Happy Halloween

It's Elizabeth's first Halloween today and fittingly she is dressed like a pumpkin. Cute eh? I will not be dressing up this year, but will join in festivities by eating a shit load of chocolate and egging my neighbours. Nb I'm not actually going to egg my neighbours. 

Happy Halloween!

3 months old

Today Elizabeth is 3 months old, or 12 weeks depending how you look at it (the wrong way or the right way if you ask Matt).

A LOT has changed since my last baby update. E has gotten so much bigger. People are always shocked when we tell them her age. Even more so when we tell them she is solely breastfed. Breast feeding was one of the things I was initially very worried about, more so than birth (ha, more fool me!), and I count myself very lucky to be having such an overwhelmingly positive experience, I love it.  I'm not sure how long we'll continue (kind of missing wine) but I'm hoping we'll make it to 6 months. I'm happy and she's thriving (such a health visitor word!) so why stop.

E is fast becoming a lively, giggly baby. She is happiest when you are smiling and talking to her and her latest skill - standing (supported by a willing volunteer) - elicits shrieks of pure joy. Her motor skills are improving fast. Yesterday she gripped a rattle and brought it to her mouth for a taste. I'm sure this isn't interesting to anyone who doesn't know her but to me it's auh-may-zing. I didn't realise just how fascinating watching your baby develop would be. It's so rewarding to be encouraging and supporting her development.

Sleeping is not so great. Before we moved she had fallen into a bedtime routine all by herself. We'd put her in her moses basket at about 9.30 and by 10 or 10.30 she would have fallen into a deep sleep all by herself with little fuss. Result we thought. Then we moved and it stopped. She would cry furiously when we put her in her basket and only stop when we picked her up. The move has unsettled her we thought. We went back to her newborn routine -  feeding her all evening and putting her to bed when we went. Then this stopped working. After reading up on it I think she has developed 'bad sleep associations', so along with a bedtime routine and scheduled daytime naps, we're trying to correct this. It. Is. Hard. Once we've put her down we are up and down stairs constantly trying to settle her. We even tried a bit of sleep training but I'm worried she's too young. Night time is a battle, and with me trying to enforce structured naps daytime is fast becoming one too. I need help. What are your experiences? Is she too young to sleep train? How do you encourage daytime naps? Any advice would be welcome :) 

Autumn

The summer is officially over. Bye bye bleached denim, see ya later dip dyed hair. There's a new season in town. Autumn is my favourite season. I think it's because I'm happiest covered up. I am incredibly pale and hate the faff of fake tan, and now I have a mum tum to boot. So the cold weather suits me just fine. This year I'm all about the easy life so will be updating simple knits with statement jewellery.

Here I've chosen the wildly out of my budget YSL chain necklace. There are loads of cheaper versions out there or you could DIY it. Find tutorials here. I also love this Holly Fulton acrylic and wood cuff. Apparently there's a trend for wearing matching cuffs on each wrist. I'd be happy with one. I would team these with simple pieces like this jumper from The Row and this Zara messenger. Done. 

ch-ch-changes

This month we moved house, left the city we called home, and relocated to - wait for it - a town. That's not something I thought I would hear myself saying this soon or, to be frank, ever. My formative years were spent in a town feeling miserable and when I left for the gold paved streets of the city I thought it would be forever. But that was years ago and a lot has changed. Mostly we had a kid but also we'd outgrown the parties and 24hr lifestyle that London afforded. Then Matt got a job offer too good to turn down. The rest, as they say, is history. It's not goodbye forever, we're in the commuter belt to facilitate my return to work next year, but it feels life changing. I'm not sure we've made the right decision and I'm not sure if I'm going to like it, but I will throw myself into town life best I can. I will join mother and baby groups. I will drive a car. I will shop at Waitrose (secretly happy about that). I will hang my washing on an actual washing line in an actual garden. I am suburban woman hear me roar.

Giving up this view