Hitting A Groove....

Firstly, can I just say a huge thank you for all the wonderful advice I got after my last post both here and on twitter. I felt so much better after reading all of your titbits and of course, that night Hunter slept for his longest stretch yet! He's definitely settling into both an eating and a feeding pattern now and I don't even have to clock watch quite so vigilantly for the 90 minute cycle since I'm getting really good at reading the signs and acting on them swiftly.

I'm finally loving it. This is what I dreamed of before I met Andy and fell pregnant. This is my Happily Ever After... H is a joy to take out now, he smiles, gurgles and flirts with everyone he meets and rarely has meltdowns unless he is very overtired or very hungry, both of which I can remedy swiftly now. He takes his dummy when he's tired and it soothes him really well and he even takes himself off to sleep on occasion now too and I'm sure he will continue to get better at doing that as he gets older. We've had a couple of bad days in the last couple of weeks but both times he has been off colour (tummy upset last Saturday and this week he was really not himself after his second round of shots) so it was entirely forgivable. You can see in the gallery at the end of the post how he was with his tummy upset last weekend: he met his new cousin for the first time and yelled all day long:(. Little Oskar slept serenely through the screaming bless him. I think the photo is funny and so cute although I do feel for my poorly baby:(.

Not only has H been brilliant but I really feel like I've got my life back a bit now too. I had a glam night out at a fashion show for Seraphine, a beautiful maternity fashion line that made me instantly want to be pregnant again; God Forbid!!!! (there are some photos of the gorgeous clothes in the gallery) and after that, Andy and I went to the Terrence Higgins Trust Gala Dinner and rubbed shoulders with the great and good of show business. We had lovely LOVELY Charlie Condou off'ff Corrie on our table and the inimitable Nancy Del'Olio too. We left Hunter with my Mama at our lily pad, ate, drank, gossiped and watched Boy George do his thang and then treated ourselves to a taxi home (it's been a long time since I spent the whole night in heels and my feet were bloody killing me!). I even wore a gorgeous dress from John Zack that covered a multitude of post preggy body sins. All in all, a fabulous night.....

But what I really want to talk about now is My Boy. I've been reflecting muchly on the last 12 weeks since he arrived and I never expected it to be so hard or relentless in the beginning. New babies should come with a mental health warning. I felt like that period would never end, that he would never be happy, or satisfied or contented and that we would never enjoy being parents but those days already seem like a distant memory. He is a joy now. His eyes follow me wherever I go and I just feel like the most popular girl in town! I can tell he really really likes me;). And the feeling is mutual. My favourite thing to do is to kiss the nape of his warm, soft neck and drink in his perfect baby smell. When he is happy, I am happy and when he is sad, I want to make him happy again. When he is poorly or sad, I feel terrible for him and I will do anything in my power to make it better. I pray every day that he will be happy and healthy for the rest of his life and I will spend the rest of mine doing my best to make that happen. This is the most important job I have ever had and I am happy to wave goodbye to my tv career (such as it is now!) and devote my time and energy to being the best mummy I can be. Everything else seems so frivolous comparatively: I really couldn't give a hoot about whether the TOWIE girls are fat or thin or whether Jimmy Carr pays his tax or not. Now the important things are making sure H gets good naps, that he is warm and happy and smiling. I am in a Mummy Bubble and I'm loving it. I'm trying to not to bore the socks off my friends who don't have children and of course, I'm still me but personally, I think I am an improved version: more patient, less neurotic and infinitely less career obsessed. I am a version of me that I finally feel I can be proud of. 

All of my life, I feel like I have been a bit average: an average ballet dancer, and an average tv presenter but when Hunter was born, I was reborn as a parent and I know that this is one job I will not be average at. I may not really know what I'm doing, I may not have a routine down or a baby that sleeps through the night but I still feel like I am doing an awesome job. If I say so myself;). I feel quite proud of myself and it's a wonderful feeling after years of feeling anything but.  

So now the difficult 4th trimester is behind me, I can focus clearly on what's ahead: well there's a wedding for starters and subsequently, there is baby weight to lose. Lots of baby weight. But I have a goal and that goal is The Dress. I think I am going to take the Slimming World route. Signing up next week so this weekend has been a weekend of total junk food indulgence;(. Right, it's 11.08pm on a Saturday night so I must away and get some shut eye. There is a day of hardcore eating ahead and I need my strength for it....

Enjoy the gallery folks:

Pretty Preggy Dresses c/o Seraphine

More Pretty Preggy Loveliness

Poppy (L) and Nicola (R) from Boudoir PR (the show was at The Ritz Dahhhling!)

Daddy and Hunter. Sunday Roast In The Pub

I just wanna SQUOODGE him so hard!!

My Beautiful Square Faced Baby. (Honestly, he just needs corners;)!)

A Tale Of Two Cousins

Date Night At The THT Gala Dinner

First Father's Day Lie In

Big Foot In His Bumbo

Boy George at THT Gala Dinner