Apparently Cooper is not quite the charmer he thinks he is. He had two girl babies visit today, and kissed them both until they cried! I think it is something about his manner - grab two handfuls of hair and slobber all over their head. :(
He is a bit of a show off though. He has been using the couch etc to pull himself up onto his knees for a few days now. Today, he waited until Hannah was watching (I was in the kitchen) and pulled himself right up to standing!
I think he is becoming a bit less clingy too. At times he stays playing by himself in a room even after I leave. Today at Rhyme Time, he was off crawling around the library, meeting and greeting other bubs and checking out the environment. I'm a tad worried that he might turn out to be a little wanderer! :P
Friday, 24 February 2012
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Wakey, wakey!
So, 3am and Cooper is ready for a play. He's not hungry, not sad or in pain, not even needing cuddles... he just wants to play.
He hasn't had this for a while. So I'm gonna do my best to record our food and sleep for the day, and if it happens again, see if there are any correlations. (When I was little, artificial food colouring would make me pop up, wide awake, in the wee hours of the morning for a play time - maybe it is something similar with Cooper?)
Cooper slept more than normal (what is normal??). And before you read the embarassment of my supper, there was a really good spread at home group tonight and I couldn't resist - please don't judge me! :P
5:45 Breastfeed and Heather rises
6:20 Cooper rises
7:00 Porridge for both (usual brekky)
8:30 Cooper sleeps for close to 1 hr 45 min
10:00 Heather: choc muffin
11:00 Heather: 2 mini hot cross buns, Cooper: 1
1:00 Cooper sleeps for ... an hour??? 1.25hrs?? Heather: leftover sweet & sour pork
2:30 Cooper: yoghurt, touch of leftover porridge
4:30 Heather: pear, 1/2 banana w/ peanut butter; Cooper: nectarine, 1 piece rocky, 1/2 banana
5:45 Cooper sleeps almost 2.5hrs, Heather: strong milo, lots (seriously, lots!) of marshmellows, 2 mini easter eggs
6:30 Heather: leftover stirfry, lamington
9:00 Cooper: yoghurt
9:30 Heather: slice of choc sponge roll, small piece of cake, 1 pikelet with honey, 1 tim tam, 3 skittles
10:15 Cooper goes to bed again
?1:00 Cooper wakes for feed? (Not really sure of the time, but sometime between me going to bed at 11 and him waking at 3, he ended up in our bed for a feed)
3:00 awake and happy (Cooper happy, that is!)
3:30 grizzles, feeds and awake and happy again
4:00 getting sleepy?
Maybe it was the amount of sugar I pigged out on, rather than colours. I deliberately only had 3 skittles, as I think some of that bright stuff might still affect my sleep a bit too.
He hasn't had this for a while. So I'm gonna do my best to record our food and sleep for the day, and if it happens again, see if there are any correlations. (When I was little, artificial food colouring would make me pop up, wide awake, in the wee hours of the morning for a play time - maybe it is something similar with Cooper?)
Cooper slept more than normal (what is normal??). And before you read the embarassment of my supper, there was a really good spread at home group tonight and I couldn't resist - please don't judge me! :P
5:45 Breastfeed and Heather rises
6:20 Cooper rises
7:00 Porridge for both (usual brekky)
8:30 Cooper sleeps for close to 1 hr 45 min
10:00 Heather: choc muffin
11:00 Heather: 2 mini hot cross buns, Cooper: 1
1:00 Cooper sleeps for ... an hour??? 1.25hrs?? Heather: leftover sweet & sour pork
2:30 Cooper: yoghurt, touch of leftover porridge
4:30 Heather: pear, 1/2 banana w/ peanut butter; Cooper: nectarine, 1 piece rocky, 1/2 banana
5:45 Cooper sleeps almost 2.5hrs, Heather: strong milo, lots (seriously, lots!) of marshmellows, 2 mini easter eggs
6:30 Heather: leftover stirfry, lamington
9:00 Cooper: yoghurt
9:30 Heather: slice of choc sponge roll, small piece of cake, 1 pikelet with honey, 1 tim tam, 3 skittles
10:15 Cooper goes to bed again
?1:00 Cooper wakes for feed? (Not really sure of the time, but sometime between me going to bed at 11 and him waking at 3, he ended up in our bed for a feed)
3:00 awake and happy (Cooper happy, that is!)
3:30 grizzles, feeds and awake and happy again
4:00 getting sleepy?
Maybe it was the amount of sugar I pigged out on, rather than colours. I deliberately only had 3 skittles, as I think some of that bright stuff might still affect my sleep a bit too.
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Sharing is caring
So cute - Cooper is really getting into the whole sharing thing! When playing, he often assumes that if he likes to chew on it, Mummy probably will too, so he whips it out of his mouth and shoves it in mine!
Jason is, of course, totally grossed out by it, but I just think it is so cute and sweet, that I'll have a chomp in spite of the slobber (or a good pretend, if I can get away with it). He even shared his beloved brocolli with me the other day! Ohhhh, I feel special! :D
Jason is, of course, totally grossed out by it, but I just think it is so cute and sweet, that I'll have a chomp in spite of the slobber (or a good pretend, if I can get away with it). He even shared his beloved brocolli with me the other day! Ohhhh, I feel special! :D
Monday, 6 February 2012
What's around the corner?
Cooper has been doing some very clever things the past couple of days. He has, on a number of occasions, managed to get himself up into a sitting position! He also had a pretty good go at crawling! He still often bunny hopped his legs at the same time, but had the arm action worked out! Still took lots of rests on his tummy and was only a distance of about 3m, but we're very impressed nonetheless!
My favourite trick though, is that he has learnt that he can come find me. If I'm in the kitchen and he starts sooking, I call out to him and he comes looking! His head pops around the corner, we play a little peek-a-boo and he is happier for a few moments. He refuses to come all the way to me however, and just lies half in the lounge, half in the dining room, staring up and me and sooking until I come and get him.
I suppose he has come half way, so it is only fair that I meet him there! :)
My favourite trick though, is that he has learnt that he can come find me. If I'm in the kitchen and he starts sooking, I call out to him and he comes looking! His head pops around the corner, we play a little peek-a-boo and he is happier for a few moments. He refuses to come all the way to me however, and just lies half in the lounge, half in the dining room, staring up and me and sooking until I come and get him.
I suppose he has come half way, so it is only fair that I meet him there! :)
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Controlled Crying
So, last night he was up at 11, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and finally up for the day at 8am. Rediculous.
Jason was chatting to someone today who advocated the use of controlled crying, and asked again why we weren't trying it. I thought that, to be fair, I probably should actually try to read a bit about it rather than just write it off on my uninformed instinct.
Talk about conflicting info and opinions! From "You're selfishly putting your desire for sleep and convenience above your child's needs" to "Well you're spoiling your child and causing long term sleep problems". Such emotive arguments on both sides. Research quoted from both sides.
At this stage, I'm siding against controlled crying. A few things that mainly stand out:
1) Even the controlled crying advocate sites talk about how hard it will be for the mum in particular, and how important it is to have support to help you remain strong. I know that at times we have to let our kids go through tough stuff, even though it just about kills us, but if it is that emotionally tough for a mum and feels 'wrong' for her to not tend to her crying baby, it makes me wonder if it can actually be a good thing.
2) Again, on a pro controlled crying site, it was listing potential hiccups and what to do. "Don't worry if your child vomits - this is just from excessive crying. Simply clean it up with minimal fuss and light, without making eye contact." Uh, WHAT?? You said it yourself... EXCESSIVE crying? How is that a good thing? I can't bear the thought of allowing my child to get distressed to the point of vomiting, and then to not even offer comfort.
3) And the clincher... Apparently controlled crying was a method developed by Dr Truby King in 1913. He was of the opinion that you build character in a child by avoiding cuddling and other attention. Hmm... ok, I strongly disagree with you on that one, Dr King, therefore am not keen to follow any of your child rearing strategies. (He was also against further education for women, as he believed it would "effect their maternal function and have a damaging effect on the human race". Uh, yeah, because if women are allowed to use their brain, instead of simply functioning as directed, they might use their maternal instinct and stand up against men and their stupid ideas, like controlled crying and not cuddling babies!)
Note: Dr King did support a good idea or two, such as extended breastfeeding, so I'm afraid I can't write him off as totally evil!
Note 2: If anyone reading this has done / will in the future do controlled crying, please rest assured that I don't judge you for it. You have to do what works for you and your family. I recognise there are arguments both for and against. And even though at this stage I'm not keen on the idea, give me a few more months of sleep deprivation and I might decide that whatever I have against it is outweighed by the danger of me driving to the supermarket, and I may even use it myself, who knows?!
Jason was chatting to someone today who advocated the use of controlled crying, and asked again why we weren't trying it. I thought that, to be fair, I probably should actually try to read a bit about it rather than just write it off on my uninformed instinct.
Talk about conflicting info and opinions! From "You're selfishly putting your desire for sleep and convenience above your child's needs" to "Well you're spoiling your child and causing long term sleep problems". Such emotive arguments on both sides. Research quoted from both sides.
At this stage, I'm siding against controlled crying. A few things that mainly stand out:
1) Even the controlled crying advocate sites talk about how hard it will be for the mum in particular, and how important it is to have support to help you remain strong. I know that at times we have to let our kids go through tough stuff, even though it just about kills us, but if it is that emotionally tough for a mum and feels 'wrong' for her to not tend to her crying baby, it makes me wonder if it can actually be a good thing.
2) Again, on a pro controlled crying site, it was listing potential hiccups and what to do. "Don't worry if your child vomits - this is just from excessive crying. Simply clean it up with minimal fuss and light, without making eye contact." Uh, WHAT?? You said it yourself... EXCESSIVE crying? How is that a good thing? I can't bear the thought of allowing my child to get distressed to the point of vomiting, and then to not even offer comfort.
3) And the clincher... Apparently controlled crying was a method developed by Dr Truby King in 1913. He was of the opinion that you build character in a child by avoiding cuddling and other attention. Hmm... ok, I strongly disagree with you on that one, Dr King, therefore am not keen to follow any of your child rearing strategies. (He was also against further education for women, as he believed it would "effect their maternal function and have a damaging effect on the human race". Uh, yeah, because if women are allowed to use their brain, instead of simply functioning as directed, they might use their maternal instinct and stand up against men and their stupid ideas, like controlled crying and not cuddling babies!)
Note: Dr King did support a good idea or two, such as extended breastfeeding, so I'm afraid I can't write him off as totally evil!
Note 2: If anyone reading this has done / will in the future do controlled crying, please rest assured that I don't judge you for it. You have to do what works for you and your family. I recognise there are arguments both for and against. And even though at this stage I'm not keen on the idea, give me a few more months of sleep deprivation and I might decide that whatever I have against it is outweighed by the danger of me driving to the supermarket, and I may even use it myself, who knows?!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)