June 08- the shoes, the food, the glamour!

[pureeandpearls]

Struggling to load pages these days and saw we were over the 900 so took the liberty of starting a new thread.

The only football stuff I can add is that the secretary at my last school - is the Mum of 3 boys who all play professional football - they're called Dawson but I can't remember their 1st names - maybe one is Matt??

HI all, just a quick message - C has taken 10 unassisted steps this evening! from zero to ten in a 5 minute period! She is so pleased with herself, it's hilarious.

Happy moment here - Fraser's talking! He's all of a sudden come out with about ten words (Brush, mama, dada, up, off, out, shoes, Jack (friend's dog), wow). DS1 didn't have this many words by 21 months so we're pretty impressed, but we do see Fraser copying his brother quite a bit.

I should go - am supposed to be applying for a part time lecturing job with the OU - fingers crossed! It's only a few hours a week so sounds perfect.

wow - it's all happening in Scotland today!Walking and talking!

Hello all! A quick one as totally knackered - Welcome Week last week. (AH assume the OU doesn't do any of that nonsense? )

Will randomly respond to things (taking advantage of the fact that this is a new thread...)
Sponge sorry to hear about all the weeing... I had the hat trick too, with Iestyn - them leuky things, protein and sugar, but my bp wasn't sky high. Mind you, it's extremely low normally. I didn't have pre-eclampsia though.

Ali glad you had a good break - I really want to go there.

Deb sympathies on the bf. (Positive it's the last time? ) and I'm sure the period probs are just linked to the bfing. I stopped a month ago, Iestyn didn't moan once. I keep fantasizing about bfing though. Weird.

Viva congratulations! Iestyn started walking last Wednesday. Shoes are a problem though - he's a size 2 so can't get Clarks ones.

AH great news about the job. E-mail me if you want a hand - I'm pretty experienced at applying for lecturing jobs (I even got two...!), and lecturing is what I do, although not your field. I'm also in the OU at the moment.

Who have I missed? Love to all!

Hi UDC, nice to hear from you - my aim's fine thanks ! I actually had to collect my 24 hr sample in a 5 litre container, so used a jug each time and then poured it in to the container. Dh went and bought me my own special plastic jug but it was tiny - god knows how tiny he thinks my bladder is bless him! He then suggested I test my pelvic floor by filling it up, holding on, pouring into the container, then finishing off!!!!!! I'd have to have a seriously impressive pelvic floor to achieve that!

Not sure whether it's stress or pg tbh - could be a bit of both. We worked out that this Sunday is the 2nd anniversary of my embryo transfer with Alex, so I have been pg for 18 mths of the last 2 years - no wonder my poor old body is feeling the strain .

I have now developed a weird red itchy rash on the top of my bump - what the hell is it doctor?!

Anyway, great news about D's hips - she'll be on the move in no time now .

On the football chat, I'm distantly related to Cliff Bastin !

Deb, big step for you re: bf - hope you don't find the adjustment too hard. And I think Matt Dawson is a rugby player .

Spider, your holiday sounds lovely but sorry to hear about the flight home.

Ooh, missed all the walking and talking - fab!

Hi Essie .

Sponge do you remember that Ernest had an itchy rash on her bump late on in the pregnancy? It drove her bonkers with the itching I seem to remember. It wasn't serious, but given the situation with your BP etc you should certainly get it checked out.

Deb congratulations. Don't be sad, maybe you should take Nigel up on his suggestion

Viva & Essie well done on the walking (obviously your bubs not you. startrite look like they start with size 2. Hope you can find some. P has the "microtot" style which seem to be working out well.

AH that is impressive talking. I can't see P saying anything for a while. Having said that he has started manically pointing and grunting at everything in the last week. I parrot "shoe", "mouth", "spoon" trying to guess what he is interested in. Good luck with the job application, sounds ideal.

I'm a doctor. Is the rash where your bra rests and it gets sweaty? (Sorry, that sounds much more yucky now than it did in my head!) It's too cold here for any heat-related rash though.
Mind you, as a doctor, my expertise is the plague...but on the positive side, I'm pretty sure it's not that!

I was already thinking of start rite. Alas, the store locator suggested 2 stores, both quite a way away. But Llandudno is doable. (The other one was Cricieth - WTF? There's nothing there! Apart from a start rite shop, clearly.) Their shoes are outrageously cute, though. Imagine those in a size 2!
I actually think Iestyn has odd feet - I can't get his feet into shoes as they seem to be too fat, but the length is good, big even. Maybe he has a high arch or something.

Day of stress today - first day of term, and Iestyn woke at 3am. Going to bed now...

Morning all, I feel much better today.Thanks for all your kind words. No fumblings round in my dressing gown from Ethan this morning so he's not missing it!!I'm planning some very nice new underwear once my boobs have sagged to their normal empty balloon like state - sorry if that's tmi!!

Essie - hope I slept through last night for you

Spider - flight home sounded fun! How are you - post holiday blues or glad to get back to normal routine?

Sponge - [blush} - think it's Michael Dawson!! wow at a 5 litre container!!

Walking and talking -6 steps here is the record, and the only words are Mama, Dada and something unrecogniseable for his brothers - could be their names, might just be hey you, get me that toy will you!

Essie I'm tempted to email you my application and see what you think I hate these forms, they're an exercise in tick boxing and I know that's the point (so they can grade candidates easily). I'm reasonably confident I'll get an interview unless they have an application from someone who already teaches for them though - and there's nothing I can do about that. Actually I realized last night that the money isn't as good as I thought it was, far less than I was making before, so maybe I'm not too fussed.

Fraser's consultant appt is today and I've got that horrible nervous feeling in my tummy...

Sponge I hope you are feeling okay today. Was thinking baout you a couple of days ago when talking to a mum who has just 12 months between tow of her babies. She said she found the gap easier than the 3 year gap she has between her eldest two so I thought I would pass on the positive tohughts!

Some of the babies here have tiny feet! Startrite are half a size smaller than Clarks as DS has some Startrite which are 5 1/2 but he would have needed a 6 in Clarks.

Ktpie Very brave to go camping at this time of year! I am looking forward to planning some trips next year.

Send it if you want, AH, I can look at it after lunch today, and if not, it will definitely be done tonight. Why not send it, then it's out of your hands until I send it back, and then it's one less thing to worry about today when you have other (bigger) things. Will be thinking of Fraser today.

Deb same thing here - Iestyn didn't notice that I wasn't breastfeeding him. I'm keen to buy new bras, but when do I shrink down? Perhaps I won't and I'll be a D cup from now on? (Not sure I'm that keen on the D cup actually - I was flat chested before, but now I have a rack, it's kind of annoying and they keep sort of showing!)

Iestyn slept through, but cried when I dropped him off at nursery. This is the first time - he's normally raring to go. The staff really are superb there, though.

Right, loads to do. Overworked, underpaid...

Wow at the walking viva and Essie - Edie still not! Sponge how are you? Ah hope consultant goes ok. Essie and deb was about two months to lose my ample cleavage so could still take advantage for a bit. Spider Sounds like you had a great time despite flight home.
Hi to everyone else - neenz any more thoughts on holidays.
Nursing a cold here so at home hoping to recover pre holiday- dh just texted to say has work thing on evening of my birthday next Monday (yes I know we are on holiday ) but to be honest feeling so full of cold idea of missing out on a meal out no big deal. any good tips for cold cures?

And spider sorry about flight home- blocking that out as have long flight tomorrow . Do you think I could just hand e over to dh in the name of bonding?

Wow, Spider, Eugene Bop! . Loving the footballer stories. Mark Bowen is the most exciting one for me of course cos I am a City fan! I know exactly what you mean about it being good getting away from the cleaning and cooking etc. But the hassle with flights and cots etc make it all too much for us at the moment, I think when you have two it's more difficult to just 'get by' if anything isn't quite right. Being at home is just much easier at the moment.

UDC, fab news about Dorothy's hip - fingers crossed for the walking now.

Sybil, we haven't had walking on tiptoes but they do like to go backwards. E loves to dance, she swings her arms up and down and spins round in the circle. T just stands in one spot flailing his hands like he is having a fit . I also love the way they are starting to understand what I say - like when I say 'time to brush your teeth now' they both toddle over to the sink [proud].

ktpie, I am very about your camping trip now! Can't wait till May when we can go again.

Debs, I think you should take Nigel up on his offer! The DTs didn't notice when I stopped BFing them either. I think it's Micheal (at Spurs I think), Kevin (used to play for Chesterfield) and Andy Dawson (Hull)! Wow, impressive from that family!!

Sponge, Clive Bastin - surely a legend looking at that wiki page!

Essie, hope the new term is going ok. Shame about having to go so far for shoes. I was so pleased when I realised one of our local shops does Clarks/Startrite cos I thought I would have to go to Liverpool every time. The DTs have just had a growth spurt actually and none of their clothes seem to fit them now. I am pondering going buying them a proper 18-24mths wardrobe rather than just buying second hand from ebay (only cos the ebay bundles don't seem too good value at the mo!)

Abdn, how did the appt go?

Hi all! We have no internet really at home now so I can only post when I'm at work. Got a hideous day tomorrow at the dentist for a root canal. I am a dental phobic so gawd knows how i'll cope.

Lots of new walking and talking - good stuff! I'm amazed at how little some of the babies feet are when Luke's are like flippers!

Still not loads of words yet. Luke can't do more than one syllable really although he did say daddy this morning. Normally it's da and ma. he also says ball, car, door, no, more, bye and up. Butterfly is Bow, airoplane is air and nose is no. One thing he does do now is answer my questions by nodding or shaking his head. It's great! Are you hungry? nodding, do you want water? nodding, want to go night nights? vigourous shaking of head!!

Luke also loves going backwards but his favourite thing is dancing and spinning round and round until he falls over!

Hoping that didn't come over as showing off 'cos it was meant to be in answer to the developmental question!

Oh by the way Poppy - despite getting the peak fertility sign on the monitor this month (and acting upon it) I have my period. Feeling a bit sorry for myself.

Aberdeen - best of luck for fraser's appointment today! Let us know how it goes hun.

Deb you made me laugh with your deflated balloon comment - mine are the same and I never even did breastfeeding!

I have deflated boobs here too! They started out a 34a and they are back to it now, but I think with small boobs you get away with it a bit cos there was nothing there in the first place!

Amber it didn't sound like bragging, it was lovely. I really wish the DTs would learn nodding for yes. We only have shaking heads for no. When I ask them 'do you want some...' they just stare at my like I am mad. My fave word is E who says 'how' for 'help' - but she usually only says it after I have said it.

Sorry you got your period, I am getting fed up of ttc as well and it's only been two months. I am taking my temps this month and it is CD22 and still no ovulation. I had four perfect months of 28-day cycles OVing on Day 18 then as soon as I start to ttc it all goes haywire. Isn't that always the way - I am totally considering just giving up for a while and not thinking about it, that usually works doesn't it. The bigger the age gap the easier it will be anyway. Good luck for next month.

Aw amber sorry to hear that- have had same thing for few months too. Neenz agree the forget it approach may be the way forward and may try that myself next month.

I can't imagine it would be possible to forget about it as you'll always know what day in your cycle you are!

Neenz - how for help is cute - like Luke's Bow for butterfly! He sees the bug things on Waybaloo and always points and says Bow!

UDC - glad to hear about Dorothy's hip.

Sybil - J likes to back himself into corners and stand there. The last few days he has also discovered dancing and today he was doing walking round and round in circles until he fell over.

Debs - Looking back I'm kind of glad that DH made the stopping BF decision for me, one day he just put J to bed without me feeding him. We had been talking about stopping it sometime soon so it wasn't out of the blue but I felt a bit funny when he came down the stairs and J was in bed and I wasn't required. Think it was a good thing though as I would have kept putting it off and it was kind of nice to have it taken out of my hands.

Viva - exciting about the walking!

Abdn - that is brilliant about the talking! Hope it goes well with the consultant.

Essie - rubbish of Clarks not to make small enough shoes.

Sponge - how is the rash?

Goingto - I was saying to DH this weekend that I don't think we will manage camping next year, I don't fancy the idea with a 6 month old and a 2 year old! I thought we were silly to go so late in the year but it turned out fine, first camping trip this year with no rain. September does tend to be a more reliable month.

Poppy - hope the cold improves, the only remedy I tend to use is Echinacea, think it helps a bit.

Neenz - I used to live near Maine Road and once got pushed off the pavement by someone as I was struggling home with loads of bags of shopping, the whole of the Man City team then proceeded to run past me, out training I guess, charming!

It is so cute that they are starting to understand things, J is good at going to get things like if I say "Where's teddy?" he looks round for him then goes and brings him to me.

Amber - good luck with the root canal. Flippers here too, 4 and a half!

Sympathy to everyone TTC, it makes me feel very guilty that with J it only took a few months and this time was a bit of a surprise. I know those few months waiting to conceive with J stressed me out, will keep my fingers crossed for you all.

Feel tired today, think I overdid it yesterday, also have a weird itchy bite like thing on my cheek, really annoying.

I going to catch up on the thread, but just had to tell you all some good news, my request for redundancy has been approved - The Penguins are going to NZ!!!

I'm not allowed to tell anyone in RL yet, but I am fit to burst right now!!! Yay, yay, yay!!!

Penguin - brilliant! How exciting!

Shoes - Ryder is in a size 6.5G now! We have both Clarks and Startrite, but unlike GoingTo I have found the Startrite ones are much bigger than Clarks. Perhaps it depends on the shoe...?

Deb - I missed BF-ing although Ry didn't seem at all bothered. It was when I realized that he wasn't all mine anymore. However the convenience of using full fat cows milk now is amazing. It took ages for my boobs to fully empty IYKWIM, 8 weeks after stopping I could still get milk out. Nothing like a full feed, but not bone dry either. Realising that push up bras are the way forward for me now. Have you seen the new Dita Von Tess range for gossard? Problem is I like boy short style pants and not the matching lace cheesewires g strings. Do you think Nigel was serious about having another baby? Are you guys planning anymore? (obviously, please ignore that question if it's too personal!)

Oi Sponge, sit down and do nothing. NOW! Hope things are settling down. Saw on FB that Alex ran into nursery without a second glance, , well that's because you raised a completely secure happy boy. Well done you. x

UDC - That is great news about Dorothy's hip. You must be so relieved. How is she doing with putting on weight now?

Poppy - Re: your DSS going to university, I have been remembering going to Uni recently here. It's the biggest thing I ever did totally alone. I was thinking about how I coped in preparation for NZ (you know no-one, no-one knows you, taking all your belongings, etc). He's going to seem so grown up when he comes home for half term.

Great news about all the walking. Amber, Ry also spins round and round and round. He thinks it's a wonderful game. He also sweeps the backyard of leaves every day, which is very useful. And any music whatsoever starts him off clapping and dancing .

Abdn - Good luck with the job. How did the appointment go today?

Spider - Glad you had a good holiday.

Good luck with the dentist Amber.

Am I caught up? Really sorry if I missed anyone.

Great news PP - we will miss you in the UK though. Will you still MN from NZ?

Ryder's feet are even bigger than Luke's! Luke is a 6G. He is fairly talla though so I guess it balances out.