Monday 27 April 2009

Stranger Danger.

According to books I've read some babies become afraid of strangers at around 6 months of age. Well this happened for Maya at around 2 1/2 months (strangers being anyone other than her parents). It became impossible for anyone other than Greg or I to hold or mind her and I know this was hard on family who would have loved to cuddle her.

Happily, over the last couple of weeks Maya has become more comfortable with strangers and people are now able to hold her for short periods of time. I am hoping this will continue to improve and other people will be able to hold or mind her for extended periods of time.

Especially the mind her *hint hint*

Wednesday 22 April 2009

Beginning solids.

The messy, fun, new world of solids.
(The pictures say it all really :)


Thursday 16 April 2009

Space.

I didn't realise how restricted I was in our old place until we moved in to our new home. Our old place was so small that when we moved in we had to play Tetris with our furniture to fit it all in. Our lounge room had no space left except for walking through it.

I had to move the coffee table right up against the couches so that I could create a tiny play space of about one square metre for Maya to play in. Maya and I would then squeeze into that small space, with furniture crowded around us and above us.

In our new home we have room! Our furniture fits with room to spare and we have storage space and a yard for Maya to play in. But what I am enjoying the most at the moment is the play area I created for Maya. It is spacious, has room for all her toys and isn't crowded over by things. I don't have to squeeze in next to her anymore and hopefully as she gets used to having more space she'll start to move around more.

Monday 13 April 2009

Moving.

Tomorrow we are moving closer to my family and friends. I am both sad and happy about the move. I am sad because I love the area I live in. I have been here for nearly ten years now. I love the late night gelati, cafes and book stores, the many different restaurants and shops and the closeness to the city and to my work. But now my life is very different and I am not able to make good use of the many great features of this area - like having a coffee and cake at 11pm on a weeknight. What I need most now is company and help during the weekdays. So I am also very excited about the move and am looking forward to having friends and family near by. :)

Thursday 9 April 2009

The toughest part.

For me the toughest part of motherhood so far has been the loneliness and lack of support. Not only do I have no one to talk to but more importantly there's no one around to help. Of course Greg helps heaps and I couldn't do this without him, but for the majority of the week he's either at work or sleeping.

I do attend play group and mums and bubs yoga and try to see people whenever I can. However most people work or have plenty of friends and family to see or who are there to help.

The really frustrating thing is that I do in fact have some family members who are free during the week but they are not prepared to travel the one hour to see me. They act as though I live on the other side of the world. Instead I try to visit my family but Maya hates being in the car and on one particular trip spent the whole hour screaming all the way back, which kind of put me off making the trip. And hey even without the screaming it's tough travelling with a baby - all the things to pack and organise! It would be a whole lot easier for them to come to me. Plus the things I need help with are at my place.

I know there are plenty of mothers out there who have moved very far away from friends and family or are single mothers. And to be honest I have no idea how they manage being on their own. Though I guess I am managing, I just don't want to do this on my own.

Maya's first food.

I gave Maya a piece of apple to taste, expecting her to make a face and throw it away. Instead she sucked whole-heartedly on that piece of apple for ages.

Wednesday 8 April 2009

Regularly medicating babies.

I am surprised by how many people regularly medicate their babies. I don't mean doctor prescribed medication for illnesses. I mean things like paracetamol, ibuprofen, colic remedies, teething gels, etc.

Since Maya was born I have given her paracetamol ONCE and I debated over the decision before giving it to her. She did have a slight fever and wasn't happy. Eventually I came to the decision that for all I knew she was in pain from a vaccination she had just received and couldn't tell me. So I gave her the smallest dose of paracetamol possible (most of which she spat out or brought up) and a while afterwards she seemed to be doing better. Was it the paracetamol or would she have gotten better anyway? I don't know. My point is that so many mothers seem to just automatically give their babies these drugs without a seconds thought. Their babies are unsettled but with no fever. Is the problem really pain? Or are their babies just being normal, healthy babies who have needs they cannot express verbally?

I was shocked to hear one mother reveal that for a couple of weeks now she has given her baby paracetamol morning, noon and night because she thinks her baby is teething. Surely giving your baby medication on a regular basis can't be good for them.

Don't get me wrong, I am not against using medication for babies. There are times when it is definitely needed. However, it seems like a lot of mothers are automatically jumping to the conclusion that their babies are in pain or sick rather than checking if their baby is hungry, needs a change or needs a cuddle, etc. Surely trying other methods to settle a baby first would be more beneficial than to automatically reach for the medication?

Or maybe I am just very lucky and Maya is an easy going baby who is rarely unsettled without an obvious reason like tiredness or hunger.