January 2008 Shiny New Year Toddlers - Happy 2nd birthday to us!!

[LilySwalLoosHerTurkeyBaster]

Where did 2 years go ????

This afternoon, I had to wake DD from her nap as it was nearly 5pm. Since then, she has insisted in her and dolly being wrapped in a blanket to pretend to be babies on the sofa. Meanwhile she insists I either go in the kitchen or go on the computer. If I come near her she smiles a mile wide smile and says 'No, no'. Fine by me. She's having a good time being a baby in front of Peppa. I'm having a rest

Have a very annoying cough and headache anyway.

Anyone heard from Lilyloo?

Hi everyone & LaT

Where is everyone?

LaT we dont really have the daddy problem, a few tiems that it has cropped up, I have got them ready and in bed and then when their dad comes in he goes in and tucks them in and gives them a good night kiss. I also prepare them in the day by letting them know what time he will be home in relation to their routine so they know whether it isgoing to be a kiss goodnight or they will eat with him etc. Obv this works better with S than E as he doesnt completely get it although he tends to follow S lead. But perhaps if S was prepared for it during the day then she might not get so overexicted. Worth a shot.

I am not sure how I feel about the baby thing to be honest. I do feel our family isnt finished, but at the same time I want us to move forward (get a house, settled in jobs/careers - that is more my issue) and having another baby will put all that back. We havent made a FINAL committment as I havent yet been to the doctors to get my IUD refitted, so it still could happen. Part of me thinks that soon I will have E out of nappies and he is becoming more independent everyday, do I really want/need to go back to sleepless nights and nappies etc, but at the same time i isnt territory we will revisit if we dont do it now as I dont want to have a generational gap or take another career break once I have finished studying so we do really need to do it now if we are going to.

I hope u r feeling better today.

Hello to anyone who is lurking or catchin up with LaT and I.

Hi all

All good here.

I have to say M seems to have calmed down with the tantruming etc as she knows it does not get her anywhere, long may it last!!!

Dreading this weekend tbh as H is arriving (on thursday) so see DCs. Am going to be a bit naughty and take J out of school for friday (not braved it and told school yet) so he and H can spend day together (supervised by my dad)

I will keep M with me as she is in playgroup in the morning and at creche in the afternoon for my keep fit...

But the good bit of news is I am going to brave it and ask if DCs can sleep over at my mums on sat so I can go out (again!!)

Was out last sat and was rather worse for wear

Hi all sorry for the unfaithfulness

Am posting a lot in MH at the moment

finishing my job on Friday. Was due to be made redundant on 9 June but I was speeding towards going off sick again and employer and i agreed there was no point in that for anyone so they are releasing me early with full redundancy money so i only lose some wages which we can afford.

Feel weird about leaving after all those years...

Nathan doing good. Made a tumble out of bed yesterday silly boy but all fine. The bed is not very high and he was already hanging out with his legs.

Just said 'bread' and 'drink' this morning. Speech and language thinks he's fine, just slow and possibly too busy with mobility to bother much with speech. She says he communicates very well!

Horribly unfaithful here, too...pregnancy and ft work I don't seem to be capable of posting on more than one board on a regular basis...sorry!

WST - sorry you've had to deal with all this stuff all over again, but relieved to hear your work have been sensible and supportive over it. Try to be gentle with yourself ((hugs))

LaT - I do the same as Mixedmama, and try to prep the dcs a bit if I know what time dh is getting home. I do accept that they will get a little bit wilder/more excited if he's home earlyish, but thats fine as then there's 2 of us to deal with the impact The main thing is setting their expectations - as long as they know that daddy won't be home until (for example) just as they go to bed, but he will kiss them goodnight, then they're mostly fine with it.

Mixedmama - fingers crossed for you! How do you feel about the baby thing? Why is it onw or never? Is it just because the boys are getting bigger and your dh doesn't want to go back to the baby stage or have i missed something? I'm interested in your decision about working hours and being around for the boys all the time - do you really feel that its worth giving up weekends and time with your dh to provide them with that level of support? Sorry, don't mean to question you, I just wonder if you're underestimating how important time all together (and on your own as adults) is, and if maybe the boys wouldn't mind too much if someone else looked after them one or two days a week after school if it meant you could all have weekends together?

Glad that M is getting over the tantrums, Simpson...sounds like you're getting there. Really pleased you're thinking about letting J have a day with his dad, I know you've been worried about the impact on him.

Umm...brain has gone. Waves at gingeme, JKS, Lilyloo and everyone else

Hi everyone, busy here & not feeling great - GP says vertigo, see here

Simps - hope time with H around goes ok (hugs)

& some (hugs) all round as we all seem to have lots going on right now

Oh wow JKS I thought to suffer from vertigo you had to go up a tall building and feel scared or fly in a plane I didn't know you could have it just standing normal if you know what I mean? Are the tablets helping?
30 weeks LaT where has the time gone? Mind you I bet you don't feel like that right now Has it sunk in yet with S yet ?
Simpson the tantrums seemed to have died down a bit here too lately. I think its because George realises Mummy won't back down so he just doesn't bother so much.
He is into biting now though himself as well as others . He was laying on David on the sofa last night and they were both giggeling away then David let out an awful scream and started crying. George had taken a big chunk out of his upper arm Not quite drawn blood but very nearly . I did warn his pre school teacher this morning just in case he did it there.
The boys all seem to have snotty colds again getting right fed up with it all now. Aren't they supposed to be over all this once the good weather starts ?

well this bodes well....

Told H I would ring today to go through plans for his visit (arrives tomorrow ahhhhh till Sunday) and he was pissed on phone at 5pm

So no point talking to him...Grrrr

Have told him this is last chance and if he does not pull himself together for trip then he will not be over again....

JKS - hope you feel better soon, my brother had the same thing a few mths ago and felt rotten...

Gingeme - M is a biter too and have told her nursery although atm she only seems to bite poor J

DD usually only bites DH! I have warned the nursery but they can't believe it.

Sabela is absolutley in love with nursery. I think she'd live there as long as she could catch sight of me occasionally. I hear the manager's name constantly at home. For no particular reason (except that I taught it to her last week )

Simpson - that is a mega GRRRRRRRRRRRR

JKS - horrible thing to have. Hope it goes away soon.

Gingeme - Spring can be the worst time for colds. Hope they don't hang about. Yup, 30 weeks now. ALthough you are right: 'oh how the time has flown' isn't quite how I see it!

IWST - Good to hear about Nathan's talking. IS the MH section helping at all. Hope the last few days at work go smoothly.

If anyone fancies having baby nostalgia, put in your twopennorth here. Gingeme - it's going to make you broody!

And if you don't wince with me as I tell you that I had to stand in the street wiggling my hips three times today as the baby seemed to be hatching escape plans involving my cervix and a blunt chisel. Hmmmm

People seem very underwhelmed at our likely choice of name for DS. Making me a bit sad. It's Daniel. I tell it in a list (whihc is an actual list. I'm waiting until I see him to decide) but all seem underwhelmed by list. I think they're expecting something very Spanish, which is pretty much exactly what we don't want.

LaT - I love Daniel as a name and (I have to warn you) its on our 'boys names' shortlist too If you both like it, then don't listen to anyone else! I'm also suffering from baby-trying-to-escape syndrome, only mine keeps trying to kick its way out through my ribs. Sigh. I keep hearing "only 6 weeks to go" from all my family and friends but right now that feels like a very long time (and I fully expect it to be late, too)! Ah well, all self-induced

Simpson, I'm so and for you. Fingers crossed everything goes ok and J doesn't get upset or disappointed. You definitely get massive gold stars and cosmic karma points for even trying to keep some sort of open communication and visits with your exdh when he behaves like this. Really hope you're ok?

JKS, how horrid! A friend of mine had vertigo for a few months over xmas but seems to be over it now - I'll ask her if anything helped but I know she pretty much disappeared for a bit.

Yuk, at the biting, Gingeme and LaT...fingers crossed no sign of that here (yet) although I never know what Tamara is going to come up with one day to the next!

And hurrah at Nathan's talking, WST, that sounds like brilliant progress. I know that Tamara started walking and talking at pretty much the same time, as though one thing helped to release the other, even though I always assumed it was an either/or because ds talked really early and walked relatively late (hah, I thought 18 months was late, but Tamara certainly taught me to rethink that! )

Knackered today. I've got a day off work as we were given an extra day's leave instead of an xmas bonus but had to use it by the end of April - of course I forgot all about it so suddenly had to use it up now...trouble is, I can't seem to summon the energy to even go for a swim, even though I know I'll feel better afterwards (and will regret it if I do nothing all day)...

Hey all
Just to let you know we are all back safely , had fab time.
Will try and upload some piccies of M and L they were beautiful bridesmaids!! Even M sat still long enough to have her hair done.
The dc's were great on the flights and we didn't get any delays
Hope you are all well , will try to catch up xx

Lily welcome back glad you ahd a good time

LaT that is a good name, strong, pleasant and international enough not to make it hard on the Spanish contingent.

Filly hope you manage to make something of today.

MM - complicated stuff ttc or not ttc - hope you find the right decision for your family x

JKS and Simpson - speak to you on fb x

Urgh, was robbed of my bag at a local beauty spot on Tuesday and the fall out is horrendous. Bank cards and phones are easy if a pain. But we are car-less (should get a courtesy car today) and my bike is at the station, well locked and the keys were in the bag...

It has knocked me for 6000 - on top of what was already happening. And tomorrow is my last day at work too - actually feel more than relieved right now.

sorry for the downer, that's why I've not been posting on here much.

lilyloo - welcome back

So far visit not going well, he has pretty much ignored DCs and chatted to my dad about footie/tv etc

At least M helps tbh as she will chat to anyone and is being most cute

J finding it a bit much though

I agree Filly - it IS a long time. I'm totally not fussed about 'name sharing'. I thikn it's very silly when people get wound up about it. A friend of Jose's accused us of stealing his DD's name - which is Sabela's middle name. I't's Maris, which is not only one of the very most sommon names in Spain, it is also MIL's first name and my middle name . I told a friend of mine who loves the name Sabela to use it on her DC while she was pg if she fancied (her mother was trying to [persuade her to it). Was a DS in the end.

A day doing nothing when 7 months pg is a day very well spent IMO.

Lilyloo- welcome home. We thought you had been caught in a cloud of ash. Glad you missed it (it seems).

IWST - post away, you know that. It is awful being stoled from. I'm really sorry. What bad timing for you too.

Simpson - sigh. You are doing more than your bit and are to be congratulated for trying so hard. Poor J.

We like Daniel becuase the spelling is the same and the pronunciation is almost the same. More importantly, the nickname is the same in both languages. Our only reservation is that it is common in both languages, and Sabela is unusual in both.

Did a catch up earlier but I will for you , what a terrible thing to happen , especially given all you are going through now. These idiots have no idea of the lasting effects of their mindless crime! Great news about N though

Simps sorry to see h living up to expectations too Hope the talk works r/e whether there will be another visit!

JKS vertigo doesn't sound nice , what triggered that ?

mixedm tough decision on the baby thing , but still plenty of time. I did feel like you before M though and now feel like i am def done.

Lat names are very personal choices. I wish i hadn't told anyone M name , we had a lot of 'comments' on that which i am sure you remember but they seem harder to take when you have hormones kicking about! By the way lovely name!

Gingeme ahh on George biting , thankfully none have mine seem to have done that but tough habit to break i think.

Filly hope you enjoyed the day off , don't worry if you haven't done anything thats what its for! Glad you had good hol! Seems the rain came when we came back

Ange M seems to have started with loose nappies the last couple of days too , really need to think about potty training soon!

Mrs Mc at Xavier antic on the balcony that must have been v scary! Sorry to hear about the sleepless nights too! May join you on the potty training i think. Depends on he job , closing date 10 May so will see!

Love to anyone else , think thats all for now!

Great catch up Lillyloo
I took Edward for his pre school booster this afternoon. He missed it by 2 weeks because of his pox. He was very brave and did give the nurse a filthy look after the first one
George hasn't bitten anyone so far today .
Well I don't know if you know but I have quite a few tattoos and have fancied getting a piercing for quite a while so I went to my tattooist today and got my nips done

Gingeme [ouch] did it hurt ????

hi all sorry not been on but just so tired all the time but actually things are starting to get better we are starting to get noahs reflux under control and is now under a consultant at kings. we are now getting better nights sleep so beginning to feel human again.

my mum is getting remarried this weekend so all pretty hectic .

charlie angelic and demon almost interchangeably. had complete fit tonight as she didnt want to come home from nursery!

Morning,

IWST it makes me soooo that we all have to work so hard for everything and people can just come along and ruin things without any idea... i hope you get it all sorted and it is becomes less stressful. pleased about the work decision for you though and relief will come. still

LaT - I love the name Daniel... I did suggest it for DS2 as Daniyal as that is the Islamic version but DH didnt want it, but I would still try again.

Filly - DH doesnt want there to be a large age gap where we start with the baby thing again, and I sort of agree there. I have no doubt though that if I want to try again down the line, he will actually reconsider.

In terms of S & E. It was DH idea as he didnt want me to give up work to look after E which is what I wanted. I am just consumed by the need to have S picked up from school at the end of every day at the 3.30 mark. I cant explain it. It is irrational since he has been staying at nursery till 6pm for the past 18 months. There is also the element of stress involved in getting them there and then getting to work on time and then leaving work bang on 5pm to get to the nursery... I felt constantly rushed and stressed.

We get a lot of help from my parents too (lots and lots) and if we do keep the another baby option open I dont want them to feel like I am going to pile another child onto them, so I want to show them that we can do it by ourselves, plus once my degree kicks in they have offered to help me out loads so I want to make the most of the time now,they will still have DC and regularly have them overnight so DH and I can still have time together. DH gets a lot of holiday from work so he will be able to take annual leave so we can all do nice things altogether as well. I hear what you are saying and if I thought it would be detrimental to Dh and I I wouldnt do it.

It is a work in progress anyway, as things develop we will keep looking at it to make sure it is still suiting all of us.

Oh LaT - could you share the list of your names,.... i love names lists.

Yes lillyloo it did very much but suprisingly isn't too sore after which I thought it realy would be.
LaT I just love the name Daniel but DH doesn't/didn't. I love the shortened Danny too.
How are things progressing now WST ?
What is the age gap between your boys now Mixedmamma ? What does DH consider to be a large age gap ? More than 5 years ?
nicky6 I am so glad things are on the turn for Noah. Have great fun at the wedding. Look forward to the pics ?
All is well here. Edward had his pre school booster yesterday. He was brave and didn't cry too much. Have just noticed quite a swelling round one of the jab sites but the nurse did say this might happen.
George has been great at playgroup today. No biting, well not of humans anyway
Hope to be going to a local fair tomorrow if the weather is kind.
Have a good weekend all xx

I'm not doing well on catch-ups lately, but happy to oblige, MixedMama. I'm not sure it's very inspiring. Daniel, Eduardo, Francisco (to be called Paco - it's a Spanish thing). We also like Eder and Iker, but we've only had negative reactions to Eder ('everyone will think you've got Edward wrong' lines) and Iker would be pronounced wrongly here (Should be Ee-ker not Eye-ker - although I prefer the latter!).

I am still hunting, so any suggestions of names pronounced the same in English and Spanish welcome!

Filly - I thought you'd given yourself away there, but you side-stepped nicely.

Lie down time now. Bye!

WST - hope your last day at work went ok

Me too. Have a good rest over the weekend.

How's ex-H Simpson?

LaT - forgot to say love the name Daniel it was on list for M if she had been blue

Things a bit weird tbh, had a chat with my mum's friend who told me some side effects of the medications H is on but am now confused as to whether he is being a twunt or its meds iyswim. Or both!!

J has found visit tough I think as H cannot relate to him and play/chat etc but M being an absolute star bless her

She obviously recognises him and is really defusing tensions etc by being super cute/chatty