How are we getting on?

Seems I have not blogged on Jamie's development lately. Its not that there has not been any, its just we have been so busy - which I find is a good thing for all of us!!

He is certainly recognising words and phrases and I understand a lot of what he says - even though other people might not! When he is hungry he does a 'yum, yum' face and at baby signing he has started to follow a number of the signs.

We still continue to attend baby signing and there are a few other children who are about Jamie's age and he has become 'sociable' now. On a Friday we have started to attend a playgroup with the twins, with some of the girlies from Bingo and their children, and again this has brought him out of himself a bit more. Although he does seem to like to play on his own as well....

We have started back at Drama Bugs now it has moved nearer to us. My only reservation with this is one of the other children who seems to have a tantrum every time, while his mother just sits texting on her mobile phone.

I am aware more now of the effect of everything we do on Jamie; from him copying what we are doing and possibly saying (Lucy currently says 'Tampon') as well as the effect the TV has on him. He seems hypnotised by the box at the moment and we have tried to limit his watching and the programs he is allowed to watch - CBeebies and a bit of Peppa Pig. We have had a few minor tantrums when we have turned off the TV but so far they have only been minor. I bought him a T shirt last week with the Chuggington trains on the front and he keeps picking it up and walking round with it as he recognises it. Its amazing to watch as he learns and moves forward with his understanding. We were given a game which consists of a number of circles with cut outs in them - colour coordinated - of various animals and have been asking Jamie to pair them up. He loves playing this game and I am so proud!

Another game he likes playing at the moment however, is the opening and shutting of the door. He can now reach up and open the back door himself and loves to stand there opening, shutting and opening again the door. Of course I have to stand over him and make sure he doesn't trap his fingers in the door. So far no tears...

And we have managed to get through the whole of the summer without incident around the pond; although it has meant having to watch any children in the garden like a hawk in case they go near it. I mentioned this a few weeks ago when I was out, and a friend of a friend said her in-laws had a pond cover. The twins mum very kindly took out all the seats in her (large) car and we went and picked it up. That should make the pond a lot safer when we return to the garden. Its a bit wet at the moment....

Jamie still loves reading and the books we borrowed from the library have been read a lot. We have already been back to get some more and renew the ones we have got! They have started a Storytelling session at the library every other Tuesday but we have yet to attend - not sure if Jamie would be a distraction or not!!

Capricorn - 24th September 2010

You're unusually restless now, yearning to leave familiar surroundings for greener pastures. Instead of leaving your job or dumping your lover, take a challenging class instead. Learning a new language or mastering a musical instrument will provide you with the intellectual stimulation you crave. You've been blessed with a great brain. Exercising it on a regular basis will stave off your anxiety. There's a difference between studying something because you have to and researching something that genuinely interests you.

Russell Grant
http://www.asdamagazine.com/horoscopes/

Blog Baby 17

Congratulations to Lisa and Neil. Callum Aidan born 04:16 on the 18th September. 5 weeks premature but healthy, weighing 5lbs 4oz. Welcome to the club!

Thank God for the Yummy Mummies...

Following my Decade of Doom chat I had a bit of a melt down this weekend and nearly backed out of the Yummy Mummy night I had organised. So many things seemed to upset me and even The Bull says I am "oversensitive' since having Jamie. Sometimes I just feel the need for a bit of a shout and then a good cry!!

I am so glad I made the effort. Not just because we had our Single White Female to provide classic entertainment, but because it gave me a chance to have a good chat with the other mummies and realise its all normal and there is always someone having a worse day than you!!

Must make sure I get another evening organised very soon and try and make time in every week for some kind of girlie chat.

A Case for Chaos...

Further to my post http://grumpymumtobe.blogspot.com/2010/07/pram-in-hallway.html I have just read an article in the Guardian where Frank Cottrell Boyce makes the case for chaos www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/aug/01/art-children-pram-hallway

There's a belief that to do great work you need tranquility and control, that the pram is cluttering up the hallway; life needs to be neat and tidy. This isn't the case. Tranquility and control provide the best conditions for completing the work you imagined. But surely the real trick is to produce the work that you never imagined. The great creative moments in our history are almost all stories of distraction and daydreaming – Archimedes in the bath, Einstein dreaming of riding a sunbeam – of alert minds open to the grace of chaos.

He goes onto say: Why does it retain its power to chill? I don't think it's about fear of distraction or domesticity. I think it's a fear of babies. Being a parent – or really loving someone other than yourself, whether that's your children, parents or your lover – forces you to confront a horrible truth: the fact that we get older. The amazing boy who was born when I was still a student is a man now. There is no way that I can still think of myself as "quite young, really" or "a child at heart". Parenthood confronts us with our own mortality, every day.

I remember reading that when the writer Tracey Chevalier had her first baby, someone told her that "every baby costs one book"; she said something to the effect that that seemed fair enough. But we should turn Connolly's equation upside-down and say that maybe what's in the pram – breathing, vulnerable life, hope, a present responsibility – is actually more important than good art. It might make us produce less art, but maybe it would be art with the future at its heart.

This is also discussed on British Mummy Bloggers http://britishmummybloggers.ning.com/forum/topics/does-having-children-hinder?xg_source=msg_mes_network

Decade of Doom

Went for the results of my NHS Health Check this week. Once you enter the 'Decade of Doom' as Sophie's dad calls it, you are now invited for a check up. This consists of a series of blood tests to check your heart, kidneys, risk of stroke, diabetes etc. They also look at your weight and exercise levels. It seems I have high cholesterol and my blood pressure was slightly raised. This means all my talk of healthy eating and exercise needs to start NOW! We have given ourselves a cut off of Christmas for getting pregnant. So for the next 3 months I (we) are going to try our best to be healthy. We need to do it for Jamie's future as well as our own (and any tiny baby that might come along!) This weekend I have arranged a 'Yummy Mummy' night and am driving, so we shall see how that goes!!

First trip to the Library

I took Jamie for his first proper trip to the library yesterday. He has now got his own borrowing card. I usually just wheel him in, in the pushchair and wheel him out, when I drop off my books, but today I asked about a card for him. We went into the children's section and I let him walk about by himself while I had a look at the books. This was ok to start with as Jamie and me were the only ones there, but then a mother and her son (aged 4ish) came and she started to read a book with him in the corner. Jamie was only being helpful; he kept taking over a book for them. Perhaps he was socialising. He has certainly begun to interact more with other children and adults lately and has begun to be so much more aware of things around him.

We now enjoy a nice stroll in the garden most days. Thankfully the weather is still nice enough for us to spend time outside. Jamie loves looking at all the plants that grow. At the end of the garden; around one of the benches, there are a number of dead plants and we always spend a happy few minutes intrigued at the touch and feel of the spikyness. Now that Jamie is a competent walker - although still a bit of a drunkard - it is also keeping mummy fit as she runs around the garden after him!

I picked out 4 books for Jamie before it got too chaotic and have already read a couple with him. He loves sitting on the sofa in his room while I read to him. He does get a bit impatient sometimes and asks for another book before I have finished - by pointing at the bookshelves - but I am firm and make sure I finish the first before starting on the next!