marathons and braais

Well this is the second time I have attempted this post as I lost my first one much to my annoyance. sometimes computers can drive you to distraction.

well this last weekend was a busy one in the Humble /almost Humble but still Valk household.

It began on Saturday morning with us packing 4 bags , bouncy chair and cooler box into the car ( nothing is fast and easy with a baby) and driving up to North London to our Friends Jason and Sandi for a good old fashioned braai.

Quite a few of our friends went and it was lovely to just relax in their garden, have a glass of wine and chat. The weather has been remarkable actually. just beautiful not too hot or too cold just perfect.

Our little Lily had her first one to one with another small person. Shes fine with babies her age but this little boy was 2 and a half. Well, she was so funny every time he came near she let out a scream and waved her hands. We just did not know what to do we had to pick her up. I felt ever so sorry for him as he was trying to give her toys and make friends but she was having none of it.

Eventually she did consent to one hug which I have pictures on here but as you can see it was not done with much grace.

On Sunday we got up bright and early ( like every morning yawn) and walked down to the Heath where the London Marathon was beginning. There was fab atmosphere there and all these hot air balloons. When the main body of runners started out we all clapped and cheered shouting peoples names. Lily was mesmerised by them all. One of them was dressed like a hand. his name was Steve... Steve the hand.... One guy was running with a full size cross on his back which I thought may have been taking it a bit far but hey.

we ended the day off by having yet another picnic in the Greenwich park flower garden slightly spoiled by the fact that a forklift truck was removing all the portable toilets from the park.

we ended the weekend off with an inconsolable child again. Crying herself into one hell of a state. I have no idea whats going on with her, but am just going with it at the moment. I always want a reason but I have figured out that with babies you seldom get one. oh well

I will leave you with our braai photos and some of the marathon and then the most divine one of Lily lying on the bed. She is just all over the place at the moment without crawling and she is puling herself up on the cot and the tables. so clever.

But Lily says she is going to update on her progress later on in the week so i best not ruin it for her

much love

Wends

xxxx

the bear went over the mountain

the bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain to see what he could see. what do you think he saw, what do you think he saw.... Weeendeee and Lileeee ...

now use your best singing voice to sing that add about 20 mummies and babies in a circle and you have Tuesday mornings for me. I have to sing the wendeee and lileee bit all by myself. I started out hating it all ( as you know) but now I sing along with the rest of them. I know the wheels on the bus, cheeky monkey song , row row row your boat and many more...

Finally on Tuesday I met another mum who I get on with yippee someone to talk to. I witnessed my first parenting style argument. shes very much the earth mother, dependency in infanthood leads to a more independent well adjusted child ( a belief I share for the record), vs. common council estate mother who leaves baby with her bottle to cry to go to sleep and believes her 11 month old baby does things on purpose to annoy her. she actually called the little thing a "wind up merchant" you just cant believe it. I stayed out of it ( amazing ,I know ,for those who know me)

Lily and I had a weigh day on Wednesday. Mine was good with me losing 2 1/2 pounds so altogether I have lost 3 kgs in 2 weeks. Lily's was not as good as she stayed the same weight and for the first time ever I am worrying about her weight. she has steadily gained always and going up nicely on her growth chart. I am really hoping its a blip and will correct itself and not the fact that she is dropping bottles left , right and centre. She just hates them bats them away and shakes her head.

She has finally got the hang of her door bouncer. we gave it a break as she was just hanging there looking sad but when I put her into it yesterday she had a ball jumping up and down and giggling. it was so funny. she is doing great with her mobility now she is in the crawling position rocking and is pulling up on things into a kneeling position.

she is loving all her walks around Greenwich park. her mummies attempts to lose weight have turned out to be great for her as she sits hanging onto the sides of her pram(no idea why) and checks everything out .

we are carless tomorrow as our car goes in for an MOT. I really do not know what we will do oh dear its all local tomorrow but luckily its Friday. I am having a glass of wine cant wait

xxxx

Wendy

spring has sprung

Yes, its spring time is England. Without a doubt this is my favorite time of year since moving here,just look at this tree full of blossoms.

In the week Lily and I went for one of our walks in the park and I finally went through this gate I have always wanted to go through. It says flower garden and as flowers are one of my favorite things I have always wanted to have a look. It was like walking into some secret garden I had no idea existed. They had magnolia trees in full blossom, beds of tulips and other spring flowers were dotted about everywhere.

Hence this weekend I told Kristian we where going there for a picnic. yesterday(Sunday) was the most beautiful day so we took our picnic blanket and our sandwiches and set ourselves up under a huge tree.

Lily is a real outdoor sort. she loves the trees and this weekend started to notice the birds. when they fly overhead or are on the ground she squeals in delight. So a lovely day was had by all , but was then ruined somewhat by some sleep training we have had to introduce.

In the last week Little Lily does not want to go to sleep at night like she used to and then proceeds to wake up a few times every night for comfort from me. After some research I thought that perhaps it was the beginnings of separation anxiety. It is apparently a developmental milestone as the child begins to become more independent she discovers she is apart from her main caregiver and has anxiety over that.

Now bear in mind I spend all my day with Lily and she has plenty of attention. As I said to Veronica, does she want to live on my head.

SO.... in the best way possible I have had to teach her all over how to go to sleep alone without me in the room. She has always been a brilliant sleeper and I worked really hard to get her to go to sleep independently for it all to be undone in a week. we were resorting to holding her until she was asleep which was leading to all sorts of problems.

The result of operation bedtime is a very stressed mummy and daddy. In fact Kristian could not do it after a while and was locked in the kitchen. I hardly left her to cry for long but dear lord the child was in a state.I kept going in to calm and reassure her but as soon as she was calm I put her down in the cit and night night walk out. shame it does work in the end she does sleep and no night wakings. she slept through till 7 this morning. I am hoping it will not be as bad every night.

lily is so close to crawling now, she is trying to pull up on everything and wobbling on her hands and knees. she seems more confident when she is sitting with us on the couch so we are doing that to give her some practise. its amazing all she is achieving lately. Its such a big time for her, her head must be whirling, mine certainly is....

Here are some photos of our weekend and the flowers

Much love

Wends

xxxx

lovely Lily is 8 months

Well the 13th of the month has rolled around again which signals that Lily is another month older. 3 and 13 are Lily's daddy's special numbers, and now even more special as we have our little girl who pushed ( or was that me?) to be born on the 13th and just made it!

As I sit here Lily is sitting on the floor next to me surrounded by her favorite toys. Just yesterday I was talking to my mum telling her that Pia's little boy , Adam , who is 2 and a bit weeks younger than Lily is crawling and pulling up on things, and Lily is just sitting there playing still. I know all babies do things in their own time . I tell others that, but ,as is my life the advice does not extend to me.

Once again a mother always has the answers for you. she reckons that us girls know that we will have to work hard the rest of our lives and thus when we are babies we are content to have things brought to us and relax for a while longer.

However since I have had these concerns Lily is on her hands and knees rocking and has become more mobile. In one day! she can reach out soooo far for her toys as well.
So happy 8 months Lily Luby!!

I was just reading everyone elses blogs and Ronnie had a lovely quote in hers. Funnily enough found a quote yesterday which I thought was so true.

" If you don't stand for something, you will fall for something"

so I will leave you with that
Love Wends
xxxxxxxxx

Easter Easter Easter

Happy easter!

Who on earth starts weight watchers now!!!

Hello all
I hope this finds all my avid readers and fellow bloggers well. Hope your Easters were good. For the last few years I always am a little sad when its Easter as for me its always been about all my friends and family in a wonderful camping get together. I used to look forward to it from when Christmas came to an end as I suffer terribly from post Christmas blues ( hee hee)

From when we were little we all used to go away together in caravans ,tents ,chalets and have four fabulous days of fun. In recent years our traditional " oh lets go for a walk children" only to arrive back and see that the Easter bunny had been and left eggs, has turned into these fab treasure hunts organized by aunty Sandra. Everyone always has so much fun and these last few years I have been here and missed out on any get togethers. so powers that be that are reading... bring them back like they used to be otherwise I will. I am taurean . We hate change!!

Well for us this Easter was very quiet. We started out by going into Blackheath village on Friday mid morning and meeting friend Gav and Cath there. She is 32 weeks pregnant but that did not stop us dragging her from one end of the heath to the other and then around the fun fair and all around Greenwich park. Lily had a lovely time .had her lunch and then a lovely sleep on the walk only to wake up when we sat down at the pub for a pint ( girl after my own heart)

Saturday found us driving to Lily's Nana Michele for a couple of days. We had a lovely relaxing time. Lily got thoroughly spoilt by the Easter bunny and had her first go on the swings at the park. She cried when we put her into them ( a trend for the weekend I may add) but then got the hang of it and we got a few smiles until she slumped forward. Apparently whilst others find the swings exhilarating Lily falls asleep on them.

Our poor Lily has been so out of sorts. As you may have gathered last week i found a pea size lump in her eyelid which was diagnosed as a cyst. There is nothing they will do now but if it gets bigger they will put her under and turn her eyelid inside out and scrape it out. The thought of that makes me feel hysterical so I am praying it just goes away. Besides that something is up with her. Sometimes I think she is teething then i think she just feels ill. Hence much crying, fractured sleep for us all and a generally unhappy baby. As you can see from her picture a more unhappy Easter bunny is yet to be found.

She is holding her sippy cup like a pro now and feeding herself really well. She is leaning over so far now that any minute she will gather enough courage to crawl. she quite good at moving around on the spot though. I think Lily has had a little growth spurt again ( actually I know this as she had a weight gain of 500g in 2 weeks) she looks a bit different and much taller now. What do you guys think?

Onto my header. On Wednesday before Easter me in all my wisdom decides to join weight watchers. I think my " I just had a baby" is wearing a little thin and 30 is hurtling towards me. So its time to lose the baby weight . So Lily is piling it on and hopefully I am shedding it all. No Easter eggs for me! I have not had one. I must say I am so proud of myself as chocolate is my thing.

Will keep you all updated. weigh ins are on a Wednesday.

Hope you enjoy the pictures of all of us and of Lily with her daddy in his first car. A 1974 VW beetle which will soon be going on ebay ( sniffle sniffle)
much love
Wends
xxxx

Thats hilarious

Oh dear It has been brought to my attention that i have posted those before. In my defense i was up a lot last night seeing to my crying daughter. Heres some new ones ( i promise) in the beautiful greenwich park and one of her in her chair just woken up giving me a little smile

xxxxxxxxxxxx

some recent photos

and apologies for my spelling errors my spell check will not work again and i am lazy to check myself .... sorry aunty Sandra

Motherhood

I have been pondering motherhood these past few days. I have a few pregnant friends. Caroline and Craig, due in august and Gav and Cath due on 1 June. I think your pregnancy and the first months are really such a learning curve. So do you think motherhood is an instinct or a learned skill?
Inicially PB (pre baby) I thought I would fall pregnant and have a lovely pregnancy and then a little baby would be in my life and it would be wonderful. Now dont get me wrong it is wonderful but bloody hell its hard work. I realise now that I was totally unprepared for motherhood and all it brings. I had no idea how you would feel, how everything feels so foreign and new and how you feel like a fraud having had this baby and now no idea how to look after it.
I know i have told you all before how I did not feed lily that first day. it really did not occur to me. It must have been the shock!

For me I think I have learned how to be a mother. I have had advice and help along the way with a good dose of my own instincy eventually. I know other mothers who have just taken it all in their stride and its all so easy ( or do they say that!!!)
With Kristian and I not having family nearby it has been more difficult I guess but as I said to my mum the other day if it doesnt kill you.............. I am strong hee hee

I was also thinking how diffrent people are. i was reading Pias blog thoughts of a dysfunctional mother ( naughty naughty girl) and she was saying how she would do things diffremtly and not buy so much baby gear, I had a chuckle because I think I dont have enough. i keep saying if I had my time over I would get .......... ( its the shopper in me) There where some things I never needed. If anyone wants a room themometer which doubles as a bath themometer you are welcome ( what was I thinking.. just put your elbow in the water woman!) but mostly I have used my purchases. some are put away now for my next one ;) but all well used. I could not do without my bouncy chair and my muslin clothes and babygrows lots of them.

Well I could waffle about this forever so let me tell you how Lily is getting on.
Lily Grace Humble
age : 7 months 3 weeks old

weight: 7.5 kgs and quite tall

clothing: some 3 -6 month stuff but mostly 6 -9 or 6-12 but they are a wee bit roomy shes quite tiny

sleeping : she sleeps through the night from 7 till between 6 - 7 the next morning bar a few night wakings for cold and illness the day is a nightmare with half hour naps at about 9 and 12 is and then about 3 but it varies. 1 long sleep and 3 naps then

eating: 1 210ml bottle on waking and porridge with fruit puree at about 9
*used to have a bottle of 120 ml at 10:30 but has decided she hates that and bats it away

*She then has lunch at 12 30 - 1 veg puree followed by fruit puree but at times hatesthe veg puree so just has her finger food for lunch toast with chese spread and bits of fruit.

* today she had the aforementioned bottle at 2 :30 so who knows

*then she has dinner at 5 usually its mashed potato with carrot, peas and fish with some cheese as its the only thing she loves. I can change the veggies as long as its fish and potato perhaps she will be brainy and then she has a yoghurt

*before bed she will have a 240 ml bottle ta da!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

likes : her mummy to be in view at all times, playing with her puzzle, yoghurt , sitting with mummy and daddy while they make her laugh, tummy tickles , going out a nice glass of red wine ( just checking you were awake)

hates: sitting in her car seat going home , chicken , daytime naps , cutting her nails , tummy time, the hairdryer and hoover ( ironically)

new tricks : bum shuffling along the ground to get her toys ( oh no another crab child) clapping waving hello and goodbye whislt saying ewee ( which i take to mean hello) taking all the puzzle bits out one by one , kissing with an open mouth ( eeewww) peeping around things to look for people

so there you go a comprehensive update on lily .

till next time
xxxxxxxxxxxx
hugs
Wendy

blogging!!!!

Hello all
We have a new friend on our links. Veronica Cobbles has joined the blogging fraternity. Those who know her will know that the blog will be hilarious and a graet read. I for one am delighted as I seem to have developed a computor addiction. I dont know how it happened or when but its there now.
I definately have an addictive personality this we know. I think it all began with the advent of ADSL or broadband as it is called here. It costs the same whether I am on for 1 hour or 24 so 24 it is..............
Back to the blogs. I love reading them and writing in mine . I think we should all have them

Just to update you Kristian is feeling much better but now he has developed a proper man cold. He is feeling a little better but it occurs to him that having me fuss over him was quite nice so perhaps he should drag t out. earlier he was taking his temperature with lilys themometer!!!!!
Its apparently still a little high.

have a wonderful weekend everyone. I will be enjoying the sunshine. YIPPEEEEEEE!!!!
Love Wendy

the house of sick

Hello all

What a week it been. On Sunday night I woke up with a shivering and shaking Kristian next to me. In my irrational state I thought he was trying to wake me. ( I have had a baby recently sleep is very important to me) Turns out he has developed a high fever. so my week has consisted of running around being nursemaid and trying to look after a 7 month old. This is no easy feat I must tell. i have got so used to Kristian helping out in the morning and the evening with lily that I am now exhausted after doing everything. I must take my hat off to single parents. Of course its of no help that I have no family and friends to help out... sigh...

Anyhoo, he is on the mend now so I am hoping the weekend will be good.

Lily and I went to see another South African friend this week. i have not seen her for years and know her through our neighbors the Sinclairs. It was lovely to chat to someone south African and Capetonian at that. She has a lovely 18 month old little boy called Connor who i so sweet. lily of course cried her eyes out when arriving with all the trimmings. ie. cue loads of mucus and battling to get breath. but I just sat her on my lap and gave her my pack of tissues which she loves and she settled down. When Connor brought her a piece of his puzzle (awwwwww) she smiled and started chatting to him and was then transfixed. poor little lily has not been out much this week so i will take her on an outing today as she has serious cabin fever.

she is loving playing with her little puzzle at the moment and peeking around the corner at things. she leans as far forward as possible and swivels her head. the yogis would be proud.

we have no teeth yet but the teething has stopped for a while( touches wood)

mostly she has become so social. she interacts with us so well and is truly a joy. she looks for attention all the time and loves a cuddle.

i will leave you with some photos of her puzzling

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

wendy

I have learned to type

Hello everyone. I have snuck away from my mummy and daddy to come and tell you all about my week.

I have had a little bit of a cold and that keeps me up a bit and I feel a bit tearful and need lots of hugs so on Monday I just sat and lay with my daddy the whole day. They told me it was horrible weather outside so we would stay in and I could get better. By Wednesday I was feeling a lot better and mummy took me to the baby clinic. I had to lie on that scale thing with no clothes on and I really hate that. I thought no this week i really do not want to do it so I cried and cried until Joe our health visitor said I could sit up and be weighed. My mummy got me dressed quickly after that and I felt better. Then Joe gave me a bag with some lovely books inside for me to read.

I weighed 7 1/2 kg and was on the right point on my growth chart. but I heard mummy asking Joe what on earth she should do as I do not want to eat any veggies or savories. I really like the yogurts. Joe was wise to my plan and told mummy I would hold out till mummy gave me the yogurt and that mummy should persevere. damn..... foiled again.

I do like this one thing mummy makes so much its mash potato and carrot with fish and a tomato and cheese sauce. I don't like any other meat only fish. mummy and daddy cant believe it!

Then on Friday we went with our friends Ami and Leigh to Ashford in Kent. I was so cold when we got there I was shivering so my mummy had to run into gap baby to buy me a jumper. That's another trick I must remember. We looked around the shops there and then mummy and Leigh had coffee with Vic reeves wife. he is a famous comedian and she had some twin babies. I bet mummy could not cope with 2 of me.

this week mummy cut the back off my hair. she cried afterwards cause she thought it looked silly but I quite like it what do you think. I have asked my mummy to put some photos of me in London on as I don't know how to do that. theres also one of my hair and one when I was so tired at the end of the day I just fell asleep. hee hee

Today we went into London and it was really Nice I had a lovely time. I am very tired now though and think I should go to bed. I have a long week ahead of me of fun. perhaps tomorrow morning I will have a go in my door bouncer. I am supposed to bounce up and down I think but I just hang there lifting up my legs while daddy jumps up and down. i think its so funny when he does that. hes a nutter

goodnight everybody

huggles

lily

mothers day and other shenanigans

Hello!

Well mothering sunday has just been and gone and I had a lovely day. Lily gave me a beautiful portmeiron teapot with sweetpeas on it ( one of my favorite flowers) and a card with first mothers day on it. something to keep forever.

I dressed lily in her first dress we bought her. its cream and very traditional. she looked so lovely. Her nana Michele came for the weekend so she was very well behaved and smiley until after lunch on sunday when it all went pear shaped.

All was to be revealed though as she then proceeded to wake every hour from 11 pm with her teeth and a rotten cold. Eventually she came into bed with us as I was up and down like a jack in the box.

She has been really sick and bunged up today but still full of smiles and laughing, bless her little heart. Food is off the menu today.

I have got to say I am fining this whole weaning lark so difficult as Lily seems to be quite fussy and I seem to be quite a control freak. Its the dirty face and hands I cant stand . when she has her finger food i have to sit on my hands to keep from helping her. who would have thought.

I got over it today though. by the evening I had mucus , sick and all sorts of foodstuffs smeared all over my top. I just gave up eventually and changed when she went to bed.

just a little story to encourage people to have children!! :)

Lilys little sense of humour is growing by the day. she loves hiding her head from us now and if I do something funny like put a cup on my head she laughs. which I find remarkable for a 7 month old. I cant keep up!

lily has a clinic visit on wednesday so we can update you on her then and of course the dreaded singing tomorrow if she is better.

Much love to you all

Wendy

xxxxx

we are 7 months!

Hello all

It felt just like yesterday I was posting that Lily was 6 months but tomorrow she is 7 months old. I just cant believe it. Every day that goes by I seem to love her more.

We have had a nice weekend mainly because the weather has been so lovely. kristian and I are so tired though as lily has started teething in earnest ( just for you stevie). She has been waking up at night about 3 times a night letting out these screams and then crying and crying. I am plying her with her powders and teething gel and calpol. In the day she has been so miserable and she is so pale as well. Most of last week she just would not sleep in the day she was just so unsettled. Last night she just went to bed beautufully as usual and slept right the way through to this morning not a peep so I am so glad she is feeling better. No bloody tooth yet though GRRRRRRR.

Yesterday we had some friends of mine from Reading visit. They had some lunch with us and the grumpy Lily who would not go to them and could barely raise a smile. I will include a photo of us in Blackheath village ( excuse the state of me.. lack of sleep)

will keep you posted about the tooth I am sure we will see it any day, I hope so

xxxxx

huggles

Wendy

singing and day trips

hello all

Lily and I have been to our 2nd mother and baby group this week. I am persevering for her sake because I think its important she sees other babies and that I meet new people. Theres such a mixed bag of people there that I have not really clicked with anybody and lily could not care that there are other babies. Loves the other mummys and the toys though!

Then theres the singing. lily loves it when we all have to sing all the songs , I however feel as though I could do with a large vodka tonic to get me through it.

Kristian , Lily and I had a little day trip yesterday to Rochester in Kent. Its only about a half hour away. Its a historic town with the second oldest cathedral in England . it has norman and late gothic architecture and a romaneque facade. There is also a medieval castle there. many of charles dickens novels have rochester mentioned so the little cobbled high st has loads of references to him.

we had a lovely lunch and a good walk around and it was good to get out and about.

on the lily front she is doing very well sitting nicely and leaning forward to get toys. this leads her to be in the crwling position at times. i am still putting her on her tummy all the time.she has a door bouncer as well now which she likes. mostly she just twists it around and then lifts her feet and spins!

she is eating much better now but i am convinced she wants to be a veggie as she hates chicken. so its fruit , veggies and yogurt. she is having cheese now and i am going to try this lentil dish as well. gotta get the protein in.

shes babbling away much better and every day her little personality is emerging. she is so funny!

i will add some pictures of our day trip and some others

xxx

wends

a little bump

Boo Hoo my little girl fell off the bed. If I had a pound for each time I have heard . " it happens so quickly , dont leave them for a second" I would be living the high life. So what do I do. put Lily in the middle of the bed like normal. turn around for a second to get something. Madam must have seen her green rattle as she was still grasping it when I oicked her up off the floor. so she reaches to get it and tumbles.

I feel quite sick. the thud and silent scream!!! just 2 bumps on the head and a bruised knee. her lip was out for an hour after she stopped crying. I just cried along with her and now am having a large glass of wine.

since I last updated Lily has a high chair. I really wanted a wooden one but after trying her in all of them they were not comfy for her . they do a padded one that is so big but she likes it and plays in it while I potter about the kitchen. Food is going a little better now and she has had salmon and chicken. I cant say she is really keen on it but will eat it. yoghurt is still a firm fav but her breakfast which is oaty porridge and fruit puree is a close second

Lily and I went to a baby gruop up the road from us on tuesday. Its in a church but its also where we have lily weighed and where the doctor is ( perhaps its an indian take away at night as well) it was really nice . the toys were great and they do a singing session. at first I thought NOOOOOOO but when it started lily was clapping and laughing and jigging around on my lap. she loved it. she loves music. so I went along and now can sing the wheels on the bus with the best of them.

I am on a mission to do more and get lily out and about so I am looking at baby yoga and a book reading thing as well. Today we went with another mum and baby to swimming which was so fun. Lily took a while to get going but eventually did and was splashing along with Ami.

I will return to my wine now. I am loving this blogging thing thank you so much for my comments everybody. I love carolines as well if any of you have not seen it you should have a read. i think we should all have one. I am thinking of having one for me as well. a great outlet.

love to you all

wendy

xxx