So, Daniel is now five and a half weeks old. It seems an age away that I was so stressed and upset about being overdue with him. Yet these five weeks have gone in a flash! He is growing so fast, and the time is going so quickly, it feels like I barely have time to enjoy his newborn-ness. And when does he stop being a newborn?
Milestones reached.. He smiles, he lifts his head clear of the floor, he has even cooed at me a few times.
He is now in 3-6 month clothes. Yes you read that right... My almost 6 week old baby is in clothes for a 12-26 week old baby. He is my first baby in cloth, but still, some are fairly slim and the 0-3 is stretched tight in the fatter nappies, and simply snug in the slimmer ones. The 3-6 month old ones are slightly baggy, but not overly so. The majority of his 3-6 month clothes are still in the loft, but he has 5 rompers which were gifted to him that his brothers never wore that he's now wearing in the meantime until the rest of them come down.
He's getting weighed tomorrow. He was weighed 2 weeks ago at my request, and weighed 11lb 9oz then. My milk supply is still plentiful, I let down heavily from both breasts when he begins a feed, I completely soak breast pads each day, even the lanisoh ones. I have not started pumping, I will see about it once I get some storage bags. Not that I'm planning on using the milk for Daniel particularly but it can't hurt to have some in the freezer.
Daniel has two doting big brothers. The novelty has worn off somewhat but he still gets plenty of kisses and cuddles during the day. Christopher has gone from giving him about 10+ hugs and kisses a day to about 2 or 3. Robert has become more affectionate towards him as time goes on. He enjoys the responsibility of rocking him in the bouncer, and will often sit and talk to him. If he's crying, I'll often see Robert come up to him, and say soothingly "don't wowwy, Daniel, mummy will give you milk in a minute!" Robert has quickly learned that if Daniel is crying, most often this can be solved by giving him milk. ;)
Daniel is of course breastfed on demand. This is never often more than 3 hours apart, and quite often more than twice within an hour. Most often I'd say between every 1.5 and 2 hours. But as I don't clock watch, it's really hard to say.
He is mostly co-sleeping with us. If I get uncomfortable I will put him in his cot, but mostly once he wakes for the first time after we have gone to bed, he will come into bed with us after a nappy change (into the most absorbent and leak proof nappy we have to hand to avoid having to change him during the night), and stay in bed with us during the night until we get up in the morning. Lately he has been good until about 5am when he gets restless. During the night he will easily feed and then sleep, but around 5am he will wake and feed, and then whinge on and off until about 6.30 when he'll drop back off to sleep, and leave us too awake to get back to sleep in time to appreciate it before the boys gro clock turns yellow.
Unlike Christopher (and somewhat like Robert), Daniel is quite a sicky baby. He will spit up some of his feed in almost every case, sometimes straight away, sometimes after a while. Sometimes it's just a little dribble, sometimes it comes out in gushes. He often gets grumpy after a feed, until he has spit up. Although part of me is wondering if he has an intolerance because he also has some patches of rough red skin, mostly on his right cheek and ear, and behind the ear. Some on his neck, in the crease, and I noticed a small amount on the stork bite on the back of his neck. I might start giving him regular baths to try and clean off those areas more thoroughly, in case it is perhaps the sick irritating the skin? He has had about 4 baths so far. I will also mention it at my 6 week postnatal checkup on Monday. But if regular bathing doesn't help, I may see about eliminating dairy from my diet to see if that helps. At least I don't have the worry that he's not gaining weight, I can see he is gaining weight, and meeting milestones, but if I can help ease discomfort I will!
Anyway, Jonathan is getting nearer to Daniels birthday on the photos, sorting and uploading them, so hopefully I will have some photos to update with soon!
Showing posts with label milestones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label milestones. Show all posts
Tuesday, 25 June 2013
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
The power of love
Sometimes, I simply cannot believe how much love my heart can hold. For Christopher particularly at this time, I am just SO. IN. LOVE. with that baby boy! I think everyone wonders if they'd be able to love their second child as much as their first, since their first child was around first, and has been around longer, how could we possibly love another child as much? Part of me wonders if, following on from an earlier post, I actually love Christopher more than I did Robert. In some respects, it's easy to imagine that is true, as I had PTSD following Robert's birth, and just pure babymooning bliss with Christopher! But then at the same time I think maybe it just seems like I love Christopher at this age more than I loved Robert at the same age because Christopher is here NOW, and Robert was 13 months old almost 2 years ago, so the memory is dimmer.
But either way... boy, I just am IN LOVE with Christopher, I really am. I just ADORE that he is at the age where he is happiest in my arms, that he is learning all about giving kisses, and beginning the basic communication that lets me know what he wants. Oh I could write an essay about all the little things Christopher does right now! All the things I love about him, all the things I notice from time to time and as a matter of course! But where to start!
Communication wise, he says "dada" a lot, so much so I don't think it holds a LOT of meaning... But he definitely seems to say "mama" when he's aggitated and wants me, and hardly ever otherwise! He has made up his own sign for "I want that"!! He holds his hand up towards what he wants and makes a grabbing/beckoning motion with his fist!
He LOVES songs, and singing! His favourite song is by far Twinkle twinkle little star, and he opens and closes his hand in the air to signal that he wants us to sing it! And when we do he grins so much, and starts "singing" along with us, which consists of "dadadadadada!" in a sweet singsong voice! I would sing all day to him if I could, but Robert quite often starts shouting "HE'S BETTER! HE'S OK! STOP SINGING MUMMY!!!" as we ask him sometimes to sing to Christopher to cheer him up haha.
What else? Well he's just moved into size 9-12 month clothing (at 13 months!!), so he's quite diddy still! But that just endears him to me all the more! I could just hold him all day and kiss his soft cheeks! And tickle him to hear his sweet chuckle! And ohhhh his dimples!!! He has the cutest little dimples ever!!
Oooh what else... He is walking so well now!! He hardly ever crawls anywhere now, and is so confident in just standing himself up and toddling off. He gets sturdier and steadier all the time, and is SO FAST now too! I swear he was RUNNING away from Robert earlier today! He climbs too... ohhhh he climbs! The stairs are oh so easy for him now, we have to keep the stairgate closed or he'll be up them in no time! Like this evening, I was in the kitchen checking something, and came back in the living room, saw Robert, could NOT see Christopher... started to panic until I saw the stair gate open, and went upstairs, sure enough, there he was, at the top, grinning down at me! But now also he does not think anything of climbing onto the toy box to climb onto the sofa... or onto Robert's chair to climb onto the table! I stop him from climbing on Robert's chair and table!! He's getting so adept at getting down off things now too!
Sleepwise, we have started to nightwean him. Robert was nightweaned at 8-9 months old, and just over a week ago we decided to do the same finally with Christopher. When he woke up not even 3 hours after he'd gone to bed, we just cuddled him, attempted to put him down in his cot and pat him to sleep. When he started writhing about, trying to sit up, we would go and lay back in bed, leaving him in the cot. We left the light on so he could still see us, so he knew we were there, and left him for 5 minutes. Then we got up and repeated the process, the next time left him for 6 minutes. And so on. I think we got to 9 minutes, before Jonathan finally managed to settle him to silence in his cot. He got back into bed, which creaked horribly, and started Christopher off again, so I leapt out of bed to pat him back to sleep, which he did, and I crept into my slightly less creaky side of the bed. Turned off the light, which disturbed him and he moaned for about a minute, but then went to sleep, and didn't wake til 6! Granted he was awake screaming from 10.40pm til 12.10am, but 6 hours was fabulous! The next night we were expecting to have to do the same again, but he slept all the way from 7.45 until 6am!! And the next night he woke at 5am, which I think is the earliest I wanted to give him milk, and he went to sleep again. Next morning was 4am-ish, but Jonathan cuddled and patted him to sleep again. But sooo much better than 11ish, then 2ish, then 4ish, then 6ish... :) It won't be long before we can put him in Robert's room! But how I think I'll miss him! And worry about him probably too!
I just love him sooo much! And every day I love him a little bit more! I simply can't imagine not being able to love subsequent babies with all my heart! The thought that I wouldn't love them as much as the ones I already have is sooo alien to me! And I just can't wait to have more squishy babies who I will love to pieces! I just adore holding my littlest man and having precious cuddles... I know before long they will be few and far between...
But either way... boy, I just am IN LOVE with Christopher, I really am. I just ADORE that he is at the age where he is happiest in my arms, that he is learning all about giving kisses, and beginning the basic communication that lets me know what he wants. Oh I could write an essay about all the little things Christopher does right now! All the things I love about him, all the things I notice from time to time and as a matter of course! But where to start!
Communication wise, he says "dada" a lot, so much so I don't think it holds a LOT of meaning... But he definitely seems to say "mama" when he's aggitated and wants me, and hardly ever otherwise! He has made up his own sign for "I want that"!! He holds his hand up towards what he wants and makes a grabbing/beckoning motion with his fist!
He LOVES songs, and singing! His favourite song is by far Twinkle twinkle little star, and he opens and closes his hand in the air to signal that he wants us to sing it! And when we do he grins so much, and starts "singing" along with us, which consists of "dadadadadada!" in a sweet singsong voice! I would sing all day to him if I could, but Robert quite often starts shouting "HE'S BETTER! HE'S OK! STOP SINGING MUMMY!!!" as we ask him sometimes to sing to Christopher to cheer him up haha.
What else? Well he's just moved into size 9-12 month clothing (at 13 months!!), so he's quite diddy still! But that just endears him to me all the more! I could just hold him all day and kiss his soft cheeks! And tickle him to hear his sweet chuckle! And ohhhh his dimples!!! He has the cutest little dimples ever!!
Oooh what else... He is walking so well now!! He hardly ever crawls anywhere now, and is so confident in just standing himself up and toddling off. He gets sturdier and steadier all the time, and is SO FAST now too! I swear he was RUNNING away from Robert earlier today! He climbs too... ohhhh he climbs! The stairs are oh so easy for him now, we have to keep the stairgate closed or he'll be up them in no time! Like this evening, I was in the kitchen checking something, and came back in the living room, saw Robert, could NOT see Christopher... started to panic until I saw the stair gate open, and went upstairs, sure enough, there he was, at the top, grinning down at me! But now also he does not think anything of climbing onto the toy box to climb onto the sofa... or onto Robert's chair to climb onto the table! I stop him from climbing on Robert's chair and table!! He's getting so adept at getting down off things now too!
Sleepwise, we have started to nightwean him. Robert was nightweaned at 8-9 months old, and just over a week ago we decided to do the same finally with Christopher. When he woke up not even 3 hours after he'd gone to bed, we just cuddled him, attempted to put him down in his cot and pat him to sleep. When he started writhing about, trying to sit up, we would go and lay back in bed, leaving him in the cot. We left the light on so he could still see us, so he knew we were there, and left him for 5 minutes. Then we got up and repeated the process, the next time left him for 6 minutes. And so on. I think we got to 9 minutes, before Jonathan finally managed to settle him to silence in his cot. He got back into bed, which creaked horribly, and started Christopher off again, so I leapt out of bed to pat him back to sleep, which he did, and I crept into my slightly less creaky side of the bed. Turned off the light, which disturbed him and he moaned for about a minute, but then went to sleep, and didn't wake til 6! Granted he was awake screaming from 10.40pm til 12.10am, but 6 hours was fabulous! The next night we were expecting to have to do the same again, but he slept all the way from 7.45 until 6am!! And the next night he woke at 5am, which I think is the earliest I wanted to give him milk, and he went to sleep again. Next morning was 4am-ish, but Jonathan cuddled and patted him to sleep again. But sooo much better than 11ish, then 2ish, then 4ish, then 6ish... :) It won't be long before we can put him in Robert's room! But how I think I'll miss him! And worry about him probably too!
I just love him sooo much! And every day I love him a little bit more! I simply can't imagine not being able to love subsequent babies with all my heart! The thought that I wouldn't love them as much as the ones I already have is sooo alien to me! And I just can't wait to have more squishy babies who I will love to pieces! I just adore holding my littlest man and having precious cuddles... I know before long they will be few and far between...
Wednesday, 13 July 2011
Sleep and milestones
Sooo... a long time no write! I don't have time during the day anymore as Robert has all but dropped his naps, and in the evening I tend to use what spare time I have then to do some digital scrapbooking or photo editing. Which means that blogging has lapsed somewhat!
It's now getting towards the middle of July. We have a 2 year 7.5 month old, and a 9.5 month old. It is amazing watching the two of them develop, both as indivuals, and as brothers! Robert is amazingly chatty, and picks up so many new phrases he hears out and about (and from the TV. ahem) and often repeats them several times over the course of the day. Today's has been "What is Spiky doing out in the daytime?!" which he got from Come Outside, the TV show with Auntie Mabel and Pippin, when they see Spiky the Hedgehog out in the garden during the day. His pronounciation is still a little unclear, but we can understand most of what he says, and he is working on his pronounciation all the time, now sometimes saying "banana" instead of "nana", and "Isps-to-fah" instead of "Ooover" when talking about his brother.
He is also pushing boundaries a lot, meaning that we have increased the number of time outs he gets lately... He usually screams as we are carrying him upstairs after being told for example that he's going for time out because he was hitting us, "I not hit you anymore Mummy!!" Sometimes we give him one more chance, other times we don't, he goes straight to time out, it depends on the severity of what he did and how many warnings he had previously. It is a very challenging time, and I'm sure it won't get easier, so we feel it's important to be consistent now, and make sure that we try and nip things in the bud now rather than let things get out of hand down the line. Sometimes it's easier said than done!
Even though he can be very challenging to deal with now, he can instantly make us smile when he wants to, with a funny antic or other, or saying something funny. He likes to pretend to be a ghost, covering himself up with a blanket. A few nights ago, he did that with his bath towel, and then started walking around, and despite us telling him to stop, he continued, and bumped quite comically into the door frame, and then Christopher's cot. He was fine, and even found it quite funny himself.
He loves to make Christopher smile, and laugh, and often "talks" to him by making babbly noises that Christopher makes, saying "gaa-gaaa-gaa!" with a big grin on his face. He does talk to him properly too of course, what I thought was extra sweet was one day, Christopher woke from his nap and started crying, and Robert went upstairs with me close behind, went into our room, and said "Are you alright, Ooover?" and then started singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to him! Awwww!
He always wants to hug and hold him, and loves to play "ide an eek" which involves Robert crawling under the table, and peeking out saying "peep bo!" and then waiting til Christopher crawls up before coming out at lightning speed prompting Christopher to turn around and chase him away, before he then skirts back under the table :)
Christopher is now 9 and a half months old. Robert, by this age, was walking unaided, and by 10 months was quite a confident walker! In comparison, as I think I said in an earlier post, Christopher isn't as quick as Robert was. But I don't think he'll be much longer. He is balancing better and better, holding on with one hand, cruising with ease, and will stand for a few seconds if put in the right position and sort of pre-balanced. I don't think it'll be much longer before he's standing alone, and then walking will follow shortly afterwards I think. Before he's a year old I expect he'll be walking!
His sleep has been terrible the last few nights, waking every few hours, and SCREAMS. THE. PLACE. DOWN. until offered the boob, but even with a boob, he will still wake in a few hours and do the same :( We have no end in sight to when we will be able to move Christopher into Robert's room, as he is still nowhere near night weaned! We are hoping that some new skill (thinking, standing alone?!) will emerge soon to explain the horrendous nights.
We had some photographs taken at a photo studio, the same one as we went to when Robert was 6 months old. This photograph shows how sturdy Christopher is 1 handed!
Despite Robert being less than co-operative at the start, they did manage to get some nice ones of him. This is one of my favourites, and there are a few close up ones that I love too.
Onto some "me" news, 2 of my personal goals are well underway. The first of which, my weight loss, is going steadily again (finally) after a big stall, it's slow going but it's gradually coming off again, which I'm more than happy with. Over the last 9.5 months I have averaged at around 1.3lb lost per week, which is nice and healthy, and should see me at my overall goal by the time Christopher is one. I have dropped from 15 stone (well, 14st 11) since Christopher was 4 days old, and a size 20, to 11 stone and a size 14. I am aiming to lose 1 more stone, then see how I feel, but once I get there, I shall probably try and up the exercise, and tone up rather than just losing the fat. I am hoping to be in a size 12, or maybe a generous size 10 ;) Which is US size 6.
The second goal is my driving lessons. I have done 13 hours of lessons now (which reminds me, I *must* pay for another block tonight!) and have covered up to roundabouts, and in my last lesson, did my first maneuver, the "turn in the road" aka 3-point-turn. My next lesson is in 2 days time. I wonder what will be covered then :)
Anyway, sorry it's been so long between posts, I can't promise to say when the next one will be either! Most likely it will be posted by a 28-year-old though ;)
It's now getting towards the middle of July. We have a 2 year 7.5 month old, and a 9.5 month old. It is amazing watching the two of them develop, both as indivuals, and as brothers! Robert is amazingly chatty, and picks up so many new phrases he hears out and about (and from the TV. ahem) and often repeats them several times over the course of the day. Today's has been "What is Spiky doing out in the daytime?!" which he got from Come Outside, the TV show with Auntie Mabel and Pippin, when they see Spiky the Hedgehog out in the garden during the day. His pronounciation is still a little unclear, but we can understand most of what he says, and he is working on his pronounciation all the time, now sometimes saying "banana" instead of "nana", and "Isps-to-fah" instead of "Ooover" when talking about his brother.
He is also pushing boundaries a lot, meaning that we have increased the number of time outs he gets lately... He usually screams as we are carrying him upstairs after being told for example that he's going for time out because he was hitting us, "I not hit you anymore Mummy!!" Sometimes we give him one more chance, other times we don't, he goes straight to time out, it depends on the severity of what he did and how many warnings he had previously. It is a very challenging time, and I'm sure it won't get easier, so we feel it's important to be consistent now, and make sure that we try and nip things in the bud now rather than let things get out of hand down the line. Sometimes it's easier said than done!
Even though he can be very challenging to deal with now, he can instantly make us smile when he wants to, with a funny antic or other, or saying something funny. He likes to pretend to be a ghost, covering himself up with a blanket. A few nights ago, he did that with his bath towel, and then started walking around, and despite us telling him to stop, he continued, and bumped quite comically into the door frame, and then Christopher's cot. He was fine, and even found it quite funny himself.
He loves to make Christopher smile, and laugh, and often "talks" to him by making babbly noises that Christopher makes, saying "gaa-gaaa-gaa!" with a big grin on his face. He does talk to him properly too of course, what I thought was extra sweet was one day, Christopher woke from his nap and started crying, and Robert went upstairs with me close behind, went into our room, and said "Are you alright, Ooover?" and then started singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to him! Awwww!
He always wants to hug and hold him, and loves to play "ide an eek" which involves Robert crawling under the table, and peeking out saying "peep bo!" and then waiting til Christopher crawls up before coming out at lightning speed prompting Christopher to turn around and chase him away, before he then skirts back under the table :)
Christopher is now 9 and a half months old. Robert, by this age, was walking unaided, and by 10 months was quite a confident walker! In comparison, as I think I said in an earlier post, Christopher isn't as quick as Robert was. But I don't think he'll be much longer. He is balancing better and better, holding on with one hand, cruising with ease, and will stand for a few seconds if put in the right position and sort of pre-balanced. I don't think it'll be much longer before he's standing alone, and then walking will follow shortly afterwards I think. Before he's a year old I expect he'll be walking!
His sleep has been terrible the last few nights, waking every few hours, and SCREAMS. THE. PLACE. DOWN. until offered the boob, but even with a boob, he will still wake in a few hours and do the same :( We have no end in sight to when we will be able to move Christopher into Robert's room, as he is still nowhere near night weaned! We are hoping that some new skill (thinking, standing alone?!) will emerge soon to explain the horrendous nights.
We had some photographs taken at a photo studio, the same one as we went to when Robert was 6 months old. This photograph shows how sturdy Christopher is 1 handed!
Despite Robert being less than co-operative at the start, they did manage to get some nice ones of him. This is one of my favourites, and there are a few close up ones that I love too.
Onto some "me" news, 2 of my personal goals are well underway. The first of which, my weight loss, is going steadily again (finally) after a big stall, it's slow going but it's gradually coming off again, which I'm more than happy with. Over the last 9.5 months I have averaged at around 1.3lb lost per week, which is nice and healthy, and should see me at my overall goal by the time Christopher is one. I have dropped from 15 stone (well, 14st 11) since Christopher was 4 days old, and a size 20, to 11 stone and a size 14. I am aiming to lose 1 more stone, then see how I feel, but once I get there, I shall probably try and up the exercise, and tone up rather than just losing the fat. I am hoping to be in a size 12, or maybe a generous size 10 ;) Which is US size 6.
The second goal is my driving lessons. I have done 13 hours of lessons now (which reminds me, I *must* pay for another block tonight!) and have covered up to roundabouts, and in my last lesson, did my first maneuver, the "turn in the road" aka 3-point-turn. My next lesson is in 2 days time. I wonder what will be covered then :)
Anyway, sorry it's been so long between posts, I can't promise to say when the next one will be either! Most likely it will be posted by a 28-year-old though ;)
Saturday, 11 June 2011
Growing up fast.
Christopher is now 8 and a half months old, and around the same time (maybe a week off) out that he was in! He's crawling very confidently now, and already has his own mind made up about what he wants and what he likes! He loves Robert, and finds him absolutely hilarious at times. If Robert is having milk and I bring Christopher up as well (Robert has got staying latched on as I lean over to pick his brother up off the floor perfected), Christopher will grin, and immediately lean in to Robert for a hug, which is duly returned, both arms around his little brother (while still latched on!). They can be very sweet with each other :) He's also beginning to pull up, which has been cause of more than a few tears, what with pulling up on Robert's toybox, with a lid which from the side can easily catch small fingers. And also Robert's un-occupied chair, he pulls up on it, and because it's not very heavy, he falls backwards, pulling the chair over on top of himself (and sometimes banging his head on the door behind him). It's meaning now I need eyes in the back of my head, and will mean that I won't be able to leave the two boys downstairs while I do jobs upstairs, or go to the loo, Christopher will need to come with me. Truly now have my hands full!
Something I find unbelievably cute is how pleased Christopher is to see me. If I sit on the floor, and he catches sight of me, he will squeal happily, and crawl over to me, sometimes giggling away, and pull himself up onto my lap. It warms my heart and makes me so happy to see this little person full of love and joy recipricate my feelings!
Robert is getting so chatty, which is lovely to hear. His words become clearer by the day. He made his first attempts at saying all the syllables in "Christopher" yesterday which was sooo funny, I shouldn't have laughed really but it came out just a gumble of mumbly sounds, I wish I had properly thought of how it sounded so I could type it out, but never mind. He then gave a few good attempts, saying "Iss-ooover". He is beginning to say "a" and "the" in his sentences now as well, a sentence before might have been "I umpin' off oh-fah!" (I'm jumping off sofa), it's now occasionally being "I umpin' off vweh oh-fah!". He tries so hard to pronounce the "th" sound!
He is singing some whole songs now, we can tell what he's singing as well even though he doesn't get the tune right! He can sing "the wheels on the bus" very well, although most often without the "the". He sang "I'm a little teapot" earlier, singing "Here's my handle! here's my spout! tip me up! pour me out!" He does still refer to some songs by name, which sound nothing like it should be, for example, Grand Old Duke of York is "Gig-ork"
Love my little boys so much!
Oh, and one small thing to finish up on, Jonathan and I did a naughty a couple of nights ago... we didn't use anything, and even though I've not had my periods return yet, I have been having increased amounts of cervical fluid, so there might be the possibility of baby #3... I will be happy whatever the outcome, something which seems crazy, the age gap would be tiny if I was, about 17 months, but I would be happy to welcome him/her into our family! And alternatively, if I am not, then that is fine too, I am happy to wait for another year or so before we try again, although my ideal situation would be to not get to the point where we are actively trying, I guess. I know that we were only trying for a fraction of the time it has taken/taking some people to conceive with Christopher, but it still felt horrid each month to get that BFN, I can only imagine it gets exponentially worse each time... It does feel nice to know that whatever the outcome, I am at peace with it this time. I will keep things updated.
Something I find unbelievably cute is how pleased Christopher is to see me. If I sit on the floor, and he catches sight of me, he will squeal happily, and crawl over to me, sometimes giggling away, and pull himself up onto my lap. It warms my heart and makes me so happy to see this little person full of love and joy recipricate my feelings!
Robert is getting so chatty, which is lovely to hear. His words become clearer by the day. He made his first attempts at saying all the syllables in "Christopher" yesterday which was sooo funny, I shouldn't have laughed really but it came out just a gumble of mumbly sounds, I wish I had properly thought of how it sounded so I could type it out, but never mind. He then gave a few good attempts, saying "Iss-ooover". He is beginning to say "a" and "the" in his sentences now as well, a sentence before might have been "I umpin' off oh-fah!" (I'm jumping off sofa), it's now occasionally being "I umpin' off vweh oh-fah!". He tries so hard to pronounce the "th" sound!
He is singing some whole songs now, we can tell what he's singing as well even though he doesn't get the tune right! He can sing "the wheels on the bus" very well, although most often without the "the". He sang "I'm a little teapot" earlier, singing "Here's my handle! here's my spout! tip me up! pour me out!" He does still refer to some songs by name, which sound nothing like it should be, for example, Grand Old Duke of York is "Gig-ork"
Love my little boys so much!
Oh, and one small thing to finish up on, Jonathan and I did a naughty a couple of nights ago... we didn't use anything, and even though I've not had my periods return yet, I have been having increased amounts of cervical fluid, so there might be the possibility of baby #3... I will be happy whatever the outcome, something which seems crazy, the age gap would be tiny if I was, about 17 months, but I would be happy to welcome him/her into our family! And alternatively, if I am not, then that is fine too, I am happy to wait for another year or so before we try again, although my ideal situation would be to not get to the point where we are actively trying, I guess. I know that we were only trying for a fraction of the time it has taken/taking some people to conceive with Christopher, but it still felt horrid each month to get that BFN, I can only imagine it gets exponentially worse each time... It does feel nice to know that whatever the outcome, I am at peace with it this time. I will keep things updated.
Saturday, 4 June 2011
Health reviews
In the UK, health reviews are offered at 7-9 months and 2-and-a-half. As luck would have it, Robert is two-and-a-half, and Christopher is 8 months. After a bit of appointment wiggling, due to me initially having 2 separate appointments in 2 separate locations just one hour apart, I managed to get the two boys in on the same appointment. Robert passed all his tests and got measured as 34lbs and 96cm tall. He built a tower for them and did a drawing to show them he could draw a line and a circle. His notes say his speech is half understandable, and got told that if it stopped improving, I should get an appointment with the GP and get a referral to a speech therapist. Something that right now isn't necessary as he is improving all the time.
Christopher got weighed for his, he is now 16lb 3oz, which at 8 months is on the dinky side, between the 2nd and 9th centiles. He is still in age 3-6 clothes, some of which are snug now, and some still have a bit of room. He does seem very different from Robert in that he does seem so tiny to be crawling. I remember when Robert started to stand unaided around this age, he seemed too small to be standing, I can only imagine how small Christopher would look!
Despite weighing so little (goodness, my "friend" would have a field day if she knew how much he weighs, poor starving Christopher), he is meeting his milestones and doing everything they would expect of him, and the health visitor we saw was not worried in the slightest at his weight.
I am relieved, I was bracing myself for some mention about his weight, even though I knew there is nothing to worry about because his temperament, general health, and milestone completion are evidence enough about his well-being.
Christopher got weighed for his, he is now 16lb 3oz, which at 8 months is on the dinky side, between the 2nd and 9th centiles. He is still in age 3-6 clothes, some of which are snug now, and some still have a bit of room. He does seem very different from Robert in that he does seem so tiny to be crawling. I remember when Robert started to stand unaided around this age, he seemed too small to be standing, I can only imagine how small Christopher would look!
Despite weighing so little (goodness, my "friend" would have a field day if she knew how much he weighs, poor starving Christopher), he is meeting his milestones and doing everything they would expect of him, and the health visitor we saw was not worried in the slightest at his weight.
I am relieved, I was bracing myself for some mention about his weight, even though I knew there is nothing to worry about because his temperament, general health, and milestone completion are evidence enough about his well-being.
Friday, 25 February 2011
5 months old!
Christopher is five months old today. At this very moment, five months ago, I was just settling down to let Christopher perform the birth crawl! These last five months have just FLOWN by. He has grown and changed so much! And still such a happy little man!
Five months ago he weighed only 7lb 9oz, he was wrinkled, had the HUGEST frowny look ever, with such a huge crease on the bridge of his nose! But oh so perfect!
And today, he is a lovely cuddly happy little guy, with huge grins and big chuckles, already willing to flash his dimples at every opportunity! Such a curious little guy too!
He is trying to roll over - desperately! He has managed it from his front to his back several times. He wakes up from front sleeping, and will have flung himself onto his back and be bashing his hands on the cot mobile base unit, turning the music on! He has been trying with a vengeance the last few days to roll from back to front. He manages to get over half way, but can't quite get that last little bit!
I am also proud to say that he is still exclusively breastfed! Robert had his first tastes of food ridiculously (shamefully!) early, but then after some inevitable number 2s that went everywhere, I decided to wait until later before giving him more - later being around 5 months and 1 week. I am now much better educated on weaning matters than I was with Robert, I don't like to play the "ignorance" card, as I KNEW the recommended time was to wait til 6 months, but I didn't know the risks and dangers of introducing food early.
I will be waiting until at least 5 and a half months, but I am thinking that I will probably be stubborn and purposefully wait until 6 months even if he's showing me that he is ready before then just so I am in that 1% of women who exclusively breastfeed until 6 months! Either way he will not miss out at all, he loves his milkies, just like his big brother, and I SWEAR his face lights up when I get myself ready to feed him. :)
I am getting excited to start introducing real food though! Sooo excited! It's such a fun phase of a little person's life! Robert I'm sure will love it too, he keeps trying to feed Christopher food! I left Christopher in the bumbo, and Robert eating his sandwiches at his table for THIRTY SECONDS while I went and got a drink for Robert, to come back and find Robert crouched down next to Christopher holding a sandwich to his mouth! Arghh!
I am debating with myself what to give Christopher first. It's between banana, broccoli, carrot, or pear I think! (the two veg cooked of course!) Ohhhh so exciting! One month to go! I hope it goes quickly! :)
Five months ago he weighed only 7lb 9oz, he was wrinkled, had the HUGEST frowny look ever, with such a huge crease on the bridge of his nose! But oh so perfect!
And today, he is a lovely cuddly happy little guy, with huge grins and big chuckles, already willing to flash his dimples at every opportunity! Such a curious little guy too!
He is trying to roll over - desperately! He has managed it from his front to his back several times. He wakes up from front sleeping, and will have flung himself onto his back and be bashing his hands on the cot mobile base unit, turning the music on! He has been trying with a vengeance the last few days to roll from back to front. He manages to get over half way, but can't quite get that last little bit!
I am also proud to say that he is still exclusively breastfed! Robert had his first tastes of food ridiculously (shamefully!) early, but then after some inevitable number 2s that went everywhere, I decided to wait until later before giving him more - later being around 5 months and 1 week. I am now much better educated on weaning matters than I was with Robert, I don't like to play the "ignorance" card, as I KNEW the recommended time was to wait til 6 months, but I didn't know the risks and dangers of introducing food early.
I will be waiting until at least 5 and a half months, but I am thinking that I will probably be stubborn and purposefully wait until 6 months even if he's showing me that he is ready before then just so I am in that 1% of women who exclusively breastfeed until 6 months! Either way he will not miss out at all, he loves his milkies, just like his big brother, and I SWEAR his face lights up when I get myself ready to feed him. :)
I am getting excited to start introducing real food though! Sooo excited! It's such a fun phase of a little person's life! Robert I'm sure will love it too, he keeps trying to feed Christopher food! I left Christopher in the bumbo, and Robert eating his sandwiches at his table for THIRTY SECONDS while I went and got a drink for Robert, to come back and find Robert crouched down next to Christopher holding a sandwich to his mouth! Arghh!
I am debating with myself what to give Christopher first. It's between banana, broccoli, carrot, or pear I think! (the two veg cooked of course!) Ohhhh so exciting! One month to go! I hope it goes quickly! :)
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Updates on the kiddies etc.
Well it seems that next week we will be making our first big car trip with Christopher. My grandad died last week, he was in his 90s, suffering with dementia, along with trips in and out of hospital due to his unexplained falls and subsequent injuries. His funeral is next Wednesday, so we will be making the journey with Christopher to London to attend. We're hoping maybe to leave Robert with my in-laws. Christopher will be fine, either asleep, feeding, or happy looking around while having cuddles. And if for some reason he does get inconsolable, Jonathan can take him out.
Anyway...
Christopher is still 100% breastfed. By this point in time, Robert had already had mashed banana and baby rice, before we decided it'd be easier to keep him on BM for a while longer. Christopher has had nothing but milk, but he seems more than happy with that arrangement. Unlike Robert, who was given a bottle of expressed milk daily from around 5 weeks old, Christopher was given his first bottle maybe at 6 or 7 weeks old, and only one other bottle since then, both by his grandma. We tried him on a bottle of expressed a couple of weeks ago, while I was cooking, but he wasn't having any of it! For now, that arrangement suits me fine, I'm not desperate to give him a bottle, and I'm not desperate for a night out, or anything like that. Breastfeeding Christopher has gone like a dream. It really has! After the early struggles with Robert, I didn't think I'd be lucky to have an easy experience of breastfeeding right from the start. The main issues right now are sucking on fingers WHILE nursing (ouchhhh!) and him grabbing a handful of breast, and yanking it away from his mouth while still oh so very much latched on! (double ouch!)
He is becoming more needy as time goes on, he wants more and more attention understandably, and as such I am beginning to feel a bit more pulled in 3 directions (juggling Robert's needs, Christopher's increasing needs, and household needs - bare essentials such as washing up, laundry, and vacuuming once the floor is under a thin sheet of cat hair and crumbs!). He is still a very content baby generally though, and loves his play mat, both on his back and tummy time.
He has started to give us the biggest chuckles over the last few weeks, which is just so so cute! He laughs at a few things. Tickling his chest sometimes works, as does making funny noises to him, tickling his mouth and chin with a cloth, and also his grandad has made him laugh singing Ralph McTell songs :)
He is becoming more and more interested in his big brother, and loves watching his big brother playing. If Robert is doing a table top activity, I prop him up on the sofa looking over the arm so he can watch Robert.
That last photo was taken over 6 weeks ago now. I can hardly believe that my little boy is coming up for 5 months old already, he will turn 5 months on the 25th February!
His head control is very good now. He sleeps on his front, and has done since he was tiny, because he slept better like that. So when he wakes, he will lift his head up as high as it will go, and look around for a while! He gets plenty of tummy time! ;) We've started putting him in the door bouncer, and just like his big brother, he LOVES it! He really enjoys the feeling of the floor under his feet, and he gets such a look of excitement and glee on his face when he is in there!
I just love this little boy so much, he lights up my day, and even if I am tired from the early wake up calls, if I have the little man on my chest, and he looks straight into my eyes and BEAMS at me with that gorgeous dimpled grin of his, how can I not smile back? He is just so precious, and I am incredibly lucky to have him in my life.
Right now, he is on the cusp of rolling over. He is trying desperately to do it, he arches his back and looks up above his head, and rocks. He did at first roll over to his left, now I see him do it more to his right. I can't believe my baby boy is beginning to get mobile! I know it's still a way off crawling, but still, rolling! My baby! You cannot grow up, I forbid it! ;) I find myself excited yet a little sad with each new milestone my baby boy reaches. I know in my heart I can persuade Jonathan he wants a third, yet he is still quietly protesting expanding our family, and pointing out all the "bad" bits of having a baby, in an attempt to make me see that I really don't want another child, that 2 is enough, but it's not working sorry Jonathan! ;)
Right... Robert!
Robert is now 26 months old, or 2 years 2 months ;) He is learning more about his individuality every day, and learning new things all the time. My heart just squishes with love for him. He is now stringing together more and more complex sentences, although without words like "the", "a", "and" and so on. And all verbs in the present tense.
Yesterday I went out into the kitchen to start his dinner, he ran after me, calling loudly "Mama! Mama! Mamaaaa!" when I answered him, he sauntered into the kitchen with a huge grin on his face, and said "Robert do two trumps!" lol!
His pronounciation is still very baby-ish with the vast majority of consonant sounds at the beginning of words missed off, but more and more words are becoming recognisable (not just to us), and his vocabulary is really quite astounding! I really would not know where to start making a list on the words he knows, I would estimate in the hundreds.
He is also showing more and more understanding of our speech to him, and is clearly thinking more about what we are saying. We can ask him a series of questions with yes/no answers, and ask a few for which the answer is yes, then throw in one which isn't the case, for example we will ask him things like "is Robert wearing blue trousers?" "is teddy sitting on the table?" "is Mummy wearing glasses?" to which the answer is all "yes", and then throw in "is daddy wearing a hat?" which he wouldn't be, and he'd look at Jonathan, pause for a brief second, and then say "No!" in a funny lilting tone of voice.
He rarely asks to hold Christopher anymore. He prefers to show him his toys, and watch him, and sometimes when playing his favourite game (bringing a toy up, and speaking as the toy, saying hello to me) he will "make" Christopher say hello back. He used to do this by grabbing his head and wiggling it about as though he was talking (like he does with his toys) but I have since persuaded him a much better way is to wave his hand instead ;)
He has started to show a bit of toddler boistrousness lately too, in throwing and banging his toys. When we went over to the in-laws this weekend, he started doing it with the brick trolley there, banging it into the door purposefully, and I was SO impressed with how my mother-in-law handled it. She took the brick trolley away, and went into the hallway with it, Robert followed her, tugging at the trolley while screaming. Then she got down, and said to Robert something along the lines of "I am taking this away because you were banging it into the door. I don't want my door to get broken, but if you are careful with the trolley and do not bang it anymore, you can carry on playing with it." And when Robert whimpered "yeah" she gave it back to him, and he was SO careful with it bless him :)
I think it doesn't help that as Christopher is getting bigger and needing more attention, Robert isn't getting as much attention as he needs. It is something I am going to have to focus on presently, to make sure things don't get out of hand. Nip it in the bud so to speak. Something I do want to try and do is to start planning a proper activity with Robert every day, something for him to look forward to, something to keep his mind active. Tomorrow, I think we will make biscuits. He loves his playdough, so I'm sure he will love rolling out and cutting biscuits with his playdough cutters!
Sometimes I look at him and he seems so grown up and big, and when I think he's 2, part of me thinks that's really old (comparing it to his 4 month old baby brother!) and then I think actually that's still really little! When he is nursing he definitely appears on the older side, because I am more used to seeing a baby there! But I am still content to continue for the time being. Jonathan did ask me a while ago when I was planning on stopping feeding Robert. I didn't have an answer for him then, and still don't. As long as it feels "right" I suppose. He is still gaining from the closeness it provides, as am I. In some ways, I do see it as a healthy snack for him! Sometimes I panic and think "oh my goodness, I've not offered Robert some water all morning!!" and then realise that he's actually nursed twice in that time so he has had a drink! ;) Plus there is the more selfish weight-loss issue too. ;)
But anyway, back on topic, it's photos like this that make me realise just how little he still is.
I love them both so much it hurts sometimes. :)
Anyway...
Christopher is still 100% breastfed. By this point in time, Robert had already had mashed banana and baby rice, before we decided it'd be easier to keep him on BM for a while longer. Christopher has had nothing but milk, but he seems more than happy with that arrangement. Unlike Robert, who was given a bottle of expressed milk daily from around 5 weeks old, Christopher was given his first bottle maybe at 6 or 7 weeks old, and only one other bottle since then, both by his grandma. We tried him on a bottle of expressed a couple of weeks ago, while I was cooking, but he wasn't having any of it! For now, that arrangement suits me fine, I'm not desperate to give him a bottle, and I'm not desperate for a night out, or anything like that. Breastfeeding Christopher has gone like a dream. It really has! After the early struggles with Robert, I didn't think I'd be lucky to have an easy experience of breastfeeding right from the start. The main issues right now are sucking on fingers WHILE nursing (ouchhhh!) and him grabbing a handful of breast, and yanking it away from his mouth while still oh so very much latched on! (double ouch!)
He is becoming more needy as time goes on, he wants more and more attention understandably, and as such I am beginning to feel a bit more pulled in 3 directions (juggling Robert's needs, Christopher's increasing needs, and household needs - bare essentials such as washing up, laundry, and vacuuming once the floor is under a thin sheet of cat hair and crumbs!). He is still a very content baby generally though, and loves his play mat, both on his back and tummy time.
He has started to give us the biggest chuckles over the last few weeks, which is just so so cute! He laughs at a few things. Tickling his chest sometimes works, as does making funny noises to him, tickling his mouth and chin with a cloth, and also his grandad has made him laugh singing Ralph McTell songs :)
He is becoming more and more interested in his big brother, and loves watching his big brother playing. If Robert is doing a table top activity, I prop him up on the sofa looking over the arm so he can watch Robert.
That last photo was taken over 6 weeks ago now. I can hardly believe that my little boy is coming up for 5 months old already, he will turn 5 months on the 25th February!
His head control is very good now. He sleeps on his front, and has done since he was tiny, because he slept better like that. So when he wakes, he will lift his head up as high as it will go, and look around for a while! He gets plenty of tummy time! ;) We've started putting him in the door bouncer, and just like his big brother, he LOVES it! He really enjoys the feeling of the floor under his feet, and he gets such a look of excitement and glee on his face when he is in there!
I just love this little boy so much, he lights up my day, and even if I am tired from the early wake up calls, if I have the little man on my chest, and he looks straight into my eyes and BEAMS at me with that gorgeous dimpled grin of his, how can I not smile back? He is just so precious, and I am incredibly lucky to have him in my life.
Right now, he is on the cusp of rolling over. He is trying desperately to do it, he arches his back and looks up above his head, and rocks. He did at first roll over to his left, now I see him do it more to his right. I can't believe my baby boy is beginning to get mobile! I know it's still a way off crawling, but still, rolling! My baby! You cannot grow up, I forbid it! ;) I find myself excited yet a little sad with each new milestone my baby boy reaches. I know in my heart I can persuade Jonathan he wants a third, yet he is still quietly protesting expanding our family, and pointing out all the "bad" bits of having a baby, in an attempt to make me see that I really don't want another child, that 2 is enough, but it's not working sorry Jonathan! ;)
Right... Robert!
Robert is now 26 months old, or 2 years 2 months ;) He is learning more about his individuality every day, and learning new things all the time. My heart just squishes with love for him. He is now stringing together more and more complex sentences, although without words like "the", "a", "and" and so on. And all verbs in the present tense.
Yesterday I went out into the kitchen to start his dinner, he ran after me, calling loudly "Mama! Mama! Mamaaaa!" when I answered him, he sauntered into the kitchen with a huge grin on his face, and said "Robert do two trumps!" lol!
His pronounciation is still very baby-ish with the vast majority of consonant sounds at the beginning of words missed off, but more and more words are becoming recognisable (not just to us), and his vocabulary is really quite astounding! I really would not know where to start making a list on the words he knows, I would estimate in the hundreds.
He is also showing more and more understanding of our speech to him, and is clearly thinking more about what we are saying. We can ask him a series of questions with yes/no answers, and ask a few for which the answer is yes, then throw in one which isn't the case, for example we will ask him things like "is Robert wearing blue trousers?" "is teddy sitting on the table?" "is Mummy wearing glasses?" to which the answer is all "yes", and then throw in "is daddy wearing a hat?" which he wouldn't be, and he'd look at Jonathan, pause for a brief second, and then say "No!" in a funny lilting tone of voice.
He rarely asks to hold Christopher anymore. He prefers to show him his toys, and watch him, and sometimes when playing his favourite game (bringing a toy up, and speaking as the toy, saying hello to me) he will "make" Christopher say hello back. He used to do this by grabbing his head and wiggling it about as though he was talking (like he does with his toys) but I have since persuaded him a much better way is to wave his hand instead ;)
He has started to show a bit of toddler boistrousness lately too, in throwing and banging his toys. When we went over to the in-laws this weekend, he started doing it with the brick trolley there, banging it into the door purposefully, and I was SO impressed with how my mother-in-law handled it. She took the brick trolley away, and went into the hallway with it, Robert followed her, tugging at the trolley while screaming. Then she got down, and said to Robert something along the lines of "I am taking this away because you were banging it into the door. I don't want my door to get broken, but if you are careful with the trolley and do not bang it anymore, you can carry on playing with it." And when Robert whimpered "yeah" she gave it back to him, and he was SO careful with it bless him :)
I think it doesn't help that as Christopher is getting bigger and needing more attention, Robert isn't getting as much attention as he needs. It is something I am going to have to focus on presently, to make sure things don't get out of hand. Nip it in the bud so to speak. Something I do want to try and do is to start planning a proper activity with Robert every day, something for him to look forward to, something to keep his mind active. Tomorrow, I think we will make biscuits. He loves his playdough, so I'm sure he will love rolling out and cutting biscuits with his playdough cutters!
Sometimes I look at him and he seems so grown up and big, and when I think he's 2, part of me thinks that's really old (comparing it to his 4 month old baby brother!) and then I think actually that's still really little! When he is nursing he definitely appears on the older side, because I am more used to seeing a baby there! But I am still content to continue for the time being. Jonathan did ask me a while ago when I was planning on stopping feeding Robert. I didn't have an answer for him then, and still don't. As long as it feels "right" I suppose. He is still gaining from the closeness it provides, as am I. In some ways, I do see it as a healthy snack for him! Sometimes I panic and think "oh my goodness, I've not offered Robert some water all morning!!" and then realise that he's actually nursed twice in that time so he has had a drink! ;) Plus there is the more selfish weight-loss issue too. ;)
But anyway, back on topic, it's photos like this that make me realise just how little he still is.
I love them both so much it hurts sometimes. :)
Saturday, 13 November 2010
Christopher is 7 weeks old!
Can you believe it? 7 weeks ago I was in hospital, having been induced, and waiting for things to kick in. It's amazing how fast time flies when you've got a newborn, compared to how slowly they drag in the last weeks of pregnancy. It's strange though, I look at Christopher, and drink in his expressions, typical newborn jerky movements, and find myself transported back almost 2 years to the last time I had a tiny baby. And marvel in how I am back there again, and yet, how long ago those 2 years seem. I find it hard to remember Robert as even a year old, and still very slightly doddery on those little legs of his.
His confidence in the last year in every respect has grown massively. He now climbs, jumps, runs around in circles with no fear whatsoever, which for the most part is ok but when he is running in circles very fast, having done so for 2 minutes already, and getting dizzier and dizzier and closer to that wall or table each time, gives me a heart attack!
His confidence and ability in speaking too has grown immensely in even the last WEEK! He now will copy words we tell him, especially when given a choice, to communicate his prefered activity. "Do you want to sleep, or play?" I asked him yesterday when he woke from his nap and he was still groggy and a little tearful. "Day." he said.
His words ARE still very babyish, in that most aren't prounounced correctly unless they begin with "d" "g" or "m". And even then not always ;) His new favourite activity is "dee-doh" (playdough), which he keeps trying to eat. "Erd eat dee-doh!" (Robert eat playdough)
He remembers an awful lot of words now as well which he comes out with spontaneously even long after we told him. He found a "gon-kah" under the table, and brandished it at me, which made me realise that I really SHOULD get around to finding all the conkers we collected a week or two after Christopher's birth and binning them!
And here he is examining the stalk on his apple "Dalk!"
He is just so adorable, and I feel sad and yet excited about his new leap in language development, as it's the end of another chapter in Robert's life, and the start of a new one, where he becomes even less of a baby and more of a little boy. But oh my goodness, how lovely that he is talking, and I can see that the more he learns to say, the less frustrated he becomes. And now is the time when I can really start putting the strategies in "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, Children Are From Heaven" to use. Although I will need to read it again, as I've forgotten some points!
As for the tiny boy, he was weighed on 3rd November (I don't think I remembered to say in the last post, how much he weighed. He weighed a stonking 10lb 5oz last Wednesday! Which saw him gain almost 3lb in 4 weeks, and shoot up from the 25th to the 50th centile! Absolutely thrilled with that weight gain, and so so thrilled that it's me that's growing him still! That's one of the best things about breastfeeding I think, when it goes well, is seeing them thrive on what me, his mother, is providing him.
This photo makes my heart melt. What is it about a baby's soft hair that turns me into a puddle of mush?
Last night he slept from about 9.15pm til 3.45am. Usually he seems to have an internal alarm clock which goes off around 2am for a feed, followed by one at 6am, but it was great he went so long, and hopefully we can push it forwards by an hour so he sleeps til 5am or nearer that! My feeds in the middle of the night are usually with very full breasts, and therefore the poor little fella, when he triggers a let down, pulls off spluttering of course, and in the middle of the night I don't worry so much about where the milk goes, it must just go everywhere, but I can't be bothered to worry! Even though it does mean that Christopher isn't as settled for feeds as Robert was, I am so grateful that I have such a good supply, as it means I don't worry about whether he's getting enough!
Something I intend to do this time round is treasure each and every moment with Christopher, not wish him onto the next new thing, because I know that before long it will be gone, and he'll be all grown up. It's taken me this long to realise I should treasure each moment with Robert, now he's starting to talk, he has truly become a little boy now and his babyhood seems to be an eon ago.
His confidence in the last year in every respect has grown massively. He now climbs, jumps, runs around in circles with no fear whatsoever, which for the most part is ok but when he is running in circles very fast, having done so for 2 minutes already, and getting dizzier and dizzier and closer to that wall or table each time, gives me a heart attack!
His confidence and ability in speaking too has grown immensely in even the last WEEK! He now will copy words we tell him, especially when given a choice, to communicate his prefered activity. "Do you want to sleep, or play?" I asked him yesterday when he woke from his nap and he was still groggy and a little tearful. "Day." he said.
His words ARE still very babyish, in that most aren't prounounced correctly unless they begin with "d" "g" or "m". And even then not always ;) His new favourite activity is "dee-doh" (playdough), which he keeps trying to eat. "Erd eat dee-doh!" (Robert eat playdough)
He remembers an awful lot of words now as well which he comes out with spontaneously even long after we told him. He found a "gon-kah" under the table, and brandished it at me, which made me realise that I really SHOULD get around to finding all the conkers we collected a week or two after Christopher's birth and binning them!
And here he is examining the stalk on his apple "Dalk!"
He is just so adorable, and I feel sad and yet excited about his new leap in language development, as it's the end of another chapter in Robert's life, and the start of a new one, where he becomes even less of a baby and more of a little boy. But oh my goodness, how lovely that he is talking, and I can see that the more he learns to say, the less frustrated he becomes. And now is the time when I can really start putting the strategies in "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, Children Are From Heaven" to use. Although I will need to read it again, as I've forgotten some points!
As for the tiny boy, he was weighed on 3rd November (I don't think I remembered to say in the last post, how much he weighed. He weighed a stonking 10lb 5oz last Wednesday! Which saw him gain almost 3lb in 4 weeks, and shoot up from the 25th to the 50th centile! Absolutely thrilled with that weight gain, and so so thrilled that it's me that's growing him still! That's one of the best things about breastfeeding I think, when it goes well, is seeing them thrive on what me, his mother, is providing him.
This photo makes my heart melt. What is it about a baby's soft hair that turns me into a puddle of mush?
Last night he slept from about 9.15pm til 3.45am. Usually he seems to have an internal alarm clock which goes off around 2am for a feed, followed by one at 6am, but it was great he went so long, and hopefully we can push it forwards by an hour so he sleeps til 5am or nearer that! My feeds in the middle of the night are usually with very full breasts, and therefore the poor little fella, when he triggers a let down, pulls off spluttering of course, and in the middle of the night I don't worry so much about where the milk goes, it must just go everywhere, but I can't be bothered to worry! Even though it does mean that Christopher isn't as settled for feeds as Robert was, I am so grateful that I have such a good supply, as it means I don't worry about whether he's getting enough!
Something I intend to do this time round is treasure each and every moment with Christopher, not wish him onto the next new thing, because I know that before long it will be gone, and he'll be all grown up. It's taken me this long to realise I should treasure each moment with Robert, now he's starting to talk, he has truly become a little boy now and his babyhood seems to be an eon ago.
Friday, 5 November 2010
Robert's 2 year checkup.
Well, both doctors we've seen with Robert since his birth was in... and by some fluke, we got to see the woman doctor who we can actually understand! Woop! She hadn't seen him since he was 6 months old, and she noticed the "new addition" and said "I hope he had a better entrance than Robert?" or words to that effect lol. She asked if we had any concerns, and we mentioned his pronounciation on words, and mentioned that the other doctor kept thinking his hearing was impared and his speech was abnormally slow, anyway, she was very pleased with Robert, and could tell he had progressed since he was last seen, and was confident he would continue to do so (as are we, I might add), and following observing him with the toys they keep in the room for the children to play with she said he was doing everything she would expect a 2 year old to be doing, and that even though his speech isn't as good as some 2 year olds', he is in the normal range! (Which I know many of you have already told me, but why didn't that other doctor?? Grrr!) And she said what I have thought as well, that with his pronounciation, that will gradually get better with correct modelling. Anyway, she's discharged him, so we don't need to do hearing tests, or speech therapy, or anything, but she said to keep an eye on him and see how he is in a year's time, and if we still have concerns, to speak to the health visitor who can make a referral. But if he does continue to progress as he does it shouldn't be a problem. :)
Robert loves his baby brother so much. He constantly wants to cuddle him, and gets very annoyed with us if we tell him no (for example if he's sleeping and we don't want to disturb him). He loves cuddling Christopher (who he calls "Brooo-ah" - I'm thinking this is his word for brother, either that or Christopher. I can't be sure, I know it sounds more like brother, but then some of the words he uses sound nothing like what they should be if you know what I mean!
Christopher is now 6 weeks old (well, as of tomorrow) and he has been smiling for a few weeks now. They are quite few and far between at the moment, but boy, do they melt my heart when he graces us with one :)
Soooo so cute and precious! He is just so edible and smells divine! And it's strange, but he and Robert (as a newborn) look so alike that I think a bit of me cannot in my mind distinguish between the two of them. Sometimes I look at him and in my head, without realising, call him Robert, and then in a way I sort of double take when I look up and see almost-2-year-old Robert standing there or sitting and playing. Other times I look at him and see the things that make Christopher.. well, Christopher! The shadow of the ridge on his nose which was so pronounced at birth which Robert never had, the fuzzy bit at the front of his head where his hair should be but it's either come away, or was never there in the first place. The shape of the eyes which are so subtley different from Robert's.
I can't believe that it's been 6 weeks since I gave birth. It really has gone in a flash. I am so thrilled at how well I laboured and gave birth this time, and how well breastfeeding has gone. With all the struggles of the early weeks with Robert, the sheer determination that I WOULD breastfeed or die trying being the only thing keeping me going past 2-3 weeks.. the comparison is very stark. The only issues with breastfeeding so far have been the cluster feeds and growth spurts being SO. TIRING. But boy, never once have I resented picking him up and offering him my breast, as I did with Robert in the early weeks. And that difference has made everything so much easier.
Christopher is gaining weight much quicker than Robert did, partly due I think to tandem feeding, which has increased my supply greatly. Christopher gulps away, and something which I never imagined would happen to me (especially since my supply with Robert was simply "adequate"), splutters and coughs and comes off the breast gasping with his eyes wide in alarm as milk continues to gush. He has, also, a few times, cried with the alarm of getting too much milk. He has not yet grasped how to pause and not continue to suck while the milk is letting down! I have not pumped for a while. There are about 11oz of milk in the freezer, but unlike with Robert, I am not desperate to get Christopher onto bottles. I might well give him some, just for the sake of getting him used to bottles incase the need arises. (Like, for example, when Harry Potter 7 part 1 comes out later this month and we leave the boys with the in-laws to go see it!)
Anyway... wanted to mainly update on Robert's 2 year review. He's now on the 98th centile for weight (woahhh!!!??) but only the 75th for height. Strange, because he's not a chunky boy if you know what I mean! But it certainly shows he's got a good appetite lol! Can't believe my big little boy is going to be 2 so soon! He's getting all grown up! Good thing I have another tiny baby to snuggle!
Robert loves his baby brother so much. He constantly wants to cuddle him, and gets very annoyed with us if we tell him no (for example if he's sleeping and we don't want to disturb him). He loves cuddling Christopher (who he calls "Brooo-ah" - I'm thinking this is his word for brother, either that or Christopher. I can't be sure, I know it sounds more like brother, but then some of the words he uses sound nothing like what they should be if you know what I mean!
Christopher is now 6 weeks old (well, as of tomorrow) and he has been smiling for a few weeks now. They are quite few and far between at the moment, but boy, do they melt my heart when he graces us with one :)
Soooo so cute and precious! He is just so edible and smells divine! And it's strange, but he and Robert (as a newborn) look so alike that I think a bit of me cannot in my mind distinguish between the two of them. Sometimes I look at him and in my head, without realising, call him Robert, and then in a way I sort of double take when I look up and see almost-2-year-old Robert standing there or sitting and playing. Other times I look at him and see the things that make Christopher.. well, Christopher! The shadow of the ridge on his nose which was so pronounced at birth which Robert never had, the fuzzy bit at the front of his head where his hair should be but it's either come away, or was never there in the first place. The shape of the eyes which are so subtley different from Robert's.
I can't believe that it's been 6 weeks since I gave birth. It really has gone in a flash. I am so thrilled at how well I laboured and gave birth this time, and how well breastfeeding has gone. With all the struggles of the early weeks with Robert, the sheer determination that I WOULD breastfeed or die trying being the only thing keeping me going past 2-3 weeks.. the comparison is very stark. The only issues with breastfeeding so far have been the cluster feeds and growth spurts being SO. TIRING. But boy, never once have I resented picking him up and offering him my breast, as I did with Robert in the early weeks. And that difference has made everything so much easier.
Christopher is gaining weight much quicker than Robert did, partly due I think to tandem feeding, which has increased my supply greatly. Christopher gulps away, and something which I never imagined would happen to me (especially since my supply with Robert was simply "adequate"), splutters and coughs and comes off the breast gasping with his eyes wide in alarm as milk continues to gush. He has, also, a few times, cried with the alarm of getting too much milk. He has not yet grasped how to pause and not continue to suck while the milk is letting down! I have not pumped for a while. There are about 11oz of milk in the freezer, but unlike with Robert, I am not desperate to get Christopher onto bottles. I might well give him some, just for the sake of getting him used to bottles incase the need arises. (Like, for example, when Harry Potter 7 part 1 comes out later this month and we leave the boys with the in-laws to go see it!)
Anyway... wanted to mainly update on Robert's 2 year review. He's now on the 98th centile for weight (woahhh!!!??) but only the 75th for height. Strange, because he's not a chunky boy if you know what I mean! But it certainly shows he's got a good appetite lol! Can't believe my big little boy is going to be 2 so soon! He's getting all grown up! Good thing I have another tiny baby to snuggle!
Monday, 25 October 2010
Big update
It's been ages since I posted here, and I so badly want to do a big update on my two boys! But I am guessing that it will be written in several stages!
First of all, my tiniest boy, Christopher. He was 4 weeks old on Saturday! I can't believe it! Part of me is still on my babymoon. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that tiny boy, and his big brother too of course! It is back to some sort of normality here now, with Jonathan being back at work (starting his third week back after Christopher was born), and had the majority of my family and Jonathan's come to see Christopher. My mum spent a week up here after Jonathan went back to work. I don't know whether it was because she was stressed with everything going on with HER mum, or the fact that PND so far has skipped me by (hurrah!!!), or the fact that she had hurt her thumb, has a brace on it and therefore the amount of practical help she could offer me was diminished, or what, but the week with her around got a bit wearing towards the end of it, and I can totally imagine how she felt having her mum staying with them for so long. Little things that you can put up with if you just see someone for a few hours become very annoying and less easy to ignore! But overall the week made me sure that looking after my two little boys would be completely do-able.
I had one day, the day after we got home with Christopher, where I felt that icky ball of anxiety in my stomach about the prospect of looking after two boys, but since then I have been fine! So I'm guessing I had a spate of the baby blues then, but after that day it lifted, and still thoroughly enjoying my two boys!
At 11 days old Christopher was weighed for the 3rd time, and he'd regained his birth weight. He is now 4 weeks and 2 days old, and he feels like such a little lump to me! His cheeks are puffed out, he's got an iddy biddy double chin coming on, and his legs, which were somewhat wrinkled and skinny, are now much fatter and squishy :)
He has long since outgrown the few "early" or "tiny" baby clothes he had, and is filling out newborn quite well! I'm actually panicking a bit because my mum bought him a load of newborn outfits, which it looks like he's not going to wear very much before he outgrows them!! They still feel fairly baggy on him, but the sleepsuits don't have much room left lengthwise - he seems like a very long baby! And indeed, Wednesday afternoon, Sarah and Clodagh came around (Kieran was in nursery), and we held the two babies next to each other - Clodagh, who was born 8 days before Christopher, weighing over 2lb more, and who has outgrown newborn clothes and now into 0-3 month clothes, looked the same size as Christopher, lengthwise at least! But I'm guessing she was chunkier!! I couldn't believe it!!! Christopher isn't going to be weighed again until 3rd November, which is the second Health Visitor appointment, when he'll be 5 weeks and 4 days old.
Christopher is a very calm baby still, he cries very rarely, only when he's hungry and wants a cuddle. He seems to be a baby who doesn't mind being in a wet nappy, which is good because he pees LOADS.. I change him probably 5-6 times a day, and each time his nappy is quite heavy with wee... if he was more fussy, I could imagine that I'd be changing him 10+ times a day or more! He saves all his poos for maybe 2 nappies a day, when he'll do LOADS in one go haha!
I'm very lucky to have such a good milk supply this time. I do find myself needing a cloth to put on my arm before I feed him, because he gets so much milk, he often pulls off, gulping down what must be a huge mouthful of milk in several smaller gulps, while my milk is pouring out of my nipple and onto my clothes/down his face, plus some leaking out of his mouth as well! I never had that to the same extent with Robert, but I guess tandem feeding means my supply is greater from the get go.
4 weeks on and I'm not even contemplating bottle feeding anytime soon, I think it must be going well. I remember with Robert I was on the verge of formula feeding by 2 weeks old, was pulling my hair out with the pain and the bad latch, and the cluster feeding, which must have been made worse by my PND/PTSD. This time with no pain (although I can tell his latch isn't perfect, and it could be better, and I know when he has latched on perfectly - very rare but I don't mind as he is getting plenty of milk I know, and I have no pain), the cluster feeds can be wearing, as can the lack of sleep (Christopher, unlike his brother who did 5-6 hours at night between feeds from the get-go, is good if he goes 3 hours between feeds), and the cluster feeding and night-time is when I am most likely to lose my rag, although I've never had the want to lose my rag with Christopher, again, unlike with Robert.
I do find myself thinking in a way, it's such a shame I didn't have the knowledge of Robert's breastfeeding experiences, the knowledge and experience of taking care of Robert etc, before having Robert. I almost wrote without having Robert, rather than before having Robert, but that's not true, I don't wish I didn't have Robert of course, but I know that with Robert I had the PND, from what I remember he was a needier baby than Christopher, or maybe everything's just so much easier this time because I "know babies" this time. I feel that I would be so relaxed if it were just Christopher and me, but at the same time, I love the fact that Christopher is so calm and that I CAN do things with Robert while Christopher is asleep. I hope that has made some sense and won't be mis-interpretted by anyone! I guess in a nutshell I mean that I am finding Christopher such an easy baby to take care of, despite the sleep thing and the cluster feeding, it's a shame he wasn't my first baby! But then the fact that I didn't have the experience of babies and breastfeeding might make it more difficult if that makes sense!!
Anyway! Onto the Big Brother! It's becoming easier and easier to think of Robert as such, seeing the two of them together. Every day I look at Robert now and marvel at how tall he is, how grown up his mannerisms are, how cheeky, how scrummy, how BIG he is. When he comes up to me and asks me for "gah-gee", then lays down with his head on my lap while he nurses, it boggles me how only his head and shoulders lay on my lap, and how his body fills up almost the rest of the sofa! And to think he was once a tiny baby who could fit lengthways along my thighs almost completely is just crazy... how sad in a way you don't notice that one day they are suddenly a cheeky independant TALL little boy when they were once a tiny helpless dependant baby.
I often find he has helped himself to fruit from the dining table while I've been upstairs changing Christopher's nappy, or making Robert lunch, or doing household chores... I came in today to find he'd almost demolished an apple he'd got while I was in the kitchen making him a sandwich.
One of the main challenges I will find myself trying to overcome, is spending enough time doing something fun each day with Robert. I desperately want to make sure that he is not being left to his own devices all day every day while I try and stay on top of the washing up, laundry (the only housework I really prioritise to be honest, vacuuming the carpet comes third but everything else only gets done when/if I have time), and feed/change/cuddle Christopher. At the moment it is not too difficult, as Christopher sleeps for fairly long stretches during the day, but I know as the months roll on, Christopher will become more needy, and I will need to find things to keep him entertained at the same time. Last week though I managed to do a painting session with Robert during one of Christopher's naps. He and I both thoroughly enjoyed it!
I think the trick for me not becoming stressed is to make sure I have everything I will need to hand, not only for during the painting, but afterwards, for the cleaning up as well, before we even start. While Robert watched with interest (it was pretty much an unplanned treat - Robert found his arts and crafts box, and I suddenly fancied doing painting with him!) while I set up his table (put a waterproof sheet underneath for paint splashes/dropped implements, covered his table with newspaper), got some white card from upstairs (a handful incase he wanted to do more than one sheet), got a bucket of warm soapy water and put it on the waterproof sheet next to the table, and got a plastic plate, a brush, a foam brush and a foam roller from the box, and then I went and found an old stained white t-shirt, tied it so the neck wasn't loose around Robert's, and then finally set him loose on the paint!
He really enjoyed it, loved using the brush, and in particular the roller, which he called his "car", and loved driving it across the paper!
Several sheets of paper later, I showed him (as his hands were already very mucky) that he could use his fingers and hands to make prints on the paper, which he enjoyed very much too :)
Of course it wasn't long before some got on his face! And when I said "Oh no, look at your face!" he immediately put his hand once again to his face and made it messier!! Haha!
I'm so glad that Christopher stayed asleep for the painting session. Seven sheets of card later, Robert was showing signs of getting bored with painting, picking the roller up and spinning it in mid air to watch the paint flick off, etc. So I got him to wash his hands in the bucket, (I put his "car" in there as well for him to help clean) while I washed my hands, and his face, and gave the plate, brushes and foam roller a quick rinse over as well. He objected a bit to having to stop, but was easily distracted while I cleaned up, and put everything away.
I want to try and make that a regular activity for us to do. And think of more as well! He really enjoys playdough as well, which I did with him in the week my mum spent with us. And we've bought some playdough cutters, a rolling pin, and there's a cutting implement as well in the box, as well as some rolls of "soft stuff" which I wasn't too fussed about - I like making my own playdough - but it came in with the cutters.
I want to try and do some cooking with him too - set out with easy things, like rice crispie cakes, and go on to more complicated things like fairy cakes, rock buns, etc. It's so lovely doing things with him now he's older and more appreciative of activities like that. But also lovely things to do would be nature walks, trying to find and collect things while out and about, which we could then incorporate in artwork maybe!
One thing I'm not looking forward to in the coming weeks is Robert's 2 year review at the hospital. At his 18 month one, the doctor was quite plain in that he thought Robert's speech (and therefore maybe his hearing) wasn't up to scratch. I was confident he'd improve - which he has - just not as much as I'd have hoped. He occasionally uses two word sentences, mainly out of habit though than spontenaity. Things like "tv please" - tv was once "ee-eeeee" and has now degenerated into "YAYAY" (it's usually shouted), and please is "izzzziz". His vocabulary has increased but is still mostly unrecognisable to strangers. His main recognisable words are "car" "more" "mama" "dada" "nah-nah" (for banana) and then his animal noises, most of which are surprisingly accurate!
As most two year olds are capable of saying 3 word sentences, I'm pretty sure that assuming we see the same doctor again, Robert will be referred to have his hearing checked (there's nothing wrong with his hearing that we can tell, he understands everything we say to him) and then possibly speech therapy. Oh, and co-incidentally, Alice, it's not looking good, Robert has less than a month to start saying 3 word sentences before you have to eat your hat! Here's hoping that it won't be long before he is saying more, I'm confident that it won't be too much longer before he's starting on sentences, but I am a little concerned about his pronounciations. We'll just have to wait and see what the doctor says when we see them in less than 2 weeks time.
Anyway, one last photo before I attempt to get both the boys ready and out the house for an hour or so... Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed recording it. :)
First of all, my tiniest boy, Christopher. He was 4 weeks old on Saturday! I can't believe it! Part of me is still on my babymoon. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that tiny boy, and his big brother too of course! It is back to some sort of normality here now, with Jonathan being back at work (starting his third week back after Christopher was born), and had the majority of my family and Jonathan's come to see Christopher. My mum spent a week up here after Jonathan went back to work. I don't know whether it was because she was stressed with everything going on with HER mum, or the fact that PND so far has skipped me by (hurrah!!!), or the fact that she had hurt her thumb, has a brace on it and therefore the amount of practical help she could offer me was diminished, or what, but the week with her around got a bit wearing towards the end of it, and I can totally imagine how she felt having her mum staying with them for so long. Little things that you can put up with if you just see someone for a few hours become very annoying and less easy to ignore! But overall the week made me sure that looking after my two little boys would be completely do-able.
I had one day, the day after we got home with Christopher, where I felt that icky ball of anxiety in my stomach about the prospect of looking after two boys, but since then I have been fine! So I'm guessing I had a spate of the baby blues then, but after that day it lifted, and still thoroughly enjoying my two boys!
At 11 days old Christopher was weighed for the 3rd time, and he'd regained his birth weight. He is now 4 weeks and 2 days old, and he feels like such a little lump to me! His cheeks are puffed out, he's got an iddy biddy double chin coming on, and his legs, which were somewhat wrinkled and skinny, are now much fatter and squishy :)
He has long since outgrown the few "early" or "tiny" baby clothes he had, and is filling out newborn quite well! I'm actually panicking a bit because my mum bought him a load of newborn outfits, which it looks like he's not going to wear very much before he outgrows them!! They still feel fairly baggy on him, but the sleepsuits don't have much room left lengthwise - he seems like a very long baby! And indeed, Wednesday afternoon, Sarah and Clodagh came around (Kieran was in nursery), and we held the two babies next to each other - Clodagh, who was born 8 days before Christopher, weighing over 2lb more, and who has outgrown newborn clothes and now into 0-3 month clothes, looked the same size as Christopher, lengthwise at least! But I'm guessing she was chunkier!! I couldn't believe it!!! Christopher isn't going to be weighed again until 3rd November, which is the second Health Visitor appointment, when he'll be 5 weeks and 4 days old.
Christopher is a very calm baby still, he cries very rarely, only when he's hungry and wants a cuddle. He seems to be a baby who doesn't mind being in a wet nappy, which is good because he pees LOADS.. I change him probably 5-6 times a day, and each time his nappy is quite heavy with wee... if he was more fussy, I could imagine that I'd be changing him 10+ times a day or more! He saves all his poos for maybe 2 nappies a day, when he'll do LOADS in one go haha!
I'm very lucky to have such a good milk supply this time. I do find myself needing a cloth to put on my arm before I feed him, because he gets so much milk, he often pulls off, gulping down what must be a huge mouthful of milk in several smaller gulps, while my milk is pouring out of my nipple and onto my clothes/down his face, plus some leaking out of his mouth as well! I never had that to the same extent with Robert, but I guess tandem feeding means my supply is greater from the get go.
4 weeks on and I'm not even contemplating bottle feeding anytime soon, I think it must be going well. I remember with Robert I was on the verge of formula feeding by 2 weeks old, was pulling my hair out with the pain and the bad latch, and the cluster feeding, which must have been made worse by my PND/PTSD. This time with no pain (although I can tell his latch isn't perfect, and it could be better, and I know when he has latched on perfectly - very rare but I don't mind as he is getting plenty of milk I know, and I have no pain), the cluster feeds can be wearing, as can the lack of sleep (Christopher, unlike his brother who did 5-6 hours at night between feeds from the get-go, is good if he goes 3 hours between feeds), and the cluster feeding and night-time is when I am most likely to lose my rag, although I've never had the want to lose my rag with Christopher, again, unlike with Robert.
I do find myself thinking in a way, it's such a shame I didn't have the knowledge of Robert's breastfeeding experiences, the knowledge and experience of taking care of Robert etc, before having Robert. I almost wrote without having Robert, rather than before having Robert, but that's not true, I don't wish I didn't have Robert of course, but I know that with Robert I had the PND, from what I remember he was a needier baby than Christopher, or maybe everything's just so much easier this time because I "know babies" this time. I feel that I would be so relaxed if it were just Christopher and me, but at the same time, I love the fact that Christopher is so calm and that I CAN do things with Robert while Christopher is asleep. I hope that has made some sense and won't be mis-interpretted by anyone! I guess in a nutshell I mean that I am finding Christopher such an easy baby to take care of, despite the sleep thing and the cluster feeding, it's a shame he wasn't my first baby! But then the fact that I didn't have the experience of babies and breastfeeding might make it more difficult if that makes sense!!
Anyway! Onto the Big Brother! It's becoming easier and easier to think of Robert as such, seeing the two of them together. Every day I look at Robert now and marvel at how tall he is, how grown up his mannerisms are, how cheeky, how scrummy, how BIG he is. When he comes up to me and asks me for "gah-gee", then lays down with his head on my lap while he nurses, it boggles me how only his head and shoulders lay on my lap, and how his body fills up almost the rest of the sofa! And to think he was once a tiny baby who could fit lengthways along my thighs almost completely is just crazy... how sad in a way you don't notice that one day they are suddenly a cheeky independant TALL little boy when they were once a tiny helpless dependant baby.
I often find he has helped himself to fruit from the dining table while I've been upstairs changing Christopher's nappy, or making Robert lunch, or doing household chores... I came in today to find he'd almost demolished an apple he'd got while I was in the kitchen making him a sandwich.
One of the main challenges I will find myself trying to overcome, is spending enough time doing something fun each day with Robert. I desperately want to make sure that he is not being left to his own devices all day every day while I try and stay on top of the washing up, laundry (the only housework I really prioritise to be honest, vacuuming the carpet comes third but everything else only gets done when/if I have time), and feed/change/cuddle Christopher. At the moment it is not too difficult, as Christopher sleeps for fairly long stretches during the day, but I know as the months roll on, Christopher will become more needy, and I will need to find things to keep him entertained at the same time. Last week though I managed to do a painting session with Robert during one of Christopher's naps. He and I both thoroughly enjoyed it!
I think the trick for me not becoming stressed is to make sure I have everything I will need to hand, not only for during the painting, but afterwards, for the cleaning up as well, before we even start. While Robert watched with interest (it was pretty much an unplanned treat - Robert found his arts and crafts box, and I suddenly fancied doing painting with him!) while I set up his table (put a waterproof sheet underneath for paint splashes/dropped implements, covered his table with newspaper), got some white card from upstairs (a handful incase he wanted to do more than one sheet), got a bucket of warm soapy water and put it on the waterproof sheet next to the table, and got a plastic plate, a brush, a foam brush and a foam roller from the box, and then I went and found an old stained white t-shirt, tied it so the neck wasn't loose around Robert's, and then finally set him loose on the paint!
He really enjoyed it, loved using the brush, and in particular the roller, which he called his "car", and loved driving it across the paper!
Several sheets of paper later, I showed him (as his hands were already very mucky) that he could use his fingers and hands to make prints on the paper, which he enjoyed very much too :)
Of course it wasn't long before some got on his face! And when I said "Oh no, look at your face!" he immediately put his hand once again to his face and made it messier!! Haha!
I'm so glad that Christopher stayed asleep for the painting session. Seven sheets of card later, Robert was showing signs of getting bored with painting, picking the roller up and spinning it in mid air to watch the paint flick off, etc. So I got him to wash his hands in the bucket, (I put his "car" in there as well for him to help clean) while I washed my hands, and his face, and gave the plate, brushes and foam roller a quick rinse over as well. He objected a bit to having to stop, but was easily distracted while I cleaned up, and put everything away.
I want to try and make that a regular activity for us to do. And think of more as well! He really enjoys playdough as well, which I did with him in the week my mum spent with us. And we've bought some playdough cutters, a rolling pin, and there's a cutting implement as well in the box, as well as some rolls of "soft stuff" which I wasn't too fussed about - I like making my own playdough - but it came in with the cutters.
I want to try and do some cooking with him too - set out with easy things, like rice crispie cakes, and go on to more complicated things like fairy cakes, rock buns, etc. It's so lovely doing things with him now he's older and more appreciative of activities like that. But also lovely things to do would be nature walks, trying to find and collect things while out and about, which we could then incorporate in artwork maybe!
One thing I'm not looking forward to in the coming weeks is Robert's 2 year review at the hospital. At his 18 month one, the doctor was quite plain in that he thought Robert's speech (and therefore maybe his hearing) wasn't up to scratch. I was confident he'd improve - which he has - just not as much as I'd have hoped. He occasionally uses two word sentences, mainly out of habit though than spontenaity. Things like "tv please" - tv was once "ee-eeeee" and has now degenerated into "YAYAY" (it's usually shouted), and please is "izzzziz". His vocabulary has increased but is still mostly unrecognisable to strangers. His main recognisable words are "car" "more" "mama" "dada" "nah-nah" (for banana) and then his animal noises, most of which are surprisingly accurate!
As most two year olds are capable of saying 3 word sentences, I'm pretty sure that assuming we see the same doctor again, Robert will be referred to have his hearing checked (there's nothing wrong with his hearing that we can tell, he understands everything we say to him) and then possibly speech therapy. Oh, and co-incidentally, Alice, it's not looking good, Robert has less than a month to start saying 3 word sentences before you have to eat your hat! Here's hoping that it won't be long before he is saying more, I'm confident that it won't be too much longer before he's starting on sentences, but I am a little concerned about his pronounciations. We'll just have to wait and see what the doctor says when we see them in less than 2 weeks time.
Anyway, one last photo before I attempt to get both the boys ready and out the house for an hour or so... Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed recording it. :)
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