puff and huff

With this week’s milestone, we also see puff cross over to being two months old. He still has a worried look most of the time (his screensaver face).

On the positive side, the smiles have been getting more regular, and more pronounced. Mum has had time to take photos of him, perhaps because he’s starting to sleep a little longer each time.

This week was Dad’s last day at work, and so Puff came in for a visit: this was one of the faces he pulled while he was visiting.

Friday night we went out for a spontaneous dinner with friends! In a restaurant and everything… Puff slept in the sling the whole time.

On Saturday, we went with friends to see Sculpture by the Sea (at Bondi). We took him in an ergocarrier, not in the stroller, which made life much easier.

On Sunday Mum went to a Tupperware party, leaving strict instructions with Dad that puff needed to sleep. We had Shelby visit too, so we went to the park, and went for a walk over to the Tupperware party. On the way, we saw this dragon:

Aunty Chan knitted a new hat and matching shoes, which are very cute. They arrived this week.

Puff has also gone up a nappy size, from newborn to infant.

Here’s a rare photo of him looking sleepy.

Firsts for the week:
* first trip to sculpture by the sea
* first ride in the ergocarrier
* first dinner in a restaurant
* first spontaneous evening for mum and dad since he was born
* first immunisations in a doctor’s office (there are some that are given in the
hospital when he’s born), including his first oral medication (to build immunity to gastroenteritis). He cried when he had the needles, but calmed down pretty quickly afterwards, and then had a quick feed.
* first play-date (with Shelby)
* first walk to Riverwood
* first time being left at home with Dad, when Mum went out

A week overshadowed by Dad being sick, this meant that mum had a lot more to do – driving Dad and Puff to the doctor, and keeping Dad away from Puff so that Puff didn’t get sick.

And it worked. Somehow, despite living in a house with someone who was sick, Puff is still healthy. We’ve even had one night with a long sleep – nearly seven hours. It was a bit of a trick, though, as most of the time, he’s been back to feeding every three hours.

On the smile front, there are certain times of day when he will smile for a while, but there’s still not really a smile on demand.

There has also been some steps towards making noises other than crying. He’s gone well at making sounds where perhaps he’s trying to communicate something.

In spare moments, instead of just lying around, or randomly stretching, there’s been a tendency for him to stretch out his left hand – I have this photo, and a couple of short videos where he ends up in this pose of his own accord.

We also managed enough presence of mind to take him out of the house dressed up in one of the outfits that we’ve been given – a pair of overalls and matching shirt. This is pretty heroic, given than a bondsuit is a lot more user-friendly (but not quite so cute).

More commonly, he can be seen in these perfectly masculine, but much easier to change, bondsuits.

While we try not to socialise him too much, so that he still sleeps at night, a trip to see friends, and play their Nintendo Wii, was too much to pass up. Here, after watching Dad play on the WiiFit for half an hour, he’s looking at the screen to see what else is happening.

On Sunday, Padstow was on Parade, so we took Puff there for a wander around in the stroller, and then had a leisurely late lunch in an actual restaurant, stroller and all. Dad had to learn quickly how to eat with one hand, as someone didn’t want to be quiet.

Running late with this week’s update because of a bad throat infection: I’ve been totally written off for a few days, which hasn’t been great timing (is it ever)?

Puff’s seventh week had a lot on. Wednesday afternoon, Kel brought puff in to visit Dad for a coffee:

Thursday night, we went to the baby school reunion: only a few couples were back, which was a shame – it would have been good to see how the other couples managed their transition to parenthood! It was good to see those who made it back, and a particular highlight was seeing a group of people who were about to do their own baby-school tour of the delivery suite. You could sense the tension in them: it was a good reminder of how far we’ve come.

On Friday, for the last day of the school holidays, Kel went with my mum and sister down to Cronulla for a walk around, and a coffee at Grind. Puff went along in his stroller, slept through most of it, but woke up back at Grind for some hugs.

On the weekend, there was homework to do, and Puff decided to help by lying in his rocker and watching the action.

We’re seeing smiles more and more often. I’m still not entirely convinced that they actually coincide with Puff feeling happy, but it’s very rewarding to watch.

On Saturday, we tried for our first family outing to a cafe for breakfast. We chose Cordial cafe in Newtown for its nearby parking, and excellent menu. The staff were pleased to see us (having seen Kel a number of times through the pregnancy), and so we felt like it was a bit of a celebration.

They even helped us size him up against the menu.

Sunday morning before the Sunday School meeting, I took puff out for a walk in the stroller. In hindsight, it would probably have been better to try and get him back to sleep, but at least I learned that lesson.

We’ve finally made it to that milestone where a baby is meant to start with more predictable sleeping patterns, and being a bit more interactive. And he’s delivered.

The ever-popular “worried look” continues as a favourite.

We’re starting to see a regular smile: usually when he’s very tired after a feed, or first thing in the morning after a reasonable night’s sleep.

At around 6:30 in the morning on the weekend, I took this shot – he looks quite the cherub.

This week’s firsts:

– first play in the bouncer at his grandparent’s house

– first time being held by his uncle Andrew

– first visit to the paediatrician outside the hospital

– first deliberate smiles

– first time mum and dad had a date without him (leaving him with the grandragon between feeds)

– first trip to the airport

– first trip to evening church

Though he settles quite well after feeds at night, it’s still only 3 or 4 hours’ gap between feeds, which means that a full sleep through the night is still out of reach.

Another busy week – this post is running late because I’ve spent extra time nursing Puff, trying to keep him quiet. In fact, as I type this, I’m also rocking his rocker with my foot: just one of many multi-tasking skills I’ve had to pick up!

Puff is now over a month old! While it’s easy enough to remember life before he was around, I don’t think we’d go back (except for the occasional deep moment of questioning around 3 in the morning… the loneliest time of night). I’ve had a couple of nights this week where I was on duty in the small hours of the morning, which gives me a little bit of an idea of how Kel feels when she’s doing the night feeds.

He’s definitely growing: I look at photos from a few weeks back, and he already looks substantially different (I could be biased, of course… I’ve noticed that as a dad, I tend to be more interested in him than most non-dad people).

Having worried for a while that his head was moving around too much in the baby capsule, we bought a new safety device for the capsule: it looks a bit silly (don’t you think?) but at least he has some more neck stability when we’re driving.

He’s pulling more and more faces: some of them look like smiles, but we’re not sure if it’s the real thing or not. He also likes having a bath a lot more than he used to: it’s a nerve-wracking time for dad, trying to make sure he doesn’t slide out of grip, but he likes kicking in the water, and it seems to help him sleep better at night.

We visited a few places this week; some with more success than others – we had a few people we were hoping to see but they weren’t home. Still, there will be other chances. Most of the visiting takes place on weekend afternoons, where I take him out for a couple of hours between feeds, to give mum a break.

Some firsts for this week

– first trip to Carss Park: for a birthday brunch (we were only an hour late, due to clashes with feeding time)
– first trip to bible study (he made it about half way through before being too unsettled, and needing to go back home)
– first trip to the airport, to pick up the Grandragon and take her across Sydney
– first visit to a few relatives’ house
– first visit to Two Chairs’ house

Thanks to everyone who has looked after him, even for a few minutes, to give his tired parents a short break.

How quickly the time goes. Someone asked me today if we’d started planning for his 21st – it doesn’t seem so far off, even now.

This week, I spent four days at work, two days on a conference, and took today as a day of rec leave, so I haven’t spent as much time with puff as I would normally. I still managed at least a couple of baths, a lot of nappy changes, and a lot of settling him, so I don’t know that I’ve missed *too* much, but I had to check in with Kel for this week’s firsts.

This was also the last week where he’s had a live-in grandmother to help look after him. Kel and I will certainly miss all the help that the grandragon has been providing, though we’ve learned a lot about patience and settling from her. Hopefully the lessons will stick.

– first funeral

– first random breath test (he was crying when we had to stop the car, but the policeman said that puff’s crying was pretty quiet compared to his own kids)

– first trip to double bay (where the conference was)

– first trip to a baby-supplies shop (where he behaved himself perfectly)

– first visit to the physio (though only to keep mum company – he’s still a bit young

Firsts this week:

– first trip to word by word

– first trip to ikea with Dad and aunty Sarah (he slept through it)

– first time fingernails cut (Mum)
– starting to smile (well, fake smile) when he gets tired
– sleeping starting to be a bit more predictable (though only a bit).

He’s already starting to be more alert, and for longer periods of time. He’ll happily sit in his rocker for a while, and watch the world go by. When you put him on his stomach to practice his neck development, he can lift up his whole head, and look around a bit.

Oh, and he can also scream for long, long periods of time, for no apparent reason, often in the small hours of the morning. At times like this, we’re very grateful for the help that his grand-dragon provides, often nursing him back to sleep.

The second week flew by: this time, he spent the whole thing at home, except for a couple of visits.

– first trip to his grandparents’ house
– first trip to morning church
– first trip to a pub – for Troy’s (one month) birthday

He likes to stay awake longer, now: this has been interesting, in trying to get our sleep. I know: new parents talk about how little sleep they’re getting, and yes, worse things happen at sea.

You hear stories about how you have to feed a baby every four hours. This week, as often as not, he’s gone for two hourly feeds (that’s two hours in between the start of one feed, and the start of the next one, and 40 minutes out of that for the feed)… this makes for some stressful days.

Well, puff is officially a week old: a lot of well-wishes, a lot of gifts, and a lot of changes. In fact, as I type this, he’s trying to settle; scratch that, he’s ready for another feed.

So far, it’s just been a whirlwind of new things: learning how to change nappies so that they don’t leak (and how to clean them up when they do). Talking about nappies as part of conversation, as if someone other than the parents were interested. Learning how to burp a baby – this is all important if you want to get any kind of sleep. Oh, and getting used to interrupted sleep.

Oh, the times when I could have slept, but didn’t. What was I thinking. A few weeks back, I asked the dad of a newborn, “any advice”? He said “get as much sleep as you can”.

The night before he was born, I was too excited to sleep properly. By the time he was born, it was too late. Before he was even home from the hospital, I was getting 4 or 5 hours sleep each night, and was busy the rest of the waking hours.

Last night, he started into something of a routine, and – what with having to go with work during the day – I had a pretty well unbroken night’s sleep, and managed to feel human again.

For mum, it’s a bit trickier, but she’s had some helpful people staying with her during the day so that she could nap.

Looking forward to many more weeks of new experiences.