Caleb1styr

March 15th 2004...

Well it finally happened....Caleb is off and walking. After a couple weeks of just taking short steps between us both he now walks further and further and not just between us.

He is letting go of furniture and walking from one stop to the next, we can stand him up, walk away and he will walk to us and boy does he just love it! His face is just the picture of joy when he is doing it as he knows we make such a big fuss of it and he's proud I think :o) We are so proud of him and Daddy had him walking around all day yesterday just so he could give him big cuddles and tell him how proud he was after each attempt. He sure is one loved little boy :o)

We attended a birthday party on Saturday for his friend who is ten days older....and when we arrived we were horrified to see we had dressed Caleb in exactly the same outfit as the birthday boy! But it gets worse....then another boy 3 weeks younger than Caleb arrived in ANOTHER identical outfit!!! It was hilarious :o) Turns out the mother of the birthday boy bought both the other outfits as Christmas gifts then recieved one herself also. Little did we know we would end up with triplets at the party! I had a pic taken of all three of them on my lap so will post it on the pic's page after I receive a copy of it.

Overall the party went great and Caleb had heaps of fun. I think watching the birthday boy's new found walking skills prompted Caleb to finally venture further afield too. For now I am still flat out planning food and entertainment for our own party this weekend but I think I am pretty organized.

Last week we booked our first family holiday, revising our original plans to go to Cairns. Instead we are going to Caloundra for 7 nights in this gorgeous 4.5 star resort. Our apartment is fully self contained with full kitchen and laundry facilities, has a private balcony with ocean views, a spa bath and best of all cable tv..woo-hoo! The resort also features a kids club and babysitting service too so Mummy and Daddy might get some alone time too. We got the deal through 'BreakFree' holidays and the best part is that we now get another 7 night holiday in the first six months of next year absolutely FREE! For our next one we can choose between Northern NSW, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast or North Qld. All the resorts are of a comparable standard and because we chose the highest rating one for our paid holiday we can choose from any of their others for our next one! Great deal for anyone interested in two great holidays in the next year :o)

Anyway I have got up early to update this and I can now hear little noises coming from young Master Caleb so I must dash.

Will post photo's of party when I receive them.

Cheers P

March 12th 2004...

Caleb is off to his first birthday party tomorrow! His little friend Jordyn turned one yesterday and we are invited to his party tomorrow...looking forward to that. Of course we too are immersed in the plans for Caleb's own first birthday party next Sunday. We're pretty sure we have planned everything yet every night I lay tossing and turning thinking about the food or seating or esky's or some such silly detail :) I'll be glad once the big day arrives and I can get things happening. I think I have the cake sorted, having gone out the other day and bought baking tins, decorations and piping bags for it. The only minor hitch is that it will contain an egg so I have to try Caleb on egg yolk this weekend to ensure that goes down ok. If not then I'm sure I'll be able to scout out an egg free cake recipe on the net anyway. Caleb has a mini party at his play group next Friday morning too so I'm gonna do a practice run of the cake then...fingers crossed!

We received his present in the mail last week.....Shhh! don't tell!....but it's a star :) We sponsored a star in his name from the Mt Stromlo observatory in Canberra and they sent us a certificate, star chart with his star marked on it, info booklet and a crystal star that he can use to view his star in the daylight hours too! It's a great little package and I can't think of a more special gift for such a special birthday :o)

His walking is getting more and more steady and we practice most afternoons walking back and forth between Daddy and I after Daddy gets home from work. Caleb loves walking and each step is punctuated with squeals of delight and drooly grins! The push-a-long walker is doing wonders too and is by far his favorite toy of the moment. He loves to pull up on it then he takes off round and around the house by himself on it. It took him a day or two to learn how to turn corners and avoid obstacles with it but he's got that down pat now and loves the independence it gives him to walk unaided where ever he wants.

And if he's not walking he's dancing! He just loves music (like his mummy I think) and we have the radio on every morning for him to bop along to. I only have to reach towards the stereo to turn it on and he starts swinging his head and bopping his bod!! And let me tell you watching Caleb get his grove on is a sight to see!!! lol

His sleeping continues to lengthen, I think helped by the end of summer and the darker mornings. He is doing an easy 12hrs a night now and waking about 7.00 - 7.30 which is great. Being a morning person myself I still get up about 6.30am to have a little time to myself before the day really begins.

Now for the attempts at bubba number 2!.....

This morning was, of course, my next scan and good news!! We have a big fat follicle ready and waiting to release the egg which will hopefully become my next child. Only the one too so no litters and no need for contraception thankfully. It is 15mm today so I had an extra puregon needle today and I'll have another one tomorrow morning to try to get the follicle to 17mm or above. Then Sunday it's time for the trigger injection. This time I am able to give it to myself and it will be a tummy one like the others instead of an intramuscular one in the thigh like last time which hurt like hell for days after. This trigger injection prompts the follicle to release the egg 36hrs after administration. I mix it up and self administer on Sunday at 8am then we have to 'perform' on cue at 8pm Monday night! (Again I'll have the rare knowledge of knowing exactly when my child is conceived to the very hour...hopefully). Then I just wait 2 weeks...do a pregnancy test....and hope for the best!!!! Fingers and toes crossed for success again first time like we had with Caleb. If not it will be next month to try again so that's not so bad either. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now wish us luck for Monday evening and we'll see if we can't create another little miracle!!

Cheers P

March 8th 2004...

Just wanted to add a quick entry to tell everyone how the attempts for baby number two are going :o)

Well we had the scan on last Wednesday but the initial double does of clomid had produced no results on my lazy old ovaries *wink*. So we went home with a second double dose of clomid to take over the next 5 days then back today for another scan.

The other tablets that have been making me ill however have, and are to, continue still at this stage...Ugh!

Anyway today's scan again showed no progress so it's onto the injections now. I have been given a needle pen (like diabetic ones) that I am using to give myself subcutaneous injections each morning into my tummy. Being a nurse the whole needle thing doesn't worry me and they are virtually painless anyway. This needle is to stimulate a follicle to produce the egg I need. So then I have another scan on Friday morning and we'll see if we have had any luck.

The doctor informed me that if we have too much luck, ie too many follicles growing to release their eggs then we will have to use contraception for this month then try again later as they don't want, and won't allow me, to have a litter!!!!!!

Simon and I have agreed that if there were up to 2 follicles we would take our chances on twins but don't want to risk any more than that.....Eeeek!

If this month doesn't work it may be another few months before we try again due to the Dr only running IVF clinics here every few months (he is based in Brisbane). But for now we'll keep our fingers crossed the injections get things moving and this month may be a success!

Will keep you posted how Friday's scan goes.

Cheers P

March 3rd 2004...

Hi there everyone! Just a quick update today to say the trip away went great :) We broke up the journey there by visiting his godmother then visiting his Aunty on the way home so that made all the travel more bearable. Still 5hrs driving each way but Caleb did really well. He had naps both ways and was entertained by his Granny and Unky Ben in the back seat.

The wedding was gorgeous and went off smoothly. The bride looked stunning and a great time was had by all. We plied Caleb with dry fruit to munch during the ceremony which kept him quiet and happy. He also had a one hour nap during the reception meal time which was great timing.

His day naps were about half the normal while we were away due to having to sleep in car seats, strollers and portacots etc but he managed pretty well regardless. I'm sure it was intense for him to be meeting dozens of new people as well as dealing with unfamiliar surroundings but we were so proud of how he did.

We have just brought him a little push along walker/activity centre and he was pulling up on it and walking all over the house with it on the second day of having it. He picks up things so quick! It's weird to see him walking along upright though? My baby boy is growing so fast!

We had a play date with some other mom's and bub's at Maze Mania yesterday and he had a ball playing around there. It's such a great place and being free for his age is the best part!

Just this morning he had a bit of a run in with the corner of the lounge handle and split his lip open but he had a quick cry then got over it in no time :)

We are off to the specialist for my scan this afternoon. I can't wait to introduce Caleb to the Doctor who blessed us with our little miracle. Fingers crossed he'll pull it off again too. I am hoping that he will reduce my meds too or tell me I can stop them now as I am pretty sick of being nauseous all day and night. (so glad I didn't have to have much morning sickness during pregnancy!).

Anyway will let you know how the baby making goes.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers P

February 27th 2004...

We are all heading off to Tweed Heads for a family wedding in the morning so I've got to churn this entry out quick before dashing off to playgroup then home to do some serious packing :o)

Caleb took his first steps earlier this week on Tuesday...(11 months old!) Incidentally it was to reach a cold beer in Daddy's hand but everyone just agrees that beers bound to be in his genes and is no surprise!!...I don't know what they could mean by that *wink* He was pretty proud of his achievement too and had a few goes at it to illicit more cheers and applause I think. As well as this he is standing unsupported more and more and is really good at getting right onto the point of his tippy toes like a ballerina...Daddy can do that too so I guess that's where that came from as I sure as heck can't do it.

I finally got hold of that soy-cheese last week. A cheddar style cheese and a cream cheese and he chows down happily on both. So that's great now to have alternatives for all the dairy products I previously had to avoid. He's also mad for his dry fruit and loves apricot, dates and sultana's together. I also tried some BBQ chicken with his evening vege's this week and he thought that was lip-smacing good..literally. He loves his bread fingers and his favorites are avocado, vegemite and cream cheese...individually of course!

Last weekend we had our first true baby-free outing while Granny stayed with Caleb for 4hrs while we went to the cinema to see Lord of the Rings. It was great to get out, although a little hard to concentrate on the movie wondering how he was. As it turned out he was great and had a ball playing with Granny.

We heard back about Coda this week and apparently he is loving his new home...roaming the property at will, riding in cars and sleeping inside!!! I know he would love that! It was good to hear and they even emailed us a couple of pic's of him which was really thoughtful.

Another little habit Caleb has picked up is teeth grinding....which sounds awful and gives me chills to hear it....Eeek! He has got 6 teeth in the last 8 weeks so I guess he's just experimenting with what they can do and what noises they can make??

I have been pretty ill most of the time from my fertility med's the last few weeks...just ongoing nausea and loss of appetite. I didn't get morning sickness when I was pregnant with Caleb and if I am lucky enough to miss it this time then I guess I should be thankful because this nausea thing really blows!!

Yesterday we booked a holiday to Cairns in June thanks to the Jetstar/Virgin ticket price war. Caleb was young enough to ride for free on our laps but since they were so cheap we got him a seat too and I'll think when the time comes we'll be glad of it because I don't know how he'll be cooped up for two and a half hours as it is?? Anyway we got 3 return tickets from Brisbane to Cairns for $234!!! Bargain! And we have found a 7 night accommodation package that gives us another 7 night holiday in the first 6 months of next year to the resort of our choice in Northern NSW, Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast for Free! (both at 4-5 star establishments)....Nice!

Thankfully the weather has cooled a little at last since yesterday and we have been able to give the poor old air-con a breather. Lots of rain though has meant delays for Simon's jobs so he took the day off on Wednesday and we took Caleb to Maze Mania and it was great!! It was free of charge for his age and he got to climb ramps up into playgyms, slide down slippery dip tunnels and into big ball pits. We have decided to have his 2nd birthday party there since he will be old enough to use the bigger equipment by then. Now that we have been once we will definitely visit again because we all had so much fun there....and FREE....what can you do for free these days???

Anyway almost time to wake him for Playgroup so I must dash. Hope all goes well while we are away this weekend. We are also going to squeeze in a visit to his Godmother and Aunty and Uncle and Cousins on the way there and back too so he has a big few days lined up. Will let you know how we went.

Cheers P

February 18th 2004...

Not a great lot happening the last week. We have continued with the increase in family foods. Last week he had some beef, vege and noodle stir-fry which he though was pretty good. We have added prunes as a second dried fruit to give him something sweet but healthy to nibble on and he loves them and the apricots together. Will try some sultana's today and see how they go. He also tried a little breast flesh from apricot chicken the other night and devoured that up in seconds....loves chicken like mommy I think :o) He has really adjusted to his new drinking cup too and loves to swig the cold water by himself. I finally found a dairy free cheese too so I'm off to get some this morning...hope he takes that well as soft cheese is an easy healthy finger food snack.

We brought him some gorgeous new shoes to go with his wedding outfit too. They are sandals that light up with flashing lights along the sole as he walks on them. They are unbelievably cute too!!! I saw a little boy wearing some similar ones at the bowling alley the other weekend and just had to ask his mom where they came from. He gets a kick out of watching them flash and sparkle and it's like every step is a carnival in progress *wink* hehehe

His sleep has been slowly extending of late after a few sleepless weeks thanks to some itchy eczema on his legs and scalp that he was waking up all through the night to scratch. He goes to bed at 7.30PM now and while he was waking about 6.30am on average it has now got to 7am the last few days. A good 12hrs is better for him in the long run too. His day naps are down from 3 to 2 now, an hour in the morning and 2hrs in the arvo which is great for a little free time for me.

Actually speaking of free time...he is visiting Granny tomorrow for about 2hrs while I do some hardcore housework and cleaning in his absence. Much easier to do without a taxi running into my heels every step of the way :o) Granny stayed here with him for an hour on Valentines day and he visited her for about an hour yesterday while I did some errands but other than that he has never been minded by anyone else until now. It's not something I like to make a habit of ...my baby - my responsibility... but the occasional visit with Granny is good for both of them. Not to mention how excited Granny gets at every opportunity to care for him :o)

Caleb continues to explore his inner dance-diva (!) every day now....bopping the minute he hears a good strong beat :o) It's just he cutest. He loves it even more when mummy and daddy do some bopping right along with him.

On a sad note we had to say goodbye to our beautiful puppy Coda last weekend. He was our 3yr old border collie who was as much a part of the family as any one of us. It was terribly hard to do but we had to rehome him to a man named Bernie who lives on a nearby 165 acre farm with chickens, pigs and dams for Coda to enjoy. He was becoming increasingly protective of us all and while he would never bite us or Caleb it was only a matter of time until he gave someone else a serious bite we think. Caleb wouldn't be able to play with friends in the yard without Coda nipping or biting at them and if we didn't take this opportunity then a more suitable one may not have been found if we waited until he bit someone for real. It was heartbreaking to see him go and I can't stop thinking about him all week - wondering if he has settled in and is not fretting for us? I have never given away a pet in my life and after this never want to do it again. But in the end you cannot put them above the safety of children or other adults so for his sake he had to go :o(. I hope he is loving his new farm life though. We will get another dog in time. When we chose Coda we believed we wouldn't have children so this time we will choose a more child friendly breed. Not sure what yet but we are in no hurry. For now I'd give anything just to see Coda and know he's alright without us :o(

Cheers

February 11th 2004...

It's been a while since my last update so I'll have to try to keep things brief for this one or you'll be reading forever and a day. Ok food first....

We've now moved Caleb onto more family foods over the old puree foods. He is having vegemite bread fingers, tuna, and apricot, kiwi and other fruit pieces instead of mash. We have added wheatgerm to his weetbix in the morning for extra goodness and he continues to tolerate straight soy milk (not formula) in his cereal now which is good. He also has the soy yoghurt and this week I found a dairy free margarine for him which he has also tolerated well. So just the cheese to find now and he's eating all the ''dairy'' things he previously missed out on. He's really getting into all the finger food self serving and loves to mush it into his highchair table while he's at it too! :o) Before Caleb came into our lives Simon and I always ate tea in the lounge while watching tele. Now that we want to set the right example for Caleb we eat every dinner at the table with him feeding himself beside us in his highchair. Not only does this mean less tv watching for us but also ensures Caleb will be into the right habits from day one. When he self feeds we put on one of those plastic scoop bibs and he delights in scooping out all his leftovers for anther chew...so nothings wasted and the floor stays much cleaner too *wink*. He is also now taking additional drinks (yummy, healthy water only) in a sipper cup and seems to really like it that way. We got a new cup which was easier than the other non-spill one we had...which was so non-spill even I could barely suck a drop out of it. :o)

Now that I can use milk and butter I should have no probs cooking him a cake for his birthday. I hired a stack of cake books out of the library and have settled on a train carriage cake design...fingers crossed I don't' make a complete mess of it :o) Speaking of his birthday we have decided on his present....we are buying him a star!! You can sponsor and name a star from the Mt Stromlo observatory in Canberra (proceeds go towards their post bushfire rebuilding). Not only is it a unique gift that no-one else I know has but also it's something he'll have forever. It comes with a star map to locate it, certificate and also a crystal replica so he can see his 'star' in the daytime also. We are stoked about getting it and can't wait for it to arrive.

Mobility wise things continue to progress at alarming rates. He now stands by himself for short spells and is beginning to stretch out to far away furniture but as yet has not taken that first step to it. He loves to chase the cat all over the house and nothing on his level is safe anymore!!! All of our cupboards, freezers and even toilets are locked to keep his sticky-beak little fingers out! He likes to climb up and over things as well so I have to be extra vigilant at the moment. He has taken to always sitting the same way I did as a child...sitting on his bum with each leg bent by his side with heals against his bum (hard to describe but I'm sure you can picture it).

It seems all our dancing with him has paid off now because he loves music and dancing now. His dancing is more like feet stomping and upper body and head banging....hehehe. So cute when he really gets into it :o)

His playgroup has started up again for the year which he just loves more than ever now that he is more mobile and can cruise from toy to toy. Not to mention climbing up on the stage the other week to get the toy I had taken off him!

His eczema is going pretty well at the moment. His cheeks are pretty clear most days with just the occasional flare up. He has been sleeping poorly of late due to scratching patches on his legs but long pants in bed seem to help. We had our whole house air-conditioned recently so at least that makes sleeping in long pants bearable for him. We have brought a gorgeous tigger sleeping bag suit for him this winter...can't wait to see him in it :o)

He now knows the sound of the garage door opening as Daddy arrives home and cruise's over to the door to great him each day with big smiles and hugs. He and Daddy then spend the afternoon squealing and playing around and he just loves his Daddy to bits! It's gorgeous to watch them play. I think Simon gets a kick out of his daily greeting too after missing him all day. And what a nice routine for him to have gotten himself into...makes Daddy feel super loved :o)

We have a family wedding to go to in NSW at the end of this month which will be a big trip for him. We have a self contained cabin to stay in though so he'll be settled in easily. I have got him a gorgeous new outfit for the occasion too....any excuse to shop!!

Our other news is that we are now back on all our fertility medication again ready to hopefully conceive again in the next month. I'm feeling a little nauseous again on them and I'm sure I rattle when I walk but if it works again it will be all worthwhile. Just think what a lovely Christmas gift he or she would make....fingers crossed!!!!

I finally have a heap of new pic's to post so I'll go now and update the pic's page. Be sure to drop in and check them out before you leave. Just be patient as always for new pic's to load.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers P

January 26th 2004...

Happy Australia Day everyone!

Well let's see...where do I start this week. Food wise things continue to expand in variety. We have introduced mango this week and just like his mommy he loves it! We have also found a great soyghurt (soy yoghurt) which he has been enjoying every day for lunch with his fruit so that has been great. It is completely dairy free and although mommy thinks it tastes like nasty goo babies pure palate thinks it's just fine..thankfully! He also now has straight soy milk on his weet bix each morning with no ill effects so I know I can safely use that in cooking and food preparation now too. So with milk and yoghurt safely added now all I need to do is track down a soy cheese and he'll be eating the same as most bubs can enjoy. I did find one soy cheese at Woolies but it had dairy protein in it (the allergic part) so I am going to check out the health food stores this week for an alternative that's entirely dairy free.

Both Caleb and I have had our first dose of the flu last week. My first since before I was pregnant and his first ever. While he had a cough, temp and runny nose for two days only I am up to day 8 and still battling the mother of all flu's!! It was really hard to look after the sick little man when I was so sick myself....a cruel twist of nature that isn't it? But once he got better it was even harder because he was back to his active self while I struggled to stand let alone keep up with him :o)

And boy is he more active then ever. Last night I watched as he cruised from our lounge room/patio sliding door, along the lounge, around the coffee table, around the wall and into my bedroom, around my bedside table, around my bed and over to my bedroom window in less than a minute. He does it at such a pace that I am sure he is going to trip up on his own feet but he somehow manages to keep up. I keep his stack hat on him so he is safe to explore his independence and autonomy without giving himself a major head injury on the tiles in the process. This weekend just gone he has been insisting on walking with only one hand holding ours while the other trails along furniture or swings around for extra balance. It is amazing how fast he is progressing and it is only a matter of time now before he takes those first few brave steps. He only turned 10 months old 5 days ago and nearly walking already...boy am I in for some fun in the weeks ahead!!! :o)

I was really pleased to hear Simon say yesterday that he really tries to ensure his time with him is full of variety and learning opportunities. We both move him from inside to out, in the pool, in the gardens and parks touching trees and grasses, in ball pits and walkers, floor play and furniture cruising or just walking around the house. We still read to him almost every day since he was born and I think this rich learning lifestyle is just the thing for little sponges their age. I have been taking him to the library with me already and although he takes delight in making the biggest racket possible to embarrass mommy (thanks!). He loves looking at and touching all the books there and I hope it will foster a healthy reading appetite in later life.

His other greatest discovery of late is his own doodle!!! He has yet to ever notice it anywhere else but in the bath tub. As soon as he sits up he is pushing away the bath bubbles to look for that funny little thing he saw there lately. He sits quietly, head bent, totally absorbed in his explorations of it too!!!! Total bloke or what?! It really is funny to watch and after all there is nothing wrong with it as long as it's done in an appropriate setting.

His four toothy pegs are out and gleeming white and he loves tooth brushing time too....he opens his mouth wide and waits for the brush to come and the tooth brushing song to start (dont ask!)

He also loves to play chasey now....we come at him on hands and knees saying...'gonna get cha!' and he squeels and screams with laughter and takes off at a hundred miles an hour on knees or feet yet loves to be 'caught'!

Anyway I hear the stirrings of him waking from his nap. We are having our whole house air-conditioned this week....and not a moment too soon as the temps are set to reach 34 degrees today! Ugh!!! Bring on the air con I say :o)

Cheers P

**Sadly I lost the records that covered the 9months between these two entries**

May 17th 2003...

Last weekend was my first Mother's Day and I loved it! I honestly had begun to doubt if being a mother was something I would ever celebrate ....but we made it! Caleb's Granny was here too so Simon made us all bacon and eggs for breakfast then we went for a lovely walk with the dog's and the pram. I also recieved a card and gift from Caleb (thanks Simon!). That afternoon we visited my mom (Caleb's Nanna) at the cemetary as I always want to ensure that Caleb knows all about her and how wonderful she was. After all I am sure she played a part in us finally being blessed with Caleb :o)

He hasn't been weighed again yet since my last update but we have another nurse visit for Monday so I'm sure that he will show an impressive gain in the last 3wks. He is now growing out of more 000 outfits and moving more comfortably into the 00 ones. He is developing these gorgeous 'chubby-bubby' upper thighs and upper arms which are just soo kissable!

His immunisations are on the 29th of this month. I am going to get Simon to hold him for them because as they want him held in a breastfeeding position I believe that doing this while being given a painful stimuli could set up a negative psychological connection to breastfeeding if I were to hold him myself. I am dreading it beng done but I would never dream of not doing it!

He continues to sleep less and less during the day and is gradually extending the night time sleeps. Last night we made 7hrs which was fantastic! A couple of nights ago he was so sleepy in the evening that instead of the hourly cluster feeding I could only get a feed into him at 5.30 and 8.30pm and I thought for sure he would never make the 6hrs that night....but he did...I was amazed! He is still difficult to settle after the 3am feed when he is rested and wide awake but we just make sure there are no rewards for staying awake and that he is returned to his cot and allowed to settle himself back to sleep (usually up to an hour later). He is able to settle sooner on about half of the occassions but gradually that is improving also. Eventually we will drop the 3am feed and he will make it through to morning and be free to be as awake as he likes.

The time after the 6am feed is by far his best. He is wide awake and so bubbly and happy. No matter how tired I may be at this time he always takes it all away with just a smile :o) He is smiling more and more and today we heard his first laugh....just a he-he-he really, more of a chuckle but it was unmistakable and pure magic! He is cooing and gurggling now too and sometimes seems suprised by the noises that come out of his own mouth. He also continues to get better and better at holding his head up. He is best up on my shoulder and bobs around a bit, wide eyed and alert. But he has a habit of waiting until I am craining my head around to look at how cute he is....then wamb!....head butt to my nose! hehehe

I have lost another 0.5kg this week which brings my total loss to 14kg of the 17kg that I gained during pregnancy. I'll be back to my beginning weight in no time....then onto tackling the rest of my excess.

We had our first 'New Parent's Group' meeting yesterday. Other then two brief visits to girlfriends houses this was my first real outing with him by myself and I was a little nervous of how he would get through the 2hrs as I had hoped not to have to feed during the class. I was the only one who brought a bouncinette and while all the other ladies nursed fidgety babies, Caleb was rocking away and slept through the entire class! Legend!

We really only covered introductions, birth stories and post natal exercises this week but it was a lot of fun. There were 9 mother's there and 7 girl babies! We were definately out numbered by little pink bundles :o) The babies ranged from 4wks to 12wks and were all gorgeous. Caleb was the only one there who was sleeping through 6hrs + a night every night.....even the 12wk old's weren't!!! How lucky are we :o)))

Anyway the next class isn't for a fortnight due to the show holiday here but it will cover settling techniques, sleep and baby massage. The next will include a visit from the dentist to discuss teething and introducing solids etc and the final one includes a visit from the Ambulance to cover first aid and infant CPR. I hope that we will continue to meet informally after the class concludes as it is great to have other's in the same boat as us to talk to.

Well I think I have gone on long enough for one entry. I have no more photos to post this week so I'll leave it here for now as we are heading out for a walk with the pram, daddy and the dog! Aahhh...what family life is all about *wink*

Cheers

May 9th 2003...

Yep you guessed it......nap time so it's time for me to dash out another update! Well the sleeping thing seems to be a prermanent occurance. He sleeps through the 6hrs everynight and is now not needing any settling until the last hour or so when we just try to stretch it out as long as we can. No advances on the 6hrs at this point but at 7wks old today, who's complaining? lol

He continues to melt our hearts with little smiles and I have some great pics of them to post today after finally uploading another gazillion photo's from my camera. I am so scared of loosing any that not only are they saved in the computer but I also burn them to cd and then have them printed out at the photo shop too! I think I will be keeping them in business for years to come *wink*

We finally got moving on the walking thing this week and 3 early morning walks so far this week have no doubt helped my weight to drop again a little. I have now lost 13.5kg of the 17kg gained with minimal effort so I hope things continue this way :o) It is nice to get out walking with the pram but the cold wind means he has to be fully rugged up with warm suit, fleecy blanket, and hat etc and only his little face peaking out. He is asleep within 5minutes of heading out so I get to watch him sleep while I walk.

Despite our assertion that we would only use Huggies nappies for him we were amazed to find that no shop in our town or the neighbouring one sells the jumbo boxes of nappies between Newborn (up to 5kg) and toddler (10kg+)! How weird is that....what happens to all the babies during the 5kg in between?? In any case we reluctantly had to change to Snugglers Jumbo boxes and suprisingly they have been not so bad. Not quite Huggies quality but certainly....as the add says....better than other lowered priced nappies. We also began to monitor our changing habits to try to cut back on expenses too. We were changing before a feed, half way through if it was dirty back in the days when he dozed off all the time and then after the feed if he needed it also. This meant that we were going through 108 (about $30-35) in 8 days!! Now we are changing at the end of every feed (and of course whenever else it is needed) and so far we have used only 70 in the last 10 days! This should mean that the Snugglers box of 105 ($28) will last longer than two weeks....quite a savings I say!!!

Caleb has now grown out of his first 000 bonds suit. It was the first outfit he wore after birth and now the first thing he outgrew! Not that I mind because as he grows bigger and the weather gets cooler he has so many cute 'little boy' outfits to wear like jumpers and long pants and gorgeous fluffy, fleecy play suits......too cute!

Speaking of cute I had best get busy updating the photo's page. He woke earlier (but of course) and while he is content beside me for now in the bouncer it is not long till next feed time so I best be moving. As I update the photo's page each time I am removing older photo's so that the page does not get too big and take too long to load. I know that the first time can still take a while so be patient!

cheers

May 2nd 2003...

Well as is now common I am quickly filling in this update before Caleb wakes from his nap. Everything in my life now seems to be squeezed into micro time slots! It has been a couple of weeks since my last entry. During that time we survived Easter and the visitors it brings with no major hickups. His latest visit to the nurse revealed another 700g weight gain in two weeks so he is certainly not starving...lol.

We have weathered some rather unpleasant nights due to wind pains etc over the last two weeks and I have learnt my lesson about drinking too much OJ while breastfeeding...not a good idea! After a particularly horrific night earlier this week when there was not a 15min segment the entire night when I got any solid sleep we finally have some good news to report on the sleep front. He is now sleeping through his feed around midnight!!!!! He goes to bed about 9pm after many small close feeds between 4.30-8.30pm and sleeps through until about 2.30-3.30! This makes 6hrs for him but not us as he grunts and carries on so much in his sleep it keeps us awake most of the night. I have no idea where the expression sleeping like a baby comes from because babies are far from peaceful sleepers! At the moment he needs just a little pat and a dummy to settle through what would have been the midnight feed time but the need for this is decreasing each night so that soon I am sure he will sleep through smoothly and then we can get a taste of that 6hr sleep. Right now I am so pleased with this that I don't care if the 3.30am feed takes another two months to drop off...I am stoked that he is sleeping through this far at 6weeks old today :o)

He didn't make it long through that nap and is now beside me in his bouncinette but seems none too happy about it so I may have to come back and finish this entry another time?

We both had our 6wk check up with the GP yesterday and all was well. My incision is finally healing up nicely now and I am now back to doing everything I was before the birth. My weight continues to decrease slowly and I have now lost 13kg of the 17kg that I gained during the pregnancy. I really want to get myself organised for daily walks with the pram now when I can get my act together. Lately if he's not awake and feeding or napping then I am trying to get a nap in but as his sleep improves and thus mine does also then I will feel more human and more able to get out and do some walking each day. Especially since it seems the hot weather is finally going away at last...thank god!

The sleep thing has really been the only tough part of these first 6wks....I never new how little I could function on (albeit in a zombified state) and how over time less and less sleep really takes in toll on you emotionally and physically. However I am now seing the light at the end of that tunnel and that is really helping.

I couldn't have got through the last 6wks without Simon who has been a champion helper. He cooks when I am tied up feeding, he takes over nappies and burping once he gets home of an afternoon and on weekends does all he can to help me get some extra sleep. Plus his is just such a damn good daddy!!! He smothers his little boy in kisses and loving and reads stories each night and is generally just loving being a daddy!

Oh and I almost forgot...on Tuesday this week we got our first real smile!!!!!!!! And they keep coming thick and fast ever since and they are amazing!!! Especially the wide mouth tongue wiggling ones :o). We have caught one on camera on that first day and now hope to get one on digi pic so we can post it on the photos page.

I have taken heaps of new photo's but haven't had a chance to upload them yet so I won't be posting any new ones today but hopefully will be able to with the next entry.

Well someone is tired of bouncing I think so I best be going. Cheers till next time.

April 15th 2003...

Well I am hoping to get my entire update finished while Caleb is having a little nap at the moment... but the truth is you never know just when he will make his wakeful presence known on the monitor so I'll just have to see how I go :o)

The last week has been great. We have really settled into our feeding and sleeping routine and it is nice to be able to plan outings etc around feed times. Saturday was our wedding anniversary and we managed a trip down to the beach front for a relaxing lunch and because it was between feed times Caleb handled it like a charm! Likewise we plan our shopping and any appointments for straight after a feed and we haven't had any problems with this plan yet.

Yesterday we had another visit to the nurse and were amazed to find he had gained 460grams in a week! The nurse was really pleased with the 190gram gain he had the previous week too so was extra suprised by this weeks achievement. So that now puts him at 4kg and 20grams!! The little dude will be growing out of clothes before we know it!

We discussed the fact that in the last 2-3 days Caleb had become eager for another feed sometimes 1-2hrs before it was due. While I would try to hold him out where I could, I would feed him early if it had been at least 2hrs since the last one. She said it was nothing to worry about but that I could suppliment feeds with some water if he really seemed to want something as this would avoid overfeeding but also satisfy the sucking need at the time. I hope to be able to avoid this but we have the bottle made up in the fridge now just in case he should want it. You'd think we would have grown accustomed to our new life by now...but still it gets me every time I open the fridge and see a baby bottle on the shelf!! :o)

She also said that it was fine now to begin cluster feeding to work towards him sleeping through the night. This means that in the late afternoon and evening I move the feeding schedule up to second hourly to really tank him up before bed and this then promotes longer, uninterrupted sleep. I am hoping to start this from tonight and we'll see how it goes. I don't expect any overnight miracles but am secretly hoping that maybe he'll make it through the night within the next couple of weeks. Gee would I love to sleep more than 2-3 hrs in a row! :o)

Even now he is going to bed after his 8pm feed, and waking around 1am and 4am for feeds which isn't too bad. If I ignore the early wake up it is really only like one overnight feed. He seems really satisfied with this and sleeps well in between each nightly feed.

He does tend to get more awake time in during the day now which I think is also only going to help with the night time sleeping goal.

We continue to take a thousand and one pictures of him and film.....I wish video camera's were around when I was a baby. Imagine seeing yourself as an infant in living colour....how weird would that be???

We have also had a breakthrough in the breastfeeding area this week too. Up until now we have always used the 'football hold' where he lays under my arm with his legs out behind me. The midwives at the hospital got me onto this hold and I found it soo much easier then the traditional way that I couldn't even do the other way when I tried. However this way does depend on the right chair and pillow being available and is a little more revealing than the traditional hold if done in public...not to mention the future difficulties as he grows bigger. So we have been diligently practicing both ways all week and now we have mastered the traditional front hold also. This was important to me so that I felt more free to feed in public should the need arise and in turn this will give us more freedom to be out and about because then we are not restricted to 2hr slots. After all with no bottles and formula's, ease of outings is what breastfeeding is all about! Having said that I have never done a feed away from home yet except one in the car following his circumcision. While I may not be too eager to pop out the boob in the middle of a shopping centre I am sure that at friends houses, in the car and in discreet locations will be fine. After all if he is hungry then just let someone try to stop me!

Well with easter coming up Granny and Uncle Ben are coming back to visit and he will also get to meet Aunty Vicki, Uncle Malcolm and cousin Jarred for the first time too. And his godmother Julie is also planning a visit so it is shaping up to be quite a weekend!

Simon will be around to help out though and he has been wonderful as always of late. Especially on the weekends when he gets up at night for any between feed fussings and helps me to get naps in during the day. I don't know how some women do it on their own??

Well I think I have kept you all long enough for another week. Check out the new happy snaps on the pics page on your way out!

cheers

April 8th 2003...

Well at 2 weeks and 4 days it already seems like a lifetime since Caleb entered our life! Yesterday he had his first check-up with the Community Health Nurse and he is now back to his birth weight...actually exactly his birth weight to the very gram! (3.56kg) His other tests and checks all went ok and as usual he managed to pee all over the place, which he is becoming very profficient at. Any stranger who dares go near him without his nappy on...gauranteed to be whizzed all over :o)

Both trips to the circumcision doctor resulted in spectacular wee displays...although if someone was doing that to your doodle you might be inclined to wee all over them too! Speaking of which the bell has now been removed and everything seems to be healing nicely. We did end up taking him back one day early for a check up of what we though could have been a complication but it turned out alright and I am now just hugely relieved that it is all over and done with.

Yesterday we had him dressed for the first time in this adorable tigger overall outfit (see photo page) and mummy was most pleased to be wearing a pre-pregnancy shirt and slacks for the first time (yippee!!..I never thought I would fit back into them so soon!) but apparently Caleb was not so impressed as he managed to poo all over me and him!!! Out of his nappy, down his overall legs, into his socks and all over me.....charming!! I have had to start some anti-biotics to help with the healing of my ceasarian incision and they warned me that this could result in explosive runny poo's for Caleb but I wasn't quite expecting that explosive!!! lol

It seems that my high blood pressure has also not completly resolved either because I have terrible blurred vision and the doctor's up at the hospital recommended that I see my GP this week to have that monitored.

Other than that life with Caleb seems to be settling into a nice routine. 3hrly feeds during the day...3-4.5hrly feeds overnight. He sleeps between most feeds except often the afternoon ones which is his special time with Daddy to hear nursery rhymes and later in the evening have his bath. Despite the early scream fests he now seems to enjoy these baths much more and is so content and relaxed after them.

Something we both love is when he gets a little agro and has his dummy in his mouth he makes this weird noise over and over again that sounds like he is saying 'ear, ear' but with more of a cockney accent like..'ee-ah ee-ah'! It sounds adorable and we find ourselves saying it all the time now.

We thought we may have produced his first smile on Sunday in response to some raspberry blowing but we are not entirely sure since it is such early days so we aren't too confident that they were 'real' smiles. The day in question was actually April 6th, the day he was due to be born. It is weird to think that we could have missed the prior 2 weeks still waiting for him to arrive, or could in fact still have been waiting for him??

I am not finding the interrupted sleep thing too bad....perhaps years of shift work helped to prepare me for sleep loss? I try to get at least one nap in during the day so that I am awake when Simon is home in the evenings. I get my shower and housework done each morning in the first nap time and then I am free for whatever the rest of the day brings. He still has not had any prolonged crying sessions and we are beginning to believe that we may have truly been blessed with one of those 'contented baby's'. I know it is still early days yet but we hope he stays this happy.

He is able to entertain himself without crying in his cradle for up to 45mins sometimes before he falls asleep of his own accord and other times we could stand him on his head and he wouldnt wake up!

I have added a couple of photo's with mummy and Caleb to the photo page this week, pics snoozing with Daddy, as well as a pic of him wrapped up in his towel after a bath.

Seems like every moment is a Kodak moment with your first child *wink*

Till next week.....cheers