I know there are a few of us Marchies about

ohh heres our logo yay!

Oh yay, Hello Marchies!!!!! xxx

Hello to the class of 2009!!! Even though Bethany didn't grace us with her presence until 3rd April - 12 days after her , I still always consider her a Marchie!!

Yes once a Marchie always a Marchie!

Oh god it's been so long since we said that Lisa. I'm feeling broodier than ever being back in the Marchie thread x

I saw that you and Dave have postponed TTC :-(

Booo to Dave! and Dan!

i was just going to ask if you were still TTC LisaG.

Have both your chaps had a wobble and backed out???

Look who I found

Our March babies are coming on strong hey ladies... including my delightful little minx (who was supposed to be a feb '09 baby but he was too cosy; let's hope this one doesn't follow suit and comes on time!)

Hope you're all well xx

Yeah Dave backed out as he thought Amelia was too young. I said that I think it'd be lovely as there would be a little over 2 years gap. What's wrong with that eh? He couldn't answer that question. Plus I'm not getting any younger. I'm 30 this year and if I want 3 children then I need to get a bit of a move on. I REALLY REALLY don't want to be having babies later in life as on both sides of our families there have been miscarriages in later life. That scares me.

Hello everyone, still not managed to change Dave's mind Lisa (G), hopefully he will come round soon. Lisa (Legs) were you hoping to ttc soon too?? xx

Hmmmm Dan hasn't never been IN to back out lol

He originally said something daft like 6 years, then it came down to 2 or 3

Arggh men!

Hello!!!

I think 2 yrs ish is a great gap; we're having a 21 month gap cos no 2 was quicker to conceive than no 1! I hope that by having them closer in age they play more together, school runs are simpler cos they are in the same place (though I'm already dreading the 2 yrs when Seb is at school and no 2 is at nursery), you get the disruption to your career over quicker, whilst you're pregnant no 1 is too young to demand to go do this-that-and-the-other all the time but makes do with whatever you feel up to doing, plus still has naps .... and you can start getting rid of all the baby clutter sooner, which I can't wait to do!!!

Only downsides are that we'll need a double buggy and a 2nd cot (Seb has a cotbed which is still in cot mode, I don't want to rush moving him). Oh and that pregnancy backache is a pain during nappy changes!

Ros

Yaaay - Ros made it over How'd you find us

Hidie hi

Seconded with the back aches, plus can't lift bean as much and we'll need a double buggy (I think? 23 month age gap) and are wondering if we'll get away with moses basket for 3 months-ish (by which time cot will be in cotbed mode) - then it will be baby into cot, Jonah into new bed... all very crazy and I'm sure we won't know what's hit us!

Have a sleepy baby at present, bye for now xxx

Hiya Jaffle - thanks for mentioning there was a March '09 post, or I'd probably not have got round to looking in this forum!

My reckoning on the cot / cotbed thing is that:
a) I'll be buying a new mattress for the new baby anyway.
b) We'll probably get a 2nd hand cot or cotbed, don't care too much what it looks like, whereas we'd want to spend some time on choosing a bed (and we currently have building work not due to finish until a few weeks after baby no 2 arrives, so can't buy any furniture at the moment)
c) Potty training will be easier (hopefully!) if Seb is in a cotbed in bed mode as he'll be able to get in and out of bed on his own, plus smaller bed means less bulky bedding to wash after accidents.

Plus I had a neighbour who moved no 2 into bed to make space for no 3 in cot, and after 3 weeks no 2 worked out she could get out of the bed in the night, at which point they went and bought another cot. Can't remember what their gap was between 2 and 3 but it was small, perhaps only 17 months.

I have a friend with a 2 yr gap who is still using her double buggy despite the elder son being 3.5 yrs (I was hoping to be able to buy it off her, but no such luck!). For the amount of walking I do I can't imagine not have a double, especially in the winter - don't want to be dawdling at toddler pace with a newborn when it is snowing!

Ros

Has anyone else noticed their LO having a big growth spurt?

Izzy was happily fitting in her 12-18 trousers til this week , now they all seem way too short all of a sudden, also her 12-18 vests and sleepsuit were ok and now they are tight!

I had moved her up to 18-24 tops already as the previous size had got a bit tight, but now she seems to have sprouted upwards!

D'you know, we bought some long sleeve vests form mothercare sized 18-24 months and I am surprised at how well they fit - the sleeves are a touch longer that average and the neck gapes a bit - so still a bit of growing room - but nowhere near as much as there is usually?!

I think bean has shorter legs so he wears smaller size trousers, so when they fit nicely length-wise I just have to make sure they aren't too tight waist-wise.

In terms of growth though I think his recent illness has had an effect - we had to drop a nappy size as he'd lost weight that quickly, so went to 4+ again. Just gone back up and seems ok, but his felt alot lighter and isn't quite back up to where he was yet. I'll have to try him on the wii - do 'baby weight' although daddy can do that as I daren't step on it at present!

Hope marchie babies and mummies are all well, just past the yr and 1/2 stage! xx

I always get MC vests but this time got 18-24 from Asda, and they are already snug!

I got 18-24 short sleeved vests from Asda and Tescos and the Asda vests are definitely smaller - I compared them (when brand new unwashed). They are fine at the moment but not generous.

Generally his 18-24 tops fit fine and trousers are too long, we have a reducing selection of 12-18 trousers that still fit, but it isn't reducing fast enough to suggest a growth spurt.

Ros

Hello March mummies - just thought I'd post and see if anyone had started thinking about second birthdays yet?! It's not on at all is it, I only just got my head around having an 18month old

We've got a couple of presents bought along with Christmas gifts (keyboard, race track book + other books) and a couple more things in mind (duplo set, then depending how aqua draw goes down at Christmas maybe a magnetic drawing board and possibly an easel...) to look out for in the January sales. Have already got some party bits even though it'll be a low-key affair with a 4-week-old addition!

But generally a bit stuck for ideas especially bigger things for gross motor skills rather than everything little and fiddly (a mix would be nice!) By March I think we'll try converting the smart trike to the next stage but other than that I can't think Plus little miss has bought an electronic alphabet / phonic toy bus thing for her big brother (scary thought!) for when she arrives - something hopefully engaging and has enough going on to distract and make up for the screaming baby... Just trying to not be tempted by too much 3+ stuff or I'll then be stuck for ideas again next year!

Hope alls well Ros - ticker says two weeks to go!!! xx

We're buying Seb as and when we see things and drip-feeding them, he hasn't got a Christmas present from us but I recently went to a 2nd hand toy sale and he got some stuff straight away (you can't easily hide a little tikes coupe car!) and I have a few jigsaws etc put away for later. I don't think he has the concept of presents yet so his sibling hasn't got him anything in particular.

As we have a large garden and he loves being outdoors he (& sibling) are getting a triple swing frame with swing seats for Christmas (frame already constructed since he has no idea what it is!), bought jointly by both sets of grandparents. OH is thinking of a climbing frame for the birthday, again with contributions from grandparents.

I'm not sure what age they generally start to use a scooter, but it might be appropriate for the coming summer. I remember a friend bought an inflatable football goal for her son's 2nd birthday (also a spring birthday) - it was quite a lot of effort to inflate though.


2 weeks to go - but no niggles, no signs of anything happening yet... Had to have a home visit thurs to check my BP as it had been up on tuesday; Seb enjoyed playing with the sample bottle, MW's mobile and MW's diary - BP was down fortunately.

Forgot to say - Seb loves my birthing ball! Definitely worth getting back out as a toddler toy, even for those that aren't pregnant.

RosP wrote:

Forgot to say - Seb loves my birthing ball! Definitely worth getting back out as a toddler toy, even for those that aren't pregnant.

^^ seconded! half-deflated is great ammusement too, as we found out yesterday

Glad all is well with you Ros, hope BP continues to behave itself and house decorating etc. is going ok too. Gosh, a new baby by Christmas!!

Thanks for ideas - might look into a couple more jigsaws - and might consider a swing too - and recommend a little tikes coupe to a grandparent Our current 'garden' is all paving and gravel though, not very baby friendly
Been doing some more thinking & browsing since posting and think we'll get a small goal / net for outside too - just a little one that can be put away easily - and buy him a couple of new balls at Christmas (maybe a light-up one or something too - can't go wrong with balls though!) as he has either squishy ones or full-on footballs (or the birthing ball!) and he's chewed through two mini footballs already...

This is a the race-track book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Noisy-Wind-up-Fire-Engine-Taplin/dp/0746091125/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290954030&sr=8-1
The keyboard we got is from Argos (had £5 voucher too.. nice) and this is the drawing board I like: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tomy-6687-Colour-Doodle/dp/B0019UQK4K/ref=sr_1_2?s=kids&ie=UTF8&qid=1290950414&sr=1-2

So other than those + duplo I'm still stumped - that's the thing with a birthday only a couple of months after Christmas though - ideas are used up and age-wise not much difference! Aiming to have either all bought or all ear-marked in the next couple of weeks though - I know it's still a few months to birthday but can't afford either last-minte stress or panic buying things he doesn't want/need/are expensive.

Toodles for now xx

Building work is still very disruptive, baby is better off staying put really, think (s)he knows! Absolutely no niggles yet whereas I'd had them by now with Seb, so not expecting the baby any time soon.

Actually had to move rooms with MW to do my BP due to builders' noise (I'd never noticed before but they listen to your pulse as well as looking at a dial), she didn't look impressed, student MW had failed to measure it. Loft currently exposed and lacking insulation, so bedrooms get to 13 deg C in the morning once the heating has been on for an hour - luckily Seb doesn't seem bothered, but we're putting a 2nd PJ top in the next size up on over his regular PJs. He's at nursery today which is nice and warm, I'm wearing a coat and sitting under a fleecy blanket!

The Little Tikes cars are on offer at JL at £37 but currently out of stock online. http://www.johnlewis.com/230587854/Product.aspx I paid £10 2nd hand which had the advantage of not having to assemble it from flatpack - the online reviews say this is hard work. A friend found one for £15 on ebay.

We're not buying too much, but I've just seen this - http://www.asda-entertainment.co.uk/dvd/thomas-friends-classic-collection-series-1-11-box-set-65th-anniversary-asda-exclusive/10217288.html I did get series 2 2nd hand but it was so scratched that only the first 2.5 episodes would actually play.

Ros

Oh look at the cutie Seb on your avatar Ros I'm impressed with MW doing home visits - ours are 1) useless 2) allergic to home visits and 3) a bit more useless for good measure.

Bean's room is down to 13 on cold nights - this house is dreadful, freezing in winter, too hot in summer, urghhh!
Think some dvd's are a good idea too, I looked at the 'uki' character that I've seen on Cbeebies (part of show me show me?) but for about 10 x 5-min episodes it's about £15! We'll stick to youtube
Gosh your due date is closing in fast - how you feeling about things? How you coping with big bump and fast toddler?! I'm already struggling!

Hope other Marchies are well, our little one's second Christmas is in 3 weeks already!! xx

Our MWs are allergic to actually doing their clinics at the surgery! We get a home visit if we need a check in between the weekly checks, then last week my MW was on study leave so no clinic, other MW at surgery was on annual leave so no clinic, so they sent someone to do a home visit - had to wait in all day but she came at 2pm so not too bad. To be honest I'd prefer to go to the surgery (20 min walk away in the centre of town) at a fixed appt time than to wait in all day.

It is hard work chasing Seb but I'm still managing (only had to retrieve him from the corridor outside playgroup about 15 times yesterday, he thinks it is a great game...), bump isn't too large fortunately. With the building work going on I still need to do things like vacuuming the stairs [almost daily] plus on a thurs/fri we have to go out morning and afternoon to playgroups etc so I'm on my feet a lot. I had Seb 4 days early but had lots of signs and still no signs yet so I guess I've got a while to go, which given the building work we've got going on isn't a bad thing (though I don't really want the b'day close to Xmas). Also we still don't have the whole week covered for babysitting so every thurs/fri I get nervous about what we would do, and my Mum who covers weekends emailed to say it could take her a very long time to get through due to snow (normally 2 hours drive away off-peak). I'm sure it will work out in the end; if it holds off until after the 10th Mum will have finished for Xmas (teacher in a private school) so at least she can cover daytimes and take over from a neighbour or whoever once she gets here. And if it holds off until the 15th apparently the delivery bit of the new maternity unit at our hospital will be open - hope we can find the way in (most of the unit doesn't open until next year). I have visions of standing in the carpark in the middle of the night with OH on the phone to delivery asking for directions!

Ros

PS Avatar pic was about a year old so I felt it was time to update!