Despite

Despite the sleep thing, Wren and his sleep enablers are doing well. Last night was slightly better than other nights this past week. Wren went to sleep at 9.30 but I woke him for a "top up" at 10.30pm and he woke:

1. 2.00am
2. 3.30am
3. 4.30am
4. 6.00am
5. 7.00am morning!

This is not a great situation but its one waking up from intolerable. This morning, as I staggered out at 7am, Josh said "sounds like he slept well last night". I think I glared at him.

Wren is very fat, happy and easy going during the day. He likes to hold things and grab and loves being talked to. He sleeps easily in the car and on the move.

Today we are planning to BBQ although josh tells me our BBQ is a health hazard and we need a new one. I shall see ..... argh. I am so overwhelmed with things to do that I can't even think of multi-tasking:
laundry
clean kitchen
remove pastry from floor
put away old laundry
open mail
toys everywhere
eat food myself
put on clothes
pick up stuff everhwere
sweep messy floors
throw out old diapers
garbage out
pay bills.....

Sleep Deprived Visitation

Wren is still not sleeping (well). He believes that he should remain attached to my breast at all times like a tick. If attached he sleeps. When removed he wakes.

Meanwhile, Dad has arrived from South Africa via China, Taiwan and Thailand for a one-week visit. He tells us that the sun is out so brightly in SE Asia that he was burned through a t-shirt while swimming. I feel envious. I want to wander the beach and suffer heat.

It is wonderful to have Dad with us - he brings with him all manner of pleasures: the smell of mint toothpaste and shaving cream in the bathroom in the morning, having a tall person in the doorway (he is 6 ft 4"), having someone to share the carrying of Wren during the day and a fellow cook in the kitchen.

Last night Dad brought out recipes from his cooking class in Thailand and we made Thai fish cakes from scratch. Unfortunately, the lime tree Ingrid was trying to smuggle home to South Africa was captured in transit by the Chinese customs sniffing dogs but we managed to find some leaves for sale at Whole Foods (along with a lovely lunch from the deli bar). Frost was thrilled to be allowed to leave school early yesterday after the field trip to the arboretum where we went for a 2 hour walk with the school. Dad was impressed by the answers the kids gave to the docents questions. Zephyr was particularly observant in his responses - including explaining why we should not feed the ducks ("Then they will become lazy and not look for their normal food and it will make them sick" vs Frosts' "Its like they are eating desert all day")

Today we are going to the Burke Museum and to the thrift store. Dad has an interest in the geology collections and some cheap clothes.

Wren and Josh are a bit sick with a head cold. Frost is off to swimming at school.

7 days till Camp Orkila!!

Counting Sugar

Josh told me an interesting anecdote about sugar. Apparently, we now eat as much sugar in a week as a person living 1000 years ago ate in one year. He has been unable to provide me a reference so it may be skewed but the point is is that we eat WAY more sugar than we used to, or need.

I also read that high-fructose-corn-syryp (HFCS) is a vile stuff and that kids 6+ should have no more than 40-50g of added sugar per day. Really, 40 should be the upper limit for kids Frost's age. So, as an experiment I have been counting and limiting Frost to that amount. Here is the result for Day 1:

6g Breakfast cereal (puffins)
14g Granola bar snack for lunch
1/2 glass of ovaltine with unsweetened soy milk (5g)
7g Two cookies in lunchbox
3g 3 chocolate altoids when he came home
7g Two more cookies after school
10g Icecream desert
=52g

Denied:
Drinking Josh's soda at 45g per can
More altoids at 1g each
More ovaltine at 10g per full glass
Juice

He did eat all the other stuff (apples, strawberries, pita, hummus, some vegies, some chicken, goldfish) but think how much more hungry he could be.... [evil glint in eye]

Pediatrician update

Wren had a pediatrician visit today. They measured his leg to get a baseline. It is 1" larger on the left than the right (measured 4cm above knee). It is proportionally larger on the calf too.

He had a hemocrit check. His haemaglobin had gone up from 29.1 on April 5th to 31.8 today. That is a big improvement. We plan to give him iron rich foods when he is 6 months old. Dr Levitt suggested lamb as a good start along with vitamin C rich foods. She also likes iron fortified cereal. I am not sure whether we need to try another iron supplement - for now we are not giving him any.

She can see no sign of teeth.

On the sleep issues she feels we are doing okay if he sleeps a few "at least" 3 hour stretches at night and gets 12+ hours sleep in a day (with naps). When he reaches 6 months she suggests that we can try letting him cry a bit to get the hang of soothing himself if he hasn't improved on that count.