Oct 08 - Chair climbing, spider greeting, potty training? NOOOOOO, they're still babies! <wibble>

[50ftQueenie]

10th Sept (Due 1st Oct) - loulou33 - Boy - Joe Louis David - 6lbs 12oz
16th Sept (Due 8th Oct) - Ksal - Girl - Emma Rae - 6lbs
21st Sept (Due 5th Oct) - myjobismum - Girl - Naomi Caitlin - 5lbs 10oz
2nd Oct (Due 12th Oct) - star6 - Boy - Quinlan - 5lbs 15oz
4th Oct (Due 30th Sept) - Aubergenie - Boy - Stanley - 7lbs 12oz
8th Oct (Due 6th Oct) - ronshar - Boy - William Dexter - 7lbs 11oz
9th Oct (Due 17th Oct) - 50ftQueenie - Girl - Martha - 7lbs 10oz - Elective c-sec
10th Oct (Due 1st Oct) - CantSleepWontSleep - Boy - Duncan Elliot - 8lbs 4oz
12th Oct (Due 4th Oct) - pistachio - Boy - Thomas Fraser - 10lbs 2oz
16th Oct (Due 11th Oct) - heather1980 - Boy - Alexander James - 9lbs 5oz
17th Oct (Due 10th Oct) - pepperrabbit - Girl - Jessica Rose - 7lbs 15.5oz
24th Oct (Due 29th Oct) - Ekka - Boy - Matthew - 7lbs 15oz
26th Oct (Due 20th Oct) - jenwa - Girl - Phoebe Jasmine - 9lbs 2.5oz
28th Oct (Due 23rd Oct) - RachieW - Boy - Jack - 7lbs 4oz
31st Oct (Due 20th Oct) - KnickersOnMaHead - Boy - Samuel Paul - 9lbs 11oz
5th Nov (Due 29th Oct) - Honeymoonmummy - Girl - Poppy Grace - 6lbs 15oz
5th Nov (Due 30th Oct) - MamaG - Boy - Harry James - 10lbs 9oz

Hope this is ok ladies.

Housing is astronomical. It's hideous.

csws dh would just not listen closely to the estate agent. He'll do his own thing anyway and say that regardless of what the estate agent says, he knows how to make it look more expensive. He watches too many house doctor episodes

He wants to do it himself... no idea how. GOing to shut y eyes to "sarah beeny's new website" and pretend I never heard of it.

You won't want to click on this link then star .

I just want to use an estate agent. Same way we bought this place... like normal people.

I was going to suggest what CSWS said Star. A good estate agent will know whether you need to bother doing anything else. I spent a lot of time on Right Move yesterday looking at flats and I was amazed that some people don't even put their washing away, or do the washing up before getting the pictures of their property taken.

I like that Sarah Beeny site, but there's not much on it yet. So, is he planning on managing the sale and everything all himself? I'm sure it saves a lot of money but can imagine it's a real headache if you've never sold a flat before.

I'm going to get a few estate agents round ove the next few weeks and get some opinions on what our place is worth for sale or rent so that we can actually do some sums.

You're right Pistachio - I get Inner London Weighting added to my salary to help with the cost of being in London but it's not a huge amount when you factor in the astronomical cost of housing.

CSWS - I work in Plaistow.

Hello all! Had a bad day today, think am due on, but I'm hoping it's not beause my AD dose has been decreased. I'm not gonna apologise for not being on becuase that's all I ever seem to do! Have just done my first online order with Asda, Tesco were really disappointing last time and I've heard Sainsbury's is not great (and can't afford Waitrose at the moment!).

I hope everyone is well.

CSWS, sorry to hear about D's sleep. Poor little chap. You must be exhausted too. Does the disturbance happen on and off all night or is it in a specific period (eg late evening)? I was thinking if it was around a certain time, then gently waking him beforehand might help, but wouldn't be much use if this is an all-night thing.

Hmm, sorry to hear today isn't great. Here's hoping its just a temporary glitch.

Hope you are enjoying your Victorian day Star! And that Q is enjoying himself with the cm.

I've done something to my neck - I'm wandering round with it at a funny angle to try and stop it hurting so much, ouch! The kids are very disappointed at my refusal to join in their 'Dingle Dangle Scarecrow' routine . On the plus side I've managed to book a massage for tomorrow while they are at the cm, so hopefully that will help. I'm also waiting for a call back from an old colleague who I left a message for last week about potentially returning to work, but I'm now having nightmares that maybe I forgot to leave a contact number . Hopefully she is just busy today.....

Bother, I just heard from my cm, she is really not well so is not working tomorrow, so its back to the drawing board for what to do about my neck - I don't think a massage would really work with the kids running around, trashing the place

Can you find a mobile masseuse who will come out to your house in the evening once the kids are in bed Ekka? That's what I do, and it's lovely!

Waking seems to be for most of the evening at the moment. Despite us being up with him earlier in the evening (maybe 8:30-9ish), he still grizzled (but not quite the horrific screaming of the earlier session) from 11-11:45pm . Then dd was screeching at 12:50am, so I went up to her, and a few mins later I heard her go downstairs to find dh (who was asleep on the sofa!), and she dragged him off to bed with her in spare room until he threw her out for being a fidget a little after 2am, when she came into me and fidgeted for 20 mins before I threw her out too! And then the day started with both D and the cockerel at 6:45. Joy!
Hoping that he will have a good afternoon nap and that that will sort him out a bit. He's gone past an hour already, so better than he's managed without a screaming fit for a few days.

To be fair pistachio, it's rare for dd to be up in the night like that. No idea what was up with her!

I have a very unwell unhappy M today so I will be back to catch up later.

Just noticed that Dr Tanya Byron is on soon. Someone tell Ronshar....

lol at imaginary ladybirds
Q had a FABULOUS day at the cm!
He went to a playgroup, played with other kids, went down for a nap without a fuss, cuddled on waking, ate well, sat in the booster at the table, was happy and a good boy all day long I think she enjoys him, too!

yes! kids all thoroughly enjoyed stepping back in time! Even though they were scared out of their minds! They got to use real inkwells with pens to write, girls did needlework, boys architectural drawing, had to sit at desks with their hands behind their backs... the whole thing. It was great. And made them appreciate our lovely flexible creative discussion based...etc school so much more! Not sure any of my students have ever been required to not talk for any longer than 10 minutes before!! And SIT at a desk for that long... But they enjoyed the "playtime" games and even the exercises in the classroom as they were only in there for 2 hours - then lunch and we went back to school by 2.
A really really fun experience. The teacher was totally "in role" and was so good!

That sounds great Star, and you are right, they will appreciate the flexibility and freedom they have in your classroom! Glad to hear Q had a good day too...

Yuk to imaginary ladybirds Pistachio. Your dd has my sympathy. We get quite a few here and I can't stand them - I would be a quivering wreck if I dreamt they were all over my bed. I'm terrified of anything with more than four legs

I am drowning trying to catch on a weeks worth of news!!!!

CSWS - Oh how terrible! Send D round to me and I'll cuddle him to sleep like I nearly did last week. It is SO draining when you've done everything you can think of to help them and nothing works. That gets to me far more than the lack of sleep. You really do have my sympathies at the moment.

Hello everyone else hope you are all well. Ekka, surprisingly Olbas Oil is good on really sore muscles. I really hurt my neck bfing M (how I'll never know) and it was agony. I got DH to massage Olbas Oil into my neck and it was the only thing that worked. Plus it clear our sinuses nicely too!

Marzipan is DELICIOUS stuff and battenburg is the king of cakes!

Hope everyone had a good time at my house last week. The toddlers were very funny and mischievous which made for an entertaining day, but I think D really made my birthday when he reached for me as he wanted a cuddle.

Awww, D will be delighted to have made your day 50ft! He's been better today. I think that last night's extreme distress might have been at least partly tummy related (I did manage to get 5ml of gripe water into him during the evening, but that's nowhere near enough), as he hadn't had a poo yesterday (normally 2 sometimes 3 a day), and he had 7 today . Of course dh was in charge of feeding him yesterday, so I have no idea whether he ate something that would have disagreed with him or not. He managed a 2.5hr sleep this afternoon, and hasn't woken yet tonight. Still wouldn't let me put him to bed though, and insisted on dh! Ah well, means I won't have to worry about going out tomorrow night with a couple of ladies from my new ante-natal thread!

So what's wrong with M then 50ft?

Glad to hear that you, your students and Q all had such a good time today star.

evening all,
star, glad you both had such a good day, sounds like great fun.
Ekka, hope your neck is ok, mine plays upoccassionally and I was recommended wet heat, so a hot wet towel wrapped round your neck for a while. No idea why but it certainly helped a bit - are you at the stage where you can't cross the road as you can't look both ways quickly enough....?
50ft is M better this evening?
DD ok, DS2 still looks grey somehow, poor poppet. DH worked at home today as he felt so crap. DS1 a bit weak and watery. I'm hanging on as only healthy one!
Tomorrow I'm going to the travel agent (my friend) and sort out a holiday hopefully.
Determined that we will not spend 4 days in the ILs barn like last year....(grim)

Oh yes Pepper! The holiday from hell in the barn! I remember that. Yes you definitely need to get away this year. Especially after your winter of pretty much continuous illness!

M went to bed in high spirits but that was drug induced. When she got up from her afternoon nap she was on fire! She is very snuffly and just wanted to cuddle. She refused to eat, drank gallons of water and nodded off on my lap. Poor little lamb. I think it's partly teeth, partly illness and their powers combined have made her feel pretty rough! Whenever I ask her if she's ok, she shakes her head and looks forlorn.

why didn't you all tell me to use a cm before??
It works out to be LOADS cheaper, especially with the monthly pre-tax vouchers... and I don't go to bed every single night feeling guilty about it and wishing and trying to think up a way to pay her more. And I don't feel anxious about the amount I have talked about his food in the morning or anything else for that matter... I don't feel badly asking her to do something specific with Q.
And she takes him outside every single day. 3 days/week they go to playgroups - one playgroup has arts/crafts, trampolines...etc - it costs 2.50 extra but happy to do it as he seemed to love it - playdoh, sticking, colouring, jumping, running, cars, and singing at the end! and the other two mornings they go to feed the ducks or the library for rhyme time or the park or have other children over to play...etc. He is so ready for his nap after lunch and sleeps very well. He slept loads better last night, too.... hmmmm I hope that continues!! I think a busy, full day makes him sleep better! And he gets free play time, too obviously, he gets to explore everywhere and even at playgroups can join in structure or do his own thing. I think it's perfect. I'm so happy with it!! AND she's even closer to school so I can get him within 5 minutes after school, go see him whenever I want and the mornings are so much better.

I also LOVE having that 5 minute drive to myself in the car rather than every morning having a 20 min journey (it is only 7 min at the end andmiddle of the day but morning traffic horrendous) with 3 kids in the car. As much as I love them and enjoyed them in the car, it's nice to just have to get myself there after bringing Q to cm.

Sorry to ramble on and on.... Just not sure why no one told me to do this before! lol