any other over 35 first time mums?

[clio]

I'm sorry guys--I'm a day late! Happy belated Mother's Day! I hope you all felt very motherly.

Clio: I forgot to ask you if you ever read June B. Jones kids book series. It is for a little older kids but it is so funny and cute. I will definetely purchase them for thiago when he is a little older. He now enjoys dr. Seuss, fisher price little people books, Fujikawa beautiful illustration books and biscuit the dog.

Actually, no, I've never hear of this series. When J gets a bit older and won't tear the pages, I'll have to get some.

I should look into the Fisher Price little people books. We have two Dr. Seuss board books, and he was really into "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?" for a while. Right now, J favours the Yummy Yucky type books (thanks again Leeze--and he LOVES No No Yes Yes. He calls it "NooooNoooo MMMMMM." My husband has hidden Quiet Loud so he can get a break from the LOUD stuff.)

But, as I've mentioned before, Sandra Boynton (both music and books) dominate his library. There's one called "The Bellybutton Book" which he really likes, where Hippos celebrate their bellybuttons. It's also now mandatory that before we read him the book, he must show us his bellybutton.

Nursery rhymes are his other favourite thing. But lately, he doesn't want us to really read books; he just wants to turn the pages. So Eric and I will continue to read whatever page he lands on as if nothing were missing. J also likes to close the book before we're finished with it, so when this happens, Eric has taken to saying, "And they did," to formally end the book.

Right now I'm trying to help J distinguish between cars and anything else that has wheels on it. In the Bellybutton book, the baby hippo has a little toy duck on wheels that he pulls along behind him. J used to find it on every page and say: "Duck!" Now he finds it on every page and says "Car!" And now, all ducks are "car." So, seeing as I'm not willing to go down the truck route (no pun intended) until I hear from all of you with girls, I've been teaching him "bus" through YouTube videos of "The Wheels on the Bus." What do you bet that "duck" will soon become "bus"?

But for some reason, turtles are now his favourite thing. It's kind of cool--he's never had an obsession before this, other than the guitar, and that's always been there. So it's neat to watch his first obsession start. The first thing he says in the morning is "turtle." When Eric woke him up after a ride in the car, the first word out of his mouth, strangely, was "turtle." At night, he must give the Startlight Turtle a kiss before he's willing to go to bed. So, as I've said, I've been knitting him this turtle, and have finished the body. And now I'm working on the head and legs and am rather bored with it. I was wondering if I can just give him this:

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8249/8549058228_4145b35e62.jpg

and tell him that the turtle is sleeping and has withdrawn into this house. What do you think? I think it'll be years before he realizes that I never finish anything I start knitting and was just snowing him.

Sorry guys--very selfish post, but I'm nervous about lecturing this week. Getting the timing right on these lectures is killing me and I need to finish WWII and the Cold War by Wednesday, so I can be on time with the lecture I've chosen for my peer review for Friday. But hey, I finished this round of marking!

 

[clio]

Waiting for OH to come home so I can take a shower and go. Ugh.

Anyway, I was working on something and J came and asked me to read a book. Which I did, but afterwards, I said, "why don't you go and sweep something now." As a joke, because I really don't expect him to 1) do the housework (yet) and 2) understand what I said.

Next thing I know, I look up, and see...

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8508/8549621754_2cd0d03ac2.jpg

(Sorry for the blurriness. The quality of all his pictures suck now that he moves all the time.)

We really, really, really have to start watching what we say. What if I had said, "go play amongst cars?"

 

[SabrinaKat]

I LOVE that J was helping with the sweeping! Finn tries to clean up his dinner and his toys, which shows willingness, me thinks! He also likes to take all the wet wipes out of the container and throw them around (he now has his own 'packet' to play with)

I took the day off with flu today and slept until about noon -- OH was taking the day off anyway, so took LO to creche...and then he made wine (WTF?) - my OH gets these ideas and then buys loads of equipment, uses for a month or two, then it gathers dust. Very frustrating!

not much here - I made mac and cheese with mince and LO actually ate (although he picked the mac out, but did eat by himself) - BLW is pretty good for getting him involved, but so much cleaning...

hope all are well....we had snow today, but it didn't really stick.

bye!!!!!!!!

ps. Daphne back at the vets for a check-up, but she seems okay. I mentioned that she had cysts, so does that mean that the cat had PCOS as well as me, and hence, her erratic cycles?

 

[julesjules100]

Hope you're all doing well and a belated happy mother's day to you UK ladies. Hope you were suitably pampered and if not that at least you got a card For those who were doing the cooking, hope it went well and that you got some downtime that day!

I know I'm a bit behind with the posts but a few comments:

Loved all the bump pics! Storm – er no! You didn't look huge at all! I'd actually say that was a pretty neat little bump! Borboleta – another great bump!

Clio – obviously I don't have a little boy just yet to comment on the humping but….I can recall my brother going through this stage when we were little. Eventually he stopped doing it (he used to dry hump the end of a brass bed).

The turtle is REALLY impressive. I wouldn't know where to begin, even if you leave him headless and legless. J is very cute with his broom!

Sabrina – hope the long sleep this morning helped make you feel better and that you're close to shaking off the plague.

Angel – no, the insomnia isn't really driven by baby kicks. It something biological that wakes me up for no reason at all and then my nose starts to block, my temp goes up, I get a splitting headache and it takes 3.5-4 hours for that to clear and for a sleepy feeling to reappear. I have a few twinges in my back right now and I REALLY hope that stays away… Really don't fancy dealing with that without anti-inflammatories!

Also, about the slippy floor – not sure if anyone has mentioned these but what about those crawling/exploring tights (they have little rubber grippy things on the knees and feet to get traction)?

Rowan – bless your DH and his creative shopping - at least it must make for some exciting meals!

Ladies, thanks so much for your kind words about Grandma. Borboleta, she's pretty old now, 88, but has to date still done all her own house work and is really physically young for her age. I guess at the end of the day we all have to go from something and sadly strokes are common in old age. Hard to say how she's going now. Today has sadly brought more flashing lights and tingling in her face, which thankfully she has not associated with the fact that something else may be going wrong…. Really hope that’s not the case but I think the next couple of weeks will be crucial. I'm absolutely disgusted with the lack of care she has received and the delays. Anyway…

Hope you all had a good weekend.

J x

 

[Claireyb1]

Just a quick post as I wanted to say to Jules I got a terribly stuffed up nose when pregnant and I found Sterimar nasal spray a God send. It's just a saline spray that you squirt up your nose, but it does help relieve the blocked feeling - esp at night!
I hope your Grandma gets the care she needs and deserves

 

[julesjules100]

Thanks Claire! I will grab some from Boots tomorrow! x

 

[kosh]

clio - I didn't comment on your J's 'advancedness' confession, so I can say now, gosh - the boy IS advanced! I mean, I am excited that this weekend I asked Gael to give me his monkey and for the first time he did!


storm - many posts back you asked about G's sleep - he is slightly better in that at least he does an initial 3hr stretch now . after that, is random. had a couple of brilliant nights with only 2 extra wakings, but recently he wants to comfort suck all night as usual, I blame teething but 3 of his molars just came through and I think the 4th one is making him suffer


question for those with LOs at nursery all day (even if just one day a week) - how many meals do they get, and do you feed them again at home?

question for those with 1yo or over - how many naps?

 

[kosh]

kept thinking - do you all ladies have grandparents alive? I lost all of mine when I was a child.

 

[julesjules100]

kept thinking - do you all ladies have grandparents alive? I lost all of mine when I was a child.

3 been alive in my lifetime; lost first gran (dad's mum) when I was about 11, grandfather (mum's dad) when I was 18 and current grandma is my only remaining one x

 

[Storm1jet2]

Just a quick update, Kosh L gets toast then dinner in nursery and afternoon snack which can be anything from fruit puree to bagel.. I still make her dinner at night! Sometimes she eats lots sometimes she just picks at it we are also still on 2 short sleeps a day but sometimes she skips one! I don't have any grandparents, actually my last grandparent to die was my mums mum and she is dead 25 years tomorrow! My other granny died when I was 8 and my grandpa when I was 6. My dads father died when my dad was 12 weeks old

Got to go, L is in teething hell and we are back to rubbish sleep.. she too has 3 molars now..

 

[kosh]

Just a quick update, Kosh L gets toast then dinner in nursery and afternoon snack which can be anything from fruit puree to bagel.. I still make her dinner at night! Sometimes she eats lots sometimes she just picks at it we are also still on 2 short sleeps a day but sometimes she skips one! I don't have any grandparents, actually my last grandparent to die was my mums mum and she is dead 25 years tomorrow! My other granny died when I was 8 and my grandpa when I was 6. My dads father died when my dad was 12 weeks old

Got to go, L is in teething hell and we are back to rubbish sleep.. she too has 3 molars now..

 

[AngelUK]

Good morning ladies

Jules How is your grandmother today? I hope this tingling doesn't mean she is having another stroke? I hope not As Claire says, I hope the prospect of meeting her great-grandson soon will speed her recovery Will it be her first great-grandchild?
Poor you with the horrid insomnia! I don't think I had any of that but I do remember having a stuffy nose throughout pregnancy and not even daring to use Olbas for it. Crossing my fingers for you that you won't get any more aches and pains!

Claire wow your grandmother is 97! That is impressive! Does she dote on Lucy? I bet she must Hope you and L are well. xx

Sabrina sorry you are ill! I hope you will feel better soon. And I am also sorry you didn't have such a great mother's day
But I am so happy for you that your Daphne is recovering so well.
I keep meaning to ask you, do you still use the Snuza on Finn? And if you do, do you get false alarms too when he moves around his cot at night and sleeps on his side or tummy?

Borboleta poor Thiago getting all his teeth in such a rapid succession! But hopefully once that last molar is out, he will feel much more happy and will sleep like a little angel
The reason I couldn't sleep was just a case of anxiety about my possibly not hearing the Snuza clip-on alarm again. It went off again this morning at 5:30 and I didn't hear it again but OH did. I am starting to think there is something wrong with my ears.
I love the robeeze shoes on little T! How cute! We have similar ones by a brand called Blue Inch and I should definitely use them more.

Clio I cannot imagine how you managed to even knit the body of the turtle! I am very impressed! Maybe you could stick some eyes at one side to make it look as if the turtle is peering out of his hole?
Btw my OH loved the Uglydolls so much that he ordered 2, one in green and one in blue! It was really hard to choose between them as they are soo cute! But now each boy can have one (if OH is willing to part with them hehe). Sebastian always has things in blue and Dominic is always green. Not in clothes necessarily but in dummies, sleeping bags, buggy footmuffs and things like that.
I am not sure what you mean by timing but I hope you lectures will go well . What lecture did you choose for your peer review btw? And does this mean they come in and watch you lecture or do they just get your notes etc?
Love the new piccies of J! He is growing up so much! And he is as always a total cutie! And you do know that child labour is frowned upon right, but to be honest if I could get my boys to sweep, they would do nothing else lol.

Charlie you get breakfast in bed every morning? Now that is so lovely! What a sweet OH you have

Kosh my maternal grandfather died when I was 11 but I hardly knew him as he lived in Berlin and had a bad heart and couldn't fly. My maternal grandmother died when I was in my 20s as did my paternal grandfather. My paternal grandmother and the matriarch of our family, my most beloved, respected and admired Oma died 3 years ago and I still miss her so much! Mind you, she was very old-fashioned and she would not have approved of my having two babies out of wedlock so I probably would have had to get married!

Storm I agree that was not a huge bump but a very neat lovely one! I really have to ask my mum if she has a bump picture of me to show, amuse and shock you guys.
Sorry Lydia is back in teething hell! Hope it is over with soon and she goes back to sleeping well

Leeze I keep wanting to tell you that we tried the Lancashire cheese you recommended. Yummy! But sadly the boys didn't agree and spat it out again. We got the smooth and creamy version rather than the crumbly so maybe that was our mistake? Could you recommend another one? Thanks

Rowan How are you feeling? I always think of you when I see a heavily pregnant lady. How is Martha doing? I hope all is ok and you are feeling good still
We tried the Annabel Karmel chicken burgers that you recommended and I thought Oh yummy, gimme more! But the boys spat them out even though at first Sebastian took one in his hand very willingly and nibbled at it. They like Biscotti and puffs as finger foods and while Sebastian was ok with a bit of banana, he was not at all keen on toast with butter for example. Dominic refused that completely and anyway lately keeps throwing stuff down after a bit of a nibble. OH made them some spag bol and they refused to eat it And since they both seem to dislike stage 3 foods that can be bought in shops too, it is getting hard to feed them. Am a bit stumped here and am feeding stage 2 for now which they still love Hopefully it is just due to teething and we are back on stage 3 foods and fingerfoods soon

As for us, as mentioned to Rowan, the boys are being hard to feed. Dominic will eat most stage 3 foods actually but has also started spitting some out and Sebastian will have maybe 4 spoonfuls and then start blowing raspberries until we stop feeding him. They like their fruit pots and porridge breakfast but then that is sweet I guess
Crawling is still going really well and Dominic is very confident at kneeling now though sometimes he loses his balance and falls backwards onto his head Then he howls and I get to pick him up and cuddle him. Of course I'd rather he didn't hurt himself but it is so rare that he lets us cuddle him that to me at least this is a rather massive silver lining to his hurting himself a little bit. We have a mat down and a picnic mat underneath for extra padding so it isn't as if he really gets very hurt. More shocked I think.
OH swears that Sebastian's mama mama actually means me but I am not sure. He does seem to say it when I pick him up but I think it is just a new sound he is making. Still, He does however definitely have personalised sound for Alfie and has had that for more than a month. He says ah ah ah which sounds like the A in Alfie but only if he actually sees the kitty. He also does a sort of laugh with that a a a noise which again he only ever does when he sees Alfie. I am not saying he means to say "Alfie" but it is definitely a noise that signifies Alfie. I do think of the two boys Sebastian will be the first to talk.
Also, Sebastian and OH have a new game. Both boys really giggle when OH mock attacks them and eats their bellies. He tickles them and and makes monster noises against their bellies. So yesterday he was going AHH AAH as to signal to Sebastian he was about to attack him. Sebastian started giggling and speed crawling to the other side of the room to escape OH. Naturally OH caught him and Sebastian laughed so much! They repeated this game of chasing and catching several times and Sebastian was laughing so hard every time! Is there a better sound than your giggling and laughing baby? I makes me melt every time! And how much fun it is to be able to actually play with them Still, I am again super broody and even played an extra few lines for the last Euromillions in the hope that if we won something we could afford to have another baby perhaps lol I am crazy!

Ok got to lay out the mat for the boys and block the door etc. Hope you are all well, sending hugs etc

 

[kosh]

angel (and Sabrina) - before I forget, these are the plaster things I was talking about

https://www.mycarpaltunnel.com/carpal-tunnel-solution.shtml

 

[Borboleta]

Good morning ladies,

Clio: how in the world you have time between work and J to make such a beautiful turtle? I am impressed ! And J with the broom ... Send him here ! Thiago needs lessons!

Angel: I agree with you, there is nothing more amazing that a child's laugh !! About feeding, even though I am the last person that can give you any advice on that , could they be ready for eating pieces of regular food? Thiago eats what we eat now. And he is doing so much better!!! The other day we went to a Italian restaurant and he ate a bunch of bread, roasted vegetables and nhoque. And so clever that you have different color things for the boys!!!

Kosh: thiago takes 2 naps ( at least 1 hour and 1/2 each) and he is far from dropping then. Amybe if he would awake up at 5 am !!!
Like Claire I still have my dad's mom. She is too 97 years old. And is doing very well..

Jules: like you I have insomnia throught out the pregnancy. Started around 6 weeks. I would just wake up for a couple of hours too for no reason . Maybe is your body getting used to the lack of sleep that is about to come once the baby is here ! How many weeks are you now? Are you getting nervous? How about your OH is he excited?

Storm: looks like a lot of our LOs have 3 molars now!! Thiago has been suffering with this last one. and so are we !

Rowan: hope you are doing well still. Almost there !!!

Claire: I loved Lucy's picture on fb. She is just beautiful like her mommy.

Charlie: you get breakfast in bed every morning? I need to have a talk with my OH .

Sabrina: glad to hear little daphne is doing well. I think of Finn everytime I see these Huggies commercial on tv and I see a bum shuffler.haha:. I bet that is the cutest thing!!! If he holding onto furniture and try to move around? Does he likes if you hold his hand and walk with him? Thiago loved it but Our poor backs didn't !

Not so good night for us. He woke up crying at 12:30am and we let him cry but after about 30 min my OH went there and he didn't go back to bed until 2:15am !! I let him sleep in cause thiago woke up again at 5:10am this morning!!! Oh well he will be going to take a nap early today.

Have to go he wants attention.

 

[SabrinaKat]

semi-quick, as I can't remember who asked what...

grandparents: my mum's died when I was a child, but my father's were around until I was in my mid-30s - oddly, now that I do tapestry and knitting, feel very close to my grandmother and think about them almost every day, so I still miss them some 10 years later....

Snuza halo monitor - Finn doesn't use as much during the day for naps, but we do put on at night - he doesn't move around much as a) he sleeps in a sleeping bag and b) he sleeps in a moses basket in his cot (we have a long moses basket (about 3 feet long)), so no real wiggle room. We have had a few false alarms, but fortunately, he's been snoring so loudly or it was obvious within seconds that it was loose....

my back/Finn's standing - yep, I do feel my age with LO trying to stand, borboleta! He will walk with daddy, but is busy bum shuffling around otherwise or try to grab the sofa to stand....

must dash as LO has shuffled over to the TV...eek!

bye!!!!!

ps. Daphne good - very spoiled by her treats, etc....

 

[Leeze]

sorry for being rubbish again. serious seething hell and sleep deprivation.

Angel - have you tried cream cheese or feta? these are the other 2 Kia will eat x

 

[SabrinaKat]

hope all are well?

LO has new fangs in, but is still drooling loads - laundry machine seems on all the time.

No time as LO is trying to get to the TV (tired of Judge Judy?)

hugs!

 

[Borboleta]

Sabrina: so Finn got his canines before his molars?

Question: how do you have LO's car seat facing in your car? We have it rear facing but I am dying to turn him around. I know he will love it !!

 

[cranberries]

Hi everyone! Can I join?

I'm Amy- nearly 38 and my twins are 12 days old! Time sure does fly.

 

[Borboleta]

Hi everyone! Can I join?

I'm Amy- nearly 38 and my twins are 12 days old! Time sure does fly.

Hi cranberries
Welcome!! We will be happy to have you here!! Angel, that is part of the group has twins too! How are you managing? What are their names? How cute, newborns ... Ask whatever you want and we will try to help.