The Great Ducky Melt Down

Not long after we moved in to the house Jaxon was quite content sitting on the lounge room floor playing with Dude.

Ducky sat abandoned on the floor in the hallway and I thought I'd take advantage of his lack of interest and give Ducky a big bath.

So Ducky had a bath and then while Jaxon rode his new bike in the backyard, paying no attention to what I was doing, I hung Jaxon's clothes and his Duck on the clothes line.

When I prompted Jaxon to come back in he rode his bike right under the line.

He almost got all the way under without looking up. I thought I was safe. But just as he came out from under the line, he stopped, turned and LOOKED UP.

That was the end of Jaxon for the next half an hour while Ducky dried on the line.

I brought Jaxon inside and I tried to entice him with food and something to drink. I even tried COKE! Coke...I tried COKE to help him forget that his beloved Duck was being tortured in the back yard.

Nothing worked. He cried right up until we took his duck off the line so he could suck on his bum again.

Don't think badly of me for taking photo's of this melt down. It's not like he was crying for 2 minutes, this was a half an hour affair. You know, you get to the point where you just can't do anything for them, and the best thing to do is take photo's...so you can tease them about it when they're 21!




Stay tuned for our adventures in Ducky hunting...finding a replacement has not been easy!

A Very Sad Day

Jaxon's great grand daddy passed away early this morning after having a fall at home on Friday night.

I was not lucky enough to know Cec as well as I would have liked but I do know that he was an incredibly kind and generous man with a huge heart.

He will be missed.

Cec

8th of February 1915 - 27th October 2008

Toot Toot Chugga Chugga!

This is Jaxon's new bike. Or, I should say, it's not new. His grandpa Ted (my Dad) has been giving Jaxon things ahead of his physical ability since he was born. He got this bike for him when he was three months old. We've had it in storage but during the move Jaxon found it. And loves it!

He's so cute riding around on this thing, and he's so good at it. Considering at the EDC they have bikes like this and for the last few months Jaxon has just sat on them unable to move, this is pretty impressive. The video is of the first night he'd ever been on it.

Apparently he's saying "kitty cat" but I just can't hear it!

More freaky than we first thought!

While Tim and I were trying to pick out a name to give to Jaxon before he was born the first name we settled on was Gibson.

Our reason was pretty stupid. Nothing sentimental about it. It wasn't any one's name, we didn't know anyone by that name. We chose that name because we love the show NCIS. The lead character, or one of, is named Leroy Jethro Gibbs. They call him Gibbs.

For reasons that I wont go in to here, we changed our minds about the name. We had to find another one and that ended up, obviously, being Jaxon.

I hadn't thought anything of it until tonight, while I watched my first episode of NCIS since I was pregnant. In this episode you get to meet Gibbs' Dad for the first time. And guess what his name is?? Yup. Jackson Gibbs.

Wierd huh??

What do you call that...thingamjig??.

So, Jaxon just found...it.

You know. His bits.

He was in the bath and out of no where, for the first time ever, he just reaches down and touches it.

He was all like "whoa...what's this? Mum, check this out! Quick...look, what do you think it is?" and I was all like "whoa, what the hell do I say?"

It's all simple when he's touching or poking at another part of his body. When he found his belly button I simply said "that's your belly button" and when he found his nose, I told him exactly what that there thing on his face was.

But I must admit that I was a little bit lost for words when it came to this particular subject and my 21 month old son.

Do I say penis? Doodle? Dick? Big fella?

What is considered PC these days???

What do YOU say?? Consider this a survey of sorts.

Random Photo’s

These first two photo’s only prove one thing. House work is BAD. Our home is being sold and on Monday we had an group of people coming through to view it. So I was running around like a headless chicken trying to tidy up after hurricane Jaxon. When I went out the back door to take the rubbish out, Jaxon was happy as Larry playing with toys in the lounge room. But when I returned he wasn’t where I left him.

He’d opened windows media player, window’s “help” and ninemsn. He’d also opened up and email and was sending off a message!!

These next one’s were also on Monday. Tim, Jaxon and I went out for dinner for my birthday. As we paid our bill the power went out and was off for three hours. Do you know how hard it is to entertain a toddler in the dark?? Well actually it’s really easy!!

This is Jaxon playing with the torch.

Cursing School Holidays...ALREADY!

I know. It would appear out of place and odd for me to be cursing school holidays, since Jaxon is only 21 months old. But I find myself doing just that, three and a half years prematurely.

Jaxon's physio classes and hydro classes are held through the EDC, who are situated in a specialized section of our local primary school. This means that when they have school holidays, Jaxon has school holidays.

It is the first day, a Monday. Normally on a Monday we have classes. Although he can't tell me what he thinks of them I know he looks forward to them and he knows the days when we will be going and not going.

I don't specifically know if it is a lack of classes today, or the heat, or if it's just teething or growing pains or any number of reason's. But Jaxon is being an absolute BRAT today.

He's currently serving a 5 minute time out. I've said to family and friends that Jaxon is probably too young to understand time out's at this point so you could say that the time out is a Mummy Time Out. Better he be kicking and screaming in his room, than kicking and screaming at my feet, grabbing at my clothes and clingy to my legs so I can't move.

So on this day, the 22nd of September 2008, let it be known, that I do NOT condone school holidays! My heart goes out to those mother's and father's out there dealing with bored children and teenager's. I don't envy you one little bit.

Wednesday 10th of September (PART TWO)

One of the things I failed to mention in my last post about this day was that Jaxon was incredibly sick all day.

He is normally a bubbly and chirpy little man, as long as he's getting his own way. We can't shut him up in the car, although he does sleep on the way to Brisbane on a normal day, he didn't sleep at all this day.

When we finally got to the hospital we noticed that Jaxon was really hot and flushed. It was a busy, hectic day and we thought nothing of it for a little while.

But then when we had to take his top off for his x-rays I also noticed that he had a rash down his arms and on his stomach, and to the touch he was burning up.

We didn't have anything to give him. I know there are lists of things to take along in your nappy bag, and I have those lists. But panadol is just something we don't carry all the time. So we left it. We went home, thinking that it was likely that he was just teething.

He didn't sleep for more than five minutes on the way home when normally after the day we've had he's out like a light before we leave the car park.

When we got home he started making noise. He really hadn't made any noise, aside from crying when they did the X-rays, and again when the spinal guy was manipulating his neck. His cry brought back painful memories of his 4 weeks of lactose induced crying. Even when he hurts himself he doesn't sound like this, so I knew at once that something other than teething was going on.

He had a temperature of 39.9 degree's. I gave him nurofin as soon as we got home, but 45 minutes later he was still 39.9. So we took him up to the hospital, at 8.30pm.

It turns out that Jaxon has tonsillitis!! Tonsillitis is something I myself am very familiar with, so I hope this is not a sign of things to come. I had my tonsil's out in year 10, after missing at least half of year 8 and almost all of year 9 due to my swollen puss covered tonsils.

We left the hospital at almost midnight. After being awake since 7.30am, and on the road or run for most of the day, we were all incredibly tired and ready for bed. Expect Jaxon wasn't well enough to sleep for longer than an hour, so the night was drawn on and on by cries in the night.

The doctor had asked us to return the next day to make sure Jaxon was ok. We got there at 9.30am but didn't get seen until 11am. All of this waiting, by now...was pissing me off and I was ready to hit someone square in the face.

Jaxon's temperature had gone down, but now he had ulcer's all over his tongue and on his tonsil's and he flat out refused to eat or drink anything. The bad thing about this was that they wouldn't let us go home until he did drink.

The day was just terrible. We sat and waited, and waited to be seen by the doctor. Then we waited again, because he wanted to check him again in another hour. Then we waited once again, because they gave him nurofin and wanted to monitor his temperature in another hour. I sat in the most uncomfortable chair, trying to comfort Jaxon who just didn't want to sit still for me like he had the day before. We watched patient after patient come and go, yet we waited and watched.

Finally, at 4pm, I told them that it was likely that Jaxon wasn't drinking because he wasn't home, and he's not a good drinker anyway. So they let us go home. With strict instructions to go back if he hadn't had anything by 8pm.

Thankfully, Jaxon drank a full bottle as soon as we got home. He's on his first ever round of antibiotics and what a difference they have made! My back is sore beyond words, I can barely move sometimes, from holding and cuddling him all of Wednesday and then restraining him all of Thursday.

Above:
Jaxon, sick as a dog while we spoke to Wendy the club foot lady.

While it was a very long and painful two days of my life (and Jaxon's) and I hate to think of Jaxon being in pain or feeling sick, I must admit that I treasured the quiet time with him. Jaxon is an on the go kind of guy. He's non stop from the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes down. I know that that can be said of all toddler's. But Jaxon doesn't even have time to stop and smell the roses, or the nape of his Mummy's neck. He doesn't cuddle ever, if you try to force a cuddle...watch out, you're in for a fight! He doesn't sit on lap's and play, he doesn't snuggle when he's tired and he most certainly does NOT fall asleep in your arms. So it was ever so nice to have a snuggly, hide in the nape of my neck, cuddle me all night long kid.

Wednesday the 10th of September (PART ONE)

Above:

Leaving our home town

It's taken me a little while to get to this, with other things that have been happening.

Last Wednesday was Jaxon's spinal specialist appointment. It was by far one of the longest days we have ever endured.

Brisbane is a 3 hour drive away from us, depending on traffic and adding in a breakfast stop. So the day always starts at least 5 hours before we actually have to be at the appointment. On this day, Jaxon was awake at 7.30am. He's normally still asleep at 9.30am...so he wasn't a happy chappy.

Above:
Heading in to Cunningham's Gap

Above:
We hit three lot's of road works, all at least a 20 minute wait.

We also happened to have a club foot appointment with Wendy. That had been scheduled for 12.30, while the spinal was at 1.30pm. But Wendy called the day before and told us she was in meetings and that she couldn't see us until 1.30. She told us to go and register for the spinal and then go and see her. What she was asking us to do was risk not being there when they called us in for the appointment that was more important. Being that the club foot issue is well and truly under control, we decided that we would deal with Wendy later and that if we didn't get to see her, we didn't get to see her. She could wait.

Above:
Heading in to Cunningham's Gap

So at 1.30 we registered and Jaxon got weighed and measured. We waited another 15 minutes and got called up to go to another department to get new x-rays of his neck done. So we lugged everything off to X-ray and waited yet another half hour to be seen there. Because they were the first x-rays done by the hospital, we had to explain EVERYTHING to them again, and they needed to call doctors and what not to find out if Jaxon was to be seated, standing or laying down for his shots.

Above:

The Gap from a distance, the best photo I could get. It's more impressive in person.

X-rays are a messy business when it come's to kids. Jaxon just wouldn't sit still. He ended up having Tim holding his arms and legs still and a nurse forcing his head on to the back of the chair. It was just awful. He screamed through the entire session.

Above:
This is one of three peacocks who come to see us at a place called BellBirds Point in the Gap.
They come and take food from your hand and eat the bugs off your car.
I wish you could hear the bellbirds too!

Once they were out of the way we were sent back down to the waiting area for our appointment. It was here that Tim and I witnessed one of the BEST fashion statements that we have seen in a long time. A woman sat with her three daughters. In a parachute jumpsuit. A florescent yellow one. She had a T-Shirt tucked in to her pants, which were well above her belly button. She had her pants tucked in to her socks and was wearing sandal's. She had a baseball cap on, with over the top, too big for your face Paris Hilton sunglasses on. And to top it all off, she had a fake pearl necklace on, that hung down her stomach.

Above:
Need I really explain this one?

So we waited yet another half an hour or so. We finally got called in to our appointment. It was difficult for the doctor to see anything clear enough to make any judgment call's. He can see that there are 3 or 4 fused vertebrae down the left side of Jaxon's neck, and the same in the back of his neck. He said that if he were to remove the affected vertebrae, it would come out in one big chunk of bone, not 5 separate bones. There is also the hemi-vertebrae, or half vertebrae.

Above:
Waiting to be called in to X-ray.

Nothing can be decided. He threw a few suggestion's out there but the main concern is that doing anything to his spine could paralyze Jaxon. So care needs to be taken when they're deciding what to do. He also said that to straighten up Jaxon's head he can't do anything about the side with the hemi in it, but that they *might* be able to fuse the other side to level him out. Still, nothing is to be decided.

Above:
Waiting while they figured out how to X-ray Jaxon

Jaxon is having a cat scan and an MRI scan on the 25th of November this year. We just got out appointment and Jaxon will be going under general anaesthetic for the procedure. It's scary to think about that, but the thing I am more concerned about is the 6 hour fast. He has to be there at 7am, but the procedure doesn't start until 8.30am. Which means that for those first few hours of the day, Jaxon is going to be off his head crazy mad at us for not giving him his morning bottle and breakfast.

Above:
Waiting for our spinal appointment (smile courtesy of Mummy pulling Jaxon's toes)

Finally, we went and saw Wendy for his club foot appointment. She wasn't thrilled at us for putting his spinal appointment before going to see her but we didn't care. We also told her that we'd be giving the boot's back and just keeping a close eye on his foot. There is a 65% chance of a relapse for his foot without the boots. But we haven't been putting them on him for longer than we'd admit to Wendy, and still his foot is fine. We're still going to go back on the 25th, to let her look at it and make the final choice about the boots.

I nearly forgot to tell you the two most interesting things that happened while at the hospital (apart from the things that are still to come)

Above:
Why we left the city, and why we wont go back.

Tim and I park on the 7th floor of the parking building. It's a long way up, right at the top and we park there because it is always empty and it's easier to just go all the way up there than keep our eyes open for a parking spot. On our way out, as we drove around the first bend, we saw a bubble. A single kids bubble. Floating past our car. There wasn't another soul in sight.

Above:
The only time Jaxon slept, for five full minutes. At 5.30pm. He'd been awake since 7.30am, but hadn't made hardly a sound all day.

Then as we neared the bottom and the exit, we both saw something walking across our path. I knew what it was, but because it was SO out of place in the car park, I just couldn't think of what to call it. So Tim was saying "is that a cat?" and I know it's not a cat, but can't think of it's name so say nothing. He then changes his mind..."is that a dog?" And again, I know it's NOT a dog. In the end it came to me. Right there, in the middle of Brisbane City, at the basement of a hospital car park...was a turkey. You heard me. A gobble gobble turkey. It was the funniest thing. It walked right past us stopped at the machine to pay for it's ticket, and then down the ramp leading in to the hospital!

Above:
An hour from home, but the day was no where near over

Stayed tuned for part two of this day!

MasterCard, for toddler's and their mother's...

1 tiny teddy...

1 minute of silence

1 tiny teddy and 1 teddy bear biscuit...

5 minutes of silence

1 tiny teddy, 1 teddy bear biscuit and 1 lolly pop...

20 minutes of silence

1 tiny teddy, 1 teddy bear biscuit, 1 lolly pop and 1 bottle of water (lid off)...

30 minutes of silence






30 full minutes of silence....


PRICELESS!!!

My Little Water Boy

This could go on all day. If we decide that we wont let him have his water there is hell to pay. Hell that comes in the form of kicking and screaming, for hours on end. He rarely wants water to drink it.

For the greater good...

This past Sunday in Australia was Father's Day. Although I forgot to say Happy Father's Day to Tim from Jaxon, and he forgot to say Happy Father's day to his Dad and I forgot to say it to my own Dad, we had a really lovely day.

At Tim's work (and throughout Australia) the environment and global warming is an huge deal. Last year for Christmas they gave every employee a baby tree to plant, to help replace the one's we're cutting down. That was more than 400 tree's planted. On Sunday we planted 100 tree's, and there's more to come.

I couldn't be happier and more proud of Tim's work for making such a huge effort towards Jaxon's future. I only hope that other employer's, and people all over the world, are doing the same sort of thing.

Every little bit helps.
Believe it or not.



The above photo has Tim's boss in it. Jaxon was shouting out instructions to him and yelling at him for putting the stakes in wrong. His boss said "Just like Daddy, always judging my work" (obviously they're quite good friends)

After the fun of planting tree's, it was time to explore the premises.


I told Tim that Jaxon wouldn't be so enthusiastic about walking across this walkway and up those stairs in 17 years for his first day of work!

Karma's a Bitch...

I thought I'd escaped it.

I thought I was past the danger zone and well in the clear.

But it appears I am not.

And now my life will never be the same again.

Because tonight, for the first time ever, Jaxon shit in the bath.

Mum has always got her rocks off telling the story of a time long long ago when I myself...shit in the bath.

So as I squished that lump down the plug hole I thought of you Mum.

That saying about revenge being a dish best served cold???

It turn's out it can be just as good served warm, floating in a sea of bubbles.

Like Father Like Son

Thankfully, Daddy doesn't normally have a dummy in his mouth.
Only on weekends.

I'm a big boy now!

How "hard" did you say it would be???

A few nights ago our friends dropped in for a routine visit. They happen to be childless, and while children are not on the cards for them at any time in the near future, they really would like them right now.

At one point, my friend told Tim that she was just going to take our little munchkin instead. Tim and I both said…go for it. She said that was a bit rough, and again we could have won a gold medal for our synchronized reply... “You have NO idea”

It’s true. And BC, or before child…I had no idea either. I’m reading a book recommended to me by one of my girls. It’s called “I was a great Mum before I had kids” Before I even had the book, I loved it. Because the statement made in the title is true of everyone, whether they know it or not.

I was one of those people that looked down my nose at people who let their kids run wild in supermarkets. I wondered why they just didn’t control the situation as their child threw themselves at the floor screaming because they couldn’t have a lolly. I judged everything, from dummies, to speech development, to manners.

But seriously, what would I know? I had no idea. I still have no idea. And now I’m a parent. Before children, when I was warned that being a parent was hard I thought to myself…sure. It’s hard. I know that.

To those people who tried to warn me I say…solving a Rubik’s cube is hard. Opening the lid on a child proof container is hard and getting burnt rice off the bottom of a pot is hard.

They should probably reconsider their definition of having children, or the use of the word “hard” to describe being a parent. While I can take the sticker’s off a Rubik’s cube and rearrange them back in order, and I can throw the child proof container at the wall in anger, or simply throw the ruined pot out and replace it with a new one, none of those things applies to having kids or being a parent.

Nothing I say will prepare you.

All I can say is..."there's the deep end...good luck"

Jaxon at the EDC

This is Jaxon having fun at the EDC (Early Development Center) where he does physio and hydrotherapy.

The first part of the video is him waving good bye to a bus load of school kids (the EDC is at a primary school) and then him trying to eat bubbles. And then...getting up to no good.

What scares me the most...

Every baby book, or forum I have ever been a part of has had certain advice that seems the same across the board.

Not all children will have colic.

Not all children will have reflux.

Not all babies eyes will change colour shortly after birth.

Not all children will have allergic reaction's to milk, or shots, or peanuts.

So what scares me the most is that nowhere have I ever heard it said...

"Not all children will go through the terrible two's"

Jaxon has been terrible to deal with for the past 3 weeks. He wants something, he doesn't want it, but he wants it. He wants to be held, but he doesn't want to be held, but if you put him down there is hell to pay. He's hungry, but he's not hungry. He wants to feed himself but he'll cry if you don't do it and then cry while you're doing it.

It's unbearable at times. I've tried giving him what he wants, which doesn't always work, or work for long. I've tried ignoring his crying and whaling. And that doesn't work either.

So what scares me the most is that Jaxon is not yet two, so I can't say for sure that this IS the terrible two's we're experiencing. If this IS NOT the terrible two's (and it surely is terrible) then what the hell have I got to look forward to???

I love...

Jaxon's belly button.

Every time I see it, I'm reminded that once upon a time, not too long ago, he and I were one.

Jaxon was inside of me.

And not making so much noise.

Just as I thought...

When I returned home last night, despite the fact it was half an hour past his dinner time...Jaxon was in the perfect state of happiness. It seems that in writing down a list of things that I desperately wanted to happen I jinxed myself and not one of them occurred. No nasty poo, no out of control tantrums, no accidental spills or extra baths.

I was thinking that I would return home and find Jaxon standing at the kitchen gate, yelling out his usual "mam...mam mam mam" for food as Tim frantically tried to find something that he would actually eat, after refusing two other choices. But no, he walked casually up to me with a big smile on his face.

I was hoping to hear horror poo stories. Poo on the wall's, all over Tim and Jaxon. Smothered on clothes. But no, Jaxon did a nice little neat poo...a one wipe poo.

The ultimate pleasure would have been finding Jaxon gripping the floor, screaming his head off and flailing his arms and legs about. Inconsolable, because Daddy told him he couldn't shove the remote control up the cats bum, no matter how funny it would look to see him try. But no...all smiles. No horror stories.

Tim tells me that while they watched a Simpson's episode, Jaxon said "dodecahedron" and "antidisestablishmentarianism" (I know, go figure?) and that he sat and read a chapter of Charlotte's Web all by himself.

While Tim was at home thinking "gee this is easy" I was out thinking "gee, this hobby is fucking HARD"