Just got the fantastic news that Cosby Jnr number two (the one I first mentioned here) was born last night.
Candy gave birth to a little baby boy at 2.52am weighing 7lbs 12oz and 7 days early. There had been some complications early on but everything sorted itself out and Candy was able to have the home birth she wanted all along.
I was only playing Call of Duty online with Ben 12 hours ago, when he went offline to give Candy a birthing massage! I guess it did the trick as we've just got the email to say that all went smoothly and the new boy arrived safe and sound.
Massive congratulations to Ben, Candy and Noah who have now become the full nuclear family (whatever that means - actually, I think it means you don't have to have any more kids!).
Can't wait to meet the little fella. Wonderful news.
Friday's child is loving and giving.
Friday, 22 May 2009
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain
Guess what everybody, it's another episode of the 'Jake's never gonna sleep properly' show.
I have a slight sore throat which is making things worse, but I can honestly say that today is the tiredest I've ever been. So tired in fact, that I don't even care that tiredest isn't a word. It might be but I can't be bothered to check.
Friends of ours had a night nanny for a night when their daughter was about Jake's age and had a similar sleep pattern. It was expensive but I'm seriously considering it. The idea of having a full night of sound, deep sleep is so seductive, I'd give my life savings. If I had any.
Jake was officially a 'shit' all day yesterday, firstly according to Clare's daily report which I get when I come home and then secondly as witnessed first hand. He didn't eat much all day, didn't want his milk, seemed constipated (although not when I checked!) and then slept like a woman going through the change.
Awake, screaming at 1.50am, again at 3am, fed at 3.20am, berserk at 3.50am and eventually slept from 5am to about 7am. So I managed around 4.5 hours of broken sleep and again have woken up feeling like I've died. I mentioned to him this morning that he was 'ruining my life', mainly to get a laugh out of Clare (but perhaps never a truer word than is said in jest) and he smiled at me. The bugger. What is it with that smile which changes my mood so? How can he go from villain to saviour with one tiny movement? It seems that however far he pushes us, how ever much we want to be angry, he can bring us back into line with one solitary action.
I don't know how I will ever successfully discipline him. Last night I watched the second episode in a rerun of series 1 of the Inbetweeners, a very funny show about 4 seventeen(ish) year old lads who don't fit in and follows their adolescent antics. One day they all skipped school, got drunk, called their best mate's dad gay, vandalised another's drive way, puked on a prospective girl friend and ended up getting caught red handed. Sat there taking their lecture, Will (the sensible one) gave an implausible excuse that they were all alcoholics and could only get through the hard times ahead with the love and support of their parents. The father who was in charge of the dressing down tried to continue his discipline but just laughed. That'll be me, I reckon. Not that I want Jake to become a tearaway but as long as he doesn't break any major laws or do anything nasty, I can't see how I'll be able to stay angry for too long. I'm not really a grudge person and I am pretty forgiving anyway but I will have to practice my serious face so it seems genuine when he gets caught drunk and disorderly later in life (like his dad did!).
I have a slight sore throat which is making things worse, but I can honestly say that today is the tiredest I've ever been. So tired in fact, that I don't even care that tiredest isn't a word. It might be but I can't be bothered to check.
Friends of ours had a night nanny for a night when their daughter was about Jake's age and had a similar sleep pattern. It was expensive but I'm seriously considering it. The idea of having a full night of sound, deep sleep is so seductive, I'd give my life savings. If I had any.
Jake was officially a 'shit' all day yesterday, firstly according to Clare's daily report which I get when I come home and then secondly as witnessed first hand. He didn't eat much all day, didn't want his milk, seemed constipated (although not when I checked!) and then slept like a woman going through the change.
Awake, screaming at 1.50am, again at 3am, fed at 3.20am, berserk at 3.50am and eventually slept from 5am to about 7am. So I managed around 4.5 hours of broken sleep and again have woken up feeling like I've died. I mentioned to him this morning that he was 'ruining my life', mainly to get a laugh out of Clare (but perhaps never a truer word than is said in jest) and he smiled at me. The bugger. What is it with that smile which changes my mood so? How can he go from villain to saviour with one tiny movement? It seems that however far he pushes us, how ever much we want to be angry, he can bring us back into line with one solitary action.
I don't know how I will ever successfully discipline him. Last night I watched the second episode in a rerun of series 1 of the Inbetweeners, a very funny show about 4 seventeen(ish) year old lads who don't fit in and follows their adolescent antics. One day they all skipped school, got drunk, called their best mate's dad gay, vandalised another's drive way, puked on a prospective girl friend and ended up getting caught red handed. Sat there taking their lecture, Will (the sensible one) gave an implausible excuse that they were all alcoholics and could only get through the hard times ahead with the love and support of their parents. The father who was in charge of the dressing down tried to continue his discipline but just laughed. That'll be me, I reckon. Not that I want Jake to become a tearaway but as long as he doesn't break any major laws or do anything nasty, I can't see how I'll be able to stay angry for too long. I'm not really a grudge person and I am pretty forgiving anyway but I will have to practice my serious face so it seems genuine when he gets caught drunk and disorderly later in life (like his dad did!).
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Is coffee the answer? Or rather the problem?
I like keep an eye on all things cleft via the Google News reader which is pretty good at feeding stuff through. I've decided that I should link to some of the articles which come up. Some are interesting and others like this one seem crazy.
This report claims that;
'Women drinking a daily cup of coffee during the first 3 months of pregnancy were 1.39 times more likely to have a baby with harelip and the likelihood increased to 1.59 for women who drank 3 or more cups of coffee a day'
Given that Clare has never drunk a cup of coffee in her life, this made me smile. Every day there's a new report saying that tomatoes give us cancer, mobile phones fry our brains or that too much water makes us urinate and it makes it hard to know what to believe anymore.
The article also goes on to say;
'Recently, a study showed women drinking more than 3 cups of coffee a day had 17% smaller breasts.'
Which says it all really.
This report claims that;
'Women drinking a daily cup of coffee during the first 3 months of pregnancy were 1.39 times more likely to have a baby with harelip and the likelihood increased to 1.59 for women who drank 3 or more cups of coffee a day'
Given that Clare has never drunk a cup of coffee in her life, this made me smile. Every day there's a new report saying that tomatoes give us cancer, mobile phones fry our brains or that too much water makes us urinate and it makes it hard to know what to believe anymore.
The article also goes on to say;
'Recently, a study showed women drinking more than 3 cups of coffee a day had 17% smaller breasts.'
Which says it all really.
Smile Train delivers!
I wrote a few weeks back about the Smile Train and all the good work they do. I make a small monthly donation as the charity make a little money go a long way. Just $250 is enough for one person to have a lip or palate repair. Many charities have huge administration overheads so a large part of any donation goes towards running costs. Not so, the Smile Train. Their methodology is such that they have a tiny staff and therefore the vast majority of all money received goes towards training local doctors, nurses and surgeons so that they can carry out surgeries on a self sufficient basis.
Anyway, part of the Smile Train's promise is that they send news shortly after you start donating of someone they have helped. A couple of weeks back we got a letter from the charity detailing the story of a young boy who has now had his lip repaired. Even though he is on the other side of the world (and even further away metaphorically), I can imagine his parents had the same emotions as we did. Perhaps even more so given that until the Smile Train came along, there was no hope.
A before and after photograph was sent along with the biography which made it all the more real. I will transcribe the letter and scan the photos on another post in a day or so.
Anyway, part of the Smile Train's promise is that they send news shortly after you start donating of someone they have helped. A couple of weeks back we got a letter from the charity detailing the story of a young boy who has now had his lip repaired. Even though he is on the other side of the world (and even further away metaphorically), I can imagine his parents had the same emotions as we did. Perhaps even more so given that until the Smile Train came along, there was no hope.
A before and after photograph was sent along with the biography which made it all the more real. I will transcribe the letter and scan the photos on another post in a day or so.
Friday, 15 May 2009
Sleep, a new low
You're probably as bored of reading about Jake's sleep pattern as I am moaning about it but at 2.30am when he's screaming I start making up sentences for this blog which would go to waste unless I posted them.
So after 8 and half months, we're still taking 2 or 3 steps backwards for every 1 forward. A few weeks back I wrote that we were enjoying an almost perfect sleep cycle. Jake would go to bed, as he always has to be fair, at 7pm and then go through to at least 6am and sometimes 6.30am and on one glorious occasion, 8am. I remember writing that we were almost there and it wouldn't be long until he'd do 7-7. What a fool. As if.
So for the last week, he's woken at around midnight, but unlike when he used to wake, he now is inconsolable. A couple of times we left him to cry it out ('controlled crying' is the PC term) and it sometimes worked. It is very difficult to continue to do this when you live in a semi with thin walls. I don't much care for our neighbours but there's a limit. We'll leave him 10-15 minutes but after a while the desire to get back to sleep is greater than enduring the screaming in the hope it might help future nights. So, typically Clare will get up and a combination of shushing and humming Amazing Jake (Grace) which sometimes works so as he goes back to sleep for anything between 20 minutes and 5 hours. Lately he's been getting up at 5, we feed him and then he'll go back to sleep until after 8 - it even made me late for work once. This is actually acceptable as it's still possible to get 7 or even 8 hours sleep without having to go to bed at 9pm.
Last night however, represented a new standard even for Jake. Awake at 20 past midnight, controlled crying for 20 minutes, followed by apoplectic rage for a while, then Clare took him downstairs to watch TV. This calmed him down, however the rage returned when she tried to put him down again. Eventually she fed him and he started crying again. She changed his nappy, he went berserk. We got the hint when the neighbours started slamming doors at 2.15am! Eventually he dropped off around 3am. The problem with this prolonged screaming is that by the time he's fallen asleep, we're so awake and wired from sleep deprivation, we can't get back to sleep. When he woke up at 7, I felt like I'd woken up dead. Today is going to drag and I'm sending Clare to my sister's house tonight so she can get a full night's sleep. Although I'm awake through the night when he is, not having to get up and placate or feed him makes things easier for me. I have never done the overnight shift on my own before and it's about time but I will be having a word with him before he goes to bed and I suspect, our best friend Mr. Calpol will be involved!
So after 8 and half months, we're still taking 2 or 3 steps backwards for every 1 forward. A few weeks back I wrote that we were enjoying an almost perfect sleep cycle. Jake would go to bed, as he always has to be fair, at 7pm and then go through to at least 6am and sometimes 6.30am and on one glorious occasion, 8am. I remember writing that we were almost there and it wouldn't be long until he'd do 7-7. What a fool. As if.
So for the last week, he's woken at around midnight, but unlike when he used to wake, he now is inconsolable. A couple of times we left him to cry it out ('controlled crying' is the PC term) and it sometimes worked. It is very difficult to continue to do this when you live in a semi with thin walls. I don't much care for our neighbours but there's a limit. We'll leave him 10-15 minutes but after a while the desire to get back to sleep is greater than enduring the screaming in the hope it might help future nights. So, typically Clare will get up and a combination of shushing and humming Amazing Jake (Grace) which sometimes works so as he goes back to sleep for anything between 20 minutes and 5 hours. Lately he's been getting up at 5, we feed him and then he'll go back to sleep until after 8 - it even made me late for work once. This is actually acceptable as it's still possible to get 7 or even 8 hours sleep without having to go to bed at 9pm.
Last night however, represented a new standard even for Jake. Awake at 20 past midnight, controlled crying for 20 minutes, followed by apoplectic rage for a while, then Clare took him downstairs to watch TV. This calmed him down, however the rage returned when she tried to put him down again. Eventually she fed him and he started crying again. She changed his nappy, he went berserk. We got the hint when the neighbours started slamming doors at 2.15am! Eventually he dropped off around 3am. The problem with this prolonged screaming is that by the time he's fallen asleep, we're so awake and wired from sleep deprivation, we can't get back to sleep. When he woke up at 7, I felt like I'd woken up dead. Today is going to drag and I'm sending Clare to my sister's house tonight so she can get a full night's sleep. Although I'm awake through the night when he is, not having to get up and placate or feed him makes things easier for me. I have never done the overnight shift on my own before and it's about time but I will be having a word with him before he goes to bed and I suspect, our best friend Mr. Calpol will be involved!
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