The all new and exciting May TODDLERS thread...

[GeorginaA]

... it's May 1st folks...

Glad you had good days Distel and Georgina. Egypt I've spent hours on the garden today. It took me over an hour to sweep the patio - more sand than in the sandpit, leaves from last autumn, compost I'd spilt etc. I'm totally knackered. Have baked cake, two quiches and 33 mini muffins - well buns in small cases really. Think DS and I will decorate the buns tomorrow while DD is napping. That way I can blame any lack of skill on him .

DD is going to have to have two naps tomorrow. The one nap regime at nursery is really catching up with her - she was v. tired tonight. DS (at age 4.3) had decided he doesn't like girls. When we asked about his sister he said she wasn't a girl.

lol bozza, re your ds saying dd wasnt a girl!

how did you manage to spend hours in the garden? i have to juggle dd outside just to hang the washing out. she wont sit in her pram, has taken to standing up in it or turning onto her tummy, even if strapped in. little houdini. i ended up putting her on the grass today and she crawled off in search of muck, stones and dead creatures. sod it.

aaaaaaaanyway, skip ordered for saturday so dh and i have our work cut out this w.e., funny how spring does this to you.

Oh Libb cross posted. Hope the weather holds for you on Saturday. Glad ex is actually starting to act. This is a bit but how do helium balloons work. I was looking at the stand in Asda but didn't know what to do. Do you pick one up and take it somewhere and they fill it up for you? Or what?

Starting to worry I haven't got enough food. Am expecting a minimum of 16 adults, 7 children (aged 1-4) and 3 babies (6 months and under so can be discounted). But as DH pointed out I have only spent £100 and I normally spend £60 and have bought £30 of beer which leaves £10 to feed 16 adults and 7 children. Hmmm think I might nip to Asda and buy some sausage rolls....

By sending DS and DD to nursery all day Egypt. Took a day's holiday because I normally work on a Thursday. No way otherwise. Had to get the washing in one handed while carrying her tonight. Would normally have put her on the grass but she was too tired and just cried if I put her down.

Those single hellium balloons do work like that, Bozza. I went to a sort of supermarket a few months back to get one and just went to the information desk bit. They just dissappeared out the back for a while and came back with it blown up.

Not much happening with us at the moment. We're just starting to think about DS's party properly. I think there'll be about 25 - 30 but not all at once because we made it open house in the afternoon and evening. I'm really excited. I've decided to make a teletubbies cake.

DS has started dancing. When we put music on, he sort of shuffles on his bum from one side to the other, shakes his head and humms to himself. It's very funny.

We've had a difficult time fitting a stairgate this week because the wall on one side stops on the 3rd step so a gate would only go across there and Jake would be able to climb up too far. The only thing we could think of to do was to buy a playpen and use half of it (including the door bit) to kind or wrap round the stairs. It cuts off a bit of the room but it's safe. Our poor cat though. He can't jump the gate and spends the whole day Meaowing to get through it one way or another.

Have a nice weekend, all those having parties.

Bozza - I ordered a home kit. A helium cannister (sp?) and 30 balloons (with valves and ribbon) cost just £35 inc. postage. SO easy to use! I already used 6 balloons because I like to fiddle with these things, was just checking it worked you know? I just need to find a way to pin them down - although most of them will go home with the mini guests.

We are making "great" progress with the whole splitting up and moving out thing, he has finally told his dad and this morning I got a letter from the Council asking me about the house I co-owned with ex-h and asking me to phone a helpline to find out if I am able to make some kind of claim on it - this would be the one I handed over completely to him so he is sole owner . . . . (I didn't put any money in, his parents did so I didn't feel it would be right to demand it was sold and split - very long story with lots of guilt added)

ANYWAY, it is party time! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

cat, give my birthday darling a big kiss won't you?
Spots, will be thinking of you - and don't forget I was first! ha ha ha!

Hi, just popping in to say happy birthday to all May babies (toddlers!). Good luck for the parties, those of you of you who have parties planned!

Hope all the birthdays have gone well

I'm not 100% sure ... but I think we may have had a first word or two (do sounds of things count?!)

He made a definite "brum brum" noise when he rolled a car around the carpet this morning, and later I think he made a "RAR!" noise in context of a toy lion.

Then again, I could just be imagining things

Georgina we got cruising shoes from clarks and they seem fine. The woman who fitted them was really good and sung to dd to get her to sit still. she even recommended i didnt get cruising shoes yet as dd is on the verge of walking and wouldnt be in the long. I still got them though. Today she took 3 steps on her own everything is a baby now, she opens up the mothercare book and says baby, then sdays baby to everything for the next hour or so.
sleeping is getting better and worse. The bad bit is that she used to go in her cot awake and settle to sleep but since sunday wont, we tried doing cc but she was sick sun and mon so weve stopped now. If we stay with her in the room she goes to sleep but if we try to leave she cries. The good news is that were down to waking at 4.30am for milk but then going back to sleep. That means a whole night in her cot and not our bed.
Hello to all the newies, im 28 with a dd who will be 1 on 27th

oh kbaby, i do feel for you. she is a clever little thing thoug if that's any consolation! we got tough with dd last night. or i did. she has been waking in the night at least once for ages now, but recently has started doing it at 11, 1, 5. i would always give her a drink ( i know i know) but since she's waking more i know i just have to stop that. thankfully my hv told me to water the milk down. even more than i already do and not to give her a full bottle if she woke at 5 ish, thinking she must be starving. i know that doesnt help you as you dont do it. if you want to look at other ways than cc, i would really recommend elizabeths pantley's no cry sleep solution, which helps you to slowly take steps towards independent sleeping, rather than going in at the deepend like with cc. i have a copy but its borrowed from hayls on mumsnet, although i'm sure she wouldnt mind you borrowing it. she would explain how to go from needing to be in the room for her to sleep to slowly moving away....i think she does that. my friend had this problem and had to sit in her daughter's room every night. she sat on a comfy chair and moved a foot further away from her each night until she ended up in the hallway, although still in sight. her dd got the message in the end. it is hard work though. but maybe with a good book, a little less stressful than cc and wakeful all nighters. i guess you have to return to the chair in the middle of the night. ugh. anyway, not sure ep does it this way. think she gives sleep association words and soothing pats and then gently moves away from the baby whilst saying these words until you dont even need to go in - just stand at the door and say sshhhh and they are soothed. yeah right! might be worth a try.

pfff. we are SOOOOO peeeed off. had a skip ordered this morning. did it turn up? did it buggery. the guy woke us this morning at 830 to say he was on his way! we gave him directions. but he never turned up. rang the office loads of times but no one there. the garden looks a tip and there are piles of stuff everywhere to go in the skip but no bloody skip! grrrrrrr. so mad. now dh is saying, 'well i may as well play golf tomorrow then if we cant do the garden'. great.

hi all, hope you are well. sorry to rant

How annoying Egypt! I would be seriously peeved about that. Well have got our garden looking the best it has done for nearly two years (ie since I got pregnant). Have got a bouncy castle in the boot of DH's car. And have made a chocolate hedgehog cake. Very easy and the major advantage is that if your cake is not the best (and I suspect it isn't) there is so much choc flake it is bound to taste nice. So all ready for tomorrow. I have laid the dining table (only used when we have visitors, we eat in the kitchen) with fairys plastic cover and plates from Woollies and DS keeps going and standing at the door and looking. He is far more excited than DD - well obviously she hasn't got a clue.... And, of course, you all know who is the most excited of all. Can't believe that my last baby is going to be one though .....

It's a rollercoaster of birthdays! DD was one yesterday. We had dh's huge family round... and my Mum... no room for anyone else! Pandemonium. Luckily the great weather meant that we could go out in the garden, where the children decorated l;ittle cakesd with DD 'joining in'. Then we went down to the beach and DD explored a rockpool in her dress and tights, sitting in the water up to her middle like a bath and guddling around withthe most intense concentration.

She got such gorgeous presents and some of our lovely friends wrapped up parcels without sellotape so that she could fumble off the wrapping. awww....

We had a lovely time. Libb, DD and I drank a toast to your twin birthday. And I hope all the other weekend parties go swingingly. Weren't we clever to have babies in such a lovely month?

by the way did everyone else have a series of flashback moments of last year...? my mum says that never leaves you. (She also said she knew a couple where the bloke gave the woman flowers on each of the children's birthdays in recognition of what she'd done 0n that day. just to make us all go 'humph'.)

She's right I think Spots. I still think back to DS's birth each year and he is 4 now. Well we had a lovely day today. A slight moment of tension with DH because I had got a bouncy castle that was a size too big and v. heavy and took up most of the lawn. But we have a good size patio and the kids loved it. DD looked absolutely gorgeous in her white (with flowers on) dress, white cardigan (also with flowers on), white frilly socks and white shoes and got absolutely filthy. DS has been as high as a kite all day and DD was on great form being passed around much more readily than she will be sometimes.

Then they both screamed all the way through their bath. There is only so much partying they can take (and DS had been to one this morning). -

But I don't have a baby anymore. So feeling slightly nostalgic.

Sounds as if you both had a lovely 1st birthday.
i keep thinking back to this time last year and remebering the hot weather and the countdown to Birth day.

Egypt, ive got the ep book but didnt find it very helpful, I supose im looking for someone to tell me 'do this and it works' im trying to move away from her slowly but as soon as I sit in the chair she sits back up again.

ooo, dont know what to suggest, kbaby. Maybe only cc will do? Is there anyone who can come round and help with the cc. It's harder to do when it's your own baby i think.

sounds like you all had great days yesterday. The weather was gorgeous - just right for working in the garden and filling a SKIP.

its coming today.......apparently. (they got lost and tried to ring - yeah right. how many times did i ring 1471 yesterday?)

Hi all... DD was very off yesterday and I had to skip my first planned meetup in Edinburgh so that she could sleep off the excesses of the birthday party. In fact DH and i were also a bit addled and spent all day almost arguing in the sunshine. today she was supposed to be having her MMR but I cancelled. Am going to have it but wish it was still at 18 months as I feel she's still rather young for such a cocktail of pharma-soo-ticals.

spots - I agree. We're going to delay it until 15 months old regardless of when the slip summoning us arrives...

spots wait if you think its better. DD fine today, its DS who's got the post party blues. but will have to go now because dd wants to attack the keyboard.

dd got raging temperature. great. she's gone a couple of months with no illness. hope she's better tomorrow. no notice yet for our MMR. seems quite young yes i agree, but then i always think what if she comes into contact with someone with M M or R? like now?

The measles bit is the only bit that majorly worries me, and it appears that it's the mumps doing the rounds at the moment... From what I've read though, ds2 should still have some maternal antibodies floating about as protection still, so the extra 3 months wait shouldn't make any difference (I actually had measles as a child, so should have lots of lovely antibodies to have passed on...)

Also, the vaccine isn't necessarily a guarantee anyway - I think the measles outbreak when ds1 was little in south london was primarily among already vaccinated children...

In other news...

ds2 is now a babbling fiend... we think he says dada (actually meaning daddy - although it could mean window as he associates the front window with waggling his arm madly in an attempt to wave yelling "DADADADADADA!" ), mama (that one is rare though), brum brum (for a car noise), RAR! (that's stretching it, I know - but he was holding a lion at the time even though he's only said it once...) and Bruvva (brother... the first time he said it I'm SURE it was an accident of syllables, but we all went mad with joy when he said it, so now I think he associates that sound with ds1... but that also could be a fantasy word too ).

He's also been walking holding on to his little winnie the pooh car just today, which we're all very excited about.

As a result of this burst of achievement, ds1 has been a bit more clingy and there has been more friction between the two boys when they both want a particular toy. Ds2 is starting a stunning line in tantrums when a toy is taken back too - fun! It is quite amusing at the moment, will let you know if I still find it funny over the next year or two

I don't know if anyone saw my other thread, but I think ds2 is allergic to pineapple. We had a baked potato with cottage cheese and pineapple for lunch, he was fine until he tasted a bit of pineapple when he spat it out and examined it in disgust then chucked it on the floor. Then the next mouthful of cottage cheese he spat out (in anticipation?) which smeared around the top part of his mouth. When I cleaned him up later, I noticed a pattern of red all around the top of his mouth in the exact pattern of where he's spat the cottage cheese out. Didn't look overly swollen but a definite red skin mark. So it's either pineapple or some preservative in the product that affects him - guess the sweet & sour I planned for later next week is out then!

Happy birthday to all the one year olds
My dd is getting better at cruising around the furniture and loves to push around her fire engine, don't think her first steps will be too far off now.
Walked in the room tonight and she said hiya, and the other day I swear she said mama and directed it at me, she hasnt done it since but its a start.
She is also getting very jelous of her big brother, am feeling very sorry for him at the moment because every time he comes to me to have a cuddle or sit on my knee she screams the place down!

Ooh we too have a bit of sibling friction going on. I do notice it with DS, besides the obvious that he always wants what DD has got. But crying when she is crying, or deciding he's hurt when she is - that kind of thing. He hit her on the head with a toy farm today I wasn't there to see this but got the truth out of him. I'm now at the awkward stage of if I punish him will he tell me the truth next time, but I can hardly let pass hitting on the head with a farm can I? Last week it was an audio tape.

DDs words are "beh" for DS, some sort of hiya/hello accompanied by holding a remote control to the ear, something which is either "there you are" or "ta", not sure which when giving/receiving and "aah" when cuddling a person/doll. Oh yes and she screams when prompted at the end of Row your boat. I do it all and the "if you see a crocodile don't forget to scream" and then I do a little scream and if DS is around he does an earsplitting one. And then I say "DD scream" and she does and we all laugh.

hello everyone, is o.k to give tap water to drink now that dd2 is one, i can't remember from 7 years ago when dd1 was this age?