Sorry folks - huge post, but in my defence, a lot seems to have happened today.
Firstly, Tree - it worked! Pictures are lovely and I STILL WANT YOUR HOUSE! I can't believe how all your furniture is in the style I want for this house. (Fat chance of getting any though.)
Your girls are so gorgeous, they both look like such beautiful souls.
Cake looked great, as did all the decorations and party food.
I wish you lived closer, then we could have our own toddler group. I hate going to those things, as I find them really cliquey and intimidating. I studiously avoided them with the boys. I think I shall have to make more effort with dd as they are opening a 0-5 yrs centre at the ds's school which is all of 2 minutes walk from my house.
Books. Congratulations of releasing your final installment! Amazing and epic birth story. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOOKLET!
Well, I am feeling quite proud of myself after coping quite well with all 3 dcs without dh today. They are all snoozing away at the moment, hence my having some time to mn.
Good news - the baby walker turned up. The seller called first thing to say she had spoken to the courier firm and they were contacting the driver. Got back this afternoon to a message from her to say it had been delivered to a dental practice on my road. Well there is only one dentist around here - my dentist, so I called them and sure enough they had it. (Although their parcel is still missing in action.) Went and collected it, rushed home, put it together and dd made a beeline for it straight away. She played with the abacus bit, threw the bricks around a lot then ..... stood up and pushed it across the room! First time she has taken any proper steps without holding onto something stationary. I thought she might panic when it moved, but no, off she tootled with a big grin on her face. Mum was here and got it on video. She hasn't left it alone all evening.
In other news. I was changing dd's nappy first thing when she grinned at me and .... behold - a tooth! An upper canine at that. No wonder she's been so grumpy for the past few days. The weird thing is, she definitely didn't have it yesterday and she slept like a log last night, so how it managed to appear overnight is beyond me.
Finally, I phoned the headmaster of the boys' school today to formally complain that nothing has ever been done satisfactorily to deal with the boys that have been picking on ds1 since Reception year. (He came home yesterday and said they have been lying in wait for him and then teasing/bullying and hurting him - again .) I really had had enough of it all this time and lost my rag. I am fed up with the horrible little boys having a reign of terror over all the other children in the school Everyone knows who they are and what goes on, but noone has the balls to complain/confront it. The secretary did try to stop me speaking to the Head saying it was a matter for the class teacher, but I wasn't having any of it today. I have spoken to every class teacher ds1 has had and nothing has ever been done to put a stop to this little gang's bullying. Fortunately the Head was fantastic. He was of the opinion that he was not having any of it in his school and that one child not wanting to go to school because of these bullies was one child too many. He dealt with it straight away after the phone call. First he spoke with ds1 and his friends to make sure they were all telling the same story, then spoke with each of the (6!) boys in the bully gang on their own. Then he briefed all the teachers and other members of staff who have been told to be vigilant around the boys concerned. (I informed him that they have tyrannised/terrorised the entire year since reception and while individual incidents had been dealt with nothing had been done to stop them acting as a gang and repeating the bad behaviours.) Then the whole year was given an special afternoon session on treating each other with respect and what to do if someone bullies/hurts/upsets you at school. Finally they had extra circle time where all the children could air their worries/grievances and work together to decide how they could support each other. Ds1's teacher came and thanked me after school for raising the problem and said it was a serious issue that really needed dealing with and that several other children in the class revealed similar bullying incidents during the circle time session. All in all a good result. Ds1 came home a different boy today, much more relaxed and happy.
Ray, dd is also a gannet, eats anything and everything (except watermelon apparently). Despite this, she is still a little dot and only just into 6-9 months clothes - I wish I had her metabolism, but alas she gets it off her dad not me.