The big boy bed...

I have started writing a blog post everyday for about a week, and keep getting distracted by one thing or another. And as I started to write this one, I somehow managed to delete the whole thing. So I'm starting again. Although what I wanted to do was throw my phone at the wall...

Anyways, we have had a busy week this week. Play dates, lunches, work and eye fittings is just the start. Jacobs eye fitting on Friday the 13th (I'm the most superstitious person ever by the way) was a disaster. We went to Wild & Wacky beforehand as his appointment was 11.30 so he would most likely have his nap afterwards. But he absolutely wiped himself out at soft play and was almost asleep when we got to the hospital. Jacobs prostesthist suggested trying to make a mould of Jacobs eye this time as he normally sits so nicely for his appointments. However, he wasn't having any of it. So we had to go for the usual colour match, which means he will have a new eye in a few weeks. Then we will try again with the mould. Apparently moulded eyes have much better movement so I'm quite excited for him to get one.

We bought Jacob's toddler bed his week, he has a cot bed, but as the little lady will be needing one too, we thought it would be better (and cheaper!) to buy a toddler bed as opposed to another cot bed. I sat basically crying while Rich (and Jacob) dismantled the cot and built the bed. Jacob was so excited to get into it. Bedtime went so smoothly, I expected constant trips up and down the stairs putting him back into bed, but he went off like usual and didn't wake up until 7am, when he was at the baby gate shouting for us. I could not believe it. Nap time is proving a whole different matter... He has been upstairs an hour and still not asleep. I've been up and laid him down a few times, but to be honest I'm not really sure how to tackle this one!? Help?!
...an hour and a half later. He's finally asleep. I really hope this doesn't make him hate the bed at bedtime.

On the bump front, we officially have our friend "heartburn" staying with us. My god, I forgot how horrible it is. And absolutely everything seems to be setting it off this time. My sisters best friend is a midwife, so whenever I used to see her when I was pregnant with Jacob, I'd be like "where's the baby lying?!" And I saw her on Thursday and she had a feel, and as I suspected, lady Wright likes to hang out right up near my ribs. Which explains why I can't hardly breathe. I had breathless moments with Jacob, but I honestly feel like I am constantly gasping for air with this one. I have become obsessed with checking my heart rate too as my phone has a monitor on it. Obviously not as medically accurate as a proper one I'd have thought, but it still seems quite close. Your heart works so much harder when you're pregnant and I am positive mine is screaming for help when I'm having these breathing difficulties! I am so uncomfortable already, I have no idea how I'm going to get through the next 3 months if I'm moaning already! Although she doesn't stop moving around. Particularly in the bath. Jacob never used to move when I was in the bath and I always felt sick afterwards so went for showers instead. But it is so funny laying there watching my belly go nuts. Although I honestly can't say the baths will last. This shifted centre of gravity business is no joke. I tried to do a yoga pose at work on Thursday, and just toppled forward like a weeble. Pretty tragic.

Freezing and food.

I can not wait for some warmer weather. I caught Jacobs cold last week which meant I have been ill for the whole of January. Which makes me hate this month just a little bit more. We've been apparently getting snow here for days now, however, it's just a pathetic little sprinkle every time. I could deal with the cold a little bit more if there was snow. All I want to do is eat. And that is all I've done. I'm hungry ALL THE TIME. I ate a huge dinner the other night, and within an hour I was starving again. I've tried not to stuff my face too much, but it has been hard. At work on Thursday, I ate a huge lunch before I started, then a Snickers halfway through my shift. And then still wanted more. I didn't take cash in with me on purpose as we have a Coke vending machine and another one filled with chocolate and crisps. Fatal. To say I inhaled my dinner would probably be an understatement. The problem is, I think I can eat a lot, and then feel like I actually might burst. While I'm eating, I'm fighting the desire to eat everything and feel hideous, or eat little still be hungry. Eat everything usually wins. And then I spend the evening moaning.

Jacobs eating is back on track which I'm so pleased about. Although he doesn't always eat his lunch, I think its a ploy to get out of going for his nap as he now has it after lunch as opposed to before. We just found that he lasts better for the afternoon if he has it slightly later. He always wakes up super hungry though so wants to eat everything in sight which ruins dinnertime. So we are currently trying to get a small but satisfying enough snack in that will hold him over until dinner. Otherwise we can guarantee a 5am wake up call where he's hungry through not eating his dinner. It really is a never ending battle!

We had a ridiculously busy day on Saturday, compared to usual anyway! We had to go pick up Lady Wright's wheels in the morning. We went for a single pram with a buggy board forJacob, he will just be two when she arrives which I think may be a little young for a buggy board, but he absolutely loves walking, so I'd rather give that a try before buying a double. Everyone has said I'm nuts, but we will see. I'll be the woman running through the town chasing a toddler whilst trying to navigate through the shoppers with my single pram.

Jacob had a birthday party in the afternoon, then we had dinner for my mums birthday in the evening. The birthday party was at a soft play place where Jacob hadn't been before so he wasn't as confident as usual when all the kids went into play. And as it was the weekend, it was utter chaos in there. Bigger kids really don't see anything that isn't in their eye line do they?! Jacob got knocked over about three times, luckily he got straight back up, but it did nothing for my nerves. They're like human shaped bulldozers!!! I also discovered that I no longer fit through some of the little holes like I used to. Very upsetting. As part of the little party, the kids got dinner so Jacob had nuggets and chips. But he's a never really been a fan of what I call "slam in the oven" dinners, so I didn't expect him to eat anything. But he ate the whole lot. And then his ice cream. And sat still the whole time. He was so well behaved, I actually got a little teary about it when we left. (Pregnancy hormones I'm sure!) I'm not sure if it was because there were twenty other children sat with him doing the same, but either way, it was lovely not to have to chase him round the tables. He is really good when we go to Wild & Wacky and have lunch there so I'm not sure if its just practice?! However, the few times we've braved going out for dinner to a restaurant, he's a restless little fiend. Maybe we've turned a corner, but I doubt it! That would be too easy! 

Now I'm living in fear, waiting for the germ that Jacob comes out in over the next couple of days as he always manages to catch something when we go to a soft play...

Bump update: We are having a...

GIRL!!!

We had our anomaly scan last week which we had always planned on finding out the sex at. And we are having a baby girl! And I am petrified! What am I going to do with a girl?! I know boys! Haha. I am so excited. And also panicking because now I really have to get realistic with all the boys stuff I can't bear to part with! We definitely need some more storage space! 

I hadn't bought a single thing for this baby yet as I have been so nervous that something would be wrong. So I wanted to wait until this scan to really get excited. I have been excited to an extent but in all honesty, a part of me has been in denial a little bit because I just felt so uneasy that there would be a problem. But our scan showed everything was growing and developing as it should be. So now I can relax a bit more! We had a scan at sixteen weeks too as I'd had quite a lot of pain and the doctor said she thought it was a girl, but I didn't take it for anything as it was still only just 16 weeks. And to be honest, I thought we'd have another boy! My mum was obviously over the moon as she now has a little girl in the family. And she can go Disney Princess mad.
I started having a little look at clothes. Obviously. And it is a little bit overwhelming! There is so much more choice for girls! Jacob has lots of the same sort of thing in a few different colours. But girls, my gosh, they can have dresses, skirts, shorts, leggings, jeans, everything!!! I've never been a fan of newborns in "real" clothes. Like jeans etc. I think it makes them look so grown up so quickly. Jacob didn't wear his first pair of jeans until he was about 11 months! And even then, I begrudgingly pulled them on his tiny little legs. Everyone is different obviously and that's just me!
I'm just glad everything is okay and hopefully now I can enjoy being pregnant! 

With the news that we are having a girl. I went through all of Jacobs old stuff (again). So, I sat on our bed, amongst an obscene pile of clothes, and cried. He had so much lovely stuff and I am genuinely heartbroken that it won't get worn again. And some of it was so small!!! I kept sending Rich pictures of things. He obviously thought I was insane and just told me to pack it all away and keep it all. I managed to pull a small pile of stuff for the little lady to use, such as the Little Bird range by Jools Oliver. I'm obsessed with it. And most of the basics are unisex so I was sitting there planning outfits with those pieces. I also made a memory blanket pile, which was ridiculously huge. And then I actually made a charity donation bag. And the rest...well its back in storage because I officially cannot part with it yet. I don't want it to go to a stranger, so I decided to wait and see if any of my friends have boys. And they can have it. Maybe. I am aware that most people think I'm nuts for keeping it all, but I just can't do it!

I picked up a few things yesterday for the little lady. Just some vests and sleepsuits, but honestly, I could have spent hundreds of pounds. Especially in Next. It is so lovely. But I'm trying to be a bit more realistic this time as going through Jacobs stuff showed me that he had way too much and literally only wore everything once, if that!

I've finally got my appetite back, and in a big way. All I want to do is eat! Its just deciding what I want that's the trouble, because I don't fancy anything in particular, I just want food. I'm probably going to end up a ginormous whale by the end of this pregnancy!

Jacob picked up another cold this week, so Rich has been sleeping downstairs and Jacob in our bed for the last two nights as for some reason, toddlers like to sleep longways in the bed! He slept much better last night though which was nice as I was starting to feel hideous from the lack of sleep! Although I'm going to start calling it sleep training. Its probably a good thing Jacob has never been a brilliant sleeper with a second baby on the way! I never got to go back to a full nights sleep so hopefully it won't be so much of a shock when she arrives! (Yeah right!)

Lady Wright.

Getting organised.

Whether its the post Christmas clear out, or I'm nesting rather early, I have gone nuts with clearing out and organising...EVERYTHING. I started with Jacobs toy box in the living room on Friday, he hardly plays with any of his toys that are downstairs except his little ride on car which cost about £10 and we only got it because we had a few pounds of leftover Argos vouchers, turns out to be one of his favourites. He is also still obsessed with his stacking cups and Hes got a Little Tikes car transporter thing that he loves too. Other than that, everything else gets ignored. So I was just brutal and put it all upstairs. However, what I didn't think about is where to put it all in Jacob's room. And its made me panic about where all the new baby's stuff is going to go. Which led to me clearing out the storage cupboard in our room...which also contains mostly Jacobs stuff. How the hell do people get rid of their first babys clothes?! I have 3 of those huge storage bags, filled with Jacobs clothes from newborn up until now that I just can't part with. And I've sorted through it all about a hundred times, trying to be more realistic each time. I even ended putting stuff from the charity donation bag I'd made up, back into the "keep" piles! We have our sexing/anomaly scan on Tuesday, and if we are cooking up a girl this time, I really don't know what I'm going to do with all this stuff. I looked at those memory quilts, as Jacob has a pillow and bear made of some of his first sleepsuits, but I think this quilt would probably cover most of the town.
I'm not sure if I'm having trouble parting with them as they were all "chemo" sleep suits, or "operation" sleepsuits and they hold a little bit more of a memory than they normally would? But frankly, I either need to get realistic, or hire a storage locker. Or get a bigger house, but who can afford a bigger house these days!

This then led to me organising my kitchen cupboards...basically, I'm certain I have a Tupperware issue. I have so many tubs and lunch boxes and snack boxes that you would think I was saving them up to build that bigger house. For weeks, every time I open the cupboard above the sink, it rained Tupperware. And then I'd launch it all back in and quickly shut the cupboard door. But no more! Organised heaven. I'm that pleased, I'd show you a photo, but I'm pretty sure you don't care less!

In between all the organising, we finally managed to go for a walk somewhere other than the woods by our house. Jacob is such an outdoors kid, and I do like being outside, just not when its freezing!!! He would stay out there forever though I think. Just Jacob and me went with my mum as she lives right next to the park. And we took her lunatic Jack Russell, Archie. Who will attack you if you pick up a stick and hold it for more than 3 seconds before launching it as far as possible. The walk paired with the fresh air absolutely wiped Jacob out, so getting from 3pm to bedtime at 7pm was a struggle. And at 6.45pm, Jacob seemed to get a second wind of energy...so bedtime was more like 8pm! He woke up extremely hungry again after not eating dinner, again. Although, he ate a whole bowl of porridge, banana, strawberries and a yogurt at breakfast this morning so that is an improvement!!! Fingers crossed it stays this way and he's getting his appetite back.

We've been busy!

Again, it's been ages since I posted. Jacob has become a crazed, little tantrum throwing toddler and that with Christmas and new year has just been chaos. The week before Christmas just flew by, and I started writing about 3 blog posts and never got round to finishing them.

Christmas was lovely, it was really nice not to cook this year as I have the last couple. Jacob still didn't really get Christmas and presents, he loved his toys we got him and everything he got from everyone else, but to an eighteen month old, it doesn't have quite the same effect as it does on a four or five year old. I cannot wait until he's up screaming that Santa has been in a few years time. That's when it gets more expensive though I hear, as they know what they want, and its usually everything!
I have to admit, I was quite moody Christmas day. All I wanted to do was eat pâté and brie and drink prosecco. And was fed up that I couldn't. Obviously, I'm glad to be pregnant and so excited, but I also love my food. And pâté is definitely a favourite of mine. Chicken liver to be specific, and that's a no no. So I stuck to plain old cheddar and some Boursin. Which I googled to check I was actually allowed it!!

Jacob had a check up at the Royal London Hospital this week, and I woke up Wednesday morning with a really bad feeling. I said to Rich "I don't think it's going to be good today." Taking Jacob down to theatre was chaos, he screamed the whole way as he must now remember what's going to happen. And then he buried his head in my neck when the doctors were trying to put his mask on so he could go to sleep. He really fought it this time, and I cried for the first time in ages walking back round to his bed. It may well have been pregnancy hormones, but I was so fed up of having to put him through this so regularly. He came back round quite quickly from theatre and unlike last time, he was not happy. He was so hungry, he practically inhaled his banana and started to choke. And by choke, I mean full on silent choking that felt like it lasted forever. Rich managed to give him a good pat on the back while he was tipped over his arm and he coughed it up. I was literally seconds away from screaming into the ward. Which would have terrified everybody. The first aid course we went to while I was pregnant came in handy. I realised how utterly useless I would probably be if I was on my own, and that's a little bit scary! I'm sure mothers instinct would kick in, but I definitely panicked a lot more than I'd have liked.
Mr Sagoo came round not long after and told us Jacob was still stable, which was brilliant as the day had gone so horribly so far, I thought there's no way its good news! We are back in nine weeks, which is the middle of March.

Elsewhere, Jacob has become a crazed One Direction fan. He absolutely loves them. It's become our calm down tool. If he is going nuts, we just switch them on and he's dancing away. I don't mind, as I secretly like them and I think Rich has had no choice but to become a fan either!
Jacob has had four teeth start coming over the last few weeks. And with it, he has become a very fussy eater. I don't know if its tied into the teething for sure as a few of my friends are having the same problem, but he will pick at everything. He hasn't eaten a full meal in about two weeks now. And this morning he was awake at 4.45am hungry! And even then, the only thing he would eat was half a brioche and a banana. After having a brilliant eater, it is really tough when they get fussy! I have tried everything. And he isn't at the "if you don't eat, you go hungry" stage yet so I am literally trying about 4 options every evening with dinner. A few people have told me not to do this as it can make it worse and then they get clever about it. So I think I may have to take a different approach! Any tips?!

Christmas crafting!!

Jacob is finally getting over the hand, foot and mouth, cold and cough he's suffered with the last two weeks. However, those evil little teeth are cutting their way through so I'm expecting some bad nights soon! He has actually been sleeping so well since getting better. I've not had to get up to him once in the night which has been lovely. He's woke up a little bit whingey a few times but settled back off on his own. However, the better sleep has come with earlier starts. He is up around 6.30 most mornings now. Which would be fine if it wasn't so dark and cold out!!! I still don't know how to set our heating up so it comes on with the timer so it is absolutely freezing when we get up in the mornings.

We went to Van Hages garden centre last Wednesday to see Santa, I booked it a little while ago and Jacob didn't seem so poorly that morning so thought we'd still go as we went last year and it was lovely. However, I think it was a little bit too soon to have taken him out as he was not in the mood at all. He absolutely screamed the place down and wasn't interested in Santa, the lights or the presents. We took him for a little walk around the animals after which he obviously loved, but he must have felt rough because he crashed out the second we pulled out of the carpark. Hopefully next year!!

We've been meaning to make Christmas cards and ornaments for the family for nearly two weeks but just haven't got round to it. So yesterday, Rich was home so I got him to help me with the "Christmas tree feet" cards I wanted to make. Jacob wasn't very cooperative, so we had to rush them, but they seem to have come out okay. They're literally a green foot print upside down. Then you draw on the lights or baubles with the good trusty Sharpie pens. Just FYI, I'm obsessed with a Sharpie. I don't know why, I just love them. We also made some snowmen cards today as we needed a few more, and it's the same idea, an upside down foot print, then draw on the face, scarf and buttons etc.

I'd also seen a salt dough recipe that I've wanted to do for ages so we gave that a try today. It was so easy, literally a cup of salt, a cup of plain flour and it says half a cup of water, but I found this a bit too much so had to add more flour. But just add water bit by bit until you get a play-doh like dough. I literally rolled it out, cut out circles and Jacob pressed his hand (I forced him to push his hand, he didn't want to play) into the dough. Then used a straw to make a small hole in the top for string or ribbon to go through. Then bake at 100 Celsius for 3 hours. They came out pretty good. We painted the red then put gold glitter on them, and wrote a little message on them. I can't wait to give them out to family members. And we've obviously kept one for our tree. Hopefully I'll remember to do them every year!

It was my birthday on Sunday, but lucky for me I had a nice headache and spent most of the day in bed! We had family over for takeaway in the evening as Rich was determined I actually did something on the day. I'm so boring, birthdays aren't that big a deal to me, my birthday anyway. And because its so close to Christmas, I'm usually more excited about that. All I cared about was getting a card from Jacob. Rich had him "write" inside himself. Which was a lovely felt pen masterpiece! I also got a really lovely charm for my Pandora bracelet. I'd had my eye on it for ages but didn't think it was appropriate to buy it for myself so I'm glad Jacob (Rich) got it for me!

Jacobs Routine.

Can you tell we are stuck at home?
Jacob is currently sleeping like a trooper, catching up on the last weeks worth of lost sleep I think! He has been asleep nearly four hours and I've actually found myself bored. This never happens. This post obviously doesn't apply to today/this week or even when he's poorly at all but I always love hearing about other babies and toddlers routines and have found it so helpful having so many friends who've all had little ones around the same time as we had Jacob. Every child is obviously different but this is Jacobs normal day to day routine.

 

6.30-7.30am is wake up time in our house. If we are really lucky, Jacob will sometimes sleep until nearly 8. If its closer to 7.30, I'll bring Jacob into our room and let him wake Rich up for work, otherwise its down stairs for some Disney Junior or CBeebies.

8am Jacob normally wakes up pretty hungry so I get breakfast ready quite quickly. He normally has cheerios and some kind of fruit, normally blueberries or a banana, and has milk to drink.

9/9.30am We get ready for the day normally and I try to get Jacob to drink some fresh orange to keeps his bowels on the go! (Sorry if TMI!)

10am If we are doing anything before lunch such as a bit of shopping, this is normally the time we will do this as its just before his nap. Otherwise Jacob will normally potter around and entertain himself while I do a few things around the house (which I'll admit has been rare since becoming pregnant, although the last two weeks I've gotten a bit more motivated!) Jacob will normally have a little snack around now too, just maybe a rusk which he still loves or some of the Heinz Biscotti.

11.30am This is usually nap time. Since Jacob dropped to one nap, we've found that going around this time normally works best as he has quite unsettled nights a lot so can be quite flaked by this time. He normally naps for 1 and a half to 2 hours. Recently, I've been using this time to get a few things done if I've been lazy or had a clingy monster in the morning, and sometimes have a sneaky little snooze myself although since the morning (all day) sickness stopped, I've not been so desperate for it as usual so will just normally sit and revel in the quiet.

1-1.30pm Lunchtime! Sometimes Jacob can wake up absolutely ravenous and screams the place down so recently I've started to try and have his lunch ready.  He'll normally have a sandwich of some kind, bagel or pasta. Crisps or those mini organix rice cakes or their carrot puffs, although I'm horrible and don't let him have "real" crisps everyday. If we've gotten a food shop in too (which we are terrible at, daily trips to tesco in this house!) Jacob will normally have cucumber and cherry tomatoes too and always some kind of fruit. And he usually finishes off with a yogurt.

2.30pm This is normally when I try to do some sort of activity with Jacob, normally a walk or wrapping up and playing in the garden. Although the weather is making this more difficult of late so I stocked up on some crafty bits. He's gotten into painting and stuff and if he wakes up in a good mood, I'm planning on making Christmas cards this afternoon. But we will see!!

5.30pm Dinnertime. We do try to all eat together as a family, obviously this isn't always possible but try we do! Jacob normally eats what we eat but on the days when we are having a later dinner or something not very Jakey friendly, the Annabelle Karmel or the Little Dish toddler meals are nice and quick and he always eats every last bite. I normally have left overs in the freezer but always forget about them and they end up getting chucked in the bin. Last week I threw away six separate dinners that I'd frozen. Jacob will normally have a yoghurt or something naughty like a little cake or chocolate biscuit for pudding. He drinks water or really weak squash throughout the day. Rich banned fruit shoots as he read an article about them having some ingredient in them thats proven to make kids naughty. I'm pretty sure that's the sugar!

6.30pm Bath time, although Jacob normally only has a bath every other day as his skin is so sensitive and dries out really easily! We normally do the bedtime routine together as Rich wouldn't have seen Jacob much if its a weekday and to be honest, he's such a terror it takes two of us to chase him round and get him into his PJ's!

7pm Bedtime. Jacob picks about 700 books to read and then we read the same one about four times before he goes into his cot. He usually settles off quite well. He does still wake up a fair few times a night, normally crying because he can't find his dummy. But usually stays in his cot until the morning and we start the whole routine again!

Obviously this isn't always the case, if we have a play date or Jo Jingles, it normally gets wiggled around a bit. But I am known as a bit of a routine drill sergeant to my family when it comes to Jacob. It will probably bite me in the backside in time to come!