Friends, love and beach magic!

Well it finally warmed up--and oh, it got HOT fast!! Of course my friends in the States will think I am nuts for being so bothered by the weather here but it feels deadly when you get used to most of the year being so ...brisk... as it is in this little town. I don't know why Padstow seems to have such a unique weather climate to the rest of Cornwall, but aside from living in a kind of crummy neighbourhood, I absolutely do love it here.

Lilla Osrid Olov has made some very dear friends shortly after my last post and me too. There is a woman a few houses down who I have long wished to speak with, always friendly and trying to chat with me, but I am so shy and awkward that I never knew what to say in return. All of this time. I felt so sad, I thought surely she must have believed I hated her as she had stopped saying so much. She must think I am such a snob, I thought! Well, one day I was playing with little O.O. in the park and one of her sons came out and brought a big car out for him to ride in-I don't know why, but it was so sweet, and then he ran back inside.

From then on I started talking to her, and I sort of blurted out something along the lines of how sorry I was that I was so awkward, I had always wanted to be her friend and say hello but I have aspergers and have no idea what to say to folks, and and and and I ..and she gave me a big hug and we have been the great friends ever since! :) Her sons are 6 and 9, so they are a bit older than Osrid Olov, but they love him to bits and they come running out to play with him when they see him and vice versa. We take long walks to the park or here or there or visit and play for hours, they are all so much fun. The boys really understand that O.O. needs gentleness and understanding and are so compassionate towards him, and he makes them laugh with his sweet little dances. There are not many people after all who will dance in joy every time you do something that makes them happy-but, my little boy!

About 2 weeks ago, Osrid Olov told me that he LOVES me! I know this, of course and he has hummed it before (he is good at humming out words he wants to say, hee hee) but hearing him able to verbalise it was incredible. He said "I love you Daddy" to Paul the night before too. Ohhh!!! He has been blowing us kisses all the time too. What a LOVE this boy is. Oh my life.

We had a lovely evening not long after that I still remember because it felt very magical. We had taken a walk and, via a new and very funny little friend, spending a couple of hours playing by the beach along the Camel trail as the sun went down with this lovely Muscovite family on a long holiday through Britain. Their 4 year old boy kept taking my hand and bringing me up upon the rocks to show me snails, and he ran around in big circles with O.O. making huge happy screams. They also had a younger toddler but he was cuddled into his mama. Their Dad was an international businessman and had been many places that I had lived. The 4yo boy could not speak very much English (not that O.O. can either really ;)) so when he wanted O.O.s attention he just screamed with his tremendous voice that happiest of screams. They were just adorable.  I found a huge, perfect seashell dried on the beach and imparted it to audible Pasha to remember us by. Little Osrid Olov fell asleep in the Ergo as I walked home in a warm misty rain-it was wonderful.

We have had some great warm summer nights together with our friends down the road now. It is so nice to have someone close that is awake and open to the world, it seems that far too few people are these days.

Today, we went with O.O.'s grandparents (my in laws-but unfortunately Paul was at work all day, boo) to the beach after grandad installed a brand new curtain upstairs to block out that infernal ball of yucky hot light from shining on us in our sleep. Osrid Olov wasn't feeling quite so great as he had had an accidental allergen exposure the night before and was just cuddled up in my arms the whole time-not that I minded that one bit if I am honest, I just wish he had been feeling more secure because I know how much he enjoys the sand beneath his feet normally. He did have a lot of fun though because he got to go in the ocean for the first time with me. He thought the waves splashing up against us were just as funny as could be and we were laughing, it was lovely. He got cold after not so long, but cheered up after nursing in the sand :) His nan wrote his name on the beach with a x and he loved it, he said "O.O.!" "O.O.!" "O.O.!" as I spelled out the letters "O-S-R-I-D  O-L-O-V, walking through the letters. OSRID OLOV! He loves the sound of his name, just loves it. His face lights up as I spell out OSRID OLOV! What a great idea, grandma! On the way home we talked about how soon his third birthday is creeping up on us and he kept saying "three three three" "three three three" "three three three" in a funny little hummy way, three times in this rhythm. It was so cute. We climbed into a lovely mag sulph. bath when we got home...oh, oh oh the mmmiiinnneraaalllsssss. MINERALS! Miineralllss. MMmMMmmMMmmmm.

Ergh. Spring..

Two and a half...
2 1/2...
2.5...
Two.
and.
a.
half...
PLUS
a month...

ALREADY!

Last night-as I often do-I lay awake, adorning my fondest friend, most precious creation, handsomest aquaintance, the strongest predilection I have ever known with a loving gaze, it struck me that my son is only five months away from being three years old. It feels like it is going so quickly and it kind of scares me, because I am desperate to pause it all. I don't want much of anything in the world to move. Time, an imaginary manmade concept to which I am blind, petrifies me. It is not that I do not believe I will enjoy my son as an adult, because I know without any shadow of a doubt that I will. It is simply that I love him so much as he is right now. I love to nurse him. I love that his little body somehow keeps me warm at night while we sleep. I love the single lengthy, tightly wound curl that grows at the back of his wispy strawberry hairs. I love that we fit into the bathtub together and I love putting the socks on his feet. I love the little dimple-dent creases that are always on his legs, even with how slender he is. I love how excited it makes him to have his favouritest-ever shirt clean & dry. I love scooping him up to bring him up the stairs at night and I just love being needed and wanted so much and I love him so much just the way that he is. I wonder sometimes if I am the only silly person whose heart breaks as often as it does shine, because of how severely they love.

Osrid Olov has met his grandfather-my father-for the very first time! Of course, right before my Dad got here, irony of ironies...he began to really start to cut his..-dun-dun-dun, MOLARS. Yowch. It was a bittersweet time in that sense, because O.O. was having a really hard time and staying up so late that I got only but few hours with Dad in the days he was here. We went for some long drives, and had some much needed, soul-feeding talks though and on Paul's birthday we went to Looe for the first time since we moved. We took a long walk around and then got Sam & James to come over with their beautiful little girl to Paul's folks house too to celebrate and O.O. and her got along really well which was incredibly cool, especially because he doesn't really interact with other kids at all. Both of them got very upset when all of the cake was eaten, though. Understandably...I do make a pretty good cake ;) It was very hard to see my Dad go, as I had not seen him in 4 years, but that evening he just started having such a hard time anyway and it showed me how much he needed my full attention.
                              

O.O. has regressed in his speech development. Paul believes it might be related to dentition(molars). I am not entirely sure, but it is sad to me that he struggles so much with verbal communication-he is back to only saying a few words now. He is getting better and better with nonverbal communication though; and is starting to draw recognisable pictures. I can see faces in his drawings, even, which is incredible to me. I asked whose face one was and he said it was Daddy, which was so very sweet! He is also making a lot of different humming noises and gestures to indicate different things when he needs them. It is a language all in its own and the more I memorise, the easier things do get...

Though, some things have been very very hard recently. The teething pain is driving him very crazy, I think-he doesn't quite seem himself the last couple of days. Recently, he developed a new allergy, on a more serious note-it came on so unbelievably quick. It happened as out-of-the-blue as him, and then eventually me, becoming allergic to capsaicin/chillies. He reacted twice in a row, very very severely, to things with cocoa in them. Not chocolate. Please, anything but that! Sigh. Oddly, I reacted too, but in a much smaller way (my atopic exema flaring, tiredness)-his was shortness of breath, a humongous bright red rash through the entire body with bumps and crying, shivering/fever. Both times. It is so sad that this is happening, especially since I have been working so hard to heal our guts and avoid environmental toxins, ect etera. It makes me scared of what other things could develop. I hate living life without being able to eat at restaurants or grab things at stores I'm unfamiliar with, ect. But this is what it costs to be well. There is no other choice.

It is finally spring weather here in Padstow. Which is disgusting and I wish it would go back to being winter. I do not like the sun, or outdoor warmth, or any such hoopajoo. That is all.
                         

Solids?

I have been recently getting worried for Osrid Olov, for largely no reason...he is 13 months old as of tomorrow and does not have ANY interest in solid foods whatsoever! He is exclusively breastfed.

We follow child-led solids, which is now even recommended by most health professionals around the world as children being spoon fed prematurely can lead to digestive troubles, eating disorders, food allergies and several other health issues. However; mostly they recommend that a child will start to eat of their own accord around 6 months. Osrid is far past this! I took him to a doctor (even though I am usually not into western medicine) at 8 1/2 months for some oral pains he was suffering, and she was not concerned that he had not started solid foods-it is apparently very common for breastfed babes. I still thought; maybe there is something I should be worried about.

I feel reassured now; because I have talked to some Mum friends of mine who have had children not start eating until around 2, 3 years old, and one mother even told me that her son did not eat a bite of food until he was 5 1/2 years old! She told me that her doctor said he would be perfectly fine if he did not eat even into adulthood, because he was growing and developing perfectly well otherwise.

...Well, I can say the same for O.O.! He is very healthy, very happy, he weighs over 20 lbs, is a powerhouse of energy. So all I need to do really is just continue what we are doing: engaging him in meal times, offering him mini meals (a bite sized amount or two) that are the same as our own ect (I offered him, for instance, some dates yesterday and some organic rye bread today-both of which he threw on the floor!)...and he will eat, when he is ready! If he is not eating, his digestive system is probably unprepared for solid food. I do not want to give him food allergies, bowel disorders, immune system failures and who knows what else by pushing, pressuring or forcing him to eat. I trust that he knows his body and what it needs, and until the time comes, I am providing him with EVERYTHING that he needs (and hey, he's keeping me healthy too for "extended" breastfeeding wards off cancer and other disease). He is healthy as a horse, the only illness he has ever had was a very minor bout of dhiarrhoea (knock on wood) and he recovered quickly.

What I need to do though; is wear a thick skin-the criticism of others is already starting, and it will get much worse as he is older (if he does not wean that is). I need to shrug it off-I'm doing what's best for my little guy by meeting HIS needs, whatever they may be :)

On a side note I am so proud of him; he blew air for the first time yesterday. The reason this is important is because he has been trying for a very long time but keeps trying through closed lips and makes very funny sounds :) For some reason, he finds it very funny when we blow at his face, cracks up into giggles (maybe it tickles him?) and he can finally do it back.

He is walking like a champ too, and runs very well, but still isn't seeming to want to walk outside-but, it will come.

He is such a very good boy, we get so many compliments for what a sweet young man he is. I am soooo lucky for he rarely ever gets upset in public (when he does get in the slightest way upset though, I pick him up and take him home...no need to let it elevate to tantrums when I have all the time in the world to go back when he's feeling better and do other things), smiles sweetly at others, and is just such an angel. I am such a proud mother.

2 1/2 New Friends :) (or should I say 6?!)

I haven't posted in a couple of days!

Sunday was a nice day spent lazing around at home-well, somewhat-Osrid Olov wasn't lazing-when is he ever? He was playing and chattering and standing as always. He was LOVING his Danish computer games that we play at www.emu.dk and didn't want to do anything else for ages, which made me very happy. I love that he is so interested in it too. Pottying went well-we got another 4 tinkles, no plops though.

Yesterday was so lovely...what fun we had! Osrid had a shower and got to play his Dansk lessons and we went out in the afternoon to visit our lovely friends Mr. & Mrs. Sands which have just now moved over to the West side of town, which is wonderful as we can walk to their house in about 15 minutes. We saw some BEAUTIFUL spiders on the walk over! One was almost as big as my fist, I have never seen one so big in Cornwall before. I don't know what type she was but fortunately I managed to snap a photo(above) there was also a very cute little one adjacent to it that I had to photograph, too.

We were really glad to get to go and visit James and Sam especially as they have announced a couple of weeks ago that they are pregnant!!! Which means Osrid will have a new friend along shortly. It made us SO happy to have someone nearby to talk to about parenting and kid stuff and them too. This was Osrid's first time meeting them; he just loves them, and I am just elated that they share our views on gentle parenting. I worry when I have friends who get pregnant that they will be the type of parents who religiously follow the advice from the likes of Gina Ford & Tizzie Hall and leave them to cry & scream themselves to sleep until they are internally silenced. I have lost friends over some of my extreme views but despite that I respect people handling things differently I could never condone the sad and blatant neglectfulness that the majority of the western world seems to practice these days-which just makes me so feel so warm and fuzzy when I meet other people who are actually truly happy to have their children. A huge congratulations to James & Sam!

Paul went to see the doc & tell her we are not seeing Osrid's HV (nasty wench...) anymore. She was fine with that but was insistent we wean Osrid...this is the 3rd time I've heard a health professional mention weaning at a year or earlier, it doesn't surprise me the breastfeeding rates are so low in this country with such unsupportive doctors and "health" visitors. It must be illegal to give that kind of advice since it goes against World Health Organisation recommendations!! It seems insane...thankfully I know better than to listen. She wants to see O. but, unless he breaks a leg or something *touches wood* we don't plan on it. I'm glad Paul sees eye to eye with me with pretty much everything regarding our little one. I am so lucky. <3

We also had a nice little walk on the quay-I always love looking at the sailboats on the sea side, but I can't help that they make me nostalgic missing my dear old Dad. Heck.

We didn't get to bed until midnight which has been very late considering we've been falling asleep at dusk recently (strange, right-but we fall asleep whenever Osrid happens to.) This morning we got 2 tinkles on the potty so far, yesterday we only managed to get 3 for the whole day but that was probably because we were out. He also made a bit of a pooey gooey mess, augh, the joys of being a parent (Paul is at a seminar)...so it was shower time for BOTH of us again...my goodness. I am so tired, but I really do have the cutest time eater in all the land. Oh, and we have another spider that Paul found crawling across the floor of the bathroom this morning- she appears to be carrying a little egg sac of her own!! Aww!