Motherhood: Willow at 9 & 10 Months

Although I’ve been taking notes, I completely missed putting up Willow’s 9 Month update and we’re now even creeping past her 10 Month update! They’re so important to me to document, so I’m putting them together for now.

 

Left: 10 Months | Right: 9 Months

Willow was quite poorly in February when she was 8/9 months; she had a chest infection, conjunctivitis and a viral rash over the space of a few weeks. Luckily she is much better now!

Just before she turned 10 Months, she has started to go through Leap 7… this is probably our most challenging leap so far with lots of clinginess and the start of tantrums, I dread to think what the Terrible Two’s are going to be like!

Height/Weight:

I don’t take Willow to get weighed as regularly now she is a little bit older and we have established a good feeding routine. She was last weighed at the start of February, when she was 8 Months and weighed 19lbs and is plotting nicely on her growth charts.  I’m hoping to take her to be weighed again soon now that she is 10 Months and then she’ll be checked for everything at her 12 Month check with the Health Visitor.

Routine & Sleeping:

We are now safely out of the 8 month sleep regression, thank goodness! Willow has bedtime 6:30pm – 7pm and sleeps through until about 6am (we have the odd early morning stir and occasional 5:30am start), she then has a small early nap in the morning and a long (often 2 hours) nap in the afternoon. I feel we’re probably not far off having one nap a day, as this does happen sometimes when we are out and about!

Eating/Feeding:

Willow continues to have 3 meals a day and a couple of snacks if I feel she needs them. She has a wide & varied diet and I’m clinging to the fact that she’ll eat everything for now, as I know once she becomes a toddler it won’t be the same. She’s starting to eat a lot more finger foods and loves feeding herself, we’re soon going to start tackling trying to feed herself with a spoon (wish me luck!). She has 3 bottles a day but now at 10 months I’m going to cut this down to two gradually, as I want to slowly get ready for her to transition to one bedtime bottle once she turns 1.

 Sizes:

She still wears the odd 6-9 month item of clothing (I even had her in a 3-6 month cardigan the other day and a 0-6 month dress, they must have been big for their sizes ha!) but she is comfortably in 9-12 months. Ive bought most of her spring/summer clothing in 12-18 months, purely to get the most wear out of them, although it means I’m struggling at the moment whilst we are having lovely weather in the UK and she doesn’t have a lot of approriate clothing, so she’s in lots of over-sized t-shirts!

Milestones:

I mentioned in my last update that Willow was pretty mobile rolling everywhere, when she turned 9 months she started to commando crawl and now she is OFF! I spend my days chasing her around and trying to stop her hurting herself, she is into everything and anything (mostly things she shouldn’t be). I’m forever telling her to keep away from the radiator! The baby gates are now up and the house has been baby proofed, we no longer have anything because ‘it looks nice’ as it normally will get destroyed! She occasionally goes on her hands and knees, but is pretty speedy getting about army style. She also loves to stand but isn’t at the stage where she can stand herself, she can pull herself up on most things and tries a lot, often pulling and grabbing at me (she struggles in our living room as the wooden floor is so slippy). She cruises along on the sofa, holding on to the top whilst she looks out the big window, it’s one of her favourite games. We also bought her a little walker to help encourage her to take steps, although at first she treated it like a jumperoo and just bounced!!!

Willow now claps, waves (most of the time on demand) and in the last couple of days has started to do the actions of twinkle twinkle little star.  She’ll reach up or come over to you if she wants to be cuddled, picked up or wants something from you and has just started to point/reach her arm out in a direction of something she’d like. She also recognises people properly now, she literally beams with happiness and excitement when her Daddy comes home from work (which breaks my little heart with happiness).

We haven’t had any new sounds just lots of “Mama” “Dada” “Nana” “Baba” noises. She loves to shout, scream, screech and growl, she’s always making people laugh with her silly noises that she makes.

In February, Willow was also a little Flower Girl for my Sister’s wedding… she looked adorable!

Loves: 

She adores the cat (Pumba) and would spend her day loving (tormenting) him, luckily he is super patient with her and usually escapes and hides.

Toys that she loves are still anything she can shake or rattle. She has some little Disney characters that were actually bath toys, but she loves them and plays with them a lot.  Willow also loves playing with anything that we can stack and she pushes over! She also has a Teletubbie toy called Lala, which she loves and always gives it a big wide open mouth kiss ha! But really all her favourite things to play with are not toys; phones, remotes, keys, bags, rubbish, wires, radiators, shoes etc! I’m constantly having to move things around the house that she shouldn’t be playing with, but were in her reach!

She’s also still very sociable and loves playing with other children and beams if we are out and she sees other children.

 Personality & Looks:

I felt it was important to add this section again as I feel it’s changed SO much recently, I can honestly see how she is changing into a toddler and not a baby right infront of my eyes… it makes me so emotional.

Willow knows her own mind and doesn’t like anything to be taken away from her or to do anything she doesn’t want to (like have her nappy changed). But she is so loving, sociable and happy. She’s really showing herself as a Gemini baby, with her strong willed personality balanced out by a beautiful kind natured side too.

She has the cutest little quirks, such as her constant wriggling feet and hands when she is excited or trying to get your attention.

Her hair is starting to thicken out again and is getting so long in parts (I really am not ready to take her for a cut just yet), it’s still dark brown and has the most beautiful little curl to it. I can’t wait to see what she looks like with long curls! Her eyes are a dark hazel brown and she has the most beautiful long dark lashes and perfect eyebrows… I’m so jealous.

She’s definitely tall and has super long legs, taking after her daddy there.

In the last couple of weeks I think she has started to get the odd freckle! One on her arm and one on her cheek.  Wayne & I are both covered in freckles and moles, so it was inevitable that it would be something she would develop… I just wasn’t sure when they would come.

Motherhood: Willow at 8 Months

Willow is now 8 months, she is SO much fun and really is turning into a proper little person.  As much as I miss her newborn days and would live them all over again, I’m so excited to be experiencing every day with her and watching her grow.

Height/Weight:

Willow hasn’t been weighed since before Christmas, but she is perfectly healthy and has the cutest little rolls on her legs and wrists and THE chubbiest little cheeks.

Routine & Sleeping:

Just after Christmas we transitioned Willow into her own room, she settled in perfectly, so I feel it was just the right time.  Shortly afterwards at the beginning of January, we were hit by the 8 month sleep regression… I felt like I had a newborn again!!! This has gradually settled down (although we do have lots of 4am wake ups at the moment), but it has meant that our daily routine has changed slightly. Willow no longer needs 3 naps a day, but the transition to 2 naps a day, isn’t fairing that easy…. some days she needs 3, some days she is fine with 2 and some days she’ll only have 1!!! So we’re still finding our feet.

Eating/Feeding:

Weaning is going well, Willow isn’t the biggest eater and isn’t overly fussed about eating/drinking.  She does seem to prefer finger foods, so we have been doing lots of these… she particularly loves toast and crumpets. She eats everything and now has a wide and varied diet, full of flavour and different foods. She has 3 meals a day and is starting to transition from 4 bottles a day to 3 bottles a day.

 Sizes:

She is fitting comfortable in 6-9 months, but I’ve started to introduce more 9-12 clothes; purely for more outfit choices, as a lot of her 6-9 clothing was Christmas themed. I also picked up lots of new clothes in the SALES which I couldn’t wait to put her into.

Milestones:

I said this last month, but I really feel like she is changing LOTS each month now.  She is sitting comfortably on her own and doesn’t really need us their ‘just in case’ anymore; she also loves to stand and is starting to be more confident in supporting herself whilst holding on to things.  We still don’t have a crawler, but I’m starting to think that she won’t at all, many babies around her age are crawling or on all-fours and rocking, which Willow isn’t.  However, she is already mobile… she rolls EVERYWHERE and can push herself forward on her stomach, she has no worries about getting to somewhere or something in a room. The only thing she hasn’t discovered yet is how to go into a different room (sort of a blessing!), and she is starting to be able to get into a sitting position from rolling on her side. So watch this space, we may just be skipping crawling!

This month, she said “Mama!” and it was the BEST. She chats away lots and is always singing, growling and generally making noise!  She’s also learnt to clap and wave, which she does now ALL the time, you’ll hear her clapping to herself in the cot when she wakes up in the morning.

Willow celebrated her first Christmas, which was magical, she was very overwhelmed and spent a lot of the day sleeping and we were opening toys for days afterwards! The moments she was awake, she loved and it was so lovely to start new traditions as a family.

In January, Willow went to Soft Play for the first time which she loved! Especially the ball pool! She also got to experience snow for the first time, although we didn’t get much.

Loves: 

Willow is into everything and anything, especially if it is NOT a toy. I’m constantly having to move things around the house that she shouldn’t be playing with, but were in her reach!

She’s had lots of new toys to play with from Christmas but she loves cups and anything that rattles like a maraca. She has also still been loving her jumperoo but also now gets to play with her walker and rocking horse.

Mr Fox, has a firm place in her heart and he comes everywhere with us.

 She adores animals and is constantly grabbing the cat or shouting/waving at him. When we visit people who have pets, she is SO excited by them.

She also enjoys playing with other children and gets especially excited to see her cousin Elodie.

Motherhood: Willow at 7 Months

So I’m aware that I am REALLY behind on these posts, my laptop charger died and Christmas/January happened, so I couldn’t actually publish my posts.  I had this 7 Month up-date ready to go and I’m just about to finish her 8 Month update, which is still fairly recent….

I can’t believe how quickly this month has gone and that we’re now closer to One than Newborn (actual tears writing that!). I feel like this month has seen the most changes, in the smallest amount of time; she seems to be doing something new everyday!

Height/Weight:

Willow was weighed at 28 weeks at 17lb 11oz and she is plotting perfectly on her growth chart, this is really reassuring as I’ve been worried introducing solids and how this would affect her growing. They also measured her length, she was 68cm and is on the 75th centile; takes after her Daddy there!

Routine & Sleeping:

We are in full swing of our routine now, she has 3 naps a day roughly 40 mins – 2 hours and feeds roughly every 4 hours. She goes to bed at 7pm and sleeps through until around 4:30am – 5am, has a bottle and then will sleep again until 6am – 8am (this changes daily).  We think she is waking up at this time, as this is when Wayne gets up for work, she’s still sleeping in our room; but we need to make the transition into her room soon.  She sleeps in her nursery during the day, so I’m hoping she will transition OK… we’ll see though, unpredictable babies! We’re still attending regular baby groups and classes and I feel these are really helping her to thrive and learn, its great for us to socialise with other mummies and babies. Of course, we still have our lazy days too… it’s important to have some balance!

Eating/Feeding:

After being so nervous initially, weaning is going really well and her appetite for bottles has returned. This month we have continued with vegetable purees, as well as mixing vegetables and we also introduced fruit… so far she hasn’t rejected anything we have given her. She seems to prefer mostly fruits, but is happy eating vegetables too.  I’ve also introduced meat, so far she has had chicken cooked in the slow cooker with a mix of veg and chicken stock, which I then pureed and she LOVED this!  I’m starting to progress her onto more solid/mushy food now too, she has had some toast, Kiddylicious wafers, Organix biscuits and banana. I’ve bought all the bits to make her own Christmas dinner that I’ll puree for her too. Over the next month, I’ll be introducing a lot more finger foods and new foods too.

 Sizes:

3-6 months is still fitting well in most of her clothes, but she’s also started to wear 6-9 month clothing too; some pieces are still far too big for her though!

Milestones:

I feel like she has changed SO much in the last month!

She is sitting properly now, she still can be wobbly and I wouldn’t leave her alone sitting but she is getting better by the day! She rolls everywhere, I cannot leave her alone as she can move across a room by rolling so quickly. She has started to find something she wants and rolls to get it… it’s giving me a taster of how manic crawling is going to be!

In the last week, we also had her first word, which of course was “Dada!” and now she’s babbles it constantly! She’s still blowing raspberries and making lots of noise, she does “b” sounds and just started doing “g” sounds. The “mama” noise is still there when she cries, but its definitely not a word, sadly haha!

She’s starting to really turn into her own little person and she is such a cheeky character!

We took her to visit Father Christmas at a local grotto, for her first ever visit, she loved the whole experience (as did we!) and there were no tears!!!

On December 18th, we Christened Willow at our local church, it was such a special day and she was SO good throughout and looked adorable in her traditional dress and bonnet.

Loves: 

Willow is obsessed with phones and now tries to grab at them any chance she gets, as well as the TV controls too (I’m hoping she loves the toy remote she has for Christmas!).

Her Fox is still her one and only, he goes everywhere and is always with her for sleeping. She hasn’t had many new toys as we are saving them for Christmas but she is loving her soft books at the moment and any teething toys that she can bite on. She still loves her jumper and is always bouncing!

TV wise, she still loves the same programmes but now she even smiles when they come on, which is adorable.

She’s been super cuddly and affectionate this month and gets excited to interact with other people and children. I love seeing how excited she is when she see’s Wayne coming home! Her other new favourite this is Pumba our cat, she laughs when she sees him and tries to grab him, he’s so good with her and doesn’t get cross.

Getting dressed is still her worst thing, she kicks up such a fuss!

Motherhood: Willow at 6 Months

I see other Mothers writing this all the time, but it is SO true… How is my little newborn 6 months old? It’s been the most intense, but amazing & rewarding 6 months of my life so far. I couldn’t be more proud of our little family and the beautiful baby that we have, she makes our lives so much more full! As much as I love clinging on to my tiny newborn, I’m so excited to be watching her grow into a little girl too.

Height/Weight:

Willow was weighed at 24 weeks and was 16lb 10oz, she’s growing really well despite a little blip where she wasn’t taking her milk too well. Just look at her chunky legs!

Routine & Sleeping:

This month we have really stuck to our routine and it seems to be working *touch wood*. We have our days where she simply refuses to nap, or when we are out and about she naps as she pleases, but we have our guideline that we follow.  She has 3 naps a day, which can range from around 40 mins – 2 hours, this changes daily. We still attend swimming & Baby Sensory classes and have also joined some playgroups at our local children’s centre. Even though it’s got much colder (and often wetter) in the UK, we still get out of the house everyday, even if it’s for a short walk.

Eating/Feeding:

This month we started weaning, I was incredibly nervous about starting but I know that it was the right time. Willow was becoming incredibly fussy with her bottles and I was struggling to get enough milk (and therefore vitamins & nutrients) in each day, so I started to make my own vegetable purée and would blend these with some of her formula.  For the first 4 weeks I just gave her vegetables (peas, carrots, swede, sweet potato, parsnip, spinach, broccoli, avocado and cauliflower), she would have a few spoonfuls each evening. Now that she is 6 months I am introducing fruit and mixed vegetable purée, eating twice a day. Her favourites so far are peas, sweet potato and avocado. Towards the end of this month, she has got so much better at finishing her bottles too.

 Sizes:

Willow is comfortably in size 3-6 month clothing and I have started to add in a few 6-9 month bits, mainly because it’s so cold and she needs more winter clothing options.  She is still wearing a few 0-3 month pieces… which is crazy but every shop differs with their sizing and some can be quite generous. Most of her Christmas clothing is in 6-9 months, but it still looks quite big for her!

Milestones:

Weaning was our big milestone for 5 months. Willow is still teething, but I don’t think we are anywhere near to her having anything pop through at the moment! She can now roll both back-to-front and front-to-back, she still gets stuck occasionally but she has done it quite a few times now and I can’t keep her still lying on her playmat… so I think I can do the milestone card picture now! She can sit up un-aided but is still quite wobbly, I wouldn’t feel comfortable sitting her up without someone sitting with her close by to catch her. We’re still practising and at our classes and groups I try to have her sitting up as much as possible, so I’ll wait a little longer until I make it official!

Willow is making lots of sounds now and babbles away constantly… she now makes ‘b’ sounds lots and ‘m’ sounds (it sounds like she’s saying ‘mum’ when she is crying but I know she’s not haha).  She’s taken to blowing raspberries lots! She also does some lovely singing type noises, which are SO cute, even at 5am.

We’ve also been teaching her to clap and wave, she’s definitely trying to wave, so hopefully she’ll soon be waving at everyone from her pram! She also hugs back now, which literally just makes me want to die, it is the cutest and loveliest thing ever!

It was also her first Halloween & Bonfire Night whilst she was 5 months.

Loves: 

Willow is very inquisitive, as most babies are and she is constantly grabbing and picking up EVERYTHING she can get hold of. Her favourite things to try and grab at the moment are the TV controls, our phones, labels and baby wipes.

She’s really started to get into playing this month and has even chosen her own ‘comfort teddy’, Foxy Loxy the jelly-cat Fox.  Her Nonna bought him on a trip to Wimpole Hall and she immediately snuggled him, he’s not left her side since! Her other favourite toys are still Sophie La Giraffe, a slightly different soft/crinkly Giraffe toy (for some reason all babies are obsessed with it!) and the Baby Sensory tummy roller. She also recently got an Iggle Biggle soft toy and she was SO excited by it. She also LOVES being in her jumperoo and literally bounces constantly, even when she’s not in it!

I can’t wait to give her lots more toys at Christmas!

Willow is also getting more and more ticklish, she really laughs when you kiss or blow raspberries on her neck and is getting more ticklish when you tickle her tummy! She also loves sucking her toes haha, she’s very flexible.

She still loves the TV and her favourite things to watch are Waybuloo and In The Night Garden. But she also really likes Bing and Baby Jake. I try and put on some movies occasionally too and she seems most engaged with Tinkerbell and Tangled, but I think the bright colours and music of all the Disney films seem to capture her interest.

Her favourite nursery rhyme is ‘Row Row your boat’ and her favourite book is Owl Babies.

I mentioned last month that she hated her carseat, but she has been SO much better since we switched her into her Joie Stages carseat. She still HATES getting dressed though, which is quite hard now she needs to wear a lot more layers, through the winter.

My Body: 

I haven’t really felt too good in myself this month, especially as I felt quite positive last month. I’ve decided to take control though and am really working on my diet to help me feel better about my body and get me back to a happier weight and body image, I’ll maybe do a separate post about my journey for this.  My skin is SO much better, I’ve made a concerted effort to look after it and got some new products for my Birthday from Estee Lauder to help with this.  Now that I’m not focusing on my acne and breakouts, I can actually focus on preventing my skin from ageing (those 2am and 3am wakeup’s are going to catch up with me!). I’ve been really suffering with postpartum hairloss, so I hope this stops soon!!! Mentally, I haven’t felt 100% this month and it’s something I’m fully aware of. I suffered with anxiety way before I got pregnant and also during my pregnancy. It’s just something I need to keep an eye on and give myself the time to combat. Having a routine and getting out of the house though, definitely helps with this, as well as talking with other mums.

Baby: Willow’s Bathtime

Bath time has always been an important part of Willow’s routine, she loved the water from the get-go (even being born in the water) and as well as being a practical part of our day, it’s also a fun time for her to get out the last of her energy before bed.

We usually start bath time at around 6pm and play/wash for around 10-15 minutes, before getting out and ready for bedtime. We play with her toys, she usually kicks and splashes lots and sing songs, she loves to hold (chew) a sponge, whilst I wash her. At the moment Willow is in the Angelcare bath support which we have loved but she’s getting a bit too wriggly in it now and also trying to sit up, so we’ve purchased a new seat to start using soon.

I mentioned in my 0-3 month post (here) that we first used the Burts Bee’s Baby Wash, not only does it smell amazing but it is 98.9% natural and super delicate on her skin, which was super important to us.

Once this ran out, I picked up the Weleda Calendula Baby Wash, which is also 100% natural but has a more creamy texture; however, I’m not sure if it was this product or that Willow started swimming at the same time, but she started to develop a few dry patches on her skin (tummy and arms). After speaking with our Health Visitor I bought Oilatum Body Wash for dry skin & Child’s Farm Baby Wash, both of which helped to clear up her skin super quickly. The Child’s Farm products smell AMAZING and I love using them for Willow, they’re also super affordable, 98% natural and suitable for sensitive skin; I’ve since purchased the Apple & Blackberry scent and the After Swimming wash too. Willow has lot’s of hair, so we wash this every evening with the Child’s Farm wash, this leave it lovely and soft.

After Bath

I still love to use coconut oil on Willow’s skin & in her hair, it’s a miracle worker and I credit it for helping to clear up her baby acne and dry skin on her face in the early newborn days. It’s also useful for when they are scratching themselves with those teeny nails, it helps to heal those up quickly too. However, since we experienced her dry patches we purchased Oilatum Junior Cream for Eczema, alongside her bath products this has helped when in need (I’ve since learnt that this can be put on prescription by the GP too). It’s quite thick, so you only need the smallest amount and so I think this tub will last a while! This will probably come in more handy during the colder/harsher winter months.

Prepping Willow’s nappy before bedtime is really important, as I don’t want her to get nappy rash over-night. Before she was born, as a clueless first-time Mummy, I stocked up on pretty much every different cream I think! We have Sudocrem, Bepanthen, E45 Nappy Cream and Metanium Nappy Rash Ointment. I tend to alternate between a few these, (we have Bepanthen in our nappy bag and usually use E45 Nappy Cream on her changing table before bedtime) but if she is looking quite red, I usually reach for Sudocrem and if this still doesn’t work then Metanium soothes it straight away, it’s bright yellow which freaked me out at first!

For wipes, we have tried a few different brands (Huggies Pure, Pampers Natural, Aldi Sensitive and Water Wipes*) and they all do the job, but by far my favourite to use are the Water Wipes. We bought these for when Willow was a newborn and had them in our hospital bag, as we were recommended them by friends and I think they were advised by Midwives because they are so pure, with no chemicals; being 99.9% water and 0.1% fruit extract. They’re as close to cotton wool and warm water that you are going to get, but FAR more practical and much quicker for those 2am nappy changes. They are much wetter than any other wipes that we have used, which is really useful for a number of things, as well as being cool (which helps to soothe their skin, if they are suffering from nappy rash) and they are also gentle/soft in texture too. We usually stock up on them from Boots when they are on offer and I’ve also bought them in bulk from Amazon before too. So far, Willow hasn’t had any awful nappy rash (*touches wood*) and I definitely think that it’s from using a combination of these products to keep on top of it.

After her bath and skincare, it’s time to pop on her PJ’s (currently a long-sleeved vest and a sleeping bag) and start the rest of her bedtime routine.

*Water Wipes very kindly sent me some samples to review, however, this is my honest opinion; as I mentioned I have been using them since Willow was born & loving/purchasing them prior to this post. I always ensure that any products mentioned on the blog are tried-and-tested and that we genuinely love 🙂 

Motherhood: Willow at 5 Months

Height/Weight:

Willow was weighed at 20 weeks (I tend to visit every 4 weeks at the moment) and is now a healthy 15lb 7oz and still following the same centile. As most mummies know, it’s so reassuring to see your baby is growing to a healthy weight and steadily progressing. Her height won’t be measured until her next Health Visitor home visit, but she is definitely long; everyone comments on it!

Routine & Sleeping:

Since we got back from Spain, the 4 month sleep regression hit us hard! I decided my first way to tackle this was to start introducing a stricter daytime routine, as I didn’t want us to get into any bad sleeping habits that would be hard to reverse. We are still finding our way and we aren’t running by clockwork yet, but for the moment it seems to be helping… our 3am/4am starts have crept towards 5am/6am haha and now we are usually up for the day at 6:30am! Our routine is roughly for her to sleep every 2-3 hours and feed every 3-4 hours; this works out at usually two smaller morning naps and one longer late afternoon nap. I think I’m lucky that she does really like her sleep! We start winding down for bed at 6pm; with a bath, book, bottle and usually In The Night Garden and she is asleep by 7:30pm. I also try to go out for a walk at least once a day, to give Willow some fresh air and a change of scenery. We also have Baby Sensory classes every Wednesday and Water Babies lessons every Thursday. My goal this month is to start taking her to more play sessions at our local community centre.

Eating/Feeding:

You may have read my post on our Combination Feeding Journey, where I mentioned that at just before 5 months we have stopped Breastfeeding altogether and Willow is now exclusively formula fed. This has definitely helped us to introduce our daytime routine and after having her check up with the Health Visitor, her weight is completely stable and she is growing perfectly. I am currently trying to stretch her feeds from every 3 hours to every 4 hours, as I have been giving her 6oz but she rarely finishes the whole bottle and is often not really hungry at 3 hours. I’m hoping that it will be in this month that we start the weaning process, I’m both excited and nervous! I’m currently purchasing all the necessary tools e.g. highchair, bowls & spoons, blender etc and have been doing research for a while.  I signed up with Cow & Gate and they sent us a free weaning ‘5 Step Plan’ which is really helpful and I plan to use a lot of Annabel Karmel’s tips and recipes. Our local Health Visitor Centre also does some classes, so I need to find out when these are as well.

 Sizes:

It totally slipped my mind to buy Willow Autumn/Winter appropriate clothing in age 3-6 months and so we got back from Spain and I’ve had to do a massive haul! She’s now fitting in to 3-6 months perfectly, with a few things still being too big. With her long legs, she usually needs to go a size-up earlier in these but I tried on some 6-9 month leggings the other day and they are still WAY too big for her. I sorted through lots of her old clothes the other week and it was really emotional, I have lots of basics to give away/sell and have put some of my favourite bits and stuff she never wore away for if we have another little girl.

Milestones:

I feel like 4 months was the month of teething and like most parents we are trying every which way to help our little one with the pain/discomfort that she is going through. However, luckily it hasn’t completely stolen our happy, contented baby from us…yet!

Willow is constantly rolling back-to-front and wiggling around on the floor, I leave her in one position, turn my back for a minute and she’s done a 180 on the mat! This has meant she has started to enjoy being on her tummy more, which we’ve really encouraged to strengthen her neck. She’s also super strong when it comes to sitting and I don’t think we are far off her being able to do this on her own. She also loves to stand more and more, which I think has been encouraged by her jumperoo!

Willow chats away and makes noises a lot, but recently we’ve been treated to screeching… delightful! As well as giggles, which are just the best.

At swimming, she was wary at first but loved her last class, she was kicking away and has swam under water numerous times. I can’t recommend doing swimming lessons with your little on enough, or even just taking them to your local pool to get them used to the water.

Loves: 

Like lots of babies, Willow loves to be outdoors and looking up at the trees. Putting everything in her mouth, playing with other babies (even if this means grabbing them, oops!), being nosey (we have a very inquisitive and curious little girl), looking in the mirror, bouncing and dancing in her jumperoo, cuddling her muslin and playing with her hair as she falls asleep, silly noises are what makes her laugh the most, having a sponge in the bath (she has one to play with and we have one to clean her with), she still loves TV but not as intently as she did before. Her favourite toys are still her Jelly Cat Ball and Sophie La Giraffe but she recently has taken a shining to her soft books and her Baby Sensory tummy roller.

The one thing she HATES above all else, is being in her carseat, we think this is because she is too squished in her current one (despite it going up to the age of 1 year, I have no idea how this would work as Willow isn’t even a big baby?!); we’re looking to buy a new ‘stages’ style carseat ASAP that she’ll be able to use for a good few years. She’s also not a fan of getting dressed, she’s far too happy kicking about in her nappy!

Personality & Appearance: 

This is another new category I’ve added this month and I wasn’t sure what to call it?! There a just a few things I wanted to add into the updates but I didn’t know where they fit. She changes so much each month and is really developing into a little person and I wanted to record this.

I’m not 100% sure what colour eyes Willow is going to have, much like everything else about her, I think they will end up like her dads (a greenish hazel). They were dark brown when she was a tiny baby and they are gradually getting lighter, right now they are a kind of hazel colour but in different lights they still look deep brown or quite green. She was born with such dark, thick hair and lots of it! She still has lots of dark hair, but i’d say its slightly lighter more like a true brunette, rather than the almost black it was at birth. It’s going curly, with the cutest little curls round her ears and where it is longest. It’s always gone really curly when wet but it’s definitely got a natural curl to it when dry now too, I’m just waiting for it to thicken out allover now but she hasn’t seemed to have lost any (which lots of people told us she would!).

We are very lucky to have been blessed with such a lovely natured baby, she is very calm, content and very smiley and happy. Like all babies she does cry and have her screaming moments but they aren’t very common, so you usually know there really is something wrong when it happens. Like I said before, she’s very inquisitive and curious and definitely nosey. She has the most expressive face, you know exactly her emotion at any time… she really sticks out her bottom lip when she is very sad. She’s super affectionate, which I really love and she loves to socialise (although she can be a bit wary of strangers at first). I’d say that this month, she is starting to show having her own mind… I think this is going to be interesting to see as she grows, we may potentially have a determined and stubborn little one on our hands!

My Body: 

I kind of feel back to my ‘normal’ self, I’m back into all my old clothes and feeling pretty much the same in them as I did before. I think that stopping breastfeeding has also contributed to feeling more normal, I can now wear my pre-pregnancy bras and my body feels more like my own; I didn’t suffer from any soreness or leaking when stopping and I think thats because I gradually slowed down. I just really need to tone up now and start exercising again. My skin has changed quite a lot, I get hormonal breakouts but the constant acne I experienced before pregnancy and just after giving birth seems to have cleared, for now. For the first time ever I have experience dry skin on my face, so I’m learning how to combat that! I’m still suffering from postpartum hair-loss, quite a lot seems to be coming out, so I’m hoping this will stop soon.

Lifestyle: A Halloween Weekend 🎃

Autumn is by far my favourite season and it always has been, however, in the past we’ve never really been a family to celebrate Halloween (apart from the odd party and pumpkin carving). Over the last few years, Halloween has grown and grown in the UK and whilst last year I loved looking at all the American girls on Instagram going Pumpkin Picking… this year we had the chance to go right here in England!

Having babies was the perfect excuse to get stupidly excited and also start a new tradition for years to come…

We visited a farm near my sister Alice, where you can pick seasonal fruit and veg all year round. We made it a family day out (sadly Wayne had to be at work!) and dressed up our little ones to take some cute pictures to remember the occasion.

I picked up a selection of Pumpkins, including a white one! Hoping to take a proper picture of them on our new kitchen counters (fingers crossed they’re installed before Halloween!)

We found the cutest double-act costumes for our girls from George@Asda , as Disney fans these were perfect!

Our very own Mike & Sully from Monster’s Inc!

Credit to my amazing brother-in-law that takes these beautiful pictures of the girls, it’s hard work taking pictures of teething babies (especially when Willow can’t sit unaided for anything longer than 2 seconds!) and it was freezing!

On Saturday we were visiting family to celebrate my Mum’s Birthday, they live super close to Audley End Miniature Railway. It’s somewhere we used to visit lots as children, we saw they had a Halloween Special and thought it would be perfect for another family day out.  We weren’t disappointed! Whilst the babies couldn’t make the most of it, their little cousins loved it and there are plenty of other activities such as swings and bouncy castles for them (not babies!) to enjoy.

Sleepsuit from Gap (I can’t find it online anymore, but they have THE cutest Christmas bits!!!)

 

Happy Halloween season folks!

Lifestyle: Project Home Renovation (2)

Last time I updated about our home renovations back in July, I shared our overall plans, inspiration and the start of the work.  It has been two months since then and I thought I would update on our progress.

The external building work of the extension has been completed, including the roof, windows & doors and knock through to the house.

 

Since the knock through, it has been much more difficult to live with, as the inside of our home is now a building site… along with the dust and mess that comes with it.  We also haven’t had a kitchen (our old one above was knocked out in early September) for quite a while, along with having a new baby; all our kitchen utensils, cutlery, crockery in boxes, no oven, no sink, no washing machine or electrics etc… it’s starting to take its toll.

We’ve also knocked through the opening between the kitchen and sitting room to make the downstairs more open plan. The picture below shows the process and it is now a much wider opening.

Since these photo’s were taken, we have had plastering done and a new cement floor. We’ve also installed the kitchen cupboards and fitted the electrics and are now in the process of starting to finish the whole extension off! However there’s still a lot to be done… but I’d really like to be able to celebrate Christmas with it complete (before we tackle decorating the sitting room next year!)

I’ll share an update once everything is finished, which should hopefully be in the next month and also put together a separate post dedicated to the kitchen and our inspiration vs. turn out.

I cannot wait for it all to be completed and to not be living in a building site anymore!

Motherhood: Combination Feeding – My Breastfeeding Journey

I want to start with a disclaimer and I think it is a bit sad that it is necessary; I am fully aware that breastfeeding is best for babies and this post is in no way discouraging that OR slamming anyone that chooses not to/cannot breastfeed either. I believe every mother has the right to make their own decisions on how they bring up their children and should not be judged, but supported by other mothers/parents.

Now that’s out of the way… it’s going to be a long one!

Our Breastfeeding Story

When I fell pregnant, I didn’t have very strong feelings about how I would feed my baby. I had heard many horror stories about breastfeeding, and if I’m honest this did make me hesitant at trying to breastfeed my child. However, the more research about parenting I did and speaking with Midwives (who are VERY pro-Breastfeeding) I decided that I would give it a try. However, just like my ‘ideal’ labour scenario, I din’t want to pin my hopes on breastfeeding, after hearing so many stories of how hard it was and how many people couldn’t.

Fast forward to Willow being born, we immediately had skin-to-skin and after we had a little bit of time to settle (get out of the pool etc.), the midwife (who had previously asked me if I wanted to breastfeed) placed Willow on my chest and she immediately latched on and started to suck away. It was the craziest feeling, I was worried about not having any milk but was told about how she would be getting colostrum. It also hurt, but not my breasts, my stomach! Breastfeeding was causing my stomach to contract and me to bleed, which is a natural symptom, after a few days this disappeared and I occasionally would take a paracetamol before feeding if my stomach particularly hurt that day.

There was a lot of support in the hospital, we were given a pack and the midwife checked Willow’s latch the next morning before discharging us. At our first home visit from the Midwife (the next day), Willow breastfed throughout the whole visit, so the midwife could see how we were doing then also. We fed on demand, this could be anywhere from an hour at a time to 20 minutes at a time and usually every couple of hours.

A few days in and I did experience some discomfort but nothing that some cream didn’t soothe and my milk started to come in. I’d say that this was the most painful part of breastfeeding, I became very engorged and sore and in the end we went to purchase a pump to relieve some of my discomfort. I also really didn’t get on with the disposable breast pads, they made me so uncomfortable and itch like crazy… these ones were the best (especially for larger boobs).

For the first 8 weeks, breast-feeding went really well, I had beat my target of 6 weeks and I was pumping occasionally so that Wayne could join in feeding her, which was lovely. I loved being able to breastfeed her and was really proud of myself; it was an incredible bonding experience and it was a nice feeling being told be Doctors and Health Visitors that you are doing a great job for your baby.

It wasn’t all sunshine and roses though, I HATED feeding in public, there never seemed to be any family rooms anywhere and if there was they were disgusting. I visited a particularly bad one in Tesco one time but most of the time I was sat in a disabled toilet or in the car feeding her… not nice. When I did feed in public, covered up, I still felt SO self conscious and didn’t get made to feel to great about it. I also wasn’t totally keen on feeding completely on-demand, I knew it was what was best for her, but it meant that sometimes you never got anything done and I felt a bit housebound! I also never got into the swing of pumping, I was never one of these mothers that had millions of frozen bags in the freezer. I would pump most days, but it felt all consuming, constantly feeding, then pumping, then feeding, then pumping! I also hated wearing breastfeeding bra’s, I felt so frumpy and in the beginning the constant leaking made me feel so disgusting. But despite all of this, I felt that as long as Willow was feeding well, it was the right thing to do and what I wanted to do.

Once we got to 6 weeks, I told myself I wanted to get to 3 months, we were getting towards 12 weeks and I was starting to think; you know what, I reckon I could get to 6 months! Then at 9/10 weeks, things went down-hill, Willow would scream and get so distressed everytime she tried to feed. It was awful and so stressful, I was so emotional, thinking why couldn’t I feed my baby? Luckily I had been pumping, so we would always have a bottle to hand and she would take this fine! It got to 11 weeks and this was still happening, plus, I had also noticed that where, beforehand my breasts would become super engorged and leak loads if I missed feeds; this was no longer happening.

I did a lot of research and reached out to support groups for help; they suggested it was a growth spurt or that she was encouraging more milk. But eventually, I had to give in, it wasn’t fair on my baby for her to get this distressed over feeding and I could feel that I wasn’t producing as much milk as I should be/was. Too much time was passing and I was worried that she wasn’t feeding enough. I always said I would breastfeed as long as it worked and it wasn’t working anymore.

How we Combination Fed

I did a lot of research on Combination Feeding, as I didn’t want to switch 100%  to formula straight away, but there wasn’t much out there and most things I did find, basically made out it was impossible and wrong – this was the best article I found.

At 12 weeks, I started off by giving Willow, 1 bottle of formula a day, usually around lunch-time. This meant that my supply had time to build up after the morning and before the late afternoon feeds. I think we started with 4/5 oz, she took to this really well and it didn’t affect her in any negative way, such as constipation. We gradually built this up to 2, then 3 bottles a day; I would breastfeed her first few morning feeds and then her last feed before bed and if she ever stirred in the night (rarely, as she slept through from 10 weeks) I would also breastfeed her. In this time, I saw the Health Visitor and got her weighed regularly, they were very supportive and explained that sometimes women’s supplies can just go and positively her weight was increasing and staying on the 50th centile. The biggest worry when feeding like this is not knowing how much she is getting and if it is enough, so by seeing her weight grow and that she was still a happy content baby, I was happy!

By about 16 weeks, I was only breastfeeding Willow in the morning and if she woke in the middle of the night and so I knew & felt that our time breastfeeding was coming to an end.

Once we returned from Spain and Willow was 19 weeks, she started to go through the 4 month sleep regression and I knew we needed to add more structure and a stricter routine to our days to help her with this; as well as knowing that our weaning journey would be starting off in the near future. So, it was then that I decided that we would stop breastfeeding altogether.

It has been just over a week now since I have stopped and I know that it was the right timing and right thing to do for Willow. I personally haven’t had any discomfort or engorgement, so I know I can’t have been producing too much anyway. I’ve had Willow weighed since we stopped too and she is still growing on the same 50th centile.

All-in-all, despite feeling emotional and a failure at first, I’m now proud and grateful for our breastfeeding journey, although it didn’t work out that we could exclusively breastfeed up until 6 months when Willow would start weaning. We made it so much further than I ever imagined. I’m proud that she got a good start in those first 3 months and that I was able to feed her exclusively myself for that time. But I’m also proud, that I proved the cynics wrong, that say “you absolutely cannot do both”, when I did it for almost 2 months and could have probably done it for longer.

I’m now excited to have a good routine with Willow and start out next exciting journey of weaning in the near future.

Motherhood: Travelling abroad with a Baby

I was SO nervous travelling with a baby, I heard so many scare stories and didn’t want to be THAT family on the plane with the screaming infant. However, with a little research and preparation; we had an amazing first family holiday and Willow was honestly so good!

I thought I’d share my Top 10 Tips for travelling abroad with a baby, as this was something I looked for ahead of my trip.

*Please note, we went to Spain in late September, for a week at an all-inclusive resort.

I also want to point you in the direction of Amber at Barefoot Blonde and this post she did on Travelling with a Baby, this was hands-down the most useful thing I read!!!

1. Baggage Allowance – Now is not the time to be frugal with your luggage allowance, I don’t mean take every appliance and the kitchen sink, but it is better to have more with you than less and worry about trying to find some obscure baby item in a country you don’t know! We traveled with:

• 1 x 20KG suitcase
• 1 x 15KG suitcase
• 1 x 10KG suitcase, a Nappy Bag, 1x Carry On bag and a light travel buggy.

We hit the limit both going out and coming back (even after dumping left over toiletries, nappies etc) and this didn’t include Formula (we bought airside) and Nappies (we bought in Spain). We did have wedding outfits in with this too, but they were’ THAT heavy.

2. Travel Buggy – We purchased a cheap and light buggy to travel with, instead of taking our Stokke Crusi travel system pram. The buggy we bought was the Joie Nitro, it was light, affordable and was by far the best thing we took with us on holiday for Willow, we’ll definitely use it in the UK too. After seeing how they treat buggies at the airport, I’m glad we didn’t take our expensive pram and also it was much more practical having something small and light that we could throw in the back of the Taxi and didn’t take up too much room in our hotel room.  We also purchased an insert to pad the seat out, although the buggy can be used from birth, it still seemed too big for Willow. We also hired a car seat whilst we were out there for taxi journeys, however this wasn’t completely necessary as we didn’t always use it (we put her in our carrier instead) as we didn’t want to be carrying the seat out at and about! Obviously if you hire a car, then a seat is a must!

3. Baby Carrier/Sling – We have a Baby Bjorn carrier, which we love and use a lot here at home. This was perfect, for once we gave the buggy at the gate and then coming off the plane before we picked up our luggage and buggy again. Also, not much for this trip but when you are out and about exploring, they really are so useful, especially on cobbled european streets!

4. Take medicines with you – I always take the essentials with me on holiday: Paracetamol, Ibuprofen, Strepsils, Bug Spray and Bite cream. However, travelling with a baby I took a lot more and I used EVERYTHING! We took:

• Calpol, Baby Ibuprofen, Calpol Nasal Drops, Bonjela teething gel, Ashtons teething granules, Calpol teething gel, E45 cream, Bepanthen, Baby Cotton Buds, Baby Nail Scissors and a thermometer.

Bar the Ibuprofen, we used all items; both Willow and I got a cold on the plane and she had a bit of a cough and blocked nose. The saline drops were a lifesaver and so was the thermometer, we actually took her to see a doctor (she has never had a cough and I was worried) and he would have prescribed us the drops but was glad we had some already. We also had to use all her teething products and she is having issues with this most days; one night it was quite bad so she needed to have some calpol. We had a pharmacy close to the hotel, but its good to take bits with you that you can have to hand and don’t need to spend money on, they don’t weigh much or take up much room.

5. Take lots of toys and home comforts – Their favourite toys, new toys to keep them entertained. Home comforts, we took her sleepyhead and placed it in the cot provided by the hotel, her own blankets and her elephant light projector. These are all things she has that help her to sleep at home, they don’t weigh much and she slept just as well whilst we were away, we even got a lie-in most days!

6. Feeding – Obviously, in this instance breast-feeding would be so much easier BUT we weren’t exclusively breast-feeding so needed to take everything with us for Formula feeding. You have to be prepared – beforehand and whilst you are there to make sure you have clean, sterile, warm/cool enough bottles for them (without any home luxuries!); I emailed First Choice beforehand so I knew what was in our room (no kettle + no microwave). For the journey, I planned to feed Willow for Take-Off but it worked out that she fed just before and slept (with a dummy) for this both times! Going through security, take whatever you need, they just test any liquids in a machine.

• We took: 6x Bottles, 1x Formula storage pot, 1x Pack sterilising bags, 1x pack of Milton TabletsMilton Tablets, 1x Travel Kettle and 2x Ready-Made Formula Bottles.
• We purchased airside: 1x Tub Formula, 6x Small Ready-Made Formula bottles (FYI you can do Boots Click & Collect but this needs to be 5 Days ahead for airside, not the usual 1 day service! But they still had what we needed in-stock).
• We purchased in Spain: 6x 1L Bottled Water (checked NHS Guidelines), 1x Washing Up Liquid. (They did have a formula in the local Aldi and then a version of Aptamil in the Pharmacy)

7. Sun Protection – Whilst we were in Spain it was high 20’s early 30 degrees, so not too hot, considering we have had a warm summer in the UK. Willow has her dad’s tanned skin tone, but she is still a baby and needs extreme sun protection.  We took, Banana Boat Factor 50 Baby Lotion (I had been using this in the UK so I knew it didn’t affect her skin) and applied this every two hours. We had a bottle and a half but we didn’t even use half a bottle in the end! Willow also spent 99% of her time in the shade (always covered in cream) and we always had sun loungers with an umbrella and extra large swaddle muslins to cover the buggy. She was occasionally in the sun but for short periods of time and did get a little tan on her legs.  The pools were freezing, so she didn’t get out much in the sun to play in them sadly.  We also took multiple different sunhats and she wore these constantly, even when we were in the shade.

8. Clothing – I definitely took too much, clothing wise, she had a different outfit for each evening, lots of daytime options and plenty of basics. During the day, she could easily have just worn a swimming costume, sleeveless vest or just her nappy.  In the mornings, for breakfast it was still quite chilly so she wore her sleepsuit and in the evenings, whilst she occasionally wore a nice dress out, it was easier to put her in a sleep suit. That way, if she fell asleep whilst we were out or before we would head to dinner, we didn’t have to wake her up to change her when putting her to bed and it was also much cooler in the evenings and she needed the extra warmth. Obviously if you plan on doing my day trips, then more daytime outfits would be needed, but the little t-shirt rompers that we took were perfect for that sort of thing!

9. All Inclusive – We definitely did not make the most of this facility on this holiday and therefore it was probably a bit of a waste.  We chose this route as it meant everything from transfers, flights, rooms, food etc was sorted for us and it did help for our first holiday not having those worries. I’m not sure if it was just the hotel we stayed in, but all-inclusive just wasn’t the best thing for us as a family this trip (apart from transfers being sorted). We wanted to go out and explore more (we also attended a wedding) and we didn’t enjoy the food or having strict meal times. We also weren’t drinking lots of alcohol or being involved in the ‘night-time entertainment’.  My favourite night, apart from the wedding, was going into Marbella Old Town and exploring together as a family, whilst at the hotel, we ended up back at our room quite a lot, with no where quiet to sit and enjoy the evenings. I think perhaps a villa holiday with a car would be a lovely option as a family, having more freedom for the babies to play around and a quieter private pool and no restrictions on when/where to eat; especially when you begin weaning and want control over what your little one will be eating.

10. Don’t stress – Easier said than done, I’m a stressful flyer, I literally cannot be calm until the plane has take off (I think this stems from missing a flight once!). But I think you need to take the attitude of “What will be, will be” and that everything will be OK. I think if you prepare as much as you can beforehand, you can be calmer. I wanted to buy nappies at the airport, but airside they didn’t have any in Willow’s size, I started to panic and realised they have babies in Spain, there will be somewhere to buy them… and there was! Leave plenty of time for the airport and security, that way your not stressing about missing your flight/getting what you need in shops before you board. Your babies feed off of your energy, the calmer you are, the calmer they will be. And if they scream all through the flight, don’t worry about anyone else around you! There were plenty of sad babies on our flight, but it didn’t ruin anyones holiday and to be honest you’ll never see those people again anyway, leave the grumpy people to it!

Most importantly, enjoy your holiday and time together as a family, make lots of memories and take plenty of pictures!