January 2009- Help! A toddler ate my baby!

[hackneyzoo]

I told you it was a lame title.....

Good to hear from you chef and sounds like you've got a bit of a system going - wow, I had no idea you were that sleep deprived... love the cucumber story .... how did you stop night feeds?

hkz glad the biopsy went well - fingers crossed for the result.

120 you are back at work? how much? I didn't realise... gosh, I have been slack at keeping up with this. But just very busy with work (helping DH with his business) and never seem to be at home.

Lenni any sign of AF? TEST TEST TEST! C'mon, I am excited for you

pat guess where I was yesterday at 2.30pm? In 'S-H- Playground' (sorry, suddenly got a bit paranoid on your behalf there) - went to visit my friends who have just moved very nearby, and was a bit early, so with some time to kill, we found a playground (just past a railway bridge?) that was empty, and N had fun on the swings... would have called you but figured you were at work. Next time.... and it would be so, so lovely if you were to come here at Easter. It takes approx 1 hr 10 by the Severn bridge, and about 1 20 via Gloucester and Ross...

Thanks for sleep advice.... tbh I am just up and down with it. Lenni I think your advice is right on when you say you have to do something different if you want it to be different. I couldn't even stick to the jay gordon 'gentle' night weaning thing.... some days I get so fed up and wish he was a 7-7 type of baby, and feel like it's my fault that he's not, and wish I was a more disciplined sort of mother... and then other days I am in love with co-sleeping and endless feeds and no crying ever .... Tonight I tried to let DH get him to sleep, but he howled and howled... I knew he would go off eventually but that it would be from exhaustion rather than drifting off to sleep naturally... so I went back upstairs after 10 mins and fed him to sleep.

We are thinking about getting a puppy.... one of the girls that lives at the farm has a lovely jack russell bitch that seems to have got knocked up by the collies from the farm across the road... they will be lovely crosses... due in about 4 weeks. Any thoughts?!

Hullo all!

Elkie- am sorry to hear about your mum. Thinking of you, and hoping there is good news soon.

Dog- great news about Mr A.! Saw your beany mic too- v exciting.

books- gruffalo cake is fabulous (dd had gruffalo too!); cannot see you hair though, so I guess I'm not your mate

HKZ- good news about doing another biopsy... hope it's even better news when the results come in

tink- there is a v good boden code around- £10 off £30 spend plus free delivery/returns... have bought quite a bit for dd, though this seasons John Lewis stuff is v bodentastic in the girls section.

Hope everyone else is okay... I saw soccerette is having a few problems with her home

missjackson I stopped the feed at the first wake up and DH went in, laid her down, patted her back, sshhhshhhhsshhh and boy, did she howl but eventually fell asleep. We did that for five nights before she slept through it, realizing she wasn't going to get any milk. Then we knocked off every wake up time like that. It took a month. There was times when we had to be physically forceful in laying her back down because she would keep trying to stand up. I just cut of the morning wake feed 3 weeks ago and now she gets watered down juice when she first gets up. It was going fine for awhile, only waking around 2.30am, (coincidentally her birth time) and a at 6am, which I use to get her down for another hour. DD has had a huge learning curve in that she is now walking, and wants to do it every waking moment. Don't LO's get a bit restless when they experience a learning curve. I recall something about that. We also think she may be a little thirsty or peckish in the night, so two nights ago we began giving her 2 digestives with a bit of peanut butter on them and tonight we've left her sippy cup with water in her crib and will try and see if she'll take it and eventually she'll be able to sort it out herself... ideally. Diligence is key and if DH is on board, it makes it easier... LO's know they ain't gettin' white stuff from Dad. I don't children become 7-7 until they are teenagers and then all they want to do is sleep.

morning

i used that code peach

hi miss j - puppy sounds cute

hi to everone else

having a quiet day today

HKZ - Pleased the biopsy went well, will be counting days with you until Thursday, hope there is more good news.

MissJ - I would go for it with the puppy, once you get around to having another baby it'll be harder to toilet train etc. and could end up being a few more years down the line. Plus with the summer coming you can all play outside lots to save wear and tear on the house while puppy is teething!

Chef - DD mostly co slept until about 15 months, she went straight into a bed as refused to sleep in a cot. Who can blame her really, wooden cage or Mummy and Daddy's snuggly bed? We started her out on a mattress on the floor in her room and then she moved into the proper high up bed a few weeks later once we got round to buying a bed guard. It worked out well for us since we could lie down with her if she was unsettled in the night and was a gentle transition to her own bed. Have to say though co sleeping habits die hard, she's 3.2 now and still asks to come in our bed every night, she has a fair arsenal of tricks to get in there too, including 'falling' out of bed in the night and tucking her favourite teddies up in our bed so she has to come and retrieve them. She sleeps with me when DH is away as she is usually unsettled. She has also been known to camp on our floor on an airbed when she's ill.

Dog - Good to hear from you, no not tested and still no AF. Am burying head in sand, really don't want to be pregnant. TBH DH and I can't work out when last period was so chances are with only 28 days in Feb I'm not all that late, and I don't think we've had any accidents! Even if we had I would be very surprised if pg since DH been away loads lately so not been that much opportunity for the right kind of activity! I reckon am maybe 3/4 days late?? Stocked up on tampax yesterday in the hope of causing some kind of physiological response, crazy woman.

Sorry to hear SPD is back, argh the pain.

Peach- Am cursing you about mentioning JL, I haven't looked yet this year. I will hold you responsible for my credit card bill or at least that will be what I'll tell DH "It wasn't me, it was a lovely MN friend...", not going to work is it?!

Meant to be working on dissertation so best go but am reading.

Hi everyone....

books poor DD, hope she starts feeling better soon. I saw the cake too, it was awesome!

good to hear from you eppm, how are the littlies?

lenni will resist the urge to nag you to test ... have you been super regular since they came back? are you bf any more than usual?

Yum, I am eating olives stuffed with almonds, massive fat green ones, along with a cold beer.... while DH attempts to get N off to sleep! ... really hope he succeeds tonight.

chef think you are totally right about the learning curve - I remember N just wanting to crawl all the time when he first learned, including in his sleep . Now he is desperate to talk and is performing all sorts of vocal acrobatics

tink yey for more boden, what did you go for?

Still not sure about the pup.... still feel sad about Jackson and miss him all the time - he was such a lovely dog and would have been so perfect with N - I worry that another wouldn't fit as well. ... I know all dogs are different though.

MissJ- Go for it with the dog! You are in the perfect sort of place for a puppy and N will love it! They won't replace Jackson but build their own special place in your heart. Cannot believe you were just round the corner yesterday!!! I think thats the park that DD used to go to with her childminder when she was diddy (was it by a council estate?). Alas, I was at work till 4pm Let me know about days that suit you at easter, we are around the monday(5th)-thursday(8th) of the first week at the moment, one day I am looking after my friends little girl but that hasn't been finalised yet.

Lenni- LOL at your possible immaculate conception. Did you say you are always fairly regular? Also loving DD's litle box of tricks to worm her way into your bed, E has got 'sneaking in' down to a fine art, I often wake up and she has snuk in somehow without waking me and is snoozing happily beside me, the little mare!!!

ROFL at the cucumber on the head!! I would have jammed it somewhere else I think!

DOG- Grrr at SPD hell, I had it mildly from 36 weeks with DD and that was bad enough. Thankfully escaped with DS. Glad to hear your parents doing ok. I am excited about summer too!!!!!!!!!!! Just felt a bit 'cooped up' with all the snow and ice this year and looking forward to lots of bracing walks, picnics and ice-creams

Hey EPPM! Was thinking about you the other day as didn't know if you had namechanged on the main boards as I thought I recognised some posts? Naughty of you to mention John Lewis, can now feel Cribbs Causeway calling me.................

Chef- all sounds positive on the sleeping front, small steps but god progress.

Hey books and Tink and 120 too (glad work going well for you).

Busy, busy day here. Visited a friend's new baby this morning after pre-school drop off Then picked E up and gave kids lunch in car en route to visit my friend's new house near Swindon. She has moved to some farm cottages, very rural and lovely. DD and DS had a fab time running around in horse crap chasing chickens. We then went to the pub for tea and got back home about 7pm......................everyone knackered!

Err, anyone else (books maybe) got kids who won't stop ruddy eating at the moment, mine are embarrassing, no matter how much I feed them they never seem full. Z has always had a healthy appetite but I swear DD has worms at the moment or hollow legs??? My food bills are enormous and however lovely it is to see DD tucking into anything and everything (after being quite a fussy 2yr old) I am getting a bit worried that she doesn't seem to ever feel full

My two suddenly got much better appetites after rubbish eating over Christmas and ever since. DD ate homemade chicken tikka masala today, and whenever I do that it ends up with really spicy sauce, I swear I follow mild recipe every time but she ate the lot. Normally she complains her tongue is aching at the mere thought of it and doesn't touch it, today devoured. And she ate ready brek this morning which she never even ate as a baby - never eaten anything sloppy ever. She's always been a pretty good veggie/fruit eater but suddenly eating casseroles and soup and things she wouldn't previously touch. Of course it won't last. DS feels very heavy lately so am guessing he is growing! Such an exact science!

Er yeah, been reasonably regular since periods came back, prob came back at about 8months after DS, maybe 9months. So only had maybe 6 at most. I guess that is short enough time for still to be a bit off. Also cycles are still a bit off what they used to be so I have hope! Has given me kick up backside to sort out proper contraception though, am so certain I can't be pg. It would be less terrifying if DS would sleep

Hi all

I don't have a life but am reading quite a lot at the moment, writing some reviews for a website called The Bookbag, have got some lovely free books and some rather mediocre ones out of it. Am spending more online time talking about books again, it's a useful distraction.

My mum's going through various preparations before surgery next Tuesday, am still worried about her. Hope the power of well wishers from various websites will help, my stepsister also posted her worries on the babyledweaning site.

Lovely to see eachpeach again.

HZ, will be thinking about you and J next week.

Hi elkie, glad to see you are keeping busy with the book reviewing, how do you find the time?!

lenni N super chunky here too... at immaculate conception - you do know it only takes the once, don't you?

pat yey for Easter - any of those days is fine, just pick one. Yes, the park was by a big estate. There was a playing field, and a sort of baseball court, and then the playground - and there was a train track sort of alongside the bottom of the field.... Funny to think I was so close!

Awful night here - N went to bed 7.30pm and slept really well until 12.30 (only woke up once briefly at 8pm which is very usual)... then got him and took him to our bed, fed him (all as usual) at which point he normally rolls over and goes back to sleep - but just as I am drifting off I hear an 'ooh'... and then another one... and then it appears he is fully awake and wanting to play. For the next 2.5 hours. Fun.

So am knackered this morning - no chance to lie in as the accountant came at 9am.

Anyway, he was still up bright as a button at 8am.

I found my labour notes yesterday while looking for his birth cert - turns out my second stage was 3 hours 55 mins, that's awfully long isn't it? Something to do with a 40 min ambulance ride in the middle of it. Now I am worried that his bad sleeping is somehow connected with that. Apparently if you have instrumental delivery (which I did), your babies are less likely to sleep through Not sure why though.

morning

hi dog night out sounds good

hi miss j -

i bought from boden

red spotty coat for dd1 and dd1
star hooded top for dd1 and dd2 - red for dd1 and blue for dd2
clam digger trousers for dd1 in pink and aqua
2 more tshirts for dd1

hi to everyone else

have just bought dd2s first pair of outdoor walking shoes in clarks they wer £8 from last summer sale have a few tiny marks on i am just very fussy!!!
they are pink leather elladora first ones
got a few other bits in mothercare some clothes for dd2 and reins

Nice to see you Chef and Eppm. Hello everyone else...this is just a book marking fly by. Will catch up over weekend...off out with DH tonight (for the second weekend in a row....could this be...a social life?) Feels good to be getting out and about again after a long time of being up the duff or attached to small child. Better go and apply layers of make up so I don't frighten the public. Happy weekend everyone.

Have a good one HZ. You are a complete star and I owe you a big babysitting favour!

Am very jealous of fat olives and beer.

I had an instrumental delivery and no sleep probs here with H. He slept 7-4 from 6 weeks and now usually goes through from 7 to 5 or 6.30. Then again, any time he starts playing up and I know it's not teething, DP is usually great at getting him down again in the night. I say usually as last night I fed him at 12.30 and he slept with us for a couple of hours after that (but I think he is teething).

DD, however, is still a complete mare regularly, and she is nearly 3! Not just sneaking into my bed, but demanding H and DP get out!!! Cheeky monkey.

Very glad this week is over, I must say.

120 your brownies were a.......... HIT! And so, soooooo easy compared to Nige's. I did about 80g posh cocoa and 20g green & blacks drinking chocolate, and instead of choc chips I bashed up 100g of green & blacks chocolate, but same thing, right? Anyway, was very brave and took it out about 20 mins into cooking, and was the right decision because it stayed beautifully moist inside but sort of crackly and crusty on top. Yum yum yum. BTW, I couldn't find the recipe on MN so went from your blog... is it on MN? If so I will give it mega stars.

Even my MIL liked them! WOW. Had 2 for lunch along with a cold sausage and a red pepper. My eating habits are so strange. Left to myself, this is what I choose

hkz Have fun! Oh yes, it's Friday after all.

Lovely day despite being knackered. N slept for 90 mins after lunch hence my brownie adventures. Then went to farm and went off riding by myself for an hour - what heavenly head space that was .

N wouldn't sleep though tonight - tried from 8-9pm, then gave up (DH still at work), poured myself a beer, got into bed with my book, gave him some books and the sweet little munchlet sat beside me very seriously reading his books while I read mine... and then fell asleep next to me after about 20 mins. Which is where he is now...

Hope you are all out having fun and exciting lives...

morning

ended up swapping pink shoes have got dd2 red patent ones the same style were full price but wasnt happy about them!! the pink ones looked scruffy and worn
off to next today to get dd2 bigger socks

dog - you will have great fun good luck finding bargains i have bought great things from nct sales
picnic tom sounds great

DOG Eek! Attempted kidnapping?! I think I missed something.

lenni I am of the belief that LO's can regulate their eating and instinctively know what they need. DD goes on eating days and normal days. I don't want to push the eating thing so not to scare her off, or make it a chore. She is eating really slowly right now, but she makes it through her meal. Its kinda nice because I can eat and get everything cleaned up, including vacuuming if need be because she takes and hour to eat! Its great. Then we have bath, then story time, then bed and then I make a cup of tea, sit back and relish my clean house again. AAHHh. I'm a little crazy for tidy and clean.

Psst. I don't want to say this too loud so not to jinx it, but, looks around DD slept from 8-7 the last two nights with only a 2am-ish stir. The first night I didn't sleep because I was freaked out she was continuing to sleep. Last night I went to bed at 11 and past out till 8! gasp. DH got up with her this morning and I didn't even hear them! I was, to say the least, a wee bit giddy when I woke up. Its been nearly 2 years that I've slept through the night. Bring on the day!!!! Oh ya, shh so not to jinx it I think it may be because of all the walking.

chef - yah for sleep hope that it continues

Hi all, such a beautiful day here, hope everyone had a great day.

Had a blssful walk on the common this afternoon, along with some heavenly cotswold ice-cream. In my mind this is the true sign of summer beginning.

Chef- very at your sleeping but hope it continues for you, you sound like you deserve it! Z has gone from bad to worse, but is teething his canines still, I am hoping it stops when those blighters are finally through.

MissJ- Brownies sound amazing and lush indeed. So sweet that N fell asleep reading alongside you too! Had a thought, DD has an INSET on thursday 1st April and I am not working so we are free that day (I am going out in the evening but wouldn't have to be home till about 5.30-6ish so that gives me the whole day if you guys are free?

Tink- good shopping! Very cute pics on FB of Bracken in her new shoes. Z has had 4 bloody pairs because he has been walking nearly 6 bloody months

Dog- Yay for Isla the smiler's walking! Hope you found bargains today at the sale and your picnic sounds divine, just the sort of thing I love but I'm a sad old bat sometimes!

Lenni- where are you??? Done a test yet??

HZ- must have had a good night then as not made it on yet!

Just kicking back with a glass or two of wine after a sublime fish pie (homemade) and delicious raspberry custard tart (not homemade-waitrose!). very much enjoying the anticipation of my lie-in tomorrow, not so mush the cold breakfast in bed I have to pretend to enjoy (always brings a tear to my eye as its sooooo sweet but it is always cold or soggy).