the routine - moving to the cotbed and big bath

Two weeks ago we moved Hugo into the cotbed in his own room. I felt really emotional. It was such a big step. I know all of the advice is to have him in our room for the first 3-6 months, but he was starting to outgrow the crib and it was waking him up when he hit the sides with his arms, or had them dangling between the rods. A few friends said that they had put their baby in their own room from 6-8 weeks, so around 10 weeks didn't seem too early. It also means that he wasn't too aware of his surroundings when we made the transition.

Because the nursery is so close to us it hasn't been a problem with hearing him, if anything it's good because I'm not quite as quick to jump up and make a bottle and sometimes he'll go back to sleep. That said, I have to be much quicker getting the bottle when he is ready!

He has slept much better since being in his own room - not having Adi snoring must help too! Sometimes he'll sleep for a 6 hour stint and other times he'll wake every 3-4 hours. To encourage the long stint through the night we've started waking him between 11 and 12 to give him a last nappy change and feed. This means that an average night now is sleeping from 8-11-5-8 - give or take.

He also outgrew the baby bath so at the same time we started putting him in the big bath. He absolutely loves splashing about, with no restrictions on the sides.

life lately - 10 things to talk about

I've been really behind with writing this blog but I've realised just why I do it. This week I thought it had been a quiet week with not much going on. But really when I looked back I realised that I just had a couple of chilled days, that's all! Here's a list of what I've been up to, because sometimes writing is too much, but the reminder is worth it. And because I like lists of 10.

1. The week started with a bank holiday BBQ. We had a bunch of Adi's mates over for a house-warming. There were 8 couples and 10 kids between us which was quite a feat, but luckily the rain held off until everyone was well fed.

Some lessons:

- Do buy a mini-bouncy castle - our friends brought theirs over which was a huge hit and kept all of the kids occupied all afternoon

- Don't put the bbq by the back doors 

- Do sort the back door so that the step isn't so high 

- Do double and triple check that the dishwasher isn't working before hand washing all dishes 

- Don't buy enough food to feed a small army

- Do accept Sam's offer to man the BBQ 

- Do get mum to make pavlova bases 

- Don't worry about stocking up on alcohol - friends with kids don't drink as much

2. Mum and Layla came up to babysit so that me and Adi could have our first date night since Hugo was born. We went to Xscape to play adventure golf and have cocktails. It was so, so lovely! We plan to have a date night each month.

3. My good friend Eve was travelling back to London via Leeds so I finally met her boyfriend over lunch at Trinity Kitchen. We laid Hugo out on the table so that he could have a kick about and had a good catch up. Her new (or not so new) man is lovely - a good smile makes all the difference!

4. Desperate Housewives has consumed my life! It's been 10 years since I studied it for my media ALevel and I never finished all 8 series. I'm almost done - thanks to Netflix for saving the day after it was taken down from sky.

5. My Zumba DVD was put into action and I occupied Hugo with a 45 minute workout. It was the first exercise since Hugo's birth and really it had been a long time before then that I was active.

6. I re-logged on to myfitnesspal to start watching what I eat. It's going to be a slow process but it felt good to regain control.

7. I drove over to where Adi's brother was playing cricket to see his family on Saturday because we couldn't get over together this weekend. I love spending time with Thomas and I can't help but use him as a basis of what I can expect from Hugo in a couple of years time!

8. I popped in to our friends Sean and Karina as they live in the same town as the cricket. It's so good to be able to do that now and gradually see more of people. Their new garden is ace and made me want to crack on with ours!

9. Mum met me at Rothwell Table Tots sale on the way home from picking up an ebay purchase - surprise surprise! Mum bought a buggy to have at hers and we filled it with lots of bargains! 

10. I spent Sunday afternoon clearing out the shed and Adi did some weeding on the front lawn. I'm gradually re-organising the house now that we've lived here for a few months and know how the house works for us. It feels so good to declutter and give everything a home.

(26th May - 1st June)

life lately - frustrations, family and friends

When you don't work, weekends and bank holidays don't really matter, the days and weeks just roll into each other. Especially with a husband who works shifts across evenings, weekends and bank holidays. Last week was the first of the two May bank holidays and as Easter was so late this year it's come around fast. 

This bank holiday Monday was possibly the first day that I felt like a proper adult. Forget turning 18, 21, getting married, buying a house or having a baby. This bank holiday wasn't spent nursing a hangover, instead we did a skip run, (the final that we've needed to do since the move, relief!) had the car washed and invited the in-laws over. Adi's mum made a start weeding the garden which in turn got me off my arse and it felt so good to get back to home improvements. The stereotypical bank holiday for a family involves either DIY or a trip to the seaside, so achieving one of these things for some reason made me feel like we'd finally made it! 

I didn't have many plans for the week and thought I'd be on a roll with the garden, but the weather nosedived. Instead I stayed in for two days for the delivery of the wrong cotbed thanks to Argos. So next week I'll have another housebound day when they swap it - joy.

Perhaps I was easily frustrated because of Argos's incompetence, or maybe shopping with a baby, in the rain, is just stressful, but I ended up making two trips to White Rose in order to look half decent for Friday's wedding. I sorted my outfit in the end, opting to recycle an old dress that keeps ripping at the seam with a quick stitch-up and instead spending on heels and a jacket that I can wear again. I also had a couple of sneaky purchases while I was out. I can't keep wearing my beloved maternity jeans as the lack of bump doesn't hold them up, so I needed a bit of a wardrobe revival. I truly will miss my maternity jeans though and am considering a similar design for non-pregnant women, as they hide the muffin top in a way that no other jeans I've found do! Watch this space..  

The week was finished off with a wonderful wedding of one of Adi's school friends and his now wife who I'm happy to call a friend too. Despite missing Hugo more than I ever thought possible, it was a great day. As an atheist I don't usually enjoy church ceremony's, but I really liked the vicars words as they felt more about the couple rather than God. We then enjoyed a magical mystery tour to the reception venue 'Holdsworth House', along minor roads and through a private estate as the roads were gridlocked due to an accident. Thankfully it didn't delay everyone getting to the venue. Each of the speeches were particularly good, but the highlight of the day had to be the best men's speech. They created a video in the style of a news report to dish the dirt on the groom (of which there was plenty), with appearances from all of his friends and family, complete with an introduction from an itv news presenter!

We spent the weekend down in Nottingham for my brother-in-laws birthday bbq. We ended up staying at my parents so they could spend more time with Hugo and had a dossy day at theirs on Sunday before heading for tea at Adi's parents.

I love weekends of family and friends but I can already see how it's going to be difficult to fit everything and everyone in!

(w/c 5th May 2014)