The bath of times

She loves bathtime! Always has done, and it's such a lovely part of our day. She doesn't have a bath every day, because unlike most children who seem to respond well to the bedtime routine of bath-story-bed, if she has a bath it ramps her excitement up about 34 levels. She then not only has trouble settling down to sleep, but then has a really restless night. We never bothered with putting her in a baby bath, we just had her in the bath with us. Sometimes these days she has a little bath by herself, but we like sharing that precious time together. Her favourite bath pasttime at thte moment is to examine our tattoos and she sometimes checks her own skin for them. She had a bit of a melt down last week because she couldn't find her pizza ("pitzz") tattoo... the one that is on MY arm. I wanted to laugh so much but I had to be restrained and explain kindly, and validate her feelings about the situation etc. What a little cracker.

I love this photo, it looks like we're having a super serious in depth conversation. Often times Bob will just snap away with the camera, and it's not till we look back on the photos afterwards that we realise just how grown up our lil bubba is. She has such a wide range of facial expressions that you sometimes miss when they happen in a microsecond. It's times like these I am so grateful that we live in the age of digital photography, because we get to re-live all of this amazing-ness instantly and up close and forever. The photo I posted at the top there makes me smile from ear to ear, and also laugh a little at how crazy her teeth are. One day she will have a proper mouth full of teeth but right now they're still crazy. She seems to be a bit behind her peers with regards to teeth, but the way I see it is the later she has them, the less time they'll have to potentially go rotten. My Granny was telling me that my Dad didn't have a tooth in his mouth till he was 13 months old, so at least we're doing better than that. She seems to have realised that she has proper teeth for chewing now that she has 4 molars, so she's enjoyed nomming on more raw veggies lately.

Back to the topic at hand: bath. Pearl loves the bath so much she likes to make all her favourite objects take trips to the bath too. This morning it was my phone. My 'already-battered, not insured, still got another 10 months left on its contract' phone. Bob was in the shower, and I was down the hallway getting a clean nappy for Pearl. I was just heading back when I heard Bob yelling my name. She'd apparently just walked right in there and dropped my phone over the edge of the bath. (We have one of those showers over the bath). Under orders from Bobby, I took it apart immediately and towel dried it, then put it on the radiator. I left it there till lunchtime when I braved putting it back together. Miraculously it still works! Usually Pearl has been very good since we explained to her that only bath toys can go in the bath, but obviously the lure of my phone just lying on the side was too much temptation. At least it wasn't in the toilet... we haven't had any mishaps in that area yet and I'm just keeping my fingers crossed!

No sleep till Brooklyn

So, I've discovered the only downside to my 'job'... the lack of sick leave. I'm proper poorly but can do fuck all about it. Can't do the one thing my body really needs, which is rest, because I have an extremely rambunctious 19 month old to look after, and a home to take care of. Meals need to get cooked, nappies need to get changed (and washed, along with all the other million clothes she wears in one day!). Time doesn't stand still just because my stupid crappy immune system was unable to protect me from yet another virus.

What do full-time mothers do in these situations? I'm lucky that my husband has been willing and able to get up early with Pearl, to allow me to try and grab whatever additional sleep I can. But then he has to go to work and we're left to our own devices. I feel awful because I've had the television on far more than I would like, but it's a good distraction that doesn't require me doing very much. She was happy to sit on the sofa under the duvet with me to watch Ratatouille yesterday, and if she's happy then I'm happy. Well, coughing, aching, snotty, but sitting down so that equals some kind of happy.

But yeah, I'd love to know what mamas do in these situations. These are the situations in which I would be grateful to have had my child when I was older, so that her grandparents would be older and retired and therefore perhaps able to help look after her while I feel like a bag of crap. Would also help if I hadn't moved far away from my own parents... what I wouldn't give for a bowl of my mummy's chicken soup right now! I'm having to make do with whatever super quick meals I can bear to stand and cook for us all.

This too shall pass.

formspring.me

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/lallydone

Who needs actions when you've got...?

I'm having a very strange February so far. I would like a do-over, or to apply for a transfer to another month, or some sort of time machine to get me back to January, because January was probably the most awesome month of my life. I just didn't know it at the time. I don't think that there are enough words to explain it, or maybe there are too many words, and I'm worried that if I start typing I won't stop until my hands physically break.

I think maybe I will be able to talk about February once this month has finished. I'm pinning all my hopes on a super March. Springtime, new beginnings and all that.

Here's a musical interlude in the mean time. Listening to this song at every available opportunity at thte moment. 7 times on the drive to London today alone. Music is my saviour, as always.



(Excuse the strange youtube user video, dont know how else I can share this amazing version of this song with you though.)

In the mean time... http://www.formspring.me/lallydone

Peace out

Racing

To update briefly on Friday's events: I managed to get out of the house, albeit while Pearl was shouting 'Mama' in a very wobbly voice behind me. I had a bit of a wobble in the car, and did consider turning around more than once, but made it to Brighton eventually. By all accounts her grandparents were able to calm her quickly, however she didn't want any part of her 'normal' bedtime routine if it didn't involve Mama or Milk. They read lots of stories and played quietly, just letting her lead the way really. She finally succumbed to sleep while watching "Ratatouille" from the comfort of Grandma's lap, about 2 hours after her normal bedtime. She stayed asleep until about 11pm, by which point I was already on my way home, but it meant she cried inconsolably for about 15 minutes until I came legging it in the door.

I did have a feeling that she would go down relatively easily, but that the first time she stirred she would want me and only me. She nursed for well over an hour once I lay down with her, and hasn't wanted to leave my side since then, but that is totally understandable. She's been asking for milk very frequently for the past few days, although I think that's a combination of her molars giving her jip and the Friday night stuff.

Today I am feeling a bit fragile. My back is up and I'm all defensive about our style of parenting. The past week has thrown some strange encounters our way, and I hate feeling like I have to defend the way we have chosen to raise our child. So many people just blindly go through their parenting career, and seem to take offense if somebody else does something other than what is 'normal'. If I choose to do something with Pearl and you've done it differently, it doesmt mean that I'm criticising your choices. Does that make sense? It's a scenario I encounter all the time with breastfeeding, but more and more it's happening with every day things. I think I want to write more about this when I have more time. Right now Pearl is napping and I want to use the time to read more of my current book, "Mothering Your Nursing Toddler".

I need to remember to breathe, and that the proof will be in the pudding. And Pearl is already the best pudding I ever made.