Old Blog

I've just re-discovered my old blog. Actually, it's a website thingo which contains a blog and when i started it i had no idea what a blog actually was. Anyway, in my attempt to rid the internet of sites connected to our surname (which is proving troublesome and probably not worth the bother, but hey, when I start something I like to finish it) I have decided to transfer the entries here. All 11 of them, wow, I really got into it huh?

So get ready, this is about the old days. Before Aoife, before Euey was walking. Wow, that seems like ages ago ...

03.May.06
Thoughts on Childcare
One of my close friends has just had a baby. She is one of the most philosophical people I know and conversations with her before the birth were hilarious. She wanted to know everything. Questions about things I didn't even know existed. It just wasn't enough to know that blankets come in all different sizes. 'What is each size for?' she needs to know. (Bon, this is you! See, I was posting about you before I even knew what a blog was, such is your influence on my blogging world!)

I remember it well though; those last few weeks of pregnancy. Trying so hard to figure out how my life was going to change but really having no idea. I remember having it all worked out. 'Bean' was due June 14th and Gestational Diabetes meant I would be induced if I hadn't gone into labour by then, so I knew the latest date he would be born. That meant that Bean would be just 6 weeks old when Uni went back - perfect timing (so I thought) 'cause that was the youngest they'd take him at childcare.

6 weeks! There was NO WAY I was sending him to childcare when he was 6 weeks old! I barely felt I'd got to know him by then. Amazing how it really changes once the belly becomes babe.

...

Tips for bringing a 2nd baby home
What to do with a toddler when you're breastfeeding a new baby??? Wow. Definitely something I'll need to have lots of tips and ideas for before it happens. Here's what I've read and heard from other Mums, as well as what I've come up with. Would be grateful for any comments.

A special box that comes out only when I'm feeding the baby. It should have 'big boy' toys in it and things that will keep him occupied but close to me. Ideas: colouring in? Stickers? Wow! I have no idea what a 1 1/2 - 2 year old will want to do that's quiet. Especially if he's as physically active as he is now.
Teach him to 'help Mum'. He can be my fetcher. Not sure whether that can last for the hour it takes to feed a newborn though!
07.04.07 ~ Awesome idea, except by the time Aoife came along there was no way Euey was staying 'quiet and near me' while I fed her. Nor did he need to. By that time I had the house well and truly kid-proofed and he could go anywhere he wanted quite safely.
...

Next time I'll remember ...
Well, we're thinking of doing it all again. Just have to wait a month so I don't have morning sickness during my exams! So, what better time to start writing down all the things to remember to do (or NOT to do) for the next bub.

THINGS THAT WORKED:
Feeding every 3 hours - even if he was asleep we woke him up. I think it played a big part in him sleeping so well for the first 6 months.
Will reading to me during the 3am feeds.
Taking Euey out from a few weeks of age. He still loves social gatherings.
Taking him to Mum and Dad's often, he knows them and Charlie and Gus so well now and gets really excited when we arrive at their house.


THINGS NOT TO DO:
Rock / pat etc to sleep (a baby that learns how to put itself to sleep from a very early age is the aim here).
Let Will take a job that has him out of the house from 4 - 6am.
Attempt Controlled Crying !!! (My god, what a nightmare. I have never been through such a traumatic experience and would never do it again. Not only did it NOT teach Euey to put himself to sleep, but it DID teach him to be afraid of his cot and cry every time he was taken near it.)

NEXT TIME WE'LL TRY:
Putting her (of course we'll be lucky enough to have one of each) into bed before she's asleep from early on. It's worth a try to see if all those 'experts' are right.
07.04.07 ~ They are. We did it with Aoife from the start and she puts herself to sleep about 75% of the time. She has also slept through (10pm - 6:30am) the last 4 nights in a row. Not that I want to jinx myself, so no more of that talk.
...

Fun & Games and Syllables

Ahh, my little man is growing up. He plays so many games these days. The favourite at the moment is hide and seek - with Will hiding and Euey seeking. Will crawls away and hides behind something too small, then all three of us giggle away as Euey crawls after him looking cheeky and then throws himself at Will when he finds him.

He also has a fantastic sense of humour. He laughs randomly at least 10 times a day at the strangest things: sticky tape, dog biscuits being poured, funny faces and noises, a face pulled at his smelly nappy, the dogs, the cat. You name it and our boy finds it hilarious!

In the last few days he's started making syllables with consonants. His first consonant was a hard g - so he sounded like a cartoon baby for a few days because all he said was 'goo goo' and 'ga ga'. Then he moved on to 'gug' and 'gack' and now says 'mmmum mum' and 'dada'. He babbles away for ages, having a full conversation with us; which of course we're meant to understand and respond to. It is surprising how many different versions of 'really? that's fantastic' you can come up with when pushed!

Rock on the day he says 'Mum' or 'Dad' with meaning!!

...

Stairs

Mmm, the very idea of stairs and babies just scares you doesn't it?! Mum and Dad's place has a set of stairs and as yet, no stair guard. Until recently Euey showed no interest thank goodness, but today he went straight for them after seeing me go up to have a shower. He climbed up - and more importantly, climbed down again backwards. He thought it was fantastic fun but poor Aunty Chuck and I nearly had heart attacks every time he sat down for a rest (still backwards of course and looking very precarious). I can't wait 'til he learns he can slide down on his bum on a sleeping bag! Man how I used to wish we had stairs so I could make that a daily occurrence.

...

04.May.06
Bugger

I organised for Gen and Mudge to babysit tonight because Will had to work late and I had a lecture. Stupidly I thought this was a favour I was asking; that is until I called to say it was okay, Will would be home in time. The reply said it all: "Oh, Bugger!' said Mudgie. I took Euey over to stay for a while anyway!

...

11 May
Breastfeeding, weaning and the bottle
Well, Euey has never been typical when it came to feeding. From the start he didn't like the normal feeding position - well, I guess when he was only days old it may have been me who didn't like the normal hold, surely he wasn't contrary at that young age! So we fed in the footy hold (ie under the arm of the boob he was attached to). 'Attached' such an apt term, I tell you what, when he was on, there was no getting him off in a hurry, attached is certainly what he was. Sometimes i used to go and get myself a biscuit or answer the door with him still feeding away quite happily. Yes, I did know who was at the door before I opened it, although that would probably be a sure-fire way to get rid of those pesky Mormons or Salespeople.

We had to move from the footy hold to the regular one at about 3 months 'cause he got too big. That lasted a few months, then he decided there was too much going on that he was missing out on. His solution was to feed sitting up. Yep, sitting up. Like a little man, he sat beside me, turned his head and latched on. This, I must say, was not the most discrete way of feeding. There was no baby in front of my boob hiding most of it, there was just a big white boob with a baby attached to the side of it. Needless to say I tried to avoid feeding in public. I also started dressing in layers so I could cover up my tummy while he fed. I'd always felt that I would never breast-feed once my baby could talk. Talking, and maybe even walking, just seemed too old, too unbabylike for breast-feeding. For a while when he first started feeding sitting up I felt like people were looking at me like I looked at a woman breast-feeding a 4-year old - 'Woman, that baby is too old for that!!!' He was only 6 months though, so I kept it up and got over my silly feelings.

Anyway, I digress. Why am I writing this entry today? Because Euey has stopped feeding. Yes, just like that, stopped. 4 full days, 5 full nights and a morning ago my little man looked at my nipple and LAUGHED!! 'What? You call that food?' was what the look on his face said, and he hasn't touched it since. Not that I haven't tried - any breast-feeding mothers will know that I've tried alright, I've tried everything. I even put chocolate on my nipples! Since Easter Euey has known exactly what chocolate is and LOVES it, but even that wouldn't get him back on the breast.

Why is this such an issue? He's 10 1/2 months, that's old enough to wean isn't it? Yes,although the World Health Organisation recommends breast feeding 'til 12 months, I have no doubt that10 1/2 months is old enough to wean, and really I think it's great that he's weaned himself. Very natural, no need for heartache (except mine when I think about the snugglyness I'm missing). The problem, my uninitiated friends, is MILK. A very large oversupply of it to be exact. The first day I coped, but by the third day I had these two watermelons out the front of me that were threatening to explode. You see you can't just express (ie milk yourself) because the more you take out the more your body makes, thus exacerbating the problem.

On Tuesday I heard of a solution. Tablets that stop milk production - yay!! So,in absolute agony, braless, with what looked like solid silicon fake boobs sticking out the front of me, I headed off to the only doctor open at 7:30pm and told him my problem. A trip to the chemist and I was out of the woods - sort of. The tablets would stop the hormone that told me to make milk, but it did nothing for the mountainous supply that was already there. That, I had to express.

Today I'm feeling much better. The pain is not as bad. Still tender, but not 'I'm going to shoot someone very soon' tender. They tell me it can take up to 2 weeks to stop producing altogether. Then I'm back in normal bras, no little clips for quick exposure, no 4-hook backs, no extra wide straps - oh, yeah, I forgot, I've always had such big boobs I needed extra wide straps and 4-hook backs. Oh well!

So that's my side of the saga, what about Euey? He has developed a great affinity for bottles all of a sudden. Those things he used to scorn. It took us months to teach him how to use one when we started wanting to go places without him, and now as soon as he sees a bottle he shouts 'Ga' and points at it. If it's within reach he'll grab it, bring it to us and tell us 'Ga'. 'Ga', while being a very versatile word, in this context means 'Give it to me PLEASE!!'

...

26.May.06
De-caff
Well, I lasted 3 weeks on real coffee. Now it's back to the good old de-caff I've become used to over the last year and nine months. Yes, we are pregnant again. We have some very fertile genes between us obviously. We had decided we'd stop using contraception around the end of May so if I fell pregnant straight away I wouldn't have morning sickness during exams. But as usual, we got carried away with the idea and through caution to the wind a little early (with big hopes and expectations). Once was all we needed, we're pretty sure we fell pregnant that first time!

It's early days yet, I haven't even been to the doc appointment we've made, but there were many signs before we did a positive test. Euey weaning was the first clue, but as excited as we were and and as much as we wanted this new bub, we didn't let ourselves believe that his laughing at my boob meant there was a littl'un in there saying 'get lost, this is mine now'! About a week or so after that I had a huge urge to vomit and had to run out of a lecture. That was when we did the first test - negative. I felt sick for a week after that, from about 9am 'til noon. Mmmm. Another test - negative. By this time I was a few days late and we were thinking it was all a bit strange. I hung out for nearly another whole week, by which time I was 8 days late I think, then we finally got the result we knew was coming - two little blue lines ... woo hoo!!

I know some people believe it's tempting fate to announce pregnancy so early, but we've never belived that. It's too exciting to keep a secret. Besides, if anything goes weird (fingers crossed no) we'd rather everyone understood.

So, there's another Aussie-Irish on the way. Will, although wanting a girl from the start, seems to be completely won over by Euey and thinks another boy would be great. I always wanted a boy and when I got one I thought another would just be so much fun for Euey. However ... I have been having these strange girly urges lately! I was listening to the radio the other day and 'Little Ray of Sunshine' came on. It completely undid me! Maybe a girl would be a fantastic thing. After all, I'm sure not all girls want their mum to play barbies and teach them how to put on make-up - I certainly didn't. That's what aunties are for!!

...

31.May.06
Morning Sickness
Bring out the ginger tea and biscuits; morning sickness is rolling in! Well, I can't really complain, it's nothing like with Euey ('Bean' as he was then), Dot seems to be settling in well so far. Today is the first day I've felt a little yuck, if it doesn't get any worse than this I'll cope.

For any first time pregos out there, GINGER IS YOUR FRIEND!! With Bean I didn't ever get up in the morning before eating at least two ginger biscuits. It was a hint from my sister-in-law Evelyn and one I was ever grateful for! In Korea I also had access to this awesome ginger tea; it looked like marmalade, you added water and got awesome ginger potency - yum! Here I'll have to settle for the dried variety, hopefully it will work as well.

So, fingers crossed, please be nice to me Dot. I'll give you a great little cocoon for the next 8 months, just treat it gently would you?

...

07.June.06

Nearly Walking
WOW! In the last two days Euey has totally mastered mowing the carpet in the living room. If you're finding this a hard picture to get into your head I'll post a photo soon. In the meantime, content yourself with the knowledge that it is not a real mower, but a little red plastic 'Victa Mustang'! It's too light for him to lean on as he walks behind it and in the past has always flipped up and sent him crashing to the floor in a heap of tears and frustration. Not anymore!! Now he runs it up and down the living room, not looking where he's going, but instead eyes fixed on us with the proudest grin you've ever seen. He only stops when he hits something; then his little face changes from "Check me out, I'm the champion of the world" to "Hey, would you hurry up and turn me around, I've got mowing to do can't you see?".

Can you believe he'll be one in less than a week?! I'm champing at the bit to cook chocolate crackles and honeyjoys and make the first cake I've made in months. The little afternoon tea party we have planned is shaping up to be great fun for all. Euey won't have any idea what it's for, but he's a people person, he'll just love getting hugs from everyone and having lots of people to show off to.

...

08.June.06
My present for Euey's birthday
For weeks now Will has been slyly mentioning 'the present'. It's Euey's birthday present, but it's been kept a secret from me because "it's for both of you, a kind of celebration of you both". So when (10 mins after Will left for work) a package arrived that was too light to be the new laptop we'd ordered, I thought I better ring Will before I opened it. "Don't touch it, I'm coming home" was the response. I made him give it to me today, even though it's 5 days 'til the actual day.
It's so beautiful. He has put a photo of Euey and I on canvas. And he's right, it IS a celebration of us, it's perfect. It captures the koala cuddles that Euey still tries to do but is really too big for now. I will have to post a photo of it, because as they say, pictures tell a thousand words, and it is the expression on my face that I love. It says it all; pride, joy, pure bliss ...

Well that's it. That's all I wrote before I gave it up as a bad joke. The site I was using wasn't really user friendly and I didn't have as much need to feed my brain as I do now 'cause I was studying. Less than 2 months I lasted before I gave up my first blogging attempt without even really learning what a blog was. How I have evolved ;)