Flipper (my 2 month old) developed a bit of a congested nose over the weekend. Since he was due for his 8 week shots this Friday and in fact Skippy developed a hacking cough, I decided to move up the appointment to Monday and we locked and loaded and head out to see my darling, wonderful and insanely good looking paediatrician, Dr B.  I always *love* going to see him. It’s a bit of a contradiction, since one of my kids is always sick when I go and see him, but I always coming away feeling good, confident, reassured and happy.  The reasons for this are simple, he *always* notices if I’ve done something with my hair (I decided to go brunette this weekend by the way!), he even notices if I’ve just had hi-lights which is something my hubby only notices when he gets the bill! (hah!)  Dr B is patient, kind and helpful, and Skippy has always loved him, and only ever gets upset if there’s a shot involved, and it’s usually over so quickly that he’s over it quickly.    

Then there’s the fact that he’s got 3 kids of his own who are now all in their twenties already, so I can really take his advice to heart -because hey – he’s done this at least once more than me!  Then there are the little parenting tips (aside from all the medical stuff) that are *so* useful!  This time, I asked him what to do about Skippy’s new habitual wakings (which have coincided with the arrival of Flipper), and which are driving my husband and I NUTS.  Just when you’ve gotten Flipper back to sleep…then suddenly 2.5yr old Skippy starts having a wailing nightmare, or wants ‘juice’ or a ‘bottle’, or starts crying because he’s afraid of the dark/wants to come to our bed/thinks his curtains are ‘naughty’.  Dr B’s advice was really simple. He asked if we have any pets that we trust…I was like, “Um, yeah, uh..why?”  and he said to not tell Skippy that there was ‘nothing to be afraid of’ because it doesn’t work, but simply to put the dogs basket in Skippy’s room between him and the ‘naughty curtains’ and tell him that the dogs are there to watch over him. That way he knows we take his fears seriously, and secondly he has not just one but TWO personal bodyguards.  The verdict? Dr B is a f*cking genius. Two nights on, and Skippy has made it through the night like he always used to, and now only consents to stumble into our room bleary eyed around 7am when it’s time to get up.  Every morning the dogs basket is replaced in the kitchen, and each night he asks for us to, “Poot Daws in muh bear-room peez.”  The cute thing is that the dogs take their role very seriously and even *they* have been less annoying than usual (they used to wake us to let them out to ‘go’ at least twice. The past two nights they only come out of his room when he gets up, although the door is open all night.

So there I was a few days ago, scolding my labrador for going into Skippy’s room (okay she pushed it by lying on the bed), and now she’s required to be there all night.

So Flipper had his first round of shots as well, he did pretty well given that he was already congested, and he only developed a very low fever as a result of the shots which was gone after 3ml of Calpol, ne’er to return. He’s also gained more than enough weight since birth, so they’re now both looking good to go!

As for the ‘More Widgets’ part of this post, take a look at my sidebar, I’ve added another painting to the auction, and just below that, is my new Zazzle flash bar. It displays posters that I have for sale in their market place. For now I’ve just added equestrian stuff since those are my best sellers, but I’ll be adding other more landscapey, scenery based stuff soon.  I of course welcome any feedback that you wish to give!

Remember I also have stuff for sale at redbubble. There’s loads of very cool stuff available there from other photographers and artists too, it’s well worth a looksee.

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• The Days have Gone Down in the West