May '09 - We've had our first tooth!!

[Grumpyoldcaaaaaaaa]

Here we are, in honour of baby O and the first tooth through.

6pm.Operation bath and bed time should be commencing any second, but R has just fallen asleep on my shoulder. Poor love is knackered. We've had a busy day and he hasn't really had a good nap today, just 30 mins here and there. Am tempted to leave him be for a bit.

Y'see, all this confusion regarding bottles is exactly why I used cartons with DS1! Ladthelen2, are we fb friends?

dandy I don't think I was on the list. But I know I am on Fi and Grumpy's friends so have a look on there.

Yes we are llare. Sorry should have name checked you there too!

saus, grumpy, loving the mum / MIL stories!! Esp the bulldog-wasp-lemon juice vinegar reference saus. My MIL is here this weekend so batten down the hatches for my stories on Monday.

re routines, F has kind of fallen into his own but it does vary dependent on what we're up to. Feeds usually 7.30am, 10.30am, 1.30pm, 4.30pm, 7.15pm, 10.30pm, 4am - all very approx though. Bath around 7pm, bed at 7.30pm. Awake from 7am. One morning nap after 10.30 feed and usually an afternoon one about 3pm. Now I've written that out it's bound to change.

Met my boss yesterday: good and bad news. My teams are disbanding; some are moving to different business areas but there will be some redundancies. My boss was off to Manchester (she's based near London) to tell them today. I'm not at risk, phew, but not sure what I'll be doing when I go back - just something more strategic. The good news is that I won't have staff so my boss has said there's no reason I can't work from home altogether. I am gutted for my teams though and a bit for me that my little world has disappeared. I do also feel very vulnerable.

Belgian what an exciting task you have this weekend - sounds like a challenge but am sure it'll be great

got to post and run, F squawking - new trick...

Oh yes, I remembering admiring your handsome boys! I couldn't see you on the list either which is why I got confused.

Oh, dandy. I'm so sorry. I did actually mean to say Sausagenmash

Anyway sausage Good luck with your wedding. I hope the frost thaws a little in your family by the time comes.

I have a little confession to make. I still call C the baby half the time when talking to DH. So I obviously don't mind people calling her the baby

C had a much better day on the sleep front today. She also had a pyjama day, cause I didn't change her out of her sleepsuit. Her first sleep took 45mins of hard work, but the next few were better. Hopefully we're on the right path here.

Right. Dinner's ready. I'm trying the Philadelphia recipe from the ads . The one with filled chicken breast and parma ham. It seemed nice and quick and easy.

Hi all,
Been reading but no time to post. A had her heart scan and paed appointment today and is absolutely fine so I am She also gained just over 1lb in the last fortnight so the formula topups are obviously working. The paed was lovely and said that I shouldn't be beating myself up about the bf'ing/low milk, etc as she is obviously happy and healthy. A was a little star during her scan, so much so that she was used as a teaching aid to show a student how to do a paediatric heart scan!!

Am also having dilemma with making up bottles. Apparently the cooled boiled water and add powder as needed is a big no no now because of risk of nasty gastro bugs but boiling the kettle each time is such a faff and a nightmare if you don't time it right (god knows what you're supposed to do in the middle of the night). I've decided to use cartons up to 6 mo for out and about then go back to the cooled boiled water/add powder method as I reckon by then A will be eating anyway as well as bigger so hopefully a bit more robust. From looking at some of the research, that's my idea of measured risk anyway.

My biggest thing is losing count of the number of scoops of powder in her bottles... why can't I count to 6?!!

Sorry to those who are having Mum/MIL troubles. I feel your pain.

Right better go make DH some tea.

Later lovely ladies x x

catastrophic x post earlier, sorry

When DH & I are talking about H we call him 'The Beast', a nickname he acquired from the all the groaning and straining noises and random flailing limbs coming out of the moses basket when he was a newborn.

Sausage sorry about your Mum/MIL troubles. Parents, eh? We won't be like that (I sincerely hope).

running great news re the heart scan

Right H has dozed off for his last nap of the day so I'd better go and do something useful.

Woo hoo. DH is home early and has taken the boys for their bath so for once I do not have to sit through what ever it is on Nick Jnr now that DS1 likes to watch. Am half heartedly watching It Takes Two. I have abit of a girlie crush on Claudia. She always looks lovely and wears such fab clothes and shoes.
running am relieved for you that all well with the heart scan. Your relief and happiness comes across in your post.

running, yay for A and appt - you must be so relieved

belgian, we sometimes call F 'the baby' as well. Oops

Gah. Bottlefeeding guidlines. Would be a HUGE help if we actually GOT help and advice from people in the first place.

So the NHS guidelines are here
(did that work).... but then the WHO guidlines which are 2007 ones are here

I know the NHS ones are more up to date by 2 years, but the WHO ones are the ones that I am doing, and I am strict with my sterilising and all that jazz. These guidelines have to be more specific and clear for those parents out there who may not be as thorough. Funny as well, guidelines all vary from country to country. (I remember as a newly qualified staff nurse back in 1994, if we were on nights, one of us to be in the 'milk room' and make up the ward's next day feeds - formula and all! But like Dandy I have one of those avent measure-y things.

Soz, am not preachy there, just sharing what I do.

Running re the cardiac scan! Woooh!

Right. Bath time! (For M, not me, booooooo.)

Btw, the WHO ones are the same as the NHS ones, but they also give advice on preparing feeds in advance, which is wot I do, innit.

I don't sterilise anything. I shove things in the dishwasher and that's it.

Right in the middle of bedtime bottle prep so not much time but thanks for the links saus the WHO is a bit more detailed than the one I've been given by the health visitor.

Thanks for the good wishes all. Yes I am v relieved.

S also gets called "the baby" a lot . I am trying to call him S now though as DS1 won't call him by his name and either calls him "baby" or "baby bruvver".

When I used to make up formula we had some stored cooled boiled water in the fridge, and then would boil the kettle, put a few ounce of boiled water in the bottle, add cooled water and then the powder- we worked out the ratio that would result in the required temperature. I thought the issue was that boiled water was needed to kill off any 'bugs' in the formula powder- therefore I would have thought you could add the formula to a small amount of boiled, then add the chilled water and therefore you don't have to make the bottle half an hour in advance?

saus brilliant link. Cheers for doing that for us.

YOu are so right. I know the HCPs have to promote BF and all, but this sort of info needs to be given out too. From what I read on the other thread, if a baby gets ill from this bacteria it can be quite serious. I had no idea about this at all until the last couple of days. I read the instructions on the packet and all, but really didn't clock the full impact and there is NO info on why they have changed on the side of the packets. I think I just about get it now!!

pula that's a v good idea, might try that one. So far in a bid to be organised I've measured out portions of formula into the little dispensers so at least I can't lose count again. Even made DH leave the room while I did it so he didn't distract me. I have such bad baby brain

ladyh I agree the other thread had some quite scary stats on it.

Well I feel totally redundant. DH has done bathtime, massage, story and now giving A her bottle all on his own... just realised that leaves me more time for me to MN

ooh by the way, have been meaning to say thanks to tum for the mention of the boden rain hat a while back... sorry to copy you but mine arrived in the post last Friday (red and purple one). I am actually looking forward to next time it rains

Great news Runningmonkey

No bedtime story here, although he does sit through DS's bedtime story. I did read him the paper this morning as the sound of my voice seemed to make him happy. DS2 is quite clingy at the moment and cries when I leave the room.

Evening all!

Sorry Grumpy your mother stories are also making me chuckle a bit - but in a hollow painful kind of way, as that's exactly what my father in law is like and it drives me up the wall. It's the accumulation of small things that's really unbearable. Oddly enough I did wonder whereabouts in France you were while we were there, and kept wondering if we'd unknowingly driven past you. Your pics on fb look really great. Glad you've found another English mum to befriend already too, it can be so isolating in a different country and in the back of my mind I suppose I was worrying about you! Clearly I have an overabundance of maternal instinct at the mo...

spangle and llare thanks for saying nice things about holiday photos - we were in the Charentes region in France (near-ish to Limoges) and rented a caravan on a beautiful campsite. It was so great, I don't think I ever expected a holiday with kids to be that relaxing! Can happily recommend the site if anyone's interested - and if grumpy is fully booked .

Hi Dandy nice to see you again. Impressed with your dd's reading!

sausage I hope the wedding planning is going ok and the family pulls together so it's a nice day for you.

And running great news about the scan, what a relief for you.

Well I have been following the routines and formula discussion with interest - with dd I started ff when she turned 6 months and started weaning and creche (I went back to work when she was 8 months). The main thing I remember about it was the tremendous hassle and running I could never remember how many spoonfuls of powder I had put in the bottle, I was a disaster. So, I have memorised your best tips and no doubt it will all go much better this time! T will start creche full time in December at 6 months, when I go back to work - it's all approaching much quicker than I expected! But I am actually looking forward to going back, even though I don't know what to. I left my previous role before ml so I need to get myself organised and put myself forward for something new to go back to

Right, dh is in Greece for work, I have successfully got both babies asleep and should probably boil an egg for my tea or something, but first ...

...

I am opening WINE ! Anyone care to join me?