Coming on in leaps and bounds

Well it appears that there was a reason behind The Boo having a few bad nights - she was cutting another two teeth! I discovered this news when she bit down on one of my fingers and I was left with four little indents on one side, instead of the expected two. My pain soon changed to pride, as I gently lifted up her top lip and found two more pearly-whites framing her two front teeth. I couldn't believe it! They were tiny, but sharp as hell! So that's now six teeth she has and her smile has been changing and getting lovelier with each new addition. 

 

She's really coming along in leaps and bounds lately. Her legs have grown longer and most of her little leggings and trousers now end at her knees. The health visitor who carried out her 10 month development assessment thought they were supposed to be cropped! I have started to dress her in the next size but the waist bands are a bit baggy still. 

I am very happy to report that The Boo did really well at the assessment and is meeting all the development milestones. She has also learned how to wave and give high-fives! She has mastered clapping and does it frequently. She puts things to her ear like a phone and says 'hiya'. She loves to point all the time, at anything and everything. The Boo has a sense of humour and an infectious laugh which makes my heart swell. She uses her high chair as a walker by standing underneath it, holding the legs and pushing it around. She has begun to shake her head when she hears the word 'no'. She can climb the stairs. (This fact frightens me somewhat.) She has learned how to undo the little Velcro straps and remove her shoes. 

New things The Boo has experienced recently:

Being on the sidelines at a football match, vomiting repeatedly all over herself in the bath (best place for it!), homemade chilli con carne, spaghetti carbonara and fish and chips.

Talking of food, I joined Weight Watchers last night and today is the first day of my new healthy eating lifestyle! I have not, and will not, call it the 4 letter 'd' word, as that immediately makes me think I can't have certain food and therefore want everything!! It's so true that you always want what you can't have! So the key will be to allow myself everything, so long as I am honest and include the proper points. That way I can really stay focused and in control. And hopefully, knowing I can eat cake, might mean I won't bother!!

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Autumn is just around the corner

I love this time of year. The weather is still warm but signs that Autumn is just around the corner are everywhere. The nights are cooler, the sunsets are striking, the leaves are turning orange, flowers have gone and berries are bulging. Blackberries are ripe for the picking and I have inky fingers to prove it!

Blackberries. They always remind me of the end of the school summer holiday and wishing that I had just one more week off! Just the smell of them makes me feel like a kid again. So it was to my sheer delight that I found lots of juicy specimens on my morning walk with The Boo and just happened to have an empty plastic bag with me! And if you're going to put them in a crumble, you must have apples too right? So off I went and scrumped myself some! Yes indeed. I took The Boo to the park, parked her pram on the side of the path, climbed over a number of shrubs and actually jumped up and down numerous times to try and reach the branches to grab those little beauties. Needless to say that some of them came crashing down on my head! I thank God that nobody else was around to witness that. The Boo had front row seats and sat there looking at me like I was crazy!

She's been a bit of a pickle recently. She's been settling down to sleep ok at night, but then waking up in the wee small hours and refusing to go back to sleep. Tonight The Boo went down at 8pm and then woke up at 11. For the last 3 hours or so I've tried standing over her and laying her back down every time she gets up. I've tried ignoring her completely. I've hated myself whilst listening to her cry so much she was almost sick and I've also watched her playing happily in her cot and laughing!! She finally went to sleep at about 2.30am. I'm hoping this is a phase which will pass! At least when The Boo naps tomorrow (or should I say later today!) I have the luxury of being able to crawl into bed to nap too.

Right now I feel exhausted. I feel like a failure that she doesn't sleep through the night yet and I don't know if I make things worse when I give her cuddles and milk to soothe her and get her back to sleep. I remind myself that she's only 10 months old. She's a baby who wants to feel loved, safe and warm when she drifts off to sleep. I don't blame her. I want that too. 

Faster by the day

The Boo is soundly sleeping. She looks so comfortable and relaxed and I can't stop looking at her! I really want to go over, cover her rosy cheeks with kisses and cuddle her, but I must resist that urge and let her rest. She must be worn out as she's really on the move now. The Boo has totally mastered crawling and is getting faster by the day! If she's on the floor, you can't take your eyes off her for a moment or else she'll be out of the room before you know it. I'm certainly worn out following her! The Boo loves to be on her feet though. Whether she's stood still or holding your hands and walking, if she's upright she's grinning and laughing.

She's had a lovely week, including a wonderfully long crawl exploring the local park. We met up with my best friend and her three sons for a picnic and had a wonderful afternoon. The sun shone brightly, we ate and drank, the boys climbed trees and attempted to make a camp and The Boo thoroughly enjoyed all the attention. Each of the boys wanted to play with her or crawl along beside her and they argued over who was next to hold her! We sent them off on a scavenger hunt with a list of things to collect so we could give The Boo some quiet time and to hear ourselves talk! 

Nanny (my mother-in-law) has moved in with us, so we've been getting used to having another person about the house. The Boo is very lucky to have all her grandparents and aunties so close by and I like that she spends lots of time with them. I can't imagine not seeing them all for months at a time. I think I'd fall apart. 

Food The Boo has tried over last week: mild chicken curry, nectarines, grapes, pesto pasta, digestive biscuit, tuna, peas (she liked them all).

Total teeth: 4 (another top one is out)!!

Sea of unfamiliar faces

I have had to make a decision about what to do at the end of my maternity leave. Should I return to work full-time, part-time or be a full-time mum? Hmmm? I know what I want to do and my husband agrees and supports me totally.

I have decided to be a full time mummy and have confirmed to my employer that I intend to take a career break to raise The Boo. Gulp!

From the moment The Boo was born, I knew I wouldn't want to go back to work and I hoped that our finances would allow me to stay home. Oh, I considered all the options though. Hang on, no, that's a lie - returning full-time was never an option for me. I'd miss The Boo too much! But I did think about part-time hours. I wouldn't want to work to give most of my earnings to a childminder or nursery, so the only choice for me would have been my parents. As much as they adore spending time with her, chasing The Boo as she crawls around all day trying to get into mischief would have been too exhausting for them. Bless the biddies!

But the main and real reason for my decision is that I just want to be with The Boo all day every day! 

I had the meeting about it at work today and I was surprised about all the mixed feelings I had. On the way to the office I found myself really missing that lovely scenic route I took every day and longed to go back to it and watch the seasons change. Everything felt wonderful, safe and familiar - until I got to work. Things have changed a lot in that place since I left! The receptionist was different, the decor was all new and as I made my way through the building towards my desk, I was surrounded by a sea of unfamiliar faces. Had I gone into the wrong building?? Nope. This was it now, the business had continued to move forward and I had been left behind. 

Yep, definitely made the right choice! 

Her first kiss!

The Boo had some visitors last week. My Uncle and Aunt came over for an afternoon and were very surprised at how much she had changed since they last saw her in May. Joining them was one of my cousins. We worked out that we hadn't seen each other since a particular party in 1996! She was very happy to meet The Boo and had lots of cuddles with her. We also scoffed a lot of cake, courtesy of Nanny!

Next to visit was our friend Julie. She popped in to have a nose around the house and then we strolled to the pub with The Boo, Daddy and Auntie Linda. The Boo has become quite a regular at this pub! We had a lovely dinner and a good catch up.

Finally my good friend Sarah and her adorable son Miller came over to see us. This woman is an inspiration to me. The last two years of her life have been agonising, heartbreaking and awful and yet she greeted me with that big, beautiful wide smile of hers and she has a positivity about her that absolutely amazes me. She has been through hell and she somehow has the strength to be cheerful. She is honest and speaks very frankly about her life and that's all part of her charm. Watching her interact with her son is a joy to behold and she truly is a wonderful mother. I love her dearly. She also gives the best cuddles - the kind you can't help but sink into, feeling safe! Mmmm. 

 

The Boo also attracted the attention of a very sweet four year old boy! We were out shopping when he came running over to the pram yelling "Mummy, look at this lovely little girl"! He immediately stroked her head ever so softly before smiling up at me and then he leaned in and kissed her! Her first kiss from a boy who is not classed as family! I chatted with him and his Mummy for a little while and The Boo got another two kisses from him before we said our goodbyes. He was so careful and gentle with her, love him. The Boo's reaction? She didn't bat an eyelid!

New food that The Boo has tried over the last week or so;

Sausage stew (loved)

Mango (liked)

Scrambles eggs with mashed baked beans (didn't like, but ate with a grimace!)

Diluted pressed apple juice (loved)

Bit of Milky Bar (no reaction) 

Cauliflower (liked)

Bit of Victoria Sponge cake (loved)

Contents of chicken pie (loved)

Vegetable quiche (liked)

Things she has tried to consume but has been firmly prevented;

Coffee

Cardboard

Tissue

Houseplant leaves and dirt

Beer

Sweet wrapper

My hair

Home Sweet Home

Well the house is finally starting to look like a home! Surfaces are much cleaner. Things are finding their own little place and rooms are coming together. I want to go on a hunt to look for pretty, lovely, yummy things - how I love shopping for the home!

When we moved in, we were so busy with the building work and adjusting to parenthood that there were quite a few boxes that we just hid way in the spare room. You know, boxes of CD's and DVD's and papers that we need to 'sort out'. Well I was a good girl and have made a start on the CD's.

It's amazing how music attaches itself to memories isn't it? All it takes is a few seconds of a song and I can be sent tumbling back into 1991 and filled with all of the emotions that that year brought! I heard one song and smiled, feeling elated and excited. I heard another and was filled with dread as it reminded me of a sad situation. Another made me laugh out loud.

I also thought a lot about the people in my life in that year too. Quite a few of those people are my friends on Facebook, but there are one or two people that meant the whole world to me back then, but whom I have no idea where they now are or what they are doing in their lives. That makes me feel a bit sad and I wonder if they ever think of me and wonder what I'm doing? I'll say one thing though, I realised the few regrets I had were about things I didn't do, not what I did. A missed opportunity is more painful than any lesson learned from a mistake!

After all those mixed feelings I need a cuddle and I turn to The Boo. She is my whole world now. Her and her daddy. As I approach her in her bouncer, she looks at me and her entire face lights up with a grin as she raises her arms to be picked up. I can feel my heart swelling. As I scoop her up, feel her warmth and embrace her, she throws her arms around my neck, pushes her face against mine and giggles as we cuddle. My Home Sweet Home. I also reach for the changing bag as she's stinky!