A New Year and a new regime.

So back to work for me on Monday and I will certainly miss hanging out with my two favourite girls but I think we have all turned a huge corner over the last 4 weeks.

Sophie is now drinking milk from a sippy cup three times a day and eating a LOT of solid foods -  last night we had her go through the night without an additional feed which means she is close to sleeping through the night on her own and being solely fed at the table along with having milk drinks from a bottle, which is tremendous progress. She is also having very defined naps during the day and although we know this will change at a moments notice it is great to feel that things are settling down for everyone. Katie and Sophie already had a great routine but with Sophie a little bit older and more interested in solid food etc.. hopefully things will be a lot easier from now on.

Sophie is also desperately trying to start crawling - watch this space but she's not far from zooming around under her own steam. She also starts her swimming lessons on Monday - she'll be unstoppable from Tuesday onwards.

We had a great New Years Day, a long walk followed by a really lovely dinner at our house with Gran and Grandad - it was a great way to start the year.

"Is Gran really letting me do this?"

Today we had a wee family day out to Pollok park and the Burrell Collection on what was a really nice sunny day. I have also managed to get my camera out a wee bit more recently in what I hope will become a more regular feature - personally and professionally.

"I've just eaten a huge amount"

"Mum - what on earth is this?"

"Oh, I see - it's a new game!"

You can tell me which you prefer of the next picture (black and white or colour) in the comments section below, it would be good to hear some opinions.

We have had a great Christmas and New Year together - next stop Easter and Uncle Paul's Wedding. Here's to a non-stop, full on, action 2015!

"If you look closely you can see my wee teeth"

Christmas 2014 - part 2

Well, where do I start? Probably best to begin with the photographic evidence of Santa's visit this year - just as well we have a large chimney with no fire.

Santa arrived on Christmas eve in fine form and even hung about for a gluten free beer or two.

Sophie has been doing really well recently with her solids and she is also now drinking milk from a sippy cup which is great news and allows us to start to reduce the other feeds. She's standing up and holding a lot of her own weight on her own two feet and she has started to get frustrated as she wants to crawl but is going through the travelling backward stage. She's making amazing progress.

She woke up at 6.30am on Christmas morning and I have to say that I thought to myself - "this is probably the latest she will sleep in on Christmas morning for the next 5 years."

When she came down to the living room she was her usual happy self but once she worked out what was going on she had extra big smiles. She especially enjoyed the noise of the paper and all the different colours and shapes. Exciting times.

"I thought Santa used Reindeers?" 

"This looks like it's going to be a lot of fun."

"I'm ready for more presents"

"Dad - can't you see I am busy?"

"Ok - just one more photo for now."

Sophie was a very lucky girl and got so many great presents - thanks to everyone for their gifts, it is very much appreciated.

After the presents Sophie got dressed for her big first Christmas at Gran and Grandad's house. Gran and Grandad had put a lot of effort into making everything great for the day itself - it was just a shame that Gran wasn't feeling her best but everyone had a great time.

"Aunt Joyce won't let me steal
her glasses or necklace!"

Skyping Paul and Nicole

Big girl at Christmas dinner

"More presents? This is great!"

Sophie tucked into her own food but also managed to get a taste of many things on the dinner table - there is a video of her first taste of lemon that she won't thank me for sharing with you but I will have to as it is just too funny - and when I edit it down from 2 minutes to just the required 20 seconds it shall appear her.

I forgot to mention that Uncle David paid a visit before he jetted off to work - it was nice of him to pop in and see Sophie - hopefully she'll see him again soon.

So that's really it folks, Christmas is over and done with and Sophie had a great time, as did we. Another year is almost over and it is always a good time to stop and reflect and think about what as happened over the previous 12 months.

This time last year I was painting our flat ready to get it rented out again, Katie was 3 months pregnant, we'd bought this house (in January) and we'd started to rip it to bits before we moved in on the first week of February.

We learned lots about Japanese knotweed, plastering walls, painting and decorating and I visited the council tip on a regular basis.

Sophie was born of course on the 3rd of June and since then life has never been dull - tiring yes, difficult yes, but never dull.

Things have changed forever and we couldn't be happier - what a year and what a lucky wee family we are. Thanks to everyone for being part of our year and our lives.

We are getting lots of good feedback on the blog and fully intend to keep it going - it is a great record of what we are up to and we are so happy people are enjoying dropping in now and again to see what's happening. Thanks for reading!

Happy New Year to you all ;o)

"See you in 2015 - x"

Grandad brought Santa to visit

Grandad and Gran came over tonight with a big cuddly Santa for Sophie. It was a great surprise and Sophie was very taken.

I think we need another holiday already......

The October week, the bridge holiday between Summer and Christmas - a time to unwind and relax and prepare yourself for the cold, dark winter ahead.

"Holidays - awesome."

So did we hang around and do nothing? No, that's not how we do things around here. We've been mega busy as usual - tidying up the garden, putting photos on the wall, finishing the nursery, selling stuff online, had the electrician round, it's been hectic - but we also made it down to see Gran and Alisdhair before they move from their wee house on the farm down the big town. (Which is an exciting adventure for them both).

Sophie had her first bath in a real bath instead of her little baby tub at home - it has to be said that it's a lot more difficult to hold onto a wriggling baby in a real bath. Although it also has to be said that Dad was holding onto a glass of wine and the camera so had to be told that it was difficult to hold onto a wriggling Sophie ;o)

A trip into town for us all took us to Great Auntie Isobel's where we were fortunate enough to be able to catch up with Emma and Alan as well. Sophie was loving all the attention - even from Daisy the dog.

We took a trip out to the venue for our Wedding to take Sophie to see it - and had a wee lunch whilst we were there. Was really weird to be back 15 months after our wedding with Sophie in tow. The weather wasn't as good as it was on our Wedding day but it was nice to be back.

"what's all the fuss about Mum?"

Evenings were all about being well fed, drinking a glass of wine, sitting in front of the fire and speaking to Gran and Alisdhair along with the cats (gin and tonic) and Lucy the dog.

"Cuddles for Lucy"

A trip to Carradale on the way home took us to see Great Auntie Margaret where Sophie managed to get another sneaky wee cuddle.

Sophie didn't sleep too well when we were away (as she was nearly bursting out of her carry cot) which led to us all being tired so when we got home we decided the time had come for Sophie to move through to her own room. She loves it!

"Is this a King Size?"

On Saturday we visited Sophie's other Gran and Grandad - we had a really big lunch and  some playtime on the floor.

Finally, apart from going some walks and doing some more tidying in the house (including fixing the washing machine again) we were able to sell a chair that was left in the house by the previous occupants. It was an electric riser/recliner and they cost a fortune brand new so we put it online and managed to sell it. The money raised will be put to good use and will hopefully help us get the hallway plastered.

All in all a rather busy week - Just the way we like it. ;o)

Baby Boom!

Katie and Sophie this week continued to meet up with the rapidly increasing number of new Mums and wee babies around this area. I'm sure this might be some peoples idea of absolute hell but a room full of babies seems to be fun for Sophie and the Mummy company is fun for Katie as well.

We had a package delivered from Amazon this week - it was a case for my new phone and a box of nappies - but it came in a huge box which I left in the dining room until I got round to putting it in the recycling.

Unfortunately Sophie got her hands on it first and thought she would surprise her Mum. Great fun.

We're continuing to get into some sort of firmer routine now and Saturday mornings are all about Dad and Sophie getting some time together and letting Mum catch up on some sleep. 

This week instead of drinking pots of coffee and watching really awful Saturday morning television together, Sophie and I decided to pay Gran and Grandad a surprise visit. We even managed to catch up with Great Aunt Jean and Auntie Karen who's been really busy travelling around starring in her play. 

We drank pots of coffee but there was no TV and I had some gluten free square sausages which were a treat.

What a great morning - and then when we went home and got Mum. We went for a walk then headed off to the swimming. 

Sophie was in bed tonight by 6.30pm - a bit of a record, busy days seem to have some real benefits.