Nursery dress rehearsal

Did a dry run for the nursery today. Mummy left me there, together with a few nappies & bottles and stuff, at 10ish. Had my 11 o'clock feed there and then a little siesta. But mostly I did a bit of crying. I guess this is going to take a bit of getting used to, not only for me, but also for the teachers who need to get to know me and my habits a bit better. Mummy picked me up at 2 and we went home.

Had a little walk round the neighbourhood with Daddy while Mummy was at the gym, and picked her up on the way out. Back at home we got a few things ready for the big day tomorrow: Daddy ironed name tags onto my clothes while Mummy fed me, and we all hashed out a timetable which goes something like this:

• 6:10 Daddy gets up & gets ready
• 6:30 Mummy gets up & gets ready
• 6:45 If I'm not awake yet, Daddy wakes me up gently and changes my nappy and dresses me
• 7:00 Mummy feeds me and Daddy leaves for the office
• 7:30 Mummy and I catch the bus
• 8:00 Mummy drops me off at the nursery
• 8:15 Mummy gets into work
• 17:45 Mummy leaves work
• 18:00 Mummy picks me up, Daddy arrives home around now
• 18:30 Back home!

Fridays both Mummy and Daddy leave work earlier, and so will I. Daddy plans to leave a bit earlier on Mondays to pick me up, and maybe one other day a week as well. Some Tuesdays I'll also leave early with Abuela & Abuelo. Mummy became really sad and did a bit of crying when the fact that tomorrow we part for nearly 10 hours 5 days a week. The fact that she also has to go back to work pales in comparison.

Daddy can drink again, so he had some wine this evening. By stretching the definition of "one month on the dry" he realised his last drink was 7ish in the evening on the 25th of January, so he decided he could start again today as of 7pm, rather than wait for tomorrow.

Superman

Last Tuesday we can have lunch with Abuelo & Abuela, so that's where we spent the afternoon. Yesterday Daddy went into H&M as they have a cool superman pyjama, but they didn't have my size, so today we all met at Nuevos Ministerios to look at the H&M there. Also Daddy wanted to pick up some tickets for a free concert in Chamartin which they were dishing out at the tube station (none left for the main stage, but he got a couple for the big screen just in case).

Found the pyjamas in the size we wanted (next one up from my current ones) and also got me a few socks as my current ones aren't up to the job. Then we all had a nice walk home. Got stopped by a nun (there are loads of nuns in our neighbourhood) who said very nice things about me.

Mummy has got us into a weekly subscription of organic produce so she & Daddy eat even healthier. They also enjoy the challenge of getting a bunch of random season vegetables (sometimes some they've never heard of) and matching them to recipes. Every Tuesday we will pop into a health store near home to pick up our bags. This time we got some fruit as well as vegetables, all as locally sourced as possible.

Apple

Building day today. Mummy couldn't wait until I was 6 months old so she built my new cot and got it all ready. We also received the missing piece from the urban vegetable garden - and as Mummy discovered as she put it together it turned out there wasn't a missing piece after all, it was hidden from site inside another piece. After that Mummy planted some tomato seeds (Tito had given us some the previous weekend) in some yoghurt pots to get them ready.

Our landlord came to pick up her 5 tonnes of mail but she couldn't say anything about the dishwasher as she hadn't had a chance to talk about it to her husband.

Didn't like today's fruit purée very much. Mummy changed the pear (it's made of pear, orange & banana, plus a spoon of cereal) for apple. Maybe we need to use a juicier type of apple.

Canencia

Huge driving day for Daddy today - he drove us all the way to the mountain pass of Canenecia, a few km after Miraflores de la Sierra. A bit of bad news though: somebody had broken the small front window on the drivers side. Presumably to put their hand through and open the door, but the doors were locked and nothing was missing, not that there was anything worth stealing in the first place.

Mummy and Daddy haven't been to the Canencia mountain pass before, only to the Morcuera pass which is nearby, and Miraflores itself. So they were pleasantly surprised as it is very pretty.

We hadn't expected any snow so we hadn't brought the gaiters or walking sticks, but we found a nice branch for Mummy (as she was carrying me) and started walking. Stopped for a lunch break at el Hornillo, a hostel/refuge in a lovely setting with great views. Soon after that the path splits and, since we weren't really heading any way in particular, took one of them without looking much at the map.

Stopped at the same place on the way back for my feed, but at some rocks a bit lower down from the building where the views were even more spectacular. Not a bad setting for my second fruit purée.

Daddy drove us back home, but since we were in a rush and I was crying (was very hot) Mummy parked the car while Daddy took me upstairs to get me changed and cleaned up. There was some talk of our landlord coming by to pick up her mail and chat about dishwashers (in the end she might buy it herself, so we won't have to) but she was busy. But we did have a visit from Abuelo and Abuela who were in the area and dropped by to pick up the car.

Fruit purée

...and apparently she didn't roll in until past 11 in the morning. Somehow she managed to put on a brave and made it through lunch at Abuelo and Abuela's. Just before lunch Daddy finally took the car for a spin and got to grips with the automatic - he's pleased it's so much easier than a manual.

My 4pm feed was my first fruit purée. Gosh, it's delicious! I wolfed it down.

Daddy drove us home as we will use the car tomorrow. Back home we saw that all this new diet is having it's effect: a quick test on the scales at home make me out at about 5.9 kg.

Wild night out

Daddy did his cycle thing today and found his route to the cycle lane that takes him to work. He took longer than expected so as soon as he got back we had to rush off to Abuelo & Abuela's for my first night away from Mummy and Daddy; Mummy & Daddy had a big dinner with Mummy's cousins (she has over 20, about half of which could make it with their respective spouses). Daddy was supposed to do the driving (as of today he's on Abuela's car insurance), but as he hadn't managed to get any practice in he chickened out.

Then they went on to a Bar of Ill Repute where one of their friends was DJ-ing. Daddy is still on the dry and had to go to bed around 5ish. Mummy was enjoying her first proper night out in a year that she made it a bit longer...

New cot

Oh IKEA, we love thee so much. We visit thee at every opportunity. Hooked up with Tita to go and visit the "Swedish embassy" - Tita wanted to see kitchens. As we weren't distracted by the wardrobe this time we had a look at the cots and got a lovely big blue cot for me, plus all the trimmings. Daddy wants it to be my 6-month birthday but Mummy has other plans. While we were there we popped in next door to another store to check out dishwashers - as Mummy will be working soon as well we need some help around the house.

Got back to have lunch with Abuelo and Abuela and then took Abuela back to our place and spent the afternoon together.

No more ceral experiments

Went to visit Mummy's friend who lives in a hard-to-get-to part of Madrid. But it was a nice day so we walked from Callao (where we had a direct bus) all the way to her house. Did the same on the way back, but I was asleep the whole way.

Daddy came back home very late, work seems pretty hectic for him at the moment. Still, we had time for another cereal mix, but it will be the last for now as it puts me off my milk.

Nursery visit

Had our "traditional" Tuesday lunch at Abuelo & Abuela's, and then met up with Daddy to meet the manager of my nursery to get everything ready for next week. Mummy had been told I was to be placed at another nursery of the same group, just 5 minutes away from the nursery we thought it was (and from Mummy's work), but she was not happy with this as we are operating a precision operation where every minute counts. In the end it turns out I can go to the original nursery, so we save the 10 minute round-trip and all is fine.

Had another cereal mix with Daddy, this time much thicker. I really love the spoon thing, especially getting mucked up from head to toe.

First spoon

Brisk early walk round the neighbourhood and to buy some fruit. Then had a loooong sleep for the rest of the morning. While I slept Mummy put away all the clothes that are too small for me and got out some of the bigger clothes. Today I put on (and fitted) a top for a 6-9 month-old, boy I'm growing!

And not only that, but I am getting pretty good at twisting around on my gym mat. Also my poo is beginning to get a bit drier & smellier with the new diet. Speaking of which, today Mummy made a thicker cereal mix and we tried the spoon. I must say I took to it pretty well.

Mummy's breasts seem to have stabilised now and no longer hurt her, so we can say the weaning process is finally over.

Posted the insurance papers today so Daddy can drive Abuela's car. It's been ages, I wonder if he's forgotten everything...

Barranca to Maliciosa

Today is the day Mummy and Daddy finally get to use their crampons, so they were very excited. The walk they had planned started just like the one we did a month ago, but this time it was just us three, so we could go much faster.

Took the car to the parking area at the La Barranca hotel, gave me a quick nappy change, and set off. We had soon reached where we got to last time and then headed on to uncharted (for us) territory). After a bit more of smooth uphill track we took a side path which was a bit steeper, through a beautiful stretch of pine forest, to reach a lovely spot at the Campanilla fountain.

No time to rest as we had no idea how we were doing for time so, after searching around for where the track might be, continued on up. Eventually the forest thinned out and we had a spectacular view of the Bola del Mundo on one side and the Maliciosa on the other. Here we stopped to feed me (good old vacuum flask keeps the water nice and walk, so warm in fact we had to put the bottle on the snow for a bit). It was getting a bit slippery so here we put on our crampons before continuing.

A bit further up it got really steep, but the views behind us of the valley were amazing. Eventually we reached the Piornal pass (where a kind trekker lend us some much needed sun cream for Mummy and Daddy - I was pretty much sorted already) and from there it was plain sailing on to the Maliciosa peak (well, not so plain as we were pretty tired and the snow was deep). I didn't really enjoy the Maliciosa and started crying so Mummy and Daddy had to gulp down their lunched as fast as possible and head back.

Daddy didn't come back with us - he borrowed Tito's bike and had to come back by train, so we left the car with Abuelo & Abuela and met him back home. He wants to work out how to reach the cycle lane that goes from the outskirts of Madrid all the way to his office in Tres Cantos.

Cerro del Telegrafo

Early(ish) rise today, had a quick breakfast with Mummy while Daddy stuffed clothes into the rucksack because at last we have good weather in the mountains! It's been over a month of nasty weather out there, and pretty bad in Madrid proper. Cracked out the crampons, picked up the sticks, opened up the map, and bought a couple of loaves of bread before hopping into the car and flying off towards Collado Mediano.

Tito and Tita were surprised to see us there that early. In the end, if there is no traffic, it takes barely over half an hour. And at 10ish when we left traffic was barely nil: all the skiers were up on the slopes already (all the parking areas are full by 9) and all the people out to lunch haven't even thought of getting started yet. We weren't worried about the parking as we weren't going to the slopes area.

Waited for everybody to finish breakfast and get ready and took the cars to the outskirts of the village. Today we have an easy walk (Prima is at that age where she is too big to carry all the time and too small to do much walking) but Daddy was dying to use the walking sticks so he brought them along. After a few minutes walking through an urbanisation and next to the road we finally got to the path up the mountain, heading to a spot between Monte Redondo and Cabeza Mediana, two of the small mountains near Collado Mediano.

From there, with a short rest to admire the view of the Cuerda Larga in front of us we headed to the top of Cabeza Mediana, which is more commonly called Cerro del Telegrafo as there is an old telegraph tower there. Here we stopped and had lunch, and Mummy and Daddy had a coffee: we had got a vacuum flask for Christmas from Grandpa & Oma and they were dying to use it.

The way down was pretty steep, so the sticks came in handy after all. At the bottom I needed a feed so we used the last of the boiling water from the flask to make me a bottle, which I gulped down (food in the countryside tastes nicer).

In the evening Tito & Tita went out to a film club after all us little 'uns had been put to bed. Pretty easy babysitting for Mummy and Daddy, which is good as they will need all their energy for tomorrow's walk.

Friday the 13th

Look like good weather this weekend at last! We went to pick up Abuela's car while Daddy went to FNAC to buy a couple of things and we all met up at home again. Tomorrow we'll set off to Collado Mediano and will sleep the night at Tito & Tita's.

Passport

Got my first passport today! In the end the photo we took was no good but the lady there told us to cross the road where there was a studio and get it taken there and to come back in half an hour (Mummy suspects she might be related to the people there, as there is nothing wrong with our photo). In the end it took over 2 hours but now I can travel the world.

Today Daddy nearly got his puchero photo that he so wants. I was sitting on Abuela's lap when she ripped out a piece of paper from a notebook. It made the most frightening noise in the world and I started sniffling. Daddy dived for the camera, but none of the photos came out right. Serves him right for not diving for me and giving me a nice cuddle. It took quite a few minutes of pucheros and crying before I got over the shock.

New feeding timetable

More changes to my life, we have decided to try out a new feeding timetable to get me used to the timetable I'll have to follow when I go to nursery in a couple of weeks time; we move from 5 to 4 feeds a day: 7am, 11:30, 4pm and 8:30pm. Obviously we won't follow it strictly - for example this morning I woke at 5am so Daddy fed me a small 90ml bottle and then woke me up again at 7 for the "proper" feed - but that's the general idea.

After Mummy did a bit of painting (as in the kitchen window, not art) we popped in to see the doctor. The reason this time was so she could sign the paperwork for my British nationality application (one of the signees, who doesn't have to be British, has to be of the doctor/lawyer/vicar persuasion) but we also did a bit of weighing (5.550 kg) and measuring (64.5 cm) of yours truly.

Near accident

Poor Mummy! Her urban vegetable garden is missing a crucial piece. There are supposed to be 4 corner bits and we only got three. She did a photo of one and sent them an email, hopefully they'll post it to us soon.

Went to Abuelo & Abuela's for lunch and to print out a new set of passport photos. Bit of an adventure on the way there - a kind gentleman helped us down the stairs and, as the buggy ended up being quite tilted, I nearly fell out! I was sleeping placidly and woke with a rude start. Luckily it was a near miss. Up until now we've never strapped me in, but from now on that's what we'll start doing just in case.

Mummy's breasts are near bursting as I no longer empty them. Hopefully it will just be a few days of uncomfortableness. Mummy is just squeezing out as little as possible so as not to provoke them into producing more while at the same time making it just bearable and avoiding mastits.

Went to bed at 8 this evening and slept all night. What a good boy!

Weaning day

Had some of Mummy's milk with a bit more powdered cereal for breakfast today. The idea is no more breast from now on, as I am a big 5-month-old boy today, so this is part of the transition. It won't last long though, we haven't managed to freeze much Mummy milk but I'm fine about it; I'm completely used to the formula stuff.

Well, we both fell off the wagon almost immediately. Had a bit of breast for dessert because Mummy wanted to relieve the pressure build-up a bit, as well as spoil me because I'm worth it. Then I got a bit more pampering by being allowed to sleep with Mummy for a bit in the big bed. A bit later we passed by the Milagrosa clinic (where I was born, and where Abuelo works) to pick up some formula milk, which we get free thanks to all our contacts.

Two changes to note: lately I'm not too keen on the hammock; I seem to prefer lying down on the exercise mat, or sitting up in the bumbo (or sleeping in the cot). Also, my wee is getting a bit smellier. It must be because of all the formula bottles I've been having lately.

Cereal day

Had my first taste of powdered cereals in my milk today - a bit in the morning bottle feed, and another in the evening. I find it quite tasty, but it makes the milk thicker and harder to get out of the bottle. We'll maybe try with a bigger hole.

Great news, I think we are jinxed with this wardrobe. Daddy quickly put up the second door this morning before Abuelo came to pick us up (we are off to visit our relatives in Pozuelo) and discovered that the other one must be upside-down as the tops don't match. Back to the drawing board I guess. Good thing Abuelo arrived just then, otherwise we might have had some firewood (even though we don't have a chimney).

Abuela & Bisa went in Tita's car with the girls, and we all met outside the Pozuelo house. There Mummy got her Christmas present at last from Tita (Tito couldn't make it today), an "urban vegetable garden" so we can grow tomatoes in the lounge, rather than walk all the way tot he supermarket. Mummy loved the present, in fact she had been thinking of getting one herself. Shame it took so long - it's all Mr. Internet's fault.

Had a great time - Prima & Primita were there obviously, and after lunch another little girl came for coffee with her parents. I've lost track but I think she is my second cousin.

Daddy wants me to get used to dogs so this house is ideal to visit as they have 3 huge horse-sized beasts which are very gentle and calm. One even let me ride him for a while.

Today we decided my breast days are over (well, until I'm 14 or so) - from now on it will be 100% bottle as I'm ready for weaning.

A bit of home improvement

Woke up bright and early and exercised my lungs. Mummy got up, shooting a nasty glance at Daddy who was unable to. Anyone would think it was him who was drinking last night. Well, Mummy is a complete hero because not only did she spend the morning with me, but she also went of to the gym for a quick session. By now slothful Daddy had finally managed to open an eye.

By the time Mummy got back she was naturally knackered so she collapsed on the settee for a long siesta. After that she bounced up and Mummy and Daddy did a bit of home improvement. First they finally put a door on the wardrobe (to put up two would have been way too much for one day), and they also finished putting up white cloth blinds around the upper reaches of my room to hide the storage space. Then Daddy got the drill out to put up a shelve in the lounge. Gosh that was scary! The noise was so frightening I cried and cried until Mummy took me to the bathroom and shut the door to keep out the noise. Daddy must be so brave.

Irish beauty

I have two night friends - my chill-out song teddy and my night-lamp teddy. But I think lately the night-lamp teddy is beginning to distract me. Maybe it's too bright to have right next to my head, so Mummy today has started turning it off when she leaves me to go to sleep. Time will tell if this helps.

Tit is definitely not enough. Not even in the morning. Got hungry much earlier than usual, so I cried until I got my 180ml fix and then passed out completely. Meanwhile, Abuela came round to drop off the car seat as this evening I have a date with an Irish beauty and a friend of Mummy & Daddy's is taking us by car. Woke up so we had a walk and went shopping. I must have dazzled the girl at the Zara check-out with my cuteness as she completely forgot to charge us for one of the trousers. Finders keepers, so we kept shtum.

I have a bit of conjunctivitis today, my eye is all watery and pink, so Mummy has been cleaning it and dousing me in eye drops from time to time. Was pretty OK by the time we left to see the Irish chick. She's a bit lass (she weighed nearly as much as I weigh now when she was born, plus she's a couple of months older than me), but not scary so we got on fine. Has a great dinner party and Mummy got tipsy for the first time in ages. Poor Daddy with his month on the dry could only look on.

New noises

Can't believe I'm nearly 5 months old and haven't mentioned my pucheros at all! Well, I did mention pouting in passing back in November, and that's what pucheros is, though not a very good translation. It is my speciality: before crying I do some very funny sobs sometimes, which has my parents in stitches, the heartless cads. Daddy is dying to catch me mid-puchero on camera but so far I've managed to deny him his sadistic pleasure.

Eat with a friend of Mummy's today. While I was asleep Mummy's friend said "isn't that Lucas?" and Mummy said "naaah, doesn't sound like him". Ha! Little did Mummy know I have a new sound today which she hadn't heard before. Lately I have been adding new squeaks to my repertoire.

Improving my turning as well as my diction. I can turn round and round, and almost sideways (here my nappy gets a bit in the way). Pretty good at lifting my hips as well.

Housework

Woke up a few times tonight, but made up for it by eating a whole 180ml bottle.

A bit of housework today. Mummy dropped the shower a couple of days ago and the handle now leaks, so we went shopping for a new shower handle. We also stored a whole bunch of clothes which are now too small for me. We moved my changer from the lounge to the entrance so it´s out of the way. Finally we rounded the day off getting me a new appointment for my passport.

In the end Daddy didn't arrive late today, his meeting went very quickly. Oh well, yesterday was a bonus then.

Passport attempt

Tried to go for my passport this morning, but without much hope; we only had a photocopy of my birth certificate. In the end it was good we tried it because at least we learned we needed a better photo, with more light (I think Abuelo's printer is to blame, it slightly darkens print-outs). On the way back home we picked up a box of powdered cereals to be prepared for my new diet in a week's time. We also called the nursery to see how they would feed me so as to plan my home feedings.

Daddy came home early (he claims it's to balance out the late meeting he has tomorrow, for which he'll surely have to stay a bit longer at the office). He and Mummy hooked up the old video with Abuelo's holiday tapes to the PC using an adapter (one of Abuelo's Christmas presents) and slowly got everything working except it's all in black and white.

There is now evidence I'm starting to prefer the bottle to the breast - this evening's feed I only had a bit of breast, so Mummy made a bottle and I gobbled it right down. Had a third bottle later on, my usual dinner, with Daddy, after a first course of breast (Daddy hadn't got the bottle prepared in time).

Wardrobe bar, finally

Daddy posted a CD of me to Grandpa & Oma on his way to work this morning - initially it was just some videos of me laughing but in the end we added all the photos taken in January.

Had a 150ml (minus one or two ml) bottle in the morning with Mummy and then we went with Abuela in Abuelo's big car (Abuela's is being fixed at the moment - the small dent we got when the motorbike crashed into us, or us into him) to IKEA for the wardrobe bar. Finally got the right thing this time. So we put up the bars (Mummy had already put in the drawers) and started piling clothes into the wardrobe. Still a few odds and ends lying about (amongst them the two doors) but at least the house looks a bit less like it's just been bombed. We also put up the mirror in my room to make it look [even] bigger. Mummy painted the frame in bright lovely orange.

Daddy proper (i.e., not the temporary piece of cardboard) driving licence appeared in the post today. Apparently he was born in the US. A typo he's going to have to get corrected, so more paperwork... To celebrate he prepared a 180ml bottle and, after a brief struggle, managed to shove it down my throat. I drank it nearly all down, leaving less than 30ml as I was full up. In no time now all the guesswork as to what colour eyes I'll have will be over (you never really know with us babies until we stop breast feeding) - most bets are on dark green or hazel.

Calçots

First rain, then sleet, then snow. What a morning to wake up to. So much for sunny Spain. It's been like this for ages (OK, we've had a few good spells in the capital, but up in the mountains it's been to horrible to do any trekking to use the new sticks and crampons we bought weeks ago).

After my morning bath (as we skipped yesterday's bath) Daddy tried feeding me the bottle, but I was having none of it. I think I prefer Mummy to do it in the mornings, as when she tried I settled into it. Then she went off to the gym and I serenaded Daddy with some crying. It took him ages to work out it was burping I needed - after that I fell straight asleep until Mummy came back.

We rushed out to meet Abuelo, Abuela and Bisa at a Catalan restaurant. January/February is calçot season and this year, since we aren't going to Barcelona, we have to settle for second best: a Catalan restaurant in Madrid. Calçots are a vegetable typical of Tarragona and are sort of a cross between a spring onion and a leek. They are normally eaten as part of a calçotada, which consists of a first course of bread (spread with tomato) and cold meats, a roast vegetable salad, and a cod salad. Then come the calçots, chargrilled and served on a roof tile. You pull off the outer, charred, skin and dunk it in romescu sauce (almonds, garlic, olive oil and small red peppers). Then comes a last course of grilled meats and finally the typical crema catalana for desert (creme brulee to you and me). All washed down with cava (sparkling white wine) or red wine served in a porron - a sort of glass teat. It was delicious (apparently), and so were the snails and other delicacies we ordered. Daddy fell off the wagon (already!) albeit just one slurp of cava as it was passed to him (he found it easier just to do that than have to explain he was giving up for a month because he is a drunken fool).

It was supposed to be our treat but Bisa picked up the tab and wouldn't accept no for an answer. Still reeling from all the food we headed to a friend's house for her mummy to see me and to drop off my mobile which we are lending to a visitor from Ireland. Then on to home (with one last visit from a friend who hasn't seen me since I was only a few days old) and, after a bottle + feed, to bed. This time I accepted Daddy as the bottle operator, but grudgingly; I don't think he is as well versed in this as Mummy, though he tries (it may have something to do with the way round the teat is, as he has only just realised that you can regulate the amount of milk this way).

I was observed sucking my thumb for the first time today, so maybe I'll be a thumb baby and not a two-middle fingers baby like Daddy was. Speaking of fingers, in the last weeks I've taken to sucking and biting other people's fingers as a decent substitute for the dummy.