this kid

28th November, 2008

This kid.

This kid blows my mind.

This kid is so wise, so funny, so compassionate, so full of light....

These are the photos we have together. Because we have to have them. We have to remember. We have to see. I can not forget these moments. I need to know that we laughed. That we cuddled. That we rolled about in the grass. And that when he cuddled me I felt the warmth & the embrace of the heavens. 

Yes I was wearing the daggiest clothes I own, yes I had no make up & blemishes. Yes the lighting, well, let's not go there. But now we have photos. And we will remember.

Why is it that we've not had a photographer photograph our family yet? Anybody know anyone good in Victoria you could recommend?

secret locations

28th November, 2008

Such bliss to live here. Where the trees tell secrets. And the river sings it's song.

There is magic all around

if you just take a look

you'll find faeries homes... 

be sure to gift a treasure though

maybe you'll find your own.

(sorry for the dodgy pics ~ messing about with light combinations)

a pouch baby 2

19th November, 2008

So chronic sleep deprivation....

In reality it wasn't much of a surprise. I knew both sweet P & I were suffering from sleep deprivation so why wouldn't our little one be also?

So where to from here? 

Well that was the first question we had to ask ourselves. Where do we want to head with this sleeping caper? Is the goal to have little M in a separate bed, room? Would we co-sleep with baby #2 & if so what would that mean for our possibly independently sleeping older child? 

What exactly is it about our current sleeping arrangements that we want to change?

And so when presented with these questions the answers were easy.

Yes we will co-sleep with #2, if we welcome our babe in our bed then of course we would welcome our child too. We do not see a point in spending time, energy & frustrations on 'teaching' M a new sleeping code if we will up & change it again soon(ish).

The only problem with a wriggly child in our bed is the lack of room for everyone. So we need to help him learn to resettle without disturbing us. 

Easy really.

So answers in place, solutions to be found.

We need the biggest bed in the world or something like it.

A secondhand queen size futon is purchased & placed beside our own. 

Now there is plenty of room. 

Following the recommendations by Elizabeth Pantley we move bedtime forward to 6.30pm. We treat the two hours leading up to bedtime as wind down time. We have slow, gentle & enjoyable transitions between the pre-bed activities. Dinner is served at 5pm. I start to cook at 4.30pm. This is a big shift people. 

We create a peaceful, welcoming sleeping place. We enjoy the pre-bed time we have with our child. We take measures to block out all light in the bed room (a whole new meaning to the word now). We use 'noise' (heart chakra balancing music) every night to mask activity & silence in the house. 

I use her techniques for breaking the 'breastfeeding to sleep association' to break the 'fondling mama's ear to sleep association'. And that is it.

I lay with him until he sleeps but then most times he is able to resettle without needing me (or my ear). Upon the first bird song of the morning he snuggles into bed with us 'inna middle'. And cuddles (& fondles ears) to his hearts content. What a lovely way to wake.

For us all. 

ps this is not to say he is now a 'perfect' sleeper. He will still stir & call for me & sometimes he asks for 'ear mama'. Some nights he falls asleep in 5 minutes but other nights it may take 45. But he is happier, funnier, has more energy, eats better & plays better. And so do we :)

And so life goes....

natural pregnancy photography

19th November, 2008

And because I simply can't post without a pic, here are five....

(reads: 'so we held our breath & waited for the day when the world would be changed forever')

these were taken four weeks ago.... 

still waiting for this wee one to make an appearance

Moonbird Sistah

18th November, 2008

Our Tuesdays are spent with a very special girl...

We do love it so, to have a special Moonbird Sistah, with whom to share our imaginations & our memories.

These 2.2 & 2.5 year old children amaze me in their ability to play together without using 'hands' to settle squabbles. They do surely squabble, some days often & some days never. But together with guidance & space & timing they learn about problem solving & expression of emotion & compassion. It is a steep learning curve indeed. But one I am so proud to walk with them both.

swooning

12th November, 2008

The very best part of my job is easily the fun I have hanging out with & photographing fun kids. The second bit is a tie between the things I learn from the Mama's I meet & the gushing comments I get about how those Mama's were moved to tears when they first viewed the photographs of their children. The third thing though, is when I'm proofing a session & find myself swooning over the photographs and thinking "I wish I had a photo like that of my family" or "of me & my boy". I know then that I've nailed it. 

our number one

11th November, 2008

Our number 1 has his birthday this week. 

To celebrate ~ all of his number 1 things too.

~ out to dinner at our favourite place where memories of babes in bellies & previous birthday celebrations abound. Where we are greeted with smiles & curries as wide & warm as the sun.

~ play time in the garden 

   with a cool breeze & dappled shade just the way he likes it.

~ pizza the italian way, wine the italian way ;)

~ a romp in the park 

~ jazz, a beverage & a chat somewhere joyful

~ and us.... his two number 1's. adoring, loving & being oh so grateful for a man in our lives who embodies what it is to be love. Strong, gentle, joyous, creative, funny, wise & wonderful.

Sweet Paulie, we wish for you another year of love, laughter & learning. May the sun shine apon your wide brimmed hat & may the rain drops splash against your muddy boots. May your heart be filled with a thousand smiles & your skies filled with a rainbow of light.

Love. 

J & M             

a pouch baby

1st November, 2008

On the subject of dreamy sleep.....

This boy has been a 'tricky' sleeper from birth.

Unable to sleep anywhere but with or on mama for the first 13 months of his life. I recall those early hazy days of newborn when even then we could not put him down to eat a meal together. 

We tried everything. We hung the beautiful baby hammock right by the table & spoke soft soothing words, we put him in the bassinet in the pram & rocked it with our feet. We tucked him into our bed consumed with the warmth & the smell of his adoring parents & still he would wake & cry within moments of us leaving his side. 

So I stayed with him always, for even in his waking times he wanted to feel me close by. 

A pouch baby from the very beginning. We loved the closeness & the protection that our various baby carriers offered. It was easy to prevent the baby handball game that goes on so often as it was impossible for him to be whipped from my arms when he was tucked so securely into the pouch. It was easy to cover his sweet face from the lights & the sounds & the busyness. It was easier to say no to well intentioned offers of cuddling the baby so that I could 'have a break'. 

And so life went. 

At 13 months of age he began to roll away from me after he'd been dozing for about 10 mins. He told me he was happy to sleep alone. And so for the first time I found myself without a babe in my arms for short periods of time. He still needed my presence to drift into sleep & back into sleep when he stirred in the night (usually 2 or 3 times). He still liked to sleep snuggled up close when I was in bed too.

And so life went.

Then at 26 months little M was longer a small babe. He wriggled in his sleep, drowsily seeking me out, often I would cop a whack in my eye & a foot in my ribs. It was time for a change. 

We put a small bed at the foot of our bed so that we were still close but now we all had enough room to move about & sleep comfortably without disturbing one another. This went surprisingly well. I would go to him still 2 or 3 times in the night to resettle him & then move back to my beckoning pillow. 

And so life went.

But not for long.

At 28 months little M began to wake more frequently at night. It would begin at 12pm & then continue hourly until 6am when he would wake for the day. I spent most of the night at the foot of our bed as I was too tired to move back & forth with each wake. None of us managing enough sleep. It was time for a change.

But how? We do not believe leaving a child to 'cry it out' teaches him anything but insecurity & then anger.

So I picked up a book from the library which I'd heard nothing but good reviews about. 

"The no-cry sleep solution for toddlers & preschoolers" by Elizabeth Pantley.

 I was unsure as to what this book could offer me. 'We already do all of the right things' I thought. Seriously!

And then I began to read. I learnt about how much sleep a child of Milo's age should get daily. I learnt about the different types of sleep a child gets in the different stages of his sleep. I learnt what were the signs of chronic sleep deprivation. I realised that Miles fitted into that category.

Whoa!

So... where to from here? 

I'll save that for the next post x J