Future soccer player?

Zoe is developing some new party tricks. She 'kicks' a ball [with bells in it] when placed between her feet on her baby chair. She surprises herself when the ball is kicked up to her arms - doesn't quite understand that those arms are hers, and she will be able to control them soon. And anyway, that would be a handball... She will also grip her rattle and appears to shake it [those arms again]. Is really rewarding to see these things happening.

Here's a picture of Jo and Zoe having a cuddle. It's great having a friend living around the corner who is babywise.

Feeling better

Baby Zoe seems a little better, although she still has a runny nose, which causes her to choke and cough sometimes. My 'virus' only lasted about 24 hours, but I'm not sure if Zoe had the same symptoms or not. It would be so much easier if babies could tell us how they feel. Or even if they could just blow their noses a little!

Mum and bub unwell

I have developed some flu-like symptoms over the last 24 hours, on top of my own sniffles. I wonder if Zoe feels as rotten as me? Best guess is that she does, so I've been giving her some Infant's panadol, which is hopefully helping her. Poor little possum is hardly complaining at all.

Snuffles

Zoe has developed a cold - her first - which in this case means a snotty nose and difficulty breathing. Aunty Sally came to the rescue yesterday with a vaporiser and supplies, including a big bottle of eucalyptus oil. As a result I think we all slept better. Much cooler this morning too, which means it is time to consider using the heater, with the timer on, to reduce the early morning chill. We tend to feed at 530am, which is also the time poor Ewan needs to get up and ready for work, so a bit of warmth will be lovely for all.

First Holiday

We returned yesterday from a lovely weekend away to Yamba where we stayed in an apartment with Aunty Sally and Uncle Wonder, friends Kim and Trottie and their 5 m.o. baby girl Tallulah. Both babies were very well behaved, as were the adults. We all ate well, played some fun round robin tennis [the first time for me since pre-pregnancy], played games and listened to music. Getting out of the house, sharing the meal preparation and having Aunty Sally help with the baby cuddles made this a refreshing break. The amount of 'stuff' we had to pack to get there was a surprise though!

Great news this morning is that our friends Erica and Noah gave birth to a little healthy little girl on Friday. It already seems so long ago [10 weeks tomorrow] that Zoe was born. Those delicious few days after her birth, full of cuddles and with little regard for the 'outside' world were so enjoyably surreal. If you are interested, see Noah and Erica's blog at http://bushbaby1.blogspot.com/

Mothers Day

A bitter sweet day today. Continue to be very sad that I don't have my Mum to share the day with. Rather than ignore the occasion, as we have done for the last three years, Sally and I cooked two of our Mum's 'signature dishes' - rolled pav and zucchini slice. Took these over to the lake for an afternoon picnic, which Ella was particularly thrilled about. It seems we've found a way to incorporate some ceremony into the day, even if it involves cooking!

Of course, it is also lovely to now be a mother myself. I have an intimate understanding of how the mothering job is at once joyous and exhausting.

We miss you Mum.

Photo

Here's a recent photo of Zoe.

Ouch!

Zoe had her first set of immunisations, for eight week olds, yesterday afternoon at the clinic attached to the hospital. She screamed when she received the injections, one in each leg at the same time. This caused mummy to cry too, which is an apparently normal although embarrasing reaction. She settled down quickly, but was then inconsolable for a couple of hours early in the evening. I gave her some children's paracetamol and we applied some cold cloths to the injection sites, but it was her rocker that eventually soothed her, once she had cried and screamed herself hoarse in Mummy and Daddy's arms.

We had a good night's sleep though, with bubba waking every four hours, which gave Mummy a little bit of extra time in bed between feeds. At 5 kilos, she is starting to get not only heavier but stronger and more assertive, which means that some feeds are a struggle as she wiggles and flails her arms around, scratching me and herself in the process. The nail file came out again this morning, for her second 'manicure'. Even though I'd like to go to the Mum's and Bub's group in Byron today that Kira's mum told us about, we'll have a quiet day at home instead, as I have outings planned for the rest of the week and don't want to overdo it.

First party

Zoe went to her first birthday party on Saturday, for cousin Ella, who turned 3. I think it was all a little bit overwhelming, coming as it did at the end of a busy week, that included daily outings. Will try to restrict these this week, or at least keep them short.

I had dressed Zoe in a georgeous little pink overall set for the party, sent over by her Aunty Julie and cousins in Scotland. It lasted about 45 minutes before she soiled it sounfortunately, I didn't get a photo.

We had a great day yesterday. Dad even agreed to watch bubba Zoe in the afternoon so I could catch up on some sleep - what a difference an extra two hours makes. It was also good practice for when I start focusing on my study again, as I hope that Sundays will be 'daddy's day', allowing me uninterrupted time working on my thesis.

Baby friends

Yesterday we met and had coffee with another bubba from Ballina who was born at Mullum hospital the day before Zoe. Although we hadn't met before, baby Kira's Mum and I felt a connection, not least because she had listened to and silently supported me through my labour. So much to chat about! Baby Kira is adorable, and while the girls are a bit too young to connect, I think bubba Zoe was mildly curious.

The day before we went back to the clinic. I hadn't been for three weeks but wanted to have a weigh in, to check our little girl's progress. She is now almost 5 kilos, which puts her in the 'big baby' league. Thankfully, her length and head circumference are proportional to this. Looks like we're going to have a chubba bubba, which, as my mother in law tells me, isn't so bad when a baby is breastfed. As a result of this visit, we're going to try to extend the time between feeds to 4 hours. I realise that what I'm doing is close to 'parent directed feeding', or PDF, but bubba Zoe doesn't seem to mind. I started out demand feeding, as this seemed to be the right thing to do, but the early childhood nurse put me off this, and I guess at the end of the day I'm a little selfish and enjoy the small amount of structure this regulated approach has bought into my day. I can plan outings and activities [and do housework] with some idea of when the next feed may be. A quick web search on PDF though shows that this type of feeding isn't well recognised by many of the purists, in much the same way as dummies and, I suspect, automatic swings aren't really advocated, but it's working for us and that's what counts.

Today, we're off to Byron to visit our GP, and to have lunch with a friend who is due to give birth in less than 5 weeks. Babies, babies everywhere!

Family photo

Our dear friend Kirsty took this picture for us on Good Friday morning. Baby Zoe was about 4 1/2 weeks old - she's 7 weeks tomorrow.