October 08 - More birthdays to go!

[CantSleepWontSleep]

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
2nd Oct (Due 12th Oct) - star6 - Boy - Quinlan - 5lbs 15oz
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
24th Oct (Due 29th Oct) - Ekka - Boy - Matthew - 7lbs 15oz
26th Oct (Due 20th Oct) - jenwa - Girl - Phoebe Jasmine - 9lbs 2.5oz
28th Oct (Due 23rd Oct) - RachieW - Boy - Jack - 7lbs 4oz
31st Oct (Due 20th Oct) - KnickersOnMaHead - Boy - Samuel Paul - 9lbs 11oz
5th Nov (Due 29th Oct) - Honeymoonmummy - Girl - Poppy Grace - 6lbs 15oz
5th Nov (Due 30th Oct) - MamaG - Boy - Harry James - 10lbs 9oz

Hello just marking my place as I'm very tired and off to bed. Just wanted to wave hello though

That's fabulous Myjob! It shows that you are definitely making the right decision about sticking with two. Excellent news!

Pistachio - The bonding with M was the easy part for me. It took a long time for me to realise what was happening in relation to ds and I am very ashamed to say that for a long time I thought the problem was him. Poor little boy. Everyone worries about not bonding with the second baby but nobody tells you about how it can affect your relationship with your first born. Your dd clearly loves you very much as she is incredibly empathetic towards you, so it shows that your relationship hasn't been damaged.

Also just place marking.
Been to fireworks and have friends here for sleepover.

Thanks for your perspectives Pistachio and Myjob. People don't normally tell you these things, so it's really interesting to hear. it must be hard being the first child when a new baby comes along. A few times at school I've noticed a child who's behaviour is normally really good start being really attention-seeking, and I've done a bit of probing and discover that there's a new baby at home (it might seem odd that we don't always know these things, but there are a lot of mums at my school who don't really leave the house, so we don't meet them.)

We're all still full of cold. S woke up approximately every half hour last night so we're all tired and grumpy.

Myjob - it's great that you're so sure about your new career choice. I wish you could pass some of that certainty onto dp. He wants a career change but doesn't know what to do. It's driving me bananas.

Q is screaming when we put him down to sleep past 2 days, so unlike him. I don't want to do this crying thing again. I wonder if something hurts him when he lays down? He slept with me most of last night, kicked Dh out of bed as he wanted to be either cuddled up to me or perpendicular to me with his head on my stomach several wakes and arching/crying, but didn't wake for the day until 7.15am, so even though sleep was broken I should be appreciative for not getting out of bed at 5

What does your DP do now, aubergenie? Does he not like it?

Well, he's not working at the moment, apart from a couple of freelance bits and pieces. But his normal job is website content. Looking at how organisations run the web side of their business. He's good at it, but fed up. We need to think seriously about finances if he's going to retrain and we're going to have another baby and, hopefully, move soon to get another bedroom.

Do you think Q could be sickening for something?

Well, we took the kids to a firework display last night and they enjoyed it, but ds was a little underwhelmed and fell asleep half-way through in the middle of the noisiest part . Honestly, I have the strangest children....

Star - could it be something like an ear infection or more teeth? Or it might be just he wants to show his independence. Dd was good at bedtimes for ages and then had a blip and wouldn't go to sleep on her own for a couple of months, but is now back to her normal self. Mind you the disturbed night sleep sounds more like discomfort in some way.

Myjob - I'm glad to hear that you are settled with your decision on family size. I'm still struggling with a debate about number of children and the effect on our family and the current kids is the biggest worry for me. Selfishly it is probably more about me and dh than anything else as my parents brought two of us up and sent us to fee-paying schools (my dsis was at boarding school for 7 years) and both of us kids left uni with no debts at all, and yet he never had a huge income (was never a higher-rate tax payer) and my gps aren't wealthy either. He and mum did without stuff and we only went to relatives for holidays and tbh I had a great childhood and never realised that the reason we did this was because of money. Dh and I could do this if we had more kids but it would be an effort

God that makes me sound selfish

Ekka, I don't think that's selfish at all. There are all sorts of things to consider when deciding your family size and we are all quite lucky to have been able to have the children we have already I think.
We knew that having No3 would rule out ever having the option of private education for any them, so in a way the selfish decision for us was to have another baby IYSWIM.
I fit helps anyone, when DD arrived the boys felt less pushed out because they had each other, so the emotional transition was much easier than when DS2 arrived and DS1 went through what you've all been describing.

We had our annual family firework party last night - 12 of my immediate family (yes, I have 3 siblings ) and MIL. She does well considering she is soooooo outnumbered!
All the kids vile today as late night and then a bit noisy to sleep.

actually that paragraph should start
"If it..."
not
"I fit..."
No spacebar control here!

Neither of you sound selfish. Everyone does things for different reasons. And you both have your DC's best interest in mind.

Aubergenie - I hope DP finds something soon. Iknow how stressful that can be... DH career changed to teaching just before Q was conceived (and took a while to decide this ) and it put such a strain on us financially. I know we'll get back on track eventually, but GTP programme, NQT year... ugh, I just wish all that would end! But, he does enjoy teaching and can see it as his long term career, so happiness and time for family is better than lots of money any day

Gosh what a busy weekend. Posting before I fall asleep standing up! Great fireworks display at village pub yesterday, but 2 of the 3 girls we took (with their parents) didn't like the fireworks, so dh and another dad took them inside, whilst the rest of us stayed to watch. Ds was desperately tired (only 30 min nap all day - new tooth bothering him I suspect), but stared mesmerized by the bonfire and just whinged occasionally.
Ds to bed 9pm, girls didn't go to sleep for at least half an hour after that, then dd stirred (friend heard her and went up ) around 1, and apparently got up to play and put her light on at 4:55!!!! Friend went up again (they were sleeping directly under the girls, hence them hearing before us) and told her that it was the middle of the night and to go back to bed, which they managed until 7:20, when they got up and woke ds up, and woke him up again just after I'd got him back to sleep in bed with me. So everyone tired today, and the 2 girls fairly hysterical all morning! They left around 1:30, and next set of friends arrived at 2! Ds slept through afternoon friends, waking 5 mins before they left!
Dd now asleep, and ds trying to settle himself. I'd be tempted to go to bed myself now were it not for wanting to watch X-Factor!

star - I suspect Q has a tooth rumbling or is otherwise feeling under the weather, so I wouldn't do the crying thing just yet.

Your busy weekend sounds like the opposite of ours. I feel like I've achieved very little because poor snotty S has been constantly latched on my boob most of the time, or clinging to my leg. He seemed in better spirits this evening and managed a decent amount of pasta, having refused all other food today, so hopefully he's on the mend. He's got a new game that he wants to play all the time. He covers his hand with his sleeve and waves it at me, so that I'll do the whole "Where's Stan's hand gone? Oh, there is is!" routine which was very cute at first but is starting to wear a bit thin now that I've done it about a thousand times.

50ft - I couldn't get the idea of sausage and mash out of my head yesterday and went all the way to the shops to get some veggie sausages today so that we can have it for tea tonight.

HMM - How did the cake turn out?

We had sausages and mash for lunch today! But only because it was the only food that I could rustle up enough of to feed us all.

weird - his gums feel normal next to his 2 bottom teeth, but hard like teeth coming in on either sides of his 4 top ones. Could he be getting the two others to make top 6 before bottom 4? seems unlikely?
CSWS sounds like a busy weekend!!

Aubergenie poor S I love games that you get to do 1,000 times So much fun!

Q is obsessed with mopping, sweeping and hoovering . It's a bit embarrassing at friends' houses when he just cleans a majority of the time.

We have a leak again. Downstairs lady was in tears Stupid DH didn't fix it properly. I said let's get a plumber, he said he'll fix it. But no shower tomorrow morning I spent most of the weekend taking Q out with me places and we had a great time, actually, despite dh having to be home working on the bathroom . He's in a foul mood. with me, of course, not with Q.

Because obviously it's your fault that the shower is broken .

Teeth can come in any order star. Dd got 4 molars before she even had her 4 front teeth!

oh, I was at a friend's house for lunch (not a very close friend, she's sort of new) 2 weeks ago, and she knows I'm vegetarian, so she said sorry, I made fish - do you eat fish? I said, I'd be willing to try it, but I will be fine with salad as well (which I saw was already made).
So, she puts fish on the table and says, "I can just make you a ham and cheese" I'm like, "no... thanks, that's really nice of you, but I'm totally fine with bread and salad" She kept offering to make ham and cheese! Finally, another guest said "if she's vegetarian, she prob doesn't eat ham" ugh! I felt so horrible as she was so

Poor ds is not managing to settle tonight either with or without our help . Very out of character.

Well she should be if she's that stupid star!

I know, but I don't like the person whose home I am visiting to feel in any way badly or about anything having to do with me. Especially with food! I always feel like such an inconvenience being vegetarian. But I really am fine with salad and bread

Ugh Star what a pain. It's so annoying but sometimes getting a professional in is the only way, isn't it. Our neighbour at the top rents the flat out and they've got constant problems with their plumbing. He's always getting one of his mates in to sort it (he lives abroad) and it never gets done properly. The people directly upstairs came home one day to find their kitchen ceiling had completely collapsed because the mate had put a nail through one of the pipes and it had been slowly leaking for ages.

Hey star - being vege isn't that hard to cater for. Imagine being dairy free .

csws
Aubergenie - I agree. It's convincing Dh that he needs to get a plumber in that is the problem! he seems to think he can solve it himself... for the 4th time ...
I wonder if that's our responsibility if the downstairs flat gets too much damage? If I can categorically tell DH that yes, it is our responsibility, it might help. it's a leasehold, we own the maisonette.