Hello Mudduh Hello Fadduh: ILX Rolling Parenting Thread

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Sophie's cute!!! What a doll. :-)

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i'm making a miffy pillow for ophelia:

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i'll probably just frame it.

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PJ, you have such a cute kid. I know, I'm stating the obvious but I need to say it. Her dress and shoes are so pretty!

How are all your kids doing in this heat? Ophelia's head just sweats a bit. I think she actually enjoys it.

Louis sweats like a bastard when he nurses and also when he's falling asleep--only on his scalp though! We had to go out in the heat yesterday but he handles it pretty well--I bring a couple of frozen washcloths to help him stay cool.

Edith looks very cool in her shimmerin' dress.

I haven't seen much of Ava this week due to work... :( Did pop in to comfort her this morning at 5am. She sacked out as soon as I located a dummy for her.

You should have a care of dependents day, Michael.

I am going to make a film called Care of Dependents Day.

Remember, you read it here first.

The heat makes Edith drink water, which she didn't really like doing before, and she gets too hot at night. As indeed do I.

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Edith looks very old-fashioned. Sort of timeless. Louis is my favourite kid in the world, quite possibly. He's so amusing-looking (this is a good thing, teeny, honest).

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If I ever meet Gerry's kids, I'll be so disappointed if they aren't running around in small repetitive motions.

More chaining them to trees/caging them/burying them alive, please.

Well, the intonation and number of syllables and look of enquiry on her face were all correct anyway.

The only worrying thing about this is I had already told her where I was going.

Ava's really started to associate things with words - shoes (sooz), hands (han), nose (nus). She hasn't given me a kiss though. A Glasgow kiss, maybe.

Nice to hear a good home birth experience too :) Hope this isn't too nosy but as you can imagine it's on my mind - did your wife have any pain relief? Or was it all too fast?

Archel - thanks! The missus had gas & air and gave birth lying on her front atop a big shiny silver exercise ball (like wot they sell dead cheap in Argos). Midwives were great BTW.

Whatever. CONGRATULATIONS, NickB and Mrs NickB!

I also love hearing all the ILX kiddies talking. It's the sweetest thing!

Ophelia's eating habits are more difficult, I think, due to the heat. She doesn't eat much, prefers to stick her thumb in her mouth instead of a nipple, and then suddenly screams for food an hour and a half later. She drank for half an hour, which made me insanely happy. She's a pretty skinny baby. Funny how you want the exact opposite with a baby (compared with older kids/adults): you want'em chubby. She also dislikes some solid foods: she makes these *choaky* sounds when eating some things. :-( Ah well, I'm not worrying too much.

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She loves to play with that parasol.

My real question--the boy (almost 8 mos now!) is not a fantastic little traveler and we're about to take a 5 or 6 hour trip. We did it once when he could be counted on to sleep a couple of hours in the car but I don't have high hopes for this time. The initial plan was to take off in the morning, before his morning nap, and at least get that hour asleep in the car. Someone suggested we take off in the evening and let him sleep part of overnight in the car and we're considering that now. Pros: kid probably sleeps whole way. Cons: we are a bit tired during the drive and when we arrive, and when kid wakes up for transfer to bed, he'll think nighttime sleep is over and be ready to play. Pros: we're going to my folks and they'd probably be delighted to get up at midnight and play with the kid for an hour until he realizes he's still tired.

my god, what a tiny little decision I have just elaborated, feel free to ignore all this, my life is all these tiny little decisions.

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In regard to travelling? We did it once, never again... until next year. Ophelia was screaming and crying the whole day when we went to my PIL. :-(

Come on, people, I wanna see pictures of your kids!

Ophelia has six teeth now. Luckily she doesn't bite my nipples so breastfeeding is a joy. I only do it twice a day now. What a change! I used to do +8 feedings a day. She eats quite well and is growing a little slower than before.

She loves her walker and sleeps 12 hours at night. During the day she takes one or two naps. The rest is PLAYTIME with mummy and daddy. She doesn't sit yet but does sort of lifts herself on hands and knees. She doesn't really crawl forwards, only backwards. But damn it's cute seeing her run around in the walker.

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Ava now recognises rabbits (makes ears above her head, says "hop hop") and cats ("meow"). Showing some signs of recognising letters too (points at signs and says "mmmm" or "ohhh" for "M" and "O"). Also asks to be lifted up onto the couch ("up"). She gave me a kiss the other day! A smacker, right on the chin. Will not stop singing "E-I-E-I-O" from Old MacDonald or "Bob Bob Bobby Bob" (her version of the Bobinogs theme).

He's still waking up a lot at night and I can't figure out why, he knows how to put himself back to sleep but he still wakes up and is pissed off to be awake, cries for a couple of minutes, and then goes back to sleep. I'm a light sleeper so this always wakes me up too. It's not really a problem, both of us are getting enough sleep and he is such a happy guy during the day, but it's just odd.

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Please excuse the untidiness.

Hah, already said but who cares. *pushes submit button*

:-)