my-speck

i'm pregnant and it's going to be a rollercoaster

Things to do with great eggs (and passionfruit): #2 Passionfruit Icecream February 26, 2011

Filed under: cooking,family,Parenting,pregnancy,Raising a Child — rakster @ 2:51 pm
Tags: , ,

Hello!

 

So one of the bonuses of living in a city where it rained for three months straight and then suffered the worst flood in 30 years is that everything we planted in the garden this year has thrived.   We bought two passionfruit seedlings about a year ago, and put them in to run up our back stairs and back deck railing.   And they have just thrived.  We previously had one there but moving away from the house for a few years the poor plant just didn’t make it without the loving care and attention (water and food) we gave it, so was just a broken bunch of sticks when we moved back in two years ago (has it been that long already!?).  I recall however that it did take more than one season to fruit when we have previously planted passionfruit.  Not this time. (more…)

 

Was that “duck”????… Bad parent of the day award February 16, 2011

Filed under: baby stuff,bad parent of the day award,Communication,development stages,emotion,family,imitation,Parenting,Raising a Child,speaking — rakster @ 8:06 pm
Tags: , , , , ,

This week you’ve started to talk in whole sentences.  Like,

“The bird is in the sky. Up there.”

And the like.  And in addition to using your own sentences, you’ve decided to repeat verbatim what other people say to you, back to them:

“Let’s go eat now”; “Lets feed the chickens”; “I like eggs”….

So today I was pulling out of our street into the busy road on the way to drop you (O) at daycare when someone nearly hit me…  I swerved and said,

“Fuck.  Stupid asshole.  Did you see that, they almost hit us.”

Can you see where this is going???..

….

….

….

You proceeded to babble in the back about “ducks” with a certain inflection in your voice the rest of the way to daycare.

Nice one mum.

P.S. Yes, we have instituted the swear jar, as I’ve written about before. But at present the rules are that it only applies once you walk in the front door.  With the unspoken proviso that both your Dad and I try to adhere to it around you at most times….   But as I’ve also said before that I think I have contributed the most to the about $150 we’ve collected so far..

 

Dear Baby: Kick, kick, kicking away. February 15, 2011

Filed under: baby stuff,development stages,emotion,family,healthcare,Parenting,pregnancy — rakster @ 2:40 pm
Tags: , , ,

Dear Baby,

So, I’m now 22 weeks pregnant, and all is going well.

I feel kinda guilty about not writing more about this pregnancy on the blog – sharing more intimately what is going on, as I did last time.

But for some reason I just feel more at peace with the whole process, and for some reason, a little more private about it all too.  Just like it is a calm and peaceful journey that we are going on right now, and that we are getting to know each other quietly while you’re growing, moving and kicking around down in my slowly-expanding belly.

You feel to me like a different baby than your brother.  I can’t put my finger quite on how or why or what is different, it is just a different feeling.

Common to last time, I have a renewed vigour for food and all things edible.  Last week your dad was out for a meeting one night and wasn’t going to be back for dinner but I had a hankering for a nice meal, so I cooked myself a two course meal that I had a craving for.  It took 4 hours to cook, in between looking after and playing with your brother, getting him fed and bathed and to bed, but it was well worth it… (more…)

 

Announcing the new arrivals at our house: Chicken 1 and Chicken 2 February 3, 2011

Filed under: activities for kids,cooking,development stages,family,Parenting,playing,Raising a Child — rakster @ 7:41 pm
Tags: , , ,

Hello!

Well, I’ve been wanting to have chickens again for a few years, and now that we are definitely firmly ensconced back in our house in Brisvegas with another child on the way (and thus no move in sight for the short to medium forseeable future), it seemed a good time.

And fortunately the argument about whether I would actually look after them or not ended with me saying that we will always be able to ‘give them back’ if it doesn’t work out (as they are a lovely gift from some friends who are slightly over-chickened at the moment AND happened to have a spare chicken coop).

preparing the chicken coop for the new arrivals…

Yay!!! (more…)

 

Howdy from Big White, Canada January 5, 2011

Filed under: activities for kids,family,Parenting,playing,Raising a Child — rakster @ 7:48 am
Tags: , , ,

Hello!

So this is our third day up at Big White ski resort here in Canada.  And you still seem to love the snow.  Mostly eating it!

eating the snow. At least this shot you’re not eating it off the soles of your boots. Which you keep doing when we get on the bus as you can reach your feet. I offer you milk/water as an alternative, but you’re just not interested…

And riding the “gonda”.  I.e. the gondala.  There is in fact somewhat of an obsession with the gondola. (more…)

 

First visit to the emergency department of the hospital… December 5, 2010

Filed under: exhaustion,family,healthcare,Parenting — rakster @ 8:06 pm
Tags: , , , ,

So I was in the middle of writing a rather staid blog post last night about the state of the kitchen and other of life’s happenings, when we heard you wake up and start coughing.  Which then very quickly progressed to a rasping, choking, vomiting-but-can’t sound.

Rushed in, ripped open your clothes and had a look at you in the light and you were most definitely very upset and struggling to get breath in.  Getting some in, but labouring and not happy.

So, we made sure you were breathing enough, then tried to calm you down as we threw some clothes on and jumped in the car.  By this stage your coughing/difficulty breathing fit was over, so we drove the 4 minutes to the emergency department at the hospital and (more…)

 

Hello down there. Hope all is well. October 21, 2010

Filed under: baby stuff,baby's feelings,dreams,exhaustion,family,healthcare,Parenting,pregnancy — rakster @ 7:48 pm

Hello little pumpkin,

How is it all going down there? I hope well.

I’ve been thinking about you. Multiplying rapidly. I’m thinking you’re a girl. No reason to, just think you are. Maybe it’s a wish. Maybe not. Who knows.

My brain is going about 10,000 miles a second, same as it did when I was pregnant with your brother. I’m starting to get kinda tired, like exhausted, at the end of each day. About 6pm and I need to get into bed for a nap. But don’t always get the chance. …

quick note. just wanted to let you know I’m thinking of you!

love mum

21 October 2010

 

you know you’re pregnant when… October 20, 2010

Filed under: family,healthcare,Parenting,pregnancy,Raising a Child — rakster @ 8:49 am
Tags: , , ,

You know you’re pregnant when your 16 month old (yes 16 months omg I can’t really say ‘baby’ anymore, and soon we’ll move to ‘nearly two’ rather than counting in months. too quick! too quick!!!) can replicate the exact sound, pitch and timbre of your digestive farts.

Yes. The digestive farts are back in full force, and much as I’d like to think I’m the kind of refined woman that manages to keep it to herself, there just isn’t holding it in, particularly at home, and particularly when only a 16 month old is around. Who can he tell, right? …

Mm… I may be creating a little fart monster. He can now also say, “Fart”, and does so with glee.

He’s a boy, so it was bound to happen anyway, right? right? I maybe just sped up the process slightly.

written: October 20 2010…

 

Leaps and Bounds September 23, 2010

Filed under: activities for kids,Communication,development stages,exercise,family,Parenting,Raising a Child,Sign Language — rakster @ 8:36 pm

Hello Little Poogie,

It seems that something has switched ‘on’ in your big brain, and you are going through a ‘learning progression’ in leaps and bounds. Well, that is how it seems to me anyway.

Following the incident two days ago when you told me you needed to have a sleep, which I thought was most-likely a one-off miracle, you’ve continued to do that for the past two days at every sleeping opportunity. In the morning for your nap, in the afternoon for your nap, at night before bed, and, amazingly, when you were crying in the middle of the night and I took you to the kitchen to comfort you: you told me through tears that you wanted to go back to bed. “So there! mumma, I know what I want even if I am crying!” You went back to bed and cried a little more but then fell asleep.

Weird!

Then today at swimming you pre-empted the teacher on just about every little exercise we do, throwing yourself into the water face-first at most opportunities to demonstrate that you knew your head was about to go under and bubbles were required. Almost caught me off-guard a few times.

And language. (more…)

 

My little signer: mumma, I want to go sleepy! September 21, 2010

Filed under: activities for kids,baby stuff,Communication,development stages,eating,emotion,family,Parenting,Raising a Child,Sign Language — rakster @ 1:13 pm
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hello!

Amazing thing just happened. You actually signed “sleepy” or “sleeping” for the first time, in trying to tell me you wanted to go to bed!

the background: why i would never have expected you needed a sleep at that point

You have another permutation of the day-care-cold you’ve had for weeks, so you are a bit more tired than normal, and this morning I put you down for a sleep at 9am after you woke at 6:45 in the morning, as you were grumbling at me and just needed it. Normally you go through to around 11am now before you go down for a sleep. Anyway, you slept for just over an hour, then we went out and you played with some kids in the creche that you know while I did pilates. I’d taken you a big fat rissole and you ate that for the whole hour I was gone.

I picked you up, and you looked a bit tired, but I thought, well, you’ve only been up for two hours, so can’t be bed-time yet. We ventured home via the fish shop, where you ogled the pictures of the fish and busily told me that you wanted to eat them (all via baby signing: signing, “fish, fish” and trying to say it, then signing “eat, eat”). We jumped in the car and came home, you still madly signing “eat” and “more, more”. I made you a quick toasted sandwich with hommus, tomato and cheese, and while you munched down on that, got one for myself. I came and joined you at the table and you of course demanded my sandwich instead of yours and started to eat that.

Signing “Sleep”

Then the weird bit. You suddenly stopped eating, had a big drink of water, then started to move your hand to the side of your head and tilt your head. And I, dumbfounded wondered what you were doing. Then you did it again. And pointed towards the doorway back to your room. And I got it. Despite the fact that I’ve been signing sleep, or sleepy, for about 6 months and you’ve never shown any indication that you’ve even noticed me signing it, let alone attempting to copy it: there you were, signing “sleepy”. (more…)