Operation Cold Turkey starts earlier than expected

As if snuffles, teething, cup training, weaning onto solids and me cutting back the booby milk weren't enough, Felix started to roll over onto his tummy. It's a huge developmental milestone... only he started doing it in the middle of the night. Every 90 minutes to be precise.

Doubtless after his day of solids-training, he hadn't eaten enough and was unsettled and HUNGRY, which made him thrash about and madly suck his fist, which made him roll over. Lots. Which made him scream. Lots. Poor little mite, it's understandable.

But despite that, in my exhausted, I-can't-take-much-more-of-this stupor I decided, gulp, that we couldn't have Felix being that hungry in the night. Going cold turkey on the breastfeeding front and bottle feeding only for Felix would have to start ASAP.

Rollover Felix

Amidst all the horrible-ness we did find time to stop and appluad as we witnessed Felix roll over from tummy to back for the first time yesterday. Yaaaaaay. He's definitely done it before (the first time being off the futon...whoops) but now we have first-hand proof.

Clever baby.

I wonder if I'm going to get all obsessive about him rolling over from back to front like I did with Jambeans?

Visitor from Boston

My cousin Arun was in London for the weekend from Boston (where he studies for an MBA at MIT - comes from a whole family of over-achievers) and he came over to see us. Judith was in North London too, and popped in, so we all had a very chilled day sitting around the kitchen table and catching up. It was great to see Arun - he's an all round lovely guy, and proves that not all yanks are evil.

Jasmine's definitely off vegetables now, and feeding time has stretched from about 15 minutes to about an hour as we try giving her different things before succumbing to porridge. She's a lot more demanding these days too - and if she's hungry and has to wait a little while we make her food, she throws a hissy fit and can try to lurch out of her chair quite violently. It's not so bad at the moment, but definitely more painful on the ears and she's moved up a gear in testing our patience.

Her sleeping is not so great. In the last week we've had one night of respite when she slept through, but the rest of the time she's woken up in the middle of the night and cried for anything from 45 mins to 3 hours. Last night it was 90 mins. We're tired today. Am dreading a repeat performance tonight as I hate working when I'm knackered.

She's started soiling her nappies in the middle of the night so we have to go and check, and that does make things worse. I really succumbed last night - I simply had to pick her up and give her a cuddle, then I tried some Bonjela, which she wouldn't take, so she was even more upset, which led me into bringing her into the bed with us. Boyfie was obviously tired and trying to get some kip, but the minute I lay Jazzie down she would let out a piercing scream. Eventually he gave in and went outside to do something else. I felt v. guilty so eventually put Jam-beans back in her cot so we could both go back to bed. At least I didn't feed her.

Plan tonight is - give her Calpol straight away. We're working on the assumption that something is causing her discomfort (teething?) and preventing her from getting back to sleep. If that doesn't work, we're back to letting her cry it out from tomorrow.

Despite the lack fo sleep we've had a great weekend and I feel very relaxed. We went to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition at the Natural History Museum yesterday, preceded by a very chilled lunch in the Poynter Room of the V&A. It's one of those congregation points for the middle classes - there was a distinct lack of trainers, make-up, hair gel and, sadly, style. Dp called it a chav-free zone.

Developmentally, Jam-beans is rolling over both ways with increasing confidence, and still banging things together as if her life depended on it. She's definitely got the hang of eating rice cakes too, which is a relief as it's instant and pretty much the only thing between contentment and a hissy fit if she's decided she's hungry and has to eat NOOOOOWW.

Tooth number 3 and a whole lot more

Thursday 1st March.

Gosh, it feels like Development Day today.

Jasmine is 10 months and 3 days old today, or 8 months and 2 days, depending on which way you look at it, and weighs 7.91kg. And it's been a big day at the baby office for our little Jam-beans.

First of all, Jasmine's 3rd tooth was discovered poking through this morning. Hurrah! That could explain all the 4am wakings over the last week, and her inability to get back to sleep without screaming at the top of her lungs for about an hour whilst frantically stuffing an entire muzzie in her mouth.

We're so used to saying 'it could be teething' at every fit and tantrum, with no subsequent evidence to prove us right, that it didn't even occur to me over the last week that a tooth was coming through. My usual insecurities about not feeding her enough (obviously the Indian in me coming out) just took over and I assumed she was waking up in the middle of the night feeling hungry.

It's the top left incisor, and I knew it had arrived as breastfeeding felt a bit, um, rougher, than usual. I always said that when the top teeth came through then I would stop breastfeeding, and I had always planned to stop at about this time, but in all honesty I've been putting it off because I'm not looking forward to the crying, and protests, and rooting, and all the hassle of making up bottles morning and night. It was hard enough cutting back to twice a day. But I guess I just have to grit my teeth and get on with it. The longer I leave it, the louder she gets...

Then Jasmine decides that today is also Rollover Day. As in back-to-front rolling over. Which she has done with great skill and confidence 3 times today.
The last time about 5 minutes ago - when she rolled off our bed.

Whoops.

Not as bad as it could be, I suppose, as our bed is a futon and is only about 4 inches from the ground, but that definitely marks the end of something, and the beginning of something else a whole lot harder. Notwithstanding the oodles of guilt I am currently feeling for having left her unattended on a raised surface, I am at least pleased that after the initial screams she worked out by herself that she was OK and was perfectly quiet and calm when I went in to check on her and found her on the floor.

And for the first time today, the bub grabbed hold of her spoon, shoved it in her veggie puree and then stuck it in her mouth. She's done those 3 actions separately many times before, but today it was definitely with a sense of intent, rather than by accident, and as if to prove the point she did it again. It wasn't exactly a picture of grace and coordination but I was so proud.

I was also a bit proud of myself as I contentedly allowed Jazzoi to grab the hugest globs of lunch and smear/ throw/ daub/ flick/ drop them everywhere - all over her, the chair, my jeans, her clothes etc. without even a hint of panic at the mess. A few nights ago dp said that he sometimes thinks I'm a bit obsessive compulsive with my mania for order and tidiness. That worried me so I am resolved to prove to him that I can be chilled about it - if I choose. I haven't given up the idea that it is just a strategy of his to get me to let him get away with being a messy pig.

But I digress. The last (or maybe just the latest) 'first' that Jassamina did was cut back to two naps a day. Her first was for about half an hour between 11.30 and midday, then she stayed awake until 4.30pm without so much as a yelp of fatigue.

Now I'm praying that she naps for a good hour so I can finish this and have a cuppa and a relax. It's just hit me how tired I am, as it's 5pm now which means I've been up for 11 hours today already. Blimey.

Rolling over take 2

The gorgeous Princess Jassamina rolled over again from back to front today, only this time both mummy and grandma got to witness it.

After initial surprise, she rewarded us with a huge smile, so I think she must be on the mend.

Her eyes seemed much better this evening so I think they might clear up soon, and she wasn't coughing as fiercely as yesterday. Fingers crossed she continues to recover. I was really worried at work today and found it hard not to talk about her.

Baby rolled over. Hurrah!

Amidst all the upset of last week I forgot that Jasmine rolled over from back to front for the first time.

Shame I missed it :-(

I was in the kitchen making a sarnie, Jazzie was in the lounge playing on her back. One buttered slice of bread later she started screaming blue murder - you know the kind of scream where you know something is wrong. So I rushed in to find her on her front with her left arm, her left hand and a wooden spatula that she was holding in her left hand all caught underneath her body.

She was screaming because she couldn't work her arm free but couldn't quite work out that letting go of the spatula was the solution.

Crabfish

Jazzie's crab movement from a few weeks ago has evolved into something my yoga teacher tells me is called the fish . Looking at it, it's definitely a mixture between the two. Jazzie now rests on the crown of her head and lifts her neck, shoulders, forearms, chest, belly and bottom off the ground and uses this to shuffle around.

Weird girl.

Why can't she just roll over?

New toy

So, erm, sleeping - Jazzie back on track and sleeping through till 05.30 / 06.00 with occasional microyelps in the middle of the night. All good.

Yesterday we bought a new toy, in the shape of a camcorder, hee hee. It's our Christmas present to ourselves and its great fun taking videos of Jasmine. The first one we took she rolled over (front to back) for us for the first time in ages. What a doll. Only bad thing about the camcorder is that you can't hide double chins/ bad complexions/ middle-aged spread. My boobs look alright though, in a large'n'squashy post-natal kind of way, though I still yearn for the firm'n'pert pre-children little puppies they used to be. Generally though, seeing me video'd has made me feel even more depressed about my appearance than usual.

Bumshuffling

I'm worried Jazzie may turn out to be a bumshuffler, despite us being model parents and putting her on her tummy every day since she came home from hospital.

Over the last few months she's been developing the art of the crab (like this only with her head, neck and arms on the floor) and is using this to locomote herself. Basically she lies on her back, pushes her feet onto the floor and, arching upwards, lifts her bottom and chest up as far as they will go. Then she lowers her bottom a little bit further up than where it started and shuffles upwards. She loves it and does it pretty much every time we lay her down.

I want her to go back to rolling over from front to back, which she hasn't done for about 3 months, and to learn how to roll over from back to front and to play the piano to concert level and to be a mountaineer and know calculus and to beat Tiger Woods at golf and run her own company and competitive mum competitive mum competitive mum.

She's really loves standing up (supported by her hands) and her sitting gets better every day. She only sits unsupported for about a minute or so but it is tres amusing to watch her body and head go all wibbly wobbly as she tries to control her balance.