oh dear... time for an update!

Okay, so it is time. Long past time in fact for an update on the goings on in the pickles household.

The Gherkin is turning into a big boy, right in front of our very eyes, with new words popping out each day (he now would have at least 30 words, but probably more - ex-speechie mum is quite proud!). He sings songs - twinkle twinkle and baa baa black sheep, and can ride his push-along bike. And tonight (very exciting!) he said wee-wee and wee-ed on the bathroom floor, then stopped, said it again, wee-ed again. Our baby boy is growing up! He is throwing big tanties, full face down on the floor, trying to jump on the kitchen chairs, and loves rubbing noses (nose kisses) with his mum. And I am convinced he thinks I am his special girlfriend - heaven knows we have had enough kisses involving tongue (his, not mine, obviously!) for him to start to think this might be the case!

Hooray for babies, but hooray hooray hooray for seeing little people becoming themselves.

Poor little gherkin, we have a big long list for him over our three week tourists-in-our-own-town holidays... moving to a big boy bed (well, a mattress on the floor), and toilet training. And even more plans afoot for the doggie-child of the household.... Wish us luck!

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

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

my, how you've grown

Our little man is one month old today!

And how he has grown!

He is now 4.515kg, is a whopping 57cm long and has a decent 39.5cm head circumference. Looks like our little boy will also be experiencing life unable to buy hats!

He is a real delight. This past week he has really gotten the hang of eye contact, so has been completely melting his mum and dad's hearts by making lengthy eye contact. He is also doing beautifully on his tummy, and is really working very hard to lift his head... no mean feat when he has such a big one! Yesterday morning he even managed to turn his head from one side to the other when on his tummy... this was such hard work, he completely collapsed afterwards!!! He loves a good play on the playgym uncle Rhys and auntie Sars got hime in the morning, either after his early or mid-morning feed, and has started batting at toys. He really likes the hanging lion - perhaps because it has a clear face... he is so into faces at the moment.

He has a few favourite songs... "Liam On Me", "Liam, don't you lose my number", "God gave Liam H to you" --- all sung by his dad (hint: take a daggy 70s or 80s song and whack in Liam's name), and also some more traditional ones "You're just too good to be true" (or whatever that song is called), "Close to You" (yes the Carpenters classic) and "Mr Sandman" (not to be confused with "Enter Sandman") --- all sung by his mum.

He is also LOVING bathtime, and we will pop some videos up soon of him loving his bath... we just haven't had a whole lot of time out to spend on the computer (he is napping at the moment and has been napping for about 40 minutes now, woohoo!). It will be amazing when we get him into swimming lessons in the next few months.

For photo updates exclusively of our little man, visit our flickr ... there are just a few photos there...

Thanks again to all of you for your congratulations and excitement on Liam's arrival, its has been wonderful to be able to share this with all of you.

Hugs to all xo