Joseph at 4 months - Monday 20th October

The weaning continues to go very well. He has now tried carrot, sweet potato, pear and banana as well as the baby rice. I think banana has been has favourite so far. Starting solids has also helped to get the little guy into more of a routine. He has milk when he wakes up at around 7am, then a nap around 9am, some baby rice with fruit around 10am, more milk around 11am, another nap at 11.30am, more milk at 3pm, followed by another nap, some veg at 4.30pm, and milk before bed at 7pm with a quick top up at 10pm. He's not quite sleeping through again yet, as he's still suffering with his teeth, and now his tummy as well, but although he's waking up he isn't feeding, so I'm happy with that.

You'll be relieved to hear that "a week in the life" is over, and I will no longer be blogging my days in quite so much detail!

This week, we had Rhythm Time on Monday, as usual. Joseph didn't enjoy it much this week, but he did manage to stay awake. I really need to try and schedule our routine on a Monday so that he is alert for the class. We had to make the decision about what we wanted to do next term, which starts in January. I'll be going to work part-time in February, and will be working Mondays, so we've had to request to change session, to a Tuesday. I think by the time January comes along, he'll be really enjoying it, so it'll be a shame to stop.

Joseph also had his final injections for this round on Monday afternoon. They seemed to upset him more this time, and he was also a little bit grouchy. I'm glad they're over as I hate taking him - I feel so mean. Especially this time, when he had to have three. On Tuesday Sally & Elliot came round for a chat and a play respectively. Unfortuantely Joseph was fast asleep until just before they left, so Elliot had to play on his own! On Wednesday the plumber came to remove the old boiler, and on Thursday we were confined to upstairs whilst the new one was installed. We managed to get out for an hour in the morning to go to the baby clinic. Joseph put on 11oz, so I was really pleased, as I'd been getting pretty concerned, even though he is clearly a healthy, happy baby. On Friday we went to Buggyfit, and yesterday, we went into Macc for the afternoon. Adam bought me a new Singstar game, and we spent yesterday evening playing it. Makes a change from Rock Band!

Joseph has been feeding loads recently and I've even had to feed him in the night again, so we've been counting down to his 17 week birthday to start solids! It finally came on Friday, so yesterday we got the baby rice out. It went surprisingly well. There was no crying, and no spitting and, although not much actually stayed in his mouth, I'm pretty sure he managed to swallow a small amount. We've tried again today, and I would say it was a success. He kept nearly all of it in his mouth and even seemed to enjoy it, whinging for more between spoonfuls. He managed to eat all of the bowl that I made up as well. Very proud of the little man, although he's growing up so quickly.

Joseph wakes for a feed at 5am and we go back to sleep after. Get up around 7.30. Coffee and toast for breakfast. We get dressed, pack our things up and load the car. We leave mum & dad's around 10.45. We visit Adam's Nana & Grandad - Nic and Glenn are there too. We then visit Adam's Gran & Grandad and have lunch with them. On the way home, we stop in at Natalie's to hand over cards and presents for her & Naomi. We leave around 4.45 and arrive home around 6.30pm. Unpacking and washing to do.

Joseph wakes up at 6am for a feed and goes back to sleep until 7.30. Cuppa and croissants for breakfast. Mum and I go into Leicester with Joseph to run a few errands before going to visit my nan. Adam spends the day with family. Joseph spends the afternoon fighting sleep, and finally falls asleep around 5pm. I leave him sleeping downstairs and go for a wallow in the bath. He wakes up, downs his bottle and cries for more, so mum brings him up to me and I feed him in the bath. So much for me time! I wash him and mum takes him off to get him ready for bed while I wash my hair. The little guy starts crying and remains distraught for quite some time. He's over tired. Big time. We walk to the local pub for a meal, hoping that he will fall asleep. He doesn't, so Adam and I walk round the block with him, while mum and dad go ahead. He's still not asleep when we arrive, but he's calm, and eventually drops off while we're at the table. I have a delicous meal of chicken stuffed with stilton with bubble & squeak, rounded off with a chocolate brownie and a cappucino.

7.15 – joseph still asleep. Am feeling good for a better night’s sleep. I get up and start getting on with some jobs for the day. Rinse out bottle and breast pump and put in steriliser. Sort out some paperwork

7.30 – check email, facebook, flickr, blogs, uks

7.50 – make coffee

8.00 – sort photos with yesterday. Cross with myself as only taken 5 pics and all poor quality. The light in this house is so bad.

8.30 – not wanting Joseph to sleep too late, I go upstairs and start pottering, hoping that the noise and my presence will wake him up. He wakes up as I walk up the stairs. I feed him, get him dressed and also dress myself

9.30 – check email, facebook, flickr, blogs, uks. Realise I have to go out to Buggyfit in 45 minutes and haven’t had breakfast yet. Is it too late to cook sausage and bacon?

9.35 – start cooking breakfast

9.55 – eat breakfast

10.00 – feed Joseph

10.20 – head out to Buggyfit

1.00 – arrive home. Chat with Adam on the phone, feed Joseph, eat lunch. Check email, facebook, flickr, blogs, uks

1.30 – start panicking about how much there is to do before we have to head out to mum & dad’s.

1.35 – change Joseph’s nappy, wash up, take a shower, pack the bags. Feed joseph, change nappy again.

3.10 – leave for mum & dad’s. traffic is bad, as get caught up in the school run

5.45 – arrive at mum & dad’s. eat tea. Adam feeds Joseph. Mum & I go out to watch Jekyll & Hyde at the Little Theatre in Leicester.

5.30 – Joseph has been awake for half an hour and is not resettling, so we bring him in to our bed.

5.50 – the little guy goes back to sleep

6.30 – Adam’s alarm goes off and he gets up

6.45 – Joseph wakes up

6.50 – feeding time

7.20 – Adam comes to say goodbye

7.25 – Joseph & I go downstairs and get more goodbye kisses!

7.30 – I make myself a coffee and we go back upstairs. Play with the little man while I drink it

8.00 – I have a shower

8.15 – I get Joseph dressed and then get dressed myself

8.30 – put Joseph to bed

8.45 – he falls asleep. I check email, facebook

9.10 – get ready to go out

9.15 – go to baby clinic. Joseph wakes. He’s only put on 4oz and it’s been 2 weeks since he’s been weighed. Health visitor seems unconcerned, even though I’m worried.

10.40 – arrive home. Joseph sleeps on the way. Peg washing out

10.50 – chat with mum on the phone

11.00 – joseph wakes up and I feed him

11.20 – check email, facebook, flickr, blogs, uks

11.30 – put lunch on. Change nappy, and top as he’s been sick

12.00 – eat lunch of pasta in sauce. Order photos online for a present.

12.10 – get ready to go out

12.15 – leave for nursery, via the petrol station

12.45 – arrive at work. Spend a few hours at nursery, chatting with my friends and letting joseph get used to the environment. Sarah gives him a bottle at 2pm.
3.50 – arrive home. Joseph sleeping

4.10 – joseph wakes and is distraught. I give him lots of cuddles and apply teething gel.

4.35 – joseph calms down and is playing on the floor

4.45 – check email, facebook, flickr, blogs, uks

5.00 – bring in the washing. Joseph starts to get whingey, so we play. I sort the laundry, Adam comes home, I make tea, feed Joseph, we eat tea, bath Joseph, put him to bed, look through some old photos, talk to the plumber on the phone about the new boiler, sit down and look at our finances and sort out the insurance claim from when the car got broken in to.

9.05 – our time is finally our own!

4.45 – Joseph is awake and won’t go back to sleep. Bring him in to our bed. After half an hour or so he starts to wind down and I think he’s close to sleep, so I return him to his own bed. He’s not impressed, so take him back out for a cuddle. He’s now decided he’s hungry, so I feed him. He falls asleep and I return him to his cot. This seems harder than when he was newborn.

6.00 – return to bed. Adam’s alarm clock goes off after half an hour and I do my best to stay asleep while he gets up, without ignoring him totally.

7.30 – adam comes to say goodbye and I go back to sleep properly

8.20 – joseph wakes up. He’s full of smiles as I change his nappy and dress him. I do my best to forget my tiredness.

8.30 – I go and make a coffee and return to the bedroom, laptop in hand

8.45 – Joseph is hungry. I feed him while checking email, facebook, flickr, blogs, uks. He falls asleep on my lap.

9.10 – I risk moving the little guy. Procrastinate on the internet

9.30 – get dressed

9.40 – I text Sally to make plans for later and she calls back, which wakes Joseph.

9.45 – still not dressed, what have I been doing for the last 15 minutes?

10.00 – go downstairs to make breakfast. The plumber arrives to take details for a quote for a new boiler. Eat breakfast, wash up, make coffee

11.10 – check email, facebook, flickr, blogs, uks.

11.15 – play with Joseph

11.30 – put the little guy to bed. Sort laundry – it’s never ending!

11.50 – he falls asleep. Clean & tidy bedroom

12.15 – make lunch

12.20 – just as I take my first bite, Joseph wakes up. Bring him downstairs then eat whilst browsing the web

12.40 – using notes from this week, start analysing Joseph’s routine

12.55 – change nappy

1.00 – feeding time

1.20 – get ready to go out
1.30 – go out with Sally & Elliot to the Discovery Centre. Very interesting to see lots of old pictures of Bollington

3.10 – arrive home and sit outside with a glass of juice and a choc ice

3.20 – the little guy starts getting whingey so we go inside.

3.25 – check email, facebook, flickr, blogs, uks

3.30 – play with Joseph

4.00 – feed the little guy

4.30 – go out to meet Adam from work

5.45 – return home. Have drink outside.

5.50 – Joseph starts crying big time

6.00 – Adam gives Joseph his bottle while I go to the chippy

6.30 – I return home. Joseph starts crying as soon as he sees me.

6.45 – Joseph is getting increasingly upset, but doesn’t seem hungry. Got a glimpse of broken skin on his bottom gums, so filled his mouth with teething gel! We suspected he was teething a couple of weeks ago, so it's good to see we were right. He fell asleep fully clothed on Adam, so we've put him to bed without a bath and PJs for now, as we get him up at 10pm for a feed anyway

7.15 – settle down on the sofa with a glass of wine.

6.05 – Joseph wakes, I go and get him and bring him to our bed for his feed

6.30 – Adam’s alarm goes off and he gets up. Me and the little guy go back to sleep

7.30 – adam comes to say goodbye, and joseph wakes up. Poo! He woke lots in the night and I’m shattered (even though Adam was the one who got up most of the time!) and was hoping for a bit more shut eye.

8.00 – change joseph’s nappy and get him dressed. He starts crying just before I finish. I need a shower, so getting dressed myself will have to wait til he’s in a better mood. We go downstairs, I put the playmat down, turn on the tv, but the little man is still whingy

8.15 – I give in and feed Joseph. He definitely seems more hungry now, and I guess weaning isn’t far away.

8.30 – put joseph back on his playmat, and he seems happy again now. Check email, facebook, flickr, blogs, uks

8.40 – chat with adam on the phone

8.45 – watch piece about HSM3 on BBC breakfast

8.55 – send message to a friend

9.00 – watch Dawn French on BBC Breakfast

9.15 – take joseph upstairs and put him to bed.

9.20 – take a shower and get dressed

9.50 – laundry. Horrible weather today, and coupled with no heating, I’m not sure how I’ll get it dry. Check email, facebook, flickr, blogs, uks

9.55 – make and eat breakfast of porridge, orange juice & coffee

10.15 – joseph wakes up. He’s got a dirty nappy, so I change him before taking him downstairs.

10.30 – joseph is still crying. Hungry. Again. I feed him while watching Supernanny. 2 hourly feeding is going to drive me nuts!

10.55 – check email, facebook, flickr, blogs, uks

11.00 – feeling tired an unmotivated to do very much today

11.10 – feeling peckish, so make myself a coffee and grab a banana

11.20 – cuddle up with the little man on the sofa and watch some tv

11.55 – put joseph to bed

12.00 – put another load of laundry on. Check email, facebook, flick, blogs, uks

12.05 – can’t decide between getting some rest myself while the little guy sleeps, or ploughing on with the housework so I can rest later. Adam will be home late as it’s his badminton night

12.10 – make lunch

12.30 – chat with adam on the phone. Boiler is terminal and we will need a new one. Eat lunch of pasta in sauce

12.40 – I try and find places to hang wet clean laundry to dry

12.55 – joseph wakes and I take him downstairs

1.00 – I start working on some household admin

1.30 – I feed Joseph then change his nappy

1.50 – check email, facebook, flickr, blogs, uks

2.00 – I continue with the household admin

2.20 – chat with adam on the phone. Chat with mum on the phone

2.30 – check email, facebook, flickr, blogs, uks

2.45 – put Joseph to bed

2.50 – bravely peg washing on line

3.00 – Joseph still awake so I stay upstairs with him til he goes off

3.15 – chat with adam on the phone

3.20 – check email, facebook, flickr, blogs, uks

3.30 – make drink of hot honey & lemon – my throat is really sore. Devour 2 fun size boxes of smarties

3.35 – return to the admin whilst watching Countdown

3.45 – knock on the door from, Luke – it’s raining, so dash out and bring the washing in

3.50 – Joseph wakes up. Go and fetch him and bring him down. Play with him

4.05 – return yet again to the admin – rain is lashing down
4.10 – feed joseph

4.30 – change the little guy’s nappy

4.35 – put washing in tumble dryer

4.40 – little man whingey, so abandon all hope of getting any more jobs done until after he’s gone to bed for the night!

4.45 – I play with the little guy, chat on the phone with mum, cook my tea, eat my tea, prepare a bath for Joseph (not an easy task with no running hot water), bath Joseph, get him ready for bed, feed him, put him to bed, put the wet laundry on the airer, make the bed, fold the dry laundry, put more wet laundry on the airer, sort the rubbish, tidy the kitchen, fold the dry laundry from the tumble dryer, clean the lounge and sweep and mop the downstairs floors.

7.45 – collapse on the sofa with the Sky remote and a glass of sherry!

Today's pictures are here

*I would like to say that I've been using a Word document to keep track of what I'm doing and that on a normal day my computer wouldn't be on all day and so my internet usage would be considerably lower. When its on I just can't help myself!*

I'm taking part in this project this week, and today is my first day. I'm sure I won't post a full run down like this every day, but this is what I've done today:

6.25am – Joseph wakes. I go and get him up and change his nappy

6.30am – Adam’s alarm goes off as I bring Joseph into our room for his feed. Adam gets up.

6.45am – Joseph finishes feeding and I lay him down next to me in our bed

7.00am – clock radio goes off – listening to Chris Moyles

7.30am – Adam comes in to say goodbye to us both. Joseph cries when Adam kisses him – his little face just crumples. (Adam’s just had a week off work and today is his first day back. Does the little guy know what’s going on, or is he just tired?)

7.45am – I get up and take photos of each room as it looks at the start of the day. A real mess after a few days away and from having Adam at home during the day!

8.00am – Joseph falls asleep. Still in our bed. I check my email, facebook, flickr, blogs and UKS

8.15am – go downstairs and cook breakfast and start tidying things up. Jamie Oliver talking on radio about his Ministry of Food show

8.40am – eat breakfast of sausage, bacon & beans

8.50am – make coffee and go back upstairs to get dressed

9.05am – little man wakes up and has a kick about on his playmat while I straighten my hair

9.30am – do laundry

9.35am – dress Joseph

9.45am – Joseph’s world ends for the first time today, as he is put down while I go to the loo and get myself a drink before feeding him

9.50am – feed Joseph while watching Supernanny. Cuddles with the little man

10.35am – get ready to go out to Rhythm Time

10.45am – pick Sally & Elliot up

11.00am – Rhythm Time

11.25am – Joseph falls asleep and misses the last 10 minutes

11.35am – drive home, dropping Sally & Elliot off on the way

12.00 – arrive home – let Tigger in. Open post

12.05 – Joseph wakes up

12.10 – check email, facebook, flickr, blogs, uks

12.15 – hang washing out to dry and put another load in machine to make the most of the beautiful weather

12.30 – eat lunch of jacket potato and beans – more Supernanny

1.00 – feed Joseph and have some cuddles

1.15 – change Joseph’s nappy

1.20 – chat with Adam on the phone

1.30 – put Joseph to bed. Check email, facebook, flickr, blogs, uks

1.35 – attempt to make bed but fail, as Tigger is sleeping on it

1.40 – clean loo and wash basin. Finish making bed now that contrary cat has moved

1.45 – look up book on library website. Joseph falls asleep

1.50 – head back downstairs to tidy up

2.30 – joseph wakes. Check email, facebook, flickr, blogs, uks

2.35 – bring Joseph downstairs and put him in his bouncy chair while I finish off my jobs

3.00 – washing machine finishes so go outside to peg laundry out. Put Joseph on his playmat in the lounge while I finish off in the kitchen

3.30 – jobs complete, I sit down with a hot chocolate and watch a bit more Supernanny while I check email, facebook, flickr, blogs, uks

3.45 – cuddles with the little guy

4.00 – feeding time

4.20 – change nappy

4.30 – go out for a walk to meet Adam

5.30 – arrive home, have a drink, bring the washing in and start preparing tea

5.50 – check email, facebook, flickr, blogs, uks

6.05 – Adam joins me in the kitchen to make his lunch for tomorrow

6.15 – tea is served

6.30 – tea over, I prepare joseph’s bottle and begin tidying the kitchen

6.40 – adam feeds joseph while I wash up

7.00 – adam tries to run Joseph a bath, but discovers the boiler is broken

7.20 – joseph goes to bed. I check my email, facebook, flickr, blogs, uks while I wait for him to go to sleep

7.35 – little man fast asleep, I head downstairs to spend the evening snuggled up on the sofa with my husband

Photos can be found here

No photo today as I'm blogging from Adam's computer.

We've had a lovely week. As we didn't leave for The Lakes until after lunch, I made a last minute decision to take Joseph to Rhythm Time. He was a bit sleepy though, as he hadn't had much of a sleep beforehand. But, both Sally and I noticed that the boys were more involved this week. They were both keen to hold the instruments (although not so keen to let them go again), which is something they struggled with before. Joseph's head control is finally improving too (Elliot's has always been very good) and he is starting to enjoy seeing the world from an upright perspective, which is nice, as it means I get more cuddles too!

When we arrived (we went to Haven holiday park) we had to wait an hour before check-in, so after feeding Joseph in the car (!) we went for a coffee. We had a brief explore and were disappointed with the facilities. A lot seemed to be closed as we were out of season, and everything seemed a little run-down and shabby. We checked in and found our caravan. Fortunately we were much happier with the caravan than with the site in general. We were able to move one of the twin beds in the second bedroom so that we could set the travel cot up, giving Joseph a room of his own, which we weren't sure we would be able to do. The caravan itself was well equipped and comfortable, although we found the bed a little small, especially in the mornings when Joseph joined us after his first feed, as we have a king size at home. Still, at least we didn't have the cat aswell!

On Tuesday we went to Barrow in Furness for the day. It's always nice to go shopping in a different town. We stopped off at Asda on the way home, and spent too much! We used to shop at Asda before we moved, but there's not a convenient one for us now and we really miss it. We got some pyjamas, t-shirts and a hoodie for Joseph, a jumper for Adam and several DVDs, as well as the basic groceries we went in for.

We had originally planned to take Joseph swimming every day, but the facilities were not as I imagined them. I thought the pool would be open all day and that there would be sun loungers and chairs around so that it would be an area for relaxing. Unfortunately it was just a pool, and was only open from 10-12 and then from 2-4. On Wednesday we decided we'd take the little man for a dip, but unfortunately the opening times didn't fit in with his nap and feeding times, so we didn't make it as there would've been little point in taking him if he was tired and/or hungry.

We had a lovely few days spending time as a family, but it was very cold at night and Joseph wasn't sleeping well. He was waking pretty much every hour from 1am onwards, so consequently we were all pretty tired. The little guy was also refusing to sleep in the day, so he was absolutely shattered! So, on Thursday morning, after checking the thermometer in Joseph's room and finding it to be a mere 11C, I suggested that we come home early. As we needed to check out by 10am on Friday anway, we'd have only be staying another night for the sake of it, so I thought it would be best if we came returned to the land of central heating!

Joseph slept much better on that night, and again last night, so I'm sure it was the cold disturbing him. I'm also trying to get him back in to some kind of routine in the day, as he really does have a lot of sleep to catch up on. Yesterday we went to the Trafford Centre and I went out for a meal with the girls from work. Joseph was a bit of a monkey for his daddy at bedtime, having a massive screaming fit, but by the time I picked up the messages, he had fallen asleep! He only slept for around an hour and then spent the rest of the night awake til I came home, fed him and put him back to bed - he's certainly got his daddy wrapped round his little finger!

Today has felt very Sundayish to both Adam and myself, so its nice to know that there's still a day of the weekend left.