Rainy season

After another pretty good night's sleep, except for some coughing from Tom, we awoke to thick clouds, rain and almost no visibility from our 21st floor "superior" room. I also noticed a distinct chill in the air when I nipped out to get breakfast, but I suppose it is only February.

Rather than our little corridor bit, we're actually having to hide in the bathroom this morning as Tom has discovered that he can see us in the mirror if he stands up in his cot. Anyone who's stayed in a Japanese hotel will know that 2 people in the bathroom simultaneously is a cosy affair. It might even be easier for one of us to actually have a bath.

Forgot to mention it yesterday, but Nik was particularly delighted with yesterday's dinner, namely nabeyaki udon, a big pot of noodle stew with every type of ingredient imaginable floating round in it. I have a feeling we'll be looking for it again.

This morning we're off to Roppongi to meet Kuroda San, a customer of mine who runs a little shop selling expensive British gardening accessories & apparel. He and his wife are taking us out for lunch, so we need His Nibs to be on his best behaviour.

Well, we're back from lunch and Tom was impeccably behaved, sitting in a high chair for over an hour as we ate our way through 6 courses at a wonderful restaurant just round the corner from the Kurodas' shop. That was Tom's first ever business lunch, and I'd have to give him a perfect 10 really. He was starting to look a bit sleepy though, so we made our excuses and came back to Ikebukuro, just managing to keep Tom awake until we got back to the room. He then apparently took half an hour to drop off in his cot, but by then I'd gone out on a shopping trip to a local electrical hypermarket; a truly extraordinary place that makes anything in the West look dreadfully small and shoddy. I could have spent all day (and my entire bank balance) in there, but was very restrained and only bought a clever screen protector for my iPhone and some hiragana and katakana wallcharts for Tom, as I think I'll teach him a bit of Japanese when he's ready. I came out of the store to a uniquely Japanese sight: about 2 million people between me and the subway entrance I needed to go down. I somehow managed and came back to the room about 10 mins before matey woke up. He probably needs a bit of crawling time now as it may be a slightly late night again as we're meeting up with a British friend of mine at 7:00.



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Location:Tokyo

Another good night

So, a good night's sleep for Tom & me, but not for Nik, who lay awake worrying about Tom's cough. I don't think it's too bad though. We had our usual morning play on the bed before I nipped down to the local konbini (convenience store) to pick up breakfast and an umbrella. The weather forecast doesn't look too good today, which is unfortunate as we do need to walk a bit. As I write this, we're hiding in the bathroom in silence in the hope that Tom drops off for his morning nap in his cot.

Well, we're now sitting in a restaurant at Yokohama station and Tom is wolfing down yet another Japanese meal. He loves the food here. Has he got worms? His first ever business meeting was an unqualified success; charmed everyone in the company. They'll certainly remember him and, therefore, me for a good while, which can only be good for business. Just as well, as they're one of my favourite clients.

We're now back in our hotel room, Tom having done his best to charm my client in Yokohama. Not quite as successful as this morning as we arrived just as he was due his afternoon nap. He played with a plastic cup for a bit, shouted for a few minutes and then fell dead asleep in Nik's arms. Somehow we managed to strap him into his rucksack and walk about 15 minutes back to Kannai station before he woke up. We caught an express train back to Ikebukuro and Nik and I are currently cowering in the doorway of our room in the dark in the (probably misguided) hope he'll go down for another quick nap before dinner.

Still, he's been an absolute star today. Both meetings went very well, better than if I'd gone to meet them on my own. He certainly knows how to turn on the charm.

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Location:Ikebukuro, Tokyo

Tokyo Tom

I'm writing this on my iPhone on the 21st floor of our hotel in Ikebukuro. After a brief argument at reception, the hotel have provided Tom with a huge cot, in which we hope he will sleep as well as he did last night. His schedule is all to pot though, as we'll have to take him out to dinner with us. Still, he's perhaps more flexible than we give him credit for.

The journey up went quite well considering he was cooped up on the bullet train for 3 hours. The old lady sitting next to us took a real shine to Tom (surprise surprise), who let her hold him on her knee for a good 5 minutes. We endured a rather cramped 30 minutes on the Yamanote line in Tokyo, but the hotel is right next to the station and seems to be in an excellent area for eating and shopping. Off to charm my clients with the lad tomorrow...


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He slept!

Wahay! A good night's sleep for all of us. Tom stirred twice but quickly got back to sleep both times. That's a huge relief, and means I might now be able to visit my clients on Friday and Saturday as a functioning human being rather than a dribbling zombie.

Not sure how much blogging we'll be able to do for the next few days. We've been using Hiromi's PC for the past few days. I'm sure we'll manage to do a bit though.

Another castle conquered

Another bad night sleep-wise. Tom was awake before 10.00pm and would not go back down. He screamed as if in agony for a while, so we put him between us on the futons. He stopped screaming, but never really got back to sleep all night, just tossed and turned for hours on end. Jet lag? Hard to say. In any case, he was looking very bright and cheerful at 7:30, and crawled all over the flat laughing and grinning.

We decided to venture further afield today, so Tom had his morning nap on the move, firstly on a packed bus, then on a very noisy platform at Kobe's bullet train station, and then on the bullet train itself, only waking when we got off at Kyoto. I don't know how he didn't wake up before then. We took another "shinkansen" and then a local train to get to Hikone, a famous old town with a nice castle. We bought supplies for a picnic at the local supermarket and lugged them up a steep hill to a grassy bit just below the castle keep. It was another amazingly warm day today; I still can't believe we sat outside and had a picnic and cold beer (see photo) in t-shirts in February. Tom also ate and behaved very well. He seems to like the local food, especially Japanese bread.

After lunch, we climbed right to the top of the keep for an excellent view over the town and nearby Lake Biwa, although it was rather incongruous to see snow-covered mountains close by on such a warm day. Nik carried Tom up some of the steepest stairs I've ever seen (more like ladders) but somehow managed to avoid plunging to a messy death.

We strolled back into town, pausing to spend nearly 1000 yen at a very well-stocked 100 yen store, and then headed back to Kobe, hoping Tom would fall asleep on the bullet train again. He didn't, but did manage to charm an inordinate number of people again. I think he enjoys the attention. He ate a good dinner, cried a lot at bath time (over-tired) and then retired to his tent. We will see what the night brings.... Off to Tokyo tomorrow.

Busy day - Japanese soft play centres are fab.

So last night was slightly better. Tom waited until midnight to wake up and was screaming for about an hour before he fell asleep again. It was a shame as I could hear that he was awake before he started to scream, and could hear him trying to get to sleep again, but something was keeping him awake. In the end he ended up in bed with me with my arm around him to get him to sleep. Matt didn't do too well either, I'm still snoring and that keeps him awake. Not sure what we can do about that - it is impossible to stop myself from snoring.

Today we decided to keep to Tom's normal schedule as much as possible. So we were up at 7am, breakfast at 8 (a whole banana, a adult sized yogurt and most of a slice of toast - greedy thing), nap at 9.30, wake at 10.30 then we left the house. Today's destination was Bornelund in Kobe - a soft play area for children. It w as fantastic, puts the English ones to shame. It had an area especially for babies, a mirror room, a shadow room, dressing up area, pretend house area, the biggest pool pit I've ever seen and a big slide and large foamy play bits, much like you get at Gymbabes. There were also two huge inflatable doughnut things. It was fantastically clean and very empty.

Tom had a fantastic time, he loved the baby area, with all the musical instruments, especially getting them all out and then crawling off for me to put back again. He also loved a big peg board with lots of different coloured pegs which he could pull out. Was fantastic standing practice for him. He did lots of crawling, through tunnels, over wedges, in the blown up doughnuts etc. Certainly ex

pended lots of energy. We left for lunch(Tom's first experience of Japanese baby food which went down well - he ate the whole lot. Interesting the portion size of baby food for a 9 month old Japanese baby is smaller than at home) He also enjoyed my lunch, eating most of my roll (He just loves Japanese bread) and quite a bit of a pumpkin salad that was on my plate.

We returned to Bornelund after lunch for more antics, including spending a lot of time in the girls house playing with dolls and trying to get a new mum through charm - he almost succeeded! He certainly isn't shy in going up to mums and babies to play. The other babies tend to just watch him in bewilderment! We left at 2pm as he was getting tired. We managed to keep him awake for the journey home and put him to bed as soon as we got in. Matt also went for a lie down, so I spent an hour and a half on my own (not done that in a long time). Managed to read a good bit of a magazine which was lovely.

Once Matt was awake I ventured down to the local shop to buy some milk. I took an educated guess as there was no English at all on any of the cartons that looked like they could contain milk. Brought it back to find that my instincts were right - phew. Tom had a happy late afternoon, playing, being hugged by Hiromi (at last he allowed her to do so) and eating - another Japanese meal - tofu burger in sauce with some veg which went down without any coercion. Then it was bath, bottle and bed. Haven't heard from him yet...

Tom visits Dad's old haunts

Quite a nice day, considering we were all horribly sleep-derived. We got Tom up at 7.00 and he had a good crawl round Hiromi's flat before breakfast, which he ate quite well, including most of his Mum's slice of toast. He seems to like Japanese bread. He had about an hour's nap after breakfast (very important) before we headed off down the hill to Rokkomichi on foot, which was a nice walk on such a pleasant morning. A 10 minute train journey got us to Kobe station, whereupon we headed to Harborland for a spot of shopping at Aka-chan Honpo (Baby HQ). We ended up getting some Japanese food and a Hanshin Tigers shirt for Tom, which he will look very smart in.

We had lunch at a tonkatsu restaurant (very nice) and Tom was given (and drank) his first cup of tea. He seemed to really like, much to Nik's surprise/dismay. We had a wander round the boutiques in Mosaic and came across a shop selling masses of Studio Ghibli merchandise, including some huge Totoros for almost 400 quid! If the exchange rate wasn't so awful, I'm sure we wouldn't have come out of there empty-handed.

Tom had about half an hour's sleep as we walked back to the station, and we then caught the train back to meet Hiromi, who introduced us to a friend who has a daughter, Sumireko, almost the same age as Tom. He felt immediately at home and grabbed all, and I mean all, of Sumireko's toys and proceeded to have a fantastic time, while she sat somewhat bewildered on her Mum's knee. We made our excuses and left to come home for Tom's tea. Hiromi prepared him his first tofu, which he did eat, but only after Nik hid it under a veneer of pureed veg. I reckon he'll eat it OK in the future though.

I needed less persuasion to eat my dinner, prawns in chilli sauce with miso soup and rice. Delicious. Here's hoping for a better sleep than last night.

Tom hits Japan

Well, we're finally here. The journey went fairly well considering. The flight from Birmingham to Amsterdam was fairly empty, and Tom laughed his way through it, charming a large group of lads on a stag weekend in the process. We had a couple of hours to kill at Schiphol, but managed to stumble across a baby lounge, complete with very comfy-looking cots, soothing music and night lights. A great find and Tom had a really good kip for an hour. We were hoping the Osaka flight would be similarly empty, but no such luck. Completely full. We did manage to get bulkhead seats, however, and Tom just fitted in the bassinet that KLM provided. He refused to sleep until the cabin lights went off though; just too many things going on for a nosey boy to relax. He got about 4 hours sleep in the end, which was about 4 hours more than Nik & I managed, thanks to Takumi, the 10-month old boy sitting next to us, who held out for over 8 hours (of the 10.5 hour flight) before shutting up and nodding off. Still, all in all, it was a good flight and the KLM cabin crew were excellent as usual.

Tom did us a favour at customs, though. The official was about to ask us to open up our bags for an inspection, but then noticed Tom gurning at him from the rucksack and waved us through. We then took the airport express up to Shin-Osaka (with a very odd Norwegian man), the local train to Rokkomichi and finally the bus up the hill to Hiromi's flat, arriving at about 4.00pm.

Hiromi prepared us a wonderful meal of pork shabu-shabu and a range of side dishes, which hit the spot in a huge way. Exactly what we needed after so much in-flight food. Nik & I were really flagging by this point, and were in bed by 8:45. As is often the way, though, I was wide awake again at 10:25pm, shortly followed by Tom, who screamed the place down until 1.00am, until a combination of hugs & drugs finally sent him off. A bad night though. We didn't get much shut-eye at all.

Crocodile Food

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So the night went well considering it was Tom's first in his tent. He woke at 3.30 just needed settling and again at 6.30. I had a terrible night, woke at 3am and didn't manage to get back asleep again until 5.30. Not sure why I couldn't sleep, didn't have anything on my mind. I tried dozing, reading, listening to comedy etc but I just couldn't get off again. Poo!

I put Tom down in his cot for his morning nap, didn't want to upset him before it as it is his shortest nap of the day. I spent the time finishing off my flowers for night school, they are all done now. Not sure if they are right, but I guess I'll find out when I go back after Japan.

Once awake we went out to run a couple of errands: return some library books, buy a new pair of jeans (mine are just about to fall apart, not what you need when we are about to go away), post some Cappuccino paperwork to the new owners etc etc. We decided we would pop into Wyevale for lunch. The restaurant has been relaunched, but they have put the prices up big time - over £6 for a baguette, so we walked out in a huff and went to the bakers on the parade and got a hot pork roll and a cheese salad roll for £4.50 and took them home to eat.

Tom did much better at lunch time today, I had cooked some butternut squash and carrots yesterday and pureed them to a fine pulp with some orange juice. He took mouthful after mouthful, so it's not that he isn't hungry, it's that he doesn't like textures or lumps. He did spit some out, but I scooped it up re-offered it to him and he took it second time round. Anyway I was happy with what he ate - the most in ages.

We had a little play before afternoon nap. We spent his nap time wisely, packed for ourselves, had a little rest and then cleaned the kitchen. I cooked up the remaining veggies in the fridge for Tom and once again pureed them finely. I put him down in his tent for his afternoon nap - I took a photo this time so you can see what I'm talking about. He was quite happily asleep in it.

The afternoon was pretty much run of the mill, we had play time which included being eaten by a crocodile, and trundling up and down on his trolley and on his car. He had another good meal for dinner, ate most of the veggie puree I made this afternoon with the remainder of the butternut squash as well as some rice cake and pudding so I'm very happy.

He had a good bath, bottle and then back to his tent for bed.

Oh as you know, we are off to Japan tomorrow. I will blog if I can find a computer and time...

I can sleep in a tent

Not much to talk about today. Tom had an ok night, I think he woke at 6 and I settled him (can't quite remember) obviously it wasn't a bad night.

After his morning nap, Matt took Tom to Asda to buy some bits for dinner whilst I started packing for Tom for Japan. It seems that we need to take more as carry on luggage than in the suitcase for him!! Can't pack 10 mins prior to departure anymore - that's for sure.

I put Tom down in his tent for his afternoon nap. He didn't like me for it and protested for 30 minutes, but eventually went to sleep and slept well.

During his nap I made Tom a vat of butternut squash risotto - very tasty it was too. When Tom came to have dinner he refused it point blank. In fact he has been really naughty about food today, he would only eat completely smooth things. I had to resort to Ella again - he managed the fish pie which surprised me, but refused anything slightly lumpy. I tried him with sandwiches, rice cakes, fruit, but everything got spitted out. Oh hum, I guess it is a phase. Needless to say I have packed lots of Ella to go to Japan with us - if he gives up eating that then we're in trouble.

That's pretty much it for today, he was a happy soul and quite active (not sure where he gets his energy from). Had a good bath and then I gave him his bottle before putting him down to sleep in the tent again. This time I only had about 2 minutes of refusal before he curled up and went to sleep. I even managed to zip the tent closed without too much protestation. We've heard from him once tonight, but he got himself back off without any intervention. It's looking like he has accepted the tent which is very good news - will make staying at people's homes much easier and more relaxing.

Sick day

It's been a strange old day today. Had an ok night last night. We decided to sleep in different rooms as we need to bank good sleep now in time for the flight and jet lag. Tom woke at 5am, but got himself off without any intervention and was asleep when I went in to get him at 7am which was good.

He had a very small breakfast (what's new) and then when I put him back in his cot for his morning nap he went mental (first time in months). He cried and cried and I have no idea why. After about half an hour he finally fell asleep, but he was awake again 30 mins later and he woke in a bad mood. He was grumpy then for the rest of the morning.

Took him to baby clinic to get weighed, first time with his clothes on today. He weighed 21lb which is an increase of 1lb, but they say to allow 1lb for clothes and nappy, so really he hasn't put on any weight, but at least he hasn't lost any.

Came home, fed Tom some lunch. As has become normal now he would take a mouthful or two and then start spitting everything out. I have discovered that to ignore this behaviour and just scoop it up and offer it again seems to work, and he seems to take it again, but it takes for ever to feed him as he keeps spitting it out all the time. He then had play time (during which he was sick - oh joy) before going down for his afternoon nap.

During nap time I joined Matt in the office as he has had a reorganisation and wanted me to go through some bits. We managed to throw away quite a bit which was good and we didn't hear a peep out of Tom for two hours (thought I would let him have a longer nap as he had such a bad morning nap). When I went up to get him, he was happily sitting in his cot playing with his toys. He was in a much nicer mood which was good.

I took him quickly to Asda to pick up some bits for Japan (mainly food for Tom - want to take some emergency provisions just in case he gets difficult) . Came home. Tried Tom on some different food for dinner. I saw Rachel feed Mae some adult rice cakes with Philadelphia the other day and thought that might be a good idea for Tom - finger food and something I know he likes (the rice cake anyway). It was a disaster, he just threw the rice cakes on the floor - of course they landed cheese side down on my nice clean floor. Jodie thought it was a great game and ate up everything. I then tried some toast - nope, all that landed on the floor as well. In the end he had some puree and that was it! 10 minutes later he was sick again! Not a good day for food.

He seemed to be in good spirits though and had a good play before bath with his Dad (went well) and bottle (went well) and bed. My new trick this week has been to put a spare dummy in his cot at night time, so if he wakes up and can't find the one he went to sleep with he has a spare. Today when I put him down I showed him where the spare dummy was. Didn't quite work, he kept rolling over to grab it and then sat up and gave it back to me! In the end I put it at the bottom of his cot where he couldn't see it and left him to it.

Have heard the odd noise from him this evening, but nothing too bad.

Poo

Didn't have a great night. Once again, it wasn't Tom's fault but ours - we seem to have lost the knack of sleeping - a sign I guess that we have caught up on our sleep and aren't lying in a semi coma every night.

According to Matt, Tom did wake up for a minute in the night, but I didn't hear him so it couldn't have been too bad.

Didn't do anything too exciting today. Lucy was round so we made ourselves scarce. I decided to go to Newport as we were on the hunt for an organic tea for Hiromi. We found it. Tom laid on his usual charm to the grannies in town. I think about 5 came up to say hello to him, he must have been looking particularly cute. We had lunch in Waitrose and then got some bits in for dinner (guess what - I found a cheap duck)

Tom fell asleep in the car on the way home, so I put him in his cot and spent his nap time catching up on flower making for college. We then spent the afternoon playing before dinner (not a great success), bath (happy bath time and change time - which is good, he's been a bit grumpy recently), bottle (took almost a whole bottle) and bed (haven't heard from him since he went to sleep).

One thing of note, and don't read this if you are eating, is that his poo changed remarkably today. It is normally brown, but today it was a creamy colour - can that be right? It is also extra stinky, but texture is the same. Will keep an eye on it (yes I am still obsessed by his poo)

Thanks Amanda

An ok night. I was snoring again, so Matt ended up going downstairs (not sure what this means for Japan - how can I stop myself snoring?) Tom woke at 3 again, but just needed plugging. I think he also woke at 5am laughing, or was it a dream, I'm not sure?!

He had his breakfast (don't even try weetabix these days) and then a play before his morning nap. He saw Matt go upstairs this morning and tried to follow him. He managed to go up 3 steps without any help. He then descended one step before falling over backwards (it's ok I was there to catch him) I guess this means we need to buy 2 more stair gates...

11.45 saw us in the car to Shrewsbury to the Two Henrys pub which has a soft play area to meet up with the girls for lunch. We had a lovely time, the babies played nicely, we caught up on gossip and we had a good lunch. Amanda (as always) has come up trumps for our trip to Japan. She bought us a travel seat (for places where there are no high chairs), a sun tent (which can double as a travel cot and is small enough to put in luggage) and some fleece lined booties. Isn't she a star, I'm now feeling much much better about sleeping arrangements - if we know Tom can't move when we are staying at friends we will be able to relax much easier.

Before we knew it, it was 3pm and the babies were getting tired, so we all left to take tired babies back to their homes and their cots.

Had an uneventful afternoon. Tom slept until 4.30, when I woke him up. He woke up in a grizzly mood and spent most of it crying. He did have a good dinner though. He ate a full tub of pasta from the freezer and 3/4 of a nectarine. In fact apart from breakfast he has had a bottomless pit for a stomach.

He cheered up when we played racing on his new cart. Then a good happy bath and bottle and bed.

Granma and Pop Pop go home

We didn't have a good night last night. But it wasn't really Tom's fault. I was snoring as soon as I fell asleep. Matt kept waking me up to tell me. He couldn't sleep through my snoring. We ended up having a tiff as I didn't enjoy being woken up. In the end I resolved to stay awake until Matt was asleep, but then I couldn't sleep. Tom woke up crying at 3am and I was happy to get out of bed to see to him. Matt and I made up, but it was too late, neither of us could sleep. Matt ended up going downstairs and I finally got to sleep, but then Tom woke me up at 5am and 6am.

Mum and Dad didn't have a good night either. Both of them managed to develop a cold overnight and weren't feeling well. They decided that they wanted their own bed and home and left in the morning after Tom's nap.

We decided to have a good walk as it was a nice day, so headed off to Telford Town Park and parked in the free car park. We walked into the town centre - went to Asda to pick up bits and had lunch then we did part of the South Telford Heritage Trail. Found some really nice bits of Telford. Cottages set in the park, horses passing by, felt like we were in the countryside and not a town. Tom still isn't himself. We think he is teething and in pain. He fell asleep in the rucksack at 1pm which is really early for him. He looked very peaceful.

We came home after the walk. Matt washed the car (he is going to become a weekend washer) me and Tom played inside. He's got so many new toys now it is fun playing with him. He had a good session racing up and down the hall way sat on his walker.

He stayed reasonably happy for the rest of the day. Oh, forgot to mention he ate a really good lunch and dinner which was good. He also managed a good bath, but cried when he came out. We didn't hear from him for the night.

Tom's birthday gathering

Tom woke up screaming at 5am, I settled him, but he was crying again 15 minutes later. It was a 'there is something wrong with me' cry, so I gave him a dose of Calprofen and cuddled him until he was snoozy and put him back in his cot. Didn't hear from him again until I went in to get him at 7am.

We had our usual play on the bed, then Matt fed him breakfast whilst I got food ready for the lunch buffet (I originally was going to stay at home to do the buffet whilst Matt went swimming with Tom and Mum & Dad, but he got ill yesterday at Jude's school where he was helping in a careers fayre after eating a curry). It didn't work, Tom just played at eating - everything came straight back out again. Tom knew he was being naughty as he was laughing as he did it. I had to take over in the end. We couldn't get any toast or weetabix down him, but I managed to get two pots of fruit in him, so had to be happy with that. Gave him a little time to play before putting him back in bed at 8.40

I took him swimming, didn't do too badly considering I haven't been in the pool with him for quite a while. He was a cheery chappy until we did the piggy back manoeuvre, this set him off and he didn't really cheer up for the rest of the lesson (lucky it was towards the end of the session)

Came back home to find Pat and Bob had arrived, so Tom started his charm offensive. It went quite well, but unfortunately after making sure that everyone would arrive by 12, so we could feed Tom in time, it all went wrong when the guys buying Matt's car arrived just on 12. By the time they had been sorted and presents opened, Tom was in a bad mood and wouldn't really eat anything (even though I had been plying him with crisps and biscuits to try to put him on). In the end I put him down for a sleep and we had our lunch. He got some great presents - a personalised Ajax soccer kit from Chananja, some mega bricks, loads of clothes and The Gruffalo from Mum and Dad, a walker and xylophone from Pat and Bob and a finger glove puppet and sleep suit from Jude and Richard. Tom did a really good job of ripping the paper off the presents.

Once up Tom played nicely for an hour or so, but then started to grizzle again. He's not 100% today, not sure what is up - cold / teeth / effects of yesterday's jab. He was trying so hard to be happy, but sometimes he just ended up grizzling. I took him back upstairs again and put him back in his cot. He went to sleep for quarter an hour and woke up a bit better. He came downstairs in time to say good bye to Pat, Bob, Jude and Richard. He then had his dinner - he ate everything I gave him, so must have been hungry. Was comforting to know that at last some food was going in. He then had a play during which he laughed and cried, a bath where he did the same and then bottle and bed.

He's been coughing since I put him down, but he hasn't cried yet... It was a very busy day for him, swimming and then interacting with lots of people, he must have wondered what was going on.

Day out with Granma and Pop Pop

I should really ask Mum and Dad to write today's entry as they took Tom out for the day, giving me time to decorate Tom's cake and try to catch up with flowers for college.

Mum and Dad tell me that Tom was very well behaved. They took him to Ironbridge for a walk in the pram. Ended up at The Meadow for lunch - he ate very well (typical he eats for them and not me!) charmed the waitresses and spent a good time crawling around and pulling himself up on the table.

Mum and Dad brought him back in time for his afternoon nap, then I think they napped themselves whilst I continued to make flowers.

4.20 saw me, Tom and Dad down at the doctors for Tom's booster jab. He cried and cried when the needle went in, but recovered quite quickly and by the time I got back to the waiting room he was looking as if nothing had happened, a couple of minutes later he was bouncing on my knees, so no ill effects.

He had an ok dinner, then bath (didn't go very well, lots of crying) I ended up getting in with him and singing to him (this worked as long as I didn't stop singing), then Matt came in and he cheered up enough to play happily. However, he cried as soon as he came out (you can never win). I tried to give him milk via a cup this evening before bed, but it didn't work, he tried to drink it, but only managed a little bit before crying and crying, so we transferred it into a bottle for him, which he then took well.

Weeee, I love the big slide

Tom woke up at 11pm and 6am, both times needing settling. Not too bad after such an eventful day.

Today we were meeting up with the girls from the NCT for Tom's birthday at Jungleland - very low key, not an 'official' birthday do, just a meet up.

Michelle and Seren were first to turn up, then it was another hour before the others arrived. Sam and Amanda made it which was great (just back from NZ). All babies and adults had a good play and all babies were very well behaved which was good. It makes such a difference now they are all mobile and more confident. It is lovely to see them with each other. At one stage Sam gave Tom a big hug, it could also have been interpreted as a wrestling hold, but I like to think it was a hug.

Time seemed to go by so quickly, so we decided to have lunch and then we all plucked up our courage and took our babies on the big slide. Was very exciting. For some reason I seemed to get stuck (not my hips this time, just too much friction compared to everyone else) so we were last to the bottom, but it was good fun. Apparently Mum could hear us from the other side of the venue.

After 4 hours, we decided to call it a day and return home. Tom went straight to sleep as did Mum and Dad. I went out got some bits for Tom's cake (still haven't made it yet). Went in to collect Tom after his nap, he was in a really good mood, very smiley and cheery. Had a lovely play time with Mum and Dad before dinner (ate up everything again). He then turned grizzly just before bath time and unfortunately had a bit of a unhappy bath before his bottle and bed.

Matt and I had the night off today, so left Mum and Dad to it (we had provided them with ingredients for an evening dinner - ready, steady cook style) and went for dinner in Ironbridge. Found a sofa in front of a log fire in one of the pubs, ordered 2 main courses and a bottle of wine for £20 and almost fell asleep in the warmth! Came home to find that Tom had gone to sleep without any trouble and they hadn't heard from him since.

Happy Birthday Tom!

Can you really believe Tom is 1 today? I can't! So much has happened in the last year, but it has flown past so quickly, even though 3.5 months are a sleep deprived haze (I'm sooooo glad that came to an end)

So, we have had a good day. Tom spent the morning playing with Granma and Pop Pop on their bed and then refused his breakfast as has become usual.

After his morning nap we went to get Tom weighed - he is back over 20lb again yahoo, only just, he is 20lb 1oz. Then off to Wellington for an early lunch at the pub prior to Gymbabes (doing a catch up session in advance of one of the ones we miss when in Japan). He was naughty for lunch, kept spitting it out. Managed to get some down him, but not a great lot!

Gymbabes was ace, he was a happy little fellow. Got through the songs at the beginning really well (normally he squirms and grizzles a little) and then crawled around like a looney exploring the equipment. He went through the tunnel about 5 times, up and down the small wedges as if it was no effort at all, and he even made it up the big wedge, clever boy. We all had a lovely time, me, Tom, Matt, Granma and Pop Pop, all of us were exhausted at the end. Tom fell asleep in the car home, Pop Pop fell asleep on the sofa and the rest of us put our feet up. (Matt now understands why we visit Costa on a Monday).

Once Tom was awake from his nap he came downstairs and opened some presents. (Big present opening day is Saturday when all grand parents are here). He did manage to pull the paper off some of the bits, but on the whole wasn't that fussed. He got some lovely stuff. A tool bench from Simon, Clare and Jake (which Matt and I enjoyed a lot), lots of puzzles from his Great Nanna, a blanket and knife and fork set from our neighbours and toys and clothes from various friends and relatives.

He was a cheery chappy, crawling all over the place. He crawled into the kitchen for dinner which he ate without a fuss (first time in ages) in fact I had to make him some toast as he was still hungry after he had eaten everything I had prepared for him.

Just as he was finishing dinner, Hannah and Becca from number 55 came round. So he got another couple of rounds of happy birthday. Mum made me buy some cup cakes as I hadn't made him a cake for today (still yet to make a cake Saturday) so we put a candle in turned the lights off and sang again. He didn't blow the candle out, but he had some of the cake which he smeared around his chops (third bit of chocolate cake in a week - hope he doesn't get used to it.)

He then had another little play, then bath, bottle (cows milk today for the first time - which he took really well) and bed. He was very tired when he went to bed - it had been a very busy day.

Today I don't have to express - YAHHOOOOOOO, it has got very very boring doing it. I have done it every day since he was 6 weeks old (except when I had my last fever when I just couldn't face it) It will be cows milk before bed from now on, although I will continue breast feeding first thing in the morning and in the afternoon. I wonder how much milk I've expressed in the last year - probably mind boggling amounts - one for Matt to work out I think.

What have I learnt this year?
+ Babies aren't scary, they are lovely, cuddly little souls
+ Never have principles about anything, they will find out and make your life so difficult you have to go back on them
+ I will never take a good night's sleep for granted ever again
+ I'm enjoying being a mum much much more than I ever dreamed I would.
+ Building a network of friends with babies the same age as you is the most important thing. I would have struggled big time without their support. Thank you everyone, I really am very lucky to have such great friends.
+ A thousand other things - how to change a nappy, how to make baby food, how to breastfeed, how to mop up sick, poo and snot the list will go on and on.

We are in the middle of a really happy time at the moment, we are all reasonably well, Tom is changing daily and we are enjoying watching and helping him learn new things. It will be interesting to see what next year brings...

The dentist is rubbish

Worst night in ages! Tom kept waking up, crying for 5 to 10 seconds and then going back to sleep again. In the end I went in to see him at 3.30. Settled him down and that was the last we heard of him (should have gone in earlier!)

Today was quite busy. 10.20 saw us down at the dentist. I was pretty unimpressed by them. The hygienist looked at me as if I had bought an alien with me (not my usual hygienist who told me to bring Tom with me). I took him in his rucksack so he could sit and watch. The hygienist asked for a receptionist to come up to look over him whilst she saw to me. He was very well behaved, not a murmur from him. She wasn't as jolly as my normal hygienist and didn't polish which was a shame, that's the best bit. Next stop was the dentist. He did his usual 5 second look at my teeth to tell me that everything was ok, but just in case he wanted to take an x-ray as it had been 5 years since the last one. Big mistake. I had to leave Tom with the dental nurse, within a minute I could hear him bawling - felt so sorry for the dental nurse. It wasn't her fault. Guess what the x-ray said - my teeth are fine - I could have told him that. Next it was Tom's go. The dentist asked me how many teeth he's got and then asked me to part his lips so he could see them. He didn't go anywhere near Tom and didn't get a good look at them. I asked him for tips on how to brush the teeth of a baby and was told he didn't have any! The only tip he could give me was to change to adult toothpaste as soon as he turns 3. He was a bit taken aback when he asked me how I feed him (bottle or cup) and I said breast. I think it was a waste of time taking him. We are both booked in again in 6 months time.

Next stop was shopping - went to Matalan to get Tom a balloon for tomorrow and buy some more cards for all the other babies who are turning one. We then had lunch in the Tesco cafe, before going to Asda and buying food in for the week. Got home at 2pm, put Tom down in his cot and quickly cleared the house just in time for Mum and Dad to arrive.

Mum and Dad arrived just as I finished clearing the house - phew! Had a cup of tea before Tom woke up, then it was playtime - yeah! Mum and Dad brought his Christmas pressie with them (couldn't fit it in the car when we came home). He looks quite pleased with himself on it don't you think and very stable?

I gave him dinner (he was naughty and kept spitting everything out). His Pop Pop then gave him a bath. He got very excited, lots of giggles and splashing took place. I then popped off to cake course leaving them with stew and cider.

Energetic Gymbabe

Another good night. Tom cried for about 5 seconds when I turned my light off last night and that was it until 6.30am, when I had to go in to settle him, which he did without complaint. He had his usual play on the bed, then the usual struggle to get him changed and dressed.

He had a good breakfast (ie ate half a Weetabix) and then had a play before bed and his morning nap. He didn't have a particularly good playtime - he would be happy for 10 minutes and then cry for no particular reason for the next 10 minutes before cheering up and repeating the cycle again. Not sure why he was crying unless it was his teeth giving him gip.

At 11.45 we set off to Bridgnorth to meet up with Rachel and Mae for lunch prior to Gymbabes. Tom was very well behaved, ate all his lunch and then had a good attempt at eating mine (ploughmans) before moving on to blackberries and blueberries for dessert (you can imagine what his face looked after all that!). He was full of giggles and claps and waves, when not nosing at other customers around him. At one stage he and Mae were waving at each other across the table, was very cute to watch.

2pm saw us at Gymbabes, Tom was in a very good mood and a very happy chappy. He enjoyed the songs and then went gallivanting around the equipment very well. He was all over the place, laughing and giggling away and he spent the whole time on his hands and knees, no belly flopping at all. He even managed to get over the medium sized wedge with no help at all, which was fantastic. At the end of the session, the group sang happy birthday to him and he was presented with a card.

Came home after a quick Costa. Tom was asleep in seconds. I put him in his cot on arrival home and he had another 3/4 hour. He didn't thank me for waking him up and grizzled most of the evening, but I expected that - he must have been extremely tired. He ate an ok dinner (only half of what I got out for him, but he was tired and had ate a lot during the day), then bath with me, bottle with dad and bed.

Must admit, I've been doing lots of reminiscing recently. This time last year, my waters broke, this time last year I ate a hot chilli, this time last year, I met up with the girls, this time last year I went into hospital etc etc. It is hard to believe it has been a year, it has gone so fast. Must say I've been enjoying Tom more and more recently, now I've caught up with some sleep and Tom is at a stage where every day I notice something in him has changed. It certainly is a very interesting time with him at the moment

Sorry, forgot to take a photo today.

Another tooth

Another very good night. Tom woke up crying when we went to bed. Matt was just about to go in to settle him when he stopped and that was it.

He woke up in a happy mood. It was just me and him playing on the bed this morning as Matt had gone downstairs in the middle of the night (me snoring again apparently) and overslept.

We didn't have much planned today, Matt is working (making up for taking the day off on Wednesday this week) so we tottered around. I made him some eggy bread this morning which was a failure - I think he had one piece, but today Weetabix was back in favour so the meal wasn't a disaster after all. Matt managed to get most of his work done by lunchtime so we decided to go to our favourite greasy spoon for lunch. Tom hoovered his lunch down in record time. It was a good job I took some alternatives with me as he ended up having two main meals as well as dessert. Good to know his appetite is back, lets hope he manages to eat his way back up to 20lb for his birthday.

Came home, put Tom down for his nap and I spent some time making some more Tom food (we are almost out) and then finishing off my homework for this week (roses). In the meantime Matt had a visitor to look at his Cappuccino. Apparently he was a bit of a nerd, but Matt reckons he might be in luck to sell it. We will see...

Not much to report for the rest of the day, I discovered another tooth (upper molar), so Tom now has 9 teeth that I know about. He had a good dinner and then a good chat with Grannie and Grandpa London on Skype. He then went for bath, bottle and bed. I put him to bed and was slightly worried when I put him down. As soon as I put him down, he sat up. I put him back on his back and he sat, then stood up. I put him back on his back again, turned my back and ran. We haven't heard from him since (it is now 9.30pm).

I can fall asleep in my rucksack

Another good night. Tom woke up at midnight, went in settled him and that was it until 7am. Today was a busy day. First thing it was waterbabies, so we were up early, changed and breakfasted in time for Tom to go down for his nap early enough to be refreshed for swimming. We did well, Tom had a lovely lesson, not a grizzle from him for the whole session. There was an incident though, a 'foreign object' was found in the pool. It was fished out with a net, it was brown. When I changed Tom at the end of the lesson, I found poo in his nappy. It wasn't the normal poo, but an assortment of undigested food, I've not seen anything like it before. I think that the foreign object probably belonged to him - opps.

After swimming we whizzed to Cannock Chase as it was the West Midlands Translators' Walk. Not a great day, foggy and cold, so we wrapped Tom up in his snow suit and put him in the rucksack. He was impeccably behaved. Full of smiles and laughter, he tolerated everyone coming up and rubbing him on his cheek and he even fell asleep for about 40 minutes which was fantastic as we aren't taking the pram to Japan and won't be in a position everyday where he can have an afternoon nap in a cot. The walk wasn't very difficult, but tiring - Matt and I took it in turns to carry Tom - our feet were aching by the end.

Came home, had dinner, bath, bottle and bed. Then left over curry from yesterday before putting up our weary feet. Think we will be in bed early today.

Chocolate cake is yummy

Another good night. Tom woke at 6am, got to the stage where I turned my light on and big toe cleared the duvet when he went quiet. Didn't hear from him again so I snuggled back down until 7am. Matt and I had chocolate cake for breakfast this morning as we were out of the more convential things and anyway it needed eating. Tom looked at me eating my cake with puppy dog eyes so I gave him a piece. He loved it, as the photo shows.

Today was Seren's birthday party (she turns one on Monday), so after his morning nap, we packed up the car and Matt drove me over (make sure the cake didn't spoil). Got to Michelle's in one piece - she liked cake (phew) and I decorated the cake she was using for today. The others arrived bit by bit. We had a good afternoon, was quite different as this was the first time all the babies have been together since they have all learnt to crawl. Most of the time the babies were well behaved and happy crawling around exploring and playing with all the different toys.

Got home around 4pm, Tom had a play and then dinner, bath and bed. Jude and Richard came round this evening for curry, so we had a lovely dinner. Went to bed after 10pm!!!!!

1st cake of the year

Another great night, didn't hear a peep from Tom for the whole night and had to wake him up when I went in at 7am.

Once again we didn't do too much today. I made a cake (In the Night Garden theme), I'm quite pleased with it (although didn't even try to start to make an Upsy Daisy as far too complicated). Seren is the first of the NCT babies to turn one (two days before Tom). So baked it during Tom's morning nap and decorated it during his afternoon nap.

This morning we were in Jungleland again - with the Breast Feeding group. Was quite quiet today, very few people turned up, meaning Tom and I could play. He was quite active, crawling into the under 5's play area, which meant that I felt fat (the play equipment isn't really designed for adults, meaning I get stuck on the slide (even the slim mums got stuck on the slide). As usual he loved the ball pool best which is fine by me.

That's about it for today. He had a grizzly afternoon, I think because we didn't go out again and he got bored. Put it this way, he got very excited every time Daddy came upstairs. I don't blame him, I would probably get bored of my company as well.

One thing to note, watching him at Jungleland and at home, I think he his now crawling on his knees about 50% of the time. He tends to end up back on his belly if he wants to get somewhere fast (which is silly because he is clearly quicker on his hands and knees) or if he thinks he is expending too much effort (silly again because it must be less effort on his hands and knees)

Weighing down again

Another good night. Didn't hear from Tom until 6am, then he just chatted and went back to sleep again. We didn't have anything planned today so had a quiet day. It was a really lovely day, he was in a good mood and I think I got his naps right so he stayed in a good mood for the whole day. So we had a day full of giggles and exercise and exploration. He spent most of the day crawling on his knees and hauling himself up on various pieces of the furniture (but still hasn't used the banisters to stand yet)

We did go to baby clinic today for weighing. I had a feeling that he had lost weight as he hasn't been eating very well. I was right. He has dropped below 20lb again - is now 19lb 15oz. A bit disappointing but not surprising. The Health Visitor didn't plot his weight, saying she would wait till next week - give him the chance to go back up again.

He did do better today with his food. Had a small breakfast (I tried him with scrambled egg but he spat it all out!) . For lunch he had half an avocado mashed with half a banana followed by a fromage frais and for dinner he had 5 ice cubes of various things from the freezer followed by fruit puree and some blueberries and blackberries. Lets hope his appetite continues to improve so he is back to being over 20lb next week.

Tom the book worm

He slept through last night - yahooo! No conjunctivitis at all so I guess he is over it, phew! I was getting worried he was slipping back to his bad old ways, but it looks like he is over it now. I woke up with sticky eyes though (typical) and spent the whole day with tired eyes - felt like I'd been crying.

We had quite a busy day. After his nap we went out to the cake shop to get some bits (still no hyacinth cutters), then on to sainsburys for lunch (Lucy was round today so we were keeping out of her way). 1.30 saw us at Jungleland for Isaac's 3rd birthday (one of the children from the BEST course). Tom stayed in good humour throughout which was very good considering he was up from 10am. I couldn't quite believe he wasn't grizzling, but we left at 3pm so Tom could have a nap before dinner. Came home to a wonderfully clean house and Tom fell asleep without any coercing. Lovely.

Tom had a grizzly afternoon once awake again, but I think that is because I woke him up from a deep sleep and he didn't like me for it. Anyway, he had a good dinner (didn't eat a very good lunch or breakfast), then bath, bottle and bed.

Tom is now definitely waving. He's slowly been getting the hang of it but yesterday he started to wave in response to us waving to him. It is a bit of a lottery as to whether he will clap or wave in response to us, but he's getting there. He is also standing up on furniture more and I think spending more time on his knees crawling than on his belly. It's a really nice time to be with him at the moment as every day he seems to get a little more confident.

Naughty Gymbabe

A better night. Tom woke up at 9.30 crying. Once again his eyes were full of gunk again. So, we washed them out, calmed him down and put him back in his cot again. Didn't hear from him again until 4am, when I went in, settled him. Didn't think for a minute that he would go back to sleep, but he did. He was fast asleep when I woke him up at 7am.

He had a small breakfast and then back to his room for another nap after showing me that he could pull himself up on the table by the side of the sofa, move to the sofa arm and back to the table again. Not great steps, but the very beginning of his cruising career.

We then shot off to Asda to pick up some bits for dinner tonight (in the pram as it had been snowing and I'm not well known for a great sense of balance).

Once back Tom had a little play before heading out to Bridgnorth in the car as today is Gymbabes day. We met up with Rachel and Mae in Cinnamon for lunch. I had a ploughman's today which was really good, came with a boiled egg. Tom had quite a bit off my plate as he was being difficult again - loved the egg - playing with it that is, not sure how much of it he ate. Mae was also being difficult and ate about the same amount as Tom which reassured me.

We had a good Gymbabes session, there were only about 5 babies there today which meant a lot of room to play in. Tom was a little naughty, he shouted during the singing at the beginning and end. I think he just wanted to play on the equipment. He did really well during on the equipment - went through the tunnel about 5 times (once on his knees rather than his belly), went up a couple of wedges, had a swing, played in the ball pool and mirror pool and generally crawled happily along.

No Costa for us today as Rachel had to get back to feed the hens and it was only me and her today. Returned home, put Tom down to continue his sleep. Gave him a good hour, but had to work hard to wake him up - he wasn't pleased with me at all and grizzled the rest of the day.

Didn't eat a lot for dinner again - but I think he had enough to keep him satisfied. Then bath, bottle and bed. We will see what tonight brings...

Today's pic - he didn't want to get changed this morning, kept escaping my hold and crawling away from me. He even managed to stand up using his cot.