Hi ladies, just thought I'd move us along since our babies are all turning 1! Bring on toddlerhood!

Hi Hayli

Just found this - can't believe they are one already!

Wow we're Mummies to toddlers (well Emily's not one until Saturday, but almost) !

I'm in denial LOL! Emme isn't walking yet so technically isn't a toddler! I'm keeping her my baby as long as possible.

I'm so glad you found this girls! I set it up and then meant to go over to the other thread to let you all know it was here but got distracted by little people

Hi girls, long time no see.

How is everyone going?

We're pretty good, Blair turned 1 3 weeks ago, we had a joint party for the boys the other week and they had so much fun.

Blair is walking all over the place, I can't believe how quickly my baby is growing up.

AF finally returned so we are jumping on the TTC wagon very soon, just waiting 1-2 cycles and have to have a few pre-TTC checks first.

I hope everyone is well, how crazy is it that our babies are 1!!!

Soooooooooo how are all our bubs going?

Jayden is going well, finally getting up on his knees to stand when against things, but still commando crawling

Now that he is more mobile he has got a bruise on his head and scratches on his knees and sometimes hands. But he is having a good time, and he is a little more independent at times, which is nice for me so i can do other stuff! Plus we finally had to lower the cot mattress too as he was standing up in his cot!

He seems to really love his food at the moment, he screams when whatever hes eating (usually the stuff i spoon feed him) is gone.

At the moment he has farex museli with apple for breakfast made with full cream cows milk, sometimes i mix in some pureed fruit in as well. He seems to love this stuff!

Lunch he has a sandwich with strawberry jam, zucchini slice or very occasionally he will have stuff like fish fingers/chivken nuggets/ potato gems. So lunchtime i like him to feed himself.

Dinnertime he has the canned/jarred baby food that i feed him. Usually afterwards he will have some cut up watermelon and a milk arrowroot.

He does have some snacks during the day but usually hes not all that interested unless its a biscuit He dosent seem interested in drinking water/milk during the day, but still has 3 bottles a day.

Other than that we have had lots of rain here, and I havent started my xmas shopping! I think we have been seemingly nominated by other family who have excuse after excuse not to have xmas at their place, to have xmas at our house which we really didnt want as we did it only the year before last, and plus its been a big year for us with Jaydens baptism and birthday. Plus just doing the frozen IVF cycle, we are very limited money wise

Im just not feeling the xmas spirit yet...

Sounds like Jayden is doing really well Janelle.

I am not overly excited about Xmas yet either. I have done all our shopping but we have Cate's 3rd birthday party this weekend so getting stuff done for that at the moment. Then I will have to think about packing our bags for Sydney. Really not looking forward to the flights - esp as we have stopovers. But the direct flights leave so early in the morning that I really didn't want to have to drag the kids out of bed that early.

Charlie is going along OK. We had a great week of him sleeping for 2.5 hours for his day sleep but he has gone backwards the last couple of days so I think it is time to move the time out a little bit again. Most people say they don't get consistent long sleeps until the sleep is 12pm or later so will keep pushing towards that. Must say I am loving the one sleep now though. Can do so much more out and about.

Had his needles on Tuesday and is just starting to get cold like symptoms now so not sure if needle related or teeth or something else completely.

Happy Birthday to Daniel! Sorry it is late.

We have been pretty flat out here. Today JJ had his ADNOS assessment and has been diagnosed with ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) so at least we will have access to more help now. It is a bit of a relief. How are the rest of you going? Emme has been very cute! She has been very clingy again but did have a 3 hour nap today!

Cam - It must be a bit of a relief to have a final answer for JJ. I must admit I don't know a lot about ASD but presume there is a big range that can be diagnosed? Where to from here for you guys and JJ?

Both my kids have got horrible coughs and colds again and have been super cranky.

Hi ladies,

Just dropping by to let you know Daniel's party on Saturday went well. The jumping castle we hired was a big hit! He was spoilt rotten I am having trouble finding places for all his new toys.

Go Jayden! I'm glad you mentioned about the drinks, Daniel barely drinks anything and he's down to two 200mL bottles a day. Apart from that he only has tiny sips of water with meals- is that enough? Christmas shopping... I haven't started either- apart from Daniel's stuff.

Sara- I've just moved Daniel out to the 12 month routine, he was well and truly ready for it. I really should've done it earlier but there was so much going on. Instead of mucking about for ages he's straight to sleep at 10:15 and has been sleeping until 12:15 or beyond.

Cam- So what sort of services will you have access to?

Just wanted to pop in and give big hugs to Cam for JJ's diagnosis It's been a very long road for you to get to this point and it's so great that he has bee diagnosed so early, the earlier the intervention the better hey

And congrats to all of the 1 year old babies!!!

Camilla, that is great that you now have a diagnosis to work with.

Lily is doing great, she just gets cuter everyday and everyday I wonder if I love her more and more
She's still having 2 day sleeps and definitely still needs them. Would love to move to the 1 to be able to get out easier, but oh well, I do like my time at home to do things and have some down time. She is sleeping about 1.5 hours each time.
Eating is going fine and she'll eat most things. And loves to chuck food off the highchair tray
Still no further developments with walking, not keen on it still. She can do it and will do it if we coax her, but won't take the initiative on her own. She is however very confident with climbing up and down off the lounge now. Freaks me out when she does it but she's fine.
Water, Lily seems to drink a fair bit, but she's down to 2 BF a day and I don't think she's having very much before bed. I'm thinking about weaning as I don't see the point anymore.
I don't want to jinx myself, but she's slept through the whole night every night for the past week! Loving it!!!

We've painting and getting our house ready to sell at the moment so that's been fun trying to keep Lily entertained while we're doing that!

Camilla - I'm glad you finally have a diagnosis. This should mean access to lots of support for you and JJ.

Gosh Ali, you sound busy at the moment! Yay for the sleeps ins your getting.

Janelle - Sounds like Jayden is doing well!

I'm sorry I havent been around as often. Im finding my two a real handful at the moment . Annabelle is so incredibly naughty (drawing all over herself, climbing, sitting on Louis, making huge messes etc) and Louis is incredibly clingy - I cant leave him alone for a minute and he wont go to anyone else, not even dh! Our house looks like a bombs hit it and we have so much on this month its insane. I'm actually looking forward to January.

I dont think Lou will be walking independetly anytime soon either. He happily walks around the furniture but wont even attempt to walk holding onto someone's hand. He has two bottles a day - morning and night with less than 100ml per bottle. He has lots of water through the day though. He's coming up with lots of language though - ta, cheese (when he sees the camera ), hello, bye, nana, mum, dad, bub, car.... there are more but I cant think at the moment.

Hayli - I know exactly how you feel. We have had a few of those periods in the last few months. The toddlers just seem to get worse and worse as they head towards the age of 3. I am dreading what the next year has to bring. Our house is a constant bomb site during the day. I have given up trying to do any cleaning at all during the day other than put some dishes in to the dishwasher and hang some clothes on the line. THe rest is just too hard and I find it makes the days worse if I am hung up on trying to get stuff done instead of concentrating on the kids. They get cranky and I get cranky about not getting my stuff done. So I gave up trying and just do a clean up at 7pm when they are in bed or run around whislt DH baths them.

Charlie sounds like Louis in the walking department - happily cruises the furniture and walks with a walker to hold onto but that is about it.

Sara - It is a very wide spectrum and he is right on the edge so they think the treatments they have planned for him should be very effective. From here it will be lots of speech therapy and psychology to help teach him social skills.

Simone - I have just sent off the paperwork to access funding for him. We are eligible for $6k per year for the next two years and access to playgroups and parenting courses etc. The funding goes towards psychology and speechies and other therapies.

Nicki - Thanks for the support.

Ali - Wow busy busy! Good luck with the painting and selling.

Hayli - I hear you on the troublesome toddlers! ARGH! J does some really naughty things sometimes and I just don't know where he gets the idea from. This morning I found him wrapped in a new roll of Christmas wrapping paper! ARGH!

Emme is hardly drinking any water but she is trying now. She sucks it in but then it dribbles out her mouth. She still has quite a few BFs a day which I think makes up for that for now. She can now walk a little way holding just one of our hands and can sometimes stand without holding on. She has been waking at least twice a night lately and often ends up in bed with us because I am just too tired to keep trying to settle her. We had her eye check up today and that is all good. Such a relief to get through these things. I'm almost conditioned to think that every time we are going to hear something bad.

Awww i miss you guys! This thread hasnt been active in 10 days

I guess we are all super busy with christmas and stuff? Less than 1 week out from xmas im not feeling it at all. I dont know why, we have had so much going on lately that I guess I havent had a chance to even get into the spirit. I want to for Jaydens sake, but hes too young to know any different yet anyway.

I hate hosting xmas lunch at our house. And it got dumped on us by family, so yeah thanks for that! I knew there was a chance I would be pregnant by xmas, so thats why i didnt want to do it!

Oh so yeah, most of you know through Facebook, but yes Im pregnant!! Super early, and as with when i was pg with Jayden, super scared its not going to work out, but its just part of it all hey? So far feeling good! Already very much have pregnancy brain, lots of cramping (which is totally normal, i know, but still worried ) We are so excited!!

Jayden hast been himself for the last week, hes not sick, so it has to be teething i think? Hes not eating, not drinking 2 out of the 3 bottles a day. So im worried about him, but theres really not much i can do to help him other than wait it out. He is currently getting one of his top front teeth, and the 2 bottom front teeth. The top one has cut in the last day or so, and the bottom ones are sooo close, its going to be any day.

Hes been so clingy, whingy and cranky, its not been fun. Especially when im trying to lay low and take it easy. Work has been so full on, ive been getting loads of hours, and its exhausting. And they tell me to expect to get even more in the new year as some of the younger kids move on, fun times!

I bough Jayden one of THESE (click for link) today, im so excited about it, i think hes really going to love it!! He dosent have anything like it, and I wasnt expecting to buy it as our Target never has anything good, especially now with Xmas, and they currently have minimum of 25% off all toys so they have nothing left at all!

He definitely has enough toys as it is, I can only imagine what this place will look like after the Christmas present influx thats soon to hit!

Congratulations again, I'm so jealous, but so happy it was first time lucky for you again!

I have no Christmas spirit yet either- I had an argument with my MIL about Christmas day so that sucked a lot of the enthusiasm I had for it.
Poor Jayden hope he feels better soon.

We are going along well, we just had out 1 year needles and he went ok with those. Janelle was also going to mention D's down to 2 bottles a day and often only has about 150ml in each.
Like Lily he can walk short distances when he feels like it but for the moment reverts to crawling when he's in a hurry to get somewhere. I'm not fussed as I know he can do it, though at 10kg he's getting heavy to carry around so in a way I would rather he started to walk everywhere!
He's getting more talkative and communicative every day, sometimes when I put him to bed he laughs and giggles to himself for awhile before he goes to sleep.

BUT he is getting so naughty!!! He bites me at time, and if I tell him no he laughs and thinks it's a game. I've even tried tapping him on the hand and saying no, but then he thinks that's a game and will tap me back Karma bit him (literally) yesterday though when his cousin bit him on the shoulder!!! I asked him how he likes it.
Another annoying thing- he just will not lies still and let me change his nappy anymore- I have to hold him down with one hand and try to single-handedly change the nappy with the other.
He is turning into such a little boy, where did my little baby go?

Lily is the same. Thankfully she's not naughty too often, but when she does that's what she's like. I find the only thing I can do is distract.

On the positive, she's just so lovely and fun a lot of the time. I just love her to bits She'll play peek a boo and chasies with me and if I giggle at her she copies me. So much fun stuff to do with her now!

She's started walking around holding on to me with only 1 hand now, and even then I don't think she needs it, it's more a safety net. And she'll let go when she gets close to furniture. So hopefully shouldn't be long.

Well, Lily is totally weaned now. The only thing is is that she's not really replaced it with drinking milk, she has a few sips and that's about it. I've tried bottle and sippy cup. I'm not overly concerned as she's still sleeping through the night, she's eating plenty and she drinks lots of water. I give her dairy in her food. I just find it strange that she doesn't want it.

I'm finally getting in the Christmas spirit a bit. Most of our house is painted now so was able to get some decorations up. Except I've now decided that I want to buy Lily something else. (Janelle, I can't believe you bought Jayden MORE stuff!!!, that boy has everything!) I've got a few bits and pieces. Going to check out kmart to see if they have any nice dolls, otherwise might stop off at a shop on the way to my parents for Christmas (shops on Christmas eve... eek!) and go the the ELC shop there. Thanks for the tip Sara, I saw a nice doll online.

Janelle - Jayden will LOVE it! We got one for J for his first Christmas and it is still going strong for both kids. Emme really loves it too! I'm SO excited for you and am sending you lots and lots of Sticky vibes ~~~~~~. I hope you get a chance to put your feet up on Boxing Day and enjoy your little family. It is such a crazy time of year and really hard when you aren't feeling so great and really should be taking things a bit easier but you can't. I'm no help with Jayden's eating and drinking but Emme has been going on and off her food for a while too. I'm just keeping an eye on her nappies for now. She is definitely growing and getting chubby so something is going okay.

Simone - Oh you are good! I keep forgetting about the 1 year old needles. I suspect I'll put them off again like I did with JJ. He only had his just before he turned 2 when he started daycare. Our family medical history makes it a really tough decision for me with these big ones. Sorry you had a blue with your MIL. It really isn't fun at Christmas time but it always seems to happen around this time of year. I have been considering the nappy pants for Emme as she has been such a wriggler for nappy changes! She is also just around 10kg but as I'm used to JJ's 21kg she still feels light LOL. We also have the biting! It drives me nuts! Emme has had a few taps on the hand too when she continued to play with a powerboard that had to be somewhere for a little while! ARGH!

AFM - Emme is obsessed with being outside and playing with balls. Yesterday she surprised me with the way she played with a trainset that was up for JJ. She actually ran the trains up and down the track like they are supposed to go! She has started saying "Josh" really clearly which is cute. Still having a crap time with sleep in this house but one day it will sort itself out! We still aren't walking but she can walk a little bit holding onto one finger and is slowly getting a bit of confidence not to have to hold on while she is standing up.

Ali- It must just be the age

Cam- Just wanted to get them out of the way so I don't have to worry. How is everything going with Emme? I think of her often.
I don't think the nappy pants will fit Dan- he's got such skinny little hips.
She sounds like she is going really well. I was surprised with the walking, I thought once they did it a bit they'd take off. It's not been like that at all. Daniel puts it in the too hard basket for most of the day, though I have noticed that he has made attempts to climb lately.

So what are all the babies getting for Christmas?

Daniel is getting a smart Trike, a Wiggles DVD, a xylophone, a puzzle and the entire Dr Seuss set. I didn't want to go nuts because I know mum and dad have a couple of large FP toys for Christmas as well.

He got so much for his birthday when I got out his Christmas layby I actually returned some stuff, our house is only small and I just don't have room for piles of stuff! And of course, after all the fancy toys were unwrapped, his unrivalled favourite toys remain two Wiggles puzzles I bought from Woolies that cost $5 each, that he's chewed the faces off, while the expensive toys go largely unused

I forgot to mention before that we went to the Wiggles concert on the 18th. Daniel was beside himself he was that excited. He kept turning round on my lap to look at me with this massive grin on his face as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. So cute

Simone - Everything is going really well with her. She has her next scan in February so I'm just waiting for the paperwork for that in the New Year. The nappy pants are meant to be adjustable like the pull ups so you can make them tighter once they are on if you need to but I'm not 100% sure. How cute at the concert! I loved that Emme went nuts when Dorothy came on stage LOL. She didn't really care about the rest of them but Dorothy she loves. She was the same a few months ago when we went to the Dorothy concert.

As for presents! Emme is getting a Jessie Doll (from Toy Story) but she will be put away for a while. She is getting a My Pal Violet (I have already connected it and downloaded her name etc into it) and a ball pit. She is getting a Tiny Coupe ride in cars from Grandma and ride on fisher price horse thingie from Nan & Pop. Oh and she is getting a FP Cash Register, a swimming costume set and a few other things. I feel bad because JJ is getting SO much more than her. I have found it really hard to find presents for Emme because J has already been given so many things that suit her already.

Oh and I was so excited! This afternoon Emme was holding a bottle cap in one hand and was putting the bubble blower in and out of the bubble solution without holding onto anything! I think she thought the bottle cap was the table and she was perfectly stable for over a minute until she realised that she wasn't holding on LOL. She is getting the hang of squatting down too which is really exciting. Maybe we will get our first steps on Christmas!

Lily is getting a doll with a doll cot (bought one of the FP ones similar to what Emme has Camilla), jack in the box, magna doodle thing, some threading sewing spool thingos and a couple of books. In her stocking she's getting a few Little People figurines and crayons. Not sure what family are getting her, I think my parents are getting a paddling pool but not sure what else? I feel bad now because I've probably only spent about $70 on her! But I hate having stuff everywhere and at the end of the day she just loves playing with pegs and random stuff from around the house.

Is Lily the only child who wouldn't know who the wiggles are? In fact she wouldn't know any characters from any tv show I just never think to turn the TV on. In between sleeping, eating, various activities and shopping and other errands, there's not a whole lot time left in the day. She seems perfectly happy playing with stuff during other times. Oh well, she doesn't know yet what she's missing out on!

Nope shes not. Jayden has no interest a all in anything TV related. Sometimes i wish he was one of those kids who would happily sit in front of the TV for a while to give me a break, but no, never works.

On the TV thing - with an older sibling I think the TV is on a bit more. J is obsessed with his TV shows (one of his "quirks") and sometimes it is easier to just have it on than have the tantrum when you turn it off. Emme LOVES Waybuloo and any of the shows with characters with big eyes . I feel bad we have the TV on a lot but Emme doesn't really watch it much and J just likes the background noise a lot of the time.

Ali - Sounds like Lily is getting plenty! I have always gone overboard and it has been a bit ridiculous because we live in a very small house and have hardly any storage. I have just got this thing about getting J engaged in activities so I buy things in the hope that it will help. Probably has gone the opposite way though as so many things distract him. We will be giving away a lot of things after this Christmas I think (depending on what Emme is still into).

So, how was everyone's Christmas? Did the kids enjoy their presents?

Lily had a lovely day and got some lovely gifts. She just loved being the centre of attention with her Aunty's and Uncles and Nanni and Poppi for a couple of days. Had difficulties getting her to sleep as she was over stimulated.

Her walking is getting a lot better and will walk some good distances unaided, but she will still opt to crawl a lot of the time.

Ali - That is great on Lily's walking! Christmas was lots of fun and Emme enjoyed ripping some of the paper. She was given the pink coupe ride in car and just loves it. J and her fight over it all the time LOL.

Emme has taken a few steps over Christmas but not what I would count as walking just yet. She can walk quite a way holding lightly onto one finger though. She is climbing like a demon! I find her in all these crazy places ARGH!. She has worked out how to climb UP the slippery slide but refuses to use the steps. She thinks she is pretty clever as she gets to the top and lets herself go down again. She is babbling a lot but still no real talking. I'm not surprised though as JJ has a speech delay so I did expect it. I caught her practicing faces in the mirror in the car the other day! It was hilarious! She was practicing her surprised look hehe.

Sleep has been just horrendous here! Poor DH has been sleeping on the couch for quite a while now . I'm just starting to get tough. I'm reading SOS and trying to get a routine going again now. Today she actually had a 2 hour sleep in her cot! YAY! After all the craziness of Christmas she has only been having half an hour tops! One very very tired baby . Tonight I actually got her to resettle in her room and then put her back in her bed insted of hours and it has now been 2 hours YAY! Baby steps!

Hope everyone else had a great time with their little ones this Christmas.

Hi all

We arrived back from Sydney yesterday after a 9 day holiday. Had a great time but so glad to be home too. Although now I am trying to deal with a 13 month old who is not used to the time zone change - argh. Managed to kep the kids up until 6:30pm our time last night which was good but Charlie still woke at 3:50am (6:50am Syd time). He would not go back to sleep until Matt took him for a walk in the pram - but even then only for 50 min. And screamed the house down for his day sleep as is so overtired. Just crossing fingers he has more than an hour of sleep but don't like my chances. I hate coming back this way as is so hard to gain the 3 hours. Going from west to east is so much easier because you are losing time.

Haven't managed to catch up on all your news yet but I hope you all had a great Xmas.

We had a great time in Sydney. Managed to see the zoo and aquarium in amongst all the family stuff. And had a few days just lazing around the holiday park too - swimming and playing. The kids were pretty good overall and were great with the flights.

Charlie is still just crawling around and cruising furniture etc. He LOVES to climb and will climb anything in sight regardless of how tall it is. Cate was never like that so it is hard not to worry about him but I let him go most of the time and just stay close. He is so great at climbing up onto chairs and sitting down which is handy. He walks around pushing anything he can but hasn't yet stood unaided so he is awhile off walking I would say.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Cannot believe its all done and dusted for another year. I never felt in the xmas spirit at all this year, I still dont know why, I guess we had so much going on in life that it just kept getting pushed aside...

Regardless of that, we had a lovely day. Well the part with Jayden was lovely. I could have done without cooking lunch, and dealing with some of the family, but ya know, thats christmas!

Seeing the look on Jaydens face when each present was unwrapped was just wonderful. He does love all his toys we got home, apart from maybe 1 or 2. We took so many photos, he looked so happy

Funny thing is, he cut his 1st tooth on his 1st birthday (Nov 14), i looked today, and he now has 4 little teeth. The 4th is very new, like yesterday maybe? Finally he has teeth!

His eating is going well. Still eating the same sort of stuff, but more more more. He still has 3 bottles a day, but i think most of them now only have 180ml in them. Hes taken a liking to kids weet bix mixed with pureed fruit and cows milk, which is good as it works out heaps cheaper than the rafferty's museli he likes. We havent been game enough to try him drinking cows milk again, but its coming soon.

One thing i noticed, is hes not a cheese lover? He also dosent like vegemite! So for lunch he has a sandwich most days, and all he will eat is strawberry jam! We have tried lots of stuff, anyone have any ideas like sanwich spreads?

Also what does your bub like to eat these days? Just looking for some insipration!

AFM well ive had spotting/bleeding since xmas eve, yesterday there was way more blood than there had been, so i totally freaked out! Both my FS and GP are on holidays till the 10th. My FS nurse is on call, but there isnt anything they can physically do for me, so DH and I went up the the hospital. After a 5 hour wait, we saw our little bub for the 1st time. Already has a heartbeat, and it all looked ok. So now we wait. I go see my FS on the 10th, and fingers crossed its all still ok

Janelle, Lily loves any kind of pasta. I will usually finely grate some carrot and zucchini in the sauce, maybe some capsicum and mushrooms. Lentils or Nutmeat. Grated cheese. A sprinkle of chia seeds. I also use wholemeal pasta and just use tomato puree as it has less added stuff to it. So I don't feel too guilty if she eats it often. I will sometimes do a pasta bake with basically the same ingredients. She also likes those quiche type thingos that I had at Lily's party, I think Jayden liked them didn't he? For quick on the go stuff, I always have baked beans on hand which are always a hit. Mini muffins (fruit or savoury) that I make and know what has gone into it. But often I put aside whatever we've had for dinner the night before and she has that the next night. She eats most things, just not whole bits of vegies, I have to hide those!

As for sandwich spreads, I can't say I'd be too impressed with Lily only eating jam everyday! They're cheeky little sweet tooths aren't they! Lily has peanut butter or hommus usually as a spread. You could try cream cheese?

As for other food, Lily LOVES her fruit! Her eyes light up and she exclaims "ooh" when we bring a piece out . I also do up smoothies for us and then pour a bit into those Tupperware ice block thingos and she loves those. Will be good when (if!) it gets really hot.

I think Lily is going through a growth spurt as she is eating lots and sleeping LOTS. Like 12 hours overnight and 2 x 1.5-2 hour sleeps a day! She isn't having any kind of bottle anymore. I offer some milk before bed but she only has a few sips. She is a really good water drinker though, so I'm not too worried.

Ali- How old was Lily when you first tried peanut butter? I'd like to give Dan a go on it.
I suppose as long as she's getting calcium in other forms it doesn't matter if she's not having milk- some days Dan just won't take his too.

Janelle- Sounds like you had a great Christmas, Jayden sounds so cute.
Daniel has the same breakfast too, pretty much every day. Maybe try adding cows milk in his cereal in small amount and if he goes ok, increase the quantity there before you give it in a bottle? Daniel doesn't like cheese either, will only have tiny amounts in other stuff.
Daniel often now has a sandwich for lunch, though it is a struggle to get him to eat more than half of one, TBH I think he's so lazy he gets sick of chewing!
On them he has: vegemite and cream cheese; chicken finely chopped or chicken and avocade; finely mashed tuna; finely mashed egg. If he doesn't have a sandwich he might have a bit of leftovers from dinner the night before.
Dinners he often has a mince mixture I make with beef mince, diced tomatoes and various vegies (grated carrot, zucchini, mushrooms, peas, corn etc) as he is still fussy about what finger food he will eat. I've been trying to get him into eating family foods like Ali but there is a lot of stuff he still won't touch so for the moment it's easier to make him a batch of mince as I know he's getting a decent meal into him.
Every meal he still having a savoury course and sweet course, so after his main lunch or dinner he has things like a tub of yoghurt, mashed banana and custard, fruit or a plain biscuit.
Have been thinking of you Janelle, I hope everything is going to be ok.

Sara- Hope you had a great holiday. Was thinking of you also, how funny you were staying so close to where I live. Charlie will get there with the walking. Dan took his first step over a month ago but can't or won't really walk for any length of time yet either. In a way I wish he would as he is getting so heavy to carry around.

Cam- How cute about Emme's car. Good luck sorting out the sleep.

We are going well. On the 11th we are actually going on holiday ourselves, up to Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Two days visiting a family member and Brisbane and then off to the Gold Coast to do a few of the theme parks. I've never been to Queensland myself so am quite looking forward to it, I think Dan will love the water park and Sea World. It will also be his first time flying, so that's exciting. Then when I come back I have to go back to work at long last- looking hopefully to find something 2 days a week, might do 3 days for the right job. I'm really going to find it hard to leave Dan but it's the best thing for all of us and perhaps it might even be good for him in the long run, as he is so clingy with me to spend some one on one time with his two grandmothers. Especially as I have a bit of a strained relationship with my MIL, a bit on one on one time between them without me there might be beneficial.
DH and I will be TTC again this year so have to save up some money to do it all over again!

Simone - Lily has been eating peanut butter for a few months now I think. We don't have a history of allergies in our family so wasn't too worried about starting it. A lot of info is now saying to introduce those kinds of foods earlier rather than later too.
As for the family dinner foods, Lily will often eat what we've had, but not everything. I also find it hard to get her to eat it herself, pretty much everything we have to feed to her otherwise she just plays with it and throws it off
So is your MIL going to look after Dan one day a week now? What happened to change her mind? Very exciting about your holiday! My parents live on the gold coast, but we're thinking we might take Lily to maybe Sea World later in the year, maybe once she's down to one day sleep. I think they would really enjoy it.

Ali- Thanks for that I've wanted to try for sometime but the official line is to hold off, but like you think that may change soon with some of the new info coming out. May give him a go tomorrow.

Well I don't think it's official until I actually get a job, but yes I think so. Her circumstances changed a bit so that helped, there was also a blow up between her and DH just before Christimas that maybe has altered her perspective a bit to hopefully be a bit more fair minded toward the children. Got to find a job first though!

I know, I am excited about the holiday. It would be ideal if I could find a job quickly and start when I return. I think D will love the animals at Sea World too.

Simone - Charlie has had peanut butter a few times but like Ali we haven't had any allergies in the family. He was also eating egg, strawberries etc earlier too. Charlie is still having casserole type things for lunch and dinner to start with. But he also has a huge range of finger foods afterwards too so have no problems with still spoon feeding him the more "puree" type food. I am really trying to get him eating it a bit more chunky though as for some reason he hates having to chew stuff that comes from a spoon or fork. But will happily eat big bits of finger food - go figure.

Well - the time has come for Charlie to start daycare. We start with his first orientation day tomorrow which will just be a quick visit with me there. But over the next 2 weeks he will work up to having a few hours there each day until he starts full days on the 18th.

I actually can't wait to be going back to work on those 2 days a week. I have to go through my wardrobe and see what work clothes still fit and maybe buy some more.

Good luck with the daycare visit tomorrow Sara. I too feel much more ready to go back to work part time than I have up to now. It's just a matter of finding the right thing now.

I never imagined i would love daycare as much as I do Actually when thinking about kids years gone, daycare never entered my mind!

Jayden just loves it, and its good for me too as I usually get 1 or 2 hours to myself after work those 2 days. Although Jaydens room leader finished up last week, and I dont know who will be replacing her. Its sucks when you get used to someone and they get used to your bub and how they work, then they leave

Sara good luck with the visit! Is he going to be there full time?

Just 2 days a week - Tues and Wed. I usually drop off around 8am and pick up at 4:30ish. Cate absolutely loves it too so I am hoping Charlie will in time. I know we had about 6-8 weeks of Cate hating to be dropped off so I am bracing myself for that again. But overall she was pretty good so fingers crossed. I love my centre though so I know he will be OK.

Happy new year everyone! I've finally managed to pop my head in and see how you're all getting on (apart from FB obviously).

Janelle, so glad you saw a heartbeat . Hope the bleeding eases for you soon. Will Jayden eat Tuna or salmon? How about honey or humus? All good sandwich fillings.

Sara, hope Charlies first day at daycare goes well I'm sure he will be loving it in no time. Emily loves daycare as much as being at home now! She goes off without a backward glance!

Simone, how exciting about your holiday! I'm sure Dan will love Seaworld, we have taken Emily 3 times already (we have VIP passes) and she just squeals at everything all day. Good luck with the job hunting. I really enjoy being back at work now.

Hope everyone else is doing well.

Emily is great. Not quite walking, but getting there. It's such a relief after everything she went through with her hip. I was worried about her not saying any words, but in the last couple of weeks she now has four words. It's amazing how quickly they pick these things up.

This week we had friends over and they also have a 13 month old little girl. Emily was really jealous when the other child picked up any of her toys, even to the point of snatching them off her. We'd never seen her like that and I think it was just because the other child was at our house playing with Emily's toys, but it's hard to know how to react, is anyone else's child like this? What do you do?

Emma - with the toy thing I think all you can really do is talk to her about sharing. It is a bit of a lost cause though as they really have no idea of the concept of sharing until a lot older. But with Cate I always spoke to her about waiting her turn and letting the other child have a play first. Even at the park etc I would speak to her about waiting her turn for the swing/slide etc etc. Distraction is handy too - give her another toy that she loves. It is really only in the last 6 months though that she understands properly. Of course she still doesn't like sharing sometimes but at least she knows what it means and why she needs to do it. I have actually been on both sides too as Cate was a lot more "submissive" when younger and would just let kids take whatever she was playing with - that is hard to watch sometimes. But as she got older she started standing up for herself but also taking things off other kids - also hard to watch and deal with. For the most part though all my friends/mothers group etc just let the kids sort it out themselves unless it is getting to the pushing/shoving/screaming point. Of course the kids are older now.

Thanks for the advice Sara. I tried to explain to Emily about sharing, but as you say they don't pay a lot of attention at this age, but I'll definitely perceiver. I think we were most shocked because she shares really well with us, even her food (which considering how much she likes food is a big thing !). I guess none of us want to think of our child being the one who snatches things off other children, but then it does seem to be a phase most children go through. I think we will invite other children around more often to help her get used to sharing her things more. I think daycare has definitely made her stand up for herself too, which isn't a bad thing necessarily, but I just want to respond to her behaviour in a positive way.

I'm all for intuitive parenting, but I am feeling the need for a bit of guidance when it comes to toddler behaviour. Does anyone have any recommendations for books?

I remember starting to feel really out of my depth in terms of parenting a toddler when Cate reached about 18-20 months old. Up until then she had been really easy. I ended up buying The Mighty Toddler by Robin Barker which had some good info in it. I haven't opened it in ages because I think you just eventually get used to having to parent an older child. I do LOVE 1-2-3 Magic though but can't really be used as a behaviour technique until 2 and older. It works really well if done well though so maybe keep in mind for later on.

Really though - try not to worry about too much. Most things seem to be a phase and the one thing I have learned is that you really do need to just let some things go. I think most people tend to be harder on their first child because you want to be "on them" about everything and have a bit more of an expectation for both them and ourselves to be good kids/parents all the time. In reality they are just kids and are going to be "naughty" and not listen to what we say etc etc. My best piece of advice and something I wish I had learned to do earlier is to pick your battles. Sometimes you just need to let them get away with stuff because it is really not worth it. Putting your time and energy into the bigger things is far more beneficial.

I hope I don't sound preachy - it is just something that took me a long time to get the hang of and I would have spent a lot less time stressing about trying to fix all her behaviours if I'd taken it on board earlier.

Hi Emma Good to hear Emily is walking and her speech is progressing.

Yes Daniel is sometimes like that with toys, it depends what it is. If he sees another baby/child playing with something he likes the look of he will go over and try to take it off them. And I have seen it done to him many times as well. I think it's perfectly normal at this stage as long as they're not too vicious in their attempts to get it from another child (hitting/ biting etc).
If I catch Daniel at it I just pull his hand away and say no clearly, and try and distract him with another toy. Even though he doesn't understand I am in the habit of saying things like 'you must share, that's x's toy' while I stop him from doing it. He goes to Gymbaroo. playgroup, and with his cousins who are similar ages- most children do it.

A funny thing he does that my SIL tells me her son does also is that if he gets really frustrated or really excited, he tries to bite me. It's like he doesn't know how to express how strongly he is feeling- again I just tell him no and that he mustn't bite.

Another thing I would suggest is asking her carers if she is like that at daycare. Having little friends over to your house might help her also to get used to the idea of sharing.

The only two toddler books I have are The Mighty Toddler like Sara and also Kidwrangling by Kaz Cooke. To date I have read neither it's on my to-do list.

Emma - Lily is like that playing with other kids (Jayden and Alannah!). But with them I think it's more that someone else is playing with it and it looks interesting, rather than nasty snatching which I have seen some older kids do. So I'm not too worried about that yet. If it gets to nasty snatching stage then I'm not sure what I will do, but will deal with that as it arises. Great to hear about the walking and speech.

Lily has started saying no but without the n part. Just great And she tries and copies speech intonation mostly. Things are still difficult with her hearing aids though and it's made me really slack as I'm so over it. I need a reward chart for me!

Sara - hope Charlie goes well with daycare. And I'm sure you're looking forward to those 2 days back at work!

Hi every one!!!!
Sorry I havent been around, just been busy with Christmas/new year etc....

Can you believe our babies are 1????

I am still trying to get over that fact!!!! I look at Jye and think he is still too little to be one!!!!! we just had small party for him with family and friends, it was a great day....
And he is finally crawling!!!!! Happened 1 week after his birthday!!!! Thought he would be a comando crawler/bum shuffler but it happened.... No where interested in walking standing tho.... Is starting to get up on his knees tho, thats about it.
Christmas was good, got spoilt rotten, and loved the wrapping paper..... He was sick tho him and Renee had Tonsilitis (sp) and Jye had an ear infection in each ear....
New year was quiet, just spent it at a friends place... Other than that not much else has been happening....

Could every one please share their daily routine with there now 1 year old??? Since being sick Jye has just gone out of wack!!! He used to be such a good sleeper 2 sleeps a day, up at 7:30, breakfast, play, sleep at 10:30/11 up around 1:30/2 lunch,play then a short nap 3:30 to 4:30/5 tea, bath/ short play, bottle and bed at 7:30.....
Now it is up at 7:30 breakfast play try and put him down at 11, fights sleep will go down finally at 11:30/12pm after me going in there numerous of times laying him back down ( as he has just learnt he can get on his knees and rattle the side of the cot.... wakes up exactly an hr after he has gone down wont go back down to sleep no matter how hard i try so he gets up lunch, play and then we do the same thing all over again back down at 2/2:30 fights it finally goes to sleep then is up again an hour later.... cant get him back down again and then he is tired so i try putting him down at 7 and he fights it again.... finally going to sleep at 8/8:30... sometimes if he works himself up it is 9/9:30!!!!!! He is tired and i know he is tired, every time i lay him down his eyes droop but he fights it so much!!!! I did try to cut him down to one sleep and kept him up until just after lunch but he still fought it and was up after an hour and wouldnt go back down and then wouldnt go back down for a second sleep...... I am sure Renee was never this hard!!!! She cut out her morning sleep and went to a long day sleep just like that!!!!
If you could please share your routines, tips and advice for me that would be great as i am struggling at the moment!!!!!!!

Also if you have noticed my ticker i found out i am pg with no 3!!!!! Was a total shock, but a happy one!!!!!! We have struggled for so long and cant believe this happened so easily!!!! Renee was an IVF bub, took us 5 years, plus one m/c, we then tried Ivf for a second for 8 years I could get pg but kept m/c. I had 8 m/c when Hubby (we) decided it was enough. Of course I was devestated and lost alot of weight, started getting my periods back and 7 months later found out i was pg with Jye. Counted our blessings and decided not to use protection as i had only had one period since Jye was born and I have put on a bit of weight so didnt think any thing of it, but then I became very moody and tired etc and hubby kept asking what was wrong and i was in tears saying i didnt know, we decided to do a pg test and couldnt believe my eyes!!!!!!! Never ever thought i would be a mum of 3!!!!!! Had a bit of a scare on boxing day woke up covered in blood rushed to the A & E and they thought i lost the baby, but after an ultrasound detected a baby with a heart beat of 170 per minute but found i had a tear in my uterus so have been on bed rest for the last 2 weeks which has been hard but been good being home spending time with the kids... Back to work next week on light duties.... Hopefully it will be smooth sailing from now on!!!!!!


Some quick personals... i i have forgotten you then i am sorry, i just havent read back far enough.... promise i will be back on a more regular basis......

Sara- I hope Charlie goes well with day care, hopefully he sees Cate enjoying herself and he will too!!!

AliRo- Thats cute about Lily saying no.... Jye doesnt say it yet he just constantly shakes his head for no.....

Emma- Yay on Emily walking!!! How exciting!!! glad her speech is coming along too!!!!

Janelle- Congratulations on your pg!!!! Glad you have seen the heartbeat and the bleeding has eased. So scary isnt it....

Simone- Jye does the same time with the biting thing some times he with just blow raseberries on my shoulder etc but if he is worked up etc he will bite... he has only done it a couple of times so it is hard to tell if he will make a habit of it... i hope not!!!

Thats it from me... I hope you are all well and have got through my novel...lol..

PS please feel free to add me to face book.... search for deanna zealley... would love to have you as a friend!!!!

Deanna - wow on pg # 3. Congratulations. Hope the bed rest has helped.

In terms of routine this is Charlie's. Has been on this one since just befre Xmas.

7am wake and milk
8:15/20 breakfast
9:30 morning tea
11:20 lunch
12pm bed - sleeps for 2-2.5 hours
2:30/3pm arvo tea
5:15 tea
6pm bath
6:30 milk
7pm bed

Charlie has been much easier than Cate was during that transition to 1 sleep. It certainly sounds like maybe he only needs the one sleep if he is fighting all sleeps. In terms of waking after an hour - Charlie started doing this when he needed more awake time but by the time I changed the sleep he had got into a bit of a habit of waking so in the end I just had to leave him to whinge and cry until going back to sleep. It took quite a few days but he started going back to sleep more quickly all the time and eventually just kept sleeping.

Will go and have a look for you on FB.

Deanna - Emme's day is pretty much like Sara has set out above except sometimes she goes to bed at 11.30 and will sleep until 1.30-2pm and then will have her lunch. I must say our night time sleep has been really crappy though. The past 3 nights she hasn't been in bed before 9.30 due to having a sore tummy. ARGH! Congrats on your amazing surprise baby! That is really wonderful and exciting. I hope the bed rest has helped.

As I said before sleep has been pretty awful in this house. I'm SO tired but I just can't go to bed at night. I find myself still up at 12 and realising that Emme will probably wake in half an hour so there isn't any point in going to bed anyway. She is almost walking now which is exciting and climbing like a mountain goat. This morning I found her perched on her knees on the piano keyboard while holding onto the music stand! Little minx! It is getting quite scary.

Today I let her walk with me in the shops. She can walk quite a way slowly just holding onto one finger so I think she just needs a bit more confidence and practice. She can now just stand without holding onto anything and she is trying to stand up in the middle of the room.

She now says "eeee" for yes and sometimes "nononono". Today she was saying "mommommommom"and anytime she wants us to notice something she says "goook gooook". When she gets told no and gets in trouble she gets the cutest little face and says "ooooooooh" very dejectedly. It is hard not to laugh and give in. She is so much fun at the moment. I'm really loving it (apart from going grey wondering what she is going to climb next ARGH).

Dee - congrats on the pregnancy! What a lovely surprise

Lily's routine is roughly this

6:30-7 Wake and breakfast
9ish sleep for about 1.5 hours
11:30-12 lunch
2ish sleep for about 1.5 hours
5-5:30 dinner then bath
6:30-7 bedtime

I'm a bit over the 2 day sleeps as I can't get a whole lot done as far as going out, but is nice when I'm just staying at home as I can get stuff done and have some down time. Lily is most definitely not ready to drop a day sleep yet though, she still really needs both those sleeps and usually have no problems getting her down for any of them.

Camilla - Lily growls when she doesn't get her way Also quite cute actually. My Dad was teaching her to go "aaahh" after she's had a sip of drink, except hers is more of a growl than "aaah", it's hilarious! I'm so glad Lily is not a climber, I would worry too!

Camilla - Charlie is a BIG climber too. Cate never was. She was always cautious but he will climb anythign and everything no matter how high. He has recently taken to walking/pulling himself up our slide so I can't leave him alone outside at all as he can make it all the way to the top no problems.

Oh my gosh I am over the fighting between the 2 kids too. They tackle and wrestle each other all the time which can be cute but then they start pulling hair etc and it always turns nasty at some point.

Charlie's daycare visits have been going well. So far I have only left him for 30min but there has not even been a tear shed. I am sure it will be different once he starts full days and realises I am not coming back for quite awhile but I will take the happy visits at the moment.

I wouldn't say Charlie is saying any words yet but his comprehension is definitely improving at a great rate. He understands so much of hat we say now. Things like - go and get your hat results in him getting his hat and trying to put it on his head. He shakes his head for no all the time too. Probably his only real word is "mum mum".

Dee- Congratulations on your surprise pregnancy! I hope there are no more scares for you, and you can enjoy a safe pregnancy from here on in.

As to routine:
7- wake and milk (when he will drink it)
8ish- breakfast
-10:15- morning tea then sleep til about 12-1:15
When he wakes- lunch
-3pm- Short nap to 4:15. If he sleeps for 3 hours on his morning nap we skip
4pm- afternoon tea
5pm- dinner
5:30- bath
6:45- bottle (though many times now he won't take it)
7pm- bed

Dan is a bit all over the place at the moment. He was in a habit of having a long morning sleep for a few weeks but now seem to be wanting 2 hours in the morning and 1 in the arvo again.
He doesn't seem ready to stay up any later in the morning than 10:15- I suspect he is waking up quite early in the morning but isn't the type to cry so I'll come get him, so then he gets tired, so he could be waking up quite a bit earlier than 7.

Cam- Emme is so cute Daniel's work for look is 'ooook'.

Ali- Daniel seems to be getting to a stage where he doesn't want to sleep in the pram anymore, so I'm limited to going out when he's awake lol. How cute about the growling!

Sara- The most I have seen Dan try to climb is to try and raise one leg to reach me on the couch or climb on his bike. TBH I'm not looking forward to it, I will truly then have no peace! He's into everything as it is- pulling all his nappy sacks out of the box one at a time then scattering around the room, pulling all the tissues out of the box and tossing those around, several instances he pulls open the draw of his bedside and tosses his bibs everywhere, and his personal favourite- opening the cupboard under the TV cabinet and chucking DVD's everywhere- I pick those up and put them back at least 3 times a day if we're at home.
Not looking forward to the prospect of fighting one day in the future, it will probably get worse before it gets better!
Good to hear he's coping with the transition to daycare. Charlie would have to be the only boy I've ever heard of who will willing put a hat on his head lol.
I've got D one with a strap on it so he can't rip them off like he always does for Qld.

Good news on the walking front: recently he's started to walk a bit around the house on his own accord without us encouraging him to. He falls over a lot but he's definitely making progress.

Hi ladies!

Dee - Congratulations on your pregancy! What a lovely surprise! All the best for the upcoming months.

Sara - Good luck with the daycare visits and I hear you about the fighting. My pair are at it constantly, but Lou can be a bit of a sook and often wont retaliate but sit and cry for me. But occasionally she'll cop a bite or a whack.

A big hi to everyone else! I've had a quick read but I'll try and post more often .

I'm really loving Lou at this age. He's not walking yet, although he's often walking along the furniture, he just crawls so fast! His vocabulary is still improving rapidly and the comprehension is impressive too. But he is super-clingy to me. He wont let anyone else put him to bed, not even hubby. And if he could, he'd be in my arms all day. So different from Annabelle, who really is Miss Independent.