41 weeks

At 41 weeks Eve:

- Is into EVERYTHING, she still mainly commando crawls but can also crawl for short periods on her knees and pulls herself up onto things. Quite shaky still when pulling herself up but ever so proud of herself once she's standing. She loves watching everyone around her, if we all leave the room she will follow and shout if she doesn't know where we are.

- Regularly says - cat, Dada, Baxter and occasionally duck, Charlie and when she's crying mama. This week she Grandad taught her to say 'baa' when asked 'what does the sheep say'. She has now fully mastered clapping and will occasionally wave.

- Still having issues with allergies, her feet and hands swelled up this week from being on the grass and she was very snotty and hayfevery throughout our half term week with Granny and Grandad in Wiltshire. We're still not fully there on the food allergies, she often goes red when only eating food on the safe list. We've added lentils and beef bisto gravy onto the safe list, so slowly this is growing.

- Now that she can pull herself up we've put her cot down to the lowest height. However she's still in the baby car seat as although she's very long she only weighs 7.7kg and she needs to be 9kg before she can go into the next size up.

- Is using the travel cot as a play pen in the garden and the living room, she's just too nippy to be left playing on the mat now.

- Loves to be read to, though doesn't have much of an attention span. She's happy to turn the pages and touch any touchy feely bits but I've learnt not to pile books next to us as we read as she spends more time trying to look at the other books than concentrating on the one we're reading. Current favourites are 'That's Not My Bunny', 'Wow said the Owl' and 'Hairy McClary and Zachary Quack'. We also read 'Jungle Colours' before bedtime and naptime. "Flamingo bends to have a drink, what colour is he? Flamingo is Pink!" goes round and round my head every evening!!

37 weeks

At 37 weeks Eve:

Is in the 25th percentile for height and weight. Her limited diet has slowed down her growth rate, but now we're on special baby milk she's putting more weight on. She weighed 16lbs, 12oz on the 22nd April. (Charlie was much bigger at 30 weeks Eve was 16lbs whilst Charlie was 19lbs, 8 oz).

Is generally happy and smiley, she has her moments and is pretty strong-willed and determined to get what she wants (usually the cat), but eight and half months is a great age for her.

She's still commando crawling and can now go super fast and occasionally pushes her knees up a little, so I suspect she'll be fully crawling soon. She has also looked like she may start thinking about pulling herself up onto things, the sofa, my leg etc.

We have a food challenge and dietician dates in the diary for May and June. The challenge will let the doctors monitor what happens to her face when she eats cucumber, the dietician will give us more tips on what to try with her. We've added peas to the list of things she can eat and I'm also trying more wheat based foods with her now that she is ok with plain white bread. I made a sponge cake today with 'no egg' powder, vitalite vegetable spread, flour and sugar, fingers crossed she'll be able to eat it ok and then we can actually have something for pudding other than sweet potato or allergy free shortbread!

We're in the midst of controlled crying. She was waking up 4 - 6 times a night and now that the allergies are under control it was time to get her into a proper sleep routine, especially as I go back to work in a little over a month's time. It's slow going. Charlie took 2 or 3 days and was then fine, we're on day 7 with Eve and are still not there. She's now pretty good at going down for a sleep or nap, crying for less then 5 mins then falling asleep, but she's not so good at going back to sleep by herself when she wakes in the night. The worst night (day 4 of CC) she woke at midnight and didn't go back to sleep until 2.30am, but last night she only woke up twice and went back to sleep within 20 minutes. If she wakes before 2am I do the full controlled crying method with no touching, no feeding and a simple reassurance that I'm there every 5, then 10, then 15 minutes. When she wakes after 2am I give her a quick feed (she was used to feeding 6 times a night so I didn't want her to go cold turkey), then put her back into the cot whilst she's awake. I read that for some babies, particularly if they've never slept through the night on their own, it can take 2 weeks, so we're persevering and we're all definitely getting more sleep so that's good.

Has a gorgeous giggle, Tom is v good at getting her to laugh, she adores both him and Charlie and loves it when they come home from school or work. She also loves her grandparents, she went round the shops with Nana whilst I caught up on housework and made the dairy and egg free cake and she was v good without me! No tears, a happy girl and she even had a nap.

Loves playing with the fisherprice animal train, Charlie's old chunky elc cars, she'll happily roll and chase a ball around the room and likes to chew on any type of teething ring or toy, She's already chewed through the rubber teat on her cup, and a couple of board books!

Loves to be read to and enjoys all the 'That's Not My...; board books. She puts her hand out to touch all the different textures and turns the page (with a little help from me) when I ask her. In particular she likes the velcro scratchy paws in 'That's Not My Bunny' and the fluffy foxy tail in 'That's Not My Fox'. At night we read 'Jungle Colours' (given to Charlie by cousin Vicky) and I've just bought 'Goodnight Moon' to help her get into the mood to sleep...

Chats away all the time. She's so vocal I've had a few people come up to me in the street to say they could hear her coming! She coos and gurgles and shouts, still only has two definite words 'cat' and 'Daddy' and has stopped saying 'Gahee' for Charlie, but she knows lots of different sounds and you can generally tell what sort of mood she's in by the sounds she makes.

32 weeks

At seven and a half months Eve:

- Continues developing her social skills, she loves interacting with people and will screech loudly if she feels left out.

- Loves bath time with Charlie. Because of her eczema she only has a bath every other day and she hates seeing C have a bath without her. They play with the rubber ducks together and today Eve learnt to splash the water with her hands.

- Had lots of fun at Uncle Alan and Aunty Pam's joint birthday party this week. She got lots of attention from everyone and got to play with her big cousin I.

- We've still not got to the bottom of her allergies. As well as most fruit & veg and dairy, we've added egg, rice and peanut to the list. There's also a gluten or wheat intolerance in the mix. Currently we are both living on a diet of potato, broccoli, sweet potato, fish (tuna, salmon & mackerel), sweet corn and coconut. We'll keep on trying fairly safe seeming foods to see if she reacts until our meeting with the specialist in mid-April. Fortunately it's usually an immediate face rash, so quite easy to spot.

31 weeks

At 31 weeks Eve:

- Is getting somewhere with working out the allergies. I think she has Oral Allergy Syndrome, which means she's allergic to fresh fruit and vegetables and also a dairy intolerance. However it could be something else as she reacts even when something is well cooked and to dried fruit, things she's reacted to include red pepper, tomato, carrot, prunes, peas, cucumber, white bread, bagels and dairy. Things she's ok with include broccoli, potato, sweet potato, tinned tuna, tinned sweet corn, allergy free bread and rice cakes. Both her and my diet's are pretty limited and our specialist appointment in mid-april feels a long way away.

- Has pretty bad eczema, linked to the allergies. As well as a constant rash around her mouth, her whole torso, arms, shoulders and upper legs are dry, bumpy and red. I slather her in emollient cream whenever I change her.

- Has two teeth! Her first tooth came through on Wednesday closely followed by her 2nd on Thursday. They are the two bottom centre ones, left first then right. They are as sharp as razors, and a whole 3 months earlier then when Charlie got his.

- Loves to play, we got a baby activity cube for 50p at a nearly new sale this week and she loves it. If I line up the shapes for her, she pushes them through, she grabs the handles and pulls the cube around and she presses the button to make the telephone ring.

- Still can't crawl, but getting much surer in her moves. She can get anywhere in a room by pivoting and rolling, and is super fast.

- Is having such fun with her brother. She coos and shouts at him, she grabs his face, his hair, his mouth and pulls them to her. Charlie can't keep away, he loves rolling around on the floor with her, playing with her toys and lying next to her. We play i-spy in the evening as part of our no electronics hour before bed and C loves to pretend to be Evie playing i-spy and saying things that are in her line of view.

- Is finally happy to spend longer periods of time with Daddy. She will now happily play with him whilst I have a shower or make lunch. Up until now she was ok for 10 minutes but would then start shouting and crying for me.

7 months old

At 30 weeks Eve:

- Is finally getting some sleep. She no longer sleeps in our room or co-sleeps with us at night. She stays in her room all night and for the last two nights has woken up 3 times a vast improvement on the 6 or 7 times she usually does.

- Has an appointment to see an allergy specialist in April. We'll be heading into London to get some help with her allergies. At the moment she breaks out in a face rash every day from something she or I have eaten. We've pin pointed tomatoes, red peppers and probably dairy, but there's definitely something else as each day I try to have a rash clear day and each day she get's one. We are keeping a food diary and have pin pointed some safe foods (broccoli, carrots, allergy free bread), but there's more we need to do to make sure she stops having daily reactions.

- She is so mobile, rolling and spinning can get her everywhere in a room v. quickly!

- Has added the word Charlie 'Gar ee' to her other words - cat 'at at' and Daddy 'da da da'. Still no sign of Mama.

28 weeks

At 28 weeks Eve:

Is doing so many exciting things now she's 6 months.

Weighs 15lbs, 5oz and is in tracking just above the 25th percentile.

We're taking weaning slowly because of suspected allergies. After seeing the doctor we're keeping a food diary for two weeks. She had a definite reaction to some pasta last Tuesday, and I'm pretty certain dairy doesn't agree with her either.

Cucumber and sweet potato are still her favourites. She's getting good at using a spoon for apple and pear puree and pretty good at drinking from a cup. She has a nuby cup with soft spout and has water with each meal.

She's speaking! Her coos have developed into more word-like sounds. Ga ga ga and Da da da. She is also very very high pitched and can screech like a banshee!

She's rolling, we've got out the foam number mat as she kept rolling off the play mat. I've sold one of the playmats for £7 and will put more up for sale to make some space in the house!

Sleep is still bad, I'm currently reducing the amount of feeds I give her in the night and will then do controlled crying. Also lengthening the amount of time she spends in the cot in her room rather then coming in with us all night. I've spoken to the health visitor who is a 'sleep expert' and she had lots of good tips and some useful leaflets for both the 'gradual withdrawal' and the'controlled crying' methods.

She is ever so ever so clingy! She still hates it if I leave the room and whoever is watching her has to really grab her attention to stop her from noticing I'm not there.

She gives the best nuzzley snuggles, cooing and pressing into me, putting her hand up to my face and giving wet baby kisses. This week she started doing it for Daddy too.

Loved Boppin Bunnies this week. Charlie came too as it was an inset day, she had lots of fun trying to beat a drum, shake a shaker, chewing on a rubber frog and sitting underneath the parachute.

27 weeks

At 27 weeks Eve:

(17th Feb)

- Has started weaning! I'm pretty much doing baby led weaning with a little puree too. Her first food was boiled carrot batons. She's also had cucumber, avacado, sweet potato, bread and banana. Sweet potato and cucumber are her favourites. Not much eating has been going on, but a lot of playing and putting in her mouth, which is a good start.

- Possibly has food allergies. She get's a red rash round her mouth and sometimes has green nappies. She had it with bread and also if I eat a lot of dairy. Going to see the doctor on Wednesday.

- Is smitten with her brother and we're looking forward to a full week of half term with him. He makes her laugh and is constantly interacting with her.

- Had a fun weekend in Wiltshire with Granny and Grandad and Uncle S, Aunty N and cousin I. Walked in the woods, had a (short-lived) bath with big cousin I, sat nicely in the bumbo and ate cucumber and carrots at meal times and had cuddles with everyone, 

- Is getting quite good at moving, no crawling yet but she can get quite far just by rolling.

- The chickenpox is coming to an end, just waiting for the last scabs to fall off. She has a big chickenpox scar on her right eyebrow (just like Mummy) and a few smaller ones on her nose, forehead and scalp. Hoping these will lessen with time.

6 months old (26 weeks)

Happy half birthday baby girl!

I'm sorry you have chickenpox for it, but at least you're on the mend and happy again, just very very spotty. At 6 months you:

Are getting so social. You love to react to people, to hold up your hands to be picked up, to screech if I leave the room, to laugh when we laugh and cry when Charlie cries. You have the biggest smile which spreads across your whole face when you see someone you love, or even a stranger you like the look of!

Love your big brother. You play with Charlie, grabbing at his clothes and face and hands. We have a game called 'Where's Charlie', I say 'Where's Charlie' and he runs around the room like a mad thing, hiding behind furniture, waiting for you to spot him and coo and gurgle at him. By the end of the game we are all laughing and it's great that your brother is the one to get the biggest laughs out of you.

Love your Daddy. When Tom comes home you give him the biggest smile ever, even just hearing his voice can make you smile.

Love your Mama. I'm definitely your favourite, we spend pretty much all day every day together, and the huge smiles I get when I come into the room make all the fussing and crying and sleepless nights worthwhile. You get so excited to see me, fidgeting in Nana's arms and holding out your hands so I can hold you.

Want to be on the move. You can roll from side to side, flip yourself over to your back if I leave you sitting propped up in the boppi cushion. You do big jumps in the jumperoo, with both feet well off the ground and if I support you, you've started to take baby steps towards the thing you want to play with.

Haven't been weighed for ages. Due to being in chickenpox quarantine for both you and Charlie, but you are so tall and thin, the complete opposite of Charlie who was all chubby and round at 6 months.

Have been wearing 6 - 9 month clothes for weeks. Vests anyway, now that you're six months we've brought out all the beautiful tops and outfits you've been given. Today you're wearing the little bunny top from Aunty N & Uncle S and red stripy leggings with blue polka dots from Nana.

Are getting over chickenpox. You have had a severe case, almost completely covered, my poor love. We got some allergy syrup from the doctors, take warm oaty baths 3 times a day and smother you in calamine lotion. The spots are now on the mend, some of the smaller ones have disappeared and the large ones are scabbing over.

Are going to be weaned! Yesterday you drank water from your sippy cup and tried some broccoli and bread. Today we are going to have carrot batons.

25 weeks

(27th Jan 2015) At 25 weeks Eve:

Is going through an incredibly clingy phase. She cries if I leave the room, and doesn't like to be held by anyone else for too long. If I'm still in the room, she will swivel her head round to watch me.

Thinks Charlie is her own personal comedian. He dances for her to make her laugh.

Had had a rough week. Charlie had chickenpox so we've been sitting out quarantine with him. She definitely missed going outside and got bored with all of her toys.

I cannot believe that next week she'll be 6 months old!

24 weeks

At 24 weeks Eve:

- Has reached that frustrating age where she wants to get involved with EVERYTHING but can't crawl or talk to get what she wants.
- Is living in quarantine! Charlie has been off school with chickenpox since Thursday and although Eve's not caught it (yet) we are having to stay in to look after big brother. She's pretty grumpy with all her toys now and just wants to go for a walk.
- Can turn the pages of her board books (with help). We read 'That's Not My Fox', 'Wow Said the Owl' and 'Peekaboo Baby' with her, she gets very excited about books and tries to eat them. She also likes to listen to Charlie read his schools books.
- Loves Charlie, will happily watch him for ages. She reaches out to him and laughs at him.
- Loves Daddy, ditto to the above, except she gets ansty if she's not with me, so will get grumpy very quickly once I've left the room...
- Is still going through that screechy stage. She is very high pitched and gets cross very quickly when things don't go her way.
- Is incredibly drooley, we're going through 5 or 6 bibs a day at the moment.
- Is still not sleeping well. We're pretty much co-sleeping to help us get any sleep, but generally she wakes 4 or 5 times in the night. She starts off in her cot but after midnight tends to come in with us.
- Is turning blonde, her hair has really lightened up over the last few weeks.
- Tried our her highchair for the first time, we start weaning (and sleep training!) in two weeks.
- Is ever so smiley, her dimples are getting deeper and she loves attention.

23 weeks

At 23 weeks Eve:

Is teething and going through a grumpy phase. She's still smiley a lot of the time but has quite regular crying/grumping periods. She's also developed an ear shattering, high pitched screech for whenever I step away for more than a second!

Is still not sleeping well, she's a little better than previously, but wakes at least 4 times a night. Currently she has her first sleep in the nursery and when she wakes at 9pm I take her into the cot in our room. Roll on six months when we can start sleep training.

Is embracing the buggy. Now that she's facing forward she quite likes the buggy, she's happy to watch the world go by and then fall asleep. She still has her moments (screaming for 30 mins when in the park with Charlie and me on Saturday), but for the most part enjoys going out in the buggy. However we still use the sling daily for school drop off and pick up.

Loves her new toy owl, it has chimes in it, a squeaky baby owl and crinkley wings. Also loves jumping in the jumperoo and chewing on teething rings.

Eighteen to twenty two weeks

A busy month for us. A lot of illness, Christmas, family meet ups and a non-sleeping baby, led to a disappearance from blog writing for a while. However, baby is well and napping so here's a quick catch up on weeks 18 - 22.

At 18 weeks Eve:

- Continues to roll around on her play mat and has also started to sleep on her side in bed. She can now move across the play mat by wriggling and rolling.

- Weighs 13lbs, 14oz, just below the 50th percentile but gained a bit more at this weigh-in then the last one when she was ill. 

- Is wondering if she has a slight intolerance to formula. We've stopped giving her the 200mls in the evening and her sleep pattern has returned to normal, only waking once or twice a night instead of seven! She is fully breastfed once again.

- Has moved, her cot is now at the end of our bed instead of by the window, it's warmer here!

- Loves my phone, I let her biff the photos in the gallery and she loves to change the picture. Right now she is lying on my lap trying to grab the phone as I type.

- Likes action rhymes, I sing and play with her Benny Bean and Wagon Way which she loves.

- Started facing outwards in the sling for the majority of outings. I still put her facing me if I want her to sleep.

- Holds her head up well and can sit up when propped with cushions.

At 19 - 22 weeks Eve:

- Had a trip to A&E, I fell when carrying her in the baby carrier (horrible horrible), she didn't touch the ground and didn't really notice the fall (though I cut my hand and both knees) but we took her to be checked out, just in case. The doctor pronounced her fine and just to watch her for the next 24 hours.

- Got ill again, a horrible cold, with a cough that woke her every couple of hours throughout the night and a runny nose. She also got conjunctivitis we visited the doctors for eye drops and to check the cold hadn't infected her chest (it hadn't).

- Lost weight over Christmas due to the illness, dropped 4 oz so on 31st Dec she weighed 13lbs, 10oz.

- Stopped sleeping!!! It started with the cough, but once that stopped, she continues to wake every couple of hours at night. Mama is incredibly tired and trying anything at the moment until we can sleep train at 6 months. She's co-slept, slept in the nursery, had an early bedtime, a late bedtime, a cool room, a warm room, a hot water bottle to warm the sheets, and none of it really works! Currently she's waking 3 or 4 times a night, which it better then the 7 or 8 times she was averaging, but hopefully things will get better soon.

- Smiley and happy, even when ill we could still coax out smiles and now she's well she's so cheerful. She has smiles for everyone and loves to be talked with.

- In love with her Daddy, he enters the room and she watches his every move until he comes and talks to her.

- Loves to chat with her brother, Charlie can often make her smile and likes to calm her when she frets.

- Something has developed in her brain in the last fortnight and she's really aware of toys. She will happily play with a toy or two on her play mat for quite a long time. She loves the light up and roll ball, a teething toy elephant, dolls, rubber ducks and various teething rings.

- Loves bath time, she now has a rubber duck to chew on, demands to hold the sponge and generally splashes about in the little baby bath.

- Has a jumperoo which she loves, my friend was selling one for £30, and it's been such a good buy, she jumps about like a mad thing and coos and giggles whilst in it.

- Likes a nice cuddle, she'll now give baby kisses (slobbery, wet, sucking, gummy ones) on your face or neck when holding her. She is exploring faces and reaches out to touch your mouth and teeth if you let her. She's also grabbed my glasses off twice and sucked Daddy's nose!

- Still long, she's gone into 6-9 month vests as the 3-6 ones are getting too tight.

- Has graduated to the big girl buggy, she now faces outwards in the buggy, rather than facing me in the car seat. She loves it as she hated being in the car seat on the buggy for too long. She's had some nice long naps on our walks and is all snug in her new puffy coat from Aunty Pam and Charlie's old red and white star cosy toes.

Sixteen and Seventeen weeks

Oops we missed a week there, so at 16 & 17 weeks Eve:

- Weighs 13lbs 7oz, for the first time she's dropped just below the 50th centile (due to being poorly last week). she's 2lbs lighter then her brother was at 16 weeks.

- Had her 2nd lot of vaccinations and was poorly with a fever for 3 days culminating in a loss of appetite and raised red rash on her neck. We took her to the urgent care centre just to be sure it wasn't anything more serious.

- Rolled over from her back to tummy for the first time, though she's not repeated it again! She can also get her head up now, so is enjoying tummy time much more then previously.

- Started having 200mls of formula in the evenings, she seems extra hungry then just as my milk supply is getting low, so we've introduced a bottle.

- Having some bad nights, possibly because it's gotten really cold, but for the last 4 night's she's not settled when I've put her in her cot, she wakes back up and shouts. She has also started waking up throughout the night, 4 -5 times (7 times last night!) so Mummy is v tired.

- Wearing Charlie's old 6-9 month snow suit, she's so long it fits pretty well.

- Finished our December term of Boppin' Bunnies, with lots of nice Christmas songs. We've put our names down for the Spring term as she (and I) both enjoy it and she has a gigantic sleep afterwards!

- Met Father Christmas (again), this time a traditional green and white Father Christmas as William Morris' Red House, a National Trust property just round the corner from our house.

- Loves staring at the Christmas tree lights, she's completely fascinated by them.

Fifteen weeks

At 15 weeks Eve:

- Likes Mama, Daddy, Charlie, milk, napping on someone, watching other babies, bouncin' bunnies song time, her mobile, kicking on her play mat, watching, being snuggled up in the sling, warm baths, going fast in the car and rolling from side to side,

- Dislikes the bouncy chair, getting stuck in traffic, being left too long on the play mat, sudden noises, brotherly pokes, not getting milk on time (all the time), Baxter walking across her and being put in the cot awake,

- Three and a half months is all about learning new things. Every time I put her on the play mat she gets more active, rolling on each side and grabbing and chewing on toys.

- Baxter cat followed us to Boppin Bunnies this week, he came so far with us we had to go back home to get him to stop following.

- We had three baby friends over yesterday for a film afternoon. We watched Frozen and ate popcorn and natchos.

- We've had a couple of Christmas shopping trips to Bluewater. E got grumpy v quickly and a lot of time was spent feeding and soothing her.

- We watched the Christmas parade and saw the lights on the tree turned on. E slept but Charlie got to meet Santa.

Fourteen weeks

At fourteen weeks Eve:

- Is chunking up, she's getting chubby little legs and arms, a kissable round belly and is quite solid when she sits up on my lap.

- Recognises the word 'milks'. If she's grumping and I say 'do you want some milks' she brightens right up. I then have to feed her!

- Getting lots of hair, she has a little fuzzy bald spot at the back from sleeping, but the rest is getting quite long and lightening up.

- Still fully breastfed and she gets really excited about eating!

- Smiles a lot and recognises people. She gives me a lovely good morning smile when she wakes in the morning.

Thirteen weeks

At thirteen weeks Eve is:

- On the move, after watching the older babies last week she rolled from her back to her side.

- So alert, she's always watching everything that's going on.

- Too big for the moses basket, she almost fills it and with night time kicking it was beginning to rock v. dangerously. So the basket is out and the travel cot is in. She'll sleep next to our bed in the travel cot until she's big enough for her own room.

- Wearing lots of new clothes, we're having fun putting on the new 3-6 month outfits we've been given for her as well as the hand me downs from cousin I and C's old clothes.

- Being a naughty sleeper at the moment! She keeps waking up once put into the cot and really only wants to sleep on me. Last night she wouldn't go back down after waking up at 3am, so we spent the rest of the night in a cycle of feeding, burping, sleeping on me, placed in the cot, crying, feeding etc. - grr.

A day in the life - Monday 3rd November 2014

An example of our routine with Charlie at four and a half and Eve at three months. I'm on maternity leave and Tom's office has moved to London Bridge.

4.30am - Eve wakes for a feed, this is good, she's slept for over six hours. I burp her and she falls asleep I put her back in the moses basket, not so good she won't settle. I burp her again, feed her again, burp her again and she's asleep in her basket at 5.20am.

5.45am - Charlie wakes up and comes into our room. I shush him so he doesn't wake Eve, give him a hug and take him back to his room with the Kindle. He's been wetting the bed recently but is dry today which is good. Charlie plays on the tablet and I go back to bed. Tom gets up at 6am and gets ready, then gets Charlie dressed at 6.45am.

7am - Eve is still asleep, so I get washed and dressed whilst Tom gets Charlie's breakfast. T then leaves for work and as the baby is still asleep I'm able to put the washing on, continue unpacking our bags from last week's holiday and polish Charlie's school shoes.  I also eat a banana and make a coffee.

7.50am - Baby still asleep so I wake her to give us enough time before the school run. I change and dress Eve then bring her downstairs for a feed. Charlie is playing Rayman on the PlayStation.

8.20am - We pack Charlie's reading bag with his reading book, contact book, completed homework sheets and toy dragon. We put on coats and shoes and I put Evie in the sling.

8.30am - We walk through the drizzle to school. On the way we see a missing cat poster and I chat to the mum who put it up and promise to look out for the cat, she got spooked by fireworks and not come home. At school we wait for the gate to be unlocked and I talk to another mum about the half term holiday. When Miss K unlocks the gate C rushes through and waits to say goodbye at the classroom door.

9.00 - Back at home I grab an orange juice and oat bar and feed E whilst watching the new David Attenborough wildlife documentary on iPlayer. We have 2 hours before we need to be at E's music class. Baby is grumpy before epically filling her nappy, so I change her then put her back in her cosy cow suit and into the sling. It's raining outside so I put my parka on around both of us and get out the brolly. We have a walk through the park and although soggy, it's nice.

11am - We arrive at the nice pub in the park for our Boppin' Babies music session. I meet my friend K with baby C and she introduces me to some of the other Mums. The session is brilliant, lots of songs, instruments and props including a parachute, bells, rubber frogs and scarves. Eve is the youngest there but likes taking it all in and is tired out by the end. We stay for a coffee and a chat, E falls fast asleep.

1.30pm - We walk home through pretty torrential rain, E is snug in the carrier under my umbrella. At home lunch is a mishmash of canapes and salad leftover from my brother in law's photography exhibition launch. I feed and change E whilst watching TV, then it's time to collect her brother.

3.15pm - Charlie bursts out of school brimming with excitement from the day. It was  little Miss R's birthday and she picked him to help her make cupcakes for the class. He also got his very first reading book with words in which he is v proud about. At home he eats his cupcake and has some juice. He has an hour and a half before tea to choose what he wants to do. Whilst I feed Eve he watches a little of The Busy Town Mysteries on Netflix and then plays Rayman.

5pm - C's tea is ham sandwiches, a babybel, cucumber and a couple of mini sausage rolls. After tea we go upstairs and C helps with E's bath. He selects a sleepsuit for her and washes her tummy with the sponge. I dry her in the cot whilst C plays with his 6 plastic Halloween rats in her bath water. We then tip the baby bath into the main bath and run more hot water and bubbles for C. He can undress himself but needs help getting in and out of the bath. Once in I leave him to play and rescue a screaming Evie, I take her through to watch her big brother and she calms down enough to go back in the cot with the mobile on. I wash Charlie's hair and he begs for 10 more minutes, we settle at 5 and I entertain E whilst sorting through her baby clothes, she's into 3-6 months now so the things she's grown out of need to be packed away. I help C get dried whilst holding a crying baby, then we all head downstairs. E has another feed and reads his books to me.

6.30pm - Daddy's home and he chats with C and gets a smile from the baby. It's bin day tomorrow so Tom sorts the recycling and cleans the cat's litter tray whilst I finish reading with C. At 7pm T takes C to bed where they clean teeth and read a story. I continue to feed E.

7.15pm - T takes E whilst I get my tea, she starts grumping so I have to eat fast then take her back for a feed. She feeds and snoozes on me until we go to bed at 9pm.

9pm - Bedtime, I'm exhausted, E's woken up as T took her upstairs whilst I got changed. I feed her in bed and get her fast asleep in her moses basket at 9.45pm. I fall asleep pretty much immediately ready to do it all again tomorrow.

Three months old

Some big changes this week, maybe it was the Wiltshire air from spending half term with Granny and Grandad.

Eve at twelve weeks:

- Has suddenly grown out of her 0-3 clothes. Vests, sleep suits and leggings are a no go, some dresses can now be worn as jumpers, dungarees and socks are still ok.

- Weighs 12lbs 10.5oz so still tracking a tiny bit above the 50th percentile.

- Is interacting with the world more. She turns her head to see who's speaking, is fascinated by the TV screen and will happily watch Charlie and the cat as they play or sit near her. She'll also grasp my hair and is just beginning to hold onto toys.

- Continues to be vocal, more coos are being added to her repertoire. We can have v long chats with her replying to me at the end of each sentence!

- Mostly sleeping well at night, usually 6 hours with a 10 min feed and back to sleep for a couple more, though if she wakes earlier she's likely to wake 2 or 3 times more and will stay awake for longer periods.

- Was worn out by our music lesson on Monday, stayed awake throughout and kept looking round at the other babies.

- Fed for the first time on a train when we went to Woking to see a friend and her 4 month old. It was fine, no one in the carriage really noticed.

- Still grumpy in the evenings the HV has recommended we start putting her to bed earlier, so we'll begin tonight.

Eleven weeks old

At eleven weeks Eve:

- Is on her first holiday, we're in Wiltshire with Granny and Grandad.

- Was an angel on the long car journey, sleeping for most of the time, even though it took SIX hours due to traffic jams.
- Continues to grasp and bat at things.
- Still feeds a lot of the time.
- Takes her longest naps in the sling or car seat or someone's lap, is now tricky to get to sleep in the moses basket during the day.
- Growing more aware, she'll hold eye contact for longer and will chat back (when she's in a happy mood).

- Loves looking at trees blowing in the wind or the clouds in the sky.

- Super loves her Daddy playing 'Pitter Patter, Pitter Patter' with her.

And here's Charlie at 233 weeks old!!!!

Ten weeks old

At ten weeks Eve:

- Weighs 12lbs, still just a little bit above the 50th percentile.
- Moving more, she can now roll onto her side from her back and pushes herself to the side of the Moses basket at night.
- Very chatty, she loves cooing at her mobile which broke yesterday so we need to get a replacement.
- Starting to hold onto small things, the muslin, my hair, the toggle on my hoodie.
- Still fully breastfeeding, roughly for 5 hours a day spread across 8 or 9 feeds. A short feed around 5am, a long feed around 7am, a short feed around 9.30am, a long feed around midday, a middling feed around 2.15pm, a long feed around 4pm, then on and off  short feeding and snoozing from 6pm onwards until a final middling feed before bedtime at 9pm. Occasionally a super short feed at 3am.
- Her naps are getting into a pattern too with a short one in the baby carrier when I take Charlie to school, a long one around 10am, a middling one around 1pm and another long one from 3pm which starts off in the carrier when we collect Charlie, she then snoozes on and off in the evening before 9pm bedtime, when usually she'll sleep at least until 3am and quite often through till 5am.
- Has a super sad looking pout, I've yet to photo this because when she does my immediate reaction is to comfort that sad sad face! Usually when there's a sudden loud noise or if she wakes suddenly.
- Is a member of the library, we signed her up last week.
- Had her first visit into central London to Mummy and Daddy's offices in Piccadilly and London Bridge.