Monday 18 April 2011

Another update from me!

Robert is now 28 and a half months old, and over the last few weeks we are seeing some signs of readiness for potty training with him. We are not starting officially yet, but it bodes well that we can do lots of practice over summer when it's nice and hot and he can run around inside or outside without a nappy on. He is able to wee on demand now, providing he needs to go! And he can stop his wee midflow as well (he started to wee on the floor before his bath, we said "hang on Robert, we'll get your potty" and he stopped, and did the rest on the potty). He occasionally dislikes doing poos in his nappy, but usually only when they are hard, so it's probably more the pooing than it being in his nappy or not. He is occasionally telling us when he has done a poo, and asking for a nappy change, but others he won't say to us if he has, and he will deny it if we ask! So a while to go yet.

He is becoming very quickly a child, rather than a toddler. He is so tall and stocky that he looks a lot older than he is. His talking would give away to strangers that he is not as old as he looks, as although he is becoming more talkative, stringing together 6 words or more to form sentences, he still misses off sounds at the beginning of words. One such 6 word sentence we had this morning was this one: "Obberd ime up on Daddy uh-vers!" which translates to "Robert climb up on Daddy's covers!" He is still fairly deliberate in his talking, in that there is a noticeable small pause between words most of the time.

His memory astounds me. He looked at a DVD case for Monsters vs Aliens earlier today, which we haven't seen in a few months. I pointed to one of the characters and asked him what the name was (which I had trouble remembering) and he got it right! Such a clever boy!

Christopher is getting more and more mobile as well. He can sit unaided now for a long time, but does still occasionally wobble and fall over, if this happens to be backwards, the shock of hitting his head on the carpet makes him cry, although with a bit of delayed reaction! He rolls well both ways now, and spins on the spot. He also tries to get onto his knees by pushing with his hands, he goes a little way onto his knees but mostly just slides backwards! So he is covering distance now, albeit not much! I'm pleased that at the moment things on shelves are fairly safe ;) Another reason why I like my babies to not have baby walkers ;)

The weekend of the 9th and 10th of April, we had a photoshoot. My mum was eager to get a group photograph of her and her partner, me, my brother and our families. I've seen the proofs on the website, and I'm fairly pleasantly surprised that there were quite a few nice photos. My mum had told us that we were to tell her which was our favourite and she would buy us a print for our anniversaries. This is the nicest one of the lot I think.



After a while, Robert got increasingly aggitated and wanted to get down and play, not sit on someone's lap doing nothing (which was very understandable!) Quite a long time was spent with teddies behind the photographer, which must have resulted in a few nice ones, but we did get ones where Robert was struggling to get away, and something that did rile me was the photographer at one point instructing my mum to "just grab him" which led me to believe he really isn't all that experienced with Robert's age group. After a while the older boys just got so aggitated (and I was getting quite upset for Robert) that eventually the photographer admitted defeat and let the boys have a break, so I left Christopher with Mum and Dave, and the rest of us went outside. The photographer got some nice photos of Mum with Christopher, and then just Christopher, and we reconvened to try again, and a similar tale ensued, with some nice photos before again we decided to call it a day. But either way, we got some good photos as a final result, so that's what matters I guess :)

At the belated mothers day lunch, the boys got on really well, and had a nice time playing together (mainly underneath the table, squealing away in excitement to each other lol!)

On other news, I've sent back my driving licence. It arrived fairly promptly, but they made a mistake and put me down as Miss instead of Mrs, despite the fact I sent them my birth and marriage certificate as proofs of identity.. sigh! I've not got it back yet, it's been about 12 days since I posted it, and they say it can take up to 21 days. When I do get it back, I will be doing the scary but exciting task of ringing around for driving lessons! And maybe in a few months time we will be car shopping. Would be good if we could find a car that would be able to fit 3 child seats in the back, you know, so we don't have to upgrade when/if number 3 is on its way ;)

Talking of which, I think I am going crazy ;) I was reading on a forum about someone's morning sickness, and I got an overwhelming wistful "I wish I was pregnant" feeling! I don't want morning sickness even if I am pregnant, I guess I was just thinking about the whole thing. It is just so exciting and wonderful, I hope Jonathan won't protest too much when the time comes, I think it's a good sign that last time I mentioned the future with more than 2 children in it, he didn't interject straight away with "no way" or similar, but maybe he was thinking it, who knows lol.

Friday 1 April 2011

It's been a while!

Christopher is now 6 months old. Time really has flown since he was born, I remember the first 6 months with Robert feeling like an eternity even though it went quickly, if that makes sense. It definitely feels like Christopher has slotted into our lives so seamlessly, that maybe that's why it has gone so quickly, it feels like he was never not here. I remember my sister-in-law telling me when Robert was very little that it wouldn't be long before I forgot what life was like without him with us. I kept feeling bad because I could, and kept thinking for a long time that I wished parts of it were back. It took a long time before it really did feel like he'd been here forever, that life with Robert was how it was "meant" to be. But with Christopher, it already feels like he's been here forever. I just can't imagine life without him, without both of them of course, but I am still so smitten with Christopher.



I think he is just so easy going, so bright and interested in things, eager for new experiences, and so connected with his world that he has grown to know so keenly already. He is happy to roll around on the floor for a while, watching his brother or playing with his toys, while I get a few necessities done, and when I come back, pick him up and talk to him, I always get rewarded with the biggest smiles. He seems quite serious in that while he smiles a lot, he doesn't laugh a lot, and often it's things we don't expect that make him laugh. He started laughing at Robert last week, as he was playing with a toy, banging it on the floor. The noise it made must have been very funny because he was in fits of laughter! And today, when Robert set his cars down what he calls his "car ladder", Christopher found it hilarious when they reached the bottom and the car rolled down and hit his foot. :)



We have started giving him practically anything foodwise, apart from the obvious no-nos for under 1s, mainly whatever we're having if it's lunch or a snack, or dinner. He's had spaghetti bolognese, pasta, jacket potato with cheese and beans, sandwiches, various fruits and veggies, slices of cold chicken, cheese sticks. Already he seems to have mastered avoiding his gag reflex. He hits it occasionally, but deals with it quickly. He's getting the hang of picking up food so quickly it's astonishing. He can already get at the food clutched in his fist! And he seems to make remarkably little mess compared to Robert. I am much less "anal" about the mess this time round though! Seeing as I am used to lots of washing, I think "meh" about a bit of food stain on clothes, it just goes straight in the washing machine for the next time it goes on. A sheet under the highchair and a big bib help in the process. But I am appreciating just how much easier it is to stick to milk feeds. Especially with a toddler to get ready as well!

He is getting on quite well physically. He can sit unaided for a few seconds, but mainly needs support. And he also rolls around a lot now, and pushes up on his arms which he's quite pleased about ;) He still seems so LITTLE to me. He is weighing less than Robert did, I believe he's around the 9th centile now, and was under 15lb still when I had him weighed last, but with his temperament and his nappies and his development I think that it is nothing to worry about. But it seems crazy how such a little person can be almost sitting and is reaching towards independance already!

Robert by comparison does seem huge, and week by week his articulacy grows. His sentences are quickly becoming more and more complex "Daddy innid eedin his dinner!" (Daddy finished eating his dinner!) being one of them. He is also asking questions now, which is so cute and sometimes so funny! At dinner tonight, Jonathan was taking photos of Christopher eating his pasta, and trying to make him look to the camera. Christopher however was set on staring at Robert. Jonathan took to making various strange and funny noises in an attempt to win Christopher's attention, and after about 10 seconds of this, Robert looked at Jonathan with a look of complete amusement on his face, and said in a tone of voice to match "What's Daddy doing?" while I was cracking up in laughter at the two of them. :)

He also asks "What's this?" which I heard him ask for the first time when we had a BBQ last Friday, he was holding up a piece of spring onion.

He will hold conversations between himself and his toys, which I think is absolutely adorable, and can't wait til Christopher is joining in!

It was lovely, yesterday Robert came and joined Christopher and I on the sofa, so I sat Christopher on Robert's lap, and Robert put his hand on Christopher's back, and peered into his face intently, and said "Ello, Ooover!" with a big smile on his face.

Christopher loves Robert, he often just watches him play with a big grin on his face, and particularly loves it when Robert pays him attention and talks to him.

One thing I am finding tough with Robert at the moment is the frequency that he wants to nurse. It seems to be more than Christopher most days, and I feel torn in what I want to do about it. All I know right now is that it can't be good to carry on doing exactly what I'm doing when I give an inward groan whenever I see Robert come over and start to clamber up on the sofa because I know, 95% of the time when he does that the next words out of his mouth will be "Gah-gee eeease Mammy". I have tried days where I say yes every time he asks, and he asks a LOT. I have tried days of trying to delay/distract sometimes, saying yes other times. I have tried "only til Mummy counts to 10".

But I think the main thing is that I don't KNOW what I want right now. I don't know if I want him to cut down nursing to just a few times a day (like morning, and maybe twice during the day), or whether I want to start completely weaning him. I don't know whether I am reluctant to do anything because I don't know what the cause of this increased nursing is. Am I failing to fulfill a need of his that he needs to replace with his Gah-gee? I'm just not sure what to do, but I don't think trying lots of different things is making anything easier. There's one thing I've not tried yet which I might start doing tomorrow, and that is say "we can have gah-gee, but only upstairs on Mummy's bed" and maybe he'll be less willing to keep going up and downstairs all the time to nurse. The only problem will be if Christopher is asleep, as he sleeps in our room, and Robert can sometimes be as quiet as a fairy elephant!

Before I sign off again, for my records and general musing, is that I had some cervical fluid earlier in the evening when I went to the toilet. I've had some before as well, but then while I was getting Christopher ready for bed I felt twangs low down in my belly, which makes me think ovulation pain?! I'm pretty sure I conceived Christopher in the first possible cycle after Robert's birth, even though I'd had 3 periods previous to his conception, and Robert was 13 months when Christopher was conceived. I wonder if in a couple of weeks I will see a somewhat earlier Aunt Flo visit? Either way, I'd better be careful if Jonathan and I get the urge soon!