...well almost - BB is now confidently walking between myself and Mr B and we try and get her to do this every evening (as well as me placing her by the sofa as she clings on to it and then sitting a few feet away from her and saying "walk to mummy", which makes her turn, giggle and waddle over!).
I came home from my weekly run last Saturday to Mr B stating, "Right, something's happened. You are going to be both pleased and unhappy. I think". Great! I know that BB is OK as I am sure that Mr B would have been a bit more forthcoming with information if something had happened. As it turned out, whilst he was hoovering with our Henry Hoover, BB was following him, pushing Henry around - very helpful little girl that she is. As he was starting on the stairs (we have stair gates at the bottom and the top) he made sure she was safely with him. And then it happened. She started to climb. Climb and climb and climb right up to the top of the stairs. Now, she hasn't done this before, most likely due to the fact that pretty much as soon as she started crawling we installed the gates, so this was quite a big achievement in our eyes. And a scary one at that. But she proudly showed off her new skill to her grandparents later that afternoon to raptuous applause - so I'm sure it is a skill she will keep pulling out of the bag on demand.
As the autumn/winter sets in we have started to light our log burner again, which has meant we have had to get a fire guard. Although we live in the countryside, our house is fairly modern so we have gone for a pretty sturdy, unswurly type, which actually looks pretty modern as well as safe.
This weekend saw BB's first ever projectile vomitting, and the first vomitting in my car! At least it was on the way to the Doctor as she had not had a great night with a horrible cough which was making her almost choke on phlem she was bringing up (this was going on for about 1h30 in the middle of the night so pretty scary). As it turns out she is fine but when she coughs it is putting pressure on her diaphragm and bringing up whatever she has inside. She had a good Saturday night and Sunday so we thought she was on the mend. However, she was sick again this morning after some more coughing. Unfortunately, she has also been off her food over the last few days. So plenty of rest and cuddles for her as well as healthy snacks throughout the day.
Having had a bout of doing lots of exercise, a few months ago, and altough I am running at least once a week, I have started to feel like a bit of a frump again, so, I am determined to start up a new fitness regime. I just need delve into my week and, like on an excel spreadsheet, minimise some columns in order to maximise my fitness column. Hhhmmm we shall see...
Cuddles and Kisses
Apologies for massive time gap since my last post - suffice to say our household has been a little busy of late.
We had managed to pick one of the worst weeks weather-wise to go away, with most of the UK flooding due to the heavy rain. We had gone to Snowdonia and although some parts of Wales were badly hit, we were pretty lucky that the floods didn't reach us - although the heavy rain did.
This did not stop Mr B going on mountain bike rides (all on his own with no signal on his phone) as often as he could - three times - in an effort to make the most of his time away from the office, although this didn't mean he didn't check his work emails and actually have to do some work, most days.
In any event, we had a very relaxing week, well I did, particularly as Mr B did all of our cooking - I prepared all of BB's meals - and I managed to read and finish two whole books! A feat I have not accomplished for some time. SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT!! One of the books was one that I had agreed to review as part of bloggers team who were reviewing the books shortlisted for this years Man Booker Prize - see link if you fancy it - http://ashasnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/
By the end of our week away, however, I was pretty ready to get back home...and start on the various tasks I had set myself to do. As some of you are aware, I am busy building two businesses around looking after BB and the home - multi-tasking is so long gone. I am way beyond that! ha ha ha!
But back to BB, who seems to be growing at a faster rate than my tasks list, is doing really well. She will now walk whilst holding just one of our hands (as opposed to the clutching onto both of them, which she has favoured for a while), has learnt to give cuddles and kisses (so, so, so cute) - so much so that she gives them to her cuddly toys too - and she said her first "Hi, Daddy" the other night - which just melted Mr B's heart after a long hard day at the office.
However, BB also caught her first sickness bug this week. She has never been a particularly sicky baby so this did worry us a fair bit. Two nights of being sick and a couple of days of rather loose poos (TMI?!?) and she seems to be on the mend. And yet, she does seem to be teething (a constant in little ones I am fast realising) and she has her next set of jabs this afternoon!! boo hiss! But, I am rather glad that she had the sickness bug before the jabs otherwise my mind would be spinning into all sorts of negative directions!
So...till next time...not as long as last time...promise!
We had managed to pick one of the worst weeks weather-wise to go away, with most of the UK flooding due to the heavy rain. We had gone to Snowdonia and although some parts of Wales were badly hit, we were pretty lucky that the floods didn't reach us - although the heavy rain did.
This did not stop Mr B going on mountain bike rides (all on his own with no signal on his phone) as often as he could - three times - in an effort to make the most of his time away from the office, although this didn't mean he didn't check his work emails and actually have to do some work, most days.
In any event, we had a very relaxing week, well I did, particularly as Mr B did all of our cooking - I prepared all of BB's meals - and I managed to read and finish two whole books! A feat I have not accomplished for some time. SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT!! One of the books was one that I had agreed to review as part of bloggers team who were reviewing the books shortlisted for this years Man Booker Prize - see link if you fancy it - http://ashasnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/
By the end of our week away, however, I was pretty ready to get back home...and start on the various tasks I had set myself to do. As some of you are aware, I am busy building two businesses around looking after BB and the home - multi-tasking is so long gone. I am way beyond that! ha ha ha!
But back to BB, who seems to be growing at a faster rate than my tasks list, is doing really well. She will now walk whilst holding just one of our hands (as opposed to the clutching onto both of them, which she has favoured for a while), has learnt to give cuddles and kisses (so, so, so cute) - so much so that she gives them to her cuddly toys too - and she said her first "Hi, Daddy" the other night - which just melted Mr B's heart after a long hard day at the office.
However, BB also caught her first sickness bug this week. She has never been a particularly sicky baby so this did worry us a fair bit. Two nights of being sick and a couple of days of rather loose poos (TMI?!?) and she seems to be on the mend. And yet, she does seem to be teething (a constant in little ones I am fast realising) and she has her next set of jabs this afternoon!! boo hiss! But, I am rather glad that she had the sickness bug before the jabs otherwise my mind would be spinning into all sorts of negative directions!
So...till next time...not as long as last time...promise!
The hills are alive...they just are
So...it turns out that the journey up to Snowdonia isn't quite the same with BB as when we did it just the two of us...FULL POST COMING SHORTLY (once we have finished our hols - but I can bet that there may be a mention of an incident with BB and a daddy long legs and possible ingestion of the latter!).
1st Birthday
Here's a question. Who should be the first to say 'Happy Birthday' to your baby? A few weeks ago I met up with a friend who asked me if I thought I might get emotional on BB's first birthday. I told her what I truthfully felt, that no, I didn't think I necessarily would and that I was simply relieved that we had all recovered from her birth and that we had got through the first year relatively unscathed.
That was until the morning of BB's birthday. The days leading up to the day itself were pretty hectic with organising her Baptism the day before her birthday and arranging the logistics of the family for both events, as well as the catering. We ended up having a pub lunch on the Sunday after the Baptism service and then tea and cake (the top tier of our wedding cake, which had been defrosting for the last couple of days following almost 5 years in the deep freeze!) back at ours. Friends popped in throughout the afternoon and it was a lovely leisurely afternoon.
The following morning was BB's first birthday. A special day to me. Unfortunately, the day before, BB had started to get a bit of a runny nose and we weren't totally sure if it was teething again or another little cold (she had just had a week of being well after all of us having had horrible colds - Mr B blames BB being at nursery and actually threatened to take her out, over a cold!). So, as her nose was full of gooey green snot, we cleaned up her nose, gave her a bit of an eye bath (as her last cold led her to having a bit of an eye infection) and getting her up in the normal way. As we were finishing, Mr B went downstairs to get breakfast going and then my mum came in to see BB (she was staying with us for a few days). She asked BB if anyone had wished her a happy birthday yet and proceeded to sing "Happy Birthday" to her. I asked her to stop, please stop (I hadn't had a chance to say those words to her myself yet as I was wanting her to be nice and clean and comfy before we started all the lovely celebrations) but mum just kept on until I forcefully said "Stop!" as she took BB off me for a cuddle. I simply walked out of the room rather upset that I hadn't had the chance to be the first to wish my little girl a happy birthday for the very first time, on her very first birthday. Those words had been stolen from me, and the sentiment. Or at least, that is how I felt at the time. Was I being oversensitive or was I right to feel more than a bit put out?! Hmph!
That was until the morning of BB's birthday. The days leading up to the day itself were pretty hectic with organising her Baptism the day before her birthday and arranging the logistics of the family for both events, as well as the catering. We ended up having a pub lunch on the Sunday after the Baptism service and then tea and cake (the top tier of our wedding cake, which had been defrosting for the last couple of days following almost 5 years in the deep freeze!) back at ours. Friends popped in throughout the afternoon and it was a lovely leisurely afternoon.
The following morning was BB's first birthday. A special day to me. Unfortunately, the day before, BB had started to get a bit of a runny nose and we weren't totally sure if it was teething again or another little cold (she had just had a week of being well after all of us having had horrible colds - Mr B blames BB being at nursery and actually threatened to take her out, over a cold!). So, as her nose was full of gooey green snot, we cleaned up her nose, gave her a bit of an eye bath (as her last cold led her to having a bit of an eye infection) and getting her up in the normal way. As we were finishing, Mr B went downstairs to get breakfast going and then my mum came in to see BB (she was staying with us for a few days). She asked BB if anyone had wished her a happy birthday yet and proceeded to sing "Happy Birthday" to her. I asked her to stop, please stop (I hadn't had a chance to say those words to her myself yet as I was wanting her to be nice and clean and comfy before we started all the lovely celebrations) but mum just kept on until I forcefully said "Stop!" as she took BB off me for a cuddle. I simply walked out of the room rather upset that I hadn't had the chance to be the first to wish my little girl a happy birthday for the very first time, on her very first birthday. Those words had been stolen from me, and the sentiment. Or at least, that is how I felt at the time. Was I being oversensitive or was I right to feel more than a bit put out?! Hmph!
Motherhood Understood
I was speaking with my sister-in-law the other day, whose little boy is now 10 weeks old, and she was telling me about how surprised she was at how long it was taking her body to recover from the birth. But what surprised her most of all was that even the antenatal classes didn't really prepare you for it. They go into great detail about the labour and birth (of course) but not nearly enough about the aftermath - and she's a nurse! I agreed with her, as it took me a long time to recover too, and at the time I thought it was just me not being "made" to give birth. It also reminded me of the new Cussons Mum & Me advert I had seen on TV, which I am glad they are showing (even if for a split second - the painful sitting down even on a comfy sofa springs to mind) the realities of recovery and the difficulties of being a new mum - #MotherhoodUnderstood - I think there is an element in that advert that most mums can relate to.
Heart to heart
I finally managed to get myself for a dental and hygienist check up this week at my new surgery, the latter of which ended with a bit of a heart to heart about being a mum with a career, and how conflicted it makes us. My new hygienist has two daughters, one 13 years old and one 9 years old, and yet we both understood each other's positions. She told me that she was now a single mum, so the pressure was really on.
Our mini-discussion led us to agree that the wish for having a family and a career should possibly be discussed during the career talks at school, so as to help decide what job may be more flexible around having a family (but I fear that might scare parents, making them think that their children are being encouraged to have a family), and yet, part of me wonders why we should sacrifice the careers we really want just because we may want a family too some day. This reminded me of Licia Ronzulli, an MEP from Italy who took her tiny baby to work: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1314283/Licia-Ronzulli-brings-baby-EU-Parliament.html proving that both are just as important as each other to some.
Will we ever feel as if we get the balance right? Possibly not - but that wont stop most of us from trying!
Our mini-discussion led us to agree that the wish for having a family and a career should possibly be discussed during the career talks at school, so as to help decide what job may be more flexible around having a family (but I fear that might scare parents, making them think that their children are being encouraged to have a family), and yet, part of me wonders why we should sacrifice the careers we really want just because we may want a family too some day. This reminded me of Licia Ronzulli, an MEP from Italy who took her tiny baby to work: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1314283/Licia-Ronzulli-brings-baby-EU-Parliament.html proving that both are just as important as each other to some.
Will we ever feel as if we get the balance right? Possibly not - but that wont stop most of us from trying!
Standing Tall
This month has been a rather busy one for BB. Not only has she mastered crawling (now reaching high speeds from room to room, following us like a puppy), BB is now the proud owner of 4 gleaming teeth, she has added the word dog to her vocabulary and she is now able to stand tall (whilst resting on our coffee tables) confidently for quite some time. I was extremely excited to buy her her first proper pair of shoes this week, being measured and everything!! She now has her first shoe box - proper girly! And she seems pretty happy with them.
We also had BB's first ever parents evening! Yes, seriously. It seems that even at just 11 months old there is enough to talk about beyond our handovers at nursery. Happily she seems to be doing well and the staff are pleased with how well she has settled in nursery even though she is only going once a week.
Unfortunately over the last few days, however, BB has not been very well. She has only had one or two bouts of snotty-ness before but she now has a bit of an ear and eye infection, together with a streaming nose, poor thing. Luckily, it doesn't seem to be affecting her sleep too much at night (apart from the first night when she was up 4 times). On day three of her having some medicine she seems a lot happier but pretty sleepy.
On the work front I can confirm that I have recently handed in my notice and become self-employed. I am trying to build a couple of businesses, slowly, around BB's and my family's needs, which take priority. However, I am keen not to lose touch with the traditional working world and want to set the foundations of possible businesses for me to run when BB (and any siblings she may possibly have in the future) is at school. I want to be a mum and be there for her, but I also want to be myself and earn my keep. I have never coped well with the thought of living off "pocket money" from Mr BB - although it is not really set up like this in our household - we do share everything, which is great, but I still feel as if I am watching the pennies a lot more than before I went on maternity leave. Even with this I still feel that handing in my notice was the right decision for me and the family. Financially, it wasn't going to add up with nursery fees, travel and parking costs etc...not to mention the stress of trying to deal with a full on job but having to leave at my contractual time in order to pick BB up from nursery - pretty much frowned upon by others in the office. I am hoping that being more in control of the work I take on, the type of work and when, will make my life a lot more balanced.
We also had BB's first ever parents evening! Yes, seriously. It seems that even at just 11 months old there is enough to talk about beyond our handovers at nursery. Happily she seems to be doing well and the staff are pleased with how well she has settled in nursery even though she is only going once a week.
Unfortunately over the last few days, however, BB has not been very well. She has only had one or two bouts of snotty-ness before but she now has a bit of an ear and eye infection, together with a streaming nose, poor thing. Luckily, it doesn't seem to be affecting her sleep too much at night (apart from the first night when she was up 4 times). On day three of her having some medicine she seems a lot happier but pretty sleepy.
On the work front I can confirm that I have recently handed in my notice and become self-employed. I am trying to build a couple of businesses, slowly, around BB's and my family's needs, which take priority. However, I am keen not to lose touch with the traditional working world and want to set the foundations of possible businesses for me to run when BB (and any siblings she may possibly have in the future) is at school. I want to be a mum and be there for her, but I also want to be myself and earn my keep. I have never coped well with the thought of living off "pocket money" from Mr BB - although it is not really set up like this in our household - we do share everything, which is great, but I still feel as if I am watching the pennies a lot more than before I went on maternity leave. Even with this I still feel that handing in my notice was the right decision for me and the family. Financially, it wasn't going to add up with nursery fees, travel and parking costs etc...not to mention the stress of trying to deal with a full on job but having to leave at my contractual time in order to pick BB up from nursery - pretty much frowned upon by others in the office. I am hoping that being more in control of the work I take on, the type of work and when, will make my life a lot more balanced.
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