And for her next trick...

Imogen will put foot in mouth (yummy, yummy!) then laugh manically when Mummy struggles to put nappy on!

Books to read

Having got upset when I picked up a book of someone else's bookshelf and panicked when we weren't doing the exact routine that it prescribed (Dave soon banned me from reading it any further) I'm reluctant to recommend any parenting books. But, these two books have been lovely, don't dictate anything but instead offer support with a balanced & healthy outlook on life.

"What Mothers Do..." was given to me by a friend when Imogen was born and, having found it a great read, it's now being passed among other Mums I've met. It's written by a woman who runs discussion groups for mothers, and also does counselling, and gives a realistic and reassuring viewpoint. When someone said to me that "babies are great for wasting time", I could have got really upset, but from my instincts and having read this book, I knew that it just isn't true (and in fact I just laughed!). I found myself agreeing with, and relating to, quotes in the book from Mums and the commentary alongside just seemed to make sense; it made me feel better about "doing nothing" - especially in the very early days.

"What Every Parent Needs to Know..." was recommended to me by my yoga teacher, as a book that gives information about caring for your child without dictating or prescribing some fantasy routine that never works. This is the paper-back version - the hard-back version is called "The Science of Parenting", and is perhaps a more informative title; it's a look at the evidence on how nurture, love and play affects a child as they grow up, and later into adulthood. Although it's got a scientific basis to it, it's not difficult reading, and gives some great information on the development of the brain and how hormones and chemicals in the body work together - either for good or bad. But, although it gives the evidence, it doesn't use this to dictate what you should do - it just gives you the information so you can make you own mind up about things. A case in point is sleeping - it gives details on co-sleeping and children sleeping in their own bed, with no "right or wrong", just information for and against each. A lot of the methods it suggests seem very natural and common-sense, but it's good to know that nature does the right thing!

(BTW I don't necessarily recommend Amazon for buying these, or any other books - it was just an easy way of putting a link so anyone can have a closer look at the books if they want)

Sleep positions

I think we've see the last of Imogen sleeping like a baby - on her back, arms up at the sides of her head. She's been wriggling for a few weeks now, kicking off the cover blanket & pulling on the bottom sheet. But last night she didn't want to be on her back at all - each time I put her down (at bedtime and again after feeds at 12.30 & 4.00) she wriggled over, got her bottom hand free, stuck her thump in and went to sleep on her front. Very cute!

Update - it's been a while

The last two weeks have been hard, with the routine we'd got into going out of the window and illness all round.

We went away with my family to a caravan over on the coast for a long weekend - a nice time, but hard work, with Imogen being put in unfamiliar circumstances and with big cousins to play with! I'm not at all blaming Molly & Charlie - they're great with her - but with constant attention from them and the rest of the family, Imogen just didn't want to sleep! And the thin walls in the caravan didn't help - she'd just get to sleep and then some noise would wake her again.

And since then, things have just been all over the place. Sometimes she'll go to sleep quite well - even settling herself if we're having a really good time! - but then at other times there seems to be nothing we can do. Several times she's woken in the night and it's been two hours before she's gone back to sleep, and at times we've also had her in bed with us.

We don't have a problem with co-sleeping - in fact, I don't know what all the fuss is about when it's something that it such a natural thing - but our bed just isn't really big enough! If we had a bigger bed, we'd probably be co-sleeping all the time, but as it is, it's not something that we can do regularly because I don't always feel as though I've slept properly. But when it's a choice of sitting in the nursery with her, but being so tired that I'm at risk of falling asleep with her there - far more dangerous - or her coming and snuggling with us, then there's not really a dilemma.

It's a bit of a mystery why Imogen is being so unsettled - maybe we're just expecting too much of her when she's only 4 months old. I can understand her waking if she's hungry or has a horrible bum, but it's when that's all sorted and she won't settle back, that things start getting to me. Lots of people have given us lots of well-meaning advice, but it's just hard to know what is right for us. "Teach her to have a routine during the day", "Maybe she should be in her own room", "Is she hungry?", "Is she too hot?"

llnesses probably haven't helped. She had a horrible snotty cold a while back, which led to conjunctivitis when we were at the caravan. She's all over that now, but I caught the conjunctivitis from her. Added to that, I've been constipated and vomited one day last week, and yesterday I had a migraine. I don't know whether I'm just tired which is why I seem to be suffering, or whether part of it is hormonal changes (my hair is falling out as well, which other people have said happens around the time that periods start again - hurrah!)

Rolling & Routine

In the last week or so, Imogen has started to roll on to her side. She's done it half-heartedly before, but now it's very definite - rolling over to reach something, whether that be a toy or my boob for milk! The other night she rolled on to her side in her crib and when Dave & I went to bed, she was asleep on her side, thumb in and cuddling a muslin! She hasn't yet made it onto her front, but I guess it's only a matter of time.

The other thing that has happened in the last few days is (what seems to be) a better routine to our day. I've not really ever pushed her into a routine, preferring just to go with the flow and see what happens. But in the last few days, she seems to have wanted a routine herself (or at least a more regular sleep pattern). I don't know whether she's always wanted it and I haven't been picking up on the clues, or whether it's only just dawned on her that sleep during the day makes life better for everyone. She been wanting a half-hour sleep mid-morning (about 9-10am), and then another one at about midday, with a longer sleep (about two hours) during the afternoon.

She's been a lot happier between these sleeps, especially late afternoon when she used to be really crabby. And the bedtime routine seems to be getting better as well - in fact last night, she had a bath, fed, had a bedtime bible story and then went to sleep, all by 7pm!

She's been a bit better about going to sleep as well. She doesn't seem to be going to sleep on the boob, but now will sleep when cuddled. She puts up a bit of a fight, between sucks of the thumb, but does go a lot better than she used to. I do try and put her in the cot for a time as well, as sometimes she does put herself to sleep, but if she needs cuddling, then that's OK by me.

I don't know whether this new routine will continue, but for now I'm enjoying it. I'm able to get more bits done around the house and last night's 11 hours of sleep was certainly good!

Photos from last weekend

I've finally found time to sort out some photos to upload. Thanks to Gramps & Aunty Wendy for supplying them - if anyone else has got any we'd love to have copies.

My Water Baby

Imogen and I have started swimming lessons. I've been wanting to take her for a while, and we decided to pay a bit more, and go to lessons with Water Babies. We've been a couple of time so far, and it's been great. Imogen didn't smile and laugh, but she didn't cry, so I guess that means it's just a bit different for her and she needs time and practice to get used to it.

The classes are really small - just 7 babies - and take place in a hydrotherapy pool, so the water it lovely and warm. Double layers of nappies ensure no accidents and contamination! We've also bought her a little baby wet suit, so when we go on holiday etc, we can take her to "normal" pools and she won't get too cold. That also goes for during the school holidays 'cos the lessons don't run then :(

It's all about building confidence - both mine and hers - and using a baby's natural gag reflex to "teach" them to hold their breath under water. She's been for a couple of underwater adventures already, using the cue "Imogen, ready, go!" We can practice in the bath at home too, using the same cue before pouring water on her face. Not surprisingly, there's a lot of use of songs as well, so if you hear me singing Humpty Dumpty at a swimming pool near you, don't laugh too hard!

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?!