How we're playing

 

Giraffes have all the fun. Around here they do, anyway. I'd say it's one adventure after another for a figure who spends all day either on the orange motorbike, in the big red bus, balancing precariously on a small ambulance or holding onto a fire engine. That's life with J - one great idea after another! Meanwhile, on the floor, a now sitting little girl keeps proving her grabbing skills by pulling her basket towards her, emptying it completely and turning it around. Then she seems to be trying to eat it or just banging it. I joined in and took a photo I love. Just because it's her and me, together. 

Changes

My lovely boy has grown out of his size 5s (top), has just got some new size 6s (middle) but has been playing with his cousin's old 7s for weeks (bottom)! He's growing and changing so fast I have to run to keep up, hence the pile of books I've turned to for guidance and inspiration.

Playdough and pain

Playdough has been the highlight of each morning for the last week or so for the lovely J. As you can see, he has become adept at spiking with a fork, poking with his finger and cutting with a knife - quite furiously it seems, judging by the blur in the background! And, while his sister is still a joy, she is teething and a Nurofen/Calpol combo has become our very good friend. 

Leeky garden

While we lament the non-success of our first veggie patch, the leeks have done well. It is rather delightful, of a gloriously sunny autumn day, to walk to the bottom of the garden, lose the soil and add a delicious something to the meal you're preparing. 

Time to transition

We've had some big changes around here, or at least the changes are being initiated! E is dropping her middle of the night feed, much to my delight, but we're no longer seeing eye to eye about the swaddle which is less delightful for us both. But she is doing so brilliantly milk-wise. And the lovely J hit 18 months, so I've begun potty training, although it's more accurately described as potty association training. He now has his nappy changed standing up in the bathroom rather than lying down wherever we happen to be! And he sits on the potty each time, while we sing the potty song. 

Toddler tasks

A couple of highlights from J's week. He's taken to putting on our shoes and walking around in them, here he is in daddy's. The other day he put on Warren's walking boots which you'd think a 17 month old would find too heavy to walk in, wouldn't you? Well, he walked around the house, lay on the sofa and then lifted his legs up over his head and back down again! 

J has also discovered the apple tree in our garden. This apple he reached and pulled down on his own, had a few bites, left a few more bitemarks and then moved on to other things... Toddler life!

Growing

Warren has been very excited about his new venture, The Veggie Patch. Sadly, the slugs are equally committed to its destruction. The only thing not to have been savaged by the slug onslaught is the sweetcorn which is reaching for the sky!

This week I rotated various toys and books for J, bringing out the marble tree he hasn't seen for a while. I kept the marbles in a plastic bottle which he could shake but not open, so it didn't matter if he wasn't directly supervised. On Monday morning he reached for the marble tree and bottle, opened it in no time, sending some marbles cascading across the floor and others were placed straight into his mouth. Silly me! A twisty lid is now no challenge whatsoever to him! (The marbles are now in an egg cup out of his reach!) 

Warren's sweetcorn is growing almost as quickly as J can turn his hand to something new; E is doing a sterling job of consuming plenty of milk and getting plenty of sleep, resulting in her steadily growing body. I, on the other hand, am smaller than I was a couple of weeks ago. Thankfully!

pregnancy success strategies

  

Through nearly 18 months of pregnancy, I'm glad to tell you that I haven't yet eaten coal(!). Different women crave, or want, or need, different things and those probably change from pregnancy to pregnancy. During both pregnancies, I very quickly came to the conclusion that fish is abhorrent - not even to be discussed around me, let alone permitted anywhere near my person. Add to that, this time round, eggs. Nope, I'm still pregnant. Can't think about them. 

But what did I crave or need or find helpful? Well, I couldn't have got through Pregnancy #1 without milk. And, when I say milk, I probably mean Milk. Or maybe even MILK. I would say that it was a need. That's how it felt and I drank a lot of milk - as in, pints a day. What has been helpful so far with Pregnancy #2? Deep Heat. It started out as helpful and has become essential. But I don't consume pints of it daily. 

enjoying our garden

A couple of months ago we moved from our second floor, two bedroom flat to a three-bedroom house with garden. Boy, are we enjoying our garden! Plants and veg patch have been sown, the patio has been chalked, balls have been thrown and bubbles blown. These photos are playing in the garden with my fabulous nephew and the sunflowers I re-potted with my gorgeous son.

expectation

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then surely this photo renders my words entirely redundant?! There's a baby on the way and, as you can see, in the not too distant future - 7 weeks to due date! 

As it hasn't been too easy to paint my toenails for the last few months, I decided that I would simply forego the nail varnish. That did feel a little weird; my toenails have been constantly painted for about 20 years and I don't recognise my feet with naked nails! But bumps must be accommodated...  Or so I thought until, at Sing and Sign, I removed the flip flops and caught sight of my feet. Nope! The nails were painted that evening :-)

some 1st year reflections

A few weeks ago we celebrated J's first birthday - and so easy to celebrate he is! A living, breathing, walking, giggling gift! And, of course, with the big 1 came his final box of formula.

I remember being in hospital after a challenging weekend, culminating in an emergency c-section and a precious bundle of squish-faced loveliness. All day I'd asked for advice and confirmation that I was breast-feeding correctly or at least beginning well. All day I'd been told - yes, you're doing brilliantly. For about nine hours, in fact, and then at 9pm, I was informed that there's real concern for my son, that he's been too long without food; that he needs to be on formula and heel-pricked through the night to check his blood sugar. I replied that I was reluctant to start on formula as I'd heard it was difficult to then establish breast feeding. The midwife snapped that that wasn't true. So, feeling crushed by her words and manner, angry that she waited until my husband and sister had gone and accused of choosing malnutrition for my newborn, I chose Cow & Gate. The only one I'd heard of. 

That experience pretty much set the standard of support I'd receive. No one mentioned, for example, that difficult births, inductions and c-sections often delay milk coming in. (I was induced, had a c-section and my milk came in on day six, not three.) With help from my sister, J was latching on perfectly but there was nothing there. And, by the end of the first week, I decided to stop trying.

You have to choose your battles, don't you? I was already feeling like a failure - unable to birth, unable to feed, unable to get up to J in the night (one night it literally took me 40 minutes to get up because of the wound). Unable or unwilling to cry, it hurt far too much, I felt boxed in. Why force J to breastfeed, thus distressing us both, when he's doing so well on the bottle? 

It's not a decision I regret. As the days became weeks and the weeks months, I realised that birth is just the beginning. It's important; it matters. But it's just the start. As J and I got to know each other, as I recovered and could do more and more for him and for Warren, I felt more empowered; less defined by the birth experience. More free simply to be his mum. 

He's moved from lying to sitting to crawling to walking. He's moved from formula to puree to solids to cow's milk to throwing food on the floor and then signing 'no'! He's our perfect gift going from strength to strength. I hope I can grow as a person and as a mum as successfully as he.

Day 166/2

Warren planted our new fruit trees today. They aren't quite ready for the allotment yet, so they are on what was our balcony but is now our temporary orchard!