It was always difficult, past the first few months of Michael's life, to decide which entries should go into my blog and which into his. I've decided to retire this blog now that Michael has reached the grand old age of 16 months. From now on I'll write about all the mischief he gets up to in my blog.
Thanks for reading :o)
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
A wonderful day
We've had a wonderful day and Michael has been an absolute star. He got lots of fantastic presents. Most of them seem to be noisy presents that he can bash - a spinning top with a train inside; a xylophone; an alien that moves and chatters when you bash it on the head; a (plastic) electric guitar - so I wonder if I will have a bit of a headache next week ;o) He enjoyed playing with them all whilst we helped him to unwrap them. He was happy and playful all day long and we couldn't possibly have asked for more. I gave him his first taste of jelly and to my great surprise he really enjoyed it. I was expecting him to drop it down his front immediately. I guess it didn't become one of the must-have party foods for no good reason.
It was lovely having my parents visit and the house has been full of laughter. I'll really miss them when they go back to England. Between us, we've taken a lot of photos and it will take me a while to sort through them and pick some to put on the blog. I haven't got long to write this entry because we're going back into the garden to look for more meteors. The Perseids are currently visible in the sky and we spotted four meteors about half an hour ago before the cloud cover temporarily forced us back inside. Apparently this is an annual event so they would have been visible in the sky when I had Michael. How cool is that? I was also impressed to discover that August 12th is (according to Wikipedia) the date that Cleopatra killed herself on. I was born on March 8th and historically that has been a pretty slow news day. I share a birthday with Cheryl Baker from Bucks Fizz. Thrilling...
Anyway, I can't think of a more wonderful way to round off Michael's birthday celebrations than with a meteor shower. The boy himself is currently fast asleep. Happy Birthday, my darling. My parents got him a beautiful twinkly birthday card and I particularly liked the wording so I'll end this entry with a quote:
It was lovely having my parents visit and the house has been full of laughter. I'll really miss them when they go back to England. Between us, we've taken a lot of photos and it will take me a while to sort through them and pick some to put on the blog. I haven't got long to write this entry because we're going back into the garden to look for more meteors. The Perseids are currently visible in the sky and we spotted four meteors about half an hour ago before the cloud cover temporarily forced us back inside. Apparently this is an annual event so they would have been visible in the sky when I had Michael. How cool is that? I was also impressed to discover that August 12th is (according to Wikipedia) the date that Cleopatra killed herself on. I was born on March 8th and historically that has been a pretty slow news day. I share a birthday with Cheryl Baker from Bucks Fizz. Thrilling...
Anyway, I can't think of a more wonderful way to round off Michael's birthday celebrations than with a meteor shower. The boy himself is currently fast asleep. Happy Birthday, my darling. My parents got him a beautiful twinkly birthday card and I particularly liked the wording so I'll end this entry with a quote:
Wishing you
all of the stars
in the sky
and all of
the love
in the world
all of the stars
in the sky
and all of
the love
in the world
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Happy Birthday, Michael!
I can't believe he's one! We've put up the streamers, prepared the food, blown up balloons and wrapped the presents and now all we need is the birthday boy and the guests. My parents arrived on Friday and spent the afternoon and evening with us on Saturday. They adored Michael and the affection seemed to be quite mutual. Michael had a very happy time throwing toys off his highchair tray during dinner and seeing how many times my mum would obligingly pick them up. We had a walk around Nieuw-Vennep in the evening and threw some bread for the ducks and coots. We all took so many photographs that at one point it was like a photo shoot.
We're going to keep things nice and simple today because we don't want to overwhelm Michael with people and bustle that he doesn't know or understand. We'll have a BBQ if the weather is good enough (and, thank goodness, it looks promising!) and we'll have jelly and ice-cream for dessert and listen to some of Michael's CDs. I'm sure he'll just enjoy having more people to play with. We'll get out his paddling pool and his sandpit and try out our new bubble blower in the garden. I can't wait!
I'll finish this entry with some photographs.
Firstly, this is Michael when he was 28 minutes old.
This one was taken about a month ago. It is a very similar pose to a photo taken of me at Christmas when I was about the same age. I keep meaning to dig it out for a comparison.
This photo was taken on Tuesday. Michael fell asleep in his dinner after an afternoon out at the children's farm in Hoofddorp. The caption that screams to mind is "Go to sleep on an egg".
We're going to keep things nice and simple today because we don't want to overwhelm Michael with people and bustle that he doesn't know or understand. We'll have a BBQ if the weather is good enough (and, thank goodness, it looks promising!) and we'll have jelly and ice-cream for dessert and listen to some of Michael's CDs. I'm sure he'll just enjoy having more people to play with. We'll get out his paddling pool and his sandpit and try out our new bubble blower in the garden. I can't wait!
I'll finish this entry with some photographs.
Firstly, this is Michael when he was 28 minutes old.
This one was taken about a month ago. It is a very similar pose to a photo taken of me at Christmas when I was about the same age. I keep meaning to dig it out for a comparison.
This photo was taken on Tuesday. Michael fell asleep in his dinner after an afternoon out at the children's farm in Hoofddorp. The caption that screams to mind is "Go to sleep on an egg".
Thursday, August 02, 2007
He walks!
I've been expecting Michael to take a step for a while now because he has such excellent balance. I caught him conducting an invisible orchestra complete with swaying arms and pointing fingers the other day. He can stand unsupported (albeit with slightly wobbly legs after a while) for about 5 minutes. The day before yesterday he took one step, and yesterday he did the same but today something must have clicked in his head. He took 4 steps towards me and hasn't stopped trying since. He'll take a few steps, bump down on his little padded bottom and will then be straight back up for more. I am so proud :o) He must have been practicing in his cot because I had just put him down for his nap and I heard a bump and a wail. I think he must have banged his head on the cot bars. It took about half an hour to settle him down back to sleep.
In other news he's in his next-stage car seat now which is a Maxi Cosi Tobi. It is great because he can face forwards and watch what we are doing. The seat is quite high so he can look out of the windows too.
He doesn't look like a baby anymore - he looks very much like a little boy. I don't know where the last year has gone - it has just flown away and in less than a fortnight he'll be one. I don't know if I mentioned it before but his Granny and Grandad (my parents) are coming out for the weekend of his birthday to celebrate with us. That should be fun. I just hope that the weather improves so that we can spend some time in the garden.
In other news he's in his next-stage car seat now which is a Maxi Cosi Tobi. It is great because he can face forwards and watch what we are doing. The seat is quite high so he can look out of the windows too.
He doesn't look like a baby anymore - he looks very much like a little boy. I don't know where the last year has gone - it has just flown away and in less than a fortnight he'll be one. I don't know if I mentioned it before but his Granny and Grandad (my parents) are coming out for the weekend of his birthday to celebrate with us. That should be fun. I just hope that the weather improves so that we can spend some time in the garden.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
11 month stats
We took Michael along to the baby clinic at lunch time for his 11 month check. The nurse thinks it is hysterical that I am still giving Michael 6 breastfeeds a day. Fortunately I'm secure enough in what I am doing now that I take her reaction in good humour. She agrees that developmentally, Michael is doing very well so there is no reason to change what I am doing. My breastfeeding counsellor would be horrified by her reaction because babies are supposed to get 75% of their nourishment from milk up to the age of one and encouraging me to cut down on breastfeeds isn't the right thing to do. I know the nurse has my best interests at heart though - she just doesn't want me to be tied to a breastfeeding schedule. I don't mind at all, and eventually she might believe me!
Remember I mentioned in a previous entry that Michael has outgrown all his clothes? I was hardly surprised that he is now 78 cm in length. He has grown 4 centimetres in 2 months! He's back between the 75th and 90th percentile which is where he was for most of the early months. I think I'll give up buying him anything expensive to wear because he'll only fit it for a couple of months at most. Linda, my mother-in-law, is the only one who has any success in providing clothes for Michael that fit him for any length of time. She knits him some truly beautiful cardigans, hats, etc. in the winter months. She's very used to sorting out clothes for big lads having had three of her own. She intends to get the tape measure out when we come over in September and has some wool ready and waiting :o)
Ok... I digressed slightly there... it was vaccination day again at the baby clinic. Michael had the last of his series of whooping cough/polio/tetanus/diphtheria etc. vaccines. He handled it very well and didn't give the nurse a look of pure fury like he did last time. Next time we come to the clinic (when he is 14 months) it will be time for the MMR vaccine. I have done quite a lot of research and do not believe the claims that autism is linked to the vaccine. I am, however, quite nervous at the though of him having it. I asked to see the vaccination leaflet so I can read it through and examine the ingredients before making a final decision on whether or not he will have it. Single vaccines are not offered in The Netherlands. This request, as with the breastfeeding, caused much mirth from the nurse but she was still kind enough to go and get me the leaflet.
The nurse asked us a number of questions in order to gauge Michael's comprehension and wanted to know if Michael will fetch a specific item on request. We're still working on give and take. At the moment if I ask him to give me something he is holding, he will gleefully throw it on the floor :oD She checked to see if he can pick up a small item with finger and thumb which he did easily with his right hand but not with his left hand. The item was a scrunched up piece of paper and I think he just lost interest in picking it up but the nurse believes that Michael is showing signs of being right-handed. I thought it was too early to determine that at 11 months? Ok, enough waffle from me, here are his updated stats:
Age: 11 months and 5 days old
Weight: 10.80 kg (23.81 pounds)
Length: 78 cm!
Head circumference: 46.0 cm
Number of teeth: 8
Food: 6 breastfeeds a day and two solid meals
Current temperament: Settling down to sleep
Current location: Upstairs in his cot (I wouldn't have time to post if he was downstairs!)
Remember I mentioned in a previous entry that Michael has outgrown all his clothes? I was hardly surprised that he is now 78 cm in length. He has grown 4 centimetres in 2 months! He's back between the 75th and 90th percentile which is where he was for most of the early months. I think I'll give up buying him anything expensive to wear because he'll only fit it for a couple of months at most. Linda, my mother-in-law, is the only one who has any success in providing clothes for Michael that fit him for any length of time. She knits him some truly beautiful cardigans, hats, etc. in the winter months. She's very used to sorting out clothes for big lads having had three of her own. She intends to get the tape measure out when we come over in September and has some wool ready and waiting :o)
Ok... I digressed slightly there... it was vaccination day again at the baby clinic. Michael had the last of his series of whooping cough/polio/tetanus/diphtheria etc. vaccines. He handled it very well and didn't give the nurse a look of pure fury like he did last time. Next time we come to the clinic (when he is 14 months) it will be time for the MMR vaccine. I have done quite a lot of research and do not believe the claims that autism is linked to the vaccine. I am, however, quite nervous at the though of him having it. I asked to see the vaccination leaflet so I can read it through and examine the ingredients before making a final decision on whether or not he will have it. Single vaccines are not offered in The Netherlands. This request, as with the breastfeeding, caused much mirth from the nurse but she was still kind enough to go and get me the leaflet.
The nurse asked us a number of questions in order to gauge Michael's comprehension and wanted to know if Michael will fetch a specific item on request. We're still working on give and take. At the moment if I ask him to give me something he is holding, he will gleefully throw it on the floor :oD She checked to see if he can pick up a small item with finger and thumb which he did easily with his right hand but not with his left hand. The item was a scrunched up piece of paper and I think he just lost interest in picking it up but the nurse believes that Michael is showing signs of being right-handed. I thought it was too early to determine that at 11 months? Ok, enough waffle from me, here are his updated stats:
Age: 11 months and 5 days old
Weight: 10.80 kg (23.81 pounds)
Length: 78 cm!
Head circumference: 46.0 cm
Number of teeth: 8
Food: 6 breastfeeds a day and two solid meals
Current temperament: Settling down to sleep
Current location: Upstairs in his cot (I wouldn't have time to post if he was downstairs!)
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Not such a bargain...
Remember my post about the bargain baby clothes I bought last week? Amongst the order were a couple of multi-packs of bodysuits in the 12-18 months size. He wore one for the first time today and it was almost too small for him. I couldn't believe it. I had to fold the sleeves back a couple of inches as I would have expected but his torso was just too long for it. So now I have to buy bodysuits in the 18-24 months size. I had to buy him some more soft shoes today as he has outgrown his current ones. I measured his feet and they are a whopping 12.5 centimetres long - they have grown almost 2 centimetres in 3 months! So now he is in the very top size of Zootjes (18-24 months) that there is. I don't know what I'll do if he grows out of them before he is ready to wear hard-soled shoes. Go into business as a cobbler, maybe? Did someone swap my baby for a baby elephant??
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