well, well, well... percy is asleep, paul is out with the non-incubating parents, i've got a nearly full tub of choccie icecream in the freezer; what shall i do with myself?!
(probably get an early sleep in!)
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
park day
finally some sun! the ground is still a bit soggy and the air is very cool. parents group was in the park with the magic yellow bus today. we went early because percy seems pretty happy with one sleep from midday. amanda with max and tara with joe also came early. percy had a fantastic time- so many toys, children, things to do and places to run off to. she particularly enjoyed the toy lawn mower. we joked saying max has to get used to a lawn mower now as amanda and her partner have bought a house near ryde that's on 900sqm! 900! totally unheard of 'round here. i would estimate the average lot size in erko/newtown would be 150sqm. meaning there are a lot that are a lot smaller.
anyways, lawn mower fun...
"code monkey like..."
looks like percy is on her way to becoming a code monkey like her pappa...
(see, she's even getting the bleary-eye look!)
Monday, April 28, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
bye bye boobies
percy has stopped breastfeeding. it's kind of sad. it also passed totally unremarked upon by her. we had 13 months; we should be well pleased with that.
the stop was slowly coming from november last year.
with the thought that i would be returning to work in january therefore being unavailable for day time breast feeds i started giving percy bottles during the day. as previously mentioned i hate and was bad at (whether one caused the other, either way, i don't need to speculate on it) expressing breast milk. while i persisted and was able to give her breast milk bottles, formula was also introduced. she took both bottle and formula after a few offerings.
upon returning to paid work in january percy was having 'good morning' and 'good night' breast feeds. this took a little sorting out- see previous post on supply and demand. the days i spent with her i gave her bottles of formula. i stopped expressing after a month or so; it really was causing more angst than we needed in our lives. she also took breast milk thru the nite when required.
then we moved to replacing the 'good nite' breast feed to bottle formula. the idea for this change initially was to see whether a big drink of formula, which takes longer to digest, would help her sleep longer at night. it may have contributed to this as she has been sleeping better since about a week before easter. at the same time, around the end of january, if she woke during the nite we would give her some more bottle formula while she was lieing down in her cot. this was intended to stop the waking up that picking her up and holding her for a breast feed naturally entailed.
by february we were down to just the 'good morning' breast feed. i was adamant i wanted to keep this up as long as possible. it's good for her health and our love, as well as being a nice transition from sleeping to being up for the day.
thru march percy took varying amounts in the mornings. by april she often lay in my lap, nipple in her mouth, smiling at me but not sucking. soooo cute but not the point. i've continued to offer her a breast feed up to this weekend. on saturday paul got her up with a bottle. however she then had a tummy full of milk and didn't want any breakfast. yesterday (sunday) she got up without a bottle and ate a good breakfast. adding today she's had three days now without breast milk, she appears unfazed (as do my breasts.) there haven't been any protests or searching for boobs that haven't been forthcoming. i think that part of my life is over.
over? gee, it's a little hard to let it go like that. from that first suck half an hour after she was born, thru every nuzzle and guzzle since, every plane take off or landing, every sunrise and sunset, every tingling 'let-down', every dark nite, every landmark we visited (louvre, versailles, tower of london, wakiki, central park, etc) percy and i had this fundamental attachment. the no little pride in the feeling of sustenance and comfort that flowed from me to her has ceased. except as a memory.
i imagine a woman's perception of and relationship to her breasts changes throughout her life. i haven't experienced it all but i think i can confidently say the time when your baby's gorgeous mouth is clamped around your nipple would be the most intense and fulfilling times. aside from all the 'that's what they're there for' basic stuff there is a realisation that, yes, i can succor life, good life, from my very body. the lactating mother has gone from childish exuburence or possibly fear of her newly growing breasts, thru teenage years of wonder and wondering, into adulthood of sexiness, perhaps coercion, and what-can-we-do-for-each-other experimentation, on to feeding her offspring. it's an astonishing, often wrought, journey. and there's more to come! what shall be the next steps for me? will percy let me help her thru her own journey of exploration and hopefully self respect? (in due time! no need to rush...)
as an after thought... i could get back to wearing something other than maternity bras now- wowee! except nothing fits anymore. oh gosh darn! i have to go lingerie shopping, what a drag! he he he.
the stop was slowly coming from november last year.
with the thought that i would be returning to work in january therefore being unavailable for day time breast feeds i started giving percy bottles during the day. as previously mentioned i hate and was bad at (whether one caused the other, either way, i don't need to speculate on it) expressing breast milk. while i persisted and was able to give her breast milk bottles, formula was also introduced. she took both bottle and formula after a few offerings.
upon returning to paid work in january percy was having 'good morning' and 'good night' breast feeds. this took a little sorting out- see previous post on supply and demand. the days i spent with her i gave her bottles of formula. i stopped expressing after a month or so; it really was causing more angst than we needed in our lives. she also took breast milk thru the nite when required.
then we moved to replacing the 'good nite' breast feed to bottle formula. the idea for this change initially was to see whether a big drink of formula, which takes longer to digest, would help her sleep longer at night. it may have contributed to this as she has been sleeping better since about a week before easter. at the same time, around the end of january, if she woke during the nite we would give her some more bottle formula while she was lieing down in her cot. this was intended to stop the waking up that picking her up and holding her for a breast feed naturally entailed.
by february we were down to just the 'good morning' breast feed. i was adamant i wanted to keep this up as long as possible. it's good for her health and our love, as well as being a nice transition from sleeping to being up for the day.
thru march percy took varying amounts in the mornings. by april she often lay in my lap, nipple in her mouth, smiling at me but not sucking. soooo cute but not the point. i've continued to offer her a breast feed up to this weekend. on saturday paul got her up with a bottle. however she then had a tummy full of milk and didn't want any breakfast. yesterday (sunday) she got up without a bottle and ate a good breakfast. adding today she's had three days now without breast milk, she appears unfazed (as do my breasts.) there haven't been any protests or searching for boobs that haven't been forthcoming. i think that part of my life is over.
over? gee, it's a little hard to let it go like that. from that first suck half an hour after she was born, thru every nuzzle and guzzle since, every plane take off or landing, every sunrise and sunset, every tingling 'let-down', every dark nite, every landmark we visited (louvre, versailles, tower of london, wakiki, central park, etc) percy and i had this fundamental attachment. the no little pride in the feeling of sustenance and comfort that flowed from me to her has ceased. except as a memory.
i imagine a woman's perception of and relationship to her breasts changes throughout her life. i haven't experienced it all but i think i can confidently say the time when your baby's gorgeous mouth is clamped around your nipple would be the most intense and fulfilling times. aside from all the 'that's what they're there for' basic stuff there is a realisation that, yes, i can succor life, good life, from my very body. the lactating mother has gone from childish exuburence or possibly fear of her newly growing breasts, thru teenage years of wonder and wondering, into adulthood of sexiness, perhaps coercion, and what-can-we-do-for-each-other experimentation, on to feeding her offspring. it's an astonishing, often wrought, journey. and there's more to come! what shall be the next steps for me? will percy let me help her thru her own journey of exploration and hopefully self respect? (in due time! no need to rush...)
as an after thought... i could get back to wearing something other than maternity bras now- wowee! except nothing fits anymore. oh gosh darn! i have to go lingerie shopping, what a drag! he he he.
baby led parenting
there's all sorts of names for different 'types' of parenting. i think paul and i are mostly following the "really? wow! now i know" method.
the other method might be called "percy want, percy do." which i hope doesn't make us the ultra annoying, permissive parents whose kid gets into everything, is a spoiled brat and all round pariah. i'm pretty sure we set reasonable boundaries to her life.
i'm referring here to my earlier post about changing some of percy's routine; the what happens when guide. since writing that we've had a bit of a chat about it which led to some amendments. percy did not want a morning nap on saturday; we tried to put her down for a sleep at 10:30am to protests and failure. second attempt at 1pm with same result. she finally slept (for only 35mins) at 3pm. so on sunday we kept her up 'til 12noon, at which point she had a two hour sleep. yippee. so lunch is now 11am- just like at day care and naps are only one, in the early afternoon. i think it will go well. we'll see after a few days.
we are also going to keep her bedtime at 7pm, but pushing dinner back might be hard as she is hungry starting around 5pm, certainly doesn't want to wait past 5:30pm. she has, thankfully, been eating more at nearly all her meals; only the variety is very limited. on a positive note i have been giving her some slices of banana for months every breakfast (the rest is sliced on my breakfast) to no avail. recently she has started eating it! woohoo! this suggests it will take months to get her to eat other foods. boohoo. so meal times are still heart breaking for me but i have hope.
some recent photos to follow soon.
the other method might be called "percy want, percy do." which i hope doesn't make us the ultra annoying, permissive parents whose kid gets into everything, is a spoiled brat and all round pariah. i'm pretty sure we set reasonable boundaries to her life.
i'm referring here to my earlier post about changing some of percy's routine; the what happens when guide. since writing that we've had a bit of a chat about it which led to some amendments. percy did not want a morning nap on saturday; we tried to put her down for a sleep at 10:30am to protests and failure. second attempt at 1pm with same result. she finally slept (for only 35mins) at 3pm. so on sunday we kept her up 'til 12noon, at which point she had a two hour sleep. yippee. so lunch is now 11am- just like at day care and naps are only one, in the early afternoon. i think it will go well. we'll see after a few days.
we are also going to keep her bedtime at 7pm, but pushing dinner back might be hard as she is hungry starting around 5pm, certainly doesn't want to wait past 5:30pm. she has, thankfully, been eating more at nearly all her meals; only the variety is very limited. on a positive note i have been giving her some slices of banana for months every breakfast (the rest is sliced on my breakfast) to no avail. recently she has started eating it! woohoo! this suggests it will take months to get her to eat other foods. boohoo. so meal times are still heart breaking for me but i have hope.
some recent photos to follow soon.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
kisses and crayons
today percy started to return kisses! it's so lovely. she does what i think is the standard beginners, baby kiss- a wide open mouth pressed against your face. very wet, not very 'lippy' but very much wanted. we kiss her so much and say "kiss" so often i'm delighted she's returning the affection. we even have a book we read together called 'kiss, kiss.'
a couple of weeks back i bought for percy some crayons that she can use in the bath tub. the crayons draw on the tub and tiles but wash off with water. she's got to like them so much she won't brush her teeth or get washed until she's got one in her hand. of course, it's hard to tell who likes the crayons more when pappa gets involved... nice of percy to wash it off too.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
time to change
percy is growing. der, obviously, but it's sometimes more apparent than other times. i was in the attic yesterday putting away another lot of clothes she's grown out of. i'll be getting another measure of her done next week as this weekend she will be 13 months old. we visited orion and daniel on saturday, whose little son zac was born a week ago. he was nearly identical to percy in birth weight, length and head circumference. it's hard to imagine she was once that size. zac just wanted to be held by his parents, percy on the other hand was up and down the back steps, playing in the fountain, patting the dog, chasing her ball, and generally checking out orion and daniel's really lovely home (yes, i'm jealous.) i suppose it was just evident again that there is no stopping her, nor the passage of time.
due to the increasing collection of clothes in the attic, the collection in percy's cupboard is getting a bit small. we need to stock up on warm long-sleeve t-shirts and fleecey pants. i think i'll be making a trip or two to st vinnies and target this week.
we also think it might be getting to a time to make some other changes. we think percy can handle being awake for longer stretches of time during the day, tho still needs a nap morning and afternoon, and seems to sleep 11 hours at nite. she's been waking consistently at 6am after going to bed at 7pm. i don't think this is still a day light savings change hang over. plus she can have some other things in her diet now. so this is what we're thinking of moving to:
cow's milk during the day,
only formula for her "good nite" bottle,
cow's milk from a sippy cup, not a bottle,
a bed time of 7:30pm,
instead of having a milk drink after getting up from naps change this to the cows milk drink from a sippy cup with morning and afternoon teas,
lots of water throughout the day,
moving dinner back to 6:30pm because we should all be able to eat together at that time (ie paul will be home from work by then 95% of the time)
also brushing teeth after breakfast too, not just after dinner.
i think that's it. oh, and getting her happy with paul putting her to bed at nite. she's happy to go down to naps with him but so far has always been unsettled if it's anyone but me putting her to bed for the nite.
i know it doesn't sound like momentous changes. they are important ones tho. we'll work on getting them made and the new routine they entail over the next few weeks.
these things are important to paul and i for our health and life too. we both want to return to our preferred exercise regimes and seeing friends out before we forget these things exist at all! i used to practice yoga everyday, right up to percy's birth. paul went to the gym or out running nearly every day of the week. i think i've got the yoga mat out half a dozen times in the last year and since returning from kiev paul's been to the gym probably six times too.
what to do?! i've joined a new gym just up the road that has yoga and pilates classes at 7:30pm weekdays and mid-morning on weekends. yoga really is best done at first rising in the morning, since i can't manage that, evenings will be okay. if we sort out getting percy to day care in the mornings, hopefully paul can get to the gym or run some mornings, or go at lunch time.
all we need now is reliable baby sitting and we may make evenings out together too! what a luxury. i'm really looking forward to one day sitting in a darkened cinema holding paul's hand and kissing and giggling like teenagers again- who cares about the movie!
i should clarify something here... it's not that we haven't had offers of baby sitting. up until the last 6 or so weeks all i've wanted to do in the evenings is sleep. this is because percy would wake so thru the nite and we'd be zombies the following day. eleven and some months of this and i think anyone would just want to lie down to snooze constantly. even these recent weeks haven't been consistently 'percy into bed, not to hear from her until morning.' probably three nites out of seven we have to spend time settling her at 7pm, or later on, or both. i will not force that responsibility or worry on someone else. i really doubt anyone other than paul or i could comfort her to sleep anyways. without us i predict she'd just ramp up and up on the screaming and squirming. i won't let that happen. so we are working our way steadily to more rest and relishing life that may soon be, on occasion, separate from little miss. all in good time.
due to the increasing collection of clothes in the attic, the collection in percy's cupboard is getting a bit small. we need to stock up on warm long-sleeve t-shirts and fleecey pants. i think i'll be making a trip or two to st vinnies and target this week.
we also think it might be getting to a time to make some other changes. we think percy can handle being awake for longer stretches of time during the day, tho still needs a nap morning and afternoon, and seems to sleep 11 hours at nite. she's been waking consistently at 6am after going to bed at 7pm. i don't think this is still a day light savings change hang over. plus she can have some other things in her diet now. so this is what we're thinking of moving to:
cow's milk during the day,
only formula for her "good nite" bottle,
cow's milk from a sippy cup, not a bottle,
a bed time of 7:30pm,
instead of having a milk drink after getting up from naps change this to the cows milk drink from a sippy cup with morning and afternoon teas,
lots of water throughout the day,
moving dinner back to 6:30pm because we should all be able to eat together at that time (ie paul will be home from work by then 95% of the time)
also brushing teeth after breakfast too, not just after dinner.
i think that's it. oh, and getting her happy with paul putting her to bed at nite. she's happy to go down to naps with him but so far has always been unsettled if it's anyone but me putting her to bed for the nite.
i know it doesn't sound like momentous changes. they are important ones tho. we'll work on getting them made and the new routine they entail over the next few weeks.
these things are important to paul and i for our health and life too. we both want to return to our preferred exercise regimes and seeing friends out before we forget these things exist at all! i used to practice yoga everyday, right up to percy's birth. paul went to the gym or out running nearly every day of the week. i think i've got the yoga mat out half a dozen times in the last year and since returning from kiev paul's been to the gym probably six times too.
what to do?! i've joined a new gym just up the road that has yoga and pilates classes at 7:30pm weekdays and mid-morning on weekends. yoga really is best done at first rising in the morning, since i can't manage that, evenings will be okay. if we sort out getting percy to day care in the mornings, hopefully paul can get to the gym or run some mornings, or go at lunch time.
all we need now is reliable baby sitting and we may make evenings out together too! what a luxury. i'm really looking forward to one day sitting in a darkened cinema holding paul's hand and kissing and giggling like teenagers again- who cares about the movie!
i should clarify something here... it's not that we haven't had offers of baby sitting. up until the last 6 or so weeks all i've wanted to do in the evenings is sleep. this is because percy would wake so thru the nite and we'd be zombies the following day. eleven and some months of this and i think anyone would just want to lie down to snooze constantly. even these recent weeks haven't been consistently 'percy into bed, not to hear from her until morning.' probably three nites out of seven we have to spend time settling her at 7pm, or later on, or both. i will not force that responsibility or worry on someone else. i really doubt anyone other than paul or i could comfort her to sleep anyways. without us i predict she'd just ramp up and up on the screaming and squirming. i won't let that happen. so we are working our way steadily to more rest and relishing life that may soon be, on occasion, separate from little miss. all in good time.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
upping the intake
unusually, and not wanting to jinx it (again), percy ate a large dinner last nite, a reasonable breakfast this morning and a dinner tonite the size of which i've never seen her eat before! isn't this nice?
can't say what she ate during the day as she was at child care, tho they report she always eats well.
i'm counting on this continuing. tho my newly developed (meaning since i started not sleeping more than 2 hours at a stretch) pessimissim tells me it can't last or will go wrong in some other way. gee- isn't that on the sour side of life? the pessimissim hasn't lifted since the sleep has gotten better... give it time i reckon.
other interesting news... prime minister kevin rudd and entourage visited percy's child care centre today. wow, doesn't she move in elevated circles? 'course she was probably asleep or otherwise uninterested! pm rudd was there to announce his 'idea' for one-stop shop health and child care centres. sounds good to me. i wouldn't mind not having to truck about the countryside for all the things related to percy. on the other hand it is more adventurous for her to be in different places. plus 'trucking about the countryside' in erko/newtown is hardly a big effort.
sleep well, darling. she did eleven hours last nite. did wake in the middle somewhere with a grizzle that woke us too, which i also thought was getting towards the 'i need help to go back to sleep' end of the grizzle spectrum, however she didn't; back to sleep by herself. what a doll!
can't say what she ate during the day as she was at child care, tho they report she always eats well.
i'm counting on this continuing. tho my newly developed (meaning since i started not sleeping more than 2 hours at a stretch) pessimissim tells me it can't last or will go wrong in some other way. gee- isn't that on the sour side of life? the pessimissim hasn't lifted since the sleep has gotten better... give it time i reckon.
other interesting news... prime minister kevin rudd and entourage visited percy's child care centre today. wow, doesn't she move in elevated circles? 'course she was probably asleep or otherwise uninterested! pm rudd was there to announce his 'idea' for one-stop shop health and child care centres. sounds good to me. i wouldn't mind not having to truck about the countryside for all the things related to percy. on the other hand it is more adventurous for her to be in different places. plus 'trucking about the countryside' in erko/newtown is hardly a big effort.
sleep well, darling. she did eleven hours last nite. did wake in the middle somewhere with a grizzle that woke us too, which i also thought was getting towards the 'i need help to go back to sleep' end of the grizzle spectrum, however she didn't; back to sleep by herself. what a doll!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
hair cut
percy got her fringe trimmed yesterday. we went to joh bailey who did the whole treatment; it's amazing what you can do with a bub's hair! highlights were suggested but percy decided she liked to leave the natural colour. it was super pricey but so worth it!
nah... just kidding. i used some baby finger nail scissors to cut her fringe shorter. it's been sticking in her face for weeks now. meaning of course i had to convince her to sit still so i didn't poke her eyes out. "sit still"? these are real words? ha ha ha... it's a bit of a jaggedy cut. she looks a lot like her uncle karl at the same age, i think.
i saved the first cut of hair in a little box we were given for this express purpose.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
wollongong weekend
we drove to wollongong during percy's afternoon sleep. unfortunately she only slept a half hour. it really isn't enough to keep her happy. so her dinner and bath was brought forward a little, meaning she was in the travel cot by 6:30pm. she settled well, falling asleep quickly.
paul and i had previously decided that only crap movies were showing in wollongong, opting instead to book dinner at a restaurant near paul's parents home. i suppose it was nice to go out. it made little difference to us to be truthful. paul had an upset stomach (probably from eating macdonalds for lunch on the drive down) ending up eating only half a main. me on the other hand, wolfed into an entree, main and dessert. he he he. it did mean no cooking or cleaning but that was about it. the service was either too fast or too slow, we got the table next to the toilets and the food was decidely average. oh well. we were back a little after 9pm, fortuitously to put punky back to sleep as she had just woken up at that time.
on sunday morning she woke at 6am but was gotten up, changed, dressed, breakfasted and taken out by her grandparents. this was a first for her. i think she's always seen either paul or i as the first person of the day for all her life. she didn't seem at all fazed and reportedly enjoyed her walk (read- carry on grandads shoulders) along the beach.
she travelled home, awake the whole way, mid afternoon. perhaps she's building some tolerance for car travelling as she didn't holler that her ass was fused to the car seat and please let me out!!
her hunger might be picking up a little too. her cold is passing, 'course today she is back at day care so it'll probably get worse again. hopefully tho with the cold receding she will want to eat more. getting food into her has become number one heart ache for me. she seems to eat like a sparrow. it's stressful and aching to see what might be consumed from one meal to the next. she doesn't seem to be wasting away or anything drastic like that tho so i'll assume she's getting enough and just keep plugging away at it.
paul and i had previously decided that only crap movies were showing in wollongong, opting instead to book dinner at a restaurant near paul's parents home. i suppose it was nice to go out. it made little difference to us to be truthful. paul had an upset stomach (probably from eating macdonalds for lunch on the drive down) ending up eating only half a main. me on the other hand, wolfed into an entree, main and dessert. he he he. it did mean no cooking or cleaning but that was about it. the service was either too fast or too slow, we got the table next to the toilets and the food was decidely average. oh well. we were back a little after 9pm, fortuitously to put punky back to sleep as she had just woken up at that time.
on sunday morning she woke at 6am but was gotten up, changed, dressed, breakfasted and taken out by her grandparents. this was a first for her. i think she's always seen either paul or i as the first person of the day for all her life. she didn't seem at all fazed and reportedly enjoyed her walk (read- carry on grandads shoulders) along the beach.
she travelled home, awake the whole way, mid afternoon. perhaps she's building some tolerance for car travelling as she didn't holler that her ass was fused to the car seat and please let me out!!
her hunger might be picking up a little too. her cold is passing, 'course today she is back at day care so it'll probably get worse again. hopefully tho with the cold receding she will want to eat more. getting food into her has become number one heart ache for me. she seems to eat like a sparrow. it's stressful and aching to see what might be consumed from one meal to the next. she doesn't seem to be wasting away or anything drastic like that tho so i'll assume she's getting enough and just keep plugging away at it.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
concentrated activities
i'm not sure what prompted her or why it was so important that all the living room cushions be piled on the red lounge last nite. that's what was on percy's mind tho. she determinedly collected the cushions one by one and stacked them on the red lounge. not the bolsters tho- they could stay where they were. too heavy? it was very cute to watch her concentrate on holding the cushions high enough so they wouldn't drag thus impeding progress, to then ensuring there was space and they all stayed on the lounge. there are about a dozen cushions so this was no lightly undertaken task for the little girl.
she also fitted herself into the kitchen cupboard. did she have visions of being a saucepan? or was she just able to create a little percy-sized space?
split lip
just as percy was about to get into her bath last nite she missed her hold on the edge of the tub and cracked her mouth on it instead. poor little baby had a bloody mouth and massive scream. we couldn't see where the blood was coming from but think it was probably her upper lip because it did look a bit swelled afterwards. to her credit she stopped screaming after only 3 or 4 minutes, the blood soon stopped and she enjoyed her bath. didn't we feel like incompetent parents?
she hasn't gone to child care all this week. paul and i have been tag teaming who gets to stay home to wipe the snot away and try to soothe the coughs. i was home monday, paul was home yesterday and we're doing a half day each today. she is definately getting better but we think she won't get the same care at child care as at home plus she'll probably get sicker.
we're going to wollongong tomorrow, for the nite. the idea is to have percy's grandparents look after her while paul and i go out. i'm fully expecting it not to work; to end in screams and tears- not necessarily from percy. but i have no choice so that's it. on the up side if it is all okay i'll be happily surprised with potential future baby sitting opportunities. i'd rather be completely miserable about it now with the option for it to get better, than to expect all love and light and be completely let down.
she hasn't gone to child care all this week. paul and i have been tag teaming who gets to stay home to wipe the snot away and try to soothe the coughs. i was home monday, paul was home yesterday and we're doing a half day each today. she is definately getting better but we think she won't get the same care at child care as at home plus she'll probably get sicker.
we're going to wollongong tomorrow, for the nite. the idea is to have percy's grandparents look after her while paul and i go out. i'm fully expecting it not to work; to end in screams and tears- not necessarily from percy. but i have no choice so that's it. on the up side if it is all okay i'll be happily surprised with potential future baby sitting opportunities. i'd rather be completely miserable about it now with the option for it to get better, than to expect all love and light and be completely let down.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
consuming
i've resolved to try to only have organic things in our house. i've also resolved to try to shop somewhere other than the woolworths at marrickville metro. the first resolution is due to my increasing awareness of all the awful shit we eat, wear, cleanse with and handle in an ordinary day. plus a good does of paranoia regarding what might be affecting percy.
the second resolution is because i think smaller retailers deserve a chance, the fresh stuff at woolworths doesn't impress me, amongst other things. one of those things being the requirement that the sequestered incomes of aboriginal families in the northern territory's intervention being required to be spent at coles or woolworths. i'm not going to get into the debate about the intervention in general, i'll leave it for now that i don't like the restriction of spending to the major retailers. so they can do without my grocery budget.
it's proving harder than i thought. we generally do a weekly grocery shop with top ups of milk and fruit and vegetables from the little shops in erko, thru the week as required (yes, chocolate icecream may also need to be topped up. got a problem?)
last week i went to life organics in newtown to see if i could fulfil our needs there. no. they do have a good selection of stuff but no shopping trolleys, no parking and astronomical prices. definately geared towards the small purchases market. so i went on to foodworks near newtown train station. a bigger supermarket but no indication if anything they sell is organic. also very limited range of baby goods and meats. plus your not allowed to take the trolleys out of the store and the parking is a difficult walk away with a full trolley. (read here that i took the trolley out anyways. some nice kid followed me to take it back.) again geared to the small purchases market. i actually suspect they make most of their money from the students at newtown high.
i gave up and went back to woolworths to get all the missing stuff the following day.
this resulted in the grocery budget being blown by around 30%, with no leeway for thru the week top ups. gotta have that chocie icecream!
i was in newtown franklins ealier today and while that may work for most things, including opening hours as i do groceries around 8:30am before everyone else does and before percy's morning nap, it's limited on the baby stuff, particularly the bellamy's organic baby formula i prefer to get for percy.
so this week i'm investigating online stores that deliver. this is difficult for me because i hate buying things i can't pick up or walk around and kick at it. everything (aside from books) i have bought without handling has been a disappointment. plus i'm techno phobic. i don't even have an ebay account! well, i'll persevere. i'm going to try the whole foods shop in waterloo also. and who's ever home when the delivery is made??
the clutch of the convenience of the big retailers is clinging on. it is an addiction i'm determined to break.
the second resolution is because i think smaller retailers deserve a chance, the fresh stuff at woolworths doesn't impress me, amongst other things. one of those things being the requirement that the sequestered incomes of aboriginal families in the northern territory's intervention being required to be spent at coles or woolworths. i'm not going to get into the debate about the intervention in general, i'll leave it for now that i don't like the restriction of spending to the major retailers. so they can do without my grocery budget.
it's proving harder than i thought. we generally do a weekly grocery shop with top ups of milk and fruit and vegetables from the little shops in erko, thru the week as required (yes, chocolate icecream may also need to be topped up. got a problem?)
last week i went to life organics in newtown to see if i could fulfil our needs there. no. they do have a good selection of stuff but no shopping trolleys, no parking and astronomical prices. definately geared towards the small purchases market. so i went on to foodworks near newtown train station. a bigger supermarket but no indication if anything they sell is organic. also very limited range of baby goods and meats. plus your not allowed to take the trolleys out of the store and the parking is a difficult walk away with a full trolley. (read here that i took the trolley out anyways. some nice kid followed me to take it back.) again geared to the small purchases market. i actually suspect they make most of their money from the students at newtown high.
i gave up and went back to woolworths to get all the missing stuff the following day.
this resulted in the grocery budget being blown by around 30%, with no leeway for thru the week top ups. gotta have that chocie icecream!
i was in newtown franklins ealier today and while that may work for most things, including opening hours as i do groceries around 8:30am before everyone else does and before percy's morning nap, it's limited on the baby stuff, particularly the bellamy's organic baby formula i prefer to get for percy.
so this week i'm investigating online stores that deliver. this is difficult for me because i hate buying things i can't pick up or walk around and kick at it. everything (aside from books) i have bought without handling has been a disappointment. plus i'm techno phobic. i don't even have an ebay account! well, i'll persevere. i'm going to try the whole foods shop in waterloo also. and who's ever home when the delivery is made??
the clutch of the convenience of the big retailers is clinging on. it is an addiction i'm determined to break.
photos
we have been able to resurrect some photos from our visit to oma and opa's home. as i can never seem to caption these in order i'll just let you know that percy enjoyed her first (and second) spa bath, was comfy in her stroller and the neighbours swing seat, thought the height was just right when out walking in the back pack, tried to see what she was doing as her and papa cut her birthday cake, liked unwrapping her presents and just loved being the hammock with her papa or in the sand box with anyone....
sick little pumpkin
gets a nest built on the living room floor by their papa to watch videos from. the missing part of the equation is that percy doesn't watch tv. she lay here for about 4 minutes and then wanted to do other things, despite being a miserable, sick miss.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
don't jinx it
i haven't wanted to say anything about it yet in case talking about it makes it go away. however i'm feeling a little more confident today. for about a month now percy has been sleeping nearly every night thru!! yiipppeeee! this is a real cause for celebration (never mind birthdays!) or close enough to 'sleeping thru' for me to call it that.
she started about ten days before easter and has kept it up pretty well since. we've occasionally given her a 'dream feed'- a bottle feed of milk with her still mostly alseep in her cot anywhere between 9pm and 10:30pm. we judge this by how much milk she drank in her "good nite" bottle and whether she wakes up by 10:30 or not. if she drank a lot; more than 150mls, we let her be, if less we'll give her the dream feed.
i think twice she had woken up in the early hours and needed some help to go back to sleep. the night before last being a case in point- wake at 3:30am, not back to sleep until 4:30am. that can be attributed to having a cold with the inability to breathe thru her nose. last nite, despite the cold she slept from 7pm to 7am, well 6am given daylight saving change.
the change in our life has been profound. there is nothing like sleep deprivation to destroy your life. seemingly tho i have lost the ability to fall quickly and deeply asleep and stay that way. i seem to wake often thru the nite, have ridiculous dreams and generally not feel rested. we'll line up sleeping between the whole family one day soon!
cross fingers that i haven't jinxed percy's sleeping...
she started about ten days before easter and has kept it up pretty well since. we've occasionally given her a 'dream feed'- a bottle feed of milk with her still mostly alseep in her cot anywhere between 9pm and 10:30pm. we judge this by how much milk she drank in her "good nite" bottle and whether she wakes up by 10:30 or not. if she drank a lot; more than 150mls, we let her be, if less we'll give her the dream feed.
i think twice she had woken up in the early hours and needed some help to go back to sleep. the night before last being a case in point- wake at 3:30am, not back to sleep until 4:30am. that can be attributed to having a cold with the inability to breathe thru her nose. last nite, despite the cold she slept from 7pm to 7am, well 6am given daylight saving change.
the change in our life has been profound. there is nothing like sleep deprivation to destroy your life. seemingly tho i have lost the ability to fall quickly and deeply asleep and stay that way. i seem to wake often thru the nite, have ridiculous dreams and generally not feel rested. we'll line up sleeping between the whole family one day soon!
cross fingers that i haven't jinxed percy's sleeping...
3rd 1st birthday
unfortunately due to her feeling like crap and looking a very good imitation of it too, percy stayed only 10 minutes at the third celebration of her first birthday- combined parents group party. it was quite a shame because she usually likes to get out and play with her baby mates and explore new environments. never mind there's always next time.
we stayed long enough to say a few "hellos", drop off the salads that were our contribution to lunch, add our present swap to the pile also picking up percy's present and a helium balloon.
percy had actually perked up a little by the time we walked home again... she loved the balloon far more than the present!
something that really impressed me (but maybe i'm easily impressed) is that percy learnt to pass the balloon string hand over hand so she could pull the balloon towards herself to finally grab it with no instruction or copying from us. is it super obvious that that is what one must do to get things at the end of a string? well i thought she was genius in the making!
(the perkiness didn't last long, poor missy. she went down for her afternoon nap quite miserable. she didn't want a lot of dinner either.)
Friday, April 4, 2008
bloody daycare!
percy was nearly well again after her week and a half away from her child care centre. she had just the tiniest snotty nose left. now, after being back one week she has a horrible cold again! she can't breathe thru her nose and is coughing again. she woke at 3:30am last night and needed an hour of rocking, hugging and a dose of medicine to get her back to a fitful sleep.
i know this is the order of the day and were it not for day care i wouldn't be able to go back to work but christ i wish she didn't get sick constantly. it's awful to listen to her struggle to breathe, she's not hungry and quite listless again. poor poppet.
i know this is the order of the day and were it not for day care i wouldn't be able to go back to work but christ i wish she didn't get sick constantly. it's awful to listen to her struggle to breathe, she's not hungry and quite listless again. poor poppet.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
changes afoot
do babies really change so much when they reach 12 months of age? or are we as parents and society so keyed into this milestone that we see things, expect things, interpret things, even pre-empt things that might not actually be there?
there are a number of things percy does now that she didn't do at eleven months. she's been working up to them for weeks, in some way or another.
1. walking. has it in the bag. she got lots of practice at oma and opa's due to the larger spaces to roam about it. she also doesn't walk in the zombie/frankenstein fashion with arms straight out in front anymore.
2. sign language. she understands the signs for eat and bath. she does the sign for 'eat' to us when she is both hungry and thirsty so i think she has interpretted that sign to mean both. she doesn't do the sign for 'bath' but understands it when we do it.
3. holding her own bottles. both milk bottles and water bottles are expertly gripped.
4. friendliness. she's quite happy to be held by or play with or near other people now. i attribute this to attending child care. she's learnt that it's not only mamma and pappa that are nice.
5. speech. she's switched from saying 'hi' to all and sundry to saying 'hello'. her first attempts where a little hard to discern. now her 'hello's' to strangers along the street are returned with a smile because she is understandable.
she's a little girl now, no longer really a bubba. which is sad and exciting at the same time. except when she is tired and wants to cuddle to sleep. then she is all baby. adorably so.
there are a number of things percy does now that she didn't do at eleven months. she's been working up to them for weeks, in some way or another.
1. walking. has it in the bag. she got lots of practice at oma and opa's due to the larger spaces to roam about it. she also doesn't walk in the zombie/frankenstein fashion with arms straight out in front anymore.
2. sign language. she understands the signs for eat and bath. she does the sign for 'eat' to us when she is both hungry and thirsty so i think she has interpretted that sign to mean both. she doesn't do the sign for 'bath' but understands it when we do it.
3. holding her own bottles. both milk bottles and water bottles are expertly gripped.
4. friendliness. she's quite happy to be held by or play with or near other people now. i attribute this to attending child care. she's learnt that it's not only mamma and pappa that are nice.
5. speech. she's switched from saying 'hi' to all and sundry to saying 'hello'. her first attempts where a little hard to discern. now her 'hello's' to strangers along the street are returned with a smile because she is understandable.
she's a little girl now, no longer really a bubba. which is sad and exciting at the same time. except when she is tired and wants to cuddle to sleep. then she is all baby. adorably so.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
immunisations at 12 months
yesterday percy had a total of three injections for her twelve months immunisations. poor dear seemed to know what was coming when i tucked her in hard under my arm and held her knees down. she had a big wide-eyed, "i'm not sure i'm going to like this, in fact did i even give my consent" look on her face.
she gave a little squwak on the third injection and that was it! brave little missy. she seemed fine for the remainder of the day and today too. the doctor did say the mmr vaccine is live and can cause cold like symptoms at around 5 days (just in time for the weekend) so some panadol if she's upset then might be in order.
let's trust all the alleged links between the mmr vaccine and autism are unfounded. i'm a bit concerned because a colleague of mine from years back swore that the mmr vaccine brought on an autism spectrum disorder in her daughter. apparently her daughter was progressing normally, learning to walk and run, had the rudiments of short sentences and was generally a delight. post vaccine she lost her speech, reverted to crawling and became reclusive with everyone except her mother. i don't know what happened over the years as i have lost touch with this colleague tho i do know for at least 18 months following the injection her daughter progressed not at all.
isn't it silly that one personal experience will prey on your mind far more than all the scientific research in the world?
she gave a little squwak on the third injection and that was it! brave little missy. she seemed fine for the remainder of the day and today too. the doctor did say the mmr vaccine is live and can cause cold like symptoms at around 5 days (just in time for the weekend) so some panadol if she's upset then might be in order.
let's trust all the alleged links between the mmr vaccine and autism are unfounded. i'm a bit concerned because a colleague of mine from years back swore that the mmr vaccine brought on an autism spectrum disorder in her daughter. apparently her daughter was progressing normally, learning to walk and run, had the rudiments of short sentences and was generally a delight. post vaccine she lost her speech, reverted to crawling and became reclusive with everyone except her mother. i don't know what happened over the years as i have lost touch with this colleague tho i do know for at least 18 months following the injection her daughter progressed not at all.
isn't it silly that one personal experience will prey on your mind far more than all the scientific research in the world?
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