seven months

dear sophia,

this past month has been CRAZY! on friday you turned seven months old. i think it’s about time i stop counting the weeks, but i take a picture every monday just to see how you’re developing.

this month i finally took you swimming for the first time, and you LOVED it! well, apart from when i dunked you under the water, but you got over it and get better every time we do it. you love kicking around the pool in an inner tube and splashing away for almost half an hour. you don’t love changing in and out of your bathing suit, but who does?!

you’re becoming a little pro at eating these days. you’ve progressed from eating sticks of food to eating pretty much whatever we give you. you still drop lots and spit bits out some of the time, but you can eat out of the palm of your hand and you’re definitely digesting most of your food (if you know what i mean, in the diaper department). you use all THREE (yes, three!) of your teeth to gnaw on things for quite a long time. meals usually take at least 30 minutes these days. favorites at the moment include any bread product, yogurt, tomatoes, and fruit. you eat three meals a day most days and sit nicely in any high chair. you love meal times but hate being cleaned up. in fact, your bloody murder scream is even louder this month (i didn’t think it was possible).

my little baby zoolander has finally learned how to turn left! you roll both ways around the room and you’re THIS close to crawling. when you’re playing on your tummy you can rotate your body around to get the toys you want. we think we saw you creep a little bit today, and we hope that next month we can report that you’re moving all around the place. even though that means lots more bumps on the head (something that has just started recently and stresses me out big time!). i think life is about to get a lot more interesting very very soon.

your sleeping is much much better lately, mostly because we (okay, i) finally plucked up the courage to sleep train you a little bit. last week we were at the end of our rope with trying to get you back to sleep in the middle of the night, so we let you cry in your travel cot for five minutes. the first time we tried this you cried for a total of eight minutes, and have never cried longer than that. you really can get yourself back to sleep if you try! you still rely on your dummy and frank 2.0 (yes, we lost frank this month, but mommy still doesn’t talk about it) to get yourself to sleep but whatever works is okay with us! you have two naps a day most days, unless you wake up particularly early and need an extra one to get you through the day. you don’t really need to eat at night anymore, but sometimes you like a feed and a cuddle after six to eight hours of sleep. we WILL be moving you into your own room this week (okay, i said it so it has to happen, right?) and you will officially be a big girl.

this month you’ve asserted your independence in lots of new ways and your lovely personality is starting to shine. you play nicely and happily by yourself and with other people. you know what you like and you’ll be damned if someone isn’t going to give it to you. you have a pair of LUNGS on you, girl! you love kissing and laughing and playing rough. you’re our lovely little baby girl now, growing up too quickly!

love you lots!

my lovely little girl ❤

blw week in review: week two

this week saw relatively little dining on s’s part…i felt bad, but most days her naps tended to coincide with meal times and, frankly, i wasn’t physically ready to get up and do breakfast at the table every day. but these things happen and we tried to give s the opportunity to eat as much as possible, so the practice is still there.

my lovely baby sister visited for a few days this week, since she’ll be studying ooop north this semester, so we went out lots. we let s try a pub chip (big fat french fry…don’t judge me, you know you’ve done it) and a wedge of lemon (which she LOVED! i thought she would make funny faces but begged for more as soon as we gave it to her) at the pub the other day. i think she felt genuinely excited to be considered a part of the group, rather than being stuck in her pushchair the whole time. that’s one of the main reasons we decided to try this whole blw thing!

other new foods:

lasagna: so yummy, and s loves it! the few times we’ve tried it with her the lasagna has been store bought so it’s fairly high on the sodium scale…i’m not too comfortable continually giving high salt content food, so we’ll plan to make it from scratch in the future.

yogurt: we tried it at the very end of last week, but since then have realized that s loves the mango fromage frais and hates the banana. takes after her mother, i think.

asparagus: adorable to watch her eat it, and she seems to really enjoy it!

nectarine: really difficult for s to keep hold of (which i find with a lot of fruit…it’s so hard to cut into big enough pieces for her) but seemed to like it, more or less.

at the top of the favorites list is still toast with houmous and cucumber. i’m happy to let her continue practicing with these few foods until she gets the hang of chewing and swallowing. also we are loving gill rapley’s baby led weaning book…it follows on pretty much exactly with how s is progressing and offers lots of advice. i’ve heard the cookbook is really good too, so we plan to use that on occasion after s starts properly consuming food.

on the poop front (WARNING for those of you not interested in hearing about poop…continue on to the next paragraph), it’s evident that some food is being consumed. girlfriend STINKS. also, the digestive system is apparently not as efficient in infants, so lots of what comes out looks just like what went in. ok, i didn’t get too graphic there. let’s just say i am NOT looking forward to the day that s’s poop looks like grown up poop. not ready to cross that bridge just yet.

CHANGING THE SUBJECT…TO SHOPPING!

since i feel the need to get out of the house pretty much every day, this whole blw lark has been great for my john lewis addiction. i bought s this splash mat and these forks and spoons…adorable! next week: rubber gloves. i have never washed dishes so often in my life.

i leave you with an adorable (almost) completely unrelated pin i found this week…and yes, i’m planning s’s first birthday party six months in advance. you can never be too prepared.

Source: amyrobertsonphotography.com via Kaitlin on Pinterest

the summer according to pinterest.

i’d been thinking about writing up a sort of summer to-do list, or a bucket list, but hadn’t got the motivation to do it until the fabulous e tells tales suggested a blog link up. now i’m not nearly creative (or energetic, these days) enough to come up with lots of ideas off the cuff, so for this bucket list i will defer to the other lover in my life. yes, i mean pinterest. my sweet evening affairs with this website leave me feeling encouraged, excited and jealous of other people’s lives. but i have actually DIYed my way through a few of the things on my pinboards over the last few months, including making an adorable hand and footprint salt dough keepsake for p for father’s day (like this one here).

now onto this summer:

1. get my hair did.

Source: sundayinbed.tumblr.com via Kaitlin on Pinterest

a few years ago i went crazy and had my hair highlighted completely. i think it was an accident. but i LOVE the full head of highlights look, and want my hair this short again. if i was a millionaire i’d get a brazilian blow dry so it would be kind of straight right after blow drying, but for now i will have to dream. plus, then i’d miss my curls. also, i will allow someone to babysit s so this can happen…i got my hair cut when she was three weeks old, but it consisted of literally handing off the baby to p after he returned from his own appointment, running to the hairdressers, and getting a few inches chopped off. i want an afternoon of styling. maybe with a mani/pedi.

2. organize my life.


Source: mysweetnestblog.com via Kaitlin on Pinterest

this site has about 139847165 ideas for baby/home organization. none of which i accomplished before s was born. now our house isn’t exactly a hoarder’s home, but it could be cleaner. and more organized. so i will do at least one of these things on this list.

3. fly to the states!


Source: youtube.com via Kaitlin on Pinterest

the tips and tricks from mama natural‘s video blog are going to come in handy when p, s and i all hop on a plane in august to see my family. i’m only freaking out about the trip a little, and most moms who’ve traveled with babies and toddlers say that the earlier you fly (in terms of baby’s age), the easier the trip will be. i just know i’m going to have to kill some bitches with kindness, though, as they give me the black look of death for bringing an infant on board an airplane. it’s ok, i will leave nappy bags full of s’s stinkiest poop underneath their seats.

4. (re)learn to knit.


Source: misadventuresofhandmade.blogspot.com via Kaitlin on Pinterest

can you get any more adorable than this? i’m sure it’s super easy and would take about five seconds to do. plus, if you know me, you know that flip flops/sandals/any kind of shoe that doesn’t require socks is the best kind of footwear. s isn’t going to be small enough for this to be cute for that long! my grandmother, who’s in her mid 80s and only has partial vision, is the most amazing artist when it comes to knitting and crochet. she’s tried to teach me how to knit half a dozen times (bless her), so one day i’d like to make her proud by actually learning something.

5. get my craft on.


Source: mollykaystoltz.com via Kaitlin on Pinterest

this super cute shag rug will be perfect for the kitchen. it will also solve my problem of having far too many items of clothes. every time we get a charity bag through the letterbox, i fill it up and return it with tons of my junk. it seems to regenerate almost immediately, and makes me a little sad. now is the time to simplify my life ever so slightly and focus on what’s really important rather than getting sucked into the material things of life. (if you’re super duper brave, you could be like my friend awayathomemom and live out of an RV with your family. so cool!) there are approximately a million more craft ideas i have yet to try out on my pinterest boards…check them out.

6. go swimming with s!


Source: waterbabies.co.uk via Kaitlin on Pinterest

luckily this one involves shopping for bathing suits. also, i mostly want to do this because of the photography session. p gets in the bath with s at the moment (TMI? sorry) and keeps saying, can i dunk her? can i dunk her? and so far i’ve said no because i’m scared she’ll drown and we’ll be the idiots that tried to make their own baby swim. so i’m going to let the professionals help! s loves bath time now and i think she will enjoy the pool, too. plus, i need to get back in the water!

7. bake some sexy cakes.


Source: mingmakescupcakes.yolasite.com via Kaitlin on Pinterest

those of you who have already perused my pinterest boards probably have gathered that my bff and i have half-joked about starting up a cupcake business. no, not like two broke girls, i hate that show. more like ace of cakes meets starbucks flavors meets english charm. it’s mostly a pipe dream, but if i ever win the lottery i will quit whatever semi-fulfilling job i have and open a cupcake shop. so to prepare myself i must get back in the kitchen and start baking. plus, p once told me that my gift for having our first child would be a kitchenaid mixer. i’m still waiting! (i’m sure it’s in the post. not.)

8. get picnicking.


Source: johnlewis.com via Kaitlin on Pinterest

after the disaster that was our last picnic-style outing (yes, i am a wussy mama) i am afraid i may instill the same neuroses in my daughter. so you heard it here first, everyone…i vow to spend more time outdoors with my family. i will lather up my baby with bug spray and sun screen (after six months, i think…before then i will keep her under a mosquito net and hide her from every ray of sun possible) and eat smores with my family. this i solemnly swear.

9. have a date night with p (and without s…sorry baby!)


Source: Uploaded by user via Kaitlin on Pinterest

my parents came to visit when s was five weeks old (they live across the ocean in the states) and tried to get us to go out to see the hunger games. i wasn’t ready to leave the baby and hadn’t tried pumping yet, and figured the logistics of organizing feeds around movie times would be too difficult…ok i was terrified of leaving s for more than five minutes. my mom told me that i’d be ready soon. a few weeks after she left, i sent her a text saying, you were right! i want a babysitter now! so p and i are already talking about date night ideas for our trip to the states. three weeks with my parents, grandparents, sisters, and aunt nearby = lots and lots and lots of babysitters! sorry, guys! s is lovely, i promise! and hopefully she’ll go the *&$@ to sleep for you.

10. lose the baby flab.


Source: bbwprincess.tumblr.com via Kaitlin on Pinterest

ok, so i know this photo doesn’t really coincide with the step. but having a positive body image and feeling good about myself includes losing my baby flab. i know that i’m beautiful, but i also want to feel healthy and sexy instead of lazy and glued to the sofa. even though i love me some big bang theory. so this summer i plan to find an evening zumba class, or vow to get up three times a week at six and walk/run (ok so i can’t run…yet. positive thinking!!!) to feel better about myself and to be a positive role model for s.

so that’s the list, for the most part! i’m sure our summer will consist of much more than this (and you’ll all hear about the lot, of course) but i’ll update you as these items get checked off! happy summer! ❤

the return to poop

when s had just been born, p and i were OBSESSED with baby poop. so much so, we read the NCT chart (complete with color pictures of the ideal poop for the first three weeks) religiously. i even blogged about it here.

ok, so we’re still obsessed with poop. i’m pretty sure we will be right up until the day s is completely potty trained. however, our little girl is finally getting the hang of it! now i know it’s not the most exciting of developmental leaps, but when a third of your child’s life consists of bodily functions, regularity is something to celebrate. once or twice a day, s will have a poop (YAY…only a few weeks ago we were counting the days between BMs, not hours). here are some of the telltale signs of an impending blowout:

grunting. this sign is hilarious and embarrassing in public. i remember laughing with the parents of a baby at the next table at a pub a few weeks ago who thought their son was the only one who grunted for england when he was having a poop.

hands on knees. s sure knows how to bear down and get ready for a poop. it’s super cute and grown-up looking.

focus. it’s as if someone is divulging the world’s greatest secrets and she is listening intently to every word.

the noise. when the poop comes, you sure know it. usually it’s accompanied by a blowout that creeps slowly out of the nappy onto perfectly white onesies and adorable pants. this both frustrates and excites my husband, who has an unnatural cleaning product fetish. currently he is soaking several pieces of clothing in stain remover. can anyone say Stay at Home Dad?!?! yes please!

you’d think that, with all these signs, we’d be able to potty train s early. in fact, i have a friend that practices elimination communication, or infant potty training. before you laugh about it, read her blog here. if i had more balls or patience, i would do the same for s! kudos to them! in the meantime, i am thankful for nappies and a husband who enjoys, or at least participates in, the changing process.

becoming a stay at home mom

i’ve never been very good at being productive at home. at work, i was really productive all the time, and had no problem emptying bins, cleaning toilets, shutting down the bar, and generally tidying all day long. i was a damn hard worker, in fact. being at home was a different story. when i was pregnant, i had the perfect excuse for sitting on my bum all day long and not doing a damn thing. when s was born, i didn’t have much of a chance to do anything either…i was scared i’d break her if i stopped cuddling her, or that she would stop breathing when i put her down to do something else.

ok, so i still check that she’s breathing about every five minutes, but that’s miles better than every five seconds. i can even leave the bathroom to pee. sometimes. but the best development has been her increased independence. she loves to chill on the floor in her play gym, and can even amuse herself with her hands in the bouncer. so, no more slacker mommy. today i did three loads of laundry, washed and dried dishes, vacuumed and mopped the kitchen, gave s a bath after an explosive poo (yay, you know you wish you were me), and started to tidy up s’s room (which, instead of the gorgeous nursery we thought it would be when she was born has become a dumping ground for gifts, boxes, and general crap we don’t use anymore/yet). i even did this:

Source: tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com via Kaitlin on Pinterest

seriously, i need a hobby.

to poo or not to poo

before having our own child, p and i, quite rightly, assumed that babies pooed. a lot. like most other sane people, we assumed this happened on a regular basis, and had heard countless horror stories of hundreds of nappies filled every day and thousands of pounds spent on replenishing the neverending supply of reinforcements.

having s screwed all that up for us.

for the first few weeks, s followed a regimented schedule of poos, as described in the clever and disgusting photo spreadsheet given by the nct. p and i filled hours chatting about meconium, mustard seeds, and increasingly smelly nappies.

tmi? sorry, too bad. poo is my life now, so it is my gift to you.

however, our beautiful and timely baby has since decided to pull the plug on our schedule. these days, she often goes days without pooing at all, instead pumping (or farting, for my american friends out there) more than all the men and labrador retrievers in my life combined.

when it does come, boy does it come. girl can poop.

this turn of events is reason 72652953 i need a prescription for xanax. what kind of crazy baby flouts tradition and withholds poop?!

lots of normal breastfed babies, apparently. midwives tell us not to worry unless she’s going longer than a week without a poo.

better for the bank account, says p. ah, my frugal man. always look on the cheap, i mean bright, side of life.

i’ll take that xanax now, please.