Daycare

So, Rachel had her first 1.5 hours at daycare yesterday. We've gone with ABC Newtown, mainly because they had a place available, but I also had a good vibe in there. I've looked at a few around town and they do seem similar in terms of facilities etc, I don't know, it's something intangible. So anyway, yesterday she had a 1.5 hour orientation. I left her there looking happy and I came back a wee while later and she was still looking happy. Monkey. I called her from the door and she was so busy looking at stuff she didn't bother turning around.

Not sure if all the excitement stimulated her too much but she missed her third sleep and then had a dreadful sleep last night. Oh well. She's a cute monkey.

Mother's Day

My first mother's day as a mother went thus - Rachel woke at 7, and as is our wont on Sundays, she came into bed with us for a feed and a snuggle. I noticed she had some blood in her ear. So, an inspection followed. She didn't seem upset, so we weren't too worried, but then, she wasn't upset particularly when she was throwing up for hours straight after her experience with formula. So we called that 24-hour helpline who asked a few questions, agreed with us that it was a bit odd and sent us off to a GP clinic thing. I went into Rachel's room to discover a bunch of flowers and a card in her cot. Clever girl!! Luckily, and somewhat amazingly, there weren't many people waiting for the one GP on duty when we arrived. And only one of those few people seemed to be ill. Anyway. I digress. In we went, Rachel had yet another visit with a doctor who described her as particularly alert, a sticky beak etc etc (do they just say this stuff to make mothers happy?), and when he stuck that light thing in her ear, he straight away said "she's just scratched herself" which was the same conclusion we'd already reached. Nice.

After that we came home for her long morning snooze, and then went out for lunch. Simon discovered he should have booked... Apparently Rachel should have thought of that. 9_9 So we wound up at Groove Train, a huge soulless place with alright food. I had a glass of sparkling rose and a half-decent risotto. Then it was off for a wonder around the shops of central Geelong. Simon got himself a nice new jacket, Rachel got a nice little outfit for wearing at the farm (don't know why it is for the farm in particular, but Simon and I agreed on the spot it would be ideal), and we spent a little time wandering the aisles of an increasingly-empty Borders. Simon got some books. Rachel got some sleep. We had a nice coffee and then came home for me to put Rachel to bed and Simon to have a run. All in all, a pretty typical day.

Today, Simon is at home with his work team, putting in the new veranda boards. It's noisy! But a good job to get going.

Milk allergy

Our little monkey apparently has a milk allergy. Well, intolerance, whatever. She breaks out in a rash. Anyway, the story goes thus:

1. the monkey had a bout of laryngitis;
2. we were on the move a lot - down to the farm, holiday in Anglesea and then Lorne and then Ballarat, plus her immunisations in there somewhere;
3. she lost a bit of weight;
4. everyone kept saying how little she was; and then
5. we gave her a bottle of formula.

Well. Three hours later the vomit started. And didn't stop until all she could get out was dribble. I sat up with her all night. Poor little monkey. She was still cheery though.

24-36 hours later the rash came up. And it's a really weird rash. Kind of hard, like her entire body had gone bumpy. Started on her face and then moved down her body. We were in Ballarat so took her to one of those super clinics and waited to see a GP. He had some kind of weird eye issue going on, like a really bad rash himself so I wasn't keen on having him touch our little monkey. Anyway, he said it was likely to be the milk.

The itching began. Rachel has always had fantastic little nails, needing trimming daily. So they were perfect for her to attempt to peel her own skin off. Then we discovered Farex has milk in it, so had to remove that from her diet. A trip back to our own regular GP clinic provided us with a tube of cortisone.

And eventually the rash dissipated. It's still there a bit, under her chin, where the constant dribble out of her mouth seems to keep things nice and damp.

Blogging

You know, this is the second blog I've started and not really had the momentum to keep on with. For someone who loves a chat that's a bit odd.

I really must endeavour to get my act together. So much to do...