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.
Hanging on
Well, well, well...what a difference a couple of weeks make. BB is now crawling with massive confidence and is exploring the rooms that she is usually carried into. The delight on her face just warms my heart. At first, when she was nearing "out of bounds" items such as the TV and sound equipment or the bookshelf of DVDs I would call out her name and she would pause...look at me and smile...pause...and usually stay where she was. That is now totally out of the window. Now, when I call out her name she just carries on on her way her bottom wriggling in the air at me in defiance! So it has started properly. BB really is in charge of herself and I can but watch and protect as best I can. I did half wonder if I could enroll her in some sort of puppy school? would that work? he he he
And I don't think that her mobility will be limited to just crawling for very much longer. The last couple of days have seen her getting the strength enough to pull herself onto one foot on both her cot bed and our coffee tables, clinging on, like a scene out of "Cliffhanger", only without the cliff!
So baby proofing has become top priority this week. Plug sockets have been blocked, anti-door slammers have been put in use but we still need to sort out drawer and cupboard closers and stair gates.
BB had her first full day at nursery this week and she did amazingly well! After we arrived I stayed with her just for a few minutes until she was distracted enough by some of the toys and left her to it, hoping that she wouldn't notice that I had gone. However, by the time I reached my car the tears had descended. These were mine, not hers. She was still happily playing as I drove off in tears. I distracted myself with the radio and once I got home and managed to pull myself together. Luckily I had planned a busy day in the hope that I wouldn't miss BB too much. I called the nursery after an hour and again after lunch to make sure she was OK. Both times they confirmed that she was napping and had been playing well with the other little ones. I was so relieved that she was enjoying herself. When it came time to pick her up I was excited to see her smiley face. When I saw her one of the baby rooms she was playing happily with some toys and she just saw me at the doorway and smiled! I was so happy! I had to let a couple of the other mums out of the room and so was out of BB's eyesight and when I actually managed to get into the room BB was balling. Her little face was going red and tears were rolling down her cheeks. The surprise at seeing me again and then "disappearing" had obviously upset her a little, but it was nothing some mummy and BB cuddles couldn't sort out!
BB's first birthday is fast approaching - she is now just over 10 months old - and the grandparents are already worrying about presents, which made us start to worry about the fact that we hadn't even thought about worrying about presents yet, never mind a party or celebration of some sort. Guess we'll need to start thinking about it!
And I don't think that her mobility will be limited to just crawling for very much longer. The last couple of days have seen her getting the strength enough to pull herself onto one foot on both her cot bed and our coffee tables, clinging on, like a scene out of "Cliffhanger", only without the cliff!
So baby proofing has become top priority this week. Plug sockets have been blocked, anti-door slammers have been put in use but we still need to sort out drawer and cupboard closers and stair gates.
BB had her first full day at nursery this week and she did amazingly well! After we arrived I stayed with her just for a few minutes until she was distracted enough by some of the toys and left her to it, hoping that she wouldn't notice that I had gone. However, by the time I reached my car the tears had descended. These were mine, not hers. She was still happily playing as I drove off in tears. I distracted myself with the radio and once I got home and managed to pull myself together. Luckily I had planned a busy day in the hope that I wouldn't miss BB too much. I called the nursery after an hour and again after lunch to make sure she was OK. Both times they confirmed that she was napping and had been playing well with the other little ones. I was so relieved that she was enjoying herself. When it came time to pick her up I was excited to see her smiley face. When I saw her one of the baby rooms she was playing happily with some toys and she just saw me at the doorway and smiled! I was so happy! I had to let a couple of the other mums out of the room and so was out of BB's eyesight and when I actually managed to get into the room BB was balling. Her little face was going red and tears were rolling down her cheeks. The surprise at seeing me again and then "disappearing" had obviously upset her a little, but it was nothing some mummy and BB cuddles couldn't sort out!
BB's first birthday is fast approaching - she is now just over 10 months old - and the grandparents are already worrying about presents, which made us start to worry about the fact that we hadn't even thought about worrying about presents yet, never mind a party or celebration of some sort. Guess we'll need to start thinking about it!
Doing the deed - no, not that one!
The time has come and a big decision has been made in our household. As I have previously written we have been discussing, as a family, the various options in terms of my returning to work and or becoming a stay at home mum. Well, we have finally come to the conclusion that with nursery costs, petrol and parking costs and the amount of time that BB would have to be in nursery that I will not be returning to work. That is, not to my old work. And so, I recently handed-in my notice. It was not an easy decision to make but it does feel like the right one for us for now. Instead I will be becoming self-employed so that I may work around BB's needs. I am working on a couple of projects in order to do this and I am rather excited at the various prospects. Although it is rather strange to think that I wont be returning to the office and working with my old colleagues, for me, since the arrival of BB, my priorities have simply changed and I want to change my work-life accordingly. Saying this, BB will be going to nursery once a week so that she gets proper play time with other little ones and gets used to being around other grown ups. I truly believe she will get a lot out of it. And this will give me a full day of focusing on work matters. My mother has also very kindly volunteered to look after BB for another day in the week so giving me two full days to work.
BB has just had her first holiday! We have just got back from a few days in North Devon and I have to say that BB coped with the traveling and staying in a new "strange" place very well. We booked a self-catering cottage very last minute and it worked out really well. We stayed for four nights and had two good days' worth of weather. Luckily the farm where we were staying had very good facilities including an indoor swimming pool, which BB loved. We did manage a couple of day trips out to local beaches and seaside resorts too and BB had her first proper meal out too. I am so glad that I have been doing Baby-Led Weaning with BB as she was able to have the fish fingers off of the children's menu at the restaurant. The waitress was a bit skeptical that BB would be able to eat all of them (three) at first but I was confident that BB would be able to manage - she often has three or four at home. BB did not disappoint! As soon as they arrived (well a few minutes after in order to allow them to cool down a bit) she picked one of them up and tucked in. We also gave her some of our salad and allowed her to suck on a couple of chips (no salt). The first time she has had chips and she didn't seem overly impressed with them and returned to the fish fingers. But the plus point of this experience was that she didn't make much mess and it showed to Mr B (and re-iterated to me) that BB is able to eat proper meals out from time to time.
Crawling is almost there. BB is able to get herself onto all fours and does a bit of revving. She sometimes manages to push herself backwards but often just ends up lying flat on her tummy and rolling around. But it is clear that she is thinking more and more about it and with each day she is getting a little bit closer to being mobile - eek!
Her speech is coming on too. "Dada" and "daddy" have been mastered, when the moods takes her she will say a "ello" and a "bye", and every so often she does do a bit of a moany "mum" or "mummy". "Na na na na" is slowly but surely turning into "no no no no" and this morning she attempted at saying "teeth" (which she is fascinated with still not having her own just yet - although again, I don't think these will be too long in appearing).
BB managed to get herself into a fit of giggles last night which was hysterical to watch. There didn't seem anything obviously funny but something had clearly tickled her. With two days off of her 10 month birthday BB is truly becoming a little mademoiselle and becoming a lot of fun with it.
BB has just had her first holiday! We have just got back from a few days in North Devon and I have to say that BB coped with the traveling and staying in a new "strange" place very well. We booked a self-catering cottage very last minute and it worked out really well. We stayed for four nights and had two good days' worth of weather. Luckily the farm where we were staying had very good facilities including an indoor swimming pool, which BB loved. We did manage a couple of day trips out to local beaches and seaside resorts too and BB had her first proper meal out too. I am so glad that I have been doing Baby-Led Weaning with BB as she was able to have the fish fingers off of the children's menu at the restaurant. The waitress was a bit skeptical that BB would be able to eat all of them (three) at first but I was confident that BB would be able to manage - she often has three or four at home. BB did not disappoint! As soon as they arrived (well a few minutes after in order to allow them to cool down a bit) she picked one of them up and tucked in. We also gave her some of our salad and allowed her to suck on a couple of chips (no salt). The first time she has had chips and she didn't seem overly impressed with them and returned to the fish fingers. But the plus point of this experience was that she didn't make much mess and it showed to Mr B (and re-iterated to me) that BB is able to eat proper meals out from time to time.
Crawling is almost there. BB is able to get herself onto all fours and does a bit of revving. She sometimes manages to push herself backwards but often just ends up lying flat on her tummy and rolling around. But it is clear that she is thinking more and more about it and with each day she is getting a little bit closer to being mobile - eek!
Her speech is coming on too. "Dada" and "daddy" have been mastered, when the moods takes her she will say a "ello" and a "bye", and every so often she does do a bit of a moany "mum" or "mummy". "Na na na na" is slowly but surely turning into "no no no no" and this morning she attempted at saying "teeth" (which she is fascinated with still not having her own just yet - although again, I don't think these will be too long in appearing).
BB managed to get herself into a fit of giggles last night which was hysterical to watch. There didn't seem anything obviously funny but something had clearly tickled her. With two days off of her 10 month birthday BB is truly becoming a little mademoiselle and becoming a lot of fun with it.
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