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2006-09-16 - 10.39pm previous entry next entry
Jabs,_sleep,_Mr._Men,_and_photos
Urrrrgh, darned AOL kept us offline for 2 days! I was going half CRAZY, haha! I am so addicted to the internet, even if I only have a moment here and there. Most of the time I couldn't get online, I wasn't actually able to spare time to go on anyway, but just the thought that I COULDN'T was bugging me! I heart the internet :)
Sooo I have about 5 minutes to start an update because the boys should be home any time soon. Neil has taken them into town to buy new shoes for Arthur. He can barely get his foot in the shoes he got after Matthew was born (!!) so I guess he must be a size 6 by now, or something? Those were a size 5, and his summer sandals were 4.5 so he's well out of those. It is CRAZY how fast he is growing at the moment! He has suddenly started to outgrow nappies that he's been in comfortably for months. He no longer fits size large Fuzzis and although he was occasionally wearing XL fuzzis at the same time as fitting the large size, they were kind of big on him. Now they fit him just right and I had to get a couple more at eBay. He has six XL fuzzi bunz now, and the rest of his nappies are home made. I have had to adapt standard-sized patterns to fit him! He is long in the rise. He does still fit size 3 Tots Bots though, and we do have a few of those but don't use them very often. He has recently outgrown size L MotherEase airflow wraps and is comfiest in his XLs, which we only needed for going over big night nappies until recently. All the standard Cuddlebuns are on the small side for him now, and I'm trying to find time to make him some XL ones. I won a couple of Wee Notions microfibre nappies at eBay and they are GORGEOUS, but even though they were custom-made extra long in the rise for a toddler, they are still a bit small on Arthur!
Matthew is also outgrowing nappies. He has been out of small fuzzi bunz for a month, and he now fits the mediums really well. He is out of all size one nappies (quicker than Arthur was, incidentally), and fits size 2 Tots Bots and Kissaluvs well. I am finding Tots too harsh on his back with the towelling-covered elastic compared to fuzzi bunz so I think I might sell all mine. He is used to much softer nappies and complains when I put a Tots Bots nappy on him!
If you don't know about these various brands of cloth nappies, I apologise! It will be like a foreign language to you probably! But I want to write about it all the same :)
Anyway. Matthew is in medium Motherease airflow wraps, and just grew out of the small size a few weeks ago, so our house is crazily littered with cloth nappies! We have ME airflow wraps lying around everywhere in sizes: small, medium, large and extra large, hehehe! And we haven't put the small fuzzis away yet, so also lying around the house are fuzzis in sizes: small, medium, large and extra large! Urgh. We need to put some things in the loft, but we NEVER have any time to do that. As I type this, the loft hatch is open and the ladder in place to go up there, but I can't even remember what mini-crisis diverted us from that focus a few hours earlier. And now the boys are out - Arthur needed to get out of the house and there was only a tiny window before his tea, so they're out now. And when they get back it'll be tea, bath, bed, and then I guess the ladder will get taken down again and put away, and we'll try again tomorrow! It's crazy.
I REALLY want to go to church tomorrow. Really really really. I hope we make it this week.
I wanted to thank everyone who has emailed me or left me comments lately. I have had so much support here since I said how much I feel I'm struggling, and it has helped me so much. Maybe that's part of the reason it bugged me so much to lose internet access for a couple of days. It just feels like a support link, even if I'm not actively typing things out or reading comments at that exact moment. The awareness of that link is often a big help in itself. I REALLY appreciate how you guys have made the internet feel that way for me :) I wish I could hug you ALL! xxx
I do take on board everyone's advice too. It's so good to hear different perspectives on my situation, especially those that are a bit removed from it all, as it's hard to see things clearly when I'm so close to it all myself. Or just too tired and stressed! I am NOT offended by anyone who has suggested that maybe I should wean Arthur. I know more than one person has worried that they offended me with the suggestion, and I just wanted to say you did not! I don't plan to wean Arthur till HE chooses to wean, BUT I did take on board what you were saying and I have chosen to refuse a little more when he asks for milk. So if it's not convenient for me, I will say, "Not right now" or "Mummy will give you milk a bit later". The result is that he is mainly feeding first thing in the morning, at his nap time (after lunch), and twice in the evening (once after tea and again at bedtime). Sometimes he gets to breastfeed mid-morning or mid-afternoon, depending on what is going on, but not always. He DOES still ask constantly and still gets upset and whiney when I say no, but I know he'll get used to it. I definitely don't want to actually stop him breastfeeding though. Most toddlers who are left to self-wean will do so between the ages of 2 and 3, though some will continue to age 4 or beyond. I have always been happy with the idea of breastfeeding my children at 2 or 3. I guess I haven't thought beyond that age though, as I presumed they'd probably wean by then! I will probably reassess when he's nearing 3 or something, if he hasn't already weaned himself. But cutting down the amount of time I am spending with Arthur at the breast is a good thing at the moment. If we are going to be busy and get anything done, he can't feed all morning and afternoon! But I make sure that when he DOES feed, it's leisurely and for as long as he wants it. And snuggly and welcoming :) I still LOVE the times when I am breastfeeding Arthur.
I still want to devote an entry to Matthew and finish what I had started a few entries back, but there keeps being other stuff to talk about, so I guess I'll just catch up on Matthew-things in a normal entry like this one, otherwise it'll all get left behind!
Matthew is 3 months old!!! I need a new breastfeeding milestone blinkie for him! I can't believe I have been tandem nursing for 3 months. I can't believe I have had my Mathie-Moo for 3 months! He is the most precious little boo. I can't remember what I have said about him lately. I hope I don't go over the same stuff again. Let's see. I think he has had a growth spurt lately. He fed frequently for a couple of days and nights, and then last night and today he is doing the same again. He seems REALLY hungry when he feeds, almost desperate for me to hurry up and get my bra undone, hehe! So I guess he is growing again. Just this morning I thought his face seemed a little rounder than I'm used to seeing it.
He may be at the 25th percentile for weight and height, but WEIRDLY he outgrew all his 0-3 month clothing (all brands) by 2 months old, and I have already had to pack away the size 3-6 month sleepsuits and vests, weeks ago! He is comfortably fitting his 6-9 month sleepsuits and vests, and just these last few days, some of them are getting a bit snug on him. I think that is due to the cloth nappies though, because they are only snug at the crotch and shoulders. But he fills the arms and legs out all the same. He fits size 6-12 month vests in some brands that come up small! I can't fathom why this is, since he is so low on the percentile charts, but there we go. He is in 3-6 month clothes on everything but sleepsuits and vests.
He likes being on his tummy, or his back, or upright, facing in or out. He is just happy in general and enjoys lying around or being held. He is no longer particular about certain positions, unless he's getting really tired and grouchy. Although we never hold him in the traditional "cradle" hold as he has never enjoyed that much. He prefers to see things, and more specifically, to use his neck muscles!
When he's on his tummy, he spends most of the time propped up on his elbows looking around. He has discovered his hands recently and stares at them a lot in various positions. He surprised me the other day when I came in to get him after a nap - he was propped up on his elbows (lying on his tummy) underneath his mobile, and he was holding his head back far enough so that he could juuust about look UP to see the mobile! Strong boy! Still such a huge contrast to Arthur who wasn't lifting his chin off the floor yet at this age! But Arthur went from that to being propped on his elbows strongly within a week, so he caught up okay.
Matthew rolled over for the first time last week - well, not counting that random roll at 3 weeks old! He rolled from tummy to back, and he can also roll from back to tummy, although I'm not sure he means to. I have also only noticed it on the bed when I am about to breastfeed him, and although the bed has a firm mattress, it's still just that little bit soft enough to aid a roll, you know? So perhaps he wouldn't quite be there yet on the floor. He is so eager for the breast lately that when I lay him on his back in my bed and start to lie down whilst undoing my bra to feed him, he kicks and pummels and flaps about impatiently (it's so cute, hehe!), and flings himself onto his side in anticipation! He rolls onto his side with ease, but sometimes he rolls too far and finds himself sprawled on his front like a little flailing upturned beetle, hehe! He gets frustrated because he's SO desperate to feed and he knows he's stuck and unable to find the breast if he's on his tummy, and he can't get out of that position (except that one time last week)! I am finding his current growth spurt EVER SO sweet, and it makes the extra night wakings worthwhile, because it is so cute to see him sooooo hungry and eager next to me while I'm fumbling to get myself ready to feed him. You should see his eyes when he sees my breast approaching him, hehe! They go ROUND like saucers and he cranes his little neck out and I never saw his mouth open so wide. He's like a baby bird, so eager. He flaps and flaps with all his limbs until the moment when he sees it coming, and then he's instantly still as anything with these wide eyes and open mouth, neck out, chin raised, just desperate for me to hurry up and get it to him! I just find it the sweetest thing :)
Today he is the hungriest I think he's ever been. He seems absolutely desperate to feed after an hour and a half, all day! I expect him to feed much more frequently than normal overnight tonight. That's okay though. I just keep thinking how much better it is than with Arthur, for the night wakings. I can't remember exactly how much I was up in the night at this stage with Arthur, but I know I did many months with 1-2 hourly wakings every single night. So even a busy night with Matthew is just BLISS in comparison, hehe! Aside from the growth spurts, Matthew now wakes between 12 and 1am and then doesn't wake again till 5.30 or so. And that means that if I can get him to go back to sleep after I feed him, he'll sleep till just after 8am! Wow.
Another big WOW for me, given my previous troubles with Arthur, is that I have a baby who goes to sleep by himself!!!!!!!!! I can't describe how amazing it feels! Over this last week (since last weekend) I have really been working with Matthew on him settling to sleep by himself. I feel so proud of it, because it really has been something I'VE had to do to get things like they are now. When Matthew yawns, I take him right up to his cotbed and pop him in on his tummy. I kiss him and tell him it's time for sleepy-bye-bye (don't know where that phrase came from - another weird thing from my head I suppose!), and that Mummy loves him, and LEAVE! He instantly starts nuzzling the sheet and I know he's trying to settle to sleep, so I know I can leave him. Earlier in the week I was waiting with him to be sure he wasn't going to get frustrated and need my help. I don't like to leave him crying.
Lately he has started trying to self-soothe in his cotbed. He searches out his two middle fingers and sucks them! I found him doing this one time when he had woken and cried and then Arthur needed me for something urgent. When I came back, I found him slurping away on his two middle fingers with his eyes closed (on his tummy), and about 60 seconds later, he took his fingers out and went to sleep! He isn't always co-ordinated enough to find them and then he gets frustrated and upset.
The only thing I'm still struggling with is getting him to take longer naps. I am doing the "pick-up, put-down" method with him, and patting him on the bum as well. He wakes at the 30 minute mark and I pat him. He cries. I continue patting until he either settles and dozes off (rare), or gets too worked up. If he gets too upset, I pick him up and cuddle him till he's calm and then put him down again straight away. He gets REALLY mad about this, so I pretty much have to pick him up and soothe him again straight away. He usually starts to get the picture after I put him down again, or maybe another time after that, and he'll fuss and then doze, but he wakes after a few minutes and cries a LOT, and when I finally get him settled again he sleeps for 5 minutes and then wakes crying. And then maybe 15 minutes and wakes crying. And so on. His sleep is so broken and it takes so long between wakings to settle him back to sleep that so far we are spending most of the afternoon just to get him 1.5 hours sleep or something! And it's in lots of little bits so it's hardly good sleep for him. Plus it takes me away from Arthur a lot. It's SUPPOSED to work if you persevere, so I will. And it's do-able, unless Arthur is also napping (the usual scenario) and Matthew's crying wakes him. I had a horrible time yesterday with them, when that happened. I scribbled a little log by the cotbed during the whole thing, just so I could have something to read back afterwards and identify when something was or wasn't working. Here's a bit from it:
12.41pm - Put Matthew in cot, awake and fussing/crying. Fussed on and off, eyes closed mostly. Just waited by him.
12.44pm - Asleep! Went downstairs, took Arthur up to bed and fed him to sleep.
1.00pm - Arthur asleep.
1.25pm - Matthew awake and fussing. Pick up and put down x2.
1.30pm - Arthur awake and very upset, crying for me. To Arthur (Matthew crying) and try to settle him.
1.34pm - Arthur still awake and crying more than ever, upset by Matthew's crying or something. To Matthew (Arthur still crying). Picked him up and calmed him. Put down.
1.36pm - Back to Arthur (Matthew hysterical), breastfed almost to sleep despite Matthew screaming next door until couldn't bear Matthew's crying any longer.
1.39pm - To Matthew (Arthur now screaming). Picked him up - way too red-faced and upset. Held till calm, put down. Tried patting, but Arthur upset next door. Picked up again, but put down before calm enough.
1.45pm - To Arthur, breastfed again in bed (Matthew crying).
1.50pm - Matthew quiet - cried to sleep? :( Still breastfeeding Arthur.
1.55pm - Matthew awake and crying. Arthur quiet (still breastfeeding) but refusing sleep now.
1.57pm - To Matthew, picked up and calmed. Arthur not staying in bed, running back and forth.
1.59pm - Put Matthew down, stayed by him for a moment, grizzling and fussing but seeming more sleepy. Arthur standing in doorway obviously doing a poo!
2.01pm - Matthew asleep. Arthur downstairs, as refusing to sleep now.
2.17pm - Matthew awake and crying (Arthur screeching downstairs the cause?).
2.18pm - Tried to resettle but seemed hungry so fed him in bed (Arthur downstairs playing). Finally fell asleep on the breast. Slept 2.37 - 3.19pm, then up.
Urrrrgh! Sometimes it's so hard to juggle everything! I am trying so hard to persevere because I know it will make a HUGE difference to how smoothly the day runs and how much both boys' needs are met if Matthew can take himself off to sleep and STAY asleep for the couple of hours that he needs at his naps. If I don't have to take responsibility for keeping him asleep, then I am free to do things with Arthur, and the whole palava doesn't take so long, so that frees up time later on too, for all of us. I just hope he gets it soon. It's really hard to fix with just me around, and Neil just learnt that his work won't let him take time off until at least the week after next. Ugh. Another week they've put it off for. The 9th running now. Pfthth.
Anyway. Some aspects of his sleep ARE improving, so that's good. I am finally letting myself hope that before he's a year old, I might even have a baby who sleeps through the night AND naps good long naps, going off to sleep by himself! I told Neil the other day that I didn't want him to walk Matthew to sleep at bedtime any more. He instinctively picks him up and walks/rocks him when he wakes or stirs and cries, to get him back to sleep, and then puts him down again once he's asleep. This is what we have done from the start with Matthew really, rather than him going to sleep on the breast every time like Arthur did. But I know Matthew can go to sleep without being walked, so I want Neil to stop doing it. It will help Matthew improve on his own skill of falling asleep independently. Sure enough, tonight and last night, I just popped Matthew in the cot, awake and cooing, on his tummy, and after a few minutes he went off to sleep by himself! Yay! It's such a huge RELEASE to have that burden taken off our shoulders. I wish Arthur was as easy. I think he COULD have been if we'd done it this way from when he was tiny. It gets harder and harder the older they get, and that knowledge from experience has got me extra keen to get Matthew on a good "path" while he's still tiny. I am not rigid about it though. If he's all distraught from an outing (as usual!) or completely exhausted from crying and needing comfort, then I'll breastfeed him and if he passes out on the breast then I let him. It's not very often that it happens and it's comforting to him. I LOVE it :) There's nothing as snuggly as an agitated, tired baby gradually relaxing off to sleep at the breast, it just feels so precious to hold him while he just looses all that tension and having snuggly Mama milk makes him feel more and more comforted and safe till he dozes off that way. I like providing that for him :)
We are currently doing the Sleep Separation Technique (as per Supernanny) with Arthur. It's for children who can't go to sleep without their parents with them, to help them to gradually get used to going to sleep on their own. It's verrrry different, after all these years (well, all two of them, nearly!) breastfeeding Arthur to sleep! I still breastfeed him in bed, and sometimes (but not very often now) he will fall asleep on the breast and that's that. Most nights though, he gets full - especially now that he's eating tea again, yaaay! - and is still wide awake. He tells me to put my breasts "way" and pulls my bra over them (hehehe!) and then sits up as energetic and mischievous as ever. So now we just sit on the bed (not his mattress, the one next to it) and don't say a word to him or make eye contact. He tries ALL sorts of things to get attention, oh my gosh! He bangs his head on stuff, he pulls all his clothes off, he climbs on the bed guard, switches the plug on and off and on and off (there's a kiddie protector in the socket) - all the stuff he can think of that normally has us jumping to stop him. But we mustn't react. He creeps over so that his face is RIGHT in ours and makes funny faces and sounds! One time he slowwwwly traced his NOSE all around the lens of my glasses, hehe! It was so hard to keep a straight face and find a place to focus my eyes on that wasn't Arthur's nose, I can tell you!
If he asks for a drink, I silently pass it to him, and take it back when he has finished. He tells me he has done a poo and needs a "tainge", which I ignore because I can tell he hasn't done one. Little monkey! We move a little bit further away from him each night, but at the moment we're stuck at the end of the bed because of the darn clutter in the room preventing us from moving any further away, and no time to clear it out during the day. Tsk. But anyway. My favourite part is that after a while he gives up trying for attention and chats to himself about some part of his day! I love to listen to that, it's really sweet. He still talks in just one-word sentences, but it's the tone of voice and the emotions he conveys with it that is the sweetest part of his chatter.
One night we decided to involve him more in cleaning his teeth. It has become such a battle that it seemed like a good idea. We let him try to brush his own teeth and made a big fuss of what a big boy he was! He kicked up a fuss when we had to just give them a once over after he had his turn, and we weren't sure if it had even meant anything to him to have a chance to brush his own teeth, as he didn't seem that interested. But how lovely it was later on, while I sat there waiting for him to go to sleep, to hear him suddenly say to himself, "Ooh, teef!" as though he had suddenly remembered about the incident and it was exciting to him! Then he said, "Teef!.... Ah-yah (Arthur), teef!.... (sudden miming of vigorous teeth-brushing!).... Bee-bay (big boy, aw!), yaaay!" and clapped his hands! What a sweetie :) He did this over and over, saying he had cleaned his own teeth and been a big boy, and always cheering and clapping when he got to the part about being a big boy, bless him! I'm so glad to have been there to hear that, and that he's now able to vocalise stuff like that, because then we were encouraged to persevere with the "big boy" stuff we've been doing with Arthur. We weren't sure it was having much effect till then.
Usually when Arthur chats to himself about some part of his day, it's about some lost item that he has been looking for ("Blooo?!" (the blue record for my ancient Fisher Price record player) - complete with hands held palm upwards and shrugged shoulders), or one of his toy vehicles that he's been playing with, "Ah-dan! (ambulance) Enny! (fire engine) Oooh-wooo!"
Anyway, it's taking ages to wait for him to settle to sleep, but it was 1.5 hours the first night, and now it's more like 40 minutes. Still a LONG wait! But we'll get there. Once we're out of the bedroom and letting him take himself to sleep, we'll do the Back To Bed Technique if he comes out of the bedroom. So that feels positive, knowing we have a plan that will work, and eventually we should have two children who deal with themselves after we say goodnight. Phew, it's been a LONG time coming! I can't wait.
Ohh this is getting really long and it's getting late again. It's the evening now and the boys are in bed asleep. I have had a good evening so far - a LONG bath and a pizza in pyjamas that actually FIT me, yay! I weighed myself today and I was 9 stone 12lbs!!! Below 10 stone at LAST!!!! Yay! I have no idea what that all is in lbs, but there are 14lbs to a stone. I have a way to go before I get back to my pre-pregnancy weight (8 and a half stone), but I'm down from over 12 stone at the end of my pregnancy so that's not bad! I'm doing absolutely NOWT in the way of exercise, which needs to change. Well, this week I finally started doing my postnatal exercises, which I never once did after Arthur. It's all that tail-wagging, stomach crunching, leg lifting stuff. It's gentle and you only do a few of each exercise, but I was hurting all over after the first day - that really says how UN-toned I am, doesn't it?! So I will try to keep that going.
I feel kind of pregnant these last few days. Things taste weird (bitter, mostly) and I am crazy hungry (maybe Matthew's growth spurt?) and keep suddenly wanting a whole raw carrot to eat or some weird thing. And a bit crampy too. So maybe I am warming up for my first postpartum period. Oh, hoo. rah. I think my first one after Arthur was 5 months PP, but I was breastfeeding way more at night with Arthur, and prolactin levels are at their highest when you breastfeed during the night (that hormone is what keeps your periods at bay while you're breastfeeding). So even though I'm breastfeeding two this time, it's still vaguely possible that I could get my period within the next month or two. Ugh. I really don't plan to be using it for a good while this time, so it would be very nice if it didn't grace me with its presence for a while! Anyway, I absolutely cannot be pregnant, belieeeve me, so do not worry!
Which reminds me, Matthew was conceived just over a year ago! I ovulated on September 14th, 3 days ago this time last year. Of course the parsnips took place 4 days before that - my strong boy holding on in there till that eggie got released! :) Anyway, that was literally the LAST time we had parsnips. I kid you not. OVER A YEAR. Yikes. I don't know if that's healthy! But who cares. I'm sure I should, but really, I have bigger concerns right now, and breastfeeding always seems to make my already low parsnip-drive even lower. I don't even start to get interested until my periods are back and well established, so it's obviously a hormonal thing. I'm sure we should give it a whirl, but I am reeeally in no hurry, myself!
Oh but I was going to write more about Matthew! I can't think what I've said and what I haven't now.... He did his first chuckle a week or so ago! He hasn't done so since though. He smiles HUGELY at things but something has to be super-funny before he'll chuckle at it. Arthur chuckled (a real belly laugh) for the first time at 11 weeks, 6 days old. Matthew was 12 weeks and 1 day old! How funny, almost exactly the same age! Matthew gets hiccups just like Arthur did when he tries to laugh. Arthur STILL gets hiccups when he laughs a lot! He got them just today, going completely watery-eyed hysterical over me saying, "Pwooar, that STINKS!" over a nappy that really didn't stink that bad, but I knew it would make Arthur laugh and thus not give me a struggle over the nappy change! He is such a boy. He loves toilet humour, ugh. I don't even know why, it seems to just tickle him without our prompting!
Okay, I suppose I should post some photos!! I was saving the recent photos of Matthew for an entry about him, so I guess I will post those now :) Here are a few of him on his tummy a couple of weeks ago, in his cotbed. He was looking at me like I was being weird trying to peer through the bars and take a photo of him! Then he looked up and beamed at me, and I am SO bummed that I cut the top of his head right off in the photo, because it was a lovely one! He lifted his head much higher than I expected him to. After that he saw his hands and was intrigued by them for a while :) He was 11 weeks, 6 days old in these photos:
Those hands again, at 12 weeks, 3 days:
And just an odd little expression that I couldn't resist photographing!
Matthew is really getting interested in toys lately. He likes musical ones, and tries to grab at colourful toys. He really likes the musical bug toy that was Arthur's favourite at around this age. It has lots of different colours and textures and he looks at it for AGES. He likes to touch it if I hold him in a position that enables him to do so more easily:
He's been teething properly lately. No actual teeth on their way, I'm sure. But he has had red puffy cheeks and rough, red chin, and hot gums and knawed fingers, etc. Poor lambie-boo :( We've been using Bonjela and teething powders, but I can't really tell if they're helping much. It's weird to have two children teething at the same time! Arthur just got his fourth canine yesterday (or was it this morning? I can't remember), so we're almost there! Sixteen down, four to go! Poor Matthew has all 20 to look forward to yet.
They FINALLY had their immunisations on Wednesday of this week. Arthur had his first MMR and Matthew had his first round of Hib 5-in-1 and Meningitis boosters. Neil was able to take a long lunch break to help me, and we were both kind of dreading it! But it went totally fine. Arthur went first. I took some chocolate-covered raisins with me (Arthur's ultimate all-time favourite treat!), and as the nurse got the injection ready, I sat him on my lap and got out the raisins, preparing myself for a difficult few minutes. Arthur was very excited about the raisins. He ate one while the nurse showed me how to hold his arm firmly to his side for the injection. She put the needle in his arm. He casually glanced at me as if to say, "What's she doing, Mummy?" and then looked at the needle in his arm for a few seconds while she pushed the plunger, and then looked at her as if to say, "Why are you doing that?"!! He didn't flinch, didn't look afraid, didn't recoil from the nurse or the needle as he watched them or anything! Then he made an expression that sort of goes with a shoulder-shrug, and turned back to the bag of raisins, putting his hand in for another one! We were all amazed! And relieved, I have to say. The nurse was very impressed. He got a sticker with a "ti-gah! Raaahh!" on it :)
Then Matthew had his two injections. Arthur went out into the waiting area with Neil to look at the "whhhiiish" (fish, hehe!) in the tank, while I breastfed Matthew. He let go and cried for the meningitis injection and the nurse told me that they all cry on that one. She thinks it must sting more or something. He let go and went to cry after the second one but decided to feed again instead. So it wasn't too bad. Neither of them had any irritability or fever following the vaccinations, which is wonderful! Arthur had a lot of irritability and discomfort after his Hib boosters so I'm surprised that Matthew didn't. He generally seems more sensitive than Arthur so I guess I was expecting it to be hard on him. Anyway, the key times for Arthur to have reactions to the MMR are 7-10 days after (measles-like rash, if anything), and 3 weeks after (mumps-like swellings, if anything), so we'll wait and see how he goes. I'm relieved to have him vaccinated against those nasties at last, but I am also glad I waited a little while longer than the normal age for the MMR. He just seemed too little for 3 live vaccines in one go at the time, whatever else the debates are about.
Okay I need to go to bed! Just a few more photos and then I'm done. Matthew and Arthur are getting more interested in each other! It's lovely to watch. Arthur loves to lie next to Matthew while Matthew looks at toys and stuff.
He also likes to show him his toys a lot. I keep finding Matthew sitting on jigsaw pieces or toy cars in his bouncy chair, as Arthur puts them on his tummy to "show" him, and then they slide off him and under his bottom! It's so sweet though, as Arthur usually shares his most favourite things with Matthew. I know this won't always be the case, hehe! So I'm enjoying the brotherly love while it lasts ;) He hasn't yet shared Monkey with Matthew though. He shows him Monkey but doesn't give him to Matthew. He takes Matthew hands now and does the "buh-buh-buh-buh, boogiiiee!!" thing that I do with him. Matthew BEAMS at him. He absolutely loves to watch Arthur, and often starts to "talk" to him with an earnest expression, but Arthur is gone before he's even finished a "Matthew-sentence"! Poor Matthew! He looks rather bewildered when a person suddenly disappears before his eyes when he's mid-sentence trying to communicate with them. I really feel for him, he looks so disappointed, poor lovely! He tries so hard with his "words", making them slow and deliberate, and it makes it all the more heart-breaking to see his audience vanish while he's trying so hard.
There was a sweet moment the other evening, just before Neil got home from work, when Matthew was on the mat on the floor. Arthur brought his Pop-Up Orchestra musical toy to show Matthew, and Matthew was really interested. Then Arthur lay down next to Matthew and actually stayed still for a few minutes at a time! He also stayed facing Matthew but with Matthew's face above his, so that was lovely for Matthew! He lost nooo time talking and talking and TALKING to Arthur, using as many different vocal sounds and stuff as possible! It was really sweet - you could see how eager he was to communicate with Arthur. Arthur just lay and listened, and occasionally did something like reach out and touch Matthew's nose. Matthew started blowing raspberries, and every time he did one, Arthur giggled. I just watched them with this huuuuge motherly-glow thing going on, it was lovely! Eventually I got the camera out so that I wouldn't forget the moment:
I had another moment like that this evening when I was about to take Matthew up to bed. Arthur was racing around the kitchen on his little ride-on car and I took Matthew in and said to Arthur, "Matthew is going to bed now. Can you say night night to him?" Arthur immediately stopped and waved at Matthew, singing out, "Nigh-nigh, Ma-Ma!" and then drove right up to us and planted a huge kiss on Matthew's cheek :) I have the sweetest baby boys :) I can't WAIT till a year from now to see them playing together and stuff. Or TWO years and hear them talking together and making each other laugh. It's going to be so lovely to watch. I just love them soooooooooooooooooo much.
Okay, what else, just quickly? Matthew grabbed and held onto his first "thing" the day before yesterday! A purple plastic textured disc that snaps onto the Fisher Price Kick and Play toy-bar. He tries to shove it in his mouth but his co-ordination isn't always good enough and he gets frustrated!
Arthur had another hair cut today. A lady at Fellowship Group on Thursday that I hadn't met before, asked me how old my daughter was! I told her that he may have a lot of hair, but he was definitely a HE! She said, "Reeeally?! But he looks SO much like a girl!" Tsk. He did have a LOT of hair by then though, and it curls so prettily at the sides and back :) So, a hair appointment was duly made for Saturday morning, and Neil took him. He still seems to have lots of hair, but it's shorter at the back. It still curls, which is the important thing! :)
He also got his new shoes, but he's only gone up to a size 5.5. The difference is that he has gone up a width size, to a G. That's probably why he wasn't fitting into his 5Fs.
This boy has a really seriously good memory, I am discovering. I wonder if that's what has helped him to learn so many colours and stuff? This evening he sat with his Mr. Men books, taking them out of the box one by one as he has been doing for months - it's one of his favourite things to do. He likes me to tell him what they are and tell me their colours and look at one page in each book, before moving onto the next book.
This evening he pulled out Mr. Muddle, and held it out to me, saying, "Mubble!" Yikes! Then out came Mr. Clumsy - "Mum-bee!" declared Arthur! Then Mr. Slow was held out to me - "Wshhowww", and Mr. Jelly ("Weh-wee!"). Mr. Fussy came next - "Puffee!" and then Mr. Brave ("Baaabe!"). Finally he pulled out Mr. Sneeze and held it out to me, saying, "Atchooo!" hehehe! Then he got bored and rushed off to drive his car around the house as fast as he could push with his little legs. No, he can't read. But he can visually see the Mr. Men and attach the names I'm telling him to them, and somehow remember them the next time he sees the picture of that Mr. Man. I just think that's amazing. Maybe it's not, but to me it seems just.... wowee! I had nooo idea he would ever learn which ones were which, until he learned to READ their names and see which one was which by reading the book titles. Which would be a long while off yet. I tell him which ones they are as he holds them out to me because he seems like he wants me to tell him. He continues to hold them out until I tell him, and gets frustrated in the end otherwise. When I tell him the name of the Mr. Man, he seems satisfied and puts the book down. Smartie-boy.
Okay Arthur is awake for some reason. I should go and see what is up. I'll finish with a photo of my tiniest boy being all yummy and mine (?!) a few days ago. I could just eat him right UP, honestly! Yummy boy :)
Recent entries.....
Moving time... - 2009-01-04
Christmas Eve! - 2008-12-24
Long-overdue update, a few Nathey pics and a video clip :) - 2008-12-01
Lots of news! - 2008-11-03
Nathan at 8 months... - 2008-10-12