While we were living with Nanny and Poppy, each afternoon when Nanny went to pick Poppy up from work, she would take Jaxon along.
Poppy takes a train to work. So Jaxon soon started to associate the trains with Poppy. It doesn’t matter what train we see, regardless of if Poppy is even on it or not, it’s “Poppy’s train! Poppy’s train!”
So today, since Poppy is on holidays, he took Jaxon on a train. Jaxon had a ball.
Next introduction will have to be a bus!!
Jaxon turns three in just under one month.
If I could just regress here back to the 80′s and say… LIKE, Oh My God…HOW DID THAT HAPPEN???
It seems like as it’s happening, it takes forever. The mood swings and cranky Jaxon. The clingy Jaxon and the needy Jaxon all take it out of you. I often find myself just wanting to sleep through it. Just forget that he’s there and being a prat. It’s so slow.
But then, you start planning things like THIRD BIRTHDAY PARTIES and you just feel like time is slipping away too quickly. Like tomorrow I might wake up and have a teenager. Or worse, an adult…with KIDS!
For us, things like non stop crying for four weeks and Riverton, with hospital stays and ponsetti boots and MRI’s/CT scans and terrible pregnancy’s feel like they happened so long ago. But then we wonder when it was that Jaxon went from walking to running? Or babbling to chatting. Or blank, spaced out baby has no idea stare’s to deep and meaningful conversation with a human being?
Sometimes life just seems to sneak up on you. Day to day things happen and they take forever to be over. They seem insignificant…until one day you think…FUCK! It’s gone! Where did it go? How did my tiny little baby boy become three years old?
Hopefully.
Jaxon doesn’t remember that Mummy (while looking for a bill to pay) walked through a door that she didn’t know he was behind and banged him in the head.
Hopefully.
Jaxon wont remember that his big toe got crushed underneath that same door.
Hopefully.
Jaxon wont remember that Mummy forced him to have a warm bath because it would “make him feel better”
Hopefully.
Jaxon wont remember that the bath didn’t make him feel better.
Hopefully.
Jaxon will remember that Mummy laid down with him in bed until the tears dried on his cheeks.
Hopefully.
Jaxon will remember that Mummy held his hand and rubbed his forehead until he fell asleep and started snoring.
Hopefully.
Jaxon will remember how much his Mummy loves him, even if she makes mistakes and hurts him sometimes.
Hopefully.
Mummy will forget that she banged Jaxon over behind a door she didn’t know he was behind.
Hopefully.
Mummy will forget how guilty she felt for getting his big toe jammed under that same door.
Hopefully.
Mummy will never forget how beautiful and sweet his warm little hand was cradled in hers as he settled himself to sleep.
Hopefully.
Mummy will never forget how much she loves her little boy.
The other night Jaxon was in the bath while I folded his washing in his room, which is just by the bathroom. As I peeked in to check on him I saw him standing in the bath trying to reach the tooth paste. He’s already eaten his fair share of toothpaste, let me tell you.
I told him to sit down. He didn’t sit down.
I told him to SIT down. He didn’t sit down.
So it was then that Daddy joined me in my quest to make Jaxon a little bit safer in the bath.
Daddy came in, all serious.
Remember when your Mum or Dad would say…”Don’t make me come in there!!”? Well that’s what Tim said. He warned Jaxon that he was going to count to three. Here’s how that went.
Daddy: Sit down.
Jaxon: Uh-uh
Daddy: Don’t make me come in there.
Jaxon: meh!
Daddy: I’m going to count to three.
Jaxon: Ah-ha
Daddy: One
Jaxon: Two
Daddy: giggle
Daddy: Twwwo!
Jaxon: Three!!!
Daddy (and Mummy) rolling on the floor laughing.
Ever wondered what your kids dream about when they’re 2 years and 7 months old??
Well wonder no more. I have the answer.
At 2.38am this morning I was woken by the traumatized cries of my little boy.
When I got to his room he was patting his pillow repeatedly, crying “bee-eeeee, beeee-eeeeeeeee)
For those of you who need translation, my son dreams about biscuits. He wouldn’t settle down until I turned his pillow over and he could no longer see Wall-E.
I’m not going to talk much about our BBQ last night, except to say everyone had fun and we loved having them all over to help celebrate our special time.
Then I’m going to show you this one photo, and post more tomorrow.
I made 200 Vodka Jelly shots. But while I was making them Jaxon kept yelling at me “jelly jelly jelly” so I decided that it would be best to make some non vodka one’s for the kids that would be here.
I sent Tim out on a special mission, to get a different colour jelly, and a different set of shot glasses, so there would be no confusion. The “adult” shots were red jelly in clear glasses while the kids got green jelly in coloured glasses.
Well Jaxon was really the only kid there who went to town on them. When we first brought them out for him he had his own little line of empty glasses lined up on the table. It was at that point that I figured we probably should have got sugar free jelly 
Anyway the night wore on and the adults got very drunk. Nikki was in charge of taking photo’s for the night and at one point she snapped this one.
It wasn’t until she was showing us how cute that photo was that we noticed Jaxon was holding a red jelly…a VODKA jelly. Don’t worry, he didn’t eat it. But he would have if we’d let him! You can see the remains of his green jelly shot’s all over his nose. Half the night he looked like he had a really really bad cold with green snot covering his chin, cheeks and nose. It was very funny to watch him trying to “shoot” it because his entire nose fit in to the cup as he tried to get the bottom out.
It’s been very quiet around here, on the blog. But that’s not to say things haven’t been interesting to say the least.
The most important thing that’s happened recently is the rejection and introduction of new and old Ducky.
Yes peoples, Ducky 1.0 has been shafted…for a newer, fresher smelling Ducky. With an intact bum tag.
Ducky 2.0.
It all happened so suddenly. Dookie took old Ducky in to the back yard. He often does this if we’re not all on the look out. But this day, Jaxon didn’t really bother looking for him. Instead, he went in to his bed, where Ducky 2.0 and Ducky 3.0 have been patiently waiting since their arrival back in November last year…and brought them both out to me.
I asked him to choose a new Ducky. So he did. And that’s that.
We washed old Ducky and he’s now safely in storage where he can be easily fetched if Ducky 2.0 fail’s us in the “comfort me to sleep” department. But it’s been a week and we doubt Jaxon even remembers there was an old Ducky.
Life is starting to get hard now that Jaxon REMEMBER’s things.
We once used to take his annoying toys off him when he was in bed. We’d hide them in the garage and the next day he’d have no idea it was missing.
Then of course, Nanny and Poppy visits were OK once they left. Once he’d gotten over his sugar rush he’d think nothing of them.
But now he’s all grown up. He remembers. And he gets PISSED if we don’t give him his toys back or let him see his Nanny.
All week now he’s been dragging me back to the computer yelling “Nanny Nanny Nanny” and the fact of the matter is, Nanny is not always at the other end of the web cam.
The other night, I filmed this. And now when he drags me to the computer demanding that I GIVE HIM HIS NANNY…I play this. I don’t know how long it will work. Because he’ll soon understand that since he’s IN this with Nanny that it’s not “live” but we can only hope it wont happen in the near future.
Mum: Jaxon what are we going to do today?
Jaxon: “got no money”
Mind you, he had his mouth full of rice bubbles. He could have said “go see bunny” or “eat some honey”
I’m sticking with got no money. I didn’t tell him it’s pay day, he seems to have come to terms with the no money thing very well. No need to get his hopes up.
Dookie was kind enough to HELP me take the washing off the line today.
I rewarded him generously.
Jaxon is a huge fan of “In the Night Garden”
If you haven’t seen it, look it up on youtube. Those writer’s are on drugs!
Maybe Jaxon will be old enough when he finally gets to reading this far back, that his friends wont get to see it!!
What you don’t see (with my editing skills) is the camera shaking uncontrollably with my laughter, and Daddy in the back yard yelling “Training him early?”
I know this looks pretty boring. But to our family and friends, it’s GREAT to see Jaxon using his right arm this way. Go Jaxon!!
I’ve started leaving Jaxon’s bedroom door open over night. I don’t know why I started this, but once he’s asleep and just before Tim and I go to bed I sneak in and leave the door open just enough to see in.
Now in the mornings…this is what happens. Jaxon loves his new found morning freedom and has started getting up earlier and earlier just to do this. If Tim is in bed too he gives one of his “spare ducks” to Tim and one to me. Then he jumps all over us until he can get right in between us and hide under the covers.
Two years ago…this happened…
(24th January 2007
8.27am,
2.86 kilo’s,
42 cm’s long)
And two years on…this! Jaxon is TWO FREAKIN YEARS OLD!!
He had a busy busy day!
He opened presents…
He played golf with his Nanny and Daddy…
He got creative…
And too darned cute!!
He waited for 18 minutes at home (locked out) while Mummy and Daddy had a quickie in the back seat up the road (Nanny and Poppy have the car seat!)
No really…they didn’t. But they did have some fun in the car on the way home…
He showed us his keen sense of fashion…what a statement young man! (note the dummy is what holds the sunnies up!)
He witnessed the most spectacular sunset with his Mum and Nanny…
His Poppy said something rude to Mummy and hid behind Daddy…scaredy cat!
He went to the park…
He had ice cream cake…I told you I wouldn’t bother after last years attempt!
And he was outside in yet another electrical storm! What fun!
You can see THOSE photo’s in an upcoming photo album post!
And finally…he went to sleep!
Though we are yet to weigh him, Jaxon was 84cm tall today. Just for the “double their 2 yr height†record.
In this past year he has learnt to crawl, with boots on.
And without boots on.
And walk with boots on.
And without boots on.
And ride a bike.
He grew 17 new teeth in the space of three months.
He got his first smack last night.
For dropping a truck on Mexxi’s head.
Jaxon’s words…Hi, bye, Mum, Dad, Jaxon (lol Jargon or Jar-hon) cat, Oh Dude, SHIT, ah yeah, thank you (ta), please (eeese), “go go go goâ€, good, motor bike (bay a bay)…so many more and I can’t think of them!
These are just some nice photo’s I got from our little photo shoot the other day. Love those Baby Blues
You can see more photo’s from this day here.
I really like these photo’s.
He’s not dancing as such. More, putting dirt in his hair.
I’ve made up a ridiculously long video of Jaxon and his obsession with Tim’s bike.
Well, that was what it started out as. Then I watched the clip and just didn’t want to cut it short. So you can watch the first minute or so and stop it if you like. OR, you can just watch it all and go “awwwwww” all the way through.
As I just said in my previous post, Jaxon is overly obsessed with Tim’s new bike. He really could have cared less about the green one but this red one must do it for him or something.
So now when Tim come’s or goes on the bike Jaxon runs to the front window to watch yelling out “Um um um” and if we open the garage door he rushes in there yelling out then too.If he see’s a photo of it he goes wacko too.
So this video shows it a little bit. But then this afternoon when I was transferring it across to vimeo Jaxon saw it and went even more berzerk! So I’ll add a video a bit later of the real “going crazy” and not the “I really should be in bed crazy”
Jaxon has just had a “Mummy Cut” in this video. I gave him a hair cut about three hours before this. Ever since his first cut, on the 11th of November 2007 (I don’t know why I remember that all the time) the hairdressers have been screwing up his hair. There would be cut marks through it where they had just chopped a straight line. The fringe would be crooked or there’d be really obvious short and long bits at the back. They could really screw it up. So I figured that if anyone was going to screw up my son’s chances of getting laid then it should be me and I’ve been giving him mummy cuts ever since. I do a pretty good job.
Watch this space…
I sorted through Jaxon’s baby toys yesterday so that he was left with just a few big toys. The one’s he uses contructively and the one’s that he doesn’t just use to practice his aim on Dude.
Well since Tim got his new bike Jaxon has been obsessed with all things automotive. He couldn’t have cared less about Tim’s green bike but this red bike has inspired him to new levels of excitement.
He did this all by himself. The wheel is a computer thing that Tim rarely uses and has been handed off as a “Jaxon toy” for some time now. He didn’t touch it until the bike obsession took hold.
And the potty? Well we bought that when Jaxon was just a bit over 12 months old. Almost a year now and the most he’s ever done with it is pour his drinks in it. He has never sat on it. Until now.
So we’ve all heard of “drink driving”…what would you call this?? Shit Driving?
Jaxon has had a big boy bed in his bedroom for about a month now. He hasn’t slept in it yet. It’s simply there for us to read books on and do puzzles on.
Today I decided that he could have his afternoon nap in his big boy bed. I laid him down and he cuddled his beloved duck.
But not 30 seconds after I shut his door there came a faint little knock followed by his cute little “who is it?” so I knew he had got out of his bed.
I decided that unless he was going to kick up a stink in there that I would leave him. I didn’t really care if he spent an hour playing and eventually went to sleep, as long as he got some sleep.
An hour later, after much banging about with toys he hasn’t touched since he was ten months old, Jaxon’s room went silent.
I assumed he’d climbed back up on his bed and gone to sleep. I was right about one bit. He had gone to sleep. But climb up on his comfortable bed to do it? Nope.
When Jaxon woke half an hour later he was incredibly mad at us. And I don’t blame him one bit. He’d slept on the floor next to the door. He had red carpet marks ingrained up one side of his body, including his face!
Next time (I don’t know when that should be) I’ll leave him a pillow and a blanket on the floor…just in case.
This was using no flash and only the lights from the tree.We were trying to do something like this here but ti didn’t really work because Jaxon’s not the sit and pose kind of toddler. Maybe next year.
I’ve never been big on video games so when Jaxon was just a few weeks old his Nanny and Poppy bought our household (cough cough, Tim) one of those XBOX things. They probably didn’t know it at the time, but I was really angry about it!
So this visit when they bought us a Wii thingee and a Wii Fit I was a little hesitant about it. I’d heard from all over that it’s heaps of fun. But maybe, just maybe, I thought those people were “geeks” and that me being a non video game playing kind of person would probably still think it sucked.
The main reason I really don’t like video games is that they’re not interactive. While one person plays the other watches and while one has fun the other sits and waits for their turn. Silently wishing that the other player would roll over and die so they didn’t have to share.
But that was 24 hours ago. Right this minute I say, RUN…don’t walk, to the nearest store and get yourself a Wii!!!
OMG the laughter! The fun! The heart rate! At one point I think Tim might have fainted. Right between when he caught his third hula hoop and got hit in the head by a flying shoe. It seriously ranks up there with one of the funniest things I have ever seen. And so much fun!
And as Jaxon is about to demonstrate, it’s interactive. Because not only do I want to beat Tim’s ass to a pulp in ten pin bowling, but I also want to see HIM making a fool out of himself too.
So anyone who doesn’t have one and has never intended to have video games in their home. Take it from someone whose last experience with video games was Atari’s Space Invader’s back in 1983…Wii is the bomb!
Go get one, you wont regret the purchase for a second!
As the days go by I will have more to say about this Wii thing and the In-Law visit. Stay Tuned!!
We took Jaxon to see the reindeer last week while Santa had a coffee.
The only way we could convince him to go and pat them was to tell him they were “just big puppy dogs”
Now you have to wait and see how we got Jaxon to sit on Santa’s lap!
This is a project I have been working on for days. We’ve had the web cam operating for three days now trying to get just 24 hours. But the first night we had it on, the program that sequences the photo’s shut down and didn’t make my movie for me. The second morning the power went out and we didn’t get the sunrise. Then half way through day two Jaxon clicked my mouse and turned the web cam off. It’s taken a lot of work to get all of this put together.
I’ve cut a lot out. Time’s when we’re in the loungeroom or the back yard or the back of the house have been cut out because nothing is happening. The sunrise went for a lot longer and there was a bigger gap between when Tim left for work and I get up. This would have been about 20 minutes worth if I hadn’t.
I hope you enjoy it. This is approximately 20,000 photo’s. The web cam took a shot every three seconds.
Here are some things you might want to look out for.
Other things you didn’t get to see.
We just got sent the disc with all of Jaxon’s MRI and CT scan’s on them. I’ve spent hours and hours sorting through them (401 images) so that they’re in order so you had better watch it and you had better like it!!
A lot of people are saying that they don’t really know what they’re looking at. The reality is that Tim and I don’t really know what we’re looking at but we do know what we’re meant to be looking at. I’ll try to explain it with still shots of what you’re looking at.
These one’s here are the MRI. They have taken a body shot of Jaxon every 2mm’s from his back right to his front. Through these one’s you get to see his lungs, his brain, his muscles and most of his organs.
Through these one’s they have taken a body slice shot from his head right down to his waist every 2mm. You get to see through his head and then in to his neck. The circle on the bottom is through the center of his spine. There are two categories here, the other has the white line along the bottom. On those one’s I assume that they’re looking at the nerves running through the spine to see where and how Jaxon’s arm is damaged and if the neck is in danger of pinching nerves or paralyzing him. You see as they move down through his chest where you see his lungs which are black with white veins running through them. Another thing that was noted the other day was that his right lung is much smaller than his left, you can clearly see his lungs in these. You see the kidney’s and if you’re clued in on them you see his intestines.
These one’s here is Jaxon being built from his left side to his right side. You see it starts at his arm where you only get to see his shoulder. Then it moves through his arm and in to his chest. In the shot above you can see his lungs and the start of the bone structure of his spine.
These one’s are the CT scan. They show bones and cartilage. I think everyone gets these. These show why Jaxon’s neck is on an angle and also why nothing can really be done about it. When it comes down to it these is just one mass of bone that it is one way or another connected to another.
This one here shows clearly how his right side is underdeveloped. I think it’s his shoulder bone, that you can see is much smaller and shorter on one said than it is on the other.
There are also two lot’s of photo’s where a white halo is moving away or in to the photo. If you look closely, you’ll see that it’s the oxygen tube down his throat having it’s photo taken. Or, Jaxon was blowing bubbles.
I have been trying to write about this for a while but it’s sort of just become a non issue now that the day has been and gone. So I’ll just write about it quickly. I think I can do that!?
We stayed in a hotel because we had a 7am check in with a 7 hour fast. We thought it would be better but we were very very wrong. We really should have known because Jaxon wont sleep anywhere but his cot. So that’s exactly what he did. Or didn’t do. He finally gave up the ghost at 2am. The hotel was hot and it was a raining muggy night with air conditioning that barely worked. So we had a window open and at 3.30am a very loud and obnoxious bird woke Jaxon up again. That was the end of any hope of sleep we had. We left for the hospital early and decided to kill some time in peak hour traffic. Joy.
I can not praise the hospital enough for the day that we had. We really thought it was going to be awful for Jaxon but they had a great big play room with ride in cars and home corner’s and play stations. For the 20 minutes that we waited Jaxon test drove each and every one of the 7 little cars they had.
For me I think the worst thing was having to sign a form that said “I “the parent” am aware of all of the risks involved with this procedure” You know, like your child might die in the next two hours because of what we’re doing but since you signed this form, we got our asses covered. I’ve had to sign that same form I think 6 times now. It’s just a form, but it’s not just a form if you know what I mean?
The nurses were wonderful. But I don’t think either of them appreciated that when asked if Jaxon had any metal objects on his clothes that we both said “no, but we need to remove his penis ring” They just didn’t get it. But we just had to be making light of it all really or we would have gone mad!
Then came the hardest bit. I had to accompany Jaxon in to the MRI machine. We laid him down on the HUGE adult sized table with his head on a big plastic O ring and they put a teeny tiny gas mask over his mouth. Man. He was screaming at me and pleading with me. Mum, you’re meant to keep me safe is the look in a child’s eyes when something like that is being forced upon them. And he’s right. And that’s all I wanted to do. But the logical section of my brain made me hold his arms and legs down so he couldn’t rip the mask off. The logical part of my brain said it had to be done. Even though deep inside all I wanted to do was grab Jaxon and run. His eyes glazed over and his screams turned in to murmur’s as his eyes (intently looking to me for help) glazed over. Then he went limp and his eyes closed.
Have you ever put a dog to sleep?? That’s what kept running through my head as I left my silent son laying on a table with people who had made me sign his life away to them.That is the best way to describe to you what it’s like to “put your son to sleep” Even when I left the room and saw my Mum and Tim sitting there, the sympathy in their eyes for me having to do that was exactly the same as if I had just left the room at the vets without my long time family pet.
I stayed cool, calm and collected for all of two seconds once I’d left the room. I fell to pieces in Tims arms. I thought I had it all under control right up until I saw Tim and then I lost it. Nothing a bottle of coke and a great big chunk of vanilla slice wont fix.
The wait was 2.5 hours but it didn’t really seem that long. I think the hardest thing about all of this has been the actual wait. Once it was all starting to happen and once we knew we were one step closer to finding out some real answer’s (which we got today, will post later) we just felt relief.
So they came and got us and took us to the recovery room. Jaxon was snug as a bug in a rug laying on a bed with his little heart monitor going. He was still out like a light and looked ever so precious and fragile so the nurses spoke to us for a little. One was a student nurse and she was getting told (get this!) that I was a “darling mother” because she’d told me not to touch him or pick him up and I didn’t. A lot of mother’s just rush in and ignore what the nurses say even though they say it because doing that scares the child when they wake up.
When he finally woke up he snuggled in my arms, he drank 200 mil of milk (he normally has 20 mil, he was HUNGRY!) and a tub of pears and something else which has just totally slipped my mind (a bottle of apple juice). Let’s just say he ate like a normal 22 month old would eat on a normal day in a single sitting! Except that meant he ate four times what he would normally eat!
So we went home and Jaxon doesn’t remember a single thing. He’s never going to remember these things which is a real blessing. The fast was easy, but having him look in my eyes for me to protect him was really hard, because that’s exactly what mother’s do and thats exactly what I wanted to do. So I am very glad that in 10 years he wont know this happened. He doesn’t even know it happened now.
These photo’s are. 1 and 2 are him in the recovery room. That little red mask is the gas mask. And then the one in my arms is when he just woke up and I got to hold him. You can sort of see the blue bandage that is holding his drip in his arm. The nurse was kind of funny. She said to me when he woke up “If you’re strong enough you can cuddle him back to his room” and I was thinking “Lady, I could hold him for a week if I had to”
We got the results today so I will post them here tomorrow.
If you’ve never had a Pavlova, then you just don’t know what you’re missing out on. These photo’s just don’t do it justice. Especially since our camera always washes Jaxon out because he’s got pale skin and the instruction booklet we have to fix it is written in 4 different languages, bar English.
The Pavlova is my signature dish. If I have people over for dinner, which I often do, I treat them to a home made pavlova. There is nothing better, let me tell you.
Those cheap and nasty microwavable “egg” one’s will never give you the thick and chewy bottom, the melt in your mouth center or the to die for crunchy and fluffy outer shell like mine will.
We had friends over for dinner on Sunday night. Jaxon got to lick the bowl, so to speak.
This last photo is Jaxon getting to eat the finished product for the first time. I think he may be a fan. I don’t have a photo of the finished product. So it saddens me to say I’ll have to make another one so I can show you. Mine look nothing like the fruit covered ones!
Following the Great Ducky Meltdown, Tim, Jaxon and I went on a HUGE Duck hunt.
The store which had originally stocked Ducky no longer ran that line. I asked them to check their storage, their computer’s. I asked them to call other store’s. But no, no more Ducks.
The next best thing, as everyone knows, is EBAY.
The real problem was that the only two ducks we could find were from America, and Australian’s can not use the US Ebay unless they have a US address.
So to my girls I looked. Kelly was kind enough to buy them for me and post them out.
They arrived yesterday, and clearly they were not some other child’s “blanky” (AKA lovey, comforter)
I have a video, which I am yet to edit. It was the first time Jaxon got to see his new Duckies. It involved “rub tests” “touch tests” “cuddle tests” and last but certainly not least, the taste test.
Before you ask, can Jaxon tell??
Yes.
He can.
And those other duckies, are not worthy!
The new Duckies are clean and smell quite nice, they are soft and new. They still sing their “singing in the rain” songs. Most importantly I think, their bum’s just don’t taste the same.
Ducky sat abandoned on the floor in the hallway and I thought I’d take advantage of his lack of interest and give Ducky a big bath.
So Ducky had a bath and then while Jaxon rode his new bike in the backyard, paying no attention to what I was doing, I hung Jaxon’s clothes and his Duck on the clothes line.
When I prompted Jaxon to come back in he rode his bike right under the line.
He almost got all the way under without looking up. I thought I was safe. But just as he came out from under the line, he stopped, turned and LOOKED UP.
That was the end of Jaxon for the next half an hour while Ducky dried on the line.
I brought Jaxon inside and I tried to entice him with food and something to drink. I even tried COKE! Coke…I tried COKE to help him forget that his beloved Duck was being tortured in the back yard.
Nothing worked. He cried right up until we took his duck off the line so he could suck on his bum again.
Don’t think badly of me for taking photo’s of this melt down. It’s not like he was crying for 2 minutes, this was a half an hour affair. You know, you get to the point where you just can’t do anything for them, and the best thing to do is take photo’s…so you can tease them about it when they’re 21!
Stay tuned for our adventures in Ducky hunting…finding a replacement has not been easy!
He will be missed.
Cec
8th of February 1915 – 27th October 2008
This is Jaxon’s new bike. Or, I should say, it’s not new. His grandpa Ted (my Dad) has been giving Jaxon things ahead of his physical ability since he was born. He got this bike for him when he was three months old. We’ve had it in storage but during the move Jaxon found it. And loves it! He’s so cute riding around on this thing, and he’s so good at it. Considering at the EDC they have bikes like this and for the last few months Jaxon has just sat on them unable to move, this is pretty impressive. The video is of the first night he’d ever been on it.
Apparently he’s saying “kitty cat” but I just can’t hear it!
While Tim and I were trying to pick out a name to give to Jaxon before he was born the first name we settled on was Gibson.
Our reason was pretty stupid. Nothing sentimental about it. It wasn’t any one’s name, we didn’t know anyone by that name. We chose that name because we love the show NCIS. The lead character, or one of, is named Leroy Jethro Gibbs. They call him Gibbs.
For reasons that I wont go in to here, we changed our minds about the name. We had to find another one and that ended up, obviously, being Jaxon.
I hadn’t thought anything of it until tonight, while I watched my first episode of NCIS since I was pregnant. In this episode you get to meet Gibbs’ Dad for the first time. And guess what his name is?? Yup. Jackson Gibbs.
Wierd huh??
So, Jaxon just found…it.
You know. His bits.
He was in the bath and out of no where, for the first time ever, he just reaches down and touches it.
He was all like “whoa…what’s this? Mum, check this out! Quick…look, what do you think it is?” and I was all like “whoa, what the hell do I say?”
It’s all simple when he’s touching or poking at another part of his body. When he found his belly button I simply said “that’s your belly button” and when he found his nose, I told him exactly what that there thing on his face was.
But I must admit that I was a little bit lost for words when it came to this particular subject and my 21 month old son.
Do I say penis? Doodle? Dick? Big fella?
What is considered PC these days???
What do YOU say?? Consider this a survey of sorts.
These first two photo’s only prove one thing. House work is BAD. Our home is being sold and on Monday we had an group of people coming through to view it. So I was running around like a headless chicken trying to tidy up after hurricane Jaxon. When I went out the back door to take the rubbish out, Jaxon was happy as Larry playing with toys in the lounge room. But when I returned he wasn’t where I left him.
He’d opened windows media player, window’s “help†and ninemsn. He’d also opened up and email and was sending off a message!!
These next one’s were also on Monday. Tim, Jaxon and I went out for dinner for my birthday. As we paid our bill the power went out and was off for three hours. Do you know how hard it is to entertain a toddler in the dark?? Well actually it’s really easy!!
This is Jaxon playing with the torch.
I know. It would appear out of place and odd for me to be cursing school holidays, since Jaxon is only 21 months old. But I find myself doing just that, three and a half years prematurely.
Jaxon’s physio classes and hydro classes are held through the EDC, who are situated in a specialized section of our local primary school. This means that when they have school holidays, Jaxon has school holidays.
It is the first day, a Monday. Normally on a Monday we have classes. Although he can’t tell me what he thinks of them I know he looks forward to them and he knows the days when we will be going and not going.
I don’t specifically know if it is a lack of classes today, or the heat, or if it’s just teething or growing pains or any number of reason’s. But Jaxon is being an absolute BRAT today.
He’s currently serving a 5 minute time out. I’ve said to family and friends that Jaxon is probably too young to understand time out’s at this point so you could say that the time out is a Mummy Time Out. Better he be kicking and screaming in his room, than kicking and screaming at my feet, grabbing at my clothes and clingy to my legs so I can’t move.
So on this day, the 22nd of September 2008, let it be known, that I do NOT condone school holidays! My heart goes out to those mother’s and father’s out there dealing with bored children and teenager’s. I don’t envy you one little bit.
One of the things I failed to mention in my last post about this day was that Jaxon was incredibly sick all day.
He is normally a bubbly and chirpy little man, as long as he’s getting his own way. We can’t shut him up in the car, although he does sleep on the way to Brisbane on a normal day, he didn’t sleep at all this day.
When we finally got to the hospital we noticed that Jaxon was really hot and flushed. It was a busy, hectic day and we thought nothing of it for a little while.
But then when we had to take his top off for his x-rays I also noticed that he had a rash down his arms and on his stomach, and to the touch he was burning up.
We didn’t have anything to give him. I know there are lists of things to take along in your nappy bag, and I have those lists. But panadol is just something we don’t carry all the time. So we left it. We went home, thinking that it was likely that he was just teething.
He didn’t sleep for more than five minutes on the way home when normally after the day we’ve had he’s out like a light before we leave the car park.
When we got home he started making noise. He really hadn’t made any noise, aside from crying when they did the X-rays, and again when the spinal guy was manipulating his neck. His cry brought back painful memories of his 4 weeks of lactose induced crying. Even when he hurts himself he doesn’t sound like this, so I knew at once that something other than teething was going on.
He had a temperature of 39.9 degree’s. I gave him nurofin as soon as we got home, but 45 minutes later he was still 39.9. So we took him up to the hospital, at 8.30pm.
It turns out that Jaxon has tonsillitis!! Tonsillitis is something I myself am very familiar with, so I hope this is not a sign of things to come. I had my tonsil’s out in year 10, after missing at least half of year 8 and almost all of year 9 due to my swollen puss covered tonsils.
We left the hospital at almost midnight. After being awake since 7.30am, and on the road or run for most of the day, we were all incredibly tired and ready for bed. Expect Jaxon wasn’t well enough to sleep for longer than an hour, so the night was drawn on and on by cries in the night.
The doctor had asked us to return the next day to make sure Jaxon was ok. We got there at 9.30am but didn’t get seen until 11am. All of this waiting, by now…was pissing me off and I was ready to hit someone square in the face.
Jaxon’s temperature had gone down, but now he had ulcer’s all over his tongue and on his tonsil’s and he flat out refused to eat or drink anything. The bad thing about this was that they wouldn’t let us go home until he did drink.
The day was just terrible. We sat and waited, and waited to be seen by the doctor. Then we waited again, because he wanted to check him again in another hour. Then we waited once again, because they gave him nurofin and wanted to monitor his temperature in another hour. I sat in the most uncomfortable chair, trying to comfort Jaxon who just didn’t want to sit still for me like he had the day before. We watched patient after patient come and go, yet we waited and watched.
Finally, at 4pm, I told them that it was likely that Jaxon wasn’t drinking because he wasn’t home, and he’s not a good drinker anyway. So they let us go home. With strict instructions to go back if he hadn’t had anything by 8pm.
Thankfully, Jaxon drank a full bottle as soon as we got home. He’s on his first ever round of antibiotics and what a difference they have made! My back is sore beyond words, I can barely move sometimes, from holding and cuddling him all of Wednesday and then restraining him all of Thursday.
Above:While it was a very long and painful two days of my life (and Jaxon’s) and I hate to think of Jaxon being in pain or feeling sick, I must admit that I treasured the quiet time with him. Jaxon is an on the go kind of guy. He’s non stop from the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes down. I know that that can be said of all toddler’s. But Jaxon doesn’t even have time to stop and smell the roses, or the nape of his Mummy’s neck. He doesn’t cuddle ever, if you try to force a cuddle…watch out, you’re in for a fight! He doesn’t sit on lap’s and play, he doesn’t snuggle when he’s tired and he most certainly does NOT fall asleep in your arms. So it was ever so nice to have a snuggly, hide in the nape of my neck, cuddle me all night long kid.
Above:It’s taken me a little while to get to this, with other things that have been happening.
Last Wednesday was Jaxon’s spinal specialist appointment. It was by far one of the longest days we have ever endured.
Brisbane is a 3 hour drive away from us, depending on traffic and adding in a breakfast stop. So the day always starts at least 5 hours before we actually have to be at the appointment. On this day, Jaxon was awake at 7.30am. He’s normally still asleep at 9.30am…so he wasn’t a happy chappy.
Above:
We also happened to have a club foot appointment with Wendy. That had been scheduled for 12.30, while the spinal was at 1.30pm. But Wendy called the day before and told us she was in meetings and that she couldn’t see us until 1.30. She told us to go and register for the spinal and then go and see her. What she was asking us to do was risk not being there when they called us in for the appointment that was more important. Being that the club foot issue is well and truly under control, we decided that we would deal with Wendy later and that if we didn’t get to see her, we didn’t get to see her. She could wait.
So at 1.30 we registered and Jaxon got weighed and measured. We waited another 15 minutes and got called up to go to another department to get new x-rays of his neck done. So we lugged everything off to X-ray and waited yet another half hour to be seen there. Because they were the first x-rays done by the hospital, we had to explain EVERYTHING to them again, and they needed to call doctors and what not to find out if Jaxon was to be seated, standing or laying down for his shots.
X-rays are a messy business when it come’s to kids. Jaxon just wouldn’t sit still. He ended up having Tim holding his arms and legs still and a nurse forcing his head on to the back of the chair. It was just awful. He screamed through the entire session.
Once they were out of the way we were sent back down to the waiting area for our appointment. It was here that Tim and I witnessed one of the BEST fashion statements that we have seen in a long time. A woman sat with her three daughters. In a parachute jumpsuit. A florescent yellow one. She had a T-Shirt tucked in to her pants, which were well above her belly button. She had her pants tucked in to her socks and was wearing sandal’s. She had a baseball cap on, with over the top, too big for your face Paris Hilton sunglasses on. And to top it all off, she had a fake pearl necklace on, that hung down her stomach.
Above:So we waited yet another half an hour or so. We finally got called in to our appointment. It was difficult for the doctor to see anything clear enough to make any judgment call’s. He can see that there are 3 or 4 fused vertebrae down the left side of Jaxon’s neck, and the same in the back of his neck. He said that if he were to remove the affected vertebrae, it would come out in one big chunk of bone, not 5 separate bones. There is also the hemi-vertebrae, or half vertebrae.
Above:Nothing can be decided. He threw a few suggestion’s out there but the main concern is that doing anything to his spine could paralyze Jaxon. So care needs to be taken when they’re deciding what to do. He also said that to straighten up Jaxon’s head he can’t do anything about the side with the hemi in it, but that they *might* be able to fuse the other side to level him out. Still, nothing is to be decided.
Jaxon is having a cat scan and an MRI scan on the 25th of November this year. We just got out appointment and Jaxon will be going under general anaesthetic for the procedure. It’s scary to think about that, but the thing I am more concerned about is the 6 hour fast. He has to be there at 7am, but the procedure doesn’t start until 8.30am. Which means that for those first few hours of the day, Jaxon is going to be off his head crazy mad at us for not giving him his morning bottle and breakfast.
Above:Finally, we went and saw Wendy for his club foot appointment. She wasn’t thrilled at us for putting his spinal appointment before going to see her but we didn’t care. We also told her that we’d be giving the boot’s back and just keeping a close eye on his foot. There is a 65% chance of a relapse for his foot without the boots. But we haven’t been putting them on him for longer than we’d admit to Wendy, and still his foot is fine. We’re still going to go back on the 25th, to let her look at it and make the final choice about the boots.
I nearly forgot to tell you the two most interesting things that happened while at the hospital (apart from the things that are still to come)
Tim and I park on the 7th floor of the parking building. It’s a long way up, right at the top and we park there because it is always empty and it’s easier to just go all the way up there than keep our eyes open for a parking spot. On our way out, as we drove around the first bend, we saw a bubble. A single kids bubble. Floating past our car. There wasn’t another soul in sight.
Above: Then as we neared the bottom and the exit, we both saw something walking across our path. I knew what it was, but because it was SO out of place in the car park, I just couldn’t think of what to call it. So Tim was saying “is that a cat?” and I know it’s not a cat, but can’t think of it’s name so say nothing. He then changes his mind…”is that a dog?” And again, I know it’s NOT a dog. In the end it came to me. Right there, in the middle of Brisbane City, at the basement of a hospital car park…was a turkey. You heard me. A gobble gobble turkey. It was the funniest thing. It walked right past us stopped at the machine to pay for it’s ticket, and then down the ramp leading in to the hospital!
Above:Stayed tuned for part two of this day!
1 tiny teddy
…
5 minutes of silence
20 minutes of silence
30 minutes of silence
30 full minutes of silence….
PRICELESS!!!
1 tiny teddy
…
5 minutes of silence
20 minutes of silence
30 minutes of silence
30 full minutes of silence….
PRICELESS!!!
This past Sunday in Australia was Father’s Day. Although I forgot to say Happy Father’s Day to Tim from Jaxon, and he forgot to say Happy Father’s day to his Dad and I forgot to say it to my own Dad, we had a really lovely day.
I couldn’t be happier and more proud of Tim’s work for making such a huge effort towards Jaxon’s future. I only hope that other employer’s, and people all over the world, are doing the same sort of thing.
Every little bit helps.
Believe it or not.
The above photo has Tim’s boss in it. Jaxon was shouting out instructions to him and yelling at him for putting the stakes in wrong. His boss said “Just like Daddy, always judging my work” (obviously they’re quite good friends)
After the fun of planting tree’s, it was time to explore the premises.
I told Tim that Jaxon wouldn’t be so enthusiastic about walking across this walkway and up those stairs in 17 years for his first day of work!
I thought I’d escaped it.
I thought I was past the danger zone and well in the clear.
But it appears I am not.
And now my life will never be the same again.
Because tonight, for the first time ever, Jaxon shit in the bath.
Mum has always got her rocks off telling the story of a time long long ago when I myself…shit in the bath.
So as I squished that lump down the plug hole I thought of you Mum.
That saying about revenge being a dish best served cold???
It turn’s out it can be just as good served warm, floating in a sea of bubbles.
I thought I’d escaped it.
I thought I was past the danger zone and well in the clear.
But it appears I am not.
And now my life will never be the same again.
Because tonight, for the first time ever, Jaxon shit in the bath.
Mum has always got her rocks off telling the story of a time long long ago when I myself…shit in the bath.
So as I squished that lump down the plug hole I thought of you Mum.
That saying about revenge being a dish best served cold???
It turn’s out it can be just as good served warm, floating in a sea of bubbles.
Thankfully, Daddy doesn’t normally have a dummy in his mouth.
A few nights ago our friends dropped in for a routine visit. They happen to be childless, and while children are not on the cards for them at any time in the near future, they really would like them right now.
At one point, my friend told Tim that she was just going to take our little munchkin instead. Tim and I both said…go for it. She said that was a bit rough, and again we could have won a gold medal for our synchronized reply… “You have NO ideaâ€
It’s true. And BC, or before child…I had no idea either. I’m reading a book recommended to me by one of my girls. It’s called “I was a great Mum before I had kids†Before I even had the book, I loved it. Because the statement made in the title is true of everyone, whether they know it or not.
I was one of those people that looked down my nose at people who let their kids run wild in supermarkets. I wondered why they just didn’t control the situation as their child threw themselves at the floor screaming because they couldn’t have a lolly. I judged everything, from dummies, to speech development, to manners.
But seriously, what would I know? I had no idea. I still have no idea. And now I’m a parent. Before children, when I was warned that being a parent was hard I thought to myself…sure. It’s hard. I know that.
To those people who tried to warn me I say…solving a Rubik’s cube is hard. Opening the lid on a child proof container is hard and getting burnt rice off the bottom of a pot is hard.
They should probably reconsider their definition of having children, or the use of the word “hard†to describe being a parent. While I can take the sticker’s off a Rubik’s cube and rearrange them back in order, and I can throw the child proof container at the wall in anger, or simply throw the ruined pot out and replace it with a new one, none of those things applies to having kids or being a parent.
Nothing I say will prepare you.
All I can say is…”there’s the deep end…good luck”
A few nights ago our friends dropped in for a routine visit. They happen to be childless, and while children are not on the cards for them at any time in the near future, they really would like them right now.
At one point, my friend told Tim that she was just going to take our little munchkin instead. Tim and I both said…go for it. She said that was a bit rough, and again we could have won a gold medal for our synchronized reply… “You have NO ideaâ€
It’s true. And BC, or before child…I had no idea either. I’m reading a book recommended to me by one of my girls. It’s called “I was a great Mum before I had kids†Before I even had the book, I loved it. Because the statement made in the title is true of everyone, whether they know it or not.
I was one of those people that looked down my nose at people who let their kids run wild in supermarkets. I wondered why they just didn’t control the situation as their child threw themselves at the floor screaming because they couldn’t have a lolly. I judged everything, from dummies, to speech development, to manners.
But seriously, what would I know? I had no idea. I still have no idea. And now I’m a parent. Before children, when I was warned that being a parent was hard I thought to myself…sure. It’s hard. I know that.
To those people who tried to warn me I say…solving a Rubik’s cube is hard. Opening the lid on a child proof container is hard and getting burnt rice off the bottom of a pot is hard.
They should probably reconsider their definition of having children, or the use of the word “hard†to describe being a parent. While I can take the sticker’s off a Rubik’s cube and rearrange them back in order, and I can throw the child proof container at the wall in anger, or simply throw the ruined pot out and replace it with a new one, none of those things applies to having kids or being a parent.
Nothing I say will prepare you.
All I can say is…”there’s the deep end…good luck”
This is Jaxon having fun at the EDC (Early Development Center) where he does physio and hydrotherapy.
The first part of the video is him waving good bye to a bus load of school kids (the EDC is at a primary school) and then him trying to eat bubbles. And then…getting up to no good.
Every baby book, or forum I have ever been a part of has had certain advice that seems the same across the board.
Not all children will have colic.
Not all children will have reflux.
Not all babies eyes will change colour shortly after birth.
Not all children will have allergic reaction’s to milk, or shots, or peanuts.
So what scares me the most is that nowhere have I ever heard it said…
“Not all children will go through the terrible two’s”
Jaxon has been terrible to deal with for the past 3 weeks. He wants something, he doesn’t want it, but he wants it. He wants to be held, but he doesn’t want to be held, but if you put him down there is hell to pay. He’s hungry, but he’s not hungry. He wants to feed himself but he’ll cry if you don’t do it and then cry while you’re doing it.
It’s unbearable at times. I’ve tried giving him what he wants, which doesn’t always work, or work for long. I’ve tried ignoring his crying and whaling. And that doesn’t work either.
So what scares me the most is that Jaxon is not yet two, so I can’t say for sure that this IS the terrible two’s we’re experiencing. If this IS NOT the terrible two’s (and it surely is terrible) then what the hell have I got to look forward to???