Things are on the Move, in More Ways Than One!

Bas has started mimicking words I've been saying. His latest in Mime Technology(TM) is "a da" which is "all done". He's picked it up quite quickly and knows pretty much when the right context is to use it. Such as when the shower is finished: "a da"; or his bottle is empty: "a da"; or he's eaten all of his dinner: "a da". He picked it up only a day or two ago, but he's really working with it and enjoying it.

Also this evening, I taught him to put his dirty nappy into the bin. We (I) rolled it up into a little parcel and left it on the floor for him to pick up, he then followed me into the kitchen where I told him to "Put it in the bin" and lifted the lid. He toddled over chattering away to himself, and carefully placed the nappy in the bag. He felt quite proud of himself after that, so off he went and switched off the stove, having forgotten to do so earlier apparently.

There is a small possibility that the Wee Monkey may have a bit of a tummy bug or other for he has been off his food a bit. Merely nibbling one or two things every so often and being really grumpy and clingy as well. Patrick said he actually vomited his dinner up last night, and there was evidence of a small tummy evacuation in the cot this morning, but he appears otherwise fine. That said, if he's not feeling any better by Monday, I'll make an appointment for him to see the doctor to see if we can't nut out the problem.

Broken Barrier

So much for the baby safety gate. He's figured it out in less than a month. Now we're back to square one with $110 worth of white elephant screwed to the doorway.

Now begins the journey of finding a safety gate that is child proof, or at least more challenging to work out.

Revisitation

I think the wee man might be a tad unwell today and we're not entirely sure why. He woke up in a bed full of vomit, covered in vomit, and then vomited just as i'd buttoned up his nice and shiny clean clothes. So, off came the clothes, off came the couch cover and into the laundry they went for a soak, while the two of us toddled into the shower to clean up.

Aside from his mild inability to keep some foodstuffs down, he seems fine. Perhaps a little more fidgety and hyperactive than usual, but he has no fever or any sign of a raised temperature or anything. Just a touch of upset tummy it would appear.

At least it's not a problem. Just a little curious to know what may have been the cause...

Lopping and Learning: The Trials of Being a Toddler

Gave the Monkey a haircut the other day. Short back and sides, with lots of uneveness due to his inability to remain still for longer than two seconds at a time, and his eventual frustration at the length of time it took to lop off his locks. But, it now means there is next to no chance of it matting like it was beginning to do. I don't want to know how he manages to get banana stuck in THE BACK of his head!

Other amusing noteworthiness: Sebastian managed to find a lovely deposit of possum poo lying on the floor in the 'not quite a' spare room, and promptly ate a pellet. I'm under the impression he was less than satisfied with this new cuisine judging by the expression of disgust that drowned his face as he scraped it off his tongue. There's a distinct possibility that he may not try that again any time soon.

Also, this evening he learned how to use a comb. He'd watched Patrick comb his hair earlier this evening, and after dinner had found the comb lying around somewhere, grabbed it and began combing his own hair as he toddled around the room looking quite proud of himself (an expression that appears to be permanently attatched to his face at present). He then allowed Patrick to take the comb and brush his own hair, before taking control of it again and emulating what Patrick had done.

Ah, the growth process of children is an amazing thing. Watching them learn by example and watching their little brains processing the information is fascinating, it truly is.

Trouble in Paradise?

I don't know what to do. He's waking us up in the middle of the night screaming his head off for what appears to be no reason, and no matter what we do, there's no calming him. We'll pick him up and cuddle him, reassure him things are okay, change his nappy if needs be, or pour him a bottle of warm milk to try and calm him, but it is usually a temporary situation. Once he finishes the bottle he's screaming again.

Last night we brought him into the bed with us, it was cold so we thought that was the problem. It worked briefly, then when Patrick got out of bed Bas started screaming again. Another ten minutes was spent trying to calm and reassure him. We'd turned on the light in the hall to give us some light on the subject, which helped in the calming (which brought me to thinking he may have developed a fear of the dark), and after a time we decided it would be safe to turn it off. As soon as it went dark, Bas started to scream again.

This one didn't last as long, but it was frustrating. It was three o'clock in the morning, it was cold, everyone was tired and Patrick had to go to work today. He eventually settled, but after an eternity of flipping and flopping all over the bed. Then, some point after sunrise, Bas thought it would be a brilliant idea to wake me up with a slap in the face. Literally. I was asleep, he chose to sit up and pound me one right across the face as I lay there, head resting on the pillow. A short while after that Patrick put him back in his cot where he stayed untroubled til about 10am.

I have no idea what the problem is. All I know is that it's wearing me down to the point where I'm tired all the time because of frequently interrupted sleep. I don't know how Patrick is coping with it, and he has to get up early for work most days of the week. There is no sign of teething, and I can't tell if he's having a growth spurt or not. All I have is one irritable child, and an exhausted me.

I hope it sorts itself out very soon.

And He's Off!

Right, first up: Bas had his latest in the list of appointments with the eye specialist on Monday. Dr. Sullivan is allegedly the "Big Dude" when it comes to eyes and Little People, and (despite his creepy infatuation with photographing the abnormalities the poor kids have) is actually really quite clever (if not a little 'too' much "I'm-Oh-So-Very-Important!") and a seemingly nice gentleman. After a brief examination from some random registrar type person, he came along, had a peek and told us we've got nothing to worry about. The coloboma has not interfered with his natural vision development and there is no sign of the eye drying out due to his inability to close the eye properly all the time while asleep. We've been told to come back in 12 months for another exam, but that surgery would not even be considered until he was about 3 or 4 unless there was a dramatic change in circumstances and his eye started being affected by the deformity. I think he's really lucky it's not a problem, and that it just looks like he's got a squinty left peeper. Kudos to someone.

In other more exciting developmental news... HE'S WALKING! That's right! While in the hospital waiting room, Bas decided that that was the right time to let go of things and get on with it. In fact, he did a wonderful faceplant right in front of Dr. Sullivan at one point, gazed around dazedly and got back up. He was literally running around the place, hands raised for balance, grinning stupidly and giggling manically as he is wont to do. This was the VERY FIRST TIME he'd wandered unaided for more than 5 steps! Since then, he's been exhausting me with his toddling around the house while giggling with pride. He's so incredibly proud of his newest achievement, and he'll do nothing to stop himself. The only thing that does are the toys or pieces of cloth he's thrown on the floor that get in his way because he's concentrating on his balance so much he's not really able to manoeuver his way around things yet. On that note though, he has learned to control his speed and turn around at will (occassionally falling over) and stand up in the middle of the room. Of course, we've got a great big pile of video footage of it (including his first ever attempt at standing up by himself).

Things are moving ahead at an incredibly rapid pace now, who knows what he'll be doing next week!

Miserable Fun

He's being a big sook today. After scaring the crap out of me by trying to pour my hot coffee all over him, I scared him by yelling at him. Since then he's been intermittently miserable. Having a giggle and following it up with a quick whinge. Not sure whether there is actually any problem, or if he's just trying to soak up as much attention as he possibly can. Watching him just now though, I think he may be getting over it by distracting himself with his multitudes of toys...and the vacuum cleaner.

P.S. he didn't actually spill the coffee on himself, he just grabbed the cup unexpectedly.