Back to normality

Well, after the cub's world travelling, it's back to "normal" life...although life with a baby is never truly normal as it's always changing.

Since we've been back Leo's reverted back to his old sleeping pattern, going to sleep between 20:00 - 20:30ish and waking up between 5:00 - 5:30ish. It's always a bit hit-and-miss if he's willing to go back to sleep after his early morning bottle, something which isn't too great for Daddy and me if you're up with a giggling infant at 5:30 in the morning!

Leo tends to wake up very cheery, which always helps the day off to a good start. Thankfully I'm a morning person (Daddy not so much!) so I can really enjoy the most of his giggles.

This week I'm having a look at his recent waking/sleeping and eating patterns and trying to figure out if there's any kind of pattern to them. Leo's currently awake for around two hours before napping and is feeding roughly every three hours. We usually have some baby rice around 11ish with his bottle, something which is going really well now! After this weekend he'll be graduating onto purees...which should be fun! 

On Monday Auntie R came to visit with some delicious food (well, for Daddy and me, not for Leo!). Leo had been a bit grumpy but Auntie R and her blonde hair always make him smile (he's got a thing for older blondes...) and he quickly snuggled up and fell asleep on her. As he now weighs about 15lbs I'm impressed Auntie R managed to keep standing for so long!

Yesterday started off very well with a very happy, smiley Leo. It was terrible weather so I'd planned a day indoors for us, but this was quickly turned into an enforced sweatpants day as I did my knee in. Leo and I lounged around wearing our slobby sweatpant and generally not doing much of anything.

Then suddenly in the early afternoon Leo started crying. And screaming. And yelling. He was inconsolable! After several hours of crying I suddenly had the bright idea of giving him the teething toy Auntie C gave us a while ago, which I had stashed in the fridge. Our poor cub nearly devoured it and was soon a slobbering, drooling happy baby, taking out his frustration on the poor teething toy.

So it looks like teething's begun. All the recent hand chewing and drooling has told us it's been on its way, but yesterday's howling confirms it's now begun.

Unfortunately this doesn't mean a tooth's going to appear. As some of our cub's friends have shown us, this could go on for months and months and still he could be toothless...

To the Zoo!

For Daddy's birthday we were given a year's family membership to Bristol Zoo. As Sunday was promised to be the last day of "good" weather we hightailed it down there to enjoy the sun and sights.

Leo's still a bit young perhaps to take notice of all the animals but he did peer around with interest at times. Mostly he enjoyed hanging out in his pram, looking a bit like a tourist...

Bristol Zoo has beautiful gardens and several large lawns where you can plonk yourself down to enjoy a picnic or just sit in the sun. We spent a while sitting out with Leo and he has a nice nap out in the open.

I hope the weather perks up again soon so we can do it again!

Jet setting!

It's been another world travelling adventure for the lion cub since the last post!

Friday 17th - nairyplane!

Auntie C, Leo and I flew to visit Opa en Oma in Holland. Leo was already a seasoned traveller by this point as we've flown over once before, but this was going to be our first trip without Daddy. 

Being the veteran that he is, Leo decided it wasn't worth staying up for all the flying fuss and took a long nap during the entire flight, much to Auntie and my relief.

He's much more active during the day now and easily bored, so it was a bit anxiety-provoking to think of Leo wide awake and loudly proclaiming to the entire plane that he was bored and unhappy so we were very grateful when he nodded off very soon after take-off.

Poor Auntie C took it upon herself to sample the formula this time at the airport. Last time Daddy did it and she very gallantly offered herself up to the cause as I hate milk, and as per her review it doesn't taste all that bad. I can't say that the staff at Bristol airport are particularly helpful to travellers with infants and I was very grateful to have Auntie C's help to get through Security.

Saturday 18th - a day with Opa

Saturday saw Oma, Auntie C and me off to the Libelle Zomerweek for a girlie day out. This meant a day with Opa for our little cub - and much fun was had!

Opa took Leo to the local supermarket to show him off and he was a complete hit. Leo duly obliged to hold court from his pushchair whilst local ladies complimented Opa on his grandson.

Us girls had a lovely day out, although shopping for me nowadays just involves finding stuff for the cub. Much more fun than shopping for yourself! So as a result I came home with a funky pair of felted slippers, made in Nepal. They won't fit for a while but I'm hoping he'll like them when he grows into them!

Sunday 19th - midnight feasts

Unfortunately Auntie C had to go home on Sunday, which made Leo and me very sad. It was lovely to have spent so much time with her and we were really going to miss her! However, Auntie needed to get home to look after Leo's nephews: two adorable guinea pigs names Jaeger and Milka. Leo's not met them yet, but hopefully will in the not-too-distant future.

All the travelling and change of time-zones took a bit of a toll on our cub's routine and he reverted to waking during the night again. We'd spend some time together between 2am and 4:30am at some point for a feed and a cuddle again.

Some nights he would happily wait whilst his bottle warmed up in the warmer but this night he was in no mood to be kept waiting. Not great for me, but very unfair to Opa en Oma who had to listen to him loudly complaining in the next room!

Monday 20th - Skyping with Daddy!

We Skyped with Daddy quite a few times whilst we were away and today was one of those days. As it was a Bank Holiday in Holland, Opa was able to spend another day with Leo, Oma and me. Opa always thinks of fun things to do with Leo and they also really enjoyed sitting on the sofa together, chatting. Opa would ask Leo something, who would babble back to him for a long time. During our time away, Leo really perfected his chatting, lots of "ooh, ahh, ug, buh, uhh" noises, strung together in sentences.

Unfortunately he also likes to chat during his bottles, something which can be very frustrating for the person feeding him as he tends to splutter milk all over you and takes forever to drink it!

Whilst we were Skyping with Daddy, Leo got a bit grumpy, something he does most evenings from about 16:00 onwards. Suddenly Opa appeared with my old tricycle which I had as a toddler.

Leo instantly forgot about his grumpiness and became an intrepid adventurer, cruising through the living room. "You peddle, Opa, and I'll steer and check what's ahead!"

Tuesday 21st - poor kitty!

Opa en Oma's usual houseguest is an elderly cat named Sammy. She was originally my cat when we got her as a kitten but she quickly showed a preference for my parents and has lived her whole life happily by their sides (ok, maybe not happily...she's a bit of a grump!).

She has never, however, encountered children...let alone babies! So Leo's occasional wailing, shouting, crying, etc, proved to be a bit much for her and she'd creep off into a room as far away from our cub as possible. 

A favourite spot became under Oma's duvet. I can only imagine that it's like pulling the pillow over you head in the morning when you don't want to get up!

Wednesday 22nd - the day we found Louie

Today Oma, Leo and I went shopping in Almere. 

Up until this day, Leo's favourite toy to play with was a Lamaze dragon we'd named Nessie. His favourite cuddle toy is a blue striped dog toy (named, rather unimaginatively "Doggie") he got from his Auntie R when he was born - it's now gotten to the point where he won't sleep without Doggie so I don't tend to take Doggie out with us for fear that he'll be lost (yes, I know, must get extra Doggies!). So Nessie usually accompanies us when we're out in the pushchair.

Oma had been looking for a lion toy for Leo since he was born but had been unable to find anything. Added to this, I prefer his toys to be educational if possible and the Lamaze range is one of my favourites and Leo likes them a lot, too. We went to a toyshop and I angled towards the Lamaze toys to see what they had. And, lo and behold, there was a lion hanging there!

Oma immediately snatched him up and he became Leo's newest acquisition. And he was a hit! He makes the funniest "growling" noise when you move him and is finally teaching our cub about cause and effect: when I move the toy, he makes a noise!

Oma had the honour of naming him and he was christened "Louie".

 

Thursday 23rd - family visits

Today we had a visit from (great)Aunt L and (great)Uncle R. Uncle R is the person who took Leo's smiley photo at the top of this blog and was there with his camera at the ready once again.

Much fun was had and Leo enjoyed being the centre of attention. Although, let's face it, it's not often that he ISN'T the centre of attention! 

He's been working on his thumb-sucking techniques and that evening, just before he fell asleep, managed to get his thumb wedged firmly in his mouth. 

Friday 24th - more shopping!

Today we went to the local outlet centre, where there are lots of fun shops for Oma and Mummy to explore. Once again Leo wasn't too impressed with shopping and ensured we kept on the move (standing still in his buggy will quickly lead to crying!). Very good for Mummy's wallet as she doesn't have time to stop and buy something!

We managed to visit Oma and Mummy's favourite shop, though, called Lief, which means "sweet" in Dutch. Their clothing range for girls usually includes the word "lief" on it somewhere, and the boys' range the word "stoer" which means "cool" or "tough". Oma treated Leo to a lovely summer outfit of a t-shirt and shorts and I can't wait until he can show her how stoer he looks in them!

Saturday 25th - homeward bound

Today was our last day with Opa en Oma and we spent the day playing and cuddling at home. 

Mummy was a bit silly and booked our return flight for after Leo's bedtime. Something which wasn't as important when I booked it! I had no idea how he was going to react to being up past his bedtime, if he'd sleep, if he'd want bottles, etc.

We tried to fool him into thinking it was bedtime about an hour before we left for the airport, at about 17:00. But as Daddy said in a text to me, "he's not daft" and indeed, it didn't work. I think our cub was most insulted that I thought I could pull the wool over his eyes like that and question his intelligence. So he stayed wide awake!

This time Leo and I were flying alone with no one to help so I was a bit nervous. But the people at Schiphol are wonderfully helpful and their Baby Care Lounge is brilliant. It's a seperate room with several curtained cubicles, each containing soft seating and a cot for babies and fun multi-coloured lights which dance on the ceiling. The room also contains a microwave, two sinks which can function as baby baths, two changing stations and plenty of bins for nappies. I fed Leo there and changed his bum, whilst he smiled at a little girl from China who wanted to see him.

The Security staff at the airport are lovely and SO helpful and chatty and getting through Security was no problem at all. They let you take your time and help lots and I stayed chatting to one of the ladies for about an extra 10 minutes as she wanted to know all about Leo. They didn't ask me to taste the milk, either, which was great as I was dreading it! They also don't ask you to collapse your pram but search it manually instead, which meant Leo could stay sitting in his pram throughout.

Unfortunately passport control wasn't as great for us, neither in Holland or when we arrived in Bristol. Leo and I have different surnames as we gave him Daddy's surname instead of mine. No one had told me this would be an issue until I got to the passport check and they asked me for proof that he was my son!! I was floored - of course I completely understand with all the child abductions and the recent promotion of Amber Alert in the Netherlands but I didn't know! Thankfully I guess he looks enough like me and I was near enough to tears for them to let us through but we were lucky! Same thing happened in Bristol but thankfully Daddy was waiting for us, should they have wanted to talk to him. Phew!

The flight itself went well, although we had a bit of a palaver with seating. All the passengers looked worried when we boarded as Leo was bored and overtired and shouting his head off, but he fell into a deep sleep as soon as we started taxiing...phew!

Last cuddles with Oma:

Busy week

This week Auntie C's been staying with us, hence the slow-down in blog posts.

Tomorrow, Auntie, Leo and I are flying to Holland to visit Opa en Oma (Grandpa and Grandma!) for 10 days. Daddy has to stay home to go to work and we'll miss him very much!

So what happened?

Monday: Missed Milestone

On Mondays Leo and I go to "Relax & Stretch with Baby", essentially a gentle yoga class for mums and babies.

I was doing a sun salute and looked down to check on Leo, still happily gazing around the room on his tummy. Wait. What? His tummy? When I put him down, he was on his back...

...oh. He rolled over. And I missed it.

D'oh!

Tuesday: One of those days...

So Leo's been a bit...unsettled...since last Thursday. We were due to go to the baby clinic anyway on Tuesday to have him weighed and checked over so I made a doctor's appointment at the same time to see if the doctor could shed any light on why he was so fussy and unhappy all the time.

Didn't get much help from the doctor but he did advise to try Leo on some baby rice to see if that would help at all and if any of the problems we're having were due to hunger or reflux (solid food is much harder to reflux up than liquid!).

In clinic we found out that Leo now weighs 6.6kg (14 lb 8 oz)! That last growth spurt really put some weight on him!

Wednesday: Still fussin'!

Baby sensory today...which was just about tolerated by Leo but Mummy's friend S really noticed the change in Leo. Decision made to try him with the baby rice on Thursday to see if that would make him happier...

Thursday: Weaning, pt. 1

The photos say it all, really!

Can't say the baby rice went down wonderfully with Leo today but it was a start! 

He was extremely eager to taste what was on the spoon but I think it came as rather a big disappointment to him as he wailed!

By the end of our experiment he was happy to gloop it all over his fingers and smear it on his and my face and clothes so at least he had a little fun. :)

Tomorrow we're off to Holland so no blog posts until we're back again on the 26th!

I don't know if I should write this, really, as I just know I'll be jinxing myself...but Leo's been "sleeping through the night"!

For the last few nights he's fallen asleep around 20:15 or so (bedtime routine starts at 19:30 and usually done by 20:00) and then not woken again until 5:30ish.

Previously he had gone this long between feeds but we still had to get up several times during the night to soothe him, put his dummy back in, give him his doggie toy, etc. But for the last few nights he's not stirred!

But, as I said, I'm probably jinxing myself and I'll be back tomorrow telling you all about how I saw 1am, 2am, 3am, etc. ;)

We've been experimenting some more today with more "big boy" toys: a Bumbo and a Tigger door bouncer. Pictures of these to come, I promise!

Went to the pub briefly for a quick drink and enjoyed showing Leo himself in the biiig mirror. He quite often giggles at his reflection (good thing he doesn't realise that's him staring back just yet!). Today's photo was taken as Leo was snoozing in his car seat with his ultra cool Kermit shoes on.

Tomorrow Auntie C's coming to stay! Then on Friday Auntie, Leo and I will be taking a plane to visit my parents for 10 days...and then we'll be flying back together, just the two of us!

I'm ready for my close-up!

Well, it's been a day of firsts for the little cub today!

As Leo's been sitting up very well recently, with only the minimum help from Mum or Dad, we thought he might enjoy sitting upright in a bouncer. Unfortunately the one I've fallen in love with is a tad on the pricey side, so we were still looking for an alternative.

Then Daddy suddenly remembered a walker we bought from a friend before Leo was born. It's not a bouncer, but it would allow him to sit upright and it has a "dashboard" of buttons which make fun noises, play music and, best of all for our little magpie, make lights flash.

Well, to say he loved it would be an understatement...

His toes even touch the ground and he managed to push himself around a little. I can't believe how quickly he's growing and how strong he is. He was only 14 weeks today, I thought it would be months before this would be happening!

We also had our first walk out in our proper stroller. We're using an Oyster pushchair, and until now had been using a carrycot on it to allow Leo to lie flat. After his most recently growth spurt he's been looking a tad ridiculous in it, with head and feet almost touching either end and he was becoming increasingly frustrated that he couldn't see out. So we put on the stroller seat today and took a walk to the duck pond.

I can't say he seemed to mind the new seat all that much as he was asleep in a matter of minutes...success!

The biggest event today was our first ever Leo photoshoot! A lovely local lady who does great family portraits came to our house to take some photos of the cub, and of us as a family - something we don't actually have caught on camera very much! Review and contact details to come as soon as we have some pictures to share on the blog!

Tomorrow we'll need to wrestle with Leo's carseat to adjust the straps to allow for his longer body. He's all squished up in it now and his feet are dangling over the end. I just can't believe how much my little cub has grown, and so suddenly, too! Will be getting him weighed on Tuesday.

We're now starting to look into weaning as well. Guidelines say that you shouldn't wean babies ideally before six months of age, but definitely no earlier than 17 weeks. As Leo's got reflux which appears to be worsening a little again (probably due to his increased movement causing him to bring up his stomach contents more often, which will obviously be giving him heartburn) there's a case for weaning him soon after the 17 week mark. Something to research thoroughly, anyway, and definitely not something I'd do without speaking to his doctor first, of course! But people's experience does point to more solid food helping reflux babies to keep their meals down and generally be a lot more comfortable.

Postman Pat

A couple of days ago, I noticed Leo staring intently at the TV. Now, as I had BBC Breakfast on I thought it was just a tad serious (and depressing) for a 3 month old baby, so I put on CBeebies.

I must admit I was unsure if this was a good idea, this young. Second rate parenting, to quote a friend of mine.

But then Postman Pat came on and I was glad I put it on - Leo was transfixed! 

It started during the song but continued for a good 8-10 minutes into the episode. His attention did wander before the end of the episode (they're 15 minutes long) but that's no wonder at his age.

I told Daddy about it that evening and we found the theme song on Youtube. Again, Leo was transfixed, smiling throughout the song.

Convinced it was a fluke, I put it on again today, and sure enough it was a mixture of stares and giggles. Unfortunately I missed the giggles with my camera, but got a pretty good stare!

In other news, we went to visit Daddy at work today. Not quite as successful as previous visits as Leo's still a bit grumpy following his jabs, but it was nice for me to have other people to hold him whilst he squirmed and yelled. There's lots of ladies (and a few men!) who coo over him there, no doubt boosting his ego and not helping his grumpiness when we get home!

Tomorrow a local photographer is coming to our house to photograph Leo...and I suppose us with him! I'm hoping he'll be in a better mood or else we'll have to get creative with serious, grumpy and crying faces...lots of shots of feet and hands, I suppose! And I guess things like ears can't really look grumpy...everything but the mouth and eyes I guess.

Grumpy day...

Every once in a while we have a really grumpy day. Today was one of those days!

It could have something to do with Leo's second lot of immunisations, which he had on Tuesday. Last time he was a bit grumpy after the jabs, fine the day after, and then really grumpy the day after that (and the following three days!). Looks like this time has followed suit as he was fine yesterday.

Thankfully we did enjoy today's bath, which is the theme for my second 365 photo. 

Bathtime used to be a real stress for Leo. Well, getting OUT of the bath was a stress. He loves his bath and splashes away with big smiles and cooing. But the second you got him out he'd start yelling and screaming. He's a bit of a diva and doesn't like cold things - air, milk, water, etc. But over the last week or so he's chilled out remarkably once he comes out of the bath and continues to laugh and smile with us, which is so lovely!

On Thursdays Leo and I are real social butterflies, meeting our local NCT ladies for coffee in the morning and our own NCT antenatal group friends in the afternoon. I've never drunk so much coffee in my life! It's amazing to see everyone growing and developing, especially as the other five babies from our antenatal group are all within two weeks' age difference from Leo.

Why blog?

Rather than over-burdening my Facebook page with the constant Leo updates, I've decided to start writing a blog about our adventures together. I'm also hoping to include a 365 project along the way although I don't know yet if I'll be able to keep it up!

The reason for wanting to take this off of Facebook and to make it a choice for people to read and look at is because I know it can be difficult having someone else's baby happiness shoved in your face constantly. After we lost our first baby and with our subsequent infertility struggles, I slowly distanced myself from most of my friends and family on Facebook who were posting about their pregnancies and babies.

So rather than shoving it down everyone's throat, it's now a choice! If you want to see what we're up to and how the little cub is growing, look here. I'll probably still post the occasional update about Leo on Facebook, but aim to keep the majority of it here.

So here's the first post, with our first picture. A random day and date to start a 365 project, but today's as good as any, right?!