She's 4 months old!

I can't actually believe she's 4 months so as I've been super slack on the old baby update posts I thought it was about time that I got my act together and got one sorted. 

Freya has thankfully been a blissful baby, she's slept through from about 2 months, waking for a feed about 11pm and despite the few frustrating catnap days is sleeping well throughout the day as well. With a busy and noisy toddler in tow this is a lifesaver. 

As always now we we've reached 4 months theres been the odd murmur about weaning, now Im have no interest in starting a when to wean debate but for me it's 6 months, we did the same with D (who was a big and very hungry baby!) and will be doing the same with Freya. I intend to go down the Baby Led Weaning route again with Freya so there will be no rush and we'll take things at her pace. 

Eating wise we have now moved completely to bottles, the breastfeeding, pumping and topping up just wasn't workable with a 3 year old to look after as well. Freya has reflux so has to be held upright after feeds so  this meant I was almost constantly feeding Freya whilst trying to distract D who was desperate for a bit of attention. I found giving up breastfeeding hard, at first I was really worried about people's opinions but I also found I missed the closeness. I always hold F close when we feed but it's never quite the same as feeding your baby with your own milk, That said the decision was the right one for us as a family and F is doing just great. 

Weight wise Freya is now just over 13lb and hanging out on the 25th Percentile. She's quite a bit smaller than D was at the same age so it's a bit of novelty have a dinky one this time round. I've had the odd comment about her being small but she's doing perfectly - eating well and judging by the beautiful smiles she treats us to, very very happy. 

Freya is also starting to play now, grabbing and reaching for her toys, Ds hair or in fact anything which catches her eye. She's rolled from front to back a handful of times and when doing tummy time is starting to push with her legs and lift her bottom up. D didn't crawl until 10 months but with a big sister to follow and play with I have a feeling we won't be waiting that long for Freya. 

No teeth at the moment although with the continual stream of goop that covers us all and the house I suspect there may be some on their way!

She's also found her voice and we are treated to some wonderful screeching and chatting throughout the day. I love this age when they are starting to be more aware of whats around them and trying to communicate. 

I think my favourite thing about the last 4 months has been watching how Daisy has responded to her new little sister. She absolutely adores her and Freya is constantly watching her and you can see she can't wait to get involved in her games. I'll never forget we were at soft play a few weeks ago.......
D - Im sooooo excited!
Me - Are you excited to be at soft play, we haven't been for a while have we?
D - No Im so excited to have a little sister!
D also has a little routine where she has a quick hold of F before we go downstairs in the morning smothers her in (sometimes quite frankly terrifying) cuddles at least 20,546 times a day!

All in all I really couldn't have asked for a happier, more contented and dare I say it easier baby, we had a pretty easy ride with D at this age and thankfully it looks like F is going to be the same. That said I'm very well aware that at 4 months everything could and may well change!

Ditching the Dummies - AGAIN!

I blogged almost a year ago about our plan to let the dummy fairy take Ds dummies, she did really well for the first night or so but it was short lived and she found trying to sleep without them so distressing we (I know I know) decided to postpone and try again later in the year. 

Watching her sobbing at night both when getting off to sleep and when she woke in the night was just too heart breaking. She obviously wasn't ready and needed the comfort so at just 2 it seemed crazy to put her through the upset. She only had the dummies at sleeps anyway so we vowed to try again at Christmas and left it at that. 

I admit I felt a bit of a failure as a parent for still allowing her to have them back (it's such a controversial subject and some people are super opinionated about whether babies should have them, when they should go etc) but it dawned on me when we first tried to get rid of them, I have never let D cry to sleep, never failed to attend to her when she was upset and have in every other way followed her lead developmentally (dropping milk feeds, blw, potty training etc) with all of these she moved on and got the hang of things without batting an eyelid so I stopped listening to people telling me she shouldn't have a dummy anymore and went back to following my instincts and responding to my little girl's needs. I was also pregnant with F at the time and knew she had a lot of changes ahead of her so just didn't feel taking away the comfort she loved at night was actually that big a deal. 

Christmas came and went and we set 1st Jan as D day. Unlike last time we didn't make a big fuss of it, we talked about it leading up so she knew it was coming and she just popped them into her stocking for Santa to collect. He kindly left her a torch in return as she's wanted one for ages and we thought it could be a distraction in bed at night. 

Unlike the first time round I didn't want to blog any big success as I knew this may be a longer process but we've done nearly a month now and I know we won't be going back this time, I can tell D is more than capable of dealing with this change even though it's clear she was still sad to say goodbye to her beloved 'nummies'. In fact this time she was really positive about the change, talking about how now she's 3 she's a big girl and doesn't need a dummy, even seeing F have one hasn't changed things and believe me I was fully expected to spot her having a sneaky suck every now and then! 

I actually feel quite sad writing this. Perhaps if I'm honest a little bereaved for my baby. It's funny but I think I also found letting go of the dummies hard, she's excelled in terms of ditching bottles, eating, talking, getting out of nappies etc so this is the last bit of her being a baby. She's done brilliantly and I'm so proud of her - she's sleeping much better as she's not scrambling around for lost dummies (or worse calling for us to find them) and although she's dropped her naps as a result I'm enjoying the change in routine and having my big girl with me for a full day with a nice straightforward bedtime. 

If you're reading this and thinking you need to ditch the dummies my advice would be to follow your child's needs, if it's not affecting their development (talking,eating etc) they'll tell you when they're ready and believe me it's a whole lot less heart breaking for all involved that way! 

New Years Cliche

Freya is 4 months old now so there really is no excuse for sneaking on the old maternity jeans when I'm having a fat day. I'm not saying the weight fell off with D as it most certainly didn't but boy oh boy has it been harder with F. My stomach wobbles like it never has before and even my bum and legs are much bigger despite not putting that much weight on with F. 

So January seems like the perfect time to jump on the must lose weight band wagon and try to do something about it. 

Before the girls came along I went to the gym 3 times a week but alas I can't afford the time or gym membership now so I'm stripping it back and attempting to start running. I've downloaded the C25K app and so far I'm not doing too badly - whether I can actually keep this up and indeed whether I actually lose any of this weight is yet to be seen but considering this is currently the only time I get without a toddler clinging to my leg or a baby in my arms I reckon I've got a pretty good incentive to keep going. 

I will no doubt be blogging my success should it happen so if all goes quiet on the fitness blogs you know I've given up and I'm sat on the sofa dipping chocolate into baileys! 

Our year in photos

Our year in pictures

2014 has been pretty bloody awesome.....

Jan - In true Robinson style we saw the new year in with Pizza!

Jan - Daisy made the move into her big girl bed, and loved it! 

Feb - We discovered we were expecting Robinson baby no 2!

June - we enjoyed the amazing hot summer and our first holiday to St Ives.

Sept - My beautiful big girl started pre school

Sept - Freya born on the 26th September at 8.18pm. Simply the proudest moment of my life when these two met. 

November - I can't believe my biggest girl is 3! 

Dec - Our first Christmas together (and a rare glimpse of Mr R!)

Here's to 2015!