Day 77 - A rare treat

Bedtime has been a bit of a mission over the last couple of days – I think it’s time to get a blackout blind as I suspect the lighter evenings are not helping.  Trying to get both girls settled for the night has not been a very easy task and so when I finally managed to get back downstairs this evening, a glass of wine seemed very appealing!  It’s very rare for me to have a drink  but as Sophie hopefully won’t wake up for her next feed until the early hours, I thought I’d treat myself to a small glass.

Day 76 - Breadsticks

When Jessica was first weaned, we did a combination of baby-led weaning and purées (my original plan was just to do baby-led weaning but the dietician advised against it due to the importance of getting calories into her).  As this worked quite well with Jessica, we’ve decided to take the same approach with weaning Sophie.  So far, we’ve just tried a breadstick but she seemed to enjoy tasting it before dropping it on the floor and we’re managing to get her to taste some of the puréed veg as well (although most of it just gets dribbled back out again).

Day 75 - Completing Camp NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo is a challenge held in November to write a 50,000 word novel in one month.  Camp NaNoWriMo is a similar challenge held in April and July but the word count target is flexible and the written work doesn’t need to be fiction.  I’ve taken part in, and completed, NaNoWriMo a couple of times but since becoming a mummy, 50,000 words has been a bit too much of a challenge.  Camp NaNoWriMo gives me a more realistic challenge to aim for – this time 20,000 words covering different pieces of writing and this morning I managed to complete my word count.

Day 74 - Sophie at six months

It’s Sophie’s half-birthday today.  I can’t believe she is six months old already – time really has flown by!  Being six months old means that it is time to start weaning and so she had her first taste of solid food this afternoon – yummy parsnip purée.  She seemed to enjoy her first taste of food (although she did pull some funny faces whilst I was feeding her) and enjoyed putting her hands in the bowl and smearing it everywhere.  I’d forgotten just how messy this stage is but at least some of it got eaten and seemed to go down well.

Day 73 - A meal with friends

Grandma came over to babysit Jessica so that hubby and I could go out for a lovely meal with a group of friends (with Sophie in tow as she is still breastfeeding).  We try and go out for a meal as a group every couple of months or so and it’s always great to be able to catch up with each other.  This time the meal was at a very nice Belgian gastropub which serves fabulous moules marinéres (which I had as a starter).  I also enjoyed some very rare steak and frites and Belgian waffles with strawberries for dessert.

Day 72 - Cardiac check-up

Jessica had her cardiac check-up this afternoon and we were pleased to be told that her heart function is stable.  She is gaining weight beautifully and getting taller and her oxygen saturation levels are remaining around 78-80 which is normal for her.  With the appointments being spaced out, the changes in her development between them become so clear when watching her playing with the toys in the waiting room and interacting with the other children.  It is so lovely to see how much she uses her imagination now and how far she has come over the last couple of years.

Day 71 - A happy moment

Today wasn’t a happy day – it was a very sad one as we attended the funeral of our friend’s little girl and offered them our broken words of love and comfort in the midst of their grief.  We were asked to wear bright colours and invited to a celebration of Amelia’s life afterwards where there was a bouncy castle and a sweet trolley – both of which Jessica loved as did all the children attending.  It was a beautiful send-off for a beautiful little angel and we continue to keep our friends in our thoughts and prayers over the coming days.