15 weeks, 4 days in pictures

15 weeks

This is the first actual belly shot I've ever taken. I'm really not sure why I didn't take any when I was pregnant with Abi. I thought about it, but somehow never got around to it. I don't think I was self-conscious but obviously there was something going on. I kind of wish I had now so I could compare them but oh well, at least I'll have a few from this pregnancy.

It's the same with breastfeeding pictures, for all the hours I spent/spend breastfeeding I have very few photos. Maybe it's at least partly because I'm the person who takes photos in our family, DH never seems to think of it, so unless I specifically suggest taking a photo it doesn't get taken. I think I'll try to be a bit more pro-active with our next baby as there are actually very few photos of Abi and I together. Bit sad really, we did take some at her second birthday party but she was sick and looks sad and ready for bed in all of them. Our pink dresses are nice though.

Dear Abigail Pearl (the beautiful girl),

Now that we are not writing monthly letters to you I am worried all the adorable things you do will be lost. So here is a letter to you aged 28 months, nearly two and a half!

Mostly what you do now is talk. Talk talk talk to Daddy and I, telling us all kinds of interesting things about everything that is happening around you. You love to commentate on what your friends are doing, especially when you go to music class with Freya; when I ask you what happened at music you say "My friend Freya run, run, run. Freya mummy chase Freya, Freya fall down!" Freya loves having such an appreciative audience. You still love your friends Hamish ('Oooh') and Dylan ('Diya') too and you refer to your other playgroup friends as "other people", but I think you like them a little bit at least.

It is especially lovely when you talk about how much you love Mummy and Daddy. You often say to mummy, "I love my mummy, very much. Mummy loves her Abi very much." Of course, it sounds a bit more like "I uv my mummy ve'hy mu." but I always know what you mean. You like to remark on the fact that you are my daughter now too, and you often have loving things to say about Harry.

Sometimes you talk about things you did last night or yesterday, which I think is very clever. One of the things you often talk about doing is jumping on the bed ("Abi do ittle bit jumping. Abi do ittle bit jumping las' nigh').

Another game you enjoy is the funny name game. You like to say "my name Abororo" or something similar and we all laugh and laugh. Then you say that Mummy's name is "Vrororo" or "Ababoabo". After a little while though you look a bit concerned and remind us that really my name is your Mummy.

This term you started doing Mini Maestros on a Wednesday with Daddy when Mummy is at work and you love going every week. You are getting very good at clapping and shaking instruments in a rhythm and last week you got the chance to play with the big colourful parachute, which was great fun. You loved going to music from the very first lesson and I know Daddy loves taking you and watching you have so much fun. I haven't been able to see your music lesson yet, but I am hoping to one day.

We took your little trolley to the supermarket the other day and you were very proud to be pushing it around collecting up groceries. It was a big help and everyone who saw you smiled adoringly at you because you looked so serious and sweet. Every fortnight you and Mummy go to the supermarket together and we have a very nice time. I think now we will be taking your trolley with us each visit, I just wish the shelves weren't so high.

I will say goodbye now my darling one. You are my treasure and my joy, I watch you with amazement as you grow and change.

Lots of love

Mummy

Things that wail "mi" in the night

So we have bitten the night weaning bullet around here over the last couple of weeks. A quick background: Abi has slept through the night once since she was born and usually wakes up every couple of hours or so. She has/will occasionally do a four, five or even six hour stretch when she first goes to sleep, but after that first wake up (anywhere between 11pm and 3am) she will be awake every two hours.

After the tearing out of hair and trying multitudes of different strategies over her first 18 months I just admitted defeat and tried not to think about it too much. Nothing we did or didn't do made any difference and I have always been adamant that I will never leave her to cry or put her in a cot. So the traditional methods don't work for our family and I knew there was no point going to a sleep school. We co-sleep as part of our parenting philosophy and it is not something I am willing to compromise.

That's not to say I haven't often fallen into despair during the early hours of the morning, especially during those times, now mercifully behind us, when she would wake up and stay awake for anything up to an hour and a half. The only thing that comforted me during those times was the thought that "Thank God I don't have a newborn as well"...hang on, guess I won't be able to use that one for much longer.

So to night weaning. It's time, she's nearly two and a half, I'm still available for cuddles, songs etc, I know she's not insecure, we're just turning off the boob tap between midnight and six. I got this idea from a gentle parenting site written by an American paediatrician who points out that it is those six hours which are the most important for adults.

It hasn't gone too badly really. We started two weeks ago and have certainly had some bad times where she would wail "Mi, mummy more mi" over and over again, interspersed with screams of rage and flingings of bodies on beds. For a while I sported a nice shiner on my left eye from a back-of-head-meets-cheekbone contact during one of these sessions. At some point though each night she would subside into pathetic sobs and say "Abi tu'ool [cuddle] mummy" and I would know we were through the worst of it.

This is still going on to some extent and we have had a bout of gastro in the middle that hasn't helped, but generally I am standing firm and getting more solid blocks of sleep than I have had since she was born. I am cautiously confident that we will at least be down to one wake up per night by the time baby number two arrives, and hopeful we might be down to none, or at least no feeds.

I wanted to post a belly shot, but our camera has mysteriously disappeared. I will do so as soon as it turns up.

First trimester - Zap!

Well nearly, anyway. On Friday I'll be 13 weeks which is officially the end of the first trimester, but I think I'll count it now anyway. We've started telling people now but I have to tell my grandparents before the news goes up on Facebook so I'll call them tomorrow. One of my grandmothers is a bit deaf, so I'm anticipating a bit of "Hey Gran, I'm pregnant...no pregnant...no, no-one's indignant..." and so on. I know they'll all be excited, especially my Dad's parents who only have Abi so far in their Great Grandchild quiver.

I'm hoping we can go up to visit them in the September holidays as they don't really fly anymore and I don't know how many more chances I'll have, seeing as they are both in their 80s although very fit and healthy. I want to ask my grandmother more about her father, who I remember quite well - Dad was telling me that he enlisted in WWII at the age of 39 as he couldn't just stand by and watch all the young men from his work go off to fight. I knew he fought in the war, but none of the details and I don't want all this history to be lost. I shall appoint myself as the Family Archivist - a fitting position for the eldest child of the eldest child.

Just a quick one today as my girl is getting out of the bath and requires my presence. Or at least the presence of my boobs.