MSN Conversations with Daddy

Orn LOVES to bang at my keyboard, today she managed to actually say things!

Mummy says: (16:49:27  14/09/2012)
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Mummy says: (16:49:29  14/09/2012)
;'>?¿
Mummy says: (16:50:08  14/09/2012)
==b0-
Daddy says: (16:50:24  14/09/2012)
interesting set of punctuation you (or Orna) are sending me
Mummy says: (16:50:39  14/09/2012)
how did she do the questION MARks???
Mummy says: (16:51:03  14/09/2012)
 ,
Daddy says: (16:51:04  14/09/2012)
one finger pressing shift and /
Mummy says: (16:51:06  14/09/2012)
\]
Mummy says: (16:51:12  14/09/2012)
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Mummy says: (16:51:21  14/09/2012)
my /poor lapt?o¿˘p
Daddy says: (16:51:39  14/09/2012)
I was using google scholar earlier and it suggested I set up a profile to make it easier to find new papers
Mummy says: (16:51:42  14/09/2012)
She's just banging one handed though!
Daddy says: (16:51:51  14/09/2012)
when I was adding my plosone paper, it came up as '1 citation'
Daddy says: (16:51:54  14/09/2012)
so I downloaded it
Mummy says: (16:51:57  14/09/2012)
:D
Daddy says: (16:52:05  14/09/2012)
and they don't actually refer to anything useful in my paper:
Daddy says: (16:52:09  14/09/2012)
measurements based on imaging are slow because they require time for stage movement, autofocusing, and long exposures to detect low-intensity signals. They require significant resources for data storage (Daddy et al. 2011).
Mummy says: (16:52:15  14/09/2012)
haha, same as mine :P
Daddy says: (16:52:27  14/09/2012)
so me saying imaging takes tons of disk space got me a citation :p
Mummy says: (16:52:36  14/09/2012)
!oow
Mummy says: (16:52:47  14/09/2012)
"????????????????????????????????????]][
Mummy says: (16:52:53  14/09/2012)
;'m'[p;'.llll.
Mummy says: (16:53:01  14/09/2012)
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;';.p[
Daddy says: (16:53:03  14/09/2012)
ok, I'm finished over here now so I'll leave you and orna to play with the keyboard :p
Daddy says: (16:53:05  14/09/2012)
(k)
Mummy says: (16:53:09  14/09/2012)
[---------ppppppppppppppppppppp[

Why can't I crawl?

This morning we wandered in to town, and Orna had an excellent nap.

She's been a bit whiny this afternoon, which seems to be frustration that she can't crawl yet. She can get up on her hands, tuck her knees under but then is stuck (or splats forwards after pushing with her legs) and whinges until she either gives in and flattens down, or is rescued.

 

Cheeky Monkeys!

Up and out bright and early today for a train at 10:20! Misjudged the trip time a little and the train was at the station when I arrived, so I ran and got on. Fortunately the ticket inspector was nice, and presumuably my pram and hot sweaty face showed I wasn't trying to fare dodge and I bought one on it.

A friend then collected us from the station and we went off to the Cheeky Monkeys thing. On the tombola I won some spoons (yay!), and I did a plate with Orn's hand and foot prints (I then lost the reciept, so need to email the lady and ask where to collect it from). I then had some photos taken, and a man from the paper took photos of the photographer taking photos of Orn (ooh, meta). 

Afterwards I popped in to town to ask if they had any Anbesol in Superdrug, they didn't, but phoned the warehouse and ordered some in. Yay!

Today I have mostly been scuttling

Her, not me.

We did nothing, she roamed around and played a lot. We read a couple of books (My Naughty Little Sister and Bad Henry's Rabbit, and Monsters Are Like That), and had some naps.

Wish my life were that easy.

Orna's first football match!

And what an exciting day it was! At 12:15, we toddled off towards town with Orna in the carrier to get the bus up to the City of Coventry Stadium *cough* Ricoh Arena *cough*. We got our shuttle bus under the ring road and away we went! 

We got to the arena, had our bags thoroughly searched then went in. The great big steps up to the seats seemed positively enormous with the extra weight of a baby strapped to my front but somehow I made it up there.

Orn was brilliant, she slept for most of the first match, woke up and had a bit of a shout after a goal (not sure if she was happy for Mexico, or, like me, sad fo Gabon). After the first match I ventured off to find somewhere to change her and had to ask a lot of people for the key to the changing room. I then tried to express in there too, but could hear a queue building up outside that really put me off. I returned Orn to Daddy, and went off to the ladies to do the other side.

She was more awake during the next match (S. Korea vs Switzerland), and at half time I underwent a somewhat misguided attempt to change her nappy on the seat which resulted in her a) screaming and b) banging her head and screaming more. Ah well, you live and learn. 


We finally got home at 8ish, what a long day for all involved.

The Ornlympics Opening Ceremony

Adorable snapshot of Orn and
a little friend holding hands!

We did the traditional Friday trip to the NCT group in Rugby (having missed the last two waiting for a parcel...the same parcel...). We were discussing homeopathy (pffft), essential oils (and the consensus was that tea tree is good for EVERYTHING) and the Grow Your Own Drugs book. I mentioned that the amber teething anklet hasn't worked (shock horror!) but it is so very cute.


In the evening we went to Orn's 3rd BBQ at the house of one of the students in Daddy's lab. We watched the Olympics opening ceremony projected onto a sheet on their back wall. She was in good sprits, entertaining everyone by trying to grab beer bottles. Around 9:15 she had a big cry and seemed tired, after a bit of a struggle she slept in her pram (eek, her spine!) until midnight when the ceremony ended and it was time to go home. This earlier to bed thing is starting to work.

Some of the fireworks!

 
 

13lbs

I thought I should probably get her weighed today, it'd been a while. I also wanted to ask whether I need to worry about her getting enough vitamin D. She's dropped a bit (though she actually dropped to the 25th percentile a few weighings back, they just kept putting her age wrong and I didn't tell them. They're not worried, but I wasn't as I think she shot up rather unnaturally to the 50th!

She's not really enjoyed the heat today, and has struggled to nap. I feel the same! She is trying very hard to crawl though, her legs now get in about the right position, but her face plows down forwards.

Draycote Water (or Holy Crap it's hot!)

Today we met up with the antenatal people to go for a nice walk and a picnic. The weather had been perking up, so it seemed ideal. Unfortunately we didn't bargain for 26C heat and no shade.

I'd got the train to Rugby, where we were being picked up to get to the resevoir. I realised in the morning it was going to be too hot for Orn to spend the day in the car seat, so off we toddled to the train station with Orna in her car seat, the pram seat lashed to the back of that, changing bag, coolbag with my lunch and her milk and the UV tent. We got there and our train was 5 mins late, not too bad, but then it turned out that someone had jumped onto the tracks and there would be no trains going north or south. A Virgin train stuck at the station had to turn back, but would only be stopping at Watford and London, but fortunately for us they changed their minds and it also did Rugby and Milton Keynes so away we went.

The walk would have been lovely if there had been a bit more of a breeze, as it was it was a tad toasty. It also took longer than we expected, and it turns out I can walk around while expressing...I was also savaged by a horsefly, but Orn was safe from both the sun and marauding beasts in her UV cover.

We got the train back, and Daddy collected us from the station. Orn and I went for much needed showers, then we went out to the crayfish party at Ikea (or Orna's second home as it's turning out to be). Yum!

Weigh? No Weigh! (or Toasty Tuesday)

This morning we waved goodbye to Grandma and Grandad D, then toddled off to the clinic only to find they've cancelled the Tuesday one without notice. I decided we may as well pop to Liceland to avoid having to go to the supermarket that night, and at the greengrocers noticed raspberries on 2 punnets for £1.60. I had to then buy eggs and cream and make a pavlova.

 Poor Orn seems to have had a bit of an upset tummy, with 3 horrific nappies and being generally a little unsettled. Hopefully it won't last

Ikea again

Today Grandma and Grandad D came to visit. I suggested we wander in to town and have "afternoon tea" at Ikea, as I wasn't quite sure how we'd fill an entire day sat at home! They bought Orna some bath time toys which we'll have to try soon, and a few bits and bobs of clothing.

While in town I got some vacuum storage bags to keep the old clothes I can't bare to part with, yay!

We tried to go for Carvery in the evening, but they'd run out of turkey and the other menu options were crap. We ended up at TGIs, Orna was tiiiiny last time we were there. Aww.

Orn's First Graduation

Today, Mummy graduated (probably for the last time), despite finishing well over a year ago! Daddy should have done, but an admin boob meant that he wasn't eligable for this ceremony but would have to wait until January. We borrowed some robes to take a nice family photo anyway.

She was good as gold in the ceremony, a little screamy baby had to be taken out and I'm fairly sure Orn was egging her on as I could hear the "hrrrrrrrrrrrrr" noises she makes.

Afterwards Grandad and Grandma S took us for a pub dinner, and she stared around a bit and made friends. Unfortunately by that point she was so wound up that she wouldn't stay in her car seat, and was a nightmare to get to sleep when we got home! Still, it's not every day you get to see your parents wear large winged costumes.

First Cinema Trip

Today we went to the cinema for the first time to see Ice Age 4. The Odeon do a "Newbies" showing for people with babies, so it doesn't matter if there's a bit of crying. We sat down and she was transfixed by the screen, but after about 15 minutes wanted to stand up and look around in the dark, then had some food, then had a bit of a scream and needed swaying to sleep (it was probably a bit stimulating and she didn't want to drop off). She slept through the rest and woke up when we left.

Lunch at Ikea (soup and chips, om nom nom) then a quick whizz around the shops which she slept through. I'm wondering if all this daytime sleep is because of the jabs yesterday as it's a bit unusual. Dropped the Baby Einstein CD back at the library (since she wasn't impressed) and the Hannukah picture book. Nice to know I can take books back to central library that were taken out from another one.

Jabs #3

Well, what a "fun" night! After a fairly promising early bed (bath at 9pm, in bed after with not much of a fight) Orna decided to wake up every 3ish hours, eat about 10ml, then go back to sleep. Unsurprisingly I was exhausted this morning, and we both fell asleep after I pumped. I set an alarm to do it again at 9:30, but when it went off felt tired and just closed my eyes for a second. I woke again and it was 10:17, our appointment was 10:30, so I grabbed some clothes and she went in her PJs.

We made it there 5 mins late, so not too bad. She was happy and bouncy when we went into the room, smiled at the nurse, but as soon as the nurse bent over to say hi she burst into tears and buried her head in my armpit. It was fairly clear that she remembered what was going to happen, poor thing. She cried for a bit afterwards, and the nurse said if she didn't get a temperature her legs would be sore, so if she seemed particularly out of sorts give her calpol to help with that.

She was OK when we got home, had a big eat, then a nap while I ate my lunch. When she woke up she was a little bit grumbly, and every time she bounces she cries so I think her legs are hurting. We red a couple of books; got all the way through Elmer, had a few nursery rhymes, and then half way through Mr Percy's Magic Greenhouse before she seemed tired.She's napping again now, so will hopefully be a bit happier when she wakes up. 

My copy of Elmer, the dedication reads "For Emma who loves books, and her mum who loves patchwork". The date is Oct '92. David McKee visited my school, I think for some sort of book week, but don't remember it very well given I was 7!

DIY Sunday

Today I built some of Orn's furniture. I ordered some stacking storage cubes that I thought looked rather cute, they have a little window in the front that you can put pictures in. All her clothes are now conviniently stored in our bedroom, but we need to find a new home for the bin...I also managed to blow the cover on the latest nappy I've bought by suggesting Daddy feel how soft it was. Oh well.

The rain continues, so we've not gone out. Come on summer, let us leave the house! We were hoping to go to the Festival of History next weekend, but it's been cancelled due to the torrential downpours. 

Managed to freeze another 500ml for the milk bank, so that's good too. I'm so paranoid about getting bugs in it though!

Friday, I'm in Love

As predicted. Night from hell. 45 mins of solid screaming, 200 mls of milk, lots of cuddling, bouncing, and only standing stopped her crying. Eventually a bit of milk settled her and we all got to sleep.

She's been in a lovely mood today, lots of naps, lots of eats, and is now having her usual evening nap. Freddie the Firefly went down a treat, and I caught her picking up a book so had a look at "Round, square!" and "Big, small!". She reached out and turned some of the pages herself, I'm not sure how intentional it was, but it was very cute.

Thundery Thursday, again

Today, Orn and I started building an ark.
Well, not really, but it'd be a good idea. There was a bit of sun in the morning, it didn't last. I'm still feeling grotty, but she's pigging out so must be better.

The highlight of our day was an evening trip to Tesco, I bought Orn "Freddie the Firefly" since she seems to love her other Lamaze toys. Freddie has been surface washed and is dangling from the door waiting to dry. Orna is having another "I DON'T NEED TO NAP" night, which means we're in for a rough one at bed time. Poor thing is suffering with her teeth.

Wet Wednesday

Will the rain ever stop? We'd quite like to go out at some point, please.

Everybody bounce now

I'm poorly

Now I know how Orn feels! Woke up with a sore throat, which I assume is what she's had. I'd quite like to nap until it goes, but that's not an option. Some new nappies arrived, and a hoodie with ears, that cheered me up.

The weather has been rubbish, but we did venture out to the post office to send more clothes I'd sold on ebay (waaaah). All the short sleeved 0-3 vests, the adorable tiny little newborn footless sleepsuits that she outgrew in 30 seconds and the most girly 0-3 sleepsuits.

I also rammed her into her "Little Farmer" outfit for another comparison photo...*sniff*

1 day, 6 weeks 1 day and 17 weeks.

 Aaaand sorted out breast milk donation, hopefully the bottles will arrive soon and I can get started!

Walk-in Round 2

After another refusing to eat day I decided that we needed to see a doctor, so off we toddled to the walk in clinic. It said there'd be a 3 hour wait, but I assumed that a little baby who hadn't eaten properly for 3 days who had a temperature would be a priority. Oh how wrong I was. Eventually, we were seen and it seems to just be an upper respiratory infection. She was given a pad to wee on to test for a UTI, but just at the point I thought "I should take that out before she poos on it" she beat me to it...
Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

Poorly Day

This is the second day she's really been off her food. She's also been clingy and whingy, though generally a silly noise gets a smile. She's had a temperature too, so has needed a couple of doses of calpol (god it's horrible nowadays).

In better news, she's trying to blow raspberries which is very cute. She's not quite got the hang of it (and wouldn't do it for Daddy), but tongue certainly goes between lips and creates bubbles and lots of dribble!

Great Alne 2012

Today we went to Great Alne show, Orna's second hamster show! This time I was judging, and she spent some of the day sat in her snug watching me judge, which was rather cute. A hamster friend (not a friend who is a hamster) brought her 2 week old who was heavier at birth than Orna and she was just so small. It's hard to believe my great big standing monster was ever that tiny. Everyone assured me that she was at her first show at 2 weeks old! I also had the amusing experience of sitting in the car expressing while people stood around me and chatted.

In the evening we went to Orna's second BBQ, where she was so excited to see what was going on she refused to sleep. She's too nosey for her own good.

Rockin' Robots

I have a minor robot obsession. I love them, I wish there were more acceptable adult clothes with them on. Now I have my little doll to dress up, here she is with "Rusty" and "Betty" on her robot blanket and sporting her robot nappy wrap (she also has a robot print nappy).


We've had a lazy day today, catching up on Ally McBeal. It's been nice and peaceful!

Sad things

When I was pregnant, I joined a forum for people due in March 2012. We were all going through the same thing at the same time, had the same worries, shared the highs and lows. As time went on, and we got closer to due dates there became many more highs than lows, but it can't always be happy times.

One lady in the group had a son who was born very ill, and never managed to leave hospital. Sadly, little Milo passed away yesterday, and some of the other Mums have been fundraising in his memory to support the work of the hospital he was staying in.

http://www.justgiving.com/march-mums

A message for you, Rusty

*sniff* Bye bye clothes

Today I posted off the first two batches of Orna's clothes that I've ebayed. There are quite a few I am currently refusing to part with, but I have to be realistic, with no plans for number 2 and limited storage space we just don't need them. As much as I would like it, she's never going to shrink to fit back into them...

The white stuff was all the "newborn" things we got to take to the hospital that were so huge on her, the right hand side was trousers and dungarees we got before she was born (bye bye fluffy penguin), and some vests that were a present afterwards (amusingly, once we knew she was a girl).

We went to the NCT group in the afternoon, where Orn showed off with her rolling over, threw a big hissy fit then finally settled to sleep, then was in a good mood all evening! She did refuse an evening nap, but finally dropped off at 10:30, leaving Mummy and Daddy to have a nice glass of wine.

Thundery Thursday

We woke up to bright sunshine, then the clouds rolled in. It looked like the world was about to end, but as it didn't, we decided to get on the bus and go to a group. The minute I set foot out of the door the rain came pelting down, there was thunder, there was lightning. A river ran down the street - good job Orn was in her "boat". We changed buses in town and it was still very stormy, got to the library and it sounded like the roof was going to come down! It all cleared up towards the end, and I thought about walking back to town but decided not to risk it. We got two books out of the library, a board book edition of Peepo! and a baby's picture book about Hannukah (we thought this would amuse Daddy).

In town, we went into M&S and came out again to find a confusing amount of icy slush on the ground, we'd managed to miss a hailstorm with stones the size of golfballs!

Dexy's Midnight Ornster

I love dungarees, they look so cute! Granted, these 3-6 month ones are still a bit big, but adorable. We watched the video to 'Come On Eileen' to see how her outfit matched theirs, and she seemed to enjoy me singing along

New sling!

The ebay cheapie mei tai has served us well, but now Orna is bigger and wrigglier it can be a pain holding her in place while you put it on so I've been looking for something with straps and clips. I spent ages trying to decide between the Beco Butterfly II and an Ergo. In the end, I saw a genuine Ergo Sport on ebay and went for it. As Daddy is tall and stick-like, and Mummy is short and round, it suggested it'd accomodate both those frames. It arrived today, and by "bigger" they obviously meant people who attract objects to orbit them, it goes huge! It seems comfy though, and has the benefit of the waist strap acting like a girdle on the baby bulge.

It means she can help out in the kithchen ;-)

Swim 3

Today Orn woke up in a fantastic mood. Lots of smiles and noises as Daddy got her dressed, more chatting as we got ready to go out and then she seemed to enjoy swimming too. We went round and round the rapids, and as both Mummy and Daddy were there we each got a go on the big slide and in the jacuzzi!

After swimming, we went to have photos taken to enter the local paper's Baby of the Year comp, and as Grandma and Grandad D have been desperate to get some formal photos taken it seemed a good oppertunity. Now I just have to remember to go back and see if any are worth buying. We then went for Orna's first Nandos, she slept through most of that and let us eat, which was nice.

She's eaten like a little hungry hippo this afternoon, a big relief after the non-hungry days earlier in the week. She's also been a bit clingy which has made it hard to do things that needed doing (like washing or making tea). But then it has been a busy day!

Friday schmiday

Did our normal Friday jaunt to the NCT group. On the way to the train station I passed the 585, which happened to be being driven by one of the drivers who normally does the bus I got to work. He waved and smiled and pointed excitely at the pram, which was nice.

Orn and her "boyfriend" had a fist-chew off staring at each other (yay, she's finally noticing other babies!). Decided to nip around the shops afterwards and get the bus home, we must have missed one, then one turned up 10 mins late and announced he wasn't going all the way. Grrrr. Poor Orna was pretty hungry by the time we got home, and I thought my boobs were going to burst!

Project Rainbow COMPLETE!

This afternoon I finished dying the blue and the green bits. Orn is off her food, like yesterday so I decided not to go out anywhere just to let her nap and try and get her to take a decent number of feeds.

A picnic in the park

Today we met Orna's boyfriends (and their Mums) at Coombe Abbey for a walk and a picnic. We saw lots of squirrels (which Mummy liked), and Orna seemed to enjoy gawping at the trees and things. We then sat down for lunch and it all went a bit pear shaped, she screamed and screamed and wouldn't calm down, eventually putting her in the pushchair and moving her back and forth got to sleep. All was well, I finished my lunch and then she woke up and it happened again. She launched herself at my finger and chewed like billy-o, so I think her teeth were bothering her again. 25ml of galpamol and she settled beautifully.

In the evening, we went out to Taybarn's (classy!) for Daddy's Birthday (having been unable to go out on his actual Birthday as we were testing out the washing machine). We planned to go to Nando's but there was a huge wait for a table, something we can't really do with a baby in tow.

2nd Jabs

Poor Orna had her second immunisations today. When we got to the clinic she was smiling away at the nurse, needless to say that vanished with the poke of a needle. She seemed much better this time around, and had stopped crying by the time we left the building. She was mostly OK, but wanted lots of cuddles and got upset if put down. She did have a nice play on her gym in the afternoon while I baked some cakes for Daddy to take in on his Birthday tomorrow. She had a bit of an upset time in the evening, but settled quickily. Before we tried to get her to have her night time nap I took her temperature, and it was a bit raised so tried to get her to take some Calpol. She was really not impressed, and I was surprised because it used to be delicious. It looks like when they took out the sugar and the bright pink colouring they also removed the flavour.

New washing machine comes tomorrow, so we spent much of the evening re-arranging furniture to create a path to the kitchen. Easier said than done with a clingy baby! 

 And if we were left with any doubt about her teething...

Happy Father's Day! RIP washing machine

Today was Daddy's first father's day. Orna got him a card and some chocolate (a Cybercandy Mystery Parcel). We had a day of veging, I red Orn a bit more of The Enormous Crocodile and washed a load of nappies. We then did a load of our clothes, and the machine screamed and clunked on the spin cycle. We emptied it, I ran it empty on slow spin and it was fine. We then decided to run another proper cycle, and the clunk got much worse. Daddy opened the door to be greeted by stinky smoke, and so we decided it had gone to the junkyard in the sky. I spent an hour handwashing all the itty bitty baby clothes that had been in there that now stank of plastic, and that was that!

My teethies hurt!

She's definitely teething, there are two obvious lumps in her top gum, and various "shapes" all around her gumline.

That and she'll chew anything that stays still long enough:

New toys!

I've been finding lugging the camera around along with the bag of changing stuff a bit much, so I wanted to buy a new, smaller camera. We went to Jessops to buy one, and got passport photos done for Orna at the same time. They weren't really set up for babies, they have a white screen and a stool, I sat her up on it with just a hand behind her and she looked so proud. The man said that he'd taken pictures of a 15 week old recently, and it was tricky as it was small and floppy. He seemed shocked when I said Orn is only 13 weeks, what a strong girl she is.

We then popped to get her some plastic tat, I bought her a Fisher Price plastic noisy camera, the seahorse that everyone is raving about to help babies sleep, a kicking piano thing to encourage her to use her legs (I'm not sure she needs encouraging!!) and a noisy plastic triangular thing. No doubt I'll regret those soon enough! I took her out in the carrycot, and it didn't take too long for her to remind me that she does not appreicate lying flat and being unable to look around. I decided we'd get the bus home, as the pram was now laden with stuff, it ended up being 15 minutes late and was only a single decker (at school kicking out time!). Getting off was interesting, and involved 5 or 6 people getting off first to let us out, then getting back on. Oops!

Today, you are 3 months old

And I can't believe it. How can someone change so much in such a short space of time? You started off as this tiny, fragile thing and now you're a proper tiny person. No longer content to just lie down and let the world pass by, you need to sit up and take in everything. I wish you'd stay small a bit longer.

I'm dreading leaving you to go back to work, I don't want to miss any changes, I don't want to miss any firsts. Blah.

11lb 12oz

That's 6 whole pounds put on, taking into account that she dropped after birth. Wow, that's a whole lot of milk.

She also rolled back-to-front for the first time. She's been trying so hard for the last couple of weeks, but her pesky arm kept stopping her. Clever girl.

Swim 2

After failing to go for a swim in Coventry last week (I realised it was half term, and would probably be hellish) we went today. I preferred the Pingles pool, it seemed more fun, but liked that I could wheel the pram right up to the pool edge. Orna seemed to enjoy it more this time around, there were proper smiles. I braved dunking her under a couple of times, she looked a bit surprised but did open her eyes and do the cool "baby underwater" swim. I must look in to the next size up swim nappy as it was a real fight getting it on to her! She screamed bloody murder when changing her back into her clothes, I think I was a bit slow.

After convincing myself that she is starting to teethe, we went in to boots and stocked up on teethers and teething gel, then got some baby ibuprofen and paracetamol (hoping to avoid using these).

Shouty Sunday

That's her shouting, not us. The sun shone this morning, we stayed at home and got a few loads of laundry done. Poor Orn has been quite unsettled, chewing at her fists and anything she can get her hands on (our hands, our arms, muslins, toys) and dribbling like mad. Holding the teether we have to her mouth and letting her chew seems to help, but she's not dextrous enough to hold it in herself yet. I think we will have to resort to teething gel, since the Anbesol liquid is out of stock everywhere. 

Getting closer! If only that arm would move.

She's making progress on the rolling back to front, she spent a fair bit of the time on her mat with her head and sholders on her side,  but waist down managing to get onto the front. If she could only figure out how to pull her arm in she'd be over. Lots more grabbing at hanging toys (and licking and chewing them), it's amazing how quickly changes happen.

Big Girl's Pushchair

Slightly unsure about it!

We all had a nice lie in this morning, and didn't get up properly until 10am. Shortly after, the post arrived bringing the new cheeky wipes box for upstairs, and some more pop-in nappies (the plan is I will now sell the itti bitti tuttos we're not really getting on with). 

Today we had the first trip out in the proper pram. Given that the carrycot leads to grumpiness when she's wide awake I thought she'd enjoy having a good look around. We went to pay some cheques in and had a general wander around town. We were hoping to do "Orn's first feeding the squirrels" but there weren't any around which was a bit sad!

Fuzzy Friday!

I'd just managed to get back to sleep this morning when the door went (7:52), and a postman brought me one of my first batch of jubilee orders. Some lovely smelly bum butter and washing stuff, a couple of funky badges for nappies and (shhhh) a second Albert and Lovelace. 

 This afternoon we were off to the NCT group, and as it was really cold, rainy and generally grotty I decided to crack out a snowsuit for Orn and see if it fitted. She didn't seem entirely thrilled with being tucked up all cosy, but eventually cracked a (toasty!) smile. Today's discussion was cloth nappies, only 4 other mums and babies turned up but it ended up being quite a nice little chat. Orn spent a little while desperately trying to roll onto her front (something she has continued to do at home this evening) but she's not quite managed yet. 

She's been a bit of a grump this afternoon, again I'm wondering if it's teeth. I can feel something a little bit sharp under her top gum so she can probably be forgiven for being out of sorts. Must buy some teething powder or liquid in town tomorrow.

Wing Wah!

Orna's first chinese meal (well, first time to watching Mummy and Daddy eat Chinese). I started off slightly on the wrong footing with one person who told me it's a shame I'm not breastfeeding. This was after I explained the issues we'd had, and that I was managing to express all her feeds so I was less than impressed to be told that. Yes, it is a shame FOR ME but not for anyone else, and it's not actually the end of the world (and I can see that now!). I do find it rather patronising for others to present the view that it is. Even if I had switched to formula feeding it's rather unlikely she'd have burst into flames or dropped dead (I hear it's not poison). Still, I managed to stuff my face, as did Daddy (who when I had said I was thinking of going to a baby thing meeting for lunch had pulled a rather sad "how can you eat that without me?" face so he came along too).

I got the bus there, and Orn decided she wanted to stand on my lap and stare out of the window rather than stay in her carrycot. It might be worth moving her to the pushchair proper a bit sooner than I had planned.

Wet Wednesday

A nice lie in for us both today, Orn woke up properly around 10:30, in time to wave Grandma and Grandad D off. I had planned to take her swimming, but when I looked up the opening times I realised it was half term and it would probably be a bit noisy and busy, so I decided we'll go next week instead. Today she had fun looking in the mirror on her ladybird sorter toy, and then spent a while chatting to the baby in her hanging mirror which was rather cute. A not so cute grumpy half hour in the evening where nothing would settle her followed. She's been quite clingy today so I didn't manage to dye the green and blue bits, but there's no real hurry.

I had a root through all her 0-3 month clothes, and she's worn everything we bought and that was bought new for us with the exception of one pair of feetie leggings (not bad going!). Not worn all the stuff we've been lent/given second hand but there are only so many days in a week.

Grandparents round 2

Another unsettled day, Orn refused to eat for a lot of the day which was a bit worrying. She also slept a lot in the afternoon (all through her first trip to Taybarns!), and then refused to sleep all evening and got grumpy. I finally got her to nap at about 8pm, she then woke up starving at 11 and had a couple of bottles. In retrospect, a weekend of meeting people followed with one day off and then more visitors was a bad idea and is too much for a little baby. We'll have to remember that for the future.

Monday, Monday

Not a lot to report, Daddy dressed her this morning (successfully!). Got the red and purple bits of Project Rainbow dyed! Orn was a bit of a grumpasaurus, I think the busy-ness of the weekend caught up with her.

A party for Orna! (Shh, don't tell her it's the Queen's Diamond Jubilee)

Today lots of people came to meet Orna for the first time, and she was very lucky and was given lots of presents. She wasn't very interested in watching Queenie float down the river, but was in good spirits to meet Auntie H, Grandad N, Mummy's friend H and some of Grandma's friends that I've known since I was tiny. One made her a beautiful Very Hungry Caterpillar blanket, Auntie H bought her some clothes (non-pink ones) and Great Auntie J got her a memory photo album.

 We ate lots of cake so were well fueled up for the drive home. When we got back, I noticed she had learnt to "interlace" her fingers. She's been holding her hands together like a little Monty Burns for ages, but has finally worked out how to lock fingers. She's also suddenly started grabbing with intent. I put her on the playmat while we unpacked and she grabbed hold of Captain Calamari and wouldn't let go, and deliberately reached out to grab some of the other hanging toys. She has been grabbing necks of t-shirts, the bottom of bibs, hems of t-shirts/dresses and wires/string for a while but I had thought it was by accident as she would only look at toys. Who's a clever girl?

Visiting Grandad and Grandma S

Today we went for Orna's longest drive yet, made even longer by hideous amounts of Jubilee traffic. This time we managed to travel much lighter, the car didn't seem to be bursting at the seams, despite us taking cloth nappies this time! I packed the "pram legs", and it was only when we got to my Dad's I realised that we wouldn't need them at all and they were just taking up space.

Grandma S has made lots of lovely little cardies for Orn, so it's a good job the nice weather is over and she can wear them! We also dispatched Grandad to the attic to get all my "baby" books down so I have some more things to read to Orna - she doesn't seem bored of the books we do have, but I need some variety. Two large boxes later, he says "That's not all of them", it's certainly enough for now. One book, Counting for Bears (it's not called that, the name has just slipped my mind) I remember quite well. I do wonder if someone saw the comedy of "Nine bears bathing", one wearing a medallion (perhaps this is soap on a rope) when the book was written. Turns out the term Bear did not exist in 1985 when the book was first published.


We then went to Great Auntie J's house, to stay the night. Orn was massively unimpressed with FiWi's play mat that had been brought out of retirement for her, and the cats looked horrified about the arrival of a baby.

She's getting big...

The day started at 6ish when I woke up and realised it was long past time to express, shortly after Orn woke up and decided that it was time for some food. After she'd eaten she was feelig particualrly chatty and didn't seem impressed with being put back into her basket, yet was out (almost) like a light when I put her in my side of the bed. It's obviously much nicer than her basket! The post arrived, bringing the rest of the dyes for Project Rainbow. Yay!

Doesn't look thrilled, does she? I wonder when she'll start to smile at the camera, at the moment it takes ages to capture a smile as her face goes blank as soon as mine vanishes behind the lens. She's getting so big though.

This morning I booked her 12 week jabs (poor baby), and somehow time got away from me. This afternoon we decided to go to the NCT group in Rugby, today's topic was something along the lines of "The River of Becoming a Mother" (it was a bit airy-fairy metaphorical for me to properly absorb). Our task was to figure out where we were on it, and how we felt about it. H's Mum and I decided we were between rocky bits, having gone up a bunch of dead ends and, feeling fine about it. There certainly have been rocks, and I'm sure there'll be many more. I did mention that it feels weird that I am a Mum, and I sort of forget sometimes, but I seem to be alone there, ah well!
 On the train back she got a bit fed up again, but she seems to settle when held up to look out of the window and some old ladies called her a he, despite her purple t-shirt!

In movement progress, her normal slide up and down the changing mat and crashing at the top "bumper" was surpassed - she leaped halfway off!

Joining the library!

The nice weather is well and truly over. Today we went back to the attachment parenting group, and I was given this fabulous sticker to adorn one of the bottles. It's not quite a giant banner, but it's a good start! Orn had her little greenhouse raincover on and stayed lovely and toasty, while my ankles froze (I'd gone out in 3/4 length trousers - I'm not ready to give up summer yet!).

We braved the terrifying Hobbycraft lift to get some yellow dye for stage 2 of "project rainbow", then went to the library for Orn to join! We've now got a couple of bookmarks (not sure we need those when her books tend to only have 6 pages), and a nice big certificate. I took two books out, so we'll have fun reading those. With the books only having a few pages they don't hold my interest for many reads...

Lazy Wednesday

Neither of us did much today. Orn had lots of naps, I did a few loads of washing and started Project Rainbow. That isn't as exciting as it sounds, it's just me dying a bunch of white sleepsuits and muslins a range of fun colours, today was Goldfish Orange!

In which we leap into the road...

We met a couple of the antenatal ladies and babies for a bit of a potter around Coombe Abbey Park and a picnic. Orn had a nice sleep on the journey, but woke up when we got there. She's currently going through a phase where she hates not being able to see what is going on, so I had to carry her around the park. Some Coventry Uni students were rehersing Alice in Wonderland, which was interesting. There were giant papier mache legs in one tree, and spiders in another. There's no bus stop at Coombe, so to flag the bus down on the way home you shove your arm out and hope for the best. We made it.

In the evening we went to Orn's first BBQ (second, if you count Daddy cooking some chicken and kebabs on a disposable outside the back door for tea on Sunday). She was much admired by people, so that was nice. I had her dressed up very girly to remind everyone she is a girl.

Smile!

At least someone is happy that it's time to get up!

One finger, one thumb, one arm, one leg, one nod of the head keep moving

The song is lodged in my head! This morning we went to Rhyme Time. Orn is a bit young still really, but I needed to brush up on my kid's songs. At the moment she still looks thrilled when I sing "Orny-orn-orn, Orny-orny-orn-orn" to the tune of Alouette, but I'm sure she'll want a bit of variety soon. I wasn't convinced by their version of "The Wheels on the Bus", I think we'll stick with "my" version.

I missed a parcel while we were out, it was the disposable Flip inserts I've bought for our summer holiday. It had been delivered next door, when I knocked to ask for it there was no answer but I could hear people in there. I did wonder what a bunch of students would want with disposable nappy bits, it's best not to ask. When I went back later, the guy swore no one had taken in a parcel. Luckily when Daddy was in the garden later the girl passed it over the wall to him!

Little baby, Big Bed

It's a tactic that works. Every time it looks like she's growing up, buy something bigger and put her in it. We finally got round to assembling the cot bed today, Monday marked a week since it was delivered so I really had to check all the bits were there!
Our room is now very, very full. I can't bear the idea of carting her off to a seperate room, it's going to be bad enough when she's out the basket (which will be very soon) not right next to my head.

"Things I wish I'd known before having a baby"

Today I went to the NCT group in Rugby, and the topic for discussion was as above. At first I thought there wasn't a lot, but after a few minutes realised there were loads of things.

I wish I had known:

• Breastfeeding is hard. For the vast majority of people it isn't as easy as shove a baby on your boob and it's fed.
• All those things you say there's no way you'll do (co-sleep - too dangerous! Sniff their bum to see if they've pooed - too gross!) you will. 
• You realise when you give birth you will have to show off your nether regions. You will show them to lots of people who don't seem to realise it might be a bit embarassing for you.

Things I did "know" but hadn't really thought through.

• I had illusions of my lovely, relaxed birth where I'd be wandering around, employing various massage techniques and it'd all go OK. In reality it was flipping painful, my "wandering around" was limited to walking back and forth to the toilet repeatedly, then having to have a little lie down on the floor, or being stuck on the walk back. I couldn't stand being touched, so massage was out!
• Everything is a contest.

There are more for both lists - I'll get back to you.

Orn had her first run-in with a bully. She was lying next to one of her little boyfriends, and I turned my back to get a mini brownie when all of a sudden there was an almighty Orn cry. A big baby had crawled up and smacked her in the head. Poor little Orn, at least it didn't bruise. I bought her a play gym on the way home which she absoutely loves (though this "surprised eyes" photo might say different!). She spent quite a while staring at the star thingy and cooing. Her favourite bit of music that it does seems to be "Eine Kleine Nachtmusic", it gets the most smiles. Later, in un-cute news she did whine and whinge for an hour while Daddy retreated to the bath. Maybe she was remembering the bully.

A day at home (or look at my nappy stash part 1)

Today we've been stuck at home. I had planned to go to the group in Earlsdon, but Orn has either been fast asleep or absolutely starving all day (12 week growth spurt? If babies are late do these fall when they "should" have been born?), and it didn't seem fair to take her out just because I wanted to leave the house. This morning a letter arrived telling me I'd had her tongue tie cut on the 8th, which is weird because I was there and I remember it, but in fun post PINK OWLS arrived (from here) :-D Along with the ribbons to make a taggy blanket...now if only I had some pins.

So while she was asleep, I thought I'd do a nappy inventory and here is a photo of the clean and dry parts of the "stash":

My favourites here are the Pop-Ins. The New Generation are so cute, and (boring but incredibly functional Little Lambs aside) they're my only nappy so far that haven't given a single leak. The original is a smidge more bulky, but just as good. The Bumgenius Freetime is also great (though has given me one leak), and people rave about the V4 pockets so I bought those last week (from Nappy Go Lucky). Not tried them out yet as the inserts have only had one pre-wash (plus the insert from the "Bubble" coloured one arrived with a broken popper so we're waiting for a replacement which isn't really a reason not to use it as she'll be fine with the newborn insert).

Yesterday marked the first full weak in cloth nappies, quite a milestone! In that week we've only had two (wee) leaks which I'm quite pleased with. Now, in order to actually save money, I just need to stop buying them!

And now, yet again, it's time to express. I wonder if cows get fed up of milking time?

Wednesday: Lunch with the Boys!

Yesterday was a busy day, and if I thought Tuesday was hot I'd seen nothing yet. We had an "early" start to the day - out at 9:40 to get the bus to the Bell Green Breastfeeding Support Group. I've not been since the tongue tie cut, firstly because it was the day after she had it done and she was a bit grumpy, then last week she was fast asleep when we needed to leave, and as it was only 2 days after her jabs I let her sleep. We waited 25 minutes for a bus (one must've been early, the next late), so it was a very flying visit. The very helpful BFing support lady had a look at her try and feed, and said she's still not really opening her mouth enough and suggested sticking my tongue out a lot to get her to copy. I'm forever blowing raspberries at her, but she won't copy me. A fortnight a go she did copy one of my antenatal course friends doing it though, so she can!

Flying visit over, we got the bus back to town for Ikea trip of the week number 2, this time to meet the ladies from the Antenatal course. It was the first time we've all got together in a month, and also the first time since one moved to NZ so that was a little weird. They're all growing so fast, and little D who was only a fortnight old last time we saw him has got enormous! Orn was a bit fed up by the time we left, so I didn't manage to get to the shops and buy pins like I had meant to, and I had to have her on my knee on the bus home as she'd only be quiet looking out of the window. Got her home and stripped her down to her nappy and she was much happier. Poor toasty baby.

Tuesday: Lunch with the Girls

Order of service for today was to go to Ikea and meet up with some of the local people from Babycentre, and their little girls! It was the first really, really hot day we've had and I'm not sure Orna liked it much. I had taken her out in a vest, t-shirt and some thin linen trousers but she was roasting by the time we got to town. At first she seemed to like it, but then had enough quite quickly, she seemed to struggle to keep milk down and had little sicks which is most unlike her!

She's still not at all interested in other babies, but seemed to enjoy watching the other Mums. In Ikea itself, she loved looking at the lights in the lighting section and they got smiles. Keeping her in the carrycot when she's wide awake is now proving difficult, especially on the bus. She likes to look around and will often stand happily on my knee but scream bloody murder when I try and lie her down again. Poor baby.

I also bought some wool to try and knit some babylegs. It'll be my first go with self striping, yay!

Snores to the left of me...

...snuffles to the right. Here I am, stuck in the middle lying on my side unable to get to sleep.

We need a bigger bed.

Orn's Big Bed

Orna's cotbed came today, it looks enormous. We're going to have to re-arrange bedroom furniture to fit it in! Luckily, she's still small enough for her moses basket, I like having her right next to me. It's so easy to scoop her out and feed her, or comfort her if needed. Last night I sneezed and it must have scared her and she ended up crying her little heart out, I could just reach over and move her in with me to calm her down. It's a shame we don't have a king sized bed so I could just keep her with us until she seems big enough to sleep alone, but in a double there's not really enough room for all three of us to get a good night's sleep.

Matching clothes

Daddy bot, Mummy bot and Baby bot

A few weeks back, I accidentally managed to dress Orna and I in co-ordinating outfits. We both had green t-shirts and blue trousers. We went out and about like this, I only noticed when I got home and had a bit of a worry people would think I did it on purpose. One of the "problems" with buying clothes for someone else is that you're naturally going to buy stuff you like, and normally you buy clothes for yourself that you like too after all! Two of my big "likes" are dinosaurs and robots. Unfortunately I can't get away with dinosaur and robot clothes for myself, but now fortunately I have an outlet for it! Before she was born, on a shopping trip to mothercare I noticed a bunch of robot socks in their sale reduced to £1. I immediately bought them, and when I got home announced I was a bit sad that they didn't make robot socks for adults as I'd love them. Pairing up washing later that day, I realised I do, in fact, own two pairs of socks with robots on.

Lazy Friday

This morning, I'd planned for us to go to the Coventry NCT Bumps and Babies group, but it turned out we were far too lazy. It's in the arse end of the city, and starts at 9:30 - an ungodly hour (considering we'd need to set off at 8:30 to get there in time. Every other week we go to the on in Rugby, which has about the same amount of travelling time, but sensibly starts at 1pm, much better.

As it turned out, we had a lie in and it was awesome. Orn got in to bed with me when Daddy left for work, had half a bottle and zonked out until 9:30. I woke up about 8:30 and thought I really should move and express, but in the end I was too tired to sit up until later, and didn't manage until 10. Oops. Orn has had quite a sleepy day today (until now!), she had a couple of nice long naps and I got two loads of laundry done. I did mean to change the bed, but didn't find time for that.

I've also been nappy shopping today...I bought the pink owls and a second purple turtles, and a couple of Bum Genius v4 (but shhh, I've only told Daddy about the pink owls). I really like the Freestyles I have, and some people swear by the pocket ones so I thought I'd ive them a go, and finally I traded in some Tesco vouchers and bought a funky Totsbots one. I did think we had enough nappies; current stash is 10 Little Lambs bamboo size 1 (and 10 size 2 for the future), 2 Totsbots easyfit V2, 2 next generation close parent pop-ins (purple turtles and blue turtles), a dream-dri close parent pop-in, an original close parent pop-in, 3 itti bitti tuttos and 3 cheap ebay pockets. Now I'm doing full time I'm finding at the end of 2 days we start to get a bit short, without a drier the little lambs can take 2 days to be fully dry.

Now, with Orna dozing and a fridge full of milk in waiting we're having a sneaky bottle of wine. A nice end to the week!

Crazy Hippy Club

Or not, as it turned out. A couple of days ago (Monday, I think) I was having a search online for a local nappy library. I don't really know why, I think I have enough nappies and I know what I like, but when she's bigger and sleeps through I will need to try out some other options for night nappies. But I digress; I happened upon Coventry & Warwickshire Attached Parents, who meet weekly in a library in one of the posher bits of town. Attachment parenting is something I've had a bit of a read up on, and although in its full form it seems a bit OTT, I think it's far more the style of parent that I want to be than something like Gina Ford.

Dr Sears appears to have been the person that coined the term (thought might not be, I'll admit I've not read that much), and there's something about the principals of it on Wikipedia. I didn't prepare for pregnancy, it's a bit hard to do that when you didn't really get to the trying stage, but we certainly prepared for birth and, as much as you can when you have no idea what is coming, for parenting. I'd like to think we're doing all the nurtring, respond with love and so on. I'll fully admit to being frustrated when there's a session of crying for no apparant reason (dry, right temp, fed, cuddled) but we still plod on trying to comfort and sort her out - she's a baby, it's not her fault. Luckily, we've ended up with a little person who is almost always happy, in some ways though that makes inconsolable crying harder - we're still learning how to deal with it at 9 weeks, and because it's out of character the need to stop it is enormous and the stress when you can't is a bit much.

I've gone off the point again, anyway, I decided I'd go along to the group. As I explained to one of the Mums later, I'd been worried they were going to be breastfeeding teenagers and wearing hemp dresses hand dyed with woad. They weren't, it was all OK, they were normal. They listened to the nightmare I'm having with breastfeeding, joined in with horror when I recounted our hospital experience and the NG tube threat - something others seem to have seen as "normal", and didn't think I was nuts with my insistance to make sure I could express milk for every feed and stay away from formula. They think co-sleeping is normal (we don't do it full time, but if she's upset and won't settle I don't hesitate in popping her in the big bed (if it were a proper big bed there'd be no reason not to do it full time!)), and best of all, none of their babies had pierced ears - a big improvement on the last local baby group I went to!

Mini Hippy Milestone

Not a mini hippo, sadly, but those fellas are cute.

We've had our first 24 hours in cloth nappies! I've been using them during the day at home for 4 or 5 weeks now, and started using them on trips longer than an hour last Friday, but had so far avoided them overnight. Daddy does the night changes while I express, and whapping on a disposable is much quicker. I also wasn't too confident in how well they'd last so had been putting it off. I'd recently bought some eco disposables to make myself feel a bit better about still using them, but they seemed to give her terrible nappy rash. It'd go down during the day, then flare up overnight. She only sleeps 5 hours max without a change, so I didn't think that was the problem. I thought if we try a few nights in cloth it might help clear it up. I got the "cabbage" assembled before bed, so all Daddy had to do was take the old one off, wipe, and put the new one on, ta-da. We do need to get a wet bag for upstairs, as a damp nappy in a sandwich bag isn't a great look, and would be a bit icky if there was poo.

The mattress for her cotbed arrived to, along with a changing mat for upstairs (we've been using the one that came free in the Advantage Club changing bag), some dinosaur babygros (yay!), mobile, bedding, and some Olive and Henri clothes. The cot comes next week (and will FILL our bedroom), but as she's nearly head to foot filling the moses basket it was time to get one. I'm not looking forward to moving her in to it, having her in the basket by my head is so handy as if she grumbles I can just scoop her out and have her in bed next to me - I'll have to actually get out of bed in future and get cold feet.

I failed to go to the breastfeeding group this morning, I had planned to go and update on her tounge tie, but she was fast asleep until 9:15 (we need to get the bus around 9:50), so I didn't like to wake her and get her ready. Ah well, next week!