**QUICK POST**

I've lost 4lb in the last 4 days!! Woop woop!!! Weightwatchers rocks!

*happy girl*

6 toothy pegs!!!

My little man is having a really horrible time at the moment -- he now has his 4 bottom teeth, and 2 top teeth, but is having a real horrible time with them, he's all snotty and is having a rubbish time! Bless his cottons. There is much crying, much not wanting to go to sleep, much dribbling etc...it's hard for him, and hard for us watching him in obvious pain or discomfort =O(

Anyway, just a quick message, so I better go! xXx

Tooth no.5 through!

Well, there's a little lot going on...

Alfie is having real trouble with his teeth at the moment. His bottom two teeth outside his middle two are coming through. One has actually already broken through but the other one is not quite through. His top two matching them are coming through at the same time as well, I think, which is quite hard on the wee man!

He has had a real snotty nose, and is even finding it hard to eat/drink as he can't breathe when his mouth is closed. He's been waking up through the night for the past 3 days, and also having real problems with getting to sleep in the first place. We went to a wedding on saturday night, and when we got in at 2am, he was still awake with his gramma! Bless his cottons!

Also, I have put on almost half a stone which is making me feel like crap, so I decided to check my pill side effects to see if weight gain is a common side effect, as I have stopped breast-feeding, I am not using those extra calories during the day so I think may need to switch to another pill. Anyway, while reading that this morning, I also noticed that it says if you miss a pill, you have to use condoms for the next 7 days. Now, that is NOT what I read on the internet when I decided to change onto it! It said 2 days! I am really hoping that the internet is more up to date than the leaflet as it says it was last approved in 2007, but I am going to take a preg test anyway, as I have been worrying about being pregnant a lot lately anyway, and it would explain a lot, despite fucking just about everything up. Bugger. I really hope I'm not. God.

Oh, and in happier news, I start Uni a week today! Woop woop, my daddy says if I last the first week and don't quit, he'll buy me a laptop! Woop woop, what insentive!

Aaaanywho, I should go, I am getting rather paranoid about this whole baby thing!

7 layer Petticoat!

Oh. My. God.

I can't hide my excitement! I went to pick up my bridesmaid dresses earlier with Lucy, and I also ordered my petticoat for under my wedding dress!! I have a hooped one, I just had a bit of a thing about hooped petticoats the way they fling out at one side when standing next to the groom, and sitting down on your wedding day....then I found this:



I found it months ago on eBay for £135 but couldn't find it when I went back to order it this week. So I managed to find the woman who makes them, and wrote to her e-mail personally, and she has re-listed it on folksy.com at £100!! woop woop, with only £8.99 P&P I am so chuffed!

I am getting so excited now about getting married, that I've barely had time to think about starting Uni in 2 weeks! It's all happening so quickly I can't believe it!

Oh...and you wouldn't believe how much I love my little big man!! <3

Finally back!!!

Well, we got the computer back finally...with a brand new hard drive, so we lost everything! All the photos and videos--luckily we'd "backed everything up" on facebook so we haven't actually lost much...and in a couple of months, we may be able to get even more back with some USB caddy something or other...

Anyway, Alfie is now crawling like an army dude...on his belly, pulling himself along with his arms and pushing his legs...it's funny! He also loves walking around in his baby walker...so cute!

Also, sad news about Patrick Swayze -- he died in his sleep...sad as Mark's stepgramma has less not much time left after finding out 3 months ago she had bowel cancer. It's now spread to her liver too, and even sadder as she lost her husband last year. Also, as we were talking about this, my dad told me my great Auntie Anne has the exact same thing, and they're waiting to find out how that goes...

Basically, cancer sucks ass =O(

Grown up boy!

You know, I just keep wondering to myself when I'm going to stop being so amazed by my beautiful little man. And I think probably never!

Brushing his teeth makes me want to cry -- the sight of him doing something so grown up (he, of course, doesn't do it himself, I do it for him!) just makes me gush! And watching him drinking his apple & orange juice is just so cute...

Even finding some stonewashed jeans in his bag of clothes from Mark's brother made me smile stupidly. Grown-ups wear stonewashed jeans! Babies just don't!

Right, enough gushing...g'byeee! xx

Boob-no-more!

Well, I am now well and truly redundant.

My baby is 7 months old, and he is:

-drinking Soya Milk (4x 8oz bottles),
-having 3 solid meals a day -- (tropical baby cereal is wheat & milk free for breakfast and meat, potato & veg for lunch and dinner)
-drinking juice/water inbetween meals!!!!

We also have bought him some snack-type carrot stick things for him to try munching on for finger foods soon...it's tough cause we can only try him on one new thing at a time really, in order to determine which was the cause of any reaction, were one to occur. But we're getting there slowly and surely, and my boy is thriving on his new diet!

We went to boots yesterday, and whilst looking for suitable foods/drinks, I splurged a little, I got a pack of 6oz baby food freezer pots, as these are big enough for me to defrost one in the morning and split it in 2 for lunch and tea...I also got a little container which I saw Steph use a few months back and was amazed by but didn't need while breast-feeding:



and then we saw this half-price (£23) and couldn't resist after talking ourselves out of a £80 jumperoo--especially as we already have a door-bouncer now too:



And Alfie absolutely loves it!!! Aaaanyway, that was just a quick note...I have been asked to work for 4hrs tomorrow, I am very excited, and Alfie is going to Lucy (the childminder's) as like a practise session. After paying her, I'll only be left with like £18 but it's good practise and will be nice for me to see my friends again, and have a giggle at work with some adults!

Anyway...byeeeee x

Allergic to milk & wheat

Well!! I went to see the dietician at the hospital yesterday. While I was there in the waiting room, I saw the allergy specialist walking past. I smiled at him, and he smiled back, looking rather confused...he walked past again, and I smiled again, and he gave me the same confused look. I then heard him ask the receptionist where his patient was and she said the patient couldn't make it. I took this as an opportunity so the next time he walked past, I said "hi, I'm Alfie Baines' mum, I was wondering if you had his test results back yet--save you a phonecall"...so off he went to check...

Anyway, while he was gone, the dietician came and collected me, and we started chatting...then I saw Dr Macdougall (the allergy man) looking for me outside through the glass panel in the door. He knocked and came in, and the dietician got the results up. They were for cow's milk and beef. Apparently the beef one was slightly over but they said the best thing would just be to try him on it anyway...the milk, however, was a very high score. They said anything over zero is an allergy, and Alfie's result was 4000!!! haha...he doesn't do things by half!

However, this did leave me wanting to write to the A&E department. When we gave him the formula milk, and he had the reaction, we called an ambulance (as they told us to when he had the anaphylactic reaction) and they assessed Alfie and took him straight in...but the people in casualty were just plain RUDE. There were two young people in there who were obviously quite drunk and rowdy, but the doctors and nurses just had NO time for us at all. They didn't seem to realise how scary it was for us from last time, even though some of them had been there at his first reaction. But I think that's why. It just wasn't a big enough reaction. The last time I saw the allergy man, he went over this A&E trip, and he said "well you said there was a rash, but the doctors in A&E said they didn't notice one, so it must have gone down by then." NO. The rash didn't appear until about 20 minutes after we got to A&E, but the doctors were literally popping in for a second to check Alfie's temperature, and not taking any notice of our worries. But hey. I just want them to know that our worries weren't unfounded, and he is actually VERY allergic. Grrr. They made me feel so silly at the time.

Aaaaaaaaanyway, we got a load of diet sheets, there is just SO much he can't eat. Basically there are some 'free-from' foods that he may be able to have, but the best thing is for us to make everything fresh from scratch ourselves. It's gonna be hard for a while, but I assume once we've got into a routine, it will be easier =O)

Right...I must go now...take care all xx

*****edit*****

Oh my god, I forgot to add. I went swimming with my friend Lucy last night, and while I was out, Mark gave Alfie his soya milk and put him to bed. When I came back, Alfie was all tucked up. It was only about 20 minutes after his bed time, and usually Mark would have waited for me, but he did it all without me. It made me so sad. I felt like crying. Like they didn't need me anymore. Like if I disappear, they won't need me...sad =O(