Pot of Gold: A Poop Story

All I can do at the moment is shake my head and run around after my energetic and enthusiastic 11.5 month old baby toddler who is hell bent on getting up to mischief! One squealing Rowan at the library this morning pulling out chapter books in the children's section while gleefully toddling about and handing them to random people before climbing through shelves to get acccess to other areas. Eeeeek! By the time it's 10.30am I'm already done for the day. x_X

This next part isn't for the squeamish at heart - if you don't like talk of bodily fluids or are eating then feel free to skip (meanwhile I eat lunch while I type this... :P). It's no secret that Rowan loves food. He'd graze all day if he could, and with the energy he burns at the moment he NEEDS to (we had a growth spurt in the past month - it was like having a breastfeeding teenager in the house; not only eating anything he could get his hands on but also having a lot more night feeds too). Anyway, last week Rowan was a bit coldy - he's mixing with a lot of germs these days because many of the other babies in our Mum's Group attend childcare at least part time now. He'd had a bit of a dry cough and hearing him stir in the night coughing wasn't a big deal as he'd re-settle himself most of the time. When he woke up for a feed at 5am one morning I walked into his room and the overpowering stench of vomit hit me... and there was Rowan in his bed eating sultanas out of dried sick. It was pretty gross - and I felt terrible because with the way it'd dried on his pyjamas and bed, it was obvious it hadn't happened recently. Parental fail #1.

Then this morning (oh yes, there is a part two...) after a particularly up-and-down night with a certain baby, II fell asleep again after Rowan awoke to start his day. Yep, parental fail #2! It must have only been for 20min or so, but it was enough time for him to get up to mischief - pulling the lid of his nappy bucket into bed along with two very dirty nappies. With the way Rowan's room is set up, the only place to put the nappy bucket is between the changetable and cot:

(Rowan was two months old in this picture; and the nappy bucket is pushed up against the change table mostly now)

Obviously he's been eyeing this off for some time and his arms have finally gotten long enough to reach the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And ohmygod.... the mess. The stench. The (literal) shit-eating grin on my son's face as he waved his arms around for me to pick him up and give him a feed.
Needless to say it was straight into the shower for us before having to wash sheets, blankets, pyjamas, toys and the walls.

And as of now, I've relocated the nappy bucket into the laundry cupboard (which is in the kitchen), so it is out of reach of the boy who loves to open and close anything and everything.

Baby Loves to Walk

Rowan at 11.5 months old

I'm so proud of Rowan, who has made the transition from baby to toddler (unofficially) seemingly overnight, he's suddenly given up crawling on the most part, figured out how to stand up on his own without pulling up on people/objects (straighten your legs, stick your bottom in the air and pull up the top half!) and likes to chatter away while other people are talking... loudly!

This seems to have coincided with complete and utter exhaustion by night-time on Rowan's part (all this growing will definitely do it) and he has been sleeping more solidly at night.

Do I dare say that I am extremely clucky for another child? We're waiting for at least another 1-2 years though.

11 Months Old

Rowan turned 11 months old during the week... and on my 30th birthday, too! So it was a celebratory week for us both! Unfortunately Rowan was quite unwell with a cold at the time, which meant neither of us were able to enjoy the big day very much and spent it quietly (though my Mum had us around for a little bit). Needless to say, Rowan has gotten better in the week since, and passed his illness onto me - which I'm still in the process of getting over. If how I've been feeling was how he felt, no wonder he was miserable and barely sleeping!

Here is a snapshot of Rowan's development at 11 months:

• Is now walking more than crawling (but still pulls to stand on objects and people, rarely standing from a sitting position on his own yet
• Babbles a LOT - lots of mumummum, dadadad, yayaya and the chaining of various syllables together, clapping at himself after he's 'said' something particularly loudly and/or lengthy
• Rowan not only took his first proper steps this month but also said his first word (yep... it's been a big month!). And the word? BOOK (the teacher in me is so proud). Rowan loves to read a "gook" and will bring them to you at any time of the day. His attention span for books is pretty amazing (or so I think), he likes bright colours or rhythmic sentences.
• Has a big appetite, eating three full solid meals a day and four breastfeeds (plus 1-2 feeds during the night; the boy burns up a lot of energy being so busy!). His favourite foods at the moment are green grapes (cut in half), watermelon, corn on the cob and rice cakes with peanut butter.
• Loves to cuddle his Soft Bunny (as well as other soft items, and will seek out people he knows to cuddle/pat on the back)
• Tries to climb everything.
• Is starting to be wary of new or unfamiliar situations by withdrawing, often becoming clingy towards Matt or I. The same goes for situations with larger groups - more than 4-5 people.
• Bedtime is between 8-8.30pm most nights, we went through a stage during the month where he seemed to be developing some night separation anxiety and would cry and cry when Matt put him to bed (as he has done since Rowan was a newborn, no routine change). It would get to the point where Rowan would finish his milk feed with me and start to fret. After a week or so of this, we made the change that I would put him into bed instead, and this seems to have solved the problem. It's a shame that Matt doesn't get that last cuddle anymore, but if it helps Rowan to feel secure at night, then we both have said we don't mind this change.

Pictures of Rowan at 11 months old:

Comparision between Matt at 12 months (right) and Rowan at 11 months (left).

Enjoying a Weetbix breastfast

It was a bunny kind of day on the 7th...

Yes... I so went there! And I think Rowan looks cute with his hair in a ponytail. We then went out for coffee like this, much to Daddy's later dismay. ;)

Drool monster!

See... cute! <3

And on a closing note, I was surprised on Friday night by my Mum's Group friends with a birthday cake, and celebrated with high tea at a posh hotel in the City with my Mum on Sunday:

I feel very lucky. <3



Day in the Life - March 3rd, 2012

Last week my best friend challenged me to a Day in the Life project, which is something we do a couple of times per year. The last two challenges I've completed on my iPhone using various apps, but this time I wanted something to print out and keep... so I shot all pictures on my Nikon D700, using the 50mm/1.4f lens. I was also inspired by the idea of Project Life (by Becky Higgins) and Ali Edwards' documentation of her Day in the Life projects, so if you're familiar with Ali Edwards, this style may look familiar.

I love the depth of field that lens offers and it has been one of my better investments (I actually scored it for free from our wedding photographer back in 2008, he had dropped it down a mountain and it needed recalibrating - if I paid for the repairs it was mine; it turned out to be less than half the price of buying it new so was an excellent decision).

I used Picasa (free program by Google, get onto it!) for the collages, and added text (font is WM_kamikaze) and elements using Photoshop CS3. The embellishments are from two digital scrapbooking kits, Scrap & Snap by Faith True Originals and The Bees Knees (released only to creative team members as a Christmas thank you in 2011).

Anyway, enough talk and onto our day in pictures! This is life with a 10.5 month old baby who is currently learning to walk. Click on the first picture to view the gallery of larger pictures (text will be much easier to read!)



Aquarium Trip

Matt took Thursday and Friday off work this week for no reason except to spend time with Rowan and I. I was so excited about this, and even more blown away when he suggested we do something "as a family" during this time. Not that we don't as it is, but something specifically with Rowan in mind. The zoo was our original idea, but the weather was a bit iffy so instead we went to the Melbourne Aquarium.

I thought that Rowan might be a bit young and not get much out of it, but he had a ball wandering around, trying to touch penguins and looking at jellyfish and other creatures. I'd thoroughly recommend an aquarium for those with a young child.

Here are a bunch of photos from our day!

We started off with lunch, as the traffic into the City was busier than we were expecting (and didn't want a cranky baby on our hands)

Rowan was fascinated by the penguins and loved watching them swim and/or waddle past.

Matt took this one of us (no flash allowed in the aquarium, obviously)

He chilled in the pram (and wanted to hold my glasses) for a while after the penguin enclosure, and we looked at other environments...

Rowan and Matt were looking at the turtles...

... and Rowan wanted to touch the turtle.

... only he got bitten! It was only a nip, but Rowan was a bit apprehensive about putting his hand in the water after that. ;)

There was a BIG round room with sharks and other large sea creatures, there weren't too many people in there at the time we passed through so Rowan wandered around the edges and lay on the floor for a while. I think he found it quite calming.

Exploring the gift store (we didn't buy anything)

Walking with Daddy (I bought Rowan's first 'real' pair of shoes during the week)

I <3 the toddling.