Christening

This past weekend was hot. Very hot. It was 34C on Friday, 37C on Saturday and 43C on Sunday! For the non-celcius folk, 37C is body temperature.


On Saturday we went to a public swimming pool to cool off. I didn't take Princess in the water, but she seemed to like cuddling next to my clammy swimming costume! In the evening we went to Princess' godparents for a barbeque.

On Sunday we had Princess baptised. Milord reckons he's a lapsed Presbyterian so we found our nearest Presbyterian church and asked if she could be baptised there. They were thrilled, so we gathered friends and family for the ceremony, which was part of the service.


It was a bit churchy... but that's what you get for having a church ceremony I suppose. I'm not a believer - I have trouble with the idea of sin, heaven and hell - without which religeon loses its point. Milord isn't a believer either, but I think sometimes that he would like to be... which would be fine with me, really. We will give Princess exposure to Christianity and it will be her choice to believe or not. When I was a kid my parents sent me along to Sunday school every week and I loved it. I'm sure she will too!

It was hot. Very hot.


Milord's sister has a christening dress that Milord's mum made 18 years ago and was worn by his 2 nieces at their christenings. I was so chuffed when she offered it for Princess' use. It is a beautiful long satin dress, with lacey bits. Princess looked... like a princess!

But it was hot. Very hot. I spent the whole ceremony fanning my baby or blowing on her to cool her down! She slept though the entire thing, for which I was very grateful. She barely even twitched when the minister poured water on her head.


After the service we had nibbles and champagne with the congregation and our friends in the church hall. And it was hot. Very hot.

In the early afternoon we changed Princess into a cooler dress and a few of us went to an air-conditioned pub for a few hours. Oh, that was nice!

Late afternoon we sadly had to go home. We'd closed the house up so it was 32C inside as opposed to the 42C outside.

Still hot though. Very hot.


Mom, Milord and I all put on swimming costumes and got into a cool bath together! Luckily our bath is enormous, but it was still a little bit intimate! Princess also came in with us and we chatted and drank wine in the nice cool bath... we're going to buy a paddling pool very soon!

Then a light meal and attempting to sleep under the ceiling fans.

A cold wind sprang up on Sunday night and since then it has been cool and drizzly. We're loving it after the hot weather and Princess has been asleep for most of two days - utterly exhausted by her adventurous weekend!

Granny's Here!

11 Weeks

I still don't know how other new moms blog as much as they do. When I have free time I run around cleaning and tidying, then I make a meal and sit down with my book for half an hour before Princess is up again. I'm lucky if I keep up with my emails, and there I cheat anyway because I know a lot of my friends and family keep tabs on me here!

Princess is nearly 11 weeks old.

She is now sleeping for a least an 8 hour stretch most nights. Her evening "Toxic Time" where she will not settle for up to 4 hours after 6pm, which makes preparing and eating dinner very difficult, seems to be easing. That started in week 5, so we've have 6 weeks of awkward evenings. This is normal, all babies do it, and it seems to be their way of tanking up on food at nightfall. Lately she is still ratty at 6pm no matter how I schedule her naps or how much I let her eat, but she's settling earlier and earlier. We now get her down between 8 and 9, and then she has a good long sleep.

Of course this means that she is waking around 4am or 5am for a feed, but at least I've had 6 hours sleep by then myself. Generally I can grab another hour or two from 5 or 6am too. Once she starts sleeping from 7pm-ish I'll consider waking her at 10pm for a "dreamfeed" to hopefully get her to sleep until dawn and so fit in with her parent's sleeping paterns!


We're getting lots of smiles and I'm sure she did a little giggle yesterday. It is so nice to be getting something back after all this tending. We also have gurgles and coos: "ahgha" and "oooeh" in this tiny girlie voice, with eye contact and a little smile - oh so cute! If I repeat the sounds back to her she'll do them again a few times. Milord thinks I'm losing my mind, and now I know why people googoo at babies!

Of course with the new vocal range we're also getting better howls and screams when she's hungry/wet/tired/gassy/hot/bright. Did you know a tired baby can be happily cooing in your arms and then will suddenly scream their head off for a couple of minutes before conking out completely? Huh.

Bathtime is becoming more fun, although I spend most of my time trying to stop her drinking the bathwater! I took her into the shower with me last weekend... she didn't seem to mind unless the spray was actually bouncing off my shoulders into her face. The spray onto her own back and head was fine. I'm glad - I figure teaching her to swim will be a lot easier if she doesn't mind getting her face wet.


Milord and I are making an effort to have quality time together lately. I realised last week that several days had gone by without a hug between us because Princess was always in the way. When she was asleep we'd be busy or asleep ourselves. That's no way to run a marriage! While we're being terrific parents we also have to remember to be good husband and wife too.

As for me, my weight is horrible. I have rejoined Weightwatchers and hope this plus the walking I make a point of getting out to do will start having an effect. I am 3kg over my pre-pregnancy weight. This isn't a huge amount but it's just not shifting and I can't fit into my old trousers, shorts and summer dresses. Growl. Wish me luck!

Mom leaves England today to travel here. She'll arrive on Monday morning and I can't wait! I'm planning walks in the park, coffee overlooking the beach, and picnics and beer gardens and all sorts of granny-and-baby-friendly stuff.


Mommy was too lazy to hoik out the baby bath...

Big Fish in a Small Pond...

Princess moved from her bassinette...


to her cot this week!

She looks lost in it! It doesn't help that you can't have anything in the bed with her because of smothering concerns. That's also why she's tucked down the end of the bed - so that she can't wriggling her head under the blankets.

My baby is growing so fast. Just 9 weeks ago she barely took up half the bassinette.

I was worried that she wouldn't like the bed after the closeness of the bassinette, but it doesn't seem to worry her. I did swaddle her tightly for her first few naps, but right now she's sleeping happily with her arms flung out.

Now I just have to figure out what to do while Mom stays in Princess' room for most of a month in 2 weeks time. Princess is such a noisy sleeper I don't really want to inflict her on her Granny at night... or on us!

Daddy's Girl

Sculpture by the Sea

Last week we went to Sculpture by the Sea, an annual event at Bondi Beach. Along the coastal walk towards Coogee oodles of artists get to exhibit a work of sculpture. It is a competition and points are awarded for various things including how well it works in its location.








It was a lovely day - quite warm but with a fresh breeze. Princess had her first outing in the baby carrier, wearing her first sunhat and her first application of sunscreen.

She slept the whole way after a bit of grumbling, and then we sat under a tree and fed her and had a sandwich overlooking Bondi Beach.

Lovely!

Routines

It is a very hot day - over 35C - and I am indoors with all the doors and windows closed. My thermometer says it is 28C inside and with a fan blowing on me it's quite nice, really.

Princess should be asleep for an hour. Let's see if I can catch up on some posting. I'm getting a bit slack. I know I should post about being a mommy for my own reference - this is my diary after all. But others read my diary - won't they get bored?

Hmm. Too bad. Someday I may have a life outside baby smiles and interesting poo, but honestly this is kind of it for me right now, so I guess that's what I'll be posting!

So.


Princess is 2 months old, and 9 weeks old today. The time has flown, although it also feels like forever. Was I ever not a mommy? Who was that cashed-up carefree person?

I wrote down some point-form notes to blog about. Looking at them they say rather a lot so I'll just post 'em as they are:

sleeping thru
pesto poo
smiles (mostly for Dad)
legs in air
kicking into corners
size 00
outgrowing bassinette
eyes dark blue
enjoying baths a lot more

weaned off breastfeeding
back in C cups
back in pretty underwire bras!
weight not good

That's pretty much it in a nutshell!

Princess has begun to settle into a routine now - not an imposed one, just one she's fallen into. She wakes about 7am for a feed and plays and naps until 10 when she feeds and then has a long sleep until about 2. Then feed and play and nap until 6 when she's suddenly a cranky little nibbling thing until between 9 and 10 when she suddenly goes to sleep. If we're lucky she'll sleep through to 7 the next morning. If not then she'll wake at 2am for another feed.

She's "slept though" (8 hours or more in one go) for the last 3 nights in a row! Of course Milord and I start waking after 5 hours to look at the clock and to check the monitor is working every 15 minutes because we are now so used to waking in the night! I'm still tired though, as there is a fair bit of sleep debt.

On the whole she's a very happy baby. The evening crankiness is normal at this age. Poor Milord gets home from work at 6pm just as she becomes a pain in the butt! Luckily (although we'd rather he had more work) he's only working 3 days (his company is in trouble and has made him semi-redundant) a week, so he sees her in happy mode for the other 4.

As for me, I'm getting a routine too. This week looks like this:

Mon: exercise in park, lunch with friends, change and wash bed linen
Tue: Mothers Group, blog, snooze
Wed: exercise in park, clean bathrooms
Thu: Milord home, clean floors
Fri: Milord home, exercise in park, change and wash towels
Sat/Sun: Papers in bed, late brunches, catch up with friends

My weight is not going down. It will, as soon as I stop eating so much! We have a bowl of Halloween candy hanging around at the moment which really doesn't help. At least I am now having a bit of exercise to boost my metabolism.

Princess Update

Ooh, where did the week go? All is great here, we've just been busy...

I've decided that as Princess is 7 weeks old it is time to get more structure in my life, and to get out and exercise several times a week to get my body back in shape. My metabolism had flatlined - I wasn't eating all that much but I was beginning to gain weight on top of the 2kg of baby weight I still have. Unacceptable!

There is a huge stunning park about half an hour from home called Centennial Park. It's enormous and has playing fields, lakes, ponds, horse and cycle tracks, and a 40min pedestrian/pram circuit. I have set myself the goal of doing the circuit with Princess in her pram 3 times a week.

So that takes up most of 3 of my weekdays - I try to get out of the door by 10, finish the circuit at midday, and then relax under a tree with my book. Lovely, and it feels great to be out of the house! Princess doesn't mind where she sleeps, eats or has her nappy changed so that's easy provided I have enough gear with me.

...damn, lost the rest of this post and now I don't have time to rewrite it. Oh well.

Princess Update

Princess is 6 weeks old! This is supposed to be a major milestone, after which this motherhood thing gets easier, less tiring and more fun.

...I'm still waiting.

Oh, parenthood is awesome, it just can't be called "fun" yet. I can't wait until Princess recognises me and smiles, or the random arm swinging becomes deliberate reaching for things. She is doing the odd long sleep at night, and on Wednesday she slept from 11pm to 6am which I reckon counts as "sleeping through". Of course since then she's back to a maximum of 4 hours sleep, or 3 hours like last night. Oh well. It will come.

I'm finding the boob/formula routine I've worked out to be a good thing. I breastfeed at dawn and dusk, when there is no rush to get out or go back to sleep. Because we have to drain both boobs and then follow with half a bottle it takes ages! The rest of the time she drinks a bottle in about 20min, which I can do anywhere at the drop of a hat.

I hear folk say bottle feeding is a pain because of sterilising and heating and mixing... I haven't found it a problem though. I have 4 bottles so there is always at least one ready for use, pre-filled with boiled water. My microwave sterilises in 3 minutes and heats the water in 30 sec. If I go out I take boiling hot water in a bottle inside a beer cooler (!) and when Princess needs it it is usually still warm and I throw in a sachet of formula and shake. Not that she's fussy about such things - I got caught out and fed her a cold bottle the other day and she didn't mind at all!

I have the best husband in the world!

Last weekend he volunteered to do the night feeds on Friday and Saturday nights. We still get up together and I change Princess while Milord readies himself and the formula, I deliver her to him and I go. back. to. sleep! This gives me an extra hour's sleep per feeding cycle and it is the best present a girl could wish for. A friend asked why we get up together at all - the person feeding should do the lot. I disagree. We both wake up when Princess cries anyway, and it means a lot to the feeder to have Princess changed and comforted while they have a chance to have a wee, pour a glass of water, heat the formula, find the TV remote and the burp cloth, and settle into the armchair.

Plus doing it all in the middle of the night is very lonely. I've done it a couple of times when Milord was exhausted and needed a solid night's sleep, and it's a bit miserable - especially when you forget the remote out of reach!

Post Preggy Body Update

It's been 6 weeks since I pushed Princess into the world. Gee, is that all? It feels like months!

My weight hasn't changed in the past 3 weeks. Seeing as I am only breastfeeding a couple of times a day I can no longer use that as an excuse to eat everything in sight, and Milord and I are trying to get back into healthy low-cal eating for the first time since I got pregnant. It's a hard habit to break!

Exercise doesn't really happen yet - I still clamber into bed for a nap rather than go for a walk if Princess sleeps in the afternoon. Or I catch up on housework. It will come... Princess is starting to sleep for longer periods at night so I will need the afternoon nap less and less (hopefully!).

I can however fit back into my pre-pregnancy clothes now - woohoo! Tops are tight over the bigger boobs, and I can only get into my "fat" trousers, but it is so nice to get out of the maternity clothes I have been restricted to for the last 7 months.


All discharge stopped "down there" in week 4 and my stitches went away about then too. Finally! For anyone who is pregnant and panicking because their libido has disappeared - have no fear, it comes back as soon as the pregnancy is over. Everything seems to be working well in that department and I'm getting no complaints!

Sneezing with a full bladder is still a disaster waiting to happen, but I do my pelvic floor exercises when I remember and it's getting better.

I still have really thick hair - the extra should begin falling out in clumps in about 4 weeks time. I should be dreading it but actually I am looking forward to getting my normal hair back because I can't figure out how to manage this stuff without changing my haircut!