July 2009: Grinning, wolfing, rolling and puking! :)

[alibobble]

Hi thought I'd take the bull by the horns and start a new thread. Hope the weaning was covert enough! Fire away!

We love Icancook here too. It is keeping the DC's busy as we speak.

Had a bit of a day yesterday:
DS1 had to be collected early from school yesterday and I have been up most of the night with him (and Tristan). 2 out of 3 DC's are ill right now. Sob.

Also, turns out (after a spell at A and E yesterday am) Tristan does NOT have croup but bronchiolitis.

My GP is shite!!!!

I am supposed to be having a mom's night out on Fri and think I am going to ditch it. I have had hardly any sleep this week and just want DH to give a bottle ebm so I can be in bed EARLY. I know I will get pressured to come out for a bit but just can't face it. Anyone else not in the mood for letting their hair down?

Babbling sometimes we hear ba ba ba da da but primarily just 'noises'.

Movement besides LargeGlass do we have any crawlers/rollers? Thankfully we are still stationary bar the odd rolling about.

Weightloss I have officially plateaued. Tummy still flops out. Not nice.

movement still pretty stationary here. Just mastered sitting up. Still need a precautionary cushion. dd1 crawled at 7mth but think dd2 will be slower thank goodness. tho dd1 went backwards not forwards!

homemaderusks have a recipe but dd2 just woken. will type up later. is from this good book that i found at the library. this book

Missp I hope Tristan is getting better, thank goodness you know now and you can get him sorted. Poor boy.

Max isn't much better today, he has a terrible cough now that is obviously sore as it makes him cry. I will keep and eye on it and take him to the gp if he doesn't get better. He isn't drinking much, doesn't want boob really at all. he drunk a bottle last night which was a huge relief and rewarded me with a lovley wet nappy this morning....apart from that the nappies are quite dry. I tricked him into having some water today by putting it in a bottle and warming it slightly, he had about 1 oz before he realised I had tricked him! Don't think he will fall for that again! He normally loves drinking from his cup but pushes it away when I offer it. Any advice?

I had a call from the loss adjustor today and he has given us the go ahead for the conservatory. Hooray! He hasn't looked at the other bits yet but will let me know. So excited and cannot wait to get my house back to normal. It will be about 2 months I think before we are all done.

Do any of your babies like the organix rice cakes....Max loves them, especially the blueberry ones. I got some apple ones for him to try today.

We are trying hard to save some money so I am very proud of myself today as I went through the freezer and made a list of everything in it so that I cook what is in there before buying new. I also went to poundland and bought all of my cleaning stuff today, proper brands like dettol, flash and vanish for only £1! So chuffed! I had my tesco shop delivered and for the week for all 5 of us it was £64, so a big saving. I have started buying things like eggs, potatoes and carrots in bulk at the farm shop which saves a fortune. Feeling like I am doing something to help the finances as I hate not working and bringing money in to help. Hooray for me! !

Hope you are all ok. I have 4 kids for tea (eating burgers out of the freezer so have crossed them off my list!) so am off to put away things I don't want them to play with! xx

Oh Ali that book looks fab xx

Patchy how is Max? When we saw the Paed (and GP) the one thing they did keep asking me was if baby was feeding well and if he had a temp. Sounds like Max may need a trip to the surgery? Unfortunately if it is viral (as in our case) there is nothing that can be done as long as oxygen levels are fine. Keep us posted.

Blueberry rice cakes oh that sounds good!! Must put on shopping list.

Activity not sure if I want to get dressed up and be chatty. I fear missing much needed sleep time. I'll still have to feed at crazy o clock and again the morning. If I do go, I'll want to be home by 10:30 TBH. Lame isn't it? Was your night out ok in that respect?

Ali would love to see your homemade rusk recipe when you have mo. I have been giving the store bought ones They are reduced sugar and wholemeal.....

Must get the dinner on. Ciao. x

Looks as if our thread is being overrun with sickly babies again

MissP How is Tristan doing? DD2 had Bronchiolitis when she was just over a year and ended up on the puffers for a few months. Better than croup I guess. At least you know what is going on with him now.

Patchy How is Max?? Just make sure you keep up his fluids. Not easy when the little buggers know when they are being tricked! Good news about your conservatory though! Hope it wont take as long as you have anticipated. Your Christening is coming up, isnt it? (or have I lost the farm on this one?)

Hi all

Movement - nothing here thank goodness - sitting up quite nicely but no obvious desire to move just yet. This is probably just as well, since our home isn't exactly baby friendly yet!! My friend's 9 month old is doing the commando shuffle, dragging herself with her arms - surprisingly effective and she's pretty fast as well, albeit hilarious to watch

Freezer - I'm with you Patchy - we should start a thread!! We desperately need to cut back on the spending and mine is rammed with stuff at the moment. So you've inspired me to get my ass in gear and make that list tonight. I also have an overly full tins and dry goods cupboard which I must get through. I buy food and cookbooks the same way some women buy shoes and handbags I'm sure . For instance there are 2 quails & an octopus in my freezer - I have never eaten quail in my life, never mind cooked it, so I'm not sure what possessed me to buy it? I cooked octopus before but I'm sure it took about 2 days to get it to soften enough to chew. They were all probably in the reduced section and I can never pass up a bargain . I also have half a stone of curd cheese so if any of you bakers have a recipe for curd tart let me know

Conservatory - sooooo glad that's sorted out Patchy

Poorly babies - when Hetty had bronchiolitis MissP they gave me a salbutomol inhaler and spacer for her, to clear her tubes. Once the virus cleared up, we didn't need it anymore. However my googling did show a link between bronchiolitis infections and subsequent increased likelihood of asthma which was very depressing I hope you get sorted soon Patchy - Max not even wanting boob sounds bad very worrying. Poor little lad.

rice cakes - only tried the plain ones here which are like cardboard, but Hetty seems to like them with a slick of cream cheese. I will get the blueberry & apple ones if they're going down well elsewhere. I find a packet lasts ages when I decant them to an airtight box. She still ain't too enthused by weaning. I tried toast and marmite for breakfast - I turned away and she has daubed it all over DP's pillow That'll teach me to do breakfast in bed.

Ali - that book looks ace - I have just ordered it from the library

Drinking - we have discovered the best place to practice with a doidy cup is the bath. DP is a smart arse

Noises - lots of different sounds - some sing-song squealing, raspberry blowing, growling and hours and hours of "mmmm mmmm mmmm mmmm" - which can get surprisingly irritating after a bit! We do get proper chuckling, belly-laughs now which is truly lovely

A Mind of her own - she's certainly got one of these now. She stiffens and sticks her elbows out when she goes anywhere near the car seat or highchair.

snow - bloody two inches of the wretched stuff Bet I can't get to baby group tomorrow - AAAARGHHHH!!!!!

Better go - she's woken up crying

Jetli lol at the quails and octopus....that really tickled me, in fact I am laughing as I type this!!

Missp and Jetli I think I might take him to the dr tomorrow, its been going on for so long and he is still refusing boob. He had a screaming fit for about 1 hour at tea time which is so not like him, he is a happy little soul.

Jetli whats a doidy cup? love that face!!

Baby Poor you with all the sickness, its hell isn't it. Max's christening is on valentines day, can't wait, although the thought of all those people in my house with no where to sit etc is a nightmare. Never mind, it will be a lovely day.

Anyway the ironing calls, I turned the iron on about 1/2 an hour ago and can't avoid it any longer! xx

I hate ironing. UGH
Patchy let us know how Max gets on tomorrow.I hope he is better for the 14th.

Baby will try upping the cals. But must make sure it is in fruit form. Sounds hard actually. I want spring here too. I am bored of sitting in when it is too cold/rainy/damp/just gross outside for the DC's

Jetli Octopus? he he he Now that takes the . What does it taste like? And how did you know how to cook it? Weaning is slow for us too. I cheated tonight and cut up some cooked pork and mixed it in w/a bit of Ella's kitchen (spinach, swede and pear). I spoon fed some and left the rest for him to grab and eat smear himself.

at all the poorly babies get well soon!
baby I'm also making sure we go lumpy quickly as was pureeing for DS1 far far too long, and he's a picky eater. I am also trying to let Alfie make a mess when he is eating as I think I was too clean with DS2 as too tired to clean all the time so prevented it instead and I think this contributed to his picky eating.

patchy yay about the conservatory. we need a litlle bouncing up and down emoticon now or is that just me! We have an interim payment for my car from the insurance and they are finally towing it away off the drive but still no decision from the insurance omburdsman

fed up of being cold and wet on the school run it snowed at 3pm yeasterday and today? - icy rain not quite hail strange stuff

movement Alfie is a reliable sitter and can get onto his front fron sitting and sometimes back up again. He can roll from back to front but apart from once or twice ages ago he can't roll back again. He is trying very hard to crawl goes backwards most of the time and is good at sort of pulling himself around on his bum but still not what I would say is proper movement yet.

goingout I love going round to my friends house's but only the ones who understand when I either leave at 10 because i'm tired or get a phonecall from DH because Alfie has woken for a feed. Speaking of which he keeps waking all evening it's driving me mad every hour. He's fine in the night just wakes once so wondering if it's too noisy in the street or something? you see I was dying for a shot at that face!

Hi all. Well I took Max to the Dr this morning and he has got a throat infection. I could tell his throat was sore as his "voice" sounded horse and also he cried whenever he coughed. No antibiotics though unless his temp soars again. She said they don't really have tonsils yet? I didn't know that!

Anyway he seems brighter, has eaten some lunch and had a good boob feed this morning. Still not drinking as much but I suppose it will take time. I would have thought that a sore throat would make him want to drink, but what do I know!

Lumpy food I had some homemade vegetable pasta soup for lunch, which tasted of nothing so I put some grated cheese on top. I gave Max a piece of pasta with the cheese on it and he loooooved it! He kept opening his mouth for more. It was the tiny pasta shells, conchigliette I think they are called. I haven't really done lumps yet but made him some lentil goop today which I left slightly lumpier.

Gorgeous afternoon here so off to wath ds1 play football and then take him and dd to Beavers. DH is back later, he has been away since sunday so am so looking forward to him being home.

Hope all the poorly babys are feeling better xx

Hope the ill babes get better soon. dd has another cold but not suffering much with it. She had her 2nd lot of vax this week and seemed to find it much less distressing than the first time.
dd still not rolling but sitting supported better and likes to stand supported whilst doing a kind of jig/bouncing Lots of laughs from her lately - usually in response to me doing a silly noise. Lovely to see them laugh isn't it She put on good weight again this week so am relieved about that.

Hi all

Patchy - glad Max is feeding more and seeming brighter

This is the dreaded doidy cup - as you can see it's lidless. Makes for some comedy moments with DD Mostly we stick with the lidded Tommy Tippee

baby - x-posted with you last night! Hope Marco is feeling better today.

Gillyan - anyone heard from her? She's been MIA for a while now. Hope she's OK.

Octopus MissP - I had it in a traditional Italian restaurant a couple of years ago, chopped small, stewed in red wine and tomato and served over pasta. It was soft and lucious and tasted D-I-V-I-N-E! I found a recipe at home and tried it out - it ain't easy to get it tender. It requires at least 1 bottle of red wine and about fifty quids worth of electricity in stewing it - so my bargain £2.59 reduced cephalopod isn't such a bargain after all!! I think I'll try the pressure cooker or the slow cooker this time rather than the oven. De-gutting the damn thing isn't exactly pleasant either

QF - hope the ombudsman goes your way with the car

Freezer Emptying - doing Nigella's cranberry & orange pud, and custard tonight along with a chicken leek bake thingy so that's 3 things used up out of the freezer. Plus a bit of baking stuff will go into the pud. Burgers are defrosting for tomorrow and I'll make some bread rolls to go with. Anyone got any good recipe's for using up split peas? I seem to have a mahoosive jar full of the damn things

BTW Patchy - this is a fab money saving thread - I have it bookmarked

Hi everyone, sorry i've gone AWOL but we have some little furry rodent visitors (aaaaaargh) and i just can't sit and relax and wait for one of the little gits to run accross my room (like one did on Sunday night, i was terrified cos i didn't know what it was)I've been going up to bed and watching tv when the kids go to bed. Poison and traps are down so hopefully they'll be gone soon and i can get back to normal.

Gillyan moved house and doesn't know when they'll be set up with internet (according to Facebook last week )

for all the ill babies.

Hi Phoenix - my Nan lives quite close to some ponds and if the water levels get high and the banks flooded, then she can get furry squatters in the house and garden. She has one of these ultrasonic repellent gadgets and so far it has been very effective.

The bloke from Rentokill will laugh at you though & tell you they're a load of rubbish (or at least they did to Nan)

splitpeas I use a cup full when I make scotch broth.

sleep after my whinge on here yesterday Alfie slept from 11 till 8
Don't think it will happen tonight as have already been up to him once.

splitpeas found this recipe on good food for split pea and ham soup. Sounds nice.

Brief post while dd2 is asleep in the car. Keep checking every few mins but been asleep in thre for half an hour after we arrived back!

homemaderusk Makes about 20.

8oz plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarb
1 tsp cream of tartar
2oz butter softened
1oz caster sugar (optional)
2oz yoghurt
2 1/2 floz milk
1/2 egg beaten

Preheat oven 180c/gas 4

Sift flour, cream of tartar and bicarb. Cream together butter and sugar if using. Gradually stir in flour. Using hands or electric mixer work untill resembles breadcrumbs. Combine yoghurt, egg and milk. Add to breadcumb mixture to form a dough. Knead a little with your hands. Form walnut sized pieces, foem a sausage and sqaush so little hands can hold easily. Place on a greased baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake 20 mins. Lower the temp to 120c/gas 1/2 and cook further 15-20mins. Cool on a wire rack.

Gotta go. Hope that helps. Sorry types in a rush, please message if obvious mistakes

Just time for a quick post. All 4 kids have nasty colds, so its been hard to find time for a proper post, though I have been keeping up with the reading part. Marco's sleep has gone back to being non-existant... and when he does sleep, its back in the swing or in bed with us. This cold has set back all the progress we made. Hopefully when he feels better, he will go back to behaving.

Hope all the other sickly babies are doing better

Love the money saving ideas on that thread! My maternity top-up is now over, so all I get is unemployment (about half my wage). So I need to cut back our expenses. That said, I am going shopping today for some well-deserved new clothes as I all my fat clothes are now too big!

Have a nice weekend everyone

baby well done on needing new clothes. We have a fab shop near us that has all overstock from m&s etc so you can get per una stuff for a good proce and at the end of each season they have this mad £10 then £5 sale so the other day I got 2 m and s qualiry cotton t shirts for £8.50. Bargain.

illness the colds have struck here too. Sleep gone to hell. Rebecca in bed with us last night from 6am and from 4.30am the night before. Must put the cot back up on the books again. I think it helps. Have revived the vicks on the boob trick and it seems to be helping but our house is a sea of snot between me, beth and rebecca. (dd1 and dd2)

Hope everyone feels better soon x

had Alfies baptism today which thankfully went well, although I missed the service afterwards as both boys too tired and hungry so wouldn't settle. Funnily enough Alfie a brief cry in a what on earth was that squark then went back to his usual smiley self!

Off to hunt for an outfit for tge wedding i'm going to in march. Oh the wonders of t'internet

Morning all

Ali - that split pea recipe does look good and will help me with my glut of leeks too. Will give it a try. Thanks QF for the scotch broth tip - I'd not thought about that but it would be a nice addition.

QF - glad the baptism went well

baby & ali - illness strikes again hope all the babies and DC's are feeling much better.

Not much to report here. Think we're having a pottering/cleaning/DIY day at home today. Got a piece of pork out of the freezer plus some waffles, blackberries & custard for afters. DD had her first taste of trout last night - seems to have gone down quite well

Other than this, not much to report

QF lovely the baptism went well. Hope you managed to take lots of lovely pics.

Ali Baby we have the lurgy bit time in this household. Now DD has it so looks like another ropey week.

Jetli your food sounds lovely. When can I come over?

I decided to go out on Friday but had a real "sensible hat" on. I left home at 8:30pm and was back at home by 11:20pm! TBH glad I did. I was not in the mood to get tipsy/dance like some of the other mommy friends so left early. I felt good on Sat for going out but having NO hangover and 5hours sleep was even better.

Does that sound old?

miss no it sounds like you didn't want to spend the rest of the week paying for one night out... which lets face it is possible. If that's old, then count me in! [old fogey emocicon!]