We are alive

I am ashamed to see that it has been nearly a month since I've posted. December has disappeared in a flash, as usual. I was in denial about the approach of Christmas for the first half. I don't know why but I couldn't get in to the spirit. We flew to Sweden on the 18th of and I did nearly all my shopping in a panic on the 17th. Thank god Una is so patient she didn't mind to much when I dragged her around shops from 10 in the morning until 6 pm. In the evening we had a little Christmas celebration in the flat and gave Una her gifts. Me and James gave each other gifts as well, I got a body lotion and perfume by Chloe and a bag and some leather gloves from Cos. The taxi picked Una and I up at 6 am the following day and we arrived at my mums at 4.30 pm.

It's beautifully snowy here, and not too cold. I got Una a snow suit and a little pulka (a plastic sled for kids) and yesterday we went out for a walk in the snow. Una loved riding in the pulka, everytime I turned around she looked very pleased, chatting away.

I am enjoying spending time with my mum and relaxing, yesterday I had two naps! With Una of course. One of the perks of being on holiday is that I get to share a bed with Una. I am even enjoying the snow. Today the plan is to take a long walk. That's about it. We don't do very much here. The joy.

Sickies

Una gave me a nice lie in this morning, I woke up at 7.50 to her peeking out through the bars of her got and chatting. Too cute. This morning I've hoovered, mopped and cleaned the bathroom, channeling my inner housewife. Una is napping and when she is up we will head out in the glorious sunshine.

I finally feel like a normal person again after going though the hellish experience of a double whammy stomach bug. Una, the little carrier, had it and when she was pretty much recovered it was our turn. Two sick parents and a little baby needing to be fed, changed and entertained was not a good combination. But we lived to tell the tale.

Behind every advert there is a sexist pig...

This morning I have been to the GP for a follow up appointment they called me in for, only for the GP to say she didn't know why they had sent me a letter, I didn't need to come in. Cheers for that. At least I didn't have to wait for an hour to be seen as I have in the past...
Now I am chilling at home, catching up on watching Real Housewives of New York (yes, this is my favourite show...) while Una snoozes. When she gets up I will give her some lunch before we stroll (and by stroll I mean walk briskly for an hour and a half) to St James park to meet Ema and little Solo, the boy she nannies. Then home and dinner for Una before I head to a body pump class tonight with Aga.

If anyone reading this wants to be enraged by obscene sexism and cementing of gender roles, please watch this Christmas advert by Asda. Words fail me.

Una at 9 months

Yesterday Una was 9 months. She has now been in our lives for as long as she was in my tummy (give or take). It has gone so unbelievably quickly, when I look back at photos of her as a newborn I can't quite believe she was ever that tiny. I love having the blog to look back through and remember all those little things I would otherwise have forgotten. Here are some notes about Una at 9 months.

She weighs just over 7,5 kilos. She is definitely tall, but since it is not routine to measure babies in England, I don't know how tall. She is long and lean, with long legs. I struggle to find leggings to fit her, as the ones that are the right length are big and baggy and loose around her waist, so now I mainly buy tights instead!
She is not yet crawling, but drags herself forward at a pretty impressive speed. She can clap her hands and in the last few days has learnt to point. She loves books and being read to whilst pointing at the pictures and "chatting".
She has started "dancing", rocking back and forth to the beat. She likes hip hop and urban music, just like her dad.
She isn't shy and is happy to be held by just about anyone, but she is a little reserved and careful, likes to have mummy close by at playgroup and often looks to me for re-assurance in social situations.
She does the funniest little angry face, scrunches her whole little face up. I try my best not to laugh at her, though I am not always successful. She gets especially cross if you tell her "no".
She can be a bit particular about food, she will eat anything off my plate but is often suspicious of the food in her own bowl. Her favourites are spaghetti bolognese, greek yoghurt and porridge with date and apple puree.
Her teeth are growing, those next to the top front teeth are just visible though the gums and should come through any day now.
She is very entertaining and fun to be around, loves cuddles and is best company I could ask for. Love her.


Una, 1 day old


Una, today

Recent events

I have been get plenty of wear out of my red jeans. 

Una has been enjoying herself at playgroup.

Una has discovered scrambled eggs with sauteed spinach. I love how we can have the same thing for lunch now.

Though she doesn't crawl yet she makes her way around the front room rather well, pulling herself forward on her tummy. She is 9 months today!

A weekend past

So what has been going on with us over the weekend, you might ask (though you probably didn't). Not a lot, as it happens. I met up with Australian Heather and her sister for a smidgen of wine on Saturday afternoon. Some crazy South American lady was being all touchy-feely with Una and kept asking to hold her. I tried to say no, politely but firmly, but in the end felt like decking the woman. Some people have no concept of boundaries, though it is possible she may have been truly crazy, alternatively high on crack. In any case, she was NOT holding my baby. We made it out of there unscathed, thankfully. Got home only to find out we were locked out, James had gone to the pub and I didn't have a key as he had taken mine. There is a constant lack of keys in this house, because James in wholly incapable of holding on to a key for longer than five minutes. This means that every time anyone wants to leave the house we have to have a long conversation about who will be out the longest, who will be back when etc. You might think a good solution would be to get another key cut, leaving us with one each. But no. We have tried that in the past, to no avail. James does has made it his mission in life to maintain the status quo and will promptly lose the original key, thus making the newly cut key the only key, bringing us are back to square one. And so it goes on. Anyway, after an abrupt phone call he made his way back from the pub to let us in, all is well that ends well.


Sunday we went for a stroll down Portobello Road, in the evening James cooked a lamb curry. Today I have done nothing except a body pump class, the weather is rainy and miserable. London winter, I suppose. This evening we had delicious duck breasts with celeriac puree, roasted sweet potato and wilted spinach. Now I am enjoying a class of red and some chocolate. Una is snoozing happily in bed, her sleep seems to have sorted itself out and she is going down much easier. I had to sneak a photo tonight of her sleeping in my arms, passed out after drinking her bottle. She is so funny these days, she has started dancing in the last couple of days. She kind of rocks forwards in time with the music. She prefers urban music, preferably hip hop. Takes after her father.

Friday

Yesterday morning we met up with Aga and Kai for a coffe in Kitchen and Pantry. Una slept in her buggy for the first half an hour, leaving me time to enjoy my coffee in peace. Afetr she woke she had cuddles with Aga (very sweet how she always instinctively cuddles in to Aga as soon as she holds her) before we went for a stroll to the playground. Una and Kai went on the swings while Aga and I talked about many important things. We could talk for hours!

Una and Aga doing their thing. Note Aga's lovely jumper, I want one.

Una has yet to master the art of holding on whilst on the swing, so she tends to slide to a reclined position. Looks kind of comfy.

We went home and had lunch and chilled out before heading over to see my dear friend Heather, who has made a surprise return from Australia (more about that in another post), yay! We popped over to her sisters around the corner from us, where she is staying for the next few months. A glass of wine, some Una cuddles and lots of chatting. Then home to put Una in bed and indulge in Friday night dinner of nachos and beers.

Redemption

I have succeeded in purchasing a winter coat, gloves and scarf for Una, thus completing her winter outerwear wardrobe and redeeming myself as a responsible parent. We walked to the Brompton Road Gap (where I finally managed to get the right coat, after an unsuccessful trip to the High Street Ken store where they had the wrong one on hold). 12 kilometers there and back, with a coffee break for me in Pret and a milk break for Una in Hyde Park. Pretty autumn colours and fallen leaves all around, I tried my best to live in the moment but obviously the phone had to come and a few photos were snapped. Products of our time and all that....

Una, full of milk

Our view in Hyde Park

Coldy baby

Una has cold and is constanly coughing and sniffling with a runny nose. We had to skip playgroup yesterday and Rookie Rockers today so she doesn't pass it on to the other babies and has a chance to rest. She woke up at 6.50 this morning but once we were up and she was having her morning bottle on the couch she fell back asleep for another 2 and half hours. Poor thing must be feeling ropey. I was really looking forward to playgroup, but there is always next week. I'd really like to find some more activities for Una, I am getting a bit bored sitting around the house. When we are at home it's too hard to relax, I just see things that need to doing and end up doing housework instead of spending the time with Una.

The sun is shining outside and we have just had our breakfast after Una's long nap. I am going to give her a bath and get myself ready before taking her out. We'll go to the swings for a bit on our way to High Street Kensington, where I have a jacket on hold in Baby Gap. Yes, that's right. I have finally found a jacket for Una! I also need to give the flat a good clean and do some cooking for Una. My photos arrived yesterday as well, so no excuses not to start her photo album as well. She has been very unsettled in the evenings recently, which makes it hard to get anything done. Last night I ended up just picking her up and taking her in to the front room so she could sleep in my arms. I think it's the cold that is bothering her, hopefully it will pass in a few days.

Busy social life

It's gloriously sunny outside and when Una wakes from her nap we will go for a long walk to Scandi Kitchen to meet my sister for fika. Una has had a few late nights this week, with the dinner at Aga and Steve's on Monday and then on Thursday we were back at their house, this time with James. We went to books for cooks for lunch during the day and there we bumped in to Aga and Steve (great minds think alike!). They we're going to an event at their local butchers, Ginger Pig that evening and invited us to join them. We ended up staying late drinking cocktails at their place. Una slept happily in my arms as I sipped a Gin & Tonic. It's time like those when I am so happy that we didn't end up going down the strict Gina Ford routine route. Una is so chilled out and flexible and we can still enjoy socialising and keeping some spontaneity in our lives. Obviously not at Una's expense, if she seems unhappy or fussy we make our excuses and leave. But as long as she is happy and contented there is no reason why we have to adhere to someone else's rules.
Last night my sister invited us over for dinner, she cooked a gourgeous mushroom "risotto" made with orzo pasta and we had a delicious bean dip with crudites to start. Yum.

In other news, I STILL have not got Una a winter coat. Bad, bad parent... We have however managed to get her a winter hat, so at least her ears aren't cold. 

Food, glorious food

Today we've spent most of the day indoors. It's been windy and stormy outside and we only left the house to go to the baby clinic to have Una weighed.

The health visitor was mildly concerned about her weight curve dropping slightly. She is still in the same percentile she has been in for the last 3 months, but she is in the lower part of the line. She started off in the 75th as a newborn, but is now on the bottom of the 25th. If she goes any lower she will be in the 9th. The health visitor gave me some advice about weaning and upping her calorie intake to get her weight up. I am not overly worried and definitely don't want to get in to a pattern of fussing over her eating and creating a problem. She is not a big eater and she never has been, but I will think of ways to boost her calorie intake, such as adding cream and butter to her food. I have also been giving her oat porridge for breakfast, which I know is very filling. I might start giving her greek yoghurt instead, she should more calories in that way. I was also advised to cut back her afternoon bottle (she normally drinks 8 ounces) so she might eat more at dinner time. in any case, I am not worried. She is very alert and active and I have no reason to believe that she is malnourished. We musn't forget that these guidelines are, well, guidelines. They are not set in stone and I know my daughter better than a health visitor and a chart in a red book. Enough about that.

One thing I finally got done today was ordering some photo prints online. I want to make Una a photo album and also frame some baby pictures. We only have one picture of her framed so far (dis-organised, as usual!). They should be delivered in a couple of days, very exciting. I miss the days when photos were physical things you could frame and flick through in actual photo albums, rather than facebook ones.

Now Una is in bed and I am going to make myself some dinner and hang the washing. James gets back from a week in Ireland tonight so I'll be staying up late to wait for him to come home.

Dinner and breakfast

We are about to head out to playgroup this morning and have just enjoyed out breakfast together. Una had blueberry porridge, I had a boiled egg and blueberry yoghurt. We are almost on time this morning, I just need to make my face look decent and then we will head out in the sunshine. I am going to attempt to walk sloooowly, to prevent me being so flustered and soaked in sweat (yuk) when I get there.

Yesterday we met up with Aga for lunch at Westfield. I got Una a few tops in H&M but am no nearer to finding her some winter clothes. Too stressful. I'll try again another day.
We had lunch in Wagamama. Cheap and predictable (in a good way). Una had cuddles with Aga.
 
Afterwards we caught the bus back to Aga's to have coffee. We ended up having such a lovely afternoon and she invited me to stay for dinner. Steve, her food and drinks enthusiast boyfriend, rustled us up a pre-dinner french martini before cooking us a delicious sausage and bean cassoulet. Steve has a  very interesting cocktail website, check it out! It's full of boozy news and recipes. Una was a delight as usual, sleeping in my arms by the end of the evening, before we headed home at around 9.30. It was such a great!

Halloween dinner

Friday night my sister and my friends Kathi and Ema came over for dinner. Ema is gluten intolerant and Kathi and Sabina are vegetarians, so I had a challenge in creating the menu! I decided to make a few different dishes that everyone could pick at. I love buffet style food. I could make it all in advance so I was able to relax and enjoy the evening, rather than being stuck in the kitchen.

Feta, spinach and pine nut quiche, with an almond and sesame seed crust.
Wheat free crepes with a creamy mushroom and tarragon filling, topped with parmesan.
Warm puy lentil, halloumi and cherry tomato salad.

Dessert - Chocolate mousse.
Cheese board


We had a brilliant evening. The conversation flowed really well, in fact we were all fighting to get a word in!



As the night wore on and the bottles of wine were emptied, one by one, we got more and more silly.
Ema had brought a pumpkin that she tried her best to carve in to a lantern. She didn't do a bad job, though it doesn't have a lid and looks a bit on the happy side. Good effort nonetheless. It was a fantastic night and such a great way to celebrate Halloween, much better than running around some nightclub in a silly costumes.

Winter wear confusion

God morning! Today Una and I are going to Westfield to get her some winter clothes. The weather has really turned cold in the last few days and I haven't even got Una a winter coat or gloves yet (disorganised as usual). I only just got a footmuff for the pram a couple of weeks ago.... I

am totally confused about what to get though. If I lived in sweden I would obviously get her a warm and cosy snowsuit. I'm not sure if that is necessary here in London or if I should just get her a little coat? Will her little legs be warm enough with just the footmuff? Confused. I'm hoping I'll have some sort of epiphany at the shops. I definitely need to get her some little mittens and a good hat.

We might also meet for coffee with a friend who lives in the area. I better get off my ass and get myself ready for the day while Una naps.

Una time

Una and I have had the flat to ourselves this weekend and it's been a busy couple of days. Friday night I had a little dinner party, I'll show you some photos tomorrow. Saturday I was feeling a tiny bit fragile, so I spent most of the day chilling out at home before going out for some food with Sabina and my friend Kathi. Today I had a friend over for lunch. She is the sister of one of my best friends who moved away a few months ago. I hadn't seen her since then so it was great to catch up. I wanted to cook something quick and simple, so we just had scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and roasted asparagus. For dessert I had baked a kladdkaka, a swedish sticky chocolate cake. We had that with whipped cream and raspberries and nice cup of coffee. She had got Una some cute pyjamas on a recent trip to New York, so sweet of her.

It's cold and miserable outside so Una and I have enjoyed the rest of the day indoors. The flat is nice and tidy, it's quiet and I have been able to relax and focus on spending time with my little girl. As cheesy as it sounds, I love her more every day that passes and cherish all the little things like playing peekaboo, making her laugh, kisses and cuddles. Last night she slept in the bed with me and I absolutely love having her next to me all night. I could happily sleep like that every night, but I know she sleeps very well in her cot so it would be quite selfish of me keep her in the bed every night for my own sake. It is tricky walking that fine line of showering your child in love and affection and enjoying them, whilst encouraging their independence and not smothering them. I could hug and kiss her all day long, but I am pretty sure she needs time to play and explore without a needy mum attached to her all the time!

Now Una is in bed and I have just had some dinner and am about to enjoy a piece of cake for dessert. I am a pretty sociable person but it is nice to have the flat to myself for a change, I've lit candles, am watching crappy TV and will heading to bed early.

Morning muffins

Una decided to wake up at 6.30 this morning, she's been doing that a lot lately. I took her in to bed with me, in the vain hope she might go back to sleep. Instead she shouted in my ear, kicked and pinched me until I finally gave in and got up at around 7. We had a nice morning, chilling out before she went down for a nap. We are going to my friends house this afternoon to hang out and I have promised to bring us treats, so I decided to bake some chocolate muffins. She is pregnant and so in my opinion deserves lots of treats. I used the quickest and simplest recipe I could find, of course. They looked like they had turned out fine but of course I needed to taste them, just to make sure. Just a small piece.

Before I knew it I had devoured the whole thing, so I guess they got the seal of approval. Or maybe I am just greedy.

Now Una is playing and I am about to write a shopping list before heading to Sainsbury's to get supplies for the dinner I am cooking tomorrow, I have three girls coming over for some food, wine and a good chat.

Yummy Mummy vs Slummy Mummy.

The days and weeks are flying by at an unbelievable speed. Even though I get up earlier than ever before and have developed serious multitasking skills I never seem to get around to all the things I need to do. Una is more active and so requires more time and attention. She is also highly entertaining which means I want to chat and play with her while she is awake, rather than trying to get stuff done. I really wonder how mothers manage to have several kids, a full time job and neat and tidy houses. I have none of the above. Nevertheless we are getting on fine, I am trying to enjoy every day that passes and not worry to much about the mess. We went to Rookie Rockers this morning, as we do every Wednesday, and Una loved it as usual. I met a couple of Swedish mums there, which was nice. Yesterday we attended a playgroup in Holland Park and I met a Swedish mum there as well. Must be something in the air.

When I was pregnant I planned to do lots of activities as a mum. I imagined myself as some kind of baby-mummy-group social butterfly. Looking glowing and slim in some cool outfit, with a cute baby kitted out in an equally cool outfit, I would whiz around all the West London kiddie activities, take away coffee in hand. Baby yoga, baby massage, underwater swimming classes, baby cinema, coffee mornings....the possibilities where endless and the imaginary diary booked up.

As it turns out, I am still the lazy, forgetful, clumsy and disheveled person I was prior to having a baby. Actually, scratch that. I am more forgetful, clumsy and disheveled than I used to be. If you ever hang around West London and spot a woman with her hair in Britney-style messy bun, wearing porridge stained jeans, practically running down Clarendon Road with a crazed look in her eyes, it'll be me running late for playgroup again. When arriving at playgroup, after my sprint, I am usually so sweaty and flustered that it takes a good half an hour before I am able to compose myself and have a normal conversation with all the chic, together looking mums. How they do it, I'll never know. Any yummy mums reading this feel free to pass on your secrets. In the meantime I will continue enjoying being a slummy mummy.


Slumming it on the floor with Una against a backdrop of washing in various states.

Saturday

Our day started at 7.15 this morning, Una drank her morning bottle slowly, slowly, like she always does. I had some breakfast before handing her over to James so I could go to a spinning class at 9.45. It was my second spin experience and I enjoyed it. I think it will become part of my weekly routine. Once home I gave Una a bath and whizzzed around the flat tidying, washing up and putting a wash on. We've now had a big lunch of sausages, white pudding, potato cakes and fried eggs and I am about to Skype with my friend Maria. After that I'll need to quickly get myself ready and then head out with Una to meet my sister in Scandi Kitchen for coffee. There are not enough hours in the day!

Hello!

And I've done it again. Dropped off the face of the earth. I am wholly incapable of blogging on holiday and the past couple of months have been full of those. We returned from Sicily a couple of weeks ago and since then I've just been busy with... well, life!
Recent achievements includes getting a high chair for Una. I am in disbelief of how quickly she is growing and developing, thus not quite keeping up with the new things she requires. She is on three meals of solids a day now and really enjoying it. She also sleeps through the night now, from around 7.30 in the evening to 7.30 am on a good day, sometimes waking early at 6.30. I knew she would sleep through when she was ready, if I just gave her time. My clever little girl.
I'm writing this on my phone as I wait for this evenings body pump class to begin, multitasking at its best. It's not just the blog that's been neglected over the last couple of months, the gym has too.

Post holiday blues

Being back in London is bittersweet. On the one hand I was looking forward to being back in my own flat and my own bed, and it is nice to see Una and her dad reunited after 3 weeks apart. On the other hand I had such a lovely time in Sweden and it was sad to say goodbye to my family and friends. Life is so different in Sweden, in some ways easier. A better quality of life. I know the grass is always greener and there are many benefits to living in London, a city I love, but I couldn't help to think I would love to spend a couple of years in Sweden while Una is young, I think it would be great for her as the nurseries are so good (and unbelievably cheap!) and she could spend more time with her family. It's difficult living in a country that isn't "ours". Since James is from Ireland Una doesn't have any grand parents around in London, though she has her aunts at least. I want to make much more of an effort to go back to Sweden more often, during the winter as well, so that Una can feel that Sweden is her country. At least we do go to Ireland a bit more often, so she gets to spend time with her family over there, which she loves. Who knows what the future holds and where we will all end up!

Una enjoying sitting in a high chair in Maria's kitchen!

Our Swedish holiday, part 2.

As I wait to leave for the airport to fly back to England I thought I might post a few memories from our holiday. It has flewn by, as it does everytime. We've spent the last six days in Stockholm, staying with my friend Maria. When we arrived late on Tuesday they picked us up from the airport and drove us to their flat, where they had prepared some nice kvällsfika. Our beds were made up and the flat looked so nice and cosy with candles lit. It was a real warm welcome and I knew then that we would have a great time here, which of course we did. We've been for long walks, taking coffee and (low carb) chocolate muffins with us to stop and eat along the way. We've cooked lots of delicious and healthy food, last night we made low carb pizza, which was surprisingly delicious. Each morning we've had scrumptious breakfasts of boiled eggs, berries with greek yoghurt and pots of coffee. Una has continued to explore solids. She is developing a bit of a sweet tooth, she loves yoghurt mixed with fruit, and likes porridge. She is coming around to savoury foods but it has to be very smooth or she is not a fan. She has changed so much in these last three weeks, she is quite good at sitting up now, though she topples over when she gets bored. We had borrowed a highchair from Marias friend and Una loved sitting in it, I'll have to get one as soon as I'm back in London.
Maria has spent lots of time with Una, giving me a hand whenever I've needed it. On Saturday I invited my aunts and my oldest brother and his son over for dinner. We had a lovely afternoon together with lots of good food and laughter.
Coming to Sweden is a holiday for the soul, I always do lots of thinking about my life, the future. Sometimes you need a bit of distance from things to be able to process them and sort through your thoughts. I had to buy a notebook so I could start to write down all the ideas and epiphanies I was having. Now I am ready to go back to London and I think Una is too. I think she misses her daddy.

Our Swedish holiday, part 1.

Travelling with Una is a breeze, she is so chilled out. We arrived at Gatwick early and Una had some lunch in Pret, some carrot that I had brought, no baguettes yet!

The flight was quick and easy, Una enjoyed the view and slept in my arms.

We had a four hour wait at Arlanda in Stockholm before catching our connecting flight to Umea. Una took a nap to make the time pass quicker.

Finally, on the Wednesday, we arrived at my mums house. Una enjoyed some quality time with her Mormor, we took walks with the dog and had lots of fika. My mum had dug out some of our old toys from when me and my siblings were little, so Una had lots of retro toys to play with!