the most wonderful view

the most wonderful view
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

After a rather unhappy afternoon, after the gherkin was robbed of his cot at after-lunch-nap time for the second day in a row (!), nothing beats the view of the little man fast asleep in his pram (sneaking a peek through the mesh so as not to disturb)....

the last time

feeding
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

Well, it has arrived... the day we accept that the gherkin has officially declined his invitation to the boob party (this lovely metaphor given to us by the gherkin's very gorgeous paediatrician), and we pack up all the gear and go home.

Six midwives, one electric breastpump, four maternity bras, three lactation consultants, five hundred and sixty expressed feeds (about 56 litres of pumped breastmilk!), one maternal and child health nurse, three rounds of mastitis, two breastfeeding clinics, countless tears, one GP, australian breastfeeding association support and a paediatrician later, without any breakthrough, little gherkin's paediatrician has convinced us that no matter how much I may want to breastfeed, the gherkin is not going to meet me half way.

So in spite of all of our best efforts, the little gherkin has opted out. And whilst he looks contented enough in this photo (and yes, he does attach well), sadly he doesn't suck, but instead promptly falls asleep. Little rascal. (Part of me wonders if this is going to be a continuing pattern - Gherkin 1, Mum 0).

So, being me, of course I had to take photos... and yes there is a breast in this picture (one of mine, actually), but that is really the point, isn't it?

it's all in the mouth, baby

Pick the speech pathologist.

I was so incredibly excited today when Liam was mouthing his toys... just had to catch it on video and share it here.



What a clever little chicken... think he is going to enjoy those solids!
xo

man club meeting

man club meeting
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

Our home was witness to many man club meetings over the weekend, thanks to a visit from our dear friend Tyges.

What is man club? Well, apparently it's when all the boys get together and chat, have laughs, and I am on the outer (because, yes, I am a girl). Mr Pickles tells me that there are many man club meetings to look forward to. Have to say I am not too distressed by this... they can have the man club, I will have the mummy cuddles - perfect!

Thanks Tyges for coming down to visit, especially since you missed out on the warm sunshine back home! It was sooo lovely to see you and fantastic for the little guy to meet one of his future lifelong friends and heroes. Can't wait to see you again in a few weeks!

Oh, and a couple of notes about the photo...
1. no there is no editing or photoshopping... this is the natural light in The Gherkin's bedroom... isn't it gorgeous?
2. the beautiful oobee blinkie on the right is The Gherkin's beby swap gift from the very lovely Leslie. You can go shopping for Leslie's beautiful creations here . We love all of Leslie's creations in this house, and are now lucky enough to have Billee the oobee and the oobee blankie in our home xo

Chat soon xo

he did it!

sleepy bear
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

Eleven weeks yesterday and HE SLEPT THROUGH!!!!

Yep, little gherkin had a feed at eight pm, then a dreamfeed at 11pm and then he slept all the way through to 6.30am this morning... amazing. When we woke up this morning and realised the time... it was like Christmas! What an amazingly good (and content) baby! Happy days.

How excited we will be if it happens again!

Happy weekends everyone xo

james brown hangin out

james brown hangin out
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

Nothing much to say here except JB is behaving himself, and being so good around the gherkin... we are very proud! (And surprised!)

Isn't he lovely?

have i mentioned the magic of oklahoma?

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A Oklahoma! Yeeow!

Need to calm down a baby? Well, if The Gherkin is one to judge, one of the best restless rascal remedies is to sing your way through Oklahoma (the musical). Start at the beginning and work your way through the whole musical score and he will be well and truly calm (and usually asleep) before too long. His personal favourite is surrey with the fringe on the top (yes, this video does feature the very gorgeous Hugh Jackman - it's worth a peek... though he is no Gordon Macrae). Perhaps it has something to do with the delivery... I love this song! Anyway, have just found the lyrics online so I can sing it for the boy in its entirety. The little guy especially loves the "don't you wisht y'd go on forever?" section.

Don't even need to pick him up for this one anymore, just lean over the top of the cot and sing it and he is calm, grinning, and then sleeping... perfect! Takes him from unhappy little man to this...

(Can anyone else hear crickets?)

Gran & Grandpa - this might be worth rehearsing before your babysitting duties in October!

Chat soon
xo

air guitar

air guitar
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

Love this photo of the gherkin doing air guitar! Check out the arm rolls... think his weight gain must be going okay?

This week we don't have many plans... getting the plumbing fixed (hopefully sooner rather than later), and off to our first ever mothers' group later in the week. A pretty quiet one (bring on the trackies!).

Have a lovely one xo

our boy's stats

As of yesterday at the paediatrician's rooms...

head circumference 42cm
weight 5.63kg

No length measurement til the end of the month with our MCHN, but he is getting way too tall for many of his clothes and can no longer lie across his cot.. he's a big boy!

Chat soon xo

experiencing the classic parent experience... "he is not like this at home"

Sooo many years of speech pathology practice, working with kids who came in and did abominably on testing, parents saying "he can do this at home", and me just wisely nodding "yes, I am sure he can with your help, but when we do tests it is different"....

Today we went back to the breastfeeding clinic where Little Man did nothing in terms of his feeding... just promptly fell asleep every time. At home he has been doing really well for about ten minutes at a time... I was hoping that we might get some good news from the consultants. But Little Man had decided that he would instead sleep... not performing like a dancing monkey, thankyou! So, in spite of my explaining to the lactation consultant that this didn't work last time (when dad was down for a week and spent the time walking the hall with our screaming baby!), she decided the best way to get him feeding was to take him off and leave him "til he gets really hungry". So began the screaming. "I'm hungry I'm hungry I'm hungry I'm hungry!!!!"

By the end of the day (we were there from 9am -3pm) after four failed breastfeeds and only 150mLs expressed breastmilk top up which I had to go into battle for, I was red faced, puffy eyed, Little Man was red faced, puffy eyed, and the lactatation consultant had decided that Little Man had severe food allergies/intolerances and/or reflux because he is "such an unhappy baby". Such an unhappy baby? She clearly hasn't seen this video, or spent time with him when he has a full tummy.

I tried to explain that "he is not like this at home", to which she responded by wisely nodding and saying "yes, things are different at home". In spite of my written records (anyone who has been to our house lately has seen the pages on pages of records of every feed that Little Man has ever had), or discussion, the lactation consultant believed that I was popping him on for a feed every half hour which was teaching him to snack and leading to a terribly destructive cycle... anyone who has read our did do list will know what our routine looks like, and there just isn't time (nor the inclination!) to try to get him to feed every 30 minutes.

So, where do we go from here?
The lactation consultant wants me to take Little Man to an allergist osteopath (nope!) and for me to start an elimination diet immediately (not yet). She said that this would "sort out his behaviour" (!)
Instead today we are going to our paediatrician for some good advice... and I am going to have fun playing with our happy little boy.

Chat soon xo

being a rookie mum ain't so bad... challenge #1

Not sure if I have mentioned here before that I have joined being a rookie mum ain't so bad challenge hosted by temporarily me. I am a wee bit behind, but in the first challenge we were to record our baby talking. And here he is!

I was determined to get some footage of Liam talking, and after many nappy changes, wake ups, play times with me with the camera at the ready, I got one on tape! Here is Liam at just two months, holding a fabulous and very stimulating conversation with his mum... while having his nappy changed and managing a terrible case of the hiccoughs (he is a clever boy... multitasking!).
For those of you who know phonetics, Liam is using the following...

manner: plosives, fricatives, affricates, nasals, clicks, approximants
place: bilabials, labiodentals, labiolinguals, alveolars, palatals, velars, glottals
voiced & voiceless

He is growing up so quickly.

Enjoy! xo

some days (with screaming baby and naughty dog) are better than others

some days (with screaming baby and naughty dog) are better than others
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

They certainly are.

The little man has not had a happy start to the day, but somehow I have still managed to eat brekkie, pump two feeds and get dressed (no hair or make up, but gotta be impressed by the rest surely!).

Somewhere in amongst all of the chaos I felt and heard my glasses fall off the top of my head... and promptly forgot about them. Sadly, James Brown did not not forget and immediately got into remodelling them for me...

The next great challenge? Finding the lenses without my glasses on...

Have a fun one (I think we will!)
xo