Week 21.
Here's what went down.
Sleep goals: 3 hours in the days, and anything over 3 hours in one block at night
Sleep reality: Around 2- 3 hours consistently in the days (mini high five), and averaging 1 hour 45 minutes at night, however, we did have one night of 4.5 hours this week so mini fist pump for that.
1. Splish splash, Pads was having a laugh!
We had Padster's most successful swim session ever. And I really didn't think it was going to go that way. He had missed his morning nap so I was hoping he would sleep in the car on the way to make up for it but he decided just to play and grizzle a bit until about 5 mins away when he duly fell asleep. Of course. So when I carefully removed him from the car he awoke groggy and then when I took him into the hot changing room he decided to have a meltdown as well as a massive, go everywhere kind of poo. Fab. After cleaning up a wailing, leg thrashing baby and trying to manoeuvre him into a swim nappy, trunks and a wet suit - not bloody easy at the best of times but especially not when dealing with a very cross and upset wriggler - he had got himself so hysterical he had a bright pink face and was doing those short sharp staccato breaths. I thought about packing the towel in there and then to be honest as I thought if he's like that in here, he is going to hate the pool. But his Grandey was waiting poolside to see his grandson swim so I thought we should at least try now we'd come this far. Off I went with a sniffling baby to the pool and entered the water with a little trepidation. Pads did a complete mood 360. He started smiling and splashing the water with both hands like he does in the bath and looked well up for a laugh. My my.
The water was a tropical 31 degrees this time so I think he just thought it was a huge bath and he does love bath time. What followed was a lot of smiles when swimming, actual kicking attempts in the swim position, lots of splashing - the teacher, me, himself, and he did 4 underwater swims beautifully with his eyes open in the water and he totally nailed our name, ready, go's, closing his eyes before I splashed water on him each time - again we have been practicing this every bath time to get him comfortable with water and it has paid off. It was such a joy to see him actively enjoying the swimming, it was like he was putting on a show for his Grandey and great that we had my dad there to take lots of pics and prove it happened!
2. Feet, knee and thigh grabber extraordinaire.
He discovered his feet a little while ago but this week he has also realised they are attached to knees which bend and help you grab the feet and that there is also a fun, chubby bit on top called a thigh that is really fun to grab at too and help hoist those pins into the air. Every nappy change and most times he is on his back now, he is grabbing those tootsies and legs and pulling them in or moving them about with real joy. It is possibly the cutest thing known to man. Occasionally this natural wind removal pose lives up to its name and there's a parp that goes along with it, which always elicits a lovely smile from my boy. He did look like he was about to grab his junk in the bath too but so far, he hasn't quite figured out what's there...its only a matter of time though I know - like father, like son!
He has also started scratching materials and feeling them with his hands with immense interest this week. He seems to love denim, towels and the sofa's thick cotton material the most and scratches at it like a cat on a scratching post whilst looking in awe or smiling delightedly. Very cute.
3. Flower helper.
Doing wedding flowers with a baby to look after/constantly distract all day by yourself is tough. Really tough. And pretty unproductive. The day started off as it carried on really with my flower delivery not arriving on time, then being well over an hour late, then when it did arrive there were a few missing flowers bla bla bla. Once I had called to arrange another order of the missing bits for later that day, Pads and I had a feed and sit down, then he wonderfully fell asleep and let me crucially put him down and stay asleep for 40mins! I managed to get a heck of a lot done in that short time frame and was all set up ready to condition the flowers with clean buckets of water laid out, my work area all organised etc..and I got started merrily, then he woke up. Of course he did. So we had a cuddle and I popped him on the bouncing chair by my side so he could watch me work as I talked him through what I was doing and what the flowers were. This time when I showed him the flowers he just tried to grab them and put them in his mouth or ripped a few petals so I soon learnt to keep them a bit out of reach. He was very excited by the peachy roses and loved it when I waved bunches of eucalyptus about the kitchen.
However, he soon got bored and kept grizzling and dropping his toys on the floor so I spent a good amount of my prep time, cleaning and picking up his things, soothing and distracting him and not getting a lot done. Finally after a good hour he had had enough of being in his chair which is fair enough so we stopped for a feed and then I tried to pop him on his play mat, nope, then back into the chair, um I don't think so mum. He wasn't having any of it so with a pathetically uncrossed off to do list staring at me and the rapidly diminishing time, I reached for the sling and popped him on facing out. It was quite tricky to actually prep the flowers this way as I had to basically hold them out in front of me so he could see them but so that they were far enough away from him not to touch and not to be anywhere near the scissors I was using. I am sure the health and safety police would have had something to say but I was very slow and careful with what I was doing and he loved being so involved in the process. It was slower progress than I would normally make but it allowed me to get the job done. That took at least double the amount of time it would normally to get all the flowers ready to work with, so I gave us a little feed break (him- milk, me - a scone (still obsessed with them since pregnancy!)), then back to it.
However, he just really wasn't into sitting in his bouncer or being on his mat and I couldn't have him in the sling to actually make the arrangements as he kept wanting to grab at them and it was just awkward to have to hold them at arms length so I spent an exhausting afternoon with him in his bouncer, trying to make bouquets in-between giving him a cuddle or head stroke, singing Xmas songs at him very animatedly to keep him entertained, wiggling and dancing flowers in front of him and basically trying anything and everything to keep him from, or stop him crying. Needless to say it was pretty tiring trying to concentrate on making good flower arrangements too and I didn't get as much as I had wanted done.
The next day, and my last chance to get everything finished before the wedding the following day, I brought in back-up in the form of his paternal nanny Sue and she was brilliant at playing with Pads and taking him out for walks so I could get all of the wedding flowers done, with breaks for breast feeds and cuddles every couple of hours of course. It was no mean feat (I did 1 bridal bouquet, 3 bridesmaids bouquets, 2 flower girl posies, 6 aisle posies, 35 table jars, 2 thank you flower pots, 5 buttonholes and 3 corsages plus made a floral garland for an entrance on site on the day so a big order for just little old me) and was pretty exhausting, but I am so glad I got to get stuck back into making flowers which I love, I really enjoyed doing it and I proved to myself that I can still do it and be a mum at the same time as the flowers did turn out really well in the end and most importantly, the bride and groom were very happy.
We were guests at the wedding too and Pads was an absolute hit and looked so dapper in his baby grow tuxedo shirt, bow tie and velvet dinner trousers. He heard his first ever loud group clapping at the ceremony and was at first a bit scared but by the end of the wedding day, he was totally cool with loud talking, loud music and loud clapping and whooping, taking it all in his stride and even managing two very good naps despite the noise. So proud that he nailed his first wedding and looked so cute doing so.
4. The sleepy day.
Early on in the week, and not long after me getting over last week's lurgy (plus the final day I was on penicillin), we had a big day out with his maternal grandparents taking in Chepstow castle again and spending some lovely chill time in a local pub, and Pads was a sleep monster! Not sure if it was the fresh air or being out and about again after a week of mainly being cooped up inside but he slept for 2 and a half hours straight in the day which he never does, and this started off in his car seat and he stayed asleep being transferred to his pram and being bundled up in many Winter layers for a walk. It almost got to the point that I wanted to poke him and wake him to make sure he was still breathing and was ok, but luckily I resisted and was content with just listening to his breaths to check that. Then that evening, he did 4 hours in a block over night! That's my boy! (The night after the wedding he also did another 4 hour block of sleep so I don't want to get too excited but am wondering if what D:ream said in the 90's is true,that 'things can only get better'. Here's hoping)
5. Feed and squeeze.
During feeds he has started grabbing a bit of boob firmly and then squeezing or pinching it in a super strong gripped, sort of pulsing action. Whether this is to try and get more milk out maybe or just a new action he is perfecting I don't know but it I do know that it can hurt! I have a little boob bruise from it and He actually drew blood with his extra strong squeeze the other day when he decided to add digging his ever growing sharp talons in at the same time as squeezing. Ouch. Am trying to stop this new activity before it becomes habit!
6. The frustration cry.
We have a new favourite vocal this week. when playing with a toy that he wants to do more with than he knows how yet, or when he is trying to roll but only makes it halfway, or when he is on his tummy but fed up, or in his cot but wanting to be picked up, or in his car seat but wanting to be held or just wanting attention, basically a LOT, Pads is letting out a loud sort of 'urgh!' frustration wail before inevitably ending up grizzling or crying if he doesn't get what he wants. He is really trying to do so many new things and it is making him so cross when he can't quite get there. He has also totally found his volume dial and did the loudest squeal ever this week which I think surprised even him! I love how much he is learning and discovering all the time, it makes it all so worthwhile.
7. Double roller.
We had a comedy morning trying to get ready whilst chasing a delivery that hadn't turned up and having to answer the door to posties and couriers and kids selling raffle tickets back to back, all whilst Pads was wrapped in his towel waiting for his morning wash. When I was finally able to actually get him washed and dressed for the day, I popped him on the middle of the bed to grab his outfit and he rather casually just rolled from his back to his front and looked positively chuffed with himself. Now this is something he has been practicing really hard and has only managed a couple of times after lots of effort and here he just did it as if it was something he has always done. I got super excited and made a huge fuss which made him smile and chuckle then he just cooly rolled back from his tum to his back to let me dress him. That's my boy. Double roll action- a milestone! No wonder he has been so active lately if that's what he was building up to. I don't think I have ever felt prouder. Now, let's see if he can do that again!
8. Off and on.
Now Pads is getting older and more aware of everything, he is much More easily distracted when feeding and often stops a feed to have a look at something bright or work out where a noise has come from, or sometimes just to look up at me and make a cute gurgle chatting sound and then back on he goes. He also spent a good few mins half sucking while gazing in absolute intrigue and wonder at his own hand, turning it around just in front of his face like it was a newly discovered treasure (which I guess to a degree it is). It does mean that out and about now it is much harder to conceal the breast when feeding as I have to keep popping him back on so we are back to using a trusty blanket when a place is too busy so will just distract him even more or if I think our company would be embarrassed by constant boob flashing, usually I don't much care anymore who sees boobage but am being sensitive to others as part of my breastfeeding crusade. Putting it out there without literally putting it out there if you catch my drift.
9. Long blonde locks.
All of a sudden Pads hair has grown thick and luscious and golden blonde. I am pleased he seems to be taking after me in the hair department rather than his dad, as let's just say Pads has waaaay more than his father has on his head already!
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I feel that our son is gearing up for some big movements and developments very soon, with the exuberant rolling and manic kicking, I am expecting some furtive crawling attempts very soon and I definitely have to have eyes in the back of my head now - no more putting him down and him staying there anymore. My boy is growing up, and I love it.
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