A little late with the update this week – the house is working on a somewhat different sleep schedule to before, though we’re trying to keep things as normal as possible for Puff. Obviously this is impossible to some extent – family life has changed forever – but we’re trying to keep his usual bedtime and wake-up time.
This last week has been a mix of hospital visits (Tuesday, Wednesday) and home (Puff and Dad went to hospital on Thursday morning to bring Mum back home).
We had the Grandragon stay over on Tuesday night (Puff was asking about her later in the week, and remembered that she’d gone back to the airport), and we saw a lot of different visitors – mostly in the hospital, but a few people have come to visit at home.
It looks like the prep-work we’ve done with Puff to have him ready to be a big brother has paid off – he’s gentle and affectionate towards Huff when they’re in the same space, and he seems happy with the amount of time that Mum has to spend with her.
On the way home from the hospital, just as we did when Puff was born, we stopped in at Grind cafe in Cronulla, though this time we took a family photo instead of one of just the baby capsule.
It certainly hasn’t hurt that Dad has been off work all week, and that he’s had lots of extra time to spend. Dad has been trying to take him out of the house for an extended period of time, so that Mum and Huff can get some extra sleep, and Dad and Huff can get some time together. After being cooped up on Friday, a trip to the ATM and to the park was called for. Dad was expecting that he’d just have some time on the play equipment, but he actually went for an extended run around.
The next day (Sunday) we went for a longer walk around, played in a different park, looked at the farm animals that can be found within walking distance from the house, and then looked at all the different house numbers on the way back home.
Having bought some lunch on the way home, he managed to eat about 1/3rd of a chicken kebab that had all his favourite Lebanese ingredients in it before falling asleep holding the kebab.
And getting sleep right has been the biggest challenge of this week. He’s taken some backward steps in his ability to put himself to sleep, and his naps are a bit all-over-the-place.
When we gave Huff a bath, he was really interested in helping. We gave him the job of helping to empty the bath, which he approached with great enthusiasm (if not great success).
Monday was a trip to the library where we borrowed a few books, including Mrs. McTats and Her Houseful of Cats
Dad took him out today on a bit of an adventure – driving instead of going in the stroller. In a moment of weakness, he bought a babycino for Puff at Roselands and let him drink it in the stroller. It was easily the most messy babycino he’s ever had. The difference, perhaps, between Mum’s expert care and Dad’s more haphazard approach?
Tonight, Dad’s craving for a Slurpee was realised by Uncle J, who came over and stayed for a bit of a chat. Here he is reading the aforementioned book to Puff, who enjoyed the change of faces.
Here’s a short video of Puff helping out with emptying the bath, if you’d like to get a sense of how he’s travelling.