I started this blog to make sure that I could capture the memories of Nico's first year and of our time in Spain. Life has taken over and being as diligent as I'd planned with daily posts has proved more difficult than I'd expected. Perhaps an iPhone will sort me out :-).
So, a quick list of moments and things I don't want to forget from the last couple of months:
- the ice-cream lunge - the day I found out Nico liked ice-cream as he sank his face into my cone
- the orxata afternoons - watching his little face light up and his legs kick like mad until Nico got his portion. Who knew cup training would be so easy with orxata in the equation?!
- his formula disgust - it doesn't matter how I hide it, he treats it like poison and spits it out
- the obsession with dogs, bicycles and balls
- his winning smile the first time he pulled himself up in his cot
- his shrieks of laughter as his Daddy blows raspberries on his neck
- the first time I found my shoes unbuckled
- having never taken a dummy he now picks one up and shoves it to the side of his mouth as if he's chewing a cigar. Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come!
- his pre-crawling press ups and his backwards shuffle that's been relegated to the memory archive as he's worked out how to go forwards in the last two weeks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPYoGGBC2fw
Thursday, 5 August 2010
Monday, 28 June 2010
Whose blog is it anyway?
So I've not written for a while. For fear of offending and using this as a venting area a self-imposed silence ensued. And then I remembered...this is my blog, written by me for anyone wanting to read, but most importantly, for Nico.
So where were we? Just starting solids as I recall. The Spanish way. It seems that every country has their way. I was instructed to start gluten-free cereals at 4 months, add fruit at 6 months followed by vegetables and then chicken and beef. I was chastised at check-ups if I'd not followed the advice. We were given evils by the local Mummy mafia if he was spotted munching a bread-stick in his pram. If I'd been in the UK it would have been fruit and veg anytime between 4-6 months (although the official advice is stuck at 6 months, but frankly if you have a hungry baby before he's 6 months old, you'll know...). If I'd been in Germany carrots would have been the first food and no doubt if I'd been in Lebanon I'd have been encouraged to try a little hummus.
Thank god for Annabel Karmel who's book is full of advice and recipes. She's a bit flavour-tastic, but at almost 8 months, Nico will eat just about anything. Cauliflower remains at the bottom of the table, but even to the objective observer it has to be one of the most offensive vegetables. It gives legendary wind to most and smells like wet dog. That said, I quite like it myself.
Nico will happily grab most of the food that's going into my mouth and also eat the sand from the beach when given the opportunity. Growing fast, and now into the clothes of a 1 year old (tall, not fat) it seems that food is doing the job. Nights have become easier with ten hours on the trot becoming the norm although he remains a very light sleeper and will wake up at the slightest noise. Perhaps the two boys sharing a bedroom wasn't our brightest moment.
So where were we? Just starting solids as I recall. The Spanish way. It seems that every country has their way. I was instructed to start gluten-free cereals at 4 months, add fruit at 6 months followed by vegetables and then chicken and beef. I was chastised at check-ups if I'd not followed the advice. We were given evils by the local Mummy mafia if he was spotted munching a bread-stick in his pram. If I'd been in the UK it would have been fruit and veg anytime between 4-6 months (although the official advice is stuck at 6 months, but frankly if you have a hungry baby before he's 6 months old, you'll know...). If I'd been in Germany carrots would have been the first food and no doubt if I'd been in Lebanon I'd have been encouraged to try a little hummus.
Thank god for Annabel Karmel who's book is full of advice and recipes. She's a bit flavour-tastic, but at almost 8 months, Nico will eat just about anything. Cauliflower remains at the bottom of the table, but even to the objective observer it has to be one of the most offensive vegetables. It gives legendary wind to most and smells like wet dog. That said, I quite like it myself.
Nico will happily grab most of the food that's going into my mouth and also eat the sand from the beach when given the opportunity. Growing fast, and now into the clothes of a 1 year old (tall, not fat) it seems that food is doing the job. Nights have become easier with ten hours on the trot becoming the norm although he remains a very light sleeper and will wake up at the slightest noise. Perhaps the two boys sharing a bedroom wasn't our brightest moment.
Friday, 19 March 2010
Solids, schmolids
At Nico's 4 month check up last week the doctor suggested that we start him on some simple solids to see if it can help to settle him at night time. Think about what you might like to have as your first taste of food to get you on the road to eating proper stuff and I don't think gluten free cereal would feature anywhere near the top of the list, but that's what's on the menu.
Below you can see the before and after pictures....
Before:
After:
If gluten free cereal were my first meal then I think I would spit it out too, but we will persevere.
Below you can see the before and after pictures....
Before:
After:
If gluten free cereal were my first meal then I think I would spit it out too, but we will persevere.
Lost socks
I lost my socks last week. "You lost your socks, you say?" Yes, I lost my socks. Or rather I thought they'd been nicked. I'm a bit partial to socks at the moment as the cold weather and our stone floor tiles can make for very cold feet. I've even been known to wear them to bed as I turn in at night with full certainty that I will be getting up shortly to attend to Nico who dazzled me with his ability to sleep eight full hours and then promptly went back to only managing three hours in a row. So when my best woollen socks went missing I was a little perplexed and somewhat miffed. Cotton socks just don't do the same job.
I'd been to the physio you see for a massage and when I'd come to get dressed my socks were gone. I thought perhaps I was going crazy and that I'd ventured out in the artic conditions of the Costa Brava without them (yes, it did snow in Barcelona last week and we were left for two days without electricity). And then I thought that perhaps the physio had some sort of bizarre sock fetish and took a pair from each client as some sort of trophy which left me feeling too embarrassed to ask if anyone had seen my socks.
So my husband visited the physio last week after running the Barcelona marathon and was promptly asked,
"Did your wife realise she'd left her socks last week?"
"Yes" he replied, "she thought you'd nicked them!"
It seems that the physio always places his client's socks on the radiator so that following treatment they can have lovely warm feet. So not only did I leave with chilly feet, but I'm too embarrassed to go back!
I'd been to the physio you see for a massage and when I'd come to get dressed my socks were gone. I thought perhaps I was going crazy and that I'd ventured out in the artic conditions of the Costa Brava without them (yes, it did snow in Barcelona last week and we were left for two days without electricity). And then I thought that perhaps the physio had some sort of bizarre sock fetish and took a pair from each client as some sort of trophy which left me feeling too embarrassed to ask if anyone had seen my socks.
So my husband visited the physio last week after running the Barcelona marathon and was promptly asked,
"Did your wife realise she'd left her socks last week?"
"Yes" he replied, "she thought you'd nicked them!"
It seems that the physio always places his client's socks on the radiator so that following treatment they can have lovely warm feet. So not only did I leave with chilly feet, but I'm too embarrassed to go back!
Sunday, 14 March 2010
The soundtrack of my life
It's be nearly a month and no posts. As much as crying has become the soundtrack of my life (I have been assured that it will pass, although no-one can say when), no regrets. The smiles are worth every howl.
Finally the sunshine arrived this weekend and my new sunglasses came into their own. Sunglasses, along with a coat with a hood and big pockets are my must-have for new mums. The coat to be thrown on at a moment's notice when there is no alternative but to escape out of the house, the hood to protect in all weather, and the big pockets to replace the handbag that I no longer have the hands to carry.
If we moved to Spain for the good weather then our plan backfired. As the snow arrived in Barcelona on Monday, so too did the power cuts in the region where we live. The lights flickered, the blow heater went silent and all was dark. What I thought would last for just a few minutes went on for a day and a half so we decamped to the snow covered city to seek light and heat with Ivan's brother. Costa Brava or Costa del Third World?
Finally the sunshine arrived this weekend and my new sunglasses came into their own. Sunglasses, along with a coat with a hood and big pockets are my must-have for new mums. The coat to be thrown on at a moment's notice when there is no alternative but to escape out of the house, the hood to protect in all weather, and the big pockets to replace the handbag that I no longer have the hands to carry.
If we moved to Spain for the good weather then our plan backfired. As the snow arrived in Barcelona on Monday, so too did the power cuts in the region where we live. The lights flickered, the blow heater went silent and all was dark. What I thought would last for just a few minutes went on for a day and a half so we decamped to the snow covered city to seek light and heat with Ivan's brother. Costa Brava or Costa del Third World?
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Baby and the dog
Night sleeper!
14 weeks in and we've just had 8 hours sleep in a row!
At 5am this morning I had to ask Ivan to check on the baby as he hadn't woken up since putting him to bed (for the second time) just after 9pm last night.
Hopefully Nico is realising how lovely it is to have a night of uninterrupted sleep and it will be the first of many.
We've been working up to it for a while and managed 6 hours in a row for almost a week about 3 weeks ago, but a holiday to my Mum's in France, a travel cot and the strange settings put paid to that and we regressed back to just 3 hours on the bounce at any one time. Back home in his own crib and the sleep fairy has been to visit :-).
What a shame that we have to give back his crib and move him to his big cot tonight! Fingers crossed Nico won't notice. Fat chance, but here's hoping.
Well done baby - we feel almost human.
At 5am this morning I had to ask Ivan to check on the baby as he hadn't woken up since putting him to bed (for the second time) just after 9pm last night.
Hopefully Nico is realising how lovely it is to have a night of uninterrupted sleep and it will be the first of many.
We've been working up to it for a while and managed 6 hours in a row for almost a week about 3 weeks ago, but a holiday to my Mum's in France, a travel cot and the strange settings put paid to that and we regressed back to just 3 hours on the bounce at any one time. Back home in his own crib and the sleep fairy has been to visit :-).
What a shame that we have to give back his crib and move him to his big cot tonight! Fingers crossed Nico won't notice. Fat chance, but here's hoping.
Well done baby - we feel almost human.
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