F(l)ab Feb 2009: Primark pants and teething rants

[dinkystinky]

A brand new sparkling thread to mark the four month mark for our bubs

Yep - was a really odd place KatieBlirdsNest - I assume it was just this particular nursery that was like this and not all montessori schools are. It had a really good Ofsted report though - whereas the one for our local primary is just satisfactory - but I can see my son being happy at the local primary and he would be miserable at the montessori nursery place.

Re nannies - I put a very detailed post on gumtree describing exactly what I wanted (clean CRB check, at least 1 and a half years experience of looking after a baby of DS1's age, current first aid qualification, good spoken and written english, non-smoker, gentle caring approach to childcare, happy to go to activities and engage baby in play and exploring the world around them, cook food for baby, do light housework (eg children's laundry), would be willing to commit for up to 3 years, specified pay range and required at least 2 recent references who could be spoken to - didnt need anyone who could drive so didnt specify clean driving licence) and experienced a deluge of responses. Then weeded out the useless ones (like the bus driver wanting to change career) and had around 20 promising ones - we then thinned it out to our preferred ones by looking at their likely commute (didnt want someone who had to cross town as more likely that they'd experience travel chaos meaning chaos for us at some point) and picked our top 10 to interview. The first one we interviewed was the nanny we still have now - some 2 and a half year's later - who turned up early and who I immediately clicked with. We just chatted for 20 minutes before DH got home to start the interview and DS1 woke up during the interview so I brought him in - I really liked how she responded to him, and he responded to her, and she had fantastic references also from her 2 previous employers (where she'd been a live in nanny - she now wanted to be a live out nanny) which we took up. As far as I can remember, we asked a few general questions about what they liked about their job, what the hardest thing they found about their job was, what their expectations would be (one interviewee told us she wanted the whole of the month off after starting work as she wanted to go get married in India and was keen on starting a family soon - not really ideal!), how they'd deal with the difficult days and mostly worked on our gut feelings. I think if you look online on the nannytax website and nannyshare website there are some suggested questions you can look at and work from.

mos That all sounds awful. Sorry you have to deal with all of that too.
My dad's family are like that. Not long before Nan died, my dad's 'sister' had the carpets and curtains replaced in my nan's house. My dad had moved back in with Nan when she got diagnosed with the cancer so someone would be there to look after her 24/7, anyway, a few weeks after the funeral (was arund christmas time), dad left his(nan's) house to bury/scatter the ashes (he said he was holding urn as walking to car) and when he returned home, someone had broken in and ripped out the carpet, curtains, pictures, plants in the garden, even bloody fridge magnets! Wtf????? He now only speaks to 2 of his sisters out of 9 siblings.
mslucy I have some reward charts that I printed off for ds1. Maybe I should put one up for myself. Will have to remember to put my name on it though, people might get the wrong idea if I have a child's reward chart on my wall with the heading 'For every fag-free day'
dinky That nursery does sound a bit strange.......stay well clear

Can't believe we're talking weaning already! Doesn't time fly?! Luke's been staring at us eating for a few weeks now, he sticks his tounge out alot when I'm stuffing my face too.
I think I may have to try the hungry baby formula. He is feeding 7oz (can't get anymore in bottle or it leaks) every 3 hours, and that's me dragging it out by at least 20 mins. He's not too bad at night, he wakes up a few times, but I think that's more to do with teething/arms through bars/lost dummy than hunger. If I give him his dummy, he goes back to sleep so haven't fed him through the night for a few nights now.
Someone said I should start weaning now Luke is 4 months, but think I'll give hubgry formula a try first, I just don't think he's ready, no matter what he thinks.

oh god, weaning?

the longer i can hold that horror fest off for the better... it all goes downhill when food is introduced ime.

although when forced to will be doing blw as i did it with ds1 and it made meals alot easier.. not to mention he's a far better eater than dd.

aaron did have a mouthful of grass earlier though, does that count? little madman was sitting on the ground in front of me and took it into his head to push up with his legs and went flying forwards onto the grass face first.. when i picked him up he had a mouthful of grass... think i got most of it out but wouldn't swear on it

MS... aaron manages to stay snuggled up in our bed after we get up most mornings

dinky... blimmin hell... that goes against everything i've ever heard about montessori education don't blame you for being creeped out and running like hell!

kbn... dd is 4 and dp still has to be told regularly... 'calm them down at bedtime, don't hype them up!'.. i think i'm fighting a losing battle

{{{mos}}} no advice i'm afraid but lots of sympathy.

day of madness here. dd had her trial day at school [eek] she got on fabulously although i think i may have told her one too many times to 'make sure you go toilet when you need to' as the teacher asked me if she was ok as she'd gone to the loo so often

my girl cat went to the vet to be spayed today (not a moment to soon as she had a litter of 6 brewing, a couple of weeks into the preg the vet figured ) and is coming round in the playroom now feling (justifiably) very put out and cranky.

DS has been watching everything we put in our mouths. DD was eating a cereal bar and he watched her eat every mouthful, like when a dog watches your fork going from your plate to your mouth, waiting for a bit to fall off.

He was staring so intently, DD was crying with laughter.

What a night. They seem to know when I'm on my own, it's always dp'd first night on nights. If it's not one of them, it's the other and sometimes both! Little buggers lol. I didn't manage to get any sleep until 2am, and then was up at 5! Knackered and loads to do today, fingers crossed they both nap for a while at the same time........unlikely.

But, on plus side, I still haven't had a fag. Good hey? Today is day 3, I don't even know if I want one, but am kind of disbelieving that I am never going to smoke again, the thought is just weird!

lbb.. keep going, just treat it one day at a time.. don't start thinking about 'forever' it is will just distract you.. well done !

MOS.. hope you can get the council sorted, sounds awful..

Dinky... that nursery sounds very 'un-montessori'... we went to see a nursery yesterday. it is fine.. not as good as DS's previous one, but the staff seem caring and they have spaces now.. so we will go with them for the moment, and we can always re-visit in 6 months if we are not happy..

.. hope all is well.. looking forward to meeting people on the 24th !

Morning all

nothing exciting happening here although all this talk of weaning makes me want to confess that i tried Milo with a bit of mashed banana too as he is on eight ounces of milk now and seems so hungry all of the time. He didnt seem to like it much infact he started crying so i dont think ill be trying that again for a while. I really want to go the BLW route but am worried about choking ect as i havent done that before (it was all mashed up baby organix jars when the girls were young).

MOS what a nightmare you are having at the moment. Sorry to hear about the grave difficulties and even sorrier to hear about your twuntish brother. I mean what a wally! If you cant be civil at a time like this then it really does go to show the depth of someones character. If its any consolation i have one of those too ( a twuntish brother ) When my elderly auntie died she left him the family childhood home in Cork, he was very boastful about it all (no one minded at all) and it caused some dissent in the ranks because of his attitude. When my dad died he was even worse and we havent spoken in 9 years until very recently. My dad was from Cork and the funeral was quite a drunken affair as all of the rellies came over, cue lots of rowdy arguements ect but still i would have expected better behaviour from my half brother who is now 58.

I hope it all goes ok for you and you manage to sort out the grave problem, i know it must be the last thing that you need.

Lbb well done on giving up smoking. I need to as well tbh - i stopped in all of my pregnancies and havent really been a full on smoker more a social one but have noticed that i smoke when i have a glass of wine or whatever here and there again since Milo was born and i started smoking quite alot when i was at uni - just about every day and i really dont want to go back to that so social smoking needs to stop too!

Been busy this week preparing for big family bbq on Sat and obssesively checking the weather forecast, fingers crossed it doesnt rain as that would be a disaster.

I wont be able to make the meetup if its on the 24th i have realised I promised to go to the races in Devon (Newton Abbot) on the 23rd so wont be back till the 24th. It used to be an annual thing with my friends in Exeter for about 20 of us to go each year, hire out a box, get dressed up that kind of thing but i havent done it for years and i promised this year. DH has kindly offered to take the day off and have Milo and DD1 will have him on the Weds whilst i am travelling back, will miss him terribly though (DS that is not DH ). Will you all have another meet this summer?

MOS let me know when you are Swindon way and we can arrange something involving a pub and some wine

MOS hope your journey to blighty was ok - can't believe the crap you are having to deal with on top of everything else. Hope the twunt brother situation doesn't make a bad day even worse for you x

LBB - great news about the non smoking! Rubbish night here too. DD seems to have reverted to 2 hourly feeds - the little tinker.

Dinky - God that nursery sounds weird! I remember visiting a nursery for DS called 'Home from Home'. When I visited, the kids were all watching telly (soaps not CBeebies) and eating cake - well that was a bit too close to home for me! My DS announced this morning that he didn't want to go to nursery, when I asked him why he said because they make him tidy up Wish he did that at home.

Don't think I'll make the meet up. Have just been offered the chance of a free holiday that week - don't get too excited it's only north Wales but hey it might not rain all week....

Morning all. Crappy night here too Calico - Danny woke up at 11.30 last night and refused to sleep properly thereafter (just tiny catnaps here and there). Danny turns 4 months today so maybe its the 4 month sleeping insanity starting Am cancelling all plans for today so can try to chill abit during the day.

Rosie, Calico - sorry you wont make it to the meet up. Hopefully there will be another one over the summer at some point.

Danny mostly laughs at people eating, particularly DS1, so I get the feeling that he is going to find weaning hilarious.

P.s. great news that you found a nursery Nkweto. Does it mean you dont need to move?

MOS, dp's theory is that the bad weather will last the length of some current cricket thing so it should be ok again after 20 June. I'm worried we had our summer from March-May (or even late Feb - it seemed quite nice a lot of the time from when we finally got home in mid Feb onwards). I assume your dcs' clothes for Saudi are lighter than the summer clothes we use here though, even. Good luck finding something. You could look up the NCT nearly new sales and see if there's one near you this month, there are usually some on in June.

What sizes clothes are your dcs in? I'm assuming most of ours will now be in 3-6 m and my 2 year old is a little boy, yours is a girl, but am wondering if between us we could lend or give you a few warmer clothes.

I hope your DP is right Elkiedee - would be nice to have the sun back! Read in the times earlier this week about how there is a mini-european monsoon every early June - so hopefully all this rain this week is getting the monsoon out the way all in one go!

Have been internet shopping and treated myself and Danny (with left over welcome new baby money) to [http://www.slumber-roo.co.uk/catalog.php?item=121 this sling] (fingers crossed the link works) as the amazing rotating baby has now also figured out how to rotate himself around abit in the much stretchier close carrier so I get kicks in my ribs to go faster

Crap - really cant do links - will try again

this sling

Just checking in quickly.
Been a horrid morning, if it's not one of them, it's both! Have a minute as Luke is asleep (thank god) and ds1 is having lunch. I want Jacob to nap after so I can get some bits done but will bet £100 million that Jacob will fall asleep and Luke will wake at same time and laugh at me. They really are little sods! (said in a jokey manner)

Morning all. I am so happy DS slept from 8 till 4 last night and has not been sick at all today... He is really happy and has been laughing lots today!!

I now have to work out if it is the meds he is on or me going dairy free!!

Hope it is the meds then I can have my cake and eat it!!!

just spent most of the day at the coolest pet farm ever.

they had loads of animals yo pet, a farm walk, a soft play centre, an entire huge shed with sand on the floor, a ride on car race track and 2 outdoor playgrounds with swings and slides.

needless top say meltdowns ensued when it was time to leave

aaron was a star, he fed at 9am before we left, went on the farm walk in the sling and was entranced with all the animals and kids running around, put him in the buggy while the kids were eating and he fell asleep for an hour, woke up in great form, still mad to watch all the big kids, had a five minute feed in on of the outdoor playgrounds and was happy til just now cooing and giggling at everyone... several women threatened to steal him

i'm in serious need of chocolate though

Sounds like a lovely, if rather hectic, day Pink - glad you had a good one. I have been housebound with Danny (who is being sick after every feed - damn cold) today - on the plus side, have managed to get John Lewis to agree to fix our wardrobe and builder to find out where the mystery leak was coming from and fix it but still quite a boring day all round.

Bumps - hurrah for Owen feeling - and being - much better! Really hope he's now turned a corner for good.

LBB - sorry the little monkeys are ganging up on you. Hope your day has improved.

Dinky..your sling looks supercool i want one !! we will still have to move for this nursery as it is 40 mins in the wrong direction from where we currently are, but it is a step in the right direction!

PT.. you truly are an ubermum.. you seem to always be doing lots of exciting activities..

lbb.. i hope you ds's settle for you .. i have had two spectacular tantrums from DS in the last two days.. i hope this phase doesnt stay long!

Bumps..glad no sickiness today..

just left DS and DD at my aunts.. DH and I have a date.. i feel too washed out to look forward to it...

Calico/ Rosie.. shame if you won't be at the meet up, I was looking forward to meeting you both..

Well thank God today's over! Didn't get much better. They have been rat-bags all day, but that's because they were both up all night, fingers crossed for a better one tonight.

I'm getting a little concerned about Luke. I have never been able to work out the different cries (my dad says he knows Luke's cries and said i should as his mother), but he's been doing one today that I can't figure if it's tiredness or pain. I have given him a couple of doses of calpol for the teething.
His bowel movements have changed too, he is going after every feed where it was just once/twice a day, but doesn't seem to be passing as much iyswim, so maybe he has a little blockage? It's still runny too, hasn't formed at all, but my hv says that's fine. I've been trying to give him more water too.

LBB hope Luke's ok? I've never been able to work out different cries. At least the Calpol will work on anything that's painful, but he may just have a dodgy tummy...

Well, since my last post saying that I thought everything was getting better .... it all went downhill from there . Been to and from the GP - Sam's eczema been bleeding, he's been screaming loads and vomiting. GP suggested while I wait for the paed appointment I try soya formula. Now I have my concern about soya formula, but it would only be for a limited time til we find out what's wrong (if anything) but...... I think I have a new baby !!! He seems different - happy, cooing, batting toys, trying to sit up, even his eczema is almost gone... He's been on soya for 24 hours - it must be a dairy intolerance. Well, we'll see next week as I've managed to get a private appointment at Parkside Hospital .

Bumps so glad Owen is happier - will be interesting to see if it's the meds or the dairy.....

I don't think I'm going to be able to make the meet up on 24th because my good friend has arranged a big get together that day and I really must go to it! However, maybe we could do another meet up, maybe in the Kingston area in July? I think there are a few of us in that neck of the woods?

Dinky I like that sling too! I have used my new sling a couple of times, but unfortunately slings don't mix well with pukey babies - everytime he goes in it he chunders stright down my top.. Been doing loads of washing!!!

Better go as DH been away so I suppose I should chat to him for a while.....

why is it the nicer you are to them the more horrendously they behave?

Fun time trying to get the kids to bed Pink? Hope you can unwind and relax now.

STW - hurray for Sam being better. Fingers crossed you've sussed what the issue is now and that the private paed assessment confirms its all ok.

Looks like lots of drop outs for meet up on 24 June (4 I think at last count). Would another day that week be better or the following week be better for more people? Nkweto - when do you start back at work? Need to also check with MoS about her movements in the UK then too.

SWT... that's great news so glad sam is happier and as a result you're happier

LBB - if I were you I'd head to bed asap to get today over and done with! Hope the no-smoking is still going strong - you've got us all cheering you on.

hello all, still recovering from awful flight last night. Was delayed which was a pain. DD slept most of the flight and H was petty good. He slept for a few hours in the bassinet just waking for 2 feeds but then when we were landing he seemed to have problems with his ears poor little thing. Then we had the joy of rush hour traffic on the M25 and a long wait for our tescos delivery before finally having our bacon baguette. Harry had vanilla custard for tea today. We've decided that for the next week or so he can just have one meal in the evening as the days are manic.
Thank god I've sorted the grave cock up and am refusing to let my twunt of a brother ruin mum's funeral. Like some of you have said, families can be a real pain but you can't choose them.

LBB well done for not smoking, you are doing really well. Hope Luke is ok. H is being a bit ratty at the moment and only seems happy when being picked up which is hard work.
Done loads of rushing around today and took a good few hours ploughing through months worth of post, mostly junk. Managed to open some bank accounts for H which was good so can start saving.
DD1's birthday tomorrow so into town first thing to pick up a cake I ordered for her and then will suprise her at school. Going to look at a prep school for DD2 and DS2 with a view to them starting in two years time. Originally planned that DD2 would go where DD1 and DS1 went but its very expensive for 2 of them and also I don't really like the new headmaster so we are going to see what this other school is like. It is just affordable (if we stay in KSA for 2 more years) for DD2 and DS2 but the other one isn't really.

elkie lovely thought ref clothes, really kind of you. Luckily my friend gave me some of her DS's old clothes that he has grown out of and also some of H's clothes I bought in 0 - 3 months were winter clothes and he is still quite weeny so they fit. Also, DD is quite weeny so some of her winter clothes I'd left here stil fit which is lucky. Just don't understand why my DCs are so petite when DH and I are, well, on the large side. Worked out my BMI today and clinically obese Need to rush out tomorrow am before I pick up the cake and find something to fit for the funeral as bugger all fits me

Hope everyone is ok and looking forward to meeting some of you. Found out that another Mner lives in Crawley too so I'm meeting her and some of the Brighton ladies next week or a meal/drinks which will be lovely