Tuesday 23 October 2012

Swimming ~ Aquatots Lessons

Riley's just started swimming with her Daddy and she seems to love it :) next week they go under water so we will see what she thinks of that.



I think it's amazing that they can just swim under water, apparently until they are 8-10months they have a relex whereby a flap of skin moves over there windpipe as soon as they are submerged!

Here's just a few extracts from the Aquababy website which is who we're having lessons with - they seem amazing...

All babies are born with the natural ability to swim and are perfectly adapted to immersion in water. One reason is the mammalian diving reflex that makes them automatically breath-hold whilst submerged.

Regular use of armbands and similar swimming aids can create false security and confidence. Learning to swim freestyle (doggy paddle swimming) from an early age is far more natural, fun and easy!

Amazing results and life saving skills are often obtained in a few lessons. They learn for instance to breath hold, turn to the side and kick from the bottom, all of these important water safety skills that may save your babys life some day, making them less likely to panic should they accidentally fall into any body of water.
Most babies are about two an a half to three years old before they have the muscle co-ordination and motivation required to actually lift their head up and breath above water. So until then, make the most of it and let them have the opportunity of early adaption to water. The earlier you start and the younger your baby is, the better.

Adventures! ~ family days out

I just wanted to add a little blog about all the adventures we've been on, Riley loves being out and about so we've had some really great days out.  She is so so good, all smiles and very little crying :) so here are a few photos of our days out...

 
Bracknell Lookout Discovery Centre





Rottingdene Beach and Village Fair


A Railway in Somerset


Godstone Farm



 The Rain Room in London


3 Weddings!!!







Friday 19 October 2012

4 and a half months! ~ what's she up to?

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Riley's contribution!!!

She's growing up so fast, she using her hands more (as shown above) grabs her toes and can even put them in her mouth!  She is so interested in everything, we've been on some exciting outings, discovery centres, the rain room in London, she just loves being out places :)

Sleeping is still hit and miss, she just doesn't need much sleep but getting used to that, she'll only sleep for about an hour total in the day but in a way that's good, she must be learning lots!  The plan is for her to go into her room as she does have a bit of a tendency to lie in her bed at 4am babbling to herself and we only get her up as she keeps both of us awake.  In her own room she'll be able to babble away to her hearts content.  I know they recommened 6 months but it just makes sense as Rich quite often wakes her in the morning when he goes to work too.  Plus she's got a beautiful mural to look at :)

We've also tried her with some baby rice a couple of times, still not sure what she thinks of it, she pushes the spoon towards her mouth but I think she's still figuring out how to get it to the back of her mouth...

So all is going well!!!

Wednesday 17 October 2012

London Hospital Appointment ~ not much to report

So we had my epilepsy review today in London.  Not much to report really. Since having Riley I've only had 1 very small focal seizure.  So we've decided to keep my medication the same for now.  She thinks that it's not worth increasing the Lamotrigine dose anymore so 450mg is my max dose.  Anymore big seizures and the plan would be to start a new medication. We may review it in a few months as the focal seizure could suggest I'm still at risk of a major one.

It's hard as at the moment while I worry about having a big seizure it's been over a year now since my last one so I sort of feel maybe the Lamotrigine is working... a new medication might not work at all, before I started meds I was having 1 a month... I don't want to put Riley at risk.

Epilepsy is such an unpredictable condition, that's the worst bit and not having a warning or trigger for a seizure means I never feel confident I won't have one.  I don't think a day goes by when I don't worry that if I have a seizure right now Riley could get really hurt, I have so many thoughts of what if...

I also mentioned my low vitamin D to the doctor, through my Mum I'm in touch with a professor in vitamin D research so I'm waiting for her to e-mail me back, I've asked her so many questions, that I've wanted to ask for so long but GPs have always just said go in the sun more.  My epilepsy specialist was really interested in knowing what this lady says to me as she admitted they are not sure exactly what levels etc are of concern.  You always know a good doctor when they can admit when they don't know something.  So watch this space...

Tuesday 16 October 2012

AA Mum to the rescue!!! ~ push chair flat tyre!

Panic!!!  Got a puncture in the buggy today, was a good 45minutes from home... I tried to pick it up that side but was pretty sure I couldn't get it home.  They should have AA for buggy's, needed a replacement vehicle!

Super Mum to the rescue, saved me, not only did she pick the car seat up from home before picking us up but she brought lunch and then took us out for a lovely walk :)

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful Mum.

Friday 5 October 2012

God in our lives... ~ the issue of Christening

I was brought up Church of England, my junior school was a really positive experience from a Christian point of view, we used to have Chapel on a Friday and lessons were very much praising God for what we have.

Rich is really supportive of Riley and me getting involved in a church, he wants Riley to experience Christianity so she can make up her own mind what she believes.

Since then religion has become a bit daunting for me.  I see God as a force to do good... we went to our local CofE church a few weeks back, I didn't feel very included and then they all had tea and didn't offer me one, I know it sounds petty and silly but who does that?  I just didn't feel welcome.

We have also choosen 3people we want to be key people in her life... Dan and Nikki (Rich's brother and my sister who happen to also be a couple!) who would bring Riley up if anything happened to us and Emma who helped deliver her and has been my friend since we were 2. However Nikki and Dan don't believe... when I explained this to the people at the church when they asked me about Christening her, they said to choose other people... who else do we choose, I know if Nikki and Dan brought up Riley they would encourage her involvement in church as they know that's what I want... but in the church's eyes that isn't enough...

So it got me thinking, what do I want for Riley, I want her to experience Christianity in a positive way... why is Christening important? Well it's not important to me, I came to realise it's only important to other people and at the end of the day we're bringing up Riley...

Why do I mention Christening in this light, well we've sort of fallen into a fellowship community church we've been to a couple of Sundays now, it was so upbeat, positive and relaxed, they are all about being a family and believing in god to do positive things in the community, they run lots of youth groups and generally try to make a difference in society... but they don't do Christenings they do declarations to God, which are much less formal, more of a promise that the church will be there for them, but gives the child a chance to make there own mind up.

But we do want these key people in her life to be somehow highlighted, so we've been looking into naming ceremonies.  They look great, you can personalise them so add your own songs, poems and readings.  You can chose people to be "important people" and can add tributes to people who can't be there so would be great to mention our grandads who died around when Riley was born...
We don't want to upset anyone but to me this plan makes sense and meets all the things we want for Riley :)