Freya's fantabulous glamping hen party

Sometimes pictures are so much better than words. But to accompany the below, think cute huts in the forest, a candlelit Game of Thrones-esque feast, cooking by campfire, bunkbed bunking, scavenger hunting, human 'periods', goblet painting, boat tripping, pub grub, mini festival, dares, slimey bottoms, late night chats and more. It was one of those weekends you just want to re-live again as it was magical in the forest and such good company. So much so that it made me even more determined to get to the wedding in question!

life lately - fourteen loves of the last fortnight

Sometimes I just don't feel like writing and at other times I can't stop myself. I have all the time in the world at the moment, but having all that time with a baby can seem like no time at all! It's been an exhausting couple of weeks because Hugo is rolling and needs constant attention. He doesn't like being on his back, rolls to his front, doesn't like being on his front and so on. He loves to be stood or sat up, so it's a bit of an awkward transition stage while he builds his strength (and I build mine). I'm borrowing a jumperoo soon so that will hopefully be a breakthrough!

Because Adi is working quite a few weekend days and that's when most people spend time with their spouses, I've had a few days where I've felt a bit fed up. Most of the people I know up here are friends of Adi's, so it's odd trying to create a life when Adi's at work and I'm the one with the free time. I'm really trying to make more of an effort to get out of the house so that's my plan for the coming week.

Here are the best bits from the last fortnight:

1. Seeing Hugo roll over again and again and again and get very frustrated apart from the odd occasion when he rolls back
2. Watching the live screening of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'
3. A visit from my Auntie Christine who hadn't seen Hugo since he was a tiny newborn
4. Discovering the canal and it's lock in the next village to us on a walk with an NCT friend and her new baby
5. Hugo not crying during his second jabs! I had written off a good few days but he didn't react at all like he had for the first jabs
6. Surprising my mums year 10 class and walking in with a baby! (Don't blame me when there is an increase in teen pregnancies in the year group). It was good for my mum to be a proud Nanna at work and show him around
7. Seeing both my Nanna and Grandma on our trip to Nottingham
8. Taking Hugo swimming for the first time with my dad to the pool where I went growing up. He was unsure at first but loved being in his float. Then taking him swimming for the second time and daring to dunk him under! 
9. Saying a quick happy birthday to Adi's friend's daughter at her 1st birthday party. They live 10 minutes from us yet we've only seen them once since moving back up here, and we've only met Quinn twice in her first year! We must sort something out.
10. Meeting all of the babies at our NCT reunion and realising just how much Hugo has grown compared to the younger ones!
11. A walk around Nostell Priory on Adi's day off. We try to get out on his midweek days off and it was wonderful to have a national trust property all to ourselves without the weekend crowds!
12. A visit from Adi's friend Jen who I haven't seen in a good few years!
13. Putting Hugo in his bumbo seat at the dinner table with Auntie Layla and Uncle Rich and seeing him a little bemused
14. Going to the new cafe in Rothwell Park twice, just because it's in such a good location and somewhere I will frequent lots while walking with Hugo

the little things - three months

I really should have done a midway update between two months and three, things move so fast it's hard to keep track! The development has been rapid over the last week or two in particular and he continues to surprise us every day. Here's 16 little things, progressing to the most recent developments.

1. He will literally smile as much as you smile to him! Singing is still his favourite thing to make him smile but he also likes funny faces and sounds. The smiles are more vocal with lots of happy noises and the start of chuckles.

2. He’s able to grip on to my hair and other objects like the bee on his playmat, a rattle and a furry caterpillar. He’s just started holding on to his feet too.

3. At the start of the last month he’d be content in one spot, staring at something like himself in the mirror. He’s now much more active and alert, taking in more around him.

4. Adi’s commented that I’ve given him my double crown. It can be annoying for me because of the way my hair falls, so he’s worried it’ll be annoying for him!

5.  He’s still very content but is more certain of what he wants and doesn’t want. He'll put his bottom lip out and be pacified before he properly cries, which I find really cute! Sometimes when he starts to get upset I'll make him laugh and he isn't sure what to do!

6. We've moved on to the faster flowing teats which have made a huge difference. He can eat up to 180ml and feeds less frequently than before. He's really easy to feed at night but in the day he constantly wriggles, sits up and moves his head away!

7. I thought I'd be bothered about him having a runny nose or dribbles, as I’m always a bit funny about that with other kids! It’s definitely different with your own as I love making sure his nose is clean, picking at it and his dribbles don’t bother me! He’s been more dribbly recently, which could be the early signs of teething.

8. I've put away most 0-3 month clothes and he's in-between them and 3-6 month. The vests and babygrows of 0-3 month no longer fit him, but there's still some life in the trousers and t-shirts. Perhaps he has a longer and thinner body than average. I still like putting him in all-in-ones, but I’m starting to put him in separates so that we use them!

9. He loves to lick his hands. He started putting his fingers in his mouth when he was hungry, and would sometimes stick them in too far and cough on them! He now tends to just lick the palm when he’s hungry or occasionally to soothe himself.

10. The ten week wriggle – one evening he spent a few hours wriggling off the mat at every different angle. It turns out he was trying to poo!

11. He loves bathtime so in turn we love bathtime! He’ll splash about with his arms and legs and wriggle his body about. It’s when we’ve had the best chuckles too, probably because he laughs at us laughing at him! He did his first giggle in the bath while I was blowing raspberries.

12. The sounds he makes are starting to be more like words, as if he’s trying to talk to you in a conversation. He’ll even pause when you talk and then start again when it's his turn! Sometimes he’ll make noises for attention.

13. He’s so solid and has doubled his birth weight. He supports himself when you stand him up and pushes himself up on you to stand. He’ll also do a sit up to be sat upright. He fully supports his head to look all around him. I’ve put him in his bumbo seat and sat him in his float on his first swim. He can stand up in his bouncer too, but is slightly too short to bounce in it!

14. He’s rolling over! At 12 weeks he could roll on to his side and the day after all the way over. A week later he rolled back again but that's so far been a one off. He hates being on his front but insists on rolling on to his belly so were constantly having to help him back over again. 

15. His eyes have changed to brown like his dads. Everyone who knows his dad says he looks like him, anyone who doesn’t say he looks like me! He definitely is still his daddy’s double, but I think he looks more like me when he smiles.  

16. He's just started sucking on his bottom lip. It could perhaps be another sign of teething, but we're hoping it doesn't become a regular thing that he finds soothing. We'll have to see how it goes!