Taking After Daddy

Normally, in a morning we are woken by a shouting Joel who wants to get out of his cot, and be taken downstairs to play thank you very much.

The moment we pick him he shouts and points towards the door as though we were his slave carrying him just for his fun!

However, this morning, he turned into a Mr Lazy bones and lay in his cot just singing to himself and looking comfy and when I asked him if he wanted to get up, he shook his head, rolled over, and carried on sucking his thumb and stroking his blankie!

I thought, 'ok then' so went and got dressed without any distractions which was nice and then went back into Joel's room.  'Are we ready to get up now'? I asked.  Again, the answer was a shake of the head, and when I said, 'well, we've got places to be so up we get' and I reached in to get him, he rolled away from me and giggled!

Finally, I got him up by taking blankie and pretending to cuddle it, so he stood up, laughing and tried to get it back so I grabbed him and we got him dressed and nappy changed for nursery!

Then this morning, he toddled into the baby room on his own, straight over to the breakfast table, sat down and was tucking into a yoghurt before I'd even handed his diary over!  Then he waved me 'bye bye' and was quite happy, which is a much nicer way to leave him at nursery than crying and clinging to my knees. 

When Grandad Took Joel to the Barbers

He came back a proper big boy with a boy's haircut!  I can't wait for it grow a little more!!  :)  I want my baby back!

Horsey, Horsey

Joel has decided that sometimes, during the night he might wake up.  And since he's normally had a good sleep until this point he doesn't want to go back to sleep straight away.  And he might just sit and yell in his cot until Mummy or Daddy stagger along to see what the matter is and pretend to want a cuddle, to be taken into their bed in the hope he'll settle down to sleep again.

but no.

What tends to happen is Mummy just gets comfortable, and Joel will sit up, climb onto her tummy facing her knees and try to bounce and ride her like a pony.

Daddy finds it all very amusing becuase he's not being jumped on.  I guess his tummy isn't as bouncy and squishy as Mummy's.

Then after having had enough, Mummy will take baby and deposit him back in the cot with his lullaby music playing.  He'll have a little yell but once thumb is in and blankie sucked it's back to the world of nod again.

I just wish I could get back to sleep as readily as he does!!

Bank Holiday and Other Stuff

I'm really missing my laptop and I'm not updating this as often as I should.

Joel is a little comedian at the moment.  He has real comic timing and loves to tease us with his cheeky smile!  He finds it hilarious to feed us his food and sometimes offers it and then whips it away and eats himself whilst laughing at us!

He's getting good at communicating with us.  He nods yes and no when asked a question and seems to have a good understanding of what we say.

His eating had been a little bit picky but he's got better recently.  He seems to love green French beans, quiche and corn on the cob this week!  I made roasted corn and having cut it from the cob for Joel's plate, he saw me eating it and wanted to try it that way and liked it!

His walking is brilliant now.  He has no trouble with corners or bending down to pick things up.  It's as though he waited until he could do it properly rather than have an inbetween stage!

The other good news is that work have agreed I can go part time from October.  I'll be working three days a week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and the Faculty Management Team have approved it too.  It just has to go to executive first for the final decision.  I can't see it being turned down though.  I can't wait.

I was ill again last week with another lurgy which means I've had too many sick days this year already and I've only been back at work for 5 months.  Hopefully being part time will be less stressful.  Joel will be going to nursery on a Wednesday and Thursday and my parents on a Tuesday.  I then will have him on a Monday and a Friday.  It's exciting to think we can plan some activities.  We had a card through the door advertising Tumbletots and Steve thinks I should take him there!  I'd like to take him to Waterbabies to learn to swim but it's expensive.  We'll have to look into it.

We've been down to Exeter for the Bank Holiday and we had a nice time.  On Saturday I had the day to myself and went to a hairdressers for a major cut, and got some shopping done for work clothes as I don't have many clothes for work in winter.  It was nice to have some me time, knowing Steve's parents were happy to be entertaining Joel!  In the evening, Steve and I went out for dinner with Steve's brother and sister-in-law.

On the Sunday we went out on their boat at Teignmouth which was fun but scary as it's a power boat thing, and you sit on the edge and bump across the sea.  How I didn't fall in I don't know.  Joel loved sitting on the beach and digging whilst watching all the kids and folk in the sea.

We also discussed Christmas plans as I'd like to be at home for Christmas day so had thought if we went down before and drove home on christmas Eve it would mean we get Christmas week in Stafford which is easier for us and we get to go to our Church.  It seems early to be thinking about it, but it's September soon!!

So Joel is 16 months old now and a proper little toddler.  He's brilliant and we love him so much!!  It's amazing to see what will happen next!  he's learning so much all the time.

SuperJoel

He loved doing his sponsored toddle!  And everyone was very impressed with his outfit which was only an old vest with cheap fabric pains and a bit of gauze for a cape!  The kiddies raised over £100 just from meeting people out and about round the Uni!

 He is my little super hero!! 

Intruder......

I've not blogged for a wee while, mainly because last week Steve left the back door open, during the night some ne'er-do-well, came in and walked out again with my laptop and an old mobile phone.

It's very freaky to think you've had an intruder.  Especially with us all asleep and none the wiser.

We were very lucky though, he/she only took my not very expensive laptop and most of my photos on it are backed up, and my old blackberry which was a bit battered.  It could have been a lot worse.

Friday night we had forensics around but they couldn't find any prints, and two officers came around to take our statement.

We certainly have become rather complacent at home.  And Steve never locks the back door so he's had a rude awakening as to what that can do.  And hopefully, he's learnt his lesson.

The Big Toddle

With a superhero theme!  I bought some cheap fabric paint and designed him a logo...

So is it a bird.....

Is it a plane......

No, it's Super Joel!!!

I don't think he'll want to wear a mask but I'll sew a little cape onto it tomorrow night once its dried!

Joel and Slides

We had a nice time in Nottingham at the weekend where he went on slides all by himself, then we met up with my sister and Baby Martha for a tea party!  They have their personalised Emma Bridgewater mugs and Joel drank a cup of water from his without spilling!  The novelty of a grown up cup meant he wanted more and more and had about 3 mugs!!

Emotional Blackmail

It's bad enough having to work full time at the moment but it's worse when Joel doesn't want to go to nursery.

I know that he likes it there really and has a fun filled day. 

But Wednesdays are always harder for dropping him off there, on my way to work.  He's had the weekend with Mummy and Daddy, and Monday and Tuesday with Grandma and Grandad.  So Wednesday is a bit like a Monday for regular folk!

This morning though was the worst yet.

I'd walked Izzy to my parents so that could have upset him as he saw Grandma and Grandad and wanted to go in, but couldn't.

He'd dropped blankie en route somewhere so Grandad had to go out and find it, but with a crying Joel, no blankie is a terrible thing.  (I must buy another as we seem to have misplaced the 3rd one!)

By the time we got to nursery he seemed ok, but unsettled.  We went in, and a lady helping out with holiday cover took him.  Well, he wasn't having any of it.  He drew a breath, as though an almighty crying roar was about to emerge, but keep drawing in, and then passed out.

He's only done this a couple of times before, but he was out cold. 

I decided to wait with him and he clung to me like a limpet before his key person arrived.  He still howled as I left, and she walked him to another room out of sight and I sniffed my way to the office.

I gave it 10 minutes and then rang to see whether he'd settled to be told he'd had a cuddle, played with some toys and was running after the girls and was happy as could be.

I just wish the guilt would go away :(

Sickness Challenge

This weekend Steve had a job in Scotland to film for the Scottish Forestry Commission.  The plan was to capture the Perseids and folk all gathered to see them at an event put on in Galloway Forest.

However, it rained and was cloudy so he wasn't able to do exactly what he wanted to do but still got the footage they wanted which was the main thing.

As we'd had such a nice time in Newton Stewart last November, [link here if you're interested!] I thought it'd be nice to join Steve.

Events transpired to mean we couldn't go on the Saturday so we travelled up early Sunday just for the one night.  It's a long drive, but pretty and an easy route.

Joel slept for the first two hour leg, then we had a break at Tebay services for lunch and play time for him, before carrying on for the second leg.

Joel loved our room, it was large with a sofa, two beds, a cot and a cubby hole wardrobe type thing that he hid in!  The hotel also has a lovely large lawn, so we had some running around fresh air time there too.  Then he seemed a bit sleepy and grizzly, so against my better judgement decided to give him a short nap to keep him happy for dinner time.

He slept for about 15 minutes after I'd walked him up and down the drive in his buggy, then some other hotel guests (they could have been  Dutch) peered in at him and said how handsome he was which woke him up!

He was very grizzly then so I sat him on my knee and the next thing I knew was he was being sick.  Properly bringing up every little thing he'd eaten that day.  And the first thing I did was to catch it in my dress.  And it kept coming.  And he was crying and I was a bit in shock, not sure what to do about it.

We were sat in the hotel lounge so when he seemed to have stopped, I gathered my skirts and my child and dashed into the toilets nearby.  Then from that point, we ran upstairs to our room where Steve was.

Joel was pretty unhappy about all this, and more so when we dunked him in a bath to try and wash the bits off him and out of his hair.  It was in his nose and everything smelt sicky.  I got in the bath too and we left a heap of sicky clothes on the bath room floor.  He began to feel hot, but the little water he had just came back up again.  He kept flopping on the bed and sobbing as he felt so rubbish and I felt terrible that I'd taken us so far from home for just one night.  It was not the nice getaway I'd anticipated :(

He dropped off to sleep at about 7.30, but it was a fitful, hot and bothered sleep.  I managed to get some dinner brought up to the room, he'd been sick about another 3 times by this point but I'd caught it on towels rather than him getting the bed all soggy.  There wasn't a lot of food in him, but he kept retching helplessly.

Steve returned about midnight and Joel woke up.  As he'd not been sick for a couple of hours, we gave him a little water, and some calpol.  Steve took the single bed, and Joel was with me and he dozed fitfully, reaching out for me all night with his hot little body.  By 6am he woke again, drank 3 cups of water, had another dose of calpol and went back to sleep, but I could tell it was a better sleep so we all put our heads down till about 8.30am.

He didn't eat much breakfast, and after a morning exploring the forest for more of Steve's filming, we headed back about lunch time and Joel slept again until the south bound Tebay services and slept again for the second leg, and slept well at night, and to all accounts had a very long nap Tuesday morning.

He seems better in himself, but is still a little sensative at the moment.  I hope he perks up to his happy little self soon.  The main thing is I never thought I could deal with sick, but I did.  I just got on with it, as I had to and it all came good in the end.  I'm just glad I didn't have a sicky baby!  This was the first time he's been sick after having food.  The last time, he was still on milk and it was at Easter so I've been lucky really.

Cous cous?

I've gone to collect Joel from his day at nursery befoer a few times whilst he's having his tea at 4pm so had to wait for him to finish.  He always enjoys his tea at nursery, and it's a light meal such as cheesy oatcakes, or egg sandwiches.

Once a week, they have a cous cous tea with salad bits and he's always eaten it for them and seemingly enjoyed it!

So last night, I took him home and made him the same (roasted vegetable) for his supper and would he eat it? 

Nope!

I guess I don't do it the same as at nursery!!  I'll try not to be offended!!

Breaking News......

I'm trying to not count my chickens before they've hatched and other cliche comments like that one, but my manager has said that it's looking as though I can go part time!

Not job share either, just part time, possibly three days a week!!! 

If so, that would be amazing!

I should hear what they propose for me to do next week.

I'm hoping to work Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, therefore be in for three days and off for four.  That would suit me very well indeed.

I guess I'll either be passed the awards which aren't student facing, namely, other colleges or be put in a different role such as organising the examinations.

It would be nice to have a change, but to be honest, I don't mind if they give me the dregs of the office work if I can work less days.

And without having to prepare for battle again!  Mind you, I've jumped through many hoops for this, so lets see what occurs next week!

Potty Time?

Well, we may are shooting for the moon, but we're thinking of introducing Joel to a potty!  This may not work yet, or it may, but I guess it can't hurt to see what he makes of it.  He's going to be 16 months soon and we're going to read all about methods etc... when our book arrives.



This is the potty we've gone for.  There are more expensive ones and there are cheaper ones.  I just liked the idea of the handle and spouty bit for draining.  And the video made me laugh as they demonstrate how easy it is pour away liquid and solids!  (Demonstrated by prunes!!)

And we've bought the book by this lady rather than Gina Ford as we don't think it's something that will happen in a week and I don't want to be berated for that!  (Saying that, I did find some elements to her baby routines useful when Joel was younger).


So I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.  I'm not stressed about it.  I'm just a bit interested to see what Joel makes of it to be honest.

Suddenly....

Joel has a mouthful of teeth, both cut and emerging!

He knows things!  I put 'In The Night Garden On' and within three seconds of the music and the black sky with lights, he started using his index finger to circle his palm!  Just like they do in the opening credits!  He hasn't watched this for over two weeks, as we didn't have tv whilst camping, and I don't think cbeebies got a look in for our second week away!  he just knew that's what happened!

He's trying to run, but needs to focus on his walking, but he's so good now!  We don't see much crawling any more.  It's all about two feet, not four!

He's getting an awareness of pooping.  He goes to stand up and hide, and if I say 'have you done a poo?' he say's 'uh' (which I presume means yes!) and he goes to lie on the changing mat for a clean nappy!  Once it's off he tries to escape though.  He doesn't mind wandering round with a poopy bum, it's just a poopy nappy he hates!

It's made us think about getting a potty.  Not to try and potty train him persay, just to get him used to the idea of doing it in a potty rather than a nappy.  I don't know if this is the right way to go about it or not, so have bought a potty training book from Amazon to see what it's all about and whether we're right in thinking about starting early.

I'll let you know!

And Holiday No 2!!!

I've come to realise, that no holiday with a baby/toddler will ever be actually relaxing.

It's like life goes on as before, but just in a different place which causes stress with all the stuff and paraphanelia you have to take with you.  It causes a back log of washing on one's return and loading the car with everything, and it's more than just a little stressful!

That said, it's not all bad.  It was nice to be away and to not think about work, and have all that me and Joel time that I've missed so much since going back.  It was nice to not have hot sunny weather every day.  (Another thing thats a worry with a baby and covering up and putting on sun screen!)

It was also lovely to hang out with my sisters and new baby Martha and Theo and Isaac.

 
It was quite sweet that Joel was very jealous of the attention his grandparents gave Martha, Isaac and Theo and he would want to be held whenever my Dad had Martha and he cried when he saw me giving Martha a cuddle.  He did not like it!!

Joel decided this week he would become a walker (whether it's from being inspired by his 4 year old cousins I dno't know) but he suddenly wanted to walk and toddle everywhere which was very cute!  He can walk a long way now (well, along the whole house) and negotiate corners.  My baby is now a toddling boy!

We had fun on the beach at Llanbedrog, visited the Rabbit Farm with cute fluffy animals and puppies to hold which I loved but Joel did not!  He sort of stroked a rabbit, but cried at the goats, sheep, ponies, llamas and puppies!  He smiled at some cute piglets, but when the big ugly mama came along he sat down in shock and began to yell!!  I couldn't help but laugh as it was funny.

We also went on a boat trip and I kept him fastened in my back pack which worked well.  I needed my hands free to clamber aboard, and it kept me balanced as the boat bobbed on the trip to see seals and birds.  Joel got a bit upset at points but waved to the animals that we could see.

The beach was popular again, and digging sandcastles beat paddling.

And Grandma and Grandad's dinghy was a fun new toy for him too.

And he loved following Theo and Isaac around and trying to play their games!  They were hiding behind the chairs in the lounge on the last day and Joel went and hid with them!  It was so very cute!

The only bad bit that was depressing was the coming home and knowing it was coming to an end and I had to return to work.  Booo.  I'm just waiting to hear about my second part time work request at the moment.  I should have a meeting by the end of the month so fingers crossed this one goes better!