Sunday, 6 October 2013
Saturday, 5 October 2013
Toddler +Skype = new webcam
Before Leila was born we bought ourselves a tablet pc and this proved an excellent buy as it meant we could easily video Skype with home without clogging up the main PC and being able to roam around the flat. Leila has always been fascinated by this device that talks to her and of the people who live in the 'box' which was funny at first, but now she is able to grab (and move!) it has been proving very difficult to have a successful Skype with home - we just spend all the time moving the Gadget (as we fondly call it) out of her reach, or endlessly turning it round so that folks get a glimps of her before she rushes to another part of the room.
Recently we decided to change our strategy and found our old webcam (a Grand Mall special from our first year here!) and set this up above the big telly with my old laptop hooked into the TV for a screen. It worked a treat with Leila now transfixed in front of the TV and everyone being able to get a much better view of her comings and goings. Having established that this new set up was working we decided to invest in a new webcam which is working well (although its autofocus is not totally compatible with our toddler!)
Here are a few pics of the new set up:
Recently we decided to change our strategy and found our old webcam (a Grand Mall special from our first year here!) and set this up above the big telly with my old laptop hooked into the TV for a screen. It worked a treat with Leila now transfixed in front of the TV and everyone being able to get a much better view of her comings and goings. Having established that this new set up was working we decided to invest in a new webcam which is working well (although its autofocus is not totally compatible with our toddler!)
Here are a few pics of the new set up:
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| Leila shows Grandpa her favourite book 'Zoopermarket' |
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| 'Who are these strange people on the telly?' |
Wednesday, 2 October 2013
First blood
Poor Leila has had a tough few days. It started on Sunday with a runny nose and ended with a real wallop today!
Sunday evening Leila was so full of cold that she struggled to sleep. After 45 mins of restlessness we got her up for some Calpol. It makes sense now that she was so clingy over the weekend if she had been feeling this rotten. Luckily I was off work on the Monday and so could give her the cuddles and milk that she needed to start to shift it. Although her nose was still running on Tuesday, she seemed to be over the worst of the cold itself.
A few nights later though and she was feeling a lot better in herself (although her nose was still running like a tap!). So much so that she was shrieking with joy at a game of chase around the living room and then along the corridor. It all ended in tears though when she fell on the tiled floor and had a right whallop on her face. Scotty tried to console her, but she was still wailing a few minutes later, so I took over. It was only when he passed her to me that I saw the streak of red blood on his white shirt where she had been leaning on his shoulder! Poor little girl had cut her lip on her sharp teeth as she had fallen forward. We gave her a bm ice lolly to try and stem the bleeding ad stop any swelling and she finally calmed down and felt a bit better. This first blood though was a real shock!
EDIT: A few weeks later we had our second blood. This wasn't self inflicted, but was the result of her habit of pointing and shouting at any cat that she sees! Leila loves cats and meowing and the BCA garden cats are very calm, well behaved and tolerant of small children. It seems though that this week one took a friendly swipe at her outstretched arm and managed to scratch her.
Being typical first-time parents we were more upset than Leila was about this and so called our doctors immediately. Looking at the scratch we could tell really that it was just a small one, but felt that it might be slightly negligent of us to not have the doc take a look at it. Of course the doctor comes to our house and says that it's not even a 'small scratch' but superficial too! What fuss-pots we are! Luckily Leila is up to date with all her jabs (and the cut so small and clean) so she didn't need any further jabs.
Wednesday, 25 September 2013
EBF
Leila is nearly eleven months now and I am still bf-ing her and plan to continue until....well as long as it takes really I think! I feel in many ways that after a rocky and uncertain start, I have come so far now that I may as well finish the job off! It's not been an easy journey and something that happened this week prompted me to think of the ups and downs along the way.
As Leila was in the ICU I had to try to express colostrum/milk for her before she even had a chance to latch on. This was really difficult and being engorged made it even harder. It would take my ages to get anything out for her and she'd gulp the bottle down from the nurses in seconds!
When I had my first chance to feed her myself she struggled to latch on because both of my nipples were flat. We both worked hard at it and the nurses advised me to use nipple shields to help the nipples to form for Leila to latch on to. Using them did make feeding awkward, but at least she was able to feed. I had to use these for a week on one side and about two weeks on the other until she was able to latch on without them. It's amazing now, looking back, at how hard these first few months were.
In the first six months I had the usual difficulties that mums encounter breastfeeding, including blocked ducts, fullness and soreness. We also had some problems around 3-months of her refusing to take a bottle (of expressed milk). This made Scott's evening feeds really difficult for both him and Leila, but we persevered and gradually her confidence in the bottle returned. We think that the refusing was related to the odd 'off milk' bottle that we gave her and the fact that we had to add Lacteol Forte supplement, then iron drops, to the bottle for a while.
When the doc here in Egypt diagnosed a likely dairy/egg allergy, I removed all dairy and egg from my diet. The hardest thing about this was the need to suddenly cook everything myself so that I could be sure of what had gone into it!
I blogged in July that we had finally managed to see the specialist in the UK who confirmed a dairy intolerance but said that I should start to reintroduce dairy to my diet to gauge Leila's tolerance. This appointment, diagnosis and advice was a real relief and we both felt so positive afterwards.
A week later after this really brilliant 'up' for BF I had a real 'down' when I found out that I had mastitis. Mastitis is common for new mums, but not for those months and months into BF-ing! One cause was probably Leila taking less milk from me as she was increasing her solids intake, but a key factor in developing it was probably me feeding her whilst lying down in bed and therefore the breast not draining fully. I am so glad though that I noticed the signs and was able to get an emergency appointment at the doctors the same day. In the night I had felt 'full' but come the morning, despite my attempts to empty the breast I was still very full and starting to feel in pain there. I was able to continue to feed and get on during the day, but by late afternoon (and my doc appointment) I was in real pain every time I touched the breast and was developing a fever and flu-like symptoms. I was able to take two of the antibiotics before bed that night and the following morning felt a lot better as the worst of it had passed, thank goodness. The main frustration with being on a ten-day course of antibiotics wasn't that I couldn't drink (I could!) but that they had to be taken on an empty stomach - no more mid-morning snacks for me ;-(
Back in Cairo after the summer we realised that Leila had decided she didn't want to take a bottle again. The cause this time was having spent so much time over the summer at the breast she no longer wanted to have a bottle but would save herself for the breast. This was a real problem as with me due back in work within a week we had to get her used to a bottle again. We had a few really tough days trying to prepare her. Tough for her as she didn't understand why she needed to change, and tough for Scott as he had to try and give her a bottle when she was unhappy. I had to stay out of the way before and during a feed and then express ready for the next feed. She is taking the bottle now from Scott and from Ella, our nanny, although sometimes will take it in a few sittings.
So, finally onto the reason that I started this post. Leila sometimes likes to 'bite' at the end of a feed. Not often, but sometimes when she is feeling 'cheeky'. Now that she has teeth I have to strongly say 'no biting' and take her off. She did manage to get a nip in last week and whilst it wasn't too bad at the time, a few days later I was in real pain as the cut wasn't able to heal and was being pulled apart every time she went back to feed on that side. Not nice! It has finally healed now after four days of not letting her feed on that side and only pumping.
So what next for BF - hopefully a cut down in feeds as she takes more solids, but hopefully continuing to be happy and healthy.
As Leila was in the ICU I had to try to express colostrum/milk for her before she even had a chance to latch on. This was really difficult and being engorged made it even harder. It would take my ages to get anything out for her and she'd gulp the bottle down from the nurses in seconds!
When I had my first chance to feed her myself she struggled to latch on because both of my nipples were flat. We both worked hard at it and the nurses advised me to use nipple shields to help the nipples to form for Leila to latch on to. Using them did make feeding awkward, but at least she was able to feed. I had to use these for a week on one side and about two weeks on the other until she was able to latch on without them. It's amazing now, looking back, at how hard these first few months were.
In the first six months I had the usual difficulties that mums encounter breastfeeding, including blocked ducts, fullness and soreness. We also had some problems around 3-months of her refusing to take a bottle (of expressed milk). This made Scott's evening feeds really difficult for both him and Leila, but we persevered and gradually her confidence in the bottle returned. We think that the refusing was related to the odd 'off milk' bottle that we gave her and the fact that we had to add Lacteol Forte supplement, then iron drops, to the bottle for a while.
When the doc here in Egypt diagnosed a likely dairy/egg allergy, I removed all dairy and egg from my diet. The hardest thing about this was the need to suddenly cook everything myself so that I could be sure of what had gone into it!
I blogged in July that we had finally managed to see the specialist in the UK who confirmed a dairy intolerance but said that I should start to reintroduce dairy to my diet to gauge Leila's tolerance. This appointment, diagnosis and advice was a real relief and we both felt so positive afterwards.
A week later after this really brilliant 'up' for BF I had a real 'down' when I found out that I had mastitis. Mastitis is common for new mums, but not for those months and months into BF-ing! One cause was probably Leila taking less milk from me as she was increasing her solids intake, but a key factor in developing it was probably me feeding her whilst lying down in bed and therefore the breast not draining fully. I am so glad though that I noticed the signs and was able to get an emergency appointment at the doctors the same day. In the night I had felt 'full' but come the morning, despite my attempts to empty the breast I was still very full and starting to feel in pain there. I was able to continue to feed and get on during the day, but by late afternoon (and my doc appointment) I was in real pain every time I touched the breast and was developing a fever and flu-like symptoms. I was able to take two of the antibiotics before bed that night and the following morning felt a lot better as the worst of it had passed, thank goodness. The main frustration with being on a ten-day course of antibiotics wasn't that I couldn't drink (I could!) but that they had to be taken on an empty stomach - no more mid-morning snacks for me ;-(
Back in Cairo after the summer we realised that Leila had decided she didn't want to take a bottle again. The cause this time was having spent so much time over the summer at the breast she no longer wanted to have a bottle but would save herself for the breast. This was a real problem as with me due back in work within a week we had to get her used to a bottle again. We had a few really tough days trying to prepare her. Tough for her as she didn't understand why she needed to change, and tough for Scott as he had to try and give her a bottle when she was unhappy. I had to stay out of the way before and during a feed and then express ready for the next feed. She is taking the bottle now from Scott and from Ella, our nanny, although sometimes will take it in a few sittings.
So, finally onto the reason that I started this post. Leila sometimes likes to 'bite' at the end of a feed. Not often, but sometimes when she is feeling 'cheeky'. Now that she has teeth I have to strongly say 'no biting' and take her off. She did manage to get a nip in last week and whilst it wasn't too bad at the time, a few days later I was in real pain as the cut wasn't able to heal and was being pulled apart every time she went back to feed on that side. Not nice! It has finally healed now after four days of not letting her feed on that side and only pumping.
So what next for BF - hopefully a cut down in feeds as she takes more solids, but hopefully continuing to be happy and healthy.
Saturday, 21 September 2013
Leila's eleventh month
Leila's eleventh month
This month, what with all the too-ing and fro-ing at the end of the summer break, we forgot to take a family portrait on the 21st. So instead of the usual family pic, here are a couple of others from that time.
Development and Play
Since getting back to Cairo Leila is just walking all the time now. A real advantage of living in a flat! We have fenced off a large area of the living room as a 'safe' zone, but as she grows in confidence we're just letting her walk all around the flat with us. We don't let her in the kitchen and we keep the doors to the spare room, spare bathrooms and laundry room shut, but otherwise she is a free range baby!
As the month has passed she has been falling over less and less and can really balance well. She has started to enjoy steps up and down which we let her do (holding our hands) on the ukulele case. She is also now able to get to standing from sitting by herself. This gives her a lot more freedom (and keeps us on our toes too!) and real independence. Leila also enjoy playing 'chase' and she's so good at not loosing her balance when she wobbles now. She can go on tip toes to try and get things (usually technology or when she really wants to be picked up).
Leila has started to learn about 'in and out' now and will put things into her box (and take everything out of course!) She sometimes does this with her food at the end of meals, but her preference is for dropping that on the floor still. She will give us things if we ask for them and hold our hands open.
Leila still absolutely loves music, daddy playing guitar and her books. Leila will clap and jiggle to music when it is playing, but she also will walk around clapping if she is happy. She is getting loads better at strumming her ukulele and whenever music is playing she can recognise dad's songs from the other 'baby friendly' music we have on the playlist. She is back into her chewing phase with books and I spend a few evenings each week selotaping spines and flaps back into her latest read.
Leila doesn't really have a number one favourite toy. She played a lot with Chimp over the summer and so likes to walk around holding him by the hand (or leg, or tail, or ear). Since coming back to Cairo she recognised the Were Bears (even though we had a baby Fang in London and a large Fang here, she still recognised him) and is perfecting her "raagh!" Leila does have some favourite books though; Dear Zoo and I Went to the Zoopermarket. Both are lift-the-flap books and we attempt some animal noises with them that she is starting to imitate (well, she only imitates the 'raagh' really!)
We've been going to all our usual 'social scene' now we are back home of Baby Group, Bounce and Rhyme and Toddler Club at the BCA on Saturdays. It is really funny to see Leila 'shy' again after a summer of being very outgoing. Although we tried to get her seeing other babies over the summer it was mainly adults that she saw, so it takes her a good 15 minutes to get comfortable at the start of each group. Her shyness isn't too bad, it's just that she wants to be close to me when we arrive and wants to quietly look at what is going on before she joins in.
Feeding/Eating
Leila has her good and her off days for food at the moment; sometimes eating lots and sometimes just eating one or two things from the range we put in front of her. Courgettes are still out, but cucumber is in, as are peas (frozen peas we love you!). She loves mash and porridge and pasta.
When we got back to Cairo we realised that Leila was refusing the bottle - mainly out of preference because she had become so used to breastfeeding over the summer. This cause a bit of a nightmare week as we tried to reintroduce it ready for me going back to work. She is OK taking a bottle with the (new) nanny, Ella, now. Sometimes it will be in a few 'sittings' or Ella will give her an ice lolly of breastmilk as a back-up.
Reintroduction of dairy into my diet continues to go well. It's hard to have dairy in my diet when I'm also trying to eat the same things as Leila, but I try to have a yoghurt in the evening now and cheese sandwiches when I am at work etc. We had a few nappies that looked like they could be mucousy, but we're not 100% sure so we're keeping going 'as is' until we see anything else.
Sleeping
Thankfully Leila remembered her own bed once we were back in Cairo and has been fine back in her own room too (if anything it took me longer to adjust to having the background noise of AC when trying to sleep and using a monitor again!)
She still wakes once or twice in the night. This can be as early as 1am or as late as 4am. I am trying to wait at least 5 minutes after I hear her call out before I go in, as sometimes she doesn't really need feeding and can just settle herself again.
Back in Cairo Leila has remember how to do a 'long nap' although she doesn't take a long one every day. It's amazing that some days she will nap for just an hour or so (2 x 35min) and other days can approach 3 hours (2 x 1.5hr)! We keep trying to have the same routine for naps and bedtime, but trying not to get too uptight about it either.
Teeth and Temperament
I would say that 'Leila's teeth continue to come' as it feels like she has been teething again here - biting, chewing, red cheeks etc, but there is no sign of her getting her sixth tooth yet. She is wonderfully gappy at the front now that her other front tooth is coming through. The 'Pennington Gap' is alive and well in this one!
Sometimes Leila will bite at the end of a feed. She knows that she shouldn't as she always does it gently and slowly and then turns to be with a grin on her face. I say 'no biting' and then take her off, so hopefully she will stop it one day.
Leila has become a little grumpy pants on occaision now and likes to get her way. If she is upset about something then she can really strop out and wails the house down whilst jiggling on the spot (she can't quite stamp her feet yet, but when she can I'll bet she will!). It's hard to find a balance between not wanting to give in all the time, but also having some rules (such as not in the kitchen and no mobile phones to suck.
Leila is gradually getting used to the new nanny, Ella. I think the hardest thing is her getting used to not having us around, rather than getting used to Ella, as she has had two solid months of 'mum and dad time'. I am in work all day Sunday, then Monday and Tuesday mornings. Leila tends to always cry on the Sunday when we both leave for work, but by the Tuesday morning she is just about OK about us leaving. It's nice to be back at work and teaching again, but it feels harder this year to balance home/work as it feels like there is always so much to do for both.
This month, what with all the too-ing and fro-ing at the end of the summer break, we forgot to take a family portrait on the 21st. So instead of the usual family pic, here are a couple of others from that time.
 |
| Exploring the kitchen at MVR |
 |
| Selfie! It's so hard to take a picture of Leila now as she is obsessed with technology! |
 |
| Dad and daughter. |
Development and Play
Since getting back to Cairo Leila is just walking all the time now. A real advantage of living in a flat! We have fenced off a large area of the living room as a 'safe' zone, but as she grows in confidence we're just letting her walk all around the flat with us. We don't let her in the kitchen and we keep the doors to the spare room, spare bathrooms and laundry room shut, but otherwise she is a free range baby!
As the month has passed she has been falling over less and less and can really balance well. She has started to enjoy steps up and down which we let her do (holding our hands) on the ukulele case. She is also now able to get to standing from sitting by herself. This gives her a lot more freedom (and keeps us on our toes too!) and real independence. Leila also enjoy playing 'chase' and she's so good at not loosing her balance when she wobbles now. She can go on tip toes to try and get things (usually technology or when she really wants to be picked up).
Leila has started to learn about 'in and out' now and will put things into her box (and take everything out of course!) She sometimes does this with her food at the end of meals, but her preference is for dropping that on the floor still. She will give us things if we ask for them and hold our hands open.
Leila still absolutely loves music, daddy playing guitar and her books. Leila will clap and jiggle to music when it is playing, but she also will walk around clapping if she is happy. She is getting loads better at strumming her ukulele and whenever music is playing she can recognise dad's songs from the other 'baby friendly' music we have on the playlist. She is back into her chewing phase with books and I spend a few evenings each week selotaping spines and flaps back into her latest read.
Leila doesn't really have a number one favourite toy. She played a lot with Chimp over the summer and so likes to walk around holding him by the hand (or leg, or tail, or ear). Since coming back to Cairo she recognised the Were Bears (even though we had a baby Fang in London and a large Fang here, she still recognised him) and is perfecting her "raagh!" Leila does have some favourite books though; Dear Zoo and I Went to the Zoopermarket. Both are lift-the-flap books and we attempt some animal noises with them that she is starting to imitate (well, she only imitates the 'raagh' really!)
We've been going to all our usual 'social scene' now we are back home of Baby Group, Bounce and Rhyme and Toddler Club at the BCA on Saturdays. It is really funny to see Leila 'shy' again after a summer of being very outgoing. Although we tried to get her seeing other babies over the summer it was mainly adults that she saw, so it takes her a good 15 minutes to get comfortable at the start of each group. Her shyness isn't too bad, it's just that she wants to be close to me when we arrive and wants to quietly look at what is going on before she joins in.
Feeding/Eating
Leila has her good and her off days for food at the moment; sometimes eating lots and sometimes just eating one or two things from the range we put in front of her. Courgettes are still out, but cucumber is in, as are peas (frozen peas we love you!). She loves mash and porridge and pasta.
When we got back to Cairo we realised that Leila was refusing the bottle - mainly out of preference because she had become so used to breastfeeding over the summer. This cause a bit of a nightmare week as we tried to reintroduce it ready for me going back to work. She is OK taking a bottle with the (new) nanny, Ella, now. Sometimes it will be in a few 'sittings' or Ella will give her an ice lolly of breastmilk as a back-up.
Reintroduction of dairy into my diet continues to go well. It's hard to have dairy in my diet when I'm also trying to eat the same things as Leila, but I try to have a yoghurt in the evening now and cheese sandwiches when I am at work etc. We had a few nappies that looked like they could be mucousy, but we're not 100% sure so we're keeping going 'as is' until we see anything else.
Sleeping
Thankfully Leila remembered her own bed once we were back in Cairo and has been fine back in her own room too (if anything it took me longer to adjust to having the background noise of AC when trying to sleep and using a monitor again!)
She still wakes once or twice in the night. This can be as early as 1am or as late as 4am. I am trying to wait at least 5 minutes after I hear her call out before I go in, as sometimes she doesn't really need feeding and can just settle herself again.
Back in Cairo Leila has remember how to do a 'long nap' although she doesn't take a long one every day. It's amazing that some days she will nap for just an hour or so (2 x 35min) and other days can approach 3 hours (2 x 1.5hr)! We keep trying to have the same routine for naps and bedtime, but trying not to get too uptight about it either.
Teeth and Temperament
I would say that 'Leila's teeth continue to come' as it feels like she has been teething again here - biting, chewing, red cheeks etc, but there is no sign of her getting her sixth tooth yet. She is wonderfully gappy at the front now that her other front tooth is coming through. The 'Pennington Gap' is alive and well in this one!
Sometimes Leila will bite at the end of a feed. She knows that she shouldn't as she always does it gently and slowly and then turns to be with a grin on her face. I say 'no biting' and then take her off, so hopefully she will stop it one day.
Leila has become a little grumpy pants on occaision now and likes to get her way. If she is upset about something then she can really strop out and wails the house down whilst jiggling on the spot (she can't quite stamp her feet yet, but when she can I'll bet she will!). It's hard to find a balance between not wanting to give in all the time, but also having some rules (such as not in the kitchen and no mobile phones to suck.
Leila is gradually getting used to the new nanny, Ella. I think the hardest thing is her getting used to not having us around, rather than getting used to Ella, as she has had two solid months of 'mum and dad time'. I am in work all day Sunday, then Monday and Tuesday mornings. Leila tends to always cry on the Sunday when we both leave for work, but by the Tuesday morning she is just about OK about us leaving. It's nice to be back at work and teaching again, but it feels harder this year to balance home/work as it feels like there is always so much to do for both.
Saturday, 14 September 2013
Wandering about with the ribbon stick (and lunging at the camera)
EDIT:
Three weeks later, and her grasp of the ribbon (no pun intended) had seriously improved. Here she is on the 5th October, jiggling about while dad's songs are on in the background.
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