We'll be weaning in style now...

{30th March: Edited to add: Since seeing how much The LD loves his Tripp Trapp, four of my mummy friends have purchased them for their own children - that's how great they are!}

In case you missed me jumping round in excitement last week, The Little Dude & I got a little lucky... we won a shiney new Stokke Tripp Trapp in the competition over at Mummy Tips - hooray!


And today as the nice delivery man dropped it off, I got all over excited again!


I ripped open the packaging and laid all the gorgeous chunky pieces out on the carpet - like a beautiful Scandinavian jigsaw. With screws.
I had a brief 'boo hiss, going to have to wait for the Mr to get home to put it together - super pout' moment, before finding my determination & convincing myself it couldn't be that hard.


I was right.
Do not let ideas of flat pack doom put you off getting a Tripp Trapp. Yes, it does come as a box of bits, but this is not your ordinary flat pack where you end up with too many 'e' screws and not enough 'g', and the pre-drilled holes don't match up, and there's always a chipped piece, and the instructions make as much sense as your favourite drunk uncle at a family wedding... oh no.


This is as simple as it is chic. Ten screws, (complete with magical alun key so no need to stress about tracking down the right kind of screwdriver) and nine pieces, which clunk together beautifully and effortlessly.


About 25 minutes later, I was looking lovingly at my little man's super chic new dining experience.
(Having only sworn once, which was my own fault for tightening all the screws before sliding in the flat pieces - silly mummy. Don't do that.)


So it looked great, but would it pass The Little Dude quality control test?





Yes. With flying colours :)
He was a little bemused at first - sort of looked at me like 'hmm, I'm at the table, but you're not holding me... interesting.' then he spotted 'Where's that monkey?' (favourite book of the moment) and his happy safari cube and grabbed at both. He looked at me with a great big gummy grin of delight, then returned his attention to his book.

The real test of course, came at dinner time. We're babyled weaning, so generally, whatever's on mine or The Daddy's plate, is fair game. Sat up at the table with us Tripp Trapp style, the possibilities were endless. The Little Dude loved it. He really semed to enjoy having dinner with us, rather than being relagated to his playmat, on perched on my knee.  He was comfortable, supported, and involved.  Safe to say, he approves.


And I certainly do, because I have a well made, great looking new (almost matching) chair at the table rather than a big plastic affair that doesn't go with anything - everybody's happy!

And of course, the best part of the tripp trapp, is that it will grow with him, as they're equally comfortable for adults. (Yes, I checked!)  I am sorely tempted to save up and replace all my dining chairs with Tripp Trapps.


Muchos gracias again to Sian, and to Stokke.

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Busy busy busy...

I feel like I haven't stopped this week.
All in a good way, but also in a super duper exhausting, no time to sit down and do silly fun bits & pieces way too.
Which is probably why there are 137 items sitting all unloved in my google reader - oops :/

Well, that and my goldfish sized attention span.
And my ever-increasing list of oh, that's a good idea - I'll get on that when I've got 5 minutes. (those are on top of their friends on the really really HAVE to do these pronto list)
But I'm catching up, yes I am! Tis a slow process (much like weaning, which we also started this week!), but I'm getting there!
In the meantime, as I was playing with banners earlier for a few lovely ladies, I came up with a little something extra to share the bloggie-love :D

Sooo, if you're on my reading list, you are officially awesome, and despite my distinct lack of reading & commenting this week, I LOVE your blogs. Yes, I do.
So, I made you all this award:

There's no rules, no meme, no tagging - just help yourself & feel free to pass it on to all the other blogs you love.
Just because :)

And I promise, proper post plus a bundle of commenting coming soon :)

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Oh it's a good week!

It may have started out all snuffly (and to be honest, our noses are still not entirely fixed, but we're better than we were), but it's hard to care with all the goodies that are out-weighing the sneezes!

Yesterday, we had a lovely sunshiney day - LD & I pottered round town, strolled along the seafront, and spent the afternoon in our Local Pub Beer Garden with his godfather - thoroughly pleasant :)

Plus, I'm all over the place on the internets :)

* Cafe Bebe has a yummy new look, (if you've never visited before - now's the time - it's a great site!) and if you check out the mumpreneur page - there be a link to kooky boutique - that's me that is!

* the very lovely Carol over at new mummy (another great blog that you should all be reading!), kindly let me loose on her first guest post- go read & comment - maybe she'll have me back one day!

* bumpy blogger extrordinaire Mrs OMG is hosting the BMB carnival (which Life with a Little Dude is in - woo, our first one!) - *and* just to show off & prove there are no end to her talents, she has a new project in the pipeline too (follow @BumpWearProject to stay updated), and I'm featured in it as a best dressed bump :) *blush*

* my twittery procrastination habit has paid off - I made #50 in the list of 99 british mummy bloggers, and am in very good company there - go check 'em out - and if you don't already, come follow me! (I mostly talk rubbish, but it's fun rubbish :D)

and and AND!!
... I WON A STOKKE TRIPP TRAPP!! :D
Big big thank you to Yummy Mummy Tips (yes, another great blog - go read it, you'll see.) for the chance to win such a brilliant prize - I can't wait - and it's perfect timing for The Little Dude to start weaning in style :)

So yes, not a bad week really - and it's only Thursday!
Maybe I'll go buy a lottery ticket... :D

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Wordless Wednesday: Best Chums :)

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The one where I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself...

Snuffle. Sniff. Sneeze.
Yeah, I have a cold :( As does the little dude :( Fun, it is not.
(disclaimer: don't worry, it is just a cold - no oinking or sprouting curly tails!)

I feel like this is one of those 'mummy rights of passage' I have to conquer to earn my stripes. Back in the time BLD (before little dude), getting a cold meant bundling up on the sofa for a day or two with tea, biscuits & rubbish daytime telly, feeling a bit feeble until the sneezing subsided.

Now, not so much.

Because despite having his own bout of sniffles (which I am trying to help him with, aided by what I have dubbed the 'snotinator' - essentially, a mini turkey baster designed to suck the snot out of your beautiful child's nose. They don't tell you about THOSE in the pregnancy books!!), the little dude still wants to play non stop, and be entertained, and of course there's the feeding, burping, washing, dressing et al - doesn't leave much sofa time :P

I feel like such a wuss, and I hate it! I'm really not *that* poorly, but because I've not been able to just curl up in a big sneezey ball for a while, I'm exhausted! And I really should stop complaining - the Mr came home, bearing dinner *and* chocolate, made me tea with honey & lemon in, and has offered to take care of feeding duties tonight so I can get some sleep - but then I feel all guilty because he's up at the crack of dawn for work!!

ARG! The joys of motherhood eh?

On a brighter note, even while battling with his first cold, the little dude has now well and truly mastered the art of the rollover. I'm very very proud :)
He's been trying it for weeks, but couldn't quite manage to flip his over-sized baby head, now, it's not a problem. And now he knows how, he wants to do it *all* the time. Don't think crawling is a million miles away - mummy really needs to get in shape!

And now, I must go blow my nose. I've totally lost count of whose nose I've wiped more often today. And incidentally - baby wipes make great tissues - no scratchy sore red nose is one advantage of having a baby when you have a cold!

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Like Mother Like Son...

The Little Dude may only be just short of four months old, but nonetheless, it seems I am raising a shameless flirt.

He's starting to pay attention & interact with the other babies at baby club, (rather than just looking at them with the same bemused expression as when he first discovered the dog), and with the boy babies, he's very sociable - quite happy to lay on the play mat for a chill out and a chat and a stretch... all good.

But as soon as he's anywhere near a girl baby, he turns on the charm!
Making all his best noises, flipping over to say hello, stretching out & holding hands, and occasionally grabbing onto the hem of a pretty frock for rolling over leverage. (He's resourceful, gotta give him that!) AND, one little lady in particular was even given the honour of having squeaky giraffe thrown in her general direction - that, my friends, is high praise indeed!

Is it wrong that I'm a tiny bit proud of him? :)

In other news, The daddy & I had the gift of babysitting last night, so we headed out for a couple of hours of karaoke & drinkies - very lovely, and I'm getting much better at being able to enjoy myself & be decent company again, rather than compulsively checking my phone & wondering whether The Noodle is okay every 5 minutes.
I've got it down to maybe every 20 minutes now... okay, 15 max - but baby steps, right? :P

And today was day one of daddy's three day weekend - yay!
We had a stroll into town, litle bit of retail therapy, spot of lunch... thoroughly pleasant day with my two favourite men - can't ask for much more than that.

And I've still got 2 more to go!
I'm a very lucky mummy.

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What a difference 16 weeks makes!

The little dude has been here for 112 days today!
It amazes me how much he’s changed in that time – aside from over doubling in size! He’s constantly smiling now (oh how I love that big gummy grin when I get him up from his naps!), getting more vocal by the day, and *this* close to sitting up unaided!

He’s so much more interactive too – with me, his daddy, other babies – the dog!
Rather than just looking all cute and dinky & sleeping & pooping, he’s developing a proper litle personality - he's a total chatterbox, grabbing everything he can get his hands on, always looking round, taking everything in. He’s brilliant.

And of course, I’ve done 16 weeks of intensive mummy-training too, and d’you know what? I think I’m actually getting pretty good at it!

- I can change even the most explosive nappy in less than a minute
- I can get the LD dressed in less than 5 – without worrying that I’m going to bend an arm the wrong way or twist an ankle! (his, not mine :P)
- I can (at a push) have us both washed, dressed, fed & out the door before 10am
- I can tell the difference between cries for ‘I’m hungry!’, ‘I’m bored’, ‘I need a new nappy!’, never believed that would happen!
- I can trust myself to know that the LD is well fed without having to neurotically set alarms on my mobile to make sure he’s feeding 3-hourly-on-the-dot-like-clockwork (I love that one!)
- I can pretty much count on getting at least 6 hours of sleep at night! (Love that one even more!)
- I can do a whole bunch of things one-handed.
- I can multitask like no ones business – loading the washing machine while making bottles, eating toast & brushing my hair? No problem.

Don’t worry though, I’m not about to get to get all smug & complacent – I’m well aware that there’s still lots to learn!

The LD will be crawling before I know it (what do I do then when I need to nip to the loo? Can’t just leave him lying on his play mat, safe in the knowledge he’ll still be there when I get back!!), and of course weaning is on the horizon (am currently reading up on babyled weaning after everyone’s advice – interesting stuff!), plus a million other new challenges I haven’t even thought of yet.

Honestly though, I’m loving every minute of it.
Who knows what the little dude & I will have learned in another 16 weeks?
All I do know, is that I can’t wait to find out.

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I weally weally wanna wean!

So the little dude is now 15 weeks old - still two weeks away from what 'they' (the all knowing, all powerful, super health professionals!), say is the absolute earliest a baby should start having solid food. (not that baby rice strikes me as all that solid, but whatever.)

The signs 'they' tell you to watch for, include:

~Attempting to put things in his or her mouth - has been attempting to get his whole fist in his mouth since day one - is now also trying my fingers, any and all available toys, muslin squares, his feet, and occasionally, the dog.
~Making chewing motions - again, since birth!
~Doubling their birth weight - check.
~Holding his or her head up and controlling head movements ~Sitting well when supported - yep & yep.
~Displaying curiosity about what you are eating. - And then some! I was having lunch with a friend yesterday, LD was sat on my lap, dropped his squeaky giraffe, as I leaned over to retrieve it, he launched himself at my sandwich!! Don't try & tell me that wasn't planned - the little monster is smarter than he lets on!!

So my question, is this:
Am I being an irresponsible mummy if I go for it at 17 weeks, rather than waiting for the more widely recommended 6 months?
Mummies whose monsters are already munching (loving the alliteration today aren't I?), when did you start?
And also, what do I need?

I'm very aware of not wanting to feed the little dude jars of processed mush - I'd much rather he had home cooked mush. So is it as simple as just blending tiny portions of whatever we're having? Or do I need to make separate cuisine for mushing up?

I know, I am the picture of cluelessness!!
All I am good at so far, is gazing lovingly at all the tommee tippy spoons, and bowls, and dinky little pots for putting stuffs in (I don't know what stuffs though), and some more cute little bowls... and maybe a sippy cup... oh, and those bibs that are like overalls! God I love baby shopping :D

Need help please!

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Note to self:

Just incase I get all baby-brained in the next few months (which is quite highly likely), I am writing myself this note.
So if anyone catches me getting all misty eyed & nostalgic about being a preggopot, please point me back here!

.............................................................................................

Dear Leslieanne,

This is what's left of your sensible pre-mummy brain talking, please pay attention!

Today, you took the little dude to the weigh-in clinic, and couldn't quite believe that the tiny little person you brought home 15 weeks ago, now weighs over a stone. 14lb 4oz to be exact. We've certainly come a long way from those horrible few days back in hospital where he was struggling to put on any weight at all... in fact, that all seems like about a million years ago now.
But I'm steering away from the point.

At the clinic, there were lots of really tiny babies. As in, of the just a few days and weeks old variety, and you struggled to remember the Little Dude ever being that little.
Those dinky pink wrinkly bundles, with their eyes barely open, their arms and legs still curled up tight, their tiny little fingers... well, yes, they made you go aawww, and they made you smile.

And yes, one day, you'd very much like to give The Little Dude a little brother or sister to play with, but NOT YET!!!

So just incase you get too clucky too quickly, and before you launch yourself at The Daddy saying 'I want another one!', please remember:

1. Being a preggopot was hard work, and you promised yourself at least a 2 year break before doing it again.
2. There are no more free rooms in the house!! Do you *really* want to move again already?
3. You are *this* close to being back in non-preggo jeans. Let yourself enjoy being vaguely skinny again for a little while at least!
4. The Little Dude is now giving you a good solid 6 hours of sleep most nights - it did not start that way!! Do you really want to go back to an hour or two at best just yet?
5. The Little Dude is amazing. He is changing & learning & developing daily. He's coming up with his own little personality & picking up new skills (and anything else he can get his hands on) all the time. He makes you beam with pride on an hourly basis. Do you really want to miss one single moment of the excitement because you're too tired being all pregnant with numero deux? No.

Our time will come again, and it'll be magical all over again, but for now, let's just enjoy what we've got!

Still, can't hurt to carefully pack away all the tiny little clothes the noodle is growing out of... just incase ;)

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The Great Boob Controversy... Part 2

You may or may not have read my first post on The Great Breast Feeding Debate, where I reflected on my own boob related trials and tribulations.

If not, the long and short of it, is that I am neither pro or anti breast feeding, I am, as with most things in life, pro choice.

And I thought that was it, got my little rant out of my system, contributed my 2p to the worldwide discussion, job done.

Until today.

Here are the events that led to my need for a little vent-age part deux:

This morning, we had no milk. Arg. Cannot function without morning coffee, cannot bear my caffeine black. So, scooped the little man into the pram (having failed to locate babasling - told you I can't function without the beans!!), and scooted round the corner to the supermarket.

I was casually browsing the biscuit aisle (well, I'd made the effort to go out all early, I deserved a reward :P), when a little old lady clutching a packet of rich teas peered into the pram & came out with the usual 'aaah, what a lovely baby - how old?', I smiled, said 15 weeks, blah blah blah - you know the drill, new baby = attention = polite chit chat with strangers, usually of the older female variety, all very pleasant.

Until out of nowhere, Mrs Rich Tea asks "and are you managing to feed him yourself?"
WTF???!!!
Random stranger making small talk about how sweet my baby is: fine.
Random stranger enquiring as to my boobs & their functionality? Not fine.

But, she totaly blindsided me, so rather than reply 'um, none of yer business actually!', I kept up the flawless British politeness & said 'yes, I am thanks, struggled to start with but got there in the end!' (remember - caffeine gauge is at zero, I had respect for my elders bread into me from an early age, and at least didn't go into the whole 'actually, i'm mixing boobs & bottles' palava!)

She replies "Oh thank goodness - too many girls your age take the easy route because they're so worried about losing their figures - I mean really, do they love their breasts more than their baby? It's so silly."

Again: WTF???!!!

Rather than launch myself at her and point out that
a. women of ALL ages struggle with and/or decide against breast feeding,
b. bottle feeding is by no means an 'easy route', particuarly not with idiots around who make new mums feel unfit & selfish for doing so,
c. not one bottle feeding mum I know is doing so to preserve the perfect cleavage, or
d. having just had a baby, my figure is already pretty much trashed - so breast feeding is the least of my worries!!!
I nodded politely, smiled through griited teeth & bitten tongue & said we'd best be off as the little dude was actually due a feed any minute.
(A lie, he'd had a hefty portion of boob juice before we left, but a white lie is better than an old lady with a black eye, right?)

Seriously though, what are people like Mrs Rich Tea looking to achieve?!
I silently fumed to myself the whole way home, partly because of her complete ignorance, but mostly because of my own lameness in not telling her off.

Not that it would have made any difference I suppose, she obviously knew best - having probably succesfully breast fed a dozen children fifty-odd years ago, clearly making her an expert in infant nutrition.
Choose your battles Leslieanne, choose your battles!!

Okay, that's definitely rant over. For now at least ;)

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