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!