130 + 34 Weeks

It has been a good week, with a visit from Uncle Sting, down for Australia Day, which included a family lunch at my parents' house.  We made a trip to the beach for a walk (Arley's first walk on the beach), after which Carmen threw the biggest tantrum ever, accompanied by a major meltdown of my own :)  Arley spent a day at his Lolo and Dida's house so I could get some painting done.  The kids also spent Saturday night there, so that Jeffrey and I could have a night out.  We went to a Cat Power concert, and we were SO excited to go.  However, the concert was worse than a disappointment - Cat Power was on some kind of drug, and couldn't remember her songs, she couldn't finish her songs, and she was rambling on about nothing for half of the night!  We were so bummed!

Arley is moving around a lot.  He can kind of crawl backwards, and he can swivel himself around.  He is doing two long naps a day, and he seems really hungry all of the time.  He is making a few new sounds too, and he ate pasta for the first time tonight.  Carmie is doing well at school.  On Tuesday she wore her kangaroo tail to school, and apparently half of the kids were jumping around like kangaroos for the day.  Today she wore her witch's hat to school, and this was another hit.  She can be very cute some times :)

Here are some videos from this week:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmveIc34yIE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmwtsdzPxVM&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzcGNwvDXAA&feature=youtu.be

Our beach walk

 Uncle Sting

 She can finally ride her scooter

 Going to school

133 + 29 Weeks

Well, I am very tired as I write this because Carmen woke up at 3:30am because she couldn't get her blanket on, and I had to get up and help her, and then I never fell back to sleep.  She is doing this every other night or so.  But at least now she goes to bed without calling to me (I still have to give her two 'eggies' every morning though).

We didn't do much this week.  The weather went from sweltering hot to rainy, so we didn't even have any trips to the park.  We stayed home and played a lot of dress-up, play doh and balloon catch.  We had Carmie's babysitter, Darcy, over twice.  Once I let Carmie do some 'real' cooking with pots and pans, flour, water, salt and pepper, and Jeffrey was not happy when he had to do the dishes that night - it had all turned to cement.  But I still think it was worth it, as she had a blast :)

We also had Hunter and the twins over for a playdate, which was complete chaos but very fun.  Our house suddenly turned into a day care centre.  Speaking of day cares, Carmen has been crying a lot before going to school these days.  I hate taking her back there.  However, when I pick her up, she is all smiles, and tells me what a good day she had.  Her main carer told me today that they are going to work on her socialization skills, so hopefully this will help.  She feels that Carmen is so very attached to me that she doesn't feel comfortable when I'm not around, so I have to work on having her spend more time with Jeffrey too (which is going to be a challenge, as she is generally stuck to me like glue).  Apparently she doesn't follow direction terribly well either - they told me that she stops to play with every toy in her path whenever she is on her way to do something they ask.  It sounds just like Carmen.  Total pain in the butt.

Arley is moving around a whole lot.  He is not crawling yet, but we will leave him in one spot of the lounge room, and turn our backs and he will be 5 feet in a different direction.  I have not yet caught him in the act of moving, but he does it all of the time!  Only when I'm not watching though :)

Two videos from this week:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLvpSrtGB34&feature=c4-overview&list=UU21-zydO1IYNApoXHx_P8LQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CYt7OR4630&feature=c4-overview&list=UU21-zydO1IYNApoXHx_P8LQ

An old photo I found from when Jeffrey took Carmie to the zoo,

 Best family photo ever.

132 + 28 Weeks

We have had a good week, albeit with some sleepless nights thanks to Carmen's new sleep regression.  She is finally going to bed without calling out to me for an hour (it seems that bribery was the key to getting her to sleep - she gets 2 chocolates when she wakes up now).  But she has started waking up at night and crying out for her blankets, her teddy, her mummy, and saying that she can't lie on the right side, only on the left side.  It seems worse because Arley is sleeping like a log for 12 hours straight, and we feel like we deserve the rest now!!

Arley got measured again this week, because I thought the pediatrician had measured him wrong (he was almost 3cm off!).  Arley is in the 85th percentile for weight, height and head circumference, so I'd have to say he is perfectly proportioned!

Carmie has a new babysitter, a nine year old friend called Darcy, who I pay to come and play one on one with Carmie.  It is working out GREAT.  Jeff even asked if we could get a virtual Darcy to live with us on a permanent basis.  Carmie has been playing lots of dressing up this week, and has had a good couple of days at school.  She definitely seems happier being one of the oldest in her class.

We took the kids to the sea pool, and Arley had his first swim.  He cried.  It was on the cold side, so I was quite happy to sit on the side with him while Carmen and her daddy swam.

Here is a short video of Arley's first dip in the pool :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGsP-4yp8eI

 All ready for swimming (they thought she was very glamorous when we arrived at the gym)

 All dressed for dinner

 In her 'princess dress'

 Oh, just going for a hop

 Ready for bed, because apparently wearing boots to bed is the latest thing

 Yes, that's my big fat finger in the photo.

131 + 27 Weeks

Arley learnt to sit up this week, and he loves it.  I couldn't imagine having to spend all of my waking hours lying on my belly on the floor, it must be awful.  He is getting so big so fast!  I took him to the pediatrician this week to get his wheeze listened to, and apparently it is just a bad habit that he will grow out of.  The ped looked at him and said, "He's a giant."  I asked him if he thought Arley was fat, and he said, "Well...fat isn't a term we use for babies.  But if he wasn't a baby, I'd say yes, he is fat."  But healthy too, his check-up went well.

We didn't get many photos of the kids this week.  I had to spend a couple of days in the gallery, and another day painting.  I also met up with Kate, a dear friend from Aiglon, who I haven't seen in 22 years - such a lovely visit!  I managed to get the kids out for a couple of walks, and Carmie got to the park and also to the Inlet.  She also started back at school this week, with 2 great days spent there.  She had no tears at all when I dropped her off, and they said she had an excellent time.  She was a bit of a nightmare to deal with on Thursday after she got home, so we have to work on that.  And every night she has still been calling out for a good hour after bed time.  Last night I waited 45 minutes before I went in, and I only went in because I finally snapped and couldn't stand hearing, "I need the door open.  I need a special toy.  I need my teddy." over and over again.  I was really angry when I went in, and yelled at her, and she proceeded to cry, and I proceeded to feel very guilty.  Tonight when I put her to bed I told her that if I had to come in again I would be very very angry, and do you know what?  She went to bed without a peep!  Finally!  I guess it took the wrath of a fed up and overtired mummy to zip her up!

Here is a cute video of Carmie 'singing' Baa Baa Black Sheep:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvRiOO9kPlw&feature=youtu.be

Sitting up!