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BLOG HIJACK

Thought perhaps we could borrow the blog to keep you all updated on our move the country. Sure, it will also be covered on facebook and probably sky news....

Promises Promises

As Katie mentions below, we'll maybe get back into this this year!

Maybe...

My family

Promise I'll get my bum into gear and post some updates soon, but in the meantime, here we all are, just about to leave for Lola's first birthday party.

First word update

So we've now decided that mama means 'give me food'. She was shouting it at Paul today, while I was holding her and he was getting her lunch ready. And thinking back, the times which she's shouted it at me have been when she's been expecting food.

So Lola's first word might be 'strictly' after all...

The Lola Witch Project

My husband. He just can't help himself.

Food, glorious food

OK, so we've covered sleep. It's about time I penned a word or two about food. One of the (many) other uber important issues in the world of babies.

Rather than go down the classic route when it came to weaning Lola, we opted for the baby-led weaning approach. This meant introducing solid food in its original form - rather than pureeing it and spoonfeeding her - and allowing her to feed herself. However, it wasn't just a case of handing her a slice of pizza. Food had to be well cooked, fruit had to be ripe and items which were a clear choking hazard (nuts and the like) need to be avoided. All common sense really.

She started trying bits here and there when she was about five months, but we began the proper weaning process at about six months. I have to say, it was all very exciting. We were quite lucky in that she tried everything we offered her and she got to grips with the whole food to mouth thing very quickly. I don't think this was a hunger thing at the beginning with Lola, just pure curiosity. Bless her, she does like to know what's going on...

At six and a half months we introduced meat and fish into her diet and by seven months she was eating our meals. For lunch she has what we've eaten for dinner the night before and then I'll rustle something else up for her tea. She has an amazingly varied diet and the nice thing is that we've never had to think too hard about what to buy while shopping, or to plan meals too far in advance. Her appetite is insatiable and I'm shocked to the core on a daily basis by the amount she can put away. Christ knows where she's putting it, the health visitors still tells me she's underweight. It's a good job I don't listen to them...

It's not like me to get massively enthusiastic a baby-related approach or technique, but I really have done about this. It's VERY messy (I used to wear an apron during Lola's mealtimes and still now embark on a serious clean up operation three times a day), but it works for us. I have felt slightly self conscious at times as it's not the most common approach to feeding your baby and some people clearly think you're insane. But it's worth it.

Here's a video of Lola eating her tea today - pasta with cream cheese, prawns and avocados. As you can see mealtimes are an exciting time as they're an opportunity to dance and clap as well as eat. Paul and I have been leading by example...

First word?

So Lola's been making the mamamama and dadadada sounds for a few weeks now. But today, on a few occasions, Lola reached or called out to me and said mama. Paul's absolutely convinced she's aware of what she's saying and considers this her first word, but I'm not so sure.

I need someone to observe it who can give a completely objective standpoint. I shan't be asking my father, as according to him, Lola understands half of the blooming Oxford dictionary. She doesn't, by the way...

Sleepy times

After eight and a half months of motherhood I've decided to write a blog post about Lola's sleeping patterns. I'm forever asking my mother how my sister and I slept as babies but she can't remember. I can now understand how that happens. Three months ago feels like a bit of a blur, 29 years must feel like a big blur. By recording it here I will be in a position to relay it to Lola should she ever ask me.

One of the first things people ask you when they enquire about your offspring, whether they're a friend or random stranger in the post office is, "how does she sleep"? Till fairly recently my response was always "terribly". Or something along those lines.

For the first couple of weeks of her life Lola was up every hour or two at night but it didn't matter. We'd leap out of bed at the first murmur to tend to her and were strangely excited by the fact that she was awake. The novelty soon wore off and serious sleep deprivation kicked in at around weeks 3 and 4. I was completely exhausted and wondering when on earth it was going to stop. I seem to remember week 6 being a turning point - not for Lola as she was still up constantly - but for us (well, certainly for me) as it started to feel normal. Don't get me wrong, I was tired, but it was just a case of feeding her back to sleep (which only took a few minutes) and then jumping back into bed. We were on autopilot and it became everyday stuff.

When she reached about four months the reflux started and that was pure hell. Lola was in pain at night suffering from acid indigestion and as the only thing which could console her was being completely upright - which meant Paul or I needed to be too. It was such a hideous time, which felt like it lasted about three years. In reality it probably lasted about three weeks.

Just before Lola turned six months something shifted and she settled. While she didn't manage it every single night, more often than not she slept from 6.30 to 7ish, waking once for a feed at around 4 or 5am. This was pure heaven for me. I started to go to bed at night looking forward to the stretch of sleep ahead of me, rather than wondering how soon I was going to be up and out of bed again. It felt amazing. Some people still threw me a look or words of sympathy when I explained this was what she was up to, but it was such a huge improvement that I felt like I was staying in a 5 star hotel each night. There's this idea that getting your baby to sleep for 12 hours is the ultimate, but I believe that if getting up once (or however many times) in the night works for you, then what's the problem?

Don't get me wrong, we still had the odd night of hell. We even had the odd few nights of hell - particularly when we spent a couple of weeks away in October. And the bad nights were seriously bad. That's the thing about having it good. Having it bad again is awful.

So seven nights ago the unthinkable happened. We stopped Lola's night feeds and she's slept easily for 12 hours each night. OK, so on two nights we popped our heads in at 4.30 to give her back her rabbit but it's likely she was just making noises in her sleep and we didn't really need to.

It's AMAZING. I feel like a new woman. And I'm also terrified that I've jinxed the entire thing by writing this post. While I'm not naive enough to think that things will be perfect every night going forwards, I'm just hopeful that this is all a step in the right direction. Please, please keep your fingers crossed for the de Cozar Rushforths.

Sssshhh

She's asleep, so as you've no doubt noticed, we're keeping quiet!

More soon,


promise

xxx

On the move

Here's some footage of Lola about a week after she learned to crawl (properly, on her hands and knees). This havoc causing is the order of the day now.



As you can see, her own toys can only distract her momentarily before she heads back to the Playstation III to eject a DVD.

People talk about this phase being realy difficult as you've got to have eyes in the back of your head. I agree you've got to have eyes in the back of your head but I don't think it's difficult, I think it's brilliant. She's gaining so much independence and while I'm the first to admit I never want her to get any bigger, it's amazing to see her grasp new things. She's waving, half clapping (I'll get this on video so you can see what I mean) and standing loads (by pulling herself up on things, not unsupported).

She'll be onto Pythagoras' Theorem before we know it.

The de Cozar ladies...

... get together to celebrate Tara's birthday

España

Our holiday in Spain feels like a million years ago now. Here's an pictoral overview of the very wonderful week that we had.

We stayed in a lovely villa in Nerja. OK, it wasn't this one, but you get the idea.

We ate chirimollas. You may call them custard apples.

Lola spent lots of time with her Nan, Granddad, Aunty and Uncle, so Paul and I did little parenting. Which was LOVELY.


Uncle Steve bought Lola a boat for the pool. Do you think we were being slightly overprotective here?

On me 'ead son

A rare family portrait

Lola decided that splashing in the freezing cold sea with her Daddy was even better than eating spaghetti bolognese

Paul created some sand art, which I was really impressed with

Peas in a pod

La familia visitada. Tito Paco y Tita Maria

Tita Carmen y Lolita

Tita Maria y Lolita

It was a perfect family holday. We went out and we stayed in. We ate and drank lots. It was really hot.

I want to go back.

Great Grandma Stevie

Sadly, Paul's maternal Grandmother, Iris 'Stevie' Hodges died on 28 September, aged 94. If you didn't have the pleasure of meeting her, but you did attend our wedding, you may remember the poem that she wrote and recited (by heart) about our engagement in Venice. The fact that she stood up in front of hundred people and did that at the ripe old age of 91 is very much indicative of the type of person that she was. She was a special and talented lady who we miss very much.

We visited Yorkshire at the end of August and Stevie got to meet her Great Granddaughter for the second time. It was lovely seeing them together. I know that Lola is a sociable baby who gets on with pretty much everyone, but occasionally you'll see her really connect with people and she did just that with her Great Grandma. She kept touching her face and wanted to be held by her, which broke my heart as Stevie wasn't quite strong enough at this stage.

I have some brilliant memories of my Great Nana Smith, but as I was only about two when she died, it's unlikely that they're real ones. They've probably been created by the stories and photographs, but they're just as good as the real thing. We're going to make damn sure that Lola grows up with similar memories.

Spaghetti Bolognese

We just had to record the first time she ate it. She'd got excited about food up till this stage, but this really was something else.

Visiting in Lincoln

Is that Paul, or pie?

September weekend with Mike and Morag

Six months old

Lola was born six months ago today. This feels like a massive milestone, which has sneaked up on us without any warning whatsoever. In some ways, it feels like only yesterday that she came into (and rocked) our world and in some it feels like six years.

She was born by emergency Cesarean section and when it became apparent towards the latter part of the labour that this was going to be the delivery method, I panicked that I wouldn't be able bond as well with our baby, as if he/she'd been born via the normal route. However, I had absolutely nothing to worry about. Even though I only saw her for a few moments after she was born (she was taken back to the ward with her Dad and the midwife while I was stitched up and sent to recovery) I was in a state of euphoria, and so desperate to be with her again. We got down to the maternity ward at about midnight and I spent the whole night clutching hold of her tightly, kissing every inch of her face, smelling her amazing hair (or head, or whatever that intoxicating baby smell is) and feeling so utterly grateful for the fact that she was in our lives. I didn't sleep a wink, but didn't care. I felt so, so lucky to have fallen so hopelessly in love with her, so quickly.

Here's some footage of her lying in bed with me in the maternity wing at Lewisham hopsital, the day after she was born.



I remember thinking that this was the first day of the rest of our lives and that everything was going change. I was right.

And here she is, six months on. Eating breakfast and selecting pieces of banana with that same look of determination which she gets when she's pulling at Paul's chest hairs when she comes into bed with us in the morning. I apologise in advance for the inappropriate bodily function. We still have a thing or two to teach her about table manners.



It's something that all parents say - but the time passes so bloody quickly, it's frightening. I've found myself constantly thinking 'this age is the best, I don't want her to get any bigger' and then enjoying the next phase even more. But this one (six months) is particularly brilliant. Lola is eating now (she's devoured every fruit and vegetable we've put in front of her - along with a few other bits), she's sitting pretty well and is crawling (albeit backwards and commando style).

She's a really, really good little girl (even if we do say so ourselves) and is so incredibly happy. We don't call her smile factory for nothing. Such is her sociable nature that she creates little fan clubs wherever she goes - from the Sainsburys in Sydenham to the florist on Lordship Lane in Dulwich.

Don't get me wrong, we've had our fair share of difficult times, such is the challenging and frustrating nature of child-rearing, but they (almost) pale into insignificance next to the good times.

Happy six month birthday sweetheart. We love you like crazy.