Shots dilemma, over, if not solved........

Ok, so after flopping back and forth like a panicked fish in a bucket. I decided to try the Calpol (Just this once). I just couldn't face that look of betrayal again and the amount of positive feedback from forums and other mums doubled my resolve.

So into the pharmacy I head and as the assistant handed over the bottle wrapped neatly in a brown paper back I felt like I was doing something totally unsavoury and wantonly putting the Pig at risk. But I was committed at that stage and poured the pink sticky liquid into her mouth. Typically a drop spilt and stained her dress, it bright colour acting as a taunting reminder of my actions.

To cut a long story short - Calpol works, she hardly let a peep out of her and my raw nerves are tamed. No emancipation papers have been delivered to the house and my Pink Pig still likes me.
Now, all I have to do is wait a couple of years to see if I've inflicted a lifetime of itchy skin and inhalers.......

Russian Roulette here we go..................................................

Pig gets her shots today - Calpol--safety dilemma

I woke up this morning in a sweat, the day I'd been dreading for weeks. I hadn't told Pink Pig whats in store for her, I can tell you she wouldn't approve.

Its time for her 4 month vaccinations. The last set of shots she got had her mad at me for hours, she howled like Cerberus at the gates of hell. whilst pitifully staring up at me questioning why was I using her like my own home made pin cushion.  Whatever about her I'm not going through that again, I think I'd have emancipation papers filed to me by the time we get home.

So I've being doing some research. and Calpol appears to be the instrument of choice for mothers. Wanting to be sure its safe for such a young baby I did a bit of research and found that there have been studies to show a significant increases in the number of cases of asthma AND eczema in babies who've been given Calpol. I don't want her to have any of those! At the same time I don't want to feel the stings of the needles so bad, the betrayal in her eyes would be too much to bear!

What to do, what to do!

Changing from breast to bottle - not to the Pigs liking

After almost four months of feeding her myself, I have to start weaning Pink Pig so she'll be more independent for when I go back to work. This is not going well at all. I want to wean her but she has other ideas.

If you were walking past my home when I'm attempting to feed her you would be forgiven for thinking that I was torturing the child. The mere sight of a bottle and all hell breaks loose. She a Pig who knows her mind. projectile milk, teary eyes, wailing like a banshee; I'm nearly crying as much as her, is it this tough for everyone? The websites make it out to be child's play, unless the child is into small animal torture I can't see how they are making it out to be so easy. 

So far I've tried coaxing, singing, rocking. I've tried holding her close, when she hungry when she's not. I've also tried both Tommie Tippie bottles and a Nuk one with a latex tip. Nothing seems to be making any head way at all.
If anyone out there has any suggestions please let me know, Pink Piggy's Mum needs you! 

When Pink Pig met Yellow Duck

When I was pregnant I swore that I would do the best I could for The Pink Pig and entertain her growing mind with wholesome things like books and crayons, speaking to her in adult words rather than baby babble, teaching her numbers, maths and music.

Oh, the naivety, how quickly a few weeks of no sleep can rectify that frivolous mind set and self preservation kicks in.

After whats seemed like days of trying to entertain the Pig, making stuffed toys speak in high pitched voices, pacing the kitchen, reading every colorful book in the house and several games of peek-a-boo, my pink pig was still showing disdain for my efforts. I finally in desperation eye up the neat pile of noisy toys given as presents, the ones I'd been avoiding so diligently since they were handed to me by well meaning visitors.
I thought, sure just one won't hurt and picked out a small innocuous looking blue and yellow toy..........  


 And this is how Pig met Duck:

Sitting propped up in my lap, I placed Duck in front of said distraught Pig and pressed the big yellow star on its belly. Instantly the red faced teary pig transformed into a cooing, chirping, smiling angel eyed darling, reaching out her chubby hands to the set of flashing lights, her eyes wide taking in this fantastic beast. Little did I know at the time that duck only had five different sayings and since Pig is only learning to hold things, I would be employed as chief button presser for this new relationship.

Now I understand how brainwashing was so successful and I also know without a shadow of a doubt that duck, is in fact a duck and that he is my best friend and Yankee Doodle is now the perpetual tune in head.

The two are now inseparable and I think I am going to have a little cry......

The Frown that makes me pity future boyfriends

I had to bring her out in the rain with me yesterday to get a few things. People tend not to approve of leaving children at home unattended or in the car with the windows up. So, I threw on her rain coat strapped her into her car seat. This didn't go down to well as the rain coat is so padded impinges on one of her favorite activities that is putting her hands in her mouth and the car seat straps further adds to the fist in the mouth dilemma.
When I got to the shopping center I had to get a USB stick in the electrical store so in my best time saving efforts I carried her in car seat and all and dumped her on the ground beside me so I could talk to the assistant. I've always noticed that people tend to go out of their way to coo and babble and comment on how cute babies are, it seems to be built in genetically to us. But no, not my pink pig, she is in such bad form from being discommoded from her play mat, refused access to her hands and then landed on the floor of a shop that all she can do is frown. Her frown unfortunately is not like any I've ever seen before on any child. It is really heavy and means business very Damien Omenesque , if she wasn't my child I would have backed away slowly and never turning my back to her, which coincidentally, is exactly what the assistant did.

It's not often she uses it but the best way I can describe it is, its like Maggie's baby nemesis frown off the Simpson's.

Another example of Pink Pigs super evil stare was a few weeks ago on a trip to Scotland we stopped into a restaurant  for some lunch. As I went up to pay the bill the waitress at the counter looked over and started to say something about such a cute baby when.......... the frown came out. The poor woman trailed off half way through her sentence, took my money and we promptly left.

The Pink Piggy found her feet today

I never appreciated how cool feet were until the Pink Pig spent most of the afternoon finding them and loosing them again. Watching her bringing them up high to her face, delighted at this new finding getting close to her mouth, with all the excitement of these new found feet she'd straighten them out and they'd disappear on her only to appear again a few minutes later and the whole routine would start again.

The Pink Pig is a fantastic little creature, at 16 weeks she's headstrong, noisy, snores, is very wriggly and is always found to be at her sunniest t form in the wee hours of the morning. It's like shes knows when you're at your most vulnerable and just when you're in the brink of throwing both her and yourself out the window she produces the most fantastic gummy smile usually supported by the cutest gurgle and despite everything you find yourself grinning right back at this ethereal little cherub and suddenly all those gray hairs are forgiven.

This blog will be the story of my little pink pig and what I'm going to have to do to get her through her first years alive and prepare here for the big wide world out there.