Dinner Time for Emma - Adventures into toddlerhood

New blog

2009-03-18T20:52:00.001+01:00

It has been a long time...

I have moved over to wordpress now, so here is the url for my new blog. Hope to see you over there some time soon. xxx

http://indigobird.wordpress.com/

A pretty perfect day

2008-08-13T22:14:00.006+02:00

We had such a lovely day today that I just had to post! Brett was in London for work this morning, which meant he had to leave at the crack of dawn and he won't be home till very late tonight. Emma has been a bit difficult recently - she is teething a lot (does it ever end???) and signs of the terrible twos are kicking in. She has some days when all she wants to do all day is watch TV or breastfeed, and if I try to get her to do anything else she gets really narky. She had a really good night's sleep last night though.

We were up and about early, and at 8.30 we went out in the rain to the playground. OK, it wasn't raining when I left the house, but it started about 30 seconds later! Of course the place was deserted in that kind of weather (and at that crazy time in the morning!) so we had the run of the place. Emma loved it. She doesn't really like to go on anything, but just to run about. She started to look a bit cold after a while, so I popped her in the sling and we went on the swings together. She really loved it, and started to go for a little snooze.

At home, we played sticking stickers in her magazine, tearing up the magazine into little pieces, tidying up games, trying on silly hats, singing stupid songs, taking funny photos... it was just a very sweet silly day.

We had no disagreements or tears at all! Well, apart from a tiny bit when this happened...

We had macaroni cheese for dinner, which is always a huge favourite, and then a huge portion of eton mess which was given to us by our lovely neighbour Marie. It was so messy, we had to use the big Christmas bib! Thank goodness she is using a spoon now! Emma was tired out this evening, and went to bed with no fuss at all.

So, no special occasions or anything like that... just a really nice day. We haven't had one that good in a while, so hopefully tomorrow will be just as good. :-)

What a princess!

2008-08-11T10:51:00.002+02:00

We were at a christening last weekend. Em was in a shockingly bad mood for most of the day due to lack of sleep, but it didn't stop her looking like a little princess! My brother Sam bought this dress for Emma for her birthday back in February, and this is the first excuse she has had to wear it. Shame the pic is of her back, but it is better than nothing.

London Summer Sling Show

2008-07-28T11:23:00.002+02:00

Wow it has been a while hasn't it. Life with a mobile toddler suddenly seems very busy! Emma has gone from cruising round the furniture being too scared to let go, to running about like a mad thing in just a few weeks! She did have her first nasty tumble the other day though, and is now sporting a rather unfetching graze on her nose. I am sure this will be the first of many. :-(

Emma had her first trip to London yesterday, to the Summer Sling Show. It was great - we drove to Shepherds Bush and took the tube from there, which she really loved. Her face lit up every time we got to a station! She was very well behaved.

The sling show was great - loads of stalls, and I met lots of people that I chat to on forums which was lovely. Here are a few photos...

Meeting Beatrice from Didymos. This was quite exciting! :-) I was gearing myself up to sell the wrap I am wearing here, but Beatrice was very sweet and seemed very happy to see Emma fast asleep all snuggled up in there. So now I think I have to keep it!

Trying on a Grisefanten mei tai in the park.

Lunch in the park... lovely, although Emma did almost have her first taste of cigarette butts. I managed to get it off her just in time!

Trying a colibri mei tai in the park. These aren't made any more, which is such a shame because I think this is the most comfy mei tai I have ever tried on!

Trying a Vatanai Pamir wrap. This is the last wrap on my wish list, and now that I have tried it on for real I reeeeeeeally want one! It might not look that fancy, but it is so beautifully hand woven, and it has the exact right amount of stretch and bounce to it. It was insanely comfortable, and Emma loved it too!

Back at home again, Emma had her first taste of profiteroles! They were (as expected) a big hit!

Lake District

2008-06-29T23:54:00.004+02:00

We have just got back from a wonderful holiday in the Lake District! We stayed for a week in a cottage in Glenridding, at the edge of Ullswater.

Here is a selection of photos for your viewing pleasure.

My uncle Bill came over for a day, as did my cousin Jen and her family. It was lovely to catch up with them. Bill brought a play tent for Emma, which she really loved and spent most of the holiday in! It became a bit of a hidey hole for toys, books, remote controls, etc. Bill was pretty dismayed when he found out we had come all the way to the lakes with no walking boots or waterproof coats. We rectified this very quickly though, and I ended up getting an enormous waterproof that went over both me and Emma! Lucky we did - it rained a lot during the week. It didn't stop us having fun though.

On one of the dry days, we took a walk suggested in a book we had borrowed up Glenridding Dodd and over Sheffield Pike. The book described it as "steep at first"... but that actually should have read "death defying!!!" It was sooooo steep on both the way up and down, and really hard work. It was totally worth it though - the view was wonderful. If the weather had been better we would have done a lot more walking because we really enjoyed it.

We also visited Ambleside, Windermere, Lakeside, and lots of other places. We managed to fit a lot into just a week! Emma really enjoyed herself and...

... she finally started to walk on her own!! I am so proud of her. My little baby suddenly seems so much more grown up. I guess this means I should buy her first pair of shoes now!

Dog!

2008-06-17T16:30:00.002+02:00

Emma is normally a bit a chatter box, but just baby talk rather than real words. She does quite often say something that sounds like "book" when we look at picture books together, but it is more of an "ook" than "book"! And she always calls herself "baba" when she sees herself in the mirror.

But I turned the TV on just now, and there was a puppet dog singing a song. Emma went straight up to the TV, bounced up and down, and shouted "dog, dog dog" over and over! Now please don't tell me that was just coincidence!

Lots to do

2008-06-09T15:33:00.003+02:00

Wow we have been busy lately! We went over to the Netherlands to visit my Dad for a few days which was brilliant. We managed to catch up with some friends (but of course not everyone - isn't that always the way!) and spent a lovely day at the beach.

Emma is really enjoying all the sunshine, and is growing like a weed. She still (still!!) isn't walking on her own, apart from the odd few steps here and there, but to be honest I like it like that. (Don't grow up too fast!!) She is into everything at the moment - the world is a big place and every nook and cranny needs to be investigated!

I have been really busy recently. Its funny - when I stopped working I was worried that I would find full time motherhood boring. But how wrong could I be! I feel so lucky to be able to do it this way, and to be honest I have never been busier! As well as looking after Emma, I am working on a few websites, and the garden is taking a load of my time up (in a good way!) I don't seem to have a lot of news to blog about at the moment. That doesn't mean that life is boring in the slightest - we just seem to have settled in a nice rhythm.

We had our June Oxford Sling Meet last week, which was really lovely. Photos are up on our website here!

And finally, here are a couple of photos I managed to get at lunch time today. Em always manages to get her bib off while I am not looking. Not such a great idea when she is eating tomatoes!!

Happy Birthday Mum

2008-05-19T12:41:00.003+02:00

We have had a lovely family weekend. My Dad and brother came to see us on Friday, and it was the first time they have seen the new house. We went into Oxford for the afternoon, and had a wonderful time. On Saturday we went to stay with my Mum because it was her birthday this weekend. The whole family was there, and it was lots of fun to see everyone. Emma enjoyed being the inevitable centre of attention! My brother took some great pictures of us.

Naughty face:

Dancing in the garden:

Family portrait:

Looking at flowers:

Big blue eyes!

What is it about a hat?

2008-05-10T21:43:00.002+02:00

We have been taking full advantage of our gorgeous garden and all the sunshine this week! I was in town with Emma a few days ago and realised I had not bought her a summer hat yet. So, I popped into one of the kiddies shops on the High Street and came out with a little pink number. What is it about children and hats that makes them so sweet! :-)

Emma is not completely comfortable being out in the garden yet. She doesn't really like to venture beyond the blanket, and if I show any sign of moving away she gets very upset. I guess these are her first little steps into the big wide world.

Speaking of steps... she did some all on her own a couple of days ago! She is getting more confident about standing without support, and is now sometimes able to take a few steps. She has a little walker that she wizzes around the house with, but she seems to really enjoy playing games where she stands and lets go of my hands at the moment.

And here she is being very helpful, and unpacking the shopping and tucking into a courgette. We were running a bit late with dinner, so I guess she thought she would just help herself! :-)

Fabric Fairy

2008-04-29T10:36:00.002+02:00

Yesterday, the postman came just as I was heading out of the door to the La Leche League meeting, so I took it all along with me. I thought there was nothing exciting - a couple of bills, and what looked like a sling donation for the Oxford sling library that I am helping to set up. So I just shoved it all in my handbag.

Anyway... when I opened what I thought was the sling, I was in for a heck of a surprise. It was in fact a yard of fabric that I have been after for ages. It is out of print and hard to get hold of, especially in this colour. With it was a little note saying it was a present from the fabric fairy!! I have my suspicions about who sent it to me, so if you are reading this thank you so so so much. It put a smile on my face all day to think that there are such lovely people out there!

Here it is, with its little note!

Small news

2008-04-29T07:57:00.002+02:00

I have entered a competition to win a free Ergo baby carrier here:

Cross your fingers for me!

Wildlife park

2008-04-26T22:53:00.004+02:00

We had a great day out at the Cotswold Wildlife park today. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, so we took full advantage of it. Emma really enjoyed herself, but her favourite part of the day was messing around in the park rather than looking at the animals! She is growing up so quickly now. She is getting more and more confident with standing, so I guess she will be walking on her own very soon. Mind you... I have been saying that for weeks!

Photo overload

2008-04-26T22:44:00.002+02:00

OK... it has been a while, so here are a few great pics of Emma that Brett and I have taken over the last few weeks.

Forget April showers - we had April snow!

2008-04-08T13:25:00.002+02:00

I was so pleased on Sunday morning when I opened the curtains to see everything covered in snow! It snowed on the day that Emma was born, but I haven't seen any since then. It was surprisingly warm outside, so it didn't last long. But I did get a chance to show it to Emma before it all thawed. She was not quite sure what to make of it!!

Breakfast chat

2008-04-05T23:16:00.002+02:00

I mentioned a few times that Emma is very "talkative" at the moment. Here she is having just finished her breakfast the other day. She also does a bit of a little humming song that she does when she is tired or bored. Her hair looks a bit weird because she had wiped banana in it. Her bowl is also on the floor, as is her bib. She finishes off the conversation she is having with herself by sneakily throwing a bit more banana onto the floor. She has taken to doing this to get attention - usually when she wants a drink. I am trying to tackle it, but Emma is winning the battle at the moment!

All moved in!

2008-04-01T23:09:00.003+02:00

Phew - we did it! The move is over. Four boxes are left to be unpacked - mostly books, but I have run out of shelves. (I wonder how they all fitted on there in the first place!)

I was sad to leave Godalming, and the beautiful house that we were in, but this new house is great for us. We have plenty of room, and a fantastic garden. Roll on summer! It is so much lighter than any other house I have lived in, which makes such a nice change. Emma seems to be settling in really well. She has been so good about the move - she hasn't had sleeping problems, and seems to think it is all brilliant. Its like we are on holiday, but we brought all her toys with us! (Before you ask, she is still not walking on her own! But she is chattering to anything that will listen! Everything is nana this and nana that at the moment!)

I am starting to find my way around Abingdon now. It is a small town - just the right size for me - and it is easy to get to Oxford on the bus if I want to do proper shopping. Tomorrow I am off to the Oxford slingmeet, and then hopefully will be going to an NCT group later in the week. Brett started his new job today, and that seemed to go well. :-)

Anyway, now that we are back to normal, I will start doing more frequent posts and photos again soon. :-)

I wonder if I am feeding her enough?

2008-03-12T14:27:00.002+01:00

I heard lots of squeaks of joy coming from the kitchen just now, and found this:

Sometimes I wonder if I am feeding her enough! (She only just had lunch).

Off to the shops for more bread we go then.

Lovely mum!

2008-03-08T21:11:00.002+01:00

I had such a nice day today. Brett was in London for the day, so my mum came over. We had planned to go out somewhere, but the weather was rubbish. My brother Sam (see upside down pics from a few days ago) and his girlfriend Sarah popped in for a bit. Emma thought that it was great to see so many people!!

On the BLW side of things (because it has been a while since I did an update about that) Emma had her first go at pesto today. She absolutely loved it! Another favourite these days is raisins in little boxes - the Sunmaid ones that everyone used to have in pack lunches. (Or was that just my family!!)

I finished yet another sewing project off yesterday. I chopped up a wrap, and turned it into a mei tai. I am so pleased with it - it is super supportive in a front carry, and really quick to put on for a back carry. And even better - here is my mum to model it for you! (I love this photo).

And here is a rubbish photo of Emma and I to show the reverse colours. I am really so pleased with this carrier. I feel like going and chopping up a load more wraps now!!

The postman's been!

2008-03-07T11:58:00.005+01:00

We had a lovely post day today. Loads of nice post, and no bills! New sewing machine needles for me, a music thing for Brett, some info about our new house, a rental DVD, and a new wrap all the way from Norway!
I took some sweet photos of Emma while I was opening it...

hmmm - what could this be?

ooooo - another silk blend wrap for the collection? mmmm - soft and snuggly! (I am going to have to get some of these dyed at some point!) Yeah yeah - to the untrained eye they may all look the same, but trust me - one has flowers, one has babycarrying women, and one is a really fancy schmancy weave! :-)

Sooooooo comfy! I am really happy with it!

ETA - This cardi seems to be featuring rather prominently in Emma's wardrobe at the moment! I promise, I do wash it sometimes too! :-)

Upside down

2008-03-06T10:50:00.002+01:00

Good news - we found ourselves a lovely house to move to in Abingdon. OK, so it is not quite as beautiful and unique as our Godalming house, but it has lots of space and a great garden. It is close enough to walk to the centre of town too. So now the packing commences... I am really not looking forward to this! (I can just see Emma unpacking the boxes as fast as I can pack them!!)

Emma is still not walking on her own, but is cruising around the furniture quite happily. She looks like she could walk on her own if she realised that it was a good idea, but she always seems to want to hold on. It will come in time. Her new favourite game is hanging upside down. She sits on my knees and flings herself backwards. It is a bit disconcerting if you are not expecting it (or when she starts doing it while she is in the sling... in a shop... full of people staring!!!) but she giggles insanely and seems to love the way the world looks the other way up. Here she is in action!

And here she is having fun with my brother Sam. :-)

And so it begins again...

2008-02-25T13:08:00.003+01:00

For those of you who don't know yet... we are moving house again. Brett has taken a job in Oxford, so we are frantically house hunting in order to move before he starts on 1st April. Blogging is taking a bit of a back seat at the moment for obvious reasons, but I will still try to post from time to time. Things will be back to normal soon after we move I hope!

xxx

Thanks, but I will do it myself

2008-02-20T21:16:00.003+01:00

I have been really trying to encourage Emma to use a spoon at the moment. However, the only thing she will use it for is yogurt. I normally load the spoon with yogurt, and give the spoon to Emma. Then, she either picks the yogurt up off the spoon and licks her fingers, drops the spoon on the floor, splats it down on her tray, or just eats it. She is getting better every time though!

Another recent development is a new favourite game of putting stuff in boxes. I keep finding little toys inside her stacking cups, and she has a noah's ark with loads of animals to put in it that she got for her birthday which she adores.

So, I thought I would put these two skills together. I loaded the spoon with yogurt, and gave it to Emma. She ate the yogurt, and wanted to give the spoon back to me. But I told her to put it back in the pot, and she did! She can't reload the spoon yet, but it is a big step in the right direction.

Its funny how such little things make me so proud!

Another sewing show off

2008-02-20T19:47:00.003+01:00

Brett got me a shiny new sewing machine for my birthday. I finished my first project today! It reverses to teal silk with a pink hood. It is super comfy, and I am really pleased with it.

Slingmeet

2008-02-15T22:44:00.004+01:00

Here are a couple of pics from the last slingmeet, courtesy of Lorna! :-)
It was a lovely meet - great people, beautiful babies, and loads of slings to play with!

First up, I got to try on a beautiful Violet and White indio. It is a wrap I have loved the look of for such a long time, but it is so hard to get hold of. It was all the soft and lovely snuggliness that I thought it would be! Suits me doesn't it! Shame that I have missed the boat for Christmas, birthday and valentines day. Maybe mother's day?? (Brett - are you listening?)

Sorry for Emma having a finger up her nose! It seems to be her favourite thing to do at the moment!

And here is a stash pic from the table! :-) I should have counted them!

Such a busy time!

2008-02-13T09:33:00.003+01:00

I can't believe it is more than a week already since my last post. I don't seem to have sat down for a minute! I did another slingmeet yesterday, which went really well. I think we may need to use the bigger room next time! There were some lovely ladies and gorgeous babies there, and I had a great time. I need to get the March one organised now...

Belated thanks to everyone for their birthday wishes and presents for Emma. She had such a lovely time.

Here she is modelling her new birthday skirt. This is actually the first skirt she has ever owned. Because I carry her most of the time, I have always dressed her in trousers. Just recently I started buying dresses for her, and now I am hooked. This skirt is a definate new favourite of mine though! (Thanks Mrs B. xxx)

Emma's walking is getting better all the time, and she seems to be getting a little more mischevous every day.

Emma's first year

2008-02-05T23:11:00.000+01:00

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A year already!

2008-02-05T21:40:00.000+01:00

It is Emma's birthday tomorrow. I can't believe a year has gone by already. And what a year it has been. I wanted to do photos for every month, but there are so many to choose from! I'll see what I can come up with tonight.

I made my first birthday cake today. It sank a bit in the middle, but that is ok because I filled it up with butter icing! :-) I personally think it is a work of art!

4 posts in 1 day - happy birthday to me!

2008-02-01T11:26:00.000+01:00

It is not very often that I make four posts in one day! But this last one will be short. :-) It is my birthday today, so I just wanted to say thanks very much to everyone who sent me lovely gifts.

Brett got me a shiny new sewing machine, so maybe that will tempt me away from my lap top more often! And it is only 10.30, but I am feeling a little sick from eating so many chocolates!

Tomorrow my brother is coming to babysit while Brett and I go out for dinner. It will be the first time in a very very long time that we have been able to go out together, so I am really looking forward to it!

Musical genius

2008-02-01T11:24:00.000+01:00

This toy was supposed to be a birthday present for Emma, but she seemed so down in the dumps earlier in the week that I handed it over. (How much of a walk over am I?!) She absolutely loves it, although I do have to limit the amount of time I let her play on it because it is really loud. This is not a great video of it, but it is the only one I have at the moment. Ladies and Gentlemen take your seats - Emma would like to play you a (very very short) little song!

Loving the camera

2008-02-01T11:06:00.001+01:00

Emma showing that she is definately not camera shy!
And a bit of walking too. She is getting better every day at cruising around the furniture.

Chatterbox video

2008-02-01T09:55:00.000+01:00

It has been a while since I put any videos on the site, so a few are coming up.

Here is Emma being a bit of a chatter box.

Feeling better-ish

2008-01-27T22:24:00.000+01:00

It seems like ages since my last post! I was pretty ill at the start of last week, and Emma was ill by the end of it. She has had a temperature and was really sleepy. She was teething on top of it all too, so it has been a pretty sorry state of affairs these last few days. She is getting better, but she is not 100% just yet.

She is pulling herself on any bit of furniture within reach now. She likes to try and climb the stairs too, and is getting worryingly good at it! The new thing for this week seems to be throwing things. She likes to stand up against the sofa, and throw everything that is on it onto the floor. It is quite cute, but she has started doing it at meal times too which is not so funny! (Well, it is... but we are trying not to encourage her!)

Here is a happy little picture for you. :-)

The perils of impending toddlerhood

2008-01-19T22:21:00.000+01:00

Poor Emma... She really wants to walk. Trouble is, she can't actually stand up on her own yet.

This week though, for the first time, she managed to pull herself up to stand by the sofa. I had lined up a bunch of cuddly toys along with some things she is not normally allowed but is intrigued by (remote controls, mobile phone, etc). The look of determination she gets on her face is fantastic - she looks, sizes up the problem, scrabbles up onto her knees, sticks her tongue out, and heaves herself up.

Her crawling is still comando style, but so quick now. All this new mobility is leading to a few accidents though.
She has a bruise on her cheek from crawling at top speed into a closing door...
She has a bruise on her chin from where the poor unsuspecting gas man opened a door while she was camped out behind it...
And today she added a bruise over her eye where she fell over face down on the foot of her wooden high chair.

My poor baby. It breaks my heart a little bit every time she hurts herself. I hope she learns quickly!

So, no photos for today - I didn't really want to show off her bruisy face. Sure she will be better in no time though.

Little minx

2008-01-16T13:26:00.000+01:00

The older Emma gets, the more of a naughty little minx she becomes!

Here she is taking off her bib at lunch...

And again at dinner...

And here she is in the kitchen proving to me that it is time to child proof the kitchen cupboards. Either that, or she was still hungry! :-) Or just maybe she was saying "You look tired mummy - why not have a sit down with a cup of tea and a choccy biscuit?"

Samosa

2008-01-14T14:02:00.000+01:00

We have been so busy for the last week or so. Last Monday, we went to Guildford to meet a lovely lady who wanted to borrow a sling from me. On Tuesday we had sling meet (which was great! Thinking of starting a blog just for that!) On Wednesday we went house hunting, and on Friday we had a visit from another poster on the TBW forums which was really lovely. On Saturday, Emma went to her first ever birthday party which was just lovely! She was a bit younger than the rest of the kids there, but managed to sit down for almost an entire round of pass the parcel, and really enjoyed being amongst so many other children. It surprises me how sociable she is for an only child. As well as all that, I have been doing quite a bit of webdesign work which is keeping me quiet in the evenings. :)

So, the lack of posts is partly because we have not had any spare time, and partly because I am suffering a bit from writers block. We have a quiet week this week though, so I am sure I will get my groove back soon...

Right now, Emma is tucking into her first ever veggie samosa. While I don't want to encourage my baby girl to live on a diet of deep fried take away snacks, I thought it would be nice to introduce some stronger flavours. (She already really likes ginger and garlic). Later on, she will have her first ever hot cross bun. Hope she loves them as much as I do!

Iris in the sunshine

2008-01-11T23:58:00.000+01:00

I took this photo today, and rather liked it so thought I would share!

She has grown so much

2008-01-11T09:32:00.000+01:00

I was tidying Emma's room the other day, and I came across her first ever pair of trousers. I can't imagine her being that tiny any more!! Here she is playing next to them. It is her first birthday in just a few weeks time. It is amazing how this year has flown by!

I'd rather eat my own feet

2008-01-05T19:29:00.000+01:00

Emma has developped a habit of playing with her feet in the highchair rather than eating her dinner. It is really cute, but it would be nice if she would concentrate on her food a bit more!

I can't turn my back for a minute!

2008-01-04T13:06:00.000+01:00

Emma is really mobile these days. Her favourite place to be is where ever she shouldn't be. Her favourite things to play with are things that don't belong to her (remote controls, mobile phones, shoes, cameras, mugs, makeup... anything that is not a toy really!)

This is a photo from yesterday. I had just popped upstairs to put the laundry in the airing cupboard. When I came back, this is what I found... She really loves to play with books, but scrabble is a whole different board game. (no pun intended!)

And today, she almost pulled herself up on the sofa herself. (I gave her a helping hand in the end!) I know I know - most kids of 11 months old have been able to do that for ages, but heck - she only started crawling a couple of weeks ago!! I think she is just taking her time, and likes to still be a baby. :-) Anyway, I think this is the end of life as we know it. Once she can get up to the sofa, where are we supposed to throw stuff that she shouldn't have?!!?? :-)

Wish List

2008-01-02T21:54:00.001+01:00

OK - this post is more for me than for you lot out there!

Since I stopped working, money is obviously a little tighter than it used to be. Most of my money goes on baby slings these days. So, I thought it would be fun to write down which ones I want to save towards, and then have a look again later in the year to see how fickle I actually am! (Actually, this idea is shamelessly borrowed from another poster on the TBW forum!) I am planning to do a bit of ebay selling to help me fund this lot!

(Some people don't understand why I have so many wraps. However, I use them all and each has its own use. If I don't use one for a while, I sell it on - they have great resale value! I use one every time I leave the house, and several times a day in the house. So, they are really like a piece of clothing for me. Enough justification I think!!)

Here goes...

Didymos Millefiore with silk (seide) (size 5 or 6) - Well, it is a wrap blended with 30% silk. What more do I need to say - it is so me! I think it is limited edition too, so I had better get a move on with this one. http://didymos.de/html/seidenblumen.htm

Didymos Jim (size 6) - Really elegant colour, goes with everything, and very sturdy. The name does a lot for me too.
http://www.bigmamaslings.co.uk/zen-cart/didymos-wraparound-baby-sling-size-6-p-131.html

Girasol Moccha Berry (any size!) - Very pretty colours. Girasols are lovely and wide, so great for back and rebozo carries.
http://slingjax.co.uk/catalog.php?item=262&catid=22&ret=catalog.php%3Fcategory%3D22

KatiWrap Girasol Black and White (4.6m) - I actually want to cut this up and sew it into a mei tai! It might seem like an expensive way of buying fabric, but wraps make such good mei tai straps. I love the idea of making a black and white one that will go with anything.
http://www.katinpuoti.com/kantoliinat/html/katiwrap.html

And some of the more difficult to find ones...

Indio Malve, Silver or Almond Flower (size 6) - Just so pretty!
http://www.birdiesroom.com/Products/Indio-Malve-(WB)__SL-DI-LEMAL.aspx
http://www.birdiesroom.com/Products/Indio-Silver-(LB)__SL-DI-LESILV.aspx
http://www.birdiesroom.com/Products/Indio-Almond-Flower-(C)__SL-DI-LEALMON.aspx

Nino Anthrazite or Malve (size 5 or 6) - Made with wool, really soft and warm!
http://www.birdiesroom.com/Products/Nino-Anthrazit-(WB)__SL-DI-LENIAN0.aspx

http://www.birdiesroom.com/Products/Nino-Malve-(WB)__SL-DI-LENIMAL.aspx

hmmmm - is this bordering on obsessive? :-)

Well, if it is then here are a few older pictures of Emma showing why we like them so much!

New Years Resolutions

2008-01-01T21:39:00.000+01:00

I have quite a few resolutions for 2008, so here goes!

1: Be realistic in my goals and expectations. (haha - I don't seem to be starting as I mean to go on!)

2: Make more time for myself. Things like taking time for a long soak in the bath or something in the evenings.

3: Try to look forwards more often than backwards.

4: Don't worry so much about things I can't change.

5: Make Emma laugh like a lunatic at least once a day. :-)

6: Try not to take it out on those closest to me when I am feeling down.

7: Finish my business homepage and portfolio. (I am in the process of starting up a small work from home web design business). I will redesign the Dinner Time for Emma blog while I am at it!

8: Get a hair cut at least twice during the year. (Sounds like a strange resolution, but I didn't have a hair cut for the whole of 2007, which for an ex-goth who was all about the hairdo is pretty weird!!)

9: Give up diet coke! I drink far too much of the stuff, and I don't want Emma to grow up thinking that soft drinks are for every day.

10: Take some driving lessons. I passed my test when I was 18, but have hardly driven since. I want to take some refresher lessons to build up my confidence.

11: Be the best wife and mother that I possibly can be.

What a year

2007-12-31T23:27:00.000+01:00

Well Christmas was lovely. We spent Christmas and Boxing Day with my family, before going up north to spend a few days with Bretts folks. It is nice that we have managed to spend time with everyone this year. Emma got lots of lovely presents too. :-)

I can't believe it is the end of the year already. This has seemed like such a quick one. I am a bit lost for words about 2007. I don't want to go into detail summing it up - it has been both the happiest and saddest year all at the same time. But I am looking forward to 2008. I have loads of goals, hopes and resolutions but I will save those for tomorrow's post in order to start the year on a positive vibe.

Here is my favourite photo from 2007. (Brett has just told me to write that it is "our" favourite photo... but I had to remind him that it is my blog... haha!) It is a bit blury - Brett was holding the camera above us. But I love it all the same.

Happy New Year. xxx

Happy Christmas!

2007-12-25T12:26:00.001+01:00

Oh ok then - a couple of pics

2007-12-24T22:39:00.001+01:00

OK - I couldn't resist. I took these during the last few days. Emma is really into spaghetti hoops at the moment. She sticks them on the end of her fingers and eats them off. :-) And apricot yogurt has become a hit too. Shame that I can't stand the smell of it!

I can't believe it is Christmas Eve already!

2007-12-24T19:47:00.000+01:00

We have been madly busy getting ready for Christmas. We didn't actually buy anything really big for Emma this year - but seem to have got her loads of little bits and pieces. Needless to say it has taken ages to wrap them all up! I have also been busy making presents (will divulge fully after Christmas because I don't want to give away a surprise).

We are off to my Mum's for Christmas dinner this year. Thing is, Christmas dinner is my absolute favourite meal to cook. So, to compensate, I have been making some bits to take some of the pressure off Mum tomorrow. I have made cranberry sauce, Yorkshire puddings, a cheesecake, stuffing, and some really gorgeous cranberry jam tarts. I am ready for a rest tonight!

I am looking forward to Emma's reaction tomorrow. She knows something is going on, and is obsessed with the Christmas tree! I hope she lets us have a little sleep in though - she has been up very early the last few mornings. She seems to be developing so much at the moment which probably accounts for it. She clapped for the first time today, she is chattering more and more, and yesterday she instigated a game of peekaboo with me by holding up the towel herself in front of her face and peeking out at me. It was priceless!

No photos today I'm afraid, but I am sure there will be lots from tomorrow!

Sewing show off

2007-12-18T17:07:00.000+01:00

I was posting some pictures of the cool reversible mei tai carrier I made recently on another forum, and realised I had never really shown it off here. So, here it is. The first thing I ever made with a sewing machine!

I love it - because I made it myself, everything is just how I like it - the body is just the right height, the straps are exactly the width I like and really long... Emma seems to like it too. :-)

I have the sewing bug now, and plan to make another one after Christmas!

Forgive the overexposure in the photos - it is really sunny today!

Christmas warmup

2007-12-16T22:12:00.000+01:00

We went to my mum's place for lunch today. My sister Anna and her husband were there too. They decorated the Christmas tree, and it really felt like a Christmas dinner practise run! Emma was good as gold, and really enjoyed herself.

I heard on the news that there is a lack of holly with berries this year. Well, I live in an old cemetary (yes really!!) and our garden is fully of berrified holly. So I chopped a load down to decorate the lounge this afternoon. We have bought a little Christmas tree too - I wanted a huge one, but I guess it is not the most practical idea. I can just picture Emma trying to climb up it... I am rubbish at decorating trees. All the lights have ended up at the bottom, and it looks like it might topple over. I will have a better go at it tomorrow and post some festive pictures.

I spoke to my gorgeous friend Cath today for the first time in ages. She was pregnant at the same time as me. Telling each other about our respective pregnancies was one of those phone calls I will never forget. ("What you're pregnant.... weeheee... congratulations... um...not wanting to steal your thunder, but so am I!!!") Since then, we have been totally rubbish and only seen each other once when we went to the peak district for a sensible (!) late pregnancy holiday. Her little one is almost a year old, and I still haven't met her. So, we have decided that when we drive up to see Brett's parents after Christmas, we will stop off half way and meet them for lunch. I can't wait - it will be lovely to get together after such a long time.

Enough rambling for one weekend. This has been quite a bitty post! Here is a rather random picture of Emma for today. This was taken while we were visiting my dad in the Netherlands last week. It is in Vroom & Dressman (a department store) in Den Haag. This chair just looked perfect for her.

Crawling.... well nearly

2007-12-14T17:08:00.001+01:00

Emma is nearly crawling, thanks to all the practise she got on my Dad's huge wooden floors! She finally realised that it was more efficient to try to go forwards instead of just rolling everywhere and banging her head all the time. She does go up on all fours and rock about quite a lot now, but she hasn't worked out that she has to move both her hands and legs together. Anyway, I thought it was high time for a video!

This season, I will mostly be wearing party dresses

2007-12-13T11:37:00.000+01:00

OK... I know it is a bit early, but I couldn't resist a little sneaky peak of Emma's Christmas party dress. I just wanted to try it on her to make sure it was the right size (because she is at a bit of an in between stage right now) and it looked so lovely on her. It is a bit of a blurry photo, but gorgeous all the same. :-)

Be warned - I will probably be inundating you with cute Emma/Christmas pictures over the coming weeks!

Sinterklaus has visited

2007-12-13T08:30:00.000+01:00

Laura came to visit last week, and it was great to see her. We even managed a quick trip to my local pub (Brett kindly babysat). I haven't done that for a v-e-r-y long time!!

I was really touched that Laura remembered to help me celebrate Sinterklaus with Emma. Sinterklaus is like the Dutch equivalent of Santa Claus, but his story is rather different to the one we know. St. Nicholas is a tall man, dressed in a red bishop's outfit with a golden crook. He travels with his companion Zwarte Piet (Black Pete). They travel together on a ship from Spain, and arrive in the Netherlands on 5th December. He leaves treats for the children if they are good (chocolate letters, marzipan shapes etc). If they are naughty, Zwarte Piet leaves a piece of coal.

When I got up in the morning, Laura had put a chocolate letter for Emma in one of her shoes. It was so sweet! I was even more touched when I found she had done the same for me and Brett! :-) Emma spent ages rolling around on the floor with her chocolate letter (still in its box!)

It may be a Dutch tradition, but I really want to carry on celebrating Sinterklaus with Emma in future years, as a reminder of where she was born. It is a good excuse to travel back to the Netherlands each year to pick up some chocolate letters!

Its been too long

2007-12-12T13:44:00.000+01:00

I just realised how long it is since I updated the blog. So much for me trying to do it more often! :-S

Things have been pretty busy around here over the last few weeks... So this is a kind of bitty post, just to update about what has been going on. The usual pictorial service will be resumed this afternoon. (Because I have some photos that I really want to share!)

I had the first sling meet at my place a couple of weeks ago. It was really nice, but my place is just too small for all those kids! So, with the help of a friend, I found a local hall for the next one. It is booked, and now I need to get on and do some flyers for it.

In the same week as the sling meet, I went to my first English La Leche League meeting. Emma decided to sleep in my arms for most of it, so I didn't get to talk to many people, but it was nice to meet other mothers from around the area.

I had this crazy idea about making Christmas presents this year. We have a lot less money than last year, and to be honest it seems a bit inappropriate for a variety of reasons to go mad with presents. But time is ticking on and I have only managed to do one so far. I won't say what it is though - I don't want to give it away for the intended recipient. Hopefully I will get time to make one or two more.

Last week, Emma got really sick. Brett and I both had colds recently, and Emma got it too. But then last week she started wheezing and was having difficulty breathing. It was really scary, so I took her to the doctors and was told she had bronchiolitus. She made a super fast recovery thank goodness, and seems right as rain now.

And the final busy thing was that we popped back over to the Netherlands for a little visit. I didn't really see many people, because the weather was horrible and we were staying in Den Haag with my Dad rather than Amsterdam where all our friends are. I ended up only spending a couple of hours in Amsterdam! I did get to visit my gorgeous cat Tegan though. Her pet passport is in progress, but for the time being she needs to stay put in the Netherlands. We hope to have her back soon. Emma was so lovely when she saw Tegan, and started chattering to her straight away! :-) We stayed at my Dad's place, and it has a lot of open floor space which Emma really loved. She looks like she is going to crawl properly any day soon!

(Laura (Amsterdam Laura that is) - I haven't mentioned your visit in this post, because I am saving that and all the lovely photos we took for this afternoon - I can only write so much in one go!)

Personality development

2007-11-26T14:17:00.000+01:00

I have noticed that Emma's personality is really developing at the moment. A few things have caught my eye.

I take her to a baby singalong at the local library every week. The first time we were there, she saw another little girl sitting up and playing with some sleigh bells. She was really interested. Eventually, she rolled over to the little girl, pushed her over, took the bells, and rolled back to me. I was so embarrassed!! At the weekend we had a meet up of a few mums who all post on the same parenting forum as me. We all had our babies in the same month. I thought Emma was quite chunky for her age, but next to these other babies she was tiny! This time, she saw a little boy with a toy she liked the look of. She waited until he looked away for a moment, rolled over to him, sneakily stole the toy and rolled back to me with it. Devious little monkey! She certainly knows how to get what she wants.

Another thing I noticed recently is that Emma really loves to be the centre of attention. At the library singalong, she bounces along with me, beaming at all the other mothers and babies, cooing at every bit of attention that is lavished on her. Today, I hosted my first slingmeet and had a house full of toddlers. Emma was the youngest by quite a long way. She was so good, and was happy to play along with the other children. At one point, she and another girl were playing with a doll. Emma would wave the doll about, and the other little girl would kiss its head. Emma started to copy her after a while. It was so sweet to see her playing with someone else! :-)

So... is she going to be a selfish little madam who pushes kids over to get a toy, or a sweet little baby who loves to share and play with other kids... I can't wait to find out! But which ever way it goes, I can see her still liking to be the centre of attention as she grows up - she doesn't seem to have a shy bone in her body at the moment!

Glasses

2007-11-22T12:26:00.000+01:00

Emma has a thing about my glasses. Almost every time I pick her up she goes for them! She is so quick too, and has them off before I know it. It is only a matter of time before I end up with them held together with sticky tape!

It is one thing her going for them when I am holding her in front of me, but it is quite something else when I am carrying her on my back! :-S

But when she looks this cute, I have to kind of let her off. Maybe I will get her some of those baby sunglasses to play with! :-)

She is supposed to be napping at the moment, but I am listening to her over the baby monior. She is blowing raspberries at her cuddly bunny. It is so funny, but I bet she stops the minute I go up there!

Blo off

2007-11-19T22:36:00.000+01:00

I got an IM from Laura at RIPE today, asking what had happened to nablopomo, and if it had blo'n off. It made me giggle, so I thought I had better explain...

OK... well the plan was to update the blog every day in November. Last Thursday I forgot. I can't remember what was going on (it seems like ages ago!!) but I know it was a bit of a manic day. I can however remember what I was going to write, so I will save that for a rainy day!

So, on Friday, I realised that I had forgotten... and then forgot again. Can you feel a theme starting here?

Saturday came. Brett was working, and Emma was being a little on the troublesome side. (She is in super teething mode at the moment). I was wiped out by the time she went to bed. I realised that I had forgotten for the last two days, but to be completely honest I was too tired to think about it.

Then it was Sunday... and I forgot again.

Wow this feels like a "the dog ate my homework" post!! I mean really - this blogging is meant to be fun, not a chore!

So, I will pick up again for today, and see how I go. My new strategy is to try to update the blog every day. :-)

Other news in brief - Emma's teething is getting better. Her first tooth at the top made an appearance this morning! She also seems to think she can stand up... except that she can't and I have to hold her upright almost constantly. Funny thing is she still hasn't even worked out how to get from lying to sitting, so I think standing for real is a way off!

And finally, just to make up for the last few days of missing posts, here is a lovely picture that I took on Friday. I had carried Emma on my back in the wrap to the shops and back. She fell asleep, which is unusual when she is on my back - normally she just wants to look around at everything. So then I was faced with a problem. She was all wrapped up in warm clothes, and was so hot once we got inside. So, I needed to get her down and get some layers off her. But she was so asleep, and I didn't want to wake her. Somehow (and I wish I know how!!) I managed to get her off my back and onto the bed, then take some layers off without waking her up. I even then managed to get her to her own bed, and she slept for an hour. I got a sneaky photo when she was on the bed though, because she looked so sweet. (And I love the way the wrap matches the bed spread!)

Bolognese

2007-11-14T22:02:00.000+01:00

As promised yesterday, here is the mess created on Emma by pasta bolognese. If you look really closely you can see her teeth too! (She only has two - at the bottom. But I am pretty sure by her recent desire to chew everything in sight that there will be some more along soon).

I have only recently started to feed really messy stuff like this to Emma. Before then, if I was cooking bolognese, or casserole or something, I would cook the meat, take some out for Emma, then finish it off for me and Brett. But now I just give Emma what we are having. It is so much easier and gives her a lot more variety. It also makes me think more about what I am eating too. If I am going to give my food to Emma, then I want to make sure it is healthy and low in salt and additives.

My mum came over to visit this afternoon. We had macaroni cheese with broccoli for lunch. Yes - I know I have done whole posts purely about how much I detest broccoli, but hear me out! I was told that if a baby is fussy about a particular type of food, then you should offer it again and again. After ten times they will normally eat it. So I thought I would try the same thing on myself! Actually, the broccoli taste was completely masked by the lovely cheesiness, so it was fine. Emma seemed to really like it too. Mum and I talked a lot about Emma's eating habits, and she was really complimentary about the BLW path that I chose to follow. This means a lot to me. It has taken time and perseverance, but it really has worked out well and now I have a really healthy happy baby who will eat almost anything that is on her plate (as long as it is not banana or porridge).

Political stuff

2007-11-13T21:53:00.000+01:00

I normally stay away from politics in my blog. This blog is about my family life, so I don't think it is really an appropriate forum for me to bombard you with my political beliefs. However, a couple of things that I am quite passionate about came up today, so I thought I would add them here. This is a bit of a one off for me! Back to fluffy baby pictures tomorrow. (I got some lovely shots of Emma and some spagbog earlier, and I can't wait to share them with you).

Babies on TV:

I don't know how many of you watched the "Bringing up Baby" programme on Channel 4 last month. For those who didn't, it was a reality TV show following families with newborn babies who followed different methodologies for raising their children with the assistance of a mentor. The methodologies were Truby King's regimented regime from the 1950's (babies should be on a fixed never changing regime for feeding and sleeping), Dr Spock's Baby and Childcare from the 1960's (teaching parents to follow their instincts), and the Continuum Concept from the 1970's (babies should have constant physical contact with their parents for the first six months).

I was absolutely incensed by this programme. On the one hand, it did show some interesting different ways in which parents can choose to raise their babies. However, some of the methods were very questionable (verging on cruel in my opinion) and the programme failed to really highlight government recommended safety guidelines. There were also some infuriating throw away comments about how it doesn't matter whether you breastfeed or bottle feed. I am all for parents having choice, and bringing up their babies in the way that they feel is best. However, I thought the programme was misleading and it missed a huge opportunity to promote sleeping safety guidelines, breastfeeding support, and other issues that are important to new parents.

The Truby King mentor in particular was particularly forceful about the strict regime of her program. (Feeding only a tiny bit to a hungry baby, then force feeding it loads later on to make it sleep through the night, not paying any attention to crying babies and claiming that the babies were being manipulative, I could go on and on). When I complained about it amongst my friends and family, a lot of them said that the programme was trying to be sensationalist (it is Channel 4 after all!!) But what really upset me was that in the middle of all this were a group of innocent newborn babies.

Anyway... the series finished a few weeks ago, so you are probably wondering why I am still ranting on about it. Well, I was looking on the NCT (National Childbirth Trust) website today, and see that they are adding their voice to calls for an independent ethics committee to be set up to monitor so-called 'reality' TV shows that involve babies and children. I am so pleased to hear about this, and completely support the move. I just hope that it can prevent such appalling programmes being made in the future.

Follow on Milk advertising:

There is an advert doing the rounds at the moment for SMA follow on milk, which has a father to be talking about his promises to his baby and the mother. It is really lovely, but then he promises to do his share of the night feeds, and it cuts to a tin of SMA formula milk. Anyway, there are a lot of people who think this is inappropriate (although it is legal), and a number of complaints have been filed with the Advertising Standards Agency.

Once again, I am all for choice. I choose to breastfeed my baby, and intend to do so until we are both ready to stop. (Meaning that I have no fixed plans about duration). However, I had a load of problems with this when I was starting out, and for a couple of weeks I had to substitute with formula. I had done a lot of research prior to Emma's birth, and received a lot of support from relevant health workers, so I made informed choices. If women consider breastfeeding, and decide for whatever reason that it is not for them, knowing full well that their baby will miss out on the health benefits of breastfeeding, then that is their choice and they should be able to make it guilt free. But adverts like this give very little real information, and make it look like formula is a natural choice. This is pretty confusing!!

Anyway... the Food Standards Agency is currently making decisions about advertising regulations for infant and follow on formula. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6933188.stm and if it is something you want to know more about, then here is another blog all about it:
http://boycottnestle.blogspot.com/2007/11/support-uk.html

Home again

2007-11-12T21:07:00.000+01:00

Posting every day is harder than it sounds... especially when you have spent most of the day in a car, watching the M1 go by!!

Emma was good as gold yet again on the way home. I was so proud of her this weekend. I know I am lucky to have such a well behaved little girl - she very rarely crys, and almost always has a smile on her face. She sleeps through the night 99% of the time, has a good appetite and is hardly ever ill. I call her my "trainer" baby. :0)

Emma was always a quiet baby. I was looking at the notes from the maternity nurse from her first week of life the other day, and every day starts with "Emma is still very quiet!" I used to worry about it, and people used to tell me not to get used to it because it would change eventually. But she is 9 months old now, and still so placid. Put it this way - our car journey today took 5 and a half hours. We got home, had a cup of tea, put Emma back in the car and went to the supermarket. I complained much more about it than she did!! She just sat in her car seat, gave me a smile, and waved her toys at me.

We had a lovely time in Ripon with Brett's parents. We often only saw them for one day, or sometimes even just an afternoon when we lived in Amsterdam. So it was great to be able to spend some quality relaxed time there.

Ripon - day 2

2007-11-11T17:05:00.000+01:00

Sometimes, my little girl amazes me with how well behaved she can be!
She was out like a light last night, but woke up at 3am very upset. She spent the rest of the night in our bed, but didn't sleep very much so we are both pretty tired. She missed her morning nap too, so I was a bit worried that she would get grouchy today.

We went over to see Jamie for his birthday, and a big group of us went out for Sunday lunch.
It was great to see Jamie and Jack (Emma's half brothers). They both looked fantastic in their pin stripe shirts! (I am used to them being in scruffy hoodies!) It was about 2pm by the time we actually got any food, but Emma was so happy to sit at the table and play with a plastic tray that the kitchen staff had found for her. She helped herself (literally!) to some of my dinner, and then was passed around the table from person to person for a bit of a cuddle. She was good as gold, and had a smile for everyone. I was so worried that she would be grouchy, because lunch was rather late and she was tired, but she was good as gold. I have said it before, but sometimes I really need to let up and give her more credit!

Both Brett and I forgot to bring our cameras to Ripon, so I will need to get photos from other people. There were some greats ones taken though so I will put them up as soon as I get a copy.

Ripon - day 1

2007-11-10T21:47:00.000+01:00

We drove up from Surrey to Ripon in North Yorkshire today to visit Brett's parents. It is a long long car journey, made slightly longer when Brett couldn't remember if he had turned the cooker off before leaving the house so we had to turn back. :0S

Luckily Emma was in much better spirits today. She slept a lot on the journey, and we only had to stop once. She was such a happy bunny when we arrived, and was very charming to her nana, grandad and auntie Hayley. She sat at the head of the table for dinner, and ate loads. Well we thought she had... we found most of it on the floor under the table after she had finished! Emma's nana (Anne) did a good job of wearing her out, and she went off to sleep really quickly tonight, even after all the sleeping in the car. It seems that sleep out of bed (i.e. in the sling or the car) doesn't count - she still wants to sleep as normal.

Emma's half brother turns 18 tomorrow. Wow how scary is that?!?! I still always think of him as a little 11 year old kid, but then when I see him I realise what a great young man he has grown up into. We are all off for a nice Sunday lunch together tomorrow - should be fun!

Unknitting

2007-11-09T22:19:00.000+01:00

We had a quiet day today. Emma has been teething like mad over the last couple of days, and it has been really upsetting her. That, coupled with frustration about not being able to get around as much as she would like (she is learning fast, but there is a long way to go!) has led to a rather miserable little girl today. I found that the only way she was happy was if she was being held in a standing position so she could jump up and down (much as I love her, I can't do that all day!!) or if I sat on the floor and played with her. If I so much as looked at the door, she would burst into tears! Luckily she had a really long sleep this morning, so I managed to get all the housework done before lunch.

We had a lot of fun when Emma got hold of my knitting and unravelled it all. I wasn't sure about the colour anyway, so wasn't that bothered. But when I started to wind the wool back up into a ball she fell about giggling. I have no idea what it was that she thought was so funny about it, but we ended up spending a huge amount of time winding and unwinding balls of wool today. I love the weird things that make this little girl laugh! I got a bit of video of it, so I will post some up if it is any good.

So, all in all, it was a fairly uneventful day. I was going to write up some blw recipes tonight for the blog post, but to be honest I am too tired. There will be plenty of time for all that later in the month. ;-)

Ten photos for ten years

2007-11-08T19:49:00.000+01:00

For a change, my post today is not about Emma! It is a post about my wonderful husband Brett. I realised today that we have been together for 10 years, and if that is not worth a post in its own right then I don't know what is. (We don't actually know the exact date that we got together, just that it was around the start of November 1997).

So, here are 10 photos to tell the story of our life over the last 10 years:

Back in the late '90s we were both a couple of goths. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately depending on your point of view!!) I don't have any digi photos from back then. So my first photo is from July 1999 at Cath and Ian's wedding. Check out the hair extentions!! lol :-)

In April 2000 we went to the Netherlands to stay with my Dad for a long weekend. It was Brett's first trip to NL, and it coincided with Queens Day. Here is Brett looking rather chilled out on a terrace. It was quite a pivotal holiday for us - we moved to Amsterdam in November the same year!

In August 2002 we got married at the Amstelkerk in Amsterdam. Here we are leaving the church. I love how chuffed I look in the first photo. I have a husband, a beer, a ciggy a wicked dress and my mate Cath is holding a brolly for me. How much better does it get?? ;-)
The second photo with my sister Anna (my bridesmade) and Pete (the best man).

And off we went on honeymoon to Thailand. It was the most wonderful place, and someday I would love to go back there. We seem to look progressively more sunburned as the holiday photos go on!

Married life was great. We had a lovely little apartment in Amsterdam, and both worked together at UUNET. Some people found it weird that we worked together, but actually it was really good. We were not in the same department, but when our paths did cross professionally we worked really well together. Brett left the company the next year, and I left in 2004. We both ended up working together yet again, this time at the RIPE NCC. This time we were working a lot more closely (but still different departments). It worked out fine though, and I really enjoyed it.

So, married life continued... we got ourselves a lovely cat called Tegan in 2005. She is still in Amsterdam, and I miss her terribly. Hopefully she will be able to move over here soon.

And then finally, in Feb 2007, Emma came along and changed us from a happy couple to a loving family. The first photo was taken at the hospital just after Emma was born, and the second one was in August.

And thats it!! Here we are ten years later - older, more sensible hair, slightly wider waist line, back in the UK again, but very very happy. xxx

Plain English campaign for knitting patterns

2007-11-07T21:46:00.000+01:00

Well, last night was not so bad. I should give Emma more credit really! She did wake up at about 8.30 but just for a cuddle. I brought her downstairs, and she fell asleep in my arms about 10 minutes later. I love it when she does that!

When I was in town today I finally went inside a really cute little knitting shop I found recently. I can knit, but haven't done it for a while. I wanted to knit some booties for Emma to keep her feet warm when she is in the wrap, but all the patterns I have found online are for newborns and she has really big feet. So, I went in and this absolutely lovely little old lady helped me out. I bought a pattern, some wool, even the right sized needles! (I normally just make do with the needles I have, and then wonder why it doesn't look right).

So... I got started this evening after Emma went to bed. A pair of bootees can't be that difficult can it? Well (hope I am not breaking any copyright here) check this out:

Using 2 3/4 needles and C cast on 51 st. (C is the contrasting colour, M is the main colour).

1st row: K1 *P1 K1, rep from * to end
2nd row: P1 *K1 P1, rep from * to end

OK... I am fine with that bit... so we are 2 rows in and then it all starts to go a bit wrong...

Cont in rib as set and work (2 rows in M 2 rows in C) 4 times then 2 rows in M.

Right then...

So how many rows in total is that? How many stripes should I have? (To make matters a bit worse, I am ignoring the stripes and only using one colour). Each stripe should be 2 rows. So, should I do a main colour stripe then a contrasting stripe 4 times, then do an extra main colour stripe at the end? So this should be a total of 10 stripes, including the first stripe in rows 1 and 2? So that is 20 rows? This is how I read it anyway!! If there are any knitters out there, please stop me if I am completely wrong!

I am a big advocate of Plain English for instructions. Have a look at the campaign if you are not familiar with it: http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/ I completely understand that knitting instructions need to have common abbreviations, but that is just ridiculous!

I thought that bootees would be a simple thing to start with. Maybe I should stick to scarves!

We are driving up to Ripon at the weekend to visit Brett's parents, so this is supposed to be something to keep me quiet in the car. But if I am stuck after 2 rows I am not holding out a lot of hope...

Overtired in pictures

2007-11-06T21:01:00.000+01:00

Before I became a parent, I didn't really get the concept of kids being "overtired". Well, Emma is now the overtired queen. About once a week she goes on nap strike all day, and then decides she wants to sleep at exactly 6pm (dinner time). After fighting her way through dinner she will normally then be grumpy at bath time and a nightmare to get to bed. Like most kids (I now know!) she gets so tired that she is all tensed up, and it makes it difficult for her to get to sleep.

Well what would you know it - today was a nap strike day! I actually did manage to get her to sleep this morning, but only for about 15 mins so I don't think that really counts. I was fully expecting a difficult time from her this evening, and Brett is out for the night.

OK - when I say "a difficult time" I really shouldn't moan - Emma is really such a good happy little soul most of the time. So I am a bit oversensitive when she gets grumpy from time to time!

Anyway, here is how the evening panned out in pictures:

6pm. Dinner time. Yum yum.

6.05pm. Still having dinner. But we have given up on actually eating anything now, and are just having a laugh.

6.06pm. Well that didn't last long did it!

So we went and got bathed and ready for bed...

6.45pm. zzzzzz

Ahhhhh bless her. She normally goes to bed at about 7.30!

I think I spoke too soon though - it is now 8.30pm and she has woken up. I think maybe this is going to be a long night... wish me luck!

Babble babble

2007-11-05T14:09:00.000+01:00

Emma's new thing is to chatter away to anything that will listen. She talks to me, to Brett, to the TV and all her toys. To the sofa, my feet, her feet, the mirror... you get the picture! At the moment everything is dada this and dada that. It is so lovely, especially when she says it to Brett when he comes into the room!

I thought Emma was going to skip crawling and go straight from sitting to walking, but just this weekend she started to commando crawl. Now she is unstoppable - she is never ever where I put her, and always where I don't want her to be! If there is a hard surface, she is next to it waggling her head around. If there is something breakable, she is trying to get her hands on it. She is just into everything at the moment, so I have to be so careful!

I will try to get some good video of all this soon! :-)

On the eating front, she has a voracious appetite at the moment and is devouring just about anything that is put on her plate.

That is, unless she is tired. She is getting into the habit of skipping naps, which always makes dinner a bit of a nightmare because she gets grumpy when she is so tired. Its just a little phase I think and I am sure we will be over it soon.

We had a lovely time this weekend. We are finally all feeling fit and healthy again after a bout of colds and flu. Our friend Amanda came down from Scotland to visit on Friday. It was so lovely to see her. Emma was quite taken with her too! We popped in to see my Mum on Saturday, and on Sunday we went to Winkworth Arboretum. The autumn colours were just lovely. Check out my gorgeous new silk mei tai baby carrier - I made this one myself and I am very proud of it!

Sunday Papers

2007-11-04T22:07:00.000+01:00

Emma has a bit of a thing for newspapers (something to do with the crunchy noise perhaps) and she managed to get hold of the Money section of the Sunday Times...

Fireworks

2007-11-03T23:48:00.000+01:00

We had our town bonfire night on Friday. Brett was away for the night, so it was just me and Emma in. She went to bed like a little angel at 7.30 and I was going to settle in for an evening of movies. However, she didn't manage to stay asleep for very long with all the noise!

The poor little thing was so scared. I picked her up, wrapped her in a big blanket (a lovely crochet one that my mum made) took her into the bathroom and opened up the windows. From there, we had a fantastic view of the fireworks display.

So why am I sharing this rambling thought? Because as I was holding Emma, and watching her eyes light up in amazement at the pretty patterns in the sky, I suddenly got a little taste of what it is going to be like in a few years time when we can get all wrapped up in warm clothes, and go to the fireworks display together. I can't wait! I always loved bonfire night as a child - not the fireworks (I don't like the loud bangs even now) but because the warmth of all my wooly clothes, the cold of my cheek, the heat of the fire and the sweetness of all the toffee and marshmallows would make me feel like winter was well and truely here. And of course winter means that Christmas is just around the corner! ;-)

Drying up

2007-11-02T20:32:00.000+01:00

Now the problem with posting every single day, is finding something to write about on those days when absolutely nothing has happened! The thing about being a stay at home mum is that sometimes the highlight of my day is a walk down the road to the post office. That is not really the kind of stuff that people want to read about.

Don't get me wrong - I am so happy that I made the decision to become a stay at home mum. Before Emma arrived I was really driven by my career. (Some would even say I was obsessive about it!) Most people were really surprised by my sudden decision not to return to work. But even though there is the odd boring day, I am still really pleased that I made this choice. I realised early on that these first months are so precious, and there is no way of getting them back. My career obsessiveness would have made it very difficult to spend enough quality time with Em, so really it was a very easy choice to make.

That still doesn't answer my question though does it? What to write about when I am having a dull day...

Well the whole reason I started this blog was as a resource for parents who want to follow baby led weaning. There is not a whole lot of information about it out there, and I found it really helpful to read other people's blogs about it. Over time, it has kind of developped into more of a blog about my family life, but I still like to focus on Emma's dinner. (If you have seen how much she enjoys it then you will understand why!) So there we go - I will post up BLW friendly recipes when I am all out of other ideas!

Not that today was a quiet day... Amanda came down from Scotland to visit. She has 3 beautiful girls of her own, so she knows exactly how to handle Emma. This was the first time I had seen her since Emma was born, and it was so nice to be able to talk to her about motherhood, and really understand what she means. oooo and she brought presents too, which Emma loved!

NaBloPoMo

2007-11-01T09:25:00.000+01:00

I had better mention that I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. No - it is not one of Emma's new words! It stands for National Blog Posting Month. The idea is that bloggers post every day in November. Some of you family members who are always pushing for new photos (you know who you are!!) will be very pleased about this. Some of you might want me to carry on, and go back to religiously posting every day. Well who knows - maybe I will! But the older and more active that Emma gets, the more precious my spare time becomes. Having said that, I love looking back at older posts, and seeing how much she has grown and changed in such a short time, so posting every day is a great idea if I can manage it!

A message from Emma

2007-10-25T14:43:00.000+02:00

Photo update

2007-10-24T21:51:00.000+02:00

It has been a busy busy week. Emma had a cold last week, and this week she picked up a nasty cough from somewhere. I guess it is just the time of year, but I really wish I could take it all away from her and make it better! She has been very sweet about it though. She will sit and play for a while, cough a bit and get upset, but try to be brave because she wants to carry on playing. She is such a good girl!

My Dad visited from the Netherlands last week too. It was great to see him - I kind of miss living so close to him! Emma was, as always, pleased to see him and had lots of fun showing off her new skills - bashing toys together (alot!!) and standing up and making baby steps when I hold her hands. I will try to get a video of it at some point!

On the BLW front, things are continuing to go well. We have finally managed to fit breakfast into our daily schedule! I was trying to give porridge to Emma (because it is my favourite for breakfast) but she was having none of it. However, she does like oaty cheerios with a tiny bit of milk on them to make them more squishy!

I gave her cous cous for the first time the other day. I made it with tomatoes and courgettes in it. It was so funny! I have never seen such a mess! She ate loads of it by squashing it together, and shoving as much as possible in her mouth at once. When she was bored with eating, she decided to pick up big handfulls and blow it. The dining room looked like a cous cous bomb had gone off! I managed to get one photo during the meal. What you can't see is that she has hidden most of it under her bib!

Another new lunchtime favourite is scrambled egg on muffins. It is perfect, because it is so quick to make, and I love it too!

And here are a couple of other random photos. As most of you know, I don't use a buggy very often. I probably only use it once or twice a month because I prefer to carry Emma in a wrap. But the other day I had an appointment, and was running very late. It was a long uphill walk, so I thought it would be easier to take her in the buggy. I was very wrong. The pavement slopes to the right for about three quarters of a mile, so by the time I got there my arms were killing me!! And for the first time in 8 months, I had left the house without a sling! (I normally have one stashed in the bottom of the buggy). Emma was not overly impressed by the buggy or her big pink fluffy coat.

And to round things off, this is just a photo of Emma looking cute! :-)

OK - that is three blog entries in one day. I think I am off the hook now!

Catherine has a new toy too!

2007-10-24T17:39:00.000+02:00

My new Pacifica wrap from Kati Wraps arrived this morning. I am so happy with it! Purple and turquoise make such a good combination! I know I know - it only seems like five minutes since Earthy Rainbow arrived. But this one is a different length, and better for back carries. (Unfortunately, Emma is feeling poorly again though, and is on back carry strike). And it is a different colour. Do you get the impression I am trying to justify this in some way??

All I need now is a green wrap, in an even shorter length (4.1m or 3.6m), with a fringe, and then I will have reached stash nirvana. Santa - are you listening?

Earthy Rainbow will always be my favourite though. The pictures from our visit to Cornwall really show me how lovely it is!

Right - that is enough of me going on about wraps for one day! Here are some pictures to show off the new one!

See how it matches Emma's eyes:

Showing off both the wrap and Emma's lovely hat:

And proof that Pacifica definately passes the snuggle and sleep test!

Emma has a new toy

2007-10-24T14:14:00.000+02:00

I am sure that Emma is going to be musical!! Every time she hears the music from her singing turtle, she looks up and does a little bouncy dance. She even does it when she is just sitting on her own, and I play the video for her. So cute! :-)

Family resemblance

2007-10-19T10:44:00.001+02:00

Am busy busy busy at the moment, so the blog is (once again!) not being updated as often as I would like. But I had a little thought this morning about family resemblances that I thought I would share.

Obviously, Emma looks quite like me. Our eyes are rather similar, and our cheeks too. She also looks very like Brett. With him it is the eyes too (I can't tell if they look like mine or his most of the time!) and definately the nose.

People often comment that my sister (Anna) and I look very alike. So therefore it follows that Emma should look like Anna. Well, here is a picture:

Same cheeks, same eyes, same nose! I think that Em looks more like Anna than me!!

Forgotton Broccoli

2007-10-15T22:41:00.000+02:00

I have said it before, and I will say it again. Broccoli is (in my humble opinion) one of the most vile foods known to mankind. And to make it even worse, it makes everything near it smell and taste like broccoli too. Don't even get me started on how it makes other veg cooked in the same pot taste. Trouble is, Emma loves it! Because of my broccoli loathing, I don't tend to cook it very often. I mean, why bother cooking something that you have absolutely no intention of eating? One of the best things about baby led weaning is that you can feed the baby whatever you are eating. :-)

So anyway... I was thinking today that Emma has not had much in the way of green veggies recently. I eat a lot of peas and beans, but they are too small for her and I worry about her choking. For dinner tonight I cooked chicken in a tomato and courgette sauce with pasta. I gave the same to Em, but also boiled up some of the dreaded broccoli for her.

I wish I liked it as much as she does! I don't know what it is about it that she loves so much, but I suspect it must be the colour. It certainly can't be the taste. But I get the feeling I am going to have to come to terms with this dislike, get over it, and cook it more often! Here she is trying to get two bits in at once!

Better now thanks!

2007-10-14T22:34:00.000+02:00

Brett did a really nice roast dinner today. Emma was feeling much better, and tucked right in!

I mentioned earlier that Emma had gone for a nap on her own for the first time the other day. Well, my success was short lived. We are right back to nursing, rocking, coaxing and snuggling to sleep. Oh well! In some ways I like it. Having her fall asleep in my arms is always lovely. But it would be nice if she could manage it on her own too, so I need to keep on trying!

Colds

2007-10-13T22:20:00.000+02:00

Things have been a bit quiet around here recently, because Emma and I have been suffering from colds. It has put Emma right off her food, and she has been so bunged up that she was struggling to breath. I am happy to say that she is getting better now though, so normal blogging service should be resumed very soon.

In the meantime, here is a cute picture of Emma in the new hat that my mum bought for her! :-)

Poor head

2007-10-09T17:09:00.000+02:00

Emma bumped her head yesterday afternoon. She had a good old sob for a couple of minutes, then forgot all about it again. She was very clingy all afternoon though. When Brett came home from work, she really wanted a cuddle. I just had to post this picture, because it is so sweet.

What is the point?

2007-10-09T17:00:00.000+02:00

Yesterday, I thought I would be a bit more creative with Emma's dinner. I had some "flash mash" (mashed potatoes with parmesan and spring onions) left over in the fridge. So, for lunch I added some tuna and some cooked mashed carrots. Then I formed them into tiny fish cakes, coated them in breadcrumbs, and fried them in a tiny bit of olive oil. They were absolutely lovely!

However, Emma had other ideas, and turned them straight back into mash again. So all the faffing with forming nice cakes, coating in breadcrumbs and frying them was for nothing. I might as well have mixed it all together and dumped it on her tray! Oh well - should have known really shouldn't I! :-)

Breakfast - no thanks!

2007-10-08T11:11:00.000+02:00

We are having a bit of a problem with breakfast at the moment. Basically, it just doesn't happen. I have tried, but the timing of it just doesn't work out, and she is not interested. Recently, Emma has started to master the art of eating with a spoon, so I thought I would start sharing my porridge with her. This morning was our first go.

When she eventually got some in her mouth, the face she pulled showed me immediately that this was unlikely to work. I tried a bit more, but she clearly didn't like it. I had one pear left in the fruit bowl, so I decided to mash half of that into it to see if this would help. I love these pears, and I had been looking forward to having the last one with my lunch! But if it means getting Emma to eat breakfast then the sacrifice is worth it! ;-)

That didn't work either... she was still not interested. So I gave her what was left of the pear. That ended up on the dining room floor. The only thing she was interested in eating for breakfast was her own bib.

Lets hope that tomorrow is more successful! Maybe we will have toast instead.

We did have one big breakthrough today though. A bit later on in the morning, I noticed that Emma was looking tired. It was 9.30 which is about the time she normally goes for a nap. Usually, I have to feed, rock, cuddle and coax her to sleep, then put her in the cot when she is absolutely zonked and sneak away. We had done this for just about every sleep in the last 8 months. But we were playing on my bed at the time and she looked like she was going to fall asleep. So, I put her in the cot, and she drifted off to sleep on her own! To those who don't have problems getting their kids off to sleep, this probably sounds like nothing. But believe me, this is brilliant news for me! I will try the same again tomorrow.

Pizza

2007-10-07T22:00:00.000+02:00

Since we moved house, I have been a bit disorganised with Emma's food to be honest. She has been eating lots of fruit and veg, but I just haven't had time to try anything new and exciting. So this week I decided to get myself back in gear.

It all went a bit wrong today though. We were out for the day, got back late, Emma was hungry and tired, and I had not had a chance to prepare any food. So, out of desperation, I made little pizzas out of muffin, tomato puree and cheese. (Thanks to a recommendation on the babycentre forums). OK - not particularly great on the nutrition front, but next time I will add peppers or mushrooms or something. She spent about 10 minutes inspecting what had been put in front of her. She would lick it, look at it, turn it over, look some more... no actual eating. Then all of a sudden she was in there and there was no stopping her. It looks like pizza is a hit! At least I know that I have an easy little thing I can make with no time and practically no ingredients now!

Sunny day

2007-10-05T11:41:00.001+02:00

The weather was so nice yesterday! I was tired out from a long walk in the morning and lots of unpacking and tidying, so we just had a lovely chilled out afternoon in the garden. It really makes me wish I had had a nice big garden during the summer!

Normally I make sure I don't have washing up if I am taking pics in the garden... but this is pretty washing!

And here we are just back from our walk...

Back to BLW - because that is what this blog was originally supposed to be all about... Emma has two teeth on the bottom now, and the top two look like they will be here any day. But this is causing a few problems with eating. She used to gum and food and suck it until it was mushy. Then she would chew it around her mouth and swallow it. But now she takes a great big bite, tries to chew it around, then spits it out. I hope she gets the hang of it again soon!

This one's for you Anne!

2007-10-04T18:20:00.001+02:00

As requested by Anne (Emma's Nana) here is a little video of Emma being very silly in the garden this afternoon.

Cornwall

2007-10-01T23:05:00.000+02:00

Cornwall is great - in some ways I am a bit loath to tell everyone just how nice it is, because I don't want too many people to go crowding into to the lovely quiet bits. :-)

We stayed in a lovely cottage at Trebarwith Strand with the rest of my family. I haven't been on a family holiday since we went to Morocco when I was about 18ish. That was a very long time ago! But it was great to spend time with everyone away from the normal familiar surroundings. Trebarwith Strand is a big favourite with my family, and I can really see why. It is so quiet and peaceful up on the cliff, but the sea crashes around you so fiercely when you are down on the rocks. It feels so wild, and really blows away the cobwebs!

We did the obligatory trip to the Eden project. It was kind of cool, because it was so big, but in my opinion it was not a patch on the Hortus Botanicus. Actually, it made me a bit homesick for Amsterdam. One thing I will say though is that the food is excellent! Really natural and home made tasting. We forgot to bring anything for Emma, so she ended up having "Molly Cake" in the cafe. It was healthy cake made with fruits and juices with no sugar or anything. It was surprisingly nice, and she really liked it! (I have even kept the ingredients label to see if I can work out how to make it!)

We also went to Tintagel. I didn't think much of the town, but the beach was just wonderful. I had to clamber down the rocks quite precariously with Emma in the sling, but once there she was absolutely mesmerised by the crashing sea. We found a great cave, and it was quite funny because we ran into another babywearing mum in there! I was not the only one mad enough to climb over the rocks with my baby! :-) We didn't get to go up to the castle, because it is really not baby friendly terrain. Maybe next time.

Here are the best of the photos. Sorry - there are quite a few, but I had so many to choose from!

Trebarwith Strand looking back from the beach:

Trebarwith Strand sunset:

Me carrying Emma on Trebarwith Strand at sunset:

Mum outside the cave at Tintagel:

Dad and Lee doing manly stone skimming on the beach at Tintagel:

Emma tucks into Molly Cake at the Eden Project:

And finally...
... an arty photo of the rocks at Trebarwith Strand:

If you are still with me, thanks a lot!
I can't take credit for any of the photos - they are all down to Brett. :-)

This is a place that is very special to my family, so I don't think it is going to be too long before we go there again. Maybe next time Emma will be old enough for a bucket and spade!

So here we are in the UK

2007-10-01T22:25:00.000+02:00

Hi again. Life is returning to some kind of normality, so it is time for me to start blogging again! The move to Godalming went really smoothly. Huge amounts of thanks to everyone who helped us! (At both the NL and UK ends).

The house is everything I could have hoped for and more. (I didn't see it in real life before moving here. Mad I know). It is so tiny and cosy, the garden is twice as big as I thought it was. It is quiet and peaceful, and the walk to town is nice. There are so many places for us to walk and feed the ducks around here... I have totally fallen in love with the place.

Emma has coped with everything really well. The first night that we got here was spent at my Mum's house. The next evening, Brett arrived with all our stuff. That was a very late night, and Emma ended up sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Then she had one night in her own bed and we were off to Cornwall for 5 days. Poor wee thing didn't know if she was coming or going! But she has really settled down now. Funny thing is, she seems to be sleeping better than ever - 2 good long naps during the day (she used to cat nap in 30 minute bursts, but now it is 1.5 hours twice a day) and still sleeping well at night. I wonder how long this will last...

The biggest news from Emma is that she is sitting up on the floor now. She can't quite get there on her own yet, but if I help her to sit up then she can stay there for 15 mins or so. It is great - there are so many more games we can play this way!

On the eating front, all is going well. I have finally introduced the concept of a spoon. I really enjoy the BLW approach, but was finding it rather limiting. There is some food that you just can't eat with your fingers! OK - so it is only really yoghurt and porridge at the moment, but I eat a lot of these so it is great if Emma does too. The thing is, she absolutely will not let me spoon feed her. I have to load the spoon, give it to her, and let her feed herself. I have not graduated to letting her have the yoghurt pot to load the spoon herself yet. For goodness sake - we are living in rented accomodation now. I can't afford to get the carpets cleaned every week because Emma has coated them in porridge! Maybe it is something we can work towards! Here is a photo of Em enjoying her first yoghurt.

Lots more to come... I am going to do a seperate post about Cornwall later tonight.

Offline for a while

2007-09-17T22:27:00.001+02:00

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!!!!

2007-09-17T22:21:00.001+02:00

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

2007-09-17T22:13:00.000+02:00

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

2007-09-16T22:01:00.000+02:00

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

2007-09-13T20:38:00.000+02:00

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

2007-09-13T10:10:00.000+02:00

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

2007-09-10T20:10:00.000+02:00

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

2007-09-08T19:35:00.000+02:00

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

2007-09-07T20:44:00.000+02:00

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

2007-09-06T13:11:00.000+02:00

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

2007-09-05T20:00:00.000+02:00

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

2007-09-03T21:43:00.000+02:00

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

2007-09-02T21:36:00.000+02:00

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

2007-09-01T19:30:00.000+02:00

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

A day out with Grandad

2007-09-01T18:00:00.000+02:00

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! ;-)

Dried fruit

2007-08-31T12:38:00.000+02:00

My dad came over yesterday, and we took Emma out for the afternoon. She showed off her new eating skills before he left, and I felt so proud! I had a bad night though, and felt really ill from out of nowhere. My temperature was high, and everything was achy - like the start of flu. I didn't get a lot of sleep. Emma woke us up by howling at 6am because she had wiggled out of her blankets to the top of the cot, stuck her foot out of the rails and got all in a bit of a tangle. I thought today was going to be a very bad day...

But I was wrong! Emma went back to sleep next to me. When she woke up, she amused herself for ages by playing with her toes very quietly so I got a bit more rest. I eventually managed to drag myself out of bed, still feeling pretty crappy, and made a little nest for us in the living room with toys, drinks, and remote controls. She has been good as gold, playing by herself and letting me rest.

For lunch, I needed something which involved absolutely no work, so went for dried fruit again. This time she couldn't get enough of it, and seemed to really love the dried apricots in particular. This is a bit of a breakthrough, because it means that I have some food options that are easy to transport if we are going out somewhere.

Lets hope she stays this good for the rest of the day!