Snow Day

Hello, Everyone :)
Long time no blog. So I'm going to start off easy with a little post about Oscars first encounter with snow :) I decided to come to Estonia to see my family a few weeks ago, and it was quite a rash decision which meant that I had a lot of planning and preparations to do in a very little time. This just meant that blogging was set aside to make room for more urgent matters :) But now I'm back in Estonia and settled in to the routine here I am quite confident in being able to write a bit again :)
I have only been in Estonia since last Wednesday, but we have been able to go out in the snow every day. And Oscar has loved it from the get go :)

Thankfully it's not actually too cold and it's also not too warm to make the snow all slushy and horrible. Most days it's around 0 degrees and it's perfectly bearable with appropriate clothing :) And it helps that my parents house is next to a nursery because their garden is full of stuff to entertain this little dude for a good hour :) He also likes to be dragged around on the sleigh and y 9 year old brothers sillyness :D

Hope you enjoyed this little simple comeback post and you will continue reading the future posts :)

But as for now

Stay tuned

xoxo

Meril

Packing For A Weekend Away

Hello, Everyone :)
Over the months me and D have become more and more confident in taking little trips away from home so I thought I'd share the tips and tricks I have learnt along the way on getting packed for a weekend away with a toddler.

I use to be so scared to leave the house other than for a few hours and not very far away :D I would think that anything that I hadn't prepared for would happen and I would be stranded in a restaurant with a naked baby, because he has had an explosive poo. Or that we would leave and I'd forget to pack his milk and he would starve and resent me for the rest of my life :D
Honestly the things I use to worry about I look back to now and think WHY?
Sans baby I use to be the most layed back traveller. I would set off with my passport and wallet and not worry weather I took that extra pair of jeans or snack. As long as I was able to get to where I was headed, everything else that I might have forgotten could be gotten there. And I have become more and more aware now as well, that it is pretty much the same when you travel with a toddler/baby. As long as you make sure you have the necessities, you are pretty much good to go. But obviously it's always good to be prepared for everything :) So here are my tips on getting packed for a few days away.

We actually are going somewhere, so I'm not here packing bags for no good reason :D D has got some work to do in and around London, so I figured I'll go as well and have a look around Windsor and surrounding areas :) I'll obviously do an update on those days for all of you and show what I got up to :)

First things first. The diaper bag...or any bag you use to keep diapers and wipes in. I had a period where I only used my handbag and had everything I needed for Oscar thrown in there with all my stuff...it worked until it didn't. SO now I like to keep my diaper bag packed at all times.

Things I have there at all times
 - diapers (pull up ones as Oscar does not stay still for the changes :D pull up diapers are so much easier for when you are on the go)
 - Pack of wipes - I use them for everything. Messy meal times, diaper changes, hand wipes...you name it.
 - Muslin cloth. Just to wipe things again or dry things.
 - Diaper bags. For diapers, rubbish, dirty clothing
 - A roll of clothes (video of me trying to do it before Oscar steals the clothes :D)

 - Pacifier/dummy - for those tantrum moments or nap times
 - Oscars Red Book. They tell you to bring it with you at all times....so I do
Things I pack before leaving
 - A toy of some sort. I like to change these around so this is why the toy is not always packed
 - Cup with juice or water
 - Depending on weather his milk feed will be at the time of when we are out and about I pack the things for that. But these days he rarely has milk outside
 - A bottle of water....for me :D and also in case he drinks his water and the cup needs refilling
 -  A zip lock bag with some snacks. At the moment there would be some string cheese, cucumber sticks and some Organix cheese and herb crisps. These are the things he can have while he is sitting in his pushchair or waiting for food in a restaurant/cafe. Just stuff he enjoys having at the moment. I don't worry too much about the snacks being healthy all the time, as it's not like we do this every day.
Whatever keeps him happy, I tell you guys :D
 - wallet (mine obviously)

And that is it. My diaper bag is the same one I got from Amazon when Oscar was teeny tiny and it does it's job. I love that I can use it as a cross body bag or attach it to the pushchair handle.

Things I pack in the suitcase
A little back story. We are going on Sunday and coming back on Tuesday. So I am packing for 3 days and 2 nights. We are staying in a hotel near Windsor and we are taking the car. Which is why I probably am taking more things than necessary :D If we would be going by train, which we do a lot as well, I would be more strategic. But I'll tell you about the extras as I go along.

 - 3 pyjamas. I know I said 2 nights but it's always a good idea to get an extra. Accidents happen  :)
 - 2 joggers and 1 pair of jeans/trousers
 - 2 sweaters
 - 2 bodysuits (1 short sleeve, 1 long sleeve)
 - 2 pairs of socks
 - 4 shirts (short sleeve ones and long sleeve ones)
 - A pack of diapers(pull up ones). This is what I would not normally do. What I did was I put 10 diapers in the suitcase and the rest of the pack in the car boot. I also have around 5 in the diaper bag at all times, so I do replenish them after use. The thing with diapers is that they sell them EVERYWHERE :D but the things with diapers is that if you run out accidentally then the trip to the shop could seem like a very long one :D and AGAIN ... accidents happen...hotel carpet and baby poo don't mix well :D 5 night time baby dry diapers. 2 nights, but sometimes, we need to change him during the night. 4 swim diapers as there is a pool in the hotel. And I might be going to a near by water park
 - A bib. It's not really something we use at all really for feeding times. But I use it as a scarf.
 - Little pack of medicines. Some calpol, teetha granules, medicine pacifier (we swear by this one. It is just so easy to give medicine to a baby/toddler with this, and there is no risk of overdose as it only fits about 4ml, which about 1 ml less than usual dose allowance :))plasters, diaper cream, body cream, toothbrush and something I always take now is 3 of the non slip bath mats ( just in case there isn't one in the hotel...I hate requesting it :DThat is my issue obviously)

 - 3 milk bottles and a bag of formula. Formula scoop and a container for a 1 feed formula (just in case) A bottle brush and some bottle wash. I hate washing the bottles in the hotel sink, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do eh?
 - extra pack of crisps ( I also have another zip lock bag with snacks in the car for the road, although we usually plan our longer drives while it's Oscars nap time)
I am also taking his fleece blanket and his pillow that he sleeps with and 2 extra pacifiers.
He also sleeps with his panda bear that we got in one of our Ikea trips and he absolutely loves it. The thing is that as I do like to be prepared for anything, the last time we went to Ikea we got another one and we keep that one in the car. So the panda is packed at all times. And in case one goes missing, we have a spare :)

And that is what I'm bringing for Oscar for our few days away :) As you can see everything fits in a little weekend bag and his diaper bag very well. And if there will be a time where I think I need something else I can always acquire it there and then :)

What are your non negotiable things you always pack for you child while travelling? 

Let me know in the comments below if you have any other tricks/tips you've learnt :)

And as always

Stay tuned

xoxo

Meril

Oscars 15 Month Update

Good Morning, Everyone :)

I have literally lost the plot. I wanted to come over to the blogger website to finish my ''10 New Traditions to start this Christmas'' post and typed in homebase.com instead :S :D I honestly spend most of my days there....awkward, but that is what happened :) And then now I realised that I am missing a few pictures for the post, so I'm just going to postpone it for a while...like I do with most of the things in my life :D

But today I will be sharing a little personal post about Oscars update :) Because I love him so much and so much has changed since the last one...(I think it was his 9 month update) so it will be really good to do an update...update...I keep saying that word in my head :D Anyway it will be a 15 Month UPDATE...as you might have already figured out from the title of this post :) So here it is...enjoy :)

 

I shall do sections, just because otherwise I will, I WILL, forget something and then I'll get angry at myself :)

EAT

Oscar is now 15 and a half months old and he is having 2-3 milk feeds a day. We still use formula...because he refuses cows milk :D we keep trying, I keep putting it in his cup during his meals and I've even tried half formula half milk, but he gets it....he is just too clever. I don't think there is anything wrong with giving formula either, it's pretty much the same and honestly I think it's cheaper as well :D SOOOO...

He wakes up around 7-8am and then has his first milk feed. Then after that he has his breakfast around 10 ... 2 hours after milk feed. It use to be just weetabix with a mashed banana and COWS MILK, yes the only time he accepts it :D, but now I mix it up. Sometimes he has a bit of bread and cheese or anything I can think of. I would love for him to have porridge in the morning, because it sets him off for the day, but sometimes he is just not interested in it, so I don't really push him.

He only has one nap now and another milk feed just before it. Once he wakes up he has lunch. This is usually a toastie or anything with egg. If we go out for a meal it's usually for lunch, because he seems most interested in food at that time, so we get to eat our food as well. 

At dinnertime, he has whatever we are having. Sometimes I try sneaking something healthier for him when we are having a cheat day, but he just picks up on it and refuses to eat his food, so he still ends up having whatever we are.

He has snacks in between as well. It's either the organix crisps or cheesestrings or a few slices of sausage and now that it's clementine season he is having those as well. On a completely unhealthy note he is absolutely obsessed with Wotsits :D haha, he sees a pack and he will throw out anything he is holding in his hand or mouth and he will not give up until we have opened the pack for him. The wotsits packs are now being held on the top of out kitchen cupboards, but I don't think it's completely unacceptable for him to have a few every now and then. It's all about the balance just like with grown ups. He also doesn't really like sweet things, other than his juice, so having a few unhealthy crisps really doesn't worry me :)

SLEEP

I don't even want to start :D He has one nap a day, which is usually 2 hours, and then goes to sleep around 7-8pm but most night he still wakes up. And for a really long time he was still having some milk during the night. I think...it's because he is getting loads of teeth. I mean he only has about 7 at the moment so there are still a lot to come. BUT it is EXHAUSTING....I am so lucky to have D to swappies with me, because honestly I don't know what I would do if I'd have to do everything myself every day AND then night....So any tips for teething relief would be awsome :) (we are currently using Teetha camomille granules, because he doesn't like the gels anymore)

PLAY

Our little art session with paints :)

He loves playing with anything or everything. I just find him so clever ( I'm sure all mothers think that about their child, but really he is CLEVER :D)He just figures everything out and then does it and it's amazing. He loves the flap books still, where you lift a flap and voilaa something is under it. And he remembers what is underneath before we even lift it up. He has also recently gotten into Lego. I got him a Lego Duplo number train set for his birthday, but until now he played with it for like a second and then moved on to something else, but recently...he has figured out how to put the parts together himself and is loving it. So I also got him a Lego Duplo farm set, which he loves. So sucess in the lego area :D next up puzzles I think. 

He is also going to at least 2 playgroups a week. I go with him to a toddler group on Fridays and then we have a nanny coming on Tuesdays or Thursdays who takes him to a different playgroup. He also likes soft play centres and he is fearless. He will climb up the slides and come head first from ladders :D I mean it's good exercise for me to keep him safe :D

MILESTONES

Because it's been soooo long since the last monthly update I thought I'll just mention that he started walking just before 11 month mark or just after...I can't even remember...what a great mother I am. but I remember thinking ''does this ever get old'' every time I saw him walk  :D honestly. 

He has been a bit slow on the talking side of things. He tries soooo hard :D but no words have come out until very recently. He still said ''emme'' (mommy in Estonian) ''dada'' and ''mommi'' (bear in Estonian) but other words were slow coming. He is now very good with words that start with a ''C'' like CUP and CAT and CAR and also DUCK and just short words. but he is getting better everyday and he tries to repeat whatever we say to him :)

SIZES

He is using pull up diapers and normal ones for night time. The pull up ones have been a size 5 for a while and we will be switching to nr 5 on the normal Pampers Dry night ones as well, as his belly is getting too big for the 4 :D 

He is in either 9-12 month old or 12-18 month old clothes now, depending on the make really. Tesco, which is where I get most of his clothes has smaller clothes for the sizes, so 12-18 month old clothes fit him perfectly. As H&M 12-18 is way too big for him. But he will grow into the clothes, so I'm not worried. And also it depends how many times I've washed something :D 

He is about 10.7 kg heavy, which is normal for his height, which was 78 ?? I think at his 1 year check up :) 

And I think I have pretty much covered everything :) If you have any questions, please, feel free to ask me anything. I am no expert in child care, but I can speak from my experience :)

Hope you enjoyed the post

And as always

Stay Tuned

xoxo

Meril

Oscars 8 Month Update

Hello, Everyone :) Here is Oscars 8 month update

What a lovely day it has been. It has been super sunny for a good 2 days now :D and I have taken what I can take from it. Yesterday we went for a picnic in the park and today I stayed in the garden sun for a good 2 hours. I might have a bit of a red nose now and that sun tiredness you get...you know the one where your eyes are tired but you are not? But all in all it has been really lovely.
Oscar is now 8 months old. Which means he is only 4 months away from being 1 YEAR OLD....I can't believe it (hope you enjoyed that I did the math for you there :D)
He is just such a cool dude I can't even comprehend and start to think...what? What am I saying :D What I was meant to say is that I just can't believe he has turned out to be so cool even though his parents are a bit of losers...or massive losers shall we say :D haha, just kidding. I keep thinking though, that I am just so lucky to have him in my life and he is so good to us and I'd like to think it's because we are good to him :) I mean it is, you get what you give, right :) SO I know it's not really the case with babies, but I do believe that staying calm, happy and positive has helped to turn this little man into a little bundle of joy...a little moving all the time bundle of joy.
And I'm not saying that it's perfect all the time. I have moments when I feel like I'm going to lose my mind and moments where I think I just don't have any energy in me to do anything....but I just take a step back and get out of the room....take a minute to myself and rant on my own so he wouldn't be subject to that...and I think it has worked. I'm not an angel by any means, I get angry and sad, but I try not to let Oscar see that. And you might think here, that I'm overprotective, but don't. He gets his share, because you know, sometimes there is just no time to go out of the room :D
Funnily enough though now that he is moving around and going places and grabbing and tasting? :D we do have to set a harsher tone, just so he would realise if something is forbidden or bad. But because he just hasn't heard us raise our voices and be angry at him, he just chuckles at us :S :D And then I can't help but chuckle as well :D Ok, so he either gets amused or he just ignores what we are saying. But I guess sometimes it's good to let them learn themselves as well. Like the radiator in the bathroom that is hot all the time...not the best idea to touch that...so now he stays away....sometimes.
It is hard work though and most of the days I do wish I had some help from my family :( but they live so far away. I'm just glad I've got D, who is very hands on and helps a lot with everything. But going out with just two of us is pretty much impossible, because there is no one to babysit. And I don't think that would be the case when my family would be here, or I would be where they are :) Rant over :D Here are a few pictures and a little more of his little achievement for the past month.

Our first picnic. He loved pulling the grass :D and was really interested in all the dogs :D But mostly he just made a complete mess of the blanket that we sat on.

He loves all kind of food. He drinks water from a sippy cup and I think his favorite fingerfood is cucumber.

He is teething so badly lately. There is drool everywhere and he will literally chew on everything :D like this padding on our tv table :D

 And he is definitely crawling and sitting up and is now saying dada, but not really mama :D He does make a sound that sounds like mum, when he is upset, but he blabbers about all the time, so I think it's just a coincidence :D

Hope you enjoyed the post :)
If you have any questions about his 8 month progress that i didn't cover, then ask away :)

Stay tuned, everyone

xoxo

Meril

Easter Weekend Recap

Hello, Everyone :)
So I wasn't good enough to do a post before this one, but everything was quite hectic and I don't actually remember pausing just to sit down for a little chill until now :/ I mean I didn't even have time for breakfast and lunch 2 days in a row, which is really bad. Not healthy, so today I have actually given myself time and had a nice lunch and coffee and ok I didn't really take it easy, as I was cleaning and hoovering the whole house :D But still I feel like it's actually been an all right day in a sense of craziness :D But lets get to the point. It was a long bank holiday weekend which means you working people might have had a long weekend off from work or those of you who work in restaurants and bars...I feel sorry for you :D I've been there and done the whole bank holiday weekend shit :) And I'm so glad I haven't had to do it this weekend and I actually got to go out with some of the best of the best girls in the whole wide world :D

So Friday I don't even know what happened  but the day just disappeared :D To be honest that's what most days seem to do lately, there just don't seem to be enough hours in a day for me to do everything I would like to do. I feel like I'm being pulled from every direction and feel at my last stretch. Even though now that it is actually lighter outside for longer I do feel less tired once I've put Oscar to bed as it just...I don't know...I feel less tired. Or maybe it's because I've been having my morning naps again :D Oscar is now sleeping in his own room and for the first few nights it was quite straining to get actually out of bed and feed him during the night, but D took him for the first 2 mornings, so just the knowing that I get the few hours in the morning made me get through it. Another thing that is actually a bit annoying that after we moved him to his room, he went back to having two feeds a night :( Hopefully the second feed will drop out soon enough again though because it's just so close to his waking time anyway...fingers crossed :)
I'm rambling again :D I'm sooo sowwweeeey :D

Saturday just kind of happened. I had to do a food shop for Sunday which took me 2-3 hours. And when I got back I was hoping I can start getting something done or clean something or clean myself up a bit. But no. D told me he is going to town the second I got back and two minutes later he was gone. So everything I had planned to do had to be done while taking care of a very active baby who now is discovering the whole house as he can crawl forward. By the time D got home around 6pm I had actually done pretty much nothing. I hadn't fed O or gotten him down for his nap, so I was just in a little mood, because I don't go out often. It would've been nice to get ready and look all nice. Which is why there will be no outfit post from that night out. I ended up wearing a short dress some sheer black tights, a black sweater and gold accessories, but I just felt frumpy and not up to scratch for a Saturday night out :D

On Sunday I don't even know how I got everything done :D D's family was meant to arrive around 1pm and when I woke up at 10 AM I had so much to do and cook. But at the end I did manage to put out quite a nice spread for the guests and had a nice day :)

So here are a few pictures from my weekend :)

Happy Easter from the strawberry face. He tried it for the first time this weekend and loved it. Didn't really like the watermelon for eating more like squeezing the juice out of it and making a mess :D

Hope you enjoyed the post :)

Stay tuned for a casual sweater dress Wednesday look post :)

xoxo

Meril

Life Lately and A Series of Disasters

Hello, Everyone :)
Thank you for being so patient with me lately and still checking back on the blog even though I haven't posted in a good few days or has it been weeks, but I thought I'll start this month with a changing wind and try blog a bit more :). With a teething baby and probably only a few hours of sleep during the night I kind of find myself just lounging on the sofa whenever I find a free minute. But today it seems we are finally through the teething for this month...fingers crossed. The worst part is that I know it will start again very soon, because one tooth is ONLY JUST breaking through :( poor little guy has been in such a bad mood and such a little grump that I just couldn't have dealt with it if it would've gone on for longer. So alongside with Oscars little breakdowns I've been having my little breakdowns as well :D Such a loser :D
Another thing that has kept me busy was the furniture delivery. We out everything together for Oscars bedroom, but had quite a few other things for the rest of the house, so once O goes down for his nightly sleep we have been building furniture :D like little house elves. Now everything is done in that compartment as well. I ordered some pictures and we even managed to hang up 3 frames in the dining room. It looked perfect...for 3 minutes :D I literally went to get my camera to take a photo of the photos and when I took a step back one fell down :( there was glass everywhere and the whole frame broke up. I had a plan to have 3 pictures. 1 of me and Oscar, 1 of Oscar by himself and then D with Oscar and obviously the one that was of me and O fell down :D Just my luck. And for some reason the whole day frames kept falling off the shelves and chest of drawers :D
Funnily enough these past weeks have also been really exciting. Oscar has decided that he will now sit up all by himself, as in get into a seating position. He has been really good at crawling backwards but started crawling forward yesterday. And then today he actually pulled himself up to stand. So it's all too much for me at times. He is just growing sooo faaaast. But I'm off to clean my make up brushes now :D hahaha so enjoy the little snippets of my life lately.

All the toys he can ask for and he finds plastic bottles and food bag clips most interesting things to play with :D

I also find him in the most random places now that he can move where ever he want to. I think he is discovering places he hasn't been able to go so far :D

:( It makes me sad, because I'm a big loser :D I have a plan to glue back the frame though and use it without the glass. Hopefully it will work :)

And hopefully you enjoyed the post :)

Stay tuned as I'll be doing a post about my recent beauty favorites tomorrow :)

xoxo

Meril

Oscars Bedroom Update

Hello, Everyone :)
As promised, this is a post about the progress I've made in his little bedroom. I say little, it is actually the biggest bedroom in the house :D I just didn't want to put him in the box room that people tend to do with nurseries. There are two reasons for this. One is that D still needs a home office and the smallest bedroom is just the right size for him. And secondly the room has weird built in wardrobes which Oscar doesn't mind but I didn't want for our bedroom :D Selfish I know. But the room is nice and airy and also very light during the day :) The room is facing the road and pavement, but the house is quite far from it and also living in a quiet cul-de-sac it doesn't really matter :D

BEFORE

AFTER

I decided to go for quite a colourful theme. I'm not a big fan of all beige and natural for children as I think it's just a bit boring :D The furniture is white stained oak and I've gone for green, orange and blue accents. I'm also thinking of bringing the rug from the living room to this room, but I'll need to find a replacement first :)

The one thing I was quite excited about to be having in the room was the bookshelf and the arm chair. So now part of our bedtime routine will be reading a story. The bookshelf is just low enough for him to reach once he gets older :) and the armchair is nice wide, deep and cozy :) It will also be used for the night time feeds, unless I decide feeding him while he stays in his cot a better option.

Another big thing for me was storage. D likes to order everything in bulk, so we have months worth of wipes and diapers in the house at all times :D Having the different boxes is just a good way of storing them without the room looking cluttered. I'm thinking of labelling the boxes as well, just to make it even easier to find things :) I keep saying I need a label maker :D maybe it's best I didn't have one :D

I have put some boxes in the drawers just to make it more tidy and easier :) The one thing I don't quite like about the room is actually the dresser area. I had planned to hang a picture of his little newborn outfit above the chest of drawers. But the frame I ordered is WAAAAY too big, and it's dark grey, which really doesn't go at all with the whole room. So my plan is to get some ornaments for the dresser and some colorful picture frames that I can scatter above the dresser :)
I also need a new lampshade, but that's the least of my worries :D

I got the wallstickers from Amazon for 12 pounds. I think they go really well alongside with the oak furniture and colorful accents :) And I was expecting them to be quite small and not sticky enough, and I was completely wrong. They are perfectly large sized :D and they are sticky but still easily peeled and repositioned. I think the stickers make such a big difference to the whole room and look :)

All in all I think I've done pretty good :)
Oscar already loves sitting in the chair and eating books...yes eating :D I read he chews on the edges :D And he loves looking at the colorful stickers :)

All the furniture you see is from Ikea apart from the cot which I got from Mothercare and it's their Stretton range :)

Hope you enjoyed a little look in Oscars new bedroom :)

Stay tuned everyone, and thank you for reading :)

xoxo

Oscar is 7 months old

Good evening, everyone :)

This month just flew by. I don't know weather it was because Oscar was being a little sweetheart or it's because there has been a lot going on, but it seems that the month was shorter than usual :D Or maybe it's because the days are getting longer and brighter and nicer and there for I am happier and nicer and better at dealing with everything life being a mother throws at me...I mean throw it at me, I can do this shit.

All and all this month has brought us a lot in the baby field. Oscar just seems to be more of a human. He laughs and smiles and talks and squeals (This is his favourite way of communicating :D)and something we kind of always seemed to miss, but have definitely witnessed this month is him moving about.

He can now turn on his stomach, depending on which side he finds things that interest him and he can also move backwards very well. I mean very well, he has mastered the backwards crawl :D He can also kind of move forward if he is on a soft surface. It needs to be soft because his way of getting forward involves him smashing his face/head down and then pushing forward :D He also uses the half way flip over to get about. All in all he is just very good at moving... definitely can't leave him on our bed unattended for more than a few seconds. And when he is on the floor playing in the living room and I leave...9 out of 10 times I come back a minute later with him squealing of either joy or frustration under the sofa with only his head sticking out :D Just like that :D

I have kind of started on giving him 3 meals now as well. But he has been on two solid meals a day for a good 2 months. The 3rd meal that I have started is the lunchtime meal. I am just not quite sure what to give him :D So I chose this time to start finger food and little bits and bobs that he can pick up himself rather than me feeding him. I think this is probably the best time for it as he is usually happy and rested and ready for action and new things. He has tried bread and little cheese and tomato and raspberry puffs. He doesn't like anything slimy :D Like a banana or a slice of avocado, he will pick up and then put it down in disgust :D he doesn't mind the taste though. He just doesn't like the feel of them in his hands :D He also has water in a sippy cup as a drink on the side of his solid meals :)

He has every solid meal sitting in his high chair (I'll link the OXO tot one as an amazon app, if you want to check it out :))I chose this chair over the Stokke Trip Trap that I initially wanted to get as it just looks more kid friendly and just like the trip trap I can convert this to a toddler chair, which was one of the main points. I figured that if I'm going to spend this much money on a chair it should at least last us for a good few years :)

Another change I have made in his food this month was that I switched from the creamy baby porridge to weetabix with almond milk. And I have also cut down on using the Hipp Organic/Ellas Kitchen fruit puree pouches. Instead I bought massive packs of frozen blueberries and raspberries and I use them in the weetabix porridge :) This just means I know exactly what goes in his little tummy and it's also a lot more cost effective :D 

Like I said earlier, this month has been a very packed month. I decided to plan more and do more. So now I plan our meals with D and also Oscars. Most days he just has whatever we have, because I try to be quite thoughtful in what we have for our meals and make sure we are healthy. This just makes life a lot more easier and efficient. We have our dinner together sitting at the table now, which I was really looking forward to doing :) I just think it sets the right tone for the evening ahead. 

Another thing why I like that Oscar is already having what we are having is that it will probably make the transition of having food easier. It should also be good for making him like food and not becoming a fussy eater.

I got this planner from Amazon and it was only like 5.99 :) the good thing about it is that it has magnets at the back, so it's perfect for the fridge.

He still eats milk, but those feeds have definitely decreased. He will now have about 100ml max and has a milk feed around every 4-5 hours. Apart from the night feed. He still gulps down the whole 200ml :D I don't know if it's because he is actually hungry because he does last a good 5-6 hours after his last feed, or because he usually falls asleep during feedind and just does it in his sleep. But he still eats it and I still give it for him. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this, but I make his milk warm. I even do this during the night by having hot water in the thermos. And I think that one way of getting rid of the night feed in time is to stop doing this, as he really does not like cold milk :D 

And the night feed brings us to the night time :) He sleeps a lot better these days. He fusses a lot still, but because we have the camera, we can just see that he is very good at putting himself back to sleep. Something we didn't really know before getting the baby monitor, as I used to run every time he made a noise.  The camera just gives a lot of confidence in having him upstairs. He actually notices the camera as well, which is quite funny at times. And I know that I have to go up when he looks at the camera and won't close his eyes, as this is my cue, he is awake and needs attention :D

He still sleeps in the co-sleeper next to our bed. And this month I have been so good and completely stopped taking him next to me at night. I used to do this when he would fuss before his feeding time, to make him last a bit longer. Because he is just so active and won't stay put even when he is asleep, we would both be uncomfortable if I would take him. Plus he doesn't need it :) Which is great for me, as I do feel like I get a better night sleep now. I have also noticed that I have grown a bit deaf to his little cries during the night :D Which in result has given me a few tiny heart attacks when I have woken up and he has managed to flip himself over and is sleeping with his face smothered in the mattress :D Obviously not completely. He did start sleeping on his side quite early and now is going that bit further with it and sleeps on his stomach every now and then. Freaked me out the first time he did though.

Since the days do seem longer I have managed to go out for walks a lot more. And he is just so different now. He likes to sit up and look around and be a little charmer when old ladies start talking to him :D We also went on out first swim session in the swimming pool the other day, and he absolutely loved it :) He was squealing and splashing about and just loving every second of it (unless he inhaled some water...then he wasn't really happy :D)And since I have signed up to use the pools for 3 months, this will definitely be something we will continue doing and hopefully with a little help he will learn to swim sooner rather than later. D still can't swim and he is over 30 :D 

Because he needs so much more attention and stimulation I have also signed up for sensory classes, which should be interesting. I'm still in the waiting list though, which is slightly annoying. Mostly because they have these classes in different locations, but my unability to drive means I could really only go to the one that is closest to our house. I could take a taxi or the bus and venture a bit out, but I'm still a bit vary of that option. I'll let you know what I'll decide :)

Size wise I am not quite sure how much he weighs or how tall he is, I will get that checked at the baby clinic on Wednesday. I think he is around 9 kg. He is now wearing 9-12 month clothes. He still fits in a few 6-9 month ones, but they are becoming slightly too short for him now.

I'll shortly go over his daily routine and then that will be it I think :) Tomorrow I will continue with the baby theme and do his nursery update as another patch of furniture has arrived :)

06.30AM - wakes up (this time doesn't change. Either we put him down at 7pm or 9 pm, we tried :D)

08.30AM - First milk feed of the day and then he goes down for a nap (So do I, I can't do 6am morning :D)

10.00AM - We wake up and then have breakfast. 

12.00PM - Milk Feed and short nap

14.00PM - lunch time. Fingerfood and sppy cup

16.00PM - milk feed and somewhere here, he has a longer nap.

18.00PM - dinner time. We all have dinner at a table :)

19.00PM - Bath time and little play before bed

19.30PM - bed time and last milk feed in bed

Hope you enjoyed the post. I tried to write down everything that I can remember for the reason that I will then have somewhere to refer back to when I need to :) Hopefully it was also a bit useful. If you have any questions then don't hesitate to ask :) I'm no expert, but will give advice based on my experiences.
Also I will be travelling with him for the first time in a few months. So I have a question for all you formula feeding mummys. How do you do it the airport and plane, with all the liquid restrictions??

Stay tuned everyone :)

xoxo