Baby Update - 38 weeks old

Age:  38 weeks 

Weight: He won't be weighed again for a few weeks but he really seems to be filling out at the moment and looks more like a toddler and less like a baby every day.

Health: Not much to report really, other than the fact that he's teething again!  He has 2 more teeth coming at the bottom, either side of the middle 2.  He's been a bit sicky this week but I'm putting that down to all the extra saliva from the teething.  He seems to have a real hand preference - he will pick things up with his left hand but passes them to his right to do anything such as throwing or putting them in his mouth.  Apparently that can be a sign of physical problems as hand preference shouldn't develop until at least 18 months but I'm not overly concerned, I think he's just realised he's more dexterous with his right hand.

Feeding: His appetite for solid foods is definitely increasing and breakfast is easily his favourite meal of the day - we tend to alternate between Shreddies soaked in soy milk, Oatibix with soy milk and dry Cheerios and then give him some fruit afterwards and he wolfs it down every day.  His other meals can be a bit hit and miss but I'm hardly surprised considering we're still in this stupid heatwave and he's teething again.  He tends to prefer crunchy foods, like breadsticks, when he's teething or fruit smoothies (my alternative to giving him yoghurt).

Sleep: ALS has been back sleeping with us for the last 3 nights and every night we've had a period of 60-90 minutes where OJ has been wide awake but I'm putting this down to a bit of a developmental leap and his teeth so hopefully it'll calm down soon.  We've had a busy few days so his naps have been all over the place which hasn't helped.

Routine: We've been out and about a few days this week - shopping, lunch, a funeral - and OJ's naps have been all over the place.  Often he's fallen asleep in the car, woken up around 1:30 pm and then been awake until bedtime, with a lot of effort from us to keep him awake until at least 6:30 (he normally goes to bed at 7).

Likes/dislikes:  He likes throwing things (toys, food, anything he can get his hands on) and trying to get to things he shouldn't have (wires, remote controls, glasses full of drink, open doors).  He dislikes teething and being contained.

Firsts:  First actual crawling.  First time getting himself upright from lying down.  First time walking with one hand held.  

Milestones:  We've had SO many.  He's started crawling properly and is getting pretty quick now.  Today he figured out how to get himself back to sitting from lying down too so we really have no respite.  He doesn't spend any time in his cot really but today I popped him in there while I got dressed and immediately he stood himself up and looked really proud of himself.  Tonight he started taking steps with me just holding one of his hands instead of two.  Yesterday he was copying my grandad banging on the table and he's started splashing and trying to use his arms more at swimming, since the crawling started.  He's trying to build towers and put his stacking rings on the stand, although he's not actually managed yet.  He's developing every single day and it's amazing watching him grow.

Things we did: We spent a lot of time over the weekend working on crawling and playing on the floor with OJ.  Nana and Grandpapa came to visit on Saturday and on Sunday ALS an I took OJ swimming - for the first time in ages he really enjoyed it and was splashing around and really trying hard to swim.  It was my friend's mum's funeral on Tuesday so we spent most of the day with her and her family/friends.  Yesterday my mum and grandparents came over and we went out for dinner too.  For the last few days I've mostly just chased OJ round trying to prevent him from grabbing things he shouldn't have!

Me: I'm really enjoying being a mum at the moment - I love just getting down on the floor with OJ, reading to him, showing him how to do things and watching him learn for himself, singing nursery rhymes and just generally crawling around with him.  I'm generally quite stressed regarding work and money and all that jazz but I'm trying not to think about it and just enjoy spending time with OJ.

37 weeks 1 day - the only way he likes to eat cucumber!

37 weeks 2 days - giving Nana "kisses".

37 weeks 2 days - look at those little rolls <3

37 weeks 2 days - daddy was out in town so we sent him a goodnight picture.

37 weeks 3 days - he toppled over (whilst sitting still) and landed face first on a square from his shape sorter, poor little pudding! Now he's a proper little boy obviously!

37 weeks 3 days - happy pudding after swimming.

37 weeks 4 days - he absolutely loves his blocks.

37 weeks 4 days - dinnertime, he wolfed the whole lot down!

37 weeks 4 days - snuggling mummy's arm.

37 weeks 5 days - bathtime - he has all sorts of bath toys but only wants to play with the thermometer!

 

37 weeks 5 days - it doesn't matter how bad my day has been, this peaceful little face makes my heart so happy.

37 weeks 6 days - ready to go out for lunch but super sleepy, he never snuggles like this normally.

38 weeks - plenty of food on his tray but he was too busy trying to fish a tiny but out of his bib!

First time using my slow cooker - I made a chicken casserole and OJ absolutely demolished it!

Baby Update - 37 weeks old

Age:  37 weeks 

Weight: He was weighed 2 days ago at 36+5 and was 7.56 kg (16 lb 10 oz) so he's put on a good amount in the last 4 weeks.  I didn't think he felt like he'd put a lot on so that was a nice surprise.

Health: Things are pretty good at the moment.  His eczema is still bad on his cheeks but it doesn't seem to bother him too much, although he does rub his face a lot.  He's been off his medicine for a while and it doesn't seem to have had much impact.  He seems to have a bit of a struggle going to the toilet so I give him some prunes every couple of days and that seems to help a little.

Feeding: He is really hit and miss with his meals, sometimes he'll wolf down everything and other times he'll throw most of it.  It can be frustrating when he's refusing foods that he liked last week, especially as I don't like leaving him hungry but it's not the end of the world..  He's getting a lot of milk in overnight still so I'm not worried about his weight.  He's finally started drinking water during the day too so he doesn't breastfeed when he's thirsty so much any more.

Sleep: We've had a new routine for the last few days where ALS is sleeping on the sofabed so that OJ has plenty of space to roll around on the mattress next to me and we're not all disturbing each other.  It seemed to help for a day or two but now OJ is desperately trying to crawl and as soon as he stirs he starts rolling onto his front and fidgeting.  He doesn't sleep too badly until around 3 am but then it feels like he's constantly feeding until I give in and get up at 6 - I don't track feeds at this time of night, or even look at the clock, so I don't have an exact idea of how much he's awake as I'm mostly trying to stay asleep.

Routine: He's generally dropped down to 2 naps a day and has at least one long one, sometimes both.  Today he slept for 90 minutes in the morning and again in the afternoon.  I try to make sure his last nap leaves him waking no later than 4 or bedtime is impossible.  He has milk around 6 when he wakes in a morning, then breakfast around 7:30, milk and a nap around 9/9:30, lunch around 11:30, milk and another nap around 1:30/2, dinner around 4/4:30 and then milk and bed at 7.  I make sure the TV is off from 6 and we have quiet playtime, read books and have a bath (every other day) to get him in the mood for bed.  Tonight I introduced a snack around 6 as he didn't eat much dinner but I'll play that by ear.  We're also trying to take his dummy off him, other than for sleeping and the car and to be honest it's going quite well - getting it off him for sleeping will be a whole different ball game though!

Likes/dislikes:  He loves bathtime and splashing around.  His favourite toys at the moment are balls, especially ones that rattle.  He loves tickles and riding in the trolley at the supermarket.  His favourite food at the moment is banana!  He doesn't like new people, especially if they're in our house and isn't a fan of loud/sudden noises.

Firsts:  First time helping himself to drink from a beaker.  First real attempt at crawling.

Milestones:  He's pretty much into 6-9 month clothes now, although still fits in some of his 3-6 month ones.  It's hard to tell as he's rarely in clothes with the weather being so hot!  He's really desperately trying to crawl.  He's getting around a lot more by rolling and very nearly crawled yesterday, he goes with his hands but ends up with his legs splayed behind him.  He's finally started taking sips of water and the other day I spotted him grab his beaker (I always leave one lying around) and start drinking by himself.  He's walking really well with his hands held now too.

Things we did: We had a nice chilled out day for ALS' birthday on Friday and his best friend (who's in the Navy) came over to stay for the night.  We then all went out for a meal for my birthday on Saturday.  There was 18 of us in total and about 12 came back to our house afterwards for cake, games and drinks.  It was very "adult" and the only clearing up I had to do on Sunday morning was the plates that we'd eaten cake from!  Grampy came to visit on Sunday and we had a very lazy day.  We had our last swimming session of the term on Monday and on Tuesday we went to get OJ weighed then I had a meeting at work to discuss my return.  Yesterday we went to Once Upon a Rhyme and when we've been at home we've been generally trying to encourage/teach crawling as he's getting so frustrated not being able to get where he wants to go!

Me: I've managed a few more workouts and feel physically a lot better.  However, mentally I'm really struggling with the idea of going back to work.  When I took the job I knew it was quite a commute but OJ was going to be nearby as he would be with my mum.  Obviously that's now not the case and to make it worth me working he needs to not be in childcare for the whole amount of hours I'm at work.  The plan is for him to go to childcare for a few hours in a morning, ALS to have him in the afternoon and then me have him in the evening when ALS goes back to work.  However, this means he'll be in childcare around 30 miles away from where I'm working so if anything happens it's a long way for me to get to him.  I'm also very aware that I'll be spending around 90 minutes a day commuting and it's all just stressing me out.  Hopefully once my hours are confirmed at the end of the week and we've found some childcare that we are happy with I'll chill out a bit because there's no way I can cope like this until November, last night I lay awake worrying and feeling sick until 1 am, which isn't ideal when OJ actually sleeps relatively well until then and then wakes up a lot!  I'm sure once I get into the swing of it I'll be fine but it's so far away I won't be able to function if I don't sort myself out, I keep telling myself it's too far ahead to worry about but my brain won't listen.  We can afford for me to stay at home but I've got to go back to work for at least 3 months or I'll have to give my maternity pay back... I'm not sure but I think that's around £4500 which is just impossible.  Ugh, enough of that, I'll figure something out one way or another.

I've taken far too few photos this week, but there have been a lot of videos (which I don't post on here) so it's not too bad!

36 weeks 1 day - Soy milk soaked Shreddies and prune puree makes for a messy breakfast, straight in the bath after... then another bath after tea contained strawberries and raspberries!

36 weeks 1 day - cheeky banana-eating face in Morrisons cafe.

36 weeks 2 days - OJ bought me some measuring cups for my birthday but he was a little reluctant to part with them!

36 weeks 2 days - exhausted from all the partying and socialising.

36 weeks 2 days - 12 people in our house but it was the neighbour's kids who woke him up!!

36 weeks 6 days - he's wearing his vest ironically!

37 weeks - daddy did breakfast while I got a bit more sleep so they had a living room picnic, I came downstairs just in time for banana!

It may look like the saddest bunch of birthday presents ever but I couldn't be happier with it!

Grampy brought presents for OJ from Costco, we'd seen these awesome bargains ourselves but resisted.  Julia Donaldson books are just wonderful - we've read them all in the last few days and Tyrannosaurus Drip is definitely my favourite!

This is what our living room looks like by bedtime and he's not even crawling yet!  However, 5 minutes is all it takes to clean up.  The blocks used to take forever to put away but I've got the hang of it now haha!

Baby Update - 36 weeks old

Age:  36 weeks (posting a day late just because we've been busy, but tonight is ALS' birthday and he has a friend round for a gaming session so I'm camped out upstairs with all the time in the world)

Weight: He's due to be weighed on Tuesday.

Health: His health seems pretty good.  He's still got some nasty eczema on his cheeks, probably made worse by him always rubbing food on it, but it doesn't seem to bother him.  We've weaned him off his ranitidine and the reflux seems to be gone for good.  We have noticed that he marks really easily though - he'll get a rash wherever ALS kisses/blow raspberries on him (presumably from his beard) and if he catches himself on the edge of his toybox when he reaches in it leaves a raised welt even if it's only a gentle touch, they fade within an hour or so but at the time it looks like we've been abusing him so I'm dreading anyone noticing.

Feeding: He seems to have a massive appetite at the moment so maybe he's having a growth spurt?  His milk feeds have stayed spaced out through the day but he's eating bigger portions of solids and we've added breakfast in again, which he's actually eating.

Sleep: He's been going down pretty well at night but we've had a lot of night wakings where he's been awake for an hour or two (10 am, 1 am, 4 am... all on different nights but no pattern to it).  He wakes up, feeds and seems to desperately be trying to go back to sleep (lots of rolling over and snuggling up) but then ends up wide awake.  I think he may be more unsettled because he's next to me and can smell milk all the time/bumps into me when he rolls over.  However it does seem to be calming a little bit so we will see how things go.  

Routine: Nope, nope and nope.

Likes/dislikes:  He's obsessed with books at the moment, especially touchy-feely ones, which makes me SO happy.  He loves watching the cats and his favourite nursery rhyme at the moment is "Zoom Zoom Zoom".  He has a little doggy toy which he really likes at the moment and he loves throwing a ball for it and playing "fetch".  He absolutely hates it if someone is eating and not sharing!

Firsts:  First time at the library.  I think that's it for this week, we've mostly just been recovering from being ill.

Milestones:  He's getting much better at eating small things and has had a good go with some Cheerios.  His brain is developing well too, if I put him next to his toy box, show him his doggy and ask him to get a ball, he'll grab a ball and pass it to the doggy.  ALS plays a game where he takes his dummy and pretends to suck it himself and he's started taking it out and trying to put it in ALS' mouth to get him to play.  He's also started turning the pages in books if you start it off for him!  He's trying to cruise, slowly but surely.  We're trying to get his dummy off him in the day at the moment and it's going well so far - for the last 2 days he's only had it for naps, in the car and just before bedtime when we had guests and were trying to make him go an extra 10 minutes.  We've also moved him into 6-9 month vests - he still fits in 3-6 month clothes, vests included, but while it's so hot and sweaty we don't want to be forcing him into them and would rather him have some breathing room and nice baggy vests.

Things we did: We spent most of the weekend recovering from being ill (well, I did) but we did go to ALS' parents to watch the football on Saturday.  We went and got OJ a library card and took some books out too.  Other than that it has been a pretty lazy week!

Me: I'm feeling much better than last week.  I had a fever and sore throat for 3 days after the sickness but by Monday I was starting to feel human again and I did actually managed a workout today.  I'm still pretty tired and we have a busy weekend ahead (ALS birthday and my birthday) so I'm just trying to take it easy.

Far less photos this week as we've mostly just been chilling at home.

35 weeks 1 day - trying to sit him on my lap like I did when he was tiny!

35 weeks 2 days - most evenings between dinner and bed he requires a lot of attention and entertaining so I sit with him while he empties his toybox and we read the books or talk about and play with the toys, kills a good hour or more!

35 weeks 2 days - naptime in one of his new dinosaur vests!

35 weeks 2 days - dinner at Nana & Grandpapa's while the football was on.

35 weeks 2 days - choosing which bit to throw on the floor first!

35 weeks 3 days - "Yes, my dinner might be exactly the same but yours always tastes better, daddy!"

35 weeks 3 days - "Oh... go on then, because you're cute!"

35 weeks 4 days - he's had homemade fruit popsicles before but this was a boobsicle and he LOVED it, he even cried when it was all gone.

35 weeks 4 days - he got his first brainfreeze!

35 weeks 4 days - those beautiful eyes and that cheeky face absolutely melt my heart <3

35 weeks 5 days - supposed to be napping, gave up and took selfies.

36 weeks - we've taken the bars off his activity mat now so he can just sit and play on it!

36 weeks - thinking about trying to crawl (he bailed shortly after), if/when he finally crawls it will definitely either be towards a cat or something he knows he shouldn't have (most likely someone else's food).

Baby Update - 35 weeks old

Age:  35 weeks (posting a day late due to being sick for 2 days)

Weight: He won't be weighed for a couple of weeks, I don't feel like he's getting much bigger at the moment to be honest.

Health: ALS and I both came down with a sickness bug last night but fortunately OJ seems to have avoided it.  However, he went down for a nap yesterday at 11:15 and only woke up to scream, feed and then go back to sleep right through to 4:15!  He also had no wet nappies for over 8 hours despite feeding almost every hour.  We rang 111 who sent us to the walk-in centre as the nappy issue was concerning and he was really unsettled.  However, typically, by the time we got there he had perked up and had a wee.  We think he may be teething again as he's unsettled and very bitey but he won't let me have a look in his mouth.

Feeding: He's back fussy on and off with solids due to this stupid heatwave and possible teething issues.  He's been wanting more breast milk which is understandable due to the heat.  Some days he'll eat a huge amount of solids and others he'll have very little but overall he's having plenty.

Sleep: We've had a move around... it's got even hotter this week so we've emptied the nursery, put our mattress on the floor and we're all sleeping in there, as it's about 5 degrees colder than our bedroom.  It does mean constant cosleeping but, as the mattress is wedged in on the floor, we still put OJ up there on his own before we go up to bed, with the monitor on of course.  Sleep was alright but has been all over the place for the last 2 days with us both being ill and OJ being disturbed by up being up and down and then his super long nap yesterday.

Routine: Nope, nope and nope.

Likes/dislikes:  I don't mention this enough but he LOVES his daddy.  Daddy never fails to get a giggle out of him.  The latest thing that makes him giggle is putting a cold can on his tummy or back, probably because it's so warm.  He doesn't enjoy the heat and immediately cries if the sun gets onto his pushchair or shines in his face.  He's not a fan of new people and will cling to me or ALS for a while, but once he warms up he's okay.  That being said he was very friendly with the doctors at the walk-in centre earlier!  He's started waving his arms and banging his legs on the floor whilst grumbling when he's not happy about something, like a little mini tantrum!

Firsts:  First "Messy Play" group (which he definitely treated as an all you can eat buffet).  First time in his exciting new tent.  First time for us having friends round who stayed after OJ had gone to bed - he went down like a dream!  First proper co-sleeping.  First day of "crap" parenting (pouches of food, TV as a babysitter) while mummy and daddy are poorly.

Milestones:  He's really getting the hang of his pincer grip and today managed to fish a small bit of banana out of his bib and get it in his mouth, I'm excited to try him with something less slippery to see how he does.  We got out the "That's Not My" books the other day for the first time in a while and he immediately started touching the textured parts, some without even being shown!

Things we did: We went to the park to play in the paddling pool with daddy on Friday as he missed out last week.  On Saturday we had some friends round and Sunday we went to "Messy Play" for the first time, spent lots of time chilling in the garden (with the TV turned round so daddy could watch the football) and moved ourselves into the nursery.  Monday was swimming as usual and then we had a quiet day or two.  Yesterday we went shopping for daddy's birthday presents, then ALS came with us to the park to meet up with my aunt and uncle.  Then he came home ill and by 1am this morning I was ill too!  This morning Nana and Grandpapa came round to have OJ for a couple of hours so we could sleep, absolute lifesavers.

Me: I'm feeling really rough, as I spent about 6 hours vomiting every 15 minutes this morning.  It was like being in labour again but without the pain, which makes me wonder how I coped with labour.  I honestly sat thinking how I didn't want any more kids if this is what it was like!  Prior to that I was doing well and had started a new set of crossfit-style workouts... they're now on the backburner again until I recover.  I've started a new, more public blog and Instagram too about parenting a high need baby so I'm excited to connect with people through that.

This week I took WAY too many photos but there are just so many good ones and so many awesome memories! I'm also going to post more with me and ALS on as I figure if anyone knows us they'll know who we are anyway!

34 weeks 1 day - ALS always gets the best photos, just a shame his dummy was in!

34 weeks 1 day - paddling with daddy.

34 weeks 1 day - the bond these two have is so wonderful!

34 weeks 1 day - "Excuse me... this is cold on my toes"

34 weeks 1 day - Primark sizing sucks.  This is part of a dungaree set (3-6 months).  He is still in 3-6 month clothes but he outgrew the dungarees, I couldn't fasten them around his legs, over a month ago yet the vest is still huge.  Stupid sizes.

34 weeks 2 days - the face of a baby who went to bed at 6 pm but then decided to get up BEFORE the sun, in the height of summer, at 3:30 am!!

34 weeks 2 days - he doesn't trust our driving, trolleys also turn him into electro-baby!

34 weeks 2 days - he had his own slices of pear but shouted at daddy until he gave him his whole one.

34 weeks 2 days - dining alfresco by the patio doors with the lads round.

The next few are a selection from Messy Play (34 weeks 3 days)... or "OJ's buffet".

He especially loved the bath at the end... and this cute little flag covers his willy!

34 weeks 3 days - playing in the garden, this frog is a current favourite toy to chew on and he giggles so hard when mummy makes it hop and say "ribbit"!

34 weeks 3 days - inspecting the new setup.

34 weeks 4 days - 8 month growth photo, they're getting so hard to take as he tries to dive off the sofa (note to self: with any future children, do it on the floor).

34 weeks 5 days - a beautiful moment.  OJ and I were in bed and ALS came up later on, as soon as he lay down OJ rolled away from me and snuggled up to his daddy.

34 weeks 6 days - trying to get him used to a comforter (this Dumbo one from Primark was too cute to resist and cheap enough to buy a spare if he takes to it), while we camped downstairs to avoid daddy's illness... which didn't work.

35 weeks - the only one smiling at 8 am after a horrendous night of sickness for ALS and I.

35 weeks - flat out after a couple of hours with Nana and Grandpapa.

35 weeks - still flat out 5 hours later after lots of screaming and milk top ups.