Snow, Waving, Learning!!

I started this blog so that i can share with you all the exciting new things i am learning about and this week there have been several. Mummy has tried to capture each event with the camera to help me show you what has been going on.

Snow!

Before this week, i didn't know what this meant. Big sister has been asking for most of this year when the snow was coming as she wanted to use her new sledge but Mummy had been telling her she didn't think there would be any this year. How wrong was she!!

I don't really understand what happened but all this white stuff fell from the sky and it made big sister very very excited. It was so so cold but that didn't bother her at all.

Here we are on our sledge. I'm not sure what all the excitement was about though. Maybe i'll enjoy it more next year?

It was Grandad's birthday this week so we went out in the snow again, but this time with all of my cousins. I was watching them all wondering why they weren't feeling the cold like i was. The last time Grandad had snow on his birthday apparently was on his 40th, 21 years ago. I heard Nanny saying that Mummy was only 9 on that birthday. I liked spending the day with all my family, especially as it meant i could show off my new skill.....

Waving!!

I'm learning how to be very clever with my hands. Not only can i feed myself and play with toys using my hands, i've now learnt how to wave. Every time Daddy goes to work in the mornings he says 'bye-bye' and waves at me. When he comes home he normally says 'hi-ya' and waves when he sees me and big sister and now i can copy him. I think it is such a neat trick that i spend most of my day waving. I have started to do it at the right time as well now, so if someone says goodbye to me i wave at them.

Mummy has waved the camera in my face several times this week, to try and capture me waving, but every time she gets it out i stop whatever i am doing as a red light comes on which looks really interesting. Here i am though waving while i am sitting with my Auntie.

Look how pleased they are with me!!

It has been a busy week and i think it all caught up with me as i was very tired today. It's hard work learning how to be clever!!

What have you learnt that is new this week? 

To my dear little lady (and big sister)

Fearne.

Very shortly my darling, Mummy will be returning to work. It has been creeping up for a while now but i have been trying to ignore it as i am dreading it. It's not that Mummy doesn't enjoy her job, it's just that it means i don't get to spend my days with you and big sister anymore. Sometimes when i think about not being able to see you and big sister whenever i can, it makes me feel very sad inside.

For the last 9 months my days have been entirely filled with looking after you and big sister and much more importantly indulging in your milestones and embracing the personalities that you are both developing. Fearne you have changed so much in the last 7 months. I am going to leave the camera with Nanny and Grandad so that i can share what you have done while i am gone.



It has been so much fun and so wonderful to spend each day with both of you. We had developed a lovely little routine of seeing big sister's special friend one day, your cousins another day, then spending two days doing toddler activities such as toddler gym, drama or visiting the library. We've had the freedom to pop in on Nanny and Grandad without any time pressures.

                                                        Look at the fun you and big sister had!!

Friday's big sister has been going to the childminder's so you've had me all to yourself. You have quite happily sat next to me while i've tidied and organised cupboards or cleared paperwork etc without ever whinging.

We will still get Monday's and Tuesday's to play but the rest of the week Mummy has to go to work. You will not be used to this new routine and i promise to give you lots of extra cuddles until you are. You and big sister will have lots of fun at Nanny and Grandad's house and the childminder's but i think it will take me some time to accept that work has to enter my life again.

I promise i will try to get home as early as possible so that i get to spend some of the day with you when i have been at work. I am well aware though that due to the traffic i will probably walk in with only half an hour to spend with you and big sister before you will need to go to bed. Hopefully as you get older you will stay awake longer. Mummy is hoping that we will all adjust well and that the fun we have on Monday's and Tuesday's will carry her through her days at work until we get to spend the weekend together. If you ever feel worried about where I have gone please know that i will definately return every evening after work to be with you and give you your dinner.

I want to reassure you that i am only working while you are so young as Daddy and i want to make sure we have enough money to treat you and big sister when we want to. Every week we do the lottery as if we were lucky enough to win, it would mean Mummy wouldn't have to leave you 3 days a week to go to work.

Can Mummy just ask one thing.... please save special moments, like crawling for the first time, or standing up at the furniture for when you are with Mummy and Daddy as i wouldn't want to miss these treasured times.

Lots of love from Mummy.

Food, glorious food! (part 2!)

Guess what i have discovered? That food really is glorious!!! I am really enjoying food now. It took me a while to work out how to move it to the back of my mouth rather than spitting it out but as soon as i grasped that i was away.

Now i can't get the food in quick enough. Mummy now gives me finger food at every meal as i really enjoy feeding myself and because she is kind enough to do that i let her give me the rest of my meal from a spoon.

I have tried such a huge variety of things. Today i had scrambled egg for the first time and chicken and leek pie for dinner. Mummy and Daddy have an Annabel Karmel weaning book and Mummy seems very happy with the recipes in there. I heard her and Daddy talking and they have decided to cook the whole family a meal from the book each night so that they can freeze extra portions for me. Isn't that a great idea. Big sister is not happy though. She is refusing to try any meals she is not familar with or that have ingredients that are mixed together but i can't work out why as i think it is all delicious. She is missing out on so much so i will have to talk to her about it once i learn to talk, that's if Mummy and Daddy haven't managed to persuade her to try more foods before then. :)

Look how clever I am now!!!

Time to spare.

Happy New Year everyone. Yes, i know it seems ridiculous to be saying that when January is nearly over but this is genuinely the first chance i have had to sit down and write a post. (well apart from my one on the Bendy Castle game) Mummy and Daddy have borrowed my blog to write a post for the NetMums / One Born Every Minute theme and the rest of the days have run away with me.

My Mummy is a bit like that. She never seems to have time to spare. During the day she never stops and i heard her telling my Nanny that her evenings are like that as well. She likes to have lists of things to do and i know she feels pressured recently as she is going back to work in 4 weeks and she wants to complete several 'house' tasks before this happens.


Mummy and Daddy had a heated discussion about it recently as Daddy sometimes feels that Mummy doesn't have time for him. Because of this they agreed several things. Friday nights are now for them. They are not allowed to turn the computer on so it means they have proper time together.

Sunday nights have become my Mummy's ironing night. I would be interested to hear if any of you do as much ironing as my Mummy does. When me, her and big sister have been out on playdates, lots of my Mummy's friends have been telling her that they just don't iron but Mummy can't seem to stop. Leave a comment for Mummy if you can advise her on whether she should be ironing so much or not.

I know Mummy's new years resolution is to manage her time better and find more time to relax, although i don't think she knows yet how she is going to acheive this.

Before i go, i thought i'd share with you my new years resolutions.....

1. I want to be able to move like my big sister does. She is able to walk on her two feet but although i've watched her i am not quite sure how she manages this.

2. I want to be able to talk. I have so much to say but when i try to say words like my big sister i can't do it. Maybe i'll aim small and just start with a few words.

3. My big sister doesn't have white stuff in bottles like i have. She has lots of interesting looking drinks in bright pretty beakers so i'd like to give them a go this year and see what it is like.

As you can see i will be very busy in 2012 acheiving all these things and i look forward to sharing all of it with you.

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Bendy Castle

Hello all.


Mummy, big sister and i have found a new game and i just have to share it with you!

Welcome to the 'bendy castle!!'

It was big sister who named it this. Mummy had suggested that we make a den and so she got this table cloth and put it over some chairs. But big sister said it  looked like a castle and when the table cloth fell off the chairs, big sister found this very funny and called it the bendy castle. It's a name we all like so Mummy stopped calling it the den.

The bendy castle game is really good. Once we are inside the castle, there are endless possibilities.

Here is big sister inside the bendy castle. Mummy, me and the babies you can see (!) all sat and listened quietly while big sister read us a story. After that we gave the babies their bottles and then had a pretend picnic with them.


It has captured big sister's imagination, today we played the bendy castle game using the cushions from the sofa. Daddy put the green cloth over the sofa but when Mummy brought me into the castle i got quite upset as there was not much room and it was quite scary.


Mummy, big sister and i would love to hear any suggestions you have for us as to what we can play once we are inside the bendy castle. Mummy has a few ideas as to what we are going to do next time already!

One Born Every Minute - pain.

Last week Daddy borrowed my blog to tell everyone what his experience was of the birth of my sister and i. This week Mummy has borrowed it to write a post on her experience, from a pain point of view so i'll hand over to her.

Big Sister.

This was most definately a positive experience. Apart from the fact that she arrived 5 weeks early, the whole experience of birth was not at all traumatic and i remember feeling calm throughout. My waters broke during dinner round a friend's house so i made some excuse about being tired and left as quick as i could.

At the hospital i was given a shot of pethidine. Due to big sister arriving 5 weeks early i hadn't got round to writing a birth plan but i had always felt that i would go with the flow and see what happened. When i was given pain options, i remember thinking that the midwife hadn't mentioned an epidural as an option so i choose pethidine. This knocked me out for 6 hours and my husband simply nudged me when it was time to breathe the gas and air. Again, due to big sis being early i was strapped to a monitor and so the midwife had told my husband to get me to take some gas and air when the monitor peaked at 30. (A friend later told me hers was peaking at 80, hence why i remember my birth as an easy experience!) When it came to pushing i remember that you become so focused that you have no need for gas and air as the pain is a secondary thought to the primary one which for me was 'let this be over!!'

Fearne.

When it came to Fearne's birth i equally went into it with calming thoughts. This time, however, the pain seemed much worse, much quicker. 7 months on and, as always, the memories fade somewhat, but i do remember not being in the world due to the pain levels..... i remember the midwives talking to my husband as i refused to open my eyes. This was my way of coping. When we initially arrived, a woman was screaming in the room next door and i remember promising i wouldn't do that. I have no recollection of screaming but must have done as my voice was very hoarsh after the whole event was over.

I had the opportunity of going into the birthing pool and i will always regret my decision to say no but at the time i didn't feel like i would cope with the thought of not having pain relief options open to me. I had a shot of pethidine like i did with big sis but this time it didn't knock me out... in fact it felt like it didn't even touch the sides. 

I have said several times to my husband since that i really feel like i didn't cope, but he told me he thought at all times that i was fine and he felt calm as he could see i was coping. I don't remember the pain now, just this feeling that i wasn't in the world, that i can't remember being able to think clearly at all.

Afterwards, i finally opened my eyes, to find myself in a room with a whole host of things that could have helped.... (i was moved halfway through my labour to a different room) A birthing chair, birthing ball and a rope to hold onto. I remember feeling that if only i had coped a little better and tried some of these things, rather than feeling like i couldn't face moving from the bed, then the experience may well have been more enjoyable.

On reflection, both of my births were easy. I didn't have any intervention from forceps, epidurals, and escaped without the need for stitches or a cesearean so for that i am blessed. However, i do feel like i could have been stronger and should have tried to almost enjoy it more, especially as we are (nearly) definately sure we don't want any more children.  

My two births and hearing about my friends experiences reminds me that no two births are the same. I am always amazed by the miracle of childbirth and the journey our bodies go through to get to that stage. I am looking forward to reading about the other experiences of childbirth and the pain levels associated with it.

This blog was written as part of the Netmum's blogging prompt, to coincide with the new series of One Born Every Minute which is on Channel 4, 9pm Wednesdays

Happy New Year everyone!

I have lots to fill you in on but it will have to wait for another time as my Daddy wants to take over my blog to tell you all about his memories of mine and my sister's births. This is because the new series of One Born Every Minute began tonight on Channel 4 and so here is my Dad.

The birth of big sister.

My first memory is of my wife arriving home from a friend's house and telling me in a shaky voice that her waters had broken. This was really exciting as I had just finished building all the baby furniture that night. No, we are not seriously disorganised, our first child decided to arrive 5 weeks early!! Then mild panic set in as my wife and i hadn't packed a hospital bag. While she spoke to the midwife i flew around our bedroom picking up things i thought would be useful. Unbeknown to me my wife decided to grab one of my t-shirts to 'labour' in. Luckily for us she didn't wear it as we realised later that day that the words of the chosen t-shirt said 'push it real good!!'

When we arrived we were greated by a male midwife which surprised me. One overwhelming memory i have is of him stepping behind the curtain while my wife got undressed from the waist down and 6 hours later he was right in the middle of the action helping my wife deliver our daughter. Because of big sister being early my wife was strapped to a monitor. I was amazed at how calm she was during the whole thing, in fact the shot of pethidine she had knocked her out and i was told to get her to breathe the gas and air when the monitor reached 30. Feeling fairly useless, i sat by her side and stroked her arm!

At one point, she woke up and said we would now need to sell the house as she had covered it in blood. I simply told her we would discuss it later.

As for the actual birth, big sister was whisked away as soon as she was born and i remember hearing the midwife insist that Mum needed a cuddle before our newborn was taken to special care. I do not remember having a preference as to whether we had a girl or boy but i do remember a feeling of relief that the labour was over.

                                                               Our first picture!

Fearne's Birth.

This was a completely different experience. My wife woke me up at 3am and it was almost like big sister knew as she also got up at that point and came into our room... something she never does normally. My first proper memory is finalising baby names in the car on the way to the hospital. When we arrived there was a woman screaming in the room next door to us and my wife promised me she wouldn't do that. The midwife then asked if we wanted someone else to examine my wife as she had realised she lived in our street and would bump into us in the local shops. My wife was way beyond caring at this point.

From that moment on time seemed to move really quickly. My wife will tell you she didn't handle the pain at all well but i think she was amazing. She had pethidine again but she said it didn't help this time. It did however mean, that while high on pain, or drugs, she told me i must leave otherwise i would be late for work! I remember thinking i needed to ring work to let them know i wouldn't be coming in but not knowing when was an appropriate time to leave my wife to do so. When Fearne was ready to be born it seemed like all hell broke loose as when my wife's waters finally went there was meconium and so they had to attach a monitor.

Then it was all over and i had another precious child to hold. I do think the human body is a fantastic piece of equipment and labour itself is a miracle but above all i am very pleased to be a man and that my part during the birth of our children was simply to observe and support!

                                                 Welcome to the world Fearne.

This blog was written as part of the Netmum's blogging prompt, to coincide with the new series of One Born Every Minute which is on Channel 4, 9pm Wednesdays.