Hallucinations

There is a little talked about phenomenon – and maybe it only affects us – but most nights, Cat will truly believe that Aimee is in bed with us (even though she has NEVER slept in our bed). Each time, Cat reacts slightly different. For example sometimes it is just a gently pat on the shoulder from Cat, other times, Cat will leap up and go into panic mode frantically grabbing tightly onto me and yelling at me to NOT FALL DOWN. Of course I wake up in a state with Cat yanking on my arm/shoulder/ whatever is nearest.I used to think this was all due to lack of decent sleep, but it happened to me the other day. It was during the day and Cat was out and I was looking after Aimee. She went to sleep for an afternoon nap and so did I. Perhaps only 15 minutes had elapsed when I was absolutely convinced that Aimee had jumped, yes jumped, out of the cot and was lying helpless and unconscious on her bedroom floor. Still half asleep I leapt out of bed like my pants were on fire and madly ran into Aimee’s room bursting open the door. It took me a few seconds to see that Aimee was peacefully asleep in her cot just as when I left her. My heart was thumping crazily and I was just so scared, but calmed down eventually. But no, I didn’t get any further rest that day as I was haunted by my hallucination. It hasn’t happened again thankfully, but poor Cat is still bugged by her fears at night.

FEED ME SEYMOUR

Aimee got over the worst of her diahorrea eventually buther appetite remained stubbornly minimal for about two weeks. We wereboth very worried she wasn't eating anything, Cat even checked with the doctor but he didn't seem at all worried. Just said to come back if she carried on like this for another fortnight. A FORTNIGHT! She could waste away by then.Maybe he knew something we didn't. Almost immediately the next day, Aimee decided she was gonna eat. And for the past week now, she seems to be playing catch-up by wolfing down whatever you throw at her. Yoghurt, lentils, pasta, veg, porridge - even toast - she'll wolf it down with gusto.It's really great to see her eat so well after the trauma of her feeding strike. It is also a good op for me to experiment with new foods and Aimee seems to like everything at the moment. We still have avoided any meat though. The first time she tried chicken, she got diarhorrea. It may have been unlinked, but we weren't gonna take risks, so the nursery feed her veg. I plan to re-introduce fish soon. She liked it before, and I want her to explore with her hands more and feed herself. She is starting to do that with food I place on her baby table.

Aimee loves standing. She clings onto any handy object (playpen frame, door knobs, your trousers!) and just stands for ages. She then readjusts to a one handed show-off stance, then, sometimes, removes both her hands, but quickly plummets down onto her bum. I think she yearns to play like the bigger kids in the nursery. She's probably bored in the baby rooms cos the other two babies cry ALL DAY. I mean they cry when I drop her off in the morning and they cry when I pick them up at night. The carer has to cuddle them ALL DAY. So naturally Aimee is already thinking, this is boring! And stands by the gate looking out at all the fun in the toddler room. Sorry Aimee, but you'll have to stay there for at least another 6 months.



Aimee says three words so far: Mamamamama, Daddeee, uh-oh
I think the uh-oh is mean't to be Hullo, but she says it all the time so we just copy her and she loves it. She also loves being thrown around, upside down and spun around. We don;t do it too often, just in case we drop her, or she pukes on our heads, but it's a nice treat for her every now and again.

Hitting the fan

Shit, shite, poo, plop, brown stuff, "wing nuts" (that one from Cat) - whatever you call it we are up to our necks in it, literally. Little Aimee is still explodnig gallons of the liquid brown stuff and I am just sick of it. With her diarrhorea, the the nursery has a policy of not taking her in. So one of us has to take time off work. That in itself is not a problem. What is a problem is the not knowing when it will happen. Aimee gives off no signs of squeezing. She just sits there grinning and before you know it, there is a bad smell and all her clothes are soiled. Then there is the washing, scrubbing, soaking, disinfecting and literally shovelling off the litres ofpoo that covers her clothes. Poor Aimee, I guess it is not her fault. But it seems the nappies just can;t handle her explosive outputs.
The only plus side at least is that she appears to be completly healthy with no symptoms of dehydration of malnurishment. Her apetite is returning, albeit laced with an extreme degree of fussiness we have not seen before. But it is admitedly a struggle.
So, as usual with us Yangs. It is sleeves rolled up and all hands on the deck. I am swapping looking after my Dad shift with my Mum, sho is looking after Aimee, while Cat has to go to work. As they say, then the shit happens, it really happens big time. Let's hope Aimee recovers soon, or I will be buying shares in Biotex stain remover.

Bugs, TVs and Dummys

It's really true - when your kid gets sick, you get it too, with extra on top. This past week, the day after Aimee's night of hellish puking, both me and Cat ended up with constant vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach cramps. Clearly, this 'bug' that Aimee caught from the nursery is very infectious. It was no fun being sick and looking after a poorly Aimee so I drafted in my mother, who was her usual saintly self and did everything in the house. We could not have coped otherwise. Aimee seems to have got over the worst of her sickness in one day but still has no apetite for solid food five days later. Me and Cat took much longer to recover, and are only now getting back into the swing of our routine.But today, the nursery asked Cat to come and pick Aimee up since she has been releasing some very runny poos in quick succession and they think she is still ill. Their policy is that any baby with diarrhoea is barred in case it spreads ot other children (how do they think Aimee got it in the first place?) This means a day or more off work for both me and Cat. A real pain but hwat canyou do? Aimee is actually fine and very happy.

New Aimee tricks - she stands very well and plays her piano standing up for ages. She can walk up stairs with assistance and, her favourite at the nursery - she crawls up to another baby to pull out its dummy. Aimee the highway robber! But the best is at home, she reaches out beyond her playpen and turns on the TV. Once it is on she turns it off and so on until she gets bored. Amazing,if slightly irritating if you are trying to watch TV.Me Mum claims Aimee can clap her hands and wave hello and bye.But I suspect these are just highly prompted but ramdom arm movements since none of us can get her to repeat these exercises.Not long now before she is one year old. What an amazing landmark that day will be.