tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67641826136761275532024-02-08T01:20:38.968+00:00birth of a mumpregnancy, birth, motherhoodAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.comBlogger113125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-39197495317153808662014-12-30T15:10:00.000+00:002014-12-30T15:10:37.147+00:00thanksgiving/christmas ~ florida/suffolk<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We have had quite the busy autumn/winter season here in our household. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As mentioned in my last post, I started a new job in October. Work has been all-encompassing since then. I now have a team of 8 and I'm in charge of all financial operations at my new company; it has been intense to say the least. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Surprisingly though, I am enjoying the challenge. My new company is only 10 minutes away from home, instead of 50 minutes at my previous job. This has made all the difference. I am getting nearly 7 hours more every week with my little boy in the commute time-saving alone. And <strike>if</strike> when I have a long or stressful day in the office, I'm only a few minutes from my family once I leave.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After the hectic first few weeks at my new job, it was great to be able to have a break in November and go back to Florida. We hadn't been since <a href="http://birthofamum.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/good-bye-2012.html" target="_blank">we visited for Thanksgiving</a> 2 years ago. Back then, I was worried about <a href="http://birthofamum.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/crossing-pondwith-baby.html" target="_blank">how to cope with a 4 month old on a flight</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In hindsight, and with the recent memories of a flight to-and-from Florida with a toddler, flying across the Atlantic with a baby was a breeze!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After some tearful moments and lots of Peppa Pig on the iPad we made it safely to the sunshine state and had a great time with family. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We arrived back in the UK in early December. Last week, we hosted Christmas dinner at our house for the first time. I was nervous about this but it was better than I thoughts: Mr M and I could both drink freely without worrying who was driving home; we could put Nate down for a nap in his own bed while people were still here; and we had lots of leftovers to nibble on the next few days. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now I am on another break from work. My new company closes down for the week between Christmas and New Year and I am enjoying the time with Nate before work starts again... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">FLORIDA TRIP</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">CHRISTMAS </span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-27927391810962538812014-10-29T19:29:00.000+00:002014-10-29T19:29:30.341+00:00Six months later<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's been six months since I last got around to posting an update. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Six months is soooooo long and as expected lots has happened and changed here in our world. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Spring and summer flew by with lots of exciting trips and visitors and now autumn is busy turning the world golden. The clocks changed this weekend and I have started drinking pumpkin spiced lattes, so winter is surely on its way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This summer was full of adventures. Nate turned 2 (gasp!), my sister and her boyfriend visited from New York, my mom visited from Florida, we attended a 60th birthday party, a dozen toddler parties, a sausage and beer festival, AND we went to Barcelona for a long weekend. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And on top of everything else, I started a new job this month!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hopefully I will get around to updating with some more details at a later date..until then I will let these photos tell the story...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">At home</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ccworug_Eg4e4NjSuPyLL_8ocsSDy34iI2iQAd8kUAAvSmScMsqlJ7cwjB18gmVrcCrPYK6jSiby59h9qy78QTkUbzH8Jvp1iZgzIoxdAnjyAKkFcXPwktPXWGaQxIjFUajT74QKcanv/s1600/IMG_0012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ccworug_Eg4e4NjSuPyLL_8ocsSDy34iI2iQAd8kUAAvSmScMsqlJ7cwjB18gmVrcCrPYK6jSiby59h9qy78QTkUbzH8Jvp1iZgzIoxdAnjyAKkFcXPwktPXWGaQxIjFUajT74QKcanv/s1600/IMG_0012.JPG" height="400" title="Auntie Debbie!" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">auntie Debbie!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Out and about</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In Barcelona</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-85247850719582427562014-04-26T21:23:00.000+01:002014-04-26T21:23:38.087+01:00Spring time - blog update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Happy Spring everyone! We are really enjoying this time of year, especially in our new house with its bigger garden. The previous owner's of our house were avid gardeners and now that Spring is here we are reaping the benefits of all their effort. </div>
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It has been great for us all to spend time in the garden and of course the dogs are loving it too. </div>
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Now that Nate is a proper walking toddler, we are also extremely pleased to be living close to woodland, parks, family and friends. We regularly throw on our wellies and coats, leash up the dogs, and just start walking. It's amazing how many things we find on our little mini-hikes. </div>
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I am still working 4 days a week. I enjoy the mixture of working hard for 4 days, but still having a long 3-day weekend with Nate.<br />
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Fridays are my day off work and the day that Nate and I get to spend together, just the two of us. We usually have a lazy morning, watch the children go to school from our window, still in our pajamas, then we get dressed and go to a local toddler play group in the village hall. We meet up with friends at the group if possible and sometimes we visit Nate's great-grandmother who lives next door to the village hall.<br />
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On Fridays there is also library story time (which is a big hit with Nate) and a toddler free play session at the gymnastics center.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh58eQVUI9e3xTbROfs1qokqYLkUYbLeGaBwpdIKi6KdMksiCBjEVpnlolvncjgnk1vFngGqBngrf3Acix8IkycsRtTfZzam00153_HtzqVWQEA8ppqbrdAJuhskdYABR8ZDlnWlHbaNgUz/s1600/photo+3+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh58eQVUI9e3xTbROfs1qokqYLkUYbLeGaBwpdIKi6KdMksiCBjEVpnlolvncjgnk1vFngGqBngrf3Acix8IkycsRtTfZzam00153_HtzqVWQEA8ppqbrdAJuhskdYABR8ZDlnWlHbaNgUz/s1600/photo+3+(2).JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Nate is starting to become a goof-ball, I love it! He is still quite sensitive and shy in big groups and takes a while to warm up. But once he does, he is hilarious. </div>
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His favourite thing at moment is running as fast as he can towards me, jumping into my arms, then arching his back, attempting (I think) to do some sort of backwards hand stand. I have no idea where that came from but it is funny - I just have to be careful he doesn't hurt himself.</div>
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It's only 3 months until Nate turns 2. I have been thinking of what to get him for his birthday and I'm leaning towards a balance bike, but haven't completely made up my mind. </div>
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And here are some more cute photos from the past 3 months:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-mC6D1Vijw2vubPyuheRzu11mm9So72NeUgBc8qsfBwObOi8xIvVE0Em4MlTeTGw33O2OS43Ue7tWZ-j6V0dpQiG_UGsgsrmyC9qkaVzWmcpfaQtG4QRIhcLdi6pjaT19R-tuQJIiIsYM/s1600/photo+1+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-mC6D1Vijw2vubPyuheRzu11mm9So72NeUgBc8qsfBwObOi8xIvVE0Em4MlTeTGw33O2OS43Ue7tWZ-j6V0dpQiG_UGsgsrmyC9qkaVzWmcpfaQtG4QRIhcLdi6pjaT19R-tuQJIiIsYM/s1600/photo+1+(2).JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taking a selfie</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh14Xjh2NAfxWi0tiAqbRtTC-1MZd4Gaw1XYlcZdKkFPpgA_Q_9CW69v6fIeh_xWnrEmw9QLQHgRimXXClo_fQEPudcmduFN-DvQf8gB9DIsWzPo7rGemlJkw30mjcXn_ok3CUdym9ngd0S/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh14Xjh2NAfxWi0tiAqbRtTC-1MZd4Gaw1XYlcZdKkFPpgA_Q_9CW69v6fIeh_xWnrEmw9QLQHgRimXXClo_fQEPudcmduFN-DvQf8gB9DIsWzPo7rGemlJkw30mjcXn_ok3CUdym9ngd0S/s1600/photo+2.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the kitchen</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3yTFj_buJQth4nmZuV_IjWqYEvhtKNFgf9_ClFnr8JIaiCCrpDa5qIDNhJzUS_I8EWOzgyu8MGVcNsKBeNBEWcXRNJE6lTY36CqE-5JJ8jxkCEsKjVF7y9z7dubTVYrg0h6H2LgFvV7_/s1600/photo+4+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3yTFj_buJQth4nmZuV_IjWqYEvhtKNFgf9_ClFnr8JIaiCCrpDa5qIDNhJzUS_I8EWOzgyu8MGVcNsKBeNBEWcXRNJE6lTY36CqE-5JJ8jxkCEsKjVF7y9z7dubTVYrg0h6H2LgFvV7_/s1600/photo+4+(2).JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A postcard from Nana & Grandad</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2k7rCHUUz6ipK9-O54LP4MwTgripdbYr6Sgn7NVCb4wf59R_6zn-WXdcMig6Ma_oZT5OJxls_1ql7FgHT7oh4R9VVNlABdUktb4sTrTYIL0V62eiGQGeW4N0P1aD977nz6G2pz9BKx2cZ/s1600/photo+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2k7rCHUUz6ipK9-O54LP4MwTgripdbYr6Sgn7NVCb4wf59R_6zn-WXdcMig6Ma_oZT5OJxls_1ql7FgHT7oh4R9VVNlABdUktb4sTrTYIL0V62eiGQGeW4N0P1aD977nz6G2pz9BKx2cZ/s1600/photo+5.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trying to block his eyes from the sun</td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-4410454724313935252014-01-22T15:39:00.002+00:002014-04-26T20:38:35.954+01:00Nate is 18 months<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijO1JESBwonYuh803Y7qyek4QEkzY1qfb0WYRgt5NJwMNQTp8707k6HTzSO4yQbKirpFIGbix_olihB7XrUGgq4Dk-nAa0295ptZPJQ492uKwo9TP_nd2UNF2Fu2veadn7T45qRsj1vG1D/s1600/photo+13.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijO1JESBwonYuh803Y7qyek4QEkzY1qfb0WYRgt5NJwMNQTp8707k6HTzSO4yQbKirpFIGbix_olihB7XrUGgq4Dk-nAa0295ptZPJQ492uKwo9TP_nd2UNF2Fu2veadn7T45qRsj1vG1D/s1600/photo+13.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I haven't posted for so long...and I am annoyed with myself for being so slack. But wow, having a walking, running, climbing, laughing, crying toddler, plus working 4 days a week... well, it really makes it hard to do anything else but collapse on the sofa in a heap at the end of every day. </span><br />
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But here I am, finally, because I want to tell you all that Nate is now 18 months! </div>
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What a great age this is, but also exhausting. </div>
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18 months is a time of extreme emotions for Nate. In one moment he is crying so hard his face turns purple, then the next moment he is laughing hysterically and running up and down the hallway. He is exploring everything: the forbidden objects in the cupboard; the prickly bushes in the garden; the football pitch; the playground; everything is an item of wonder. </div>
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18 months is a time of speech development. In the past 3 months Nate has gone from babbling nonsensically to saying proper words like "ball" and "bike" and short phrases like "he's in there" and "I don't' know". It is also a time of pushing boundaries and defying rules, shoving another child and then hugging her a moment later. </div>
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18 months and Nate is the cusp of toddler-hood. He can't really be called a baby anymore, even though he is still my little baby. I look at him and in the same glimpse I see the baby he was and the school child he will become. </div>
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These past few months have seen huge changes for Nate, but also for our whole family. We have moved into a new home. It is in a different neighborhood in our town and we hope to stay here for a very long time. It is an older house, so there is a lot of work to do, but we are excited to start making this place our own. </div>
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Here are some photos from the last 3 months... </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-91531869701036314572013-10-29T11:09:00.000+00:002013-11-19T19:45:56.177+00:00Autumn in Joules wellies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I love everything about Autumn. I love the changing leaves, the smell of fires being lit, the stunning light through the clouds, and the warm food. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I also love putting on wellies and going outside with my family to play in the leaves, walk through the mud and take in all the seasonal colours. It's even more enjoyable with Nate in tow. I love nothing better than rediscovering the world through the enthusiastic eyes of a one-year old. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was given the opportunity to choose a set of wellies for me and Nate for the Autumn from <a href="http://www.joules.com/" target="_blank">Joules</a>. They have a HUGE range of cute <a href="http://www.joules.com/Womens-Clothing/Wellies-Wellibobs" target="_blank">Women's wellies</a> and they even had a <a href="http://www.joules.com/Baby/All-Baby-Joule-Boys/Baby-Wellyb/Baby-Boys-Wellies/Navy-Tractor?id=P_BABYWELLYB|NAVTRAC" target="_blank">teeny tiny pair</a> small enough for Nate who is a size 4. There is a <a href="http://www.joules.com/Boys-Clothing/Wellies-Wellibobs" target="_blank">boys wellies range from Joules</a> too if you have an older son.</span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.44444465637207px;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It took me ages to finally decide on a pair for me. I went for dark green ones with little foxes on it because I wanted something more understated, but they have excellent patterns to suit all types of styles. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When they arrived I took Nate straight into the back garden to try them on. Nate has a pair of cheaper wellies and he hates them because they are so stiff and he struggles to walk in them. I was worried how he would react. But these Wellies are seriously soft and squishy and he loved them straight away! He noticed the tractors on them and kept pointing to them, then looking back up at me and smiling. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The only thing left for us to do was to get out and go exploring! My husband and I took Nate and the dogs to our local nature trail. It was Nate's first proper walk in the woods and he was in his element. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I honestly love these Wellies. They are reasonably priced and so comfortable and light. And because they are super soft, they slip on and off so so easy, which is of course essential for me so that I can get to my cup of tea as quickly as possible after walking in from the Autumn chill. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You can have a look through all the Wellies on the Joules website <a href="http://www.joules.com/Womens-Clothing/Wellies-Wellibobs" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>We were sent these wellies free of charge from Joules for the purpose of the review, but all opinions are my own and are 100% honest. </i></span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-89806248200165663992013-10-25T20:41:00.000+01:002013-10-25T20:41:34.683+01:00Nate at 15 months<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nate at 15 months is a babbling, exploring, enthusiastic ball of energy! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He runs back and forth around the house transporting items from one area to another then back again and he is discovering so many new interests each day. At the moment he is loving drawing, "talking" on the phone, jumping onto bean bags, being pushed on swings, and attempting to copy every.single.thing that we do. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's cute to see him try and emulate us, but it also means he wants to help with tasks which really aren't too safe - like emptying the dishwasher and cooking dinner. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And why is it that all of a sudden he looks so much older?! Sometimes I look at him and think - okay wow, he looks like a teenager right now. Where did my baby go?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-62724462537992917082013-09-23T20:36:00.000+01:002013-09-23T20:36:14.715+01:00Walking and talking ...14 months<div>
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This month has been really fun! </div>
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Nate is walking all over the place and he is <i>hilarious</i> when he walks. He is not a graceful walker, but he sure does walk with purpose. He swings his arms back and forth and pushes out his belly in confidence. He sways and wobbles and falls down, but usually laughs off his tumble, gets back up and carries on. </div>
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He is also starting to put together his first words. He has one phrase that he repeats it over and over ,which is "<i>ohhhh nooooooo!</i>". He started to use this whenever he dropped things accidentally (I probably use the phrase more than I realised which is how he picked it up). But it has now evolved into him picking something up, immediately throwing it onto the ground, looking at me and shouting "<i>ohhh noooooo!</i>". I of course laugh at how cute it is and therefore he repeats the cycle to get another reaction from me. </div>
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This past month my husband and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching Nate gain confidence in just about everything. Now that he is walking he is like a new person! We have also enjoyed going on little trips on the weekend and exploring new parks and playgrounds near us. We especially have been loving our visits to Jimmy's Farm where we get to play in the massive sandpit and pretend to drive tractors and race cars. </div>
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In other news, we have decided to trade in our 3 story townhouse for a bungalow! The 2 flights of stairs were really getting on our nerves, so we sold our house a couple weeks ago and have decided to explore the other extreme and try single-story living. It will be a little while yet before the move, but we hope to be in our new place before Christmas. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-6231207120303549052013-09-02T21:13:00.001+01:002013-09-02T21:13:20.665+01:00nate the toddler<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nate is just over 13 months and is now officially a toddler! Check out this fun video.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He has also had his first haircut...okay, so it was only a little snip in the front to get his hair out of his eyes but that counts, right?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And here is a photo of Nate the future blogger ;)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-45808371785328811262013-08-04T21:28:00.003+01:002013-08-04T21:28:24.540+01:00nathan update - 12 months old!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO7FGpa4pAwvIEHnnE-dhOjTnNpcqjFJqFt2W6XOhB2w-2qmLsuokj5b-EKVZ6GOqbN5Hw_soAWyW0C_Isw-MJ2M_TMq2tt1zEVFgs4pKJtLYE3mDusY6-u8mtMuiiF2y-Et7RY7GuBkh7/s1600/IMG_4206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO7FGpa4pAwvIEHnnE-dhOjTnNpcqjFJqFt2W6XOhB2w-2qmLsuokj5b-EKVZ6GOqbN5Hw_soAWyW0C_Isw-MJ2M_TMq2tt1zEVFgs4pKJtLYE3mDusY6-u8mtMuiiF2y-Et7RY7GuBkh7/s640/IMG_4206.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ahhhh, it's been so long since I've been able to get onto my blog and write a post. But here I am and I cannot believe I'm about to do Nathan's 12 month update. That's a whole year old folks - four seasons of having Nathan in my life and it's been incredible!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is a lot to update and not a lot of time, so as usual here are the highlights:</span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nate's crawling has gained speed and he is a super cruiser too! He loves his little walker and spends time walking up and down our house on it. He isn't walking independently yet, but I don't think it will be long.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He has a lot more teeth! The total is now <i>eight</i>, yep eight, so he cut four teeth in the last month! He is taking it all in his stride, and has a cute toothy grin now. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nate had 2 birthday parties to celebrate turning 1. The first was very low key with only a few family members on the actual day. And yesterday we had a birthday party with all his little buddies who turned 1 within a few weeks of each other. We had a picnic at a farm and it was perfect.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nate's hair is so long now, we nearly got it cut the other day but chickened out! We might have to cut it soon.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nate still likes to babble and I swear a few days ago he said "Sasha" and then 10 minutes later said "Ducky". I'm sure of it! He hasn't repeated any words since. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">His favourite activity at the moment is putting stuff into containers or holes or slots. I bought him a little wooden mailbox with wooden letters and he really loves putting the letters through the slot. He likes his plastic golf set too and waving the clubs around. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">His current favourite food has got to be a cheese omelette</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. He loooooves Daddy's omelettes. He also likes strawberries and toast. And he now likes trying to feed himself with a spoon , but he is not very good at it. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And now for the photos.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-64511092097324001832013-06-22T10:04:00.001+01:002013-06-22T10:04:32.459+01:00nathan - 11 months old<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nathan is 11 months old now! Can you believe it's only 1 month until he is 1? This month has been so fun even though <a href="http://birthofamum.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/battling-nursery-bugs.html" target="_blank">he has been sick</a> for some of it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I don't have as much time to spend blogging since going back to work. So, in work fashion, here is a bullet point list of our highlights this month.</span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nate started crawling! He crawled all the way down the hall one evening chasing after a ball. It was the cutest thing and he was laughing as he crawled along. He hasn't stopped crawling since and he is getting quite fast. I managed to catch his first proper crawl on video. </span></li>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He has cut both of his top middle teeth now, so he has 4 teeth in total. He has been in some pain from the teething, but nothing <i>too </i>bad. A little dose of painkillers seems to take the edge off of any pain he has at bed time.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He sleeps through the night, most of the time. That said, he does often get up at 4.45am ready to start the day! And on quite a few occasions he has woken up around 10pm and needed resettling. I'm not sure how to fix these 2 little issues right now, but I'm grateful for how well he is sleeping. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nate points all the time and at everything. I am trying my best to decipher his gestures, but sometimes it's hard to figure out what he is trying to convey. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">His favourite things to eat right now are blueberries, cheese and cheerios. He would rather feed himself than be fed and tries to use a spoon to feed himself yogurt, but it mostly ends up on his face.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He is settled in at nursery now and sleeps like a champion there! He slept for nearly 3 hours one afternoon. I'm not sure how they get him to do that. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And now for some photographic highlights.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-32274849106146671662013-06-19T21:37:00.001+01:002013-06-19T21:37:47.448+01:00battling the nursery bugs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nate has been in nursery for 3 weeks but has already had 3 days off sick with conjunctivitis and an inner ear infection. He has been prescribed 2 courses of oral antibiotics and 2 different types of eye drops!</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It hasn't been easy juggling work with a sick child, but luckily my husband has been able to take some time off to look after Nate when he was too unwell to go to nursery. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nate has been such a trooper; throughout his worst days he just kept on smiling through his horribly swollen eyes. He even started crawling for the first time in the midst of all this. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He still needs to take his medication for another week but he is definitely on the mend and feeling much better. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-31650381826857372092013-06-09T10:37:00.003+01:002013-06-09T10:37:43.666+01:00silent sunday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.cosmicgirlie.com/silent-sunday/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="http://www.cosmicgirlie.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Silent-Sunday.jpg" /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-28521357123123519032013-06-07T13:37:00.000+01:002013-06-07T13:37:01.220+01:00On Children<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.796875px;">
<span style="font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.796875px;">Your children are not your children.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.796875px;">
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.<br />They come through you but not from you,<br />And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.</div>
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You may give them your love but not your thoughts,<br />For they have their own thoughts.<br />You may house their bodies but not their souls,<br />For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,<br />which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.<br />You may strive to be like them,<br />but seek not to make them like you.<br />For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.</div>
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You are the bows from which your children<br />as living arrows are sent forth.<br />The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,<br />and He bends you with His might<br />that His arrows may go swift and far.<br />Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;<br />For even as He loves the arrow that flies,<br />so He loves also the bow that is stable.</div>
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<i><b>~Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet</b></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Since starting back at work and having Nate in nursery most of the week, my mind keeps flitting back to this poem. I first read it many years ago and thought it was beautiful, but now that I have a child it really strikes a chord with me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The phrase "they belong not to you" especially resonates with me. I feel a primal attachment to Nate, which was forged during my pregnancy and during his first few months, which were difficult for me. The struggles we went through together makes him feel like a part of me; mine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But I know deep down that he is not mine - that I am simply one of his protectors, creating a safe environment for him to grow and discover himself. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This poem captures that bittersweet feeling of parenthood to me and the idea that our children are not ours to control, only to guide in a certain direction and let go, like arrows shot from a bow. </span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-8158400653946415162013-06-01T22:33:00.000+01:002013-06-03T21:06:27.403+01:00first week at nursery<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This week was a big transition week for us. It was my last week on maternity leave before officially returning to work and it was also Nate's first week at nursery. He was there for 3 full days. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Although I am technically still on maternity leave until next week, I have been working 2 days a week for a while, so Nate has slowly gotten used to being away from me for the day. Despite this, I was still nervous about him starting nursery because until this week, he had only been with his dad or his grandparents so the move to a group setting was a big change!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The whole morning of his first day, I was worried sick about him. I had trouble concentrating at work wondering if he was eating well, napping, and adjusting to his new environment. I was especially nervous about his naps. Nate gets so upset and cranky when he gets tired and he generally only naps in the car, in the stroller or on me after nursing. I just couldn't for the life of me see how he would nap in a bustling room filled with children. I held off as long as I possibly could and then called to check on him on my lunch break. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I could not believe it when they told me he had slept for 45 minutes earlier that morning and was currently enjoying his lunch of cottage pie and swede! I was so relieved. From that moment, I knew everything was going to be fine. I am so proud at how well m</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">y little man has adapted to his new environment. And after all my worry about Nate's naps, can you believe that <i>this </i>is how my husband found him when he went to pick him up at 4pm? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nate's first day went as smoothly as I could have hoped. And the next 2 days went fairly smoothly too despite a new tooth coming though and multiple doses of pain reliever being administered. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There have been a few negative consequences of starting nursery Nate has had a runny nose and cough ever since his first day, and it doesn't seem to be clearing. He is also very tired in the evenings so we have had to put him to bed earlier than normal. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On the positive side, he has been sleeping well at night and I have noticed Nate's gross motor skills have improved. At the start of the week he was pulling himself up to standing slowly, Now he pulls himself up super quick and does squats, lunges, and all sorts of funny contortions. It's amazing to watch him pick up these skills so quickly!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And to top off this week of firsts, Nate made his very first school art project, which I was given to take home. It is now being displayed in prime position on our dining room table and will no doubt end up on the fridge for months and then stored away for posterity's sake. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-56309337776765031632013-05-29T09:00:00.000+01:002013-09-24T16:00:16.703+01:00Driving on the Continent Giveaway {Win £25 to spend in Sainsbury's!}<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hello readers! </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Have I mentioned yet that I am part of the </span><a href="http://www.sainsburysbank.co.uk/money-matters/blogger-network.shtml" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">Sainsbury's Bank Family Blogger Network</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">? I don't think I have. Well, it's a fantastic</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> little group of family bloggers who share information, write guest posts for the <a href="http://www.sainsburysbank.co.uk/money-matters/index.shtml" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Money Matters</a> website, and from time to time get </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">to host giveaways.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1p1uvWPRMYWmFncA1FT3k0Y13Fyj7dzcYhoi9ZDMY-af-KKfc2-AtFLr3zv4QWHjbuKNpYxgkMNtuqkwilyMk8diUB6BWQVmu2I-73KRhyphenhyphenAJhAvuDUiII0xQGQ-hreg0LIEiU-6n4KJIr/s1600/Sainsburys+Bank+Family+Blogger+Network.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1p1uvWPRMYWmFncA1FT3k0Y13Fyj7dzcYhoi9ZDMY-af-KKfc2-AtFLr3zv4QWHjbuKNpYxgkMNtuqkwilyMk8diUB6BWQVmu2I-73KRhyphenhyphenAJhAvuDUiII0xQGQ-hreg0LIEiU-6n4KJIr/s320/Sainsburys+Bank+Family+Blogger+Network.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am super excited to announce that I have been chosen to host their most recent giveaway about favourite driving holiday destinations. How appropriate seeing as I have just gotten back from a 2 week driving <a href="http://birthofamum.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/back-from-france.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">holiday to France and Spain</a>?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sainsbury's Bank have put together a really useful infographic called </span><a href="http://www.sainsburysbank.co.uk/money-matters/driving-on-the-continent.shtml" rel="nofollow" style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Driving on the Continent</a><span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> which shows all the exciting destinations in Europe that can be reached by car from the UK all within a 2 week time frame, how fun! I'm thinking of checking out that yellow route down to Naples one day, what do you think?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.77777862548828px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 17.77777862548828px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, onto the <b>giveaway</b>! Here are the details on how to enter:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Log </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">in to
Rafflecopter below and enter the draw by leaving a blog post comment telling me what
your <b>favourite driving holiday destination</b> is.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You can also enter by tweeting about the giveaway.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The more times you enter, the better your chance of
winning the £25 Sainsbury’s voucher!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Whether or not you’re our prize winner, your favourite
driving holiday destination ideas could also potentially appear in a future Money
Matters Blog post.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter (which uses
random.org) and announced on this page.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The deadline for entering the giveaway is Wednesday 5th
June.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Full Terms & Conditions are in the Rafflecopter widget.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a member of the Family Blogger Network, I can offer this giveaway with <a href="http://www.sainsburysbank.co.uk/insuring/car-insurance.shtml" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sainsbury's Bank Car Insurance</a>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Good luck!</b></span></span><br />
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<a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/bdf63d1/" id="rc-bdf63d1" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script><br />
<a href="http://www.theprizefinder.com/" target="_blank" title="ThePrizeFinder.com - home of competitions and prize winning">ThePrizeFinder - UK Competitions</a>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com121tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-435585241228664792013-05-22T15:12:00.000+01:002013-05-23T11:02:20.762+01:00nathan - 10 months old<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nathan is now 10 months and this month flew by! We were <a href="http://birthofamum.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/back-from-france.html" target="_blank">away in France and Spain</a> for 2 weeks and now I am back at work 2 days a week, so the weeks really have sped along at a rapid pace. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nathan's tenth month has been tons of fun. He is now properly pulling himself up to standing and does it with ease. He prefers to be standing above all other positions and can walk along holding onto the edge of the sofa. He hasn't mastered crawling yet but can now get onto his hands and knees. He also somehow manages to maneuver his way around the room by shuffling and wiggling his body. I have to be extra careful not to take my eyes off him for even a second because of how much he gets around. He has fallen down a lot these past weeks as he learns how to balance on his feet, but the falls don't seem to bother him too much.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nate now raises his hands into the air when we ask him <i>"how big are you!?" </i>and he is starting to point at random things from time to time. He <i>loves </i>to put things inside containers and then dump them out again. He also has started putting objects into people's hands. His middle top tooth on the right has popped through his gum this month and I think the left one is close behind. He has been in some discomfort from the teething but nothing too bad.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I think the most exciting thing (for <i>me)</i> this month is that Nate has started sleeping through the night on the odd occasion. He first slept through the night (from 9pm to 7am) when we were in Spain and my husband and I were shocked; we figured it was just a one time thing. But then he did it again a couple nights later! Since we have been back from our holiday, he has slept through the night at least 5 more times. I have no idea why he started sleeping all night; I did nothing differently and I am still nursing him to sleep. Maybe he was just ready? In any case, I'm extremely happy that we never had to do any sleep training, despite the <a href="http://birthofamum.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/on-sleep-training.html" target="_blank">pressure to do so from Health Visitors</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Today Nathan had his first settling in session at nursery. I met his key person and she discussed with me all the details about how nursery will work. I feel much happier about nursery in general now that I have met his key person. She is experienced and friendly and seemed to really bond with Nathan even after just an hour. I take him back on Friday to drop him off with her and the other children for an hour without me there! I'm nervous, but feel confident that he will be in goods hands. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And now for some obligatory photos of Nathan's tenth month :)</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-42746778961965822322013-05-19T20:20:00.000+01:002013-05-19T20:20:05.514+01:00silent sunday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-50491897917194700922013-05-14T10:19:00.000+01:002013-05-22T14:06:26.449+01:00back from France<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's been a couple weeks since I have posted because we have been away in France, but I haven't forgotten about my blog! Things are very busy at the moment so this isn't a long post, but I wanted to quickly say that we had a blast in France. I even managed to convince Mr M to drive us over to Spain for a couple nights to explore San Sebastian. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nate did amazingly well on the whole trip and while we were away he started to get on all fours and rock back and forth (I think crawling is imminent!); he also started pulling himself up to standing. And what's even better, he slept through the night 3 times well while away (!). Typically, as soon as we got home he started cutting his top right tooth so his sleep has returned to being all over the place. I will do a proper update on all things Nate when he turns 10 months next week. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now that the holiday is over, I am ramping up my work days over the next 3 weeks and then I'm permanently back to 4 days per week starting June 3rd. I'm unbelievably sad that maternity leave is now completely and officially over, but I knew it couldn't last forever, nothing does. I'm just grateful for the time I had with my little man. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And now I will leave you with few of my favourite photos from our trip. </span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-19868334322015641182013-04-28T19:03:00.001+01:002013-05-14T09:48:52.815+01:00silent sunday<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-55372120623882337062013-04-21T20:18:00.000+01:002013-04-21T20:28:39.549+01:00nathan - 9 months old<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Another month has passed and yet again it has gone quick, quick, quick! Nathan is 9 months old today, three-quarters of the way to being a one-year-old. I think 9 months is a big milestone because now Nate has been <i>in the world</i> for as long as he was <i>in utero</i>. I'm not exactly sure why, but this feels huge to me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nate's ninth month has been busy, with <a href="http://birthofamum.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/our-easter-weekend.html" target="_blank">family days out</a> and lots of activities. The weather has changed from snow in the beginning of the month to gloriously sunny days at the end. We visited Nate's uncle Rob in Coventry and I <a href="http://birthofamum.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/working-mum.html" target="_blank">started back at work</a> as well, so a lot has happened! </span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On our trip to Coventry</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">So how is Nate doing? Well, Nate is now a clapping machine! He claps whenever he hears music or if we start singing "<i>If you're happy and you know it"</i>. It's incredible to see him comprehending something we say and acting on it. I love it. He is also chewing on his cheerios now and actually swallowing them; last month he was only putting them in his mouth and spitting them out, so this is great progress.</span></span>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you're happy and you know it...</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">In terms of movement, Nate is focusing on refining his standing up skills. I am not sure now if he will crawl or walk first because he still cries after being on his tummy for a while. He just hasn't figured out the whole crawling thing. But he can <i>almost </i>pull himself to standing on the sofa. And he loves to stand and play with his new activity table. He does still lunge forward when sitting, but hasn't been able to get into a hands-and-knees position yet. </span></span>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nate still loves to copy sounds and actions. He will try and imitate us when we are speaking to him and really tries to say words, but they all end up sounding like "ba ba". He loves playing with labels and poking round things like holes, buttons, even my nostrils (!) - I am a little weirded out by that one (but maybe it's a normal baby thing?)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last week we decided that it was time to face Nate outwards when using our stroller. I kept delaying moving him from facing me because I loved staring at his little face when we went on walks, but a few weeks ago I could tell that he was trying to look around me to see what was going on, so I thought it was time. We took him to an antique's fair near our house on his first outward-facing journey and he loved it. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Off to the antique's fair</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">We also <i>only yesterday</i> took him out of his baby seat in the bath and put in him an upright bath chair! We knew he was too big for his baby seat for weeks and weeks, but both my husband and I loved his little baby seat and I think we didn't want to admit he had outgrown it. I feel bad now that we kept him in the baby seat for so long because the first time we put him in the chair he had such a blast splashing and playing with his toys. </span></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiUjpf9hCvG0SwSDc9qHFk7umC9m9xl6VSaFeCT0ArAcEo18r76msX-dTiLmtjGwk68nB_PH-O8T6OFEBVmnvUA3oha9xwSJUC_aqPulLWJme_p-17LP-i_h5Gt3Ws3ViqdyWBKVLypU9Z/s1600/IMG_3220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiUjpf9hCvG0SwSDc9qHFk7umC9m9xl6VSaFeCT0ArAcEo18r76msX-dTiLmtjGwk68nB_PH-O8T6OFEBVmnvUA3oha9xwSJUC_aqPulLWJme_p-17LP-i_h5Gt3Ws3ViqdyWBKVLypU9Z/s400/IMG_3220.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Can't you see I'm clearly too large for this seat?"</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There has been no change to his sleeping yet. He is still up once a night, but what I find great is that he goes down very easily at 7pm and usually (but not always) wakes up around the same time for his night feed at 4am-ish. Although not ideal, the fact that the nights are pretty predictable make everything soooo much easier. I have been told by a breastfeeding supporter that breastfed babies are <i>generally </i>able to go through the night without a feed once they are 10 months old. So I am clinging onto the hope that in a month or two we will all be getting a full night's sleep.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next week we are off to France for a 2 week holiday in the sun with my husband's parents. We are all so excited to get some quality family time and to show Nate some new places. </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-36066977618559999662013-04-21T08:49:00.003+01:002013-04-21T08:49:51.424+01:00silent sunday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnWyXNhyphenhyphen8th5pLDnnTI0YCvYgIuPRwEp6kzPsw5esnPEyhk8wPdKqE8Smras8tKt7HL6DA9_Zopdg_D8iIdS22LhXhaCKoqrDsK034AeQ9wOEl_CRGEbfnleSJO6_5rOtark2VN0eOPnoB/s1600/IMG_3364.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnWyXNhyphenhyphen8th5pLDnnTI0YCvYgIuPRwEp6kzPsw5esnPEyhk8wPdKqE8Smras8tKt7HL6DA9_Zopdg_D8iIdS22LhXhaCKoqrDsK034AeQ9wOEl_CRGEbfnleSJO6_5rOtark2VN0eOPnoB/s640/IMG_3364.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-55961897087650538762013-04-16T21:40:00.000+01:002013-04-16T21:40:27.600+01:00working mum<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8rRej4MwFZbD94gJTRNy_pkH1bH-_B3RpP4J2kDkcIT3xLn4rLa2glysAJggWuz5DAFS-I_IdafwalixeqaVTYuXfWhF8_H59AEgh_9bBUm-rpPNdzvGJvJ-LQ0fHeheIUPsrHijqYs2k/s1600/IMG_0048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8rRej4MwFZbD94gJTRNy_pkH1bH-_B3RpP4J2kDkcIT3xLn4rLa2glysAJggWuz5DAFS-I_IdafwalixeqaVTYuXfWhF8_H59AEgh_9bBUm-rpPNdzvGJvJ-LQ0fHeheIUPsrHijqYs2k/s320/IMG_0048.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Oh my goodness, I am exhausted! I have just finished my first week at work. It was only a short 2-day week and I can't believe how tired I feel. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Typically, after many nights of decent sleeping, Nate had a bad night on Sunday before my first day back, and then an even worse night last night waking at 2.45am for a feed then at 5am...and not going back to sleep! </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Maybe he senses that things are different and therefore is waking more? I'm not sure. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And work itself was intense. They are short staffed (my boss quit a few months ago) and it's our busy period, so as soon as I arrived I was thrown a bunch of difficult tasks. I wasn't even given any time to sift through the hundreds of emails in my inbox. I was sleep deprived, so my mind was all fuzzy and confused and stressed. I think I stared at my computer screen for 20 minutes at one point trying to figure out a spreadsheet that was actually set up by <i>me </i>last year...I couldn't remember anything, it was so bad! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Luckily while I was scratching my head and drinking lots and lots of tea (and maybe the odd bar of chocolate), Nate was having a great time with his daddy. They did all sorts of outdoor activities and went to the store and the park. I was glad he was having fun, but I missed him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When I got home, he seemed happy to see me, but it's hard to know if he really even noticed I was gone. We had a kiss and a hug, and then he went right back to playing with his toys. Although I was hoping he would have noticed me a little more, the fact that he was content without me all day gives me confidence that he will be okay at nursery when he eventually goes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have the rest of the week to spend with Nate now and we are going to have some quality mother-son bonding time before I go back for 2 more days next week. </span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-21494838123442756732013-04-13T07:46:00.003+01:002013-04-13T07:46:37.765+01:00real nappies (and other thoughts)<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I received an email today about Real Nappy Week (15th - 21st April) and it immediately reminded me of this time last year, when I decided to <a href="http://birthofamum.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/real-nappies-taking-plunge.html" target="_blank">take the plunge</a> and purchase a full set of cloth nappies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It also reminded me that I haven't posted an update on how we are doing with cloth and what I thought about the Bum Genius Freetime nappies that make up the majority of our stash. So here is a long overdue update.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiaKGIe7S6Qwg5mO9IQsC0K3SYjFqG6wVoHTSzOLQjzpdM5koE59fA5aVfMUrzdabK-PS7gDwoWTrWkXJSRbTfgIwWeIGHevbHWWiYsdoJloi-McZiNVEK4FCSqEzNWwKGUI0GVtaijCmD/s1600/8321289151_bde866e749_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiaKGIe7S6Qwg5mO9IQsC0K3SYjFqG6wVoHTSzOLQjzpdM5koE59fA5aVfMUrzdabK-PS7gDwoWTrWkXJSRbTfgIwWeIGHevbHWWiYsdoJloi-McZiNVEK4FCSqEzNWwKGUI0GVtaijCmD/s400/8321289151_bde866e749_c.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Overall, I love our cloth nappies. The Bum Genius Freetime nappies are fantastic. I highly recommend them; they are easy to wash and dry, simple to put on, and provide a nice snug fit. We also love the Tots Bots EasyFit nappy and the FuzziBunz Elite nappy (pictured on Nate above at 3 months old). I think if I were to start from scratch with my stash, I would purchase some more velcro nappies. Most of mine have snap enclosures and therefore aren't as adjustable around the waist as velcro. But other than that I <i>love</i> my nappies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">However, I have to admit that we do not use cloth nappies full time. We use disposable nappies at night and also when we are out of the house for more than a few hours. So I would estimate that Nate is in cloth half of the time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At first I felt really bad about not using cloth all the time, especially after spending so much money on my stash. But the thing is, since becoming a mother I have learned a lot about myself as a person. And above all else, I have learned that I am <i>not a person of extremes</i> - I am a moderate when it comes to parenting and probably when it comes to most other things in my life. For example, I baby-wear, but also use a stroller; I co-sleep, but also use a crib; I use cloth nappies, but also disposable nappies; I breastfeed, but Nate has had formula a few times; <a href="http://birthofamum.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/baby-led-weaning-update.html" target="_blank">I do baby-led weaning, but also feed Nate purees</a>; the list goes on. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Being the moderate, flexible, non-extremist mom that I am has its advantages, I can adapt to situations and do things how I want and in which ever way works best for us. I like to think I'm carving my own path into motherhood rather than following a prescriptive philosophy. But it also means that I don't fit completely into any of the mommy camps out there. I feel like I'm too hippie for the traditional moms and too conservative for the hippie moms. Maybe I should start a "left-of-center mom group for the slightly hippie non-extremists". Who's with me?</span><br />
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Okay, I have now completely deviated from the cloth nappy theme of this post, but hey this is my blog and I can't be bothered to do any editing on a Saturday morning. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We are off to swim class now. Happy weekend everyone!</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-70380085026195106072013-04-08T09:00:00.000+01:002013-04-08T19:49:43.766+01:00baby-led weaning update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYYY4zLD5VCKJx9Hwf1Nded7Qsb56LaZMHuFwlt12lZGRhWp8ioAtZ5_u6XDyu8_6dETrJPI23UB1V2ayN7N3679BHPIg3jxf3fXTpGFd5rZ_VdspTuhGwozCPxoyi4NxeVJInrZyVwhTu/s1600/IMG_2794.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYYY4zLD5VCKJx9Hwf1Nded7Qsb56LaZMHuFwlt12lZGRhWp8ioAtZ5_u6XDyu8_6dETrJPI23UB1V2ayN7N3679BHPIg3jxf3fXTpGFd5rZ_VdspTuhGwozCPxoyi4NxeVJInrZyVwhTu/s400/IMG_2794.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I posted a couple months ago about our <a href="http://birthofamum.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/adventures-in-baby-led-weaning.html" target="_blank">first weeks with baby-led weaning</a> (BLW). At that time Nate was not accepting spoon feeds, so we were going down the BLW route and he was just getting used to the idea of food, but not swallowing much of it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Since then a lot has changed. Nate now eats 3 meals a day with snacks in between. And since we realised a while ago that he enjoyed being spoon fed his breakfast of porridge or wheatabix, we have been introducing some purees along with the finger foods. The BLW purists would say that we are not baby-led weaning since we are occasionally spoon feeding Nate, but I have come to the conclusion that I don't care. I enjoy spoon feeding him every once in a while, especially when we are eating out because it's less messy and I know that he is filling his tummy. He is great at feeding himself, but he can also take a spoon feed, and in my opinion that is the best of both worlds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Generally for breakfast Nate will have porridge or wheatabix with milk and some fruit. Lunch is usually toast, fruit, vegetables, and rice cakes or bread sticks. And dinner we tend to just give him a little of whatever we are having either as finger food or mashed up a little. His favourite things to eat are bread sticks, oranges, salmon, pineapple, yogurt, spaghetti bolognese, and broccoli. For snacks we give him fruit or little rice puffs treats. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It has been so enjoyable watching Nate improve his eating skills each week. He is getting good at picking up little cheerios with his finger and thumb, putting them in his mouth, and eating them. It's incredible the progress he has made in the past few weeks with moving food around his mouth, chewing it and swallowing it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the last week he has been increasing the amount of solids he eats to the point that his nursing in the day has drastically reduced. Yesterday he even went the entire day without a breastfeed because we were travelling and I didn't get a chance to sit down and feed him. I expected him to get fussy and require a breastfeed, but he never asked for it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He still breastfeeds just as much at night and in the morning, but I can't tell you how relieved I am that he has reduced his day time feeds gradually and naturally. It comforts me to know that next week when I go back to work for a couple days, he will be fine with just solid food and snacks until I get home.</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11742066580885138121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6764182613676127553.post-86832719521894488112013-04-07T09:19:00.000+01:002013-04-08T19:49:29.328+01:00silent sunday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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