On Saturday 19th May, Lydia took her first real solo steps.
We'd gotten used to her taking a few steps between objects or people, but this never lasted more than maybe 10 steps or so. We were constantly encouraging her to do this, getting her to practise at home and elsewhere. We had also gotten a bit tired of wondering when she would actually start walking on her own, given that we had been waiting for the day for so long.
All of a sudden, it happened.
Showing posts with label Lydia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lydia. Show all posts
Wednesday, 23 May 2012
Thursday, 26 April 2012
Lydia's 1st Birthday
A child's 1st birthday is generally a pretty big milestone.
For the parents, it signifies the end of the first full year of being parents. A time to reflect on all the highs and lows they've been through together with their child since the birth. The screams, the laughs, the messy bits and the intriguing process of getting to know your child. A process which, although ultimately rewarding, can also be incredibly frustrating.
It is only when I look back on the last 12 months of being a father that I truly appreciate the wonder of how quickly a child develops. The tiny, wriggly pink thing that the nurse placed in my arms on the 21st April last year somehow managed to learn how to eat solid food, roll over, sit up and crawl, not to mention smile, laugh, frown and cry in frustration, all by herself. It's amazing to think just how much a baby develops in their first year outside the womb, learning through copying his or her parents or simply by trying things out themselves.
For the child, it's just another day. At this age they do not understand the concept of birthdays or presents, or why people would suddenly fuss over them. They would wake up in the morning and expect to do whatever they would normally do - go to the park, play with their toys, make a mess with their lunch, and so on.
Unbeknownst to the child, the parents often have other ideas, and this was the case for Lydia.
For the parents, it signifies the end of the first full year of being parents. A time to reflect on all the highs and lows they've been through together with their child since the birth. The screams, the laughs, the messy bits and the intriguing process of getting to know your child. A process which, although ultimately rewarding, can also be incredibly frustrating.
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| Lydia in her birthday dress |
For the child, it's just another day. At this age they do not understand the concept of birthdays or presents, or why people would suddenly fuss over them. They would wake up in the morning and expect to do whatever they would normally do - go to the park, play with their toys, make a mess with their lunch, and so on.
Unbeknownst to the child, the parents often have other ideas, and this was the case for Lydia.
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Travelling with babies
For Easter this year we headed over to England to spend a long weekend with my family. It was fantastic - lots of fun and good food, and it was great to spend some quality time with the family I don't get to see very often.
Unfortunately, it also meant sitting on a plane for one-and-a-half hours each way with a restless, fidgeting baby.
This wasn't the first time Lydia had been on a plane. In fact, it was her fourth trip to England in less than a year. I first took her to England in June last year, when she was a tiny baby of just seven weeks. On the flight to England on that occasion, she slept for the entire journey. On the way back she was awake, but calmly laid on my lap without making a fuss.
Her second trip, for my brother James' wedding to Kelly (see this blog entry), was at the end of July 2011. By this time, she was three months old, and had obviously developed a lot since the June trip. Once again she stayed calm on both flights, although we had to work hard to keep her entertained by playing with her and reading her the in-flight easyJet magazine.
Unfortunately, it also meant sitting on a plane for one-and-a-half hours each way with a restless, fidgeting baby.
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| My little globetrotter |
Her second trip, for my brother James' wedding to Kelly (see this blog entry), was at the end of July 2011. By this time, she was three months old, and had obviously developed a lot since the June trip. Once again she stayed calm on both flights, although we had to work hard to keep her entertained by playing with her and reading her the in-flight easyJet magazine.
Friday, 9 March 2012
The world through Lydia's eyes: Waking Up
It's dark. Very dark.
They must have closed those metal things over the window again.
I can see pretty well though. Over the last few months, my eyes have adapted well to being in the dark. Wonder if that's down to all those carrots I've been eating?
[big stretch, cough, small burp]
Ok, quick status report: I'm in my bed, lying on my side. For some reason my head is at the wrong end of the bed, again. Who keeps moving me during the night? I'm tucked up warm in my sleeping bag. I'm hungry.
Right, let's have a look around-- AAARGH!! What the hell is that??!?
They must have closed those metal things over the window again.
I can see pretty well though. Over the last few months, my eyes have adapted well to being in the dark. Wonder if that's down to all those carrots I've been eating?
[big stretch, cough, small burp]
Ok, quick status report: I'm in my bed, lying on my side. For some reason my head is at the wrong end of the bed, again. Who keeps moving me during the night? I'm tucked up warm in my sleeping bag. I'm hungry.
Right, let's have a look around-- AAARGH!! What the hell is that??!?
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Living our dreams through our children
Recently I did some research on the Internet to find ways of encouraging a child's creative side, boosting their imagination and skills at the same time. I also looked for ways to help a child enjoy sports and being outdoors. My motives were to ensure Lydia's future could be whatever she wanted it to be, and that she wouldn't be stuck inside playing video games and watching TV while the world outside passed her by.
During my research I found countless articles about pushy parents, those who practically force their own children to do a ridiculous amount of activities outside of school, often to the extreme of depriving them of being a child. Examples of this include parents forcing their children to have insanely busy after school schedules, with ballet lessons, soccer practise, piano practise and various other musical or sporting lessons.
I read an article on the Psychology Today website (which you can read here) on this very subject. One parent in question wondered why her 9 year old son was complaining that he was tired all the time, despite the fact that she had set up a series of extracurricular activities for him that included "three team sports, church activities, scouts and ... piano lessons twice a week". When the psychologist mentioned that this might be the cause of his tiredness, she said she was simply giving her son all the opportunities that she never had when she was a child. This is probably very reasonable thinking, as we all want our children to enjoy their lives and have every opportunity available to them. However, this kind of thing has to be done in moderation.
During my research I found countless articles about pushy parents, those who practically force their own children to do a ridiculous amount of activities outside of school, often to the extreme of depriving them of being a child. Examples of this include parents forcing their children to have insanely busy after school schedules, with ballet lessons, soccer practise, piano practise and various other musical or sporting lessons.
I read an article on the Psychology Today website (which you can read here) on this very subject. One parent in question wondered why her 9 year old son was complaining that he was tired all the time, despite the fact that she had set up a series of extracurricular activities for him that included "three team sports, church activities, scouts and ... piano lessons twice a week". When the psychologist mentioned that this might be the cause of his tiredness, she said she was simply giving her son all the opportunities that she never had when she was a child. This is probably very reasonable thinking, as we all want our children to enjoy their lives and have every opportunity available to them. However, this kind of thing has to be done in moderation.
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Crawling, crawling, crawling
I finished work for the Christmas holidays on the 21st December. Aside from the upcoming festivities of Christmas itself, the 22nd December looked like being a day like any other. Until something unexpected happened...
On my first day off, I was sat on the carpet with my 8 month (and 1 day) old daughter Lydia, trying to get her to play with one of her many, many toys. Christelle was sitting on the sofa next to us, and we both watched as Lydia propped herself up on her hands and knees and did her familiar bobbing motion. She had been doing this for a couple of weeks now, but would always end up rolling onto her back (and then usually giving out a cry of frustration). She couldn't seem to master the coordination required to actually move herself forwards.
So, we sat and watched as she continued bobbing on her hands and knees, expecting her to get annoyed at any moment. What we didn't expect, however, was to see her suddenly crawl several steps forward and reach out to grab the Christmas tree. Christelle and I looked at each other in surprise, both unsure if what we had just witnessed had really happened.
We quickly congratulated Lydia and then tried to encourage her to do it again. To our continued amazement, she crawled again. Tears of joy and pride welled up in both our eyes. Our little girl had worked out how to move around, all by herself.
On my first day off, I was sat on the carpet with my 8 month (and 1 day) old daughter Lydia, trying to get her to play with one of her many, many toys. Christelle was sitting on the sofa next to us, and we both watched as Lydia propped herself up on her hands and knees and did her familiar bobbing motion. She had been doing this for a couple of weeks now, but would always end up rolling onto her back (and then usually giving out a cry of frustration). She couldn't seem to master the coordination required to actually move herself forwards.
So, we sat and watched as she continued bobbing on her hands and knees, expecting her to get annoyed at any moment. What we didn't expect, however, was to see her suddenly crawl several steps forward and reach out to grab the Christmas tree. Christelle and I looked at each other in surprise, both unsure if what we had just witnessed had really happened.
We quickly congratulated Lydia and then tried to encourage her to do it again. To our continued amazement, she crawled again. Tears of joy and pride welled up in both our eyes. Our little girl had worked out how to move around, all by herself.
Friday, 30 December 2011
I wish it could be Christmas everyday...
Earlier in the year, we decided that we wanted Lydia's first Christmas to be at home, for her to wake up on Christmas morning with the Christmas tree and decorations everywhere, and open her presents in her own home. That's why we ended up having an early Christmas - or Mockmas - in England in early December (see "A Very Merry Mockmas").
We also invited Chris' parents (Nelly and Bernard), sister (Caroline) and her husband (Pascal), round for the day, mainly because I had decided to try my hand at cooking the traditional roast turkey dinner and wanted to share this with them. I had never cooked a turkey before, although I did watch my mum prepare and cook the giant turkey we had at Christmas in England in 2010 (see "So... What's New?").
Plans for the turkey dinner started earlier in the year, as I chose what I wanted to cook as part of the meal. I wanted it to be as traditional as possible, to show my Swiss family how we eat at Christmas in England, so I opted to accompany the turkey with roast potatoes and parsnips, stuffing, carrots and green beans, all smothered in a nice gravy. I would have cooked Brussel sprouts as well, but I wanted everyone to actually enjoy the meal so decided to leave these out.
We also invited Chris' parents (Nelly and Bernard), sister (Caroline) and her husband (Pascal), round for the day, mainly because I had decided to try my hand at cooking the traditional roast turkey dinner and wanted to share this with them. I had never cooked a turkey before, although I did watch my mum prepare and cook the giant turkey we had at Christmas in England in 2010 (see "So... What's New?").
Plans for the turkey dinner started earlier in the year, as I chose what I wanted to cook as part of the meal. I wanted it to be as traditional as possible, to show my Swiss family how we eat at Christmas in England, so I opted to accompany the turkey with roast potatoes and parsnips, stuffing, carrots and green beans, all smothered in a nice gravy. I would have cooked Brussel sprouts as well, but I wanted everyone to actually enjoy the meal so decided to leave these out.
Saturday, 17 December 2011
A Very Merry Mockmas
As mentioned in my last post (Countdown to Mockmas), at the beginning of December we headed over to England to celebrate our Christmas before Christmas, affectionately named Mockmas. This meant taking Lydia on her third flight to my home land - what a little jetsetter!
Admittedly the flight over wasn't as easy as it could have been, as Lydia was not in a good mood. A squirming, whinging baby does not make for good company on a flight, even if it was only for an hour and a half.
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| How to get a baby through the security checkpoint |
Needless to say, it was quite a relief when we landed and got off the plane.
Lydia cheered up straight away, even managing a nice big smile for her Nan when she picked us up at the airport.
A day of shopping was on the cards for Chris and I during our first full day in England, getting those last-minute presents for the family ready in time for Mockmas.
In the afternoon, Ruby and Jack - my mum's aunt and uncle and therefore Lydia's great great aunt and great great uncle - came over for tea. We don't get to see them often, although my brother James had invited them to his wedding in the summer, and it was great to see how happy she was while giving Lydia a cuddle.
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| Lydia with her great aunt Ruby |
We had arranged this get-together for a while, and we could tell Ruby was looking forward to it. When arranging a time for her to come round, my mum had said "come round any time from 3pm", to which Ruby had replied, "I'll be there AT 3pm!".
She also gave her a Christening bracelet, which is something Lydia will be able to keep as a souvenir throughout her life. Aaaaah... :)
Monday, 28 November 2011
Countdown to Mockmas
Most people (mainly children) look forward to Christmas with such eagerness and anticipation, longing for the big day to finally come. I'm no different. I love Christmas - the food, the colours, the decorations, and most of all spending time with family. However, at the moment I'm not counting down the days until Christmas. I'm counting the days until Mockmas.
Yes, you read that right - Mockmas.
"Mockmas" was a term coined by my brother Adam for our family Christmas this year, which is taking place on Sunday 4th December. The reason is that we can't all be there for the real Christmas Day, so we are having our own pre-Christmas Christmas to ensure we all share in the fun and festivities together.
This year is Lydia's first ever Christmas, so we really wanted her to wake up on Christmas Day (the real one) in her own home, with the tree and decorations all around. I know that she won't remember anything of her first Christmas, but it's a special moment for us. The first Christmas that we'll share together as a new family. I'll even attempt to cook a proper Christmas dinner for my in-laws, allowing Lydia to have a blended version as well.
Both my brothers will be visiting their in-laws on Christmas Day this year as well, so Mockmas is our opportunity to have our normal family Christmas, albeit a bit earlier than usual. I'm looking forward to Lydia's face when she sees the decorations and the Christmas tree, and then the fun of opening presents. Again, she probably won't realise what's going on around her, but we will enjoy it nonetheless.
I know my family is looking forward to it as well, and I'm happy that we will all get to share this moment together.
Just means that I need to sort out all the Mockmas presents before next weekend. I've already bought a few but not all, with some people harder to shop for than others... Fortunately, last minute Mockmas shopping shouldn't be too stressful as all the other shoppers still have a couple of shopping weekends to go until their big day, leaving me free to casually saunter around and pick up what I need (and possibly stop at Burger King and/or Subway if need be).
Ho ho ho!
Yes, you read that right - Mockmas.
"Mockmas" was a term coined by my brother Adam for our family Christmas this year, which is taking place on Sunday 4th December. The reason is that we can't all be there for the real Christmas Day, so we are having our own pre-Christmas Christmas to ensure we all share in the fun and festivities together.
This year is Lydia's first ever Christmas, so we really wanted her to wake up on Christmas Day (the real one) in her own home, with the tree and decorations all around. I know that she won't remember anything of her first Christmas, but it's a special moment for us. The first Christmas that we'll share together as a new family. I'll even attempt to cook a proper Christmas dinner for my in-laws, allowing Lydia to have a blended version as well.
Both my brothers will be visiting their in-laws on Christmas Day this year as well, so Mockmas is our opportunity to have our normal family Christmas, albeit a bit earlier than usual. I'm looking forward to Lydia's face when she sees the decorations and the Christmas tree, and then the fun of opening presents. Again, she probably won't realise what's going on around her, but we will enjoy it nonetheless.
I know my family is looking forward to it as well, and I'm happy that we will all get to share this moment together.
Just means that I need to sort out all the Mockmas presents before next weekend. I've already bought a few but not all, with some people harder to shop for than others... Fortunately, last minute Mockmas shopping shouldn't be too stressful as all the other shoppers still have a couple of shopping weekends to go until their big day, leaving me free to casually saunter around and pick up what I need (and possibly stop at Burger King and/or Subway if need be).
Ho ho ho!
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
How to calm a screaming baby
The title of this article might be slightly misleading - this isn't my advice to give to other people to help calm their babies. Oh no, quite the opposite; I'm actually looking for tips on how I can calm my own screaming child.
As with any baby, it is incredibly hard to know why they are crying, as they can't tell us in words. When a baby screams we naturally check their nappy, see if they are hungry or too hot or too cold, and try playing with them to calm them down. If all of this fails, what else can we do?
The current problem in our family life is that Lydia - now 6 and 1/2 months old - is going through a phase where she cries (that soon escalate into screams) whenever she is left on her own, or even when we are right next to her but not directly interacting with her.
This phase has lasted over a month now, and is incredibly tiring as we have to keep picking her up to calm her down, meaning we struggle to get on with any other jobs (such as housework or entertaining guests).
I'm well aware from advice given by our families and friends that every baby goes through this phase, but I haven't yet had any advice on how to deal with this phase. Ok, I go to work during the day Monday to Friday to at least I have a "break", but my poor wife Christelle is at home all day trying to cope with a baby who cries every time she is left to play on her own down or Christelle leaves the room. This is naturally very stressful for her, and we haven't yet found a way of calming Lydia down successfully.
When I get home from work I look after Lydia, playing with her and sitting next to her on her playmat to keep her company while she interacts with her toys. This allows my Christelle some time to recover, but it doesn't really solve the problem of getting Lydia to calm down on her own when we are not with her.
I tried Googling this topic for some advice but found only mothering websites where the women were boasting about how their baby plays by themselves, which was really not what I wanted to read. Thanks for nothing, proud mummies.
Lydia has a number of noisy, flashing toys that she can interact with, but this often only calms her for around 10 minutes at a time, and sometimes not even that. Aside from carry her everywhere with us, I'm really stumped for ways of getting her to play on her own without screaming at the fact that she isn't in our arms.
So, I'm putting a call out for any advice on how we can cope with this phase in Lydia's development. Any tips, hints or suggestions would be hugely appreciated and any such advice that turns out to be successful would earn you our eternal gratitude.
The current problem in our family life is that Lydia - now 6 and 1/2 months old - is going through a phase where she cries (that soon escalate into screams) whenever she is left on her own, or even when we are right next to her but not directly interacting with her.
This phase has lasted over a month now, and is incredibly tiring as we have to keep picking her up to calm her down, meaning we struggle to get on with any other jobs (such as housework or entertaining guests).
I'm well aware from advice given by our families and friends that every baby goes through this phase, but I haven't yet had any advice on how to deal with this phase. Ok, I go to work during the day Monday to Friday to at least I have a "break", but my poor wife Christelle is at home all day trying to cope with a baby who cries every time she is left to play on her own down or Christelle leaves the room. This is naturally very stressful for her, and we haven't yet found a way of calming Lydia down successfully.
When I get home from work I look after Lydia, playing with her and sitting next to her on her playmat to keep her company while she interacts with her toys. This allows my Christelle some time to recover, but it doesn't really solve the problem of getting Lydia to calm down on her own when we are not with her.
I tried Googling this topic for some advice but found only mothering websites where the women were boasting about how their baby plays by themselves, which was really not what I wanted to read. Thanks for nothing, proud mummies.
Lydia has a number of noisy, flashing toys that she can interact with, but this often only calms her for around 10 minutes at a time, and sometimes not even that. Aside from carry her everywhere with us, I'm really stumped for ways of getting her to play on her own without screaming at the fact that she isn't in our arms.
So, I'm putting a call out for any advice on how we can cope with this phase in Lydia's development. Any tips, hints or suggestions would be hugely appreciated and any such advice that turns out to be successful would earn you our eternal gratitude.
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Sit Ups
Last night Lydia did something that really surprised us, something totally unexpected yet an inevitable part of human baby development: she sat up by herself.
Christelle had been playing with Lydia on the sofa and noticed that she wanted us to make her sit up (as she very often does), probably so that she could see more of what is going on around her. Lydia has always been a very curious baby in this respect, and often gets annoyed and irritable when laying down - I think this is because she is worried she will miss something.
Anyway, Chris said to Lydia, "If you want to sit up, you will have to do it yourself". I then served dinner (a nice chilli con carne that could have done with being a bit spicier) and we started eating. All of a sudden I heard Chris give out a yelp of surprise - I looked up and was amazed to see Lydia sitting up next to Chris. It was probably just coincidence that she did this after Chris challenged her to do it, but even so it really was remarkable.
I love seeing her develop and learn new things, but part of me is worried that it is all happening too quickly. I look back at the past six months that have positively flown by and I wonder where the time went. I won't glamourise it and say it has been easy; we have had more than our fair share of tantrums, sickness and other tough moments. But they all pale away compared to the happy moments when Lydia began to smile, to laugh, to rollover, to discover her feet and her hands. She even plays "peekaboo" with us, showing that there is intelligence behind those beautiful blue eyes.
My little baby will be a toddler before we know it...
Christelle had been playing with Lydia on the sofa and noticed that she wanted us to make her sit up (as she very often does), probably so that she could see more of what is going on around her. Lydia has always been a very curious baby in this respect, and often gets annoyed and irritable when laying down - I think this is because she is worried she will miss something.
Anyway, Chris said to Lydia, "If you want to sit up, you will have to do it yourself". I then served dinner (a nice chilli con carne that could have done with being a bit spicier) and we started eating. All of a sudden I heard Chris give out a yelp of surprise - I looked up and was amazed to see Lydia sitting up next to Chris. It was probably just coincidence that she did this after Chris challenged her to do it, but even so it really was remarkable.
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| My cheeky little monkey |
She had a kind of blank, "I do this all the time" look on her face, which I imagined was her way of showing us that it's no big deal to be sitting up. For us it was such a surprise to see our little baby, who marks her first six months of being in the outside world this Friday, sitting up through her own volition. It serves as yet another reminder that Lydia is growing up.
I love seeing her develop and learn new things, but part of me is worried that it is all happening too quickly. I look back at the past six months that have positively flown by and I wonder where the time went. I won't glamourise it and say it has been easy; we have had more than our fair share of tantrums, sickness and other tough moments. But they all pale away compared to the happy moments when Lydia began to smile, to laugh, to rollover, to discover her feet and her hands. She even plays "peekaboo" with us, showing that there is intelligence behind those beautiful blue eyes.
My little baby will be a toddler before we know it...
Friday, 14 October 2011
Ah, young love...
Yesterday I babysat someone else's child. On my own. For the first time. Ever.
The child in question - Matys - is 6 months old, and therefore requires a good deal of attention to keep him occupied and happy. His mother, Sandrine and my wife Christelle headed off to a zumba class for an hour or so of exercising fun, leaving me in charge of little Matys and Lydia.
Normally I would have panicked in this situation and probably been a bit useless. Fortunately for me, Matys is a very calm baby. He was born a couple of weeks before Lydia and has always been surprisingly calm and easy going, which is a stark contrast to our little Ms. Curious. He makes Lydia look hyperactive in comparison.
The child in question - Matys - is 6 months old, and therefore requires a good deal of attention to keep him occupied and happy. His mother, Sandrine and my wife Christelle headed off to a zumba class for an hour or so of exercising fun, leaving me in charge of little Matys and Lydia.
Normally I would have panicked in this situation and probably been a bit useless. Fortunately for me, Matys is a very calm baby. He was born a couple of weeks before Lydia and has always been surprisingly calm and easy going, which is a stark contrast to our little Ms. Curious. He makes Lydia look hyperactive in comparison.
Friday, 7 October 2011
Another year goes past...
It only seems like yesterday that I was desperately cramming all my possessions into my tiny Peugeot 106 - like playing a real-life version of Tetris - and setting off on what was destined to be the biggest adventure of my life so far.
In reality it has now been more than two years since I left England.
These last two years might have absolutely flown by, but when I look back over all that has happened during this time gives me an appreciation of just how much my life has changed since I boarded that ferry: I have lived in three different apartments, bought a new car, found a job I enjoy and seen many, many beautiful things. But above all that, the biggest and happiest change was the birth of my daughter Lydia, and watching her grow a little more (both in size and in character) with each passing day.
I only realised this morning that my two-years-in-Swiss anniversary had just gone, and that prompted me to read through what I wrote this time one year ago about my first year in Switzerland (see my blog entry "12 Months Later"). To be honest, I still feel the same about everything I wrote. For example, I'm still a bit annoyed about the shops not being open on Sundays, I still hate Swiss TV adverts and I still believe Switzerland is not that expensive when you live there. Granted, with the current exchange rate it's not going to attract the more stingy tourists, but for those of us lucky enough to live here it really isn't too bad.
Having read through what I wrote about my first twelve months here, I thought I would offer up a few more thoughts on what life is like in Switzerland, should anyone else look to follow in my footsteps, as well as some thoughts on life in general.
In reality it has now been more than two years since I left England.
These last two years might have absolutely flown by, but when I look back over all that has happened during this time gives me an appreciation of just how much my life has changed since I boarded that ferry: I have lived in three different apartments, bought a new car, found a job I enjoy and seen many, many beautiful things. But above all that, the biggest and happiest change was the birth of my daughter Lydia, and watching her grow a little more (both in size and in character) with each passing day.
I only realised this morning that my two-years-in-Swiss anniversary had just gone, and that prompted me to read through what I wrote this time one year ago about my first year in Switzerland (see my blog entry "12 Months Later"). To be honest, I still feel the same about everything I wrote. For example, I'm still a bit annoyed about the shops not being open on Sundays, I still hate Swiss TV adverts and I still believe Switzerland is not that expensive when you live there. Granted, with the current exchange rate it's not going to attract the more stingy tourists, but for those of us lucky enough to live here it really isn't too bad.
Having read through what I wrote about my first twelve months here, I thought I would offer up a few more thoughts on what life is like in Switzerland, should anyone else look to follow in my footsteps, as well as some thoughts on life in general.
Monday, 15 August 2011
The trouble with teething
Just when you think you're starting to get the hang of being a dad (or a mum), with your baby starting to smile and giggle and generally seem more peaceful, suddenly something else emerges that upsets the entire rythym and puts you almost back at square one.
I'm talking about teething.
Well, actually I'm talking about the bit that comes before teething, when the little teeth are beginning to form in the baby's gums, which understandly hurts the poor little thing and causes a lot of screaming and crying (mostly from the baby). For the last week or so, Lydia has seemed to be in a lot of pain in her mouth, giving such heart-renching screams that it really shakes you as a parent as you feel so completely helpless.
My mum told me that my first teeth started to poke through at around 5 months of age. That means we probably have another month and a half before we see the first of Lydia's gnashers, so can look forward to a few more screaming fits before then. If anyone has any tips on ways to ease teething pain I would be sincerely grateful to hear them.
Seriously, send me your tips.
Now.
Thanks!
I'm talking about teething.
Well, actually I'm talking about the bit that comes before teething, when the little teeth are beginning to form in the baby's gums, which understandly hurts the poor little thing and causes a lot of screaming and crying (mostly from the baby). For the last week or so, Lydia has seemed to be in a lot of pain in her mouth, giving such heart-renching screams that it really shakes you as a parent as you feel so completely helpless.
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| A teething aid, which looks a bit like a pair of balls... |
We have tried rubbing a soothing gel onto her gums, another gel that is supposed to numb the pain, massaging her with soothing oils, and giving her a variety of refrigerator-chilled teething aids to chew on. None of these seem to work particularly well, as Lydia still seems to be in a lot of pain. It is hard to see our little girl in such obvious discomfort, knowing we - her parents and therefore protectors - can do nothing to make her feel better, aside from giving her lots of cuddles and reassuring words.
Seriously, send me your tips.
Now.
Thanks!
Friday, 5 August 2011
Penguins!
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| Here Pingu, have a fish |
For my birthday last year my parents-in-law gave me a unique opportunity - to feed the penguins at the Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne, England. Those of you who don't know me might not know that penguins are my absolute favourite animal in the whole world, so this experience was something I was truly looking forward to.
I was made to wait for it though. I had booked the experience for last summer, but unfortunately we were informed by the people at Paradise Wildlife Park that they had to close the penguin enclosure for maintenance, so my experience would have to be re-scheduled at a later date. So, I rebooked it for this summer, after the wedding of my brother James and his new wife Kelly (see my last blog, "Congratulations James & Kelly").
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Congratulations James & Kelly
Following on from my last blog, we all headed over to England for the wedding of my brother James and his fiancée Kelly.
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| The bride and groom |
It was a fantastic day that everyone seemed to really enjoy. The ceremony at Sopwell House in St. Albans was both beautiful and humorous, and even the reading I did ("Blessing for a marriage") went off without a hitch.
The aperitif after the ceremony was great, with delicious amuse bouches and champagne (or Pimms for the more traditional English-types). It was interesting to go from the ceremony room to the conservatory and veranda where the aperitif was held as the corridor between the two is lined with signed football shirts in frames.
It turns out the Sopwell House has been used to host various international football teams over the years (including a number of England squads), with the players relaxing in the luxury rooms and making full use of the spa treatments.
Fortunately, the weather held out for the whole day, as it was cloudy with some sunny patches but absolutely no rain (amazingly for an English wedding!). It meant the happy couple were able to take the wedding photos outside in the lovely gardens of the house.
Monday, 25 July 2011
Growing up too fast?
It's been a whole month since my last post. Lydia is now three months old and seems to change a little bit with each passing day. Time has simply flown by, and I am beginning to understand why people always say you should enjoy every moment with your child because they will be grown up before you know it.
Ok, so Lydia is still a baby. It's not like she has suddenly started walking, dressing herself, taking whatever she wants out of the fridge, and so on and so forth. She still needs us to do everything for her, and as such is still as helpless as the day she was born.
However, she is growing up fast. Over the last few weeks since my last blog entry Lydia has started to get much stronger. We can see her trying to sit up a bit whenever we have her laying down in our arms. She is also getting closer to being able to roll over. We lay her down on her back, she kicks her legs up in the air and rolls onto her side. At the time of writing, she hasn't quite managed to roll all the way onto her front yet, but I think that will come in the next few days.
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| Lydia playing with Bugs |
Ok, so Lydia is still a baby. It's not like she has suddenly started walking, dressing herself, taking whatever she wants out of the fridge, and so on and so forth. She still needs us to do everything for her, and as such is still as helpless as the day she was born.
However, she is growing up fast. Over the last few weeks since my last blog entry Lydia has started to get much stronger. We can see her trying to sit up a bit whenever we have her laying down in our arms. She is also getting closer to being able to roll over. We lay her down on her back, she kicks her legs up in the air and rolls onto her side. At the time of writing, she hasn't quite managed to roll all the way onto her front yet, but I think that will come in the next few days.
Monday, 27 June 2011
Thoughts on being a Dad
It's now two months since Lydia was born. Two months since the day I became a father and my life was changed forever. The day I began a new journey that promised to test my resolve and push me to the very edge of my limits, bringing me love, anxiety, stress and delight in equal measures.
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| A happy, 2 month old baby |
A lot has happened in those two months, as I'm sure you can imagine. I, along with my wife, have had the pleasure of watching our little girl grow in both size and in character, already going from a helpless newborn to a smiling, cheerful little lady who knows how to get what she wants from us. Seeing this growth has been amazing, and prompted me to reflect on what we have experienced and learnt from the beginning of our new life as a family, which is the goal of this blog entry.
Here is a list of some of the things I have learnt about the responsibilities and rewards of fatherhood.
Monday, 16 May 2011
Funny Faces
Having a baby is fantastic source of entertainment. Granted, it is a lot of hard work, but you can't help but smile at some of the things they do. Lydia sits (and occassionally sleeps) on a sort of bean-bag designed for babies in our living room, and it's great to just sit near her and watch as she pulls a variety of faces while she sleeps. I guess this must be her way of practising the various facial expressions that she will use as she gets older and starts to discover more about the world.
From grimaces to smiles, and looks of surprise to looks of pain, it is often more entertaining to watch her than to watch the TV. Even though Lydia is asleep, her little arms and legs move around like they have minds of their own, giving the impression that she is dreaming about starring in a kung fu movie.
Lydia also makes a lot of noise while she dreams, emitting little squeeks and heaving tiny little sighs. She even seems to occassionally laugh in her sleep, a short giggling noise that surprised us as we hadn't heard it before. I know that at 3 weeks old any smiles or laughs are probably just gas, but it is still very cute to see.
The other day I sat next to her bean bag and asked her a question (probably something along the lines of "have you done a poo-poo for mummy?"), and she looked straight into my eyes, frowned, and then brought her clenched fist up slowly in my direction. Less than a month old and she's already threatening her father. Looks like her teenage years might be fun!
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| Happy baby or gassy baby? |
Lydia also makes a lot of noise while she dreams, emitting little squeeks and heaving tiny little sighs. She even seems to occassionally laugh in her sleep, a short giggling noise that surprised us as we hadn't heard it before. I know that at 3 weeks old any smiles or laughs are probably just gas, but it is still very cute to see.
The other day I sat next to her bean bag and asked her a question (probably something along the lines of "have you done a poo-poo for mummy?"), and she looked straight into my eyes, frowned, and then brought her clenched fist up slowly in my direction. Less than a month old and she's already threatening her father. Looks like her teenage years might be fun!
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Her First Mothers' Day
Last weekend was our first experience of a commercialized holiday as parents, as Sunday was Mothers' Day in Switzerland. Thinking that, at 2 1/2 weeks old, Lydia might be a bit too young to buy some treats and pamper her mum, her dad stepped up to the plate.
What did I do?
Well, I spent most of Saturday evening and Sunday morning preparing an Indian feast. We had invited Christelle's sister (Caroline) and her fiancé (Pascal) around for the meal, and they had been piling the pressure on my shoulders in the build up to Sunday by saying how much they were looking forward to it. As someone who doesn't really know much about cooking indian food, it seemed to be an enormous challenge.
I scoured the Internet for recipes, printed off a few that I liked, and went out to the supermarket to get everything I needed. My plan was to do a proper three course meal, consisting of starters, a main course and a dessert. Deeming this to be somewhat overambitious, given my limited skills in the kitchen, Chris thoughtfully offered to provide the dessert, so that was one less thing to worry about.
My preparation started on the Saturday evening, as I spent roughly 3.5 hours chopping onions, garlic, chilli, ginger and peppers, and carefully filling Tupperware with spices for each of the dishes I had planned. I know I often make fun of Chris for her love of Tupperware - she has loads of plastic containers that have taken up box space during 6 separate house/apartment moves, some of which has never (to my knowledge) been used - but on this occassion I was truly grateful, as I used just about every pot and bowl in our cupboards to hold either vegetables or spices. I lined the containers up in small piles according to which meal they were for, and stuck the printed recipes on the cupboard doors in the kitchen for reference the next day.
Exhausted, I went to bed. Lydia woke us up during the night for a feed, and I made the mistake of trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes. I wouldn't normally consider this to be a mistake, but as I had not washed my hands properly after chopping chillies I soon regretted my actions. My eyes felt like they were on fire and became redder than a robin's breast. Ouch! I had to lay down with a cold flannel over my eyes to try and soothe my pain.
The next morning I woke up bright and early to get cracking with the remaining preparations and the cooking. Thankfully the pain in my eyes had gone and my eyesight was intact, so I was able to concentrate on what I needed to do.
What did I do?
Well, I spent most of Saturday evening and Sunday morning preparing an Indian feast. We had invited Christelle's sister (Caroline) and her fiancé (Pascal) around for the meal, and they had been piling the pressure on my shoulders in the build up to Sunday by saying how much they were looking forward to it. As someone who doesn't really know much about cooking indian food, it seemed to be an enormous challenge.
I scoured the Internet for recipes, printed off a few that I liked, and went out to the supermarket to get everything I needed. My plan was to do a proper three course meal, consisting of starters, a main course and a dessert. Deeming this to be somewhat overambitious, given my limited skills in the kitchen, Chris thoughtfully offered to provide the dessert, so that was one less thing to worry about.
My preparation started on the Saturday evening, as I spent roughly 3.5 hours chopping onions, garlic, chilli, ginger and peppers, and carefully filling Tupperware with spices for each of the dishes I had planned. I know I often make fun of Chris for her love of Tupperware - she has loads of plastic containers that have taken up box space during 6 separate house/apartment moves, some of which has never (to my knowledge) been used - but on this occassion I was truly grateful, as I used just about every pot and bowl in our cupboards to hold either vegetables or spices. I lined the containers up in small piles according to which meal they were for, and stuck the printed recipes on the cupboard doors in the kitchen for reference the next day.
Exhausted, I went to bed. Lydia woke us up during the night for a feed, and I made the mistake of trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes. I wouldn't normally consider this to be a mistake, but as I had not washed my hands properly after chopping chillies I soon regretted my actions. My eyes felt like they were on fire and became redder than a robin's breast. Ouch! I had to lay down with a cold flannel over my eyes to try and soothe my pain.
The next morning I woke up bright and early to get cracking with the remaining preparations and the cooking. Thankfully the pain in my eyes had gone and my eyesight was intact, so I was able to concentrate on what I needed to do.
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