This is my story as I stumble my way through family life

With one toddler and another new arrival on the way, this blog shares with you some of the things I see and think and also hopefully gives newer dads and dads to be some ideas based on what I did (or often, did not...) learn

Wednesday 30 March 2011

Our carpet cleaner is an alternative therapist

So, recently V has got Josh wearing beads around his neck to ward off teething pains.

I got home yesterday to find her ordering something colloidal silver which apparently is the antidote to all things.

This highly secret special formula (have you ever heard of it?) is souch a closely guarded secret that apparently it can only be dispensed by the most highly qualified medical practitioners or, in our case, the bloke who came around to fix our carpet after Ol burned a hole in it with a hair dryer!

Tuesday 8 March 2011

A Dads blog: The "why?" phase has started

A Dads blog: The "why?" phase has started: "Recently we have been admiring Ollie's ever expanding vocabulary In the last week or two though, the consequences of this have manifested t..."

The "why?" phase has started

Recently we have been admiring Ollie's ever expanding vocabulary

In the last week or two though, the consequences of this have manifested themselves in a whole lot more scary phase...the "Why???" phase!

Every time something happens now or every time we do something, a little voice wants to know why that is just so?
Now, there's nothing wrong with that in itself: you want your little ones to understand why things happen. The issue is that despite the fact you give them an answer, the next words uttered are always another "why?"....and then another ......

The thing you never know about this game is where and when the last "why?" will come!

Wednesday 2 March 2011

Angry baby + early start = @#!...

At last Josh is over his early onset of manflu and so we are determined to get him back to sleeping through the night.

He did it on Monday night so last night V was determined that this should continue.

What she didn’t tell me was that if he woke, we were going to let him cry. So, at , Josh wakes and decides, whether out of habit or need you never quite know, that it is feeding time.

V went in to him, gave him a few soothing words, switched on seahorse (best invention ever by the way- see an earlier post) and came back to bed. Cue one very angry (not upset, definitely angry because there was clear growling among the crying) baby. Ten minutes later it was my go to see him. V pointed out that he might cotton on that I was unlikely to be able to provide him with his night time breast feed.  He did calm down, until I left the room that is…

This went on for half an hour which, upon reflection, is not pretty good because he did wear him self out and go back to sleep. He was till sound asleep when I crept out of the house this morning (as was V….). When you are in the eye of the storm however in the middle of the night you don’t think quite the same way. At least I did avoid starting a barney as the temptation was there to suggest V feeds him for a quiet life but you are wasting your time trying to sleep through it, especially when the monitor is right next to your ear so you can hear Josh live AND in dolby surround sound!

I know the mid only remembers what it wants but I can only recall Ollie sleeping through pretty early on and without any drastic measures from us.
Still, I had better steel myself because I can see this going on for a few nights yet until the habit is broken and Josh gets the message!