This is the 5th 6th time I’ve started this post and 10 weeks 13 weeks since E was born, for a while there poo and politics were all we talked about.. E was born just before the general election – which seems an age ago now! I watched hours of coverage of the election whilst feeding him! [I've since discovered V+ and now record all the telly I miss by going to bed so early!]

and the poo conversations have been about a lack of poo – we had a worrying 13 days of constipation, current thinking is that E has a cow’s milk allergy so I’ve gone dairy free while we wait for test results! I’m not a big fan of soya so any suggestions of yummy dairy free snacks greatly received! We’re doing OK on the savory stuff but soya chocolate buttons just don’t do it!! since starting this post I’ve discovered, with another 2 weeks of constipation for poor E, that soya is also a no go. The very lovely Molly writes the particular kitchen a blog chocked full of yummy recipes, we just need the time to check some of them out!

I’ve discovered that an iphone is essential for any new mother, small enough to read blogs/look up another new parent question whilst nursing a baby! I may be addicted to playing games on it though, it took me a long time to get over my spider solitaire addiction the first time round!! Knitting on the other hand nigh on impossible – I’m making slow progress on a pram blanket, started the week before I went into labour and only picked up again last week! I’m hoping that if the diagnosis is correct and E continues to improve, I’ll get a bit more time to craft on my maternity leave! The chicken quilt is also on hold, as we didn’t know the sex before he was born, I’m glad that I picked this quilt – anything too pastel wouldn’t last too long for a little boy!

One thing I did finish just before E was born was a cardigan, randomly in a bluey-green colour which I wear a lot and so would have happily put a girl in. Unfortunately it’s now pretty much too small and with the weather being so blummin hot we haven’t had much wear out of it, but I’m pretty pleased with the finished product and will be knitting up another in a bigger size for the autumn as you can tell from the picture below the hood came in very handy on a recent trip to a pretty windy Yorkshire to visit the Grandparents!

Update on pram blanket I made use of the extra pairs of hands last week whilst staying with my parents and made huge inroads into blanket. I’m just doing the borders to finish off and have learnt that pick up and knit means to pick up the stitch and knit it rather than just picking it up (- as I had done previously when knitting the cardigan).

I’ll make no promises to blog regularly and I know I have a stack of blogs to approve for the Big List but I’ll try and stay in touch! E’s having a rare nap on his play gym – rare in he’s napping in the day and that he’s not napping on me! (he does sleep well at night so no complaints here!).

Chickens

The flowers obviously did the trick

We accepted an offer on our flat on Thursday and there’s now a lovely Sold sign outside. Not counting chickens, touching wood and looking out for pairs of magpies! We’re also booking appointments to go and view places out in Surrey.

Knitting

After more than a couple of false starts, a bit of a strop and a lovely afternoon with a good knitting friend (that’s both good friend and a friend who’s good at knitting!), I am proud to present the half finished back of my gilet-to-be…

My initial problems stemmed from not understanding the pattern properly and having to count 82 stitches.. yep – I have a PhD and struggled counting to 82(!)

But now I’m underway so far so good! The tricky bit is not dropping the cable needle – any advice on that would be very welcome!