The Sixteenth Month: February
14th 'half term'
We are on the road, yesterday in Oxford with Marian, Tony and Annie (3) and today at Melissa's before driving 2½ hours to Welshampton (Ellesmere, Shrops) to stay with Mary, Billie and Finlay for 2 nights. You have enjoyed being in new places; yesterday when we arrived at Mari's, you were a bit reticent when I left you to go to the car and unload, and you wanted to come with me when I went to the loo. But very soon you were exploring Annie's toys (some musical eggs) and enjoying wandering around their new open plan house. You quickly begin babbling when we arrive somewhere, and seem quite adaptable to your new surroundings. I didn't know if you would sleep well in the travel cot, in a new room (a wonderful attic room with velux windows, but you were so exhausted after the excitement of the day that you fell asleep asking for your ‘muk' (breast milk). We'd been to the Ashmolean, had lunch there, and half seen an exhibition on multi-faith pilgrimage and a beautiful exhibition of dolls/textiles for peace tent.
Met Helen Ganly, artist who taught me on degree.
We'd also been to Meadow Lane playground, where you splashed in the puddles and climbed along the steep metal ladder, to the slide. Walking back to Mari's you wandered into people's front gardens attracted by the many fascinating bicycles chained up.
Tonight 5-year-old Finley said what a cute baby you were. Of course to me you are no longer a baby, but I still want to savour these moments, when you still have your pudgy red cheeks and are babbling away so confidently. We found a new Eric Carle book at Mary's, 'The Very Quiet Cricket'. At the end of the story, the cricket sings, and there is a little chirping mechanism in the back of the book , you talked so much, after hearing this wonderful musical sound. Now you often repeat words or phrases we say – or your version of them. Recently:
gorge (gorgeous)
dirty – now you know what this means and say it when you get your hands muddy in the playground
cat poo
garden
torch
mud
bath
keys
At Melissa's you were very taken with Cicely's collection of plastic cutlery and were determined to leave with a few spoons. Cicely donated a knife to you! Cicely finding it hard to share her toys and Melissa at the moment … likewise Annie (with toys). Can we believe that you will one day be mean to younger ones??
You were very excited to see the 2 fluffy cats here at Mary's, Pod, a tortoiseshell and Licorice, a black kitten, exclaiming cat, cat! At last something you recognise. You find pennies, and balls, and other little things you get attached to, momentarily, and my car keys. Keys, keys! You say whenever we are getting into the car, becoming a bit upset because I won't give them to you. (You recently mislaid my bike lock keys…)
It's great to be away from home, away from the domestic conveyor belt, if tiring. I feel so tired at the moment: you are still waking between 1-3 times a night, though usually going back to sleep after a little feed, tho' can be half an hour. But amazingly you are going to sleep on your own, after some training from Papa Pete. You are happy to lie down in your cot, though sometimes standing for a hug, resting your head on my / Pete's shoulder, or like tonight, I put you down (after short boob feed) with quilt around you and left the room. And 3 times, after 5 or 6 minutes you would grizzle and cry a bit. When I went in, you would be standing holding the quilt, almost wanting reassurance that I was there and would lie you down and wrap you up again. You even know how to tuck the quilt in round your shoulders – and then fidget around the bed and go off to sleep. Amazingly, I don't have to be in the room!
18th
New words: carrot (16/2), slide (lide) and swing (wing).
What a funny day yesterday. You were a bit miserable; you've had huge apple red cheeks the past few days, and then I spotted a wisdom tooth on the left side of your mouth. We went to the park at 3pm (after Sue Learner had visited, and you'd cried incessantly, because I wouldn't give you 'muk', which it seemed you wanted because I was busy talking to Sue). Walking in cold sunshine at St Georges, you were much happier, you got very excited seeing the gulls on the pond, and would have walked straight into the water had I not stopped you. In the playground, you climbed the slide ladder all on your own; you are so adventurous, and seemingly fearless. You also spotted a little girl, about your size, with a ponytail and dummy, also fearlessly climbing the slide. You followed her up the hill, round the playground, onto the slide. At one point she looked round, and you had taken off your little blue hat, and were babbling away to her, it was so lovely to see you being such a sociable boy.
Then when we got home, as soon as you were over the threshold, you began asking for muk again. I said we first needed to wash your hands, which were muddy from the playground, and that I needed a wee. But after doing these things and then offering you boob, you suddenly didn't want it, or were ambivalent, because as you approached my nipple you threw your head back and were in a total crying rage. You did this a few times and remained inconsolable as I tried to cuddle you and console you – throwing your head back, arching your back. I lay you on the floor, in the dining room, and you came to find me, and then turned away as I tried to cuddle you again. This rage lasted about 40 mins, when I came to lay you on a beanbag, so you could chuck yourself around without bruising your head, you acquiesced and decided to have breast milk. I knew, and said that I knew you were angry with me – because you had been made to wait for muk, and also from previously when I'd been talking to Sue. It made me want to cry, seeing you so upset, and because I couldn't comfort you.
We are on the road, yesterday in Oxford with Marian, Tony and Annie (3) and today at Melissa's before driving 2½ hours to Welshampton (Ellesmere, Shrops) to stay with Mary, Billie and Finlay for 2 nights. You have enjoyed being in new places; yesterday when we arrived at Mari's, you were a bit reticent when I left you to go to the car and unload, and you wanted to come with me when I went to the loo. But very soon you were exploring Annie's toys (some musical eggs) and enjoying wandering around their new open plan house. You quickly begin babbling when we arrive somewhere, and seem quite adaptable to your new surroundings. I didn't know if you would sleep well in the travel cot, in a new room (a wonderful attic room with velux windows, but you were so exhausted after the excitement of the day that you fell asleep asking for your ‘muk' (breast milk). We'd been to the Ashmolean, had lunch there, and half seen an exhibition on multi-faith pilgrimage and a beautiful exhibition of dolls/textiles for peace tent.
Met Helen Ganly, artist who taught me on degree.
We'd also been to Meadow Lane playground, where you splashed in the puddles and climbed along the steep metal ladder, to the slide. Walking back to Mari's you wandered into people's front gardens attracted by the many fascinating bicycles chained up.
Tonight 5-year-old Finley said what a cute baby you were. Of course to me you are no longer a baby, but I still want to savour these moments, when you still have your pudgy red cheeks and are babbling away so confidently. We found a new Eric Carle book at Mary's, 'The Very Quiet Cricket'. At the end of the story, the cricket sings, and there is a little chirping mechanism in the back of the book , you talked so much, after hearing this wonderful musical sound. Now you often repeat words or phrases we say – or your version of them. Recently:
gorge (gorgeous)
dirty – now you know what this means and say it when you get your hands muddy in the playground
cat poo
garden
torch
mud
bath
keys
At Melissa's you were very taken with Cicely's collection of plastic cutlery and were determined to leave with a few spoons. Cicely donated a knife to you! Cicely finding it hard to share her toys and Melissa at the moment … likewise Annie (with toys). Can we believe that you will one day be mean to younger ones??
You were very excited to see the 2 fluffy cats here at Mary's, Pod, a tortoiseshell and Licorice, a black kitten, exclaiming cat, cat! At last something you recognise. You find pennies, and balls, and other little things you get attached to, momentarily, and my car keys. Keys, keys! You say whenever we are getting into the car, becoming a bit upset because I won't give them to you. (You recently mislaid my bike lock keys…)
It's great to be away from home, away from the domestic conveyor belt, if tiring. I feel so tired at the moment: you are still waking between 1-3 times a night, though usually going back to sleep after a little feed, tho' can be half an hour. But amazingly you are going to sleep on your own, after some training from Papa Pete. You are happy to lie down in your cot, though sometimes standing for a hug, resting your head on my / Pete's shoulder, or like tonight, I put you down (after short boob feed) with quilt around you and left the room. And 3 times, after 5 or 6 minutes you would grizzle and cry a bit. When I went in, you would be standing holding the quilt, almost wanting reassurance that I was there and would lie you down and wrap you up again. You even know how to tuck the quilt in round your shoulders – and then fidget around the bed and go off to sleep. Amazingly, I don't have to be in the room!
18th
New words: carrot (16/2), slide (lide) and swing (wing).
What a funny day yesterday. You were a bit miserable; you've had huge apple red cheeks the past few days, and then I spotted a wisdom tooth on the left side of your mouth. We went to the park at 3pm (after Sue Learner had visited, and you'd cried incessantly, because I wouldn't give you 'muk', which it seemed you wanted because I was busy talking to Sue). Walking in cold sunshine at St Georges, you were much happier, you got very excited seeing the gulls on the pond, and would have walked straight into the water had I not stopped you. In the playground, you climbed the slide ladder all on your own; you are so adventurous, and seemingly fearless. You also spotted a little girl, about your size, with a ponytail and dummy, also fearlessly climbing the slide. You followed her up the hill, round the playground, onto the slide. At one point she looked round, and you had taken off your little blue hat, and were babbling away to her, it was so lovely to see you being such a sociable boy.
Then when we got home, as soon as you were over the threshold, you began asking for muk again. I said we first needed to wash your hands, which were muddy from the playground, and that I needed a wee. But after doing these things and then offering you boob, you suddenly didn't want it, or were ambivalent, because as you approached my nipple you threw your head back and were in a total crying rage. You did this a few times and remained inconsolable as I tried to cuddle you and console you – throwing your head back, arching your back. I lay you on the floor, in the dining room, and you came to find me, and then turned away as I tried to cuddle you again. This rage lasted about 40 mins, when I came to lay you on a beanbag, so you could chuck yourself around without bruising your head, you acquiesced and decided to have breast milk. I knew, and said that I knew you were angry with me – because you had been made to wait for muk, and also from previously when I'd been talking to Sue. It made me want to cry, seeing you so upset, and because I couldn't comfort you.
posted by f at 10:00 AM
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