The Eccentric American Mama in Cumbria

Dear Mama, I turned one today and while I have no idea what that means I know that it's a truly monumental moment in your life, not beacause everything went according to plan, but because everything happened organically. You were meant to be a mother even if you haven't quite realised it yet. I know things didn't turn out as you had hoped, and that you judge yourself against every mother you meet, but you shouldn't. Every baby chooses their mother, and I chose you. Thank you for listening to me, for always knowing what I needed and for never giving up. You gave me the best start in life, a brother who will one day be my forever friend and a very happy family. I can count on you every morning to make me breakfast and when I'm sad at night you never leave me to cry. You always scoop me and Roy dog up in your arms, offer us milk and sing us lullabies. There's always a plethora of kisses on offer, super fun adventures and home cooked meals. Above all else you

Where is time going? I think the last time I posted Sage was 8 or 9 months and now as she approaches 11 months I can't quite keep up with all her milestones so here's a quick update on Sage and I'll do my best to get one of Cyril on here next week when we're back from Maine! Sage ... You're still as sweet as can be, so laid back, wearing a massive smile on your face if I'm in the room, a huge out pour of tears if I'm not, and arms that shake so wildly I actually think you might fly away one day.  When you were first born the doctor said, "Does she always shake her arms like this?" I said, "I don't know she's 3 hours old, should I be concerned?" He said he didn't know and left it at that. A couple weeks later I realised you would shake your arms whenever you heard my voice. As you got older it became apparent that you shake your arms whenever you're happy or excited and it's so cute that you already hav

Frank About Feeding is using the month of May to share stories about mothers with tongue tied babies. They contacted me to see if I was willing to share my story. I said yes, here it is. To the Babies I Couldn't Breastfeed ...  ... I still love you as though I did. My daughter, Sage Malia, had a posterior tongue tie but it wasn't discovered until she was 2 weeks old and because my lactation consultant went away on holiday, right after she referred me to the infant feeding specialist for Cumbria, it wasn't taken seriously until she was 10 weeks old, at which point it was too late.  I had the most magical birth experience with Sage, she followed the textbook and worked her way towards the breast within 20 minutes of being born. This was a shock to me because it took 48 hours to get Cyril to latch on and in the end he would only do it with a nipple shield. I remember thinking I would finally have the magical breastfeeding exper

We received 120 incredible photos from Drew Logan Photography  and somehow I managed to narrow it down to 15 favourites. Since a picture says a thousand words I'll keep this post brief and only say that while the photos may look like we're the happiest family in the world we actually do have our fair share of tantrums, milk vomit, blow out moments, toddler peeing and pooing where ever there's a patch of grass and the feeling as though we're running on empty. everyday. The morning of this photoshoot I very nearly called Drew to cancel. Cyril was hysterical and even though I selected his favourite outfit for these photos he decided that because he didn't pick them out himself he would throw them down the stairs, scream at the top of his lungs and put on his striped dinosaur shirt and bright blue sweatpants. I let him scream about it while I attempted to put on my make-up. However, every time I ignored his outburst he took it upon himself to push over his sister wh

8 Months I don't have a lot to report on Sagey Pagey. She has two teeth poking through on the bottom which makes sucking on my fingers slightly painful. She still loves everything I offer her to eat with the exception of cottage cheese. She puckered her lips and shook her whole body when I offered her a bite of it yesterday and refused to eat anymore opting instead for the yummy fritters I made. She's eating so much food that I am planning to switch her to raw organic cow or goat milk in two months but don't tell the health visitor! Also her tongue tie has stretched which means we won't need to have surgery, whoop whoop! The other day she stuck her tongue out for the first time with her mouth open. Today I was looking at her and when she lifted her tongue up I noticed that the frenulum had released itself. I am so relieved. Sleep is generally OK although nowhere near as good as Cyril was at this age. The past 4 nights she's slept 11 hours but she'll

Sage you're good enough to eat. You were seven months old last Monday and to celebrate you learned how to sit up by yourself. I think it was all that core work I made you do in the sand combined with Cyril tapping you on the belly so he could laugh as you fell over that finally convinced you it was time to tackle this milestone. You're still as sweet as ever and I swear you can smell me (which wouldn't be difficult considering I only bathe once a week). The second I tiptoe past the room you're in the sad face appears and tears spill down your chubby cheeks until I bundle you in my arms. I now refer to you as my little barnacle because you're permanently attached. You are obsessed with food, maybe even more then your brother which is pretty remarkable considering the mass quantity of food he can tuck away. Everything I've ever given you has been scarfed down in record time. If you're awake you'd rather eat real food and are already on 3 full meals