by iamcrabstix | Jan 27, 2017 | general parenting
As of 17th Jan, RLT is on stage two of his weaning journey. I’ve not really written much about weaning, because some of the other mamas are rocking it with the baby-led weaning journey and we’ve taken a different path altogether. Baby food / purees you say? Kind of, he’s been given finger food too – but I guess you could consider our journey more of a vegetable-led one!
For stage one, we introduced organic porridge and cereal for breakfast and pureed vegetables for lunch and dinner. After around ten days of this, I wanted to introduce him to chicken etc but I hold my hands up and say that I am not a cook at the best of times – so we’ve used jars and pouches to introduce meat, in addition to home-cooked and blended veg.
I’m not an advocate of filling a baby with things they don’t need – therefore I have steered away from products which are pasta based. We as a general rule, don’t eat gluten in our house, it offers nothing nutritionally, so we will try to keep away from pastas and breads. Although if something contains wheat flour, for instance, as a thickener, I’m not going to that extreme to avoid it.
We also don’t eat pork. It isn’t a religious thing, it is a respect for pigs thing. They have been found to be as intelligent as dogs, and I wouldn’t eat a dog, so why would I eat a pig? I also don’t agree with halal meat as I think it causes unnecessary suffering to the animals.
Babease have a great selection which fits with my views and flavour options I would like RLT to enjoy for stage two, but I have to order them online for delivery to our local Boots, this takes some organisation – when I return to work there is a larger boots store in the town, so maybe I will be able to pick them up with ease.
So thus far on our stage two journey we have opted for Ella’s Kitchen pouches. I was originally deterred by the price of Ella’s Kitchen pouches compared to the glass jars from Cow and Gate and Heinz, but you pay for what you get – quality ingredients and 100% organic.
My original interest in Ella’s Kitchen products was sparked before Christmas, when I noticed that they were offering a child friendly Christmas Dinner pouch with all of the trimmings and as an added bonus they were donating 30p from the sale of each Ella’s Kitchen jingle belly (as they branded it) pouch to Save the Children’s Families and Schools together programme . This programme aimed to promote the importance of family meal time and the positive impact family meal time can have on a childs’ development. I thought this was an excellent cause for them to link up with, I do like when companies do corporate social responsibility well. Sadly RLT was too young to try these on Christmas day, but as the best before dates were October 2017, we snapped some up for January – who doesn’t want to extend Christmas for as long as possible (I also wanted him to get used to eating sprouts from a young age!).
Ellas Kitchen Jingle Belly pouch
When we ventured to Tesco in a neighbouring town there was a Tesco Baby Club event on and they were giving away free testers of a dip made with the Ella’s Kitchen Parsnip, Parsnip, Parsnip and a few other ingredients such as garlic (wow it was garlicky!). I tried it, as I don’t eat a lot of garlic I found it too much, but RLT thought it was amazing! He got it all over as he was eating it from a carrot stick, but he didn’t care – he was so happy! We were given a sample of vegetable risotto to take with us and as this Tesco had a massive selection and it was on offer 5 for 4, I decided to stock up!
RLT with the Tesco Baby Club Event dip all over his face
Infact, when I think about it, I try all of his food and would pretty much have a bowl full of all of it (except for the stuff with cumin in, can’t abide that!) as I don’t like seasonings – so maybe I need to go on a baby food diet?
spoilt for choice
I’m returning to work soon and I know there is even less chance of me getting my act together and cooking meals for the week. I just don’t enjoy it. Therefore I am going to continue on with the pouches – it allows me to know exactly what my baby is eating and be happy with the fact that he isn’t getting pumped full of stuff he doesn’t need.
My inclination to pay a little bit more to get good quality food was amplified this week by the food standard agency’s release that some baby food has been found to contain high levels of acrylamide – cow and gate being one of the culprits named (apparently they withdrew a cereal because they couldn’t bring the levels down, do I trust them now? Not a chance!). So important to know that your baby is eating right!
We’re only a few weeks into our stage two journey, so will provide updates on his favourite tastes soon! So far, anything with cheese in it (just like his mum!).
by iamcrabstix | Jan 20, 2017 | general parenting
The back to work countdown is on. My heart is torn in two. I never thought I’d find it so hard.
When I said I was taking six months off work, people laughed. ‘You’ll be off for longer, all of your priorities will change once the baby is here’, they said. I didn’t know what they meant, wasn’t long before I did.
Work put out a press release this week saying stats looked good for September. My mind immediately went to people thinking that it was down to the fact that I’m not there.
I know this isn’t the case, I busted my chops to get all of the marketing for this campaign done before I left, I project managed a new website while I was decorating my new house (already on maternity) and I’ve continued to work on our digital campaigns since October, my maternity cover probably doesn’t even know they exist, but she’ll probably get the praise.
The judgement probably shouldn’t bother me, but it does. The judgement is currently only in my head, sinking me in to even more of a negative cycle about going back to work and leaving RLT.
I am EXTREMELY lucky to have my mum look after RLT three days per week, I have condensed my hours and Mark has managed to swap working Friday for a Sunday. This means RLT will be with one or both parents for four days in a row and his Grandma for three. My mum is fantastic with her grandchildren, she knows so much about child development, I can’t believe she hasnt run a nursery before!
But he’s my baby, he falls down and bumps his head, I want to be the one he runs to for comfort. He’s my little bestie. He looks to me for reassurance before he does anything new, our bond is the strongest thing I’ve ever felt, I’m afraid of this going away.
Until recently he fell asleep holding one of my fingers. He’s now stopped. Even that hurts me inside!
I realise how this is all about me and not him, he’ll be OK, I know this. It is me who won’t be. Is it ridiculously selfish of me to feel this way?
Does anyone have any advice for going back to work and not sitting at your desk crying?
by iamcrabstix | Jan 17, 2017 | general parenting, rlt
It feels as though he has always been here, but it also feels like no time at all. How is that possible? RLT is seven months old.
We’ve been so lucky to have such a calm, smiley, happy little baby that the chances of us doing this again are slim to none. We’d never get another baby quite like RLT.
It has definitely been the best seven months of my life. Even with the hormonal fluctuations, OH changing jobs and car accident – usually only one of those things would send me into a spiral of anxiety – but I’ve had a little dude who has kept me focused on what matters. It took me a while to me OK with just being me and not having work to define me, I even went in for a few weeks, but then I realised I would never get this time again. Things at work come up, they always do, people wouldn’t have jobs if places ran themselves, but RLT will never again be as young as he is today. It has been a joy. Even through the leaps, because we are learning together.
It got hard at around five and a half months when he wasn’t sleeping, teething and had a bunged up nose, but you just have to take every hour as it comes, tell yourself that it won’t last forever and you’re an hour closer to it finishing than you were before. Mindfulness training from the hypnobirthing at it’s finest there!
I only hope that we don’t let him down, I’ve never done this before – what if I smother him too much, or don’t show him enough affection? I need to keep reading. I’ve also started looking into deferring school for a year as he will start at four years and 3 months old – it is too young in my opinion. It has also got me thinking if because I started when I was four years and 2 months old if this is why I am not as socially well formed as my friends who were December babies? I know we have a lot of time to think about this, but I’d rather be armed with facts before it is too late and we get pressurised into doing what everyone else does!
by iamcrabstix | Jan 16, 2017 | general parenting
The #mblogchat topic this week was mummy friends. I have always felt I could participate in some way to this chat on a Sunday night, this week I felt like a child sat on the sidelines watching all of the other kids playing.
I’ve always been a loner, I have a group of friends that I have had since college but if six months or so passed and I hadnt seen or spoken to them, this wouldnt be unusual. I’m not the type of person to pick up the phone when I have a problem either, I’d tell friends about things after the event. This is just who I am, but when I had RLT I felt more optimitic, confident and self assured, so made an effort to go to groups, events and take up opportunities so that he isn’t missing out on anything…. But wow, it has been hard.
I’m 33, I work in communications, I know how to put a front of confidence on for work, but my goodness, it has been so difficult to do the same in real life. I thought working with academics where I have to justify my very existence every day was hard, but being made to feel invisible by mums is harder because I am afraid that it will impact on my son’s social opportunities. Will the other kids all go to the park together? Will he have no friends to play with at nursery? Why am I not a good candiate for a mummy friend?
My OH says that I can come across as cold and aloof when people first meet me, but when you get to know me, you realise that this is my lack of confidence. I’m not really sure what to do about this, I’ve tried to be really smiley, happy, initiate conversations with people sat on their own who may be feeling the same way, but as my son is seven months old I still haven’t managed to get invites to the meets in coffee shops and baby gym on a Thursday.
One mum, who I went to school and college with, has asked me once to go along with her to meet a few mums, two of which I went to school with but didn’t know and two others that I’d never seen before. I felt like it put her in a real difficult situation, she was the only one interested in talking to me and RLT. I did get invited out for their Christmas night out with an hours notice, but I felt again that this lovely girl from school would be split and it would impact on her night, so I declined the offer. Also an hours notice, how desperate would I look? ( oh the irony)
The mum group mentioned above are the only ones close to my age too, which shouldn’t matter, but it does. When I’ve been to other groups I have been 8-10 years older than some of the mum’s and when they sit there and talk about the thought of turning thirty as terrifying, then say ‘no offence’ it’s perfectly clear we’re not on the same wave length.
Mum friends is the only aspect of having a baby that has really got me down, I now realise why girls actually try and plan to have their second or third child at the same time as someone that they know. It doesn’t matter to me so much now that RLT can interact, but the first few months were very lonely.
There will be more posts like this the closer I get to going back to work. I’ve felt my mood take a turn for the worse since Christmas, this is something I’m conscious of and will be starting some mindfulness training in the next few days.
So basically the moral of this brain fart is that if you are struggling with this aspect of mum life, you are not alone, I’ve been there too. We all cope in different ways and for me, twitter has been invaluable. As much as the people who followed me for work will probably now hate me ( I have VPs of Uni follow me who probably are thinking I’m so unprofessional) the mum friends that I have made have helped me through some dark times and although we will probably never meet, I will never forget the kindness they offered when I needed it most.
So thank you twittersphere. You’ve saved some of my marbles.
by iamcrabstix | Jan 12, 2017 | general parenting, rlt
As the local Artventurers women is yet to get back to me I have decided to do messy play at home until I can find an alternative.
I know my mum has done a few messy play at home sessions with my niece and nephew, due to the lack of availability in groups where we live, so I decided to try it myself – easing both myself and RLT in.
So, in a babygrow that is only suitable for indoor wear – off we went!
Note: It is advised to have a sweeping brush or hoover handy for clean up!
What do you need?
To ease RLT in as he is not yet 7 months, I decided to use food as it wouldn’t then matter if he put things in his mouth.
We went for black eye beans that he could crush and mush, gluten free pasta and gluten free rice vermicelli (we had no spaghetti).
A babygrow/not their best clothes
Sweeping up materials
Baby wiping materials legs/face/hands – anywhere they can get food!
A high chair
Any preparation needed?
The beans, drained of juice, were good to go as they came from the can. The pasta and vermicelli needed cooking, just as you usually would, then I put them in a colander and poured filtered cold water over them. So there is approximately 9 minutes preparation time required.
What did he think?
At first he was very quiet, probably wondering what on earth was going on. He was running his left hand through everything on the tray, going side to side. After a few minutes he started picking things up and throwing them over the side of the high chair and laughing. As the minutes past he was picking things up with both hands, throwing it everywhere and chattering away like he was providing a running commentary on what he was doing!
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by iamcrabstix | Jan 5, 2017 | general parenting
2017 has a lot to live up to as 2016 was so good to me! However, it was absolutely manic; moving house, changes to job, having a baby, learning not to interfere at work whilst I’m on maternity leave and turning my frown upside down; all have left me a bit frazzled! Thank you to Kirsty at Winnettes for tagging me so that I sit down and work out my twenty wishes for 2017.
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Family wishes:
- That everyone stays healthy. In 2016 there were a few family health issues, including my Grandma getting pneumonia in August, so if everyone could stay healthy that would be super!
- That my brother and his wife manage to move house, as they have wanted to do this for so long now. For them to settle in to a happy family home would be grand.
- For Reuben to continue to be awesome.
- For our little family of four (including the cat, obvs) continue to be happy and have no money worries.
- For my other half to be able to work from home at least one day per week as I seriously couldn’t be bothered with his commute.
Personal wishes:
- I hope I cope with being back at work. I like what I do, it is the constant lack of support by academic staff and the attitude that they know better than me that gets me down. They say everyone is a marketing expert. I don’t have the time nor the personality to confront their comments, it really upsets me. A friend was giving NLP support, I get that anxious over what these people think of me. It shouldn’t matter, as I know I don’t look up from my desk, but it does.
- Lose some clem. I have a serious baba jelly belly and to be perfectly honest, I haven’t remotely tried to lose weight, but it is getting to the point where I have 3 chins, that’s always my trigger to do something.
- Don’t sweat the small stuff. Do not get annoyed by things that I cannot control. My baby is the most important thing now.
- Try to be less negative. It is my go-to place, make this stop.
- Make the three days I have with RLT each week, count.
Blog wishes:
- Post stuff. I have around 60 drafts because I overcomplicate everything, which ends in me needing to turn on a laptop, which ends in me getting stressed because the rainbow wheel of doom is always there, therefore nothing ever gets done. You may have noticed my featured image style has changed for 2017, this is because Canva don’t make an android app so I’ve had to change to be able to do it from my phone in a bid to post stuff…
- Start a facebook page. I don’t want people I know in real life to know about this blog. I realised an ex collegue liked one of my comments in a blogger facebook group and I was mortified (largely because she hates me and the thought of her knowing stuff about me that she could use against me made me feel sick). The thought of people I know finding out personal stuff makes me a bit uneasy, but I know how crucial facebook is for blog traffic!
- Be more strategic in what I post. It started off as memories to share with RLT and now it seems to be more my diary and reviews of stuff!
- Start a revolution to outlaw the word VLOG. I can’t say it. Try and say it out loud, you sound daft.
- Stop relying on Nicola at Mummytodex for motivation to do stuff.
Hopes and wishes for the year
- I hope I cope OK with going back to work and get my work/life balance sorted.
- I hope that the older RLT gets, we go for lots of family trips. We are going to Amsterdam in March for the weekend, I’d much rather take him than leave him with my mum as a general rule.
- I wish that there are no major bumps in the road this year. Have you ever left that life is OK for the first time, you have nothing to worry about and therefore wonder when it is all going to go wrong? That’s where my head is right now.
- I hope that the house starts to clean itself and the cat learns how to load the dishwasher while I’m out, that would be a massive help.
- Most of all, I hope and wish that 2017 doesn’t see anyone I care about struggle and brings lots of happy times!
I tag (participation is not mandatory, obvs, as I’ve just landed this on you, I’d just want you in my girl gang if I had one 🙂 ):
Nicola (although she may not do this as she has been thorough and done it month by month already!)
Samantha
Lucie
Harriet (she’s probably a bit busy!)
