More progress...

Quickly now, some new updates on his physical development:

1. He can almost crawl. It's a pose he does sitting up, with one leg in starting position and the other propping him up. Then he either falls forward splat! Or he sits back again.

2. He gets SUPER excited about certain stuff...especially his brown jar of DermEze. Give him a colourful ball or some other toy, no reaction. He only starts gasping and flapping his arms with the little brown jar!

3. He likes making the kissing sound with his lips, and he's recently learned how to make a smacking sound with his tongue, so we're constantly wondering if he's sucking on something in his mouth. Plus he's learned how to suck on his lower or top lip - too cute!!

I Love You, Baby!

Sit Ubu Sit!

Now I mentioned before that Aidan's doing really well at sitting. In addition, he's been pushing off on his haunches lately, which leads me to believe he might start crawling soon! He can push off, and sometimes ends up flat on his belly (often looking like he's swimming 'coz his limbs are flailing about), or sometimes he's able to return to a sitting position.

Everyone's been so complimentary about his growth. He's sitting really well, and is really sturdy for his age. But if he DOES start crawling soon, oh gosh look out! He loves to chew on wires and remote controls, so it seems EG's love for electronics is hereditary...

Anyhoo! Here're some recent pics of him at our Easter Camp. Enjoy!

AIDAN'S EASTER CAMP PHOTOS

SIX MONTHS!

Yup today my big boy turns 6 months old. Can't believe the time has passed so quickly - what an achievement!

To date, he's:

1. Started on rice cereal, but still spits it out
2. Has drunk some water from a bottle, but still doesn't like it
3. Doesn't really like drinking infant formula - still likes the comfort of mum!
4. Is able to sit up without assistance and play with his toys
5. Likes making this 'clucking' sound whenever he's upset. It's his version of whining, but he really sounds like a chicken! People find it adorable; it was to me at first, but gradually turns annoying when you listen to it repeatedly hehe....
6. Isn't sleeping through the night, but that could be 'coz he's still nursing a cold and cough. I can hear the phlegm in his throat when he coughs, poor bubba!
7. Has baby eczema on his cheeks, neck and elbows :-( But that's not stopping us from attending thr Sids n Kids fundraising photoshoot!

Look Maw, I caud a big one!

I left Mr Snotty-nose (he's been nursing a cold since Tuesday) on the couch with his paper flash-cards today, to have a 'read'. He attacked it with gusto, as expected, trying to grab a hold of them (they're half-A4, length-wise).

I walked over to the kitchen counter to finish up some washing, and looked up to discover Aidan the Barbarian. The intrepid explorer of Soh-tartica, having foraged for food in the parched wasteland of the icy desert (read: my living room), had finally captured his catch of the day.

Hope?

Today's been particularly hard morning... mostly 'coz my poor bubba's got a cold and was up at 2am, 2.45am, 3am, 3.30am, 6am, 6.50am.

Poor thing. And poor me!

Later that morning the lady from the hospital conducting the long-term study on women's experience at the Royal Women's Hospital and childbirth and parenting, of which I'm participating in, rang with the usual questions. Although I didn't score high enough to warrant a recommendation to see someone for depression, she could tell I was having a hard time. She ended off saying I should ring my maternal & child health nurse, and also that she's had 3 kids, and though it was hard to do control crying at first and she hated it, it made all the difference in the long run when it worked.

I think it was the last statement that did me in - it sounded hopeful.

I'm so tired of hoping!!

I'm so tired of resurrecting faith each day, hanging out there on a limb, wondering what it is that I'm doing wrong or differently that prevents me from achieving the same results as others who've gone the same way. When Paul talks of pressing on in faith, I wonder if he meant motherhood.

It's tiring to believe everyday, but it makes the Christian walk and its perils clearer to me. Suddenly the Psalms make deeper sense.

Here's what I'm grateful for though:
1. He's not terminally ill...or that sick for that matter. Just a touch of the sniffles. Imagine having to constantly shuffle your child to and fro between home and hospital, and the waits and queues and praying he'll recover. Thank God for his health!

2. My mum, who's been a support over the phone. E-Gene, who's been a constant source of strength.

3. Aidan's still got his cheerful disposition, and eats well.

Tomorrow is a new day.

Brave

There are days when I question if I'm being a good mum or not...like y'day morning when I left him to cry for an extended period. And then he got pricked (I think) by a mini safety pin that was holding his pillowcase together. If I'd just checked in on him sooner.... and yada yada the internal admonitions carry on.

I'm gradually building a reserve to block out his crying and remind myself that he has to learn to resettle himself, and that he's not hurt, hungry or wet, just completely indignant at the lack of attention. It's either him or me, mate - either he learns to return to sleep on his own, or I'd have to keep checking in on him every 2 hrs in the middle of the night when he fusses! Although today he realised after awhile he wasn't gonna get picked up, so busied himself by chewing on his pillow, and batting the toy lamb we have tied to the bars of his cot. How cute!

I'm thankful that his day-sleeps are getting better; he can sleep for up to 2 hrs sometimes! Wow! That's if he sleeps of course hehe... but in those breaks I get to do some housework, or like today, just read my Bible and soak it in. Which is a luxury, and something I couldn't afford everyday since Aidan was born. Plus I got to chat with my mum today about his development, and how to handle the difficulties of broken sleep. I'm starting to read the book she gave me for my b'day last year, or being a Godly, purposeful mum...it's really dawning on me how important that role is...and how difficult! Sigh...

Honestly, I had a bit of a break-down on Sat night when EG was about to step out to attend a friend's buck's night. I was meant to go for the hen's as well, and bring the bubba along, but begged off, coz we were just too tired and I was falling sick - plus we'd attended a wedding and an engagement party earlier that day. But anyhoo, just the thought of another lonely night with A, and another sleepless night after, was more than I could bear! I just started sobbing into my noodles - how pathetic! And EG didn't feel like he could go, but I convinced him to eventually - no point 2 people moping about the house. But I got better after, just had to steelve my resolve and check in on him every 15 mins to reassure him that everything's all right. We wrapped him up in his caterpillar wrap that night, and he slept better. Maybe the previous nights he was cold, or maybe he feels more secure being wrapped? Who knows?!

This morning he rose at 2.30am again, and I turned the monitor down wait for 15 mins to see if he'd resettle himself. Next thing I knew it was an hour and 10 mins later already! The poor bubs' been crying for that long! I rushed into his room, and he was whining, not quite full tears, in the opposite corner of his cot, the baby monitor upended, his pillow tossed aside. Guilt washed over me again...

I'm learning, daily, what it means to lead a Godly life that can be taught to him... and how to be a Godly mum. I just need so much wisdom and strength and endurance for this. What a journey...what a desire for hope that each day would be better than the last.

Oh, but I do love him so.