The Good, the Bad and the Absolutely Adorable

I have been trying to write this post for over a week now, but when you have a newborn, the best laid plans are always waylaid by babies needs, and your own sleep deprivation! It has been an interesting two weeks since I last posted, hence the name of this post 'The Good, the Bad and the Absolutely Adorable'.

The Good

As I may have mentioned, John didn't feed much the first few days - he was just so tired from the labour, wouldn't really wake for a feed, and wasn't interested in latching on at all (i.e. would not open his mouth for nursing). This meant a lot of time expressing and finger feeding (which was exhausting for me) til he finally started demand feeding by the end of the first week. He lost a lot of weight in those first few days and almost had to go back to hospital. However, by the time he hit the start of his 2nd week in this world, his appetite returned with with a vengeance and we really got the hang of nursing. He put on 300g (10.5 oz) by the end of his 2nd week, putting him just over his original birth weight. Yay! Good baby, good good baby....see 'The Bad' for the continuation of this story!

On Saturday we took John shopping at the mall...let's not get crazy here, by the time we got ready and got down there, it was 15 minutes til closing, so we didn't really get any shopping done, but it was nice to get out with baby and see that we could do it (we just have to work on the timing). John Geoffrey loved it - he slept the ENTIRE time. It was also our first go using the pram (which was part of the hold up of getting down there, as we had to put it together before we could go). We did go to the supermarket afterwards, where John did wake up and cry for a while, but the car ride home put him right back to sleep. Good baby. Good, good baby.

Sleeping in the car on the way home from the mall.

Yes! We can finally use the 'special' parking at the mall!

We also finally got to talk to Grandma Keaton on Skype this week. Baby John really liked meeting his Grandma! We so wish we were closer so that Grandma could have a hold too, and so he could meet all his cousins and aunts and uncles. Hopefully next time we Skype Grandpa will be home too.

The Bad

With John putting on a lot of weight in week 2, and finally getting the hang of nursing, things were looking up for us....until we hit the start of week 3. For some reason, baby decided this was the best time to start being 'fussy'. You know, where they cry non-stop for several hours without you being able to settle them no matter what you do (rocking, holding, singing, swaying, patting, bathing, diaper changes, walks in the pram etc etc). John Geoffrey decided that 4am in the morning was a good time to start being fussy - you know, right when mum is her tiredest (is tiredest a word?). The first day of this he cried from about 4am til about 10am. Then he was fine after that, would sleep for 4-5 hours, feed and then go back to sleep, but the next morning it would start all over again. After about a week of this, I finally called the midwife yesterday to talk to her about it. She seemed to think that John just wants to cluster feed in the morning. This is where they feed every hour or so for 3-5 hours, and then have a good long rest. It's pretty exhausting for me, as it means no rest for a long period of time, but we tried it today, and he was much happier and cried a lot less. I guess it just means I have to go to bed earlier for a while until he decides he doesn't want to cluster feed anymore (apparently it is just a phase they sometimes go through). Who am I kidding. I have no idea what I am doing, but as long as baby is happy and I can have a rest later in the day, I'm going with it!

Poor John crying on Daddy's shoulder. He's still cute even when he's upset like this don't you think?

The Absolutely Adorable

There is really no explanation needed for many of these photos - I am just so in love with my baby, he's already growing and changing, but is just as adorable as ever.

Having a rest on the couch (read, too scared to move him while sleeping in case he wakes up and won't go back to sleep). Dad and Mum got to watch a whole movie together without interuptions with our little bundle sleeping on the couch between us. It was super cute. 

Being watched over by Daddy.

Close up of that beautiful face - love his little hands!

Not such a glamorous photo of me, but I love snuggling my little one like this after nursing.

John hates having his feet in the legs of his suit - it's hard to tell from this photo, but I unwrapped him for a feed and his toes were poking out where his belly is supposed to be - it looked hilarious!

This boy does the funniest facial expressions. I think he gets that from me :)

Isn't this little jacket adorable! Our little Monkey :)

Heading out to the chemist.