any other over 35 first time mums?

[SabrinaKat]

not much here - Mr. Finn was in a huge strop all last night and threw temper tantrums all over the place -- I think his teeth are bothering him, but also, trying to see if/how mummy and daddy react? Today, he was okay with me this afternoon and in a pretty good mood, but woke up from his afternoon nap a little irritable, so we shall see.

storm -- it's even more difficult here in Ireland to adopt (if over 40, not really done (although perhaps for an additional adoption after going through the process (5+ years) earlier and it can take years (2+) to even get a first appointment! We have talked about perhaps trying in the USA as it's much easier (especially for Asian/Chinese adoption), but not at the moment....

I saw that the council were around to measure the build and overheard the tenant being told it was too big, etc., so we shall see if it goes anytime soon -- it has wooden floor and walls and NO CARPET, so we hear everything that goes on and it's is soooooooo noisy that I think some other neighbours are complaining as well...

I hear a small boy screaming a bit, so will go and rescue dadda!

bye!

 

[Claireyb1]

Storm- I forgot the other day to say sorry about your friend with the cancer Nd I truly hope he can kick it in the butt and fight it! Also I hope your dad is ok with his skin cancer! And the hernia op- my mum is going to have one of these when she goes into hospital for the reversal of her bowel op. hopefully they will both recover quickly!!

Lucy has still been suffering with a high temperature today and it was 39.3 at one point, but she seems ok in herself? I blame teeth.......I blame teeth for everything!!

 

[Storm1jet2]

Lol Clairey I blame teeth for everything too. Actually I have a story, L has her bath full of those plastic balls (yup about 100 of them) and she has started grabbing one with her teeth and then she brings it to me and I have to take it out of her mouth using my teeth.. it goes on for ageessssss. Anyway tonight I accidentally bit her! Not badly of course but for the next hour when you said 'what did mummy do?' She held up the finger I nipped and fake cried! I did feel bad but she seriously milked it for ages... I
wonder if she will remember tomorrow!

 

[Borboleta]

Storm: that was so cute your story about L! I laughed because thiago takes baths with us all the time and he gives me these floating letters and I bit his finger twice ! The first time I bit hard and he cried so hard !!! Poor thing.
And I hope your dad's surgery goes well. And I am sure your friend is very frustrated when doctors don't know what is the best approach for caring of his cancer. Hope just the chemo will do it .

Claire: poor little L. Do you think is teething fever?

Sabrina: I hope that shed goes down !!!!

Forgot to tell you Girls a story. Yesterday OH was trimming trees in the front yard and thiago does not like how loud that pole saw is so I had him inside but I kept looking thru the window to see if Oh was doing a good job. So I went outside to tell him what else he needed to cut and when I was about to go back in the house with thiago I saw this big snake in our front door!!!! So I ran away and called OH and mind you the man hates snakes and spiders. So he grabs the pole saw and goes at it with the snake!!! It looked like a horror movie! The snake jumps towards the door and then towards him but he finally are able to cut it in a half and juice and guts goes flying all over the place !!! He than manages to cut the snake in two more pieces to make sure is dead. It was scary!!! That is what we get to live in a wooded area! Maybe the snake was up in one of the branches .

 

[AngelUK]

Good morning ladies

Sabrina yep my boys have been in their own room from day one but one of us used to sleep on a pull out bed in there with them for the first 4 months.
Sorry F cries everytime he is with his daddy. But I think it probably is a similar phase as when Dominic cried inconsolably for his and I couldn't comfort him? I hope so, anyway

Kosh Sorry G is not responding so well to your DH either. Is he not used to having him do stuff for him or is that too a phase do you think?
Sounds like the canines are hellish. I always thought it would be molars cause they are larger and blunter. Hope they come out soon for poor G and he doesn't suffer so much with the others.
The MMR went ok. And yes we also had to have a booster for the polio and should have gotten another booster at the same time as the MMR. But he only gave the first booster which would have been due at 1 year (which we had missed) and the MMR and told us to come back for the second booster in about a month's time. Sebastian cried loads and I had to hold him for quite a while after. Dominic cried too but more in outrage I think as he stopped as soon as the doctor was done. So I am thinking he wasn't in too much pain. Dominic's sleep was a bit disturbed that night but I am not sure if the vaccination was to blame or maybe just OH accidentally waking him when he went in to reposition dummies and muslins.

Storm my sympathy is with you and L's canines too! My boys haven't suffered much with teething so far but it seems that those canines are a different ball game so who knows how they will react to those coming in.
I am sorry the nights are still so unreliable but at least there are some great nights now, right? Before there were reliably bad nights only. Hopefully you got a good one last night
As for hair, I am worried that the regrowth will never get as long as the rest. I was always prone to short baby hair around my hairline and now I just have 4 times that much. I really need to go to the hairdresser and see what they recommend to keep the hair from being all fly away. I look like a poodle! But knowing them, it will be some hair mask stuff that requires that you put it on the towel dried hair and leave it for 10 minutes. I don't even bother buying this. If it is not put on wet heir and rinse immediately or leave in, it is not for me. Like you, I feel I should put in more effort but I just cannot manage it. Ppl must wonder what my sexy handsome OH is doing with such a frump.
How scary that L is such a good climber now! Basically you cannot not take your eye off of her for minute now I am guessing. How will I cope with two?! I know, I shall just keep them locked in the sitting room forever!
Loved the story about L milking her owie! Such a clever little thing!
As for your dad and the hernia, yeah I guess they might make him wait as it isn't considered a priority thing What about his skin though? Has he gone to see someone for that yet?
As for your friend, I find it outrageous that the surgeons leave this for him to decide. If they cannot decide then how should he be able to? I really hope the chemo works for him, poor man, so that he won't have to decide. Does he have a nice family, maybe a wife etc? I bet he will need a lot of support in this difficult time. I hope he recovers soon.
Yay and congrats to your friend with the twins
Crossing my fingers for you and the tww. I used to hate those and wanted to know NOW lol. And I am still hoping that you will get to enjoy any new pregnancy more than the one with L.

Borboleta YAY for T saying Mamma! That is so wonderful I am so looking forward to my boys saying it to me! Sometimes I think they mean me when they say mumum but I am not sure. So yes that is something I am very eager for Also, how cute is it that he says goal!
Btw my memory is AWFUL, which is why I open a new window for my replies and put it side by side to the thread. Then I go to my last post and start answering and commenting to the ladies in order of their comments after mine. So it is actually quite embarrassing how often I leave out or forget to say something I wanted to
I am glad T isn't having those crying fits any more. I think you are right and it probably was related to teeth as well? But surely he must be done with teeth almost by now?
As for the boys not sleeping so much during the day, yes I think you are right. I think that if there is too much sleep for nap time, then they won't sleep so much at night. I read somewhere that if you have an early riser, you should still not let him or her nap till after 9am, otherwise the first nap is just a top up on night time sleep. But at the moment I am debating whether to drop the boys' naps to just one after lunch. I was all for it when they slept so late the last 3 days but today, Dominic woke again at 6:15 so I think he will need his nap at 9:30ish. Hm.
I would love to see a picture of your garden Gardening is a little like cooking for me, I don't like doing it much myself but I love looking at pictures (or recipes) lol. I absolutely have to get a gardener in though and get our own tiny garden sorted out so that the boys can play in it.
Your story about the snake was scary! And gross! I actually like snakes mind you and once had a beautiful Sinaloan Milksnake , his name was Igor. He got too big for his 4foot tank though so I had to give him away. But of course I know that there are a lot venomous snakes in Texas (and Brazil!) and I could imagine that that changes the attitude towards them a little. Any idea what kind of snake it was?
My boys don't throw food on the floor but then they are still getting fed by us so they have very little chance. And the finger foods we do give them, they are far too greedy for to waste lol
I am glad your DH understood that what he said was mean and unacceptable. But like you, I couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't bring it up again at the next fight lol. I never forget, even if I have forgiven. It is not nice of me but there it is
As for the bike rides with T, that sounds so sweet! I would love to see him like that! he sounds so adorable

Kitty_love sorry AF got you but yeah maybe the heaviness means things are finally getting clear in there and ready for a new little bean Crossing my fingers for you again for this month.
Yeah my mum is so in love with my boys lol. I think with her other grand children she never had a chance till about a year and a half to do much or to play with them. They are the children of my brother and though she dotes on them too (especially my niece) she does say it is different with the children of your daughter. I mean, from the start I let her hold my boys and feed them and so on and I am not sure my SIL was so easy about that, especially as my twin nephews were preemies too. So I guess she has had a bond with my boys from when they were born
My kitty tends to play with the boys' toys too but I am not too worried about this, as they pretty much lick the floor too and I cannot prevent that. It all helps build immunity I guess. But I can understand that in Blake's case this might be a bit more worrying! And yes, you will soon learn that anything Blake should not have, such as remotes, phones or iPads will exercise a powerful fascination on him and attract him like a magnet lol I more or less dismantled my sitting room to safely accommodate the young masters lol

Claire How is Lucy today? I hope the fever has gone? Is she ok in herself or very ill with it?
I am sorry your mum has to have a bowel op, never fun that! I hope all will be well and it isn't going to be too difficult an operation?
I am another one with the horrid whispy baby hair around the hairline, eh? Well at least I am not the only one to look daft
Sorry Lucy isn't eating well. Maybe her mouth hurts too much from teething?
Yes the boy had their MMR on Tuesday. It went ok, we even went to gymboree after with no problem. But Dominic woke up at midnight when OH snuck in to their room to adjust their muslins and wouldn't sleep for an hour. Not much crying but just lying there in the dark, playing with his dummies and muslin and yammering every so often, poor little boy. I think maybe it had something to do with the vax? Not sure Our doctor said he had no reports back from any side effects such as rashes so far and no fevers either and he has been super busy and booked out for weeks for the vaccinations. So hopefully Lucy will be ok too?

Rowan, Clio, Leeze and Charlie I hope you are all well?

As for us, all is well. I think the boys are ok after the MMR and only Sebastian is maybe a tiny bit more clingy than usual but that might not be related. Sleep is still good, Dominic woke for a moment yesterday evening and cried but it only lasted for a minute and then he went back to sleep, phew. He woke me at 6:15 so I am guessing the sleeping in was a fluke. Ah well never mind. My mum is leaving today which means that we can eat dinner in front of the tv again while watching our shows, rather than only watch them after I dropped mum off at the hotel at around 9:30 or 10pm. And this should mean that I will get to go to bed earlier than midnight lol. But I know mum will be so sad to go again as the boys seem to really like her. They play with her so cutely and try to climb onto her all the time.
We took them to have their pictures taken yesterday as they won an hour's studio time in a raffle and that seemed ok too. Sebastian was not crying and played in the studio for a good while but had enough at some point and then I had to hold him and he cried a bit when I had to set him down into the buggy. Dominic of course loved the attention and meeting someone new. He was so sweet and friendly towards the photographer and smiled beguilingly at her a lot lol. We will be getting pictures Friday in a week and hopefully some will have turned out nicely and I can scan and post
I think this is all I can think of right now. Hope all are well. Sending to you all

 

[SabrinaKat]

another sleepless night-ish. I had moved the cot down to its lower setting, but because I am short (petite), it's really hard to lean down and pick up LO or rather, that part is easy, but putting him back in is tricky, so we bed-shared last night after some fussiness BUT he then decided that 3am (after some meds for teeth) that it was PARTY -TIME and boy, can he party - there was crawling, rolling and even attempts to climb over mummy. I am tired. Not exhausted tired, but confused/dazed tired. On a good note, he was in pretty good spirts last night, so that's one bonus, I guess.

We have started having to say 'no' and to remove hands (and mouth) when the bitings start, but I think he's too early for time outs, but are watching for the beginning of tantrums (wants my bowl of tomato pasta, but I gave him a clean bowl and two plastic spoons to entertain and distract) and he was a bit better last night. Once or twice, it was obvious that he was being stroppy (very me-me-me cries that ended in seconds) and he was watching to see how we reacted. We tried not, but I am starting to become master of the real cry and the imagined 'pay attention to me' cry (I hope)! Oh, he doesn't throw tantrums or try bitings at creche, so it seems reserved for mummy and daddy..............

Borboleta - I HATE snakes, but can tolerate (in the east coast of the USA, there are some dangerous snakes as well....), what really scares me are spiders (the BIG ones, the little ones I can escort out the window, etc)

Angel - love the picture of FB of the photoshoot!

MMR - we found a bit of fever about 7-10 days after and some grumpiness and a rash about 2-3 weeks after (he'd never had any sort of nappy rash before and he had some, along with some bumps on his legs), so just keep an eye on LOs. It also doesn't help that the MMR is usually at the same time as most babies are teething, so who knows if it's a reaction to MMR or teething?

hugs! bye!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Storm1jet2]

Oh Borboleta I'm glad we don't have wild snakes over here.... Eugh!


Quick one from me tonight, its been an odd day. We too had 3am.partying so I got no sleep after 3am! Man I'm tired.. stupid baby teeth... But she was in cracking good form in nursery and only slept 35 mins all day! How does she do that! She also has a boyfriend in nursery, she grabs him for dancing and they blow each other kisses, so cute! My fb buddies will have seen I had to make buns for charity morning in work and L turned the oven up behind my back! Monkey...

In other news my friend with the cancer got a decision today, they cant operate apparently its not possible after all. Angel he does have a wife and twins. The twins are 6 soon, but they have decided to have their party tomorrow before he starts chemo, so my brother and his wife are sorting the party as he's my brother's best friend and my nephew is the twins friend. So sad...

Also sad dh granda had a heart attack tonight and is in hospital, he's so old and just wants to die since his wife died last year I'm not sure how he will cope.

The good news today is that dh aunt who has lung cancer, her tumour has shrunk! So here's hoping. That and my best friend from uni has just publically announced she's pregnant and due in September!

Better grab some sleep, I'm wrecked! X

 

[SabrinaKat]

It's Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nothing much here, but I prefer boredom to excitement as our 'excitement' seems to be teething or being ill, etc! Finn seems in good spirits as well -- it's the weekend and um...that's it!

Hope all are well....bye!!!!!!!!!!

 

[kosh]

angel, claire - what exactly is 'whispy baby hair around the hairline'? I have the feeling I have that!

borboleta - the snake story was scary! but I need to check - did your DH actually get to it??

storm - so sorry about your friend

hi to all

 

[clio]

Yaaaayyy! Yesterday, I discovered that a molar finally broke through! Good ol' number ONE!!! What's good about this slow tooth "arrival" is that we have no real teething problems. What's bad is that at the rate he's going, he'll start pre-school with only three molars. Four, tops.

Hi everyone--I haven't read anything yet, but I will. I just thought I'd finally write something that gets posted because I finished it!

Let's see. One of the major reasons we bought this house was because of what was in the back yard, left by the previous owners:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7317/8804146874_d01b921667_m.jpg

(This is just a pic of it from the internet--so, sadly, that is not our backyard. Ours is much, much smaller.) Underneath the "fort" section of it is a sandbox, too. And this apparatus is one of the best things that could have happened to J and us. He LOVES it: the slide is awesome (and fast), he loves climbing up the ladder, and who doesn't love a sand box? He would stay out there all day if he could, which he does when he isn't out with us somewhere. Also, because he can do it on his own, my hip (bad, bad, bad flare up) gets a rest as I watch him. And because he is outside all day, exerting all of this energy, he's also sleeping like crazy. He STTN, then woke up at 7:30 am this morning! Yesterday, he woke at 8 am! It's like a dream... He's also "helping" with the yard work; when Daddy has his metal rake out to de-thatch the lawn, J works beside him, using the regular, plastic rake. He's crap at it, but I blame his size and inexperience. Next year, he'll be doing it all on his own, if I have my way.

Okay, posting this. And now I'll go read the posts I've missed.

 

[AngelUK]

Good morning ladies, very quiet in here? I hope all are well?

Sabrina I hope you got some more sleep last night. Those middle of the night parties sound like hell!
Thank you for the comment about the pic on FB
As for the biting, Dominic isn't doing this now and I wonder if perhaps it had something to do with teething, although no new tooth is through yet. But I think they are too young for time outs as I doubt they'd understand what it was for. But what we do do is when the boys are on the sofa and they touch the painting above it, which they are not allowed to do, we say No! And when they continue they go straight back down to the floor. Not much help as they both can climb back up easily but still, I am hoping it will get through to them. lol

Storm I hope last night was better for you too and no more horrible middle of the night parties for you either
I am so sorry for your friend. How terrible. I remember now that you mentioned that he had twins, sorry I had forgotten. It must be so hard to explain to them that daddy isn't well. And no op now... I hope the party will be good though and that it will give him a boost of strength to fight off that horrible cancer
I am also so sorry for your granddad in law. How terrible to be so lonely and missing your wife so that you don't want to continue How old is he?
But yay for the tumor shrinking for your aunt in law! That is great
Sending you cause you really are surrounded by illness and have been for such a long time But yay for the pregnancy of your friend

Kosh did you lose a lot of hair after G was born? I did after the twins. It fell out in spades! But that has stopped and now my hair is growing back. And of course it is quite short as yet. I guess I have lost hair all over my head but the short regrowth is most obvious around the hairline, around my face. I call that baby hair, as it seems finer. Since it is so short it tends to not lie flat with the rest of my hair but to stick out and fly all over when there is a bit of wind. And since I have a natural wave to my hair, the shorter ones like to curl up a bit when it is damp out, making me look like a poodle Do you have that too? If so you have my sympathy lol

Clio Yay for the molar and wow for the treehouse, even if yours is a smaller one! I love it! No wonder J is so absorbed with it, I would be too! And yay for sttn Sadly our garden or back yard is far too small to house something like that. J and that rake sounds so cute and your plan rather cunning
I am hoping your hip will soon feel better. Are you done with your treatments btw? And if so, is there any marked improvement?

As for us: nothing much new here. Dominic has taken to frowning and glowering and making a lip thing when he gets frustrated, it looks like a little funnel and just about slays me. So cute lol I will have to try and take a pic.
Both boys are champion climbers now, sigh and as mentioned above, they like nothing better than test our resolve by trying to play with the painting above the sofa.
OH bought them a miniature inflatable pool to put a ton of small balls in and Dominic found out that he likes to lift the pool above his head and let the balls rain over his head. Very cute but since Sebastian likes to throw himself into the pool and make swimming movements with his arms among the balls, he now hardly gets the chance of course.
They also like to fiddle with the tv and turn it on and off and change the channel too by pressing the little buttons on the tv itself. I have been looking for some sort of tv guard but there doesn't seem to be any that shields buttons from little fingers.
They like to climb up on to the trunk under the window too and the glass of the window is completely smeared with streaks from their hands lol.
And yay they slept till 7:20 this morning which felt great as OH and I stayed up till 11:45 to watch a third episode of The Killing. So gripping but so grim!
Ok I have to go and be with the boys. Hope all are well. Sending

 

[SabrinaKat]

'baby hair' - the hair around my face is about 1 to 2 inches long and I must blow it dry so the 'bob' looks normal-ish. My overall style is about chin length, parted on one side and long-ish all around (no layers, no fringe). If I don't blow it dry, the thickish new growth looks like I have a short, layered hair and/or in a scrunchie (before getting to take a shower/bath) -- grumble!

'saying NO': we are trying to control temper tantrums and bitings - fortunately, it seems to be working, but it also depends on his mood and whether part of it is crankiness due to sleepiness and/or teething, so if he stops crying mid-tear if presented with an alternative to what he is upset about, we know it's a temper tantrum (example - I had a plastic bag in which I was putting his old socks, and he put his hand out and I gave it to him -- he took the socks out and threw them around, no problem, but when he tried to eat the plastic bag, I took the plastic bag and cue - tears, tears, tears, but when distracted with a cloth bag, he immediately started laughing and smiling!). Both my OH and I are determined that there will be NO corporal punishment ever!

storm - hugs! I am so sorry about your GFIL and friend....

hugs to all!
bye!!!!!!

ps. we had a lovely lie-in this am (LO in bed with me from around 2 or 3am, but no party!) until 7.15am -- before having LO, I would have said too early for a Saturday am, but now, it's fantastic!

 

[Claireyb1]

Oh lord, we are in teething hell right now!! Waking and screaming every hour or so throughout the night! (( her temperature has gone back to normal now but nigh times are just a nightmare. I just hope something breaks soon as this is tough, though , tough!!
Storm- really sorry for all the bad and sad news you see to have had of late. Sending big hugs. Great news about your friends pregnancy though!
Kosh- just as angel described the baby hair- that is what I have.
Lucy has a new word! Tickle,tickle- it's so cute when she says it.
Right, must dash as off to have lucys feet measured.
Catch up soon.
Xx

 

[Borboleta]

Good afternoon ladies,

Clio: so good to see you back here. We miss you. I am so envious of J's playground!!! Looks so cool!!! We couldn't have something like that in the backyard. It wouldn't fit! We have a little koi pond in the middle of the already small backyard. I will take a picture of it soon. And yeah for J getting a molar!!!

Angel: do you have a flat screen tv? Could you mount it on the wall? That is how we have it and thiago cannot get to it. And I read how make kids have ended up at ER's or died because the tv fall on top of them. Maybe something to think about it. Thiago loves our entertainment center. We leave the DVD drawer open so he cannot open slide the door to touch the DVD or sound system bottoms. But if he notices that we forgot to open the DVD drawer he runs to the sound system or the switcher and change everything we are watching. He loves it when that happens !

Claire: can you tell which teeth is coming in? I hope is more than one so you can too be done with teething sooner than later .

Storm: so sorry about your bad news. Sometimes it rains doesn't it. I really hope chemo will help your friend. And how exciting that your friend is pregnant!!! We just found out someone we know just lost her baby. And she was over 3 months poor thing. But she is very young and I think both her and her boyfriend are a little immature to start a family yet. Just feel sad when someone has a miscarriage.

We are doing well here. It has been sooooo hot and humid lately!!! We went out with the family to the lake today and thiago had a blast!!! And his canines have broke thru the gum . I imagine it will still hurt him a little but the worst have past. Now we just need to wait for the last set of molars but I hear that he should be getting those when he is close to two or over. Hopefully we will have a brake from teething for a while although I have noticed him putting stuff in the back of his mouth which made me wonder if he is getting his molars earlier !!! Please don't!!! I think an almost 15 months old with 16 teeth is enough .

Okay, have to wake up the little man to go partay with my OH's family

 

[clio]

***Guys--still really behind and keep starting posts and not finishing them. This one is from this morning, and no where near complete. Or even up to date... ***

Yay! A second molar! I didn't even know this one was on its way in! It's so cute; since it's the same one on the other side, it looks like he has mini-fangs.

Angel--because of the extreme handiness of the previous owners, our play apparatus is actually the same size as the one in the picture, minus one swing. These incredibly handy previous owners managed to fiddle with it to make it fit compactly in our also quite small yard. Though I should feel lucky; when we had Eric's relations over from Holland, they were so impressed by the size of our yard that I actually felt like I was in the twilight zone (I grew up on an acre lot, as did everyone else in my home town). I guess space is at a premium everywhere these days. My sister also says that she sits out in her tiny backyard in Toronto, which has been completely covered in bricks and concrete and dreams of grass as well, no matter how small the yard.

My SI joint is a pain in the ass. Literally. Pain meds aren't working, and the prolotherapy didn't work either, so I'm going to get either steroid injections, which do wear off, or nerve ablation, where they cut the nerves in the area so I don't feel pain. The nerves grow back after a while, but then I'll just get them cut again. Sadly, I have to wait until August to do this, as the doctor's booked up until then, but then it will be done and I can have at least a few months' respite. Sometimes one treatment can last up to 2 years! We'll see how my joint takes it.

Kitty Love--I am so far behind on the thread that I just caught your poo story. Winner, hands down. I have one, too, but no where near as...well, I don't even know how to describe yours. At four months, we had taken J to the ER (it was just me over-reacting--he was fine), and while waiting in an exam room for the doc, we realized we had to change J's diaper. OH started to clean him off, but when he got to the sphincter, he triggered the poo response again, and J SHOT poo out so hard that it hit the wall! I freaked out and started to look for things that would clean the wall, while OH is yelling at me to forget about the frickin' wall and help him!!! Turns out, he had been in the line of fire as well and his sweatshirt was covered. In the meantime, we're in fits of laughter. A few minutes later, OH went to the nurses' station to get more paper towels. He explained who we were and about the problem, and all of the nurses started laughing and said that they knew exactly who we were, as they had watched the whole thing from their station.

Storm--J went through the whole hair pulling thing as well, but it was just a phase. I think they get bored when nothing much happens after a while. I always had my hair up in a ponytail, too, because of it, but in our case, that did seem to deter him. But OWWWW! I wish I had advice, but my only advice (ponytail) is obviously moot! I have an appointment this month to get two teeth filed down, a reminder of J's kicking while getting his diaper changed phase. I know you wrote your post about this a few days ago--is it any better now?

As for L's bedroom, it sounds gorgeous! We get pics, right? I'm personally waiting until J can climb out of the crib, and then really baby proof the room, and make it look nicer. Oh dear, writing this out, I see many potential dangers in my plan. I think I might need a better one. Like baby proofing the room before he can get out on is own...

Oh wow! J is currently trying to learn the phrase "clean up" while carrying a broom around. I am so grateful for this complete reversal of my messy gene. He dropped a whole (though small) bag of crushed walnuts on the floor, and I found that he had moved the chair, OH's and my (heavy) work bags, and the garbage can out of the way so he could sweep them up. Of course, this is where his skills fell short, so I had to do the rest, but I think this is an excellent beginning. First yard work, now this. Ahhhh lawn mower, here we come...

 

[clio]

Turns out, THREE molars (one on bottom)!!! There might be a fourth, but I've still got the bite marks on my finger from checking and discovering number 3, and didn't want to risk any more. Wow, baby teeth are sharp! He's taking it really well, though, as they only seem to be partially in so far. As long as he has his two best friends, Tylenol and Advil by his side, it seems, he's juuuuust fiiiiiine.

Charlie--thank you again for your kind words regarding the bi-polar. I was thinking about what you had said about stigma, and I think this is very, very true, but I also realized that this is not why I get embarrassed. I become embarrassed because my behaviour inevitably becomes embarrassing. It's one thing to meet a manic depressive when they're healthy, but when they're not... I moved to this city six years ago, and beyond my husband's wonderful family, I made only one friend, which was when I was teaching high school. I then lost her at the end of the school year because I couldn't handle the stress of the job, started cycling between highs and lows, and she had no idea how to deal with me. Even though she knew of the illness, she didn't understand it, and to her, I was being unreasonable and a wimp. And acting bizarre. That's why I get embarrassed. It's hard to have people watch you when you're sick. Especially when you don't know that you're sick, which is often the case with me. (Though I don't mourn the loss of this friend. It was a very "situational" relationship: it wouldn't have fared well beyond school walls for too long anyway.)

Storm--The emotional toll of this past year and a half seems never ending for you and those around you, you poor thing! And your poor, poor friend and his family. I'm really sorry!

Claire--yay for "tickle"! Does L like to be tickled? I remember reading somewhere that we should be very careful when we tickle children because it may seem like they're enjoying it, but really, it's a form of torture. And so I carried this solemn thought around with me, determined never to tickle J, until his cousin L begged me to tickle him. And then L cried: "more! more!" So, that piece of sage parenting is now in the garbage. Does she say it so you will tickle her?

Oh, and I hear you on the teeth thing. Hence all my dancing smilies. The rest of these LOs are producing teeth like they're going out of style, leaving our two in the dust. I bet Sophia gets all of hers before L and J do, too. In fact, I bet BLAKE will get them all before ours.

Borboleta--A koi pond sounds lovely! Are koi the fish that will grow as big as their environment will let them? What happens to the koi in winter? Right. Texas. Never mind... I would love to see a pic of it. Though how do you keep T out of it? J would be running for the pond the second he saw it. Though he'd have to beat Tata there. She has a thing for fish. Though I'd put my money on the fish.

Re: baby hair--are you guys still getting that in? Mine came in ages ago; in fact, right when we "re"-started this thread last July or August. Remember my multicolour hair? The stupid baby hair that came in grey? I'm fishing around the edges of my scalp right now and can't find any short ones, so I think it all grew back back then. Though, I STILL have that discoloured pregnancy mask on my forehead. It was supposed to go away three months after birth!

Kitty Love--I didn't know you were TTC too! Is your cycle regular? I wonder if yours and Storm's will sync up. I appear to be the only one on this thread who has categorically decided not to have another baby (either naturally or through adoption), but I was watching the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills today (reality tv--I love it), and one of the women was holding onto her gorgeous three year old and talking about how quickly they grow and the girl was so cute and cuddly and...and...and...I actually thought about having another one.

Regarding books, since you are in the States (are you American?), I'd suggest getting the Raffi children's books that go with his songs. "The Wheels on the Bus," "Down by the Bay" and "Baby Beluga" are the ones we have and I downloaded the songs from iTunes. Sandra Boynton has a really great sing-a-long book, too, called "Fifteen Animals" (all called "Bob") and I think you get to download the song for free if you buy the book. She has some others which come with a song as well, but J likes "Bob" the best.

Angel--I love your descriptions of the boys. They sound so wonderful and fun. I think I would just sit there swooning over them all day long and do nothing else. About the sofa, J eventually stopped using it to reach for things. I think he just grew tired of it; the thrill was gone. He still hangs out on the sofas, but he doesn't try anything.

I think it was you who asked if the cat's name is now permanently "Tata." Well, no, it's just been added to the many names that Eric had already devised for her: Morganio, the Italian Playwright; Morgan Borgan, 11 of 10 (you're a sci fi junkie, aren't you? Can you figure out that ridiculous reference?); Kitten; The Cat; Morgan the Time Traveler (we never know who we're talking to: Future Morgan? Past Morgan? Or, as I strongly suspect, Firmly Planted in The Present Morgan?), and Morgan the Physicist who is challenging String Theory with a theory of her own: "String Bean Theory." So, because of this excess of kitty nomenclature, Tata is a pretty easy shift for us when J is around. But when he isn't, she goes back to being "the cat," or Morgan.

So, I have these two videos that I wanted to post (I never put anything on FB because it's too public for me). I wanted to show you all the evolution of J's "dancing." Here is J at around 8 months:

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/ekater/th_IMG_1395_zps11d92408.jpg

And here he is just the other day. He's since added stomping his foot and clapping to the routine.
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/ekater/th_IMG_0173_zpsc564a24b.jpg
Sadly, he seems to have inherited both of our very sad dance moves. No Zumba instructor here!

Okay, I'm going to try and sleep now. I'm sure I've missed people, and if I did, I'm sorry!

 

[SabrinaKat]

nice, warm sunny days at the moment (16-18 c, but for Ireland, it's fantastic!). Except my hayfever has gone mental, but LO laughs at my sneezes!

clio - I completely understand. To me, manic depression is like being drunk, except you have control over how much you drink and when whereas the manic moments come on without warning. I have also learned techniques and tricks to 'curb' my manic moments, but without proper sleep, I get worse (anxious, worried, etc) but my OH isn't as sympathetic as your OH seems to be (I can be absolutely fine, but if I start complaining about his lack of housework, he asks me if I am having a breakdown, which I think is a bit unfair)....

LO is having loads of temper tantrums today, but am not sure whether it's teeth or just general fussiness - oh, well!

hugs to all.....bye!

 

[Storm1jet2]

Hi everyone! Yesterday was a lovely day here, I had my 2 nephews so L and I came to my dads, dh was at work. We played in the garden, went to subways, put up a tent, weeded the garden etc and I swear L didn't stop. Then I my sil dropped my niece off as her mum had just had back surgery, so we played and played and played. Then when I was heading home (my dad had gone gone to my brothers to watch the rugby and my other brother had collected all his kids) I stopped to say hello to my friend who is ill as he was at my brother's for the rugby too. Typically our 5 minute visit lasted all evening. We had another cake for the twins, they aren't 6 til July but their dad starts chemo next week, so celebrations were brought forward. I didn't get home til late and didn't get L Into bed until 10... Did she sleep in? Heck no! How does the kid dont it? Anyway she had a ball!

Anyway a few of you have mentioned about the illness and death etc surrounding my family, you know I honestly don't feel like that.Its just the way things goes and you deal with it as you can without letting it takeover. I hope I haven't made anyone else feel down!

Oh baby's awake

 

[AngelUK]

Good morning ladies

Sabrina I am in complete agreement about corporal punishment. I would never hit my children and find the idea barbaric, considering that it is illegal to hit a prisoner who might be a child molester and murderer.
And I so know what you mean about 7:15 being a lovely lie in. (Got that again today ) Nowadays I pray that my boys will sleep till 7 and before I would have said that that was the crack of dawn! lol

Claire you poor thing and poor L too! What do you give as a painkiller? Does it not work the whole night? I think Calprufen is meant to be stronger and to last longer than Calpol, maybe try that? Unless you have already of course.
Loving L's new word. Does she want to be tickled or is she then tickling you?
Did you get L new shoes when you had her feet measured? Hope you had fun

Borboleta we do have a flat screen tv and no we cannot mount it on the wall but it is screwed into the cupboard it sits on and cannot be toppled over. Actually, before OH screwed it down, I was always asking him how we could secure it and to please have a look and do something cause I was worried that Dominic would pull it down. Typically for OH he wasn't too worried until Dominic did pull the tv over and down. He was under it but wasn't hurt and didn't even have a bruise. The tv isn't heavy and not that big (only 23inches) but if the edge had knocked in his head, I swear I would have killed Nick! He then immediately screwed it down and was annoyed with me for listing all the terrible things that could have happened and said I am so negative!
We are having 3 days of sun at the moment and judging by how full the park was yesterday, ppl are lapping it up, knowing that it won't last lol But while I hate how much it rains here, I must say I couldn't deal with the Texan heat either. Heat and humidity is just unberable to me. But I guess you all have A/Cs?
Yay for his canines coming through Hopefully he is now done for a while and the next set of molars won't hurt as much when they come in in a year or so
Hope you had a nice party with your OH's family

Clio J is just SOOO cute! I love the videos! The way he turns around and bops slays me! What a pretty boy he is too, if you don't mind that term for him. Love his eyes
Yay for 3 molars! Btw my boys don't have any either yet and both of them have been working on the 3rd incisors a the top for absolutely weeks with nothing yet breaking through. So they still only have 6 teeth but I am not too worried about that. (My OH suggests I should adopt the same relaxed attitude towards their not walking yet. But that is another matter).
As for the size of your yard, I am sure I would be impressed too. My "garden" is about 24 square metres And if you don't know how big/small that is, think 6 large steps forward and 4 large steps across.
I am sorry your joint is still so painful and that the treatment didn't work Cutting the nerve sounds dreadful but I suppose it might be better than suffering all the time. Is the joint going to get worse and worse though? What is the outlook? You poor thing
Your own poo story also made me grin. I feel so lucky that we had nothing that bad happen to us hehe. But you also mentioned you are going to get your teeth filed down, did J break them when kicking you?? That sounds hellishly painful!
I did laugh at your description of J "cleaning" but I felt sorry for you too as that means more work for you, not to mention more bending down which cannot feel good with your hip.
I am glad you posted this thing about the tickling, I had no idea! We don't precisely tickle the boys but blow raspberries against their bellies and necks and it makes them laugh so. But maybe that too is a kind of tickling and really it is torturing them. They laugh as soon as we just go Ahhh Ahhh and make the face but who knows... Will ease up I guess.
As for baby hair, no I think mine isn't coming in any more now but I am stuck with 2 inch long ones all around my face and since I have wavy and very fine hair, it ALWAYS sticks up and I look idiotic! I usually have my sunglasses on top of my head to mask it but I cannot wear them everywhere. Sigh.
I love all the names you have for your kitty, we were just as mad with the kitty before Alfie. I feel a bit guilty about that. We loved the girl kitty we had before him SOO much that losing her was almost like losing a family member. When we got Alfie, we knew he would never replace her but I assumed that in time I would bond with him and come to love him in his own right. But this has not happened. I am very fond of him but really bonding is hard as he constantly bites and claws us which hurts, albeit he means this in a playful way. He is about 2 years old, so not a kitten. I am not sure he will grow out of it now and suddenly become cuddly? We wanted a cat to cuddle with, not one that bites and wants to wrestle with us. I guess partially it might be our fault also as we don't have that much time to play with him that often. Oh well, poor kitty.

Storm sounds like you and L a had a love day. Sorry she didn't sleep even though by rights she should have been exhausted! Loved the pic on FB Hope the weather is nice there again today too. Is it a bank holiday there too today? Any plans if so?

As for us, all is ok here. Took the boys to the park yesterday and briefly met up with a Twin group who was having picnic there and who I joined ages ago and pretty much ignored till now. But maybe I should come out of my shell more often and make an effort. I seriously miss having friends over here and while I adore my friend Beau who is better than a girl friend in many ways, he is the only one I have and he isn't exactly a fellow mummy. So maybe this might be an opportunity to meet some others. It is difficult though cause I am naturally retiring and shy and have to push myself to be all breezy and fun and open. I am all that I think but it is more natural and easy for me to hide in my little corner and be safe. Hard to explain...

The boys just turned the tv on and to full blast. I pity my neighbours lol. Got to go. Hope you are all well. xxx

 

[Storm1jet2]

Morning everyone – it’s a bank holiday here in NI but as nursery is opened and I’m in the middle of a project in work I’m working.. its ok though cause I get to take the day later in the year and I get paid more for working today L had a busy busy weekend and she really didn’t want to go into nursery today, in fact she screamed the place down – so I felt bad But the weather is terrible, very very very wet so we would have been stuck in the house anyway. I’m going to skip lunch and head to b&q on the way home to get the paint for Ls room at my dads as dulux paint is on 3 for 2 and I think I need 3, I’m going to get 2 pretty pink and 1 jade white. It’s my brothers old room and there is a wall covered in dark brown cork, I’m going to paint that wall the jade white and keep the cork as its fantastic as using as a huge notice board, or in Ls case I’m going to be pining up lots of pretty pink bunting. We also got a huge sticky word thing to go about her cot which says ‘Sweet dreams sleep tight, we love you, goodnight’ its pink and has 3 pink stars round the words. I have all this stuff sorted for her room and I really should be sorting the mortgage. Man that is a nightmare – I thought it would have been easy but no – it sucks and we might need more advice to get it to happen which will cost even more money *sigh*

We had a good night last night, L slept from 8 until 5 and then in with me after a quick strip and nappy change as she was soaking and she dozed off and on until 6.50 Hurrah!

Angel as for Alfie, all cats really are different, my 2 boys aren’t that bothered about being affectionate but my female tortures me, man it can be super irritating at times – she is constantly sitting on me, yapping at me and wanting petted and stroked and I do feel bad but when my backside actually hits the sofa for an hour if I’m lucky before bedtime I just want to be left alone! As for the tv – oh oh I don’t have mine secured in any way and its 40 inches… L likes to spend many happy hours turning it off and on and changing the input method so sky goes off and then going ‘OH!’ she is funny.

Clio I love Js play area. If we ever get the mortgage sorted on the new house I’m going to get L a play house on stilts as there is a corner with lots of plants but a biggish gap in the back so I’m going to attack some of the plants and create a little path into the house, I thought it would be nice all hidden up amongst the rhodendron and forest flames! Did the having a second child possibility fade very quickly, cause your comment kind of took me by surprise? I’d still like a sibling for L but I’m still not dying to be pregnant!

This must be the week for announcing pregnancies (nope not me), a girl I used to work with (she was based in Barcelona, is Finnish but now lives in London) has just announced she is pregnant I only met her for the week I was training in Barcelona but we worked together remotely for a couple of years after that. Thing is that’s 2 people in the last week and both are in their mid to late 30s, both have been married for a long time and both have by choice waited until now. See ladies it’s the done thing to wait til you are over 35

Actually on the TTC I was just thinking yesterday how different it is second time round, first time round I read TTC boards every day, took my BBT every morning (hilarious the thought of having 3 minutes of not moving to record my temp now), wore panty liners just in case I had implantation bleeding I wouldn’t see on my black knickers etc.. (I did btw but seriously only a complete enthusiast would have seen it and I wouldn’t have if I wasn’t obsessed with checking the panty liner every time I went to the loo). Oh and DTD, no chance of that as often as first time and we didn’t even get round to it on my peak day this month – you have to laugh. I think its cause if it never happens I have L and I’m good with that. The 2WW is still irritating but you do actually forget about it at times were before I was like a woman possessed! It only took me 4 cycles first time and we were only actively trying for 2, the first 2 were more NTNPing. I’m also wondering if the big chunks of me that remembers how damn sore it was getting her out isn’t too keen on doing it again lol

Ok this is vastly becoming a bit of an essay and I have work to do – hopefully more of you lovely ladies will update soon so I can read them later

Oh and SK as for the saying NO - its not going well in our house, when we say NO which we do many many times a day L has a complete meltdown, honestly when you say NO to her you would think I had kicked her round the house. Every morning we have a huge fight getting her dressed, it usually results in me holding her down while she SCREAMSSSSS the place down to get her nappy changed and her clothes on. She is simply too busy for this getting dressed nonsense. I actually said to her on Saturday 'Miss L, all this screaming and nonsense - how many times I have not dressed you because you screamed, that would be none - therefore you are getting dressed!' - today I told her mummy was already dressed and she too would be getting dressed. It is so annoying and instead of taking 2 minutes its 10 minutes of fighting - sometimes we have full on temper tantrums lying on the floor, arching her back etc etc... boy she can be hard work. Thing is as soon as its done and I say 'Right off you go' she jumps up and runs off and the tears and screaming stop instantly. I am obviously a bad person interrupting her play/exploring/climbing time by cleaning her bum and putting clothes on her *sigh*