The Friday Song Choice

Getting on with being a family

Seriously trying to think of a better title to this post but that is the best way to describe what I have been doing with our little family life for the past few months....just getting on with being a family.

I vaguely remember now the days when my son had to have three naps a day...2 hours in the morning, 2 hours in the afternoon and then about 30 to 45 minutes in the evening. One day he just did not have the evening nap and I guess that is how it all started. You see at nursery at first they were lucky to even get him to sleep the desired times at all. Now he does sleep, how long who knows...the big thing is...I'm actually not that bothered...I'm working so I can't...BUT I am not bothered at home either. You see if I decide to go out at the weekend my little man decides that there is just too much going on and sleep is relatively unimportant and I have lost the motivation to fight him or worry about it. On Christmas day he slept 3 hours at lunchtime and like hell if I was going to wake him up!

I vaguely remember fighting with my son to drink the required amount of milk each day. Then the fight to get him not just to drink milk but to eat at each meal time as well. All I was doing was trying to feed my son. So maybe these thoughts are actually not that vague. Now I am not sure how much milk he is drinking but I am pretty sure it is not the required amount. He eats now though and he actually eats relatively well. So what if at a few meal times the computer gets whipped out and we watch some regular Italian children songs to get him through the meal. These days it's whatever trick works best.

I am too busy to worry about what he should be doing because I am just enjoying all the new things he is doing. Crawling like a busy bee and getting into everything he shouldn't. We have a tooth and two others are soon to join it! We are standing up whenever we can. We are clapping our hands and dancing to the music. We are smiling, laughing, babbling our way into the New Year. We are too busy to worry cause we are just busy getting on with being a family.

Seek and Destroy

So they say that part of my son's development is about learning to stack things, put them into containers, building blocks for building towers are to be, according to my hubby's book "The new father, a dad's guide to the first year" by Armin A Brott (not a plug by the way but it's actually a good book and the only one WE are still reading), the building blocks to development. He now has all the toys, the stacking cups....the rings....and the blocks. The only thing my son is interested in though is taking it apart, knocking it all down...he seeks and he destroys.

Who me?

First Christmas

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The Friday Song Choice

Saturday is Caption Day

Yes you know the score. Look at the photo, go oh my goodness he is sooooo cute (looks like his dad) but don't get too distracted cause then you have to think of a caption.

Now go and join in some more easy peasy fun over at mammasaurus!

The Friday Song Choice.

Don't need to say much....it's Friday!

Mummy at work

I was going to entitle this post excuse me but I have to work as I guess some sort of an apology for the lack of anything on my blog recently. The thing is is that I do have lots of thoughts and want to get lots down but well.....mummy's at work. I guess it takes time for anyone to settle into a new job, accept that the first few weeks you might make some mistakes and then you figure things out get on a roll and before you know it you've been working for a company for a few years...well it usually happens something like that for me anyway. Now though I am a family of three and work life balance has become hellishly complicated. 

It's not about struggling with the early mornings. 

It's not about fighting over who get's the car. Though I have unfortunately found out that without car my job is close to impossible to carry out.

It's not about being overwhelmed with work after only 6 weeks on the job.

It is a little bit about having to work late most nights and sometimes having to tell work I'm sorry I can't because I have to go pick up my son. Hubby will soon be more flexible with his time though so that will make that part a little bit easier.

It's a lot about missing my son and all the lovely time we used to spend together. He loves nursery as well so I don't really have that guilt. I actually don't feel guilty about working because it's good for me and keeps me sane. What is the saying? The grass is always greener on the other side. 

The birth of my baby boy

So I have finally have an excuse to once again tell my son's birth story thanks to the wonderful actually mummy.  Whether it's a worthy read or not I'm not really sure after reading some others but whichever way you look at it it was a special and well rather unexpected day for me. 

Unexpected..... You see it was exactly two weeks before my due date when we thought we best go and collect the pram from the store. We had to rent a car to do that because we did not have one at the time. The plan I am now very surprised to say was to get a taxi to the hospital once I started having contractions. So on the morning of Saturday the 19th of February we headed out in the morning to collect the pram and then thought why not use this opportunity of having the car to head out and do some fun shopping for baby. After having a not so fabulous lunch out when I had funny feelings in my tummy I figured it was the food. The feeling wouldn't go away though all afternoon and felt like mild cramping. I shrugged the shoulders and said to hubby must be Braxton Hicks or something. My husband recollects me buying some book in ASDA and rocking from side to side while I was waiting to pay.

At home.......well things seemed to stop for a bit but really only for a bit. I was able to stand up and rock myself through the pain. I had a bath and took some paracetamol and tried to lie down. I was trying to be so nonchalant and even hubby was not overly concerned as he watched football and chatted to a friend. They were to go skiing the next day and he said to his friend that he would have to wait till the morning to confirm definitely as I was not "feeling well". We kept asking each other if we should phone the hospital but kept saying lets give it just one more hour. By that night I said maybe "something" was happening and we should time them...it was pretty regular only 2 minutes apart. At midnight we finally phoned. I explained that I thought "something" was happening and when I explained that "something" the midwife said it sounded like contractions but as I appeared to be managing at home to give it another hour. I had to admit that I thought it would be a lot more dramatic and a lot more painful. So much for knowing what a contraction feels like!

Half an hour later....my waters break. Now I finally understood the pain they talk about. Weren't we lucky to be able to jump in a car and head to the hospital. I was doubling over in the car begging hubby to drive faster. At the hospital I was 6cm dilated. The midwife commented that the contractions were obviously coming hard and fast. I could not stand, I could not sit, and I was oblivious to offers of gas and air.

Into the water........I sank happily finally being able to float and move about freely. It's funny it was only at arrival at the hospital that I finally decided to have a water birth and it was probably the best decision I ever made. I am sure on TV I have seen the midwife telling the mothers to push? So after a bit I finally admitted I felt like pushing and was surprised when she said just do what your body tells you. That is what I did for the next 2 hours. There was a lot of screaming and a lot of I can't do this. Hubby then whispered he could see the head. That was it really I was determined that this was my last push and my boy was coming out.

Hello Baby! I have to be honest my first thought was he looks just like his dad and I was so busy admiring him I had to be reminded to pick him up! Ooops. Now I can't let him go.

If you make it to the end of this one head on over to Actually Mummy for some other great reads.

Saturday is Caption Day

Yeah I'm beginning to love Saturdays: If anything just to get to trawl through the pics of my son while endeavouring to find one that could come up with some interesting captions. So go on then give this one a go...what does this photo say to you? Leave a caption in the comments below.

Now go an join in some more mammasaurus fun! You know you want to really.

The Friday Song Choice

Ok seriously I don't have time to blog in the am anymore so this song choice is turning into late night renditions. So I arrived home this evening dreaming of going of my 3 pint quota tonight. Yes I was planning to be a bit of a drunkard tonight. Seriously this is the first weekend since summer since we have had babysitters...yes the in-laws are still here. Guess what?? Baby is sporting a fever. Remember the forever cold...well it's still here. So I am not quite sure whether to post an uplifting song cause it's been a tough week and it's Friday however you look at it. Or a sad song cause I can't go and explore my local....how about just something to sing rather loudly to!

Mummy standards

There has been a lot happening in the parenting blogsphere recently. I never realised actually how tough the blogsphere could be until I peaked into this parenting blogsphere world. At first I thought it was just about the creative writing standards but it's not just how you write but what you write as well. It's hard for me considering I have never really thought about the judgements people might make about what I have written. I don't spend much time researching a topic before I run full speed ahead into commenting about how I feel about it. So I was a bit nervous when SAHDANDPROUD wrote this because I am soooooo one-dimensional and my grammar sucks and I don't often spell check. So please stop reading if you are expecting more (PS this is a plug for the great blog SAHDANDPROUD and I really hope he does not mind me mentioning him because there are probably rules about it which I have just broken). That though is actually the lighthearted bit because you see it seems people can actually judge my parenting standards on here! You see I know I'm not perfect and that means I can never be a perfect mummy. That is something which is actually kind of hard to accept and made the first few months with my son very overwhelming. You always think it's when you don't have enough love for someone that makes a relationship difficult but what if you just have too much of it that you are so scared to damage it. I have certain standards that I hope to achieve with my son...routines, good behaviour, being healthy, getting an education. Sometimes you become your own worst enemy with the guilt you lay on yourself when something goes wrong in achieving these standards that...well...you don't need someone else to point it out to you. I have lots of mummy standards and I can only hope that I can eventually achieve them...my son will hopefully have even higher standards than me.

THIS IS IN DEDICATION TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF MAMMASAURUS.

Baby at work....

My son has always seemed to be busy doing something. The legs always seemed to be kicking for some reason. So when he started to roll I knew I was in for trouble. Now we are trying to crawl, rather unsuccessfully really, when the knees come up he ends up eating carpet and if he gets his arms straight his knees buckle, bless him. He somehow still manages to get from one side of the room to the other mind you so that is some success. When you sit beside him it does not take him too long to start grabbing at your clothes or reaching for your hands looking for you to help him stand. I mean I try and get him to sit down and he purposefully straightens his legs and back refusing to bend...he thinks he's being funny. Then of course it appears to be exciting to reach for anything that he is not supposed to be reaching for to play with. At first it's funny and you laugh then your baby proofing! 

Anyway here is my baby hard at work (and I know what's that you say...brinabird doing video!)

Saturday is Caption Day

I'm already half way through my Saturday and just getting this post up! But I'm entertaining the in-laws without hubby...eek! Anyway I figure you all know the drill...what's this photo saying to you? Go on give it a caption you know you want to.........

Now go and join in some more mammasaurus fun! She's a great mum no matter what the ugly trolls say!

The Friday Song Choice

HA! Friday is nearly over you say. Well I have literally just got in from work and only just managed to give my son a kiss goodnight. It's hard and I'll admit the first time it happened I cried. It was lots of tears...so many that my husband thought something serious had happened. Well it had...for me anyway. So I'm puzzling what song could really encompass how I'm feeling and well the song of choice is different than past. Maybe not what many would choose for a Friday night but anyway...

Happy Halloween!

My son was actually very lucky he had a costume to wear. We were sent a note from nursery that they were having a party and it would be nice if he could dress up. You mean I need to go out and buy a costume that my son is only going to wear once AND he does not understand what is happening...Damn Right! Many thanks to Zia Silvia who had given us this body suit when my son was just 'The Bean' because she is just cool like that and figures her nipote needs to be too. Who am I to argue with such logic. Anyway you don't need to read my useless ramblings, here is a picture of my wee man....

Are you scared????

Baby flu

So I am starting to forget when my son was actually not suffering from the flu, bug, virus or whatever you want to label it. 

I am not a worrisome sort of mum , okay scratch that in the first 3 months of his life that is probably all I did about certain things (but that's a different story), so when he got his first cold I figured we would just ride the storm. We were only taking a plane two days later but my son the trooper did not let it bother him. The boy flies better than me thank goodness. Anyway a week later and it was gone. It must have been the sunshine in Italy!!! 

You see it must be at least 4 weeks ago now the tell tale dry cough started. I remember saying to hubby I bet you this is a cold. Okay it did not help that I was just getting over one and well seeing the amount of time we spend with each it was kind of inevitable that I would share my germs...ooops. It started it's life as a simple cold, the usually sneezes and stuffy nose. I thought like previously a week later and it would go away. Who am I kidding? This is Scotland now. One day he woke up from an afternoon nap and the coughing and spluttering got mum on high alert. Seriously it so didn't sound right to me that I actually called the doctor there and then. Never mind that by the time I spoke to the doctor said cough disappeared and my son was singing in the background. Yeah I know what he was thinking, another worrisome mother wasting my valuable time but bless him he was really nice about it all.  The cough though actually never went away and my poor wee man sounded horrible. Hi ho hi ho it's off to the doctor we really go...Why??? They said what I knew they would say, he'll get over it. Then said cough was suddenly accompanied by gagging and puke...lots and lots of puke cause once my son started well like a can a Pringles once you pop....After day two of the hurling we thought maybe we were justified to see the doctor then....Why??? They said what I knew they would say, he'll get over it.

4 weeks later and he has not got over it. My sister is a paediatrician and I won't tell you the advice she gave us but thankfully it seems to be working. I understand the reluctance of doctors to hand out medicine for wee babies, I'm a social worker and a mum after all. I still have not gotten over the fact that the Anderson's teething powder is in limited supply because it is actually used by drug users. Anyway, at least the coughing and puke have pretty much stopped anyway. Now it's just a lot of green gunk making it's way out of his system. I've been tempted to take a picture for this post but thought I would spare you.  You know as well that my son goes to nursery right...this is probably not the last we will see of the dreaded Baby Flu.

My other half

Seriously that is what I used to call him...but now he is better known as hubby and most recently daddy. Actually in all honesty I call him daddy now even when my son is happily tucked up in bed and fast asleep dreaming. Talk about labelling someone!!! The positive though is that it does show just how much I need him to make my little family work. Since the beginning he has been my rock and he has kept me sane. Just in case you are wondering the beginning started a long time before we had our son. He is possibly one of the few people in the world that accepts me for who I am. Believe I am not the easiest of persons to get to know much less to get along with so he deserves a gold medal just for that. So it's a bonus that he is a great dad too. He was in it from my son was the bean in my tummy. In the beginning he was happy to humour me and care for my son my way (or at least he made me think that anyway) but nowadays he asks what he is supposed to do but does it his way anyway. It's great to be able to relax as I know my son has this great role model as he learns to become a toddler, boy and man in this great big bad world of ours. Gosh it's not father's day and it's not his birthday, it's just one of those days where I really value my other half.

Saturday is caption day

Yes it's that time again for some simple Saturday fun. Just think of a caption for the photo below. Happy Saturday!

Now go and have some more fun over at mammasaurus..

The Friday Song Choice

I seriously can't believe it's friday already. It's been one of those weeks at work already and I'm just starting this job. Hubby has been listening to this great CD compilation "Getting Soulful" and this one is certainly a favourite and definitely getting me into that Friday feeling. Bring on the weekend!

Mornings, Evenings and Weekends

To put it short and sweet, mornings, evenings and weekends are now the times that matter so much to me as I have been back to work....ooooooh....for all of a week and half. The first morning was probably the hardest as you can't figure out in your head how you are going to get everything you usually get done as well as get yourself ready for work and out the door in time. As hubby and I have worked out how to play tag team this aspect has certainly gotten easier. I am trying not to think too hard about the days when he has to travel for conferences ect. I can always go to work a bit smelly or maybe come down with a really bad flu! 

Work has thankfully gotten pretty busy pretty quick so I have not really spent a lot of time clock watching wondering what he is getting himself up to at nursery. I do notice very quickly though when the clock hits 5 and I am out of the door like a shot. The first day I literally ran home to spend time with my son. I am not looking forward to those days when I know I am going to have to go in early and work late. I know with my job as well that it is only a matter of course before this starts happening. God bless flexi days!!! 

Our first weekend...well that just went by too quickly. Before I knew it Monday was knocking on my door. 

My son is possibly tired now of all the extra hugs and kisses and constant reminders that "mummy loves you very much". Never mind that he has really settled well into nursery and he probably has more fun there than he does at home. I'm sorry I'm just not ready to do painting with a 7 month old. Thank goodness he is at least happy to see me or hubby when we go to pick him up. When he comes home he is absolutely shattered! Then mummy is like no it's time to play some more? 

That's what happens when mornings, evening and weekends matter so much. 

To blog or not to blog?

Yes that is the question. Recently I joined the netmums blogger network and got a badge. Then I started following some parent blogs. Then I found out about britmums and well as you do I joined up. I started not only following blogs of interest but left comments too. I even joined in a meme!!! You see they say that is way to get people to find out about your blog and if your lucky they might start following you (hmmm that's yet to happen). I did at least start getting more traffic though. I finally found out what SEO meant, learnt that people where going to conferences and even getting awards. Everyone was writing to get noticed. I have talked about the pressure that put on me already. Blogging is not supposed to be about pressure though is it? You see I notice now that a lot of the blogs I enjoy reading suddenly start doing reviews of all the fancy products they get for free in the mail and tell me about how good it is...yeah I know...this review is in no way influenced by the marketer. That's the power of blogs these days, it's great for advertising. Then you get memes, linky's or whatever you want to call them. I could probably find one for everyday of the week and never have to write a personal post that I thought of myself again.  I started to follow a lot of new blogs and it's amazing how very quickly they all follow this vain of advertising, linking, facebooking, twittering all in the name of getting noticed but unfotunately for me I personally feel they lose out. Their voices drift as blogging seems to become a job and a way of living....professional. It can be to the point where followers get hooked, begging for more. Readers can actually become quite demanding with expectations of what you are going to tell them and maybe deservedly so cause we bloggers put them there.

I started back work this week and well I just never really could find the time to blog. Actually I probably could but somehow just did not feel compelled. You see I found myself racing home to spend time with my son as time suddenly became this valuable commodity. Friday came and I knew I should be putting on my Friday song choice...but that was just it...the only song that came to my head that morning was about a little green frog that went hmmm hmmm as I stuck out my tongue and made my son laugh. Saturday I usually find a funny picture of my son to post so others can think up a caption but instead I just wanted to live those funny pictures and not worry about what others thought of them. 

To blog or not to blog? yeah I will be honest I want to blog and I do want others to read it. I have little moments where I have thoughts that I want to get down and share. It's a release and it feels good to express myself. I'm just going to do it differently now. So it may not be everyday, once a week or once a month as recommended to keep my readers (who are very limited anyway) enthralled and happy. It will be just enough to make me happy and maybe embarrass my son for when he is older.

How do you do family?

So as I start back work hubby makes the comment "So now we are the typical family, you know mum and dad work and the child goes to school", then he thought about it and said "Well not that we would not be typical if you weren't working but you know what I mean". Is there a typical family? How do you do family? Am I brave enough to consider such a topic that is open to heated political debate? I actually have an essay about this somewhere and was tempted to get it out and reread it...BUT...somehow I resisted. Thankfully I will not get graded on this blog post. 

We all know the mum and dad and 2.5 kids scenario does exist...defined as the nuclear family if we want to be technical...but it is certainly not THE definition of family any more. I mean you have single parent families, extended families, step families, fostered and adopted families (add others here as you think of them). Yet it's not just the structure that's changed but it's the assumptions of how we should "do" family as well. Decisions like who works and who stays at home? Parents managing with health problems, alcohol or drink problems, parents with disabilities or taking care of a child with disabilities. So many parents are out there fighting for the support they need to make their families work that it's constantly changing. Never mind personal values, ethics and beliefs and your own history based on the way you were raised.

We are a small family, mum, dad and son. Our extended family of grandparents and aunties live far away, so though a supportive network, we tend to rely on each other as a couple to get our family to work. We e-mail and we skype and to stay connected with our family. I have many homes and we hope to be able to travel as much as possible to visit them. We hope to be a bilingual family. I could not afford to stay at home really if we want to buy that dream house and give our son everything he needs (or should I say what we think he needs). He had to go to nursery cause there is no one else for babysitting duties. That's the simple version of how we do family. Ever thought about how you do family?

Saturday is Caption Day

Can you think of a caption for the photo below? Then go and have some more fun over at mammasaurus. Happy Saturday!

The Friday Song Choice

Okay so after a week of rain here in Glasgow, I wake up to glorious sunshine this morning. I need some positivity as I start work on Monday and my wee man heads to nursery. He has actually settled in really well and possibly enjoys it more than being stuck all day with his mother :(

Slap me...I'm a mum!

Before you say it, no, it's not because sometimes I forget. It's just that sometimes I forget the weight of it. Remember I went clubbing on Saturday? Well while I was out I could not help but think what would my son think if he saw me now. What a way the tables have turned? It really was not that long ago when I was thinking what MY mum and dad would be thinking.

All my friends AND my husbands friends are all doing it...having kids. We are all at different stages some with toddlers and some with newborns and one just born on Saturday. Conversation is inevitably at some point about our children and how they are getting on. I slowly made it through the fog of the first six weeks and the baby blues. I slowly got over the guilt of stopping to breastfeed after 2 months (ok, maybe I still have niggly guilty feelings every now and again). I slowly got into a routine with my son, recognising when he's hungry or when he's just tired. I felt comfortable and confident going out and about with him and we survived our first plane journey together. Sometimes you feel so confident you start offering friends advice based on "experience". Not that it's all plain sailing. I'm going back to work, my son is starting nursery and he does not want to sleep there or take his milk from strangers and so we find ourselves rehashing our routine again.

Then it hits me, usually when I am just about to go to sleep. I have a son. I have responsibility. He could want to be anything when he grows up and I can affect that. My sister told me a great philosophy...choose your battles...so she let her son pierce his ear and dye his hair blonde. Then hubby says to me but what if they feel then that they are not rebelling and do something even more extravagant. Do children really think that way? So all you seasoned mums out there, if you hear me saying something silly or well just downright stupid, slap me! or maybe just a nice gentle slap on the back.

How personal are you willing to get?

So with blogging nowadays not only do you get pictures but you even get video...vlogging. Seeing who is behind the words, you don't just get to imagine any more how they are expressing themselves, their tone of voice but you get to see it all and hear it for yourself. Hubby is not a huge fan of the whole social networking business and is a bit weary now of how much about our son I actually post. I was starting to cross his line when I started posting pictures of our son. "It's private, our business and the only people we need to be sharing video's with is the grandparents." You see though I am socially connected to so many people in so many different ways that when I think about it sometimes, it's kind of scary. Why exhibit so much of your life to an on line community of people, some and most of whom you are probably never likely to meet. The online community of parents from websites with forums to bloggers is vast. So big that some turn it into a successful business and sometimes so powerful they are able to fight for change. It's a trusting community as well and it appears to have a hidden rule that no body is going to cross any lines and abuse the system and you don't need to be police checked. Why are we so trusting? We are not just putting ourselves out there but our families as well.

This blog has always been personal to me and about me AND unlike most out there it's not about stats and readership and who's following but just a way to finally get my thoughts out of my head...so...you know....they can stop plaguing me. Okay recently I got two new followers and a tad bit excited...I lie...Woohoo...welcome. I even insisted I was not going to talk about my pregnancy and my son! Then I realised most of my thoughts just happened to revolve around those topics so that was a bit nonsensical. Before you know it I am reading 101 other parent blogs, commenting on their stories, maybe even secretly trying to gain friends and "hangs head in shame" maybe a few more followers....

Everything you read now is ALL about how to get more people reading and interested in your blog and that seems to mean getting more personal. The pressure on me is mounting...edit...delete...edit...delete...this in no way compares to what others are writing...you mean you can get awards!!!...edit....delete. A horrible spiral that will see me possibly dwindle into oblivion.  So I don't compare and just try and get the damn thoughts down QUICKLY as they always sound better in my head. It's a blog, of course it's personal and yes I'm happily posting pictures...but I don't know if I am ready to show you my life on video just yet...there lots of things about me I probably won't share. If it isolates me that's just a chance I have to take because that is as personal as I'm willing to get.

I'll never be a yummy mummy

So I snuck out of the house on Saturday night and went clubbing with some girlfriends. To be honest me going clubbing was rare even before I had my son. We are more go to dinner, concerts or go to specific 'themed' nights out that played music my husband is willing to listen to. Yet whenever I have been out I have never felt as old as I did on Saturday night. The young girls primping in the bathroom was amazing to watch, I was in awe as I quickly wiped away some sweat and reapplied some lip gloss. I then quickly ran out in a fog of hairspray.

You see not only am I not a seasoned clubber I am also more of a jeans and t-shirt kind of gal. I was given strict instructions to wear a dress and high heels on Saturday night cause well my friends just know what I am like. Having my son became a perfect excuse not to have to worry about my sense of style even less. In the first few weeks I loved living in my pyjamas. I took a shower and then put my pyjamas back on again! Then I go out and notice these mums still with all this make up on, all prim and proper...when did they find time to do that? 

Yet as the months go by the excuses are kind of starting to dwindle. Now that I go back to work I will maybe even have some extra dosh to spend a little on myself as well. I mean I want my son to think you know that I'm pretty. Something tells me though I'll never be a yummy mummy.

Saturday is Caption Day

Nice simple mammasaurus fun for a Saturday. What does the photo below say to you? Think of a caption and let me know in the comments below.

Now go and have some more fun by checking out some others! Happy Saturday!

The Friday Song Choice

Nothing better than belting this song out on a Friday morning...

The evil eye

So since becoming a mum I appear to have perfected the evil eye. You know when you glare intently and rather angrily at a stranger or heck maybe even someone you know. You see I have certain expectations of other people when I am out and about with my son and if these expectations are not lived up to well I give them the evil eye. I am not a big fan of shopping on Saturday's as you have to manoeuvre through a pedestrian traffic jam. The thing is I thought that pushing a stroller/pram/buggy gave you the right of way...obviously I am the only one who read that part of the highway code! Most buildings have stairs, escalators or lifts (I say most because I am yet to find a flat that we like where we don't have to combat stairs to go out or come home) and you should only use the lifts when you need to and NOT just for convenience so I have to join a cue...obviously a rule I only abide by. I won't talk about taking public transport. I worked with children with disabilities so I was half prepared and at least never had any expectations there....Wow! It feels very sad to write that. It has reached the point that if someone offers to do something for me I am rather dumbfounded and something else I have perfected...stare at them in bewilderment...Are you sure you want to help us?

So when would be a good day?

I'm a practising Catholic and so is my husband so my son has been christened into the Catholic faith. We go to Church pretty much every Sunday...we have missed the odd week and lots of times we have not had a good excuse! I enjoy going to Church, it makes me feel uplifted at the end....and it's the only place I can sing freely with only my husband covering his ears. At the minute it's hard to stay too focused on the homily with a squirming 7 month old and we do the usual hide at the back and will probably doing that for a few years to come. If I have a problem I usually turn to God and if I have family friends who have a problem I usually turn to Him again. I can be bad and forget some days not to pray because I don't have a problem but now with my son I seem to say "Dear Lord...." everyday anyway. I enjoy being a Catholic and am not afraid to admit being a Catholic and my confidence in there being a God who looks over and protects my family. You see though unless you asked me it's probably not something I would mention. I don't try and 'sell' my religion to others and may not be that good about arguing for my faith. It's always been my personal thing.

Yesterday a young man stopped me. He did not have to say anything. His beige trousers and white shirt gave him away immediately....a Seventh Day adventist. He only asked for a moment of my time and I immediately brushed him off and said "Not today sorry". His response "So when would be a good day?". I just kind of mumbled and kept walking. When I think about how it irks me to see what some of the youth of today get up to why could I not give 5 minutes to a young man that just wanted to talk to me about God. So he is of a different faith, I could have easily explained we are practising Catholics and are happy. 

I don't want my son to feel forced into believing anything. Yet I honestly want him to learn some good values which I think you can learn from religion even if he chooses not to take it too seriously. So when would be a good day? I think I should have said everyday...not just for Sundays.

Big Ears, Little Ears with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra

Music is big in our household. It's not just a hobby or pastime for my husband it's a passion that can cheer him up when he's down! His CD and record collection is rather extensive and the range of music on offer is from punk to reggae to classical. My son has been listening to music since he has been in my belly, and no not just in an effort to make him smarter but we really hope he learns an appreciation for music. So our belief is that the earlier we introduce him to it the better. So how excited were we to hear that the Scottish Chamber Orchestra where doing a special concert for babies and children! What's that you say? Mummy and Daddy can enjoy it as well.

It was held at St Andrew in the Square today in Glasgow. At a baby friendly time of 11am. Everything was set up to make parents, babies and toddlers feel welcome and comfortable. There was buggy parking, baby changing and room for manoeuvring. Yet it was not your typical baby sensory, bounce and rhyme time. Even though it was child friendly it was children being able to experience a proper classical concert just well with...you know...added noise. The conductor, Howard Moody, was actually enthused by the noise, it certainly did not deter him from explaining each piece as he tried to "connect" with his audience. 

Whether my son "enjoyed" it is debatable. He did not cry and he was certainly busy observing everything that was going on. For us as parents though it was definitely a great step in building his musical repertoire even if it was more subliminal than in your face action songs or my son's favourite Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Big Ears Little Ears, BBC News Report

Saturday is caption day

Here we are in our second week of taking part in some mammasaurus fun. It's a simple idea for a Saturday. Just think of a caption for the photo below and add it to the comments. Happy Saturday!

If you enjoyed this go and check out some others....

The Friday Song Choice

Okay here we go...my wee man is starting his settling in at nursery today....breathe mummy....BREATHE!

The next size up

Every time I look at my son's clothes for the next size up I always can't help but think to myself  "He will never fit into that!" When he was born he was a whopping....wait for it....7lbs...okay when I was pushing he could have been 10lbs for all I knew! All the 0-3 months clothes just did not fit and out ran daddy to buy some of the much smaller newborn stuff. I guess that is where it all began where I just keep thinking he is usually about a month behind in clothes size. I don't know though if it is just because we spent the most of his 6 month on holiday in Italy but the 3-6 months stage just seemed to pass by real quick and all of a sudden his clothes just were not fitting and here we are already at the 6-9 months stage. It was so hot in Italy that he lived in onsies that he barely even got to sport all the cute t-shirts and shorts that I got him and well let us not talk about the Scottish summer. Thank goodness for all those smart relatives and friends who wisely bought him bigger clothes as presents otherwise he would have had nothing to wear. Of course as a mum you get wiser as well and try to resist the temptation of "oh that outfit would be so cute" when you know he will probably only wear it once. I have learnt to love sales and even better second hand. Now I know why so many younger siblings have suffered over the years of being stuck with your brothers and sisters hand me downs. Babies just grow too fast. 

Back to work shades of grey

So it's official, I will be a working mum in the next 3 weeks. I am now seriously experiencing back to work shades of grey. You see I am not really feeling blue or am I really feeling a red, orangey, yellow colour. I want to go back to work and for my sanity I probably need to as well.  Stay at home mums...I salute you! The thing is though I am great at saying I want some mummy time but when it's offered I immediately think of a reason why it's probably better if I stay with my son. At the minute I am only really comfortable leaving him when I know that he is tucked up safely in bed. Now I have to leave him for the WHOLE day. Yes I am not just going back to work part time either...full time 9 to 5. That is what I hope as well cause I have just got a position in social work so the likelihood of having to do overtime is very well likely! It does not help that for various reasons I have been out of work for a year. So I am not exactly going back to a job that I know everything about. This is my FIRST social work job....eek! Then this is the cherry on top...it's in a field of social work that I have NO experience in. At the minute I don't even have time to feel the guilt cause I am seriously feeling the nerves. 

I'm not feeling sad and I'm not feeling happy more like inbetween.

Poo monster!

My son might not be too happy that I am sharing this part of his life with you but with the good comes the bad and the ugly.Yes I have bred a poo monster.  I have not done it intentionally and guess it's all part and parcel of being a baby. Yet someone seriously needs to explain to me how someone so small can produce so much poo! Since we have started weaning it's been amazing. We get at least 4 or 5 dirty nappies a day. The health visitor asked me recently about his poo, you know how often, colour ect? and I just laughed. Well it depends on what he ate I said. She just said ok that's all I need to know. Maybe that's all you need to know and probably want to know as well. 

He'still cute anyway..........

Saturday is Caption Day

So I am braving the more public blog world and attempting to take part in some mammasaurus fun. The idea is rather simple for a Saturday...post a photo and readers can come up with a caption using the comments space below.  

So can you think of a caption for this photo. Happy Saturday!

Friday song choice

Friday has a way of creeping up on me and worse when you have been stuck in bed all day with the cold...hence it is rather late in the day when I realise damn I have neglected to post my Friday song choice. This is a special song choice today. You see my mother said to me the other day that she hopes I am planning to teach my son about Jamaica as "He needs to know about where he comes from!". Of course her close friend's daughter lives in Canada and is teaching her little girls all about Jamaica and they know that it is a small island in the Caribbean sea. Chat bout! Of course I am going to teach my son something about Jamaica. I tried to look about Jamaican children songs but did not get very far with that for some. Then I remembered this song as a part of my childhood...I had to dance to it when I was in prep school for the Christmas Concert even...and who better to sing it that Miss Lou. So here you go...

Look ma no hands

Ok so maybe the title would be more suitable to when my son starts walking but hey ho I could not think of anything catchier and as this blog is about me and my son I just had to boast about his latest achievement.

Yes that is it we are finally sitting up, unaided for several minutes. We still get the occasional topple backward, sideways, forwards mind you so we have to watch him, but I can actually get up walk away and take a picture and he is still there. It seems as soon as my son turned 6 months it was suddenly the excuse he needed to start doing everything or maybe in the good old child development world that is when most things start happening anyway. 

Now that I have boasted I must say that he is not all that concerned about it. We went back to swimming classes today and as usual he was the 'baby', I mean youngest. He was very observant of all these crawling and walking babies and I have a feeling that is what he is more keen on accomplishing! I don't know how keen mummy is about that one.

Stop... quality time

Recently a very close friend lost her precious son who was born prematurely. I have yet to try to begin to feel or understand what she must be going through. He was a twin and now all energy is being pushed to get her to focus on her little girl who is thankfully and we pray who will continually keep growing stronger.  It made me hold my son very close all day the day I heard. I tried to smile and feel happiness all day as my son is a sensitive wee soul and picks up rather quickly on my emotions. Inside I was crying. It was one of those days when I really felt far away from "home". 

These days my son is always on the move...rolling onto his front, then back onto his back and again onto his front to the point where I am now seriously considering installing some soft play mats against the wall to stop the inevitable head butt which is bound to happen. Then this evening we had a moment...he stopped. He lay on my lap with his feet in the air happily singing to himself enjoying my kisses and cuddles. No trying to wiggle away which inevitably usually happens these days. Hubby put on some classical music and went to make the tea. I started blowing some bubbles for my son and for some reason today he became extra transfixed and sat close with mummy watching them float into the air. 

After recently spending many weeks with the grandparents and relishing the now rare occasion to spend time alone with hubby it's been a while since it's been just me and my son. I know he is going to grow fast (he already is) and now more than ever I understand the need to stop....and enjoy quality time.

The Friday Song Choice

Sometimes you don't realise how lucky you are. I am not sure if this song actually expresses what I feel today as a very close friend of mine received some horribly sad news last night. In my sadness I thought of this song a special favourite of mine.

It's not a small world after all

So my son got a new toy while we are here in Italy and when you pull the string it plays the tune It's a small world after all. He loves it...mummy not so much though as the music lasts all of two seconds and you have to pull the string again before my son starts giving me dirty looks. The theme of said song is given away in the title that we have so much in common we must recognise that it's a small a world after all. I really used to be a true believer in such a statement...until I had a child....after two seconds the world don't seem so small any more. 

I try my best not to become frustrated at the different beliefs, ideas, morals, ethics about how to raise my son. My son has a very multicultural background with a Jamaican mum and an Italian father which only makes matters more difficult when it comes to recieving 'advice'. Here in Italy women faithfully follow what their pedeatricians tell them (which in itself can be different advice when you speak to the different mums) while in the UK women blatantly lie in the face of the health visitor (again offering different advice when you speak with different mums) while they carry on doing their own things. They don't have Gina Ford or Annabel Karmel in Italy and Jamaica. My sister is a pedeatrician and often scoffs at the advice I have been given in the UK, tells me to worry less about their rules and just do something else completely different. 

When my son decides to do things differently I am told every baby is different. In the end he depends so much on me but I have to put a lot of trust in him that he will show me some of the way.

The hills are alive

with the sound of rivers and waterfalls, cow bells and chicadas...oh yeah and my son. 

We made it safely to Italy for our first family holiday with the Nonni. It officially became a vacation for hubby and I as well when we were treated to a few lovely days in the mountians. We stayed in a town called Pinzolo and enjoyed lovely visits to Val di Genova to see the waterfalls, taking the trenino to Malga Ritort and to Val Nambrone to see the lovely springs.

In 6 months

It's sometimes hard to think how much has happened in the last 6 months. I was thinking of using the word changed but even though I think that that part is obvious the use of the word change seems to be rather controversial for some. I don't know if it's because they don't want to admit it or if it's because they still do many of the same things they did before but fail to see that doing it with a baby obviously makes it a different experience...or maybe it's just me. Yes I will freely admit my life has changed and I have changed and even my relationship with hubby has changed (or at least a lot of our conversations have!).

I have changed a lot of nappies, soothed a lot of crying, had A LOT of sleepless nights and well that was only the first six weeks. I started to have to organise my life around his....when he naps as he won't just nap anywhere anymore and if it's too noisy I am snookered.....or when he has to eat and now we have started weaning it's like he is always eating! I hate the word routine but somehow my son seems to have naturally fallen into one...go figure...and he can be ever so miserable if we decide to break it. I have learnt new children's songs and nursery rhymes and find myself humming them in the shower. I am learning where all the family restaurants areand suddenly find myself looking around to see if my crying baby is disturbing anyone. I crave adult conversation and when I find it all I talk about is my son!

I have though got a lot of giggles and smiles and there are some that are just especially for me. I have got to watch him grow and get heavier in my arms each day. I have watched him learn to do new things. I have learned new responsibilities as someone so small puts their complete trust in me. I have experienced new feelings of complete joy and happiness. I feel...wait for it it's a bit mushy....truly blessed.

Happy half birthday to my beautiful boy.

The Friday Song Choice

Rolling, rolling, rolling

Ok so it started with the foot fascination. All of a sudden my son decided it was more fun to play with toys with his feet than with his hands. If you tried to sit him up his head would drop as he looked for his feet. When lying down the feet would end up in the air and inevitably he would have his sock in his mouth. He would roll to the side but go no further. That was him happy for the next few days.

Then one day...the day I leave him for a second on his play mat while I go to the kitchen and hubby is busy on his computer....he turns over. "Did you put him on his tummy?" I asked daddy..."Nope". Well that is the beginning of the end of this story as every time he is on his play mat he pretty much ends up on his stomach. Typical of my son to learn how to do it the harder way first and now ends up on his tummy and does not really no quite what to do with himself. Of course we were really excited at first and I have tried for hours to film him doing it but as usual it's like he knows the camera is on him so he stops. 

Now though it's hit us slap bang in the face...he is on the move...time to start baby proofing!

"Supermum"

I don't want to be just a woman any more and I don't just want to be a mum any more...I want to be "Supermum"! I don't want any old boring powers either!

Certain physical powers would be useful like having more than just two hands to help with all the multi tasking I have to do. I also live on the second floor of my building which does not have a lift and just stairs everywhere you look! Then of course eyes in the back of my head so I am always able to know what my son is doing. Also the ability to be two places at once so when I am desperate to pee I don't have to be shouting to my crying son that "Mummy is still here honey, stop crying, it's okay" (he's been a bit like that lately, not wanting me to leave the room).

Then we have the more serious powers that I am interested in..........

The power to be patient....my son is nearly 6 months and I can see the cheeky and stubborn side already, or as my aunt says "I can see he has got character." I am already fighting with him to drink his milk (I am really starting to hate guidelines now which say how much, when and for how long...because if baby does not want to do it how exactly am I to make him) and trying not to get worried or the worst feeling frustrated. 

The power of understanding......to know what is exactly right for my son...having just reserved a place for my son at nursery I am petrified that it is not the right one. As much mother's instinct as I have it's a decision I hated having to make on my own. I know as he grows I am going to have to let him make some decisions for himself...it's knowing which battles to fight and when to give in.

 and then secretly...the power to read his mind......what's going on in there? He is growing and developing so fast that I am sure his mind is working overtime. 

"Supermum" wants to be there to help him figure it all out.

The Friday song choice

Their eyes were watching God

I am rather embarrassed to admit that I have just read this book by Zora Neale Hurston. One can't but help being attracted to a book which is hailed as greatness by some of my favourite authors...Zadie Smith, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker. I never even realised it's greatness to others until I was preparing to write this blog post and was curiously reading what other people had to say. As an American Classic I am maybe a bit on edge to try and give any sort of review other than say to you if you haven't yet...read it! It's one of those classics that should make it's way out of the classroom and into an individual's hand. The use of dialect and metaphors, which some may criticise or find difficult, is what I probably loved the most as I found myself reading certain lines over again just to make sure I got the right meaning. It took me home to Jamaica where the language can get just as colourful and personal to a People. 

It's lyrical, moving and an entertaining story of Janie on a journey of self-discovery, discovering dare I say it true love. As a woman it moved me and I think I may just have to go and read it again.

What is a swede?

Ok so we have now begun the long journey....jumping the big hurdle...that is...we have started weaning my wee man. I know I have started a whole two weeks early before 6 months (even though if you go by weeks we are there) as we are off on holiday next week and I wanted to have established something before we left. Lets just say that I had no idea where to begin really as the most information I got was a rushed 10 minute chat from my health visitor and a small booklet to read as she only had enough change for 20 minutes to park her car (no comment!). Having moved address I have heard nothing of these famed weaning fairs and have not heard a peep from my new health visitor who was supposed to call 2 weeks ago (no comment). I couldn't wing it and decided we needed to follow some sort of plan (flexible plan!) and well Gina Ford is banned from this house so we got the ever famous Annabel Karmel. For no particular reason other than my son would probably not be very good at (though he is probably awfully close) picking up stuff and directing them to his mouth that we have not considered baby led weaning. Saying that that book is in the post as we are interested in learning about the philosophy and we are definitely going to be introducing finger foods and just let him get on with it. I think this is the first thing dealing with my son that I am trying desperately not to stress about. That was until one of Annabel's recipe ingredients was a swede...ok I know I have heard of it but I have never actually eaten it and was not sure what it looked like (I can't believe I have just admitted that!) We have a great Roots and Fruits Organic shop around the corner who were thankfully able to help me out. 'Oh! Yeah a turnip, I was just checking'.

So after that worry aside thankfully my son appears to be rather enjoying all this tasting food stuff. We have even had the occasion where he has taken the spoon out of my hand and decided to try this out for himself. We are making our way through lots of bibs and muslins and most things now have a certain orange tinge from the carrot and sweet potato. We are making do with using his bouncy chair but the high chair can't arrive soon enough. So he is eating better than his mummy and daddy at the moment! Of course he has a sweet tooth and things like apples, pears and bananas seem to just disappear. I actually scarily find myself enjoying this experience of introducing new foods, figuring out what he likes and doesn't, making the purees...and discovering swede aka the turnip.

Vegan Glasgow

So only after a week in our new flat we had visitors! Ok so it was only Alberto's sister and husband and I knew they would not mind a few empty boxes lying about. Anyway they came to Glasgow with a plan...to visit all the Vegan restaurants and do CD shopping. I had nothing better to do so we tagged along (and this if for Aunty Michelle: we did it with my son who usually still sleeps in his pram for his lunch time nap...though this is no longer guaranteed....booooo). Not being vegan or even vegetarian does not put me and hubby off as long as the food itself tastes good.

Our first stop was The 78, a venue which is conveniently situated just around the corner from us which meant it even got a second visit before they left. It's got a nice relaxed atmosphere to it and some outside space if the sun decides to bless us here in Scotland with it's presence. It's a place to go to eat, just have a coffee or beers and music in the evening (they stop serving food at 9 which won't come as a surprise to most UK residents). 

The food itself is good. Hubby and I always go for the veggie burger (I know a bit of a cop out) but his sister was more adventurous with a sandwich and soup which she was pretty happy with. They had a peanut butter cake on our second visit and we all had a slice and we all wolfed that down. It's sisters with Stereo which we have frequented to listen to bands and which does some pretty good tapas. It's slap bam in the city centre down what could be described as what looks like a dingy lane from afar or maybe even close up. The space here to eat is a bit cramped and not as comfortable and it does tend to be quite busy.

 Our second stop was Heavenly again slap bam in the city centre (and only just checking out the website today I have noticed that it just opened this year) . I liked the space, modern but relaxed. All the tables are named after bands and we sat with the Bikini kill...

The food itself is pretty good. I am not a tofu fan so had to stay away from the burger this time and actually most of the menu! Just because you go to eat vegan does not mean I have to eat a healthy salad right so I had the falafel with spicy chips. Oh and its independent of a big brand chain if you find that appealing.

Our last stop was Mono. THE best stop for vegan in Glasgow as far as I am concerned. I will admit that the staff can appear somewhat cold and abrupt but the food is good, atmosphere relaxed and the food definitely tastes the best of the lot. The fact that it has a record store attached to it has meant that it is not the first time we have visited this location. We also used to live close by and it's child friendly so it was a good place to bring visitors and go for a sneaky beer in the evening when my wee man was taking his evening nap...which gives it extra bonus points as far as I am concerned. It attracts people on sunny days as it is one of the nicer places you can sit outside when the sun is shining.

So in a nutshell that was my experience of vegan Glasgow. There is the Tapa bakehouse in Dennistoun still to try but I have heard very good reviews and they do AMAZING bread which is often stocked in other small shops so we have been able to try. Dennistoun is not a place you tend to go to though unless you live there so location made it get left out on this occasion. If you are really interested in vegan food check out hubby's sister's blog (you have to speak Italian) and she has written her experience of vegan Glasgow and it has pictures!