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New year, new you

Dear Lana, I only have to look at you to feel like I’ve accomplished very little in a year. In under a year, you have learnt to walk faster, a lot faster (and that says a lot coming from a family of mostly fast walkers). You’re talking and you’re not stopping. Your favourite phrase right now is “I don’t like it”, where “it” can be anything; a verb, a noun, an adjective , anything. E.g. “I don’t…

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So here’s the thing about sleeping like a baby...

So here’s the thing about sleeping like a baby…

It’s 5am. Probably not the best idea to be writing anything but I am about as alert at 5am as I am at 2am , or 2pm, it’s all the same. It has been two years and this child (because she is a child now, not a baby) , still wakes every 2-3 hours each night. I try to talk about this as little as possible with other people because the solutions they offer are something I don’t want to try ; I don’t…

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I’m sorry the old Lana can’t come to the phone right now ..

I’m sorry the old Lana can’t come to the phone right now ..

This is a line from a horrendously catchy song Lana . Maybe your generation will still listen to Taylor Swift, maybe (hopefully) not. The line made me think of you because it doesn’t take much for me to think of you , but also because I have no idea who you are right now. A few weeks ago we had it all figured out. We knew what made you happy, sad, etc. Not anymore. Here are some examples of your…

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Lana at 17 months . Me at 31 years .

Lana,  tomorrow I turn 31. Unlike yourself at the moment, I unfortunately do not count my age in months . This is my actual yearly age you see ( I know I know , hard to believe).  So here are some things that have happened to you and to me: – You are really getting the hang of talking. You can count to 10. You can sing the alphabet . And you can sing happy birthday (“happy .. to you “) . You have…

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Lana at 13 months 

Lana,   I now understand why parents count a babies age in months for so long. You at 12 months seems a world away from you at 13 months. I swore I’d never be the parent that counts in months after you turned one , but here I am. I also swore I wouldn’t put too many photos of you on Instagram, and we all know how that turned out.  As it goes, your 13th month was the one where you started…

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You at 11 months

You at 11 months

Lana, you’re 11 months now; sound asleep while I sit here typing this and also browse the internet looking for ideas for your first birthday party (these ideas are largely for us because you will remember none of it ).  A year is short. Too short when you develop this fast. I know every baby is generally the same in their quickness but I swear you’re growing faster than most . Yesterday for…

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Phenomenal cosmic power, itty-bitty living space

Phenomenal cosmic power, itty-bitty living space

Lana; that’s a line from the cartoon ‘Aladdin’. Hopefully we can watch it together some day. Robin Williams is the voice of the Genie , but he’s dead now (in real life – sorry, but there’s Youtube). The reason for this little quote though is that right now, this is what you remind me of. You are thinking so much, feeling so much, planning so much, but have very little ability to do it. You are…

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You at 9 months

You at 9 months

Lana, I’m writing these letters to you in the hope that one day (maybe when you’ve done something really bad), I can whip them out as blackmail, a little guilt trip back in time, like any good mother would do. But also, and mainly, because I never want to forget this. This is my first letter. As I type this, you are at Daffodils Nursery. A cute little name for a place we dreaded these last few…

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Sleep fairy

Hello everybody, Of the plethora of things no-one prepares you for with a baby, sleep (or lack of it ) isn’t it . Errrrbody has a word of advice about sleep, or an opinion at the very least.  Sleep when baby sleeps . Careful, don’t fall asleep when baby sleeps .  Sleep with baby close to you in the first 6 months . Don’t sleep with baby in your bed. Make sure you feed the baby when she wakes up.…

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Change of topic 

Hello everybody ,  Not much reviewing going on here is there ? I think it’s time to make this blog a little more current and relevant , so I will be giving it a new name , new look and new topic ! (Note* – topic is highly likely to be baby related . Does the world need another parent blogging about their child ? Probably not . But you have a baby and then try not to talk about it )  Brainstorming…

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Kitty Emergency

Hello everybody, It’s been an eventful week in our household. We had our first week of real sunny weather and the baby had her first taste of no trousers. (She still had a nappy on – I’m not a monster ) We went to a baby swimming class Our cat Batman almost died That last one is no exaggeration. After approximately 9 weeks of being around a new baby, we thought he was coping relatively well; he…

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Life with a little person

Life with a little person

Hello everybody, To those just tuning in, it has now been 7 weeks since the arrival of our baby. I have some spare moments to tell you how it has been (*update – it has taken me three weeks to complete this post. I keep revisiting this line ). In a nutshell, baby spends most of her time living as I remember doing when I was a teenager: She eats all the time and only eats one thing. She naps…

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The past 9 months

The past 9 months

Hello everybody, This will be a true test of the WordPress “Schedule post” function. You won’t find out until later, but by the time you do I will have had a baby. Yes, a real life miniature human will be added to our story. Several things are going through my mind as I’m writing this, namely; Will we like each other? – I’ve had the opportunity over these months to speak to many mothers,…

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The past 9 months

The past 9 months

Hello everybody, It’s been a while but, we’ve been busy. In fact, you could say this post has been 9 months in the making. Can you see where I’m going with this? Yes , the past year has been a roller-coaster ride of working, travelling, living life and mostly being very very pregnant. I often thought of writing about the experience but in all honesty I would not be writing anything new that you…

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A little bit of Belgrade

A little bit of Belgrade

Hello people, We hopped on a plane to Belgrade last week to see my mom for her birthday. An all too short trip but one of the places we went to was Lorenzo and Kakalamba; a great little quirky restaurant which also does very tasty food. Without photos to help, it’s a little hard to describe the decor. In a few short hours, I saw a stuffed polar bear (not real – relax animal lovers), santa, a…

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Lazy cooking

Hello everybody, I’d like to say that I enjoy cooking. But the truth is I do it because if I don’t eat , I will die. So I cook, begrudgingly. I have tried all manner of short-cuts to feed myself (whilst keeping it relatively healthy). I have tried Jamie Olivers’ 20 minute meals (1 hour in reality – remember, you have to chop things and peel things and follow instructions) . I have even tried…

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From Russia, with love

From Russia, with love

Hello people, Hard to believe we’re getting closer to Christmas and the end of another year. To make the most of the remaining good weather, we’ve tried to cram in as many activities over the weekend, from walks in parks and meetings with friends, to the more mundane (and expensive) items like cleaning out the leaves from our gutters and servicing our car. This past Sunday, we went to the Moscow…