How I Lost All of My Birthday Glitter...

Yesterday was my birthday. 

I had big plans for an exciting day out at Legoland but from the moment I woke up, 

to the time I finally got to bed... 

The day had it in for me.

With each passing moment, the day chipped away all of my birthday glitter.

The night before my big 24th,

Leo had become grotty, he was not himself.

That grotty-ness progressed and he ended up in bed with me.

By 4am I had decided to cancel my birthday trip and spend the day at home with Leo.

If only I had stuck to my guns.

If only I hadn't gone...

I was awoken to a smiley face,

as Leo tapped my head shouting 'Mumma' and I decided that Legoland 

was back on again in that mere moment. 

The bag was already packed, the pushchair was in the car. 

The wheels had been inflated especially for this exciting journey...

Arriving at the train station a very kind man helped me up and over the steps, 

but on the other side just as I was about to get on the train...

My front wheel popped.

Simply turning my pushchair around caused the wheel to go *BOOM*.

I stood there, with a very confused Leo.

My face must have mirrored his confusion, 

and a number of business men from first class rushed out of the train to help.

I had no choice but to take my poorly pushchair with me on my travels, 

as the train was set to leave.

Off we set on our latest adventure. 

With each turn of the train wheels,

 taking us further away from home.

Then disaster sets in...

Leo starts to cry.

Hysterically.

I told myself 'He will be fine when we get there'.

Almost trying to lull myself into a false sense of security,

knowing deep down that he was coming down with something.

He had been hot to the touch, burning up like a radiator.

I should have stayed at home..

Our journey involved a change.

A change with a poorly baby and a broken pushchair.

My heart was slowly sinking.

I decided the best option was to strap him back into the pushchair 

and see how far we got.

It became apparent very quickly that the only way to really push him, 

was to lift the pushchair up and roll him on the back wheels.

*Along comes Mr Know it all train conductor at Slough Station*

He told me in no un-certain way that this wasn't safe.

I should stop now.

When I had actually wanted to leave the pushchair somewhere 

at Slough station to pick up later, 

there was just no time with the connecting train to make the feesable.

So I stumbled on, loosing a little bit more of my birthday sparkle with each passing minute.

Legoland very kindly checked my pushchair in to keep for me.

But there were no pushchairs left for me to rent. 

I had a poorly toddler who just wanted cuddles and carrying around.

I had a heavy bag full of essentials for the busy fun day we were supposed to be having. 

But there wasn't much fun to be had.

Leo was getting progressively worse,

getting more clingy, more viral.

I began to notice a rash all over Leo's tummy and back.

Having only been there a few hours,

it was time to come home.

The few hours had given us chance to get on 2 rides,

The lines were horrific, but then what did I expect for a sunny day in the Summer holidays?

It would have been fine if Leo was his usual happy self.

But today Leo just needed snuggles with Mumma.

He needed to be at home.

I managed to leave the pushchair at Legoland,

One less problem for the way home on a busy train. 

Now however I need to try and get it home again...

On the transfer at Slough I ran into the same train conductor.

On this occasion we needed him to help us get my sister in law's pushchair onto the train.

I had Leo on one hip, and my bag on the other,

so I asked for his help.

I asked him to help us lift the pushchair onto the train.

His response?

'Sorry I can't, health and safety'.

Seriously!? 

Is this what the world has come to? 

Now you cannot even ask train staff to help you?

So I commented on the health and safety aspect, 

ironically it would be safer for me to assist and potentially drop my child? 

Or even drop the pushchair?

Yet earlier this very man had been cautioning me on the perils of child safety.

REALLY!?

Getting back home was not the end of my hellish day,

I was awake throughout the night with a poorly toddler.

A poorly boy who just wanted to watch Cars 2 on my iPad.

A poorly boy who was awoken bright and early by the road works right outside of our house.

And that is how I lost all of my birthday glitter.

A Very Merry Christmas

Christmas is a very special time of year, even more so for me these days with Leo around.

I love how everyone gets together and spends that one day a year breaking food and enjoying each other's company. I have to say that I absolutely adore the run up to the big day, the excitement and magic that this one day a year brings in it's wake.

Christmas Eve is pure magic, the anticipation is enough to awaken the child in any grown up and for me I just cannot wait to see the look on Leo's face as he begins to un-wrap his gifts.

This Christmas was Leo's second and in a year the differences in him are astounding.

On Christmas Eve we packed our car full of goodies and drove the 2 minute drive up the road to my parents house, the car was full to bursting and after taking a rather long time to pack it all in...I then had to un-pack it at our destination. 

Santa popped by on Christmas Eve, not that we saw him...But some gifts for Leo were left. Santa had brought Leo big boy pajamas and his very first pair of slippers in preparation for his nightly slumber.

The stockings were hung and after we put out a mince pie (home made I hasten to add!) a glass of milk and of course a carrot for the hungry Rudolph, Leo was put to bed, where he dreamed his dreams until at least 9am. In the mad house this time on Christmas Day is un-heard of, normally we are up before the sun even rears his sleepy head. With my younger siblings getting older, it seems that they now tend to sleep longer, even at Christmas.

We all arrived in the lounge to find that Father Christmas has indeed graced us with his presence this year, and the amount of gifts under the tree insinuates that we have all been incredibly good this year...Santa must have missed all the mischief that Leo get's up to and I am guessing he certainly does not read this blog! 

I had in-visioned Leo running around and opening every present in sight, the same way he devours the newspaper as soon as it is posted through the letter box. But actually Leo was very restrained, he opened a present and was presented with a baby doll. A little baby boy. As soon as he saw baby in the box Leo took him over to his Uncle and waited patiently for him to open it. Leo then brought baby and the baby's toy milk bottle over to me so that he could feed him. It was lovely watching Leo play with him and really interact, but it was clear that Leo didn't want to open anything else after that first gift!

I managed to hide baby so that we could open more presents together. A pram, a sit and ride train, a quad bike and play food soon joined his expanding gift pile, but it was far to obvious that he was not interested in the act of present opening but more the playing that followed after. It was great seeing him get the play value out of everything and you could really see he was enjoying every moment, despite the  over whelmed look on his little face.

Christmas lunch did not appeal to Leo, he didn't even devour any pigs in blankets...I thought he would love the sausages! Leo merely picked at his dinner and pushed it around his plate. However he did take to dipping his fingers in the bread sauce and exclaiming 'yum!'.

Leo discovered Christmas Crackers this year and even got to pull one with his Uncle, despite the odds of winning being against him. Leo won! He worse his crown with pride and 

Since having Leo Christmas Day has become extra busy as so many people want to see my little man and enjoy the moments of him opening his gifts. So after spending the day at my parent's we headed over to Luke's Dad's so that we could give them that special time.

Leo was reluctant to open yet more gifts and avoided the presents, and would show interest in everything but! He finally opened up the rubber bath ducks and decided the best way to play with them was by throwing them at Granddad and shouting 'B'.

Christmas carried on for Leo well into Boxing Day when we visited his Nanny and Granddad where yet more presents were waiting for him. The over night break seemed to give Leo the motivation to get on opening more presents, a tool bench complete with tools, a hop along bunny rabbit and even a nursery rhyme CD for the car. 

Santa even came along to pay the kiddly winks a visit, and as expected Leo was not a fan! He quite happily took the gifts that Santa was baring, but Leo left the rest of the detail to be desired.

Poor little Leo topped off Boxing Day by coming down with a viral infection. He went down for his nap perfectly ok and then awoke completely out of character and with a raging temperature. 

He spent the rest of the evening cuddled up and very lethargic. We had a pretty rough night with little man and had to keep bringing his temperature back down, but by the next day Leo was well on a the mend again!

Leo's second Christmas has been wonderful, and even now a week later, we still have a Santa Sack full of gifts for Leo to still un-wrap. Even now that all the Christmas decorations have come down and we are met with the bleak January gloom, we still have those special memories of all the magic that took place.

I hope you have all had a very merry Christmas and are now easing back into the day to day runnings!

Happy New Year!

Laura

xx

A Daddy's Touch

This last week, Luke has been away with work. In Luke's absence, Leo has developed Roseola, a viral infection very common in babies and young children. Over Two nights, I have faced some of the hardest times since becoming a Mummy.

I have had my patience tested and gone through the night without even closing my eyes. I have been there to comfort my beautiful boy as he battles through the nasty virus that has him tightly in his clutches. I even began to wonder how much more sleep deprivation I could endure.

Then Friday evening arrived and...Luke came home!

 I suddenly realised I had all the support I needed. I had someone to take Leo so I could go to bed and finally have some quality sleep. I had everything I needed, and Leo had his Daddy home.

I warned Luke that he may not go down to sleep, and filled him in on just how Leo had been suffering over the last couple of days. I showed Luke the rash that had erupted all over Leo's beautiful skin. By now the rash on Leo's little cheeks had become so angry that it was no longer little individual dots, but one really angry looking red splodge.

Luke was great, he took Leo straight off me and told me to go to bed. I really did not need telling twice and handed Leo over to his Daddy, and just like that Luke took control. Leo went out of his way to prove me wrong, and seemed to be a completely different baby to the one who had kept me awake for so many hours. Yes he did whinge and yes he had a little cry, but those special cuddles with Daddy seemed to do the trick. Luke even came up to bed at midnight after putting Leo down in his cot...Something I had been trying to do for the last two nights, and had completely failed on all accounts.

Luke had taken Leo for walks up and down the drive in his pushchair and sat and cuddled him in the dark. All things I had tried but not been successful in. Leo then proceeded to fall asleep in Daddy's safe arms. Something Leo always refuses to do for me.

Last night seemed to be a turning point, Leo only awoke once and went back down in his cot without any issues at all, and I even managed to catch up on my much needed beauty sleep.

Today has been a mixture of a grumpy and also a very sleepy baby boy, and the rash seems to be at it's very worse. The individual dots have merged and the rash has been so bad today that I called the out of hours surgery again, in the hopes of being able to take him along to get checked.

They asked me a number of questions about how Leo was feeling, Does he have a headache? Does his neck hurt? questions I can only begin to guess the answers too...How do you ask an 11 month old how he is feeling? In the end they did not wish to see him, and told me to call back if his fontanel sunk, his temperature sky rocketed or his rash did not fade when pressure was applied.

I do think that Leo has missed his Daddy on his week away, and maybe it is not just a coincidence that Leo started to sleep better when Luke arrived home last night? Maybe Leo has missed his Daddy and being poorly has just added to his monster baby state? Whatever the reason this does seem to be the start of Leo's very anticipated recovery, and I welcome it whole heartedly with open arms.

I was so thankful to Luke last night for taking control of Leo, sorting him out, looking after him and letting me go to bed for 8pm, and then even letting me sleep in until 11am. Saying that though, Leo didn't rise much before 10am this morning, which as you all know has not been known over the last few days!

When I came downstairs this morning, I was greeted with Leo fast asleep in his Daddy's arms. Snuggled up in his favourite blanket. This blanket was Luke's magical trick for helping him get Leo to sleep last night and seems to have done the trick for nap time too. They both looked ever so contented in each others embrace, and it was lovely to just watch them. So naturally...I grabbed the camera.

My Two beautiful boys...

Tonight has been a really good night and since putting Leo down at 7pm, I have not heard a peep! So here is hoping for another good nights sleep, and that my beautiful boy is on the road to recovery!

Get well soon Baby Boy x

Laura

xx

Roseola...

The past few day's have been some of the hardest since becoming a Mummy. I have never been subjected to complete sleep deprivation before this, and to be thrown into two very sleepless nights, is the things nightmares are made of.

On Thursday I took Leo to the doctors to have his rash looked at, and to see if I could get a magical remedy to help take away any discomfort my poor little baby may be feeling. The doctor checked Leo out and eventually diagnosed Roseola.

Roseola is a viral infection that commonly affects infants and young children. It involves a pinkish-red skin rash and high fever. The virus is common in children aged 3 months to 4 years, and most common in those aged 6 months to 1 year. So poor little Leo is very susceptible to picking up this nasty viral infection.

I had been expecting a viral infection to be at the centre of it all, after talking to many helpful Mummy's on Twitter (Thank you all for your advice!)

Roseola seems to sum up everything that Leo had and may be feeling, and it is no wonder he has not been his smiley happy self over the past couple of days. Roseola presents it's self in the following symptoms:

- Eye redness

- Irritability

- Runny nose

- Sore throat

- High fever- Pink or rose-coloured rash, that starts on the middle of the body and spreads to the arms, legs, neck, and face. The rash usually has small sores that are slightly raised - Just like Leo's.

It is really good to now know what is making Leo feel so under the weather, and it makes it less frustrating knowing that there is a real reason for us being up all night.

You all know about my first night of no sleep, but I am yet to talk about the second...

Expecting the worst out of the night ahead was all I could do, the doctor had also mentioned that she could not promise me a better night which of course re-confirmed my worst fear. I dosed Leo up with Calpol and got him ready for bed, and I even managed to get him down by 6pm. However when 9pm struck, I was greeted with my screaming nocturnal baby boy once again.

It seems that as soon as the moon comes out, Leo makes the transition from angel baby to monster baby...

I was determined to not have such a bad night, I wanted us both to get some sleep. At 11pm I was out driving around the countryside trying to get my beautiful boy to close his eyes once again. I was secretly hoping that I would get him to sleep and then be able to transfer him into his cot. Of course as soon as the car stopped...Leo was awake once again, dashing any hope of going to bed myself.

Leo reminded me of the Terminator by this point, he needed no sleep and he could go all day and night without even closing his eyes...Despite what I did, he just kept on coming back...Back from the land of nodd.

Leo wound himself up until he got hysterical, and by this point I felt like crying too. All the hours were merging into one and I was aware that this would be my second sleepless night. Through my teary haze I called the out of hours surgery. I told them all about my dilemma and how I could not settle my baby boy, how he was screaming and would not relent. By this time I could not control the tears falling down my cheeks.

Luckily my Dad was holding Leo while I made the call. I was told I could take him into the surgery for a appointment at 2am if I felt the need. It was around 12:30 by this point, and I did not feel strong enough, or confident enough to drive the half hour drive with my baby boy in my current tired zombie state. I was far to tired to even consider doing it safely and I knew they wouldn't be able to do anything. All they wanted to do was take his temperature, which I could do at home.

Leo would not settle in his cot, not even for a second. As soon as I put him down he worked himself into a hysterical state. I decided as a last straw to put Leo into his pushchair and walk him around the house. Yes in my hour of madness I was walking in circles around the living room and out into the hall. Anything to just try and get him to rest, and therefor pave the way for me getting some shut eye.

Eventually he did give in and he shut his eyes, so I brought down my duvet and attempted some sleep on the sofa. Sleep that never came. Leo then began to cry again and I was presented with the fact that I had the chance to sleep, and that chance was now passing me by. Luckily Leo was soon settled with a gentle rocking of the pushchair, and I made the decision to bring down the baby monitors and get into my bed for as long as I could.

I managed about an hours sleep, and by about 5:30am Leo was back up and awake again....My day was now starting and I was now more tired than before I went to bed.

With Luke being away all of last week, I have been trying to cope alone. I am not ashamed to say that I have found it hard. When Luke arrived back last night I don't think I have ever been so pleased to see him. I was thankful that we could both work together, and I could even take a little break.

To be continued....

Laura

xx

Eyes Wide Open

Last night was the worst night in the history of bad nights. I had made myself a hot chocolate with the full intention of getting into bed and closing my tired eyes. This plan all changed at midnight when Leo awoke and greeted me with a chuckle and a very happy smile.

If only that smile had stayed, and if only he went back to sleep...Maybe I would have got some shut eye too...

Leo's smile soon slipped off his little face completely and was replaced with crying, crying and oh yes... Screaming! We must not forget that...as that is a big part of my nightmare night, and I can only imagine this headache I am currently fighting off, is a result of the screaming...

My beautiful boy had turned into some little monster baby, who was determined to keep me awake at all costs. Nothing worked after he had drank all of his milk, expect watching 'In The Night Garden...' and oh my...If I ever see Iggle Piggle again I will not be held responsible for my actions. 13 episodes later brings us up to the crack of dawn, and Leo is still fighting off cuddles and still refusing to sleep.

When I did manage to tuck him back into bed and sneak out of his prison cell of a room. He bided his time, he would wait until I had tucked myself back into bed, and just started to warm up the sheets, close my eyes and start to fall asleep...Que the screams starting back up again and me quickly running back into his room.

I have to admit by about 3:00am the frustration really hit me, I just wanted to scream and shout and I have to admit I even shed a few tears at 5:00am this morning. When all else failed I sat on the stairs with my head in my hands and I let him cry. I thought he may tire himself out eventually but I soon realised that he was just getting more hysterical and suddenly regretted my actions. I felt guilty, immensely guilty and I ran back into him. Instantly sorry for leaving him to his own devices.

That frustration is unlike anything I have ever felt before, and I just wanted my bed and some well deserved sleep, but sleep was an impossible option that was just not going to come easily.

I stayed up with Leo all night long, and the only shut eye I achieved was about half an hour when he closed his eyes, but then when he opened them again, Leo was back with a vengeance. I resigned myself to the living room and accepted the fact that we were not going to bed.

7:00am came around and everyone else in the house started getting up for the day, the great thing about living at home is that once everyone else was up, Granny took Leo off my hands so I could get a little shut eye. Now I am thinking about tonight and how I cannot take another demon night like last night.

Leo is currently teething and I am sure this is partly to blame for his unsociable waking hours. He has also come out in a red dotty rash, all over his face and body, which I have been informed could be a viral infection. Just to rule everything out, Leo is booked in at the doctors for just after 5pm this evening. I am truly hoping that the doctor can provide a magic remedy to help Leo sleep and make any pain he may be feeling, go away. Of course I know this probably wont be the case...

I am now gearing up for another bad night. Another night of eyes wide open and no chance of snuggling up in bed. I am also gearing up for a very early morning, as tomorrow Leo and I will be attending the Birmingham baby show, so if you see us and we look like the living dead, please don't be afraid, we are just very tired!

I just wanted to thank Nicola over at Life through my eyes for keeping me company last night and wish her all the luck in the world for the very immanent birth of her baby girl. You are going to do fantastic and I look forward to hearing all about your amazing experience!

Laura

xx