Happy Halloween

With a WHOLE lot of day glo pink Madame wishes you a Happy Halloween!

Halloween Taster

Just a few quick photos of Madame in her Halloween Nappies. More photos of her in her costume when we get back from Sunday dinner with the family

Letting Your Freak Flag Fly and Tooting Your Own Dork Horn

It is the most wonderful time of the year! It is time for the annual DorkFest at The Life and Times of Micheal 5000 blog. This is my third year competing though last year my effort was pitiful. This year I just want to make few points before I begin my official entry.

1. As my bribe to Supreme Dork and Judge arrived one business day too late to be included in last years DorkFest I would appreciate if you wouldn't mind carrying over said bribe to this years DorkFest.
2. Jenners, you have every reason to seethe you should ascend to Dork just because you were Vice Dork but as you can't I would appreciate your influence in the conclave to choose the next Dork. Why you ask? I quote "And whoever was worried about having missed Dorkfest deserves to be the Dork for 2010. That's my (seething) two cents." Yup that frantic e-mail was mine.
3. I not only asked for the Dork badge but proudly posted it on my blog, am posting my entry on my blog, and have link to DorkFest on Facebook. In short I am not afraid to fly my Freak Flag in public not just to the other readership of L&TM5K who share my dorkiness.

So without further adieu and in the style of Mastermind my chosen specialist subject being pregnancy, birth and what comes next, let the games begin.

I embody dorkiness by __________

General Knowledge:

• Tony Blair had a Deputy PM John Prescott, not really sure what he did other than look after the job when Tony went on holiday each year. When Tony Blair stepped down he did not become PM he just I don't know went back to being a MP for his constituency. Gordon Brown never had a Deputy PM so I am guessing that he didn't feel he needed one. He just had a few different people look after the country while he was on holiday. Then when David Cameron won the popular vote but didn't get the majority in the Houses of Parliament he needed so he formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats and Nick Clegg. One of the condition from Nicky Boy was that he got to be Deputy PM. When I started asking around as how, when, why and such a deputy PM is appointed no one could tell me. Sometimes there is one sometimes not, no rhyme no reason, this bothers me
• When the General Election mud slinging started and I could not bear anymore election crap I entertained myself with the choice of tie colours by the candidates, I even wrote a post about it after the elections.
• When the election led to a new party in power and a new cabinet my friend and I cut out the cheat sheet of who got what job from the newspaper so we would be able to identify them on Sky News and would quiz each other at work when it was slow. We all know there is nothing worse than confusing the Education Minister and the Foreign Minister.
• I really don't like mayo, like really find the whole idea gross, but I like tuna sandwiches so we have an uneasy truce but I need to buy it in a squeeze bottle because I can't bear the thought it might touch my skin if I dip the spoon into a jar. The squeeze bottle irritates me though because you can never get the last bit out. Plus there is the cost factor the convenience of squeeze means it cost more. Sometimes I can't choose between cost and possible skin contact.
• I don't believe nuts belong in fudge. It is a mouth feel issue, fudge is smooth and the smoothness gets interrupted by the nuts. Cookies, brownies and cakes are already chunky in their own way and so the nuts add something and enhance the product.
• I empathize with others style of dorkiness and even bring to their attention when I have seen something that falls under their specialist dork subject just ask M5K how many blog posts I have e-mailed him about geography, maps, quilting, and even High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Specialist Subject

• I am bilingual, I speak both the Queen's English and American English, having a baby brought a whole new set of vocabulary that I was not use to using but feel I have gotten a good grasp on prams, pushchairs, baby grows, nappies, dummies and grow bags.
• On the first night at our birth class I was the only person in the group who could place all the labels on the diagram of a nine month pregnant woman. Do you know where your cervix is?
• After we had all had our babies 3 of the other 7 women in the group admitted that they didn't even bother to read any books on birth because they knew they could just txt, call or e-mail me any question and I always had an answer.
• When the anaesthesiologist came in to give me my epidural he started out by saying he had to go through all the information and risks and have me sign that I understood. I told him to shut up give me the paper to sign as I had read all the possible risk factors and how the procedure worked months ago and give me the &%$£ing drugs.
• After reading every book I could get my hands on about pregnancy and birth both while we were where trying to get pregnant and after I fell pregnant when they put a very squishy Madame on my tummy the moment she was born I realized I had over looked reading books on babies. Oops. I had read books on parenting, on sleep issues in babies, on breastfeeding, and on Baby Led Weaning but actual babies yup I missed those.
• I researched extensively on cloth diapers looked at all the different styles prefolds, fitted, All in Twos, All in Ones, different brands what worked best for different situations. I can tell you all about how to wash what types of detergent and why, how to strip them. The difference between washing them in an agitating machine or a HE machine. What problems hard water brings to the washing scenario and how to fix it.

I hope that this year I move a small step closer grabbing the title of Right Honourable Dork but until that moment I will just continue tooting my own Dork horn.

Fitness Fridays

It was really hard this week, really really hard this week, like I wanted to snarf whole cakes in one sitting hard this week. I didn't though I let myself have an off week last week with all the events going on and I know if I don't hop right back on the band wagon it will take me six months to get back on it. So I tracked all my food like a good little Weight Watchers girl and I was rewarded with a loss of 2lbs (but to be honest I think I would have been happier with the cake).


Walking

Um so had a hard time remembering to write my mileage down because well I have a three month old and some times I get to use that excuse. I did not go out for walks on Saturday and Sunday but the other five days of the week I did between 5-6 miles everyday. This worked well for me and while it left me at least 6-8 miles short of my weekly average of 5 miles a day I am not fretting about it, I was happy, Madame was happy, enough said. Back on the Mileage tracking this week though.

Making Healthier Food Choices

I may have dropped the walking or at least tracking of the walking ball this week but man did I nail the fruit eating. I am proud to say that everyday I managed two portions of fruit on top of the veg I am already decent about consuming. They were the same two things everyday a banana and 3 small plums but hey you gotta start some where. I even bought two pink lady apples yesterday because I AM going to make time to cut them up.

So it Begins

Click on the badge for all the rules and check the comment section of the post for the first of the entries! My entry is in the works and coming soon!

Madame's Monday Update

Styling in your OshKosh B'gosh overalls from Grandpa America!



Dear Jocelynne,



We have had an over all grisly week, or it would probably be more true to say we have had a Mama just does not get the signals your sending week. Example, you were so happy the first few times I had you in the pushchair in the angled sitting position and then this week putting you in the pushchair became a chore. You would squirm and grunt and grisle and at best put up with it but were not your happy and content self that you usually are in the pushchair. In a rush over the weekend I left it in the flat position from a nap the day before and viola my happy pushchair girl was back, maybe you were not as ready as I thought to be in the sitting up position.



I also got a reality check in Child Led parenting vs sometimes I need to try things that may not seem like they are Child Led but may end up being the best option for you because I am after all the parent and responsible for your care parenting. You started waking every two hours in the night again, having a hard time settling down for the night and naps had gone back to the 1-2 30min power naps a day. I could deal with the waking ever two hours and even the power napping if it was working but the grisly child I had told me it wasn't and to be quite honest waking every two hours in the night makes for a grisly mama as well. After the third night when I was pretty sure it was not a growth spurt I realized that you were not feeding much during the day, I am not sure if this was of your own accord or if I had let things become so busy that I was not giving you the chance to feed as much as you wanted. So after a few days of offering feedings every two hours during the day and you being happy to do a good session at those feeds you seem to have moved back into a good night time routine and are back to only waking twice through the night for feeds. I get the benefit of a happy baby in the morning and a good little napper.

Now that you have learned how to go stiff like a plank and also go all squirmy I feel like I have a little Churchill. "I will fight you on your lap, I will fight you on your shoulder, I will fight you in the bath tub, the push chair, and the car seat." I don't think you are doing it on purpose as you always seem to be in a good natured mood I think it is just you learning you have more control over your body and how you use it.

We have started to really push for you to go straight into your crib at night for bed instead of letting you fall asleep on our bed and then moving you. I have also started to try and get your to nap in the crib. It is all in preparation for our 6 week trip to go visit Grandma and Grandpa America, they own a dog who loves to give kisses so you falling asleep on you play mat or in you bouncy chair for naps may cause problems, plus its just the right thing to do for you I think it will be the right choice in the long run.

Love and Kisses,

Mummy

The Adventures of Madame and Her Magical Sling

My first experience of Baby Wearing was my youngest sister, my mom had a ring sling and she and Abbie loved it. It was a life saver in many respects for both of them. I too wore Abbie on occasion as I was 13 when she was born. Since then I have had friends who have worn their babies and while we were trying to get pregnant I started reading this blog which lead me to find Dr. Sears and the Attachment Parenting Movement. I had already decided I wanted to wear Madame after she was born but thanks to Meridith from Becoming Mamas and her amazing Baby Wearing Guide I chose to start out with a woven ring sling. My main reason for choosing a woven ring sling was simplicity, while I knew I could learn the wraps I also knew I was going to have TONS to learn as a new mother and I already knew how to work a ring sling, Philip also wanted to use it and I knew I could show him once or twice and he would pick it up easily. While I love my ring sling I also really want to try wrapping and even have my eye on Mei Tai's and other Soft Structure carriers.


While we use our ring sling on an almost daily basis around the house it also goes EVERYWHERE Madame and I go, even in the pushchair as a blankie, more in case she gets grisly in the pushchair then I have it with me to wear her while I push the empty pushchair, it has also been to some really fun places. I try to get a picture of either Philip or I wearing her when we are at the places of note and from time to time I will post them here. For the moment it is just the Ella Roo Woven Ring Sling, but hopefully soon I will have other wraps or slings to show as well.


So for today Madame and I on the sea wall at Paglesham the photos were taken on the last Monday in August, yes I am wearing a jumper the breeze from the sea can be brutal! As it looks weird I will explain in the second picture the white bit is Madame's bib, when I wear her I flip it up so it rests against me to catch any spit up before it hits me.