Goodbye

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)

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:

Wishing you
all of the stars
in the sky
and all of
the love
in the world

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".

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.

You know you're a Mummy when...

... your earworm is the Nick Jr. lunchtime song.

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!)

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??

Ok.... how?

Phil noticed last night that Michael had something like a splinter in the heel of right his foot but Michael wouldn't stay still enough for him to get a good look. We got the doctor to remove it today since it wasn't easily removable by us and it turned out to be... part of an eyelash?!? And not a human eyelash - a cat eyelash by the look of it. How on earth did Michael get a centimetre-long piece of eyelash lodged sideways in his heel? It boggles the mind...

Bargains!

I got a fantastic deal on baby clothes today at Vroom & Dreesmann in Amstelveen. They have a smallish selection of mothercare clothes that for whatever reason are being discontinued. The remaining items are being sold at up to 70% off! As an example, they are selling the most fantastic travel system for €40 that would have cost around €160 new! I bought a whole new wardrobe for Michael in the 12 to 24 months range. At full price I would have paid €185 but I walked out of the store only €58 lighter! I also bought Michael a 70-piece workshop that I'm sure he is going to love when he is old enough to play with it. It has all the tools that a miniature demolition expert is going to need. In response to his increasing mobility I also bought some reins. I've been undecided whether I would get reins but the roads around here are very busy and I don't want to risk, or even contemplate, him running into the road.

He showed the first signs of stranger anxiety today. We were all in the lift in Vroom & Dreesmann and his pushchair was next to another with an older boy in it. His mother was on the other side of Michael. Michael couldn't see me or Phil because we were behind the pushchair. The lady was talking to Michael and the little boy leaned over and put his hand on the parasol of the pushchair. Michael burst into tears and was really distressed. The lady was trying to persuade her lad to let go of the parasol. I picked Michael up the minute we got out of the lift and he eventually cheered up after we pulled some funny faces in a mirror. Perhaps it was just the tiredness and the teething. I hope so. A guy came to the house earlier in the week to give us a quote on painting the living room and Michael wasn't phased by him at all. I would have thought that if he was going to be anxious then it would be when his own home was invaded by a stranger. Babies... who can fathom them?

The weather is pretty chronic at the moment and it seems to have rained non-stop for weeks. I'm getting quite dismayed by it because I have a Nijntje paddling pool that Michael will be too big for soon. I want him to be able to enjoy it before the summer is over. Where is the sun?!? It is July!!

My little star

Michael has been an absolute star today. He learned to walk holding on to only one of my hands and was so pleased with himself. He ate a dinner that contained broccoli which was amazing because I was convinced he would make a big theatrical performance of turning his head away in disgust. When he decided he was full he very gently pushed my hand away which was quite a shocker because normally he wrenches the spoon from my grasp and flings it over his shoulder.

The biggest thing - he actually stopped doing what he was doing when I said 'Michael, No!" I was so impressed.

Afternoon in Vondelpark

I spoke a bit too soon in my presumption that Michael was better. He still had a fever on and off until Saturday and had a pretty horrendous night last night. He woke twice and on the first occasion he was very distressed and snuffly. It took some time to get him back to sleep and he woke again a few hours later needing a feed. He almost never wakes twice a night and I really can't tell if it was illness, teething or a growth spurt that was responsible.

Today, however, was a wonderful day. For the first time in what seems like weeks, the sun shone all day long in a beautiful blue sky. It was a day not to be wasted. We spent the latter part of the afternoon and much of the evening in Vondelpark in Amsterdam. We strolled around with Michael in his pushchair and just soaked up the atmosphere. All around us people were enjoying the weather. We took Michael to a play area and he got to experience the joys of a sandpit for the first time. He was a bit sceptical and seemed perplexed that the ground kept shifting beneath his fingers. One of the real joys of Vondelpark are the wild parrots. It really is something to sit beneath a willow tree and watch them fly from tree to tree. The nicest thing of all is that I get to be smug about the fact that I LIVE HERE and don't have to leave like the tourists do.

Michael had a great time and soaked up the attention he got from passers by. He was chattering non-stop by the time we left the park. The only small dark cloud in the sky was that the kitchen closed early at the Tig Barra and we couldn't finish off the day with cheesy chips. Boo!

Michael has learned a couple of new things this week. Somewhat... less than desirable. A couple of days ago I had the dubious pleasure to watch as he discovered that his fingers (and even his thumb) can fit up his nostril. Lovely, darling(!) Whilst I was giving him his dinner he jammed a potato-covered finger up his nose, looked thoroughly pleased with himself, and then stuck it in his mouth. He isn't going to win fans and friends if he keeps that up. The second thing was that I think I saw the beginnings of a tantrum last night. It was very funny at the time but I don't imagine it will be funny forever. He had been sitting on my knee playing on the KneeBouncers website when I needed to do something in the kitchen and put him on the floor. I held his hands in order to walk him over to the kitchen. He refused to walk, bumped down on his bottom, started to howl and then started flapping his hands up and down like an oversized, fat-bottomed duckling. I was trying to smother my laughter which probably didn't help matters.

All better again

Michael is doing much better today. He had a fever all day yesterday and slept for 16 hours (13 hours at night and a 3 hour nap during the afternoon). He has no fever today and is back to his chattering, busy self. You'd never know he had been ill to look at him as he doesn't even have a sniffle. Because of the fever, I'm still going to take the precaution of keeping him away from the playgroup this weekend.

Michael may be full of beans but Phil and I aren't doing quite so well. A combination of not getting enough sleep and the weather being so depressing have led to us feeling rather flat. I think we'll be getting a take-away and watching trashy TV tonight.

Michael and Xinx seem to be getting on very well. We have a baby gate separating the kitchen from the living room and this afternoon Michael was standing against the bars whilst Xinx and I were in the kitchen. Much to Michael's amusement, Xinx kept dashing from one end of the kitchen to the other and meowing at him. Since Xinx is such a tiny little cat (only 3kg) he is perfectly sized to become Michael's sidekick.

What will today bring?

Michael and I have caught Phil's cold and Michael is really suffering with it. He woke at 5am with a runny nose and wheezing cry. It took about an hour to settle him back to sleep. I was very aggrieved at the time to discover that we didn't have any saline nasal spray for babies in the medicine cabinet. The one thing I needed. Phil went out to get some as soon as the chemist opened this morning. I hope Michael is feeling better after a good sleep but somehow I doubt he will be. At least (so far) his appetite hasn't been affected. He ate and drank enough for two babies yesterday.

It looks like we'll be missing out on going to playgroup for a third week in a row. Argh!

Unprofessional photos

Zita is supervising Michael whilst he learns how to use his new push-along walker. He was a quick study and was soon mowing down the cats with his cheerfully coloured wheels.
















"What? You think I made this mess? Silly Mama!"













Michael celebrates his success at having wedged snap-lock beads on both his thumbs. Hooray!

















This is my spoon. There are many like it but this one is mine.













This is a three-pipe problem.

Little Cheshire cat

I've been wondering lately just how much Michael understands of what we say. I was sitting on the sofa this evening and Michael was playing on the floor. I called him over to me and he obligingly dropped his little toy and meandered over. I praised him and then asked him where Dada was. He looked over at Phil. I asked again and he did the same thing. I then asked him to go to Dada and after a moments pause he cruised along the sofa and then crawled over to Phil. It may have been a fluke but we were extremely impressed. Now if only we can get him to obey the word 'no' ;o) I wish... I've been trying to teach him the concept of give and take with his shape sorter blocks. At first, he would hang on to the block as if his life depended on it when I asked him to give Mama the block. Now he flings it onto the floor. I guess that can be considered progress...

We were supposed to be taking Michael to a playgroup in Amsterdam last Sunday but Phil caught a cold and we didn't want to pass it around the other parents and babies. It was a great pity because we were looking forward to going. I'm crossing my fingers that Michael and I won't catch it and that we can go on Sunday. Phil hurt his back the previous week and if he is really unlucky then the poor guy will get his third dose of bad luck and fall down a manhole or something. He'll do anything to get out of getting Michael ready for bed ;o)

Michael has a new smile. The day before yesterday he turned to me, screwed up his eyes and showed me a big, toothy grin. It is both adorable and hysterical. I was wondering where on earth he picked it up, because it didn't seem all that natural a smile, when I noticed Phil smiling this smile at Michael this morning. If he has started copying Phil then ketchup sandwiches and stealing all the cheese are soon to follow. I'll have to padlock the fridge.

Professional photos

Here is a small selection of the photos we got back from the professional photographer. We are really thrilled with them!

I don't get it?!?

How is it that Michael will wake at night if a mouse sneezes but is now happily napping through the biggest storm we've had in ages?!? Someone has a very cruel sense of humour...

...and now he's woken up. Ha ha ha.

Harry is not a glove puppet!

It has been a couple of weeks since my last post so a slap on the wrist for that. I'm so busy during the day that I don't find the time that I used to for posting an entry. Michael is doing incredibly well right now and has momentarily stood without support twice in the last few days. He was standing behind his push-along baby walker and just let go. He didn't even realise what he had done. I guess he'll be walking soon which is very exciting. He has eight teeth now and two more are on the way. The problem with this is that these teeth are MOLARS!

Oh God, no! I thought that the canine teeth came through before the molars but it seems I was wrong. He's been chewing everything in sight during the day, dribbling and has started to bite a lot. He doesn't hurt, but it is quite alarming to see a baby launching himself at your kneecap, all ready for a chomp. Despite all this, he's quite happy during the day. Nights are a different matter. Even with medication he will toss and turn through the night and sometimes whimpers in his sleep. I feel so sorry for him. We managed to get a look in his mouth this evening and can see angry looking points on each side of the top gum making their way down.

Michael seems to have more teeth than most babies of his age so you'd think he'd be streets ahead with finger food, wouldn't you? Not a bit of it! He will happily suck on bread or rusks and if a little bit happens to get pulled into his mouth then he'll chew it a little, stick out his tongue with a big grin to show me, and then spit it out. Ah well, he'll get there in the end. I suppose this is the price I pay for him being happy to eat vegetables. He'll even eat pumpkin without complaint and to me it smells like horse manure. On the occasions when I've had a mouthful to encourage him it has been very difficult not to look disgusted. The sooner he's eating the same food as Phil and I, the better.

I can't believe that he is going to be one year old in just two months! We're going to go to a party supply store in Lisse at the weekend to pick up balloons and other necessary party supplies. It is a pity that he is too young for a piñata because I really fancy one of them (me? living through my child? never!)

Michael and the cats are starting to interact with each other a little more now. Ron and Zita are still rather terrified of this ham-fisted lunatic but Harry and Xinx will sometimes sit down next to him and allow him to investigate (i.e. pull their tails, squeeze their paws and tug on their fur). We watch very closely and never allow Michael to hurt them. All of my baby books advise protecting the baby from the cats very carefully. I trust the cats implicitly, it is the baby I don't trust! Harry craves any kind of attention which is becoming problematic because he would allow Michael to stick his hand up his bottom and wear him like a glove puppet if I didn't prevent it.

We finally received the professional photos from the photographer who took them back in May. When (if) we get a spare moment they'll get scanned into the computer and I'll post a couple on here. They really do look fantastic and we're very pleased with them. You can never have enough baby photos. I'm sure they'll be an excellent consolation when he is a moody, acne-ridden teenager who only communicates in grunts through his closed bedroom door.

I wonder if anyone actually looks forward to the teenage phase? If you could see the teenager that your adorable little cherub was going to turn in to, would you run a mile? Would you ever have more children? I can't imagine that teenage boys can be worse than teenage girls. My sister and I were pretty good teenagers on the whole, and I would still have run a mile rather than attempt to parent either one of us.

Time to bring this long and rambling post to a close. You might have guessed that I'm a teensy bit sleep-deprived...

A couple of photos

I haven't uploaded any photos recently so here are a couple that I like very much.

This was taken on Texel. It was the first time that Michael slept in his travel cot. He seemed to love it as he slept peacefully through the whole night without waking once.



















As I have mentioned previously, Michael's favourite TV show is 'Bubble and Squeak'. Here he is gazing adoringly at Matilda, the magical cookery book.

What's new?

I haven't updated in a while so I guess it's time for a general update. Michael is in to everything right now. He has been opening cupboard doors and trying to unlock the TV cabinet. He chases after the cats and is forever opening and closing my slide-out keyboard table. He's happy virtually all the time and sleeps very well. Because of his almost suicidal curiosity we've put cupboard doors at the base of all our bookcases and have some pretty sturdy baby gates. All the cupboards are locked. The cats are starting to learn to take advantage of his presence. Xinx will sit patiently under Michael's highchair when he is eating in the hope that he will drop something tasty and gooey.

On a slightly ranting note - Annabel Karmel! How I hate that woman! Preparing and freezing food in bulk is so time consuming. I prepared a tray of peaches and a tray of potatoes this evening and it was so annoying to have to blanch; peel; remove the stone; chop and purée the slippery little peaches. I'm going to make a tray of apple and cinnamon tomorrow. I don't have the energy to do any more this evening. The most annoying thing was hearing the laughter of Phil and Michael coming from the living room whilst I was up to my armpits in peach juice in the kitchen. Bah! No fun! I can totally understand why mothers buy ready-prepared baby food jars. Life is just too short for this amount of hassle.

Ok... back to Michael... erm... what else is new? He's outgrown all of his 9-12 month bodysuits and T-shirts. He's now wearing 12-18 month clothes. I didn't see this coming and have to go shopping for yet more summer clothes. He hardly got any wear out of his play clothes at all. More alarmingly, he's almost grown out of his 12-18 month soft shoes. His feet are just huge and so wide! I've had to add a €100 monthly clothes allowance for him to our budget.

Michael's first birthday is fast approaching and we are planning on having a BBQ and have invited the grandparents over to spend the weekend adoring him. It'll certainly be nice for him to celebrate his birthday in the summer. Phil and I celebrate our birthdays in March and it is always cold and rainy - but never cold enough for snow.

I don't know if I have mentioned the competitiveness of mothers before now. Being a mother is the best thing in the world but I hate having to deal with other mothers. You have to be really secure in what you are doing to not let the parenting methods and choices of other mothers get to you. For example, comments like the following float around the baby forums on a regular basis:

• Oh, you're having a BBQ for his birthday? We're having a professional entertainer and have hired a marquee for our 100+ guests.
  
• You aren't taking him to a baby sign class?!? How do you communicate with him??
  
• I just couldn't use disposable nappies. Just THINK of the environment!

Yawn! Goodness knows what it will be like when Michael goes to school. All those mothers at the school gates judging each other...

"Did you see that Michael Gleghorn? His mother has the nerve to call her whites white! And I'm sure she doesn't wash behind his ears!"

Mother's Day

I forgot to mention Mother's Day! It was Mother's Day here on Sunday and I had a lovely day. I got a card from Phil and one from Michael. Michael had, with some assistance, signed the card himself! I got a 'Mama' mug that was filled with heart-shaped chocolates and a framed photo of me and Michael. I love that photo and was thrilled with my presents. Phil made me a full English breakfast and we wandered out to a garden centre to buy plants for our hanging baskets. Michael fell asleep in the baby carrier and got many an adoring look. We spent the evening relaxing and I consider it to have been a perfect day.

Whilst I was in the shower I had the perfect idea of what to get Phil for Father's Day. Phil is hellishly difficult to buy for but I know for certain that he is going to love this present! Hehehe!

9 months old!

We took Michael to the baby clinic for his 9 month check-up today and here are his latest stats:

Age: 9 months and 3 days old
Weight: 10.27 kg (22.64 pounds)
Length: 74 cm
Head circumference: 45.6 cm
Number of teeth: 6
Food: 7 breastfeeds a day and two solid meals
Current temperament: Drifting off to sleep (hopefully!)
Current location: Upstairs in his cot

As you can see, he's doing very well and the doctor was pleased with him. It is always such a relief when no issues are raised by the doctor. I actually have a set of scales at home to monitor Michael's weight so that I don't get any nasty surprises when the nurse weighs him.

He's a happy little chap and has just started comically shaking his head. He doesn't know that it means 'no' because we don't shake our heads when we say no. He pumps his arms up and down furiously when he is excited and sticks his little lip out when he is upset. I'm having trouble resisting the power of that lip.

Last night when I was giving him a feed, he bit my nipple. In the past he has nipped but it has only been a little nip and he hasn't really done it since having teeth top and bottom. Last night he bit me and hung on. Ow!! I yelped and said 'no' very firmly. He looked up at me and his mouth started to turn downward at the corners and out came that little lip very slowly. Before I knew it, I was comforting him and my knackered nipple was forgotten. I've got to work on resisting this particular trick!

I'm sure that there was something else I was going to mention but for the life of me I can't remember what... oh yes!

I might have mentioned that Phil and I have been taking him out to one particular restaurant periodically. It is a good choice because there is a large non-smoking section and a lot of bustle. No-one minds if he is a little grumpy and there is a lot of people for him to gaze at. We sit him in one of the wooden highchairs and let him soak up the atmosphere. We went there last week. He hadn't been in the highchair two minutes when he clambered up onto all fours with his feet wedged against the back of the chair. He leaned forwards onto the tray and climbed out of the chair onto the table where he proceeded to crawl off!!! Phil and I sat there stunned. Naturally, he wanted to do this again and again and again so one of us had to hold him whilst the other ate. We'll need to pick a restaurant with highchairs that have a harness in future or ditch eating out altogether. It was very funny and we were very impressed. He really is a serious escape artist!

Exorcising some very sad thoughts

I, like so many people, have been very distressed to read about the abduction of Madeleine McCann. I have always been distressed by news stories of child abduction, but particularly now that I am a parent.

As a parent, I try to give the best of myself to Michael. I undertook to give him unreservedly my love, time and knowledge. I will treasure his successes, support his mistakes and value his life more highly than my own. The thought that someone could...

I can't even complete the sentence. I can't think about such a thing happening to my baby boy.

Please let that little girl be found soon. Please let her be alive. Please don't make her parents pay any more for their mistake of leaving her alone. Please.

Old Macdonald

It used to be that "Twinkle twinkle little star" was Michael's favourite cure-all song. Not anymore. Now it is "Old Macdonald". This is rather unfortunate as it forces us to use our memory and inventiveness during the song. It is bl**dy exhausting too! In desperation this evening, there were some very strange things on Old Macdonald's farm which would probably result in a visit from the RSPCA. On his farm were the following:

Ducks
Chickens
Geese
Horses
Cats
Dogs
Donkeys
Sheep
Cows
Pigs

All fine and very appropriate so far... then we had...

Cuckoos
Owls

A bit of a stretch, but ok... then...

Bears
Lions
Howler monkeys
Dirty pants (with a squelch squelch here and a squelch squelch there...)

Old Macdonald had obviously lost the plot at this point, in addition to soiling himself.

Magic spoon

Just to cheer us up - here is Michael and his magic, floating spoon.

Spoooooky!

Slow and steady wins the race

Phil and I have been very tired today. I did indeed have to feed Michael through the night two nights ago in order to stave off mastitis. I thought that after that was resolved we would be able to get a good sleep last night. Wrong! Michael woke up twice in the night wanting a feed. I can't remember the last time he woke twice - not for months and months. I guess he's having a growth spurt because he has fed a grand total of nine times today. In addition to that he had one solid meal of banana.

So... today we weren't exactly at our best. This evening Michael looked like he was trying to walk from one side of his cot to the other. I thought it might be fun to see if he was ready to take a step so I held him in front of me and Phil was holding his arms out ready to catch him. Unfortunately he fell straight down rather than forwards and bumped his mouth on the carpet. He cried immediately and I picked him up to cuddle him on my shoulder. When I looked at him I noticed that there was blood dripping from the corner of this mouth. He looked like a chubby, diapered Dracula. Cue mass panic!! I got Phil to call the after-hours doctor and then slowly my think-rationally-and-take-responsibility parent self kicked in. I wiped his mouth and gave him some sips of water to clear away the blood. When I looked in his mouth there were two tiny - and I mean tiny - puncture marks on the inside of his upper lip. His two bottom front teeth were the culprits. There was no other damage and no bleeding after I gave him the water. The teething causes a lot of dribbling so that is why he appeared to be bleeding so much.

Whew! Lesson learned - when he wants to walk, he'll walk. We're not going to try that again in a hurry. Especially in the evening when we are all tired.

Phil was incredibly upset that he had hurt himself and needed a lot of reassurance that Michael was really fine. There is this thing that I do that makes Michael laugh a lot - Phil holds him and I bunny hop towards him. He howls with laughter. Phil wanted me to do it right there and then to check that Michael wasn't in pain. Michael laughed and Phil relaxed a little. I called the after-hours doctor back and explained that I had checked Michael's mouth and didn't think it was necessary to bring him in for a check-up. He agreed.

I guess we're finally starting to stand on our own two feet as parents. As for Michael... not quite yet ;o)

Progress

I finally got the lump shifted and am feeling a lot better. I was starting to feel ill with it. I called the Borstvoedingscentrum Amsterdam this morning and told them my tale of woe. They gave me a lot of useful advice (as always) and suggested that an electric breast pump would help. I've used this in the past to some success and we all bundled in the car and drove to Amsterdam. I rented the pump and got re-measured for my nursing bras. That was a lucky thing because I have lost 5cm around my ribs since giving birth so my bras weren't offering me enough support. I bought two new bras which cost a pretty penny and then we drove home. My intention was to use the pump during Michael's nap so I fed him normally before the nap. He was being very wriggly so I used a position I haven't used before - his chin was underneath my breast. You know what I'm going to write don't you? Of course you do. After we had spent 75 euro on renting the pump - Michael cleared the blockage in seconds.

Still... I don't care about the cost! Hooray!!! I'm sporting a nasty bruise and some soreness but hopefully I've done enough to avoid mastitis.

I guess for anyone reading this who isn't pro-breastfeeding, you must wonder why women put themselves through this. When it works it really is incredibly satisfying. There is nothing nicer than Michael having his bedtime feed and then lying back, smiling up at me and wrapping his fingers around mine.

Rotten day

Michael woke for a feed at the crack of dawn today and I noticed at the end of the feed that I had a plugged milk duct in my right breast. I've had this three or four times before, always in the same breast, and use a combination of hot compresses, frequent feeding, massage, and careful positioning of Michael during a feed to ensure that the blockage is cleared within a few hours.

Today I have had no success at all as Michael is unwilling to feed. I have done all of the above and I still have a painful lump that feels rather like a small saucer lodged in my breast. Michael has cut a new top tooth in the last day and in addition is going through a very fussy phase with his feeding. It often happens to babies between eight and ten months old. They get so incredibly distracted by ANYTHING that it is almost impossible to keep them still for long enough to get a decent amount of milk into them. Michael will feed well at night, before bedtime, and first thing in the morning but for the rest of the day he constantly wants to be off crawling and playing.

I'd just like to say - AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!

I'm terrified that if I can't get the lump cleared I'll end up with mastitis. I really don't need that right now. The irony is that he has been crawling around today with a T-shirt on that says "Milk Built This Body". I dressed him in it without thinking this morning. Milk may have built his body but it has almost crippled mine!

I had a look at my La Leche League book and it advises spending the remainder of the day in bed with the baby and feeding as frequently as possible. How exactly is that supposed to work with a busy little eight month old, then? Hmm? I don't think they thought that piece of advice through. The book also suggests that I should feed Michael frequently throughout the night. I need a night like that like I need a hole in the head.

I seriously hope that tomorrow is a better day!

Who knew?

Who knew that cats like puréed pumpkin with rice? I'm both fascinated and disgusted. Mostly disgusted.

In the Night Garden

Some parents love it, some parents hate it. Most preschoolers seem to be entranced and Michael is no exception. We're happy to jump on this particular bandwagon and have pre-ordered a plush Iggle Piggle from the BBC Shop for Michael's birthday.

If you don't know what I am talking about then check this out.

General update

We have just got back from a short break on Texel and Michael is doing very well. We were a little concerned that being in a strange place and sleeping in a travel cot would throw off his routine altogether and leave him unwilling to sleep. We needn't have worried - he did fantastically well and slept soundly all night and for his daytime naps. In fact, he slept so well that I think the blackout blinds in the hotel suite might have had something to do with it. We're going to buy some for the bedrooms at home. We don't really have much to complain about when it comes to his sleep but he does tend to be a bit of a light sleeper once the sun has come up. Blackout blinds should help with that.

He thoroughly enjoyed exploring the hotel suite and thought it was a great joke when Daddy stood outside on the balcony and tapped on the window. The floor was stone and I nearly had a heart attack every time he crawled off or pulled himself to standing. If I had had a big butterfly net then, believe me, I would have been following him around with it.

Michael has never really seemed afraid of anything but, curiously, he was frightened of the shower nozzle in the hotel bathroom. It is a pity because it is the fastest way to rinse the soap suds from a squirming and determined baby. He's irrepressible so I imagine he'll get over this fear before long.

He has started babbling 'Mama' which, as you can imagine, is thrilling for me. He has been saying it off and on for months but only when he needed something. To hear him say it as part of general baby chit-chat is lovely. He says 'baba' too.

I think he has had a growth spurt because he seems to have grown quite a bit in the last month or so. He has a health check at the baby clinic in a couple of weeks so I will be interested to see his updated stats. His legs look like they are finally starting to catch up with his huge torso.

Lastly, I haven't mentioned how he is doing with solid food in a while but I can report that it is going very well. He has his ups and downs because of the teething but on the whole he does very well. He now lets me feed him with the spoon rather than taking the spoon from me to feed himself. He absolutely loves banana, although he enjoys all of the fruits that I have offered. He is less keen on vegetables and will sometimes eat what I offer and sometimes not. I have tried mixing up breast milk with something like sweet potato but quite often this little fishy won't bite. So, the list goes as follows:

Foods that Michael likes doesn't hate:

• Banana
• Avocado
• Apple
• Pear
  
• Rice cakes
• Carrot
• Sweet potato
• Pumpkin
• Green beans
• Brown bread

I'm not surprised that he didn't like the puréed green beans. What was I thinking?!? It was absolutely disgusting and I wouldn't have eaten it either. At least he was polite enough not to throw the bowl at my head!

Birthday party photos

I totally forgot to post some of the birthday party photos so here they are.

The birthday girl, Marisa, with Phil. Isn't she cute?








Marisa and Michael, completely ignoring each other. Michael is very intently chewing on a bottle of bubble solution. I have no idea what Marisa is examining.






"Paulo! I've missed you!!!"











This was the first outfit that we put Michael in for the party. I think it is his cutest outfit so, naturally, he likes to cover it in poop at every available opportunity.






Marisa and Regina enjoying the afternoon sunshine on the balcony.

Fifth tooth

Michael's fifth tooth - to the right of the bottom front two - came through today. That is three new teeth in nine days! The tooth immediately above it should be through in the next few days too. He's been absolutely miserable with teething on and off for the past couple of weeks and I can't say that I'm surprised. There is no prize for getting all twenty baby teeth in the shortest amount of time but no-one has told Michael this! You haven't lived until you've seen a baby crawl across the room to you, whining and howling all the way ;o)

We're all going away to Texel on Sunday because it is our second wedding anniversary. We're staying overnight in a hotel suite with a steam room and whirlpool bath. I can't wait - although, I have some doubts about how much time I'll actually have to enjoy the luxurious surroundings. Michael seems to have a sixth sense - he knows when Mama is about to enjoy herself and, my goodness, she must be stopped for her own sake (apparently!)

This will be the first time that we've gone away since Michael was born. I don't think I would have dared attempt it before now. At eight months he is now old enough not to need half a baby superstore carted around with him. We have a travel cot, baby carrier, his clothes, nappies and toiletries and that should be about all he needs. Wish us luck!!!

Dada

Michael said 'Dada' for the first time today. He has been saying 'Mama' for some time now and Phil has been waiting patiently to hear 'Dada'. This evening, Michael was incredibly happy after polishing off a bowl of mashed banana. He was grinning from ear to ear and pumping his arms up and down in delight. He started making 'da da da da' sounds and I told Phil who sat in front of him and said 'Dada' to him. Michael looked at Phil and then in little more than a whisper said 'Dada' back. Phil definitely went a bit pink around the ears and we were both delighted. He hasn't stopped saying it since.

What a clever boy!!!

Orange boxes and Americans

Phil and I took the little 'un to the supermarket this afternoon. I had spotted a poster last week advertising the presence of a baby photographer in the store this week. I couldn't resist. The hook is one free photograph but I can't imagine that anyone turns down the full set of photos. So, today Michael was washed, bathed, clipped, brushed and dressed in his snazzy best and we trundled off to the supermarket.

The lady photographer sat Michael on a bench; in a little wicker chair; in a suitcase and - my very favourite - in a wooden orange box! He was completely placid for the whole experience and smiled on cue. I was convinced that he'd crawl off the table as soon as he was sat down but I guess the novelty of the situation kept him pinned for the duration of the shoot.

At one point he had a crowd of about 20 people. For some absurd reason I couldn't fathom, a C1000 (the supermarket name) employee was giving a tour to a large crowd of American tourists. They, in addition to a number of curious shoppers, were all standing behind the photographer and helpfully pulling faces and waving at Michael. The little lad soaked up the whole thing. I am incredibly proud of how he handles strangers. He never minds being picked up or admired. A stranger to him is just another leg to climb in his quest to become a toddler.

The photographs will be ready for collection on May 2nd and I can't wait to frame and hang them on the living room wall. My rational mind knows that traditional baby photography, i.e. posing them in flowerpots, is really cheesy but when it is your baby the rational mind never gets a look-in.

In other news, Michael is crawling really strongly now and we cannot wander off without the slap-slap sound of determined little hands propelling him after us. It is really enchanting and he is at an adorable age. All the frustrations he suffered at wanting to be off and not being able to move are now gone. In the last day or so he has also started cruising the furniture. This, on one hand, is great as it is such an amazing achievement but on the other hand it is alarming because he needs to be watched constantly in case he falls backwards.

He also got his fourth tooth today and, like with most babies, the top front teeth are initially set rather far apart so he is going to look like a miniature yokel for a while yet ;o)

B-b-b-b-baby

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Third tooth

One of Michael's top front teeth has finally broken through the skin, so this explains all the grumpiness yesterday. The second top front tooth is hot on it's heels but for now Michael is peaceful and went upstairs for his nap today without a murmur.

Nap time

For the third time in as many hours I have taken Michael upstairs for his nap. The mercury hit 25°C here today (it's only April for goodness sake!) and Michael is struggling with the heat. He's been crawling around in only shorts and a nappy. The temperature, along with these blasted top teeth have left him too irritable to nap. However, not napping only makes things worse. After a big feed he is finally peaceful upstairs and I hope it lasts. A neighbour has been cleaning the front of her house with a high-power water jet all weekend and the noise isn't helping anyone.

I have a little paddling pool with a sun shade for Michael so when he wakes up I think that a good ol' splash in the garden should cheer him up quite a bit.

Birthday party

A lot of the time being a parent feels like being flung out of a catapult at speed. You get up, hurtle through the day and before you know where you are - splat - you're exhausted and semi-conscious and somehow it is midnight when you are certain that it was only noon the last time you checked your watch a moment ago. Some days it is really hard work and other days it is a hell of a lot of fun. Today was the latter.

Today was our colleague, Paulo's, daughter Marisa's first birthday. Phil, Michael and I were invited to a little party that Paulo and his partner, Regina, threw for her. In total there were 9 adults and 4 children present. Paulo lives about an hour from our home by car so Michael napped all the way there and was ready for fun on arrival. He adored all the attention and was squeaking away like something out of Jurassic Park whilst simultaneously trying to climb the leg of whoever was closest. I must have had a premonition when packing the rucksack full of all his things this morning because I packed a second complete outfit for him 'just in case'. About an hour after we arrived he completely filled his nappy and then promptly weed all over himself as I was changing him. Great timing, kid!

The little ones seemed to have a great time and we were very happy that Marisa was enjoying the little Fisher Price telephone that I had chosen for her earlier in the week. This was my first opportunity to buy a present for a little girl because for the last few years I have only had little boys to buy for. There was lots of chatter and laughter and Marisa had 'Happy Birthday' sung to her in three different languages (English, Dutch and Portuguese) - how cool is that?!?

One adorable little lad, Milan (hope I spelled that right), zoned in on me soon after he arrived and I spent a lot of time playing with him and tickling him. I had so little contact with children before having Michael that it took me a while to work out how to play with a lad of his age (he is 2). Tickling and tossing him into the air seemed to work well.

We travelled home 6 (yes, 6!) hours after we arrived, exhausted but very happy. Naturally, Phil took an absurd number of photographs so I will post some of the best ones on here when he has uploaded and tweaked them.

Photo

I haven't included a photo of Michael in a while which is remiss of me. Here is my current favourite:

Forgot to mention

Despite the teething, the introduction of solids has gone much better this week than previously. I wouldn't say that Michael is incredibly excited about these strange blobs of gloop being proffered but he opens his mouth willingly now and is keen to grab the spoon and try feeding himself. He eats a good few spoonfuls before getting bored at being made to sit still. He has had a change of heart and now likes banana which is good news because it is a nice quick meal which does not involve steaming or using the food processor.

Gone deaf

We've finally put Michael to bed. He has screamed for the majority of the evening because three of his top teeth are coming through. He is in so much pain despite us medicating him and doing everything we can think of to distract him. Putting him in the Ergo carrier and pacing with him seems to be the only thing that works for any length of time.

I have just purchased a Rabbitts ~ Mat. It is a changing mat with a 4-point harness and is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY because Michael refuses to stay still on a normal changing mat. Even Phil has a really hard time changing him. Michael cries the minute we put him down and then he arches his back, throws his head back and turns sideways. It is like trying to change an eel. The best way for me to deal with this battle and stay sane is just to win it without a fight. The worst time for me is in the morning when in addition to changing him, I have to give him his vitamin D drops, moisturise his face, neck and torso and dress him. He howls the whole time. I know he wants his independence, and he wants it NOW but until he learns to dress himself and use the toilet then he's going to have to cut Mama some slack.

Phil had an incredibly hard time of it this evening when he gave Michael a wash and got him ready for bed. At one point he said we were at DEFCON 1 which made us both laugh - although we couldn't hear the sound over the howling.

We're going to the zoo tomorrow so hopefully the distraction will help everyone.

Purée queen

I've almost finished my marathon cooking session. I've been bulk cooking food to freeze for Michael. I've steamed, puréed and frozen pear, apple, carrot and sweet potato. Hopefully, along with some soft fruit like banana and avocado, I should have enough food for the next 3 weeks at least. Hooray!

When I started Michael on solids a month ago, I initially tried him with soft fruits for a couple of weeks. Because of his lack of enthusiasm I became demoralised, went for convenience and offered him a few jars. I felt very guilty about that. I'm giving him the best that I can with breast milk and it seems such a shame to then offer him tasteless commercially-prepared baby food. I can say with certainty that it is tasteless because I compared the apple and carrot that I made with their commercial counterparts.

Michael struggles with the texture of home-prepared food but I'm sure he'll get the hang of it in the end (please, please, please!)

He still loves me

It has been a challenge to keep Michael happy lately. The teething pain reached it's peak last week (still no new teeth!!!) and this week he has been absolutely determined to stand at every opportunity. He has been interacting with us far less as his need to become mobile has been very single-minded. He can stand with support and his crawling is coming along nicely but he obviously isn't meeting his very exacting standards as he is frequently crying with frustration.

Before he could sit up or roll over I used to spend hours entertaining him by singing to him, pulling faces, telling him stories and just holding him. He used to nap nestled under my chin. He's so big now that he naps in his cot upstairs and the type of interaction we have is changing because he is becoming mobile. We play with toys together and play more physical games. I still sing to him.

Occasionally when Michael is so busy exploring his world I get a bit silly and start to wonder if he doesn't love me as much as he used to. This evening he reminded me that he still loves me. It was so wonderful and I basked in the glow of it. I had been sitting with him in the baby carrier for some time because he was unsettled. I then went upstairs for a shower whilst Phil gave him a wash and got him dressed for bed. I came downstairs and his face lit up to see me. His little arms were pumping up and down and he gave me a beautiful toothy laugh. He then kept leaning forwards for a cuddle. It is moments like this that make it all worthwhile.

Oops

Just realised that Michael might have liked the carrot better if I had heated it up. You live and learn...

My little Oompa-Loompa

I thought Michael hated banana. I was wrong. That reaction was pretty mild compared to the reaction that carrot got this afternoon. It is the first savoury food he has tried and he was absolutely disgusted. He swallowed a fraction of a mouthful, retched and started to sob. I tried him with another mouthful and he spat it out and then wiped his hand all over his face. So he was screaming, wearing a 'Santa's Little Helper' bib, and bright orange. It took quite a while to scrub the stuff off. My mother told me that when I was little she would purée whatever they were eating, add sugar to it, sit me in front of "Sesame Street" and shovel it into my mouth. I didn't like savoury food. I'll give it another couple of days and if I keep getting the same reaction then I'll add a little apple purée and see if he likes it any better. So, the list is now as follows:

Foods that Michael likes doesn't hate:

• Banana
• Avocado
• Apple
• Rice cakes
• Carrot
  

Sleep!

For the first time in over a month, Michael slept through the night without needing a feed. He woke for a little cry at 5am but was back to sleep within a couple of minutes. For the past week he has been waking twice a night for a feed. Prior to that he was waking at least once. I'm in a state of shock and am in some small danger of my boobs exploding.

I don't dare hope that this is going to be a regular thing because of his teething pain but it has been so pleasant to have more than a few hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Unrequited love

Michael loves Ron. Ron is one of our European Burmese cats. Maybe he likes Ron's red coat, or maybe it's his quiet manner, but Michael saves up his best smiles especially for Ron. Sadly, Michael's natural curiosity leads him to try to make a grab for him. Nothing says 'I love you' like being prodded in the back by a 7 month old baby with the co-ordination to match and the hand size of a one year old. We've been very careful and Michael has never hurt the cats, but Ron still doesn't enjoy Michael trying to touch him.

If only he'd prod Harry. To Harry any kind of attention is good attention and he'd probably get a giddy little thrill if Michael started twisting his ears.

I guess I'm starting to get a bit repetitive, but the last couple of days have been tough. Yet another tooth seems to be poised to make it's way through Michael's gums so that makes a grand total of 5 that are waiting to burst through. He has been constantly whining and no amount of distraction will placate him. Apart from the dribbling, chewing and red cheeks, teething brings with it a number of other symptoms, including nappy rash, so it certainly makes for one unhappy boy.

I'm glad no one told me how absolutely exhausting dealing with a teething baby is or I think I would have spent the first months of Michael's life in total dread of what was to come. One of my books suggests that some babies deal with teething by being a little bit grumpy one evening and - bang - a shiny tooth is visible the next day with barely a whimper. Who are these super-human babies?!? You can probably identify them by the supercilious look their mothers wear when they are out and about.

Success and failure

Today was our last session at baby gymnastics. It was sad to say goodbye to Lillith and to the other ladies that I have followed through both pregnancy yoga and baby gymnastics. I hope to keep in touch with some of them, but as I live well outside Amsterdam I won't be able to make it into the city as often as I would like.

I got some very useful advice from Lillith on offering solid foods to a baby. She suggested that offering it when the baby is on your knee is less intimidating and offers more encouragement. Since Michael has seemed to hate solid food so far, we gave it a try this evening with some puréed apple. It worked a treat and he was willingly opening his mouth and trying to feed himself. I was thrilled. It makes a lot of sense, when you think about it, as his only experience of nourishment for 6 months was nestled up against my chest. The only down-side is that Michael likes to share his success by leaning into me for a cuddle and I ended up getting covered in apple purée too.

So... that was the success.

Now for the failure.

It took two hours to get Michael to go to sleep this evening. We followed his usual bedtime routine and he simply would not settle. Initially he wasn't crying or obviously distressed but he was wide awake. We told him a story - "Goodnight Moon" - and he lay happily on my knee alternating between leaning into Phil for a cuddle and then doing the same with me. After a while he started to cry and chomp on his fists and I gave him some Dentinox. That had no effect whatsoever and he became really distressed. About an hour and another breastfeed later he finally fell asleep and I carried him up to his cot.

For the last 24 hours he has been periodically nestling into me, closing his eyes and then sucking his thumb furiously. He does this for a moment or two and then rouses himself and bounces back into action. Then a few minutes later he is back nestling into me. I think he is getting quite overtired because we have been rushing around a bit and the teething has been interfering with his naps. He doesn't nap when we are out and about unless we are in the car. For the next few days I'll keep activity outside the house to a minimum and will encourage him to get as much rest as possible.

Now that the baby gymnastics class has ended, I think I will enroll us in a baby swim class in Hoofddorp. The 0-1 age group have a 15 minute session in the pool once a week and I think that we would really enjoy it. The times are quite good so I hope to persuade Phil to come along with us.

Latest stats

Michael had an appointment at the baby clinic this afternoon so here are his 7 month stats:

Age: 7 months, 1 week and 2 days old
Weight: 9.410 kg (20.75 pounds)
Length: 71 cm
Head circumference: 44.8 cm
Current temperament: Asleep
Current location: Upstairs in his cot

When it comes to taking Michael to the baby clinic, I have rather a negative attitude to the whole experience. When I was a baby, I was breastfed for the first two months and never regained my birth weight. After switching to formula milk, I gained weight well, and then for a long time gained no weight at all. It was very distressing for my mother, who did the very best that she could, and as a consequence she never took my younger sister to be weighed because she did not want to put herself through the ordeal for a second time. I don't blame her at all.

I am the one who makes decisions for Michael such as breast or bottle; when he will feed; what solid food he will have; how much food he will have and when; when his teeth are cleaned; what he will wear; when he will nap. You get the picture. As a consequence I take feedback on Michael's well being very seriously and can react forcefully to suggestions I don't agree with.

We saw the nurse today at the baby clinic. We usually see a doctor that I like very much. She is thoughtful and well informed. The nurse is a bit of a battle-axe. She was not impressed that I have been giving Michael paracetamol at night to help him cope with the teething pain. Jeez... it is not as if I am not trying other options first. My first option is to offer the breast. If that doesn't work I try Dentinox (local anaesthetic applied to the affected area of the gum). If that doesn't work I try pacing the floor, singing and offering a finger to suckle on. If that doesn't work then I will use paracetamol because I am a mother and not some kind of baby torturer. Michael enjoys sleeping and not being in pain. I'm quite fond of that too. The nurse suggested that I use a homeopathic remedy. I politely (I can do polite... honest!) told her that I think homeopathic remedies are quackery.

We also had a bit of a disagreement on solid food. She made suggestions that contradicted what the doctor had told me previously. I have been advised on numerous occasions to be cautious introducing solid food because of the allergy history on my side of the family.

I do take her advice sometimes and she was the one who spotted the lump above Michael's eye so I won't say anything too impolite, even though she rather annoyed me today.

Physically, Michael is developing very well. The nurse put him onto his back and he was raising his head and upper body in an attempt to sit up. He promptly rolled onto his belly and tried to crawl backwards off the mat. He does crawl forwards sometimes and - shamefully - the best dangling carrot is the remote control for the satellite receiver. That makes me sound like a terrible mother but the only TV he watches is "Bubble and Squeak" once a day. I still don't understand what he sees in that wizard but he is always totally engrossed in the show.

Solids

Foods that Michael likes doesn't hate:

• Banana
• Avocado
• Apple
• Rice cakes

The gag reflex is still pretty powerful because he was quite sick after putting a piece of rice cake in his mouth that was a little too large. He doesn't seem to like solids yet, really, but we will persevere.

Photos from Amsterdam

Here are some of the photos that we took in Amsterdam. Firstly, the baby gymnastics photos.


In the photo on the right you can see a little girl with fantastically spiky blond hair and blue eyes. Michael likes gazing at her and they were furiously flapping their hands at each other earlier in the session.

Here we are enjoying some late afternoon sunshine outside the Tig Barra.




Mmmmm.... cheesy chips with bacon and onion. Delicious!

Fun in Amsterdam

We had a lovely day today. Michael has, for the last week, been in a lot of teething pain but today he has had a mercifully pain-free day. He woke up at 10am and I fed him and put him back in his cot to rest whilst I had a shower. HE WENT BACK TO SLEEP!!! I couldn't believe it! He slept for another hour and then played very happily on the floor for most of the morning with his poppity pop car. Phil then returned home from the office and we headed off to the baby gymnastics class in Amsterdam. Michael was a bit grizzly but joined in with most of the activities and I got a good few belly laughs from him when I started blowing raspberries. He also enjoyed the sing along session. I was grandstanding a bit in that due to my fabulous memory for nursery rhymes ;o)

After the class we wandered over to the Tig Barra, which is an Irish pub on Overtoom. It was such a lovely sunny day that we were able to sit outside and soak up the atmosphere with a cup of tea and a big bowl of cheesy chips. Michael was incredibly peaceful the entire time. He zoned in on a couple of gossiping Irish gals sitting behind us and regarded them sternly for some time with his thumb firmly in his mouth. They were oblivious to his presence which clearly marks them out as barking mad because he is so gorgeous! I never would have believed a year ago when we sat outside the same pub with me heavily pregnant that we would be able to do this very thing with a 7 month old baby. We've managed to mesh our needs very nicely. Sadly, we couldn't set foot inside the pub because it is always so smoky. I can't see a smoking ban hitting pubs and restaurants any time soon.

Inspired by the success of the baby gymnastics class I have been casting around for further fun baby classes. Apparently there is an English story time held at one of the libraries in Amsterdam on a Friday afternoon. That is perfect because Phil will be able to come along. I hope to be able to find baby sign and baby swim classes. Phil has a new camera that can take good underwater shots with a special waterproof case. I'm going to avoid playgroups for now because I feel that Michael is too young. He can sit well unsupported but every now and then he will topple sideways. I wouldn't be able to take my eyes off him if we went to a playgroup and that would make it difficult to interact with other mums. There is a nice playgroup in Haarlem so when he is one year old I will take him along there.

It would probably be overly optimistic to hope for an equally nice day tomorrow, but hey, I can dream!

Baby gymnastics

Michael and I started a 3-session baby gymnastics course today at the Active Health Center in Amsterdam. The course is run by Lillith Turk who led the pregnancy yoga class that I attended for the majority of my pregnancy. It was nice to see her again as I hadn't been up to Amsterdam for a visit since we hired the birth pool (alas, unused) from her some 7 months ago.

The course is for babies of sitting to walking age and was attended by about 9 babies and their mummies. I have never had the opportunity to observe Michael in a group before and found that he was very placid, perhaps introverted, and accepting of everything that we did without crying or getting distressed (except when he toppled sideways and bumped his head - he has a little red mark on his forehead that I feel very guilty about). We played all sorts of games and both got a thorough workout. Michael liked it best when I lay on my back with my knees up and rested him on them. That is very close to the aeroplane game that Phil plays with him at home. I'm going to take the camera along next week to get some action shots.

He slept very well in the car on the way back. We detoured via Noordwijk so that we could pick up my birthday cake from the chocolatier there. It is a Moët & Chandon cake and I can't wait to eat it! I'll take a picture of that tomorrow. We had a little walk on the beach and I alarmed a tourist by breastfeeding Michael in the car on the beach front. Well I was hardly going to feed him out in that weather - I'd freeze my boobs off!

General update

Foods that Michael likes:

• Banana

Better luck next week, kid! I can't decide whether to try baby rice or sweet potato next. At least the breast milk in the baby rice will make it vaguely familiar. My mother told me that I absolutely loathed baby rice and that most of it ended up on the walls.

Phil and I are absolutely exhausted today. Michael slept for 7 hours last night rather than his usual 12 and woke up howling twice. He had already had some paracetamol for the teething pain at bedtime so I couldn't give him anything else. I fed him, sang to him, and put him back in his cot on the occasions when he did briefly settle. By 7am we had abandoned the idea of getting him back to sleep so Phil took him downstairs whilst I tried to get a little more sleep. In total, Phil had 3 hours sleep and I had 5. I don't know how Phil is still functioning on so little! Today he has plastered and painted most of the bathroom and he is still going. He says he is running on fumes. I'm guessing he'll be practically catatonic tomorrow.

Michael is making great progress with his physical strength. He can stand with support now and is crawling... backwards... I have tried placing his favourite toys in front of him in an effort to get him to crawl forwards but he just squeaks with annoyance as he slowly moves away from his prize. I called Phil at work to let him know that Michael was crawling and at that precise moment Michael attempted to crawl under the television stand. Only his well-padded bottom prevented him from disappearing from view.

Note to self: Finish that baby-proofing now!!

Feeding montage

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Solid food

Michael had his first solid food today. We tried him with a little banana at lunchtime. I chopped it up into little pieces and let him explore it and taste it at will. He wasn't dramatically impressed and the faces he pulled were priceless! It is interesting to me that he'll put anything non-edible that is within reach into his mouth but the minute I actually present him with something he is permitted to eat he gets all coy.

We had a really rough time with him this evening because of his teething pain. Even with paracetamol he could not sleep for his last nap of the day so by the time his (early) bedtime came around he was very difficult to settle. I think I must have run through my entire nursery rhyme and song repertoire at least twice. When it gets to the point where I am singing Edelweiss from "The Sound of Music" followed by "More than Words" by Extreme, I recognise that things are getting desperate! He has finally gone to sleep and am crossing everything that he is a happier bunny in the morning.

Teething again

Nooooooooooooooooooooo!

Update on my name and shame

Well, good grief. The Babypark website is no longer closed on Sunday. Will wonders never cease. You will, however, note that in order to view the products in the stores you have to scroll through a scanned copy of the entire catalogue. Muppets.

Update and a name and shame

First for the name and shame. Shame on you:

BABYPARK

Surely the crappiest chain of baby stores in the entire world. And no, don't bother trying to view the website because it is Sunday. The website is closed on a Sunday.

Last summer we tried to purchase a Micralite buggy from them, only to be given the runaround by their customer services staff on multiple occasions. The Micralite sales office told us that they had made a deal with Babypark and that Babypark would be stocking the travel system within the month. On every occasion that we rang customer services they gave us a different answer on when, or if, the Micralite would be stocked in their stores. In the end we gave up and bought a Quinny Speedi SX.

We did go to their Gouda store on a couple of occasions to look at their selection and the staff walked around looking baffled and their pancake restaurant had no-one serving in it.

We are clearly very stupid people (although not as stupid as them) because we called them today to inquire whether they stock any of the Graco buggies. On the first occasion, the woman who answered the phone hung up on me. On the second occasion, Phil was told that he should call back on Thursday when someone would be in who would know if any Graco buggies were in store. Erm... why don't you... ya know... walk over to the pram, travel system and buggy section and... use your eyes... no? Too complex?? OK, then.

Aaah... isn't the Internet a wonderful thing? I feel so much better now!

OK... now for the update. We went along to Prénatal today and spent a pleasant couple of hours buying Michael a buggy and a car seat in the next size up. He has almost outgrown his current car seat because he has such broad shoulders (as I remember quite vividly as the reason for my episiotomy). However, we are going to keep him in it for as long as possible because a rear-facing car seat is so much safer for his immature neck muscles. When he finally outgrows it, he can move into his new Maxi Cosi Tobi.

We need a buggy for when we fly home to visit family. A buggy can be used in the airport and stored in the cabin on the plane. It is also necessary for when I use public transport and don't want to use the baby carrier. Our Quinny is great but at almost 12 kilos it is too heavy to lug around on a bus. We bought a Graco Mirage Plus. We had great fun pulling it to pieces in the store and giving it a thorough test drive.

It has an adult beverage holder. My choice of beverage might say more about me than the buggy or the appearance of myself or my baby. What kind of Mummy am I if there is iced tea in the holder? Beer? Red Bull? I'll have to give this some serious thought ;o)

Prénatal really is a great store. We went to their big store outside Amsterdam and they have recently revamped the first floor. They now have a large baby changing area, breastfeeding chair with screen, and unisex toilets so Phil doesn't have to face walking into the ladies' toilets in order to change Michael's nappy. They are as good as Babypark is bad.

Now for an update on Michael. Since he cut his second tooth he has been a very sunny baby indeed. He is doing some backwards shuffling when we put him on the floor now. You couldn't call it crawling yet but he is certainly moving in the right direction (albeit bum first). He's had some trouble adjusting to the size of his cot. He has a lot more space than he is used to and has been waking himself up at the end of each sleep cycle. He has been rolling over onto his stomach too, and last night he managed to wedge his arm through the cot bars at the shoulder. I had to go and rescue him because I could tell by his cry that something unusual had gone wrong. I've positioned him with some care tonight in the hope that he will roll over in the same direction as in previous nights and have the space not to squash a limb. Phew... that was a long sentence. My old grammar school English teacher would not be impressed.

Michael hosted a webcast this evening and had the pleasure of hearing my mum and dad chatter to him (my sister has done something to their webcam configuration so he couldn't see them). My parents remarked that he looks like a little boy now and not a baby. I guess he does. I'm dressing him in little boy clothes now rather than sleepsuits. His hair is still very red and I'm expect that at six months old, that isn't going to change any time soon.

To end this epic entry on a slightly gushing note - we are constantly amazed and enthralled by what a fascinating character Michael is. We can't imagine our lives without him and are incredibly proud to be his parents.