Leila's first real laughs

This video shows the first time we got a proper little laugh out of Leila.  We were trying out the ear protectors we got for her to wear at gigs, as we were taking her that afternoon to the St. Paddy's sound check at the BCA. We put them on her and she gave no reaction, but when we took them off she let out a real squeal of laughter!

 

This video shows Leila laughing again later in the week when mummy was playing sound games with her.

Leila's fifth month

On the day that she turned four months, Leila took her first trip to the UK. This month has also been a month of 'firsts' in her development with learning to roll over just  a few days after we returned to Cairo.

Sleeping
Leila did pretty well sleeping in the UK and was happy enough in the travel cots she had at MVR and in Buxton.  Going to the UK made me realise how much co-sleeping helps with nighttime fussy feeds and letting me sleep.  The bed in Buxton was a little cosy (!) and so co-sleeping was a little more of a challenge, but it did mean that we would all wake up together in the morning.  After a tiring night, it was really nice, especially as Leila likes to wake up and play and chatter at the moment.
Leila coped well with time difference and gradually adjusted waking times (from 5am first day to 7am last day and then 9.30am first day back in Cairo).  We think that she coped with the adjusted bedtime because of daytime naps (every 1 1/2 - 2 hours) and keeping her bedtime routine.

On returning to Cairo though, sleep has been really bitty and tough. For example, after being put down at 7pm she would wake before midnight (instead of 1am or later before hitting four months). Some might she was awake again at 10.30pm (before I've had a chance to go to bed myself) and even waking hourly through the night sometimes.  Because of feeling so tired this has led to lots of co-sleeping and feeding which has probably in turn led to feeling tired and not getting a full nights sleep.  We think that the problem is that she only goes to sleep with the help of the breast, and so without this now she can't fall asleep on her own.
Back in Cairo she is sometimes waking early (5am or 6am) and is ready to play and chat!

When it comes to napping we are using the sling for nearly every nap. The heat is starting to make this a bit of a problem, so some walks are at home or the mall. The other daytime nap that we do is feeding in bed and then the two of us napping a bit together. This can get a longer nap sometimes and was good when we had a heatwave of 30+ but it does rely on her falling asleep at the breast! Naps are typically 30-35 min long and she needs them after an hour and a half or two hours of wake time. Depending on how things go during the day she naps three or four times.

Eating
With the bottle, Leila sometimes prefers to try and chew on the bottle teat in the back of her mouth rather than feed.  This is because she is teething more and more and loves things to chew on.
Leila can be rather bitty still with her feeding and unless there is low light and silence (and ideally lieing down) she doesn't always do a full feed. She is a bit sicky after feeds sometimes, never a 'huge' sick, but it still seems like a lot!

Playing
Leila is actually grabbing with intent and is able to reach for the toys she wants above her mat or if we have them in our hands. She is also strong enough for her rachet toys and can pull these towards herself. I realised the other day that she is also strong enough to grab parrot on her bouncer and pull herself away from the chair! I worried she might break it but I think this is a sign of her wanting to sit up more.
Since coming back from the UK she has rolled over (from her front to back) and found her feet (which makes changing fun!). We think we have heard her first little laughs too which are lovely.


Health
A slight breakhthrough on the poop front. Not being physicists we had forgotton that blue plus yellow equals green and recently discovered that the energy saving light bulbs we use in her room give off a slightly blue light - turning a normal yellow poop luminous green! When we are unsure of a poop colour we take the nappy on tk the balcony now and we have changed the bulbs in her room!

She is still on iron every day and has also been on a course of zinc to help her immune system (but no more lacteol forte). We are getting tired of having to constantly give her medicine (and she is too we think). We just want to have a 'normal' day. We need to keep in the iron until she is eating meat apparently but will stop the other things as although poop isn't normal, the docs can't find a big problem with it.
The doc thinks that Leila has an intolerance to dairy in my diet. I have been buying soya milk and cutting back dairy but he says I can't totally eliminate it. We think she has heat rash, which probably (ironically) developed because of wrapping up warm and being in the sling when we were in the UK. It isn't going to be easy to keep slinging her in Egypt as the weather gets warmer if we know she has this, but we will just try to keep her out of the heat of the day and let her cool of between times.

skype

We try to video skype the grandfolks when leila is in the mood to play. Leila is just starting to realise that when we use Skype there is another voice she can hear that isn't mum and dad. Today she was very intent on trying to get Grandpa Crunch out of the little black box thst he seems to live in!

Parenting...in the dark

I don't know if it is our new flat, or the new regime, but since the start of the year we have been experiencing brown-outs every day and a weekly rolling blackout!

We have an almost constant fluctuating voltage reaching the apartment and we know this because the UPS for the computer (uninterrupted power supply - not the postal service as I first thought) and the surge protector for the telly click on and off all the time. Most of the time the electricals can cope but every now and then the variation will be enough to kick off the router or the AC.

Towards the very start of the year we had an hour-long black-out which motivated us to buy an emergency light. This light is dead clever because it sits plugged into the power and when it senses that there is no longer power, it turns itself on. Over the last month we've had a black out of nearly bang-on an hour once a week, so I thought I would chronicle our favourite black-out stories.

5. Otlob. We do still manage to eatwhen the powergoes. If we have dinner on its way then the delivery guy has a fun time negotiating the stairs by the light of his mobile. We then have to try and read the bill and find change jn the dark.
4. Baby Massage
3. Final Feed.  I normally need the room pretty dark on the final feed these days as Leila gets so easily distracted. This evening she was close  to being down when the power went so it wasn't too bad for her. Scotty soon came along with a torch so I could see as I left the room.  The fun really started with cooking dinner which wedid on gas using the emergency light. Dinner was by emergency light with music from the ipod!
2. Games Night. This was the power cut that led to us buying he emergency light. The Prebbles wereover for games night and we wersin the middle of agame when thepower went.  We finished the game with torches!
1. Worst blackout experience was last week when I was on my own getting Leila ready for her bath while Scotty was picking up a few things from Carrefour on his way home. I had just got Leila undressed when the power went! So I popped her safely in her cot whilst I went in search of our lamp. On my way back to her with the light my phone goes and it's Scotty who doesn't have his keys! Luckily I don't need to leave the flat to let him in as the bowab lets him in to the building and I can meet him at the door, Leila is pretty restless now so we push ahead with a low lit bath. With all the faff though it turns out that I have hit my phone and it has sent a random text message to Gina! She is naturally panicked and so calls me, but my phone decides to play up and she can't hear me so is even more confused! I manage to call and reassure her on Scott's phone, we manage to give Leila her bath and put her to bed and we both collapse on the couch!

Hello Toes!

Leila has found her feet!

We were given some of the rattle socks that are meant to help babies find their feet, and we'd used them every now and then but found that they didn't do much for her.  The other day though we tried a new tactic of putting the socks on and then waving the socks in front of her so that she could see them!  After an afternoon of trying to grab at the socks she finally could work out how to reach them and pull them off.  The next stage was then leaving the rattle socks off and hoping she would do the same with just her feet there.

She now loves pulling her legs back to grab her toes when on the change mat and when on her big play mat too.

Leila learns to roll

Last night Alice got up to feed Leila and found her on her back.  "Funny," thought Alice, "I'm sure I put her down on her front as normal."  So, she turned her over and...hey presto, Leila rolled over.

She repeated her new trick this afternoon on the playmat and we managed to capture her 4th ever roll on camera.

Storytime: Leila's first trip to England

Leila's first trip to England

 

 

When Leila was 4 months old, she went on her first trip to England.  Leila wore a special top so that everyone knew she was "Made in Egypt, with British parts."  Leila was very excited on the airplane and didn't want to sleep!  Leila wanted to see everything!

 

 

 

 

When Leila first landed in England though, she was fast asleep on Daddy!

 

 

In the morning, Leila had breakfast with Granny and Gramps.

 

 

 

Leila loved having cuddles with her Aunty Fabia and Uncle Sam.

 

 

Leila went on her very first train.  Leila liked the train because it was a bit bumpy.

 

 

Granda Crunch had been waiting a long time to meet Leila.  Leila and her Grandpa Crunch enjoyed playing together.

 

 

 

Leila and her Mum and Dad did lots of walking around Buxton.  Leila saw the Buxton Opera House and the Dome.

 

 

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Leila enjoyed being cheeky with her Nanny.

 

 

 

 

Leila met her Great Nanny.  Leila agreed with everyone that Daddy's Nanny was indeed 'great'.

 

 

It was very cold in England and Leila had to wear a bear suit to keep warm.  Leila saw her first snow in London, and Leila saw her first proper snow in Buxton!

 

 

 

 

One day everyone pretended that it was Christmas.  Leila wore her Christmas clothes and she pulled her first cracker with Grandpa Crunch.