May09 - Christmas is on it's way and Grumpycaaa is comin' to town!!

[essenceofSES]

Hope that works!

Cocktail anyone?!

Thanks Momino- i am trying to make myself feel better by telling myself it wasn't more than 15 minutes each time, and that DH went and patted him a few times (i think).

Well he was so shattered today (and poorly) that he was in his cot asleep by 5.30, although he has woken after 20 minutes (twice) and been given calpol the first time, and colic drops the second time to make sure we had everything covered. He's been asleep nearly 20 mins again, so fingers crossed he will go into a deep sleep now.

pula, hope he's feeling better, bless.

Jael, saw your FB status and glad she's getting water down.

getting ready to go to Tesco tonight. I don't mind too much, it's nice to get out. DH won't be home till 930 and has already warned me of a rubbish day so won't be doing any Christmas wrapping. Guess we'll be doing most of it Christmas eve (!).

Hi everyone.

Not been on for a few days as I've gone up to the Midlands etc... etc... So lucky I'm not going to Belgium for another week. The thing with the tunnel and ferries would make it a nightmare.

So sorry to hear that so many of our babies aren't well. C's also on that list. Poor thing got a temp, very snotty bunged up nose and a cough. She looks like someone with a nasty cold too. You know watery red eyes, red little nose. She's sleeping a lot and not eating much. So much so that I keep getting engorged and end up expressing 4-5 oz to stay comfortable. Weaning is on the back burner too. She's not interested in solids at all. She'll have a half hearted play with it, but that's it. I'm sure that once she's back to normal she'll double her feeding efforts

jael I hope your dd1 is getting better.

Oooh, headless Did you thank sexybuilder for coming to the virtual hen night?

milk feeds Spangle C's like your H. Milk seems to be her main feed (that was before ilness set in). She definitely had more than the others described. Maybe one less feed in the afternoon? TBH I'm not keeping tabs all that much on bf. I never offer though. I always wait until she shows signs of hunger.

sleeping well, with C being poorly not all that much sleep is happening. I take her into bed with me when she wakes for warmth and comfort too. Once she's better we'll go back to the no feeding before 4 strategy, but as she's eating so little, so I do feed her every time she wakes.

We had loads of snow down here. I'm hoping that it's going to stay, but I fear it wont.

Right, now back to present wrapping. Still got nothing for DH though

I hope everyone with poorly children notices a rapid improvement!

I've sent DH out to Sainsburys to do the christmas shop while I mumsnet empty the fridge. Hmm. I wonder how much I'll get done?

Belgian I haven't got anything for DH either. I want to get him a token something so he can open something on the day. Hopefully I'll have time to pick something up tomorrow.

I haven't got anything for DH either . think I can find anything at Tesco? that's really desperate of me, isn't it? actually, I think he'll be happy with homemade truffles (if we ever finish them!)

We don't really buy presents for each other, although some years we do. This is not one of them!

Pula your description of S nuzzling for milk is so sweet- J slaps my arm or chest when he's hungry!

Sorry to hear about all the poorlies out there hoping everyone is better by Christmas day

Am of all of you organised enough to have done your big grocery shop online, we habe to venture out in the snow tomorrow to get ours, expect Sainsbo's will be havoc
Am really looking forward to lot's of cheeses, pate and wine after last years Christmas whilst pregnant

Momi homemade truffles sound yummy
Headless did you happen to have any mistletoe lying around when sexybuilder paid a visit

Evening all,
busy here with teething A, dh off and nursery and more cm visits so haven't had chance to read. Hope all ok especially those with poorly lo's. Will hopefully get a chance to catchup properly soon.

Night allx

sorry to hear about the poorly ones. hope they're feeling better soon.

sexy builder.. that really made me smile!

sorry for not name checking properly.. dh has laptop and i'm on phone..

febes glad you opened the parcel.. i'd love to see photos of your stockings & i'll upload pics of G's when it's finished before xmas!

well G was unsettled today with everything.. b feeds, naps, food. combo of over tiredness & teething i think. we did get her cotbed into her room so when she eventually was ready for sleep at 8pm she nodded off after a final feed in her cotbed in her own room for the 1st time .

I've got lots of little bits for DH but all a bit predictable so thinking I should get something else.

DH has just told me that he left the kitchen window open all night last night so that's why it felt really cold

I've decided that O must be a greedy guts as he's eating quite a bit in terms of solids but hasn't really dropped much BF!

Sorry for all the poorly babies - no fun. Hope they're all better for Christmas Day.

Belgian - hope your trip to the Midlands to see DH was good.

Febes - glad you opened the parcel!

food shoppping - I don't know when I'm going to get this done! Missed out on a Tesco slot and I reckon it'll be manic over the next few days.

Fi - x-posted! I know what you mean about and re sleeping in their own room!
I'm hoping for a repeat performance tonight from O though!

so far so good here.. G's still asleep in her room. just hoping ds doesn't try another 4.30am start tonight! got a bit more of G's stocking to do tonight so back in a bit..

Pula I too liked your description of S nuzzling for milk. H tried to mouth my top the other day which made me laugh, but mostly he just looks intently at me and sucks his thumb.

Well, I've already been down and fed H once tonight (at 9.30) and have heard numerous whimperings since . DH tried to settle H earlier but it obviously wasn't going to work. I can't bear listening to him cry though.... I think I'll just have to wait until he grows out of it. More .

ikwym about the signs about boobs being wanted. G furiously sucks her thumb then if I sit her on my knee she twists and turns and bends over backwards while i'm trying to unclip my bra one handed.. she gets quite irritated at my efforts to keep her upright & out of the way so i can get my boob out lol!

well G slept great in her room! woke at 6.30am for a feed so not bad at all. DS on the other hand seems to be going through a start the day at 4am phase.. we had to put the travel stairgate across his door again this am just so we could get some sleep as he was determined to stay awake and play/read

Morning all. Sorry, no name checking right now, trying to be quick as A is trying to trash the kitchen while I type and eat breakfast!

Anyway, a WWYD. We're supposed to be going to my parents tomorrow. 6 hours drive, some motorway, some not. Chances are it'll be ok weather/road conditions wise, but if it's not it could be bad. If it was just DH and I we'd go with all the usual precautions, blankets, flask etc but we're hesitating now because of the girls. I really want to go, and DD1 is excited too - we haven't seen Mum and Dad since the summer, but....oh heck, what's the right answer?! I've been looking at the news/travel/weather websites but all inconclusive.

Sorry to dash, I'll be back later to catch up properly.

Hope you're all well.

Now then now then now then

Just bookmarking, catching up, will post later....

Morning!

flippin - tbh, I'd wait and make a decision this afternoon. Looks like we may be getting a bit of a thaw down south

Crimbo - welcome home!!! Hope your journey was ok.

Another good night here O slept from 7.45 til 3.45 and then 4.20 til 6.15!
Not sure if it's his own room, cot bumper in place now or lack of yoghurt (which he'd been loving but seemed to upset his stomach a bit). Whatever it is, I'm v grateful!

Morning everyone,

We're having a bit of an unproductive day so far. The dcs are still in their PJ's They said they'd dress after they finished tidying, but the tidying seems to be taking for ever.

crimbo Welcome to England!!!!

flippin We're definitely having a thaw down here, the beautiful snow blanket now has all but dissapeared But hopefully that's great news for your trip to your mum and dad.

fi C does the impatient arching back while I undo my bra too. After that she'll get impatient about my letdown, even though it's a fairly quick one anyway, but if nothing comes after 3 sucks she often gets a bit annoyed and comes off.

Great news about the good nights sleep. Mine has been OK, but only because I was in bed before 10 for once. C had woken at 9.45 last night. I wanted to do a bit more MNing, but though that it was very likely she'd take forever to settle, so I just packed up and went to bed with her. She settled fairly quickly and I was asleep by 10.30 I think . She woke a few times due to blocked nose and the longest stretch was 5-6.30, but then we all went back to sleep until around 8 when ds woke us. I feel surprisingly rested. Now she's napping with DH (I hope). I had tried to get her to sleep for nearly an hour earlier, because she looked tired and was rubbing her eyes etc... but she wasn't doing it. DH hasn't brought her back down yet, so I presume she's asleep. I was suposed to do xmas food shopping now while DH looked after the dcs, but as I've only just managed to get showered and dressed I don't think that'll happen now. I think it'll be me and the dcs together this afternoon. Oh well, I'm well rested, so I'll manage

Morning ( just!)

3 sleeps to go....

Welcome back crimbo!

belgina no shame in anyone still being in PJs at 11am! Have they finished the tidying yet? Good luck if you go shopping this afternoon.

flip I can't remember where in the country you are but the forecast here and in the NE (haveb een checking for my ILs travel plans on Xmas Eve) is cold but no more snow. Shame. So I would go I think if I were you.

Tell me... why do babies decide to poo WHEN they are eating?? R is sat opposite me now, tucking in to his lunch but it is accompanied by the unmistakeable grunts of a huge poo....

Is anyone doing the sleep training thing? pula I think you started but am not sure if S got ill or something. I had put R on a Xmas deadline, and we are down to one 4oz feed in the night, but he is still waking and now we are bringing in him with us and he goes to sleep quickly. However this is not something I particularly want to continue and know the longer we do this, the more used to it he will get. But with DS1 in the same room, it is impossible to let R cry it out. ANd now we are booked up between Xmas and NY which was when we were going to ship DS1 off for some sleep overs and do Rs sleep training.......what to do??????

Better go change that nappy.

headless- I was sleep training, but then stopped as it was taking up to an hour to convince him to go back to sleep, and DH was shattered as he had to do most of it, as otherwise S would want milk if i picked him up. He is ill now, so no sleep training here (apart from bad mummy leaving him to cry it out ), although we do try to resettle him if it hasnt been that long since the last feed. If R is down to one 4oz feed in the night, then you could either try the cold turkey approach, as he obviously could get by without it, or you could try the gradual approach of watering his bottle down (one less spoon of formula every few nights) and see if it gets to the point where he doesn't bother waking for it?

Although we had a disturbed night with S, he has been asleep nearly 2 hours now, which is nice for me as DS1 is at nursery, and DH has taken DD out to do some shopping and have some lunch. I've done some chores and am now relaxing (still in my pjs and dressing gown belgina) on the sofa.

hello all.
jinglebelg, mine were in PJs as well till 11ish .

decided to make gingerbread xmas trees (despite not yet finishing the truffles) so girls could decorate. getting them dressed would have taken an hour out of biscuit making time. as it is, we had to stop baking and dress, eat, etc. I now have to finish both biscuits and truffles in the next couple of hours.
crimbo, good to see you!
flippin, make a decision later this aft. might be worth the risk if you're excited, as long as you drive carefully.

headless, maybe skip the Christmas deadline if you're booked up. you don't need that kind of pressure right now with holidays. wait till new year possibly if you're going to do cold turkey.

speaking of sleep, dd2 woke up at 5.45 screaming again and I went to calm her, she insisted on coming to my bed but i wouldn't give in as she was hysterical. i held her but she tried to wriggle away and ran towards H's room. I lost it (again)and screamed at her . it was dd1 who calmed me down telling me to 'breathe, mummy' and to apologise to dd2 for yelling, 'she's only little' (out of the mouths of babes...) and 'yelling doesn't have a place in our family'... is she getting these things from me?

so, I cuddled dd2 till she was settled, put her back in the cot with a book and low light as it was nearly time to get up.

it's so hard to be calm in the middle of the night with a screaming toddler!

also need some reassurance here: could someone tell me that not everyone with 3 under 4 makes biscuits and truffles on the same day, keeps a clean house, stays sane, gets shopping done and is able to eat lunch. at least I have time to take a breather on MN .

hope everyone is well.

Headless I was sleeping training too but have given up for similar reasons to Pula after a few good nights of him resettling until 5am ish then he started getting worse and it just wasn't happening s we are going to restart after Christmas.

I have spent the morning sorting out our pile of toys. I have soft ones in the washing machine to clean them up. A load ready to be sold at car boot in the spring and all the other have been grouped into farm, cars, kitchen etc and put in plastic boxes ready to be put in my new shelves under the stairs. I'm putting away the old toys for a while so the DCs can play with the new ones they get for Christmas

Now I've got to go to the supermarket and get a few things. Luckily I don't have to get loads of stuff as we're going to my friends for Christmas so will be away for 3 days but I need to get a few bits and bobs.

Momi You constantly amaze me with how much you manage to fit in to a day. I only have 2 but I still am yet to start my homemade Christmas presents I fear I may have to buy everyone a bottle of something instead .