“If I’d observed all the rules I’d never have got anywhere.”
August 21, 2010 at 5:11 pm — PetraHappy Who?
August 20, 2010 at 7:44 pm — PetraIt’s hard to accept the loss of self sometimes as a mother, and by no means does motherhood require a complete and utter sacrifice of our own individuality, but I don’t think that I should come before baby/child, or we as a family.
In my own little world, it’s ‘Happy Baby = Happy Mum.’ Even when I’m struggling and occasionally miserable because I have set aside my own wants and needs and happiness for my son’s, all it takes is one smile from him, or to have him lay his head on my shoulder and nuzzle into the side of my neck, or to watch him sleeping peacefully, or squealing with joy at the wall, to get over myself and realize how good I have it and how worthwhile it is to put his happiness before my own.
Mother Knows Best
August 19, 2010 at 7:38 pm — PetraI personally feel far more confident in following my instincts when I am educated and informed on the matter at hand, so I really don’t get when ‘Mother Knows Best,’ gets trotted out and waved around like a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card only when what’s being done flies directly in the face of recommended guidelines founded on solid research.
Infant and child mortality rates are progressively lower, our expected lifespans have gotten significantly longer and it’s because of research and increased knowledge along with advancements in technology, medicine, general living conditions, diet and hygiene.
Sure, cavemen survived to perpetuate the human race, and we’ve made it this far, but who wants to go live in caves, chasing down our prey to bash it over the head before dragging it back for eating, all the while getting infested with fleas from its carcass? Right, not many. So how come we find it hard to accept that even as little as a generation ago they did things that in light of what we know today, aren’t necessarily right, or ‘the best’?
Just because it’s what your mother did, and your grandmother before her did, that doesn’t make it the best decision that you can make now. I think prior generations have a wealth of experience to share, but like all things, it should be weighed against ‘what we know now,’ and when what was best yesterday isn’t quite as good as it is today, then why not aim for the skies?
Get Your Crumpet Out Of Your Pocket
August 18, 2010 at 8:08 pm — PetraOf course, I meant the pocket on one of these and I was talking to Ronan, not his daddy!
I just want to say how much I actually love these bibs, too. Bibs are one of those things that you just never really put much thought into when you’re stocking up preemptively until you actually need to use them. Bibs for drooling, bibs for eating…I think there are a lot of bib makers making a lot of money off of oblivious new mothers and thoughtful gift givers because I have a lot of bibs that are useless for containing the dribble and drool of the wee monkey, and wouldn’t stand a chance against the mess he’s capable of making with food in front of him.
While not all purpose, this is now my favorite go to bib for anything involving food. I’m considering investing in another one or two…or more…
So yeah, like I said, “Get your crumpet out of your pocket.”
Fluffy Bum
August 17, 2010 at 4:14 pm — PetraWe took a trip to the post office this morning to pick up our package of Ronan’s first cloth diapers! They’re hanging outside in the sun now to dry after a pre-wash and starting tomorrow, I will have a fluffy bummed monkey!
I just hope he doesn’t continue his trend of the last few days of pooping 3-4 times a day rather than just in the morning like he normally does. I blame that on the weaning. What a great time to start cloth diapering.
Bitey Ants
August 16, 2010 at 12:59 am — Petra
Bad mummy that I am, while we were sitting out on the lawn with Bailey this afternoon (or rather yesterday afternoon since it’s past midnight now), I let Ronan down on the grass where he proceeded to roll into a swarm of ants.
After a cool oatmeal bath that he did not enjoy at all, a dose of tylenol and a slathering of benadryl over the many bites on his arms, legs and even the back of his head, he curled up sleeping peacefully and oblivious to how awful I was feeling. He didn’t act bothered by it, but it had to have hurt and been uncomfortable. I know how it feels, especially since the blighters got in a few nips on me, too.
He woke up at a silly early hour before and while I’d usually get him back to sleep, I had to nurse him and give him cuddles until he was ready to fall asleep again because I just didn’t know if he woke because he was hurting or uncomfortable, or if it was just one of those random wakings that babies are wont to do. I checked his arms while he was feeding and couldn’t even see any of the bites, but why risk it?
As much as I don’t want my baby boy to grow up too fast, I can’t wait until he’s able to communicate with me, especially if it’s to let me know when he’s hurting.
Anyway, so here I am wide awake after only a half hour of sleep. Joy.
6 Months Today
August 14, 2010 at 9:47 pm — PetraOf course, he’s kept me on my toes from day one and just when I think I have him figured out he turns it all upside down on me. Just in case I hadn’t quite got the memo yet, today he’s decided that he was going to go to bed at 3:40pm this afternoon. It’s now 6 hours later and he’s still fast asleep and I’m sitting here wondering when he will wake and if he’s going to want to be up (with me of course) for hours later on tonight.
Dan’s feeling guilty because while he often puts the monkey to bed for the night, he’s usually not around when he goes down for naps but today he put him down for his afternoon nap so now he’s wondering if he confused Ronan into thinking it was bedtime. I’m pretty sure it was just coincidental!
Today was the first day of starting him weaning properly using BLW (baby led weaning) and I had cooked up a big dinner with roast veggies and chicken expecting him to wake up many, many hours ago so we could all sit down together as a family to eat. That obviously didn’t happen, but tomorrow is a new day and as Dan told me, there’s many more days and many more meals to come that we’ll get to sit down and have together as a family.
Life Goals
August 13, 2010 at 11:42 pm — PetraI just got in from a night out with my friend Kelli to celebrate her finishing up her Masters, with a 3.9 GPA. If you know Kelli at all, she’s going to kick herself for all eternity over that .1, but I’m so very proud of her for what she’s achieved and how far she’s come with everything else going on in her life, and if you know Kelli, you know just how much that is. I don’t think she knows how to sit down and relax!
It’s funny to think how very different our lives are even though we both started off going into university/college to do the same thing. She finished her degree. I deferred mine to travel the world. She just finished her Masters, and I just finished cleaning up the mess my son made after mauling roasted potatoes into mush.
Sometimes I wish that I’d stuck it out long enough to have finished off my degree, but most of the time I wouldn’t change the way my life has gone for anything, and these days I can’t imagine living or even wanting to live a different life to the one I have.
Is it sad to sit there and feel like you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but watching your baby boy gleefully waving around a stick of broccoli while the dog waits expectant and hopeful that he’ll get to eat what’s left over, and your husband is pulling faces and claiming that no child of his would ever love broccoli?
Anyway, congratulations Kelli. I really am proud of you and everything you’ve fought so hard for. Keep on fighting.
Ronan’s First (Typed) Words
August 13, 2010 at 1:23 pm — Petra.7/rb joi9OPL;;;;-O0/’———–0.-LO2=]
6yhhhhhhhhhhhjn tt5yusdf2333 WSCC4TF b vcgcc c cuyuuyhhyuhtibgyfvcx[785tL.,NX=9O7JTTGDVFL0KI9O;KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKLLLLLLLLL BN 544EXC X6TFD @XFFSS2a3ed2dqws1WEXX
The Vacuum
August 13, 2010 at 11:25 am — PetraI’m not sure what Bailey thinks of the vacuum though. He never used to mind it as a puppy but then one day he decided it was the devil’s own instrument of torture and to be avoided at all costs. He would bolt when he heard it and stay far out of reach of the dreadful menace.
Lately though, I think he’s been trying to conquer his fear and has been following me around as I vacuum while maintaining a safe distance should a sudden retreat become necessary. Considering he will stand or lie down in front of it in some bizarre game of doggy chicken, he has certainly perfected the art of looking put upon when he has to move yet again out of its way.
The monkey is fascinated with the vacuum cleaner and will sit there zoned out watching it go back and forth across the floor until the cows come home. Unfortunately I don’t enjoy vacuuming that much that I am willing to use it as a form of entertainment to keep him occupied from one nap until the next. I’m just hoping his fascination holds until he’s old enough to push a vacuum cleaner around himself.
As for Dan, well I think he falls firmly in the category of ‘vacuuming needs doing because it needs to get done.’ On the other hand, he regales me with tales of being a wee boy when his mother’s canister vacuum cleaner was a double agent, cleaning floors by day and then secretly acting as his robot dog when not in service!
Maybe I need to invest in a canister vacuum cleaner…