After weeks of tentative steps, and cruising (which #1 never did) we've officially decalerad this week as "walking week". We're still very much at the hand-holding stage, with no more than a few steps at a time, being thwarted by the smallest of obstacles (ie th rug in the lounge), but it's a progression with no definitive point in time.
May the Lord have mercy on us all.
And of course #1's FIFTH Christmas. And our first as a complete family. And our first on our own with no extended family. Wow, big changes this year then!
Everything's going mobile this week with #2. From his first tooth appearing on Monday, to taking his first 4 crawl steps later in the week, to sitting up himself from a lying position, to turning those first 4 crawl steps into a good yard of forward movement.
It's been a long time coming, but after 7 months and 21 days #2's first tooth has finally unwrapped itself from his gum this morning and exposed itself to the fresh Scottish air, just in time for the family trip to the dentist tonight. All smiles, but now different smiles.
That's quite a few weeks of symptoms to get this far - gumming down on things, Calgel / Bonjela tubes being emptied at a high rate, thru'penny bits (nasty…), red cheeks, but when it finally appeared it was a non-event. This boy really is his big brother's clone.
Not strictly true as a title, in more ways than one. Two ways, to be precise.
Oh, enough of these inaccuracies, what's the real story?
Starting with the caveat that this is based on limited experience (just like the health claims from L'Oreal's surveys of 74 women, 86% of which said their products are the best thing since sliced bread), I have to say that I have never known a baby smile so much as the wee fella does.
Very short one, but worthy of the mention. At the weekend just past we were all in what is rapidly becoming the family bed (I'm sure it was once termed a marital bed). #1 turns to #2, head in hands:
Peek-a-boo
And there he was, a few repetitions, hand movements and all. And there was the little 'un, happily smiling back at his big bruvver, clearly trying to say "thank you for playing with me".
Here I talked about Big Bruv's first jabs. Today the Little Bruv had his. A similar response to last time from the tiny one, MOTS was 100% fine (so completely different), and for me - same old same old, no beer!
Apart from that, nothing changes, the opinions regarding vaccines for number one apply equally for number two. And as the last post was quite long compared to this one, is it a sign of things to come - all shiny and new for when milestones are hit the first time, and non-events when they are hit the second time? Hmm, hope not, for the little one's sake at least!
Here he is at 8 weeks old and had a massive amount of development going on. And here I am with hardly any time to fire the PC up and record it, which is a shame because MOTS has started looking back at where number 1 was with his development. So, finger out time...
It's now just over a month since Mr Luther arrived (MOTS hate me calling him this, but it suits him perfectly IMHO). So what has it been like since this hand grenade went off in the middle of our utopian family life?
Well, first and foremost, there was no such thing as utopia. Things are tough at the moment, and were before Mr Luther arrived. Endemol (hereby the name for Big Brother) is having his ups and downs, is generally better since Mr Luther arrived but still has some moments.
Day 6 in the Big Brother House. Only because we start at day 0, which is fair enough. And since just before it all started life has been centred around pretty much nothing else but food, at whichever stage in it's journey.
As promised, here are the full gory details in glorious technicolor!
Warning - not for the faint-hearted!
Full post to follow in due course, just a quick one before I head off to bed after a long hard day doing nothing, chilling, and listening to The Proclaimers. Again. Five hundred miles later...
We have another baby boy! And for those who voted in favour of a girl, all I can say is "LOSERS!" Oh, yeah, the details:
Weighing in at 3.600kg (that's 7lb 15oz in old money) Alex Callum made his entrance into the world at 10:16 this morning. All he'd done since is eat, sleep and cry (quantities in that order, and not much in the crying department). Baby and Mummy both fine and doing very well. #2 has beaten his older brother in his first tests, APGAR results in at 9 & 9. 10 tiny fingers, ten tiny toes, and two huge boy bits. Another chip off the old block!
Big brother adores him already, desperately wants him to come home. Hopefully for the weekend!
With all the possible scenarios, and the worry about the logistics of looking after number 1 son, MOTS has hung on to the point neither of us ever thought we'd see. 5 days overdue.
The deadline looms. And nothing's happening. Yet.
At most we have less than a week to wait now. Unfortunately, it's a bit longer for "Mummy's new car coming, Mummy's new car black". Number 1 has the new car thing well and truly sorted in his head, but just doesn't talk about the fact his life as he currently knows it is about to be turned upside down.
Mind you, neither do we. We are in denial too, so we can't expect anything else from our son.
The votes are counted, the lines are closed. Please do not call now as you may still be charged but your vote will not be counted.
82% say it's a girl, 18% a boy, and funnily enough only I think it could be a puppy. Results coming soon...
We've had a couple of dealines pass us by recently, with hardly a second thought on them from me. MOTS, on the other hand, has given them some cranium time. And those are:
School year: No longer will number 2 start school in 2014, the cut-off passed a few days ago. Will now be a 2015 starter for certain.
Birthday: As her birthday looms, will she be x or will she be x+1? Well, that now x+1 too.
x: Random number between old and really old.
I was horrified when I saw the year - that's almost a quarter of a century ago! Not the point though, the point is like Europe's hit, from 1986, which went to number 1 in 25 countries, it's the Final Countdown.
It's MOTS' last day at work today, so good luck to her trying to avoid blubbering too much over lunch. As we discussed this morning - when I say "discussed" I mean me pointing it out and MOTS trying everything to avoid accepting my proposition - today marks the last major event before number 2 arrives. So, if you haven't voted yet, DO IT NOW before MOTS is officially full term (on Friday).
All pregnancies are different, so we can't answer that. Sorry, what was the question?
That is the standard response to any question we ask of the health service. As we approach the business end of MOTS' pregnancy we're understandably nervous about the same happening again, and don't want a repeat of it. So when MOTS was asked to go and speak to the VBAC midwife I expected propaganda to be rammed down her throat.
And that is why I went along too. But, as I found out, this could not have been further from the truth.
We're getting closer, yet still haven't started preparing for the inevitable arrival. I remember going through our Y2K project at work, it was the only project we have ever done that would be implemented to a fixed deadline and to the second at that. Mandatory changes are often "by xx at the latest" which means they can be in earlier, discretionary projects can slip. So which do we fit?
Continue reading "[2] Finish line in sight - but we haven't started yet" »
Sssshhhh! Don't say anything to her, she goes into denial if you mention it - but the nesting HAS started!
Hospital bag has been started, bottles are in the dishwasher, steriliser is out of the box, car seat is altogether in the garage, and she's sweeping the kitchen floor. 9 weeks to go and she's nesting!
What has been funny over Christmas is the changing of minds from the two Grandmothers. Before seeing the 4D scan one was "it's a girl" and the other "it's a boy", now both have changed their minds having seen the facial features from the scan.
Only one is currently correct, but both will claim victory as they had correctly identified the sex at some point.
All will be revealed in March...
The final trimester has begun. And what, exactly, have we done to prepare for number 2's arrival?
NOTHING.
Apathy isn't the word, nothing has been done yet. The pram is still in the garage as a pushchair gathering dust, the car seats are still in bits in the garage gathering dust, the nursery is still missing bits of border where number one has torn them off and has additional wall decorations where Daddy wasn't quick enough behind him and a handful of crayons.
Purchases to date: None. Purchases due: A new bath mat and a new changing mat. Beyond that, maybe some SMA and perhaps some Infacol. And maybe some more earplugs.
I'm hoping this post becomes quite interactive…. So get posting comments. Please...
Closing date:
3rd March
There are a lot of old wives tales out there about working out the gender of a baby. Even the wackiest ones have a good 50/50 chance of being right. But even Grandma has her ideas, based on nothing more than the fact she's making observations that are clearly putting her in the "Old Wife" camp. So without trying to list every single on here, what I'd like to do is get some comments on the go, maybe some questions back & forth, and have a poll running from now until March to see what the general opinion is. All will be vindicated or discredited in March of course!
Looking back to one of the very early posts about gender and whether or not we should know in advance, we have a slightly different dilemma this time.
Right from the word go having kids is like going into a warzone. Sure, the terrible twos are an "experience", but we're not there yet - not with Wotsit at least, and with number 1 we're past it, if only in age. No, everything is geared up so that's it's a miracle that a pregnancy starts, never mind goes all the way through. And then you start thinking about post-birth illnesses, accidents etc, and wonder how on earth as a nation we are getting older.
As Wotsit's first major sporting event will the the Grand National I've taken a look at how closely a pregnancy can mirror the course at Aintree, and found some striking similarities with the hurdles that have to be cleared...
Today we're halfway there - 20 weeks down and 20 to go! And in a twist of fate we are dining out tonight (for Grandma's 70th) at the same place we had dinner the last night of our ignorance.
Well stated, my favourite read is Marcus Berkmann's Fatherhood: The Truth. He knows this, the blog has seen traffic from his house. So I'll go out on a limb and say that there is one piece of advice he gives that I have recently mentioned again, but have taken quite literally over the last couple of nights. And that is not to make any jokes about pie eating.
BUT, and here's the crucial part, he does not mention that the older sibling can't say anything about our pastry topped cuisine. So when I ask number one who ate all the pies...
Mummy
And that absolves me, and Marcus, of any responsibility.
It had to happen, and it's happened now. We're having to revisit the old task of looking for a replacement vehicle due to the expanding family.
When MOTS said goodbye to her Bug in favour of an American piece of gutless scrap we didn't consider the possibility of a second. Which meant our requirements were OK with the hatchback. But now, with a boot full to the brim last month for camping and the very real event of needing additional space for number 2's gear, we are not going to manage to travel with just the hatch or the saloon. We are entering a new world, that of the ESTATE.
Next I'll be wearing cord patches on my elbows. An ESTATE? Me? Oh no, what have I become? Never before in a car brochure have I read how many litres of fresh air is in the boot, but it's now target number 1. Oh, how things change!! And with a tighter budget for a bigger car this is going to be a big challenge.
I have posts, unpublished and never to be, dating back to May 2008 on this particular topic. So what I'm trying to do is look back at them, summarise, and post in one go. I expect it won't be a short one, so here we go.
And as it say's "the clue's in the title"!
Just so we're clear, the title holds the clue!
MT 4.01
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