Controlled crying – second night

Quick update, we spent the afternoon sorting through bits and pieces around the house and playing with Ted. Had lunch together and Ted had his tea then it worked its way round to 7.30 and we were into the routine, upstairs, clothes off, run around the hall, bath and then jamas and bottle and story – all went clockwork.

I put Ted down drowsy and he was trying to get up before I had even put him down. I laid him back down and left the room preparing for the worst as he was howling. But I went upstairs to do my filing – planning to return in 5 minutes and he stopped after 1 minute, he did cry on and off for the next 4  minutes but not with any real drive or enthusiasm and I could hear him making ’settling himself’ noises. So I didn’t have to go in at all. Fingers crossed he sleeps through or is at least not too hard to settle if he wakes in the night.

I am sure if he hadn’t been sleeping through before this would be much harder and would take much longer and it will be interesting to see how he is being back at nursery – whether it makes him more tired and easier to put down, or more clingy and harder to put down. We shall see. It has made it clear how much the disruption of holiday and being out of his normal room / bed made things harder while we were away, but thats inevitable I guess and its good for him to get used to some variation in life.

Just been for a run and moved the cars  around, now its time for a bowl of soup, quick shower and to bed ready for work in the morning.

Controlled sleeping

So although bedtime was a little traumatic for us all Ted slept through until 830 this morning without waking – or at least without waking us once. Granted he must have been very tired after so many late nights so I am not allowing myself to believe it will be that easy, and tonight he might wake up and scream for an hour. But its good progress. Today has been regimented – milk, breakfast (porridge all round), play, 90 minute nap, lunch, play.. and thats where we are now – although for play you could read open every draw and cupboard and distribute items randomly around the house.

Still – we are now on top of everything in the house and paperwork wise so its been good to have a couple of days before going back to work to get it all straight. Will consider this next time we go on holiday as its been a winner this time around.

Delays at immigration, accidents on the A3 and now controlled crying!

Well we are back and getting things straightened out at home. Had a lovely final few days on holiday including some wonderful dinners, on Wednesday night with G&G L and Teddy, and on Thursday just the two of us. Plenty of garden time, and Ry and Grandpa did some more fishing where Ry caught some great fish including another big bass. Journey home started well with us leaving in plenty of time and getting to the port in ample time too. Thats as far as our luck went. It transpired we had selected the last weekend of the school holidays to travel home so the boat was fully booked, on top of that they were doing police controls on passsports french side (unheard of), and then we were made to wait as our bicycle rack made us not a ‘normal’ size car which they clearly need to load en masse, so despite being early in the queue we were about last on the boat. Despite Granny W doing her best to get to the tables quickly by the time we were boarded it was all she could do to get 4 seats together so all in all the loading part was a poor show. The crosing left late but arrived on time so all credit to Brittany Ferries on that front, however as always we arrived at the same time as several other large ferries, and as a result of the particularly unfair situation that is last on last off we were and hour getting off the boat as cars were queueing down the ramp and off the boat. Ted was not impressed about being made to sit in his car seat so he and I took a stroll around the car deck waiting until Ry had driven round to the off ramp at which point we got back in the car. We then had to queue down to the gates and further misfortune struck in that our queue was clearly loaded with non standard cases as we were the last vehicle through – absolutely the last, from all the cars on our ferry and the two other mega ferries, last – we docked at 10 and we got through immigration at 1130 – the injustice. At least the immigration official had some kind words in that despite us being last we were still smiling and he welcomed us home.

Off we set hoping to get to Godalming in just under and hour, but we got as far as the Hindhead lights and were then diverted as the road was closed for an accident. Given this occured just after  midnight patience was wearing a little thin and although we were still in Godalming by 1245 we could have done without the detour through Tilford and Elstead. Thankfully we tested Mums car and it worked so we didn’t have to help get that started so after a quick unload we waved goodbye to Granny W and sped off up the A3 to home. We were home by 1.30 and unloaded Ted to bed which thankfully was a clean transition, then unloaded the rest of the car and went straight to bed.

Unfortunately despite his 11pm bedtime Ted woke at 745 and was so excited to be home there was no way he was going back in his cot, so after a cuddle and a bottle I brought him down so he could trash / rediscover the play room. My turn for a lie in tomorrow! Had a great day sorting things through,doing some laundry. getting the groceries in, gardening and sorting out all my orchids, and generally having a family day and Ry and I are about to tuck into a BBQ dinner. But bedtime for the wee man was abit of an ordeal as we are now in the unhappy position of having him be completely out of routine, and not settling himself at bedtime or in the night – 2 giant steps backwards. Given the 5 week ordeal of last February doing it step by step is not feasible now I am back at work we have had tor esort to controlled crying to get him back in the swing of settling himself. So after a bedtime routine of military timing he was down in his cot nearly asleep at 8.07. Because he was so far gone I made a  point of saying goodnight at which point he decided to wake sufficiently to object so I left him at went back at 8.09, then again at 8.14 – on both occasions he was both cross and upset and so Ry was stealing himself to go in at the 8.24, but round about 8.20 he seemed to quiet and settled himself so we left him and its been quiet since. It took less time than I expected. I know we are going to have to do the same if he wakes in the night which could be harder and take longer, but all I have read says i 4 or 5 days he will settle himself and since he has done it before, we know he can do it when he is accustomed to it so we are just going to have to go through the grim and rather upsetting motions of controlled crying for a couple of nights. – big sigh – will let you know how things went in the m morning ….

Lazy days in France

So the last time we spoke Ry was off for golf, Granny W, Ted and I were off for a walk and Grandpa had gone fishing. When Granny and I got back we filled a boat with water and Ted used it as a paddling pool in the garden, it was sunny so loungers were out and there were books to be read so the time passed easily. Ted had a fine time playing a good game with Granny which involved stealing her pen and refusing to give it back which caused much hilarity – simple pleasures. That was Friday and the day passed uneventfully – which is generally a good thing in holiday / toddler terms. Ry came back wanting a BBQ and Grandpa had caught some fresh mackeral so it was a chicken and fish BBQ supper.

Saturday was another finshing day although this time Ry went with Grandpa leaving Ted, Granny W and I to our own devices. We decided to go to the beach and had a lovely time playing in the sand and taking Ted into the sea which he enjoyed a great deal. Although at first he was deeply suspicious once in we had hand dipping and toe dipping and a semi submersion which was a good start. We got back to find Ry and Grandpa had brought home the business in the form of a 10 pound bass, it was almost as big as Ted – and we have the pictures to prove it! We had a nice evening messing around on the patio with toy cars, balls and watering cans before it was time for Ted to go to bed. He had other ideas and ended up back downstairs with us until after dinner – which he tucked into despite having had his tea. There was a big fireworks display at the Hougue in the evening as the area has been recognised by UNESCO as a protected site – something to celebrate, so G&G and Ryan went off to see the fireworks and I went to bed early with my book. Bliss. Despite his late night Ted did not sleep well and we were awake for a number of hours in the night so Sunday was a decidedly low key day where we wanted to stick closely to the regular routine.

We set off in the car late morning – nap time – so Ted could have a decent nap – he has struggled with napping here as a result of there being so many more interesting things to do and so much attention to be had from doting parents and grandparents! Once he was fully off we parked up by the sea and sat in the car reading – and talking about the holidays when we used to be able to just lie on the beach in the Maldives without a care for naps, broken nights, teething, structured mealtimes and change bags. One day maybe we will get to do that again – but most likely not for the next decade….. anyway – new holidays with Ted have their charms – we did a long drive after we finished reading and went to Isigny sur Mer – there is nothing there except a cheese factory and the ’sur Mer’ is a con as the ‘mer’ was nowhere to be seen, so we headed back to St Mere Eglise (an old favourite) for a late lunch and then decided to take Ted to the Airforce Museum – museums and toddlers – a whole new dimension, it was actually alot of fun, Ted ran around and hid behind tanks and armoured vehicles and we took turns to monitor that he wasn’t running off, climbing on the displays and staying off the grass! We spent and hour looking through the displays which were very interesting – especially the information relating to Private John Steele who is the guy whose parachute got caught on the churches steeple and who hung there playing dead with and injured leg for 2 hours during the battle before being cut down. The pictures of the town taken during the war were amazing to as so little has changed. Wonderful. Back home and we managed to keep Ted awake, stopping at Ravenoville to get him all fired up at a childrens playground. Such a grown up boy he was going down a massive slide all by himself – after the first couple of times he managed to suss out how not to bang his head as he arrived at the bottom -he loved it and it certainly got him wired enough to not fall asleep on the way home. In the evening we ate the first bass meal – wonderful huge tail fillets with a pesto sauce and veg – it was delish. Ted went down without too much of a fight as well as we have moved him into a bed, the previous night the issues had all been around getting him back in the travel cot when he woke in the night so rather than do battle we made a nest on the bed and he slept in that. He slept all night … there is a God!

Monday and the cat allergy had well and truly kicked in which is a bummer as it leaves me feeling very conjested so the aim of the days now is to be outside as much as possible – no bad thing. As a result Ry and I took Ted and a picnic and some kites to the beach to test them out and see which work and which are broken. I drove there with Ted – again at nap time so he could have a good sleep in the car and Ry used the opportunity to get a cycle ride in. I arrived with Ted and again sat in the car with the windows down reading and just enjoying the peace and the view – lovely at low tide, Ry arrived and woke the baby – madness – but we decamped to the beach and had our picnic lunch. How is it that babies will eat food covered in sand – eugh. Ted had his nuggets of garlic sausage which he loves, a crusty end of baguette and a babybel, then some strawberries and his favourite ’souffles’ – bacon flavoured crisps – and then we made sandcastles and tried the kites. One kind of worked but the wind was too gusty although we did get it to fly a few times. Ted loved it and thought it to be great fun, although he did demand to be carried  throughout. Back home to play on the terrace before bed and then Ry and I sloped off out for a dinner at the Biscine – my favourite restaurant in St Vaast. Lovely dinner and home to peace and quiet until 1 when for some reason Ted woke, initially he settled down again quite quickly and I was back in bed but within 15 mins he was wide awake and despite my best efforts for an hour trying to settle him back to sleep he got up and was running around wide awake. In despair I took him into our room and Ry went for the bottle – milk that is although we were both tempted to ply Ted with something a little stronger. Ry took him upstairs and tucked in with him with the bottle at 3 but even then he was running around in the playroom. By 3.20 Daddy had clearly had enough and took him into the bedroom and shut the door, I heard crying for about 10 mins then it all went quiet – reports from the following morning indicates that fater 10 mins of banging on the door crying Ted climbed into bed, hunkered down next to Ry and went to sleep – thank goodness. We had though he would then sleep late – but he was up by 8 – horror and Ry brought him back to me. Combined with a very stuffy nose and sore throat from the cat I was beginning to think that going back to work would be more of a holiday – Ry went back to sleep and Grandpa stepped in and took the terror for a walk – Granny W made me a bed on a lounger outside to get fresh air and I went back to sleep until Ry woke me at midday – feeling much better. Since half the day was gone we had some lunch and then took Ted to Intermarcheto buy seafood to go with the bass kebabs we were planning for the BBQ last night. By the time we got back it was time to play in the garden, read and generally laze about before Teddy was back into bedtime routine again. Bit of a battle of wills at bedtime but ultimately he went off thanks to Granny intervening and we had a lovely BBQ.

Have now finished my book so just time for a few other bits a pieces to do before we head back on Friday. This morning Ted ate his porridge followed by an enormous Pain au Raisin which he clearly loved. the boy can surely eat when he wants to. After breakfast we went out for a cycle ride – 7 and a half miles with Ted although Ry went off after and is still out. Then back so Ted could do some gardening and I could do my blog. This afternoon I am hoping to get the invites out for his christening and then go and get him his next 2 pairs of shoes as they are much cheaper here! Tonight we are all going out for dinner as a thank you to G&G for their hospitality and so Ry and I can sample further delights from the Au Moine de Saire restaurant where we had such a wonderful meal last week. Cat allergy is improving now since we are spending all time outside, I am going to investigate desensitising injections when we get back to see if I can get immune – otherwise future hols in France might have to be limited to a week to 10 days as this is when the allergy really kicks in. Odd that it started only during pregnancy, but apparently not uncommon. Still, we have been having a lovely time as a family together and Ted is coming on in leaps and bounds…

Utah beach, rare steaks and a pair of large lobsters

Tuesday after breakfast we had our usual lazy start to the day pottering round the house and slowly working our way through the bathrooms and getting dressed we headed out for lunnch and an afternoon out and about. We lunched at the restaurant by Utah beach which was very nice and took a stroll around the monuments there. We didn’t spend much time at Utah when we did our pre Ted Normandy landings tour so we will wait until he is old enought o enjoy the museum there and all go together.

We drove back to Quineville which is where the golf course Ry wanted to check out is located and although it was very windy as it is right on the beach he hit a bucket of balls and Teddy and I went for a walk on the beach. We played with some stones and made some pictures in the sand and then Daddy came to join us.

Back to St Vaast for a cuppa and then once Ted was in bed we snuck out for a dinner for two – what a treat. We had planned to go to a restaurant in Barfleur which we had noticed the day before, but when we go there it was full so we drove back towards St Vaast and stopped on the off chance at a restaurant in Reville which we ate at once before and they had a table. Ironically the last time we ate there we had quite a heated discussion about whether we would ever have any children which rather took the edge off the food (which was very good), clearly that matter has been resolved and this time around we had a much easier discussion about whether we would have any more. The food was wonderful and we would definitely go again next time we are here, as well as good food, for once the service was also really efficient and pleasent so all in all it was a lovely meal. Ted slept well and slept through, it seems he has settled into his new environs now.

Wednesday was back I did some cooking and Ry went out for a long cycle unincumbered by my somewhat more sedate pace he was able to really cover some ground and went as far as St Mere Eglise. I cooked the BBQ beans and marinated the meat before taking Ted out on the bike for a couple of circuits round the town, it was very sunny and I got a little burned, you don’t notice with the wind but I will remember sun cream next time. We got back in time to have some tea and then got Ted into his jammers so he could stay up late but go straight to bed once we had had dinner.

The BBQ went very well – we managed to cook the manother bright day with some hot sunny spells. In the morning we went into town to buy the meat for the BBQ we were planning for the evening for Anne and Francois, neighbours of G&G who are a ry nice couple. We bought steaks and lamb and sausages and a few ingredients I needed to make the BBQ beans from scratch. When we got eat rare enough to please our French guests, although looking at it we did wonder whether  was rare, apparently not! It was delivious and tender and demonstrates why you should get good meat to do rare steak on the BBQ, which thankfully we had done. Ry, Dad and Francois were working their way through a volume of red wine and the conversation was easy with a combination of French and English being used, our French is improving and they are trying to improve their English so it all worked rather well. Francois was in detail discussion with Ry about wine and has given him a book which basically rates every wine in France indicating good vintages and vineyards, apparently it is like the wine bible of France. Everyone stayed up too late and drank too much (even me – a glass and a half of red wine and a glass and a half of champagne) but a good time was had by all.

Yesterday unsurprisingly everyone woke up a little jaded, it was my morning so Ted and I were up at seven despite his late night. Lazy morning again then out to Barfleur for lunch to try the restaurant again. This time we got a table and the food was good, but it was in the sun and I started to feel abit headachey and despite putting cream on my shoulders managed to burn my face. Ted had a hat and factor 50 so he was fine and Ry doesn’t seem to get burnt unless its mega hot. I had my first moule in 4 years – since the food poisoning incident and although I felt abit queasy because of the anxiety it was fine. I am keen to get back into seafood after so long, and I don’t want to put Ted off trying all these wonderful foods because Mummy won’t eat it.

We went to a beach on the way back which was lovely and Ted got wet and sandy – Ry and I made the basic parenting error of leaving him in his clothes on the beach which promptly got wet and covered in sand. He was in and out of the sea and although at first he camped out on the sand and seemed reluctant to go on the sand within 10 mins he was hightailing it up and down the beach. The sea was cold so we didn’t swim, although if it had been sunny and hot it would have been refreshing. It seemed the one part of the coast which was not in sunshine was the beach we were on, but having got burnt at lunchtime it was a releif to be out of the sun.

Back to the house for a lobster supper – the lobsters in question had come from the neighbours the night before, and been cooked in the pot after only being out of the sea for a couple of hours, we had them cold with salad and they were wonderful – and extremely large. This is a major step forward in my reintroduction to seafood – eating a whole lobster is a step on from a moule here and a prown there. Ted had missed the lobster as the poor boy was so tired he was in bed by 7, he was falling asleep in the bath!! Unfortunately he must have woken while we were outside having dinner and when we came in we heard him crying, he had worked himself up into quite a state and it took an hour to get him back down, although once he was down he slept through the night. Ry even managed to get him back to sleep this morning upstairs and they didn’t get up until 915 – Ted clearly benefited from the lie in and has been on fine form this morning pottering around while I have been writing this. Grandpa has gone fishing, Ry has gone to the golf course, Granny and I are about to take Teddy for a walk so its each to their own today which suits us all.

Baguettes, Barfleur and a Banana Split

We are having a great time.

Saturday was a chilling out day, some reading, a trip to Auchan to stock up on some groceries, some good food, and generally settling in and unwinding. Teddy had a good explore of the place and is enjoying terrorizing Rooney (Granny W’s cat) – although Rooney is very tolerant and Teddy is quite gentle in his tail tugging. We did our first bike excursion which went well – although Ry was keen to go further than I was able – he of course didn’t have a fidgeting 2 stone excess to deal with and is a more acomplished cyclist than me so I didn’t feel too bad about it – but I can see that I am going to have to get my peddling feet on to get through the holiday – just kept telling myself it was good for me, and Ted enjoyed it so thats the main thing.

Sunday morning Ry was up and out fishing with Grandpa L at 830am! Granny, Teddy and I had a walk to the shops and then a nap in the garden before going to the port for lunch. It being Sunday and us being late the restaurants were very busy so when we got the option of an outdoor table at the Nelson we thought our luck was in. How wrong we were! An hour later, still with no drinks we were beginning to wonder if we were ever going to eat, half an hour later we had had an apologetic amuse bouche, our drinks and food had arrived and we were left feeling like we shouldn’t have bothered as it was all abit disappointing, food was very average, service was terrible, and prices were expensive. We both agreed we would never go there again.  What made it ten times worse was that when we got back to the house Ry and Grandpa were sat at the table eating grilled mackeral tat had been swimming in the sea 2 hours earlier for free. The only upside was that it demonstrated that Teddy is capable of sitting in a high chair in a restaurant for 90 minutes even when there is no food to distract him with – although emergency humzingers and biscuits came into play.

In the afternoon it was garden time and Ted played with the cars and tents and generally rallied about while Ry and I read our books in the sunshine – not too hot so just right for me but a little cooler than Ry would prefer. He liked Dubai in August so I consider him abit of a nut job in that respect – if its less than 40 degrees its chilly in his book.

In the evening – Ry chose a particularly romantic DVD to bring …. not, Rise of the Foot Soldier – very good but extremely violent film about football hooligans, the drugs trade and essex mafia. It covers the murders of the three guys who were found shot in a landrover in essex in the nineties from an inside perspective and was harrowing in parts. However it was a real insight into a different kind of life. By the end I just wanted to go and hold Teddy close and hope that he never gets embroiled in anything like what goes on in the movie. Nice relaxing holiiday viewing. At least we haev Pirates of the Carribean – At Worlds End for the next movie night (tonight).

Today we have had a great day – although Ted had a terrible night. His teeth are bothering him so we were woken at 1215, he went back to sleep but to get him back he had been out for a cuddle and I wrapped him in a blanket to dupe him that he was still being cuddled when he went back in the cot, would have been fine if it hadn’t  been a warm night which meant he woke up 2 hours later at about 315 the colour of a beetroot and very distressed – I imagine he may have had a febrile convusion of similar because he had his pj’s, a sleeping bag, and then this blanket so he totally overheated. His teeth were also bothering him and his temperature was sky high. We gave him some Ibuprofen and stripped him down and he gradually settled but I spent the rest of the night with him in the kids room just in case and didn’t try to get him back in the cot after that. At least it meant he slept until 10 which was great for everyone as everyone was awake for a good half hour for the 3am ’situation’. Anyway – he was right as rain this morning although he is off his food a little, and when you look you can see the molars coming through.

We did reading in the garden this morning, and some time in the playroom, before a nap at lunchtime. After lunch we did our second bike ride which was all the way to Barfleur which is 8km away – not far on paper, but a long way when you are a novice with a baby on board. We stopped for a coffee in the harbour and recovered a little before heading back. The bad news is that coming back there are hills early on, and the wind was blowing strong in our faces so even freewheeling was out as you still needed to peddle. 2km in I sent Ry on to get the car to come and get Ted to make my return journey a little easier. I just kept going though and although he expected to find me sat by the road somewhere I actually made it almost all the way back to St Vaast before he arrived in the car. I was close enough then that I carried on to the bar where we met up for a drink and a banana split which the three of us enjoyed, pics of Ted enjoying his share are evidence of how good it was.

Back home we realised it was 6pm already so just some time for a quick play for Ted before bath and bed. Fingers crossed tonight is a better night – at least he went down awake which he hasn’t done in a while.

Granny and Grandpa are out to dinner with neighbours so Ry and I are having pizza and a movie – he has gone out for the pizza and I am catching up with blog and laundry. Very relaxed, haven’t thought about work and finding it easy to unwind.

Pics to date to follow

First day of the holiday

Ted was unsettled going down but slept through until 7 (french time) this morning and was then happy to romp around Granny and Grandpas room for a while before  going to the Boulangerie with me and Grandpa. Back with croissant and baguettes and it was breakfast on the terrace in the sunchine which was lovely. Grandpa and I sorted out the child seat on the back of my bike and Ted played in the min car before having a go in his new seat which he seems to really like, which is good as we are planning a bike ride tomorrow. Ry had a long lie in but once he was up I went and unpacked our things so we can settle in. Light lunch in the garden then a walk to the Hougue in the afternoon, walk on the beach and back round the harbour. The town is really busy at the moment, we’ve not seen it like this before but its vibrant and feels good as an atmosphere. Back home for Teds tea, play, bath and an easier settle tonight and then it was a wonderful cassoulet for the rest of us this evening. Now its books and laptops before bed!

Heres the day in picks

Pre holiday pics

From the weekend before we came away

Nous avons arrive

We are on holiday – hurrah – its been a long time coming. Had a good day although the hubby had a shocker of a hangover today on account of big night out last night and the reduced frequency with which he has big nights now he is a responsible parent. Still we were out of the house in good time and with the car loaded.

Picked up Granny W in Godalming then to the ferryport before doing the crossing to Cherbourg. Ted was great all the way and had a great time charging around on the boat and playing with the toys Granny remembered.

Short drive at this end and we arrived for a cheese and cold meat supper.

Ted battled with bedtime a little but its a new house, strange day, and his routine was all over the place so not a huge surprise. I can see the molar that is causing the bother so hopefully once that is through nights will get back to being as easy as they were before the molar. Last night he was up at 345 and bless him he was trying to sleep for an hour before he just threw his dummy and I got some medicet. Tonight I gave it to him at bedtime so hopefully that will help him go through. The teeth only seem to really bother him at night.

Anyway, looking forward to a great two weeks – plan to take my new bike out tomorrow, and then once I am sure I can still ride a bike will put Teddy on the back and we can all go out.

Weather was bright if cool today so we will see how it is over the next few days

Pics in the next few days I expect

How the hell did that happen?

Ted managed to fall out of his cot last night – which means he must have climbed over the side – i think he must have put a foot through the bar and stood on the arm of the chair to get enough of his torso over the top that he dropped down the other side?!?!?! he is fine – but what makes this feat all the more amazing is that he managed to do it while wearing his sleeping bag!! It was not a good night last night in sleep terms – he woke at 1 and didn’t settle until about 2.30 in bed with me and ry – then I did one of those really loud snores this morning where I woke myself up and unfortunately it woke T up too.

As a result he was sleepy when I dropped him at nursery and when I called to check on him he had been quite needy all morning, crying when put down etc which is totally out of character. He brightened up after a snack but apparently just lay down and went to sleep on the cushions on the floor before lunch so they let him sleep for two hours. He was then fine this afternoon.

I have been wondering why he has started waking at night – thats twice in the last 3 nights – and a further clue today is that he has nappy rash and is off some foods which happened last time he was teething so it may be that. Another theory I have is that he used to play with his curls – but now they have been cut off ….. could have been a big mistake – but I am more inclined to think he is teething or a  little under the weather – ot final theory is that he might have growing pains – he is growing so fast I swear he grew overnight last night – he looks so long on his mat.

Result is I have come home, put him down, got the laundry on done some gym, am heating some soup then going to bed.

Rys way of recovering from a shocker night last night is to sink a few pints so he is out tonight – can’t say I blame him and after all thursday is the new friday in nights out terms – upside for me and ted is that ry doesn’t have hangover on saturday morning.

soup awaits