Visit to the Doctor

Well, today David had his four month shots for just about everything. He took it very well and didn't even cry - well, only a little one, which doesn't count. He enjoyed seeing the doctor, who thought that he was doing very well, and had grown.

Then we weighed David and he has grown. He weighs 7 kgs! That is 400gms weight gain in a week. I knew that he was feeding a lot, and this confirms it. Or, it is the country air again. I am definitely getting stronger in the upper body and David would count as some sort of weight training.

The attached photo of David in his pram on the weekend is not wonderful, but it does show how big David is now, and how his face is getting rounder. Louise thinks that he is looking more like his dad.

We are looking forward to Paul getting back tomorrow night and to a nice quiet weekend. Update you soon!

Roly Poly

Roly poly was always one of my all time favourite names for a pudding. I don't know if I have ever tasted it, but (like Angels on Horseback, Bombe Alaska or Floating Islands) it always sounds fantastic and exciting.

Why mention it? Well, roly poly is our latest nick-name for David. On Sunday 29 January, at just a couple of days past four months of age, David seems to have mastered the last stage of rolling. Now he can roll from his back to his front, not just from his front to his back. All he does is roll onto his side and then, bingo, over on his front. At this rate, David will be crawling soon. It is very difficult to keep him on his mat and I have to keep moving the baby gym, as he is getting very mobile. He is very active and strong, so this afternoon for example, he was on his mat for close to two hours, in a couple of sessions. David seemed to enjoy it without getting cranky from being tired. I have noticed that he is eating more, and this activity will undoubtedly contribute to his hunger.

Tonight, when I put him down to sleep he was wanting to be on his side, so it may become challenging to keep him on his back to sleep.

David is having more immunisations shots tomorrow. Hopefully I will get him weighed as well. Anyway, I will keep you posted.

Australia Day Weekend

Well, what an action packed week. It included the Australia Day public holiday (on Thursday) and we went to stay with friends Steve & Sue at their newly completed beach house in Narrawallee, near Ulladulla / Milton, on the coast, three hours south of Sydney.

This is a photo of the view from the back of the house, down through a marvelous stand of gum trees to Narrawallee beach.

David enjoyed himself very much, despite having some serious competition in the cuteness stakes from Steve & Sue's new Maltese Terrier puppy, Jack. I have included a photo of David playing on the floor while Jack watches. Jack has just been, very carefully, licking David's foot. David was very interested in Jack, and the older Maltese, Molly, and they were both very gentle with him. David's toys, on the other hand, were at times hard to distinguish from puppy toys, so we had to be careful not to leave them unattended.

We had a lovely time. David travelled very well, again. I sat in the back seat with him both ways, but slept for quite long stretches. On Friday night we had pizza in Milton and listened to local musicians playing guitar, base and digeridoo - loud, live and David slept through most of it.

There was a great barbeque on Saturday night, with Steve & Sue's neighbours, David and Dawn, their son Hamish, his wife and two daughters coming along, with a visitor from the USA (Ruthie) included. All lovely people, who we all enjoyed meeting. Again, the girls probably thought that Jack the puppy was cuter than David. The evening saw another memorable first for David - his first bagpipes concert! Hamish plays the bagpipes professionally in a band called Brother, mostly in the USA of six months of every year. (The official Brother website is www.brothermusic.com and worth a look) We were lucky enough to get an impromptu concert, with a medley of traditional pipe songs, some reels and (of course) the bagpipe riff from "It's a Long way to the Top". David was quite interested and definitely happy throughout. David definitely has eclectic and good musical taste, because the only thing that made him very upset all weekend was Steve's vocal sing along on "Proud Mary" on Friday night.

I had two lovely swims in the rolling surf - salty and very energising. I had almost forgotten just how different it is to swimming in a pool - lots of salt and that feeling of sand in the bathers! Just about the best part though was the sound of the ocean. Great for sleeping!

Any guesses for how much David weighs?

A short and sweet update - I took David to the Early Childhood Centre to be weighed today. Again, lightly clothed, he weighs 6.65kgs. This is an increase of 500gms from his weight of 6.1kgs on 10 January. Well done, David!

I also forgot to put in the last few blogs just how many noises David is making. Well, over the last few days he is now having little "chats" with both of us, generally during a break in his feed or after a feed. David makes full eye contact and then warbles away, quite softly for a couple of minutes. It really sounds like his own language, and he is telling us a lot. Today he has mastered the rolled RRRR (or purring like a cat, I am not sure which), but I was very excited and he was most pleased with himself. It also involves lots of bubbles and drool.

He is feeding well and often, and greatly enjoyed the cooler weather in Sydney today - the (massive) temperature range was from 20C minimum to 23C maximum. David slept very well after his bottle of formula - from around 9.00pm to 1.30am. After that feed, David slept again until 8.00am. As a result, I was able to express some milk at 6.00am, which I gave him tonight as a top up. I am hoping that he will also sleep well tonight.

Well, that's all for now, folks!

Playing and exercising

Well David is getting stronger, and with that, more active. We have got him a play gym (see photo) of with Sesame Street Characters which he loves. It is the simple, old fashioned kind, like the one that Lindon had, and the one at the Early Childhood Centre. David had it all worked out in about two hours. David loves grabbing the hanging figures with his hands and feet and hitting the spinning toys on the sidebars. He moves around under the gym a lot, and pushes and moves it with his feet, so we have to keep moving it around. David is also rolling onto his side to face the side bars and play, which is new. He is also now playing much more with the toy panel tied to the side of his crib (you can see it in the earlier blog photo of David's cot with the mosquito net).

It is probably related to either the increased activity or another growth spurt that David seems to be more hungry and is feeding more. He is looking for milk every two hours during the day. He has also re-introduced the early morning feed at approx 3.30 to 4.00am, then sleeping through until breakfast at around 8.00am. As this is in addition to the late feed (sometime between 10.30 to 12.00am) I am getting very tired again. On hot days (like yesterday and today) David doesn't sleep much during the day, so he needs to be entertained as well. As I am not getting the opportunity to express milk to have in reserve to supplement the 6.00 to 7.00pm feed, we are having difficulties with a hungry baby, who won't settle to sleep. So, we have now supplemented David with a formula feed on two nights. He seems to be taking to it like a duck to water. As yet, he seems to be just as enthusiastic about breast feeding as before, so hopefully no problems!



This is a photo of David sitting on Paul's shoulder, looking in the mirror. It is the first time Paul tried this and David is hanging onto Dad's hair very tightly. He seemed to really enjoy being that high and was very comfortable.







The next two photos were taken on Sunday 22 Janaury at the reunion for our Antenatal classes. It was a hot day and we had a catch up for morning tea under the paperbark trees in Centennial Park. It was beautiful and cool, with a lovely breeze, under the trees. I think that the weather discouraged a few from joining in, but we really enjoyed catching up with Josiah and Harrison and their parents. This is a photo of Maureen, who took the classes, trying to stop David from running away (just joking). The next photo shows a face off between Harrison and Josiah - I think that it was a draw!

I was so impressed by the coolness under the trees that I went into Callan Park today with David and we sat on the long grass under some Port Jackson figs in the breeze. It was still hot, with lots of noise from the cicadas, but a change from being in the house, and probably a bit cooler. It was different for David to see the sun through the leaves. He had a play and then went off to sleep for half an hour. Bonus!

Close up & personal

Hello. This is a photo of me on mum & dad's bed, in the morning. After I wake up and have a feed, I like playing with dad, or mum and dad on the bed. It is lovely and soft and lots of fun.

My neck and back are getting really strong, so I can see more on my tummy and I can move around more than everyone thinks I can!

I am getting bigger and I am already 63cms long. I have just about grown out of my triple zero (000) clothes - I am wearing my Little Puppy suit here and it is almost too short for me. Mum has me dressed in the double zero (00) clothes a lot of the time and tells me what a big boy I am.

I am sleeping more, too. The last couple of days have been cooler (below 25C) and I have had lovely long naps in my cot. When I wake up I feel wonderful and very happy, and ready for visitors or a play.

I am growing more hair, and it is staying dark. Auntie Sharon thinks that my eyebrows are getting darker, too!

Mid January already

Well, it is the middle of January already. I saw Easter eggs and chocolates in the supermarket this week (already!!) so the year is officially underway.

I went to the Early Childhood Centre on Tuesday 10 January and weighed David. We were right and he has put on weight. He was 6.1kgs clothed weight, so a substantial gain from 5.1kgs on 13 December. David has really filled out. He is also feeding more in the day, and having only one feed at night. Mostly that is between 10.30 to 12.00am, but he varied that recently with waking for a feed at 4.00am on 3 days running. Last night we let him sleep and he woke to feed at 1.00am and then slept to 6.50am. I think that a lot of this is due to him still not being in a good routine and the heat.

The weather in Sydney remains humid and sultry. Since we have been back from perth the weather has not reached the heights of New Year's Day (which was 44) but consistently been in the high 20sC to around 30C, but overcast and with rain or rain threatening. The forecast is for the next week to be between 24C and 29C and with showers or thunderstorms every day. David does feel the heat, so we have been handling that by sponging him with a damp cloth to keep him cool and I have been giving him small regular drinks of boiled water. He really enjoys the water.

David has been bitten by mosquitos on a couple of occasions at night. They haven't been bothering us, but obviously prefer David's tender flesh. We have been using a Mortein mozzie zapper thing, but it is insecticide, which was worrying me somewhat. So, I bought a mosquito net for David's bed, which we installed yesterday with a small hook in the ceiling. David slept happily under it last night, so we have labelled it a success. We are also using an electric fan in his room at night. Mostly, I am happy if the temperature in his room drops to 25C at night - often it is still around 27C at 10.30pm.

Nadia dropped by to see David and brought a marvellous hand knitted West Coast Eagles supporter which she and George bought for David in Melbourne when they were there for the HISTORIC Swans v West Coast AFL Grand Final. You can see it in the photo of David's cot. It is bigger than David! Nadia said that there is a lady who knits the supporters in all the team colours and sells them to raise money for charity at the Prahan markets. Excellent! We can't tell yet which team David will support (or if it will be the Socceroos instead) but rest assured that David also has a soft Swans footie in red and white.

We were visited on Tuesday 11 January by Mark H and his wife Marine, in transit between Perth and their home base in London. Wonderful to see them both after almost 2 years, as we couldn't get to France for their wedding in late 2004. They are both well and Marine is expecting a baby in June this year, so they were particularly interested in how an (almost perfect) three month baby behaves. Mark will be in Africa for a few more months and then back to London to wait for the baby's arrival.

We have also had visits from Jay, Gael and Leah, who have been in Sydney for a long weekend - Jay for work and Gael and Leah to have a small holiday. David is almost used to being nursed by Auntie Leah and GAG (Great Aunt Gael) as he also saw them twice in Perth.

After this week we should almost be back to normal and able to get back into routine, with no visitors.

We have now got SKYPE up and running on the PC, and a new video camera for videoconferencing calls. SKYPE allows free voice or video calls over the internet between connected PCs which are on broadband. It also allows text messaging as well. Great for international telephone calls. We spoke to Mark H in Cote Ivoire last night and he was very very clear - a bit of a delay, but still nice and easy to have a conversation. No charge. SKYPE is the buzzword of the moment with Mark, another friend in Perth and Paul's work all using or recommending SKYPE. It was also discussed on the radio yesterday, but just BEFORE we got into the car. Another good reason not to buy shares in Telstra. Paul will take a camera to Melbourne next trip to try to get Gaye and David's PC connected for video calls. If that works, we will really be in business! I will keep you all posted as to whether (and how well) it works.

David has been making progress

David is getting on marvelously. Most exciting first - he is now rolling from his front onto his back. As you would know from earlier reports, David had "secretly" rolled at least twice - no-one had seen him do it. However, on Christmas morning, on his change pad, while getting his back massaged with cream, he rolled, easily and quickly. Then he repeated it. David was a pleased as punch and very proud of it, too! He has been rolling on and off ever since. He has a lovely strong back and neck and arches his back quite high when on his face. it was interesting that he had been frustrated the day or two before when on his tummy - Gran thinks that is because he was trying to roll, but not quite succeeding. So, that is almost exactly at 3 months of age (from 27 September).

David was marvelous on the trip away - he was very social and interested in everything and everyone. On the aeroplane from Sydney to Perth, he sat up in his Baby Bjorn on Dad's chest and watched everyone board the plane, and then charmed the flight stewards (male & female). On the return flight, after charming people at check-in, the security screening and the Qantas lounge, he had a play on the ground in the Qantas lounge, and fed on takeoff. About a half hour after takeoff, he went to sleep and slept until we woke him up when the descent into Sydney began. The only time he was grizzly was before he started feeding on the descent.

We hired a Toyota Camry in Perth for two weeks and arranged for it to be fitted with a baby capsule, which David took to like a duck to water. While one of us had to sit in the back on longer or freeway trips, just to make sure he was OK and didn't get distressed, mostly it wasn't necessary. Generally, after a few minutes, David want to sleep. We did a lot of visiting - family and friends - and David saw new places and faces every day. He loved it all, and loved meeting people. David was nursed by new people every day, and seemed to love every minute of it. He was out of routine, and the three hour time difference between Perth and Sydney was certainly hard on us, but David took it all in his stride, generally falling a sleep in his pram over dinner at where ever we were at the time.

Luckily, Perth has been having its mildest summer on record. It had been cold and rainy before we arrived, but over the two weeks we were there, it was generally mild to cool, with maxima in the low to mid 20C. It was warming up as we left to return to Sydney - with one day over 30C and the day after we left up to 37C. The biggest advantage was the weather we missed in Sydney however. Christmas Day was 37C, New year's Day was 45C and the time in between was alternately stinking hot or stormy. Sweltering, and David does not cope well with the heat at the moment. We were just so grateful that we didn't have to survive the days and nights with a small baby, and no airconditioning. As a bonus, the plants in our garden have survived. This is astounding, considering that our neighbours were also away and so it was not watered after Boxing Day.

We stayed at a small apartment in South Perth, on the South Perth Esplanade, near Mends Street, and it was a fabulous location, close to the City and Freeway. I also managed to go swimming at Wesley pool, which is open to the public, at least in school holidays.

More Photos from Wagin

The last blog just wasn't big enough to take all the photos. Here are a couple more of our great Christmas in Wagin. Another photo of Lake Dumbleyung.

This is my Uncle Stephen nursing me just near my bedroom in Wagin.

You can see my bed in the background.




This is a photo of me sleeping in my Mum's bed, all wrapped up in my new bunny rug. The bed is big and I have lots of room to grow! Wagin was having a cool December, so I had to keep warm, especially at night.




In this photo, I am with Mum and wearing my new suit, which was a Christmas present from cousins Jennifer, Michael and Matthew. The next photo is me working on the Sudoko puzzle in The West Australian, with some help from Dad.

Well, it's a new year!

Well, what a lot happened to finish 2005. On 21 December 2005, Mum Dad & I went to Western Australia for Christmas and New Year, to spend time with family and Mum & Dad's friends. I was very excited to be going on my first aeroplane trip - and a five hour trip at that - but I decided to be very calm and co-operative. I figure that that way, I will get to travel more. We all got up very early - I decided to get Mum up to feed me even before the alarm went off, so we got to the airport nice and early, and I had a bassinet to sleep in on the 'plane. Well, it all went according to plan. I checked out the Qantas lounge at Sydney airport. Quite nice really, but I will have to try the catering some other time. I practiced my cute and adorable smile and squirm on the trip over and all the Qantas air stewards thought that I was very wonderful. It never hurts to build good will. I heard Mum say that I was perfect! I did have three dirty nappies though - one on takeoff, one at mealtimes and one as the plane was landing.

When we finally got to Wagin, I saw Gran again. She noticed that I had grown lots. She still thinks that I am wonderful. I also met my uncle Stephen. He wasn't sure quite what to make of me, particularly when I wriggle. He did nurse me later on, and I was very good. I met lots of Gran's friends. Apparently, Gran has been talking about me. I don't want to sound as though I am boasting, but all her friends think that I am wonderful and practically perfect.





These are photos of me enjoying my stay in Wagin. I saw chooks for the first time. Gran put a brand new baby chick in my pram on Christmas Eve - it had just been born. It was the first time I had met anyone younger than me. I also met my first cat, Uncle Steve's cat Ted. I managed to scare him off just by moving. He was different to look at - bigger than me for a start.

Well, I went for walks in the pram into town and for walks around the garden to look at the trees and the birds with Mum or Dad. Every morning the Dawn Chorus by the local birds woke me up for early breakfast, at approximately 5.00am, just before dawn. I didn't know that birds could be that noisy as well as fun. There are at least 5 kinds of wild bird in Gran's garden. Some of them catch flies and mosquitos under the shadecloth on the pergola outside my bedroom and feed their babies.

I am sleeping in my Mum's old bed. It is a bed, not a cot and I feel really grown up. It has high sides so I can't fall out and Gran had it repainted just for me. It is nice and cool to sleep in.

Mum and Dad and I had lots of time to relax in Wagin and unwind after a busy three months with me. I decided to feed lots and lots, which is what Christmas is about after all. I am getting bigger, especially in my arms and legs and Gran says it is all due to the wonderful Wagin fresh air. Christmas was fun & I received some lovely presents. Lovely clothes and a hat, bunny rugs, a book about a cat and toys. (I also had duplo blocks from Aunty Gaye & David and beginner blocks from Nana and Pop, but I left them at home. I got some big yellow trucks from Uncle Steve (a haulpak, grader and front end loader) which I can grow into and play with later.

We went to see Lake Norring outside Wagin, which is full again after the wet winter. It is a salt lake, and apparently was last this full over 10 years ago. The sailing and powerboats are back on the lake again this year. We all also went for a trip to Lake Dumbleyung on another day - where Douglas Campbell broke the land speed record when it was a dry salt pan. As you can see from the photo, it is full again now - over 11 kms long and at least 3 kms wide. The whole chain of lakes is full again, with lots of boating and skiing happening. We went up to Pussycat Hill to see the view, but I stayed asleep in the car, with Gran. It was a bit hot for me, and the flies were out and about.
Well that is all from me. I will ask Mum to update everyone about the rest of our trip.

Bye,
David