The new rolling ILX parenting thread, since the other one was getting unwieldy

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we've got a lot to discuss!

I just wanted to inform everyone that I have just written a letter of recommendation for a two-year-old.

But I guess it's a bit daunting to new ILX parents who've never read it before, so fair enough perhaps.

xpost...

http://voguingtodanzig.blogspot.com/

Also, travel to Japan with your baby: EVERYONE is in love with Ophelia! I mean, on the streets, in restaurants,... They keep saying:"She looks like a doll!"

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sleeping on the blanket

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enjoying japanese food

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We ditched the dental plate halfway through the week as it had given a massive ulcer on her tongue which then started to bleed - the final straw really :(

OMG! so gorgeous!

I'm going to nick a photo off Mike's flickr account... Aidan at Lulu's party

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And when we were trying it on a few weeks earlier, good old Sainsburys, six of your english pounds:

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I've been away from the net, still no word of Nath?

HAHAHA! Look at the cheecks on Aiden. Also, they're both adorable as always but that pic of Lulu from behind with the little tail just kills me.

oops - cheeks.

Is this thread officially "wieldy" yet"?

We knocked the other thread on the head after just over a year and 1,585 posts; this one has been going 9 months and I think this will be the 1,416th post. I dunno, either NOW (before Nath's babe arrives) or in the new year, whaddya think?

I'm up for a new thread! I'm gonna let someone else start it, since I kind-of jumped the gun on the last one... A nice way to celebrate Nath's new kid.

How about "ILX Parenting Thread: 100x BETTER than a Clown Car"

How on earth did you get Chris to let Aidan dress up as a little Red Devil? I love looking at all your kids, it allows me to be a little vicariously maternal without actually wanting to go through it all myself.

As long as we're sure everyone has seen the wonder of Aidan in his Man Utd devil outfit and that Nath can find us in our new home.

How 'bout ILX Parenting 3: Back In (Potty) Training?

That's great.

Ah, got it. I like the finesse of closing it off at year's end myself, but Nathalie's impending birth would also be a good mark. (And both titles are great.)

I have great pix of E and A in their costumes, but they'll have to wait 'til I get home. I will say that both girls were still holding on to their embroidered trick or treat cloth bags this morning at breakfast.

(yeah, i said "embroidered" and "cloth." my wife couldn't resist.)

I was thinking about a new thread too since the first thread started around the tiome Ophelia was born.

Maybe: "ILX Rolling Parenting Thread: Poo, Parents and Power"
(the name of a study I remember reading in high school)

I cant see the fliker pics on the work comp :((((

I think we should wait on Nath. She'll be here soon enough I'm sure. It might be a nice way to round off the thread.

oh, the pond.

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aww...aidan!

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Induction is both GREBT and URGH. But actually, no, it was FUN (thanks to epidural). :-) Delivery was again ten minutes (push push push and out she came) but the contractions were very heavy and quick in succession. Anyway blabbering on and I should be sleeping. heh. I'll talk more LATAH Thanks for sending good vibes, it worked!

OMG she's GORGEOUS!

I love the sleepy infants... congratulations again, Nath!

That sound you can hear is several dozen ILXors uncrossing their fingers and sighing with relief. Yay! When did she arrive, Nath? 31/10?

she's beautiful, Nath. good job!

yay pretty healthy baby! congrats, nath and fam!!

We couldn't get Megan to keep her hat on because crisps were more important:
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L-R Wolfman - Witch - Anakin Skywalker
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Oh noes! Wardrobe disaster! You go to a party and another girl has chosen the same dress!
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!!! wau!

it's like 8th grade prom all over again!

When shall we four meet again?

big congrats nathalie, woo!!! hope you're recovering well and catching up on a bit of sleep here and there.

I love megan's coven photo! in junior high school we did that kind of thing on purpose, except not with witchy costumes.

ava and mike are on the train to go see his mum right now, I miss her already! I'm not sure she realises that unlike the test run last weekend on the train, she's not coming home tonight. we haven't spent a night apart since I was in the hospital having lulu! lulu is of course loving life, chirping like a happy bird and playing with her toys unhindered and with a marked lack of crash-tackling.

When did she arrive, Nath? 31/10?

Yep. I arrived in the hospital around 7:30 am. At 1:10 I went into the delivery room and by 1:20 I had pushed her into this big cold crowded world. :-) My OBGYN was on his way but too late. The assistant said to the midwives, who wanted to wait till his arrival:"I can do this, y'know! PUSH!" Funny really, cause I already had to push on the bed and then in between contractions I was quickly put on the table. I was so out of it, I was apparently trying to get on the table even though the bed was like half a meter away. My husband was saying:"WAIT! Don't fall in between!!! Be careful!" I was srsly tripping a bit. :-)

ger those photos are brilliant

akshully this thread is all brilliant photos right?

congrats!

Congratulations Nath, she's absolutely gorgeous!

Someone else needs to get knocked up now, fast :(

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I have TWO kids, people, this is srsly positively freaking me out! :-)

Oh yes, let's do a debate on pacifiers. Tips, hints, opinions are MORE than welcome. Ophelia didn't like it, she sucked her thumb but a few months ago she discovered the pacifiers (thanks to the crèche). Now I really want Elisabeth to NOT discover her thumb. The midwives are vehemently against introducing pacifiers this early on as they can mix up the pacifier and breast. (Sucking a nipple is harder and different than sucking on a pacifier for example.) But she's already noticed she has a thumb so I really want to avoid that.

How 'bout ILX Parenting 3: Back In (Potty) Training?

I love this title!

Nath, I think it's really hard to persuade a newborn not to suck their thumb if they really want to.

Aidan didn't suck his thumb from birth (he's discovered it now, but only when his dummy falls out and he still hasn't really got the hang of it) and we didn't give him a dummy until he was about three weeks old. I wasn't going to use one, but got sick of being a human dummy so decided to throw my unrealistic principles out the window. At three weeks it didn't make a jot of difference to the breast feeding for us.

I know quite a few people who have given their babies dummies earlier than this and not had any problems - one of my best friends gave her daughter a dummy when they were still in the hospital, much to the disgust of the midwives, and she successfully breastfed for a year.

Here's an anti-pacifier and breastfeeding article though, from Kellymom, which does have some fantastic advice for breastfeeding mothers what should I know about giving my breastfed baby a pacifier

nathalie, great pictures of your gals. that's a superfine moment of sisterly love to look back on, awww.

ava got hooked on the dummy relatively late. she used to suck on our pinky fingers as a newborn and never was much of a thumb-sucker. but when she started howling on a regular basis at night, we tried the dummy again and it worked a charm, hurrah! it worked too well - heaven forbid I'd be out shopping and without a dummy if she needed to sleep, it would cause a total meltdown. recently we decided she had to kick the dummy habit, mainly because she'd come to bed with us in the middle of the night, get under the covers and then start bellowing for her dummy. if I I couldn't find one withing reaching distance I'd mumble, "you left it in your bed, just go get it." "no, mummy, YOU GET IT!" the 3am battle of wills and the eventual trek to the next room to root around for it in her covers was causing too much sleepus interruptus. I'd wake up cranky and unable to cope every morning, every little thing would wind me up.

so not long ago we told ava that the dummy fairy was going to come that weekend, and if she left them all in a bag under her pillow the dummy fairy would bring her a present. she left her bed and crawled in with us at 3am as per usual, we put the bag o' dummies under her pillow and the next morning she had a brand new set of flannel peppa pig jammies. everybody was a winner! it really surprised me how absolutely okay she was with this arrangement. it probably helps that lulu hasn't taken to the dummy, so ava's not been reminded of them.

so that's my tip for getting the babe off the pacifier when the time comes. as far as thumb-sucking goes, I don't personally have a problem with it. but I'm a kind of keep-the-peace parent. I'd rather have lulu suck her thumb than start screeching in the middle of the night when she wakes up, because we don't live in a detached house and it's not just our sleep being disrupted if the girls are screaming like they've been branded. I reckon if lulu starts sucking her thumb she probably won't still be sucking it when she's in high school.

this is the same reasoning by which we decided ava could come to bed with us if she woke up in the night even though my fave midwife said basically "mary mother of god don't do it, you'll never get her out of your bed ever". but crying it out didn't work for us, what can you do? now that we're keeping the peace, everybody's sleeping more and I really feel like I'm a better, happier parent during those oft-demanding daytime hours.

midwife sue may have the last laugh when ava's 18 and still sleeping with us and lulu's wearing braces on her teeth from 16 years of sucking her thumb but for now we're going with it!

that pic of O and E - OMG!!! Breaks heart.

Beats is a bedtime thumbsucker. I was so pro pacifier but she just never liked them so we gave up offering.

My niece was a pacifier kid and so sneaky with it. They tried to phase them out by just taking obne away at a time but the problem was she would appear with another one only a few minutes later. Apparently she had them hidden all over the house. In the end they took her to NYC at xmas with all of her pacificers and told her that she should give them to santa so he could give them out to new babies who needed them on his christmas eve present route. So they went to macy's and did just that.

Ive also heard of people tying them to balloons and getting the kid to let the balloon go. symbolic gesture, i guess.

How 'bout ILX Parenting 3: Back In (Potty) Training?

i third this

Done.

Ive also heard of people tying them to balloons and getting the kid to let the balloon go. symbolic gesture, i guess.

It must be interesting when they finally have toput a pet to sleep.

Things my baby seems to enjoy listening to:

- dub reggae
- the Beach Boys

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lookin suspicious

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unlesss anyone objects it looks like this is quickly going to turn into the "pictures of Shakey Mo's daughter" thread

aw! What's her name?

Veronica Rose (altho Ronnie is also acceptable, and Ronnie Rose also okay if she ever goes into full-on Southern Rawk mode)

Cuet bebeh!

Aw!

We did have a part 3 parenting thread but it's become a bit neglected of late...

Here's the new thread.

Good name - it was my grandmother's and is also my confirmation name.

effective parenting.

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useful guidance.