A Welsh adventure

8 month bean

This weekend has been one of firsts for all the family.
I (Caitlyn) have been away on a yoga retreat and had my first full nights sleep in 8 months. Words can not describe my joy.
Lyndon has held the fort at home with Nana Johnson and Matilda Bean has slept in her own cot, in her own room, for the WHOLE night. This is a very exciting development in the McCarthy-Johnson household.

We have also had our very first family holiday. After months of slogging away at the house (just the hallway and two bedrooms then we're done!)and adjusting to being new parents, we couldn't wait for our two week break. Long lie-ins, lazy days reading and eating and chilling. Aaaaah...
After a solid seven hours of packing up the car (why do such small people require so much kit?), we eventually set off to our little cottage retreat in Wales. The setting couldn't have been more idyllic (see pics) and the wood burner and pet pheasant really made the place special.
Just as we'd made our first cup of tea and kicked off our shoes, Ms Matilda roared her head off as a way to let us know that now, just at the beginning of our stress-free holiday, right this minute, she was going to cut her first tooth - which would take just about two weeks. Hmmm...
Suffice to say, we have lived to tell the tale and Ms Bean has a lovely pair of gnashers in the middle of her bottom gum.
Matilda is now sitting up, almost crawling forwards (to be fair, it's more like dragging herself along the floor) and saying mummy and dada. She has also had her first weekend being looked after by her Grandam and Grandad (whilst her parent's re-discovered debauchery in London for the evening).
We have also booked Matilda into a nursery for one day, starting in a few weeks time, to get her used to the idea that others can care for her so it's not such a shock when I go back to work in the new year. Fact is, she'll love being with the other children - she's such a sociable bean.
See new pics via the link below.

Green poo and baby rice

Matilda Bean is now a very grand 5 months old and a couple of days ago lunched on some baby rice. The first thing to pass her lips not from her mums breast. A week of green poo suggested that she may be getting a little peckish and the rice seems to go down a treat (seasoned with a little breast milk).
Ms Bean is full of joy exploring toys by eating them, starting to reach out for people and taking an interest in everything the world has to show her. Great Aunt Anne sent her a lovely card when she was born that read "Show me a day that the world wasnt new" and Matilda has taken that to heart.
Aunt Petra has sent Matilda the first blanket she has ever knitted (in the picture) to keep her warm, which she has been thankful for when napping in what is turning out to be a wet English summer.
We are all working hard on the house still and will have a carpet down in the front room in time for the Bean to crawl on.
New pics uploaded so please click on this one to see them.

5 Months On

The Building Site

A word of advice to anyone considering how to tackle a house renovation. DONT live in the house whilst builders tear it apart....rent a flat, move back to your parents or buy a tent but dont stay in the house. At least Matilda Bean seems not to care!

The lovely Bean is now mimcking sounds and expressions (Johns rasberry's in particular) and is using her hans to shake rattles and squish toys, captured the first time she did this at Mums in Bridport, check the pic.
Caitlyn and I are praying for normality to return to our home but are keeping in mind our goals and looking forward to chilling out when its all done.

Hope people are coming to the party on Chisel Beach weekend of 3rd June, details on the photo album if I have not emailed or posted an invite to ya!

So Matlilda has grown out of all her 0-3 Month stuff and Caitlyn and I are uttering cliche's when we see newborns 'they grow so quickly'. But they do and she has, health visitor will let us know what weight she has put on tomorrow, if she can get past the skip.

13 Weeks

A Spring Bean

So, all has been busy busy in the bean household hence the lack of posts, the builders are coming to tear the house apart for the next month so Ms Matilda Bean is taking her mum off to Leigh-on-Sea to stay away from the dust and then were all off to Bridport for a few days.

Matilda had her jabs this week which was a horrible experience, even though I stick people with needles all day long at work I considered pushing the nurse over and running off. Poor little pickle cried all day.

So the cleverest, prettiest little girl in the world is smiling, cooing and saying "ah gooo" quite a lot, in fact its possible to have lengthy intellectual conversation with her depending on your interpret ion of ah goo. Keeps me entertained anywho....

Posted some more pics that will be added to as soon as we retrieve the camera left in Beconsfield.

10 weeks

MATILDA BEAN MCCARTHY-JOHNSON

Thats right folks, the bambini has a name! Which I think to a few out there "That poor baby, six weeks old and no name..." will be a big relief.
The registry office had sent reminders but we had an hour and a half to spare before our six week deadline ran out.

The good natured registrar asked if the Bean part was really necessary but offered to marry us at a later date which provide an opportunity to change it!
He also tried to convince us that Elsie was a good idea but no...It was to be Matilda Bean.
Its a big relief to have a name for her and she seems to suit it right away, being the cleverest most beautiful baby to have been born she is now cooing, smiling and following people around the room...with her eyes. (Not that clever)

I return to work tomorrow for the first time in seven weeks which is a little daunting for both of us, although Tilda bean seemed less bothered at the news, a couple of milky bubbles and some gurgling were all she had to say.
All three of us had a our first night away from home staying in a fisherman's hut on Whitstable beach to celebrate our anniversary. It was a lovely night away until the Portland Cock Crab I ate for dinner poisoned me for six hours, I will spare the details.

I will be posting more often now as work will be the perfect opportunity to write more often whilst being paid (Only kidding boss).
The next post will hopefully include some video footage of Tildy being unbearably sweet.
Stay tuned...and please post any comments on...well anything.

One Month On!

The bean is a month old! How can that be? Blink again and she will be sitting her A levels...
She is starting to find a routine as are we which is a relief and the feelings of pride we have for managing well for the first month are mixed with some of sadness as she grows out of her first vests.

She looks different every single day at the moment, her eyes becoming more aware of whats going on around her, following people as the enter and leave rooms. Her mouth is more expressive with regular smiles and grimaces to let us know what she wants. Friends have said that she has Caitlyns mouth and my nose and hairline....hope her nose does not end up as big as mine!

Some nights beannie feeds just once now and we are past waking her up when that is the case being thankful for the sleep. We bought a big new bed to make room for all three of us when she wants to be close to us and after looking into it feel comfortable co-sleeping for the moment knowing it to be safe. The bean does have a tendancy to gurgle all night long, mixed with our snoring makes for quite a symphony.

So the name....Well we road tested Ruby for a week and although we felt it suited her it seems that it will be the most popular girls name this year which would take the shine off. So we are road testing another, d day in two weeks when she has to be registered.

Caitlyn has nearly healed from her surgery having had no post op problems and daily visits from the district nurses who coo at beany no end.

New album now posted after complaints from the USA of no new pics.

One month on

Hiccups

This week started with Caitlyn having surgery for an abcess (unrelated to birth and a huge pain in the arse). Continued with visits from Auntie Lorna, Uncle Pete and Nanna Phyll and will be concluding with visits from Dan and Tess, Annie and Paul!

So a busy week for the Bean who is still trying on her name that looks like it might fit quite nicely, holding back from a formal announcement as we will surely change our mind.
She also slept for 7 hours solid on Monday night which on face value is a cause for celebration...but we were both so surprised that we simply gazed at her for the last two hours fearful that something was wrong then woke her up to make sure!

New pictures posted as Beanie is changing daily, becoming more alert and inquisitive and screaming louder ever. We are both feeling good after the challenges of the first part of the week and had a lovely but cold walk along the beach yesterday with the bean attached and even went out for half an hour together alone whilst Nanna sitted.

Where are the days going?

We are test driving a name for a few days to see if it fits...here's hoping!

The days are flying by and the bean is an unbelievable two weeks old tomorrow and all is wonderful in her little world. Unfortunately Caitlyn tripped down the bottom step yesterday and sprained her ankle.

Grandma Penny has been visiting the past few days and helping out with the hectic house and Aunt Jo, Uncle Dave, Mia and Ben were around for the weekend. Check out the Pics of Mia number one baby sitter!

The lovely bean is in training for the longest projectile poo delivered whilst the nappy is mid change. 3ft and counting at the moment but its early days and hopes are high. Watch this space.

Pip and Erica visited today bringing Bean a top Jumper (Ta Ma Waller) and gazing very starry eyed. So who will be next I wonder?

Approaching parent speed....

Hola,

Before the bean arrived on the scene I remember thinking that parents were all a little precious with the "Sorry it cant be then, she has to have a sleep then a feed and its bath night" I figured how much work can they be. Surely, as they are so small, its just a case of on the boob for a feed, quick tidy up and life as normal....
The other thing I noticed of parents was their uncanny ability to never stop moving like a Tasmanian devil, whirling around the house tidying, cooking talking to the bank as they went....
Mmmmm this learning curve is steep!

Val, our absolutely fantastic midwife, who as part of her service came round every morning for a week to give us advice on everything from washing to feeding to sleep rota's has asked both of us to write the birth story for her website which is now live http://www.valtaylormidwife.co.uk/index.htm
So by the end of the week you can read a blow by blow account of the stop start labour that got going properly in the woods and ended up being a fabulous natural home birth.

I keep updating the pictures so do click on the pic at the bottom of the page.

Tping one handed in the hour of five!

Good morning all,

So the bean has a sore tummy I think, or maybe a bad dream or wind. The trouble with a crying baby at silly a clock in the morning is that they don't tell you what is up, leaving you to try and remedy each possible ailment one by one before starting over.
I downloaded a "White Noise" MP3 last night, for those of you who dont know what that is imagine a static tv after shut down and the noise it makes. The idea being it recreates the sound in the womb and causes "alpha waves" that send the bambini to sleep...At least thats what the blurb said before I paid my fiver. Tried it last night and was amazed when the bean stopped crying in 5 mins and went to sleep, so impressed i told the couple i met in the coffee shop all about it and the science behind it as they stared at me blankly. Less impressed after 45 mins of noise this morning and no let up in the howling.
The phenomenon of telling strangers details of parenthood is a curious one, I told the entire birth story to a bewildered assistant in the Lanes a couple of days ago as a cue wound out of her door. I could tell she wasnt interested but it seemed I had to finish my story regardless of the vacant expression on her face

I can tell you we have had a name narrow down to Matilda/tilda/tilly or Evelyn/evie. I took it for granted that they come with a name attached but no, we keep adding and subtracting to the list, promising ourselves that it must now be closed and a choice will be made.
The responsibility has led us to consider 8-10 middle names leaving the bean a variety in case of playground teasing or changes in fashion...

And the bean is called...

Well we still don't know, but we are getting there having boiled it down to one or two names, but knowing us two there is more than a small possibility that could turn back into ten.

This week has without doubt been the biggest of both of our lives...OK all three of our lives.
It began with two days of contractions starting and stopping that turned into a wonderful, beautiful, transformational birth of the kind we had dreamed of. More on that later.
We have nested in our dressing gowns, not left the house and seen no one but family for six days and had a lovely time getting to know the bean.

There have been nights of no sleep, nights of great sleep, floating in the birthing pool and interesting new uses of savoy cabbages. In many ways we both would like to press pause and stay in this week for a long time to come. But the bean is a week old and she still needs a name and there are a lot of people who want to meet the little beauty.

Bean pics so far

NewBean