Weaning weeny.

We are now in about the third week of weaning, giving Joel a savoury lunch and then a pudding for his tea. He's not very experimental, which is fair enough given he has only had milk for all his life so far, but enjoys his lunch of butternut squash and sweet potato and his tea of strawberry and apple pudding.
He sits in a Bumbo seat and wears a bib, now a sleeved one (I soon realised sleeves, and possibly legs, were needed) It's all very messy, as he enjoys feeding himself (or trying to). Here he is making a lunge for the spoon.

and he got it! He likes to chomp on the spoon so most times we end up with a spoon each. We tried bluberries, which he quite liked, but not the skins. No they came right back out!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Last month it was Mr B's birthday, his first as a daddy. So I planned an extra special birthday present for him from Joel and I.
A year or so ago we saw a fantastic textile artists work at a contemporary art fair in Manchester. Debbie Smythe draws with pins and thread, her creations are amazing and unlike anything we had seen before. As Mr B is a hard one to buy for I thought a piece of Debbies work would be the perfect special present for him. Through our communications about the piece she was going to create for us I found that Debbie has the same birthday as Mr B, now that's fate saying we must have a piece of her work.

Joel and I wrapped the presents in OS maps which I bought from Oxfam, we'd searched all over town for a nice design but on a roll of wrapping (as the parcels were large) but these old maps were perfect for the job and a bargain to boot! I cut the illustrations off the covers to use as tags too.

I got Joel up early so he could see his daddy open up his cards and presents before he had to go to work. Here he is, still in his pyjamas and sleeping bag, with the triptych Debbie made for Mr B.

We love the illustrative quality of her work, and the use of perspective. Here's some close ups.

Whilst I made breakfast Joel had a good look at his daddys cards. With his mouth that is.

And Joey made further use of the OS maps.

Even though Mr B had to go to work it was a lovely start to a day for us all.

Adventure Lane

We live in the country, which is lovely, but doesn't afford you many pram friendly walks. People tend to drive a bit crazy down country lanes, and then have the cheek to pip their horn or shake their heads at me, a pedestrian walking with a pram at the side of the road. All they have to do is slow down but that doesn't seem to be on their agenda in life. Anyway my bad driver rant is over now as the back lane to town is closed off to vehicles (all be it temporarily) which has meant a new lease of life for Joel and I.

The last couple of weeks we have done a fair few miles along this lane and seen lots of exciting things like....

A field full of gee gees (horses) which Joel was fascinated by and kept laughing at them as I fed them grass.

I think it was the way their lips curled back to reveal their massive teeth that kept him amused. The supply of carefully selected juicy grasses made up for being the but of the joke for the horses.

 

We also saw a bit of the hedgerow which was keeping warm by wearing a mossy jumper. Looks a bit like a Koala reclining backwards don't you think? Or maybe a Sloth?

Really interesting lichen, the most amasing shade of blue/green. It was all spikey and looked like it should be underwater.

Part of our walk goes alongside an industrial estate and we saw the funniest thing hanging over a wall there!

The shiniest fungus, it looked like it was made from gemstones.

We love our wanders, long may the road ahead stay closed (open)

Seasonal Inspiration

I've bought Joel a lovely piece of artwork. A set of four limited edition prints, Four Seasons, drawn by my friend Jill.
They are so nice and so Jill.

My favourite is the winter illustration because of the detail on the knitted gloves and cuffs.

Teeth for the toothless

Well what a weekend of firsts! Mr B and I took Joel on his first ever swim on Saturday morning. It was a lovely day so the pool was really quiet, perfect for a baby's first swim experience.

When we first got in he made some crying noises but not anything major and gradually he started to enjoy it more and more. We took turns holding him, bobbing along the length of the pool and he was kicking his legs around. Afterwards he even went in the shower with me, which he liked. So all in all it was a great time and he went straight to sleep as soon as he was back in his car seat, all the excitement had tired him out. The pictures are a bit blurred but you can still tell I'm proud as punch.

That night was pretty horrible with lots and lots of tears and crying. In the morning there on his bottom gum was the culprit, his very first tooth! The one next to it doesn't look far behind either so I'm sure we are in for lots more sleepless nights. Poor little man!!

We knew it would be breaking through as there had been a few days of frantic chomping on his teether, the wonderful Sophie Le Giraffe. Which really is the best teether EVER!

Oh and I had my first evening out since Joel was born. Just thought I'd squeeze that in :)

Curb your anxiety

It's true that sometimes you just have to jump in. Since Joel was little we have been co-sleeping with him. This happened quite by accident due to the fact that up until 6 weeks he was constantly screaming with hunger as he had an undiagnosed tongue tie which prevented him from sucking properly during his feeds. The only way we could get him to sleep was on Mr B's chest with the duvet pulled up over him.

The sleeping arrangements were really getting me down as Joel now required an earlier bedtime which meant I was having to go to bed with him at 6pm and Mr B and I were getting no quality time together and no quality sleep. I had started reading a book on no cry sleep solutions as the thought of him crying and crying terrified me and brought back vivid memories of those panic striken first few weeks. I didn't want to go back to that place. However the books introduction contained a graphic account of what is going through a babies mind when 'crying it out' which left me shaken and crying when I read it. At that point I decided to follow my GPs advice (and that of Mr B) to not read anymore books!

Someone recently described new experiences as being built up in your mind to stepping off a cliff when really you are just stepping off a curb, this saying could not be more true. Two weeks ago I made the bold decision to put him not only into his cot to sleep but in his own room. Joel settled into his new sleep routine almost straight away. The first night he did cry a bit, but we took turns going and sitting with him so it didn't make the crying seem as painful an experience for all of us. We had his lantern on and the radio on low and sat close by reading him stories in low tones until he drifted off to sleep.

Now he settles down under his covers and usually only wakes a couple of times for feeds, which he will gradually drop. This new found sleep independence has improved our lives and our relationships as a family immeasurably. I've learnt to trust advice given by those close to me and not to picture a cliff but instead a curb.

Walkies!

The funniest thing happened on New Years Day. Michael was visiting us so we had all gone on a walk up the lane together with the pram and Myrtle when Joey decided to follow us! It's quite a long way and he meowed the whole time and ducked into a hedge while we ran Myrtle in the field. You could tell he was outside of his comfort zone but all the same he didn't want to miss out on the walk.
Well on Monday I went for a walk up the lane with Joel and Joey followed, here he is trotting ahead of the pram stopping to look where I was every now and then. Here is a photo of my view.

It was about 4pm so as I had left it a bit late it was going dark on the way back. About a third of the way home a van came along the lane, I got into the side of the lane with the pram and encouraged Joey to do the same. However in his wisdom he decided instead to try and outrun the van down the middle of the lane which meant the van had to crawl along behind him. This went on for some time and i could see his little tailless wombat bum in the van headlights running all the way up the hill and out of site. I couldn't help but laugh, imagine how funny a view it must have been for the van driver!
As I walked up the hill Joey popped out of the hedge, clearly he'd realised he only had the edge on the van on the uphill run and decided not to tackle the downhill. He's so funny, he came trotting out of the hedge meowing loudly and then led the way home.
It was obvious that I now accompanied him on his walks not he on mine.

Festivities

We left everything really late this year and so the Wednesday before christmas I was rushing round like a maniac trying to track down a Christmas Tree. All the usual places were sold out but then I managed to find some at a petrol station. There was the choice of really short or really tall ones.........so I plumped for a really tall one, and I mean a REALLY tall one!

It barely fitted inside the car, poor Joel must have wondered what the heck was going on.

We had to chop a big bit off the top and finally got round to dressing it the night before Christmas Eve. We bought Joel some decoration as we thought it'd be nice each year if there was a box of decorations that were his which we can add to.

Christmas Eve the neighbours delivered some freshly baked scones and a home made card.

and the postman delivered us a stack of parcels from Jill wrapped in fantastic homemade paper.

On Christmas day Joel got a nice new hat, though it's a little on the large size!

And a really cool finger puppet version of The Hungry Caterpillar

Not to mention lots and lots of other nice things. I don't think Joel knew how special a day it was but we did.

Winter

I'd set out with every intention of telling you all about Joels adventures and firsts. Time seems to slip by though and before I knew it it's over a month since I've blogged. So I'll bring you up to speed.

He can now roll onto his tummy and in his own funny way crawl. He uses his face as his arms aren't strong enough yet but he is so determined to be on the move he keeps going anyway and manages to travel across his play mat.

He had his first go in his door bouncer. Didn't do much bouncing but instead pirouetted round and round on his toes. It was so funny and lovely to watch.

Today he had his first try of his highchair. I had to put a cushion under him as he is still quite small for it. I gave him some baby rice and he played with some toys with Myrtle sat by his side. No doubt the position she will assume from now on.

And every time he goes out he wears this fleecy pram suit which I customised with a nice bright orange J. I thought I'd have loads of time for crafts whilst at home with a baby but there's no time for anything much!

Men in tights

I had no idea that a practical fashion solution for chilly legs, wooly tights, would cause such a stir. I've received praise ('Good for you' or 'I wish I'd done that when he was little') and ponderings ('Tights?') in equal measures from other mums on this. For some reason over the last 20 years this seems to have become something exclusive to girl babies. Why is that? After all they are babies, not little boys or little girls.....yet.

There used to be a far more unisex approach to baby clothes, so when did we get so uptight about gender?? Babies used to wear long nighties, with matinee jackets over the top (like this one above) and were only dressed up for visitors, imagine how practical that would have been, no need to undo and do up poppers on grows five or six times a day. Here's a contemporary version of this combo.

When they went out baby tights were common use for boys and girls, perfect for warm wriggly legs of all sizes. Yet in my quest for tights I found any multipack of super bright colours was plighted by a pink pair, or a pair with daisies on them.Clearly these products are not stocked with boy babies in mind.

Anyway I have managed to get my mitts on some plain brights and some stripey brights so thought I'd share some of the fashion combos Joel and I have put together, they made us smile and hope they make you smile too. We don't go for all the miniature adult outfits that are in the shops. You can have so much fun with babies, so why should their fashion be so serious?