Y3 - 35/365: Tell Me a Story

Believe it or not, every now and then Ryan wanders off (across the room) on his own and things suddenly get quiet. My ears naturally perk up and I will turn to see what he's into. Is he pulling clean laundry out of the basket? Did he find a 3-day-old rogue Cheerio? Or worse...did he find one of Myst's "kittens" (i.e. loose kitty fur)?

Today he was quiet simply because he found a book. I looked up and he was quietly looking at 'Once Upon an Ocean.'

Another favourite that he loves to have read to him is one called 'Monkey and Me.' It's very repetitive (good for pre-readers/early readers) and goes through a series of animals that a little girl and her sock monkey go to see...like kangaroos, elephants, and...yep, monkeys! I love reading to him because the older he gets I can really tell he enjoys it (not every baby does). He looks at the pictures, watches my mouth move as I read, and he tries to grab the words on the page as I point to them and feel the pictures themselves to see if it's a touchy-feely book.

Matt and I both really enjoy reading ourselves, so we really hope this is something Ryan will love growing up as well.

Y3 - 34/365: So, About That Bubble Wrap...?

It has been exceptionally damp and windy today outside, which meant we were caged indoors...again. I see this being the theme for the next 5 or so months so I decided a nice, warm bowl of tomato soup with some lightly buttered bread to dip in would taste quite nice...and so did Ryan. If there is anything I have learned it's that I am under unwritten baby-contract to provide him with something to eat while I am eating as well -- otherwise he stares at me with guilt-inducing eyes until I cave. This means that since we often share a meal or he eats a small portion of my own, I end up eating better in the long run.

Score!

We're advancing a bit in our Baby-Led Weaning journey as he now takes calculated small bites of things and properly chews/noms them before swallowing and going on to take another bite. Then, when he's thirsty he will reach for his sippy, grab the handles, put it to his mouth and tip it back for a sip -- or gulp. Matt and I are very pleased that he shows great initiative to do things like this on his own and we believe it's mostly due to giving him the opportunity and just allowing him to get on with things.

You may notice in the photo (above) a "nice" purplish bruise above the tiny terror's left eye -- ah, the joys of learning to walk, right seasoned parents?

The good news is that he can now walk from the bay window on one side of the room and baby/stagger-step his way all the way to the telly on the other end!! The bad news? Sometimes avoiding a collision when he tumbles is inevitable. This bruise was the result of hitting the bottom wooden bit on the end of the sofa, and I was even standing right there -- which meant I felt awful.

He started to lose balance and I just wasn't quick enough. He cried immediately, but only for a short while and moaned his newest phrase "mumumumum." Then as soon as he lifted his teary head from my shoulder I could see a small goose egg that was pink and quickly turning purple. I got a cold glass of water and a flannel to hold against it to keep the swelling down while I nursed him a bit to calm him.

He fell asleep straight away, which worried me because I always understood that you weren't to let a child sleep right after bumping their head in case they had a concussion. I consulted Dr. Google and the NHS website and learned that on the contrary (for infants/toddlers at least) that if the fall was no more than the height of the child (i.e. not off a bed or caused by a car accident) it was best to allow them to sleep for a bit and to just keep an eye on their behaviour for the next 48 hours.

Sure enough, he was awake an hour and a half later and back to toddling around the room and being his usual squeaky self. In fact...

...once Daddy was home to play, the swelling had gone down completely and the bruise had already started to fade!

Until next time...

Y3 - 33/365: Johnson & Johnson, Take Me Away...

Nothing beats a cold, blustery late-autumn day like a nice, warm bubble-bath...complete with floaty ducks, of course.

We wanted to go check out Hayden Hill Park, but I couldn't muster the motivation until after lunch, and by then the skies threatened to open so I considered a shorter trek to our local park down the road instead with Ryan just in the Moby. However, once we were kitted up we locked the door and headed down the drive only to feel ::drip, drop, drip, drop:: before we even reached the main road.

Back inside we went.

Now we sit back in the same room with the same four walls we have been looking at all day...and a little monkey who doesn't seem as sleepy as he did BEFORE his bath. So, he's free to baby-step (and fall) around the room all he pleases because the more he does this, the better he will sleep tonight.

Y3 - 32/365: ...And I Helped!

Ah, Mommy's little helper...separating the whites, I see! The problem here is that these are CLEAN clothes being casually dumped onto the floor.

As a new mother, there are bound to be countless number of things one learns on the fly.

1. When all goes quiet...baby is likely doing something they shouldn't be.
   
   In this case, it was the laundry. Granted, someday I will be ecstatic for his assistance -- perhaps when he is a moany teenager jonesin' for a ride somewhere I can say, "only if you do the wash," for example.
    
2. Never underestimate what baby is capable of getting into.
   
   Originally, I thought the drawers under the settee would be too difficult for dear son to pull out as Matt and I sometimes have trouble trying to lightly coax them. But nope...they're no match for Ryan. He will happily slither from drawer to drawer discovering long lost items that are unsuitable for him to munch...like headphones off a Continental Airlines flight Matt once took to visit me in America. Non-edible, of course.
   
   
3. "No" doesn't always elicit the same response.
   
   It does tend to lose its effectiveness after a while. Even combined with a mommy-glare and loud hand-clap, "no" sometimes means, to baby, to stop...look at Mommy...grunt...and return to whatever you were destroying.
   
   
4. Redirection translates in baby-language as: "If at first you don't succeed..."
   
   I swear, sometimes I can remove him from where I don't want him to be over and over and this little boy has SO much determination that I think I will have a run for my money when he's older. Now I kind of see why my parents would eventually 'cave' and lift us of our "restrictions" (as my dad would call them). But hopefully I can stand my ground.

I'm sure there is much, much more to come for Matt and me as parents and I'm quite confident that we will make some mistakes along the way, but I do hope that when the going gets tough we can look back at this time and appreciate every moment, good and bad. I also hope that we can foster that same appreciation in our son so that he will respect and understand the reasons we make the decisions for him that we do, and grow up to be someone we can all be proud of and someone who can have that same pride in himself.

Y3 - 31/365: This is Halloween!

I told Matt this morning that although Ryan was too young to fully participate in pumpkin-carving, I still wanted him to have a chance to feel the insides of the pumpkin and the seeds.

He managed to grab some of the slippery pulp a couple of times and even got some briefly into his mouth before I quickly retrieved it. I'm no expert, but I don't think raw pumpkin pulp is exactly healthy on a still immature baby gut.

He really got a kick out of it though and even made quite the mess on his sleep-suit within the short five minutes. Good thing I waited until after our carving session to feed and dress him.

We only ended up carving two of our three pumpkins, sadly, because we ran out of time. Ryan's (top) even has five teeth -- just like him! I think next year a proper carving kit is in order as it's not so easy to carve with a paring knife. Also, next year we will know enough to avoid Tesco's 3 for £4.50 and go straight to Asda where they are much bigger and only cost £1/each.

What better way to end the weekend than a delicious and filling Sunday dinner and quality time with the family!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN,

EVERYONE!!!

Y3 - 30/365: Mr. Fix-It

I see that someone has picked up his daddy's 'Mr. Fix-It' gene. This is our old TV that no longer turns on. Matt is going to have a look at it and see if it's something that he can fix. Ryan is doing a quick inventory for parts.

In other news, a confirmation letter came through the post today to let me know that UKBA have my paperwork/application for my ILR and that it has been passed on to a caseworker.

Let the waiting game begin!

Y3 - 29/365: Preppin the Punkins

I know this one looks a bit odd, but it was taken from outside looking into the front room (hence the reflection of ivy against the glass)...just before Mister Sticky Fingers rolled the pumpkin off the ledge and I was forced to scurry back inside to make sure the pumpkin didn't go 'splat.'

Oh yes...I scurried.

But the catastrophe was averted as the stuffed Andrex puppy broke its fall. Sorry, puppy.

I did get some pretty cute snaps for Ryan's 10-month photos though...albeit a week later than intended.

Can you tell I've been craving Candy Corn? I have yet to find any here in the UK and it's probably my favourite Halloween candy ever. (click photo for larger view)

We had to do the photos inside this time, though I was hoping for a pumpkin-shoot out in the coloured autumn leaves. Sadly it's been way too cold and windy...and damp. So yeah, not good things if you want a healthy bab.

I thought we'd get the chance to carve them tonight as well, but it looks like we'll have to wait until tomorrow.

I haven't yet decided how to involve Ryan in this event. I remember carving pumpkins when I was a kid, but I fear Ryan will try to devour the innards...so maybe this is an activity better saved for next year. I may still allow him a little feel of the squishy bits, closely supervised, since I like him to experience as many sensory things as possible, but I think 2011 will be the year he can start to get stuck in with the carving bit...quite literally!