Thursday 21 May 2009

8 months, 3 weeks, 2 days

Measured my waist the other day and it is now 90cm/35". For the first time in a long time, I'm starting to feel a bit better about myself. I've just got to be a bit stronger at not eating bad stuff, like cheese, or drinking alcohol. Easier said than done!

Callum is doing a couple of interesting things so I thought I would update the blog.

One thing he has been doing for a little while is wanting to touch and explore everything. If we go past a plant, especially, he will put out his hand to feel the leaves. He touches them tentatively at first and eventually works up to a big grab/pull. But he also does it to the door, door handle, wall, hoover, bathroom light switch. He is really curious about everything!

Only recently, he seems to be getting a bit more frustrated about not being able to move, get to the things he wants....basically crawl! He quite happily rolls onto his front now especially to reach something just out of reach. If you put him on his front, he will still pretty quickly flip on to his back again though. But on his own, he will roll on to his front, spend some time getting his arm out from being trapped underneath him, then he will try to reach something. The other day, I saw him go up onto his feet, so his knees and middle were off the floor but his shoulders were still on the floor. Eek, crawling will mean growing eyes in the back of my head and not being able to leave him unattended ever! :-s

I was looking at photos of someone's baby, recently, who was a few weeks older than Callum, who was standing quite a bit. This scared me as it seems her baby is not far off walking. In fact, she said he loved to walk just holding on to her little fingers. It is funny to think that Callum could be walking in a month or two's time. Especially when he isn't even crawling yet. I know it could be a lot longer, "all babies develop differently", but it is the idea that he 'could' be walking that I can't get over. After mentioning it to Stuart, he called me in to Callum's room this morning to see Callum standing up in his cot on his own holding on to the side of the cot. He didn't pull himself up, Stuart put him there but he stayed up for a good couple of minutes. Makes a change for him to not instantly bounce when he is in the standing position. If you hold him in a standing position, he just loves to bounce like he does in his Jumperoo!

Monday 18 May 2009

8 months, 2 weeks, 6 days

Weight update: 6lb to go to pre-preg weight, 10lb to ideal

Callum's naming day went really well. He was an absolute Angel, as good as gold! Even though he missed his afternoon nap and was starving hungry as mummy and daddy had left his milk at home - oops! Stuart had to run back (not literally - in a car) and get it after the ceremony.

So, I woke up in the morning with a headache, probably due to anxiety about the day. It didn't go until after the ceremony and after the third lot of Nurofen....or was it the third glass of wine? I forget ;o).  Both my and Stuart's parents, my aunt, my sister with her son no.1 and daughter (son no. 2 and Daddy were at home working on the house) and Stuart's brother with his fiancée and daughter came to the house first and then we all went to the venue which was The Inn on the Lake (http://www.theinnonthelake.co.uk/) for 2pm. The ceremony was due to start at 2.30pm - no idea when it actually did start. We were originally hoping to have the ceremony outside but with the weather so changeable and the effort it would take to herd everyone outside, I made an executive decision to hold it inside. I think Stuart would have prefered for it to have been outside but having spoken to a few people afterwards, I think it was
the right decision. Vivienne  Donnithorne was the Humanist Celebrant who performed the ceremony. We have chosen 4 Guiding Adults to perform different roles for Callum as he grows up. Dan & Lou are responsible for Life Guidance to be a constant support and guidance on a day to day basis throughout Callum's life; James is responsible for Career and Financial guidance; and Aneil/Sparky is responsible for emotional guidance, to be the shoulder to cry on or someone to listen. They had to step forward and say "We promise we will" to a number of promises ready out by Vivienne. It was hard not to laugh as they were all making sure that Vivienne had finished speaking before they said it and all seemed to be waiting for each other to start.

Stuart held Callum throughout the ceremony who took it all in his stride just listening and sucking his thumb - whereas Stuart was trying hard to pretend that his arms weren't about to fall off with Callum getting heavier and heavier every second! One funny moment was when Vivienne mentioned the Guiding Adults and he looked over and gave them a look that said "You better be paying attention over there!". When she came to Callum's bit and giving him his name, he kind of perked up and his looks said "Oh, you are talking about me now".  

Near the end of the ceremony, I read my poem (found at the end of today's post). Before the ceremony, I was nervous about reading it out as I know that the nerves can get to me in front of people I know and I can get a bit shakey but my nerves held up fine but, as happens nearly every time I read back the poem to myself or Stuart, a  few tears sprung to my eyes on the last line! Apparently, though, I wasn't alone as one or two other people got caught up in the emotion of the poem or the ceremony as a whole.

Once the ceremony was over, I tried to talk to as many people as possible. Inevitably, though, there are always people I wish I had spoken to and didn't or wished I had spent longer with. On this occasion, particularly, Stuart's family and my brother and his family. 

Eventually, Callum fell asleep in Grandma's arms (Stuart's mum. My mum is Nanna). As you can see in the photo - so very cute!

Later, my very lovely family took Callum home so Stuart and I could catch up with all our friends - and continue to celebrate in his absence :o)

Needless to say, we got pretty drunk. 

When we got home, everyone was still up and my aunt & uncle were still there. They tell me Callum was very good even after getting home. He didn't go straight to sleep and took some convincing to take his bedtime milk. It sounds like my Dad and uncle were fighting over holding and feeding him and eventually kind of did it together. He watched some of the Eurovision and then went straight off to sleep without a peep when they put him in his cot. 

Unfortunately, he did wake at 6am the next morning, which could have been better!!!

The next day, on Sunday, we opened all his cards and presents. He has been thoroughly spoilt. We'd like to thank everyone for coming to the ceremony and for being so generous. My parents and aunt headed home around lunchtime on the Sunday so were pleased to get more time to see Callum the next day too.

The weekend was wonderful, especially the actual day of the ceremony, and I can pretend my drunken fall down the stairs on my bottom at the end of the night, that resulted in a nice big carpet burn and a big bruise on my bum, never happened! Ouch! I'll save you from pictures of my bum though!

A Mother’s Wish

I sit and watch you dream in bed,

And I think about your road ahead.

Where will it lead, what will you see,

Who will you meet along your journey.


I think about us, your Dad and me.

Are we all you want us to be?

Do we give you the support you need,

To enable you to succeed?


My thoughts turn to your future career.

Will it take you to lands far from here?

Whatever you do, wherever you are,

Be happy and follow your heart.


Will you find a soul mate to share,

Your hopes and dreams, who for you will care.

To make a home in which to live,

And to start your own family with.


Through all my thoughts, one thing is clear.

We hope your journey is without fear,

That you are happy in all you do,

And that you know that we love you.

Monday 11 May 2009

8 months, 1 week, 6 days

Well Callum and I are much better this week. Unfortunately, now Stuart has real flu.  :o( Poor thing had to come home from work - that's how you know he must be ill. Has been in bed pretty much since. He fainted and we called NHS Direct as we were worried about him. They told him it sounded like he had flu and the beginnings of a fever. I hope he is better by Saturday.

We are on the run up to Callum's Naming Ceremony, which is this Saturday (hence why I hope Stuart is better). I'm quite nervous about it now. I hope it all goes well. It would be great if the weather was nice too so we can have it outside. 

I've written a poem for it. I will post it on here after the Ceremony. Its  not my best poem, unfortunately, but I've found it really hard to write. We've received the draft wording the Humanist Celebrant has written and we are really happy with it. 

We have our outfits. I just need to get a little cardigan and a pair of shoes if I can find a nice, cheap pair. Callum is going to wear a little suit - very cute! We had a family photo shoot on Saturday. We had some photos taken in the clothes we are going to wear for the Naming Ceremony as well as in some normal clothes. This way, if they turn out nice, we can have one as our official Naming Ceremony photo. We get to see them and choose the weekend after the ceremony.

The weaning is still getting better. Callum is starting to consume more and more rather than just playing with everything. He still has days where he prefers to play with the food rather than eat any of it. He really enjoyed poached salmon both on its own and with cucumber in a sandwich - starting to realise he has expensive taste ;o).  I've finally found a way for him to eat wheatabix too - by putting puréed apple in it. So I have actually done some puréeing but just an apple! Breakfast was the hardest meal as he never seemed interested in eating anything in the morning. But, as well as the wheatabix, he also ate about a quarter of toast this morning. This doesn't sound like a lot but compared to nothing - it is great progress. He also ate over half of a large banana too. We also tried him with a raisin the other day. He liked it but was chewing it/moving it around his mouth for ages. I do think I will buy some, though, when I next go shopping. Someone also came up with a good idea of how to get beef into his diet. If I buy a pack of beef strips for stir frying and split it into lunch size portions. I didn't even think about strips of beef, I was just thinking of steak, beef mince and beef joints or slices of cold beef for sandwiches.

I've seen three childminders now and I think we are going to go with the second one I saw. She was really nice and I liked what she offered. She was also had the best availability. She can do 3 days between July and September and then any of the 5 days after September. I'm hoping to work 3 days a week but it will be a lot easier if I can have any 3 days out of the 5. I think the only reason we wouldn't go with her (assuming she is still available when I get a job) is if I find someone I like that is closer to where I live, especially if my work is in a different direction. Once I've found a job, I will meet her again and take Stuart with me to make sure he is happy too.

Well, the next entry will probably be after the Naming Ceremony so wish us luck with it :-D.