AUG 08 - Be who you are and say what you feel...

[TwilightSurfer]

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." --Dr. Suess

ooohhhh how exciting Pertelote - they have broadband there right

hi Sazz

I believe so Dizzy .

Sazz - he is quite seriously keen on the job, but he doesn't (we don't) really want to relocate so he is negotiating how much time he would need to spend in Malaysia. Short bursts we could probably cope with though I would love to hear anyone's experience of life with a DH/P who travels a lot? As he is only away a couple of times a year for a week or so at a time ATM.

my monster sized DD2 is currently wearing an age 6-7 gap jacket handed down from DD1 and some Zara combats aged 6-7 which are too small too - tis lands of the giants up here

Reese is no less than 18m for clothes. A few of her sister's t-shirts have wound up on her and look perfectly fine.

DD1 does exactly what midi-Sazzles does regarding dinner. I've actually taken to starving her so she'll eat a complete meal. For example, Saturday instead of snacking her way from wake-up to lunch I offered one glass of juice. When we sat down for lunch at 11a, the girl cleaned her plate! She was quite proud. Today she's snacked pretty good since getting out of school so I'm ignoring her "I'M STARVING" remarks. They are sooooooo not true.

Sazzles dd1 was in school but Reese watched and danced with me. I have no shame. It was like a dance/karaoke party.

MALAYSIA???? OMG!

Just doubled checked my geography. Pertelote you could be Singapore's neighbor!!

Ladies while my truck was in the sick clinic today I've had DH's sports car. With this excellent weather (74*F), I'm going to have a bear of a time getting the tangles out of the girls' hair tonight because we've had the roof OPEN and all the WINDOWS DOWN and the radio WIDE OPEN!!!!!!!!!!!

weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Sazz, trust me, she is reaching monster proportions

night all

I know TS! It is pretty . Head-hunted, completely out of the blue. Lots of talking to be done. Thanks for your thoughts, Sazz - looking up PF is a good tip too.

Pert.
I coped fine with 2 when DH was away for 3 days a week. It has advantages and disadvantages - I found when DS was about 4 he got quite cross about DH not being there. He isn't away at all now we have three though, and apparently this job quitting thing he did will mean we get the chance for human interaction soon ...

On the eating thing, I've cut out most snacks, especially for dd1, in the last week. I think when it was so cold, we were filling them up with lots of toast and crackers and lots of fruit, but it had got to the point where she wasn't eating dinner.

Like minisurfer, she was delighted with herself for eating her dinner. I do find they go through phases of being interested in food. Even DS went off food a bit before Christmas and he'll eat anything except visible mushrooms and melon.

DS is a skinny fidget like miniOops and though he eats like a grown man, it disappears and his trousers are in a permanent state of collapse.

DD2 eats a bit of everything but is birdlike in terms of portions.

I need a bit of portion control myself after two of my favourite things - celeriac mash and bread and butter pudding- were on the menu his evening.

I needed the sustenance after a day of two halves. I was crying before 11 because dd1 was being so intractable and rude. Then she slept for nearly 3 hours because it was a case of sending her to bed or borstal.

DS seems to have weathered a bit of a crisis at school after his teacher went on maternity leave and the other lads lost their bearings with consequences for poor Fintonio.

In desperation I launched a bit of a bizarre 'Get Funky' campaign to get him back on track which has worked, because basically he is a very confident, sociable child and because of the dynamics he's in it can be difficult for that to shine through.

Buckets- sorry to hear that dd1 is still struggling a bit. I have to say that the arboretum fuss sounds fairly familiar here. DS1 keeps retreating into weirdly passive aggressive phases which are an absolute pig to deal with ...

I don't want to say that they are 'playing games' with us, but they are at an age where they know there is more than one way to communicate their emotions.

Its more complicated they get.

Did No1 pop in and shout 'Boo?' or did I imagine it?

Red yes I spotted No1 too.

Pert would be lovely to have you as a near(ish) neighbour! Would it be KL? Only a short flight (and some cheap ones too) away. Why not hop over to the living overseas board - there are some Mnetters in Malaysia and quite a few of us here in Singapore. I suppose if you stayed and he travelled would depend on how often and for how long - regular long haul trips would be a real killer IMHO.

DH is now travelling quite a lot and was in Mumbai all last week. He has quite a few more trips lined up as well (Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai etc). We did try to skype once last week but the connection was rubbish so DS got a bit upset. I find it ok if he is away in the week because he's not usually home when DS goes to bed anyway so it's only really the mornings that are any different - last week was a shocker because DS decided to wake up at 5-5.30 every morning! It was great to have him back at the weekend if only so I could have a lie-in plus he's had a week of unbroken sleep .

A bit like Sazz though I quite like it sometimes when he's away - I get to eat what I want, watch what I want on TV in the evenings, get silly little jobs done, have long conversations with friends in England and not get shouted at for being on the phone too long etc .

From my own personal experience my Dad worked overseas a lot when I was younger (from about 5-12). I used to love it when he got back in early the afternoon (usually on a Friday) from wherever he'd been and I came home from school - plus of course he always used to bring us a little gift but it didn't really make up for him not being around. He got a different job that only involved UK travel after that and it was much better.

Anyway I've probably waffled on for long enough now! DS is and always has been a fussy eater I'd say since birth - am slowly accepting that it's just him but very difficult not to get frustrated sometimes. He's not very big either - but hardly surprising. He does seem to have a lot of energy - though not really sure where he gets it from. He's in a 18-24m on top but only 9-12m bottoms as he suffers same affliction as me - long body and short ar*e legs!

Pert just to add that if you do consider moving this way can give you lots more advice/help so just let me know if it gets that far. It's a big and scary decision to make and admittedly much easier for us when we decided to come as we didn't have any DC to consider at that point. Also it was something we'd always talked about doing anyway.

morning,

welcome back dizzy and hope dh gets his problem sorted...

boo no 1..

hope you are feeling better vg..

nice weather ts ...

at your baking buckets please send some over to me...

oops your dd eats like my dd2.. tho she is definitely in 12-18months and the biggest roundest tummy ever (love it love it love it )

waves to everyone else

well had a lovely morning planned to myself involving pilates/gym and shopping... dd1 has woken up with a sore ear/throat and temp ... not sure whether to bother taking dd2 to cm now...

also dh has a massive stag do at the weekend and we were suspose to go down and see a friend and her two children but they have had to cancel ... so now have to think of inventive things to do to make the weekend go quickly!!! ideas please!! (we already do swimming on sat afternoon)

Morning all

running out the door as we have 200 things to do but the builders are running in and out and we keep having to stop so they can get all their questions out before we head to toddlers.

Pert - Malaysia is not a bad place to go to! Better than Indonesia which is rubbish and almost as nice a Singapore We spent a fair amount of time moving about that part of the world as kids. My dad spent huge amounts of time away from home when we were little either with the Air Force or otherwise once he left. I remember not really making plans that involved him and if he was home he was involved and if he wasn't he wasn't. I never really missed him until I got a bit older and understood where and why he was away.

VG yay for gone hangover - just how much did you drink??

Dizzy your DD's obviously take after their father in height and size - Imagine your tall striking girls as teenagers being the envy of all their friends as they can wear things those shorter can only dream of wearing.

Oops - you are too kind however I think my build being not slight at all, will have something to do with it as well

VG re hangover

morning all - another night of poor sleep for me again

girls gone to toddlers and DH away to work so I'm sitting watching Candleford and contemplating between the gym, the ironing or going back to bed

We're in 18-24m trousers (with adjustable waists and rolled up ankles) and just got out the 2-3y tops now as I was just bored of the others. No more popper vests. He does have some 2-3y sleepsuits though from DS1 which I snipped and hemmed the feet to fit DS1's short legs and avoid slippiness.

Loti Take them to the library to choose a DVD for Sat eve, make popcorn and shove them in front of the tv for the night. Could you invite a friend with kids round to join you all?

Pert My dad was away a lot when I was growing up, I do remember my mum's stress which was all saved up for my his return but she didn't have any support from family. He used to pinch cutlery from airlines and we used to be excited to see the latest souvenirs! I won't let him throw them out now in case one of the grandchildren gets into design, I have only a passing interest and find it a fascinating collection.

thanks buckets awesome idea.. step daughter may come down sat night.. but to be honest i just needed something to go along with the swimming! so thank you.. its dh's birthday on monday so sunday will be taken up making cakes and cards!!

we are also about to go into 18 to 24 trousers (though some are too long and un rollupable)and have been in 2-3 tops a few weeks. but that means that at the moment he is in 12-18 bottoms and 2-3 tops. how odd is that?

morning. forgot to turn the heating on before bed after our warm day. house a bit nippy this morning. lol. oh well all slept sound.

I am living the dream this afternoon with no naps and lots of wailing

I feel your pain cyteen. After a few days of similar joy, we're now 2.5 hours into the long-awaited daytime nap. To wake or not to wake.... Can't believe there are some littlies on here dropping naps now . DD1 (just 4) still sleeps most days and my sanity is just about preserved by that.

Well into 18-24 month stuff, except for the odd exception of crap sizing on the 12-18 month stuff. 2-3 box open and ready to go at home. DD2 definitely bigger than DD1 at this stage. In fact DD2 is now almost out of trousers that DD1 was wearing just before DD2 was born (at 2.5yrs).

Was v. interested by the 6 tablespoons per meal thing as I do worry about DD2's propensity for being a human dustbin. Having been such a scrawny baby, she's definitely heading in the other direction now. No fussiness here and not being helped by my Granny's forgetfulness tied with her post-war obsession with the novelty of chocolate meaning that the daily visits while we've been here have been punctuated by five minutely (is that a word?!) offers of chocolate fingers. DDs clearly delighted. Me, less so...

I've done the same as you, sazzles, re: finishing food. They get their main meal at lunchtime. If it's not finished it (or a good stab at it made), there's no pudding and it comes back at teatime. I've only had to follow through on that a handful of times though with DD1 who has now learned the art of compromise and will offer 3/5/8 mouthfuls more rather than giving up if she's not keen. DD2 just wolfs EVERYTHING.

V. exciting pertelote! DD1's godfather is moving back this month from a few years in KL and has had a wonderful time (although single bloke vs young family is a different proposition ). My Dad was absent A LOT through my childhood as he was in the forces - the one with the longest absences too. I have a sh*t relationship with him now but that's more to do with what's happened since then, but as a child I remember the excitement of his return and how special our time with him was.

Right, off for final visit to my Granny's for this trip. She's just called to say the chocolate fingers are out and waiting....