Saturday 29 August 2015

Goodbye sucky bunny

I've had a parenting win! Miss 3 never had dummies as a baby. We were fortunate in that she basically slept for the first month of her life and it never occurred to me to give her one later on. Lucky I know.

However, when she was a bit older, she did get into the habit of taking a bunny to bed and she sucked it to death. I'm not talking about a slight nibble followed by a cuddle, I'm talking she put the entire ear in her mouth and left it there all night. Actually, when the ear became too soggy she would move on to a foot and by the morning each limb would be a disgusting mess. It didn't really bother me except when she had a cold and I genuinely wondered how on earth she was managing to breathe with a blocked nose and effectively a gag in her mouth.

There used to be three different bunnies which rotated through and she didn't appear to have a preference. Then the stuffing started to come out of one of the bunny legs and despite my extreme efforts to actually sew socks on, this bunny was no longer favoured. Apparently the socks weren't appropriate sucking texture. I had hoped this was the beginning of giving up on the sucking but she just favoured the other two bunnies.

The dependence on bunny had increased lately. About a year ago, if we'd gone away for the weekend I probably wouldn't have been too worried about not taking a bunny but more recently there has been a favourite bunny required for every nap and sleep.  This poor bunny has actually been titled Sucky Bunny and there have been many discussions about perhaps Sucky could just be Cuddly tonight but this suggestion had never been received well with comments such as, "maybe when I'm four."

Then the other night as I said goodnight I commented Sucky was particularly pungent and that we really must give her a wash. Miss 3 lept out of bed and put her straight into the washing. I hadn't actually intended that to happen but I seized the opportunity to say that if she was happy to go to bed without Sucky then tomorrow we would find a special burrow for Sucky to live in and that she wouldn't suck on any bunnies anymore.

She was totally on board. She slept completely fine. The next day when I brought in the washing I showed her that Sucky was all clean and she happily put her away in a drawer in her bedroom. I told her I was proud of her. She told me she was proud of herself.  We had a hug. It was like some kind of parenting poetry. I even rewarded her by letting her choose a new toy when we were out later that day. She chose a Tasmanian Devil which I'm pleased to say has remained suck free.

Wednesday 26 August 2015

Jarrahdale Heritage Reserve

A wonderful event was held in Jarrahdale on the weekend to bring together the local community and introduce the revitalised heritage reserve. There was a log chopping competition, sausage sizzle, singing from the primary school and a marvellous bonfire. A wander down the Wattle Walk to the Gooralong Brooke which is being re-vegetated saw young children giggling with delight as they played on the rocks, balanced along the fallen trees and some even splashed in the water despite the near freezing conditions.

As the sun went down and the chill set in, it was great to see people gathering together and enjoying a baked potato cooked in the smouldering ashes of the bonfire.

The greatest part of this event was that it was all run by volunteers and brought together various community groups including the school P&C, volunteer bushfire brigade, heritage society and many simply interested people from the community.  It is these volunteers who have basically made the heritage park.  For years this land has sat idle and overgrown, with even locals not truly understanding the potential. Now, thanks to a few volunteers, lead by my Dad and his mate Geezer, this is a truly beautiful destination that will be treasured by locals and I believe become a day-trip destination for the people of Perth.

The day after the opening event we went back for a quiet walk and this is when I truly appreciated the beauty. There is a spring that produces water all through the year and the stream is running beautifully at the moment.  It was a bit tricky with the boys who aren't yet walking but we took the wagon and they certainly enjoyed the scenery.

Miss 3 had a fabulous time throwing sticks in the water and watching them bob along like boats. She tasted the spring water, looked out for frogs, listened to the birds and generally just enjoyed being out and about.


Jarrahdale is situated in the jarrah forest of the Darling Scarp, less than an hours drive from Perth.  The heritage reserve is best entered behind the Jarrahdale General Store where you can easily find car parking.

Monday 17 August 2015

Thank goodness for sunny days

This weekend's beautiful sun could not have come at a better time. I've often marvelled at how parents manage in small apartments or cold climates. I am absolutely hopeless when we are stuck inside. It's bad enough when the children are all healthy but had we not been able to get out this last few days with sick and whingy babies, I think I may have been driven to insanity. 

I appreciate that many will say that sick children should be kept home. In theory I completely agree with this. My husband was immune suppressed for years and still has a pretty useless immune system. I would love for him and my children to never be exposed to germs but I just think it's impossible. If we didn't go out each time someone had a runny nose, I wouldn't have been out of the house in months. I'm completely onboard with not visiting newborn babies when sick or not going into confined spaces, but I simply cannot just stay at home. I would go crazy.

I also come from a school of thought that fresh air and some extra sleep is good for you. So on Friday when the when both L and S were particularly unwell we went to the zoo. J has a half hour lesson there every Friday and it would have been a shame for her to miss out because of the sick babies. I was a bit nervous at first but it turned out really well. The boys stayed in the pram the whole time and just napped on and off. It was really quite perfect. I expect if we'd stayed home they would have whinged all morning, not napped at all and we all would have ended up in tears.

We did skip swimming for the babies on Saturday. I'm not sure if all the chlorine kills the bugs but indoor swimming pools don't seem like the healthiest of places. Instead, I walked the boys to the markets and Ed and J met us there after swimming. The boys were whinging terribly while at home and I was cursing that I hadn't taken them to swimming as well but as soon as we got out of the house they were fine. Then the sun came out properly and it was amazing. We grabbed some coffees and croissants and sat down on the grass while the three children played happily. I loved it.


Friday 14 August 2015

I remember when the smell of vomit made me want to vomit

It's been a rough few days. I'd made a doctor's appointment to discuss a suite of non-urgent issues regarding the boys. As mentioned previously, premature twins are not the most care free of babies so I was all set with my list of matters to raise and hoping for the doctor to eliminate some of my worries.

Unfortunately, Master L had another idea. He woke up pretty unhappy and progressively got worse until he was pretty distraught during the appointment. We left with a prescription and instructions to come back 24 hours later if I hadn't decided to take him to hospital. I then obviously spent the rest of the day and much of the evening stressing about whether or not I should take him to the hospital. We made it to the morning though and I was feeling pretty good about my decision to stay home.

Almost needless to say, as soon as I stopped worrying about Master L, Master S started to deteriorate. At least I already had a doctor's appointment.  I'd just called to see if they were running on time and was waiting the additional twenty minutes with S asleep in my arms when all of a sudden there was an almighty stream of vomit all over me and the sofa. 

Miss J approached with a look of some concern but mostly curiosity and in amongst the chaos I could see she was retching a bit. Rather than being concerned for her I have to admit I was a bit nostalgic. I used to be a bit of a sympathetic vomitor. I also used to think that carrying around snotty tissues was gross. Now I think I'm disorganised if I don't have a few tissues on the go at any one time. We use cloth nappies at home too and that means scraping poo into the toilet. Parenthood is not a glamorous gig.

A full costume change for me and for Master S and we were off to the doctor. We came back with another prescription plus the doctor's mobile number and home address.