We're very lucky.
Jack is the sort of child
we all assume we'll have
when we decide to have children,
and the sort of child
less experienced parents
congratulate themselves for.January and February 2004
March and April 2004
May and June 2004
July and August 2004
September and October 2004
November and December 2004
Blogs we read:
Thursday, Nov. 11, 2004 - Mamma
Mystery Solved
Well, the distressing behavior of the last few days has been explained.
It was a bit complex. You see Jack was also hungry for the bigger part of the week. When I say hungry, I mean HUNGRY. "Not able to eat fast enough to get enought in" hungry. Famished!
I knew that meant he was headed into a growth spurt, and I was right. By yesterday morning, our sweet budgie rather more closely resembled a tank! This morning, he is looking remarkably tall, and clothes that were too big the last time he wore them are fitting perfectly, while the rest are too small.
(I have this bad feeling that we're going to run out of clothes before the next clothing exchange in April! Oops.)
But there was more to it than that -- Jack eats a lot before a growth spurt, and he is kind of fussy until we catch on that he really is hungry AGAIN. But his behavior doesn't usually deteriorate to the point where I lose patience with him. he's almost always such a sweet little boy. (As evidenced by th fact that he still cries when i raise my voice. If he were used to it, he'd be innured by now.) This time, though, he was fussy, clingy, and also kind of aggressive -- throwing toys across the room was just the start of it; he was also hitting me and kicking me and voicing a lot of frustration, no matter what we did. Those behaviors are not like our Jack at all.
But at 3am, Jack spiked a very high fever. We got up and used a cool cloth a nd a fever reducer to try to make him more comfortable and he was able to doze the rest of the night, but he didn't really sleep. Poor guy. He woke up feverish this morning and kind of sweetly sad and clingy. I'll bet the bad mood was a combination of coming down with whatever this is *and* the extra stress of growing fast at the same time.
I gave him some more fever reducer and a cup of water, and later on some grapes and by the time I left for work, he started to seem like he was feeling his old sweet self.
I wish I had Rod's knack for endless patience. I'm getting better, but I will never approach his level of amazing. And somehow his patience even extends to me...and I end up feeling stronger and more patient with Jack than I thought I could be. Jack and I are very, very lucky!
Another Landmark Development
Jack has been trying for months to convince us that he is ready to walk down the flight of stairs between our apartment and the front door on his own.
It took a while to convince us, but a few days ago, Dad held his breathe, stood a stepm below Jack, and let him try.
Jack was right -- he went down the entire flight entirely on his own without a mistep or a clumsy moment!
This is the part where I start getting worried and dismayed that it won't be long before he wnats the car keys...
Our Little Ozzie Lad
Jack is breeding true to his father's line.
Not only does he look just like his Dad and his Pop Jack, he has added a pretty respectable "g'day" to his vocabulary recently. And he has loved vegemite from before he was born! I came to Vegemite late in life, and while I like it OK, I don't love it. When I was pregnant, though, I couldn't believe how good it tasted! I couldn't start my morning without a grilled vegemite and cheese sandwich. It was my "new coffee". Since Jack was born, I've gone back to liking it OK -- and Jack absolutely loves it! Even when he's off food, I can usually get him to take a little vegemite on toast.
Dad is so proud!
The Whole Santa/Father Christmas Thing
Everyone seems to be talking about Christmas already, and it's not even Thanksgiving yet!
I have not willingly celebrated Christmas since 1982. I never enjoyed it -- so when I had the chance, I stopped. Fortunately, having mostly abstained for 22 years, my total aversion has waned to be replaced by a grim ennui.
It's fortunate because before he tried it Rod thought he'd be fine with not celebrating Christmas. For the first year he was right, he didn't seem to miss it. But last year, though Jack was still just an tiny infant, he seemed sort of sad when we didn't do anyhting to acknowledge the holiday.
We talked again recently, and it's become clear that with a child in our home, Rod would really feel deprived if we don't do something for Christmas.
For Rod, Christmas is about celebrating kids, and when there are children around, my delightful husband can't help but want to celebrate them! (Have I mentioned that Rod is a lot of things that I wish I was? I adore this man!)
Now we've started negotiating. We need to figure out what he needs to be happy and what is too much for me to bear. then we'll make our family celebration in the valley between.
Maybe this won't be so bad.
One thing I know for sure, though. We won't be selling Jack that whole Santa/Father Christmas myth thing. I never put that on TJ and Corey, and I can't bring myself to do it to Jack, either.
I mean, how do you spend several years building up an elaborate lie, and then maintain your credibility when the lie is shattered, as it surely will be one day? I never could figure that out, and I still can't fathom it.
That isn't to say that I find fault with people who do participate and enjoy the myth. I figure if you love the story, your kids will love it, too, and you probably have a graceful way in mind to break the sad news at some point.
Maybe I could send Rod home at Christmas to celebrate with Jack and his family and I could go on ignoring it...?
No, Rod probably wouldn't go for that. Too bad.
Oh, well. We'll figure something out...
