Month 7 Letter (23.06.12)

Dear Logan,

Month 7 really snuck up on us and I feel like this is the first time a month has really flown by! It has been so much fun watching you grow and learn. But unfortunately sleep has been eluding all of us.

One highlight was that you started to have longer day naps but that only lasted for a few days and coincided with you waking lots during the night. It feels like we've gone back to newborn sleep patterns and maybe that's why this past month flew by, we've all been stuck in a lack of sleep induced haze!

Other than our sleep issues, you have been changing your eating habits. You eat so much now, huge bowls and you have 3 proper meals often with snacks in between (you can eat an entire Weetbix and then some for breakfast!!!).

You still don't have a routine but you usually go to bed around 630pm and then wake anywhere from 2-6 times a night (usually dependent on if we are at home or out at a family dinner). You wake up around 5/530 and I feed you and far puts you back to sleep but then you don't sleep for longer than an hour/hour and a half so no sleep-ins for us. It is nice because you get to say bye to far before work but it would be great if we could get rid of that 5ish wake up (& even better if you decided to sleep through). We've also instigated a bedtime routine consisting off boob, bit of a play, dinner, bath, say goodnight and then go to bed (with the occasion book read by far - translated to Danish which is always good).

You aren't crawling and rolling has stopped, you will roll onto your back but that's it and then from there if you're really grumpy you can wiggle yourself around the place. You do get on all fours and rock back and forth which is really cute!

We also finally moved into your home, the house where you will create all of those amazing memoried so it has been a pretty full on month. We keep being amazed by you as you turn into this awesome little dude.

Love always,

Mummy

PS: no teeth yet and despite the judgmental voices of all your grandparents I think the necklace is rad ;)

The Ultimate Dream

People tell you all the time while you're pregnant that sleep is going to go out the window once you're a parent and I just nodded and smiled...how ignorant I was! But you never really know the truth until you experience it for yourself and I have definitely been reliving the newborn experience at the moment.

Logan used to be a pretty good sleeper but now that 6 months has hit that's gone out the window. We thought finally moving into our new place and getting settled would result in sleeping through but that was just some more wishful thinking! Now he's up at least 6 times at night for the past three nights and before that anywhere from 2+. This Mama is exhausted and with a house to unpack and clean up I'm finding it hard to be relaxed enough to nap when he does. At least that's a positive in that he is now having longer naps but I just wish I could ignore the boxes and mess and sleep! Which is what I should be doing now but we need to go to Gymbaroo soon (thankfully I'm not bothering with it once this term is up!).

It could be teething, it could be developmental milestones, it could be a growth spurt or any number of things but I hope he starts to sleep for bigger chunks soon because I'm on the verge of having a melt down. Thankfully my Mum is now literally around the corner and my Mother's Group has been fantastic even offering to take him while I get some sleep. But it's amazing how much sleep really does affect you and I can't wait to get back to my happier self instead of this crazy monster who snaps at everything!

 

Escape

So we've moved and guess what, our first morning in and they start work on the vacant block behind :( Pity Logan isn't of the age to appreciate the big yellow trucks but he's young enough to get freaked out by the whole house shaking!

Yesterday I bid farewell to one of my best friends who is off overseas for two years. I'm so excited for her and not sad in the slightest (we'll be visiting them for Halloween). Except tonight I would have given anything to be able to call her up and have a cry but because she's on a plane I'll just have to vent here!

Finally being out on our own doesn't feel like it should and I guess it's because we've moved into my Mum and Step-Dad's house and I now realise it's never going to be our home. Mum is constantly over and keeps saying how we should be unpacked by this weekend. Sure she helps but I still have no idea which cupboards I want to put things and that compounded with uncovering stuff from storage we forgot we had and dealing with Logan (who refuses to entertain himself for longer than 10mins or sleep for longer than 30mons). Thankfully we met one of the neighbors today after getting my new table and chairs delivered (hurrah). He's a stay at home Dad with two little girls and said it took them months, sadly Mum just blew this off...but getting back to the story.

It has been great staying with Mum or my in-laws and getting some extra help but I now realise that it wasn't a good idea. We've both become so dependent on the help so much so that Mum asks if I will be ok being left for 5 minutes with my own son whilst she leaves the room. I don't mean this as in I'm a bad mother I just want to paint the picture.

Mum has gotten way too entangled in my life. Tonight I invited her over because Hubby was out and I knew I'd be lonely. It was going great until she started on my Hubby. It was things I knew about him (you have to ask him to do a lot of stuff he just doesn't see it but when asked he does it) but I could tell she just wanted to have a bitch session about it. She wouldn't stop even after I said that it couldn't be changed (his mum is exactly the same andante I've tried everything it's jut part of his personality) I'd learnt to deal with it. She made it seem like he was hurting me and therefore it was up to her to protect me - by bitching about him to me, not sure how that works and then she went on about how she was concerned for Logan to.

My Husband is forgetful and sometimes doesn't carry through with tasks the way I do but he's amazing in other aspects (always gets up to Logan during the night, does food shopping at the last minute, just to name a few) and I just couldn't believe she would bring all this up. Then when she knew it was hurting me she just kept going and going and going and when I (of course) got upset with her she got angry...

I can't talk to my Hubby about this obviously because then he'll be weird with my Mum and it's pretty obvious she's spoken about this with other people...so, apologies for the vent but does anyone have any suggestions?

I'm tempted to just take a break but she would kill me or turn herself into the 'victim' if I said I wanted a break from her coming over... I realise now that whilst living in your parents house is great it does come with significant issues and even though we've just moved in I'm already itching to move out (which sucks after all this moving back and forth with a baby).

On the Move

Is this a recurring theme for me or what!? But this will be the last move for awhile until we buy our own house that is. It's sad to be leaving our first family home where I got ready for my wedding (back when Mum lived here) and then preparing for Logan and finally bringing him back here. It's bittersweet because we are moving into a lovely more practical home but this house is amazing and I don't think I'll ever find such a nice view in suburbia ever again.

It will be great to not be living out of suitcases and plastic tubs anymore, we've been moving between parents' houses since end of February! I can't wait to live within walking distance to my Mum she has been the hugest help to all of us since Logan was born and it'll also mean a more set in stone exercise program! We'll also have grass (yippee) and be 2 minutes away from a park so I can easily walk the dog now and won't need to use my car so much.

I can't wait to post a photo showing our new house once it's all set up. I've never really done a home tour but definitely will with this place. So in the interim forgive me if I go a bit AWOL I'm hoping to get back to more regular posting when I'm all settled in.

 

Month 6 Letter

 

Dear Logan,

You are really becoming your own little person. You're understanding when to laugh at us and playing a lot more. You are still a cranky little man but we're used to it by now.


You've also started moving an insane amount, your favourite thing to do is creep! But this has led to horrible nights with you waking up at least twice (and not going down until 8) because you roll over or get yourself wedged in a corner. Towards the end of the month you started doing baby yoga sticking your bum high up in the air and your head down on the ground. You also go up on all fours so crawling is imminent I'm afraid!

Sleep has gone out the window and you've been waking up lots throughout the night, a good night is only 2 times but a bad one can be as many as 6...this hasn't been helped by your poor blocked nose courtesy of Bali.

Speaking of which you went overseas for the first time ever and weren't too bad on the plane. You hated the hot weather and didn't sleep well but you started chowing down on your food. You now have at least 3 meals a day along with lots of boob!

Blowing raspberries is another favourite of yours and you do this with a mouthful of food just to annoy me. You're starting to enjoy getting reactions out of us. Another one of your favourite things is to stick your hands in our mouth and all over our faces (especially when it involves far's glasses).

You are such a chatty and happier little baby now and we can't wait to see what is next.

 

All my love,

Mummy

PS: What has happened to those daytime naps!?

 

Bali Baby

Not too long ago that post could have read Bali Belly...I highfived my Husband on our return once I realised I hadn't gotten sick, that's two in a row hurrah! But what a difference a baby makes, I think Bali Belly might have been easier to cope with.

As some of you may know I headed off to Bali as part of my Mum and new Step-dad's honeymoon (they took the whole family) which also coincided with the 'week of Jess' (my birthday on May 6th through to Mother's day - unfortunately both days were taken up with airports and flights). It was an interesting holiday to say the least and I know now that relaxing holidays by the pool are a thing of the past.

Thankfully I was surrounded by my wonderful family who helped us out way more than they should of and we managed to have a dinner & lunch date and go white water rafting. My new step-sister was an absolute gem and helped out so much with babysitting.

We stayed in two amazing places but nothing could top the first location in Ubud called Villa Sebali. The staff were amazing, the grounds like something out of a movie and the outdoor bathrooms out of this world. The next was in Seminyak and the place was gorgeous (you could step out of the kitchen into the pool) but it wasn't practical and the staff were terrible. But it was good for shopping at least - not that I did much of that.



Hot holidays are definitely hard with a baby and especially hard in a country where you can't drink the water. So if anyone is planning a trip to an Asian country with a baby here are some of my tips.

1. Make sure you have a comfortable baby carrier that you've used before and a nursing cover to hook over.
2. Take an electric fan if you plan on using your pram/stroller otherwise you never will.
3. Take a small but padded blanket (one of the Mums in my Mums Group made me one and may be making more to sell in the future if anyone is interested) - we used this for him to play on the ground on when high chairs weren't available.
4. Take light weight long sleeve shirts for Bubs, you don't really need long pants because their legs are usually covered.
5. A large/huge plastic zip lock bag and Milton (antibacterial) tablets - this was so helpful in sterilizing Logan's food and sippy cups.
6. A mosquito net for the portacot, our first place had one but the next one didn't and we had to try to fit his cot in under our bed's net and it was a pain because of course there were still gaps!
7. Take a dummy/pacifier holder! Even if you hate pinning a dummy to your baby's clothes it is well worth it to avoid losing your dummy to floor germs! Unfortunately the 5 second rule doesn't apply to dirty streets...
8. Take a light weight wrap to use as a quick cover for dirty chairs, floors etc...
9. And of course all the other things for hot weather - sippy cup with water, hat, sunglasses, safe sunscreen (if you want to go down that route).
10. Finally consider trading your nappy bag for a backpack, it's a lot easier and nicer on your shoulders!

The trip was good and I'm now feeling more prepared for our long haul flight to Toronto in October but it is sad saying goodbye to relaxing holidays.

As for the week of Jess, there's always next year and I plan on avoiding airports and planes on both of my special days next year!

 

 

Ouch!

I'm back to pre-baby weight (72kg) minus the new pudgy belly and stretchmarks...woo hoo! I put it all down to breastfeeding which is bad because, my logic is to eat crap whilst I can because it won't last forever. I said this out loud whilst jogging around the park with Mums from my Mums Group (we do a personal training session together). Some of us are like me and have lost the weight and others aren't there yet (but are way fitter than me!).

It was potentially our last class on Monday and I was completely ready to throw in the towel. I am easily the most unfit Mum in the group which can make it embarrassing some times (eg the week before wanting to faint/throw up). But I'm sticking with it and pushing/challenging myself. I realised I always have excuses for not exercising and whilst I can't run a lot (thanks pelvic floor) I am going to get my butt into gear.


I want to be prepared for when I stop breastfeeding and start to pack on the kilos again...It's funny how things change and now my mentality is leaning towards working out and increasing my fitness level. I've also changed my mind about breastfeeding and whilst initially I was ready to quit so many times and 6 months was my end date I'm going to keep going. Logan will still be getting fed food but I think I'll try and keep breastfeeding until either he wants to stop or until just before a year. I swear I won't be one of those creepy women still feeding their 7 year old haha