October 08 - The race is on to be the first to walk!

[CantSleepWontSleep]

My money's on Q.

Short and sweet list this time.

10th Sept (Due 1st Oct) - loulou33 - Boy - Joe Louis David - 6lbs 12oz
16th Sept (Due 8th Oct) - Ksal - Girl - Emma Rae - 6lbs
21st Sept (Due 5th Oct) - myjobismum - Girl - Naomi Caitlin - 5lbs 10oz
22nd Sept (Due 10th Oct) - Lozza70 - Boy - Sander Gene - 7lbs 5oz
2nd Oct (Due 12th Oct) - star6 - Boy - Quinlan - 5lbs 15oz
3rd Oct (Due 6th Oct) - Bethoo - Girl - Maia - 7lbs -
3rd Oct (Due 26th Sept) - purpleflower - Girl - Rebecca Jill Erzsebet - 8lbs 10.5oz
4th Oct (Due 30th Sept) - Aubergenie - Boy - Stanley - 7lbs 12oz
8th Oct (Due 6th Oct) - ronshar - Boy - William Dexter - 7lbs 11oz
9th Oct (Due 17th) - Marthasmama - Girl - Martha - 7lbs 10oz - Elective c-sec
10th Oct (Due 1st Oct) - CantSleepWontSleep - Boy - Duncan Elliot - 8lbs 4oz
12th Oct (Due 4th Oct) - pistachio - Boy - Thomas Fraser - 10lbs 2oz
16th Oct (Due 11th Oct) - heather1980 - Boy - Alexander James - 9lbs 5oz
17th Oct (Due 10th Oct) - pepperrabbit - Girl - Jessica Rose - 7lbs 15.5oz
20th Oct (Due 16th Oct) - bigmouthstrikesagain - Girl - Polly - 8lbs 7oz
24th Oct (Due 29th Oct) - Ekka - Boy - Matthew - 7lbs 15oz - Home water birth with gas and air.
26th Oct (Due 20th Oct) - jenwa - Girl - Phoebe Jasmine - 9lbs 2.5oz
28th Oct (Due 23rd Oct) - RachieW - Boy - Jack - 7lbs 4oz
28th Oct (Due 31st Oct) - Jojay - Boy - Edward Alexander - 7lbs 7oz
31st Oct (Due 20th Oct) - KnickersOnMaHead - Boy - Samuel Paul - 9lbs 11oz
1st Nov (Due 22nd Oct) - SmudgeyDoodle - Girl - - 8lbs 2oz
5th Nov (Due 29th Oct) - Honeymoonmummy - Girl - Poppy Grace - 6lbs 15oz
5th Nov (Due 30th Oct) - MamaG - Boy - Harry James - 10lbs 9oz

This is the recipe that I used for my meatloaf aubergenie, but I ignored the whole ketchup/mayo bit, made mine in a loaf tin, and stuck some gravy over it after about 40 mins to keep it nice and moist.

Ahem, would help if I included the recipe:

Ingredients
1lb turkey mince
1/4lb sausage meat
A couple of sticks of celery
1 medium onion
1 egg
2tsp mixed herbs or thyme
2oz porridge oats
1tblsp ketchup
1tblsp mayo
Handy Hint
Freezes well and leftovers can be eaten cold.
Method
In a large bowl mix together the turkey and sausage meat.

Add finely chopped celery, onion, herbs and oats and mix well.

Beat the egg and mix that in too.

On a greased baking tray shape the mixture into a loaf using your fingers/palette knife.

Bake at 200C for 45 mins.

Mix the ketchup and mayo and coat meatloaf with mixture (I use a pastry brush) and return to oven for a further 15 mins.

I've just reread my post and it sounds like I think all childminders are awful. I don't - I know some are fantastic, but I've been shocked by some of the depressing things I've heard from friends while they've been looking around for childcare.

Just wanted to clarify.

ooh x-post CSWS. Thanks for that! Could I make it without the sausage meat, do you think?

I'd guess that it wouldn't hold together quite as well, but I can't see why it wouldn't still work. Can't hurt to give it a try at least!

I agree re CMs btw. I've met a fair few at toddler groups, and of those, the only one that I would be prepared to use is the one that I did use, who is utterly wonderful!

DH always does chilli with turkey mince.

Yes CSWS she was a little sick on the formula today, but not much and I think maybe because she's drinking so much at once, whereas usually the BM must come slowly as she takes 30 mins. So I'm hoping it's more that she needs to pace herself!

Just had another AK cookfest today, made her fish pie which is GORGEOUS! Plus a liver dish, cottage pie again (Pops loves it) and going to make a tomato and veggie sauce for pasta and a chicken and apricot dish over the weekend. Oh that reminds me, you were all discussing fish the other day, Poppy seems to like quite a few thankfully but lemon sole definitely gets wolfed down!

Date day with DH tomorrow! We're supposed to be doing it once a week (the dates that is!) (remember the tandem bike ride?) but that was the only one! Still it's his turn. He says he's thought of something brilliant but hasn't time to do it for tomorrow, so the date tomorrow is "OK but not great". Way to work a girl up for the occasion...

Did I mention pics now on FB...?

Are you in a rush to stop MyJob? Maybe if you just take it slowly she'll adjust. Poppy was trying to get some off me this afternoon after I'd given her the milk in a cup (I gave it her so she'd realise what it was). I guess they just expect that to happen as part of their routine, they haven't realised that they're full yet!

I have to admit to not liking cm. Entirely because I dont know any good ones. I havent looked for one mind you, so there might be loads around me. I do see one husband & wife team who have a car full every day. The younger chidren sit in the car for ages while the older children get dropped/picked up from school.

Hmm, most children get used to a new routine with in two weeks. So try not to worry too much now about something that is over 12 weeks away. P will pick up on any tension you are feeling.
I am having problems with the BF. W keeps bobing on and off each breast. I only do morning/evening feeds but it is a real pain. However I am not sure how to stop. W pulls my dressing gown open, my top down or up. So I can see that he may have other ideas from me!

Myjob. We love you regardless how you look

If it's any consolation Myjob, dp was in bed with no shirt on this morning and S tried to get a feed from him straight after I'd finished feeding him. You're definitely not the only one with a booby baby!

Just a quick visit as I am TIRED as DH was away on another course last night and M is ill & teething so was in bed with me AGAIN.

Aubergenie - We only use turkey mince and it is just as yummy as beef or pork mince. It's the way you season it that counts and CSWS's meat loaf is yum yum yum!

Hmm - I don't think I am ever going to get M off the boob. She pats me leg when she wants milk and when I ask her if she wants some she starts giggling and dancing and getting really excited! I am just going to go with the flow. I too am feeding to sleep which is a nightmare. Hello Mr Rod, let me introduce you to my back. And a quick look at that Kellymom article. If CSWS's dd is anything to go by, extended breast-feeding does appear to make dc intelligent. (I sound like the CSWS fan club here!)

Myjob - I'm sure you're still as lovely as ever, even with your attractive forehead ridge. For all my joking, it does sound pretty nasty and painful.

Ronshar - I wouldn't have considered a CM for ds when looking for child care. I went fo the nursery that my HV recommended and that had the best Ofsted report. I was uncomfortable with one person being responsible for the care of my boy, one person's moods, one person's time etc etc etc.....

A nanny is different. It is like the difference between a health care assistant and a fully qualified nurse. I know that CM do have to do some training but I would worry about first aid issues, cooking etc!

50ft we shall have to make you a "I heart CSWS badge"

50ft (suppose I'd better get round to the new name!) Hahahahaha re Mr Rod! You've cheered me RIGHT up!

Poppy had another tooth through yesterday, the third one at the top, and two at the bottom. Still a huuuge gap at the front top.

We've found a lovely toddler group, went yesterday for first time, it's at one of the two catholic primary schools Poppy might go to assuming we don't live in California by then. They're all really nice and it's well organised. DH is coming with me next week as he'll have to take her when I go back to work.

Ronshar - might as well make a whole batch of them .

Aubergenie - forgot to mention that I've also done the meatloaf with sage (the one that MM had), and it works well.

Hope that M is feeling brighter soon MM.

Hello- have had a lovely night to myself catching up on tv and lazing around in pj's. Dh has gone out with "the boys" so it's all peaceful here

HMM- Sorry you have reservations about the Nursery. Maybe go for another visit before you change your mind? I have to say after our nightmare start J has had a really good week at his Nursery. Today they have all been to the park, fed the ducks and played on the swings. Also when dh picked him up he said J smiled and waved bye to his key worker It's a hard decision to make though, last week I was beating myself up for not getting a CM but then maybe J would have found it hard to settle there too. I agree with Ronshar- look and see if the children are happy. That was the only thing keeping me and dh going last week, we could see that the settled chn were really happy so that gave us hope that J could be too.

CSWS I didn't realise that your dh had previously worked away so much. Is it going to be like that again?

Hope M gets better soon 50ft- we've been woken around 3am everyday this week with J coughing. It's exhausting

Right off to check out Myjobs trousers.

Myjob I love the trousers! My Mum taught me to knit when I was pg with J but I'm so slow. So far I've made him a jumper. I've started a cardigan but haven't done any for ages. I'm ok until I go wrong then I can't fix it so it sits in the bag until my Mum visits

Rachie my problem is I don't have an excuse to go back there any more before Dec!!

Night all, hopefully I can sleep tonight, managed about 2-3 hours last night (Poppy slept thro, bloody AD's!)

HMM www.childcare.co.uk - register (it's quick) and you can search for CM's nurseries...etc by postcode!! I found several VERY good CMs near me this way. They all take kids to activities, on walks, to the park...etc. I interviewed a few and they seemed really nice. I found some bad ones, too!! But several were great. I guess it might depend on your area and what's out there. Give that website a try, though as you'll get immediate results and be able to see what's out there.

A very lovely day here too. Won't be on for long as I'm drinking wine with dh and watching Strictly

HMM- You are perfectly entitled to go and look at the Nursery again. Nurseries and schools, all childcare/educational establishments should be transparent and welcome visitors at anytime. They should have nothing to hide. You could always say that you just want to be reassured that a nursery is the right environment for P so would like to look around again or say you have some more questions and can you pop in. Make some up or ask some you have before but blame the babybrain! Don't feel that 12 weeks isn't enough time to change to somewhere else, particularly if you are thinking about a CM. Our local council advised that you should only look for a CM a max of 2 months before you need them as you may need to pay a retainer if you want to hold them and that vacancies come up every month. I think it's really helpful if you have a recommendation too. Hope that helps

You see, we got the best of both worlds when we picked out our CM for dd - our CM trained as a Norland Nanny . The advantages I've found is that it is very much a family environment and fits in nicely with what dd is used to, whilst still giving her new interactions with other children. She adores her CM which is lovely to see. The downside is that if the CM (or her family) is ill you could be stuck without childcare, though the CM's here are good at trying to help each other out if necessary. If you do go with a CM, use an NCMA registered one as they have to have much more regular inspections. Maybe go and meet a few CMs as its such a personal decision and it may help confirm that nursery is what you want, or you may decide to change your mind?

Which book is this you are all cooking cakes out of? I'm getting intrigued, though probably couldn't bake most of them cos of the eggs....

Pistachio, hope you enjoyed your day off!

Ummmm..... Can't remember a thing Iv'e just read and I'm falling asleep, so will have to catch up again tomorrow.

Thanks Rachie, that's very useful. DH and I had the CM chat this afternoon tho, and he said he'd rather leave her with PIL than a CM, and I'd tend to agree with him. But am gonna have a look at that website Star, thanks very much.

God I'm freezing! Bloody autumn... Am off to find some warming wine (for medicinal reasons only)

Oh and do any of you have ideas/ good websites for fancy dress? Poppy has a first birthday party next Sat. I do have a "Cinderella" dress my aunt bought us when she was born that she just fits into now, but she can't crawl very well in it and the party's in a playbarn. I'm gonna start a new thread.