The Battle...

On The Move.

Miss Squid is well and truly on the move now...

Easy Like a Sunday Morning

It's Sunday.

The neighbourhood is largely quiet except for the occasional dog barking and bird chirping.

Miss Squid is on the floor, starting to get frustrated that she can't move where she wants. She can move, but so far its not directed movement. She rolls and finds herself off her rug and onto the carpet. She then proceeds to wiggle and squirm in a way which only serves to make her skin red, without managing to get closer to the toys that were once all around her, before she rolled away from them.

I'm torn between giving her what she loudly expresses she wants, and letting her find a way through the frustration to take action and overcome the first of many hurdles she has to face. I settle on repositioning her in the midst of the toys sprinkled on her mat, propping her in a slouched sit. The toys provide the motivation to slowly lower herself to the floor as she reaches for a toy and again she is on her belly and soon doing 360s again as she pulls herself around in circles with her upper body, her legs moving, but very much uncoordinated with her upper half.

It is a simple pleasure, exciting and ordinary all in one as we watch and anticipate the huge leap of independent movement which is happening and about to happen.

Miss squid flashes us her gummy smiles, no sign of teeth despite the huge amounts of food she consumes: cereal, fruit, veggies, yoghurt, toast - all devoured happily, readily and with gusto.

She is growing well.


She makes me smile and I'm glad to spend my time with her.

Afternoon Chat

Squiddley Wiggles and Squeaks

Not great quality, and the noise is quiet, but fun none-the-less.

Busy Doing Nothing....

Life is busy. I'm not feeling particularly constructive at the moment, but I'm busy.

Squiddley is 2 months old now! I'm glad to say that we are still breastfeeding after some stressful times early on, and still using cloth nappies - initially with disposables as a back up, but now have been disposable-less for over a week, and surviving just fine.

My happy hormones have deserted me, which is a shame to say the least. They really did help in coping with the broken sleep and constant demand of another person utterly dependent on you. Don't get me wrong, I haven't fallen off into an abyss of PND, it just means I have to work a bit harder at not being upset at being woken up 2 hours after I'd fallen asleep, or that just when I think it is safe to make a sandwich, have a shower or hang out a load of laundry, not swear too much when a plaintive cry is heard from the bassinette. I definitely have to work a lot harder to be nice to people complaining of being tired when they've had 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep!

Squiddley is growing well and gracing us daily with smiles which are the perfect tonic to the tiredness. She is more and more alert and curious about the world around her. Her movements are getting a bit more deliberate and a little less jerky (she regularly gets fingers/hand to mouth to suck on). She loves bath time and being in the thick of the action. She rarely cries and when she does, we can usually work out what is wrong in a fairly short space of time.

We've moved through the milestones of the six week check ups and the two month immunisations with reasonable ease and are starting to get more social in mixing with others. Last week we had no less than three social outings with different mothers and children, and this week is shaping up similarly. Add in the requisite grandparent visits (two sets local enough to warrant frequent visits) and she is an absolute social butterfly.

Squiddley has even had her first plane flight to canberra for her Uncle and Aunt's wedding (congratulations again to them!). She of course took it all in her stride, spending the entire first flight like this:

I met some lovely people whilst at the wedding festivities and truly regret not saying goodbye whilst in my sleep deprived haze. (Squiddly was in the midst of a growth spurt and decided our first day/night away was a GREAT time to feed every two hours... for those of you smart people without children, that means she had to be fed, burped, changed and put back to sleep within each two hour window before my own sleep could be attempted.)

I got a call a week or so ago that was not unlikely in this ecconomic climate, one of my temp contracts has been finalised due to a restructure. There are several staff moving on from the employer and even more moving within the company to different roles. I was very glad to follow up on the other contract to find that they were as keen as ever to have me back. I plan to follow up on the after hours casual job very soon, as I hope to start back there fairly soon-ish given the astonishing rate of dissipation of the savings. The good part about the temp contracts is that they are willing to do some of the legwork if and when I want more, sure beats scanning the ads myself!

There was probably more to say, but I can't think of it at the moment - lets hope it prompts me to write again, sooner.

I Know How I Could Make Millions...

If I could bottle the effects of the hormones I have coursing through my body right now, I'd be rich.

I feel fantastic.

I'm happy, calm, serene, and all of this on broken, disjointed sleep of a duration less than my norm.

I celebrate poos, wees, burps and farts.

My routine, my life has gone out the window.

The bank balance is dwindling at an alarming rate.

And to top it off, most alarmingly, I would happily be pregnant again tomorrow despite the fact that intellectually I know that is not our plan, nor is it something I'd aspire to.

I'm very happy. This is working for me at this point in time.

I like it.