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talk about their everyday experience:
from the happiest to the most frustrating moments !
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Settling in
I was really panicking about bringing a new baby home to Trent, and with good reason because the first few weeks have been a bit up and down.
I realised straight away that Trent was all over his dad, and that he could sense something was different with me, so I made sure that when I could make a fuss of him I did. It wasn’t easy though as I was still in a bit of pain from the birth and I was breastfeeding Roisin. I kept catching Trent watching me out of the corner of his eye so I knew that he was interested, and I gradually introduced him to his baby sister. His initial reaction shocked me. He seemed to be scared of her, which I’d never imagined. When she moved he cried, there was no way I could get him to go anywhere near her.
After a few days he got a bit braver and ventured a bit closer to her, he was soon coming right up to her, laughing and tickling her. It would’ve been quite sweet but the tickling turned into him wanting to grab her feet and not letting go!
Now Roisin is four weeks old and Trent is becoming quite fond of his new sister, so fond in fact that I regularly catch him with her dummy in his mouth!
An exhausted-looking mummy and her gang:
Roisin’s first trip to the beach:
Trent playing at big brother and showing off:
Burning my bra
After nearly 11 months of being breastfed Sonny decided he didn’t want me any more. Most of the time I’ve absolutely loved breastfeeding and I had decided to keep going for the year, but in the end Sonny made the decision for both of us. He really just lost interest in it and started to take less and less. I had been giving him a formula feed in the evening for a few months and he always guzzled it down, physically shaking with excitement when he saw it.
Even though I felt that the decision had been made for me, I also felt very guilty that I wasn’t giving my baby the best drink. In the supermarket I wanted to explain to anyone who saw me purchasing the formula that I had been breastfeeding for nearly 11 months and I wasn’t a bad mother even though I felt like it! I now give Sonny a bottle of cow’s milk in the morning and a follow on formula just before bed.
I feel very emotional that I will (probably) never breastfeed again, I actually feel a bit tearful just writing that down. Sonny is (probably!) our last baby and I am very proud that I fed him for so long. I will never forget the closeness of our feeding time.
On the bright side it does mean that I no longer need to wear horrible nursing bras!!! Yippee!!! I went into town and spent an absolute fortune on sexy underwear that doesn’t unclip at the top. My husband is equally delighted that he will never have to see a nursing bra again so we raised a toast and marked the occasion by burning the bras on our garden chiminea.
Sonny is also crawling at last. I was due to meet my friends for a run and he started just as I was on my way out of the door. I couldn’t believe it – for 11 months I have been with him 24/7 and he starts to crawl when I’m about to go out – typical! It’s going to be a nightmare now that all three of them are on the move!
A momentous occasion – the burning of the bra!
My girls are growing up...
We received the report from Gracie’s speech assessment. Her development is at the lower end of what is expected for her age. The therapist thinks that this is because her older sister is so very vocal that Gracie doesn’t get a chance. I have also noticed that Alicia needs a lot of attention from me to keep her interested and well behaved – scarily I can see that she gets this from me and I often have flashbacks of how I was as a child! Anyway – the therapist wants to assess us again once Alicia has started school, she also gave us some advice on how we can encourage Gracie’s speech. We need to look at Gracie when we are speaking and encourage her to string three words together rather than two. She is definitely coming on.
Gracie has also started to potty train. I have had the potty around for a while now and I am very open when I use the toilet – ‘Mummy is having a wee on the toilet’ etc. Kids really learn from watching and copying Mummy, but I am looking forward to a time when I can go to the toilet by myself! This week Gracie has been taking her own nappy off and sitting on the potty – I am so proud! I do a little ‘wee and poo dance’ when Gracie has produced something on the potty, which she thinks is hilarious. I also make up little songs about how Gracie is brilliant to use the potty. I decided to just take her nappy off when we are at home so that she can feel if she has an accident, and there have been a few! For every wee or poo on the potty there has been a corresponding accident on the floor – I even caught her weeing in my shoe but I couldn’t be too cross as she obviously grasped the fact that she couldn’t just wee on the floor!
Sophie's First Birthday Party
I can’t believe my little girl is one. It seems so grown up. Only 12 months ago she was a helpless little bundle, and now she can do loads of things like chasing the rabbits with her walker, feeding herself (sort of) and posting her shoes in to her nappy bin (her favourite pass time at the moment, goodness knows how many shoes we’ve accidentally thrown out with the nappies).
We had a party to celebrate (of course) and 15 mums and babies found themselves crammed in to our lounge. While the mums tucked in to cake and cava, the babies munched on all manner of biscuits and rice cakes. I think it was a success and after a drink or two no one seemed to mind the ‘cosy’ surroundings. It’s better to have too many friends than none at all and this just made me realise how many friends we have made through the various clubs we’ve joined. We’re so lucky that there are lots of things going on in the local area for mums and babies.
The birthday girl:
Holiday Time
The school holidays are now in full swing… Last year Inaaya won a competition in our local newspaper, the Birmingham Mail, she was the Bonniest Baby for 2007and one of her prizes was a week at Pontins.
As daddy had to work we invited my niece Amain and my big sister. We decided to take our break at a beautiful place called Brean Sands, it was so nice to be near the sea.
There was plenty for the kids to do, Inaaya met Postman Pat, she went dancing with the Blue Coats, we went horse riding on the beach and every morning we went to the swimming pool. Inaaya has become very independent recently and this really showed. She wanted to go down the slide on her own and float around in the pool on her own. I guess it's all the Sunday swimming that she does with daddy. She also loved the swings and the slide area so we spent most evenings there. I have attached some photos and videos to show what fun we had!
Horse riding at the beach:
Meeting Postman Pat: 
On the swings:
Dancing with the blue coats:
