Tuesday 15 November 2011

How do I feed a baby with better grip than me!?

Ok ok so I am very naughty and have not blogged for a few days. Life really is a bit bonkers at the moment.

Both my husband and I have major joint breakdown. We are swallowing as much pain killer as is possible in order to keep functioning physically but not so much that we mentally are zonked out! I think we are both in line for ankle and knee replacements and so we are playing lottery as to whose name is drawn out of the NHS hat first for a joint upgrade.

In the mean time our son gets more and more determined, I love it but at the same time I find myself having to make quick decisions made in the blink of an eye and also am constantly having to make sure I stay at least five steps ahead of his game, I am sure this is something any parent can identify with. However what does one do when ones 10 month old has a stronger grip than you and there is a battle of who gets to hold the spoon to feed child?

Day one of Christopher's new found grip ability we had plastic spoons all over our dining room, I tried to grab the spoon back and couldn't get him to release it so I went to the cutlery drawer and got another, he saw a new spoon and dropped old one on floor and then grabbed the new one and so the process went on. My assistant "Canine Partner" dog was on over time work, picking spoons up left right and centre,bringing them to me with a huge wag at each spoon presented,meanwhile Christopher tried to grab her tail at the same time. Thank goodness for a dishwasher or I would have had an awful lot of washing up to do at the end of meal time.

So husband and I went to that trusty mental drawing board in our head. His first thought was that we need to be tougher, giving him a spoon to play with whilst using our own one to shovel food into child very quickly. However we ended up with about 16 spoons on the floor and a very busy dog. So back to re thinking, a hole is going to be drilled into the top of one plastic spoon and then string thread through the hole. The string would be long enough to be tied to the side to the high chair but also enough for our son to be able to play with spoon, bring it to his mouth etc. Meanwhile we use our own spoon to get food down him.

Dad is over tomorrow so he can get drilling a spoon and we'll try this hole in spoon system out and let you know if it is a solution. In the meantime, I gave our little cherub some finger food toast,this was fantastic, kept him very busy and very happy, he loves being able to manage things himself and I so understand how he feels.

Something I find very difficult and heart wrenching,is not to give him too much help with getting things in his close vicinity. As a child who has struggled all my life to do things independently and not seem "different" I feel for any child when they are trying to reach something or do something and can't quite manage to. I have felt that a lot of my life but I have had to learn how I might do something differently as my family have always encouraged me to try to do something on my own. I often find myself helping Christopher get something that he is trying desperately to get that isn't far from his reach. My husband tells me off as he rightly says that our son won't learn how to move, reach etc if I keep passing what he wants to him. I don't know how to switch this feeling I have off, I wish I could, I just have been that child for too many years of my life that has tried to get things, if I dropped things on the floor I had to learn to pick things up with my feet, or use a coat hanger, that was until Yasmin, my assistant dog came along. Wish I had Yasmin when I was a child but equally maybe I would have a house bulging with NHS aids every where and be a very different person to who I am today.

I'm hoping Yasmin doesn't get too helpful for Christopher, I fear she may, she already picks up toys and wonders if she should give them to me or him!

Sunday 6 November 2011

Cracking up here!

I could sum our whole week up in two words, hectic and painful!

What a miserable way to start a blog, especially as I have been naughty and not blogged every day. The reality of the situation is that I don't have time. I know every parent will understand that.

Ok so here is a situation and explanation of lack of time, I am trying to open up a can of rice pudding for my son. That takes me five mins to be able to bend to the cupboard where the can is located, pick the thing up, drop it twice, assistant dog has to pick it up and on the second drop thinks I am mucking about! Then I go to the electric can opener (usually a fantastic invention) only to find my can opener has decided to shred cans rather than open them.I shout at can opener, my son meanwhile is moaning loudly that he is starvin Marvin and all the time the can opener keeps on shredding! Still after another five mins I manage to get it to do its proper job and put rice pudding into a bowl which is also stored at a low level that takes another two mins to bend down to. Finally it goes into the Microwave for a lovely speedy 30 seconds and after 10 mins I have something to feed the baby with! Poor little guy, he is learning patience though! I am learning to say BERTY instead of boll£"ks so I guess it is a win win situation. Except the can opener has lost its battle because I am throwing it out and getting a new one tomorrow. If it can't do its job it is sacked,lots of can openers wanting employment out there!

My "Canine Partner" dog however is munching her way through many a log bone as she is on call all day, picking up toys that my little boy throws on the floor, tackling heavy tins on the floor, cleaning up our wood floor in our dining room after my son has eaten which saves a world of hassle with mobs and floor cleaner. Don't worry, when he is crawling the floor will get a big steam session on it!

Which brings me onto my next cunning plan in independent parenting. A X5 Mop. These look good, haven't dared buy one yet, my father ,sat with his big pension keeps asking me to get one so he can see if it is worthy of buying! No father you get one, no daughter you get one conversations can while away a happy 20 mins. So it looks like it is up to us to purchase one. We have an adapted bathroom, my brother designed it for me and did a fantastic job. He then got the DFG to install it and inspected their work and insisted on them re-doing something if it wasn't up to scratch,its funny to watch your brother all grown up as a Chartered Surveyor, its strange to think of the boy who I played lego with for hours is now designing and telling people off when they don't get it right! Mind you he was always very precious about his Technic lego, I was always told off for using it so he had practice! So now our bathroom has a huge glass pane dividing our walk in shower area to our bath and toilet giving a huge floor space and a feeling of light and airiness. But most of all I can just toddle into the shower either by walking or by chair, no step to take 15 mins to try and do. Boy do my husband and I need to shower at the end of every day and wash our pain away a bit. However both my husband and I take immune system erasing medication and so we have to have a spotless home! Any bug or infection lands us in hospital and so I can no longer scrub a shower floor as I can not stand for long at all now my ankle has collapsed so bring on Mr X5 mop!

Well apart from that it has been mortgage sorting, bill paying, flash card reading, cuddles, singing, playing with every toy,blooming "Mr Maker", "Small Potatoes", "Driver Dan Story time" on cebeebies, bring on Father Christmas please! Am bored of playing with the same toys and I want to throw the television out of the window!

TU at Sainsbury's have a sale so I have been stocking up on easy zip sleepsuits, fantastic items of clothing for disabled parents! Watch out for Tescos clubcard exchange though as they have zip sleepsuits too so please stock up. Before I had my son I thought I was going to have lots of smart cord trousers and nice jumpers for day wear and sleepsuits would not be worn in the day at all. Now I have the reality of being a parent I can see if you are not going any where smart then keeping clothes as hassle free and pain free for yourself as a parent whilst keeping your little one warm is the best solution. Been to the Library,fantastic, I look forward to getting Christopher new books to read. We live in the city so we have watched fantastic firework displays for free and in the warm! We got some token indoor sparklers to light for our son to see. He was overwhelmed, NOT!

It sounds all hum drum really but it is the reality of having a little one. Equally I miss him so much when he goes to bed, being a parent is such a rollercoaster of emotions!

Hope you had a lovely bonfire night or if you are from else where on the planet I hope you had a lovely weekend x