10 years On

We visited Mt Tomah Botanical Gardens this weekend, to mark our 10th wedding anniversary. It was a busy and fun day out, and lovely to see the gardens again. 

 

There were lots of these skinks around - this one posed very obligingly!

We had a picnic in the same spot as our wedding ceremony.

Some improvements

Michael and I have been gluten free since Tuesday (so 4 days) and we are seeing some improvements - enough for me to think he does have an intolerance to the stuff. His sleep has been much more settled the last two nights, not nearly as restless, and his nappies - well, let's just say there's more activity in that department than there was previously!

I feel cautiously relieved, and also a bit overwhelmed - I wish so much I'd cottoned on sooner. No wonder the poor kid has had trouble sleeping! He's probably had a belly ache his whole life.

A Spaceman from Planet Hamish

Thoughts on Going From 1 Kid to 2

1. All babies are hard work. Just because you've done it before, doesn't make it less hard work. 
2. It is easier though because you're not on such a steep learning curve re baby stuff. 
3. You are on a different learning curve - how to do family life, and baby care, with another child to look after as well as the older one.
4. Life is busier. You learn how to manage without regular child nap times during the day - being on duty for about 12 hrs a day straight.
5. You have to be more organised and a bit ruthless in what you aim to get done, and what you leave undone.
6. It is easier to work out what to do with Michael aged 1 than it was with Hamish - I know what sorts of toys will entertain him amd I don't have to fill in the hours so much because Hamish provides a lot of fun and activity!
7. The house is already baby proof.
8. Toddlers are still babies in many respects. They still need a lot of attention and help with daily care. I probably underestimated this before having Michael.
9. Although having the first child does dramatically change life, having the second has made it feel more like the family is in full swing. Adam gets involved more in child care and we're adapting our days around the needs of the kids, and are able to do more fun stuff as Hamish gets older too.
10. That's all I can think of for now!

Life This Week

We are all sick. I have a throat infection, Adam feels yuck and exhausted, Hamish had a fever last night and didn't eat anything yesterday, and both boys have runny noses and coughs.

But, strangely enough, we all seem to feel relatively happy. I guess life is good, even when we're not 100%.

So far, we've had a few days gluten free and it's interesting how much healthier we're forced to eat. Lots of vegies, rice and meat, and fruit and yogurt. No sign of improvement in Michael's sleep yet. I'm keeping a food diary for him and me (he and myself??) which might help to pinpoint the issue. Overall I'm thinking he does have some sort of intolerance - it makes sense and makes me feel a bit better about all the sleep problems we've had - something to blame for them I guess!

Peek-a-boo!

Oscar Does The Laundry

Persimmons and Sleep

Our Persimmon tree has some ripening fruit on it. Reminds me of the Keats poem that starts "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness..."

In other exciting news, Michael may have some sort of gluten intolerance. We don't really know, but apparently it can cause unsettled sleep so we're going to take him off gluten for a week or so and see if it has any effect on his sleep.

We're booked in to go to a residential service at Tresillian in a few weeks' time (stay there for 4 nights) to try to get him into some better patterns instead of waking up every 45 mins - 3 hrs overnight. It hasn't been an easy path to get to this point, but I'm looking forward to getting some extra help with it.

mmm, sweet potato!

Michael is at such a cute age - he's getting into lots of stuff and making us laugh - like this morning when he explored the pantry.

Wonder Woman

I came across this article on the Australian Breastfeeding Association website and quite liked it. Not that I agree with everything in it but it makes good reading!