Hey ladies. I've been typing this on and off for several days, so apols that it's a bit of an epic.
Bluebs - that does sound frustrating about DH prioritising the house renovations over giving you time to spend time working. Was that a joint decision (or at least, do you agree with it)?
It's great that you've decided to move onto formula during the daytimes. Big step, and I'm sure you'll be glad you did it - you deserve a break after everything you've been through. I'm doing the same.
Yay Ru the crawling ball-popping baby! Brill news about the sleep too. 7pm-5am? Jeez, impressive! Go Ru!
How's the nose and lip? I think these little accidents are going to happen more and more...
Wow, chew monster! J tries to chew, but he's toothless, so although it's pretty painful when he clamps down and yanks, he can't (yet) draw blood. Does Ru have teeth?
How was the rest of your trip - less stressful? Are you home again now?
"Like a cake out of a well-greased tin!" Ba ha hah! 😂 And "shovelling porridge into his little beak" made me chortle too. I agree, it's so lovely to eat breakfast in peace and quiet without having to do "one for Jasper and one for mummy".
We didn't make it to the cinema (Jackie) as J had croup, which luckily lasted less than 48 hours. But we're going to see Beauty and the Beast tomorrow.
I think I'd like one of your poo stories, please. I think I humiliated myself sufficiently with mine, that I deserve one 😄
Sunday, that's great that you're feeling positive about your return to work. Is it to the same job? Try not to worry too much about daddy doing childcare. I can sympathise - I know I'd be worried about leaving J with his daddy for an entire day because there's so much he doesn't know / hasn't yet done, but on the other hand we all had to learn at some point, and there's nothing like learning from experience... 😳 Plus, it's so much easier now than in the early days, and we all (just about) survived that, so I'm sure E and his daddy will survive this!
Primary - that's hilarious about the stealth bum shuffle. Reminds me of Toy Story - secretly moving around while no-one's looking 😂
Becks, that's lovely that you're having Ben christened on Mothers' Day. We're actually going to a christening on Saturday, and making a weekend of it. Looking forward to a nice weekend away in the countryside, and (even better) I'm leaving DH to plan it as it's Mothers' Day.
We're planning to have J christened too, in the church where we got married. Unfortunately due to a combination of our own disorganisation and overseas family-members' availability, we're not doing it until October, by which time no doubt he'll be a walking/talking toddler creating complete chaos! 😳
On which note, has anyone been to a christening of an older baby / toddler, and what did they wear? I think he'll be too old for a traditional dress-type outfit. I was thinking maybe a nice white suit (i.e. the sort that would be appropriate for a smart wedding). Has anyone seen any nice and reasonably priced ones (I'm not sure which shops are good for that sort of thing), or do you have any other good ideas?
J turned 8 months on Tuesday. As if to celebrate, he had a double-first: he slept all night in his own bed, from around 1130 until 6.30 (as well as sleeping in the evening 8.30-11.30ish albeit not in his bed); and he lasted all that time without feeds (just the 1130 dream feed). Not even a murmur all night long! I imagine the two were very much connected: I think often he nuzzles the boob just because it's there.
So, those of you who have babies that are still feeding throughout the night or who won't sleep in their own bed, take heart! It can just happen of its own accord. I'd been feeling a bit demoralised recently: I've been reading The Baby Whisperer sleep book, specifically the chapter that's damningly entitled "Age 8-12 months: accidental parenting at its worst" (thanks for that), and although I've found it very useful, I find it (and various other things/people) a bit judgmental about not doing things the "right" way or at the "right" time. I really think people should just do what works for them and let things happen when they happen rather than trying to meet deadlines / societal expectations. For example I'll probably carry on co-sleeping on the nights when I'm staying at my parents' without DH (normally once a fortnight or so), as I think it's really natural and healthy and good for babies. I feel there's a lot of judgement and pressure to conform to modern expectations of baby moving into own room at 6m etc, and I think we should just ignore it if a different approach works fine for us (or if circumstances dictate). Having said that, there's just not room in the bed for 3 of us any more, so I'm really pleased that we've managed to get J to sleep in his own bed. It's not been successful every night since Tuesday, but I feel we're getting there. We also moved him from a crib to a cot last night, and it doesn't seem to have caused any major problems (except that it means he can walk around amusing himself for AGES before finally getting bored/exhausted and going to sleep) - our evenings have become very short again.
Our Munchkin sippy cup (the one with the sealed rim) is working fine for a few sips of water here and there. But as part of our transition to formula I've started giving him a more free-flowing cup so he can get more than a few sips in him. We saw the dietician this week, who said to persevere with a cup as it's not worth the battle of teaching him to use a bottle now, given that they're encouraged to stop using bottles at age 12m. And in fact today J went without boob for 10 hours fairly happily - he had a whopping(!) 1.5oz of formula from his cup (as well as some formula mixed into his purée) and survived. I figure even if he only has an ounce or two during the daytime he'll be able to make up for it in morning/evening feeds, particularly as he's normally having 2-3 meals during that time too. Hopefully he'll get better at using the cup and I can permanently switch to only boobing him in the morning and evening, and then gradually cutting that out too - when I go back to work I'd ideally like him to be fully on formula as I'm likely to have long hours and some travel away from home.
J is still being hilarious in general. I'll attach a photo of where I found him when I put him on his play-mat for a few minutes, the other morning. Also a picture of him last night, making the most of his nice new big cot...
DH is doing really well with J. They have so much fun together, playing silly games. J's face totally lights up when DH comes home from work - it's really lovely. And the other day DH said how glad he now is about a father. (That was moments before J did spit-up on his head - totally cracked me up 😂) And this means I'm able to relax more too, as DH often voluntarily takes J from me when we're all at home (both to do useful stuff and to play games), meaning that I can do stuff on my own (exciting stuff like going to the loo or making a cup of tea!) without needing to rush myself or to listen out for J, whereas previously I felt solely responsible for him.
In other news, I've been offered a new job by a new employer. Really excited (and also nervous) about it. It'll be really interesting and challenging. Lots of autonomy I think, and a completely new environment. Not sure what the start date will be but probably relatively soon - certainly before July. It'll be a shock to the system not to be spending every day with J... but I guess it's just a different chapter - and one that I'm looking forward to.