Getting old

I've never been a party animal but I am definitely getting old these days.

To be fair, when I was younger all I ever wanted was to have a family to look after and that's exactly what I've got. I've had such an average type of day today but I feel so happy and lucky, despite the fact that I'm feeling a teensy bit old.

I had a really busy morning at work, but I know that I taught two really good lessons and I know that the children really learnt something from what we did today...always a good start!! I then had lunch at my mum's and had a chat before taking a sleepy boy home for his nap. I was shattered so decided to join him and we had a lovely snooze together for an hour. When Henry wakes up he's always in a gorgeous mood and today was no different. We snuggled, sang and played in bed for a while and my little one was all smiles...

After we got up, I started tea: sausage and bean casserole. We eat this a lot as we all (Henry included) love it so much. All the ingredients were from the farm shop at the weekend. You really know you're getting old when you get a lot of pleasure over organic ingredients and getting 10 different vegetables into one meal!!

We're all off out for a dog walk now while we wait for tea to cook and then we're having a quiet night in. I don't wish I was going out for dinner and drinks or a wild night out, I have all I need right here with me...even if that does make me old.

Miller and Carter Newcastle

When we lived in Essex we lived within walking distance to a Miller and Carter restaurant. It was one of our favourite places to go and despite pretty slow service (but really lovely staff), the food was divine. I've never had a better steak and neither has Mr B, so it's fair to say we've missed it since living up north. Until now our nearest M&C has been in Leeds, but a few months ago we found out that they were opening one in Newcastle. It opened earlier this week so it was only a matter of time before we visited.

We decided to go for lunch today despite eating out yesterday as well. We chose Ask Italian in Durham yesterday and generally it was really disappointing...again. The service is never good there and they weren't particularly helpful with Henry. In fact they charged us £6.25 for a full 4 course children's menu even though I'd only asked for the main course which they had said was no problem! Annoying. They were also quite happy to watch my husband on his hands and knees scrubbing the floor with baby wipes to pick up every crumb that Henry had dropped. I'm quite happy to clean up after Henry but usually staff come straight over with a dustpan and brush and tell us to not be so silly. I'd always assume that chain Italians would be the most family friendly places to go but this weekend has totally proved that wrong. 

Miller and Carter couldn't have been better. They gave us a lovely big table in the corner with a highchair that pushed right under the table (unlike Ask, hence the mess!). I was a bit worried that Henry would get food all over the lovely new carpets but he was actually remarkably clean today. The waiter chatted away to Henry and seemed really interested in him. He complimented us on how well behaved he was and was surprised at how much he was eating! The children's menu was basically small versions of the adults' menu and so we chose grilled chicken, vegetables and chips for Henry; all easy things for him to pick up and eat by himself while we enjoyed our lunch. We'd had nachos to start so dipped his chips in our guacamole and he ate loads. He was so well behaved and in such a happy mood, we were really proud to have him with us.

From an allergy point of view they were so helpful too. I didn't feel like I was being a pain at any point by asking for no dairy or egg and the waiter didn't make a big fuss about it, but made sure we knew that he'd let the kitchen know and it was all fine. The steak was so good, even without the tasty herby butter. I had beef dripping sauce on my steak for the first time (usually a creamy peppercorn girl) and it was divine!! 

The restaurant itself was really posh with some gorgeous furniture. It seems to have a bull theme going on with plenty of pictures and art work around the building. The bar looked gorgeous, hopefully Mr B and I might be able to visit on our own soon and have a few cocktails sitting in the tartan bar stools by the bar which I was admiring today.

Overall we were so impressed, we'll definitely be back soon. The same definitely can't be said for Ask in Durham which is a shame.

Now to dig out my trainers, I need to go for a run this afternoon after all this eating out...

More Little Bits of Life

Clockwise from top left of each square:

Busy boy messing up the lounge

Don't take balloons away from babies 

Afternoon snuggles with mummy

Selfie

Finally some 'me' time and blonde hair again!

The Gruffalo at Hamsterley 

Henry watching The Gruffalo's Child

Cute little pigwidgeon

Amazing popcorn

Family stroll

Henry's cab

Would we even describe this as a stick?

Big boy in his new chair

Farm shop haul

Pollo Pancetta salad in Ask

Pigs at Knitsley

Saturday lunch with my boys

Bottomless Pit

The title of this blog post is referring to my child's stomach; I just can't fill him at the moment. He's drinking milk like there's no tomorrow, day and night. He's eating so much food, I don't think he's ever actually full.

Today he's eaten:

A bowl of porridge

Half a banana

3 rings of fresh pineapple

Raisins

A slice of apple cake 

A mini Oreo

Pea and mint soup

Trout pâté on toast (this makes me feel physically sick but he likes it)

Bread bun dipped in tomato soup (stolen from my lunch)

An iced fruit bun (the only non dairy item in M&S cafe!)

Ham and houmous on toast

BBQ chicken with rice, peas and sweetcorn

Asparagus spears, broccoli, butternut squash, carrot and baby corn

A large wedge of watermelon

Fresh mango

A bowl of shreddies

6 boob feeds 

Now that looks like an awful lot of food for a one year old to me. I'm really hoping there's a big growth spurt at this age, otherwise he's just turning into a greedy boy and our food shop is going to be a lot more expensive from now on! I'm so glad he'll eat anything, at least I'm not worrying about him eating too much plain pasta or toast...it's just a challenge varying his food so much when he's eating all day long. After writing this I counted 15 different fruits and vegetables that he's eaten today, so there are some positives about a baby that eats a lot I suppose!  Looks like a big food shop in Tesco for us this weekend...

The downside to our busy birthday weekend

After a really busy week and weekend celebrating Henry's birthday, a really stressful and hectic few days at work, no lie in for a fortnight and an average of about 4 hours sleep a night in the last week...I'm ill...again. My immune system is totally shot to pieces and I'm feeling really sorry for myself. 

Henry is feeding non-stop after his sickness bug and I'm obviously giving him all of the goodness from my body and not getting enough myself. That combined with the lack of sleep and working in a school surrounded by over 300 children carrying various germs, and I'm feeling really poorly. Just a cold, but enough to make everything feel like really hard work. I'm currently lying on the sofa joined by a hungry one year old who is feeding for the millionth time today despite eating a huge dinner just an hour ago. Ho hum.

So it's a bath and an early night for me, some vitamin tablets and plenty vitamin c in the form of orange juice and a massive wedge of watermelon. Let's hope

they do the trick in time for the weekend.

Henry's 1st Birthday Party

We had Henry's first birthday party the day before his birthday, on Saturday 20th. Although we kept the numbers to an absolute minimum and only had very close friends and family, we still ended up with 25 people coming! I'm so glad we didn't invite anyone else though, we knew everyone who came so well, so we didn't feel stressed or harassed; we knew everyone would help themselves to whatever they needed and so we were able to just enjoy every minute of our little one's birthday celebrations.

We got most of the food from M&S, which I can't recommend highly enough. I then made some cupcakes and scones to go with it, as well as Henry's owl birthday cake. With the party being at 4pm, we had an afternoon tea theme with the food: finger sandwiches, cakes, tarts and scones. 

We had an owl theme for the party, mainly because Henry's nickname is Pigwidgeon, after Ron's owl in Harry Potter. I decided to do an egg and dairy free owl birthday cake for Henry too. Originally I was going to buy a cake but I felt really sad that Henry (and I) wouldn't be able to eat any...especially with it being his birthday after all! So I found a great vegan chocolate cake recipe and it was actually really simple to do.

In terms of decorations we had lots of balloons around the place and I'd also ordered some Polaroid style photos from Polargram which we strung up around the house. I really recommend Polargram too, the photos were £12 for 48 and they came directly from my Instagram account which made ordering so easy. Everyone commented on how lovely they were too and I'm going to put them away in Henry's memory box now the party's over.

We had such a lovely time and I'm so glad we were able to celebrate Henry's birthday with so many lovely people. Like I say, it wasn't remotely stressful and we made lots of happy memories with family and friends. I dare say it'll probably be the calmest of Henry's birthday parties...I'm positively dreading his 5th birthday party...5 year old boys really are a special breed!! Oh well, I have a little time to prepare myself before then.

Henry at 12 months

Wow, a whole year old. This will be the last update I do for a while as the milestones don't tend to be as frequent as they were in the first year. I'll try and do one every 6 months or so.

Weight: I had Henry weighed a month ago at our health visitor review and he was 22lb 9oz then. I'd think he'll be almost 23 pounds now. His weight gain has definitely slowed down considerably and he's not such a chunky monkey these days. I have to say, I definitely miss those gorgeous thigh rolls and wrist creases but it's nice that his clothes fit him for longer than a few weeks before needing the next size.

Routine: Henry's routine hasn't changed since last month. He has two naps which are really flexible, one longer one (around 90 minutes) and one shorter one (around half an hour). He then goes to bed at 7:30 after his bath.

Food: He's just amazing with food. He'll still eat anything, he's happy to be spoon fed if we're in a hurry, he's great at feeding himself, he'll try anything new. He's been so easy when it's come to food. We've started ordering for him in restaurants too which is lovely. Wagamamas is great and he loves tomatoey spaghetti in any Italian restaurant. He's still allergic to milk and eggs though but we've been referred to a dietician and allergist at the hospital, so hopefully we'll know more about that soon.

Sleep: Henry's sleep is still not great. Last week he was only waking up once, around 3:30am, for a feed. I was really happy with this and hoped it might be the start of a new routine, but this week he's feeding constantly from about 4:30am until our alarm goes off at 6am, so I'm shattered! We'll get there.

Sizes: Henry is in 12-18 month clothes and size 4+ nappies. We haven't had his feet measured since July so I'm not sure what size he is now.

Milestones: 

• Henry talks all day. "Boo" is definitely his favourite word, he says it all the time and thinks he's hilarious. He's started saying George when he sees the dog and can say Marmar too. Aside from these words, he just constantly babbles and shouts if he's being ignored.

• He now has 7 teeth through, so cute.

• Henry now points at things that he wants or he wants to show us. If we ask him where things are, he'll show us by pointing. His favourites are any lights in the house and some pretty little butterflies in my mum's kitchen. He also points and cries if he wants something that he isn't allowed...a packet of Oreos for example!

• Henry can walk with his walker and holding one of our hands but isn't walking on his own yet. He can stand up unsupported but usually just drops straight down to crawl away!

So that's my baby boy's last update for his first year. I think he's just amazing, no more amazing than any other baby or child, but amazing nonetheless. I love watching him grow and learn new things every day and can't wait for all the new milestones in the next year.

Happy Birthday Henry

Happy first birthday to my beautiful baby boy. You have made this year the best ever; full of love, laughter, smiles, mess, tears and pure joy. I love you more than you will ever know. Mummy xxx

Henry's 1st Birthday, in photos

Birthday breakfast - Rice Krispies and chocolate birthday cake!

Look at all these presents 

Henry getting stuck in

Second birthday breakfast at Marmar's

And more presents! 

Tired out by 10am. Nap time with Mummy and Daddy

Lunch time at Wagamama 

Mmm cherry ice lollies for dessert

Fun at the soft play centre

And at the farm too

Nap time with Mummy

Sitting on his new big boy chair

What a spoilt boy 

Our new bedtime story. Makes Mummy cry every time 

Fast asleep as a one year old 

Mummy and Daddy's tea, we'd been so busy we had no time to cook and realised we were totally starving once Henry was in bed! Washed down with a glass of prosecco.

A whole year of Henry

I downloaded the Collect app when Henry was first born and decided to take at least one photo of him every day for his first year. He's grown up so quickly and it's lovely to go back through these photos to look at how he's changed day by day, month by month. Here is my baby's first year...

Hurry up Autumn!

I've been on the hunt for a mustard yellow, cosy winter jumper for ages, but couldn't find the right one. I found a gorgeous one but it was expensive and hand wash only, found a lovely one but it had a zip down the back; perfect for catching my hair in all day long, I found a cheap one in H&M that was sold out until October and one in M&S that was on the green side of mustard...not a good look.

Then my sister in law found this bad boy in Sainsburys for £18, what a bargain! And best of all, it's perfect and just what I was looking for.

I've got a Topshop vest underneath with a pretty lace collar and I'm so desperate to wear it with this jumper. Hurry up cold Autumn days!!

Jumper, £18, TU at Sainsburys 

Lace collar vest top, £16, Topshop

A year ago

A year ago today I had woken up in the middle of the night with contractions. We'd had a lazy morning, me pacing the living room and watching tv, Mr B timing contractions and tying up loose ends with work so he could take his paternity leave. We were both totally calm which took me by surprise; more than anything we were just so excited to meet our baby.

This morning I spent the morning sorting out the house for Henry's party and cooking lots of tasty treats. I did get 10 minutes to just sit down and watch tv with him though and I just can't get over how much our lives have changed in one year. Above all, I just feel incredibly lucky to be his mummy.

17th September - Henry's due date

I don't think I'll ever forget the 17th September, it was the date I was obsessed with and focused on for most of last year. A date people constantly asked about and one that we counted down to for weeks. The date our baby was supposed to arrive.

But of course he didn't arrive then, he made us wait for another 4 days. I actually went into labour when I was 2 days overdue so it wasn't too bad at all, I certainly wasn't one of those really fed up  overdue women you hear about who are two full weeks past their due date. 

Being realistic certainly helped, due dates are a guess based on all kinds, mainly your last period or scan measurements. I didn't expect it to be the date I'd give birth on, but I know of some people who never consider that they'll go past that date that they've got set in their heads. It must be especially hard if you've gone right through your pregnancy expecting a baby by a certain date and then you get to that date and all you have is 3 stone of extra weight, hideous heartburn and a 9 pound child trying to punch its way out of your already over-stretched tummy. Like I say, I was pretty realistic about it all and I didn't have too many overdue days to sit and stew about it.

Interestingly, in France a woman's due date would be calculated a whole week later than in England or America. There, they see pregnancy as a 41 week journey, not just 40 weeks like we do. Women of different ethnicities also have differing average pregnancy gestations. Black and Asian women having the shortest (around 39 weeks), with white Caucasian women having an average gestation of around 41 weeks. Totally bizarre. First babies also tend to be later than subsequent babies, yet we are all given a due date based on 40 weeks of pregnancy.  The more you research it, the more you realise how inaccurate it is, it's simply a 'best guess' if you like. Ultimately, only your body will decide when it's ready to deliver your baby, no amazing sonogram technology or ovulation monitoring can give you a perfectly accurate date.

So if you're reading this and you're overdue, the advice I'd give you is to have a long bath, put your feet up and eat some tasty treats and focus on something else if you can. Of course it's frustrating waiting around and the 'not knowing' bit kills you...but just try to enjoy your last few days with your bump and trust your body that it'll know when to get things moving.