Random Web Crazies

Ok so it's been a while, I thought that as soon as Andrew returned from his midlife crisis trip to Vegas *grin* I would jump back into blogging, but I did something painful to my back and its had me spending most of my time lying on my back.

So now its time to catch up on a few of the weird things that I have seen while browsing the web this week.  Firstly thanks to Treenas Facebook updates I went to visit  badgersbadgersbadgers.com.  There was some discussion that it was quiet meditative .... I actually found it the opposite, it made me want to hurl the computer across the room, and I now have a fairly irrational fear of badgers .....

Secondly there were two postsecrets today one that made me think;

(I actually used to think that mum might be somewhere else, and that one day we would just bump into each other as I walked down the street.  It might seem a little morbid but really it was just a nice way of imagining meeting her again one day.)

And one that made me laugh;

(Death Buddy, am I the only one who thinks thats funny?) 

Off I go singing, badgersbadgersbadgersbadgersbadgersbadgersbadgersbadgers MUSHROOM MUSHROOM .......

Quiet Time

Just a little note to mention Andrew is away for a week. So as much as I planned to blog a lot this week, the kids/life/need for me time, has meant that I will probably have trouble blogging until he is back. So as a little tidbit I'll tell you Andrew is playing it up in Vegas and I'll post a super cute photo of Jack in a Pirate costume our lovely neighbour gave him xx

Embracing the Penny

Ok its time for So You Think You Can Dance again, and this year I am slightly underwhelmed.  I just dont think it has the bang of last season.  There are a few highlights though and a couple of great dancers one of them is the previous cheerleader Penny hence the title of this post, a couple of memorable routines and I though the top 100 week was totally worth watching

One of the best parts about any dance show is watching it with the kids, they often spend most of the show copying the steps or showing us their own choreography, which normally includes putting their head on the floor, a leg in the air and spinning around.

I love their confidence with dancing, Hamish has no doubt that what he is doing is right and beautiful and Jack is so sure that he is a skilled dancer that when I told him his friends were doing dance classes (wondering if he would like to do some as well) and he said 'but mummy, they could just come here and i could teach them' ..... you've got to love the belief that kids have in their own capabilities

Random Nothings

I have been realizing that the reason that this blog has been quiet over the last few weeks is that my life has been in this monotonous yet panicked state otherwise known as, nothing much happening but I'm still really busy.  It hasn't left my brain with time to think about things to rant or feel passionate about, its having trouble just getting dinner ready.

And even when I can think of things to blog about I just can't seem to find the time to actually sit and write. This morning we have all jumped into the car to pick something up in the city and so I have some time to update on the weeks activities, none of which on their own are blog worthy;

* Jack has hit new levels of loveliness, he stopped playing with his friends to lay down with his brother at preschool and help him go to sleep (actually this should probably be a post on its own, the teacher at preschool actually called to tell me what a divine big brother he is)
* I went with a group of kids to visit the preschool chickens and organic garden, and watched Hamish collect his first egg (see picture above)
* Andrew leaves for Vegas for a week on Thursday, its his big 40th Birthday boys bash
* Jack and I have been doing a lot of talking about mum and he asked for a photo of her by his bed, he has also been asking a lot of questions about her and assures me that she would have loved he and Hamish
* All this talk about mum has been spurred on by the fact that my aunt Naida is out for just over a week and we have been going down to spend time with her and Libby
* I'm still procrastinating on the last portions of my course, but am keenly aware that I only have a year to finish
* We had a house guest for a couple of days and it brought to the forefront just how small our house is when 2 kids 2 dogs and 3 adults are all trying to do different activities in the same space
* Yesterday we had a huge rainstorm, 2 inches of water in 20 minutes.  And in the mad rush to close windows put pots under drips and generally batten down the hatches it appears that I threw my keys in the bin, a fact I didn't realize until I had spent 15 minutes looking for them this morning, after I had covered them with dinner scraps and left them to stew overnight.

As I mentioned in a post recently, I don't want this blog to become an, updates on me and the kids, blog because really that is only going to be of interest to me the grandparents and a few random others so please bear with me as life takes a breath and I'm able to put my brain into a few more interesting things.

Right of Passage

One of the burdens and blessing of being a younger brother is that you end up tagging after your older brother and his friends, and until your older you don't really have a social circle of your own.  

Today Hamish and I went to our first birthday party without Jack.  It was also a mothering right of passage for me because it was the first time I had to go to a party where I didn't know the host or many of the guests, in fact most people there didn't know each other.  It was a weird experience but good weird and one that I'm sure will be a frequent part of being a parent.  

The only issue was how awe struck by their home, it was spacious and clean and very grown up looking, they had 3 boys under 6 and the best boys yard I have ever seen, so I am feeling a little claustrophobic in our, not so grown-up house, but I am also feeling inspired about what could be and ways of making our yard more of a boy paradise ...... I can always dream.

Dalek Fossils

The thing that I love about the Hoydens is their varied subject matter, todays great story is about a Dalek head that was found in a pond.  How cool would that have been !!

See the full story here, and dont forget to check out the very funny Dalek song.  Also in cool Doctor Who related stuff is this picture of a Tardis I found online.  Next time I have a big box I think I have found the perfect craft project.  In fact I want to go and buy a new fridge just so I can play in my own Tardis ..... I mean so that the boys can play in their own Tardis :)

The Joy of Co-Sleeping

There are a lot of different paths that you get to choose from as decide how to parent your children.  It starts at conception, then birth, breastfeeding or bottle, prams, slings, sleep and many more.

Sleep seems to be the holy grail of parenting, the how, where and when can be one of the most confronting decisions because everyone has an opinion.  Well seeing that this is my blog I'm going to share mine, I don't for a minute think that I can write a balanced discussion on the topic, I'm too passionate, and there is to much written about the mainstream 'right' way to sleep with your babies for me to think that I could honestly balance it out.

(For the record, all of the directions we have taken with our kids has been a joint decision but again seeing that this is my blog I am only going to speak for myself)

When I was pregnant I thought that, like the vast majority of western families, our kids would sleep in there own beds, first a cradle in our room and then all going well by 6 months in the cot in their room.  We got given the most beautiful hanging cradle and hung it by my side of the bed, we painted the nursery and the cot in preparation for our little boy to come home.

Why we thought we could ever put our child in the other room is beyond me now, we always had the dogs sleeping at the end of the bed, never occurring to us that they shouldn't sleep in the same room.  We are biologically programed to sleep in groups, in the past its been for safety from predators or for warmth and nothing much has changed, why do couples sleep together? is it only for sex? more likely it is that we enjoy sleeping next to the people we love.

When Jack was born he had a fever, and seeing that he wasn't wrapped in the tight little bundle like most newborns, he was very unsettled in the plastic crib.  That first night I brought him into bed with me and put my forehead to his and he fell asleep.  From that day on it felt right to sleep with him next to us, he slept better and so did I.

There are a lot of great reasons to co-sleep, studies at the sleep institute have shown that;

• Mothers and babies sleep more lightly, but their sleep patterns are similar and because they are next to each other the mother wakes less fully to feed and falls asleep again more quickly as does the baby.
• Mothers and babies will often move at the same time, mothers are very aware of where their babies are in relation to themselves even as they sleep
• Co-sleeping might also turn out to give some babies protection from SIDS, co-sleeping babies breastfeed more often, sleep more lightly, and have practice responding to maternal arousals. Arousal deficiencies are suspected in some SIDS deaths, and long periods in deep sleep may exacerbate this problem.
• From a personal perspective, my children have sleep well through noise, and being transferred from one spot to another (ie out of car and into bed) they go to bed easily, when they are sick I can sleep soundly knowing that I will hear them as soon as they need me, I can pull the covers up as the temperature changes during the night, if they are unsettled I can easily put my hand on them or bring them into my arms and they quickly go back to sleep

Of course there are some times when you shouldn't bed share, if you are drunk, smoke or under the influence of drugs.  And you need to make sure that the bed is safe, that there are no gaps in the mattress that bubs can fall into, that you don't use heavy blankets or sleep on a lounge or waterbed.

My boys have been windy, colicky babies who woke frequently with upset stomaches but from that first day I have slept better than a lot of mothers I know, I have never had to get out of bed to settle my children or to feed them through the night, we really do get more sleep than we would have if they were not with us.

To make it work for us, we have had a lot of different bed set ups;

• Baby in the middle
• Baby on my side
• Baby in a cot pushed up against my side of the bed
• Andrew with one babe and me with the other
• 2 queen beds together
• Andrew in one bed, me and the boys in another
• Jack in his bed, Andrew and I in another and Hamish on a mattress next to us etc. etc.

Sometimes Andrew and I start the night in one bed and then when one of the kids wake up, I move in to be with them, and sometimes the boys want to sleep with Andrew.  All in all beds are flexible in our house, and mostly everyone gets as much space as they need, there are some nights when I feel a little crowded by the boys but I guess that's part of nighttime parenting whether you choose to co sleep or not.  The good part is that we have chosen to set our beds up for co-sleeping and so we are not trying to fit 4 people into a bed made for two.

In the end and most importantly, there is nothing more amazing that falling asleep next to your child and then waking with them in your arms, it is truly one of the most pleasurable parts of my mothering experience.