General
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Attack of the snotty aahs
Posted by Monstermum on 29 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: General
Monster has come over all affectionate of late. He crawls up and wraps his arms around my neck. “Aaah” he says as he drools, wipes snot and kisses your neck. Then he pulls back and does it all over again. Despite being covered in slime its wonderful. We also seem to be in favour for lots of kisses this weekend too.
Just wanted to share 
Waking Monster!
Posted by Monstermum on 27 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: General
Well we’ve had a really bad week or so on the sleep front. No doubt something will come out the end of this period be it another tooth or yet another illness. I’m probably not officially sleep deprived but I have really struggled with the 5am “let’s play” situation we’ve had.
We’ve tried dream feeds but 5am, like an alarm clock, you hear that click click click of a dummy on the side of a cot then the rattle rattle rattle as he shakes the cot before wah wah wah when he realises you still haven’t arrived 
So for the past 2 nights we’ve skipped the dream feed. It does mean I end up getting up at 2am or 3am but at least then Monster will come to bed with us and sleep which at 5am he refuses to do. I now regret ever telling anyone that he was a good sleeper!!
Birthday boy!
Posted by Monstermum on 20 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: BLW, General
Its the Monster’s birthday today. Happy Birthday Bruno!
He had a fab day. He spent half the day at nursery with all his friends - no doubt they sang him “Happy Birthday” a bit like the grandparents who left some wacky messages on the answermachine! We didn’t spoil them all with a cake though.
After nursery it was back home for some playing with daddy - big surprise! Then dinner was at Pizza Express - one of our favourite places to eat out BLW style. Monster had the 3 course menu again and enjoyed dough balls, pizza (he seemed to keep on stuffing in the mushrooms!) and the day was topped off with a toffee sundae - special treat seeing as it was his birthday an’ all! He was much aggrieved at having to share it with mummy too 
Noro? Rota?
Posted by Monstermum on 17 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: General
Well the monster has been ill. Poor chap has had some sort of virus so no food just lots of milk and mummy thanks. Lovely chap that he is, he’s shared his germs with the rest of the house, how lovely
At its peak, Monster was drinking 1.5l of milk to make up for the fact that he didn’t want to eat. Just goes to show how many calories all those little snacks & mini lunches take up!
Teething
Posted by Monstermum on 28 Feb 2008 | Tagged as: General
Poor Monster he really is a Monster these past few weeks. He’s been teething since 4th December. 3 teeth have arrived in that time and number 4 is pretty much through but still causing him trouble. Teething in this house means not sleeping much, drinking more milk, being off food, generally wanting cuddles or just crying & squirming and not knowing what to do
To top it all off, Monster has had what I am now calling teething tummy - a bit like Delhi Belly! Ad of course, teething tummy comes with his lovely friend - a bright red bottom! Poor baby.
It was official but not its not
Posted by Monstermum on 23 Feb 2008 | Tagged as: BLW, General
Well I was going to write about how Monster had successfully weaned himself down to 3 bottles a day - morning, mid-afternoon and bedtime. But then the Worst Night & Day Of His Life occurred. He’s had about 5/6 bottles of milk today after spending most of the night whimpering or downright screaming (sometimes in his sleep!).
His upper laterals are poking out and we’re just waiting to hear the ping of the gum bursting, its that close. Poor Monster was even off his food and I bought him a croissant as a special treat too!
The normal teething strategy wasn’t working today either. We tried everything - Ashton & Parson’s, Nelson’s Teetha and ended up slathering his gums with Calgel, and dosing him with Calpol. I think this is the only time he’s ever had Calpol during the day when he hasn’t been ill with a fever.
Odd though, despite not breaking through yet, we had a weird calm period just before dinner. The Calpol would have worn off so it wasn’t that. He just sat quietly and read his books then devoured a whole chicken fillet for dinner! I wonder how that bodes for my sleep tonight?
Ken Sharp photographer
Posted by Monstermum on 15 Feb 2008 | Tagged as: General
www.kensharp.com
Ken came round last week to take a few happy snaps of the Monster family. We were really pleased with the results. Probably no more expensive than Venture Studios to be honest but the photos are done in your own home / garden / local park.
It was great fun. Email me if you want to see the pics
How toys change
Posted by Monstermum on 03 Feb 2008 | Tagged as: General
Well a friend of mine asked about toys recently and what Monster was into and when so I thought this might be interesting for others to read as they are coming through behind us. Here’s what I said:
A baby nest might be fun now he’s starting to get interested in sitting although it may be a few months before he can sit unaided. Monster was 6.5 months before he sat unaided and it was instant change on the toys front. We did get a bebepod / bumbo for him from 4-6 months so he could play sat up which really helped with the frustration. Rattles were good and things that they can grab onto easily as of course they can’t let go very well for a whie yet.
We got a baby wind chime from the charity shop - its by Baby Love but I’m sure others do something similar. Monster loved it and I’d often have it dangling above him or just in reach while he was sat up. Unfortunately, its not the best noise so it drove me crazy! We still have it attached to his playpen and he’ll bash them occasionally but that’s probably a toy that can be recycled now.
Monster didn’t play with anything except his babygym up to the 6 month mark really unless he sat on my lap and looked at books with me although he just wanted to chew those until about 8 months. Once he could sit up though, we ditched the baby gym and gots lots of texture type stuff, things with buttons to bash (see http://www.adamandclaire.co.uk
Oh, I’ve just rememebered the whoozit (http://www.amazon.co.uk
Monster has been crawling since Christmas pretty much so toys are so passe at the moment. He’s into shoes, standing & chattering to himself at his playpen, the dog’s water bowl and any gadget that someone has stupidly left lying around. Definitely not keen on toys that look like toys. I’ve just made him a treasure box which has everyday objects inside for him to discover - toothbrush, hairbrush, a tub with chickpeas in to shake, clothes peg, bottle stopper, lots of different textures and odd shapes.
BLW Meet - Wagamama’s
Posted by Monstermum on 26 Jan 2008 | Tagged as: BLW, General
Today was the day of the London BLW meet. Monster was very wise and had a nap before we set off. We were the first customers through the door with 3 other families in tow and another 2 turned up with the food.
Monster had a great time and ate all the gyozo and most of the chicken out of my chicken ramon. He wasn’t too impressed by the noodles though and they got swiftly flicked onto the floor in favour of more meat.
It was great to see other mums and very reassuring to see that everyone else’s LO ate similar amounts. It was also really fab to meet a BLWer-to-be and sell the idea. I hope I did good enough!
p.s. You can see the photos on our other website in the blog roll.
Crawl, baby!
Posted by Monstermum on 13 Jan 2008 | Tagged as: General
Well its happened. Bruno can now crawl all over the room. He isn’t that fast but has got the motion sorted and loves to knock down the tower - the tempter to get him going in the first place
He’s been pulling himself up for longer so maybe he’ll be cruising soon too!