Gaaaahh sorry I?ve been awol for so long. I seem to be permanently busy or asleep. Or wanting to be asleep. Weeks pass in the blur of housework, children etc. Now Clara is weaning as well I seem to be in the kitchen for half the day. And in the evenings I am catching up on ironing. Rawk and roll or what?
Anyway, what have we been up to? Well Clara has taken to eating solids really well. I am doing a bit of mush and a bit of finger food and my goodness she is a messy lass! Still, she is enjoying it which is the main thing. I am doing veggies for lunch and a bit of fruit for tea although she is 26 weeks on Sunday so we can start introducing dairy and gluten and what have you. I think I?ll leave it until a few more weeks have passed before introducing meat and fish. How I am going to introduce breakfast I have no idea. She can be quite a grumpster in the morning and sleeps for quite a while most days. By the time she wakes it?s nearly time for lunch never mind breakfast. Oh well I?m sure it will sort itself out. She is also sleeping better at night with just one night waking between 7 & 7 where she now graciously accepts a bottle from DH. Yay! I have had a few nights off now which is bliss after months of being up twice a night. She doesn?t take much from a bottle which proves it isn?t really hunger that?s waking her but it is gently getting her out of the habit of waking for a nice, booby cuddle with Mummy. One day she might actually sleep though!
One massive challenge I still have with her is the whole ?independent play? concept. It?s most odd. When I put her in her gym or lay her down anywhere she basically screams as long as I remain in the room. If I put her down on the playroom and shut the door she calms down and play quite happily. It?s so strange. As long as she can see me and I?m not picking her up she goes doolally. It?s probably something to do with object permanence but you would have thought she?d be happier if she could see me? Apparently not. She is rolling now but gets stuck on her tummy and gets cross. This is odd as she started rolling from front to back when I put her on her tummy at 4 months. And yet she appears unable to do it now when she puts herself on her tummy.
Had a bit of drama yesterday. After a lovely afternoon playing Fred was jumping around as I was tidying before bath time and managed to smack his head into a corner wall. Didn?t realise what he?d done at first but heard the thud and the scream and obviously went to give him a big cuddle. When we pulled apart a bit there was blood everywhere. My lovely but far too energetic for his own good little boy had cut his head open. I had to try so hard not to freak out as blood was pouring out of it down his face. Luckily we live near a pretty good minor injuries unit so I slung them both in the car straight away and they kindly glued his head back together. Did a neat job too ? I was very impressed. He seems fine now and is loving telling everyone how a nice nurse put special glue on his head. I get so upset when he hurts himself. I seem to say ?Freddie be careful? about 20 times a day but he never takes any notice.
Well I started this post yesterday but its now Saturday morning. My boys are out shopping, Clara is asleep and I have just baked a batch of lemon cupcakes. We are having several families in our road round for a BBQ later and I wanted to make some cakes for the children. For the children, honest.
Irish Wow you must be 36 weeks by now! So nearly there. The heartburn is a sod isn?t it? I got that a lot with both of mine. The best discovery I made was that you can Zantac while pg. Check it out with a doc if you want reassurance but really, I was so happy when I realised. My heartburn laughed in the face of Rennie and Gaviscon but Zantac sorted it!
I hope you antenatal classes weren?t too scary. I?m not sure what sort of birth you would like but I hope you get the one you want. Huge hugs and happy birthing vibes coming your way. Is your nest finished yet? Your spa trip sounded lovely btw, could rather do with something like that myself!
Jumping Oh lovely I wish I could give you a big cuddle. I think you summed it up perfectly when you describe the ?sheer tedium? of domestic chores. I feel like that a lot. It?s so difficult to kick back and just throw yourself into playing with your dc?s when you know that you will all be buried under a huge pile of crap if you don?t continually clean, tidy, wipe etc. The various bugs that the little darlings catch just make it even more difficult. I?m so sorry to hear that DD1?s lung condition has started to worsen. I don?t know what to say because nothing I write can make it better. I think it?s great that you are focusing on the positives, although burying your hand in the sand as you say you have been doing seems an entirely reasonable response to me. You seem to be a graduate of the ?just grit your teeth and get on with it? school which is very admirable but perhaps sometimes puts just too much on your shoulders. What I?m trying to say, albeit rather clumsily, is that, on this thread anyway, feel free to be sad sometimes. I think you are truly inspiring for the amount that you juggle and if you want to give vent to some negativity then please do so. If your blues turn into something more serious then perhaps it?s time to get some help. PND is bloody miserable. I saw what it did to a friend of mine before she got help and it wasn?t nice. I realise that medication isn?t always the answer (indeed, I think they tend to dish out pills too easily to get rid of people) but sometimes it is the right thing to do. Sometimes, just seeing someone else and having a chat about things helps too.
Only you know if working outside the helping you to stay sane or having the opposite effect. I struggled about 5 or 6 months after DS was born. I don?t think it was PND but it was several months of feeling very low, tearful and generally miserable. I could function perfectly well and it never translated into loss of interest or love for DS but I struggled to manage the process of becoming a mother. My social life and work were very closely intertwined and I felt like my whole identity had disappeared. I missed my friends, my London office lifestyle, my drinks after work, my gossiping at trade shows etc. Above everything I just felt lonely. I went back to work based on how I felt but as you know I realised a few months down the line that it wasn?t right for me. I think it was just my last stab at trying to cling on to the past. I still work sometimes and I made a big effort to catch up with old friends as well as make new ?mummy? friends and moving has forced me to socialise even more to meet people in our new, erm, ?hood, so I gradually found a balance. Still isn?t perfect by any means but it?s about as good as it?s going to get I think!
Lol at your secret Ken Bruce crush!! You know I only discovered 6 music recently when there was all this stuff in the press about it closing down. It?s bloody ace. I can?t cope with radio 1 anymore because I think it?s going to make my brain melt completely and I?m not quite ready for radio 2 (although I do like Dermot & Claudia Winkleman). 6 music sort of bridges the gap for me perfectly and they play music that I listened too in my yoof. I was a bit of an indie kid. Went to 3 gigs a week, wouldn?t think anything of staying up all night. If I knew how little shut eye I?d be getting these days I might have been a bit less cavalier. Actually I rather like Radio 4 as well. How did your wedding go and being away from the little fella?
Bella Glad Bella led weaning is going well. I chucked at some of your comments. BTW, I said Clara could get a spoon to her mouth, I didn?t say the right way round If I put a tiny bit of very thick puree on the end it sticks and she can just suck it off but a more liquid puree would be all over the shop. She was sat on my knee on the edge of Freds sandpit the other day and was pulling leaves off the vine on back wall of the house and putting the leaves in her mouth (I was removing them again) so she can certainly get food to her mouth!
Right, I have wittered for waaaay too long. I must get showered and start prepping for this BBQ. Have a lovely weekend all xxxx