tenmonthklingonsleepingthru-ish

Yeah! Can you believe the little guy is ten months old ? Just remarkable.

Things have been pretty hectic of late - back to back colds, getting bullied at mum&tot group, feeling awfully wingy, Ai-Oh Ai-Oh... it certainly is a full time job. I've been thinking about the unusual situation we're in: parenting in London, no immediate family nearby, being home with Zack at ten months, so what exactly was the plan ? Hmmm... right now, I'm hoping he'll be able to go into nursery from the beginning of February. It'll only be 2 days a week, but it will be a good break for me. I've been on deadline this week, and it's been very hard having a wee lad around, nevermind the professional issues. So many decisions to make about their well-being and development. I can see that he's bored with his toys at home, but I don't want to buy more. I don't want him to be another one of those spoilt kids with a houseful of toys. Nor do I want to go to the extreme where he only gets one toy to play with at a time. He misses the social interaction on days when we're at home all day - which has been often of late, what with colds and flu, and running a temperature. Gotta find a balance.

He's still eating well, and his sleeping is improving. He seems to have dropped his 11pm wake for water. It took us more than a month, but I think he has the message. The problem of course is that he is now waking at 4am - thirsty. They keep you on the hop! Three nights ago he woke up at about 12:30am and would not go back to sleep. We tried everything - changing him, cuddling him, giving him his dummy - but every time we put him back down he started to howl. It was evidently not pain (otherwise he'd cry all the time), so we were stumped. In the end we had to leave him to cry himself to sleep. It was the beginning of what has become a pattern of klingy-ness. He's never been like this before - he now cries every time I leave the room. It's exhausting. Try and do some freelance work on deadline in this situation ! Impossible. Tonight he was running a temp, so perhaps it's just teething. Haven't we heard that one before? No teeth visible beneath the gums so I'm not counting on it. It's just another phase I guess. What comfort, sheesh.

We are finally up to date on our immunisations, but the last two left big bruises on his thighs, and big lumps under the skin. I believe that immunisation is necessary, and that all children should participate in the national immunisation scheme. Just talking to a friend about polio in Africa, showed me the import of mass subscription. So despite some of the more "touchy-feely" objections, I think it's essential. And we will continue in this vein.