Month 10 has been my absolute favourite so far

Peyton is 11-months-old today, but the last month has been one of my favourites so far.

Of course, nothing compares to the snuggly, squishy newborn phase, but this last month has just been wonderful.

April was shit, for many reasons, and I was super excited about May (because I knew it couldn't have possibly been any worse!) and it has just been great.

Not only has she developed the cheekiest, funniest personality, but she is learning things every single day. She's so close to walking now, taking up to 10 steps at a time, and is babbling away in her own little language. She's starting to try and use cutlery when she eats and is showing such an interest in the world around her. And tonight, which I’m most excited about, she’s started clapping! I know you shouldn’t listen to those apps that say “your baby should be doing x, y and z at this age”, why do they do it?! She’s finally started it tonight, though. She looks so chuffed when she does it, bless her.

The weekend before last we went down to Bristol to stay with family and P was a little dream. She was so well behaved in the car (it's a long drive even for an adult, never mind a baby who hates sitting still!) and when we were there.

I was worried about her bedtime being unsettled being in new surroundings but she went off like a dream and slept really well still. (Not so much at nap time, though...! See pic below ha.) It was strange being back in the same room as her, though. I've got so used to hearing her breathe on the monitor I did wake up a few times and panic that I couldn't hear her. It's strange how she seemed quieter being in the same room than over the monitor.

She had the best weekend while we were there. They live on a big, working farm and there were so many animals. We took her to watch milking one morning, she saw lambs, horses, ponies, rabbits... She was mesmerised by it all.

It was also lovely to see family who have babies a similar age to Peyton. It makes me sad that we don't live closer so they can all grow up together, but it's nice that we do get to see them when we can.

We've been all over the place recently as the weekend just gone we went to Bedford and back for the day for my friend's little girl's 1st birthday. Laura and I met on a cruise in 2006 and have stayed friends since - despite living 150 miles apart. Florence is a month older than Peyton so it's lovely that they're so close in age.

I think we'll spend the next few weekends in Yorkshire, I'm bloody exhausted haha!

Saying that, I can't believe we're just a few weeks away from her first birthday now; it's mental.

Each day my Timehop is filled with bump photos and videos, and countdowns to when she was due to arrive. It makes me feel all fuzzy inside, seeing picures of me being pregnant. I say it every time but, God, I was huge. It almost puts me off wanting to get pregnant again incase I balloon in the same way. I did say, though, when I got pregnant I knew I'd go full Kim Kardashian and be the size of a house.

We have so many lovely things planned in the run-up to, and after, her birthday.

We're having a small BBQ/tea party (weather dependent) the weekend after her birthday which, I'll be honest, is more for our benefit than hers. She won't know what the hell is happening so, while it's her first birthday, I am choosing her cake, decorations etc. how I would like them for a party for me. There will also be prosecco. Lots of prosecco. Because I missed that so much while pregnant and in those first few months when I was breastfeeding so much and scared to touch more than a drop of alcohol.

On the subject of breastfeeding, the last month or so has seen us stop completely.

Last time I wrote a post about parenting/Peyton I said we were close to stopping, but we're completely done now. And it was so easy.

For those not aware, I started weaning her off the boob ready for me going back to work. I knew it would be too difficult to express while at work, particularly as I struggled to get more than 1oz or 2oz in over 30 mins of pumping - previously I'd get 5oz in less than 15 mins! She transitioned onto formula through the day really well and, when I went back to work, I was only feeding her myself first thing on a morning and through the night.

We managed to swap the morning feed for formula, too, and then were just left with through the night. This managed to phase out gradually when her night waking lessened. Then, when she did wake, we got her back to sleep without the boob. Now, she doesn't stir at all through the night and, when she does, it's for a minute or two and she's straight back off.

All those months of being up three or more times in the night for 45+ minutes seem like a lifetime ago now!

I tied myself in all sorts of knots when it came to her sleeping and naps, but I really wish I hadn't got so worried about it now. Trying controlled crying with her was, honestly, the best thing we did. Since then, she's been like a different baby when it's come to sleep.

I'm sorry to those mums reading this who have babies/children that don't like sleep; I honestly feel your pain! There's nothing worse than reading about children who sleep when you're exhausted because yours doesn't, so I'm sorry if I've made you want to weep. I have no advice - all the advice I was given didn't work, so I won't even bother suggesting it - but just keep going! Every child is different, so there's no point even trying to compare, and they all do things in their own time. There was a time I thought I'd never get a good night's sleep again, but here we are.

Erm, what else have we been doing?!

Oh, weaning! Yes. That's going very well. She eats three full meals now, and snacks in between. I think she would eat all day if I let her; she loves her food. I don't think there's much she doesn't like, she is like a human dustbin.

Greens are her favourite at the moment. I always try and include some vegetables or fruit with every meal, where possible, and she always goes for the green stuff first; whether it be peas, broccoli, cucumber, kiwi...

I never thought I'd get so much happiness and pride out of watching a baby eat but, honestly, my heart swells when I see her. It's so cute I could sit for hours.

She just has three bottles a day now, usually: one first thing, one either mid-morning or mid-afternoon, and one before bed.

As soon as she's one, I'll move her onto cows milk. Formula is bloody expensive, and such a faff. I take my hat off to mums who formula feed from newborn because holy hell it is a lot of effort; and expense. I can't imagine being bleary-eyed in the night fannying with boiling water, bottles and powder making up bottles.

She's had her 9-12 month review with the health visitor recently. Tom took her as I was at work. It was nice for him to go as all her newborn/early stuff he missed out on because he was at work.

They said she's almost at the 9kg mark - feels like it's taken forever to get there - and is on the 50th centile for her weight and, wait for it, then 98th for her height.

We always knew she was tall but even I was shocked at that! She's going to get all the same comments I did when I was growing up: "oooh you're so tall, you should be a model!"

I feel like we are on countdown to so many exciting things now! We've got her birthday and (my) party, our best friends' little girl's christening, two of our lovely friends (and P's godparents) are getting married; our holiday (I'm in full-on Slimming World mode with that in mind); and then one of my oldest (in time we've known each other, not age) friends is getting married as soon as we are back.

Life just seems to be feeling so positive at the moment. Of course, there are days when she's an absolute whiney nightmare - I'm not going to pretend it's all sunshine and rainbows. Yesterday she was a proper whingebag for 80% of the day. She'd suddenly snap out of it and be all happy and cheeky again but it didn't take long for her to be a moody Margaret again.

Here she is, mid-tantrum on the floor. Brill.

Aside from the odd meltdown (on both mine and P's part!) I think it's fair to say we are loving life at the moment.

1 comment:

  1. Hi it sounds like your all doing great. I bet your feeling more human again after stopping breastfeed and getting more sleep. It's lovely to hear how it goes for you. X