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2005-08-20 - 11.56pm previous entry next entry
8-month check and feeding the ducks!
Okay first of all I will get this out of the way:
| How You Life Your Life |
 You are honest and direct. You tell it like it is. You tend to avoid confrontation and stay away from sticky situations. You tend to have one best friend you hang with, as opposed to many aquaintences. You tend to dream big, but you worry that your dreams aren't attainable. |
I got it from Megan and I don�t normally do these things, but I just went there and answered the questions anyway, and I�ll be darned if the results don�t EXACTLY describe me!! How bizarre.
Anyway, on with the entry!
Thanks for the nice messages and to Kat and Nicola for being pleased about Arthur and books! I am so happy that he is into stories and books already. I just found my Dr. Seuss hardback books from when I was little. I want to get him lots more of those � I LOVED Dr. Seuss! � but for now he has Green Eggs and Ham (my favourite), Are you my Mother?, and Put Me in the Zoo. Me likey :) I already read him Put Me in the Zoo, but it�s a bit long to hold his attention for alllll that time. I also have story tapes (thanks for reminding me Nicola!) that I have kept from when I was little. I was really into story tapes as a child. I have a lot of Enid Blyton ones and lots of Roald Dahl stories too, and a few fairy tales. Does anyone remember the StoryTeller tapes? There used to be a whole set to collect. We never got the whole set, but we had maybe a dozen of them. I still have numbers 4, 5, 8 and 12, but 8 is all chewy and bleurgh :( Anyway I kept them all for my own children. They are so lovely. Actually, I confess a secret to you, when I am feeling down or insecure, or not too well, or sometimes just because it�s a rainy Sunday afternoon and the house feels cosy, I put those tapes on and snuggle in the spare bed, which happens to be the bed I have slept in since I was 2 (till I got married that is!). Sometimes I even do something soothing like cross-stitch, or crossword puzzles, or eeeven get out the coloured pencils and my secretly bought-and-stashed-away children�s colouring book (!!) and lose myself in comforting things from my childhood for an hour or so. Although that has not happened since I had Arthur. I don�t think there will be time for that for a long while! But I did it a lot during my pregnancy.
Ooh it�s just occurred to me. I need to go and make dinner. I am cooking tonight � yay! Poor Neil cooks like EVERY single evening, and I bought salmon fillets and cr�me fraiche and fresh dill, and it�s something I know how to cook and he doesn�t, so I�m making it. Poached salmon with white wine sauce and dill. And pasta. And veg. Yum. I am off to make it. Then I will return and finish this, later on!
Back! But it�s getting late so I had better get on with it. Dinner was yummy! I had some very nice white wine (that I cooked with too) and afterwards we had raspberry pavlova ice-cream � gaagghhhhghghhh!! And we watched The Vicar of Dibley. I love that programme. It makes me laugh soooo much! So we had a nice evening. Arthur didn�t wake once. He�s a tired boy, and his teeth are bothering him at the moment.
Toothie number four came in on Thursday, the one to the left of his left top middle tooth. And toothie number five arrived the next day, his other top middle tooth! That fourth one is coming in reeeally fast, it�s very visible already. But the middle tooth is taking its sweet time, and causing him lots of discomfort. About half of its width is visible just peeping through the gum now, and it�s all pink and swollen around it so it can�t be comfy. Arthur has been pulling on his ears and crying a lot today :( Although the teething powder worked for the first time in ages, so that�s good, and he hasn�t needed Calpol. Arthur is becoming quite a toothy-looking boy these days! It�s so nice, but also strange, to see him looking so much of an older baby these days. He�s the cutest pie :)
The health visitor came on Thursday to do his late 8-month check � which I found on Babycentre listed as �the 6-9 month check� and not considered late till the end of 9 months. So I felt better about it then! Anyway, Arthur was napping when the HV arrived. He napped an hour instead of the 30 minutes I expected him to take, so he was still there when she turned up, but I said I would wake him and right at that moment I heard a little staccato �Aah!� from upstairs � Arthur�s way of saying, �Hello, I�m awake!� I�ve seen him as he does it too. Sometimes I�m camped out where he can�t see me, waiting for him to wake up! So I know :) He rolls onto his side, opens his eyes, blinks a moment, then rolls onto his tummy, lifts his head and shoulders, and looks straight at the open doorway, and says, �Aah!� Then he waits, watching the doorway! It�s so sweet :) I recognise it as his way of saying, �Hey, Mummy!� but it�s so wonderful because it�s not a question - he never actually ASKS for me to come. He used to occasionally turn the intonation up at the end, making it sound like a question, as he watched the door, and his face would look almost concerned. But now he just fully expects my arrival almost the instant he declares his awake state! I like that. He is so secure, and that�s how I always wanted it to be.
Soooo I brought him down, and he sat blearily on my lap, blinking his sleepiness away for a few minutes and staring at the HV while she did her usual wonderful thing of telling me what a great job I have done, etc :) I love my HV!!
Then he woke up and got smiley and charming, as usual, and that pleased her a lot. He is such a sociable baby. He started to wriggle on my lap, so I put him down sitting on the carpet at my feet. The HV commented on how he sits beautifully, and then suddenly Arthur crawled to the sofa, pulled up on it, cruised to the end nearest the HV, sat down efficiently, and crawled to her legs, where he pulled to standing on her knees and beamed at her, all in about 30 seconds! She just said, �Well, there�s no need to bother checking his gross motor development then!� Hehe! I just about popped with pride. I am soooo proud of my lil Boo for being such a clever boy. Of course other babies are just as �clever� and they all do it at some stage, but still. Let me have my moment anyway! ;)
While he crawled around, cruised the furniture, played with some toys, checked on the washing machine for me (!), and charmed the HV, we talked about toddler safety, Arthur�s other developments, his teeth, dental care, his nutrition and sleep, all those things that you talk about at the �big� checks. I told the HV that Arthur stands for a few seconds and tries to push my hands away when I am holding him upright or walking him. He is so independent and determined with these things! She asked about what he does when upright, and I told her he walks well with support, all over the house without stopping! And he now walks a few steps next to me just holding one of my fingers in one hand. She was concerned to talk to me about toddler-proofing, since she thinks he will be walking in no time. That will officially make him a toddler, apparently. How CRAZY is that, that I will soon have a real live toddler � my own child, a toddler!!! He seems way too little still to be a toddler yet. He is a big boy but he�s still only 9 months old, which is still a baby. But wow. A toddler.
The HV stood Arthur upright and he tried to push her hands off him straight away. She laughed and told him he was too little to do it by himself just yet! She told me he is so strong and confident standing. He bears all his own weight.
Talking of weight! She weighed him and measured his length and head circumference. He barely fit sitting upright in her lil cradley baby scales, the same ones he lay all tiny in when he was a newborn! He weighs 23lbs 3oz, which puts him around the 70th percentile I think she said. She showed me on the chart how his percentile is gradually coming down, which she said she is happy to see. She explained how in the first 6 months, babies tend to put on a lot of weight fast and they can climb the percentiles pretty quickly. Somewhere in the second 6 months they tend to taper off and find a plateau. Arthur was right on the 50th percentile at birth, and she said he may even return to that eventually. She said he may be a tall lean toddler. I can�t believe he would really be TALL since he surely doesn�t have any genes to enable him to be that! But his length measured at 75cm (29.5 inches) � although I think this was a cm or two over his actual length, because he was squirmy and I think the measurement was generous. But anyway, that puts him at the 75th percentile for length. She said he looks tall, and he does I think, but he has such a loooong torso and that can make you look taller. Especially if you�re a little bean who sits a lot (therefore looking �all torso�!). I can�t remember exactly what his head circumference was, and the book is downstairs and I�m lazy. But he�s just at tad below the 50th percentile for that. Neil and I both have kind of small-looking heads (especially Neil, hehe!), so that probably accounts for that. Anyway she was very pleased with all his measurements. I am not surprised that he is over 23lbs. He FEELS over 23lbs! He is just sooo heavy. I�m kind of glad he is slowing down!
Then the HV did Arthur�s fine motor skill tests and the vision tests. He passed everything with flying colours. He saw the ball roll in his peripheral vision while the HV was distracting him. He followed the teddy bear with his eyes without moving his head. He picked the raisin up with his pincer grip. He took the small brick and transferred it immediately to his other hand and then back again. He was very co-operative! She checked his hips, though we already have an X-ray saying they are perfect, and all his creases are in perfect alignment so that�s great.
The HV also commented on how sociable and friendly Arthur was. She said that is something she needs to make note of in this check, and she was so glad to see straight away that he was sociable, happy, secure, and enthusiastic about other people. He spent a long time (at his own choice, he crawled there and pulled up) standing at the HV�s knees and bouncing and laughing at her. She talked to him a lot and told him what a clever boy he is, and how she likes his hair, and how his Mummy has done so well :) He just laughed and babbled at her and bounced a lot. He didn�t once look back to see me, until the HV said, �Where�s Mummy?� She turned him round, as he was more interested in looking at her! Then he looked at me and smiled, but turned away to play with the HV some more. She said he�s exceptionally sociable, and I love that. She also said he is very confident in his new skills and eager and adventurous. She said he seems very secure in himself, and the combination of all the above mean that he may need extra �watching� to see that he doesn�t come to any harm at this stage of exploring and learning to walk, etc. He isn�t afraid to step out and take risks or try new things, with or without us present. She said that�s a wonderful thing, but to be aware of it regarding his safety around the home. Yikes. I already knew that about him, he has been like it for a while. But it was helpful to have her spell it out for me. I never leave him alone anyway, he is with me all the time now. When I go to the loo he sits on the floor in front of me with some toys and tips his head on one side with a quizzical look on his face when he hears the wee hit the water, hehehe! He likes water, and water sounds, and always looks to see where it�s coming from! Today (being a Saturday), I have soooo enjoyed going to the loo BY MYSELF and taking a shower BY MYSELF while Neil spends time with Arthur! But he�s just not safe to be left alone, even for the time it takes to pee, and sometimes I have put him in the travel cot outside the bathroom door where he can see me (still not private!) but it seemed less faff to just sit him on the floor in front of me. I don�t like to put him out of sight while I do things, even quick things. He would probably be fine, but I don�t care to try it out anyway. There�s no reason why he shouldn�t always be able to see me or get to me easily if he wants to.
Arthur is definitely an �attached� baby, and of this I am immensely proud! It has been harder than it could have been, I think, to parent him this way, but I like to think that he is happy, secure and confident because of it. He is so independent and never even thinks to question whether I�ll come to him IMMEDIATELY that he calls. I don�t think it�s spoiling him to go to him straight away. I never finish what I am doing first. He gets me first. He comes first. My MIL once said it�s okay to let him cry a while if he wakes when you are busy doing something, and don�t let your life become too dominated by his demands. That feels to me to be such an old-fashioned piece of advice. Arthur DOES dominate my life. That�s how it should be, I think. He isn�t a spoilt little tyrant who runs the household. He will be disciplined and taught to respect us as he grows older, but gently. And he SHOULD be the centre of our lives right now, and feel like it too. He depends on us totally for everything, and every single time I rush to him when he calls out for something, I am teaching him that he has no reason to be insecure, because all his needs are being instantly met by someone he is gaining trust in all the time. I will never punish his trust by leaving him to ask for me, when he does not understand why. He has never been separated from me physically, well not for like 12 hours or anything. He never sleeps alone. He is held and carried any time he wants to be. I wear him in a sling when I have one that he fits in and doesn�t hurt my back. Otherwise I just carry him constantly. My muscles are stronger now than they have ever been! He is breastfed the instant he wants to be, either for food or comfort. I think I am right to take pride in the fact that he�s so secure that he will happily charm the pants off total strangers without so much as a backward glance. By now, he KNOWS I�m there. I have never NOT been. He doesn�t have cause to think I might not be. Sometimes he has little patches where he�s more clingy, like when he is teething, feeling poorly, or really overtired. He whimpers or cries if I go out of sight for too long, and wants holding a lot. But I don�t think that is to do with separation anxiety, like being scared that I won�t come back. I think that is to do with needing more comfort than usual, and wanting me there constantly to provide it until he feels better. Which I do! :) I feel so proud of myself. Of Neil too � he is a perfect AP daddy, and he has put so much into parenting his little boy these last 9 months. We give him everything we possibly can.
We are tiiiiiired! But that�s okay. Our sweetie is flourishing under our love and constant presence. I love him sooooo much. He is a pure delight to be around. He�s my little ray of sunshine! :)
Well here is Mr A. Cuteness himself, covered in mashed banana and chopped dried apricot (which he was not that impressed with, the dried apricot that is!):
See his new teeth?! The first 3 are really well in now, and you can just make out the fourth one peeping through. You can�t see the fifth one in the photo. It only came through that day and it was still all pink and swollen around the tooth, poor Boo :(
Arthur is still eating much better. He feeds himself well with a spoon. I still feed most of his meals to him myself, with a baby spoon, but we always use two spoons for each meal � he holds one and shoves it in his mouth a lot, and I feed him his food with the other. We swap frequently, as he drops the one he�s got and grabs the other one with a vice-like grip, so that I have no choice but to let go and risk the food slopping all over the place (usual outcome). He puts it in his mouth, sometimes upside down and sometimes on its side, but he is very accurate at putting it in. Food does go everywhere though! And then he chucks it on the floor when he�s done, sometimes fully laden still! There is always a big clean up job after his meals!
Okay, it�s getting way too late, I need to speed this up.
Here�s another photo of Arthur, contemplating his apple rice cake. He is back on rice cakes. I stopped giving them to him for a while because he would just bite off a huge piece, shove it to the back of his mouth, gag and vomit! But now he munches and munches, and uses his new front teeth to mince the food finely (looks so funny and cute as he does this!), and then swallows without any problems. Oh, the photo:
Here�s Arthur yesterday, standing at a chair (randomly placed for cleaning purposes!) in the kitchen. He plays with that saucepan and a wooden spoon sometimes. It keeps him busy when I am unloading the dishwasher, which he really isn�t that safe at helping me with anymore!
We have been out every day this week. I am so proud of myself because Arthur is getting into even more of a routine these days, and I am THE most disorganised woman to ever grace the planet, so this is a big deal which wasn�t easy for me to arrange! :) Arthur usually wakes around 6am, but sometimes as early as 5.30 and sometimes as late as 6.30. He is pretty spot on though, and mostly it�s six on the dot, or a few minutes either side. I nurse him and Neil takes him downstairs to change his nappy and play. I get more sleep :) They wake me usually at 7.30 or 7.45am, so I get about an hour�s extra sleep which is nice. Then I get up and Neil gets ready for work. I make breakfast for myself and share it with Arthur, and he usually has a rusk too. If I ever have a yoghurt as part of my breakfast, he shares it with me. He likes yoghurt! :) Then we always stand at the front door and wave Daddy off to work until the car is out of sight. Then I guess we play and read and stuff, and somewhere between 9 and 9.30am he is tired and I put him down for a nap. Although recently it has worked well even when he ISN�T seeming tired, so I know the routine of it is helping him! Yay! He nurses to sleep in our bed. He usually naps half an hour, but sometimes he just sleeps past that and ends up taking an hour or an hour and a quarter. Never longer. Then he�s up again and we play and read and he does a lot of cruising and exploring while I hang out with him.
Recently I have noticed that somewhere after 11am he is getting cranky and rubbing his eyes. I used to try to put him to bed because I figured he needed another sleep, but it�s awfully early for nap number 2, and these days he will ONLY take two naps. Even if the second one is super early, he simply refuses to go down again the rest of the day! This makes him cranky and tired out long before bedtime. Sooo one day we had to go out around this time and he was already looking tired and cranky. But the amazing thing was, when we got out, he perked right up and had nooo trouble at all till around 1 or 2pm! Then he slept like a log for an hour and a half. So I started wondering, maybe at 11am he is cranky because he�s bored and needing a change of scene? Maybe he�s feeling tired in that sluggish way when you just sit on your butt for too long and end up tired because of it? So I have started taking him out around that time, even just for a half hour local walk in the pushchair, or to get the food shopping at the supermarket. This is working great. Every time it works out that he perks up once we�re out, and doesn�t get cranky and tired for real until at least 12.30.
He has his lunch between 11 and 12, and a drink of water from the sippy cup right after that. If he isn�t ready for bed yet, like it�s 11.30 and I think he will last till at least 1pm before napping, I take him into the living room after I clean him up and nurse him sitting on the floor for a while. He doesn�t take loads of milk at this feed, but it�s some. And I like to keep that nursing in. I don�t want to replace his nursing sessions with meals at all yet. Then he plays and explores for a while longer. He goes down for his afternoon nap anytime between 12.30 and 2pm. It varies depending on how long we were out and when he had lunch, and how tired he is feeling. I nurse him to sleep, as always. He sleeps half an hour, and usually wakes at that point. If I am lucky I can resettle him by nursing him, or rocking him. Neil rocks him back to sleep if he�s home, because he�s a BIG boy and my arms just about wither up and die with the effort! About 50% of the time though, he won�t go back to sleep. Sometimes he just has two half-hour naps in a day. The rest of the time, one of his naps is half an hour, and the other is like an hour or so. It varies as to which one is which. Anyway, I like him to wake for the rest of the afternoon anytime from 2pm. Before 2pm is not good. He is always really tired long before bedtime if that happens. 3pm is ideal, but it�s usually 2.30 or something that he gets up again. Then we play for the long stretch! Sometimes Arthur helps me round the house, but basically I don�t get much housework done. I play with him, read to him, make him giggle, watch him crawl and cruise around, help him as he learns new things, like crossing gaps that are too big for him to do alone, but which I know he wants to try by the way he turns to me with a certain look and holds out his hand for mine to help him. He sometimes practises things over and over during times like this, like sitting from standing, or climbing the stairs, or opening and closing cupboard doors.
He has teatime between 4 and 5pm. After the clean-up I nurse him in the living room, and then I phone Nana (my mummy!), while still sitting on the floor with Arthur, building him towers to knock town, making his spinners spin, and lately reading him (and Nana!) stories. I am usually on the phone for 30-40 minutes with my lovely mummy, or less if Arthur gets fed up with this! He usually �talks� to Nana sometime during the phonecall. He makes grabs for the receiver so I tell Mummy Arthur wants the phone, and then I put it to his ear. He always tips his head to one side with his �listening� expression on (bless him, it�s so cute!!) for a few seconds, and then he gets down to work eating the receiver! Sometimes his attention is held for a while longer, depending on what Nana is saying! She tells me that she sometimes talks to him like she would if she was with him, and sometimes she just talks to him in the babytalk words she has heard him say, and other times she sings him songs! How lovely! Yesterday she sang him Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (which he loves), and he listened with a huge open-mouthed smile on his face for ages, and then looked at me as if to say, �Did you HEAR that Mummy?!!� He was just in awe! :) Sometimes he is chatty and babbles a lot at her. Of course she loves this! Other times he is just a heavy breather who drools on the phone as he tries to eat it! ;)
Then after that, it�s usually between 5.30 and 6pm, and Neil arrives home from work at 6pm. If we are off the phone when he arrives, we greet him at the door to exciting cries of, �Daddy�s home, DADDY�S home, DADDY�S HOOOOME!!!� � he gets very excited and leans eagerly towards the front door. When he sees Neil he squeals with delight and shrugs his shoulders waaay up with his fists clasped tight under his chin! He loooves when Daddy comes home. We watch him get out of the car and then as he gets closer, waving and grinning at Arthur, Arthur shrieks and laughs and shouts, he is just so excited! Then he gets swept up by his Daddy and they have some nice play and cuddle time while I tell Neil about Arthur�s day.
At 6.15 or 6.30 they take a bath together, and I gather stuff for getting Arthur ready for bed. I join them in the bathroom when I have it all ready and wash Arthur�s hair if he needs it, or just watch him splash and play. He likes to bang his hands on the shower screen and see me bang my hands on the other side through the glass :) Then we have a pretty specific routine that just evolved that way a few months ago. I hold Arthur wrapped in a towel on my lap while Neil dries off. Then we take him to our bed, and Neil dries him and then eats him and tickles him and blows raspberries on all his chubby clean nakedness!! Arthur squeals and shrieks with laughter and writhes about, and generally has a nice time with his daddy. I soooo love sitting and watching them do this. Neil eats his fingers and toes. Arthur makes this lovely gurgly noise in his throat and sort of sing-songs it up and down when he is particularly happy. He pretty much only makes that sound when we are making him laugh till he has watery eyes, or tickling him. I LOVE that sound. It�s just music to my ears. The fun session usually ends with Arthur grasping Neil�s face with both hands and dragging it to his own face, and planting a couple of big open kissies on his mouth � so cute :) He loves his daddy. He kisses me like that when I have been nursing or cuddling him particularly closely too. So I know it is a sign that he feels extra specially loved and feels the same way back to us. It�s sooooooo lovely.
Then I clean his teeth with his new big boy (although, tiny baby) toothbrush which he LOVES, and I wipe the excess toothpaste off with a clean wet cloth wipe, and Neil rinses the toothbrush and gives it back to Arthur, because he just loves to brush his own teeth for AGES!! Neil puts his nappy on for the night, and we both get him dressed into his Grobag and vest for bed. By then he is usually getting cranky as he gets fed up with us dressing him when he is tired and just wants what always comes next � the breast! I sing him a lullaby (Speed Bonny Boat) whilst giving him a cuddle, which he often arches his back to get away from if he is cranky because he wants a BREAST, not a lullaby!! ;) And then I lay him down and lie next to him and nurse him till he�s asleep, or nearly asleep. These days I take him off the breast when he sleepy enough, because that new top tooth presses slightly into the breast when he nurses. I get a little indent and it�s not too comfy after a long nursing session, so I end it when he is able to go to sleep without it. This can still take 10 minutes or so though.
He usually nurses to sleep around 7pm, that�s how it usually works out. Today he napped later in the afternoon than usual, and then had tea a bit late, and we were rearranging the bedroom (at last!) so his bath was a bit late and then bedtime, etc. So he nursed to sleep maybe 45 minutes later. He was so tired by then. He really needs his nice early bedtimes. He woke at 10.30 to nurse this evening, and now it�s after midnight (aaaargh!!) so I�m sure he�ll wake again soon. It pretty much goes to 2-hourly after the 10ish waking. Bleurgh. Although some nights recently he has had 3-hour gaps between wakings.
Anyway, I was starting to tell you we�ve been out every day, and on Friday I took Arthur to the park and we walked a fair way and then went to a large pond to feed the ducks!!! Feeding the ducks is like a rite of passage for children in my family, so it�s something I had always envisioned myself doing with my own children one day! It�s the first time we�ve done it :) I took a stale leftover loaf. It POURED with rain all day on Friday, but I absolutely LOVE the rain and especially walking in the rain, so we went anyway. The park was empty, and the ducks did not mind the rain, so we had them all to ourselves! :) Arthur rode in the pushchair with his �space bubble� over him (his raincover) and I pulled it up when we got to the ducks so he could see them better, and positioned my umbrella over him as best I could. I got wet. But I never mind that on rainy walks :) Arthur didn�t seem that bothered about the ducks at first, but I threw bread and they got into a frenzy and then they interested him far more! Some of them got out next to us to get some more bread, and some pigeons joined in too. Arthur just sat and stared and watched them carefully over the edge of his pushchair. It was great fun! I just LOVE feeding ducks though, so it was great fun for me anyway. It�s a childhood thing. Gotta love it! :) Anyway, here is Arthur on his first ever outing to feed the ducks!! He held (and chewed) the plastic bag full of bread for me while I chucked it at the ducks!...
And there you have it! Phew! I think I am finally caught up. It�s soooo late, I have to go to bed. I am behind on emails once again, in case anyone is wondering why I have (rudely) not replied to an email yet!! Sorry! I will get to it soon, I promise. Tomorrow, my brother and his Sarah are coming over to see Arthur (and us, of course!). I can�t wait to see them. It feels like ages since we last saw them (at Grandoug�s 80th in July). I can�t wait till they see what a clever nephew they have! They are eager to see all his new teeth and hair and skills! I hope we�ll go to church in the morning, but it�s soooo late�. I should have been in bed ages ago. Night night!
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