Proud Mummy Moments
Zonked out whilst listening to his mobile this afternoon
Lately we seem to be completely swamped with Proud Mummy Moments (or PMMs) as Xander is coming along in leaps and bounds:
- Xander now goes to sleep some time between 7pm and 7:15pm and we rarely hear a peep from him until around 4.30am when Dale gets up for work, which reminds Xander that he hasn’t eaten in HOURS so he wants some milk and a cuddle, after which he goes back to sleep again.
- Naptimes are now far easier too as we know roughly what time and how long he’ll sleep. He lies down some time between 9am and 9.30am and will sleep for anything between 45 minutes and two hours! He then lies down again at some point between 1pm and 2pm (usually around 1.30pm, to be honest) and will sleep for anything between 45 minutes and 1.5 hours, depending on how long he slept at his morning nap.
- He eats pretty much anything we give him so he’s now on four solid meals a day! At breakfast he has some cereal and occasionally will also eat a little bit of toast. At lunch time he’ll have a savoury course (usually a pasta meal of some kind), followed by a small amount of a sweet (usually a fromage frais) and some finger foods (such as bread or a small sandwich of Dairylea or peanut butter). At dinner time he’ll have a little bit of whatever we’re having, so it’s usually a meat and veg affair and he loves all his vegetables, in particular carrots and fine beans! Then at supper time, he gets porridge made with breast milk. He easts all this with a minimum of fuss and very little faffing around, especially when we’re out and about. I have absolutely no qualms about taking him out to very nice places for lunch as he’s very well behaved and eats nicely! We also give him the spoon with the last little bit of food on it to pop it in his mouth himself. It usually goes straight in!
- His lunch time and afternoon milk is now expressed breast milk from a sippy cup and he can pretty much manage this himself now, although he needs a hand once the level of the milk gets lower, and we tend to keep close to him or he waves it around and decorate everything a lovely shade of milk, much to his delight!
- He loves having his teeth brushed and we do this after every meal. He even likes to have a go at brushing them himself, so he gets to finish off with his little toothbrush before he hands it over to be put away.
- Xander can now say “Mama”, “Dada” and “Nana”. He’s also often heard to say “Ey-yo!” when people appear, so we can only presume he’s trying to say hello, as we say it so often to him!
- He loves to wach Top Gear and makes “Brrrrm-brrrrm” noises when the cars are being driven!
- Xander’s favourite book is “Where’s Spot”. He lifts all the flaps and turns the pages himself, and when we get to the monkey in the wardrobe, often joins in with (or sometimes actually initiates!) the “Ooh-ooh, aah-aah” noise that Daddy uses to accompany that page.
- The other day, he decided to wave goodbye to Justin (the presenter on Something Special on CBeebies) and has since then waved to Daddy a couple of times when saying goodnight.
- As we watch Something Special every day, I sign along with the presenters in order that Xander can pick up some Makaton sign language. The other afternoon, he looked at his sippy cup, looked at me, then signed “Drink”. When I handed him his cup, he gulped it down! He’s signed “Drink” twice since then.
- Xander is now properly mobile! A few days ago he commando crawled about 12 inches to get to a toy, but then refused to do it again. Yesterday, however, he went about a foot again chasing Daddy’s bottle of juice, and today he’s been zooming around all over the living room!
- This afternoon, when we put him down for his nap, he was still wide awake when Daddy left the room. A few minutes later, we heard music. Xander had switched on his mobile (you have to press the “on” button twice in quick succession to do this) which no longer has the hanging section on it, but the music bit is still attached to the side of his cot. He obviously fancied a bit of music to help him drift off!
And of course, on top of all this, he’s a happy, giggly, smiley, kissy, cuddly little boy who is a delight to be around, He loves nothing more than dancing and “singing” along to music and seems to find the sight of Mummy in the kitchen hilarious for some reason. He plays well with his little friend, Sonny (who is 3 weeks younger than him) and loves to have his face tickled and to look at his books. I’m so proud of my lovely little boy that I could burst!
Baby Buddies – Reviews of Restaurant Family-Friendliness
Xander LOVES his own high chair!
As a new parent, I find it difficult to arrange places to go with others when we have Xander in tow, as having a baby, a buggy, and all the paraphernalia required for an outing with a baby can make a day out very stressful, and it doesn’t help if the place you go isn’t particularly baby-friendly! So, I thought I’d start reviewing the places I visit with Xander so that other parents in the area can guage whether or not a place might be worth visiting with their kids!
The Square, Golden Square, Aberdeen
Pros:
- Excellent food at a decent price
- Very spacious
- Plenty of high chairs with trays
- Friendly staff and good service
- Good, clean changing facilities in the disabled loo on the ground floor
- If you phone ahead and arrange it, they’ll heat baby food in the microwave for you
- Pay and Display parking nearby in Golden Square
Cons:
- Half a dozen steps to get into the place
Review:
My friend, Kez, and I went to The Square for lunch with our two young’uns in tow (both at around the eight-month mark) in their buggies and each of us bringing our own food for them. Once we managed to get into the restaurant (which isn’t all that easy due to having to negotiate the half-a-dozen steps and go through two doors), we found it to be very spacious with plenty of room to manoeuvre our bulky buggies around the place.
We’d been seated in a quiet corner where our little ones wouldn’t be disturbed if they decided to nap after lunch (which was very considerate) and where we wouldn’t feel the buggies were in anyone’s way, and the staff were quick to bring the hot water required for making up lunch for Xander and also to heat up Sonny’s lunch in the microwave before we’d even looked at the menus.
Both of us were pleased that the high chairs had trays so the boys could be given finger foods to manage for themselves whilst we ate our own lunches, and the chairs themselves were clean, comfortable and had sturdy restraints on them to keep wriggling tots in place! We also didn’t feel at all hassled by the staff – they came back a few times to see if we were ready to order, but never looked frustrated when we needed a few more minutes and they always smiled.
The food was piping hot and delicious (I ordered the sausages with spring onion mash, caramelised red onions and red wine gravy; Kez ordered the steak burger), and when I asked where they got the sausages, our waitress was only to happy to find out for me (they’re from Wilkinson’s, apparently, which is a company I don’t know, but will make a point of rectifying that soon!). We were so impressed that we had to order dessert (Kez had the hot chocolate brownie, I had the lemongrass pannacotta with citrus jus – both were divine!).
It was a lovely lunch which we ALL enjoyed and I would definitely recommend the place, even with the difficult entry, as a place to go with or without kids.
Rating: 4/5 – very family-friendly. Only one mark deducted because of accessibility problems.
Food Court, Bon Accord Shopping Centre, Aberdeen
Pros:
- City Centre – easy to get to and handy for the shops
- Large multi-storey car park (pay on exit) for shopping centre
- Lots of seating
- Lots of different choices of food
- Baby change facilities nearby
Cons:
- Tables quite tightly-packed
- Often very busy and noisy
- Baby change facilities are in a cramped corner next to the hand drier in the ladies’ toilets
Review:
Seeing as how we just fancied a cuppa, we headed to the Patisserie section at the back of the food court, where they have a lovely array of cakes, scones and pastries as well as other food on their menu. We didn’t have anything to eat on this occasion, but we were sorely tempted!
The staff immediately offered to take our tray to our table for us as we had to contend with our buggies and sleeping boys, which was nice (apparently all the section will take the trays for you, but you usually have to ask first).
It was a nice little “feet-up” moment where we could chat while the boys had a nap.
Note: We didn’t ask for or use highchairs on this occasion, so I have no idea whether or not they have trays.
Rating: 4/5 – one mark deducted for lack of space to move between many of the tables, but otherwise very family friendly.
The Northern Hotel, Great Northern Road, Aberdeen
Pros:
- Quiet
- Free parking nearby
- Highchairs with trays
Cons:
- Baby change facilities on first floor
- Unhelpful staff
- Lack of acknowledgement to complaints!
Review:
I took Xander to meet a couple of friends for coffee, with the idea that it could become a regular haunt, as it’s very handy to get to from my home. Unfortunately, it turned into a bit of a disaster.
The staff were po-faced and unhelpful from the start. I asked if Xander’s food could be heated up in the microwave and was told “We don’t do that – the best I can do is bring you a bowl of hot water.”* No apologies, no explanation, just a flat-out “no”. Now, I can understand that places have health and safety policies to protect themselves if anything horrible should happen in the way of little ones getting burned, but have you ever tried to heat Bolognese in a bowl of hot water? It’s impossible! Xander refused to eat it and if I hadn’t thought to bring along some little sandwiches and other finger foods, we would have had to leave immediately and head for home so he could eat.
They also don’t serve anything in the way of scones or pastries – you go for a meal or nothing. As I was peckish, I ordered the chicken satay sticks, but they were luke-warm (obviously they don’t use the microwave for their own food either!) and unappetising; on top of that, the coffee was, to be blunt, bitter as hell.
When it came time to change Xander’s nappy, I was dismayed to find the changing facilities (and the disabled toilet) are on the first floor, so you have to get into the lift to reach it**.
I emailed the manager to bring all of the above to their attention but three emails (and a month) later I still haven’t even had an acknowledgement.
Rating: 0/5 – Most heartily NOT recommended! Quite possibly themost baby-unfriendly place I’ve ever visited!
* So, if you’re staying at the hotel with a baby, you’d better hope they’re not weaning because you can’t heat their food during your stay.
** There’s also a note in the lift that says it only operates between 7am and 12-midnight, so woe-betide any disabled customers who stay in the hotel bar past midnight as they won’t be able to get to their rooms, never mind the toilet!
TGI Friday’s, Beach Boulevard, Aberdeen
Pros:
- Plenty of free parking
- Plenty of high chairs
- Plenty of room
- Clean baby change facilities
- Other activities and entertainments for young children and adults nearby, including a lovely, sandy beach
Cons:
- No trays on the high chairs
Review:
My group of local Mums and Babies have met here for lunch twice now and have had a great experience. Both times we’ve been, we have been put into our own section away from everyone else, so we can have plenty of room for the buggies and chairs (there are sometimes as many as 8 adults and babies to match!), and a little bit quieter if the babies decide to nap. The staff are friendly and helpful, the food is good, the prices are decent, and the baby change facilities are clean and roomy.
Rating: 4/5 – Incredibly baby-friendly. One mark removed only because the high chairs don’t have trays.
Frankie and Benny’s, Beach Boulevard, Aberdeen
Pros:
- Plenty of free parking
- Plenty of high chairs
- Clean baby change facilities
- Other activities and entertainments for young children and adults nearby, including a lovely, sandy beach
Cons:
- Not much room to move
- Often busy and noisy
- No trays on highchairs
Reviews:
This is another restaurant tested by the Mums and Babies. The tables are pretty packed-in so there was no room for the buggies to be near the tables, so if the babies wanted a nap, we were stuffed! However, the staff were friendly and attentive, despite it being busy and them all being run off their feet.
The food is great and there’s a wide choice on the menu for those who like Italian as well as those who don’t.
Rating: 3/5 – Points deducted for lack of trays on highchairs and lack of room to move, but other than that, a very positive experience.
Chiquitos, Beach Boulevard, Aberdeen
Pros:
- Plenty of free parking
- Plenty of high chairs
- Clean baby change facilities
- Other activities and entertainments for young children and adults nearby, including a lovely, sandy beach
- Moderate room to move
- Activity books and colouring pencils for older children
Cons:
- Can be busy and noisy
- No trays on high chairs
Review:
Another testing ground for the Mums and Babies. There were only three pairs this time, so we were able to keep the buggies / car seats next to us for the babies to nap. Chiquitos also provide an activity book and coloured multi-change pencil to amuse toddlers and older children, which is great for keeping them occupied while the adults finish eating!
One of our Mums had phoned ahead and found that, although the staff won’t take food to be heated in the microwave, they will take you through to the kitchen to heat it yourself, which is a great compromise that covers their butts and keeps parents happy.
The food is very good (Xander liked the refried beans and tortilla bread!), the prices are decent and the baby change facilities are clean and roomy. I’d definitely go back again with a small group of Mums and Babies, but not a larger group, as there wouldn’t be room for all the buggies to be kept nearby.
Rating: 4/5 – Point deducted for lack of trays on highchairs.
Rustico, Union Row, Aberdeen
Pros:
- Multi-storey pay-and-display car parking nearby
- Highchairs have trays
- Clean, roomy baby change facilities
- Friendly, attentive staff
Cons:
- Couple of steps to get inside
- Narrow restaurant, so not much room
Review:
This is one of my sister’s favourite restaurants, so for her birthday, I took out to lunch at Rustico along with Xander and another friend.
Although there are a couple of steps to get into the restaurant, they are quite shallow and not too difficult to get up with a buggy, however, the ground-floor level is very narrow and we had to leave the buggy at the front section where the staff kept an eye on it for us.
I was very impressed when, not only did the high chair have a tray, but the waiter cleaned it with disinfectant spray (the same one I use on Xander’s tray at home!) right in front of us so we knew it was freshly cleaned – a nice touch that reassures Mums that their babies can safely eat food from it. The staff were friendly and attentive, actively engaging with Xander as they passed, with smiling faces and speaking to him, which he loved!
The food was excellent and Xander loved tasting a bit of my spinach and ricotta ravioli (he gobbled it up almost as quickly as I did!). We ALL had a lovely time and Xander quite peacefully and happily fell asleep immediately after we put him in his buggy to leave, so he was obviously satisfied too!
Rating: 4/5 – point deducted for access problems
Pizza Hut, Beach Boulevard, Aberdeen
Pros:
- Plenty of highchairs – some with trays
- Plenty of free parking
- Clean baby change facilities
- Other activities and entertainments for young children and adults nearby, including a lovely, sandy beach
- Moderate room to move
Cons:
- Busy and noisy
- Staff don’t own up to mistakes!
Review:
This was the most disappointing of our Mums and Babies group lunches – we were a large group on this occasion and almost all of us had a baby with us, but despite having made the booking well in advance, they were totally unprepared for us and we had to move our tables into position ourselves.
We were crammed into a corner that was really too small for our number and, as it transpired after a letter of complaint was sent by one of our number, they had not checked the bookings and had stuck us there as an afterthought.*
Some of the high chairs have trays, but they didn’t look to be all that new and had quite a few deep scratches on them which looked dark in comparison to the rest of the surface.
The baby changing facilities are clean, but we all had to wait in turn to change the babies’ nappies and, as there were other babies there as well as ours, it meant a long wait!
I doubt our group will visit en masse again.
* Our recompense for the whole thing was a £5 Pizza Hut voucher – for a party of 10 – big wow!
Rating: 2/5 – If the staff had owned up to their error and lent a hand, the rating would be a bit higher, also if the high chairs all had trays and looked to be in a better state, they might have gained another point.
Fun, fun, fun!
I just head the spoon towards my mouth and… yum!
Xander has been having a lot of fun playing with his spoon after his afternoon snack of fromage frais (which he loves!). As you can see, he can get the spoon in his mouth the right way round, although whenever I give him a “loaded” spoon, it just gets waved about till everything flies off it and redecorates the nearest wall and the carpet to boot!
And he’s quite confident now when it comes to sitting and playing. As I type, he’s sitting on his play mat, playing with his stacking cups and has been doing so for the last half an hour or so with no problems at all. He occasionally turns to the telly if some music catches his attention, but he’s quite happy just sitting on the floor with is toys. Awww, bless!
These stacking cups are so much fun!
The drinks are on Xander!
Got Milk?
Today saw something of a milestone for Xander – for the first time ever, he drank his milk, all by himself, from his sippy cup with no help from me at all! OK, I helped a little bit, just to get him started, but after that, he managed perfectly well on his own. He spilled a little bit down his front, but that’s no big deal – the big deal is he can now do it for himself – hurrah!
I’m so proud I could just burst!
~~~***~~~
And the other pictures, below, were taken on Sunday when we had a family trip to the park. Xander had a lovely time playing with his toys and also had a go on the swings (on my knee) and loved it!
Fun in the sun!
Eurovision Song Contest 2009
Dale and I make a point of watching Eurovision every year and I always keep a blog about it, but this year I didn’t bother blogging the semi-finals (as most of the comments get repeated in the final blog entry). So here are my thoughts on the entries as they happened.
This is also the first time in, like, thirty years that Terry Wogan won’t be doing the commentary for the UK though. He left in a huff after last year’s farce – Russia should NOT have won it! This year we had Graham Norton, so was interesting to see how he did with it. It’s a shame Tel left – his doing the Eurovision commentary was pretty much the highlight of the evening and became a national institution.
Pre-competition entertainment:
Opening with Cirque de Soleil – fantastic
Last year’s winner running through walls inconveniently placed on a travellator – bizarre
Loving the big screens set-up on stage – very high-tech!
Entrants:
Lithuania - Very good performance with an unusual song. Good start to the comp.
Israel - Semi-decent performance, but nothing special. Only worth noting because sung by an Israeli Arab and an Israeli Jew
France - Very Edith Piaf
Sweden - Hideous opera nonsense
Croatia - Sang about feminine hygiene products (Beautiful Tena 
)
Portugal - Not impressed
Iceland - Very strong performance
Greece - My hot tip to win the whole shebang (I actually put money on it!) and he’s damned sexy to boot! And he’s using the fabulous travellator to great effect!
Armenia - Part Armenian and part English. Tight performance from beautiful sisters in gorgeous costumes with lovely Rapunzel hair. I have money on this one finishing top four.
Russia – Terrible on every level. A truly awful song and a dire performance by billionaire’s daughter wearing a shower curtain. Clever aging effect on the screens though. Russia obviously can’t afford to win twice in a row judging by this entry!
Azerbaijan - Decent song but below-average performance. She did OK, but he was well below par in a bizarre reversal of how they did in the semi final.
Bosnia & Herzegovina - Depressing rendition of a dire dirge. Makes me want to slash my wrists listening to this one! Surprised this one got into the final to be honest.
Moldova - What’s with the Mariachi band backing track? And the bizarre River Dance stuff? Catchy tune and energetic performance though. Diggin’ the purple suede boots – where can I get some?
Malta - Nice voice, simple rendition, but the song isn’t all that impressive – very middle-of-the-road and unadventurous. And the ending was a direct steal from the Bonanza theme tune!
Estonia - Good performance, but not much to it. Tuneful and a lovely voice, but the song didn’t really go anywhere and had a weak finish.
Denmark - Penned by Ronan Keating and might as well have been sung by him. Standard Boyzone fare. Uninspiring.
Germany – A little bit swing and with the seductive Dita Von Tease slowly losing clothes throughout the performance. Great stuff!
Turkey – This is the other one I put money on finishing top four, but the performance on the night was just a spot off. Wish I’d put the money on Ukraine or Albania instead.
Albania - Wearing a short meringue and dancing with a green gimp and two dwarves wearing Joker make-up. Wind machine ahoy! Catchy tune and well performed.
Norway - He’s cute as a pixie (needs some tweezers taken to his eyebrows though) and the tune is infectious. Possibly aiming for the Russian/Balkan vote, judging by the style.
Romania - Pretty costumes, pretty girls, pretty awful. Actually, they gave a decent enough performance, I just found the song really same-y and nothing-y.
UK - I have to say straight off that I hate this song. Andrew Lloyd Webber should stick to musicals. I also can’t stand that Jade lassie – her voice warbles all over the place. Last year we had a great entry with a fantastic performance – we’ve taken a huge step backwards with this dross. Insipid song and terrible performance.
Finland - Spirited performance but didn’t people learn about entering a song with rapping from the UK’s entry a few years back? (Daz with Teenage Life – one of the UK’s lowest Eurovision moments!). Finland should have gone with Surrender by Passionworks (which was one of the contenders) – it was a far better song and would have stood them a far better chance of winning.
Spain - I love her haircut! Very strong performance with a good song.
Interval entertainment:
More excellent Cirque de Soleil wonderment. These guys really are the pinacle of circuse permance art – they’re always spectacular! Really bizarre swimming-pool antics tha were stunning to watch.
What we bet on:
Dale and I both put money on Greece to win and between us bet on Turkey, Armenia, Ukraine and Albania as possibilities to finish in the top four, so I’m hoping they’ll all come in!
The results:
- Norway (with 387 points – more than any other winner in the history of Eurovivison, smashing Finland’s record from 2006 when Lordi won it with 292 points singing Hard Rock Hallelujah!)
- Iceland (218 points)
- Azerbaijan (207 points)
- Turkey (177 points) – DING-DING-DING! I win a tiny amount of cash!
- United Kingdom (173 points)
Greece finished 7th with 120 points
Armenia finished 10th with 92 points
Ukraine finished 12th with 76 points
Albania finished 17th with 48 points
It’s rather disappointing that Greece didn’t do better – we really thought they’d be right up there with their fantastic entry this year; and the UK did far better than we expected, finishing in the top five. I only won a tiny amount from one of my bets – the each-way I’d placed on Turkey.
And didn’t Graham Norton do well with his commentary? A worthy successor to Mr Wogan who made the evening sparkle with his witticisms. I had my reservations as I’m no fan of his, but he did a sterling job.
Success!
Xander – Standing up on Daddy on the sofa 12.05.09
I’m pleased to report that the sleep training has been an unmitigated success! Xander now has a regular routine and goes down for his morning nap some time between 9.00 and 9.30am without a fuss (a few minutes of crying at the very most) and will happily sleep for anything between 30 minutes and 1hr 30mins! He goes down for his afternoon nap some time between 1.00pm and 1.30pm (if at home – and sometimes closer to 2.00pm if we’re out and about in his buggy) and will sleep for roughly the same amount of time (if his morning nap is long, his afternoon nap is shorter and vice versa). He goes to bed around 7.00pm (give or take five or ten minutes) with a minimum of fuss and will only cry for any length of time if he is overtired, but even then, he’s sound asleep inside of 20 minutes nine times out of ten (and in less than one minute most of the time!).
He’s also sleeping through the night! He’ll wake once or twice but will go back to sleep himself, without us having to go through to see to him, after a few minutes of feeling a little sorry for himself.
“Up time” is any time between about 6.00am and 7.00am (although the other day he was awake at 5.30am and complaining loudly – I waited to see if he would go back to sleep, but at 6.00am he was still crying so I got him up after all).
Our day is now far more structured:
Up some time between 6am and 7am
Breakfast starting some time between 7am and 7.15am
Play time
Put down for nap some time between 9am and 9.30am
Up some time between 10am and 11am
Play time
Lunch at 12pm
Time with Daddy when he gets home from work
Put down for nap some time between 1pm and 1.30pm
Up some time between 2pm and 3pm
Play time
Afternoon snack around 4pm
Dinner at 5pm (he has finger food consisting of a little of whatever we’re having and has a go at feeding himself)
Bath at 6pm
Supper at 6.30pm
Bedtime story, cuddles and quiet songs
Put to bed some time between 6.50pm and 7.10pm after final milk feed
When he naps through the day I’m able to actually get things done! I can do some laundry, do prep for our next meal, do a little cross stitch or perhaps do a little reading if I have the time. I’m actually starting to feel a little more like myself again, which is great, and feel able to accomplish things at long last!
Of course, some days we’re out and about, but we always go out either immediately before or after a nap so that Xander can sleep in the buggy (if it’s nap time) or be wakeful and see everything around him (if he’s just had a nap). We’ve been going to lunch once a month with a group of local Mums and babies for a while now and it’s become much easier since we did the whole sleep training thing. I’m able to schedule appointments and meet with friends more easily because I know roughly when Xander will be waking and when he will need to nap – it’s great being able to see windows in my life where I can schedule activities!
And best of all, my return to work has been delayed by almost a month as I have to use up my accrued full-time annual leave before returning, so that I will only accrue part-time annual leave when I go back, as I’ll only be working afternoons till the end of the year. So now I get to stay home with Xander till 10 July (I expected to return to the officwe on 15 June), which is a Friday, so I’ll only have to work one afternoon my first week back – a nice way to ease back into things! I’m so lucky to have such accommodating employers!
Of course, if I win the lottery between now and then, I won’t be going back at all as I would love to be a Stay-At-Home-Mum if we could only afford it (as things are at the moment, it’s just not possible).
P.S. On a different note – Xander has TWO teeth now! His second tooth poked through the gum next to the first one a week ago and he made very little fuss about it. We’re so proud of our toothy little boy!
Sleep Training…
Xander playing with one of his toys this afternoon after his nap
Seeing as how I’ve not been able to sleep for more than 2 1/2 hours straight since I was 20 weeks pregnant, we thought it was best to try and sort out Xander’s sleeping patterns and habits. Up till now, he’s only ever fallen asleep if in the buggy, in the car, on the breast or, after breastfeeding, on my shoulder, and that’s not good. We did try to use Elizabeth Pantley’s No Cry Sleep Solution but it categorically DID NOT work for us. I’m sure other people have found it useful, but all it succeeded in doing for us was to get me more and more frustrated and stressed out whilst making not a jot of difference to Xander’s ability to go to sleep by himself.
So we finally accepted defeat and decided to try what I wanted to avoid if at all possible – controlled crying. To do this, we had to move Xander’s cot out of our bedroom and into his nursery, which felt really strange – I’m used to having him sleeping right next to me where I can see him.
It took us a while to actually find information on how, exactly, to go about it, but once we had the know-how, we made a start on Sunday past. Xander got put in his cot on Sunday night and cried for an hour before falling asleep. He then woke half an hour later and cried for another hour before sleeping. He slept till midnight but then wanted to be fed. After breastfeeding, he cried and slept, off and on, all night till about 6am when he went to sleep and stayed that way till 8am (an hour later than I’d meant for him to sleep, but I slept too, and only woke when he was crying again – oops!).
Throughout Monday, we continued the controlled crying for his morning and afternoon naps, at both of which he screamed for an hour then slept for about 10 or 15 minutes total.
Monday night, he clicked halfway through his bath that bedtime was approaching and got very upset! He cried all through his supper and then we put him in his cot at 6.50pm. He cried for exactly two minutes and then fell asleep! He didn’t wake up till 3.55am, whimpered for a couple of minutes and went back to sleep without having a night feed! He then slept till 7am on the dot!
At nap time this morning, I put him in his cot at 9.10am and he cried for 50 minutes (I went in after 40 minutes as per the schedule and had to move him back down his cot and put his blankets over him again as he’d squiggled his way right up!), but then slept for 40 minutes (I had to move the blankets up to cover him as he’d moved again). Not too bad. This afternoon, we put laid him down at 1.15pm and he cried as I was leaving. I went into the kitchen to put the milk I’d expressed into the fridge. When I came out again, he’d stopped crying. I waited 10 minutes just to be sure and then checked on him – he was out like a light! He hadn’t even moved so I didn’t have to move his blankets at all. He slept soundly till 2.55pm.
So, now we just have to see how he does tonight. Fingers crossed that he goes down without too much fuss and sleeps quickly, soundly, and through the night!
P.S. He seems to have forgiven me for leaving him in his own room all alone as after a little coaxing he actually gave me a grin and a kiss. 
7 months old today!
Xander haing his tooth brushed after breakfast this morning
I can’t believe it – my baby is not so little any more! Xander is seven months old today and is definitely more a little boy than a baby these days! Time really does fly when you’re having fun…
… Speaking of which, I’m off to play with my lovely boy for a while before it’s nap time.
Feeding, brushing and Expressing…
Xander enjoying his lunch and attempting to feed himself with his spoon!
Xander is really improving on the feeding front! He’ll now happily eat savoury food without me having to pull the old switcheroo and making him think he’s getting a spoonful of pudding! Of course, he still like pudding best of all, with his favourites being egg custard, banana custard and banana chocolate pudding! However, he’ll now eat the two packet-mix savoury meals of cauliflower and broccoli cheese, and Mediterranean vegetables and rice. He won’t touch the savoury jars, though – not that I blame him, as they’re pretty disgusting!
He’ll occasionally agree to have some masshed vegetables that I’ve cooked at home, although he really hates potato and will be heartily sick if it’s even in his mouth – not even swallowed! And he’ll sometimes take a few lumpier things, like a piece of bread with chocolate spread on it, or some garlic bread, or a little bit of chicken or sausage, or some such thing. However, if I give him finger food, he’ll not get any of it into his mouth – he just bashes it off his tray and throws it on the floor, although a bit of cooked carrot will briefly get put into his mouth and pulled out again a few times before the bashing and throwing happens!
Xander will also happily drink from a sippy cup, and although he can hold the cup himself and manoeuvre the spout into his mouth, he hasn’t quite got the hang of tipping it up to drink from it – he needs a hand with that. Mostly, though, he likes to shake it about so that the water comes out of the spout and then he sucks it off the lid!
A good thing is that he seems to really like his toothbrush! When he sees me coming with it after his feeds, he opens his mouth wide and lets me brush his tooth (which is now poking right through his gum a fair bit!). Then, when I give him the brush afterwards, he’ll happily chew on it for a while before banging it off his tray to make a lot of noise!
On top of all this, I’m expressing again. I’ll be returning to work in the middle of June and I need to be able to express breast milk for Xander to have while I’m away. I do have a manual pump, but it’s lost suction and I’m having to hand-express instead. It’s quite a comical sight – me feeding Xander on one breast with a small pot stuck in my bra on the other side to catch the drips when the milk lets down, and then squeezing away while Xander sucks – I feel a bit like I’m a big dairy cow! At the moment, I’m using the milk I express to make up his bedtime cereal. Apparently breast milk has hormones in it that helps babies sleep, so at bedtime he’s now getting a double whammy of those hormones by having them in his cereal AND straight from the breast. Right enough, it does seem to be improving his first stretch of sleep as he’ll now go down for anything up to 3 1/2 hours before waking up, which is amazing! Unfortunately, he still wakes another two to three times throughout the course of the night/early hours of the morning for further feeds, but it’s getting easier now…
And in a couple of days, he’ll be seven months old – where has the time gone to?!
Having his tooth brushed!
Roly-Poly Boy – Again!
Standing up on Daddy’s knee yesterday
After rolling over for the first time from his back to his front, Xander has proven reluctant to repeat his trick (lazy boy!), but this morning he did it when we weren’t looking!
I’d laid him down for his nap in his cot and popped him down on his tummy (he seems to sleep better that way) while I went in the bath. Later on, when we heard him stirring, Dale went through to the bedroom to check on him and found he was now on his back!
We’ve been coaxing him a fair bit today and all to no avail – he’s a modest boy who doesn’t like to show off too much (LOL!). Still, I’m sure he’ll be rolling all over the place in no time at all and we’ll be wishing he would just stay still! 
