No more sugar!

Okay, this is a little off the topic of parenting, however loosely fits in - we need to be eating the foods we wish our children to be eating (because sooner or later we will get lazy and what we are eating we will feed to them too).

Hence the sugar detox (hopefully it won't take long). The plan is:

Wean off sugar this week. I'm going to go cold turkey, starting tomorrow. That includes sugar added to things (such as cakes) and I'm not really sure yet about things like bread (there is a book I'm going to get for Christmas that will give me more details).

Anyway, will let you know how it goes!!

Dinner out

I haven't been a big fan of going out at night with Oscar.

Let me clarify - I was a HUGE fan of going out with Oscar when he was little and would sleep anywhere - probably upto the 4 month mark, but after that, when we had firmly established a routine, going out was for the day (and getting a good nights sleep was a priority). I believe that whenever possible kids should go to sleep at their consistent time (which should be between6-7pm depending on age).

Since the 4 ish month mark (when he started "sleeping through" the night) it became important to have a consistent bedtime routine and a consistent bed!!

It has paid off. Last night we went to my wonderful in laws place for dinner and we took OB. We did his usual nighttime routine, out him in their portacot and shut the door. Not a peep!! When it was home time at about 9pm, we picked him up, put him in the car, drove home, placed him in bed and left the room. He went straight back to sleep. It is SO worth missing out on a few night time social events (or getting someone trustworthy to babysit) for those 6 or so months to get baby into a great bedtime routine. I am now confident that we could successfully do his bedtime routine anywhere - and still get a full night sleep! Lots of people like to comment that this is just "luck" and a "good baby" but it has been a lot of consistent work and not giving up on sleep training to get to that point. "Luck" has nothing to do with it. Persistent and consistent training!i

Camping

I was so nervous about camping...but it was unnecessary. We did OB's normal bedtime routine, put him down at 6.30 in the tent, in the portacot and bam, he went to sleep. We tiptoed around him getting us into the tent - which was pretty noisy considering the zips and getting stuff from bags, but he stayed sleeping right through till 6.30am. I was so relieved.

We had such a great time camping. OB loved every minute of it. The second night he woke at 2am for an hour and then woke for the day at 5, but still proved that we could successfully go away overnight!it was great to trial it somewhere so close to home, so that we could sneak home if we had to.

We are currently moving to a 12 month old routine which pretty much lines OB's meals up with our meals. Cutting back to 2 breastfeeds a day (morning and night). His nighttime routine won't change - 5.30 dinner, bath, story and then bed.

Preparing for camping...or holidays...or weekends away..

OB had his first sleep in the port-a-cot on Thursday. He wasn't too keen to go to sleep. Today I put him down at 10:40am (not his usual 9.30 because we went to the gym - with creche! yay) and its 10:44 and I haven't heard a peep. Bring on camping on the weekend!!!!

I'm glad we persisted the first time - because if he is content to sleep in the port-a-cot, hopefully we can start having holidays and weekends away!!!!!! We have a trip planned for Christmas - with all of hubbys family which will be awesome. I was sooo nervous about how OB would sleep, but if hes happy in the port-a-cot it will be fine! 

My aim for his sleeps tomorrow - to get him to sleep in different rooms of the house!! I'm hoping he will have a nap in the lounge room. And maybe the day after ill try for a nap outside in the port-a-cot (although I don't have high hopes for that one - without it being dark). We are hoping to set up the tent in the backyard this week - to make sure all the bits are there and to see how little man goes. We may try to sleep in the backyard with him (maybe - I don't know if thats a smart idea or not....).

Anyway, port-a-cot success :) 

The biggest things i've learnt about sleep are:

* Persistence pays off! *Sleep breeds sleep (daytime naps are SO important)*Be consistant - as much as possible

Meat, Travel Sleep, Playpen & Teeth

Teeth

This week OB got his FIRST tooth! Yay.   I am surprised that he didn't make any of the usual 'teething fuss'. - Although he has been making lots of 'teething fuss' over the past few months. The night it came up he went to sleep at 6.30pm as per usual, and woke at about 4am absoloutely screaming. I thought it might be teething pain so I gave him some panadol and put him back to bed. When he woke at his usual 6.30pm there it was - a tiny little bud of a tooth. I put my finger on it and gee it was sharp!! I had no idea how sharp babies teeth were!!

Travel Sleep Training!

My beautiful OB ringing his bell...

Next weekend we are going camping with some good friends. OB has never lasted a whole night in his port-a-cot (except when he was younger than 4 months and didn't know any different). We are VERY nervous about how he will sleep when we go away for the two nights. So we have decided to sleep train, but in a port-a-cot. A few friends had mentioned that I should do this - sleeping him in the port-a-cot in his room and in different rooms of the house to get him used to sleeping anywhere. Today I set up the port-a-cot. OB had the time of his life playing in it whilst I was setting it up!!! BUT when I put him in it (and zipped up the side) - boy did he scream (and is still screaming). He has had one 10 minute stint in there - then I went in and lay him back down, gave him a few pats and told him it was sleep time. I don't think he listened. As soon as I was out with the door shut he started up again. But a bit softer than at the start. It might be a looooong afternoon!! Now hes having little spurts of crying with about 20 seconds of quiet, which for him means hes winding down. Hopefully by next weekend we will have had at least one full nights sleep in the port-a-cot. I should have started this earlier (and then we could have tried sleeping outside in it). I don't know how we will go in a TENT putting him down at his usual time of 6.30pm (with no black out blinds of course) in the LIGHT! Might have to put him down later....when the sun is actually down. Ps hes being very quiet in his room...if I had to guess i'd say hes down for the arvo (he got put down at 2:25 and its now 2:42). The plan is to give him one sleep a day in the port-a-cot until next Friday (when we leave). I'm hoping to have at least one night in it too, but will wait and see how the day sleeps go.

Playpen

In Simone Boswell's amazing book "Calm baby, confident mum" she talks about the benefits of playpens and puts playpen time into her routines. 

I LOVE the playpen. For a few reasons. 

#1 - Its safe. Everything in the playpen is OB safe (a lot of things in the rest of the house are not).

#2 - It gives me time to do the things I need to do (cleaning, cooking, washing, quiet time, book reading, bubble bath, etc).

#3 - It teaches him to have time by himself - to amuse himself and to be independent from mummy.

#4 - Gives him ONE place to make a mess (especially helpful if people are coming to visit and i've just tidied up).

When we moved house (August-ish) it took me a little while to set up the playpen (and find an appropriate place for it) and to actually put OB in it. We have lots of doors in our house so we can shut off different rooms which is great (and reduces the need for playpen time). This last week I have realised that OB has had barely any playpen time since moving and as such i'm re-introducing it into our everyday routine (for all the reasons mentioned above). 

I am starting with 15 minutes a day. Its not too long if he cries the whole time (hasn't happened yet - he usually cries for 1 or 2 mins then enjoys himself) but not too short that he doesn't spend any time in there. He's catching on again quickly!  I just put him in there and he whined (not even a cry) for about 20 seconds and then turned around and started playing! 

OB crawled into my lap and had a nap before lunch (first time he's ever crawled up and fallen asleep).

About 25-30kg fit in our freezer

Meat

This week we got 40kg of meat from a friend (who also runs a bull stud). We have SOOOO much meat! Not only do we know EXACTLY where it comes from, but its such great quality (barely any fat) - even the mince is delicious (and not disgusting like store bought mince). Its also really economical at around $10 per kilo (even for the eye fillet, T-bone, sirloin, etc). Yesterday I made rissoles with the first batch of mince. They were SO yummy!!!! And so easy!!! I got the recipe here. 

Home made rissoles

Bread, Chutney & Childcare

I stumbled across the easiest bread recipe here and decided to try it out...
I can't believe how easy it was!! 

 ^ flour, yeast + salt sifted together.



 > added water, mixed and left on the bench overnight.

.

This morning whilst I was getting OB ready (and the oven was pre-heating) I let the dough 'rest' on the counter.

OB LOVED watching the oven (especially when the light was on!). 

 We played a few games whilst the bread was cooking (took about 30 mins)

Having a peek!

 <<Ta DA! Finished product.

 Because I didn't finish the bread in time for Josh to make a sandwich for lunch, I decided to bring him his lunch later in the day. I had some left over tomatoes and decided to make some chutney to have with a roast beef and fresh bread sandwich!

Now on to the more important matters!

This morning we walked past the childcare centre and I was seriously thinking about finishing my prac (for teaching) and possibly going back to work. I was getting keener and keener as we walked home - thinking about the logistics of putting OB in care and going back to work and how helpful the extra money would be. 

When we got home I was making chutney and OB was playing on the floor. He crawled over to me and started banging on my leg, I looked down and he had "the face". THIS is what i've been working for over the last few weeks!! I took him to the potty and he did a poo (and a wee). This might be too much information, however it made me realise that: 1) I LOVE seeing him "get" things. 2) I LOVE teaching him things. 3) Daycare would not put the time + effort it takes to implement EC (elimination communication - which I'll explain in a minute). 4) There is no way I want to go back to work when I could be at home with OB (obviously only as long as we can afford for me to do so).

Elimination Communication is a method that a friend brought to my attention since moving to Gunnedah. Basically its about communicating with your child (from a young age) - and having them communicate with you when they need to go to the toilet. We have modified it to suit us AND would you believe I have not had to change a poo nappy at home since we have started it (August I think) - we have still had to change a few poo's when out because obviously there isn't a potty to put him on when he needs to go. At home, its amazing the way he just signals that he needs to go, we strip him off and sit him on the potty, and he goes! Its sooooooo cool. I was SO sceptical of this. One day my friend Ruth mentioned it (OB was about 8 months old), I went home, OB looked like he needed to do a poo, so I put him on the potty and he did one. It was really amazing. And SO much less cleaning up. And seemed so much easier for him (plus he didn't have to sit in it, AND he could push it all out - which actually looked like a normal formed poo, not just the mush you see in a nappy!).

I need to clarify that its NOT toilet training. Its just about making life easier for both OB and I - no poopey nappies for me, and no sitting in poo for him. Win Win. Plus it improves our communication, which I love. And if it does make potty training easier then thats just a bonus...

Curtains

Blackout Curtains

As we have changed to daylight savings and its now really light when OB goes to sleep we needed blackout curtains. I priced a few at different stores, and they are really expensive. So I decided to make some!

It was really really easy! I just measured the window, cut the fabric and hemmed it. The eyelet bits at the top came on a tape which I had to sew on to the top of the curtain, then cut the holes and push in the silver bit. The pushing in of the silver circles was quite hard and a few were broken in the process (I had to get my muscly hubby to do most of them).

I was really amazed at how easy they were to make.

What I would do differently next time:

- Have one more eyelet hole so that the right end of the curtain is  dipping back towards the wall.
- Make it a little bit wider.
- Get hubby to put all the push circles in so that I didn't break any.
- Be a bit more patient in sewing so that the stitching was straighter.
- Choose prettier fabric.
-Make two curtains instead of one (I was being lazy so only made one that went across the whole window).
- Make them sooner - they were SO easy!

Sleep

We have finally hit all night sleeps :) 7pm - 7am! YAY!!! He's done about a week now so I hope its here to stay :)

Sleep (Baby) books...I have read a number of books so I thought i'd do a review of them here:


"Calm Baby, Confident Mum" Simone Boswell

I honestly think this is the BEST baby book I have ever read!! Everything it in was helpful from breastfeeding information, to sleep, to routine, to highchair manners to discipline. It is just the BEST book. If you don't have it, and have (or are having) a baby, I recommend it. The author Simone Boswell is a mother of 6 and speaks from her (and friends) experience! I only wish she wrote a toddler book! I'd buy it IMMEDIATELY!!

You can read more about Simone and her book here.


"Save our Sleep" Tizzie Hall

I have heard a lot of negative things about this book, however, I found it to be great. We followed the routine for OB's age and after 3 nights of doing her "laydown approach" OB was sleeping 7pm till 7am. I think this is because he actually learnt how to put himself to sleep (and there had to be a bit of crying - although it wasn't really crying - it was protesting!!).  This book was fantastic. I would have liked a little more help for what to do when he wakes and won't resettle and when he won't have a nap at all - but on the whole, following her approach worked. I was impressed because I read this book with a LOT of scepticism.

"Baby Love" Robin Baker

SO many people recommended this book to me as a MUST have. It was great to have during pregnancy to read (as I had NO idea about babies), but when I had a real life baby, I didn't find it overly helpful. It was helpful for the beginning when I didn't know ANYTHING (so good for the basics) but I haven't used it since OB was about 2 months old.



"the no-cry sleep solution" Elizabeth Pantley

I'm not really sure how a baby can learn to sleep without any 'cry'. I was a bit skeptical of this book from the beginning. Had heard lots about it. And borrowed it to have a read. It has some good information, but no real 'plan' to get baby to sleep. It allows you to make your own plan, however the reason I was reading the book was because I had no plan. It did give some good cues so it could be helpful to read, however my parenting style required a much more direct approach. It seemed a bit wishy washy and I doubt that a baby will actually learn to sleep through the ideas in this book.

"The Complete Sleep Guide for Contented Babies and Toddlers" Gina Ford

I also heard rave reviews about this book. It had some interesting case studies, but to be honest I did not fid it helpful at all. There was the basic information that most sleep books have but no real plans or what to do when baby wakes during his nap or learns to stand up and won't lie back down. This books talks about babies over 6 months having 30minute naps during the day, but I have found this contradictory to what other books say about babies needing to move through sleep cycles during the day (so they can do so during the night) so their naps need to be between 1hr and 1.5hrs long. I have found that when OB naps for more than 1hr for both his daytime naps, his nights are perfect! Where as if he only naps for 30 minutes, he (and mummy and daddy) are in the horrors.


Do you have any GREAT baby books??? Especially on sleep??

I am off to make some lemon cake and lemonade (I have 19 lemons....any ideas for lemon-y things I can make????)

Thoughts for a sunny spring day

A great day with Grandma.

Today we spent most of the day with Grandma (apart from a few hours at church). Its amazing seeing OB in a different environment. He can do more things than last time we were there!! He can sit up properly in the high chair, and ride the rocker!! So exciting!! We are so lucky to live so close to such great grandparents :)

To think about....

 'This is the thought that should be uppermost on your mind in all you do for your children. In every step you take about them, in every plan, and scheme, and arrangement that concerns them, do not leave out that mighty question, "How will this affect their souls?" ...the chief end of their lives is the salvation of their souls.' - J.C Ryle

This has got me thinking...that there is so much about OB's upbringing (that is yet to come) that I have not thought through! This scares me. I'm trying to think through discipline because that is what worries me the most. On one hand I want to be loving to OB, but on the other hand I want him to be well behaved. Above both of those I want him to become a christian. I don't want my actions to hinder that. 

Luckily I still have a bit of time to think through these issues and consult wise friends & family....

Proverbs 13:24 - He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him. 

OB has been sick, which put a stop to our sleep training, however we started back up again yesterday. A good friend lent me "Save our sleep" by Tizzie Hall which is a HOTLY contested book. Last night we started the 10 month-up down-sleep training which consisted of putting OB back down every time he climbed up the rails of the cot. This was quite tedious (and I was only listening through the monitor). Last night it took about 45 minutes before sleep was achieved. Tonight only 20 minutes. Lets see what tomorrow brings. Also, OB is having one night feed (a dream feed at about 10.30pm) and thats it until morning (7am is his usual wake up time). So night-weaning has been successful (if you consider him to be night weaned with a dream feed).! Yay (hes nearly 10 months). 

Smacks

OB is at the age where we need to decide how to discipline him. Although it will start small, we need a framework for how we will deal with discipline issues in the future as they arise.

We want to display God and justice through our discipline and rules and obeying.

He knows (at 9 months) already when he does the wrong thing there are consequences (has been reaching out to touch the heater whilst looking at me and smiling). So I say "no" and give him a smack, hard enough to make him know it's unpleasant. I am amazed at how fast he is picking up on this.

Learning "no" means there are consequences to behaviours. It's hard to know what he can understand....but that's a message we want to pass on...

The aim for further discipline:

Controlled smacking. Talking through the choices OB makes that lead to the smack. Giving him the smack. Look him in the eyes, give him a cuddle and say im not mad anymore.

We want to make sure we teach him the seriousness of doing the wrong thing, consequences, mercy, the nature of God and resolving issues.

Somehow we want to pass on the model of God disciplining us (and his anger when bad things are done) but with an unending love and forgiveness.

Vanilla extract

Today I made vanilla extract. Yum.

I don't know why I don't make more stuff from scratch.

Today I have been challenged to "live local" - sourcing products from where I live. I'm excited about the prospect. Some things we already get locally - eggs, meat, fruit & veg. The easy things. Will be interesting to see how easily other products are sourced. Apparently there is a shop here with local produce. Will check it out!!

I'm so excited to teach OB about where food comes from!! He already helps me water the veggies and pick oranges!

Night weaning

The time has come for night weaning...for no reason other than I'm keen to sleep for more than 5 hours in a row. OB was night weaned (by himself) at about 3.5 months and was sleeping 12 hours straight. But then we moved and he got a cold and it's been easier to night feed him since then - basically I've been lazy...

So on Sunday night when we got back from Katoomba I put him to bed as usual at 6.30 and was determined not to feed him (other than his "dream feed" before midnight) until 6am. He had his dream feed at 10.30pm and then woke at about 2.30am for his next usual feed. It took about an hour to resettle. At 3.30am he went back to sleep and slept until 6.30am (when he woke I fed him). I did have a backup plan incase he didn't just go back to sleep - I was going to feed him every second time he woke rather than every time and wean him slowly. 

Monday night he went to bed as usual, had his dream feed and woke at 3am for his usual feed. I gave him a sip of water and cuddled him and put him back in bed. It took about half an hour of cuddles and re settling to get him back to sleep. And he slept till 6.30am.

Last night (Tuesday) he went to bed at 6.30, slept all through taking him out to bible study, had his dream feed at about 10.30pm. Woke at 3.30am and I gave him a cuddle, changed his nappy (which i forgot to mention i did the previous nights) and put him back in bed. He went straight back to sleep (yippie) and slept till 5.30am. 

Not sure how keen I am on the 5.30am wake up - I'm quite tired today. Fingers crossed he will sleep right through tonight (theoretically that's what he should do, but what baby follows the book?!).

Looking forward to an uninterrupted nights sleep!

Weekends away

Over the weekend OB and I travelled to Katoomba Women's Convention. We left Friday midday and returned 7pm Sunday night. This was a pretty daunting task with an active 9 month old. I nearly pulled out at the last minute...but am thankful that I didn't as it was a wonderfully refreshing weekend with old and new friends :)

I took SO much stuff. Between the pram, capsule, cot, heater, bedding, extra clothes, extra food, towels, sleeping bags, monitor, toys and toiletries its amazing we fit everything in! (Luckily Liz has an iMax!). I tried to take enough stuff to make it as "like home" for OB as possible. I also tried to keep his routine pretty consistent even though we were traveling.

Things that I wouldn't do again:

* sleep OB in the pram - OB hates the porta cot (even though it's so cute!). I need to give him time before our next trip to become familiar with the cot so it isnt so strange. Friends have suggested giving him one of his day sleeps in the porta cot every ow and then so it is just a normal thing. Another friend suggested having it set up in his room and letting him play in it sometimes so he's familiar with it - although I don't know whether I was the cot to be for playing...just sleeping.

Things that I would do again:

*pack a few days before and keep going through to ensure I have everything. It was great being over prepared (much better than under prepared I'm sure!).  There wasnt anything that I wish I took but didnt.
*miss out on night time activities to give OB a consistent night time routine. I missed out on going out for dinner on the Saturday night, instead I bathed OB, read him a story and put him down at his usual time. This worked really well (with a 12 hr sleep). I'm a big fan of making the baby fit into our lives but it's also fair to be realistic (and not expect a baby to be up all night).


All in all it was a great weekend. I'll do an update soon as I've just started night weaning...fingers cross it goes alright tonight.

Food philosophy

Food is probably my most divided issue. Eating is something I love. But my heart and my head are divided. My heart says to follow these principles...

*do eat fresh (fruit, veg, meat)
*drink water and tea (and coffee for hubby)
*limit milk (it's for little cows, not little humans)

*dont eat processed

And thats it. It really is that simple.

But my head (more my stomach than my head) says - look its easy, it's convenient, then do it.

This morning OB and I had dates and rockmelon for morning tea (with a cup of tea for me and a sippy cup of water for OB).

In this first post I will try to explain the purpose for this blog.

I am a first time parent to OB (8.5 months) and am trying to wade through the ridiculous quantities of information for first time parents (and parents in general) to come up with my parenting 'strategy'. Ha ha, I call it 'strategy' because I couldn't think of any other word thats appropriate.

I am hoping this will be....

• a place for me to collect my thoughts on parenting 
• a place to share my thoughts on parenting
• a place that I can come back to if we have more children to recall what I did this time round
• a place to hopefully get some ideas from others on parenting
• a place to share what my wonderful friends and family have taught me about home-making
• a place to store recipes 

A bit about me that will help explain why I have some of the thoughts that I have...

• I'm a christian - I believe the bible - I believe that Jesus death and resurrection have paid the price for our sins and that believing in him (and what he has done) is the only way to heaven. 
• I grew up on a farm (my parents are farmers)
• I am one of 5 children (I have 3 brothers and a sister....)
• Being a mother, homemaker, wife doesn't come easy to me: I'm a product of the 80's - value is not placed on home-making, our society teaches women to be independent, work-a-holics and that we can "do it all" (career, kids, husband, home). 
• I have spent the last 8 years studying (the last 4 whilst working full time) to acquire qualifications so that I will be "successful" in the world. What a delightful shock to find out that God priorities family (being a wife, mother and home-maker) over being a career woman.

My aim in motherhood is to transfer a God-centered, Christ-treasuring vision of life to my child(ren).