June 2008: the One Show (almost)

[Essie3]

Thinking of you today Josey.

Abdn - LOL at only just noticing that your decorator is a dish.

Deb - poor Ethan with his bruises. Peter's legs have taken a hammering this week after I left him crawl round various gardens in shorts. Swimming later which will only make it worse.

Thinking of you today, Josey

Happy Birthday Oli xxx

Deb- glad you enjoyed the break....(Leyburn reference why? Went to school with people from Leyburn...)

Poppy- totally right to feel shit. I would. And I'd feel ticked off at DH too. But sounds like you got your groove back with red wine (((hugs)))

ktpie- remember you and Congratulations

Sponge- glad first day not too bad. LOL at you talking about pg number 3- get through this one first!

Rolf at your friend. 5 is a lot to take care of!

Amber- wish I could help but feel free to call me at 4am. We're awake at the moment too at that time.

I know I missed loads of peole so apologies. Utterly knackered after rocky couple of days involving mad dash to ER when couldn't bring toddlypearls' temp down (104 and rising)...tonsilitis apparently. Had a few very long nights and feel 'm constantly syringing medicine into her. Added to which she was at a first party at the weekend, and one f the kids who was there has gone down with chickenpox, so her illness may also be symptomatic of that. On spot watch!

Hope you are all well. Send big hugs.

Puree - Deb is from Leyburn originally, before they moved to Austria. Hope toddlypearls feels better soon. Fingers crossed it isn't chickenpox.

Thanks Ali- No spots yet.

ooh tell me the names Puree - Leyburn is a small place!

Ali - sorry to hear about Peter's poor legs, wonder how he'll be after you holiday here?

got to go, be back later

Puree - hope toddlypearls is better soon, and if it is chicken pox, it's better now than when she gets older.

Josey - thinking of you today

lol Abdn at just noticing your dishy decorator

Hello to everyone else

Abdn maybe it's a hormone thing. Handyman Dan our decorator in London is rather sexy, and my plumber-who-does-odd-jobs around here is a pleasure to have around, really easy on the eye!

I hope I'm not turning into One Of Those Housewives.

Thanks all for sympathy - had birthday mark two tonight whcih was lovely but my cake is not at purée standards.
Loads of chicken pox going around- it's done the rounds at the nurseries of both women I work with. Deb right re getting it early but sounds like you have had a time of it with toddlerpearls.
Stayed at home as went to nct picnic- wasn't too bad as managed to catch up with two good friends and E loved picnic with other babies.
Happy birthday Oli
And each to their own re decorators but I am not keen on polish version of captain birds eye and lurch from the Adams family. Talking of which back to watching rugby - Paul o connell just on so lurch from Adams family apt

puree hope things are improving! I'm actually looking forward to my boys having chickenpox because I want to get it over with! It feels like it's hanging over my head now and they'll get it just before we go on vacation or something inconvienent.

I took a good look at my painter today and decided that while he's very easy on the eye, it definitely is not enough to make up for the fact that this job is now a whole week past the estimated deadline. I would far rather look at the walls....

Amber, we're up at 5am here, which is considerably better than 4:15 but still unreasonable. I think it might just be an age thing unfortunately. Let me know if you find any solutions though!

Amber, Abdn - I was there 2 weeks ago with the early rising, but it seems to have stopped (I hope I don't jinx things now). But I would take Iestyn into bed with me and he'd go back to sleep eventually. Now he's too active to do anything.
Our problem here is that Iestyn is taking anything up to an hour to settle at bedtime, despite being really tired. It's really wearing me out and I feel like I'm losing my evenings (hence not much posting on here!). Is anyone else experiencing this? Any tips?

Oh, I'm being rude. Hello all! I'll try to post properly next time - I have to go to bed now.

My god just watching the programme on monkey babies

Essie - Peter is more difficult to settle at the moment. Not an hour though, but then we do cc so that might speed it up. He seems to be fine untill he goes in his sleeping bag and then he has a bit of a hissy fit, and he is inconsolable. The best thing seems to be putting him in his cot and leaving him for a few minutes, coming back and lieing him down, and repeating. It takes less than ten mins for him to go to sleep like this. This started a couple of weeks ago. The last few nights have been better (although I have jinxed it now). The last two nights he has been put down awake and drifted off to sleep, then suddenly started screaming an hour later. I am confused.

We've got the screaming here too at sleeptimes, I was so desperate yesterday that I fed him to sleep in the day, but last night he went in his cot awake and went to sleep on his own, without having to do the patting, laying him down, leaving the room rigmarole(sp?)

Interestingly toddlypearls screamed herself to sleep last night- I did what Ali does and kept going in every ten minutes to lie her back down again. She has been up and down a lot in the past few days because she's ill and now fallen into the habit of waking at 11 and 2 and 5. She doesn't need anything and cries all the while with her eyes closed. It's as if she just needs the closeness of someone else. It's sweet and understandable but exhausting. I'm hoing its a phase but am going hardcore when she's finished her antibiotics- she has to learn that everyone's lives are a misery if Mamma doesn't get enough sleep.

Debs- when are they old enough that they wake up and just amuse themselves in their cot???? PS- it is the Ford family I know from Leyburn.

Poppy- I'm afraid the advery put me off that one!

That would be advert

Debs- re: Father's Day gifts, I went with 'My Dad is Fantastic' book (only fair as we had 'My Mum is Brilliant' ages ago. Also tickets to a sporting event, both of which he has already received so he can choose who he goes with as it's the weekend after Father's Day. Gifts for the day are a Top Dad mug (to match the Super Mum one I got for Mother's Day) and a Top Dad t-shirt (where the Top Dad looks like the Top Gun logo. Just amused me. And you can never have too many t-shirts!) Nothing spectacular but all stuff he will like. Couldn't tell you on FB because DH uses my page (doesn't have his own to prevent clients and solicitors and parents and so on tracking him down!)

Thanks guys - glad it's not only me with the slow settling! (Although I'm not wishing it on anybody ) I'm just finding it a bit hard - actually, more annoying than hard - because I'm by myself quite a lot at the moment. I suppose I do a controlled crying lite version: put him down, walk away, he cries, go back in and pat him (!!), etc until he settles. But last night I picked him up and cuddled him and eventually he went to sleep. The house is becoming all cluttered and stuff now because I had a little routine where I put Iestyn to bed, cleared up, put laundry on, then sat down and watched tv/mumsnetted/whatever. But because it takes so long to settle him, I'm afraid I skip the middle bit and just have the me time!

On top of this Tim is complaining with some sort of illness. I'm a terribly unsympathetic person and don't cope very well with sick people and I'm finding this quite annoying too. He's coming this evening. I'm trying my best, but I've become this not very nice person, basically: he's sick, and I just think well, when I was sick I had to carry on and still get up with Iestyn etc etc. Did 3 days sole caring with a tooth abscess - Tim went to work, there was no childcare (although I must stress that both Amber and Penguin offered to step in there - angels or what?) and I had to just put up and keep going. I also had a really bad cold in February and I had to get up then, and Iestyn wasn't sleeping through... But I'm feeling so bad now because I've become this whingeing 'but things are worse for me' person.

And I've not said hello to anyone one here! Poppy you had my sympathies with the birthday thing, but glad you finally got your celebration. Puree any further news on the chicken pox or did I miss something? I know toddlypearls is on antibiotics, but did the chicken pox develop?

Also, Iestyn can entertain himself in his cot now. He really, really likes books, and so last night I put a book in his cot. This morning, I got to laze around in bed till 7.30 - he woke sometime before 7 - whilst he read his book and chatted. Might be a one off, mind. (Oooh, me a year ago would struggle to write 'laze around' and '7.30' in the same sentence, together!!)

Good sleep vibes to the early wakers and the late settlers!

thanks puree, Ford the farmers? Richard?

Seeie - oops, meant essie, sorry you're having a rough time of it. i can sympathise with the illness thing, i am terrible when nigel is ill. hope it's nothing serious.
was it you with honey/hay fever knowledge? stefan is really struggling with hf atm.

here's a site that Ethan loves

We have had some slow settling here as well, have found that he gets worse and takes longer to settle if I go in so I'm afraid I just leave him and try to only go in if he gets really upset. Sometimes a cuddle from DH works quite well (seems to be the sight of me that upsets him!).

Essie - I am the same when DH is ill, I manage to be sympathetic for all of about 10 mins then it's kind of right come on get better now I've had enough!

Hi everyone.

Have been rubbish at keeping in touch, but I do look in now and again to check everyone's doing ok.

Many happy returns to all the DC who are turning 1 - so exciting. Can't believe the time has gone so fast.

Quick update on Tom - he still looks like a michelin man - rolls of fat everywhere and I swear I'm not filling him with sweets or anything. He is now moving so hopefully that his enormously fat thighs will reduce (wish crawling did that to my legs, but that's another story).

My current project is to teach him how to slide down the stairs on his tummy. Trouble is, he keeps wanting to stand up and turn round half way down!

I am also v unsympathetic when DH is ill. Is anyone really nice when their OH's are poorly.

I am on my todd for a couple of nights here. DH is in Brighton playing squash in the UK Corporate Games. Somehow is has been roped in to play for a mate's law firm. Whilst he is a v competent squash player he certainly isn't star quality. It is nice for him to get a break from his work and from home. Still miss him though. Depending on the weather, and whether DH has been knocked out yet or not, P and I may go to Brighton tomorrow for a day trip.

Better go I suppose: Peter is now pulling the power cable out of the laptop, and I am avoiding changing a dirty nappy. He has become completely wriggly now and nappy changing is almost impossible.

Nothing to report on spot-watch. If she was exposed on Sunday then there aren't many more days to wait as they usually show 7-10 days after exposure. Tick-tock tick-tock!

Anti-biotics are for tonsillitis Essie.Hope Tim gets better soon....

I confess I'm quite generous when Steve is ill as it does only happen about twice a year and he drops everything to come home when I have a migraine.

Debs- don't know about Richard, since he's Mr Ford to me, but yes, farmer Fords, twins and a son. I was in the same year as the twins.

Hello to all others- dashing off to administer yet more Calpol but will catch up later, x

What a small world eh Puree?