Blowing bogey bubbles!

Imogen has her second bug. She had her second lot of jabs last week, but I don't think that's got anything to do with it really - I blame big cousin Molly who had a cold when we were camping last week!

She was a bit difficult to settle last night, and then woke at about 2.30 this morning sounding really snuffly. After some milk and a dose of paracetamol she settled back down OK (more than I did!) and did sleep through until nearly 8 o'clock. But pretty much all of today she's been snuffly, sleepy and clingy. There's no cough like last time - it's all just snot and bogeys this time! And feeding seems to have been taking ages 'cos she can't breathe properly.

I've been to the pharmacy and got some saline nasal drops on the local Minor Ailment scheme (if you get free prescriptions you can go direct to the pharmacy and get certain things free there instead of going to the GP) which should hopefully help the feeding. I also bought some Karvol capsules to use over night (I fondly remember the smell from when I was little).

Fingers crossed she sleeps OK tonight.

one Lord, one faith, one baptism (Ephesians 4:5)

Yesterday Imogen was baptised. It was important for us that we made the public declaration of our commitment to her, and that she received the outward sign of the inward faith that we hope and pray that she will find.

Choosing Godparents was a difficult decision, balancing different qualities from different people, to give Imogen the best that we could. In the end we decided on four people - Wendy (Dave's sister), Tilly (Charlotte's Goddaughter), Hugh (an old friend of Charlotte's) and Mark (a friend from the village). We hope and pray that the decision was the right one and that they play a full role in Imogen's life and help to bring her to faith.


We know that the final decision about her faith will be hers - however much we read the bible with her and pray and talk to her about God, if she does not accept the gospel that is her choice.



Anyway, onto the baptism. It was a lovely day. So many friends and family joined us, and it was great to see everyone and share the day with them. We chose our 6th wedding anniversary for her baptism, which made it extra special.

Having family christening gowns on both sides of the family, we decided not to upset anyone, so had a new one for Imogen. So (with a little persuasion and reassurance) my Mum used some material from my wedding dress to make a gorgeous dress and jacket for Imogen. She also did some needle lace, creating a lovely cross (designed by Dad) for the front of the jacket.

My major worry for the day was that Imogen would puke in the font! I've never seen it happen with any baby and don't know where I got the thought from, but it didn't happen anyway, so I needn't have worried. In fact, Imogen was a star all day, hardly protesting at anything (a bit of a pet lip as the water ran down her face, and a few tears and grumblings when she was tired or hungry) and gave lots of smiles and cuddles to whoever wanted them!

Everyone has said that it was a lovely day - how could a baptism not be?! - and we're glad that it all went smoothly. But it was just the start of her journey with God, and I hope that it continues throughout her life.

Lovely sleep!

For the past week or so, Imogen's sleeping has been great! Evenings have sometimes seemed to be one long feeding frenzy, but once she's down she's slept through to 4-5am. And for the last couple of nights the evenings have been better - she's been asleep about 1 1/2 hrs after the start of the bath/bed-time routine - and then she's slept through until 6am. Dave's then got up, changed her nappy and brought her to bed so I can feed her there and get a couple of hours more sleep. Bliss!

I don't know what we've done to get her into this, although she's more reliable in getting thumb to mouth for sucking (as shown in the photo) and we've locked the crib as she was rocking herself to the side and getting tangled up in the bars. But to be honest, I don't really mind that we don't know what we've done. All I mind is that she's happy and content, which she obviously is. Long may it continue!!

Proper camping

Although we've been with Imogen to a couple of different campsites with SAGGA, we'd so far avoided sleeping under canvas, as it was just a bit cold. But that changed this weekend. It was our Scout group's annual family camp, so this family joined the fun!

The weather wasn't great for the first half of the weekend and she didn't sleep particularly well on Friday night - I was up with her twice, and both times her little hands and nose were freezing! But after a _lot_ of rain on Saturday the cloudy skies meant that the second night was warmer and we had a fantastic night's sleep (once we'd walked her in the buggy round quieter areas to persuade her to go to sleep in the first place) with her sleeping through until 6am. The other leaders couldn't believe it when I was there cooking breakfast - I don't normally do mornings!!

Molly and I did some crafts and made sure Imogen has a souvenir of her first camp - a painted fish suncatcher. Other than that, Imogen seemed to enjoy watching the trees blowing and dropping Mr Cow in the mud! She got bits of leaves in her nappy when the wind blew at the wrong time, and didn't seem to mind the greenfly and money spiders crawling on her.

So that's it, there's no stopping us now. SAGGA summer camp here we come! And then in September, were hoping to go away on the boat, which will be another milestone in her little life.

Toys are great!

It's lovely to see Imogen taking more interest in the world around her. And toys are the best!

She loves just looking at things, so we bought her a play arch off ebay (for a bargain price of £9.50!) which she spends ages under, now also trying to hit and grab the dangly toys. I bought a chime with a nice ring to it as well, so at least it doesn't get too annoying.

The Freddy Frog bath book was mine when I was little, and I can still remember the story word for word - how sad is that?! She's now in the big bath, having outgrown the baby bath, and loves splashing and "swimming" . We haven't got many bath toys at the moment, so we're going to have to go shopping soon.

Mr Cow (on the right of the second picture) is a current favourite. It's lovely and soft, and she is getting much better at grasping it. Her eyes light up when she's shown it, and she loves it when he moves about and his head rattles. His ears, horns and hands are also great for sucking on!

BTW I've added more photos to the web album, so you might want to check it out again.

Post natal yoga & baby massage

Today Imogen and I went to a post natal yoga & baby massage class. It's run by Olivia (who ran the maternity yoga class I went to) and Lesley Lister (who does the massage bit). It was only a small class, with just three mums and babies, which was nice. Massage first, which Imogen really liked; it was legs and feet today. Then, after herbal tea and chocolate biscuits, time for yoga. I was a bit worried that Imogen wouldn't let me do anything, but she seemed quite happy to lie on the floor and chatter away to herself or Olivia. Different moves to the maternity yoga - which makes sense when I think about it - which are focussed on pelvis and stomach as well as relaxing shoulders and back.

Shame Imogen's been a bit of a nightmare since we got home; she slept in the car on the way back, but woke when we got home. Since then she's been trying to convince me that she's hungry (although when I've fed her she got uncomfortable and then brought it all back) but I know she's just tired. So much for me getting the lounge cleared today!

BTW last night's sleep was fantastic - 8pm til 5.30am, with a good feed and then more sleep until 8.30am. I hoping we can have the same again tonight, but based on previous inconsistencies, I'm not holding my breath

I was being too hopeful!

Last night was awful. I couldn't bring myself to go to bed when Imogen went down at 7.30 - just too early (although now I wish I had). So, at 9.30 I decided I'd go to bed - at 10 o'clock, just as I was drifting off, she woke up. And that was it for the night. She didn't sleep for more than an hour at any one time :(

Bless her, she did try and suck her fingers at times, but with her arm through the bars on the side of the crib it wasn't easy. Don't know why she kept waking up though - it's a mystery that we just couldn't work out. Bum was clean, tummy was full, not too hot, not too cold. The only thing that's possible is tummy ache from wind (she does do quite a lot of farting), but if I try and wind her after feeding most times nothing happens.

Any ideas?

Is this a turning point?

For a while now we've thought that Imogen would eventually find thumb or fingers. Occasionally we've managed to edge her thumb in, which she then sucked. For a few days she's been putting fist in mouth and sucking on it when she's tired, but today fingers went in - definitely not by accident and not just once! (Takes after her Mummy!!!) The first time I'd put her in the cot while I hung some washing out, and came back in to find her a bit unsettled, but calming herself with her fingers; since then they've been in quite a bit. And I've just put her down for the night - as I did she stirred which would usually mean her waking and crying, but tonight fingers went in and she soothed herself to sleep. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's a sign of a good night tonight - and that we've reached a turning point when she may be quite happy to be left sometimes. Or am I being too hopeful?!

Campfire songs are great!

Imogen was in a really grumpy mood after her bath tonight - didn't want to feed, didn't want to sleep, didn't want a cuddle... So I sang her campfire songs and she calmed down! A true Scout!!