my-speck » baby stuff

Reading… an interpretative adventure. Especially when you’re 2.5

rakster — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:43:42 +0000

family reading

We read a lot of books. Every morning little Poogie (2.5 years now) typically brings a bunch into the bed with me, we get little Sister Boona (6 months now!) and have a bit of a read. Then there are more during the day, at bedtime etc.

We have a relatively large number of books, and are constant library users, but Poogie still seems to know most of them by heart. Which I think is pretty impressive. It is to me anyway, still breastfeeding with now non-existent short-term memory.

So last week I was reading one of our favourites, Australian Author Pamella Allen‘s “A Lion in the Night“, and we were up to this page:

When I asked,

“And what is the little dog saying?”

And the answer, in a “mum, this is so obvious I can’t believe you’re even asking me” voice:

“The little dog is spitting jelly-beans at the lion.”

Right. Of course. I should have known.

Love Mum

P.S. So. It’s been a very busy few weeks. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year… I may get around to posting some of the highlights. I may not. Things are hot (31degrees Celsius) and sticky around here.

And she has started eating…. We are going baby-lead-feeding..

rakster — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 03:00:00 +0000

In other developments around our house, the littlest member of the family has started on her food adventure. I don’t know if I managed to get a photo of her first food (cucumber), but since then we’ve introduced a range of vegetables, a little fruit, and a bit of meat (cooked by her daddy), bread and crackers. Did I mention that you got your first tooth about 2 months ago at 3 months old?? Well, regardless of teeth, you are into food.

I remember when little O first had food like it was yesterday. Avocado. You haven’t tried that yet. Will have to add it in.

Dear Little L:
So far, your favourites have been: steamed / fresh snow peas (preferably from the garden) and turkey. Yes, your Dad cooked a Christmas turkey on the weekend and you are very much into it. We are giving you only whole food: the baby-led feeding approach (read this brochure if you want a quick summary on it). So your sit in your bumbo or on our laps, and get whole bits of veges and other stuff to play with and eat as much as you can of. And since starting, your hand-eye co-ordination has improved out of sight and you have no trouble getting the food from your plate to your mouth. And there is definitely some going down, as is evidenced by the seeds and other bits and pieces I can see in your poo. mmmmm… All good fun. We spoon-fed your brother a bit at the beginning but he really wasn’t into it at all so soon changed to the baby-lead feeding approach. For him it didn’t make much difference – he is just a little skinny thing. You seem a lot more into food so far in general. Thankfully. It is nice to have a little robust baby after the skinny minny your brother turned into at around six months (and still remains).

love mum

So around here mealtimes are a family affair. It’s fun to see:

munching on some cheese: baby-led feeding

a family meal

Love and kisses

mum

A sisterly break..

rakster — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 04:29:14 +0000

A week ago, I headed off down the coast with little Luna and my 3 sisters. It was the first time that just the four (i mean five) of us have ever been away together that I can remember. That is, away without assorted partners, other family etc. (Am I right on that sisters???).

We went out for a few drinks and dinner a few months ago when R1 was up from Melbourne, and it was fun. So when she said she was coming up for a few weeks before Christmas, I took the opportunity to organise a getaway. We headed down to Lennox Heads (just south of Byron), a small sleepy little town with a stunning beach and a lake too. We shared a small apartment that looked out directly to the ocean and where we could hear the waves crashing all night. Played a little scrabble, a few cards, drank a lovely bottle of champagne, ate home-cooked food and just talked.

I enjoyed myself. Little Luna loved the attention.

And I got to enjoy a swim in the ocean by myself. For ages. Without the worry of a two-year old on the beach wanting my attention, nor a baby to swap with a husband… Yay.

Love M.

P.S. the best part of the weekend was my sleepy head sister R2 waking up first thing on Saturday morning, and before even asking for coffee (her serious addiction), coming into the room and asking,

“Can we dress her up? What do you have??”….

Familial likeness….

rakster — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 04:48:31 +0000

It’s been a crazy busy month, with bouts of a sinus cold coming and (hopefully) going. Hence the lack of writing.

Around here, we’ve been busy GROWING.

Growing things in the garden. But mostly, growing little CHILDREN.

Look at this one!

5 months and growing fast

And I think the familial resemblence (her 5 to my 6 months) is uncanny:

the luna baby now - 5 months

me at six or so months

Do you agree??

my baby is 4 months old!! Friday napping. And on sleep in general.

rakster — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 03:57:14 +0000

Little Luna, or Boona or Boo Boo as we affectionately call her, is now four months old.

How time flies.

She is having a nap. So cute.

the sleeping babe: friday nap-time

On my side, I’ve been noticing the effects of a cumulative lack-of-sleep and breastfeeding multiple times in the night for the past four months. Most particularly:

bruises all over my body. I seem to have a lack of spatial awareness and co-ordination. Which means I just run into things all the time. At speed. So I am black and blue. I’m at one large bruise a day at the moment….
inability to control my facial muscles, particularly around my mouth, when talking sometimes. Like, they just go a bit crazy on their own. As if I were going to cry or something, in the middle of a normal conversation. I get odd looks from the people I’m talking to. Weird. I hope this one disappears soon…

But on the positive side, Luna is well over the 100% percentile for weight, which is awesome as O is still off the other end of the scale. So at least I have one fat little dumpling. Yay. And she slept through the night for three nights in a row – from 6:30 pm to 4:30 am this Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, before reverting on Wednesday and last night to a single feed at 2:30 and then another at 6:30 am. WIN! I’m hoping that this is the start of a new period which lasts for at least a few weeks!!

This is my life. Feeding, sleeping, eating, watching, learning and trying to rest in-between.

But the rewards are big. Look at this beautiful girl!!

Luna playing. Our little boomba.

and she was listening…sleep…

rakster — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 02:49:13 +0000

So, after my last post where I complained about the lack of sleep…

My little darling slept right from 7pm to 3:30am last night. Woo hoo! I got more than 3 hours of sleep in a row!

Win for the weekend.

I however went to bed with another case of mild-mastitis, so not feeling 100%, so the lack of eating regularly made it slightly worse and I felt like total crap this morning . Have since made up for that by shoving poor little L on the boob at every available waking moment. A few panadols later, I’m feeling alright..

this is what I feel like when I wake up. thankfully there is no-one to take photos of me.

….
Spent the morning at O’s daycare, as he was feeling like he needed some more mummy time. I went in and read some books, playing in the garden with the kids, then went to his ‘body gumbo’ (or body bumbo as he says) class. A bit of a mix between dance/movement and yoga. It was fun. I think I enjoyed it more than he did. I can now do my salute to the sun with an animal impression at each different position. WIN! We will now be doing more yoga/play at home. It rocked.

….

now I am enjoying some me-time while little L sleeps and O is at daycare.

the sleeping babe - I got her cot out a week ago so she has her own space in our room.

sleepy-head Luna, 13 weeks old

…

Tonight I am going out with my amazing sisters, all four of us, for a drink. So perfect timing with the whole lots of sleep last night.

have a good weekend everyone!

Juggling a temper with an ear infection… and cuteness..

rakster — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 04:12:16 +0000

Day three of an ear-infected, cranky little boy. And a sleeping-a-lot-trying-to-fight-it-off little babe.

Mummy is going a bit stir crazy. She was seen stalking the neighbour’s cat with a squirt gun this afternoon through the back garden… By a workman who she didn’t notice in the other neighbour’s garden. Nice look. He waited until she had been down there for about 5 minutes acting like a dodgy commando-action-hero actor before he made his presence known by raucous laughter. She was a tad embarrased. But granted, she was doing it as the blasted cat was trying to eat her two new chickens. And for some light self-entertainment (she makes her own fun). The workman graciously pointed out where the chickens had gone and where the cat was hiding when his laughter subsided.

As you can see, fours days with two children at home all day, one of whom is on full whine/tantrum/attention-needing at all waking hours, with very little adult human interaction, has left her unable to speak in the first person anymore. She has reverted to full third-person child-speak. God-knows why.

The only saving grace was a few minutes last night when she was preparing dinner. Little O was very excited to be at the big table on his new grown-up big chair and was entertaining his sister with the gift she so carefully chose for him when she was born.

entertaining the little sister

cuteness.

drilling - hard work

Singing to my baby sister :) – Movie Monday

rakster — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 06:39:56 +0000

Finally managed to get the video camera going in time to capture this attempt to pacify the smaller sister

This almost compensates for the number of times I ‘mistakenly’ attempt to jump on her head each day….

Love mum

P.S. Rocky road to follow later this week

Monday morning tea

rakster — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 01:44:58 +0000

Morning tea on the deck overlooking the river at the state library after a play.

We are all going to need a nap today: exhausting for me, but fun!

Sunday afternoon

rakster — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 03:30:03 +0000

I just ate! Related posts on My-Speck you might also like to read: My little signer: mumma, I want to go sleepy! Hi Poogie, head to foot. That is how cov Learning to eat is a messy business Hello Poogie, Well, look out whomever ge Your first food: Avocado

Happy Birthday to us! .. Cake before and after…

rakster — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 10:32:38 +0000

We had a lovely relaxed party in the local park this morning with some friends and family to celebrate our birthdays…

I made you a tip-truck birthday cake:

the tip-truck birthday cake ...

Which was enjoyed by all present:

I had a lovely time chatting and watching all the kids run about in excitement.

thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone!

P.S. And unless the baby decides to come quickly in the next 3.5 hours, I’ve avoided a double birthday with myself. It just has to wait another 27.5 hours to avoid Poogie’s too!

The what’s and where’s of things… (or what dads do at work)

rakster — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 04:51:12 +0000

So little Poogie has recently discovered a few useful sentences:

“Where’s x?” or “Where are you x?” (when he knows x is in the vicinity). Mostly, “Where are you Daddy?” or “Where are you Mummy?”

Often when he already knows exactly where we are (or might if he engaged the brain) at full yell from wherever he happens to be standing (now which parent did he learn that trick from I wonder?? – that would be me!).

And the second one:

“What you doing?”, or “What x doing?”. Again, often when he can see you / knows what you are doing. But not always, sometimes when he can’t see the person.

Recently, we’ve made a few trips to Daddy’s office at around 5:30, to pick him up and take him home. Little Poogie loves going there, he runs right to the drawer where Daddy keeps snacks, and gets a cracker, then has a dance to the loud music Daddy inevitably has on at that time of the day.

So, cue this conversation yesterday morning, 10 minutes after standing on the verandah and watching his Dad cycle up the hill in the distance, round the corner and disappear off to work:

“Mummy, where Daddy? Where Daddy gone?”

“He’s gone to work, remember, you saw him cycle off.”

“Yes, Daddy gone up the hill to work. …. ” Pause while he thinks. “What Daddy doing work?”

“Mmm.. I’m not sure. He might be typing on his computer. Or he might be talking on the phone.”

Little Poogie ponders this answer for a minute. Then with a very definitive shake of his head:

“No. Daddy eating crackers. … Daddy listening music.”

I collapse on the ground in laughter, because that is such an apt description of what my lawyer husband does at work all day!

Love mum

P.S. Can’t wait until the “why’s” start…

I born a ….

rakster — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 07:16:21 +0000

From the mouth of a babe:

“I born a nana!”

"I born a nana"

I guess those books we have been reading every day to try to get used to the concept that a baby will soon arrive are really getting through . I wasn’t quite sure he understood that the baby would come out of my tummy through a ‘hole’ somewhere, but he told me yesterday the baby would come out soon through a ‘hole’, and today’s demonstration proves he really does get it…

This beauty was uttered not 5 minutes ago, spontaneously on the verandah to Aunty G. Imaginative play! I love it!

Love mum

P.S. Let’s hope the real baby gets better care than this poor nana a few minutes after birth:

And she swallowed … a soccer ball?

rakster — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 04:33:13 +0000

Hello!

Well, it’s that time again, where I feel as ginormous as a house. And look like it too.

No, I take it back, as your father says:

“Who swallowed the soccer ball?”.

I’m not really as big as a house, just as big as it would be to have a whole soccer ball in your stomach. Yep, that’s me:

soccer ball in the belly

Righto. So today I have:

purchased oil of clove and cleaning stuff from natural shop around the corner
cleaned Poogie’s room including scrubbing the mould off the walls (from where I could reach, I restrained myself from getting up a ladder, though I was sorely tempted). Living in the sub-tropics is a pain in the butt. (Scrubbing the walls… What the??? – there is something about pregnancy hormones).
Re-arranged Poogie’s room. Twice. Still not happy. Need husband’s assistance as I think I’ve been scratching the floors in my haste to re-arrange heavy furniture single-handedly (because of course, that is what every 9-month pregnant lady should be doing, moving heavy furniture about the place for no good reason).
Tried to take shots of pregnant belly. Relatively unsuccessfully (see above for best example)… Photos just don’t do the thing justice. The sheer size and scale is astounding me every time I look in the mirror.
Eaten lots of snakes (lollies, candies, whatever you will call them). Re-assessed belly size to see if any noticeable difference. None noted. Have decided at this stage anything I consume is just inconsequential relatively.
Thought about eating proper food. Put that off.
Thought about reading the ‘list’ of things I have written myself to get done before baby arrives. Written about 5 times now in different places (the kitchen wall, zenbe lists on my ibaby, scraps of paper in the handbag…).
Decided that reading the list was kinda pointless as I don’t feel like doing any of the things that might be on there. Like packing a bag to take to the hospital (I think I’m in denial about that part of the whole process at this stage. Ready mentally, I say, but obviously I think I can put it off a little longer by not packing a bag. Because the baby will wait for the bag. Right?? Right. Of course …).

Thinking maybe I need to eat some proper food. May get in car and go and seek some out as cooking something sounds unappealing at this stage…

Love mum

ps. 38 weeks pregnant today. Last time I was this big at 37 weeks…

Is the baby coming out today?…

rakster — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 06:16:40 +0000

So today little Poogie has a bit of the flu still, so we had a day home from kindi (daycare).

All I had planned was the fitting of the baby car seat at the ambulance centre (great rental service here in Brisbane) and then a trip to the obstetrician’s for a check-up. We had started to talk to little O about the need for a new baby seat in the car already: especially as his seat had to move over to accommodate the new baby capsule, and that the baby when it came out would travel in the car, next to him. Where he could see it (which he seems excited about!).

Which had to be explained in detail again and discussed on the way in the car this morning:

Poogie: “Mum, where is the doctor?”

“In his office, in the city.”

“Doctor’s name?”

“Doug”

“Doctor Doug see the baby?”

“No, he will just have a listen to the baby’s heartbeat.”

“Mum, ambulance put baby seat in car?”

“Yes, there will be someone at the ambulance office who will help us put a new seat for the baby in the car. So, you know, when the baby comes out of mummy’s tummy to meet us, it will have somewhere to sit in the car and be safe.”

“Mmm, yes. Baby come out and go in baby seat. When baby coming?”

“I don’t know, do you want the baby to come out soon?”

“Yes, soon. Doctor listen baby. Baby come soon. Today?”

And so on ad infinitum as we drove in to the city.

After we had the new capsule installed, and as Poogie was climbing back into his seat, :

“Baby sit beside me!”

“Baby isn’t here yet, it’s still in mummy’s tummy, here.”

Mournfully: “Baby come out today??”

Later, at the doctor’s office:

“What’s that noise??”

“That’s the baby’s heartbeat, and the noise in mummy’s tummy.”

After a very thoughtful look at the doppler and then at the doctor quizzically,

“Doctor Doug, baby come out today??”…

mmmmm…

I don’t think he has any real idea what is going to hit him, but at least he’s excited!

love mum

Dear Baby…. you are always on my mind.

rakster — Wed, 25 May 2011 03:36:50 +0000

Dear Baby,

quick note to let you know that you are occupying my mind more and more as the date of your arrival approaches. It’s just that I’m a bit busy… so haven’t got to telling you about it.

So I intend each day from now on to write you at least a small note.

Today’s message: please hang in there for at least another 11 days.

I’ve had a few close friend’s babies arrive a few weeks early recently. Please, just hang out a bit longer, enjoy the swim and the swishy noises of digestion and heartbeats, because I really need a bit of a break after I finish work this Friday (the reason I haven’t written for so long – lots of work and just tired tired tired at the end of it all)… And then we want to go to the beach for the weekend with your little brother for a last getaway before you join us on the outside of my tummy.

I didn’t get a single day’s break when your brother O arrived two years ago, working up until the day before he came (not quite planned that way, but that’s how it goes I guess).

…

Those really strong tweaky feelings right down in my pelvis the other night sort of freaked me out a bit… I’m ready mentally for you to come, but not quite ready in real life: I haven’t even pulled down the baby clothes from the top of the cupboard yet….

So, hang tight, keep swimming around, and enjoy the ride. please.

love mum.

Buying Baby Stuff… Prams, Strollers and slings.

rakster — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 12:00:50 +0000

Buying baby stuff: particularly prams, strollers, slings and other baby-carrying devices. Provokes a reaction/comment/opinion in most parents of young children. Weird but true: those devices that become really important. They let you move. And settle. And all other sorts of important things.

I like to research things before I buy them. Usually over-research. Take ages to make a decision. Which is infuriating even to me sometimes. We still use the stereo I bought when I was 18. The CD player/stacker on it broke about 6 years ago. And we didn’t get it fixed because we meant to buy a new one. But never got around to it. Because each time we tried to do research on what we thought we wanted, it all got too complicated too quickly. And the stereo could take an input still – so we could play our mini-disc players. Then we just reverted to radio for a long while. Or listening through a computer. Now I plug my iBaby in. And it still works fine. But we would like a new stereo one day.

That is all an aside though. We use a beautiful, much-loved Mountain Buggy pram for you. Which we deliberated over, and did a lot of research on (see above) before we bought it (in NZ on holiday, as it was cheaper there. Yes, we carted it back through customs to save ourselves $200). We don’t use it as often as we used to, as you like to walk, but you still love it. Sometimes in fact you prefer to be in it than walking. It is so easy to push, steer with one hand, in the dark, up a hill, full of a flat of beer (or two as your Dad once proved). We do still give it a good workout: recently we’ve been trying to go for a walk a bit after your dinner and before your bed. And do some bat and other night creature spotting. You love it. Anyway, I know you’ll be 2 when your brother or sister arrives, and I plan on baby-slinging the new arrival around as much as we can for a while, but nonetheless I’ve been wondering what to do with you and a stroller/pram.

To buy a new one or not to buy a new one? We already have the Mountain Buggy, we have the bassinet attachment (which we bought secondhand for $50 and served as your sleeping bassinet for the first 3 months of your life when you were sleeping during the day: at night you co-slept with us in the big bed)…. And it would be good to use for the new baby coming. And we also have a Quinny Zapp, which I bought because it was on like a fantastic sale at a baby store just when I happened to be about to take a plane ride somewhere and wanted a pram that could fit easily on a plane etc (and boy was it a godsend walking through airports over the past few months – you sleeping happily in it and us actually not having to carry a toddler for hours while transiting, braving flight delays and baggage carousels).. Which is great, small, compact, light and good in the car boot. So I’m not really keen on buying another pram – like a double, or a phil & ted’s toddler combo thingo.

So when I read about the new scooter-combo thingo from Mountain Buggy I was really excited. It is a scooter that can clip onto the back of your Mountain Buggy pram. So you can ride it by yourself, or be pushed along with the pram. sounds like a winner, right? Anyway, I decided yesterday that instead of deliberating for months about whether we really needed it, whether it is the best thing to buy, blah blah blah blah blah, that most importantly, IT LOOKS LIKE IT TOTALLY ROCKS and that YOU WILL HAVE A BALL on it. Whether or not I can restrain you while walking.

the freerider - hopefully coming to our house soon

So I went ahead and ordered one. Woot! Can’t wait until it arrives.

Bum…

rakster — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 02:53:12 +0000

Poogie:

“Bum, bum, bum, bum, BUM!”

Daddy:

“What are bums for, O?”

Poogie, with a thoughtful look on his face and head tilted to the side, ponders the question for a few seconds. Then with a big, confident smile,

“Bumming!“.

…..

So funny… We are of course in the midst of potty-training, so there are a lot of questions about bums and poos and wees, and all things related. And lots of questions about other people too – like,

“ poo in toilet? Wee in toilet? No, wee in garden. Wee in toilet / garden??”.

And a lot of discussion about how poos come from

“Back here”, pointing to his bum, and “wee wees from down here, in front.”

Yep, we’ve got the general idea, now we just need to work on consistency of getting to the potty for the wee wees…

love mum

P.S. And obviously you’re practising your verb tenses at the same time…

Was that “duck”????… Bad parent of the day award

rakster — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 10:06:15 +0000

This week you’ve started to talk in whole sentences. Like,

“The bird is in the sky. Up there.”

And the like. And in addition to using your own sentences, you’ve decided to repeat verbatim what other people say to you, back to them:

“Let’s go eat now”; “Lets feed the chickens”; “I like eggs”….

So today I was pulling out of our street into the busy road on the way to drop you (O) at daycare when someone nearly hit me… I swerved and said,

“Fuck. Stupid asshole. Did you see that, they almost hit us.”

Can you see where this is going???..

….

You proceeded to babble in the back about “ducks” with a certain inflection in your voice the rest of the way to daycare.

Nice one mum.

P.S. Yes, we have instituted the swear jar, as I’ve written about before. But at present the rules are that it only applies once you walk in the front door. With the unspoken proviso that both your Dad and I try to adhere to it around you at most times…. But as I’ve also said before that I think I have contributed the most to the about $150 we’ve collected so far..

Dear Baby: Kick, kick, kicking away.

rakster — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 04:40:38 +0000

Dear Baby,

So, I’m now 22 weeks pregnant, and all is going well.

I feel kinda guilty about not writing more about this pregnancy on the blog – sharing more intimately what is going on, as I did last time.

But for some reason I just feel more at peace with the whole process, and for some reason, a little more private about it all too. Just like it is a calm and peaceful journey that we are going on right now, and that we are getting to know each other quietly while you’re growing, moving and kicking around down in my slowly-expanding belly.

You feel to me like a different baby than your brother. I can’t put my finger quite on how or why or what is different, it is just a different feeling.

Common to last time, I have a renewed vigour for food and all things edible. Last week your dad was out for a meeting one night and wasn’t going to be back for dinner but I had a hankering for a nice meal, so I cooked myself a two course meal that I had a craving for. It took 4 hours to cook, in between looking after and playing with your brother, getting him fed and bathed and to bed, but it was well worth it…

spanikopita with red tomato pesto salsa

Oh. I just went to get a photo of dessert and realised I must have forgotten to take one in my hurry to ingest it. Take it from me: it was good. Fresh raspberry swirl icecream, made with home-laid eggs…. Yum!!

You’ve been eating well. (P.S. I explained a few weeks ago to your brother that when mummy eats, the food goes ‘down down down’ to the baby. Five minutes later he brought me some of his muffin and gave it to me to eat: first ‘mummy eat’ then another piece for ‘baby, down down’).

Anyway, a little picture from your 20 week scan, which we had a week and a half ago now. The summary, you’ve got all the normal bits and pieces. You’re about 50th percentile for most of your dimensions. Which is what your brother was. I think I’ve already mentioned that you are due on the same date, just two years apart. I guess at least your Chinese sign will be different: you will be a rabbit wheras your brother is an ox/cow. …

love and kisses

mum

22 weeks pregnant.