Poorly Baby

I’m recovering at the moment from a yucky tummy bug that blighted the weekend somewhat.  You might say I’ve been riding the chunder-bus, and I’ve felt so poorly that I didn’t even care what the wheels were doing or that the wipers go “swish, swish, swish.”

I’ll spare you the gruesome detail as I’m more refined than that (it’s Mummy and Daddy that seem fascinated with my bodily functions).  Suffice to say, it’s just as well they were up together with the laundry because we needed the spare bed linen and the emergency set on Saturday night! 

If I’d felt less ill, I might have giggled at the sight of the two of them rushing around trying to sort everything out and calm me down, bumping into each other in the dark and trying to contain the spread of vomit to what I’d managed to achieve.  In hindsight, it was probably quite entertaining!

Thankfully, it didn’t last more than about 12 hours and I’m feeling great again today.  Apparently, tummy ache is quite common in little people and be caused by all sorts of things.  It might be a bug or an allergy, but it’s just as likely to be a case of over-eating.  Believe it or not, it can also be stress!  You might scoff and ask what I might possibly have to be stressed about, but I’m trying to walk here!  That’s pretty big!

Aside from the vomiting, I’d been bending over a lot and holding my tummy to let Mummy and Daddy know it didn’t feel quite right, and I’d lost my appetite.  They knew straight away I wasn’t myself then!

 

Good old Calpol is a reliable friend in these situations, and my warm bath helped a bit.  It’s important to rest and drink plenty of water.  Not milk so much, but certainly water, and although warm water doesn’t taste that nice, it could help settle an upset stomach.  It might have been a baby that advised this, but apparently ice-cream can be quite good – it’s easy to eat and helps replace lost sugars, with a bit of an energy boost.  I’m not saying it’s true, I’m just telling you what I heard.

We still don’t know what caused mine, but at least it’s gone now. 

CB

Writing Workshop: Simple Pleasures

This is my first foray into the Writing Workshop hosted by Sleep Is For The Weak, and I’m quite excited by it! My next step in the blogging world.

I want to tell you about what made today special, and mean something to me. It’s been a really lovely day, actually.  The weather threatened to ruin it for a while, but in the end it was perfect.  My little village had a bit of a gathering – a picnic for everyone to get together, have a catch up and share some grub.  People aren’t that keen on sharing mine though because I tend to squeeze it through my fingers as I offer it to them.

What was so lovely about it was everyone spending time together.  I went with Mummy and Daddy, but when we arrived I went to play with the big kids while M and D talked about boring grown-up stuff with other parents.  I came back to eat with them but shot off again afterwards and they mingled with other folk.

I was the life and soul, of course.  I instigated an impromptu game of “follow my leader” and crawled round the field with everyone else following.  It made Mummy feel proud and a bit sad at the same time; proud that I’m confident enough to go and socialise with other people, but sad that she felt her baby was literally moving away from her, growing up almost as she watched me eating dirt and climbing on the wooden frames.  I’m not a baby any more, Mummy!

It encapsulated everything that village life means, back to basics, if you like.  Young and old, all together, enjoying the summer sunshine.  Very informal, do as you please, and we all had a great day.

CB

Tooth Brush Wars

I wrote last week about the two-man nappy change.  This week’s battle is teeth-brushing.  Quite frankly, I think it’s over-rated and I don’t want to do it any more.  I quite like the taste of the toothpaste so I’m happy to suck the bristles, but I don’t think brushing’s for me.  I know Mummy’s desperate for me to co-operate a bit more and she’s almost at the point of paying for a secret!  Good work, even if I say so myself.

I’ve had a toothbrush longer than I’ve had teeth.  Mummy and Daddy wanted me to get used to the idea.  I think they thought if they made it ‘fun,’ I’d go for it a bit more readily.  A good idea in theory, but I don’t have to follow convention.

Some of their tactics are quite amusing.  My favourite at the moment is Mummy taking it turns with me.  I stick the toothbrush so far down her throat while she tries not to gag, we pretend to brush her teeth, then it’s her turn to brush mine.  Except that I clamp my mouth shut so tightly, nothing’s going to get past my lips!

She tells me horror stories about what will happen if I don’t brush my teeth, and some of them sound quite gruesome.  So until I’ve had enough of this sport and start brushing properly, we’ll take some other precautionary measures to keep decay at bay:

Dilute fruit juice.  Neat juice is quite acidic so adding water helps neutralise.

Avoid sugary drinks and food.  It’s obvious really!

Use a small amount of toothpaste.  You’d think toothpaste is a good thing, but until you can be sure we’ll spit, little is better because it’s not too god for our tummies.

Practice. Make tooth-brushing a twice daily routine, like your own, and even if it seems like a real chore, persevere.  Sing, dance, bribe if you need to!

It’ll all be worth it when we have a beautiful, sparkling smile.

CB

Silly Mistake, Mummy

Mummy made a schoolgirl error today. She's decided recently that she needs to do something about her mummy-tummy so she's started Zumba. That's hilarious in itself - anyone who knows my mummy knows that her co-ordination leaves a lot to be desired; the instructor's going left, Mummy's going right, they're pushing, she's pulling. 

The mistake was not thinking the prep through properly today.  She got ready in plenty of time, thinking she’d be able to spend a bit more time with me before bed.  Clever, but it was only when she got to the sports centre that she realised she was still wearing her flip-flops.  So, the dilemma; sneak off before any noticed and pretend she was never there, or carry on but go barefoot.  She took the high-impact option, and will probably feel it in the morning. I’ll maybe give her an easier time tomorrow.

It seems to be a trait she and Daddy share – they have both been known to make silly mistakes if they jump into something too soon or without thinking it through.  My favourite example of this is our first outing.  Two proud rookie parents, out with the baby for the first time.  We went to register my birth.  We had my hat, the change bag, all the documents we needed.  Just not the wheels for my buggy.  Daddy’s arms were aching at the end of that trip, carrying me in my car seat!  The buggy lives in the car now, never to be left again.

I’m not suggesting they have a physical checklist for every time they go out, but it would save them some red cheeks if they just stopped for a second and thought it through.  Or communicated better amongst themselves.  They’re both guilty of assuming the other has checked things, or packed the bags.  We went to a party last weekend, when the weather was so gorgeous, and the change bag stayed home to keep the dog company.  And the suncream. Oops!  If they would just speak to each other first!  They’ll learn.

CB

A Thoroughly Grumpy Baby

The photographer was at nursery today.  I didn’t smile for him. He looked dodgy, and besides, I just wasn’t in the mood.  To be honest, I haven’t really been feeling myself for the last couple of days.  I’ve been grizzling for no apparent reason and nothing anybody does is right.  I don’t know what I want!  Daddy says I’m about 12 years too early for teenage tantrums.  I think he should get over himself; how often do we have to put up with his sulks and grouches?!

Mummy’s playing it differently.  She’s trying hard to find out what’s wrong.  It’s sweet that she cares, but actually when I’m not sure myself, she just needs to react I’m afraid. Pick me up when I yell, and put me down again when I change my mind.  A baby reserves the right to change its mind at a moment’s notice, without prior warning.

I got up too early, that’s for sure.  I’ve got a lot on my mind at the moment, it’s difficult to sleep.  I screamed a while, but I did go back to sleep eventually, after about an hour and a half.  It took  a little longer than it might have done because while Mummy was trying to soothe me, all I could hear was Daddy grumping about how tired he is.  I think I take after him in a lot of ways.  Let’s not even mention what happens when we’re both hungry!

I might have a bit of a cold, I might have more teeth coming through.  I might be too hot, or too cold, or hungry. Thirsty even.  Tired.  Bored. Or a combination of any of the above!  It’s up to Mummy and Daddy to figure it out and act accordingly, and by the time they’re close, the problem might have changed anyway.  Ha ha!  That’s raised a smile and cheered me up a bit.  But only for a bit.

CB