Teds second trip to the pool – Monday

We had a really good swim today, Ted loved it and made alot of splashing and kicking. He went under again and didn’t make a fuss, I am glad we have done that ahead of the swimming lesson on Wednesday. He doesn’t have a problem putting his head in the water on his back at all and is getting better on his front although he does have a tendancy to drink the pool water. I am not that keen on the pic of me with him but it made me notice how similar our eye colour is so it looks like he is going to stay a blue eyed boy. Jury is still out on what could happen with the hair. He went down without a fuss tonight and I heard him wake up half an hour ago but he seems to have settled himself which is a plus. I am off to bed as Ry is out tonight and I need the sleep!

Sunday Lunch at the Minnow

Sunday we had lunch with zana and Patrick – their baby is due in 6 weeks so its all getting close now. We had a really good catch up although the food was not up to its normal standard we had a really nice lunch. We have had a talk about when Granny Perryman arrives which is getting really close now and had alot of chat about schools and children and parenthood and the like. They had brought Teddy this great bouncing bug which hangs from the ceiling and bounces on a long spring like a slinky – we are just working out where to hang it now as its too long for over the change mat so I think we will hang it from the ceiling in the TV room. Sunday night we had a lazy one – although the clocks changing messed up Teds routine and last night he was awake on and off from 1.15 til 2.45 – grim for me, but hopefully he will make up for it tonight.

The Macs came to visit and Ted is once again centre of attention

Had a lovely visit from the  Macs and their girls. Alex is back from Sierra Leone and we had a good long talk about the state of things there.  Ano and the girls are great and looking well. As you can see Teddy was once again the focus of little girls attention and he went in for extra cuddles with Isobel. Both the girls are sweethearts and where Eleanor looks just like Annelies, Isobel looks alot like her Dad. Was great to see them albeit briefly but we are planning a visit to them in December.

Friday visit to Godalming

On Friday we went to Godalming to see Granny and Grandpa Light who have come back from France for a while. Once again Teddy and Grandpa had alot of laughs and much to talk about!!

Before and After – Teds first time at the pool

Last week Wednesday afternoon we had our first swim and Teddy loved it – see here before and after pics – he was wiped out afterwards and slept for 2 hours in the afternoon.  Am loving him in his little board shorts – bless him

Niddrie cuddles for Ted post World Cup Final

Its the day after the rugby world cup final and Ted was still celebrating while Bad daddy was recovering. Mac and Isla came to visit with Bex and Al and we had a BBQ in the afternoon. Ted got plenty of attention from Mac and especially Isla who helped with feeding and cuddling. There were a few nervous moments where it looked like Teddy might slide off onto the floor but Isla did a great job of holding on. Can’t believe how much Mac looks like his Mum at the moment!

Broccoli too…

Not alot to report as it was a day of chores, however Ted demolished a pot of pureed broccoli – which to be honest was the first one which I thought he might spurn – I tried it and it was quite a strong flavour – but not a problem for the little bird – the mouth was open and going for the spoon as fast as normal. Bless hime – looks like he is not going to be a fussy eater.

Still abit snuffly and coughing abit but he doesn’t seem to be ill, maybe a little quieter than normal, but he is doing well. Went down without a fight tonight again so it looks like bedtime is sorted. Last night he only woke twice for food at 2.30 and 5.30 so that wasn’t too bad – the midnight feed looks like a thing of the past now so the stretches should get longer and longer.

Ry and I have a whole night away without Ted next week. Mum is coming to look after him. We are going out to dinner and then staying in a hotel. I am looking forward to the prospect of sleeping long and having a lie in and room service in bed. Bliss.

We are seeing Ano and Alex and the girls on the weekend, and Zana and Patrick and the bump for lunch on Sunday so will be quite social. Ry also has to plumb in the washing machine at Crossways Saturday morning but it shouldn’t take long.

Bumps n babes tomorrow, chance for a gossip and some coffee, then am thinking of leaving the cleaner to it and going for afternoon tea with Granny and Grandpa. We’ll see how he is.

Every day – new experiences – today, swimming and cauliflower

Ted and I have been having a good week, apart from the dentist yesterday where I got my first filling :O( it was only a small cavity but the dentist said better to deal with it early so I can no longer claim to have perfect pearly whites. Nevermind.

Today this mornings health clinic session was on safety – frankly having sat through 45 mins of hearing about falls, burns, broken bones, finger in door incidents, scaldings from misplaced cups of tea, fires, carbon monoxide poisoning ‘the silent killer’, suffocation from cot bumpers and sofa cushions and drowning in buckets and 5 cm of water I am thinking Ryan Ted and I should move into an igloo.

The number of things which I could worry about is so endless that I could think about it all day and night and still not be done. I do think we should get a carbon monoxide alarm now, but other than that we are just going to have to go with it. As I pointed out, if we remove Teds cot bumper I will be in there every 5 minutes as he wakes up when he gets himself lodged horizontally across his cot with the top of his head pushing against one bar and his feet hanging out between the bars on the other side – as it is if I place him too far down during the day he ends up with a leg sticking out between the bars and then wakes up when it twists when he rolls over.

Anyway having been scared witless about that a couple of us went off for lunch at the metropolitan police training centre – one of the ladies husbands is a policeman, and had some lunch before going for a swim. Ted was a natural – I like to think this is in some way part of his genetic inheritance from me, but suspect it is not something that is passed on in the genes! Whatever the case he is a total water baby, kicking and splashing on his back with his arms and legs, he had a go in his floating chair which is great as it gives me a little break from holding him – although I still have to hold the floating chair of course – especially when he leans forward to try and gum the rubber tray at the front! He also went totally underwater which was brilliant – he looked abit surprised when I brought him up (we did ring a ring o roses – where you dunk the baby on ‘we all fall down’)  but there were no tears and no fuss. I am feeling much more confident about his swimming lesson next week now!

Afterwards he slept for 2 hours so it seems it wore him out too. I am going to take him once a week now on top of his swimming classes as its not bad excercise for me either.

Once home and when he woke up it was about six so I was going to skip the solids for today, but I wanted to see how he would take to cauliflower, apparently alot of babies are not so keen. Well how proud am I – he ate a full portion, bless him he is like a little bird with his mouth open straight away for the next spoonful when it is something he likes. Brocolli tomorrow which I think will be the toughest one yet as it is the first one I am not to keen on having tasted them all. I might have to add something to take the edge off as its quite a strong flavour. Still he has eaten everything I have put in front of him so far.

Last night he did 8 to 12.30 to 5.30 to 7.45, thats the third night in a row of only 2 night wakings, and he might have gone back with a dummy at 12.30 I just forgot to try it as I had only been asleep for an hour.

Tonight he has gone down at 8.15 so lets see how we go. Ry is out so I am thinking I will go to bed soon and get plenty of shut eye.

Day at home tomorrow for chores…… laundry, get dry cleaning ready to take in friday morning, make some more muesli, call british gas, the list goes on, but if I can nail it all in one day then Friday is all mine! Ted is still chesty and coughing a little so a day at home will do him good.

Sleep glorious sleep

for the last two nights Ted has done a long first stint (sunday he did 8.30 til 2.30 and last night he did 8 til 3) which makes me believe that one day he might just sleep all the way through the night. Suffice to say when he does wake up he has a big feed and then wants another one 2 hours later but things are definitely improving and it seems like we are starting to skip the 11.30 / midnight feed. Progress.

Got news that Tony and Jess are having another baby – CONGRATULATIONS – due next spring. Looking forward to getting down to Bristol again before the end of leave to see them and visit Michelle and Holly.

Ted has snuffles – runny nose and a cough – but no fever and no ill temper so I think its all to do with his teeth as he has pink cheeks and produces vast quantities of drool.

Getting things done this week, although am trying to plan for the Leaders of London conference I am going to next month and rather than thinking about what intelligent questions I can ask the likes of Al Gore, Kofi Annan and Edward de Bono I am trying to work out how many breast pads I will need and whether I will be able to express milk without sounding like I have a sex toy in the ladies room – I definitely think a hand pump is going to be in order – but even then where can I store it? A friend suggested I take a cooler bag – but I think that might be a little inappropriate so it may just have to go down the toilet – seems criminal to waste it but what can you do!

Also am worrying about how to break it to my boss that I don”t really want the alternative job that I have been offered on my return to work without sounding like and ingrate or looking like having had a baby I now have no scale of ambition – it is more a case of not being very interested in the subject matter – I like my current job and if I am going to move I would rather move to something I am more interested in – if I am not going to be with teddy all day then I need to be doing something I can see value in otherwise it will jsut feel like going through the motions. Oh the dilemma of it all. I am sure it will all work out ok in the end – it is difficult being out of the loop.

Got to go to bed as I am seeing double – cramming too much web and e-mail time into the 2 hours after Ted goes to bed – he hates it when I am in front of the computer – laundry, cooking, hoovering and gardening he will sit and gurgle and watch and chat – but god forbid I do any web work while he is awake – he kicks off and fusses – mind you he is quite happy to sit on Ryans lap while he is doing web stuff – maybe I am looking at the wrong web sites!!! Maybe if I was shopping for remote control helicopters he would be more interested in my screen too.

Tequila…. never a good idea

Certainly where Ryan is concerned!! The weekend was taken up with rugby, of course, and after a BBQ on Saturday afternoon we sat down in front of the big screen to watch the game. Mark had the bright idea of shots for supporters of both teams every time points were scored – thank goodnes it was a low scoring game is all I can say – still as part of his celebrations Ry managed to fall into a large bush in the garden and struggle to free himself before passing out at about 10.30. Having just settled Ted after his first night feed, I settled Ryan too before closing up downstairs. Cliff turned up at midnight but Ry was out for the count and I had been asleep for an hour at least – thankfully Dave was staying over with Vigi (who is lovely by the way – I know I shouldn’t sound so surprised!! :O)) and he and Cliff had some leftovers before Cliff biked home. Mark and Emma went home – since Ry and Mark separate from the Tequillas were averaging one beer every 15 minutes I am surprised they made it. Suffice to say out recycling bin is nearly full already, and they collected only a week ago.

Today Tashy stayed for the day and Bex and Al came over with Isla and Mackenzie, we had another BBQ to use up some of the burgers we had left over and  had a good catch up as its been a while since we last saw them. Isla and Mac are great kids who have managed to achieve new levels of noise in the house. This was a beautiful complement to Ryans hangover :O) – although to be fair, following some strong coffee, painkillers and a fry up he was feeling a good deal better already.

Ted took in the weekend with his usual calm and was not phased by all the comings and goings – he did wake more than usual on Saturday night – he did well til 2.3o having gone to bed at 7.30 he had a feed at 10.30 and 2.30, but then it was every 2 hours at 4.30 and 6.30 before getting up at 8 this morning, he is alo waking up more when he feeds and is not settling so quickly as a result, so the feeds are longer than they were a week or so ago – hopefully it is all part of his sleep routine changing, either that or from the disruption of having other people here. It will be interesting to see what he does tonight!

I am going to have an hour in front of the telly and an early night – no plans for tomorrow so I might try and get some things crossed off my list. I still need to do a favour for Dad although its abit late now but if I can get to Twickenham and park at the place I need to go to I might try and do that.

Tiring weekend – and you can imagine what it has been like living with a Springbok fan…..