May Toddlers - still toddling along!

[helsy]

Oi! Over 'ere!

I'm using my sick leave well and have just booked a holiday in Oban - we're going to see Balamory and sea eagles, hopefully.

Tricky one about the holiday Egypt because obviously I know how you feel. Would wait and see a little bit - because if they do say don't go you'll get your money back and otherwise - well at least you are postponing the row.....

Look at me - on the computer at lunchtime. Only briefly though. Managed to get DD to eat a decent lunch (shepherd's pie and broc, followed by stewed pear and plum) before her nap at 12. Have got a pot roast sorted and veg prep.ed for tonight and at 1 I am going to do sand pictures with DS who is playing in his bedroom. DD has decided she likes to help clean although she is still scared of the hoover, silly girl.

Question about snacks. DD has lunch early before her nap but we don't usually eat in the evening until about 6 pm. So she needs a snack to fill the gap. What do you give? DD seems to end up with cheese or raisins but I would like a bit more variety. She spits out most fruit although will eat raspberries sometimes and most other berries chopped with ice-cream. I tried pate and crackers but she just licked off all the pate. Also tried dry cheerios but she just plays with them. Normally her lunch is lighter than today, eg scrambled egg on toast on Saturday, cheese sandwich on Friday, pasta with brocolli and cheese last Monday so she really needs something.

Snacks: we have one mid morning and one midafternoon.

Banana, blueberries? Other dried fruit - ds likes cranberries - or humzingers, whch we have just discovered.
Crisps - Waitrose stock the Goodies range which is all organic/low sodium and includes things like carrot stix.
If you can be bothered to cook I often make pancakes (thick american style ones) or recycle leftover mashed potato into potato cakes (add melted butter and flour to form a dough then griddle or fry) Leftover rissotto also gets formed into patties and griddles/fried
Bread (normal or pittas) with houmous or guacamole

Snacks - we're not very good in our house and tend towards the humble biscuit (malted milks - make less mess ground into the carpet) or toast but I am aware we should be thinking more healthily - we don't have them every day though, so less incentive to think about it.

Although saying that, the naps are up in the air again. We're now trialling an 11-1 nap with lunch at about 1.15, as he's not really tired until about 10.30 for his morning nap, which buggers everything up! So really he could do with a snack around 10.30 ish to carry him through. Guess I need to get my thinking cap on after all.

ds2 had his first hour settling in today - was as good as gold, not even a whimper (in fact, I'm not totally sure that he even missed me...) just dived into playing - REFUSED A BISCUIT (unheard of!!!) because he was too involved in playing and when I came to pick him up gave me an obligatory quick cuddle then immediately disappeared to go back to playing and threw a major strop when it was time to leave.

I guess that's shown me that he's ready for me to step back a little then! Another settling in on Wednesday.

Thats typical isn't Georgina. You'll have to keep us posted about how Wednesday goes. Thanks for all the inspiration prufrock. DD does like blueberries but they tend to blow my budget a bit and get saved for pudding. I used to do bananas but she seems to have gone off them. Might be worth reintroducing and see how they go - if she rejects them I can always make banana bread with the rest which I am sure she will eat. Will also try the cranberries.

Georgina we have the 11 am nap on a Friday if I take DD swimming because it starts at 1 - so DD ends up with two squares of cheese sandwich before and after the class in the changing room.

Oh btw DD doesn't like crisps - have tried her with the organix ones as well as the odd pringle etc at parties.

Oh, now I feel guilty! Dd2 has an organic biscotti every day, a piece of toast every day at nursery and sometimes avocado - need to try banana this week whilst I'm off.
She's at nursery today and tomorrow to give me some time with dd1. Her friend is here for the day and I'm taking them to see Madagascaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa as she calls it this afternoon - have tickets already.
Off to Scotland next week - just call me Miss Hoolie .
Dd2 isn't hitting, but she is a bit of an escape artist and VERY jolly. People comment on how good natured she is. Mind you, they said the same about dd1 (she wasn't as jolly as this one though). They definitely don't get it from their parents - we're a couple of miserable sods.

Blueberries are going to be the first thing I plant in my vegetable patch bozza - ds's addiction to them is incredibly expensive.

hello ladies

put in the application for lucas for nursery! waiting for call now to arrange first visit!! i just hope he'll like it!!!!!
it's only for 2 half days - but still.

took him into town today and let him lose there. he walked around for good an hour! - the only problem were the open shopdoors; had my hands full with dragging him out! - but he's in bed now

oh yes snacking: he has one midmorning and one midafternoon; mostly fruits but also biscuits () or buttered bread or raisin scones - luckily he's not 'chosey'

hope everyone's doing fine!!!

Hello everyone. Got back from holiday and VERY glad to be home! oh dearie me... DD was very unsettled amongst the gathered inlaws. Too many people in a strange place I think. (20 at one point). She was unable to let me out of her sight and clung onto my leg saying 'oh de-ah' or 'no-no-no' or just crying - got quite a reputation amongst her cousins, who would very sweetly plonk a toy on her lap and pat her head (thump thump) to more cries of 'no-no-no'. The inlaws, while on the whole a great bunch, have gung-ho attitude and tried on occasion to prise her away from me which didn't really help. And she woke every night screaming so they all ended up wearing earplugs. And it rained a lot.

I sound like I'm making very heavy weather of it and it wasn't all bad at all, we had some lovely times, but I am oh so glad to be home! and so is DD. She is so much more fun back to her old self; makes me feel a bit of a worm for taking her away to be honest. She completely clammed up and now home is chattering away again.

Am rather veering away from idea of meetup now I'm afraid. Also because of money, since we didn't book before we went and so now would need to spend at least £200 for flights. I know that's pathetic. I would be annoyed at me for being so enthusiastic and then copping out. But it feels like we only just got back and it is such a relief after all that misery-baby stuff.

Welcome back Spots! I know what you mean about holidays being hard work. Poor DD she must have been completely overwhelmed by everybody. When our DD was little she was just the same. She would have to sit in church for half an hour (armed to teeth with books, drink, toys etc) during our music practice. She would be happy as larry when left to her own devices, but I would see a well-meaning, bored teenager advance and be screaming "buggeroffbuggeroffbuggeroff" inside my head because their presence would be enough to turn her to tears.
Anyway, put your feet up, settle back in and catch up on The Brother.

Thanks love! Meant to say good luck Bozza's DS for tomorrow as well. and Bozza... will he have a general anaesthetic?

Think I have stopped b/feeding DD completely as of yesterday. We were at a barbecue and I had a good few drinks, so when it came to her bedtime thought perhaps it would be better to try her with a bottle of cow's milk. Which she accepted without a murmur. And since we are thinking about more babies and I've not got my period back yet, I am taking this as my cue to button up the shirt again. I did think she cared a little more! While we were away I gave her two b/f's I wouldn't normally have given, when she was really really distressed, and it gave me the feeling that we'd be at it forever. And now back home, it's as if she was just humouring me!

The snacks thing btw: we rely on cheese, but I think varying the types of cheese is worthwhile, because you can combine different fruits with different cheeses to good effect. Have you tried Emmenthal with strawberries? mmmm.... or if she like raspberries you could dob a bit of cream cheese in the hole in each one.

Helsy, hope you see sea eagles and don't drink in the Man Trap.

spots - it's so much effort going away with them at this age, isn't it? It really becomes a herculean effort to go away some times.

Had a horrible day/night last night but also a really good one.

Ds1 woke at 2am last night (nightmare) and ds2 woke at 4am (teeth I think) and my biggest block of sleep was an hour and a half long - so out of practise and I felt like death warmed up today. Ds2 had another settling in session at nursery and was MISERABLE. Fine when I left him, indifferent to me almost, but apparently was very unsettled and when I got back after an hour he buried himself into my shoulder and was wracked with sobs. Felt so horribly guilty

Today is dh and my 9 year anniversary so had a friend babysitting and went out to a VERY nice restaurant for a meal. We'll be paying it off for a couple of months, but damn it was good . Came back though, and our friend said "I went to use the loo but it was completely blocked with paper so used the upstairs instead rather than risk a flood". Investigated and ds1 has used almost a WHOLE loo roll and put it down the loo. Dh attempting to unblock it now .

So, very mixed day in all!

Happy anniversary! We've got our 7 year one in September - DH is threatening to have an itch....he should be so lucky
We have had a couple of weeks of crap sleep from DD, I thought she had been well and truly Gina'd ! It came to a head when she was coming down or into our room every 1.5 hours, regular as clockwork. Madness. Luckily it has been solved now, using an...ahem...adaptation on a Christopher Green method.
Do you recommend the Steve Biddulph Siblings book, Georgina?

so - just bought some sell-by blueberries on the grounds that mners say babies like them - what do I do with them? Cook or give raw? I know, I sound a bit thick. Also - anyone tried giving their babies blackcurrants? We have loads in our garden and I'd like to use them.
Going to Scotland on Sunday, all booked. PLease don't rain! We're b and b-ing - couldn't get s/c as we thought about it too late so dd1 will have to eat uncooked food and jars all week.

Helsy - I think Prufrock is cock of blueberries! I've only bought them frozen and used to make smoothies. I would probably do the same with blackcurrants as well and just strain the mixture after liquidising. Or do a crumble?

Thanks Judd - but do you cook them before making smoothies with them?

Judd, haven't got the Biddulph one. I have got the Siblings Without Rivalry book though (Adele Faber, Elaine Mazlish) which is excellent but will really come more into its own once youngest is verbal & reasoning (around 3 yrs old their principles from How To Talk came really useful with ds1).

Raw (and sometimes even unwashed as we go round the supermarket ) Ds just delicately picks them up and eats tehm whole, sometimes squishing a bit

Happy anniversary Georgina! What did you have at the restaurant? I love hearing lists of other people's posh food. Our anniv of 2 years is on 9th August but we have been together for 9 as of a couple of weeks ago.

DD has learned fake burp noise from her cousin. And she also has hilarious pretend on-the-phone voice, all squeaky, says: 'elloloree?' because that's what grannie and puppa say to her! If you say 'who is it on the phone' she invariably says 'Puppa!' For phone, read sock/bear/box of dental floss... Puppa just can't hold back obviously.

Ummm...

you know I said my periods hadn't come back yet?

I just started another thread.

.... in 'pregnancy'.....

Blimmin' eck Spots! Off to have a look - thank goodness DH is here to give Dkids their tea!

Eeep spots! runs off to other thread

Ooo, meant to say my chosen menu at the restaurant was:

Wild mushroom risotto
Seabass (very yummy - I've never chosen fish at a restaurant before as I've always assumed I don't like it, but with trying to get the kids to eat more fish other than battered, I've become a little more adventurous!)
And we couldn't make up our mind for dessert so we had one of those platters between us which give you a tiny bit of everything

Oh and a very drinkable pinot grigio/chardonnay mix to wash it all down with.

Probably need to up the mortgage now though from the bill

Fantabulous news, Spots! presume DH is happy too as you say you've been trying? If you're anything like me you won't want to hear what Georgina had for her anniversary meal now because you'll just vomit.

I'm not bothering with the blueberries for dd2 at the moment - oh dear I will have to eat them myself - as she's been throwing up all her food for the past two days. I've taken her to the Dr twice because she fell out of the high chair yesterday -I'd fed her breakfast and hadn't even noticed that I'd forgotten to strap her in , as I was trying to do fifty things at once, and she slid out. Ten minutes later she was sick, so I thought she had a head injury from sliding out of her chair and took her to the Dr. He says it wasn't the fall, thankfully, and that she has a tummy bug. The guilt has been unbearable.
Oh goody, DH has returned sweaty from his footy tournament and is now telling me in great detail who scored and when while I TRY TO FINISH THIS MESSAGE, so I've told him to sod off.

Oops sorry Georgina, wrote that before I saw your post - sounds lovely!