… with my entry for the 26 Things project!

Still high on life at the moment. Whether it’s due to the extra sleep, the hypnotherapy CD starting to kick in or Akra is slipping illicit substances into my morning cuppa, I just don’t know, but it’s a welcome change.

This feeling even survived yesterday, which did its utmost to scupper my good mood. It all started out with my overly optimistic idea of heading to a toy shop with the boys on my own. We needed a couple of birthday presents for friends and I knew we probably wouldn’t get a chance at the weekend. Unfortunately, I didn’t check the opening times before I left, not realising it was a 10am opening so we arrived 15 minutes early. At which point, Li’l Bhaji decided to be hysterical and Akra Jr started whining and clinging onto my leg. When it did open we got around relatively unscathed though.

Li’l Bhaji didn’t exactly enjoy his day much either as I managed to tread on the poor wee mite (fortunately not too hard on his foot – I realised before I put any real weight down – he did howl though). Later, Akra Jr managed to drop a metal toy car on the babe’s head too – an accident not out of malice, but Li’l Bhaji did have a beautiful big lump on his head for the rest of the day.

The award for “biggest disaster of the day” goes to me when I was cooking the evening meal, though. I don’t know how I did it, must have been sheer clumsiness, but while draining the pasta I managed to pour boiling water all over my left hand. I got my hand under cold running water pretty fast and left it under for half an hour, then put some germolene on it to numb the pain. It was agony for a couple of hours afterwards then misteriously got better (coincidentally after opening a bottle of red?!). Today there’s only a miniscule red patch next to the knuckle of my ring finger which isn’t even sore. The ring finger and middle finger are a little sensitive to warm water, and that’s it. A very very lucky escape, especially as just after I’d done it I thought I was going to be spending the evening in A&E.

I did enjoy the bits in between the disasters though, honest.

In contrast, today has been a string of lots of little pleasures. We’ve done some more sorting out (of the filing cabinet this time), attended a friend of Akra Jr’s birthday party (with a bouncy castle and balloon animals – I really want to learn how to make those!) and I have had GREAT fun with a newly purchased shredder. Why haven’t we bought one of these before?! Wheeeeeeeeeee!

Life is good.

Hence the complete lack of motivation to blog – I blame my very bad habit of using this site to have a whinge, so when I don’t need to whinge, I don’t need to write either. Bad Pewari.

Note, I didn’t say life was easy… we’re still having all the challenges you would expect with an almost 3 month old and a 3 year old, but nothing extreme. I mentioned in my swift blog yesterday that my boys seem to be growing up incredibly fast all of a sudden – it’s not really an exaggeration, it’s amazing what changes in the space of just a few days.

On Monday, we went to a nursery friend of Akra Jr’s house which not only was great fun (Akra Jr got to be really loud and “proper boyish” with the two boys there – it was lovely to see his confidence really flourish) but Akra Jr was keen to copy his friend and started to use the big toilet and didn’t demand a potty like he usually does. So as soon as he got home, I threw out all the potties and trainer seats cold-turkey and we haven’t really looked back. It feels such a big grown-up step for him, and I’m so pleased that it happened with minimal fuss.

That night, after the 10.30pm feed, Li’l Bhaji was squirming in his moses basket next to me (Akra was out for the evening fixing my mum’s computer) and I was lying there thinking “oh for goodness sake child… GO TO SLEEP!”. Then there was this rushing liquid sort of sound and I realised I couldn’t have burped him properly and half his feed had come up. Poor mite. EVERYTHING was soaked – his babygro, the covers, the sheet, the mattress and all the side material of the basket – a quick cleanup wasn’t really an option, so he had to go in his big cot in his own room for the night (he’s already been taking his daytime naps there, so not a huge step).

I really missed hearing his little snuffles in the night; spent most of the night awake straining to hear him breathing over the monitor. I went in to check on him at one point, saw him really stretched out and relaxed, and it finally hit me that he’d grown out of the moses basket and was far more comfortable where he was. So he’s been there every night since, with a grobag instead of sheets to reduce my cot death panics and to keep him covered all night. The dummies have gone (cold turkey), with my recent discovery that he actually settles quicker without them so now and doesn’t really want them, so he has a cuddle and singsong instead.

And he’s slept better – the first two nights he slept through to almost 6am, the last two he’s gone right through to 7am without feeding (although he does wake around 6.30am and gurgles to himself). As a result, I feel almost human again.

My motivation to do things (other than blog, obviously) has increased tenfold. I’ve had a good clear out of my wardrobe and the understairs cupboard. Li’l Bhaji’s big bulky pram has gone up in the loft and he’s using the lightweight Maclaren now which fits into the newly tidied cupboard. What with the lack of potties, pram, and moses basket our home feels positively spacious so I’m keen to carry that through and have a good tidy and sort out.

As I said, life is good!

… I am still about.

I’m just in a whirlwind of summer holiday survival tactics, shock at my babies growing up fast (more later when I can string a sentence together) and sudden motivation to sort out the house and my life. By the time I get to sit down in front of the computer all brain capacity disappears. Will make a concerted effort to have some quality blog time tomorrow.

I love you, Akra.

Friend [watching Li'l Bhaji gnaw on his hands and dribble a lot]: Is he teething?
Me: No, can’t be. I think his hands have just been discovered as a new toy. Akra Jr was at least 3 months old before he started to teeth!
Friend: So how old is Li’l Bhaji now?
Me [pausing]: Um… 11 weeks tomorrow.
[silence]
[I look into Li'l Bhaji's mouth and note that bottom gum is white and hard]
[more silence]
[I run my finger along bottom gum, feel ridges through the skin and note that he's gone smiley with the slight gum massage]
Me: I think he might be teething…

*sigh*… must make the most of the last gummy smiles and stock up on Bonjela quickly, I guess.

The inlaws came down to babysit last night so Akra and I escaped to the cinema for the evening. I’ve been looking forward to seeing Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ever since it came out and I heard that it was a much darker and better film than the previous two. However, I have to say that I was mildly disappointed.

Don’t get me wrong, it was an entertaining and enjoyable film. However, I dispute that it was better than the previous two and there were many areas which I felt were missed opportunities. I’ll place the rest of the discussion under the extended entry for those who haven’t seen the film yet…
[Read more →]

Some random thoughts to summarise the day:

***

You know, most parents have a list of “cute things the baby does” that they just melt over. However, I think I have a very strange sense of humour, because the one thing that really makes me go “awww that’s so cute!” is the way Li’l Bhaji farts…

Don’t look at me like that! It is *so* cute. He lies there with his little legs in the air, thoughtful expression on his face. Then there’s a little abrupt leg lift even further into the air … *parp* … and relax with satisfied smile.

Okay, I guess you have to be me.

***

I have spent the last quarter of an hour designing an incredibly sophisticated sticker chart. Okay, I cut and pasted Brum images into powerpoint… but it looks cool okay? Here, see for yourself:

Basically, I’m fed up of (a) Akra Jr demanding new toys every second of the day and (b) him waking up EVERY SINGLE DAY and being a grumpy, tantrumy little wotsit until he’s had his breakfast.

So I am killing two birds with one stone. For each morning he’s polite, amenable and at least vaguely cheerful he will earn one sticker. After 16 stickers are earned he can get a Brum car as his reward. I so hope it works… I’ve already ordered the Brum car online so I can give it to him the second he gets the last sticker!!

***

Went to MrsH’s house this afternoon for a “save my sanity” session and had lots of fun. While we were there she took a few snaps. This one is the best, in my opinion – such a bizarre expression on Li’l Bhaji’s face. If any photo deserves a caption, this is it… only I’m not imaginative enough. Suggestions?

First there was the Mooncup post (which, incidentally, is still one of the most popular search terms to find this site – very disturbing if you ask me). Then there was the photo of the pregnancy test result followed around nine months later with the rather detailed birth story. Now there’s going to be a whole new post to be filed under “Too Much Information”…

… I’m trying one of these. It was fitted today, got lots of cramps and feeling sorry for myself. Review in due course.

Not content with revamping my own image, I finally put Li’l Bhaji into a proper outfit today for the first time. Yes, that’s right, today was the first day he wasn’t in his pyjamas (a.k.a. babygros).

I think it was a bit of a shock for all of us – I’d forgotten how difficult it was to keep shorts and t-shirt on a non-walking baby (they keep riding down and up respectively)… Li’l Bhaji was obviously surprised to discover the new drafty tummy situation.

He even kept them clean for a full hour before he sicked up on the t-shirt, and even then only a small bit that was easily wiped up. That’s right – he kept on one whole outfit for an entire day!

*sniffle* my baby’s growing up.