Dec 08 Ladies welcome to the new Bean, next stop, Summer.

[Veggiemummy]

Sorry very boring had to think quickly, not my best feature

Hello zoe, I'd say go with your instincts. If DD is OK temp wise, food wise and in herself then it is more than likely to be viral or heat. If anything changes or you are worried then ring the out of hours GP or go to A&E.

Hello Still no proper Internet here so on my phone so will be a quick one.
Rubes v scary re the 6 more sleeps! So that means next monday is the day! I think you are going to beat me as I don't feel anything imminent at the mo. My due date is aug 4th so 2 weeks tomorrow I think. Boo to your crap midwife.
Zoe hope your dd feels better tomorrow. I would just wait and see what nhs direct say. Wouldn't be surprised if they suggest you go to out of hours doctor as suspect they might q cautious with advice for young children.
Oh I am super happy as this evening ds ate normal pasta with pesto. Normal non mushed up pasta and he fed most of it to himslef! This is just unheard of. Usually he gets sandwiches for lunch as he will eat them then we try something else in the evening savoury and sometimes he will eat some but usually hardly any and reluctantly. But this week he has eaten curry, chicken and rice, cous cous and now enthusiastically eaten pasta! I can't believe it.
Oh re meet up if anyone fancies a Cambridge meet up in the next couple of weeks let me know! Sorry dnt think I am up to coming to London also probably not advisable on my own as wouldn't want to go into labour on my own on the train or something! Njan when are you planning on taking time off? I will still be round to meet up after no 2 arrives don't forget but yu might have to give me a few weeks! Or Fridays fne for me as well. Would be nice to meet with jj too though.
Right gonna post this sorry for lack of personals can't scroll up easily t remind myself what I wanted to say to who

Oh SL that is great about the food, what a breakthrough! Your DS has put mine to absolute shame this week (won't eat chicken, turned his nose up at couscous as well as my home made lamb burgers). He is an inspiration to all the other 'challenging' eaters!

Katie, sorry to hear you got less than sympathetic treatment at the GPs, but hope you get everything sorted soon to make sure you're well-looked after. Good news on the cottages too!

Am feeling a bit better today (which is just as well as I'd have been totally stuck for childcare if not). It was really quite scary, if DP had been in Amsterdam (as he will be again for 3 days next week) I don't know what I'd have done. I literally couldn't leave the bed.

In terms of days for meet up next week, Wed is probably best for me but can do either Tues or Thurs. Am v excited, will be my first day trip back to London on my own with T, I'll feel quite the tourist!

Morning! Am going to attempt a very belated catch-up on a phone with little battery.

WG - I expect you have flown now. I hope it was an ok journey. I have 9 hours to look forward to with the DDs on a flight to Boston in a couple of weeks. When I think of it I feel rather ill.

Urbane - Sorry you are so run down from work. Are you enjoying your new post? Will it be nice and quiet in August? I hope you get a holiday.

Rubes - 5 sleeps now!!!! Is everything ready? Sorry you are suffering early waking. It's hard as your DS isn't in a cot so you can't just leave him knowing he is safe in bed. That's what I did with DD2 (along with crackdenification) and she is now back to 7.30ish wakes. Could you put him in a travel cot fir a few weeks?

Kiwi - I saw on FB that you are thinking of leaving the big smoke!!! Where are you thinking of going? I am sure Effie, Poison and Spot all have wise words to share.

NJAN - so lovely to hear you sounding so happy.

Katie - Sorry you are feeling so rubbish. Must be hard when you have so much to do with the houses etc. I hope the consultant is nice next week.

Zoe - how is DD this morning? I normally don't worry about rashes as long as they pass the glass test and aren't accompanied by a raging fever.

Pingu - nice to see you.

And finally Lady I hope you are still enjoying Londinium. I have stayed away from offering eating tips for O because I have been blessed with 2 enthusiastic feasters. However I was wondering whether you have tried ice cream milk shakes in a fun cup with a straw? You can hide quite a lot if calories in a milk shake.

Having been such an angel at Latitude, DD2 has been a right Shouty McShouterton this week. She is only really happy when outside which is unfortunate as our "garden" is a paved area the size of a postage stamp. We will be putting our house back on the Market in Sept and I cannot wait to move. Sadly though our local house prices are back to peak which makes the next rung if the ladder further out of our reach. Houses we viewed last year are now not affordable. I have started playing the lottery as a back-up plan. Oh and I sort of got head hunted fir a job yesterday. It would have been a dream pre-DCs as it's working on a programme that trains emerging democracies in how to run effective parliaments. Sadly it would involve way too much travel now.

V quick as on phone in waitrose.

Next week - what about Thurs and doing borough Market? If it's nice we could get food and sit by the cathedral or the s bank.

Hi Avo - I know! 5 sleeps. Just got to nick out to Mothercare to get a few things but otherwise, will just make it up
The 5am wake thing was only due to the sore bum and the slight deterioration of the crackdenification job, but both sorted now and he's at a more respectable waking between 6-630. Still not ideal. Oh I would never go back to a cot - far too Supernanny for that! I can always put the travel gate up on his door which has the same effect if he pushes it - actually, it works better as he only usually screams for a couple of minutes when faced with that and then thinks "ah screw it" and gets on his bed and falls asleep. I sometimes put that up when I've put him back in his bed several times for naps if he keeps getting up. I think another prob is he is napping too long in the day so going to curb those a little.

Summer not long for you either - could really be anytime. I will standby for news from you too!

Zoe hope the rash has cleared.

I feel for you Katie - hang in there

Sounds good, Effie, what kind of time will you be getting there?

Rubs this is tres exciting.

Hi guys.
zj how is dd today? Hope you had an alright night and that you and dh managed to agree on a course of action. A lot of rashes are a respose to some viral infection, and you often don't get to the bottom of it, so i wouldn't worry too much as long as she's happy-ish and drinking and weeing ok. And I always let mine sleep as much as they want when they're under the weather (which is generally not as much as I'd want them to sleep )
rubs and summer...exciting times...I'm very excited for both of you!
Avo P tends to be happiest outside too. That's a bummer about the house prices - will the value of yours have increased too?
spot glad you're a bit perkier today.
Katie sorry to hear about your 'telling off' at the doctors. Hope all goes well with the consultant tomoorow.
urbane how are you? That kidney thing sounds horrible - and to be so exhauseted, you poor thing. I hope you get a bit of relief soon.
I'm a bit crap at the mo . Nothing major. Very tearful and feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything again. Saw the CPN this morning and she had spoken to my consultant, who said I can't start to consider reducing my meds until at least January, so she'll review it then. I guess it's fine to continue but a part of me is disappoinnted that I obviously still need this high dose . And then I've been to see the nurse this morning with world's sorest fanjo Not sex related (not a chance...it's been weeks if not months...), likely to be thrush, but all is rather red and swollen and very tender (sorry TMI). I think I need to start giving out loyalty cards for examining my lady zone! Anyway this nurse is lovely and I cried on her. At what point will I stop weeping over everybody who is nice to me?
Anyway on a happier note I've been given Phoebe's Record book to look through before our 'parents' evening' thing (little chat with her key worker) on Thursday, and it's fab! Full of photos and descriptions of things she's been doing and learning and funny things she's done It's cheering me up a lot looking at it.
Was supposed to get my hair cut today but have cancelled it because I couldn't face it. Too much hassle! But tonight I'm going out for an Indian with my work colleagues as an end of term do, which I'm half looking forward to, but I'm sure I'll enjoy when I'm there.
Sorry to waffle on.
Hope you're enjoying the sun...it's a bit muggy here!

Hello everyone,

trace The sun? I don't think we've seen anything but cloud and heavy showers for weeks here! When I had thrush I was v sore indeed, it felt bruised all over . Sorry to hear you are feeling down. Have you much planned for the holidays? Try and make some time just for yourself, even if it is just an afternoon in a cafe with a trashy mag and a cake.

zoe Hope DD's rash is OK today.

avo How very flattering! That must have put a spring in your step. Re outside space, have you got a sandpit? DD loves hers and keeps her entertained outside. Our garden is tiny too so no room for swings and slides.

summer and rubes It is all very exciting! If I were you I spend as much time as possible lying down and having a rest. I wish I could have pre-DD mat leave again. I'd make it much longer and with less activities.

summer Great news on DS's eating! I've discovered that DD will eat pasta but only if it is fresh. Dried will not do!

WG If you are lurking, hope the flight was better than you expected.

It really surprises me which words DD seems to pick up on. She can say owl and bubble which aren't particularly useful or said very often, yet she doesn't say bye. Her most recent thing to do is to say stop and go, complete with the policeman giving directions-esque actions .

Right, back to work.

Trace: take care of yourself . Will your DH have more time off in the summer? If so I hope you get some time to do something you enjoy. If I had a spare couple of hours I think I'd join Sybs and go swimming.

Rubes and Summer: are we taking bets on who gets there first?

Re food, DS2 will eat spaghetti but not other pasta. DS1 has suddenly decided he likes tomato and cucumber, which increases his veg intake by 100%.

Talking: is DS2 the only one who refuses to say Mummy? He can say all sorts of things (thankyou, football, in there, juice) but nary a Mummy. He'll name us all - Daddy, Leelo (William), but if you say 'Mummy' he says 'No, Daddy'. Sigh.

Spot: the Market opens at 11. If it rains we could maybe go to Tate Modern? I'm thinking that the Market should provide lunch for the fussiest of eaters .

Hey all! Effie - after your post, am quite relieved to see another non-veg eater - DD1 will eat peas if I squash them in with some sausage or fish finger and now baby tomatoes. But that's it and I always worry that she's getting bog all in the way of veg. But she does eat some fruit, which is a relief. Cherries are a big fave at the moment - with stones out!

Have got MIL here today. She and my FIL are so lovely. I take back anything bad I've ever said. They honestly sometimes feel like my own parents! She's bathing DD1 at the moment. DD1 Also did a wee on her this afternoon. We both got terrible giggles. We'd been doing naked playing with the hosepipe in the garden (DD1, not MIL and me - hee hee!) and DD1 was sitting on her knee for a story and suddenly this torrent of wee poured out and DD looked at me and said "poo poo" in this pathetic voice. Nearly wept laughing! Marvellous.

Rubes - how are you feeling? And Summer! I think it'll be Rubes first and Summer will be just under a week early - like me!!

xxxx

If you go to borough market & it rains you could always go to Hays galleria by the HMS Belfast. It's got that indoor bit with the strange boat thing. Then if the sun came out there is Potters Field grassed area by the Mayors place.

Spot I am feeling quite grown up & responsible being asked to be a godmother.

Our poor friend who is visiting has gone for a walk, I think the boys are a bit much for her.

DH took DS1 to a different GP who was brilliant and took a really good look in his mouth. It's not hand foot & mouth, she is not sure what it is but she said as well as the weird spot things in his mouth he has 2 big lesion things in his throat and she is amazed at how well he has coped with it considering how much pain he must be in. She prescribed some extra strong Daktarin and said to bring him back if he stopped weeing as she's worried he won't be able to drink with the pain. But he has persevered and is drinking small amount but food is off still ad it just really hurts him. He doesn't even want chocolate!

Trace sorry your feeling so bluergh, is there any chance during your holidays that you could get away & do something for yourself & know it won't fix everything but you need a break. Also I bet DD2's school file thing is lovely because you produced such a gorgeous girl.

Katie sorry the consultant was so mean. A friend of mine who has had diabetes since she was 3 got pregnant (unplanned) just after I did with DS2. The consultant went mental at her and treated her a bit like she shouldn't be allowed to have children. She told her that her baby would most likely be developmentally delayed & it was all her fault. It was all quite horrible. Thankfully she has a lovely Specialist she has known since she was 16 who gave the doctor a bit of a bolloxing.

Avo I like Shouty McShouterton, DS2 must be her distant cousin, Screamy Fitzscreamer.

Sorry should have been Specialist nurse & I should also add her DS1 is perfectly normal & completely gorgeous.

WG Let us know how the flight went at some point!

Effie DD eats veg, specially when it's in stuff (cooked) - but won't eat fruit! Does anyone else have DCs who won't eat fruit?? It's so strange because DH and I could probably happily subsist entirely on fruit and are always offering her lovely bits and pieces but no, won't even taste it. We just get a shake of the head and "nooooo!"

I like Shouty McShouterton too! DD gets called, err, The Beast when she is being particularly grumpy. Talking of which she's waking at 5.30am again now and I am NOT happy about it. Grrrr! DH doesn't mind getting up thank god but still...

I went to play polo today. Was so much fun! Wasn't expecting it to be - it was an event organised by a fashion company, and I took a friend along who has played before. We were on the same team with two others and we won the competition! Boy am I going to hurt tomorrow though

Avo Yes DH and I have started looking at houses - and actually was going to ask for advice! We basically can't really afford anywhere in London that we'd actually want to live (3 bedrooms that is). We've been looking around but only on internet so very early days but somewhere like St Albans is looking like a possiblity. We're seeing a house there on Saturday. It has many advantages - a) it's near in-laws who are hugely helpful with DD and would be even more essential with potential no 2. b) it's an easy commute from work (much easier than where we live now) c) we can afford a 3 - possibly even a 4 bedroom house.
Really good schools too.

But the disadvantage is.. well.. I just can't get my head around leaving london - i"ve lived here my entire life and I can't imagine my kids not growing up here, it just seems... strange! Silly I know but it's what I"m used to and know. Specially my little corner of SW London though god knows we can't afford anywhere bigger here.

So basically I wanted to ask those of you who have perhaps left London for smaller towns - what do you miss? do you regret it? What are the pros and cons?

Oh Kiwi I used to live in Harpenden about 5 miles further north of St Albans. The schools are fantastic and St Albans is a fairly big town and you are very close to London.

How about Essex tis lovely out here.

I can totally see how you are a bit scared of leaving London. I was too I had moved from NY to Dublin then London and the prospect of leaving the city for a village scared the bejaysus out of me. But do you know what I love it! WOuldnt go back to London if you paid me.

You would have the best of both worlds still going into town for work and being able to meet with friends for dinner and drinks etc. BUt close enough to the country to enjoy the time there.

Veggie poor DS1 tis rubbish, is calpol helping atall?

Thursday Borough market trip works for me. I was also going to suggest Potters Fields but I see that Veggie beat me to it!
I will have to be quick as I am stuck at work - bleurgh! Why is it that when you're going to be away you end up doing twice as much in the week before thereby defeating the whole purpose of a holiday? Anyway....
Another DD who won't touch fruit here! She is a definite carbs fiend and loves pasta, weetabix and chocolate but screams like you're trying to poison her if you so much as point a piece of fruit in her direction. I have decided that as there is fruit in malt loaf and she eats plenty of that she will probably be fine.
Also, is my DD the only one who isn't really talking? We have literally about 5 words and that's it!
We too are working on the moving out of London plan, for many of the same reasons outlined by Kiwi and are torn between 3 options: 1) moving to somewhere in Kent (current favourite Sevenoaks) because of transport links to work 2) moving north of London (Harpenden, Radlett, St Albans way) for slightly easier journey time to parents or 3) packing up and heading to the Midlands so that parents are available to lend a helping hand, especially if there were ever to be a DC2. Answers on a postcard please.....
Sorry, that was a very self-indulgent post from me. Must get back to work so I can go home before midnight!

Oh Pingu, I totally forgot to thank you for the lovely cheque you sent for DH 3 peaks. I am rubbish. It was so very kind of you. Thank you again.

oh and DD is "grumpelstiltskin" when in a particularly bad mood!

Kiwi, I am just super bitter at the moment but I would say for us the major problem has been what if one person is happy to stay but the other decides after a while that they want to go back? I think somewhere like St A is a good thing as you will both still be commuting to London so won't miss your London working life and will still be able to go out in London and see friends after work and still get home at a respectable time. Anyway, I suspect your DH is a reasonable bloke whereas mine is a complete arse so there are many differences.

To answer your q properly, the pros are very much the bigger living space, things like public transport being easier and the ability to get from one side of town to the other in relatively little time. Cons: the biggest wrench is having friends you can just pop round and see spontaneously, the feeling of starting again, and the fact that you will be more dependent on each other as a couple. But I think the fact you both work in London makes a huge difference, and the fact you have PILs nearby will be a huge boon with a DC2. If you're both up for it, I'd go for it.

Sorry, am in a foul mood tonight, am babysitting at a friend's house after storming out when P and I had another argument. Everything is so sodding near the surface for him at the moment. Because I was going out this eve he went out for his evening walk before putting T to bed, and he normally has a pint and a fag in the pub on his walk. (which is normally after T goes to bed).
I made the (I thought entirely reasonable point) that it would have been better had he waited to have the fag until after T had gone to bed as he would be cuddling and kissing him and giving him his milk and I didn't particularly want T smelling of smoke.
P goes ballistic, says I'm taking away his one pleasure in life as he has so few (boo hoo, I'm not saying don't smoke, I'm just saying do it after T is in bed), and that while we're on the subject of potentially damaging our children, I raised my voice at T when he was throwing his dinner everywhere after a v trying afternoon. I know I'm not perfect and would never claim to be but surely these two things aren't comparable. I realise I caught him on the defensive but honestly, I'm so fed up of every comment starting World War 3.

Part of me would love to run a mile as I just feel we are the world's most incompatible couple at the moment and everything becomes a fight. We are so different and I hate to think what the atmosphere must be doing to T (and to DC2). That's also the worry, the fact that I'm pregnant is really worrying me, I don't want to stay in a relationship that isn't working just because I'm pregnant, but the idea of going it alone right now scares the living daylights out of me. I wish someone could come along and tell me what to do because I just feel unhappy most of the time.

Sorry for such a self-indulgent post, I just had to get it out of my system. Veggie, I really feel for your poor DS1, I hope the Daktarin will have an effect soon and so glad you've seen a more sympathetic GP. Thanks too for the London Bridge advice!

Oh and big hugs to Trace too.

Oh Spot you sound really miserable and I really don't know what to suggest. DH and have long periods where we can't seem to talk to each other without it descending into an argument - it's always stress related and seems to go in cycles, so we have better patches that outweigh the 'dear god I'm going to kill him' patches. Is he still resenting not moving back to London? If so my thought is that he just needs to face the situation you're in now and work at it properly. Getting into scratchy arguments about parenting is no fun - been there, makes you feel useless. I hope you had a good night's rest and things look brighter this morning.

had a full and unqualified apology this morning which has gone some way to help but lordy the man's on a tight spring.

Great news we'll be seeing you next week, pingu, anyone else?

Boo! Ok now you will be on the top of my threads list and when dd is napping later I will blissfully ignore the housework and come catch up

Spot that's good that DP apologised, saying something like that makes it sound like he doesn't gain enjoyment from being with you & Mr T. However, this time (one babe with another on the way) can be quite stressful for the menfolk. The seem to have a bit of a freak out as they come to terms with their role as provider for their offspring. I think regardless of whether you are earning or not they start feeling the burden of work & if they don't really like the work they are doing they can feel a bit trapped. Also because he is away a lot he doesn't get as much time as other dads to enjoy his DS. Maybe it's time you all had a trip away, even just for a long weekend somewhere close by, to just enjoy being with each other again, all 3 of you so he can gain some enjoyment from his dad. I don't know if you saw that M&W skit the other day with the parents of the little baby. It was quite funny with the parents cooing at the baby then snapping at each other viciously. It was funny but also very real, I think there would be few parents that that would not ring true for.

Of course if the Lobdon/Brighton thing is getting too hard to resolve you could always move to the Netherlands.

Ooops now have dd on my knee. She has had a massive sleep, the poor girl has been very screamy the past few days and today has screamed and slept which I suppose is an improvement. Not sure what is up though.

I had a massive FB purge the other day so if I've deleted you feel free to yell at me, I went a bit mad deleting all names I couldn't instantly place. Very liberating though!

Sorry about the arguements Spot. Veggies speaks sense.

Houses. I love living in a village, cities scare me though . I do wish I had parents close by though, I get so jealous of people who have their dcs looked after a day a week by their mum or can actually go out for dinner because they have a baby sitter. There has to be a good balance to be found somewhere.

Veggie poor ds

Jam. Not the wine! Oh no!

Babies soon! exciting

I'm sure we;ve done plenty of other things but I can't think of them at the moment. With dd being off the past few days I'm kind of stuck in a cbeebies and dvds (for ds) and cake and MN/general internet faffing for me while cuddling dd.