Saturday 21 December 2013

Ophelia's wishlist

I have some vouchers and paypal money to spend, plus Ophelia is nearly outgrowing her clothes so I figure now is as good a time as any to have a think about what Ophelia might like me to spend my money on:



Ophelia's wishlist






Ditsy Floral Baby bootieg Baby Girls Booties | Joules UK
$16 - joules.com

Friday 20 December 2013

5 months old update!




I think this month has been my favourite month to date! This kiddo's personality just gets bigger and bigger! Her expressions are just hilarious, having now developed a frown and "WTF?!" expression-which she seems to like to flick between very quickly! Just before bedtime we all danced around to Christmas songs which she absolutely loved!

Sleep: Generally she goes to bed between 6pm and 7pm then has been staying asleep until at least 4:30am.  On a good night she even goes up until 5:40am/6am.  A few nights ago she stirred and awoke about three separate times, soon after going down but I have a feeling this may have been due to her teeth hurting.  She also now mostly goes to sleep straight after I put her down in her cot (only moaning very occasionally for a short time!)- If you have been reading this blog since she was born, you will know what a MASSIVE achievement this is!  After all the previous techniques laying the path to success, adding to this, I find it helps when I put her down in her cot soon after her cues telling me she is tired but before she gets TOO tired-that way she now soothes herself to sleep with ease.

Feeding: Four weeks ago we swapped one of her feeds (lunch time) to formula and this has made such a difference to her behaviour, sleep and hunger.  I took her to be weighed this week and she is in the right centile and always has been so it turns out! She is just below the 25th centile so is likely to be petiteite like me! In terms of what she's having, it's probably half breast and half formula at the moment.  We will probably increase to another formula feed in the next few weeks- after having a discussion with the health visitor we shall do the first feed of the day.  The Health visitor recommended to do this one, because she said that eventually you wean them down to just three meals a day; so the aim would be to keep this one and drop the mid morning feed.  

                                                     

Development: Physically she has got a lot longer-I notice this especially when she sits up on my lap now-she'll be taller than me before I know it (not hard!).  Her gripping skills have developed further; she is now able to pick up and hold items (then drop them whenever she wants to!-I have lost my keys this way numerous times!).  She loves to reach out with her hand to touch everything and anything, when she does she does this weird scrunchy thing (which usually destroys whatever she is touching!) which I think is her discovering different textures and feeling the world around her.  The pattern she follows is usually; spot something she wants to explore, reach forward/jerk towards said item til she can touch it, reaches hand to it, pick it up, put in mouth!   Her other favourite thing to do is to grab her mobile as I get her out of her cot and bring it with her! I put her cot straight on the lowest setting but she can now reach up and touch it when laying in bed. She is now able to roll in a controlled way, e.g. she'll go from sitting and roll onto her front and then pick her head up.   She continues to want to touch (grab) Inara, poor Inara has been pulled a little bit, but has been SO tolerant with it and actually allows her to touch her now-how far she has come!

I can see why people say you lose years quickly with children-these five months have definitely been the quickest I can remember.





Thursday 12 December 2013

Nursery: Woodland



At the moment Ophelia is in her cot in our room but when we have our own place we shall be putting her in her very own room.  She already has a mobile with toadstools and some animals on it, plus my Mum has saved my old baby cupboards and dressing table which were passed down from my Nan-they happen to have rabbits on...so i'm gonna go with a woodland animal theme I reckon (lazy!).

Here are a few ideas for how to decorate the Nursery:

owl nightlight



















Clockwise L-R: Owl lamp, bookcase, knitted fox, nursery woodland art, nursery woodland artwooden quote.

There is also a rather fabulous toadstool nightlight from White Rabbit England that i've got my eye on too!

Friday 6 December 2013

My idea of the perfect Christmas day



After years of driving between between the many parents' homes on Christmas day, this year we have decided to have Christmas as our family of 4-our  first one as a family of 4! Some might see this as depressing/anti social/insert opinion here but it makes the most sense for us and I cannot wait! Don't get me wrong, I love our families but it has always been pretty tiring stretching ourselves so thinly and I just can't imagine how much more difficult that would be with a five month old too! Last year Christmas was so close to perfect but i'm hoping this year will be even more so and here are the components that make up a perfect Christmas for me:

  • Waking up to these two faces and Ophelia 
  • Starting the day in our traditional way with a flute of Bucks fizz.
  • Mum's amazing stuffing! My mum really does make the perfect stuffing- filled to the brim with carrots, chesnuts, garlic and thyme. I would be quite happy just eating this by the bucket load on Christmas day! Mum kindly made us a batch up for our little Christmas last year and has already said she'll do the same this year .

 
  • Spending most (if not all) of the day in my pjamas and dressing gown! I really am most comfortable in my pjamas and love the fact I could potentially not have to get out of them all day!
  • Popping on our favourite Christmas films (Arthur Christmas and Rare Exports). 
  •  Relaxing in front of the Christmas tree with only the twinkling fairy lights for light. 
  • Finishing the day with a glass of wine and cheese and crackers!
What does your perfect version of the day look like? 


 Merry Christmas! This is my entry into the Tots100/Argos 12 days of Christmas competition to win a PS4-Fingers crossed! 

Wednesday 4 December 2013

Favourite kid online stores part 1: Millymog

I started this post with a list of the new online stores I have fallen in love with and thought i'd put my top favourite items in the post.  That was, until I started with Millymog, and realised the post would be far too long! So instead, I am turning this post into a series; featuring some of my favourite baby things from these frankly gorgeous stores.

First up is Millymog, a store based in a part of Manchester where i've actually been: West Didsbury.  The name is based upon a nickname for one of the owner's daughters and they stock all manners of different brands:







What are your favourite independent kid's stores?  













Sunday 1 December 2013

19 weeks update



I think Ophelia is 19 weeks old, but i've lost track of how old she is in weeks to be honest and I just remember her date of birth anniversary!

This kid has developed her personality so much over these weeks since my last update; she is evidently going to be a stubborn, particular, humorous child person!

What has been keeping me happy:

The way:
she stares at you until you smile and then plays a game hiding her face and then smiling again.
she looks at her Dad and I now with such admiration and love.
she watches the cat and smiles or reaches for her.
she reaches for my mug (and spits in it), moaning if I don't let her hold it.  Luckily she has her own sippy cup which work gave us as a gift, so we let her hold that whilst we drink our hot drinks safely!
she holds onto your hair if you put her above your head.
she wakes in the night chatting away then grins when she sees me, and I can't help but smile and laugh at her.
she loves holding onto her books and flicking through them-staring and smiling at the pictures.  Of course they inevitably end up in her mouth too!
she kicks her legs and wiggles her arms still when she is excited.
she laughs when she sees her reflection in the mirror still.
she is less grumpy at bed and wash down time.
she smiles after she poos.
she likes finding her words and gets excited when she discovers new mouth formations-her latest ones are DA and MA but she is also chatting using "th" now.
she smiles (almost) every night when I lay her down in her gro bag ready for bed.   
she is spitting up her milk far far less and thus needs less burping.
she continues to be so active and always wants to be on the move and doing something.

Fuelling the downwards smiles:
The way:
For numerous weeks she woke at least 3 times a night and stayed up for an hour at a time.
She still mostly refuses to nap more than two lots of 20minutes so then gets over tired and is a grump monster.
She seems to have increased the amount of clothing she destroys due to her bodily functions.
She still likes to put her legs in it ^
She is harder to burp since able to sit on her own.
She dislikes sitting in her chair or playing independently at the moment, which is annoying when I have things I need to do without holding her.  

So really the downsides aren't all that bad! The last few nights she has only woken once in the night and then woken at her normal 6am wake up for the  day-i'm really hoping this continues! We decided to start giving her a bottle of formula in the middle of the day as well as her usual one at bedtime, not only because of her weight and me feeling like I wasn't producing enough milk, but ready for my return to work and keep in touch days.  I have my first keeping in touch day next week which should be interesting, it sounds like they're all mighty stressed and the place is falling apart!