DEC 08 - Barely into toddlerhood and already at our tit's end

[MomOrMum]

Tit's end...had to be done.

Hope this works!

Oh and a tepid bath but again watch for signs of the body trying to warm itself.

I can't get ds to switch from having his milk from his Nuby soft spout cup to a hard spout - he just tips it all over and laughs at the milk coming out He will have it from a cup with no spout, but I then have to stand there between his sips and make sure he doesn't pour it out! Any tips people?

Veggie hope you feel better soon... Yes I think it's def the preg that has made me just camp out at home a lot too. Prob the weather hasn't helped and I'm sure things will pick up now the 2nd trimester has hit and I will go to work soon and the weather will improve.

Veggie: that's really helpful, DS2 was shivering a bit after his bath last night but still felt hot. Will cover him up sharpish next time

Oh hooray Urbane, tell postman pat the delivery arrived and it def had the desired effect DS1 was pleased as punch. DS2 is having a nap and we just got in from the cold school run so DS1 & I were having a cuddle on the couch while watching Big & Small when a very happy TNT delivery man knocked on the window. When I told DS1 it was for him from I he was thrilled. He nearly went through the roof when he saw what it was esp the watch. Of course it is straight on and he is cuddling the magazines. I asked him what message he had for you &Urbaneboy he said to tell you he loves you and wants Urbaneboy to come to his house to play (that's 4 year old boy equivalent of an invitation to go to the pub for a drink sometime) He also wants to find something 'in his world' to send Urbaneboy. Thanks also for the G&B very very much appreciated. So generous thanks Urbane.

Oh my god, I can't believe how much I have missed due to an extreme House of Ill chez spot. But congratulations to SL and LadyT!!!! Will read later and catch up properly.

I will just briefly pause from eating my incredibly boring cabbage soup (don't worry, it has excitements such as pearl barley and cannellini beans in it - I know, I know, I totally live on the edge with my high octane soups ) to say that I had a text from PD today saying she spat out her cornflakes when she read about my news but did want me to pass on hearty congrats to Summer.

Hope the illies are all perking up a bit, especially Urbane's poor beleaguered lot. Oh dear Spot, you too.

Rubes and soft spout - if DD drinks from a sippy she actually prefers a hard spout but she still drinks mostly from a bottle as otherwise she simply wouldn't drink enough, and with all the shenanigans about her eating much at the moment I really couldn't face her not drinking as well...

I have got to sort out the driving. I have been looking into lessons and courses today. It fills me with an enormous sense of ennui. I think is because I have zero patience with anything I cannot master in a flash I wish I wasn't like this.

Trace, is it tomorrow you have your appointment? Good luck if so.

Just a quick post as we have a new computer and I'm over excited and want to try it out. It's v sexy. Brilliant!

Off to bed with me. Don't know about other preggos, but staying up past 9.30 is late for me. In fact, sod the preggo bit - it has been near impossible for me for nearly 14 months... Wonder why!!! Hahaha!

x

Learning to drive is tedious but has been an absolute lifeline with T. I'm sure you have already been told this - but you will wonder how you ever managed before!

It's not serious ill here - but T has had a really bad chest for a month and a D&V bug for over a week and it's really taking it out of me as me and DP have had it as well and DP is abroad for most of this week. But I did squeeze in a wedding at the weekend which was great and made me really appreciate my girlfriends who I don't see nearly enough of.

T is hilarious now when he's on form. He can't talk but lets you know when he finds something funny. At the moment the words I say that send him into paroxysms of laughter are horse and fart.

On the second babe front - I have some crazy delusion that T will start to sleep through predictably at some point and I will then have enough energy to procreate. But am beginning to realise that I will never get the amount of sleep I had before T and should probably just get on with it as we do want another and T took ages to come along. But at the moment my book is my baby, I'm spending all my spare time on it (which is another reason I have been avoiding MN recently), we're mocking up covers at the moment, making it feel very real!

We're still on bottles for milk. I have tried a beaker but T absolutely refuses it for anything but juice or water. Am giving him rice milk at the moment though as milk formula seems to make him sick and pooey again after his bug. I hope it sorts itself out and I can get him back on the real milk soon as I think rice milk has very little nutritional value.

He is enjoying his new nursery though, which is a relief. And I can't say how much I am enjoying the headspace. Though I need to remember to use the time to work not hoover.

Glad to hear things seem a bit brighter, Trace, really hope P's sleep improves. I think your plan sounds very sensible, and well done for doing it in the middle of the night, I always get up immediately to replace T's dummy as it means I can get back to sleep sooner . And I reckon whatever dose of meds works - works. IYSWIM.

Oh, and sorry I didn't mention it earlier, but I am thinking of you and your DH Daisy, it must be such a horrible time for you all .

Hi Beans, I'm usually a night person, and still am for the most part. 1st trimester saw some early nights but now my energy is back slightly i'm up later again.
Brought dh home. Was still under effects of GA for a bit but he soon got appetite back.
ds was shattered when we got home and slept in car then into cot and not a peep.
I just got really sad when I saw the news advert about babies in Haiti who have lost limbs. Then I got even more sad when I realised things like that didn't bother me anywhere near as much before I had ds which is awful isn't it? Is it normal to be so sad seeing things like that only after having a child? It brings me to tears - as did seeing a baby in the hospital getting wheeled along today

Right i'm off to think about something happier

Rubes, i thnk once you have a baby any kind of child suffering awakens feelings in you which didn't really register before. Add a few thousand pregnancy hormones to the mix and you are bound to have strong reactions to such terrible sights. PLease do be kind to yourself.

Spot, glad the book is coming along well. I know what you mean about energy for bonkage. You might surprise yourself though with the speed with which it happens. Your body has been there and done that so it knows the form.

Good luck for tomorrow Trace. Will be thinking of you.

Congratulations, Summer. What lovely news. Is that the 4th baby on the thread now - Rubes, LadyT, Beans and you? Anyone else???

Thnking of you Daisy still.

Sorry for all the sickies and teethers. M seems to have calmed a little. I hope it lasts. Hope everyone gets a good night. Am off tomorrow to buy a present for my dad. He'll be 80 on Thursday! Wow, it's seriously old. Better make a nice cake too - shall put 80 on the top in icing sugar. We are meeting for lunch on the day which will be lovely.

ohmigod - SL - you dark horse! wow, well done! feeling incredibly jealous and incredibly in awe of you preggers ones.

madam has suddenly become the clingiest baby in the world - so not prepared for this as she has always been so independent and confident. seh is also teething and her sleep has gone haywire (just spent the last 2 hours trying to get her to go to sleep). i'm presuming it is also separation anxiety and so i don't think i can ask her to cry it out this time. although i am worried about always picking her up and cuddling her to sleep - i know how much that can become a vicious cycle. since christmas she has been coming into the bed from about 4-5.30ish, feeding and falling to sleep again. oh arse. i thought we had it cracked for a bit. suppose that never happens. buggeration.

Blimey, congratulations all round. Logging on today has reminded me of December 2008 ? when every day there was another new birth announcement. I am so pleased for LadyT and for Summer, but I?m sure it isn?t a patch on how pleased you both are/will be once the shock subsides. So my input into the gender sweepstake is ? girls for LadyT, Summer and Beans and another boy for Rubena, based on absolutely nothing at all. But I have a 50:50 chance for each of you, so you never know

Trace I am so very pleased that you?re feeling better, the happy pills have done a great job. I have my fingers crossed that your consultant will also recognise this and allow you to carry on getting so much out of your job (and giving so much too)

How sad that your DS1 is finding school such a challenge Veggie. I have to say that both you and him deserve a treat for being brave, he?s not the only one. You could post your address on the FB group (for those who are on FB), as that?s a private group so no chance of stalkers

Welcome back JJ and Summer, we missed you! Your holidays sound so much fun. at babyJJ up to her chin! And wow at babySummer on his own mini skis! DD can?t even stand on her own two feet, let alone on anything slippy and slidey!

Daisy I?m pleased and relieved that your DH is less angry, I hope that the prayers were helpful for him and for your IL?s too?

NJAN one of 7 , wow! I bet Christmas was mad but amazing in your house!

Oh LadyT, what it is with you, pregnancy and learning to drive?! Most people?s hormones make them weepy, or greedy, or sicky ? but you start booking driving lessons

How do those of you who don?t BF settle your LO?s in the night? In the past it was simply a case of offering the boob and DD went straight back to sleep ? easy peasy, but we really struggle to settle her these days if she wakes in the night and normally end up bringing her into our bed as she just screams and screams in her cot. On one hand, I don?t want her screaming in her cot in case she starts to create a bad association with being in there, when she?s so good at bedtime and mostly at naptime too. But on the other hand, I don?t want her having too a nice an association with our bed as sometimes DH and I like our space to ourselves, and it does feel like we?re making a rod for our backs. Has anyone cracked the art of re-settling?

Hi all, sorry I haven't been around much at all lately, RL getting the better of me.
I haven't had a chance to catch up completely on the thread, but congrats to Lady and SL, great news. No news on that front here, which is a good thing as I am definitely having second thoughts about having No.3. DH is completely in denial about my doubts though, thinks I'll 'come round'!

daisy, I'm so sorry for what you are going through at the moment. I haven'tgotany helpful advicetogive, but justwant you to know that I am thinking about you and all the family.

Beans, Lily has the exact same 'bottom' problems. I had her on lactulose for ages, but now that she has learnt how to use a cup and drinks alot more it seems to have sorted itself out, although I do find that if she doesn't take on alot of liquid that we end up with the screaming/ clutching etc again for a couple of days. So with us it was a liquid intake problem.

One excuse for my prolonged absence is that my Dad came back from Zambia after Christmas with some nasty bug and has been in and out of hospital for the last 3 weeks. The NHS have been pretty useless and we have yet to get a diagnosis or treatment. However, I finally made some progress today and he has at last been referred to a tropical disease specialist, who we see tomorrow afternoon. My Mum is not coping well with it so I have had to take over the medical negotiations and arse kicking the Dr's to try to get something done, which I am finding really draining on top of everything else. Anyway, hopefully we will get somewhere tomorrow and I will be able to let go a bit.

On a more positive note, DD is still lovely (apart from not letting me out of her sight for even a second without having a full on screaming fit, but that's another story). She is now very toothy and has gone from not moving to crawling..standing..cruising within two weeks. And DS announced on the way home from school that he has his first girlfriend, not bad for someone who has spent the last two years saying how much he doesn't like girls and wants to marry a boy!

Hopefully will manage to keep up a bit more once things sorted with Dad. Keep well everyone x

you and me, too, zj, as regards sleep, screaming and coming into bed. up LOTS last night.

lovely to hear from you, katie - sorry to hear about your dad - lots of thoughts coming your way

Syb - thanks I'm feeling much better this morning.... I think you are right, Hormones are not helping either at the moment!!

Waitinggirl - "Buggeration" so funny (sorry to make light of your post) but I totally over use the word "bugger" and all variations of it, and the other day my b text me and said could I clear up something, his dgf is insisting that "buggeration" is a word! I said "absolutely" and proceeded to use it in a sentence! Love it! can we have that in the next title too?

Zoe, I must admit, on the settling front, I have been quite lucky as ds only usually wakes up and cries after he's put to bed if there is a proper problem. I use the term "usually" quite loosely though. I wait a bit until he is proper crying and then check his nappy, check for fists in mouth and rosy cheeks etc, check temp of room is ok. It is usually one of those things, but if it isn't, I pick him up and cuddle for a bit without leaving his room and keep noise low / lights off then straight back into the cot and he will sometimes cry and sometimes go to sleep. If he cries, I then put music on which can operate from the hand held bit of the baby monitor, but I must admit it doesn't happen often and he usually goes back to sleep after a little cry. In extreme cases it's always his teeth in which case I use the gel stuff as he won't let me get near him with calpol, and that usually works in about 15-20 mins it seems, but in those cases I do bring him downstairs for a change in scenery.
Oh and I have a hunch you may be right on the baby gender front for me - before i new the sex of ds, my mum had a dream I had 2 boys quite close together in age! But we'll see!

Katie, nice to hear from you. Sorry to hear all the trouble with your F. I hope things get sorted soon. Yes the NHS can be really crappy at times. I was convinced you were preg as we hadn't heard from you but i'm sorry to hear of the other stuff going on. Glad you are enjoying dd though. We have a bit of the clingy thing going on except it thankfully only lasts about 20 mins in a new place / new people around etc.

Hello Spot!! Glad the nursery is going well and hopefully back to the real milk soon.

Daisy, hope you are ok.

Ooops the patient is up - better go see if he needs drugs!

Hi Zoe - my DH seems to have the settling thing cracked, which is frustrating as I go in and do 10-20mins of settling, then he can still hear her screaming (how can they manage to sleep that long without hearing??! ) and comes to assist. I will have been wandering round saying things like "Ooh, what's this?" and pointing at things of interest and it makes no difference. As soon as Daddy comes along and says that, she goes quiet and interested and 2 mins later, he'll pop her down and she goes straight back to sleep. Grrr. But it is usually just night screams with us, nothing else in particular. We tend to give her a change of scene and put dim lights on and she calms down after a while. But it is so hard to know what to do.

Katie - lovely to hear from you. Yes, think the bottom problems may well stem from not enough liquid. We had an enormous poonami (to coin a phrase!!) on Monday, which was brilliant - didn't hurt her at all - and think emptied her pretty much, but am keeping up with the lactulose for another week or 2 and trying to get her to drink more and more water too!

Sorry your father isn't well - please do keep your chin up - and let us know if they find out what it is.

Rubes - I feel similarly re the crying about children - I even weep in the SMA and Pampers ads. How wet? Pathetic!

DD is finally enjoying her time with the nanny share as well - hurrah!
What is the FB group? Can I be in it? !!
x

Quick quick post to say congratulations Summer - hooray! If you're thinking about the VBAC thing and want my tuppenceworth nearer the time happy to do that - very glad I did it, but can totally understand doing otherwise.

Beans there is a facebook group Dec 2008 mums or something. Just request to join - was it kayz that approves it? I haven't been on for awhile as I keep forgetting.

Oh the NSPCC adds are a killer for me - oh and the RSPCA ones too - I have to turn it over or mute and look away. I hate the one where the dog is tied up to the bin in the rain and left I have to keep reminding myself the dogs and kids are actors to prevent spontaneously running down to Battersea dogs home.

Don't ever go to Battersea Dogs Home. We went to get a cat and it was so depressing. We walked round the dogs and they were all staffy/pit bull crosses and so mournful and pitiful. We then discovered we couldn't get a cat as we don't have a suitable door to put a cat flap in. We'd even chosen one. WEEEP!

Thanks re Facebook - will have a look when I get home tonight - I can't access it at work.

Am off to Hoxton this afternoon to look at venues for a work do. Should be finished by 3.30, then going home - yeehah! Forgot my wallet today - what a total tit! No delicious skinny latte for me from Eat!

Rubes, that dog tied to the bin in the rain is currently clad in a velvet smoking jacket and lying in a wingbacked chair, reminiscing about his various acting jobs. But I DO know what you mean. Dogs and kids - they get me every time, and that's without being up the duff. (The Dogs' Trust ones with the mournful Geordie voiceover: "All Timmy wants is to be loved..." etc) Oh, and how is your DH feeling today? Bet he's glad it's over.

Spot, it's so exciting about the book! Mine is shortly to be submitted to publishers so I have a few weeks of biting nails. Thank heavens T has taken to the nursery, that is good news.

ZJ - settling in the night - if she wakes up it's usually only because of a nightmare or a blocked nose or something. Cuddles and a bit of rocking then put back in the cot asap. There might be a bit of crying after that but only for a few seconds. I wouldn't bring her into my bed but that's just me as I wouldn't sleep and nor would DP. I do bring her into bed with me every morning as I drink my coffee but that's just for play before she has her milk.

Hey Katie, nice to see you. Sympathies to your Dad. I had a weird bug on return from Christmas in Sri Lanka a few years ago and I was hospitalised too and it was then I realised the cuts that seem to have been made in Tropical Medicine. Glad he is seeing a specialist and I hope things improve.

I had the name books out this morning. Trouble is, I can only think in terms of fanciful names. The ponce wells run very deep in me. I know people think you are a twonk when you say "My children are Montmorency, Fidelia and Lancelot" - not that I am thinking of these names, but HANG ON, Fidelia is rather nice - but I don't really care. DP, on the other hand, does care a little bit.

LT - I too am a ponce! If we have a girl this time (which I'm secretly hoping), then we've got Prudence lined up as a name. I feel like a total "twonk" - brilliant use of word, but I just think it's such a cool name - and DH loves it because he's an accountant and quite tight with cash - haha!

"Come here, Pru" - yes, I will feel v silly. Isabella was posh enough, let alone Prudence! And what if she gets called Poo. It's a strong possibility. But I really like it nonetheless!

spot and lt - will you be able to tell us the names of your books when they come out??? I'd like to have a read! x

LadyT I love poncey names. Ottilie and Persephone are my favorites at the minute. Nico is my favorite name for a boy.

My neighbour is expecting her 4th baby, so

I think Prudence is a nice name. Plus, people always fixate on potential nicknames from Christian names but of course, nicknames are far more likely to emanate from appearance or just about anything at all...

There were three lovely Indian sisters who lived up the road from us and two of them were called Sweeti and Pooey I think these were abbreviations but when I was three I didn't bat an eyelid.