Where has my happy boy gone?

Nate has been teething non-stop for 3 weeks straight, in this time he has had two teeth through and the third is on the way for a total of 5 teeth. The problem is he has been so very unhappy that it’s hard for me to remember the way he used to be. Sometimes I think I made it all up, maybe he was always like this. I worry that I will never get my happy boy back. Please someone confirm that this is a phase and my happy boy will be back once the teething is over.

What a shame that hubby has been on hols for the last two weeks. I mean it’s been fab for me but I feel like he wishes he was back at work, I have to admit I was thinking it myself last week when the teething was really bad and it took us ages to get him to sleep for his naps and at night.

What is it with teeth? Such a bad invention, they seem to cause us all problems most of our lives

Review: Middleton Swimming Pool

We have been swimming several times at Middleton pool so I thought I would review it for other MK mums who are trying to decide where to take there baby swimming.

First of all, in terms of parking there is only one parent and baby spot right out front, sometimes you get lucky, otherwise parking is just behind, a 1 minute walk.

Current adult prices are £3.50 per adult and under 1 year olds are free.

The unisex changing rooms are a tight squeeze, a single adult will have trouble in the individual changing rooms, but in the middle are 3 family changing rooms which are perfect for a family of 3 or 4. The women’s changing room is open plan and has 2 baby change stations.

The lockers are tiny so take the bare minimum and leave the change bag in the car, lockers take a £1 coin.

There is a small communal shower right before you enter the pool, it is not very private.

In the complex there are two pools, a baby pool that is shallow and has steps leading down into it and a bigger pool. The baby pool is often colder than the big pool which is odd. Last visit Nates teeth were chattering in the baby pool but he was very happy in the big pool.

The big pool is pretty shallow, about 1.5 metres at each end but gets deeper in the middle.

We like the pool and it seems to be frequented by most mums and babies in the area, it doesn’t get too busy even on weekends and it’s warm enough for babies.

Didn’t realise he was teething!

So Nathaniel is at that lovely age now (almost 8 months) where he is simply so much fun to be around. He has so much personality, he is learning to clap, he laughs like the minions in Despicable Me and then it all changed last week. He was suddenly grumpy all day long. I had no idea what was going on, I had also dropped his morning bottle do I thought it might be that at first but even after his afternoon nap he was still grumpy. For a while me and hubby thought it might be that we were giving him too much attention, or picking him up every time he moaned and therefore he had worked out how to get attention etc etc. Then I looked in his mouth on Monday and saw a white bit on his gums! His third tooth was breaking through….*light bulb*
We finally worked out what was wrong! I realise it makes me sound like a bad mother that I didn’t realise what was wrong but the last time he teethed was months ago and it was really different, that was so bad it was obvious he was teething, he had bright red cheeks, would cry all day etc but this time it was more subtle so I didn’t realise he was teething. So I thought, phew, now his tooth has broke through I should get my happy boy back…but no! He was still grumpy! So I thought I was wrong something else is bothering him, I looked in his mouth and I saw a red mark on his gums, his 4th tooth is coming through!

So here we are day 5 into this teething period. He hasn’t been too bad, he has been better in the day than last week but worse at night. We have had to give him calpol to help him cope with the pain and it took over an hour to get him to sleep last night!

I want my happy boy back so hope this ends soon. My only consolation is that teething seems to be better now he is older and I hope it continues to get easier as he gets older. Feel free to contradict that or share your teething stories with me!

Childminder

It’s been a while! So many things are happening. I receives a letter from student loans company to say I will not be getting any help with childcare during my course, even though I was told differently. So I had to give up my nursery place and look for more affordable childcare. I was upset at first as I’ve had his place booked since I was 12 weeks pregnant! However when I started meeting childminders I realised that this is what will be better for Nate. He won’t do well sitting in one room all day (nursery). So I have chosen a child minder who goes out and about a lot as he will enjoy that plus that’s what I do. Her rates are very reasonable, she will take pictures and videos for me, she keeps logs of what he does and eats/sleeps, she has huge garden with a trampoline and a play house so I am very happy with my decision.

360 Play

Nate is now officially 7 months old, he can sit up unaided, can feed a bottle to himself and loves finger food.

Today we decided to brave the 360 Indoor Play centre for the first time. I was sure he would be too small for everything but I was surprised to find a couple of rides we could take him on.

The place is pretty big, a giant soft play section in the middle, loads of places to sit and eat, two rides downstairs, and upstairs they had role play sections, Lego and messy play. It looks like they have sand and more outside but it was closed.

They have a separated section for toddlers, which is where we took Nate. There wasn’t much he could do since he isn’t crawling yet but he did enjoy the ball pit; of course all balls went in the mouth! There was also a little roundabout that he enjoyed and that about sums up all he could do in the soft play area. However, to the pure delight of my hubby there was a race kart/dodgems type ride that he could go on; they both enjoyed it! I then took him on the carousel.

Not loads but a nice change and a great way to spend 1.5hours! When he can crawl and walk I’m sure we will be there frequently!

First night away

My darling boy spent his very first night away from home last night. He stayed with Nana and Grandad in their new home! It was a huge mix of emotions for me; I was thrilled to be spending a whole night and day alone with hubby but I also missed him terribly.

The husband and I did make the most of it though. We had dinner and cocktails at Las Iguanas (yum) followed by a movie. We had a nice lie-in the next day, followed by brunch at Harvester and we saw “Fast Girls” at the cinema. We also got lots done round the house before we picked him up at 5pm.

When I arrived he greeted me with a big smile and lots of grabbing of my face, necklace and glasses, which I interpreted as he missed me too. Nana and Grandad said he was brilliant, he slept through the night, even though it was a new cot and house and he was well behaved and happy all day. I was so relieved to hear he slept well and coped well in a new setting, my good little boy.

Ba ba ba ba

I heard magical sounds down the monitor this morning and it continued all day long. My son is forming his words and was saying “ba ba ba ba”. Who knew that incomplete words could be sooooooo cute!