Joella

Def fireworks, was on Underhill near Great Exhibition and heard them too.

I don't think it is a chassis problem - even when you take it off the chassis to swap the direction round you can't open the seat down. Has anyone else got an older version of the Bee and just finds you have to force it?

It is the actual seat (rather than the back rest) that we just can't lower down unless we really, really force it. Watching the youtube videos, they just gently push it down with one hand. Something isn't right - is it possible this is a design fault with the older version?

we've done that but it shows the seat folding down seamlessly, we cannot get ours to do that without us really forcing it.

We are unable to figure out how to push the seat down on the bugaboo bee (it's an older model, not Bee+) without it making a terrible clicking noise, like we are forcing it (we normally use a cameleon). Would really appreciate instructions on how to do this, we are boarding a 10 hour flight to Florida tomorrow morning with 3 kids and the stress levels are pretty high in our house!

My Vespa was stolen tonight from my front garden on Barry Road - probably sometime between 8:15-9pm, but definitely between 5-9pm. It is blue and the reg is LJ07 UJP. Please let me know if you spot it.

I intepreted the letter to be more about encouraging appropriate uniform wearing rather than saying specific items were banned. Perhaps a small minority showed up to school not remotely wearing uniform colours/clothing, which encouraged Mr B to send out the letter - rather than aiming at parents whose children generally show up wearing a reasonable uniform and the right colours. As for banning birthday cakes, hurrah, my view is that should be saved for parties rather than for school - I had a massive fight with Joella Jr over this last year as I refused to allow her to take one in. I am sure the nut allergy thing is a little exaggerated though.

MM - teaching unions don't just oppose Free Schools simply because they might affect members' T&Cs. They'll give you a whole host of arguments that will detail why they think Free Schools aren't a good idea. Whether or not you agree with those arguments is, of course, another matter ;-)

I'm afraid your maths is probably correct. I don't know whether your employer has set up the childcare voucher scheme but this exchanges part of your salary into vouchers which are exempt from NI and tax. However changes were introduced to the maximum amount you can receive in vouchers at the start of this tax year. You can find further information on lots of websites if you google childcare vouchers. You will also need to check that your nursery accepts the vouchers too. However, this doesn't give you a huge saving in the overall scheme of things.

There are taxi firms that will give you flat rate + tolls +tip from NYC back to the airport. Happy to send you some numbers if interested. Not sure when you're going but I'm off in a few weeks time and we're going to try the train from EWR to Penn Station, c$11 one way, never done that before but apparently it's pretty quick - and bringing you into Penn is not too far to Beekman in a cab. Will report back if before your trip. lillyanginger - asking some local contacts on apts, will report bk via PM

Not sure what you define as "reasonable" but be prepared Manhattan hotels are very expensive - even the less sought after. I stayed with our then 8 month old daughter at the Beekman Tower Hotel, it's right by the UN in 2006. Whilst the decor is a little old fashioned, rather than uber cool, it was perfect for us as a family as we had a separate living room, kitchenette and bedroom. This was so useful for dealing with jet lag and when the kids need snacks immediately. It also has a really spectacular roof top bar - the views were great, nothing super trendy but really nice to have a glass of wine and wind down after a day's sightseeing. I'm returning to NY in a few weeks time, and when trying to find a hotel, that one still had fair prices compared to other stuff. Otto, the Parker Meridien is on 57th not Central Park South, unless you're referring to another hotel. tllm2 - I was born in NY and work for a NY headquatered company, so if you want more hotel advice, feel free to PM me.

Hi, there have been lots of past threads on this exact question, so worth doing a search for other advice as there are lots of HR managers out there. As an HR manager myself, a useful thing to note is that an employer can reclaim most of the SMP (statutory maternity pay) from the government, so whilst there is some administration, unless you have enhanced maternity pay policy, which I suspect not if it's a charity, they won't be paying 2 full time salaries whilst you're off. I would be very honest with them and say it's hard to know how you're going to feel, right now you think you may wish to return at 9 months and probably the best solution is to keep up regular contact and pencil in a meeting now at your 6 month mark so you can keep them informed of your intentions. As mentioned above, you have to give 8 weeks notice should you wish to return before the 52 weeks. Many maternity vacancies indicate a range in the length of cover and in my experience, providing its for at least 6 months, then that appeals to those willing to do maternity cover posts. www.businesslink.gov.uk is also a useful website to understand it from the employer's point of view.

Not quite Pickles achievement, but I flew to Miami alone with my then 4 year old and 4 month old, You couldn?t have written the script. Waited 45 minutes to reach the check in desk, baby screaming with hunger and had gone to loo, was then randomly selected by US authorities to have all of our luggage searched so was chucked out of line and sat on the floor in departures at LHR, BFing baby whilst all my undies and baby clothes were searched (great moment). Had all hand luggage searched again before boarding plane, incl taking off shoes ? kind of hard when got bags and holding baby and don?t have pushchair anymore. Baby went to toilet c.5-8 x in the first 2 hours of the flight, missed dinner, landed at Miami, pushchair was not waiting for me when we embarked the plane. Walked for miles to immigration carrying baby and ensuring 4 year old didn?t run off. Got kicked out of the immigration queue because had missed one tiny section on form and he wouldn?t give me a pen to complete it and wouldn?t let me put the baby down on the counter so I could get out my pen which was in my rucksack on my back (have to appreciate I?m a US passport holder). Then saw luggage porter pushing my buggy but when I asked to have it, he refused and said it had to be dropped by the baggage reclaim of the flight I was on. Did I cry ? YES Would I do it again ? ABSOLUTELY ? end result, I laughed at the comedy of it (everyone said I would receive so much help with 2 kids on my own) but holidays are worth it every time. So be prepared for anything but remember you get thru it good or bad!!!

thx vicki08, will "upgrade"

Very excitingly, Joella Jr has lost her first tooth today. She is only 5 - but was wondering what the going rate was for the "tooth fairy" as no doubt it will get discussed at school. Was thinking 20p but is that way off the mark?

Echo Ruth_Baldock - our 13 mth old daughter has exactly the same diet as Baby Baldock, she branched out to Cheerios today, so that's progress! Remember our 5 yr old going through the same stage and she now is one of the best eaters I know, so don't stress.

Thanks all for your good suggestions, much appreciated! Def think decorating with sweets and glitter stuff is the way forward - may go for a trial run this week! But as you say, I'm sure she won't even notice if it looks like a dodgy butterfly - think the key is pink and glittery!

Can anyone let me know if they have used a butterfly cake mould and if the cake was successful. If you buy a mould does it come with clear instructions on how to ice the cake. I've got a piping tool but as I'm not that artistic am slightly worried that icing the cake will turn out to be a disaster. Bit worried, Joella Jr's birthday party is on Sunday and I seem to have set the bar too high!! Also any good places to buy the cake mould - thinking online but would prefer just to go and buy it from a shop so I know I've got it in time

I would agree with mightyroar - its a good state school and I'm very pleased with our daughter's progress in reception. However, there are plenty of other good state primary schools in the area, which I'm sure plenty of other families would agree with. The best piece of advice, is to apply to your closest community primary school (if you aren't eligible for the faith schools), otherwise, you could end up with a place at a school not so conveniently located and perhaps not your preferred choice.

Thank you for all of your suggestions, all really helpful and much appreciated, I know eventually it will happen, as my eldest was fully bottle fed from 5/6 months, the difference being from 6 weeks she had a daily bottle, wish I had done it with the second! Canadianlisa, I'm sending you a PM as have a few questions.

I'm sure similar threads have been posted in the past but I'm struggling to get my almost 5 month old daughter to take a bottle, she absolutely will not open her mouth. I have consistently tried putting a tiny bit of milk on her lips in an effort to coax her or gently pushing the teat in her mouth but she simply won't try and suck and instead gets very upset. I'm not sure what to do, beyond persevering and wanted to know how others who obviously have been through this, managed to crack it. I've been trying all week and she hasn't made any headway. Personally I think she is too young to go straight to a cup so at this point I'm keen to learn from others how they cracked the bottle.

guess the headmaster's letter was inaccurate, apologies my info wasn't correct.

ClareC - The stats for Heber this year cannot be used as a comparison, as all 80 families who put it down as their first preference were allocated a spot, due to the fact Heber is taking a bulge class for 2010/11 entry. Therefore, how many siblings or distance won't be useful as a guide for entry, it would be better to look at other years details.