Harry goes bang every day. One minute he's all lovely and clean smelling and cute, the next covered in poo from head to toe. Not quite sure what one can do about this but it's a challenge changing his clothes several times daily! Today was an extra powerful explosion, covering all layers of clothing, the sofa, and, eventually, me also. Lovely. Good job he's adorable :)
His new gold plated high chair arrived today which is awesome. We had a wooden one which was aesthetically pleasing that Dylan used when he was small, but upon inspection and the discovery of 5 yr old encrusted foodstuff and a split seat we decided to get another one. This time we went for ease-of-cleaning and usefulness rather than how it looked. The new one will actually cook dinner for Harry while simultaneously washing the floor and doing laundry.
Once again, the main topic of conversation at last nights dinner party at The Hubbles. What is it with men and breasts that they are able to talk about them incessantly and find a way to bring them into every possible subject? The 3 men that were present are all as bad as each other!
Saw a cute t-shirt for Harry online yesterday that I should order for him given the company he keeps!
Had a great day today shopping with 'the girls' at a new mall nearby. I like the new mall alot, it isn't just full of the same old stores like most places around here... there are new and more upmarket places and it's an enjoyable trip.
Didn't actually buy much (just a few Chrimbo gifts for the men) but thoroughly enjoyed going out for the day with friends.
Now completely exhausted and need a nap - thank heavens for slow cookers and the dinner I put in at 8am!
Thanks for the few bits of advice.
I'm still not convinced. I think he might be a bit young to let scream for too long. He's only 4 months old, he's still little. He's too young to be particularly manipulative at this age. He screams because he wants his mummy and is upset. If he gives up it's because he's exhausted himself and can't cry any more and gives up on his mummy coming to him, which doesn't sit too well with me :-( Maybe if he's still doing at 6 mths old I should leave him scream, but meanwhile try to fix the problem rather than be too rigid.
What I'm now considering may be the problem is that he gets up too late in the morning and therefore is not tired until later in the evening. He doesn't usually wake until between 9 and 10am, and I think he ought to get up around 7 so that he is tired at bed time and not later at night. Going to attempt to get up early (bah) with him the next few days and see if it improves things.
Last night G was out so I tried to put him down but when he started to cry I had to get him as I'm not strong enough alone to listen to him and not get horribly upset myself. He ended up being downstairs until 10 when he got grizzly so I put him back to bed where he screamed for 15 mins then went to sleep soundly, so that wasn't too bad, but urgh, so stressful. Wish this situation would fix itself :-(
Well that didn't work too well :-(
Put H down at 8pm, he slept until 8.45 then proceeded to scream his head off for 2 hours. Both G and I went to him and attempted to soothe him but to no avail..... unless we carried him out of the bedroom of course, then he would stop crying. Soon as we go back in .......SCREAM. He finally screamed himself to sleep around 10.45. I feel AWFUL for allowing this to happen :-( :-( I just don't know what to do??
According to this book your baby should not be awake for longer than 2 hours at a time. If he is, then he gets over tired, and consequently grumpy, fussy, and unable to soothe himself. He will also find it harder to go to sleep if he is overtired, and if he does fall asleep will likely wake and be restless.
I had a great routine with Dylan, but Dylan just kind of slipped into it of his own accord....... morning nap, afternoon nap, bed time, all were extremely easy. H is far more difficult, but I decided to implement the '2 hour rule' today and see how it went. This weekend we were so busy that he ended up being hugely over tired, not going to bed until the wee hours, and screaming the house down as a result.
So today he woke at 8, then was back in his bed for a nap at 10.. where he slept until 12. I then put him back in bed at 2 and he slept for an hour until 3. Have just put him back again (5pm) and hopefully he'll have another hour and then will go down for the night properly at 8pm. The night is the most difficult these days, but the theory is that if he's better rested during the day then he'll sleep more easily at night and shouldn't be as hard to put to bed.
Well the naps have worked a treat, let's see how the rest of it goes later. I will definitely try to keep to more of a nap routine from now on though, it's better for him and me...... even if it does restrict daily activities a little.
Dear Harry
Today you reach the 4 month milestone.
In the last month you've grown, ALOT! You're now officially enormous - weighing over 20lb (I don't know the exact number until I take you for your next doctors appointment this week). You oughtweigh 1 yr old Marco who lives behind us, and you are lovely and chunky. We've had to ditch the Infant car seat and put you in a larger one and you're dangerously close to not being able to use your swing any more which will be a disaster in the making (more on that later!).
You're no longer a baby, you're a little man. You have a little personality all of your own and you're absolutely lovely and delightful. You love hearing yourself talk and chat to us non stop. You are beginning to reach out for things and grab them (and try to put them in your mouth). You love lying on your playmat and batting at the toys above your head.
We think you might be teething as your fist is constantly in your mouth and you have been quite ratty with us this week! You seem to need to gnaw on it though, which is a sign of those little pearly whites being on their way :)
Mummy's biggest issue this week is to try to get you into some kind of stable routine. I love routine, it makes for a happy me and a happy you, but you seem quite resistant to the idea for some reason! Most recently you've been screaming blue murder if we should DARE to put you in your bed and walk away! Soon as we come back you give us beaming smiles, which although extremely CUTE is a little frustrating! Daddy and I fear we might have to do the unthinkable and let you 'cry it out' once or twice to see if we can get you to learn to settle yourself but I can't say that appeals to me! One place you will sleep is the dreaded SWING..... during the day you happily nap there, but I am not impressed by this and want you to sleep in your crib!
Your brother adores you, and you adore him too, breaking into enormous smiles every time he enters the room. He can't wait for you to be old enough to play trains and other boy games.
You're still breastfeeding and we haven't given you anything else yet.
Alot of people think you're ready for cereal, but I don't. You are obviously thriving on breast milk alone and don't need anything extra yet, hopefully we can wait until after Christmas. Daddy did try to give you a bottle of formula yesterday but you were extremely uninterested. We will persevere with that so that we know we can give it to you if necessary now & again so that Daddy can feed you!
Anyway, you continue to delight and amaze us little man ...and we look forward to your first Christmas!
Friday - we friends around for dinner. Conversation on the part of the male folk mostly revolved around breasts.
Saturday - out with same friends / neighbours plus some others to the 'Santa Parade' and then on to dinner (table for 25 please!) where conversation, once again, mostly revolved around breasts.
Sunday - out to see the SpongeBob movie with Dylan and some Hubbles. Then out to dinner with my 3 gorgeous guys.
Tonight I am exhausted!
G and I have become horribly addicted to The O.C.
Didn't watch it last year - was told it was good - so I set the PVR to record all episodes of this new season and meanwhile bought the box set of DVD's for Season 1. Big mistake - we have now spent 2 evenings in a row watching back to back episodes for hours on end. I am sooo tired as a result of the late nights this has caused!
Meanwhile H refuses to go to sleep unless in his swing (sigh). This is exactly what I wanted to avoid when I dithered about buying one in the first place!
D continues to amuse and amaze. The other day he asked me 'Mom, do you know what the biggest river in the world is?' No..... 'It's the Mississipi, which is also one of the 52 states of America' I pick myself up from the floor as he continues to tell me how to spell it
Mr M
Mr I
Mr S S I
Mr S S I
Mr P P I
!
Am in the dog house for buying UGG boots, jeans, a shirt, and a new coat. Ooops.
Also have done my leg in falling down the stairs with H the other day. Some primeval survival instinct obviously kicked in to save him, but I managed to totally knacker my leg in the process without even realising it. I think i've torn or ripped all of the muscles in it. Hobbling around like a hobbly person...... had to even cut my shopping trip short (gasp) today as I couldn't walk.
Just watched the first of the Live Aid DVD's, awesome - truly awesome.
Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats singing 'I don't like Mondays' and coming to a halt right after the line 'and the lesson today is how to die'...... the crowd going mad. Paul Young - remember him?? He was hot! Also U2's blinding performance still has it (and it was also the highlight for me at the time too).
Another thing which struck me looking back at this 20 years on, was the fantastic musicianship that the artists of that time had. They were seriously talented people. Even those who today are lost somewhere in obscurity were amazing musicians with instrumental abilities far far superior to anyone you see in the charts today. I sound even to myself like some old git warbling about 'it was so much better in my day' but really...... you don't see Britney Spears sitting at the piano playing faultlessly, and simultaneously singing powerfully and tunefully infront of 70,000 people now do you?
Live Aid - July 13th, 1985.
Hard to believe it was 20 years ago. Hard to believe I was there.
My dad - officially the coolest dad ever - came home from work a couple of days before it with tickets. It was the hottest ticket in town, the concert had sold out within a couple of hours. He'd got them at work. Might've been from Simon Mayo - then Radio 1 DJ. I forget.
I was so excited. 13 yrs old and going to see all my idols perform at the biggest show ever.
It's a blur now. I remember the incredible atmosphere. I remember everyone going mad when Quo came out 'Rockin all over the World'. I remember U2's spectacular performance. I remember Paul McCartney's mike breaking and the audience singing 'Yesterday' for him. And I remember we all cried when the video of the famine victims in Ethiopia was played to The Cars song 'Drive'.
Today the DVD of the gig arrived and the excitement, the emotion, it's all still there. G and I watched the BBC News Report from Michael Burke in Ethiopia which set the wheels for Band Aid and Live Aid in motion. We both cried, even today - 20 years later.
There's a new version of 'Do They Know It's Christmas' being released this Christmas - with profits going to the Live Aid trust for famine relief. Buy it.
Fell down the stairs this morning, carrying Harry. Managed to save him from falling and only hurt myself but now cannot stop shaking.
I felt like I'd lost the will to live today.
I know 'shopping around' is supposed to be a good thing to get the best deal but honestly, it is such a dismal process that I think I'd rather pay the extra hundred bucks and only go to one place. After 4 or 5 appliance stores I had reached the end of my ability to feign interest. Harry was screaming at the top of his lungs in the car as we left the penultimate store. Stopped, fed him. He finally cheered up. Got to the last store, put him in stroller, pinched his leg in the seatbelt, he screamed again, felt awful, went in , bought something... anything....who cares it just washes fucking dishes right?
Then had to go food shopping as we have dinner guests tonight (we had some great ones last night - hello Hubbles!) . Tired from last night though, so given state of mind post dishwasher shopping hell not sure how much fun this is going to be.
Got home. G checked out the current (v expensive / not working) dishwasher and discovered some plastic garbage shoved in the spinny thing and blocking it so we think that's what the problem has been FOR THE LAST 3 YEARS OF IT NOT WORKING VERY WELL.
Bah.
I have just spent about half an hour deleting comment spam. Grrr. I know there's little point in getting wound up about this stuff because it's just a sad fact of life, but GRRRRRRRRRR. Fuckers.
It's fairly depressing how quick a baby grows out of stuff.
Harry is 3lb away from not being able to use his Swing anymore. Which judging by his previous growth rate means this will happen in about 3 days. This is a disaster - he *loves* the swing. Come to that, so do I, it's a guaranteed relaxation device for him.
Another thing soon to go will be his gorgeous PBK bassinet. He currently sleeps in that, in our bedroom. It's so easy to fetch him to me for a feed during the night. It's lovely to hear him snuffle and breathe while he sleeps. I'm not ready for him to move into his room! More to the point, he's never slept in his room or in his crib, so how that transition is going to work is a scary thought. And he'll only have to grow another couple of inches for this to be a major concern.
Finally - the infant car seat. The one you can lift in and out of the car. While he's already reached the point where I can't comfortably carry him in it, it does rather fantastically clip onto the Bugaboo stroller frame. This means that I don't have to get him out while he's sleeping, or disturb him for short trips into places, I just lift it and clip it. Putting him into a bigger car seat means lifting him in and out of the car each time, and into the stroller should we stop.
Bummer :(
I have to take a minute to express my distaste for Canadian Baby Photographers.
Shortly after Harry was born I had a call from 'Hi this is Canadian Baby' (note the lack of the word 'photographer' anywhere) congratulating me on his birth and saying they had some free gifts for me courtesy of local businesses. They asked when they might drop by to drop them off and in my naivety I agreed a date.
The date arrived and a pushy male burst into my home complete with camera and portrait photography equipment. He handed me a plastic carrier bag which contained little more than a sample laundry detergent sachet and a sample sized deoderant and proceeded to set up his 'studio'. I was quite taken aback but as he told me that he was taking a 'free' portrait for me. He then arranged a then 2 mth old Harry into some ghastly poses, Harry becoming more and more fed up as it went on.
As Harry began to cry I finally gathered my wits about me enough to request that this come to a halt. 'I have to take 10 shots' was the reply. 'Why?' I asked. 'I have to take 10 otherwise the session isn't valid'. 'Is someone going to die if you don't take 10?' 'No, but I have to take 10 otherwise it's a waste of time'. Not quite following this logic I reluctantly agreed to continue and he took the final couple of photo's and left.
A couple of weeks ago after multiple increasingly pushy voice mails left by these people, they finally called when I was at home and told me that they were going to come over and show me the photo's. The photographer had told me that the photo's would be available online so I asked about that, not really wanting another of these people in my home, but they insisted that they 'had' to come, that it was their 'policy'.
OK I know you're now thinking WHY DID YOU AGREE aren't you?
Anyway, this guy shows up and insists we sit at the table, where he shows me 10 small prints that they had taken of Harry. Awful tacky poses, bar a couple which were vaguely acceptable, but for the most part those dreadful pictures of babies posed as adults with their heads on their forearms and similar.
This guy then slowly and methodically pulls out one after another possible 'package' deals of the shots including some disgusting montages and waffles on and on with his prepared speech. By this point I am thoroughly fed up by the whole thing but seeing as a couple of the shots were nice-ish I sit through it.
Then out come the prices. You would not believe how expensive this crap was, several hundred bucks. I immediately say no, I am not interested in a package deal of 150 of the things in varying sizes, or any montages in frames or similar, can I just get a couple of prints perhaps slightly bigger than the postage stamp sized samples he's showing me? Apparently not, or at least if I do it'll cost me hundreds as it's not in their interests to do single prints. Ohhh Kayyyyyyyy................how about if I just buy a couple of these samples then. No, can't do that. Why not? Apparently I have to buy a minimum of 7 and they're 15 bucks each (these things are tiny). I don't want 7, I don't like 7. You have to buy 7. 'These are not average photo's Mrs Jones, these are professional amazing portraits'. OK, so what if I don't buy any. We throw them away. So you're saying you'd rather not have 30 bucks for a couple of them and would rather throw them, than sell me 2? Yes, we can't do you any special favours then everyone else would want that. So why not give everyone else that option? We don't do that Mrs Jones.
(Clearly not, you want to fleece everyone for as much as possible no doubt)
OK then, I won't have any and will just take my 1 free sample one that you said I could have. Man huffily begins to leave. On the way out I take some pleasure in pointing out the black and white professional portrait we have of Dylan and Gareth that cost several thousand dollars in total.
Complete con artists who push their way into your home without being clear on what they are up to. Avoid.
It's that time of year when I get pissed off with American TV.
Every few months they have what is called "Sweeps Periods", which is a month or so when they measure ratings. When they have the ratings for that month, they can then set rates for advertisers for the next period. There's 3, I think, 'Sweeps' periods in a TV year.
Shows all start in the Fall...... nights are cooler, people are coming in from the cold and sitting infront of the goggle box instead of having a social life. Major networks constantly promote their new and returning shows and you start to watch a few things. Then they measure the ratings. Then suddenly the shows disappear. And you get repeats. Then they start advertising them again, and lo and behold as the next Sweeps period approaches the new shows return from the abyss.
It makes a programme very hard to follow and a storyline very hard to remember if you're constantly having several weeks break between episodes. But hey, we're only the viewers, what do we count.
The UK sensibly waits until it has enough episodes to show CONSECUTIVELY (there's a novel idea) which means you get uninterrupted viewing for the span of the show.
Slow Cookers are truly a gift from the Gods.
I'm prone to bouts of exhaustion around dinner time and as a result we often end up eating take-out or going out for dinner instead of having to cook. That is, until I discovered the slow cooker. What could be better than chucking a ton of stuff in first thing in the morning and 10 hrs later having a delicious meal ready to eat right at the point where you're hungry and knackered?
Today I was up at 7am putting a leg of lamb in the thing. Funny thing about Lamb here in Canada - it basically sucks and is expensive and hard to find. Many people I speak to hate it, wouldn't dream of eating it, and it's certainly not a part of a usual Canadian diet for some reason. Not like we Brits who were raised on a lamb joint every Sunday complete with mint sauce (mmmmmmmmmmmmm). However, given the Canadian lamb's tendency towards the tough, the crock pot is the perfect way to cook it.
I rubbed in loads of herbs and garlic last night and left it wrapped in cling film in the fridge (how does one get the smell of garlic off ones hands??). Smells delicious and will continue to do so all day until I'm starving at 6pm when it'll be so juicy and will fall off the bone into hungry mouths. Recipe, for anyone interested:
Herb Roasted Lamb
4 large potatoes, cut into cubes
1 tsp salt
6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
zest of 1 Lemon
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 boneless leg of lamb, trimmed and tied
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
Place the potatoes in the bottom of the stoneware. In a bowl, mix the salt, garlic, lemon zest and rosemary together. Rub all over the lamb. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and brown the lamb evenly on all sides. Place the browned lamb in the stoneware. Pour in the wine. Cook on Low for 10-12 hours.
Harry doesn't like the cold. He experienced his first minus figures today and screamed. Alot. I guess he'll have to get used to it. Michel told us that in Sweden people put babies outside to sleep (well wrapped) when it's Minus 40 to get them used to it and toughen up their pipes!
Harry is also, unbelievably, bigger than Dylan was at this age. Despite D being well into solids and drinking copious amounts of formula by this point.
I'm still up & it's 1am because Harry was fussing non stop and wouldn't drop off. Kept me awake. As a result I've got up and escaped until he falls asleep properly. And eaten loads of popcorn. Sigh. Seriously need to start dieting as my weight is a disaster.
Impossible concept for a 5 yr old.
D: Mom, I wish I were the same age as you
Me: Why?
D: Because then we'd die at the same time
(tears)
(hugs)
Me: Don't be silly darling, don't think about things like that, it's many many years away.
D: What happens when you die?
Me: You go to heaven
D: Your brain goes?
Me: No, more like your soul
D: What's a soul?
Me: (desperately trying to think of an analogy) Errr, a bit like a ghost
D: Your ghost goes to heaven?
Me: Something like that
D: (bursts into tears) I don't want you to die and go to heaven
Me: Oh sweetheart, it's so long away, don't think about it.
D: Can I have the rock next to yours?
Me: Huh?
D: You know, the R I P sign? (more tears)
Me: Ohhhh of course you can, but please stop thinking about this! Anyway, when someone is in heaven they can look down on you and always be there in your heart.
D: I don't understand
Me: OK let's say Big Ted dies and goes to heaven, and Little Ted is sad
D: (floods of tears) I don't want Big Ted to die
Me: (arse, why did I say that) OK I just wanted you to understand that although Little Ted is sad, Big Ted is up there looking down on him and loves him still.
D: His ghost?
Me: Sort of
D: (floods more tears) WHO WILL MAKE ME DINNER IF YOU DIE
Terrible conversation, I felt like I was digging a deeper and deeper hole! Any suggestions on how to discuss this kind of thing with a child welcome!
It's lovely to see Harry beginning to learn how to use his little hands. He's realising that he can reach out and touch things and make them move. He's enjoying lying on his play mat and batting the little toys above him which in turn makes it play a tune (a tune which is now chiselled into my brain).
I'm trying my hardest to establish a routine with him now. I've become semi successful at implementing a 'morning nap' upstairs in his bed. Now for an 'afternoon nap' too, upstairs and not in his swing. Night times are improving dramatically with only one waking, hurrah. Next issue is going to be that he is outgrowing his bassinet and will need moving into his actual cot... not sure how he'll like that. He's a whopping 18lb 7oz now! Took him for a checkup yesterday and gave him Tylenol beforehand in preparation for his next round of shots. Then discovered shots are next month. BAD MOTHER.
Had a call from the school this morning to say that D isn't feeling too well and could I come to fetch him? He seems fine, apparently he felt sick. I am wondering if there is something else prompting this desire to come home early as he was absolutely OK when he got home.