Dec 08 - 9 months in, 9 months out!

[jumpjockey]

Hope you don't mind the dodgy thread name but all our babies are 9 months old now or in the next few weeks

It is a bit of a milestone when they do that. I remember the relief when DD stopped doing explosive poos that leaked everywhere...

Meant to say veggie, I lived in Belgium for a while, def worth exploring if your DH's work takes him there as well.

Do hope young P is well.

Mr J has been very snotty over here and he is not a good patient. Needed lots of cuddling last night, hopefully a bit better today.

Hello!!!

ARGHHHHH!!! Just had the driving lesson from hell!! I just couldn't seem to get it right at all.

Theory test tomorrow! Eeeekkkkk!!!

Hope you are all well!!

Oh that's not good for your confidence, was the instructor a bit evil?

No he was great. I just couldn't seem to get it. He is giving me an hours free lesson every 2 weeks which is great of him.

oh and I completely forgot to say this before can't believe I did considering I remembered the poo milestone, but DS2 used his vtech rolly thing to walk a couple of steps today. He pulled himself up on it the confidently and carefully pushed it forward until he was stopped by the sofa. He actually did it so well I'm a little worried he may have done it before but I haven't noticed! He was quite chuffed by the attention and excitement it drew from DH and I.

Wow that's so nice of him is he a friend?

DS2 is now pulling himself up to his feet and will take 1 or 2 tiny steps if we hold his hands.

no, didn't know him before I started driving. But he thinks it will really help me to get it right quicker. He wants to save me money.

X-cross posts!

Oh Kayz that is so lovely...now I'm crying. Don't worry it's not your fault. AF arrived today and I've just been putting sweet little DS2 off to sleep, and you guys are quiet so I wondered off to another thread about childrens songs that make you cry and you guessed it, it made me cry. Then I comeback here and find out that your lovely driving instructor has been doing that...

Awww Veggie!! Hugs!!!

I have tried to avoid that thread so I don't cry! But I am not meant to be here at all!! I have to practise my hazard perception!

PD I'm so pleased to hear about your brother but so sad to hear about your friend's death. I am not surprised you are all over the place its a helluva lot to get your head around in a few hours.

kayz Your instructor sounds lovely. I remember mine buying me a cream cake on the way home after I passed my test

ladyT My running..hmm...well no I have never run before. I started off doing the run a bit/walk a bit and have gradually built up to running all the time (well just about). Not sure how far I go but I tend to be running for about 20 mins. I aim for 3 times a week but not always possible. But I took a tip from Veggie and invested in some Asics trainers they are fab for running in! I too am still trying to get thin. Went back to WW tonight and only put 2lb on after my weeks All Inclusive, so I was happy with that.

DS pulled himself up to a very, very shaky standing this afternoon. I was typing away when I heard a little giggle I looked to the side and there was DS with a huge grin. He looked soooo pleased with his little self. Ah gosh I love the little man but I hate that he is growing up so fast.

BTW any campers out there? We bought a tent today as it was reduced due to it being near the end of summer. Ita an Outwell Montana 6. It looks fab so am hoping for a dry weekend so we can test it out.

trace are you about? Hoping P is on the mend

Quick post from me - Berlin fab thank you all for asking

PD So so sorry for your awful news but delighted for good news, IYSWIM. Thoughts are with you.

Daisy good for you re running - I used to run loads but having just started again after best part of 18 months off I am starting from scratch, but also knowing what I used to be able to do and getting disheartened! Sounds to me like you are doing brilliantly.

Yeah for standing babies! DD LOVES standing. Veggie where did you get your stroller/walker things from and do you recommend it? We want to get DD something when we get back because her absolutely favourite thing is being "walked" around with us holding her hands and her taking hilarious big strides (which would cause her to fall over even if she had any balance to start with!). Sort of ministry for silly walks, baby chapter...

Oh can I just share a lovely moment - we were in a baby shop in Berlin today and DD, in her Baby Bjorn, just started laughing away at this little sweet toddler girl. They just laughed at each other for ages. DD doesn't often laugh ( maybe I'm not funny enough) so it was absolutely lovely.

Standing babies . DD still hasn't got the hang of crawling! She loves standing whilst holding my hands but certainly does not attempt any steps.

PD What a terrible day. I'm so sorry to hear about your friend, it is a shock even when people have been ill for a while. Hope you are bearing up OK, especially with the mix up and all.

Thanks for the overnighting advice spiggy, no news on my email requesting we do it in a day yet. ladyT You are right that half the problem is the tone of my new colleague! I do think DD would be fine without me, I just would be lost without her!

veggie I was wondering about trace. I've got her phone number so could text tomorrow if we haven't heard from her.

kayz What a lovely instructor! Mine was lovely. He was a retired policeman who used to smoke a pipe during the lesson reducing my visibility no end .

ZJ Glad your meeting went well. No privacy sounds a problem though. Fingers crossed for a good flexible arrangement.

ladyT Enjoy every sandwich is great advice! A wise friend. Hope your work sense the professional touch to the letter and cough up more money.

I'd love to be able to run but sadly I start off with good intentions and then let it slide. I love that bit in Peep Show where Mark takes up running with big Suze. It pretty much sums up my own running experiences.

daisy This weekend is meant to be nice isn't it? Where are you planning to go?

DD has been a little delight today . She's wonderful most days of course but she has done so many things to warm my heart today, like trying out her new waving skills on strangers and dogs our walk this afternoon. It looked so funny as she gave a little royal shake of her hand at passing Jack Russels.

jolly Sadly the tent doesn't come till Monday so it would have to be next weekend. TBH we bought it now as it was about £100 cheaper than when we considered buying it at the start of summer, so if need be we will just put it away till next year. But we have bought this jungle themed cover to put in the kids bit - its fab and DD is so excited about it.

hi all.
Yes I'm around with matchsticks in my eyes [yawn]
Phoebe is not a well bunny She spent yesterday vomiting and didn't eat or drink a thing all day. I rang the GP and she asked me to take her back in, so I did, and she said that I should stop the ABs as that was probably causing the sickness and to stop the ibuprofen as that would irritate her empty tummy. Anyway so she is now just on paracetamol and her temp has not been below 38 since Tuesday evening. She is just in a nappy and her hands and feed are so cold but her tummy and head so very hot. All she has done is lie on me and sleep. She's quite twitchy and jumps in her sleep so I'm half waiting for her to have a febrile convulsion but maybe I'm just being paranoid. She's not smiled for 2 days which is so unlike her. Anyway, DH took today off while I went on my training, and I have taken tomorrow off. She did actually have a BF before bed tonight and has kept it down so far so maybe she's on the mend. I've started to wonder if it's swine flu, but I guess it wouldn't change anything whether it is or isn't. It's so horrible to see her so limp .
anyway nuff of that.
PD that's amazing news about your brother - I wonder if that is starting to sink in yet for you? It's a lot to take in after all that waiting and worrying. And I'm so sorry about your friend. Hope you have a good support network around you. Thinking of you.
I'm a bit at all the standing babies! P still won't even put her legs down if I hold her round her waist! She just lifts them up and looks like a frog. I think we'll be crawling for quite a while!
well my eyes are closing against my will so I need to go to bed. P has spent the last few nights in our room. She falls asleep on me, then I try to peel her off me and lie her on top of the covers so she doesn't get hotter from being on me, then she stirs and cries so I pick her back up...and so it has gone since Tuesday and I'm ready to drop! Night Night. Will try to catch up and post more tomorrow.

Sorry to hear she is so unwell Trace, but glad to hear from you, was a little worried. Also good she has kept down the feed tonight, it will do her so much good.

KP i'm not sure what these things are called but they are made by Vtech, maybe a vtech walker?oh have just googled it's a first steps baby walker. I got it on eBay for £1.50 but I think they are about £30 new. DS1 loved it and now DS2. You can get non vtech walker things too, nice wooden ones, and some that have a little carrier for wooden blocks.

Dais I love that tent with the kids jungle bit. I had a look in it at a tent show. You know I love camping, but it's going to be a shock to your system going from All inclusives to camping!

So sweet about the laughing KP, DS1 loves making DS2 laugh and often they end up just having a giggle off, it's the loveliest sound. How beautiful is a baby's laugh!

Poison what a day you had, I?m not surprised you were in shock last night, having heard the best of news and the worst of news in the space of just a few hours. I?m so pleased that your brother got the all clear, as I suspect your friend would have been had he lived long enough to hear the news

LadyT I?ve found your DH?s book and will be reading it ? just the cover makes me smile. And yes I?m on FB, so will keep my eyes peeled for the pics. Oh, and I liked your point about us all being benches one day, I think I'd like to be a bench!

Wow at the steps Veggie (and the poo as well). DD hasn?t even pulled herself up to standing, or even sitting ? she only sits if I put her like that. However her rolling is getting faster and more effective, so I think she might just roll around for the rest of her life!

Trace I hope that P starts to pick tomorrow, so horrible for a tiny little thing . I seem to remember being told that skin to skin is good for hot babies as well as cold ones ? if your temperature is stable then you help them to regulate their temperature IYSWIM. I think it might have been a midwife or someone medically who told me that, but I?m not sure. And you probably know better, what with that being your job and all. Sleep well tonight, you and P

Good luck with the theory test Kayz tomorrow

Watching Derren Brown, does he have a funny tick or does he just nod for the effect??? Very freaky though, how does he do it all just by reading expressions and voice tones???

Actually Zoe, given that I do all the organising for that team, the likelihood of my getting a bench without me actually being around to organise it is very slim

Good luck for tomorrow Kayz. I did mine almost exactly a year ago. Must get round to sorting out driving again as the theory test pass is only good for two years. But the thought of starting up driving again fills me with a great sense of boredom. The sad fact is, I am far too impatient to learn anything. It's a failing of mine. I hope you are better than me. Go for it!

Sorry about little P, Trace. Poor little moppet, it's so horrible when they are ill. I hope she's over the worst of it now.

Jolly, I share your shock at standing babies. DD still ain't going anywhere...I love Peep Show, the new series is on soon. If you like that you HAVE to watch The Inbetweeners. It's on the Channel 4 iPlayer. It's very funny indeed. I don't remember that jogging ep of Peep Show though. Hmm. Must've missed one.

Daisy, I might have to take up running. My failure to lose weight except very very very slooooowly is almost hilarious, were it not so sad. Toast for breakfast, a few Quorn slices (very lo cal) and some cucumber for lunch and a healthy dinner. Fruit for snacks, or carrots. Can I lose weight? Nah. And I exercise a bit too. Time to go back to the doctor/and or a dietician.

Oh and camping - have camped in the dim and distant past and have only very recently started considering it again as I think it would be nice with DD but anyone I mention this to seems to turn strangely purple in the face with laughing. I think people think I am not a natural camper. Hah! I used to camp with the Guides! And I wore lipstick then, I am sure. In fact I can clearly remember taking super strength conditioner to guide camp in 1984....

Hello dear girls

Sorry no post from me - I've had to be at work quite a bit, and now I am off, things are not so good here and I'm feeling low, so am just hunkering down and waiting to come out the other side.

Very quickly, good luck to Kayz, big love to P and Trace, huge hugs for PD and her dear brother, boo to LadyT's employer, pooh for Invis's bosses, bonnes vacances to JJ, G;day to Bisou, yay for sleeping babies, walking babies and eating babies, grrr at wakeful and restless babies. Sorry for the many I've missed. Am thinking of you all and looking forward to being back properly soon. My lovely M is still a milk loving, crawling but not walking joy who makes everything worthwhile, as do his lovely sisters.

Take care everyone and much love to all.

Cuddles, strong coffee and yummy chocolate to you Syb, I'm sorry you can't be with us more, I miss you. Don't worry if you don't keep up but do pop in every now again if you can, it's lovely to hear from you.

Ladyt I hope everything is ok, I know you've got that insulin thing but I'd like to add since doing that cycle ride, being careful with my food intake and training for this triathlon on Sunday, I have lost exactly zero weight! I think I will be the only competitor who is officially overweight! So must be something in the air.

Sybil I'm sending much love to you, am hoping you feel better soon and we see more of you here. As Veggie says you are missed xxx

trace I hope you had a better night with P. But at least she had a feed from you before bed, that is a good thing.

I must confess I have only camped once when pregnant with DS, and I loved it. I actually liked not caring that I didn't have lipgloss on and that I hadn't 'done' my hair. Gosh I sound a bit of madam don't I?? DD loves camping, all that fresh air...I don't think I have ever seen her eat as much as she did that weekend. Who knows what DS will make of it all!

Quick hello from me!
Back from holiday in austria. It was OK but I will take some persuading before going on holiday with the MIL again. Basically going on holiday with a baby is hard work, and I am not talking about DS! Grrrrrr....

Lots of love to pd, brilliant news about your brother, but very sorry to hear about your friend. Take care of yourself.

Ooh, veggie good luck in the triathlon.

I am off to the Pyrenees tonight/tomorrow morning (flight at 6am!). Probably good that it is so close to family holiday so I haven't ahd to think about it too much yet and about leaving DS! I am sure it will be fine, but I think DH is a little terrified too. I am most worried that he won't bother getting up to him if he wakes up in the night, but DH is terrified at what to do with him all day! And I am sure he will get chicken for breakfast and no lunch and fish and chips for tea or something.

I like camping but only if it's good weather, I get grumpy when I get cold. And I don't like getting up in the night out of the tent to have a wee. Not tried it with DS yet!

trace lots of love and hope that P recovers soon.

veggie DH is a big fan of Derren Brown as he got hypotised by him at uni before he was so famous and also he managed to remove his wallet, tie and jacket (!) in the queue to a uni ball or something, all without him noticing. I think DH must be very naive and susceptible, I am sure I would not be so easy to fool.

anyway I have to go and start packing!

Oh and LadyT was sorry to hear about your job but hopefully it will be for the best in the long run, and Invisible sorry to hear about your job too, that just sucks, I hope you find a brilliant new job. I shall be back at work in November, I am quite looking forward to it as a change, I am sure I will be swearing and cursing within weeks though. My company has just signed a massive deal so I am hoping that everything will be exciting and new when I get back, but it will probably nontheless have the same irritating things about it!

Oh and veggie I am thinking of getting one of those walker things for DS, I am amazed at how much he has changed in a week while we are away, he tried one of the walkers at a friends place before we went away (I put him stood up on it) and he wasn't happy, yesterday he pulled himself up on it, shrieked with excitement when he realised it was wobbly and he could sort of walk with it, then shrieked with fear when he realised it was wobbly permanently and he wasn't sure how to get down! So I thought he might enjoy one of his own.

Right now I have to pack!

morning.
sybil so sorry you're feeling low. Feel free to off load in the basket. Hope you're soon on the up. Big hugs.
Summer - hope you are packing now! I was thinking actually if ds gets chicken for breakfast and a chippy tea he probably wouldn't mind/care/know any different! I have to remind myself that just because something isn't being done my way doesn't mean it musn't be done. Not that I'm advocating that for a daily meal plan, but you know what I mean! It took me a long time to learn with dd1 that other people are allowed to have a different kind of relationship and different ways of doing things with her, as long as it is not completely contradicting/ undermining each other. Anyway - hope you don't miss each other too much.
daisy we have got the outwell montanna 4! It's a fab tent with the ground sheet all attached so no room for leaks (or nasties!) to creep in. It was really sturdy in the wind. I'm not that much of a happy camper unless it's warm and dry, but Lucy has always LOVED being outdoors and is always asking when we can next camp!
Kayz good luck with the test
JJ - if you're lurking - hope you're enjoying France!
And I know I keep asking this but where is spot? Anyone know?
Well P was a hotpot all night and is still very hot and clingy this morning, but she has had another BF and a yoghurt so I think she's definitely on the mend. Thank you all for your sympathies
I've taken the day off work (nothing like making a good impression in your first week!)and MIL is coming over later to have P for the 1 hour that I couldn't get out of.
Hope to be back later...