Hello

[lebel]

Hello, I am new here, just found you through a search engine

I have two daughters, L is 3 and C is 5 months and has downs. She had open heart surgery at 12 weeks to repair a hole in her heart.

I was looking for weaning advice, I have been giving her taste of purreed stuff for 3 weeks now, which she seems to enjoy

We just got our dla award through and the extra tax credits, they'll really help, we weren't expecting them, LOL!

We have portage and go to a support group for ds toddlers,

Hope to get chatting to some of you soon, xxx

Afternoon

marmoset - pleased to hear that everything's back to normal in your household. Unfortunately Sam is chesty again & has a cough. He still went to physio this morning & I haven't heard from Nursery, but I'm sure they'll be phoning me later saying he's got a temperature. Tomorrow's his last day at Nursery for 2 months. My friend is going to look after him on Wed, Thurs & Fri so we don't have to pay any money for July to the Nursery.

Sam was awake all night last night so am really struggling today. Am off to the water park with the whole of the primary department tomorrow so am going to bed at 6.30 tonight - LOL

fizzyanddizzy - The hair is doing fine thanks & I think I've finally got used to it It's soooo much easier to manage & getting ready in the morning takes no time at all, which is exactly what I wanted.

Hello the supersoph - bad luck on Sam's cold [grrrr]. I held off on starting the anti-b's with Alex and am pleased as he seems much better - although still eating and drinking next to nothing!

Good result on the hair as well - I had my fringe cut again last week after 6 months of growing it out - with this heatwave am also regretting that as well [GRRRRR]

Even better result on the not paying for nursery for July - in fact all round!

Well, everyone well here except the computer which went into meltdown, just in time for ds2's big school project! Luckily retrieved it and school printed it out and i can get back on mn with this laptop (property of work but hey!)

Hope both chests are better fizzy and supersoph - we did end up having quite a lot of anti-bs in the first couple of years but really haven't needed any for years now. in fact, ds1 gets fewer colds than the rest of us now - I think he's had all of them already . I think the little guys are just more susceptible to chest infections at the start. We ended up in hospital with bronchialitis twice so I always took him to the GP at the first sign of a cold until he was about 3 - luckily, the GPs were very supportive about that!

Everyone i have met this week has had a new hairdo - must be something in the air.i really must get something done about mine and abandon the scrunchy

Morning.

Well, I survived the water park as Sam slept a little better Mon night & I only had to get up with him once last night so he seems to be getting better. Am still giving him his puffer though and some medicine to break down the phlegm on his chest. As usual he's shouting and smiling his way through

fizzyanddizzy - pleased to hear that your LO is feeling better.

marmoset - I know what you mean about going to the GP. Sam has already had bronchiolitis & pneumonia so I really hate it when he gets chesty. I haven't taken him to the docs yet though as this sounds different and the medicine seems to be working. Am still monitoring him though

Did I not put the link on here with the photos?

Here it is then

loving the hair supersoph - how ace to have hair that you can just get up and go. I really just need to go and get all mine chopped off.

Alex is finally starting to drink again - after drinking ridiculously small amounts over the last few (incredibly) hot days so am hoping he truly is on the mend. Its so difficult to get a handle on this chestiness business and I absolutely know that depending on which GP he sees - he will either be given nothing, be given antibiotics or be given a letter and a fast track to A&E...

work is v rubbish not helped by the weather (you had better be enjoying yourself in the garden maternity leave marmoset )

Super hair, supersoph

Yes, fizzy - i would love to report that i spent a glorius day in the garden but the baby doesn't like the heat and has been ratty all day so we spent quite a long time in - wait for it - the freezer section of Sainsburys. Ta-da! Marmoset breaks new record in finding new ways to live it up!

She is now bawling her little head off so better go and try a cool bath for her.

glad small boys are feeling better.

LOL marmoset I can often be found mooching round the frozen food aisles at our supermarkets too. The only problem is you do have to go back outside again!

Last day of term here for the kids. We've got INSET tomorrow though - bummer. However, we're off to the south of the island on Monday to laze around by the pool & generally do nothing & go to some fab restaurants ... can't wait.

fizzyanddizzy - go on, go and get your hair chopped, I dare ya

Now I don't mean to brag ... yeah, right LOL but have I got gorgeous boys or what?!

Yes you have!!!!!
Hope you and your lovely boys have a fab time doing nothing but having fun.

Alex's new chair has arrived - it can be used on its own on the floor but also comes with a frame so he can sit at the table. Check out his blog below to see what it (and he) is like! As usual the chair worked perfectly when he sat in it for the OT and has not been quite so good every since!

alexgettingonwithlife.blogspot.com/

fab piccies, supersoph - hope you are having a ball!

fizzy - off to check out the blog now. Hope you are getting some time off work this summer. i just found out that i am due my holidays during ML and have just converted some ML to holidays as there is no way I'll be able to take all of my hols when I go back in September - we get quite good holiday entitlements in my work but hardly anyone ever takes all of them as there is too much to do . There are also going to be redundancies in the next few months - my department should be ok but I don't want to fall out with the boss at this delicate point in time! At least it means I get a bit more pay before I go back - funny how HR never mentioned this when I went off!!!! Ice creams all round, kids

Hello - thank goodness you returned, I thought I'd killed the thread!

What do you do marmoset if you don't mind me asking? to redundancies - it's all v unsettling right now so am pleased that all should be ok and deffo good news on more money before you go back. I'll have a mint cornetto, thanks

Alex had his first CDT meeting today - in the end it was only the paediatrican and physio and us but it was interesting. They are going to do more investigations on his eating and drinking to check there are no swallowing problems so am pleased that it is finally recognised that he is genuinely struggling with getting to grips with eating.
I gave them Alex's first person centred plan which i put together which they seemed to like

Hello fizzy - no, this thread is alive and well! I work in higher education and everyone thinks we get the whole summer off but it doesn't work like that! Passes slightly melted cornetto to fizzy.

Glad the CDT meeting went well. My lovely lad has always had problems with eating solids - unlike the other kids with DS that we know. We once went to a party with about 10 kids with DS and they all ate cake except him!

I was often asked by the SALTs etc if he had choked and been put off eating etc but he never had. He survived on yoghurt and semolina for ages! Ear,nose and throat checked him out and said he was fine but later on we had a sleep study for a sleep apnoea diagnosis and his tonsils and adenoids were removed for that. His eating has improved steadily over the last few years and I wonder if they had been removed sooner, would have helped the eating sooner? So hard to tell.

I would recommend asking for the sleep study at some point, even if Alex is not a snorer - it turned out that my ds was not getting enough oxygen at night. Sleep apnoea seems to be more common amongst kids with DS and the classic symptoms like snoring don't always present. I wonder if supersoph has had any experince here or anyone else?

Where is everyone these days?!!!

oooh Marmoset you have made me feel tons better

I am going to ask about his adenoids (his dad had to have his out). Alex is a heavy breather and a bit of a snorer - and he does sleep a lot so wonder if he needs to catch up if his night is disrupted?

I think that supersoph is gallivanting around her island enjoying herself on holiday - which means she will return to us all bronzed and stress free.

• and no flying involved! Still, we have had a few nice days IN A ROW!! Except today.

I know that docs don't whip tonsils and adenoids out at the drop of a hat these days but do insist on the study. Ds1's problem only showed up when asleep.

Off to see what dh has broken in the garage - lots of shouting and sound of broken glass coming from that direction!

Afternoon all.

LOL at "bronzed and stress free" am definitely bronzed but not stress free but that's only because of a mare with the social security office. However I shall share that with you another day.

Well we had a wonderful week and Sam really loved the pool so that was even better. We only took a couple of piccies so will try and get them uploaded soon.

Unfortunately I can't advise on sleep as we haven't had any problems yet (fingers crossed). Sam's off for a hearing test tomorrow morning. Last time he had 50% loss in one ear and 30% loss in the other. Let's see what they say this time.

Speak to you soon

Supersoph - you're back!!!!
glad you had a lovely time away. I cannot wait until mid august for a few weeks off.

Things are as frantic as ever here but Alex got a really cool new chair today with its own little table so he is sitting up much more and can play with his toys properly so am really pleased
Have a put a picture of it on his blog if you want to see!

Am off to go and brood about swine flu!

Hey there fizzyanddizzy. Pleased to hear about his chair. Sam loves sitting in his high chair playing with his toys. It's also a table and chair so will be good as he grows up. Are you going away anywhere in August? The weather here at the moment is horrid. It's all cloudy and really really windy. Yesterday I had to keep a really tight grip on Sam's pushchair otherwise he would have taken off.

We're off to dog and cat-sit for some friends on the 27th for a couple of weeks. They're lending us one of their cars as well which is a bonus as ours needs work doing on it before it's MOT and we can't afford to get that done until August. More money we don't have (sigh).

Sam had his hearing test and they say he's only got slight hearing loss. When they did the test before he was so gunked up and it was just before he was hospitalised. They are sending the results to another specialist who we are going to see in August. Hopefully he won't have to have anything done about it as it is obvious that he can hear we will just have to make sure that we speak a little louder and clearer for him.

Anyway, think that's about if for now. Have to go to the SS office again next week but will fill you all in on that nightmare when I've got back!

hello ladies - glad you had a good time supersoph and that the hearing issue seems less serious than first thought. My ds has conductive hearing loss in one ear which basically means that he can hear pretty well but when he has a cold, it gets bunged up and we have to shout into that one. I haven't noticed any real problems with it - sometimes it is tricky to tell if he is doing that selective deafness thing that the male population seems prone to but I have a foolproof test - I simply utter the word 'ice cream' and he whips round in a nanosecond...

The sleep apnoea thing is more of a screening issue, along with the ears, eyesight, thyroid function. By the time our little lad had his sleep study at age 4 , he was becoming very ill. The docs were very laid back about getting the test done and didn't see it as urgent at all but i had a meltdown at a consultation, resulting in getting it done that night. His night time oxygen levels were so low that he wasn't allowed to sleep at home until the op was booked and recovery took another two weeks after the op. Now I tell everyone to get it screened for!

fizzy - bet he's loving the power of the throne chair!

Have decided that it's about time we resurrected this thread Where is everyone & how is everyone? Am not MNing anywhere near as much at the moment (unfortunately) but hopefully someone will get back to me

We are all pootling along quite well at the moment & Sam is due to restart his speech therapy soon so am very pleased. He has also started sitting himself up so am a very proud mummy at the mo

Hope you and yours are all well & look forward to hearing from you.

Love Soph xxxxx

SUPERSOPH YOU'RE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
me and marmoset thought you had deserted us for ever

Am glad Sam is well - and sitting up - v. cool! My littlest prince will be 1 next weekend - how the time goes! He is good - not sitting - on the floor he looks like he is swimming in his attempt to crawl and he has more teeth than either of his brothers did at that age!

We think we have cracked the eating issues - well the childminder has - turns out that he was like every other one of my children - just didn't want to eat with me

tell us more about what you have been up to - 'tis lovely to have you back!

fizzyanddizzy - hello again, great to hear from you. Pleased you've got the eating sorted and had to at images of your LO looking like he's swimming.

Sam's just got a new bodyboard thingy (will take some piccies) which he is most peeved about as I think he thought he'd got away with not getting another one. You have to strap him to it and he has to propel himself across the floor with his hands ... not happy I tell you His speech therapy started again yesterday so am really happy about that. He never shuts up from the moment he wakes to the moment he goes to bed .... apart from when he goes for speech therapy

Work is still pottering along as usual, although there have been some changes and the staff aren't too happy at the moment. Hey ho things will calm down soon I'm sure.

It's Open Day on Saturday which doesn't finish until 5pm and then I have to take DH straight to the airport as he leaves for Holland to inspect the British School of the Netherlands. He'll be gone for a week so if I'm a bit dazed and confused next week, bear with me

Anyway, have to go for now as must pick DS1 up from swimming. Great to hear from you.
Love Soph xxxxxx

just happened to come on MN for first time in ages - yes, I'm back at work and can't remember my name let alone what day it is . Lovely to hear your news, ladies - boys sound as if they are doing really well. My lovely ds has just had a night out bowling with friends and came home to demolish a bowl of custard before going off to listen to his music - door shut. Oh happy day - typical near teen behaviour!

YIPPEEE for the marmoset as well!
I only have one word for your ds, marmoset and that is.. dude!
Hope being back at work is going ok - how long have you been back? and how does it feel juggling everything? have you used up all the food you made and froze?

soph what sort of sounds is Sam making? and what is speech therapy doing with him?

Well, went back on 1st Sept and it's been really busy but dd settled at nursery quickly which is great. The freezer is emptying steadily so next challenge is how to fill it up again ! I have a school meeting for ds1 tomorrow - aka The Dude - so need to be out the house early on my day off. Stamps foot in petulant manner .

Afternoon all.

fizzyanddizzy - Sam is making these sorts of sounds "ma,ma,ma" "da,da,da" "pu,pu,pu" and blowing lots of raspberries and making nonsensical noises which sound like a mixture of all three of the above. He also makes this wonderful noise that sounds like "oi eejit" every time you turn to leave him on his own ... and we don't even have any Irish relatives

The speech therapist does additional exercises on his mouth & lips and while they're doing that (they sit opposite a mirror) she says & mouths very clearly basic words like "ma-ma" "pa-pa". She is also doing "mum-mee" and "da-dee" so that he's hearing the basics in both languages. I think she also manipulates his lips when she's saying certain words.

marmoset - hey there. Now, I expect you to get straight into that kitchen over the weekend and start cooking to restock that freezer Because of course, that's exactly what I do after working a full week ..... Pleased to hear The Dude is enjoying himself and your DD settled into nursery, that in itself takes a weight off.