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.

Perth

As some of you will know Ant and I headed off to Perth to see my father, sister, step mother, bro in law and nephew last week. I was a bit nervous about flying with the baby but he travelled like a pro and slept pretty much the whole way there and back. Michael joined us for the weekend (gotta love frequent flyer points) and we all went out for lunch in beautiful Perth. Dad got a pass out of hospital for the occasion too.

Photos below (click on to make bigger) are Christine with Ant; Michael and Ant and Kent and Otto (modern Daddys); and Janey with Otto. We visited DD in hospital too – where Ant received the same photo treatment that Janey and I received our whole childhood – good to see the tradition continuing! And the boys together – their first meeting.

The good news is that Janey and family are on their way over to Adelaide for Xmas!! Woo hoo.