Bodmacity

I have been thinking of buying a NAS box to hold all my photos and videos because the Dell laptop is beginning to creak under the weight of all the files. Also, I have recently started importing and editing my Mini DV tapes so I need a lot of disk space. A NAS solution is very attractive to me because at the moment I have an external USB hard drive that I physically need to cart around to do my Ghost backups on my two machines. I was thinking of doing the video editing on my PC but although it has plenty of disk, it is just too elderly for the job (Athlon 1Ghz and 512mb ouch!).

My research has led me to this little beauty. The Synology DS106j. Not only is it a NAS device but it also has an embedded OS which enables it to be used as a media server, a web server and even more intriguingly, a BitTorrent client. No more leaving the power-hungry PC on overnight while downloading the latest episode of The Amazing Race ;-).

The unit comes without a hard drive, but I have a couple that I can experiment with. It is my intention to attach it to my router and then daisy chain my existing USB hard drive off the NAS. Hopefully performance won’t be too sluggish on my 54g wireless network.

Tonight Jake went down without his dummy for the first time ever! He has been such an angel recently. Ames has introduced a strict routine for Jakers and he has taken to it extremely well. For example, now he has set times for his naps. When the time comes he is put into his cot with his dummy and taggy blanket. He likes to pull the blanket over his face. When he does this he starts his sleepy singing and soon he is fast asleep.

Now that his teeth have come through he is so content. He is now saying mama pretty much all the time. He is yet to say dada but I keep trying to teach him :-). He also has now started sucking in his top lip so we are thinking that those top pegs will be making an appearance.

His feeding routine is now in place, Ames makes all his food. So far he has tried salmon and plaice in a creamy sauce, lamb casserole, vegetables with cheese sauce, green veg with nutmeg, pear and apple with cinnamon, berries with vanilla, sweet potato, butternut squash and carrot, leek, pea and broccolli, fish with mash potato, parsnip with spinach and basil, parsnip, carrot, pea and blanched tomatoes, peach, mango and papaya, orange, kiwi, grape and papaya, strawberries and blackberries with natural yoghurt, museli with poached pear, porridge and banana, roasted beetroot.

His daily routine is something like:

• Wakes around 7am and has a milk feed followed by a nappy change
• Play until 9am
• Breakfast plus water
• Nappy change and 1 hour nap until 10.30am
• Get’s dressed and has a play
• Has a feed at 11am and then a nappy change
• 11.15am goes out in the pram
• 1pm he will have lunch and water and a nappy change
• Afterwards he has a nap for 1.30pm to 2 hours wihich takes us to 3pm
• 3pm has milk followed by a nappy change and play
• 5pm nappy change and goes for a walk until 5.30pm
• Dinner and water at 5.30pm
• Daddy back at 6pm(best time of the day ;-))
• Play with Daddy
• Bath with Daddy at 6.30pm
• Massage and book (if amenable :-))
• Milk feed at 7.15pm-7.30pm followed by bed

Amy – it is going amazingly well and Jake seems to be so happy. I must admit I am just getting confident with it and so am feeling a little uneasy when the weekend’s events clash with his routine, but it will just take time to realise Jake will not get out of sorts with the odd changes. I am really enjoying his company at the moment because he is so happy and I am also getting time to relax and have lunch and write to ‘Papa Alba’ etc. I realise it is bound to go pair shaped once he starts on the next round of teeth, but at the moment the biggest achievement was removing his dummy during his waking hours – and then finally removing it to go to sleep. I shall try that for his naps tomorrow, but I can not believe it will be that easy!!

We bought him 2 new toys today and 3 more books. He was loving it and so we are trying to use that to encourage him to roll over more regularly. Actually he could roll at 4 months, but he appears to be quite lazy and won’t do it unless you almost trick him into it!! He is such a cuddly little soul and will lift his arms in the air for me to pick him up and sit on my lap touching my face and nuzzling into me. I love it of course. 🙂

Well the flight to Texas wasn’t too stressful for the parents (that would be Amy and Jon) and indeed Jake. Our seats had plenty of leg room and a space for a bassinet which mounted on the wall in front of the seats.

We have been here a few days and Jakey has just about adjusted to the time zone change. What an angel. He is also now smacking and popping his lips which is almost as funny as the gurning, but not quite :-). Mind you he still has the odd gurn for old times sake!

On Thursday Jake rolled from the bed onto the floor which almost gave both of us heart attacks. We literally turned our backs for a second and he had pushed himself onto the edge and then he must have pushed his leg which flipped him over. Mummy bear gave him lot’s of hugs which made him feel much better. He now has a little bruise on his forehead. Luckily he has a hard head like his old dad :-).

Yesterday we went for a walk in the State Park. I carried Jakey in his sling. He was in his element looking around at the trees. On the way in we saw a swamp rabbit in the undergrowth and on the way back strung between two trees was a BIG spider which was black and brown with big old legs. It makes me shudder just thinking about it. To add to the list of exotic fauna, outside the motel I saw a beautiful emerald green hummingbird flitting between the flowers in the motel car park. At first I thought it was a large dragonfly but after a second look I realised what it was. Sadly it flew away just before Ames got a chance to see it.

Jake is 6 months old today. It’s been a week of events. On Tuesday his first bottom tooth poked through the gum. This explains Jake’s general bad mood during the preceding few days. This is what all that lip sucking was about!

On Thursday Jake came down with a cold. Every time he settled he coughed up mucus and woke himself up by choking. I spent the night in the room with him because Ames and I were concerned about the choking.

I brought in the kettle to create some steam in the room and Ames cleverly built up his mattress so that his head is now raised. The next day we bought some Karvol capsules, saline nose drops and some childrens Vaporub. One of those should help him breathe a little easier.

Jake has added a new consonant to his repository. There is now a babababababab to add to the gagagaga and the hahahaha, as well as the occasional mmmmmmmmm. 🙂

Amy had some friends and babies over today. Went I got home they were still up in the lounge chatting away. Jakey gave me a massive grin as soon as he saw me. I scooped him up and he gave me a nice nuzzling cuddle into my shoulder. I then took him downstairs and he absolutely made me crack up by gurning away with the funniest face possible. Basically what he does is suck both his lips into his mouth and then grins. The result is two massive cheeks and a big cheesy closed-mouth grin. I guess you just have to be there 😉

It’s Amy here. Jake was a pet lamb today. We had two of his friends, Jessie (and Ele) and Macai (and Queen) over for lunch. I met them at the post natal group we had and we have decided to join together and start looking after multiple babies so that we can all get a chance to have some time off. Jake has taken a bit of a shine to Jessie – this is nothing new as he always likes the ladies, but he really pushes himself in an attempt to show off. Yesterday we all met up in the park and he was rolling over (something he has not done for a long time) and playing with her. I think he blew it when he grabbed her by the ear and made her cry though… At the moment I think his most adoreable trait is when he is feeding and he lifts his hands up to feel my face and put his fingers in my mouth. I then do loud kisses on his fingers and he is grinning while feeding. Sometimes he will come off and turn his head upwards to me with a huge gummy grin, and then get back to the serious business of feeding. I gave him a little papaya, mango and peach today and he loved it and was making mmmmmm sounds between each spoonful – which began to sound more urgent the longer it took for the spoon to make its way back to his mouth. He is ‘helping’ by grabbing the spoon and shovelling the food into his mouth with his hands… He has also taken to doing real ‘squeezy’ cuddles, where he puts both arms around your neck and nuzzles his head into your neck, draws his knees up against your tummy and squeezes.

The poor little mite has constipation at the moment. We have started to have the first real solid poo now that he has had solids for just over a week. He is really straining. He goes completely red in the face and his whole little body goes rigid as he squeezes. Today I was changing him and he was trying to empty his bowels and he started to cry. It was so sad because he was looking at me as if to say, “please make me better Mummy”. I gently massaged his tummy and got him to squat down so that it made it a little easier. I gave him some cooled boiled water in a bottle. He has started to take a cup, but he needs a little more practice before he takes the amounts he needs.

This evening he had “Mr. Daydream” for his bedtime story and we thought he really needs Mr. Nosey. He is sooo nosey – always gurning round and rubber necking to see what’s going on. I do love that little guy. PET!!!

every day Jakey seems to undergo a subtle change. These days he seems more chilled out and is happy to sit propped up either in his Bumbo or on the sofa. While playing with his new Whoozit he will gurgle, sing and occasionally happily practise his vocal chords with loud high-pitched shrieks. He is also, now putting up his arms to signify that he wants a cuddle and what parent could refuse such a request? 🙂

Last night was bad for Jake as he came down with some kind of fever. He was very lethargic and listless and was making pitiful mewling noises which were heart-breaking. Ames phoned NHS Direct who(surprise-surprise) said to go to A&E. This seems to be the standard answer. We decided that a wait of several hours in A&E was not conducive to Jake’s welfare. Instead we gave him some Calpol and took turns sleeping upstairs, Jake in his very tight moses basket and parent on the Futon. I think I had only 3-4 hours sleep. Poor Jakey would wake in streams of tears while his tummy gave him pain. There was nothing to do except offer the plug and rock him gently.

Today we took Jake to the Doctors and of course Sod’s Law dictated that he was giggly and happy and full of beans during the Doctors examination. The recent dose of Calpol had something to do with this of course. He was diagnosed with a virus and we were told that Jake would soon have a tremendous bowel movement. Eek! So that put our minds at rest although the poor mite is still suffering from a painful tummy.

I was sick yesterday so I took the day off work. I still feel a little headachey this morning. Amy is in bed catching up on sleep. Last night Jake woke a couple of times, once for a feed and once for no reason it seemed. We have just spent the morning playing. Jake doesn’t seem to llike his playmat as much as he did. Now he likes to sit upright and look around.

We watched a bit a cbeebies and an episode of Willo The Wisp. I loved that cartoon when it was first shown. My favourite character was The Moog. The quality of my DVD is a bit shaky by todays standards but the voices and characterisations by Kenneth Williams are excellent(I believe the first series has now been digitally remastered). It must be good because Jake managed to sit, enthralled, through an entire episode without writhing :-).

Jakes recent developments:
1. He has taken to sucking the Werthers Originals again which is a welcome return
2. He likes to scratch things with his fingers. He is often to be found scratching the back of his head or his changing mat which is very cute.

Later on we are off to view some houses. Fingers crossed that we see something that we like!!

Jake has been poorly, suffering from teething pain the last few days. Yesterday Amy kept him awake so that he would be tired come bedtime. Alas come 8pm he was still awake and alert, even after his feed. He decided to give him some Calpol because his cheeks were very flushed and he was possiting a lot(a sure sign of teething). After the dose(which he loved) he was still a little writhey so some 8 o’clock we decided to put him down. This time we let him have his dummy. As he was laid down in the crib his eyes almost instantly started to flutter closed. Within a few minutes of random swiping and batting he was pretty much asleep. I know that if he was put to bed without his dummy he would have screamed and taken at least 15 minutes to calm himself. It’s a difficult call but seeing as he has been so fractious and is not really himself we thought it best to leave him sucking on his precious dummy :-). Something must have worked because last night he woke to feed once whereas the previous night he fed three times.

Jake’s latest developments :-
1. He no longer blows the bubbles through pursed lips(obviously deemed too babyish!) 🙁
2. He likes to stroke his own hair
3. He likes the feeling and/or noise of scratching his nails on his changing mat, his padded book, his mummy/daddy (delete where applicable). This is related to number 2 as he does a similar movement with his hand
4. He is more aware of his ‘self’, hence the rubbing of his hair
5. He really enjoys being on his tummy and lifts his head far off the floor now at the same time he thrusts his bottom in the air and moves his legs in a crawling fashion
6. He ‘barks’ loudly for attention(bit stressful that one)

Thankfully it is much cooler this week. Even though I love summery hot weather, last week was hellish. The flat was like an oven and Jakey was feeding a lot more because he was so thirsty. His room hovered around 30 even with a fan going. We had to resort to a couple of night-time Aptimel feeds simply because Amy did not have enough milk to supply the demand.

Jake has been in a funny mood over the last couple of days. This leads us to believe that maybe he is going through some more teething pains. He has taken to ‘barking’ quite loudly when he wants attention. This can be quite draining especially for Amy during the day. People have told us to leave him when he barks this way but we think that would be mean. After all he is just a baby and needs comfort and hugs especially when he is in pain.

Time will tell whether we are being ‘played’ but I think not. Jake was up again for a 3am feed and then one again at 5.30am. I got up at 6am and played with Jake until 7.30am which gave Amy a little bit more sleep. Not enough I know but every little helps. I also had the honour of changing a particularly pooey nappy 🙂

Last weekend C&C came for the weekend along with Paddy their dog. We had a pleasant picnic on Hilly Fields. There is nothing Jakey loves more than being naked under the trees. He was simply loving the whole thing. On Sunday we ventured into Greenwich for a walk. Jakey was very off that day especially with his old dad 🙁 it seemed. It is funny how such a small being can make you feel on cloud nine one minute and down in the dumps the next!

Jake was wonderful this weekend. He was very smiley and chatty even though his routine was thrown out of kilter. We spent the weekend at Amy’s Mums down on the coast so there was a lot of driving for the poor mite. As well as being waken to be taken out of his seat countless times it was swelteringly hot. I must get the air-con in the car fixed as it is getting unbearable and the heat-wave is due to last until the end of next week.

Jake has taken to blowing spittle through pursed lips. It may sound awful to a non-parent but to me it is the most endearing thing to see!