Week 31: 20/08 - 26/08
What's on the menu?
We're on to the allergens now. He's had oats, which has a small amount of gluten. But this week he had bread; the king of gluten. He liked it (and no reaction) so that's a pass. He had yogurt the last two days, and no reaction. So we're closer to ice cream..
Family days out
On Saturday we went over the strait to Beaumarris with Ted, Laura, Gwill and Ester. You can see the town from Llanfair and Tee noticed a big old ferris wheel. So really it was a day out for Tee and the boy was forced to come along. The wheel is the UK's biggest mobile ferris wheel topping 50m! A little nerve racking when it stopped at the very top while a new set of patrons got on below us. Rollie was not bothered. His dad was sweating.
Independence
Now that he's mobile it's opened up a new realm of independence for the lad. And a new realm of anxiety for the parents. It's wild to see him in a new light. He's often playing in the living room, kitchen, or bedroom. All of these rooms are connected by a landing, previously just a room he would be carried through. Now, it's his favourite place. You place him on his mat and he will beeline for the door, sit on the landing, turn around and give you a smile. The simple things.
Another thing we've changed to help his independence is moving his toy collection to a space where he can reach. Since he's been able to hold a toy, the only way he was able to start playing with one is when we pass it to him. So it's been a guessing game for us of what type of toy do we think he wants; a teething toy, a sensory toy, a flashy-flashy-makes-a-sound-when-you-do-a-thing toy. Who knows. But now he's able to crawl up to his selection and pick himself.
As a parent, my list of jobs are as follows:
- Keep the boy alive
- Prepare the boy for the "real world"
- Show the boy joy (see I told you I'm a fun parent)
He will spend more of his life out of my care than in my care so it's important for him to be self sufficient. But independence is a double edge sword. It's great that he's able to take the guess work out of what he wants to play with now. It's great that he's able to move himself about. But it's scary as a parent that his reliance upon me is getting smaller, and how that has happened in just 6 months.
That is my burden to bare though. It is not his fault he is now able to do things he previously required his parents for. And it will be important for me to allow him to do these things on his own and not impose on them. Jesus, when did this newsletter become such a therapy session. Let's get back to the regular programming.
Brushing teeth
With great chompers comes great responsibility. The first of (hopefully) many daily chores. Of course, his teeth aren't big enough to need brushing, and there's only two. However, it's a good idea to start exposing them to the tooth brush and tooth paste as soon as they're showing. It helps them from protesting super hard when they're required to start brushing teeth.
Beach bum
Bro is becoming a serious beach bum. And at some point he's going to need to venture out into the sand. Previously we've tried to keep him "sand free" and if you've been to a beach you'll know that is a sisyphean task. So we (read I, Tee went for a swim) dove into the sand with the boy. The main fear; that we will put it in his mouth. Which he only tried twice. The real problem came after he finished playing with the sand and wants to play on the mat with something else because he is covered in sand. Hands, feet, face, clothes, later we discovered sand in his nappy.
You would try and get the sand of his hands, he wouldn't like it and gets upset. What does he do when he's upset? He rubs his face. Now there's sand on his face so you try and get it off. He gets upset and rubs his face. Oh you didn't get all the sand of his hands, now it's on his face again.
A quick google when I got home lead me to two tips I'll be trying next beach trip:
- One piece full body SPF swimming suit
- Talcum powder is great at getting sand off
