Friday, December 16, 2005

What's new?

Well, it has been a while since the last update - and quite a bit has been happening. David went back to the doctor's for another injection on Tuesday 13 December - this time for pneumoccocal. He didn't like it very much, but got through it well. We weighed David, and now he weighs 5.15kgs lightly clothed, which should be 5kgs bare weight. Not bad for 11 weeks. David is still looking long & lean - no sign of Michelin man yet. He is feeding well, and in this hot weather he is feeding more often, "snacking" all afternoon if he is not asleep. I am expressing some breast milk so that he can have an extra feed in the evening, when he seems to get very hungry.

David is also sleeping through more - generally about six hours. So last night, he had a feed finishing at midnight, then slept until 5.50am. Other nights he skips the late (10.00pm to 12.00am) feed and sleeps through from 9.00pm until 3.00 or 4.00am. Unfortunately, I can't always tell which feed he will skip, and get off to bed early. Sometimes I am waking up at 2.00 or 3.00am, while he is sleeping. The real bonus is that I am getting him back to sleep after the morning feed for another couple of hours. If I can get a couple more hours sleep myself it makes all the difference. This morning, after the 6.00am feed, a shower and another feed, David slept for over three hours. We have moved the bassinet into the cot, out of our room and David doesn't seem to mind at all. Tonight we are going to try him sleeping in the cot alone.

Dad finally finished travelling, returning from Melbourne on Tuesday evening. It was unusual to have Dad around on a weekday, and awake to see David in the morning. This morning (Friday 16th) Dad took David into the shower for the very first time. David liked it! He seemed to enjoy having the water spray on his face & being held by Dad. Apparently this is good training for babies before taking them swimming - it gets them used to water on their face.

David went to his first Christmas party on Thursday 15th. We were invited by Aspect to join their Christmas party, at Hunter's Hill Bowling Club. A hot and windy afternoon & evening, but lovely. David was the youngest there, but not the only baby. He checked out Madison, who is four and a half months old, and looking very pretty. Zac and Hayden (sons of Sam and Dave respectively) who are three and a half were very impressed with David. David had a marvellous time, looking at everything and all the new people. He is very social, with big wide eyes and loves being nursed and being able to see and be involved in the conversation and seeing what is happening.

From a development point of view, David is getting a little more advanced every week. He is moving around more on the ground, and noticeably getting more co-ordinated with his hands. He is grasping and holding things more, for example, he pulls his dummy out of his mouth and then holds it in his fingers.

In relation to the dummy, it is interesting that sometimes he is interested and will suck the dummy, while other times he prefers his hand or thumb, and will reject the dummy entirely. Apparently, it is a developmental milestone that he can distinguish his thumb and suck it (rather than just his fist) so instead of being worried about the thumbsucking, I should be proud!

Today we all went out to lunch, for the Bstar Christmas lunch, at the Barn restaruant, just up the road from both our home & the office. David was very well behaved (of course) and generally regarded by Sharon and Louise as pretty well perfect, and an intrinsic part of the team.

David is finding the hot weather a bit trying. We have had one impossible day (39C) and quite a lot of unpleasant weather - for example, today it was 31C and it is humid and 30C tonight, with some thundery rain just starting (hopefully to cool the air down). We have been coping by sponging David down with a cool damp washer and dressing as lightly as possible. Dad just told me that he has taken David out into the rain and he liked the few drops falling on his face!

Coming up, we will see Annie and David Haselhurst and their daughter Nada on Monday 19 December for afternoon tea - more cousins! Then we will be off to WA for Christmas and to see lots more relatives. We are not sure what to expect from the long flight to Perth (5 hours), hopefully it will be fine! More news later!!

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