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

Oh, it's been so long since I put anything on YouTube...Ivy (lovely name; if it hadn't been taken by a friend, we might have considered that for #2) is a joy and the twins...marvellous. It's hardly a fair contest when Ava wrestles Lulu but when you've two the same size...

I can't even work out how to edit these little .avi files on our laptop, so I don't think I can be bothered waiting for 36MB of Ava dancing to a Sesame Street song to upload and I think the dancing to Propaganda on TOTP2 is too dark... I should take more video clips outside! I'll put something up tonight though.

OK - this one features Ava shouting "Crescent moon" and making Lulu laugh like a drain while Julie London plays on the stereo.

And this one from a couple of months back features both gals getting into Captain Beefheart. And dad was having a dance too.

=) no baby yet. probably at least another few weeks to go.

Dicking about in Photoshop 7.0 Curves and even a Curves plug-in for Photoshop Elements 3.0 (which kinda famously lacks Curves) means I can now spend even more time making pictures of the kids look like they were taken on film... ;)

Ava engrossed in Letter Factory (for the 26th time...)

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1269/920781232_440eb2f8ac.jpg

Lulu blissing out to some coruscating digital filth:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1127/919918641_4f860eca25.jpg

I love how Lulu is just watching Ava like "say it again, say it again!" and then gets interrupted, "hello Dad! you're here, what are you doing with that thing?" and the delayed giggle when Ava starts crescent mooning again. This has totally made my day and I haven't even watched the second one yet.

And now I have - dancing with Daddy! So freakin' cute I can't handle it.

Oh, all these ilxor kids! It's so great.

Anyway, Nathalie how did you enjoy your child free week? I know we all love our kids to bits and everything but I have to say I very much enjoy the few days a year we get without them. I feel guilty a bit but the kids love it too and (I think) the grandparents do too.

At times it feels like walking with one shoe on and the other is missing. You can still walk, but, damn, it's strange. That said, we tried to make the "most of it" by going out most nights. I did enjoy the mornings: sleeping till 8:30! Woohoo! (half-jokingly) That said, I can't believe how fast time flew! She left on tuesday and tomorrow she's back. Wah?
Every day she emailed us a little message. Yeah, grandfather *typed* it. But isn't that the cutest ever? I found it so sweet of him to do this. We also called almost every day to check what she did and if everything was alright. As I expected, she enjoyed it. She went to the zoo, to her greatgrandmothers, going for walks and probably ate too many pancakes.
I enjoyed it, but I'll be happy she's back tomorrow.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1008/926662910_33621212de_o.jpg

sleeping on grandparents' bed. <3

(BTW I don't think there's ANY need to feel guilty. Of course you want some time for yourself. There's nothing wrong with that. People without children and children themselves would probably think it's a strange thing to say, but I understand. It doesn't mean you love your children any less!)

OH MAN is this thread ever making me want to have kids. I never thought I'd be like seriously hankering to have kids. We're gonna wait till we get graduate college, but man...

We're getting to go to Calistoga for 3 days/nights this coming weekend, courtesy of the mom-in-law and her sister. This will be my wife's first time away from the twins since they were born. I'm thinking we'll enjoy ourselves (we're planning on having a couple of over-the-top fancy meals and doing some wine tasting, and sleep-sleep-sleeping as much as we want!), but I'm sure we'll miss the little ones...?

In other news, we broke down today and got a bunch of gates and safety stuff. It's all pretty ugly and horrible, but... ya gotta do it, I guess.

Schwantz, I can highly recommend the Model Bakery in St. Helena for delicious treats.

guys i was just offered the interim job of manny to a <a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_lb4sYscOLw8/RmLP0i8n5nI/AAAAAAAAAI0/8KB_eHKuLiU/s1600-h/DSC00698.JPG";>2-yr-old</a>. (the parents are friends of ours.) i am an only child. i have never even had a pet. the one time i babysat her (a year ago) she basically screamed for two and a half hours except for the small period when i sang to her--then she was quiet but staring at me like wtf?

halp?

oops

Don't do it, that's IFC-style fight gear she's putting on.

On the other hand, you could duct-tape her to a chair and tell the parents "that's just manny bein' manny."

oh, i can take her. but she's got an impressive scream.

(not sure her parents know about manny r., but hiring me is a green light for the child saying 'pop')

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6920912.stm

Haven't had much time to post recently but glad all the ILX babies are doing well. Howie is great and is just learning to sit up. In a few weeks we will be starting on food which I'm looking forward to, I'm gonna try this baby-led weaning thingy 'cause he'll be 6 months and hopefully able to get to grips with finger food.

His eczema is still bad but we have a hospital appt for the end of August so hopefully some headway may be made then. Meanwhile we are co-sleeping for most of the night which does make it easier to cope with the disturbed sleep caused by his itching. Still, having been a determined 30-minute napper since about 8 weeks, he has just started having slightly longer naps (has been napping for about an hour right now). Which is nice.

Also if I can get away with a quick plug, myself and some friends with similarly non-sleeping babies have set up a blog about it at Sleep Is For The Weak,,,

meg, is he teething yet? we are waiting for 6 months before we start food too.

I wonder if any ilx parents use 'THE MAN' as a way of curbing their childs behaviour?

I hear this all the time and I think it's hilarous, but potentially damaging to the kids.

"Put that down, look, the man's coming!"

My friend has started it with her two year old girl, she says it works like a charm and so far the wee one hasn't shown any pathological fear of 'men'.

Isn't it better to teach her right and wrong yourself? I mused, but she becomes such a little angel when 'THE MAN' is around that I wonder if this is a good method after all....

We use "Leatherface is coming!" accompanied by the sound of chainsaws. If this means Ava grows up afraid of Leatherface and chainsaws, I think we've done her a favour. May lead to some difficulties when Daddy gets out the hedge trimmer though.

;)

I used to use "THE FOX" as the way to get my eldest daughter to do things, i.e. if she was dragging her feet in getting ready to go out, I'd say excitedly : "Quick, quick, put your coat on! THE FOX can't see you when you've got your coat on!". Distraction techniques are a good way to get toddlers to do things.

It worked well up to the age of about three, by which time she worked out the ruse for herself and realised with huge disappointment that she didn't actually own any magical invisibility coats after all. This made her sad.

No, I give Ophelia the "look." Trust me, if I use it on kids, they know I'm the MAN. If I push it hard, I could make'em cry. I use this in the shop when some brats don't want to keep quiet or keep touching things. That said, my friend was right when she warned me it would be harder to use on Ophelia. So I have been practicing. ;-)

Ophelia has officially entered tantrum stage. I can laugh with it, even when she throws a tantrum on the street. We usually put her on the ground so she can't hurt herself. Usually it's over in half minute,but those 30 seconds are a sight to behold. :-)

Since coming back from her grandparents, she has learned the noises of particular animals (Ranging from lions to ssssssnakes.) We decided to add the Zombie routine. We ask her:"What does a zombie do?" And then we stick out our arms and mumble "Brains! Brains!" She has started to join in more or less. I am not sure if it is to please us or make us stop. ;-)

You couldn't make children fear foxes in south west London otherwise they'd never be able to go out.

(p.s. Vic - just thought you'd want to know that Joanna had a healthy little girl this morning!)

When was Joanna due, wasn't it after me?!

That's what I thought too! Baby was 8 lbs 8 ounces so it doesn't sound like it was too early!

Seriously, Vicky, enjoy your last days as much as you can. I'm not saying that having a child ends the PHUN LIFE, but the first few months will be hellish due to sleep deprivation and wacky hormone levels. Having your first child is really learning how to swim in the deep pool without any help. I mean, you'll have people giving you tips, but it's a bit "HALP" most of the time. :-) How manay days are you *over* your due date? I was about four/five days late. Which is completely normal.

Only two days over, so not too bad at all. Have got plenty to keep me busy at the moment, so I'm pretty happy, it's just hearing about births from people due after me that get me all riled up!

I am enjoying my days, but it's a bit limited as to what I can do with them, given the SPD and my back and the fact that I can hardly walk upstairs without running out of breath! I'd love to blitz the house, but whenever I do a bit I just get really knackered. The internet has become even more of my best friend!

Vicky, I didn't want to come across as a pedant (?). I know when people told *me*, I wanted to scream. :-) Now I know better. haha Pedant I am, I guess. ;-)

Don't worry about it, I've had a really enjoyable day today! I was feeling really impatient early on in the week but you're right, I should be making sure I make the most of this me time cos it'll be a long time before I get any again!

Wish I could spend all my time asleep though! I'm just too uncomfortable, waking up in the middle of the night and not getting back to sleep and not being able to sleep in, it's as though my body is already preparing me for those night feeds and nappy changes!

Seriously. When I was in that last month and people would say to me "get plenty of sleep while you can!!" i'd want to punch them. have these people ever been 8-9 months pregnant? sleep=impossible.

i wonder if vicky has a babee yet?

Yes, you're right, I wanted to punch them in the face as well. The last weeks I didn't sleep for hours in the night time. Being pregnant a second time, I do still want to punch people in the face, but I also do sleep a lot more. Well, I try to anyway. I mean, I know what I'm in for. Which freaks me out a little - knowing I'll have two kids to take care of - but also I know there's a light at hte end of the tunnel. ;-)

I've been thinking about Vicky a lot, I'm pretty sure she's in the hospital! YAY!

Hey everyone, it's Pam here, wife of Mike and mum of Ava + Lulu. I'm posting under the husbeau's login since I don't have my own yet, but I've been lurking for a while and loving all of the pics of your gorgeous nippers, I've been meaning to contribute for ages. So I thought a fine way to say hello while I'm waiting for my own login from the moderators would be as the bearer of fabulous news about the arrival of Vicky and Chris's squirrel!

Aidan Paisley Brown was born at 12:20 this morning, weighing in at 8lbs 6oz, hurrah! They aren't home from the hospital yet and Chris has just sent me a picture from his phone which I can't seem to open. I'll post it soon if I can make it work!

xopam

Hurrah! Happiness to all! Welcome to Aidan and to Pam as well, as it were. :-D

awwww...aidan!! yay!

welcome, pam! your babies are absolutely beautiful.

CRESCENT MOON

Woohooo!!! Silly me is crying a bit!! :-D

She's leaving the hospital so soon???

... and a few days before her birthday!!! What a PRESENT!

Welcome to the world, Aidan! xxx

Congratulations on New Baby Aidan! Yay!

Congratulations Vicky and Chris and welcome Aidan! Ooh this is so exciting :)

Yay! Welcome Aidan! Look forward to seeing pics...

Hello everyone, I'll post a 3 minute old photo below... Vic and Aidan are still in the hospital, he's got a suspected chest infection (some fluid on the lungs)but in himself is absolutely fine, as is Vic (a little sore though). The doctors seem to be playing better safe than sorry though, we're waiting for tests to come back tomorrow, if they're ok, Vic gets a wonderful birthday present and they come home for cake, if not, they're in til Friday and the party moves to the hospital :(...

so, I'm just talking to vic now and we've been completely under-informed by the doctors (they didn't come and see us at all today which we saw as a good sign) and a 5 day stay is compulsory in such casses and they're not coming home til Friday, always nice to be told isn't it?

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1165/1022231539_931838225a.jpg
3 minutes old

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1058/1022237317_8ff9b7f81a.jpg
rocking out after 24 hrs

boo to having to stay in hospital yay to everything else!

haha i know it is silly to be excited by this but omg aidan looks totally like chris and vicky

Poor little lamb's just done his first projectile vomit, too! I'm liking this parenting lark, but would really prefer it at home... Am completely flouting hospital rules and posting from my mobile!

happy birthday vicky!

Congrats to the whole fambly!

yay! congrats!

and happy birthday!

Yay! Shout at the Devil! Congrats...

What a wonderful birthday present Vic, Aidan is just gorgeous! Sorry yor're still in hospital but hope you get some cake and presents in bed!