Thursday, December 31, 2009

The Christmas Edition









My hair was slicked back, wet with purple hair dye that was dripping on to my back. I was wearing only my nursing bra and bikini bottoms while cooking pancakes on Christmas morning. I hope none of the neighbors could see me through the windows, it must have looked like a crazy house! Usually when I dye my hair, I wear old ugly t-shirts and put old ugly towels around myself. I was not at home though, and I didn't have any old ugly shirts, and the only towels were nice hotel bright white ones. I don't think my Mother in Law would have appreciated her nice towels suddenly turning purple. The Sister in Law wanted to live vicariously through me and suggested I dye my hair. I thought it would be fun to have purple hair (that goes away after 8 washes...) for Christmas, so I thought, why not? We had a good Christmas, lots of good presents, good food (prawns on the BBQ, chicken skewers, pasta salad, fruit salad, gelato, fruit flan), and a nice lazy day.

Hannah loves opening presents. She does, of course, want to eat the wrapping paper. I think she likes the paper better then the actual present inside. She's no longer allowed to chew on paper or cardboard as she has learned how to take bits off with her gums and then tries to eat them. After fishing a few bits of paper out of her mouth, I banned paper and cardboard from her list of toys. I was actually able to get some smiling photos of Hannah. We were out to lunch one day when she went a bit hyper and started squealing, yelling, jumping, and giggling. I got out the camera, and to my amazement, the hyper activity didn't stop, she didn't stop and stare at the camera like she normally does. I was able to get lots of smiling photos, and since that day, she smiles for the camera like she's been doing it her whole life.

I hope no one looked at me through the window of the car on the drive home. They would have been in for a very big shock. I'm sure it's not everyday that you see someone in the passenger seat of a car using a manual breast pump while going down the freeway. I didn't really have a choice, Hannah was refusing to nurse (too much to look at, it was very hot and sticky, who knows really), and I am not really a fan of exploding boobies, so I pumped. Yes, I could have done it in the bathroom at a rest stop or something, but 1, that would have added extra time to the already long journey, and 2, is pumping in the filthy bathroom at Macca's any less weird then pumping while in a moving vehicle? I think not. I was very worried about the drive home from Byron Bay. Hannah has never really been a fan of car rides, and we were going to drive from Byron Bay to Tamworth the first day, then Tamworth to Sydney (via Penrith) the second day. She never fails to surprise and delight us though. She was wonderful the first day. Even though she didn't have much sleep in the car (she can't sleep very long in the car seat, I think because she usually sleeps on her tummy and obviously can't do that in her seat), she was happy, didn't cry, and was quite content. We stopped frequently to let her out of her seat, and to give her some food. By the last couple of hours of the journey on the second day, she had had enough. She pretty much screamed for an hour straight, until we stopped in Windsor for some lunch. Poor Bubba.

I know my blog is a day late. Monday I didn't even realise it was Monday. Aaron has the week off, so it felt like it was Sunday. Then Tuesday I meant to do it but the camera was out of batteries so I couldn't get the photos on the computer to put on the blog (and I forgot to charge it until the evening). Then yesterday I was too busy. Oh well, I'm sure you'll live.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

The Plane Trip






Hannah
I don't really know what's going on. It's 5:30 in the morning and Mommy and Daddy are getting things from my room trying to be quiet but not succeeding. I wake up of course, and to my surprise, they pick me up, change my nappy, and put me in the car. Grandma is here too. I'm really excited. I know they want me to go to sleep in the car, but how could I?

We went in a really big room with lots of windows with strange huge car type things (only very funny looking) outside. Mommy walks me around the building pointing to the strange cars. She tells me they are airplanes and that we are going to ride on one with Grandma. I'm a little confused though, I thought I was an airplane? Mommy and Daddy often lay on their backs and put me on their knees and move their legs around and say I'm an airplane (or aeroplane if it's Daddy) bubba. So if I'm an airplane, how can this giant car be one too?

Someone says that the airplane is delayed because it needs to do a "high powered engine run." Whatever that is. "Lucky I brought her food." Mommy says. We go in the mothers room and Mommy tries to give me some booby. I'm still so excited for whatever we are going to do, so there is no way I'm going to have booby. I eat the avocado and apple that Mommy brought for me though. I can eat that and still look out the window at all of the big giant cars (airplanes?) going up and down.

A loud voice comes on again and says that we can't ride the plane we were going to ride, but that we have to ride a new one, from a different gate, so Mommy packs up me and all my toys and off we go to a big room next to the one we were in before. They say our take off is going to be 3 hours late. Lots of people around us are very cranky and saying rude things and being mean to the people behind the desk. Mommy gets excited though because they give us all meal coupons to use while we wait. I'm even more excited because now I can get away with not taking a nap.

Mommy spreads out my blanket on the floor of the big building and puts my toys on it. I'm having heaps of fun, I get to play with all my toys, Mommy, and Grandma, all while getting to look out a giant window full of giant cars going from the ground to the sky and the sky to the ground (maybe we were in giantville? Am I going to turn into a giant?), and I get to look at all sorts of funny looking and interesting people who all tell me that I am cute and have such beautiful blue eyes. I finally get hungry enough to have some booby just before we get on the giant car/airplane, and when we sit down in the giant car/airplane.

Grandma tells Mommy to have the window seat so that I can look outside while we take off (I wonder what take off means?). "This seat belt is useless!" Mommy says. She attaches it to her seat belt and then fastens it around me. It's really uncomfortable, and I don't think it's really doing much. I wonder why I have to go in that special seat thingy when I ride in Mommy and Daddy's car, but in this giant car/airplane, I get to sit in Mommy's lap with a funny useless seatbelt? I have some more booby and fall asleep.

I wake up and smile at Mommy. I'm happy that I'm still in her lap. Usually when I fall asleep on Mommy, I wake up in my cot. Mommy holds me next to the little window and takes lots of pictures. She says she wants to document my first plane ride (is plane the same as airplane/giant car?). A loud voice comes on saying that we are about to start our decent (whatever that means). Ouch! My ears start to hurt and I cry. Mommy puts her finger in my mouth and I suck. Huh, all better. Mommy always knows what to do! I stop crying. I look out the window and all I see is white. It starts to get bouncy. Mommy says we are going through a cloud. Oh, I get it now, Mommy pretends I'm an airplane when we play airplane bubba, and we are going through clouds! What fun!!! So I'm not an airplane after all, this is an airplane, and Mommy and Daddy just pretend I'm an airplane for my amusement sometimes. Clever.

Mommy and Grandma keep telling me what a good girl I am. Grandma said that if I was older, she'd give me a treat for being so good. I can't wait until I'm older so I can get a treat! That sounds good!

Sheri
I put my feet on the edge of the platform and hold on to the side. "Now reach out and grab the bar," the man says. I know I have to extend my arm to do so, but it won't budge, it's stuck in the L position. The man assures me he has a hold of my special belt and once again prompts me to lean forward, extend my arm and grab the bar with my right hand. I look down. I'm about 2 stories high, standing on the platform. I'm not afraid of heights, but did I mention that I'm afraid of falling? When I was little, Grandma (not the one in Hannah's story, that is Aaron's grandma) used to take me to swimming lessons. When I passed all of the normal lessons after a number of years, I took diving lessons. Not like SCUBA diving, like diving board diving. I was fine with the normal diving board, but put me on the high dive and I would freak out a little. They had to give me a rubber ducky and tell me to throw it under the diving board onto the side of the pool just to get me to dive off it. I guess it distracted me from the falling part. It worked, but only when I had to throw the ducky.

When I was 18, I went to West Virginia with my Dad. We went white water rafting, but stopped for lunch at a spot where people jump off huge rocks into a deep pool of water below. Everyone did it. I went last. I ran in hopes that I wouldn't be able to stop and would just have to do it. Nope, I stopped dead just before the end of the rock. I stood up there for a good 5 minutes, trying to will myself to jump, but I just couldn't. I had to walk down the long way. How embarrassing....

Now I'm on a platform, 2 stories high, about to try out the flying trapeze. That's right, I'm at circus school, a Christmas present from The Jess. She is here too, as is Trish, Jimmy, and of course, my little girl is watching me to. I can't let her see me fail. The man assures me he has a hold of me, and against my better judgement, I lean forward and grab the bar. He says to reach out and grab it with both hands now. This is even harder. Now I'm completely at the mercy of a random man whose name I don't even know, to make sure I don't plummet face first into the net below. I know, there is a net, and I'm also attached to a rope on both sides of the special belt, but tell that to my fear of falling.

Ok, I have both hands on the bar. "Hup!" the man calls. That means I'm supposed to jump off the platform. I don't go anywhere. He reminds me the call means jump, and calls it again. I close my eyes, and my feet leave the platform. I'm flying through the air, a smile wide on my face, while hanging from the bar. "Hup," he calls again. That means I'm supposed to put my knees over the bar. I hesitate just a little and then find I can't put my knees up. It's too hard if you don't do it at the right time because then you don't have the momentum to do so. I keep trying and trying anyway, but can't do it. I'm really disappointed.

It's my turn again, and this time there is a woman at the top of the platform. Once again it takes me longer then it should to grab the bar, but when the man calls "Hup," she pushes my feet off at the same time. I like this method much better. No room for hesitation. "Hup," I don't hesitate and before I know it, my knees are over the bar. "Hup," I let go with my hands and arch my back. Now I'm hanging by only my knees, 2 stories up in the air, flying on a trapeze. I feel amazing.

It's my turn again, and now we get to try a catch. Everything is going smoothly. "Hup," I'm flying through the air, my knees holding me to the bar, my back arched, my hands reaching. I'm not even sure how it happens, but somehow, my knees leave the bar, my hands reach out, and then I'm hanging by a monkey grip by a man who is hanging upside down from another trapeze. Now there is no containing my smile. I think if it were possible, I could power an entire city with my smile right now.

Other things that happened this week:
I took Hannah to the beach a couple of times, and she loved playing in the sand, but for some reason, even though she loved the water before, she cried both times. The theory at the moment is that maybe her bottom hurts when the salt water touches it. She has nappy rash for the first time in her entire life, and it looks very sore. Poor baby.... She is trying with all her might to crawl, and can now put herself and push ups position, only her hands and the balls of her feet touching the ground. She can easily move herself backwards, but can't quite go forward yet. This morning I saw her go in the proper crawling position, knees under her, arms extended. It's only a matter of time now.... I gave Hannah a rusk this week as she just wants to chew on everything. I gave her paper or cardboard sometimes, but now she has figured out how to get chunks off in about 2 seconds flat and a few times I've had to fish them out of her mouth, so no more paper or cardboard for her. She loves rusk though. As soon as I gave it to her, she put it in her little mouth and chewed and chewed and chewed like she had been doing it her entire life.

Sorry there are no pictures, but we are on holiday and I'm writing this from a borrowed laptop. I will put photos up next week (when you will hear about our 12 hour road trip home. Fingers crossed that Hannah won't mind it too much. She isn't a huge fan of the car).

Monday, December 14, 2009

I can't believe she can sit!





The UFC is finally coming to Australia. FINALLY!!! Aaron said he wanted to buy me tickets for Christmas (which I think is an awesome present by the way). SNAP!! They sold out the day they went on sale. How rude! Now most people wouldn't pick me as a UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship for those of you who don't know) fan, but I love it! We even went to one in Las Vegas. We flew from Paris to Frankfurt to Los Angeles, then drove (ok, Aaron drove) straight to The Palms casino where it was being held. No hotel stop, no shower, only a quick trip to taco bell (why is there no Taco Bell here, it's very sad), then straight there. We were very late too, we only got there in time to see the main 2 fights and the tail end of the fight just before them. So when we found out the UFC was coming to Australia, we got very excited. I can't believe they sold out already! I think I'm going to scour e-bay, and if that doesn't work, then we might go on the day and keep the scalpers in business. At least with the success of ticket sales, maybe that means the UFC will be back here sometime.

After last weeks night out, I was keen to give it another go, hoping that getting away would be a bit easier this time. I fed Hannah early, The Jess got here on time, things were looking good. Unfortunately, Hannah didn't think she should go to bed half an hour early. She started bawling her eyes out as soon as I put her down. I thought she'd settle and sleep with a little patting, so I left The Jess to it and went on my merry way (after putting on my dress of course). I told her to message me when Hannah was asleep. 15 minutes later I still hadn't heard anything, so I texted The Jess. Still bawling. Oh Hannah was ripping my heart out. It was hard enough leaving her there bawling her eyes out, but to know that she still was.... I met Aaron at the posh seafood restaurant where his work Christmas party was. I thought a cocktail was in order, so I ordered a chocolaty one that was frozen like a thick shake. Mmmmm.... I was still worried about Bubba though. I kept checking my phone and texting The Jess for progress reports. She cried for 2 hours and then finally went to sleep. Poor little Bubba. I think next time, I will make sure she is sleeping before I leave, even if it means I will be late. I just didn't want to miss out on all the yummy seafood. There was way too much food by the way. I had an entree of king prawn which was so so so yummy (best part of the meal I think), followed by a GIANT piece of salmon with mashed potato that I couldn't even eat half of. Plus, there was a seafood platter for the table, and lobster mornay. Then, there was desert, and I had another cocktail. Hannah wouldn't be needing a feed until at least 12, so it was safe to have another one. I shouldn't have after all that food though, my tummy hurt, so we went home early. I'm such a light weight.

I know babies aren't supposed to sit up until they are a bit older, but Hannah has decided that it's time. One day she could sit up for a short period of time, then fall over, the next she could sit up like a pro. I timed her, she sat up for 10 minutes before reaching too far for something and going sideways (and I caught her of course). She is so clever. She can also roll in all directions, front to back and back to front, but prefers to go to her left. One day she was supposed to be napping but instead decided to roll around her cot, give me a cheeky smile, then giggle hysterically. I couldn't help but laugh, it was so cute. Then of course she did it more. So much for nap time.

The day after tomorrow, Hannah will experience her first airplane ride. I'm so excited, I think she will love it. There are lots of people to look and smile at, a window to look out, planes to watch at the airport. I can't wait (except I will miss Aaron until he joins me in a weeks time).

Monday, December 7, 2009

5 year anniversary :)







If a baby vomits after trying a new food, it could have an intolerance. How do you know if your baby is vomiting vomiting, or just spitting up vomiting? It's like going into labour, you just know.

I was so excited to go out for our anniversary without Bubba. I even fed her early so I could get a move on. At 6:45 I was done feeding her, she was all sleepy eyed, and just needed a burp before I put her down. I put her over my shoulder and started patting. Nothing. I kept patting. She made a funny coughing noise that I haven't heard before, so I looked at her. And that is when it happened. Vomit was everywhere. It somehow made it's way around my entire arm. Not just the top , not just the bottom, all the way around. It was all over my shirt, all over my pants (which were my nice make my butt look nice jeans that I was planning to wear on my anniversary date), all over the floor, all over the magazine I was reading while feeding her, all over her wondersuit, all over her sleeping bag, all over my still exposed boob. How do you know if your baby is vomiting vomiting. Oh my goodness, you will know! But then there is the question of why. Is it food intolerance, sickness, fluke, who really knows?? I had to change Hannah, clean the floor, re feed her (she threw up her entire dinner, boob, and the carrot and zucchini she had at 5:30), wash myself. So much for my early exit.

What was I going to wear now? I had a nice outfit planned out, I wasn't wearing the shirt at the time (as I was sure I'd get milk on it if I fed her in it), but the pants were now inoperable. I tried the shirt with the only other pair of jeans I can fit in (I only have 3 pairs, and the last pair is the best, but was always tight before I got pregnant, so I can't even do them up now). Ugh, it looked terrible. Ok, plan b. But what is plan B? I looked in the closet. I got out the red dress that The Jess gave me and I haven't worn before. I tried it on. Oh dear, it showed every unwanted curve, underwear line, and belly pooch. Hmmm.... What to wear.... Then I remembered the "California Beauty Slim Lift Body shaping Undergarment" that my mother in law gave me while I was still pregnant. "You will love this after you have the baby." She said. I laughed at such a notion. Surely by the time I was going to go somewhere where I wanted to look nice and non flabby, I would actually look nice and non flabby. Before having Hannah, I was a size 8 and 48-50 kgs, so such a thing was quite foreign to me. I happily found the fat flattener (which I will now refer to it as) and put it on. Nice, it really works. I can't say that I've ever worn an undergarment that went from the middle of my thighs all the way to my boobs, but hey, I wasn't complaining. The only shoes (apart from heels, and I despise wearing heels and feel whoever invented them needs a swift kick in the butt) I have that go with the dress are shoes I bought and wore whilst pregnant when my normal shoes got too small for my swollen fat feet. Oh well, they'd have to do.

I shut the car door when I got out at Artarmon station and nearly screamed. Right there, on the door, was a very large, ugly spider, staring right at me (at least I felt like it was). It wasn't a huntsmen, so who knows what kind of poisonous freak spider it was. I quickly sauntered away. Going up the stairs at the station, I could feel my feet slipping around in my fat shoes. Darn those fat pregnant feet that stretched the life out of my shoes! I somehow tripped up the stairs and landed on my knees. Everyone looked at me. Yup, I felt really cool at that point. I'm sure my fat flattener was now showing as well. The night did not get off to a great start.

I met up with Aaron at Town Hall and we walked to the Japanese restaurant we planned to eat at. This particular place does yum cha but with Japanese food. And I love all the little dumplings and yum cha-ey stuff. Closed until mid December. Ok, well I guess we can't eat there. Next door was Seoul Ria. I'd never had Korean food before, so we decided to give it a go. When we got in, Aaron realised that he had been there with his old work before, and it was really good. We ordered a big sizzle pot thing (can't remember what they are actually called) where they bring all the food to your table and cook it right there. I really wanted a cocktail since I hadn't had an alcoholic beverage in over a year, but, they didn't do cocktails. Humph. They did have a Korean raspberry wine though. I don't usually drink wine, but I like raspberries, so we ordered a bottle anyway. It was good as far as wine goes. I just sipped it throughout the meal, and drank the equivalent of about 1.5 standard drinks. I think the combination of me being a lightweight anyway, and not having a drink for so long really made a difference. I was tipsy off 1.5 standard drinks (much to Aaron's amusement).

After dinner, we headed one street over to a cafe Aaron found on the net that also has boardgames. You order desert, and also a board game to play while you sit there. Who ever thought of that deserves a medal. Brilliant idea. I'm sure we probably already own every single board game they offer, but it's the fun novelty factor that entices me. Unfortunately, they were also closed. I guess we will have to go some other time. Instead, we headed to baskin Robbins where I indulged in some chocolate peanut butter ice cream. It's about time the peanut butter ice cream hit Australia!!!! Despite the hiccups, we had a really good night, and I can't wait to go out again sometime.

Other things that happened this week: Hannah started trying to crawl. When she is on her tummy, she puts her knees under herself. Not long now I'm afraid. Better get a playpen. She also rolled from her tummy to her back a couple of times, but doesn't do it regularly like she does back to front. We had a Christmas party with our antenatal class (the girls I meet up with every week). Hannah helped open her present and got some really cute outfits from her boyfriend. She sucked on his arm for a while too, cheeky monkey. I think Aaron and I will have to teach Hannah about sharing, she keeps stealing toys from all the other babies. The party was on a hot day, so we went for a swim for half an hour or so and Hannah absolutely loved it. I got the Christmas stuff out to put up but then couldn't find the tree, so I had to buy a new one. Lucky I'm the queen of bargains and picked up a 6 foot tree for $20. Score!

Monday, November 30, 2009

I finally cracked it




"I'm going to go look at her" Aaron said.
"What?" I asked.
"Don't you ever just like to look at her?"
"Yeah, I do it all the time."
Aaron came back down to the laundry room where I was washing nappies. "You have to see this, she's so cute!"
Not quite knowing what to expect, we went in her room. I peered in the cot, and there she was, on the very edge, halfway up, one arm through the bar and touching the wall, sleeping on her belly.
"Is she breathing?" I half freaked out, it didn't look like a normal Bubba sleeping position.
Aaron put his finger near her nostril "I'm pretty sure I can feel it."
That wasn't good enough for me. I gently put my hand on her back. "Yeah, I can feel her breathing." Phew. And maybe this means she won't wake up every time she rolls on her tummy. Houston, we may have success!


1am- She's on her belly again and screams for a feed
2am - "waaaa!!" The belly sleeping success is clearly not going very well. She's not happy, she's on her belly again. I go and turn her over and calm her down. Slightly losing my marbles.
3am - Oh my goodness, she wants me to turn her over again. Bag of marbles getting smaller.
5am - She is sick of sleeping on her belly again and cries for me to turn her over. More marbles leaking out of my bag....
6am - Dear Lord, I think I'm going to lose it. You know you are about to lose it when you dreamt about someone asking someone else how to do a moustache combover (um...what is wrong with my brain?) and then are awakened for the 5th time by a screaming baby that doesn't know how to polley rolley (but can rolley polley).
I feel like Taz, the Tasmanian Devil. I wish I could just spin around in a cloud of destruction whilst shouting expletives, because at this point, that is what I really feel like doing. Instead, I gather my marbles back up, take a deep breath, and go turn over and calm said screaming baby. I'm so tired and frustrated and know that somehow, I'm going to crack. Rather then indulging in my Taz fantasy, I sat there, patting Hannah, trying to get her back to sleep, and I cry. I don't usually cry, but when you've been up 5 times in one night (and she was never even up that much when she was a newborn), and are having crazy dreams about moustache combovers, something's gotta give. I've finally cracked it. I decide right now that later today, I'm going to march down to the shops (ok, drive) and buy a rolley polley preventer (not actual name). The baby nurse said those can help (or the baby can figure out how to roll over it, but even if it gets me once peaceful nights sleep, it will be so worth it), or there are special sheets you can get that velcro baby in. Now in my head, that means baby wears a velcro suit, and then is plastered to the bed much like one of those game shows on tv where they don helmets, and velcro suits, jump on a trampoline, then get stuck to a velcro wall. Instead they are sheets with flaps etc. so you sort of harness baby in. I think my version would work better. I go to bed feeling only slightly better, but still like my bag of marbles is only half full. Luckily Hannah gives me another hour of sleep and when I wake up, I have regained most of my marbles. I can't wait to get my rolley polley preventer. Fingers crossed it actually works.

As soon as I got home with the rolley polley preventer, I fed Hannah and put her to sleep. Oh my goodness, she put herself to sleep, no patting needed, and slept for an hour and a half. I think I like the rolley polley preventer. She woke up twice that night (would have been once, but I was too lazy to dreamfeed her and she didn't appreciate it). The next night she only woke up once. Unfortunately it was down hill after that. She keeps waking 3 times a night, trying and trying to roll over in her rolley polley preventer (actually called a sleep positioner), and getting upset that she can't. So basically, she gets upset if she doesn't sleep in it because she wakes up on her belly and wants to be rolled over (and calmed down after waking up with such a shock at being on her tummy), or, she can sleep in the rolley polley preventer and then wake up cranky because she can't roll over. I can't win. I just hope this stage doesn't last long, I really enjoy sleep!

"Boo!" Aaron yelled from the bedroom.
"Yes Boo" I said (yes we are weird and we both claim the other one is Boo).
"Can you get me a cloth?"
"Ok." I brought it in. Hannah was over Aaron's legs playing Airplane Bubba. She looked at me and gave me the cheekiest grin I've ever seen. I looked at Aaron. His lips were pursed shut and he had an "I can't believe you just did that" look on his face. Something white was all over his face. I laughed my head off and Hannah laughed too. She thought it was hilarious that she threw up right on Daddy's face.


Since starting solids, Hannah has had really sticky, messy, smelly poos (instead of quite runny, mustardy ones). This morning she had a nugget. I don't know if babies are supposed to do nuggets, but there it was, all nuggety in her nappy. Maybe she is a little constipated? She didn't have a lot of poo yesterday either. Hmmm...How do you know if they are constipated? Do I just get some prune juice anyway, and mix it with her rice cereal, or do I assume all is fine since there was a bit of poo (just not her usual volume or consistency)? Maybe I worry too much.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

The week of accomplishments









"WAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!" Aaron and I looked at each other. It was only 9pm, what was Hannah doing waking up screaming right now?
"You cheeky Bubba," I heard Aaron say from her room. I went in to see what all the fuss was about. "You cheeky little monkey!" I said to her. She looked up at me from halfway down the cot, facing the wrong direction, with a puzzled expression. I'm not sure if she knew how she got on to her belly. Did she do it in her sleep, or did she do it on purpose. I could already tell this was going to become a problem. Aaron tried a number of times to put her back to sleep, but she just kept rolling as soon as he put her down. I gave her a feed which knocked her out, then I put her down. My success was short lived, she woke up on her tummy a number of times that night. If only she knew how to roll back over....

Hannah hasn't had a proper nap since Saturday. Or was it Friday? I can't remember. I think she's out, then 5 minutes later, WAAA!! I find her on her tummy again. Yesterday I sat in her room and patted her belly for an hour an a half (the amount of time she is supposed to nap for). She slept for 20 minutes, and I had to prevent her from rolling over on a number of occasions. When she is in her light sleep, she moves around a lot, puts her legs straight in the air, and then brings them down to the side and bang, she's on her tummy. She used to just move her head from side to side like a crazy person and rub all of her hair off. After a while, she would go still, in her deep sleep.

I've been hearing a lot about Baby sleeping bags recently. A lot of the girls bought them for their babies because they wiggle around in their cots and end up with no blankets. Hannah either kicks her blankets off, or puts her feet straight up in the air, making the blankets slip over her head. I think it's time for a sleeping bag. Add the now rolling, and there is no way she can have blankets. She could get all tangled up in them. I saw some at the shops for 60 something dollars. Seemed a bit steep to me, so I did what any industrious girl would do. I made my own. Then the weather decided to be a gross 40 degrees (104f), and my wrap was made useless (too hot!). I plan to make another one with a better design this time, and a bit thinner for summer.

Even though it was extremely hot outside, I was freezing. It was bed time, and I was piling on the blankets. My muscles were all achy. Aaron came to bed asked me if I was crazy (for having blankets on). "You're like a furnace!" I felt Aaron's skin. It felt rather cold. Had he just been frolicking in a refrigerator. I felt mine. Next to Aaron's, mine felt like the sand at the beach on a stinking hot day. You have to run on it because if you leave your foot down too long in one spot, it hurts. Yep, I had a fever. I didn't sleep well at all, with all the coughing and feeling like I was trying to sleep in an ice chest even though my skin was burning up to touch. After I fed Hannah, I'd had enough and turned to the panadol (ok, cheap pharmacy brand imitation) for some relief. An hour later I woke up feeling like I was in the desert. I kicked off all the blankets and felt my skin. Phew, I was normal again. I didn't feel well when I woke up, I was still achy and felt like I just wanted to lay down, so I asked Aaron to stay home from work so he could look after Hannah. Awesome husband that he is, he did, and I laid in bed all day long (except when Hannah wanted booby of course).

I went to the doctor the next day as my cough was worse and I still would have a fever if I wasn't popping fake panadol (FYI, they are fine to take when breast feeding, no need to call CPS on me). Ew, I have bronchitis. The doc gave me some antibiotics (again, also ok to take while breastfeeding...), and I'm feeling much better now, but still have the obnoxious cough, and still feel like my windpipe is trying to escape through my mouth.

I always thought that chocolate, or ice cream was a good treat, but Hannah has found this week, that toes make a tasty treat. Last week she found her feet, but this week, she has been enjoying trying to eat them. I wonder what they taste like? I bet ice cream and chocolate taste better. Ok, I don't need to wonder what they taste like, I lightly bite her toes all the time, she thinks it's funny (they don't taste like anything in case you are wondering).

She also thinks it's hilarious to blow raspberries while I feed her. Not while she's having booby, but while she is having her proper food. I put it in her mouth, and "ppppphhhhffff," I'm showered in food. She grins cheekily. Cheeky little monkey. I probably shouldn't have laughed the first time she did it, but it was pretty funny. I think I encouraged her. My bad.

Grandma has her bet on that Hannah will be crawling at Christmas time. Since she has all this new found tummy time (since she puts herself on her tummy every time you put her down), she has discovered that she can push herself up off her elbows, have her arms straight, with her hands still on the floor. She then kicks her little feet like she really wants to go somewhere, and tries to pull herself along the floor. Look out everyone, Hannah may soon be mobile. Our flat is so not ready for that! I think we will have to buy a play pen.


Monday, November 16, 2009

Bubba makes boys cry





Trying on one of my bikini's, I looked in the mirror. Finally, my linea nigra is starting to fade. It's still there, but not so loud and proud as before. I'm glad I can fit into my bikini's, but I still have 3 kilos to lose before I'm back to my pre pregnancy weight. No rush though, it's only been 4 months. I put my shorts on the other day too. I tried them a month or so ago, and couldn't get them past my hips/butt, let alone do them up, so I'm ecstatic that I can fit in to them now.

"Ouch!!" Ok, well that's what he would have said if he could talk, but he is just a 4 month old baby, so he curled out his bottom lip, and started crying instead. Hannah has started to take interest in other babies, and reaches out to touch them and grab their hands. Unfortunately, she gave Archie a nipple cripple while she was at it. He wasn't the only baby she made cry that day, baby Connor also cried when she grabbed his hand too much. Watch out, we have a little heart breaker on our hands!!

Bubba and I went to the beach with the girls on Wednesday. I was a bit worried that Hannah might not like the water as it is still quite cold, but she couldn't have cared less. As soon as I put her little feet in the wet sand, she started bouncing (she does that when she's happy). The little waves crashed over her feet, which she also loved. She watched her feet as the water went out, burying her little toes in the sand. I didn't want to keep her in too long though, her little bubba feet were getting quite cold.

Speaking of feet, Hannah has discovered that she has some. She can entertain herself for ages, just laying on her back, grabbing her toes. Or, she lifts her head and shoulders up, as well as her feet, and looks at them for a while.

I like that Hannah is now exploring the wide world of food, but I don't like the increasingly smelly, sticky poops. Last night, she ate 2 TBSP of rice cereal (with breast milk), and another 2 TBSP of sweet potato (with breast milk). This morning, she had a really smelly, sticky poo. I hate to think what her poos will smell like when she is over 6 months old, and getting more solids then breast milk!

Monday, November 9, 2009

Pee pee bath, beach time, mummified, and up all night





Time since birth: 4 months
Where has the time gone??

I'm not impressed, I have a cold. The skin around my nostrils is bright red and peeling due to excessive nose blowing. I sound like I have a frog in my throat. I feel like I have a frog in my throat. My nose has turned into a faucet. I've been feeding Hannah with kleenex stuffed up my nose so it doesn't drip on her. I must look rather funny, a boob hanging out with a bubba attached, kleenex hanging out of my nose. I think Hannah might have caught my cold. Last night she was up 5 times. Never in her life has she been up 5 times before (I kept records, I checked). She doesn't seem sick though. I suppose there are a million other reasons why a baby would be up so many times. The first time (10pm) she seemed gassy, the kind that burns when it comes out. I patted her and she screamed as she did huge farts. I thought she had done a giant poo, but upon nappy checking, all I found was pee. I gave her some booby to settle her down and then she went back to sleep. 12pm - the crying started again. She seemed a bit snuffly. I gave her some booby and she went back to sleep. 2pm, surely she can't be hungry again. I patted her and let her suck my finger (after I sanitised it) and she went back to sleep. 3pm, awake again. I gave her some more booby which she took ravenously. 5pm, I could hear her grizzling, and crying a bit on the monitor, but I didn't get up, it didn't sound urgent. She went back to sleep. As I said, there are so many reasons why she could have been waking up. Maybe she was too hot or cold (it was pretty hot at the beginning of the night), maybe she was uncomfortable with wind or just the way she was wrapped. Maybe she was hungry. Maybe she just couldn't resettle herself after her sleep cycle (babies have sleep cycles of about 45 minutes). Who knows. I just hope that tonight is better. I feel like a zombie today. Maybe more like a mummy, I do have kleenex hanging out of my nose. I could walk around with my arms in front of me and scare small children if I wanted to. Come to think of it, zombies and mummies are quite similar. Maybe mummies are just zombies with bandages? Yes, I know I'm random.

The race that stops the nation. That is the Melbourne cup. I like to dress up for the occasion, as I have done for a few years now. It's fun to put on a nice dress and put a fascinator (or hat, whatever takes your fancy) in your hair to watch the race. I'm not particularly into horse racing (I feel a bit sorry for the horses, I think backyard horses would get so much more love and attention), but it's a good excuse to dress up. I was going to wear the fascinator myself, but I put it on Hannah for a bit of a laugh. She looked so cute that I left it there. We went to the pub with Grandma to watch the race and I could hear everyone commenting on how cute Hannah was as we walked by.

Aaron usually gives Hannah her bath, but sometimes I feel like a bit of a bath, so she has one with me. We have a bit of a special hot water system in this apartment building that only refills once per day (well, night, sometime in the middle of it). There is enough water for 2 showers with a bit left over, or a bath and a shower. Needless to say if Aaron and I both wish to stay clean, Hannah can't have a bath as often as needed, so she ends up having a shower with Aaron most of the time. I felt like a bath, so after I had a relaxing nice bath, in came Aaron with Hannah for her wash. He stood her up in the water, holding under her armpits to balance her. Her lower half is usually under the water, but since she was standing, Aaron could clearly see that she did pee pees as soon as she got in. I wonder if she always does that. Is it gross that I didn't get out? I mean I was already in there, It was already in the water, we were out of hot water, and getting out wasn't going to change the fact that it was already on me. It's not like it was a huge volume or anything either, she is only tiny. I think Aaron is a bit scared of having a bath with her now. It's funny, before having a baby, I would have been mortified to think that I would be in a bath with pee, but now, after being peed on, pooed on, vomited on, finding vomit in my hair at the end of the day and not knowing when it got there, etc., a little pee does not bother me. Of course if I could control the matter, there would never be pee in the bath with me, but it's out of my control, so what can you do? Shortly after the pee fountain, the bathtub became a spa. Little bubbles came up all around Hannah. I take it she likes to fart in the bath too. Maybe she was just gassy that day. Lucky for me, there was no follow through. That, I would have vacated the bath for.

It was supposed to rain on Saturday, but it ended up being a very nice day. We went to a lunch at someone from Aaron's works house near the beach, so we decided to take Bubba to the beach for the first time. I had already purchased her a really cute little swimming suit. Well, it's not so little, it like a rashee with legs. It covers her from her neck, to her wrists to her ankles, and is SPF 50. Don't want the bubba getting sunburned!! I also bought her a sun tent. It's like a dome tent that you sleep in when camping, only it has an open side. That way you can always have shade at the beach and not burn the Bubba. We didn't stay long at the beach as it was quite windy, but Hannah seemed to really like it. We stood her in the sand (holding under her armpits, she is a super baby, but she can't stand yet...), and she smiled and wanted to bounce. She loves to bounce. She bends her little knees and then pushes and who ever is holding her then pulls her up as if she is jumping. She loves it.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Freak Cartoon, Sick, Horrible Mommy, Rice cereal, and Dreamfeeds



There's nothing on TV on Sunday mornings. Hannah was having a nap, and we like to have some constant noise so she doesn't get used to napping in silence (we don't want to have to tip toe around the house while she is napping!). We settled on the Sunday morning cartoons. My how they have changed since I was a kid! There was a cute lion and lioness, walking upright, the lioness wearing an apr
on. All seemed well until the lioness said (and these are the exact words) "We have the house to ourselves, and I'm still in H-E-A-T...." while suggestively kissing her lion husband and looking at him seductively. Seriously, is there ANY reason why something like that needs to be in a child's cartoon?? How on earth did that get past editing, then why would the network agree to put it on tv, and what sort of freak show pervert draws and writes that in the first place. I mean really, it was so unnecessary. When I was little, I watched cartoons about a little bird who "taut he taw a puddy tat." What has the world come to??

I wanted to put
the washing out, so i put a towel on the ground and laid Hannah on her back while I pegged out the washing. I'd turn to check on her every few items, but when I turned, she was on her tummy, halfway off the towel!! She was quite chuffed with herself. I picked her up and she gave me the biggest, most accomplished grin. Of course she wouldn't do it again though, not while mommy was watching!!

The next day she rolled on
our bed twice, but this time from her tummy to her back. Clever girl!

Lately Hannah has been getting up twice during the night, making me into somewhat of a zombie. I have gotten used to only waking once, or not at all, so I decided that I would figure out a way to make her only get up once. First on my new plan: Don't let her nap past 4pm. Sometimes she has a late nap but then wants to get up for the day at 4am. This isn't usually a problem, but once in a while she refuses to sleep during the day and then wants a late nap. I can't really blame, her, playing is so much more fun then sleeping!! Second part of New Plan: dream feed at 9pm. What is a dream feed you ask?? Simple, I went into Bubba's room at 9pm, picked her up without unwrapping her, and put her straight on to my boob. She doesn't actually wake up, but has a full feed while she is half asleep. Of course I was secretly hoping she wouldn't wake up at all after taking such measures, but she only woke up once, so I deemed the whole exercise a success.

Monday morning Hannah wasn't quite herself. She didn't want to eat much, was lethargic, and had disturbingly bright green poos. Think Kermit the frog, and that is the right colour. I took her temperature and found it was 38 degrees (Celsius that is). Just a slight fever. She cried most of the morning. She didn't even want to play, which is so unlike her. Since she was a bit lethargic, I thought it would be the perfect time to cut her nails. She usually flails about, making it rather difficult. Wow, it has never been so easy before! I must have gotten a bit too confident. She let out a huge painful cry, similar to the one I've only heard once, when she got her shots. Her tiny little thumb was bleeding. I cut her. I felt like the worst mom in the world. I cut my little baby. She cried for about 5 minutes, but I cuddled her the whole time. I felt so bad. At least she forgot for a moment that she didn't feel the best.

She still wasn't feeling well that afternoon, so I took her to the doctor. The doc took her temp (which was now normal), and checked her heartbeat, in her ears, in her mouth, etc. She looked fine. Doc thought it was probably a bug of some sort. It is common for little girls to get urinary tract infections as their poo has a tendency to go everywhere, including their poor little baby bits. Doc gave me 2 specimen cups to go home and catch her wee with. Doc also told me if she gets any worse, bring her back in or go to emergency if it's the middle of the night.

Tuesday morning she was looking and feeling much better. She smiled at me and wanted to play when she woke up. I had to complete my urine catching mission first though. Now, it's much easier to catch urine on little boys. You just have to attach a bag thing to his boyhood and wait (this is what one of the girls told me when her little boy had to be tested for a UTI). With girls on the other hand, you need to be a bit more patient, and employ your cat-like reflexes. I laid her out on her changing mat, nappy off, collection cup in hand, lid unscrewed but still sitting on it so as not to contaminate the future specimen, and waited. It didn't take very long, she always pees when she has her nappy off. I used my said cat-like reflexes and, kept hold of the yellow lid in one hand, and like lightning, pressed the cup below the stream of pee. Success! Urine collected. Not a lot, but hey, babies don't pee a lot anyway. It was enough. FYI, she doesn't have a UTI, and is fine now.

We weren't going to start Hannah on solids until she was at least 5 months, but, she had her first rice cereal (with booby milk) on Saturday. She was fussing at the beginning of all of her feeds for the last few weeks, so I took her to the early childhood centre to see the baby nurse. She recommend I introduce solids. They are not in any way to replace the breast milk, they are just for something a little extra. We don't give it to her until after she has had a full meal of breast milk, and then she only has about a teaspoon. The first time we gave it to her, she didn't really know what to do. She held it in her mouth for a little bit, made a funny face, then swallowed it. Most of it ended up all over her face. Not because she spat it out, but because she had never had a spoon in her mouth before and didn't really know what to do. She had some for the third time this morning and has started opening her mouth in anticipation. Next weekend we can introduce some mashed potato (with booby milk). You are supposed to introduce bland vegetables before fruits, and only introduce something new every 7 days.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Exposed, butt cream, and baldness



I looked at the drain. Hair was everywhere. I put the conditioner in my hair and ran my fingers through it. My hands were full of hair that was no longer attached to my head. If you look at the bathroom sink, you will see my hair everywhere. It's also all over the floor, and I keep finding it in Hannah's hands and on her clothes. I seem to be molting. I would be really really worried except that I read that about 3 or so months after giving birth you start losing all the extra hair you grew while
you were pregnant. It's quite unfortunate for me as I didn't have very much to begin with. I really don't think I grew any extra while I was pregnant either, so may
be I am just going bald?

Riding the bus home one day, I sat in the wheelchair/pram section. Not because I had the pram (sorry, stroller for you americans), but because there were no other seat
s. Hannah was snug in the baby bjorn (baby carrier thing that allows you to wear your baby). I pressed the button to let the driver know to stop at the next bus stop. I waited until the bus came to a complete stop and then I stood up. The chair decided to come to life and folded itself up as I stood. Usually you have to manually fold
them up and down. I quickly got off the bus, not daring to look back to see if all the other passenger
s did indeed see my buttocks that was exposed when the rogue seat went up, taking my dress with it. I'm sure they did see the granny panties I wore that day (because all the better ones were in the wash) my bottom hanging out the sides, stretch marks and cellulite fully on display. I still wonder how my butt got stretch marks shortly before I gave birth, but not even a tiny stretch mark decided to make residence on my belly.

"Time for a nappy change Sweet Pea." I laid her down on the change mat and pulled up her dress. I undid her nappy to find a mustard coloured poo. I cleaned her up and
put a fresh nappy under her bottom. She loves to kick on her mat sans fastened nappy. "Would you like some butt cream?" I asked her. "hahahahahahahahahhaa!!!" She giggled. Apparently she thinks butt cream is hilarious. She must have mommy's sense of humour. "would you like some butt cream?" I asked her again. "hahahahah!" She was on a roll. She had never cracked up before. Sometimes she gives little singular or double giggles, but never a crack up. I asked her a few more times and got lots more giggles. I think she indeed did want some butt cream (my words for nappy rash cream, or whatever it is actually called).

Monday, October 19, 2009

A day in the life/head of Sheri






Time since birth: 15 weeks

The cup of tea I made this morning is sitting in the microwave, waiting to be consumed after it's 3rd nuke of the day. I am only now brushing my teeth and it's 11am. I haven't showered today, and I'm living in my sweats. A lot of days dinner consists of something haphazardly thrown together such us eggs on toast because there is no time to make anything else. I'm in bed at 8pm. I refer to myself as Mommy or Mama, and to Aaron as Daddy, and then talk about myself in the third person. I am mom to an infant, the most rewarding, challenging job in the world. Below is a day in my life.

6am - Hannah is grizzling, "Mommy, I'm awake, please come and get me now!" I go in her room and she gives me a giant smile and squeals at me. I love it when she does that. I try to feed her but lately she much prefers to play before eating. Playing is much more fun then eating! She always does a giant poopy in the morning. After changing her, I lay her on her mat and so she can kick with her nappy off, one of her favourite activities. She babbles to me and blows raspberries as she kicks her little heart out. She does a snart (sneeze and fart at the same time) which produces projectile poo poo. Luckily I have laid an old magazine out from the bottom of the mat, and the poo lands on it. After having to scrub the carpet and my pants a few times, I've learned my lesson.

I put Hannah on her baby play gym mat thingy so she can bat at and grab the hanging toys and play with the giant plush caterpillar (ok, it's really a centipede, but I don't like centipedes, so I call it a caterpillar), and coloured rings that I lay on her belly. Of course they go straight to the mouth and receive lots of slobbery attention.

7am - booby time! She eats some then tries to be cheeky and looks at me with the most adorable blue eyes and gives me a cheeky little grin and starts telling me about her morning. I know I shouldn't encourage her to be distracted during feeding time, but she is so cute, I just can't resist smiling back at her and stroking her hair lovingly. She gives me an even bigger smile then goes back to feeding. She makes me smile. After she's finished I wrap her up and she share's with me her disgust at having to take a nap by voicing a large whinge as I wrap her in her bubba straight jacket. She has to have the special Houdini can't get out of it wrap or she'll manage to free her hands then startle herself awake when she hits herself in the face with them. I put her in her cot, put on her bubba nursery rhyme music, and then leave the room. I can hear her whinging for a while as I do the cleaning, but eventually she falls asleep. She's not allowed out of her cot for 1 hour and 30 minutes. If she wakes up again, which she often does, I pat her belly until she falls back asleep.

Mmmm that cup of green tea sounds pretty good about now. I might sit down, drink some tea, and have a snack. I put the tea back in the microwave. I made it this morning, but haven't had time to finish it. DING DING DING. Who made the finish noises on microwaves so loud? They obviously didn't have a sleeping baby in the house. It seems when I'm trying to be quiet I become a super clutz. I drop cutlery, knock things of the table, trip over cords, you name it, I do it when trying to be quiet. Maybe I'm just super special.

I can see 3 people coming down the stairs outside in front of my house. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. They are knocking so loud I think the door might fall down. More importantly, they might wake up the bubba. Was it really necessary to knock that loud? They could clearly see me sitting on the couch sipping me tea when they came down the stairs. It's not like they had to try to awaken me from a deep sleep or anything. Before I even realise it, I've jumped up, bounded to the door, and proceeded to crankily tell the intruders to be quiet, the baby is alseep. They ask me if I've heard of the "spiritual mother." I say no and give them an I'm so not interested look. They don't take the hint and keep going. "are you a christian?" they ask. Yes I am. "and you haven't heard of the spiritual mother?" I think maybe I haven't understood them properly as they don't seem to speak english very well. "What?" I say (stupidly). They ask me if they can come in for 2 minutes to tell me about the spiritual mother. I say no and once again tell them to be quiet as my baby is sleeping. They don't get the hint and won't let up so I eventually have to shut the door in their face. My blinds are open so rather then have them still staring at me while standing next to my door, I also shut the blinds. Spiritual mother? Seriously, I don't know what bible they are reading. Not once did they mention Jesus or even God. I decide to tape a note to the door to deter people from ever knocking so crazy loud again. "DO NOT KNOCK LOUDLY baby might be sleeping." Problem hopefully solved.

Hannah starts crying. I go in there and try to calm her down to no avail. I pick her up and sit on my rocking chair. She starts farting and screaming. Sometimes I think that her farts burn her little bottom. I wonder what I ate last night to give her such a problem. She is fine after she gets all of her farts out. I didn't eat chili or anything. Maybe it's the broccoli. Grandma says that gives bubba gas. I let her out of her straight jacket and she looks me in the eyes and reaches her beautiful little hand up and starts touching my face. She sticks her fingers in my nose, mouth, ears, and touches my cheeks. We're bonding, and it's good, but her little bubba fingernails are scratching me so I put my finger next to her hand so she'll grab it and forget about touching my face.

She looks at me and makes farting noises with her mouth. Slobber goes everywhere. She finds it hilarious and I laugh. The room is a lot darker then it used to be. I look towards the window and admire my handiwork. A couple of days ago I noticed that the sunlight was getting through the blinds and onto her cot. I found a cot blanket with teddy bears on it in the closet which is about the same size as the window, so I made a curtain out of it. I think it looks pretty good.

Hannah's hungry, so I decide to feed her on the couch so I can use the computer. I still need to finish Grandma's 80th birthday present. I'm making her a this is your life book filled with photos from when she was a baby until now, and then getting it printed in a hardcover book. I see a photo of Bubba and realise her ears are starting to stick out like mommy's. Poor Bubba, she got the Beath ears. Hopefully she will get Daddy's thick hair to cover her stick out ears. I think she will as she already has a mop of unruly curls.

4pm - uh oh, start of the "arsenic hour." I take Hannah for a walk. We go up the huge hill near our house and my lungs burn. I'm very out of shape. We walk for an hour and I can feel my buns burning. They got a good workout with all the hills. I can't wait until I get the 3 wheel pram from Grandma so I can go jogging with her and get into shape for summer. I may still have my linea nigra, but I'm still going to wear my bikini. Hannah loves going for walks.

5pm - I have to hold Hannah and walk around in the house as she is quite cranky in the afternoons. As I said, it's "arsenic hour." We play aeroplanes on the bed and she giggles. It's a good distraction for a cranky bubba.

5:30 - I start to feed her but she keeps falling asleep so it takes a while. She's so cute though, sometimes I find it hard to disturb her

6pm - Daddy's home!!!!!!! My sleepy baby is suddenly full of life and gives Daddy a huge smile. He puts her on his shoulders and she holds on to his ears until they turn an unhealthy shade of purple. She loves riding on Daddy's shoulders. He leans forward so I can kiss her cheek while she is on his shoulders and she giggles. I change her nappy and put her pj's on. She is outgrowing them and her toes barely fit into the feet of the pajamas. She has the cutest big fat rolls on her thighs. I think she is going to be a fat baby like Mommy was. I give her the other booby.

7pm - bedtime. I wrap her up and put her in her cot. I turn the music on and read to her from her book of bible stories. She wants to tell her own stories though and starts babbling really loudly. Daddy is laughing in the other room. I leave the room and don't hear a peep from her until 3am when I give her a feed. Then everything starts all over at 6am.

Other things that happened this week: We celebrated Aaron and Grandma's birthdays (they share a birthday) by going out to yum cha for lunch and eating a very rich brownie cake that I made. Grandma cried when she saw the book we made her for her birthday. Aaron got something like 8 more games for his birthday. I think that means we have a hundred and thirty something now.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Farts, Squeals, Cot, Fat, and Toys



Time since birth: 14 weeks

Pppfffllttt. Burp (how do you spell the sound a burp makes??). "Good girl! Get that wind out!" I've noticed that I'm not the only mom that praises her baby for "getting her wind up/out" (burping and farting). Newborns seem to have a difficult time getting their wind out sometimes, so when they do, we let them know how good they are. I still tell Hannah she is a good girl when she burps (I usually laugh when she farts. How such a big noise comes out of such a little baby is beyond me, but it's very very funny. Sometimes she even looks right in my eyes and gives me a really cheeky grin when she farts). So, if we praise our babies for burping and farting, but then get older children in trouble for it, when does it become socially unacceptable? Doesn't it confuse kids that one day they praised for it, the next they get in trouble? When is the cut off for being able to burp/fart in public (and by in public, I mean in front of people other then your family/friends you feel comfortable enough to do that in front of)? How do you explain it to your children after they have been able to do it freely all of their lives?

Ring Ring. I was calling the dentist's office to make Aaron and me an appointment. "I think the line is breaking up," the receptionist said. "No, that's my baby," I replied. Hannah was making so much noise, the lady seriously thought there was something wrong with my phone. Grandma was playing with her, and she just discovered how to squeal in delight. She was pretty much in one giant squeal for about an hour, she was so excited to play with Grandma. I've been trying to get her to do it for me, but she will only do little ones. I guess Grandma is her favorite. She adores Grandma. I tried to film her doing it, but as soon as the camera comes out, she stops what she is doing to stare at it (that goes for still camera's too).

I've been pretty tired this week as Hannah was having a growth spurt. She was waking up 2-3 times per night (she usually wakes up once or if I'm lucky not at all). Babies have a growth spurt at around 3 months old, and hers was a beauty, she gained 700g in 2 weeks! I haven't weighed her yet this week (I weigh her on Wednesdays), but I think she has gained a fair bit this week too. She weighed 5.8kgs last week, so maybe she will crack 6 this week.

It was 9pm, an hour past my bedtime (no laughing, Hannah goes to sleep at 7, so if I want a decent nights sleep, that's just what I have to do). Following the instructions I got from the Google (haha), I was still getting us nowhere. The Jess pulled into a 7-11 to get some gas. I called Aaron and told him where we were. He got on google maps and laughed. "You're like 3 streets down from where you're going." "But we've been down the road twice, and I haven't seen the street we're looking for." He had to explain it to me about 3 times (I'm very special with directions... I don't know how I was ever a pizza delivery girl). The road we were on turns to the left, and goes straight. We were supposed to go straight instead of veering left (road designers, why, oh why would you do that? One road does not need 3 different names in one mile!). Finally, back on track.

There was a van in the driveway, and the lights in the house were on. "There wasn't supposed to be anyone home," I said to The Jess. "Well, I drove you all the way here (which wouldn't have been far had it not been for my special interpretation of the google directions), we have to get it now." "Ok, let's go." We light-footed our way to the garage. We could see someone sitting on the couch. "Maybe he's house sitting, I was told they aren't coming home until tomorrow." "What should we do." "Let's just keep going." It seems the man on the couch was either ignoring us or had really really bad peripheral vision. We grabbed the some pieces of the cot and snuck back to the car. I was a little afraid the man would be waiting for us with a baseball bat when we went back to get the rest of the cot. Luckily he wasn't. "I don't know how he didn't see us, but I really don't think he did." "That, or he knows we are there, but doesn't want the social awkwardness of saying anything." "Maybe." We got the rest of the cot, loaded it up, and drove off. I sent a text message to the cots owner, letting her know that we picked it up. She was away until the next day, but told me I could go ahead and grab it out of the garage if I wanted to. We did feel a bit like robbers though, since there were people there.

The next day, I got a text message from the cots owner. She said her husband was home at the time and hosting a bible study. She said we were good robbers, no one saw or heard us even though we were right there and could see someone through the sliding door. Don't worry, we have no plans of getting into that line of work....