My other baby - the furry one!

Texas is a Maine Coon - the largest domestic cat breed. Keith and I couldn't agree on a dog breed so we just got the biggest cat you could get. And she lives up to her label of 'bird dog'. She waits at the gate for us and is very much a 'lap' cat. No ice queen this one - she is in my face ALL the time - except when she's hunting anything that moves in our small garden or curled up somewhere cozy.

Nervous Ninnies

My DH has a nail-biting habit that is driving me NUTS. Only nervous ninnies bite their fingers, not professional business men in smart suits. I made him promise (which isn't fair of me) to stop this habit by the time David was born... Okay, maybe I'm manipulative but I was hoping that this would be an incentive you see. He's been chewing them for years and it's been getting progressively worse. I don't want D to learn how to chew his nails from his father. You may think this is minor, and it is. But you have never seen such shocking nail bitten fingers as DH's. Only half the nail manages to grow and it looks terrible. He looks so handsome in his suit and tie, lovely cuff links, and then you look at his hands!! Oh dear - help. What to do?
So obviously with new baby, fatigue, me being grumpy (maybe the baby blues?) I just don't feel much affection toward him, and the nail-biting just erases any nice thoughts I might have had. So I booked him in for an appointment with a nail technician tomorrow to have fake nails put on. He's agreed to it, but I think he's going to bite through the R500 of fake nails... and curse me as he's going to be in having them put on in the reception where he could be seen!
(Just in case you think I'm cruel - I did not plan that part, this is where the techie works, at least it is very early on a Sat am and most of the world is not up and about)

Is it okay for a 6 week old to rule your life?

So I think we had it waxed with the feeding routines - morning, mid-morning, lunch, mid-afternoon, dinner and late night feeds, then a bit of sleep and if I'm up once or twice in the night I didn't bother. Then I started to get irritated with the 6 to 10pm crying time when D wouldn't go down without being held, and then he'd cry the minute you put him in his cot. After this an unexpected and nasty 3 hourly routine between feeds AT NIGHT started to creep in and I decided to squash this habit as I was getting used to my sleep.
It's the SLEEP patterns that I need help with. So I consulted some books and friend's advice and took some of each but decided the strict Gina Ford (don't shoot me) routine suited me perfectly. I want to know when to do what when I'm too tired to think. What's the fuss all about -the woman is marvelous - she even tells you when to eat your toast! So yesterday was our first GF day. If I tell you that I only got up ONCE in the night you will say it was successful. But this was my reward for putting up with him from 7 to 10 when he wouldn't go down and feeding him every 30 minutes. THAT is exhausting. And today is completely wonky and he didn't want to wake-up when he was meant to, or feed at the right times. I feel like I'm back to square one. What do I do? A: Keep at the GF routine for a week to see if we get it right. B: Toss the routine, follow the babies cues C: Toss the baby out the window

Vaccines - a necessary evil?

I sat on the fence for a while on this. Most people I trust do vaccinate their babies - very few don't. Do I go with the flow? The nurse said to me - there are 2 facts about living in South Africa and that is 1: You may be a victim of crime and 2: You vaccinate your children.
We live in Africa, and polio and TB are very real. In the states, there is no requirement for TB vacs. Actually I know of two cases of polio and TB, and one of these was in my family. Polio is a horrible disease, and I would hate for David to contract any disease that I could have vaccinated against.
Now when I take him out - especially to public places I'm very pleased he's safe from some of the nasties floating around.
I have not read widely about v's, but I am scared/interested/want to know more about the link (if any) btn v's and cancer and other diseases.
Just when I decide I'll do all the v's for childhood illnesses, I read a pamphlet on it and guess who sponsors the pamphlet - yes, you guessed, the pharmaceutical company. Makes you wonder?