snowboarder

Yes - from 2-3 is hard - they kind of need a sleep but it dramatically affects bedtime. We did have the nighttime waking too - but it seems to have settled down after a couple of weeks of no-nap....

Sorry haven't read it all fully - does she nap? My youngest was similar until I banned daytime sleep....and hey presto...(he's also in a cot but would def escape if not!)

The getting ready for work bit? Yep that happened to me today - all ready then son 2 had an exploding nappy which I only found out when I picked him up. Poo all over me. But I did change... And the coin in the car CD player? Yeah that too (not today!). It seemed to cost about ?150 to put right...

Distance - the number of children who were offered a place on distance rather than siblings etc. Yeah the bulge thing completely skews things...

I am also very jealous!! I've always thought it would be a great idea - no trudging everything downstairs then back up again when dry - perfect! I'll defo buy your house :-)

It seems to vary depending on hire companies - but after a series of rubbish hire car seats we bought 2 v cheap group 1-3 car seats from kiddicare (?30 each) and took them this year (to Mallorca!). They are really light so not too much hassle to take, free on the plane, can double up as spare/grandparents car seats at home and we knew they were ok and easy to fit. Edited to add - we flew with monarch and all was fine, we just checked them in as we did the buggy and not part of our luggage allowance...

We have a skoda Octavia estate - kind of all the space of the audi's but much cheaper! We got the vrs (I think!) model so it's pretty speedy too. Huge boot for buggies/scooters/bikes and has been good for us since baby 2 arrived...

Blimey - I think we paid about ?2k for 3 bed house packed and transported out to Kent.... *goes off to check*

We came and had fun - thank you!! Looking forward to coming again in the 'summer' (please can we have one!)

Hurrah thank you I have it!!! It is a very old hand me down but nevertheless annoying to be lost...:-)

Somewhere between sainsburys and goose green this afternoon? Pesky 2 year old kicked it off and didn't notice until too late....

Tricky as if you want something relatively sturdy that will accommodate a 3 year old something like the baby jogger city mini would be great....but not particularly cheap! Traditional Maclaren type buggies aren't great on bumpy ground...

Hmm would you take a couple of larger then life 4 year olds?!?

Pickle Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My kids are often in a major meltdown state by > bath time, especially the littlest one. Hearing > Daddy's key in the door transforms them into > charming little angels. Frustrating, but I'm sure > it would be the other way round if they'd been > with him all day (right?). Weirdly, daddy returning at bedtime is actually something I dread!! My boys turn from tired and relatively compliant to wildly overexcited things flying naked around the house! Bath takes an age and there are many, many stories...too much!! Mine have never been too bad with 'favourites' although we do try to make sure we don't really entertain them demanding one or the other of us...I am always the mean one though....!!

And for anyone who is nervous about co sleeping (like me!) the nct bednest bedside crib is just amazing. It lasted my youngest son until he was 7m old, and gives you a totally safe little area for the baby - you can even pull both sides up for the early evening when you might be downstairs. I thought it was great - I don't sleep very well myself when worrying about rolling onto babies etc - it made the first 7 months of baby 2 much easier than baby 1 who was in a moses basket then his own room...

We had to upgrade our then 3.5 yr old's mini micro and ended up with the next 3 wheeler up - the maxi - BUT if you are looking for a 2 wheeler he did try out the micro rocket - http://www.micro-scooters.co.uk/product/the-micro-rocket/ - it has chunky wheels and he really loved it - I just wasn't sure he was ready for a 2 wheeler then - now he's 4 I'm thinking we should have gone for it - I can see him getting bored of the 3 wheeler pretty soon.

I'm a bit of a sucker for camper too...there's also garvalin - another spanish brand - the shoe shop in crystal palace stock them, as do a shop in blackheath. Also I quite like the vivo barefoot kids shoes. I do have to say though now I'm buying for a 4 and 2 year old who seem to time their foot growth spurts to about 3 weeks after I've bought new, I do go for clarks more often than not as they are better value. They also do 'doodles' - their own version of converse, and you do have the benefit of width fittings, which I don't think any of the european brands do. We often seem to have a couple of pairs on the go - crocs/converse/trainers/'proper' shoes. And I do pass the trainers and crocs etc down to the little one - just get him his own properly fitted pair. Wellies still seem to be the footwear of choice atm!!

We had a central island/seating area in our last kitchen - totally great - older boy liked sitting up high on the bar stools and the (then!) baby loved his clip on phil and teds highchair. I could prepare food and chat to them at the same time - really good. As a caution - we had a black rubber tile floor in that kitchen (designed pre children) - nightmare - always looked dusty/dirty (due to colour rather than type of floor I think). Warm and soft though.

We have an older version of the elc one and whilst my boys love it I find it annoying! The legs don't seem that sturdy (maybe we have a dodgy one?), as mentioned above sand in one side water in the other means really wet sand forever in both, and rain water seems to get in meaning that you open it up and the sand has gone all green....nice... But maybe we were unlucky - and as I said my two don't notice any of this and think it's great! Not huge though - it's too small really (height wise) for my 4 yr old now, perfect for 2 yr old.

I think - depending on when B's birthday is - you can defer school entry till January? Would give you 6m without losing school place - sounds amazing!!

When we were buying/selling last year we did not offer on the house we liked until we had an offer with a 'proceedable' buyer on ours - you just do not know what you can afford without a firm offer price on your own property and have little bargaining power, and as a seller there is no way I would accept an offer from someone who could not move forward.... Good luck though - I'd get your place on asap!!

Isn't it that bit of Lordship lane by the south circular - that pub on the corner was the grove wasn't it? thought Gina lived up there... From friends it is this area that's been a bit of 'black hole' this year...

Anyone else feeling a bit sick....roll on 5pm!!

Yeah, i know, but it's all relative, right? And it had taken nearly an hour and a half from start to finish, and I mostly do this solo... Better today (the bath/bed bit) - it definitely makes a difference if I've been at work or not. Non work day = calmer children and earlier start for the whole shenanigins.

Jesus wept now he won't get dressed. I always thought older one was the troublesome one - but he actually is quite compliant and easily bribed with daily tasks - he's just feisty and runs off....little one turning out to have a very strong will and temper - but won't leave my side. Ah they are all different, hey?!?