Oh Renee, hun you are an excellent mummy, it was an accident (and the first of many among our little thread group because that's just a part of having kids and looking after them, you can't stop every accident from happening, you just can't). I'm all teary now, I know you are feeling really bad (trust me I have been there, and more than once) but you have to just forgive yourself, put it down to experience, and move forwards. It was unlucky that it was you but it could have been any of us I guess, we'll all be more careful now having read that it happened to you.

Noni - *snap* I have snipped a bit of finger too though E didn't react as much as it sounds like Asha did. We try to be gentle but sometimes our best efforts don't work.

Thanks Pregpan for the comments on Gymbaroo, we're in the deep south, past Tuggeranong, so it'd be a decent 25 mins in the car to Forrest. We had Kindergym back home in SA from a similar age, it was excellent. We also did a toddler music class which was fantastic (H still has a good ear for music now) and very entertaining so I'd say go for it! Let us know how the nanny interview goes! Enjoy your weekend away

Noni, Good luck to DP and I hope it works out well on the job front. He sounds just like my DH at the same age, constantly locking his only set of keys inside the car or worse in the boot (the car had been rebuilt and there was something behind the back seat so you couldn't even pull the seat out to get into the boot)! LOL He has improved with age (tho you will remember he went off to work - about to fly out - with my car and house keys just a couple of months ago).

SupaB am I right, are we looking out for the yellow tshirt? Sounds like you've got your TAFE arrangements covered really well!

Hayley yes E was all a-goggle at the cinema screen, she loves the telly too (much more visually driven than H was at the same age and she doesn't dance and sing like H did, so 2 v.different girls already). BTW woohoo at your ebay bargain.

Arte, the sign is always given to the baby with the accompanying word said aloud. It actually aids speech development, (signing babies often develop bigger vocabularies earlier than non-signing babies) and it's a tool that's used with kids that have developmental delays as well (to assist with speech development). The main reason we're doing it was because H was a very clever little girl who understood a lot but had a bit of a speech delay so we went through a couple of very rough, tantruming years where she was frustrated by not being able to express herself. Signing helps the baby/toddler to 'voice' their needs while they are still pre-verbal. Hoping for a smoother ride this time round (although the speech delays tend to run in the family so E may develop one as well)!

Cally friends of mine used the tiny talk system, we spent time with them when their DD was just learning to sign milk, dog and birdy! LOL Soooo Cute!

BTW Jazmum I didn't say how impressed I was with Hannyhooha's commando crawling...I think Sherie said A's doing similar now too! I tell E every day to learn to crawl but she much prefers the invisible wiggle (where you never actually *see* her move but every time you look over she's travelled about a foot)! LOL