Ash, those photos are so beautiful. Your gorgeous little boy clearly loves you to bits! You are doing a great job as a mummy and have a gorgeous, healthy, happy little boy to show for it. I am very proud of you! And happy birthday!

kat - good to see you! I am glad to hear you are going well, you must be so busy with your brood! DD has just learnt to clap too and it's hilarious - she thinks she is so clever! She now moves around in her cot when she sleeps and whenever I go in to get her, she is upside-down facing the wrong way with her head right up against the cot wrungs, clapping and laughing at me! She totally cracks me up right now. I am glad to hear that DS is a good teether, I am still waiting for teeth here and hoping against hope she will be one of those babies who teeth without too much trouble too!

We are still really struggling with solids, I think is is getting worse! Before I could trick her to eat by giving her an arrowroot or piece of fruit or bread and whenever she opens her mouth, I would shove a spoonful in, but now she has cottoned on to that and closes her mouth as soon as she sees the spoon coming! The only thing she will let me feed her is avocado. Everything else has to be finger food that she can feed herself. The mess is getting ridiculous - I had peas ALL OVER my floor last night, but there is just no other way to feed her! I have tried everything, but I think that is just the way she is!

jacki - sorry to hear about the sleep problems, it is really hard when you have to do that, I know. We got the point where we had no choice but to leave her and it killed me. I hope he starts to get better soon, you poor things.

sue - I am glad to hear you had such a good weekend away, it sounds like you deserved it! That is so typical of a boy, not doing the housework! The one time I thought my DH may do some housework was while I was in hospy having DD, but no, he still didn't do it! Grrrr, men...

esme - I totally hear you on the mess, glad to know that it is not just my DD who is a difficult feeder! I am now trying 2 solid meals a day, even though it drives me crazy having to clean up so often. I have to clean the entire high chair, the floor, change ALL DD's clothes, and often mine, and this is after each feed! I am not sure how much gets in her mouth, but I think much less than what ends up all over us! All the other bubs at my mothers group are on 3 feeds a day and going great, whereas I am not game to try lunch as I can't feed her when out anyway because of the mess. It makes me feel like a bad mum when all the other bubs have their lunch at mothers group each week, and DD just gets a BF but there is just no point! Hopefully they will start to get the hang of it soon. Some days I get really depressed trying to feed her as it seems so pointless and messy, but I persevere nonetheless.

Hi to everyone else