A Matter of Choice

Happy Birthday Louka mou! You are five years old!  I know you have been looking forward to this day for such a long time,   I think you were talking about it even before Leo's birthday this year! I'm writing this post for you on the 24th,  and you've just gone to bed full of excitement that it is just one more sleep.  As I gave you a cuddle,  I said I was cuddling my 4 year old Louka for the last time, and you asked me if I was sad.   I replied,  of course not because tomorrow I can cuddle my 5 year old Louka, you gave me a big smile and said 'yes that's 'much more better'. Every year when I write these birthday letters to you and your brother I try to think back over the year and how you've changed. It kind of sneaks up on me as it seems that when it happens it's a very sudden thing,  and I hadn't realised the little things that change along the way. You are totally crazy,  I've said many times over the years that Leo is...

Doesn't time fly! It's a cliche but for good reason as it doesn't feel like that long ago Louka arrived and completed our family yet this year he's started school. (well nursery but we always call it school!)  Leo starting school was not a huge success and I hoped to do things differently with Louka to try to avoid similar problems.  Leo, at almost 3.5 years old was quite late to start, compared to his friends and that was a large part of the problem, as he could speak well and understand everything, but only in English.  It must have been very confusing to be suddenly in a world where nothing made sense, without Mum and not having a clue what was happening. I had always hoped to get Louka in earlier so it would be an easier transition.  At 2.5 years old Louka doesn't understand to quite the same level that Leo did although he knows Leo goes to school every day which makes things a little easier for him.  I'd been debating for a while over which nurs...

Linking up with Real Housewife of Suffolk County

For many months now (possibly even since before he arrived) I've known that I was going to do a 'Very Hungry Caterpillar' theme for Loukas first birthday. As you probably know I adore parties and the planning of them so I've been enjoying getting ready for this one. This time I had a little helper too,  part of the reason I chose the Hungry Caterpillar theme is because it is a book that Leo has enjoyed for a while now as I did at his age, and I knew he would enjoy being part of the preparations. I decided it would be fun to theme the food, and match the items that the Caterpillar ate.  (of course when I say 'I decided' clearly I meant I spent the evening on pinterest!)  Without using a book as a 'menu' I would never had served that much fruit but was stunned that the children and Leo in particular, ate almost every bit! I really enjoyed making the cake, the first one of the boys I have made entirely by myself and I was very pleased with ...

Hey Louka mou,  today you are one whole year old! I'm not sure where this last year has gone, I said the same when your big brother turned one but I'm sure your first year has gone even faster! You seem to have flown through all the milestones, one after the other from rolling over, to sitting, to crawling, cruising and now in the last week walking your first few unaided steps.... and climbing which is one I'm not enjoying so much! I'm pleased that you seem to be learning how to get off of things, like the sofa and Leo's bed by turning round and going backwards. Not so impressed about how you try to get on the table, and anything else you can find when my back is turned! You are the cheekiest little monkey and you are well on the way to a wicked sense of humor it seems. You have an infectious laugh and are very playful. You can now wave and clap and you love to dance, waving your hands and bouncing when you hear music. At the moment you are a rea...

Sunday 26th August 2012 This photo was taken on Loukas first full day in the world,from the balcony of my hospital room. It would have been about 5.30am and I was awake in the hospital enjoying the coolness and the peace and quiet when I looked out the window and realised the sun was just coming up. I had been initially so worried about giving birth here in Cyprus but by the end of my pregnancy I was confident in the help that my doula Claire would provide (and so ready to not be pregnant anymore!)  Loukas birth had been brilliant, something I never thought I'd say.  Before then I'd been all about the drugs and would never have chosen to have a natural birth in a million years - as I always used to say 'you wouldn't have your appendix out without drugs'  which does seem like a very daft comment now - as its hardly the same thing! I only managed it without, as gas and air is not available here (had it have been I would have been on it without a se...

Today I went to visit my friend Sam who gave birth to her second baby on Monday,  I had a cuddle with the gorgeous little Jaxon and could not help but marvel how small he is, although weighing slightly less than Louka did it seemed to me that surely Louka could never have been that small! How could I have forgotten already, he's only just over 6 months old! Surely this was only yesterday? He's growing so fast, now sitting up, rolling all over the place, grabbing everything and anything he can get his hands on to shove in his mouth and has the most infectious laugh ever.  Now, at less than 7 months, we've changed his car seat - I don't make small babies and unfortunately that means they grow out of everything usually too early.  I took a photo of his last outing in the original and couldn't help but compare it to the first time he was in it... Linking up to Flashback Friday, hosted by Lauren and Jenny

Now Louka has turned 6 months, it's that time again! We were very kindly sent a large collection of HiPP Organic products to try out, an experience which was all new to me as I'd only done 'Baby Led Weaning' (BLW) with Leo  . I must admit I was a little bemused by some of the products -a jar called 'My First Banana being one of the them, now I can understand a mix of fruit or vegetables being convenient in a jar but surely anyone could mash a banana! So, with a little hesitation I decided to try some out with Louka last week. BLW still seems the logical way to go for me so it all did feel a little alien to me and I even emailed the lovely lady who sent it all to us clarifying the 'right' way to do it! Starting with the baby rice, (which after following the instructions on the packet I ended up with a huge bowl of the stuff - much more than even Leo could have eaten!)  It went well, although with my BLW head on I 'had' to give him the spoon ...

I know the newborn days go quickly but I'm still amazed that Louka is over 2 months old already! Considering how much I had worried about I would cope with two children, especially with Aaron being at work so much it's not been too bad (although I have had a lot of help from my parents) I wondered while pregnant if I would miss my bump as I did after Leo was born but I can honestly say I really really don't! I was so hot and uncomfortable this summer that I often thought it was going to finish me off! Leo has taken to his brother really well, which is great as it was something else I had worried about. He's sometime a bit heavy handed and likes to wake him up all the time, I feel like I'm saying 'Leave him alone' or 'GENTLY Leo!' a hundred times a day, but it's   pretty much all affection! So far Louka has been a fairly chilled baby, I guess it's a second child thing added to the fact there were four adults around when Leo was born ...

I'm not sure why I brought a moses basket this time round, Leo was only in his for a few weeks and I was never going to be having a small baby this time either.  However I found one on a second hand site and it was such a bargain I thought it would be useful as this time we have to have him sleeping in our room and I figured it would take up less space.  However, at the grand old age of 3 weeks this was Louka in his moses basket... He wasn't sleeping brilliantly, which although is to be expected in such a young baby, I had a feeling the basket was't helping.  He's a fidget and kept hitting the sides and waking himself up, he was even making the thing move so much that I wasn't convinced it would stay on the stand! This week we moved Louka into his cot -  he looks a little bit lost in there but like Leo at about the same age is sleeping so much better already than he was in the moses basket. The last few nights he's slept a lot better,...

He looks cute, but I'm still a bigger fan of simple romper suits on little babies!    But we were going out and I thought I'd better get some use out of the outfits before they are all too small - Leo outgrew his 0-3 month clothes way before 3 months and didn't get to wear hardly any of the things we were given!  

It's hard to believe that Loukas is over 2 weeks old already! The time has passed so fast despite the lack of sleep and huge change of routine.  I've not been online as much as usual as I've been quite a bit busy so although it's quite high on my list of things to do, writing my birth story hasn't been something I've felt up to doing yet. Fortunately,  I received an email from Claire, my Doula who very kindly wrote the story as she saw it, and sent me some lovely photos from the day. I'll still be writing my own story but I really enjoyed reading this so wanted to share it here too. "Emmas and Loukas Birth Story, through the eyes of their doula…" On Friday night I prepared my doula bag, took out the clothes I would wear for the next day and set my alarm. Usually a doula doesn’t have much notice when she is heading out to a birth but this one was different, you were scheduled for an induction on Saturday the 25 th August 2012 at 9am . ...

This is the week that saw the arrival of our second gorgeous baby boy. It's a week that compared to the previous few seems to have passed by in just a few seconds! Saturday was the big day, after a short, painful but drug free labour  Loukas Alexander arrived in the world.  (DRUG FREE! am still shocked that I survived that, you should hear the fuss I make when I get a paper cut!)  Aaron was not at the birth, as was previously planned but my doula, Claire was at my side the whole time and did a fantastic job. Full birth story coming up soon! We were then visited by Aaron on his way home from work, and then my Mum and Dad came in afterwards once he had got back for Leo. Sunday was the day that Leo got to meet his little brother, he was so happy to see me when they got there and jumped on the bed shouting 'Mama I've missed you so much'.   He was bemused and almost a little scared of Loukas and although he peeped into the cot he wouldn't touch him. In...