another week flying past

(other phil photos)

so eden is very nearly 3 months old!!! as of next week we can put him in his doorway bouncer and i can't wait, i think he'll really like it.

eden is currently sitting on my lap chewing on some fingers and watching the screen whilst flinging arms and legs about. he's awake more and more but content so long as he's getting a bit of attention. particularly if he's sat up and can look about. in the morning he cries until he can see about the room when he's done with sleeping.

he'd obviously be happier if he had my undivided attention ... but he'll survive.

i love this picture!

phil took that while we were out walking on sunday. we're going to either frame it or canvas it...

today eden and i spent the afternoon in preston. he was brilliant. still no sign of colief free discomfort, but we can't get the next bottle till tomoorow afternoon. he was funny in that the first non=colief feed he wouldn't eat till i gave him a bottle as he's used to his feeds starting that way now. he's been fine since.

my back is killing me from carrying him in the sling all afternoon. i'm still on the lookout for a good carrier to take him on my back as soon as he's big enough. there's one by a company called yuma that i'd really like but its super expensive...so we'll see.

eden and i went swimming on friday... he was ok until we got out. he was just too tired, so there was a lot of screaming. we're going again on wednesday so i'm going to attempt to be more organised...and get out quicker.

anyway, tea time!

just photos today...

black and white ones taken by phil

unseen snowflakes

i'm really hoping that eden is going through a growth spurt...in the last few days he's been a bit difficult-constantly strung out. this morning we played and he happily sat in his chair whilst i showered and then fell asleep watching me empty the dishwasher...and later went back down on his own, but this afternoon is more like this weekend was. he desperately needs to sleep but won't be put down and wakes crying when i move! he's also waking in  the night and being difficult to put back down.

saying that, yesterday morning he was wide awake at 6, so i sat him in his chair thinking he'd fall asleep not to long after but could look around till then, instead, he sat there happily talking to himself for 3 hours!!! when i started to talk to him he looked very surprised to see me!

catching smiles

this picture won't go the right way! it's so annoying as i LOVE it and it's the right way round on our computer but the blogspot won't do it for some reason...oh well, just bend your neck!

my attempts to get a photo of eden and it didn't go so well...the camera was too heavy to balance with one hand...but i still think this one is funny.


well we have survived the beginnings of the immunisation ordeals! phil picked us up on his way home from placement (apparently you could hear eden screaming through the whole doctors office). we're hoping my nonchalance with needles will rub off on eden, except it's easier to be nonchalant about them sticking needles into me than into him.

today we've skipped baby massage as I was really tired this morning and decided that sometimes there is just too much to do and we shouldn't do it all. so we've been playing. he really likes it when you sing to him (and i'm learning loads of kids songs from Baby Bounce And Rhyme at the library), and move his legs and arms around. he is also quite content for awhile in his chair looking at his toys and the room around him. he still isn't into his playmat very much.

he isn't as heavy as we thought he was...last week at the baby massage i weighed him and he was around 12 pounds...and we thought he was around 13 (from our home weighing experiment). although the other mums who used those scales also thought they were a bit off...so who knows what he'll weigh next time. he's still fitting into his 0-3 month stuff but we've washed the next size up so it's ready. reusable nappies generally mean the clothes need to be a bit bigger..although i have yet to notice a big difference in how his clothes fit depending on the nappy. we still use disposables at night for laziness reasons... and if we're out and about loads (which is often) just because there are only so many dirty nappies you want to carry around with you!

i've been thinking more and more about our trip this summer...traveling with a baby is going to open a whole other can of worms that i'm not prepared for! oh the things i'll need to think of! especially as it'll cover a possible change in clothing size and be over the weaning period... 

i'm really interested in something called 'baby led weaning' where you ignore the whole baby rice and mushed fruit stages and simply prepare simple food and leave it in front of your child while you're eating it (or very similar)... and when they are ready, they will feed themselves. it is supposedly REALLY messy (although how is feeding a child not really messy?) but empowers the kid to make choices as to whether it'll eat...etc. I've just met some mums who have been doing it and they say the hardest thing is to trust your child to eat enough..but while they're still taking milk its not the biggest deal what or how much they eat. one of the mums said her son won't eat junk food when it's offered - he picks it up, smells it and puts it back down!

apparently you start with things like plain roasted veg in chip shapes (easy to pick up)... some kids take ages to be interested and others grab them right away. i'd probably want to do a combination as i think there are some yummy soft foods (like yogurt!) but there's a book on baby led weaning that i want to read...

i still think that eden would eat anything we'll give him. so far calpol, infacol, gripe water and colief haven't made him bat an eyelid... as long as we're feeding him, he's happy!

being busy beescia

oh my the days are flying by! eden and i have quite the social life. yesterday morning we went to a sling group, today began with postnatal exercise, followed by baby massage followed by optional swimming class (which we watched), followed by baby bounce and rhyme.  tomorrow we have mums and brews (although eden is going to stay on his own there for awhile so i can nip to physio and we're leaving early for his first immunisations). thursday is full on bany massage, possibly with walk afterwards....and friday we are free!!!

he is smiling more and more and seems to be content most of the time, although we do have bad days. he really likes looking at pictures in books when he's in a quiet mood, especially one we have called 'colours in canada' that has quite contrasting pictures.

anyway, phil needs to do work.

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Eden in his new jacket...which is a bit too big still!!!

he fell asleep on my bed!

well sadly, eden slept ALL day yesterday... which meant that although he technically

slept all night as well, it was far more restless than  usual...constantly needing me to put the

dummy back in, whereas usually he spits it out to sleep. oh well.

yesterday was a really busy day, and we were doing fun stuff for him, so it sad that he slept! in the morning we had postnatal exercise, which includes baby massage (although it didn't, because it was too cold)...and then a few of us stopped for lunch together before rushing to longridge library for baby bounce and rhyme. he did wake up whilst at the library, but only for a feed and then was alert once it was over! 

today we seem to be having an awake morning, so who knows what he'll be like when i meet up with the other mums for a brew. they only ever see him asleep!

it's a gross rainy day today so i think we'll take it slow until we have to go out.

and 'normal' life begins again..

(christmas eve... great grandma got more smiles than anyone!)

...if there is any such thing as normal life with a young baby and a husband on an intensive course! phil has warned me that the next 5 weeks are going to be the most intense so i'm making lots of plans to keep eden and i busy and happy!

 (eden this morning, still in his sleeping bag)

as if it's only been a week and a half! there seems to be so much that has happened! starting with eden beginning to sleep through the night on christmas day. i can now seem to rely on 5-9 hours sleep! only had 9 once, but 8 last night! this does include some middle of the night stirring which requires me to give him his dummy...but then we both go back to sleep!

christmas morning: daddy and eden looking at eden's new book (and current fave present as its all he's really noticed thus far) "Art For Baby".

he also has had a major growth spurt! its now as though he is made of lead! last week we weighed him on bathroom scales with phil holding him and he rang in about 13 lbs!!! that's him almost into the next size clothes already!!! fortunately we were able to pick up some at the post christmas sales so that he'll have enough to wear.

eden has developed a new pattern in life - he sleeps more, particularly in the afternoon, but he is wide awake and interactive when he is awake. it's very fun. he makes lots of noises and gives lots of smiles. this does seem to result in over stimulation though and midway through a grin he'll start bawling until we hold him against us and he falls asleep! at night he'll only go down now if the lights are off. this means we're again discussing moving him into his own room...but now that i'm getting sleep but still have to be on dummy duty in the middle of the night i'm not so sure... i don't really want to leave him fussing enough to wake up and then need feeding....

anyway...i'm back online so there'll be frequent updates again!