Baby Brain Weekly Memoir: 30th January

Hello all! 

Hope you've had a great week! 

It's been an eventful one for us in so many ways! 

I've found the latter part of this week particularly difficult mentally, emotionally and physically and have found myself in a slightly dark space but have quickly tried to bounce back with the support of friends. That's hindered a lot of what I've wanted to do this week but we still managed to get some bits done at the beginning of the week! 

Arjun stated the week off by going to daddy's construction projects with him on Saturday morning. As I mentioned in my 7 month update post, Arjun is totally doting on his daddy at the mo. He can't get enough of him! He was so excited to be with his daddy and came home beaming. It was very cute.  

During the day his Goov Masi came to pay him a visit. He kept laughing at had for no apparent reason!!

Masi cuddles x

 

In the evening we went for dinner at Mané's house for lohri (check out my post on what lohri is about). It was a nice evening where Arjun bounced off everyone in the room (as usual!) but he did get pretty cranky towards the end. He received his first ever Mr Men book  - infact he received the whole collection. Thanks Mané Pua (Aunti) and Jas Fufar Ji (uncle)!  Arjun enjoyed playing with Mané's chura (indian bangles that newly married brides wear) - he loves the sparkles! 

Puaji and newphew x

"Hmm which one should I read first?!"

On Sunday Preetam took Arjun swimming. I didn't go this week and felt pretty gutted for it! I'd been feeling pretty poorly since Friday and just needed some rest so I'd dosed up on Night Nurse the night before and decided to rest. Preetam said it was a good lesson and that they introduced new songs which Arjun enjoyed. 

After swimming, Arjun had his very first birthday party to attend! It was his friend Taran's 3rd birthday at Snakes and Ladders. It was so good catching up with friends and also seeing Arjun interact with his baby friends. He's still too small to go in to the play area of the bigger kids but he loved the soft play area and the smaller climbing frame. He had a good time but got cranky half way through probably because it was nap time!  Thankfully Preetam and my sister Harv came with me to Snakes and Ladders to manage Arjun. I would've been a hot mess had they not. Harv is amazing with him - she's like a big kid herself so loves places like Snakes and Ladders! It was really nice being around other mums and sharing stories/advice. We had a really nice time! 

All set and ready to go! Hat from H&M, body warmer from Ralph Lauren, long sleeved top from Hugo Boss, jeans from Next, shoes from Ralph Lauren

Playtime with daddy x

Practising his push ups

Being over protective of his buddy!

 

With Leo the Lion x

 

Arjun's first ever party bag :)

Pooped!

Monday was Arjun's 7 month birthday (7 Month Update) and he celebrated with a play date with his big sister Jeeya. It's fascinating seeing them interact over time. They were communicating via screams but watching them respond to each other is so adorable! I'm so grateful that he has a buddy in the family of a similar age to grow up with. His big sister Shaan is also amazing with him. Super excited to have two new cousin buddies joining us this year too! 



Playing in the ball pit at Jeeya's house

Later on that day Preetam and I ordered a Thai take out and chilled at home - any excuse for junk! I had gone off oriental cuisine but it was quite nice. We had a fruit "cake" for Arjun which he enjoyed destroying!! 

Fruit "cake"

Arjun visited both sets of grandparents this week. He sat on his nanajis office desk and watched him work. He tried to get involved - he's going to be one of those kids!! Bashing away at the keyboard and trying his best to reach over to grab the mouse. He had a really good afternoon playing office. :) 

 

Making important business decisions with nanaji!

Insisting on helping

He enjoyed his dadiji and dadajis house too. He finds Preetam's mum so hilarious. It's so cute! He has become a bit of a tele addict (again something I stress about!) and managed to win his choice of channel (Baby TV) over his dadijis (Star Plus!). I'm really looking forward to going on holiday with them as it'll be so exciting for Arjun :) 

On Wednesday I'd planned that I wanted to attempt Westfield with Arjun and was so hyped up for it. Writing my blog post (My Hormonal Rollercoaster) on my early day's post labour made me feel so empowered to actually take a hold of my life. It was such an amazing feeling just spilling my thoughts and feelings out. I ended up having major verbal diarrhoea but I'm glad I got it out of my system. It also made me realise that I haven't actually made that much progress at all in terms of tackling my fears head on and it made me determined to JUST DO IT! I was so excited to finally feel like I was ready to take on Westfield and was looking forward to reporting back too. 

Unfortunately,  I woke up on Wednesday in such a dark space and I couldn't understand what had happened or where it'd come from. I felt so drained with no motivation to get up. I struggled to respond to Arjun's cries. I hadn't slept properly because I felt so stressed but I don't know what I was so stressed about. There was absolutely no way I was going to make it to Westfield in the frame of mind I was. I had no energy physically or mentally. 

I managed to get myself up and feed Arjun his breakfast. He was whinging and crying when I put him down to play after breakfast. This week saw a lot of tears and tantrums. I still haven't quite figured out why. I don't know if it's Arjun's teeth or if he's going through a strange phase but to say I've struggled is putting it mildly! It has given me such a huge feeling of self doubt again. What am I doing wrong? Does he hate me?! Why don't I understand what he's so upset about?! I've found it emotionally, mentally and physically tiring and I don't know if that's what's triggered my feelings of sadness. 

Once he calmed down enough for me to able to hear myself think, I headed to the kitchen. I needed to cook as we had people coming over for dinner that evening but I couldn't figure out how to do it. Why was I finding it so difficult to process something so simple? I found myself getting in to such a confused mess. I struggled to cook and process a basic recipe which I've made for years. I found it so frustrating and was almost reduced to tears. A basic meal felt like the biggest challenge especially with a whinging baby. 

I was relieved once I was done. By this time it was Arjun's nap time and thankfully he didn't put up too much of a fight - I didn't have the energy to deal with it and I knew I'd end up in tears too. When he slept, I slept for a short nap. I don't often do that. I usually end up doing bits around the house but I couldn't do it. I just wanted to sleep. I would've stayed in the bed that whole day if I didn't have a baby. 

I somehow managed to get through the day but by the end of it I was EXHAUSTED. I barely had the energy to keep my eyes open let alone speak. 

I woke up Thursday feeling the same. I was hoping Wednesday was just a bad day. I hate being in this space. It makes everything look so grey. It also makes me feel incredibly selfish. I have a great life - God has blessed me with everything. What do I have to be sad about?!  A fellow blogger had warned me that PND can sometimes resurface especially between 7 and 9 months post birth. I'm really hoping it isn't that and it is just my hormones rebalancing. 

I was grateful on Thursday that my NCT friends had planned to come over for tea and cake. I welcomed the company and also Arjun loves other babies. He was his usual self for what he has been this week - lots of crying and quite unsettled. We had lots of cuddles and I tried Nurofen which seemed to make him feel better for a while. I found it tiring. I just about managed to get myself in to a decent state for the girls! It was so nice seeing them - I love my NCT group, we're all from different walks of life and we all have something different to bring to the table (not just cake! Haha!). We've had to support each other in so many different ways which has made most of us friends for life.

Arjun enjoyed his playtime with his buddies and even had a bit of a flirt with E (nothing new there!). 

These two are too cute together!

That evening, I went for a walk with  my friend Amrit to get some fresh air and clear my head. It definitely helped having a little break from being with Arjun. I feel so guilty saying that but I really do believe it's healthy for a mum to have some "me" time. I don't often get that. It's also good for Arjun to have some space from me! Again thank God for my friends - Amrit is like a sister to me and I'm blessed to have people like her in my life. So patient and understanding and we always have a lighthearted laugh. 

Friday morning I had a dentist appointment which I took Arjun with me to. The dental assistant managed him whilst I had my teeth checked. He drew everyone's attention including the builders that could see him through the dentists window and kept waving. He was entertained well. The dentist also checked his non existent teeth and confirmed that the bottom two will be making an appearance soon. Eek! 

After that my friend Fiona and her baby E came over. I really value Fiona's friendship - she has a whole lot more life experience than I do and I often seek advice from her and really look up to her. She's an amazing mother and has supported me so much. We spent the day together just so that my mind was kept occupied and so that Arjun was busy with E. I feel so much better for it. I've woken up today feeling a little lighter. I WILL get there. This is just a tiny hurdle :) 

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All set for their walk x

Hoping the coming week is going to be much better. I may have had a slight blip but I'm so grateful for all the positives in my life. When in a dark space, I have to consciously remind myself of them. 

It's really scary writing about your current feelings - it makes me feel super exposed. I felt more comfortable writing my other post as I was speaking more about the past. But ups and downs highs and lows are all part and parcel of pregnancy and being a mummy x 

I now need to muster up the energy to go cook for friends we have coming over tonight :)

How was your week?

Have a great day x 



Over Half a Year Old Already!

Wow! Arjun is officially over half a year old! I cannot believe it. I don't remember my life without him but I can't believe it's gone so fast. It's crazy! 

 

We celebrated with a fruit cocktail "cake". 

 

 

He's becoming a proper little man now. I can already see signs of upcoming independence. You can see how frustrated he is about not being able to move :( He's started rolling from front to back but more by accident. He ends up in a fit of tears when that happens as he doesn't know how to get back! Lol. He's closer to mastering a push up than his crawl! Lol. We're encouraging plenty of tummy time, not necessarily because I'm in a rush for him to crawl (I'm actually really really nervous about what life will be when he's running riot in the house!), but more because I can see he really wants to. I feel for the little guy. 

 

Arjun sits up comfortably unaided and although he hasn't quite mastered it yet, he tries very hard to pull himself up when lying down. 

 

Arjun is at stage two of weaning now and is having breakfast, lunch, a snack and dinner. He's now on three bottles a day (about 500ml). He really enjoys his food (touch wood).  This month we tried rice crispies which he hated at first but now loves! His favourite food is probably pizza bread at the moment. I made this by spreading a thin layer of tomato puree on wholemeal bread, sprinkling some cheddar cheese and seasoning with basil and oregano. Other new foods he tried included bean salad mixed with sweet potato and lentils. He didn't love the latter - defo mummy's boy! 

 

He's started holding his own sippy cup - it took us a while but he's starting to let us know more when he wants water too which is great. 

 

The last time we had him weighed a few weeks ago, he was a hefty 18lbs! 

He's more or less been sleeping through the night since New Year's Day with a few difficult nights (one night where he woke about four times and a few nights where he's woken twice) but on the whole we are in a better place. 

We are getting ready for our second holiday in a few weeks - again to Dubai but this time with Preetam's parents. I'm super excited to go but nervous about how it'll disrupt his sleep pattern. I'm guessing this "routine" will be short lived anyway when another bout of unbearable teething kicks in! 

You can tell Arjun's first tooth will be making an appearance soon as his gums are quite white and raised. But still no tooth as of yet! We're brushing his gums with a finger tooth brush which we purchased from Amazon (Finger brush) just to get him used to the sensation. He loves it! 

Arj has almost completely term two with Water Babies. He's a little more confident under water - we've seen less tears but they haven't completely disappeared! He seems to enjoy the water more. We'll soon see when we go to Dubai again! It'll be great comparing how he was at five months there versus how he is now. 

 

We've decided to forego term three with Water Babies purely because of their policy which is a little inflexible. The previous two terms we've known that we weren't going to be able to make a few dates in advance but we still had to pay in full with no flexibility in terms of attending another session. We've wasted a good £50 already and we definitely don't want to do the same next term when we know we'll be missing two of the dates so we've decided to look at other options as we know other private swimming schools do offer flexibility - usually in terms of attending an alternative session which would be great for us. 

Arjun hosted his first party this month - Lohri (Lohri). A little social butterfly already! He also attended his first birthday party at Snakes and Ladders for his buddy Taran's 3rd birthday.  He enjoyed it for the most part but got tired and quite hot towards the end - cranky! 

 

Arjun seems to be going through separation anxiety surprisingly (only because it's normally with the mummy!) with his daddy. He's extremely attached to his dad and is so excited and happy when he's with him - like a proud little son. When Preetam leaves for work in the morning or even leaves the room to have a shower, if Arjun is awake there are lots of tears. I know Preetam also finds this really difficult especially as he feels like he's missing out on Arjun's life as most of his waking day is spent at work :( I'm hoping it's just a phase and he'll become comfortable in knowing that daddy will be back soon. It's quite heartbreaking to watch :( How have you managed separation anxiety?

Bestest buds x

What milestones have your babies reached at seven months?

 

P.s. don't forget to check out our free hamper giveaway filled with lots of our favourite goodies ending on Sunday 1st February!: Giveaway!

Baby Brain Memoir Giveaway!!

Hello everbody!

 

Hope you and your tots are all well!

 

With a chance to win your very own Baby Brain Memoirs hamper which includes lots of our favourite bits featured in my blog, follow us on Facebook/Instagram and share this picture and tag us in it :) The winner will be selected at random on Monday 2nd February!

 

The hamper includes the following:

• A Mom’s One Line a Day diary

• Toy Links

• A monkey change/craft mat

• An animal bath book

• A giraffe bath toy

• A giraffe squeaker toy (one of Arjun’s favourite first toys)

• Sensory wipes

• Sensory sponges

• A baby hand printing canvas kit

• All enclosed in my one of my favourite things ever – a flexi basket!

 

Also now that you have an insight in to the life of Arjun and mummy, it would be great if you could let me know what you'd be interested in hearing about in future posts by commenting in the comment box below :) 

Get sharing and good luck!

 

Lots of love,

 

Harps and Arjun x

Baby Brain Weekly Memoir: 23rd January

Hello all! 

I've done quite a bit of writing yesterday/today and it was heavy writing so I'm going to keep this post short and sweet (she says!) 

So this week we had our Lohri party which I posted about. In summary it was brilliant. I was so pleased with how everything turned out!! 

The day after we were knackered especially as Arjun was up every few hours - I think he thought the party was still happening!  But nevertheless we woke on Sunday and soldiered on. We woke a little late for Arjun's swimming lesson but Arjun went for a walk with Bruno and his daddy in the baby carrier instead. It gave me a little break - I had my feet up and enjoyed my breakfast. We don't use Arjun's carrier often - we really need to start! 

After that we went to see our friends, Amit and Vaishali and their newborn baby, Josh. Josh is the smallest baby boy I've seen since Arjun was born and he is so adorable! I can't believe Arjun was ever that small! I had a long cuddle and baby Josh fell asleep on me - bought back so many memories and he felt as light as a feather compared to my little tanker now!  Arjun really enjoyed being at Josh's house as several of our friends were there and they're all so great with babies!  He got plenty of play time and attention!  It was so sweet watching Josh and Arjun interact - they were mimicking each other!  I had a lovely time, it was very relaxing especially with so many pairs of hands to help with Arjun! 

Monday to Wednesday we pretty much stayed indoors. I had a pretty tough day on Monday where it was taking hours to settle Arjun for his naps. He fights his sleep so much that we end up in overtired land and then it's just a huge battle. Monday night it took us four hours to settle him at bed time - he went to sleep at midnight! :( His teeth were also bothering him which was really hard - I found water filled teethers give him comfort. He hasn't actually got any teeth yet! All in all, not the greatest timing especially following the tiredness after the party. 

Arjun was kept entertained for a while with his latest new thing - a sensory tent bought for him by his Sav Masi (thanks Sav!). He was intrigued and spent a while in there whilst playing and watching TV. 

We went to music and movement on Thursday morning where he really enjoyed himself as usual. He's so interactive with the other babies and parents now. You see a noticeable difference every week. It's a shame it coincides with his nap time and we kind of have to rejig things to ensure sure we make it. He loves it once he's there though! 

After music and movement we went to our friend Reets who also has a baby. It was a nice chilled out afternoon where Arjun was pretty content playing by himself whilst baby A slept. Had a little bit of a terrifying experience whilst there; Arjun was having his snack of sweet corn rings and almost choked on one. I panicked and froze. I knew what to do but just couldn't move! He was struggling to breath and his eyes were tearing, thank God Reet was with me as she took control and did exactly what you're supposed to - put him on his tummy over her knee and gave him a few firm blows on his back and it came out. I was so scared! I knew he was going to be ok but I was pretty peed off at myself for just freezing like a useless lemon! :(

Writing my blog post about my initial days post birth was actually really therapeutic and almost immediately it became apparent that it was going to help me on facing my fears. I decided to take Arjun to Toys R Us as I had to pick up a gift anyway. Where usually I'd have left him at his grandparents, he came with me. He slept through anyway but I went in with total confidence - I felt like a new person. It was really strange. I wasn't my usual panicked self. I was cool calm and collected and it was totally fine! 

Yesterday Arjun had his first taste of mummy's most favourite food - pizza!  I made him pizza bread on whole meal bread with a thin layer of tomato purée, grated cheddar cheese and some basil and oregano seasoning. He absolutely loved it! There wasn't even a crumb left! He also started holding his own beaker yesterday - it's so cute watching him grow. But it's all happening too fast! :( 

We spent the afternoon visiting Chico - Arjun's best friend! 

What have you been up to this week?x

Baby Brain Weekly Memoir: 9th January 2015

Good afternoon all :)

Hope you, babies and bumps are all doing well!

So I thought it would be a nice idea for me to do a weekly post on what we’ve been up to during the week. Some weeks will seem a lot more interesting/heavier than others! I have such a severe case of baby brain that I’ve had to jot down what we’ve been up to in a notes page on my phone on a daily basis!

I’ve only just started writing this post and Arjun has just woken up, I’ve put him next to me in bed whilst I write this post and he’s lying on his belly (meant to be sleeping!). Every time I look at him, he smiles and so do his eyes.  He makes my heart melt.  It makes me want to cry :( One day my baby boy is going to be an independent man who no longer dotes on his mummy!

Decided to take a break to enjoy that little moment!

Back to the post ...

So here goes..!

This week we hosted a dinner for Preetam’s newly married sister Mane and her husband Jas and their family.  Arjun really enjoyed it as he loves socialising with big groups – probably because the whole room centres around him! Who doesn’t like a bit of attention!?  I’ve noticed he especially loves grandmas and Jas’ Maaji (grandma) is by no means an exception!  He absolutely adores her.

Arjun and his Puaji (aunti) x

Sunday we took Arjun to his weekly swimming lesson with Water Babies.  He’s on term two now but still really doesn’t like his head being dunked under water!

We specifically chose Sunday classes because I’m not a very strong swimmer and I’m certainly not a confident one (my feet have to be able to touch the floor and there is no way you’ll ever catch me with even my ears below water let alone my eyes!) so we thought it would be a better idea for Preetam to get in the pool with him. He looks a little less like a drowning fish than I do! Plus it meant Preetam gets to spend some quality time on an activity with Arjun too.  

I didn’t want Arjun to pick up on my fears but it looks like he may have inherited some of them! He enjoys the water until he’s under.  I’m hoping with time it’ll get better!

I always go try and go to swimming lessons to watch my little man – it’s fascinating watching him change so much in different environments over time. I often feel the drag of a Saturday night on a Sunday morning (weekends are generally pretty busy!) and don’t fancy getting up and getting dressed especially in this cold, but the thought of missing out on anything he does jumpstarts my backside right out of bed!

Arjun and Daddy at swimming

I also took Arjun to Kew for some holiday shopping this week with my friend Fiona and her baby Estelle.  Probably not the best day to have taken him, his teeth seemed to cause so much unrest that it made parts of the trip quite difficult.  I often fall in to the habit of not doing too much in public with Arjun incase he “plays up” – there’s always that fear as a new mum of “what will people think” e.g. if my baby screams the restaurant down.  But slowly I’m becoming more and more confident in just getting on with it – so what if he cries? Babies cry, people just gotta deal with it! I was one of those people before that used to get irritated in a restaurant by a screaming baby – karma hey!  Plus he had a legitimate reason – his rosy cheeks and lumpy gums tell me he’s teething. He was a gem the rest of the trip (when he was asleep! Haha).

Arjun entertaining himself at lunch during our shopping trip

 

Arjun also met his Sav Masi (aunti) for the first time.  Sav is one of my best friends of ten years but has recently embarked on a new adventure in Japan.  She wasn’t here when Arjun was born so met him through Skype.  It was lovely seeing them meet face to face for the first time.  She’s a natural :) Arjun took to her.  He’s good with new people at the moment – probably because we have an open house and always have people coming in and out so he’s used to it!

Arjun with his Sav Masi x

 

This week Arjun stumbled upon new found fame too! His face got published in a book ... ok not quite but he got his first personalised book from Sav which included his face.  It’s soo cute and I’m sure he’ll find it fascinating seeing his face amidst all these other characters!  You can find this and other personalised picture books at www.itsyourstory.co.uk.

Arjun also got his teeth (well no real teeth but gums!) brushed with Colgate this week.  Prepped him for his play dates with all his little lady friends! I thought now that he’s fully weaned, it would be a good idea to start especially as he has slight reflux and the smell of food vomit is slightly less bearable than milk vomit! Mean mum!

We attended two baby groups this week; one at our local Church which was really more for mums to catch up whilst babies played with toys and the other was music and movement – my favourite of all the baby groups we’ve been to so far.  They have a mixture of play time, rhyme time and baby sensory and Arjun loves it.  His favourite thing today was a tomato soft toy (wonder if he thought it was real!?) and the fibre optic string lights.

 

This week Arjun has slept through the night five out of seven nights. Not holding my breath that this is the new found routine as I know it can revert back to as quick as it came on!

Other things; Arjun tried black beans and strawberries for the first time and also told me he wanted water for the first time(I thought that’s what he was doing at least) by grabbing his sippy cup – but really he thought it would be funny to get water all down his clothes! We also visited my friend Pav who is also about to have a baby and embark on the journey of motherhood! :)

What have you and your babes been up to this week?x