Wow, it’s been a while, huh?
Life has been, well, busy. It’s strange but my blogging stopped about the same time Declan became mobile. I completely missed a post when he turned 8 months. Probably because I was too busy tending to a black eye, or picking up the lamp he pulled down, or stopping him from biting Stella, or keeping him from trying to ride her scooter.
Or, more likely, we’ve just been settling into living life down under.
Quick updates on the kids.
Declan is now 9 (nine!) whole months old. I cannot believe it. As we have yet to find a doc, I don’t have any stats on his height or weight. From my step on and step off the scale approach, he’s about 9 kilos (almost 20 pounds). He’s starting to burst out of his 9 month PJ’s but still fits comfortably into 9 month tops and bottoms. He has 5 teeth (the 6th is gleaming through the gums). He is a mobile maniac! Started crawling at 7 months and started walking with his walker at 8.5 months and now, climbing at 9.
Boys. Yikes! You boy mamas tried to warn me… I believe you now!
Speaking of boys, this kid has quite the appetite! He starts shrieking at dinner time! He cannot get food into his mouth fast enough. It’s equal parts terrifying and hilarious. One of these days I will film it. For now I’m too harried trying to get food in front of him! His sensitive little tummy is getting better. We’ve been doing a hybrid of BLW and purees to fill him up but have recently started giving him bits of what we’re eating. He seems to be handling it well.
Sleep. Ah, precious sleep. After numerous visits to the naturopath and chiropractor, we reached the conclusion that the kid just needs to learn to sort himself out. We moved Declan’s cot (Aussie speak for crib) into Stella’s room and moved Stella into our room. Phill spent a few nights in with Declan before being driven to the couch. That Declan, he’s won the battle against us all and gotten his very own room. The first night or two he woke 2 or 3 times and cried for about 5 minutes. Now he’s down to waking just once, around 3, crying for a few minutes and then passing back out again. As soon as he stops doing that, we can finally, FINALLY, have Stella and Declan sharing a room. All in all, it’s a major leap and I think we can safely say, the kid is finally SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!
Stella, my gorgeous, sweet, sassy (really sassy) little girl. She’s been busy with swim lessons, which she takes very seriously.
We are still visiting the Manly Library twice a week for Story Time. She is obsessed with the songs and talks about the craft portion all week long. She is still an amazing big sister to Declan. She really and truly adores him. But she also loves getting 100% of my attention and that just can’t happen much anymore. When Declan is getting praised for something or getting all the attention, she turns into a little naughty tornado. It has gotten better but we’re a long way off from her dealing with it well.
Stella had a bout with the nasty Aussie gastro bug last week. Hers was quick (24 hours). A big vom in the evening, then ran fever in the morning. She has an amazing immune system and was all better after 24 hours.
I, however, was not as lucky. Two days after her bug, the pain woke me around midnight. You guys. I had no idea the stomach flu could even be that bad. I spent all night on the bathroom floor, alternating from sleep to throwing up. The only way I can describe the pain of the cramps was that they were like a contraction. This past weekend was spent in a blur for me. It took me 24 hours to run a fever and start to fight off the nastiness. I’m so thankful it hit on Friday night and that Phill wasn’t traveling. He kept the kids going and the house running all weekend. I’m serious, dishes washed, laundry washed, folded and put away, kids fed, bathed and entertained. He is the most amazing man!
To add to the weekend fun, my iPhone decided it was the perfect time to die. And died it did. Phill worked on it all Sunday night to no avail. So yesterday I had to make my way to the Apple store half an hour away in Chatswood, in the rain, with both kids, with NO navigation! Phill left for Perth today and left me his mobile hotspot thinga-something so I could use my iPad for directions. Whatever it is, it didn’t work. The maps app kept freezing. I ended up calling Phill on Skype (somehow that worked?) and had him talk me through the final directions. Insanity. The kids were, thankfully, so chill and cooperative. A little gift from God. We finally escaped the mall and headed home, refurbed iPhone in hand. WITH NAVI! On the way home, we ended up going a different route. It was actually quite scenic. Stella and I were chatting about the wind and how to know if it was windy if you weren’t outside to actually feel the wind. Declan started crying (poor mobile kid was DONE with being cooped up in a car seat and stroller all afternoon) so I rolled the windows down to distract him. It worked. Stella went quiet, too… After a minute, she started giggling and saying, “MOM! I’ve got my hand out the window!” I had to stifle the urge to tell her to keep her hands in the car. I’m glad I did because a quick glance in my mirror revealed she barely had her little fingers out the window. She giggled again and said, “MOM! I can feel the wind! Have you ever done this mom? It’s so cool! Mom! I can feeeeeeeeeeel the wind!” I was so blown away by the sweet childhood innocence of what she was exclaiming. I mean, of course I have. But it was so amazing to see her experience that sensation for the first time. She was so very excited… It filled me with such joy to see her having this moment! I love that I get to see the eyes of the world through a child. It’s such a gift.
In other news wedding planning is coming along! We still have a few decisions to make and I have a to-do list a mile (kilometer?) long. We are getting on a plane in 4 short weeks. We’ll fly to Hawaii for 2 days then hop back on a plane bound for Austin arriving on the 14th. I am getting so excited to come home!
Also, I picked up my camera again… And it felt so good.
3 years
9 months
Blogging is one of my favorite things to do, kind of therapeutic actually, so I hope we chat again soon!
Simpsons Down Under 