thumbsucker blues: sandbox parenting thead

Very true. I was going to say, with all this "can we afford it?" talk - the hurtin' isn't just on your wallet (and you can control that to a certain extent by being thrifty), it's on your free time, which (with two or more kids especially) may well dwindle away to nothing.

example-now typing one-fingered with fussy T in crook of arm...gotta go

Toys? We have a lot but Ophelia prefers taking out all the paper out of closets. The first half year you don't need much at all.

We didn't think about the cost of having a baby. Mostly because it wasn't a problem. (Being the worrier that I am, it does However I didn't realize how much money can/is spent on a baby! WTF man. I did switch from yr fancy ass (hah!) Pampers to a cheaper (and imo better) alternative. Saves us a ton of money. Same goes with those towelettes: 1 euro instead of 3 euros. Hey and I knit her sweaters. ;-) Just kidding. But if I wanted I could save a lot of money on clothing by knitting all her sweaters (instead of buying'em). Still, no designer clobber for Ophelia. It's ridiculous even if you have the money.

We get £127/month in Child Benefit

WTF! We get about 55 pounds. Oh wait is that for two kids? I put all the money on her savings account.

Archel, that's one of my favourite baby pics EVER.

Oops, this is what happens when you turn around and look at Ophelia crawling around: you forget to type the rest of the sentence.

the most OTM post on any parenting thread evah.

One month:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/123/338594661_3b4e731ae8.jpg

Three months (on Boxing Day):

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/150/338630898_62d68693f9.jpg

(My baby overheating or getting a chill during the night is just one of the things I'm looking forward to worrying about!)

Ah shit, sleepsuit is something different. Replace sleepsuit with sleepbag. Worked wonders for me!

So it's onesie+sleepsuit+sleepbag. Room temp about 21 to 18 degrees celcius.

your kids are all spoilt.

There are few things that cause a knee-jerk reaction but the line 'you're kid is spoilt' is one of them. I know you don't mean it the wrong way - or at least I hope not - but argh how I hate that line. :-)

1. No freaking WAY we would use cloth diapers. My mother-in-law disabused us of any thoughts of cloth diapers, and I'm glad she did.

2. With twins there is no chance for anyone to be an absentee parent, which is good, except when you want to take a break.

3. Last night, we switched from those fluffy terry-cloth-like baby suits to thin cotton ones, and wrapped them up in fleece swaddlers. They slept for 8 HOURS! I don't know if it was that, or the fact that we tanked them up with milk and formula before bed, or if it was just random, but it was awesome. Maybe they had been getting too hot in the night. If you use swaddlers, and the houe is relatively warm, I don't think you need blankets at all, at least at first.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/147/340259556_fd5ef5b113.jpg

CONGRATULATIONS ARCHEL FAMILY!

I did wonder about you at one point during the hoilday, you know.

I managed to sleep from 3am until 9am today thanks to Matt doing early morning feeds, hurrah! Alice and I may even venture out later on to celebrate my relative lack of tiredness.

Apologies for the confusion; I could call my kids by their middle names, if you like - Galvin and Greer. But that makes them sound like sheet music publishers from the turn of the 20th century.

Do you want to see something sad? Do you promise not to forward to Social Services? Ava, the morning after clocking herself on the edge of a chair (check out the shiner on her left eye):

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/161/340782436_f8f00f3207.jpg

Stop it with the Ava and Tallulah confusions!

Mine were first!

Oh, bless!

Ava's eye really coming on a treat now - will post some more pix to Flickr when I get the chance. She'll love me for this when she's 13.

I just recovered from a 24-hour stomach flu that had me puking every hour or two. I don't know what I would have done if my husband couldn't have stayed home with me, it was miserable. I lost six pounds and I was already underweight. I think my milk production went down, we tried giving Louis cow's milk and he was totally not having it! Everyone is fine now though.

Shiner, day four:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/155/344624551_159b47b473_m.jpg

Teeny, man, that's so crap. Hope you recover quickly. :-( I've been having mad crazy migraine attacks and they SUXOR. :-(

That's wonderful. I get Ava to sleep that easily maybe one night in six or seven.

(So, are we staying in the sandbox? I think we should. It feels a bit like lingering in the pub when everyone else has gone to the gig that was the original reason for meeting up.)

Ha - it's all about routine and things have been a lot better in the last month. "Dummies and puppies?" Ava asks as I'm towelling her down post-bath; her cot contains a few pacifiers (yes, we'll phase 'em out eventually) and a couple of plush dogs, y'see. And off she goes.

Wearing her mum's specs:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/164/386827890_6340eaf7f3.jpg

Out in the snow:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/188/383710319_e7168e6806.jpg

Tallulah gets ready for snow outing:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/66/383706273_03a6352d92.jpg

AWWW AWWW AWWWWW AWWWWWWWWWWWWW

you just broke me