Friday, June 18, 2010

Thanks!

I just wanted to come in here and say a big THANK YOU to everyone for being so supportive about my last horror post. The next night Ted was awake from 12-5am and I was so freaking exhausted I could barely stay awake the next day. BUT it seemed to push him over into re-setting his internal body clock. The next night he actually SLEPT! He slept *all day* - from 9am to 2pm, then came home and slept the night away from about 7pm. I woke up feeling so refreshed and like a new woman.

Really, the thing that was most frustrating was that he was not really awake or asleep - just restless. And so restless that he was keeping me awake - there was no way I could sleep through all that kicking and moaning. To the person who suggested night weaning I appreciate where you're coming from but for one thing he wasn't even really feeding at all during his 'awake' times, just faffing about and driving me freaking crazy (oh the anger!). But if a child is feeding a lot during the night there would no doubt be another reason for it and I doubt the feeding would ease before the underlying cause was recognised and dealt with. Anyway for Ted it was definitely not about the feeding, which was why I was going so crazy. Even Lisa, who is usually more than happy to offer some advice that suggests I'm doing something too 'attached' with the children, couldn't see another way through it when I talked to her about it (hi Lis!).

But here I am, back in the land of the living. The morning after I had the good sleep, Harry had a little meltdown, her first in a while. The first one was over not being allowed to have a pet mouse and the next one was about not being able to buy something in a shop (and I literally mean an ephemeral 'something' - she didn't want a specific thing, but just wanted to 'buy'). And I was able to handle them in a manner that made me happy, that allowed me to be patient and present and empathetic. Yippee! My horrific parenting *was* related to my lack of sleep!

In recognition of our need to get a new vibe for our family, the day after THAT DAY we decided to go to the Biennale on Cockatoo Island. When we went last time we had a great day on the island just wandering around and enjoying the sights. This year we had a great time enjoying the artworks. What was even cooler was that we bumped into a person I did my internship with at the Department of Agriculture in Albany and his family. It was such a lovely surprise!

The days have been so crisp and clear and warm and the nights so deliciously cold - perfect for getting out and about. And Jimbo and I have both had our birthdays this past week - I feel bad that the totally cool day I had for my birthday was so overshadowed by the nightmare day. As you can see by this picture, Harriet and I entered into the Other World that sits at the back of our yard. You have to enter it by diving into the mirrored perspex we bought a couple of weeks ago. Once in there it looks amazingly similar to our world, but you can tell it's different by the fact that there are dinosaurs in the Other World. Dinosaurs!! It's pretty fun but also a little scary - scary enough to have Harriet jumping into my arms terrified when I started making some dinosaur footfall noises.

Then that afternoon we had Jay, Poe and Ilo over who kindly brought me a delicious pumpkin pie for festive consumption purposes. We were all having such a lovely afternoon when Harriet sagely suggested that they stay for dinner. And it was just so perfect that I had just happened to make a double batch of lentil soup that day! So Scott came over after work, James went up to the shop and bought some wine and we all sat in the playroom until late in the evening with the children giggling happily under the table together, adults engaged in delicious conversation and generally a perfect end to a wonderful birthday!

And just to end off this post, here's Harriet engaged in her favourite pasttime of late - preparing for snow. This girl is completely and utterly obsessed with the idea of snow. She talks about it constantly and is quite determined to see it this year. We'll see how we go I guess. We could possibly arrange a day trip from Canberra with the very hospitable Georgia et al and it would be a lot of driving for not very much snow time, but..well...I haven't seen fallen snow either. And it would be fun to finally in my life build a snowman...Hmmm.....


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear you are back from the abis ! As I suggested (re attachment ;-) I think Teddy has very intelegently worked out a way he can have "undivided mama attention time" with no big sister around - it just involves the loo & the time frame between 1am & 5am... he is very resourceful !!! No ASD there !! Glad Harry enjoyed Cockatoo- I can't wait to get over there- Not sure how to pull of the Dr Who thing though- Maybe we should make our own film...I have a director in mind, she's already working on another remake at the moment though ??
xx Lis

Crazy Aunty Brooke said...

You go Harry! You have that breakdown!
I totally understand how she's feels, she wants a pet rat - I want a doberman, Same but on a different scale...
I may throw a tantrum soon and see if it gets me anywhere, 'cos acting sad does not hahaha
The world has no justice...