Things are a little up in the air at the moment in our house. Since 10 weeks Ivy has been more difficult to feed and in the last week or so has developed bad reflux so there's a lot of back arching and screaching. :-( So much so that now whenever she screams, Jude decides to emulate her. Not quite the peaceful household James was hoping to return to this weekend!
She has been refusing to take a bottle for weeks now so it's a bit stressful and limiting for me - other than feeding position advice, the only thing recommended is gripe water or medications to add to a bottle which aren't helpful. I'm just trying to wait it out and hope it remedies itself very soon. This distraction has meant extra time and attention away from Jude which he is handling relatively well - I feel for him though and try to make a big effort to focus on him when I can.
Our routine (for those interested in the rundown) is fairly similar each day - we keep things low key and simple during the week and save the excursions until James returns on the weekends:
5.30am: Get Jude's breakfast ready, put washing on and have a wake up cup of tea!
6am: Feed and playtime with Ivy
7.30am: Jude gets up, he has breakfast and Ivy goes down for a nap
7.30 - 9am: Playtime outside with Jude
9am - 10.30am: Feed, bath and playtime with Ivy whilst Jude watches Thomas and friends and plays with cars and trains
10:30/11am: Ivy goes down for a nap
11 - 11.30am: New activity with Jude like painting, colouring, playdoh or puzzles
11.30: Jude goes down for sleep (Ivy usually wakes about the same time)
12pm: Feed and playtime with Ivy
1- 2pm: Go to park and take Jude's lunch
Then the day is a little loose where Ivy will have one last snooze in the bouncer at some point for half an hour, Jude has dinner at 5pm, we Skype with James at 5.30pm and Ivy eventually goes to bed about 6pm. Ivy's pretty demanding during this afternoon session so Jude either follows me around everywhere or plays with his cars. I usually have Chuggington on my laptop for him to watch as well. Once Ivy is asleep, I have about an hour to bath and read with Jude. At 7pm Jude goes to bed and I then spend an hour or so cleaning up, sorting the washing or checking internet stuff before retiring at 8.30/9pm. Such a nanna! I have just got Ivy down to one feed a night which happens somewhere between 2 and 3am.
Sometimes a trip to the shops gets slotted in there somewhere but I try to do this on the weekend when I just have Ivy attached to me.
The weekends are far more exciting with family trips to the beach, zoo or markets (and an hour sanity break for me where I often rope Abbie into doing something.) Our favourite markets are Eagle Farm near Brisbane's Ascot racetrack. There's an array of great food for us all to breakfast on, an opportunity to replenish groceries, a petting zoo and grassy area for Jude to go crazy in, hustle and bustle for Ivy to absorb and stalls and live music for me.
The days seem to pass quickly. Ivy has all eyes for Jude and chuckles loudly whenever he is near which he thinks is great. More words are coming out of his mouth like "keys" and "shoes" and "woosh" for when I am doing the clothes washing. Of course they are all associated with going outside! His new favourite foods are baked beans and mash mixed together and tuna sushi. We decided to delay toilet training until Ivy is a bit more independent and I have time to focus on it but we have had two celebratory poos in the loo!
Having a two level house keeps things interesting - if I need to get something from the other level quickly and don't take Jude with me, there are many tears until I return irrespective of the tactic I adopt - I've tried explaining it to him and sneaking away. The most effective strategy is telling him I will be back in the count of 10 and then I have to count loudly until I return - that way he can still hear my voice.
Ivy loves her baths - coming out of them not so much. And is as inquisitive about the world as her brother.
In between the routine we've had a few fun and interesting moments...like when Jude decided to hide my purse and I thought I had lost it in the park so after trapsing around the neighbourhood for an hour at 6am in the cold (and in my pajamas!) with Ivy all wrapped up and having no luck finding it, I cancelled all of my cards. Later that afternoon to find it hidden in the basket by the front door.
James and I have found a babysitter who can sit for us once a month while the kids are asleep and we can go out for dinner. Wahoo! Our first night of freedom was spent at the Breakfast Creek Hotel eating steak and watching the Lions/Wallabies match. Planning to go to the cinema next time...
Whilst we enjoy (and survive!) the everyday moments, we are also looking forward to future happenings with Barbs returning to Aus in August and my Dad booking flights to come out for a month over Xmas - hurrah! Exciting times ahead. Oh and just a couple of weeks off trying Ivy on solids...can't wait to see Jude's face as he witnesses that mess. :-)
Keep in touch - I love hearing all of the news.
Nic x
