oimissus

we have the Bee, not the Bee+, and it's been brilliant: no problems with wheels at all, in fact it's very manoeverable, narrow which is good for our hallway and buses and trains, not a huge problem off road, I love the height adjustable single handlebar - in fact, I don't think I can find fault with it at all. Miss Oi is nearly 3 and still in it, and will be I reckon as long as we need a pushchair.

Market Porter is always rammed on a Friday night (don't know about any other night of the week), it is a good boozer though.

I'm very aware of price, for me it's not a question of what I would prefer to spend money on, it's what I have to spend money on, and expensive toiletries unfortunately (for me!) are pretty low on the list. My current moisturizer is from Superdrug, which kind of says it all - though I haven't noticed that it's any worse!

xpost with Pebbles - my parents definitely didn't let us use the house as a hotel - and equally my mum would HATE to live with either my sister or me - happy to see us and the grandkids, but to live with - nooooooo! never the most maternal, my mum ;)

my parents pretty much cleared my room out when I left for uni, whereas Mr Oi's parents gave would send him money to come home at the weekends for YEARS, and kept his room exactly as it was! (only his though, not any of his 3 siblings, oddly.) But he didn't actually live at home past 18. I don't really know with regard to Miss Oi. I would hope that she'd want to experience living away from home with friends (and I would really rather she wasn't at home for uni, should she go), but I don't think I'd actively show her the door! Everything is so much more expensive for young people these days. She's also a one-and-only, and we're older parents, so that will probably make a difference too. Who knows? She's only 2!

oh my lord, I didn't know they were owned by L'Oreal! Dammit. Well, haven't bought much there recently. What a rubbish sell-out, they must have known about L'Oreal, surely - they've been on the Ethical Consumer boycott list for donkey's years!

yep, the smell of Lush is truly grim. I shopped in them when they first opened, but it didn't take long for the appeal of the glittery, over-scented bath bomb to fade. I do shop in the Body Shop, as it is BUAV approved, but it's not my favourite place, pretty expensive and again, the scents can be a bit much. Had a look at your website, the packaging looks nice, scents could a bit strong (personally I hate fruity scented stuff), and you need to tell your web people that yoghurt has got an 'h' in it. If it's not BUAV / Vegan Society / Vegetarian Society approved, I wouldn't shop there whatever.

that's probably a good idea for the weekends, as I think the parent & toddler sessions can get pretty chocka then!

Celia Hammond are very strict about neuturing (not surprising, given the number of feral and semi-feral kittens they take in) and request that you keep your kitten in until they are neutured, which is around 6 months. We got our kittens at 3 months and it wasn't a problem, we were happy to take their advice. Female cats can breed from around 6 months, twice a year. Unneutered tomcats are, frankly, a pain in the arse.

Hurray! Patch the puppy has been found - he'd made his way into a different group's classroom. Thanks to the Villa for finding him. Phew!

one other thing that occured to me, if you do get a kitten or kittens, get a cat flap installed (if you can) - then they can scarper if toddler attention is getting too much! It's a slight change of mindset, having a cat. Partly because our cats were there before Miss Oi, in certain respects they are more important than her - she is not to disturb them, or jump on our bed if one is on there (we never contemplated co-sleeping, mainly because of the cat that sleeps on our bed - she was there first!), and keep out of the kitchen when they are eating - that kind of thing. I have no doubt that should one ever scratch her - unlikely, as they just leg it if she gets too near - it would be her fault and she wouldn't get a whole load of sympathy! Oh, and having a slack attitude to cleanliness and hygiene helps, our cats are everywhere, and it doesn't seem to have done her any harm. Oh, and another thing (sorry, it's late and I'm slightly drunk) - I would take your daughter round to someone's house who has a cat to check out if she has an allergy - the last thing you want to do is have to rehome a rescue kitten because you find out your daughter has an allergy.

our brother and sister cat don't get on brilliantly (and they are neutered) but as one is almost completely feral and spends most of his time outside it's not too much of a problem! Maybe when they reach their dotage they'll be chums again.

we had our cats (from Celia Hammond) before Miss Oi was born, it's never been a problem but that's because our cats are so feral! I think it will be fine as long as you let them know you have a small child. My niece got her kitten (they already had a cat) at about that age and it's been absolutely fine. The people from CH will come round to check out your house and then encourage you to rehome as many cats as possible (they wanted us to take more!), and they will instruct you in their care - they will have to remain in the house until they are neutered (CH are very strict about this) at about 6 months. Because our pair were semi-feral, CH provided a pen for them to live in in the corner of the lounge, and then we slowly let them out into the room, and then the rest of the house. I would not recommend you get semi-feral kittens! (but do get a pair - they will want you to take 2 kittens, or the mother and one kitten - they always ensure one kitten is left with the mother. They are a brilliant charity and do great work so do support them).

I think you need to do it gradually, so maybe set yourself a timetable as to when you want to definitely have stopped. Then start cutting out feeds and replace with cows milk - if she's never taken cows milk from a cup or bottle you may have to try a few kinds before she settles on one she likes. For the nighttime I think you're going to have to decide how you want to play it as she'll need to find another way to settle, and for this I have no advice as Miss Oi stopped night feeds pretty early. But whatever you do, both you and your partner need to be on board - it might come as a bit of a shock to him to get involved with nights as you've been doing them so far, but he needs to be there. Well done for bfing for so long, there is no way I would have done it for that long (stopped on her 1st birthday when the teeth scraping got too much, but had stopped at night way before that)!

do you need to do lessons? Miss Oi is nearly 3 and we never have, we just go the the Peckham Pulse where you get an hour for ?4.20, and she has a great time, very confident in the water and is starting to get the hang if what she's meant to do to actually swim. She would be pretty vexed if she was hoicked out after half an hour!

I think if you're working full time then as long as you are somewhere where you can get top quality childcare, then in a way the support network you've built up becomes less important (other than keeping up friendships I mean) - does that make sense? The support is more important the more at home with your child you are. Also, if you move out of London, you may not be able to move back as you may end up being priced out - depends on where you're headed. And of course if you're headed somewhere lush then everyone will want to come and visit anyway! What does your partner think of it all - how does it fit in with his work? Will you have shorter commutes than you do now? What about schools? Proximity to family?

From before I became a mum, this occasion in The George in Borough High Street: I was having leaving drinks with very good chums off to Oz. A couple came in with a crawling baby; this was at around 6.30pm on a Friday evening, so it was pretty rammed, and why anyone with a baby would want to go there I can't imagine. It was quieter where we were but they let the baby crawl around the floor which I though was just disgusting as it's pretty spit'n'sawdust in there AND they were right beside the gents. And then, to keep the baby occupied, the dad started playing a flute. I think I tolerated this for about 20 minutes before pointing out what was wrong with this whole scenario (I was a bit pissed by this point), which they took umbrage to, but they did leave pretty soon after. My gaster was well and truly flabbered.

if you have a child in Caterpillars, please could you take a minute to read this? Last Tuesday my daughter lost her soft toy puppy that she takes to nursery and the staff have been unable to find it, so it seems possible that it has ended up in someone else's bag. I would be very grateful if you could have a quick look in your child's bag to see if it's there - it was a gift from a friend when she was born so I'd love to get it back. Here's a picture of what it looks like. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Barkers-Dog-TY-Beanies-Pluffies/dp/B001CLN67K/ref=sr_1_107?s=kids&ie=UTF8&qid=1352732226&sr=1-107 I think her name is written on the label but I could be wrong! If you do find it please could you give it to Hyacinth (her key worker) or Jo? I'm going to stick a note in all the trays but I thought I might as well try the trusty Forum as well. thanks x

not nursery rhymes as such but some great old favs http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hello-Children-Everywhere-Various-Artists/dp/B00030B9K2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352713661&sr=8-1

hahaha, that's exactly why I still don't feel like a proper mum, even why Miss Oi has a cold I still never seem to have a tissue on me. And Proper Mums always have tissues. It's the law.

private nursery - yes, stick your child down for as many as you can (or can afford, many will have a registration fee), as early as you can (some won't allow you to before the child is born, some will), competition can be fierce. Same with checking out childminders etc - if you know you have an exact date for when you intend to your child to start it makes sense, and if you can do it before your baby arrives all the better. School nurseries (from age 3) you put their name down when they're 2. State primary school you apply for the year before they're due to start reception (the September after they turn 4). Private schools I guess will have individual policies, so check with each school. Best of luck!

judging and the death stare seem pretty harsh! These are snapshots of peoples' lives, you have no idea what else is going on and until you do you have to reserve judgement - easier said than done, of course. Maybe the mars bar was a one-off bribe to get a dithering child going. Maybe the crisps were promised as a treat for something or other. If you saw these things happening to the same children, every day, for a term - yes, there's probably a problem - but almost certainly that problem will be greater than the food these children are being given to eat. But, I agree that in comparison to breast milk or formula this has a far greater impact on a child's development and well-being - in fact, there IS no comparison - a baby exclusively fed formula is not nutrionally devoid, a child exclusively fed crap is.

teething? Are all her back teeth through yet - this is the age for those final teeth to make an appearance. Miss Oi is coming up to 3 and still has one more tooth to go.

it was painted quite a few years ago (we've been here 8 years and I think it wasn't long after we moved here). Fairly soon after they did it some wanker came along and graffitied on it, and they obviously couldn't match the blue paint - such a shame, it really brightens the street up.

that's interesting, they knew Miss Oi was EBF but still gave them to me. This was nearly 3 years ago though, and also in Peckham where I understand rickets is on the rise.