JAMES' FIRST FOODS

Well we've had to start much earlier than I had hoped, but James was waking earlier and earlier for full feeds - so we've started weaning.

In his sister's hand-me-down bibs - better than her bright pink hand-me-down swim nappies :)

So far, so good - he's taken tiny amounts of baby rice and pear. And last night only had one nightfeed at 0230.

Once he's 6 months - so, another 6 weeks - I'll look much more at doing Baby Led Weaning, but think it'll probably be a combination of the two, as I'm more comfortable with the more traditional weaning, especially if he is really hungry and needs to be eating something.

 

 

FOUR MONTHS OLD

So, I've actually managed to breastfeed 12 weeks more than I thought I would - albeit mostly in combination with formula. But now I'm really nearing the end, and - as I did at the same stage with Charlotte - I'm feeling really quite emotional about it.

 

Even though it's entirely my decision, I still feel guilty that I'm not doing it for longer, and that we've shifted to more formula over recent weeks. I'm still feeding James once in the day, and once or twice at night. But it kind of feels like I'm cheating, because I'm not whole-heartedly or exclusively breastfeeding. Part of the problem is that I'm surrounded by militant breastfeeding Mums - many still feeding their 20-month olds. But I must keep reminding myself that I've still managed to do more than many.

 

I think another issue is that it feels like the baby months are really quickly slipping away. While James is still way more a baby than Charlotte ever was,  with weaning looming on the horizon I know it won't be all that long until he's running around and talking back to me like his big sister does.

 

I'm really quite nervous about weaning this time round. Part of me really wants to give Baby Led Weaning a go properly - but another part feels I'd be more comfortable with the traditional purees and mashed food to start. I'll probably end up doing a combination of both. I just hope James is a better eater than Charlotte - I'm dreading having another child where most mealtimes are a battleground.

 

It's a very odd feeling: after nearly two years of looking into Charlotte's eyes and seeing myself reflected back, looking at James' fair hair and blue eyes, which is so alien to my side of the family, almost makes me wonder if he's part of me at all! But as Charlotte is a mini-me, James is a mini-me of his Dad - just a bit more gorgeous!

 

 

And I wonder if it's the winding up of me breastfeeding and James shaking off his really baby stage that is behind me constantly having a nagging thought in my head about.... having a third. I can't stop thinking about it. I'm 95% sure it won't happen - my OH isn't at all keen for a start. My head is saying NO (think of the practicalities - bigger car, getting three kids to playgroups and keeping an eye on them, taking them swimming etc.), but my heart is screaming YES (I long to be pregnant and give birth again, and have one last go at going through those crazy early weeks with a tiny baby).

 

I'm sure it's all hormones and I'm looking back over the recent past with rose-tinted glasses, and that's probably because James (so far) has been such a dream child. I just have to keep reminding myself that if I did have a third child, there's no guarantee he/she wouldn't be the massive handful that Charlotte is/was!

 

On a massive plus side, though - she's slept through the past five nights. It's only taken 23 months!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

I had been warned, and was expecting, Charlotte's weaning to take a few backwards steps every now and again, especially when she's teething. And she's certainly done that.

A couple of weeks ago, when she had a bad cough and cold, she went right back to easy stage one purees and a bit more milk, but she's back on stage 2 stuff now - except when it comes to my home cooking. A few weeks ago, she'd happily eat my fish kedgeree, lamb stew etc, which have a few more 'bits' in than the occaisional shop-bought jar I give her.

But now she'll barely touch my lovingly created meals which are filling our freezer, yet will wolf down half a jar of the Cow & Gate/Organix/Heinz/Ella's Kitchen equivalent. I think perhaps she's just lazy - as was evident at four and a half months when she realised it was easier to get her milk out of a bottle than out of Mummy. The jars are a bit smoother than my mashed meals; it's just frustrating because I know she can do it if she wants to.

She's the same with finger food. Most of it still ends up on the floor after she's played with it for a bit - but if it's something she really likes (namely bread and cheese) she'll make much more of a fist of it.

GOT A LOT OF BOTTLE

Grabbing a few minutes while Charlotte's napping to catch up on my blog. After several days of just two 25 minute naps all day, yesterday she threw me all off whack with a random hour and 20 minutes. No idea if it was her Daddy's tight swaddling or if I'm getting the timing right again, but I'll be very glad to see the back of those constant 25 minute power naps which run me ragged more than they make her overtired.

We've ditched her lunchtime milk, so now she's on just three bottles a day - with breakfast, mid-afternoon and before bed - usually totalling around 500ml. And while she's pretty good with the sippy cup taking water with her meals I'm not ready to attempt to give her her milk in it yet - for two reasons.

Firstly, she's forever throwing it on the floor, and secondly I'm enjoying hanging onto those last few months of her being a proper baby when I feed her from the bottle. It's a peaceful time when I get a bit of a cuddle and I'm not rushing Charlotte into doing 'grown up' things like eating food and drinking from a cup. She's not going to be a baby for very much longer.

And so, while she is, here are a few overindulgent cute photos:

wrapped up snug for the winter weather

that cheeky "am I going to get away with it?" face

I can glimpse the grown up girl that Charlotte will turn into here...

UP ALL NIGHT (part 2)

After the previous week's horrendous night, Charlotte treated us to another one last week. We were at my parents', and she was up every 25 minutes-2 hours, screaming and screaming and not going back to sleep without an awful lot of effort.

That meant absolutely no sleep for us, and put paid to my first totally baby-free day. I had planned a day out in London while Charlotte's Dad and/or grandparents looked after her for the day, but I couldn't face a day of anything after no sleep at all.

(Please don't let this next sentence jinx the next few nights...!) She's been very good since we've been back home though - sleeping right through without a peep. But her daytime sleeping's gone back to being a struggle and rather erratic. Back to the 25 minutes, and only after a bit of effort. But if it's between a good sleep in the day or night, I know which I'd rather take.

Weaning seems to be be progressing well. At just over seven months, Charlotte now has breakfast (usually porridge as she doesn't like the wheat biscuit things at all) followed by a bottle around half an hour after she's got up (so anything between 0715 and 0800); then a 2-course lunch between 1130-1200 of something consisting of meat and vegetables, some finger food to try, and then a dessert (often yoghurt with fruit). And she's just starting to lose interest in her lunchtime milk completely, so we may well be dropping that next week.

Her food's getting less and less pureed and more mashed and slightly lumpy - even though she's still not got any teeth. After a mid-afternoon bottle, she then has another two courses at 1730 (before Waybuloo!) of something fishy/vegetabley, another dessert and another offering of finger food. And her final bottle is just before bed.

We've also started putting Charlotte on a potty after tea, just so she gets used to it - not really potty training at this stage - and 9 times out of 10 she'll do exactly what she's supposed to on it!

FIRST CHRISTMAS

Yes, I know Christmas was two weeks ago, but we've only just got broadband in our new house, so not been able to update my blog very easily.

So far as I was concerned, I've never felt less Christmassy this year. Christmas Day itself was just another day of making sure Charlotte was fed, slept etc., just with added relatives around and piles and piles of presents. As expected she was spoiled rotten by grandparents and aunts and uncles (just as well, as me and her Dad didn't really buy her much!).

There were a couple of moments when she was a bit grizzly from maybe too much attention and having yet another noisy toy thrust in front of her, but really she was very good.

She's still sleeping well through the night, and in the day we've gone full circle. From a few months back when I had to take her out for nearly every nap, she now gets her best daytime sleeps of up to two hours (but still sometimes just 25 minutes) in her cot!

Charlotte's equally fickle with her feeding too - one day she'll happily eat whatever meat and veg pureé very well from the spoon, the next she'll not take so well to the same flavours and play around with the spoon and bowl (very messy). She's now on three meals a day - breakfast around 7.30/8am, lunch between 1130-1200 and tea at 1730 with milk feeds with breakfast, lunch, mid afternoon and before bed. 

I feel like I'm making it up as I go along, and her milk intake doesn't seem to be reducing by very much at all. But as with most other stages so far I'm just taking bits and bobs of advice from various people, books etc. and fitting it with my gut instinct and what works for us. I think I'm guilty of what I often do, and that's trying to rush things and get her along to the next stage, when I know weaning is a slow process and I keep forgetting that she's still only six and a half months - I keep looking ahead to what she "should" be doing as a seven month old and beyond.

She's also sitting up without any support really well now - and so I'm now watching out for and encouraging her to crawl. (Like I said, guilty of looking ahead to the next thing too much).

SIX MONTHS OLD

Moved house and we have no broadband yet - hence no time or capacity to update my blog. So just a quick one until after Christmas.

Charlotte's been amazing since we moved - I was concerned all the changes may have unsettled her. But she's pretty much been sleeping through every night for the past week or so. And when she does wake she's been putting herself back to sleep pretty swiftly.

Still taking it slowly with the weaning. Pureed fruit or veg twice a day. And as it's Christmas, we tried Brussel Sprouts this morning:

 

They seemed to go down pretty well, but I'm not looking forward to the nappies!