any other over 35 first time mums?

[Leeze]

Clairey - I totally hear you on the feeling exhausted and being.a little crazy re TTC idea. We had a 4am to 6am party and work was so full-on today. I keep trying to remind myself that these crazy early years won't last for too much longer. some days its such hard work. hugs XX

Kosh - re veg in sauce... the creamy garlic one has blended chicken, mushroom and onion with the sauce then I add chopped cooked chicken and animal pasta shapes. the bolognese one seems to work better with lamb - in this I can get onions, green beans, carrots and red pepper all blended with tomates and garlic. I call this Cockerel pasta with sausage sauce then

 

[Leeze]

Clio - great news that J had a little friend to play with today x

 

[AngelUK]

Hello ladies Just quickly, before the young masters wake from their naps!

Claire your poor mum with those horrid staples! Poor thing! I hope she is better? I wouldn't even think about TTC in your situation now. Wait till your mum is better and you are feeling a bit more rested and then think about it again.

Clio I hope your dad's prostate bleeds aren't a sign of something truly awful such as cancer!? Hope the op will sort him out for good!
My boys don't usually stay put in the circle at gymboree either unless it is time for the busy box or we are doing the gymbo dance (Gymbo the clown goes up and down, up and down, ow my back!) or it is bubble time. And I always grin when the teacher explains what LO should be doing next. Yeah, not my boys! They will climb and explore as they wish and not to a programme. And they aren't the only ones like that either. So J running around is perfectly normal, I am sure. Glad he had fun in the end though

Borboleta yay for your dad coming to visit! I hope you will have a great time

Storm hope sleep is better and that Miss L lets you get some rest. But I remember well how difficult it is to get comfy at a certain stage in pregnancy. So to you!

Kosh oh dear but also lol at G lifting your top. I would have died or run off the train with embarrassment lol I think from now I will start wearing a body vest like the boys do in winter so there is nothing to expose should the mood take them to examine my belly button (they love showing me theirs!) lol

Crossing my fingers for you ttc ladies, Leeze, charlie, Kitty and Sabrina. And also for Sabrina for your applications!

Sorry I am so rarely posting these days, it is hard work right now with Sebastian still not letting me leave the room. It is not even enough if he can see me across the baby gate to the kitchen. He wants to have me there in the room. Sigh. And my painting is progressing a snails pace, though I must admit that it doesn't help that I don't really want to do it either lol. Still, it seems all I do these days is sit and read and play with the boys. My kitchen looks like a piggery! lol At least Sebastian's eating has improved a tiny bit. He will now consent to eat buttered toast but only white lighter Danish (basically cardboard!) AND he will eat a bit of carrot and sweetcorn in a veggie mix of carrots peas and sweetcorn. Plus he now allows us to feed him a pouch again, so that is a relief.
Oh they are up from their nap. Got to go! Hope all are as well as can be. Sending tons of

 

[Storm1jet2]

Hello all, so we had an 'incident' last night, dh was running Ls bath and she was up messing around with me, I had her stripped to het nappy (remember the pee on my bed a few nights ago) and dh shouted her bath was ready, so I took off her nappy and told her to.go to daddy. Did she? No! She ran into her room, jumped on her bed, stood up and did a pee! Then stood there going 'oh oh'... Man I was mad. I know she isn't potty trained but I swear she did it on purpose. So I lifted her told her off, she cried and started stripping the bed. Then I said to her 'say sorry to mummy, we don't do pee pee on the bed' and she said 'NO!' So I said at a few more times and she kept saying no. Eventually I said 'if you say sorry we will forget all about it' and she actually stopped crying, said 'soweee' hugged me and ran off! It was really bizarre, I swear that little lady knows more than she let's on! As for the pee pee if she can squeeze one out on demand on the bed should I be toilet training? I don't know...

In other news dh is at work, L is napping in her bed at my dads and I've just relocated a stack of Christmas presents to the spare room, I'm wrecked. L is bound to be up soon and her cousins are coming, I foresee a manic afternoon and its WET outside...

Oh and Iove the new carpet we got on Thursday

 

[SabrinaKat]

I agree -storm -- they know a lot more than we think, e.g. OH was in the kitchen with LO a minute ago, asked if he wanted a biscuit (a tea biscuit so not too cookie-like) and LO went to the cupboard (lower one), took out the packet and handed them to my OH (who gave him one)!

Not a great early evening last night. I got fabric to make his costume (we're going with a devil) and he was in the living room with OH and Mr. Finn was screaming, throwing temper tantrums, etc., for a good half an hour. He was furious at me for leaving him an extra hour or two in the creche (got paid yesterday/went shopping) and we picked him at 4.40 rather than 2.00 and he brushed me aside and was nice to daddy, but ignored me -- my punishment? A good long temper tantrum! GROWL. Then, he fell asleep in OH's arms, slept for an hour, woke up cranky and we had a crazy toddler for another hour. He finally fell asleep around 11-12am, but on the plus side -- he was happy to snooze and relax until almost 9am....

must go as must go to the chemist as my cough will not go!

bye!

ps. clio - I'm applying mainly for history with a touch of Latin jobs as my greek is very bad (did pass my exams in it, but just don't like it!)

 

[Claireyb1]

Just a quickie,
My poor mum has gone back into hospital again today.
She woke at 5am to make another trip to the loo and she felt something trickling down. She looked down and saw a big pool of watery blood!! She cried out and it must have woken my brother who ran to help. They called an ambulance and they weren't too concerned about the blood ( it was coming from the wound) but says she should go and get checked. The hospital were also not too concerned about the blood and said its common to get a but of fluid build up. They were more concerned about the diahrriea she has been suffering with. She has been admitted into Side room on the ward as they think it's an infection that's causing all the loose bowel movements.
Fingers crossed they get her sorted soon as otherwise she is doing pretty well.
I'm shattered!
Hugs to all.
X

 

[charlie15]

Oh Clairey, I am so sorry that your mum has gone back into hospital is she in Hillingdon if she's from Hayes? It's so stressful isn't it? But honestly if you need any clinical advice or anything just FB me. As for TTC, I agree with Angel, just wait until your mum is all better and then see how you feel with Lucy and sleep.

Kosh, they are little monkeys aren't they. Sophia hasn't done that in public yet, only at home, but she has pulled my top to have a look down when we have been with others!

SK, you have to take a photo of Devil Finn!

Storm, I think some children are ready to be potty trained from 18 months, so if you feel up to it them why not? I have heard that girls are a lot easier to potty train than the boys ( sorry mamas of boys!) and it may be worth giving it a go before your bump arrives? I am sure all of your LO's understand a lot more than they let on, Sophia is only 11 months and I have 2 things that I have not baby proofed in the house, that is the cat food and cat litter. Now she totally does not go near either of these when I am there, but as soon as she thinks I am not around or nearby she edges closer and tries to have a feel or peek! Then as soon as she sees that I have reappeared, she pulls away and looks at me as if to say, it wasn't me! so yes I reckon Lydia totally understands and is probably trying to get a reaction from you!

Angel, yey for Sebastian eating a bit more sorry the paintings are coming along slowly, it must be hard to find the time let alone the motivation if you don't want to do it anyway. Thanks for TTC wishes, one more week before testing commences but I may try and just wait and see if AF doesn't appear, not sure I have that much will power though!

Clio, glad things are all going great with J at this ladies, it sounds lovely. He is so not unusual with his running all over the place. Your story about the rhyme and bounce session made me laugh, I took Sophia last week. Well I was pretty much left singing nursery rhymes to myself or to any other LO who came my way she was off with this little boy, playing with balls, her third favourite thing after dogs and cats! Most of the other babies weren't quite as eager to roam as Sophia and her new friend, but I was like, so what she's happy and the lady running it wasn't in the slightest bit bothered

Borbotela, hope you have a wonderful time with your father. How long is it since you last saw him?

Kitty love, how is Blakes eating going? Where are you with TTC at the moment, are you also in the 2WW?

Things here are same the as have they been for a while, naps still all over the place which often results in one very over tired baby. I am finding it hard to keep Sophia busy and happy, she seems way too old for baby things and still not walking, so a lot of toddler things are too advanced for her she gets bored very quickly and is one pretty strong willed, albeit, lovely little girl, so I am pooped at the end of every day now! On chatting to a friend, whose son was the same, he became a happy boy again once he was walking, so I am hoping once Sophia is walking she 'll be back to her old happier self, I just think that this is a very frustrating age however we have some progress with books now, she is loving the that's not my books, and goes to get them to read with me now, I am still not allowed to hold the book or turn the pages, but we sit together and read whatever page Sophia turns to, somewhat repetitive story but hey! Her favourites are puppy and kitten, but I call then doggie and cat, to keep the connection going! All her other books don't captivate her as much as these. I guess she's made that connection now which she finds so exciting each time

Anyway, need to prepare veggies for tomorrows roast with Mum.

Don't forget UK ladies, clocks go back tonight, I hope you don't get woken up at the crack of dawn tomorrow!

 

[Indigo77]

I hope your mother is ok, Claire & I hope you get some rest.

I don't even know where to begin...

AF is here & I'm relieved, but I'm still quite torn about it still.

Kosh....N doesn't watch TV & he eats everything except meat & milk, so sorry...no help here.... I remember your BFP well because I made you do a happydance.... I think you & Claire were among the first to get knocked up on our thread...

Angel...the separation anxiety w Sebastian must be exhausting. Lately, I think N would crawl back inside me if he could... I can't use the loo or be out of his sight for an instant.
He won't go to my DH & it's actually hurting my DH's feelings because he swats him away when he reaches for him. Borboleta...I finally know what you mean by 'Velcro baby' & OMG it's amazing how well you deal w it. I'm finding it quite suffocating! He was teething last week & now I'm wondering if he's teething again & I just can't see it, or is he going through the separation anxiety phase...

Have any of you been away from your LO's for an extended period of time? My sister & I want to be there with my other sister when the surrogate gives birth, but she'll be giving birth on the West Coast & I'm in the East Coast....so it will be a 5 day trip (losing 2 days in travel). I so want to be there, but I can't quite wrap my mind around being away from him that long & I'm not sure my DH can handle him that long on his own. My ILs would help, of course, but I'm not sure it's fair to N, either. I'm toying around w the idea of bringing DH & N along, but I don't want to disrupt my sister's & BIL's experience in any way. My sister keeps saying....' The more, the merrier...', but I'm still not sure... What would you do?

 

[Storm1jet2]

Oh Clairey your poor mum! I hope they sort out the diarrhoea and the leaking blood fluid issues, your poor mum has had such a tough time as have you! I hope things improve and that little lady of yours let's you have some sleep!

Charlie S is probably incredibly frustrated at the in between stage, hopefully once she gains a little mote independence with the walking she will settle a little. Dont get me wrong I love L to bits but wow do we fight sometimes! Honestly its a real battle of wills sometimes and I refuse to be beaten by a not even 2 year old over most issues! Man is she hard work, although I have to say I'm finding the better her speech gets the easier it is, communication really is helpful as opposed to power screaming! I still reckon shes the worst behaved child in our family, or as I like to say most highly spirited!

Angel I don't know how you deal with 2! Sometimes L is like a limpet and I find it very tiring, especially the days I can't even go to the loo on my own...

Indigo I think its lovely you want to be there for the birth and if you feel you can cope without N then by all means go, I'm not sure I could though, I lasted 22 hours away from L the night of my work ball and I'm terrified of having to stay in hospital after the New baby!

In other news my heating isn't working... I could scream, I've checked and it looks like there is oil but I don't know why its not coming on! In NI in October no oil is not good! Arggghhhhhh and we are moving in a week and a half so it needs fixed for my dad! Stupid heating... Oh and dh is working tomorrow night (at work now) so guess who will be trying to sort it on monday... Arghhh

 

[Leeze]

Clairey - big hugs - hope your mum is ok. XX

Indigo - the longest I've been away from Kia is about 10 hours. I don't think I could do 5 days. Tough dilemma for you x

 

[Claireyb1]

Just a quick update. Mum had a really good night she last went to the loo at midnight and not again until 7am! No pain either. A small leak from her wound but they are not concerned and will do a CT scan just as a precaution.
She sounds do much brighter and I'm going to give her a pedicure when u visit her later
Hugs to all.

 

[Borboleta]

Hi ladies,

Claire: you sound like a lovely daughter. Your mom is so blessed to have you. Hope L will be sweet to you too. And so glad to hear your mom is doing better.

Indigo: I guess it all depends in what kind of personality you have. I have a friend that she left her son for 1 week and went with her husband to Hawaii. When they came back they said it was so nice to have time for themselves. They missed their son a lot but they enjoyed the trip too. Maybe it would be good for your OH to bound with N and give sometime for your in laws to connect with him too. But if you think all you will be doing is thinking of N all day long and not enjoy the birth of your nephew than bring OH and N along . Honestly I don't know what I would do in your shoes !!
And yes, the lovely Velcro babies !!!! When I am getting fed up of not being able to walk because my child is glue to my leg all I think is all the moms that tell me to enjoy this age because soon enough they will not want anything to do with you . So I just breath and look at those cute little eyes and pic him up and give him as many hugs and kisses as I can. But mind you, I have days ( PMS) that I could just run out of the house !!! Oh, and I read that the separation anxiety can less till 3 years old !!!

Storm: hope you get you heater going. It doesn't sound good having no warmth in the house when the weather is cold outside.

Charlie: S sound like she is a bit frustrated with all the changes that are happening to her. I am for sure if you ladies are like that too, but since thiago was very little I could see his little personality blooming. He has always been a easy going baby ( of course he has his moments of bad behaviour), but I think that is his little personality: thinker and chilled out. Could you tell S ' s personality changing since young age or still kind of the same?
And thank you, my dad will be here next weekend and it has been one year sine we last seen each other.

Sabrina: so cute the story about Finn and going to the kitchen to get the cookie. And I would love to see him in his Halloween costume too.

I have to go get little t from his nap. We are finally going to the birthday party today that on my crazy mind was suppose to happen yesterday !! I will tell you more later !! Write more later

 

[kosh]

Charlie - thanks for reminding me about the clocks going back! if it wasn't for you I would have forgotten!!

Indigo - N doesn't watch telly because he is not interested in it, or because you prefer he doesn't?

re. being away - I'm sure you can guess what I'll say I think the longest I've been away from Gael is 8-9 hours and I know I couldn't do 5 days. But I guess it depends so much on baby and parents. Where will you be staying when you travel? I think if I were in your situation I will take DH and LO and book them into a hotel, so they are not there all the time, but I could still see them in the evenings?

Leeze - thanks for the sauce receipes, I need to work on that a bit harder as lastnight's dinner was a completely failure!
also - are you still wearing Kia? if so, I have a question for you

claire - hope your mum keeps getting better

kitty - are you ok?

sabrina, borboleta, clio, angel, storm -

 

[AngelUK]

Just quickly: I got our Manduca today and put Sebastian in it while OH cooked their lunch. Dream come true for my velcro boy! And it is super comfy for me too! I haven't worn him out and about yet so no idea how my back will feel if I went to the shop and back but so far so good! Seems better than our Ergo anyway. So so pleased and Sebastian LOVED it! So that when I took him out to give my heavier Dominic a go, he cried buckets! With Dominic I need to adjust the buckles a bit more I think but am hoping it will prove doable with him too! Soooo pleased!

 

[charlie15]

Glad I helped to remind someone Kosh! All I can say is I am glad that I am not back at work. I ALWAYS ALWAYS get that night shift with an extra hour, so rather than a 12 and a half hour Saturday night shift....I.e full of drunks and savoury London at night types! It's a whopping 13 and a half hours! Last year I got off too as was 39 weeks preggers and on annual leave! So for about 10 years i I have missed the worst night shift twice, yey!

Angel, that's great that Sebastian loves your new carrier and that it is comfy! It looks lovely, is that the exact one that you have? They are wonderful when they work. For Sophia I had a sling for the first few months which she loved, but from 4 months old, and still now she hates been worn! I have a lovely rose and rebellion one with a lovely pattern on it that never gets used as Sophia is too much of a wriggle bum and loves to look around. I think she would prefer it on my back, but I can't figure out how to do that alone! Did you put Sebastian on your front or back?

Indigo, I would probably do the same as Kosh suggested, have OH and N come along, but they can maybe do their own thing while you spend time with your sister and the new baby.

Borboleta, about Sophia's personality, well she has always been a happy baby, until the recent frustration. But over the last few months other elements of her character are more obvious now, such as her pretty strong independent nature. She really loves to play with you, but on her terms, like reading a book, she has to turn the pages, not you or she starts to get annoyed! With this goes hand in hand her more feisty nature, that gets more obvious the older she gets! But the best thing that is really coming into it's own is her sense of humour! This morning she thought is would be really funny to wear my knickers (clean!) on her head! She finds farts funny and we had lots of laughs at my friends puppy playing with a cuddly bear 20 times it's size. She is very cute, really wonderful company and a little character

How was the party that you went to? That's so funny that you all got ready to go an it was the wrong day

Storm, is your heating fixed yet? It has been pretty chilly in London with the storm last night. How was NI? How are you feeling about moving? Have you sorted removal peeps to do the heavy stuff?

Clairey, how is your Mum doing? Hope she is still on the mend and is been well cared for.

I had Sophia's 1 year check last week, all good, she's a tall bubs st just under the 91st. Which confirms the massive growth spurt that I though she had since we have been back home as 3 months ago she was in the 75th for height and 50th for weight. However I feel slightly guilty about not getting Sophia interacting with more children her own age! We were told that we should be doing that at least weekly, but I am not I was pretty put off by that play group, which was really geared for toddlers older then her. I just need to start to make more of an effort to go to other groups until I find the right one! Tbh, I find the whole mummy thing really off putting! I don't know what it is, but I really hate the whole comparative and competitive parent syndrome which seems to be rife around where I live. It also seems so cliquey where i am, and i am just not a cliquey kind of person, i never have been! So it kind of puts me off going anywhere!

Anyway need to make lunch now, but oh about veggies, we are not at the age of fussiness yet, but I am bracing myself for it...a lot more food is getting deliberately thrown on the floor now, so probably not far off now so I am taking in all of your tips x

 

[clio]

Hi guys--quick question for all:

We've just cleared out the basement (or as much as is possible right now) and J's room has always been relatively tidy, mainly because there are no toys in there. So, I was thinking last night: we should bring toys to both rooms, and he can give us some space back in the living room.

EXCEPT: this morning OH and I went to carry out the plan, and we realized that J had been outside all summer long, and all of his age-appropriate toys were outside toys. As for his chosen indoor toys at the time, they were just books. So, for those of you with LO's close to J's age (which is basically everyone), what are their favourite toys? Also, do you have any toy they like, which teaches LOs things? His shapes are fine and his colours, too, but he's lazy on all numbers except for 1, 2, 3, 9, and 10. And the Alphabet? Nope! Though Borbolea, I ordered those leap frog DVDs--numbers and letters. They seems to have worked so very well with little T!) I did order him this:

https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/fun-an...bar/10180799?gclid=CK6VpLLTuboCFaFDMgoddy4A5A

But we need more! I am open to any and all suggestions! Every book and toy suggested here, I've gotten, and they were all winners. So, help, please!

 

[SabrinaKat]

clio - Finn has loads of wooden toys,e.g. puzzles with numbers (and he can do 1, 2, 3 (gets confused around 4 and 5); blocks (that I played with), plastic cups, an abacus (from IKEA - might be for 3+, but LO loves it!), plus we have plastic zoo animals and loads of finger puppets...Finn also likes anything mechanical, e.g. plastic pretend remote, plastic pretend mobile, etc.)

OH is getting on my nerves. He seems to be going stir crazy and at every opportunity suggests HE goes somewhere (to get cat food, to empty bottles...etc) and it is really annoying....and I keep telling OH to 'calm down' - GROWL.

bye!

 

[clio]

Claire--I'm sorry about your mum, Claire! It must have been so scary for her! Is the infection improving? to you and her!

SK--thanks! It sounds like you and I have similar taste in toys! But most of those I'm ready to give away; he just shows no interest in them anymore, including our IKEA abacus. (Ah, Ikea...). He's started to play pretend: he's been feeding his stuffed animals; strapping them in places like his stroller; making them beds; putting them down for the night; reading them books, etc. This morning was the funniest, though; He has these annoying plastic eggs (Angel--I think you have these!), and he set the table for one, put an egg between a fork and spoon, sat down, and pretended to eat it! But these games are not enough to entertain him all day long. OH is taking him to a second hand shop where there are tons of toys, so he'll see what J is attracted to. I think we may have to bring the springy horsey in from outside, too. But if anything else comes to you...

Does anyone have one of those V-tech laptop computer toys? Any success? I remember Martha loving hers, but that was... a year ago!

Okay, enough of my self-centred ramblings. Time for personals!

Charlie--thanks for your reassurance re: J and moving about instead of listening. And you are in the same spot I am! And I remember your situation, too; once J became more mobile, the toys had to change. Both Borboleta and I got music tables for our LOs and it worked so well for J. He loved the music, and the table helped him stand, it helped him move to the music, and it became something he would try to reach. For example, if he was standing by the picture window, he would see the music table just out of reach, and he would slowly figure out how to bridge the gap between window sill and table. I have some videos of him doing that, and marvel all the time at 1) how helpful the music table was, and 2) how much he has changed!

This is the one I got; it's from Leap Frog:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3697/10198003643_89e2da14bf.jpg

The second thing I got him which actually started him walking was this Thomas toy:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7360/10541534604_0fecc2d826.jpg

He would hold onto the rail on the back and push it. It works best on carpet in the beginning, but he moved to the lino pretty quick. Not long after using it, he took his first steps.

Oh, and something else that happened rather accidentally: he started to play with the bottom shelf of our pantry, which was around chest level in the beginning, and he could pull himself up and lean against it. We left safe foodstuff down there, like Ramen noodle packets or closed boxes of couscous (those are great to shake). He would spend forever there, working on his "projects," as OH likes to call them. What was interesting was that he never put any of his toys in there, only food related things, like a spoon.

Storm--If little L can choose to pee when she wants, she might be ready for potty training. I don't really know much about it, but it has something to do with muscle control and understanding what the sensation of having to go pee feels like. I think you could put it off, though, if you want to. It seems to me that the second half of your pregnancy would be a tough time to try and potty train a toddler! And poor you! I think I truly would have screamed in exasperation if J did that to me!

*****fifty million hours later...

Oh dear, I just found this post from this morning. Time got away from me! But I'll post it anyway and continue tomorrow.

 

[Indigo77]

Kosh
N doesn't watch television because I prefer that he doesn't. There is an association between infant television exposure and delayed language development & attention issues. The actually AAP discourages television viewing for children under 2. I'm one of those parents...:

Clio
Most of N's toys are wooden Haba or Plan toys & he's a bit younger, so I doubt I can be much help, sorry... His aunt bought him a trampoline for his birthday & he was into it for a few weeks, & until I created a Montessori-esque environment at home, he liked to sit on it & look at his books or use it as a table for his water or snacks. He has musical instruments that he plays with daily & he's very into role play now, too. He likes to rake & vacuum & sweep & cook, etc, but I tend to let him use the real thing if it's safe. His favorite thing is to explore outside, so we spend A LOT of outside. I'm so glad our winters are mild!


Well, I don't think I could be away from N for 4-5 days, so either we all go or I miss it..,

Charlie
Sophia seems quite similar to N by your description. Who is she going to marry? I agree w you re play groups. N & I go to the same park most mornings & we have met a few kids & moms that way. We also spend a lot of time outside & have met some moms & kids in our neighborhood.

 

[AngelUK]

Good morning ladies! After having woken me frst at 5:15 this morning (after my sleeping badly on the whole anyway) Dominic dropped off again at around 7. Sebastian woke at around 6 but he is usually so quiet that he won't disturb him, so I shall attempt to post here!

Storm it does sound as if L has control over her bladder, I just cannot believe that those incidents were accidents. Sounds as if she does this deliberately. But I am not sure if this also means she is ready to potty train. Or how you would feel about this at your stage of pregnancy. I know I am not looking forward to it at all!
I didn't know L was like a limpet too at times! She always sounds busy and out and about, a bit like Clio's J. My boys cannot follow me to the loo as it is the other side of the kitchen but I am sure Sebastian would if he could
Has your heater been repaired yet? I hope so cause I find it very chilly here in the morning and the evening and I think you are further north and it is probably more cold there. I was interested to read that you heat with oil. Many houses, including my parent's, in Switzerland do too. But here in London we have a gas boiler, which so far has been reliable, FX!
How is your dad? Has he recovered from his op? And how is your friend with the twins doing? I hope he is in full recovery now?

Sabrina what a cute story of Finn and the biccies!
Hope your cough will ease up soon. I know how annoying it can be!

Claire how is your mum today? I hope there is more improvement?

Charlie I wouldn't be able to wait till AF shows and would be testing as soon as poss! Mind you, when I did that on my lucky cycle I got a BFN and then just assumed it had not worked again and so I only tested when I was a day late, which I never am (I always get AF 14 days after I ov'ed). Keeping my fingers crossed for you still
As for naps, our boys were a bit hit and miss too till well over 1 year in age. They used to only nap 30 mins and I counted myself lucky if it was 40 mins once in a while. I hope she learns to walk soon and that it makes her be her happy self again. I don't really know what to suggest to keep her amused but my boys didn't like being read to at that age either. They love it now however and insist on sitting on our laps
I put Sebastian on my front cause I don't know if he would like being on my back. I think he likes being held too much to want to be on my back. And I am not sure how I would like it either as it sort of feels a little bit less in control. But it would probably be better for my back, hmm. It did hurt quite a bit in the evening but I took that as a sign of muscles being used that hadn't in a while rather than my usual backache which would have happened instantaneously. Took a backpainkiller so I am ok today for gymboree
Actually why don't you try gymboree again with S? I never encountered any of those kinds of mothers in ours in Putney. So maybe it is different than baby groups?

Indigo maybe secretly you had hoped a tiny bit that you were preggo and that the decision had been taken out of your hand? I'd understand that totally. Cause broody though I am, when I consider soberly that I might have to go through another year of sleeplessness and snapping tension with my OH, I feel less broody immediately. All moot of course as we simply cannot have another for financial reasons.
And yes the separation anxiety IS exhausting but also at times frankly annoying. He might be playing by himself and not even looking at me but as soon as I get up and make even the slightest movement towards the door, even if I just want to cross the room, he gets alarmed and starts to yammer!
No wonder being carried in the Manduca for half an hour yesterday made him so happy! lol
The longest I have been away from my boys was 24 hours recently when I had to go home to Switzerland. I did miss them and I was glad to come back to London but it didn't absolutely kill me as I knew they were in good hands with OH. He has taken care of them almost as much as me so that was no worry. I know I could not leave them alone for more than that though. I'd miss them way too much and it wouldn't be fair on OH either as it is hard work!

Borboleta your friend is right about telling you to enjoy this time, we should all always tell ourselves that. Their baby-time is over for most of our LOs here on the thread, it went sooo quickly didn't it? And I know the toddler years will just zoom by too and suddenly they will be in school and won't want to sit on our lap anymore and we won't be able to carry them at all and shower their defenceless little faces with kisses. My heart aches at that thought and I told OH that that is why one should start having babies early and continue through to ones late 40s so that one always has a steady supply of fresh babies and toddlers to cuddle lol!
I sooo loved the pic of you and your DH with T! What a lovely family you are and how gorgeous little T is!

Kosh how are things going for you? Are you finding it hard work making the house liveable again before you can rent it out again? How is G sleeping? Still as bad or is there some improvement now?

Clio I have no suggestions re toys except that my boys love their megabloks now but I assume J has something like that already?

Ooh got to go! Dominic up and crying and wanting up now! 7:47. So he had 45 mins of nap. Hopefully can write more later. Hope all are well xx