telephone

Yesterday I had Simon on my lap while I was talking to my dad on the phone. At one point, my dad had just asked me a question when Simon let out what sounded like a very assertive "yeah!". Dad was rather confused, as he thought it was me speaking, but it hadn't been a yes-no question and I'm not usually quite so forceful! I explained, and Dad asked whether Simon had used the phone yet. He hadn't, so I put the phone next to his ear, and Dad said, "Hello, Simon, it's your grandad here!" Simon made one of his snuffly-snorty sounds, which can hardly be considered much of an answer. I guess he'll get the hang of telephones a bit later on in life!

revising theology

Marc and I are both – but separately – filling in a doctrinal evaluation questionnaire for SIM (Serving In Mission – the mission we are hoping to serve with). It is deep! And detailed. You could write a doctoral thesis on each of the questions, but – fortunately – we are limited to 300 words. It’s also probably a good thing that we get a 4-week time limit for finishing answering all 49 questions! To be honest, though it is demanding in terms of time and brain-power, I’m enjoying it. It’s a useful exercise to have to go back over what I actually believe and ask myself why I believe it and remember where in the Bible it says it. It’s encouraging too, because I know I’m not too strong on remembering exact Bible references, but I’ve been discovering that I can say for example “oh, that’s near the end of Matthew” and so find things quickly. However, I’m aware that knowing stuff about God’s Word isn’t much use if I don’t put what I know into practice in my life, and you can’t judge that by filling a questionnaire!

eyebrows

Having been born without any eyebrows, just ridges where they ought to be, Simon is now growing eyebrows that get darker and thicker every day. Still some way to go before he can compete with Papa’s though! That said, he can do something which Papa can’t – he can raise just one eyebrow, which gives him a very quizzical look. (But we haven't managed to capture that in a photo yet!)

Pascal and Hélène

discoveries

Shutdown Day made me realise three things :

1. I obviously don’t use the computer as much as I thought, as I still had no free time!
2. But if I didn’t have the Internet I would feel very cut off from the world (it’s my main source of news) and from other people (I do get out, but less than before Simon was born).
3. Giving up the computer for a day means I have lots to read (and respond to) when I get back to it again!

So it wasn’t a bad exercise, but I think it convinced me that overall, computers and the Internet are Good Things for me at the moment!

Anyway, on to…

Simon’s news: Simon is becoming more and more aware that his hands belong to him and have their uses. Everything that he can clutch makes its way to his mouth, if possible. So when he lifts his T-shirt up, this has nothing to do with wanting the world to see his vest, and everything to do with the fact that he’d like to see what it’s like to have his T-shirt in his mouth. Unfortunately for him, it usually doesn’t stretch that far! But he makes up for it by putting other things in his mouth, like the pineapple’s feet (see 5th March), his softie, Mummy’s clothes or, if nothing else presents itself, his fists.

He is as smiley as ever, which is a delight, but as uncuddly as he has been ever since he could hold his head up. In fact as soon as he could hold his head up he seemed to feel that he ought to hold his head up, so cuddling just doesn’t work, and if I try it I usually feel two hands pushing hard against me. (Of course, for the moment I’m stronger so I can always insist!) If I want a real cuddle then I have to wait until 11pm after his last feed, when he’s so sleepy he will sleep in my arms with his head on my shoulder … and by then I’m usually feeling as tired as that myself, so don’t make the most of it.

The downside of his growing awareness of the world around him is that when it is unfamiliar, he gets scared! We noticed this last weekend. On Saturday Marc had Open Day at work, so I took Simon along so that Marc’s colleagues and students could see Simon. (And not at all because I wanted to see the chocolate fountain!) However, as soon as he was out of his car seat and coat, and Marc carried him into the noisy main corridor, Simon opened his eyes and his mouth wide and screamed! He carried on crying for ten minutes even after we had retreated into a smaller, empty, side room. So I decided I had better take him home!

It had been extremely noisy at Marc’s work, but Simon reacted the same way when we took him to (his godfather) Pascal’s yesterday for lunch with Pascal and his girlfriend Hélène. I think one of Marc’s colleagues, Françoise, got it right when she said early on that Simon wouldn’t like loud voices because Marc and I are both fairly softly-spoken and rarely raise our voices. At Pascal’s it wasn’t so much loud voices as several voices at once, in a flat with lower ceilings than ours. Poor baby! It’s difficult as a parent to see him looking so upset and out of his element, but I know he has to learn that there are other places apart from home, and that he can still be safe and happy there.

weather

Yesterday was snowy and exciting. Today was … rainy and not at all exciting. *sigh* We did go out to the market though – the buggy is sufficiently waterproof and well-covered to protect Simon as long as there isn’t too much wind and it isn’t raining too hard. So only Mummy got wet!

Tomorrow is Shutdown Day, and I’m still intending to participate. Not really to be part of this "great experiment", but because I do think a day without the Internet would do me good. Maybe the last of the thank-you letters for Simon’s presents will get written!

three month magic??

I was going to write a post today about how true it is what people say about the three-month mark. Simon is now sleeping nights, he grumbles a bit before mealtimes and before falling asleep but otherwise hardly cries at all, and he is a very smiley, happy little boy. However, at 6.30 this evening he took us by surprise by taking more than 5 minutes to fall asleep, and crying for 10 minutes or so before we picked him up for another quarter of an hour of cuddles. He then went down without complaining any more, but I now hesitate to say that we're never going to have any sleep problems again!

mummies and babies

paediatrician visit

On our visit to the paediatrician this morning I thought his second question was a bit stupid. The first one was fair enough: “how old is he now?”, answer: three months today! Then he asked, “And how much does he take at each feed? 180ml?” Now, not only does it say clearly in his notes that (at least until last month’s visit) he was being breastfed, but he could have asked “And is he breast- or formula-fed?” Instead, he makes me feel like I’m abnormal having to answer, “Um, I don’t know, he’s breastfed…” Still, when weighed and measured Simon was following the growth curves exactly, so obviously we aren’t doing anything too wrong! The injection went ok, though Simon wasn’t too happy about being pinned down for it. We have yet to see whether he reacts in the same way as last month, when he slept most of the 24 hours following his jab.

time for another photo

youth group

Just had a good meeting with the youth, even if there were only three of them (and three leaders, what a ratio!). We were looking at the idea of worship being about lifestyle. We didn't have time to finish, so mainly looked at the idea of our speech honouring God. Relevant passages: Titus 2:6-8 and James 3:2-12. We had an interesting discussion, including a debate about whether older or younger people swear more! All agreed that it is better for Christians not to, fortunately!

facebook

Ok, I'll admit it, I have been sucked in by the phenomenon that is facebook. Another way to waste time on the Internet - yay! Though like most of the things I like doing on the Internet, it is a relational thing. (Hmm, not sure where the relational aspect of e-shopping lies...) So anyone out there who's on facebook and I haven't found yet - do look me up!

latest news

The good news is that we have an interview at All Nations on Tuesday 10th April! The bad news is that I had a phonecall from the town hall yesterday to say that they had forgotten to get Marc to sign something on the application for Simon’s ID card, so it’s been held up for a week!! We still should have enough time for it to come through in time for our holiday … really, I’m not stressing …

communication

Simon is becoming more and more talkative. When he is wide awake after a feed, I can have a long “conversation” with him. The more I talk to him, the more enthusiastically he will answer back, with plenty of accompanying smiles and waving arms! He is also getting louder and louder, and will squawk and squeal when he is in my arms or on his playmat. It’s fun hearing him discover and try out his voice – and what a beautiful voice it is!

my little man!

navel-gazing

As I changed Simon's nappy this evening, I was looking at his belly button and thinking how small, neat and insignificant it looks. And yet three months ago he was getting all he needed for survival through there. The human body is a wonderful thing!

pushchair ponderings

I used to see mums with buggies as a kind of entity, as if the buggy formed an extension to the mum, and the mum couldn’t exist without it. Funny, now that it’s me I see it as me plus something completely new, almost a foreign object! There are some advantages to it though, as there are for having Simon in the trolley seat at the supermarket. You can have near-misses that are completely your fault, and people apologise to you or give you fond smiles! And at the Post Office the other day I had the door held open for me by a woman who must have been about eighty and looked as if the slightest gust of wind would blow her away. Rather humbling!

ID card update

The photographer I went to didn't charge us any more than the photo booth and when the town hall official saw the photos he said you couldn't ask for better! They were excellent - partly thanks to Simon, who'd stayed really still and looked straight at the camera. The photographer had zoomed in so that his head looks huge, but since he'll only have his ID card until he's 5, he shouldn't be old enough to be embarrassed by it! At the town hall on Friday they said it shouldn't take more than 3 weeks for the card to be processed, so in theory there will be no problem with us going to the UK on April 7th. I'll still be happier when we actually have it!

mummylove

One of the best moments of my day is when I go in to see Simon mid-morning. He is often already awake, lying calmly in his cot, and when he sees me he gives me a *huge* grin. Then as if that wasn't enough to express his emotion, he gives a whole-body wriggle, like a little dance of joy. It's amazing to feel so wanted!

shutdown

Would you? Could you? Should you? The challenge is to switch off your computer for the whole of Saturday 24th March. Talking to Marc about it, he pointed out that he won't be using the computer much that day since he has an Open Day at work. So I have decided that I will do it. It will be a good opportunity to remember all the things I can do but so often don't do because it's much easier to sit in front of Internet surfing (or sorting photos, writing my blog...). If it's good weather I'll go out for a long walk with the buggy. And I could also get some knitting done, get ahead on youth group preparation ... the possibilities are endless!

And who'd like to get a phonecall from me that day??

family outing

Went for a walk in the woods this afternoon. This kind of path looks so inviting.

I just started using the buggy this week, and it's great. Simon seems very comfortable in it, it's easy to manoeuvre, and it has nice big tyres which mean Simon doesn't get too jolted about. Also, since we bought it second-hand for only 50€, I'm not too worried about leaving it downstairs in our block of flats, even with the physiotherapist's patients coming and going all the time.

Here I am with the buggy, though to be honest it was Marc who pushed it most of the way. I am proud to say that I crocheted the blanket Simon has over him, and knitted the jumper he's wearing (not that you can see it in this photo!).

ancc

in the post

We've done it! Our applications have finally gone off to All Nations Christian College (see my Favourite Links). For those who don't know, Marc (see my Favourite Links, haha!) and I are planning to spend a year at ANCC from September 2007 before moving out to Bénin to serve as missionaries with SIM (Serving in Mission - see ... yes you've guessed, my FLs ...). The idea is that I will work in Bible translation and other work in which I can use my linguistic skills, and Marc will work with the church - probably discipleship or leadership training - or in a teaching role. I would say that ANCC is the first step, but actually I think it is just another step, since looking back I think we both feel God has been preparing us for this for a long time.

passport photos

Whose idea was it to stop allowing children to be put onto their parents’ passports? Certainly not someone with an ounce of commonsense. The only advantage I can see is that there is a photo … which is hardly an advantage for the border guard who has to decide whether the two month old baby in the passport photo could have turned into the four year old in front of him! But of course you have to play by the rules, and since we want to take Simon to the UK in April, we had the choice of getting him a British passport, a French passport or a French ID card. We settled on the ID card in the end, as it is free and should take less time to process.

So yesterday I took Simon to the photo booth to try to get photos taken. I would not recommend this to anyone else who is thinking of getting passport photos done for a baby. Despite Simon being very good, it was impossible to get a photo done which complied with the regulations … in the final result – which you can see below – all the conditions are fulfilled … except that you can see me. And even if I’m not recognisable, we decided not to risk sending it off just to have it sent back and our application slowed down.

Today I went to a professional photographer and again had to hold Simon, but at least this time a real person was taking the photo so I didn’t have to worry about getting his head in a red circle on a screen! And the photographer can zoom in so that his head is the right size to comply with the regulations. This time I think Simon was even looking straight at the camera (I get them back tomorrow).

On the website with information about British passport photos, they do make some concessions for children under five – they don’t have to have a neutral expression, they don’t have to be looking directly at the camera, their heads can be smaller than an adult head (phew!) – and babies under one don’t even have to have their eyes open. But they don’t say anything about those concessions on the equivalent French site, so I don’t want to take any chances!!

I have heard that occasionally French people flying back to France have a hard time if they just have an ID card not a passport, but apparently on the ferries there is never any problem. I hope not, as I’m not leaving Simon in the UK when we come back! (Even though his family over there probably wouldn’t mind!)

smile for the camera?

nappies

One of this week’s exciting events was the arrival of the cloth nappies I’d ordered (from BabyKind – see link in my Favourite Websites). A very kind person from my BabyCentre Parents in France board had sent me some different kinds of cloth nappies to try out, to see what suited Simon. So I was able to order with confidence! Cloth nappies mostly have the same kinds of names – I bought some Bumbles, some Tots Bots, a Fluffle, a Huggle, a Swaddlebees’ Organic, a Bamboozle and some Motherease One-Size (spot the odd one out there at the end!). And of course the wraps to go with them, plus some “washable wipes” to replace throwaway wipes. Simon seems to react badly to Pampers wipes, even the so-called Sensitive ones, whereas these washable wipes come with special soap – yet to be tried – which should be better for him. I also bought some nappi nippas, a very clever little invention that replaces nappy pins and is so much easier to use!

I had to wash them all twice before using them, but yesterday we were able to start using them! I’m so happy!

what a cutie

Simon ready to go out!

cottonwool head

Before I put Simon in his car seat/carry chair to go to the supermarket this morning, I checked I had my wallet in my bag. I use several different bags at the moment, so I’m not always sure which one it’s in. I then put Simon into his seat, and we went off and did our supermarket shop. It was only when I arrived at the till that I realised I had left my bag at home!! (Fortunately they let me ring it all through, leave it at the reception desk, and come back later with my wallet.) I suppose if you’re going to leave your bag somewhere, home is the safest place…

first night

Yay - Simon slept through the night for the first time last night! I put him down before 11 (he'd already slept 7 till 10) and he slept through till 6.30!! Mummy had seven hours unbroken sleep ... apart from when she woke up going, "Eh? What's going on? Why hasn't he woken me yet?"

Our little boy is growing up!

the pineapple (a Simon's-eye view!)

young love

I think Simon is in love ... with the pineapple dangling to his right when he lies on his playmat. While his left hand is frantically hitting the monkey on his left, his eyes never leave the pineapple, and he gradually wriggles himself closer and closer to it. And it is definitely the first time I've seen him smile at an inanimate object!

Happy Birthday, (Grand)mum!

It was my mum’s 60th birthday yesterday – Happy Birthday, Mum! – and today she’s having a big party at home. Family and friends are coming from far and wide to celebrate her life. I wish we could be there, but we’ll be going over in April, at which point we should be able to meet my sister’s (as yet unborn) baby. Simon will have a cousin his age, and will meet him or her really early on in life!

contradictions

I have a very contradictory baby. Nearly everything I say about him he will immediately contradict! This morning, after he’d been sleeping on me contentedly for an hour, I said to Marc, “I think he sleeps better on me than in his cot” … at which he woke up and started crying inconsolably!

This is him and me before he woke up:

Typically, he is dressed and I haven’t got round to that yet!

Marc has put a photo of him on his playmat in his blog, but I wanted to put one here too.

I had never been very convinced that these mats actually helped the baby to learn, but as soon as he was put on it yesterday he started looking at the dangling toys and reaching for them. Once he realised he could make them move, he got very excited! I hadn't thought he'd even worked out that his hands belonged to him yet!

It’s tiring work learning to be a real little person…

second attempt!

Well, Marc had started his blog so I thought maybe it was about time I got one going again too. But I started one a few days ago and it seems to have become detached from my Google account and I can no longer get into it! So here goes again, firstly with the entry I made on February 28^th!

My last blog tailed off during pregnancy, when I found nothing left to say except "isn't pregnancy long?!". But life with a baby is definitely more interesting than pregnancy, and I know there are people out there who want to have regular updates on Simon's life, so here goes...

Life with a baby is anything but predictable. You can have days like yesterday, where he screams - who knows why? - all day except feeds and a couple of quiet moments on my lap, and days like today, where the little angel gazed intently at me throughout our supermarket shop, had a lovely giggly playtime with me when we got home, and now is spending all afternoon sleeping peacefully in his carry-cot next to me.

So today Mummy is actually getting stuff done - preparing youth group while checking messages on her BabyCentre forum and drinking mint-and-licorice infusion. *yummy*