Tuesday 24 November 2009

14 Months, 3 Weeks (Post 2)

Couple of things since I wrote my last entry...

NEWSFLASH!!!!

Callum ate 2/3rds of a pork chop and even tried (and ate a tiny bit) vegetables!!!! This is amazing! He has spat out pork chop before and I've already said about him not eating vegetables. He even ate a bit of vegetable with a bit of pork chop. He then tried each of the vegetables. Admittedly, he did spit out the veg he tried on its own but small steps! It is still a huge step forward for us.

Also, I asked Callum for a kiss and he pursed his lips for a kiss - so cute! It is more like he squeezes his lips together and pouts his bottom lip - adorable :o) *proud mummy*.

He is being a real piggy these last two days and drank 14oz at bedtime. Screamed when his bottle finished so I had to get him some more milk. He then wouldn't let go of his bottle and kept chewing the teat - I think he must be teething. Stuart had to go in there when he got home to grab the bottle.

Just had to update with the latest developments before I forgot!

14 Months, 3 Weeks

Well, following on from Callum being ill the other week (starting on a Tuesday, kind of clearing up by the Thursday but still not himself until the end of the following week!!!!!), on the Friday after he got ill, I caught the same bug. Horrid, horrid, horrid. I think I'm in danger of repeating myself from an earlier post but it is bloody hard work looking after a sick child but looking after one when you are sick yourself is beyond words! Luckily (I say luckily but didn't feel in any way lucky!!), whereas Callum had it spread out over a few days, I had it more aggressive but concentrated to 1 day.

I never thought I would say this but thank god for CBeebies. Thankfully, Callum was happy to sit and watch it all day, every day and often fell asleep on the sofa watching it. He couldn't sleep in his cot much as it was always in the wash.

That was the other difficult thing, trying to keep up with all the washing. I was doing several washes a day every day and still couldn't catch up. Even when Callum was over the sickness bug, a tickly cough remained which kept making him sick. It was never ending!

But phew! Thankfully, it is over and fingers crossed we wont get it again for quite some time!

Neither of us are still 100% as we both have a chesty cough (again!!!) but we are happy with it so not too bad.

However, all this had led me on to thinking about giving Callum vitamin drops. We take vitamins ourselves so it seems silly not to give them to Callum. He is probably offered a healthier and more varied diet than us but if he finds a vegetable, he rejects it and after being sick, his appetite went right down so it was difficult to get him to eat anything substantial for a couple of weeks. Thankfully, he has his appetite back now but I would just feel more comfortable to know he is getting a regular supply of vitamins. I read up on it and it is apparently recommended that parents give their children (from the age of 6 months to 5 years) vitamins so I might ask my HV about them.

Speaking of which, I need to rearrange Callum's MMR. I rang up to cancel it when he first got ill (about a month ago) and they told me it was the day before - oops! I keep forgetting to ring up to rebook it but, to be honest, I wouldn't have wanted him to have it if he wasn't feeling 100% so probably just as well I haven't remembered as I probably would have just had to cancel it again!

Last week was a hard week for me with Callum. With him not being back to his usual happy self, I found him very hard work. I was in desperate need of a Toddler Translator. He would cry and scream for something but I had no idea what he wanted. He would constantly direct me out to the kitchen by pointing and then point at random things or things he wasn't allowed. Especially when he was recovering from being ill - he kept pointing to things that were likely to make him sick again. I knew he was hungry but he would refuse anything plain I offered him throwing a huge tantrum. Occasionally, I would give in to a demand just to keep him happy but then he would throw it up. He suddenly hated his baths and would throw big tantrums and continually try to get out. Even since he has got better his confidence seems to have been knocked. Although he might go off to play at social situations, he would soon come back to me and just want to sit on my lap. Very, very unlike him. He was so happy and confident to just go and play and never looking for me before. He is slowly getting his confidence back and was such an angel toddler over the weekend so I'm hoping he'll be back to his usual self by the next social thing I take him too.

The last couple of days he seems to want to say more words but I keep saying that on here and he doesn't actually end up saying anything. He does seem to choose a word in his own language and continue say it for a day or so but I have no idea what it actually means. We have had recently 'bidet', 'baboo' (which we thought was 'no poo' but he says it at other times too) and today it is 'di doo'. As I said, a translator would be useful right now!

I took Callum swimming again on Sunday and he was so excited. He loves it. He was sitting on the side and jumping into my arms. He kept reaching for something leaning out of my arms and getting a face and mouthful of water but didn't seem to mind. I really want to get something that will help him float and give him independence from me in the water but need to research what will be the best thing. As I have said before, I must take him more as I would have him to lose his confidence in the water too.

Wednesday 11 November 2009

14 months, 1 week, 2 days

My poor little sausage has been under the weather quite a bit lately. I count us lucky that he hasn't had too many illnesses so far in his life as some of my friends' little ones seem to catch a lot more than Callum. Sometimes because they go to nursery and Callum doesn't but not all of them do so I take full praise for the wonderful antibodies that I've passed on :o). However, he has managed to catch a couple of viruses recently.

He had a cold a couple of months ago, then just as he was getting over that he caught a throat infection that caused him to have a nasty cough and now, just as he was getting over that, he has caught another virus! A sickness bug this time. He has been sick for the last couple of days and hasn't managed to eat anything and keep it down. Thankfully, he has drunk more water today than yesterday but still not getting anywhere near enough fluids. The worrying thing is that he keeps being sick in his sleep :o(. I took him to the doctor today after calling the Health Visitor. I was pretty sure they would say it was just something he would need to get over himself but he had a couple of odd symptoms that didn't make sense so the HV said I should take him to the doctor just to be sure.

Sure enough, he said he had a virus and there was nothing he could do for him. He said his throat is sore again and he could see he wasn't himself. Callum also has a dry rash on his cheeks which I was worried might be Slapped Cheek Syndrome, although he didn't have the other cold/flu like symptoms but the Dr said he thought it was just a bit of baby eczema and to put moisturiser on it. I think it might be a sign of him being dehydrated but then I'm not a doctor!

Poor love is so not himself either. This morning I put him on the sofa to drink his milk (which is the only thing he has managed to consume and keep down surprisingly) with a blanket over him and kiddie tv on. As soon as he had finished his milk he just closed his eyes and went to sleep. He had only been awake an hour :-/. He has been mostly asleep or happy to just be snuggled up to me on the sofa. He hasn't played with any of his toys or shown an interest in anything else.

In the meantime, completely selfish comment from me, I'm getting cabin fever. And cabin fever makes me want to eat...and none of it good! So I'm getting wider by eating loads and sitting on my butt! And to think I chose this week to start my diet again! Well, last week actually but didn't do particularly well then either. I just hope he is better for Friday as we have a couple of things booked in the diary that I think will do us both good!

One of the things is Gym Jams. It is a type of soft play centre but different from the usual ones. It is in a village hall and has a bouncy castle, a deep ball pool and lots of soft structures to clamber over. Callum loves it and I get to have a nice cup of tea and a natter while he goes off to play. The place is still quite small so you can keep an eye on him without having to be by his side. They have a Christmas party too with Father Christmas. How exciting, Callum's first Christmas party and the first time he has seen Father Christmas. I hope he doesn't get scared like some children do...

I took Callum swimming last week and was keen to make it a weekly occurrence but then he got ill again so I couldn't take him this week. He loved it last week though. He is gaining so much confidence in the water - too much really as he was trying to crawl to the deep end. I was trying to get him to sit on the side then jump into the pool into my arms. He did it a couple of times. I need to get him some arm bands or something I think as he needs to learn how to be on his own in the water (of course with me supervising but not with me holding him all the time). I have wondered whether I should go without them so that he is encouraged to swim earlier but not sure that is the best thing to do. I have tried him with arm bands before (a friend let me try her boy's) and they do take some skill in themselves as children don't realise that the arm bands will keep their arms up and then they still need to hold their heads up. Plus the ones we tried weren't particular good as the whole of him wanted to sink rather than the armbands holding him up. I have seen those suits with the float around the middle and wonder whether they will be better. Need to find some people who have tried both to see what would be best. I really do want to take Callum swimming more regularly.

Hopefully, he will be back to himself before I know it and we can get back to his usual active social life :o)