Georgia has officially been on the outside for longer than she was on the inside! We made it to 36+5 weeks of the pregnancy before she decided she was ready to be out, and it's already been almost 40 weeks since her birth.
- Chatted up a storm. We're convinced she's bilingual - though what language she's babbling, I couldn't tell you. We get Dada and MumMumMum all the time, and swear we heard her say Cat & Hey!
- Had both bottom teeth continue coming up - they're about halfway out now. In the last few days, she's also had massive progress with the top two teeth too, which have JUST about cut through the gums.
- Rediscovered her rolling skills. She isn't crawling yet, but my goodness, the girl can flip. She's making her way across the living room by rolling tummy-back-tummy-back over & over. She wakes up from every nap or sleep in her cot by rolling onto her belly now.
- Begun eating some finger foods each lunch time in her big girl high chair. She's still not too sure about this whole feeding herself nonsense though; half the time she spends her lunches mashing the food into the tray, and doesn't quite 'get' the concept of putting the food from her hand to her mouth. Baby steps..
- Started to attempt waving to people - we make a habit of telling her HI! or BYE! with a big exaggerated wave of the arm, and she's starting to copy it. It's a little bit cute.
- Experienced her first Christmas! We had a really busy few days, and she coped with all the changes and the craziness like a trouper. Lots of presents, lots of cuddles, and a very spoiled little girl.
- Been keeping herself occupied by herself for longer periods of time. She's happy sitting down and playing with her toys for a lot longer than before, though still gets frustrated if things are out of her reach.
- Loved the water! She has been doing swimming lessons for a few months now, and the fears are gone - now she is splashing and kicking and trying to drink the pool water. I'm really glad we persevered with swimming, as it's good to see her confidence growing. We'll be doing a few more weeks in the new year, and then leaving it for a little while. The plan is to restart again when she's 18 months old & in the next age for classes, since the lessons are a bit repetitive.
- Continued having all sleeps in her nursery, cuddled up to her soft bunny comforter & singing seahorse.
Monday 30 December 2013
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Labels:
Month-by-Month
A belated Merry Christmas to you all - we hope it was fantastic. So blessed to spend it as a family of three.
Tomorrow is going to be another busy day, as we hit up the Boxing Day sales -- I'm looking forward to picking up some Christmas decorations for NEXT year, some goodies to put away for Georgia's first birthday (sniff sniff) and random other little bargains. Not that little miss needs much; she was so very spoiled by her loved ones. :)
Thursday 26 December 2013
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Labels:
Family
So, a few weeks ago, I was a little defeated with how our sleep training has been going. Thankfully, I have some updates on that front - and much better ones, I might add. We went cold turkey again, with Georgia in her own bedroom. There were a few tough days at first, we timed ourselves before going into the room, but most importantly, we did it together - now that hubby is working from home, we could both give it our full attention. Previously, she was very dependent on ME doing everything, and wouldn't even calm down when Jase would pick her up. After a tough week or so, she started showing signs that she was learning what to do. Victory came from every resettle that hubby did, without me there - and honestly, it's been a few weeks now, and there are days where she does so much better sleeping for him than for me! Little minx. :)
Georgia now sleeps in her cot all the time. She's in a sleeping bag with no blankets, since it's already been hitting 40o here in Sydney (celcius, folks, omg, hot) & she has a comforter bunny that she cuddles/bashes at will. She does still use a dummy, but that's not an issue for us at this stage. We give her a cuddle and a rock in the chair, look for tired signs, and pop her in the cot. I'd say we're at 50/50 for the reactions we get once she's in the cot, and it depends a lot on her mood and how tired she is. 50% of the time, she'll scream and scream and need resettling. 50% of the time, she'll roll over & get herself to sleep. We're working on being consistent, but overall, she's doing so much better. We've gone from constant wake ups, to sleep throughs. And we've gone from three-four rubbish daytime naps, to two better ones. They aren't always long, but I consider it a victory if she goes down for >1 hour. So proud of her. We are sleeping better at night, too. I didn't realise how much tiptoeing around we were doing once she'd gone to bed.
Sunday 22 December 2013
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Labels:
Sleep
From the website:
Itha, (pron. I-tha) has been hand-making her gourmet Christmas Plum Puddings for over 50 years to a traditional recipe inherited from her grandmother. This old fashioned ‘cooked in the cloth’ recipe dates back to at least 1912. Every pudding is individually handmade. Puddings are cooked up to ten hours and then hung to age and mature, ensuring each pudding is unique with the look, feel and taste of yesteryear.
Seriously, delish. For someone who is a fussy eater, and who has been known to steer clear of fruit cakes {wouldn't even have one for our wedding!} I was pleasantly surprised. And the sauce. Oh, the sauce. The only thing that could have been better was if it had been the Triple Chocolate Pudding that I'd sampled! Thoroughly enjoyed it - and now I'm looking forward to the feasts of the festive season that are coming up.
I promise I'll update some more soon, especially as Georgia's Christmas month continues.
I received products to trial & review from Itha's Puddings via the team at Piccolo PR - all reviews are my own. If you are interested in a product review appearing on Breathe Gently, please email me.
Friday 13 December 2013
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Labels:
An Aussie's Travels
With a baby that's gearing up to crawl, two indoor kitties & a very lovable fur puppy, our house is constantly in need of a little TLC, health wise. That's why I was really pleased with the selection of goodies we recently received to test out - they fit right in with our lifestyle with little effort on our part. The Mission for Health campaign from Dettol focuses on everyday healthy homes, but also has a goal to save the children in communities abroad, supporting hygienic practices in villages across Indonesia.
These are the products we've been using over the last few days - stay tuned on how to win some for yourself.
The No-Touch hand wash System is set up near our kitchen sink; ready to use when we come in from playing in the yard with Spencer, or from changing one of Georgia's nappies at the change table nearby. Hubby was sceptical at first, but I've caught him washing his hands at the kitchen sink in lieu of the bathroom a few times now. It came with batteries included, and it's really quite clever. Just hold your hands underneath & boom - hand wash ready to use. I find this handy while cooking too, since I'm not transferring gunky hands onto the top of the unit. This is my favourite of the products, because it's not something I would necessarily of bought for myself.
For keeping the kitchen clean, we received the Power & Pure Multipurpose Spray & some of the Surface Cleanser Wipes. My first job was to tackle the microwave and the stove with the wipes, which I loved. I was a little unsure at first, as the wipes feel really dry when you pull them out of the tub - but they seem to foam up as you use them, which was a nice surprise. I've also used the wipes for cleaning some lightly used books we were given for Georgia, and for giving some of her more toys a bit of a spot clean. The trigger spray is going to be a great all purpose one, and doesn't smell harsh like I would have predicted.
Now.... all that said, how would you like to win some for yourself? My favourite product was the No-Touch hand wash system, because it looks snazzy in my kitchen & works a treat. The kind folks at the Mission for Health team have two of these units to give away. To enter, simply leave a comment here at the blog telling me which product from the current Dettol range you would find most useful for your home. I'll enlist Georgia's help to randomly pick two winners from the comments! :) Please note this giveaway is for Australian residents only.
I received products to trial & review from the Dettol: Mission for Health campaign via the Performics team - all reviews are my own. If you are interested in a product review appearing on Breathe Gently, please email me.
Friday 6 December 2013
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Labels:
Aussie Reviews,
Sponsored Post
Just a few days after Georgia entered into this past month, she started bashing out the milestones. It was crazy!
- Said her first word - MUM. Or, more specifically, Mumumumum. Made my heart swell, such a special moment. :)
- Said her second word too! Dadadada. She likes to whisper this word, which is very sweet.
- Sprouted her first tooth! It popped out fairly quickly and caused a LOT of grief. It's a wee bit crooked. Tooth number two is still coming out, and it too is creating havoc. Stupid teeth!
- Had two colds - which we think are because of the afore-mentioned tooth is still an unknown. The poor thing is teething and snotty and sick and miserable all at the same time, and we are all exhausted.
- Cracked the 8kg mark! She weighed in at 8.3kg this week - but had a GIGANTIC nappy explosion not long after the appointment, which I swear weighed 200g by itself. ;) She's also 69cm long now and has crept up to the 50th percentile for height AND weight.
- Started eating pasta and meat. We still purée over here for the most part, but she's experimenting with different textures now. She has also chowed down on some finger foods, like banana, toast & rice rusks. She's still not a fan of peas or broccoli on their own, but has eaten everything else. Such a good girl.
- Sat for two photoshoots! The first one didn't go too well {it was on the same weekend as her tooth/cold/swimming} but the second one produced many sweet family photographs.
- Learned to actually JUMP in her jumperoo. Before now, she's just played in there. Now, the girl can bounce.
- Started spinning around on her belly and doing 360's on the floor. Still no rocking on all fours or moving anywhere, but she's tolerating tummy time a bit more.
- Had her first swimming lesson, which was far from successful. She sobbed the entire session! She's since gotten a little more confident in the water, but she prefers swimming with daddy than swimming with me! We've just kept plugging away since then, but she's still not a great fan of the water yet.
- Smiled at strangers a little more - she's still a clingy girl who loves to be with mama first.
Monday 2 December 2013
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Labels:
Month-by-Month
I was SO pleased that our sleep training had gone well last week. Five days in, and Georgia was able to get herself off to bed in her cot - sure, it took a while & I was still in the room {out of sight} but she was doing it! We even had our first sleep through again for the first time in months.
But then, things went haywire. Hubby got home from his interstate trip, and we got sick. It started with Georgia skipping her afternoon nap - which turned into up every hour, on the hour, and not much sleep for any of us. After that came more nap skipping & screaming like a banshee constantly. It's so heartbreaking to see all the good efforts you've made go flying out the window, when you're doing practically everything exactly the same.
I was at a loss - until I saw a little flash of white. Yep, I now know the culprit for all this chaos - her second tooth is jigging around under there, and hasn't yet cut through. Bloody teeth!
This time, we're well armed. Panadol, Nurofen, Bonjela & SM-33 creams. Lots of cuddles and a whole lot of deep breaths & patience. I'm hoping she'll get this tooth quickly, because the last few days have been a nightmare.
Tuesday 26 November 2013
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Labels:
Baby Jag
I've chosen a modified version; not crying it out, because I just can't go there, but letting her learn to put herself to sleep. I'm there in the room, mostly out of sight, but listening to her cries & being there to sssh & pat if she gets upset. I'm also picking up/calming/putting down if she becomes hysterical. I did this for a little while before, but got too exhausted from the crying, and gave up. I'm trying again, and not giving in this time! She's taken a long time to go to sleep - but eventually she's getting there. I've had a comforter & soft toys in her bed too, which is new for me. It's not the way I envisioned her sleeping, but I've found that a lot of the tears and frustration comes from being in there & being bored. The toys tend to distract her from constantly searching for me too, and she snuggles her comforter before falling asleep.
This is all still with her sleeping next to me - after she eventually figures out the self settling, we'll start the next big step - transitioning into her nursery for all sleeps.
Any other settling tips you'd like to share? I'm always happy to try new things!
Thursday 21 November 2013
13 Comments •
Labels:
Sleep
Oy, it's been a big week.
Georgia had her first swimming lesson this past weekend - we started off a little unsure of ourselves...
I couldn't figure out what it was that was bothering her - she loves bath time, so was it the cooler water? The noise of the pool? Being in with other people?
Well, the very next day, she cut her first tooth - the bottom right one is coming through. It's coming through on an angle, like a \ shape, which has me paranoid now that she'll have crooked teeth for life. Anyone else have any experience with baby teeth coming in crooked?
She also developed a wicked cold and has been miserable since then - crying like a, well, baby, constantly. She also wants to be with me 24/7, and bawls if I put her down. She's also completely gone off her cot, is getting by on 30 minutes during the day, and is wanting to co-sleep at nights - I'm wicked tired. Today is the first day in a week that she's having a nap on her own.
Can you believe that she's over 7 months old now? She weighed in at 7.8kg and is perfectly average on the 50% graph. So thrilled she's growing well & getting cuter and more personality every day.
Thursday 7 November 2013
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Labels:
Family
I'm a few days late with our month seven run-down. I can't even comprehend that it's November, seriously.
- Grown so much! I look at her pictures now and she looks more like a little girl & less like a baby.
- Become much easier to travel with. Apart from me being organised with the solids and what-not, she copes much better with being thrown in the car/pram & going with the flow.
- Had her hair keep on growing - but only at the front! The back is still super fine fuzz, and I'm hoping it catches up with her fringe mullet (aka frullet) soon. I can pull it to the side with clips, but I want to put some pigtails in that silky hair!
- Continued sitting up on her own - and lasts much longer now. She looks so pleased to be able to interact with her toys/people from a whole new angle. Still droops sideways after a while though.
- Scratched herself constantly - but not with her fingernails, as you might have imagined. No, being flexible enough to keep your toes in your mouth, means that scratches come from toenails too!
- Been much more comfortable on her belly - but only for short amounts of time. She still prefers being upright, and loves spending time in her jumperoo and activity centre.
- Started making crawling-esque movements with her legs and bum. There's a bit of effort into pushing off with her legs and wiggling her backside, but not a lot else happening yet. All in good time...
- Started cuddling in to her mama's neck when she's tired or sad - I have to say, I LOVE the snuggles.
- Continued loving her food - three meals a day, still purées for now. We have also finally found breakfast baby foods that she loves, like muesli and porridge. (And she's nommed on vegemite toast!)
- Stayed in 00 clothes - though her little pot belly is filling them out a bit. :)
- Loved her fur babies, grabbing and stroking the kitties (& Spencer) whenever they walk past her.
- Enjoyed her first Halloween with her little twin boyfriends & another little cute man-friend. Georgia is very spoiled when it comes to having cute babies to hang out with, that's for sure. (And I am very lucky to have such lovely new mum-friends too!)
Monday 4 November 2013
3 Comments •
Labels:
Month-by-Month
Friday 1 November 2013
6 Comments •
Labels:
Baby Jag
Every night before bed, we follow a similar routine with Georgia.
If hubby is home, he starts it off with a bath - otherwise, it's all me. After the bath, we have a massage on the change table, get her dressed, and read her a book. Then we nurse & follow up with a top up bottle of expressed milk.
And before I put her into bed, while rocking her to get her drowsy, I tell her a few things - I love you, time for bed, night night - and this:
Tuesday 22 October 2013
6 Comments •
Labels:
Baby Jag,
Love and Stuff
It's been insanely hot already this year, and Spring has barely just begun. I'm not looking forward to the warm days that are ahead of us, or the bushfire threats that they bring along with them, but they do bring back memories.
That little jellybean baby has become a pretty awesome person. I love all of her quirks - the way she reaches for our faces, the way she makes her bottom lip quiver right before she cries, the way she lights up when she sees her dad across the room. I know how to make her giggle, how to make her squeal, and how to calm her down. She is so curious, so impatient, so feisty. I watch her & get glimpses of what she'll be like next year, and a year after that.
Tuesday 15 October 2013
9 Comments •
Sunday 13 October 2013
7 Comments •
Labels:
Baby Jag
Our nights have been getting better, and we're plugging away at the day sleeps. She is well and truly into size 00 and the hot weather has let me experiment with short sleeved/legged rompers and suits - loving being able to get those thighs into the sunlight. This age is fantastic. And I'm sure it's only going to get better!
Wednesday 9 October 2013
1 Comments •
Labels:
Baby Jag,
Baby Stuff,
Food Adventures
A very happy half-birthday to my beautiful daughter, who is growing more beautiful & clever every day.
- Weighed in at just over 7kg. (6.9 on the dr scales/7.2 on the chemist scales!) & has reached 64cm long - so she's perfectly average in the weight department but still a bit of a shorty. :)
- Tested us in the sleep department, big time. We started sleep training with her, which has helped nights get better again, but still hasn't helped much with the days.
- Been fantastic when in the car and in the pram. I think it's because she's so much more alert now & wants to see everything.
- Started to learn to sit up on her own! She doesn't last long, but she's trying very hard. :)
- Been dribbling up a storm! So much drool. No teeth yet, that we can see.
- Loved having her feet up in the air. She tries to catch them, shoves them in her mouth, and rolls to her side clutching them. It's especially fun during bath time & nappy changes.
- Continued flipping from front to back, but not interested in the other way around.
- Gone to bed in sleeping bags - the swaddles have officially been put away with her newborn clothes.
- Started becoming more confident with other people. Nights are still hit or miss, but during the daytime, she flirts and smiles when people talk to her or comment on her.
- Started solid foods & has eaten like a champ! She's still exclusively breastfed for milk, but has tried apple, pear, peach, sweet potato, pumpkin, prunes, zucchini, avocado & broccoli.
- Been in 00 clothes (3-6 month) for most outfits now.
- Talked up a storm! She likes to talk while shoving her fist in her mouth, but boy, can she babble.
Wednesday 2 October 2013
7 Comments •
Labels:
Baby Jag,
Month-by-Month
We have a new 'thing' around these parts - wobbly sitting!
She doesn't last long before becoming the Leaning Tower of Georgia, but she's improving. It's so flipping cute!
I love watching her learn new things. She's interacting with other people (& other babies) loads now, and is so much fun. This age, nearly six months, is great - but people keep telling me it gets better and better.
Now seriously... go back and look at those chubby knee rolls again, you know you want to. Love!
Thursday 26 September 2013
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Labels:
Baby Jag
First up, hi lovely ICLW-ers! Thanks for stopping by - it's always nice having my inbox flare up with comments from new faces. This little blog was started a few years ago, originally about life in Australia as a primary school teacher. It evolved as I did, following my journey into living in England, travelling the world, living with PCOS and planning our wedding. When we started our TTC journey, we knew it'd be a challenge {see the aforementioned PCOS diagnosis!} but we didn't realise just HOW hard it would be. Here on the blog, I talked about our infertility adventure, which moved into IVF and our eventual BFP. Life has been crazy, and we are so, so lucky to have welcomed our baby daughter, G, into the world in March this year.
G is 25 weeks old now, and an absolute delight. We're having some difficulties with sleeping at the moment, but that is a topic for a whole new post. As for EATING, however - no problems there. Guzzle guts is loving her foray into solid foods. After three days of sweet potato, and three days of pear, we moved into a new veggie: zucchini!
After that, we moved to apple. That's usually a safe bet in terms of first impressions - I may or may not have been stealing mouthfuls of her puree while it was being warmed up. (Mwahahahaha.) Funnily enough, she pulled a few faces at the start; maybe she was expecting zucchini again and was shocked by the sweet flavour? But as soon as she got going, she had that mouth open like a baby bird - gobbled it up. At one point, she was leaning so far forward towards the food bowl that she almost had her nose in it. A definite hit!
Georgia is still breastfeeding at her normal 3-4 hourly feeds, and we do solids around lunchtime. As we have tried more and more combinations, we'll be increasing to breakfast time as well. So exciting! :)
Monday 23 September 2013
4 Comments •
Labels:
Baby Jag,
Baby Stuff,
Food Adventures
It's time: Let the messy eating begin! We started solids a few days ago. Very, very gently - one ice cube (so a few spoonfuls) at a time & the same solid over a couple of days, so we can monitor for any potential reactions.
Today was a new solid: Pear!
I'd heard from a few mum friends that fruits like pear/apple were good to, er, get things moving - and it did the trick! After a few days of quiet on the bum front, today brought us some action. My first nappy change after purées - very interesting. ;)
We'll be doing pear for a few more days, and then will switch to a different veggie/fruit. At the moment, she's only having this one taster meal per day, which is usually around lunchtime. After Georgia has had a few different tastes, I'll be adding in a little rice cereal with fruit mixed in as a breakfast meal.
Tuesday 17 September 2013
10 Comments •
Labels:
Baby Jag,
Baby Stuff,
Food Adventures
I did some more fruit & veggie shopping yesterday, since I was in the zone. :)
- 5x pears = 1 tray. It's a bit of a gritty puree, as pears tend to be, but nice and sweet.
- 6x small parsnips = 0.8 of a tray. Surprisingly, they smell stronger than they taste. I've never eaten them on my own before, only mixed in soups and stews. I let Georgia lick my finger after I pureed them, and she didn't seem too fazed. (She would have only gotten a microscopic amount, though.)
- 6x zucchinis = 1.4 trays. They were VERY watery, and smell gross.
- 1x can of peaches = 1.6 trays. It's not quite peach season here & I couldn't find frozen ones, so this had to do for now. I made sure to buy the organic kind in their own juice, no extras in there.
- 1x bunch of spinach leaves = 0.8 trays. Even mixed with boiled water to blend, this mixed down to nothing.
Friday 13 September 2013
3 Comments •
Labels:
Baby Jag,
Baby Stuff,
Food Adventures
We opted to wait until nearer to 6 months before we started Georgia on solid foods. I wanted her to get as much benefit from breastfeeding as possible, especially since our start was a little rocky. Since she's found her groove and I want to keep my supply up, I saw no reason to rush into things. Plus, Georgia was born a little over 3 weeks early, so there was no harm in waiting that little bit longer.
- Pumpkin when pureed is lovely and sweet. I may have snuck a few teaspoons into my mouth while cleaning up.) It doesn't seem to make as much as I imagined it would though. 2x chunks of pumpkin = 1.3 trays.
- Sweet potato yields quite a bit! I only had two and used them both, and it made a fair amount. 2x sweet potatoes = 1.4 trays.
- Apple sauce! Why haven't I ever made homemade apple sauce before? YUM! 5 cored apples = 1 tray.
- Carrots need quite a bit of boiled water added to make them blend well. They also make LOADS. 4 carrots = 1.6 trays.
Wednesday 11 September 2013
4 Comments •
Labels:
Baby Jag,
Baby Stuff,
Food Adventures
Oy, shocker few weeks here!
I was struck down with a nasty gastro bug that left me admitted in hospital fighting dehydration - my first night away from the baby, and it wasn't even to have a romantic weekend away with the hubby! It was pretty awful and I won't go into details, but I learned a few things from that experience: I missed Georgia like crazy, trying to find breastfeeding friendly drugs is HARD, and pumping every 3-4 hours sucks. Literally.
Dude - being sick sucks on its own. Being sick as a mum is a nightmare! No sick leave from this job, that's for sure. Especially when you are single parenting during the week when hubby is working away. All I can say is this: thank the heavens for awesome family members.
I've been fighting the bug for the past week & have had a few recurrences (joy!) but in the meantime, Georgia has been amazing! Maybe it's been a necessity, or maybe just a fluke, but she has been SO good with other people since I've been sick. The last few weeks she's been very clingy, crying when away from me and upset with other people holding her. This week gone by? She's all smiles. Loving cuddles from her grandparents, her aunty & uncle and some family friends at her Christening. Hopefully this trend continues.
Speaking of Georgia, she has outgrown her cradle at 23 weeks old, so we got a good stretch out of it. She could still fit in there length-wise for a while longer, but she's rolling and kicking now, and is constantly waking up with arms and legs hanging out of the bars! I'm not ready for her to be in her own room yet, so we're starting to transition her into the full-sized portacot next to our bed. Naps there started today - not very successful so far, but day sleeps have always been hit or miss around here. The test will be the evenings...
Monday 9 September 2013
3 Comments •
Labels:
Baby Jag,
Life in Oz,
Whinge
Five months... and almost the start of a new season. My beautiful girl has been very busy growing up this month!
- Had a bit of a regression at around the 4-month park, but is now back to sleeping through the night again.
- Been working hard at sleep training (& so has her mama.) We are plugging away at learning how to self-settle and get better at day sleeps: which means bedtime is upstairs, all the time. Doing well so far.
- Calmed down in the car while on trips - she does get grumpy when she's tired, but she's much better in there now.
- Figured out that she has thumbs - and it's a challenge to get them OUT of her mouth!
- Also figured out that she has LEGS! They are up in the air and flailing around constantly.
- Been interacting with her toys and her activity gyms. It's so amazing watching her grow and learn.
- Not stopped talking! She has been babbling for a while now, but she's now responding to questions and is experimenting with her mouth/tongue. It's absolutely hilarious. I think she'll talk before she'll walk.
- Been stuck with her mama five-days a week. And for the most part, has been so well behaved!
- Stuck to breast-milk and has been having some days completely top up free.
- Continued to grow. Last weigh in was a few weeks ago, at 6.6kg. I'm sure she's close to 7kg now.
- Outgrown her 000 clothes and is officially in 00 (3-6 month) clothing. Huzzah, baby girl!
- Remembered how to roll! She rolled from tummy to back really early, but then decided she was bored and gave up on it. Now she's at it again. Still no back-tummy, but that's fine by me.
- Outgrown the swaddles and is now in sleeping bags for all her sleeps. She's very cheeky with yanking her dummy out of her mouth now that her hands are free, but she went cold turkey & has done great!
Monday 2 September 2013
3 Comments •
Labels:
Baby Jag,
Month-by-Month
The last couple of days have been a whirlwind of emotions. We've continued with the sleep training, and Georgia is trying so, so hard to sleep. I'm learning so much as I go along, and I'm a LOT calmer - so I'm thrilled that things are progressing. It's hard, and draining, but I'm finding the better she sleeps in the day, the calmer she sleeps at night.
Win win!
I realised a few days ago that I had quite a few new followers in the online world - I've been pretty open with sharing pictures of my wee girl, but after a few odd faces and comments, I decided to make a switch. The blog here will stay as it is, where I can monitor what I put up & how often. But I have removed my previous accounts on Twitter & Instagram and have started over privately on both of those mediums. I could have blocked and removed accounts on both, but I tried that out and it was far too tedious. Easier just to start over.
I know many people don't like to share photos of their little ones, or at least keep more control over their online presence. I've always been fairly open, although I'd like to think sensible, about what I share. The support I received through blogging and other social mediums while I was going through infertility, IVF & then pregnancy was nothing short of amazing, so sharing my ventures into parenthood seems only natural. Besides, I love the advice I get here & reading other people's stories makes me feel that little bit less lonely on the tough days.
Tuesday 27 August 2013
11 Comments •
Labels:
Baby Jag,
Bloggity Blog Blog,
Take a Picture,
Twitterpied
Hubby has started his new job & I'm on my own with Georgia from Monday mornings to Friday nights.
*Stick to a similar routine - upstairs, nappy change, sleeping bag, kiss and cuddle, quick rock, bed.
*Babies can take a while to get to sleep when they're learning to self-settle. Up to 30 minutes! So what I need to do is listen for the type of grizzles and cries she does. The nurse informed me that it's normal to have a tired cry/grizzle/pause routine for a while - as baby gets more tired, the grizzles and pauses will be longer than the crying sessions.
*If Georgia gets MORE distressed and inconsolable, pick her up, soothe & eventually start again.
Friday 23 August 2013
12 Comments •
Labels:
Baby Jag,
Baby Stuff
It's been 20 weeks since Georgia was born, and I'm still learning about motherhood as I go along.
Wednesday 21 August 2013
12 Comments •
Labels:
Baby Jag
Here on the blog, it's been all Georgia, all the time. Not that there's anything wrong with that; she's been the centre of everything since her arrival - but there are other things that have been happening, too.
Hubby has been working overseas in New Zealand quite a bit - what was supposed to be a six week project turned into an ongoing one with no end date in sight. He fought them {using G as his reasoning} and got out of going there consecutively, but those Sunday-Wednesday night weeks were exhausting, for him and for us. He gave his notice in a few weeks ago, and starts his new job next week.
Yep, new job! My clever husband found a new job quite quickly. Sad news is there's a little travelling involved in this one too, but it's interstate in Melbourne, and they're quite happy to fly him back and forth on Monday-Fridays. They've also offered to put him up in a serviced apartment, so that Georgia & I can fly down every now and then to be there with him! This one's for three months, and then he'll be based in Sydney for a change.
I've been trying to get out and about now that Georgia is bigger and has had her second batch of vaccinations. We've visited my old workplace, friends and a few family members, and I've been making an effort to catch up with other local mums that I've met through due-in-groups. There are a few lovely local mums that are very sweet, with babies close to her age. It's so fun seeing them all hanging out together, even though they don't do much other than tummy time & coo-ing at one another. It'll be even better when they're on the move!
Sometimes this motherhood thing can be lonely, though. Apparently having a baby can make you a social leper.
I've been putting my energy into planning Georgia's christening, which is coming up in a couple of weeks. The church is booked, the invitations have been sent out - outfit sort of planned, candle planned. Next up is getting things ready for afterwards at our place. I think Mum & I are going to attempt the cake again, and we'll just grab some sandwich platters & snacks. The biggest question is going to be whether Georgia will fit into my old christening gown, which I'd really love for her to wear - my late Nanna hand-sewed little bows on the dress, and it would mean a lot for her to wear it. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
Speaking of snacks.. I've rekindled my love for my slow cooker. Having a baby that sleeps well at night but hardly naps during the day means that my hands are full nearly all the time - so cooking can be tricky. The slow cooker means that I can throw something into it in the morning and leave it all day... easy peasy. My favourites are apricot chicken & roast meats, but I'm starting to get a bit adventurous. If you have any favourite slow cooker recipes, feel free to point them out to me. There's a roast lamb in mine at the moment & it smells amazeballs.
Since my life has changed so much in the last year, I can't NOT end this post with my beautiful daughter. This exact day last year I was blown away when my second IVF flashed up as PREGNANT on a digital test.
We've come a long way, baby. Georgia is 19 weeks old now, say what?
Monday 12 August 2013
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Baby Jag,
Life in Oz
Tuesday 6 August 2013
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Baby Jag
I feel like I need to make a comment about time going by too fast, but I say it all the time. Later on, I'll rock back and forth in my chair looking at her newborn pictures and cry.. but for now, I'll carry on with this post instead. :)
- Continued to sleep through the night. These past few days she's been up at 5am though, which kind of sucks, but I'm still not complaining. We're really lucky in the sleep department.
- Continued to suck at day sleeps! ;) I've been timing them over the Baby Connect app & she has a pretty poor napping pattern. The community nurses all recommended that she has three main naps per day, but that certainly isn't happening.
- Met some more lovely babies her age & let her mama socialise with other new parents!
- Been shoving her hands in her mouth at any given opportunity. Mmmm, hands.
- Started grabbing her toys and aiming them for her mouth - favourites are Slim Shady {her scrunchy monkey} & her two Lamaze animal toys. She also loves Sophie the Giraffe.
- Smiled constantly! She is super cheerful during the mornings, and is happy as a clam when she is on the change table with her little bum in the air.
- Managed to go a full month without nappy rash. I hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying that out loud...
- Breastfed like a rockstar. We're down to just one 50ml top-up before bed, and some nights she doesn't even want that - she goes straight for the boob, and then straight to sleep in her wrap.
- Has GROWN! We have officially cracked the 6.06kg mark & she is now 61cm long!
- Managed to fill out her 000 clothing with surprising speed; I guess the growth spurt will do that. Some smaller brands, like Bonds Wondersuits, have already grown tight, so she's in 00 for them.
- Been a champion tummy-timer. Her neck is so strong now! I realised that I've been holding her in a hip hold while walking around - it wasn't that long ago that we were ever so cautiously supporting her neck, and now all she wants to do is look around.
- Gone on a car-seat and pram strike. Not a fan of those things at the moment.
Tuesday 30 July 2013
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Baby Jag,
Month-by-Month
We are busy GROWING around these parts! In the last 23 days, Georgia has been busy getting heavier AND longer.
She now weighs 6.06kg & is 61cm long - a big jump from her last weigh in at 5.42kg and 58cm. Huzzah, baby girl!
Wednesday 24 July 2013
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Baby Jag
It's been a while since I talked about how things are going on the feeding front. In fact, the last update was when Georgia was three weeks old! Before you start reading this post, yes, this will talk about boobs. Here's a random baby picture to make it worth your while, if you choose to stop reading here. :)
Tuesday 23 July 2013
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Baby Jag,
Boobs
I still remember buying my first piece of baby clothing. It had owls on it, of course {I still love birdies} and it was fairly gender neutral - although at the time, I was sure Baby Jag would be a boy! It looked like this:
Saturday 20 July 2013
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Baby Jag