Living Arrows 6/52

It occurred to me this week that I have been ridiculously guilty of not sharing hardly any of my Son’s progress, milestones or development since he was born 50 weeks ago via this blog (shock horror) and so in order to correct this, I decided to join in with Donna of What The Redhead Said weekly linky entitled #LivingArrows in an attempt to capture, celebrate and share weekly moments of his childhood throughout 2017 please god. I’m playing catch up so below are his moments from week 1 through to 6….

The #LivingArrows project originally took it’s name from a poem by Kahlil Gibran…

“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth”

Week 1

After a super busy 2 weeks over Christmas visiting family across London and bringing in the new year with my little family it was great to get back into a routine.

Eco hadn’t seen his friends from our local children’s centre for at least 3.5 weeks and was great to catch up with them all at Baby Beeps.

He has been attending this class since he was 5 months old and absolutely loves it. The theme is different each week and here he is captured being a huntsman going on a bear hunt.

Week 2

Eco had been extremely temperamental all week, crying and fussing at any little thing whilst being extra clingy with me and it soon became apparent as to why. Our poor little mite was cutting THREE teeth at the same time (bottom right and top two) which resulted in him being poorly with a high temperature, vomiting and loss of appetite.

Whilst Mama cuddles, playing with Daddy and Nursing took his mind off the pain and discomfort I genuinely HATED the feeling of such helplessness whenever he is teething or poorly.

Week 3

Despite being unwell and not his usual self this didn’t stop my little bundle attempting to perfect and master the new skill he had learnt the week prior…. Standing up unassisted!

Watching him practice this again and again whenever he got the chance filled my heart with such pride. His sheer determination and perseverance to conquer and master a new skill never ceases to amaze me.

Whilst Eco showed signs of getting better throughout the week, Eco’s common cold symptoms he had at the beginning of January turned into something different and on Friday 20th January, he awoke in the middle of the night crying with a horrendous barking cough which worried my parter and I sick!

Not leaving anything to chance I called 111 in the early hours who confirmed my initial thoughts after searching on Google… Eco contracted Croup.

We was advised by an out of hours GP to expose him to steam to help clear his airways whilst giving him plenty fluids and to also attended our nearest A&E so they could check him over.

Upon doing so, we were delighted to learn that his breathing, pulse and temperature were all ok and the Croup symptoms (distinctive barking cough) will clear up on its own. It’s safe to say I’ve never been so worried in my life!

Week 4

Our little Eco is a strong little boy. His barking cough cleared up within 72 hours after first contracting it. What I wasn’t prepared for however was to witness a major baby milestone so soon after he perfected his last!

Tuesday 24th January, 4 days shy of turning 11 months was the day my baby took his first step in the comfort of his playroom and couldn’t help but squeal with delight which quickly followed by a sea of tears.

Eco was chuffed to bits, clapping his tiny hands and dancing whilst giving the biggest of smiles. I didn’t capture this moment on camera, but have wonderful memories of that very special day, and one I will cherish for as long as I am on this earth please god.

Week 5

I made reference to how strong my little boy is in the week prior, and I don’t say this lightly. His physical strength is very alarming.

Aside from being able to tilt his cot back and forth like he’s doing reps on a gym machine whenever sat on either my partner or I’s lap in front of the crib, he frightened the living daylights out of me on a casual Thursday afternoon watching Mr Tumble when he somehow managed to hoist himself up to the top of his cot and somersault out of it, landing on our bed where I was sat.

Of course he found it funny and I was left totally gobsmacked at what I just witnessed  but it confirmed that we as parents perhaps underestimate what our babes are actually capable of!

Nipping out of the room for a second to go to the loo for instance was no longer an option for me if he was awake and in his cot unsupervised.

Week 6

Eco’s weaning journey is going great! He can comfortably feed himself finger foods and has been eating what we eat for a good 3.5 months now.

We have a healthy balanced diet in our house where nutrient rich vegetable led green smoothies, quinoa, fish (in particular sardines) eggs, fruit, vegetables and nuts are daily staples.

That said I’ve always fed Eco things like greek yoghurt, soups, ravioli or baked beans but this week I decided to show Eco how to use a spoon (I know, I’m very late to the party on this).

Eco is a fast learner, so after being show what to do a few times he successfully dipped the spoon into his bowl of greek yoghurt and messily guided it into his mouth before giving up on the spoon and finishing his snack with his hands (apologies for out of focus picture).

That’s me all caught up with #LivingArrows (phew!) and can say now that I thoroughly look forward to sharing weekly snippets of my Son’s life to share with you all every Monday going forward please god.

A BIG Thank You to host Donna for setting up such an awesome project!

I’m now off to check out what the other parents and their gorgeous children have been up to.

Until next time x