Hello Mudduh Hello Fadduh: ILX Rolling Parenting Thread

Trust me, the first few days and even weeks will be hard, but after that it really does get a lot easier. If you can't cope, get some painkillers and/or cream. I did and it made it a lot easier. The funny thing with my breasts: the right one is still struggling a little - Ophelia attacks it baracuda style - and during the night they get massive. You can prepare your breasts before your baby's born: try drying your nipples off with a *hard* towel for example.

Don't freak out when your baby vomits a bit of bloody milk, it doesn't harm her/him at all. :-)

What made it easier for me: I tried pumping milk twice. The midwives frothed at the mouth but I wanted to try it. I just wanted to have the choice. It was as if I wasn't allowed, as though *I* was the kid.

And, of course, congratulations!

The breastpumping is not as easy as I figured. First time it went excellent, this morning no milk at all. BOO. I'll need to pump when my breasts are at its fullest,namely at night.

I was going to write last night that the Miller/Edith pic almost made me blub but I feel much more robust this morning after a stroll up the hill, so none of that nonsense.

Thanks for your words of congratulation on the house move. Of course, the hard work starts now - how to strip wallpaper, fit hardwood flooring, replumb the bathroom, install central heating and generally decorate with a one-year-old running amok? It seems like we might be shelling out for some burly men to do most of it for us, which wasn't the plan. Another reason why I wish we'd moved when we were supposed to (Sept/Oct) - Ava wasn't as mobile.

She's not sleeping quite as well and (inevitably, having had the briefest of contact with another child) she's ill again - bad nappy rash and chesty cough. I think this is something that we all just have to endure - from 6 months on they stumble from one variant of the cold virus to another like they're trying to collect the whole set.

And God, she is loud thesedays. I presume she's just testing her voice but I really should dig out the SPL meter and see what she can manage. Really explosive shrieks.

Edith is getting louder too, and she hauls herself up in her cot, the better to scream.

Gah, today I'm feeling tired and I also have a terrible headache. :-(

Now I need some advice, any ideas will help even if your kids are a lot younger. My nine-year-old's eating habits are atrocious. We sit down at the dinner table every night, and both my husbad and I have reasonably good table manners. It has taken forever to pound into her brain that she needs to put her napkin in her lap, not talk with food in her mouth, chew with her mouth closed, etc... We usually have to remind her about these things once a night. But that's okay, I realize she's a kid and the habits will be learned eventually (even if it's taking years and years). The problem is that if we're eating a dish that she really likes, she eats like she's never had food before. She shovels it into her mouth and barely stops to chew. It's disgusting to watch and she usually reverts back to the shoveling a few minutes after I've told her to slow down. And then when we have community snacks, she does the same thing and acts very selfishly. Like we had a bowl of popcorn last night and she kept grabbing handfulls and handfulls and shoving them into her face, she was kind of bent over the bowl and guarding it, too. I told her to only take a little at a time THREE TIMES before my husband blew up and sent her to her room. I don't understand where this is coming from with her. I'm not selfish about food, sometimes when we go out for breakfast I eat only half of mine because I've given up most of my meats to the kids. And she's always had plenty, we're fairly well-off and there has never been the threat of no food. She's not overweight, either. This only happens when it's a food she really likes. I don't think this is a problem she needs to go to therapy for, or anything, but I'm looking for ideas on how to get her to realize what she's doing and to slow it down.

Rebekkah - can you covertly video her? Granted, a 9 year old isn't too concerned with appearances, but seeing herself might trigger something. We used a "fork down" rule (utensils are put down between bites) and the "this is soooooo good, I'm going to make it last" strategy, by example and when our kids were very young. The second can have the negative repercussion of never getting to leave the table because someone is really stretching out their cheesecake with the tiniest of nibbles.

I agree. I don't want to discourage her eating at all. Especially since she's not overweight and she's very active. She needs all that energy and food. But she also needs to chew between bites and stop for air sometimes. I'm going to try the fork down method you suggested. Maybe after a few months she'll have learned how much better it is to enjoy the food you love.

http://img464.imageshack.us/img464/6043/02080009pshop4x68bk.jpg

My biggest fear with the 2 year old is that he will throw something at her while she sleeps in her chair.

We've got a new baby coming in September, hopefully a wee sister for these two.

http://static.flickr.com/21/24709235_b3a6a5aa81.jpg

So three little Onimos, that's enough to do Faith-era Cure and all.

ROFL!

Onimo, congratulations (on having sex and getting her pregnant)!

Today Ophelia had her hearing test. The cutest little headphones you EVAH saw. I couldn't take a picture as I had to keep her in my arms. Her hearing is fine. Only she has really bad acne, which should disappear in a few weeks. BUt it looks as bad as mine did when I was 14 yrs old. ;-) The woman also said that I should try to stretch nightly feedings. *shrug* I don't really want to push her just yet. As long as she doesn't cry, I don't really mind getting up every two hours. It's just when she cries that I worry and become grumpy in the morning. :-)

If you don't take a picture of them, made up as the front cover of Pornography, I am never speaking to you again.

Onimo's house, later this year:
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0000261EG.03.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

(note to self: googling "pornography" = not a good idea)

http://static.flickr.com/34/95772449_c8274aaf61.jpg?v=0

Nathalie, that is one cute kid.

breakfast:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/gypsyfrocksbedlam/11_11_0002.jpg

re my baby: thanks for the kind words. she didnt get the cuteness from me, that's for sure! :-)

I bought a bunch of burt's bees diaper ointment (factory seconds are on sale from the website) and it's great, works as well as anything I've tried and has a lovely rosemary smell, it's like cuddling up to roasted potatoes.

I am trying to evaluate diapers and see which brands work best, some of my friends prefer pampers over huggies, some others say that wal-mart's brand is the only generic brand worth anything. Right now I'm just buying whatever I have a coupon for. Any thoughts from the ile parenting massive?