Babies born May 16th-31st 2009 #3

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This thread is for parents whose baby was born May 16th-31st 2009

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There are many issues that you will encounter as a new parent. We have put together this list of useful articles and threads in order to assist you with some common questions or issues you may have, and to provide you with bit of extra support that we all need as new parents:

Feeding Support:

Breastfeeding General Chatter
Breastfeeding FAQ's
Is My Baby Hungry?
Bottlefeeding FAQ's and Useful Information
Is Feeding Your Baby Taking Too Much Time?
Bottlefeeding General Chatter
Feeding Your Baby
Lactose Intolerance
Starting Solids/Homemade Baby Food
Starting Solids - When Is My Baby Ready?
Starting Solids General Chatter

Please contact the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) or a Lactation Consultant if you are concerned that you may have breastfeeding and/or supply problems, and before the introduction of solids.

Sleeping Support:

Comforted Sleeping & Sleep Issues Forum
Comforting Tools to Aid Restful Sleep
Babies & Sleep
Controlled Crying/Comforting/Sleep Training
The Con of Controlled Crying
The Crying Game
15 Ways To Help Your Baby Sleep

Other Useful Information & Recommended Reading:

Baby Massage
Cuddle Me Mum
Infant-led Feeding & Weaning
Baby Wearing
Recommended Reading List

Got questions?

Post your questions in the forums mentioned above, or in the following forums where you're sure to receive many friendly responses!

General Baby & Toddler Forum
Breastfeeding, Bottlefeeding and Solids
Gentle Parenting Forum

Please note - To receive thread notifications click the "thread tools" button at the top of this post and click "Subscribe to Thread" there is no need to post in order to get notifications.

[briggsy's girl]

wow - chatterboxes much? lol

E decided this morning to wake up at half five - i figured that wasn't so bad, by the time we played, changed, fed and back to sleep it was about half 6 or just before - no probs - she'd do her normal thing and sleep for several more hours - nope - less than an hour and she was up again. sigh! DH was in a deep sleep and i think the snoring might have disturbed her - another play and change, feed, back to sleep - but by then mummy and daddy too awake so she got to sleep for a couple of hours, and we got up. think it's going to be a looong day lol. love that DH is so involved when he's home but i think it disturbs her a little cos we've had two really early mornings

she's sitting with daddy at the moment just chilling while i finished the rest of my brekki - so must away and go and feed again. does anyone else have a baby that can smell meals a mile away and wakes up everytime - no matter what time you eat or when you last fed them???

[~ Mylitta ~]

Our Wonderful Belly Buddy Babies

MummyNaomi (Naomi) - April 23rd 11:12pm (25 days early) - Bailey Peter (5lb 12oz)
Santosha (Kat) - April 27th (32 days early) - Ivy Milla
KrystieLove (Krystie) - May 2nd 9.40am (17 days early) - Kyson Lucas (8lb 10oz - 3.925kg)
Niadla - May 13th 6.08pm (10 days early) - Allira Maddison (3.52kg)
JwithJ - May 15th 3.13am - James Kai George(7lb 11oz - 3.490kg)
BeautifulMadness (Jess) - May 18th 6.39pm - Andrew Robert (8lb 3oz)
Bekw- May 26th 7.20pm - Connor Russell
Raindrops - May 27th 9.08am - Aralia Rose Lugg
Briggsy's Girl - May 29th 4.48am - Emerald Nevaeh Rose (3.68kg)
Bridg - May 30th 6.39pm - Logan Jack (8lb 1oz - 3.66kg)
CathyS (Cathy) - May 31st 1.35am - Cara (8lbs 4oz)
Wysiwyg (Vic) - May 31st 11.53am - Cerys Jay (9lbs 2oz - 4.12kg)
Snacks (Amy) - May 31st 5.12am - Phoebe Grace (3.46kg)
Bella29 - June 15th 10.03am (16 days late) - Jemima Katherine (9lb 2oz)

[Snacks]

Hi chicks, sorry I haven't got long - Phoebe is starting to get impatient under the baby gym, so I'll pick her up in a sec.
Yesterday was rough. Phoebe has given me two pretty awful nights in a row - I think it must be a growth spurt, otherwise she is just mental-hungry. Natty's behaviour yesterday was so incredibly bad. I always promised myself I wouldn't be the mum of a feral kid, but I swear, I was ready to disown her. I think I need to go to one of those courses - she responds so well to positive reinforcement which is awesome. And she does well with 1-2-3 magic... only thing is I don't always have the luxury of 3 seconds, KWIM? Thursday arvo she bolted across the car park at CC even though I was yelling 'stop!'. Yesterday she did the opposite of everything I asked her to do. And this is the worst part - I completely blame myself. I left Phoebe under the play gym and Natty playing with her trains on the table to run some dirty dishes downstairs. When I came back up, Natty had covered Phoebe's face with the corner of the gym mat. I freaked out, pulled her away, when I had my head again I told her that covering someone's face is something you just don't do because they can't breathe. Then I tossed them both in the stroller for a walk and cried my heart out. Every time I thought about it I couldn't stop crying. What if I'd been gone longer? How could I be so stupid? Felt like the worst parent in the world. So there it is.
Oh, she's really getting cross - I'll BBL.

[briggsy's girl]

Amy - it's not YOU at all!!! Natty is going through major changes with Pheobe being in the house and no longer being just the little larvae - all of a sudden her baby sister has a personality and she wants to play with her but doesn't understand the limitations of Pheobe's play abilities. when she's at childcare she is interacting with a lot of other kids (and there is no way to know what influence they're having on her) - they have constant activities for the kids, and enough other children there that she isn't getting bored. i would hazard a guess that she's looking for similar interaction from everyone (including Pheobe) and is struggling when she isn't getting it. it is by no means your "fault" - you're a mum who has more than one child to take care of, you have household chores that need to be completed etc.

as to the defiance - from what i can recall of my bro's kids, it's really common of children Natty's age. i know that doesn't help you with how you're feeling - but it's part of what they do. it's like they push the boundaries to see what limitations there are before there are consequences.

i really hope you can stop beating yourself up about the "what if's" of what happened yesterday. yes, it happened, yes, you feel bad about it - but feeling bad doesn't change what happened - all you can do is take steps to not have that situation arise again. i'm not sure of the set up of your house but is it possible to have a small swing or something in the kitchen area so that you can keep Pheobe close to you when you can't supervise her and Natty together? eventually Pheobe will have the strength and coordination to prevent things like what happened yesterday and Natty will be past that defiant phase - and things will be awesome for your little family

i don't know if anything i have said is any help - being that E is my first kidlet, i don't have first hand experience only what i observed with my brothers kidlets, so i might be way off base - and if that's the case, chuck my comments on the scrap heap and know that i'm thinking of you and offering what ever support i can from down here! hugs babe

AFU - we finally have E having longer day sleeps - fresh air is AMAZING for her attitude - now if only the weather would behave for us! spent time with Daddy in the garden yesterday and again today, and our girl has actually slept! she DID wake earlier this morning than normal, and didn't re-settle as well as she was doing, so that might be part of it... it's quite a novelty having her sleep in the day! she is still feeding flat out when she's awake - even had to feed her outside before (we luckily have comfy garden chairs) while we were talking to Daddy. was rather amusing - out in the front yard, no privacy, i'm sitting there feeding cos no one walks past ever - well, almost never - couple of teenage boys walked past and noticed i was feeding - they looked so embarrassed! heheheh. we took her bouncer out, and apart from the issue of having her in a warm spot that wasn't full sun on her face, she was a really happy little camper. she's just waking now


oooh naomi - there's an idea - outdoor feeding before bed - the fresh air will help settle your bubba lol!!!

[Snacks]

Alrighty. One-handed now, LOL.
BG: Thanks again for the support. Nah, Phoebe doesn't have any interest in food that I can see. Except that Chris was holding her the other day and had just eaten baklava and Phoebe was sucking her hand, LOL.
Naomi: Thank you too, chick. How did your friend go? It's so exciting! My bestie up in cairns rang a couple of weeks ago to tell me she's pg. Am so thrilled for her. She said when she's not throwing up every 5 mins she's going to join BB, LOL!
You are right, sleep is a powerful thing. It is so much harder to keep positive when you're sleep-deprived. I don't like that phrase, 'This too shall pass'... but there's truth to it, of course. I have been trying to remember what Natty looked like and what her behaviour was like when she was Phoebe's age... it's so hard to remember! And it was only just over 2 years ago. I keep telling myself that when I'm awake at all hours: In two years you will miss these precious midnight boobie cuddles.
Jacinta: Thanks, mate. Not selfish at all - you have every right to be pleased that things are great with Jamie and you are getting good rest. LOL, I think you are completely mental for wanting another one already! Bwahahaha! Of course not. You sound like you are so enjoying Jamie and mummyhood, why wouldn't you want to create another little person to enjoy? Go for it, I reckon
Krystie: I think it is great that Kyson's patterns are regular - I'm sure you guys get into the rhythm of it. Then you get an occasional pleasant surprise of a little extra sleep I wish Phoebe was more regular. Through the night I don't know if I'm going to get a stretch of 4 hours or 40 minutes. Sometimes it sucks.
You guys are funny with your footy. Vic, I reckon it's hillarious that CJ goes to the footy with you - she's been more times than me and she's three months old, LOL!

Ok, it's bathtime for two little girls. And hopefully a lovely big sleep for us all tonight. Gah, one can dream... apparently. I wouldn't know cause I never sleep

[Snacks]

Thanks BG, babe. Would never throw good suggestions away on the scrap heap. I have a bouncer in the kitchen for Phoebe and I have one on the dining room table (the only safe place, LOL!) but I was just being lazy. That's why I blame myself.
And yeah, the defiance is an age thing I am sure, but I just can't deal with it sometimes, KWIM? I find it hard to look at it as just her stage of development... It just feels 'naughty' when I ask her over and over again. And then of course I feel like an ogre all the time, spoiling her fun. I tell her off for climbing on the change table, climbing on the side of Phoebe's cot, taking play doh off the table, etc. Of course there's good reason for telling her she can't, but it just feels like she wants to do everything she's not allowed to.
I hadn't considered the CC angle. You're right, she is no doubt looking for similar interaction here. She has in recent months become HEAPS more sociable with other kids. Today she was mimicking a girl at the park (a much older girl... it was actually really funny) and trying to interact with her. A few months ago she would've just been clutching my leg because she was shy.
Anyway, thanks for your kind words. I do feel heaps better today. And, LOL! I must get the girls in teh bath now

[MummyNaomi]

Got a referral to the Paed for Bailey. Our GP was lovely, she said that not only to allow time for his 'adjusted' age being early, but then some, she seemed to think he'll hit all his milestone/developments in good time, but was happy to refer us back to our Paed for 'Mummies' peace of mind, she understood my worries which was nice.

Dad held him for his 2nd round of needles, he was quite distressed by the time we got home so gave him some paracetemol, lotsa cuddles, relaxing bath, few feeds and his now zonked it in bed - whew!

Right, am gonna work on my photo book for Bailey, I wanted to keep a journal (kept a wonderfully up to date pregnancy journal) but cant keep up now that the little guy is here. So making a photo book with a little bit of text. I am finding that going back through old BB posts is reminding me what happened in each week - BB rocks in more ways than one. I plan to have a 52 page photo book by the end of the year, one for each week. Now if I could just catch up to the current week, it will be much easier LOL

[Snacks]

Naomi: Wow @ your photo book idea for Bailey! That sounds brilliant. How on earth do you have the energy to think about it after you and Bailey had such a crap night? My eyes'd be falling out of my head and I'd be cross. (Actually that's how I was this morning, and last night wasn't too bad here, LOL!)
Glad to hear your GP is supportive and that you've a referral in your hot little hand. Sorry about the needles Hope he stays settled tonight.
Jess: All the best for your exams coming up. I'm sure you'll be great. It's really good to hear from you.
Vic: No, we never did get to gymbaroo. My niece and nephew went and a good friend of mine took her daughter. In fact, I've been very slack in terms of extra-curricular activities for Natty - most of the other kids in our mothers group go to swimming lessons, and we didn't even manage that. The best I could do was take her to Baby Bounce every now and again @ the local library, LOL! (A half-hour of singing nursery rhymes.) How do you find baby yoga? Is it good exercise for you, or is it mostly for CJ?
Cathy: LOL @ the nurse commenting on Cara's abs... I was joking Still, its good to have strong core muscles, so good on her. Ooooh, love the raspberry-giggle story! Still haven't heard a giggle from Phoebe yet, but sometimes we get RIPPER smiles that make me absolutely melt.
Bella: Good on you for getting out and about. I am still 10kg over pre-pg weight too, and then I was about 8kg overweight... But I'd be happy just to lose the 10! I have been taking the girls out in the stroller a few times a week, but it's done crap-all for me... I'm going to have to stop eating garbage, LOL. GL with it anyway.

Phoebe had a catnap at around 6 tonight, so I'm still waiting for her to go properly to sleep. She was so much happier for it though - she and Dave were sitting watching telly together while I took Natty up to bed. I took a couple of pics that will have to go on FB once I've downloaded them.
My hip is playing up. I think I might go visit an osteopath. I reckon its pg/birth-related. Ok, she's asleep ni-night all.

[Bridg]

Ok, so Ive been lurking, so am going to post. Everytime I try and post, someone wants something or Logan needs a bottle.

I just wanted to say that I think everyone in our group is doing an amazing job! We are busy with our bubbas yet we manage to get on here and post, support each other, and offer our advice. We have a gorgeous group of bubbas too.

Amy- Huge huge hugs to u sweetie. It is NOT ur fault that Natty put part of the play mat over Phoebe?s face. I agree with the other girls, that it is an age thing. I have had a lot of people in the public tell me that the thing they found most challenging with a toddler and baby, was the toddler picking the baby up. I think u are doing a fantastic job with a toddler and a baby, and I take my hat off to you. U weren?t being lazy by not putting Phoebe in the bouncer. I also agree with the other mummies that Natty has had to make an adjustment with mummy having someone else to give some attention to. I noticed my boys were a bit jealous at the start, and I was worried that they wouldn?t cope. Over time, they have, and Im sure Natty will in time.

BG- Re the food thing, all babies seem to know when u sit down to eat something or do something!

Vic- How?s CJ going with her harness?

Sorry for no other persies. I have typed this in Word, because its taken me over an hour to write, so sorry.

Bridg.

[Bella29]

aww hugs amy!!!! Don't beat youself up! Just about every mummy I know will tell a similar story or two if they have more than one kid about stuff like that. It just happens and you learn something from it. Now you know. I's in the hand book........ you know the one they don't give you. We all just learn as we go on. You have never been the mother of two kids this age before. Your doing a great job!

AFM- exhausted here.... Jemima is really having a hard time. she gets 3/4 thru a feed pulls off and screams! I don't know if it is silent reflux or if she is having gas pain cos she is sucking in more air when feeding due to her runny nose. It's heart breaking. I have to stand up and walk, jiggle, make soothing noises whilst re offering the boob to my now screaming daughter and not get distressed myself or it all just gets harder. As a consequence she has eaten less so my boobs are more full and i have lumps everywhere. I am afraid of getting mastitis again and am expressing for comfort.... sigh....

Anyway poor little mite isn't getting any better but her nose isn't getting worse. I hope it isn't reflux but have given her baeurs stomach calm which may have helped.... or else it is just my standing, jiggling, soothing whilst walking breast feeding act that is helping... not sure

should go to bed
Love to you all

Bella

[~ Mylitta ~]

Bella - Kyson used to do the exact same thing at about the same age. It was heartbreaking! Breastfeeding was meant to be a nice calm and loving experience, and I felt like it was in some way hurting him. All I could think of at the time was wind, so I would burp him lots and lots, but it never made much of a difference. He's much better now. He very rarely ever does it anymore, and never to the extreme that he used to. When he was at his worst I would actually feed him while bouncing on the fitball! Now I tend to think he gets upset once the breast starts getting less full and he has to work a bit harder to get the milk. I think he prefers it when the milk is just pouring into his mouth and he can be lazy. Do you find that Jem is a bit calmer if you swap her to the fuller breast? Hopefully she sort of grows out of it like Kyson is.

Amy - Woopsies happen and you shouldn't beat yourself up over it. When you first had Nat you were learning to be a mummy, and now that you have Phoebs you are learning to be a mummy of two! I seriously have so much respect for you and think you are doing a marvelous job! It's good that you had a little cry to let out the emotions (it must have been scary), but now you should try to put it behind you and focus on all the wonderful things you are doing for your little girls.

Bridg - I read on facebook about the twins getting new doona covers and sleeping like logs, Lol! Good work!

Jacinta - It's so funny when you see a toddler trying to put up a baby (as well as scary hehe). They tend to wrap their arms around their belly and the little babies arms end up around their own ears!

Naomi - Congrats to your friend! I love the name. At one point I had the name Kayden on our baby list, but DH wasn't a fan, and then I was worried about how many Kayden's, Brayden's, Jayden's etc are around now. But I still love the name

BG - Good to hear that E is sleeping better during the day. Do you find that she is happier when she is awake because she's getting more sleep? Kyson has a ripper of a nap yesterday morning. About 20 minutes before I thought he was going to go to sleep, I took him for a long walk in the pram and he came back fast asleep. Then I just wheeled his pram into the bedroom and let him sleep in it. He stayed asleep for almost 2 hours! That's his longest nap not spent on mummy, hehe.


Do you girls think I should shrink our baby list down to only those that post in this thread? It seems a little silly to have others listed that are posting in other groups...

[briggsy's girl]

BG - Good to hear that E is sleeping better during the day. Do you find that she is happier when she is awake because she's getting more sleep? Kyson has a ripper of a nap yesterday morning. About 20 minutes before I thought he was going to go to sleep, I took him for a long walk in the pram and he came back fast asleep. Then I just wheeled his pram into the bedroom and let him sleep in it. He stayed asleep for almost 2 hours! That's his longest nap not spent on mummy, hehe.


Do you girls think I should shrink our baby list down to only those that post in this thread? It seems a little silly to have others listed that are posting in other groups...

KL - E was a nightmare sooooooo bad after her big sleeps! she didn't like waking up - normally wakes up so happy but was just a foul tempered rat bag! i "think" it's daddy being home that is doing it - she's not sleeping as long in the morning while he's home, so needs the day sleep - but even 2 hours during the day doesn't make up for the 3 or four she's missing in the morning. she slept better this morning cos i kicked DH out earlier! hopefully it will pay off - so far so good - she's watched some of the footy replay and is now going crook at daddy while she plays with his hands lol

i think you could probably prune the list a bit if other girls are posting elsewhere - it's confusing enough keeping track of the actively posting chickies and their bubbas lol

Bella - E does the screaming thing sometimes too - it's heartbreaking - esp when she tries to reattach but is crying so hard she can't - then when she does she sobs the whole time she's feeding. for her it's almost always wind - poor poppet just won't burp no matter how many times we try (and we tell her the whole time she needs to burp, and praise her when she does!)

[MummyNaomi]

Krystie - go ahead and prune the list, I agree with BG

Bella - thats sucks re J getting upset at the boob, Bailey is pretty lazy on the boob now and comes off and fussed until I put him on the other boob, he is a bit of a lazy sucker now and only stays on longer once he has taken the 'faster' flowing first milk off both boobs, It seemed to me that his 'sucking' changed about the 10-12 week mark, DH also noticed it as Bailey sucks his finger (instead of dummy) and mentioned that he was sucking different

J - if you want another baby then go for it, only you will know when you are ready! Personally I cant comprehend it for myself, LOL. I think it will be 2011 before we even THINK about it

Bridg - good to hear from you, glad you were lurking even with no time to post

AFU - On Thursday at our mothers group I was talking to the MW about Baileys neck development, he still doesn't lift up his head during tummy time, only when I pull him up from laying on his back, anyway after voicing my concerns she agreed thats its something he should be starting to do by now so suggested I go back to my Paed, so I have booked an appt but cant get in until mid Sept, hopefully Bailey will be doing it by then!! I have to take him to the GP on tues for his 4 month needles to will talk to the GP also (have to get another referral to the paed anyway as the one from birth only lasted 3 months as with most specialist referrals)

Have a great sunday

Naomi
x

[bekw]

Hi everyone

My name is Bek and I have a 12 week and 3 days old little boy named Connor. I have recently moved to Toowoomba (my partner is in the army) and am feeling quite lonely as I don't know anybody here.
Does anybody else have a bub who feeds constantly when their awake? I feel like all I do all day is sit on my backside and feed and Connor is not much of a sleeper during the day either. I have so much other stuff to do and my partner doesn't get how hard it is to get things done when he's at work. Please tell me other people have these problems too??

[Snacks]

Hi Bek, welcome to BB and welcome to May babies
Can't say Phoebe feeds all day long. But she isn't a big day sleeper - often just catnaps. Plus I have a toddler too so I totally know the feeling of not having done anything much around the house all day!
Agh, it's a common problem I think for partners to not understand how demanding babies can be - it's like they think we just play with them all day long and life is sun and roses. *hugs* Not sure what to suggest there, except maybe getting him to look after your DS for a while on his own so he can see how difficult it can be
Have you looked into getting a sling? Connor may just want to be close to you rather than hungry? Just a thought. Slings are great if you have a cuddly bub and you still need to do things. And it's only when I'm carrying Phoebe in the pouch that she has her terrifically long day sleeps.

[~ Mylitta ~]

Naomi - Sounds like Bailey is having one super power-nap! Lol! Your house will be sparkling, hehe.

Amy - Today was our first "unofficial" mothers group. There was only 4 of us mums there (plus the 4 bubs of course) and we had it at one of the girls house. I've offered my house for next week. The hope was to find a venue we can use, but we're hoping to find one that we don't have to pay for, hehe. We're having a veranda built out the back (starting tomorrow), so when the weather is nice and Kyson is a bit older I'll get him to do his messy activities, like painting, outside. Is it bad to hose off a messy child?

Bek - Welcome to the forum and our lovely little thread. Congratulations on the birth of your little boy, Connor! You'll find that all of our bub's have different "quirks" (I don't like to call them "problems ). I thought that my Kyson was the only one still feeding around 3-hourly until recently when other girls in here posted that their bubs are doing the same. I was also getting worried about Kyson's day naps because he only does one 45 minute cycle in his cot (he'll only sleep a second cycle in my arms), but now I'm finding out that it's not uncommon. I read last night that at this age he should be getting about 12-15 hours sleep a day, and I worked out that he's getting about 14. He just has short naps, but more of them in a day (about 5 naps a day, then 10-12 hours in bed overnight with 2-3 night/early-morning feeds).

I guess what I'm trying to say is that we all get worried about things that our babies are or are not doing, and that at the end of the day they are all different, but it doesn't mean they are doing anything wrong. You'll little man might be going through a growth spurt, or perhaps he is just using a lot of energy and needs all the milk

Sorry to hear that your husband doesn't understand how hard it is for you when he is not there. You should make him look after Connor by himself one day. If you are breastfeeding you could still do it by making your husband sit down with you and not do anything so he can begin to understand how much time feeding takes up each day.

I hope you stick around in our thread. If you would like me to put you details in our birth list (on page 1), then just post Connors birth details for me such as first and middle name/s (if he has one), birth date, time and his birth weight


Kyson is currently being a cheeky monkey. He's tired and keeps going to sleep, but if I put him down in his cot (or anywhere else), then he wakes within a couple of minutes. So he's now sleeping in my arms.

[MummyNaomi]

Hey Bek - welcome and congratulation on the birth of Connor! Like Amy and Krystie have said, its not uncommon for babies to feed constantly - how long between feeds does he go ? and are you bottle or breast feeding? I 'think' Breast fed babies tend to feed more frequently from observations with our May babies

I agree with the girls too, its tough when our partners dont understand just how time consuming our babies are, I think Krystie's suggestion is a good one - your hubby needs to 'live your life' for a day, or even a few hours, thats the only way he will fully understand. Re the not sleeping much, I found around 12-13 weeks Bailey all of a sudden started a bit of a routine for himself (with morning and afternoon naps) so hang in there, my suggestion would be when you see some tired signs, wrap Conner (if he'll let you) and see if you can rock him to sleep (if you've already tried this, just disregard LOL )

Re moving to a new place - does the Army have some kind of Family support network - My Brother was in the Navy and I know there were family groups that would welcome new familes - might be worth looking into, might be some other new Mums within the Army community, or perhaps contact the local council to find out about a local mothers group. Either way, keep dropping in and chatting with us - our babies range from 10-17 weeks old and we love to chat and its great to meet someone new I hope we can be of some support to you, it sounds like you are doing a GREAT job!!

Krystie - I am hosting our mothers group next week also, we have 'finished up' being hosted by our CYH, so are going solo now, so I offered my house (as we were struggling to think of a cafe that suited everyone and was BF suitable)

AFU - Bailey has started to reach out and pick things up himself - very exciting!! He's been grabbing and holding onto the toys on his playmat for ages but actually picking someone up solo is another thing altogether - very impressive. I might teach him to 'pick up' the vacumm cleaner once a week