Glad to hear that you haven't fallen for all of the marketing bullshit that gets parents to buy a lot of unnecessary stuff for their babies.

Very few things are really needed for a newborn. A little place to sleep (basinette) for naps - (the baby will probably end up sleeping between you and Kradlum at night and a crib is *way* too big for his comfort anyway), some clothes, some diapers, and that's about it. Due to some plumbing problems we gave our youngest son his bath in our bathroom sink for the first few months. It was the easiest and most convenient.

I personally felt like buying baby things too early was a bad omen. I felt much happier getting the stuff for my son once he was born.

crib in UK = bassinette.. what you call a crib, we would call a cot. We have a buggy (stroller) that lays flat to make it suitable for newborns, car seat, and a relatively cheap "bouncer chair" as most people I spoke to told me their babies loved theirs! A small mountain of clothes (plenty of cheap little onsies and sleep suits as we don't have a dryer or outside space to dry.. but these are really just cheap supermarket ones!) but alot of those have been gifts, a steriliser.. um, enough nappies to last 5 - 7 days (I hope!).

Krad doesn't drive, and not sure how up for driving I will be and how quickly I will want to drive.. so want enough in for the first week!

Sounds like you have more than enough stuff. FP is right, it's all about building a relationship between you and the kid and, really, Mothercare detritus just gets in the way - for the first couple of weeks anyway. Looking back before child #1 we knew nothing and neither, probably, do you. But don't be scared by that, it's the process of discovery of this new way of living that's the gift of parenthood.

Sorry, I'm gushing, but you don't know what it's going to be like until you do it, and that's the way it should be. Child #1 slept in one of those plastic washing baskets for the first couple of weeks because it fitted next to the bed nicely. By the time #2 came along we knew the drill and had found one of those wooden rocking cribs; we put it at the end of the bed so that at 3am I could stick out a foot and rock him back to sleep with my toe. You'll find out what you need and what works as you go along - the only thing you can be sure of is that it'll be different from anything that you're expecting.

Been doing a $700 billion shitload of writing and learning of things which should be knowed but aren't, this past week. Right now I've got Meru's Pallidust jewels tinkling on my non-iPod mp3 player as I'm workin' online. Going to go out and dig some more planting space in a bit.

quote:

Originally posted by BK/DK:
the only thing you can be sure of is that it'll be different from anything that you're expecting.

I think thats the one thing I am sure of at the moment *lol*
And, strangely, I have ~no~ fears about it. I'm so chilled about teh whole prospect of parenthood its worrying!! The only thing I am stressing about is the mothers visiting constantly. My mother has decided, it seems, we're not really fit to bring up a child alone and I get the impression we have many battles ahead of us as she tries to assert her dominance. The mother in law seems to be planning lots of visits down for "days out".. I don't do hosting people very well!

quote:

The only thing I am stressing about is the mothers visiting constantly.

Some grandparents take the attitude that they are there to train you to be a parent. My mom did not allow her mother in law to take care of me very often when I was little because grandma failed to respect my mothers way of raising me. She gave me candy when I didn't know what candy was, she let me get away with crap that my parents wouldn't put up with. Then mom and dad have to correct the behavior at home.

MrsK,
can't believe Kradlet is nearly here!
(oyu may find a mother or two will help at times. Don't knock'em. But then I am grannie age myself by now.)

I had some very good news by email five minutes ago.

And I was saved by the sudden rain from going out into the glorious autumn day.
So now watching Rumpole Series 5 with a glass of dry sherry. Very civilized.

quote:

Originally posted by editengine:

quote:

The only thing I am stressing about is the mothers visiting constantly.

Some grandparents take the attitude that they are there to train you to be a parent. My mom did not allow her mother in law to take care of me very often when I was little because grandma failed to respect my mothers way of raising me. She gave me candy when I didn't know what candy was, she let me get away with crap that my parents wouldn't put up with. Then mom and dad have to correct the behavior at home.

Yep, thats something they don't tell you at Maternity class. Fucking nightmare. My advice: square off the boundaries ASAP or suffer the indignation and spoil those initial, very special memories.

One a brighter note, I made Sunday lunch. The rain stopped so I took me youngest lad to shoot some cows. I'm still washing up. Why is Sunday dinner such a chore. X Factor's finished and its bathtime.

yup, I'm trying to instill clear boundaries with my mother from the off! She does guilt amazingly well though, so we shall see how well I do *lol*

Yup Aisha Still feeling very surreal though. Symmetry and Remote are both on the text announcement list, so I'm sure word will get here fairly quickly
And hope you're still smiling from your good news.. good news is always nice!

MrsK - I didn't mean that in a harsh way, but I think you know that. It's funny how parents like to see their children grow, become independant and settle down. Then, when you have a child, they start treating you like a kid again! "What you want to do now..." etc. I guess they can't help it, but a firm mindset is best from the outset IMO.

Anyways, those cows.





I'm of a mind to take a stroll along the farm lanes to see what I can see. The weekend was very busy and I need a few hours space.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Bictaker,

Yesterday, we finally got our new kitty:




We don't have a name for him yet (well, not a first name, anyway), so what would you call this little ball of fluff?




(naptime!)

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Want!

quote:

Originally posted by Wanderer:
We don't have a name for him yet (well, not a first name, anyway), so what would you call this little ball of fluff?

"LITHOS". YOU OWE ME, BELG.

FYI, his lastname is "McFlurry". So, uhm... Lithos McFlurry, are you sure you can deal with that?

Sweet puss. Lithos is too hard a name for something so cute!

KYOOT!

Spanky McFlurry

Good morning for all !!!

Wanderer, around here it would be James McFlurry due to his "thinking expression" in the first photo. But that´s too much of an ethnic cultural expression (association name vs. image) to be a suggestion.

Yesterday it was the municipal election in Brazil. Yeah, unified date for all cities... My brother in law lost by 354 votes in his city (shit) but my candidate did well. Here we will have a second round in October 26.

quote:

Originally posted by cb4(r2)3t0:
Wanderer, around here it would be James McFlurry due to his "thinking expression" in the first photo.

Funny, that's exactly why he should be called Lithos McFlurry.

On critter names, I think the committee here should have bowed to the collective wisdom of the WGb and gone with Chopper for our puppy, 'cos his ears now lie down in a way that makes them look cropped...

My Dad is here. It's good to have him here, and he's a good guy. I'm turning out to be quite similar to him in looks and some habits, and that's OK.

But... I usually blame his second wife, but that's not totally fair - he's complicit too. He's ended up a very negative person, who tends to continually tell us long negative stories about people we will never meet. It's a downer.

The girls are loving having him here, though, and so am I... but it'll be a bit of a relief to see him off in a couple of days, just for that reason. How can someone stand to live in a personal worldview where everyone around them is a bad person?