Babies born~September 2007 #58

Oh my goodness, lots of sad news at the moment!

Cassius - Sorry to hear about your oma, I think your funeral arrangements were perfectly appropriate regardless of what the family had to say. I hope it was a day filled with lots of smiles as you remembered your oma and the happy times you had together. I am sorry to hear of your friends baby also, what a terrible situation, I hope the little baby pulls through.

Cally - Terrible news about your dad, all the best to him and your family.

Arte - Oh what a shame to hear your foster sisters news, thats my worst nightmare :(

Noni - We wouldnt wait around to get a spot in the public system either, its just not worth it. You needed to get this sorted asap and you have done, even if you had to borrow money. I am surprised your family is giving you a hard time about this. Hopefully it should be onwards and upwards for W now. I know with M she became a brand new little person, she could understand us, we could understand her, and language wise she has not looked back. Also no ear aches thank goodness for that!!!! I thought keeping her ears dry would be a huge mission but it has been very simple really.

Trill - Congratulations on your HD's!!!!!! That is a huge achievement in your first yr of uni. I am envious of your tummy tuck, and I must say you have done so well to carry 4 babies and keep yourself reasonably intact on the insides! M gave me one nasty looking hernia which has since become even worse. I am hanging for it to be fixed. I am not a cosmetic surgery person either, but honestly my boobs have been so fantastic lately that i think I could even one day consider a boob job! They are usually non existant sad sacks

Ange - Dont you just hate those annoying passengers on planes, she could have at least noticed you were on your own with two young children, that is not easy!! Obviously never had kids herself or has forgotten what its like.

Hello to everyone else! MD well done on the job interview all the best.

M is still growing fast and saying more and more funny things where DH & I look at each other in suprise wondering how she even knows certain things. Toddlers are smarter than we give them credit for. I am fast approaching the 12 week mark and feeling very happy about it. I have my 12 wk scan next Thursday so reallllllly looking forward to it. Barely any morning sickness, but very tired all the time and I have a fantastic set of boobs if I can say so myself, so thrilled lol.

hi everyone

isadora- yah for your 12 week scan!!! How exciting!!!! are you going to find out the sex?

md- when will you find out any news about the job?

arte- how is everything going? how is A's sleep now? any better?

well i had a lovely catch up with JM. it was lovely to see the girls as well. S has grown up so much, i couldn't believe it. the kids had an absolute ball, i just wish we could do it more often :(

Hi ladies, I hope everyone's having a lovely weekend, looks like the sun's just started shining outside so I won't linger long.

Isadora :hello:. Yay for your gorgeous preggy boobies...gotta say now that I've got one implant it's definitely rounder and perkier and bigger than the other one. I now understand the allure of a boob job LOL. Though under better circumstances than mine was :lol: Good luck for your scan on Thurs!

Cass, how is your friend & bub going?

Ginger - so pleased that you got to catch up with JM and the girls. Photos on FB were gorgeous.

Arte - I sat the family down to watch a reeeeeally old Getaway NZ DVD. Just stoking everyone's else's interest. I'm one step closer to my masterplan of getting over there for a holiday now LOL.

Noni I saw B is standing better already - bet you didn't expect to see such quick improvement. I love that you're getting instant confirmation that you have absolutely done the best thing. :D

Cally have you had a chance to spend any more time with your parents? Is your dad able to talk about it all yet? :hug:

hello everyone!
MD - when will you hear re the job? I am so impatient, i hate when these things drag out. h0w did the family react to the getaway vids? we are thinking of another trip tyo NZ jan next year, we had such a great time last time. it was a fab holoiday.
G - will have to go check out those pics. i got ypur PM btw, will respond soon - been v busy!
JM - what a horrible woman to sit next to. i dont get some ppl
ISadora - WTG on the boobs! and yay for 12 wks... always a good feeling!
Noni - sounds like the op went well - YAY!
Cally - how are you?
Anyone heard from Jaz - hope all is well with her! and Ozstar too...

AFM all is well here. Boys are both terrific - life is its usual hectioc self. i have been sick and still getting rid of it. havent fed onight npow for about a week so thats a bonus. have had a few good nights and oneamazing one where he slept through til 4.45! i am still doing a feed around 5and then he sleeps til 7 - so i thoink thats what he needs. we are generally getting 1 - 3 wake ups a night still, but i think it is getting quicker to settle him... and no feeds...
tthinking will transition to cows milk soon. i have stopped expressing at work which is great!
N is doing well. we have gone way backwards on TT sop i am now back to not mentioning/trying... i'd love it to happen sppon though
better go - J awake..

hey everyone =)
yes very happy to report little mister is a brand new baby!! standing up the day after the op (he would wobble and cry before making it to fully standing before) hes happier, chattier back to saying asha and making noises he had stopped for a while, hes more responsive when we speak to him and hes cheeky too! im sooo glad we didnt wait hes so happy!! we have his follow up appt today and im going to get him a card this morning, i feel a little lame about it but some specialists will wait when bubs are so young and with him there was no mucking around and look at the result!! no dramas here with ear plugs for bath time or anything =D
working- im working for a photography company its office work, typing and packing photos etc im really enjoying it =D
im really concerned about Asha atm.. shes always been an emotional child but lately its terrible! shes waking with screaming nightmares if she sleeps in her own bed.. shes very difficult to calm down after them.. shes very whingy and demanding. her behaviour is all over the place.. im worried shes a bit stressed but i really have no idea what to do about it? yesterday she had so many toileting accidents at school that they had to put her in a nappy and thats just not her.. im thinking about seeing a dr but im really not sure what they can do.. we are trying to be very gentle with her atm.. letting her sleep with us and trying not to get too angry with her staying calm etc but im really concerned =(

noni: that is great news to hear about little W!

give A a few days i reckon. no doubt she has been a bit shaken up by the whole op with W??? or are your mummy instincts telling you something deeper is going on?

cassius- i think it could be the shake up of the last 10mths even.. alot has changed.. im just a bit worried she seems to get worse and worse.. shes always been a very emotional child but idk something seems wrong =(

Noni - what do you mean??? do you think it is just the adjustment to being a big sis and having your attention divided? has more changed that may be affecting her (sorry if too personal just trying to understand)... do you think it is a developmental stage?? there are so many options what it could be... N is also a v sensitive soul, but I must admit i have never really worried about it... he has also been through a lot of chg this yr (jacob, moving interstate, new cvhild care, family all around, Dh starting new bus, me in full on jopb.. list goes on LOL) and i do notice a bit of a lag affect to his reaction to the chgs, but it has never been something that WORRIES me iykwim? in my opinion if your instinct tells you she is not herself or somethng is up, get it checked.. speak to your GP/MACH nurse maybe to start? better to realise it is just the 2yo normal stuff than to always worry. i know that's me - i would think about it all the time if i was worried so better to get it out there and deal with it.
Anyway sorry that is a novel - hoe it doesnt worry you, i just know how i would be.

Hi everyone. We went down to visit family over the weekend and Miss A has been sick since we got back so not much computer time. My goodness she is the worlds biggest sook - ever! We haven't slept the past two nights because she has a stuffy nose and grizzles the entire night if she is laying flat. In the end last night I gave up and tried to sleep sitting upright on the couch holding her. I think I have had maybe 2 or 3 hours of broken sleep in the last two days.
I have just taken W down the street to visit with the boy I look after sometimes, balance for the babysitting.

Tummy-tucks: my poor belly is so stretch marked that if I ever lose weight the normal skin will shrink and the stretchies won't so I will end up with that flabby puckered look. But for me I don't think it is worth bothering with the tuck since I don't really bother with my appearance ie I am still using my second bottle of moisturiser since I moved out of home 10 years ago lol.

MD and MP, yay! Come to NZ. The central plateau is very nice!

The toy sales have finally arrived here, so I have most of the birthday presents sorted out - I got A a little people barn set, DH is making her a pram and I am trying to find a Cabbage Patch Doll but I might have to settle for something else because I can't find them stocked here. W is getting a scooter, a v-tech laptop (will love it because he likes to play on our computer in notepad and we have to call out letters for him to type), an inflatable boat for the river/lake shore and maybe a hotwheels flinging thing. They are also getting a cozy coupe to share.

Noni - so glad that Billy has responded so well to the operation. Not sure what to do about Asha, if you think something is up I'd talk about it with your GP as you know him fairly well and you've always found him good in the past.

Arte - you're well organised for presents. I've had a look at the catalogues, but there's not much that is jumping out at me.

Mp - well done for getting rid of some of those overnight feeds!!

We're heading up to Canberra on the weekend for 5 days or so. Looking forward to it. Dad saw the GP yesterday and had a big talk about it all, but they didn't really find out anything new. He managed to get an appt with some super prostate cancer doctor in Sydney in a couple of weeks for a second opinion. The main thing that mum seems to be struggling with is not knowing any sort of timeframe - how long can he keep the treatment going for, do they think it is going to spread, is this something that he can live with for 10 years (at which stage he will be 78) etc. At the moment he still feels completely fine and I suppose they want to know if they should just go ahead and plan their trips and everything else they have been doing. She was also a bit annoyed (to say the least) that when their GP reviewed Dad's file she found that his old GP (since retired) had recommended that he have blood tests every year to check that nothing funny was going on with his prostate (after a biopsy 5 years ago). Dad swears he doesn't remember that coming up in any appointments and she believes him (he's very good with colonoscopies every 2 years after his bowel cancer) and there have also been a couple of other things that the new GP has picked up both for her and my sister that the old GP never commented on. I seem to be going OK with it all, probably helps not having it in my face (ie living two hours away), so to speak.

Katie is very definitely looking forward to the trip though. She keeps talking about it 'me go Granny Pa's house after I finish my drink'. 'Mummy wear big jacket at Granny Pa's house, cold!!' 'Me go Granny Pa's house after school today'. That all came up this morning. She is pretty much fully toilet trained now. Has the occasional accident at school, but I think she just gets too busy. We don't have to remind her at home at all, although she is not at all fond of sitting on the toilet before we go out or before bed etc. I've also started doing the childcare trick of undies on top of nappy so then the nappy can come off quickly in the morning and we're not having to take pj pants and socks off as well.

cally- have a great trip xoxox what's this childcare trick about the undies? i'm confused

arte- can i buy you a cabbage patch kid and post it over? i'm pretty sure i can get you one for cost price (i have connections) ;)

Hey girls just popping in to say hello. I'm trying to catch up on everything so I will try and come back when I'm done.

Me too! :hello:

Nonie- great news that the op and everything went well. I agree with MP if you're mumma instincts tell you it's more than just a phase i'd take her to get checked by someone. If nothing else it will put your mind at ease.

MP- Sounds like sleep is going well around your parts, i was so pleased when S stopped feeding overnight. She sometimes wakes, but probably only once a week. Must be good to not have to express at work anymore too. Toilet training in winter stinks. I can highly recommend moving to a tropical country to do it. ;) So much easier.

Arte- i was going to get a cabbage patch for Lu. Then i found the most amazing doll on etsy. It is pretty $$$ though so i'm still tossing up if i'll buy it or not. G's offer sound like a cracker, i'd take her up on that one!

Cass- how's your friend and baby going?

Cally- have a great time in Canberra. Is that where your folks are? Undies on the outside of the nappy sounds like a great idea, might give that a whirl. Lu takes her undies off every time she goes to the toilet, and doesn't put them on a again, it seems i am forever chasing her to put clothes on or at least her undies! :lol: So much easier to just be nude apparently. :rolleyes:

We got back safe and sound. Wow, it's cold in Melbourne compared to here. It was so nice to see Ginger, we had a great day. She 'made' me spend too much money in CR. I had a pretty bad mumma moment witnessed by G. I was paying for some clothes and S wanted to hop down and walk, so i put her down, put my card in my wallet and watched her disappear behind a clothes rack. I followed her about 30 seconds later and she was gone! She had run around the clothes, out the other door and was half way up an escalator sitting on the step!!!! :o :o There was a young girl about 3 steps behind her just looking at her?! I ran up and got her before the top and all was ok, but i was feeling pretty bad. :redface: All is well that ends well right???? :s

jm- little sassy the escape artist!! don't worry, it happened so quickly, i didn't even notice you had put her down.
i can get lu a cabbage patch doll for cost price and give it to you on your next trip home. just pm me what sex and hair colour you want.
how are all your beautiful CR clothes going? LOL so jealous!!!

arte- yep just checked, i can get you one for cost and post it to you. pm me what you would like-

Hi JM - how doid you go on the flight home? hope you had a better neighbour! jealous of your meet up - and your CR purchases!
G - just saw your weightloss ticker - wtg! i need to get onto my weright loss bandwagon again.
doesnt feel good to carry6 the weight when J will be 1 next monday... cant keep saying 'i have a little baby so it is ok'. esp felt bad whwen i was xchattng to a friend on weekend with a 14 month old - and she is training for the melb marathon. running abouty 80km per week. ummm pass the toblerone...
Noni - how is A?
Cally - enjoy your trip - will be good to spend some time with the family. wish iw as there to meet up.

hi girls!

Cally: mwah that is soo cute that K is so excited! i love that they have no real sense of time and 5 days can be in 5 minutes or in 5 months lol! leila reckons she is on the countdown to when grandma arrives...in 8.5 weeks :rolleyes:.

JM: glad that you got back home safe and sound! it is always nice getting back to the warmth huh?! man i miss it! it's crazy cold here in melb atm. largely unpleasant lol.

my friend's baby is doing quite well (all considered). the 'chilling' that they did (ie he was put on a cold cold slab with cold water running underneath it; appears to have worked some miracles as his second MRI came back without any glitches :dance: he will need surgery to his trachea as there are issues with blockages etc and his clubfeet will require ongoing therapy, but so far so good!! a BIG relief!

G: wow, you do have cool friends in cool jobs! photographers and cabbage patch pushers LOL!

AFM: Leila is a bit crook atm. been struck by the snot monster. so we have had 2 nights so far of 20 minute wakeups and coughing and spluttering and general unhappiness. we also had no panadol or nurofen in the house on the first night so the poor wee poppet was really struggling to just get some rest iykwim. we are pretty shagged and look forward to when the boogers recede lol!

I have tired to catch up as best I can but have forgotten most of what I read already lol.

Noni I am glad you had W's op done and that he is doing so much better. I agree with the others, if you think something isn't right with A then have her checked out.

Cally I hope you have a good trip. WTG on the TT. Sorry to hear the news about your dad.

JM and G the photos of the kids together were gorgeous as usual. I think its awesome that they are all such good friends (and the two of you of course).

MP I cant believe J is almost 1 WOW. Are you having a party?

Cass I hope L is feeling better soon, nothing worse then when they are sick...... except when 2 of them share it lol. Your belly is looking fab, I cant believe how quickly your pregnancy has gone- has it gone quickly for you? I was very sorry to read about your Oma too.

Arte I hope A is feeling better soon.

MD how did the job go?

Isadora GL with the scan tomorrow. Yay for boobies lol.

Trill well done on your HD's thats awesome.

A huge big hello to everyone else, I cant remember anything else I read lol.

AFM not much happening here. L was sick with bronchitis, they were going to hospitalise him thinking he had pneumonia but Xrays gave us the all clear. He is much better now and thankfully Z has only had a little bit of a runny nose. Z is standing and slowly cruising the furniture- taking loads of tumbles too lol. I am constantly amazed at how quickly they are growing though. Well its getting late and I need to got to bed. I will try to stay a little more caught up lol.

Oz: oh dear! poor L! glad that he is on the mend though. poor wee man. Leila has upgraded to a rather 'chunky' cough today. but slept soundly all night, so hoping that now her body is just 'purging' the good iykwim...i can live in hope :lol:

this pregnancy is FLYING! and TBH i am loving that as well! i love being pregnant but am just so excited about meeting our new baby it aint funny lol! so it's a real catch 22...i want to enjoy and revel in the pg, but am getting all antsy lol!

Isa: oh yeah! goodluck with the scan today babe!! :dance:

Hi everyone
It's been such a long time, and i have missed you all incredibly!
I've just spent the past couple of hours catching up on this thread. I've shed a few tears, and laughed a few times as well.
Cass - I'm so sorry that you've lost your precious Oma. I hope your Opa copes as best he can. I'm pleased that your friends' bub is showing signs of improvement. It must be a heart wrenching time for them.
Cally - I'm sorry your Dad didn't get good news with his results. I hope he gets the answers he needs soon.-
JM - sorry to hear about your Grandma - i hope your time with her was extra special.

Noni - i'm so glad that W is on the mend. It must be wonderful for you to see him happy and healthy.
Trill - way to go on your uni results!!!! What a clever chicky you are. You're going to be an outstanding teacher - everyone will want their children to be in your class. :)
MD - at the start of the thread, things weren't going so great, but thankfully, by the end, there is reason to smile and cheer! Well done. You're a clever chicky too ;)
Arte - i'm so glad dh is working with you on your sleep issues. Sounds like everything is coming together for you.
Kate - not long to go for you now!! I'm sure you'll make heaps of friends soon - you're just a friendly type of gal ;)
G - Dh and i thought we were stopping at 2 children. One day , having another baby came up in the converstation, and voila! Money was something we talked about, but then thought that it would all work itself out. Life is short - we could sell our house, buy home brand everything, get rid of foxtel, yaddayaddayadda :) Then again, you have 2 absolutely gorgeous boys. It's different for everyone.
MP - sounds like you're having a fabulous time - except when the bubbas are sick :( Would love to hear all of your slow cooker recipes. You're our Julie Goodman in here :)
Isa - I'm so happy that everything is going well for you. Was your scan today?
Hi to anyone i've missed.

afm - i haven't had much free time to jump onto bb. I've been doing lots of work for the girls school lately. Just volunteer stuff for the different committees i'm on, so totally self inflicted lol. It's been keeping my mind active though, and making me feel like a contributing adult again. The only problem is, i've gained some paid work out of it, and i'm scared pooless!! It's just minor work - preparing the school newsletter for 6 weeks, but i'm starting to doubt myself. It wil all be good though.
H is such a joy (as are J and Z) She has me in fits of laughter daily. When she goes to the toilet, she locks the door. ( i can open the lock from the outside with a pen) when i go into to wipe her bot, she yells out 'Get a pen!'. Every time.
She loooooves Dora the Explorer. The other day a friend was going to give her a lolly , and said to her 'what's the magic word? Hannah replied - "Abre". (spanish for open i think!!)
She loves singing - Justin Bieber is her favourite, and enjoys going to gymnastics each week. She tests my patience on the hour, although i've come up with a way to reason with her. If she's doing something i don't want her to, i ask her to stop. If she doesn't, i ask her if she wants me to be happy or cross. She chooses happy and does what she's told. It has backfired on me once, when she really wanted to keep doing what she was doing , and chose cross!!

Anyway, that's just a quick run down. I'm hoping to be able to keep up with you, because i consider you all to be friends :)

Jaz - Our two girls would get on well, I also have a Dora and Justin Beiber lover. I often hear 'baby baby baby ohhhhhhh' coming from her room before she drifts off to sleep! Haha, kids, so funny arent they.

Noni - I was glad to read of W's successful operation too. Are you noticing a difference yet? It was the best thing to do for him.

Ange - I am so jealous of the hot weather you are living in. Sick of winter, dry hands, dry legs, dry lips, freeeeezing all day long. I'd give anything for a Bali holiday right about now. Little escape artist alright, dont worry most of us have had one of those situations before!

Cass - hope that nasty bug leaves your house quick smart! I agree your pregnancy has flown, I can only hope mine does too but so far its dragging. Doesnt help that I found out at 3/4 wks.

The ultrasound went so well. To be honest I was almost surprised to see a baby in there bouncing about. I was prepared for the worst, I've been so unconfident this time around, whereas not a worry in the world with M. Kept asking DH for the whole of the first trimester, 'am I really pregnant, are my boobs still big' etc etc. Paranoid I tell you!! But all went well so we are soooo so so so so happy and I have a little inkling that its a boy......

Isadora, yay for a good scan! I think you have a boy baking too. Any names picked yet?

Jazah, good to hear from you. H sounds like a delight! I think of you all as friends too. I will never forget you - I think you were the difference between a good babyhood for W and a grizzly upset bubba because you once mentioned in the early days that H had an upset tummy from eating too much sugar. I had no idea that it could effect breastmilk and sure enough if I layed off the yum things W was a happy boy.

Oz, hope that L is feeling better. Z is doing more than A - she is happy just sitting lol. She will walk around holding my hand but doesn't seem that close to going solo and isn't interested in crawling at all.

JM, hope you had a good trip back

MD, when do you hear about the job? Is it full time?

Ginger, that would be fantastic if you could get me a cabbage patch doll! Only if it isn't too much trouble though. Will PM you.

A is mostly better from her cold. Still a snot monster but at least she is sleeping and not stuck to me constantly. She did pretty well to get to nearly 10 months before her first sickness. She didn't feed for two nights and a day in between and my boobs felt like they were made of concrete! Painful, but they looked very nice! I suddenly see the allure of a boob job.

This might sound dumb because I know that all mums think their kids are smart, but I think W is really smart! He seems to learn things really easily, like the alphabet - I did flash cards with him for about 5 minutes for three days and that was all it took for him to recognise all the letters. DH has been playing snap with playing cards with him for a few nights and now he knows all the numbers. Today he picked up some junk mail and spelled out about 10 words and got all the letters right. I didn't even teach him shapes and colours, he must have picked it up from the telly. Is this how all kids learn? It is amazing! We are moving on to words now while he is still interested.

Arte I think W is amazing, he has always been super smart. Glad A is feeling better.

Hi Arte - I would say that W is definitely going to be an early reader! You could probably put name tags on items in your house - he'll probably be able to recognise and read the words quickly.

Hey everyone! Had a pretty ordinary week this week. Have had L home all week with hand foot and mouth and then I realised in hindsight that E and A have had it too but milder cases. So E was still at school the whole time and they are supposed to be at home for the duration. Not much I can do about it afterwards I suppose. So glad this is the start of school holidays though - have been run ragged. Kids all did well in their school reports. We have managed to raise bright, articulate, popular and funny children apparently LOL. L and E are proving to be very bright - L is in the accelerated program for computers and spelling/english and that will start next term. E is proving to be quite the maths wizz. It was interesting at parent teacher interviews, E is exactly the same as L in regards to what I talked about the other week - knows all the answers etc, but she handles it in a completely different way and is way more tolerant than L is of the kids who aren't as smart and she even nurtures them to help them work it out. Whereas L has no inclination at all to help other kids out, he's not into that sort of thing itms. Not that he's a brat about it, but you know how some people are naturally inclined to do that sort of thing? L isn't naturally inclined LOL. He gets frustrated too easy if they don't 'get it' right away but E has more patience her teacher was telling me. So all in all a great first half of the year for them. But L is working on learning tolerance during class and his behaviour has improved 100% thankfully. Sports carnival today and it was only 2 degrees!!!!! I kid you not! There was even a forecast for snow!!!!!!!!!!!!! Out here, where it can get as hot as 48 deg! Take that Global Warming LOL! So instead of snow it just rained instead and far out it was just bitterly cold. They did call it off early though so only got half way through.

H, very very happy that everything is going well for you hun :hug: it must be a huge relief for you.

Trill, sounds like your kids are doing really well at school. P must be due to start soon? Funny weather lately - all the Aussies are freezing and here I am (sitting under a ski mountain) and it is tee-shirt weather here today!

Cally, I was thinking about you yesterday and then forgot to post - that must be a cr@p feeling knowing that the dr suggested regular blood tests and didn't tell your dad. Even if he did tell him and your dad forgot they still should have put him on a recall list and sent a reminder like they do for birth control etc. I guess blame doesn't really help anyone, but it must be a bitter pill for you and your family.
I have amazed myself with my birthday organisation - it just happened that we did a scouting mission when we were in the city and then two days later the toy sale catalogue came out and every single thing we wanted was 30-50% off! And it was all available online so I didn't even have to brave a trip to the city with both kids solo!

The other day when A was sick I dropped W off at mothers group to play and the neighbour was watching him. She went to check on him and found the door wide open and he was half way across the lawn and when she asked him what he was doing he said "I'm heading off home now" lol. If she had left him a couple more minutes he probably would have been out of sight and come back by himself.

Arte, she is at school this year in Kindergarten (NSW Kindergarten that is, so proper big school LOL). I was thinking about your situation with schools and I think that if W is very bright/gifted, that it will present you with a curveball on it's own, separate from the dodgy school issues, because if he is gifted then he will need a school that will cater for that and there aren't many that can do that properly so he is getting the education he deserves and needs kwim?

Trill, it seems likely that we will move from the area in the next few years. DH wants uninterrupted schooling and if we stay the high school here is pretty average (the good school and the dodgy one come together) and being reasonably small there isn't much choice in classes etc.
In NZ there is a gifted register that identified children are put on and the schools MUST cater for them. W seems to be following in my footsteps, we are very similar in personality (poor DH!!). I skipped a grade in primary school and was still top of the class. I remember once I did a maths pre-test and got 100% so I had free time for maths for that term. I don't think they can do that now though. For intermediate and high school I was in the accelerate classes, did Year 10 maths and science from year 9 etc. I am not sure if I would have been classified as gifted or just a smarty-pants.
I am not sure how you go about identifying him as just smart or actually gifted? I looked on a few gifted websites just then and he shows all the signs. I guess it doesn't matter as long as he is kept challenged, but already I can see that he is going to be bored with kindy well before it is time to start school (here they do kindy as 3 and 4 year olds for 20 hours per week, then start school at 5). I am really looking forward to kindy though because I know that he needs more than he is getting at home.

Kindy is probably the area where you are going to struggle with him because there isn't really much they can do kwim? But once he is at school they will be able to deal with him better. I'm not sure how you go about having them formally assessed for giftedness though. They don't place much emphasis on IQ tests these days alone so it is a range of ways that they will test him. Be aware though that some children may be gifted in some areas but not in others and some children may be gifted across all areas. If he is only gifted in some areas they will still be able to cater just for that though. But in that case, it can make it hard because he wont be able to skip a grade because of not being gifted in all areas and it comes down to giving him accelerated work in those areas where he needs it. Also some children will seem like they are gifted at an early age, but then their peers catch up to them - there are so many variables to it! But you're aware of it so when the times comes you will be able to make them aware of it too :)

Hi everyone I've been reading but TBH I'm having trouble retaining everything, so forgive me if I seem like I'm on my own little planet here :p (Planet Crazy?)

Every keeps asking...when I'll find out about the job...there's an exec meeting this week (I think) to confirm how many they will hire. So I guess later this week or early next week. TBH I'll shed a tear if they don't pick me (embarrassment more than anything) but I'm surprisingly zen about it, I think it's because I know how eminantly hireable I am, it's just the timing of it really. Plus they are likely to be more flexible when it comes to negotiating hours (I want 3 days a week, probably shorter days to start with while I get over the shock LOL)

School hols have descended, am sending DD1 to vac care a few times, mostly for excursions because it's cheaper to go with them than if I take her to the same things. Plus it means I can go to my wellbeing after C-word class (zen factor plus) and I've started going to a writer's group, I blew them away last week with a piece I wrote (it was practically a standing ovation :lol:).

Jazah - so good to see you here sweetie!! You'll do great with the newsletter, I'm sure (Sweet job!!). I've got a couple of Justin Bieber fans here too, although the eldest is in total denial about her major crush LOL.

Ginger - aren't you a darling, in your new role as the cabbage-patch fairy...just make sure you get the nice woolly hair and not the nasteh synthetic stuff. Missy E has one with the nasteh hair and well, it's nasteh.

Isa - so glad the scan went well :cheer:! Are you going to share your name ideas as they hatch?

Trill, so if I see any headlines about a massive outbreak of hand and foot and mouth disease in NSW I'll know it's because you sent your kids to school :rofl:. Ah hindsight is magic, isn't it? Well done on your funny bright and popular children, mine's a c-grade average, and um "unique" seems to come up as a descriptor quite a lot :lol:. No doubt it will be an asset later in life...

Cally, :hug: I feel sick to my stomach to know your dad should've been having the checks but didn't - pretty much the same way I felt when I finally had my mammogram that I should've had 2 years earlier - but even sicker because the stakes are so much higher for your dad. :hug:

Arte - no W is definitely above average smartness (we have all been saying it for a long time), sounds like he follows in your footsteps. I think the secret to keeping him engaged in his education is giving him tools and projects that he can work on independently. FWIW I spent most of my primary school thinking I was dumb (prolly cos my eyes were glazed over with boredom) onto to discover in high school that I was in the advanced stream for every subject. Things that make you go hmmmmm....BTW well done on getting the birthday's sorted out. I need to get my A into G with the toy sales and layby some Christmas things. Missy E's birthday is pretty much sorted already just from my op-shop efforts!

Speaking of which, has anyone else done the toy sales? What did you get?

hi all
its J's bday today - i cant believe it!!! what a year it has been and i cant believe we have been doing the 2 kid juggling act for a whole year already! he is just the most divine and gorgeous boy - i looked at him as i fed him before bed last night i just had tears of joy at what a gorgeous bubba he is! we had afamily [arty yest -ended up with over 30 people - even with just family...was alovely afternoon - lots of fun playing and yummy food and warmth... it coincidentally worked really well that he had a sleep and woke up just 10 mins after everyone arroived, so he was in fine form the whole time. he has been going through a hugfe developmental leap - is now cruising and creeping more than crawling... loas of babbling - and sayoing some words that almost make sense - yum when we open the cupboard, dada, mummmmmm, wow when he loves something! he is also just so happy and wonderfuly giggly - a joy to be around!
we are getting him a fisher price [play house - anyone got it?? i am waiting to get in the sales as target will reduce it to $99. he got lots of gorgeous gifts - my mum got him the vteahc walker which he is loviong playing with.
Arte - W does sound v smart - to be honest kind of similar to N with what he is doing (i might do Jaz's suggestion witht he words too - he recognises all his letters, spells name etc - and is almost adding up simply - things like i have one, and 2 more - so 3...)... i dont know much about 'gifted' - i think there are mixed schools of thought on the 'label'??? i think it is important to factor in things like social skills, physical ability etc in choosinbg to skip grades or move into streams etc... JMO... for us, i would not push N much bc he is ahead in these things as he isnt ahead physically... that said he is in the older kids room at creche (3-4yo) and enjoys that... but will go to 3yo kinder at school nextyear. i guess it is harder for you as you have less schools around to choose from. i know the one i am going to (which is private) is v wholistic in approach to education (things like kitchen garden, music streams from young, experiential) so i know N will ne nurtered in his 'gifts' but also have the space to catch up on other areas. geez sorry thats a ramble!!! i was in advanced streams at school - and N does seem like m e in his thought patterns etc... but i am glad i never missed a hgrade etc, as socially etc i never had any issues... my mum a grade as she could read etc before she started... and she was shy and did suffer socially from being younger and not learning the social stuff with her peers.. so thats my left hand column/frame of reference on it all...
ISa - YAY on the scan!!
Cally - hope you are havinbg a good trip - having opod family time etc (and shopping!)
G&C - time to arrange the catch up!

Hi MP -Happy 1st Birthday to J!!!! sounds like you had the most wonderful time with your family :)

Hi girls!

MP: wishing you a gorgeous day with little J as you reminisce about 'this time last year i was...' LOL! I am not suprised that you had *quite* a little shin-dig at your house for the big celebration LOL! mmmm MP food is enough to bring in the thousands...mmmmmmm! oohh now i am off to check out the target sales catalogue...i also saw that the cosy coupes are on sale at $99 i so want to get one for the kids...

Arte: hopefully they will be able to accommodate W at his school? mebbe is a good idea to start looking at extra support groups/activities if it does eventuate that he is getting bored/frustrated at the pace? but i guess you can cross that bridge when it comes to the crunch...i guess for now it is all about pure enjoyment and marvel!

MD: no toy sales....yet. waiting for the target ones (and to convince DH that we NEED the cubby house AND the cosy coupe lol). but he has his heart set on getting Leila a balance bike for chrissy...he is totally forgetting her birthday lol. must rectify that one!

Isa: saw your bubby on FB...*mwah*! i promise you that it begins to FLY from here on in lol! one minute you are 15 weeks pg then next you are 25, then whammo....like a snowball it's the third trimester lol! i hear ya on finding out early though...with leila i was 6-7 weeks along, this bubba i was EXACTLY 3 weeks 4 days lol (ahhhhh charting te he he).

Jazah: how's the newsletter going? i am sure that you have totally aced it! but yeah it is a bit overwhelming when you first head on into that kind of stuff i reckon....

Sherie: :o 2 degrees??? man, that would be enough to get me running just to stay warm LOL!....or mebbe just crack open a flask of hot chocolate and my nanna blanket lol!
great results for your kids! :dance: you guys have to be pretty chuffed about that!!
and you're right, there's not much you can do when it comes to illness like F&M...they incubate for awhile as well, which really makes it nigh on impossible to 'contain' iykwim. my bestie (the one with the new bubba that has some probs) has just had her two sons come down with chicken pox and she was feeling MEGA guilty as they had been visiting the bubba in NICU during what might of been incubation time. luckily there was no cross-over between them and the NICU, but she was still feeling pretty fragile and guilty about it all...but seriously, what can you do??

AFM: all ok here. am slowly beating this cold (YAY!). it knocked Leila for a sixer, but she is also on the mend thankfully and we got a full nights sleep last night...soooo welcome! (although i am experiencing pg induced insomnia ATM so am still really tired lol).
also, i got a call from my friend last night (the one that has the baby in NICU) and it looks as though things are not as improving as they had hoped. they are no longer allowed to hold him (which is a big big loss of contact) as his breathing apparatuses were too cumbersome and it would easily get moved and send him into mega respiratory distress. he is also not allowed to eat etc (i am guessing they are still feeding through his stomach??). she is finding it really really tough, and i can only begin to imagine what that must be like. apparently the parts of his brain that control swallowing, breathing, vocal chords etc etc just didnt develop - or are severly underdeveloped. it is extremely rare condition (it has a name but i have no idea what it is). he is waiting on a bed at the childrens ICU where he can have better access to specialists etc. but man, what a road they have travelled and must continue to travel. last week they were told that he could go home in a matter of weeks, now with the full diagnosis they are looking at many many months (and i *think* that is the best diagnosis they can come up with...). as her friend it is a really strange position to be in, because on the one hand this is an obviously devastating scenario, but also on the other i am so proud of them (and little bubba) and am also celebrating his arrival (thankfully they loved the card i wrote welcoming him etc). such a tricky balance IYKWIM...might have to post in the NICU section for some advice etc on how to be a supportive friend etc over the coming months, i can also only imagine that my pg must be having an impact as we did daydream of feeding our newborns together (like we did last time) and lazing around in the sun together over summer...

(sorry for the mega 'me' section...have to kinda get my brain thinking about all of this iykwim...).

cass - it is a hard situation - buit you aresucha gorgeous and caring friend i am sure you will be a wonderful support to her. it may even pay to ASK her what she would most like in terms of support?? i sometimes find that is best, they can tell you exactly what does and does not help... poor baby and poor her... awful awful situation.
on the happy side - your preg is FLYING! yay! how are the homebirth plans coming along?

i am having a divine day with little J. had a great play this mornig with some of his new toys then meyt up with a couple of friend and babies after his sleep (great cafe called family life in prahran with big play area etc). then back hpome for more cuddles anbd play and mumma time and he is asleep now. couple of friends coming over for tea anbd cake now... LOVELY!

JAz - meant to say i am sure you will do FAB job on the newsletter. you go girl!

hi ladies

mp- happy birthday to the gorgeous little J man!!!!wooo hooo! this year has certainly gone very quick.

cass- i can't believe how pg you are already?
sorry but i'm a bit dumb with these kinda things, but does it look as though the bubba will recover fully from all this stuff? i'm so sorry for your friend for having to go through all this

md- i can totally imagine you blowing everyone away at a writer's group. maybe you should write a novel?

trill- congrats on your gorgeous clever cookie kiddies

have sent the cabbage patch fairy out on a finding mission this arvo so we'll see what he comes back with ;)

OMG G, I am so excited about the Cabbage Patch doll! Hope your cabbage patch fairy doesn't have a soft spot for those ginga kids! (joking - sorry Sas!)

MP, Wow on the big one year old! This year has gone so fast! Hmmmm... I hadn't really thought about skipping grades. I skipped and am socially retarded, but I think that is more because I never participated in sports or out of school activities (except pony club but those girls are mean!). The only kids we ever saw growing up were my cousins and from years 5-9 I was usually in the same class as my cousin so we didn't need to make other friends - the year that we were in separate classes I had no friends in class and we met every break time. And even though I skipped year 3, the classes were composite so I was in a year 3-4 class anyway so I wasn't the youngest. I hadn't really thought of the 'gifted' label either, but looking at the NZ definition then I was - I always thought gifted was much smarter! I would only bother getting W assessed if it seemed that school wasn't meeting his needs to force them to cater for him iykwim, otherwise if he is happy then it doesn't matter. The school you have N enrolled in sounds really good!

Cass, this must be such a hard time for your friends. They are lucky to have someone as supportive as you as they travel this path.

MD, my lovely original CPD has synthetic hair! But I did always want one with the lovely woolen hair. My girl was from a short lived line of talking CPK's, I dug her out and fired her up for A a few weeks back and it scared the bejesus out of her lmao. Actually, you make me think of her whenever I check FB - she is called Ingrid Robin.

A and W played a game of catch/hide and seek tonight - W was hiding and A was tearing around holding my hand finding him. It was so cute!

Arte - I hope you werent offended by my comments/download on skipping grades, gifted labels etc. It is something that is a bity of a hot topic in my family as there are a few ppl who have had experience with it - good and bad - and different appraoches... so something i am kinda opinionated on. i realise maybe i should not have been so vocal in here, everyone will make up their own minds... so i hope i didnt upset you at all (or anyone else). I am thrilled with the school we have chosen... I know N will do well there, and will enjoy it a lot. J is also enrolled so I will see how he develops personality wise to see if i think it is right for him too. they are quite diferent boys so far, so time will tell.
All here is going well. Except I think my throat infection may be coming back... had v sore throat last night and today. N has a cough but it is passing. N has been througha major groweth spurt in the last few weeks, i should have known as he was eating like a maniac! i put on some trackies this morbning and they are about 2 inches too short now... thought maybe i shrunk them til i put his jacket on and it looked like a midriff top! shopping time!!!!!!!
The chef at the creche is so excited that J is 1 - as now he can have honey!!! he said he loves thast J eats the bvig kids food and is making honey chicken and noodles today - and suddenly realised J is 1 so asked if he can have it. N is so excited about that lunch! (dont blame him!)
I think J is going to be a talker like his bro... when he is excited he says 'wow!' and he is pointing out ducks, sahying yum at food, more, mumma, dada. soooo cute! he is a really fun baby - getting to be good company now. i am kinda wishing i worked less days so i could hang with the boys a it more.
N is good - going through a bit of a stage - i am wondering if he is a little 'bratty' - i mea he is a sweet thing, v sensitive and lovely but maybe a little spoilt? i think we need to stop giving in to him so much (its hard bc he is so damn cute!) and have a few more rules. what do you guys do re things like clearing dishes, eatingf at the table, making beds, packing away toys (what else??). we are nowhere w topilet training either (am i the only one) - do you tghink it is bc i dont dedicate enough time to it (be hionest). what do you think i should do?

MP, We aren't even close to toilet training here - not because I'm not trying, but because he is nowhere near ready, just like L was at this age. But I had L trained within a few weeks at 2yrs 11mths so I'm hoping that with Spring around the corner we can start then. Some days he seems ready but I know if I tried he wouldn't be into it. I would leave it till he is that bit older and you have some holidays or something where you have the time to dedicate to it because it can be a PITA if you stop and start, or you are out and about so have to go back into nappies at times ITMS. I can't believe that gorgeous little J is 1 already either! It doesn't seem all that long ago that I saw him as a chubby cheeked infant LOL. We have a few rules/chores for A, like taking his plates out, helping me pick up toys etc. Luckily I think he will be like L in that dept too and be a cleaner LOL, but that said the girls have been brilliant lately too. But he will often just come and help me with what I am doing, if I am doing dishes he will pull up a chair and stack them in the rack etc an he loves to put his clothes away after I have folded them. I don't expect too much of him atm but we do have general rules that they are all expected to follow.

MD, not doing the toy sales here. I already have half of A's present and if they have portable DVD players on sale I will get one for E's birthday in Oct but that's it - we're having a gift-less Christmas this year and doing the shoebox things that they send to 3rd world countries etc instead. You can buy the BigW stuff online and have it kept until christmas too which I thought was excellent for those that can't get to a BigW.

Not much going on here. I have washing coming out the waa-zoo because we have had 3 days of heavy pea soup fog so nothing is getting dry. But today is moderately sunny so I'm hoping I can get it all done today.

A has started doing the funniest thing, he climbs up on the back of the lounge, yells out "CANNONBALL!" and jumps off onto the floor!! :o man it makes me laugh but I have to stop laughing so I can rouse on him for doing it LOL.

MP, you certainly didn't offend me about the skipping/gifted talk. I actually hadn't thought much about school other than making sure it was a good one iykwim. I guess it is one of those things that has no right answer - what works for one kid/family won't necessarily work for another. I have been wondering lately if W is a bit spoilt - he doesn't usually ask for anything that is unreasonable so we tend to give it to him but now if I do say no it creates an instant tanty. For rules, W often sets the table, has to eat dinner there but we tend to have breakfast and lunch on the couch. He has to help tidy toys, if he won't help then they get taken away (the threat has always worked). We have other rules that he follows well, like no shoes/hats inside, manners, manners, manners! (we are manners Nazi's here but he is very polite). He also gets the dogs food and feeds her at night.

Trill, that must be cute watching L cannonball

I just cut off all my hair. I think it was a mistake. Now it is too short to tie up and it will have to go even shorter when DH gets home and I get him to attempt to even it up. It was a good idea at the time lol

hi girls

mp- we are sort of in the middle of TTing. we just put him in undies when we are at home and he gets one square of chocolate if he does something on the toilet. works most of the time, with a few accidents here and there (mainly number 2s). funny thing was that when my frind's dd was here the other day and went to the toilet, L made the biggest fuss over her and was cheering and ran and got her a pice of chocolate (modelling behaviour there???). i usually put him in a nappy if i'm going out, but i have actually just bought a car mat pad from mazilicious to put on the car seat so that if he falls asleep in the car and wees with undies on it is not an issue.

bbl L crying xoxox

i'm back.
arte- i hate when my hair is too short for a ponytail. so annoying!!! lol

i went a bit crazy on duplo in the toy sales but nothing else. the boys love it

gotta go again grrrrrr bbl