November 09 - rolling, laughing and cutting teeth ... but us mama's are still not getting sleep!!

[scarlotti]

New thread for us

My friend was elected mp for West Dunbartonshire with a whopping great majority! Really proud of her, she deserves it. I'd put her name in but don't want this thread to show up on google... These fb links have me a bit paranoid!

Tis very strange to be Scottish with one Tory seat in Scotland yet be in the situation where the Tories 'won'. Also with so much anti-Tory feeling, who are their supporters?!

Read something today which said libdem have 2 conditions to enter into a coalition. One being that there is an electoral reform referendum and one being that GB is no longer PM. Would either party agree to both?! Interesting times ahead.

Found out today my cousin's baby has suspected cerebal palsy, most probably caused by a 3 day labour which ended in emcs. He's around 9mths but not reaching some milestones like sitting up. Makes me sad and realise how lucky I am.

Keep us informed with the vasectomy chat if you ladies don't mind! I'm sure it will be our course of action in a few years' time so I'm interested in finding out more.

DWB congrats to your friend
Sorry to hear about your cousin's baby.

I think there is a lot of tory support, mainly because many people want a change. Most will probably keep their political leanings to themselves, esp on mn!

Off to find a box of ready brek today to look at ingredients. Ninja says no as it has too much salt, but there's a thread on weaning that says it's ok! Certainly would be cheaper than the baby porridge I'm buying.

DWB sorry to hear about your cousins baby - maybe you could link the SN pages on here to her? There are lots of mums of children with CP on there who I'm sure would be more than happy to help

Agree with Scarlotti about the Tory support.

Is there a six months growth spurt? I'm sure I'm not imagining this. Bryn woke up every hour again last night, tried everything to settle him but all he wanted was milk! He has been up an hour and a half and for about an hour has been attached to me. Think it may well be shortly time to introduce breakfast...

Sorry, it maybe wasn't clear but it was a rhetorical question, I'm not seeking out all Tories! Just trying to make the point that there is so little Tory support in Scotland, it's odd for them to have done well. IYKWIM!

scarlotti, if you have been feeding Ioan solids for a while now, would you not be able to cook him normal porridge, or is he not ready for more lumpy food yet? You can get it to quite a smooth consistency, especially if you did some for the whole family, then maybe blend it a bit? Just an idea I could not believe how much baby porridge is.

Well, the bear cub has had carrot, apple, banana and porridge so far, and so far he loves it all, has had no adverse reactions to any of it. He can even seem to manage the slight lumpiness of mushed banana. So today we are going to give him some sweet potato. He is starting to figure out how to get milk from his sippy cup (just a normal sippy cup, the 'spill' variety ). And I have said goodbye to runny mild smelling nappies . Babies get into routine so quickly though don't they? He knows when it is breakfast time, and dinner time, and he gets very crabby if he is not eating at the right time.

He still wakes about 3-4 times in the night, around 10pm, midnight (sometimes) 2am and 5am. but then he does not want any more food til about 7:30am, and I am hoping that we can time is breakfast better (had been 8-8:30) to replace that milk feed as he only has a little to satisfy him til brekky now.

DWB DH made it to the polling station with only a couple of minutes to spare. Luckily there were no mad queues this end.

SirB I was feeding C a hell of a lot last night. He turned 6 months last week.

We're not doing too badly with blw. We've started officially the past week. C had broccoli, cauliflower and some potato for dinner last night. All firm favourites. Tried him on a soft boiled egg yesterday, not such a keen response. He muched happily on some crumpet with unsalted butter for breakfast. He has lamb tonight with sweet potato. I'm going to try baking porridge biscuits that were recommended on the weaning board. Porridge is too messy for blw especially when I need to get DS1 out the door to pre-school.

Pav had a major nappy explosion this morning. All that veg last night made a very quick appearance! Gone are the days when he would go only every 10-12 days. We're using the tommee tippee sippy cup. He loves it. It's cheap (£1 in some supermarkets) and easy to clean. Learnt my lesson with DS1 buying lots of fancy cups and they would break or get lost.

DWB Well done to your friend! That problem of there being only one elected Tory seat in Scotland is reminiscent of the 80s when Thatcher was in power without a Scottish mandate. At least there's the Scottish parliament now.
Sorry to hear about your cousin's little one. Does indeed make us realise how lucky we are.

Rainy and grey and cold here today. Got Rosa to nod off and read a bit of the paper so I think it's a day for MNing (what day isn't?!), looking for some bits and bobs on ebay and catching up with Lost!

DWB This must be a worrying time for your cousin, not knowing what will emerge. I didn't realise that CP could be mild, but my brother has cerebral palsy from oxygen starvation at birth and it is not severe. It affects his leg, I think some tendons are very short? He needed an operation as a child. And he struggled initially at school but was put on a special programme and was able to catch up with reading and writing. So I think there are varying degrees of severity of CP. I also taught someone once who had cerebral palsy which affected his legs and speech,and motor skills, but he was in mainstream school as was my brother, and very successful academically and socially. I hope your cousin can get armed with all the info and support she needs.
It must be bizarre to look out at the political landscape from Scotland! It's strange enough from here, surrounded by a sea of blue with the odd yellow blip. Well done to your friend, how exciting!
Fruit these transitional solid food nappies are shocking! H pooed all over one shoulder yesterday, and it was Plum baby sweet potato and butternut squash, almost unchanged from when it went in!

DWB congrats to your friend, that's great. I echo what everyone says about your cousin and her baby. It must be a worrying time but as wook says there are various degrees of CP.

I can't believe our little bundles are coming up to / already are half a year old! Toby will be six months next week. He's so lovely

I got so into the election this time around. IT was sooo exciting. Personally I'm glad the Conservatives didn't win outright (I could never vote Tory after being a student during the Thatcher / John Major years and suffering from what they did re. things such as poll tax, cutting student grant, damage to the economy etc). But what will happen now? It's very exciting but a bit scary too.

Becky I know - its crazy, isn't it? I was looking through the pictures from after the birth (again) last night, and just generally in awe of human beings. The fact that they are able to develop so much in the space of half a year - its simply amazing.

Can't help talking politics at the mo, I like a good old constitutional crisis! Scarlotti I agree that political leanings are completely a personal choice but am always surprised when people don't talk politics- grew up surrounded by people shouting the odds and arguing madly grown up political debate.
BBL I remember the Thatcher years too- This election outcome is reminding me a bit of 92 when the Tories clung on to power but only just and were then weak but nasty, with ministers like Peter Lilley- yuk!
But there were loads of good things on election night and for me personally the best by miles was the BNP being routed in Barking and Dagenham, just followed by Caroline Lucas winning for the Greens. Exciting!
Wonder who will replace GB?

More on the baby front, where have these six months gone? H is six months tomorrow and it seems to have flown by. She is mesmerised by the cat at the moment and tries to talk to him. The other big thing is crawling over to the plant on the fireplace and grabbing fistfuls of soil. Finally moved plant after a week of ten soil eating incidents a day. Just hoping she does not start noticing plugs! Forgot just how scary it is when they get moving and are into everything!

Has anyone ever been in a hot air balloon? I am on the verge of booking one for dh's birthday surprise (He is 50 this year!!! ancient!!!) but the photos on the website are bloody terrifying a little worrying as it looks as though the basket only comes up to your waist and I'm scared of heights. Can imagine spending whole journey crouched on the floor of the basket breathing into a paper bag- not ideal!! Anyone got any words of reassurance?

I only found out about my cousin's baby as our mums had been talking so I don't feel as though I can raise the subject. It must be very difficult for them. I remember that feeling of leaving the hospital and wondering how they knew our baby was ok... I guess they never know. Don't know much about CP but have read a bit over the past day or two.

Wook Never been in a hot air balloon but I think it would be amazing! Must be so peaceful.

fruit can you direct me to the porridge biscuit recipe? Sounds like a good breakfast idea!

wook, I have done a trip in a hot air ballon. The only time I've ever won something. TBH, I found the actual trip a bit boring as you have about the same vue than from a mountain (ok, it might be more interesting if you have rarely the opportunity to be in the mountains). But I found the actual getting started bit and also the landing quite impressive. As far as I remember I felt really safe in the basket (I'm not the biggest fan of hights either)
Once you are in the air, it's a slow journey and as I said, it's more like being in the mountains and looking down rather then looking down from the top of a high building.
I do not know if this is international but afterwards I got baptised which means they set my hair on fire (just a strand of it) only to extinct it with champagne and I also got a really long nobility title which I am supposed to remember forever.

Ursi sounds like you went for a ride and joined a cult Sounds brilliant. I'd love to go in one.

Wook I loved the video, was the cutest thing! Bryn looks like he might skip crawling all together Hates being on his tummy but standing up is a big hit. Hope he doesn't though as have read it can lead to problems with co-ordination later on

I am totally caught up in the election too. I wonder what will happen. We're quite like Scotland up here - I don't know anyone who votes Tory and a Conservative government will would be disastrous for the North East, they've even said as much! Am feeling quite sorry for Nick Clegg at the moment. I have a feeling he's going to end up the most hated man in Britain, whatever he does.

James is constipated. Any tips? He's only had fruit and rice so far.

laugs most hated, but also perhaps the most powerful? He holds the balance of power atm.

The bear cub loves sweet potato. Absolutely loves it. He just kept going and was most upset when he finished it! Also gave him just a half spoonful of pear which I cooked up quickly as DH and DD were eating some. I personally do not like it unless it is stuffed with chocolate ice cream but the bear cub enjoyed that too.

He has, however, refused to nap. Just will not go down. He has fed a lot, and kept promising a sleep by falling asleep in the boob, then waking up 10 mins later at most. He has not been unhappy with it, been perfectly happy but I am now ready for the kids to go to bed a large glass of wine.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far.

Laugs are you giving him some water after a meal? I find that helps

Evening all!

I've been trying to catch up but my memory is poor as BGT is distracting me

We've been BLW this week too and are also constipated. Which is amazing considering that she is full of banana, pear (3 nights of it!), carrot, broccoli and pepper...and it has gone down too! I've been offering water too. A question re. sippy cups - do you let them loose with them? Isla tends to chuck it behind her onto the floor with alarming regularity, so I've just been guiding it to her mouth for her. She's still really windy too. I've just taken delivery of this seat cushion which is brilliant - because it's inflatable you can fit it to any high chair by adjusting the inflation.

She's definitely having a growth spurt at the moment too. She's waking more often with this terrible wind, but feeding too. I picked her up from the cot last night and it felt like she'd doubled in weight! And developmentally all kinds of fun things are erupting. I was loving wook's videos and feeling that Isla didn't spend long enough not complaining about farting to actually get on with doing anything. Then yesterday she spent a good portion of the afternoon sitting up in her cushion nest and then launching herself around on her blanket. Still no front-to-back rolling, but we're close! And the babbling - getting very entertaining. DH's ears are bleeding between the 2 dds . No naps going on here at all without humungous hissy fits. Give me strength.

DD1 has also been so very challenging this week. It's like having a stroppy teenager in the house, but I'll save all of that for another thread. Suffice to say I've wondered about my ability to cope more than once this week.

DWB so sorry to hear about your cousin's worries for their baby. When I think about how dd2s labour was so on and off for days and days and the cord was round her neck and she was in distress without me knowing, I thank Goodness that everything turned out ok. It's such a lottery.

Sorry DWB I also meant to say I was sorry to hear about your cousin's baby. You are right to remind us of how lucky we all are. It's too easy to forget.

I haven't been offering water - oops. He normally has a breastfeed before and after so I thought that would be enough. Will start with water tomorrow. Do you give cooled boiled water or just tap? I am terrified of losing my milk supply, not that I have any need for it if James doesn't want it. Anyone else feel like this?

Laugs know what you mean about the milk supply I felt crap after a few weeks, when it struck me that it wasn't just me keeping him going / letting him gain weight any more. But its a natural progression, I guess Its cooled boiled water from a free flow cup; you can pick them up for £1 in Asda They only need to have a few sips, as if nothing else it stops you nipples ended up covered in mush .

Hobnob its scary, isn't it? I have been have very bad dreams about the birth recently. Am thinking of calling Birth Stories to talk it all over with them. Knowing just how bad things were at the end of the delivery now... God, my stomach churns.

Laugs tap is fine.

good to know ninja

Hello Hobnob I am up because I have gone nocturnal after the election. Not sure why you are?

"This week an inquest revealed that this baby died from salt poisoning after being fed an adult diet. His parents had swapped baby rice for Ready Brek - because it was cheaper." - "Guardian"

Scarlotti this is what was in my mind. Maybe after 6mnts is ok???

Ninja, what a sad story, this poor couple obviously tried to do the right thing but just didn't know any better.

I've just spent 4 times more money on Paula's organic beef than for the same amount of our minced beef (for hopefully a nice lasagne).
After reading this story, I'm once again convinced it's money well spent when it comes to food quality.