Catch up

Well I haven't managed to write a blog in three weeks!

In all honesty, I've been so busy. I'm physically and mentally exhausted. I've had trouble with my iron levels since the last part of my pregnancy and I think they're getting worse as when I'm not busy with Max I just seem to fall asleep. I'm a bit worried really as I've been sleeping through him crying at night. Luckily my husband (who's normally an incredibly deep sleeper) has been waking up and looking after Max but I'm definitely going to have to go and see the doctor.

Life with Max over the past three weeks has been a big muddle of dirty nappies, giggles and smiles, naps, baby club (mummy club), baby massage, jumperoo time and a few days out thrown in. We had a lovely Father's Day. It was obviously Dave's first Father's Day and as he's a huge fan of fish we went to the aquarium. I thought Max would still be a bit young to appreciate it but he watched the fish and lights with wide eyes, especially in the shark tunnel. It was a lovely day out.

Max has learnt to roll over!! It had been coming for a long time to be honest! He prefers sleeping on his side, I'm guessing because I used to breast feed him to sleep on his side, and although we always put him to bed on his back, we were waking up to him being on his side. Cue a tired, snappy accusation of turning him over to my other half until we realised he was doing it himself! If I ever left him on his side after feeding he would kind of wriggle and flip into his tummy, so it was only a matter of time before he rolled completely and here's the photo from the first ever roll!

Haha his face cracks me up he looks so angry - he's scared himself when he rolled I think, and his arm was stuck under him but I had to get a photo! Since then we often find him asleep on his tummy with one leg hanging out of his cot, which scares the hell out of me but he must be comfy!!!

Baby club has taken over my pre-Max drinks and meals out with friends. My friends have been great and love Max to bits but its been amazing to meet other mums who understand how difficult it is to just leave the house and who make me feel like I'm not the only one going through the roller coaster of motherhood. I've made some really nice friends there (and at baby massage) and we've bonded over cake whilst Max has play dates with other babies :) I feel much happier now I'm getting out a bit. I didn't realise I wasn't as happy until I started getting out and I realised I was isolating myself, and Max, sitting in the house all day. He's great but it's so lovely meeting other adults! I think being a mum of a young baby can be incredibly isolating and it's so easy to be intimidated by baby groups and other mums, but at the end of the day we're all going through the same thing and its a lot healthier to get out. Max is certainly enjoying his play dates and I'm enjoying the company and cake!

Granddad's birthday!

Today was my dads birthday - his first as a grandad! He absolutely loves max and was a bit miffed that we hadn't been to his at dinner to see him!

We've had a busy day today - max has finally got into a bit of a routine! He's always wanting to do something - whether it be bouncing or looking round, as long as he's getting attention! He's never just sat still in a chair or slept all day, since he was born. Everyone says its because I'm so soft with him but I enjoy singing to him and playing with him and I think he's been getting a bit overstimulated and then struggles to sleep for a long time in the day, let alone at night! So for the past couple of days I've been trying to follow a routine of feeding, playing and singing and then sleeping, roughly every three hours, and today we really saw the benefit as Max was far calmer and happier :) 

I also managed to get things done around the house and even found time to bake some cakes for my dad. 

I love baking, especially cupcakes, and my last trip to hobbycraft resulted in the purchase of a cupcake corer. It's a little device that cores and holds a section of your cupcake, so that you can fill it and then replace the cake - resulting in yummy filled cakes. I made two different types of cupcake today, an incredibly sickly chocolate cupcake, filled and topped with chocolate frosting and sprinkles and a sponge cupcake filled with jam and topped with icing and hundreds of thousands! They were lovely and went down a treat! The only trouble is, I end up eating half the ingredients as I make them! (Actually gaining weight now, instead of losing baby weight!)

I also baked a baggin cake for my dad. It's his favourite and the recipe has been passed down to me from my mum. I decided to share it, so you can all relish in the moist, fruity yumminess! 

Ingredients

8oz self raising flour

4oz caster sugar

4oz margarine 

4oz mixed fruit

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 small cup containing 1 egg and topped with water

Method

• Preheat the oven to 190*C

• Mix all the ingredients together with a hand whisk

• Grease and line a loaf tin

• Pour the mixture into the tin

• Bake for 1 hour 15 mins

And there you have it... Yummy baggin cake!

Dad was happy with it, even though he got a yummy flake cake too! 

I'm absolutely shattered now. Unfortunately, all the excitement at mum and dads meant we really struggled getting max to sleep as he was overtired and grouchy. Finally got him down though, and hubby's just offered me a back rub so I'm off!!! Night all xx