The silly mommy

It’s been ages since I’ve had to worry about teething.  I can’t even remember when Daniel cut his last tooth.  I should be able to look it up in his baby book, but I have yet to fill it out.  I know, that’s terrible, but with the second child, there’s just never time for fluffy things like baby books.  Not even his name or birth date graces the inside, it’s just an empty book.  He’s had all of his baby teeth, minus the two year old molars, for over a year.  I can’t even remember his particular reactions to teething.

Until now.  It’s two year old molar time.  Right now it’s 5:17am and he just started crying again (and now he’s sitting on the couch watching Thomas). When I was up last night with him, I had to administer a dose of Nurofen to take the pain away and allow him to sleep.  When I went in his room, he was standing in his cot screaming.

“What’s wrong buddy?” I asked him.

“I want to watch Hiro and naughty Spencer on the TV, Mommy,” he to told me with a pained look on his face.  That’s what he calls the Thomas movie, ‘Hiro of the Rails.’

“No, it’s the middle of the night Buddy, it’s time for sleep.  Lay down.”

He did, but soon started crying again, and gnawing on his finger.  I gave him some Nurofen and he went to sleep a little while later.

He woke up the night before last as well.

“MOMMY THE BOOGER IN MY NOSE, GET IT!” He kept yelling out whilst crying. But there was no booger.

As soon as I woke up from my heavy slumber, I had to pee.  Daniel was still yelling out about his non-existent booger as I groggily climbed out of bed and put my fluffy pink bathrobe on.  It’s winter over here, and darn cold in the middle of the night.  I didn’t bother with my glasses, it was dark anyway.

Walking with my right hand in front of me to feel for any deviations from my planned path to the bathroom, I set off.

As I pushed the bathroom door open with my pointer finger, I stepped forward into the bathroom.

BANG!

The bathroom door was shut.  I jammed my finger and walked nose first straight into the door.  Why I thought it was not actually clicked shut, I have no idea.  It was 3am, I was half asleep, it was dark, and I wasn’t wearing glasses or contacts.

I don’t know exactly what happened to my finger when it jammed, but it’s still really sore and if I use it, it hurts.

Oh well, at least I didn’t break my nose.  That would have been pretty bad considering I’m a bridesmaid in another country in less than a month.

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Copyright 2013 Sheri Thomson

Winter bonfire

It may be the middle of winter, and 0 degrees in the morning, but who cares, it’s bonfire time!

Some friends of ours have a property nearby, and we often go over for dinner and games. Ok, Aaron often goes over. I sometimes do. It’s a bit hard with the kids. I used to go more often, but Hannah slept quite well in the portable cot. Daniel not so much.  They invited us for dinner and a bonfire, and I really wanted some s’mores, so I decided to come to.

Hershey’s S’mores Kit

The afternoon was spent gathering and chopping wood. Not me, everyone else. I was busy making sure that Daniel didn’t eat rocks and Hannah didn’t poke her eye out with a stick. I would have loved to help though, I like that sort of work. I grew up on a property and going horse camping, so that stuff is right up my alley.

Hannah loved getting ready for the fire. She decided that she needed to carry the biggest log she possibly could, and spent about an hour gathering little sticks and putting them on the not-yet-lit fire. Oh, and she also thought it would be a great idea to get bucket loads of dirt and pour them over the log pile “for the fire.”

How she carried that, I’m not quite sure.

By the time the fire was actually lit, Hannah was exhausted and just wanted to go to bed. I thought she’d love fire roasted hotdogs, but she wanted no part of them, only eating a bit of the bun instead. Sigh. Of course she liked the s’mores though. The Aussie version with Milk Arrowroot biscuits instead of graham crackers (since we don’t have those here), and some chocolate I got at Aldi instead of Hershey’s (since we also don’t have Hershey’s here, and after sampling the chocolate on offer over here, I’ve come to the realisation that Hershey’s chocolate does, in fact, suck).

Rome #3100 Chrome-Plated Steel Marshmallow Roasting Sticks, Set of 2

Did I mention we were staying the night? Yeah. So the kids went to sleep ok after a bit of crying and consoling. Then Daniel woke for his usual 10pm feed (the only one he was having over night, which has since been dropped).

Teeth brushing time!

I put him back in the portable cot, he turned over, and went back to sleep.

Graco Pack ‘N Play On the Go Travel Playard, Go Green

But then the screaming started. Sigh.  I patted him. Shushed him. Patted some more. Picked him up. Laid with him on the bed. Offered more boob. Nothing would work. He cried for an hour straight, with no sign of letting up.

Crap, I forgot to bring the panadol. Sigh.

Natrabio Children’s Teething Relief, 1 Ounce

Instead of keeping the rest of the house awake all night, we gathered Hannah up, and drove home.

Daniel screamed for half the night even though I gave him panadol.

But in the morning, I knew why. He had another tooth. Poor baby.

We drove back as soon as we all woke up in the morning and no one knew we’d even left.

“Mommy, can we have another sleep over at M’s (name with held for privacy reasons) house?”

Sigh. Maybe when they’re a little bit older.

I should have brought my digital SLR to get some decent photos, but I didn’t. So here are some not so good ones from my $50 point and shoot (which doesn’t like tricky lighting).

Also, check out my review of Abigail the interactive story buddy.

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Copyright 2012 Sheri Thomson

Death of the Day nap

Oh. My. Gosh. The screaming.  The SCREAMING! I don’t handle screaming very well.  It kind of makes me feel a little crazy.  Like I want to curl up in a little ball and rock back and forth.  And cry.  A lot.  And I’m not a crier.  Or sometimes it makes me want to go out to the garage and give the punching bag a walloping while screaming my lungs out.  Not that I can.  My wrist still isn’t strong enough for that sort of thing. Instead, I take a deep breath, roll my eyes a little bit, scream inside my head but not out loud, and swallow my frustration/annoyance/anger/crazy. Whatever, I’m sure I’m not the only mom who feels this way.  In fact, I know I’m not.

It wouldn’t have been so bad, except that it was four a.m.  As in a.m. The morning. Daniel (7 months old) woke for the millionth time that night. ( In hindsight, it was probably teething.  Found his 3rd little toothy peg just today.  When he bit my finger.  Wild little baby).  Hannah (2.5 years old) used to sleep through all of Daniel’s night wakings.  They share a room by the way. But recently, she started waking. Every. Single. Time. Sigh.

I gave Daniel his 4am feed and took him back to their room to put him in bed. He was already asleep in my arms.  The booby seems to have that affect.  I carefully laid him in his cot (crib).

“MOMMY I WANT TO GET UP!!!” Hannah screamed. Sigh.

“WAAAAAAAAAA!!” Yeah, now Danny was up too.

“No Hannah, it’s the middle of the night, it’s time to sleep still.”

“I want to go out in the play room with you.”

“With me? I’m not going in the play room, I’m going back to bed. To sleep.”

“I WANT TO GET UP NOW WWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!”

And that’s when I wanted to curl up and/or punch things and scream. But instead, I crawled in her bed with her and laid down.

“It’s time to sleep sweetie, it’s not time to get up yet.”  With me in there with her, she laid back down. And the screaming stopped. Not a moment too soon. Daniel was playing in his cot.  And then fussing.  And then he went to sleep.  Good boy.

Hannah, on the other hand, did not want to sleep.  She was talking to herself.  She was wiggling all over the place. She was constantly shoving her little hand in my face to make sure I was still there.  I tried to sleep.  I pushed myself as far away from her as I possibly could.  Which wasn’t far at all, since Hannah has a junior bed.  Smaller than a single bed, bigger than a cot. And by bigger, I mean longer.  Not wider.  Luckily I’m small. I could feel her every movement.  Whenever she turned her head, hair flung all over my face.

She laid there, moving about for ages. Finally, she went to sleep. And then of course, Daniel woke up.  It was 6am.  And Daniels noise woke Hannah up again. SIGH.

That is when I decided Hannah would no longer have a day nap.  She hasn’t really wanted to for a while anyway.

Now she has quiet time instead of nap time. She can’t do it in her room because she has started banging on the door whilst asking (ahem, yelling ) to come out. She can’t do it in Aaron and my room because she’d destroy all of our board games, play with my make up, lose all of my jewellery, and generally get into mischief. So, due to lack of other options, she’s on the couch with a sippy cup of milk, and Mickey Mouse on TV, while I attempt to get some chores done.

Did I mention that nap time was my sanity hour?  Yes people, my one hour during the day when I can pee all by myself, not have to take care of anyone else’s pee, not attempt to get someone to say please all the time, not have to put anyone in time out, and not have to answer a million “why? why?” questions.  Sure, I have to fold clothes and stuff, but I could fold the heck out of those clothes, whilst watching whatever  I wanted to on TV, and sip a piping hot cup of tea that I didn’t have to worry about small humans grabbing and getting subsequent burns from.

We’ve only been having quiet time for a couple of days now.  But it’s been pretty much going like this:

1. Hannah drinks her milk quietly on the couch whilst watching her chosen cartoon.

2. Finishes milk.

3. Gets off couch. “Mommy, what are you doing? Can I help?”

4. Gets toy stroller and runs it all around the apartment. Purposely hits walls and doors with it.

5. Poops in her underpants.  I attempt to get them off without losing any of the poop, or getting it all over her and/or me.

6. I fail.  Poop is all over bathroom floor.

7. “Hannah, STAND right there. Don’t move. I just need to get a wipe for your bottom.”

8. She doesn’t listen.  Sits on the lid of her potty.  Gets poo everywhere.

9. “Hannah, I told you not to move!”

10. sits on the bathroom floor.  Gets poo all over that too.

11. After getting cleaned up, she goes to her box full of instruments.  Yes, FULL of them.  Bongos, maracas, recorder, tamborine, some other weird ones that I have no idea what are even called.  All are noisy.  Starts making “music.”

12. Sigh. Yeah, quiet time.  Awesome. Can’t you tell?

How do you do quiet time for your toddler(s)?

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Copyright 2012 Sheri Thomson

Toothy-pegs

I don’t know how I missed it.  All the signs were there: bright red cheeks, crankiness, red bottom, not wanting to eat a lot of things, chewing on her fingers.  No, I lie, I do know how I missed it.  I was waiting for Hannah’s fourth bottom tooth to erupt.  She has 3 on the bottom but usually they come in pairs, within a few days of each other.  I kept checking that vacant little spot next to her other bottom teeth, wondering why it was taking so long when she was clearly teething.  After a while, I figured I must be misinterpreting her signs as no little tooth was breaking through.  The thought to actually check elsewhere never crossed my mind.

Hannah knows how to tell you what she wants.  She will get a jar of something, or a zipped bag, etc, bring it to me or Aaron, hand it over and wait.  Yesterday, she wanted peanut butter (yeah, she has good taste).  She grabbed the jar and brought it to Daddy.  Aaron opened it for her, but with no spoon in hand, he stuck his (just washed) finger in and let her eat it off.

“She’s got a tooth coming up!”  Aaron exclaimed.

“Yeah, I know, that one has been trying to come up for ages.”  I speculated.

“No, she has teeth further back!”

“What!”  I exclaimed, thinking he was just feeling some teeth below the gums.

I dipped my finger in the peanut butter and she happily opened her mouth.  There they were, 3 molars, all already out of the gums.  I was completely flabbergasted.  NO WONDER she has been so cranky and had the reddest cheeks she’s ever had.  I don’t even know when she started getting these molars.  Now my little baby (whose not so little, nor a baby anymore) has 10 teeth.  And all this time, I thought she only had 7.

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Hannah’s first toothy-peg

“Ok Bubba, time for a nappy change.” I put her on her back on the change mat. I took her nappy off, deflected wandering hands, and turned to get a new nappy. I turned back to find Bubba crawling away. She then sat just out of reach on her bare little bottom. That’s right, she can now crawl, and go from crawling to sitting and sitting to crawling. Today she followed me in to the kitchen a few times and then sat on the floor and watched me do the dishes. Sometimes when she cries after I put her to bed, I go in there to pat her only to find her sitting up in her cot. Lay her back down and she just sits up again. Ok, in all fairness, that was only one day, and she was teething and in pain. After I gave her some baby panadol, and a cuddle, she went to sleep. She won’t let me look at them, but I caught a glimpse once when I opened her mouth with my finger and then pushed her tongue back with my other hand, and saw her little tooth. Next to it was a crooked little tooth about to come through. I’m just glad that she (so far…) doesn’t bite me. I really don’t want a bloodied nipple. I read that some babies go off their food when they’re teething. I’m glad there is a reason why she hasn’t been eating her food properly. Hopefully she will return to her eager eating glory asap.

The three of us went away for the Australia day long weekend (which actually wasn’t a long weekend as the day off was Tuesday, but we made it one anyway). We went to the Abercrombie caves with friends. We went for a couple of long bush walks (3 hours) which Hannah absolutely loved. She was attached to Daddy by the baby bjorn, kicking her little legs, babbling away. The second day, we went to see the caves. I brought my camera to snap away, and hopefully get some good pics of the caves. As soon as we got to the entrance, the battery died. Unfortunately I didn’t bring the spare batteries on the hike, so I had to rely on the point and shoot and hope that Friend 2 got some good photos with his film SLR. As it turned out, he forgot to bring spare batteries for his flash, so I guess we all had to rely on the point and shoot. Clearly we are all awesome.

When we arrived, it was dark out, so we didn’t really see any of our surroundings. I heard some rustling when I woke up and went to the kitchen. I looked out the window and was surprised to see a huge hill right outside. I could have touched the hill if I could pry the screen off the window. There on the hill was a herd of wild goats, having their morning graze. The next morning we saw a family of Kangaroos on the hill, including a joey. Even the little joey was sticking his little head out of his mothers pouch grazing with his mum. We even saw a wombat run across the road in front of us (we were on foot) one night.

I bought a bottle of fake baileys (I was going to get the small $10 bottle of baileys but then saw the fake baileys large bottle for $10 and thought it was a no brainer) to have a couple of nice tasting drinks after Bubba went to bed, only to find it tasted horrible. I thought maybe my tastes changed after not drinking for so long. I took a sip, made a face, waited a while, thought I must be imagining it, took a sip, made a face. The others looked at me funny. Friend 1 tried it. “No, it’s not just you, this if off.” Friend 2 tried it. “yeah, this is off.” Glad to know it wasn’t just me. I only bought it the day before, so don’t you worry, that bottle-o will be hearing from me!