Baby Update - 33 weeks old

Age:  33 weeks 

Weight: He was weighed on Tuesday at 32+5 and I was way off with my estimate of 16.5-17 lb.  He was actually 15 lb 15 oz, so only a 4 oz increase since last time.  He's dipped a tiny bit on his centile but nothing out of the norm.

Health: I think he may be teething AGAIN as he's incredibly bitey and keeps rubbing his mouth against everything.  He was a little constipated yesterday with straining and hard stools but I gave him an Ella's Kitchen prune puree (which he LOVED) and he had a good clearout this morning.  He keeps getting random little rashes but we have no idea what the cause might be.  He's generally doing really well aside from little bits of reflux here and there so we're pretty happy.  His eczema has had a flare up too but a bit of Sudocrem and his regular Oilatum seems to be doing the trick.

Feeding: Towards the end of last week he was actually going up to 6 hours during the day between milk due to good amounts of solids and then making up for it overnight with decent feeds when he is too sleepy to be distracted.  He's back to feeding a little more regularly now but often going 4 hours which is nice.  Over the weekend we were out a lot so most of his solids were things like Ella's Kitchen pouches, Ella's Kitchen vegetable puffs/sticks, Organix biscuits, Kiddylicious wafers etc. for convenience.  Since then he's been a little more reluctant to eat my cooking although he's done well with fruit and vegetables and he's starting to get back into the swing of things again.  I don't think his teeth are helping the matter either!

Sleep: Sleep has been a bit all over the place since the weekend.  He was absolutely exhausted after a busy weekend so had a couple of lie ins.  Due to this he's been getting up around 8-9 am instead of 6-7 am and therefore wanting to go to bed a little later.  The worst was last night which was 10 pm but the previous night he went down at 7:30 pm so I guess I can't complain!  I'm just letting him be the guide and it seems to be working much better.  ALS actually managed to put him down for a nap yesterday without my help (normally I feed him and he either falls asleep feeding or I put his dummy in and soothe him in my arms or his cot).  That was the first time he's got him to sleep (other than the odd nap on the sofa together) in months so it was a big thing for us!  He also managed to get him to sleep when he had to take him out of our nephew's christening the other day so the reliance on me is dropping a little which is a bit of a relief.  The biggest thing really is that we now consistently leave him to sleep in the room alone and don't go up unless he needs us, otherwise we just stay downstairs until we're ready for bed which is a big thing when I'd been going up to bed at 7-8 pm every night.  We were spending a lot of time chilling out in bed watching anime on the laptop etc. while OJ slept which made it hard to wind down and fall asleep.  We also kept a lamp on so I could attend to OJ, now I just do it in the dark and we've bought a blackout blind to make it as dark as possible for him.

Routine: I think we just aren't really routine kind of people and OJ certainly isn't a routine kind of baby!

Likes/dislikes:  He loves his blocks, especially knocking down any towers that I build!  He enjoys singing (especially daddy's singing in the back of the car).  He really likes giving kisses... big, sloppy, toothy kisses that turn into biting mostly.  He's easily amused but nothing amuses him for long - he's been giggling at me throwing an empty bottle up and down this evening but that probably won't work again!  He's not a fan of being still for any length of time and still doesn't like lying down.  He hates any attempt at tummy time and bails everytime he pulls himself onto his hands and knees.  He also loves animals and gets very excited watching the cats playing!

Firsts:  First big day trip out (Sealife).  First big party (nephew's 1st birthday).  First time in church (nephew's Christening).  I'm sure there were lots of other little firsts over the weekend too but those were the big ones!  First time going to sleep for daddy (since he was tiny).  Oh, and his first proper suit complete with bowtie!!  He also had his first game of catch with daddy!  First father's day too!

Milestones:  He's started "playing catch" which is adorable - if you roll a ball to him he will pick it up and throw it back to you, he's got quite the right arm on him!  

Things we did: On Friday my SIL picked us up and we went shopping with her and our nephew and had lunch at their house.  Saturday was a BIG day - we drove to Sealife in Birmingham for our nephew's first birthday then we all went out for a meal and back to their house for presents and cake.  On Sunday it was our nephew's Christening and birthday party so another long day with lots of OJ being passed around.  He was absolutely wiped out after the weekend but he handled the long days with lots of people pretty well and we were incredibly proud of him!  Monday was swimming day as usual ,which OJ doesn't seem to be quite as keen on at the moment, he gets grumbly about halfway through.  The rest of the week has been pretty lazy as we were (and still are) all tired from such a busy weekend!

Me: I felt like I was doing really well towards the end of last week and then because of the weekend I'm feeling, in the immortal words of Bilbo Baggins, "like butter scraped over too much bread".  I'm very, very tired and my whole body is hurting but we had a good weekend.  I've not made it to the gym in a few weeks due to other commitments and my body isn't handling the lack of exercise well.

32 weeks 1 day - playing with the straps in his car seat (just before he threw up all over it).

32 weeks 1 day - look at that cute little vest... and butt!

32 weeks 1 day - a new found love.

32 weeks 2 days - we dressed for the occasion!

32 weeks 2 days - waiting for everyone else to arrive at Sealife.

32 weeks 2 days - waiting for dinner.

32 weeks 2 days - pooped after a long day!

32 weeks 3 days - "I wants dis one... and dis one... I haz them all, kay?"

32 weeks 3 days - a rare photo of me because this one was just too good not to share!

32 weeks 3 days - driving with daddy on father's day <3

32 weeks 3 days - having a break from the business and a little snooze. 

32 weeks 4 days - 10 minutes (and some milk) after he woke up he was flat out again on mummy's bed!

32 weeks 4 days - playing catch with daddy.

32 weeks 4 days - his new favourite facial expression!

32 weeks 6 days - corn is life.

33 weeks - a rare tummy time moment while the TV captured his attention.

33 weeks - dinner which got thrown on the floor (which is unusual for him).

33 weeks - popsicle for pudding... then he started eating his dinner off the floor!

Blog Update - 32 weeks old

Age:  32 weeks 

Weight: He is due to be weighed on Tuesday but I'm thinking somewhere between 16.5 and 17 lb.

Health: I gave him some Weetabix with cow's milk (just a couple of spoonfuls) and he had a lot of vomiting and discomfort so I don't think we're quite over the intolerance.  His reflux has been worse this week but that could be due to teething/drooling a lot.  He had a reaction to an Ella's Kitchen purple pouch today too with quite a bit of vomiting and a rash all over his face and wherever the vomit touched.  He's had a similar reaction before to the same pouch so we're pretty sure it's that - the ingredients are only apple, banana, strawberry, blackcurrant and lemon juice so it's got to be the blackcurrant or lemon as he eats the others regularly with no issue.

Feeding: I'm so proud of how well he's getting on with his solid foods and he's stretching out his breastfeeds a bit more too, he tends to feed 2 hourly but his solid meals count as one of those feeds so he can go 4 hours.  He's eating pretty much whatever we put in front of him and his dexterity is improving by the day.

Sleep: This has been a BIG thing this week.  We put him in his cot on Friday night but then he had major teething issues and ended up screaming so we brought him back into his crib.  On Saturday we put him in his cot and he stayed there all night but I was getting a lot of back pain trying to feed/settle him in the nursery as there's no room for a comfortable chair.  We have decided that it would be prudent to move his cot into our room so on Sunday we did just that and he's been sleeping in there since (although usually ends up in our bed by around 4-5 am).  I was getting really stressed out about it and it's led me down a path of discovery that we have a "high needs" baby, so I'll post more about that later.  We really hit the bedtime routine/consistent timing hard but it was just stressing me out excessively and making OJ really upset so we're just back to letting him lead.  The TV is going off at 7 pm at the latest every night and after that we just read, sing nursery rhymes and have quiet play then when he starts showing signs of tiredness we go upstairs and get ready for bed, feed and try to put him down.  If he refuses and wants to play I'm not pushing the matter and just bring him back downstairs until he seems sleepy and try again.  If he is obviously tired I persist a little more (although don't always succeed).  I've lined his cot with my dressing gown which seems to help him settle easier when he wakes up.

Routine: We are playing about with things at the moment so it's all up in the air.

Likes/dislikes:  He really likes being on his feet and being on the move.  He loves mealtimes.  He likes noisy toys and bathtime.  He doesn't really like sleep but neither myself nor his dad do either so we can't complain.  He's starting to enjoy books as well, particularly We're Going on a Bear Hunt.

Firsts:  First night in his big boy cot.  First time trying to walk (aided of course).  First visit to a dessert restaurant (our favourite).

Milestones:  As of today he's started taking little steps when held in a standing position which is absolutely incredible - he'll walk with his little trundle truck if you support him too.  He's now in his big boy cot too.

Things we did: We had some friends round on Saturday and made our own pizzas then went out to the dessert restaurant which was yummy!  On Sunday we spent most of the day shifting the bedroom around and moving OJ's cot (which involving taking it apart and putting it back together again).  Over the last few days we've been swimming, had a visit from Nana and Grandpapa, been for a lot of walks, been to Once Upon a Rhyme and spent lots of time practicing standing. Yesterday we got the bus into town again so I could get an outfit for our nephew's christening and a cute little outfit for OJ too.  ALS and I also made some homemade sugar-free carrot muffins for OJ to enjoy... but forgot to put the cinnamon in so they're rather bland, not that he minds!  I also bought a spice rack full of spices from Costco which is possibly the most "adult" thing I've ever done, including having a baby. 

Me: I'm really getting into cooking at the moment thanks to weaning so I was very excited about the spice rack.  I didn't get to the gym this week as we were busy trying to sort out the bedroom and cot but I've done LOTS of walking.  I'm really wanting to learn at the moment and finding my brain is a bit bored so I've been looking at free OU courses that I can take, mostly just for fun, to keep my mind active and discovered that I received a Certificate of Higher Education for the courses I did previously when trying and failing to do my degree.  I've also been doing some brain training.

In terms of parenting I've struggled this week with trying to get OJ into a routine and getting him to sleep (as he's no longer feeding to sleep and often wants to be put down, but has to be completely drowsy and almost asleep before I attempt it).  I actually found myself wanting to just shake him or yell at him and it really worried me even though I knew I wouldn't do it, so I've taken the pressure off and let him take the lead again and I already feel much better.  As I mentioned above we've discovered that he's a "high needs" baby and I've already bought some books on high needs parenting so hopefully they will help.  I'll do a post once I've read a bit more on the topic!

31 weeks 1 day - chomping on his toes... sometimes he sucks on his big toe like it's his thumb.

31 weeks 1 day - we were switching out toys in his toybox and took him for a little ride around in it!

31 weeks 1 day - first night in the cot so I put the monitor in the crib so I didn't feel like he was too far away.

31 weeks 1 day - 2 hours later he was snuggled up on my boob after screaming the place down for 20 minutes with what we assume was his teeth hurting.

31 weeks 2 days - little snooze in Costa while daddy was at work.

31 weeks 2 days - fakeaway with homemade pizza, wedges and peppers.

31 weeks 3 days - last time sitting in his co-sleeper crib before we dismantled it, playing with mummy's pillow.

31 weeks 3 days - playing with his bath toys on the bed.

31 weeks 3 days - his little play area while we set up his cot in our room.

31 weeks 5 days - trying a little tummy time (which he immediately rolled out of).

31 weeks 6 days - he actually entertained being on his hands and knees for almost a minute!

31 weeks 6 days - chomping on his straps in the pushchair on our way to meet daddy at work.

31 weeks 6 days - every time he stirs he shoves his legs through the cot bars but it's too hot for his sleeping bag at the moment!

32 weeks - he loves this elephant and I hear the songs in my sleep.

32 weeks - little Flash, he's such a smiley boy in a morning!  We are more of a Marvel family but he has far more DC outfits.

32 weeks - looking dapper trying on his outfit for his cousin's christening (that shirt is a PAIN to get on as it's a vest and has no give so you basically have to contort his arms to get them in).

32 weeks - he stared at me like this for about 10 minutes straight.

32 weeks - put the baby in bed only to find the cat lounging in the pushchair!

Baby Update - 31 weeks old

Age:  31 weeks (although I'm a day late posting because I completely forgot what day it was)

Weight: He won't be weighed again for a couple of weeks, he's being weighed on a monthly basis.  His weigh in is also due to be the same day/time as my dental appointment so not sure what to do about that!

Health: Things are going pretty well - he seems to be tolerating dairy without much issue.  He had a rash yesterday that was unexplained but he was fine in himself and by bedtime it had disappeared.  He's now on tooth number SIX so he's having a rough time and is dribbling constantly - his mouth is like a tap at the moment.  He seems constantly tired but I think that's partly due to teething, partly due to learning new skills and partly due to seeming incapable of napping for more than 30 minutes at a time.

Feeding: He's doing so well with his solids and managing to actually bite off and swallow bits by himself now rather than just sucking on it or relying on us to put smaller pieces in his mouth.  He definitely feeds less at the breast, although sometimes still quite often for comfort.  It's amazing seeing how quickly he's learning to handle solids and he's happy to eat a bit of pretty much anything - some of his favourites are vegan cheese sticks (we're trying to use it up but he loves it so I may keep buying it even now he's having dairy), peanut butter (although he struggles a bit bread/toast etc. because it sticks to the roof of his mouth), anything orange (sweet potato, butternut squash, carrot) and frozen fruit (particularly melon or pear) in his feeder.  He goes straight for the vegetables in anything I give him but I think that's because they're colourful.  I know some children get picky later on but at least if we're starting with a wide range of foods and he decides he doesn't like some of them we should have a reasonable amount left.

Sleep: We've had a big breakthrough with sleep this week as we've introduced his cot for naptime, to get him used to it.  He's had at least one nap in his cot every day and it's starting to get easier to get him down (although I still feed him until he's asleep or very close to).  He's completely hit and miss at night though - sometimes (like last night) he will go down well and only wake twice for milk and a cuddle (1:30 and 4:00 last night), other times he will wake up every hour or two.  Normally I put him in bed with us around 5 am in an attempt to get a bit of a lie in but this morning he slept in his own crib until 6:30 so I just got up with him when he woke.  As of this weekend we are going to attempt putting him in his cot at night so I'm expecting a LOT of disturbed sleep for a few weeks until he gets used to it but hopeful that it will improve things in the long run.

Routine: When I really think about it we definitely have little routines throughout the night, just not one overarching daily routine.  Every morning I get up, change OJs nappy, get some breakfast and let him have a play on the floor then take him upstairs and get him ready for the day.  He has lunch around 11:30 and dinner around 4.  We have a good bedtime routine (bath every other day, pyjamas, moisturiser, teeth cleaned, feed, cuddle, sleep) and a shortened version for naps.  The only thing that really changes is the timings of sleep depending on when he wakes up in a morning and how he naps.  Obviously we go out most days so that changes things too.

Likes/dislikes:  He loves standing and wants to be on his feet all the time at the moment.  Unfortunately we don't have any furniture at an appropriate height for him to be able to pull himself up so he's mostly just using me to climb up and hold on to but he'll soon be tall enough to grab the sofa and pull up on that.  He loves nursery rhymes and I've been letting him play on the piano this week which he gets really excited about.  He still really dislikes tummy time and will immediately roll over.  He'll lean forward from sitting to get into a crawling position but as soon as he realises he's going onto his front he bails and throws himself on to his back.

Firsts:  First naps in his big boy cot! First Splashers class at singing.  First time on the bus.

Milestones:  We've lower his cot ready for him to sleep in at night and he's slept in it in the day.  He's getting really good at pulling himself up to stand and has learnt to bend his knees to get back down again (sometimes).  He's also learned to find objects hidden under a muslin - tonight I was putting it over my head and ALS asked him where mummy was and he found me.  He even waited until ALS had asked the question!  First Splashers class at singing which involved lots more submersions, playing on a float and was generally a lot more fast paced.  Since then he's learned to sit on the edge of the sofa and push himself off into our arms on command, ready for jumping in the pool.  He's also started putting his arms around you for cuddles which is adorable.

Things we did: We had a relatively chilled out weekend and just got things done around the house.  Nana and Grandpapa came to visit on Saturday and I had a gym session on Sunday.  On Monday we went swimming as usual.  Yesterday we went to the story/singing group for the first time in a while and he took a while to get into it (mostly because he just wanted to chew on things) but enjoyed it in the end.  They've given me some information about signing up to a PEEP course (which helps you to learn about child development and work with your child to encourage them) which starts in September so I'm quite interested in that but as I'm due back at work in October I'm not sure how it will fit in. Today we went on the bus into town and then walked up to ALS' work to meet him when he'd finished.  I'm sure we did other things this week but I really can't remember what - we went out for a walk pretty much every day which kills a bit of time!

Me: I'm pretty happy at the moment and I'm really starting to get into the swing of things with OJ in terms of getting out more, weaning and sleeping etc.  It helps that I'm getting a bit more sleep myself too.  I've started a new gym programme which I'm excited about and I think it will really help my strength to return.  I'm struggling with a fair amount of pain, probably from carrying OJ around and sitting on the floor a lot, but I'm trying to ignore it as much as possible and just stretch where I can.  I probably ought to improve my posture.  I remembered to take more photos this week too!

30 weeks 1 day - proving that he is just as cute upsidedown.

30 weeks 1 day - not sleeping and doing a 180 in his crib.

30 weeks 2 days - 7 month growth photo.

30 weeks 2 days - outtakes, grinding his teeth!

30 weeks 2 days - outtakes, cheesy grin!

30 weeks 2 days - watching Shrek 2 with daddy.

30 weeks 4 days - with his swimming milestones card after all the jumping!

30 weeks 4 days - reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar (I relate WAY too much to that caterpillar).

30 weeks 5 days - I don't usually post photos with me in too but this was too cute not to, giving me big cuddles.

30 weeks 5 days - watching Moana because his teeth were upsetting him and he just wanted to cuddle.

30 weeks 6 days - "helping" mummy with the washing and looking incredibly suspicious.

30 weeks 6 days - snuggling with his Wubbanub, one of the best purchases ever.

31 weeks - first ride on the bus, twisted his hat round so he looks like a little shark instead of Batman!

31 weeks - starting him young.

Baby Update - 30 weeks old

Age:  30 weeks

Weight: He won't be weighed again for a few weeks, he's being weighed on a monthly basis.

Health: I think we may have turned a corner.  I added dairy back into my diet and it didn't seem to have much of an impact on OJ so, as suggested by the Paediatrician, we tried him with a fromage frais on Sunday.  He absolutely loved it (that'll be all the sugar!!) and it was easily his favourite food so far.  He had a little bit of an eczema flare up and a couple of slightly watery nappies but he didn't seem uncomfortable in himself so we are going to continue to introduce small amounts and see how he goes.  He won't be having fromage frais often as they're so unhealthy BUT I will make him some yoghurts with natural yoghurt and fruit puree, which I'm sure he won't like anywhere near as much haha.  Yesterday he had some cheese on an omelette and really enjoyed that too!  He's had a couple of days where his reflux has been a bit of an issue, which may be cheese related, but he's not been particularly uncomfortable.  However, he has been rather grumpy with his teeth!

Feeding: He's getting on well with his weaning and has only turned his nose up at swede (he gagged as soon as it touched his tongue so clearly not a fan) and tomato salsa (ALS dipped a chip in it when we were at a restaurant the other day).  Out of all the foods we've tried that's an amazing result!  He tends not to touch his breakfast regardless of what we give him and doesn't usually want any milk until around 9:30-10 am either so I think he's just not particularly hungry in a morning.  He has a big milk feed around 5-6am then goes back to sleep for a couple of hours.  I'm going to stop offering breakfast, as he's eating well at lunch and dinner, then try again in a few weeks.  He's up and down with his breastfeeds and can go up to 4 hours sometimes, then other times wants to feed every hour.  However, usually if he wants a feed within an hour of a previous feed it's because he's tired and wants help drifting off to sleep (not that it works very often).  We did manage to confirm that he definitely won't take a bottle though, as he refused when we left him with the in-laws last weekend AND didn't eat any solids despite me packing a selection of his favourites.

Sleep: Last night I had 4 hours uninterrupted sleep for the first time since he was about 3 months old (we had a week of him sleeping 6+ hours at that age) and it was amazing.  He's been going from whatever time he goes down at night until around 2-3 am without a feed but up until last night I've had to settle him a few times in between, so this was a big win.  He didn't go down until about 9:15 pm after falling asleep 8 in my arms, waking up 10 minutes later and sitting bolt upright for no apparent reason.  He woke for a feed around 2:45, was back down by 3 and then woke again just after 5 when I lay him in bed with me, fed him lying down and he slept until 6.  He then woke up screaming with wind, fed again and slept until 8:30ish.  Normally he'll just have the 2 feeds (2-3 am and 5-6 am) but does often take a while to settle after his 5-6 feed, sometimes up to an hour as he's just wide awake.  It's usually around that time that ALS is getting up for work so I think maybe he gets disturbed by the noise, even though it's a whole floor away!  However, feeding him lying down and just leaving him free access to the boob seems to work and lets me get some sleep too. 

Routine: Watch this space!

Likes/dislikes:  He found 2 new loves yesterday - cheese (he's clearly our son) and "Wiggle Wine" which is a song from one of the contestants on Britain's Got Talent and he giggled his way through it and loved wiggling with us.  It's rather catchy but I'm sure when I look back on this in a few years I probably won't have a clue what I'm on about!  He's not a fan of having his hands and face wiped after food, like most kids, but he's quite happy having water chucked over him in the bath and even having his hair washed... I think we have swimming to thank for that one.  

Firsts:  First favourite song and first obvious favourite foods (yoghurt and cheese).  He also had his first Sunday roast at the weekend. 

Milestones:  He started blowing raspberries at the weekend, usually that comes before saying any words such as mama or dada BUT he doesn't like to do things as expected.  He's also understanding more of the sign language and will open his mouth when you do the sign for brushing his teeth or giving him his medicine.  

Things we did: ALS had a lovely long 4 day weekend with the bank holiday so on Friday we went out for lunch with my mum and grandparents then ALS' brother stayed over so they had some gaming time together.  On Saturday ALS and I went for a meal by ourselves and left OJ with the in-laws.  We went to Wetherspoons for dinner and then to a dessert restaurant and the puddings were out of this world (pictures below).  On Sunday we mostly just chilled out and did stuff around the house (I did a load of meal prep for OJ and cooked a roast) then Monday I went to the gym and we took OJ swimming.  It was a lovely, relaxed weekend even though we packed quite a bit into it.

Me: I'm struggling with separating from OJ.  I know he needs to get used to being without me but with his bottle refusal it's really hard.  As I mentioned he stayed with the in-laws for a few hours at the weekend and he was okay, I guess, but I wasn't happy with it.  He was asleep when we got there and they said they'd had a few tears but nothing too drastic.  However, he was all snotty and his eyes were red so he'd clearly cried pretty hard, probably crying himself to sleep.  I'm torn between thinking he missed me/comfort feeding knowing that they were doing everything they could to comfort him (they would never just leave him to cry) and thinking he'll get used to being away from me OR thinking that actually he was really hungry because he won't take a bottle and that makes me feel like a horrible mum.  Separation anxiety hasn't really kicked in for him yet and he doesn't get upset when I leave so it makes me feel like he probably really wanted milk, whether for food or comfort, and I feel a bit shitty having left him despite knowing that they take really good care of him.  It's something I definitely need to work on!  

In other news I'm turning into the housewife I always wanted to be... at least in the kitchen.  I've always loved the idea of being a stay at home mum and domestic goddess but I've never been great at cooking etc. partly because I'm a picky eater.  I'm broadening my horizons while weaning OJ which is good for both of us and a need to feed him healthy food means I'm cooking a lot more too which I'm really proud of.

Another week with not enough pictures!!

29 weeks 1 day - wrecking his playmat.

29 weeks 1 day - trying to feed him and he's busy looking at his uncle!

29 weeks 3 days - first roast dinner.

29 weeks 4 days - since teeth have started appearing he seems to prefer to stick his tongue out because they feel funny haha!

30 weeks - cheeky little grin.

30 weeks - loves holding onto my bra when he naps <3

Some of the deliciousness from our date night - Pedigree for ALS and alcohol-free Kopparberg for me, brownie explosion, double chocolate chip cookie dough, mango mocktail and a Nutella shot with wafers.  Beautiful!