May 09 - Six months on. Sleepless nights, hen nights and a sexybuilder.

[HeadlessLadyH]

Over here!!!!

Momino- I was excited to wean but agree that it is SOOO messy. I never needed to change Ss outfits til now, but somehow he gets food on all his clothes even with bibs on.

Lunchtimes aren't too bad here - it's teatimes I dread as S is usually getting tired, DD is back from school and DS1 is tired as he no longer naps. The other week S was so grisly and wanting to be held but i had to cook, so i put him in his swing, and it was the first time he has fallen asleep in it- it was only a 10 minute catnap but made tea easier to manage. At least today DD is having tea at her GPs, DS1 is at nursery, so it's just me and DS2. I am waiting for a gas engineer to call before 6pm- what's the betting he comes at a really bad time!

who let the dog in the kitchen when I was baking? there's sure to be a dog hair or few in the bread going to grumpy.

Arghhh 10 weeks today I will be back in work . A 4 day week too with only Mondays off, although i will give it a month and then decide whether it's too much, or whether i can do a few hours in the evenings/ weekends to get an extra day or half day off each week. Shame that we have to give nursery 2 months notice if we want to reduce days.

pula, we have the same problem with giving nursery notice. on a similar note, our nursery wants the bond for H by December for an april start .

reggiee enjoy your sleep filled nights!! Not jealous. No not one bit.

Can't believe pula and looby and momi are so close to going back to work! I'm going back the third week of Nov, which prob isn't that far away now. DS1 starts school in January and I'm kind of really looking forward to it (he is so ready and free time for me!) but dreading it at the same time ( he's my baby and it heralds the last 6 weeks of ML).

febes am in awe of your H cup!!

Messy weaning. Hmmm. Remember our housecoats. Perhaps we should don them again?? I seem to end up cleaning our floor about 3 times a day. I have also invested in a hugely overpriced Stokke table tray as we have a Trip Trap. It works as it protects the table and is easily cleanable, but wow it was such a rip off for a piece of plastic with a lip on it. Could not be bothered to try and find something else though as it was required quickly.

God I scared myself when I read that post back. I meant I start back to work in FEB. Third week of Nov would be, like, next week.

Oh please don't talk about work! I'm due to go back at the beginning of Feb, but have a months holiday still to use. Speaking of work I suppose I should let work know that I am going back. I'm not sure if it will be financially viable for me going back to work, but I'll give it a couple of months and see how things work out.

I went to the Doctors today to get a coil fitted. They weren't able to do it cos apparently I have a kink in my cervix!?!? So I have to go back to the FP clinic to have it done there - oh the joys

Better go - ds2 is crying!

zv

hgbhbbbbb n -[[[[[[[[[[0poi

p[ ~

That was a message to you all from H.

muddled kinky cervix I've not heard of that. Although the nurse that did smears at my old GP surgery in London used to be a bit graphic. She told me my cervix was hidden up around the corner. Apparently some of them are 'straigh ahead and staring at you'

fi fff ddddddddddddddddddddddddddfcggggggge defdddddddddddddddddcvvvvvvvvv5 is ds2's reply to H, spangle

obviously my cervix is over the hill & round the corner

Afternoon Everyone, just checking in to new thread, havn't been around for a couple of days...

The concert was very very good...I didn't think we were going to make it at one point though, we had a very horrible accident, it was horrific and I can't stop thinking about it, we had to catch a trrain from Bham New Street to Bham Intl and on the way there our train hit someone and killed themm, it was awful, I was with my Mom and sister, I keep going over and over it in my head, because we actually heard their bones cracking, it was just horrific, we were stranded on the train for 3 hours while we waited for police and ambulance etc...wed got to the concert, we'd missed the tribute band but saw the BSB and they were ace. I just can't believe that our train ran over someone, I keep hearing the noise over and over, I can't getr it out of my head...

Sorry not to namecheck but whoever it was that was saying about their partner working long hours, I can sympathise, DP wazs when we had DD, and I did the first 8 months of her life with him working 10am till midnight, he barely saw DD. It was awful, I felt very alone, me and DD have a very close bond up to this day. When I think back to when DP was working those shifts it was horrible, I was at home with DD by myself allday and all night, I had to do everything by myself, DP only really saw DD on his 1 day off a week, and that's when I'd see him too...I had to eat alone and everything.

I'll try get back on and read the t5hread properly later, as I've only briefly skimmed J is crawling round the playroom "playing" with toys he "shouldn't" lol must get DD to tidy up

Jael- try not to think about it. I was on a train a few years back that hit and killed someone. I was really disturbed by it at the time, but apparently this is quite common- mostly people committing suicide .

Glad you made it to the concert in the end.

That's all DP has said, it's common, it's not that more than anything, it's that noise, the sound of the bones cracking! We thought we'd ran over a tree or something, I can't get that out of my head...My sister has head maybe it'll make us feel better once we know who he was etc, but I don't know, I still can't get that noise out of my head

Hi All,
Am going to attempt a quick catch up while laptop is on and DH has A.

Thankfully normal service has resumed in the runningmonkey household and we are all feeling better. I have now heard of 2 more babies and two mums who have been ill too. Just hope there's no more.

Sorry to those who have been having bad nights, all I can say is keep persevering (sp?), It seems like the time A wouldn't sleep anywhere but with us was so long ago, in reality it is only a couple of weeks. What worked for us was a strong bedtime routine and a policy of not refeeding if within 3 hours of a last feed (especially the pre-bed bottle which is mahoosive!). The other thing that has helped us is putting her in her own room as we are sure that we were disturbing her, especially since our bed is a bit creaky - not that we have been doing anything that has made it creak recently

spangle yay on the tooth!

grumpy fab to see you back. LOVED your description of S. sounds just like A except add in a very high pitched 'look at me squeal' while doing crunches on playgym The face grabbing is a particular favourite, especially fun with my glasses.

loobs hope you get some help for your mum. No advice about leaving M at nursery as I am dreading the going back to work even tho it is not until Feb. Can't imagine leaving A with anyone yet.

jael glad you enjoyed the concert but how awful about the train accident. Did you have to give statements to the police? If so they might be able to offer some trauma counselling which might be worth a session. We had someone come into school after a horrible incident involving a student, a lot of staff and students did a 30 min session which was v beneficial.

long days I don't have particularly long days but do find the hours between 4-6pm v hard going as A seems to be even more high maintenance then and is always getting tired about 5.30ish but it is a bit too close to bedtime for her to nap. Am always pleased when DH comes in and entertains her at 6!

Right feeding time at the zoo. Sorry if missed anyone, will try to get back on later x

jael what a horrible thing to happen. You were so excited about the concert too! Glad you managed to enjoy it. I must admit to being a closet BSB fan too. I do love a bit of Backstreets Back for a boogie!!

spangle a tooth! Wow. I love the way it appeared too. Hope they are all as trouble free.

Am going to give R a slightly bigger bedtime bottle tonight and just see how long he'll go and not do a dream feed. WIsh me luck.

Right, crumpets in the toaster for tea for DCs tonight. Better go and drag DS1 off the Wii.

febes- I meant to say earlier that it's great to hear R was resettling without a feed. I am very interested to know how things go, as I would love S to sleep through! I think my next step is to remove the dummy though, as I expect that once he's awake, he finds it hard to go back to sleep without sucking.

spangle- H did really well to cut a tooth without any fuss- I have always found the first (except for the molars) is one of the worst, so fingers crossed he will be ok with the rest too

spangle - yay for tooth!

Febes - I really should go and get a bra fitting. They've changed so much in the last year!
Well done R with his resettling!

Jael - v nasty and definitely sounds worth you talking it through with someone(even if it's a good friend so you can offload and hopefully free your mind of the incident.)

running - yay for normal service!!

grumpy - lovely description of S

work - I'm currently negotiating a return for mid Feb, hopefully 2 full days and 2 part days.

Evening everyone,

Will try to catch up, but I've missed quite a bit.

grumpy Hi! Glad to see you here today. The place always livens up when you enter C does the face scratching/grabbing too.

jael what a horrible thing to happen with the train. My great uncle committed suicide the same way. Some councelling might be a good idea if it's haunting you. at your BSB concert though. I bet it was fantastic to see them live.

spangle Congrats on the tooth It's amazing how gentle babies are when bf with teeth.

looby I hope you get some help with your mum sorted. It must be hard going for you at the moment.

muddled I had a similar thing with my 1st coil fitting after dd1. This time same dr could fit it fine. Clearly my cervix likes moving around

cats and babies My cat ignores C. I think that ever since she came into the room while I was in labour she got spooked by my screams, she's not trusted that small human

work I'm in sticking head in the sand mode with regards to that at the moment.

Well my family did turn up yesterday in the end, around 2. They hadn't realised we were that low on bread. Anyway, it's all forgiven, because they've been houseguests from heaven really. I only cooked 3 meals altogether and haven't touched the dishes in a week It's a shame they've gone now. Life is back to normal and I've got to do housework again . I was also this week that my parents have been visiting England several times a year for 10 years now and had never had fish and chips! So I got some yesterday and they quite liked it I think. My mum said it was 'different'
It was nice to have my cousin there for moral support + to divert my mum. It's the longest I've had her with me without getting on my nerves. We went to Canterbury today and she drove down with me in my car and it was constant chatter. I had a little experiment to see how long she could stay quiet and I think it was about 2 seconds, lol. Whenever she noticed I was not going into the topic she started, she went onto the next and next and next, etc...

Oh and re the bad sleeps. I think C's might have been the cold. I've been putting a blanket over her sleeping bag and it's better (normal pattern last night and the night before). Today it was only 14 degrees in our house after I'd been out all day and the heating had been off. This morning it was 16 on the bedroom thermometer So I've bought her a fleecy sleepsuit now and I'm leaving her vest off and have put her in a cotton sleepsuit + the fleecy one + sleeping bag. I think at those temperatures in our bedroom that should be fine. Right?

Evening all! Quiet here, the girls are asleep and DH has gone to Sainsburys (hopefully he'll bring me something nice back along with the kitchen roll and rice cakes!)

jael - glad you enjoyed your concert, but I'm really sorry to hear about what happened. Definitely try to find someone to speak to about it.

belgian - and for you about your visitors going. It'll be strange without them I guess.

Re work - I'm not really thinking about it right now. My mat leave ends in April (and I've got a lot of holiday too), our childminder keeps asking what my plans are (she has her eye on A!) but I can't commit to anything yet. Hoping that we'll be able to manage it so that I don't go back.

Woohoo for all the new teeth out there. Still nothing except buckets of dribble and snot here.

Late afternoons/early evenings are definitely the worst time of day for me. DD1 is grumpy because she's tired (she doesn't nap), A is grumpy because she's tired and hungry, I'm grumpy because they are both grumpy, and well, I'm generally grumpy (but not Grumpy!) and trying to cook tea etc. It's all a mess.

Today, A has had some toast and a soft pear. She gummed and mushed the toast (not sure if any eaten) but the pear definitely got eaten, I saw the evidece later!

More potty success, DD1 has had one tiny dribble of an accident today, and she actually managed to hold most of that until she got to the toilet - I am so pleased and proud. And she gets ridiculously excited about doing a wee on the toilet!

C attacked some spaghetti (without sauce) today. I put it on her tray and I've never seen her move so quickly towards food before, lol. She thought it was really very interesting and it got all stuck to her hands because it was dry spaghetti. I don't think she ate any though and she completely ignored the cheese I'd given her too.

flippin well done to dd1 for holding and making the toilet!

day 3 of dh being away and both ds & G are now fast asleep...

Jael how awful an experience for you all to go through on the train. So for the persons family who killed himself too. Glad the concert was fab though!

muddled kinky cervix?! it put visions of dancing around in porn shoes and french maid outfits in my mind for some reason! lol

dandy if you do want to do a job lot on ebay i'd set a reasonable starting price for it with possibly a buy it now at a higher amount you're happy with. With the recent postal strikes ebay has organised a discount with these couriers I've not used them yet but they seem to offer a really good service for not too high a cost... i was surprised and i'm thinking about using them for some of the heavier items i've got to list at some stage. If there's a dress agency nearby then i'd speak to them too.

spangle a tooth! what a brave'un to not really grumble about it

grumpy hiya i've noticed your countdown on fb and thought it must be dh related... your posts don't arf make me larf though G also does the face grabby smiley scccrrrraaaatch thingy, abs crunching too still.

belgian sorry the family have gone home... not having to have done hardly any cooking/washing dishes must have seemed a bit like a holiday at home I think C will be fine in the fleecy sleepsuit etc if it's 16 degrees in the am it'd probably been colder in the wee small hrs?

Today has been a mixture of really quick (this am) to reeeeeaaaaaalllly long (this pm) for me. I was out pottering about our small high street having tea & cake & a bit of xmas shopping with G and my friend who's 24wks pregnant. They were the fastest 2hrs of the day and i managed to buy some presents for ds's friends for xmas. This afternoon really dragged by mainly due to G who was a right whingy whinge. She whinged on her tummy... on her back... before bf... after bf... with this toy... that toy... I hope today is a one off as it'll drive me nuts if she's like this from now on!

flippin that's great about dd1 & holding until she got to the loo! ds is still in nappies... when he's not wearing anything at all he goes to the potty no prob... but when in pants he just wees in them so not quite got the hang of the difference between pants and nappies yet!

Belgian spaghetti. I've not tried H with spaghetti yet.

jael what a horrible experience. I used to travel on the trains a lot when I was working and, sadly, it's something that happens regularly. I'm glad you enjoyed the concert though.

long days DH generally gets back from work around 7.30 - 8 so I do the evening routine on my own. He doesn't leave particularly early in the mornings though so I get to have a shower while he's here. The thing I find hard is him working 6 days as we only have one day for relaxing/house stuff/family time/me getting a break from childcare.

nurseries we visited two nurseries on Monday and can't decide between them. Geographically there's nothing in it, similar OFSTED, same price, similar staff turnover, both have lovely outdoor play areas, both next to lambing fields (!), adjacent farmers let children from both visit baby animals/collect eggs etc. Nursery 1 was more spacious, with bigger and brighter rooms, whereas Nursery 2 is in an old chapel with high windows for 2.5 - preschool with a portacabin for babies & toddlers. It felt a bit cramped. OTOH the staff and children in Nursery 2 seemed very happy, lively smiley, and we saw the staff interacting well with the children. When we visited Nursery 1 the older children had gone out for a walk and there were only 4 babies/toddlers in that day, but it did strike me that the babies were being left to wander/crawl/play with the NNs sitting back.

I'm finding it really hard to make a decision... on balance the most important thing is how happy the children are, which points to Nursery 2, but I wonder if we didn't get a proper impression of Nursery 1. I think we might ring them and ask to look round again when there are more children in. It feels like such an important decision.

Sorry, just read through and this post is all me, me, me