Jude - 10.5 weeks

I haven't written in a while...Jude has been having a tough time with colic/wind and I am now having to express for every feed which makes feeding fairly time consuming...I calculated I am spending 8 hours a day either expressing or feeding...not much time to do anything else! I am happy that he is solely getting breast milk though, particularly because he has had a bad reaction to 2 different types of formula (one made him vomit, the other has brought his face out in a rash) and I can control the flow of milk more for him. It's a bad combination when he guzzles his food and I have a plentiful and fast milk flow.

Mum is kindly going to send me some Cow and Gate comfort formula which is made in the UK as it is particularly good for babies with colic so fingers crossed this agrees with him. If so, I will slowly start the weaning process over the next couple of months. Plus he is close to the 3 month mark and a lot of windy babies get better after this age milestone so hopefully Jude is amongst them!

Sleep deprivation is still getting to both James and I though we have had some much needed time out thanks to Nanny Barb staying again. We had a lovely Valentines dinner at Aria's and I managed to get out for a massage and a couple of walks. It's funny...you want to rush out of the door as soon as you get the opportunity for a break but after an hour, I find myself rushing back because I miss him!

Jude is developing well and has started to sit and stand with assistance and grab things now. It's both fascinating and difficult to watch your child learning to coordinate for the first time. Such concentration and frustration on their face...you want to help them but you know that you need to sit back, encourage and let them do things for themselves. I have a couple of videos of his first attempts at grabbing toys so will send through the link shortly. He has improved ten fold in just a couple of days.

Barb dug out James' baby book with his measurements - Jude was shorter than him when he was born but he is catching up quickly much to his dad's amusement.

When he doesn't have wind issues he is quite a relaxed little man and loves sitting out on the balcony taking in the outside sounds and light. He often stares into space toward the light and giggles to himself. He has an infectious squeal when he does laugh...starts with a chuckle and ends in a high pitched squeal. Makes our day to hear it.

He's already starting to outgrow his 3 month old clothes and is now wearing 'up to 6 months'...more in length than width...it will be interesting  trying to find school clothes that fit him in years to come!

We're looking forward to introducing Jude to Jasper, Henry, Abbie and Nathan next week when they visit Sydney. No doubt Jasper and Jude will be keen playmate cousins as they grow together.

Love Nic x

Jude - 8 weeks

We took Jude along to his 8 week paediatrician appointment last night and is doing well.

In the past 2 weeks he has gone from 5.3kg to 5.45kg in weight and is now up to 62cm long (average for his age is 58cm). I am always interested in the weight part to make sure the breast feeding is ok and James is more interested in the height...of course. :-) Dad calls him a 'giraffe' - that's Jude, not James!

My parents group commences on 21 February which I am a little dubious about...I have this stereotypical vision of people sitting in a circle in a large empty hall (bit like an AA meeting!) taking turns in sharing their poo stories...my worst nightmare...I'm sure that won't be the case (for the most part) and I aim to attend on the day with an open mind...and a nice takeaway cappucino. :-)

The days seems to merge into each other...I have lost all grasp of which day it is and my clock is set by feeding times. Jude is winning the hearts of everyone in the local area - they see him everyday around 9am on our morning walk. The Chinese girl at our local coffee shop knows him by name and loves to say hi to him each day as I wait for my coffee.

As a Comms person I love to interpret his facial expressions and sounds and work out what he wants - he makes a "oooh" utterance when he's saying "Food NOW please"while his mouth forms an oval shape and he juts his head forward quickly. He also has a lot of thinking poses...puts his hand under his chin when he is asleep and frowns while staring intently at things. When he is satisfied with something he makes a clicking noise with his tongue.

He's now calling for the next feed...will upload some more videos for you all this weekend.

Love Nic x