Worshipping at the Church of Steve

It's official, Jon and I are incurable geeks and greedy consumers too easily drawn to shiny stuff. I shouldn't speak for Jon but I feel fairly confident he wouldn't disagree. What am I talking about? Why, shiny new Apple gadgets of course! The last couple of months has seen us both handing over our hard earned cash for beautiful bits of kit with glowing apples on.

While in the US Jon had his sights set on an iPad and got one as a generous birthday gift from his parents. I firmly stated I would not be needing one and would save my money for an upgrade to a new iPhone instead. I'll be damned if after a few days of using Jon's I wasn't in the Apple store at the Grove in LA, sheepishly clutching an iPad whilst handing over my Amex card to a nice young man in a shirt bearing that hypnotic apple. Well done Will Power, I know I can always count on you. So not only do we have an iPad, we have one each.

Then along came the iPhone 4, and you probably already know how this story ends. Oh yes, matching iPhones once again too. The justification for the upgrade I can barely afford (goodbye salary, hello statutory maternity pay) is the great portable video capability and I've definitely been using it enough for said justification. The price tag of the iPhone is small price to pay for hundreds of captured memories of the darling offspring. He'll thank us one day once he's forgiven us for spending his inheritance on gadgets!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Weaning fun

As previously reported Alex is now six months old and it's time to start weaning so we celebrated his half birthday with his first real food. No cake though, he got tenderstem broccoli, asparagus and butternut squash. Now this may be a bit controversial but I am not going the standard route with purees and mush, but following Baby Led Weaning instead.

The idea behind BLW is that eating is a natural part of babies' development and we should let them go at their own pace rather than start strapping them down and spooning goo into their mouths too soon. I didn't really have to question that as we were sure Alex was ready to start solids. He has been really interested in food for a little while now, watching with fascination as we eat and trying to grab everything. Of course some of it is teething and wanting to put everything and anything in his mouth anyway but it soon became apparent he was keen to imitate us and try eating (and he sees a lot of eating, believe me!). A friend of ours had done it very successfully with their daughter and I was convinced it was well worth a go from that point.

I wanted to start him off on the right foot with some good foods so I gave him some veggies out of my superfood salad. What better than tenderstem broccoli for a little guy? It's got a built in handle! He was delighted to finally be given some food when he wanted it and seemed to love the experience but eating itself was a bit of a shock!

Here's how it went:

It was so much fun to watch him feed himself. He did try the asparagus later on, but only licked and gummed it a tiny bit before rejecting it. He was highly unimpressed with the butternut squash which I thought he would like because of the bright colour and the sweetness, but he pretty much just looked at it and then threw it across the room, signaling that lunch is without doubt over!

There will be more weaning adventures posts to follow, as I document this journey. I'm sure some of them will be filled with frustration and all with mess!

Six months old

Our little Alex was six months old on Friday. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone and I also can't believe I'm saying something as cliche as "they grow up so fast" (again!), but I am! He is just delicious, a really sweet, easy going and happy little guy, as those of you who have met him will know. It is amazing to watch him grow so fast and I feel like I'll be waving him off to university any minute!

What is Alex doing at 6 months?

• Smiling and laughing and he does lots of it. He's very smiley and his giggle is highly infectious. Mummy and Daddy get those special smiles when we walk into the room now too, there's nothing quite so heartwarming as those.
  
• He's got 2 bottom teeth so far and they make for such a cute two-toothy smile but you have to be quick not to be hypnotised by said smile and end up with a quite painful bite.
  
• He's getting very good at grabbing things and starting to show pretty good motor control. It's funny when he has to really concentrate on something though, especially when he is focusing hard on putting something in his mouth, it makes him go cross-eyed.
• Everything goes in his mouth at the moment, and right now his favourite thing is his feet.
• He babbles a lot. He's been doing it for some time now and seems to "get" conversation. Daddy says it's because Mummy talks to him constantly and he has to learn early on how to get a word in edgeways! Cheek! He is constantly making new sounds and practicing them, which is adorable when it's the gurgles and oohs and ahs but lately it's been squeals and shrieks which I hope is just a phase, and a sort of wailing/singing which is very cute but gets us some strange looks when he does it in public.
• His favourite toy at the moment is his Sophie la Giraffe teether. It's brilliant and he chews on it all the time but it's funny because people either know exactly what it is by name (and every baby in the Queens Park/West Hampstead set has one) or I get really strange disapproving looks from people who think I have given my baby a dog toy to chew on!
  
• He is very affectionate and knows how to cuddle now. The first time I felt him put his arms around my neck when I picked him up was one of those landmark motherhood melty moments. He also likes to touch our faces affectionately and sometimes while he is feeding will smile up at me and reach up to touch and stroke my hair. Those are my favourite moments. Although he is still not able to control his movements that well when he gets excited and I am working on teaching him the difference between stroking and pulling/yanking!
  
• Food - we are just about to start solids so watch this space on how that goes. I'm nervous about having a child who is a picky or just reluctant eater, but I'd say there's a good chance he'll like food, being three quarters Chinese and half me! He's got a good appetite and feeds well so hopefully he'll take to eating solids.
• He can sit up fairly well with help but can't do it on his own yet.
• He is pretty strong and likes to be in a standing position. I think he's motivated by his nosiness as he can see more that way.
• We've been taking swimming lessons for a couple of months. He's getting pretty good at it, I'll have to post in more detail about that.
• He loves being sung to. Nursery rhymes are hit and miss. Some of them make him really laugh, others are received with a stare.
• He thinks his nose is funny. His favourite Mummy moment is the eskimo kiss, where I rub noses with him.
  
• He loves it when Daddy flies him around the room or "zooms" him and recently showed his excitement and appreciation by throwing up all over him - last time Daddy does that again, at least with his mouth open!
• Alex HATES being on his front. Tummy time is like torture, no mistake.
  
• He can roll over now, mostly from his back to his front, although I have seen him do both. He just doesn't seem that interested or motivated so I keep trying to egg him on and he just stares at me and then wails until I pick him up. But then on occasion I've left him somewhere and come back to see him flipped over so I know he can do it, he just won't perform on demand.
• He is making some crawling actions when on his tummy but isn't anywhere near being able to actually crawl yet. It's more of a swimming motion or possibly just scrabbling in frustration because he hates being in that position!
• He doesn't like rustling sounds, or velcro or the hairdryer. The worst is blenders and hand dryers though, they freak him out.
  
• Lately he has been keeping us up at night a bit more. He was sleeping through the night early on but since he got into the heavy duty teething has been waking up during the night more often. At the time of writing, he still has the remnants of jet lag but we hope he settles back into a more manageable pattern soon and we can revisit our old friend sleep once more.
  

Here he is with Daddy on Friday

Happy half birthday little one!!

Time zone haze

Alex is still on California time. We are all still suffering from a particularly persistent jet lag and getting unnecessarily well-acquainted with the wee hours of the day. Check out the timestamp on this post. It's 2am and I'm wide awake and hungry! Alex just wants to play, until about 4am which is his California bedtime.

I still have to tell you about the trip. And I will once I manage to get enough sleep to see straight! I hope that's soon.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Leaving on a jet plane

Our little family is heading stateside, to visit the grandparents and introduce our new addition to our friends. Jon and I are both nervous about our first flight with an infant. We've got some bad karma, we used to be the people who hated getting on a flight with kids on it, and now we'll be the ones people pray not to sit next to!

Packing was interesting too. Now I get to overpack for two of us!!

I'll let you know how it goes.


- Posted from my iPhone

Ouch! That's sharp!

Alex just cut his first tooth this evening! I can't believe it. He's been showing teething signs for about a month or so now but I've heard it can go on for months before the teeth actually come through, so I wasn't totally surprised but nor was I totally expecting it.

I found out the hard way of course, with a very firm bite that felt sharper than usual. My little angel baby has been a little out of sorts the last couple of days and has been really chewing on things as well as being clingier than normal. During a particularly reluctant bedtime tonight and a lot of growling and struggling through his bedtime feed I felt his gums and there was definitely a sharp little edge on the bottom row.

Haircut and tooth! Big week for the little man!!

Baby's first haircut

Alex got an impromptu haircut tonight. We went with Daddy when he was getting his done and he and the hairdressers ganged up and persuaded Mummy it should be done. I had been wanting to trim it, it was certainly getting long and rather mullety at the back, but hadn't quite mentally prepared for it yet.

I sat him on my lap while the hairdresser went at him with clippers. He wondered what was going on and squirmed quite and bit. He's not the only one. I sat wincing as I watched my beautiful baby boy's beautiful baby hair fall to the ground! He got upset towards the end so it's not a great cut - if he were an adult you would ask for your money back, but it's not so bad he looks like a scabies victim! - but who'll notice? It's cute but he does look very different and I barely recognise my own baby. He looks more Chinese now, he has the same hair and look as every little Chinese boy you see. When we go to Chinese restaurants I'll have to be careful not to walk off with the wrong kid!!

He doesn't look so happy here but I don't think it's because of the hair!

Meeting the grandparents

And while we're on the subject of grandparents, Alex met those from the Jones side for the first time when they visited in March. Of course there's been a fair amount of Skype action in our house but this was the first face to face meeting when he was two and a half months old. Alex hasn't learned how to smile for the camera yet but he had a lovely time.

The Jones men, all three generations

Alex and his Koong Koong

My dad is very happy and proud to be a grandfather. Here they are at one and three months old.

Separation anxiety... and relief

We moved Alex into his own room last night. A momentous milestone for Mummy. Oh, and for him of course! He has been going backwards where sleep is concerned. Having slept through the night since he was two and a half months or so, he has recently been waking at least twice in the night, which we have been putting down to either growth spurts or teething at different times.

Since birth he has slept in a crib at the end of our bed and I knew he would be outgrowing it very soon, and seems comfortable in his cot in the nursery when I've put him in it for daytime naps, so after a fraught couple of nights of broken sleep for everyone we decided to try moving him there overnight. Hey, what did we have to lose, we weren't sleeping either way! It was great though, he slept 11 hours. I, however, was awake every few hours anyway and creeping into the nursery to check on him. Even though I had the baby monitor turned up high and right by my head!! Still, I was high from the peaceful night and extra sleep, having almost reached delirium from a series of broken nights prior to that.

I hope the novelty doesn't wear off soon!

NCT

This post is in tribute to my lovely friends I met through the NCT. For those of you outside the UK or those who have simply never heard of them, the NCT is the National Childbirth Trust and they are a "parenting charity" who offer support and services to young families and parents to be. Don't be fooled by the word charity though, these services do not generally come cheap! The most common form of entry into this world is through the antenatal classes they offer and when they were recommended to me by a couple of friends and colleagues I hesitated a little at the price (when I was already looking at a pretty scary spreadsheet of the things we needed to buy for the baby!) but I am so glad we did it, it has been worth every penny.

We took our classes back in October, two full days plus one three hour session on breastfeeding. The classes were great (although the breastfeeding one was not) but the real reason to take them was to meet other local couples. Let's not put any spin on it, we paid to find friends!! There was a total of eight couples and everyone was so nice. I was also amazed at how involved the dads were. I think Jon got something out of it, if only a dose of reality about what was to come! We kept in touch after the course and although our numbers have diminished a little, we have our core group who I see frequently and now consider good friends. As soon as we all went on maternity leave we started "doing lunch" and then one by one the babies were born.

Here's us in January when Alex was just over a month old:

Here's us a month later:

How cute is this bunch of little people?

No doubt there'll be many more photos as these guys grow old together! Although we have lost one mum and baby to a 6 month move to Boston, and when we get them back we will lose another to a permanent move to Boston, so we may not see all five of them together again for a long time if ever.

I don't know what I would have done without these guys. I am pretty certain I may have spent a lot more time fretting and worrying and feeling very lonely. I would have had a very different experience I'm sure. It has made such a difference having people in the same boat to support you, confide in, bitch to, learn from, and just people to lunch and have coffee with all afternoon sometimes. I love that we have known each other since we were pregnant and that our babies have known each other all their short lives so far. Alex is the youngest in the group (although he has a birthday twin who is five hours older) so we have the advantage of learning from the experience of the other mums.

I've met other people through various other NCT avenues since then (mum and baby groups, events and a postnatal group) but none I've gelled with as much as the original antenatal class. I think we got very lucky with the group we ended up in.

So anyway, I've probably gone on about it too much but if you're wondering what Alex and I have been doing with ourselves the last few months, you can blame this lot!!

Hospital adventures

Wee Alex had his first hospital stay and surgery experience at the delicate age of 6 weeks. It was quite an adventure and seemed a lot to go through for a minor problem but he was very brave. It was all for what was basically a boil on his bum!! He had an abscess which had to be drained but had to be done under general anaesthetic. If it happened to an adult or an older child it wouldn't be such a big deal but he was so little. It was quite unexpected and without going through the whole story was quite an ordeal with the way things turned out because he had to be nil by mouth for 8 hours which meant I had to deny him several feeds even though he was literally screaming hysterically. Any nursing mother of a 6 week old could tell you how emotionally and physically harrowing that is. But we got through it. After a night in the hospital and a heart wrenching leaving-him-at-the-operating-theatre moment he had a speedy and successful surgery, and all was well.

Here he is all tubed up and in the hospital gown that prompted the comment "Why is he wearing a dress?" from Jon!

So sweet and tiny. And the up side to all this is he seems pretty brave with injections now!

Baby's first Christmas

Alex was one week old on his first Christmas. And he didn't have a name yet! He was still just "Baby" at that point. He was a very good cooperative boy and wore this little Santa outfit for a quick photoshoot for mummy. Some might accuse me of cruelty but I will have you know that he got away lucky, I saw a Christmas pudding outfit in Mothercare and had the decency to put it back. Even I realised it was bordering on child abuse! Still, there's always next year.

Teeny tiny baby

I have a lot to catch you up on so this is the first of a few retrospective posts about baby Alex. As I was trying to get my head around what to write about and taking a short but eventful trip down baby memory lane, I couldn't believe how tiny he looked in the early photos. He is growing so fast and it's already hard to remember how little he was not so long ago.

Here's proof:

Who on earth is that teeny little scrawny baby? Because the baby we know now is a big fat chubby guy with edible cheeks! This picture was taken just this week.
I can't believe I'm saying something so cliched as "they grow up so fast"...but I am!

Baby whirlwind

Well, he's here! He's actually been here for four months now so there's lots to catch up on. I'm sure anyone reading this has seen it all on Facebook or got my email already so I apologise for broadcasting old news but I'm going to have to play the new mum card as my excuse.

Our baby son arrived three days overdue on a snowy December night, December 18th 2009. He had a little bit of a tough time coming into the world but arrived safe and healthy, announcing himself with a ferocious cry! Dad and I were overjoyed. If you want to know the details of my birth story shoot me an email and we'll have a coffee!

First family picture - proud dad, exhausted mum, and cute little bundle

Happy and healthy mother and baby

Proud daddy

Poor little guy, didn't have a name for about two weeks and was just known as Baby, but we finally decided on Alexander - Alex.

Baby Alex, one day old

Getting ready to go home from the hospital

It was all pretty overwhelming. Birth was, not surprisingly, the most un-fun thing ever and I felt like I'd been run over by a train for a good while after! Tiny newborn babies are wonderful but strange little creatures and the first month was pretty tough, especially as Alex was colicky which meant sleepless nights. And I don't mean constantly waking up to feed him which is what's expected, I mean he cried all night most nights and we didn't sleep at all. But the colic went away very suddenly sometime within the second month and things got so much easier after that.

We were snowed in for most of the first month, due to the most severe winter I can remember in London. But no complaints there. I was lucky not to have to struggle to work in the snow and ice, and instead stayed inside in the warmth snuggling with my sweet little bundle. Jon was lucky enough to have an extended paternity leave so he was with us for about a month and thank goodness for that. I don't know what I would have done without him. The first week Jon went back to work was chaotic. I didn't know what I was doing and when I was supposed to do it, but I soon found my rhythm and since then I've enjoyed being a mum much more than I'd expected I would. It felt very surreal most of the time and still does. I can hardly believe I'm a mum and I still do a double take sometimes when I catch sight of myself pushing a pram in a shop window. I hadn't actually expected to enjoy it this much though, and I haven't looked back.

Alex and I are now having a great time and getting to know each other. He is a pretty good baby and gets cuter by the day so he's a joy to be around. We're busy though, my work schedule never looked this full! We are out every day doing lots of fun things and making the most of our time together. There'll be more on those things later. There's a fair bit to catch up on, four months worth!

The bun is cooked!

But it's still in the oven, browning a little more. Today is my official due date and I'm getting impatient now. Things seem to be happening so hopefully it won't be too long. I'm doing all I can to move Baby along and nudge him towards the exit. Curry for dinner tonight!

Watch this space...

We have a nursery!

This weekend we finished making our little second bedroom into a nursery for the new arrival. I was so excited, there was a little bit of squealing but generally just big smiles and aaaaahs.

Jon, ever the diligent and handy dad-to-be, got to work putting the new cot together.

I did the decorative bits. And voila! We have a nursery.

There are just one or two tiny touches left to take care of. (Jon may think his work is done but there is a trip to Ikea in our future for a rug and a chair.)

We have absolutely everything ready now. I'm 38 weeks today which means I'm within the normal delivery time. Which means... any day now!

Lady and bump of leisure

I am finally on maternity leave. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I was ready about 2 months ago, I must admit. It was getting increasingly hard to focus, everything was such an effort and so tiring, and the commute was really getting to me. Oxford Circus was of course getting increasingly busy every day on the run up to Christmas, so it was a good time to get out.

The first day of leave was my birthday, which was pretty uneventful this year. A part of me wished I had organised a good old knees up as I realised it will be the last one I have before I become a mother and may not have the chance to do it again for many years, but then again I struggle to stay alert past 8pm these days and there are only so many orange juices a girl can drink in one night out! In the end I was happy to have a relaxing day just enjoying not being at work, and a lovely dinner at Yauatcha with my darling husband.

Of course, it wouldn't have been at all like me to start maternity leave without some drama! I'll spare you the details but the first few days were spent at A&E with suspected Deep Vein Thrombosis (all fine, there was no clot in the end so it was a false alarm but pretty worrying at the time), as well as at the hospital with my dad who was having heart bypass surgery. Seriously, what else can happen this year?

Now that things are settling down I'm enjoying being a lady who lunches for just a short time. I've been meeting up with the other women from my NCT class too. We're all on maternity leave now and 3 have had their babies already, so we started doing the lunch thing last week. It was great, I felt stupidly happy to be off work for a while. We also met at a place that was crawling with yummy mummies and babies so it felt a little like the start of things to come!

I can't believe I'm 37 weeks already and in theory only a couple of weeks away from the new arrival. Jon and I are both nervous but excited. Aside from some final touches to the new nursery we are totally ready. All of the baby stuff has been bought and delivered, clothes and bedding washed and put away, hospital bags packed and ready, and parents-to-be delirious with anticipation and excitement! Last weekend the dutiful dad-to-be built the baby's new crib and pram/stroller.

The crib now lives at the end of our bed so I can practice walking around it before its occupant arrives. So far I have only stubbed my toe on it twice and thankfully nobody except me screamed or wailed when it happened, so I'm glad I'm getting the practice in.

I love the buggy but so far not so much that I've taken it out for walks empty! For now it lives in the hallway where I grin at it on passing. I know, there's no end to the madness of a first time expectant mother who loves new stuff!

Jon also got in a bit of practice trying on his baby carrier, but hopefully the baby won't be of quite the same shape, stature or furriness of the practice teddy!

It's just a matter of playing the waiting game now. I keep thinking Junior will arrive early but I may be wrong. I'd just like him to be here before Christmas. Place your bets now!

Baby pictures

In the past few months I have been scanned and prodded on a regular basis, or rather baby has. Thought I should share some of baby's first pictures with you.

These are from the first scan at 12 weeks. This was amazing, it was when it all started to feel very real. Up until that point I didn't really believe I was pregnant, not really.

It was a great experience though, to see it on screen and see the little heart beating. It is definitely a landmark moment for a couple expecting their first child. It was also a relief to see and hear that everything looked normal and healthy, up until then I naturally felt a lot of anxiety about it all. But the tests at that stage all came back with good results and everything looked healthy - 2 arms, 2 legs, brain, spine, heart and other vital organs - check!

I had a second scan at 22 weeks but the pictures from that were not great. Baby was not that cooperative, when he first appeared on screen he was sucking his thumb and clearly wanted to be left alone to sleep. Oh, but we did find out it's a boy at that scan.

We splashed out and went for a private 4D scan just for fun a couple of weeks ago too. (It's weird, I'm not sure where they found the fourth dimension from, but whatever!) We debated it but thought it would be fun to get a video and some 3D pictures, for the first baby.

We had a real job getting these pictures, he was just not cooperative. I get the feeling he hates being scanned and I do feel a pang of guilt about doing it to him so many times. Who knew he would be so shy! He had his arms and hands up around his face most of the time and would turn away, he clearly just wanted to sleep and we were ruining his Saturday morning lie in! We were there for about two hours. The clinic were fantastic and had infinite patience. After a few pictures and videos they gave me a sweet hot chocolate and told me to walk around for a little while, that tends to get babies moving. He moved his arms but still had his hands around his face so after a couple more attempts we went to lunch and came back for another go but he still hadn't moved enough. We got a few good shots we were happy with though, so we thought it best to leave the stubborn little thing alone after that. And here he is!

Watching the moving pictures on screen was pretty amusing, he is quite a comedy baby so far. For one thing he seemed to be lying in there folded in half! He had his legs right up by his face and was touching his head with his foot. We also him yawn and suck in fluid, and smile too.

This is my favourite - fast asleep resting on his arms

Yes, that is his foot that he's rubbing against his head!!

Rubbing his sleepy eyes with his fist

I can't wait to meet him and see what he really looks like. I hope he really does have those chubby cheeks, I have a pinch and bite compulsion I need to satisfy!

First family picture

This was taken at the end of September.
I am about 28 weeks in this picture. Bump is well formed!