So where does he get the red hair from?
My top ten most common answers:
10. Well actually, red hair is a recessive gene and since both of us have redheads in our families, it's not that unusual that Elijah is one.
9. My sister is a redhead.
8. He's a genetic throwback.
7. I don't know, but it sure attracts the girls.
6. I dye it.
5. He's actually a Weasley.
4. I don't know, I should ask the hospital about that one.
3. Does he have red hair?
2. His real father.
1. The postman.
Labels: miscellaneous
By gum, I wish I'd gotten more sleep
It appears that Elijah is teething again. There is a big hard lump on the right side of his lower gum. It's not right next to his current teeth, just a bit further down, which means it's probably his first molar. Fabulous. Can't these things happen in the proper order? This latest development, of course, has had a big impact on Elijah's sleep and subsequently, ours.
Meaning we're not getting any.
Last night, Elijah woke up screaming every twenty minutes or so. Bringing him into our bed didn't help. He wouldn't be comforted. It wasn't until we realised in the small hours of the night that he was repeatedly hitting himself in the head, that we thought it was possible he had a headache. So we got out the child-proof (read parent-proof) children's paracetamol and a syringe. Five minutes of choice swear-words later, we finally removed the lid and had drawn up the appropriate dose of painkiller.
Why is it that toddlers don't realise that you are doing something to help them? It's bad enough when I'm trying to cut Elijah's nails. Trying to get paracetamol down his throat was much worse. It took the two of us to restrain and get the medicine into him. How single parents do this, I have no idea. He was thrashing around and screaming, obviously in pain, but under the false impression that we were out to get him. I guess the wild look in my eyes caused by lack of sleep and an unwillingness to be battling with parent-proof medicine and thrashing, screaming toddler at 1am gave him that idea.
It wasn't until after he swallowed that we cottoned on the the fact that there may be other factors at play here. The drool was a big tip-off, though it appeared at first to be Elijah's vain attempts to expel the foul-tasting liquid painkiller from his being. His unwillingness to let me stick a finger in his mouth was another clue.
Low and behold, the pea-sized gum protrusion was discovered and
Bonjella applied. Elijah quickly calmed down and Daddy, probably fearing for his own life, volunteered to put the boy back to bed.
Blissful sleep followed... until the painkillers wore off a few hours later and we had to go through the whole process again.
This time though, Elijah wouldn't go back to his bed. Ours was much more inviting. In fact, the most inviting prospect was not even touching our mattress, but laying his heavy little body on top of mine, making sure that I was as close to sitting up as possible. Of course, being the sneaky mother that I am, as soon as he was dead to the world, I gradually decreased the angle until I was in such a position that I was able to sleep.
I couldn't breathe, but at least I could sleep.
Labels: sleep deprivation, teething
Marking time
Elijah has a new game he likes to play.
When I put my book down for a minute and leave the room, Elijah likes to follow me out of the room like this:
It's almost as if he is saying "Wait Daddy, you forgot to take this with you!"
Of course, he is also a helpful boy, as you can see what he does when I ask him to put the bookmark back where he found it.
He's not very effective, but he does try and it's further proof that he understands almost everything we say to him.
Labels: intelligence, monkey business
The Mockingbird
You may or may not be aware that this week I am home recovering from minor knee surgery (that's right, "awwww" indeed). I'm recovering quickly but I still need crutches to get around the house.
Sometimes if I need a spare hand I just use the one crutch for balance and hop or hobble around the house, doing what needs to be done. Bugs find this very funny, so funny in fact that at random times throughout the day he has taken to imitating me. He locks his left knee, sticks his leg out at a funny angle and proceeds to limp around for a couple of minutes before breaking down and giggling.
The first time I saw him do it, I thought it was cute. The second time, not quite so cute. It was around the fifth time, when I suddenly turned around to discover he was following me around the kitchen doing it behind my back, that I detected a pattern here.
If I didn't know better, I'd swear he was making fun of me.
Labels: monkey business
The joys of reading!
Labels: photos, reading
A new addition to the bathtime/bedtime routine
Running naked through the house after finishing his bath!
Labels: photos, routines
Oops!
I neglected to mention what we are advertising! It's a website:
mytalk.com.auIt should be airing on Southern Cross Ten and affiliated stations soon.
Elijah and I are featured right at the start of the commercial - I have the second piece of dialogue. I will post it here if it ends up on YouTube for the non-Aussie readers.
Labels: miscellaneous, show business
The Shoot!
Things I learnt about Elijah on the ad shoot
- Elijah doesn't like anyone but Daddy or himself touching Mummy. He had a total conniption in makeup. Even having him sitting on my lap, being cuddled, wouldn't settle him while the makeup artist attacked my face with brushes.
- He understands a whole lot more than I realised. Once we got out of makeup, the shot wasn't quite finished being set up, so we waited on some couches. I asked Elijah if he felt more settled now. He replied, "Yes."
- It doesn't matter how unfamiliar the setting is, as long as there are some familiar items there, he is much more comfortable. Having our own high chair used in the shoot was a big help. Balletbear will also be featured in the commercial, as she and Elijah would not be separated.
- As long as food is in sight, it doesn't matter what the boom mic is doing near Mummy's head and cameras don't even make the radar.
- Once a meal is underway, you cannot pack up and move to a different location until the meal is over, unless you want a very stroppy toddler. The scene called for me to feed Elijah. Of course, after all the takes were completed, Elijah still had food to eat. So the crew packed up the set and equipment around us while Elijah finished his meal.
All up, it was pretty successful. Once we were out of makeup, Elijah was a total pro. He didn't make any noise during my dialogue and was calm and happy: pretty much all you can ask for a child to be in show business.
Labels: milestones, show business
No longer the evil monster
Elijah is no longer terrified of the vacuum cleaner. It was out this morning, being put to use and Elijah did not scream, cry or hide once. He did, however, stay close to me and lay his head on my lap a few times, so he's still wary of it, but I think he's starting to understand that just because it's noisy, doesn't mean that it's scary.
Labels: fears
Mad Dad?
Without realising it, I seem to have become one of those fathers who believe that the only reason their 16-month-old child isn't doing exactly as they say is because they haven't yelled loud enough.
This is not the type of father I want to be. This must change. This will change. This won't be easy as I don't realise I'm doing it until after the event a lot of the time. That's no excuse.
This must change. This
will change.
Labels: fears, musings
We got the job!
Elijah and I will be in a national advertising campaign, screening for two years! Filming is late next week.
Labels: milestones, miscellaneous, show business
Taking the time to smell the... car fumes?
Now that he is quite adept with his walking, we have taken Elijah on a couple of short treks around the neighbourhood. This morning, after having a run around the back yard for half an hour (while I sat on the dun-drenched back step, Harry Potter book seven in hand), we went for a leisurely walk to the post box to send off a letter. We arrived home twenty minutes later.
The post box is no more than a two-minute walk from our house.
Why did it take so long? Well, for starters, Elijah's legs are considerably shorter than mine, and because he was happy to walk holding hands and we were in just great hurry, I slowed my pace to match his. However, the biggest factor in the eking out of the activity was Elijah's insistence to stop and watch every car that passed. As soon as he sees one coming around the bend, he must stop whatever he is doing and pay attention to the car. A smile crossed his face. He follows the car's path with his head, whipping it to the other side as the car passes him. He continues to watch until the car disappears around the other bend in the road.
The breaking point for me came when Elijah spotted a woman walking two small, white, fluffy dogs across the road. Elijah stopped to watch them, then broke free and started out towards the road. I hoisted him up and carried him or about ten metres, until the dogs were out of sight and out of mind. Then we walked, hand in hand, the last few metres home.
If we lived in a busier area, I don't think we'd ever arrive at a destination!
Labels: out and about
The family that reads together...
We've finally got a copy of the last Harry Potter book (no spoilers please!). I'm trying to read it as fast as I can.
Elijah helped me out with that this morning. He decided he was going to have a reading marathon as well. He kept himself amused with his books for well over an hour. How very considerate! I was able to read several chapters.
Labels: reading
Baby mohawk
Labels: photos
Get me on TV!
Elijah has had his first audition! He and I went to the Channel Ten studios today for a casting for an ad campaign. We are potentially up for the parts of a mother and baby. It's not too much of a stretch.
It was a strange process, though. I've never auditioned for television advertising before. While holding Elijah and a name card in front of a camera, I had to briefly talk about us and then the director gave me a short scenario to act out, without dialogue. I guess the part is non-speaking.
The best part of the audition was when Elijah burped loudly on camera, just as I was about to introduce him.
Labels: milestones, miscellaneous, show business
