Babies Born ~ September 2007 #69

[Ginger]

wow that is so interesting to hear cass. i never imagined it to be like that. italy early sounds lovely. i have taken the 2 boys to the pool by myself 3 times now. i am a pro at it! the pool that we go to has a shallow end that J can stand up in so i don't have to hold him all the time and L can 'swim' in that whole area until it goes over his head iykwim? its really not that hard at all- maybe it is because L is super tall though idk? my friend left me for a while the other day with her ds too though so i had 3 kids on my own and i was fine.

arte- that is great that you are getting a referral for W. i would hate that sort of night waking.

trill- where are you? speak to me! lol wanna talk to you about tuesday

[Artechim]

Cass, I had a friend that did a couple of summers of ski field work in the US and he said the same thing. He said that everyone had a load of new stuff, but it was all on credit - a disaster waiting to happen. An empire appears the strongest just before it falls...
Especially in California where they have been on the verge of bankruptcy for a long time now - I guess they just don't have the cash for maintaining public works. You only need to watch the finance episodes of Oprah or Dr Phil to see the scary stats of income vs debt over there.

[AnyDream]

Cass if you can find a cluster of seventh day Adventists there will be good plain organic whole foods nearby, and probably at decent prices.

[Trillian]

Arte, I hope you can get some answers quickly for W I hope Miss E is ok again soon too. The poor little poppet has had a rough trot with colds.

Cass, I didn't know that about Venice beach, but I'm not surprised ITMS? It seems like such a tacky place when you see it on TV and it's almost like it's stuck in the 80's. The FDA over there has a lot to answer for when it comes to food that's for sure!

Got L and E's custom orthotics today and OMG they make such a huge difference! As soon as they put them in their shoes you could see how much better their alignment was! Even though they had both been wearing shop brought ones, compared to the customs it was like they weren't even wearing any. So pleased we got them made.

[Cassius2]

Cass if you can find a cluster of seventh day Adventists there will be good plain organic whole foods nearby, and probably at decent prices.

but how does one find a cluster lol? an ad in the paper?? seriously, i need help lol!

i've started craving sugar. like big time. and for the first time in my life i want soft drinks etc it is sooo addictive lol. mmmm dr pepper mmmm.

[Ginger]

hi girls

cass- im a sprite fan myself

um so anyways found out this morning that L's kinder teacher has cancer and is getting a tumour removed from her bowel. not a nice start to the kinder year, thats for sure

[Cally]

Oh Ginger, that's no good. I hope they found it early enough.

[Artechim]

That sucks G.

Cally, how is your dad doing now?

Trill, how do you know if they need orthotics?

Rant warning. W is being such a turd lately!! He is suffocating me! If I want to leave the house he panics and wants to come and howls and screams if he doesn't and if DH tries to take him anywhere, even somewhere that is fun, he does the same thing wanting to stay home with me. It is driving me crazy. I wouldn't mind, but he is very unpleasant to be around and I get tired of constantly telling him off - throwing things on a random whim, yelling for no reason, following me around screaming and bellowing for an hour or so for no freaking reason and OMG at the way he treats Amelia. Far out I am over it. I am sure it isn't meant to be this much hard work.

Sorry, just having myself a pity party. Seems to be some law of the universe that I can't go to sleep before 2am - either constant wake ups and/or tantrums from W or sick baby coughing/spewing/party time. I don't know how I lived like this for so long, 'cos it makes me very crabby when it happens now.

[Cally]

Arte - Dad is doing really well thanks.

W does sound difficult - presumably that is something that you can talk to the specialist about?. I've had DD like that for a couple of hours tonight, I don't know how you do it all day and on top of the others. At least she was happy to go with DH to the park after dinner.

[AnyDream]

Cally, has K's tummy settled back down. If not after all the probiotics, try a dose of Combantrin. That's what sorted out E's sore tummy a while back. I so hear you on the single parent mornings, story of my life.

Ginger and Trill, enjoy the meet up ladies! Wish I could be there.

Trill, that sounds like an excellent acceleration program from L. How did you know your kids needed orthotics?

Arte zombie baby hehe. Is E feeling better now? I'm glad you were able to get a referral to see someone about the sleeping and yes that behaviour does sound extreme. I wonder if the lack of sleep is causing the behaviour or whether there is something else underlying both the behaviour and his difficulty sleeping. I really hope the specialist person you see is on the ball, and that you get some answers and some good take-home strategies. The not-sleeping thing is soooo difficult. Rant away. xxx

Cass that's amazing how you said it's all rundown and sad over there. Are the spray tans and bleached teeth as prevalent as we thought they would be? BTW there's gotta be some SDAs (with secret fresh food shops) around because Linda Loma is famous for its SDA longevity and that's in California. YES that sugar is so addictive. I've swapped out sugar in tea for stevia and it has made such a differnce, and that was only 1 teaspoon at a time, not the 5-12 teaspoons you get in softdrink.

Ginger that's a rotten way to start the year for sure. I hope all goes well with her treatment. Is L settling back into kindy well?

One thing I've noticed with E, when she's behaving badly, is that now there's much more of a conscious choice going on (mostly) unlike when she was younger and it stemmed from being overwhelmed/overtired/hungry/whatever. There's been quite a lot of footstamping and shouting going on in the house and tonight she had a go at doing wrestling (complete with commentary WTF?) with DD1. Thanks, feral kindy attendees for teaching that to my 4 yo.

Well DH is off on his travels again. Just a couple of nights but as always, it's during a week when I have something on in the evenings so there's that extra juggle element.

[Cassius2]

G: oh that is really full on for Ls kindy teacher xx Does this mean that she will be on leave right away?

Arte: man, that must totally suck with the separation shennanigans. i have to say, that L cant wait to see the back of me after a whole day at home lol. DH is always a welcome respite (for all of us ). we DO get ALOT of tantrums though. they are really shattering at times. over everything and nothing. like today, she lost the plot about me putting a limit on the number of hairclips allowed in the hair. yesterday she had close to 8! and it was just becoming really obsessive in that, the moment she woke up she was busting our balls about getting them, sorting them, putting them in...i was exhausted before i even got up!

MD: *snap* that is what i have been finding too. i also catch L 'practising'. or if she is really angry and cannot find an outlet, she goes off into her room and randomly 'gets cross' and re-enacts confrontation (but with her winning ).

Trill: getting excited for you about meeting G!! argh i wish i were there!

AFM: all good here. like i said, loads of drama with the emotions on the miss L front, but overall we are having a pretty good time. i am TIRED though. for some reason the last 3 nights, Miss M has woken 2.5 hourly!!!! WTF??! i am zonked beyond belief. her BF has now gone back to newborn levels lol. i cannot believe it. DH has taken them both out to the playground this morning as i am so tired that even he (the vague academic no less) noticed hahaha.

[Artechim]

MD, yip it is the sleep causing the behavior issues. Last night he slept alright and today he is reasonable again. I hope that whoever we see is helpful, I don't even know what sort of professional it will be until I get the referral in the mail.

Cass, if W was a girl he would totally obsess over hairclips. He sometimes borrows some of A's to wear and I don't have the heart to tell him they are only for girls lol Is M getting some molars?

Re the sugar - I gave up most sugar about 3.5 months ago because it upsets E's tummy. I don't feel any different but the craving for more sugar has gone (after a rocky first week or so). I have the occasional milo or frozen yoghurt for dessert, sometimes a muesli bar but stay away from biscuits, chocolate, cake, lollies etc. I have lost 10kg without doing anything apart from cutting out the sugar.
The Sweet Poison thing sounds right to me, I seem to live in a body that cannot handle much sugar - strong family history of Type 2 diabetes, my gestational diabetes, my kids that cannot handle sugar in BM.

[Ginger]

hi everyone

great going on the 10kgs arte! that is a huge amount of weight, you must be thrilled

how is it all going cass?

not much going on here, just procrastinating on doing housework lol

dh is away and L has his best friend and his mum and 2 brothers coming for a sleepover tomorrow night!

[Trillian]

That's going to be full on G! It was soooooo wonderful to meet you and the boys the other day! It was like we'd been doing it for ages wasn't it? I guess 5 years of talking online helps a lot though . I didn't end up stopping at Richmond on the way back because by then all the school girls from Melb Grammar had gotten on the tram with all their backpacks and I couldn't be bothered walking over all of them to get to the door. But I had a great time shopping in the city and brought myself some Birkenstocks finally! Just the flip flop massuer style ones.

Arte, I'm not surprised you're feeling the way you do about him. Anyone in your situation is going to get to that stage You are going to just have to make him stay at home while you leave for a bit of a break because you need it so badly. You can't be an effective parent to any of them when you are this stressed over what is going on. Besides, you deserve to have a bit of time out yourself

MD, is DH home yet? LOl at the ferrals teaching her how to wrestle. A loves mucking around like that with L. Last night L was doing this thing with him where he was getting A to run at him flatout in the hallway and at the last minute L would spin away, A would rebound off him and into the wall and bounce off again. I waited for tears but A shouted "THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!" :rolleye: and wanted to do it again.

So the trip was fantastic! Had a night out with Rouge, Sushee and Divvy on the monday night and then caught up with G, Jols and Lenny on Tuesday at lunchtime. Then I did some shopping afterward lunch and then went back to the motel to have rest before the concert - which was the most spectacular thing I have ever seen! I'm so glad I made the effort to go. I don't think I will ever see a show like that again! The motel was pretty fancy too which was lovely - I love being in a motel on my own. Sounds weird but I feel like I can truly relax in a motel kwim? I even ordered room service for dinner before I went to the show. MD, you'll be happy to know that I spent a small fortune in the Haigh's shop in Hawthorn before I met up with G. But some of that was for MIL too (in my defence!)

About the othotics, E has had them since she was 5 - her ankles have always rolled in terribly so she got them when she started school. We thought L wasn't as bad, but when he started having his back problems we realised it was caused by his feet rolling in and putting pressure on all his joints and spine, so he got orthotics then too. They are both really flat footed as well. Lately L got quite bad wtih pain in his achilles tendon so we decided to have the custom orthotics made for them instead of the shop brought ones we had been using because they just weren't supporting them properly. When they were at the podiatrists, and she was getting them to walk barefoot for her, I could see how bad they were without shoes - both of them had achillies that look like a banana they were that bent! But with the customs made they have perfect alignment which is a huge difference! Big bonus that the health fund paid 80% of it too, so the final cost to us ended up being what we'd be out of pocket for shop brought ones anyway. It seems like a lot of trouble to go to, but you only get one pair of feet in this lifetime and they are far too young to have such severe foot problems that could impact them for the rest of their lives kwim? Once they get older we're hoping that the orthotics will have paid off and they will have minimal problems. I'd feel like **** if they ended up with major feet problems as adults because we were too stingey to pay for proper ones. Luckily P and A don't have the same problems though.

[Ginger]

was awesome to meet up with you too. so glad you had such a great time and enjoyed the concert so much....so when is your next trip to melb? lol

[Artechim]

They are finally playing Australian X factor - obviously Reece is amazing, but I am quite a Declan fan - he just did Help and I liked it.

Trill, by rolled ankles do you mean the foot doesn't sit under the ankle but off to the outside of it? DH is like that and both kids too. DH doesn't have any pain from it at all but I will keep an eye on the kids.

G, hope you have a great sleepover. The 10kg is alright, but there is still a load more to go.

We seem to have W's sleeping back on track so his behaviour has improved as well. He has become the lego fan so we are starting a collection and he is spending most of his time in his room playing with that.

We went to a blueberry farm the yesterday with mothers group. I took some in to kindy today for them to bake something with and W and the teacher made muffins with them. Apparently W read the recipe and then measured out everything by himself. His teacher was very impressed - he is usually quite secretive with his reading and doesn't do it in front of other people (apart from DH and I).

[Trillian]

That's good that his sleep and behaviour has improved again. I hope it lasts for a little while for you . Yeah, their feet virtually flatten out and the arch of the foot collapses. Definitely worth keeping an eye on with the kids. Make sure that they have good shoes with arch supports in them.

[Artechim]

Quick question - Erin had a nurse check today and she hasn't put on any weight in the last four weeks. In the month before that she only put on 200g. So between 3 months and 5 months she is only 200g bigger. She has grown 8cm in that time though. She has had a cough for the last few weeks, do you think that could account for the zero weight gain? Do you think maybe she is just reverting to her genetic body type rather than the fatso I grew (thanks Coke and Cadbury!)?