Food intolerances

The journey to unravel Michael's food intolerances is continuing - we suspect tomato as well as gluten. It isn't hard to eat gluten free, but it can be challenging to stick to it 24/7. It does make a noticable difference to Michael though so I'm happy to do it. It's healthier for sure anyway - less carbs and more home cooking, vegies etc.

Next step is to test how he reacts to tomato after a week off any foods high in glutomates (brocolli, processed meats, fermented goods, meat pies - a rather random list!) and then to give it a few weeks to let his gut become more healthy, and we can start trying to introduce different foods that contain gluten to test how sensitive he is to it. Some people can eat oats and barley, but not wheat, for example. )

Footwear barometer

Introducing the McCann Footwear Scale - a barometer of how a parent is coping, measured by the child's footwear. The parental state of mind deteriorates the further down the list you go:


Clean, matching socks and shoes that fit (gold star parenting).

Matching socks and shoes that fit (quite pleased with oneself).

Mismatched socks and shoes that fit (no-one will notice!).


Mismatched socks and shoes that fit, but that look really weird or completely inappropriate (like the strange ones brought back from Vietnam with unidentified superhero logo on them).

Mismatched socks and shoes that are too large/small (clown feet, anyone?).

Matching socks, no shoes (ok for car trips where child will not leave vehicle or stroller. Or daycare. Or quick walk down the road. Or when you just can't be bothered.).


Mismatched socks, no shoes (See above. Walk quickly and hope you don't see anyone you know).


Unwashed, mismatched socks. (Shoes have disappeared. Tell people the kid dressed themselves).

One sock. (Best to give up now).

Bare feet.

Staying home!

Easter

It's been another quiet month on the blog...a sign of life being very busy in the real world. We've had a lot of sickness lately - coughs and sniffles, and I was just recovering when I gave myself food poisoning last weekend and went downhill again. Add in the usual dose of broken sleep and well, I am exhausted!

Still - we're getting back to manageable now. We enjoyed easter day - Hamish has been learning about both the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the Easter Bunny. Very ecumenical here. I had a lovely moment with him at church this morning, where he started singing along with the congregation during the service - first time he's done that and it felt special! And then they made an easter card in Sunday school, and he 'wrote' a message in it - it was a scribble but when I asked him what it said, he answered 'He died on the cross'.

I had to explain to him that we all celebrate easter at the same time - he thought it was his easter, and we would all have our own on different dates, like birthdays! 

Then it was back home for an easter egg hunt around the front yard, organised by Adam. Hamish had a great time and both boys were keen to get into the chocolate.

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!

Michael's Birthday Video

Happy Birthday Michael!

Hmmm well obviously I have been having an unscheduled break from blogging. It's been a busy and tiring couple of months!

Today it's one whole year since Michael was born. He's a beautiful boy and we love him so much.

Some photos

Mikey enjoying some mush. Yum!

Frogs eggs in our pond. There are heaps of frogs out there - they sound like popcorn going off all night.

Picnic kitty

Hamish and Saffy contemplate the garden

The best and worst sleepers in our family resting together!

Nativity Set

Our church mums bookclub has just finished reading a book called 'Treasuring God in Our Traditions" and it got me thinking about Christmas this year. I figured it was time to get a nativity set that the kids could play with.

I bought this finger puppet one on ebay:

The full set

Shepherds (somewhat sinister looking!)

Three Wise Men

Angel and star

Mary, Joseph, Jesus and Donkey!

Today Thus Far

Woken early by baby, after another restless night.

Feel very tired and unable to function.
Have coffee.
Burst into song in kitchen, to bemusement of children.


Me: You're a cheeky monkey, Hamish.
Hamish: I know mum, I know!

Go to park to meet a couple of mums from mothers group.
Feel like failure as parent as I strip H's wet shoes and socks off his feet - he made it into the water on pretext of chasing ducks.
Realise on way home that I am not failure, just only one there with two kids present. Need cloning machine.

Clean some gunge out of the pool, and spot some weird creepy crawlies in the water. On closer inspection, realise pool is teeming with the little buggers. I don't like them - they scuttle along the ground back to the water when I tip them out of the skimmer box.
Ring pool shop to be told I will have to squash the bugs - only way to get rid of them apparently. Oh, and they bite.

Finally get baby to sleep, only to have toddler deliberately open the door, waking him up.
Put toddler in his room while I try to resettle baby.
Give up.
Go to release toddler from confinement. Can't see him in room. Hmmm.
Me: Hamish?
Cupboard: Yes mum?

Drink another coffee. Don't burst into song this time.

Go to shops.
On arrival in carpark, realise baby has thrown up all over top. Is now soaked.
Find old clean baby top in boot - hurrah!
Do shopping.
Buy cupcakes.
Come home.
Eat cake.

Reflect that it's not so much what happens during the day that counts, but how I respond to it, and how I treat my kids whilst feeling fragile, that's important. I guess today isn't all that bad when I look at it that way.

On with the afternoon!

Love this Poem

Song for a Fifth Child

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.


by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Some Changes in Perspective

We are so well off. Compared to the many in the world, we have wealth plus plus plus. Got running water? You're doing better than almost 90% of the earth's population.

What I do has value. Even on the days when it feels like I have achieved nothing. Staying home with kids is significant - to me, to my family, to God, to society. And when I value it, I enjoy it much more! (Not suggesting it's the only thing that's valuable to do, or better than other things, just that it is a very worthwhile thing to do. I often feel like I'm not achieving much but it's good to remember that the little moments add up to make a life and they all count).

Housework is greatly influenced by social acceptability. I don't actually have to do it all, I just think I need to, so people won't assume I'm a total slob.

It's not that my baby doesn't match the books, but that the books don't match my baby. So I can ignore them and get on with enjoying him.