Hair hair hair hair hair hair

Here are some photos of Ant’s mop – and no we didn’t style it or do anything to “assist” it. Purely outrageous by nature alone… a little bit of wind but not as much as you’d think!!

Perth trip number 2

Ant and have been and seen the relos in Perth again. We had the great pleasure of staying with my dad who was out of hospital this time. This is great news as he is finally well enough to be out and about. He is able to return to some work and is eating something like a normal amount of food – although that won’t be the same ever again. As you can see Dad has lost a lot of weight. And he is more mobile than i have seen him for the last 10 years simply because the weight is not there. Dad was surprised to hear me say this as he doesn’t feel very healthy still, and so hadn’t thought about the fact that when better he will feel different than before the operation and weight loss. The first night that i was in Perth i was shocked at the sheer speed that Dad charged down the corridor to greet Ant and I.

 In the time that we were there, we spent plenty of time chatting (Dad and I) and Ant spent plenty of time on DD’s knee – as evidenced in the photos. He also spent some time cuddling up to Dad when Dad wasn’t feeling so great and so was lying down in bed. This included feeding Ant rice cereal and mashed banana while he sat in bed with Dad. It was very cute. Ant also enjoyed riding around on Dad’s superduper walking frame that is designed to hold the weight of the body high up in the torso. The end result is that Ant got to ride around about 5 feet above the floor and had a fabulous view of everything. He also fell asleep when CJ wheeled him around on it. So it was all multi purpose contraption even if the purpose of the frame was not what it was used for in the end! Ant also enjoyed the odd car trip with the family for a lunch time gathering.

We also spent some time with Janey, Kent and Otto – and Otto called Ant either Anty or Tonnie babie. I was ‘Rooosha’ and this was usually accompanied by a pointed finger. Otto and Ant had some fun together and were caught smiling at eachother. Otto was very good at gently putting Ant’s dummy back in his mouth as required. All in all they had a great time. Otto is on a speaking bender and all thoughts must be shared. V cute.

As you can see in the photos Ant is coming along swimmingly. He is getting big and plump. He can now do a complete roll and often rolls from back to belly to do push ups. He is impossible to keep on his back while sleeping so we are very lucky that we have all of Otto’s old sleeping bags for him to roll around in and not get too tangled. We don’t know what he weighs at present but he is clearly a good weight and size. He is about 2 inches longer than his cousin Beth (but then her legs and arms are outrageously plump and strong!!!). He is a profoundly happy baby and generally is not too bad on the sleeping front although it oscillates a bit. A couple of nights now we have heard him wake and then settle himself again which is fabulous. Keeps the night time feeding to a minimum…

Working and still being on boob call is pretty tiring. Ant is now moving towards a broader diet and that will help although he will still be boobjuice needing for at least the remainder of his first year. M is doing a great job and doing most of the midnight action but as we still haven’t figured out how to make him lactate there are broken nights ahead of me yet! Overall we’re doing really well though and Ant is getting bigger and better by the day.

Click on the pictures for bigger images as usual.

milestones

it’s been two big days in baby development around these parts yesterday and today.

last night Antony had his first “solids”. well runny mush more than solid but his first non-breastmilk feed (apart from a couple of feeds of formula very early on) consisting of a couple of small spoonfuls of organic baby rice cereal. we tried him again tonight and he was grabbing at the spoon and sticking it in his own mouth to help (shoulda known that with his parents an appreciation of food and eating was going to come naturally…).

click on pic for bigger view.

And this morning at the ABA meeting he rolled from his front onto his back completely unaided for the first time!

i know it’s not like he has cured cancer or solved the Israeli/Palestinian crisis or anything but for us these are two momentus steps in his short life so far, i guess every parent feels like this with their first kid but that doesn’t make it any less exciting for me.

In other news the teeth buds are still there but looking way more active and prominent – nothing has poked through yet but we reckon they can’t be too long before they will make an appearance. The boy continues to get chubbier and longer and his hair continues to thicken every day.

In an unrelated note here is a pic from the Chinese New Year BBQ we went to at Ant’s Babcia and Atei’s house the other week (wearing red of course for good luck).

  click to see bigger.

Some more recent photos

As usual click on the photos for bigger pic.

When tiny and learning to feed, Ant used to lie on the pillow that you can see him propped up in. He is chewing on the squeeky toy that his Aunty Janey gave him.

Until recently this ball was known as the pimple ball. Now, as a result of some rather vigourous sucking of a particular style and nature, its known as the multiple nipple ball…

Note the halo of hair just visible about a centimetre above his head.

post breakfast kiss on the lounge. I think it was about 6 30am yesterday.

Gerald joined our extensive mobile family on Thursday night – but he is the first robot and only the second home made toy for Ant. Attached by elastic to the curtain rod, Ant pulls on the ribbon attached to his leg and Gerald does a demented air dance that Ant loves!

A love of books runs in the family. Ant is becoming less camera shy these days too.

Previously unseen pics

well, at least by most people. M and I recently downloaded our photos of Ant from our mobile phones and have now got them on file. So here are some of the better of the collection, including the ‘just born’ shots. As usual click on the pics for a bigger view.

  Ant at approx 10 14am on 7 September 2007.

  When Ant was very little he would get all pooped out from feeding, and then pass out. He looked ‘milk drunk’ as they say.  Approx 20 days old.

  We decided to go to the Botanic Gardens on Australia Day and thought we’d trial Ant in the sling for an extended trip. As it was a bright and sunny summers day hats, sun glasses and sun screen were required. Ant passed out – we’re not sure for how long as we didn’t realise for a while – the sunnies were hiding his eyes!

belated xmas update

so the stamina training i did in preparation for the power eating event that passes for xmas for our families didn’t pay off and i have only just recovered enough to write a post on Antony’s first xmas. (he didn’t have the same problem as he is not yet on solids but has the advantage for the future in that i can start training him young – the key is too pace yourself – those perogi don’t look that big and are soooo yummy but they fill you up quick…).

Ant was lucky enough to have three xmas parties to attend this year. The first was xmas eve dinner at Babcia and Atei’s house with Babcia, Atei, Aunty Janey, Uncle Kent and Cousin Otto. The food of course was top notch (and this year i managed not to end up snoring on the couch (pacing is the key i tell you, pacing). And a great time was had by all opening the presents – the look on Otto’s face when he unwrapped his ride on hotrod was priceless and the look on Janey’s face was almost as good (not to mention i was quietly jealous, wish i had something that cool when i was a kid!).

[for all pics below click on the pic to see a bigger version]

mum helps Ant to open one of his presents.

Then on xmas day we headed off to Aunt Lyndy’s house for yet more food and festivities with the extended rabble on my side of the family. Antony got super spoiled again. And even if he didn’t really get what was going on he had fun being passed around and cuddled by everyone and opening the presents – like most small kids he was as fascinated by the wrapping paper as the presents themselves. Even a humble pair of socks was cause for great excitement…

If that wasn’t enough on the 27th we went down to his Pra-Babcia’s (great grandmother) house to spend the day with Jerusha’s extended side of the family. Pra-babcia of course pulled out all stops with an amazing selection of Polish food that as always did not fail to impress (i am a huge fan) and Alex and Jane put in a lot of effort setting up the house for lunch and also cooked extra yummy food just to make sure no one went hungry (no fear). It was great to catch up with everyone. Cousins Otto and Josie had a whale of a time hooning around we are of course waiting to see what will happen next year when Ant is on the move as well – chaos will ensue i reckon. And we took the opportunity to grab a photo of the three cousins (Jerusha, Janey and Tim – Marty isn’t in this pic because he is yet to become a parent) with their respective kinder.

All three xmas outings were marked by good food and quality time with various combinations of our extended family. Thoughts also went out to family who could not be there on the days like Dad and Brenda over in the US.

Now we are into 2008 and looking forward to the fun and challenges that will greet us as Antony gets bigger and more mobile!!

Update (especially for Karina)

Having been told that I am a little tardy in my updating of the goings on of Ant and myself on this blog, I have decided that I had bring you all up to speed.

What have we been doing? Not a great deal actually, just getting our presents ready for Christmas and visiting a few friends and relatives. Ant attended his first Christmas party at Lyndy’s house and was photographed on Father Christmas’ knee – shots to follow ASAP. (Fr Xmas sounded suspiciously like his daddy…)

A number of people have expressed their well wishes and concern regarding my battles with breastfeeding and I feel that I really should update you all. I have overcome the pain issue. It was never fully determined what exactly was going on but it was determined that the best approach after ruling out an abscess that I should see a women’s physio – specifically a lactation physio (which I did not even know existed) – and she was able to provide the most sane and helpful advice of everyone.

After giving me a basic run down on the anatomy of a boob she explained that it was probably a combination of (a) the newness of breastfeeding; (b) the motilium that was still in my system to make my milk come back in (c) and Ant still being a bit little and as a result his attachment not yet being perfect. With a combination of strategically placed icepacks, panadol, regulating the amount of water that I drink and waiting the problem has largely gone away. At least when it comes back I know how to deal with it immediately. Ant is now that bit bigger and so he attaches much better and so the milk is drawn out of my breast more effectively, my breast responds better and the let down is better – so its all coming along well.

As to the question of whether there is enough milk – it seems that there is. Ant needed to gain 500gm as a minimum over the month. And when weighed he had packed on a whopping 750gms!! So he’s 5.5kg as at the last weigh. It is a little bit difficult to tell how much he weighs as he only poos about once a week (yes that is normal for breastfed babies – not all do it, but some do and its just a sign that the baby and the milk are so well made for each other that basically all of the milk he get is used up and very little waste is produced – this is a medical fact before you think that it can’t possibly be the case). Well perhaps not so little waste as the other day he did do a poo that went so far and wide that remnants were located in his armpits – no joke!

Anyway… back to his weight – the point is its hard to know how much of Ant’s weight is him and how much might be poo that is in the inside – but he’s developing to meet the minimum requirements and is reaching his milestones. He can sit propped up, hold his head up himself, smiles and laughs like crazy, grabs at toys and anything else of interest and is shoved in his mouth if at all possible, kicks his legs and yodels away when happy, screams when not etc. All is well. I have to keep reminding myself not to worry about his size as he is the normal range (about the 15th percentile – smaller end of things but ok) as most of the babies that I have for immediate comparison are bottle (formula) fed and so are fatter as formula has much more calories than breastmilk. And yes I know that its dangerous to compare babies anyway…

Ant has grown out of his bassinet and is know sleeping in his cot – and in his ‘box’ as we call it when I am too tired to get out of bed. Its a safety sleeper thing so that he can be in the bed with me and I won’t roll on him or he won’t roll out of the bed and onto the floor when he is big enough to do so. Its a fabulous peace of mind thing when Michael goes to work and we both keep sleeping between morning feeds.

Ant has also almost outgrown Ikea change table (well nearly…) so in a pre emptive move Atei (Andy) has adapted it to fit Ant and any growth for the next few years. It is a seriously good change table now. I got this shot of the two of them in the kitchen after Atei had come around to install the extension.

And here is a shot of Ant just after a session at the sauna…

Of course you can click on all photos to enlarge them.

See you next time with the Christmas photos!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.

Ant’s first blog post

Ant is sitting on my lap having a right old skwark and keeps trying to put his hand on the keyboard so i figure he might have something to say and i should let him  have a bash. here goes:
,l.mk,lmnm,,.vghnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn md               v  ygbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbdsxfvvgfm         dcccccccccccccccccccbhj        nb          v                                              b  ccdx

hmmmm, obviously in code. or maybe that is just the translation of the noises he is currently making. or maybe he just wants me to stop being stupid and take him in to mum so he can have a feed.

Welcome to the World

We’re a little behind the times – but finally I sit down to write this entry about the most excellent BBQ that we had in honour of Ant. Mum and Andy very kindly leant us their house and yard for the occasion. Mum cracked the whip and Andy had to finish the paving out the back – and a great job too- look excellent. Andy bought chicken, lamb, pork and a whole huge fish and baked it all in a big outdoor oven, topped it all off with salad and roast veges. Really outstanding food and everyone enjoyed it. We had a good turn out – a mix of my family, Michael’s (well we’re all part of the one family now really) and some friends. Ant was very accommodating of everyone and let himself be cuddled by anyone who was interested. His cousin Beth who is just 5 days older was there too and she was also passed around. Of course, the result was that they both slept most of the afternoon. It was nice to welcome Ant to the family and have mum do a vodka toast and then “christen” him with a dollop of vodka on his forehead.

Unfortunately Janey, Kent and Otto couldn’t make it despite planning to as Otto was very sick with an allergic reaction and they all had to stay in Perth. M’s mum was in Europe on a holiday (tough life for some) and our fathers were also unable to make it. However, soon Ant and I will be going to Perth so that he can meet the family over there. and hopefully Peter and Brenda will make it to Aust next year to see Ant.

Health Update on Ferret Lips (as he is affectionately known)
We went and saw the paediatrician who was Ant’s doctor when he was in hospital for a check up. Of course, Ant wee’d on him. All is well with him, except he is a bit too thin. So we have to feed him an extra 120 mls of formula while some medicine that I have been given to increase my supply of milk kicks in, and to get his weight up to where it should be. As of last Tuesday he was about 400gms under where we’d want him to be by now. I have set a limit for myself of weighing him only every week so that I don’t get paranoid. I have started on 3 hourly feeds as Ant has had a tendency to not be demanding enough. Hopefully my milk will increase in volume soon and we’ll all be better off. I’d prefer not to have to feed him formula – if for no other reason than he;s not keen on it and its a bit of a battle to get him to drink it.

Current Measurements
Length: 57cm
Weight (as of last Tuesday) : 3.8kg
Head circumference: 37cm

As big as his head

As mentioned previously Antony was suck trained with a dummy – the end result being a love of them. I took this photo the other night when i thought he looked really funny as the dummy was almost as big as his face. People have given us the orthodontic fancy pants dummies but Ant won’t have a bar of them. Give him a gigantic old fashioned dummy and he’s happy. Oh well – at least his preference for these is the cheapest option. I nearly died when i saw some dummies for $14.00 each – no that’s not a joke.

Ant is growing and putting on weight. He is still a 0000 baby but moving up to the next size. He weighs 3.5 kg now and is 51 cm long. He likes to honour his German engineering and wakes at almost precisely 3 or 4 hours from one feed to another. Basically he is doing really well – doctor gave him his 4 week check up and lungs, and all other things are working fine. Including a demonstration of his effectiveness of his bladder by weeing on the doctor, examination table and scales!! Shameless!!!

We have been home for over 2 weeks now and Ant is no longer a new born but simply a baby now as he is 29 days old. 28 days old is the last as a ‘neo nate”. We are doing quite well, feeding is getting easier and the lack of sleep is becoming normal. M has returned to work so we have had our first few days at home just Ant and I. Nothing dramatic happened and it really is just a routine of nappy changes, feeding and settling to a sleep or at least a bit of relaxing on the couch watching day time tv together. If i can get him to have a serious sleep I go to bed to for a bit of cat napping which really helps. We have had an expedition or two with the pram as well, which was quite good.

Hot tip for impending parents: channel your nesting instinct into stocking an entire separate freezer with food. I did this, and we have cooked less than half a dozen times since he was born and the food has been invaluable. Cooking is the last thing i have felt like doing in the list of undesirable household pre baby normalities which now seem like a fairly significant task!

A note to everyone who left a message on this blog – THANKS!! Sorry if i haven’t made direct contact with you to say it personally – suddenly just having a shower is not as easy as it was. I will try to get onto emails and phone calls etc soon. I will … I promise…