Round and round the garden (The Ordinary Moments #25)

You know the rhyme…. Round and round the garden, like a teddy bear, one step, two step, and tickle him under there!

Round and round

Well, at some point this has become one of our lovely Ordinary Moments. Toby now knows the rhyme so well he starts giggling before I’ve even touched him!

the garden

He keeps giggling as he tries to push my hands away. And by the end we are both laughing.

tickle him under there

I just love what a happy, smiley, giggly baby I have. The sound of your baby laughing is something to treasure for ever. That pure, unadulterated joy. I hope he keeps hold of that for a long time to come and that to hear him laughing is forever one of our Ordinary Moments.

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Milky cuddles (The Ordinary Moments #24)

I’ve read so many blog posts about the bond mums have with their babies when they’re breastfeeding. How special those milky cuddles are. And I’m not denying that they are special. But for whatever reason they aren’t something that all mums get to share with their baby. But even though we stopped breastfeeding at six weeks (and even then every breastfeed was topped up with formula) I wanted to write about our milky cuddles. It doesn’t matter that Toby is drinking formula and it is coming out of a bottle – we still get to share some special bonding moments together.

milky cuddles

Although Toby is nearly one now(!) he still has three bottles a day; one when he gets up, one before his afternoon nap and one before bed. And no matter how crazy he has been just minutes before, wriggling and crawling and standing and bouncing, as soon as he sees that bottle coming his thumb goes in his mouth and as soon as I pick him up he snuggles in. And then we have a quite few minutes where he actually lies still. Usually he’ll play with my ear, or try and put his fingers in my mouth, or play with the cord on my hoody, basically whatever is within reach.

I love these quiet times we have together (during the week I do the morning and afternoon bottles and daddy gets the bedtime one) and I’ll miss them when they’re gone. You read so many stories about the end of breastfeeding being an emotional time (and I’m not for one minute denying that it is) but I think the end of bottle feeding will be sad for me too. I suppose it just means my little boy isn’t a baby any more. For now though I’m going to enjoy our milky cuddles while we still have them.

Linking up with Katie at Mummy Daddy Me for The Ordinary Moments

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Dada dada (The Ordinary Moments #23)

This week’s Ordinary Moment is one that has only become ordinary in the last week or two. After a few weeks of persistent training (mostly from Barry!) Toby has now learnt how to say Dada. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have any idea what it means yet but he says it all the time! Although I’m a bit sad that he’s saying Dada but not Mama (I know that will come and it’s something to do with it being easier for babies to say Dada) it is still so cute to hear. It’s so obvious that Toby loves his daddy to bits. And I love watching them together – my two favourite boys!

Dada

In fact Toby is babbling a lot more of everything these days – it’s so sweet to listen to him when he’s playing by himself and just chatting away to his toys. Or when he wakes up and we just hear baby babble over the monitor. I’d love to know what’s going through his mind – I’m sure it all makes perfect sense to him!

I’m very excited for Toby to start learning more words, although I know I’ve got a while to wait before he really starts talking. And once he does I bet I’ll be wishing for some peace and quiet!

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Getting into everything (The Ordinary Moments #20)

I know all I seem to talk about lately is how Toby is almost crawling (and he is still almost crawling), but it really is dominating our lives at the moment! He rolls around the floor to get where he wants and has now started commando crawling forwards as well and you literally can’t take your eyes off him for a minute because he is getting into everything!

He does have a few favourite things that he likes to get at though – first up, my handbag. It has tassels which are obviously fascinating to a baby but he mostly just likes to get the strap and try and wrap himself up in it.

Getting into everything - Handbag

Next there’s the coffee table, a whole treasure trove of things to grab and pull – look mummy’s old netbook, it’s black and shiny! And don’t think putting your leg in the way will stop me!

Getting into everything - Computer

And look what else I found up here – tissues, a whole world of fun!

Getting into everything - Tissues

I know this really means we need to have a big tidy up and try and move everything out of Toby’s reach but actually, as long as I’m there to keep an eye on him, I like watching Toby explore, seeing where he can get and what he can reach….and next week we’re getting a playpen delivered so at least I’ll be able to go to the loo with Toby getting himself into too much mischief!

Linking up with Katie at Mummy Daddy Me for another Ordinary Moment.

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Cuddles (The Ordinary Moments #19)

Apart from when he was a tiny baby Toby hasn’t been into cuddles very much. He’s so nosy and interested in everything that’s going on around him that if you try and give him a cuddle he’s always turning and squirming, trying to see what’s going on behind him. He’ll sometimes sit on my knee and rest against me while we’re watching TV but usually he’s just desperate to get away and explore.

The last few weeks though Toby seems to have started to realise that cuddles can actually be quite nice! When I go in to get him up in the morning or after his naps he is usually on his tummy, pushing up on his arms, craning to see me coming in. If I go and put my arm under him and give him a cuddle that way he has actually started cuddling my arm back – it’s so cute!

Baby cuddles

And then, when I’m settling him down to go to sleep I usually put him up on my shoulder and he’s started snuggling his head in and even sometimes giving my shoulder a bit of a squeeze. And sometimes he just uses me as a ladder and tries to climb up over my shoulder! But you can’t have everything…

Anyway, I love these new cuddles with my baby boy (although they are very hard to capture on camera so apologies for the rubbish picture!). It’s so sweet and I’m looking forward to him working out just how awesome cuddles can be and wanting them even more often.

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Watching TV (The Ordinary Moments #18)

It’s time to link up with Katie at Mummy Daddy Me for another Ordinary Moment. This week’s Ordinary Moment is something I have to admit I’m not entirely proud of! Toby has been fascinated by the TV since he was tiny. He will usually sit with us on the sofa quite happily (for a little while at least) and watch whatever it is we happen to be watching.

watching TV with dad

 

But recently I have actually succumbed to the lure of CBeebies! I was never one of those parents who said ‘my child is never going to watch TV!’. After all I’m a bit of a telly addict myself. But I didn’t think I’d be putting on kids’ TV shows to keep him quiet just yet.

Actually we have the TV on much less now than before Toby was born. If I had a day at home before I would literally turn the TV on when I got up and it wouldn’t go off until it was time for bed. But now Toby is so enamoured with watching TV that it is impossible to feed him (milk or solids) with it on because he gets too distracted. So with that and starting this blog I seem to have a lot less time for watching TV these days.

Anyway, there never seems to be anything good on CBeebies when I turn it on so I’ve recorded a few episodes of Raa Raa the Lion and Waybaloo so there’s something to stick on if I need to keep Toby’s attention and keep him out of trouble for five minutes. He seems to be transfixed by it and so it stops him rolling and wriggling all over the room!

watching TV

So there we are – watching TV is a very ordinary moment in our house. I’m actually quite looking forward to Toby being old enough to concentrate on TV and films, and actually understand what’s going on, so I can start sharing some of my favourites with him.

Weaning (The Ordinary Moments #15)

Weaning eating clementine

It’s a another Ordinary Moment for this week’s link up with Katie at Mummy Daddy Me.

We gave Toby his first solid food to try on Christmas Day. He was happy to play with it but not that interested in eating it. He was only five and a half months at the time so we weren’t really concerned. But then another month passed. Toby was still playing with the food. He could pick it up but still wasn’t interested in eating. We were trying to follow a baby-led weaning route but I have to confess there are some things that I have fed Toby using a spoon. I also started holding the finger foods for him and he would eat pretty much everything but he just wasn’t going to put things in his mouth by himself. This wasn’t just food either – Toby just wasn’t interested in putting anything in his mouth.

Weaning eating highchair

Fast forward another few weeks though and it’s all change. Toby now has two bottom teeth and when they started coming through he started trying to eat everything in sight (including the highchair tray!). He will pick up veg sticks, toast, sandwiches, fruit and put it into his mouth himself. He is getting better at getting a spoon in his mouth if I give it to him but still has a tendency to fling whatever is on it all over the place. It’s lovely to see Toby trying new foods – I usually save a bit of whatever we’ve had for dinner and give it to him for lunch the next day. He still pulls a face every time he puts something in his mouth, even if he likes it and even if he’s had it before! Sometimes he eats more than others, but I am learning to trust him to manage his own appetite.

Drinking from a sippy cup is still a work in progress. Toby is eager to put it in his mouth but hasn’t worked out that he needs to tip it to get the water in his mouth. And then when I tip it for him he gets water in his mouth but doesn’t always seem that keen on swallowing it! Still, just like the eating, I’m sure he’ll get it in his own time.

Weaning sippy cup

It seems my early worries were unfounded. Maybe we should have waited a little longer before starting the weaning process but now he’s got the hang of it there’s no stopping him!

Weaning

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Learning (The Ordinary Moments #14)

It’s a very Ordinary Moment for this week’s link up with Katie at Mummy Daddy Me.

Learning {The Ordinary Moments}

For at least some of every day, Toby goes onto his play mat. Sometimes it’s while get some jobs done and he is just entertaining himself, or sometimes I sit with him and we play together. I try to change the toys he has out to play with every day or two so he gets plenty of variety and I love to just watch him concentrating and figuring things out. It’s amazing to see him develop, and seemingly so quickly. Every day he works out how to pick something else up, or how to move a bit more, or how to make a different noise. Every day he is learning more and more. I know some people are sad when they see their babies are growing and won’t be babies for much longer but I just love seeing Toby turn into a little boy. I can’t wait until he can sit himself up, and crawl, and pull himself onto his feet. I am well aware I might regret saying this once I have to chase him around the house, but for now I’m just enjoying every second and can’t wait to see what he does next!

Playing and learning

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The garden centre (The Ordinary Moments #13)

I love linking up with Katie at Mummy Daddy Me for The Ordinary Moments. It’s nice to take a few minutes every week just to appreciate the little things that otherwise might pass us by.

Coffee and cake

This week we had our monthly visit to the local garden centre for coffee and cake. For £12 a year you can be come a member of the Dobbies Garden Club. With that you get 10% off all plants and bulbs, earn reward points, and, the most important part, you get vouchers for two free teas or coffees every month. The best part about this, which is already a pretty good deal; we paid for our membership with £4 of Tesco Clubcard vouchers! I really do love a bargain.

And so once a month we go to Dobbies, we use our vouchers for free drinks and we treat ourselves to a cake. This is the second year we’ve had membership of the Garden Club but since Toby was born he’s been coming along too. In fact, his very first trip out after he was born (other than a walk round the block) was a visit to Dobbies. It really is an ordinary moment for him.

They had these really cool garden sculptures which we’ve never seen before. I’d love one – if we had a spare £150 or so! Toby wasn’t that impressed though.

Garden sculptures

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Looking (The Ordinary Moments #12)

Another week and time for some more Ordinary Moments with Katie at Mummy Daddy Me.

Looking - The Ordinary Moments

Every morning we get up, Toby gets a clean nappy and then we come downstairs. Even though usually he hasn’t had any milk for the last 14 hours or so, Toby needs to have a little awake time before he works up his appetite for breakfast. So I put him on his play mat (we just got a new one with lots of space) for a wriggle and he likes to look out of the window and see what’s happening in the garden. There’s not much to look at at the moment but as we head in to spring he’ll be able to see the bulbs coming up and everything getting more colourful. For now though he seems happy enough just looking.

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