Weaning Worries

One thing I've realised so far about being a parent is that it never seems to be the things that you thought would worry you...that worry you. I'm fairly laid back about baby milestones in general. I don't get all angsty that my baby hasn't fully learnt to sit yet or isn't crawling when younger babies than him are already finding their way. I figure he's working on other stuff and as long as he is heading in the right direction, it doesn't matter if it takes him a few weeks longer. The thing that has got me all on edge is weaning, and I really never thought it would.

I started offering Little Monster some basic foods when he was about 5.5 months. I decided a long time ago that we were going to follow a baby led weaning approach so I offer the normal food we eat, perhaps cut into pieces he can pick up, rather than giving him purees. I like the approach. It requires less preparation - which is great in our house as there's really nowhere in the kitchen that I can have Little Monster with me so once he is crawling, I need to spend the minimum amount of time away from him! It also means that the baby can feed themselves from the start so that you can all eat together, rather than spending ages spoon-feeding the baby and then having to entertain them while you eat your (now cold) dinner. I'm not going to preach the numerous and varied studies on this subject but suffice to say it is interesting and has great foundations.

The problem is that Little Monster is now 7 months old and he still eats very little food. He is good with bread-type foods that turn to mush in his mouth but anything that requires him to bite or chew (including, to increase my worry levels) most fruits and vegetables. Don't get me wrong, we have made some progress. In the first few weeks he didn't swallow anything and most times wouldn't pick food up from the mat and put it in his mouth. He is now doing both of these things which are significant skill developments.

But still I worry.

I worry that he's going to be a fussy eater and refuse anything but bread! I know that's a little irrational at this stage but it's so disheartening when I see his peers all happily munching away. I think the worst bit is that it's so hard to know when you should be worried. Now? At 9 months? 10? A year?

I know that, for right now, all I can do is persevere. I have to offer a variety of food every day, even if it all goes on the floor.

And, until he's eating other foods consistently, he's definitely not having cake.  Which is more for me.

Hay Days and Holidays!

Today was the last day of holiday and, in the way of these things when the holiday has been good, I'm a little melancholy and reflective. I wished so much to take Little Monster to the beach for the first time, to see his reaction as the waves washed over his feet and let him squish his toes in the sand. I had that, and so much more. We laughed when a big wave caught us and took photos so we'll never forget.

We went to Dartmouth on the ferry and watched a steam train chunter past. We wandered around Coleton Fishacre, tried a HippyChick Hip Seat for the first time. We watched pigs at the farm and giggled at the monkeys at the zoo. There were lunches and cups of tea in the garden. Ice cream and fresh picked raspberries. Evenings with wine and a good book.


And lying here now, curled up in bed on our last night, I realise how much my son and my husband have influenced this trip and are constantly making me want to be better than I am. Little Monster, at nearly 7 months, has adapted so easily to being here and has displayed more patience than I often do. My husband used up his holiday to care for me when I was ill and couldn't be here. He is kind and generous and has never shown a moment of resentment that he couldn't join us.

All in all I'm feeling really lucky. I had a great holiday and a great time watching Little Monster and all his 'firsts'. And tomorrow, I'm going home where hubs is waiting to give us end-of-holiday hugs.

Magic Holidays

Call me an old romantic but ever since Little Monster was born I've had this image in my head of him, me and hubs at the seaside. In my mind's eye, Little Monster is a toddler and he's squealing as the waves chase him and he chases seagulls. Hubs and I hold his hands as he dabbles his feet in the shallows and looks up at us with big, wide eyes. When he's bigger, we'll fly a kite with him and, eventually, teach him to fly our powerkite, maybe even go kite buggying.

                          (image by Karen O'D via Wylio)                                       (image by CeresB via Wylio)

Well, Little Monster isn't walking yet so chasing waves will have to wait but next week I'm taking him to see my parents for the first time at their home in South Devon. We're planning some coastal walks, some ice cream and, most definitely, a little sea paddling for Monster. We'll walk beside the coastal railway and Little Monster can see his first train. We've already determined that he loves tractors. What is it with boys and tractors?

My only sadness is that, since hubs had to use up his holiday to care for me and Little Monster while I was ill, he'll have to stay behind and work. So my job is to take lots of photos for him. Watch this space.

Putting things in perspective

It's taken me a long time to write this post, without really knowing why. I put it down and come back to it, trying to figure it out and put my thoughts in order.

I think the thing is that for the first time, possibly ever, I feel physically vulnerable. It doesn't seem to matter how much you know you're only human, how many lectures from teachers, parents, how many things you see and read about life and death. The fact is that, as kids and young adults, a lot of us just feel somewhat indestructible. 

Two weeks ago, I woke up in the night feeling ill. Several days and a lot of painkillers later, I was in surgery having my appendix removed. Appendectomies are so common now that they're considered routine and it's easy to forget that they can be life threatening and still have the potential to cause quite a lot of misery. Thankfully, so far, I'm making an excellent recovery but the last few weeks haven't been without their low moments. I keep fretting about complications, even though there's really no reason to think there will be any. I get frustrated about the twinges of pain, impatient to get back to my former level of fitness.

And all this, coupled with now having Little Monster in my life, has made me very conscious of my mortality. It's important to be around to see him grow up. I think what I really want to say is that being ill has provided some much needed perspective. If I'm tired because Little Monster has had me up 3 times in the night, or he's teething, or it's raining when we were supposed to go to the park, it doesn't really matter. I have a gift of 4 more months to spend getting to know my Little Monster. I can't promise it will be without moments of frustration or tears or anger but I do know how lucky I am. Hopefully we will make great use of that time. 

 

Flame for Hope

I wrote this at the beginning of the Olympics but didn't get round to publishing it on my blog for various reasons. I was so impressed with the way that the UK hosted and performed at the games. You did a great job all :)

8000 miles, through cities and dales,
To Lerwick and Belfast, 'cross England and Wales, 
8000 bearers, each story unique, 
Telling tales of our Nation, with action they speak. 
There's celebrities and children, sports stars to be made, 
Heroes of battles, the courageous and brave,
Cub leaders, charity workers and more.
We thank them with cheers and our spirits all soar.
We come to the Games. We come to compete.
To stand as a Nation, the world at our feet.
Our rowers, our cyclists, pool, track and field,
Our hopes for a Team GB gold medal yield.
It is not just our athletes, our country's on show,
We've a chance through adversity, to prove we still grow.
We'll finish each race with our arms open wide.
We'll hold our heads high; one Nation, one pride.
And we know that our actions, our dreams, motivations,
Could alter the future and inspire generations,
So raise up your flags for this is our time,
The Olympics are here, it's our Moment to Shine.

(Mis)Adventures in the Lake District

Hubby and I like to call ourselves walkers. You see, that's what we used to do before Little Monster came. 5 months in and our longest walk is into town and back (3 miles, give or take). Around three times a year, we used to scoot off to the Lake District and tramp the hills, getting wet and cold before landing in a pub with a cheery fire, real ale and steak pie on the menu. Mmm. Heaven.

So, when it got to June and we hadn't been to the Lake District for 8 months, we could hardly turn down the offer of free accommodation for a week in the centre of Hawkshead...could we? To be honest, it was a good thing. Knowing how difficult it might be to take Little Monster away for a week, I could have put off our first week away pretty much indefinitely. To have a set date in the calendar forced the issue.

And the verdict? Well, it wasn't exactly the relaxing getaway that our Lakes trips used to be but it was definitely good to get away from these 4 walls, to surround myself with the fresh Lakeland air, to eat and drink holiday food and to pootle around the shops in Ambleside. And of course, to have hubby around for a week to give me cuddles and share the early mornings ;)

It's funny how you can start to see a place through different eyes. The Lakes just used to be about the peaks for us but this trip we did some really lovely short walks, some orienteering...we tried to see it through kids' eyes. I'm so glad we did. I think the best thing we did was put Little Monster into the sling, facing out, while we walked along the edge of Lake Windermere. His little legs were kicking, his little hands clutched my fingers and he grinned at the people who walked past us. It made me realise that his happiness matters so much more than being able to tramp the hills and sit in the pub. One smile and I'm mush.

Of course, if he hadn't been teething like a trooper...we actually might have had the odd smile for us. :)

Pretty painful parking

I'm no saint and god knows I probably have a million habits that annoy people. But one thing I don't do is park in the designated parking spaces just because I can't be bothered to walk an extra 10m to the supermarket. Now that I've become a parent I really do understand why parent and child spaces are there. Anyone who has ever had to partially reverse out to get the car seat in the back will know where I'm coming from.

A few days ago I needed to 'pop' to the supermarket to get a couple of bits. I say pop in inverted commas because it's really never that easy when you have a baby. You have to choose between lugging 20lbs of baby around the shop while the car seat bashes against your knees and you struggle with your free hand to hold shopping and retrieve your purse OR you lug said child to the trolley bay, hope that there is a suitable trolley, snap them into the trolley, pick up your two items of shopping and then reverse the process. It's pretty much painful whichever way you do it. And yes, there have been several times when I've thought 'I wonder if Little Monster would be ok in the car for just two minutes while I...'. But sensible me always wins, thankfully.

So anyway, I get to the supermarket which is well stocked with around 6 parent and child spaces (considering it's only a small shop I think that's pretty good) and, typically, all the spaces are taken. Now I know I need to be open-minded on this but I tend to get suspicious when the spaces are filled with soft tops and sports cars instead of people carriers and Chelsea tractors. Thwarted by the lack of spaces, I find somewhere where there's two adjacent spaces which gives me enough room to get the car seat out.

On this occasion, I chose the trolley-free option (noone's fault but mine, I know). So when I returned to the car to find that someone had parked seriously badly next to me, preventing a person let alone a car seat from getting into my car and causing me to further break my back lifting those 20lbs across the backseat? Well yeah, you can imagine.

It's just as well that most days I walk into town huh?