Dec 08 mums - from rolling to sitting and everything inbetwean

[waitinggirl]

there i've done it - hope that is ok.

Tilly I would side with you on that one - but agree with Spot that they need to take responsibility not to be too drunk when being on duty.

Arti veggie and everyone thanks for the kind words on feeding. B'fing is always a struggle for us. L has had the most breastmilk of any of my three so I am proud of that, even though in theory I would have loved to have b'f longer. In saying that, from a selfish and practical point of view I do enjoy the f'fing (it is much quicker for us, faffing with bottles notwithstanding). I think I have come to terms anyway and will be giving L lots of cuddles.

PMK glad you had a good trip and sorry you are homesick. It must be tough!

veggie and trace those head lice sound like a right b*gger. We have yet to encounter same and I am dreading it as I know it will happen. Did you watch Eurovision in the end?

Speaking of feeding babies and being squiffy - we went out last night and our former Nanny (her departure was cooincided with my not having any time to N funny enough ) babysat. But she "forgot" to give L her dreamfeed at 10.30. In her defense she has only babysat past 10.30 maybe 2 or 3 times - so I didn't think to remind her. So we rocked home at 1.30 somewhat the worse for wear and realised L hadn't been fed - so decided we were both a bit squiffy to be feeding so thought we'd just see what happened. And bless her L slept through 7 to 7. Maybe tonight will be different but keen to give it a go as I hate having to stay up for that feed when I want a 9pm bedtime.

kayz hope you are feeling better and that your DS isn't too sore. I read on FB that you had got your new bike. Is that the one your dad built. What a clever man!!

veggie saw your fundraising activities on FB too. Off to sponsor you now! well done you for planning such a good venture.

effie good luck on the potty training. I have to say its the thing I dread most of all the feeding/sleeping etc etc things. A top tip a friend with 3 kids gave me (alas too late for me to implement for DS who is still in nappies at night at 3.5) is that once they "get it" during the day you have a 2 week window to take nappies off at night. Even though it seems like a big move it can save them staying wet at night for years to come which is often what happens esp. with boys.

arti sorry you are having another sickness in the house. It seems very tough on you all, esp as you say you are doing all the "right things"!! I can only say - this too will pass. Its very hard though. Hugs.

good evening! That's ace Turnip about The Big Sleep - it's fab that your babysitter forgot the dream feed because I bet it would have been ages before you dared to do that yourselves! It reminded me of when we were getting dd1 out of nappies - she was dry in the day and I hadn't dared try overnight, then one evening when I was at work DH put her to bed and forgot to put a nappy on and she stayed dry all night and has never wet the bed! If it had been down to me deciding when she was ready she'd probably still be in nappies now!
We did the Head Lice thing - put Full Marks on and then spent an hour fine combing it all to get all the lice and eggs out (yak). I have to repeat it in 7 days - I just hope she doesn't get reinfested as I imagine half her class probably have them! It's odd but when I was wet combing it all I felt like a real mum - as though it's one of those things that real mums do! For some reason I still don't feel like a real grown up!

DH is currently tutoring one of our neighbours who has her maths GCSE tomorrow, so I'm sitting being a good quiet wife in the lounge feeling free to be on MN without depriving dh of my fabulous company

Under 1s group in the morning - yay! I really like it there - it's the thing I most look forward to in the week. Is that really sad?!

Kayz that bike/pushchair thing looked amazing! Hope you're enjoying your new bike

P has done 3 consecutive nights of feeding 3 hourly so I'm feeling quite positive about that, although her ability to nap in the day is dwindling fast! I now usually have to hold her whereas she used to go down beautifully in the cot .

veggie the family friend is in his 60s though he does have blue eyes iirc, but probably not the same guy!!

turnip thanks! Sounds like you had a lovely night out, how good of L to oblige with a 7-7 sleep!

trace ikwym about not feeling like a grown up. Even now I often think I'm just playing at being a grownup . Hope the head lice clears up, I'm dreading the day when ds1 comes home with it.

Does anyone remember the nit nurse at school? How we were all terrified of being told we had nits as it would invariably lead to lots of teasing! Do they still have nit nurses?

WOW Turnip thanks that is incredibly generous. I'm not quite organising it. The little boy I mention on the page his Uncle is a close friend and so we know the family quite well. His big sister is out babysitter. Anyway he is organising it all with a little help from others. Were trying to find some businesses to sponsor the ride but it's difficult these days. It should be good fun though we will take turns riding along with the others and the one not cycling gets to play with the boys and drive around a bit.

Oh dear I didn't know about the 2 week window DS1 is 4 in August and still in nappies at night.

Turnip, that's v useful re the 2 week window. Will keep an eye on that. I'm planning to keep asking DS1 if he wants to go on the potty (firm NO most of the time today) and see if persistence pays off. Though I have learnt that no-one is as stubborn as a toddler...

Tilly: glad your DH has seen the light

Trace: ugh ugh ugh, hope you get em sorted. My nieces had constant head lice for ages, the first signs DS1 shows and I'mm off down the chemist for the full nuke treatment. I suppose it would be an overreaction to shave her head

Arti: a few books I like a lot and are not only well-written (IMHO) but easy to read: David Niven, The Moon's a Balloon; Joyce Cary, The Horse's Mouth; William Boyd, The New Confessions. I'm currently immersed in all the Agatha Christie books that have been liberated from storage but you mebbe want something a bit more substatial. Although if you like detective stories I don't think you can beat Dorothy L Sayers, esp Gaudy Night.

And having revealed my low tastes, I'm off for an early night with an Aggie

Effie, Agatha Christie books are great. They are certainly my favourite.

We've had a ttc chat this evening. i was thinking of ttc DC3 in October but have no decided that i want a year off being pregnant. So we're putting it off until next year.

Hey kayz that link didn't work for me, might be the itouch.

Thanks Trace much appreciated. You guys are very generous.

Hey why does Gordon Brown do that weird jaw drop thing when he speaks. DH & I have been counting how many he does in a speech (or the bits they show on the news).

Morning - very early..... fell asleep at 8pm last night (2 nights without dinner ) and then woke every hour from 2am with ds (darn jetlag ) poor fella not sure whether it's night or day / hungry or not etc... much worse after the Aust trip compared to US - not surprising though!
Yes the weather was not ideal - rained a lot, and still quite humid for my liking, despite all the locals complaining of the cold! Anyway, Mum was really shocked to see dh, ds & I (surprise for her)so that went off really well. dh's bike made it in one piece, and spent many mornings on it even in the rain ds slept on cue and was quite the perfect baby however I think a lot was due to the humid weather making him lethargic, and the new formula he switched to half way through which he didn't seem to like quite as much! Had lot's of nice dinners / lunches etc where ds slept like a dream at the end of the table! Most of the trip was about catching up with the family rather than sightseeing since we'd all seen and done everything in the area a million times, so it was a really nice catch up. I got an awful stomach pain towards the last few days of the trip, and never quite worked out what it was, but thinking dehydration / muscle spasm or something. It was muscular and not unlike period pain however in the wrong place...
Veggie yeah he vomited (nearly) on the person in front of me in line! I was mortified, but everyone was so nice about it! About 10 airport staff jumped out of everywhere with mops and paper towels to assist, and I just quietly decided to pass on the noodles and went to the baby change for a complete change of clothing for both of us! The flight was good, although full, and he slept like an angel most of the way and there was an extremely unsettled baby next to us so I felt quite proud of him! a lot of hype about swine flu etc especially in HKG and as well as the vomit, ds managed a massive sneeze right over the customs guy on the way through while facing outwards in the Bjorn - nice. Anyway, we have both become quite depressed since our return - it's mainly the lack of space in England which becomes the most apparent. Dh went on a mission searching for info on what he'd already been told about his options to work over there once he's qualified and read some not ideal info on the Aust gov website - the country just does not make it easy for him to do very well since he's not Aussie trained and might be better off staying here. Doesn't help coming back to a tiny flat etc... just seems like such an effort to get out of the house and do things compared to back home with a car parked in the driveway, and no need for a million layers of clothing on to even leave the house. Oh well... luckily Summer is coming up here... and planning another trip again already
Anyway, still haven't really caught up, but will try...

pmk: would you consider moving out of London? You would get a lot more space elsewhere (although that doesn't solve the weather problem )

Yes, Effie, that is our goal - we used to live in Henley (loved it) and then Devon - nice but too far from London for me, our tenant has given notice so the flat is back on the market and if it ever sells, we are planning on buying another fixer-upper outside of London. Ideally Surrey, Oxfordshire or Bucks - all the ££ places I know...

Morning, hope everyone is OK, Arti you are feeling better now. Thanks for your hangover remedies/help

PMK where do you live ? Some parts of UK are much more overcrowded than others, but I suppose there is none of the really wide open spaces here.

Crappy weekend here. DH and I were going to have some much needed time off - a nightout on friday and a day on saturday without the kids (first for at least a year), when a phonecall just as we were leaving on friday informed us a close relative in DHs family had just died suddenly so he had to rush off. I couldnt go with him as it was a child, so would have been inappropriate for my kids to be there and also a bit shocking for DS1 to see adults so upset perhaps. This is the third death of someone very close to us in less than 9 months, and two were very sudden, I really hope bad luck just comes in threes. (Spends weekend feeling very scared and hugging own children very tight)

SO after that it is very nice to come on here and see chat about books and sleep and chunder and stuff. Reminds me the world will keep turning and everything will be OK

I've heard the useful tip that there are a lot of old pubs that have now gone bust thanks to the credit crunch - ideal for doing up as larger homes. Not sure how you'd find one though!

What about Suffolk (beautiful although again pricey) or even Norfolk? Norwich fairly close to London, there's a reasonable train service IIRC and I don't think the prices are TOO huge.

NJAN: that's shocking news, hope your DH is OK.

Morning,

Njan Sorry to hear your news. Hope your DH is ok.

I slept all night!! YAY!! Still got horrible cold but at least I slept. I hate not sleeping when the boys are asleep, at least if 1 is awake there is a reason for being awake.

Hope everyone is ok this morning!!

NJAN - how horrid for you all. The death of a child is just so undescribably shocking. I hope your DH is ok.

Well girls it's been over two weeks since my contraceptive lapse so I am off to buy that test... I am 99.9% sure I am in the clear as I have no symptoms and it would be v v unlucky to have conceived before my period ever returned, but still I am a little nervous. Back later.

Arti Got everything crossed for you! My AF is doing another one of it's long trips to get here.

njan really sorry for your dh and his family, will keep you all in my prayers.

just a quick update as i'm somewhat zonked - after her one-off good sleep dd has gone even further backwards, now waking herself up at about 11 by flipping onto her front in the cot, then will not settle back without the boob (no matter that she had a huge feed just a few hours earlier) and then refuses to go back into the cot, tried leaving her to grizzle but after 10 mins turned into full on yelling and given that dh needs to sleep for work, i've been giving up and just attaching her. but she's still rolling around like mad in the bed, usually with nipple still in her mouth - goes in one direction pulling boob with her, lets go, then rolls back into my body dragging poor boob with her . so i have no idea if she's properly asleep or half awake, and no idea if she's had even a vaguely good night's sleep - at least before she would lie still for a bit!

have a friend who is also bf counsellor coming over tomorrow to talk aboput weaning so might start filling her up with steamed pudding and stodge in desperate attempt to get her to sleep!

Jump That doesn't sound nice!! I'd love a steamed pudding right now. Maybe that can be my treat when I lose this weight!!

Is anyone else that is trying to wean now having no luck? DS2 still just pushes everything out of his mouth.

kayz that's a prime sign that they're not ready for solids yet - maybe leave it a week and try again then rather than forcing it?

We've been trying him every other day for a few weeks now. He acts like he really wants it and when I take it away he cries. But still not quite got the hang of it. DS1 does try to feed him all sorts of stuff though. I'm not sure cheese straws are meant to be weaning food.

kayz lol @ cheese sticks. I caught ds1 trying to feed ds2 crisps the other week . Fwiw, ds2 still does the pushing out thing so I just keep trying it every so often. He definitely likes it & they will get there eventually!

jump sorry about the bad night (& your poor boobs get pulled this way & that!). I have no advice but hopefully your friend can help.

njan I am so sorry to hear about your dh's family. Will be praying for them.

pmk we looked at moving to Aus a few years ago & it isn't easy. But surely been married to you would get him a residency visa? Or is it the work situation that's the issue?

effie nothing wrong with a bit of Agatha, I like her books as well! They're a good bedtime read.

Must get ready, am going to try a mother & baby group round the corner from me & I need to wash my hair! Can't bear the thought of meeting new people with dirty hair

NJAN so sorry about your family news. It really does make you stop and count your blessings doesn't it? Keep hugging those angels of yours.
dd1 was in a stinker of a bad mood this morning and wailed all the way to school (something to do with not wearing the hairband she'd intended wearing - important stuff!). When we got there I opened the car door for her to get out, the wind took hold and blew it straight back shut again and she erupted in fits of laughter! She's like a rollercoaster with her emotions!
Well P went down at 7, fed at 9 , fed at 12.00 and then 4 then woke at 6.50 for the day...she may sleep more one day..it really might happen!
JJ sorry for your naff nights. It will end...this too will pass. P also likes to keep a firm gummy grip on my nip while turning her head in the opposite direction - I didn't realise my boobarella could stretch so far!
Tilly enjoy the baby group. I'm going to mine with ugly, flat hair (and probably head lice too!)
Arti - keep us posted on the wee-stick scenario

NJAN so sorry to hear you've had such a heartbreaking weekend will be thinking of your DHs family and you are you LOs of course. How is your DH? I'm glad we have given you back a little normality.

Well I must admit with all the nit talk I was a nit nurse. In my life as a school nurse for a couple of special needs schools I had to check hair. One kids who has repeated infestations had this amazing Afro hair it was no wonder the poor thing kept getting them, it was cool hair, nightmare to traul through though.

PMK I understand what you mean whenever I came back to London I felt really claustrophobic and it always looked so dull in comparison. It helps now that we have more countryside to run and cycle in and take the kids out in. But I have to warn you as your DS grows it will get worse. We are currently on track for going home late 2010 I'm even contacting schools soon. I think the decider for us was going to Santorini on holiday and seeing DS running around so much on the beach and swmming everyday and we realized we didn't just want this on holiday for him. But there will be loads of things we will miss about over here (no scary road rage drivers for a start), and I'm sure we will be back as often as we can.

DH has gone to Manchester for work for 4 days poor DS1 was putting on a brave face this morning but will miss him. Me on the other hand, well I have to admit I am enjoying some time alone. DS2 is having a nap (will see how long that lasts) and I have my coffee and just sitting listening to the radio and chatting to you guys. Will also be nice to just have me and the boys to tidy up after. Dinner and bedtime will be the usual juggle but it will be fine.

NJAN sorry to hear your news - very sad.
we live in london (SW20) at the moment, but with our tenant moving out and will dh's work moving to another location (not sure where but still in his area) we are wondering what will happen. Need to start calling Real Estate Agents today to get it back on for Let, and for sale for that matter.
Tilly - it's the work issue as they totally restrict those that aren't trained through the Aus system and don't allow him to do any private work for at least 10 years, unless he goes to an "area of need" like the middle of but crack no-where, of course where nobody will have any private work done!! So looks like he can earn a way better living here... Might set up some kind of 6 months in each country type arrangment one day in the future... I think things will look up when we are not in this tiny flat... Veggie - know what you mean about kids lifestyle etc... already had that feeling! oh and on headlice - all 3 of db's kids have them so common there... and then they just re-infect each other! between that, the humidity and dengue fever i've kind of been put off the far north at least!! 2010! Wow that's quite soon!!
Arti!! wow!! fingers crossed it goes the way you'd like it!!