Life as a Parent 2.4

[dataDave]

Yeah. No idea how long were going to keep Sant going. At three Jimbo is already questioning the physical logic of the story.

[Blobcat]

Poor thing! Wishing all mums and dads and their little ones a safe and magical Christmas

[Mayhem]

Poor Kathryn rather got a bit overwhelmed by all her gifts at birthday so we’ve been rationing them instead over the Xmas period...

[Blobcat]

Yeah I think my mother did the same when I was a kid. I have had the odd gifts arrive late this week in delivery so my birthday was staggered this year.

My mum used to say I was like the Queen by having 2 birthdays. I used to have the odd birthday party for school friends and some family I'd unlikely see on my actual birthday (26th December) at the start of December when people were still around not visiting family for Christmas. My actual birthdays have always been quite quiet affairs compared to Christmas Day which are noisy and boisterous most years with my family!

[Neon Ignition]

So, we're currently at:

Jr1
He's approaching his sixth birthday with an overpowering obsession with Mario. The only non-Mario game he's been interested in playing is co-op with me chipping at It Takes Two. Managed to make some progress with bike riding (stabilisers on) but mostly what we're mindful of is he's an incredibly soft natured kid, very socially confident but it takes little to upset him and he could do with steeling himself a bit so in the coming years it's not so easy for other kids to get to him. Choice moment was yesterday morning when he asked for some chocolate and I said no and he said "yeah, well, when you were a baby you're first word was no"

Jr2
Much the opposite. Whilst also socially confident she's much more independent. If Jr1 saw a child hurt themselves he'd tell you, Jr2 would laugh at the misfortune of the display of patheticness before her might. She's somewhat into Mario too but also Spanish youtube videos of over spoilt kids who will probably turn to drugs in future years thanks to monetising parents who've denied them a proper childhood... like Ryan. She likes to kill bugs too, I haven't checked if she's keeping vials of blood behind the aircon vent yet.

Jr3
Wants to crawl so badly, more likely to go in reverse or propel herself face first into the carpet first though but it won't be long. Touch wood I think we're about to get out the other side of a bout of sleep regression too. Knowing she's on the road to being 9 months old and is the final baby is really sending the missus under of late.

[Neon Ignition]

Insane how fast time goes, on Wednesday Jr3 will be 1 year old already. With the kids at school we did all the Birthday stuff over the weekend, keeping back one or two presents for the day itself. The missus is struggling somewhat with knowing that she's outgrowing the baby phase now and that there won't be a fourth baby. It's like a band aid that needs ripping off, we could have 30 kids and she'd be upset just the same when it's the last one. Me? I'm definitely done with three, I always felt a pull to having another straight after the first two and haven't felt it at all this time.

[nonny]

Snip snip...

Sounds a lot like us with our 3... Wildly different personalities between them all and yet yeah they're definitely ours.

My 2nd just started school last week but our youngest (now 2) decided that is the week she'll learn to climb out of her cot and run around in the middle of the night. Has a mental couple of weeks running on next to zero sleep and yet when the next routine kicks in I also feel like we will be better off.

Good fun innit, but not good enough to have four... Kudos to anyone that has!

[kryss]

Trying to get Kidryss to sleep in his crib rather than on the bed with us.
That's not going well. On the plus side, dropping him in his crib now I have the walls up and lowered the mattress is a nice baby trap, and the wife can go to the bathroom without finding him climbing the back of the sofa.

[Mayhem]

Kathryn has a small issue with her bed, I don't know if it's because it's still the cot bed she's had for two years now (albeit with the side removed of course) or the fact it's not "mummy's bed". We are thinking of getting her a cabin bed, which is good for storage as well, allows her to get to the plinth area in her room (that part is where the staircase comes up from the ground floor) and has a slide, and she loves slides.

[Cassius_Smoke]

My wife and daughter have gone to London for the past couple of days so I've been looking after the little chap on my own. He's only 2 and has a cold. I can't pretend it's been easy, if fact he's been a little git at times. But I have enjoyed having time with him.
Basically, childcare boils down to looking after them and keeping them safe... And working the clock down to bed time. That's it. Everything you do at this age is for one of those two reasons.

[Neon Ignition]

One of those weeks last week. Opened things up on Monday with Jr3 having mastered walking consistently a few days before, she was literally just standing and lost her balance. Fell backward and bumped her head on the floor, next thing she goes blank faced and motionless before passing out. Whe she came round she struggled to stay awake. Several hours of A&E later she was fine. Thankfully we'd experienced something similar, but to a worse extent, years before with Jr1 so had a sense of what it was.

Bookended it yesterday with Jr2 feeling a bit off colour. She goes to the bathroom saying her belly feels a bit achy, finishes then goes to head back downstairs. Next minute I hear an awful series of sounds and wonder what's going on. I head to the stairs to check on her and she's stood on the top step, essentially had a sudden attack of the runs to the extent she's losing consciousness. If I hadn't have gone to see what the sound was she'd have passed out and collapsed down the entire flight of stairs. Half an hour later and a bathroom, landing, stairs and living room full of watery poop later she's also in an ambulance as high priority to A&E.

Last night... all three kids right as rain, you'd never know anything had ever been wrong with them. I swear I'm losing years of my life in a matter of days.

[gunrock]

Oh man, I feel for you guys. It is tough times with young kids (and by that I mean, younger than 8!). Hang on in there, you're doing grand, you truly are.
Meanwhile, one of my boys is in hospital for a circumcision today, which they should have done five years ago, but instead opted for a slice to loosen the skin and now we're back in the same situation, except this time he's 10 and more aware, worried and frightened about the whole thing :grrrr:
Edit: sorry if anyone is reading this over lunch, etc

[Cassius_Smoke]

One of those weeks last week. Opened things up on Monday with Jr3 having mastered walking consistently a few days before, she was literally just standing and lost her balance. Fell backward and bumped her head on the floor, next thing she goes blank faced and motionless before passing out. Whe she came round she struggled to stay awake. Several hours of A&E later she was fine. Thankfully we'd experienced something similar, but to a worse extent, years before with Jr1 so had a sense of what it was.

Bookended it yesterday with Jr2 feeling a bit off colour. She goes to the bathroom saying her belly feels a bit achy, finishes then goes to head back downstairs. Next minute I hear an awful series of sounds and wonder what's going on. I head to the stairs to check on her and she's stood on the top step, essentially had a sudden attack of the runs to the extent she's losing consciousness. If I hadn't have gone to see what the sound was she'd have passed out and collapsed down the entire flight of stairs. Half an hour later and a bathroom, landing, stairs and living room full of watery poop later she's also in an ambulance as high priority to A&E.

Last night... all three kids right as rain, you'd never know anything had ever been wrong with them. I swear I'm losing years of my life in a matter of days.

Bloody hell, not good. Glad they are OK.
Kids just drop off cliff edges with their health. I remember my daughter when she was about 2 her temperature suddenly spiked to around 40. Took her in and she had a chest infection (out of nowhere I might add), next day after only 1 dose of antibiotics, she was tip top again.

[Neon Ignition]

That's where we're at. A couple of antibiotic doses later she's fine atm but belly is still off a little. It's good they bounce back quick at the missus goes from 1-11 in a second when it comes to the kids so she's stressed out to hell after this last week with them

[QualityChimp]

Glad they're okay, mate.