Offline for a while

For those who read regularly, I am going to be offline for a while now. I am moving on Wednesday, then we are off to Cornwall on Saturday for a few days. I think the internet connection in the new house should be working by the time we get back from Cornwall, so I will of course post lots more news and photos then!

See you soon! :)

Catherine and Emma xxx

Tooth!!!!

Emma's first tooth finally arrived today!

She was a bit grizzly this afternoon, and quite clingy. I had to carry her in the wrap so that I could get some packing done. Dad came over in the afternoon. We were about to have dinner, so I gave Em a quick feed first. But she wasn't interested - she just wanted to chew my finger instead. And there it was - a tiny little pin like tooth! Awwww I feel so proud of her! She has been showing teething signs since she was just 4 months old, so it is great to see one actually coming through, and with minimal fuss too.

She had noodles, salmon (first ever fish for her) baby sweetcorn and cucumber today. I know it is a weird combination, but I am trying to use up lots of food before we move!

Goodbyes

I have been going for lots of farewell lunches with friends recently. I can't believe we are moving back to the UK in just a couple of days. And I can't believe how much packing there is still left to do!!! We will be moving to Godalming in Surrey. It doesn't feel quite real yet - I haven't even seen the house we are moving too!!

I went to the pancake house with Laura again today. Lovely lovely! Emma was so funny - she was sitting in the high chair sucking on the table while I organised her food. Not very hygenic, but it had me in stitches!

Dad did a spot of baby sitting tonight, which gave me and Brett the rare opportunity to go out together for a few drinks with friends. I only stayed an hour, but it was really nice to have the chance to see people before leaving.

Here are Mark, John-Paul, Jeff and Brett tonight in Delmondos:




I'll miss this place, but I will be back for frequent visits. :-)

Yorkshire Pudding disclaimer

A few friends of mine have questioned Emma's love of Yorkshire Puddings because they can be rather fattening. So I thought I would do a bit of a disclaimer about it for those that are wary! I make them myself, so I know that they are really not that bad.

I heat the oven to about 190 degrees, and put in a well muffin tray. I put a tiny wee bit of olive oil into each bun holder (don't know what else to call them, but that sounds wierd) and put it in the oven to warm up. Then I whisk up 3oz flour, 1 egg, 3 fluid oz water and 2 fluid oz milk. When the muffin tray is hot, I put the batter in, and stick it in the oven for about 25 mins. There is nothing to it, and they are really really not that fattening made this way, so I really recommend them!

Earthy Rainbow

I got a new wrap in the post today. It is an Earthy Rainbow from Katin Puoti. I am so pleased with it! I might have to get a shorter one too - it is perfect for a front wrap, but the tails are a bit long when I wrap on the hip or back.

Not much time for blogging

Sorry - I have been so busy with packing that I have not had a lot of time for updates. Emma has been so lovely, and plays nicely on the floor while I pack around her. I can't believe I am moving back to the UK in only 6 days!!

We have done loads of lunching recently, with varying degrees of success. We had a great moment in Panorama, when I was feeding Emma tomatoes while she sat on my knee and I was trying to eat my sandwich. She obviously thought that mine looked nicer, and grabbed my side salad and started shoving it in. Greedy guts! With no teeth, she hadn't got a hope of actually eating the lettuce, but it kept her quiet for ages.

She also had her first Stroopwafel the other day. It is a Dutch biscuit made with little thin wafers and super sticky syrup. She sucked it into a really sticky mess.

I love this photo. What you can't see is that Emma has wiped plum juice all over her arms, and she is in a right mess. She looked so pleased about it. :-)

Chicken and sweetcorn

Emma has definately become a meat eater. She gums it until it is really mushy, then gobbles it up. Chicken with baby sweetcorn is a real favourite at the moment.

We tried fresh tortolini today. She kind of sucked the inside out, but didn't seem that bothered about the pasta bit!

Lots more lunching out is planned this week, so I will have to get my thinking cap on for some BLW friendly food that she can eat while on my knee. Nothing too messy!

Hortus Botanicus

It is not a BLW related post today :-)

We went to the Hortus Botanicus this afternoon. It is my absolute favourite bit of Amsterdam. It is only a couple of minutes walk from my house, and I am ashamed to say I only discovered it this summer. Emma and I go at least once a week, normally with my dad. But this time Brett came too and brought the camera. Here are some of the best photos. I particularly love the one of Brett and Emma!

View of the bridge just before you get to the entrance:















Emma really likes walking through the bamboo. She reaches out to grab bits and tries to eat it. Maybe she was a panda in a former life. ;-)















Giant cabbage:















My favourite people:















Sleepy baby:

Baby Legs

I ordered some BabyLegs recently, and they arrived today. They are little baby legwarmers, which are particularly useful when carrying Emma in a sling, because her trousers ride up her legs and there is always a gap between the bottom of her trousers and the top of her socks. Also, she is always happier playing on the floor when her trousers are off, because she has much more freedom to move and roll around, but it is getting a bit chilly now. OK, OK... I sound like I am trying to justify it don't I. Actually, I just thought they were dead cute! Here she is showing them off.

















On the BLW front, things continue to go well. I finally found a shop selling baby sweetcorn. Maybe they have been out of season or something. Emma had loads of fun scraping the tiny bits of corn off with her gums!

7 months old today

Well, the title says it all. Emma is 7 months old today. That means that she has been having solid food for a month, so I thought this was a good time to take stock of how it has been going.
















I can't believe the progress we have made in just a month. So far, Emma has tried pear, apple, plum, peach, orange, nectarine, mango, tomato, fig, banana, cucumber, brocolli, cauliflower, carrot, potato, butternut squash, pak choi, runner beans, sweet potato, chicken, steak, rice cakes, noodles, pasta, humus, philadelphia, cheese, toast, pancake, Yorkshire pudding, and weetabix. Oooooops - I think I read somewhere that I was supposed to introduce new foods slowly... that is one new food for every day of the month!

She has never turned her nose up at anything really, and considering that she has no teeth yet I think she is doing remarkably well! She is still breastfeeding, and isn't showing signs of dropping any feeds yet, but I think that will happen in its own time. She is not drinking water with her meals yet. To be honest, I have been a bit lazy about this, and she is not used to a cup yet. I am going to tackle this one hopefully in the next month. She only has solid food offered at lunch and dinner at the moment. Sometimes lunch is a bit of a non starter, but dinner is always good. I think that eating together as a family really makes a difference.

We are moving house in two weeks, and then going on holiday. Emma really loves familiar surroundings (like any baby!) and so I expect her to be a bit unsettled and off her food for a bit then. Time will tell!

So... I wonder what the next month will bring! The rate she is going, she will be cooking her own dinner by the time she is 10 months! :-)

Fillet steak

Emma was totally spoilt this evening, when I gave her fillet steak, Yorkshire pudding, and tomato. She really enjoyed it, and ate loads! I wish I had a photo.

I am leaving in just two weeks, so we are trying to see as many people as possible for lunch. (And it is a great excuse to not get on with the packing!!) I take a little container of food for Emma, and cross my fingers that they have a high chair. Today I went for lunch with Brett, Mike and Katie, and there was no chair for Emma. She got a bit grumpy, but was not too bad. She really wasn't interested in lunch though, and just wanted a cuddle, some milk, and a long carry in the sling to send her to sleep. She is really growing up now, so I cherish those days like today whenshe just wants to be a little baby again!

Adventurous dinner

We got a bit adventurous with dinner today. I did a really nice chicken stir fry for me and Brett. It was full of ginger and chilli though, so I kept some bits to one side for Emma. In theory, I don't have any problem with her having ginger or a little bit of chilli. But her skin still looks quite sore, and if I had a rash I would be very unhappy if I got chilli in it!!

So for dinner tonight Emma had yellow peppers, pak choi, and chicken. I thought she was showing that she wanted to be a vegetarian, because she totally ignored it. She had sucked the living daylights out of the peppers, so out of boredom I dumped some noodles on her tray. This seemed to be the most exciting thing she had ever seen! (Sorry the pics are a little dark - I had the flash off).

After sucking on some noodles, and having a right laugh throwing them about the place, she found the chicken. Once it was in her mouth, she couldn't get enough of it. She is definately a meat eater!

It was a long dinner. Emma was pretty tired by the end of it.

Nana and Auntie Hayley

Brett's mum and his sister Hayley came to visit today. They came on the ferry for a day trip, so they were just in town for a few hours. It was Hayleys first visit to Amsterdam, and the first time she met Emma. Em was on really smiley form. :-)

We went out for lunch and the restaurant staff brought a high chair for Emma to sit in. But the tray was absolutely filthy and really sticky, so obviously I didn't want to put down any of the food I had brought for her. I gave her bits and pieces, but most of it just ended up on the floor.

Dinner was more successful. I steamed some yellow peppers in the sterilizer. Sounds mad I know, but we never use it, and I don't have a steamer. Ingenious!

Figgytastic

OK - Dad was right. Figs rock! Thanks very much :-)
Extremely messy, but worth every minute of post meal cleaning.

A day out with Grandad

Today, we went to visit my dad in Den Haag. We had a really nice time, and Emma was on great form as usual. First of all, we took her down to the playground. She is much too little for this really, and wasn't too sure about it!














After this, we went to the harbour at Scheveningen for lunch. They have some great fish restaurants there. Before leaving his house, my Dad had picked up a tiny baby banana (I think it might be known as an apple banana) for Emma to munch on while she had lunch. It was a perfect size for her, and she loved it! I had to hold it with her, because she insisted on trying to eat the skin. But once she got the hang of it, we were fine.





We had such a lovely day, but as always it was too short! When we left, Dad gave us the rest of the bunch of baby bananas, and a fig. I have only ever had dried figs in fig rolls, and I think they are not fit to be called food. This put me off trying fresh ones, but Dad was convinced that Emma would like them. So it was fig for tea... that is the next post...

btw - am feeling much better now. Thanks Laura! ;-)