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.

DD can also get in and out of beds by herself but that's the problem . There would be no keeping her in if she knew she could get out. Thankfully she seems ok in the cot for now.

I loved Center Parcs when DH and I went ut it must be about 15 years ago. We hired bikes to get around on. One thing to remember is the on-site food is massively expensive so worth taking with you.

I am also unwell. Bad cough, achey and full of snot. Nice.

Apparently it's the final day for reception offer acceptance today so hoping the list might move enough for us to be offered a place. Cross everything for us xxxx

Hope it goes well D & S

Sorry to hear about the under weathernesss!

I love this thread, What makes it so special is that we all respect each others views and are there to support each other, its so lovely. I am sure we will be still here when we are grandparents. Imagine that

I am off on holiday To Cyprus on Sunday. I am looking forward but so much to do before I go. I am not sure why I have to clean oven, vacum under beds, tidy garage before I go. But I do!

Works meal out tonight, work tommorrow, big friends 50th birthday tommorrow night, hotel saturday, fly sunday. Its all go go go here.

Yes we defo need to meet carrie I am not sure where the time has gone. Maybe creepy crawies when I return.

Happy Easter mummies and chickens
Talk when I return xxxx

Fingers crossed D&S I am also full of snot and for some reason my throat is gungy too.....TMI?

Have a great hols mama

mama I know what you mean re: this thread. I have had such support, advice and encouragement from all of you over the years - yes it is years now! - and I feel I can ask anything and say anything and I wont be judged. For example, home educating ds1. I am sure most of thought I was mad, but none of you said so and were actually really supportive.

I was waffling on the other night to dh and mentioned one of you and dh just looked at me and said "you act as if you know these people!"

But I do!!!!!! and they know me!!!!!

So lovely that we are still here and still waffling on to each other xx

M has a pillow - we had it there when she had cough/cold/croup and just left it. It's actually a=n adult sized one wedged there.

It's funny to think that dd1 was in her own bed by this point (still in grobag) but M seems fine in her cot so there's no rush to get organised get her out.

Have a lovely holiday mama I'm very jealous - we'll be doing day trips but might visit London for 2 or 3 days.

Centre Parcs is great with kids, but don't book too much. The activities are expensive and the free stuff - pool and kids areas - entertain them fine. I agree the food is expensive and we took loads with us.

mama have a wonderful time!

Best friend is in labour! I jump out of my skin every time the phone goes!

I want a baby Must think positive thoughts though. Hopefully snuggling someone else's newborn will give my hormones a kick up the backside!

We're busy getting ready for dd's gruffalo party tomorrow - dh icing the cake, me on MN printing gruffalo masks to colour in, and templates for turning loo rolls into owls. This makes us sound far more domestic and creative than we actually are!

Had my scan and I am 17 weeks and 3 days, plus/minus 10 days. Go back in 3 weeks for an anatomy scan.
Am due on the 6th September so definitely before Robyns 2nd birthday. Feeling a bit weird knowing she is so young and I will have 3 in nappies. Plus we definitely have to move now so are frantically looking.
Also any tips on a double pram please.

Phil and Teds all the way debs!

My friend had her baby at 9:22pm and I've just been round to meet him. Soooo cute and tiny! They had a great home birth and look really happy all tucked up in bed

a 2 hour old baby aaaah - doon't make any more of us feel broody.

Agree re. P&T they are brilliant.

Looking forward to seeing Gruffalo photos Carrie, might be tempted to steal your idea if we decide to have a party for ds1. And I guess I should make up my mind soon as we go on holiday on Tues for a week and his birthday is in 3 weeks.

Bec I get slagged off too for talking about you all as if I know you!

debs wow, congratulations! I must have missed that one! How come there's a discrepency of 20 days?

congrats to your friend carrie did you snuggle the baby for fertility luck? apparently that's supposed to do it. And, looking back I think the day I visited my friend with 10 week old (made sure I had a good 15 minute cuddle) was the day I conceived. Definitely worth a rub.

Fingers crossed D&S for a decent place for your ds. Beginning to wonder when I'm supposed to register my own DS? Will it be this September?

debi steal away! photos on fb. The gruffalo website is great for printable craft resources!

DG I don't believe in luck...but i've been ttc each time best chum has had a baby, I really think the surge of hormones helps! We have a 9m gap between most of the 5dcs we have between us!

I think the +/-10 days is either a margin for error or because my last period was over a month before conception. My initial dates were 22/07-03/09 so at least it has narrowed down a bit.

God I am so knackered, nexr door have had a party which as usual has descended into a big fight on the driveway. I was trying to get to sleep but curiosity and the sheer noise has made me investigate. It has all stopped now with the fighters driven out and at last the music has stopped so I can pop back to bed soon. I cannot wait until they move.

With the phil&teds don't you miss having them face you?

Digi you register them for reception the September before they turn 4. If you want them to go to pre-school it's the September before they turn 3. Each borough has their own deadline so you'll need to check out on your local government website when yours is.

P&Ts I didn't really miss them facing me tbh. I still used the Bug a lot when it was just me and DD so she faced me then but the P&T is great for the 2 of them. DS loved the fact he could get in and out himself and the cocoon thing is great when they're really little.

debs I've sadly never had a buggy where my kids could face me, other than dc1 being in a pram (we were given a free travel system so i wasn't going to sack that off just for the sake of which way they faced!). If you've not got the toddler seat on the p&t then the baby can face you like a regular pram. I like the idea of them facing me, but in practice all the other benefits of the p&t more than outweigh that.

DD is 3 today! This time last year i had a breastfed 6mo, and now i have a two toddlers! Sadly dd has been puking since 2am. She rallied a bit mid morning and asked for toast, but has since brought that back up

D&S your post made me realise that although dd is three today, and only starts pre-school in september, we have to start school registration in sept, because next september will be the start of her reception year. Will someone please stop my small people growing up?! And get me another small person

It's scary how quickly it happens isn't it Carrie?

Think I will have another look at the P%T. I quite like the ICandy Pear as a double as you can have them facing you or away. And the Britax Duo as the same. I know I have a hangup about them facing me, rear facing in general really, but it is nice to see them. Robyn is still facing me as her pram is broken and I can't turn the seat around. In the end it will all come down to cost and what fits in the car.

finally got to bed at 12.30 last night, the 'silly' girls had had their fight, buggered off then come back for more then gone home so I could finally get to sleep.
Ds was up listening to it and the more they shouted the more he laughed.

Debs the P&T has its faults (break is stiff, ridiculous four clips per child to do the straps up, limited visibility for child in low toddler seat) but for all that I really think it is the best one on the market. I'd look at the sport, not the vibe. It only takes up the space of a single buggy and is a dream to push, and you don't have the width problems of a side by side, or the length (and getting it up onto a pavement) problems of a front to back. Even with only 17m between my dcs, by the time ds really cared about not being able to see from the bottom, dd was big enough to walk a lot so he generally sat in the top and she climbed in and out the bottom as the mood took her!

Dd brought up her dinner (a bit of plain rice) but has since kept down some toast. Fingers crossed ds doesn't get it coz I don't trust him to make it to the sick bucket in time!

Deb while the P&T's intrigues me, I have to say I love love love my iCandy apple. It is a brilliant pram/pushchair and has never let us down. A real workhorse. We even take the large fisherprice travel highchair out with us as it fits underneath.
For hols etc we have a maclaren unbrella style.
I'm not sure what we'll do when (if) we conceive another. I came off the pill yesterday, although DP and I haven't had a proper talk yet.
I'm hoping that if I conceive in the summer, by the time baby comes, C will be old enough (2.5) to use a buggyboard. Not sure I want to invest in an iCandy pear updgrade or buy a phil & teds for a few months only.

Hope everyone is having a hapopy easter. We had a lovely day yesterday - swimming and then afternoon with my sister and her family. Her DS (7) has finally morphed into a nice little boy. He was a 'challenging' toddler to say the least, but yesterday we put C onto their huge trampoline (with enclosure) and she loved it and he watched over her too. He then did try to go down the slide feet first after her and almost kinocked her out though .

Happy Easter everyone.

carrie sending you lots of preggy hormonal vibes, and hoping your DD is better soon.

debs We considered the P&T very seriously, but I just couldn't get used to the one kid always stuck behind thing, plus the lack of recline options. In the end we went for the Baby Jogger City Mini double which is a side by side. The shop threw in for free a Graco baby cocoon which clips in so the new baby can face me in that for the first little while, while DD faces forward sitting next to her. It's the narrowest and lightest side by side I found, but I'm still dreading that 'taking up the whole pavement' feeling.

DD is still in her cot - well now a cot bed we bought so that the new baby can go into the smaller cot. We want to intorduce a gentle pillow now to help with her breathing, but she sleeps in the most hilarious range of positions I really don't know how often her head would be on it! Do others have any luck with putting a pillow under the sheet? I think that's what I'm going to try to start with. Still in sleeping bags (see sleep positions comment above) but for some reason she's not happy with our attempts to move her into the 18-36 mth size.

She is also a stumpy by the way. Alarmingly short legs compared to her body. I blame DH as I am certainly not responsible for any stumpy leg genes!

yes - M is stubby too and definitely comes from H's side. I need to look out my 18-36 month sleeping bags as she's looking so big in hers.

Does anyone elses LO sing - M is always singing. I can now make out a range of songs including Twinkle Twinke, Wind the Bobbin up and wheels on the bus - sometimes she gets her toys to do the actions

She is now wearing a tissue box as a shoe, oh now both feet are in. She may need rescuing .......

As ds is a giant amongst babies he's been in his 18-36 month grobags for a while. Infact I'm worried how long they'll last him for.

DS has quite long legs, but then dh for a man. I say that because I've got a feeling that men in general are longer in the torso and shorter in the leg, and woman are vice versa.

M doesn't sing yet. Infact we still only have one word, never two or more. He loves to hear people sing and stands stock still and looks intently at the person singing. Luckily it doesn't spook the leader of our music group anymore

Nice to see you Ponymum, how are you doing?

No singing here. But he's started dancing to hiphop/80s&90s funk. Never nursery rhymes (obviously has much more sophisticated tastes than I gave him credit for). It's quite funny, he stamps his right foot up and down if he's really feeling the groove!

Have had quite a busy weekend despite not having made any plans in advance. DS had a fantastic time playing with my little brother yesterday. It's amazing watching them interact, despite the apparently large age gaps (DBs are 10 & 6). DS was completely in his element. And played non-stop till we left at 8pm when he left without a fuss and dropped off in the car on the way home and didn't wake up when put to bed!

Double buggy chat is v interesting. Am thinking would like option of rear facing for newborn as I regret not having that for DS. He hated the buggy for the first four months, leaving the house was often stressful so would like to avoid that again.