Thursday, February 26, 2009

First ear infection

Eoin has had a fever on and off and a cough since Sunday and so I took him to the doctors today. The poor guys has an ear infection in his left ear and his right ear was pretty inflamed too. Then the doctor scared me by saying she wanted to get a chest x-ray to rule on pneumonia! Taking the xray was tough. At least I was able to stay with Eoin but then I had to hold his arms straight up above his head and make sure his head stayed straight while he screamed. Poor fella! Anyway the good news is that the chest x-ray was clear but he still has some strong antibiotics to take and we have to go back to the doctors again tomorrow to make sure his fever of 105.3 (40.72 celsius) has come down.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Smarties



When Granny visited at Christmas she brought a great supply of Smarties (the UK/Canadian kind a little like M&M's) with her. Eoin loves them and can almost say Smartie now. We've taken the attitude of a little bit of candy or sugar doesn't really hurt anyone but he must eat some 'proper' food first and so far this seems to be working.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Finally a celebrity who gets it....

Normally if a women was compared to Angelina Jolie she would be over the moon but I am becoming so tired of having our family compared to hers. So many people on learning that our family was created through adoption, say 'oh like Angelina Jolie' and while sometimes we take the time to explain about open adoption it can also be difficult especially as Eoin is approaching an age where he will soon start to understand people's glances and questions. We want him to be proud of who he is and so we hope that we are teaching him to deal with these questions and glances in a way that he is comfortable with.

Today however I found a glimmer of sunshine in the vast array of celebrities who are adoption. I have found a celebrity that I can honestly use as an example and who I feel understands adoption. So from now on when someone says 'oh like Angelina Jolie' I'm going to say well no more like 'Hugh Jackman and his wife'.

It was such a great surprise to learn that Hugh Jackman and his wife have also experienced the amazing miracle of open adoption (and also closed adoption) and that they are proud of their children and their ethnicity. In an interview with the English newspaper 'The Telegraph' Hugh was reported as saying 'For Oscar we opted for open adoption because we thought it would be much easier to discuss the whole subject.’ Flouting the rules, they became friends with the birth mother, a young woman from Iowa, and attended Oscar’s delivery. 'It was exhilarating. I remember tears running out of my eyes in the happiest possible fashion.’ With Ava they chose closed adoption; both children are of mixed race. A devoted father, Jackman worries about his children’s right to a private life. 'I tell them the truth: people see me in movies and want to know what I do at the weekend. They don’t really love me, I tell Oscar. Real love is what you and I have and will never go. The interest in me – the fame, the magazines – that will go. I don’t know when, but that means it’s not real.’

Thank you to the Jackman family for being such amazing beckons of light for adoption.

Blowing your nose



It feels like we've all had colds since November but at least Eoin can now be distracted when I have to wipe his nose and he doesn't complain too much anymore.

Eoin feeding himself



We found this great lactose free mac n cheese today at Whole Foods and while it is stinky Eoin loves! I am so glad that I found him a lactose free mac n cheese that he likes because it really is his favorite meal.


Monday, February 23, 2009

Bed wars

Ok before I get into this can I just say learn from our mistakes!!! Just because your kid can climb out of his crib does not mean he is ready for a toddler bed!

Eoin's toddler bed arrived last Thursday and so on Friday he started to use it. First of all he was super excited by this new piece of furniture that had appeared in his room and it was so much fun climbing all over it. Nap time went well but I think it went well because he was exhausted and fell asleep in my arms during his story.

However that night was a total nightmare. Normally Eoin is out like a light by 6pm well that first night he didn't settle until 11pm and then we were woken every hour by him banging on his door (luckily he can't open his bedroom door). By 6am he was up and ready to get going.
So on Saturday I thought I'd put the bedding he had in his crib on his new bed to help with the transition. He settled more easily for his nap but his usual two hour nap was only 40 minutes long.


So by the time bedtime came round Eoin was dropping but again he wouldn't settle. We had the same thing from the night before all over again. So today we decided that maybe we (well me really) had jumped the gun a little and we decided to put Eoin back in his crib. Well his little face when he saw his crib again was a picture. He was all smiles and 'pease, pease, pease' when he realized it was back in his room. We are also a lot happier knowing that he is happy.

And in order to stop him climbing out of his crib we are going to get him to sleep in his sleepsack for naptime and not just nighttime because he can't climb while in his sleepsack. Why I didn't think of this in the first place I don't know. I think I got excited at the thought of Eoin experiencing something new rather than focusing on how we were all going to deal with it.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Other blogs about parenting and adoption

I recently discovered a great resource of blogs on parenting, fostering and adoption. Blogged.com has a huge list of blogs all on these topics and I've had so much fun checking out everyone's blog. If you have time take a peak and enjoy the wonderful families that have been created by adoption and fostering.

16 months old

The little man is 16 months old today. Not sure how much he weighs but I'd guess around 30 lbs and around 34 inches tall oh and size 7 feet (or 6 in the UK). Eoin is definitely a toddler or a little boy now, there isn't any baby left!

Eoin has cut three molars in the last month which hasn't been fun at all (and as you can see from the photo the Tylenol bottle is his favorite teething thing) and the winter long cold still seems to be here but on the upside Eoin has kind of learned to blow his nose himself.

Eoin is showing a very independent streak and wants to do many things for himself. Climbing stairs, pushing his stroller, feeding himself and taking his shoes off are all things that result in 'no, no, no' if help is offered. He has also started to stamp his feet when he isn't happy so it will be interesting to see how this develops when the tantrums kick in.

New behaviors or skills include jumping and climbing as previously blogged. We have to be super careful now because Eoin mimics our behaviors and words too. The other day the two of us were shopping and Eoin was wondering round the kids shop with me. He went right up to a kids size rack of clothes put his head to one side and started looking at the tops one by one. It was so funny and the salesperson was cracking up. He was mimicking everyone around him so well. I wish I had had by camera. Other mimicking (or learning as I think of it) is talking on his phone while I'm on the phone. He holds his phone to his ear and goes 'yeah yeah yeah'. And I guess the other one as you have seen already is putting lipstick on.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Sherbet



Today we went to the British food shop in Campbell and stocked up on a few essential items. While there we spotted a sherbet fountain ( a type of fizzy powdered candy)which we both loved as kids so we got one for Eoin. Well here are two videos of Eoin's first experience of sherbet - the quality isn't great so you don't get to see his facial expressions too well but you will get the idea (he also tried baked beans and Angel Delight for the first time too today).



Monday, February 16, 2009

Climbing and Jumping




Today when Andy called home to see if we needed him to pick anything up on his way home I told him either a crash helmet for Eoin or hair dye for me because I will be totally grey by the end of the week if Eoin keeps up this crazy behavior (see videos)! I also found him stuck straddling his crib today. He had managed to get one leg over but not the rest of him. Thankfully his toddler bed should be here in the next couple of weeks. Oh and the coffee table is going into storage and we have got a couple of soft ottoman cubes to go in it's place.





St Valentine's Day fun

Today we had lots of Eoin's friends round for a Valentine's party (slightly late because we were both ill last week). Everyone decorated cookies and made big valentine cards for their Mommy and Daddy. I think everyone had fun and didn't mind their kids being full of sugar and artificial colors ;-)













Thursday, February 12, 2009

Valentine's Cupcakes

Thank you Auntie Katie for my Valentine's cupcakes!
Love Eoin
x

PS as you can see I am feeling much better today :-)

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

What a week!

We are having a tough week! I have damaged the nerves in my lower back and left hip and Eoin has a fever and is sick. Luckily Andy was able to stay home yesterday while I lay flat on my back but then last night Eoin woke up with a fever and Andy has to be in work today and tomorrow. The doctor says it's just a fever but it is hard work looking after a sick baby when it hurts so much to pick him up! Ok enough feeling sorry for myself at least I understand what is going on but poor Eoin hasn't a clue why mommy is lying on the coffee table (cause the hard table helps the pain in my back) watching TV with him rather than playing with him and he also doesn't understand why he feels so crummy either.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Go Ireland!

The Rugby Six Nations started back home yesterday so we thought it was about time to introduce Eoin to the game. Here he is in his Irish rugby shirt throwing his rugby ball (well American football but they are nearly the same). Now if only we can undo the work of last weekend when we taught him to shout touchdown when he throws the ball!




Baby Loves Disco

Yesterday we went to Baby Loves Disco for the first time. We meet up with our friends Karin, Bob and Anthony there and then hung out as the two little men explored. Eoin was straight into exploring. He did a little bogeying but mainly just tried to catch all the balloons and pull at wires!


Saturday, February 7, 2009

Tunnels

The last few days have been a little damp and so we have had indoor fun! Never have cardboard boxes come in so handy (honestly why do we buy them toys when all they need are boxes!).
So the other morning I kept Eoin in his PJ's and we turned the biggest box into a tunnel and then we decorated it with chalk. From that point on much fun and some mischief was had, as you will see from the video below.



More fun from the park



Friday, February 6, 2009

Toddler Temperament

Recently I found a great parenting and resouce website lets you see more clearly your child's temperament and find parenting tactics that work for your child - The Preventive Ounce.
There is a short questionnaire and then loads of resources for you to use depending on your questionnaire outcome.

Well I decided to do the questionnaire twice. The first time I had had a tough day with Eoin and the second time I had had the dream day with Eoin and I wanted to see if my perceptions of his behavior changed. They didn't really and so the results were almost identical. The website predicts that our biggest issue with Eoin is going to be discipline. The site reckons that Eoin will frequently ignore being told to stop unacceptable behavior and that discipline will only work occasionally. Well that sounds about right to me! When Eoin is being good he is an angel and a delight to be with but he does have a very stubborn streak and it really doesn't matter what you do to distract him if he wants to do something he will. So I think we will just keep doing what we are doing - stick to our guns and be consistent.

A little side note to this. Eoin started to pull other kids hair last week and despite talking to him over and over about it and removing him from the situation he kept doing it. So I told him that this time on his third warning I would pull his hair. The parents around me were a little horrified and liken this to spanking a child and teaching them that 'violence' was ok. Well while I understood their point of view and certainly agree with it in certain areas I also had to believe that I knew my child the best. Eoin has learned many good behaviors from constant example and reinforcement. Eoin is a physical and tactile child and learns through hands on exploration. So sure enough I ended up having to 'pull' Eoin's hair. He complained for a second and then went about his business. In total I did this three more times over the following days and so far we have had two days of no hair pulling.

I think that sometimes as parents we forget that we know our kids the best. To often we are swayed by perceived judgments from other parents. We have to trust our own parenting skills and intuition. The biggest lesson I have learned in the last fifteen months of being a parent is trust yourself and listen to your gut. You do know what is best for your child!


Eoin in a box



Thursday, February 5, 2009

Big boy slide




Rainy Day at the Park

Today was a little showery so we were the only ones at the park. Eoin recently taught himself how to go down the huge concrete slide at the park, but the bizarre thing is he still won't go down the little green slide on his own! So he really enjoyed having the slide all to himself today.

Eoin found a hula-hoop at the park and had great fun trying to get it to spin but in the end he just walked through it lots. The biggest issue with the rain was that Eoin wanted to drink the rainwater that had collected at the end of the twisty slide (yes there are three slides at this park!).

But I'm not tired...



Eoin managed to sneak an extra nap in yesterday after swimming (I can't blame him!) and so he was up way past his bedtime. Here he is a little annoyed with me for being on the computer and not with him. He got totally overstimulated jumping about but he did go to sleep about 15 minutes after this and slept the whole night through till 7am. It has to be said that while Eoin is very active during the day at least he is exhausted at night and sleeps for nearly 13 hours with a two hour nap during the day.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

A riddle for you....

What do new shoes result in?
Split pants (of course!) - well at least when you try and put your crocs on the way Eoin does!



Monday, February 2, 2009

Swimming star

Eoin really has taken to swimming! It is by far his most favorite activity of his week and he starts to squeal and laugh with excitement as soon as he spots where we are headed.
So far Eoin has had three swim lessons and he is already diving for rings but his favorite part of swim class is jumping in the pool! The swim teachers have nick named him 'the next Michael Phelps' (well without the most recent bad boy activity that is).
I have to say from my point of view I love swimming with Eoin too. He is such an active kid that any physical activity that we both love and that exhausts him gets my vote.
I've started to get 'pity' looks from other parents at the park and comments like 'he's only 15 months!?' and 'you must be exhausted' when they see Eoin running round like crazy but you know what I love it! I wouldn't change having a happy energetic kid for anything.