01.06.11
Posted in Baby, Leah at 9:38 am by Sarah
Leah Joy En-Lai Un
Born Saturday 28th May 2011, 11.30am
3.32kg, 50cm
For the sake of tradition, and to prevent my memory fading, here is Leah’s birth story in all it’s glory. Look away now if you’re squeamish!
I spent the last few weeks of pregnancy in a constant state of readiness, absolutely positive that bub would would come early. All the signs were there, her head was engaged and I was experiencing pre-labour contractions on and off. Yet every week I had to head back to my weekly GP appointment in disappointment. I spent some days just feeling really angry that my time hadn’t come, other days I tried to think positively and patiently. I’m afraid there were more of the former than there were the latter.
My last appointment was 2 days after my official due date. I had spent the morning on a very specifically purposed walk with Micah and Haoran. Once we had gone through the usual routine with the GP I asked her to sweep my cervix (a method I had heard may help bring labour on). She did so assuring me of no guarantees, but it made me feel better that something had been done. I also quizzed her on her opinion of natural induction via acupuncture. She seemed positive but said I probably should wait until a medical induction had been scheduled before going ahead.
The next day I was having a calm and positive day. We spent the day pottering at home, but somehow we both knew instinctively that our time was coming. I decided to make up the bedding for the basinette, and Haoran installed the new car seat. I started having regularish mild contractions at 5pm and tried not to get too excited. After all we had had a few false alarms already. So we had a normal evening, put Micah to bed and sat down to watch Manly beat the Bronco’s. I had my phone with me and timed the contractions on an app that Haoran had downloaded for me.
By 9.30pm we both had an inkling that this may be ‘it’. We messaged a babysitter requesting standby status, packed our last minute stuff into the hospital bag and called the hospital to get their advice. The midwife I spoke to seemed to think things sounded positive and advised I take a couple of Panadol and try to get some sleep. She said to come in when ‘I’d had enough’. I asked Haoran to attach my hired Labour TENS machine before we went to bed.
I didn’t get much sleep. I dozed between contractions and kept the ‘booster’ button for the TENS machine in my hand the whole time, pushing it as I felt a contraction come. By 2.30am I was starting to feel the need to make a noise during the contractions, so Haoran started to ready us to leave. The babysitter was called and settled in and we managed to get out the door pretty efficiently due to our earlier forward thinking.
Arriving at the hospital it was freezing and I shivered uncontrollably, a little because of cold, a little because of lack of sleep, and a little because of the excitement. I was taken straight to a free room ‘before it disappears’. Apparently they were having a busy night. The midwife checked me and cheerfully informed me that I was only 1.5-2cm dilated and was in ‘what we call pre-labour’. As you can imagine I was pretty unhappy with this and continued to get crankier as she made me lie in an uncomfortable position and put a trace on me to check the baby.
At 4am we were told to go home with some Panadol Forte and sleeping pills and come in later. I refused quite crankily I’m afraid. So instead the midwife gave me the PF and directed us to sit in the waiting area to free up the ward. I didn’t like the idea of going home and disturbing both our babysitter and Micah with my groans, so took this as the better option. The waiting room was filled with purple recliners and a working TV. I still had the TENS machine on and Haoran got me some iced water. We were there for the next 4 hours where I alternately moaned, turned up the TENS machine and dozed. I remember a painful episode of ‘The Nanny’ followed by several equally as painful episodes of ‘Who’s the Boss?’ (by the end of which I was ready to strangle Tony Danza). A special on the ‘Top Ten Episodes’ of ‘Seinfeld’ had barely started when the midwife arrived to re-examine me. Haoran was slightly disappointed that it hadn’t come on earlier. 
The examination was just as uncomfortable as before, but with much more positive news. At 8am I was 4cm dilated and ready to be moved into a labour ward for real. One of my main requests for labour this time round was that I actually got to have a bath. But because my contractions, although strong, were not regular enough to satisfy the midwife (she was afraid they might stop once I was in), I had to settle for a shower to begin with. Taking the TENS machine off gave me a new appreciation for the way it had carried me through the last few hours. The shower was pretty lame. There was a shower head for both my back and front, but the water was constantly changing temperature and most of the time was luke-warm or freezing cold. While I was in there the midwives filled the bath (it’s deep so it takes ages) and prodded me with a probe ensuring the baby was happy when I was between contractions.
They offered me gas straight off and I only had to try it once before rejecting it. It made me instantly nauseous and cranky. I told Haoran that the gas was evil and I wouldn’t use it ever. So there went one pain relief option almost straight away.
Haoran told me later he snuck out to eat something at one point but didn’t get far before I was yelling at him to come back. Providentially the previous day I had downloaded a pamphlet on labour accupressure. Haoran had managed to familiarise himself with a few pressure points and tried them out during the entire labour. My favourite was the pressure point between the thumb and first finger. I’m not sure how effective it was in pain relief, but it not only gave me something to focus on (that didn’t hurt) and reassured me that he was there. It was also nice to be able to rest my head on him between contractions, as exhausted as I was.
Finally they were happy for me to hop in the bath. The heat of the bath didn’t do as much for the pain as I thought it would, but the buoyancy factor meant I could really relax in between pains and even snooze a bit. I wasn’t opening my eyes much at this point, I just concentrated on the moment and tried not to think about the coming pain. I now have to admit that I was trying to convince Haoran that I wanted an epidural. The problem was that I KNEW what an epidural felt like since I had had one with Micah, and the promise of such complete pain relief at that point was all I could think of. So we put in the request with the midwife and seemingly immediately someone was there ready to insert a drip.
But after hearing that I would have to get OUT of the bath, wait 20 minutes for someone to stick a needle in my spine, then another 20 minutes before it took effect, I was a little less enthusiastic. Plus the midwife had told me I was now 8.5 – 9cm dilated and it might not happen in time. I knew I was more comfortable in the bath and did not want to be lying on my back on a bed, so we cancelled our request and the midwife called off the army of epidural people.
While I was still in hope of an epidural I wasn’t coping particularly well with the labour pain. I was basically having a little tanty, yelling ‘NO!’ – in complete denial of what was happening. But once that option was gone I was much more focused and ready to deal with each contraction as it came. I remember working out that I could let out 3 or 4 yells in every contraction and each one was a step closer to the end. I also found remembering bits of a book Micah had been requesting to be read to him at least twice a day for the previous week: Dr Seuss’s ‘ABC’.. really helped! It sounds weird, but I concentrated on internally reciting the letter ‘Y’ (‘A yawning yellow yak… and Yolanda Yorganson is yelling on it’s back’) over and over. Yay for Dr Seuss. 
I spent most of my time almost fully under water, the floating sensation was just so relaxing that I really only had my face and possibly a knee out of the water at any one time. I propped up my arm on the side of the bath and rested my head there (resulting in an impressive bruise on my elbow!). My ears were often under water too.. meaning my own screams seemed other-worldly and made me feel somehow detached from what was happening to my body.
Meanwhile the midwife was fussing around. She kept checking the bub between contractions (apparently quite happy despite my misery!) and refilling the bath with hot water. She muttered something about a ‘lapsed cervix’ and did an examination which apparently fixed the problem. As it was turning out to be fairly certainly a water birth, the midwife reminded me to keep under the water until the baby was fully out. During another examination my waters finally broke and things got pretty intense.
I started screaming pretty terribly as my body went into pushing mode. The midwife very helpfully pointed out that I would just get a sore throat from doing that and that I should concentrate all my energy into pushing. So.. I did. 3 or 4 horrible contractions later the head was out, and the body followed with a final contraction.
Leah was given to me and the midwife exclaimed as she unwrapped the umbilical cord that was twice around her neck. I think Haoran freaked out at bit this point wondering whether she was ok. But I was so relieved and relaxed that I was clear-headed… figuring that she was crying and therefore breathing fine. I was also the only one to think to check she was a girl!
They drained the bath almost straight away and covered me and bub in towels. After all the nasty placenta business was over bub was handed over to Haoran for some daddy time. And I had the difficult task of getting out of a slippery high sided bath with muscles that were entirely spent.
Only once I was happily in the ward bed cuddling Leah did the midwife tell me that she was born posterior (with her back against mine). It was only then that I really comprehended exactly what my body had just done. I had had many (entirely unfounded) fears leading up to the birth that my body might not know what to do. Having been induced with Micah, everything had been medically monitored and regulated. So I had no previous experience of natural labour, let alone a knowledge of my body’s capabilities.
I had just given birth to a baby despite her posterior position, cervix issues, my water not breaking until the last minute.. with no drugs.. in 3 1/2 hours of active labour, and SURVIVED! God has wonderfully designed the female body!
And that’s the tale! Micah has been a very good big brother and loves and accepts his little sister a little more every day. I mainly just feel like I’m recovering from running a marathon, with almost every muscle feeling weak and sore. Yet I am feeling better every day and am thankful to have less issues and stress than last time round. Leah (now being 3 days old) is a generally happy and content baby. I can’t wait to see her develop and her little personality take shape. She is, and will be, such a joy to us.
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12.01.11
Posted in Baby, Micah, Uncategorized at 11:17 am by Sarah
Apologies for the 8 month break… life just happened. You know how it is.
Just to catch you up.. I am now the mother of a vivacious, energetic 21 month old and am due with our second little one in May this year (hereafter known as ‘Noobie’). We’re about to enter our third year at SMBC and continue a strong involvement with Soma, which we plan to continue with once we finish college.
Anyway, as we keep facing the challenges of parenting I wanted to share some thoughts.
I’ve already covered a little of this in a previous post, but it’s becoming more and more apparent to me how different it is to parent from the perspective that your child is born depraved. Although his bad behaviour makes us sad, we have to expect it and teach Micah to behave in a godly way. It also makes me wonder how non-christian parents account for their child’s behaviour i.e. people who believe that a child is born perfect. Do they ignore it because ‘they don’t know better’? Or do they think their children pick it up from others? Or perhaps they blame themselves? This is all generalisation of course, perhaps not all non-christian parents believe children are born perfect, but general society seems to.
I’ve found at this stage of Micah’s development we are teaching him two disciplines. One: that he should be obedient to his parents. Because God has given us authority over him, and also because we often know best. Whether we are telling him not to throw food on the ground or not to do something dangerous, he needs to obey because we understand the consequences of his actions and what ‘acceptable behaviour’ looks like better than he does. ‘Obey’ is a word that is used often in our house at the moment.
Second: we have to teach him to relate well with others. This involves simple things like sharing. But often, especially with a toddler, it’s understanding what is unacceptable, like hurting others. Now we are expecting a baby, Micah is getting a lot of instruction on how to treat someone smaller than himself.
One thing that has amazed me is how we can so often underestimate a child’s understanding. I have done it plenty of times with Micah. My expectations are lower than they should be and he surprises me by rising above them again and again. Having said that, I’ve noticed that some others perceive my expectations as too high for Micah’s age. I don’t know whether this is a general thing, however. For example, when Micah took to throwing his newly-acquired Lego around the room on Christmas day, our extended family were astonished that I asked him to pick it up and put it away. They were even more surprised when, after some firm coaxing, he did. I wonder how many kids get away with stuff just because their parents have low expectations of them?
Micah is not a model kid.. he has his moments. But we get so much joy out of seeing him act in a way that we have taught him. At the moment we are working on the obedience, but a lot of the time he is a gentle, generous child when playing with others.
Which brings me to an additional issue that H and I have realised we will have to deal with. Hopefully, as a result of parenting him differently to the majority of the population, Micah will sometimes behave differently to children around him. Even if they have been parented differently, all children (people) are sinful. We will need to teach him to live in a broken world, how to react to it and try not to be influenced by it. Obviously this will be something he will need to use for the rest of his life.
This has been highlighted to us over the last week where Micah has played with a variety of children. As mentioned earlier, Micah is great at sharing and playing. But when the other kid doesn’t want a bar of it i.e. runs off with the ball that Micah threw to him, hoping to play catch, pushes him over etc.. he doesn’t know quite what to do. Of course this give us the difficult job of explaining to Micah that other people can do bad things to him and in front of him and that life is not always fair.
We also have to deal with the fact that we can’t make that better for him either! At the moment it means restraining ourselves from disciplining other people’s children (that’s their parent’s job) and subtly explaining to Micah that he will have to play another way. I’m sure this will get harder…and probably less subtle as Micah gets more verbal. H has blogged a little about this too.
I personally think that one of the biggest challenges I face daily is to be a godly parent. There are many times when I lose my temper or say/do something I shouldn’t. Lately it’s been the temptation to be a lazy parent, especially now I have a pregnant excuse.. One thing Haoran and I have discussed is that we will make a habit of saying ’sorry’ to our children when we have done the wrong thing, however small. In some ways, it is nice to know that we can’t expect perfection from ourselves either… although we can always strive. A side effect is that our kids will learn the mechanics of forgiving others as well as receiving forgiveness themselves.
I think that’s all the parenting stuff running through my head at the moment. Would love to hear thoughts, ideas etc..
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01.05.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:53 pm by Sarah
It’s been a while now since I had my cast off and went through the rehabilitation required to be able to walk again. The journey post-cast, however, was a lot longer than I had expected. Read the rest of this entry »
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21.04.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:58 pm by Sarah
I recorded our doings daily on our trip to Malaysia in January this year. Yet… with the whole breaking my ankle the day after we got back – blogging this wasn’t extremely high on the list of things to do. So this post had sat here for ages.. I hadn’t finished adding the photos but I don’t know whether I ever will. So anyway, for the sake of putting it out there. Here is our trip to Malaysia in all it’s glory.
Read the rest of this entry »
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27.03.10
Posted in Micah at 9:38 am by Sarah
My baby is one. Correction… my almost-toddler is one! Either way, Micah didn’t really have any idea what was going on. He just knew he got to rip wrapping paper, play with boxes and eat (sugar-free) cake. And he gets to do it all again at his belated birthday party and dedication.
It’s funny how his personality has emerged so much since he’s been able to get around. He crawling FAST and walking doesn’t seem too far away. He follows you around everywhere, especially in the kitchen because he knows that’s where food comes from. We call him ‘the seagull’ because if you have food, he’s there, trying to climb up on your knee and whining for your food. His food choices have become a lot more varied and exciting since the emergence of opposing teeth. Opposing teeth allow you to bite… and Micah takes advantage of that.
Micah LOVES anything technological (although we knew this early on when he wanted to play with our mobile phones) and will get his hands on anything with buttons or wires or electricity attached. As you can imagine, this is mostly uncool. This, along with the climbing as high as he can… are probably the most common causes for ‘removal’.
And we are also getting to see the not so fun sides of having a toddler as well. Micah has a habit, especially when he is happy or hyper, of hitting people’s faces. Doesn’t matter who it is at the moment… he’s just slappy. To add to this… if you have glasses you are likely to lose them within 2 minutes of being in Micah’s company.
With all this happening, we are now trying to get our heads around how to discipline a one year old. It’s a tough job considering we can’t be sure of how much he understands of either what we say or what he is and isn’t allowed to do. Although we aren’t against smacking, we are feeling that this just isn’t the time. It makes us feel terrible and Micah is just confused about what is happening. So we are sticking to an obvious display of disapproval, using the same key words eg: dangerous, naughty.. and removal from the situation.
It’s also been a time where we have been contemplating the fact that our kids don’t become sinful… they are born into a sinful world. Therefore we can’t have expectations that Micah will automatically be ‘good’… but that we will need to to teach him to be good. For college bible study next term we are going to be going through the study book for ‘Shepherding a Child’s Heart’ which is about biblical parenting. I have heard talks by Tedd Tripp before and I’ve started reading the book in preparation for the study and, apart from a hard line approach on physical discipline, he is very good.
The most recent thing I’ve read is about how many parents discipline based on the idea that the child has wronged the parent. Tedd says that a parent who aims to parent biblically should instead discipline based on the idea that the child has wronged God. This gives you an entirely different frame of parenting that is God-centered. So when you talk to your children you remind them of what God requires of them and why He has made you their daddy or mummy in authority over them.
This makes sense to me. But not having older children, I really don’t know how his advice works in practice. His theory seems sound, but we all know that things can be different in the heat of the moment. I’m guessing it would be hard work just breaking through the ideas that you have picked up from your own parents, plus outsiders expectations.
I’m sure I’ll be getting many insights from the other mums on what works and what doesn’t so I’ll keep reporting as we go through the study…
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27.02.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:42 pm by Sarah
Reporting back on that whole broken ankle thing. ..
Yes, I’m still on crutches. Yes I still have a cast on. And, yes, I’m getting more than a bit fed up. Having said that, I’m learning alot about myself and also what it’s like have a long(ish) term injury.
Now you need to understand that I’m quite uncoordinated. Minus a functioning leg from that scenario and you have a girl that is terrified of her own crutches. I have fallen over 5 or 6 times in the last few weeks. Mostly resulting from crutch malfunction, or purely from losing my balance. One resulted in a sprained arm, another two times resulted in MASSIVE purple and black bruises on my thigh. All I can say is that it is NOT a good idea to fall on your son’s wooden truck. It hurts. Thankfully I haven’t managed to further injure my ankle in these falls.
So I have been progressively becoming more and more scared of using these evil crutches. Almost every night I dream that I can walk normally. It’s all I want right now.
I’ve spent a few nights grieving the loss of activity, of independence, of being able to carry my little boy.. or catch him when he falls. Plus the massive guilt I feel when I see Haoran constantly exhausted and stressed.. It has been so much tougher than I ever imagined. In fact, I can definitely say this last month has been the hardest one in our marriage and one of the hardest in my life.
The joyful moments do rise to the surface occasionally. Micah is a constant source (of course). He has just amazed me how he has just taken this all in his stride. He is now crawling ‘normally’ on his hands and knees… and getting pretty quick too. He’s sprouted two top teeth that only make an appearance when I dangle him over my knee and tickle his belly. He’s very curious and wants to know what everyone is up to.. and often gets underfoot (or crutch). I think he knows that he has to come to Mummy for a cuddle now instead of waiting for me to go to him. And he has coped so well with a constant stream of ’strangers’ in the house.
Joy also sprouts from the the love and generosity of people from family and college and church and Mothers Group. It has been truly overwhelming. People who anticipate my needs, who babysit when Haoran and I need space, even those who simply open a door for me. People who make this time bearable.
Tangent: speaking of opening doors… when you’re on crutches, to open a door is like an 18 step process… if the door automatically swings back it’s even more. An addition to the things I’ve learnt.
I realise that this is probably not the most terrible thing that could ever happen to a person. It’s temporary, fleeting. I am very thankful for that. Yet I find myself needing to drag myself out of that dark pit of depression time and time again. It’s possible being stuck indoors most of the time doesn’t help either.
I have a very large list of things I want to do when I get out of this cast. Problem is: I have no idea what function my leg will have after it’s out. Will it be all wobbly? Or will it still be sore? Will I still need to use those *%&% crutches? (Sorry Mum)
Either way, I am hanging out for the 9th March – which is when, if all things go to plan, I shed that cast and am FREE! In fact, I think a celebratory dinner is in order.
It sounds trite and corny… but I don’t think I’ll ever take walking for granted ever again.
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02.02.10
Posted in Journal, Micah at 1:25 pm by Sarah
So we have been back from Malaysia for a total of 1 week. We were’nt really looking forward to that week because it was full of things – like Greek and sermons and dermatology appointments and Hebrew. Not a particularly relaxing week in which to acclimatise and recover (travelling with parents is somewhat exhausting – no matter how convenient the babysitting is).
And so in an apparent attempt to avoid that week, or perhaps to celebrate Australia Day.. and our homecoming, I broke my ankle on the stairs. Read the rest of this entry »
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08.01.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:41 am by Sarah
It’s the middle of the night. I have finally succumbed to the inevitable. I have been trying to hold off the anxious list-writing for at least another 24 hours. But the terror has struck tonight.. therefore no sleep for me.
And.. I ask you.. what else should I do but blog?
On Monday we are flying to Malaysia with the express purpose to introduce Micah to his third Great Grandmother and various uncles and aunts. I am, perhaps unreasonably, stressed and anxious about the trip. I guess it’s the unfamiliarity and unknown.. something I was quite happy to deal with pre-baby.
Before Micah was born I was a person who liked routine. You know, the sort who has a routine for getting up in the morning etc. I am open to change, but generally my comfort lies in routine and the familiar. This side of me is on hyper-drive now that we have Micah. I stress out when he doesn’t sleep when he’s supposed to.. or when I have to delay feeding him. He is on a written routine that I can recite for you – but that would be incredibly boring.
So hopefully you can understand my anxiety about an 8 hour plane trip, an unfamiliar destination and a 3 hour time difference.
The other thing that’s been interesting about this pending trip is that Haoran and I feel quite detached from it. It was organised by H’s parents… plane tickets, accomodation.. everything. So it’s quite different from our European trip where we planned every last minute. The thing is.. we have no ownership over it.
And as I said.. I’ve been trying not to dwell to much on it, so the actual realisation that… “Oh yeah! We’re going to another country on Monday!”.. hasn’t really set in.
In other news, Micah started pulling himself up to standing and roaming furniture over Christmas… which is kind of awesome. It also means we have to watch him more because he’s still getting his legs for it.
I know I shouldn’t be anxious about him.. he copes so well generally. He’ll probably be an angel on the flight and charm the pants off everyone. But I’m the mother – so I get to worry – it’s my job.
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20.12.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 7:26 pm by Sarah
I don’t know whether it’s a new house or the new occupant.. but a certain somebody else is actually not so bah humbug this year. The Christmas tree hasn’t even had one nasty word said to it. So it’s been fun planning and scheming Christmas treats with someone who is more on the enthusiastic side than last year.
We’re having Haoran’s side of the family over for Christmas this weekend. Our first Christmas in our house. Our first Christmas with our precious boy. So we’re trying to figure out… what makes it Christmas for us?
Well, when it comes to us… or our family in general… food makes the atmosphere. And, face it, food is important at Christmas time. Haoran is making his famous turkey from last year – this may be a tradition in the making. I am making fabulous gluten free, dairy free desserts (it’s not that difficult!). One is an apple and rhubarb pudding. My mum taught me this pudding – it’s super easy. Make your pie filling i.e. boil apple and rhubarb with sugar cloves and cinnamon to oblivion, and pour a gluten free cake mix over the top. Bake and you’re done! I may sprinkle some icing sugar over the top so it looks a bit more complicated.
My other dessert is a lemon meringue pie. I admit I’ve only made the lemon filling so far… but it doesn’t seem too hard. Actually the hardest part will probably be making gluten free pastry. I’m trying a new recipe so we’ll see if it cuts it in the big time.
18 hours late – early on the morning of
Oh MAN!
Haoran and have finally succumbed to the colds that have been dancing around our glands for the last few days. We both feel like rubbish and we’re supposed to be hosting Christmas??? Thank you God for parents and brother and sister-in-law’s who will be here early to help!
The morning after…
Ohhhhhh that could have been alot worse than it actually was. But still, it was a struggle to get through it! My cold got worse and worse throughout the day. So the brunch was enjoyable (especially the Spelt and Maple museli G and M brought… YUM) and so was present opening. Well… Micah enjoyed the sound of ripping wrapping paper anyway.
But by the time people were arriving for dinner I was pretty useless. Haoran kept it together a little bit better because he was allowed to take decongestant. I tell you what… breast feeding can be a bum sometimes. Anyway I got through with a fire-engine-red dripping nose, weepy eyes and temporary deafness in one ear. I looked like a had been crying and, to be honest, I felt like it several times during the evening.
Yet the food was good and plentiful (so much so that our fridge is still full) the people enjoyed themselves, and my desserts turned out mostly ok! My easy pudding could have used a bit more time in the oven. But the lemon meringue was surprisingly hard to stuff up. The best part (well… for me anyway) was that Micah went to sleep at 7 without complaint and slept through all the noise and children screaming. So good…..
So… the evening was not as idilic as I had hoped. But perhaps it will become legendary. As in – If I can do it with a humongous disgusting cold then it’s going to be EASY on a healthy day!
I may be allowing myself to wallow in self-pity and curl up in a corner today (read: recovering) but I already have a flood of plans for Christmas proper (being spent with my side of the family). I still have 5 days to concoct plans of home made marshmallows and honeycomb and other lovely goodnesses. And maybe this time I might have the presence of mind to take photos!
One of the better moments of the day
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23.11.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:43 pm by Sarah
Things are happening so quickly with Micah this month.. that I feel the need to write it down. I keep saying it – but he seems to pick up something new almost everyday.
In reference to the title – Micah has now figured out how to get from sitting to on his tummy (without bashing his face on the floor) and is now commando crawling quite quickly around the room – especially on our super-slidey tiles! He quite often gets stuck in corners and cries until he’s rescued. But he definitely knows what he wants and how to get there. Right now we are trying to convince him that what he wants is not Daddy’s CD collection.
He is alot more adventurous when he’s climbing all over us or is on a soft surface – so I guess he knows he’s much less likely to hurt himself.
He is saying ‘buh-buh- buh’ regularly – his first discernible ’word’. When he gets excited or hyperactive (Note: normally past his bedtime) he starts shaking his head and making laughing sounds with a huge grin on his face. He also started clapping which possibly started off accidentally but now – since we’ve encouraged it – is quite purposeful.
Ok here comes the crazy child prodigy bit. He has figured out how to whistle! Seriously- he purses his lips and blows and sound comes out. I’m wondering whether he’ll keep on knowing how to do it… or that he’ll have to relearn it when he’s 6 or something…
Yesterday was the icing on the cake. We were packing up after church and Haoran gave his phone to Micah to play with while we were busy. Next moment I get a text message from Haoran’s phone ‘a7oP 7x’! Somehow Micah manged to unlock the keypad, type a message and send it! Haoran panicked a little thinking he may have done other things as well while the keypad was unlocked… but no.. that was it! He sent a message to his mummy.
The last week has been a little tough. This is the first time in Micah’s life where he has had to deal with some serious heat. It’s also been a challenge for us to figure out how warm or how cool we should dress him etc. Especially at night. The poor little guy has been pretty sweaty and he’s drinking a lot more water now as a result.
The other thing contributing to our tough week has been that – slowly but surely – a tooth is emerging. Micah has turned out to be one of those kids who don’t deal well with teething (I’m sure I wouldn’t either – but I have heard many stories of them just appearing without a fuss). Today has been the first day where I can really feel that little sharp tooth coming through. You can barely see it – but you can definitely feel it.
That’s all for now… I’ll be back with more amazing Micah stories soon!
(See the video here)
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Only once I was happily in the ward bed cuddling Leah did the midwife tell me that she was born posterior (with her back against mine). It was only then that I really comprehended exactly what my body had just done. I had had many (entirely unfounded) fears leading up to the birth that my body might not know what to do. Having been induced with Micah, everything had been medically monitored and regulated. So I had no previous experience of natural labour, let alone a knowledge of my body’s capabilities.