) It is 10 mins walk from our villa and from 18 months to 4 years and is open from 8am to 12.345pm and then there is the British School just next door. The nursery is SR70 per day which used to be around £10 which I don't think is bad but due to the crap exchange rate its now around £12 - £14.
The British School has foundation 1 and 2 and although F1 is not compulsory we are hearing rumours that if your child doesn't do F1 they are not guaranteed a place in F2 so it seems we have no choice but to do F1. I think its quite expensive here and DH's company don't pay for F1 as not compulsory but they do then pay for F2 onwards (except they only sponsor 2 children and at the moment DC's 1 & 2 are sponsored) Hopefully however by the time Grace starts in F2 (if we are still here and I haven't murdered DH) number 1 child will have dropped off and she will be sponsored.
I am however looking into the school situation at home. She is registered at the nursery at the prep school that DS1 and DD1 went to and also their reception, just to keep my options open. I think things have changed a lot since they went there and wondered what the system is with regards to the government vouchers? Can anyone advise?

Hope everyone has a good day x

Morning,

MoS i was also asked by DP to take myself & Poppy into the spare room last night as he couldnt sleep...I also gave him the same reply...twat!!!

He seems to think that i sit around watching daytime tv all day, so surely I dont need half as much sleep as he does.
He does travel to London from midlands every day, so I do feel for him, but when im falling asleep at the bloody dinner table, should he not get the hint??

Poppy has been rubbish on nights recently, she makes soooo much noise that I am also thinking about putting her in the nursery when we get the cot delivered this week. Is 5 weeks too early? Its only the room next door, and we have a monitor.

Dinky Your little boys are lovely Very cute pics x

My MIL is coming for a few hours today, so im going to take myself to the gym for a pamper - its a lovely day here, so think I might take Poppy to Rutland water for a nice walk this afternoon.
Roll on the summer esp now we have a garden!

Mrsy Hope you are feeling a little better today x

Morning .

MOS - hope you have a nice peaceful day with just you and the DCs.

There seems to be a recurring theme of twuntish DP/DH's atm....mine is no exception....

KT - I moved E into his cot 2 nights ago and its great. I still have to go into him obviously to feed but I can then go back to bed leaving him to grunt, groan and fart in his own room. I have a monitor but it is easier somehow to ignore those sorts of noises. Although I'm not getting any more sleep, the quality of sleep is much improved. We have kept the moses basket in our bedroom in case I want to bring him in....but I should think it won't be long before that goes. Why don't you have a go?

Can't help re nursery vouchers I'm afraid....don't know the system myself. Think I'm going to send DD to nursery for an extra day this week....I'm doing a small amount of work during my mat leave - but its impossible to concentrate when I have them both.

Nothing planned here today....may take DD to swings later....have good days everyone

I made DH get up and help in the night but feel guilty as he has to work. He doesn't say anything, but I know the look on his face and he's thinking - but I have to get up for work in an hour! He left half an hour ago and am so jealous!

We're still having trouble with DS being sleepy in the day and taking 5 mins to fall asleep after feeding and then if he's awake after midnight e.g at 3am for a feed, he then takes 2hrs to get tired.......

Did I give birth to a gremlin??

How do I help him understand night and day?

LMN yeah I think I might, I might even put the moses basket in their tonight so see how we all go.
I get about 5/6 hours sleep a night, but not very deep sleep because of her noise. I never realised babies could make so much noises in their sleep - Its so loud!

Beatin I think Poppy just about knows the difference between day & night. In the day I let her sleep in her bouncey chair & sleep on me & in the pram etc....but at 7.30 ish after her last feed & burp we put her up to bed. She always has her longest stretch of sleep then, so im pretty sure she knows its nightime/bedtime as we have only ever used the moses basket for nights.
I think it also helps that she is quite good at having awake time/screaming time during the day. Iv tried keeping her awake longer early evening, but when a baby wants to sleep, there seems to be no stopping them!

I managed 2 hours between 3.30-5.30 as DH took DS2 into the living room.

He now has a dummy

I hate dummies