Let's go for a little walk

The baby took his first solo steps today. He was standing holding on to the kiddies table in the playroom and I was sitting on the floor, when suddenly he took about four very fast and fantastically wobbly steps towards me with the biggest smile on his face.  The amazing thing was that both myself and my partner were there to witness it and he was so proud of himself. In fact, we could not then stop him repeating the experience. We spent some time with him walking back and forth between us and then he took to standing up wherever he could and setting off at top speed until he toppled forward after a few steps.

I just had to write it here.  I wanted to use this blog to write about the experiences and milestones in my children's lives, but other events always seem to take over and I don't get a chance to write.

I have missed the baby's first black eye and loads of fantastic things that my toddler has said as his speech develops.  In fact he's growing up so quickly, its terrifying...

Soldier, soldier

"They're the two sirs."
"Sorry, two what?"
"Two sirs."
"Two sirs?"
"Yes, two sirs. Like the chief. Sirs...and he's a sir, and he's a sir, and him, and him, and him..."

Some of the things children say are just fantastic.

Remember, remember...

The baby has started crawling properly. Up until now he has had his own special way of 'snipering' around, but in the past few days he has taken to crawling on his hands and knees...until he gets fed up and reverts to his own style. He is also cruising around the toys and furniture and using anything he can push to help him walk...although again in his own style...on his toes, without bending his knees. As with most young toddlers, he is fascinated by the stairs and it is a full-time job keeping him away from them (...must fit that stairgate this weekend) and he is such a cheeky monkey that when he does start walking, the workload will no doubt increase exponentially!

We moved six weeks ago and all went well. The children settled in very quickly and my eldest son is so much happier here. There is loads of space to run around, ducks at the end of the road, countryside all around, and to top it all we have bought him bunk beds. He is so proud.

Both children are now going to nursery, although we have to call it school for the 'big boy'. It has proved extremely traumatic settling the baby, but after four weeks we are slowly starting to get somewhere (I think!). I am a firm believer in the benefits that nursery gives to children in terms of their social development, but there is something to be said for starting them early. My first son went from six months and settled quickly and never looked back, the baby would far rather spend every waking moment with me...which is absolutely wonderful and the feeling is entirely mutual, but probably not beneficial in the long term. So we will persist...

Post holiday blues

We returned from 2 weeks in Menorca yesterday and are moving house on Wednesday...200 miles south.

Why does moving have to be so stressful? The sale was on and off and then not confirmed until Thursday this week, at which point we had to organise removals, skip hire, etc and we now have today and tomorrow to sort out a million and one things before the removal men arrive on Monday.

There are about 8 piles of washing in the kitchen (and I've already done 4), the cases are still half full and littering the lounge floor and we are having to arrange accommodation for Tuesday night and for myself and the baby for Wednesday night as he has an appointment with his consultant for his bowel problems on Thursday morning. In the meantime, I have a kiddies birthday party tomorrow afternoon, an appointment for my eldest son at the eye hospital on Monday morning and dental appointments for me and my toddler on Wednesday morning. Talk about trying to cram it all in...

Bank holiday

Almost a week has passed since my vow to blog more and I don't seem to have had a moment again. I really do need to get more order in my life.

It's bank holiday Monday and having been away for the weekend and going off on hols for 2 weeks on Friday, the day will be spent in a haze of washing, sorting, last minute shopping and trying to get a head start on the packing...although I just know that Thursday night will be the usual stressful event with me running around snapping at anybody who gets in my way as I try to make sure that I have everything. Oh the joy of travelling with children - medicines, nappies, clothes, toiletries, sleeping bags, comforters, travel cots, buggies, travel cot mattresses, bed guards, suncream, snacks, wipes...etc, etc, etc. I really should write a proper list, but I always start, get bored and think that I should just get on with it. Take this weekend for example, we went to London to stay at my flat and my partner had to go and buy a new pushchair on Saturday morning as I had forgotten to pack one...and we already have 3!

A solemn promise

I hereby swear that I will start publishing to this blog on a more regular (can't bring myself to say daily) basis.

I'll start tomorrow!

The outside world

It is now 21 August and I have just logged in (after finally remembering my password...its been that long!) and found this unpublished post. Think I was going to go back and edit it, but as its now 6 weeks later and I can't remember what happened yesterday, I think I will just publish it as is...

I went out last night for the first time since the baby was born (he is now 10 months old!). I did actually venture around to a friend's house with my partner for drinks when he was 4 months old, where everybody was very impressed that I was out and about despite having such a young baby. Little did they know that was to be my only trip out after dark for another 6 months!

But last night was proper...I went for a curry with a friend (who also has a toddler and a 2.5 month old baby!!) and my partner babysat...and it was great...great to be able to have an uninterrupted conversation...great to be able to really find out what is going on in her life...great to be able to relax without checking on two children every 30 seconds...great to be able to wear the beautiful leather jacket that I had for Christmas and have only worn once.

Was back home and tucked up in bed for 10.30 of course. These days I have to be prepared for the night ahead. Last night it was a 4.50am wake-up by my toddler shouting that he needed a tissue for his snotty nose. Dutifully, I got up, went into his room and wiped his nose, despite having put a tissue under his pillow specifically for this purpose. He seems to think that I sit up all night ready to tend his every whim. The night before it was a 12.15am wee...the night before that 11.30pm and last week a couple of 2.30am 1-2 hour screaming sessions.

I am still alive...I think!

Another 'blogless' month has passed...

The baby now officially has his third tooth (honestly, definitely, truly). It eventually broke through the gum a few days ago and there has been much pain attached. The poor boy has a really bad cough and cold, a dodgy tummy and is obviously in a load of pain. Only another 17 to go, 3 of which look ready to appear any day now.

My toddler is also going through a trying time. We started potty training a month ago (on Monday 11 June to be precise) and it is certainly a major event. It all started with him asking to wear pants and as my mum happened to be here at the time, she jumped on the opportunity...after which there was no looking back. He is doing amazingly well and has weed in the potty every time since we started (except for when he needs to go behind the tree in the park!). We do have a slight problem with number 2s, but reading the books and talking to friends with children this is part of the fun.

The toddler also started saying 'I love you' about 2 weeks ago and it is lovely. The first few days it was reserved solely for me, but now he also says he loves daddy and he loves his brother and the words are always followed by 'I'm your friend'. It is really great being told that you are loved a few times every day.

The baby is 10 months old on Friday and is now sitting unaided and rolling around the room. Still no sign of crawling, although he seems to be starting to pull himself up...he was trying to hang on to the side of the bath tonight, but his hands kept slipping and he could only get as far as his knees. He also still needs to be surrounded by cushions when he is sitting as his favourite trick is to throw himself backwards...great if there's something behind him...not so great on the wooden floors.

And finally...sleep is currently intermittent for all of us! Let's see how we get on tonight...

That told me...

And tonight when I was running the bath, the baby started screaming again. When I called down and asked my toddler why, his swift reply was "He wants his mummy".

Blowing raspberries

Running the children's bath last night, I had left the boys in the lounge - the baby in his playnest and the 2 year-old watching CBeebies. I heard the baby start crying, but thought he would be OK as my toddler would give him a toy to play with or entertain him in some other way. The crying got louder and louder though and there was no response to my shouts, so I went to investigate...and found my toddler staring into space sitting on the side of the playnest with his feet and a 'body pillow' on the baby who was lying on his tummy getting squashed. My toddler was apparently oblivious to the screams and my shouts and when I asked him if he could hear the baby screaming, he looked at me blankly! No wonder he doesn't hear him at night.

The baby is now clapping, trying to talk and sitting up independently - well almost - he still needs cushions around him as he has a tendency to dive-bomb for anything that looks vaguely interesting. He is also a world champion raspberry blower!

I completely imagined his third tooth. He still has just the two at the bottom, although it doesn't seem to be hindering him eating. Like most babies, he absolutely loves rice cakes and breadsticks and has taken 'lumpy' food in his stride. To my amazement he even eats fruit. I didn't believe all these people who say that babies love fruit...my first son has never liked bananas and was OK with fruit until I stopped pureeing it. Since then he refuses to eat any fruit...and we have tried everything...from apples to strawberries to mango to grapes...although the dried variety of any fruit is a favourite of his (even bananas)!

Peekaboo!

The baby is 8 1/2 months old and is developing so quickly and has a really cheeky personality. He now plays peekaboo with me in the car. He sits in the passenger seat and hides his face in the side of his car seat, then peeps out, looks at me and laughs his head off.

The patience of a saint?

The end of another rained-out bank holiday weekend. Despite living in one of the rainiest cities in the UK, there is so little to do with young children on rainy days. It is particularly difficult when you are trying to entertain 2 girls aged 8 and 9 and two boys aged 2 and three quarters and 8.5 months.

Sunday morning was spent at Head Over Heels, our staple rainy day haunt and the afternoon was spent in and around the house, which was OK as a birthday tea was on the menu. Then Monday morning we ventured to the park, only to be rained out after 10 minutes. A lot of TV-watching later and we set off again...this time for the Museum of Science and Industry. Us and just about every other family in Manchester with children under 12.

The girls seemed to enjoy it and were particularly impressed with the view it offered of Granada Studios and the filming of Coronation Street. Equally, my toddler was very happy to be there, but can only concentrate on something for about 3 seconds before he's distracted. Hence, I spent an hour following him around from exhibit to exhibit, alternating between trying to persuade him to wait his turn and consoling the baby (in the pushchair with the buggy board attached), who currently starts balling whenever I am out of view.

The real fun began however, when I announced it was time to go. This was not welcome news to a tired toddler and I was forced to carry him kicking, punching and screaming all the way back to the car. Luckily my friend took control of the pushchair or I would have been in all sorts of trouble. It was she who declared that I had 'the patience of a saint' as I managed not to lose it despite being beaten black and blue (yes a few more bruises have appeared this morning). I put this down to the fact that having two young girls to stay has made my weekend so much easier as they have entertained/looked after/played with my toddler and allowed my often low tolerance levels to remain relatively high!

I am also learning that no matter how bad a tantrum appears, it will be over as soon as we have moved on to the next location or activity...once I got the toddler into the car, gave him a cuddle ("I NEED A TUDDLE AND TISS!") and set off, he started making faces and noises at the baby who giggled manically all the way home. All 3 of us arrived home with smiles on our faces.

Another year goes by...

Today is my birthday. I have now been on this planet for an almighty 38 years. How did I get so old. Managed to pick up a (luckily) rare cold over the past few days and woke up this morning with a streaming nose and a sty in my left eye. Is this what the next year has in store for me!!?

After checking on the baby, the first person I saw this morning was my toddler. 'Say happy birthday to mummy,' I said. 'Today is my birthday.' Upon which he burst into hysterical floods of tears and started screaming 'MY birthday. MY birthday.'

Luckily, I have a good friend and her two daughters staying for a few days. The girls are 8 and 9 years old, so perfect 'looking after toddler' age! And the friend turned up last night with flowers and champagne and this morning sang happy birthday and gave me a lovely present. To top it all, she has now taken the toddler and her 2 girls out for half an hour, giving me some respite whilst the baby is having a nap.

My partner took the opportunity of her visit to play some golf and have a rare night out with one of his mates in Leeds, so I missed out on breakfast in bed, a soothing bath, a relaxing massage, complete and undivided attention...sorry, I was daydreaming for a moment. With 2 children under 3, I can't remember the last time I had a bath...getting time to shave my legs in the shower is no mean feat!

The baby did mark the occasion with his third tooth. His first appeared at 6 months (bottom right), his second at 7 months (bottom left) and now the top left has broken through the gum today. Hoorah.

Another week goes by...

It's Wednesday again and again I haven't written a word since posting 3 times last Friday. I either simply don't find the time or when I have a spare 5 minutes, I don't have the inspiration or inclination!

On a roll

Since I seem to be in the blogging mood today, thought I'd just take a moment to say that whilst my children are no doubt challenging and new challenges arise every day, they are also the funniest, most beautiful, clever, loving, entertaining and inspiring little people and I would not change them for anything. I have more laughs, cuddles and kisses than I have had at any other point in my life and for that I will be eternally grateful.

Sleep training

"Don't be frightened to try such methods as controlled crying and sleep training..." A direct quote from a very timely piece of direct mail which arrived from Pampers today - all about 8-month old babies and sleep. As it happens, I decided against buying a new cot to sort out the baby's sleep problems and my first plan was to simply sleep with him for as long as it took. Unfortunately, that didn't work either as he wouldn't sleep for longer than 2 hours at a time and was very restless from 4.00am, eventually getting up at 6.00am. So still, neither of us were getting any sleep.

It seemed my only and very last resort was the dreaded controlled crying. We eventually did this with our first son when he was 11 months old and it only took one night and he has slept from 7 til 7 almost every night since (touch wood). So I know it works, but really, really, really didn't want to have to do it again.

Having run out of choices however, three nights ago I put the baby down to sleep, put my toddler to bed and waited for the baby to wake again. When he did (at 8.07pm), I left him for 10 mins, then went to check him for 2 mins, left him for 10 mins, went to check him for 2...and after 1 hour and 5 mins of desperate screaming that pulled at every cell in my body, he went to sleep...and slept until 6.40am.

The second night I was to leave him for 20 minute intervals and after waking at 8.07 again, 2 visits to check him and 50 minutes of screaming, he settled to sleep until 6.55am.

Last night, he slept until 9.22pm (its amazing how you count the minutes when attempting this) and then cried for 18 minutes before sleeping until 6.15 this morning. I didn't even get to the checking point.

Let's hope that we get to only 10 minutes or preferrably no minutes of screaming tonight.

But the laughs keep coming

Coming home from nursery last night, I had the following conversation with my eldest (aged two and three quarters):

Him: 'What am I doing tomorrow?'
Me: 'What would you like to do?'
Him: 'Go to nursery.'
Me: 'No, you don't go to nursery on Fridays. What else would you like to do?'
Him: 'Me go to nursery.'
Me: 'No, not tomorrow. Don't you want to play with mummy and the baby?'
Him: 'Me go to nursery. Daddy said yes.'
Me: 'Daddy's been away at work all week, so he didn't say that.'
Him: 'Yes he did. You a dumbo!'

And they say children tell the truth!

Is there ever enough time?

My last post was nearly a month ago. It comprised 23 words and is the only posting since 30 March. What happens to time? And where do I start?

A brief update of what has happened in that time (I will fill in some of the details later - provided I get time of course!!):

Went to stay with my mum in Wales for 2 weeks, but the baby wouldn't sleep so came back after a week, when he was firmly ensconced in my bed, waking every 2 hours for (breast) milk and I had severe sleep deprivation.
Managed to get him back into his cot and attempted to introduce bottles in the night - he took a full bottle 2 nights running and then flatly refused to have a bottle anywhere near him again. At least he's not being fed in the night anymore.
Didn't stop the night waking though and 2 weeks ago we set off for a holiday in Cornwall with him still waking a number of times in the night, often for 2 hours at a time.
Unbelievably, on hols he woke a couple of times a night for the first 5 nights and slept through thereafter.
Came back home on Saturday full of hopes and plans for all the things I was going to do -
see friends, start exercising, post to my blog every day, maybe venture on a night out - and he's stopped sleeping again...he appears to hate his very expensive and beautiful cot bed and matching bedroom...he far prefers either sleeping in my arms as I sit in the chair in his room or snuggling up in my bed (I have conceded defeat both of the last 2 nights after wakings every half an hour or so!).
What to do? I am so tempted to buy a cheap cot like the one they had at the holiday house - it was little and he liked to hold on to the round spars at the sides...maybe he used them as a comforter...again, what about the beautiful expensive comforter that I bought before he was born?...not good enough apparently!
Whilst this does seem like a ridiculous strategy, I would currently do anything for some sleep. Tonight I am going to have to try the dreaded sleep training (aka controlled crying) and see if that works. If not, I will be off to IKEA tomorrow morning and building a new cot tomorrow afternoon!
And at the same time as all this, we have reached the 'terrible two and a halfs' with our eldest son. I never realised how easy it is to fight with a toddler. I start every day vowing that its not going to happen and by 9.30am I am threatening him with all sorts if he does not do this or that.
Oh how I wish I could chill out!

Where do I start?

I have so much to write about, I'm not sure where to start....and that was as far as I got today!

Frantic Friday

The baby is better. Thank goodness for that. He has eaten everything I have offered him today (so my cooking isn't that bad after all) and is so much happier. Here's hoping for a better night.
My toddler goes to nursery three days a week and is home with us on Fridays, so they are always a bit manic. Today was no exception.

Starting over

That's the problem with routines. They can be disrupted by all sorts of things. Babies get ill and any progress that you think you've made can disappear. After three days of not eating a thing and a period of not even taking any milk, we have reverted to three wakings a night, feeding every time. But at least he has started eating again today. His temp has come down, the diarrhoea has stopped and we seem to be on the mend. Now we just have to start sorting out the night wakings again...

That's life

Well it wasn't the putting him down early. And it wasn't the threat of Gina Ford. He was cultivating another ear infection all along. Woke at 12.30am and I was just thinking that he's getting better and better when I picked him up and he was roasting. Temp up at 37.8c again...off to docs again...antibiotics again...and now he won't eat any solids at all and is not even that keen on milk...the best laid plans and all that...

A good night's sleep

The baby slept from 11.50 last night until I woke him at 7.30 this morning - just my luck that it was on the night that the clocks went forward so I lost an hour anyway. It also coincided with Gina Ford calling me to discuss the problems we'd been having with his sleep - my partner said that the baby must have known that we were about to get serious!
As mentioned previously on this blog, I have been emailing Gina and the team at contentedbaby.com and have posted a question to the sleeping forum on the site. Gina suggested getting the baby to bed earlier, topping him up with milk before his lunchtime sleep and giving him a bottle before bedtime. She also said that at nearly 22lb at 28 weeks he's a very big baby and can't be expected to sleep through the night without a feed until he's fully established on solids. That makes me feel a whole lot better and the getting him to bed earlier definitely works as I have been putting him down after my toddler, but when my partner's here to put the toddler to bed, the baby sleeps much better.
He's also now eating well...so far he's had lots of different veggies, chicken, lentils and pasta...but surprise, surprise he prefers fruit and especially mango. Tonight he polished off a whole bowl of butternut squash soup in less than 10 minutes...I'll let you know tomorrow if it helps him to sleep...but I'm not holding my breath...

Number 2s

My toddler did a poo on the potty this evening - a momentous occasion that we thought might never happen. He is only 2 years and 7 months old, but I have lost count of the number of times that people have asked me if he is potty trained or in the process of being trained. The girls at his nursery keep telling me that they have asked him if he wants to use the toilet 'like daddy'...my mum keeps talking to me about different approaches and even phoned me last week to tell me that This Morning had a feature on toilet training showing at 12.15 that day...and my partner regularly asks me what my plans are in relation to this subject and has dropped subtle hints like putting pants on our son at the weekends!
My approach is somewhat unorthodox. Our little boy is very headstrong and my view is that he will do it when he is ready. I really don't want to instigate even more reasons to fight.
I did try putting pants on him about 2 weeks ago, but it only lasted 20 minutes, the first 10 spent looking at himself (in his pants) in the full-length mirror, the next 5 sat on the potty with them around his ankles and the final 5 screaming to take them off and put a nappy on (which I dutifully did).
The next attempt was instigated by his dad last Sunday. The pants stayed on this time...even when they shouldn't have done so...after the third pair of wee-stained pants in under an hour, we gave up again.
Despite my failure to persevere and my complete lackadaisical attitude, we have had a number of successful wees in the potty (instigated by the little boy himself of course) and when we came out of the swimming pool today, he said he wanted a wee and went in the toilet. Then came the piece de resistance...whilst having his bath he had excessive bottom wind (nothing new in our house!), but I asked him if he needed a poo...he said yes...I put him on the potty...he pushed...and there it was...lots and lots of cheers and claps...call daddy...more cheers and claps...then some crying and saying his bottom hurt...not sure what this means, so we gave him a treat (chocolate of course) and got him ready for bed.
We'll see what tomorrow has in store...

March madness

'Definition of insanity is to keep doing same thing and expect different results'...this was written by the mother of a six-month old baby in her post on contentedbaby.com and it feels very fitting at the moment.
I am now a complete addict of this site, watching all the relevant strings in the vain hope that I might find an answer to the baby's sleeping problems...he was up 6 times again last night between 7.20pm and 3.30am when he eventually slept until 7.10am...when I went and woke HIM to get my own back...only joking...to keep him in his routine on the off-chance that it might mean he'll sleep tonight...I won't hold my breath!

My toddler has taken to wearing his beanie hat anytime he leaves the house and refused to take it off for the 3 days that he was at nursery this week. He has the most fantastic thick curly hair, which we have variously grown and had cropped to a number 2 as the mood has taken us. This used to be done at Daisy and Tom in Manchester, but since the shop (and hairdresser) closed down at the end of January, we have struggled to find an alternative. I tried my hairdresser once last year and he had such a major tantrum that I very nearly took him home with only half a haircut (kind of like a mohican, but on one side of his head)...so I'm not keen to go back. He seems to be cool with kids hairdressers (must be the chair-straps!) and was always great at D&T, so somebody recommended I try Little Bigheads in Wilmsow...all fine until she told me the price...£14.95...for a 2 year-old! Its not so much that it's expensive, but it lasts 2 minutes and wasn't even that great a haircut.
So I decided that we would do it ourselves...after all my partner cuts his own hair and has numerous sets of clippers so how hard can it be. Sunday morning, I am cooking chicken casserole (the baby's first 'real' meal - to be pureed of course) and my partner sets about the haircut. He does a number 3 first...not short enough...so he does a number 2...perfect, just needs a bit of tidying around the edges...we can do that with a pair of scissors...or we could try using a number 1 cutter to do it...oops, a bit lopsided at the front...double oops, a few extra chunks out of the back...either we do a number 1 all over or live with the slight imperfections
Hence the hat...even 2 year-olds know when they're having a bad hair day!

I'm back

It is over a week since I last posted to this blog. In that time, my six month old's sleeping went absolutely crazy and has now (touch wood) settled down. Last Wednesday night he woke 11 times and on Thursday night had woken 6 times by 9.20pm, at which point I took him into my bed where he stayed all night...sometimes you just have to get some sleep.
I posted a question on contentedbaby.com, but seem to have stumped everybody as I have had no replies or advice from other mums. I then tried everything I could think of and seem to have got back to some sort of normality - or only up 3 or 4 times a night!

Emotional turmoil

I think that being a mummy must be the most emotionally challenging job there is. Today has been a very up and down day for me and my toddler...with lots of tears, wailing, lying on the floor, and snotty noses on his part and a variety of attempts at consoling him on mine - from gentle persuasion to plying him with Medised, hiding in the toilet and finally piling both children into the double buggy and escaping to the park.
Regardless of the type of day we have though, when it comes to bath and bedtime he is an absolute darling, splashing around with his brother and really enjoying storytime...and tomorrow is always another, completely different, day.

Despite the mayhem, I did manage to cook another of my favourite kiddie meals...macaroni cheese. The recipe I use is from Lorraine Kelly's Baby and Toddler Eating Plan. This is a staple for all children and this recipe is simple, delicious, nutritious and always goes down well - with both of us.

Eating out

Met some friends for lunch today. Its a full-on outing with two children in tow. To start, we were around 45 minutes late and then our toddler kept the entertainment and noise levels at a peak, forcing our friends to crawl under tables, helping him to save people and put out fires.
The extent of a child's imagination and improvisation skills never cease to amaze me. At home we have a child's motorised quad bike that doubles as a fire-engine, with part of a broken toy hoover as the hosepipe and a lion's mask as the gas mask. At the restaurant, the table made a great hiding place and fires broke out in any available nook and cranny. If only us adults could take so much enjoyment from so little...

Dummy mummy

The baby got his first tooth today...so that's what all the fuss has been about. Maybe now we'll get a bit more sleep...we'll see. That's probably why he's had an ear infection, been up in the night, not been eating, etc, etc. What a c**p mother!

Yummy mummy

Watching 10 Years Younger last night (although I missed the end cos the baby woke up!), a 38-year old mother was transformed into what Nicky Hambleton-Jones termed a 'yummy mummy'. This term is bandied about a lot these days and serves to put more pressure on us mum's struggling to even get dressed in the morning, let alone look 'yummy'.
Trying to find a top that will enable me to breastfeed successfully has been the sole aim of my dresscode over the past 6 months. I either end up flashing my whole boob or else showing the world the one area of my body that I would rather not even see myself - my tummy. Whilst never particularly flat, carrying one 10lb 10oz baby and a second smaller, but still not small 8lb 7oz 'er, has definitely taken its toll. I have luckily lost most of the baby weight, but can be assured that my tummy will forever look like a deflated balloon and is certainly not 'yummy'.
Secondly, surviving on 4-5 hours sleep a night and then spending the next day chasing after a toddler and being puked up on by a baby are also not recipes for 'yumminess'.
Today is not a good day for this 'tummy mummy', although I seem to remember that 'yumminess' gets slightly easier as babies grow older!

Night-time or daytime?

I haven't 'blogged' for a few days. After sleeping through on Saturday night, the baby then woke up six times on Sunday night before I took him into my bed at 4.00am (poor little thing wasn't well at all). Since then he has woken 3 times every night despite now being better - at 10ish, 1ish and 5ish - and its taking its toll! Whilst I'm happy with once a night and can cope with twice a night sometimes, 3 times every night is pushing it. And I have both the kids tomorrow...at least I have a full day planned...off to soft play again in the morning despite my toddler's black eye (how does the saying go?...the sooner you get back on the horse the better)...and then I have arranged a 'playdate' in the afternoon (do we call them that in this country?).
Anyway...off to bed in readiness for the night ahead...

A regular haunt

Made another trip to casualty this afternoon...for my eldest son this time. We both had a check-up at the dentist this afternoon and she pointed out that the inside of his mouth had swelled up underneath his black eye and recommended that we get it checked out.
So we all piled in the car...toddler, me, baby and nannie...and set off for another afternoon at the hospital...only to be told that all was OK...again I have to say 'its better to be safe than sorry'.

Bumps and bruises

What a day! By lunchtime today, decided that we should take the baby to A&E as he had been screaming since about 7am and was grabbing at his ears. Set off with nannie in tow for moral support and company for the (no doubt) few hour wait, whilst my eldest went off to the local soft play centre with daddy.
Despite suddenly becoming the smiliest, chirpiest baby immediately upon arrival at the hospital, it turns out that he has an ear infection and has been given erythromicin (antibiotics), which I was told might or might not work and the infection may just need to run its course...a course which could be 2 weeks. Oh, and "the antibiotics WILL give him diarrhoea," said the nurse, with very strong emphasis on the word 'will'.
Meanwhile, at the 'soft' play centre, my two year-old had come down a slide straight into another toddler and has a beautiful big black eye. It never rains...

Sleeping like a baby

The baby 'slept through' last night. Woke at 9pm for a top-up and then slept until 6.37am...despite me going in at 2.30am to check on him. He is sick of course, so I'm not expecting it to happen again...and I didn't sleep anyway. Up at 2.30 to take his temp (37.5c so OK) and go to the loo (my bladder's not what it once was despite two caesarean births), and then dozed on and off, listening to the baby via the monitor and almost willing him to wake so I could check him thoroughly.
That's what being a parent does to you...yearning to sleep like you used to before children, but worrying about them so much that you can't do it even when you have the chance.

Childhood illnesses

The baby woke up this morning with a temp of 38.2c. It had been rising for the past 24 hours, but I hoped it would settle overnight. Off to the NHS walk-in centre around the corner (one of the benefits of living in the city), but despite pink inner ears and not being his usual smiley self, he is given the all clear and we are sent home.
Some might say that I am slightly neurotic, but my first son had a urinary tract infection when he was 7 months old which went undiagnosed because he was being treated for a chest infection. We spent four nights in the hospital with that one and then when he was 16 months old another four nights with very bad bronchiolitis. Since then I take the approach that I would rather visit the doctor every day than take a risk.

In praise of grandparents

Hooray for grandparents. They turn up, always bearing gifts and ready to bestow upon their grandchildren as much love and attention as they can fit into the limited time that they spend with them. Our families live over 200 miles away, so generally come to stay for a few days at a time and this is a godsend for myself and my partner as we get some respite from playing Fireman Sam and Bob the Builder. This is also the one situation where it is a good thing that we are both from broken homes...it means our children have 7 grandparents instead of 4...there's Nannie, Grandma and her partner and Bumpy and Grandad and their partners...more presents, more love and more help!
Nannie arrived today, again armed with presents and desperate to see the boys. After extinguishing around 56 fires and spending the day sliding 'down the hole' however, I'm sure I can see signs of fatigue. At least it means she fits in with our household bedtime of 9.00pm!

Toys galore

It's amazing just how much baby and toddler paraphernalia one family can accrue in less than three years. There's the obligatory baby arch, nest, bouncy chair, crawl mat and basket of soft toys. Then we have managed to acquire a motorised car, an art easel, kiddy trampoline, keyboard, play kitchen, tool bench, 3 train sets ('cos no 2 year-old boy should have only one), mini table and chairs...and that's just the big stuff in the house. We no longer have a dining table and chairs...they went into storage when the 7ft x 4ft electric Thomas the Tank Engine train set appeared and took over what used to be our dining room. The train set has since been hidden under our bed, to be brought out again when our eldest is less prone to dropping things, but the dining room is now a play room.
My partner will probably say that I am the person who buys (or chooses) most of the toys, so should not complain.
Admittedly, we still have a couple of bags of Christmas presents hidden away upstairs for rainy days. But, we had only used our dining table once and aren't about to start throwing dinner parties when we have a baby who dictates when he sleeps. And anyway, what's childhood for, if not to play with toys!

Water baby

Took the baby to Aquababies for the first time this morning and he had a fantastic time, kicking, shouting and splashing his out-of-control left arm. I got soaked and he was cool with the 'under-water' swimming. He stole the show!

P's and Q's

Walking in the park yesterday, it began to get a bit chilly and I asked my two year old a couple of times to put his hat on. In the end, I said "Are you going to put this hat on or what?"
He replied, "What!"
That'll teach me to watch my grammar.

Upstairs, downstairs

If you have, or are planning to have children, do not buy a 'skinny' three-storey house.

We live in a fabulous location, five miles from the city centre, a couple of miles from glorious countryside and close to lots of good boutiques, cafes and baby and toddler groups. We have a lovely house, which is more than big enough for the four of us. My problem however, is that it is too tall and skinny. There was no room for the baby on the first floor with our toddler's and our bedrooms (unless you count the tiny room that we call a study, but is actually a big cupboard stuffed to bursting with books, papers and anything else that we don't have a home for and probably don't really need!), so we put him in the room on the top floor that was previously being used for all the stuff we'd bought for our first child and were no longer using (moses basket et al).

Seemed logical enough, but never did I contemplate the number of times that I would have to walk (or run, depending on the level of screaming) up and down those two flights of stairs in any given day. Take today as an example, I put the baby down for his lunchtime nap, then I come back downstairs to play with my toddler for 20 minutes before he goes for his nap. I sit down for a much-needed cuppa (with the obligitory piece of cake) and the baby wakesup. Sit there for a few minutes to see if he will settle himself, but then have to climb the stairs (remembering my cup of tea this time - usually it is cold when I return to it). By the time I get to the top of the two flights, he is quiet again. Drink my tea standing motionless on the landing. Finish it and hang around for another few minutes wishing I'd brought my laptop with me. Decide all is clear to return downstairs. Settle back down on the sofa for about 10 seconds and the crying resumes. Back up the two flights of stairs...and so it goes on.

On a positive note, it has helped me to lose my baby weight. Just wish walking up and down stairs toned tummies.

Yummy muffins

Before I had children, my culinary skills extended as far as fish and salad or the odd pasta sauce. When the time came to wean my first son, like many other mums I decided that I had to give him the best and set about pureeing organic fruit and vegetables by the kilo. He was a great eater and guzzled almost anything I gave him at an unbelievable pace.

Despite this, he never made the transition from pureed to 'real' fruit and still will only eat dried fruit (and I have tried everything from apples and pears to mango and blueberries). On top of this, for the past year he has also refused most vegetables, sweetcorn being the only one with staying power. As a result, I now spend most Saturday and Sunday mornings cooking soups and sauces in which I can disguise as many vegetables as possible and trying to provide as varied a diet as possible.

At the moment it seems to have worked. Today I made one of the staples - cauliflower cheese - and managed to slip in some broccoli, which was eaten despite its obvious green-ness.

I also cooked some ham and cheese muffins, the recipe for which I found in Tana Ramsay's new cookbook Family Kitchen. My toddler loves them and I have also been known to eat the odd one or two - they are freezable and really useful if you are out and about and want to take something healthy with you for lunch.

DIY

There was a moment this morning when my DIY-phobic mate almost ventured into the cellar to hunt out the dust-covered drill and toolbox. After three days of constant "Me want pole. Me want down the hole.", he decided that he had to find a way of building a fireman's pole for our toddler to slide down. Drastic action was required, but not so drastic that it involved using tools. Enter the internet and a search that identified any number of poles for outdoors climbing frames, but only one for inside...a 'Peekaboo pole dancing' pole complete with 'sexy garter and dance dollars'. There was also a suggestion that maybe I could use it. With this post- two pregnancies body...ummm, I don't think so.

Bottom movements

The baby did his first real 'poo' in over three and a half weeks today. Yippee!

We started weaning him when he was 20 weeks, when he had reached over 19lbs and then lost 4oz in one week despite feeding every two hours through the day and getting up three times a night. It has been up and down and he is still not that keen, but one area that was affected dramatically was his bowel movements. He stopped doing them!

Gradually things have improved and today we finally got there - another signal that most changes in our children's behaviour are simply phases and will pass (excuse the pun).

What a laugh

My baby now giggles. I tickle him...on his chest, on his feet, under his arms, pretty much anywhere and he giggles away like a little madman. How fantastic is that!

Just to clarify

Having read yesterday's posting, my partner said something along the lines of 'So you don't want the children to sleep through the night now?!!'.

I feel I need to clarify.

Firstly, I did say that I was trying to make myself feel better. And secondly, of course I would like them to 'sleep through' and I continue to work towards this goal. Following my experience with my first child however, and knowing the way that I became obsessed with something over which I have no real control, I am determined to remain positive. So if my baby is up in the night (and he certainly is), so be it!

Sleeping through

Why is it that everybody you meet asks if your baby is 'sleeping through' yet? Is that the first measure of a successful mother(followed by crawling, walking, talking and the dreaded potty training)?

My first son did not 'sleep through' until he was 11 months old. We had the odd night here and there, and sometimes a couple of nights consecutively, but whilst my fellow ante-natal classers' babies were in dreamland, mine was in my bed or drinking watered-down formula in the vain hope that it would help him to sleep whilst not satisfying him so much that he chose to drink at night instead of in the day.

My second son seems to be going much the same way. At five months old he is still waking every night to no particular pattern and showing no signs of wanting to spend a full 12 hours with no adult company.

My mum tells me that other mothers lie and that I am too honest(and I have to say that I have had some evidence of this when I have had inadvertent conversations with the odd father or two). I don't see the point in lying when the bags under my eyes and my complete inability to concentrate on a proper conversation act as an immediate give-away to my lack of shut-eye.

And why is 'sleeping through' a must anyway? Are babies born to 'sleep through'? Do adults 'sleep through'? My toddler has slept all night almost every night since he was 11 months, but he still has the odd night where he's up talking, crying or screaming for mummy and I'm sure there will be many more.

Maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better, but with my first son already nearing his third birthday, I think the whole 'baby' phase passes far too quickly anyway. So you can have your 'sleeping through', I'm happy to spend as much time as possible with my beautiful babies (just give me enough sleep every few nights to remain compus mentus!).

Me want

"Me want Fireman Sam. Me want Fireman Sam on telly."
OK, Fireman Sam.
"What's that bag."
Spiderman
"Me want Spiderman. Me want Spiderman on telly."
OK, we'll go home and see what's on.
"Me want Pippin on telly."
Pause
"Me want Fireman Sam. Me want Fireman Sam on telly."

Just one conversation between myself and my eldest on the way home from nursery and proof that toddlers are eternally and fantastically fickle and what they will happily die for one minute will be forgotten the next...and therefore a reminder not to beat myself up over every cross word that we have.

Up and down

Another day of eye infections, runny noses and now croup (is that how you spell it?).

Woken up at 11.30 last night by a noise that sounded like a small sealion. The baby appeared to be having some trouble breathing and was barking down the monitor. After a few moments of panic and an hour of feeding, his breathing and coughing settled down for another couple of hours sleep.

Up again at 4.15am, down again at 4.45, up again at 5.00, down again at 5.15...and then a few hours sleep until my toddler shouted for me at 6.40...ignored him and managed to get another 40 minutes out of both of them. Surely we are all entitled to some rest.

A bit of a bizarre start to the day as toddler was convinced that there was a 'lady' downstairs and wanted to go and find her. Managed to persuade him to go and watch 'Bottle Top Bill' instead...does this mean that he's entered the phase where children start to dream? Is there such a stage? Does that mean that nightmares are about to start?