50'000

Well look at that - 50K have visited this page. THANK YOU to everyone that popped in and a very big THANK YOU that let yourself be seen and heard. I love posting (clearly, try stopping me) but I really love reading people's reactions.


This month I am one of the guest bloggers at http://www.hdydi.com/ a multiples blog. I shall be posting every Tuesday. The tone is light and cheerful just in case you didn't want another dose of my self pitying !!

Today, kids are much better. They were very clingy and I was a little too relieved to get to work (!) but all in all I think things will be fine today. I hope Pip warms to the nanny a little. He is very loyal to super nanny.

I am sitting in my office. It is quiet and I have Chopin playing quietly in the background. There are fires and troubles flying into my inbox but I know what they are now. They are events that will pass, one way or another. They are not needy kids, crying kids, insecure kids, hungry kids, bumped and boo-boo'd kids. My heart doesn't lurch or leap as I hear the pings.  This is one of the best things about motherhood. 

Happy Birthday to me.

Its my birthday. At 4am this morning both kids went ballistic. That was the start of hell day. The nanny didn't get the naps right (she's a stand in for when super nanny returns from vacation) so both kids were out of sorts and really tired when...

...we went for their one year appointment. Oh yes, the one with all the shots.

Holy shyte and lipstick.


Two hours! The appointment took two sodding hours. The kids got shots in both arms and then we had wait and wait and wait for the lab chick to give them the blood test.

Needless to say, two seriously screaming kids sent the stand in nanny into "lets just take them home" mode.  Not frikkin helpful.

Pip doesn't like nanny stand in and screams and cries when she is near him. He just want me. ALL THE TIME.  And boy, can this boy whine ...wwwwwhhhhhiiiinnnnneeee

So, right now, I'm about ready to kill someone or something.

Deep breath.

Happy bleeding birthday to me.

Not got milk

What is the deal with real milk? My guys barely drink 6floz of the stuff during the day. When I googled (oh yes, that wealth of accurate information) everyone was saying 18-24oz per day.

My guys just don't wanna.

What to do?

They do eat lots of yogurt. A couple a day. They are also eating real food  - chicken etc. And they love water. I get to chat to the doctor about it next week at their one year check up but would love your thoughts.

CIO - no really. I mean it this time.

Last night I got home around 1am from San Fran and walked into the kids room. Fooooooooolish. I went to bed 30 mins later with them still screaming. I lay awake listening to the diminishing cries wondering why on earth I just spent 30 mins trying to shush them to sleep!
It kills me to hear them cry but who am I kidding. Get out of the room and let them sleep. DH zzzzz'd through the whole thing. I love that man.

Since wondernanny is on her annual leave I am on mamma duty which, if truth be told, I am secretly delighted about even if I am exhausted. If they wake up in time we have the amazing music class (trombones, piano's, tasty snack) and then home to get ready for the typhoon or whatever is heading our way.

Question of the week: I need food ideas for the kids. They are 12 months and seemingly eat anything.

Sleep training ... AGAIN

I seem to be always awake these days. If it isn't the kids its the damn cats or the job. I love my cats but it's a good thing they are old. I don't love my job but hey, it pays the bills.

I slept at the hotel for 12 hours. We were both snoring by 9pm!  Oh the sleep was just glorious. I didn't even dream.

Back home now and we have launched into sleep training again. Last night they went down fine but at 3am (or was it 4am?)  Mimi was hollering. I went in and hushed and kissed her but didn't pick her up. She settled down pretty quickly but wouldn't go back to sleep. If I tried to leave the room she would set off again.  Eventually at 5am she woke up Pip and so the day began.

We are all wiped.

I want my sleeping kids back. I want my little kids that yawned and told me it was bed time and stayed there.

Tonight I'm doing the interval thing. YIKES. If a 4am you hear two wailing sounds, a cross between a small animal being tortured and siren - that would be us.

Go the f**k to sleep

If you have itunes and you have the desire - download the book Go the F**k to sleep. It's pretty darn funny.

What is not funny is Mimi waking up and screaming multiple times in the night. What is going on?? I try and soothe her in her crib with binky and bear, which up until now has always worked. Now? Nooooo. I end up rocking her in the chair for an hour.

She has a cold. The weather is funky. She is transitioning off formula. She is starting to walk. She has a sweaty head. What is it????

I get a break tomorrow night tho. My wonderful, dear and beloved friend gave us the best Year 1 present ever. A night in a really great hotel, a massage and breakfast in bed. We can't actually afford to eat diner at the hotel so we are going to the pizza shop over the road!!!
Only one more night to get through before sleep, glorious sleep.

The no good birthday gift ...

 ... a heavy cold. Thanks to the arse of a parent that brought their petri dish child to my kids first party. Damn my kids are SNOTTY!! Thing 1 & 2 are troupers tho. Last night they had temperatures and aches and the whole kit and caboodle. A few shots of magic English medicine (calpol) and snores for three / four hours at a time.

At 5am they were up again and we played in their room. I was so relieved that they felt better. Since the mornings are darker now it was really cozy what with their little side light on and the radio playing low. Then at 6am they went back to bed to sleep. So did I ... till 10.30am!!! Late for work is an understatement. 

It's funny how something as simple as a cold brings out the anxious nature in me. I worried all night - even when I was asleep. I guess the lack of sleep over the past couple of nights has taken its toll also. Mimi has been up and screaming for hours in the wee hours every night. I finally worked out she was cold.  Mother of the year. Not.

Happy 1st Birthday!!

We did it !!! We all got to through the first year. YIPEEE

We had a lovely party today - cake and coffee and pin the tail on the donkey. DH took so many photo's which I  will try and find and post (there is one at the end of the post...look down... there you go).
We had a Dr Seuss theme which everyone loved - lots of funky food etc. As you can see the kids wore Thing 1 & 2 t-shirts,  which looked so cute.

There were no melt downs or accidents even with my friends kids. It was a great mix of little kids, middle sized and big kids. We even had the UK contingent via Sk.ype (crazy SIL wanted me to break away from the kids party to concentrate on them!).  Great experience and wonderful memories. Who could ask for more?

It was so much fun blowing up balloons, the streamers and the paper plates. Man, having kids means you get to do all this cool kid stuff!  Right now, the kids are wired on cake (they only got a tiny bit but sugar is sugar) and so DH is trying to zen them into submission! Both DH and I are introverts (sorry kids) so after the party DH went to bed and slept for 3 hours!! I cuddled with Mimi while Pip passed out.

Oh, and the kids had real cow's milk at diner time - they both loved it. Wow. We are moving on!!

Thank you all for your support and friendship through this first year. It has made the world of difference.

This photo is Mimi and Pip post birthday chill out ...

Singing, chatting, meowing, worming

Yes, we have the weird kids that learnt to speak cat before human words. Actually Pip can grunt like a pig and Mimi meows but hey, animals it is.

Pip still likes to go around in circles on his bum when not scooting off marine style to some unclassified area of the apartment, like our bedroom or the cats litter box. Mimi took a few little steps but she is a little under confident about the whole stand up and walk thing.

I think Mimi will be the first to actually speak words. I swear she said breakfast this morning but I'm so sleep deprived (due to a neurotic cat) that she probably just burped.

I looked at my kids this morning and thought - right, time to step it up in the fitness front. Yesterday after a marathon baby day (20 hours more or less) I was totally knackered. So tired and achy. So today I took a snow day and went to the gym. I actually ran/stumbles/staggered/walked for about 40 mins. It felt great. Next step is joining a yoga class for flexibility. I feel like we have some active toddlers growing here at home and I need to be ready.

On another note - Mimi has ringworm. The doctor doesn't seem to be bothered at all. It sounds so Victorian. Ringworm! Anyone else out there been down this road?? 

Award time...

Sprogblogger (or Sproggie as I fondly think of her) gave a few of us a bloggie award which I LOVE getting coz my ego is clearly crappy!

THANKS SUSAN!

The rules are the name 7 random things about oneself and nominate 7 bloggers.

OK

7 bloggers that I think are bloggers with substance (I could name many more):
Best when used +1 (http://bwub.wordpress.com/)
Losing Kara  (http://losingkara.blogspot.com/)
Barren Babe (http://barrenbabe.blogspot.com/)
As good as it gets (http://chhandita-phoenix.blogspot.com/)
Eggs OOT http://hopebpatient.blogspot.com/
Mama Bird (http://www.mamabirddiaries.com)
Art of Being IF (http://artofbeinginfertile.blogspot.com)

What I admire about these bloggers is the level of skill in expressing themselves, even when discussing really hard personal topics. They manage to create an emotional landscape that is rich and fascinating without being self pitying or overly dramatic.

Alrighty - 7 random things about me.
1. I have massive voice range. Bottom A to top E (doesn't sound good but its big)
2. I've read over 1000 plays. When I was a kid I wanted to be an actor or director and would read plays all the time.
3. I can sit on my heels but not touch my toes.
4. I'm funny but can't tell a joke
5. I'm afraid of the dark but need it to sleep!
6. Hopelessly disorganised - I have about five notebooks on the go at any one time and if I put something down I lose it
7. I read people magazine at the hairdresser the other day and didn't one single celeb in there. 

Feckin' update

I called the stroller company (thanks Kathy!) and all is well. It was a break thingy and a roller disk whachyamacallit and now we have a smooth running stroller. Whoop!

I was really worried we would have to buy something or replace something coz you know it would end up costing hundreds of dollars. But - crisis averted.

I haven't bought anything for the kids in ages. It seems to have slowed down. Or maybe its because they have a birthday coming up and I assume we shall get swag from that? My dear friend has given us a great birthday present for the kids - a night in a swanky downtown hotel for the parents! I cannot wait since Mimi is having sleeping problems (this after boasting on HDYDI.com that my kids don't have sleep problems).

I wonder if she has started dreaming? It could also be that we are weaning her off a 9pm bottle. Pip hasn't had the late bottle for ages but she seems to wake up hungry in the night (or that's the only reason I can think of).  Mind you, she doesn't drink the whole bottle so I am just making the shyte up.

Any ideas dear readers?

Did your kids every have a 11 month, 12 month sleep pattern change?

Wobbly Wheels

For fecks sake. I spent more on the stroller than any other piece of monkey business and the feckking thing has a wobble wheel that looks like its going to drop off.

Feck feck feck feckity feck

Reason to be irritated beyond belief
1. the thing is expensive and you 'get what you pay for' apparently so I paid a lot for crapped out wheel mechanism
2. The place we bought from can take our money and run and there is nothing I can do about it
3. See 2
4. I am married to a photographer. If it doesn't take a photo he cannot fix it.
5. I am not handy but will have to attempt to fix it
6. Well, I'm lazy so I just can't have more shyte on my to do list.

I am do lazy I can't be bothered to write any more on the list!

We have a Baby Jogger City Select Double. Any trouble shooting advice more than welcome. From anyone. Even if you don't have a stroller. Or kids.

feckin wobbly wheel is the big one at the back