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Falling, falling... thud
It feels like it's been ages since I last wrote here. I guess it's been about a week. But my life is so busy now that writing here is getting left behind. I was always told that toddlers are hard work - running around, touching everything - but I never fully appreciated the magnitude of the demand that Jake makes on my time.
Don't get me wrong though; I wouldn't have it any other way. He is everything to me and I'd give him every second of my day if he wanted it. But it's amazing; he won't sit anymore - he stands. Sit him on the floor and he's on his knees before his bum even hits the floor. And before the knees really get any use, he's grabbed the table, his toy box, anything, and he's up on his feet. He can't walk yet but he maneuvers himself between things to get around. And in the process, grabs everything within reach.
The problems then come when we try to limit him. We sit him back down or move things out of his reach and he starts moaning. Let me tell you, the kid can moan... and moan... and MOAN! It'll drive you mad! He's very driven... and stubborn. Oh, and has quite a temper.
And he falls, frequently. He's got a bruise on his forehead!
In other 'Jake' news: he fell off the couch today. In my care. I felt terrible! We've gone a whole 11 months without him falling off of anything and then it happened today. He was lying on the couch and I reached over to pick up the remote. Before I could blink, I heard the thud... then the scream. He'd landed face first and was terribly upset. So was I. I cried more than he did! Within a minute, he was as right as rain, and I was bumbling, apologetic mess.
It's hard being a Mum!
Wrapped up for a Canadian Winter...
Hell of a time
We've been having a hell of a time recently with Jake's sleeping pattern. He is - quite literally - taking over the house. Just a couple of weeks ago, he would go to bed at 8pm, after sucking back a bottle of milk, and rose for the morning around 6 or 7am. An early start, I know, but I wasn't complaining.
Now? Well, everything has changed. He still goes to bed at 8pm, but we're lucky if we can get to bed around 11pm without him having woken once or twice. When that happens, we try to comfort him and put him back to bed but he's very reluctant. In fact, he is often completely inconsolable.
It gets to a point where he will not go back to his own bed no matter how long we let him lie there screaming his head off, no matter how much he's held and cuddled. Ultimately, we give in and bring him into bed with me, while Stephen sleeps in the spare room. Obviously, this is not how Stephen and I want to spend our nights, but we're at our wit's ends! We have three grown-up daughters/stepdaughters who have school and work in the morning. We don't have the option of leaving him to scream.
So what's the problem? Wind? Teething? Nightmares? Seperation anxiety? I don't know! We've tried everything. He is taking over and getting his own way but how can we stop that?
Moan
I have a headache. Jake slept terribly last night and I'm still feeling the effects of it at 1:30pm. He went to bed as usual around 8pm and woke again around 11:30, about a half-hour after Stephen and I went to bed. So I got up with him and, as there seemed to no chance of getting back to sleep, I gave him a bottle. Halfway through said bottle and while he was looking up at me smiling, I resigned myself to the fact that sleep was not coming soon.
Finally, at around 2am and after what seemed like hours of cuddling and coersing, he dozed off. Thank you! I lay my weary head down and slept too. But it didn't last very long; he woke me up at 6:20am. Too early. I'm a person who needs sleep. I don't function very well when I don't get enough and my mood suffers too.
And now I have a splitting headache. I'm about to close the curtains because the sun glaring off the snow outside is blinding.
First Birthday!
In about 2 and a half weeks, our little boy turns one year old! I can't believe it. In some ways, it feels like he wasn't born that long ago. In other ways, he's always been here, a part of this family.
So we've organized a big birthday party for him here at our new(ish) house. The party will take place on Sunday March 27th, two days before his birthday. We've invited family and friends and purchased a festive table cloth, paper plates and napkins. My Stepdad has made a big toy box for Jake's first birthday, which I understand to be simply stunning. He's even had a copper plaque made for the box that says "Jake's toybox". My Mum will spoil him rotten as, I'm sure, my sister will too. My Dad and Stepmother have apparently sent a "very special package" from Alberta.
I'll be baking a cake and putting a candle on top in the shape of a number 1. I don't expect him to blow it out or anything, but the pictures will be priceless!
A what?
My stepdaughter, Sarah, 18, works the unsociable shift of noon until 9pm. When she got home at her usual time of 9:30, I was sitting in the living room. I heard the back door open, then close again, then open and close again. I didn't think too much of it until she appeared in the living room to announce that a bat was flying around inside our back extension.
We have a room at the back of the house that was added on by the previous owners. It's a good-sized room and it is apparently fully insulated and winterized. Or so we were told. So far, it's freezing in there. Anyway, we don't keep anything in there over the Winter except for our boots, coats and the baby buggy.
A bat? But it's about -20C out there! Don't they hybernate or something? Are you sure that you saw a bat, Sarah? Well, I saw something, she said, and it's flying around back there.
So I follow her to our back door, the one between our house and the back extension. Through the window in the door, I saw it after a few seconds of waiting. It flew right past the window and it was definitely a bat. It then landed on the curtain and hung there upside-down. Ugly little thing! Although really, not so little.
How do we get it out, I asked. We called downstairs to Stephen to take care of it. Our hero, with a blanket over his head and wielding a broom, charged into the extension and shoo'ed the bat back out the door.
We can only conclude that it came in when Stephen went out earlier to put the garbage out. He'd left the back door open for a few minutes and the bat obviously took advantage of the situation. Perhaps it was attracted to the light. Either way, it was an unwelcome guests. Don't they carry rabies?!
A face only a mother could love
Golden White-lined Bat
Platyrrhinus aurarius
Photo: Francis X. Faigal
©2003 Royal Ontario Museum
A loss
Just over a month ago, my paternal grandmother died. She had cancer and passed away peacefully in hospital with my Dad there holding her hand. A similar thing has happened again. My maternal grandmother died yesterday in hospital, with my Mum holding her hand. She suffered a massive stroke earlier in the week and was hospitalized. We knew that it wouldn't be long before she passed on, I'm just glad that my Mum was able to be there.
Interestingly, my Mum had decided to fly to England on March 9th, a day before my Nanna's birthday, to surprise her. My Nanna was indeed surprised and they were able to spend almost a week together before the stroke hit. Then, rather than fly home when she was supposed to, my Mum hung around, knowing that her mother was dying.
It's weird the way thing work out, huh? My Mum must be so thankful that she decided to go.
He's back!
I've got my boy back! Finally! For more than a week, Jake has been sick. It started with a chesty, wet cough with the grumpy mood to match and turned into endless sleepless nights, wheezing and constant tears. The past week has been horrible and I never want it repeated. I spent almost every night sitting up with him while he dozed on and off between coughing fits. I think that I must have aged 10 years in one week!
But finally, last night while we sat down to dinner, Jake didn't moan. He didn't cry or fuss, but instead giggled at his sisters. He's back, I said. Thank you!
After supper, he played on the floor with Ruth and had a bath. And because of a late-afternoon nap, he didn't go to bed until past 10pm. But that meant that he stayed in his bed, fast asleep, until 6:15 this morning. I couldn't believe it! Stephen woke with a start at 5:30 and went to check on Jake. All was well and we went back to sleep. The first night that Stephen and I have spent together in bed for over a week. It was lovely.
So, not only do I have my son but I also have my husband back!
Who am I kidding? It could all change tomorrow with Jake back to his seperation anxiety during the night... but it was nice while it lasted.
With the recent death of my Nanna and with my Mum and Stepfather staying on in England for the funeral, we have pushed Jake's birthday party back a week. It was to take place two days before his birthday, but will now be on April 3rd, five days after his birthday. My Mum doesn't know that we've changed the date yet; she just thinks that she'll miss her first grandchild's first birthday. She seemed saddened and resigned to her fate when I called her in Barrow the other day so I spoke to Stephen about it. I checked with the other expected guests and moved the party back a week.
Jake won't notice and I know that it means the world to my Mum. Allan, my Stepdad, has made Jake a toybox and I know that he's very proud of it. They put a roof over our heads for the first two months after our arrival back in Canada. They've be so generous and I think that they deserve to be there for this party.
Our only trouble now is that Stephen and I have no birthday gifts for Jake. We don't really know what to get him. It's not like he'd know if we didn't get anything. Obviously, I can't do that. We'll probably get him some new clothes, which he desperately needs. With my parents and my siblings coming to this party, I know that there will not be a lack of toys!
