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May 12, 2005
Wednesday 12 May 2004
Ryan will be 2½ on 29th May
We are all a little weary today as Ryan was awake and crying at about 4.30am. I think the strong winds outside woke him up and probably scared him. I went into his room as he was crying and tucked him in again. Then, a little voice in the darkness says ‘Hand pease!’ He loves to hold my hand as he goes off to sleep, so there I was leaning over the side of the cot, finding it hard to keep upright, in that half asleep state (all mums have been there, I’m sure) holding that little soft hand as he snuggled and wriggled and found a comfortable position to drift off the sleep again. Alas, I had to get up again at 6am and then get Ryan up at 7.15am to start the work and day care shuffle once again.
AUTUMN CHILLS
The winds outside, along with the morning and evening chills, are telling me it’s definitely Autumn, indeed our Winter begins on June 1st. It is definitely time for 24 hour heat in the house, warm clothes and flannelette sheets to snuggle into! It might be Australia but south of Tasmania, it’s ‘next stop Antarctica!’ Suffice to say that although we do have hot summers, our southern winters can be quite cold. We don’t get snow though so that’s a bonus.
MUMMY’S DAY
I had a nice day on Sunday, beginning with sleeping in until ………..9.00am !!! Gasp!! Now, that’s late for me – don’t laugh. Although I remember with fondness when 9.00am was a very early start to a Sunday. Those were the days B.R. – before Ryan. DH got up with Ryan around 8am and kept him occupied and behind closed doors (he’s your typical noisy toddler who likes to squeal and screech at any given moment) while mummy snoozed on. Just the way I like it. When I finally emerged, I received cards from both DH & Ryan and some gifts (a scrap booking kit – I really want to get into this) and Series 1 & 2 of Sex and the City. Ryan’s day carer also gave all the mums a gift wrapped box with the following verse attached to it:
This is a very special gift
That you can never see
The reason it’s so special is
It’s just for you from me.
Whenever you are lonely
Or ever feeling blue
You only have to hold this gift
And know I think of you.
You never can unwrap it
Please leave the ribbon tied
Just hold the box close to your heart
It’s filled with love inside.
How sweet is that? I love it.
In the afternoon, after Ryan’s nap, we visited my mum for a couple of hours. She is a nurse and had worked a night shift the night before and was also due to start work at 7.30pm that night so it wasn’t much of a fun day for her unfortunately. We gave her cards and a DVD, plus Ryan gave her an embroidered cushion with ‘My Nanna Loves Me’ on it. I can’t take credit for the embroidery unfortunately….it’s the thought that counts after all right?!
OUR ROUTINES
It’s getting harder to get Ryan out of bed in the mornings (except for this morning’s early call of course), as it’s quite dark outside and this boy loves his sleep! I need to have him up at 7am at the very latest, dressed, cleaned and brushed, then a drink and cuddles, all before we leave for his carer’s house at 7.40am. Again with the exception of today, he loves his bed and once deeply asleep, I’m pretty sure I could move furniture and vacuum in his room (I’ve never dared to test that assumption). Once awake though, he stands in his cot, pulls back the curtains and looks for ‘Luna’ who is just disappearing for the day. Then he’ll look for his favourite magpies that sit on top of a street light near our house, warbling out their morning songs. This boy of mine just thrives on a routine and it makes life a lot easier for me too. Our daily routines are flexible, not rigid so that we can make little changes here and there and Ryan will ‘generally’ be fine – not always guaranteed though as he is 2 – need I say more?!!
I pick him up from care around 5.30pm and of course it’s dark then too. That’s one thing I miss about summer, the LONG warm days. Our daylight savings time runs from October to the end of March and it’s great to be able to take Ryan outside after work then be outside again after he has gone to bed! Us Aussies are usually still celebrating Christmas Day outside while it’s still light at 9pm.
PLAYING NANNA LIKE A FIDDLE?
I’m having day-care ‘issues’ with my mum at the moment. She takes care of Ryan once, maybe twice a week and LOVES having him. He also loves to be with her and I know she takes wonderful care of him. Ryan is however getting to that age where they start to cotton on to the subtle art of manipulation. He knows what he can and can’t get away with at home, at his usual day-carer’s and with Nanny, and I think he’s figured that he can get away with a lot more at Nanny’s. He’s started to refuse his breakfast (Weetbix cereal) at Nanny’s, knowing that Nanny will cook him some yummy eggs. I don’t have a problem with eggs of course, but I really would like him to eat what we provide and not carry on for Nanny. He’s also refusing to eat his dinner for Nanny – he’s fine with the day carer, so-so for us. My mum is of the opinion that she can’t let him go without a meal but I think that if he’s not going to eat what’s offered, then he should learn that there are no other options. Is this too harsh?? I can’t have my mum preparing 3-4 different options until she comes up with one that the little lord approves of!! I refuse to do that. I am sure he will eat when he’s hungry and at 32lb he’s not exactly going to fade away overnight. He is turning into such a fussy eater when in the early days of eating solids he would devour just about anything.
WORK – NEVER A DULL DAY
My work continues to be busy. Unfortunately we have had a spate of house fires in Tasmania which have resulted in the deaths of 6 people in 6 weeks. We are also working on a ‘shaken baby’ case which is heartbreaking. Hopefully the Coronial inquest (and most likely trial of the perpetrator) will educate the community about the dangers of shaking and also throwing a baby up in the air, an innocent enough act that can end in tragedy. I have learned so much about the things we humans do to ourselves and to each other in the five years I have been in this job. I’m also responsible for the running of the department as a business unit so I look after budgets, leave management, purchasing etc as well as assisting with Coronial work. I’m currently trying to factor in my own Long Service Leave which becomes due in December. How wonderful to have the whole summer off work on full pay! Somehow I don’t think it’s going to happen as we will already have someone away at that time.
BABY BONUSES
The Aussie Federal Government announced their budget last night which appears to be very ‘family friendly’ (yay, they are finally getting with the times) First up, a $3000 payment for all new mothers on the birth of their babies (not means tested). Currently there is a $750 means tested payment, followed by $250 payment when the child is fully immunised at age 4 prior to starting school. Our government is all for expanding families as the Oz population is rapidly ageing and only totals 20 million on a good day! Not many for such a huge country. They have also announced more funding for child care places which is a huge step forward.
Does the U.S government provide any sort of ‘baby bonus’?? I’d be interested to hear how it works over there. In Australia the situation is: the $3000 payment (effective 1 July), we also have Family Tax Benefit which is of course means tested and paid fortnightly and a Childcare Rebate, also means tested, which reduces the child care fees paid. My employer (the State government) provides 12 weeks fully paid maternity leave, but is one exception to the general rule of no paid maternity leave in Australia.
I do have concerns about how this sizeable ‘baby payment’ is going to encourage those who are already heavily reliant on government assistance to have even more children, when many are barely able to take care of the ones they already have. Hmmm, I’m predicting a baby boom in 9 months time….. a friend of mine works in the Maternity section of the hospital and the new baby payment has all the staff talking today, anticipating some very busy times ahead.
MIDWEEK BLAHS
I’m finding it very hard to get motivated today. It’s a very grey dull day outside, I’m at work and it’s still only Wednesday! I would much rather be reading diaries and blogs than doing tedious work. I’m loving all the new blogs that are popping up and I have been tempted to start one myself. But really, I don’t have the time or the energy to dedicate to it. I’ll stick around here. It’s lunchtime – I might go out for a spot of window shopping to put me in a better mood. I’m actually looking forward to this evening as DH will be out for most of it at a course. That sounds terrible but I really do like time on my own sometimes, time to catch up with taped TV shows, laze around and generally do nothing much at all! Ryan will probably go to bed around 7.30pm and then it’s just ME time. Aaahh, gotta love it.
RYAN BITS & PIECES
Ryan is copying just about everything we say these days, hence we have to be SO careful! He was stomping around last night saying 'Oh my God!!' (thanks Nanna...!) He has also taken to saying 'Yah' instead of yes, heaven knows where he got that posh little accent from! He is always good with 'please' and 'thankyou' and his carer tells me he has very good manners so that makes me proud. Potty training is on hold for a while, we weren't having that much success so I will try again with him soon.
His favourite shows at the moment are I-Spy, Bear in the Big Blue House, Play School and Hi 5.
Ryan and I are going to see the Wiggles in concert in June! I'm definitely taking a day off work for that one. They did a concert in Hobart (our capital city) years ago when they first started out so it will be great to see them again after their worldwide success. Ryan loves Dorothy the Dinosaur and her roses. Personally I think Anthony, the blue Wiggle, is rather yummy! He and his wife just had a baby girl, otherwise known as the 'pink Wiggle' ! I hope that Ryan's concentration will last for the duration of the show. I don't think I have ever been in such a huge group of over-excited toddler groupies!
Until next time
Sue & Ryan
(slightly updated web page www.babiesonline.com/babies/r/rg)
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