Tag: baby boy

Categories
Family

Tantrums

Tantrums, crying, yelling and then throwing things!

Falling on the floor/ground and banging his head in annoyance.  This is a worry sometimes as I worry that my little boy will hurt himself.

Upset boy having a tantrum. My little one does the same. Covers his face and tries not to look at you.
Upset boy having a tantrum. My little one does the same. Covers his face and tries not to look at you.

 

Yelling! And screaming at the top of his lungs,”NOOOOOOO!!”

Fighting me when I try to put on his nappy as well as his shoes and clothes. After moments like this, I am all hot and sweaty and need to have a rest.

Sometimes I get one leg into shorts or pants and Alexander wriggles so much the leg is out and I have to start all over again!

This hate for getting dressed has carried over to putting swimming nappies and swimsuits on too. I come to the pool from playgroup, and go straight to the change room to get him and myself ready for his swimming lessons.

The other week it took 15 mins to just get his swimming nappy on him and another lady gave me assistance to at least get his legs into his swimmers. Alexander was fixated on having a shower rather than going into the pool. I told him that we can have a shower after the pool but he was not pleased with this idea, and kept on yelling, “shower”, and of course not letting me get him ready for his lesson.

Finally in the pool and learning to swim... well that is in between jumping into the pool.
Finally in the pool and learning to swim… well that is in between jumping into the pool.

Once we were all ready to get in the pool, Alexander decided throwing himself on the side of the pool and lying there was better than coming into the water. He was safe and I was close by, I decided to get in the water and show him how much fun it was.

He turned his head to make the point of not looking at me, and was still yelling. I then tried to get closer and comfort him.  The closer I got, meant that he turned away from me. Talk about drama!

Finally he calms down a bit and allows me to get him in the pool to join his lesson. He has some moments where he is trying to climb me to exit the pool and the rest of the time is Alexander wanting to go back to the edge of the pool and jump in.

Now my little boy cannot swim.

He has not taken to the pool very well at all, and does take a long time to get used to it.

Once on the edge of the pool he does a happy dance, smiles and then jumps in (I’m not sure why he likes to jump in the pool but he loves it.  As a kid who takes ages to get used to the water it is amazing that this is preferred activity).

A few times he went under but I was there to catch him. I did think he would lose it after getting his head soaked in the water. I think the only thing that annoyed him was that he had to do what the teacher was asking and he didn’t want to.

Not only does he want to do his own thing during swim class, he does not like to show the teacher anything. If he has managed to blow bubbles in the water he stops if the teacher is looking. His head is turned so that he cannot see her and he is pressed as close to me as he can be.

I attempted to join in with the other mums and dads, as a reward for doing part of the lesson I let Alexander jump off the side of the pool. Then back to the lesson.  I did this until he was happier about the lesson and being in the pool.

We managed a small win. Alexander was finally kicking his legs and actually happy for a bit of the lesson (Normally he clings to me for dear life and screams and cries for the full half hour).  After the swimming lesson was over I played with him in the pool and allowed him to jump off the edge a few more times. Then he didn’t want to leave!

I used the magic words that he wanted to hear before….”Lets go and have a shower now.”

As soon as he knew we were going to have a shower he was very happy to leave the pool.

I think at this point he had about 5 meltdowns and the day was only half way through.  As you can imagine, I was ready to go home. I was ready for bed and to just sit and do nothing. However I still had a few more things to do and one major item was to pick the girls up from school, do homework and organise dinners.

I finally was able to get Alexander a haircut, he loved sitting in a red car during his haircut but refused the apron to not have hair all over him. The only downside of the car was getting him out of it. Yes more tantrums followed.  Oh the joys…. it was a day that kept on giving in meltdowns.

Then off to the shops, chemist and post office.

Now it was time to go to the twins school for pick up. I know my little boy was so tired but if I went home I would have to wake him to then go and get the girls (It would be perfect to have him home while he slept, but I don’t have anyone to mind him, so he needs to come with me.) While in the car we drove to the school and spent some time checking out the traffic on the highway, birds and more things on our walk while we waited for the bell to go.

Insert about 5 or more tantrums while at the school.  I was very ready to put head in hands and fall on the ground myself. I wonder if I did that if it would stop the tantrums from the toddler? Or would it create more of a drama?

My little boy just loves Thomas the Tank Engine. It was a huge job to get these trains out of his hands at the school library. This image is a little bigger than the ones that Alexander had and wished to come home with.
My little boy just loves Thomas the Tank Engine. It was a huge job to get these trains out of his hands at the school library. This image is a little bigger than the ones that Alexander had and wished to come home with.

He climbed the stairs to the library and wanted to leave with the libraries Thomas the Tank Engine toys. It took a few goes to get them out of his hands, and put them on a tall bookcase to allow me time to get him out the door and down the stairs.

Once I got both of us down the stairs and in the courtyard at school, this is when my little boy threw himself on the concrete ground and was yelling, screaming and crying.

He was  yelling “choo choo” about the missing Thomas the Tank Engine toys. He did attempt to go up the stairs again but I stopped his efforts and yes you guessed it more crying and falling on the floor.

I find that if I ignore the tantrum it ends quicker than if I try and calm him down. Ensuring that there the area is safe for him is one thing I do to know that if I walk away for a few seconds he will be okay.

Another technique that I have tried with success is to not have eye contact with the kid who is throwing the tantrum. I find that if I show interest then the crying, yelling and upset lasts longer and it is harder to have the child calm down afterwards.

It is interesting that the twins didn’t throw many tantrums.  I think I was lucky to be spared twin tantrums while at the shops.

Below are a few links that might help if you are dealing with tantrums as well:

 

Did your kids have a lot of tantrums? If they did what was the best way you found to deal with them?  Did only one kid have tantrums? Or did they all?

 

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Categories
Family

Cars, Trucks and Balls

Cars

Trucks

Trains

Anything with wheels

And of course balls.

Why are boys obsessed with the above?

I have not pushed any toy on any of my kids at all and found it fascinating to what toys they gravitate.

 

Now when the twins were babies they had trucks, dolls, teddies, cars, train sets, puzzles, books, musical instruments and so many things to play with. I made sure to give them a great choice of things to play with.

The girls had cars, trucks, and balls but did not love them as much as our little boy does. It is a new level of love for things really.

Personally, I don’t believe that things are for girls or things are for boys. Toys are toys.

You play with what you are interested in and what you like doing. Girls like playing with trucks and balls just as much as little boys do, some girls might not, but that is not to say that some boys would love to play chef or say tuck in their dolls to bed each night.

My little boy loves his teddies, he likes some dolls, he pushes around the pram the twins had as toddlers and also likes to play tea party.

However, he is mental and crazily obsessed with cars, trucks, trains, and balls. Yep, we cannot go to a shop and pass by the sports section or toys without this kid getting angry about wanting yet another ball. Honestly, if I purchased a ball every time I went to the shops the house would be overflowing.

Matchbox cars for Alexander. He loves them and carries them everywhere.
Matchbox cars for Alexander. He loves them and carries them everywhere.

The other day I stood on the corner of the school and main road and watched trucks and cars go by with Alexander. He was so happy and excited. We looked and he ooohed and ahhhed about everything all the while pointing. He even laughed and giggled to the delight of many truck driver.

While we were truck and car spotting some kind truckies waved to us and a few even put on their lights and honked their horns. A full on show for my little boy.

We stood there for well over 20 minutes and he loved every minute of it. One driver could not contain himself when Alexander got too excited over one particular truck. Alexander was pointing and saying oohhh oohhhh ohhhh and jumping up and down while I was holding him. This made the driver laugh and I think we made his day.

As I have only had girls and this is our first boy I am not sure where this fascination with trucks and cars and of course balls comes from. Alexander has been interested in soccer and can dribble a ball on his own from when he was starting to walk, now it is much better as he is running around like a kid with a mission now.

Having fun with the soccer ball #soccer #toddler #obsessed

A post shared by Suzanne (@mummytotwinsplusone) on

I have spoken to other mums of boys and they all say the same thing. All their boys love cars, trucks, trains, balls and of course anything with wheels. I’ve looked this obsession and interest up online. It seems to be all down to hormones. Boys with more testosterone seem to be more taken with cars and trucks and the same for girls who have more of this hormone. Again, it is also down to personality and what your child likes to do.

When Alexander was still crawling he would go after any pram and just try and spin the wheels. He was amazed at the whole thing, he had to spin it, had to be near it or maybe part of it. I had no idea?

It was a bit weird when it was someone else’s pram but many said they understood as they had a boy who was doing the same thing. Oh… Okay…. glad it is not weird.

The girls are not into trucks or cars. Although they love playing with them. I still make sure to purchase things that will foster their development. I am conscious that girls are not doing or continuing with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) subjects. With this in mind, I make sure to showcase women and girls that are doing well in these fields and to also get toys that foster skills in these areas.

As I said earlier, I make sure to give all my children many different toys to play with that is not based on gender. I find this sad that we discriminate on toys due to sex. Colours for kids is another thing that gets me annoyed. Why can’t boys have hot pink, reds and purples too! I suppose this is another post in the whole idea of boys clothing that is not as bright and colourful as girls. I do have plans to make my own with some fun fabrics for my little boy, oh and also for the twins.

Trains are another huge favourite. Alexander loves putting as many trucks, trains, and cars on the tracks.
Trains are another huge favourite. Alexander loves putting as many trucks, trains and cars on the tracks.

If boys have dolls and understand how to care for people and others they are better husbands, fathers, boyfriends and just caring all round. Dolls are not just for girls. It helps both sexes.

I suppose the one thing that amazes me is the fact that the drive for cars, trucks, trains, and balls is inbuilt. My little boy loves them. He thinks they are fun.  He holds my hand to make me sit on the floor with him to play trains and cars.

It is obviously something that is in his personality, maybe it due to gender, maybe it is just what he likes to do? I have no idea.

My little boy cannot tell me at the moment, and if he could I am not sure he would know why either. Basically, he just loves them. He wants to play with what makes him happy and now as a mum to a boy, I’m accommodating his wishes.

I am making sure that I stop on the highway to watch cars and trucks. We stop at railways to see trains and I have purchased many balls, matchbox cars, and a car ramp so that he can have fun at home.

We still have the toy train set that the girls had as babies and now Alexander is loving it too. When I opened up the old train set I saw that the girls had half a dozen of matchbox cars they used to play with as well. Now they are Alex’s and he is so happy.

I’ve read online that playing with trains and balls helps with spatial awarness and can also help with your child’s STEM skills in the future. It is interesting that Alex has been into this since the early days but I have made an effort to ensure that all my kids get exposed to all different toys. This I feel helps their development and learning.

Kids are kids and are still learning. Toys help them understand how things work and play is super important.

Play in all forms is good for kids, pretend play, dress ups, getting dirty in the garden, sandpit fun, exploring nature, trains, cars, trucks, balls, tea party and playing musical instruments. It is all fun and helps kids grow.

Trucks and yet more trucks to play with. Alexander loves the choice from Playgroup.
Trucks and yet more trucks to play with. Alexander loves the choice from Playgroup.

I am still amazed at how inbuilt Alexander’s drive to play with cars, trucks, trains, and balls are. He instantly had to have them. He loves them. It was not directed by me or anyone. He just loves them. It makes him happy and he is even happier when I’m on the floor playing with him and making the sounds of the cars and trains to boot.

Due to having girls and not experiencing anything boy I had no idea. He is a real rough and tumble boy, but is also super sensitive too. He loves cuddles and his teddies.

Do you have a boy? If you do were you shocked at how instantly they take to cars and trucks? What about trains? Do you find that you cannot leave a train station without watching a few trains come and go? What about watching the traffic go by? I must say watching traffic is a super cheap way to keep your kid entertained.

Do you find that you cannot leave a train station without watching a few trains come and go? What about watching the traffic go by? I must say watching traffic is a super cheap way to keep your kid entertained.

What about watching the traffic go by? I must say watching traffic is a super cheap way to keep your kid entertained.

Let us know.

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Categories
Birth

My Pregnancy Fears Revealed

I have spoken to many women about their pregnancy journey, and then their birth stories. Most of the things that they dreamt or thought about never actually happened.

While at Problogger last year (Alexander was eight months when I attended Problogger in 2016. I was having a funny conversation with other bloggers and the topic of my fears and worries while pregnant with baby three was discussed.)

New born baby - This cutie is looking very relaxed and has no idea about all the drama that went on before they were born.
New born baby – This cutie is looking very relaxed and has no idea about all the drama that went on before they were born.

When I was pregnant with the twins I had horrible thoughts. I watched a film when I was about five months pregnant and I ended up having terrible dreams. Now, this film was a horror film and just horrible really. One scene had a person put on a tea trolley or hospital trolley (never sure what to call them). In the film, this person met a terrible end and I found it hard to watch.

My dream was being on this trolley as a pregnant woman with twins. They were then trying to tell me that the babies were coming and if they didn’t come they would take matters into their own hands. I was shackled to the trolley and it was uncomfortable, scary, and freaky. They were going to cut me open to save the babies. I of course was screaming, NO! They are not ready. It is too early and stuff like this.

The room I was in was like the bottom of a hospital that was all tiled and not kept very clean at all, it also reminded me of some shows that use disused railway stations as it looked rather like those.

I woke very upset and was thankful it was a dream. Maybe horror films when pregnant is not a good idea!

Flash forward to being pregnant with Alexander and I had all sorts of concerns. They were the following:

  1. Due to having one baby, this child will be HUGE and be horrible to have.
  2. Since I thought that this child might be enormous I would need a C-Section.
  3. The baby would not be head down and cause issues.
  4. I knew that the baby was due on the 7th of January and had no idea that he would come exactly on his due date. I did have thoughts that I might have a New Year’s Day baby and be on the front page of the local paper.

 

“Local woman gives birth to the biggest baby on New Years’ Day 2016”.

 As you can see I still was panicked about having a HUGE BABY!

Scans did show that my third child was indeed on the small side. This however did not relieve my very active imagination and concern.

I was fully aware that this was only one baby this time. This baby could spread themselves to every corner of my insides and be a record weight. I know… I was so fixated on the baby being too big.

I did have my reasons to be freaked out about the birth.  The first birth (with the twins) was not fabulous and mind you birth is not pleasant on any level.

The midwifes at the local hospital kept on insisting due to age that certain things would happen and that it might be classified as a high-risk pregnancy. Oh, how silly I thought.

I have already had a high-risk pregnancy with twins and all was well. I do understand things can change but why freak out the mum to be with what ifs. I ended up having a very healthy pregnancy and all was well with our third little person.

If help or intervention was needed to save the baby or myself I would have not stood in their way, however if it is not needed and all is well, then I say let nature decide when the baby comes and don’t intervene.

Maybe the hospital helped with my visions of horrible things happening while pregnant? I think they contributed in a small way. Wanting me to be induced for no actual reason, saying that I will develop gestational diabetes due to age I’m sure was not helpful. For the record, I had my third child naturally on his estimated due date and was lucky not to get gestational diabetes.

 

All my concerns were unfounded.

My baby was tiny compared to what my brain thought it would be.

This is what happened. I had a normal to smaller sized baby that was very healthy. Lucky nothing went wrong and all my fears were unfounded.
This is what happened. I had a normal to smaller sized baby that was very healthy. Lucky nothing went wrong and all my fears were unfounded.

All the scans kept on saying how small it was going to be, however, I could not tell myself that this would be the case. I was freaking myself out.

It also could have been the fact that my second pregnancy with Alexander lasted longer than my first. The twins were born at 34 weeks and 2 days. Alexander came exactly at the 40-week mark. This meant more time to grow. More time for anything else to happen… I did not know but I knew that anything past 34 weeks was overdue for me.

 

Did you do this?

Are you currently pregnant and freaking yourself out?

What is the weirdest thought or dream that you have had while pregnant?

I just want to say that all the things that you are thinking could happen will most likely not happen so just relax and enjoy the day. Enjoy the time being pregnant if you can, and if you are able take a nap. You might be too busy soon to rest so get in now. Although this might be hard if you are working or have other children.

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Categories
Family

Gastro & The Perils of Low Blood Sugar

Saturday the 15th of July I took the twins to see Frozen on Ice. This was a great treat on the weekend before school went back. It was the night time show and due to this, it would be a late night.

Hubby was looking after Alexander and the girls and I were off to a night out. A night for just the girls, which my kids were very happy about.

They love their brother but like the fact that they get to spend some one on one time with mummy.

We left super early and it was lucky that we did as later we ended up having issues with traffic and finding the parking station. (more about the parking issue later)

In the car, the kids and I played eye spy. and then a game they created about finding colours of cars. It was all fun until I decided to try and find a purple car. Yes, these are rare and therefore the kids decided it was all too hard and they took a nap. Oh well at least I had some quiet time before the show happened and the madness of parking and trying to find where we were supposed to be.

I got to the venue with an hour to spare but that was soon whittled away to about 20 minutes or less due to roads being closed. Yep there were road closures which meant that I could not get access to P6 parking station and my GPS kept on telling me to go back, but it had no idea that the roads were closed. Due to this stupidy, I ended up getting directed back to the same spot twice.

Yep there were road closures which meant that I could not get access to P6 parking station and my GPS kept on telling me to go back, but it had no idea that the roads were closed. Due to this stupidy, I ended up getting directed back to the same spot twice.

Due to this stupidy, I ended up getting directed back to the same spot twice. You can imagine my annoyance at this and not knowing where to go to get to where I needed to go.

On my second pass at the same place with the road closed I decided to continue straight. I had no idea where I was going other than away from the P6 parking station but just had to keep on going.

I was worried that I would be late and not make the show.  Would I ever find this elusive P6 parking station?

I was annoyed that I was 1 hour early and now I might be late and miss things.

There was no way to stop to get directions as there was so much traffic that this was impossible.

My bet paid off and I saw that there was a sign to P6 parking. Phew!

I kept on going and followed the signs and hoped that there were no more road closures.

We managed to get to the venue with enough time for a quick toilet break and to get the twins an Olaf mug with shaved ice.

Julia with her Olaf cup and waiting for the show to start.
Julia with her Olaf cup and waiting for the show to start.

Then it was announced that the show will be starting soon and we had to find our seats. Geez…. I was lucky that we did not leave later.

Stupid road closures.

I initially thought that we would be there too early and have heaps of time with nothing to do. How wrong was I.

An announcement was made and we had to make our way to our seats. The show was going to start soon. How exciting and very happy we got there in time.

The lights went off and the show started. The kids were super excited and we all had a fabulous time, and yes we all did sing “Let it Go” and more.

Frozen on Ice was a great family show for kids. You can dance, take photos, sing and have fun. Perfect for little kids and adults too.

The show ended at about 8pm. By the time the kids and I walked to the P6 parking station it was about 8.30pm. We didn’t have dinner and promised kids that on the way home we would eat something but I didn’t think it was going to be so late.

On the way to the show, Julia said the following.

“Mummy, do you think Alexander is still awake?”

Mummy to Julia, “No it is too late for him, he would be asleep by now.”

Then Julia said this….

“Well Mummy if Alexander is awake Daddy has failed!”.

Geez, this is a bit harsh I thought.

But I was so sure that Alexander was fast asleep, and hubby was busy watching a show or doing something on his computer without interruption.  You will learn how wrong I was soon.

Anna and Elsa at Frozen on Ice
Anna and Elsa at Frozen on Ice

On the way home I stopped and got dinner for all of us and then we got back in the car for a huge drive home. The kids slept nearly all the way home.

I got home at about 10.30pm or could be later.

I opened the door to reveal Alexander running around and playing. He was excited to see me and said, “Mumma!”

Then Julia looked at me and said, “See, Alexander is awake……”

I then saw hubby in the kitchen looking like a wreck.

He had the baby bath on the counter tops and had just finished giving him a bath and changing his clothes for the millionth time so I was told.

At about 6.20pm Alexander had started throwing up and did not stop. Hubby had not had a chance to sit down or even get himself dinner.

Hubby then gave me a blow by blow description of what went on and how horrible it had been.

I did feel for him and it is horrible when kids are sick, especially babies. However I have been faced with three kids throwing up and also myself at the same time. Yep and being the only one dealing with it all. Not fun at all!

When the twins were little they got sick like Alexander and I had to manage with two babies being sick and then me also getting sick too!

I did sympthaise with him but I told him that he should be grateful it was just one baby this time!

Hubby did a great job and held down the fort in trying times.

So this sickness did not stop until Monday morning. Anything we gave Alexander he threw up.

Monday morning he woke and was just looking limp. He was very floppy and not well.

I tried to get water into him but he guzzled it and then it all came back up. Oh shit….. not good.

I then limited the amount in his sippy cup to try and make sure he kept it down. This worked for a while and then he passed out on my lap. He was snoring and just so tired. Not good at all. So limp still.

A doctor needed to see him to make sure all was okay. I could only get into the local doctors at midday and that for me was not quick enough. I was getting very worried about him.

I got organised and packed a bag and took Alexander and myself to the hospital.

On the drive there he screamed and carried on. He was upset. He was still not well and mummy was taking him somewhere!

I got to the hospital and the lady could not hear me well over his screams and just had to ask for name and date of birth due to him being screaming mess.  I waited only a few minutes and then saw the triage nurse. He was lovely and asked about what had happened. I told him what had gone on.

Alexander had his immunisations the Wednesday before, Thursday he was good, Friday he went to daycare and then Saturday night he was sick. I did explain that hubby thought it was related to a bread roll that he fed him as it happened quite quickly after he ate this food. I was not so sure, as the other kids were not sick from the same bread rolls.

The triage nurse took blood for blood sugar levels and then other things. He weighed Alexander but only with me being on the scales with him due to the fact that he was so upset and still screaming (he screamed for at least over 2 hours).

My little boy in hospital. He was not well at all. I am so thankful I took him to get looked at.
My little boy in hospital. He was not well at all. I am so thankful I took him to get looked at.

His weight on Wednesday the 12th of July was about 11kgs. His weight on Monday 17th of July was 10kgs. He had dropped 1 kg not even in a week. (Note: I had his 18mth health check yesterday (27th July) and his weight was 10.3kgs so not great but at least he is putting the weight back on).

The triage nurse said that his blood sugar levels were very low and could be dangerous. Shit really! Oh no!

He found us a bed in emergency and said that they need to see if Alexander’s levels can be increased while we are there. Patches were also put on the back of Alexander’s hands in case a cannula was needed (this was never used and the patches numb and have a form of anesthesia so that it does not hurt the babies as much).

Alexander was given a lemonade icy pole ice block. He loved it and ate most of it. However he did try and eat the foam cup the nurse made to catch the drips and cried when some of the ice block fell on the floor.

One nurse gave him some diluted apple juice but he did not want this.

Another nurse tried the hydralyte ice blocks but Alexander did not like the flavour.

One nurse Alexander loved. He had a real way with kids and Alexander thought he was funny. After being in emergency for about three hours Alexander had calmed down a bit. He was not great, but had not thrown up.

They did give him a tablet that dissolves in his mouth to help with the nausua. The cool nurse came back and he wanted to see if Alexander’s sugar levels were going up.

I asked the nurse what Alexander’s sugar levels were when we were in triage? I was told that they were 2.2, and this nurse said that is extremely low for a baby or anyone.

After the second test I asked what the levels were? They were 3.3, and this nurse seemed happy that they were going up. He did say that they are still low.

The doctor came to see us again and said that he is happy that he is calmer, and is looking a little better. They did not need to run any further tests and I just had to try his sugar levels up.

The nurse told me the following:

  • Low blood sugar can cause people to go into a coma
  • Babies and young kids cannot store the sugar so need a daily amount to keep their levels up.
  • If things changed to come back immediately.

I left the hospital and it got me thinking. If I had waited till midday to see the regular doctors would he have been even worse? Would he have gone into a coma or maybe had something else happen? I don’t know and it is a scary thought. I am just grateful that I took our little boy to the hospital and got the help we needed.

I do know to give kids food and drink and when they don’t want either it is hard, however I was not thinking about blood sugar at all. This did not even enter my brain that this could be an issue. It makes sense though.

Due to Alexander not eating and drinking his system was really needing sugar.

I got a whole box of lemonade icy poles and he as been eating with honey on bread.

Alex with his big sister Lillian. Lillian was not well and having a day off school. Alex was much better and getting cuddles from his sister.
Alex with his big sister Lillian. Lillian was not well and having a day off school. Alex was much better and getting cuddles from his sister.

At the time of writing this post he is much better and back to his usual self. His appetite has come back and he is making up for the lost days when he did not eat.

Did you know that levels under <2.6mmol/L can “cause symptoms and/or signs of impaired brain function.”

Now this is frightening and it could have possibly happened to my boy. His levels were 2.2 when we came to the hospital and seeing these numbers, and what can happen sent a chill up spine.

The illness ended up being a terrible episode of gastro, and that I later learnt that Alexander picked up from childcare.

Alexander was much better Tuesday the 18th but the bug hit me too.  This past weekend Julia and Lillian have also been sick but with the twins it only lasted 24 hours. The only person that has missed out is hubby.

Blood Sugar levels are super important when ill

I know that you need to eat and drink but if a child refuses to do this the blood sugar drops. My kids are not big people, and also don’t weigh a lot.  If they drop any weight they get hit harder I think.

Making sure that your little ones have something to help put the sugars back is ideal. Here are some suggestions:

  • Store the hydralyte ice blocks in the freezer. They can keep and then you have them handy.
  • You can buy the  hydralyte drink premixed and you can keep in the fridge. This puts back the sugar and electrolytes so great when not well.
  • If your kids don’t like the flavour of the  hydralyte ice blocks you can always use a lemonade icy pole or any flavour that means they will eat it.
  • Honey toast or adding some honey to drinks.

I don’t like giving kids too much of one thing and I am big believer of moderation in relation to sugar. However if you have not eaten for a while you need it.

I hope this helps create awareness on what could happen.

A HUGE Thanks to the lovely and quick staff at the Blue Mountains Hospital. We are super lucky to have such great health care in Australia and I am very grateful that Alexander got looked after so well. So a big thank you to you all!

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Family

Teething Sucks

Teething is a painful business.

The baby/child in question is annoyed, upset and in pain and likewise so are the parents. Oh and other kids who live in the same house.

Our little boy is teething again and it has taken a toll on everyone.

Mainly our little boy is affected but all of us have suffered from the following:

  • No sleep!
  • If you did get to sleep you are woken by screaming and crying from the baby.
  • Once up and dealing with the crying baby he is upset at you and not letting you help him.
  • Once up and trying to soothe him dealing with a very upset child that does not know what he wants due to being so much pain.
  • Hubby nearly falling asleep in a business meeting.
  • One of the girls nearly having a nap in maths class and the other girl has just been very tired and annoyed.

As one kid today said, “I would rather be sick than have an upset baby” Oh so true.

My little boy has been upset and unwell all week. This photo was taken on the 30th of May. He is getting more teeth and this makes him sick, throw up and just not want food. At least he was drinking water.
My little boy has been upset and unwell all week. This photo was taken on the 30th of May. He is getting more teeth and this makes him sick, throw up and just not want food. At least he was drinking water.

Although I don’t want to be sick to just have a happy baby, I understood what she meant.

Our little boy is not coping with teething well at all. On the 7th of June he will be seventeen months old, and every time he has gotten teeth this has happened.

He gets multiple teeth at the same time and due to this suffers very badly with the pain.

His reaction to this pain is to hit his head into the floor or to try and smack it on teddies, objects or anything actually.

I have been trying to reduce the pain by giving him painkillers, however last night he was spitting it all out and not wanting to open his mouth to accept any.

How can you help someone if they don’t allow you to give them the medicine.

Finally at about 11 pm or later he allowed us with some tricks up our sleeves to give him some painkillers. Once it kicked in he was a little happier and more calm.

Phew!

No more screaming in my ear. I really think his constant screams could make me go deaf.

I know he is in pain, I know he does not understand.

I cuddle him and try and console him the best way I can. However it is hard when he squirms like he does not want to be on my lap at all.

He acts like he cannot get comfortable. He really does not know what he wants.  The only thing that he would want, would be the pain to go away and to not come back.

Have you had issues like this with your kids when they were teething? Are you going through this now? Let us know what worked for you.

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My Little Explorer

My danger child, the future rock climber and explorer.
My danger child, the future rock climber and explorer.

Alexander is an adventurous and energetic little boy. He loves to explore new places, play with new toys, climb and just get into mischief. A normal child really.

He is very taken with stairs and any stairs he has to climb. It is a struggle to keep him away and sometimes it is just easier to leave,  it is safer to take him to an area that is safer and I don’t need to be on constant alert.

Last Wednesday I tried to take Alexander to baby time at the local library. It did not go well. I was very early and I tried to play with him and to read books while we waited. This did not work out well. I was going to go somewhere else but baby time was not going to be long so decided to wait.

On one of the trolleys that they have the books on the library had the stereo system for the baby time. Alexander decided to push this like a walker and nearly bumped into people and the wall. Not good.

My danger child, the future rock climber and explorer.
My danger child, the future rock climber and explorer.

I then distracted him and he got busy crawling in and out of the bottom of a book trolley and then sliding on a book. He thought this was a lot of fun. I spoilt the fun and took the book off him. He then decided that he wanted to remove books from the shelves and just put them on the floor. Oh gosh!

Many other mums and dads had arrived now and I got chatting with one other mum. I was one talking to her for a few seconds and Alexander had climbed the stairs all by himself while I chatted with this mum. Geeez!!!!

I saved him from coming down and then baby time started. I thought that the music, songs and other kids would make him stay with the group and not want to explore the stairs again and everything else in the library.

He did not want to stay with the baby time group and this meant I was up and down due to his obsession with the stairs. Alexander even visited the quiet reading area and nearly put his hand on a mans leg while he was engrossed in his book. Oh my gosh!

My baby will not sit still.

He was climbing and doing all sorts of things that were not appropriate in a library. I know they expect babies to be a little noisy when they are there but the library is not an obstacle course or baby gym.

After all this back and forth I left to Alexander’s annoyance. I was exhausted racing after him every two seconds.

I did look around and no other baby was exploring or doing what Alexander was doing. The other babies were in the group, sitting nicely or staying with their parents. Not my little boy, he was off and interested in everything but the baby time we came to see and experience.

Today Alexander is fourteen months old. Yes only two months after turning one and he now seems so much more grown up. He has been doing the following things:

  • Walking
  • Trying to run
  • When walking trying to step down if there is a step. He has done it a few times if the step is not high, if it is a higher step he turns around and does the crawl as if he is getting down from a big step.
  • Laughing
  • Playing with his sisters
  • Putting his toys in all draws and in all areas of the house. You know where he has been due to the toys scattered throughout the house.
  • Blowing raspberries
  • Making music with his hand on his mouth to make different sounds.
  • Having fun at playgroup. He takes a while to warm up to the place and when we first went he was a mess (he had crying fits and was shaking, just not happy and therefore I took him home). He has settled in well and yesterday he played well and explored all the toys and the whole hall that playgroup uses at the school.
  • While at playgroup he saw that other kids liked one of his favourite toys. He decided to pick up the toy and move it to the other side of the room and then walked away. He did not want any other kids to play with it so he made it difficult. Talk about naughty  but it is also a clever thing to notice this. It shows he is really thinking and reacting to his environment.
  • One boy who I chat to and know his mum took my hand to show me some toy or to play. I walked with him a bit and asked what toy we were off to look at. Alexander saw this and had a breakdown. He screamed and cried. He climbed down the stairs super fast, walked with record speed to make sure this little boy knew that I was not his mummy and that he was my child not his. He then wanted a huge cuddle and moved this boys hand and body away from me. He really did not like the idea that another child was wanting attention from me and it was not on!
  • Joking around and laughing at mummy and daddies jokes
  • Loves cuddles
  • Loves his teddies
  • Loves the outdoors and is very happy being outside. We have not been able to do this due to non stop rain but I hope that the rain stops for a while now.
  • Eating more food and tasting different food. He is a good eater and is very good with new tastes.

Does your little person love to explore? I found it interesting that my little boy was not interested in baby time at all!

What about your baby/child?

Did you find that other kids just sat and listened to the show or event that you went to? Aside from your child that likes to roam and explore! Mine could not sit still.

Maybe it is the age? He could just not be that focused or ready for baby time yet.

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Family

End Of Yearitis

I think I might have end of yearitis. It could be exhaustion, or maybe it could be called being very over term 4. I don’t know if I have the itis,  but I do know that I don’t want to have to go to school drop offs and pick ups anymore, I am over all the after school activities and my brain is now telling me it is summer holidays.

Although my brain is thinking it is summer holidays it is not officially holidays at all. I even thought yesterday was Friday for part of the day, I was hoping that today was the weekend but it was indeed Tuesday and the kids needed to still be taken to school.

You can imagine my annoyance at the fact that Monday was not Friday and Tuesday was not the weekend. No sleeping in and no holidays just yet.

On holidays well wishing I was on holidays and relaxing in my backyard.
On holidays well wishing I was on holidays and relaxing in my backyard.

I really want to just stay at home and potter around and do whatever I want, well with kids as well so maybe the doing whatever I want will never happen. Regardless of doing things that I have been wanting to get to for ages, at least I will not have to pack school lunches, drop kids and pick them up from school and of course taxi everyone to their after school activities. I could just stay at home. I might even still be in my pj’s and not bother to change all day? Maybe that is something that can happen.

I love not having to be anywhere urgently or needing to be somewhere at all. I like the days where you can just have a relaxing fun day at home and everyone has a relaxing enjoyable time. Although some of these moments are short-lived due to the girls claiming they are bored and then suddenly wanting me to take them out which will require a huge drive in the car.

Tomorrow night hubby, the baby and I are off to the local high school to see the girls dance in the junior dance group. I have heard that it is a mixture of many different dances and one kid even told me that there is the chicken dance in there as well. It will be nice to see the girls dance as they have been very busy practicing each week.

End of year dances are a huge clue that the school is getting ready to wind up activities for the year. I am thankful for this as I would love to just be left alone for a bit and not have to take kids or people anywhere for a while. I do think that this is not going to be the case as my kids like to go places even if it is to someones house for a playdate.

I don’t think it is just me that is feeling like this. The twins have been overtired, yelling and carrying on more than usual. I am putting it down to they are over school, very tired and really need the holidays to start.

Are you wanting the holidays to start?  Do you think you have end of yearitis too? Do you think they feel like they have started already?

Having warmer weather always makes me want to be on holiday.  Have you noticed that your kids are over it all too?

 

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Family

What will he be like?

I have been thinking back to this time last year. This time last year I was very pregnant and over it. Anytime after 34 weeks was overdue for me. Yes sounds crazy but when you have twins at 34 weeks and 2 days you start to think that anything over is just horrible. Who would have known that I would have gone full term and had my third child exactly on the 40 week mark.

So what have I been thinking about?

During our pregnancy we did not find out the sex of our baby. We like the surprise. I found myself while at the twins school during home reading wondering if I had a boy will they be like this little boy or the other little boy. Will he be particular about certain things? Will he want to tell me about his favourite thing to do like some of these kids do? What will the child look like if it is a boy?

If the child was going to be girl, would it be like the twins with looks? The twins are blonde, although I was hoping that at some point we might have a red head (my mum has red hair..maybe the third child will be a red head?)

Our little boy actually seems to be getting auburn hair or at least that is what it sometimes looks like. Some days it looks like it is going red or lighter and some days it just looks like brown hair.

My cute little boy asleep... I just love his cute pouty lips and kissable cheeks.
My cute little boy asleep… I just love his cute pouty lips and kissable cheeks.

I had all sorts of thoughts about how the baby will look, will it be a boy/girl, what will this new little person be like and I hope that the girls love their new sibling too. I suppose these are valid concerns while pregnant.

While at the school yesterday and again this morning I caught myself thinking the same type of thoughts about what our little boy Alexander might like when he gets older. I read with the girls classes so each day I take a different group of kids. One kid has long lanky legs with knobbly knees, just like my little girls. I am sure our little boy will look similar but hard to see it when he is getting more plump due to being a cute and cuddly baby.

I even time traveled a bit seeing what my little boy might be like at Kindy. He would be wearing shorts although they would be too big and look more like pants. His hat would also be too big so it would need to be made tighter to accommodate a little head, and his school bag would look enormous next to a small little boy. I would be doing the same for him as I did with the twins, helping him learn to read and also volunteer in his classroom to hear him and other kids read.

School for Alexander will not start until the year 2021 if I have calculated right. By this stage the twins will be in high school. At least when the twins are in high school they can make their own way home (I can hope).

Have you caught yourself daydreaming about what your child would be like? Did you do it when pregnant and now when they are a baby?

I catch myself all the time thinking about the future:

  • What will they be like when older?
  • What type of jobs will they be doing?
  • Will they travel?
  • Will they be happy?
  • Will they find lovely partners that they are happy with?
  • Will they have children?
  • Will they be successful regardless of what type of job they do… as long as they are happy that is the most important thing.

So as you can see I think about a lot of things when I daydream about the kids.  Do you do this as well? Send me a comment to make me feel that I am not the only one.