Indescribable antics

Some things you just can't describe, so here's a couple of short clips of Imogen's latest antics - blowing raspberries (as taught by her little friend, Ollie P) and shaking her head.

Off-road buggies

We went to Meadowhall today and whilst walking round, and waiting for me to try clothes on, Dave obviously got bored and made an observation. Of all the three-wheeler, "off-roader" buggies, ours was the only one with mud on the wheels! Is this a kiddie version of the Chelsea Tractors?

First tooth

Imogen has her first tooth! I don't believe all this "She's teething" malarkey - kids get colds and feel rotten and it doesn't have to be the teeth. But anyway, her first one is here. We've been expecting it as Dave noticed the gums were a bit white a few days ago, and then I noticed that the gum looked like it was starting to split. And this morning, there was the appearance of a sharp top of a bottom tooth. It's only just coming through, so not yet very visible, but if you put your finger in her mouth you can feel it!

On My Own

(No not the Andrew Lloyd Webber tune from Les Miserable)

Last Friday Charlotte went out on a hen-do for one of the other Mum's from the baby group for the evening and left me to cope on my own with Imogen. We had dinner together (ish) and she gave her a dose of "Mummy Milk" before she went out. I then gave Imogen a bath then read a story, another little dose of milk and she drifted off to sleep without any real trouble.

Even though Imogen was a bit under the weather during the day, there wasn't any problems with going to sleep, and staying that way until well after C got home at 2:30am (dirty stop-out!!)

I had had a few 'practice' runs when I did the bath/story/bed routine when C took Buster for a walk and they generally went OK, so C never really had anything to worry about.

Snotty noses and horrible rashes

Imogen has got another bug! I've lost count of how many she's had now, but we're well on the way to the 5 before she's one to reduce the risk of asthma etc.
This one started on Thursday night - she woke up just after 10pm with a horrible snotty nose, struggling to settle and feed. After Karvol on Mr Cow, Vicks on her chest & back, saline drops in her nose, and a good hour or so of cuddles I finally persuaded her to settle and go back to sleep. An odd dose of paracetamol over the next 36 hours and she didn't seem to be too bad.
Then late Saturday evening her temperature rose and the paracetamol didn't seem to be helping, so off to the shop to get some ibuprofen. Over the next 24 hours she continued to spike temperatures and she started refusing solids and was just generally miserable etc. I spoke to the local out-of-hours doctor, but decided not drag her out (no screaming so unlikely to be an ear infection, not struggling with breathing, and still taking fluids) on Sunday evening.
A trip to the local surgery yesterday morning confirmed that it's all just viral, with no sign of a bacterial infection anywhere, so all of yesterday we just stayed at home and cuddled lots.
Last night was awful - she woke several times and took plenty of settling each time - which was topped off by a migraine for me. And then this morning she suddenly developed a rash all over the tummy and chest. Dave had changed her nappy when he got up at 8 and didn't see anything, but by 9.30 when I went to get her dressed it was all over. And I just thought the worst - scary or what?! I quickly put some clothes on her and rushed to the surgery again, where everyone was really nice, and very quickly she got checked out by a doctor. It turned out to be a "viral rash" ie nothing to worry about, but was warned that it may get worse before it gets better, may spread more and may move around her body. I've kept an eye on it today - by the time I put her to bed it was on her shoulders & neck and all round her bum as well.
In herself, she's up and down, but she's certainly not herself. Sometimes she's really clingy and just wants a cuddle, but then other times she's quite happy to play on the floor and chase Buster's tail! Hopefully we've got to the worst of this bug now, and she'll improve over the next few days. Until the next one!

Sitting and crawling

Yes, Imogen is now doing both!

She's been sitting fairly well for two or three weeks now, but just the last few days she's been doing it, fairly reliably, unsupported. Yes, she's not good at keeping her balance when Buster pushes past, or when she twist or reaches sideways, but as long as she's happy playing with whatever is in front of her, she's fine. We still wouldn't leave her, because she does get tired but her strength is increasing all the time.

And the crawling has just happened today. Up until now she's managed to get around by rolling sideways and spinning on her belly, but today there was definite purposeful forward movement. It's commando crawling at the moment, but her bum does go in the air and her knees do go under her sometimes, so I'm guessing it'll develop into "proper" crawling given more time and practice. The movement is still slow, and obviously hard work (lots of huffing and puffing involved), but no doubt that will change in the coming days as well. Watch out Buster - she's already chased your tail and she'll only get better at it!

Swimming lessons

After the summer break we're back with our proper swimming lessons today (we have been going to the local pool where they have a baby splash session, but it's busy and just not the same!)

Imogen's come on a lot over the last few weeks. Today she was kicking her legs so much so that the instructor joked that if I left go of her she'd be across the pool before we know it! She's a lot more confident in the water, especially with the underwater swims - just a bit of a splutter and a pet lip when she comes up, rather than the tears that we used to get.

The development over the weeks has been really good, and very gradual so nothing is too scary. Today the new thing was letting go of Imogen on the underwater swims - more scary for me that her, I suspect. Another new thing is trying to get her to hold on to the rail at the side (a safety skill), but she's still very young for this and hasn't really got the strength in her arms.

In a few weeks' time it's going to be my chance to go underwater as well, to see her swimming. I'm really looking forward to it, but reckon I should maybe wear my goggles around the house a bit before then so she's not spooked by them when it comes to that.

There's also the opportunity to go to a photography session at the end of this series of lessons, where the bring in an underwater photographer to capture the babies swimming. When the letter came about it, I dismissed it because of the cost, but having been back to the lessons with her, I now really want to do it, so we've got a lovely photo of my little water baby. Shame spare cash is still none existant :(

Food, glorious food!

Now we've got a highchair - thank you Grandma & Grandad - we're giving Imogen "proper" food. And she loves it! We can't sit her in the chair until it's ready for her - she just sits there and bangs the tray! As I said in a previous post, we're not doing the whole pureeing malarkey, and so it's finger foods all the way. There's not much we're avoiding - wheat-containing things (bread, pasta etc) and fish/seafood - and they're only until she's 6 months old. And there's not much that she hasn't liked - in fact nothing!
We've been offering her something whenever we've had anything, and have tried to keep it pretty much the same as what we're having. If we're having pasta, she's had rice cakes, and if we've put a sauce or something on that's a bit too much for her at the moment, we've just given her some plain meat instead. But tonight, for example, we had chicken with veg in a tomato base with new potatoes - all I did different for Imogen was take hers out before adding the Worcester sauce because of the salt content of that (and to give it time to cool down).
Some people have said to us "What about he choking on big pieces?". But it just doesn't happen (have a search on the Internet for the science bit behind it - all to do with what order they learn to do things, and natural gag reflexes). Yes, we wouldn't leave her alone with the food, and she's certainly gagged on things, but not for very long at all, and she soon spits out what she doesn't want.
It is a messy business, and obviously some things are messier that others. If we want an easy life mushroom, ham and carrots are a good bet. If we're prepared for a full change of clothes then rice cakes, fromage fraiche (smeared on the rice cakes) and cheese can be added in!
But it's also a very sociable way of her feeding, with us all eating together which is lovely.
From our few days of experience, it seems a lot easier than cooking loads of separate things, pureeing everything and then having to spend ages forcing it into her on a spoon, before being able to eat myself! Bring on the finger food!

Buster!!

We have a new arrival in the house - Buster arrived this afternoon. He's a rescue dog, but we know his history, and has come from a family with children (older than Imogen though). He's a terrier cross - a bit of a scruff-bag really - and is just 8 months old. He's a lively little fellow, with a lovely character, but controllable and not too boisterous.

Imogen thinks he's great and gets really excited when she sees him. As you can see by the photo she's not scared of him at all (why should she be?) and tries to stroke him - although her stroking does involve grabbing his hair!

Buster thinks Imogen is great too - he's been really good with her, and has made friends by licking her feet! Luckily he hasn't shown any interest in her toys yet, although he did lay on her play mat, so I've moved that now.

Some people have said we're mad getting a dog as well as having a young baby, but we'll soon all get used to each other and get into some sort of routine - or as much of a routine as there ever is in this house, which is not much!

Imogen's first visit to Quintet

I've only just got the photos from Dad, hence the bit of a delay to this blog. On the way back from camp we called in to see Mum and Dad on board Quintet. We were only there a few hours - just time for a bit of lunch at a nearby pub and an attempt to drop a TB in a geocache, as well as catching up with Nanny & Gramps - but as you can see from the photo, Imogen settled in well!
We're planning a proper trip soon - no dates fixed yet, but by the time the engine's fixed and Quintet's back on the go, it's going to be a few weeks away. It'll just be a few days, but now she's rolling and moving about, we're having to think about roughly how we're going to do things. The buggy's a bit big to fit on the boat, but she loves it in the sling, so that's OK. We're thinking we'll be able to strap a plastic booster seat type chair onto the roof near the back, and she'll probably like that, being able to see everything that's going on. The travel cot we've got was bought by Stuart and Rach when their kids were little, and was specifically bought as one that'll fit in the boatman's cabin, so sleeping's not a problem either.
We figure by starting early it'll just be a normal thing for her, and we'll work out the best way of doing things as we go along - as we do with everything at the moment!

Piling on the pounds

I took Imogen to be weighed again yesterday. OK, so piling on the pounds is a bit of an exaggeration, but she's reached the mile"stone" - yes, she's now 14lb! She still pretty much hugging the 25th centile line (where she's been since she was just a couple of weeks old) so obviously my milk is still enough for her.

On the subject of weaning, we've given her odd bits of things - a stick of celery, a slice of apple and a bit of banana - but nothing mega or regular. Now she's sitting pretty well we've ordered her a high chair (should arrive at the beginning of next week) and then we'll start thinking about doing the weaning thing properly. She's certainly taking an interest in us eating and is grasping things, putting them in her mouth and chewing, so she's getting to the stage where proper food is a goer.

We're going to go for baby-led weaning. The NCT breast-feeding counsellor first told us about it, and from what we've read on the internet, (there's plenty more info if you type "baby led weaning" into google) it seems to make sense and is a lot easier than faffing with puréeing and mushing, which I really can't be bothered with! We've talked to a few people who've done it, and no-one seems to have had a problem, as long as you're prepared for changes in milk demand depending on how much the baby's eaten - but as Imogen is feeding on demand now anyway, that should be OK.

Hurray for Holidays!

OK, so we've been back nearly a week now, but I just haven't got round to writing this blog before now.

Our summer holiday this year (and probably the next few years as well) was SAGGA camp - a load of like-minded families, doing service work on a Scout/Guide site and getting out and about it the area. This year was a site in Kent, just inside the M25, with work projects including building a toilet block and renovating a hut.

So, 11 days under canvas, was Imogen's first proper holiday. And she loved it - good job really as she's going to have to do it again! All the fresh air, and new things to watch, meant she slept well - day and night - and she came back with a rosy glow to her cheeks and nose. She charmed everyone with her smiles, and made lots of new friends, including Harry (who beat her to the accolade of youngest camper!) and some Nigerian Guides who'd been to an international camp nearby (Imogen's first international Scouting experience).

The weather was mixed - rain, wind, sun, but no snow! In fact, it was the wind that bothered me, and Imogen, the most. The noise in the tent had the habit of disturbing her sleep, whereas I just couldn't get to sleep for worrying about the tent ripping or falling down around us. Thankfully, our tent held up to the elements, unlike others, and we managed to get it home dry (having slept in a building on the last night). Imogen had her own tent too - no, not over night, but we did buy her a little sun shelter which got some use on the nicer weather days!

Dave managed to do a fair amount of work around the site - sometimes a bit too much for my liking, as I felt frustrated by not being able to do as much as I have done in previous years, and a bit left out and lonely at times. But, I did manage to get some work done, between Imogen's feeds. In fact, one morning she came down into the woods with me and some of the other kids to clear an area for the "trim trail" - one lad said she was our official supporter on the project!

On one day out we decided to go to a local farm type thing - a lovely place that was run by a charity providing housing and jobs for disabled adults. There were walk-through areas to see some of the animals, so I strapped Imogen into the sling and took her to have a look. And she seemed to think the animals were quite interesting; she certainly didn't seem scared or bothered by them. In fact, at one point she put a hand out to touch a sheep, and seemed very curious about the goats that were nibbling at my trousers.

Another first for Imogen was geocaching. Dave and I used to do quite a lot when we went away anywhere - it's a great way of finding places that you wouldn't normally see - but haven't done any for a while. But one afternoon a car treasure hunt was set up, taking us very close to caches in the area. We really need to get back into it, because our caching eyes and brains are out of practice, but we did find one, grabbing a narrowboat TB to continue on it's journey.

It wasn't just Imogen who managed a "first"; I also managed to get out for an evening to a local pub, leaving her with Dave to cope if she woke up (which she didn't!). I've been feeling torn for a bit now, wanting to go out, but not wanting to leave Imogen. I've done it during the day to go to Tesco or something, but somehow it's different going out for an evening socially. But she was doing so well sleeping, I took the chance and enjoyed a couple of drinks out.

Over the last few weeks - no doubt helped by our time at camp - Imogen has changed and developed loads. She has always been quite a happy little smiler, but seems more so now - very sociable. She's rolling well, sitting pretty good with support, and is starting to put feet down to try and stand. She grabs anything that she can get her hands on (we're in the process of Imogen-proofing our lounge!) and puts most of it in her mouth. She's very nosey and takes in everything that's going on around her and is obviously learning new things all the time. It's great to see, and she's constantly amazing and amusing us with her new tricks!

Last night

Well, last night didn't go too badly at all. Imogen was really tired - maybe all that fresh air at the BBQ tired her out - and went down really well. She woke just after 11pm, and at that point my heart dropped and I thought we'd be in for a bad night. But that was it until 6.30 this morning, when Dave found her upside down in her cot (head at the bottom, feet at the top!)

So, that's it. Her first night in her own room went well, and she's made another move on the growing-up move! And I had a nice night's sleep as well!

Dave had the best night's sleep of all of us - he didn't even know that I'd got up to her at all. I just hope he doesn't sleep through every night, especially the bad ones!

Baby BBQ

No, we didn't get so stressed with Imogen that we burnt her on a kebab stick - we spent a lovely afternoon with some friends from Baby Group, out in the garden enjoying a BBQ and baby chatter. Unfortunately not everyone could get there, but there were three families - Jen, Andy & Ollie (on the left); Nic, Rob & Ollie (on the right); and us. It was Nic & Rob's idea for us to get together with Dads as well (so they don't feel left out, and know who we're talking about!) so we pootled round to their house. The kids were all pretty well-behaved, and we sort-of managed a photo to mark the occasion! It was good to put faces to those blokes that we've been talking about for weeks, and hopefully Dave will look less clueless when I'm talking about people now!

Sleeping

I've been resisting it for a while, but we've finally taken the plunge and Imogen is spending tonight in her own room. I just got too fed up of her chuntering and wriggling in her sleep. She's does this weird thing of raising her legs to right angles above her, and then letting them drop onto the mattress with a thud - not once, but several times in a row. And when I've fed her during the night, sometimes she doesn't go back to sleep straight away - she'll be quite happy (not all the time!) just to lie in her cot until she drops off, but her chatter with Mr Cow just gets a bit much!

We were going to wait until we come back from SAGGA camp - sleep will no doubt be a mess anyway - but I just couldn't do another night. I think Dave has been hoping for a while I'd give in - it's just one step on the road to her growing up and I want her to be my baby for ever!