Living Our Sunshine with Susann Deysel
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Go away Mommy!

My littlest human constantly yells at me to “go away mommy”, “no mommy”, “don’t look at me mommy” and the very next second I get hugs and kisses. Some days I literally just walk from the kitchen to the couch past her and she yells at me. Should I be worried?

If you’ve never been hated by your child, you’ve never been a parent.

Bette Davis

Please, someone just tell me that I am not the only one to get that from a kid!

Sometimes I don’t know what is worse, husband letting the kids have their way all the time to keep the kids happy or the neighbours thinking they can knock on my door telling me my kids are too noisy. (I don’t live in an old age home.) It’s a vicious cycle, by doing this my husband is reinforcing the idea with the kids that they can do what they want, when they want because we will jump when they yell at us just so we can keep them quiet so as not to have knocks on the front door. The more I say f-it i don’t give 2 peters about the neighbours, the more hubby gives a tweet.

I don’t think I am the perfect parent, but I don’t want to raise a bunch of brats…

If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours.

Dolly Parton
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3 Mins Read

The Milestones

I never really write about Lexa or how she is doing, but sometimes I wonder who will tell her of all the things she got up to if I’m gone too soon.

We have all had the superbug going around. It was quite hard with all 3 of us sick at the same time. We would just sprawl out on the couches and she would destroy the house. However, she did keep little Sandton on the staright and narrow by telling him NO when he jumped on the other cats or sharpened his nails on the furniture.

International travel

I get asked quite a lot if Lexa was a pain on the plane when we went to Reunion Island. The simple answer is that she was actually a pleasant traveller. She loved looking out the window, didn’t scream once and played her little heart out.

She didn’t like to be clipped in on take-off or landing, but as soon as she was unclipped it was all good.

School

Lexa now goes to play school twice a week. It takes 5 minutes to get there and then I sit in a coffee shop for 4 hours before picking her up.

In the beginning she didn’t want to stay when I dropped her off, now she runs in. In the afternoons she jumps into my arms.

She seems quite happy when at school – I do sneak up on her to catch a glimpse. Plus the “artwork” she brings home is quite entertaining. The teacher mentioned she made a BFF – can that even happen at their age?

At home

We have huge lounge furniture and Lexa moves the 2 and 3 seater couches around. Our house is now pretty much bare due to her hulking abilities – and also because she climbs on everything to pull down anything she can get her hands on.

We do not trust silences anymore – and definitely not when she runs to her room and closes the door behind her.

Words

It speaks! Lexa understands a lot, but her own speech is still limited. She says:

  • Dud for dad
  • Tan for me
  • Tanton for Sandton
  • Kitteh for all those naughty black cats I have

She also has non-verbal communications that involve asking for my bangles and rings. It is hilarious! Her little arm goes up to eye level with her hand bend towards the ground for bangles. For rings she adds an outstretched index finger.

Lexa is quite a happy kid and hopefully she stays that way with a younger sibling on the way.

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5 things I’ve learnt after having a kid

Having Lexa has changed our lives and we’ve had to adapt to having a kid in the house. There are times when you wish you can have just 5 minutes of silence… but then you realise that she’ll be up to no good if that wish comes true!

5 things I’ve learnt as a parent

  1. Just because it is bed time…
    Our ideal may be that Lexa goes to bed at 6 and get up at 7 the next morning, but time means nothing when there is a kid involved. Sometimes no matter what you do there is no nap during the day and when that happens night time is a nightmare. Waking up at 3 in the morning to give a fresh bottle and do a diaper change should be done cat burglar quiet.
  2. Food…
    Food from your plate tastes better than the bowl of food dished from the same pots and pans as your food. Also, don’t expect to be able to eat all the food on your plate all by yourself. Also look out for the food that gets spit back onto your plate. Sometimes it’s OK to eat floor crisps if that is all you are going to get – really.
  3. New clothes…
    The most important thing is to remove the tags before you get home and hand over a bag of clothes still in the bag. That way Lexa can drag around her new clothes in a bag – sometimes she won’t remove it. Leaving on the tags will only result in clothes with holes.
  4. Handbags aren’t sacred…
    When you love handbags as much as I do you treat them like little pieces of gold, but when you have a kid that wants to carry it around, spit half chewed sweets in it… that’s when you know it is time to gift her with her very own handbag.
  5. Everybody has an opinion…
    I’m talking about dear mother in law has a little nugget to share about each and every thing you do, but she can’t even keep her own cellphone safe. Nip it in the bud, if you allow it, it will never stop. As parents we can only do our best, we don’t need the peanut gallery.

If you would like to share the things you’ve learnt as a parent, pop it into the comments section below.

Social Media…

Mom’s that think it is OK to share photos of their children online half-naked, tagged at specific locations or in school uniforms should wake up to the security risks associated with that. Did you know that if you get tagged by friends that regularly check-in at home and all that nice location data you give out on social media can be used to track you and ultimately let anyone find you (and your child)? Just saying…

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So, the kid doesn’t like beetroot…

We are attempting to feed the kid freshly-made (pureed) vegetables in all flavours – you know, a balanced diet. Sometimes we also try new tastes in bought foods from Purity.

Today the nanny tried to feed her beetroot. It was all kinds of murder and mayhem. This kid definitely doesn’t like beetroot.

Bedtime

We are trying to get the kid to sleep through the night – because we are tired of feeling like zombies. It has been working sort-of the last week…except for a few snags.

We have a baby monitor, which means any movement or scream and I’m awake. She wakes up a few times during the night and just moans and cries a bit before dozing off again. I have also caught her twice just after midnight having a big, fat jol with whatever she can bash around in her cot.

Crawling

Her crawling skills are improving little by little. If you incentivize her with a toy at the end of the “walk”, she really performs. She also realised that she can lunge the last bit to get to the end sooner.

They really grow up so fast

Babies don’t need a vacation, but I still see them at the beach… it pisses me off! I’ll go over to a little baby and say ‘What are you doing here? You haven’t worked a day in your life!’ Steven Wright

I think babies need a holiday from growing up, teething and driving us up the walls.

We didn’t go to the beach house because the 7 hour drive with 2 cats and a screaming baby sounded like a nightmare. We got the nanny in for most of the weekend, because she is teething and neither one of us are sleeping well…and well, we also need a break.

How was your long weekend?

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Zombie mom writes a baby milestone post

I haven’t slept since 3:30 this morning. My eyes are burning but here I sit writing a post drinking a Cherry Cola.

Lexa weighs a whopping 8.2kg and is just over 62cm tall – according to the paediatrician. Today she is 6 months and 2 days old.

Now imagine someone with a bad knee picking up a moving human that weighs almost 10kg!

Baby milestones reached in the past few weeks:

  • She is holding her bottle – for a few seconds at a time in the right place!
  • She is now eating vegetables and loves my homemade version. Thanks Checkers for the pre-packed veggies I only need to cook and puree.
  • She chases cats while in her walker. The cats are not impressed.
  • We had to raise the walker height (again).
  • She is attempting to get into the crawl position. She still falls over.
  • Sitting upright is still only a second or 2.
  • The biggest thing happening right now for Lexa – she is teething. She chews on everything and everyone.
  • She talks (her own special language).
  • She is social and loves to get up in your face.

We also take her out for strolls every night. At first she looked at all the trees, skies and anything that makes a sound – now she is more interested in chewing something and falling asleep along the way.

The bad parts…

When you get home after a meeting and the nanny says she pooped so much that it came out her diaper onto the bed! Sometimes it is a blessing to have a nanny because if you want to see me run… show me that.

The worst part for me about all of this – the sleep deprivation when it is my turn to do the early morning shift. Husband is back after a feeding and a diaper change in 30 minutes and I get 1.5 hours or more. I blame the fact that babies think my face is like candy that signals fun play time or something.

I’m so damn tired.

Just to let you know what happens in the dark…I have this short video on Instagram. Enjoy!

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10 things that saved the day with baby

When people said you will spend money like water when there is a kid in the mix I laughed. That laugh has been replaced with the realisation that maybe my luxuries to myself may have to be cut a little…

As all people with a diaper wearing person living with them will tell you, it is all about keeping the peace and quiet going so your cats don’t move out and you don’t go deaf. We have bought and discovered a lot of products and really big ticket items to make our lives easier.

  1. Mamaroo from 4Moms
    This thing is the best thing since sliced bread! It has put Lexa right to sleep and rocked her for hours. It replaces manual labour and saves “ye olde muscles”. Not even going to breathe the price, but it was worth every cent of husband’s money.

    View this post on Instagram

    #mamaRoo #babyproduct

    A post shared by Goddess Blog by Susann Deysel (@goddesscoza) on

  2. Doona travel system
    When you want to go on holiday but the station wagon is on loan to a person you hate (now more than ever) – and you need to transport 2 adults, 3 cats and a little person with lots of baggage in a sedan, this thing will save the day.

  3. Bennets
    Around since cavemen roamed the earth, but always a good bet. Funny story, back in 2003 I used to play webmaster for them – they have come a long way since those days.

    View this post on Instagram

    #bennetts #bennettsforbabies

    A post shared by Goddess Blog by Susann Deysel (@goddesscoza) on

  4. Telament
    No alcohol gripe water – because we read labels.

    View this post on Instagram

    #gripewater #telament

    A post shared by Goddess Blog by Susann Deysel (@goddesscoza) on

  5. Johnsons
    This stuff is magic. No tears, leaves little person smelling like a daisy and used from head to toe.

    View this post on Instagram

    #johnsonsbaby #notears

    A post shared by Goddess Blog by Susann Deysel (@goddesscoza) on

  6. Huggies – Gold
    You can say all you want about disposable diapers – but I would not survive this phase without it.
  7. UBBI
    Husband did all the research and decided metal is always better than plastic and UBBI made its way into the diaper girl’s room. That thing keeps the odours in and doesn’t absorb smells either.

    View this post on Instagram

    #ubbi #babyproduct

    A post shared by Goddess Blog by Susann Deysel (@goddesscoza) on

  8. NUK
    Glow in the dark dummies is all the rage in diaper land. Nothing gets me running for the hills more than a pie hole that makes the end of world scenario real. Being able to find a dummy when it “accidentally” gets out of her mouth is priority one.
  9. Lily & Jack bunny
    …but not for the reasons you think! The bunny is cool, really all pink and white and cute but…we use it on the Mamaroo to hold the dummy in place! I have seen Lexa pinch and move the bunny – it seems that she loves the texture 🙂
  10. Tommee Tippee bottles
    We first bough more expensive bottles but the Tommee Tippee bottles work soooo much better.

Come back next week for more secrets from diaper girl’s room.

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From Monkey to Marshmallow Human

Lexa has grown. She no longer looks like a monkey and her face has really puffed out to a human marshmallow shape. She is pulling the scale at a whopping 4.9kg…

The best part about Lexa right now…she is finally smiling. Not the smile we used to get when she was farting or having a nice poo while sitting on you. This is the real deal I find you the funniest thing in the whole wide world and you are the best thing I’ve seen all day. I think she even smiles wider when I laugh at her toothless smile.

monkey-to-marshamllow

She has her daddy wrapped around her little finger already. Whatever she does, daddy is right there.

Feeding time still sounds like a feeding frenzy of a pack of hyenas. We also figured out that Tommee Tippee bottles work the best with her. It seals better and she has less wind. Plus she seems to be lactose intolerant – so formula switch happening this week.

The one thing she has really taken a liking to is the Tiny Love mobile. I think it only has 3 tunes and it is driving my husband nuts, but the minute the music starts or it starts to turn she looks at it. The mobile has a frog, bird and a bee, you can check it out here.

She has had another immunisation this week and first paediatrician visit. I don’t like hospitals or doctors so my dear old hubby had to accompany us.

When will she see the beach for the first time? Soon, very soon. I’m actually very disappointed that she hasn’t been in the sea yet.

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