Sunday, 31 July 2011
Monday, 11 July 2011
We had a moment....
This is a post just for me - so's I don't forget a rare special moment I had today with LL. My middle boy I fear may be somewhat neglected - not in a complete way, but in that due to natural circumstances his other brothers at separate times have requested my attention more. This has created a pretty laid back little boy (don't get me wrong he is as stubborn as an ox when he wants to be...) but whilst I had huge guilts prior to his birth about his brother losing his mummy, it turned out that his toddler brother didn't lose his mummy at all - in fact he probably demanded more of her attention than previously, and LL would just sit back and watch as his brother stropped away. Now that his younger brother has come along he is of an age whereby he dotes on his older sibling and follows him like a puppy and copies him like a parrot - hence my attention is now diverted towards his younger sibling!
Where this is leading to is that today we shared a moment. BB and CC were otherwise engaged (outdoors) and LL came in to seek me out. We then spent 5 mins nose to nose exchanging cuddles and numerous kisses (and the odd rub-a-noses). He spent the entire time with a cheeky glint in his eye and a grin from ear to ear and my heart doubled in size in that precious few minutes.
I think in that moment I truly learned what unconditional love is about.
Where this is leading to is that today we shared a moment. BB and CC were otherwise engaged (outdoors) and LL came in to seek me out. We then spent 5 mins nose to nose exchanging cuddles and numerous kisses (and the odd rub-a-noses). He spent the entire time with a cheeky glint in his eye and a grin from ear to ear and my heart doubled in size in that precious few minutes.
I think in that moment I truly learned what unconditional love is about.
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
Sleep baby sleep?
Well last night CC had the house to ourselves so I decided to try a bit of controlled crying to gauge if his night feeds are through hunger or habit.
He does feed when I pick him up when he grumbles, but I've been so conscious of not awakening the household that I've never actually given him the choice - if he's grumbled he's been whisked up and latched on before he knew what hit him! My uber tiredness has thrown a spanner into any kind of routine because I've been so out of it through the night that I have no clue when I've picked him up and how often and long he's fed for!
Soo, last night he was bedded about 8pm, and I fell asleep about 10:30. He grumbled at midnight, so I fed him. He then started crying at 3:45, but I let him cry for a bit as I drifted in and out of sleep. The guilts forced me to get up to him as I thought he must be frantic thinking he was alone, but patting him and speaking made no difference. I picked him up and that made him worse! I decided to put him back down. Then I remembered that we used to play the plunky lullaby on the baby monitor to soothe BB, so I turned it on - silence! Ooh, that helped. Once the initial surprise was over he began grumbling again, so I started singing along thinking if he heard my voice he'd realise he wasn't alone - and lo and behold it worked! Annoyingly the monitor cuts out after a few minutes and it's on the other side of the room so I had to stay up to keep pressing it - and I found myself running out of lyrics to sing so I ended up singing the alphabet and singing up to one hundred etc. CC was frantically sucking away on his fingers whilst all this was going on (he's never worn scratch mitts as he's never scratched his face, and has now found his left fingers). After about 15 mins I stopped singing but kept playing the lullaby. I did this for another 15 mins, then risked letting it stop. By now it was 4:30, and he got himself over to sleep :0) He'd only actually cried for about 10-15 mins at the start of all that, and then slept until 6:30 - Result!
I may have screwed things up, as when I did feed him then I fell asleep and woke at 8:30 with him still in my arms! Anywho's, I'm hoping from that, that it's been habit that's been waking him up as he obviously wasn't hungry, and that a couple of nights of the same (if I'm not too tired to follow through) may break the habit and that might mean when his brothers come home from their grans he might let me have a bit more rest at night so I have more energy through the day......(well until our camping trip when all of this work will probably be undone!)
I took it a step further tonight and gave him his bedtime feed in our room with the lights low and no tv on in the background (it's normally on) and I've dream fed him at midnight. Fingers crossed for what comes next....
He does feed when I pick him up when he grumbles, but I've been so conscious of not awakening the household that I've never actually given him the choice - if he's grumbled he's been whisked up and latched on before he knew what hit him! My uber tiredness has thrown a spanner into any kind of routine because I've been so out of it through the night that I have no clue when I've picked him up and how often and long he's fed for!
Soo, last night he was bedded about 8pm, and I fell asleep about 10:30. He grumbled at midnight, so I fed him. He then started crying at 3:45, but I let him cry for a bit as I drifted in and out of sleep. The guilts forced me to get up to him as I thought he must be frantic thinking he was alone, but patting him and speaking made no difference. I picked him up and that made him worse! I decided to put him back down. Then I remembered that we used to play the plunky lullaby on the baby monitor to soothe BB, so I turned it on - silence! Ooh, that helped. Once the initial surprise was over he began grumbling again, so I started singing along thinking if he heard my voice he'd realise he wasn't alone - and lo and behold it worked! Annoyingly the monitor cuts out after a few minutes and it's on the other side of the room so I had to stay up to keep pressing it - and I found myself running out of lyrics to sing so I ended up singing the alphabet and singing up to one hundred etc. CC was frantically sucking away on his fingers whilst all this was going on (he's never worn scratch mitts as he's never scratched his face, and has now found his left fingers). After about 15 mins I stopped singing but kept playing the lullaby. I did this for another 15 mins, then risked letting it stop. By now it was 4:30, and he got himself over to sleep :0) He'd only actually cried for about 10-15 mins at the start of all that, and then slept until 6:30 - Result!
I may have screwed things up, as when I did feed him then I fell asleep and woke at 8:30 with him still in my arms! Anywho's, I'm hoping from that, that it's been habit that's been waking him up as he obviously wasn't hungry, and that a couple of nights of the same (if I'm not too tired to follow through) may break the habit and that might mean when his brothers come home from their grans he might let me have a bit more rest at night so I have more energy through the day......(well until our camping trip when all of this work will probably be undone!)
I took it a step further tonight and gave him his bedtime feed in our room with the lights low and no tv on in the background (it's normally on) and I've dream fed him at midnight. Fingers crossed for what comes next....
Thursday, 30 June 2011
The guilts
Only minutes from posting about CC's haircut have I realised my mistake. As a comforter he'd taken to playing and pulling at his hair whilst falling asleep (strangely a habit that both of his brothers also had) and now I've gone and taken away his built in soothed. He's wriggling around grabbing at his head and I feel like the worst mum in the world right now. This is a fight that vanity should never have won!
First haircut
After the comment of 'ooh he looks like Hitler' from his kindly Aunt, I decided to bite the bullet and chop off CC's extra comb over sections at the back and sides which didn't perish during the natural moult which has gradually taken place since birth.
I'm already mourning his little black locks, however I'm sure that I'll realise it was the right decision in a couple of years time when we're looking back at his baby pics. Je still has his bald patch across the back of hid head, but now it blends up to his crown rather than looking like it had been attacked with a razor in a dodgy back alley barber shop!
I only think this, as with BB I never felt he looked anything but angelic as a bambino, however having pulled out his pics to compare him to CC as a baby I've realised that his growing out mop did look somewhat odd (like an undercut gone wrong!)
Maybe I should have just left him as nature intended so I could have had that true 'first curl' for the memory box, but I know that one person at least will be pleased.....isn't that right Granny Babs?
I'm already mourning his little black locks, however I'm sure that I'll realise it was the right decision in a couple of years time when we're looking back at his baby pics. Je still has his bald patch across the back of hid head, but now it blends up to his crown rather than looking like it had been attacked with a razor in a dodgy back alley barber shop!
I only think this, as with BB I never felt he looked anything but angelic as a bambino, however having pulled out his pics to compare him to CC as a baby I've realised that his growing out mop did look somewhat odd (like an undercut gone wrong!)
Maybe I should have just left him as nature intended so I could have had that true 'first curl' for the memory box, but I know that one person at least will be pleased.....isn't that right Granny Babs?
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Missed Opportunity?
Well what a palarva.
What is?
Trying to get CC to take milk from a bottle - that's what!
When he was 6 weeks old (see earlier post) I expressed off a smidgen of milk for BFS to feed him from a bottle. He suckled away no problem (although he didn't finish it - I think the bottle wasn't delivering fast enough) so it gave what now appears to be the false sense of security that he would be like BB and have no problem switching between the two.
Aha no! We didn't give him any more bottles until last week - and it appears that 11 weeks old was just too long to wait. I think there's a wee window of opportunity where you can get them used to the bottle (especially when they don't take a dummy) and if you miss it you make a rod for your own back!
I have an agenda for being so desperate for CC to take the bottle. In precisely 1 week I will be heading down to the lovely Hampden Stadium to see Take That and BFS will literally be left holding the bottle! I will try and leave the most minimal time that I'm away as I'm driving down and back on my own (although a coach ticket from Dundee did arrive with my ticket today - but that would mean leaving at 1pm and not arriving home until the early hours - way too long for a boy who may not feed in that time!). I can leave at teatime and hopefully be back just after midnight (if all goes to plan!) Even still, should CC not take a bottle I imagine I will return to a frustrated and not too happy BFS (broos on chin!)
Last weeks effort was the most atrocious disaster. He got himself so wound up that he subsequently wouldn't feed from me and then eventually screamed himself to sleep. Ever since he's had little episodes of screaming for no reason - as though he's re-living the moment or having panic attacks! I tried him again on monday with me feeding him. I had made the hole a bit too big on the teat and he gulped it down in one breath and almost drowned in boob juice! Never good! Fail.
Tonight I persevered with two different bottles with different teats for 1 1/2 hours - not giving him a feed from me at all. He just kept gagging on the teat and choking. Annoyingly with my stubborness to not give him formula until he's 6 months at least, all of this is wasting what precious little milk I'm able to express. (In fact I hope I manage to produce enough to leave BFS with when I go away!)
Anyways - I finally gave in and let him latch on. Then tried an experiment - with him in his sleepy state (from all of the effort of crying) I slipped out my nipple and slipped in the bottle (which only had about an ounce in it) and the little blighter guzzled it down without complaint! I swiftly replaced said empty bottle with the boob and he carried on oblivious!
Soooo - it's not that he doesn't have the tongue technique to drink from the bottle - he's just being a stubborn little sh1te! I think I may try again tomorrow, but will start with boob in mouth and then bottle and see if I can wean him onto it that way.......wish me luck!
What is?
Trying to get CC to take milk from a bottle - that's what!
When he was 6 weeks old (see earlier post) I expressed off a smidgen of milk for BFS to feed him from a bottle. He suckled away no problem (although he didn't finish it - I think the bottle wasn't delivering fast enough) so it gave what now appears to be the false sense of security that he would be like BB and have no problem switching between the two.
Aha no! We didn't give him any more bottles until last week - and it appears that 11 weeks old was just too long to wait. I think there's a wee window of opportunity where you can get them used to the bottle (especially when they don't take a dummy) and if you miss it you make a rod for your own back!
I have an agenda for being so desperate for CC to take the bottle. In precisely 1 week I will be heading down to the lovely Hampden Stadium to see Take That and BFS will literally be left holding the bottle! I will try and leave the most minimal time that I'm away as I'm driving down and back on my own (although a coach ticket from Dundee did arrive with my ticket today - but that would mean leaving at 1pm and not arriving home until the early hours - way too long for a boy who may not feed in that time!). I can leave at teatime and hopefully be back just after midnight (if all goes to plan!) Even still, should CC not take a bottle I imagine I will return to a frustrated and not too happy BFS (broos on chin!)
Last weeks effort was the most atrocious disaster. He got himself so wound up that he subsequently wouldn't feed from me and then eventually screamed himself to sleep. Ever since he's had little episodes of screaming for no reason - as though he's re-living the moment or having panic attacks! I tried him again on monday with me feeding him. I had made the hole a bit too big on the teat and he gulped it down in one breath and almost drowned in boob juice! Never good! Fail.
Tonight I persevered with two different bottles with different teats for 1 1/2 hours - not giving him a feed from me at all. He just kept gagging on the teat and choking. Annoyingly with my stubborness to not give him formula until he's 6 months at least, all of this is wasting what precious little milk I'm able to express. (In fact I hope I manage to produce enough to leave BFS with when I go away!)
Anyways - I finally gave in and let him latch on. Then tried an experiment - with him in his sleepy state (from all of the effort of crying) I slipped out my nipple and slipped in the bottle (which only had about an ounce in it) and the little blighter guzzled it down without complaint! I swiftly replaced said empty bottle with the boob and he carried on oblivious!
Soooo - it's not that he doesn't have the tongue technique to drink from the bottle - he's just being a stubborn little sh1te! I think I may try again tomorrow, but will start with boob in mouth and then bottle and see if I can wean him onto it that way.......wish me luck!
Monday, 6 June 2011
Water Baby
Well CC is now in double figures - he hit 10 weeks old on Saturday. Time is flying and I'm struggling to hold onto the newborn stage.
I 'dressed' him for the first time last Saturday at 9 weeks. Up until then it had been sleepsuits or stylish 'onesies' but I pulled out a pair of dungarees and started the transition from newborn into baby boy. He is growing at a rate and is now over a stone in weight.
He was even beginning to babble today and was able to hold himself up when I tried him in the bumbo. He's been trying to 'sit up' whilst he's been leaning on me - and today he had his first trip to the swimming pool.
He took it all in his stride and was exceptionally relaxed. The only complaints were when daddy's attention slipped and his face got dipped in the water.
His big brothers had a ball too. BB wore his 'waistie' for a spell and was jumping in from the side and LL was hilarious. He has much less fear than his big brother and frolicked more happily with BFS. I didn't join them in the pool on this occasion, I chose instead to sit back and record the moment and snap away to my hearts content.
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