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!

Motherhood: Willow at 4 Months

Height/Weight:

At her last visit to clinic at 16 weeks, Willow weighed 14lb 1oz and it still nicely on the 50th centile. She’s got the cutest chunky little thighs and dimples on her hands & elbows; I just love chubby little babies!

Routine & Sleeping:

We now have more of a set routine, however, it is by no means strict! Bedtime starts with a bath at around 6pm and she is usually asleep around 7ish.  Willow is sleeping through the night and will usually wake around 6am and have a feed (usually breastfed) and then we officially start the day (dressed, curtains open etc) at 8am. Feeding and napping through the day is pretty much ‘on demand’ but she normally has one or two smaller morning naps and then a longer nap in the late afternoon. We have Baby Sensory classes on a Wednesday and Swimming on a Thursday, these really wear her out so she sleeps LOTS on these days! If we are ever outset by something, I just re-start what we would normally do an hour later, if that makes sense. We were in Spain when she turned 4 months and we followed our routine loosely but just went with the flow and she was as good as gold! We’ve had a couple of nights, where she is wide awake at like 4am; so I think she is prepping us for Sleep Regression!!!

Eating/Feeding:

Willow is still being combination fed, but it has gradually become 99% formula-fed as she turned 4 months, to the point where I am now ready to stop breastfeeding altogether. So, we made it to 3 Months Exclusively Breast-Fed, 1.5 Month Combination Fed and from this point onwards she will be exclusively Formula-Fed. She has roughly 6oz formula (occasionally leaving a little bit in the afternoons) between 2.5 and 3 hours throughout the day and then has her last feed before she goes to bed, she doesn’t have a dream feed or wake up for a feed at night. We have also started to introduce water (advised by the Health Visitor), at first in her bottle and now I’ve just started using the Nuby beaker (from 4+ months); she isn’t the best at drinking water, so this is something we need to work on!!!

 Sizes:

She is now pretty much out of her 0-3 month clothing apart from some vests and sleep suits and wears mostly 3-6 months.  It’s crazy how different in sizing shops can be, some 3-6 month clothing is MASSIVE on her, where as others, it’s perfect!

Milestones:

Reading last months up-date it’s crazy how much she has changed since last month.  We’re definitely in the first throws of teething, lots of dribble, chewing and I’m sure I’ve been testing every combination of things to help with it so far! But we have no signs of any teeth yet, I think they’re a while off. We’ve had her first ‘roll-over’ from back to front, her first proper laugh and her first trip abroad. I’ve also left her in the evening a couple of times now with both my Mum and Wayne’s parents. She is getting much stronger at sitting up, she’s not quite there un-aided though yet! She’s also found her feet and plays with them a lot. Her voice, she has found her voice and treats us to chatting and noises all the time! She also interacts lots more with her toys, grabbing things herself and everything goes in her mouth!!! We also started Swimming Classes this month, she’s still a little unsure but it’s great for building her confidence in the water!

Loves: 

She still loves watching TV and we’re making our way through Disney movies together! Playing with her ball, being outside and looking up at the trees, sitting up in her buggy (we’ve finally taken her out of her carry cot and upgraded to the pram seat), being nosey, being kissed/tickled on her neck, being cuddled, dancing/kicking around on her changing mat, playing with her feet and cuddling her muslin when she’s falling asleep.  Her favourite toys are a Jelly Cat ball and Sophie La Giraffe.

My Body: 

I’m still gradually losing weight, and still need to tone up; I’m taking much more care with my diet and trying to walk everyday (it’s quite hard healthy eating at the moment because we have NO kitchen!). I didn’t feel 100% in my bikini on holiday!!!  My skin has improved a lot, a mixture of hormones and me taking care of it properly I think. I’ve started to experience postpartum hair-loss too, it comes out in handfuls when I brush it/wash it, I’m hoping this stops soon!!! Also, I’ve now had two ‘periods’ so, I think I’m back to my regular cycle of things. I was really worried, as I suffered badly with pains and cramps beforehand and everyone told me they are worse after having a baby… so far mine haven’t been bad at all!!!