January 2009 - "This is halloween, this is halloween, babies wake in the dead of night..."

[VerySpookyLennipillar]

A homage to the Nightmare Before Christmas song. DH obsessed with that film, we all (DD included) have to watch it on Christmas Eve.

hello lovely ladies, thanks for all your good wishes, I'm sure J will be ok, just worried about the GA and what they may find. But none of the Drs he has seen seem too concerned so we shall see.

J has mastered the art of yogic bouncing, he even manages to bum shuffle quite gracefully, so his arm isn't getting too much in the way of getting to where he wants. he is obsessed with our dog at the moment, he's a lovely big old brown dog, some wierd asian cross breed, who we rescued when we were in HK and bought back with us (cost more to bring him home than all of our flights put together but he is our baby so was worth it). He is so ggod with the DCs, they climb all over him and he just lies there and snuggles them.

Moose Glad your dog got to see a nice vet. I am dreading the time when our dog starts to get old. They just become such an important part of the family, watching them age is awful. Hope she has a good long weekend, our dog goes for weekends in the country with a friend who lives on a farm, when we go away, and he loves it.

Books Glad the christening was good

Lenni I like what your book says about christmas. We are staying put this year. our families are scattered all over the place, but everyone is coming to us, so ma looking forward to having a houseful, am slightly concerned about our tiny oven and cooking for 10 though Can't wait to have an xmas at home, its been a while.

MissJ Am of your christmas eve, my mum was dutch and we always did that. As a kid it was great getting to open your pressies on Christmas eve.

Stripey Hope you get a positive answer from C's dad. If he has talking to do then that sounds positive. Love the pictur eof her in her winter gear on FB, she's gorgeous.

Elki How was the NCT halloween meet up, saw your post in the local section. How is being back at work going?

Dog Grrrrr at non payment. I'm sure I could find some good 'ol east end boys to send round her house if you give me the nod

Right....off to have a glass of wine with DH.

Well, what a very poor attempt at catching up. Please forgive me, I am hear in spirit. Computer now at top of house so I feel my visits will become more sporadic.

Have hopefully read most of thread but digested very little.

Is it christmas yet? How much did I miss????

Good luck to moose's dog, HKZ, Dog and her dp, Stripey with the sibling thing and anyone else in need of a glass of wine/shot of absinthe.

Books-glad christening went well.

Tree- how is eggy thing going?

Lenni- is DS still refusing to give up the boob?

MissJ- how are you feeling about work in a few weeks?

Big waves to all.

Crappy time at work, functioning on very little sleep and not functioning very well at all. Got a dressing down today for not marking one set of books regularly enough. I really felt like breaking down in tears as it is a bloody miracle they have been marked at all. But as usual, zero support and understanding (have had loads of assessments to mark and reports to do but that doesn't count apparently as I must make sure their book work is marked every two weeks (kind of defeats the object of all the self/peer assessment we do in class but heigh-ho!). Also just worked out my finance figures for the next few months and am very depressed as have actually nothing after bills and childcare each month..........oh the joys!

New house is good but stressful, hard work to clean (it was fairly grotty on closer inspection) and still doesn't feel like home yet, doubt it wll for a long time yet. Need some ruddy curtains too but no time to get any.

Also, anyone good at searching on the net, where could I get a nice but cheap wall-mounted dresser/ display cabinet type thingy for my kitchen? I have tried loads of places and can only see a few I like. I like the shabby chic style ones (with the chicken wire door type things) but the ones I have found are either too pricey or look too small to fit anything in. Any help welcome[smie].

Hello ladies. Last night I managed to make it through the posts again, but never seem to have enough time to write. Since being back from Ontario, DD has been a nightmare for sleeping and potty using, but the last couple of days are proving better. She slept in her crib till 3am till she kicked up a fuss. Today, DD made the sign that she had to poo. Thank goodness because it has been grueling and draining. I think we may have a sleep walker on our hands as DD tries to crawl and sit up when she is clearly still asleep when she is in bed with us. I was a huge sleep walker. My parents had to use a garbage bag tie on the change lock on the door because I would unlock it to get out. I stopped sleep walking when DH and I got a waterbed when we first moved in together. lol. Does anyone else's little one doing this? She is also becoming incredibly cheeky. We were carving our pumpkin the other day, and she tore some paper and put it in her mouth. I took it out and scolded her and she sat there, smiling at me, with another piece of paper in her hand that was moving slowly towards her mouth and I said, "Don't put that in your mouth", and she began turning her back to me and put it in her mouth, then turned back around and laughed at me! Cheeky girl. It was deliberate. So funny.

pat We finally got curtains... had to put a stop to neighbours peep show. lol As for the cabinet; make your own. Or rather, tell DH what you need and get him to make it. It would be so easy.

morning

tree - child trust fund is child mutual - got vouchers as we are saving £10 a month into it to qualife

h - good luck

hi chef and pat

have been to mothercare swapped gloworm for wooden peg and hammer
what are kids getting for xmas?

bracken is getting elc - wooden hammer and pegs.my first shop and wooden post box
for bday elc wooden trike,garage,click clack caterpillar and busy gears

have sing and sign in aft tonite going to see michael jackson film cant wait

tink, we have bought the small girl a hedghog on a string (not a real one ), some wooden blocks and a boden dress to wear on christmas day. i am not sure we will buy her much else, as i think she is going to get loads of toys from relatives and she doesn't know what christmas is yet....

chefswife - good to hear from you . violet's wilfulness sounds terribly cute...

exhausted here, c cried for hours last night and then vomited copiously: we phoned nurseline and were told to contact the out of hours doctors, who told us to bring her in to be on the safe side. so we did, she was given a pretty cursory look over by the doctor on duty, who concluded that she had an upset stomach (!) and then we got lost on the way home - there's nothing quite like driving around the suburbs at three in the morning with an exhausted baby, let me tell you... she seems alright today, very peaky looking, but that might just be the sleep deprivation.

hope you all had better nights

Oh stripey that is a majorly crap night. Hope you get to catch up on some sleep today. I was just about to whinge about my crap night too but twas nothing compared to yours... so am off to nap .

missj, all whinging about sleep deprivation is appropriate. but you can have a nap first

So much to catch up on. I've been absent with bloody food poisoning - has to rank as one of the worst illness experiences of my life. Was like being totally out of control drunk and vomitting everywhere. DCs gone to GPs and I'm doing my Tesco shop from bed now since inactivity doesn't sit well with me nowadays. Can't say grocery shopping is the best thing to do with sick bucket adjacent - not sure we will be getting much food.

Am liking the emoticon.

DD is getting playmobil and a VTech Smile I bought off a MNer for Christmas and a day out at Sandcastles in Blackpool for her Birthday. She has other little bits too - paper, crayons, a Tigger bowl (who she is as yet unaware is Tigger as opposed to a tiger LOL cruel Mummy), hair slides and some books and probably a few things I bought an age ago and have as yet forgotten. DS has a wooden train track and a couple of trains - partly from Tesco and partly Thomas the Tank. He also has a little ride on fire engine I bought in the sale at TK Maxx in January (yep I am crazy!) and a couple of those Wow toys friction trucks that I also got in a sale earlier in the year. I bought him a 'Baby's First Christmas' Usbourne book and CD the other day too as I am a total sap. Of course he will appreciate nothing, but I will have photos.

Stripey - it does sound like he is considering things. Although I don't want to get the flags out in case we are mistaken, and of course it is a less than straightforward process however you make a baby. I have everything crossed for you both. Don't mention pelvic floors - the mere thought frightens me .

MissJ - Wonderful that you get two Christmasses, where do I sign up??

Pat - He is having 2 bottles of formula in the day - one before each nap. I tried to go back to bf him since it was turning into a bit of a disaster at night but he just wasn't interested in sitting still long enough. I am feeding him from about 4pm through to 10am so he is getting at least 4 breastfeeds and sometimes 5 . Dh tried to put him down last night with a bottle as I was vomitting everywhere but DS wouldn't take it and went to bed with nothing quite happily. Of course he woke in the night plenty and DH brought him to me, he's a funny little thing. It is all for comfort.

Sorry about money woes Dog and Pat. Is rubbish being broke. Hope you manage to sort something out with DPs client Dog, not on at all.

HKZ, thanks for asking, Halloween thing went really really well.

Work is ok but rather dull, C has settled in at CM brilliantly but I miss him, and I'm overwhelmed by the workload involved in dealing with the washing at the moment, it seems there's no time morning and evening to actually spend a few minutes with the little ones.

Grr at Dog's dp's customer, that's outrageous.

Tink, we have an ELC shop, both D and C seem to enjoy playing with it - I chose it for D with a Mothercare gift voucher he was given last Christmas.

I'm not sure about what they're getting for Christmas. We really don't need more toys in the house but I'll choose a few things close to the time - we need to get C things that we can tell D are C's toys, we're sure C will let him play with them if D shares his toys! They will get loads of other stuff, bearing in mind that they have 4 sets of sort-of grandparents on my side (my mum and her dh, my dad and his dp, my stepdad and my stepmother, both of whom are now married to or living with other people!) Last year I had to get ds1's Christmas presents brought back down to London around the time C was born.

evening lol i thought it was an early easter chick

stripey poor u what a night!!!
lol @ real hedgehog

sherry - poor you hope u feel better soon#

elk - hi

went to sing and sign was good now back off to see michael jackson soon cant wait i am wearing my mj hat going out @ 7pm film @ 8:40pm

Meant to say Books wow at the walking!! What a little star! Is that 3 or 4 walkers now?? We have some seriously advanced babies - DS not showing any signs, he stands for a couple of seconds but thinks falling forwards to see if I will catch him is a great game probably not compatible with walking anytime soon!!

Are you all out watching fireworks/MJ??

MissJ - have you invested in a rearfacing group 1 car seat? I'm thinking of getting one as DH needs a car seat in his car to pick up DD from preschool so I won't be able to use hers for DS. Have looked at the BeSafe Izi seats which look nice, but there are loads and loads of rf seats when you start looking and not sure where to start.

Evening

Have read, but not retained, too exhausted.

Fainted yesterday with all 3 dcs in the house. Luckily it was only brief and I managed to reach the phone to call my Mum, who was here in 10 minutes. General consensus is that I am just totally exhausted and need to rest and sleep lots ( chance'd be a fine thing).

Any news HKZ? How did it go today?

Little old lady dog has gone orf on her holidays with GPs. Other old lady dog is currently doing her mad polar bear weave due to all the fireworks. I have the tv up loud, the tumbledrier and washing machine going full pelt and have closed the kitchen blinds, but our horrible thoughtless neighbours (who know we have a firework phobic dog) let off a barrage of fireworks at tea time and totally freaked her out - they are in their late 50s and childless and they didn't have any guests!

Dd is getting scarily close to getting herself upright unaided. She doesn't seem to want to pull herself up, instead she favours the sumo squat and lift off stylee.

Don't get me started on Christmas. I am in a flat spin worrying about it and have absolutely no idea what to get any of the dcs. They boys have usually got a list as long as both of my arms by now, but don't seem very bothered this year. I have read good things about that ELC wooden postbox, so I think I will ask someone to buy her that. Beyond that I am at a loss.

Have gone temporarily mad and ordered this seat for DS - have used what was supposed to be our money for my 30th birthday weekend away but I couldn't care less, am a total carphobic and obsessed with car safety. Just hope it fits now, will be pricey to return if it doesn't

This thread sold me on them.

morning

mm - sorry about fainting hope that u r resting now!!

ideas for you for pressies -

i am getting bracken wooden postbox it looks really nice go for it also getting her - my 1st shop, busy gears

what age r your boys?! can you ask them to make a list no panacking alloowed the resident shopper is here?

mj was amazing he was @ the top of his game

sherry that seat looks great and luv the colour;)

i have just bought games for my nintendo ds - rhythm paradise and guitar hero

Lenni I am seriously tempted by the rear-facing seats too. I want to get one properly fitted though, so am going to wait until we are in London and go to the essex place (unless I can find somewhere else). I am torn because it's such a lot of money and LO is so happy in his forward facing seat these days, but at the same time, I don't see how I can justify spending the same sort of money on a buggy just because I wanted it, and not spending it on a car seat that is the safest out there. iyswim....

elkie know what you mean about washing. It's endless here too! I am using the tumble dryer more these days which I know is naughty, but at least gets things finished properly.

Good to hear your news chefswife - DD sounds like a real little cutie.

Felt really sick all afternoon (no, not pg!) yesterday, so ended up going to bed with N at 5.30pm and we both slept till 7pm when OH got back.... bad idea.... N then wouldn't sleep until nearly 10pm. I felt like such a bad mama.... but I curled up in bed with a movie ('duchess', was surprisingly good) and OH and N had such a good time together - and actually has made me feel better about going back to work, to hear them chatting away to one another and OH being so sweet with him, giving N pork chops to chew on and having their bath etc. And then, when OH finally brought N to bed to see me, N said "Mum!", quite clearly directed at me! First time really that I can be sure it was meant for me....

Morning

Just got back from assembly, where ds1 was star of the week for the second time this term! Its a first for the school, with only a couple of children getting it twice in a year, let alone in a single term. He got it for excellent creative poetry writing and I am so proud as he isn't/wasn't naturally the most creative child, far more interested in logic, maths, science and computers usually. I think it helped that they were doing poetry shapes, but also he seems so much more connected to his emotions and creativity since being gluten free.

We have seen a huge improvement in his behaviour and communication and he hasn't forgotten to hand in or pick up anything to/from school all week.

I am so surprised as I was a bit sceptical if I'm honest and I thought if we did see results, they would be minimal and it wouldn't be for months. He is also making good eye contact and being able to talk to me about things that are upsetting him AND HE IS CUDDLING ME SPONTANEOUSLY! Sorry for shouting, but although he would submit to and eventually enjoy the odd cuddle, he has never been demonstratively cuddly in himself, this week he has instigated loads of lovely hugs and cuddles totally spontaneously.

The only downside so far is that being more 'in-touch' with his feelings has resulted in him being more sensitive and we have had quite a few sad tears, but apparently this can be withdrawal related and should improve with time.

In addition, TMI I know, but he has normal poos! He has never done normal poos, but now he is in and out of the toilet in a sensible amount of time (as opposed to sitting there with diarrhea for almost an hour on occasion) and has normal bowel habits. He told me he hasn't had diarrhea since day 2 of being gluten free! Sounds daft, but its a huuuge step forwards for us and such a relief for him. He even looks better, the dry patches on his cheeks have gone and the circles under his eyes have almost disappeared.

Sorry to go on and on, but we are sooo pleased. If he is this good after a week and a half, things should be great after the full healing timescale of 3 months.

Thought I'd split my post, as it was humungous what with the brag and everything.

Tink, glad you enjoyed MJ. My boys are 5 and 7. I have asked them to write a list but they are procrastinating for some reason. I think its because I've told them they have to choose carefully as they won't be getting as much this year so they don't want to choose something in case they see something better afterwards iyswim.

I think I have decided to ask for stuff for dd's bedroom and a nice thick buggy snuggle for her pushchair for dd. We will buy her a couple of toys and a little stocking, but from experience I'm sure she will prefer the wrapping paper and boxes to the presents anyway.

Had a bit of a ding dong with dh about rear facing seats last night. I would love to have one for dd, but we really can't afford it and dh just rants on about them making them too expensive in England and how unjust it is. Fortunately, we are a way off needing the next size car seat yet and dd is quite dinky (wearing a 3-6 month outfit again today). I think I shall have to wear him down bit by bit.

Actually wore dd in the moby for assembly today, thought she would be too heavy, but it was fine. She was really good, but decided to hum herself to sleep. Had to nip out into the corridor until she dropped off so she didn't disturb the headmaster's story!

MissJ, sorry to hear you were poorly yesterday. Don't get me started on the washing! Aaargh, tis crazy with a family of 5 and 3 dogs beds that all need doing every week as well. I am having to use the tumble drier every day just to get through it all.

miss j - hope u r feeling better now saying mum so cute)

mm - what great news about ds1 u r entitled to brag

evening all, thought I ewould fill you in on the incredibly stressful 24 hours we've just had.
Took J for his MRI and while we were sitting waiting it seemed to be taking rather long. It transpired that something metal was showing up in the MRI so they had to take him out.
DH said he had fished one of those tiny fridge magnets, the ones that have single words on them to make up poems etc, out of his mouth the day before, so we guessed he had one stuck in his throat...although DH had checked at the time and done all the usual stuff.
They took him off for a CAT scan to see if they could see what it was while he was still under GA. The team at the hosp tried to take it out, but our local is small and they didn't have the right equipment, so they bought J round and we got tranferred to the Royal London.
From the CAT scan they had also noticed a mass on J's neck which is probably causing the arm weakness, but they couldn't do the MRI cos of the magnet.
So we got transferred in an ambulance, J had an xray then got given GA again, they got the magnet out...it had the word 'in' written on it...
We were meant to hang around today for an MRI but the consultant discharged us which we were a bit about as the previous consultant had said they would do it all at the Royal London as it was a bigger hospital with more expertise/resources etc.
So we are completely frantic with worry about what this mass may be. The Consultant then rang and apologised for discharging us and said it was a mix up. He is arranging for J to go back in early next week to have another MRI under GA. DH is being very stoical about things and saying we shouldn't worry until we know what it is we are worrying about and that we both expected there to be something so its no big shock...but its just the unknown, I want to know what we are dealing with. I am normally laid back in my parenting and attitude to life but right now I feel anything but laid back.
To top things off we are properly skint this month and I am meant to be off on a student residential trip to wales in a week which I am going to have to pull out of...grrrrrrr.
Poor J has been a little star too. He was nil by mouth yesterday from 7am to 4am the next morning, after the second GA they didn't want to give him milk because of swelling in his throat...so we did a lot of pacing of the corridors...my arms are killing, he weighed in at 23.8lb yesterday...eek. When he did finally settle after having some milk he pulled the canula out of his foot and showered me with a spray of blood Very halloween
So feeling pretty shit and frantic and not really sure what to do with myself til Monday..keep having to stop myself from googling J's symptoms. I think I will just spend the weekend squeezing my DCs and eating chocolate.
Completely me me me post...sorry...just had to get it all out somewhere.

oh god, hkz, what a terrible day, i'm so sorry. j sounds like he was a trooper ('in' is a very appropriate word for imbibing...), despite all of the messing about. i have my fingers crossed that it's something very easy to deal with; not very mn i know, but hugs from dublin. and no googling, you are right.

hkz sounds awful, you poor thing... what a little trooper to go all that time without feeding or drinking, and no explanation! Sounds like you got sent around the houses... and back again. Fingers crossed for Monday, and sending you hugs too x

Oh HKZ, your poor things! What a horrible, horrible day and then to be left hanging with only half the story, my heart goes out to you. Wil be keeping everything crossed and thinking of you on Monday. ((un MN hugs to you, J and DH))

HKZ - You poor things, can't believe you coped without him having anything to eat for nearly 24 hours, let alone all the worry and messing about. Best wishes for Monday and yes chocolate and no googling definately sounds like the way to go until then. How dreadful to leave you hanging like that. Also sending you lots of hugs, and please come and vent, we're all here to listen.

Thanks for all your support and hugs. Its good to be able to come on here when you don't much feel like talking about things in RL. For once I hope the weekend passes quickly....
...to change the subject to something slightly more cheerful for the weekend... Christmas pressies....J is getting some very sweet hungry catterpillar stacking blocks and an here got them dead cheap off ebay and also Elmer magic lantern and that's about it as I think he'll be just as happy eating paper and chewing on boxes. I have got this fold away kitchen for DD and also this music box Elmer is popular at the moment. They will get spoilt rotten by thier gps, aunts and uncles so we are keeping it small. (Plus my house is already an unholy shrine to the god of clutter so minimal is the way forward)

Carseats... so whats with the rear facing ones? DS will need a bigger one extremely soon (next pay day infact!) so what should I be going for? I have about 100-150 quid budget. DD has a britax one which seems to be pretty good, but any suggestions would be welcome.