2014 the year that...

.... we found out we were expecting our second child
....we handed in our notice to MES
.....we spent frantic months panicking that we couldn't find a job
.....we landed a job in what seemed like a great school with good people and a perfect location
....we had to pack far too many things into suitcases, boxes to ship and stuff to sell (we don't plan on repeating this any time soon!!)
....we had to say far too many goodbyes to people and places that we loved in Cairo
....we got on a plane to start a new adventure as three
....our amazing son, Edward, was born
....Leila grew up into a big sister
.....Scott started a new job and confirmed that it was indeed a great school with good people
....we started to explore Bucharest and confirmed it was indeed a perfect location

Well basically a lot happened and somehow we made it through to the end of the year!

Snow shopping!

Our snowy street!

A snowy walk to the end of the road

Hello neighbour!

Hands out - not really helping!

Finally we convince Leila to help carry the shopping!

Granny Gramps

We had a lovely visit these last few days from Granny and Gramps.  Leila was very excited to see them and they of course were very happy to see her and to give Edward a cuddle.

We spent most of the time in the house because of the snow (so sadly didn't make it as planned to Obor market or to the Village museum), but did venture out after a few days to do some shopping at Mega Image.

Trying to encourage Leila to have her photo taken by the tree rather than get into the car-trolly!

Merry Christams

Well it's the end of a brilliant day :-)

We're both relaxing now as the two of them are in bed, leftovers are in the fridge, stock is in the slow cooker,  the dishwasher and washing machine are on and the toys and general detritus have been cleared away. Dr Who streaming on the telly while we finish the bottle of English white wine (from Fabs and Sam wedding).

We had wonderful Skype calls with everyone today which Leila was great for. She had been practicing her "Merry Christmas" and we managed to get some "thank yous" out of her too.

Leila was very good opening her (and our) presents, and generally obeyed us when we said we weren't opening a certain present that very minute (we tried to keep presents for during Skype calls). She was keen too to play with most things once she'd opened them. A real hit was the wooden train set and the only duffer was a balance game which is too old for her really and a tool bench toy that wasn't as exciting as it looked on the box. I got a gorgeous watch from Scotty and he got a board game and a book about Eurovision!

In between Skype calls we played with toys and ate. Lunch was pate and we had our Christmas dinner for our evening meal. We had a chicken with roast veg and cooked the chicken in the slow cooker to save on oven space and so that we didn't have to worry once we'd put it on. We were so relaxed about preparing dinner though that we ended up forgetting to prepare the spuds and so everything ended up running slightly late anyway. Scotty and Leila had made crackers with party hats and gifts in them (balloons for Scotty, nail clippers for me and a monster toy for Leila) which made dinner just perfect.

Once the day was done and the kids in bed (which wasn't as bad as it could have been!) we cleaned up (recycling bags full and stock on the go) and indulged ourselves by finishing the bottle of wine (the English white from Fabs and Sam's wedding) and watching Dr Who!

Edward at four months

Edward is four months old today - Christmas Day!

On one hand he is doing really well; he can be so happy and does some real proper laughing at times. But on the other hand we have just spent two days in hospital :-(

Our two days in hospital were not that fun, but they at least meant we could be sure that the doctors were taking a good look at him. We're still not sure if it is an infection that is causing his mucous poop, but we're giving the antibiotics a go as well as the new probiotics. Our time in hospital did mean that he got lots of attention and he seemed to really enjoy the nursery rhymes I kept singing to him (well it was that or the one toy that I had in my bag!) and some quality tummy time on the bed.

Edward still has his 'sicky' days at times, and so I still feed him on one side at a time. This means he feeds pretty regularly throughout the day, rather than going stretches without feeding. He is putting on weight, but looking at his chart he's not putting on as much as needed to keep on the curve - the doctors aren't too worried about this, but it's part and parcel of his funny tummy I think at the moment.

Edward does enjoy his tummy time. He can spin himself right round given enough time and enjoys trying to grab at toys in front of him. Sometimes when he is gringy he will be happy again if you put him down on his tummy - not many babies you can say that of!  He does also enjoy being on his back to play and, when he is on his change mat especially, he likes to arch his back to look at what's behind him.

This month we have been really working on sleeping, but not in an aggressive way, just a gradual attempt to try and get Edward sleeping in his cot for his naps and to get him falling asleep himself in the cot, rather than needing to fall asleep at the boob and then be transferred. Edward is now sleeping in his cot for naps when we are at home (but still happy to sleep in the sling when we are out - although these naps tend to be for half an hour, rather than the amazing 3-plus hours he did as a newborn!). My routine is that I sing him Twinkle Twinkle as I take him up to bed and then change his nappy and put his sleeping bag on. He then gets a little bit of boob to calm him down, but then when he is sleepy I take him off and put him on my shoulder whilst singing Twinkle Twinkle again. I then put him down in his cot and hope that he doesn't cry!  He's been getting better and better at it.  I don't do CIO, but instead will pat his back and shhh him if he is upset, and if he is really upset then I will pick him up and do the routine again. If I have Leila with me, then she sits outside the bedroom on a pillow from Daddy's room and is allowed to play her Counting and Words games on the jobby.  She tends to be very good at this, but sometimes gets bored and so comes in to the room.  This is frustrating as it means that settling Edward usually takes even longer!

And as for Leila.... well it seems that the better Edward is getting at settling himself, the worse Leila is getting.  She is really pulling her weight when it comes to bedtime and insisting that she's not tired and wanting more and more books to be read, songs to be sung etc. It has taken Scott nearly an hour from bathtime to get her to go down some times.

Christmas is coming....very very soon!

Well, Christmas was kind of put on hold these last two days while Edward and I focused on getting through 48-hours of inpatient at Regina Maria and Scotty focused on keeping Leila entertained (a full-time job). But now we are all back together we can get ready for Christmas properly.

I managed to get home with Edward just after lunch and so we got to see Leila before her nap.  She was really pleased to see us - as we were to see her!  After a little play time she went for her nap (asking mummy to put her down at first, but then changing her mind and asking daddy to do it).  During her nap Scott nipped out to do some last-minute shopping at Ikea.

Now. When Leila met Santa at the school last week, in an attempt to coax some words out of her he/we suggested that maybe she wanted a cuddly toy for Christmas, and wondered what animal this might be. She responded 'doggie' and we thought nothing much of it.  When we showed her the picture of her with Santa a few days later though she said "Leila. Santa. Doggie" and we realised that maybe we should take this a little more seriously! With everything else going on we hadn't had time to get her a soft toy doggie, and were wondering whether she would remember - especially when she had so many other presents to open!  But in the end we decided it would be best to get her one; better that, than ruin her perception of Santa at the age of 2!

So that is why Scott had to run out to Ikea at the largest shopping mall in Bucharest on Christmas Eve afternoon. To buy Leila a soft toy doggie!

It's a good thing he did as this evening after dinner we had a knock on the door and it was our 'neighbour' Adrian (who has the 'allotment' on the field by the house) who was dressed up as Santa. His outfit was really good and Leila was a little excited but this soon turned to fear. Before she shunned having her photo taken with him (Edward had no choice in the matter!), she did say 'Leila. Santa. Doggie' so thank goodness Scott did go out and get her one!

With both of them in bed we got the presents down to do some final wrapping and sorting of presents (and have some Lidl pre-made mulled wine...pretty good!) and then there was a knock at the door.  It was a group of proper carollers who came to the house.  They were so good! They had harmonies, timing and everything! It made us feel so Christmassy and we seriously wish we could have recorded it

Stockings full. Presents under the tree. Time to relax?

Merry go round!

Bookends

So Edward being in hospital for antibiotics for a suspected infection is bookending this term.

Whether it is the same infection that he's had for the first four months of his life or something completely unrelated we'll never know. That was a 'suspected infection' and this is too without any positive test results to diagnose.

Two weeks ago I started my food diary as I'd been holding off; not wanting to go poop/diet crazy. It may still be diet causing all these problems but it seems less and less likely as I cut more things out and he sees more doctors. What I do know is that I'm going to try and remain vigilant about his poop observations and my diet records, whilst trying to not get too hung up on things. 

He had a positive poop test for Klebsiella back in September which we were told to treat with Protectis. And his poop problems that we put down to food intolerance.  Since then his symptoms haven't really improved (mucus stools and occasionally blood) despite the change in my diet (no dairy, then no eggs and soya and now no tomatoes,  cabbage or potatoes). We've done two other poop tests on Edward and tests for Leila and I and all have been negative but docs still think an infection is the likely culprit.

Yesterday he became and inpatient at the hospital and they did blood and urine samples but we had to wait nearly 24hr from admission for him to do a poop for them to test!

His poop if off for testing now and although some results will be back today, it'll be after Christmas for the main result. Nevertheless the docs have started him on a course of oral antibiotics. We'll stay in another 24hrs for monitoring and then will head home xmas eve.

Mixed emotions.  The bookending just highlights what a tough term this has been for us all and I'm amazed we all got through. Being discharged on Xmas eve is going to be a strange feeling too. It's also tough to be a split family unit once more, but we know we'll be back together soon and that this is Just temporary and is for the best in the long run and should lead to a merrier xmas for us all.

Ch ch ch changes!

You can never pinpoint the exact moment for certain changes in your baby, but these are a few that have taken place recently for Edward.

Sleeping in cot. And now sleeping for longer in cot. He did over an hour for his first nap which was a record until thus afternoon when he did two hours! I was paranoid of course so kept checking on him! If he is fussy going diwn it tends to be a burp,  but usually he goes down ok and maybe has a sshhhh and gentle pat to help him fall off to sleep. If he is still fussy then I do bring him in with me still.

Opening hands more. I've noticed thid primarily at bathtime because I don't have to force his grip open so much to wash his hands. He tends to still be batting toys with a ffist but more and more he is grabbing and sometimes holding his toys like tge shrimp on his playmat and giraffe on his chair.

Sucking fingers. We thought he might turn into a finger/thumb sucker and this week he has definitely been sucky on his fingers and chewie too. I know better tgan to try and blame teething for tge chewing and dribbling (Leila waited until 9 months for her first tooth).

Movement.  Edward's not recently repeated his rolling over but has been practicing the 180 and 360 turns when on his playmat!

Sling. Edward is still very happy in the sling the majority of the time but he has stopped having his consistently long morning nap in it. He tends to nap for 30-45m at a time there now. Sometimes he gets frustrated in the sling wgen he is awake abd wants to be doing or seeing more than sling lets him. I think I might move to using the Ergo more as this is less constricted than the wrap.

The holiday is here!

We started our holiday off in real style today with a trip downtown to see the Christmas lights and visit the Bucharest Christmas Market.

Against the odds, both Leila and Edward had really long naps thisafternoon and we ended up setting off later than planned. Edward had a quick feed and then we were on our way.The advantage of setting off later was that all the lights even along Iancu Nicolae were lit up, but the significant disadvantage was a packed bus and traffic for what felt like most of the way.

Leila enjoyed sitting up with Daddy on the bus, but when we got off at Piata Charles de Galle she was steadfast unimpressed with the large Christmas tree-shaped lights they had there! I think she was teasing us, as the lights really were impressive. There was a huge Christmas tree-shaped light in the centre of the roundabout and then lots of small ones too. Along Aviatorlior itself the lights were stunning as they were strung right across the road and had a 'drip' effect that was really cool.  All of the tress had strings of lights in them too.

To beat the traffic we then took the Metro to Universitatii. Leila finally admitted that the lights there were nice; a huge star in the centre of the roundabout this time. Her face really lit up ('scuse the pun) when she saw the Christmas tree in the market itself and she was out of the buggy and running along the street to get there!

We had a little wander around and it was just gorgeous to be there; the lights, the music, the cold, the dark, the smells and all being together.  I'm not sure, but Leila's favourite part of the evening could have been that she got corn on the cob for dinner (!) while we had some Romania stew-type things with polenta. We then treated ourselves to some mulled (boiled) wine and bought a souvenier mug for our mug collection :-)

Actually Leila's favourite part of the evening probably was that she got to have a go on the merry-go-round. She eyed this up for a little while before making her move - and went straight to the carriage she rode in last time we were at the market!  Like last time though she was so engaged by the lights in the middle of the ride, that we hardly got a look or a smile out of her as she went round!

Edward was awake the whole time we were at the market (he had falled asleep for a bit on the bus thankfully) and was a little upset at times, but otherwise seemed to be content with looking out from the sling and with mummy making silly faces at him.

It was soon nearly  7pm and as this is normally bedtime we figured we should get home sharpish. They both were still in a good mood and happy as we got on the Metro, but then Leila started to feel sleepy and Edward too I think.  Leila managed to stay awake for the Metro and then cab journey, and although Edward did stay awake he was really getting hungry and tired.  Once we were home they both had a quick bath - together for the first time which was super cute! - and then off to their rooms for bed.  For once Leila was the first down to sleep as Edward guzzled away and then was promptly sick needing a new sheet in the bed and a new sleeping bag.

What time will they be up tomorrow?  Crack of sparrows probably!!

Park! Bike!

I had to take Edward off to the doctors this afternoon again and so Scotty came home early to get Leila up from her nap. When he went in to see her she was really happy to see him. She was even happier when he asked if she wanted to go on the bike as she hadn't been on it since Edward came home at the end of the summer. She immediately said "shoes, jumper" and started to get ready.

It seems that they had a great time there even if it was a tad cold! By the time they headed home it was dusk and night fell really quickly so it was pretty dark when they got home. Edward and I got home as Leila was having her bath and both of them finally got off to bed after a long day :-)

All wrapped up!

Last bit of snow!

Outside Jolie Ville

Another doc visit. Another referral

This time the referral was to a pediatric gastroenterologist.

Our day started though with a visit to Edward's pediatrician via the 301 bus - it was a bit of a rush to get there for the 10am appointment as although Leila started to stir at 5.30am she didn't actually wake until nearly 8am!

All the blood and poop tests from last month still show nothing and so the Doc thinks it is still dairy intolerance. Edward still has mucus poo though and sometimes we wonder if all his sicky is indeed reflux or something else.Sshe was happy to refer on to the pediatric gastroenterologist and offered another ultrasound referral if this appointment didn't shed any further light on things.

In the afternoon Scott was able to get off early again and so he got L up from nap whilst I went to the specialist (via two buses as the clinic was near People's Palace the other side of town).

The specialist reckons it is infection rather than straightforward intolerance.  An infection was spotted in first stool analysis in September but seen to be more of an imbalance to be treated with probiotic drops. The plan of action is now for stool analysis for Edward and the whole family. And I must take some of his poo nappies to the specialist doctor to see. If the infection remains then she suggests a possible injection of antibiotics for little Edward :-( 

She's also given me a list of foods to have in my diet and some to avoid. Although the diet regime is even more restrictive than my current 'free from' diet (no dairy, eggs or soya) I feel positive that I have a little more guidance about what to include and what to avoid. Turkey and chicken will still be on the menu for Christmas, but it'll be with rice or pasta for me, rather than potatoes it seems :-(

Tick Tock Christmas Party

When Leila got up thismorning Scott got her ready in her 'party dress' as it was the Tick Tock Christmas Party today :-)  He also got her to wear her new thermal tights!

Tick Tock always starts with a craft activity and today it was to paint and add glitter to Christmas Tree decorations - hard baked biscuits. Leila enjoyed this - especially the glitter part - and we now have three lovely new decorations on the tree.

The second craft activity was decorating cookies. Leila enjoyed this a little too much, eating two of them before I managed to save one for her to share with daddy after tea (share - I think Scotty got one lick before she demolished it!)

Then it was time to play a few Christmas games. Firstly it was a very simple 'pin the nose on the reindeer'. It was so simple that the kids weren't even in blindfolds! But of course they loved it :-) Leila was really good as she was the first kid to do it after Joelle demonstrated what to do. I was really impressed that she got up to have a go, especially as she was sitting the other side of the room to me. Her prize for doing it was a little medal that she proudly wore. And later she added a glitter blue hat to complete her outfit.

 

We then played pass the parcel and then finally it was time for the presents.  Everyone had to brign a wraped gift and all of these were put in the middle.  The kids then took it in turns (kind of) to choose a present.  Basically they went for the present nearest to them. Leila choose one for her and one for Edward and we got a set of crayons, nice pencils and good pens that will be put through their paces soon enough and a set of plastic animals.  The animals were a bit naff really, but Leila liked them as she doesn't have anything like this at home.

During the play time at the end Leila played really nicely with another boy, Joshua, who had a doctor's set.  She also said 'goodbye' to the other kids and is starting to talk about them as her friends now which is really cute.

A good start to the weekend

I broke my cardinal rule today and woke BOTH kids from their naps! All for a good cause though as it was the school Christmas ('artisan') fair.

Leila woke in a good mood and was happy enough to get dressed (she naps in her vest and leggings to stop overheating) and get in the buggy. I told her we were going to "tick tock" but didn't want to tell her we might see Santa just in case we didn't get there in time.

Edward had been napping fitfully and I'd finally got him settled, so I didn't know how he would respond to being 'got up' and popped into the sling. Amazingly he opened his eyes a bit but essentially stayed asleep... until we sat down for dinner (but more on that later)

I decided to take the tiny buggy as it meant I'd be able to jump on the bus if it came. In the end no bus went past us as we walked up to school and the traffic was crawling along so I definitely did the right thing.

When we got to school Scotty was outside and Leila was so excited to meet him. She got out of the buggy and loved running through the school grounds. Inside the fair she was a little overwhelmed but warmed up seeing some familiar faces.

We then went down to Santa's Grotto. Leila had time to do a craft activity before it was her turn. I think she was a bit shocked at first on seeing him, and poor Santa as it was like getting blood out of a stone getting her to talk! She eventually spoke about her new Santa car book and said that she liked doggies and trains. We didn't quite manage the usual 'cheese' grin(mace) out of her for the photo, but at least we got one. And it's a cracker to have her wearing her Christmas cardie that her great nanny knitted her!

It was then the raffle draw and our luck was in as Scott won a hamper. The hamper theme was "beers of the world" so we really lucked out with that!

Scott then dashed off on his bike to get to his  doc appointment.  He'd had an initial appointment a week ago and a folllow-up sinus x-ray this week. At the appointment they were finally able to diagnose chronic sinusitis - a relief really to know what has been causing him his debilitating headaches and that they can provide some treatment to help.

While Scott was at the docs we started to walk back. We weren't going home for tea though, but instead dropped into the Tecadre Beirhalle again to have German beer and sausage for tea.  We'd been pondering another pub meal and luckily Sally and Jim were in the mood for one too and so they joined us.  It was great to have some adult conversation and to relax with friends; it helps that they are great and happy to entertain Leila too. We tried to remedy the sausage ordering this time, but managed to over-order instead. Not too much of a problem although this does all make us realise we would struggle to move back to a muslim country again!

We were home after bathtime which upset Edward, but we managed to pull things along quickly and both were in bed before 8pm still.  We then had a night in front of the telly!

Practicing the Personal Pronoun

is what Leila has been doing this week. And she's getting pretty good at it!

It's really hard to explain and demonstrate the personal pronoun without getting confused yourself. We're trying to model it for her, but also praise her and repeat back what she says when it is correct. Sometimes she is just saying 'mine mine mine', but she is also giving "I" and "me" a go too.
I'm doing this
I did this
It is for me etc etc

Proper snow

And the things we have learnt this week.
1. Forget the buggy
Even with the wheels locked straight it was a nightmare trying to push it through the snow (about 10cm)

2. But walking with Leila takes forever
She just wants to play in the snow of course, and touch it with her hands making her gloves wet and cold.

3. But don't forget snow trousers
As without them snow gets kicked up above the height of her snow boots and her trousers get wet.

4. Snow boots are for snow not puddles
as the snow thaws you forget where the potholes are and suddenly find you're stepping in puddles not snow

National Day and the long weekend

This weekend was a long weekend because Monday was National Day (1st December).  There was lots of other things going on too though and we found ourselves quite busy.

Our weekend started on Friday as Scotty had been invited to the pub by work friends and we decided to surprise them by actually turning up!  He came home and we got all dressed up (it's been hovering around freezing all week) and walked down to the Tecadre Beer Hall where we had a beer and sausage for tea!We had a real buzz when we got home as we realised that this was of doing the oupub is totally doable and a really nice social treat!!

On Saturday we had two nice Skypes; first with Nanny and Grandad, then with Grandpa. As it had snowed (only a dusting) overnight we didn't go out but stayed home and Leila helped Scott out up the Christmas lights in the garden. Itwas nice to start to feel Christmassy and the weather certainly helps!

On Sunday we decided to head into town and visit the Christmas Market that is in Universitate Square. We took the bus and then the Metro as we usually do but had to really wrap ourselves up as it was freezing (literally) out. Edward was sleeping in the sling but promptly woke up as we arrived.  He was content for a while as we looked around the booths but then got gringy so we decamped to a nearby cafe to warm up and have a snack while he fed.

when we got back to the market we made a few xmas purchases of some jingle bells for Leila and a Christmas tree ornament for her too. Leila had her first go on a merry go round which was really cute to watch. She was so happy to be on the ride! We then made he slight error of pressing a button on her 'car' which then played loud music for 3 minutes and almost frightened her t death! It was th3 camel experience all over again! 

We headed home via Pipera metro and a taxi and had planned to then spend our afternoon decorating the tree but Scott was struck down by sinus pain and had to spend the afternoon in bed.  We think it might be an infection high up in his sinus that is aggravated by cold sonhe is going to try and get it checked out by the docs next week.

On Monday Scott had the day of work but he still headed out at 7.30 This was a pre planned trip to Lidl to go Christmas shopping as they had kids toys on offer this week. He spenr over 100 quid there buying toys for Leila and a slow cooker for us. Back home we then spent more time in the garden doing lights and playing in the fresh snow that was falling.  We decided not to go downtown to watch the National Day military parade even though we had planned to, as the weather was so cold and we were worried that it would aggravate Scotts sinus again. It was good to spend time at home as it meant that I could concentrate on gettin Edward down for naps in his cot. They can be a bit hit and miss,  but by the end of it I was anle to give him a feed, put him in a light sleeping bag, cuddle him on mu shoulder and put him down with my hand on him and shushing him and he then fell asleep. I'm sure there is a fair way to go to get this really as a routine we are happy with but I am trying. 

after Leila had her nap we went to Anca's house as she and her husband had invited us all over for a late lunch. It was really lovely to be invited qnd they weregreat hosts. We had lots of homemade wine and liquor, cured meats amd cheese and then a meqt course of mici, sausage and pork.  For desert w3 had three cakes. All of this had been made by Dragosh or their parents and was gorgeous. It was a lovely afternoon for many reasons, mainly that they were easy to get on with and great to talk to, but also that Leila was so relaxed there (talk about 'make yourself at home'!!) And they were hapoy for her to be too. Leila was excited to be there and so really didn't each much (apart from polishing off loads of cake!), but she had everyone eating out of e palm of her hands as she played with Anyas toys. She took Ancas father by the hand at one point and went to explore upstairs and then played around on Ancas lap. When it was time ro leave she kissed everyone goodbye and even sang her own clean ip song!l