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

archel, ava doesn't like the real people bits of teletubbies either, and thanks to 'again! again!' you're always treated to them twice.

the adverts are insidiuos. we mostly watch cbeebies which doesn't have adverts because it's BBCtastic, but we don't have a freeview box upstairs where we watch peppa pig of a morning when I'm willing myself to get up and face the day. have you noticed how many crazy toys there are at the moment that involve dolls with their own plastic pets that poop and pee when you squeeze them?

look out vicky, when aidan gets old enough to watch these he's going to squeeze the hell out of toffee and rhubarb.

So long as he can squeeze toffee when he's over the litter tray, it'd be an improvement.....

Is it sad that I'd already started collecting DVDs of 'classic' children's programmes? we've got the flumps and Mr Men, hurrah! Aidan was awake for his very first Liverpool match yesterday, Daddy was very pleased.

Haven't posted any fluff for a while....

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsbrown/1152140533/"; title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1347/1152140533_6be045e5f8.jpg"; width="500" height="375" alt="" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsbrown/1203741548/"; title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1090/1203741548_fafb9db8a3.jpg"; width="500" height="375" alt="What you looking at?" /></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsbrown/1202889743/"; title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1285/1202889743_8d2297e368.jpg"; width="375" height="500" alt="milk drunk" /></a>

Lets try that again shall we?

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1347/1152140533_6be045e5f8.jpg?v=0

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1090/1203741548_fafb9db8a3.jpg?v=0

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1285/1202889743_8d2297e368.jpg

> 'little angels'

'house of tiny tearaways'

Aw gorgeous pics Vic. He looks so much littler in real life!

Those Baby Einstein DVDs are like drugs for toddlers. I think they are well made and look pretty interesting. For adults who have to be in the room at they same time, the are quite restful compared to most of what else is out there. Just plinky-plonky versions of the Blue Danube etc while octopuses swim around. They call them "digital board books" which seems like an annoying marketing tag but it kinda makes sense as you can sit there and talk about what's going on, just like with a book.

that third picture of aidan is the best thing ever. those cheeks!

oh, yeah, sorry koogs you're right! 'little angels' is the supernanny-style show she had before where she camped out with one family and sorted them out, my bad.

actually, I'm watching 'supernanny' as I type and she has done a cracking job with a family of two soft touches and the angriest child on earth. the WWF-style duke-em-out might have to be called a draw.

Ok, this is pure selfishness but I'm bumping this; I'm only a lurker but your tales and pictures of the little'uns makes each working day a little sunnier...

I have just realised that I will have to knock up the missus pronto so I can watch 'Yo! Gabba Gabba' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggrOcBWqHiU - with my firstborn.

I fear we are overexposing our Ophelia a bit too much to TV. She loves Nijntje - climbs up the stairs at full speed so she can watch the show every evening. I don't mind that much, I used to watch hours of telly when I was younger and actually learned English that way (from about the age of 8 or 9). So I can sort of understand the educational part of certain programs.

We are going to check out two schools because next year we'll be sending her off (hahah that expression) to kindergarten. We have two good schools in the vicinity, both a ten minute walk from our house/shop. They are both Catholic schools, but one's with a uniform (from elementary school) which I quite like. It's not a very strict uniform, the clothes merely have to be blue, but that more or less clinches it for me. We're still going to check out the otehr school as welll. You never know.

Last trimester of my pregnancy. I have gained much too much weight. Even the OBGYN commented on it, but he wasn't too *angry* about it. Just said I shouldn't be eating for two. :-( I'm also suffering from reflux again, but no pelvic pain yet. The baby's still in breech (?) but I'm not too worried about it as the baby's head can face down at the last moment. If not, then it's a caesarian. Not looking forward to it, duh, but if it needs to be a caesarian so be it.

V, those pix are sooooo endearing!

Also convince me that a second one will be as easy as the first one. :-) I am hoping that it will be an easy ride, but I fear it'll also involve a lot of adaptation. I remember freaking out the first weeks, being confronted with so much change, but that more or less disappeared after three weeks. (That 3 week period seems to be key: after that period, breastfeeding was just a breeze but I also felt more confident about taking care of Ophelia as well the pelvic pain that disappeared...)

Yeah, second one totally easy, no problems, just relax...(laughs behind hand).

Srsly tho, you have seen most of the problems and things the first time round so it's let's freaky when, for instance, they get a temperature or something I think. Also, you've got a load of clothes possibly? Plus those things like pushchairs, babyseats, etc.

My 2 have taken to acting in front of the camera, this is their version of stuck in the jungle under a giant leaf, child 2 has really got it down...
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1315/1309598079_2007547f57_m.jpg

How cute!!! :-)

Oh yeah, financially it'll be a lot less demanding as we're having another girl. We're only buying two cribs (one tiny one for in our bedroom and another for the kid's room). Apart from that there's nothing much we need to buy, really. We bought another diaper cushion.

It's the sleep deprivation that I'm not looking forward to. hah. But that is more or less over in four months time,... I hope anyway. :-)

I had forgotten about that! Yes, that is the worst. He had 4 years of it because child 1 started sleeping badly when child 2 arrived. In fact Mrs T was talking about having another child the other day and I need to remember to remind her about the sleep deprivation, that should distract her for a while...

As much to cheer myself up as hejira and any other lurkers...

Ava dreams of a sewing future...

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1037/1270069485_9973efd177.jpg

Lulu shows off her two - count 'em - teeth...

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1134/1270103733_98f48e3e78.jpg

How old is Lulu now?

I also dream of sewing. Alas, it's more nightmares... :-(

Lulu - 10 months yesterday.

How's Ava's sleeping pattern now? Better?

Oh, she still comes in with us almost every night but since dispensing with her afternoon nap she goes down much better at 8pm or so (so she at least get 4-6 hours in her own bed before diving in with us). We're seeing a slow improvement in her general behaviour too - I think if we can keep the domestic chaos to a minimum and engage with her as much as possible, it really helps curtail her sister-assaulting/130dB-screaming tendencies. Lulu is still in the constant-joy phase (though she can now climb stairs...) but she too will have us at our wits end before long.

(If Koogs is reading this - T4ms1n just had her third! A boy named Laurie.)

Good lord. It frightens me a bit (to have a second) as I know I'm blessed with Ophelia's sleeping pattern. She slept through the night from the age of 4 months and now, if we keep her up until 7:30 pm, she climbs the stairs by herself, without a cry or whatever, when we ask her "Let's go to sleep!" She even points at the net, waves at us and says bye bye when we aren't quick enough. She rarely if ever wakes up in the middle of the night.

So maybe Lulu will be like Ophelia, Michael, you never know! :-)

Thanks Michael, much appreciated. Lulu is pure innocent cuteness (going by her pictures...) but Ava looks like a future heartbreaker. Those eyes! I've really enjoyed watching them grow up in pictures on this thread - as well as all the others.

Charlotte and Oliver this past weekend...

http://homepage.mac.com/alexinnyc/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-09-02%2015.37.57%20-0700/Image-D15E196559A011DC.jpg

Drunken baby Rockettes!
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1205/1305472338_303645184e.jpg

Me and Ben
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1032/1236228740_2d69c31f4b.jpg

Piano lessons from dad
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1229/1232853846_7341d54d85.jpg

Alex, I'm really looking forward to the days when Ava and Lulu are having a good old blanket guffaw together like Charlotte and Oliver, that's just awesome.

Nathalie, don't fear the arrival of number two, you've got no choice but to adapt and hopefully Ophelia will lead her by example into the world of sleep appreciation, it sounds like she could teach Ava a thing or two. The second time around so many things are just second nature and for me at least, I've been much more chilled out about everything. Dropped piece of bread? 5-second rule. A bit of a tumble? Big cuddle instead of a 3-hour wait at A&E to discover her wee noggin's a-ok like you instinctively knew it was. Borrow the car keys? Ok but be back by midnight, Lulu. And you can wipe that lipstick off right now, missy.

During the first few weeks I found it really hard to look after Ava and also meet the chow-down demands of Lulu so I didn't end up breastfeeding nearly as long as I'd wanted, but you go with the flow, as it were. The second time has just gone so dang quick, that's what kills me. Yesterday we upgraded Lulu into a front-facing carseat, she was just busting out of the smaller one. They're growing up so fast, sniff. You want it to last but at the same time it's also gotta be really fun when they're old enough to be giving it some fake fear for the camera, trapped in the jungle under a leaf.

A question for everyone: What are your kid's favortite tv shows/dvds/videos etc.
OMG Molly is obsessed with "Teletubbies" and will totally make out with her Po doll. She does the same with Tinky Winky. I don't know what any of this means. Like, at all.

Also, the theme from "The Muppet Show" makes her dance like crazy but she doesn't really watch the rest of it, or any other show really including "Sesame Street."

Drunken baby rockettes picture is awesome! Co-ordinated moves!

Here's on of my lot from late July.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1373/1343644844_143f2fd315.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/onimo/

Wait, when was the weather like that in July (or this summer)?

Photo properties say it was taken on 23rd July. You missed summer, that'll teach you to blink.

I R serious baby... lovely kids!

I think I posted this before but I'm drunk and lookingat flickr so I'm posting it again coz Megan's gorgeous.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1081/537193047_02651507c0.jpg

It's her birthday next week OMG where did a year go?

She really is gorgeous.

I love the boy I have beyond all sense, but I admit that I would have liked a girl as well.

I always said we'd have two boys close together then a gap then a girl. I'm kind of amazed it worked out exactly as planned. We had no idea we were having a girl until the birth. I'll never forget Anne's face when Megan was born, - she was scared to wish for a girl but when it became a reality it was amazing.

Boys are great too. I like that my two lads are still young enough to think I'm funny and clever and stuff and not just some guy.

Lately in my house it seems like the older Spencer gets, the dumber I become.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1238/1342568408_56c164fdc1_o.jpg

Taken by my husband. She had a rough day (on friday). I think she's more or less over it. But for a minute we feared teh urinary infection was back. I think it was just some bug or something cause my husband and I had/have it as well.

Oohhh these photos! Best thread ever. Cheered me right up I tell thee.

Also, the countdown now really begins. Braxton-Hicks and sleepless nights. *URGH* :-)

Yuk - but it'll be worth it!

Step on it Nath, there hasn't been an ILX birth for at least three weeks now!

Alice has become such a poser:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1036/1355559502_cda2be0ca4.jpg?v=0

I know! It's countdown to delivery. There is no escape. :-) Just got results back that my blood plates (?) and white bloodcells are a okay. So I needn't worry too much about bleeding.

Fun with animation...

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m261/disbister/Rockettes1.gif

Ophelia looks like a little angel.

And Alice is quite the ham! So gorgeous, that girl. And the rockette twins!

I am in love with all these babies today.

http://a505.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/82/m_344063b39a6f387467b8b4c98ce94280.jpg
http://a82.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/109/m_f28100f326f60d2a6759723f62298771.jpg

Cyrus and Rufus at the jobsite that is our new house.

More cuties! I loved the pics Scott posted on the other thread, Maria - especially the second one of Cyrus. So freakin' cute I can hardly stand it.

from BabyZone's Newsletter <newslet✧✧✧@babyz✧✧✧.c✧✧>
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date Sep 10, 2007 12:30 PM
subject When everyone's pregnant . . . except you

:(

all the babes above are just beautiful. that alice!

here's le beep on her 6 month b'day:

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/2253/6months2go2.jpg

Those EYES!

And Alice. <3 I really wish we could have a gettogether!

Step on it Nath, there hasn't been an ILX birth for at least three weeks now!

I suspect there'll be another one before too much longer.