March 08:Happy Birthday!!! We made it through a whole year!

[turtle23]

new thread.

turtle- I think 2 of the same sex is really nice. A good friend of mine has 2 boys about 15 months apart and they're lovely little chums already.
Jfly- so hope things get better. Hero and I have been mega-enjoying watching 1234, thanks for the link!
I think I might ask my mom to bring some Sesame Street dvds next time she comes.
Hi to everyone else! mb- so glad your friend's on her way home.

Went to see a friend who has a two boys who are 3 and 16 months, they were so lovely together, played really well and seemed to be real little partners in crime! Made me very broody seeing them both playing like that.

Oh Jfly, can't you get DH to cancel his drinks? It's really Not Fair.

Morning! (Those whose babies are off to boot camp please look away) I am in love with my son once again. Two nights running of 715-615. I feel like a new person.

What do we think of Tristan for number two?

nice! but why not call him SleepyHead and hope for great things instead ?

Hurrah turtle! I don't think anyone could possibly resent you having two good nights sleep, you are totally deserving.

Like Tristan, goes well with P too.

I decided that my imaginary baby would be Maximillian or Mortimer, I think I like names beginning with M. Would Matilda, Max and Morti be a bit much M action for my imaginary family? Twee as fuck.

Turtle, one of my friends has a 7 yr old Tristan, I like It will, however, be misspelled in various ways like Tristran, Tristram etc. Just educate people with old eps of All Creatures Great and Small, cos I was in love with a young Peter Davison playing Tristan in that

Hi folks, back after a long absence. Just wanted to sympathise JFly, (if I've read enough you can't get your little man to bed and then having bad sleep, and then he's being really whingey during the day?). We've just got through the other side, awful evenings where we've been falling asleep before him, and maybe ended up having 3 or 4 BFs a night. Been hard work and I was lucky to have MrPee's help. Then crap sleep at night for A seemed to have a knock on effect during the day. We moved him into a single bed with a barrier on it (due to hypermobility in his hips and feet he can't get himself to sitting yet, let alone standing or walking) and it has made a big difference. Also stuck to a proper bedtime routine rather than fitting him around the girls, they fit around him at bedtime, and at long last he's having a good nap in the middle of the day. He is a restless sleeper, swinging his legs around and bashing them on the cot wall. With all the space around him in a proper bed he seems much better. Although he is still feeding at least once a night which I plan to abolish soon, just need a plan of action.

I'll probably disappear for a while again!

Morning, ladies. You know what? I have just gotten out of bed and am having first cup of (boring decaff) tea. Due to M25 nightmare P didn't get to sleep until 845 and he woke up at ...725. Am still pinching myself.

Forgot to add that we have put P in a big bed as well. Not a single, he's in a regular old double with no bar as I am a bad mother. He swings in and out of it with no problem as he is apparently 60% monkey. It helps a lot with the sleeping. I say that in the it helped get us to 10 rather than 7 hours kind of way.

On a further "watch out for pod people" kind of alert...DH took P to playgroup yesterday.

Good to see you MrsPee!

Thanks Turtle - and congrats on blue flavoured number 2.

I think I can raise your 60% monkey to 73% sloth, but with a much higher cuteness rating!

Hello all -

I'm back from a week in Cornwall. Lovely, despite changeable weather, but TBH I'm not convinced it is more lovely than Northumberland (although the cream teas did their best to persuade me!)

Starting to get tantrums here. Not completely raging yet, but plan to put some of the ideas into action now in the vain hope (optimistic, moi? ) he's used to the calming methods when tantrums get really bad

Main issue at the moment is that DS is obsessed with my and DH's glasses and grabs for them all the time. We don't use No very often as we try to reserve it for bad or dangerous rather than just wishing-he-wouldn't-do-it behaviour, and he usually respects it and understands to stop whatever it is he is doing. But for some reason the glasses-grabbing-No is greeted by much hilarity and even more grabbing. I might have to try Evie's naughty step type idea for that one, cos I'm really not keen on being blind and a few hundred pounds worse off if DS manages to break them. Sigh.

JFly - in absence of a helpful DH , do you have a willing friend who could come and do the night settling for you for a night, and perhaps shame your DH into understanding that he should be doing it for you?

oh yes, hello spugs! and congrats turtle. ideally i want a girl next time, but i really wouldn't mind another boy as they just completely worship their mums and my ego enjoys a bit of the adoration

Proposal: 5th August Battersea Park Zoo and picninc. (Jfly will be returning the monkeys she stole, the rest of us will just watch!!)

What'dya think?

Am hoping to be on holiday on the 5th but if im not would come

I have been avoiding this thread, but i have to come and fess up now. I had a bit of a pg scare this week, due to nhs 'choose and book' illusion i am still waiting for my gynae appointemnt (next thur) despite persistent heavy bleeding since end of feb Nt somehow managed to throw up last week, get dizzy and then a positive preg test! I had never been so terrified! But dr reckons it is all gynae issues as his test was neg so i can sigh

I have managed to get childcare for sunday before wedding anniversary (25th? July) so dh could spend all day together, he however is now going to be away for work......what shall i do with myself?

ILGB I really like sesame street but have been suitably chatised by preschool for letting dd watch it as she has learnt the letter names not their phonic sounds which apparently is the current way

I'm loving ewe's imaginery 'm' family (btw dd still talks about T i think she was quite taken by her)

can do 5th! sorry so brief back tomorrow i hope

Morning all. How are the monkeys getting on, JFly? Any improvements?

Ewe, I love the idea of your M based imaginary family...however, I was under the impression that T was real? I think Mortimer is an awesome name.

Aug 5th sounds great. We will be there. Drove past Battersea on my way to Vauxhall yesterday. Was ridiculously proud of myself for driving into London, as it was the first time I'd ever done it. Bit of a shock to the system as I tend to get a bit angry at traffic in Henley, so this was a whole new world...

Bloke should get back this week. Because of all the drama out there at the moment I haven't heard from him in a week or so, but I'm fairly certain he'll be back Wed or Thurs. Can't wait now.

DP did you see Torchwood? I am still a bit traumatized to be honest, but thought it was very brave and excellent tv.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

god Ff it must do your head in every time there's a death reported in Afghanistan. I get it just thinking about you, let alone, being you! Hoping for his safe return xx

Aww, that is so cute ld! She is such a delight. Hope you're issues are ok and you're over the sickness and dizzyness, doesn't sound nice at all.

Welcome back HQ! I am so jealous of your holiday, I am desperate for mine. 20 days and counting. Can't do 5th of August unfortunately as I am in France. Back on 13th so would be in for anything after that.

Had a nightmare towards the end of last week, somehow I have lost half a tooth (think it is due to sickness wearing it away as I have reflux) and had an abcess and infection in my root and now need to have a root canal or extraction. Sucks.

Had a fab weekend though, wedding yesterday (Natasha Kaplinsky was there and was really nice, never liked her but very down to earth and friendly) and was out with my friends on Fri night for my best friends leaving to go travelling party and having a BBQ this afternoon. Feel quite the social butterfly! Just need to get over my HIDEOUS hangover today.

I love Torchwood and it is really not my type of thing normally, thought it was incredibly well written and I adore Peter Capaldi. T is indeed real, I should have said imaginary siblings! She was all too real at 6am this morning when I only got in at half 2. Bleah.

Enjoy Bloke being back, you must be so excited! Assume we won't see you hanging around here much for the first couple of weeks he is back. Does he get a lot of time off before starting normal duties again? I have no clue how these things work!

Quite excited about Lovebox next week (Duran Duran, yesss!) and have bought T the cutest pink ear defenders, not that she seems to want to keep them on for more than three seconds. Hoping she might be able to nap with them on, wishful thinking much?

Ooops, that was a bit of an essay! Sorry ladies.

thank god i did my pelvic floors
Btw Ewe, I'm sorry but I hate you for getting to go to see Duran Duran.

Thanks, MB. It's not fun really. Whenever something happens out there, all communication is shut down until next of kin are informed. So, if I don't hear from him than I know someone has been killed. Then I am basically listening obsessively to the news, because as soon as there is a report, it means NOK have been told, so it's not me. So I have spent the last week listening out for someone else's tragedy. I am desperate for it to be over now. Quite apart from it being nice to have someone else to change nappies/walk dogs/scrape weetabix from walls, I am quite fond of him really, so will be nice to have him back.

Anyway, moving on...

Ewe, did you cry at the end? I was in floods. I am a bit of a TW and DW geek, so was devastated at the end of Thursday's episode, and by the end of Friday's was a wreck. (Didn't help myself by watching them back to back on Friday eve with a hideous hangover. You have my sympathy today...)Your tooth thing sounds horrible. I hate dentists and all things toothy.

HQ, glad you had a lovely time. Ff is also resistant to 'No' - she just responds with her best smile and carries on with what she was doing. We had the glasses thing too - I am on my third pair of sunglasses this summer. Have you tried buying him a pair of sunglasses for himself? If he has his own, he might not be so interested in yours.

After her first steps last Sunday she is running everywhere now. Shoe shopping tomorrow.

flying visit, up to my eyes in day work & now HB work too, all good fun!

Ff, keeping everything crossed for a quiet news week or 2

Torchwood was excellent but thoroughly depressing, still haven't quite recovered. Not the sort of things you want to think about happenng! Far too realistic, but compulsive viewing.

Off to germany again tomorrow, loving these 12hr+ days at the mo...not.

Catch y'all on the flipside!

Anyone got good tips for nappy rash? DS is cutting the dreaded molars, and his bottom is so so sore. He now cries whenever we try to change his nappy and won't sit down on his naked bottom or in the bath

Doing lots of naked time, and only ever change him with water and cloth wipes anyway. Anyone using cloth nappies - does switching to dispies for a few days help?

Any other tips?

Chamomile and calc phos orally. As far as the bum goes, protection is the only way forward. Lots of cream. I use bepanthen in copius amounts at the moment.
Also, make sure it hasn't progressed to teething thrush...if that's the case a little canesten goes a long way.
Wouldn't bother changing to dispos if it were me.

thanks turtle! We're trying bepanthen at night but will do it during the day as well - does it need to be rubbed in, or layered on so you can still see it?

I don't think it's thrush at the moment but will keep an eye on it (it gets raised when it's that, doesn't it?)