Fab Feb 2009 - hey ho, hey ho, its off to babyproof we go...

[dinkystinky]

off we go again

Afternoon all. Quickly popping on at work in my lunchbreak. Nice to see you back on Herbgarden (am sure DS1 will get better soon behaviourwise - starting preschool is a big step and he's probably just having trouble adjusting to the change; I have it all to come with DS1 in October) and Mamagoose (yup tis knackering being back at work - got my breakfast at 11 and lunch will probably be at 4 at this rate - at least am finding time to squeeze in my MNing).

LBB - I dont give Danny kiwi (though do give him strawberries) as I know it often causes allergic reactions and DS1 had a bit of a reaction to one at 10 months. Definitely worth keeping him off them for a while. Never heard of conkers keeping away spiders - will have to try it. They seem to be everywhere around our neck of the woods at the moment. Hurray for payday! Hope you get to spend some of the cash on some wine to help you recover from your early start.

Markstretch - glad you've sorted out what you're going to do and its good that F is already used to formula from a sippy cup. To be honest, if he'll take it from a cup I'd stick with that as will save you a battle in getting him off the bottle down the line - but if doesnt take much from a cup can see why you'd want to go the bottle route. Danny currently takes maybe 1 or 2 oz from a bottle during the course of the day as he is on milk strike and food strike while teething. Danny - when not teething/ill/being the amazing baby who will not ever sleep - can settle himself without boob so you'll probably be amazed at how quickly F self settles - you could try shush patting or stroking him to help him go back to sleep or if need be just cuddle him into submission (what I occasionally have to do with Danny!) - may even be the start of your little man sleeping through! Would definitely be a nice silver lining.

THOM - am sure they'd provide a basement cubbyhole somewhere if need be but to be honest just dont have the time in the day to express when at work with cramming everything into my fixed hours. DS1 is going to be starting at the preschool at the school we hope he'll go to as well so I hope he adjusts as well to reception as your DS1 when he starts proper school as a result of the mingling with reception kids.

Danny still not sleeping or eating well and I now have his and DS1's cold (voice sounding v jessica rabbit - totally useless for conference calls!). Thank god its nearly the weekend.

MS.... sounds like you've made the decision that's right for you and F and that's what's important, hopefully now you can get yourself healthy so he has a happy welll mother which is what's most important at the end of the day. Good luck with the night times, i find leaning into the cot and shushing loudly in A's ear while rubbing and cuddling him has a miraculous effect... pity i didn't try it til now as the other two hated it so much!

dinky, hope the cold shifts soon, at least it's friday

Evening all.
MS Pleased you have made your decision, must be a weight off just knowing what option you will take, and you're right, there's no need to beat yourself up about it, your health and well-being is just as important.

Been busy today. Was at playgroup at the children's centre where ds1 did some painting, then we had toddler peep (a session on early learning, communication etc as part of the key workers teacher training), then ds1 and 2 of his little friends decided it was a good idea to start digging up the garden there so me and the other children's dad stayed for a bit as the lo's were playing so nicely, we dodn't really want to disturb them!

Nothing too exciting happening though. My parents are having the boys tomorrow until sunday afternoon as me and dp are doing a car-boot on sun morning so need tomorrow to sort our crap out and load the car.

Hi all,

I have missed loads and havent properly caught up with the thread... I hope those returning to work havent found it too traumatic.

Dinky our LO's slept terribly the first couple of weeks back to work, but soon settled down..

MS hugs to you re. formula, but sounds like you have made a choice now. My DS1 rejected the breast at 5.5 months and i was really upset.. completely different scenario, but i understand the emotions.. my bottle making is terrible though as soon as DD started eating food (and her toys).. we stopped sterilising anything.. probalby not the best approach.

MOS I hope you are feeling a bit brighter now..

Lbb I too have been enjoying your stories of the affair couple!

i am doing ok, in the last few weeks DD has had croup, work had been extremly demanding and life has just felt pretty relentless..but i think i am coming out of the other side of it all.

hope you are all ok...

MS, sorry you've had to make such a tough decision.

LBB, good luck with the car boot sale.

Danny's childminder is off so have had both of them all week - lots of help from dp who has managed to do 2 half days come home earlier than normal on the others and my dad - D will be back at CM next Wednesday and dp is off all Tuesday, so I only have Monday to survive.

HAvent had the box to type in in this thread for a while so gonna make the most while I can!!!

MS - my lovely sweet girl! whilst I can hear people say platitudes i can imagine how utterly devastated you are. As I would be - have tried to imagine your predicament and think you are 100 x stronger than I would be in your situation! At the end of the day a healthy mamma is best for F. Hope you are all ok xxxx

Nkweto, Dinky & LBB It's s

MS i know you said you won't beat yourself up but i realise you must have gone through lots of agonising and emotions to reach the decision. i can only empathise and echo what evryone has already said. I had similar stuff when deciding to take anti-d's but we managed to work round it, sounds like you dont really have much off a choice so sending big hugs to you and hope your ok you should be proud to have given your LO the best start in life xxxx

dinky, hows the little man today, any better hope you managed some sleep big hugs xxxx

Hello to all, started work part time. wanted to be a full time SAHM we have managed ok on my MA but realised we couldnt live on any less. hubby offered to take ona chefs position at work to increase his salary but he already does 50/60 hours a week so i said no. i'll be teaching 4 times a week so not too bad.

Izzy update No teeth, loves ALL food and lots of it, saying gah! dada, did, dadi, eddie (to which hubby said "who's eddie?" ) very cute just starting sitting last week and commando crawling. fvourite toy is the sky box makes me laugh as dont watch TV but hubby not so amused.

lots of drool, and food strewn around the littlesez household but love it, see you all again soon xxx

nkweto Luke has just had croup too. Not nice is it? My friends dd got it too and had to be rushed to hospital! Thankfully Luke's was a milder case. Hope your dd is better now.
littlesez glad all is well. Luke has no teeth yet either but is mad with his fists and the chewing!

Luke isn't 'saying' any 'words' at all. Ds1 was saying dada by this age. I think it might have something to do with the fact that with ds1, I'd sit there for hours saying "dada dada dada" to him and Luke gets spoken to at the same time as ds1 so not really baby talk iyswim. Me and Luke don't get much time alone so I think I'll have to make more of an effort

My left tit is about to explode.

It won't though (probably...)

clever A has followed his big brother and sisters lead and said mama first.... it's very cute when he's upset and he wails 'MAMAMAAAAAA!'.... for the most part though he's only using nice soft gurgly vowel sounds and chats to his toys with ohhs and aahs

MS... hot shower and hand express a bit off to relieve the pressure. Lots of sympathy

Woohoo - Broadband is back so can catch up with you all.... later though as the in-laws are arriving in a minute. Thank goodness the sun is shining so they can chainsmoke outside in comfort .

Catch you later!

hello all, only just got a chance to catch up

MS I posted on your other thread but probably didn't finish reading everything so I imagine I didn't make much sense Hope everything is ok. I've checked skynews and nothing about exploding tits so assume all is ok in relation to that.

dinky hope its not TOO bad being back at work

herby nice to see you again, sorry you are so busy

mamagoose welcome back.

bumps glad you had a nice holiday and J really enjoyed it. I missed where you went though?

hi to everyone else

DD went back to nursery last week and now it closed for a week off for sodding ramadan/eid holidays. Bloody hard work trying to entertain DD and DS. Nanny still AWOL

Am fuming with DD1s school. I got an email from her yesterday saying that on Thursday she fractured her nose and cheekbone playing lacrosse. Wouldn't you think the f*ing school would at least contact me
Anyway, she is obviously a bit better as this morning I got a ridiculous email from her asking if her her next birthday and christmas myself and DH (her step dad) and her dad (waste of space who does F all all year round but then gives her £75 for her birthday and is the best thing since sliced bread) can buy her a horse that is for sale at the stables at school. Only £1,500!
err, hello, don't exactly have that in my back pocket after paying the school fees and how much does the daft cow think the upkeep will be!

Ref DD2's party (no, she is not having a bloody horse either!) have decided against pass the parcel as far too complicated as at that age they all HAVE to open a layer and it would be a nightmare getting the numbers right as you always get some who don't turn up or say they won't and will. Am hiring a bouncy castle and getting one of the mums to face paint and they are all going to be princesses and pirates (hopefully!)

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Afternoon all. Slightly better night in the dinky household last night - Danny awake between 12 and 2 but then asleep until 5 - had just got him back to sleep at 5.30 when DS1 woke up and wandered in claiming he needed a poo. Once I sent him back to bed after going to the loo I hoped for a lie in - and my lie in this morning was until 7.08 precisely Danny eating better today and took a bottle and bf this morning so hopefully he's on the mend now...

Markstretch - sending you a hug (but not one that squashes your left boob). When I dropped day feeds I basically picked 2 times during the day to express and would express each side for 5 minutes, then after a couple of days dropped first expressing session down to 3 minutes each side, then down to 1 minute and then stopped first session then did the same on the other side - and then did the same for the other session. Stopped discomfort and took about a week for my boobs to adjust. If you're dropping all feeds I'd pick morning, mid afternoon, evening and late evening and drop an expressing session every couple of days - though may be that your boobs will adjust v quickly anyway.

MoS - re DD1 asking for a horse! Maybe a my little pony will do instead Hope DD2's party goes well - sounds perfect for a 3 year old's party. Sorry your nanny has gone awol

Nkweto - lovely to see you on my dear! Sorry life has been so hectic of late - hope it calms down soon for you. And sorry DD has had croup - hope she's all better now.

Spotty - your computer ate half your message. Nice to know am in your thoughts in some way though

Elkie - glad your time with both boys hasnt been too overwhelming. Sounds quite nice that they've got to spend lots of quality time with family members.

Danny more of a do-er than a talker - though when wailing does say "MaMaMa" - is heartbreaking. He's more of a dolphin than a boy - with lots of click whistle and squeaks when trying to communicate. Most amusing. DS1 and DH went to see Peter and the Wolf, a puppet show at the Tricycle this morning, and loved it - we're off for the boys' swimming lessons this afternoon and then have NOTHING planned tomorrow. Cant wait for a nice low key do nothing whatsoever day.

Sorry MOS but i'm absoltely in hysterics laughing at your poor dd's optimism in thinking that 'only £1500' is the sort of money that can just be plucked out of thin air... and then of course the horse will live on fresh air and love right

Maybe she has a concussion from the accident? Poor thing, sounds rotten for her, and i can't believe the school haven't contacted you... that's really shocking actually Hope she's on the mend soon and gets over the trauma of being denied her cut price horse [snurk]

Dinky... enjoy the lazy day tomorrow

MOS giggling at your dd, mainly because I was saying the same thing to my parents almost exactly 12 years ago!!

dinky obviously M and Danny have some connection, M is just the same with the clicking and whistling. She sort of sings when she's tire, and that often has mamamama, or dadadada in it, but I think she's concentrating more on doing than saying! Why ask for something when you can go and get it yourself?! Although J took her to her first sing and sign class on Thursday so that might boost the speech development along.

MS Hope both your tits are ok (was going to ask on fb, but thought mn woul be the best place for such a question!) and F is getting on ok with the bottles. xxx

dear god, I'm paying thousands of pounds in school fees for DD1 (aged 13) and she hasn't learnt a bloody thing.

DH forwarded me a link about how expensive the upkeep of a horse is, hundreds of pounds a month. I forwarded to her (foolishly thinking she'd understand how much money it was) and have just had an email saying 'am I getting a horse'!

Actually thanks for the fab idea about the my little pony. Will get DD2 one!

God Mos I was so in shock at your DD1 asking for a horse I missed the bit about her accident at school. Lacrosse is a brutal sport especially among girls - was banned at my old school! Hope she'll be ok and gets over her disappointment re the horse...

If she really wants a horse, if she's 13, may be worth suggesting she gets jobs during the holidays to try to save up so she can afford the horse, the tackle, riding kit and upkeep - if she's lucky she may be able to afford it all by the time she's due to retire

Morning all!

MOS why don't you tell DD1 a horse is a fab idea but that you can't afford it and suggest she ask her father? Thus putting the blame squarely on him when he says no.

For those with babies in disposable nappies, what size are you using please?

Danny is in size 4 Huggies superdry nappies THOM - in nature nappies he is the next size up as they come up really small (but currently not using those as the tabs are ridiculous and pop open everytime he crawls - am waiting till can use the pull up ones on him)

THOM trouble is, think its her bloody father that put the idea in her head. He kept saying a friend of his had a horse she 'might' be able to have on loan. Of course that is complete bollox, like everything he says. She is not replying to my emails now so is clearly sulking. I now remember why we sent her to boarding school

Harrison is in size 4 pampers disposable but I'm not sure if the sizes here are the same in the UK. He is around 16 to 17lb and they are a little on the large size but the size 3 were a little too snug round his thighs. He has thighs like a new zealand All Black

THOM, C is in size 3 Nature Babies still - we've been using ones with the old tabs which work fine - they changed the tabs to some which no one likes on larger nappies of that brand, think it might have been size 4 up, and they're now going to go back to the old tabs apparently. C seems to me to be ridiculously long but skinny and to be growing out of clothes heightwise not widthwise, so I don't think he needs larger nappies yet. I'm also experimenting with cloth nappies but think I made some wrong choices on size, and that he's going to outgrow some "mediums" that are barely worn.

Hmm Tarran's still in size 3. That would explain why we've had 3 leaky nights in a row. That's the downside of never going to the HV to get him weighed!

elkiedee there's a good market for used nappies. Either advertise them on here or on here or here and buy some more!

A is in disposables at night as i still haven't gotten around to picking up some bamboo nappies for nighttime... he moved up to size 4 a few weeks ago as 3 was a bit cozy but he was also soaking through them halfway through the night.

I'm bloody fuming
DD back to nursery for a week and now off for Eid (end of silly season/ramadan celebration) Due back to nursery next Sunday after our weekend.
Anyway, just had a phone call to say the nursery and ALL the schools in Saudi have been ordered to close until at least the 10th October (but more likely the 18th) due to......
SWINE FLU!
How can they admit to swine flu when pigs are haram (forbidden) and therefore they don't exist!
We are pretty sure its just an excuse for an extra long eid holiday (they did this last year and made some excuse for an extra week off)
Bloody arses, this buggers up everyone's plans and also my signing classes which are due to start 6th Oct Grrrrrr.

Sorry for the whinging, hope everyone is ok

PT, I'm assuming bamboo nappies aren't actually made out of bamboo?