Are we entering the terrible twos?

April 3, 2013 by upallhours

Ummm, so my toddler has turned into a teenager literally overnight. The irony is if you read my last post ‘A successful Easter Sunday‘ written only last Monday, I praise my little man for a tantrum free day. That now seems a distant sweet memory.

Everything now is ‘no’, complete with frown and vigorous head shake.

Me – “Can I have a kiss?” Baby B – ‘No‘

Me – “Come and get dressed” Baby B – ‘No‘ as he runs off in the other direction

Me – “It’s bath time” Baby B – ‘No‘ as he arches back when I go to pick him up so I nearly drop him

Me – “Time to get out, bath time’s over. Say goodnight to the shower” Baby B – ‘No‘ and does back arch again which is even more hazardous when wet

Me – “Do you want to watch Tree Foo Tom” Baby B – ‘No’ as I think, shit we’re in trouble, that was one of his favourite programs!

Anyway, you get the drift.

I’m guessing the ‘terrible twos’ don’t literally start as the clock strikes 12 on his second birthday, so is this what this is?!

The only question that I don’t get a ‘No‘ to is ‘Do you want something to eat?’. The boy is eating like it is going out of fashion. In fact, it is role reversal and after he has had his fourth breakfast of the morning this is how it goes;

Baby B – “Toast” Me – “No, you have had a slice”

Baby B – “Egg” Me – “No, you have had one. Remember you had it after your toast”

Baby B – “Banannnna” Me – “No, you had a whole one 6am!”

Baby B – “Apple” Me – “No, you can have one later”

Baby B – “Coookie” Me – “No, its only 6.30am. Ok fine, you can have an apple“.

Are the terrible two’s often accompanied by extreme hungry by any chance?! How do you combat the constant ‘No’s’ and most importantly, how long will this last people?!

Bank holiday nursery fees – Really!

March 18, 2013 by upallhours

Comment and opinion would be much appreciated on this post please.

Baby B goes to nursery 3 days a week – Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This costs us a lot of money, in fact it costs us more then the monthly mortgage repayments, but we do it because we need to work and to give my other half time to tidy the house!

Easter weekend is fast approaching and includes two bank holidays, the Friday and the Monday. Whilst discussing this with my other half, we suddenly thought that we should check that the nursery will be open. Why wouldn’t it be we thought? Shops are open, bars, pubs etc, basically many businesses these days. So we called and were informed no,the nursery won’t be open on Bank Holiday and more importantly, we will lose the the money for both days. £144 GBP. Apparently it is in the terms and conditions.

Please put me in my place if I am wrong to be upset by this. Why do I have to lose my money? The nursery is shut, there are no staff to pay, no lights on so no electricity to cover but yet they will happily take my £62 a day and offer me nothing in return.

Nothing, no extra day or small refund.

We work really hard and are by no means wealthy. We are certainly in no position to just throw £144 down the drain. In fact it will be more, as we may have to look for help with Baby B as we are both working on the Friday.

So for the parents who children go to nursery on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, all is ok. But for the parents who send their children to nursery on a Monday and Friday, we lose out.

I know it is our choice to send Baby B to nursery but this feels very unfair. Many of the nurseries now days are part of a larger chains who have a number of nursery’s based across the country. So whilst it is there choice to close on Bank Holidays, it is fair that parents should be penalised for it? Why not just not charge on Bank Holidays?!

My other half is up in arms and has informed me that he is going to start a campaign! (His version of a strongly worded letter!) But seriously, this makes for a very tough couple of weeks ahead for many parents across the country who lose out financially through no fault of their own.

Thoughts please!

(Sadly not my legs!)

Photo courtesy of – http://teacherstraining.com.au

Bottle v Cup

February 26, 2013 by upallhours

Advice please.

Baby B is 21 months old and righty or wrongly, he still has and loves, his bottle. He has two a day, one first thing in the morning and one last thing at night.

On Sunday I was talking with a ‘sleep consultant’ at the Baby Show about my Baby B waking so early (5am everyday for the past week) and she straightaway asked me if he still had a bottle, to which I replied yes. She was adamant that this would be one of the reasons why he was waking so early and that it had to stop.

I know that you are supposed to wean babies off their bottle after the first year (or so I have read) but he loves it and I have never really worried about weaning him off it. Quite frankly you don’t see adults walking round with bottles, so I am pretty sure he will give it up at some point! Just like he did his dummy.

The problem is that now I have told, I feel that I must move him off the bottle, or essentially I am ignoring the advice of a professional. This however, is easier said then done. He LOVES his bottle and whilst he will drink water from his tippy cup, is not a fan of his milk being presented in one as I did this morning.

As I write, the tippy cup sits three quarters full on the floor and I am sad that my little one hasn’t enjoyed his morning warm milk. I felt a real pang of sadness when I gave him the cup as I felt that it is a big step and perhaps it’s me that isn’t ready to move on. Feel that he is still my baby and that he should still be able to have a bottle if he wants one.

Am I wrong, it is me that is holding him back!? After a couple of days I am sure he will accept his milk in a tippy cup but then that would mean the end of bottle and the end of my baby baby stage.