June09: First birthdays coming up, we're on the move!

[June2009]

Happy Mother's day Juners ;)

Anyone read ?The Secret? by Rhonda Byrne??

Hi all!

Mrsmc, nope, I haven't heard of that book, are you reading it now? Glad there was an improvement on A's sleep. I also think teething might have to do with M's odd nights, poor them it must be awful... Last night was better here as well, she went from 7 to 11.30 in one go, but then some kind neighbours started slamming doors and yeeeeeeelling so she woke up and then went from 12.30 till 6. Really hoping she does the same tonight! Fingers crossed for you as well

Skillbo, glad to hear the invites were not too bad, phew!! Hope you have a quiet week at work so that you can come back and chat with us

Strawberry, so sorry to hear about your DH's grandpa and poor boys, you're right Hope L enjoys the car journey this time a bit more

Hi to all Juners!

We've ordered a playpen as M's just getting into too much trouble every time we set our eyes off her. I had to put the coffee table in front of the TV as she was just kneeling 1cm away from it whenever we had it on and would just get crossed every time we sat her further away from it Sge's also started throwing books from the bookcase, the list is endless! Hopefully the playpen will help a bit?

We had some friends over for lunch today, it was lovely as they have a DD of M's age and they played together It's fun seeing them interact and share their toys

Hope you had a nice bank holiday, ladies.

Waves!!!

Hi ladies am fuming after my dr?s appointment with Aaliyah. She told me to move her tonight to her own room, put a toy in the cot, shut the door and let her scream and not go in. Even if she cries so much she is sick ?that is normal? do this for a week and she?ll never look for me in the night again there is just no way in hell!! How could I put my beloved daughter through that physical and emotional ordeal? I?m sticking to the ?No Cry Solution?! We did have a better night last night, no banshee screaming for hours but she was wide awake at 4am but so was I ? Mummy ate far too much chocolate yesterday per chance??

Gauchita ? ?The Secret?, yes I am reading that too, a friend recommended it, it is intriguing and quite fascinating and I just wondered if anyone else had read it (it is basically about the law of attraction, the universe gives you what you ask for when you believe it can be yours ? it?s hard to apply the theory to sleep though when you know darn well you haven?t had any!) Glad M had a better night I heard (or read somewhere) that you have more luck putting the scared items in the playpen then the child DS used to bang the TV, now we have it high up on the wall but Aaliyah is now at the cables so we are thinking of getting new sockets higher up the wall! Most people say kids hate playpens but mine quite liked ours. Which one have you ordered?

Mrsmc, oh my... I am at her saying "if she's sick it's normal, don't worry" WTF!? The reality is the crying it out method works for some parents and it's fine, no one should judge.

However, it doesn't work for others and it doesn't work for some children either. Our HV gave us a similar-ish method: basically if she woke DH had to go to her, not me, but I couldn't go to her no matter how much she cried, and M doesn't settle with DH, at least not yet, so that wasn't an option for us. You have to stick to the method you like the most and feel the most comfortable with, so just ignore the doc

We got the Lindam playpen, from Kiddicare. Will get it tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on whether they considered today's bank holiday. at putting valuables inside the playpen instead of the baby Well, you never know, we might have to The thing is, I correct her and say "no" and try to distract her and give her something else, remove her from the thing, etc etc but this lady is soooooooooo determined once she wants something!

MRsM - you weren't even remotely mean about the invites and the wedding overall.. am close to just telling everyone to bugger off and leave us to it. Its a shame as DF starting to get really pissed off too and it's his family which makes it even harder. We're also trying to cut down MIL visits (to just once a week) but the message doesn't seem to be getting through... I want to spend my weekend with her, not with bloody nanny! I know she wants to be involved, but once again its just a little too much..!

Am also pretty at your HV - I didn't think anyone recommended that anymore.. sounds like the dark ages to me. You just need to go with what you think at the end of the day - I do echo the threads thinking around Ibuprofen... this is in Kiddy Neurofen that I was raving about and basically it has an anti-inflammatory in it which Calpol doesn't, so it can soothe and reduce the gums a little!

Gauchita - was with a friend today and her lo who is 3 next week so quite a bit bigger than Jazzy. However, my friends DD was crawling around to play with Jazzy who found it hysterical - so so so sweet! Love watching her playing with others - reminds me, again, how quickly she is growing up. I must relish more the time I have with her really!

I am also hoping for a quieter week as it's been so lovely reading your posts and catching up.. fingers well and truly crossed!

hi girls,
silly o clock here. Sleep training of sorts has started- I think we forgot to tell A and he is awake and playing with his snuggles in his cot!
mrsmc I can't believe the advice your Dr gave you. Hoping A continues to improve with the 'no cry' techniques. I really should get some books to read. First of all we are trying to break the going in immediately and picking him up when he cries. People downstairs have moved out so it is a good chance to improve things.

skillbo glad the invites better than expected but just keep standing your ground. I let MIL dictate too many things for our wedding and really wish I hadn't. Camping in the new forest sounds like a wonderful honeymoon. Does the engagement ring arrive this week?What is it like? (nosey emotion)

gauchita I share your pain about the love of cables and the ineffective use of no and distraction!!Another determined little person in this house. Interestingly, he has stopped pulling everything off the bookshelf now that we keep directing him to his 'end', where there are lots of his books to remove and replace at his whim! Use the playpen at the grandparents place, works a treat-either to keep him in or keep him away from things!

strawberry very sorry to hear about DH's GP . Hope the road trip is ok, such a lovely part of the country in the north east, just such a bugger to get there

bigcar glad DD3 sorted with her glasses. Are there plans for another baby in the bigcar house or is E the last? .Sorry I missed the beer!

june you made me laugh with your packing story!I think it is my years of backpacking/itinerant living that helps. Also I am going away so often with A that we have a bit of a packing routine. We had v cheap last minute eurostar tickets and got into the business lounge. We were quite a sight amongst the suits getting their financial times and coffee. A enjoyed a croissant and ripped up a daily mail

Right, sounds like we have a quiet baby. Here's hoping for a few hours sleep. Peaceful sleeping babies vibes to all the juners. night night

morning all

MrsMcJnr, your paed is clearly insane screaming until sick is definitely not normal, what are you supposed to do, leave A to sleep in a pile of puke, totally gross I think if you posted that in AIBU there wouldn't be one person agreeing with her!

strawberry, sorry to hear about your dhs grandad Hope all the travelling turns out ok.

skillbo, great news on the invite front, what a relief! The cake sounds great, we will require photos to dribble over

gauchita, hope M likes the playpen, some dcs do hate them but I think all will stay in them for a short time, at least enough time to make a cuppa!

snow, hope A got the hint and eventually you all got some sleep, now if we could all get our los to read these books themselves life would be a lot easier Did A choose the daily mail himself to demolish? Good choice! E will be the last baby in the bigcar house, don't think I'm physically capable of having another, body is well and truely knackered, doesn't stop me feeling broody though

E was up at 4 this morning, took him ages to resettle, dh thought he'd gone straight back to sleep, I think it was more likely that dh went straight back to sleep!

waves to all

Hi all!

Bigcar, it amazes me how these babies think playing at "silly o'clock", as Snow said (love that phrase, btw ) is a good idea M was up last night from 2 to 3. She'd fall asleep in my arms and wake up as soon as she'd touch the cot I was KNACKERED and ended up taking her to our bed, of course Funny how DH's seem to lose track of time during these events, huh?

Snow, GREAT idea that of putting some of her books here in the living room in a corner just for her I'll be implementing that first time tomorrow Hope you managed to get a decent sleep after your post last night.

Skillbo, I know! This weekend both my friends who have babies M's age were talking about their 1st birthdays! And then thinking about it I realised it's only 2 months away Oh, hope your MIL gets the message soon!

Hi to all Juners!

Busy day today, we went to get a shoe organiser as now everything has to be out of the way thanks to lady "I like to lick everything" I also went buggy fitting with my translator friend and the babies, first time since going on holiday so I expect some pain tomorrow and then I went driving with DH to practise. On Sat I had a frustrating class with my instructor, I just made so many silly mistakes grrrr.

THe playpen is arriving tomorrow, I'll let you know how it goes with M

Hope we all have a night full of sleep! Fingers crossed, ladies!

Waves!!

Hello ladies

Just a quick one - if any of you feel like buying the Daily Hate Mail tomorrow you will see me, DF and Jazzy. I work in PR and had been approached about a story about SAHD's... wouldn't normally do this sort of thing but we did get £100 thankyou from the press officer who approached me so happy days - and something extra to spend on underwear It will probably be in the Personal Finance area as it's about life insurance, I think!!

Hope everyone had a good day today and the lo's are all tucked up and snoozing. I get the horrible feeling I may have picked up Jazzys bug - she gave it to DP over the weekend and I'm now sneezing like no-one's business. Here's hoping not!

Cross about the wedding again - MIL and her sister went shopping today and found our 'cake' tier thing, my dress, necklaces... found a garter in a bag which they obviously thought I should wear (its hanging and nasty looking). I wouldn't mind but I don't get invited on any of these shopping sprees - I just get told after the event! Grrrrrrrrrrr. Sorry, will probably be venting for the next 7 weeks!

Sleep well lovely ladies x

Evening ladies

For those of you who read it, you'll have seen that I'm not in the Daily Mail today after all.. they went with a colleague of mine instead! Boo - I don't mind so much about not being in print, but I could really have done with the £100.... oh well, the Sun are doing a similar story so have put myself forward - fingers crossed!

Just going to watch the Masterchef Final... love it

Have a good night all - sleep well x

Ughh A was up 12-6 last night! got 3 hours sleep and felt sick all day. She fell asleep in the pool in her swimming lesson! I can see the teeth poking through now so let?s hope tonight is a better night. Just when I thought some of the ideas in the new book were working too! X has been great today, he must be feeling a lot better from his bronchitis; we had a few rounds of lashing out and hitting me but other than that, an angel (Mums who?ve got past this stage - what is that all about? And what should I do?)

Thanks Strawberrysam ? I am ignoring the dr have a fabulous road trip! Sounds hectic!

Gauchita ? A won?t settle well for DH either, she is furious when he goes to her instead of me! Has the playpen arrived and how is it working? We found with DS that if we made it into a ball pit with lots of plastic balls, he didn?t mind being in there quite so much!

Skillbo ? hope you are managing to keep the MIL at arms length! Mine is coming to stay for 10 days on 20/4 ? I am trying not to recall how disastrous the last solo visit was but am not succeeding hope you get your quieter week as wished for! How weird about your MIL and the shopping spree!!!

Snowwombat ? how is the sleep training going?

Bigcar ? I don?t know of the paed?s view is representative of Spaniards as a whole but they can be really odd here about kids, on the face of it, they seem so child friendly but actually, the kids have to do what the parents want (like staying up until all hours in restaurants at night!)

Hello! Remember me ?

Sounds like there are some babies not sleeping well - how soul destroying are the middle of the night screaming sessions? Delie was up 3 times last night, but normally only wakes once or twice, for her dummy (which will have fallen out) then is back asleep again.

But she doesn#t nap well during the day - quite often its a fight to get her to nap before 11am, and she is as stubborn as a mule quite like me, so we get into a battle of wills and its not fun for either of us. Yesterday was a shocker, and DH said I should get more babysitting so I can get some time to myself. Will think about it. Sometimes I have a great day (like today, esp since decided to chill), but other days I HATE being SAHM. Poor sweetie w cranky mummy. Anyway, I think you do get days like that. Delie has woken now so time to feed her. She does love her Pret sandwiches!

heya
sam sorry to hear about your granddad and the long trip!! Hope babe's not too fretful in the car.
We put the new car seat in now sos he is facing forward (though she is not yet 9kgs).

skillbo shame you weren't in the daily mail, I meant to get it and forgot then asked dh to get it but it was too late. hope the sun works out for you, how do you know in advance what pieces they are planning to write about? Is it in there somewhere?

I just picked up C from nursery and for the second time she has refused food there. I don't know what to do, maybe it's because we went on holiday and she missed a couple of sessions so she hadn't been for a while.
She comes back home and eats fine and she's been really good with her eating recently so I'm really starting to freak out. (oh and the f***g guilt of it all ARGH).
She seems really happy otherwise (I could hear her crying when I got there, but she was probably just hungry, maybe their food is just inedible???).

I am meeting up some mates to go to the park this pm so really have to go for now, catch up soon!

The haircut is lovely thanks, nothing drastic, same as usual but shorter!

Hi all!

June, mmmmm I'm trying to think why she might be off her food when at nursery... it could be because she took some days off and has to get back into her routine. Maybe some more knowledgeable Juners will come with better advice Hope you had a nice time with your friends, the day here was gooooorgeous, hope you had the same down there

Bunny, battle of wills is something we have here sometimes as well M's also stubborn like me so I can't blame DH for that feature I know what you mean about the "off" days, I guess we all have some of those. Sometimes they're placid and you can go through the day without wanting to run away but sometimes nothing is good enough for them! Hope to see you here again soon

Strawbs, wow, those are some hectic weeks you have ahead of you, aren't they? HOpe the car journey was fine Funny how they have several consoles but no internet, huh?

Mrsmc, oh dear! That must have been a rough night for you ((hug)) I was so tired last night that when M woke at 12 something I told DH "just bring her, I can't get up" I'm going to take a nap soon so as to deal with the wakings a bit better tonight. Hope you have a better one as well Uhhh all those balls inside the playpen sound like fun! I bet he loves that! It's working well, thankfully. I try not to just "dump" her there, but distract her with some toys she has inside or put some music on and talk to her etc, so that she doesn't feel ignored

Skillbo, I read your post and went online hoping it'd be there as it was too late for a paper copy and I saw that other couples were shown. I thought it was because I was reading it online Hope the Sun one comes through then

Hi to all Juners!

Lovely day here, lots of sunshine, even warm-ish temperatures! Hope we have more days like this coming

I had a driving lesson yesterday evening and my instructor made me drive home I was teeeeeeerrified! But I did it and didn't stall the car or anything so I was chuffed. Today I drove us to town and back! I feel so motivated to get better and have my full license soon Oh, there was a moment I stalled the car 3 times in a row at some lights as I kept putting 3rd gear instead of 1st Oh well...

I went buggy fitting as well so I guess a nap is in order now that M's in bed

Waves!!!

morning all

skillbo, how frustrating I saw a great comment on a wedding thread the other day, something along the lines of, mil thank you for your kind offers of help but really we want you to relax and enjoy our wedding day with us and really don't want you worrying unnecessarily over arrangements! Or the one that always makes me 'no' is a complete sentence.

strawberry, hope all goes well with your travelling and the funeral

MrsMcJnr, controlled crying is one thing (whether you like it or not!) but crying until sick, well that's just . . . . . . sick! Xs behaviour is just testing the boudaries, seeing what his limits are, completely normal. There are many ways of dealing with it, ignore bad behaviour/reward good, time out, star charts etc, again it's finding what works for you. Staying calm is the hardest most important thing, it is a phase and will pass. A glass of wine when they are all in bed is always useful too

bunny, big lovely to see you again Seems a lot of our los are developing their stubborn streak

june, how was the park? It was a lovely day yesterday! Hopefully the food issue is just a small blip due to change in routine, I'm sure the nursery won't be happy either so should keep an eye on her.

gauchita, glad the playpen is working, I noticed in asda yesterday they are doing 2 packs of balls for £8 if you're interested, they can also be quite good in one of those small 2 ring paddling pools. The driving sounds promising, well done

E is loving having the older dcs home for the holidays, so nice for the older ones to be able to run around the garden now the weather is decent again. Although as usual they have managed to find mud that has got walked through the whole house!

waves to all

hey! bigcar I think it was tee who said that about "no" :D Very true.
We had a great time at the park, C loves the swings.
This week I've tried to be strict with baby's routine and it has worked great so far. Last solids around 6pm, bath around 7:30, followed by last milk feed, story and bed. So far, almost no tears anymore in the evening. C sleeps until 3 or 4am, wakes up for a feed or water and then off to sleep until 6:30 or 7am. So still no sleeping through but at least we've got our evenings back and C is in a much better mood overall.

skillbo They found your dress??? wtf that would drive me nuts. Have you told them you'd like to be involved into these shopping trips? They're clearly excited about the wedding!

gauchita I hope the driving lessons are goign well, it's a great sense of freedom when you pass, good luck.
I am dreading when C will be crawling around moping the floor. She has started lifting her bum in the air a bit which is funny to watch.

mrsmc gosh, how many teeth do babies get? Sounds like A is growing them all now, hopefully you'll get some respite soon. I don't know how you do it, I get really awful when I haven't had a half decent amount of sleep.

Just figured out Justine Fletcher is "Mr Tumble", we're big fans ;)

The weekend went very fast, C is going back to nursery tomorrow and I hope the feeding will be better.

Right it's late and I can hear C's woken up... night night!

Hi all!

June, glad to hear C's routine is working well and she's sleeping better Hope tomorrow at nursery her meal time is better as well Ohhh the bum in the air was the beginning of M's crawling, so get yourself ready I'm also trying to get M back into her routine but I hate to think in a few weeks it'll all be ruined again when we have to travel to Buenos Aires

Bigcar, will check that in ASDA, thanks! Hope it's not too late Haven't these days been lovely? Ohhh we had so much sunshine here!! Who said Britain had bad weather? Ok, I have no idea who Mr Fletcher, Mr Tumble are and would love to know so as to understand your excitement Tell me!!!

Skillbo, WTF!? Wedding shopping trip without the bride! OH dear!! Hope you've managed to get the point across gag them now so that they chill a bit Otherwise, Bigcar's "no is a full sentence" idea sounds good to me

Hi to all Juners!!

Right, nice weekend here, I've driven to town a few more times without stalling the car too much, maybe once or twice The weather was lovely!!!

I've got a big translation due this Friday so I'm busy these days. Glad DH has different timetables with his new job and now is at home during the day at times I have to wake him up after this post so that he stays in charge of M

Oh, I got a "bed positioner" for M as she was rolling and moving A LOT in her sleep and therefore waking A LOT as well. It's working really well, she wakes still, of course, but not as frequently as last week, it was driving me bananas.

What a difference 5hs of straight sleep make! I got that on Friday and I was like a different person the following day... Of course then Sat was baaaaaaaaaad but last night was not too bad so...

Hope you have a nice day, ladies!!!

Waves!!!

morning all

gauchita, Justin Fletcher is the KING of childrens tv. He's done quite a few programs of his own and does a load of the voices on the animated type program too, the thinking is that if he left the bbc there would be no cbeebies He currently does a program called gigglebiz which is like the fast show for los and very funny. He also does something special which is made for kids with sn and uses makaton signing, it's loved by all though. The great thing is that it features kids with sn and has bought it smackbang into mainstream viewing, great. I've been reading the webchat and if he reads before he turns up it is unlikely he'll get his head through the door at mnhq, much, much fawning and love going on there, me included

good to hear the driving is going well, and the sleep too June is right, when you get over the nerves, driving gives you a lot more freedom! Is your dhs new job going well, must be nice to have him home some of the time, especially when you have a lot of work on.

june, yes, yes, I think it was tee, straight talking lady that one wish I could be so assertive sometimes Sounds like C will be off soon then, you never know, she may miss the crawling and go straight for walking. Good to hear the routine is working, hope all goes well with nursery today!

the man from autoglass has turned up! New windscreen here we come. Waves to all

morning girls, what a glorious weekend. Amazing what a bit of sunshine can do for one's wellbeing

DH did a 24hr on call sat so A and I took advantage of the sunshine for a long session on the swings at the park (with no queues- has anyone seen those AIBU threads with horror park stories?). Played in the garden, well, playing of sorts, more a game of A wanting to constantly put pebbles in his mouth and me fishing them out. Hours of fun, that one!

Yesterday A and I had a lovely walk on the south coast, while DH did some work on our little boat. A managed to fall over, cut his head open and scream blue murder, while I tried to stop the bleeding. Only had a grown up size plaster, so he looked like a pirate with it covering an entire eyebrow/forehead. I got very upset later,ridiculous I know, as this will be the first of many accidents to come.
sleep training appears to be working. A slept through last night . Much better as self settling, usually up once for a dummy reinsertion.Arrival of a new tooth threw things for a couple of nights.

Feeding good too, most of the time. Happy to try new things, although everything is being thrown on the floor at the moment. Isn't gravity just so exciting!

mrsmc how are you doing?Thinking of you. Any improvements in A's sleep? Is 'the secret' a good read? We need to go to the library today and thought I might find something for me. I will read almost anything but love a good crime/thriller or historical fiction.

gauchita when are you off to BA?So pleased your confidence in driving going from strength to strength. Sorry M's sleep still so bad, hope something changes soon.

june Hope nursery is better for C this week. I have no idea about the food issue, except to say A often has days where he doens't want much, and then is fine again. He lives on frozen fruit when he teeth are coming through and refuses most other things.

bigcar how you coping with school hols and a houseful of kids?

strawberry hope the car journey wasn't hell

skillbo sorry we didn't get to see you in print. What sort of PR do you do?

bunny nice to see you. A is the child of two control freaks, you can imagine the trouble we already have! Grouchy mummy days happen here too. I try to get out of the house, as a walk always makes things better.

Question for the Londoners. How do you manage a trip into town with a buggy?A and I caught a coach to london, hailed a black cab to St Pancras and then got the Eurostar. I had him in a sling and used a backpack. I am desperate for some london time and just wondered about the practicalities of getting about on tube/bus with a buggy. He is a little too heavy for our current sling to use for a day out. Thanks for any advice!

x-posts with bigcar. Thanks for explaining who Jutin Fletcher is, will have a look at some of the programmes. A interested in using a remote but not the TV. Only a matter of time!

snow, E likes to eat the remote, that's his level too London can be a bit of a nightmare with a buggy, depends on where you are going really, personally I'm not a fan of the crowds. Tube can be particularly hard as it's mostly stairs and escalators, not many stations have lifts. So lightweight buggy that you can carry on stairs or are happy with on an escalator. Buses are much more buggy friendly but as in all areas, if it's busy you have to collapse the buggy. Most of the touristy places and shops have to be disability friendly which of course benefits buggy users, so much better than it used to be before the DDA.

Looking at the tube maps on tfl they now mark the stations with lift access, so at least you can check before you go now.

My heart nearly stopped this morning, I just discovered Xavier on the outside of the bars on our terrace standing on the ledge, we are a floor up, can?t stop thinking what would have become of him if he?d fallen I thought he was really safe out there too, I have no idea how he climbed over, it?s too high even for me to do it. Watching him like a hawk now! Was shaking for ages!

Just had a disastrous playdate too Xavier kept trying to hug and hit his little friend and she just wailed the whole time, they?ve known each other since they were 3 m old but their friendship just isn?t working at the mo poor Aaliyah skipped her morning sleep and then fell asleep during her lunch. She did have two bowls of stew though!

Our nights have been mixed, last night she was up twice but she now lets me put her in her cot awake and she settles herself with a few strokes from me. Sat night was great; she slept 8.30-3.30 up for a feed and back down 15 mins later until 7.30. That I can cope with . I do think that the NCSS is working; she is far happier in her cot and goes to bed a lot more easily now that I have imposed the 2 hr quiet time before bed. I think it is having a positive effect on Xavier too. He is settling much better too.

Will try to catch up if the synchronized naps continue?