social conventions

It is amazing that although Eden can't speak English, a whole lot of communication goes on. Eden is learning new things almost daily now. I cannot hope to blog/log every little thing. He is really getting the hang of copying things too - which can be a good and bad thing!

Last week was waving. Waving to Daddy as we go out the door and up to sleep for the night. I hold him on my left hip almost all of the time so he had to learn to wave with his left arm. It's kind of a wave-from-the-elbow side to side wave. The week before it was just holding the arm up in the air as if praising the Lord.

During the day last week he waved goodbye to me for the first time as I went out the door from putting him down from his afternoon sleep - I got the right handed wave - a floppy at the wrist wobble!

Yesterday he did the cutest thing. He was in his bedroom crawling around, and seeing that the door wasn't shut properly he crawled over to it, opened it up, began to head out of it, turned and gave me the left hand wave and off he went!

With the copying thing, he is now able to copy with toys. For example, instead of just chucking his truck around, playing with the wheels or shoving it in his mouth, he is now beginning to push it around right-side-up. He even put some peak-a-boo blocks in the trailer of the truck this morning to my surprise.

Eden is also able to climb the entire staircase (not so good at downwards yet) plus climb onto the lymphersizer (rebounder) and bounce up and down whilst sitting! (again not so good at getting off again but we're working on it). I should also say that he is standing without support for longer and longer periods so with his 1 year old birthday just weeks away he may be uprightly mobile right on cue.

It was back to the doctor yesterday. Nasty icky sounding cough. Bronchialitis or something-er-other. Eden doesn't seem concerned and is still pretty happy. It's not an infection but can get worse so again we are lying low. It is a pity as it is a really sunny day here and we would love to be over at the park having a swing. Nevermind. Maybe tucked up snuggly in the buggy with a weather cover for a walk will be a better idea. Good for Mummy's waistline and cramped up muscles.

the ultimate modern cloth nappy system

A few people have shown some interest in my cloth nappy obsession and asked for some tips and ideas... it has grown into more of an 'article' and this is the mark II version after I realised I had the wrong angle. Here goes...

By my research and experience, if I could have my dream nappy system it would be:
• A fitted nappy, -many people believe that a fitted nappy+cover is the best leak proof solution as there are two independent elasticized barriers to stop the wee/poop escaping and the whole nappy is absorbent and moulded to fit baby snugly - not just an insert or folded nappy/prefold that can get squished and/or out of place in a pocket-nappy or overnap and leak.
• Made of biodegradable fabric for more sustainable use of our planet’s resources.
• Has velcro closures for quick, easy and snug fitting.
• Has a pocket from which you can pull out the inner soaker for quick drying
• + A pant cover/overnap (not a wrap) that has lycra bindings instead of elastic so it forms more of a seal around bub’s leg and keeps the mess in – if it manages to get past the fitted nappy that is…!)

Does this kind of nappy system exist?
Yes, but it is new to the market and I have only found one NZ brand, one UK brand and one Canadian/US brand that make them. What follows are some suggestions of what to buy and a breakdown of pros and cons for each of my fab 4 brands of fitted naps and covers.

questions and hints

How many nappies to buy?
What if I just want the easiest thing that works like a disposable?
What's the cheapest commercial modern cloth nappy option?
What about DIY?
Any totally organic options?
Why not fuzzibunz?

nappy brand index

As an appendix to my nappy article I started to compile a list of nappy brands, websites and prices adding my own comments and now I feel a bit sick in the stomach... It is the biggest list I have seen online... you can probably tell which ones I wrote when I was 'fresh' and which ones I wrote when I had become very woozy... There are still some brands I have not included because they weren't big enough and some that I may not have discovered yet... so I am stopping here and now.

Sorry they are not hyperlinks - they were automatically weblinked when I had it as a 'Word' document - if you want me to send you a clickable pdf I can email you one... :) they are in alphabetical order...

Five minutes drive saves forty two dollars

I have no idea what point of the previous blog by Duncan is in aid of - unless it is just a dig at my blabbing...

I now drive 5 minutes further down the road, past Karori Medical Centre to Kelburn Medical Centre when Eden is sick. There are two reasons:

1) There is a doctor there who is a bit of a baby specialist and therefore I hope the whole set up is a bit more baby friendly. At Karori you kind of got the feeling that it was a novelty for the doctors to see a baby + the most recent episode saw us being sent home because we were apparently 2 weeks early for his Meningitis jab, (why hadn't they told me this when I booked?) then when we came back two weeks later the receptionist forgot to tell the nurse and we waited in the waiting room for forty minutes before I gently asked if we had come at the right time.... Plus three days later we received a letter in the mail - a reminder to get the injection that we had just got and dated before our visit!!

2) They charge $0 for babies where as Karori charges $14. So since we have had three visits in the last 2 weeks I have saved a bunch plus got better treatment. Bravo the capitalist society?

Three times? I hear you ask. Yes after less than a handful of days of being well, Eden's ear is oozing puss again. Poor poor wee man. I'm a bit depressed about it as it has meant his eardrum hasn't had a chance to heal from the previous virus induced infection - plus Superkidz club is starting up again today and I have to stay home.

Lord God I pray that lots of new kids come along to the club today, that they have fun, make some new friends and learn something about who you are, Amen.

Morepork Mohawk

Every now and then, on a still evening we hear a morepork. Just one. Quite far away sounding but totally distinctive. Cool huh. He's out there tonight. Did you know that moreporks have a way of carrying their eggs around in their wings? Unique huh. You can learn all about them at "Owlcatraz" in Shannon...

Eden has a hair style similar to a morepork now. Yesterday we gave him a crew cut with a set of hair trimmers I got on TradeMe for ten bucks. It was pretty tricky as you can imagine, but plied with small pieces of banana, Eden gradually got the idea of what we were doing and grew progressively more still, eventually watching himself in the bathroom mirror (head in Mum's iron grip...) So his woozy blond afro is gone. I remember the first time I saw such hairclippers in action...

Uncle Nick, gave my Duncan a no.1 (at his request) Christmas day 1996 I think it was. It was hideous. He looked like a mishapen rugby player - or as my mother would say "A rugby player gone wrong." Must have been in the days of Bull Allen.

Don't worry, Eden's 'trim' was a no.12 not a no. 1. Though we both agree that he looks like Leslie Tofts! (childhood personality of Titahi Bay and Tawa College fame,) Or maybe River Phoenix when he was in the movie "Stand by me." Bumps from falling over and knocking himself plus scratches from him scratching himself mean he looks like quite a little tough nut!

Yesterday Eden was finally back to 100% - firing on all cylinders so to speak. What a joy! I had forgotten what 'normal' was for him- it must have been a long long week. He has been smiling and happily playing by himself for long periods instead of grizzling or crying half the time.

Hence, time for the overdue haircut. It'll grow back in time for some 1 year old birthday pictures...

bedtime battle

Up until recently, Eden's bedtime routine was simple: Cuddles whilst singing the bedtime song/prayer, tuck him in, a bit of fingerplay or silly sounds and a giggle then wave goodbye going out the door. By this stage, Eden's eyes would be beginning to roll back and his hands would be up by his face, one holding the other, sleeve being sucked - at least 90% of the time anyway. Very cute.

Since the advent of manoeuverabiltiy, Eden gradually realised that he could turn over - which was scary for him at first and then you guessed it - crawling around began to happen and- even better, standing up and banging the wall or just violently rattling the side of the cot. At first these things occurred when he first awoke...

Now the bedtime routine is kinda interesting: Cuddles and singing the bedtime song/prayer, wait until he seems to be getting the idea (Pavlov's dog) ie, the sleeve is nearing the mouth, attempt to put him in bed while he struggles to grab the bars of the cot, carry on turning him over to be on his back- trying to get him to lie still for more than 2 seconds, attempt to tuck him in quite tightly, turn him around again and attempt distraction with mock biting fingers or something, fair run out the door having quickly pulled the guard thingi up, in time for Eden to have started to pull himself out of the covers again.

A few minutes later, you'll either hear him gurgling his way to sleep knowing he is in some upside down around the wrong way body position or you'll hear some kind of banging and have to go and repeat steps 1 through 5 again! (Unless he's sick then he's either asleep as soon as he's tucked in or there's some crying to contend with). Poor wee thing. When he had a fever last weekend he would wake up and whimper every sleep cycle -sometimes with his head resting on the cot bars or something uncomfortable like that! This was how we learned that he was venturing around his bed during the night rather than just in the morning.

He's still a great sleeper -don't get me wrong. And now that he has changed from 5:30am wake up to 7:30am wake up - positively blissful!

hint of the week 1

I'm thinking of blogging some handy hints - mostly about parenting a tot but other stuff too - maybe to do with some of my fads like my present one of cooking with lentils and chickpeas. Anyway, I hope you all cope.

TODAY'S HINT: BATH PLAYPEN

When you are busy in the toilet/bathroom area but need to keep an eye on tot so that he is safe and occupied and not getting into every draw, cupboard, eating floor fluff, falling downs the stairs etc - stick him in the bath tub with his (dry) bath toys for a few minutes. Fab. Figured that one out today.

Banana = packet of biscuits

Around here a banana is like a packet of biscuits - eaten slice by slice. Carefully stowed in the fridge between servings. Such is life on a budget.

When Eden is a teenager he will probably eat them by the box but at the moment his constitution is a bit delicate and he is allowed only to consume a couple of slices at a time on special occasions - though I think he is beginning to develop more of a tolerance to it as recent test results have shown. He has had an abnormally above average amount in the past few days - to get him to eat a decent amount of anything has been an achievement.

Very sick boy. Snotty nose for a few days then a few days of roaring high temperatures, wimpering, waking loads in the night and now an ear infection that is slowly healing, meaning his sleeping is getting back to normal but he is so so grumpy. It has been a hard week and it's not over yet!

I am learning that winter with a baby is a 'special' time of engaging and disengaging - from the world that is. Some weeks are very full and social and productive. Other weeks are like this one. You stay at home and some of your brain slows to neutral and the other part plods along trying the best to maintain some kind of routine amid the upheaval that sickness brings.

On the positive side - especially when Mum is sick as well, it is a great excuse to blob - when sick boy finally is asleep.

I am so glad I did not go down the track of having a (very) part time job that came my way. It has been bad enough missing out on normal things like church, playgroups and superkidz.

I remember this time last year when we were living further north, my cousin Jodie talked of having 6 weeks worth of being homebound due to sickness. The odds are much higher when you have 3 children huh. Wowee.