Last week: a summary

Gosh it's been a week since my last post, and that was a hastily thrown together picture affair rather than a proper post. So. What have we been up to? Well...

Monday

Isaac & I do our food shopping together; he likes to check out new things so I let him explore stuff  from his perch in the trolley while we're going around the supermarket. Today he decided to sink his teeth into a red bell pepper before we got to the checkout! He looked at me as if to say "I know I probably shouldn't be doing this, but what the hey". Who am I to stop a mini-scientist? And besides. Isn't that the cutest little set of bite marks?

We discovered that Isaac is a BIG fan of cherries.

Nom nom nom

And also of eating bits of carpet fluff. Busted!

Tuesday

We went to a soft play with some NCT chums where Isaac had his first ride on a rocking horse! He loved it.

Wednesday

In the mornings after breakfast & while I'm doing the dishes, Isaac likes to drag himself around and discover new things. This morning he particularly enjoyed removing & replacing a cloth from the gap between the washing machine & the cupboard under the sink where we hang the tea towels. I now truly understand the saying "it's the little things".

Thursday

We were going to go swimming, but Isaac decided to sleep from 9.40am - 12.15pm! This meant there was no point us going (the pool we had planned to go to with a friend is about a 20 minute drive so by the time I'd have got him dressed, booby fed, in the car & there the session would've been over as the baby slot was from 12-1pm). So, no swimming last week. Plans? Forgeddabouddit.

Instead we went to clinic and got Isaac weighed. 17lbs 11oz! At this rate he's putting on 1lb a month which is pretty good going. He's still on the chart & doing what the piece of paper says he should. He sat up on the scales this time. I remember seeing other babies do that when I first started to take him to be weighed & I remember thinking "gosh look how grown up they are". Now our Little Man is growing up just like that, but he's still my baby boy...

Happy post-nap baberoo

Friday

Today was the start of the Just So Festival, but more about that in another post. Needless to say it was a totally insane rush to get everything ready & we didn't end up leaving until 3.15pm. Exactly what we didn't want to be doing. PLAN, ORGANISE & PACK THE NIGHT BEFORE NEXT YEAR! Before the craziness started, though, I managed to snap a shot of Isaac doing something he loves which is sharing his food. He really is a very generous child with his munch, despite putting a healthy sized portion away!

Observation

Since Tuesday Isaac's naps have become more regular. He sleeps for 2 hours twice a day with a good 4 hour chunk of day in between. This is great! We do more stuff during the day; he eats a small lunch  at 1 o'clock now instead of getting stroppy & chucking it about meaning he's full after tea and subsequently he goes to bed later (about 8pm) which means...*drum roll please* he sleeps through & gets up later!!! Between 7.30-8am. OH YEAH! I feel like that bit in The Matrix where Neo finally *sees* The Matrix. Lets see how long it lasts....!

3 months today!

Well...at 11.42pm at least.

My GAHD! Where does the time go? I looked at the calendar yesterday and it's December?? During the last 3 months we have been officially travelling at Warp 8, fcuk Impulse! (No disrespect J-L.P.).

I think the 3 month mark is the magic moment for us. I finally have a firmer grip on life with Isaac. It's all been a bit of an ordeal so far, but the past 5 days or so have seen the return of Sarah as she was known, pre-Isaac. She isn't mentally 100% as she seems to have lost some brain power, and now seems to be referring to herself in the 3rd person. Hmm.

So anyway, back to Little Man. Breastfeeding/milk is now definitely established & there's less frustrated screaming because it doesn't let down quick enough. Although he did feed every 2 hours today - 3 month growth spurt methinks? Would also explain the feeding every 2 hours on the dot. Bless him. Still haven't got into expressing. Might wait until this growth spurt is over & then give it a go as it shouldn't upset supply & demand then.

I put him in his door bouncer for the first time proper the other day. His feet now reach the floor. He doesn't bounce as such, but spins it round while he surveys his kingdom (and has stare downs with the dog).

 

Doggy Stare Down

We've been to Cine Babies at the Quad for the past 2 months. Only 9 more of those :-( It's such a good idea, mainly because it doesn't matter if your baby screams because there will be other babies screaming too & everyone expects it! Hurrah! Next month: Me & Orson Welles.

I've taken him swimming twice. That one is tricky because the swimming class I went to is at 11.15am which is when he usually wants to be asleep. I've found another one which is MUCH closer (within walking distance rather than 20 minute drive) in the hospital hydrotherapy pool. Have emailed the woman so will see what comes of that. Took him into the teaching pool with Simon & the girls today. I don't think he was that impressed with the actual in-the-water bit, but there was minimal crying & only a bit of whimpering, until back in the changing room when I unwrapped his towel & took off his baby snug. Even then it was OK because he went straight into another dry towel followed closely by clothses. I think he was tired. Which leads nicely into my next topic.

Sleep.

The Little Man won't sleep until he's the-most-tired-ever.com. During the day that is. At night he sleeps from about 6.30pm-7pm for between 5 & 7 hours, wakes for a feed/nappy change & then goes back to sleep for between 2& 3 hours. This was great when his last wake up was 6am, but it's been 4.30am of late. This does not go down well in the Turner house, for Ma or Pa. It's difficult to keep him up until 7/7.30pm though because he's so tired and grumpy. I think it's time to re-evaluate his nap schedule. He still naps best in't sling. He does sleep in his pram basket for about an hour, but only after 10 minutes of grizzling. Balls to HV. I'm sticking to my guns about baby wearing. He also doesn't settle properlyuntil he's had some comfort sucking on me. I've tried to slip my nipple out of his mouth & replace it with a soother to no avail. The boy ain't stupid. He knows what he wants & that's real live boob. People say it'll develop bad habits, but I dunno. He's a little tiny baby who wants his Mamma, who am I to deny him that?

We're looking to get a new carrier in the New Year as the Hug-a-Bub is great while he's still relatively small, but as he grows it's going to become  impractical. The H-a-B is supposed to be worn with the loose bits tied around ones hips. Having a waist smaller than my hips makes this difficult because it rides up & then loosens the rest of the sling meaning he's all flopping everywhere & his head falls back at some weird ass angle. So. We're going to get an Ergo carrier. I've spent hours, literally hours, pouring over different types of soft carrier wondering which would be best.  Should we get a mei tai type (which I very nearly did) or a clip fastening type? I saw a lady the first time we went to Cine Babies with a backpack style carrier & when we went again I asked her what it was. I had a look at it & it seems great! If you can be bothered there's LOADS of information on their website all about baby wearing, its benefits, why it won't wreck your back (HVs new tactic to discourage). It has a sleep hood which is very important for us as Isaac loves to sleep in the sling. It can be worn front, back & hip. Sold. Galaxy grey to the lady with the tattoos.

Something that reassures me in my baby wearing ways is the reading I've done about how humans are parent clingers, i.e.: not meant to be left in nests like birds/mice etc - makes sense as we're descended from apes (sorry Mrs Palin) whose young are carried constantly during the early part of their lives. Research shows that baby wearing doesn't make clingy, spoiled children; it reassures them and creates emotionally balanced and secure individuals. So, we're meant to be carried around all of the time until we want to walk on our own? Yes! Sucks for people who don't really like their kids!

Little Man smiles lots of the time now. He's such a charmer :-) I think I even heard a silvery peal of laughter the other day! His hair is getting thicker and his legs longer. However, longer legs = unable to tuck up in the sling anymore so feeties get cold! OH NO! Fear not! I've just found these brilliant things. Extra long merino wool booties :-) From the rather awesomely named site, Fanny Fanackapants! Back on track. He likes singing & being jiggled about on his changing mat so I think we're going to start going to rhyme time and maybe even TinyTalk in the new year. We just weren't ready before. I've even discovered how to tie my scarf so that he's not suffocated by it while in-sling. I did have a picture, but I've lost it :-( Soz.

So now it's time for me to go to bed, at the rock n roll hour of 10pm - here's hoping tomorrow doesn't start at 4.30am!