Sept 08: The End of an Amazing year

[Pacita]

Here we are: the thread that will see our LO's first birhtday...

ILTMIMI - I'll see your stairs and raise you a slide -

M has taken to climbing the slide down from DD1's cabin bed.

She taken to hot-tailing it there in the morning when she gets up and there's many a morning where I've found her at the top precariously trying to climb into DD1's bed!

she also knows how to open theguinea pig cage and helps me feed them in the morning (after having a little taste first herself). I do sometimes find presents that she's left for them there during the day

yum yum, guinea pig food!!

Welcome back Debi

ours are posh guineas - they get cucumber in the mornings

I was wondering who I could share this weird piece of information with and thought you lot would humour me as I need to be humoured in it.

I am planning to sell my breast pump.

DD2 hardly took any expressed milk except in food. I have about 40 oz sitting in my freezer which I put in her cereal. She will eat my arm off if I don't pass my breakfast over to her.

So there is no point expressing when I go back to work on 7 Sept. We are off to Spain for a10 days on Sat so the pump is just sitting around looking sad.

She is walking. Just 10.5 months today and she can make over 30 steps at a go. Little steps and she is such a dot.

oh, it is foxy by the way. off to namechange again.

I kinda like either almondeyes. What do you folks think? I have also registered lanegra and negrita. Those are Spanish nicknames I was given by family back home.

ninja I have to stop dd poking her fingers into the guinea pig run, she loves watching them but I don't want her to lose a finger. The g-pigs used to be scared of the children, but they have toughened up now .

Well the HV came yesterday and all is well but she forgot her scales so will come back next week. She wasn't remotely worried about ds's lack of movement, but more about his gagging and therefore inability to eat food that isn't mashed. I've always been torn between feeding him lumpier stuff which he can't eat as well so he wakes up hungry, or filling him with well mashed stuff so he sleeps through. She suggested lumps at lunch and mush at dinner as a compromise.

I've just been a sucker and bought the new tommee tippee beaker that fits on a bottle to supposedly ease the transition from bottle to beaker. I've also bought another brand of washable nappy. Oops!

Today our buyers threatened to pull out of our house as the other house they'd offered on suddenly accepted. They said they'd only stay with us if we dropped the price by 2k, or by 1k and included the dining table, fridge and freezer. Dh negotiated to keep the price the same but leave those things. The freezer is 5+ years old, the fridge door is broken, and although we love our table, we're glad of the excuse to buy an extending one. We're just so cross at the audacity of it (yes I know you all warned me, but still GRRR!). They're playing the 'we're first time buyers and money is tight and the other house doesn't have a chain' card. I don't like them any more!

I know what I meant to share with you...

yesterday my chum was asked not to breastfeed her 5 month old....in a doctor's waiting room! Because 'younger men don't like it'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We live in an area with lots of people struggling financially, and bf take up is low. So while the HV are doing all they can to promote it, the darned receptionists are undermining them! I'm desperate for her to write a letter, I'd love the practice manager to hear about it, and for the woman to be told my chum has the law on her side.

Ooooh it makes my blood boil!

And breathe.

carriebo send a letter!!!!!

I'm strongly encouraging my friend to do that!

caught up now.

carrie breathe. Hope the buyers stay with you. Buying and selling houses is all very scary sounding and looks like we might be about to do the same. I don't know where to start.

meglet hugs to you and your mum and dad and ds and dd. Life seems so unfair sometimes.

iom ds2 hardly drinks any milk either although was a bit better on holiday. he normally has about 4oz at breakfast, 2 or 3 in afternoon and 3 or 4 at bedtime.

Holiday was really good. Drive out to villa on my own was fine. Villa was nice, pool good. Beautiful area and best beaches I've ever seen for children. We did loads and I really want to go back to Lisbon for a long weekend.

DH didn't get the job though that he missed 2 days of hol for interview for. We're a bit gutted but it was only a 2 year contract so maybe it's a good thing. Going to look into moving house down here instead.

Blimey, moving house is a becoming a bit bloody cut-throat

Hi Foxy, how are you are all doing? Are you looking forward to going back to work? What a clever little dd you have! I vote for negrita.

starlight yay, another hurdle conquered!

foxy hi! 30 steps, very impressive. I also have a redundant breastpump, but am saving it for 'next time'.

carriebo yep, i can imagine it's only going to get more stressful. Well done DH on his negotiating skills. And for your friend and the stupid doctors receptionist!

ninja am also impressed with your little climber.

DS will climb the stairs if someone is accompanying him. Too scared to do it on his own. Which is a good thing at the moment as we haven't got any stair gates.

He's not walking yet either. Am hoping he saves those first steps for a weekend, as I only get to see him for a couple of hours in the morning and an hour in the evening.

Work is going well. Am back in the swing of things and quite enjoying it really. Nice to have my brain challenged again. Can't believe I'm going to say this but it's a shame it's only for 5 weeks.

DSis has been meeting up with her fellow band members and is looking forward to the next stage in the competition. So no further news there, but I can tell you that her judge/mentor is very encouraging and says she is definitely the favourite in that category!!!

now she climbs up and then lets go to try and slide down - but she hasn't quite got the hang of the position. She's also getting vocal and wants whatever anyone else is eating or drinking

carrie - what nappies have you bought? I still love my itti bitti's and use my fuzzi's when I'm feeling lazy (don't know why - they just feel easier!)

starlight you have inspired me to look up my birth story that I posted on here. Ah memories.

ninja I've bought one that is like a bumgenius (ie birth to potty, all in one) but is pop in rather than pocket, and has some sort of night time booster. Also finally got round to getting washable wipes.

The website is bebeco and they're doing a stock take til the 17th so pre-orders placed before then will get a 5% discount! Get buying!

So, AIBU? Too scared to post this on real AIBU board:

We're going to a wedding in the lakes next weekend, the church is in a tiny tiny hamlet and there isn't any parking at the church. The bride has arranged coaches to pick everyone up from their accommodation, drop them to the church, take them to the reception, and take them back at the end of the night. There were pages and pages of instructions in with the invite to organise this. I said I wanted to opt out of the coach coz I don't feel its safe for my kids (lap belts aren't safe for small children, and if they wriggled free the kids would be like missiles in the event of an accident). She said I could drive to the reception, leave the car there and get the coach to and from the church only. I agreed to this but yesterday go the timetable through - the reception is the first pick up so the kids would be on the coach for an hour!! Our accommodation is the second pick. Also I'd have to give ds his lunch at 10am to give him time for a good sleep to then get up and ready to leave by 12:45 to catch the coach. So yesterday I emailed and said we're totally opting out of the coaches, dh will drop us at the wedding and drive away to wherever he can park, and walk back. I've got a slightly arsey email back from her referencing the fact that I took my kids on the bus last week. They're strapped into their 5 point harnesses on their buggies on the bus, and its only a few minutes to town. We need our car to be at the reception so dh can take the kids back to bed and I'll get the late night bus home at the end of the night.
So AIBU? Is there a better compromise? Grrr. I know getting married is stressful and she's put a lot of effort into organising the buses, but I'm not having my kids on a coach for an hour!

I wouldn't want to sit on a coach with 2 small children for that long. You're right, it's not safe and isn't the same as getting a bus into town. Also coaches are horrible for travel sickness. I'm sure there must be somewhere reasonably near the church for 1 car to park in.

Most definitely, YANBU in my opinion. You are not opting out of the whole thing, you are just taking your car and your DP lumping the walk so that you can all attend. You have two kids to juggle. It is only sane that you are worried about their safety.

She's probably stressed, ignore it, go to the wedding and have a good time (rather than worrying about buses). All will be forgotten in her wedding day (either she'll be elated and happy or will have a million other things to be arsey about).

starlight I think its the justifying things and being defensive where I've gone wrong. I'm sure I've made the right decision, but I'm not sure I put it to her in the right way. I know how stressful planning a wedding is, and I've definitely given the impression that all her hard work hasn't met my exacting standards. So do I apologise now, or aftewards?! I still stand by my decision. I often get myself in trouble for speaking before I think, and she caught me at the end of a long day where we'd been messed around by our buyers, and my friend went into a hospice which means I won't see her again
But that doesn't justify my being rude!

carriebo YANBU - I take it she doesn't have children? When I look back to childless me I had NO IDEA what sort of arrangements you needed to make for children and I am guessing she is the same. I once suggested that our neighbours who had a 15 mth old come over for dinner and just bring the baby monitor (their house was 200m away up a steep hill). But... now is clearly not the time to sit your friend down and educate her. Can you be all apologetic-silly-fussy-parent-don't-worry-about-us? One day it might dawn on her.

And really sorry about your friend.