Darian's Dedication

This past weekend was Labour Weekend here in New Zealand. Finally a long weekend after 4 months of nothing, previous weekend was Queen's birthday weekend in June.Anyway, we also celebrated Darian's dedication on Sunday. We had him dedicated at Life Central (http://lifenz.org/) during the 11am service by Pastor Scott. He was the life of the party, kicking and smiling and talking and laughing and clapping his hands during the dedication, so much so that the camera stayed fixed on him throughout the prayer and service. And he was one of 4 kids being dedicated! Needless to say, he takes after his dad, who loves the camera! Sadly we didn't get to take pics at church but Lenny did take a video. But once we got home we managed to take a few shots here & there. We had a few people home for lunch after. Lenny & Premika with Kajal, Cherie & Peter, Joash & Betty all came home for lunch however uncle Mogie, Aunty Poobie and Nesh couldn't make it for lunch as well as Evelyn, Api & Zivah. Although they all attended the service. Here's some pics taken: His dedication certificate

His Bible

Lenny, Darian & Joash

Daddy & Darian

Play time

Family Pics

Darian with Betty

It was a wonderful day and went off without a hitch so I am very happy & very proud of my boy!

Darian's first day at Daycare

Well this dreaded day has arrived. Today Darian started his first day at First Steps Parnell (http://www.kidicorp.co.nz/Home.aspx) and I have to say that this is the HARDEST thing I've ever had to do. We spent most of yesterday getting him organised, we went and bought him new clothes and whatever else we needed for him to get him ready for day care. And last night I got his bag packed, got all his bottles, formula and whatever else he needed together. And tried hard to get my head & heart in line cos they were both feeling and saying different things. In my head I know that he is going to be fine, I know that he will adapt & this is the best thing for him but my heart says he is my baby, a little boy who will think mum's abandoned him and left him with these strangers. Everytime I think of that my eyes well up! This is so unfair! Can't we fast forward to a week from now when he's used to this and in a routine and we're both ok with this arrangement? I know Darian is an adaptable & resilient boy and I'm sure he will excel and develop in leaps & bounds being in day care and his teahcers are amazing. They are so good with babies, and watching them with him assures me that he is in good hands, I guess it's only natural to feel this way. This morning he woke up at about 6.30am and I got him all ready and changed for the day ahead. Mum then took him to give him breakfast while Cam & I got ready. We then hit the road by 7.40am. He was good in the car until we got into traffic, the minute the car slowed down he got all grizzly. I managed to give him his dummy and he settled down. But then he started playing and "talking" to his toys and the dummy fell out of his mouth and out of his reach. He was unable to get it and I was unable to reach it so he cried for the last 5 minutes of the drive, although it seemed like an hour. There is nothing worse than not being able to comfort your baby. Eventually we got there and when we walked in he was all smiles and his usual self. He started playing with the toys and they had a book open on the floor which he darted for and wanted to play with. His teacher took him and played with him and he was fine, so I thought that would be the perfect time to leave. I gave her a run down of his routine, gave her his formula and nappies and bag, etc and started to leave. At that moment, he started to cry, for no reason! He went from happy-go-lucky to "snot-en-trane" (Afrikaans for snot & tears). I told her that he may be tired and want to sleep as it was his morning nap time, so she should try giving him his bottle and if that doesn't work his dummy. He settled down once he saw her grab his bottle so I thought before I start crying I better leave. I have never walked out of anywhere faster in all my life. I didn't want to look anyone in the eye and I didn't want to talk to anyone for fear of bursting into tears. I got into the car and broke down! I cried all the way to work and called Cameron in tears. I had to then call mum cos she gave me strict instruction to call once I was at work to give her a run down of the morning's events, but that didn't help either. Friends of our's, Dan & Emma Trotman have their son, Alex at the same day care. When we got in Alex was there already so it was a bit of a relief knowing that people we know trust the caregivers and teachers there. And Emma, knowing it was Darian's first day, contacted me to give me some more assurance that he would be fine. All in all, I know (in my head) that this is not doing him any harm but will only help him in his development and social skills but as a mum, this is tearing my heart in two. I just want to be there with him so he knows it's ok and mummy still loves him. Here are some pics of his first day... I picked him up at about 5pm that afternoon and he was all smiles and having a jolly old time. (I called about 3 times during the day and it took every ounce of self-control to not run to the day care at lunch time just to check up on him.) The reports were exceptional, one of the centre supervisors (Stephanie) could only tell me good things. She was amazed at how happy & smiley he is and how he adapted so quickly. One of his teachers (Mai-Lin) told me that he was very good except at nap time, she said she battled but he eventually went down for a nap in the morning and after lunch but hadn't had his afternoon nap. Needless to say, by the time we got into the car he was fast asleep and slept all the way home. When we got home he was his usual happy self so I know for a fact that he is well taken care of and happy at day care. Such a relief to know my boy is doing so good. Speaking to his teachers, I hear he had an amazing day

The Week that was

And what a week it's been.I was looking forward to a queit, relaxing week as it was school holidays so I knew traffic would be minimal and the office would be queit with all the parents of school-going kids away. Perfect time to get things done that I wouldn't necessarily have the time to do in between meetings and deadlines. The week started off fine, quiet but good. But on Wednesday it all changed. I woke up and it was just a normal morning until I got out the shower. Getting ready I bent down and felt the sharpest pain down my neck & into my right shoulder. I screamed in agony and when Cameron turned round to ask waht was wrong I couldn't look him in the eye, I could barely move. I don't know what I did or how I did it but my back had cuaght and I was in agony. Cameron helped me onto the bed and tried to rub my back and ease the pain at least but with him just touching me and moving me I was in tears. I still tried to get dressed and get to work cos I knew I couldn't miss it as it was month end and everyone knows that's the busiest time in any business. But no sooner had I got dressed I realised I was in shape to drive, I couldn't even lift my arms to brush my hair or put on make-up. My mum had to help me undress and get into bed too so it was just never gonna happen! Anyway, I spent the rest of the morning in bed and tried to sleep so that I could at least escape from the pain but when I woke up it felt worse. My neck & shoulders had tensed up so bad I couldn't turn my head in any direction and couldn't look down. Darian kept stretching out for me to pick him up and would look at me with a huge smile to say, mum let's play, but I couldn't. My heart broke cos he wouldn't take his eyes off me and I knew he was wondering what was going on. That afternoon when Cameron got home he took me to the osteopath and he was literally shocked at the state of me. He told me that he could see this had been buidling up for ages and that it was all a combination of the nature of work I do (sitting at a computer all day) and the effects of having a new baby. The constant lifting and carrying, the breastfeeding, broken sleep, etc. He managed to realign my spine but when he got into my neck I couldn't bear the pain any further. After a 45 minute consultation I felt somewhat better but not anywhere near 100%. Thankfully mum was here to take care of Darian and cook dinner, etc and Cameron took over at nights to wake up for Darain's feeds and changes. I really felt hopeless and helpless. Thursday morning I decided I had to go into the office but only lasted til lunchtime and then headed off. One of the wonderful women I work with, Ricki, saw me and instantly knew what was going on. She had had issues with her neck & shoulders after she had her little girl a year ago and instantly called her husband to get him to bring her neck brace and hot packs, etc to help me. Friday I didn't go to work either but stayed home and tried to relax. By Saturday I was at least able to hold Darian but couldn't pick him up or carry him around. My neck had some movement but I was still very uncomfortbale. By Sunday I still had limited movement but the pain subsided condiserably. I was able to carry Darian around, change his nappy and pick him up when he reached out for me. I'm back at work now and worked a full day all Monday & Tuesday and although I am still very uncomfortable I am moving freely. I'm hoping I get this sorted soon. Although I had been going to an acupunturist since Darian was born I feel it's not doing much good if I'm getting this immobilising pain so will try the osteopath for now. Although my husband says all I need is a good massage! Hope I get one of those too...

And through all this, Darian is still the ray of sunshine he has always been and knows exactly how to get mummy to smile!