Polly D

Lane...

Push studios might sell them. It's on blackwater st, behind William rose, just off lordship Kane.

Thanks all. V helpful. Just not doing very well at seeing the difference between one bath and another, sofas etc are much easier!

Pretty sure that sewing machine place off Nigel Road (Taggs?) has gone now.

Any recommendations re where to get the bath, loo etc from? Finding it so hard to get inspired. Would like to do up our small ish bathroom. Need a shower/bath combo, sink and loo, with good built in cupboards etc. Any creative ideas gratefully received. Budget is sort of middle of the road. Thanks

Cooking, baking? x

Another vote for Janome. And agree re buying from John Lewis, really helpful. You are welcome to come round and have a go on mine on a Friday or a weekend.

Hey SB As you know, I went 2 years ago. You really, really don't need much equipment. In the main kitchen tent there is everything you could possibly need for a family of 4, it's v kid focused. There are a few (a couple?) of little other kitchen areas too. I wouldn't take any cooking stuff. Showers & loos perfectly good. Picnic benches by each yurt/bell tent from what I remember. We took our own camping chairs which was nice for sitting round our fire pit. Also inside the yurt there are stoves which keep you v cosy. We had a proper bed, so did R. I was 5 months pregnant with little at when we went, totally comfy. Are you there for the communal welcome Friday evening dinner? That was soooo lovely. Wish you 4 a brilliant trip! P x

How about walkie talkies? One goes up the other end of the garden, other at the top of the house, have silly conversations with each other? A family we met camping this year had some and they were an absolute hit. Thinking of getting some for my eldest this Xmas but as you know his little bro too little still but could be good for yours?

Hi Reren Labour with my first went on for 24 hrs, I was so exhausted when he actually arrived I couldn't really enjoy the moment any more, subsequently I'd say it took me a while to really bond with him, and to get over the shock, tho I have to say apart from that we were v lucky to have had no real problems. With no 2 I was determined to prepare myself as much as possible, tho realizing not everything goes to plan! I did some pregnancy yoga which was definitely v helpful in labour. My waters broke at 2am, midwife arrived at 5am, I was 8cm, he was born just after 9am. I fell in love straightaway. We has the same midwife for both boys, both at home, but my expectations for each labour were probably quite different. Throughout the first labour I remember feeling, and saying, "I can't do this". With the second it was the opposite: "I'm doing this!". This was a great tool I learned from the yoga (with Lindy Lu from the practice on East Dulwich Road). Good luck!

Went to a joint 5yr old bday party there yday - it was great! The owner v relaxed about mess & noise and v engaging with the kids I thought. There were also face painters in a different room, which I imagine the parents had organised themselves. V relaxed atmosphere, parents seemed to enjoy it too! Looking forward to picking up my son's 'artwork'! Saw a sign saying parties are ?200. Don't know re numbers tho. The parents had supplied their own party food.

According to my nephew (who turned 13 this week) it has to be Hollister or Abercrombie & Fitch.

Might be worth looking at sitters.co.uk

Goodliz might know about this kind of thing.

I saw the error of my ways with the Dartford lot, they were too cool for me. Now I can mainly be found in the family room, Alan Medic, which may or may not answer your kind question.

How odd... Why would you do that, 6 years later?

I think you and I need an afternoon in John Lewis, without the kids of course.

Any thoughts, or recommendations for a combined washer/dryer? We haven't got the space to buy separates. Never had a tumble dryer before but with two boys under 5s I suspect it would help. Prepared to spend around ?500, I think. Been getting by without a machine since moving by doing service washes at the brilliant Washboard on Cheltenham Road (Nunhead). Fabulous, friendly, efficient service but feels like a luxury in the long term.

Bit relieved to hear we are not alone. I wonder if the fact that reception year at primary school is looming for our 4 year olds could explain some of the behaviour. My son has been so grumpy lately (4.5). My mum told me that the summer before my brother started middle school (aged 8, so yes - older) he was a total pain in the bum. It turned out he'd been worried he'd have to make a speech at assembly on his first day in front of the whole school, which of course wasn't true. Is it possible all this talk of starting big school has created unnecessary anxieties?

Always thought this sounded great for a special meal: www.southlondongallery.org/page/cafe It has a private room, or maybe area, in a courtyard I think. Never actually been but looked into it for husband's 40th. Menu has Spanish slant and looks okay for veg option, and good for fish. X

With our first (now 4.5) I always looked forward to the next stage, found the early weeks & months very hard (and, whispers, a bit boring). Meanwhile, my husband would get nostalgic about each phase before it was even over. With our second (9 months) I now understand the 'wanting to press the pause button' thing. Guess it's because he'll be our last. Felt slightly broody for about 5 mins a few weeks ago when my cousin and his wife had the most beautiful baby but I know that the pics of a cute baby paint one picture, the bags and wrinkles plus arguments at 3am about how to get the newborn to settle paint another.

16th

Hi reren Congrats! I think the way you're feeling is very normal. You had an expectation of sorts that you'd have one of each, for the reasons you wrote, and possibly more. I have two boys: one is 4, the other 7 months. I admit I thought a girl would be nice, for similar reasons to yours I think. But honestly, honestly, what becomes important is that your baby is your baby, your child, you've seen him on screen and hopefully have a little pic of him. He's yours. I look at my sweet baby (can I say that?) and from day one I thought I wouldn't change a thing about him, if he was a girl, he wouldn't be him, if this gushing all makes sense. Then in terms of practicalities you have all the clothes and gear already, they might be great mates, they might not be, just as mixed gender siblings might or might not be. Sometimes the 3 boys in my life have 'boys club', which is basically them doing something without me and we all love it. And as they get older I'm looking forward to boys club for real when maybe they'll go off and watch/play rugby and I can bow out. Just as BST said, no guarantees about any of it. For now the testosterone thing isn't apparent but sure there'll be days when I wistfully think of a girl and then I'll remember what I was like as a teenager and perhaps be glad that I have boys to deal with, who knows. Just prepare yourself for other people's 'sad' faces, asking you "didn't you want a daughter?", or "the scan might be wrong?!" or "oh well, you can always have another one" etc etc. I can't believe how many people said this to me. And that "oh two boys!!!" exclaim.

When we were house hunting a few months ago we semi fell for a property in Forest Hill which had a utility room upstairs and were rather put off by it to be honest, it felt weird. I hadn't realised it is popular in the States tho. We thought the vibrations would be annoying but it sounds like you've got that covered. Since most laundry is gathered/collected upstairs from bedrooms & bathroom it does seem to make sense to have the washing machine upstairs, tho if you want/can hang it in the garden you'd have to bring it downstairs anyway. There were other 'better' reasons why we didn't go for the house tho...

We took our first son to Mallorca when he was 7 months old, hired a car from Gold (I think!) and were given a very rickety old forward facing car seat, the kind for 9 months plus really. The bloke told us we should stop worrying as when his kids were little they didn't even use car seats... Def take your own if you can, from a safety perspective rather than cost.