Monthly Archives: November 2013

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Face plant

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Friday, 29 November 2013: Two Hundred and Forty Two Days Old.

Ayla face planted out of her bath and onto the concrete this afternoon.

Ayla’s big enough to sit up in the baby bath and play safely, but sometimes her toys float just out of reach.

Usually Ayla just leans forward and splashes her arms about until the toy comes closer, but today she decided to try using her legs as well!

I couldn’t believe it, the once innocent forward-lean technique had suddenly become a spectacular feat of aerial gymnastics, and in the blink of an eye Ayla was out of the bath and on the concrete with her two chubby legs flailing in the air.

When I picked her up Ayla’s face was red and skewed as if she was crying but no sound was coming out of her mouth.

I noticed the red mark on Ayla’s head at the very same time her voice came back in a terrible scream, and I knew the face plant hurt as much as it looked like it did.

After a big cuddle I dusted Ayla off and popped her back in the bath (gotta get back on the horse they say!) where she carried on like nothing had happened.

Ayla is SO close to becoming mobile; it’s terrifying!

There’s going to be countless more face plants, stacks and croppers to come.

There will be bumps, bruises and blood, band-aids and packets of frozen peas, and every time my heart will break and the guilts will come but then, well I guess it’s all part of being a kid.

Welcome to the kids club Baby Ayla 😉

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Hard to tell

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Thursday, 28 November 2013: Two Hundred and Forty One Days Old.

When Ayla woke up this morning it was hard to tell whether she’d gotten worse or stayed the same.

She was still sneezing and her nose was terribly runny, her eyes still had bright red rings with dark grey circles underneath, and her temperature was hovering around 38 degrees.

It’s absolutely true when they say you don’t know what it is to worry until you have a kid, so when Ayla started to show signs of improvement Hubby and I breathed a massive sigh of relief.

And then when her fever finally broke, we knew we were about to get our little girl back.

While Ayla is still no where near 100%, when she went to bed tonight her eyes were nearly back to normal (except for the watery tears) and she was HEAPS more active and mobile compared to the day before.

Ayla even found the energy to play this afternoon; she had a bath, some fruit for tea and a ride on her rocking horse before finally surrendering to the zzzzz’s.

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39.2

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Wednesday, 27 November 2013: Two Hundred and Forty Days Old.

After spending most of the day sleeping, Ayla’s temperature reached 39.2 degrees this afternoon.

The fever prompted an immediate visit to the doctors, which ended up with a prescription for antibiotics and a list of things to watch for.

It seems that Baby Ayla has a virus (the red itchy eyes and runny nose), an upset stomach (the diarrhoea), a flared-up case of nappy rash (due to the diarrhoea) AND an ear infection (hence the antibiotics)!

The poor little darling. She looks so terrible, she feels hot and she’s limp and listless but there’s not much I can do!

The doctor told us to keep her cool with damp face-washers is the fever persists through the Baby Panadol, and we’re to watch for any rashes or overall deterioration.

I don’t think it’s anything serious (touch wood), but having a combinations of minor illnesses is making it all so much worse for her! I just hope she gets well soon!!

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Sick again!

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Tuesday, 26 November 2013; Two Hundred and Thirty Nine Days Old.

Baby Ayla is sick. Again!

It’s nothing serious, but last night Ayla had a mild temperature and this morning she woke up with a very runny nose, sore itchy eyes and a sore throat (I think).

I don’t know how Ayla pick these illnesses up – it must be from shopping trolleys or restaurant high chairs – but I feel so awful for her, and guilty that I don’t get around disinfecting everything she touches!

I know that de-germing everything is unrealistic and conter-productive to ensuring Ayla’s future wellness, but to see my darling baby girl breathing through her mouth and blinking at me with teary red-ringed eyes… well, it breaks my heart!

But despite being obviously unwell, Ayla is still happy! I really don’t know how she does it but Ayla keeps on smiling and playing even with tears and snot running down her face.

The one thing Ayla hates though, is when I wipe her face. She HATES it. So tonight when Hubby and I were trying to use the nasal de-clogger thing to clear her nose and help her sleep we had a battle on our hands… which we lost.

I so hope Ayla is feeling better tomorrow.

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My favourite thing

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Monday, 25 November 2013: Thirty Four Weeks Old.

My favourite thing in the whole world is watching Ayla and her Daddy hang out together.

It’s Hubby’s week off this week which means we have lots of father-daughter fun ahead of us, starting with today’s swimming lesson.

Ayla has really started to get the hang of swimming these past few weeks, and today it was Hubby turn to get in the water with her and share her excitement.

Ayla kicks almost the whole time she’s swimming now, she can hold/hang onto the side all by herself, she goes under the water and swims back up without us holding her, and she’s a gun at grabbing items from below the surface.

Ayla has also become most confident baby in the pool – even happier than babies who are a year old, or who have been going to lessons longer – but I guess it’s not surprising given that Ayla spends about an hour a day in the water; splashing and kicking just never, ever, seems to get old for her.

So, by the time today’s lesson was over I wasn’t surprised to find myself wondering who had the biggest smile on their face; Ayla from all the compliments she was getting from the other parents and the instructor, or Hubby on seeing for himself what a great swimmer she is!

 

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Alessia

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Sunday, 24 November 2013: Two Hundred and Thirty Seven Days Old.

Ayla experienced her first cyclone tonight; “TC Alessia”.

Ayla was a little ball of energy all afternoon so we figured she must have bren excited, but in hindsight Ayla was probably just picking up on our vibes.

In true Territory fashion the three of us headed to a friends place to kick start a cyclone party, which involved a lot of speculation about what was going to happen when it hit.

As the wind and rain picked up we took Ayla outside to experience Alessia face to face, but it wasn’t much more than an average storm.

In fact, was a bit if a fizzer really – Alessia crossed the coast as a weak Category 1, maybe even a tropical low – with virtually no impact to people or property.

But, it was still a cyclone nonetheless!!

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Shiny gold star

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Saturday, 23 November 2013: Two Hundred and Thirty Seven Days Old.

All I want to do is grab Ayla and give her a cuddle, a kiss, look into her eyes, tell her I love her, and give her a shiny gold star… anything and everything to make her understand how grateful I am for her.

I thought I knew what it was to be happy and feel blessed, but the light Ayla puts in my life is like no other.

I don’t know if it’s because Ayla’s such a good baby or if it’s just part and parcel of being a mum, but I am so proud of her and so thankful she’s my daughter.

Ayla is clever, and kind, and patient. She’s friendly, playful and happy. She’s wise and innocent and modest all at the same time. She’s vulnerable but strong, adaptable, generous, honest…. Ayla is everything I hope I can be one day and she’s not even eight months old yet!

Just like when I look at Hubby sometimes and I think my heart will burst, every time I’ve looked at Ayla these past twenty four hours in particular I almost believe my chest is about to explode and shoot out tonnes of sparkling, rainbow coloured happy-love-dust.

I really am blessed. I am lucky. I am grateful. I am thankful. I am not taking any of this for granted and I am appreciating and valuing every moment I have with my beautiful baby girl and my wonderful little family.

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Cute. Happy. Placid.

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Friday, 22 November 2013: Two Hundred and Thirty SIx Days Old.

The top three words used by people to describe Baby Ayla are;

1. Cute

2. Happy

3. Placid

It’s an interesting but fantastic combination (if you ask me) which was confirmed when I took Ayla into my work for lunch today.

The foyer was a constant stream of people, and it felt like nearly every one stopped to say hello to me and “awwww” to Ayla.

Although her eyes were hanging out of her head with tiredness, Ayla was just as adorable as ever and she made most people to go weak at the knees!
AKA: Cute.

Ayla also gave her smiles freely, as usual, and she kept smiling as she was passed around between all sorts of people who couldn’t help but have a cuddle.
AKA: Happy.

And amidst all the new faces, strange hugs, noise and commotion, Ayla was relaxed and calm the whole time, taking it all in with wonder.
AKA: Placid.

I’m so lucky to have such an awesome, wonderful little girl. I am so proud of her for being great!

 

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Rough night

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Thursday, 21 November 2013: Two Hundred and Thirty Four Days Old.

Ayla had a rough night last night which saw her and I confined to the couch for most of the night.

I think it’s teething… it has to be! I can’t think of any other reason for Ayla to suddenly wake up screaming at 1.30am and refuse to resettle for nearly two hours.

Ayla was definitely looking for mummy cuddles – as soon as I put her down she would start crying – but it wasn’t until her Baby Panadol kicked in that she started to relax her little body and drift off to sleep.

But it was more like fitful napping than sleeping. Every 15 minutes or so Ayla would let out a heart-wrenching whimper that left me feeling so helpless, trying desperately to pat her little bottom and shush her back to sleep.

The other thing I struggled with was ignoring the voices in my head telling me things like “you’re spoiling her“, “once you let her sleep with you; you’ll never get her to stop“, “stay strong, she’s just testing the boundaries” and “just let her cry herself back to sleep“.

It’s crazy how self doubt is so quick to raise its ugly head! Despite KNOWING that something was wrong because Ayla had never done anything like this before, I still questioned myself.

Ayla’s wasn’t her usual happy self this morning either – she’s clingy and upset and so, so tired – but there’s still no tooth in sight!