Happy Happy Joy Joy

I've had complaints that I haven't blogged in a few days.

Sorry!

I've not been 100% health-wise, so it made juggling everything more tiring than usual.

All I have to say is this though:

I'm happy. Morgan is happy. HSS seems to be happy as well.

21st May 2012 - Happy times :D

On Saturday evening, Morgan slept over at my grandma's house.  HSS and I went out to celebrate a friend's birthday - didn't stay out late though as we were both pretty tired.  On Sunday, we grabbed brunch at Mint - whereby HSS's tastebuds were deflowered by means of the infamous Orgasmic Brownie.  After noms, we were going for a walk when I found a couple missed calls from my sis.  I called her back and she asked me to go buy nappies and Bebegel for Morgan as she had been restless all morning due to bellyache.

Off we went to the airport's pharmacy! It was the first of undoubtedly many Parental Emergencies to happen - and I'm glad I wasn't alone in this.  Once the goods were acquired, we went over at my grandma's to attend to Morgan's needs.  Eventually, Morgan and I came back home and HSS left for work.

Monday found us all in a pretty good mood, as can be testified via the above picture.  That is the first photo of the three of us.  One photo I very much cherish.  We played and cuddled all day!

Today is now Tuesday - and Morgan's Paternal Granny has arrived on the island! Her plane should have landed a minute ago.  I'm not in tip top shape as I have a very sore and swollen throat.  I think I had fever earlier, which is why Morgan is staying at my mum's for the night.  Will give me some time to try and recover as the days to come are going to be quite on the sociable side!

Morgan is teething at the moment which makes her uber drooly.  She is becoming more sociable than ever and more vocal too.  Today I kept imitating her sounds and that seemed to please her. She is also using her hands more efficiently and holds her head up straight for longer periods of time.  She still loves music and will get restless if there is no music on.  She turned 4 months old today! Can't believe time is going by so quickly!!

Fay Wray Come Out And Play

So, I came across this article here  just a few moments ago, and found myself sighing resignedly.  "Why?" you might ask.  Well, here's why.

About a couple of weeks ago, I went for coffee with my mum and we took Morgan with us in her pram.  ON our way back home,we walked past the playgrounds in Paola.  The swings and other play things all seemed in good working order, and as if they have only just been installed. Excellent!  However, as we walked towards the public toilets, the stench of urine that greeted us only grew stronger the closer we got. 

Stupidly enough, the opening hours were something like 9am - 3pm, if I remember correctly.  This means that whoever happens to need to go pee or poop after those hours will most likely do so just outside the public toilets' closed doors, thus leading to the filth and stench to flourish.

Oh, did I mention that the toilets are right opposite the doors of the Paola Government-owned school?

Not to mention the fact that yes, in spite of all the hoo-haa this article pretends to be concerned with, if you look on the side, you'll find plenty of similarly-themed articles written over the past years. This, to me, indicates that every so often the government/local councils pretend to give a fuck about the state of the equipment installed in the playgrounds just to shut people up.  Nothing ever changes.

And what is this bullshit about making them "as safe as necessary"?  Clearly, the people involved don't have children of their own, otherwise they'd realise that even if you were to wrap your child up in bubble wrap and make sure every single object around them is also wrapped up in bubble wrap, has no sharp edges/corners and is made out of the safest materials ever, said child will still find a way to get hurt/hurt someone else with said objects. Hell, think of prisoners and the ingenious ways they come up with the create makeshift weapons! THINK OF MACGYVER DAMN IT!

Or so claim Patty and Selma Bouvier

"As safe as necessary" to me, reads as "We can't be bothered so we'll just give a lick of paint over the rusty bits to hide them up and keep parents off our backs."

I now sit back and wait for them to prove me wrong - honestly. I hope they manage.

Can't buy me love

I hate shopping.

Except for books.

That, has always been my stance. Things seem to be changing though! Now that Morgan is in my life, I can't seem to stop buying her stuff.

The day before yesterday I got her a Baby Activity Mat. The day before that, I bought her 3 toys. And a few days ago I bought her the Baby Rocker. And, I've been buying her stuff for her room. That will take me a while to complete, as I also will need to figure out how to go on about painting the room and creating the mural. I will also need to discuss my rental contract first as I'm not about to paint the room and move out of the house a month or three later!

As I had mentioned in a previous blog, I'm going for an enchanted forest kinda theme with fae folk and other awesome creatures. This is what I've got so far:

Flower fairy miniature drawers

Wrapping paper to be used for toy boxes

Blackboard

Mirror Sticker #1

Mirror Sticker #2

Mirror Sticker #3

Hanging thingy #1

Hanging thingy #2 and #3

Hanging thingy #4

Pirate and Fairy felt thingies.

 
Ok, ok. Fine. I admit it. I bought her more stuff yesterday as well. Namely a grey and a red pair of trousers, a purple woollen short-sleeved shirt and a purple top which says "I love rain". Oh, and sterilising tablets and a formula milk dispenser thingy for the days when we are out and about.
Unfortunately the visit from her Paternal Granny will have to wait due to the funeral happening this weekend. Hopefully it won't be long before it gets rescheduled!

Yesterday evening, I cleaned all her toys, and Morgan got to use the Activity Mat for the first time. According to a certain someone *coughpaulcough* the Activity Mat 5000 is guaranteed to reducing poop by 23%. Alas, that proved to be a false claim, and if that same someone doesn't believe me, I will gladly send him the evidence in the mail :D

Morgan wasn't interested in playing at first, as can be seen clearly in the pic. What can I say? She's my daughter after all!

She then seemed to change her mind when I wasn't looking, as can be seen in these videos:

All that playing seemed to have affected her appetite as she later on downed a whopping 200ml of milk! This meant that it was time to upgrade to bigger bottles, which we did today. Now I'm off to clean and feed her.

Toodles!

Pink, it was love at first sight!

Last night was an insomniac one for me where I decided I would start making my grandma's house more toddler-friendly as of now. Whilst tidying up I found Pimp Sunglasses. *points at picture*

Morgan and I will be playing dress-up A LOT when she's older, I'm sure. As much as I hate to admit it, she pulls off pink perfectly. I hate pink. She has received a fair amount of clothes in different shades of the colour. I don't blame people for giving pink crap though - it is rather hard to find neutral coloured clothing!
I _will_ be taking her to a paediatrician today as her stuffy nose got worse last night, in spite of my cleaning her nose several times.

Today is also one of them days which make you regret being cooped up inside, so I might take her out for a walk too.

That is all for this morning! Over and out!

Think of the children!!

I have been pondering this subject for a while... I've already clarified why embarrassing photos are taken... What I cannot figure out though, is why children are encouraged to make complete and utter fools of themselves on video, only to have it uploaded on Youtube.

A lot of the internet sensation children happen to be of the overly obese variety too - which to me is quite concerning.  Not only are the parents of the children in question willing to have the world take the piss out of their child - with the possibility of that episode coming back to haunt them later on in life... but they are also willing to ignore their child's apparent health issues.

Yes, chubby children can be cute.  Cute only lasts until their weight becomes a cause for bullying, as well as bringing along health problems.  Those worthy of the title 'Mum' and 'Dad' will have done their best to safeguard the health of their child whilst in utero.  Why should it be any different once they pop out?

A brief article I received by e-mail yesterday also made me think that maybe, not enough people invest the time to ensure their children are being encouraged to be healthy when under someone else's supervision.  You'll know how much thought I have been giving to Childcare once I return back to work if you have been following this blog.  It is not possible for me to understand how anyone can do any less when it comes to choosing who to trust with their child's well-being, and where to 'dump' the child whilst they [i.e. parent[s]s] are unavailable.

As a Nerd myself, I value the academic aspect of  pre-school facilities.  I cannot deny though, that unstructured play is vital as well.  Running around, playing pretend, making up stories and games - all of this is a staple in childhood.  Or rather, was, back in "my days".  I would want my child to know the joys of imagination and creativity - not just to act like a trained monkey.

By allowing your child to potentially get hurt - within reason - you're also teaching them coping mechanisms and giving them the chance to earn their Battle Scars.  When I was younger, my legs were always full of bruises and my knees were constantly scabby and scraped.  I recall a few occasions when such injuries were incurred, and to be honest, they are memories I treasure.

Bottom line is this: Allow children to be children.  Take care of their health, and don't throw obstacles in their way that might leave long-term damaging side-effects.  It is uncalled for and to me, pure evil.