carol's blog

We have had some exciting new adventures recently taking Emma bike riding and kayaking. We had a great time in the nice weather and Emma loved the trips out and about...
Emma bike riding
Emma kayaking
Emma's first kayak
We've also been busy growing yummy vegies in the front yard and redoing the paving out the back...
Back yard paving

We're looking forward to Tor's birthday this weekend and going home to Tassie for X'mas in mid December.Yum vegies

Well Emma had a fantastic birthday thanks to cousins Meg and Piper and Uncle Adam and Auntie Olivia, Auntie Bec and Uncle Kev and Auntie Ali and Uncle Michael.

The presents..
Emma with Makka Pakka
The dress...
Party dress
The cake...
Birthday cake

Fun at the park with cousins
The fun...

Then there was the trip to the Zoo...
Emma at zoo

I know he isn't real but it is a great shot anyway and the closest animal that she could get too :)

I know I know - where are the cute pictures of Emma? Well they are still on the camera cause I have lost the cable to download them onto the computer! We have been pretty busy with visits from Grandma, Adam and family and Sam and kids, a trip to the zoo, a 1st birthday party for Emma, visit to the Melbourne Show and a trip to Mornington Penisula. We've also been fixing the paving out the back. Hopefully some photos will be arriving soon. Thanks to everyone for Emma's presents and cards - she loves looking at the sparkly ones.

Yes please. I would love a no cry sleep solution. Emma was up every 20 minutes last night from 10 - 12.30 with a fever and rash. In the morning she was all puffy and swollen. Turns out it is a general allergic reaction to life that can happen when her immune system is over stimulated like with a virus or something. Anyway the solution was to bring her into our bed to sleep. She woke occasionally after that but with a couple of pats, turn her on her side or a soothing word she went back to sleep. She woke at 5.30 and had milk but otherwise did not need the boob to settle. Great! No boob addiction but looks like Emma suffers from separation anxiety big time.

Browsing through Elizabeth Pantley's website from her book The No cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers "Foods can affect energy level and sleepiness. Carbohydrate-rich foods can have a calming effect on the body, while foods high in protein or sugar generate alertness, particularly when eaten alone. A few ideas for pre-bedtime snacks are: whole wheat toast and cheese, bagel and peanut butter, oatmeal with bananas, or yogurt and low-sugar granola."

We are pretty good with Emma and toast, bananas and yoghurt but the oats are a bit tricky as she doesn't eat off the spoon much. Might try some porrige as dessert. She wasn't eating much at all yesterday cause she was sick :( Poor thing. We now have some medicine but it was already clearing up so that is a good sign. Might talk to Nath about moving her bed into our room for a trial and then gradually moving her out again to see if that helps her get the idea of going back to sleep by herself. I think if we take the side of the cot off we might be able to put her cot against the side of our bed and it will be like co sleeping but not as awkward as having her actually in our bed.

Anyway I am quoting the Pantley exerpt so that I might win some books so wish me luck! I'll put some photos up from our recent trips soon.

Emma and Nathan

Emma is growing up so fast it is amazing! She has had some fantastic milestones this last week - walking unaided for a few steps, waving and starting to copy our gestures! So very cute and exciting. She is so proud of herself and it is just beautiful to watch her learning.

She is now 10.5 months old and rapidly her first birthday is approaching. It has been a bit of a surprise for me to see it arrive so quickly since 9 months it seemed a long while away...

Emma 9 months

We have recently come back from a trip to Tassie to holiday with family and loved catching up with everyone and all the cousins. My Mum looked after us well and Emma really enjoyed all the attention and people helping her walk about the house. I think her favourite was chasing the various cats and dogs and having Grandma chase her!

Emma loves balloons

Nathan's Mum came to visit and we had a great time playing with her. The balloon was a hit - though it popped when we took it to parent's group for the other kids to enjoy.

Looking beautiful: 7 months old

Everyone agrees she is a real little lady - none of this crawling for her she doesn't want to get her tummy dirty!

Emma loves swing: 7 months old

Emma still loves the swing but this photo was one of her first - back when it was warmer and she was 7 months old.

I'm back at work now two days a week and it is a lot more hectic than it used to be. Nathan is enjoying looking after Emma for one day a week and they have lots of fun going to the park together. It is still a hit even in the winter time. Emma loves to watch the other kids but is also a big fan of the thing that goes round and round, the swing and the slide. We're looking forward to heading back to Tassie next week for Nathan's Dad's Birthday and then to Canberra the following weekend for Matt's Birthday.

Matt I need help! Can't seem to see how to upload pictures now - I need the filepath? also says I am exceeding my disk quota of 10Mb by uploading a 53.5kb file using the Attach feature (which is how I think we do pictures now) Can you double check that this is right?

After Emma waking 6 times in the night the first night in Tassie I thought we were in for a rough holiday at Mum's but she got used to the change of scenery and settled into only two to three wakings. On one night she even woke twice but put herself to sleep - without me needing to get up! She hasn't repeated that performance since :(

Mum was very supportive while we were staying with her even though she was just as perplexed as me with what to do because her three girls, especially my sister Alison were really good sleepers from quite early on. Why, Emma, did you not inherit those genes?

"My goal is to help you and your baby sleep all night - without either of you crying along the way." from the No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. By the way all those new Mums-to-be that I know, I greatly recommend this book and please read a copy before baby arrives so that you start off with good habits. p64-89 especially for newborns. It makes it easier than trying to correct later. So far I have found it to be the most obvious explanation of what to do to avoid a lot of problems. Other books etc mentioned what to do but I just failed to translate it into practice until this book.

I was going to be a little tougher from today and not succumb to using the boob to soothe to sleep during the day. At least then we would have a no boob strategy for when I start going to work next week - Arrgg! I can't do the controlled crying / leave her alone to cry it out strategy at all so if Emma is upset, and it is not the boob for comfort, then I am holding her in my arms, patting and saying comforting things. I won't be as able to resist the boob in the middle of the night though. The crying seems so much louder when you are half asleep and the whole house is quiet - plus the neighbours said this morning that they could hear Emma in the night! I didn't know that before - no pressure of course.

We are still persisting with the Pantley pull off technique though so far with mixed success. I keep needing to re-read the book to commit back to my plan and check that I am doing the right thing as it is taking a while and I get disheartened every couple of weeks and tempted to use more crying and be tougher. Today the Maternal Child Nurse said the best solution was to get tougher. "Just think about what message you are sending when you always offer the boob". ie how will she learn not to expect it each time. Hmm maybe the message is Mummy is not going to comfort you when your really upset even if she knows how to. If you are going to go down the no cry path then you really need a copy of the book to re motivate as there is so much advice out there that encourages crying.

Still the no cry solution is a more long term one so it can't be rushed. Emma will sort this out in her own time. She went down so well tonight. I told her a story about everything we did today after her bedtime goodnight to all her toys and at the end, when she was calm, I put her in her bed. I tucked her in finishing the story and she fussed for a while and wriggled then settled down to sleep. So good. Hmm maybe it will be a good sign for tonight...

Grandma visited this week to catch up with Emma who is now 6 months old.

 

Grandma had lots of playing, kisses and hugs with Emma and it was lovely to have her here. We took Emma swimming for the first time at the Yarraville pool and Emma enjoyed it - putting her ears in the water and splashing about. She looked very trendy in her swimmers too - thanks for those Gran - yes they are 000 but still fit.

 

For my birthday we had a great lunch out with the parents group...

 

We had a cold snap recently and Emma tried out her polar fleece - it is a bit big at the moment but won't be long and it will fit perfectly.

 

Emma is growing up fast and is loving tickles and funny noises, this little piggy and horsing around...

 

She's not a big fan of tummy time..

but she does like blocks even if its just knocking them down...

 

Mostly she is just very cute...

We are now back from our X'mas holidays in Tassie. Thanks to all of our family who had us stay, feed us great food or spent time with us. Our now 5 month old baby Emma was wonderful - hardly any complaints during the day and just a bit more waking up in the night. This was completely understandable as she was in a new place, visiting new people every day and receiving a lot of attention. Her favourite seemed to be Rastas (my Mum's puppy) who she watched running about the place with Grandpa's (all of them!) a close second.

 

We went kayaking with Nathan's sister and her kids Alex and Chloe...

 

We spent time with Emma's cousins...

 

She is growing up very fast and is just starting to get interested in solid food. She's very ready with smiles and laughs for friends and also strangers. I can't help attaching a photo as she is so cute.

 

Hope you had a great X'mas and New Year - I didn't send cards this year.