An Epic Mini Series

If OB's life was being serialised as a BBC drama mini series, the events of this week would surely merit a significant chunk of one of the episodes.  No, we haven't had high drama of the ilk of, say, court dates or celebration hearings, but rather a series of small but nonetheless epic events, milestones and changes to manage.

Of course, most significant has been the arrival of LB (who is settling in very nicely by the way).  OB has mostly taken this very much in his stride.  He loves having the baby around and is quite fascinated by him, bringing him toys, rocking him rather energetically in the bouncing chair, putting blankets (lots and lots of blankets!) on him and just generally being a nuisance getting involved! LB has been the recipient of lots of heartfelt kisses, cuddles, bear hugs and drumming attempts.  The drumming thing will have to stop but the rest of it is quite cute.

There has been something of a reaction of course - I wouldn't expect it otherwise. OB has been agitating for attention and generally being a bit more lively and 'frog in a box' than usual, tearing round the house, touching everything, moving things and generally messing with stuff, which can get quite wearing.  We have had a few wailing tanties and shouting sessions, but no more than usual really - these have been escalating for a while now but I'm hoping it's a phase! He has also been asking for cuddles a lot, as well as asking me to give him his bedtime milk "like a baby".  I've gone along with that and we've had some delicious cuddly bedtimes as a result.

There a few things the baby isn't allowed to have.  At first OB wasn't keen for the baby to use his old pram, but we managed to get over that one. There was also a problem with using OB's wipes on the baby's bottom, which we solved by buying a different brand so we can keep them separate.  Other than that, LB is so small and non-demanding that he doesn't really impinge on OB's daily doings all that much.

A few hours after LB arrived, my parents also arrived, so we have had a crazy week of fun, games, trips out, lots of food and altered routines.  OB has, of course, loved the whole thing! It does him so much good to have the additional attention that it's definitely worth it as a trade-off for the occasional moments of over-excitedness.

As if all that wasn't enough, this week finally heralded the arrival of the Big Boy Bed.  We chose it on Saturday, bought it and built it on Sunday.  It is a full-sized single cabin bed and really sturdy so I can sit on it or even lie on it without fear of collapsing it.  OB, after weeks of anticipation, was suitably excited and thrilled by its arrival and has been dragging people upstairs to admire it.  His quilt cover has a rocket ship on it that matches the rug I had previously bought and, overall, I'm pleased that it looks like a proper little boy's room without being too themed and faddy.

When I moved NB into his big boy bed, we had night after night of destruction and carnage as he just couldn't stop himself from getting out of bed and emptying every drawer, shelf and cupboard in the place, culminating in one awful night when he pulled the chest of drawers over on himself, so I was slightly dreading the thought of putting OB in a bed without bars!  I needn't have worried though.  He has experimented with getting out of bed, but mainly he seems to content to just knock on his bedroom door a bit (he can't open it himself) or stand at the end of the bed shouting me.  Only once has he made his way downstairs (when I had his Christmas present out in the lounge of course!), and then he went straight back to bed without a fuss. Finally we can ditch the monitor as now he can come and get me in the morning instead of just yelling from his room.  It's all good.

With all this going on, I'd have thought the toilet training (which we still haven't totally conquered) would have been a disaster, but we've actually had the best week ever, with several consecutive dry days, even though our routine has been all over the place and we've been out and about a lot.  I'm very proud of my virtually-dry-in-the-day son!

Some of these changes are hard enough for me to accept with any level of equilibrium, never mind OB, but he seems to be coping wonderfully.  My parents left us today so now I have to manage the routines of the two children by myself for the first time.  I hope I adapt as well as OB!

*edit* Oh yes, and we had OB's first up-close-and-personal encounter with fireworks last night - just a small display in the garden - and he loved it! Phew!