Quick update!

Just a quick note for the record, today Oliver weighed 3.76 kg! Perfectly on track gaining just over 200g a week! And last night slept through the night! We are definitely making progress here! But no progress on the smile front boohooo....

Anyway, today was my second day out on the road with the little man and it went great. Like most children he loves been in a car and sleeps most of the time. And where did we go? But to return the breast pump naturalment! But it so happens that the place also sells the cutest funkiest things for babies and mommies alike...and I couldn't resist. I bought BIB CLIPS to give to my friends who had babies or about to have babies, for all of them is their second child so I wasn't sure about getting more baby clothes. This is something they definitely don't have and I think it's really cute! Of course I got one for Oliver too!

Then they were also selling this bean bag for children suitable from new born....I had to get one...and it was expensive but I haven't really bought anything for Oliver other than bottles, soothers and other consumables....so I felt it was ok to go a bit mad on this one!

It goes really well with our lime armchairs LOL!

And finally, as the nursery is still completely bare a part from the changing table, a chair and my bedside locker (on one side we didn't have the time to have it embellished with child things with the renovation and all, on the other I wasn't sure what to get!) I got a wall-paper border to put on the walls! It's something!

This also reminds me that I never posted pics of the Attic project...but stay with me, Mike just finished the grouting in the bathroom at the weekend! And we still have a good bit to go...as Mike said, the other little project came a bit early...so this one has taken the back seat!

An Irish Funeral and other news

I don't think I have ever posted about Irish funerals. They are something else.

Unfortunately we had to attend one on Tuesday. I had mentioned here that there was bad news in Mike's family about two relatives. One was fine but we knew the other one would not have gotten any better. He had battled cancer for 8 years and eventually lost the fight. As Mike's family is from a small town in Ireland, relations are very close. In this case, I also had met the whole family (Mike's cousin) and got very attached to the children. The eldest daughter even stayed with us a couple of years ago during her transition year and has just started college in Dublin.

So when we got the news that the father had passed away I wanted to be there for them.

As always it was heartbreaking. This one of course was a closer relationship but I don't know how his teenager son managed to give a speech at the end of the ceremony which had everyone there in tears. Oliver slept most of the time and when he woke up for a feed it was a great distraction for the family and soothed the pain a little.

And somehow Oliver picked up a tummy bug the poor chicken so he's having loads of dirty nappies and is a bit unsettled. He's feeding well though so no concern about dehydration and no temperature which is good but the paediatrician (which I called to be on the safe side) gave me indication on how much paracetamol I should give him if the temperature rises a bit. Hopefully not. Apparently it can last a week or even longer, but I'm hoping he'll fight it off sooner!

I also bought myself a sling!! I got the Hoppendiz second hand one and already wearing it loads!! It's fantastic!! So next week I'm definitely getting the Calin Bleu one and I'll post pics soon!

Seeds heating pad and Slings

The seeds heating pad got some (well deserved!!) interest in my last post and I realised it wasn't that clear what I was talking about to some of you so I'm dedicating part of this post to explain better and give some links.

I bought this pad in a nature shop, it's practically a cotton-made bag which is filled with some kind of seeds. It could be oat, or barley or wheat in my case, but I have seen them filled with cherry stones or corn (not the "pop" kind of corn!). They are very popular here but if you don't find one you can make it yourself. I found this great link (actually...Mike found it and put it among my bookmarks!) and I'm posting here some random pics to give you an idea of what mine looks like.

This one is actually sold here and it's really similar to the one I have.

These are made by Katie, check out her blog here she gives also awesome guidelines!

Katie's ones have vertical stitches which are great to keep the seeds more uniformly distributed but in that case you have to make sure not to overfill the sections or they can be a bit uncomfortable. Overfilling makes also the bag quite heavy and in my opinion not suitable if you use it with small children.

The one I have is not specific for babies at all but as it doesn't have vertical stitches I can shift the seeds inside to one side leaving the part which I put on Oliver's tummy a bit lighter.

If you make it yourself, have a look at the various seeds that you can use. My advice is not to go for corn or cherry stones as they are a bit too rough. Smaller seeds is the way to go! When I use it for Oliver I only warm mine in the microwave for a minute, then I shake the seeds to make sure the heat is uniformed and the right temperature. I'm going to add a couple of drops of lavender oil to the bag (after heating it) and see if it's even better! Do let me know how you get on!

Next on the list of things I want to get is a sling. There is such a variety it took me ages to learn pros and cons of them and make some sort of decision! I think I'm set on a stretchy wrap which apparently lasts a little less than a woven one weight-wise but it's easier to start with and a bit lighter. I have found a second hand one for a great price (Hoppediz brand) but I'm in love with a French one which apparently is the ultimate stretchy sling lasting as long as the woven ones (JPMBB do check this out the demo video is cool!) but way more expensive! Alternatively I like a microfleece one which I think suits Irish weather perfectly but probably not so much Italy (Calin Bleu brand). This one has the great advantage of being water repellent and very very light (and cheap!). Do you have a sling? Can you tell me how you are getting on with it?