Jan '09 'All we are saying is give peas a chance....and carrots and broccoli and cumcumber and........'

[hongkongzoe]

...here we go ladies, right I'm off to catch up!

Morning

Dreadful start to the week. Ds1 has a school trip today. Mummy dutiful made him a special packed lunch, packed in disposable bags and foil etc as requested by the school. Included 3 drinks as he has had cystitis (again) this weekend, polished his shoes, ironed his best uniform and slathered him in all day sun tan lotion. Then arrived at the school (early) to find they were supposed to bring a spare set of clothes with them (I think it is because they are doing pond dipping and there is the potential for getting very wet). I also realised at the same moment that he didn't have his sun hat on.

Had to leave him in the queue in the care of another Mum while ds2, dd and I ran all the way home, grabbed him a change of clothes (unironed tshirt and jeans which were the nearest things to hand) and his sunhat, shoved them in a bag and ran all the way back to school. All the classes had gone in but someone had very kindly explained to ds2's teacher who waited at the gate for him. Hung around to speak to the 'late arrivals' TA but she was taking a class this morning, luckily another mum was waiting as well and we managed to grab a teacher and explain and give her the bag to give to ds1.

Crawled back home, on the way bumped into another Mum who said she had asked and they said they would prefer the spare set of clothes to be uniform. Why on earth didn't they say uniform on the letter then? Just looked on the letter and it just says spare clothes. Got home put my hand in my pocket for my keys and found the note for ds1's teacher about the cystitis and needing to drink a lot and go to the toilet regularly today - gah! Just had to ring the school and get them to take a message to his teacher.

Am now totally knackered having done the school run twice in 15 minutes! Phew!

This is so unlike me, I am usualy super organised about these things. I hate Monday mornings and really hate being disorganised.

Ah the nappy fever spreads......yahahahahaaaaa [that's an evil cackle by the way..]

C'mon Ray - get a nappy bought! You know Esme would be totally edible in pink spotty itti. Y'know it makes sense.....

My dc's have long eyelashes too, but not very thick and light red brown. Will drag them to therapist at 14 16 for eyebrow and eyelash tint. Wish someone had told me about that service!

Wow Sparkle! Sounds like a huge business, thats great! Are you head of an empire? Sweet! Get the pushchair, I'm a spendthrift so you will never hear caution from me
I got a Jane powertwin on ebay for £70. I heart it, and the single. Not in use yet as like dd2 facing me, but we will as she grows. DD1 gets tired so quickly, so she can hop in and out easily. Now she just sits on the footplate of the single Jane to get a rest.

No rolling here, or sitting. Always last.

DD1 doesn't want to come home from nana's,, she is being taught chess and is too busy.

Oh no Moose!

I hate it when this stuff happens - it's like the adrrenaline you had for the whole week has been used up in one go, but the week doesn't get cancelled so it's a mare.

My sympathy. I'm going to really have to up my game for school.........wibble. I'm crap at all this stuff!

You need a nice drink and a slab of cake. Go now.

Tree you read my mind. Just had a giant decaff and slab of genoa cake - yum!

Think we have decided to try dd on baby probiotics. She only poos once every 10 days, but the amout of really stinky wind she passes is incredible. Have been reading probiotics could sort this out, especially as it started just after her second set of jabs so could well be a gut flora imbalance. Seriously, she can clear a room faster than the dog and that's saying something!

Anyone know which might be the best ones to try, have found a few different brands.

hi

blw sounbds interesting i prefer the smell of the apple puree yummy!!

mm - poor you i was nearly late for nursery getting in a twiddle

You crazy nappy ladies! They do look very sweet, I'm too lazy and have enough laundry as it is to get into them...am trying to renounce consumerism at the moment, so nappies would also be another thing I'd have to cross off my list. Have jsut discovered Nature Baby diosposables though, which are great and they bio degrade completely and are not full of as many nasty chemicals as the main brands.

Meant to be working...better get of FB...it is lunch time though...

Ray Babies are meant to have chunky thighs , (peopel do make stupid comments sometimes)...I adore them, fat thighs, fat wrists, gorgeous little folds! DD is two and a half almost and they are all disaapearing fast which makes me really sad, she's turned into a little girl now and it all happened in the blink on an eye!

Moose Monday mornings, don't you just love them? I've spent the morning procrastenating! At least yours sounds productive and you even managed to fit some cake it...mmmm...I'd like some cake right now...

DS started sitting properly this weekend...hooray...and got quite into BLW with his stick of asparagus..aww.

tree bought it coming tomorrow....

DH is currently head of the empire (he took vol redundancy on 31st Dec) I'm on "maternity leave" which basically means I'm picking up anything which they don't have time to do!

i'm at work! Well I say work...boss not in today so I have been to lunch, tesco's, hotmail.. and I'm getting paid!
Busy weekend of fayres, family and a christening. DS1 got painted as a pirate and was soooo cute.
And ta da we have sitting! Proper unassisted can play with toys at the same time sitting. S has actually been capable of it for a while but locks his back as he has decided that standing is much more fun. He loves playing trains with his brother at the play table although he is only allowed theo (the brio train) and not an actual Thomas real one. God help me when he knows he is getting the rubbish one and kicks off.
Nappymania seems to have hit. I am lalalaing it as I have severe shopaholic tendencies and won't take much to get involved. Distracting myself looking at bunkbeds and bedding.
Also the big return to the gym today. Now S is sleeping to around 4-5 each day the plan is to try and go twice a week to lose the tummy (she types with dairy milk in the other hand).

My MIL's mum always comments on dd being a 'big girl' and 'look at those thighs' and 'she doesn't get them from our side of the family'. I just ignore her. Dd is not very big actually, although she does have lovely chubby thighs. As others have said, babies are supposed to be chubby - its in their job description!

Just caught a stray dog on the way home from school! We never get stray dogs around here and then two in one week (one of whom was mine). Poor little border terrier shot out of the park through all the cars coming out of the carpark after picking children up from school and only narrowly missed getting squished. Everyone was ignoring it, but I couldn't just leave it, especially thinking about how grateful we were when someone rescued our dog at the weekend. It had a collar on with no tag, but it ran up to a nearby house. We followed it and it seemed to be panicking and running between the two houses there. Thought I remembered seeing a little dog on the window ledge of one of the houses in the past, so crouched down and tried to call it to me but it was frightened of the kids. Parked the pushchair, told the boys to hold onto the handle and then snuck up behind the dog and picked her up. Went and rang the bell and sure enough it was their dog. They have no idea how it got out of the garden. Feels a bit karmic after the weekend's exploits somehow.

qumps yay for slacking off at work! Dd is also sitting properly now, am thinking we need a bath seat of some sort now as she objected to lying in her bath sling today. I don't really like the rigid seats as they are a pain to get babies in and out of and the one we had for the boys used to leave them with red marks where they leant on it. Have seen this aqua pod which has great reviews and can be used when they are bigger as a normal bath mat.

Ah, what a happpy reunited dog story!

Just a quick question, I have noticed small dry skin patches all over DS's torso and one on his leg too. It is slightly red but doesn't seem to bother him. I don't use anything on his skin except water. However we have just started BLW and I wonder if this is a reaction to food (although he hasn't ingested much!). I also gave him a few spoonfuls of some baby cereal that I got given as a free sample the last 3 days for breakfast.....Anyone had any experience of this?

Stanley had something like that early on and the doctor said it was baby eczema. Apparently that is a very general term for any kind of baby skin thing and not just eczema like I would imagine it. It was one of the reasons why the hospital put him on dairy free milk. However it could be down to anything - washing powder ect. If you are worried it is an allergy the advice is to go back to basics and introduce something new every 3 days and see if anything has an effect. That's what I have to do with Stanley. It's very boring but he doesn't seem to have reacted to anything yet, although I have stayed off dairy, gluten, wheat and citrus. I was brave and did a a bit of tomato though and he was fine. Also aqueus cream and oilatum for the bath were prescribed. I still use them even though the patches are long gone as London water is so hard.
Sorry hope this helps and doesn't add to your worries as like I said it could be nothing. Ah babies they do try us!
Moose the dog rescuer. Well done you for being so caring. Glad your day has improved from this morning. Did your DS enjoy his trip?
My DC's are on the way back from mum and dads. I hae just had fishfingers, some salad, a square of G&B choc and a glass of wine for dinner. Yum!

Moose! Just got so excited by the aqua pod. We currently lie S down in the bath but he keeps trying to roll onto his front and swallowing water. Love the thought of seeing him and DS1 playing together in the bath.

Yes thanks qumps he had a whale of a time on his trip and was very proud that he found a baby newt in his pond dipping net. He did need the spare clothes as well in the end as they got rained on.

Glad its not just me that got excited by a bath mat . Looks good doesn't it.

Thanks qumps, will invest in some aqueus cream. I agree with the london water, it is very hard. And, MMMMM G and B chocolate, now I want some!

I love bathing the dcs together. Jude had a baby stand/seat thing that I picked up in the charity shop which has been great, but he's outgrown it just about. he can sit up fairly okishly now so am just going to let him sit with DD on the bath mat from now on.

Quick wave

Yes Tree you did catch me having a 'shopping accident' as Moose would say! Sorry to beat you to it!

Better get some uni work done so catch up properly tomorrow.

Yey for dog rescue MM, I used to have a border terrier so your story was especially sweet to me. Was half hoping it would end with 'so I now have the dog staying here; would anyone like it?' and then I would have had to say yes.

qumps glad to see work isn't getting in the way of MN/ fb!

ray hope you had a nice lunch - does Esme sleep through lunches? N sat in a highchair when we had a pub lunch today, and seemed very happy with his new perspective on life. Also chewed on a mange tout.

hkz We use nature baby disposables too - my only moan with them is that I can never work out which is the back until I undo everything..... talking of nappies, got my ittis today - they are soooo gorgeous! But think they might still be a little bit on the large side, as they leaked up the back - I folded the big booster bit up in half, and then had the liner on top, is that right? It seemed a bit loose around the waist and legs - but I did get large, and N is still only just over 9kg ('only' - ha!) Tree, Lenni, any advice? Am I supposed to use a paper or fleece liner on top of the booster pad? I'm off to google....

Anyway, they all need a wash I suppose, but I just couldn't wait.

Had a fun day in Hay with a friend and her baby, and then did a big 'ramble' over the farm with friend, babies, OH's mad auntie, and N's two cousins aged nearly 3 and 4. Exhausted!

A little pink for our house though. Does it come in blue? Glad he had a great time. A newt! He must have been talk of the class.
Ah DC's home yaya!

They do it in blue as well qumps here.

A baby newt no less!

MissJ Border Terriers are one of my favourite breeds. DH and I have said that when our old lady dogs have gone over the rainbow bridge we will get one to keep our lurcher company. Truth be told life would be easier with just one dog, but I always think its cruel for them to live without a friend of their own species to communicate with and judging by the lurcher's howling when our collie cross went missing last weekend we will definitely have to get him another friend.

Thanks Moose. Been having real problems getting DS1 in the bath lately so maybe that will be the answer. Does anyone know if you can use a giftcard on line at mothercare?
DC's all tucked up in bed. Have hung a blanket over S window to try to make it even darker as black out blind not doing what it says on the tin. Maybe the key to stop a 4-5am waking or wishful thinking on my behalf?

Not stopping, watching series 3 of 'The wire' and its getting good.

moose fab story about the dog Nightmare school run though! Hope you had copious amounts of cake to make up for it.

qumps found out today that I acn get on MN at work......uh-oh! Glad iots going well. I too could do without a 5am wake-up, he does go back down but still....its quite rude IMO .

HKZ Think Oilatum/aqueous cream should sort DS out, sounds very much like DD's baby eczema that she had. Came out more when started weaning and lasted till about 18mths.

missJ day sound lovely. Still up for thursday? I soooo need some new shoes so am desperate to go to cribbs

ray Please, before you even worry about Esme's chunk, do check out a picture of the master of fatness on fb first. I just laugh at peoples comments, fat babies are the best and bf fat babies are imo the epitomy of good health!

Bathmat....we just bought an extra long bathmat last weekend and DS just sits facing DD. Its so cute watching them play and splash each other. Zach is a strog sitter though and he has been solid for ages. Bit of a monkey though, keeps trying to crawl off in the water and gets a faceful.

Big wave to everyone else...
Oh, DD has doctors tomorrow as worried she is still spiking a temp and its been since weds night on and off. Got a nasty cough and complaining about ear-pain. Why do these things happen when back at work!

No liner required, the hourglass booster should have a fleece top - that wil be a dry touch layer. If you want to make sure doubley [sp?] sure you could use a piece of thin fleece.
The big boster folds into 3, to make a long 3 layer pad. Then it all clips in in colour coded fashion.
Because it is a natural fibre, it will not be fully absorbant, not anywhere near, for a good 3 wash and dry cycles. The more washes, the better it gets.
Remember, 1/3rd of normal washing laundry product [too much clings to the fibres reducing how much wee they can suck up - and also sits next to our skin, same for all laundry imo] and abolutely never ever fabric softner, which coats the fibres, stopping them being absorbant.Hence big fluffy towels are rubbish.

Moose, we used Udo's choice infant blend here, it had the balance we wanted to mimic a bf gut flora. I used to put it in a tablespoon of fbm and give it to her from the spoon, but I emailed the company who said put the powder on your nipple and let them drink it down that way. Genius! Can't be given on it's own as the acid in the upper digestive tract will kill off the whatsits.

Am getting a cold, so off to bed. We are going to a coutry house with playchool tomorow, it's the 'leavers trip'. DH has the day off work so we are all heading off on the coach. Fun! But sad it is the last week at the bets pre school in the world. So big waves to all and sorry for not answering properly.

Thanks for recommendation 'Tree'. Was thinking of adding it to the expressed bottle DH gives her at bedtime. Had been reading about Udo's, will give it a try I think.

Started a thread in 'breast and bottle' and pretty much got told I shouldn't give probiotics to a baby!

Really moose? hmm, I should read the thread I think... am considering for ds- his poo is still not 'normal'

That aqua pod looks great... pity it's only pink or blue though

I was thinking of putting ds' bumbo in the bath is that even possible? He cannot sit by himself yet (dd could by this age, gah) but he is very keen on standing up atm.

Am off to check that out Moose!