The Molars are Coming....

No mistaking a teething baby (it says here). Along with a good deal of fretfulness and night waking, the classic signs are bright red cheeks (and I thought it was sunburn!) red gums, lots of drooling (no change there then) sore or chapped skin around the mouth and chin, a sore bottom, slight fever, loss of appetite and a general desire to gnaw anything and everything in sight.

We have been very lucky so far, as Jamie has hardly suffered with his teeth - other than the first ones when we used Ashton and Parsons Powders and a bit of Calpol and they were probably only needed as he had a cold at the same time!

Tips for teething I have read include; Make sure they are drinking a lot as the dribbling can make them thirsty, give them something to chew on (we have a teething ring that Megan/Oliver's mum bought us) and an alternative would be chilled chunks of raw fruit or veg or cool drinks. Don't forget soothing with cuddles and comfort!!

Of course as soon as the teeth appeared we should have started brushing them. This was easier said than done in the beginning but now Jamie actually demands his toothbrush if he sees either of us brushing our teeth, so its not quite as difficult. We can't actually say he gets them 'brushed' every day but at least the toothpaste reaches his teeth!! We do try to keep sugary food and drink to mealtimes only - choosing 'no added sugar' squash, but Jamie already has a sweet tooth which Grandad helps along by buying Chocolate Buttons when he visits!!

It takes a couple of years for the complete set of 20 to arrive. First to emerge are the two bottom front teeth, followed by the two top front teeth (incisors) at about 6months. At 8months two more incisors appear making four top and four bottom front teeth in all. Between 10-14months the first molars arrive - the double teeth for chewing. At 18months the canines - the eye teeth or 'fangs' should appear and between 2 and 2 and a half years the second set of molars should arrive.

Spend Less...

Due to the fact that tomorrow will be my last day at work, and that Daddy keeps asking if I have been looking for another position (have applied for 2 so far) and added to that we had the emergency budget on Tuesday, I spent a while actually looking at how much things cost while doing my on-line shop this morning. Things are pretty expensive - especially when those things are Baby related!!

I recently read; The Spend Less Handbook: 365 Tips for a Better Quality of Life While Actually Spending Less by Rebecca Ash, Capstone Publishing (2008), See: http://grumpymumtobe.blogspot.com/2010/02/dust-if-you-must.html The key points for me were:

Why are our lives so hectic? Because there is so much stuff in them. The more we shop, the more we own, the more chores, hassles and complications are created in our lives.

Your unconscious mind is weighed down by everything you own. Clutter impairs your development, because things that are piled up are frequently associated with memories, so they bind you to the past.

Slow down and enjoy every second of life more. Enjoy and reclaim the simple pleasures in life.

You won’t get to the end of your life and wish you’d made more money – you’ll wish you spent more time staring at the clouds, playing with your children or doing something more meaningful.
Don’t do a job you hate just to finance a lifestyle that is a compensation for the work you have to do in the first place. The less that you spend, the less you will have to work to be able to afford it. The less time you spend spending, the more time you can spend living.

Teach your children how to find joy and wonder in the small details of life – as opposed to spending money on an expensive toy that will be barely played with after 3 days. It is the ability to take pleasure in the everyday beauty of the world and life that will set your children up for lifelong happiness.

Ask Yourself: Do I really, really need this? Remember that what you actually want is less stuff in your life, not more.

Remember that you only have one life, and you really ought to live life as if you only had a few months left of it. Make time to do things that will add real value to your life – things that will make you feel like the person you want to be, the person you would like to be remembered as when you die.

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler." Henry David Thoreau

G'Day and Congratulations!!

Congratulations are in order again this week as cousin Jonathan and his wife Khanly - currently living in Aussie - are pregnant and due on Christmas Eve - just at the start of a holiday for the new grandparents.

We wish them all the best in the next few weeks and months.

Making Time Matter

In an attempt to answer all my woes in my last entry I read; The Time Paradox: Using the New Psychology of Time to Your Advantage by Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd, Ebury Publishing (2008) http://www.thetimeparadox.com/

The main points I must focus on are:

The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. Paradise Lost, Milton.

Your attitudes to time have a profound impact on your life. By changing the way you think about your past you change your future.

Ask yourself what you want to do today. Don’t ask what tasks you have to do today or what obligation you must meet before you can take time to enjoy yourself. Continually ask the big questions: What do I really want out of my life? What am I doing to get what I want? What is the best way to get from here to there?

‘We choose to rush and be busy. We can choose to slow down and cut back. This is in our power. But making such a choice is not easy.’ Ralph Keyes, Timelock. You need to do less, not more. Slim down your obligations. Eliminate as much as you can until you are in a comfort zone. Throw out the trash. Clean your closets of worn-out clothes. Stop going to events you don’t like. ‘Trying to increase one’s menu of possibilities contributes to overchoice, a key source of timelock. Reducing the range of options makes it possible to narrow ones focus and concentrate better.’ Ralph Keyes.

Only keep things from your past which make you happy. That includes thoughts / memories….. Reconstruct past negative experiences and either neutralize them or discover some hidden positive elements in them. Whenever you find yourself replaying the familiar old slides of past negative experiences, make yourself take out those slides and insert new slides into your memory tray. Practice viewing your new positive-only personal slide show to flood the dreary old past with a bright light of optimism. Forget about whether you had less love, success and good fortune than others in your life. That’s over and done with. Decide to become positive about your past and start afresh.

Life is what you make of it. You can make your time matter. Now is not the time to wait. Now is the time to act. Three days are all we have in which to live our lives. Yesterday was too early. Tomorrow will be too late. Today is the day of reckoning for each of us.

No man ever steps into the same river twice, for its not the same river and he’s not the same man. Heraclitus

Grumpy....

Went to see the Physio yesterday about my back that continues to give me trouble; along with the rest of my body. I feel like an old lady a lot of the time; aches and pains all over. Grumble, Grumble... This was my 4th visit on the NHS and it looks like I will be discharged next time to 'self-medicate' or whatever the phrase is. I left the session - which was quite painful but I am sure good for me at the same time - rather upset after he suggested; 'You need to be more active'. I came home and had a bit of a cry and a moan. I felt like such a fat, old woman.

But I know he is right. I know I should be doing my physio exercises as well as some 'proper' exercises (he suggested swimming) and I know I should think more about my posture, and god knows sitting at my laptop probably isn't doing me any good either, but its just one more thing amongst a sea of 'things to do'. And once I get in a spiral of misery I then begin to worry about the effect on Jamie. Am I a good enough mother? Am I spending enough quality time with him? Am I doing everything right?

I know I have unrealistic expectations of both myself and others in terms of what I want / need to do / finish / start but how to stop myself from getting so worked up about it? Or indeed how to stop all those things meaning so much when in reality they shouldn't!?

Answers please....

Come back to me in a year....

Talking of friends with new babies, there are a few friends around who are also carrying babies at the present time. A few weeks ago I met up with a group of old work mates and one of these showed us her 12week scan photo. But after that the night went downhill...... Two of us had babies (the other one heavily pregnant) and so we tried to give the newly pregnant friend some advice about the coming months ahead and ideas on things to buy and not to buy; how to save money, feel better etc etc. But I am afraid she did not want to hear about us and our experiences and everything seemed to be met with a snort of derision!! I was very upset and could not wait to leave. Although I did enjoy seeing the other girls, I don't think I shall be wasting my precious time meeting up with them all again. Not perhaps until after the baby is born when she will realise all her nice, perfectly laid plans and dreams are just that!!

I did discuss the evening with another friend who knew newly pregnant and I remembered that she had started the evening (before her announcement) by having a bit of a go at me about not meeting up over the last year or so. I admitted I have been slack with meeting the girls but, as I said to her, its difficult once you have a baby to predict with any certainty whether or not you will make all the events in your diary. She seems to be convinced her life will stay pretty much the same......Come back to me in a year.

Blog Babies 15 and 16

Congratulations to Liz and Rob. Baby Dylan born 5 weeks early on the 3rd June at 6.30am weighing 6lb 2oz.

Big Hugs to Sarah and Simon. Oliver James Clayton born 2 days overdue on the 5th June at 13.22pm weighing 8lb 2oz.

Hope to see them all very soon. xxx