Sept 08: last year they were cute little bundles that smelt of milk and vanilla, but now they've been replaced with a babyzilla!

[ILikeToMoveItMoveIt]

A new thread for us as the last one was running low.

OMG C just walked by herself!!!!!!

[containing excitement emoticon]

I have just purchased ILTMIMI's kenwood chef attachments. I may expire from excitement before they arrive.

[needing a life emoticon]

Woooo! Go C!!

Wow IMO!

sunshine it was definitely the shoes and bags that gave it away!

imo - she can obviously read too!

Thanks for the travelling suggestions sunshine-very useful and ninja- very funny!
OMG I have been the hairdressers today and have gone from a blond to a brunette I was in tears in the chair. It looks healthier now and I wont miss my roots. But I wan my blond back Arghhhhhhh
Baby pulling at me, got to do bedtime rush xx

Yay, go C! What are the qus IMO? hopefully I can say with total certainty and without grovelling for compliments that I'm awful at playing with my kids. Its not that I don't want to, but that I often don't know how, I find 6m-18m the hardest before they're talking properly and seem to just sit and bash stuff! Both my kids have been independent and good at playing on their own, but recently, at 2 1/2 dd has been asking for a lot more of my time. She's into role play, going on 'trips to the beach in a land rover' () or just wanting me to sit and watch her do a jigsaw or some drawing. I'm having to learn to put down the washing up/MN () and sit with her and try to be led by her how to play. DS happily gerbils away on his own, always used to under his activity arch, then would sit and watch me and dd (he spent six months in the sitting stage before he could crawl). I have to think to sit and spend time playing with him. The down side for me is that the kids adore daddy to the point of showing that they prefer him - ds cries if dh passes him to me. Somehow daddy has the knack of playing where mummy doesn't know how, but I'm learning!

I've got a babysitter for my 30th birthday, now I have to decide where to go out for dinner. I only have 6 weeks to decide! [total sad case emoticon!]

Hurrah. GO C!!!!

Mama - have some blonde highlights? But ones that tone with your base colour and don't have them on your parting - that way you'll get flashes of blonde highlights but without the really obvious root regrowth.

DH is better at playing than me. But then again I'm not sure who enjoys the Duplo and Mega Bloks the most, M or dh?!

I have had 5 years of roleplaying and dolls I never liked it when I was a kid

carrie - SOOO young, it's my 40th this year, although tbh I'm not bothered. I want to try and organise doing Go Ape (tree top activity) and a spa day.

M can be quite independent, although it usually means she's doing something she shouldn't . I realised the remote control had been through the dryer the other day as loading and unloading that and the washer is one of her favourite games. Also the plastics cupboard.

If she's very quiet it usually means she's found a way of climbing onto soemthing very high!

ninja lets celebrate together - Go Ape and Spa day are BOTH on my birthday wish list!

and ninja we can leave our girls together and hopefully my dd's love of land rovers and swimming parties will rub off and you can stop playing dolls!
She's got her first imaginary friend - not truely imaginary as its Penelope from Show Me Show Me. I sat on her the other day without realising. Bad mummy

I organised Go Ape for my friend's hen do, it was brilliant! I didn't really expect to like it (am scared of heights ), but once I got over the sheer terror it was fab.

Glad I am not the only playing disaster. T hates me not being in the same room as him (unless he is in the kitchen unloading cupboards, for which my help is not required), but he really doesn't particularly enjoy me playing too. Loves playing with his daddy, naturally, but is really even happier to play alone when he's there.

Oh bugger, didn't make it back last night to ask my qns (too busy laughing at James Corden!). Well, now I'm in the office I have the time

1. Co-sleeping. Occasionally when C wakes early (pre 5am) due to teething, we prefer to bring her into our bed and all cuddle up and try to doze. She often falls back asleep. However those co-sleeping how do you cope with the worry that if you fall asleep your LO might wake and roll off the bed? C knows to get down feet first but she has no awareness of the edge really. She loves the bed and will happily roll all over, including off the edge when she doesn't know she has reached it. Our bed is high, so whilst I'm happy to have her in bed wth us, I can never go to sleep. Tips?

1. Hovering mum (ie me!)

C goes to nursery 3 days a week and MIL 2 days and loves it there. However, how do I stop seing her as my pfb who is likely to break? I do try to encourage her and consider myself a confident and independent women, yet my own mum was over the top with us and instilled a sense of independence at an early age that was too much and as a consequence, I can't talk to her about anything (eg at 9 I was afraid to discuss periods with her, despite starting mine and not knowing what was going on!! In fact I was in tears in hospital when C was born as I realised I she wouldn't go through what I did as I can talk to her about things properly)

I digress, anyway I am trying to encourage confidence and independence but sometimes I hold back as I am scared of turning into my mother. C is also tiny for her age and not very strong, so if we're at whizz kids, I get scared if another child runs past in case they knock her over or trample her. I am aware I am possibly wrapping her in cotton wool a bit but I am at a loss as to how to strike a balance between over-protectiveness and too much 'let em get on with it' (my mother's apprioach to the extreme).
To my shame I shouted at told a little girl of about 4, who was in the baby area of whizz kids without her parents, that she was a silly girl as she had knocked C flying.
Sorry for long post, but some real egs always help me so much.

Ninja it's my 40th this year too. No one can believe I don't want a party - just a quiet dinner somewhere nice. TBH (and this is very irrational) because my mum died at 39 I'm just grateful to have made it through (well almost anyway) my 39th year.

IMO - how exciting. Go C.

Oh and last night C walked 4 steps between me and her daddy!

She also prefers DP was more than me and will also cry if he leaves the room or he tries to hand her to me . I am not very good at playing either. I like to think it's cos she is so settled that I am always here for her and not going away, that she'd rather be with DP who is often away on business (makes me feel better anyway).

She will also come into the bathroom with one of us when we're on the loo, and if I give her a piece of toilet paper, she will try to wipe her own bottom!! We've bought a potty that she is delighted with and tries to use as a push along walker . Just getting her used to it and relaxed with it around. Not trying to potty train but I sit her on it while her bath pours and she seems to like it.

IMO I did that with DS and he never ever used the potty - went straight to the toilet and wouldn't use the seat thing that made it more his size either. Must get the potties down for DD though.

Hi all
Quick post as its all hectic here
imo I use a tommy bedside guard when co sleping. It fixes on like a bed rail. Peace of mind and lots of lovely sleep. I do also have a travel cot next to the bed too but this is so I can pop him in and out when he sleeps and Go for a quick wee, etc ect .
Go ape, what a wonderful Idea, Ive just googled it. xx

ooohhhh I will be asking for those next time il2mimi

Hi guys anyone with a bugaboo bee?
I am thinking I need one for my trip to dubi. Does a 16 month fit comfortably? I have a very old maclaren but it does not lie flat, face me and the handles are too high for me. I dont want to take my bugaboo chameleon as quite heavy. Any advice ???

iom we're co sleeping, you may recall various attempts at sleep training last year. We put ds to bed in our bed at about 7:30/8 and pile up the pillows and cushions either side of him. He usually sleeps pretty heavily early on in the night but if he does roll around he'll stay within the pillows. He's good at reversing off the bed when he wakes up so no probs there either.

Re: independence. I try to instill a sense of confidence and independence but I think if a bigger child is about to trample my little one then I try to step in to avoid disaster. My little brother was rough housing with his older brother when they were about 2 & 6yo - the older one fell on the younger one and broke his leg. Poor thing struggled to walk on it for a day before eventually got a temperature and my dad took him to the hospital.

Hence I am probably a bit more protective ATM when it comes to ds playing around others. However on his more confident days he is quite the bully and I have to be equally careful when he starts shoving even littler ones around.

Mama my friend has one and she loves it. It really isn't enormous though. You'd comfortably fit a 16 month old in it, but I just can't imagine you'd fit a reasonable sized 2.5 year old in it. T is massive for his age (99th percentile height and weight) and wouldn't have a lot of room spare in it I wouldn't think. Saying that, we're probably going to buy one as a second pram if/when we have DC2 - don't want a double but want a second pram for when DP's around so I don't have to sling DC2 all the time (will also get buggy board for the Cameleon, hoping that the combo will get us through till T can live without a pram). It is v little and amazingly light.

T quite often gets shoved over etc by fast moving children. He's a complete wimp (takes after his mummy ) and cries at the least contact from a passing child/the floor. His response is slightly embarrassing as he is so sturdy and robust looking!

IMO We co-sleep usually from about 6 in the morning and I pull her cot up to the bed so she has the rails to stop her falling out. Obviously this only works if they are still sharing your bedroom. If not then how about a foldable bed guard? You could put it on the side of the bed folded down until she joins you then pop it up.
Robyn has fallen out of bed several times now and luckily she has been fine.

She is your first baby so you are bound to be overcautious and protective. It is usual to intervene when you think she will get hurt. If you stop her getting hurt by others you won't make her a wimp or knock her confidence she will know that you are to be trusted and that will make her confidence grow.
BTW we all feel that worry of striking the right balance between hovering and neglecting, for want of a better word. You will find that some situations warrant an over-protective attitude and some you can sit back a bit.

Oh and if I give robyn toilet paper she just eats it, as she does anything and everything else.
She also had a 'I love Daddy day' today and screamed if he wandered away down an aisle in Asda away from her. tomorrow she will probably not want to go near him and will be back to loving mummy again

Imo when my dd wakes up way too early, she comes into our bed but one of us tucks an arm around her. So far we have avoided any getting too near the edge incidents (and fortunately our bed is not too high) but a couple of weeks ago, DH caught dd trying to sleepcrawl over me and gently lifted her back again. If one of us can be bothered, we will tip-toe her back into her room once she is back asleep.

Bloody hell

Has anyone else's DC stopped napping? T has virtually dropped all daytime sleep (down to one or two ten minute dozes with me jiggling the pram at all times), and is only sleeping eleven hours at night in total. He's a little bit tired and grumpy by the end of the day, but basically he's fine, just doesn't need that much sleep (never has needed as much as other babies his age). I am getting nothing done!