I've added 15 odd photos to the blog covering the last 6 months. They can be found in the archive sections for -

Janurary 

March 

April 

May 

June 

I have also added Blog entries from Al -

9th November, 2009

15th December, 2009

11th January, 2010

12th Janurary, 2010

21st March, 2010

Posted by Doug at 10:57 AM

It is Jack’s 5th birthday tomorrow. I have been re-reading parts of this blog over the last few days, and have been reminded on just how difficult a kid he has been. In turn, it has also highlighted just how far he has come (in the last 6 months especially). He still throws tantrums, still has his anxieties, and is still over demanding. However – it is not constant now.

He will almost always stay in bed until at least 6:30am. Some days he will deliberately sleep in longer. Once awake he will often just say hello to me on his way to the toilet, but then will play happily in his room by himself for up to an hour.

Most mornings I will put out his clothes for him and then go downstairs. When he is ready he will wander down and I will make him breakfast. This has allowed Grace and Al to often sleep in, and makes a real difference for both of them. Through most of this time Jack is a pleasant and happy little kid.

Throughout the day he will often spend 30+ minutes by himself here and there without complaining. While that is mostly watching TV or playing on Al’s computer, it is still much better than how he previously was, and allows Al to focus on Grace.

While he certainly throws tantrums and gets upset at the drop of a hat, it isn’t as constant as it used to be. (Tonight – over tired from childcare and late on getting food, he had multiple meltdowns. Amusingly during one of these he had slammed a plastic ball down hard on the floor in anger – only to have it bounce immediately back up and clock him on the chin. I managed not to laugh at the time – although find myself chuckling away right now…)

There is still a long way to go, but at least as he turns 5, I can say there has been a great improvement in his behaviour from when he turned 4. Here’s hoping it continues in that direction.

Posted by Doug at 11:05 PM

We had a quiet family birthday for Jack, which went well. We caved in and purchased him some atrocious Ben 10 contraption that was expensive, fiddly, and will very obviously fall apart quickly. Jack had been harping on it for literally more than a year, and was delighted to unwrap it.

Jack seems to have been five for some time. Maybe it is the fact he is wearing size 6 clothing, or maybe his comprehension of the world around him. Anyway, when things are going well for him he seems much older than 5. On the flip side, when things are not going well, he acts far more like a two year old.

Posted by Doug at 7:52 PM

Jack has just turned 5 - hard to believe our little boy is now a big 5 year old! It feels like we have been parents a long time now, but then it also feels the time is disappearing quickly. Jack was delighted with his alien making chamber Ben 10 toy (that he has been requesting for a long time now), and first Bakugan toys (little egg shapes that open up into different dragons). We had a tasty lunch at Lisa's place where Jack and Lochie mostly enjoyed playing Ben 10 together. We had a family afternoon tea with cake, and then dinner at Hungry Jacks (at Jack's request). In between Jack took time to enjoy playing with his new toys. He had a great day, and was well behaved and happy all day long. It is nice to have a special day that goes as well as can be hoped for - sometimes the buildup and expectations for the day can lead to a downfall at some point.

I also enjoyed a wonderful 'mum and Jack' day on Monday (the first full day since Grace was born - while Grace attended childcare). We had a walk and morning tea in the Botanical Gardens, attended the Disney on Ice show (where Jack was thrilled to see The Incredibles in action) and finished off with a safari at Werribee Zoo. We packed a lot into the day (since it is a rare opportunity to have the time together) but Jack was delightful company for the day and had a great time. He declared it his 'best day ever' at bed-time. Now that we have had one such day, I will endeavor to find more opportunities for us to have days together. It is one of the things I look forward to with Jack starting school next year - to enjoy some time alone with him doing fun outings in school holidays on days Grace is at childcare (and likewise to have the extra one-on-one time with Grace on school days).

The rest of the month has been a combination of busyness with lots of kids parties, as well as trying to manage more family illnesses and work stress (including meetings with management and HR about the potential end of my team's roles a few years down the track). Grace has had ear infections in both ears and laryngitis, then a further ear infection, cough and cold. I have also had a sinus infection, cough and cold. We are all rather over having the constant stream of illnesses. Jack is also a bit frustrated by not getting outside so much between rainy weather most weekends and with one or more of us ill to limit our outside movements.

Summary of Grace at 16 months:

. Grace really delights in her dad and actively seeks out interactions with him at every opportunity.

. Her 2 side molars are now almost fully through so teeth count is 10 (half way!)

. Her language development is still quite slow. However she is making more effort to communicate in other ways such as pointing more, looking directly at things she wants, and generally gets her message across about what she wants.

. With getting to sleep, if timed right she will generally go down within 5 minutes or so (sometimes with no fuss and sometimes arching up for a few minutes then subsiding). If she gets worked up for longer than that, it is usually her way of communicating that she really is not ready for sleep as yet, so I generally put her down on the ground and allow her extra time to wear herself out before trying again.

. Grace continually tries to swing on doors, press buttons (such as on my computer, and on videos, etc), pull out CDs and DVDs and empty cupboards. So these are things she is repeatedly told no for (and at times put in the portacot or playpen along with the stern 'no').

. Her reach is getting higher so she can reach more and more things on the tables and benches (and has grabbed Jack's cup and spilt water a number of times) so we are having to try to be more careful with what is left in her reach.

. She is great at stacking blocks or shapes on top of each other.

. She not only walks but can get up to a little run when she is rushing to do something she isn't allowed, or going after something she particularly wants

. She imitates a lot of things we do, such as brushing her hair with her little hairbrush, brushing her teeth with her toothbrush, and putting her toy phone to her ear and babbling away. She laughs delightedly when Jack does a forward roll, and attempts to copy it (doing more of a sideways roll).

. We have had to mix medicine into porridge, yoghurt and ice cream to get her to consume it (otherwise she just spits out medicine given by itself or at times has made herself throw up with getting so worked up about it).

. She takes a little while to warm up when we go out to visit other people's homes or cafes, but then usually will wander around a little playing, while keeping an eye on me and coming back to me regularly for reassurance and interactions. She can be a bit wary of other kids.

. She is still having 3 breastfeeds a day, but sometimes has just one or two quick sucks and is done, so remains to be seen whether she starts self-weaning or continues until I try weaning her after winter (and hopefully the end of the run of bugs).

Summary of Jack at 5 years:

. Jack has been handling birthday parties far better this year than previously. He can still easily get overwhelmed or want to find a safe quiet corner to play, but is eating party food ok and participating far better than a year ago. We just have to hope he enjoys his planned gymnastics party

. Jack has been doing a school holiday swim program this week. After being a bit cautious with jumping in the first day he has regained his confidence with the new instructor and jumping in confidently without the instructor close by. The instructor has been a bit of a task master which has been good to push him along to develop further.

. Jack can still have his up and down times but on the whole is a far better behaved little kid, with less full on tantrums and melt-downs.

. He continues to get better at entertaining himself, although still has periods where he becomes particularly demanding of attention.

. Jack's obsession with Ben 10 which started a year ago shows no signs of abating. As far as he is concerned anything with Ben 10 on it is gold. He loves getting a Ben 10 magazine most weeks (which is a little old for him but he enjoys looking through it and doing some of the activities with assistance)

. Jack has started on Mathletics computer program in past month. Some of it has written instructions which he needs a bit of help in reading, but he has quickly picked up the concepts of the exercises and is doing really well in his first lessons in it.

. His childcare worker reported today he is getting better at getting his jacket off (which is a relief as he was keeping it on all day after the morning outside session which we attribute to him being uncomfortable to ask for assistance in taking it off).

. Jack does tend to phase out a lot when we are talking to him and not listen to us. He also delights in making repetitive irritating noises.

. Making him go to bed a minute early each time he picks his nose has drastically reduced the nose picking to date.

. His childcare workers have continued to remark on what a bright little kid he is, and said that the level of questions he asks and the way he pulls different pieces of information together to form in-depth understanding is really impressive.

- Overall Jack is a top little kid at 5 years old, with a great imagination and enjoys a range of activities at home each day, including time spent by himself playing in his room with his imaginext toys and dinosaurs; TV and computer time; drawing, writing, colouring, collage and sticker work; playing with his Ben 10 and army toys; playing with balls, and interacting with his sister. He is mostly very well behaved when we take him out places and continues to improve on his social interactions. He is getting better at managing his emotions. He continues to impress us with his memory, understanding of different concepts, vast vocabulary, and his ever expanding reading, writing and drawing skills. He enjoys time with both his mum and dad each day, and is happy to go places with either of us, and ask either of us for assistance.

Posted by Al at 10:30 AM

Jack had a Kinder Gym birthday party this year. He had attended one last year, and had wanted to do the same ever since. While the activities were organised, the food afterwards was self-catered.

Because Al is mostly tied up with taking care of the kids, the kitchen, or work, the party mostly fell to me to organise. While Al helped where she could, there ending up being a substantial amount of running around and shopping required. I spent most of the party setting up the food, and then cleaning up afterwards. Thankfully the sister in law and a couple parents jumped in to help set up, and more joined afterwards to quickly clean up. With their help and all the preparations, it seemed to go well.

I must admit I felt a lot of anxiety beforehand. In part it was for all the running around and ensuring everything came together ok, and in part as I had to make most of the decisions, so was at fault if it didn’t all work. For the most part however I was worried about it going well for Jack. I would have hated for him to have been embarrassed or put out by the party we threw.

Even at Jack’s age birthday parties are judged and impact on their day to day interactions with other kids. Earlier this year we were attending a party when I overheard a young child remark “Dad, <XXXXX>’s party is very boring.” The parent looked around in embarrassment, and then quietly explained that the child shouldn’t say such things. (Which got a “But it is” retort.)

It is not about pandering to the whims of kids, or keeping up with, or surpassing the Jones. It is just ensuring you don’t make life harder for your kids by embarrassing them in front of their peers! I know this relates to my own birthday party related experiences and phobias from my youth, but regardless it was still my biggest stress about the day.

As it was, it seemed to all go very well. Next year, we will find a place that also caters…

As the kids do their gymnastics lesson...

... afternoon tea is prepared.

Just as an aside – I have noticed Jack just expects a birthday party. Back in my day we did not have a friend’s party every year, and when we did, it usually involved only a couple people. How times have changed.

Posted by Doug at 5:46 PM

 

Grace is now getting around on her bike and scooter.

Posted by Doug at 6:21 PM

In the 10 days between his birthday and his actual party, Jack was frequently difficult. He was rude, defiant, and often angry any time something did not go to plan, regardless how minor it was. We suspected it was anxiety about his party, since he was counting down the days and remarking frequently on how excited he was. In the end we got rather fed up with his behaviour, and started putting him to bed 5 minutes early for every time he did his “I am very angry’ routine for silly reasons.

On the day of the party Jack was actually pretty good, until we got home afterwards. Then he gave us some of his worst behaviour in weeks. While we understood it was obviously the “let it all out” afterwards period, we were too tired from all our running around to be that accommodating.

Since then his angry levels do seem to have diminished, but he is back to being overly demanding.

I feel sorry for the little boy. He brings the worst of his behaviour out when we are the most tired, most distracted, or most busy. We are just not in a position any more to pander to his complex and plentiful whims and demands, and get impatient with him when he just keeps on and on at us. When his behaviour is naughty, we are also pretty firm on him. There is such a big gap between the attention Jack wants, and what we can give.

Posted by Doug at 7:34 PM

Al was lamenting the other day how she is being forced to work on Monday and Tuesday nights to make up hours, because she leaves the office early to pick the kids up from childcare. She remarked that she missed the time when I used to pick up Jack from Childcare, and take care of him until she got home from work after 6pm.

I lamented the fact my own work days regularly stretched late into the evenings, because instead of starting before 7am each morning, I was now usually busy taking care of Jack while Al and Grace sleep in. I offered to pick up the kids if she in turn went back to waking up with Jack at 6:30am each morning, so that I could finish my work day in time.

She declined to give up her sleep ins.

Posted by Doug at 2:52 PM

I’ve had a very busy day of constant work that I have had to focus on. Jack has been interrupting me more than usual with requests. I have to constantly answer no, say that I am busy, and send him on his way. A number of times I have had to shut my door and tell him not to enter, and to stop interrupting me.

Grace is harder work than normal today, so Al can’t run her normal interceptions. Jack is being polite most of the time, but I can tell from the despondent looks and slumped shoulders that a day of being sent away by his Dad is getting to him.

Jack can’t really appreciate the fact I am at home and around, he can only see that I am too busy for him. It is not common, but today is probably one of those few days where it would have been easier being in the office.

Posted by Doug at 4:57 PM

Jack cannot cope with his needs or demands not being met instantly. I assume that is partly our fault, but I am not sure how to "fix it".

Not a particularly stellar day so far. Jack is being pretty demanding and complaining lots, and after a week of sleep issues with Grace, and the ever present work stress, Al is at times on (and over) the edge.

It is reminiscent of the first few months of Grace’s life. While unpleasant to revisit, it is at least a reminder of how far we have all come since then. I will take Jack out this afternoon for a while to give both of them a break.

Posted by Doug at 1:03 PM

One of the presents Jack got for his birthday was a $20 gift voucher. This afternoon I took him to Toys R Us to spend it. He pointed out a large number of items which I kept having to parrot were too expensive. He seemed to accept that, and after going from one side of the shop to the other, he found half a dozen items within his price range that he wanted. After pondering for a short while, he settled on a Ben 10 Alien and a pair of Bakugan figurines.

He proved to have an eye for a bargain with both items on sale, in total marked down from $45 to $20. He poured over his loot on the drive home, and remarked how fantastic they were.

In the end the process of picking a present for himself was the best gift. It was probably one of the first times he had to really work within the concept of what was affordable and what wasn’t, make a list of options for himself, and then chose some over others. He handled it very well – wasn’t rushed, accepted the limitations, and made an carefully judged decision at the end.

Posted by Doug at 4:10 PM

We attended the surprise 40th birthday party for one of Al’s step sisters last night, which went well. Possibly as a sign of us all getting older, it finished relatively early.

The kids were baby sat by Jacqueline again, a childcare worker from Jack’s old centre. Soon after her arrival both Jack and Grace were animatedly interacting with her, and barely paused to acknowledge us leaving. We are certainly very comfortable leaving the kids in her care, knowing that they like her, and that she is very experienced. It also helps that she is relatively cheap! (Although having said that, it still cost us $100 for the night.) She remarked again that the kids were a delight to take care of.

I’ve had a very busy three weeks upgrading our home network infrastructure and broadband, which is almost finished now. We have amalgamated our broadband, security and phone into a central hub and onto the one line, changed our ISP and upgraded from ADSL 1 to ADSL2, moved to Gigabit switches, gone to 802.11n wireless with better security, had cables run to the lounge room so that our PVR is on the network, now have the ability to use a 3G modem as a backup if ADSL goes down (very important for working from home), and replaced Al’s downstairs laptop with a new one.

It has taken some effort – for example, just changing the wireless network required the updating of four laptops and two iPhones, most with different hardware and software. Once the final couple steps are completed, I look forward to turning on some of the extra features on our NAS and PVR – such as allowing Al to watch our home videos of the kids on the main TV whenever she feels like it, or setting TV shows to be recorded via the web.

Posted by Doug at 11:08 PM

Jack has been running a temperature the last couple days. It seemed to clear this morning and we thought he was over it, but he conked out this afternoon and spent the rest of the day quietly watching TV. Tonight after tea he fell asleep on the couch. Grace thought that was amusing, and was yelling at him, saying “Boo”, and laughing. Jack slept through it all.

Posted by Doug at 6:25 PM