2 months old

Ok, so this post is a few days old (John was 2 months old on Thursday and it's now Saturday), but, well, we've been busy.

Here is a picture of our beautiful boy taken today - the sun decided to make an appearance in a spectacular way for the first day of spring - makes a nice change from the rainy, windy, overcast weather we have been having lately. I took John down to the Wittunga Botanic Gardens which are not far from our house (within walking distance) so that he could enjoy the outdoors, watch the trees and hear the birds. I've been wanting to do it for ages but the weather has been against us, so I was glad that we were able to go today - I'm sure it was good for both of us.

I've noticed that John has learned to do quite a few new things over the last month.

1. He has learned how to stretch. When he wakes up from a sleep he loves to stretch his arms way over his head and arch his back like he has had the best sleep ever (even if it has only been a 5 minute dose). It is way cute.

2. He has learned how to grab things - he's still learning total co-ordination but it is fun trying to watch him hold his pacifier and put it back in his mouth when it slips out - he doesn't have much luck though as somehow he manages to get his hands under the rim and then catapults it away from himself. He also likes to grab my clothes when he is feeding as if he's trying to pull himself closer. He's much better and opening and closing his hands this month than he was last month. The only problem with this new skill he is developing, is that he is still developing it, which means lots of scratches on his face. This morning I noticed this new scratch near his eye :(

3. He has learned how to smile, and even though I've talked about it before, it makes me so happy to see his sweet smiling face.

4. He has started gurgling and grunting and making lots more noises. He doesn't really cry when he wakes up anymore (although he does cry at other times), he just makes small noises to get my attention.

5. He has started sucking his fingers - not his fist, his actual fingers. He likes his index finger the most.

John still doesn't have a regular sleeping pattern. He did go about 2 weeks having a long 5 hour sleep at night on a regular basis, but this last week, he's back to 2-3 hours max. Such short sleep sessions makes mum a bit grumpy :( hopefully it's just a growth spurt and we'll have long sleeps again soon.

The last few weeks

Well, I haven't been keeping up with my posts as often as I would like, but here is a summary of what John Geoffrey has been up to this month:

Learned to smile

Yes, John has started smiling actively, and not just because he has gas :) I love it when he wakes up in the morning and I go to his crib and say hello and he gives me a big gummy smile back. He also loves having a clean bottom, and will give us plenty of smiles after we have changed his nappy. Actually he also loves to smile at us before we change his diaper, I think because he knows that we are playing russian roulette with every nappy change (although I am much more adept at placing a washer over him to stop any rogue sprays) and he likes to keep us on his toes!

This cute little one also smiles when he sees his reflection, when he's playing on his playmat and when we sing the Proclaimers 'I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)' to him (see the 'Olympics' heading below for the significance of the song).

Started Drooling

I wish I could get a good picture of this, but it is so hard. John has started frothing at the mouth when he's hungry and because he hasn't learned to keep his saliva in his mouth yet, it just dribbles all over his clothes. I find it pretty hilarious to be honest. Pretty much anything this kid does is cute.

Discovered his Bouncer, Playmat and Reflection

John and I went shopping to buy some new things for John Geoffrey. While it wasn't the best experience (picture a seriously screaming baby, who would not settle and two frazzled parents) we got some great things for him.

The first thing we got was a bouncer, which is something I had really been wanting to get. It means I don't have to put our baby down on his back when my arms are tired after feeding, and I can move him in his chair from room to room to keep him (and me) company.  He really enjoys his special chair and is rarely ever unhappy in it, he even doses off in it from time to time.

At the same time we got the bouncer, we also got a playmat which has arches over the top so that he has some interesting things to look at when he has playtime. The one we picked has a cute little monkey hanging off the middle of the arches, which plays some music when tugged on. I have to admit that was the main draw card for me, because John likes to call our son our little monkey (cute). The other cool thing about the playmat is that it has a mirror on it, and John Geoffrey loves to look at himself in the mirror.

Submitted his Passport Application

It's no secret that we would like to visit the Keaton side of the family for either Thanksgiving or Christmas this year, and so we decided to get John Geoffrey's passport application in asap so we can go whenever we like. We went and got his passport photo done about two weeks ago, but I only finished the application and sent it in last week. He was such a good boy for the photographer, no crying and very alert - made it so easy.

I also applied to get my name changed to Keaton on my passport. Because I managed to squeeze it in within the first year of our marriage (just) I didn't have to pay anything to change it - yipee!

Watched the Olympics

I remember watching the Olympics as a little kid and loving it. I distinctly remember during one Olympics being particularly inspired, so much so that my brother Boyd and I decided to have our own Olympics at home. A broom threaded through cardboard boxes loaded with books became weights so that we could do the clean and jerk. We'd time ourselves running around the perimeter of our house. We stood cushions from the lounge on their ends so we could do hurdles, and pillows and quilts and that trusty broom became the highjump and mats. I think we even did the triple jump in the backyard.

John and I watched our first Olympics (winter) together when he was living in NC and when I was in Australia. We somehow had the same broadcast on our TVs when we were talking one night on Skype and were laughing together at the dancers in the opening ceremony. To this day my impression of the dancers still makes John laugh.

John Geoffrey seemed to love watching this Olympics with us. He got to see weightlifting, fencing, track and field, swimming, diving, gymnastics, syncronised swimming and the list goes on and on. We were lucky enough to have Foxtel which was broadcasting 8 live channels, so we got to pretty much any and every event we wanted.

One day all three of us were watching the end of the race walking event, and of course laughing at how ridiculous guys look when they do the walk properly (I also reminisced how good I was at race walking when I used to do 'Little Athletics'). Anyway after the event finished the channel we were watching decided to do a montage of footage of the event to, you guessed it, the Proclaimers 'I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)'. I thought it was so funny and so I started singing along and then John sang it too (he did the echo in the chorus) and guess what - John Geoffrey loved it. So much so that we have sung it a couple of times since when he has been a bit sooky and he has cheered right back up. I'd like to say it is his favourite song, but it may just be a coincidence.

Got his first pimple

I know babies skin is prone to this sort of stuff while they are still getting used to life outside the womb, but I'm sincerely hoping and praying that John doesn't inherit my skin - I had seriously bad acne in my teenage years and I don't want him to have to deal with that.

Went on lots of lovely walks with mummy

The weather here has been a bit hit and miss lately while winter does it's final wind up. I'm looking forward to spring and summer and warmer days so that I can take John Geoffrey out a bit more. However, on the days when it has been not raining and not too cold, we have tried to get out and about a little so that I can get some exercise and fresh air and John can get to see a bit more than the inside of our flat. He really likes the walks. Sometimes he looks around and takes it all in, and other times he has a little snooze. Either way it's good for both of us.

Not enjoying the fact that I stopped to take a photo

Perfected His Houdini Skills

It never ceases to amaze me that whilst this kid can't talk, walk, crawl or pick something up of is own volition, he can manage to get out of the best swaddling possible (ok, so it might not be the best swaddling possible, but I'm seriously not that bad at it). Case in point:

I took this picture after I had just put John Geoffrey down for a nap:

And seriously, not more than 5 minutes later (enough time for me to go to the bathroom and get a drink and return to the bedroom):

What a cheeky little monkey!!!

Continued to get cuter every day

What a Difference a Dummy Makes

When our son was born, I was one of those first time mothers who swore she would never give her baby a dummy (i.e. pacifier).

I don't really know why I was so against it. Maybe I naively thought my baby would love just cuddling with me that he'd be so content that he'd never need one. Or maybe it was because I'd seen family friends struggling to de-wean their toddlers off their dummies that I decided I didn't want to have to have that bother later on (it did not look like fun).  Or maybe it had to do with the fact that I had read and been told that I shouldn't give my baby a dummy before they were 6 weeks old as it could interfere with their nursing (other's told me I should use it straight away).

So, you might be surprised when you look at this picture:

Yep, that is right, that is a dummy in my son's mouth. And no, he's not six weeks old, he's only four weeks old.

What changed my mind? Well it was a combination of things:

• A total of 3 hours sleep on Saturday night/Sunday morning.
• An exhausting first time back at church (read about it here).
• John only napping for 2 hours after we got home from church (after being awake all morning and not feeding well).
• And then a marathon 4 hour feeding session once he woke up from that nap, where he just would not settle or go back to sleep. If I took him off the breast he just cried and cried and cried.

Basically I had come to the end of my rope. John had obviously had enough food, he just wanted to suck for comfort and I was too tired and exhausted to keep nursing him. Plus with his thrush I was in throbbing pain after feeding for so long.

My husband had been telling me probably for 2 weeks to give him the dummy (pacifier) but I was too scared to in case it interfered with nursing him. I think probably the nurses visit on the Friday had given me the confidence to know that he was feeding fine, and putting on enough weight, that the benefits of having a settled baby and a rest from nursing started to outweigh my fears.

The results have been almost instantaneous. He has been a different baby since Sunday night. He only needed the dummy for a few minutes before he fell asleep, and I've hardly had to use it since. And now, when he is awake he is more happy, content, and way more settled - and he doesn't even really use the dummy much at all (I'm still conscious of not overusing it). He's still feeding like crazy, so I know nothing bad is going on there. He's so happy now it's like we have a different baby.

It may not be the dummy, it may just be co-incidence. But coincidence or not, I am converted. The last few days have been absolutely bliss. I've been able to rest more, and have had more energy to play with him and pay attention to his cues and needs. I'm loving it....let's hope it lasts!!!

Oh and a big thank you to Grandma Keaton who had sent us the pacifiers in the first place so when I was ready to use them they were on hand. 

Oh, and maybe next time I won't wait so long to follow my husband's advice (however this cannot be guaranteed).

Another comparison

His little nose is no longer squished!

They grow up so fast!

Baby John is being exceptionally good this morning, and so you know what that means? Time to finally get to the blog! I cannot believe that we've had our precious little one for a whole month now. Every day he seems to look different to me - I guess that is what growing up and filling out does.

0 days old

4 weeks old

Photo's

So, this post is probably going to be a bit word heavy, so I figured I better get most of the pictures up front so that you don't miss them :) There are a couple of photo's under the Health heading, but once you've seen those, the rest is words, so if you are not interested in reading you don't need to go any further once you've seen those.

I forgot to add this photo to my last post (so it's a little old)  but just look at those little tootsies! Daddy loves tickling John, especially on his tummy and his toes. So unbearably cute!!! 

Another one I forgot to add to the last post - finally content and resting on Daddy (i.e. comatose after a feed).

His first time on his playmat.

Looking cute!

This is the face he gives me most - I call it the "What the heck are you doing mum?' face.

John's Health

On Friday last week, John had his 4 week health check with the Child & Youth Health service. They came out to the house to do the check up which included checking his weight, height, head, all his movement ranges and reflexes, as well as a hearing test.

I'm so glad that John is a healthy baby. He has put on a lot of weight since he was born - he's gone from 7lbs (3.155kg) to 8.3lbs (3.780kg). He's also gotten taller/longer - from 50cm to 54cm. I like to think that he's a little chubby baby, but in reality he is really just long and skinny, although his face is getting nice and chubby - you've got to love those cheeks!

I took these photo's the day before the nurse came for his check-up:

I don't believe in taking 'naked' baby photo's - so this is as naked a photo as I will take!

Incidently, he pooped all over the playmat after I took these photo's. Boy can this kid poop! So far he's done one massive projectile that went all over the floor (thank goodness we don't have carpet where we change him), two small projectiles that have gone no-where except all over mummy's clothes (so, so gross), and several (seems like hundreds) of leak throughs (the washing is never ending). Lucky for John, the playmat he pooped all over is machine washable!

The only other notable thing about John's health is that the poor little guy has developed oral thrush :( the nurse picked it up when she was doing his check up. So we took him to the Doctor the next day for confirmation and have started to give him the medication to help clear it up. It may explain why this little man has been fussy for a while now. Can I just say though, how hard it is to hold a baby in one hand and syringe thick yellow sticky medicine onto his tongue? The syringe is horrible to use and is really clunky and hard to push. Not to mention how difficult it is to time when to give it to him as he has to have it every 6 hours, but cannot have it before a feed. Oh well, we will get there, only a couple of days of the treatment to go and hopefully it clears right up.

I also went to the chemist to see if I could get something for me, because apparently while I'm nursing, the thrush can pass from baby to me and back and forth if it's not cleared completely, and it flipping well hurts. A good friend of mine (love you Dina) mentioned a gel I could get, but when I got to the chemist they told me that I could only use that if baby was 6 months or older. So nothing for me, will just have to grin and bear the pain for a while.

Church

We *finally* made it to church with John this Sunday, for the first time since his birth. It was a very hectic day for me, and when we got home I realised we hadn't gotten a photo of him at church. As stupid as it sounds, I feel really sad that we didn't mark the occasion with a photo. I know that it will be impossible as he gets older, and as we get busier, to take so many photo's, but I had wanted one nonetheless. I guess we will just have to wait for the baby blessing instead.

We have been trying since John was born to get to church with him (although obviously not his first Sunday since we were still in the hospital then). However, despite several thousand prayers on my part (please let us make it this Sunday), he always seemed to have a bad night/morning for Sunday's - being up and crying from about 3am to about 10am, and so I've been too exhausted to make it.

Of course, it then came to make it or break it time. For those of you who don't know, I'm currently serving as the Primary President, and during the week found out that it was possible no-one from the presidency was going to be at church at all (my first counsellor had a very sick baby who had been in the hospital, my 2nd counsellor wasn't going to be there for personal reasons, and we don't have a secretary at the moment). Plus, it was our Ward Conference and Primary was responsible for providing soups for the ward for after the church meetings (Soup Sunday) - oh and did I mention that I had stupidly volunteered to play the piano for a musical item during sacrament meeting? Add to this the fact that John G had been so fussy lately, taking hours at a time to feed, not sleeping, crying all the time - plus a husband who has also not been sleeping well due to anxiety, and to say I was stressed about having to be there on Sunday would be an understatement.

First of all I did my usual reaction these days - tears - and lots of them. Crying on hubby's shoulder, crying on the phone to my own mum, crying to myself when no-one was looking. Basically feeling sorry for myself. But once I'd cried it all out I guess I just decided to accept the fact that this was the way things were, and I'd have to just suck it up and do it. It would be hard, and I might not enjoy it, and though I was still massively anxious about how it would go, this is what is expected of me so, as my brother's would say, it was time to take a teaspoon of cement and harden up.

Several thousand prayers later, and we made it. It wasn't easy. I was completely exhausted/spent by the time the meetings were over, but we did it, and I was glad that we did. I discovered the joys of the mother's room - where I could nurse John (next to a heater to keep me warm) and still hear the sacrament talks. I was thankful for my amazing 1st counsellor (love you Bec), who made the effort to be there for Primary time with her sick bubba, and who made sure Soup Sunday went to plan and ironed out all the little glitches, running that part of the show and clean up afterwards so I could leave as soon as church was finished to take my baby home for a feed and medicine. I was also thankful for my wonderful mum who stuck her head into nursery and found out that one of the substitute teachers had reniged, and just stepped in to help without worrying me about it (I only found out she did this after church as over). I was also thankful for foresight and having organised several weeks ago for Stake to take sharing time when they visited for ward conference, so that it was one less thing to worry about. And lastly I was thankful for my wonderful husband, who made the effort to come with me to church even though he hadn't slept much and wasn't feeling the best. Who saved me a sacrament water (as I had to take a crying baby out halfway through the passing of the sacrament) so that I wouldn't miss out on the most important reason for being there. Who took baby John for the whole 2 hour block after sacrament so that I could fulfill my primary duties, a big deal especially given that baby hadn't fed well after sacrament and wasn't sleeping. Who made sure I had some snacks to eat in the car ride home given that I hadn't had time for breakfast before we left for church.

All in all, it was still a stressful experience. I felt anxious the whole time I was there. I was worried about baby being fussy and not having the time to feed him properly. I was worried about how my husband was coping. I was tired and pretty much worn out by the end of the three hour block. But I'm glad we went, and I hope that as we continue to make the effort to go that things will get easier for us. I'm still anxious about going next week, and I'm even more anxious for how I will go for the weeks that my husband can't come with me (especially if that co-incides with weeks that my parents are away for their callings). I guess all I can do is try.

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.

A Week Old Today

I cannot believe that our little boy is a week old already! My, how time flies. Whilst I haven't really been out of the house since coming home from the hospital, it has been an eventful week of firsts for our little one.

First Car Ride Home

First Sleep at Home

He also had his first trip to the store (we had to go and buy a breast pump for me on the way home from the hospital), his first bath, his first bout of hiccups, and his first walk outside with mummy (I took him for a walk just down the driveway and back today, as it was sunny and not too cold for a change).

He's also had plenty of feeds, dirty nappies, crying, sleeping and cuddling this week, as well as a few visits from Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts, Uncles and cousins.

Uncle Joe & Auntie Rachel

Cuddles with Mum & Dad

Cuddles with cousin Jaiden

Cuddles with cousins Sarah & Jaiden

What I really love is when John plays with him and gives him cuddles. Baby John really loves his Daddy.

And of course, mum loves cuddles as well!