any other over 35 first time mums?

[AngelUK]

Claire and Storm I am all for everyone moving to London so we can hang out! But the childcare costs here at utterly crippling! Who can afford to have 2 children in a nursery? Only ppl who work as a hobby I think. There is one nearby us that charges £60 a day. Now that is 120 for two per day; multiplied by 5 days it's £600. If the month had only 4 weeks this would still be a staggering £2400! (that is more than what I would make as an expert evaluator at Christie's auctions, for which I was trained) And I am told to my amazement and horror that that place is pretty much average and not at the top end of what nurseries cost! WAHH!

 

[Borboleta]

Good morning ladies,

Not terrible night of us ( thiago woke up at 12:15am but was down in about 20 min or so after I rocked him) but I couldn't go back to sleep for ages!!! Maybe was back asleep by 4am!!! . But actually I am not feeling terrible tired or anything. . Strange!!

Sabrina: so cute that Finn liked thiago's video too. Show him the one that he is looking at himself in the camera. That is my favorite one . And he enjoys watching himself too whenever I show him . And after you and angel mentioned law&order I need to find it and show thiago. Sounds so funny that they like that ! Oh, I will buy the fig newtons. They are my OH's favorite and I am sure thiago will like it since it is so sweet.

Angel: thiago is doing better with his poop. He Has been a little more regular ( although sometimes he still skips a day or so). I bought him baby yogurt with a pear flavor and he loves it and let's me give it to him. It seems to help.
And that picture of your husband is pretty amazing!!! I can totally see how similar Dom is to him but sometimes I looked at it and see seb too !!! Who do you think seb looks like? I need to upload a picture of me and OH as babies and see what you ladies think .
And do you have to iron all your clothes? I hated doing that in Brasil!!!! Hated!!!! Now here I just put them in the dryer and fold them. Love it!!!!!

Storm: I have ashthma too, but it is not as bad as it use to be in Brasil. And it got soooo much better during pregnancy . Now I barely use my inhaler. But I remember those days when you can barely breath. No fun. Hope you feel better today after you meds.

Claire: now that angel has good nights I am sooo cheering for you to have some of those too. You totally deserve it!

Clio: hope you and J are doing well.

Charlie: how is your mastitis?

Rowan: thinking about you . Hope everything is well with you, M1 and M2.

 

[AngelUK]

Storm I really hope L is better and will give you another good night tonight. You poor woman!

Borboleta noooo I don't iron my clothes! I hate ironing! My shirts I give away to the laundry and my trousers are all dry clean any way. What I do iron myself though is pillow cases cause I don't like the idea of laying my face on a cover that was touched by unknown hands and persons who may have sneezed on them I know, I am weird. lol For that reason I used to do the duvet covers myself too but now we have a super king size duvet... and twin boys. So yeah, the duvet covers goes to the laundry too and I ignore the slight eww feeling I get from it lol Also I usually iron my tea towels (dishtowel in the US I think?) cause yeah I am that obsessive. lol So my mum did the pillow cases and the dishtowels for me
I forgot to buy fig rolls today but will next time I am shopping. Sebastian was straining again today but at least not crying. And he went at least once. So he is ok.
I really don't know who Sebastian looks like. I don't think he looks at all like me or OH. But I appreciate this is not so easily obvious from the pics I post. I take them with my iPhone and since it is an old 3G the pics aren't great quality.
Some pics I have seen of your husband made me think that T looks a bit like him? But I would love to see baby pics of both of you

In fact I would love to see baby pics of all you lovely ladies and compare to our LOs, it would be such fun I only have one of myself here on this computer. On the left is my auntie Gisela and on the right is my mum

Hope you are all doing well and am sending sleepy

 

[Storm1jet2]

Well ladies we had poogate this morning, just as I posted L went and it was forceful explosive poo! It filled her nappy, out the vest, down the inside of the baby gro and out the legs! She cried so obviously I just grabbed her so there was poo all over her, me and the floor! Obviously something at nursery really upset her tum. Poor wee mite was shattered and was asleep in nursery 15 mins after I left her in. Then she projectiled her lunch and they had to bath her! But she's not actually sick, they and I are sure it was food issues. Tonight she seems much better, did another poo after her bath and then was starving, so had milk, cereal and a yoghurt before bed... Hopefully she feels much better.

Angel I will find a baby photo, but I need to do that via the laptop and I'm too tired tonight

I think you should all move to NI cause its cheaper

 

[Borboleta]

Angel: okay after I saw your picture I don't think the boys look like. Dom definetely looks like his daddy but seb ... Maybe you found him in the garbage can . I wish I found one of those cuties in my garbage can . So the picture of your mom and aunt is if you are looking at the computer the one on the left is your aunt?

Storm: sorry for the explosive poop!!! That is never fun! Wonder what could be upsetting her little tummy?

Thiago has been crabby today! Whining all day! I think it is teething so I gave him some Tylenol and hopefully he will take a good afternoon nap. And his good eating habits have gone away again!! He barely eats these days and is throwing a fit if I try to put him in his high chair, although I do it anyways. Mommy is the boss right . Them he cries and cries and I shove some food in his mouth he eats and cries again or stares at the clock in the kitchen . I am very concerned with moving him to regular milk. Hopefully he will like it. What your LOs thought of the change? Andi am taking him to his 12 mons appointment on march 6th so going to talk to the doctor about his bad eating and if I should give him vitamins to supplement the cows milk.

Hope you all have lovely nights. And I will scan some old pictures for you angel.

 

[clio]

How about Edmonton?

Sorry I've been gone guys. But I'm following along. I'm just too tired to write anything right now.

 

[Borboleta]

Okay had to share this mom moment wih you ladies! Just ordered a pizza and came to get it with Thiago. Put the boy back in the car and put the pizza on top of the car. Drive off and half way home I think: where is the pizza? . I realize that I left the pizza on top of the car!! So I hope I can still save dinner and find the box in good condition but no such luck, the box is in the middle of the road and cars are driving by. So came back to the pizza place and told them what I did and they laughed and gave me 30% discount on my follow up pizza! Thiago loves this stuff. Too funny!!

 

[Storm1jet2]

Oh Borboleta that is so funny . Iove pizza but miss L can't have it

 

[SabrinaKat]

we again had sttn -- I can't believe it! He slept last night from 10 to 6.30am, but....I noticed yesterday when I picked him at creche that his right eye was red, and went off to the chemist as it appears he has 'pink eye', it was a bit crusty this am, but seems better with these drops and ....due to my lack of very careful nail clipping, he managed to scratch his face in his sleep (the horror -- the fact is, I try to trim every day, but he is starting to hate it....).

Went out shopping today after work and spend loads at Primark on t-shirts, shorts and then, bought a few more t-shirts at selected places, e.g. places where one t-shirt is 20 euros (I bought 1, but it's so cute with a harbour scene on the front sewn on) and at babyGap, I bought a t-shirt with a dinosaur on it, but these are places where you don't load up, you buy or two things a month there, whereas at Primark, t-shirts are 2 euros, and cute shorts/t-shirts are 6 euros. I only bought a 'new' handbag from myself, e.g. had bought one on ebay, but it never arrived, so with the refund used to buy another of the same type (Cath Kidston, who is a favourite of yummy mummies here (I'm NOT a yummy, but am a mummy (my joke!)....

not sure if the fig bars are a great idea...I gave LO three in a bowl and he tried to eat all three at once and was 'sick', of course, my OH was sitting right next to him, so you think he might have seen the piggy-baby!

and I went all over Dublin today and we got dummy clips, so hopefully, LO won't continue his game of throw the dummy under the sofa and laugh at mummy as she tries to get it (over and over and over and over again)....

hope all are well!

bye!!!!!!!!

 

[Claireyb1]

well here is a pic of me as a little girl!

So Storm, it looks like we are all moving to NI then?! lol we, just won't ask Borboleta to get the pizza!
Have you made L a pizza with lactose free cheese?
I have managed to buy egg free mayonnaise and a powered egg substitute,which I can then make things like pancakes etc so Lucy can try more things that we can eat!

 

[Storm1jet2]

I haven't tried lactose free pizza, but we do have pancakes, I love making pancakes! My dad makes her bread every week too, not that we can't use normal bread but he likes too and uses a recipe you can use a little rapeseed oil instead of butter (even though we can use lactose free butter)

In other news the in laws came for dinner, oh my word! I knew MIL was in the middle of a bad episode but seriously she was off her head on a cocktail of drugs (prescribed), she could hardly walk, talk and her face was all slumped. She tried to lift L at one stage, but L kicked off and basically ran away. Dh is used to it but I was shocked, he simply said its preferable to the state she would be in not drugged. They also brought a bottle of lambrini (classy eh?) as they think itvhas very little alcohol, um its 7.5% and mil snaffled 3 glasses... On the drugs she is on not smart at all.... I'm not sure how I feel about L being exposed to this....

Anyway, hoping for a decent night but not expecting it!

Sk, I went on a little spending spree in Tesco sale for L, darn baby clothes are cute!

 

[clio]

Borboleta--I can't believe you went back to find it! Well, at least it shows that you're an optimistic person (as if we didn't already know that).

SK--what wonderful nights! I think you have an STTNer here! Smart about the dummy clip. I talked to my sister over Skype the other day so I could see the baby, and the wee thing had a paci in. My sister, who is all Mother Earth about things (drives me nuts), must have thought that I would judge (who has a one year old and judges any more???) and explained that she knew that it was bad (I guess because of weaning it? Or nipple confusion?) but the baby won't stop crying without it. I told her I was totally pro-dummy, and had tried for a week to get J to take one. But he was a jabberer even back then and couldn't keep his mouth shut long enough to suck on it and come to appreciate it. I can't even remember why I wanted him to have one--maybe because I was petrified of SIDS?

That's all I can remember at the moment from the thread so far. I'll go back and look the posts over again.

But, on my end, I have laryngitis! This is a REALLY REALLY bad thing for a lecturer to have, as you can imagine. I'm resting my voice and following all the internet instructions (Eric and J are off on an adventure, getting things for me), but I can't even talk to J! Apparently I'm not even supposed to whisper, and only keep my voice quiet if I talk--whispering is hard on the vocal cords. Who knew?

I'm so glad for the iPad mini. I've been talking to E through texts. It would have driven me nuts to try and type it all out on the iPhone. I wish SIRI could read minds! But poor J. He is watching a lot of Pocoyo when I have to look after him. Otherwise, he wants me to read him books. Or just generally talk to him. Angel--how are you liking yours right now? There are great apps for babies, which B told me about, and there these free apps of Thomas the Talking Cat, and a kitten one, too. That's the one he likes best.

Oh, so we have a new favourite book: Corduroy the Bear, which I bought a few days ago. Total classic on this side of the pond--how about you guys? He brings it to us minimum 5 times a day. The only other book he does that with is his Nursery Rhyme book (and E has turned each rhyme into a song to help deal with the boredom of them all). So I was wondering why this is such a special book to him, and then realized it was the only one with a story! All the others are just repetition, or about moods, opposites, the alphabet, colours, you know... So I sent Eric off with J to go buy him Madeline in board book form. Can you guys think of any others which are board books, but also a full story?

I'm so jealous of you guys who live close to each other. And I can't even afford to fly home, so a trip to London is out of the question. You'll have to send me pics.

 

[SabrinaKat]

storm - we got sweat pants and little boating-type t-shirts for LO at Tesco....going back to a rant that clio (rightly) had a few months ago -- why are many t-shirts for little boys with tractors, airplanes, etc? I don't get it! I've been able to get t-shirts with animals (dinosaurs, alligators, even an Arizona Grand Canyon t-shirt (my mom moved there a few years ago, so perfect) at Primark/Penneys -- but why are so many boys' clothes transport or trucks? I don't get it. In our case, LO has a Fisher Price dumptruck (sent by my stepmother from the States and he loves and I've no issue with), but I've even seen 'Mummy's Little Soldier!!!!!' (in Next, I think) - I mean, what?!

rant over....me thinks. AND why are clothes so 'tacky' for children? I wear a lot of black, okay, but with a splash of colour here and there, but the colours are so bright, they hurt my eyes (it could be my inner goth, tho).....I did, however, buy some plaid shorts and was sad that a cute little pair of plaid overalls only went to 12 months, so maybe I hanker back to the 1950s and that's my problem? LO does already have a blue Lacoste shirt (which came with a stuffed Lacoste toy, too!) and I like pearls....oh, god....I am the 1950s.....yikes!

oh, well -- again, hope for all sttn!

bye

 

[Storm1jet2]

I am tired... That is all. Zzz zzz

 

[SabrinaKat]

no sttn last night, according to my OH who had LO.....I had a bit of a lie-in, although did get up around 7.30 to make sure LO had bottles and to 'assist' if necessary, but went back to bed. We're out tonight (have a babysitter) as we're going out for my OH's birthday. LO is in a great mood, but he does seem to like mummy alot today (is it because he was in creche all day yesterday? to be fair, though I did call at 3 pm and LO seemed fine -- he does have fun playing with his little friends, but is very happy with mummy and daddy as well....am I raising a well-rounded happy little boy (except for teething?), if so, that's exactly what I wanted to do!

hope all are well....counting (in a not good way) down to Daphne's operation on the 8th, but it must be done - she's gone into heat four times in four months (used to be twice a year at most) and it's ultimately, better for HER....I hope....

bye!!!!!!!!!

ps. am just switched over to new anti-depressants, but feel no different, e.g. already in an okay mood today, so who knows? AND although I didn't diet the last few weeks, I 'watched' what I ate, I didn't gain any weight back and even lost another lb, so it's about 6 lbs since the beginning of the year, but I am determined to try and shift some more starting tomorrow as we might be going to NYC to see my father in July/August/September and I love NYC/shopping at the vintage stores (I lived there for three years as a thin gal at university at NYU back in the early 1990s)....

bye!!!

 

[Borboleta]

Tough couple of days here too. Thiago has been very crabby and not napping or sleeping well at night. Last night wad 1 am, 4 am then 6:45am ready to go. My mil was thinking that maybe he has another ear infection but he has not had a cold or nose drainage so I googled it and the chances of ear infection without a previous cold are slim. But they did say that when they are teething they are not aware that the pain is coming from the gums so they just pull on there ears which makes sense since is close to the molars anyways. And yesterday he seemed hungry and going for food but after a couple of bites he would just cry inconsolably, which again makes me think that it is his molars that are bothering him. Can wait for those things to just come down !!!

Oh, we went yesterday to a kids consignment fair and it was lovely!!! We got two toys for thiago that would cost us new about $80.00 for $20.00. He did like this little bao v8 car driving toy but it was $80.00 and I checked online and a new one is $75.00 ! I didn't get that one. But we decided to order for him the new one as a birthday gift for him. It was so cute, he would not get out of that toy. Anything to do with balls and a steering wheel and the boy is sold on ! Such a Brazilian ! I hope he doesn't get interested in playing American football. Too violent and not as fun a soccer .

Claire: I loved the picture of you when you were little. So cute! Super blond hair!! Does L have super blond hair too? But every one knows she is a copy of you.

Storm: sorry for you night. But L looks so cute with hair second breakfast picture. Wish all you ladies where closer so we could have our LOs meet. And your MIL dinner sounded awful. Medicine and drink dont mix. I would be concern too if she would try to hold my child. Tough one there!

Clio: I forgot to ask is J's bottom is okay with the antibiotics. When you mentioned that he watches a lot of Pocoyo when you have to work I feel guilty sometimes too that I let thiago watch something but at least the shows are kid friendly for their age right . Oh, you know what happened the other day: thiago loves the tv remote control ( as I am sure all our LOs do) and he started pressing buttons and when I looked at the tv he was about to buy big boob masturbation movie that costs $15.00!!!! . I told my OH that we need to figure it out how to do parental control on the tv. Close call !!! Can you imagine me calling the cable people and telling them that my son bought a porn movie by mistake !!!!

Sabrina: your shopping spree sounded lovely!! I love a good bargain too!! I don't understand how people buy these really expensive clothes, well I do but it doesn't make sense. I am trying to sell thiago bouncer toy to a consignment store and I found this super cute sandals for the summer and they are originally $50.00 but they are selling it for $10.00 so I asked them to hold it for me. The brand is called umi and they have the cutest shoes!!! Oh, try to google rocker baby clothes or goth baby clothes and you will find really cute and different clothes designs for finn. I am with you and I don't think they need a bunch of truck shirts. Boys clothes can be as fun as girls we just have to shop more to find them .

Charlie: hope little S is being good to you.

And the pizza is on me girls !

 

[SabrinaKat]

pretty much sttn last night, LO slept from about 10.30-7.30, although he did wake up momentarily around 1.30, but just replaced dummy and stroked his head and he went back to sleep.........wheeeeeeeeee! He's now had a bottle, sitting on the floor playing with his toys and 'eating/throwing' some dry cheerios everywhere - happy baby!

not much else - his eyes are slowly (to me), but pretty quickly to others clearing up (we try to give drops every 4 hours, but he doesn't like that much) and his cold seems to be going....(no cough at the moment, so I think that's more why sttn as he isn't fully waking up when he does wake up in the middle of the night.

storm -- My LO cried and screamed when he saw my MIL at Christmas, so it could be 'stranger danger' or that your MIL's behaviour was also alarming your LO (I don't really want LO around my MIL after our wonderful, grandma-centred Christmas, and my OH and I are discussing -- I just can't trust her, e.g. back when he was 3 months old, she was over focusing on her depression/problems whilst we were passing a screaming/crying colicky baby back and forth. My OH suggesting that he alone take LO to his mum's tomorrow and I said no -- or at least, unless I was there and we only went for a few hours at most. Sigh. I promised myself when I was pregnant with LO that I wouldn't be like my BIL/SIL who don't take their LOs to see her and she only now sees at the holidays, but I understand better the protection mechanism of a mummy (there were other things before with my FIL dying, and all the burden fell on my OH, but in this situation, my BIL does now go down to see his mum without the kids....) and I also suffer from depression, but if I feel miserable/depressed, I tend to go off and sleep.....

hope all are well! bye!!!!!!!!

 

[AngelUK]

Good morning ladies

Storm how is L this morning? I hope no more poonamies? Poor little thing! Hope she is better and that you get to enjoy a nice weekend
Sorry your MIL is having a bad episode but I am surprised that her husband and even your DH let her drink when so heavily medicated. I totally understand your reluctance to have L exposed to this. Maybe it is a blessing after all that they aren't so keen on spending more than 20 minutes with her? Cause how could you deny them if they wanted to see her all the time without it getting awkward? Still, I am also sorry for your MIL as she cannot feel so great with all that herself. xxx

Borboleta the blond woman on the left of the picture is my aunt and the one with the dark hair on the right of the picture who is holding me is my mother Still waiting to see you as a lil girl
As for the pizza, very optimistic of you hoping to find it intact intact lol. Annoying you had to buy another one but them giving it to you cheaper is kind. I loove pizza and I think maybe we should have one tonight.Sadly we are boycotting the local Domino's Pizza cause they messed up our order twice now. Hmm! Might have to try Pizza Hut again...
Has T slept better last night? From what you describe it really does sound like teething. Poor boy, he really produced all those teeth very quickly! As for the car, my golly maybe he will be a racing driver instead of a soccer player! lol
Your story about T and the porn made me laugh out loud! Too funny!

Sabrina I am sure you would totally deserve to be called a yummy mummy. Mind you, I have a Yummy Mummy bag from Pink Lining and it actually says Yummy MUmmy on it. When I feel especially unattractive I turn that side to the pram so no one can see it and think "pfft yeah right" I do like the Cath Kidston things too! Their baby things are so cute too. But the only real boy design they have is with cowboys so am not totally sold on that. I like Primark baby onsies and undies but I find that they shrink in the dryer more than others. Is that your experience too or maybe I am doing something wrong.
I wondered about the little soldier thing too. My mum bought the boys matching short sleeved and short legged summer outfits last year from mothercare and while one said Daddy is my Hero which is ok, the other said Mummy's little Soldier. They looked really cute in them but I wouldn't have bought this myself. On the other hand, we have one gorgeous hooded cardi from Monsoon that OH got over ebay that has little Beefeaters on patrol on it. It is such a beautiful cardi that love it, in spite of the soldiers.
I am sure your little boy adores you! And he was just busy thinking of other things and didn't mean to reject you. I think they go through phases. Sebastian is being a bit of a mummy's boy recently but I think that is cause I always rock him to sleep while OH rocks Dominic. He tends to also give me more kisses than his daddy but I am sure it is just for now. And I do think that creche is a good thing. Wish I could afford to send my boys a day a week cause socialising would do Sebastian a ton of good.

Claire what a cute pic of you as a little girl! How old were you there? I had the same hairdo when I was in kindergarten as per my wish. There was this dainty little girl who had a hairdo like that and I admired her and wanted to look like her. So I asked my mum if I could have that haircut too. Thing is, she too had straight hair and therefore looked so tidy and neat but my hair is curly/wavy and I was the tallest child therer, including the boys, so I must have looked somewhat less kempt and dainty lol. I felt beautiful though lol. How weird, I had not thought of this and the girl in so many years!

Clio you poor thing! Is it painful? And how long does this usually last? I really hope you recover soon
How is your sister coping with mummyhood now? And we were pro dummy too when I found out that it helps prevent SIDS AND soothes. Mind you there was a stage when I wished we had never started with the dummy as Dominic would cry every time it fell out. Had to get up at night every 45 minutes at least! Phew glad that is over and he can now put it back in by himself!
I don't have an iPad mini just an older generation normal iPad but I haven't used it for the boys yet. I must have a look for apps for them
As for books with stories, I know I have mentioned them before but my boys really enjoy the Slinky Malinki books. They are about a black cat by that name who does all sorts of naughty things. The first board book is out of print but I got one used from Amazon for 1p! In that he becomes a thief at night and steals all sorts of things. In the second one he just plays with loads of things he shouldn't and wreaks havoc with his parrot friend. It is written in rhyme and the boys LOVE that. When Sebastian steals Dominic's toys or Alfie makes off with something he shouldn't, we always say He malinkied the toy/ribbon etc.

All is well here. The last three nights Dominic woke at midnight again for a bottle. He was having trouble with his right front tooth though (oddley enough not with his left front one which has been through for about 10 days now) and was whiney and cry-y all day so we didn't hesitate to go and offer him a watered down bottle of milk. Last night he again woke at 12:40 but he wasn't crying but only lay there chatting to himself so I didn't go to him. He found his dummy, inserted and drifted off to sleep. This morning they slept till 7:30! No 5:30 first stirring and then dozing off again but proper sleep till 7:30! I feel soo refreshed It is the third night in a row that they slept till after 7 so I am hoping it will last
Ok got to go and rock them to sleep for their naps. Hope you are all well xxx

 

[Storm1jet2]

Morning all! Angel it looks like the boys are doing really well at night! L has 11 teeth and has struggled with most of them, she has 3 molars though and they certainly help with the eating . She also has the cold again, but I'm not sure its the cold it could be teeth again. I really don't get MIL and FIL, we pretty much don't drink so it was them brought the lambrini (first time) saying it was really low alcohol, it was me that pointed out 7.5% is stronger than beer... DH has a really weird relationship with his folks, he won't say anything to them! I think he thinks saying no or disagreeing is disrespectful? I on the other hand give off stink.to my dad (as I did my mum), but I totally respect them. I have no respect for the in laws which grinds on dh... I said to him respect is earnt. He goes by the honour your rather and mother to which I pointed out they are his parents not mine! MIL is a big woman and she could hardly even stand (before the alcohol) she had to be helped across the room, so when she went to lift L I was concerned, thankfully L can hold her own and ran away!

I'm meant to be at church now but dh is working and L fell asleep in the car so I have no intention of waking her and dealing with her grumpiness later, she can sleep. I've arrived at my dads and my brother is bringing his 3 round after so I'd like L in good form. Other brother might be down with his 4 too, his wife is in Leeds with her mum as her mum is getting radiotherapy treatment for lung cancer there. I really feel for SIL, her dad died just before my mum, then her nan the week after my mum and now her mum is ill! It's mad.

Anyway the house moving, I was out looking at New bathrooms for my dads yesterday, looks like it will cost about 7k to do up the bathroom, eek what a lot of money I guess it needs done though and doing it before we have L in the house would be good.. bye bye money... It was nice having you briefly

Hope everyone else is well!

 

[SabrinaKat]

angel - I don't put anything in the dryer (except towels) as I learned that everything from penneys/primark, et al, all shrink in the dryer....

CRISIS - we lost LO's crinkle book in Tesco --- eek!

bye!!!!!!!!