Lots of firsts

We've had a few firsts here this week. Jack started walking on Friday morning. I suspect his primary motivation in finally using his legs may be laziness. If it is I know he got that from me - I'm so proud. He wanted to get from the kitchen cupboard to his wooden walker. It was about two steps worth - not really worth the effort of getting down on his knees, crawling, and getting back up again. So he went for it - two whole steps! I was washing the dishes and almost missed the whole thing. Which made me wonder if he hasn't been walking behind my back for ages Lou and Andy style. He's a little bit wobbly and tends to launch himself at whatever he is walking towards - me generally. He looks very, very proud of himself. And I am extremely overexcited! Who knew such a simple thing could give you such a buzz.

I am baby - see me stand!

Also this week Jack started 'posting' items in the bin. I didn't realise this until I emptied the bin and found my old mobile phone nestling underneath the bin bag. I did wonder prior to that where my wooden spoon had gone but figured it would turn up sooner or later. It seems that my potato masher has also been sent for recycling. I'm not sure what other items we've lost thanks to 'Frugal Fischler'.

Jack went on a swing for the first time yesterday - loved it!



In another first, Alexis and I hired a babysitter and headed out for some couple time. As a nod in the direction of romance, I put on make-up and upgraded my usual uniform of Bonds nursing vest and K-mart pants which have-seen-better-days to proper underwear. I even shaved my legs. We went out and stuffed ourselves full of Thai food followed by substandard Argentinian ice cream. The streets were full of kids wearing their beer coats and not much else - which never ceases to amaze me when it's cold outside. Alexis said we had marked ourselves as 'old' by walking along in our sensible coats and him wearing a beanie. But I reckon I always wore a coat in winter. Crazy kids. At 10 o'clock we dutifully headed home and lay, stupidly full of food, in front of the TV until almost comatose. Alas, a full stomach and romance of the jiggy jiggy variety are sorely incompatible.

As punishment for going out without him Jack woke up every few hours throughout the night. He does have a blocked nose and conjunctivitis but still. In an unusual turn of events we did manage to get him to sleep in till 9am. Small mercies.

Misnomer baby

So the other first is that Jack has suspected conjunctivitis. Which makes nursery a bit awkward as Alexis and I must assess who has the greater need to be at work on Monday. I read somewhere that breast milk is great for clearing it up. And what do you know it works! I mean, like, in minutes:

INTERESTING FACT: Many people treat conjunctivitis by applying a small amount of breast milk to the affected eye. A particular antibody in the breast milk, called immunoglobulin A, prevents the pink eye bacteria from attaching to the mucosal surface of the eye. This limits the growth of the bacteria, helping to end the eye infection.

So we might both be going to work on Monday - keep those fingers crossed.

Top tip for readers - ask a lactating woman to help you out next time your eyes get sore. Of course she won't think you're weird. She is just waiting for the opportunity to squirt milk in your eye.

Happy Birthday Jack!

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Retrospective of Jack is on hold while I continue with keeping on top of very important activities such as washing, cooking, bathing. In the meantime...

Jack is bathed, ready for bed and zipped into his sleeping bag. He is having a rummage through his book drawer - all the cupboards/drawers within reach of Jack are now his. As he gets taller and more mobile we are gradually relocating all dangerous/adult items higher and higher up throughout the house. The house gets gradually messier over time as we run out of high-altitude storage space for our things.

Alexis is on his way home from his Friday night treat - swim, sauna and jacuzzi. Hopefully armed with a bottle of wine and some takeaway.

We had a little tea party for Jack's birthday on Sunday. He was taking a nap when most the guests arrived and was initially somewhat perplexed as to why the living room was full of big people. He received lots of lovely toys and clothes. Thanks everyone who came to the party and everyone who posted him presents :)



He got his very first pair of shoes. I tried putting them on him on Monday for nursery but he cried until I took them off again.

Everyone talks about how fast the first year goes. I guess time always looks condensed when you're looking back. For me it feels like it's been a long year! I guess we did a lot with our round-the-world trip in the middle. I'm sure it won't seem like long before I turn around to see a strapping 16 year old in front of me and I'll wonder where my baby went.

I am back at work three days a week. After an initial few weeks of guilt settling Jack into nursery we all seem to be managing with the new set-up. Work is brilliant - if only because I get some time to myself away from Jack. It's hard being parents without family nearby. You rarely get a break. When Jack is on an even keel and you are well rested it's all good and manageable. Today for example, apart from a small meltdown in the supermarket because he was due for a nap - my fault for pushing him too far - he was so cute and smiley and he has started to throw his arms round my neck for a hug. When it's like that he's a pleasure to be with. But sometimes you're tired, Jack's tired, or teething or just whingeing for the sake of whingeing and it wears you down...then you think...WHY exactly did I think it was a good idea to have a baby???!!

All the new stages seem overwhelmingly unmanageable at the start like going back to work and putting Jack in childcare. Then suddenly you get into the swing of it and it doesn't seem any harder than anything you've done before. I'm only working three days a week which makes a massive difference. I don't have any mum-guilt about my baby spending more time with strangers than with me. And the house doesn't get too out of control in those three days.

It is a massively life-changing thing having a baby. Everyone tells you so but you can't fully comprehend it until it happens to you. So if you like things the way they are....don't have any kids! Although sometimes your hormones make the decision for you and then you just have to make the best of it.

It is cool watching him grow and learn. I love the way he watches the world so intently. The way he wants to touch and explore everything - except for the way he always wants to play with the laptop when I'm on it. That's just plain annoying. The way he is figuring out how things work. They go from small and helpless to, well still pretty small and helpless but he can do things now like help you get him undressed. When he's holding onto the bathtub he helps you out by lifting one leg then the other when you take his jeans off and then swapping his hands over when you take his top off. It's so cute!

Hope this post find everyone happy and healthy.
Kisses from Oz
xxxx

Party photos are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=273494&id=855875421&l=6d63f3deb0

Baby Jack facts for trivia buffs:

Weight: 9400g
Height: 73.5cm
Favourite toy: Saucepans
Favourite food: Banana, Corn on the cob
First words: Banana, Hiya/Hola (whilst simultaneously holding a phone or calculator to his head)
Likes: The toilet, putting the toilet seat up and down,dropping things in the toilet, pressing all the keys on the laptop, making Indian 'woh-woh-woh' noises with his hand over his mouth, seeing how far he can throw food in the kitchen.

Six weeks today

Jack says: Grandma Jackie left last week which was a shame because she always seemed so happy to see me – even in the middle of the night!

Grandma and Grandpa, sorry, abuela and abuelo Fischler arrive on Sunday. I’m looking forward to brushing up on me espanol. Unfortunately I’ve got a small, dry, scaly patch on my forehead which is slightly embarassing. Mum says I look like an extra from Star Trek. People still coo over me so I must still look pretty cute.

Life is pretty good at the moment. My every whim is catered for. Sometimes it takes a while for the big people to understand my whims but they get there in the end. Hannah and Stew even bought me a tumble dryer!! Which is great because now my burp rags and blankets are soft against my delicate skin instead of crunchy.

I am really starting to get the hang of life on the outside. I am no longer afraid of my stroller. I do not need to be next to a warm body to fall asleep – although I do prefer it. I have learnt how to roll from my tummy onto my back. Luckily I was on the floor when I executed this manouevre. I have also discovered that I can scream really loudly which certainly gets their attention.

My vital stats:

Length: 56.5cm

Weight: 5250grams

Keelie says: It's been a good and bad week. I lost my home help but gained a job (some freelance writing - yey!). Jack got reflux but I got my Oz visa.

So I've been at home with Jack by myself desperately waiting for him to go to sleep so I can do some work. Reflux is like acid indigestion. Essentially it means trying to keep your baby upright for as long as possible after a feed and listening to him scream for anywhere between 10 minutes and 3 hours.

The experts say the most important thing you can do for your baby is respond to him with love. That way he knows he is important and can influence his environment. When faced with your own screaming baby, I've got about 30 minutes of love response time and the rest wavers between mild annoyance and full-blown anger. After about two hours I have to put him down in his bassinet, leave the room, go into the bedroom and shout 'SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!'. It is incredibly draining trying to make a screaming baby stop crying...I am responding to you and I am getting NOTHING back except more screams!

Eventually Alex comes home and takes over - relief! On Friday night out of sheer desperation we decided to put him in the stroller and head out to buy take-away. It was raining but we persevered for the sake of our sanity. Jack was asleep within minutes. We went to our favourite Greek restaurant and sat down to wait for our food. The waiter came up and commented that we had the best table in the house so it was ironic that we were leaving and suddenly the light bulb! We could eat here! If Jack wakes up we'll just pack up our food and go...three hours, one meat, platter, some red wine, some champs and a few baklavas later...happy parents! Jack even slept through the belly dancing show (not that he needs to see things like that at his tender young age) with very loud music.

The silver lining to crying fits we have discovered is that babies sleep long and hard afterwards. Small comfort when facing a small set of shaking tonsils but it's good to know there is a calm after the storm.

As an aside, the last time we ate in that restaurant it was with Ximena, Luis and Jen in November 07. We found out about the baby the day before. It was kind of strange to see the end result dozing aside our table months later...

The thing with having a baby is that while there are hundreds of books written on the subject, no one has managed to write a manual. Keeping Jack happy is mostly a process of elimination – is he hungry? Tired? Too hot? Too cold? Bored? Overstimulated? Wants a cuddle? Wants some time out? Or the worst possible option – he needs to let off some steam i.e. scream for England (or Australia in this case).

We’re moving into refined guesswork now. Mostly based on knowledge of his preceding activities. He hasn’t fed for 3 hours? He must be hungry!

The other thing to face as a parent is an astonishingly varied spectrum of opinions on how you should be raising your kids. From authors, health professionals, parents and anyone who knows anyone who ever had a baby…

‘They say that babies shouldn’t eat more than every 2.5 to 4 hours so if he’s trying to eat more often try spacing out his feeds. You can try distracting him between feeds’.

If I’m hungry I go to the fridge and fix myself a snack. I do not wave coloured toys in front of my face, put myself in a bouncy chair, sing or dance round the room in the hope that I will become less hungry. If Jack is crying two hours after a feed because he wants a top-up, it seems a bit mean to say ‘No Jack no. You’ve just eaten a full meal. Just because your stomach is the size of a ping-pong ball’. Maybe he likes to snack? If babies learn by imitation then it would be entirely natural based on the snack habits of his parents.

‘They say babies should follow a routine of eat-activity-sleep. After breastfeeding wake your baby so that he does not associate your breast with getting to sleep’.

I don’t know if you’ve seen a baby after a feed but it makes them reeeally sleepy. Erm, hello? My baby is asleep at last and you want me to wake him up so I can then get him back to sleep?? No thanks.

I figure the secret of baby books is to choose the one that supports your own views. I am reading a book by the excellently named Pinky McKay. She is in favour of co-sleeping, feeding on demand and she says it’s okay to let your baby nurse to sleep! So as I read her wise words I can nod my head smugly in agreement instead of thinking ‘oh shit I’m doing it all wrong’.

Alexis says: My life used to be so simple! What have I done?

Photos: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=144266&l=37e85&id=855875421

Grandma comes to town!

Jack is three weeks and one day old. Feels like he's been here for much longer.

Grandma Jackie arrived on Wednesday. After a brief but frustrating delay getting the luggage off the tarmac and a few tears in front of immigration:

Immi: What are you going to be doing here for 17 days?
Jackie: Meeting my grandson for the first time.
Immi: Oh how lovely!
Jackie: Yes...and I haven't seen my daughter since..(starting to lose it)..sob..sob..Christmas...

In view of the Qantas incident which happened two days later on the same plane and flight it could have been much worse. For those of you who don't know, an explosion tore a hole in the luggage hold of the plane. The pilot was forced to drop the plane by 20,000 feet as not all the gas masks were working and managed to land the plane in Manilla. If they had been further from land they would probably have crashed. Everyone survived but the luggage is being held as part of the investigation.

Mum brought my noooo Bugaboo stroller from England in a suitcase. Two days later and she could have ended up in Manilla with my new Bugaboo stroller being held as evidence. Either that or it might have ended up in a Philippino village (if you don't know what a Bugaboo is - like, where have you been??!).

Anyway she made it and is looking after us all. Apparently whatever you eat whilst breast-feeding, an hour later the baby gets a taste of that food. Which is how babies develop their palate. Jack is developing a very English palate having had a roast lamb milkshake tonight and an English fry-up milkshake this morning.

We are starting to get the hang of things here. For now, Jack's main hobbies remain mostly limited to sleeping and eating. He does also quite enjoy staring at faces and crying in his new stroller.

It is also very tiring. If you breastfeed and a feed takes up to an hour, and you feed 8 times a day, that's a full time job already! Any sleep you have is broken into 2-4 hour chunks. Combine that with nappy changes, picking out cute outfits, mopping up sick and getting him off to sleep. In between are brief windows for keeping on top of a mountain of dirty washing, taking a shower, eating and of course checking facebook and writing a blog. Well it doesn't leave much 'me' time.

Luckily he is just cute enough to ensure his ongoing participation in our family. It is amazing that a 3 week old can have such high entertainment value due to a incredibly wide range of facial expressions, strange sounds and just being generally adorable.

Thanks to our new babysitter Alexis and I went for our first post-birth dinner date yesterday. It was great! It didn't feel at all weird to leave the baby - quite the opposite. But I guess there's a big difference when you leave your baby with family. We hired an industrial breast pump so we could express a feed for him and escape for longer. There's nothing like having a baby attached to one nipple and pump to the other to make you feel more like a human cow. We came home to find Jack asleep on Grandma. Apparently she had spent most of the night unsuccessfully trying to get him to sleep in his bassinet. He would sleep for about ten minutes then wake up and realise he had yet again been palmed off and start crying. In the end she gave up and let him snuggle on her chest.

Too tired to write more.

More Jack piccys on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3565656&l=0bdd9&id=855875421