Little Builders

Read an architectural analysis, comparison and grade of these couch cushion masterpieces by bBuild here, you wont look at the couch in the same way ever again.

Dummy

What a dummy I've been.

With B, the hospital tried to get him to take a dummy to aid with his sucking reflex. He wasn't into it and was never a sucky put-things-in-the-mouth type of baby. Which all turned out really good in the end. Why didn't I learn from this? Why didn't I leave the dummy alone?

I have no idea what I was thinking, but Little Miss was a sucky one. She loved the dummy and it soothed her. At any sign of unsettledness the dummy really helped. But at seven months of age, it all went a bit pear shaped. She would wake up 10 -12 times a night wanting the dummy that had fallen out. Putting a gazillion dummies in the cot with her didn't help, so when the husband went interstate overnight, I took the dummy away. And it wasn't really all that bad. In fact it was good. Little Miss slept well, deeper and longer than ever before.

But then teething started to happen and Little Miss was NOT happy. Special numbing gels, baby Panadol, messy rusks and teething rings - cool or room temperature, were not enough for Little Miss. It was my friend the dummy that did the trick. I decided not to stress about the dummy. Hey she is my baby after all. You go with what works at the time. Well I did anyway.

So dummy has been a part of our lives and a big part of Little Miss's life ever since. "Have you got the dummy?" has been the big question in our house. But when Little Miss was around 2.5 I thought this is enough. Dummy looks horrible, and when its in your mouth we can't understand what you say, and it can't be good for your teeth. So I introduced the bed only rule for dummy. Little Miss went with this and it was relatively easy. But then she thought a rest on the couch might warrant the dummy, or a quick sleep in the car would also fit the bill. Eyes held shut. We held our ground, no dummy unless your are in the cot.

But slowly she has started waking up more at night. And guess what she is after? Yep, the dummy. "I want my dummy" is heard at least once if not twice a night. So here we are, I've taken it away altogether. As much as I don't want to admit it, my Little Miss has to grow up. I've explained, "Dummies are for babies. Your a big girl now."
"No, I'm a little girl" Little Miss corrects me.

Its day two. The first night was great, she only woke up once, made a squark type noise and then went back to sleep. However the day sleep has not happened. She wanted her dummy and she wanted it bad. She cried on and off for her dummy for 30 minutes. That is a long time. I had to close the windows so the neighbours would not hear her. I tried to reassure her, I tried to pat, rock and sing to her. She yawned and closed her eyes, but without the dummy she wasn't having it. Sleep was not on the agenda. Only the dummy was. I rang the husband for reassurance, then I gave up on the day sleep. But I didnt give in there was a no show for the dummy.

Hopefully the lesson is learnt, and she wont want the non existent dummy again. But it is only day 2 and we haven't got to bed time yet...


I would love to hear your views or tips on dummies. Do you love or despise them?

Rattled

I am woken up as the word "Earthquake!" is shouted out into the dark. I jump out of bed and yell, "Get the kids."


From the dim light of the bathroom down the hall I see that everything is moving. Shaking. There is a low rumbling noise and rattling. I run to B's bedroom and lift him as though he is a feather out of his bed. I hear the words, "It's over." 
I stand B up in the hallway and he asks, "What are you doing Mum?"
"It's fine go back to bed" his father says.


Then I realise my heart is in my throat. A hard lump is beating away inside and its hard to breathe. I feel faint. I've got to sit down. I swallow, but the lump stays lodged in my throat. Sitting on my side of the bed I see with the light on that everything is normal. Everything is as it should be. 
"It's all over now." My husband tells me. I take several deep breathes and the beating lump  melts back down into my chest.


"Was that an earthquake?" He asks me
"Yes what else could it be?" I ask him
He leaves the room for a moment, I think he is going to check the house for damage or something. I go and check Little Miss. She is sound alseep. B has also gone back to bed. Then I hear him yell out from the living room, "Yes, earthquake, Twitter is going nuts with it." He walks back into the bedroom with his phone.


"What are people saying?" I ask
"Was that an earthquake or a hippo on my roof?"
"Knew I shouldn't have had beans for tea"
"Look out for Wednesday Advertiser where they report on the Adelaide earthquake. Cutting edge journos."
"Some people are quick on the uptake. There is already a facebook group called 'I survived the Adelaide earthquake'."
"Can we get out of the bath now?"


Twitter's instantness comes into its own for an experience like this. We laughed at the tweets, they were amazingly reassuring. We learnt that the epicentre was at Mount Barker and measured around 3.8 on the Ritcher scale.


"I feel strange" Said my husband

"Me too" I said, "when you have kids it changes everything, it wouldn't be so scary if you didn't have them to protect."


We struggled to sleep well that night, feeling small and at the mercy of a planet in a spin. My thoughts go out to the all the families in the world who have experienced real devastating earthquakes, ones that do much more than just rattle.


There is nothing like an earthquake to put you in your place.

Happy

When my kids jump on the bed I try to remember that...

I have had the most wonderful time these Easter school holidays with my kids. In the past I have got stressed about how I will keep B entertained day in day out, what will we do and how much T.V. we will watch.

These holidays I didn't stress, particularly about time. Time has meant nothing. Which has enabled me to take my time, go slow, and go with the flow. Live in the moment. Pause take a breathe and not look at the clock.

It is a relief not to be somewhere by a certain time, we will get there, when we get there.

Without time there is liberation.



And thankfully no one was left waiting for us...

Free puppy

I love a cafe with a play area for kids, it makes going out with children possible and even enjoyable. At Warrawong wildlife sanctuary this sign made me laugh out loud.

The albino kangaroo (in background) was a little surprising for B and Little Miss, I think they preferred the regular variety of kangaroo.

i

Hello autumn

The nights are cooler, we all sleep soundly

The days warm up slowly, the sun doesn't burn anymore

I feel like making soup, and poached pears are calling me

Leaves crackle under my feet and run away on the streets

The rain has come at last

Our Buddy

My sister and I have an arrangement.

I look after her rabbit (Buddy) when she goes away, and she looks after B and Little Miss occasionally. Its a win win situation, as B and Little Miss just love their Auntie and her rabbit. Little Miss can often be heard saying "I want that Bunny" when the rabbit comes to stay.

This Easter my sister is going away to talk to some Tasmanian Alpacas (don't ask) so we are very pleased to be getting a visit from a real live Easter Bunny. I am planning to hide chocolate treats in his hutch and just can't wait to see B and Little Miss's faces.




Buddy is an exceptional rabbit. He's a spirited lad not afraid to mess in. Buddy loves time out of his hutch to run jump and explore. He just loves to eat apple. He will nudge you with his nose for a pat, and has even been known to pick up toys with his teeth and move them around. Recently we found out that he just loves the sand pit, he seemed to want to play with the sand. Instead of just digging in it, Buddy pushed the sand forward with his front paws, something I had never seen a rabbit do before.