simon and banana mess

life pottles on...

My blog has been somewhat quiet the last week or so as I don’t feel there is much to report! Simon continues to eat – he loves baguette and rice cakes, seems to like courgette, takes a few mouthfuls of various other fruit and veg, and won’t even put carrot in his mouth! Sometimes it seems as though everything goes into his mouth then falls out again, but his nappies attest that some things do make it further (sorry if that’s too much information!).

He has also learnt to turn from his back onto his front, then gets very frustrated because he can't then get anywhere ... but I don't think it'll be long!

The weather is quite depressing at the moment. With heavy showers occurring frequently, it puts me off going out with the buggy, though we do get out most days if only for a quite trot around the block.

The moving date seems to be coming at us fast! But I try to fill a box a day – though now that books and winter clothes are packed, when there’s anything else I think I can pack, it probably means we can do without it. So I’m also giving away / recycling / throwing out as much as possible!

BLW in the media

There has been some bad press for BLW in the media the last week or so. Just to balance things out, here is a very good article by The Independent (published a week before Simon was born!).

Six months, baby!

Simon is six months old today! Half a year since he ventured out into this weird world of ours. Though it's always a bit odd to speak as if he didn't exist before that, because I was *very* aware he was there for several months before his birth!

Today Simon had carrot, courgette and apple munches for lunch. You can see photos on Flickr - when I have several to post and comment on it's much easier to do it on Flickr than here!

detail

Simon is now trying to perfect his pincer grasp, and investigates anything small - like watches, wedding rings, buttons ... and look what he found in this video.

Stupid blogspot!!!!

In my last post, the font and size got messed up and I CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!!!!!!

So, sorry, but it isn't my fault!

2nd day of BLW...

… and today we went for broccoli florets. Once he’d got the hang of holding them, he had a good go at chewing on them.

But didn’t seem to like the taste much.

Not that that stopped him from chewing on them again. I’m not sure much went in, but it was a good experience for him and us. Gorgeous green beard he had at the end, too!

I gave him a lump of banana next, which immediately got mushed up in his fist (the bottom dropped off and was eaten by Mummy, never one to waste good food) but some of it ended up being sucked off his fingers.

I feel I should say that this kind of thing is never as easy as it sounds. For a start, “just give the baby something to eat when the rest of the family is eating,” is all very well, but our baby often sleeps at the times we eat. We had been going to give him the broccoli during our lunch, but he was obviously too tired, so it had to wait until after his nap and a breastfeed. Still, he didn’t seem bothered to be eating when we weren’t!

Baby-led weaning begins...!

Simon ate his first solids today. We waited for him to be six months old (minus three days!) as recommended these days, and have decided to go down the Baby-led Weaning route (see guidelines here or here). So when we had lunch today, we gave Simon some chunks of steamed courgette. Simon has been interested in food for a while, so we weren’t surprised that he got very excited about this. The idea of BLW is that the baby, being 6 months old, is at an age to be able to pick food up and put it in his mouth himself. This is fine in theory, but steamed courgette is pretty slippery, and although Simon did his best, he did need help getting a chunk off his tray. He got a pretty good system going of wedging it in one elbow, holding it with the other hand, and gnawing on it enthusiastically. Not a lot went into him, but the idea is discovery of tastes and textures, rather than stuffing calories into him (you’d be hard-pressed to find many in courgette, anyway!). After 10 or 15 minutes he started getting a bit fretful, so we took him out of his highchair and let him play on his mat. Breastfeeding will continue on demand as usual.

sent out

Last night our church had a sort of Commissioning Evening for us (« soirée d’envoi »). We began with a buffet meal, so that families could come, and at the end of the meal Marc and I did a short presentation (with Power Point – no self-respecting missionary would do a presentation without it these days, would they?!) to give our testimonies and tell the story of how God led us little by little to believe that He is calling us to serve Him in Benin. There was then a time of prayer before the kids (and some of their parents) went home. Afterwards there was a second part to the meeting where Alain Soudrain (Director of SIM France) said a few words about the church’s responsibility towards its missionaries, and the missionaries’ responsibility towards their church. He also pointed out that in Acts 13, the church in Antioch realises that the Holy Spirit is sending two of their five leaders out on a mission trip. But it is the Holy Spirit who “sends” them, the church just “lets them go” (not actually true in the NIV, and I haven’t checked the Greek yet ;o).

I was very touched by how many people came to the meeting, and by their prayers. As I said during our speechy part, I am very grateful to our church, first of all for being a family to me ever since I arrived in Nancy nearly 8 years ago, and secondly for giving me the opportunity to serve. I have been able to use and develop gifts I already knew I had (youth work, preparing and leading Bible studies…), while being encouraged to discover gifts I never dreamt I had (leading singing, doing the accounts…). I don’t think it’s really hit me yet that we’re actually leaving. I’m not sure when it will, as this summer it may just feel like any other summer when we go away for a month or so. There are people I will miss a lot, though, once I have realised that we really have gone!

Here are a few photos of yesterday’s meeting:

learning little by little

This week, Simon has been developing his pincer motion (picking things up between his finger and thumb). It’s been fascinating to watch him learn. At the beginning of the week he started getting interested in buttons, and would wave his hand near them but had problems judging depth. Then he got that sorted, and would kind of stroke them with his index and middle finger. Today I watched him as he held a soft toy dog in one hand, and fixed the label with his most concentrated stare. With his other hand he began by stroking the label with his fingers, then managing to catch it between his thumb and the side of his finger. Finally he succeeded in catching it between his thumb and fingertip (and his Mummy cheered him on!).

thank you, mr painter-man

The painter has been working far more efficiently than the landlord predicted, and he’s just got one wall left to do tomorrow! Which means it will all be finished and dry before we get back on Sunday evening. Yay! Although we’ve been missing Marc, we’ve been having a good time here in Jouy.

Yesterday Simon’s godmother, Manue, paid us a visit – and you can see the present she brought Simon in this photo:

Today Marc’s aunt, Véro, called to meet Simon.

And here's Simon with his elephant, Garfunkel:

on holiday

I think it would be fair to say that the French side of the family are enjoying having Simon to stay...