Tooth to teeth

Asher's second little tooth is just breaking through the gum next to his first one. They're on the bottom - which I believe is the traditional location of first teeth.

I'm actually slightly disappointed because it means I can no longer gleefully say "Come on Asher - it's time to brush your tooth." I guess I was probably having too much fun with that anyway...

We're still having fun in Cambridge. Asher slept for his longest time ever last night: 8pm to 4am. I kept waking up and wondering if he was ok! He was fine in the morning. But he didn't seem totally happy this afternoon. I wonder if that tooth was bothering him.

Here's a photo of how Asher looks a few minutes after waking up. I think he's a morning person!

Adventures in Cambridge!

With Noah away on the Chennai mission, Asher and I braved a trip to Cambridge on public transport. Thanks Thom and Becky for the help getting to the station - and thanks to various members of Claire and Matthew's church for lending a travel cot and high chair!
We arrived yesterday an have had an excellent time so far. Ash has been a pretty happy chappie. He slept well last night. Today we visited a second hand baby stuff shop and had cake in a lovely little cafe in Fulbourn. Here's a photo of me and Asher on a roundabout that could almost be considered instrumental to his existence.

Birthday!!

It was my birthday yesterday :)

Noah and Asher ensured that I had a lovely day.

After a lovely breakfast, we went on a fabric shopping trip (one of my birthday presents). Next we had lunch in a vegetarian cafe, and then wandered around and got some ice cream. I was already having an excellent day but there were more surprises in store...

Back in the car, and we drove to...

Hogwarts!!

Well, almost. We drove to the Harry Potter Studio Tour near Watford. It's where they spent ten years making the films and there are loads of original sets, costumes and props as well as interesting videos and displays explaining how some aspects of the films were done.

Because it was my birthday I got to help open the doors into the Great Hall!

It's amazing how much the wigs and costumes on dummies look like the characters. All the costumes are very distinctive and Harry, Ron and Hermione have clear dress styles throughout the films.

The set of the Great Hall has a real stone floor because they knew it would need to stand up to years and years of filming. There are loads of details you don't even see in the film - faded murals on the walls, and a second Hogwarts crest inside the fireplace which is usually covered by flames.

The invisibility cloak has green screen material inside!

Oh yeah, and butterbeer is delicious :)

We finished the tour with a stroll along Diagon Alley.

Thank you Noah for a lovely birthday!

Sharp

No pictures yet... Indeed, there is nothing yet to see. But Asher's gum definitely feels sharp when he chews on my finger. Definitely. I'm anticipating the purchase of a baby toothbrush in the next few days!

Uh-oh...

Look what the little fellow got up to this evening!

He had already crawled across the blanket two or three times before I got the camera out so he was getting a bit tired and grumpy.

Serious babyproofing will soon be required!

Visiting our Glorious Capital

We've had a busy week! And I've had a busy evening... but I've got a few cute Asher photos to upload. First off, me and Ash having fun with the Ergobaby carrier we borrowed from Harpenden Sling Library:

And from the side...

I'm loving it. I can put him on my back or my front and it's WAY more convenient than pushing him around. I've only used the pram three or four times in the last two weeks, and only because it's been horribly horribly hot or, on one occasion, I wanted to go to Morrisons and I didn't think I could carry the baby AND a week's shopping back home.

Asher is pretty happy in there, but I have to be really walking for him to go to sleep. And it does hurt my back after a while, which is annoying. I'm planning to try some different ones to find a more comfy option.

Speeding to the capital

We took it for a day out in London on Tuesday. Much more convenient on the train and the underground. Asher slept through the National Portrait Gallery, waking up just before we left to smile at some of the art. Sweet!

Enjoying a nectarine in Trafalgar Square

Next we popped over to the Natural History Museum.

Isn't he tall? (The baby, not the dinosaur)

It was horribly hot and crowded in the museum so we came outside pretty soon and got ice cream for the grown ups. But guess what happened?

Does this make us bad parents?

It certainly cheered Asher up!

All in all, I'd say that was a very successful expedition.

Six Months

Wow. Six months in, and what I'm thinking is this: babies aren't babies for long!

"Mmmm, grass! Yummy!"

He can sit up, roll over and make a concerted effort to propel himself along the floor on his tummy towards whatever he spies and wants to chew on.

So far we have not found anything he does not want to chew on. Except for cauliflower. He picked that up and as soon as it touched his mouth he started to cry. I can understand it; I hate cauliflower myself!

Banana, though, is a different story. Tomato is another favourite food. And broccoli. He tried bread for the first time yesterday and didn't seem too impressed, but he did give it a go. Asher also loves to drink water - mostly he spills it down his front, but he does try to drink it, and with some success (especially if I help him hold the cup!)

We've really been enjoying the sunshine. Whatever mood Asher is in, taking him out for a walk seems to cheer him up (or if it's near nap time, send him to sleep).

It was so hot today that we turned the baby bath into a makeshift paddling pool. Ash loved splashing in the cold water. Of course he tried his usual bath time trick of pulling the plug out. Guess why? That's right - he wants to chew on it.

I'm delighted to say, though, that in the last few days Asher has begun to show a little bit of interest in shaking things as well as chewing on them. Now I know why all baby toys rattle! He also enjoys making 'bbbb' and 'vvvvv' noises. And blowing bubbles. Preferably with food in his mouth. Listening to Mummy and Daddy make stupid noises is another favourite activity. He still loves all his old favourite songs, and is starting to giggle when we tickle him.

Reading to Asher is becoming more challenging as his reach increases. However, if we can achieve a comfortable reading position in which Asher grabbing the book and stuffing it in his mouth is impossible, he does enjoy a good story. He recognises some favourites (Go Baby Go still elicits a huge smile) and will usually pay attention to a whole baby book or most of a picture book. I occasionally read a bedtime story, but he knows that milk comes after a bath so he's not usually in the mood for reading then.

I'm glad to say that Asher's cold has finished now. He did not enjoy having his nose wiped! It disrupted his sleep a bit too. The normal pattern these days is bath at seven, followed by milk then bed. It takes between 10 minutes (very good day) and an hour (exhaustingly bad day) to get him to go to sleep, usually by giving him the dummy repeatedly. Then he usually wakes up at about 10 or 11 for a feed, then two or three more wake-ups during the night - and he thinks 'morning' is any time from 5:30 on. Not quite sleeping through the night, but this is a huge improvement on how things were a couple of months ago.

"What's that? You think I'm going to stay still while you take photographs of me?"

This baby is so determined! Determined to move under his own steam. Determined to stay awake at nap time. Determined to grab everything and then taste it. Determined to coax smiles out of everybody he meets. Determined to experience the world in any way he can. He is not the kind of baby who will sit still and stare at you and gurgle. Asher is happy and fun - he's a joy - and he makes me laugh every single day. Love you, baby boy!

Poorly

Asher has his first cold.

I can hear him snuffling through the baby monitor as I type. He's been fine in the mornings, but becoming increasingly snotty and irritable throughout the day, with a slight temperature by bedtime. This evening he cried and cried and cried - even the breastfeeding magic didn't work. Eventually I rocked him to sleep in the rocking chair.

If he could talk, I'm sure he would utter what Noah considers one of my catch phrases: "I don't like being poorly!"

Praying that he gets well soon.

Trains and Pushchairs

It's a bit long since I updated the blog... sorry! We've been busy over here! (Mostly cleaning the high chair and vacuuming the floor. Exciting stuff.)

Last week, though, Asher and I had an adventure. We went on the train to London to visit some friends. Asher has been on the train before, but he seemed much more interested in the experience this time around. Here he is waiting at the station:

"Is that our train, Mum?"

Lots of people were very kind, offering assistance to get the pushchair on and off trains. (I was glad of this because sometimes the gap between the train and the platform is quite formidable). Of course Asher wanted feeding at the station where we changed trains. He's pretty speedy these days so that wasn't a problem, but every time a train arrived or left he had to turn his head to see what all the noise was about.

We had a lovely day in London walking in the park, eating salad, rolling around on the floor (Asher, not me) and enjoying hot chocolate in a cafe (me, not Asher). Ash sat in his baby friend's high chair (thanks Ellen!) and ate tomato for the first time.

It was deliciously messy!

"Here Mum, you try some!"

We almost had a catastrophe on the way home. The train was really busy and there were no seats - in fact we shared the little train corridor with another mum-with-pram as well as a few people standing up. This was fine whilst Asher was asleep, but then he woke up and wanted to come out. I held him for a while and he started to fuss - of course, he was hungry. I pondered for about five minutes, wondering whether I could sit on the train floor and feed him. Eventually I decided I'd have to - I thought we weren't due to arrive for at least 10 minutes and he was getting seriously grumpy. So we sat down on the floor and he'd just started feeding when the train started to slow down. Alas! I had my timings wrong and we pulled into St Albans as I hurriedly stood up and tried to sort out my underwear situation. There was no chance of getting Asher back into the pram in time. Fortunately the other passengers were really helpful and one of them lifted the pushchair onto the platform for me so I could just keep hold of Asher. It's funny, one of my most prevailing memories of childhood is of strangers offering to help my mum on/off buses and trains with the pushchair. It's kind of nice that people still do it!

We had another train adventure on Monday - but more on that later :)