Dec 08- Must keep chocolate & cheerfulness near, teething time is nearly here!

[pmk1]

Right.... back to post the link now!

Haha jj. Yes, E gets called Edmund a reasonable amount but also Tinker, Tinks (goes with my surname!), Titch, small one, Captain Slackbladder, Lungs (also), Racket, Pest, Monster, Trouble, etc, etc!!

bookmarking - and a quick one from other thread to say LadyT would love to borrow that book! I have the Letters between Sisters too but haven;t read. Off to feed m'Boud!

I'm still catching up but am continously giggling about Trace's £4.25 genes!!!

JB The. House. With. The. Working. Lights., eh? . I got a cardboard one which was rubbish. I did get a Sindy horse one Christmas though

jolly - P's rash is a bit less angry now so I think it's on its way out. She's due for her head size check on Monday so am going to get the HV to look at her skin too as she's very dry with a few sore looking bits. I would say she's 'dry as a crisp' but am afraid that conjures up images of fanjos now!!!

JJ Phoebe gets her full name a lot, but also a lot of Phoebs, Phoebe-jeebie, and Smiler!

I'm having my usual 'I need a radical new funky hair cut' which I go through every few months. I always get it cut in a plain bob, love it, get bored, grow it, get bored, decide on a funky new style...then get a plain bob...and on it goes! I was looking in a magazine and saw Natalie Imbruglia and said to DH "I wish I looked like Natalie Imbruglia" to which he replied "so do I"!!!! Charming!

Right - girls in bed, time for tea

they are saying they might let me have one night a week off!!!

What did I miss about fanjo's and crisps? I really feel I've not been keeping up with this thread!!

Turnip: I read the letters of the earnest sister who went to America , they were v good .

Verso: your GP sounds great, it must be nice seeing a regular doctor who knows you and your situation. The higher dose ADs may well be worth a try, but as you say sleep is what you really need - crossing fingers for you tonight. Not sure if it helps saying this, but I think the 3-5 month period can be the worst in some ways, lots of growth spurts plus the beginning of teething and all sorts of other stuff. Seem to recall that once DS hit 5/6 months and started sitting up he was a LOT happier. Didn't sleep much better mind you, but didn't your DD1's sleep settle down about then?

Trace: yay for jeans that fit! All my trousers are a disgrace, they are either too tight or too loose and fall down. I've started wearing skirts on occasion as they are much more forgiving to changing waistlines.

DS2 had another screamy evening, tried Calpol then putting him in his bouncy chair and he's now asleep . I think he can get overstimulated if he's held and fussed over too much, esp as my first port of call is to try feeding him whenever he cries - sometimes putting him down calms him tho it seems counterintuitive.

Thank you for all the birthday wishes - I am now officially in my mid-30s . Feels pretty good actually.

Trace: if you have any hair inspiration let me know. I'm growing mine for lack of ideas as to what to do with it, I've had a bob (or variations on the same) for well over a decade now and I am BORED. Also my nice local hairdresser has left the salon (this happens to me a lot, the last one broke his arm and the one before that went to Madrid) so am waiting to pluck up the courage to try someone new. I have the number of a reportedly fab home hairdresser so may give her a go.

Verso: a night off a week would be a v good start. I feel as if I have a day off a week cos when DS1 is at the CMs I can nap with DS2 rather than rushing round all day. Makes a lot of difference.

I didn't have the Sindy house either . We inherited the horse from my aunt (she's only a few years older than my older sister) but I did get the Sindy kitchen which was fab, the hobs lit up and there were proper little pots and pans. My sister got the bath instead (ha!). We used to make Sindy houses from those cardboard boxes which were divided in the middle, complete with door (cut by a responsible adult)

Sorry to hear that there were so many unsettled nights last night. I am slightly concerned because my DS had a pretty good one -- does this mean that he is on the opposite cycle to all of your babies and that I will condemn you all to bad nights by hoping for a good one for myself?! Hope not. Though should be said that a good night was two nightfeeds and up for the day at 6:00, so maybe I just have low standards about what a good night looks like!

pmk: You asked ages ago where I am in South London. East Dulwich it is.

arti: Your mastitis episode sounds horrendous. Having even the slightest fever reduces me to a whimpering mess. I had a "barely there" fever last weekend related to a sore throat and could not cope. Weeping and feeling sorry for myself and taking to my bed at 6:00 pm while DH did bath and bed for DS. So I am amazed that you have lived to tell the tale!

I am irrationally afraid of mastitis and nipple thrush because I found breastfeeding so painful at the beginning (tongue tie, bad latch, and I'm a wimp) and I am terrified of going back to that bad bad place of dreading the next feed!

Also, arti, interesting that east-facing exposure is a reason for your PIL not to like your prospective house. Our house faces east and I love it! Morning sun in the front room, and evening sun in the kitchen and garden.

Though saying that, our east facing exposure means that our bedroom is uber-bright in the morning, which could be contributing to DS's early wakeups (6:00 is a very good day, usually in the 5:00s or even 4:00s if he is feeling really sadistic). How bad would it really be to evict him to his own room before 6 months? His room is much darker in the morning.

If the London meet-up is still planned for 8th April, I should be able to join. Looking forward to it.

My DH is back from his week abroad tomorrow morning -- I plan to hand the lovely DS straight to him so that they can enjoy a boys weekend while I sleep between feeds!

I had the Sindy Landrover, Horse-box and Dapple Grey horse! My nanna used to knit clothes for her!

Verso - we were talking about 'doing the deed' and someone (was it Summer?) said that your fanjo can be dry as a crisp due to hormones - she explained it very well with big words, but all I remember is the dry fanny! But that explains why some of us are finding it painful and therefore putting it off.

sorry MOM cross-posted with you there! Glad your dh is returning home - hope you manage some well-earned rest . I evicted Phoebe into her own room at 2 weeks! She's so noisy and snuffly we couldn't sleep a wink, and also our rooms are teeny weeny so the basket was wedged between the bed and the wall and it was a nightmare to move around in the room, so we evicted her! Her room is just opposite ours so she's still very near.

Bloody hell, DS is fast asleep in his cot and settled himself tonight . I only put him in there while I settled DD, came back expecting him to be wriggling and needing me to rock him to sleep as per and he was flat out, arms spread deep sleep postion assumed.

I had a Sindy house, I remember dusting it on the day of Live Aid because I found it boring and Dad was watching Queen . My sister cut all my Sindy dolls hair at a later date - cow. After that I moved onto Barbie, I had a lovely Dream store and Day/Night office thing!

Hello all

Happy birthday Effie hope you're having a lovely time. Also agree that your DS is a cutie. Funny about him not smiling at waiters but beaming at pretty girl. DS was a complete disgrace as a baby (and is pretty much the same now) his first smile wasn't for me but a very beautiful woman at baby clinic. DD appears to only like smiling at men. Sigh. Sadly can only blame my side of the family for this kind of behaviour.

I think it was you asking about the P&Ts too - I was going to ask the same thing. DD looks uncomfortable in the cocoon now so have got the sleeping bag thing and going to try her out in the seat when we go to the market tomorrow. It looks a bit upright to me but we'll see.

Hope you all have fab time at Railway museum. Veggie if you do go they have the biggest Thomas shop - we had to literally drag DS away.

Trace nice work on the jeans. I really need to get some new clothes. Am sending DH into the loft at the weekend (he's been very bad ) and hoping that miraculously the various bags shoved up there will contain lots of lovely summer clothes I like and fit into. Some chance.

LadyT I hope the swap over went ok - you are far from spectacularly fat or dowdy. You will get back to how you were - and I know it can feel like longer but it's really not that long since we were all pregnant. Took me about 11 months to lose all the weight last time.

Good luck at WW Kayz. I did their online thing for a bit ages ago and did lose weight. Unfortunately my version of it was to have alpen for breakfast, a jacket potato for lunch and save rest of my points for booze in the evening . I remember trying to work out how many points there were in a kebab...Dreadful. Wouldn't confess half of this in RL.

Arti glad you're feeling a bit better - I too do that mixing and matching of books - although this time am quite enjoying not really reading much and just going with the flow (i.e. neglecting poor DD).

JJ DD gets called : Fancy (by DS), pudding, sausage pot (by me - god alone knows why, when DH hears me he visibly winces), treasure, beautiful, and Nancy Noo. Written down that all sounds even worse.

Pmk have been meaning to say I think your instincts are spot on about mentioning the possibility of moving to Aus well in advance. My lovely little brother is married to an Australian and they're planning to move back in 2011. I have to confess that my first reaction was to be really upset at the thought - and also to think that SIL was stealing him away but I've had time to get used to the idea in my head so although I know it will be difficult when he finally does go I know that he really wants to and I'm excited for them. And a little when he sends me links to the beautiful places they're looking at living. We don't see him that much now - and I know he'll come back every year or so - so it's not like it was years ago when you really didn't see people again. And we'll have to get off our asses and go and see them, although thought of that journey with 2 small children slightly . Will have to take inspiration from Veggie. I went to Melbourne for work once and really loved it so am lobbying for there.

I think for me the thing that made a difference was that I know that he really really wants to go - so if it does get talked about I'd recommend your DH explaining how great it would be for him rather than you taking him away...because MIL is bound to think that. I know I did.

Eek - better go - poor DS is coughing again.

Oh, and if it isn't premature for me to be posting about fanjos when I'm new...when I found out that I had to have a c-section the ONLY saving grace (I thought) was that me fanjo would come out unscathed and that not having to have months of painful sex would be my consolation prize. Ummm, guess what.....it's still painful! I asked the doctor and she said that things just generally get shifted about up there during pregnancy and the operation. Fabulous.

I inherited a load of Sindy stuff from a friend, I used to spend hours playing with it on a Sunday with my 20p mix bag!

daisy well done to your ds! Ds2 is good at settling himself as well, just need to get rid of the dummy now...

trace well done on the jeans, bargain find! I must admit, I do like Next jeans, they tend to fit me really well.

Nicknames, ds2 often gets called Monkey, Smiler (think someone else mentioned that?), The Gurgler, Cheeky etc. Ds1 often calls him a cheeky nana!

Any style fashionistas on the thread? I need to find a dress that will work for both a wedding & a christening. I fancy getting a designer name as a treat, not something I generally go for. Any help or tips greatly appreciated!

So many messages - am afraid I am not fast enough at reading to keep up! Of the things I can remember - our night was much better klast night - dream feeding seemed to work so fingers crossed for tonight....

Trace - DD2 has also had a rash / dry skin that sounds very similar to yours. We went to GP and he thought baby eczema and gave us Aveeno on prescription. Am not sure it is eczema but the cream is fantastic. E45 etc just made it worse but this one feels lovely as you put it on and worked really quickly - may start using it myself on my wrinkly tummy!

And on names, our two have beautiful Irish names that we have shortened / anglicised for the moment so they are called nicknames all the time. PILs always use teh Irish version but DD1 now calls DD2 the nickname so I think that will stick for now!

After all the excitement of the new Apprentice last night it is off to bed for me now!

Jolly I once navigated my Mum into the bus station in Sheffield ? in my (and your) defence, it looks very road-like going into it! DH is back on Saturday, not long now . I hope the weekend passes quickly for you without your DH. I am regularly thankful I?m not a lone parent, and think that those who are must be endlessly patient and tireless.

JJ great to hear you so much happier, and at the builders! (If there?s any treacle tart leftover, please can I have it? It?s my fave pudding, yum yum, we had it at our wedding). I too have lots of names for DD ? in addition to your list I can add Stinky, Sicky, Maisie (my goddaughter), Emily (her cousin), various names of friends children (boys as well as girls) and Tara (the dog)

Verso all the best for tonight, and great news for the weekly night off ? does the just thought of it make you feel a bit less tired? Like you, I had a Sindy horse, and the foal too, and possibly a horse box.

MomOrMum I think this will be the weekend we evict DD, with the clocks changing and the lighter nights followed by lighter mornings ? our room doesn?t have curtains, hers does. Enjoy your day of rest tomorrow

We went to my friends for tea tonight and DD was very well behaved, lay happily on the floor staring at the fish tank while we ate (think I?ll be going to the pet shop this weekend), and then when everyone was watching she tried to roll over for the first time. She didn?t get very far, but I think she?s destined to be a little show off! And she gave a beautiful smile to my friends BIL, who I?ve had a crush on for more than half my life - she has very good taste in men.

Here?s hoping for nice long sleeps tonight for everyone, night night

Wow that took sometime to read and yet again I can't remember what I wanted to reply. Just know that I love reading what you are all up to and love being part of this thread.

What I did remember was the nicknames. Ds2 is obviously mostly called Jordy, but variations from this are Baby Jordan(from 3rd&bird) and the ridiculously non nickname of Jordan Gordan Gorgan Begorgan. Know idea where is came from was just a rhyming thing. Ds1 had loads of nicknames so many that I don't think he knew his name for ages. He was Xander, Zanzibar, Xandy, Mafannway, Bowbow, AK and Paopao pronounced pow pow (it's Chinese for precious one, dh didn't like me calling him bow bow so asked me to call him that). The last 2 names have stuck and everyone at Nusery calls him AK, it came about because when emailing people back home I used to refer to him as AK, his initials, so I didn't have to write Alexander all the time. Everyone then assumed that's what we called him do they called him that and it stuck. The pao pao has also stuck and up until recently he used to call himself that. He used to sound like a telly tubby whenever anyone asked him his name. Oh almost forgot, mook mook monster.

Trace I really love Pheobe Jeebie that's cute. Also I'm a big fan of the charity shop jeans at the moment, jeans are usually one of my most expensive items of clothing because I like ones that last, but I really don't want them to last at the moment. I bought 2 pairs for around £5 each (one pair was Diesel) two months ago and they are both falling off me now. I am now wearing one pair of my old jeans but am going to go back to the charity shops for another pair as I mostly live in jeans and as they are regularly spewed on I need a couple of pairs at least.

Oh and whoever mentioned the veggie baby shirt, is that the one from greenbaby. I got it for a friend's baby a few years back as she is veggie too. But the vegetable toys were so cute I kept the Aubergine one, as I love Aubergine.

Happy birthday Effie, mid 30 is the new mid 20s.

Oh ZJ not long now, what time is DH back. I do sympathise, dh is away again next week, it is going to be sad because he has been home these last 2 weeks and we have all really enjoyed being together. At least, fingers crossed this time there will be no illness so we can get out and about.

Oh Lal Thomas shop sounds great for ds1 not so good for bank balance, although we have a new deal. When we go to the shops these days and he asks for chocolates or a cbeebies magazine, we offer for him to have the money for his piggy bank instead to save up for toys. He could spend his piggy bank money on Thomas toys.

Oh and a funny story. When my friend and I took her ds and my ds1 to a big local park the other day the boys were scurrying off into the foresty areas to find sticks and dens. Ds1 is always collecting sticks I I have a bagful of them as he gives them to me to take home. Anyway one time they were coming out of a little forest bit and my ds was carrying a large stick, we could see her ds was also carrying something but we could see what it was. When he came closer he proudly revealed...a pint glass??!! No doubt his dad will be proud.

Veggie just quickly adding your pint glass story my DS1 not so cute went foraging and came back with a dog poo proudly held aloft!

Off to the dentist back later to catch up.

Morning. Sorry forgot last night - wg (and everyone else) RFH meet up thread is here.

ended up co-sleeping as too tired to keep putting DS2 back into bed, then DS1 woke up screaming at ten to six... blardy growth spurts. And we have the 12 week jabs next week