the minutiae of raising kids

Yeah well I might as well give up on the blogging about the small one's sleep.  He is back to sleeping. And I mean sleeping. 2 hours in daycare (a record), five hours on Saturday, and a consistent 3 - 4 hours since then. Plus the 10 - 12 hours at night, although he is in with us from about 2am. He's happier for it. We're happier for it. But are you? Could you really care about the ups and downs of 2 year old's sleep routine? Perhaps you'd like to know what he ate for breakfast too*. And yesterday?**

*porridge and yoghurt

**cake and more cake!

solved (sort of)

Well that problem has been solved! The small one has not taken a day nap in 4 days!! 4 days people! What this means is that he passes out at 6.30pm and I have got my nights back. It also means I have lost my 3 hours in the afternoon (well not me exactly, others have seeing as I am generally at work). 

I am hoping it is just a phase and he will realise that he still needs that nap. But oh well, he has hit every other developmental milestone early so I guess we have to take the good with the not so good. 

agagagagagaahhhhha.... at least I've got cute shoes and a perfect Miffy cake

Evie ballet flat from Sportsgirl

I know - lets pack up and move house, cram as much thesis in as possible, pack up an office, meet with supervisors (repeatedly), host a giant party, celebrate the small one's birthday, attend farewells, spend quality time with family and friends, remember I have a husband and child that need loving, schedule two out of state job interviews, then move to China - all in the last two weeks of July!

 

agagagagagagahhhhhhhhagagag

Despite all this, last night I had the house to myself and baked a perfect Miffy cake (perfect I tell you), a slightly imperfect choc-banana monkey cake, and a pile of cupcakes (well I cheated somewhat but more on that later). They are all safely tucked in the freezer awaiting our birthday boy and several upcoming parties. 

And today, I bought some super cute asymmetrical flats. I read somewhere that the Chinese are not into exposed feet (i.e. strappy and flimsy sandals that are my wardrobe staple), combine this with a history of binding female feet to make them 'petite' and I am now paranoid about my hideously wide feet (or steaks as my dad calls them!) offending people.

not quite co-sleeping, non-Montessori floor bed toddler (part 3)

So an update on the floor bed situation (read parts 1 and 2 to catch up if you want to catchup/refresh). The floor bed is still working fine 6 months later.  He probably creeps into our bed in the early hours or calls/cries for us at least once a week. Not a problem at all with the floor bed, we just bed down where ever (ours or his) and fall asleep again. 

I have also noticed that now, weeks away from turing two, he seems to be transitioning into another sleep phase of a more grown up child. He doesn't finish his bottle and pass out anymore, now instead we read stories and poems and when I get to the last one I tell him we'll turn the light out and go to sleep. He quickly jumps under the covers (seriously super excited about sleep) and we snuggle and he then talks and talks and talks and chatters and sings for what seems like hours and hours and then I finally say enough! sleep! and he quietens down. He has also started trying the whole 'I want a glass of water' thing, instead it's: 'I want to see dada', 'I want duck book', but if I ignore it he stops fairly quickly. 

Another thing that has been happening is that I always fall asleep with him now and it is really getting me cranky! I invariably wake up at 11pm or 2am still in my clothes, uncomfortable and crabby because I haven't spent anytime with Zed and my to-do list remains untouched. Not sure how I can get around this, but I really need to for the sake of my sanity. 

equal parenting

So I had a brain-wave the other night - one of the biggest reasons Zed and I argue about parenting is that we genuinely 50-50 parent. (Well Zed spends a bit more time with the small one and I handle more of the logistics, but otherwise it is 50-50.) We agree on the big things, values, discipline etc but the small things can really cause some tension. I know this sounds kind of silly or ungrateful in that this is what we, as a society, are *supposed* to be working towards if we want any kind of equality between the sexes. But by this I mean that in a lot of relationships parents co-parent but to their differing strengths/needs. One might handle dinner and nappy changes, the other might handle bath and bedtime. For us we do both do all these things as the need arises, therefore we both became 'experts', know what is best and piss the other off occasionally.  

Hopefully, now that we have realised this, some of the small issues might melt away.  

all a bit sticky

Photos by me

Some more crafty progress.

monkey making

A sweet monkey I'm in the process of making. He looks a bit sleepy at the moment so I hope he perks up soon.