Son & Air

Braeden is seven months old on Friday. Where has the time gone!!

Autumn is giving way to wintery blasts, and the bedroom was getting too cold at night for our wee man. At his 3-4 am feed/change sessions it took ages to get his wee popsicle fingers to thaw out to our satisfaction. Bubs didn't seem to mind, but we did, so a trip to the hardware store was in order.

A couple of days ago we installed an air ducting system which takes the warm air from above the log fire and sends it down to the bedroom, pump-assisted. It's not as noisy as I expected, probably because my clever DIY'er mounted the pump on a thick pad of rubber.

The trip down to the bedroom still requires thermal underwear as you navigate the hallway, but once in the bedroom itself, it's surprisingly comfortable.

Just before the installation Braeden took it upon himself to abstain from his usual 5am "Hello World!" sparrowfarties, and now prefers to go through to about 6.45am. An entirely more reasonable and civilised hour, his parents agree.

We're back to just one wakeup during the night (or at least a wakie that requires more attention than playing Hunt The Dummy). This is also a thankful improvement, but I'm still finding it next to impossible to get back to sleep afterwards.

We also pinched one of the large wool carpet sections that was earmarked for the new office and have laid it in the lounge, sort of like a large mat. This also made a remarkable difference to the overall tropicality of the house - bring on the umbrella drinks ;-)

The fat-spurt seems to have slowed and maybe rescinded a little. Thanks very much, Wino, for your reassurance :-) I was much heartened to hear it's common, and the next day I got back from a client visit to find my baby standing up to welcome me. Okay so his dad put him in that position, but Mr CleverFeet stayed there for many minutes, happily playing with his slipper until he decided being a big boy was old news, and in the spirit of many a team-building seminar, threw himself backwards into his father's hands.

That second bottom tooth has finally come through, but if we thought we were in for a small reprieve we were quite mistaken. The next day two cherry-red cheeks gave us scant warning of the escalation of dribble (is that possible?) and the return of Mr Great Grey Grumpy.

I nearly didn't take him to Mum & Baby group today, such was his dark mood, but figuring I could always bring him home again if the distraction of other people didn't work, we went anyway. Good thing we did - it cheered him up no end to forget about his tender mouth and to impress the other babies with his rendition of the World According To Gargle.

I didn't realise babies went through a gargling phase. It came hard on the heels of the MumMumMum and BubBubBub and NnnHhh NnnnHhhh NnnnHhhh days. Unlike the others, however, it seems to be much more fun and we've been listening to this Top 20 hit for about a week now.

Well it was good for a giggle amongst the other babies today, and a few startled and amused glances from the other mothers :-)

Wonder what it will be next week?

Braeden on his new potty, which plays a tune when he adds some "liquid". Next stop, a motorbike :-)

I don't like "walkers" but I would be lost without Braeden's exersaucer where he can sit or stand as he chooses, and play with any of the ten built-in toys he swivels around to access at his pleasure. When he's older and more interested in cars, the exersaucer clips into a figure 8 shape on the floor, complete with a car track, and loading bays for such vital cargo as balls.

Yep - another Trade Me bargain :-)