First contact

Esmeralda was working today, so I decided to be brave and take Jack-Jack out by myself in the buggy, to the big Tesco which is about 50 minutes walk away. I prepared for every eventuality I could think of, including taking my kindle in case he dropped off in the buggy whilst I was having a nice cup of coffee (ha!) all of which took far longer than it needed to as Jack-Jack was refusing to be put down. We managed to leave the house eventually (after accidentally tipping the entire contents of a bottle over both of us and the kitchen floor) and got to Tesco safely. Unfortunately my lovely idea of having lunch together before a bit of light shopping wasn't shared by Jack-Jack, although he did let me purchase a sandwich (my first food all day), settle at a table, strap him into a highchair and get a couple of spoonfuls of food into him before he decided that it would be more fun to scream at the top of his lungs and refuse all attempts to placate him. I chucked the sandwich in the buggy, popped Jack-Jack in the carrier (brought along as a backup) and walked him around outside until he fell asleep, and then dashed back in to grab a few bits and pieces. He slept for about 50 minutes and was delightful for the remainder of the walk home, so must have just been tired, bless him. That sandwich tasted even better at 4pm when I finally got to eat it!

We found out today that Jack-Jack will be having contact with his mum for three hours on Monday morning. We have to provide milk, food, nappies and wipes for him, and have also been asked to send a little notepad in which we can share messages backwards and forwards. This is such a tricky thing to think about, especially for the first time as we haven't really been advised what to write. She won't have seen her baby for a week. Do we try to reassure her by saying how well he's settled and how lovely he is to look after, or does this sound like we're rubbing it in? Do we keep it strictly factual - "Jack-Jack woke at 5am, this is what he had for breakfast, he had a clean nappy at this time, this is when his next milk feed is due." Do we say we're looking forward to meeting her (we will, at regular Looked After Child review meetings) or say that we hope they have a lovely time together? Do we ask her what his favourite foods are, or if there are any special things she does in his routine that she would like us to continue so that she feels involved, or is that too much? I'm sure we'll work something out - for Jack-Jack's sake it's important to us that this relationship starts off as positive as possible under the circumstances.