It's increasing daily! Here is a list of words he currently says. It's just what I can recall...
Hi
Bye
Mummeeee (yes, the emphasis is on the "mee", but he also says Mum too)
Dad/Da/Dada
I/I-a (Isla, his absolute favourite person on the planet)
Car
Door
Bath
Park
Baby/Bubbee
Boob
Chocshoosh (Chocolate... Yes, I know...)
Cheesh (Cheese)
Zach (his Cabbage Patch Kid)
Uck (Truck)
Bike
Shoes
Pool (he says this frequently, always wants to go)
Poo
Eyes
Bag
He also does animal noises and says "Shhh" with his finger to his lips when Isla is asleep.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
The scariest few moments...
Last night, I thought Otis was going to die.
He was eating some crackers with tomato and cream cheese, really enjoying them, seated at his new Ikea table and chairs. He suddenly started to cough, then gasp, snorting and choking and screaming when he had enough breath in his body to make a noise. We turned him upside down, we bashed him on the back, and every so often there was a moment of relief, and we'd think he was OK. But it wouldn't end. It felt like years. We tried giving water, we tried scooping bits out of his mouth, we tried to stay calm, but our words to one another were edged with absolute terror.
I was dialling 000 when Phil announced that he was OK. He was shaking, and red, and terrified, there was cream cheese pouring from his nose and his face was wet with tears. The three of us just collapsed in one big hug on the couch, and I cried and cried. I was thinking, "I won't ever complain about him again, I'll never raise my voice, I'll be the perfect mother..."
It was so scary.
This morning, I noticed his eyelids were covered in little red/purple pinpricks, broken blood vessels, the temporary remnants of his efforts to breathe. They reminded me of my face after I gave birth to him. The effort!
I love him so much.
He was eating some crackers with tomato and cream cheese, really enjoying them, seated at his new Ikea table and chairs. He suddenly started to cough, then gasp, snorting and choking and screaming when he had enough breath in his body to make a noise. We turned him upside down, we bashed him on the back, and every so often there was a moment of relief, and we'd think he was OK. But it wouldn't end. It felt like years. We tried giving water, we tried scooping bits out of his mouth, we tried to stay calm, but our words to one another were edged with absolute terror.
I was dialling 000 when Phil announced that he was OK. He was shaking, and red, and terrified, there was cream cheese pouring from his nose and his face was wet with tears. The three of us just collapsed in one big hug on the couch, and I cried and cried. I was thinking, "I won't ever complain about him again, I'll never raise my voice, I'll be the perfect mother..."
It was so scary.
This morning, I noticed his eyelids were covered in little red/purple pinpricks, broken blood vessels, the temporary remnants of his efforts to breathe. They reminded me of my face after I gave birth to him. The effort!
I love him so much.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
My affectionate little boy...
So, to describe Otis as affectionate is perhaps the world's greatest understatement. I've honestly never known a person affectionate to the same degree that he is. I love it, I encourage it, I relish it, but I'm also not 100% certain that it is not bordering on inappropriate.
We don't have a lot of physical boundaries in our house. The three of us are very free with the cuddles and the kisses, and we all walk around naked whenever it suits us. Afew days ago, I was sitting on the toilet, and Otis grabbed a handful of toilet paper and attempted to wipe my bottom for me. He tried down the front at first, and when I blocked him, he went for the back. He's trying to do for me what I've been doing for him his whole life...
It's sometimes not until you see other people react to your child's behaviour that you begin to question whether or not it is a little weird. We went to mass with Mum the other night, and he spent most of that hour stroking my face with two hands and gazing at me with the kind of loving looks usually reserved for romance novels. At one point he had one hand up my top, rubbing my now enormous tummy, and another on my boob, although this one was at least on the outside of my clothes.
People stared. Some oohed and aahed. Some looked a little perplexed. Many referred to him as a girl (because, didn't you know, only girls are capable of affection...?) I was enjoying the adoration and the intimacy, but was also feeling ever-so-slightly uncomfortable.
The next day, we were at the park with some friends. One little girl, older than Otis, went down the slippery dip with him between her legs. When they got to the bottom, he lay back on her and just smiled, enjoying the cuddle, whilst other children yelled at them to hurry up and get out of the way. Another of his friends was having a bit of a tantrum at one point, and Otis lay his head on the boy's chest and stroked him, trying to calm him down.
Is my baby going to grow up to be one of those people who invade your personal space and hug and kiss you upon your first meeting? Or will he just be a loving, tender, cuddly man who some very lucky woman will be so grateful for? I'm not sure. But I have a sneaking suspicion that the end of his hyper-affectionate ways is just around the corner, and I should enjoy his slightly freaky antics while they last.
We don't have a lot of physical boundaries in our house. The three of us are very free with the cuddles and the kisses, and we all walk around naked whenever it suits us. Afew days ago, I was sitting on the toilet, and Otis grabbed a handful of toilet paper and attempted to wipe my bottom for me. He tried down the front at first, and when I blocked him, he went for the back. He's trying to do for me what I've been doing for him his whole life...
It's sometimes not until you see other people react to your child's behaviour that you begin to question whether or not it is a little weird. We went to mass with Mum the other night, and he spent most of that hour stroking my face with two hands and gazing at me with the kind of loving looks usually reserved for romance novels. At one point he had one hand up my top, rubbing my now enormous tummy, and another on my boob, although this one was at least on the outside of my clothes.
People stared. Some oohed and aahed. Some looked a little perplexed. Many referred to him as a girl (because, didn't you know, only girls are capable of affection...?) I was enjoying the adoration and the intimacy, but was also feeling ever-so-slightly uncomfortable.
The next day, we were at the park with some friends. One little girl, older than Otis, went down the slippery dip with him between her legs. When they got to the bottom, he lay back on her and just smiled, enjoying the cuddle, whilst other children yelled at them to hurry up and get out of the way. Another of his friends was having a bit of a tantrum at one point, and Otis lay his head on the boy's chest and stroked him, trying to calm him down.
Is my baby going to grow up to be one of those people who invade your personal space and hug and kiss you upon your first meeting? Or will he just be a loving, tender, cuddly man who some very lucky woman will be so grateful for? I'm not sure. But I have a sneaking suspicion that the end of his hyper-affectionate ways is just around the corner, and I should enjoy his slightly freaky antics while they last.
Friday, July 31, 2009
My ambitious little boy...
Recently Otis has taken to pointing to himself to indicate when he wants to participate in or be given something. He'll see the swings at the local park and immediately start gesticulating quite enthusiastically, telling me in his own, only partially-verbal way that he wants a turn.
Apparently he's also keen to:
1. Swim in the World Championships (I thought his little arm was going to fall off when he watched Michael Phelps break another record the other day)
2. Drive the garbage truck
3. Ride a motorbike
4. Go boating
5. Carry a leather handbag
He's so entertaining these days!
Apparently he's also keen to:
1. Swim in the World Championships (I thought his little arm was going to fall off when he watched Michael Phelps break another record the other day)
2. Drive the garbage truck
3. Ride a motorbike
4. Go boating
5. Carry a leather handbag
He's so entertaining these days!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Managing two...
I can do it :)
Otis and I are babysitting Isla Grace today... And things are going swimmingly indeed! Isla had a nap between 10:30 and midday... Otis went down around 11... It's now almost 1, Isla has been fed and changed and is happily playing (she sure is an easy-to-entertain little thing) and I'll deal with Otis whenever he wakes up.
Might go for a walk or pop down to the park before Isla's afternoon nap.
Yes, I CAN do it!!
Otis and I are babysitting Isla Grace today... And things are going swimmingly indeed! Isla had a nap between 10:30 and midday... Otis went down around 11... It's now almost 1, Isla has been fed and changed and is happily playing (she sure is an easy-to-entertain little thing) and I'll deal with Otis whenever he wakes up.
Might go for a walk or pop down to the park before Isla's afternoon nap.
Yes, I CAN do it!!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
The gender debate...
I guess there are two separate gender debates I could discuss here. The first is, of course, the notion that bad mornng sickness indicates a female foetus. This is what many people strongly believe, and I am fielding plenty of very confident claims that my baby is without a doubt a girl. Time will tell. I for one doubt that gender can so easily be diagnosed. I am also in no hurry to know! Boy or girl, every passing day provides further evidence of its presence. My bump is big, bigger than the average 20 week bump at least, and I'm feeling lots of gentle swishes from within.
But what I wanted to talk about here is Otis' fascination with all things 'boy' — he shakes with anticipation when the garbage truck drives past (early Monday mornings are most thrilling at our place), opens his eyes wide and points at motorbikes whether they are passing by loudly or parked, and enjoys mimicking a crocodile's snapping jaws and an elephant raising it's trunk. Being the type of mother I am, I can assure you I in no way pushed these interests onto him. They just sprung from somewhere inside his brain. He has very few gender-specific items, one lonely dump truck and a book about trucks, a book about a racing car and a few others bits and pieces. Is this stuff really and truly inherently there from the moment of conception? Or perhaps it a case of us and his other carers encouraging, subconsciously, the interests we and society deem appropriate for him, and simply ignoring those that are feminine.
The truth is, I don't want my son to end up a macho, beer-swilling, emotionally immature, stereotypical male. I'm not saying he should dress in women's clothes or anything like that (although, if he does, I'll love him anyway), but my hope is that he turns out to be more like his father, and unafraid to be a little different. He does adore his Cabbage Patch, Zach, and gets real joy out of dressing him, wrapping him and patting him to sleep, so perhaps not all is lost. In the meantime I will do what I can to encourage an array of interest, including, I suppose, those of the transportation variety!
But what I wanted to talk about here is Otis' fascination with all things 'boy' — he shakes with anticipation when the garbage truck drives past (early Monday mornings are most thrilling at our place), opens his eyes wide and points at motorbikes whether they are passing by loudly or parked, and enjoys mimicking a crocodile's snapping jaws and an elephant raising it's trunk. Being the type of mother I am, I can assure you I in no way pushed these interests onto him. They just sprung from somewhere inside his brain. He has very few gender-specific items, one lonely dump truck and a book about trucks, a book about a racing car and a few others bits and pieces. Is this stuff really and truly inherently there from the moment of conception? Or perhaps it a case of us and his other carers encouraging, subconsciously, the interests we and society deem appropriate for him, and simply ignoring those that are feminine.
The truth is, I don't want my son to end up a macho, beer-swilling, emotionally immature, stereotypical male. I'm not saying he should dress in women's clothes or anything like that (although, if he does, I'll love him anyway), but my hope is that he turns out to be more like his father, and unafraid to be a little different. He does adore his Cabbage Patch, Zach, and gets real joy out of dressing him, wrapping him and patting him to sleep, so perhaps not all is lost. In the meantime I will do what I can to encourage an array of interest, including, I suppose, those of the transportation variety!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Pregnancy the second time around...
I'll be blunt — it hasn't been as nice an experience as the first. Of course, there is the unplanned, a-little-too-soon, scary element to contend with. I only started working in February, three weeks later I was pregnant. My fear of not having a job to return to after having my baby cast a real shadow over the first few weeks. I did what I could to mask my burgeoning belly and all-day nausea, to the point of downing two glasses of wine at a work function! Crazy, but we want (need) to buy a house next year, and my wage is a significant chunk of how much we need to be earning in order to do that. Anyway, my boss was fine, and, my job will be there come February/March next year. Phew!
Then there's the fact that I have a toddler on my hands, 24-7, and no time to indulge in the wonder of being pregnant. Sometimes it takes me a few minutes after I wake up in the morning before I even remember I am having another one! The truth is, the one already functioning in the world is the one I am forced to focus on, so Bubba #2 misses out a little.
I'm much more tired this time around — a combination of a still-wakeful baby (he's getting much, much better though), balancing work and motherhood, and being anti-meat this time around! Yes, I've pregnancy-induced vegetarianism, and I think the lack of iron is leaving me extra-exhausted. I've been sick since about 6 weeks, and I am now 16 1/2 weeks... It's lasted much longer, and has made mothering my boy so very hard. All the energy I've been able to muster I've given to him, in the form of cuddles, songs, walks, park visits and the sort of enthusiasm he's come to expect from me. There's been nothing left over for Phil, or for anyone else. I've barely seen any of my friends, I've been in bed by 9 almost every night. It's an odd sort of life. Luckily my little family is all I really need.
Cravings? Citrus, pineapple, anything with a tang to it. Chocolate milk. Vegetables. At work I've been really into vegie stir-fry. My Hokka Hokka loyalty card is filling up nicely...
Despite all of this, there is no denying the thrill of witnessing my body grow and change, of hearing my newest little one's heart thumping away, of fantasising about the relationship that will form between Otis and his sibling. I know how lucky I am, I do.
Then there's the fact that I have a toddler on my hands, 24-7, and no time to indulge in the wonder of being pregnant. Sometimes it takes me a few minutes after I wake up in the morning before I even remember I am having another one! The truth is, the one already functioning in the world is the one I am forced to focus on, so Bubba #2 misses out a little.
I'm much more tired this time around — a combination of a still-wakeful baby (he's getting much, much better though), balancing work and motherhood, and being anti-meat this time around! Yes, I've pregnancy-induced vegetarianism, and I think the lack of iron is leaving me extra-exhausted. I've been sick since about 6 weeks, and I am now 16 1/2 weeks... It's lasted much longer, and has made mothering my boy so very hard. All the energy I've been able to muster I've given to him, in the form of cuddles, songs, walks, park visits and the sort of enthusiasm he's come to expect from me. There's been nothing left over for Phil, or for anyone else. I've barely seen any of my friends, I've been in bed by 9 almost every night. It's an odd sort of life. Luckily my little family is all I really need.
Cravings? Citrus, pineapple, anything with a tang to it. Chocolate milk. Vegetables. At work I've been really into vegie stir-fry. My Hokka Hokka loyalty card is filling up nicely...
Despite all of this, there is no denying the thrill of witnessing my body grow and change, of hearing my newest little one's heart thumping away, of fantasising about the relationship that will form between Otis and his sibling. I know how lucky I am, I do.
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