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!

hppy bday lenni have a great one

have good weekends ladies ont be on till sun

Oooo er, I feel so old around you lot. Lol!

Bouncy castle is for ds2's birthday next weekend Dog.

Nearly done here ready for tomorrow. Just the birthday cake and cupcakes to decorate and the party bags to assemble. Phew!

Dog, I am so jealous of your lifestyle. We never seem to spend enough time outdoors these days. We've both said recently that we need to be more spontaneous about things like picnic lunches with kids and days out. I think we are getting old and set in our ways to be honest.

Right, best get off and decorate those cakes then.

Hope everyone is busy having a nice weekend.

DOG I'm of your day too. Wish I lived near a beach instead of chavtastic Watford!

Good luck for tomorrow Moose, you really do plan awesome parties!

moose - have a great party tom good luck with cake decoration would luv to c pics

hope u all have great fri evenings and great sats

dhs sister and children arrived safely come from hull off to zoo tom

eeek, too much chat!

Just got in from Sainsburys, what a day, had to effing well work from 11am till 3pm as well so missed best part of day whilst DC's were having fun having a picnic in the park with MIL Still, worth it for the £120 I get paid to do revision session

friends coming over tomorrow so have to be up early for mad cleaning and cooking spree.............moose, I'll be thinking of you tomorrow, in your superbly organised chaos!

Lovely day, DOG, will you stop writing about the blardy beach, making me homesick..............oh, hang on, going back to mums on tuesday.........Beeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaccccccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhh!yeah

Happy 30th Lenni!!!!!! What a place to be to celebrate it, glad it all worked out in the end, but bad news about the funding

Tink- have a great time at the zoo, think I have said this before but I bloody love a good zoo

Forgot all else but hello to one and all, bit hyper, just had a beer and now I need to relax and chill........

At last I have time to catch up....

Tink, have a good weekend with your family, hope the sun shines at the zoo.

Moose, have a lovely party tomorrow, you should be a children's party planner, everything you've mentioned about both Ds's parties sounds fab. I am struggling to cobble something together for DD, who turns three in a couple of weeks.
Sorry to hear you are still having hassles with the school and DS's teacher who is back off sick leave. They seem really inconsistent. I hope you made some headway (have just skimmed th elast 10 days...so apologies if you sorted it and I missed it )
Ahhhh...my dog... he is 4.5 yrs and a mixed mongrel from HK. he has the sweetest, kindest temprment, but will not come when called consistently...this is all down to my crap dog training...I just hate not being able to take him off the lead and want to re train him but am not sure if it is too late.

Dog your days sounds gorgeous...oh the sea! I miss it. Have just got back from a week in Newcastle and spent lots of time on beautiful windswept beaches. Oh to be 25 again (have just turned 31 and am missing my 20s!)

Happy birthday Lenni, hope ytou are having a fab time in Morrocco...am very travelled round there pre babies and ti was amazing.

Chef, hope you are not beating yourself up tpp much about V's burn, accidents happen (DS has an egg on his head from diving off the bed yesterday ) All the best with the CT scan, sounds like you have a god attitude about it all, hope it all goes well and sending positive vibes yur way.

Tea I hope DD had a more settled night, it must be horrid for her having nightmares. DD has got into the habit of crawling into bed with us at abu=out 4am which I am trying to break...but am too lazy to put her back! Hope things are not too stressful with your split from your H, you sound like a very strong woman to me!

Pat sounds liek you are havign a good hols...horray for getting to the pub...ah the pub...

Missj your outside breakfast sounds lovely too. Hope you are feeling all rested up and renewed by the beautiful sunshine.

Have given up trying to catch up on anymore as am sooo knackered and have a mushy brain so apologies and hello to everyone.

Am feeling a bit stressed at the moment so oncemore apologies for this very me me me rant...DS has been to physio and OT due to his arm weakness, but also is only just pulling himself up and still not walking so he might have hypermobility on top of everything else...so we are waiting for referral. His next GOSH appt is coming up in May so am starting to stress about that again after putting it to the back of my mind. Am really behind on my MA work as seem to have lost motivation, not have enough time and am stressing myself out about my promotion at work as am worrying I won't do a good enough job.The house is also a mess and falling apart in various places. So am a big ball of stress really and am back to work on Monday! Am longing for the days of maternity leave last year when I just spent the spring hanging out with the DCs, but we are super skint so have to work for the forseeable while DH gets to be a SAHD as it makes financial sense that way. There we go rant over, feel better now, shall go and have a bath and catch up on B&S and Desperate Housewives.

Oh, bloody well forgot that I am super excited about going to LEGOLAND on monday.......................Woo-hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It will be monumentally packed but nevermind, SIL feeling all better so the trip is very much ON, yay!

P.s I think I may have adopted the local neighbourhood 8year old, he keeps coming round after I let him wash my car. He played in the garden with the DC's from 4pm till tea-time today. Don't think his mother ever has the slightest idea where he is, or cares which is a bit. He hinted that he wanted to stay for tea, but I felt a bit mean and told him he had to go home to eat his own tea, DH says this was a good move because if I start feeding him, he will never stop coming round

x-posts HKZ, sorry you are feeling stressed, it is not surprising the year you have had and I think you have held yourself together very well, you seem very strong! It is normal not to be walking at this age though no? I know quite a lot of children who didn't walk till 18-19mths so don't stress too much!

Chef- meant to say, how awful about DD's burnt butt hope you and she are both ok and fully recovered. Hope the scan goes well too, best to be cautious. Fab idea to use it for art!

evening all - about the beach and the sun being warm enough to require sun screen! it's nice here, but not that nice... and dp is in venice, where it also apparently gorgeous

chef - sorry about poor v's bottom; c seems to have a permanently bruised forehead, she manages to whack it off something about every other day. hope the scan is okay: those medical images are pretty cool. i have to say that i would like an xray of my cat: their bones are really very tiny and delicate.

hkz - sorry you are stressed. c isn't walking yet either: i thought they didn't worry too much about this till they were eighteen months or so? it must be very difficult to concentrate on your studies with all this going on, and i'm sure anticipating work can't be helping either. hopefully you'll find a lot of the stress is just anticipation and it'll dissipate a bit when you get back to work...

lenni - 30? a mere child about morocco - hope you are having a lovely time happy birthday! ah, too late...

actually, must go to bed! night to everyone

Feeling much better today after a good nights sleep and the sun is shining.

I wasn't really worried about J an dhis not walking until a friend of DP's asked me if he had hyper mobility as he bum, shuffled the same way her twins did and his knees are ultra flexi and he tends to walk on tip toes or the outsidw of his foot. Anyway DH mentioned it to the physio on the phone and she said that she would have a look next time he was there. So no one is particularly worried (apart from me!) and as everyone says it is quite normal not to walk until 18-24 months... I think I have gone from being laid back about all things health related to a complete gibbering wreck!

Stripey...I thought you'd gone to Venice as I saw Dp's update. Didn't you guys go with C last year? It somewhere I've always wanted to go but never made it...

Just had a phone call from two mates down in Brighton saying "Hi HKZ we are just on the M25 we'll be with you in an hours" Had completely forgotton they were coming an dhad no idea when I made this arrangement

Aw, you lot, THANK YOU so much for amazing chocolates and card which just arrived this very moment. Perfect timing - DH has taken N to the farm, and I was just making one of my special lattes, so am sampling a few of the yummy things now. That is so sweet and thoughtful of you all.

hkz A couple of N's friends aren't walking, I wouldn't worry about that on top of everything else. I thought that if they bum-shuffled, they were likely to be much later walkers, since they can get around and see everything face-to-face anyway. My little brother got around that way and didn't walk until he was nearly 2, and he is still going strong!

Have fun with Brighton mates! I also forgot that a friend was dropping by this morning, on her way back from a shoot in Brecon, but luckily I saw her fb update!

pat funny about the kid - what other jobs can he do?! Was Sainsburys hell? I felt quite depressed yesterday because everyone was out buying bbq stuff and obviously planning their fun weekends, and of course DH is just busy up the farm. But if Monday is still nice we are going to go to the Gower (DH doesn't know that yet )

waves to everyone - including the ancient Lenni

hi

had a great day @ zoo

Glad everyone is having a good time in the sunshine I love the UK in the summer, shame about those pesky long winters.

MissJ is this the start of the busy season for your DH? Am of your Gower trip, very beautiful area....there is an amazing brownie place somewhere down there....someone sent me some of these and they were chocolate heaven.

Dog...think I have a very lazy pudding of a boy, he's much cuddlier than L every was...but he's doing my back in as he is not a light chap!

120 was lovely to see you today...completely forgot my friends were coming so wasn't the quiet catch up I had in mind. H looked super gorgeous tottering around... he definitely has a rock star look about him. Thought the girls looked very sweet running round with thier handbags too.

Tink am glad the zoo was good, must go to London one soon, we used to have a membership but it seems to have fallen by the wayside.

Two sleeping children and a lovely glass of wine in the garden as I type this...ahhh...bliss. (Apart from the mozzies and the sudden drop in temp )

Evening, had a quick read but retained absolutely nothing. Was up till 2.30 am putting the finishing touches to the party stuff. (Thought I had it nailed earlier, but realised there was still lots of bits and pieces that needed finishing.)

Ds1 was up at 6.30 excited because it was his birthday, so very little sleep had by dh and I.

Still, the party was an absolute blast. I am soooo relieved, they all absolutely loved it and threw themselves into the whole secret agent theme and had a riot. Dd also loved having all the boys around and spent lots of time toddling about after them squealing, jabbering and clapping. We have over 200 photos taken between my mum and my sister and they are going to do the same for ds2's party next Sunday, so will have to sift through them all and post the best ones on my profile after then.

Only downpoint of the day was after the party, when dd fell over forwards and hit her head quite badly on the metal foot of Mum's dining table. It came up in a really nasty black bruise straight away and boy did she scream. Rapid application of arnica and some distraction with pictures on my sisters camera and she was fine in no time though. I was so relieved, as I thought it was looking like a visit to A&E might be necessary. Arnica has done its job and she now has a red/brown bruise rather than an angry black one. God I love Arnica.

HKZ, I am thinking clicker training would be the way to go with your dog. Quick 5 minute training sessions that get the dog to think, so gives them a mental work out and also really promotes bonding, as its heavy on the rewards. Fantastic to use for recall as well. Will post more about it tomorrow as am completely wiped out now.

Hello to everyone else, apologies if I've missed anything. Will read again tomorrow just in case.

DD's little bottom cleared up fast. Is this not the best age really for them right now. I am really have a hoot with DD. After music class this morning, I let her walk the last leg of the journey and she tuckered herself out so much investigating everything that she barely got her banana snack into her she wanted so bad before falling asleep wedged between the foot stool and couch. She slept for almost 2 hours and I was able to get the rest of the garden done! Yeah. Its all ready for grass seed and patio stones! Well, pending Uncle that is. Its not a big area.

Speaking of Uncle... him and his girlfriend went away for 4days/3nights and DD slept all night through and had great long naps. Now I know for sure they disturb her a lot. Ah well; we suck it one more year and we'll be in our own house.

Hope everyone's weekend went well.

Moose Ok. Lol at 'hit her head quite badly on the metal foot of Mum's...' because I began imagining your mother with the metal foot. Its a wee late, well, 9.50... that's kinda late. I love arnica too! After giving birth, I put it in some pads and put them in the freezer. Instant relief!

Chef! Lol at my mum's metal foot!

Actually, now I think about it, she doeshave a metal knee and another knee and hip to come.

Dd is fine this morning and the marks seems to disappear a bit more every time we put the lovely arnica on it. Just a small red line now, incredible really.

Your dd must have been so exhausted after all that walking to fall asleep wedged in like that, sounds so cute though. I love it when they do that and they we get a nice long spell of peace and quiet (well I do when the boys are at school anyway.)

Better go, am not supposed to be here, mayhem in our house today with overtired children and parents all over the place, despite the fact we all slept until 9.45 this morning.

hi

mm - glad party went well knew it would
poor dd glad she is ok!!
lol @ mums metal foot

dhs sister went @ 11am
then i popped to sainsburys for some nice bits for lunch for us

also sorted out garage dh went to tip with some things and i have put some things on our local free ads to sell

hi to everone else

After turning up all those dead leaves, the robins are bountiful around here today. Actually, today is a really lovely Sunday in Suburbia, birds chirping, breezy, a little sunny, a lawn mower mowing...
funny storey... last fall, I was clearing up some cement debris that was mixed in with large stones in the garden. My uncles house is on a small cliff with a below area lot that is his as well. All the rocks I rolled down went perfectly down to the lot... except the last one, the biggest one. It hit a mutation in the fractal and went careening off to the right and slammed into the neighbours wood fence, barely shaking it mind you, but I'm sure it left a mark. Yesterday the neighbour man was driving his little lawnmower/tractor thing, (its the stereotypical suburbia you see in TV shows) with the trailer full of gravel he was laying over an area he can't grow grass because of his three dogs, and he saw it. I watched him look, look again, shrug his shoulders, and move on. He's got to have known it came from me! He is incredibly nonchalant. I think Suburbia may be growing on me.

hi chef

i luv bobins cute

having a quiet day today
it is sunny here

hoping to sell lots in local paper

have just ordered shoes into clarks store to collect on sat for dd1

Hi everyone.

Happy Birthday dog and ray, you bouncing youngsters! You have such nice weather for your birthday - beach bbq anyone?

Monday morning: breakfast outside with friends, done. Laundry, done. Swimming with N, done. Latte and chocolates (thanks again ladies!) while N sleeping outside, done - wow, haven't I been productive?! I've even sorted out my 'to do' box without actually doing anything, but I have a list, and that will make me feel better for an entire week at least.

Party sounds like a roaring success MM!

tink you sound like you've been busy - I need to sort out my shed one day, haven't touched it since the day we moved in almost a year ago, but currently there is a dead pheasant hanging from the beam in the middle of the shed, and I am scared it's going to brush against me if I go in there .

chef glad DD is sleeping so well - she sounds gorgeous. Put some more pics on the fb group, I feel like I haven't seen her for ages.

Waves to everyone else. Heading back outside to enjoy glorious sunshine .

miss j - idont blame you for not doing shed i wouldnt!!

have so many things in local paper for sale now that i have sorted