Super Concentrated...

... and veery tired munchkin was allowed to snuggle up with Mummy for a bit and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in her PJ's before bedtime tonight. We HEART cuddle-before-bed-time!

Dental Hygiene..

... is super-important in this family! Nahla is a keen brusher - and especially when she gets to be in charge of it herself!

A Chai Latte...

... to kick-start me this morning was much needed. Nahla - who decided at 03.27 this morning that she really wanted to come into Mummy's bed and then have a little sing-song - had absolutely no symphaty that this mama had to get up at 07.05 to go to work. Result? Yawn.....

From Lumpy To Chunky

Remember when I ranted about that whole running before you can walk bit that life with baby seem to consist of? Well, it is true! No sooner have you one skill/task/development under your belt, before the next one presents itself - quicker than you can say: "But my What To Expect Book says...!"

Seriously, busy stuff, this being a mum. Anyway, the development I am refering to this time around is Nahla's food habits. I don't know about you other mums, but I took this food stuff really seriously. And by seriously I mean I went out and bought a selection of book on the matter. Gina Ford, Annabel Karmel & Co., I got them all. And I chopped and steamed and mashed and squeezed my little heart out.

And then, in what seemed like a blink of an eye, it was time for lumps. Not that Nahla was an fan straight away, but we got there. Lumpy dinners, tiny bits of bread with stuff on, baby pasta, you get it. And then I felt like I was the queen of lumpy food production, could produce lumpy food right up there with the best of them.

Then; boom! Lumps are out, chunks are in. Needed, in fact. All the books kept telling so. "Time to move on." "Your toddler needs to try chunkier bits of food." "Important for developemt." Ok, ok; relax, I hear you! Chunks it is! And so we set out, first of all to discover what really is the difference between lumps and chunks - which in real world mightn't mean a whole hell-of-a-lot, but in baby-world is like super-different. Or so they say.

And now; a few weeks in; I think we can cross chunky meals off our weaning to-do list too! Score! Just look at this dinner of roasted organic veggies and organic chickenbreast teddies. Kinda cute, kinda gross, I know, but Nahla thinks they are the cat's pajamas! So, ta-da; this Mummy and mini have mastered yet another step on the baby-food-development-ladder!

It's Hard To Imagine...

... just how proud you can get when your 15-month old asks for her potty to do a no. 2!

This Is What...

... a Mummy and Daughter snap shot looks like when it is way past baby's bedtime and Mummy has her face covered in Dermalogica Multi Vitamin Power Mask! Oh, the joys!

It's A Hard Knock Life

Little Nahla - having been up way before the rest of the world this morning - was in dire need of a very early nap - 08.59 A.M. to be precise. And as you can see; one bottle and she was out!

If I Just Play Quietly Here....

.... maybe Mummy will forget that it is after my bedtime now.... la-la-la, I'm being sooo quiet and good....

Every Night Before Bed...

... we spend a fair few minutes just messing in Mummy and Daddy's bed- just because it is so much fun!

When Nahla Doesn't Want To Go To Bed...

... she just tries to frighten Mummy off with some really scary faces! And then Mummy laughs so hard that bedtime is pushed back another few minutes. Nahla: 2, Mummy: 0!

Our Favorite Lullaby

Lykkeliten

Da lykkeliten kom til verden,
var alle himlens stjerner tent,
de blinket: "lykke til på ferden",
som til en gammel, god bekjent!
Og sommernatten var så stille,
men både trær og blomster små,
de sto og blunket til den lille,
som i sin lyse vugge lå.

Text and melody: Frimann Clasen

This is the first verse of a Norwegian lullaby that I wish I could do justice to in terms of translating it into English, but I doubt I would ever manage to make it as beautiful as the original, so I won't even try. We sing this every night before bed, say our little prayer and thanks for our day and kiss good night. Every every night.

There's Nothing Like...

... a spot of cartoon-watching with breakfast!
Note: This was one thing I swore blind I would never do. As in "Imagine having your child watch TV just so you can trick breakfast into her/him!" Usually said with the full-of-yourself-I-Know-it-all voice of someone yet to experience the reality of actually having children. And now? Let's just say I have modified my views a "tad" and swallowed my pride a few times over!

Routines!

After a rather late night of Nahla refusing to go to sleep, and I mean oh-my-God-I-need-Zanax-she-screams-that-loud type of refusal, I was only happy to welcome the morning. Today, I have decided, is the day when I bring some routine and structure to our days. I need it, she needs it, our neighbors probably need it even more, seeing as they still have to get up and go to work in the mornings. So here is our new proposed schedule. (Thank you Gina Ford for many good tips and ideas, I will not be able to follow your stricter-than-bootcamp-schedule completely, but will modify to suit the fact that I still need to habe a life!)

08.00 AM: Mummy and Nahla get up. We are in great form after a good night's sleep and (if we can be bothered) even salute
the sun! Namaste!
08.10 AM: We hit the bathroom. Nahla plays with some rubber toys on her changing mat (safely put on the floor off course!)
while Mummy showers, exfoliates and beautifies herself.
08.30 AM: Nahla changes out of her pj's, gets a top to toe wash, lots of kisses and cuddles and her Outfit Of The Day put on.
09.00 AM: Nahla has a bottle
09.30 AM: Playtime on her playmat while Mummy has her breakfast and catches up on e-mails, online banking etc.
10.30 AM: Mummy gets pram, changing bag and clothes ready for going out- often while carrying Nahla around in her
Babybjörn.
11.00 AM: Nappy-change
11.15 AM: Nahla and Mummy cuddle on the sofa. Nahla has some mummy-milk and Mummy has some green tea and watches
Oprah. Bliss.
12.00 PM: We go out for our daily outing. Often consisting of park, take-away latte, window-shopping, lunch with a friend
etc. If Nahla wakes at all, I breastfeed her and then she usually falls back asleep in her pram. Bless my boob and its
snooze-inducing qualities!
03.00 PM: We get back home. Sometimes not until around 4 PM, especially if Nahla has been awake and fed and is on her
second sleep. I do the grocery shopping on the way home.
04.00 PM: Nappy change
04.15 PM: Mummy-milk time, we cuddle up on the sofa, so Mummy can blog and watch The City while Nahla feeds/sleeps
nxt to her best friend/my boob! Cup of yummy green tea a must.
05.00 PM: Playtime. Nahla plays on her mat while Mummy makes herself some dinner.
06.30 PM: Bath-time, aka Nahla's favourite time of day. Then after lovely bath, Nahla puts her pj's on and is ready for bed.
Well, in theory anyway!
07.30 PM: Nahla has a bottle
08.30 PM: Time for bed.

Now; I find I have to stop here, because our nighttime routine is the one we really really need to work on. And being well aware that she is only 11 weeks old, this is a work in progress and make take months to establish. Basically our night as of now is very much: Boob, sleep for 15 minutes, boob, sleep, poop, nappy change, boob, sleeps, wakes, cries, boob and so on and so forth until Mummy caves in and goes to bed with her around 11.30; when we conk out until the morning when it all starts all over again. Finding our way, one yummy day at a time!

Poop Panic!

I had never really got it. You know in books, and film- and from girlfriend having their little bundles of joy. How in the name of .... does anyone get so obsessed over their babies' bowl movements?! I mean; the discussions over color, texture, amount etc. HELLO! I would have totally gotten an in-depth analysis on the latest range of Chloe handbags. Or Rodarte clothing. Or some seriously sexy shoes. But poop??!! Eh, no thanks. Until now that is. Now I am officially as bad as the rest. If not worse. I clap my hands when she Nahla has a dirty diaper. I sing to her about being a good girl, and clever she is for doing a poop. I am a lost cause. For sure!
In my defense; the debacle over Nahla's poops have been quite exhausting. She passed her meconium in the hospital while we were still there, but then nothing since for 12 WHOLE DAYS! I was going nuts! My poor baby, was she suffering from constipation? Was everything normal with her? I rang the hospital, midwifes, pediatric nurses- everyone even remotely qualified to answer such questions. And they all just seemed so relaxed. "Don't worry, for breast-fed babies, it is equally normal that they poop 10 times a day than it is that they poop every 10 days." That did not settle my panic even the slightest. I was freaked out there was something wrong with my perfect little baby. Then again, she seemed fine. She ate. She pee'd. She slept. She was calm and cute and amazing in every way. She just did not poop. Until, off course, after 12 long days, she did. Alot. All over me. And the sofa. And herself. From her hair to her toes. I'll spare you the details of the color and texture, if you have any experience with baby-poop you'll know. It was extensive.

And now, at six weeks, she still only poops every 4-5 days. Which I have been assured by the entire medical profession is entirely normal as she is for the most part a breast-fed baby. I give her a couple of bottles of formula a day, both because she is a hungry baby and I don't have quite enough milk, and also because I find that being able to do a combination just suits us both better. She is happy and content and sleeps through the night, and it gives me the freedom of being able to let someone else feed her every now and again- which her grandparents and aunties and everyone LOVES to do, and also makes me relax knowing she is getting enough food. Breastfeeding is great and lovely and convenient- especially for us that travel as much as we do, but I enjoy being to do both. Which- I think- is one of the most important lessons I have learnt in parenting so far; to do what suits YOU and YOUR baby. Don't let people tell you what to do. Listening and learning from others is all fine and well, but at the end of the day, you have to make your routine work for your life. Happy mummy = happy baby. It really is that simple.