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.

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.

7 months, 4 weeks, 2 days old

Blurgh! I've got Man Flu (or is it Swine Flu...oink)? Translated as an 'orrible cold! I caught it from Callum, who caught it from Stuart :o( - it appears we aren't super-human after all. I can't believe we have managed to get this far without Callum getting a cold though, so I count us lucky. Although, very grumpy, Callum isn't suffering too bad. He stirs/cries a bit at night but doesn't often wake and he still sleeps during the day. Doesn't like me wiping his nose much though.

It was just typical that we caught a cold this week. Yesterday was the last 'at risk' day of catching chicken pox and there is no sign. I was really, really looking forward to catching up with the NCT gang but I just didn't feel up to it. On top of the cold, my body aches from climbing on Tuesday. I actually don't know how much of the aches and pains are the result of climbing and how much is down to the cold. All I know is that I feel blurgh! (as stated above).

On a positive note, we had great success with food today and a few successes over the last couple of days. So, in recent days, he has enjoyed fish stick (what used to be known as crab sticks), strawberries and a plum. It was really cute to see him holding and sucking a whole plum. Today, he really tucked into his dinner - sausage, mash and beans. He was clearly swallowing it too. He took a bite of sausage and had too much in his mouth to swallow so he gagged. Rather than spitting the whole lot out, he spat just a little bit out to make the amount in his mouth smaller and then swallowed the rest. 

He is also really interested in inspecting his food, turning it over and over and feeling the texture with his hands. 

Realised the other day, I don't think I've mentioned Callum's babbling. He has been properly babbling for a couple of weeks or so now. As in "abababa, dadadadad, mumom'm (when he is upset, rather typically)" and a few other sounds and letters too. I love it :o)

Tooth no.2 is well and truly through. It seemed to come through with a lot less pain and grumpiness than tooth no.1 thankfully. Lets hope they continue to do so.

Stuart is really pleased at how much Callum clearly recognises that he is Daddy. He instantly smiles at him and, when he moves out of site, looks to see where he has gone. From my point of view, things are often so much easier when Stuart is around. I think he is so pleased to be with Daddy that he is happy to try more or is just happier in general.

Think that sums it up for now!

7 months, 3 weeks. 2 days

Weight: don't even ask. It is yoyoing all over the place at the moment. 

Had a few 'realisation' days recently about the life I've left behind. I guess it is because the sun is starting to shine again, the weather is getting warmer and days getting longer. One of the things I miss is when Stuart and I used to go down the pub to watch the footie in the evening. I remember us saying at the time that we were still going to do those nights and we would just get a babysitter. Ha ha, the things you say before you know!!!!

The other thing I realised is that I'm never going to be able to go for a drink after work again. Because I'll be working locally and Stuart is in London, I'll always have to pick Callum up from childcare. When I said this to Stuart he said that wouldn't necessarily be the case as he would sometimes work from home but this isn't something I can depend/rely on and these days will probably be so adhoc. It would be just my luck that the day Stuart works from home, no one will want to go down the pub. 

Hey ho- that's the life of a mummy I suppose :o(

That aside, Callum is still lovely :o)

Weaning is still slow but he seems to be trying more food now. He really liked pineapple and he had a good suck on a bit of smoked salmon, both of which surprised me. Cream cheese is a big hit. I tried peanut butter yesterday - was a bit scary, what with nut allergies, but he seemed fine and didn't dismiss it either. There was a moment when we went to bed that Callum seemed to be having trouble breathing but it was just because his nose was blocked. Scary going to sleep last night though.

He is slowly getting better at his rolling. He is fine as long as he gets his arm in the right place when he is on his front, otherwise he just looks like he is trying to do a sky dive! I do wonder, when he is struggling, whether he might learn how to crawl by accident when trying to roll as he pushes his knees into a crawling position with his bum in the air. His arms and face are still on the floor though so we are a long way off crawling!

With the recent spell of sunshine, I took Callum out in the garden for the first time the other day. He seemed to love being somewhere new and outside and kept pulling up the grass. We have been out there a couple of times now. He loves it at first but gets bored very quickly. I should probably gets some toys that are just for outside as I think he gets bored with his toys.

We are on chicken pox watch at the moment which isn't much fun. I'm trying to stay away from groups of babies just in case which can be a bit lonely! My friend's two little boys caught chicken Pox. Chicken Pox is contagious about 2 days prior to the first spots developing until the spots have all crusted over (usually about 5 days after first spots). I saw them on the Wednesday and they got their first spots on Friday night. Frustratingly, there is an incubation period of between 10 and 21 days. We are currently on day 15. I still went to Pushy Mothers but I didn't go to the restaurant after so Callum didn't mingle with the babies. He might not get it but I just don't know. I know some people are happy for their children to get Chicken Pox as early as possible and, if Callum did get it, I'd think at least it was out of the way but I just don't like the idea of once we have got out nights and everything sorted, that these would likely all be messed up again. However, I guess there is no right time for it. If it wasn't now, it might happen when we were due to go on holiday or something. At least, if it was now, it should be cleared up by his Naming Ceremony and we don't have anything else planned to mess up. Actually, we have a photoshoot the week before his Naming Ceremony but I guess it'd be fine by then too.

I'm missing not going to my NCT meets though. Should be going this afternoon.

I've started looking into Childminders now ready for when I go back to work. I've got an appointment this morning for one. The thought of going back to work is now becoming very real and scary. Wish I knew where or what I was going back to...or even when I was going back. Hard to arrange stuff when it is all so open. I really hope I can find a job that pays enough for childcare and a cleaner. If I can't, then I really can't afford to go back to work. If it paid towards our bills too then that would be an added bonus but for me, the childcare and cleaner are priority. I want to go back 3 days a week so I don't want it to be the case where the two days I'm not working, I'm stressing about cleaning rather than spending the time with Callum. If I did that, I might as well work full time!!! I also hope the job market has picked up a bit by the time I start looking, which will be in July. 

Anyone want a part-time IT Trainer/Training Consultant in the Surrey/Hampshire area? Pick me, pick me!!!

7 months, 1 week

Weight: not sure what my last weight statement was but I now have 7lb to lose to get back to pre-preg weight. Seems such a small amount but so difficult to do (guessing the easter egg I've just demolished wont help!!!)

Well, feeling a bit frustrated with the weaning today. We have made progress but, despite the fact BLW is meant to be easier and there are meant to be less battles than with spoon-feeding, I still feel like mealtimes are such a struggle. Sometimes Callum will try something but most of the time he just throws a kind of tantrum for most of the time he is in his Bumbo. I try to eat my meals (except dinner) with him and he does sometimes look at what I'm doing and try his too but, usually, he will whine and whinge and rock back and forth for ages (by which time I've eaten my meal) and then he will see something, pick it up, look at it, throw it on the floor and go back to whining, whinging and rocking again. He seems to take more notice of what is on his tray if I'm ignoring him and off doing other stuff so I end up doing that. He really behaves as if I am trying to poison him.

I'm not changing my mind about doing BLW and I really do believe it will get better and is a better way to wean than spoon-feeding, but I feel that Callum is just not really interested. I'm really worried he is going to turn into a fussy eater like I was. From his reactions, I get the impression he would be the same (if not worse) even if he was spoon-fed.

As I say, we have made progress. He only coughs a little bit now when pieces break off in his mouth and it doesn't necessarily mean he will immediately discard it. He has gone back to sucking on bananas for a bit. He is still really keen on cucumber and will suck on a piece for a while. Today, he seemed to enjoy sucking on a piece of duck (in between 'tantrums') and yogurt has been a big hit (especially strawberry) - when I say big hit, it means he goes back for another mouthful or two. Typically unhealthy, he tucked into a chip on Saturday. We were having a day out and Stuart and I had fish and chips so had to share with him to stick with the BLW rule. He really went for the chip. Odd then that he isn't interested in roast potato or roast sweet potato. 

I think I just expected Callum to be more interested in trying stuff but, so often, it doesn't even get to his lips. If he doesn't like the feel of it when he touches it with a finger - tantrum and eventually it meets the floor! 

On a more positive note, he is still sleeping through (touching wood and hoping I haven't just jinxed it) and he has rolled and got stuck a couple more times. I can also feel tooth number 2 just under the gum - I can't wait for that to finally make an appearance. Teething isn't fun and I don't think Callum has been too bad with it. I've heard worse cases where the baby's routine has really been affected along with the constant grizzling.

We are still going to rhymetime/baby bounce at the library when we can. Callum spends the first while looking scared at all the other babies running/crawling around and he makes whimpering noises. Not really sure what he gets out of it - I think I enjoy it more than he does ;o) Today, a child kept stealing his toy, poor thing. The mum just kept apologising saying her child didn't normally do that. Didn't really stop him from doing it at all, though, or try to get a replacement one or anything. Then a little girl nearly pinched me - only lightly but kinda did it sneakily while I wasn't looking then looked all shocked when I looked at her. Oh well, it gets us out of the house for a bit.