Dec 08 it's time for sippy, tippy and doidy cups (& wee sticks!?!)

[Veggiemummy]

sorry could think of much and these where discuss on last page.

veggie hellloooo & welcome back

effie that photo is adorable! My superwoman skills were eased slighty today by the fact that my parents took DD. Plus DD's actual party is on Saturday so hopefully DS will be better by then! And as for my friend she is the only person in the world that I would drop everything for if she needs me, we have been BF since high school.

DS seems marginally better this aft. We had a lovely sleep together for about 2 hours, and he managed to get some food down him and some water when he woke. So I am hoping he will feel like some milk before bed and go down okay tonight.

PD Sept should be okay for me, let me know when you are up Norf!!! BTW JB where are you exactly?

trace

Hello all, back from hols too , hope everyone ok, will try and skim last few pages but any more than that beyond me. But have already checked out Effie pic and is gorgeous .

Goodevening. Have been slowly catching up but can't remember much so far and sure I should be doing other things with my time, but hey ho.

Holland was great. We found a camping ground which is attached to a amusement park. The camping fees include entrance to the theme park. DS1 loved it as he could go on heaps of the rides and turns out he is quite the thrill seeker. DS2 is a true member of team Veggie as he is a natural camper. He took a couple of days to get into the getting off to sleep bit at a decent time but he eventually got it and slept well and always woke up with a big smile seeing all of us before him to play with. Of course we did lots of cycling which DS1 loved and DS2 tolerated as long as it wasn't more than an hour at a time. DS1 loved Amsterdam I think because it reminded him of London. It was funny seeing it from a slightly different perspective than a few years ago.

We caught the overnight boat back last night and as it's DS1's 4th birthday today we put the boys to sleep then decorated our room with number 4 balloons. DS1 was so excited when he woke up. We got home just before lunch and have had a lovely time just chilling and unpacking. Oh and sorting out the garden. Unfortnately DH has to go to Swndon tomorrow for a couple of days. I think the boys will really miss him. But will chase up some of DS1's little friends as he is desperate to play with kids who speak English. Though it is funny watching kids of different nationalities play together they just chat away and seem to underssnd each other.

oh and DS2 now has 2 teeth and has mastered sitting on his own, he looks really cute with his legs straight out in front playing with whatever he can get his hands on.

PD what is your file problem. DH can sort it out if it's a photo or file retrival thing or you can download retrieval software.

Morning,

DH has swine flu apparently. He isn't in bed dying and apart from his headache he seems fine. But they said he has swine flu. I have to go and get his tamiflu when the chemist opens at 9.

Oh dear Kayz that's not good, does that mean you'll all get it too?

Morning all,

kayz Oh dear, hope DH recovers soon. How are the rest of you?

JJ You are right about the nursery. DD is very social so will hopefully enjoy it. Eeeek, it is scary though. Have you started the childcare search?

PD September should be fine although it would have to be the 17th or 18th as it is my birthday on the 19th. I'll be 30 .

How amazing you have grown taller. Can having children make you grow I wonder? Stretching you to make room for the baby perhaps? Have a custard cream .

daisy I live in glamorous Bolton these days. All DH's family are from Preston though. His grandad used to play for Preston North End. Sadly this was in the 1930s before having a footballer in the family used to mean £££. He used to walk to games to warm up!

veggie Happy birthday to DS1!!

DD is still snotty so we might have a day at home with just a stroll to the butchers for supplies and fresh air.

JB your so young!

PD I think you were right about the tummy bug, actually I think she was teethign AND had a tummy bug. She's much better today, was ok last night too thank god. She's still got her hand permanently in mouth but isn't upset anymore, hooray!

Quick question: I carry her pretty much everywhere in the babybjorn but she is - even though she's a slip of a thing at about 15 lbs or so - getting a bit heavy in it, hurts my shoulders after a while. Does anyone else have a good sling of a different type that they can use for a long time, or do I just have to try and persuade her that the pushchair isn't totally evil??

Kayz You might be lucky, I've had several friends where the husband has got swine and partner and kids haven't caught it. Hope so!

hello
PD how strange that you've grown! I'm 5 foot and have assumed that that's what I'll always be, but maybe I will grow too! You should keep your name though - can't imagine you being poison-slightly-smaller-than-average-but-normal-adult-height-person!
Welcome back veggie and spot. Now where is Lal? She's not been here for ages! Are you lurking? Hope you're ok.
Kiwi can't really help - I gave up with the sling a while ago because I'm a weakling
Daisy and JB and kiwi - hope all the babies are feeling better today.

Well I had a dream last night that I logged on to MN and that everyone on our thread had all changed their names - and nobody had told me - so I was really confused and had no idea what was going on! You're a mean bunch doing that to me
(Should I be worried that I'm having MN dreams?!)

I'm having child care issues. I might have already told you this - my old job was 3 days a week so P has been booked into nursery for 3 days for ages, due to start 7th Sep. My new job is 4 days so we are 1 day short. The nursery can't fit her in for the extra day so I have a day to find elsewhere. Most of the nurseries are booked up until the next millenium, but there is a brand new one which has a space, so we're going to look round it tomorrow. I've heard it's very good and it's all green and organic (eco nappies, lots of outdoor play, keep chickens and the kids go an collect the eggs, home grown food prepared by chef etc) and £5 per day more expensive than the nursery where she has her 3 days. We can (just about) afford for her to go there, but I feel really uncomfortable sending her to 1 nursery for 3 days and another for 1 day (like your problem LadyT?). But we don't really have any other option as our families are too far away. Some friends have offered to help out when they can, so we could try to find someone week by week, but that feels a bit fragile as an arrangement. Also I guess it's better for her to go to 2 regular nurseries than to have a different person with her for 1 day every week? It's so hard. It's made harder by the fact that my new job haven't yet told me which day I can have as my day off, so I can't even book the 4th day's child care - and I start in 3 weeks I'm struggling because I'm finding it really hard to get my head round leaving her at all, never mind the extra issues. Grrrr. Sorry. blurb over.

Lucy has just gone to her friend's where she's staying for her first sleepover!

I have a mahooooooosive pile of post-holiday ironing to do so must press on.

catch you later (unless you've all conspired against me and changed your names so I can't find you)

The rest of us are fine. SIL said we should be in quarintine(sp) but DH asked the person on the helpline and providing we don't show any symptoms we are fine to go about normal business.

Hello veggie trace and spot*! Glad you had good hols.

poisondwarf - amazing stretching powers sounds great, especially if they make you thinner!

Effie - picture is lovely.

Kayz - hope the swine flu infection turns out not to be too bad.

trace - your childcare situation sounds really frustrating, especially as there doesn't seem to be much you can do until you know when you need the child care. No solutions to offer, just sympathy.

We're fretting a bit here as DS seems to be a bit cross-eyed! My sis (a doctor) spotted it at the weekend and now she's said it it seems really obvious and feel bad for not having noticed it earlier. Anyway lots of reading on the internet later and it sounds like something we should try and sort sooner rather than later. DH took him to the docs this afternoon and it sounds like he will get a referral somewhere, but the doc wasn't too sure about where the most appropriate referral should be. Anyway, poor mite, looks like it might be eye patches and goodness knows what else for him.

Good evening ladies!

Well we have had a lovely day as it was DD's 3rd birthday. She has been spoilt rotten and eaten lots of cake but hey if you can't do that when your 3 when can you??? I am also pleased to report that DS appears to be on the mend he had a bad spell in the night where he was awake from 2.30am till 4am but he woke this morning and his temp was normal! He is still tugging on his ears and has random bouts of crying but, he has eaten food today and still has another day on the AB's. Fingers crossed it will shift all his infection!

trace Shame you are having childcare issues I hope they get resolved soon.

kayz hope DH is soon mended and that you and DS's don't catch it.

JB Bolton is soooo glam, a mecca of...well something I'm sure. I worked in Manchester for 10 years so most of my knowledge of Bolton is the train station. Although in my youth I did have the odd boozy night out in Bolton. I think we used to end up in a club called Atlantis?

I wonder if brandy in DS2's bottle would make him sleep. Disclaimer: I am joking and will not be adding brandy to his bottle at all.

He went up to bed at 8 and he went to sleep. He has just woken up and screamed the place down. I went up to him and he dropped off again but as soon as I left his room there was more screaming. I think I might go and see HV again. I've been getting between 3-5 hours sleep a night for the past few weeks
and I am starting to get fed up. I've been really snapping at DH and DS1 and I think it is lack of sleep related.

Invisible when dd1 was little she was referred to opthalmology because she looked like she had a squint. The HV and GP were pretty sure, but when she went to the hospital they said she was fine. Apparently a lot of babies look like they have a squint/ cross eyes but it's often due to the bridge of the nose being so wide as a baby and it resolves itself. On some of our photos of Lucy she is really cross eyed but it just seemed to go away as she got older. Perhaps it might be a similar thing with your ds? (I'm not implying you have a fat-nosed ds!)
kayz am hoping you get a good night tonight.
daisy glad to hear ds is finally on the mend.
JB - is it your dd who has a nursery visit tomorrow? Hope it goes well. Phoebe has hers too! These big girls - they'll be off to university soon...

right. Cuppa and then bed for me.
nighty night xxx

Kayz my nan used to put whiskey in my mum & aunts bottles because apparently it was good to help them sleep! Needless to say mum & dad never left us with nan overnight until we were older.

Invisible it is good that they are checking it out but it isn't unusual for babies to go cross eyed as the muscles around the eye are developing, it actually looks quite funny. It's usually resolved by now but it could be why.

Kayz we are on fire!!!! I love Arsenal!!!! So glad the season is on again.

I'm in London next week but don't think I'll have time to meet up with anyone. My best friend just had a baby while I was in Holland, she lives in south London. She had her beautiful boy with just tens and some water immersion I'm so proud of her.

On a sadder note ive just found out a friend and old flatmate has been in hospital on a ventilator after 2 cardiac arrests from cardiomyopathy. She has to DS's one is the same age as our LO's thankfully she seems out of the woods but it has really upset me not just because she is a good friend and a lovely person but also it scared me to think what if something happened to me and I wasn't there for my boys (all three of them) I can't imagine suddenly leaving DS2 without his lovely BM or DS1 without cuddles. It has reminded me how lucky I am and to enjoy every second.

Also DS2 is very interested in stairs and has quite a taste for whiskers dry cat food. I think we need some more of those gate things.

Oh trace how funny having MN dreams! It is DD with the first nursery settling in visit tomorrow. Scary but I'm sure we'll be fine, fingers crossed for us all. at the university comment. It does feel like time is passing just too quickly.

veggie I know 30 is still lovely and young, I'm just a bit . A milestone I suppose.

daisy I've never been to Atlantis but know of it . We used to end up at Hawthorns at the end of an evening, a v tatty indie club which closed down forever when the roof fell in one night. I've had a few nights out in Preston in my time, been to Tokyo Joes recently?!

DD stood holding onto the sofa today. She didn't pull herself up very far as she was on my knee trying to reach the poor cat but I was impressed. DH was really surprised when he came back from work and saw a demonstration. It makes her look so much more grown up than if she stands holding onto my hands. I don't know why . Anyway, I'm rambling. Night all.

just to say i had 3 eye operations for a squint when i was a child - one at about 10 months, 2 years and 6 years. i was fine. it wasn't nice, and the patches were a pain in the arse, but it was ok. hope your little one won't need it, though, invisible. and thankfully, now, both eyes look the same direction most of the time. allowing for alcohol, that is.

Cross posted

veggie Sorry to hear about your friend . Hope she continues to improve.

Sorry to hear about your friend, Veggie, glad she is now on the mend. You are right, we are all so very lucky.

Invis, my DD1 (now 4) used to have a squint but now seems to have outgrown. The optician did not mention it when we went to have her eyes tested about 9 months ago.

Trace, I am fully sympathising with you on the chldcare. I am sure that P will be happy in 2 nurseries - I think so long as there is some pattern to what they are doing, they don't really mind and it is just us projecting adult anxieties onto them. I'm not expressing myself well, but so long as they are looked after by people whom they recognise (and whom they see on a regular basis) they are actually quite adaptable. Children take a long time IME to work out which day of the week it is, and P is far too young for that, so as long as she can remember the people and/or the setting, she will be fine. It is very stressful for you, though, but I am sure she will sail through it and this will giv eyou confidence and reassurance.

Jolly - my birthday is the 17th Sept, but I am a full ten years older than you . Bet I look at least 20 years older than you. Do you have typical virgoan traits? I LOVE lists and order, but am not especially tidy.

Kayz, hope the patient rallies soon.

WG, how is your dad doing?

Yay for Daisy's DD - 3 is a lovely age. My DD1 started getting even more adorable as she hit 3 and is now edible. Such great fun. Glad DS on the mend as well.

PD, am impressed by your growth spurt. Regrettably the only way I am growing is outwards.

Hope JJ's young S is obliging her mummy with some fine sleep.

Kiwi, it's taken me 3 kids to get the sling right. I still use my bjorn but you have to have the baby tight and high. With both girls I had it far too loose and they felt as if they were dangling down near my nethers. With M strapped up high I can still cavort round with him in and I don't really feel him even though he weighs a fair old tonne. Could it be worth a tightening of the straps to see if that is more comfortable?

KMP, what's the sitch with your move? And LadyT, is there news on your house?

We had a lovely day today. DD1 went to a friend while I had coffee with ano friend, we had friends for lunch and wentfor a walk before kids' supper. Everyone went to bed without a fuss and I got some work done. My brain is shot, though, and it took me a long time to remember any law. Slightly unfortunate as I am actually having to grace the office with my presence on Monday. I have gone from having my own office (admittedly 3 kids ago) and being quite well thought of at work to be "just a mum" who is only there one day a week and is now in the open plan wilderness. I had put my stuff on a spare desk as instructed and was about to colonize it next week when I got an email today from ano woman in the office telling me "one of the old timers" has moved my stuff to the desk by the door. SHould I point out that I have tights which are older than her and that she was in primary school when I started at this place? Old timer my foot.

Oh Syb that is all very unfriendly and ties in with what others have been saying about loyalty at workplaces. We appreciate you though and you could always have a desk at my place, might have a few coffee rings on it though.

Trace, is it possible to have P in the new nursery for the whole time, it sounds like baby nirvana. However, if not as Syb says I don't think it's a problem, babies see all sorts of different people all week and it doesn't bother them. Those that are looked after by family might have grandma one day and aunty the next so I wound be too bothered. Also remember whoever it is both these nurseries have well trained staff to look after her needs so she'll be well looked after in either. Plus she'll have 2 sets of friends! Little socialite!

Oh and kiwi I keep forgetting to mention I have a hugabub sling which is one of the wrap slings and it is still fine to use for DS2 who is about 19lb but like Syb mentioned I need to tie it high or it becomes uncomfortable. I also have a sling which I tie like a backpack and he can be carried behind.

I think I love you Veggie . But you knew that.

Let's set up a business. What shall it be? We can all bring our different skills and make it a success. Then we can go on Dragons' Den and flirt with Peter Jones, sorry, make a solid pitch and win a huge investment. I'm thinking basket weaving as a starting point .

Another beautiful day here. Going to be hot hot hot. Must get paddling pool up and running.