A Day in the Life of Renee and Henry
Today's guest post introduces another of my lovely North West Bloggers - Renee blogs at Peonies and Me where she writes about her life as a first time Mummy to Henry, who was born earlier this year. I got to know Renee a little during her late pregnancy and was so pleased to see Henry's birth announcement. She shares a day in their life with us here.When Pippa asked me to guest post on her blog Red Rose Mummy, I came over all excited with possible stories I could share.
Before I put finger to pad (see what I did there!) I had a good old nose on her blog at recent content. After an hour of reading stories about Little Bud, Little Miss and new super cute addition Red Rose Baby, I realised I was out of my depth. What could a little mummy novice like me write about, that this Mummy of 3 hadn't covered? My list of possible posts suddenly disappeared and writers block settled in.
So here I am 2am, (night feed one) still trying to come up with the goods. That's when I had my night light moment, I should just share a diary of our day with a little bit about us thrown in to fill in the gaps...
So for those of you who don't know me, my name is Renee and I'm Mummy to Henry (aka Little Monkey). Lovingly named for his acrobatic abilities in the womb, which I'm happy to see followed him straight out. At just 10 weeks old he can do a full roley poley, fantastic until I realised he can't be left anywhere without being strapped in.
Now today wasn't our usual baby themed day, today I was taking the little guy to my place of work. This should have been an exciting prospect, however it conjured up a whole new set of new Mummy anxieties. For one, Henry isn't a morning person and agreed time for 'show & tell' was 11am. Two, Henry is a grumpy baby (see my Twitter feed for mood model shots) we are lucky to get smiles pre-2pm. And finally three, I still looked pregnant. Not such a major issue if I didn't work in the fashion industry where style is king.
Thankfully item three could be helped with support pants and lots of layers, shame it was 25 degrees outside. Thankfully I'd picked up a pram walking tan and my hair was still feeling the hormonal benefits of pregnancy. So that helped the old confidence levels. I also realised that I could use Henry as a barrier for hiding my belly and hoped his grumpiness would put people off wanting to hold him. After much trying on, I settled on a pair of skinny (erm Maternity) jeans and a simple white t-shirt (to show off the old tan, well technically I'm on my jollies). Oh, and not forgetting the support pants.
Next onto Henry and our early start to the day. In order to get the best out of the little guy, he needs to get two naps in. The first doesn't really count. It usually lasts ten minutes. Long enough for me to eat breakfast, but not long enough to get him out of his grumpy mood. So cue, mission second nap. Bottle, no. Pacing, no. Rocking with pacing, no. Rocking with pacing and singing, no. It was if he knew we were on a time crunch. This little guy was fighting sleep like the best of them. In the end it took white noise, warm milk and a couple of renditions of John Legends "All of me" to knock the little guy out. Mission accomplished.
Thankfully he slept long enough for me to get dressed, I added an extra layer of deodorant to help counteract the Spanx sweats I was experiencing. Henry just looked super cute in his sheep printed romper. Well he was the star of the show.
Fast forward and we arrive at work at a respectable 11.45, I'd happily call that a successful time. We were greeted by the usual, "isn't he gorgeous", "ahh he's the image of you", "give us a smile".
Then the slightly more unusual, "Is he naughty". How can a baby be naughty?, yes he gives cheek and doesn't tidy his room.
And then the slightly insulting "He's massive", "She's gorgeous" (actually thats not too bad, he does make a pretty girl).
Now this is when Henry earned the pocket money he will bankrupt us with in years to come, he smiled. Not 'wind' smiling, but head tilting, gum showing, giggle enticing smiles. Who had replaced my little grump with the Britains Got Talent show baby? Obviously I just acted like this was the norm and reaped his praises.
My comments however were very vague "you look well". Now is that 'well' as in, "wow you look fabulous, you've lost all your baby weight". or "bless, you're still retaining all that excess water?". I just sucked in the stomach, pushed the old boobs up and said a graceful, thank you.
Unfortunately I couldn't escape the "How was the birth?" questions. But I found that simply answering "horrific" did the job. When people bring the baby into work, we want smiles, cuddles and skiving time. Not stories of C Sections, scarring and panic attacks. Just plugging my birth story here.
Overall our little adventure into work was a success. I even managed to eat a hot lunch in the canteen thanks to the many cuddlers to hand. But best of all, the excitement of all the heads saying hello knocked the little guy out for two whole hours in the afternoon. I guess work isn't so bad after all...x
Thanks so much to Renee for sharing her day with gorgeous Henry, and her trip into work. Do head over to check out her blog Peonies and Me to read more about their life together.
