December 2007 "The one where babies walk the walk... and talk the talk"

[Arcadie]

I'm sorry - I couldn't last out. Welcome to the new thread.

By the way Insy did I read that you only have 5 weeks until the new baby comes? Wow, that's gone fast! How are you feeling about the birth? Have you decided on names now? It's wierd to think that your ds2 soon won't be the "baby" anymore. I found my perception of dd1 and the way I treated her changed so much when dd2 was born. Suddenly they seem so grown up, I think you stop babying them really fast - which in a way is probably quite a good thing!

Insy - no circles here either, just random lines in a rather desultory fashion. And on the "understanding a 3 year old" front I have to say I could understand half my friend's DCs when they were closer to 5 let alone 3! Don't forget also that girls after often clearer speakers than boys. Having said that DD1 (age 7) still reverts to her "baby-voice" from time to time which I find very hard to decipher and drives me slightly barmy Hope your Mum has boosted your confidence that you are a fab mum!

SQ, DD2 has a favourite toy called tigey-wigey (its a tiger!) which she often wants to take in the car to child care. After making the mistake of letting her take him in once and refusing to let me take him out (and then finding at the end of the day a very bedraggled tigey that had to have an emergency wash and dry before bed ) I now refuse to take him in to childcare and make a song and dance about him staying in the car and sitting in her car seat keeping me company - and he'll be there waiting for her when we go home etc etc. She still grizzles a bit for about 10 seconds but in general seems to accept this. I was also petrified that we might inadvertantly leave him behind and then she wouldn't be able to sleep...

that should have been "couldn't"

thanks clara I used to be ok with her comments as I found it easy to point out what ds1 could do whenever she brought up what he couldn't, now I can only see that he doesn't do colouring in - not real interest - puzzles - has attention span of 2 seconds - and stumbles over a lot of words... he is very happy tho and sings a lot, some of it doesn't make sense, ds2 also seems quite happy, baby signs and you're right is no longer my baby as we've been encouraging him to be more independant for when baby gets her, he helps set the table for breakfast by carrying stuff from the kitchen for dh which is really cute, I can see myself babying this dc as its my last tho, yes 5 wks today till dday! its my last day at work! hurray
Trying not to think about birth as slightly worried by the law of averages something will go wrong with this one but hoping for a HB again and must pak my hosp bag soon, names think we're stiking with Edward - no middle name yet - and Lyra Claire, although my SIL likes Lola and is due month after me so I'm a bit worried they sound too similar..

and don't worry I'm on here all the time, only I don't post v often as no one else seems to be around!

buzzy hoping my mum has some very sensible advice later too!

Blimey Clara dd hasn't been drawing faces long (and still just scribbles a lot of the time) and ds is still at the eating crayons stage

Insy I know what you mean about the age gap, dd was always quite advanced but now she is the same as or sometimes less able than her friends and it has worried me that having ds (especially how demanding he is) has stunted her development a bit because she has been neglected (well not really but it feels that way compared to how much time I used to dedicate to her). But then I have read that they are supposed to even out by age 3 so it is probably that...

What a day we had yesterday! DS was really clingy again and fell asleep on my lap, dd said she was going for a wee. 5 mins later she came back and told me she'd spilt water in my bedroom. Went upstairs and there was an empty ibuprofen bottle on the floor (I'd stupidly left it on my bedside table after giving it to ds in the night). I asked her what happened to the medicine "I drank it" "you drank it??????" "yes I drank lots but then I spilt it on the floor but look I put water on it and I cleaned it so don't be cross". Mad panic, called dh said you've got to come right now we have to take dd to a&e. DS' temperature had shot up again so dh took ds to the walk in GP clinic at the hospital while I dealt with dd in a&e. Got asked loads of horrible pointed questions "How did she open it?, Why was it within reach?, Why wasn't it locked away, What was she doing upstairs on her own?, Do you usually leave her to her own devices?" (she went for a wee ffs) etc etc. Nurse took her stats then waited hours before seeing a doctor who didn't know what to do so referred us up to the paed ward. Nurse who buzzed us in said "We've got another patient with your surname here, very poorly little boy" Me "that's my son!". Did loads of tests on them both, whilst I felt like the worlds worst mother for having 2 children referred to paeds ward at the same time . Found out ds has tonsilitis again and possibly a wee infection. They did blood tests on dd to find out how much she'd drunk (where she'd tried to clean it up I couldn't tell how much she'd spilt)and luckily luckily luckily they came back clear so she can't have had much-we just need to keep an eye on her and any vomiting or tummy cramps go back in.

clairey poor you, I could see myself doing that, its so easy to leave things out but most of the time we are lucky and its a 'near miss' like when ds got a sharp knife off the kithen side, makes my blood run cold to think what could have happened but it was ok. Sorry to hear ds is poorly too, ds1 and dh had tonsilitis eariler in the year and our friends and their little one down the road have it at mo so it must be doing the rounds - we got dismissed from docs twice with its 'just a sore throat' before dh caught it and took ds with him for antibiotis becuase he couldn't believe how rubbish he felt, hope he gets better soon

How is dd today?

Well done Insy for working your way through that, I just read it back and it didn't make much sense-sorry!

She seems fine today, I was checking on her all night though.

Quick post from me..

Claireybee - hope dd and ds feeling better.

My DS is at the stage where he makes marks on paper, I was feeling quite proud of that until I saw some of your babies are drawing faces

Still hectic atm....

Oh and he also treats crayons as edible objects, despite warning him with tale of the blue poo lol

Ooh Clairey what an awful experience - I'm sure we can all imagine that happening to us too. Hope the LOs are fine today.

Little does DD know it but we have two Fluffy's - we have an elaborate routine worked out to change them over when one gets particularly gipping and we haven't been caught out yet but it's only a matter of time I suspect. Cue major trust issues at that point?

May try to insist on Fluffy staying with me but would have to invest in earplugs for the inevitable "discussion" that will occur...

BT - just to clarify, dd2 not drawing faces - just sometimes does some random dots and a scribble in/near her circles as she is copying dd2 who draws lots of faces!!

Clairey - I know I shouldn't laugh but your stories are brilliant, I think you should definitely write a parenting book one day! I'm only laughing because your dd is fine (and hopefully ds is on the mend), what happened could definitely happen to anyone, certainly to us! Dd1 is upstairs on her own all the time, she's just (luckily) very sensible! Dd2 is another story....

Clara dd is usually fairly sensible, well I thought she was! I hate the way they make you feel so guilty at a&e, as if you aren't upset enough that your child is hurt. Still, I suppose it's better that way than them missing cases of abuse etc becuase they haven't asked questions...

ooh clairey how scary for you
I have recently realised that DD2 is now tall enough to reach things on the edge of the kitchen bench. Could easily not have realised that before she managed to get hold of a knife or similar. Gives me shivers just to think about it.

How are you feeling now cazzy?

clairey - what an absolute nightmare! Thank God DD's OK (and poor DS as well of course). That really makes me think as that's exactly the kind of thing I might do, as like yours, my DD is USUALLY very sensible.

spiralqueen - my DD used to whisper please/thank you and I think it was because I always used to whisper it to her to remind her to say it. Since I stopped doing this she has stopped whispering

re advanced development - DS is definitely not advanced in speaking or drawing! He scribbles a lot and has a few words but certainly not anything approaching a hundred let alone 700! He has been much slower in everything than DD (still walks like Charlie Chaplin at 17 months!) but like others have said, I have no doubt he will catch up no problem.

He was also in the Irish Independent (we have just come back form Dublin) - will see if I can find the link - he looks v. cute in the pic.

clairey - re aggressive behaviour - I have a friend whose daughter bites and pulls hair a lot and and she just patiently removes her and says no and does it over and over again. I think there has been some improvement but it is so difficult for her and she also fears having the child no-one wants their child to play with . I think it is such a shame when other mothers react in that way - of course you don't want your child to be hit/bitten but it is not as if they are doing it to be malicious.

insy - 5 weeks!! Now make sure you enjoy your ML and find time to relax. Will you have a some time to yourself everyday? Happy birthday to DS1!

wizz - sorry to hear about your redundancy as well as all the illness. Have you had any more thoughts on starting up your gardening business?

DS media star

yay for the kiwi shearer! (and Milo of course...)

DS must be on the mend, have managed to get him in the buggy for a nap

Ooh and he said his first colour today too "wanta broon buggy" - I don't actually think he knows that brown is a colour but dd always calls that buggy the brown buggy (as opposed to the black and green one) and he certainly didn't want to go in the other one.

Clara how is the rescue remedy working? Hope it is helping.

Skid that is a lovely pic He's such a cutie. Looks really fascinated by what the shearer is doing!

buzzy!!

clairey - that's a proper sentence!! Didn't I always say your children were geniuses?

Skid - he's lovely!
And Milo too of course (I know, the joke's been done already but worth doing again).

Clairey - wow, your DS is a genuis - three word sentences at this age is amazing, I know lots of children who don't say that much at 2.5.

I have used the Rescue Remedy a couple of times and it seems to help but not sure whether it's pyschological or not. Usually though when I am under pressure I am too stressed to remember to actually use it! How are you getting on? Do you feel any better? I do find just having one hour a week to talk to someone a great help, even though I actually feel quite uncomfortable talking about myself and my "isshoes".. Unfortunately I can only do 2 more weeks as dh off on a residential course after that.

I went to the dentist today and was told I clench my teeth really badly - undoubtably another physical symptom of stress (sigh).

The nurses in the hospital laughed when he was saying "needa boobies, needa boobies" . His speech is still mostly one or two words together but we have had a couple of sentences such as "'s lelelas bum" when poking her in the bum, "'s Douggie gom?" (where's Douggie gone) and "No bash uh bruver" when he was hitting dd (he has gender issues and calls her brother and insists on me saying good girl to him rather than good boy) [shameless showing off emoticon]

I'm feeling ok Clara, I'm not sure but I think maybe the GP saying I had reason to be stressed has got rid of some of it . I used rescue remedy when I found the ibuprofen bottle, when I first called dh I was shaking and could hardly speak but after the rescue remedy I felt a bit more together

at DS's gender issues clairey! Milo may have similar issues as he insists on wearing a pink sparkly hairband most days and screams if you try to take it away. But as i tell DH I always wanted a lovely sensitive girly boy - actually I don;t know what I'm winking about - it's just true

clara - I also clench my jaw when stressed. I can feel it aching now after a week with my bl**dy FIL!! I'm so pleased the therapy is helping but what a shame you can't continue. Could you continue once you're in the Carribean? They must have some kind of mental wellbeing service for ex pats over there? Have you tried yoga as well? I find it very good for relaxation, although, as you say, obviously no good at an actual moment of crisis (conjuring up wierd image of you jumping into downwards dog in the middle of Boots as DD2 is chucking condoms and pregnancy tests into her basket!!!)

Clairey - what a story. Hope you've all recovered from that one.

Lovely pic Skid .

It is a bit odd at work now I know I'm working my notice. I feel a bit in limbo. Took yesterday off to see a solicitor about redundancy and am planning to print some leaflets out in the hope of getting some gardening work. DH and I are hopefully buying a Citroen Berlingo tomorrow, it will be a van for our gardening work and the first vehicle either of us has ever owned. It is quite exciting. DH will have to learn to drive now.

Ooh BT did you see yourself in the talk round up?

Lovely photo Skid.

Clairey wow that's impressive. DD is starting to put two words together - mainly the second word is "pliss" (please) [grandma will be so proud emoticon]. More often than not if you put two words together for her to copy she only repeats the last word.

Have a good weekend everyone - hoping to get home pc fixed this weekend so will finally get internet access back. (DD managed to change password on system and we haven't been able to reset it )

CLairey - have just read it, I'm such a wit BTW your dd and your ds are just so, so funny and cute

DrSkid - Milo does look very cute

Wizz - been in your shoes, it is hard - especially to find any motivation, because you think well what's the point? Hope you find something soon.