Big changes

In the last two weeks BB has

  • tasted his first foods
  • cut two teeth   and
  • refined the art of rolling over, and over, and over
Already I am looking back fondly to the days when I put him down and he stayed put. Now he can move quite quickly, making showering, cooking and feeding the chooks all a little more challenging than they used to be.

It is delightful though - and he is so pleased with himself. He can roll and he can turn around, so he can get almost anywhere. I am loving the way he turns his head toward me after rolling to a new spot, and smiles "look at me Mummy". He is almost crawling too. I am guessing he will be giving me a hand to work off the last few pregnancy kilos very soon.

As a result of this rapid development in moving ability, I have spent the last couple of days 'baby proofing' the house - ground level stuff is almost done now, no doubt there will be more to do at every stage. Also, as he is still a spewy boy, I have spent quite a lot of time following him around with a cloth and some carpet cleaner! I think I may soon have to accept the fact that I am not going to have clean carpets for a while.

Feeding is going fairly well. Having said all along that I was going to follow  baby led weaning, I chickened out just as we were about to start, and made puree. The reasons for the sudden change were my dad, who scared me by saying that if he were to choke I would struggle to save him on my own, and paranoia from things I read about iron levels diminishing. 

So, I thought we would start with puree and then get more adventurous, once he had learned that food goes in your mouth. He is liking puree, well, as much as you can expect. Some goes in, and some even gets swallowed - he gets quite excited about a spoonful of food. He has a definite preference for home made over bought food, butternut squash with apple is his favourite. 

Less than a week in I was drawn back to the BLW idea. It just seems so natural. For weeks now I have been feeling the urge to share my food with BB. He has been looking longingly as I eat, and I just want to give him some. So, for reassurance, I ordered the book and started to read.

I am beginning gently - just one food at a time, which I know isn't the idea but I'll get there. On monday we had broccoli, recommended as it has a 'built in handle', though of course he held it by the other end! Three florets in turn were touched, squished and mashed into the table. It was fabulous to watch him explore this strange object. It even made it to his mouth a few times. He didn't choke, and it is possible that some iron may have passed his lips so I was left feeling a little more confident.

The next day, banana. Working well until my dad stopped by and reminded me not to choke my child - so I mashed the rest. 

This morning we had a long slow breakfast of porridge and peach. I like the idea of us both eating the same thing - it makes for a shared experience at meal times and I think will set the scene for some good eating habits in the future. It was fun - it also took ages. We are back to the two hours to get out of the door state that we were in when he was new born - but we can factor that in to our schedule. It will also make me think about what I eat - I want to model good eating to my son, and ensure a healthy balanced diet, so I'll have to eat well too. More help with my kilos. 

I have some purees in the freezer that I don't want to waste so I am I intend to try and use them - maybe when we're out - or if I am ill prepared, but I think I already know which way of eating we'll both favour.

The excitement I felt when I saw some teeny little fronds of broccoli in his nappy was encouraging too - if a little disturbing - this is what my life has become [chuckle].

Finally the teeth - they both popped through last week, the first on Tuesday, and the second on Friday. I have to say I have become a total advocate of the amber teething necklaces. BB was given a necklace at birth, and though I know they are made with the safety of babies in mind I just couldn't put it around his neck. Fortunately though it fits perfectly doubled up around his ankle and so has worn it for the last two or three months.  I did think that the nights where we forgot to put it back on after his bath were more restless than the ones where he wore it, but I couldn't be sure. Now though I am certain - he was wearing it for the first tooth and he didn't show any signs of being in pain at all. However, he resisted having the necklace put on after his bath that night so I left it off - 3 days later I had a grumpy screaming child, which was very out of character - then I noticed his second tooth halfway though the gum. The necklace went back on, and peace was restored and the tooth was fully through in a couple of hours. I'll be certain to keep on in the future.

The final thing for this post is about me. You may remember me getting the "You are officially OLD" letter from my GP. Well - I went for the medical last week and fortunately they found me to be at low risk for everything which is fab. Even better was that I mentioned the fact that I want to shift the last few kilos of my pregnancy weight and was offered a personal health trainer. I met with her yesterday for the first time - I get 6 appointments over 6 months. I LOVE the NHS, especially since living overseas - this is a great service. My goal is to lose 10kg in that time by increasing my exercise - seeing as I have BB what I can do is a bit limited - but you might see me power walking with the pram, and behind closed doors I will be stair climbing and doing aerobic workouts on my Wii. I am due for my second appointment at the end of Feb, but which time I need to have shed 2.5kg. 

So, off to buy some supportive good quality walking shoes at the weekend, and I'll keep you posted!


Hello, and thanks for stopping by. My name is Emma and I am a lifestyle entrepreneur, writer, teacher, coach and mentor. I am passionate about eating real food, learning, travel and health. I get to spend my days with my amazing son who has chosen to learn from the world rather than at school. We write to share the life we love and to help others create a life they love too.

3 comments:

  1. Lots happening there! Great that BB has started off eating happily. Of course, babies are excellent at gumming food, but those teeth will help the eating experience too. I've been meaning to write a post about BLW. As you know, I fell into it with F because he just wasn't interested in purees and I haven't looked back. It's been great for us, but of course, we all go with our instincts and comfort levels. I will write about it soon over there. I've got some great footage of his beautiful pincer grip on blueberries and him also hunkering down on a chop. Yes, with a bone!

    And a personal trainer - what a coup. That's great.

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  2. Thanks Mama Bear. We would love to see the video. I have been thinking that I need to include more photos and videos on here - just as soon as I get over my paranoia about taking BB public without his permission!

    We have been much more adventurous with the BLW today -Snow peas, baby corn and some wholemeal pitta bread (which I used to make home made pizza), followed by a pear for desert. I actually think there was less mess than we get with puree. Speaking of puree, we were out for lunch today as BB had his swimming lesson and I took some puree along - not interested! The quarters of nectarine on the other hand were well received. I can't see me getting away with the puree for much longer!

    Yes the personal trainer thing is brilliant isn't it. We are lucky with the NHS. I was thinking of starting an I LOVE THE NHS group to try and create some positive media for it. As with everything, it is under threat with the government cuts. It would make a change to have a positive lobby group, not sure it would work though, it's just not British is it!

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  3. am sooooo jealous of the personal trainer!

    also agree on amber beads, Miss E is so much happier with them on and doesn't dribble anywhere near as much, she has them on 24/7 (they even stay on in the bath)

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