10 months, 3 weeks, 6 days

Still no crawling! He gets quite frustrated that he can go sideways and backwards but can't go forwards. He has occasionally got up on all fours, when his feet have been wedged against something but other than that, he goes straight down to laying down to roll. The fact that he can't crawl yet doesn't stop me from running after him all the time to pull him away from the video player, Sky box or CD racks!

What he can do now is sit up from laying down. He will be laying on his front and he pushes up on his arms and then somehow swing his legs around.

We haven't had much luck going from bottles to cup yet. I could get him to take between 2-4oz from his Doidy or Tommee Tippee sippy cup but not without a big protest. Also, as he normally has up to 8oz, this wasn't very much at all. It didn't help that neither of these cups would fit anywhere near the full 8oz. I therefore left it for about a week until I could get a new cup. I've now got a cow cup which just about fits the whole 8oz. We have tried it once without much luck but I'm going to try hard this week. He is only on two milks a day now so I am concentrating on his morning one first and will move onto the nighttime one once he is fine with that.

We did also move his morning milk so that he has breakfast first and then milk an hour or so later. However, we are going to switch this back because he isn't drinking much milk at all like this (whether cup or bottle). As he still needs his milk, it is probably best to move it back to being first thing and breakfast later.

Callum can now hold and drink out of his sippy cup on his own, without much help. I say 'much' help as he still doesn't realise that he needs to tip his head up after a while to continue getting water out. I am sure he could have done this earlier too but maybe I didn't give him enough opportunity to try it.

We bought Callum's new car seat over the weekend. We have gone for a rearward facing one. It is actually rearward facing until he is about 2-3 and then you can turn it around and it becomes forward facing until he is about 6. We went to the In Car Safety Centre in Milton Keynes who, I think, were really good. They were honest about the seats - we ended up getting one cheaper than the one I thought we were going to get. Actually, I think it was the cheapest rearward facing one. We didn't have an appointment but they were very accommodating and were happy to spend the time with us. The lady was very helpful and informative. We tried two seats in the end (we could have tried more but we didn't feel we needed to) but went with the 2-Way Elite as it was the best seat to offer the most comfort for the passenger sitting in the front and, of course, comfort for Callum. Not sure what Callum thinks of it. He hasn't been particularly happy in it so far but he is never keen on sitting in his car seat. He did fall asleep in it and, when he did, his head did fall forward but, because of our car, its size and the space available inside, I don't think we would have been able to get one that had a better recline. We do need to get him something to play with now though as we can't dangle his sheep from the handle anymore (there is no handle now).

Still no more than 4 teeth, though they do seem to bother him from time to time. Still can't see which teeth will be next.

The rest of the time he is still quite funny and I love him to pieces.

10 Months, 2 Weeks, 4 Days

Weight: 2lbs to go until pre-preg weight; 7lbs until ideal weight

Well, we have just come out of a week of teething. No more teeth yet but same symptoms as first 2 teeth - grouchy, runny poo and sore bottom, plus grabbing my fingers or anything else to bite.

I think it is more bottom teeth coming through. Hard to tell though as he wont let me look at the bottom gum.

Callum is going through another 'interesting' period. He interacts with you more in little games. He grabs my phone and tries to feed it to me then laughs. I take it out of my mouth and he will grab it and do it again. Quite cute really, though I'm not too keen on consuming phones - they're not really to my tastes!!

He has also started to point - just noticed today. He was pointing to Stuart's glasses case. It is quite a bright blue colour so I guess he was curious as to what it was.

Still no crawling. He is getting frustrated at not being able to go forwards though. You can see he wants to get to something which is in front of him but can only roll or push himself backwards. We should have named him Crab. He gets red/sore elbows from his high-speed rolling.

For me, I'm still job hunting. Have registered with a couple of agencies and posted my CV to a number of places. Also re-activated my Monster account. One agent said IT Trainers were some of the worst hit, which I expected was the case. The first to go but, I would think, among the first to come back when things pick up again. The guy at the agency said he doesn't come across many part-time IT training jobs but I might find that, when companies do start employing again, they would prefer someone part-time as they might not be ready to commit to a full time trainer in the beginning. Its weird that this time last year I wasn't looking for work but was getting called up a couple of times a week from agencies. Now people aren't even acknowledging my CV. I'm in no hurry, of course, but it would reassure me if there was something out there.

I'm still going Pushy Mothers but just now and again and paying for the session I attend rather than the required 4 weeks in advance. I go more for social reasons than the exercise but it is nice to be doing some exercise and nice to be outside - better on sunny days of course! I really like the other girls that go and have swapped numbers with a few of them now. Hopefully, we will stay in touch as people start to drift away because of work. I plan to invite some of them to Callum's first birthday.

Regarding Callum's birthday, I think we are going to do something actually on his birthday, rather than at the nearest weekend. We are doing a group NCT party in October for all the babies but we will still invite them to his actual party with no obligation to come. Then I'll invite some of the babies from pushy mothers and a couple of other babies he is 'friends' with too. Still a way off yet. How far in advance do I need to send invites?

Anyway, Master Jones is calling out for his Tea. Best get on!

I'm back. While eating tea, I remembered a few other things.

Callum tries to share his food with you. He first did this a while back with Stuart and then with his lion toy. Another cute thing. He wont let you take it off him but he will feed it to your mouth.

Oooh, which brings me onto the shaky head thing - the lion toy reminded me. He shakes his head as if saying no (though not knowing it means no) then waits for you to copy him and laughs. If you shake the lion or move its head as if it is shaking it, he will then keep doing it to the lion too.

His eating is much better now. He eats quite a bit and is on 3 meals a day plus snacks. We have dropped another milk feed this week so he is on 2. 1 in the morning and 1 at bedtime.

He is very lazy with feeding himself. Despite being good at feeding himself with a spoon, f he can get away with you feeding him rather than holding the spoon himself, he will. When presented with a selection of food on a plate, he will hold his hands above the plate as if choosing what to eat first and then will put his head down towards his plate with his mouth wide open - kind of "look, no hands" stylie. He does eventually pick something up with his fingers.

We had our first boo boo the other day. I know it sounds strange but I had him in the kitchen in the laundry basket. You know how kids like boxes and things. He loves being in the laundry basket and he was being clingy with me when I needed to do stuff in the kitchen. Because we have tiled floors in the kitchen, I put him in the laundry basket thinking he will be safer than on the tiles in case he fell. He was happy enough until he leaned over the side of the basket and it tipped up making him head-butt the kitchen floor. At the time he had a tiny nose bleed (just a little hint of blood) and over the next couple of days got a little bruise on his forehead. Silly boy that he is, though, he is always headbanging the table or back of the chair when he is gets frustrated. I'm surprised his head isn't always covered in bruises!

Well, I think that brings us up to date for the moment! Will update again soon.

10 Months, 6 Days

Well we went on our holiday. Overall, we had a lovely time.

Good points:

• Spending time as a family
• Fairly good weather
• Nice caravan
• Callum was an angel at night, sleeping in his pushchair allowing us to have the evenings, eating out and kinda to ourselves and then he transferred to his cotbed without much fuss.

Not so good points:

• Callum was grumpy most days
• Bad waves for bodyboarding
• Facilities/Food at site were awful!
• Couldn't get a babysitter for Birthday/Father's Day
• Activities (Dairyland, Aquarium, Eden Project) were overpriced. Eden was good, Aquarium was OK and Dairyland was rubbish!!

Still no crawling. Stuart was really hoping Callum would start crawling while we were away so he would get to see a 'first', among other reasons. He did start waving though - starting with waving at himself in the mirror. Regarding the crawling I'm not sure whether I'm pleased or disappointed that he isn't. There is always the concern in the back of my head that he isn't developing as quickly as he should be and is it because of something I/we have done or not done but then I also know that he will do it in his own time when he is good and ready. Also, seeing the distance he can travel and mayhem he can cause just rolling, it is quite a relief he isn't crawling yet as the speed he can travel and cause that mayhem would be increased ten-fold!

Callum didn't eat particularly well on holiday in terms of quantities. Got a bit expensive and a waste when we were buying him children's meals. Before we went away, we were giving him food from our plate as he wasn't eating too much but then he started eating more which would mean I/we would go hungry as he had eaten half of our meal. Therefore, we moved to getting him children's meals. However, he didn't eat much on holiday. As soon as we got home, he went back to eating loads. So much one day that he made himself sick!! Obviously, just missed my home cooking ;o)

We took Callum swimming one day and he loved it. Lots of splashing around. He has been a bit apprehensive when we have taken him to a pool locally to where we live so it was lovely to see him really enjoying it. We also tried him with the sea - just a little paddle as it was far too cold for a swim. Seemed kind of intrigued with it but was a bit too cold for him.

Now we are back home, I'm starting the task of trying to find Callum his next stage car seat. Following recommendations that you should keep children rear-facing for as long as possible for safety reasons, we are looking for a rear-facing seat or one that goes both ways. I think I would prefer one that went both ways - these seem to last until they are a little older than those that don't. Quite a big expense to pay out. Looks like it is going to cost between £200 and £270. They're not kidding when they say having children isn't cheap!

The other thing I've been concentrating on since coming home is finding a new job - eek! The plan is to start looking now in the hope that I find something by September. Callum will be 1 in September which I think will be a nice(ish) age to go back. However, if something comes up to start before then, I consider myself available. Knowing my luck, I'll get a job almost immediately. I've posted my CV to a couple of agencies and have looked on a few only job sites. There are a couple of things out there but not the 'perfect job' yet. Need to send my CV to a few places direct too but that takes a bit more research and a bit more time! Speaking of which, got to give Callum his bath and put him to bed so will be back later...

Oops, didn't get to come back last night so it is now the next day.

So, what else is new. I know Callum's rolling isn't new but his favourite game at the moment is rolling continuously around the room and only stopping when he finds himself by a cable or the video player!!! Talking of which, he has just found another cable!! I knew there was a reason (other than them being unsightly) why I hated all the cables being visible in the lounge!

I think someone told me that children's' imagination doesn't develop until they are a couple of years old or that the don't really know much about when it develops but I'm convinced Callum has and uses his imagination now. I obviously don't understand what he is saying as he babbles away but he sounds like he is having little conversations with himself and he plays with his food as if talking to the pieces and as if they are interacting with each other. These are just some examples. Surely, he is using his imagination at these moments.

9 months, 2 weeks, 1

Weight: 3.5 lb until pre-preg weight, 7.5lb until ideal

Well, Callum is still going well with his new food routine. He eats so much now. He is also getting quite good at fishing something out his mouth that he doesn't like - its quite funny to watch and I have to try hard not to laugh. He will have a mouthful of food and will find a carrot. He will then push it to the front of his mouth and then stick his tongue out disposing of offending item. He has eaten and liked carrot but I think I made the pieces too big and hard the other day for the shepherd's pie mince so he kept spitting them out.

He was a little monkey this morning. We had our first episode of wetting the bed!!!! Stuart had gone into him when he woke up, while I was in the shower, and took him out of his growbag. When I went in there, he had taken off his own nappy and then proceeded to wee while I was watching before I had chance to move him or do anything with him. Luckily, the mattress cover is washable and there is a pvc layer underneath protecting the mattress.

He is also a nightmare to get a nappy on. Whether I'm changing him on his changing unit or on the floor after his bath, he tries to roll over (and usually succeed) and tries to roll all over the place before I get chance to put his nappy on. Every time I turn him back and start putting his nappy on again, he makes his escape! Grrr! Quite funny too though :o)

Still no crawling but he keeps trying to pull himself into a crawling position from sitting. Failing miserably at the moment but I don't suppose it will be long. Most stories I've heard is that it will happen in the space of a week. One minute, nothing! Next, crawling at high speed all over the place!

We are going on our first holiday next week and I can't wait. We are off to Cornwall to stay in a Haven Caravan Park. Not been so excited about a holiday for a long time. Hoping the weather will be nice.

Ooooh, I nearly forgot - we are pretty sure we have our first word :o))))) - Cat. Not as clearly as that of course but it will sound like 'Ca' and if he is listening to us and trying really hard it will be 'taaT'. We are sure he is trying to say Lotte too but can understand that's a bit harder to say. It isn't just us either, my mum heard it and agreed with us - she said it sounded pretty much like cat to her. So exciting!

Right, gotta go - Callum's calling for his breakfast! As in - whhaaaaaaa, grrrrrr etc, not "muuuummmy, can I have some breakfast please?" - but watch this space!

9 Months, 1 week

Sorry not updated for a while. Been quite busy.

The BLW with Callum, nearly came to a head! Callum had reached the 9 month mile stone and still wasn't consuming that much solid food. He would pick and play with his food but didn't actually consume much at all. At 9 months, babies tend to have used up their store of iron and other nutrients that they have at birth so they really need to be replenishing it with food (rather than milk). Stuart thought we should buy some jars of purées and give him one every day. I really didn't want to do this as I really believed in the BLW concept and I felt like this was admitting defeat or giving in too early. It was probably pigheadedness on my part too and a fear of "I told you so" from the doubters, which I know isn't a real reason to dig my heals in and continue with it.

I knew that other people, when their child is around 9 months, only give their child 3 milks a day. The BLW book says to let your baby decide when to drop milk etc and to be lead by him/her. However, this wasn't working for us as Callum wasn't eating enough food to enable him to drop any of his milk. So, I thought we should try switching to 3 milks a day. This would mean that Callum would get to eat food first and then milk later rather than getting full up on milk and not wanting food. I suggested this to Stuart and thought we should try it for a week (until next food shop) and he agreed to try it. Our new timetable is:

7-7.30am - milk

8-8.30am - breakfast

9.30am - nap

12noon - lunch

1.30pm - milk

2pm - nap

5.30pm - dinner

7.15pm - milk

7.30pm - bedtime

Hooray! It seems to have worked! The next day, we were out at lunch and I had macaroni cheese. I was going to give him a couple of mouthfuls but he ended up eating about a third of it and I had to buy a banana too as he was still hungry, which he ate nearly all of. He has continued to do well at lunch and dinner ever since. Breakfast is still a bit hit or miss as this is the only meal he has after milk (might be worth thinking about changing this round too). He has between 1/2 and a whole wheatabix. However, he now eats pretty well for both lunch and dinner. Now I don't know where he puts it all! It is such a relief.

Callum had also started to get quite lazy about feeding himself. Rather than grabbing the spoon, he would just open his mouth for us to spoon feed him. I think this is because we swapped his chair to the other side of the table to give Lotté a bit of piece while eating. This meant his stronger feeding arm (his right) was further away from whoever was feeding him, so he didn't try to hold the spoon. We have moved him back to the other side and he has started to feed himself a bit more now. I do get a bit impatient with him when he starts banging the spoon in between mouthfuls as the food goes everywhere.

We now have 4 teeth in total. We were having quite a tough week of it last week as his two top teeth tried to come through. We actually had it quite good compared to what other parents suffer with teething - it was more a pain than anything else. Rather than going to sleep at 7.30pm, it would take him about an hour to go off, so 8.30pm. He would then wake up between 11.15 and 11.30pm and need resettling (which actually only took a couple of strokes to his face), then would wake up at 6am instead of 7am. So not too bad but I preferred his usual routine!

It was also very hot last week which I don't think helped. We just didn't know what to dress him in to go to bed. It was often 26 degrees in his bedroom with the window open. Should we put him in a gro-bag or not? What should he wear, just nappy, body suit or babygrow? Would he wake up cold in the night? Such fun!

Still no crawling yet. I'm not worried and quite enjoying the fact that Callum stays pretty much where he is put and I don't need eyes in the back of my head yet. Stuart is paranoid that he is falling behind because a friend's baby, who is younger, is crawling all over the place! The danger of comparing your child to others!

That said, although Callum isn't crawling, he is so much happier on his front and sometimes sleeps on his front. He has occasionally tried to pull himself into some sort of crawling position in an attempt to reach an object just out of reach but he doesn't appear to be strong enough yet and seems a way off being able to. Though I have heard it all seems to happen in the space of a week when it does happen!

I'm trying to get Callum to wave, clap and I have started to repeat more words to him now too. Things like Ta or thank you. With the waving and clapping, he is fascinated and watches me very closely but doesn't do it himself. I'm sure I've caught him trying to clap once, when he thought I wasn't looking but got all shy and wouldn't do it when I saw him and tried to praise him. Bless!

Think that brings us up to date. Really looking forward to our holiday in a couple of weeks time :o)

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!

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.