NETwork Interventions Blog

I have just been told that another month has gone by, and it is newsletter time.  How on earth has a month gone by? I am convinced it was just last week that I was updating you about my antics. Apparently not!

So, what has the last month brought to us? Annie has decided that she does not like to roll, but instead she likes to shuffle backwards and forwards on her tummy and her back. She is adept at turning in a 360 on the ground, and also does this very special trick of rotating herself and getting herself jammed width ways in her cot. Very clever girl…..

The introduction of food……we toiled with what to do about food. I am a huge fan of baby led weaning, but would it be too early at 4ish rather than 6 months? We decided on a compromise of pureed organic goodness, together with some lovely chunky bits for Annie to eat. Annie’s favourite is broccoli – she goes mad for it! She also loves cucumber and bread (although we don’t really give her bread). She also loved scrambled egg when we were staying at a hotel for work, and she insists on feeding herself with her spoon!

Annie really loves to swim. I am from a family of swimmers and I used to swim for County and Lifeguard, so I was very keen for Annie to get her flippers early. My mum and I took her during our first work trip away when Annie was 10ish weeks old. She now goes nearly every week and went every day during our 4 day work-away trip. Annie absolutely loves it. She goes into her own world in the pool, flipping around and being amazed at everything and everyone. Annie absolutely hated going on her back, much preferring splashing about on her front and swallowing far too much water. So on Saturday evening after I finished work, just her and I went down to the pool and practised her ‘backstroke’! She was fab. I just did a little bit of back, followed by tonnes of tummy and gradually increased back time and decreased tummy time until back was just as reinforcing as front. Proud mummy.

So work has been quite a struggle in the past month. There has been a lot to do, and with Char in Australia, Shelley and I have had crazy full workloads. I have been working before Annie wakes, during all of her sleeps and also at night. My poor husband. I think I said last month that I was going to work on that one…..next month! I am away seeing families a lot at the moment which, although wonderful as a family member comes on each trip to be with Annie, it is tough because I have to leave her for such long days and it is also a massive expense! But seeing the progress of our families, the inroads in funding we are making and in education departments, and the astounding procedures we are developing, makes it worthwhile. There will always be compromises to make in life, and I now just pray at the beginning of each month for guidance and for God to shine His light on just the next steps He wants me to take. Not the next 12 steps! So far, so good.

NCT and mum’s groups are still a struggle for me. I still do not analyse Annie’s poo, I still do not really care for which type of nappies I use, and I still do not know when I wake what we will eat that evening. I do not get into discussions about behaviour, health or formula as I know that my opinions are controversial and I really do not want the whole of my baby groups to hate me! I also do not talk about sleep as everyone a) thinks I just have a ‘good baby’ and am very lucky or b) thinks I am mean for letting Annie occasionally cry to get herself back into good sleep routines. For me, the benefits of a happy baby and well rested mum far outweigh the cons of the odd cry. But I keep my mouth tightly closed!

And just one last thing……a new advancement in the past three days is that Annie has formed a strong attachment to one of her toys – a pink fluffy ‘babbit’. Very cute….. ☺ Read more...