Charlie's view

Hi, I'm Charlie. Mummy talks about me a lot on here, but she thought it was about time you got to know me better. Mummy asked me a few questions about some of my favourite things and here are my answers:

Favourite food

Boobies, hehe, sorry mummy says I am getting too old for these, but I only really have them just before bed, And sometimes if I can't sleep through the day or I get really, really upset or hurt myself. I know where they are now so I can lift her top if I am feeling cheeky, and point to them! I also like kinder bars, they are really sweet and milky. I also really like carrot and potato mash with baked beans, that's probably my best tea in the whole world.

Least favourite food

I do not like raspberries or strawberries, yuck, I always make a funny face if Mummy makes me eat one. Why are they so mushy? They make my face do a funny thing with the flavour.

Favourite toy

I love Blackburn Bear for bedtime (He is mummy's bear that her mum and dad bought her and he wears a dressing gown in Blackburn Rovers colours, so I think that's why he's called Blackburn Bear). He is really soft and snuggly. My favourite toy for during the day is my car. If you press it down it goes really fast. I'm glad mummy and daddy have wooden floors as it goes extra fast on them.

Least favourite toy

I do like all my toys, but I think I am now too old for Sophie the giraffe. She was really good to me when I had sore teeth, although I didn't really use her like Mummy wanted me to. But if my teeth hurt now I just have a little cry and go for a cuddle. I don't need a giraffe anymore.

Best friend

My best friend is my friend Finlo. He was born three weeks after me. His Mummy is called Alice and my Mummy and her are really good friends. Finlo comes to play sometimes and I try to share my toys and I am getting good at it Mummy says. I like to climb on Finlo though and Mummy tells me off. I don't know why, Finlo doesn't mind. Finlo's Mummy has just had a new baby (I got to hold him like a big boy) and I keep seeing Mummy disappear with bags of my clothes and old toys, so I think she may be taking them to Finlo's little brother. I don't mind though.

Favorite TV programme

Mummy says when I was tiny I loved Baby TV, especially Charlie and the Numbers, which is funny because I am called Charlie. It's not my favourite though. Mummy put In The Night Garden on the other day on her Kindle whilst she was trying to work, and now that's my favourite program. Mummy had a catalogue on the table the other day with lots of toys in and I really want an Iggle Piggle toy of my own for Christmas.

Bedtime

Mummy says I am not good at going to bed. I think she gets very frustrated. But I like being with my Mummy and Daddy and when they put me to bed, they leave me and I want to be with them, so I wake up and cry a lot. Daddy decided to put my mattress by the side of his bed and I am happier here. I know Mummy and Daddy are there then if I wake in the night and I can just climb up on to their bed. I think Mummy said I had been sleeping longer the other day, I'm hoping she isn't going to make Daddy put my mattress back in the cot. I will sleep in my own bed soon, when I am ready. Just not yet.

Me snuggling Blackburn Bear 

Bathtime

I love the bath! I always have a bath with Daddy, he is really good at doing baths. He splashes me and plays fishes with me and lets me lie on his knees. He is really good at washing my hair and never gets shampoo in it. Mummy does though, she is rubbish at bath time and always gets suds in my eyes.

Trips out 

I really really like going to the park as I like to run around the grass. We do have a garden with lots of grass but I much prefer to run around in the park. I also like to go to Dragon's Castle and The Fun Factory which are both soft play centres. Mummy normally leaves these activities to the childminder, I don't know why. But as she is off with me now for 6 weeks, maybe she will take me. I hope so.

My family

I love my big sister, Aalish. She isn't always here, I don't know why. But when she is, she plays with me and cuddles me and she always shares her Mars Mix with me. She bites them first to make sure they are soft and then she gives it to me. She is very thoughtful. I also love my Granny and Grandpa, who I see on the laptop a lot. I don't get to cuddle them very much, which makes me sad, as they live in England and apparently I live in the Isle of Man and Mummy says you have to get a boat or a plane to get to their house. Mummy says we are going to see them next week and stay in something called a Caravan. I don't know what this is, but it sounds fun!
I also have a Great Granny, she is very old and has funny white hair and when I talk to her she always says "I had one of them and the wheel fell off.' I have no idea what she's talking about but I giggle anyway, just to make her feel like I know what she means. I have a Great Grandpa too. He doesn't talk a lot or say much, but he gives massive bear hugs. Mummy says he is poorly now and we may have to get on a plane any minute to go and see him.

What I am looking forward to

Mummy says that next week we are going on holiday, I don't really know what this means, but I know that we are leaving our house and going to stay somewhere else. She says it will be really exciting and I will get to play on the beach and in the swimming pool and she says there is a place that has lots of rides for me to go on. She also said there is a train I can go on, I really like trains. I watch Thomas The Tank Engine quite a bit so I hope it looks like that. I am excited to go on a big boat to get there too, although Mummy said to Daddy I am going to be a nightmare on the boat for 4 hours. 

Bye for now,

Love Charlie x

Why won't my baby sleep??!

So you might remember back in October, we were having trouble with getting Charlie to sleep, either going to sleep by himself or then staying asleep. I talked on my blog here, about our attempts at sleep training and it seemed to work, for about a month. Once he hit 8 months, it all started to go wrong again.

At first, I thought he had started the separation anxiety phase and thought that if we just persevered for a few weeks, then he would go back to how he was. However, he is now nearly 11 months and there is no sign of him going back to his old sleeping habit. He used to go to bed between 7.30 and 8, depending on how tired he was really. But the routine was always the same: bath after tea and then Pjs on, cuddles with Daddy and then some milk. He'd be sleepy enough to put in his cot half awake and within 10 minutes or so, he would be asleep. He'd wake between 3-5am for a feed and go back down.

Now he won't even entertain the idea of going down in his cot awake. He screams and screams. Last night he screamed so much he started chocking and almost being sick and when I went to him he clung on to me sobbing his eyes out. Now the no nonsense parents would probably say to me that I gave in and that's what he wanted, but there is no way that I am leaving my sobbing baby to cry like that. I can generally work out when he's crying as if to say 'how dare you put me in my cot awake and not feed me to sleep.' This was very different. Eventually I managed to place him in his cot half asleep and had to stay there stroking him until he drifted off. He was then awake within half an hour! I gave in and fed him back to sleep and managed to get him back down. He then woke up at 1am. But it was really, really cold last night and his grow egg was on blue, so I am not sure if he was just cold. He ended up in bed with us at 1am anyway.

So I am left with wondering what to do. I don't feel I can go back to sleep training based on last night as I cannot leave him like that. He managed to get himself to sleep the night before though, with much less screaming, so I know he can do it. I just don't know what to do. I just want him to go to bed at a reasonable hour and stay there until about 4-5am, I don't mind that, I can work on that later on, once we've cracked actually going to bed! I really need some advice. I'm reluctant to speak to the health visitor as she told me to just do controlled crying, which I don't agree with. Although I can see the benefits and I know that it is proven to work. I know that he's older now, so it's not as traumatic for him, but it's still not nice.

So what do I do? Do I bite the bullet and go back to sleep training and endure his screaming for a few nights? If so, at what point do I cuddle him and then put back down? Or do I just give in and feed him to sleep until he weans himself off??? Help!

Non-resolutions

Happy New Year!

I don't really 'do' resolutions. I always make some, in my head, but rarely, if ever do they get stuck to. So this year I am just not going to bother. It's funny actually, as I have read quite a few blog posts lately also declaring they aren't doing resolutions. Is it the mummy force that is making a stand against resolutions?

That said, there are things that I would like to change this year. However they cannot be started in one day or indeed, fulfilled in one day. They are goals I want to achieve and things I want to achieve, but they take time and therefore, are not 'resolutions.' Here is my list of wishes and goals and things I would like to achieve in 2014:

1. Take our first family holiday as a four. You may know, we live away from my family so we often take trips to visit them for a few days, but since Charlie was born, we have not been away.When I say holiday, I don't mean anything exotic like Barbados for example. Just somewhere modest, that has entertainment and facilities for a 9 year old and somewhere that we can relax and chill out for a week. I have been looking at Hoseasons. Hubby and I used to go to one of their get away lodges every Easter and Summer and we even went to one for our honeymoon. You know the kind - hot tubs, forest settings, adults only etc. But clearly, life is different with an almost one year old! So we are looking for something a bit more family friendly. Reading that back it looks like I am digging for a free holiday! I certainly am not, in fact we have nearly chosen the site we are going to and I very nearly typed in my card details this morning to pay the deposit.

2. Plan, organise and host my baby's first birthday. Coincidentally Charlie turns one the year I turn thirty, in fact he is one the day after My birthday! Therefore I am planning a joint birthday for all our family and friends. I am planning to bring in a hog roast company as food and make it dead easy, but still provide nibbles etc. I am also planning to make my own invites. Now this is not something I take lightly! If you know me then you know I am not very arty or indeed creative. I have been saying for three years I will make my own Christmas cards (incidentally this is my third wish for 2014, see below) but never get round to it, so this will be a big thing for me, if I can pull it off successfully that is! I am planning a few presents for Charlie at the moment - one in particular is a memory bear that I am very excited about. If you haven't heard of these, they are soft toys, made out of old baby grows/sleep suits or even baby clothing so that you have a permanent record or reminder of their tiny days. I have chosen a Lion for Charlie from www.babyforgetmenots.co.uk.

3. Make my own Christmas cards! This may seem a little early, but I need to get organised. As I said above, arty stuff like this is not my forte, therefore I need some time to think about this and get it right. I have saved all our Christmas cards this year and intend to use bits of those cut up etc to make my cards.

4. Keep my house tidier/more organised. Since we moved our house has been a bomb site. We are now slowly learning to find places for our stuff, but it's taken a while for things to feel like they are in their right place. I also want to make my life at home easier; I don't want to come home after work and spend hours tidying or cleaning. I want to be able to spend that time with Charlie, time that's precious. So I am following the Organised Housewife and have even started using some of her tips and organisational ideas. Her tip about how to clean the oven is this weekend's task! I've been really fed up at home, don't get me wrong, it's never dirty, but there's always a coat that needs putting away or mail that needs filing etc. I want to enjoy our new house; I love it, it's our family home and I want to get more on top of the housework.

5. Keep up with my blog. I definitely neglected this last year, but I had had a baby. But also, I have read lots of blogs of women just having babies and still blogging on a regular basis. I think I juts became lazy.

6. Budget better! Our finances have definitely seen a decline since we started paying for childcare. I always knew this would be the case, but once you actually hit the reality it is very different! I used to just buy something if I wanted it. Now I have to think carefully about if we can afford it and how much we have until the end of the month. I need to keep more careful track of our money and what we spend it on, so that it's not going on junk.

7. Curb my enthusiasm for sour skittles. This started in pregnancy, I loved them and whilst it wasn't a craving, looking back I did eat them a lot! However it continued after having Charlie and even now writing this, I am thinking about which shop sells them near my work (they are hard to come by on the Isle of Man for some reason). However, I don't eat many other sweets or chocolate, so I am not going to be too hard on myself if I fancy a bag now and then. Just not two share size bags over one weekend!

And that's it, I think. These are the things I hope I can achieve and the wishes I have. If they don't come to fruition, then so be it. I certainly won't beat myself up about it.

Are yo writing resolutions?

To Charlie. Now you're 9 months

Dear Charlie,

I cannot believe you are now 9 months. I know that's a bit cliched and all mummies say that, but I can't actually get my head around how fast the time has flown since you were born. You have now been out in the world for as long as you were inside me. When I was pregnant with you time dragged until I finally met you and now I feel like time is just slipping away!

So, in terms of your development and progress you are really amazing. You can now crawl very fast across the room and you can also pull yourself up on the furniture and walk along it. You have tried to take a few steps only holding on with one hand - you are certainly getting brave! Your Granny walked at 9 months, so I don't think it will be long before you are walking!

You are a really good eater and you eat almost anything! The only thing you seem to dislike is broccoli, which is odd as you loved it when it was pureed. You pick up the crumbs you've left on you're walker so we have to make sure you don't pick up anything that's on the floor. You love a roast dinner but you're favourite meal is definitely Dairylea on toast! Mummy now loves it too, which is weird as I used to hate it but now I have it for breakfast every day!

You are now really settled at the childminder's, not that we had any problem to begin with. But of course I was worried about leaving you. But knowing you are so happy to see Lisa every day really makes it much easier to leave you there. I still wish I was at home with you but I have to work so that we can all do things as a family. You also have a little friend there called Bella who adores you and you love playing with her.

It is nearly time for your first Christmas and I cannot wait! Your Granny has bought you a Santa's Little Helper outfit to wear on Christmas Day! I know you're Daddy isn't too keen but I think you're going to look very cute! We put our decorations up last weekend and you are so intrigued by the tree. I think you're getting a bit fed up with constantly being told 'No!' as you lunge towards the branches! However, you learnt your lesson when you pulled too hard on a branch and the whole thing toppled over onto you. Mummy wasn't happy as your broke the bauble which says 'baby's first Christmas.' However, your sister painted you your own special bauble at the weekend and it now hangs proudly on the tree. We are taking you on the Santa train this weekend and I am really excited; I know you won't understand it, but you'll still have fun and you'll get a little pressie.
We will be spending Christmas with my parents and they just can't wait to see you again; you are definitely going to be one spoilt baby this Christmas!

You are such a happy smiley boy and I am really proud of the little character that is becoming you. You always have smiles for everybody and everyone thinks you are such a charming little boy. Everyone tells me how cute and beautiful you are and I am very proud of you.

You're actually nearly 10 months old now and after Christmas it will be time to start planning your first birthday! I think mummy and you are going to share a party as mummy will be 30 the day before your 1st birthday.

Merry Christmas baby x

What happened to my baby that slept through?!

Charlie was not a fan of sleep for the first three weeks of his life, just like lots of other newborns. From about 10pm - 4am every night, he screamed or moaned or whinged and then about 4am he would drop off for a couple of hours. Then, at Easter, when he was about three and a half weeks old, we went away to stay with my parents for a week and all of a sudden one night, he went to sleep at 11 and stayed asleep until 5am! I couldn't believe it. He carried on doing this and gradually the 11pm became 10.30, which became 10 which then became 9pm. Annoyingly he would not go to sleep before this though! The 5am also started getting later and he would sometimes sleep until 7am ish. I started to feel better and look less tired and everything was running along smoothly.

And then, all of a sudden a couple of weeks ago, he woke at 1am, then 3am, then 5am and then 7am! What?! The next few nights he continued to wake up a couple of times, if not more. We are now approaching the end of two weeks of this and I am knackered again. Fortunately, I am still off work, but I go back in 5 weeks so how the heck am I supposed to plan and teach lessons to hormonal teenagers if I am not getting much sleep! When he does wake, he won't go back to sleep without a feed, so he gets in bed with us, meaning that I have to cling to the edge of the bed and therefore I don't sleep well. Co-sleeping was easier when he was teeny. Don't get me wrong, I still love it, but the logistics are slightly different now.

Charlie was 20 weeks on Tuesday. I am not sure if his constant wakening is due to a) the weather; it has been so humid here lately, b) milk isn't satisfying him enough now and he needs more; or c) he just fancies more cuddles! I went into work for a week just before he started doing this and I was told that this can often result in babies wake up more frequently during the night as they want to be with their mummy as they haven't seen them as much and haven't fed as much. But it's still happening so I don't know if that's the case or not.

We have started giving him a few spoonfuls of fruit puree and veg puree here and there. Hopefully this might start filling him up if it is hunger, but I am also trying to stop him dropping off too soon during his last feed to try and ensure he is completely full. What else it could be down to, I really don't know!

I miss my sleep! I had got used to it and was clearly taking it for granted! I really hope he settles back down as I forgot how lack of sleep, also coupled with anaemia can make you feel!!

Please Charlie, be good for mummy and go back to just waking the once.

mummystartingout x

Our boy Charlie. 6 weeks old.