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.

Baby Update - 34 weeks old

Age:  34 weeks 

Weight: He won't be weighed for a few weeks now.

Health: He woke up at 4 am on Saturday morning with a temperature of 39.4 which freaked us out but he seemed okay.  We stripped him off (not that he was wearing much anyway), gave him some Calpol and within half an hour it was back down to 37.  He seemed fine on Saturday but since then he's had quite a lot of watery nappies and a couple of periods of projectile reflux each day so we think he might have a bit of a bug.  He gets quite upset for about 20 minutes before he poops and it's been waking him early in the morning some days, like today, so we'll see how he goes but if it doesn't settle down I'll take him to the doctors next week.

Feeding: He's back to eating pretty well, although his appetite has been variable with the heat.  He's really got the hang of biting chunks of food now, although he often ends up letting the chunk he's bitten drop out of his mouth because he's not softened it by sucking on it first.  He's finally taking little sips of water but will only really have it if it's out of my water bottles so I'm going to try and get him a smaller version of them.  He's been having a bit more milk overnight and longer feeds during the day, although no more often, so I think he may be having a growth spurt, although it could just be down to the fact that it's so warm outside.

Sleep: The last 3 days have involved danger naps, where he's woken around 6 pm, so the earliest we've had him in bed is 9 and the latest is 10:30.  It's been hard getting him down due to the heat as well, our bedroom has been up to 30 degrees some evenings so we've had to keep him out of there until the sun moves round and it cools down! He's been napping quite well though and not sleeping too badly at night, except for the occasional early wake up with his stomach bugging him.  It's really not stressed me out at all as I'm just letting him dictate the pace for now.  He was so sleepy at lunchtime today that he was almost falling asleep in his highchair, which is unusual for him but he'd been up since 4:30 with only one short nap so he was well overdue a sleep!  I'm writing this as he's lay at the bottom of our bed flat out in just a nappy because he's too hot to fall asleep on me but every time I put him in his cot he rolls over, kicks the bars and wakes himself up.  I'm sure he has restless legs or something, he's incapable of being still even in his sleep!!

Routine: Even less of a routine than previous thanks to this heat!

Likes/dislikes:  He likes his new Tuff Tray and I can't wait to try out some more messy play ideas with him.  He's obsessed with being on his feet.  He dislikes the fact that he's not on the move yet and we're really trying to encourage him to crawl or bum shuffle, just to keep him a little happier.  His new love this week is David Attenborough documentaries, particularly water based ones!  He's really enjoying We're Going on a Bear Hunt at the moment too.

Firsts:  First time in the paddling pool at the local park.  First time playing in the garden on the grass.  First time playing in his Tuff Tray.  First time sitting in the big boy seat in the shopping trolley.

Milestones:  He pulled to stand on the furniture this week (well, daddy's toolbox) but it's hard as we don't have anything of an appropriate height for him to reach up.  He's also learned to pivot himself around in a circle while sitting so he can reach more things.

Things we did: We've bought a "Tuff Tray" so we've had some sensory play in that with porridge oats.  We visited lots of family and friends at the weekend then spent some time playing in the garden as a family.  We had swimming on Monday which he was a bit less grumpy about this week. Yesterday I walked to the local park to meet a friend from my baby walking group (which I've not been to since Christmas due to a lack of car and then it stopping).  Today Nana and Grandpapa came to visit too.

Me: I'm back to feeling a little better again this week - I've had a reasonable amount of sleep and finally caught up on energy from last weekend.  I'm in the middle of writing myself a new workout programme (with a little help from ALS) which I'm feeling good about.  I'm really not enjoying the heat, mostly because our house gets ridiculously hot, but we're slowly finding ways to cope!

Also I took LOADS of photos this week which makes me happy!

33 weeks 1 day - enjoys his first ride in the big boy seat, despite clinging on for dear life and trying to eat the trolley!

33 weeks 1 day - first time in his Tuff Tray playing with porridge oats (I think daddy enjoyed it even more than OJ).

33 weeks 2 days - trying out a friend's Jumperoo... we don't have one because of the cost and consideration that babies shouldn't spend much time in them as they hinder development but it's fun to play occasionally.

33 weeks 2 days - daddy was out with the lads so I stayed upstairs after I put OJ to bed and captured what a little oddball he can be!

33 weeks 3 days - mummy was training and daddy was watching football in the cafe at the gym... needless to say he didn't stay sleeping for long!

33 weeks 3 days - playtime in the garden, just look at that little face <3

33 weeks 4 days - just chillin'!

33 weeks 4 days - more porridge fun while mummy made dinner, it's great having something to entertain him in the kitchen.

33 weeks 4 days - 10 pm and watching David Attenborough's Great Barrier Reef which absolutely mesmerises him and settles him right down for sleep (I know it's bad but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do).

33 weeks 5 days - that is the face of someone who just stole one of mummy's Frosties, licked it then threw it back at the bowl.

33 weeks 5 days - let him nap on our bed so I could cut his nails, got stuck there for TWO hours!

33 weeks 5 days - OJ's idea of a balanced diet: sausage roll in one hand, banana in the other.

33 weeks 5 days - "This is my pear.  I love my pear".

33 weeks 6 days - I know I'm on this one too but it's too cute how much OJ cares about sun safety!  He cares less when it comes to actually being lathered in cream.

33 weeks 6 days - picnic tea outside and it got MESSY with a homemade strawberry popsicle.  He never put the rice cake down, even while eating other things!

34 weeks - watching the washing machine and falling asleep in his highchair... I got a video of him trying to put food in his mouth and missing, so adorable!

34 weeks - still won't drink from a bottle, just wants to play with it like a monkey (he grabs everything with his feet).

I found this little gem at ALS' grandparent's house at the weekend - everyone says OJ only looks like me but I can definitely see the similarities here.

Nearly 8 months postpartum and feeling happy with my body.  In a morning I almost have abs, by bedtime I am SUPER bloated but hey, you win some, you lose some.