December 2007 - Not Quite Two, Already Terrible ;)

[claraquack]

Just checking that this worked....

Clairey, Arcadie you have made me feel so much better re DS's behaviour, totally agree about the message to other mums - we are TRYING to teach our wee ones that its not acceptable but sometimes I just feel so awful and upset by it.

Suey oh yes, without doubt an experience at the Portland is going to be totally different! I think birth experiences have a long lasting effect for many people and I think I was lucky to escape PND although for a while I was posting when DS was wee saying I think perhaps I do have it. Its DS's birth that is what is putting me off a VBAC even though I strongly feel I would recover more quickly from a VBAC and obviously its not major surgery (although yes Arcadie I have read some awful VBAC stories which also put me off). I don't think I will change my mind back to a VBAC and DH is fully supportive which is good!

Clara saw your recommendation for a holiday place (was it Cococonut Bay?) in St Lucia and was totally when you said you lived in St Lucia, I think I missed that move! How is it going?

DrSkid so sorry about your dad - fingers crossed that the treatment zaps it all.

Beckle glad to hear the eye problem wasn't as bad as it could have been. Have you bought the pram yet? Argos reckon a couple of weeks before new stock in around here.

Clara DD is happily counting to 5 now and remembers enough of some of her books to "read" them. Today we have had "oozy mud", "irling snowstorm", "cave", "goggly eyes" and a few others. No prizes for guessing her favourite book On the downside she threw a complete paddy when I tried to extract her from the ELC shop this afternoon. Lying flat out on the pavement, tears and wailing Carried her off to a nearby bench and tried the talking softly and empathising approach I'd read about which did work eventually.

Wow suey!
This is excellent for that

Clairey thanks for that link, my DD (3.9yrs) will love that, she is doing the alphabet at nursery

Cool clairey, that looks ace! Will definitely get those.
I am a little embarrassd, but super why on nick2 is really helping, too!

It's really good, I got it a couple of months ago and within 2 days dd had learnt the alphabet song and could recognise some letters. Be prepared to listen to it ALL the time though, my 2 can't walk past the kitchen without playing with it

DS had a MASSIVE tantrum this morning because he wanted to wear a Peppa Pig top (we don't have one). No other top would do "I don't liiiike it that one, want peppa pig top". Does anyone know if they even make peppa pig tops for boys?

Clairey - I am sure they do but it will probably have George on it! Good luck, Peppa Pig addictions last a while....

BrightRedBalloon (and now I can't remember who you are!), yes we moved here to ST Lucia in August so more or less settled in now. It is lovely and beautiful but I am a little lonely as it's hard to get to know people well as I am not working. The dd's are at school every morning - I wouldn't have done this so early with dd2 but there is very little to do here with them (as you really need to be out of the sun from about 11am - 3pm and everything is outdoors).

Of course I can't complain, I have spent the morning sitting on a beach and swimming in a beautiful sea. Now I am sitting at a rickety table in a slightly ramshackle restaurant overlooking the sea waiting for a lamb roti (It may be ramshackle but they have wifi!).

However I do miss home and Suey mentioning Superwhy has given me a real jolt of nostalgia as dd1 used to love that programme!!

I wrote a message yesterday but I see it failed to post

I have been having real problems posting, I have to preview first!

Anyway DH has interview week on Friday!!

Hey Arcadie

It's your birthday

Have a good one!

Happy Birthday Arcadie!

DS has just fallen asleep . No chance of him going to bed at a reasonable hour now! Was trying to keep him up but he was so tired.

Ooh he counted to 14 today then skipped to 17 and went on to 20 Not sure if dd can do that

Hope Skid is ok, she hasn't posted since she said about her dad,

Am having a nightmare trying to find a house, no landlords want dss tenants. Am down to view two that haven't come on yet but they are so tiny, even with a massive cull of possessions I don't think we'll fit-they don't even have space for a (small)dining table let alone toys, buggies, coats, wellies and all the other paraphanalia children seem to accumulate. I suppose you don't deserve to be fussy if you're not paying for (most of) it but a little bit of space would be nice. Has been really getting me down but am trying to be positive (hence the nickname!)

Awww thanks for the birthday wishes. And for the cake BT. It looks considerably better than the two urrrrm one I made for myself. Off to eat my own body weight (no mean feat) in chinese/mexican/italian whatever DH has booked tonight. mmmmmmm

Arcadie - happy birthday and go for it with the food, isn't that one of the good things about being pregnant (I know, I know, all that spoil-sport guff about actually only needing 200 extra calories a day and even then only in the last three months, I just ignored all that!).

Clairey - good for you, trying to be positive, it must be so hard. Is there no way you can stay in your house and make your H move out? I really hope you find somewhere.

I have been spending way too much time on MN recently out of boredom, there are some scary people and scary opinions out there. I mhave posted a few times but actually would rather stay in the warmth and comfort of the Dec 07 girls!

happy birthday for yesterday arcadie!

clara ; just for you 'hip hip hooray, the superreaders saved the day-hay-hay'.

Happy birthday for yesterday Arcadie! Clara, very impressed with DD2s faces! DD likes me to draw faces and she scribbles next to them. Very impressed with your DD's alphabet skills Suey! The fridge phonics thing is great though, we have one and DD was standing there today singing "H says Huh, H says Huh..." it may drive you potty though! My boasts for Evie are that she knows a few of her colours (orange and pink reliably and yellow, blue, brown and green a little less so) and she is really good at picking up songs - she sings along to everything and will only have to hear a song once to be able to sing bits back , she's fairly tuneful too!

SQ, I have still not decided on the pram front but am being more and more swayed towards the wooden one which was linked to on your thread... Not so good for you as it doesn't fold but it might be better for DD as she can cart anything around in it and then I'll get her a Silver Cross type one when she's a bit older if she still loves her dolls. She loves books too, I've got loads on my Amazon wish list for her for Christmas . She often brings me piles of books to look through and likes to sit with me when DS2 is doing his reading after school and she points and repeats each word he reads.

BT good luck for DH and his interview! I understand your worry about everything else, I would be just the same! Try and take a step at a time if you can. Is your current mortgage portable? It could be (depending on price difference in the house your selling and that you buy) that even with a loss on your current house you may just be able to add a little to your current mortgage or take a loan (assuming you need extra) to get the new one.

Clairey Next do Peppa Pig (well, George) for boys! and this They also do PJs and Hat/scarf sets. Also, try K4007 or L4003 for free delivery

Hello everyone, just back from my lightning birthday trip to Laos (1 week), and it was truly fab, can really recommend it!!
My mum appears to have coped OK with DD too and although DD was a bit snuggly to start with she seemed pretty much her normal self which relieved me of some of my guilt...

Clairey, have you decided to stay where you are then and not move to Kent? I guess it'd be no cheaper there anyway. You can be amazingly imaginative with storage when you have no space but its pretty hard to know what to do with things like strollers. I've pretty much ditched ours now as every time DD got out she wanted to push it...so easier just to get her to walk and carry for bits.

I don't think I can report anything particularly impressive that DD2 does yet. Of course she sings, dances and plays the piano all in her own innimacle (sp?) style!

Anyone there?!

Sorry BuzzY we're boycotting the thread out of pure envy for your birthday trip.....

Hello,
Sorry Buzzy, been busy busy busy! Trip sounds fab

DC both a bit ill, have had bogies/coughs for weeks now and now they both have ulcers all over their tongues. DD is fine really but ds has had really high temp and been quite miserable for a couple of days.

I might have a house! It's just around the corner from me, a 2 bed but not too tiny. Master bedroom is huge with walk in wardrobes, if I get it the dc will share that and I'll have the small room (with just a bed in!). Just waiting for my references to come back and for the landlord to approve me-they didn't want dss tenants but the letting agent persuaded them to make an exception for me

Everybody cross everything for me!

oo clairey! everything crossed- how exciting!

Good luck Clairey, that sounds perfect. I really hope it all happens for you. When are you planning to move? Presumably it is all out in the open with your h?

Buzzy - Laos, wow! I have been to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam and loved them all but never made it to Laos. I love love love that part of the world though, the food, the people, the sites, the beaches.... (notice I put food first).

Not much to report here. Dd's ok, dh away in Key West for a 5-day meeting (hmmm....). We're all off to Miami in two weeks time to do Christmas shopping. Cannot wait.

Clairey - that sounds like fantastic news! Am keeping my toes crossed
How are the DCs doing, are they feeling better?

DH's interview is tomorrow, and even better he has been contacted by another company about whom he'd had a telephone interview by their HR agency about 6 weeks ago. Apparently the guy that conducted the interview left,and there was no proper handover, so the agency that DH is with rang him and asked him if he was interested in that company! Several calls later, and Dh has spoken to the HR director at the company, and it looks like he'll be going for an interview with them! DH did say he thought that more appealing as it was home based, so no pressure for us to move house (though we may do anyway, but at a time of our choosing), but it is great that he has got another opportunity.
Especially as he had a 1-2-1 with his boss who told him there was a promotion in the offing - but with more responsibility, and no extra pay and what is worse is apparently everyone will be getting a 0% payrise next year despite the fact the company is making a profit! the sooner Dh is out of there, the better!!!

Oh Clairey hope it works out! But even if it doesn't, just shows there are places out there and you will find something.

Clara I loved the food too. Like Thai but better! In fact I fell in love the with country generally. I feel so lucky that I stumbled on such a perfect destination for a 1 week trip away and also that the people who organised the trip for us did such an amazing job. If anyone is planning a trip to Thailand, Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia I'd really recommend them. In fact I'm already planning a trip to take DD1 there when she is about 10 and will be more likely to "get it".

No colds here, but DD2 being super cute. Copying her bid sister madly which makes us all laugh.

Ex H still being a complete prat which is a slight dampener on life but am currently holding the line that any further discussions need to be face to face with lawyers present.

I hosted a book group at my house tonight! Are any of you guys into book groups? What are you reading at the mo - I need inspiration for my next book!

Hi all!

Buzzy, that sounds like a fab holiday! I have never been to a book group but always quite fancied it! What sort of books are you going for? I haven't read much for a while but I really loved Shadow of the Wind and I found The Savage Garden was a book that was also surprisingly gripping. I have been lent all the Twighlight books by Stephanie Meyer by my SIL to read, she says they're really good and I also have the The 19th Wife and Traveller's Wife sat on the computer desk in my 'to read' pile. The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King are also excellent reads. I love to read

Clairey, that's fab news! Will keep everything crossed too!

BT, it sounds like your DH's current firm are not a great one to work for, fingers crossed that something will come of the interviews he's been having, the most recent one sounds great!

Clara ... "off to Miami in time for Christmas Shopping" - you lucky thing!

DD has been under the weather, shes had a cold and nasty cough for a couple of weeks now and had a bit of a temperature yesterday. She's really grotty with it too which is just not like her. Oh, and not sleeping well either at night (although last night she went through, first time since Saturday! 3 hours sleep a night does not agree with me!).

Anyway, apparently under 5s are going to be offered the swine flu vaccination and I was just wondering what your thoughts were on it. I am in 2 minds, on the one hand I'm not sure I trust the vaccine or that it is necessary and on the other I know that DD had 3-4 chest infections plus bronchiolitis and a respiritory tract infection last year and I worry that she will be more prone to complications if she gets swine flu. Are you going to let your LOs have it?

(apologies for bad spelling and grammar in last post, just read it back )

Beckle - I am not sure if we need to get the vaccination or not. There is swine flu here but obviously due to the weather not as prevalant as in the UK. But will the dd's (and/or us) not having it mean they won't be immune if it comes back in a more vicious strain at some point in the future? I really don't know what to do or where to get information from! And even if we did want the vaccination could we get it here? And can I bear to put dd1 through all that again, she had to have so many before we went to Pakistan she is now quite terrified of them....

Buzzy - I love reading and used to belong to a book club when I lived in Kingston. It was a really multicultural group of people and everyone chose something different every month so I read loads of books I wouldn't otherwise have chosen for myself.

Unfortunately I don't know of any bookclubs here, generally people are not as friendly as they were - or is it because everyone I knows had small children and is too tired? Anyway I am reading a slightly trashy but very enjoyable book called This Charming Man by Marian Keyes at the moment, I stole borrowed it from a hotel we stayed at. Have you done We Need to Talk about Kevin? That is one of my favourites and would provoke lots of discussion. A quick flick through my bookcase....Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell was very interesting; Victoria Hislop's The Return was excellent andtaught me loads that I didn't know about the Spanish Civil War; The Red Tent by Anita Diamant was one we did in my former bookclub which was really good. Could keep on for ages but no doubt you will be deluged with ideas!

BT - good luck to your DH, it sounds like something is going to work out for him (and you!) one way or the other.