Coincidence?

Generally our blog gets an array of lovely spam, mostly on my Baby Sign entry, we get a lot of comments about medicines, porn sites, random letters that don't actually spell anything, and many addressing me as 'Dear Friend'. After writing about my car yesterday I have been bombarded with car spam! All of them are about Audi, most of them are asking me what's wrong with their car and they're all on different posts, not on yesterday's. Very strange.

***

Ellie had a bad night's sleep last night, I think her teeth are really giving her a hard time. It's true what they say, too, that the better a baby sleeps the more sleep they will have. She's just had a nap, which barely lasted half an hour. I am just hoping I will be able to get her to have another sleep later, I won't hold my breath, though. She is generally having only one sleep a day which lasts 2 - 3 hours. I have decided to keep her up until 12.30 so that she doesn't get too grumpy in the evening, some days she is too tired to make it that long, like today.

She is now having some pear and sultanas for morning tea and soon we'll go outside for her to let off some energy. She absolutely loves sultanas, unfortunately, as they make for very unpleasant nappies! I know you will all be thrilled to know that the first time I was met with a sultana nappy, I couldn't help but think of just how much what I was seeing looked like a sultana cake mix. Mmm :S

Currently, I am telling her "No, don't throw your pear at me." and she is shaking her head. It's a new thing, lately. I will say no and she will shake her head. I don't know if she's saying no to my no, or agreeing with me!

I'm sure she's not throwing in malice, we play ball and she loves it when she throws it and I catch it, so maybe she thinks that's what we can do with everything.

Just Realised...

...that I will be 25 in a week! Wow, I am getting old. I remember when 25 seemed sooo old and when my friends and I would play games we would pretend to be this old, like it would be so outrageous to be in our 20's! Really, 25 isn't all that old, but I am sure feeling almost ancient, I am exhausted right now, my energy levels are basically nil and it's very hard to get motivated to do much other than what I must.

We have ordered our new stroller, a Quinny Zapp in Capri. As for the Bugaboo we will wait and see what happens with the Department of Fair Trading, get it fixed (whether that be under warranty or not) and then think about selling it. When our beaut new stroller arrives I plan on taking my adventure-seeking daughter for walks around our town, which I am sure will help with my energy levels and over-all well being, as well as giving Ellie something new and exciting to experience now that she's so full on and into everything. I have been wanting to get out for walks for a few weeks now, I look at the useless Bugaboo sitting by our front door and curse their terrible customer service and pigheadedness. I paid an arm and a leg for it, it's under two years old and well within the warranty period ... FIX MY DAMN PRAM.

Another realisation I have had today is that my car has registration due in just over a month. Which means I need new tires before then in order for it to pass the pink slip. Not good. Sometimes I wish I could just let the rego slip and not use the thing, honestly. Yes, it's been a good car, but it is now over 20 years old and not as reliable as I would like considering it is now a family car. I dream of selling/trading my car and getting something just a little bit more practical and a lot more reliable. I hate having to hold my breath every time I start the engine, just in case it doesn't turn over. Looking through the search results for a Ford Telstar GL Ghia, doesn't give me much hope, however. Most of these I have seen are being advertised for not much more than $1,500 and the most expensive I have found is $2,999. That's certainly not enough to purchase another car for us.

Daddy's Girl!

One morning last week, James took Ellie out for the first time alone. They went to visit Grandma at the Post Office. I think James was very excited that it went so well... This morning, Ellie and I are saying goodbye to him at the door and when James was trying to give her back to me she would snuggle into him even more! She really wanted to go with him, it was really very cute. While we were standing, waving at the screen door she kept leaning down, trying to open it. Poor little darling, having to stay with Mum!

***

So, on Saturday we went to see Casey for the last time before she treks off to America. Ellie had a lovely day, first we went to Bunnings, of course, so James could get what he needed to connect our water tank. Then we met Casey at Spartys to get some ideas for her birthday. We didn't buy anything, though.

At Nan's she got lots of attention and explored her surroundings. She loves having a look around new places, finding out what Mummy doesn't want her to play with or touch.

Aunty Casey and Ellie

She made sure to show off her talking by saying "Okay" and "Hello". Mainly, though, she crawled around, walked around the coffee table, played in front of the telly and enjoyed opening the doors of Nan's cupboard because she wasn't allowed. We were all throughly entertained by her for hours. She didn't slow down for even a moment!

Playing with Daddy

***

Yesterday James partly connected our tank and it rained last night, so it was good timing. Ellie had the longest nap yesterday afternoon, I went to bed an hour after her and was able to sleep for two hours before she woke, I think she was really worn out by our visit to Nowra.

I think she's getting more teeth at the moment, poor thing. Her cheeks are always red and she sometimes gets upset for no apparent reason.

Anyway, she's awake now so I have to go.

Nappies: Trying Different Brands

Since Ellie was born we have had her in Huggies nappies. Just recently we have tried some other brands we were given as we'd run out of the crawler size and Ellie isn't quite big enough for the toddler size and it was pointless buying another box when she will soon fit the larger size.

The first brand we tried was an eco nappy, which has won awards, the name of which escapes me right now. I will edit and put the name in when I've remembered. They were nice and slim when folded up, great for the nappy bag and made of environmentally friendly materials. I found they felt a little funny, like a rough, dry sponge. They were a lot longer than the Huggies, which could sometime make Ellie's bottom look a little bit funny in shorts or skirts with 'undies' underneath. We didn't have any issues with this brand, they kept everything in and didn't cause Ellie any discomfort.

The brand we are currently using is BabyLove, which also have a slim fold great for the nappy bag and, like the previous brand, are longer. They have pictures all over the front and back of them, which I don't particularly like, especially when Ellie's wearing lighter coloured pants, as you can see the pictures. Unfortunately, there have been issues with this brand. Firstly, they tend to leak, especially when Ellie's been lying down. I will often find Ellie all wet when I get up to her at night and now that it's so cold during the night it's not pleasant for her to have to have all her clothes changed. Secondly, Ellie seems to have a bit of a reaction to them, she has started to get a bit of a nappy rash, which she hasn't had before, with a nasty looking sore. To help relieve this I've put her back in Huggies at night and that seems to have really calmed the rash down, it's no longer red and sore. In the afternoons she has a nakie run in the sun to dry out and that seems to have really helped the sore. Luckily, we're almost out of these!!

Huggies may be a bit more expensive but I think, in our case, that they are worth the extra money. We only ever buy them on special and stock up when they are, we've never had to worry about nappy rash, they only leak when you've put a nappy on that's getting too small and they're cute.

I may look into other brand, however, I do get a bit nervous about going away from what I know works so well, especially after our current experiences.

9 Months Already!!

Today my gorgeous girl is 9 months old. I'm really amazed at how fast the time has gone. She looks less and less like a baby everyday, she is becoming increasingly independent and will happily go where ever she wants whether it be following me as I clean or exploring her room while I make her lunch. She has an awesome personality, is strong willed, stubborn (with two stubborn parents, she had little to no hope of not being:), funny and much too clever for her own good.

She has been able to stand without holding onto anything for awhile now and lately has been able to stand there, then squat down to do something and stand back up again without any problem. I am constantly left stunned by what she can suddenly do.

Her sleeping is getting so much better. This morning she even slept in until 8am, which is unheard of! She is only having one or two sleeps during the day but they're reasonably long ones and she gets up very happy. At night I feed her twice and mostly that's the only time I have to get up to her. I am so proud of her. It's so much easier to get through the day-to-day stuff that has to be done when I am getting more sleep and have a happy baby all the time :)

A milestone checklist from Raising Children: I've put what she can already do in bold:

The 9th month

By the end of this month,
your baby:

 … should be able
to:

• work to get to a toy out of reach
  
• look for dropped object - She thinks it's a great game, when in her highchair or on her change table, to drop things and see where they go and watch mum pick them up
  

… will probably be
able to:

• pull up to standing position from sitting 
  
• get into a sitting position from stomach - she has to roll onto her tummy to sit up, though she's trying hard to just sit straight up
  
• object if you try to take a toy away
  
• stand holding onto someone or something
  
• pick up tiny object with any part of thumb and finger 
  
• say mama or dada indiscriminately
  
• play peekaboo

… may possibly be
able to:

• play pat-a-cake (clap hands) or wave bye-bye - She can wave but she won't wave bye-bye, she just waves randomly at the backyard or at me while playing
  
• walk holding onto furniture (cruise)
  
• understand word ‘no’ (but not always obey it)

… may even be able
to:

• ‘play ball’ (roll ball back to you)
  
• drink from a cup independently
  
• pick up a tiny object neatly with tips of thumb and forefinger
  
• stand alone momentarily
  
• stand alone well
  
• say mama or dada indiscriminately
  
• say one word other than mama or dada
  
• respond to a one-step command with gestures (give that to me – with hand
  out) - I love this. I tell her to "Come here" and she will or "Find Mum" and she does, it's very exciting.

Ellie's currently having a lovely sleep, she spent some time this morning with Grandma, which I think was very good for her, while I went and had some tests done. When she gets up I will take some piccies of her and post them.

 

The photos below are of Ellie squatting down to pick up her toy and standing back up again, though they don't show it very well.

Smiles :)

Today's Cuteness

I've just taken some cute photos of Ellie, she's such a poser! I am starting to really worry about my camera, it is doing some very strange things and the pictures are looking very grainy, no matter what setting I have it on. I get a little bit stressed when it plays up...what will I do if it stops working?!? I would hate to not be able to take photos of Ellie.

It's been a good camera considering I bought it second hand off ebay and the person who had it before said in their listing that they had used it very often. Fingers crossed it keeps working... :S

This is my favourite :)

Is it an Angle??

Look at those teeth! They're huge!

My grandparents should be picking up Ellie's unsmiling portrait today (if they remembered, I tried to call this morning but no one picked up..), I wonder how it turned out? Even when she's not smiling, she's pretty... so maybe it will be nice.

I have started making Lists of things we want/need for Ellie's birthday and for James's and my birthday's also. The lists are mainly for us, I guess, to work through but I am hoping that people will take a look before they buy her presents... We don't have a lot of room to store gifts that we can't use and I am hoping that we don't get too many things like that this time. I haven't got a lot on there yet, it's hard to get around to it, but I will be adding things.
As for the lists for James and I, I think they are more wishful thinking than anything else, though, his doesn't have anything on it yet as he won't really tell me what to put on. I am guessing things like "Money for sleepers" lol.

Men!

I have been thinking about Ellie's birthday and, honestly, am starting to get a little bit excited. I have tried to talk to James about it, to get some idea of what he would like to do but he's really not that interested! I asked him if he even wanted her to have a party, what he wanted to do and he just said "Whatever you like." Grr. I don't want to plan it all on my own, that's boring.

I thought the next time we went to Nowra before Casey goes gallivanting off to America we could go to Spot Light Spartys and look at all the party stuff they have for some ideas but it wont be any fun if he doesn't get excited, too.

I have also mentioned that I want to create the invitations, to which he groaned! Rudeness!

I don't want some lavish, crazy celebration. Just some family, a nice cake, some decorations and some party food.

I still haven't heard anything from the Department of Fair Trading about our pram, it is getting very frustrating. I thought taking it to this level would mean a result would not be too far off, especially since he rang me at least two weeks ago saying he was about to call the person we bought it off... so... I don't know what's going on. I suppose I will have to email him. Okay, I have just done that, hopefully it will mean something will happen soon!

Ellie's whinging, so I had best get her up.

Budget Crap

The 2008 budget, which was revealed yesterday, has left me feeling extremely angry. It certainly wasn't a budget for families, not in my opinion. Why are they encouraging us to go back to work and leave our children to be raised by someone else? Why aren't they making it easier for the mothers who do not want to work, but have no choice, to stay home with their babies? Being a stay at home mother is a perfectly legitimate job and is so very important in the early years of a child's life.

What makes them think it's acceptable to encourage us to have children only to off-load them for the important years. Obviously, there are people who want to work and that is their choice and that's fine. I don't believe people who choose to work should get so much help with childcare costs, however. Not when the support for mothers who choose to stay at home with their child seems basically non-existent.  We are all entitled to chose the way we want to raise our family and there should be respect for either choice. How can it be the wrong choice to stay at home to nurture, teach and love our children?

I don't want to go off to work everyday, leaving Ellie at a daycare. I don't want to have no idea what she is learning day in-day out. Mostly, I don't want another person to see her reach milestones that I should be there for. The thought of having to leave Ellie if things continue to get tougher simply breaks my heart. I would find it very difficult to not spend every moment thinking about her, worrying about her, wanting to see her.

I would just really like to see balance for all families alike.

"Okay"

Ellie has taken to saying "Okay" when I tell her not to do something, I think it's so cute. Sometimes, she will turn around and do it anyway and sometimes she will come away.

This morning, while I was getting the washing basket, I saw her place a hand briefly on Pooh Bear and then just stand up all on her own, then she just stood there. I told her to sit back down! I guess, if she's going to walk at about the same time as I did then she's only got two weeks to go... or should I be saying I only have two weeks...

Ellie and I have been sick this week. Luckily, she wasn't as bad as me, I wasn't keeping anything down for days. Today I am feeling better, thank goodness.

It can't have been that bad... right?

My gorgeous girl today

First appointment with new Doctor

Yesterday Ellie and I went to our new surgery and doctor. He was very nice and made sure he covered all the bases. He made notes about Ellie crawling, crossing her mid-line, babbling and such. He measured her, weighed her (8.03kg), listened to her chest and lungs AND wrote in her blue book! I was impressed and I think Ellie was in love, lol. She will normally wriggle when the doctor is looking in her ears or listening to her chest but she just sat there with her hand on his, bless.

I wanted to make sure she didn't have an ear infection, he said she did have a little bit of liquid in her ear drum but no infection and it, and the little cold she seems to have, should clear on it's own. She's not very unwell, just a little under the weather.

It is 111 days, 9 hours, 8 minutes and 35 seconds until Thursday, August 21. I just thought I would find out how long until Ellie's first birthday... It's not really that long when you think about it. I haven't the faintest idea what we're going to do for her birthday. I want it to be nice and cute. I will start doing some research when Ellie's asleep so I can start having some ideas.

Anyway, she is awake now.

Feeling the Pinch

I've been having marvelous dreams of my first Mother's Day. Now that it's cold and I am still getting up to Ellie twice during the night to feed her (yes! She's sleeping wonderfully) I have hinted that a nice warm dressing gown and slippers wouldn't go astray or a beanie and scarf. I have been craving potato scallops, so I am dreaming of finally taking Ellie to the animal park and having chips and scallops for lunch, somewhere pretty where there is a swing for Ellie to play on.

While these things sound like a blissfully wonderful way to celebrate my first ever Mother's Day with my husband and gorgeous daughter, unfortunately, we probably can't afford to.

It's okay to dream, though. I will be perfectly content with the cake James plans to make me and a day spent with my two favourite people :)

Ellie's first swing

Brushing her teeth for the first time