Daycare Disease!!

We are all sick! On Friday Grace started getting a runny nose and upset. By that night it had turned into a full blown cold. She was miserable, her eyes were runny and nose constantly running. I knew that this would happen once she started child care! She has got the dreaded “Daycare Disease!” And she has passed it on to the rest of the household.

Duane and I got our haircut on Friday, I went the big chop. My hair is now up to my shoulders, and it feels great to get rid of all that heavy hair! We were both feeling ok when we went to bed that night but both woke up feeling like crap! The sore throat, runny noses and general achy feeling. Then Saturday night Xavier started getting a runny nose and sneezing and he was up all night feeding! I just bought him into my bed and fed him all night. He seemed better by the morning but still had a runny nose.

First day of "School"

~Grace's first day of "school"~

My little girl had her first day of child care today! I took her up yesterday for an orientation; we stayed for a few hours. She was a little shy told at first and a little clingy but after a while she wandered off and played. I think that she enjoyed it and was confident that today would be fine as her first day by herself.

We talked all morning about her going to school and Mummy and Xavier going home. She seemed to understand but kept asking “Mummy, Xavier school?” We all got ready this morning, I packed a banana and some yoghurt for her morning tea. She was eager to get in the car and go, but I’m not sure if she totally understood that she was going by herself. When we got there, we said hello to Norma, the carer, then popped her morning tea in the fridge. I took her outside to all the other kids, she was a little clingy to my legs but seemed ok! I told her that I was going now and she gave Xavier and I a kiss and cuddle, then we left. Norma took her by the hand and walked her down to the grassed area. I had a quick glance and she happily wandered off with her...no crying or resistance. Xavier and I went back out to the car and left (I did drive around the car park a little to see if I could get a good angle to see her....but I couldn’t, damn bushland!!)

Norma called about ½ hour later and said that she was doing well, not crying but asked for Mummy a few times. She said that she would call if she was getting distressed, but she was confident that she would be fine.

Well Xavier fell asleep in the car on the way home from dropping grace off, so I transferred him to the cot when he got home. I was hoping that he would have a sleep and then another sleep when grace had hers when she got home! No.....Xavier decided he wanted to have a bog snooze! He slept until 11am! I checked on him a few times and he had changed sleeping positions so many times. He ended up the other end of the cot on his back (he normally sleeps on his tummy)

When I went to pick Grace up she was outside standing on the deck holding onto dolly. All the other kids were sitting down nicely listening to a story...not Grace!! When she saw me she came in and gave me a little cuddle. Not the big welcome back that I was expecting...I kinda thought that she would come running up to me all excited! I had a chat to the carer (Tanya) and she said that she had been really good and mostly settled. She had been a little teary and was asking for Mummy, but they just kept her busy and distracted. There was another little boy there that was on his 2nd day. Apparently she was quite upset at morning tea time and set Grace off crying too! The carer mentioned that she was not really into the quiet things (books etc) and she “Knows what she wants, doesn’t she!” Yes my little girl is stubborn and not afraid to stand up for herself!! Just the way I like her!! So I guess we’ll see how she goes next week...it does seem like a long time until then! I’ll also admit that I pretty much just watched the clock while she was away......I missed her terribly and just sat there wondering if she was ok or not! Pathetic I know!!

I thought I might also write a little bit about Xavier. He is sitting up perfectly now. He loves playing with all his toys sitting up. He grabs things from either side and passes them between his hands. He can get back to laying from a sitting position, sometimes this involves just falling to the side...but it works for him!!! He is getting around quite easily too, not officially crawling though. He somehow works his way backwards and also does 360’s so he can get wherever he wants to. He is always on his hands and knees rocking, just not going anywhere yet! Not sure if I want that too soon though, he gets into enough as it is now!



Just had to share a cute little thing that Grace just said. We are sitting outside having lunch when it starts raining. She looked over to the mountains and pointed and said “Storm coming” How cute....I think that she might have learnt this from her father!!

Just another thing.....he does this cute little thing in the car! He always puts one foot up on the strap that goes anchors the car seat! He looks soo cute and casual just relaxing back with one foot up!

~My gorgeous little munchkin~

I know I am constantly saying it but Xavier is such a happy little bubby, but he really is! People are constantly commenting on how happy and contented he is!

Return of the day sleep

Ok so we went 2 days with NO day sleep from Grace! She was fine all day too, not tired at all! But today she woke up at 5am and was so tired all morning. I took her out to mothers group in the hope that she would get really tired and have a sleep when we got home. She had fun playing with Leah and Cassie, they all got on really well! She didn’t fall asleep in the car on the way home, I thought that she would. Once we got home I put Xavier to bed and then tried to get Grace to go too. It took about 30 mins but she finally went off to sleep! YEY I really don’t want to her to stop her day sleep, but I have promised myself not to get too stressed if she does!

Xavier has gone to bed the last 2 nights alot easier! I have tried a different approach. I now feed him some rice cereal at about 5pm, then he has a bath, boob at 5.30pm, then I let him have a play on the floor for about ½ hour. At about 6pm I take him to bed and just lay him down with his dummy. He usually only needs me to give him a few pats and then he goes off and stays asleep. I have also had success resettling him of a night when he wakes. Last night he woke at 12pm, so I gave him a quick feed and then he woke again at 4pm so I fed him again. He then went off to sleep in my bed until 5am when Grace woke!! Duane put him back into his bed and Grace came into me so I could sleep a little longer. Xavier just chatted and laughed to himself until we all got up at 6am! I realised then why he wouldn’t go back to sleep! He had done the biggest, smelliest poo! A yucky solids poo!! I totally forgot how horrible poo is when they start having more than milk! Yesterday Xavier had some banana and sucked on a nectarine (ate most of it!) He also had his rice cereal. He absolutely loves the food and opens his mouth wide and gobbles it all up!!

Grace and Xavier are starting to play well together now. Grace is being alot more gentle and considerate, and she seems to know when she is doing something wrong now. If I am beside her always reminding her to be gentle she is fantastic. I notice that when she gets tired or too hyped up thats when she start the pushing, hair pulling etc. But I can leave them both alone together now as long as grace is in the right mood! I love seeing them play together! Grace has also started taking toys off Xavier, but I have been encouraging her to get him another one if she takes it. She is going great with this too! Quite often she gives him back the toy or gets another one and says “here you go Xavier”

Tired Mummy

Well the last few days have been interesting! I have been absolutely exhausted and not coping as well as I could be. It’s a combination of Xavier waking so much of a night, the heat and I think I might still be getting over my sickness. I really just spent the weekend sleeping, but the more I slept the more that I needed. It was very warm and humid too so I think that’s also why I was feeling like crap! I felt better once we got out, even if it was to just wander around westfield!

Xavier is being a little poo bum about going to bed lately. Its taking a while to get him settled for the night and it is really starting to tire me out. He is also waking about 3 times a night, and every one of these times he wants to feed. I have tried resettling him and just offering water but he won’t go back to sleep unless he has had boob! He is a boobaholic! I am not sure what I am going to do about it because it is wearing me out quickly! He also is getting up at about 4.30am and not wanting to go back to sleep until about 6.30. I can deal with that though because I’ll just bring him into my bed and feed him so I can sleep.

Grace has also started waking about 5am, although today was a sleep in at 5.30am! She has been fighting her day sleep also, I thought that it was because she wanted her dummies but she might be giving it up! I really don’t want her too because that is my time when they are both having their day naps. Well today I tried for an hour to get her to sleep but she wouldn’t go. So now I have just decided that we will try every day but if she doesn’t it’s not the end of the world! I’ll just get her to have some quiet time on the lounge watching a DVD and maybe she will have a sleep that way!

Well its now 6pm and she didn’t end up sleeping AT ALL!! She was very tired by the end of the day though! I took grace out to the library and she nearly fell asleep in the car!

NYE 2007

Well it’s New Years Eve! And I am “partying” it up on the computer! The kids were all in bed by 6.30pm, Duane went off at 8pm and I am here by my lonesome! I actually don’t mind that I am not doing anything too exciting...its overrated!

We had a day today of just hanging out in our Pj’s and playing! The kids and I mucked around singing and carrying on! Grace can nearly sing all of “incy wincy” spider and “twinkle, twinkle” She is also really good at singing “ring a ring a rosie” Her versions area very funny though, especially Twinkle. It goes like this:

Twinkle, twinkle whittle star,
How I dummy what you are,
Up the dummy in the sky,
Twinkle, twinkle whittle star.

So yes she is still a little obsessed with talking about the dummy's! Also in her version of Incy Wincy, poor Incy gets washed out for the whole song!

Xavier also loves it when we sing, he giggles and watches our faces intently! When Xavier had his afternoon sleep I made paint for Grace. I just mixed up some cornflour, water and food dye! Worked out ok, but not too great! Grace and I had fun painting though! Once Daddy got home we all hopped on the bed for a play (I nodded off for a little bit!!) Xavier had a go in the jolly jumper, he loved it! I haven’t put him in it for ages, I will start again though! Grace & Duane had a bounce on the very wet trampoline! At about 5pm Grace, Xavier and I all had a lovely relaxing bath together! It was actually really nice. Xavier loves being in the water and splashing about. After Xavier and I got out, Duane hopped in with Grace! That was the highlight of my NYE...but I enjoyed every bit of it with my kids and hubby!

30th December 2007

We spent Boxing Day at Dreamworld. We were going to go to the water park but it has been too cold! I can’t believe that it is near the end of the year and we still haven’t had many hot days! We haven’t had the air con on yet. It has actually been raining for the last few days and also very windy.

Thursday night I went to the Truets for dinner. Mandy, Scott, Marcus, Deepak (his b/f) and Trudy were also there. It was great to catch up with everybody again!

We opened the time capsule that we put together on the NYE of 2000. It wasn’t that interesting but we had all written out where we wanted to be in 10 years time. I wanted to be a CEO if an airline and married to Duane with 2 Labradors (black & white) Well I got part of it....DO NOT want anything to do with airlines now though!! Duane wanted to have a water fronted house and be a golf pro. Oh well! Our house looks like it’s on water at the moment with all the rain...wonder if that counts!! He got his dream of being a golf pro....I guess he should have been specific for how long!!!

Grace has been so good lately! She hasn’t been pushing or hitting Xavier, which is a relief! She is going to bed fairly easy without her dummies. She does need one of us to sit with her for about 5 mins, but thats fine. She hardly has any tantrums anymore. I think that is mainly because she can talk so well and get her point across easily. He little sentences are so cute. She came up to me today and said “cute boys” Oops its started already! She has been learning for a while now who are boys and who are girls. She gets it right most of the time! She also is starting to understand big and little. When she is going to the toilet she tells me if its a big or little wee or poo! BTW she is fantastic with the toilet. She hasn’t had an accident for ages and always asks when she wants to go. I still put her on before we go anywhere and when we come home, and I also remind her when we are out.

Xavier is just gorgeous! He is such a happy little giggly baby! His only issue at the moment is the night waking. He is waking on average every 3 hours and wont go back to sleep unless he has a feed. He only has a quick feed and then back to sleep so I am not sure whether he is actually feeding or just needing the comfort to go back to sleep. I have tried just resettling him but it takes ages and rarely works. I am going to just go with it and keep feeding him. I am also going to think about introducing solids soon! I kinda feel weird about doing it though.....It’s like he wont need his mummy as much anymore!

He is all over the show with feeding. I am completely demand feeding him and don’t really have any idea when he feeds! I know that he rarely goes longer than 3 hours during the day. He has started biting me at the end of a feed if I am not paying attention. It hurts so much, like little razor blades! He is such a fiddler when he feeds. He pulls out the nipple and then pushes my boob back with his hands. He also slaps my boobs, I think to get a letdown quicker. Once he has settled in and getting it he relaxes back. He pats my chest which is so cute. He starts from the outside and with one big sweeping movement he pats across, in an arc! I love it because it means that he is having a decent feed and not fighting my boobs for more milk! He is still a really quick feeder, usually about 5 mins either side! I am actually amazed that he is getting anything, he is so quick! He is peeing fine though and otherwise seems fine so I am sure that he is! I’ll get him weighed on Thursday!

Christmas 2007

~Christmas 2007 morning~

We have had such a lovely Christmas day!

Xavier was up a fair bit last night, which made for a very tired Mummy! They both woke at about 5.30am, but Pop wasn’t coming until 7am, so we had to keep them in our bedroom! So we all hung out in the bedroom taking group photos! We had opened 1 present each the night before which was new Pj’s for everyone!

Pop turned up at 7am, then it was straight into the pressies! Both of the kidlets were very spoilt from Grandma and pop. Xavier got car case with cars, 3 x singlets & cutlery set. Grace got Hi-5 backpack, puzzle, musical instruments, rubber play mats & cutlery set.
From Nanny Xavier got a swim ring for the spa. Grace got a hi-5 dress and t-shirt & also tickets to the concert in January. Nanny will be up then so she is going to take her!

Xavier from Mummy & Daddy:
Car case, matchbox cars, “mmmm boobies & lock up your daughters” t-shirts, some bonds tops, singlet and board short!

Grace from mummy and Daddy:
Undies, Hi-5 socks, paintbrush and roller, 2 x felt boards & shorts.

The kids also bought a present to give to each other. Grace gave Xavier a soft tonka truck and he gave her a book “When I am feeling jealous”

After opening all the presents we read the letter that santa had left under the tree! It was thanking the kids for the water and apple and also to thank grace for the dummies. At the end it told them to go outside! So out we went and there was the “Bouncy” Grace was so excited!! Xavier was also (hahaha) so excited that he then had to go have a nap!!

Grace spent the rest of the morning playing on the trampoline! She absolutely loves it. We have put her slide in backwards so she can use the stairs to climb into it!

Whilst grace, pop and Daddy were outside playing I was inside getting ready from breakfast! Murray, Trudy & Marilyn were coming over! We had pancakes, home-made strawberry jam & fruit salad! It was a lovely Christmas breakfast! We gave the Dews their present, a hammock! I think that they will enjoy it! They gave Grace 2 books and a hi-5 DVD & Xavier a basketball bath toy and a cute collared all in one suit! They all left at about 10am then the kids were ready for a nap. Xavier went off fairly easily but grace took awhile. She is still struggling to get to sleep without her dummies.

They both woke at noon then we all got ready to head over to Nicole’s for lunch. We had a lovely lunch with turkey, ham and yummy roast vegies! After the lunch we opened pressies. Grace got shorts and singlet from the Truets, Monkey game from the Cahills, bucket & spade from the Ryans. Emily also gave her a special present of a book that she doesn’t use anymore, which I thought was very sweet! Xavier got a ABC book from the Truets, a toy phone from the Cahills & soft books from the Ryans.

After pressies were opened we had dessert...yummy trifle and pavlova! Xavier went and had a nap on the spare bed! Grace has lots of fun playing with Emily! All in all it was a lovely relaxing day! We left about 5pm!

Xavier went to bed at 6pm, Grace was still bouncing away! She went to bed at 7pm but didn’t get to sleep until about 50 mins later. I hope that it gets easier for her to go to sleep. She still asks for her dummies, but seems fine when we explain what happened to them. It’s like she finds it really hard to relax enough to go to sleep without them.