Happy Homestead
  • Home
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
  • Wine List & Recipes
    • Banana Wine Made Simple
    • Blaand
    • Blackberry Mead
    • Christmas Pudding Wine!
    • Easy Rhubarb Wine
    • Gorse Flower Wine
    • Gutsy Ginger Wine
    • Liquorice Wine
    • Mead Making Made Simple
    • Mint Wine Recipe
    • Mushroom Wine
    • Nasturtium Leaf Wine
    • No Boil Rhubarb Wine
    • Pine Needle Wine
    • Pumpkin Wine
    • Rose Hip Leaf Wine
    • Red Kidney Bean Wine!
    • Rose Petal Wine
    • Seaweed Wine
    • Spiced banana wine
    • Turnip and Red Cabbage Wine
    • Wine Making 101
    • What is a country wine?
    • ​Can I use bread yeast to make wine?
  • Homestead
    • Dee's Corner >
      • Military wife blog
      • First Time Pregnant
    • Projects >
      • SmallholdersUK
      • Beard Award
      • #Eday on Twitter
    • Recipes >
      • Homemade Cheese
      • Pickled Quail Eggs
      • Simple Bread Loaf
      • Banana Ice-Cream
      • Rhubarb Chutney (Old)
      • Making Sea Salt on the Log Fire
      • Shepherds pie for the dogs
    • Our Island >
      • Homestead or Smallholding
      • 18 days until we move!
      • 10 days until we move
      • 2 Days to go!
      • We are here!
      • Waterworks!
      • Location is not the answer
      • Remote Living Challenges
      • The Caves
      • Reason to waggle (caves)
      • Sea Fishing in Eday
    • Duck >
      • Duck shed
      • Duck 1: Incubation
      • Duck 2: Imprinting
      • Duck 3: Outdoors
      • Duck 4: Attached
    • Quail >
      • Quail 1: Reasons
      • Quail 2: Incubation
      • Quail 3: Brooding
      • Quail 4: Raising
      • Quail 5: Suicidal
      • Quail 6: Permaculture
      • Quail 7: Environment
      • Quail 8: Setup
    • Chickens >
      • Chickens Fancy vs Warren
      • Ebay Eggs
      • Our Egg Hatching Plan
      • Nursing Chickens 1 - 2018
      • Brooding Chickens 1 - 2018
      • Hatching Chickens 1 - 2018
    • Home & Garden >
      • Baby Starling
      • Spider Plants
      • Aloe Vera
      • Fuel for winter
      • Peat, Coal, Wood
      • Hoarding Supplies
      • Coffee grounds
      • Brewers Hops
      • Brewers grain
      • Teabag compost
      • Essential oils
      • Eco Toothbrush
      • No Fridge?
    • Other articles >
      • The best and the worst of dog food!
      • Random acts of kindness
      • Bristol No Foraging
      • Philosophy on Raising Children
      • Close encounter with Bulls
      • Blog
A daily diary of a

First Time Mum

living on a remote island in Orkney

First words?! "A Voo!"

25/10/2018

0 Comments

 
First words! First words! First words!!! . . . 
OK, OK. . . Maybe not quite the first "words" as such, but super exciting nonetheless as the baby attempts to communicate using his little baby noises!

​​Parenting: Ron's routine (1 month old)
​Milestone: First words?  "A voo!"
​​
Books: The Little Prince

​Thursday 25th October

I realised today that for a while now there has been a predictable pattern to our day. Ronnie has developed a routine of sorts, consisting of the same regular steps to meet his needs!
​
Ron wakes up at 10.00am ish and has a nappy change, a bit of a bouncy face time play and a feed, then falls back to sleep for a little while. He wakes up again at lunch time and we cycle through the same steps, only this time he is awake for longer and seems to want more entertainment. We give him a bath at this time, or go for a walk or do an extended tummy time game. He then falls asleep and wakes up again at 5.00pm for a repeat in the essential steps and then he settles down for our dinner. Even if he doesn't sleep at this time, he is usually nice and calm whilst we eat and watch an episode of "Neighbours". He has another sleep until about 9.00pm when I sponge wash him, settle him back down (this has been a bit of a "witching hour" lately, he gets overtired and fussy!) and then we prepare and go to bed at 11.00pm. He usually wakes up twice at night for a feed - once at about 3.00am and once at about 6.00am. He is a lovely baby and holds such a regular predictable routine!
​
​​Parenting: Ron's routine (1 month old)
Ron's Routine:
10.00am - up, nappy, play, feed, sleep.
1.00pm - up, nappy, extended play, feed, sleep.
5.00pm - up, nappy, feed, calm evening time watching "Neighbours", sleep.
9.00pm - up, sponge wash, nappy, witching hour cry, lots of cwtches.
11.00pm - nappy, feed, sleep for the night.
3.00am - nappy, feed, sleep.
​6.00am - nappy, feed, sleep.
​
James takes the nappy duty at 3.00am, 6.00am and 10.00am, giving me a chance to sleep a couple of extra minutes, before I feed the baby. This has been such a huge help - makes me feel a little guilty waking him up, seeing as I am awake for the feed anyway, but he says he doesn't mind it. . . I hope that is true!
​
​Milestone: First words?  "A voo!"
As I was changing Ron this afternoon, I noticed him making the same baby noise that he was always making when we met face-to-face on his changing table. It was a very distinct phrase reserved just for this moment!

​My boy was saying "A Voo"

I realised that I heard "A Voo" before and so it must mean something. I was so excited, it was his first conscious attempt at communication! I said "A Voo" back and got an excited "A Goo" in return. . . Sometimes it comes out as "A Boo" or "A Goo" but most commonly it is "A Voo". . . I was so happy!!!
​
I said before that I think "Hello" may well be Ron's first word, as it's what he hears most often, but James thinks that "A Voo" perhaps means Ron is enjoying "The View"? I am not sure if he can even see the view yet, so that is a little far fetched. Whatever it is, he is only saying it when he is looking directly at us, in a very excited and happy tone of voice, so it is a definite word preserved just for us!
​
​A voo, Ron, a voo!!
​

As it is now the end of October, the days are becoming much shorter and colder than before (and, unlike before, I am feeling the cold too!). For a few weeks now James had been chopping the wood, bringing in the peat, sweeping away the ash and lighting the fire on in the evenings, to take the chill off the cold stone walls. However, today it felt particularly cold, and it was only midday!

This is why James decided to play around with the knobs of the old radiator and get it to work! ​For the last two years I thought it was broken, a relic from the past that was destined to be ripped off the wall when we were decorating next, but after a few twists of various knobs it turned out that it was actually working - and working well! This made a huge difference to the temperature inside our house, and it was a lot easier and a lot less time consuming than bringing in the wood and peat.
​
Thinking about it. . . Before we would just dress up snugly, with many layers of jumpers - and throw a couple of sheep skins on our laps, for good measure too! We would drink a lot of tea and not think about the temperature until the night, when the fire would go on. . . But now we have a reason to keep the house heated and warm all the time - now we have a baby!
​
The radiator made a big difference! Ron didn't even need his beloved blanket to come out from the bedroom and enjoy the living room! Suddenly, it was a lovely and warm house and we were very happy. Yes, it may end up costing us a little bit more, but we figured that it was going to be money well spent!
​
​Books: The Little Prince
This evening I ordered one of my favourite books, one that I want Ron to have, read and enjoy. It is a wonderful little book written by a French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry called "The Little Prince". It is a lovely story that I grew up with, full of meaningful ideas and metaphors that I often remember and like quoting. I found a copy of the little book on Amazon for just £2, it was a real bargain and I couldn't resist buying it!
​
In the evening, I was feeling a little overwhelmed by the constant needs of the baby again. This is when I realised that I need to learn to look after myself as I go along, in between various chores and demands of my Ronnie. This show is not about me anymore, Ronnie has stolen the centre stage and is now the main star of the event! I probably will never have a day all to myself anymore, but I can always steal a minute here and there, make sure I eat well and drink lots of tea! Tea always makes everything better!
​
Next >
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Baby's first day!

    My Stories

    All
    Admin
    Books
    Experiences
    Gifts
    Lessons Learned
    Medical Checks
    Milestones
    Parenting

    Picture
    My Pregnancy Blog (2018)
    Ronald's Blog

    Archives

    November 2018
    October 2018

    RSS Feed

    Subscribe to a Happy Newsletter!

Subscribe to Newsletter

Support Happy Homestead

Picture
Picture
  • Home
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
  • Wine List & Recipes
    • Banana Wine Made Simple
    • Blaand
    • Blackberry Mead
    • Christmas Pudding Wine!
    • Easy Rhubarb Wine
    • Gorse Flower Wine
    • Gutsy Ginger Wine
    • Liquorice Wine
    • Mead Making Made Simple
    • Mint Wine Recipe
    • Mushroom Wine
    • Nasturtium Leaf Wine
    • No Boil Rhubarb Wine
    • Pine Needle Wine
    • Pumpkin Wine
    • Rose Hip Leaf Wine
    • Red Kidney Bean Wine!
    • Rose Petal Wine
    • Seaweed Wine
    • Spiced banana wine
    • Turnip and Red Cabbage Wine
    • Wine Making 101
    • What is a country wine?
    • ​Can I use bread yeast to make wine?
  • Homestead
    • Dee's Corner >
      • Military wife blog
      • First Time Pregnant
    • Projects >
      • SmallholdersUK
      • Beard Award
      • #Eday on Twitter
    • Recipes >
      • Homemade Cheese
      • Pickled Quail Eggs
      • Simple Bread Loaf
      • Banana Ice-Cream
      • Rhubarb Chutney (Old)
      • Making Sea Salt on the Log Fire
      • Shepherds pie for the dogs
    • Our Island >
      • Homestead or Smallholding
      • 18 days until we move!
      • 10 days until we move
      • 2 Days to go!
      • We are here!
      • Waterworks!
      • Location is not the answer
      • Remote Living Challenges
      • The Caves
      • Reason to waggle (caves)
      • Sea Fishing in Eday
    • Duck >
      • Duck shed
      • Duck 1: Incubation
      • Duck 2: Imprinting
      • Duck 3: Outdoors
      • Duck 4: Attached
    • Quail >
      • Quail 1: Reasons
      • Quail 2: Incubation
      • Quail 3: Brooding
      • Quail 4: Raising
      • Quail 5: Suicidal
      • Quail 6: Permaculture
      • Quail 7: Environment
      • Quail 8: Setup
    • Chickens >
      • Chickens Fancy vs Warren
      • Ebay Eggs
      • Our Egg Hatching Plan
      • Nursing Chickens 1 - 2018
      • Brooding Chickens 1 - 2018
      • Hatching Chickens 1 - 2018
    • Home & Garden >
      • Baby Starling
      • Spider Plants
      • Aloe Vera
      • Fuel for winter
      • Peat, Coal, Wood
      • Hoarding Supplies
      • Coffee grounds
      • Brewers Hops
      • Brewers grain
      • Teabag compost
      • Essential oils
      • Eco Toothbrush
      • No Fridge?
    • Other articles >
      • The best and the worst of dog food!
      • Random acts of kindness
      • Bristol No Foraging
      • Philosophy on Raising Children
      • Close encounter with Bulls
      • Blog