Flood

13/1/11

We have the tv on watching the floods coverage and its just amazing to watch and to try to understand. I have friends and family in inner Brisbane (unaffected), north brisbane (also unaffected), Toowoomba (unaffected) and outside Toowoomba on a large property (also unaffected) and friends in Rockhampton (also unaffected!) so I think I have been very lucky to not be sitting here really fretting about individuals.

On a more cheery note, Toby has learnt to splash his hands in the bath and he loves it! which makes it a much soggier affair than it was before!

16/1/11

Claudia is 3 yrs 4 mths and Toby now 9 mths (gap of 2 yrs 7 mths).

Claudia is a hitter, occasional biter (mummy and daddy and Toby only, not anyone outside the family) and has shoved Toby too hard, bopped him on head with a block, etc.

With bedtime, Claudia does the waking up and calling out for me thing too if A goes in she gets hysterical, so its quicker for me to deal with it. My current approach is to go in, draw covers over her, make sure she has Teddy and Blanky, and I used to rub her back a minute and say shhhhh, then slowly walk out of the room still saying shhhh - I'd be back in my own bed in a few mins. Now I don't even do the back rubbing, just the shhhhing as I walk out after making sure she has her comfort toys and is covered up with bedding. I'm hoping by going in and not leaving her to cry, but spending less time with her, that she'll get over it soon! (mind you, she's been night waking, however briefly, requiring mummy for months and months, since before I was pregnant .....)

23/1/11

Claudia been unwell, after dreadful night with lots of crying and no sleep, she couldn't weight-bear on right leg Friday morning so spent 4 hrs in emergency, x rays, ultrasound, blood tests (holding her down for that not fun!), urine etc, diagnosis is fluid in her hip, assumed viral, so thats been keeping me busy .... Now home and have to keep her quiet and as inactive as possible for few days for her to recover.

24/1/11

Claudia pulling Toby across living room floor by his left arm ....

28/1/11

Claudia's first day back at child care today, limp now reducing slowly, we need to be limp-free by Monday to manage to avoid another paed appt with repeat x-rays, ultrasound, and a bone scan. Crossing fingers!

Think Toby is just about to crawl (lots of rocking on hands and knees). He is 9.5 mths now, and Claudia crawled at 10 mths 2 days, so almost the same! And he waved at me (well it looked purposeful!) a couple of days ago, and he's saying "mumumumum" a lot, not sure he actually means me but i can hope! (Claudia did the typical thing of saying "dada" first but Toby is not currently making that noise! bless!

4/2/11

Toby is crawling! Not a proper 4-point crawl, but started Tuesday with shuffling forward using his right big toe, then Wednesday using both big toes, and today he is actually using his knees a tiny bit. Of course he's going straight for Claudia's toys - she does not like it one little bit - oh dear!!

5/2/11

WHINGE ALERT!!

So this time yesterday my plan was to watch So You Think You Can Dance US Friday night, then Claudia's first swim lesson this morning then gym Sunday morning. Sound a fair weekend?

Anyone notice the heavy heavyheavy rain in Melbourne last night? We had over 150mm across our suburb (in about 6 hours) and the storm water drain in our street flooded, flooding about 6 houses - our house flooded. We'd just put the children to bed and then there was water everywhere, it was so fast! I stood next to Toby's cot and A stood next to Claudia's bed until water rose too high and we had to lift and wake them. We sat on the dining room table until water went down a bit, then had to get out - wading through few hundred yards to higher ground through mid-thigh-deep water in pouring rain, in the dark, with bub in arms (he was Ergo'ed to me) is not fun. About the scariest thing I’ve done. A followed with Claudia and then went back for the cats, stuffing them in pillow cases to carry them as we couldn’t get to the garage for their carriers. We got out as water was rising again, with just clothes on our backs, no purse or wallet, not nothing. We've lost about everything - fridge floating on its side, couches floated across living room, bedframe torn apart. We're staying at my parent's house for now. I've rung insurance co who took my details and said assessor would call in "few days" as they are rather busy! and then said "good luck" and that was it! SO we try to clean up and I just have to assume (to stay calm!) that insurance will come through. Claudia keeps asking to go home which is hard!

6/2/11

We've had quite a big day - we SOS'ed our friends and they all raced round, some bringing their own family to help! so we got EVERYTHING out of the house, ruined furniture and belongings on nature strip for council to collect, anything we can keep (bugger all) on deck under tarps. We got carpets up, so now house can start to dry out. Most furniture has been destroyed, all whitegoods too. All the children's clothes and nappies were fortunately on high enough shelf that they are ok and most of our clothes ok too, and i have about 4 friends doing mountains of laundry to hopefully save everything that did get wet. all our kitchen stuff, crockery, cookware, etc has been taken by some friends who cleaned it this afternoon and can store it until we can move back. we have everything we need for now at mum and dad's so really i don't urgently need anything. Um, yes i have my mobile (now!)

8/2/11

For now it’s a frustrating wait until assessor arrives - Friday afternoon - full week after the flood! i know SOOO many other people out there too, worse off than us, just frustrating, i feel we should be doing something this week rather than sitting round waiting, worried about getting house dried out, from what i read it can take months (yikes, months living at mum and dad's! welcoming as they are, thats a long time!), we have no sub-floor access and very few sub-floor vents, i think we should be pulling up some floorboards or something and hiring fans (although finding fans available to hire will be hard with half Melbourne also flooded!). Anyway....

19/2/11

I’m still here, just reading more than posting, living at mum and dad's, less time than at home for computer!

my life is driving back and forth from mum and dad's to our wet wet house waiting for quotes - new kitchen, new bathroom, new air-con, new central heating, new carpet, new back door and screen door, waiting for service calls on things like stove and washing machine to work out if cheaper to replace or repair (so far its replace all the way, nothing has survived!). the only furniture that has survived is our wooden bed frame, Claudia's wooden bed frame, Toby's wooden cot frame, 2 wooden booksheves, and our solid wood dining table, chairs and buffet. nothing else. sigh .... must remember its all just material items, we are all ok. remembered in the night (funny the things you think of at 3am) I've lost my favourite sticky toffee date recipe (along with every recipe book, magazine, scribbled note I'd ever kept, for someone who bakes and cooks a lot this is a big-ish deal). Sigh ....

24/2/11

breastfeeding ~ I'm still giving Toby 4 feeds across the day and he is sometimes waking at night atm, so extra feed some nights too - its quicker and quieter than trying to re-settle. I think from memory around this age (9-10 mths) I dropped 1 day feed for Claudia, I picked the feed she seemed least interested in, which was a mid-afternoon feed, and just substituted afternoon tea (fruit?) and a sip from sippy cup of water. I could try same thing with Toby now, especially as I want him down to 2 feeds (morning and evening) as soon as he turns 1, but with so much going on here atm, plus he is on his 2nd-child-care-cold in 3 weeks, I'm not in the mood!

Toby seems sensitive (gets rashy) to cows milk, I kept offering for couple of days then stopping for couple of weeks then trying again. GP has now suggested we stop offering until 12 mths proper. He does ok with yogurt though, and I am trying small amounts of grated cheese too. Given the decent amount of yogurt he happily has at both lunch and dinner, I'm not worried about reducing his breastmilk by 1 feed and his overall diary intake. But I certainly don't want to reduce BFs so much that I need to be worrying about bottles of milk (formula or cows milk) either!

NAPS - two 1.5-2 hrs naps a day mostly, although sometimes a shorter nap in morning if we are out and about and he is in stroller. Occasionally he has 2 shorter naps (40-60 mins) and then will need a 3rd nap just before dinner, but in thinking about it as I type, its been few weeks since that has happened. But definitely no where near dropping to 1 nap here! Claudia stayed with 2 naps until 17 mths, so in my head its something we do way after turning 1 (I know they are all different!).

12/3/11

Last week Claudia got gastro (was really ill, poor mite, from Thursday night to Monday morning couldn't keep anything other than water down, she's lost a heap of weight). Anyway i got Claudia's gastro last weekend, then literally 24 hrs after I got over that I came down with a cold and still have it now, sinus pain doing my head in, especially as I'm still BFing Toby so no decongestant for me.

MY VENT - very over living here with Mum and Dad, Dad cornered me in kitchen this morning demanding to know what was happening with the house, and insurance and how many times a day I follow up insurance co, and why things weren't happening faster - yeah, thanks for making me feel welcome! we have to wait for insurance co to approve works on the house, I've arranged and chased and followed up and gathered all the quotes I can and sent them through but I can't do anything until insurance co approve the claim!

20/3/11

We just can't keep living here with mum and dad so Thursday we inspected a 3 bedroom unit near home, filled in application form, and Friday were offered the place on 6 mth lease. phew. we sign the tenancy agreement on Monday and get the key next Saturday.

as minimum, to move in, we need to arrange fridge, couch, new mattress for our bed and for Claudia's bed and for Toby's cot, tv and dvd (yes, not life essentials but almost are when you have 3 yr old!), washing machine, kitchen table to eat off (and vacuum and toaster fall into nice-to-have category). sigh!! so we'll be busy! mum and dad going away for few days so won't be able to help with the move (or keeping Claudia out from underfoot during the move) so I'm about to email my fabulous friends and ask for help. making seemingly endless lists to try to compose myself.

Went to Ikea this morning and got couch, tv unit, bookshelf and the cheapest kitchen table they sell. Electrical stuff to sort tomorrow. A at Baby Bunting now, sorting cot mattress now.

still sick (16 days today), antibiotics working vveeeerrrryyyy slowly. go back to work in 3 weeks, with office visit in 2 weeks to start the handover. don't have anything to wear to work, and all my shoes destroyed in flood, no idea when i can find time to shop! And want to celebrate Toby's birthday properly, party, cake, etc, too, gee I don't want much LOL.

but constantly remind myself I'm not in far north Qld, or rural Victoria, or Christchurch, or Japan, so am really very fortunate ....

Toby had 12 mth jabs yesterday (they can be done any time after 11 mths of age by the calendar), I wanted them done (and any potential reaction) before I go back to work.

must go, Claudia getting too rough with Toby .... surely he'll be big enough to thump her back soon! we certainly tell her that!


27/3/11

Oh good grief, its first birthday season already??!! Where the heck did the last year GO??

We're mid-move, guess its a sign of how much we lost that a family of 4, plus 2 cats, can move house in about 8 car loads, plus 1.5hrs of a mate with a ute, plus retailers delivering mattress, fridge and washing machine tomorrow.

29/03/11

First night at Anzac St, a 3 bedroom rented unit on 6 month lease. Still no action from insurance company in floor repairs to house, or money for contents. Pulling money from mortgage offset account for bond and rent, also to purchase basics like new mattresses and fridge.

Claudia coped better with this move than I expected. We’ve told her the house was wet, its now dry (She is very worried that its wet) but it still needs to be “fixed” like Bob the Builder, she understands this concept. Only we’ve explained it takes longer than on tv, so we have to live somewhere else for a while.

1/4/11

move went well all things considered, still don't have washing machine (gee thanks insurance company) so trips to Laundromat not so fun with 2 littlies. still no word from insurance co about starting actual repairs to the house either .... sigh ...

4/4/11

Claudia coped better with second move than expected. Not playing up as much after bedtime stories as I expected her to. Toby fortunately so young he barely notices! At 2 weeks shy of his first birthday, he finally has his own bedroom – first 10 months he slept in corner of dining room, then he had 8 weeks in a large cupboard at Grandma and Grandpa’s house!

Claudia toilet-training – started August 2010 when she asked to put on undies that had been sitting in plain sight in laundry with her other clothes for weeks. Pretty good within days, for 3 months. Then one month of regression for no clear reason, then improved again. Often better out of house than at home, although frequently lots of accidents at mothers group. Quite consistently good at child care, I assume the effect of her peers using the toilet, coupled with the carers reminding them all a lot! Not a hope of being dry overnight. Poo – kept doing in her undies or nap-nappy or night-nappy. Offering increasing bribes, 2 treats for a poo, then present sitting on top of fridge, then “when you do poo in potty, Mummy will take you to the shops and buy you a present.” Repeat, repeat, repeat.

She was very happy to see her own green potty when we moved to Anzac St (had been sitting at Bute St un-used for 8 weeks post-flood until Mummy cleaned it up and brought it round when we moved). She talked a lot about “when I do poo, Mummy will take me to shops and buy me a treat/present/chocolate milkshake.”

On Sunday 2nd April, after 3 dashes to potty and no result, presto. Poo in potty. Family outing to Dairy Bell for chocolate milkshake. Told Grandma and Grandpa about it. Repeated feat later same day, and at childcare next day, although another poo in undies at end of day.

We’d been slack and only now introduced second daily tooth brushing and toothpaste at same time. Spitting out paste a developing skill!

Toby – crawling – started at 10 mths like his sister, but unlike Claudia, he doesn’t do traditional 4-point crawling, his action is like butterfly stroke in swimming, moving hands together, then propelling forward using mostly his 2 big toes!

At 12 months not showing interest in looking up or pulling himself up. From 11 months, Claudia was standing if put in standing with something, furniture, to hold onto. Toby not! At 12 mths occasionally planting legs down straight when being sat on floor, Claudia was doing this from 11 months. However Mummy not fussed as her baby boy growing up too fast anyway, plus he is not heavy, so not a problem to carry round!

Toby – breastfeeding – 4 feeds per day with occasional overnight feed at time of flood (10mths), then dropped afternoon feed around 11 months, and by 12mths had dropped other day feed, so now only breastfed on waking first thing in morning, and after bath before bedtime in evening. Occasional overnight feed if really unsettled (mostly occurs when ill).

Toby – naps – at 12 mths still 2 naps a day of 1.5-2 hrs each. As Grandma says, he could do his PhD in sleep!

Claudia and Toby – sibling relationship- no one told me how lovely this was! First 6 mths, not really a relationship, Claudia wanted to hold baby but then would hit or bite fingers after playing “round and round the garden”, but once Toby could sit up and smile at her (she often gets bigger smiles from Toby than Mummy gets!) it became clear how much they love each other. She can still get too rough, noisy with him, bite or hit, but he’s growing up robust and tolerant!

He has bitten her fingers once when she was silly enough to put her hand in his mouth, Mummy offered no sympathy, instead suggesting now she knew how it felt, she might like to remember that! He has also pulled her hair, again no maternal compassion! (suggested to her to not get that close, she is meant to leave his head and face alone)

6/4/11

Toby showing first real signs of looking to pull self upwards, wants my pile of house magazines (3 magazines purchased after flood as need renovation/kitchen/bathroom ideas) on shelf of DVD unit. But is reaching up with one hand while lying on tummy, so not getting far (Claudia progressed from 4-point crawling ,to kneeling, to reaching up for kneeling position).


8/4/11

YAY! Look at me! I'm back online! I have a laptop now.

Only dopey me can't work out how to set up laptop with new wifi modem, so I'm sitting on floor next to phone point with the cord connected .... not IT savvy here I tell you! I had dreams of sitting all comfy on the couch in front of tv!

We're having a small party for Toby, had few people pull out at last minute so looking at 11 adults including us and both sets of grandparents, and 6 children including Toby.

10/4/11

Toby’s 1st birthday party. Miserable head cold poor mite, clearly did not enjoy his own party, just wanted to suck his fingers and sleep (had 2.5 hr nap immediately after everyone left!).

The party was from 11-1, short and sweet (have been to a few parties lately that seemed to go for ages). Anyway party was fine, only a morning tea and cake thing, over in 2 hrs and I'm now trying to nurse him back to health, poor thing is quite miserable today!

Fairy Bread
Honey Joys
Sausage Rolls
Sandwiches (cut in quarters, ham and cheese and tomato)

Birthday cake was square chocolate cake, covered in blue buttercream icing with white chocolate melts and white chocolate drops over it as polka-dot spots (Toby is into balls and buttons, hence the spots design).

To keep my life simple I did not do separate "adult" food, I expected the parents to eat same as the children (and they did, mostly the sausage rolls, well except for inlaws who I am sure left hungry, but that’s their problem, especially as they arrived at 11.45 after we’d started eating and left at 1 barely saying good bye).

The age group I had was one 1 yo (birthday boy), two 2 yos, two 3 yos and one 7 yo, plus parents and grandparents.

13/4/11

Happy 1st Birthday Toby!