on wednesday percy and i fronted up at the camperdown early childhood health centre. cripes that's a long name.
i hadn't been before which might be quite slack parenting on our behalf, so didn't really know what to expect. i know some kids are whisked off to health workers at every opportunity but i'm just not that type of person. perhaps because i've never really dealt with any serious health issues myself; i don't have an understanding what it's like to be ill and frightened or feel that way for my child.
for her first ten weeks at home jan came to see us. then she had her 4 month vaccinations at the british medical centre in kiev, she was home in time to only be a little late for her six months vaccinations, we kinda skipped seven and eight months, nine months was at christmas and just too difficult and here we arrive at ten months.
after a short wait we went into an examination room and spoke with a nice nurse? doctor? what are the qualifications of the people who staff these centres? i dunno.
percy was weighed and measured and discussed and wanted just to play with the security pass and set of keys hung around our nurse's neck (i'll go wiwth nurse.) she's all okay. she's in the 75th percentile for length and the 25th for weight, so she's long and lean. better lean than fat we were told. apparently the best measure for a babys growth and development is head circumference. this shows the brain is growing. percy's got a big head, tho once again i can't recall the actual measurement. so she's a lollipop- big head on a narrow body! that's not funny.
the slight rash on her bum was put down to fungal something, related to teething. we have cream that is fixing the problem already.
we did discuss her sleeping and eating. the advice was if we want to try controlled crying we need to stick with it for a week. not doing it. just can't. just won't.
on an interesting note about this tho, on wednesday nite and again last nite percy only woke for one feed. are we seeing the beginning of a trend? i'm not getting my hopes up yet. it would be nice tho, wouldn't it? one feed around 10pm to midnite would be so easy knowing we needn't be getting up again between 2am and 4am. cross fingers but don't hold breath...
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
the wonder of words
communication really is the most important mechanism for people to recognise the humanity in each other. from random nods of "hello" to strangers on the street to the elucidating of grand societies lost to antiquity, it is communication of thoughts and ideas that allow us to understand the world around us and perhaps understand ourselves a little too.
while gestures and language from body movement and poses can communicate so much i feel it really is the spoken language and subsequently the written language that is the best vehicle to make ourselves explicitly understood. we'd probably get by with grunts and nods and fingers (as proven by three months in ukraine!) but isn't it so much more fulfilling, so much more grand, so simple to speak words that others can understand and interpret and speak back to you? the guys at oxford estimate there are around a quarter of a million words used at present in the english language. wow! all those wonderful words to use to share our life with each other. all those magnificent words to tell each other of the mundane but also to describe the ecstatic, the elevating, the enervating, the effervescent...
it's just so exciting!
we have percy's second confirmed word (after meow.) it couldn't be more appropriate or make me happier. guess? well, it's "hats!"
every day we walk up and down the stair case where we have a hat rack that holds 20 hats, plus i've double stacked a few, then near the front door is the hat stand and in the dining room are four hat boxes full of hats too. perhaps we shouldn't be surprised!
percy has been saying the "ts" sound for a week or more. lately she's added the 'ha' sound a little better. it's definately 'hats.' she turns her head to the rack or stand, or she points, or when i put a hat on to go outside she smiles hugely and repeats (soft) ha (strong) tis, tis, tis, tis...
of course this doesn't mean she leaves hers on her head for any longer than a couple of seconds!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
happy 10 months!
tonite at 10:23, ten months ago, percy was born! hasn't life changed since that day? oh, yeah!
here's a photo of us freezing our nether regions off waiting for a ferry in nuweiba, egypt to take us across the red sea to aqaba, jordan during our honeymoon three years ago...
there's no way i would have attempted this journey with a bub along.
and you know what all our photos are of these days!
visit from opa
percy enjoyed a visit from her opa (my dad) over the last couple of days. after an initial hesitancy that lasted only a few minutes she had lots of smiles, hugs and sharing. here's them sharing a pear!
we had a couple of walks to the park to play on the swings and see-saw, also to try out walking in her new shoes.
she's walking very well behind her walkers now so we thought she ought to have some shoes when out on the footpaths. we got her some blue sandals from pumpkin patch. which surprised the hell out of me. i thought we'd never buy anything at that shop, primarily because we couldn't afford it but also because we don't see the point in babies wearing label/ branded clothing. her hand-me-downs and a couple of items from kmart are doing great! anyways, she seems to have taken to walking in the sandals quite well. some funny high reaching steps first and then back to normal.
we waved opa away this morning around 7am. percy is mastering the idea of waving good bye to people. her wave is a wild flailing of her arm but she definately associates it with people saying "bye bye" and waving to her.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
strangest day in a long time
which is saying something when you have a new person/ life in your hands.
yesterday i left work early due to splitting headache. by the time i got on the train to come home it was a full blown migraine. it's only five minutes from office to train. i sat on the train shaking in a cold sweat trying not to vomit. finally we got to erko. it's only five stops. i tottered off the train and breathed in the fresh(er) air. it kept me in one piece to climb to the top of the stairs. i turned to walk to the child care centre to collect percy, but just couldn't manage it. i rang paul and sobbed that i was really sick and could he collect percy today? he said of course and that i should just make it home and go to bed. i'm sure it was a sight; me in my power suit stumbling along the road sobbing in pain. luckily the back streets of erko are pretty deserted at 4pm.
into bed with a mega dose of ibuprofen, only half undressed, front door unlocked, spilling debris along the way. usually i can't function for about 12 hours with a migraine, and only then after a good shower and a long sleep. paul arrived home with percy maybe 45 minutes after i did. perhaps it was the cat nap or her adoring cuddle but i felt quite revived. more likely it was the ibuprofen...
regardless i was able to play a little with percy, give her her dinner and put her to bed. i wonder how much drug went thru the breastmilk into her at her good nite feed?
so to today! this is the strange day. i'm home alone! percy woke at 6:50am, had her breastfeed, her breakfast and i took her to day care. then i came home, had a shower and went back to bed for over two hours!! no percy. no wondering how long this little nap might last. i feel very wierd. if i'm at home then so should percy be. however i'm still weak and headachey, plus we're paying for the day care whether she goes or not. hence she's gone and i'm having some down time. i feel both liberated and like a terrible mother. percy cried tragically when she was dropped off this morning. if i know she doesn't like it, doesn't sleep so well, doesn't eat a lot and won't have her bottles while she's there why don't i keep her home every opportunity i get? because she would have had a crap day with me today too. that'll do; i'm not going to beat myself up over it.
now i'm off to get myself some lunch. i wonder what percy had for lunch...?
yesterday i left work early due to splitting headache. by the time i got on the train to come home it was a full blown migraine. it's only five minutes from office to train. i sat on the train shaking in a cold sweat trying not to vomit. finally we got to erko. it's only five stops. i tottered off the train and breathed in the fresh(er) air. it kept me in one piece to climb to the top of the stairs. i turned to walk to the child care centre to collect percy, but just couldn't manage it. i rang paul and sobbed that i was really sick and could he collect percy today? he said of course and that i should just make it home and go to bed. i'm sure it was a sight; me in my power suit stumbling along the road sobbing in pain. luckily the back streets of erko are pretty deserted at 4pm.
into bed with a mega dose of ibuprofen, only half undressed, front door unlocked, spilling debris along the way. usually i can't function for about 12 hours with a migraine, and only then after a good shower and a long sleep. paul arrived home with percy maybe 45 minutes after i did. perhaps it was the cat nap or her adoring cuddle but i felt quite revived. more likely it was the ibuprofen...
regardless i was able to play a little with percy, give her her dinner and put her to bed. i wonder how much drug went thru the breastmilk into her at her good nite feed?
so to today! this is the strange day. i'm home alone! percy woke at 6:50am, had her breastfeed, her breakfast and i took her to day care. then i came home, had a shower and went back to bed for over two hours!! no percy. no wondering how long this little nap might last. i feel very wierd. if i'm at home then so should percy be. however i'm still weak and headachey, plus we're paying for the day care whether she goes or not. hence she's gone and i'm having some down time. i feel both liberated and like a terrible mother. percy cried tragically when she was dropped off this morning. if i know she doesn't like it, doesn't sleep so well, doesn't eat a lot and won't have her bottles while she's there why don't i keep her home every opportunity i get? because she would have had a crap day with me today too. that'll do; i'm not going to beat myself up over it.
now i'm off to get myself some lunch. i wonder what percy had for lunch...?
Monday, January 21, 2008
aquarium visit
on the 5th of january we went to the sydney aquarium. didn't have time to mention this before. percy was wonderfully well behaved and seemed to enjoy looking at all the sea creatures...
happy times
it occurs to me that i seem to whinge a lot on this blog. i think it's perhaps symptomatic of our society; it isn't news unless it's bad news. what i should stress is that having percy in our lives is constantly amazing, entertaining, rewarding and loving.
she isn't always not sleeping and not eating.
she is also crawling like a champion, standing for up to ten seconds completely unsupported, walking with her walker or holding on to furniture or people, and she has quite mastered transitioning from lieing, to sitting, to crawling, to standing, to walking- in any order at any time. mostly when she's getting her nappy changed, ha, ha, ha! she's just started to wave good bye. there's no consistency and 90% of the time she doesn't do it. but she's starting. she also seems to be mimicking more words. we heard a distinct 'bye-bye' when paul left for work today. or are we just hopeful, doting parents? she didn't repeat it so who knows. we've heard 'hello' a few times. we say this to her so often it's not surprising. he first definate word, which was uttered before christmas, is 'meow'. every time she sees a cat, ours or others, she says 'meow.' very cute.
she's been adept at picking up small, small things in the all-important "pincer grip" (thumb and one finger) for some weeks. these small, small things invariably end up in her mouth. which i don't police as strongly as i probably should. we've done the tiniest amount of "baby proofing" the house. which has consisted of moving the gin bottle off the bottom shelf, putting a pot plant with small pebbles in it outside, ensuring we close the bathroom door fully, and putting a gate across the door to her room. all the hundreds of books within reach will have to fend for themselves. we'll gate off the dining room soon as all the glass and other precious breakables in there are just not able to be moved elsewhere.
percy will be ten months old this sunday. i've rung the camperdown early childhood health centre to get her in for a check up- weight, length, head circumference... all that jazz. just waiting for them to call me back now.
in the meantime we're not fussed about anything. she seems to be growing and is happy nearly all the time. she literally glows and bounces with a smile as wide as her face when her papa comes in the door in the evenings after work. she loves tickles and bouncing on our bed- the queen size trampoline as it is known. she loves music and will sway or bounce when there's a tune on.
she's coming along in leaps and bounds and we love it.
she isn't always not sleeping and not eating.
she is also crawling like a champion, standing for up to ten seconds completely unsupported, walking with her walker or holding on to furniture or people, and she has quite mastered transitioning from lieing, to sitting, to crawling, to standing, to walking- in any order at any time. mostly when she's getting her nappy changed, ha, ha, ha! she's just started to wave good bye. there's no consistency and 90% of the time she doesn't do it. but she's starting. she also seems to be mimicking more words. we heard a distinct 'bye-bye' when paul left for work today. or are we just hopeful, doting parents? she didn't repeat it so who knows. we've heard 'hello' a few times. we say this to her so often it's not surprising. he first definate word, which was uttered before christmas, is 'meow'. every time she sees a cat, ours or others, she says 'meow.' very cute.
she's been adept at picking up small, small things in the all-important "pincer grip" (thumb and one finger) for some weeks. these small, small things invariably end up in her mouth. which i don't police as strongly as i probably should. we've done the tiniest amount of "baby proofing" the house. which has consisted of moving the gin bottle off the bottom shelf, putting a pot plant with small pebbles in it outside, ensuring we close the bathroom door fully, and putting a gate across the door to her room. all the hundreds of books within reach will have to fend for themselves. we'll gate off the dining room soon as all the glass and other precious breakables in there are just not able to be moved elsewhere.
percy will be ten months old this sunday. i've rung the camperdown early childhood health centre to get her in for a check up- weight, length, head circumference... all that jazz. just waiting for them to call me back now.
in the meantime we're not fussed about anything. she seems to be growing and is happy nearly all the time. she literally glows and bounces with a smile as wide as her face when her papa comes in the door in the evenings after work. she loves tickles and bouncing on our bed- the queen size trampoline as it is known. she loves music and will sway or bounce when there's a tune on.
she's coming along in leaps and bounds and we love it.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
the wash up
or just "the washed up" might be closer to the truth.
percy cried when i left her at child care on friday. it was dreadful but i turned my back and left her. she hadn't ramped up to full out howling which i think is the only thing that got me safely out the door without scooping her up and fleeing.
picking her up in the afternoon is so much easier- surprise, surprise! she held her arms out to be picked up and hugged. once i've got her she bounces so excitedly she's in danger of falling out again! she also looks about in a very commanding and delighted manner- almost as if she is saying to the other babies "nah, nah, my mum is here and yours isn't!" she won't being doing that for too much longer. i left work each day this week at 3:30pm to pick her up at 4. next week i'll make it 4 for 4:30pm, eventually getting back to working a proper full day. however my current priority is percy, luckily work is flexible.
the staff advised me that she hadn't slept a lot yesterday (friday) nor had she eaten much. the sleeping i don't think there is much we can do. it'll just be a matter of her gradually getting used to sleeping in this different environment. with the eating tho i'll have to tell them that distraction and persistence is the key. we always have on hand a lid from one of percy's bowls or a second spoon or something equally handy for her to manipulate and chuck repeatedly to the floor. this allows me to get lots of spoonfuls of food in her mouth rather than her eyes, ears, up her nose or in her hands as she reaches for it. without the distraction you'd be forgiven for thinking she's full or not interested after three bites. with the distraction we'll get thru bowlfuls of prepared dishes, steamed vegies, chopped fruit, cereal, yoghurt, etc. she pretty much eats anything now. we've not followed the advice of only introducing one new food every three to four days. it started out that way but got too onerous and boring. so far she hasn't shown a reaction to anything.
she had her first raspberry today. seemed to like it very much so i think they'll get added to breakfast tomorrow.
the other thing child care has provided us with is a cold. brill! poor mite's had a tough week. her teeth started to come in last sunday; there are two on the bottom now, she's gone to day care and now she's got a head cold. she was very snotty and a bit run-down today. he morning sleep went fine- asleep in ten minutes and slept for 1 hour 15 minutes but her afternoon sleep took an hour and 20 minutes to get her to sleep and then she only stayed that way for 50 minutes. crap. last nite was awful too. she woke and cried at 8:30pm until paul went in and straightened her up, then she woke again and i breastfed her to sleep at 9:30pm. paul gave her a bottle at 11:30pm, i breastfed at 3:00am, another breastfeed at 5:30am and then up at 6:50am. phew!
let's see how tonite pans out....
percy cried when i left her at child care on friday. it was dreadful but i turned my back and left her. she hadn't ramped up to full out howling which i think is the only thing that got me safely out the door without scooping her up and fleeing.
picking her up in the afternoon is so much easier- surprise, surprise! she held her arms out to be picked up and hugged. once i've got her she bounces so excitedly she's in danger of falling out again! she also looks about in a very commanding and delighted manner- almost as if she is saying to the other babies "nah, nah, my mum is here and yours isn't!" she won't being doing that for too much longer. i left work each day this week at 3:30pm to pick her up at 4. next week i'll make it 4 for 4:30pm, eventually getting back to working a proper full day. however my current priority is percy, luckily work is flexible.
the staff advised me that she hadn't slept a lot yesterday (friday) nor had she eaten much. the sleeping i don't think there is much we can do. it'll just be a matter of her gradually getting used to sleeping in this different environment. with the eating tho i'll have to tell them that distraction and persistence is the key. we always have on hand a lid from one of percy's bowls or a second spoon or something equally handy for her to manipulate and chuck repeatedly to the floor. this allows me to get lots of spoonfuls of food in her mouth rather than her eyes, ears, up her nose or in her hands as she reaches for it. without the distraction you'd be forgiven for thinking she's full or not interested after three bites. with the distraction we'll get thru bowlfuls of prepared dishes, steamed vegies, chopped fruit, cereal, yoghurt, etc. she pretty much eats anything now. we've not followed the advice of only introducing one new food every three to four days. it started out that way but got too onerous and boring. so far she hasn't shown a reaction to anything.
she had her first raspberry today. seemed to like it very much so i think they'll get added to breakfast tomorrow.
the other thing child care has provided us with is a cold. brill! poor mite's had a tough week. her teeth started to come in last sunday; there are two on the bottom now, she's gone to day care and now she's got a head cold. she was very snotty and a bit run-down today. he morning sleep went fine- asleep in ten minutes and slept for 1 hour 15 minutes but her afternoon sleep took an hour and 20 minutes to get her to sleep and then she only stayed that way for 50 minutes. crap. last nite was awful too. she woke and cried at 8:30pm until paul went in and straightened her up, then she woke again and i breastfed her to sleep at 9:30pm. paul gave her a bottle at 11:30pm, i breastfed at 3:00am, another breastfeed at 5:30am and then up at 6:50am. phew!
let's see how tonite pans out....
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
2nd day of child care
paul dropped percy off again this morning. it will be my turn tomorrow.
she apparently cried when he handed her to the staff person. oh dear. however he forgot to sign her in again and went back only ten minutes later to do so. he reported he couldn't hear any crying then. so hopefully she was distracted and settling in.
getting her to sleep on monday nite was awful, while for both her naps on tuesday i had to rock her to sleep in my arms for half an hour. on wednesday she was okay again. not particularly anticipating a good nites sleep tonite.
she apparently cried when he handed her to the staff person. oh dear. however he forgot to sign her in again and went back only ten minutes later to do so. he reported he couldn't hear any crying then. so hopefully she was distracted and settling in.
getting her to sleep on monday nite was awful, while for both her naps on tuesday i had to rock her to sleep in my arms for half an hour. on wednesday she was okay again. not particularly anticipating a good nites sleep tonite.
Monday, January 14, 2008
back to new things
we all left the house nearly at the same time this morning. percy and paul in the car and me walking up to the train station.
i was at work quite happily within half an hour; trying hard not to think about percy's happiness. my day progressed relatively well. except that my boxes of belongings (reference material mostly) has been lost, i got a headache after gawking at a computer screen for hours (not used to this once standard activity) and by 2pm i was bored! oh dear.
percy, i later learnt, did spend a good amount of time crying. just the thought of her cute little face all scrunched up in tears makes my gut twist. all advice is that this does pass. doesn't do me any good!
she did get two naps of around 40 minutes and one hour. much less than she should but better than none at all. she also refused her bottle after both sleeps as well. i put this down to lack of time from the staff. i'm sure she would have taken the bottle if she was given a proper opportunity. she ate lunch and dessert but no comment on morning or afternoon tea.
i'm also wondering if we should just go to disposable nappies for the time she is in care. paul spoke to a staff person when he dropped her off asking if the cloth nappies needed to be explained. he was advised "no, we've used them before, it's fine, just put them in her locker." which was obviously bullshit because when i picked her up her nappy was half undone and she didn't have a nappy cover on at all. i think when her nappy was changed the first time the cover was not replaced. meaning the next nappy would have leaked thru to her clothes. which might explain why the trousers she was wearing this morning are nowhere to be found. (the covers are fine for a number of nappies- we generally use one a day before washing the cover.) i'm just pissed that if something wasn't understood why no-one asked to have it explained to them. i could have done it over the phone if necessary.
paul was not told that he needed to sign percy in every day when she is dropped off. i got a rather rude call around 11:30am telling me i had to come back and sign her in. paul did say to the staff that he'd never been there before and was there anything else he needed to do...? no-one said to him to be sure he signed the damn book to say the girl was on the premises.
needless to say i was sure to sign her out.
in summation i'm a bit pissed by the whole thing and wish i either was at leisure due to sufficient wealth or due to sufficient wealth i could have a nanny that i could boss about.
i've got two days to get over it before we're at it again...
i was at work quite happily within half an hour; trying hard not to think about percy's happiness. my day progressed relatively well. except that my boxes of belongings (reference material mostly) has been lost, i got a headache after gawking at a computer screen for hours (not used to this once standard activity) and by 2pm i was bored! oh dear.
percy, i later learnt, did spend a good amount of time crying. just the thought of her cute little face all scrunched up in tears makes my gut twist. all advice is that this does pass. doesn't do me any good!
she did get two naps of around 40 minutes and one hour. much less than she should but better than none at all. she also refused her bottle after both sleeps as well. i put this down to lack of time from the staff. i'm sure she would have taken the bottle if she was given a proper opportunity. she ate lunch and dessert but no comment on morning or afternoon tea.
i'm also wondering if we should just go to disposable nappies for the time she is in care. paul spoke to a staff person when he dropped her off asking if the cloth nappies needed to be explained. he was advised "no, we've used them before, it's fine, just put them in her locker." which was obviously bullshit because when i picked her up her nappy was half undone and she didn't have a nappy cover on at all. i think when her nappy was changed the first time the cover was not replaced. meaning the next nappy would have leaked thru to her clothes. which might explain why the trousers she was wearing this morning are nowhere to be found. (the covers are fine for a number of nappies- we generally use one a day before washing the cover.) i'm just pissed that if something wasn't understood why no-one asked to have it explained to them. i could have done it over the phone if necessary.
paul was not told that he needed to sign percy in every day when she is dropped off. i got a rather rude call around 11:30am telling me i had to come back and sign her in. paul did say to the staff that he'd never been there before and was there anything else he needed to do...? no-one said to him to be sure he signed the damn book to say the girl was on the premises.
needless to say i was sure to sign her out.
in summation i'm a bit pissed by the whole thing and wish i either was at leisure due to sufficient wealth or due to sufficient wealth i could have a nanny that i could boss about.
i've got two days to get over it before we're at it again...
Sunday, January 13, 2008
new days
well, i've seen the last of my maternity leave. tomorrow i'm going to work and percy is going to child care. i really, really hate the thought. can't afford a nanny tho so there you go. i try to line up the positives to counter balance what i percieve to the negatives. it doesn't come out even, certainly not tipped to the positives.
paul is dropping her off in the morning. which i think is a good idea. i'd probably be a complete mess at it. i'll finish work at 3:30pm to pick her up at 4. the idea is to keep the first few days as short as possible. ah well....
on a good note, and a bad note as the timing sucks; percy showed her first tooth today!! we noticed because she was crawling about on the floor when paul thought she was eating something she probably shouldn't have been. paul held her while i tried to wiggle my finger in to her mouth to hook it out. no contraband but definately a sharp edge on the bottom right of her jaw. i felt it again this evening- no faking. no biting my nipples yet either which is decidely good news! hopefully as the rest come in she won't take it into her mind to take a firmer grip!
what will happen tomorrow...?
paul is dropping her off in the morning. which i think is a good idea. i'd probably be a complete mess at it. i'll finish work at 3:30pm to pick her up at 4. the idea is to keep the first few days as short as possible. ah well....
on a good note, and a bad note as the timing sucks; percy showed her first tooth today!! we noticed because she was crawling about on the floor when paul thought she was eating something she probably shouldn't have been. paul held her while i tried to wiggle my finger in to her mouth to hook it out. no contraband but definately a sharp edge on the bottom right of her jaw. i felt it again this evening- no faking. no biting my nipples yet either which is decidely good news! hopefully as the rest come in she won't take it into her mind to take a firmer grip!
what will happen tomorrow...?
Friday, January 11, 2008
bubble bath
percy got a treat from her oma this week- a bottle of bubble bath! here's some pictures...
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Familiarisation II
we did go back yesterday for a second go. somehow i felt better this time. an important difference i think is that poor nicholas, a little boy who was having his first week at the centre was slightly better. on wednesday (first day) he was inconsolable. after two hours of howling the centre called his carers to come and collect him. poor little mite. yesterday he was still crying but there were short periods when he could be distracted- he followed a story a little, lunch was okay, he sat quietly in one staff members arms for a time. small improvements. it gives me hope that percy will settle in okay.
my main concern is for her sleeping. a staff member sat with her yesterday trying to get her to sleep but it didn't work. i'll have to tell them that she rarely, rarely sleeps on her tummy which was what the staff person was trying to get her to do. i ended up rocking her to sleep in my arms again. i also gave her a small breast feed as she was continually sucking on her lips, licking and swallowing. i think it was the vegemite taste in her mouth from the morning tea of vegemite on toast. both paul and i are of the opinion that vegemite is used to pave roads, not eat; there isn't any in our house as we've never been called on to pave a road. percy's first taste of this aussie icon was yesterday. i think she couldn't settle well with the vile taste in her mouth. i hoped the breast milk would be soothing while taking the taste away.
(to add to my "blasphemous traitor" record i also don't like meat pies, sausage rolls or any other item in this loosely labelled 'food' category. a holden car, and any other car for that matter, is just a pile of metal and plastic that costs to much to make, buy, maintain and then junk. our flag should loose the union jack. i haven't the foggiest what donald bradman did beside whack a ball about a paddock with a bit of stick. i don't know the rules to any football code. ummm.. that's all that comes to mind at present.)
back to punky! (one of her numerous nick names.) or more correctly- back to me. to ease my troubled mind i went for a walk with percy along king street to indulge in "retail therapy". i used to, and think i still do, hate this phrase. why did our society need to invent a term for selfish consumerism- to make us feel better? anyways; i purchased four books from 'better read than dead'. two are for percy. they are great touch and feel books with things that open, to pull and lots of textures. the third is for my dad for his birthday. hi dad! it's in the post, i hope you like it. (your other present is coming soon.) the fourth was for me. i justified hitting up the credit card by saying only one quarter of the purchase was for me. not sure that swings it.
we stopped in a park on the way back to stretch percy's legs and let her consume her daily allocation of grass and twigs.
my main concern is for her sleeping. a staff member sat with her yesterday trying to get her to sleep but it didn't work. i'll have to tell them that she rarely, rarely sleeps on her tummy which was what the staff person was trying to get her to do. i ended up rocking her to sleep in my arms again. i also gave her a small breast feed as she was continually sucking on her lips, licking and swallowing. i think it was the vegemite taste in her mouth from the morning tea of vegemite on toast. both paul and i are of the opinion that vegemite is used to pave roads, not eat; there isn't any in our house as we've never been called on to pave a road. percy's first taste of this aussie icon was yesterday. i think she couldn't settle well with the vile taste in her mouth. i hoped the breast milk would be soothing while taking the taste away.
(to add to my "blasphemous traitor" record i also don't like meat pies, sausage rolls or any other item in this loosely labelled 'food' category. a holden car, and any other car for that matter, is just a pile of metal and plastic that costs to much to make, buy, maintain and then junk. our flag should loose the union jack. i haven't the foggiest what donald bradman did beside whack a ball about a paddock with a bit of stick. i don't know the rules to any football code. ummm.. that's all that comes to mind at present.)
back to punky! (one of her numerous nick names.) or more correctly- back to me. to ease my troubled mind i went for a walk with percy along king street to indulge in "retail therapy". i used to, and think i still do, hate this phrase. why did our society need to invent a term for selfish consumerism- to make us feel better? anyways; i purchased four books from 'better read than dead'. two are for percy. they are great touch and feel books with things that open, to pull and lots of textures. the third is for my dad for his birthday. hi dad! it's in the post, i hope you like it. (your other present is coming soon.) the fourth was for me. i justified hitting up the credit card by saying only one quarter of the purchase was for me. not sure that swings it.
we stopped in a park on the way back to stretch percy's legs and let her consume her daily allocation of grass and twigs.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Familiarisation I
this morning percy and i spent nearly three hours at her child care centre. the idea is to get her familiar with the place and the staff prior to being there without her parents.
to be honest; i didn't like it. not that it's not a good centre or the children are neglected or anything like that. it's a list of the usual things, none of which are damning; it's not one-on-one care (der), someone won't be available to her constantly to help her walk around, the sleeping room is quite light and cold (21 degrees), the meal times are different to at home... the main thing that put me off tho was the marked difference in how we were treated from the orientation day to today. at orientation we were told that as much as possible the centre staff would follow the routine of the child from home. today i was told lunch is 11am. percy generally wakes from her morning nap at this time, has a bottle of milk and isn't ready for lunch until 12noon. too bad. lunch is 11am. perhaps we could swap the bottle and lunch to fit in. course it doesn't really fit the days she's at home. perhaps she'll be fine with doing three days lunch first and four days lunch second. it might be something small but it is annoying.
she'll have to learn to sleep thu people coming into the cot room. she only got one sleep cycle/ 40 minutes this morning. i put her down (9:30am) and got her to fall asleep (10:05am) and at 10:35 another baby needed a sleep. putting that bub down woke percy, after which she did not go back to sleep.
maybe my presence was not appreciated, maybe i overstayed our welcome.
maybe i'm doing first time mother nerves.
we're going back tomorrow...
to be honest; i didn't like it. not that it's not a good centre or the children are neglected or anything like that. it's a list of the usual things, none of which are damning; it's not one-on-one care (der), someone won't be available to her constantly to help her walk around, the sleeping room is quite light and cold (21 degrees), the meal times are different to at home... the main thing that put me off tho was the marked difference in how we were treated from the orientation day to today. at orientation we were told that as much as possible the centre staff would follow the routine of the child from home. today i was told lunch is 11am. percy generally wakes from her morning nap at this time, has a bottle of milk and isn't ready for lunch until 12noon. too bad. lunch is 11am. perhaps we could swap the bottle and lunch to fit in. course it doesn't really fit the days she's at home. perhaps she'll be fine with doing three days lunch first and four days lunch second. it might be something small but it is annoying.
she'll have to learn to sleep thu people coming into the cot room. she only got one sleep cycle/ 40 minutes this morning. i put her down (9:30am) and got her to fall asleep (10:05am) and at 10:35 another baby needed a sleep. putting that bub down woke percy, after which she did not go back to sleep.
maybe my presence was not appreciated, maybe i overstayed our welcome.
maybe i'm doing first time mother nerves.
we're going back tomorrow...
Sunday, January 6, 2008
happy new year!
okay, it took seven days for me to get around to this, but that's about how far behind in life i generally find myself.
so, how is 2008 shaping up? little early to tell! ha ha.
paul went back to work today after three weeks off. it's a little weird to be back to just punky and me. of course next week i too return to paid, gainful employment. i'll be working mondays, thursdays and fridays. percy will be at the local SDN child care centre. of course she'll be fine but i'm not looking forward to it. we are going in this wednesday and thursday for a few hours of familiarisation. let you know how we get on...
maybe it's more pertinent to reflect on 2007.... certainly was the most challenging year of my life. (even more so than a couple of bungled attempts to slit my wrists and leaving my parents home when i was 16. but then, don't all 16 year olds do spastically stupid things and generally mess them up?)
back to the reminiscing... percy's birth in hindsight, was awesome. at the time i was a little spacey. her gorgeous nuzzling into me and suckling within minutes of her entry to the world was the best feeling of my life. i still adore, in the dark of the nite, when she finishes her feed how her little lips smack together and she sighs completely contentedly, body floppy and eyes closed. ('course i wish she was sleeping 12 hours instead, but that's the way it is.)
taking her to kiev was incredibly hard. i think now of the numerous times i slumped sobbing against the wall not knowing what to do, what to expect, what would come next... hoping against hope that she'll grow up normal and not in some unidentifiable way scarred and scared because of what we did or did not do. seems now that i can forgive myself and relax- she seems pretty normal to most everyone. except to paul and i to whom she is extraordinary!
amongst the many conversations with friends that passed last year some are memorable. others might be memorable but i was too tired to recall them then, meaning i certainly can't now. conversations about our aussie politics, our relationship with the world, our morality and mortality, what do we do for our children, what can we achieve for ourselves, why are we programed the way we are...? other's perhaps not so weighty but none-the-less important for our sense of self and place in the world. for instance we were trying to decide our favourite foods; for robyn it is cherries, and while i certainly place them high on the list, as opposed to paul's sausage and mash (!), my favourite is my mum's roladin, red cabbage and dumplings dinner. i salivate just thinking about it. then we also turned to smells. cloves stuck into oranges as christmas decorations ranks high for me.
seeing more of the world, as well as the recent possibility of moving to melbourne (currently undecided) has made me realise how much i prefer to stay where i am! this is a real surprise to me as i always thought i could up sticks and plonk down again, easy as pi, just about anytime, anywhere. perhaps the negativity surrounding the kiev adventure has stuck with me. maybe it's the thought of packing all the things that make our life in our little home our own. very probably it's the dread of reshuffling percy. also, tho, is my abiding affection for sydney and in particular this little pocket of erskineville. waxing lyrical about erskineville is a separate undertaking. suffice to say i'd miss it terribly.
i'd miss my confidence about where i am added to knowing quite well where i need to go to do what; be it mundane grocery shopping, transcendental wilderness walks or swimming classes for percy. am i too old to traipse across country, continent or planet now? god; that's a depressing thought! perhaps new options in '08 will change my reluctance. bring it on! i'm not scared of making the decision, just the consequences!! ha ha.
so, how is 2008 shaping up? little early to tell! ha ha.
paul went back to work today after three weeks off. it's a little weird to be back to just punky and me. of course next week i too return to paid, gainful employment. i'll be working mondays, thursdays and fridays. percy will be at the local SDN child care centre. of course she'll be fine but i'm not looking forward to it. we are going in this wednesday and thursday for a few hours of familiarisation. let you know how we get on...
maybe it's more pertinent to reflect on 2007.... certainly was the most challenging year of my life. (even more so than a couple of bungled attempts to slit my wrists and leaving my parents home when i was 16. but then, don't all 16 year olds do spastically stupid things and generally mess them up?)
back to the reminiscing... percy's birth in hindsight, was awesome. at the time i was a little spacey. her gorgeous nuzzling into me and suckling within minutes of her entry to the world was the best feeling of my life. i still adore, in the dark of the nite, when she finishes her feed how her little lips smack together and she sighs completely contentedly, body floppy and eyes closed. ('course i wish she was sleeping 12 hours instead, but that's the way it is.)
taking her to kiev was incredibly hard. i think now of the numerous times i slumped sobbing against the wall not knowing what to do, what to expect, what would come next... hoping against hope that she'll grow up normal and not in some unidentifiable way scarred and scared because of what we did or did not do. seems now that i can forgive myself and relax- she seems pretty normal to most everyone. except to paul and i to whom she is extraordinary!
amongst the many conversations with friends that passed last year some are memorable. others might be memorable but i was too tired to recall them then, meaning i certainly can't now. conversations about our aussie politics, our relationship with the world, our morality and mortality, what do we do for our children, what can we achieve for ourselves, why are we programed the way we are...? other's perhaps not so weighty but none-the-less important for our sense of self and place in the world. for instance we were trying to decide our favourite foods; for robyn it is cherries, and while i certainly place them high on the list, as opposed to paul's sausage and mash (!), my favourite is my mum's roladin, red cabbage and dumplings dinner. i salivate just thinking about it. then we also turned to smells. cloves stuck into oranges as christmas decorations ranks high for me.
seeing more of the world, as well as the recent possibility of moving to melbourne (currently undecided) has made me realise how much i prefer to stay where i am! this is a real surprise to me as i always thought i could up sticks and plonk down again, easy as pi, just about anytime, anywhere. perhaps the negativity surrounding the kiev adventure has stuck with me. maybe it's the thought of packing all the things that make our life in our little home our own. very probably it's the dread of reshuffling percy. also, tho, is my abiding affection for sydney and in particular this little pocket of erskineville. waxing lyrical about erskineville is a separate undertaking. suffice to say i'd miss it terribly.
i'd miss my confidence about where i am added to knowing quite well where i need to go to do what; be it mundane grocery shopping, transcendental wilderness walks or swimming classes for percy. am i too old to traipse across country, continent or planet now? god; that's a depressing thought! perhaps new options in '08 will change my reluctance. bring it on! i'm not scared of making the decision, just the consequences!! ha ha.
Friday, January 4, 2008
walking tall
percy scooped the pool at christmas recieving not one but two walkers. one from her grandma and grandad called a ride-to-stride which is a bright orange lion that she can either sit astride on and use like a pedal-less bike, or put the seat in the upright position and push behind like a trolley. the second from relatives that i can't work out the exact title for- her papa's mother's cousins. what are they called? this one is a red trolley with big blue wheels that she can walk behind. she's great at it...
we've dubbed the tongue "the tongue of determination" it sticks out like this whenever she is particularly concentrating. a lot like her uncle karl!
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
nite time melt down
in the evening of the 26th i decided after trying to get percy to go to sleep for over an hour that i would just take her to bed with me. paul stayed up with his family. around midnite, by which time percy had probably slept a grand total of two hours. i got up to go to the loo. i said to paul that he should have a glass of water and quit for the nite. one of us should be functional the following day and it was very unlikely to be me with so far a grand total of 1/2 an hours sleep.
because percy was in bed with me and paul was drunk i asked if he would sleep on the lounge so as not to disturb and threaten percy. clarification! he wouldn't "threaten" percy if someone stuck a gun in his face, i meant that all recommendations are that you shouldn't co-sleep if affected by alcohol as you may not be as aware of where the baby is.
unfortunately this was not understood by paul, plus other things got in the way, the result being i had a screaming meltdown at 2am. i took percy and her box of food, my wallet and phone and stormed out to the car. i locked percy in her car seat and prepared to drive home. paul climbed in the back with percy and refused to get out. so i drove us all home in our pj's at 2am, at 140km/h along the freeway. nice thing about late nite/ early morning driving is there is virtually no-one else about. he he he.
naturally this trantrum was misinterpreted by everyone and i'll probably be paying for it for, at best estimate, seven or eight years. paul and i worked it out and we're fine with each other. we also apologised to percy, if she understood..? and i think she liked being home because she transferred out of the car seat and into her cot and slept for four hours- the most she'd slept for the past three days.
that's it.
because percy was in bed with me and paul was drunk i asked if he would sleep on the lounge so as not to disturb and threaten percy. clarification! he wouldn't "threaten" percy if someone stuck a gun in his face, i meant that all recommendations are that you shouldn't co-sleep if affected by alcohol as you may not be as aware of where the baby is.
unfortunately this was not understood by paul, plus other things got in the way, the result being i had a screaming meltdown at 2am. i took percy and her box of food, my wallet and phone and stormed out to the car. i locked percy in her car seat and prepared to drive home. paul climbed in the back with percy and refused to get out. so i drove us all home in our pj's at 2am, at 140km/h along the freeway. nice thing about late nite/ early morning driving is there is virtually no-one else about. he he he.
naturally this trantrum was misinterpreted by everyone and i'll probably be paying for it for, at best estimate, seven or eight years. paul and i worked it out and we're fine with each other. we also apologised to percy, if she understood..? and i think she liked being home because she transferred out of the car seat and into her cot and slept for four hours- the most she'd slept for the past three days.
that's it.
wednesday 26th dec
we had a great walk in the minnamurra rainforest, south of wollongong, this day. percy enjoyed looking around until she fell asleep in her stroller. the last part of the walk to the minnamurra waterfall is quite steep and narrow. as percy's grandma knees probably weren't up to this bit she was wheeled back to the cafe at the start of the walk by her grandma and grandad, while the rest of us continued determinedly on. the falls had a reasonable amount of water running over. it was incredibly tempting to climb the fence and go for a splash.
after recuperating we went on to kiama for a short look around. back in wollongong percy had her version of christmas dinner- blended turkey, spuds and cauliflower. i think she quite liked it.
tuesday 25th dec
christmas day was spent in an orgy of food and wrapping paper. percy was by far the recipient of the most number of presents; books, clothes, toys, a walker, a teddy bear. she was neary buried! (photos to follow as currently they are on a laptop in wollongong.)
i also managed to squeeze in a nap of about an hour in the afternoon along with percy. the three of us went to bed quite early that nite as we were zonked. 'course percy didn't sleep much, even with spending most of the nite in bed with us; snuggled kinda cutely up against my shoulder. i just love and adore her but sometimes she makes life a trial. i miss her when she's sleeping away from me. tho when she is with me she snuggles so hard i keep moving away to make sure i'm not smothering her- and end up on my side just millimetres from tumbling off the bed! can't have your cake and eat it too?
here we are: got the photos. this is percy's new fairy dress, (over a t-shirt 'cause it was a little cool that morning), paired very fetchingly with her pirate socks! this is her lion walker, carefully assembled by her papa.
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