11 month update

This month has been filled with lots of play dates, another 1^st birthday party and some horrible teething days!

Chris and I had a cheeky date night out one weekend, so Grandma and Grandpa were on babysitting duties. Chris also treated me to a gorgeous home cooked dinner on the Saturday before Valentines Day and on the Sunday, Jackson received his first Valentine’s Card from one of his girlfriends (which made me cry!!!)!

We enjoyed a trip to Swansea to see my oldest friend in her new house (my Mum and her's met at an antenatal class when we were still in their tummies). It is crazy to think that in 20 something years this could be Jackson and any of his buddies!

Milestones

Jackson is still on the move, cruising and crawling around like there is no tomorrow.

The 2 teeth from last time are still not through completely. They are the molars, so are very big and they caused him a lot of issues at the beginning of the month. The main problem is that they still have some growing to do, so I am sure he'll have a few more teething days this month!

He likes to feed himself his milk now and sometimes doesn’t even want me to cuddle him while he drinks it. You will normally find me crying in a corner when he does this!!

Jackson has improved so much this month with his cognitive development. He initiates games now such as peek-a-boo, shows actions when he wants me to sing certain songs (for instance when he sits on my lap and rocks backwards and forwards for 'row row row the boat'), and he is also starting to do puzzles.

Routine

I think I must say every month that his routine hasn't changed but on a whole, he's been the same for a while. However, I now completely let Jackson lead the way with his routine and if he wants a nap after lunch, he can, so this is just a rough guide:

7:00/7:30am - wake up and bottle

8:00am – breakfast

9:30am – nap for about 45mins

12:00pm – lunch

2:00pm – bottle

3:00pm – nap for about 30mins

5:00pm – dinner

5:45pm - bath and bottle

7:00pm - down for bed

Each time he is having about 6oz of milk in a bottle and 7oz before bed.

Clothes and weight

He is mostly wearing 12-18 months clothes now but still has some 18-24 month items, depending on the brand.

I got him weighed a couple of weeks ago and he was 25 lbs.

Below are a few photo's from Swansea, my friend is a photographer and even though they were taken on her phone, they are still amazing!!!! 

This last one is my favourite!!! Make-shift bath, so cute!!!!

Next month is the big 1st birthday and we are just starting to plan it, so really looking forward to it!!!! 

Love Sophia xxx

Baby Boy Haul

Jackson has moved into 12-18 month clothes so I've been shopping again....

https://youtu.be/c7744_8o3Ao

Let me know what your favourite is.

Love Sophia xxx

Social media

On social media, people always portray the best side of their lives; perfect pictures, amazing statuses and wonderful videos of their baby’s ‘firsts’ or great nights out.

This has been a subject of interest this week in the media, with some people questioning whether this is this right or not.

I think this is a difficult argument as, for me, when Jackson is having a tantrum or has snot and dribble all over his face, the last thing I think about is to get my camera out and take a picture!!!

I want my Blog and Vlogs to be real life but it’s not always easy to capture the difficult times. However, in no way does that mean my life as a mum is always perfect!! That is why I thought it would be good for me to share one of the most difficult times that I have faced as a new mummy.

On Thursday, Jackson cried for pretty much the whole day. Whenever I picked him up, he wriggled and cried to get down and when he was down he cried and wanted picking up!

It all started when he refused to go down for his nap in the morning. In desperation, I rang my friend and pleaded to go out and do something together. Jackson loves going out and often it helps him to fall asleep, so we packed the car with both our babies (she has a new born baby boy) and off we went to do some shopping. I thought this would definitely calm Jackson down… well; it was not the nice relaxing girly trip out as I had imagined! Both of our babies screamed the place down and we got lots of sad eyes from all the other shoppers!

Finally, on the way back home, Jackson fell asleep!!!! So I dropped off my friend and spent the next hour driving around! When we eventually got home, his mood had still not improved, despite his nap, and dinner and bath time was just as much of a struggle! In the whole 10 months of having Jackson, I don’t think I have ever been so excited to hear the keys rattle in the door as Daddy came home!

The main thoughts I had running through my head that day were:

How will I ever cope with another one!!!

People with twins are Super Hero's!!!

I am a terrible mother who can't comfort her baby!

I want to go back to work today!

My baby hates me!

The next day, however, those thoughts disappeared as I had my gorgeous happy baby back! He was in a brilliant mood and the day before was soon forgotten.

I haven’t written this post for you all to feel sorry for me but, as someone who uses social media a lot, I don’t want anyone who is having a day like my Thursday was to see my pictures/blogs/vlogs and think that we are always that happy. As adults, we all have our difficult and grumpy times and so do our babies! Motherhood is hard at certain points and as long as we all do our best, we are great mums!!

Love Sophia xxx

Bang Bang Chicken

Chris had his day off on Tuesday again this week, so it was an afternoon for me to be in the kitchen cooking up some treats for Jackson. 

One of the recipes that I made for him this week was the 'Bang Bang Chicken' from 'Annabel Karmel's Cook Book'. It looked delicious, a meal Chris and I would happily have ourselves! Here's a bit more about it...

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

2 slices of bread without the crusts (the recipe actually suggested 3 slices but I only had 2 and that worked fine)

Parmesan cheese 

Fresh parsley

Plain flour 

1 egg, beaten

Oil

Recipe:

Firstly, you need to beat the chicken; I put mine in a sandwich bag as I didn't have any Baking Paper. It was a good stress release!!

Then you cut the chicken into strips. The book suggests to cut each breast into 4 but I got 5 of a good size (must have bashed it a little too hard!).

I then put the bread, parmesan and parsley into my 'Nutribullet' but any food processor would work.

Next, you roll the chicken strips in the flour, then the egg and then the bread mixture.

Finally, you just fry them off with a little oil.

I tried them afterwards and they were delicious! But the main taster was Jackson...

He really enjoyed it, I teamed it with our dinner, from last night, of pasta and veggies! 

Let me know if any of you make these and what your babies (or you) thought of them. 

Love Sophia xxx