Good news my bloggy friends

My beautiful girl is doing thisSo I can show you some of the things we've been doing...

Trying out a new toy (inflatable ring from Auntie Yvonne for Christmas)Shopping for some new clothes for mummy (and taking naps in unusual places)
Lots and lots of smilingAnd generally just hanging out

4 months

Dear Sophia,

Yesterday you turned 4 months old. Already you have changed so much that I'm almost forgetting what you were like in those very early days. Recently a friend of ours had church had a beautiful baby boy, and it's funny to think that although when you're older the age gap will be almost nothing, right now there's a huge difference between the two of you. He's still at the curled up, slightly squished stage, and you're looooong and stretched out. You've been wearing the 3-6 month clothing since before you were 3 months old, and I don't think it will be too much longer before we have to move up another size in babygros, as you pretty much fill the ones you're wearing now.

Last Friday you had your first bath with a rubber duck, and you were fascinated by this new thing. You smiled and giggled as you tried to catch it with both your hands and feet. Your enjoyment confirmed to me the feeling that you'd take after your Daddy and happily spend hours in the bath!

The last few days you've been teething - Just about anything is fair game to be chewed upon, including your fists and clothes, toys, and the fingers or other body parts (arms, chins etc) of anyone who lets you. Unfortunately the teething is also turning you from being one of the most placid babys I know to being a cranky-pants a lot of the time. But when you think about it, what with the pain of the gums, and being tired from having disturbed sleep, it's no wonder you're not your usual happy self.

I love to call you 'my sausage' or 'baby girl'. I wonder how long you'll let me continue to call you those nicknames before you tell me to stop because "you're not a baby anymore" or "you're embarrassing me mum". At the moment you smile and even laugh when I call you my sausage or ask "who's the stinker?" and I love it. I love to stop and play with you. I love to see that smile of recognition when you see me across the room and think "hey, that's my mummy!". I've had the chance to look after lots of other people's children, but there's nothing quite as special as being someone's mummy.

I have to stop as you've woken up again and I suspect you'd like "a little something please mummy".
love from Mummy

Like a bird

I recently discovered that I could send tweets to twitter via text message, and since I'm regularly messaging long-suffering members of my family with random facts about my day, I can now share these with the world at large. This means that even if I haven't written anything new on my blog, you may be able to see what's going on in my world if you check my twitter page - you can see the most recent things I've written there down on my sidebar if you scroll down a little.

The problem with not blogging for a couple of weeks

is that there's then lots of things to say, and no time to say it all in.
Especially since I have a sore throat and a headache, and I have to go finish cleaning the oven.
But, there will hopefully be a couple of Sophia update posts soon, and maybe some other stuff too!

What did I used to blog about?

Before I had a baby I used to blog about other things, so why is it now that when I get a chance to sit at the computer I don't know what to write? I get good blog posts when i'm lying in bed at night, but can't remember them in the morning. Perhaps I need keep a notebook by my bed.
What should I be blogging about?

intermittently around

I *am* here, just sometimes I'm not here! We've been internet-less at home for a few days, hence my absence.

The 'Big Freeze' froze us for a week, but now the temperatures are slowly beginning to rise again, and the ice is beginning to melt. Of course, after all the ice and snow warnings, we're now being told there could be flash floods this weekend as it all begins to melt.

My baby is getting so big. She was 14 weeks old yesterday. She's at a stage where she's really interacting and will smile and laugh at the littlest things. She loves looking up at a painting done by Menard which is hung above the changing unit. For some reason, whatever mood she's in, that picture can make her laugh. However, she can also go from laughing to crying in a few short seconds. When she's had enough of mummy tickling her chin or daddy's 'I'm coming to get you', she'll begin to grizzle. She doesn't really cry though, unless you try to burp her during or after her formula feed, and I guess any sensible person would cry if their food was taken away.

We've all suffered with colds and coughs and nastyness, but we're hoping that we're finally on the up. Being ill is no fun, especially with a baby who's decided that 5.45am is the best time to wake up. I think it's because it allows her to be changed and settled down in the chair with mummy in time for 'Breakfast' on BBC1. (I know people suggest that you shouldn't change babies in the night as it only wakes them up, but believe me, this child wees a lot!)

I'll try to get some photos up presently - just as soon as I manage to have myself, the camera, the camera lead and the internet all in the same place at the same time.

snow is falling all around me, children playing, having fun

It's "The Big Freeze" here in the UK and it is pretty cold! We've had the heating on pretty constantly (although that's true of most of the time since Sophia was born as our house is NOT the best insulated one in the world).We're surviving though. Sophia is not impressed by snow, especially not when snowflakes land on her face.

Not a lot else to report really, apart from the fact that Sophia's sleep has been pretty unsettled for the last few nights, so her Daddy and me are both walking zombies. We're going to try to stop her napping in the later afternoon and evening and see if that helps.

13 weeks / 3months

Dear Sophia,

Today you are 13 weeks old, tomorrow you will be 3 months old. I never wrote you a 2 month post, despite Auntie Bekki's constant reminders. I think I had writers block and life got really busy leading up to Christmas.

Right now you're propped up on cushions and I'm leaning over at a slightly funny angle cos you're feeding and I don't want to disturb you, but I do want to type this post while I have the chance. We're still doing combination feeding, and it's working pretty well. I took you to be weighed on Monday and you're continuing to put on weight at a good rate and doing really well healthwise.

Before Christmas Mummy took you for your first set of immunisations. I think it was harder on me than it was on you. I had to hold you down so that when the nurse put the needle in your thigh you couldn't move. You didn't like it the first time, and when I held the second leg you really didn't like it as you could tell something bad was coming. You got over it pretty quickly though, so I think we'll be ok when we take you for your next lot in a week and a half.

Just before Christmas you 'got interesting' as Auntie Danielle would say. All of a sudden you were taking more interest in your hands. You would look at something, like a toy hanging over the moses basket, you would reach out for it and actually make contact. You like holding on to the rings on the bottom of your mobile and then hold on tight for as long as you can. You also like to hold on to the string that's the tie for the moses basket cover. You got several toys and mobiles for Christmas, and your favourite is probably the cow. It somehow has lots of easy ways to hold on to it, and it's really soft.

Your eyes really are brown now. I wrote at five weeks that they were brown, but in some lights I realised they still looked blue. Now they're brown for sure. Big brown eyes that look like they belong to some Disney character. Betty Boo has been suggested on occasion, although you'll probably have to google her name to discover who she is! I love how alert you are, from an early age you've loved looking around checking out the world. You're very placid, and as a general rule you're happy to just hang out and keep an eye on the world. (An exception to this is halfway through a bottle feed when we try to burp you and you SCREAM the place down).

Your smile just gets better and better. It's now a smile that you give in response to something or someone, not just at random. I love to watch your Daddy playing with you 'coming to get you' and tickling you on the tummy. He makes you laugh, and wave your arms and legs around, asking for more. You smile when you hear my voice, or hear my laugh, and you definitely recognise mine and daddy's faces and voices.

We celebrated your first Christmas, both with your Nan and Grandad (Daddy's mum) on Christmas day (Friday), and with my parents (Nana and Grandad) on the Monday. You celebrated so hard on Christmas day that you ended up needing a bath in a washing up bowl. We've taken photos which won't be appearing here, but I'm sure will come in use to embarrass you later in life.

Other changes include moving from size one to size two nappies, and from 0-3month babygros into 3-6month ones. You're so long, and continue to grow - when we change you on the big changing unit you pretty much always kick the wipes off onto the floor. I think we'll have to start putting the changing mat on the floor or bed soon because you're so long.

You're fantastic at holding up your head to look around. You love baths, although I think you may be getting too big for the baby bath soon, so we'll have to think about putting you in the big bath. We also have a lot of rubber ducks which I'm sure you'll enjoy playing with soon enough.
I love looking at you, and snuggling up with you when I'm feeding you. You're so warm, and it's lovely to be able to share those moments with you, looking down at your big wide eyes. (Although you're also very good at falling asleep on me mid-feed!).

We don't really have a fixed routine, more of a rough schedule that is pretty flexible. We try to get you settled in bed by nine, although it doesn't always work. Some nights you'll sleep through until 7am, but other nights you wake up at half 5. It's still a pretty long time, and since I try to get to bed soon after you it means I get a good long sleep as well.

We love having you in our lives, and are enjoying watching you grow and develop.
love Mummy.

2009 - what a year

January
I got pregnant. (And lots of other events, but that pretty much overshadowed all of them)
I had an interview and got a job.

February
I had my first scan after some bleeding, and nearly squeezed my mum's hand off when we saw the heart beating.
Menard and I got engaged. I suffered horribly with morning sickness nausea (and made a mental list of all the different places I puked in! Later the list became places I'd wee-ed. I'm a classy girl!). I started my new job, and somehow managed not to ever puke there, although there were a couple of times that it was pretty close.

March
We planned our wedding in two and a half weeks - because we wanted to have it at our church during the Sunday service, and the only date we could do it was the 5th April.

April
We got married and honeymooned for a few days in the Lake District and then back in our new flat, settling in and generally enjoying being newlyweds!

May
My birthday month and when the bump definitely began to show.

June
Nothing all that much I can remember. My extended family gathered to celebrate my Grandad's 80th birthday, but I couldn't be there as I had my first antenatal appointment at my local hospital (I transferred my care after I got married, well eventually I did, it took a while!)

July
All I really remember is it was hot and I was pregnant! I got swine flu at the end of the school term and missed the last few days. I was very poorly and it took me a long time to get better. Menard's birthday was this month as well.

August
A month of weddings - both my cousin and my sister HP got married. I was quite involved in helping my Mum stay sane in the lead up to HP's wedding!

September
I returned to work for 7 days, which was plenty. I was pretty big and easily tired, so I really enjoyed it once I got on maternity leave.

October
Sophia Louise arrived 3 hours and 33 minutes after her due date, which I think is pretty god going. Most of that month went by with little sleep and lots of baby adoration. We celebrated our 6 month anniversary.

November
We were beginning to settle in to the having a baby thing, but still not making any big plans. I think it's an achievement if I actually get dressed and do some washing up before my husband gets home from work!

December
Building up to Sophia's first Christmas. I did lots of my Christmas shopping online! Sophia got to celebrate with both set of grandparents, did lots of smiling and had lots of cuddles. We spend New Years eve at a church prayer and praise celebration, and Sophia was very good on the whole, despite being up way past her bedtime.

something about cheese and onion crisps

I wrote this wonderful blog post last night. Unfortunately it was written inside my head, not on the computer. It even had this fantastically cool, slightly wacky title, and all I can remember now is that it was something to do with cheese and onion crisps. If I ever remember it I'll get back to you.
In the meantime I'm back.
Maybe not all the time, probably not every day. But I'm here :)

Happy Almost New Year

It's nearly 2010.
I aim to be back properly in the very near future.
Sophia enjoyed her first Christmas. We did too. We're still all a bit under the weather, but hopefully on the up.
So much happened in 2009 that I can't wait to see what 2010 will bring.....

All still alive

I've barely switched on the computer in the last month, let alone written any blog posts. We are still alive, and doing ok. Sophia is now 11 weeks old, and we're gearing up to our first Christmas together. In the meantime we're all suffering with a nasty nasty cold that we're hoping won't linger too long. Sophia has the most heart wrenching pitiful cough you ever heard.

Here's looking at you kid

This is a typical Sophia face!

Smiles!

I know I haven't been around much lately, but I had a horrible stomach bug which started on Tuesday night, and then Sophia got it. She's on the up, but still pretty clingy.
Anyway, enough of all that. You'll certainly forgive me when you see this, taken this afternoon (6 weeks, 3 days)

Things I've learnt

in the past 5 1/2 weeks.

It is possible to go through 4 or 5 complete outfits in half an hour if you and your baby try hard enough.

Sophia's party trick is to wee in the two seconds between removing the old nappy and putting on the new.

A microwave steriliser is a great idea - just 5 minutes and you're sorted. Fantastic if you've forgotten to get the bottle ready for the next feed and your daughter is screaming.

If you have a few friends who've had babies already it's unlikely you'll have to buy any baby clothes if they're as generous as our friends have been. The same goes for baby equipment - I think we've only bought a buggy and things like nappies. And even then lots of people have bought them for us.

Olive oil from a pharmacy is great for the dry skin that newborn babies often have.

Baby nails are sharp, and I really need to buy some nail scissors.

Muslin squares are great for wiping up milky sick and are thin enough that they dry quickly when you've washed them.

It's easy to while away time just sitting staring at my daughter, marvelling at how amazing she is.

Having a baby really does change your life forever, but it's totally worth it.

One month

Dear Sophia,

You are now one month old. Actually, due to internet issues (Daddy was changing our internet to a new wi-fi system) and lack of time you're actually more than a month old - you're five weeks old today.

Already you have grown and changed in so many ways. Looking back on photos from the first few days you looked so small and scrunched up, and now when you stretch out you're long enough to kick things off the end of the changing unit. In fact we may stop changing you up there soon because you're so wriggley.

I never knew that having a baby would be like this. I've known for years that I wanted to have children, but the reality is so much more than all the ideas. More tiring, more painful, more challenging, but so much more rewarding. Your daddy and I are just overwhelmed sometimes by how much you've changed our lives, but also how much we love you.

As I write this you're staring up at me from the moses basket. You're kicking your legs and waving your arms - I joke that you're doing semaphore. Your kick is very strong and sometimes we find that you've pushed off from the end of the basket and are trying to head for the other end! Actually, you're so long that I wonder just how much longer you'll fit in the basket before we have to come up with other options. At the moment you sleep in your crib in our bedroom at night and in the moses basket in the living room during the day. When you're awake and lying in the basket you love looking around, so I think a bouncy chair might be a good idea to allow you to look around more.

The midwife came on Saturday, the day you turned one month, and finally declared that you'd put on enough weight for them to discharge you. It's be a bit of a rollercoaster month. Most babies drop weight in the first week or so, and anything up to 10% is considered ok. You lost around 600g, which was more like 16% so we needed to add in formula top-ups as well as my milk, to help you put on weight again. Tracey, our midwife, was a wonderful support and in my opinion went above and beyond her role to support us as we looked after you. She also helped me as I struggled with mastitis. I think we've had three extra trips to the hospital in the last month - who'd have thought we'd be back there so soon after your birth, but hopefully we won't need anymore visits for a long time!

In the first couple of weeks everything seemed like a sleep-deprived blur. You woke a lot at night, and we wouldn't have survived without the support of people like your Nana and Grandad and Aunties and Uncle who stayed over at various times, or visited and let me and your daddy sleep while they looked after you. Once we got you on the formula you settled into a better sleeping pattern - meaning that you actually slept! And now you tend to go down to bed around half eight or nine and sleep right through until two or three in the morning. Sometimes it's even as late as four. We get up for a feed, which still takes us about an hour, and then you settle again until seven or eight. This morning you slept until nine and I actually got to have a shower before you woke up. That's sheer luxury, and I don't expect it to happen very often.

I couldn't have survived the past month without your daddy. He's been a rock of support, even at times when he's been more tired than me. And I must mention how fantastic he is at cooking and cleaning. I'll have to get him to teach you cleaning skills when you're older, because he's better at it than me, and a lot tidier!

We've also been really blessed by our extended family and people at Jubilee Church. So many people have given you presents that I sometimes wonder if you have more clothes than me and daddy together! Luckily most people listened when I asked them to go for things in bigger sizes. Your legs are very long and you have big feet (taking after your mummy) that mean that lots of the newborn babygros we have for you are already too small because they squish your toes. I've got a bag hanging on the back of the door in the spare room to put clothes in as we discover you've outgrown them.

I'm amazed by your eyes. The day you were born they were a vivid blue, but I noticed that even by the next day they'd started getting darker. They went darker and darker, but kept a blue outline, that looked like someone had outlined your eye in blue biro. Today I look at your eyes are they are a beautiful deep brown, sometimes looking so dark you can hardly see the pupils in the centre, but there's still a blue line around the outside. You were born with hairy ears and they're still hairy. You also have a lot of hair that you were born with, but shows no signs of falling out, despite lots of people suggesting it will. It started off pretty straight, with just a hint of curls at the ends, but now more and more it seems to be getting curlier. When we bathe you and wet your hair it goes into beautiful little ringlets.

You're now sat on my lap, trying to help me type as you wave your arms around. Daddy complains that you've already managed to bop him on the nose with your waving arms as he cuddled you. You're wearing mittens because your nails are pretty sharp and we still haven't got around to buying any nail scissors. Last week you scratched yourself on the eyelid, and although its healed, you have a lot of dry sore skin on your face and we don't want it to get any worse. Every time we change you we put a little olive oil on your face, and about once a day we oil you all over. That makes you extra tricky to hold as you're such a wiggler already and the oil makes you slippery!

Auntie Hannah will tell you that mummy is good at giving people strange nicknames (case in point, I currently call her Chicken if we speak on the phone!). Mummy's given you lots of nicknames. In the early days I called you a little frog because of the way you would lie with you legs up in the air, bent like a frog's legs. I call you my little sausage, and when I wrap you up in a blanket to go to sleep you're my little sausage roll! We also call you Little Miss Squeaky because sometimes you can sound just like a creaky door. You also squeak when you're waking up to tell us you're hungry - it's as if you want to warn us you'd like to be fed, but you're not actually ready to wake up yet. Ideally I think you'd like to just feed in your sleep, or at least that's what you seem to suggest since you fall asleep on me almost every time I feed you.

You have a lot of aunties (related and honorary), and I'm sure in the future you'll have lots of fun with them all. At the moment they mostly just argue over who gets to cuddle you the most. You've got to spend time at Nana & Grandad's house and with Nan & Grandad and auntie Yvonne. I think they'll spoil you like crazy as at the moment you're the first grandchild on both sides!

I'm looking forward to the next month with you and I'm sure we'll see you smile for the first time soon - there have been times that we've been almost convinced you were really smiling at us.

We love you Sophia Louise,
love Mummy

Showered with gifts

Recently I was, or rather we were lucky enough to be involved in the Fall 2009 Etsy Baby Shower. This is an event organised by etsy members for etsy members, and since I was pregnant and then had Sophia while the event was going on, we qualified to recieve presents from some lovely Etsy sellers.
The event was organised by Jessica from BuggaLove and Deniz from DecorativeLabels and I figure they deserve a couple of links here on my blog for all their hard work, so please so check out their etsy shops.
I'll be blogging to show off each of the gifts we received and to share links to the shops the gifts came from. Please check them out too, if at least to admire their handiwork, because they deserve some attention!

sneeeeezy day

I'm too busy sneezing to think of much to say.

Earlier I put Sophia up on my shoulder to burp her but she was so desperate to keep sucking that she got a hold of my ear to suck on! Her breath really tickled.

We made it out the house

Yesterday we stayed in all day cos we were both a bit under the weather, however by the end of the day I was feeling a bit emotional and stir crazy. Today we're out (I'm writing this at my mum's house) and I'm heading off to enjoy it. Back tomorrow, possibly!

sniffles and snuffles

Now obviously I've hit a fundamental problem if I were try to do NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) as I didn't post on the first! However I am trying to write more on my blog now life's beginning to settle down a little.

This is for several reasons, firstly I like writing, and I'm constantly thinking of things that I want to say on here, and if I'm only posting once or twice a week, I've forgotten most of those things by the time I come to write. Ok, so maybe that means you don't have to read so much of my drival, but, and this leads me on to my second point... I want to remember the little things from these early days. Already it's going so fast, and details are beginning to fade. I know when I was younger I wanted to hear lots of stories about when I was a baby, and if my blog will help me to remember those stories for Sophia, then I'm all for it. Obviously there will be things that won't go on here as it's a public forum, but lots of the little things can.

Sophia's still got a cold. She spent a lot of last night coughing and sniffling and sounding like she was trying to cough up a fur ball. As it's pretty yucky again outside, I think we'll just be staying in most of the day, with perhaps a quick blow in the park or a pop to the shop up the road for milk and bread. She doesn't seem too unhappy today, it's just me that's in distress seeing my baby snuffle and sneeze. (And actually I'm doing ok, I think it's Daddy that's most concerned, but then he did have to go to work and leave us).

Sophia's developed a couple of new cries in the last few days. They have elements that sound like 'ai' (as in rain), 'ee' (as in beech) and 'i' (aye). We're now two fifths of the way to teaching her the names of the vowels ;)