January 2009- toddlers turning 15mths and all that jazz (really just a new thread so DOG can fit it on her poncey iphone!)

[PatTheHammer]

Good enough for ya dog .

And sorry I do realise some are only turning 14 mths and some are nearly 16mths etc,etc......apologies!

All officially toddlers now though i think (well 120's H and HKZ's J are pulling up/taking steps now I think, think mostly everyone walking of some sort!) Scary thought!

Moose glad DS has his test done, hope you get clear results quickly.

Am utterly exhausted, just read the last few days of posts and have retained very little. Got a ton of work to do this evening, grr, so just bookmarking really so I don't drop off the thread!

Hope everyone is good and enjoyed the long weekend...I like the four day week!

Yay for test bing over Moose, thought of you today when I wrote Tuesday on the board at work.

Just in from long day, exhausted. Must shower-eat-make packed lunches-sleep

Had a baby at 20:15, but my choice to stay and worth being late off for, I hope. At least she didn't have a new face 10 mins before delivering.

Tree, must be amazing to see that on a regular basis.

Glad test over Moose, fingers crossed for results.

Holiday sounds fab Books, much more relaxing than ours!

Just finishing tesco shop so won't stop. Trying to get fit now not got uni work taking up all my spare time so thought may as well try and shop and get some healthy food in. I love cooking but we seem to be in a rut lately, any ideas? What are your signature dishes?

My two failsafes are
Sirloin steaks with red chillies and garlic on a bed of tender cabbage/spinach/pak choi - this is from a Jamie Oliver book and is soooo quick but looks lovely.
Butternut squash, spinach and cherry tomato lasagne, gorgeously sweet but takes a long time to make.

Must be awesome tree - bet your mums are the lucky ones with you to help. How lovely of you to stay late.

Sorry for sieve brain, am exhausted - my grandfather is in hospital very ill and probably won't make it through - you may remember that my grandmother died last year and ever since then he has just wanted to join her. He is 88 and ready to go, so we just hope his journey home will be swift and pain-free now.

Can't help hoping I am pg again - highly unlikely (haven't had af since mc 5 weeks ago) - but if not then I think we will have to stop ttc until after the summer, because I can't risk mc or early pg tiredness if I am working (still not worked out the finer details but looks likely).

books can work out Great British resort but where? Sounds really fab. Like tea, I want to go toooooo! Can't we do a get-together somewhere like that? Come on ladies!

Lenni that lasange sounds awesome, I love all types of lasagne. My staples are creamy chicken risotto (based on nigel slater but have adapted), and basil & lemon chicken (nigel again!). Tonight I made Delia's bangers braised in cider from new waitrose recipe, for all the family - was brilliant, yummy and super easy. Also today I made 120'sbrownies! A double batch! I figured we were in need...

Am hoping to meet pat on thurs in forest of dean - I will catch her up on all of your news. But depends on how grandfather is.

Sorry for lack of proper catch up, I have read all but just failing to retain info, and we are still high up this page, iykwim, so I can't scroll back like I usually do Does everyone do that or does everyone else have much better short term memories than me?

Hello Ladies.

Well, its 5.30pm, DD and I have just finished dinner. DH has been working through his days off getting the new staff settled and such and I need a night off from bedtime routine. Even though right now DD is being a slow poke while eating dinner tonight and I get to mess about here.

Hope everyone had a nice Tuesday.

mm - g;ad tests over heres hoping for speedy results hope dh didnt get back to late!!

miss j - for u!!

hi to everyone else

tree - must be a very rewarding job

off to music with mummy
dark and cloudy here again today and feels chilly where has spring gone

toys r hopefully in paper today will check when it coes through door crossing fingers

MissJ Sorry to hear about your grandpa, I hope he finds his peace. Good luck with the TTC, we have been trying too and I am quite a few days late now, so fingers crossed for both of us.

Lenni, steak and chillis sounds fab....am going to search for it on the net...am into meat at teh moment and I love pak choi.

Tree must be v cool delivering babies as part of your job, was loving watching One Born Every Minute, turned me in to (even more of ) an emotional wreck.

Hello to Chef, Books, Tink, 120, Pat, Tea and everyone else. Enjoy your wednesday!

HKZ - Are you going to do a test? Argh, I'm stunned with the excitement!

Will put the butternut squash lasagne recipe on here later for you, it is fab.

This is the sirloin steak one.

MissJ/120, can you link me to 120s Brownie recipe please?

MissJ, I am sorry, missed bit about your Grandfather, hugs for you.

Missed the actual hugs ((())), am not with it entirely, must be horrible to lose them both so soon but sounds like he is ready to go now. Have everything crossed that you are pregnant again, I almost don't want to mention it in case I jinx you.

Dog, we are having teeth clinginess too - in fact we are just having a nightmare with these canines. DS is whingy, not sleeping, clingy and very stroppy. Please let them come through soon.

My Nan is 97 next week, I want to go and visit but she has just moved to a nursing home and I've no idea what the protocol is for visiting. I can't ask my Uncle as they'll want to come with me and I want to see her on my own with the children as they'll monopolise us otherwise and I can see them anytime. She is ready to go, I'll be so sad when it happens, but it is hard to watch her waiting, she's been waiting so long now. My Grandad died nearly 20 years ago now, at first my Nan was very bitter and hardly spoke to us, then she changed totally and was so loving like she had never been in her life with us before. We would stay for weekends with her and chat and she'd tell us she was sorry for being a mean old witch!! But about 6 or 7 years ago she decided she had had enough of living and wanted to be with Grandad, she has no friends left now and when my Uncle got bowel cancer she told us it was wrong she was still here and her last surviving child was sick. Thankfully he recovered. I'm waffling, does anyone know what you do when you visit? Do I have to make an appointment?

MissJ, I'm sorry to hear about your grandfather. Sending ((hugs)).

Also keeping everything crossed for you and HKZ.

Was going to go either into town or to Ikea with Mum this morning, but have woken up feeling really tired and apathetic, so am having a slow day instead. Think its probably the come-down from worrying about ds1's test etc.

We found out at the weekend that he's been sneaking out of bed after we go downstairs and putting the light on to read. Obviously this is keeping ds2 awake as well but he's been threatening him not to tell! He's also been waking ds2 up by putting the light on as early as 5.30 am some days so that he can read. (His current obsession is Famous Five books and it turns out that he is in competition with a girl in his class to see who can read the whole series first.)

So, we have been leaving their door open and checking on them every half an hour or so until they are asleep and his behaviour has improved dramatically. It seems that what we thought was an extreme gluten reaction, was actually a mix of gluten and exhaustion. (We thought it was the reaction making him so tired.)

I was absolutely furious when I found out, especially as poor ds2 is also exhausted because of him. Dh had to calm me down and remind me that he isn't able to think about things from other people's point of view and therefore wouldn't have considered how it would affect ds2. I don't totally buy it though, as he knows he is not allowed out of bed or to read or play after lights out, so he did know what he was doing was wrong and that he was being dishonest with dh and I. I feel like such a mug. It seems we can't trust a word he says at the moment, but its so difficult second-guessing and double-checking everything.

I find it particularly upsetting, as I have BIG problems with lying and we have brought him up to tell the truth and clearly understand that lying is always wrong. He absolutely cannot stand anyone even stretching the truth, let alone lying to him, but is unable to see the situation the other way round. I do know its not his fault, its part of ASD, but sometimes its really hard for me to get into his head and see it from his point of view and I end up feeling like the one with the problem. Sometimes it feels a bit like we are both aliens trying desperately to communicate but completely misunderstanding each other.

Hey ho. That's our life I guess. At least he has improved since we've got his sleeping back on track and he definitely seems more in control and calmer since then.

Sorry, don't really know where all that rambling came from. Think I must be having a brain dump episode. Feel free to ignore and move on.

On a lighter note, dd's padded puddle-suit and over boots have arrived and she looks so cute in them. She looks like she has huge feet and an enormous bottom. She had a proper tantrum when I took them off her after she tried them on this morning, so at least we know she'll be happy to wear them at the festival.

Dog, glad the move went well. Its great having a short school run. (We live across the road from the school as well.)

97, wow Lenni! You should def go and visit - just call the home up and ask. In my limited experience, visitors seem to be welcome any time, but it's good to know when tea/ lunch is so you don't walk into meal time...

hkz you cannot just casually mention that you are 'a few days late'!!!! Test!!!! Come on, we need some excitement! Really don't think I am pg this time around, but am waiting till next week at least to test. Would be really nice though, as otherwise I think we might have to stop for a bit.

Can't link to brownies atm as I am at the farm and don't have it bookmarked here, but hopefully 120 will be along. Yesterday I bastardised the recipe and simply mixed all the wet ingredients in with the dry ones, no beating, just a good stir, and they came out just a bit more fudgey, a bit less light - which made an easy recipe even easier!

dog how on earth are you surviving without a cooker?

Waves to everyone else - am supposed to be working.

x-posted with you mmose, thanks so much for hugs. I was the same with reading at night, I used to crouch on the floor and read using the light from the crack in the door! I would try to make a deal with him - eg as long as he is bed by 8pm, he can read quietly for an hour - or something along those lines - and get him one of those special booklights that clip on - won't disturb DS2 then. What a sweetie!

Lenni, sorry cross posted it took me so long to finish warbling on.

Do you know the name of the care home? Perhaps you could just give them a quick call and ask them when would be the best time etc. In my experience the care workers/nurses etc tend to encourage visits, so they'd probably be more than happy to advise you. Definitely go though, don't let your Uncle's family get in the way. I let my Dad's partner hinder my attempts to visit him while he was terminally ill and I'm still regretting it 3 years after he died. Do what feels right for you, as you said, you can see them anytime. More ((hugs)) for you as well.

Aargh. Cross posted with you now MissJ!

I also need a link to the brownies recipe, as I've been bullied into asked to go for coffee with some other local Mums with babies around dd's age on Friday morning this week and they always expect me to bake something.

I am supposed to be doing housework, but am eating home-made chocolate/cherry sponge cake with chocolate butter icing and a dollop of sour cream.

My sister is a proper bookworm and she used to read by any crack of light she could find as well. Ds1 has apparently been using the uv light on his spy-pen from his birthday party-bag to read by when he thinks he can't get away with putting the light on. He is already allowed to read for half an hour before bed and before school every day and can read at any other time he likes really (apart from when he is in bed obviously). The problem is that although he has always loved reading, this Famous Five thing has developed into an Aspergers-type obsession, so its less about reading the books and more about 'needing' to read and get to the end of each book and ultimately the whole series. (He's read 10 of them in two weeks!) We need to try and bring it back into balance for him, but its not at all easy once an obsession develops.

Until I found out how far the obsession had gone, I was going to invest in a clip on bed light for him and an Ikea over-bed tent for ds2 so that he could read without waking his brother up, but I think its gone a bit beyond that now. (He doesn't like the book-lights as they interfere with his sensory stuff - he likes to hold the book and turn the pages with his feet! but )

hi

busy ladies

well have put bits on ebay so hoping bits didnt go into paper

hkz - sounds hopeful for u[winbk]

Lenni, Ds sounds similar to your DS, he woke 3 times in the night last night crying and is really whingey. My Dad has been in and out of a nursing home recently and we were just allowed to turn up and there was a reception that you reported to. Wow, 97 is a ripe old age, must be hard when you have had enough though. Old age is such a bugger, I find it very depressing watching my dad become more and more frail.
thanks for the recipe...will try it out.

Moose sorry to hear of your torubles with DS1. it sounds very trying. Somewhere I might have a small solution for DS1...I have a light that you clip to your book, DH gave it to me a few christmas's ago as I drove him mad with my latenight reading whilst breastfeeding (ended up reading long after had finsihed feeding!) Anyway I never used it so could pop it in the post for DS1 if that would help.

MissJ...I want brownies now! MMMmmmmm.

Well I have a small confession .... I did a test on Saturday and got a faint BFP, but am not sure when period is due, but think it would have come my now...so will test again tonight...could be a nice 2nd birthday surpirse for Jude have sore boobs, nausea,bloated stomach and craving for raw meat But am nervous as probably only 4 or 5 weeks.

Argh how to not miss anything!?

Lenni - Maybe ring, but on the whole I think they are relaxed, not like a hospital. Unless things have changed. I'm sorry to hear you have this on, although she sounds wise and ready.

MissJ - I'm sorry to hear about your Grandad. Lots on for you too, but good luck with the ttc!

HKZ - and you!! Good luck!!

Hey Dog, congratulations on the move. How is the bump?

Moose - stressfull for you. If it's any consolation, and I know it's different for your ds, I was an obsessional reader. And still am! I read Enid Blytons till I was word perfect. I now do it with other light but rich stuff, like Agatha Christie, and Jane Austen. I could nearly recite some chapters of Sense and Sensibility. It really relaxes me. Maybe he is findng some peace for his brain in his books - but I realise there are deeper issues here.

How/when do you make time to bake and cook? If I went to do that now would spend so long bringing the kitchen to cookable clean and tidy standards it would be school run!!

Tryng to get H to sleep on my knee. Not easy. Am so tired after yesterday.

...got busted by a colleague just then ...so now I can finish. MissJ, I meant to ask have you decided about your job? Would be cool to hang out in the summer, especially if Elkie and 120 are around too....and any other Londoners...Gumps? tea are you near by?
Keeping my fingers crossed for you being up the duff too, would be good to have company. Feeling rather nervous about testign again.

right, back to marking and annual reviews.

Can anyone lend me about £700k?

ta

OMG HKZ, how exciting!! Thanks for the offer of the booklight. We have already tried him with one though and he gets frustrated as they get in the way of his feet!

Tree, if I had that much money to spare, I would gladly give it to you. On the other hand if I had just about that much money and no more I would be elbowing you out the way for that one!

I bake to relax really. Yesterday I did the housework in super-fast-forward mode for a couple of hours so that I would have time to bake before we had to go to the hospital. I just felt like I needed to. I can almost do a victoria sponge or madeira blind folded with one hand behind my back these days. Dh timed me once, it took 25 minutes from getting the ingredients out to getting the baked caked out of the oven. Mind you having baked a choc/cherry cake for us and a coconut/cherry cake for ds1 there is now only approximately one slice of each left.

My dream is to have a huge kitchen with tonnes of storage (has to have floor to ceiling cupboards all along one wall) and worksurface space and a granite-top island unit for rolling out icing on. At the moment I have a ridiculoulsly badly planned kitchen with 4 doorways (back porch leading to toilet and back door/doorway to bathroom/doorway to ex-pantry which now houses tumbledrier on top of washing machine and doorway to living room) a kitchen table which we can't all fit around because of all the flippin doors, a huge blocked off chimney breast, 3 drawers and two cupboards plus an Ikea butchers block which houses the few saucepans I own in a basket at the bottom. My steamers and casserole dish have to live on the hob or on top of the grill and the only bit of worksurface I have is about a 2.5 ft length between the kettle and sink. I hate, hate, hate it as every mealtime is a struggle. I loved my old kitchen, it was a 1/3rd the size but had loads of cupboard space and tonnes of worksurface.

Have just taken delivery of these for dd with her easter money. Had my eye on them for ages. They are lovely, fully lined in really soft jersey, so perfect for the festy.

She is currently wandering aroundt the living room with them over her shoulders like a superhero cape.

I like those Moose!

More realistically-assuming-dh-just-gets-a-massive-lottery-win-to-pay-for-uni-so-we-don't-use-equity-on-h ouse....www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-14423397.html

It just feels like home looking around these houses. Victorian everything, and hills and stone buildings.

I need to get back to West Yorks or there abouts.

My kitchen has very little workspace too Moose. When girls are older and their toys are smaller we can put more in. It will divide the room a bit, where as now it t straight through, about 30 feet. Am hoping when dslite replaces wheely bugs they won't mind

Dishwasher is broke Git.

Contacting bank re:loan for the paving. Sigh.