Julie's Boggle

Jessica was 5 months old a few weeks back so we thought we’d see if she had any interest in solids. (With Jon, although he was a hungry baby, at 5 months anything other than milk dribbled straight out again.)

Jess generally has a bit of a take-it-or-leave-it attitude with breast-feeding, but she’s definitely started taking notice of us eating.  And at supper-time when she’s usually more up for food than at other times, it’s quite amusing to watch her watching Daddy eat, head following the fork from his plate to his mouth.

So we pulled out a box of baby porridge (and the camera), sat Jess in the Bumbo and wriggled a spoonful of the milky slurry between her lips.  She wasn’t impressed and we got some very amusing looks – a sort of horrified curiosity at this stuff we were placing in her mouth.

Jess’s first instinct was to shove most of it out again with her tongue (where it was quickly caught and recycled), but some of it went down, and it was good practice for learning to move food around her mouth.

We stopped using the Bumbo after the first couple of times (now Jess sits on Daddy’s lap), because Jess’s trademark move is to throw herself backwards while being fed (hence the hand behind her head in the photos), which doesn’t work so well for getting the next mouthful in.

From there we moved on to vegetable purées which went down a lot better than the porridge once Jess got used to the taste.  So far we’ve had carrot, sweet potato and butternut and they’ve all been received with enthusiasm.  She’s got a some work to do on her spoon techniques – she has a tendency to try to suck it off the spoon when she’s keen for it – but there’s lots of time for that.

I must admit that I was a little nervous about how Jess would take to solids based on her sometimes indifference to milk, but these early signs are definitely good – bring on the real food!

There’s a lot of different opinions about the best times to make the transfer from cot to bed and everyone’s experience varies.  In our case, we did experiment with taking the side off Jon’s cot quite a while ago, but aside from the odd time when Jon was exhausted and fell asleep straight away, it generally meant that he’d be at his bedroom door about 10 seconds after we closed it.  Sigh.

So the side went back on and I came to the conclusion that this was just as well, because the plan was to have him sharing a room with Jess, and having Jon confined to a cot seemed a wise move under these circumstances.  (Not that Jon can’t get out of his cot if he puts his mind to it, but he is slightly reticent about the drop once he’s on top of the bars!)

But then came the big change with moving to Durham.  Suddenly we had an extra room and a requirement for guest beds.

We decided that bunk beds would fit the bill nicely.  Ones that separate out into two single beds (our guest option) as well as giving Jon a huge incentive to move from his cot because he would now have a super-cool bed – with a ladder!  Without thinking too far ahead, I’d imagined that he would sleep on the top bunk (which was indeed exactly what Jon wanted to do) but this was subsequently revised after considering potential injuries from falling -in his sleep- from that height.  (Yes, I know there are railings, but still, he’s little!)

We have since told him that he needs to “practise” sleeping on the bottom bunk before we let him try the top one.

There was some initial disappointment when the top bunk arrived damaged, and had to be replaced, then lost by the courier company, then replaced again.  But at last it was all together, assembled by Daddy, and ready to be slept in!

The bedtime routine was immediately adjusted to have bedtime story on the TOP bunk, but when it came to the sleeping bit, Jon preferred to retire to the space he knew in his cot.  We didn’t push him too hard.  We left the side down on his cot, and on the days he did start off in the bed, he and the toys would all be in the cot by the time he went to sleep.   He did rather like demanding the bed option for his lunchtime “nap” (read, “quiet time”) because that freed him up to wander around the room!

This went on for a few days.  Then Jon got a cold and Mum and Dad decided he needed to actually sleep during his lunchtime nap because he was clearly under the weather.  So we warned him not to get out of bed, and when we caught him roving about, he was put in his cot.  Where he cried himself to sleep.  That night, suddenly Jon didn’t want to sleep in his cot – aha, break through!

That was the first night that we found Jon asleep in his bed.  But in the morning, he was back in his cot.  Ho-hum.

Still, it was the first milestone, and the next day he fell asleep on his bed at lunchtime (picture on the right).  Then that night, he slept in his bed the whole night through!  Hurrah!  Now we use the threat of going back to the cot to discourage getting out of bed (or at the very least, to stop him opening his door!).

For me, there’s something about leaving a property we owned for a property we’ll be renting that gives the new residence the air of a holiday home.

Combine this with the fact that Tom’s course only starts at the end of September (i.e. 4 weeks with Daddy at home) and it starts to feel even more like a holiday. (Of course there’s very little that’s relaxing about minding a toddler and a 5-month-old. but it is an improvement to feel that our days are mostly our own to spend as we choose.)

So how is Durham then?

Well it’s one of the smaller cities that I’ve lived in, but definitely the most picturesque.  Among other eye-candy there’s the river,

the castle

and the cathedral

which slip into view on any walk through the city centre.

It’s also a very HILLY city and getting in and out of the centre for us involves navigating some very steep slopes.  The last one up to our road is called Crossgate and pushing a buggy up it, loaded with two children and shopping, is guaranteed to give one a good cardio workout!

Added to that, our new house has stairs, so we’re doing a LOT more climbing than we used to.

We live in a complex of 12 houses owned by the college and rented out to married students.  As a ready-made community it’s absolutely great, especially for the children, who have lots of fun playing together in the big open space (which can be enclosed by shutting the complex’s gates) formed by the terraces on two sides of it.  The outdoor fun might be reduced come winter, but it’s brilliant for Jon at the moment.

From where we live, it’s about a 10 minute walk to the middle of Durham where there’s a big indoor market and a lively shopping area.  The college is a bit further away, more like 15 minutes walk from home, near to the impressive Norman cathedral.

I’m quite excited at the prospect of exploring the city over the next two years – I’m sure there will be lots to keep us busy and to write about.  Bit nervous about the winter but I’ll keep you posted on how we fare with that!

So here we are in Durham, about 30 boxes down (which puts us about two thirds of the way through them).

Our new home at Brass Thill is wonderful and the neighbours (all college families) are great.

No phone line yet – BT confused us with another address down the road.  But you can call us on Skype thanks to the wonder of 3G internet.

More later from Julie when she’s had a chance to stop spinning.

Here goes… Tomorrow is our last day in London and it promises to be a mad one with the packers and movers and children all in one chaotic mix.  I’m feeling quite excited at the prospect – and a bit nervous about how tomorrow’s going to work out but hey-ho, it’s only one day and then there’s all the excitement of Durham to look forward to.

We will of course have an unavoidable interruption of service for the blog while our server travels north and subsequently gets re-connected but it should be short-lived!