JUNE 2005
Drum roll please..... I have now stopped breastfeeding! As planned, I gave Callum his last breastfeed before he went to the caravan for five days with my Mum & Dad. Since his return he has not had any. I'm certainly not saying it has been easy, but at last we have achieved what I set out to do at New Year.
Callum did still ask for feeds for a couple of weeks, but I just told him that he was a big boy now and didn't need it. He would look disappointed and try again in 5 minutes or so just in case I had changed my mind, but he did not get upset about it... unlike me! I still really miss the feeds. I feel like I have lost a part of motherhood. There is a consolation prize though... Callum has got much more loving and cuddly, he has channelled his need for closeness into other directions and regularly runs up to us throwing his arms around us and giving us the best hugs and squeezes we have ever had! That's nice.
Along with stopping breastfeeding we have moved Callum into his own room. We had planned to do this much sooner, but with all the work going on in the house we had to use his room as a storage place for a while. Now he is in there though we have had no problems getting him settled. I suppose because we had his changing unit in there, and some of his toys, he has been used to being in there and knew it as 'his room'. His sleeping seems to have improved as well. Although he is not sleeping through every night, we are getting more full nights sleep than before. On the nights when he does wake up, he can often be settled back down without a drink. So we don’t have to go downstairs for a bottle every time.
We are so proud of Callum, he has had so much to handle this month: moving back home, being away from us for 5 days, being in his own room, getting used to new routines, no more breastfeeding etc. he has taken in all in his stride.
I have made another great step forward this month. I have decided to book Callum into a pre-school for a couple of mornings per week. He will start once he is 2, which no doubt will come around quickly. I don’t really want to 'let him go', but it took so long getting him, we cannot guarantee ever getting him a brother or a sister, so I think it is important to put structures in place that will help him learn to mix with other people and to develop his social skills. We are really pleased with the pre-school we have chosen, and an added bonus is that, unlike many of these places, they do not expect him to be out of nappies when he starts. I took Callum on a visit to the place; he settled right in and did not want to come away! A good sign, although I am aware how fickle toddlers can be and that come November it could be a different story!
Again, no more teeth this month. I'm so glad really. Although with the amount of drooling and chewing that has been going on, I had my suspicions at one point that more were on their way.
If you are reading this then you obviously know that I have finally made time to update this website. Not only have I got up to date with the diaries, but I have also added another 23 photo's to the site. There will be more pics to come... whilst away from home, we downloaded some of our photos from our camera onto my Mum & Dad's PC and have yet to transfer them onto ours. Also there are still some more pics on the memory cards for the camera that we haven't downloaded yet. Once we get some spare time I will add some more.
We celebrated my birthday this month. At least I was at home this year - last year I had stayed in hospital with Callum because he had tonsillitis. We were due to go to the caravan, Callum was there already with my Mum and Dad, and we were due to go pick him up on the Saturday and stay over to celebrate my birthday the next day. However, in an unfortunate turn of events everything had to be cancelled at the last minute. My Auntie Jo, Uncle John and their Grandson Ben, were involved in a rather nasty car accident. I will not go into details on here because I do not want to jeopardise any possible Court Proceedings, but suffice to say that a third party was involved and that it has left my Auntie Jo in a bad way. My Uncle John had a dislocated shoulder, shock and cuts and bruises. Ben also suffered from shock and cuts and bruises. My poor Auntie Jo is in a much worse way though. She has a broken sternum (chest bone), a broken hand, and has broken a vertebrae in her back in three places. She has also got some rather nasty bruising, particularly on her abdomen. She is still in hospital, as I write this she is still waiting to have a brace fitted to her back. It could take around 6 month’s altogether before she recovers from the accident. My love goes to everyone affected by this.
We have also had Fathers' Day this month - with so much DIY to be done, Shaun definitely felt like a true 'family man'!
I am writing this diary just before the end of the month, Callum has an appointment at the hospital on the 29th about his tonsillitis, I'm not expecting anything other than him being monitored a bit longer, or even being discharged. He's not had tonsillitis much in the last 6 months - in fact, although his tonsils have been swollen a few times and he has been 'off it', he has only had to get treatment for full blown tonsillitis the once.
Well, better go - I've been working on the website for hours now!
'Til next time,
Amanda
