One Monday in the holidays
Dad and I headed into the SCG for Daniel to have a training clinic with
the Sydney Swans. It made for an early start as we wanted to beat the
traffic, leaving at 6:45 for an 8am registration and a 8:30am start.
Daniel was very excited to be playing afl with the Sydney Swans. Dad
came to help look after Eliza for me and to also drive the peak-hour
traffic (of which there was none).
When we entered the stadium and had Daniel's name checked off Daniel and
Eliza saw Cyggy. We asked if they wanted a photo with him and they were
right into it, especially Eliza. It was so very sweet to watch Cyggy
giving her pats on the back and a big cuddle. They then saw Blue Emu and
had photos with it and also the squirrel from Ice Age. Eliza just loved
the mascots! We then went and sat at the members stand, waiting for the
clinic to start.
Adam Spencer was mc. He announced that the kids 4-6year olds were to go
onto the field and head down to the change rooms to do their session but
parents weren't allowed onto the field. I walked Daniel over to the
boundary and he ran over to the group, and headed down to the change
rooms. Later he told me that he got to hold Cyggy's hand as they walked
down to the change rooms. Too cute!!
I was a bit disappointed that parents weren't allowed to go down with
them because I wanted to watch Daniel and as I headed back to Dad and
Eliza I bumped into Mish who was very frustrated about the situation as
she was told that parents could go down to the change rooms. We decided
to go and talk to the person who told her that. The lady was lovely and
sent us down to the rooms.
When we entered it was pretty chaotic in there! There were lots of kids,
a couple of supervisors, no Swans players. Daniel was wandering around
aimless wanting an AFL ball to kick but there was only a handful of them
and the big kids who got them first were seemingly the only ones using
them. He just seemed sad walking up to me saying 'Mummy, can you please
get me a ball' and then asking for his one. It did break my heart a
little bit. I told him that he needed to try and catch the ball so he
could then kick it. Yeah... That didn't happen.
After around 30mins of free for all (where Daniel still hadn't touched
the ball) I was just about to offer help in getting the kids organised
when another guy came down to the rooms and had the kids organised. This
made me feel a little bit better. There were 4 different activities
around the room - hurdles, ladder drills, skipping, ladder drills again.
Funnily enough none involved kicking a ball again. Anyway, Daniel saw
that the balls were on the ground so picked one up and held it for the
different activities. Ha. He started with the ladder drills. Running
through trying to step in between the lines. He then moved to the
hurdles. They were pretty cute being so little.
Then he went to the next ladder drills. This one had a guy who had them
do different skills each time - run through, side step, jump, catch and
handball to him and then run through, etc. pretty funny watching the
kids. All Daniel wanted to do was kick the ball. He ended up catching it
which was great and then he threw it back, no handball. Dear. He was
happy.
The kids then got given a Swans activity book and then walked up
to the field to get some player signatures. This was over the other side
of the field. Daniel was good and went with the group as parents
weren't allowed on the field. He ended up getting 6 signatures, 2
players that I knew - Teddy Richards and James Rose. He then wandered
back trying to find me in the crowd. He eventually saw me calling out
and came over. Other kids went to the different tables to get more
signatures but that's ok. Daniel was happy with his 6. He was a bit sad
and confused though that he didn't get to play with any of the Swans
players on the field. He walked off saying 'But Mummy, why didn't I get
to run around on the field with the Swans. You said I got to play a game
with them.' This was true because I thought that was how it would
happen. I just had to reply saying 'sorry sweetheart. I don't know.'
We then met Dad and Eliza again and went and got Daniel his sausage
sandwich and water. He sat down to have it while Mish and I caught up
and Alexander had a quick feed. We then got an afl ball on the way back
to the car.
All in all Daniel said he enjoyed the morning which was great. His
highlights were meeting Cyggy (as was Eliza's) and getting a ball at the
end. Sadly no Swans players came down to the change room, where the
kids on the field had a Swans player at each activity over the hour. I
was a bit disappointed in how the session was run so emailed them to
give some feedback and I received a great email apologising that they
did let down the younger group and that communication about parents
being able to go to the rooms fell through. It was nice to have my
concerns acknowledged. They said they are wanting to improve this for
next year.
Since the clinic Daniel has enjoyed playing AFL at different times. One
part has been to be an umpire and bounce the ball - leg into the air
included as he had seen at the game. Also to throw the ball up when it
is 'too wet to bounce it'. Ha.
Then yesterday Daniel was pretending to be checked by the physio so was
lying on the ground. He then told me to lie on the ground so I could get
checked. His checking involved sitting on his little blue chair to look
at me, bending my leg up to my bottom and telling me to hold it until
he got the other one. Rubbing my legs to check the muscles are ok. Then
doing the same with my bottom and my back. Then re-checking my legs. He
told me that I was ok to play again.
This the led to Daniel and Eliza jumping onto my back. Many giggles were had too.
I just love it how what he has seen on tv and at the game has gone in, even the little things of umpires and physios.
He then did some more kicking of the ball. He's getting pretty good at the drop punts.
Maybe one day he will move from being in the crowd to being on the field at a Swans game.
This past week I have
noticed that Alexander has started to have a bit of a flat spot on his
head. It isn't severe but it is noticeable. Neither Daniel or Eliza had
this so it is new territory for me.
I did some reading (Google search) of what to do if your baby has a flat
head. One strategy is to turn around the way the baby sleeps. Alexander
often looks towards the window when he sleeps so on Sunday I turned
around his bassinet so he will hopefully turn his head the other way. It
doesn't seem to be changing it at the moment but I will wait and see.
Another strategy is to do tummy time. Tummy time is something I have
done with each of my kids since they were in hospital. Daniel loved it
and was so content on his stomach. Eliza was pretty good at it and
didn't mind it so much. Alexander is good at it - he can lift and hold
his head up showing good neck support - but he doesn't like doing it for
long periods of time. I also find that I don't have the time to lie
there with him while he does it which might mean he gets bored faster. I
don't know. I am trying to now be intentional about doing tummy time
and being there with him for some of the time so that will hopefully
help.
Another suggestion is to avoid having the baby on the floor - instead
hold them as much as you can. I try to do this but in reality, I don't
have that much time to just hold Alexander as I need to look after
Daniel and Eliza as well, and organise meals/the house/washing, etc.
again I'm trying to be intentional but I also need to be realistic. I
also want him to be able to play independently sometimes as that's an
important skill to have too.
I also messaged our chiro to ask if he needed to be seen before his next
appointment in a fortnight and she is going to squeeze him in this
afternoon to look at him. I think he has a tightness in his neck too
because he tends to look to his right more than his left. So I will see
how his appointment goes this afternoon. Hopefully all goes well, he can
have his neck loosened and his flat spot on his head will go away.
*I saw our chiro Ursh yesterday and she said that there is tightness both in his neck but also down near his hips. Both of these are causing him to look mainly to the right. She gave me stretches to do to help loosen his muscles and showed me where to massage in his neck. She showed me how to gently massage his head too to try and decrease the flatness. I'm also to have him do tummy time when I can. We go back again Saturday week to follow up how he is going. Hopefully it will all help and he will make good progress.
Last month we went to a
birthday party at Macquarie Centre. On our way back to the car there was
a person dressed up as Bumblebee from Transformers doing a promotion
for 'You, Photography Studios'. You could take a photo on your iPhone with
Bumblebee (which we did with the kids) and you just filled in your
details on a piece of paper. This put you into a draw to win a $350
photo session and a free framed desk print. We thought 'why not' and filled it
in.
A couple of weeks later James received a phone call saying that we'd won
the voucher and booked in a time for the shoot. We were pretty excited.
We never win anything! And I wanted to get some photos of our family
with Alexander being young but didn't really know where to get them. So
this was perfect.
Last weekend we went for our photo shoot. The photographer was lovely
and very chatty. She made us and the kids feel very comfortable which
was nice. The photos were just on a white background but from watching
James get his photo taken with the kids, it looks effective and like
there would be a lot of lovely shots. The kids were great for the
session too! Alexander lasted really well and only started to crack it
towards the end which I was very impressed about. Daniel and Eliza were
both pretty well behaved and followed the different directions well.
On Saturday we went to look at the photos before we headed to the AFL.
There were some lovely photos, lots to choose from and lots that looked
lovely. We decided to get 3 medium sized pictures (a special that they
have on at the moment). We chose 1 of the 5 of us, amazingly all looking
and smiling at the camera. We also chose 2 photos of the 3 kids - 1
with them all looking at the camera and 1 with Daniel and Eliza looking
at Alexander. The free photo we got of just Alexander.
There were a few other photos we would have liked to get but we just
can't afford it. But we are very happy with our choices. Can't wait to
pick them up in 4 weeks time!
For each child, Howie has given the kids a special present - a bib that is unique. Alexander has completed the collection. Their Daddy sure is a Noob and we love him for it.
Feeding times seems to be family times more often than not. Most of the time I am reading books to Daniel and/or Eliza. Other times I am needing to cuddles Daniel and/or Eliza. Other times they choose to help feed Alexander by massaging my breasts (like I did in the early days with Alexander to encourage him to drink more). It's pretty funny, pretty special, sometimes pretty annoying. But on the whole it is a special time.
Saturday 23rd July saw
Alexander attend his first Swans game. James and I decided that we'd
take all 3 kids to the Swans vs Carlton game as it was a 1:45pm game at
the SCG. We bundled into the car and headed into the city, via Drummoyne
to choose our professional photo prints (which were gorgeous and hard
to choose between!! But we did settle on 4 prints).
We arrived at Centennial Park a bit early so went to the playground for
the kids to have a bit of a play. It was a pretty cool park there with
lots of different equipment. We then started the walk to the SCG,
meeting up with Jens and Oscar on the way. Dad is in Mexico at the
moment so that meant we had a spare ticket/seat. Jenny had on her
Carlton Blues gear (boo) but Osc was dressed in his red and white.
We headed up to our seats in the stand and had our lunches.
Alexander was happily asleep in the ergo and didn't budge when I put on the baby earmuffs to protect
his ears from the noise at the game, as well as to help him sleep
through the game too. He looked so cute with them on, although, his head
is a bit small at the moment as the band kept falling down on his eyes.
But they worked really well again and he slept through the 1st quarter.
Eliza was very up down for the whole game. Not in a bad way, just in a 2
year old way. She was pretty much attached to Jens the whole game and
entertained by Oscar when she wasn't focussed on eating her popcorn
(kindly given by the photography lady). On the whole though she did
really well.
Alexander woke for the 2nd quarter. He cried a bit because he was hungry but Jens and I joked that he was really crying because Carlton were beating the Swans at that point and he couldn't believe it.
He had a good feed. He then happily
sat with Jens and Oscar for the 3rd quarter, while watching the game.
Just before the end of the 3rd quarter he started to get upset so I
popped him into the ergo and put him to sleep. He settled really quickly
which was nice and then slept for the 4th quarter and the car trip
home.
Cuddles after his feed
Meanwhile, James took Daniel to get his first Swans supporters badge -
he of course chose Luke Parker, Daddy's favourite player too. Daniel was
fantastic during the game. He enjoyed watching it and spent most of the
time eating different things we brought from home. I look forward to
taking Daniel to more games - he seems to be at the right age now.
Unfortunately Daniel's scarf fell onto the ground and ended up being
covered in beer so Oscar and I went for a walk to the Swans Shop to get a
plastic bag. I pointed out Jens', Dad's and my names on the members
board which he was pretty excited to see and then he sat down to be a
part of the Swans team. Hehe.
The game ended up being a close game, not that I really noticed. The
kids were a distraction so I didn't really focus on the score. At one
point when we started leading I didn't notice until we were 2 goals up.
Ha. Eliza borrowed Oscar's binoculars for a little bit and looked the part.
It was a fun game to go to and fun to be there with my family. The kids
dos really well and we came home with a win. Alexander is welcome to go
back because of his 100% winning streak. Yay for another Swans supporter
(although Jens did try hard to have him support the Blues. No deal).
Fun times.
Just before heading home James had a kick of the afl ball with Daniel and Eliza.
Daniel just amazes me
sometimes. Lately it has been to do with numbers. A few months ago
Daniel learnt to count past 20. I helped him with 21, 22 and then he
noticed the pattern and continued on his own saying '23, 24...' I again
helped him with 30 and then he straight away said '31, 32'. Because I
was 32 Daniel seemed to stop there. Eventually he counted independently
to 60, only having help with the tens.
While Mum and Dad were away he showed them his counting and he made it
all the way to 110! I needed to help him with 70, 80, 90 and 100 but he
did the rest of the patterns on his own. I was so impressed!
Then on Monday morning Daniel was playing with the kitchen timer and he
just worked out how to read the numbers 17 and 16. Using the timer he
set it to 18mins. He said 'there's an 8 and a 1'. I said 'that's 18 - 1
ten and 8 ones'. When it had started to count down I said 'what number
is that?' He said 17. Then it went down to 16, 15, 14 and he kept
excitedly telling me the numbers as they changed. He is very good at
patterns!
Then he said 'three-teen'. I said 'think carefully. What number?'.
Straight away he said 'thirteen'. He does amaze me. Then 12 and then he
went and played with something else.
It is so lovely watching this growth and learning happen as these early
stages although it does leave me amazed at how I was teaching kids in
Year 1 who had no idea of numbers 10-20 let alone numbers up to 100.
For the last few days Alexander has been looking like he's going to
smile. His eyes have been smiling but his mouth just wasn't getting
there. On Sunday Alexander came very close to his first smiles. His frown disappeared and he looked happy.
On Monday 4th July in the afternoon that changed. After a feed I had Alexander resting
on my knees and was just chatting with him and his eyes again looked
like they wanted to smile so I got out my phone. After a lot of gazing
at the window, head bobbing and no real focus he eventually started to
focus on me and a gorgeous smile came across his face. I just love it
how these early smiles just light up their whole face. He is such a
gorgeous boy.
Smiling eyes
Cheeky tongue
Cheeky boy
Big grin
Here is a video of his first few smiles. Precious!
It was nice that Daniel and Eliza were at Nana and Poppy's place for
today and tomorrow. It means that I get to spend some focussed,
intentional time with Alexander.
This morning I was lucky to get a few more smiles. The smiles at this stage are spontaneous. You can see his thoughts as to how to make the smile happen. He is gorgeous with that cheeky grin.
Eliza is enjoying playing the keyboard at the moment. She will often carry it into different rooms in the house and then turn it on. Most of the time she is putting on the demo music but this week she decided to play and sing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'. She's a cutie.
I just can't get over how
similar Daniel and Alexander look, especially when they are wearing the
same outfit. Here are some photos of the 2 boys around the same age.
In hospital - 3 days old
Alexander
Daniel
In the capsule
Alexander
Daniel
Same outfit
Alexander
Daniel
Corner sitting
Alexander
Daniel
Wrapped up
Alexander
Daniel
Daniel
Yawning
Alexander
Daniel
Sleeping
I wonder if Alexander will continue to look like Daniel or if it will change as he gets older. Only time will tell.
I have just been looking at photos of Eliza around the same age too, not much of a similarity at all. It must be a boy thing.
