Bethany Update - Month 19

We go from walking to now running, we go from cheeky to mischief, forget turning my back to do anything while she's awake ever again!

This month was discovering the new freedom she had with being mobile. Trying to keep her in her pushchair is now proving a huge challenge, so I have dug out the reins we got given for Christmas. Her first trip with them was along our local road after some rain. She has never seen puddles before and was soon jumping up and down in the muddy puddles and covering herself. She was soon covered in mud and water but had the biggest grin on her face.

Beth has (at the last count) 4 molars breaking through with two more of her front teeth starting to show. One minute she'll be fine and the next crying in pain, her appetite also goes up and down. We have temporarily give some extra milk if she hasn't eaten much as well as some softer foods so it doesn't cause her too much distress. I also am bulking buying teething powder!

Her babbling is becoming less babble and is now starting to mimic when I talk, which is really exciting. There are words trying to emerge and is proving to be a bit of a chatter box, nattering away to random people. I love the way people just talk to her back!



Lunch with Doggie

As you can see there is a lot of boxes in the background in a few pictures. We have brought a house and just weeks away from completion. We are off to South Yorkshire!

I am a Star

A few months I wrote that I was nominated for an award for the volunteer work I do with the NCT, well I found out Sunday that I won! (Inserts cheesy photo with certificate).

"Helen is doing great work in promoting the branch locally. She deals with all parents’ membership enquiries and also manages the branch’s social media presence. She makes sure everything on Facebook is up to date and regularly posts relevant articles and starts general discussion threads aimed at engaging parents. She has also set up and run live Twitter chats and we have many more followers and Facebook visitors. Helen also volunteers at Nearly New Sales and has made a huge contribution to making the branch reach more parents."

It was and still is a huge shock, to me I don't do a lot and anybody else would do the same. I just want to be a support to parents and makes friends myself. This now means I go into the national nominations announced on 20th October at House of Lords. I had enough problems worrying about my outfit for an regional training session, this goes out of the stratosphere!

A huge thank you to Katie, Jodie, and Tessa (with Jenni, Henry and Charlie) who came along too and made our district the noisiest ones there! All 4 other nominations for the team got High Commended in their categories and this was us receiving the one for Helen D, our hard working branch coordinator. Such a wonderful day and a great reminder of the hard work that everyone puts in for the charity.

Bethany Update - Month 18

I spent many months wondering when Beth was going to walk and leave crawling behind, I'm glad to say we are finally there. A week after my last update she started to gain her confidence walking and over the next few weeks her crawling got less to nothing. There is a another side to this as one day chasing her I slammed into out chair and fractured my little toe chasing her to stop before SHE hurt herself. This now is added to the fractured nose I got over Christmas last year when she hit me with the TV remote.

I had her weighed recently and she is still a petite 16lbs 5ozs (she still can wear some of her 6 - 9 month clothing!) but I think that may change as she of seemed of got her appetite back. She will eat her food and then hand over the plate seemingly asking for more (or sniff round anyone else's food). Peas are still the favourites but don't mix them with anything else or she'll know and dribble it out.

Beth loves being outdoors now she can explore, pointing to things, feeling them and seeing what they do. It's a wonderful but tiring development, especially if she's going for a walk round. It's a still a wonderful thing to see, dogs are her favourites or "daw" as she calls them. We went for a tea once in a cafe and I was wondering why she was going nuts and pointing outside. There was 5 dogs having a rest and she wanted to met them all, give them a stroke.

Much to my joy she also seems to of taken a liking to anything on four wheels. put out a trike and she's in heaven. Of course she's starting to get the hang of real cars, at this rate she'll be driving before me....

Bethany Update - Months 16/17

I have been paranoid the past few months about Beth's walking, talking, well development generally. It feels like we take one step forward and a few steps back. She started getting more confident in walking and then for about two weeks she refused to do it (even for chocolate!). Today as I write this we went to my friend's Christening and she wanted to walk the whole day amongst the trees and grass, to then go on to walked the length of our flat back and forth for nearly an hour.

I do wonder that the walking hiatus is because she wanted to concentrate on her talking, her know words are much more clearer like Mama, Dada, Nana and No. She has also been trying newer words but they are not quite developed yet. I can see her frustration at me not understanding her and this can be upsetting for us, this can cause times where I cannot cope with her.

Another milestone was reached as I finally got her haircut for the first time so she could see through her fringe. She was the perfect little girl, didn't even flinch, a very proud Mummy.

It has not helped that we both been ill again, Hubby and I contracted norovirus the beginning of June and I have been suffering another cold (I think we are up to number 4?) after Beth had it for a week. If it's going round, at least one of use while come down with it.

We did have a rest bite from illness and went to Weymouth for her first walk on the sand thanks to my parents. Weymouth was where I used to go for my seaside holiday every year with my parents and they wanted to carry it on with Beth. I think she had a good time, played in the sand (without eating it), as well as wanting to walk round Monkey World. It was a welcome break to see my old haunts.

 

Shortlisted for NCT Stars Award

I have been volunteering for NCT for over a year now, and am about to be voted in for another year. It's been an interesting year, I started just for something to do to stop myself being brain washed by CBeebies and use the skills I already had in customer service. The branch was needing new blood and new thinking, I was shocked to find that in this day of age, social media wasn't being ultilised to communicate not only with their members and the community.

A few months after my introduction I took over their social media pages and am very proud of the growth they've experianced over the past year. I still get chills when I read the stats, all those, "Are you on our Facebook?" questions has been worth it. I haven't done it alone, the team have stepped up and chipped in their ideas and posts when I haven't been able to and they've done a better job than me in some circumstances.

Beth this week has had another bad cold, keeping me up until silly times in the morning. Friday was no exception, I crawled into bed at 8am and woke at 11am to find an email in my inbox annouching the short list for NCT Star Awards for the South region. The awards are acknowledgment to the volunteers and am nominated by your colleages and parents who we help. As a district we had 5 nominations, the highest other than one other district nationally, some amazing hard working people in there.

Imagine my surprise to see my name appear towards the bottom.

I have never, ever been shortlisted for any award ever, and it's even better it's for something that I really love doing and feel like I am giving support to people who felt just as lost as I do/did as a parent. The results are on 12th July at the end of a training day, with the winners going to the national awards. I am also shortlisted with another blogger who works for the Aylesbury district, Cassanda from Mummy on a Budget so if I don't win, then it would be nice to see her win it.

I do want to thank people for my nominations, it really does mean a huge amount, a lot of people forget that we volunteer our free time to make sure that their playgroups and Nearly New Sales happen. The amount of work that goes on behind that scenes is significant but we do have a huge laugh doing it and the team we have is just amazing.

Bethany Update - Month 15

 We have had our first, unsteady little steps on our 15 month birthday. She stepped away from Hubby and did a few steps towards me, we made a huge fuss and chocolate buttons were rewarded. For the next half an hour all she wanted to do was take a few steps between us, getting to the point she was turning herself around to go again. Beth slept very well that night.

 Before this we conquered the stairs that lead to our flat, we decided one night just to see if she could as she doesn't often encounter stairs. A few steady steps later and it was like she has been doing them for months. 

 To me, it seems that this month she's grown into her toddler self and lost the last of her "baby" features. She's also got taller, where she couldn't reach the second shelf of our unit last month, this month she can clear the shelf of DVD's. Beth is still a petite little girl, only just finally fitting into her 9-12 month trousers and tops. I did get her measured for some shoes but she's so petite that she just sneaks into infant shoes and has been recommended to wait a bit longer (Note: How expensive are children's shoes?! My mum said they only last a few months too!). 

We still go to our playgroups, NCT on Monday which I help run and two during the week. Her independence is starting to come through she is happy to go and play with other children, we have had a few bullying problems but working with the Mum's we are working it out and harmony is starting to happen. Her favourite play things at the moment is pretend toys like tea set, an old mobile phone, and a teething necklace. I have an kitchen set hidden away that I cannot wait to get out for her as I think she'll love it.

Her talking is coming on, the babbling is turning more in words, granted I don't know what most of them mean, but you can tell that she wanting to talk more. She loves sitting in her buggy, waving and chatting away to everyone. She'll give toys, books or food to people after passing her initial shyness, she's warm, joyful and I really don't want her to lose that.

 

Apologies for the lateness of this post, please refer to Colds, Conjunctivitis and Ear Infections

Pea and Cheese Mini Muffins Recipe

I am very late to Pininterest party, but last week I decided to join and see what the fuss is about. I lost 2 hours pinning lots of things like nails, funnies and food. I came across this muffin recipe from Feeding Olive, like myself she struggles what to feed her little girl but is also portable for when she's out.

These sounded perfect for what I needed and after investing in a muffin tin (madness that I didn't have one already!). I slightly adapted the recipe to accommodate what I had, I also went a little mad on grating the cheese and had more than it originally stated so I changed the amount of cheese to vegetable amount.

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup grated cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/8 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup milk (cows milk/breastmilk/formula)
• 3/4 Cup of vegetables (in this case I used solely peas but Feeding Olive recommends a good list of mixable veg).

How to do it

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Put muffin cases in tray
2. Sift flour and baking powder together. Give it a quick stir to make sure the baking powder is evenly distributed. Stir through veggies and cheese. 
3. Pour oil and milk into a jug then crack the egg into the jug and whisk it all together. Make a well in the centre of the dry mix and pour in the liquid. Mix until just combined, giving you a thick batter. (I did put mine all in the food processor and mixed together in one lot, still came out perfect.)
4. Spoon batter into muffin tray and bake in the oven for 15 - 20 mins, until the muffins are nice and golden on top. Remove tray from oven, and cool muffins in tray for 5 mins, then turn out onto a rack to cool. 

Makes 12 muffins (I was more generous with my mixture and made 9)

As you can see with the food processor I got the peas in small pieces so they hide better in the muffin, Beth likes peas on their own but doesn't like them in chunks in other food so this disguises it well. The flavour has a sweetness from the peas (I used Petite Pois) and a milky tang from the cheese (a mild cheddar). 

The biggest test was Bethany as she can be very cautious with food I had made from scratch, but a few bites and she had her hand out for more. She ate a majority of it before having enough, which I am really pleased about. I now have a small supply ready for when we go out so she has some lunch to nibble that I know what is in it. 

Bethany Update - Month 14

I thought this month I'd be writing that she is finally walking, nope, we've had a few false starts. The past week she likes to let go of furniture and balance on her feet for a few seconds before landing on her bum, so there is at least progress. I also brought her a My First Walker Toy for her to use like a zimmer frame when she's walking as you can see within a day of having it she was whizzing round.

We also have a new word, "yeah" which has greatly increased the communication as she shakes her head for, "No" but says, "Yeah" for yes. Of course, there are those moments where she just repeats it over and over again, Beth is becoming chatty, most when she's sitting down somewhere so her high chair or pushchair, just natters away to the world.

The main photo is from a photo shot she did a few weeks back to enter a local competition that goes live next Friday so expect it being plugged then! The photographer was brilliant and when you see the photos there is a bad one amongst them. I would like her to, tell me parent who doesn't, but for me it was wonderful to get some professional photos of her rather than chasing her with a camera!

That cannot be comfortable surely?!

Her new favourite food is peas, we went out for dinner one night and would only eat the peas. I now have to make sure she eats her other bits before she knows there are peas or nothing else gets eaten. On the other side there are worst things for her to become food obsessed over (until the next fad).

Just as Beth gets over one cold, she then gets hits with another. This is we ended up in the walk in clinic at our local hospital with a high fever, was told there was nothing they could do. We also got told that it was very likely that Beth would be a candidate for Eczema in the future as her rashes have come back. Another week on the steroid creams.

This doesn't seem to bother Beth too much, she still is the happy, bright little girl that I love who can be a little mischief.

Her first drawing (now on the fridge)

Sofa and reading time

Bethany Update - Month 13

I can now say Beth has finally got a her baby rolls of fat developing, you know the ones that require raspberries blown on them followed by giggles. It seems since she has hit 1 her appetite has blossomed. This does mean that this extra nuitirtion has meant that she is now taller than ever and reaches up to my mid thigh now, but still as petit as ever.

I really do think that she will walk within the next few weeks, has confidence cruising around furniture and hanging off it standing has leant to a few false alarms. When she stands on the sofa she actually can stand up right before throwing herself around on it (this is why she is never left alone when she is up there!).

We've had colds the past few weeks, to the point she was rushed to doctors with a suspected urine infection (which after collecting a sample was proved wrong, more on that later!). We also have teeth number 5 and 6 emerging at the same time, things have been at a standstill the past few weeks to comfort her and catch up on sleep missed.

Beth is just such a happy girl, her giggles are completely infectionous. We go to NCT Bumps, Babies and Toddlers on a Monday so she can tear around with other children, I'm hoping I can see some friendships developing. I do worry about her development, I have to keep reminding myself that she will do it in her own time just be there when she needs "Muma".

Bethany Update and Bethany's 1st Birthday

A whole year has now gone by, and yes it's flown, no I cannot believe she's now classed as a toddler. We now happily cruise around furniture and the new favourite past time is to throw things off the whatever she is hanging onto. She gaining confidence each day, she would rather be on her feet than sitting down now.

Bethany now babbles and points to items she wants, her communication is increasing to the point I'm starting to understand what she is after which means we have a lot less tears of frustraction but more when I take something off of her. Everything si develpoing as it should with no intervention from Health visitors etc.

Her 1st birthday turned into a week of celebrations, she got her first lot of presents from grandparents and great granparents on the Friday before as they couldn't be there on the day (we surprised both sets with video calls on the day). She had a huge package covered in a sheet that she tried to pull off to find a rocking horse undernethe, she wasn't keen that night bue was on it the following night. She now crawls over the strokes it.

Wednesday was her actually birthday which was spent round my parents, a few presents but she was full of beans and couldn't keep still all day until naptime. I had won a competition to win a family dinner out and we all went out for dinner that night with my brother/sister in law and had lots of fun with the kids board game they supply while you wait for food. It did get very competeive!

On Saturday we had her birthday party with other members of the family, Beth being a little fairy and loving all the balloons. We saved all the presents from us until then, so she had presents to open with people so they can feel part of it. It was a small party, this worked well as she had injections the day before and her 4th tooth was cutting (which we didn't kow at the time, hence not being able to blog because of her being unwell with both).

You can see the full photo album of the pictures here as well as my bad birthday singing.

Being 1 hasn't phased Bethany, she still the happy, giggling little girl she was before. Age is just a number.