I don't seem to be doing a very good job at updating this, do I? Oh well, once a month is better than nothing - just wish I'd started earlier!
James is now a big boy, sitting up fairly reliably and eating three good meals a day. He's settled into a fairly fixed routine which is really great as it means I know what's happening, how long he's likely to sleep for, etc. It goes something like this:
7am wake up, breastfeed
8am get up, have breakfast (half a weetabix, bit of toast and fruit)
9.30am breastfeed, morning nap (30-45 minutes)
10.15am go to activity - singalong, baby group etc
12pm home, lunch (leftovers from our dinner the previous night, or half a jar/pouch of baby food, along with finger food veg/rice cake, followed by fruit/yoghurt)
1pm breastfeed, nap (1.5-3 hours)
3.30pm go out for walk (can always find someone in the park to wander with!)
4.30pm breastfeed
5.30/6pm tea (nursery tea such as scrambled egg, cheese on toast etc followed by fruit/yoghurt)
6.15pm bath followed by story (currently Andrew usually reads either some poetry or The Gruffalo)
6.45 pm into bed, breastfeed, normally asleep by 7.15pm
11.30pm breastfeed
3.30am breastfeed
So he's still having a lot of milk, though I no longer feel the ravenous hunger I used to which probably means he's taking less. I'm probably going to need to introduce a snack at about 11am as he gets hungry then but won't feed if we're out and about as there's too much going on. I imagine the 4pm feed will also be replaced by a snack before long.
James seems to love all the food we've given him - he hasn't refused anything so far. Particular favourites include banana, broccoli and yoghurt. It's been difficult sometimes to work out when he's full - I actually think I could probably start giving him a bit more than he's been having.
James can now sit up perfectly well but isn't too keen on doing it for long - he'd still rather lie on his back and kick his legs. We keep his baths shallow enough that he doesn't need to be held - he can just lie down and kick and giggle and giggle. Today I took him swimming and he had a lovely time kicking his legs. Shame it messed up the routine though - he fell asleep in the car on the way home and slept for 30 minutes or so before waking up for lunch and a feed, by which time he was wide awake... he had a 10 minute nap at 5pm but mean mummy wouldn't let him sleep any longer than that. Hopefully he'll sleep well tonight.
He's beginning to enjoy toys that have buttons to press and make noises (oh joy). He also likes rattles and things that make interesting noises when you shake them or bang them. A particular favourite is a bottle of paracetamol... don't worry, we think the lid is fairly well childproof and we don't let him play with it unaccompanied.
James now settles to sleep with very little fuss, which is just so nice after the situation until a few weeks ago when it would take up to two hours each night to get him off to sleep - repeatedly feeding him, rocking him, using white noise, etc etc. Now I can just feed him and put him down still sleepy, and nine times out of ten he goes off to sleep without a whimper. Now, if only he would sleep through... I think he's getting there, he has done a couple of six hour stints recently and things are going in the right direction.
No teeth yet, and still no sign of rolling over, let alone crawling as some of his contemporaries are doing.
James is a wonderful happy smiley baby who loves being around people and playing peekaboo. I can't wait to see what exciting things he does this month!
I can't seem to add pictures but will add some when I can.
