Hi Novice, I'm a first time mum too and I'm still learning with each day that passes. A lot of it is trial and error for me really. Best advice I was given is to try out lots of different things (within reason) in order to find what works best for us.
My DS just turned 8 months a few days ago and is at a stage where he is becoming more mobile, is trying to express himself more and more through his body language and is actually communicating verbally with us using grunts, crying, screams, shrieks (if the screams don't work!) and lots of blabbing (dadada/babababab/lalalala). On the one hand, it's brilliant and I am amazed everyday by what he does. On the other hand, it can present some "challenges".
Eating is always a messy event. To be honest, I just let him get on with it and don't try to force him to eat or to hurry up. I often have something to eat myself at the same time as him (I try to eat the same food as him whenever possible) and usually when he sees me putting food in my mouth, he also wants to eat. Another, trick which you already seem to be trying is the extra spoon to distract him. I also sometimes line up pieces of food in front of him that he can pick up himself to eat (e.g. soft carrots, bread, orange etc), most of which usually ends up in his catch-all bib. Then I have another dish that I am in control of and feed him from this in between him trying to feed himself. When we are out, then I tend to opt for less messy options and take control of the feeding process (and yes he does protest but I explain to him that we are not at home and mummy needs to hold the spoon. Mind you I don't think he actually understands what I'm saying, probably more my tone of voice (I put on my serious voice!) and the look on my face - although many a times he has had a good giggle when mummy tries to put on her serious face!
Nappy changes at home - this too can sometimes be a challenge as he will not stay still! I still change him at the changing station - just because everything is in one place and it's easier. What we find is that distraction works best for our DS. So some of the things we've tried to distract him is to give him something to play with to keep his hands occupied, we have also bought some lovely animal wall stickers and have deliberately stuck some on the wall by his changing station right where his eye-line is. I then point to the animals and make the sounds for each one - which keeps him distracted long enough to change nappy. And when none of these techniques don't work (and some days nothing works), I call my DH in to come in and talk to him whilst holding on to his legs to keep them still or better still I just let DH deal with changing the nappy! Changing nappies in the mall when we are out can be a challenge but again I put on my serious voice and explain that we are not at home and then swiftly give him a spare, clean nappy to hold in his hands to keep him entertained for a few minutes.
Car journeys - not his favourite thing if he is hungry. So have had to learn to time journeys right and try to avoid these when he is due a feed. Again distraction/entertainment work best for our DS. Usually end up singing lots of songs during the journey.... some favourites are; "Old McDonald had a farm", "10 Green Bottles", "I know an old lady who swallowed a fly", "One man went to mow"... I decided to mix it up a little at Christmas and introduced festive songs like "On the first day of Christmas", "Jingle Bells", "We wish you a merry Christmas"! :):)
On the sleeping front, DS does not sleep through the night. He goes to bed around 7-7.30pm then I give him a dreamfeed around 11pm. I know he does not need it but I don't mind and he doesn't mind either! He tends to wake up at least once during the night around 4/5am (on a good night he sleeps through until 6.30am which is when my DH wakes up anyway). On a not so good night he may wake up around 2am and then again around 4 or 5am. If he's half asleep and only whining then I tend to stay in bed and not respond and he soon falls back asleep on his own. If he is wide awake and crying then I will go into his room to see him. I don't feed him during these am awakenings but I do pick him up and give him a cuddle (as he's usually standing up in his cot when I go into his room) and within 15 minutes or so he is back asleep. If I am really shattered and don't have the energy to stand and cuddle him, I bring him into our bed and when he falls back asleep I gently put him back into his cot in his room. I am probably creating a bigger problem for us further down the road - but hey we'll cross that bridge if/when we get there....
This is what we do and it works for us most of the time. Hope you find something that works for you and your DS and DH. Good luck!!!
You don't need to be in UK to have it attested. We had our marriage certificate attested at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi (My DH works in AD). Afterwards, we had to take it to the Ministry of Foreign affairs, again in Abu Dhabi, to have it stamped/authenticated.
After that my DH's company handled everything else re. the residency visa application (before my 30 day visit visa expired), so can't offer any advise on this aspect of your problem.
You may be able to do s visa run to Oman/Hatta - although as I've never done this not sure if you can do it after your visit visa has already expired???
HTH
