June 08 - if your name's not down you're not coming in!

[EddieIzzardismyhero]

Welcome to our new cliquey thread !

Lovely day here, beautiful weather. Nothing to report otherwise, but thought I'd wave.

Sybil interesting question re|: raisins in ears. I think you'd be able to see any remaining ones, unless he'd really rammed them in far. If you're concerned though. I'd get them looked into (so to speak!)

Thanks Biscuits, I am almost positive he hasn't got any trapped. I'm sure he couldn't have been doing it for very long and only had one actually in the ear (and that only just) the other three were just resting on the edge of his earlobe. Also, he isn't fidgeting with his ears at all which I am sure you would be if you had a raisin stuck in it!

Rolf, did you manage to get hold of anyone to talk to about toxic Bob?

Arrrggghhh - I planned to spend Ry's naptime today catching up with you all and reading the last 5 pages, but MN was down for maintanence AND my snotty little boy has decided sleep is for wimps. (He has a cold, he's not a snob IYKWIM).

Going to be really cheeky and ask if anyone is willing to provide a quick update though, I seem to recall that Deb was always pretty good at those (creep, creep!).

I have been trying to decide whether or not to start WW and this thread has made up my mind. You guys are really inspiring!

I'll be back once I've signed up - I'm doing it online cos I'm in the back of beyond in NZ ATM.

Got lots and lots to lose, but first goal is to get my BMI out of the 'obese' part of the chart (how depressing is that!), which means I need to lose 1st 3lbs....looking forward to joining you losers.

No idea on playhouses Eddie we don't have one. DN had a plastic one and I think we're about to inherit that. The wooden ones look lovely though and I think they would probably have a longer shelf life. Some are seriously ££££££ though! Worth having a look around. Do you have anywhere locally that builds sheds etc to order - you might get a good price somewhere like that. I've just had a search for a thread I read before but can't find it now that discussed the virtues of plastic vs wooden. One thing that put me off was a discussion about how they're a haven for beasties of the eight legged variety. I won't go in our garden shed for this very reason so am equally put off a wooden one for that reason. We're also rubbish at looking after wooden furniture/fence/shed so for us it would be one thing more that we'd never get round to doing.

Lots of weight to lose here too but am just rubbish at it. .

WE went for a plastic playhouse because I am a big spider wuss. I just hose it down inside and out at the beginning of the year and its good to go. J is really enyoying playing in it so far this year.

Dh has now lost one pound shy of 2 stone!! He is still sadly in the 'obese' zone and probably needs to lose at least another stone before he is merely fat. Still, he's done really well given he has only been dieting for 6 weeks and is determined get to the fat stage - that sounds wrong, but you know what I mean!

He is playing golf tomorrow and friday. Apparently, this is his exercise for the week. Personally I can't see that golf is either exercise or work but he is insisting it is both for the next two days. Is it wrong that I am quietly hoping it rains on friday

Just emailed the Jeremy Vile show in a rage - they are suggesting that in the next ten years couples will be choosing IVF over sex to conceive cos it has a better success rate !! What a total load of bollocks - one of the authors of this heap of crap is a vet - twunt .

Thanks for the tip on the playhouse - I'm a huge arachnophobe so no way are we getting a wooden one! sybil, which one did you get?

What diet is your dh on? Men lose weight so fast it makes me very !

Hi there - don't know if any of you remember me? I used to post a lot but haven't posted in a number of months. Any chance I can join back in your cliquey thread?

That was in the Times on Saturday/Sunday Eddie.

I was going to add to the playhouse comment: we have a Little Tikes slide for Iestyn, and the swallows have returned this year (one swallow doesn't make a summer but we have loads so it's summer ) and they mess on everything. You can wipe the plastic one down easily. Our swing is wooden and unvarnished and that doesn't wipe as easily.

Allnew I remember you and wondered where you'd got to! Any news?

Hi essie - since I last posted I have moved house and moved jobs. Same company but I'm moving department - there was a big reorg and I took the opportunity to move. My job has been getting me down for quite a while now so hopefully things will get better on that front. The house move was stressful at the same time as worrying about the job, so it's great to have all that out of the way. And we finally have a garden for A to play in - all we need is the weather now

I know what you mean about the bird poo. They have the whole garden to poo over yet they consistently aim for the handles of A's slide and trampoline!

I've been trying to catch up with what people are up to, and all the new names! Congratulations to poppy - you must be over the moon

amber - I've been trying to lose weight as well, doing Slimmingworld. I'm doing ok - getting weighed tonight though and feeling heavy. It's a slog but I'm finally just about approaching pre-pg weight - after 2 years though!!

A is good - very cheeky and knows his mind. Such hard work at this age!

Hi allnew, course we remember you - you have the same fantastic taste in boys' names so couldn't forget you really ! My little A is also cheeky - it's a challenging age definitely!!

Oh and Essie, thanks for the tip - think will definitely persuade dh to go for plastic.

Off to meet a friend now. We were supposed to be going to a toddler group today but she's just been witness to a fatal car accident on the way home from an appt this morning .

She's a nurse so had to stay with the lady who was dying in her car - she was same age as my friend's mum who died last month. Just too . She's only just got home so I'm going to go and keep her company for a while - she must be in shock, I know I would be.

Hi Eddie! That's awful for your friend, what a terrible shock to witness something like that

Oh Eddie how awful for your friend - life is so fragile .

Not been on since end of last week - hope I am still in the clique

Poppy, absolutely amazing news! Well done, it is just fabulous and so weird that it comes just after your op. Fab fab fab.

Spider, that dream you had was so funny. Must be hormones. I have started waking in the night cos I am quite big now, and then I start thinking about awful things like T and E getting their fingers caught in doors or falling out of windows, then I can't get back to sleep. Very annoying.

Has anyone tried any potty training yet? On Mon and Tues for a couple of hours in the morn and a couple in afternoon I put T and E in knickers and had the potty out and every time they had an accident I said (in a very lighthearted not scolding way) 'oh you've done a wee/poo - you should do that in the potty'. E likes to sit on the toilet and keeps asking to go on the loo but hasn't done anything on it yet. She also quite likes to sit on the potty. She also asked me to 'change nappy' the other day cos she'd had a poo (she had a nappy on cos we were out). They both sometimes tell me they need to go but T won't sit on the potty or the toilet for more than a second - he just gets straight back up. I think E seems more ready than T, but we have not had even one wee or poo on the potty/loo yet from either of them. With the weather being so nice I thought it would be a good chance to see whether they can grasp the concept but we haven't had any success. Surely at 2 they should be able to understand, so should I keep having nappy off time when we are at home? It's not that I want to train them both right now, I just think the more time they spend without a nappy on the more chance they will have to make the association between weeing/pooing and the potty/loo. What do you think? GF's potty training book talks about reward charts, giving them smarties and praising them for being 'big boy/girl' and she says don't start them until they can sit on the potty for 5-10 minutes and read a book! What 2yo can sit in one place for 5-10mins? Am I being naive to think they will just get it on their own if I leave their nappies off for long enough?

Hi allnew! Do I remember right that you are in the NW? Have you stayed in the area since your move?

Neenz, I'm no expert on potty training but Toddler Taming says that 2 is just on the edge of being ready, so they are a bit young still - esp T. He ascertains that if you wait til 2 1/2 then you'll have more success, but then do you want them out of nappies before No 3 arrives?

Also, doesn't GF say not to take them out of nappies first cos they need to feel they are wet before they know they want to go.

They don't sound ready to me tbh, but you're talking to someone who's not even going to try til next year so I might be the wrong person to ask!

neenz I'd hold off on toilet training for another month and then give it a try. DS1 trained at around 27 months and it went really well but it was like a switch just went on in his head. I've been checking with Fraser and he has peed in the toilet (not the potty - wants to be like his brother) but he's just not into the idea enough to start. And when we do, there will be serious bribery (smarties, mini-biscuits etc). With DS1 we used 1 tiny treat for trying and then a bowl full (10?) for a pee. When DS1 finally did a poo he actually got a wrapped present (it took 2 weeks - he was waiting until he had a nappy on). We also had a sticker chart!!!

But I think nappy-free time is a good idea so that they learn what having an accident is - just not coupled with actual training if that makes sense - I'm trying to leave Fraser naked every night for almost an hour (gets rid of any nappy rash too).

Allnew - nice to see you back, sorry I can't provide a summary as I'm packing to come back to the UK tomorrow for a weeks holiday

Eddie - how awful for your friend, how was she?

Neenz - keep trying some nappy free time but I don't think they're ready yet. I tried ds1 at 2.5 and it was a nightmare so I left it until he was just 3 and he was dry in 2 days and very quickly at night too. ds2 I left until 3 and again it was very quick, night-times took longer with him and he regressed when we moved here for a while.

Really excited about tomorrow but I think my Dad's sulking as we won't be seeing him, it's a week to suss out the area we want to live, we just haven't got the time to spend trailing all over the country visiting relatives.

Just found myself in tears while putting A to bed . Ridiculous, but I have been so upset by my friend's experience today and I wasn't even there - I think it's brought back memories of the car accident I witnessed in Sept, but also, as Neenz said, made me realise how fragile life is.

If K had been a few seconds faster on the road, or overtaken the lorry she was planning to overtake but couldn't it would have been her and her little boy that was hit. Apparently there was little left of the car and the woman was trapped in a mangled wreckage barely conscious. K tried to keep her talking but said she was pretty gone before the ambulance arrived . The driver of the other car was a young man talking on his mobile, he lost control of his car and hit her head on.

It is so awful to think that a whole family's lives have been shattered in a moment of madness. A wife/mother/grandmother just minding her own business, driving along and then that's it . . .

Sorry for that really depressing post. I've been too busy with the boys to think about it but now they're in bed and dh isn't home I just feel so .

Deb, sorry, I meant to say have a lovely time in the UK. And I'm not surprised you're not going to visit your dad given his behaviour towards your dh. Hope your trip is successful. Any more news on the offer?

Sorry you're feeling Eddie, thanks for the best wishes for my holiday. Dh still hasn't spoken to my Dad and it's all getting very awkward. Haven't told Dad that we're flying into Manchester which is only about an hour from him!I wouldn't put it past him to just turn up on our holiday to "sort" things out!I'm trying not to think about it but it's all preying on my mind. Also in the middle of trying to pack light because of our long journey, about 13 hours door to door - car, 3 trains, plane, 1 train and then car!I have been brainwashing Ethan and every time I mention plane we say he's going to sleep on it and he puts his head on one side and closes his eyes.Wonder if it will work ?

Right must go, have a great week everyone, don't know if I'll get on again this week, might get on FB through the phone though.Take care everyone x

Thats so awful for your friend eddie. Something like that naturally makes you cling a bit closer to your own for a while I think. Our playhouse is this one although I'm sure it was no where near that expensive when we bought it 8 years ago. It isn't that colour, its lemon with a pink door but ds1 didn't mind and apart from the door fading it has lasted really well.

Welcome back Allnew, lovely to see you.

Good luck for the journey deb hope you have a fantastic time.

Neenz - I think it is too early as well. Ds1 didn't train until he was nearly 3, although I tried him a couple of times beforehand and he just wasn't ready. DD was 30 months and did it in a few days, dry day and night. You really have to wait and take your cues from them I think. I knew dd was ready when she stopped weeing in my bed whenever she took her nappy off and got on the toilet instead.

[Ahem]

I've been keeping a little secret from you all. For about 13 weeks and 3 days...

that is all.

Oh and entirely unrelated, eddie we have this one but I got ot for a bargainous 30 quid because the packaging was ripped.

OMG Biscuits.....when is your secret due?