Finally eating and holiday in Spain

September 2011

We had the best time in Spain for 2 weeks with Nick, Zoe, Pete, Helen and the kids. The villa was incredible and the kids were as good as gold.

Sienna was fab on the plane. Had a little sleep but didn't cry at all so that was fab. I am sure it will change when she gets older though....


The biggest milestone for Sienna was her eating!!!! Literally, Sienna had not let anything past her lips until we stepped foot in Spain and she ate so much! I was trying BLW and spoon feeding (usually with porridge, yogurt etc) and she was loving it.

She moved from having 6 milk feeds a day to only 3. In only a couple of days. It was amazing.

Here's a pic of Iyla and Sienna munching on pineapple. So cute!

Iyla and Sienna were so cute playing together. They were sooo noisy though...both screaming, and not too good for us at 7am in the monring either! Poor little Alex was a bit young to get involved but I think he loved watching them.

8 month check

I took Sienna for her 8 month check with the health visitor. It's a standard check, basically just weighing them, checking their length and testing their gross and minor motor skills like standing on legs or being able to pick something up with their pincer fingers. All was good with everything.

Weight - 16 lb 1oz which is 25th percentile
Length- 70cm which is 75th percentile
Head circumference - 42cm which is 50th percentile

All was good! I also asked about Siennas weaning (or lack off) and she recommended I just stick with what I am doing and it will soon fall into place! Easier said than done but I'll keep going and hopefully she will start eating more soon.

We are off on holiday at the weekend (2 weeks I'm Spain) and I can't wait, it's gonna be so nice to get some sunshine!

Mummy and Daddy weekend away...

7 months old

I bought Dan a trip to Bruges for his birthday as I thought it would be great from us to get away on our own for a weekend. My Mum and Dad came down to have Sienna. Dan and I had a fabulous time, although we missed Sienna lots, it was so nice to just relax and not worry about being woken up early etc. We could just chill and do what we fancy and lie in which was a bonus! I think we will try and get away once a year so we will see.....

Sienna had a fab time with Grandma and Grandad and got spoilt rotten no doubt! Mum and Dad loved it too. Because they live quite far away, it's nice for them to send a few days with Sienna rather than in passing. She was a perfect little girl for them too so they were happy!

Sienna and I did catch an awful tummy bug before we went though. I was up at mum and dad's and was out with the old Claverdon lot and over the weekend we must have picked something up. I felt like death and I am so glad mum was around to help out with the little one! When Sienna was sick I didn't know what to do... I don't think I have ever seen so much sick come out of a little being, bless her! She doesn't seem to be bothered with being ill though. She is still a happy little bunny and I just finds she sleeps a lot!

Mum and Dad have got Sienna in a couple of weeks too for the weekend again as Dad has his first proper band gig/fancy dress night! It will be weired leaving her up at my parents and coming back without her but I am sure she will have a fab time!

Weaning is still moving forward slowly..... she has started taking a bit more food but still not amazing at accepting it! Patience I guess.....

Also, Sienna has got a mark they keeps popping up on the side of her face by her eye. It in an exact circle and a bit odd. Frances thought it may be ring worm which is a fungal infection. I took her to the doctor and they weren't too sure either so gave me some cream so hopefully that will clear it up. It's odd that it keeps disappearing and then coming back in the same spot and is an exact circle too! Odd!!

We have finally booked bubs into a nursery. We chose Amy Johnson which is next to St Elpheges's school. She starts one day a week from 6 October 2011 and I will be heading back into work for that day. I have almost run out of money now so desperate to get some wages coming back in. I will be sad to leave her but I think she will love it with all the other babies!

She's growing up fast.....

Oh..... she can also sit up unaided for a good length of time now too!! 7 months!!! It has made my life so much easier as I can sit her up and she'll play with her toys. She can roll off the bed now so no more of leaving her on there now....

Sat up for the first time!!!

6 months old!!

Woo hoo, so proud of my little one.... she sat up for the first time and exactly on her 6th month birthday!!! What a little star!


What else have we been up too.... Zoe lent us this awesome rubber ring thing which Sienna can sit in and play with her toys. It's brilliant and every little tot should have one. I pop her in it and she is happy for hours and so much better than having her 'flying' lying on her front which she gets so frustrated about!

The solid feeding is going ok but she still isn't too interested. I have started pureeing some foods now (sweet potato, peas, brocolli, swede etc) and I freeze it ready for each meal.

She seems hate the taste of it and never opens her mouth for the food. It's so frustrating especially as I have spent time making it all up but I guess she will start eating in her own time. I keep giving her finger foods too which we chucks about about sometimes a bit of food gets into her mouth. She's not quite swallowing it yet but more it goes into her mouth and she opens her mouth and sticks her tongue out in shock.... funny little thing! I am getting more confident with the 'baby-led' stage but will take it as it comes and I think I'll just end up doing a mixture of both puree and BLW.

I can't believe how much she is growing (although it's been quite a while since I got her weighed) but I can tell by her clothes. She already has stacks and stacks of clothes packed away in boxes in the loft. I must say she has a pretty impressive wardrobe already!


It was Aunty Vic's birthday a week ago and Sienna and I sent her this happy b'day pic (brought a tear to Aunty Vic's eyes!). I did take me quite a while to actually get a decent pic before Sienna chewed the paper....

Baptism!

When Sienna was just over 6 months old we had her Baptism. We had it at St Elpheges's church in Wallington and the party afterwards at Epsom Downs Golf Club, it was a fabulous day!

Frances did a amazing job organising and sorting everything out. We can't thank her enough. Check out the amazing cakes she whipped up... amazing!!!
She also arranged lovely like pink bags of sugared almonds with a note of Sienna's name and Baptism date for guests to take home as a keepsake. So lovely!




Sienna wore the Christening gown that Dan, Fran and Laurence all wore and was made from France's wedding dress. She looked so adorable and the image of Fran when she was Baptised. It was amazing how similar they looked!

Sienna was a very well behaved little girl and we didn't hear a peep out of her all day. She just loved every minute of the attention, and not even a cry when the water was poured onto her head!

We had 3 godparents, Victoria Cookson, Laurence Hawkes and Tony Crinion. I think they will all do a fab job and be great role models for our little princess!

Mum and Dad took her home from the party about 9ish as she just wasn't going to sleep. We had her travel cot but I think she has got to the age now where we can't take her out and she will just fall asleep. She is so noisy and just wants to look about all the time. It hasn't stopped us from taking her out for dinners though, we just keep her up and she't happy. She soon falls asleep in the pushchair or car home and usually sleeps a lot the next day, so not such a bad thing!

She got so many lovely presents from everyone and lots of money too (I think about £300 which is amazing!). It's all gone into her bank account so she can enjoy that when she gets older. Nana and Grandad Hawkes bought her a lovely child's garden bench (we saw them at the County Show and loved them). It's in the garden ready for when she is older and can sit on it. Mum and Dad bought her a gorgeous white toy box which we are waiting to be delivered. It will be perfect for all her toys!

Baby-Led Weaning

24 weeks (circa 6 months)

I put circa 6 months as I get very confused on whether to count in weeks or months now! Anyway, she is pretty much at the 6 month mark.


So there are so many mummy's I know that have started the 'weaning' stage. It's the talk about town at the moment, hehe. I am however gonna try Baby-Led Weaning which my friend Zoe suggested, she did it with her baby Iyla and it was amazing to see the things Iyla was eating when other babies were fighting with puree and the finger food stage. I've read the book but it is very scary laying out a load of food for Sienna and letting her pick at it. I haven't had a choking incident and hope I never do but I'm still quite nervous with it.

I think she is definitely ready for food as she watches and takes food from my plate but I'm just a bit nervous about her not having it as a puree. The book on the other hand explains that it is more natural for babies to feed themselves rather than shoving puree down their throats. It has only been 4 days and she has got a lot better so only time will tell.


I did puree up some spag bol sauce and spoon fed it to her, only for her to spit it back out and pick up a load of broccoli. I think she was telling me that she likes the baby-led way.....

I also gave Sienna a beaker for the first time. I couldn't believe my eyes.... she picked it straight up by both handles, took a sip, realised it was water (hated it) and then dropped it on the floor!! It was so funny and I just had to film it. I was very impressed with my little bubs though!

Poor little bubs has suffered from a couple of colds, although I think I have been feeling sorry for her more than she has felt ill. Her little nose has been running and sounds worse at night-time so I put a vapouriser in her room which smells so nice (I think I'll have to get one for myself!). She has been great though and hasn't been too grumpy. I guess it's good for her to build up her immune system.

I went to buy Sienna some sunnies (I can't even believe they make them for tiny babies) but Daddy said they looked ridiculous so I wasn't allowed ;0( but she looked so cute!

She is still rolling over back to front and I spend my day flipping her back over as she always starts crying as she can't do anything from there. I hope she soon learns to flip herself back. She looks hilarious though as her arms fling back and she looks like she's flying, so funny!

I went into work to discuss how flexible they will be on my return. Surprisingly, my boss was very flexible and said we can discuss it towards the end of the year about how it will work. I just need to decide whether I actually want to go back there now.... I think I will look for another job in October time and see if anything else comes up and then make my decision.

I've started looking around nurseries now and it's so hard but hopefully a good one will come along soon....

Staying over at Nana's

20 weeks old


Sienna has stayed over at Nana's a couple of nights now and it is a lovely break for Dan and I. Not that Sienna wakes in the night anyway but it's just nice to relax and not worry about waking up too early in the morning. The silly thing is though, when she stays with Nana, rather than Dan and I get a nice lie in we end up going out, getting drunk and waking up with the worst hangovers ever! This time was even worse because the next day happened
to be Father's Day and I was no way in a fit state to give Dan the nice father days I had planned..... whoops!! Luckily he forgave me but I should make it up next year.





I took Sienna strawberry picking and she loved having a little taste too!


Daddy taking Sienna out in the baby carrier. She loved looking about and got a lot of attention, especially from little old ladies!