Wednesday 17 July 2013

Lessons Learned

Angmering Daddy and I have learned an important lesson this week: things change!  We're away on our holidays at the moment and we got here by car because we always travel by car.  Our families don't live near us, so we're used to packing up everything but the kitchen sink and driving hundreds of miles.  Whenever we go on a long car journey, Munchkin sleeps, usually for the whole journey.  Um... Well, she used to!  She now sleeps for an hour or two, then wakes up.  And she doesn't just wake up, she screams so loudly that anyone within five miles also wakes up!

We've been travelling by car when we go on holiday because I have an aversion to taking infants on planes.  I've got friends who've done it without any problems, but it's not for me.  I can picture it now: Munchkin is tired but refusing to sleep since she's in a strange place and there might be something interesting going on.  She doesn't want to sit still.  She wants her own seat (the only way she'll get one is if I sit on Daddy's lap).  The clincher is that she's freaked out by her ears popping and screams until we land.

Next year we may have to reconsider.  Hopefully Munchkin aged 2 1/2 will understand if we explain what's going on in the plane.  We'd only do a short flight as I wouldn't want to antagonise her or the other passengers too much.  In the meantime, we need to complete our journey from Ireland to Sussex in three legs, two of which exceed Munchkin's current sleep threshold... Wish me luck!

Tuesday 2 July 2013

Poor Munchkin...

Munchkin isn't a happy bunny at the moment.  She's not really ill, just grumbly and under the weather.  This has been going on for a few days.  I think the main problem is that her molars and pre molars are coming through, all at the same time (or so it seems to us) and she's also got a cough.  She really enjoyed her gymnastics session on Friday but things seemed to go downhill after that.  There were two people we knew at gymnastics this week so it was nice for Munchkin to have some small people closer to her age.

She lost her appetite and ate very little all weekend, turning her nose up at firm favourites like macaroni cheese and ice cream (not served together, though she is partial to eating sweet and savoury at the same time!).  On Sunday we went to Middle Farm with some friends from work.  The adults had lunch whilst Munchkin sat in a highchair and played with some food, then we looked round the farm, where Munchkin just wasn't her usual self.  Normally she'd be very interested in all the animals and birds and would be giving us a running commentary on what we were looking at (or her interpretation: "cockers" are cockerels, cows are quite often horses and the majority of birds are ducks!).  On Sunday she was quite subdued.  The only time she smiled was when she went on a swing, and then she screamed when it was time to come off!  The rest of us enjoyed ourselves!  Middle Farm has a great farm shop.  I bought the best Scotch eggs I've ever tasted and some lovely fudge, as well as free range eggs laid on the farm.  The farm also has a cider shop where you can sample over 100 ciders and perries (and get drunk for free if you're so inclined!) we didn't partake this time, though I am partial to a drop of cider.

Yesterday she spent all morning, including her swimming lesson alternating between happy and screaming.  She cheered up a bit in the afternoon when we went to see her aunty and cousin in Lewes.  Her appetite started to come back and apart from when she fell over, she was quite lively!  My four year old niece (who was also in grouchy mode) offered me some really helpful parenting advice when Caitlin cried because she tried to take her banana away, "Perhaps you should leave her to cry!".  Controlled crying has its place, but that certainly wasn't it!  Said niece is a bit of a character, she recently cut her own hair, just in time for her parents' wedding and now has to wear a hair clip at all times to hide the damage!

Potty training/learning/familiarisation has stalled.  After successful potty use on three out of four mornings, Munchkin is now refusing to use the potty at all.  I think it may be because she had nappy rash, which was aggravated when she went to the loo.  Hopefully it's just a glitch.  I've been encouraging her to sit her toys on the potty if she doesn't want to use it herself.