Category: Crayon

Babies everywhere

We just got back from our ante natal class reunion, only 4 couples left to go. So that meant there were 7 babies at the reunion, and all of them slept through the entire thing.I think it was mostly because it was really warm, so they just zonked out.

It was fun to catch up with everyone and see how everyone is doing. I don’t think anyones birth went to plan, but everyone is doing well anyway, and thats the main thing.

Next reunion in another 4 weeks time, so that should be good.

Iiiimmmmm gay and Other Events

So Kahurangi is learning how to cry a little more regularly, though the sounds are quite interesting. Most of the time it sounds something like mnngwaayyyy. However, variations sound just like “I’m gay” or “Go play” or “No way” “Good eh?”. A mix of guttural and Fonzie-esque. More popularly, he enjoys lots of grunting and groaning noises instead. You’d think he was in a ruck, but really, it’s usually trying push out a fart or two. We’ve been told by more than one mother and the doctors etc that he’s very strong for his age – can pretty much hold his head up on his own most of the time, and can push himself up on his arms on occasion. He is fond of doing dramatically loud stretches even in his sleep which we think is what makes him so strong.

He eats rather piggishly with lots of slurping and jumping around at the breast and goes something like a frantic and panting baby bird when anything brushes against his mouth, even when he’s not hungry. Also when he’s anywhere within a 3 foot radius of my boobs. This means when he’s with me, he’s most likely eating, thinking about eating, or pretending he’s eating. Which means that his vague and increasingly frequent smiles have been given only to his dad and his grandma. Maybe I’ll get a grin sometime before he’s 10. He also has the amazing talent of being able to either eat and fart or eat and burp at the same time – both usually resulting in him attempting to rip a nipple off as he and his gas dances around. The gas gets more smiles than any of us.

Today mom and I took him to his new GP today for his first set of injections and 6 week check up. I was very excited to see that on the list of things they check (lungs, heart, abdomen etc) that he had two checkmarks next to testicles. I thought he had exceptionally good balls, but alas, further down the list, I saw that they did two checks for anything that has two (i.e. eyes, hips etc). Funny to note that along with “Doing fabulously” and “settled baby”, that doctor also wrote “double chin”. So he’s a little fatty… shesh, does it need to go in his Plunket book?!!?!

I made it through the injections (barely a sniffle)… and oh yeah, Kahu’s fine too. 🙂 He gave the nurse the evils after the second one – progressing from the shocked wail after the first one. mMMmmgwayyyYy turned into WAHHHH WAHHHH WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH instead by the time the third shot was delivered. It all disapated pretty fast though and after a cuddle he pretty much went off to sleep until I decided to squirt him with Pamol, which of course I have no clue how much he actually had since a good bit went down his chin, neck and on his shirt. Here’s hoping that he doesn’t have any of the nasty potential reactions they berate you with at the doctor’s office. So far he just shrieks when he does his remarkable stretches with his newly sore legs.

Kahu’s grandma Linda is having a ball staring at him, giving cuddles and doing poop duty, and Chris and I are happy to have a little break in our new routine. I think they both will be sad when she has to go. He’s sure to make his first American trip sometime in the near future…

Kahurangi Update

So there are a few things that have happened this week in our little world. Kahurangi’s due date arrived – which ironically marked his turning one month old. I think the midwife and obstetrician were happy to have him arrive early so they could have a quieter holiday. Little landmarks this week have been his being much more ‘baby’like rather than infant. He *sigh* has learned to cry and now does so with gusto I didn’t know such wee lungs had.

He’s also turned into a proper baby instead of the little ideal angel he had been before – that is, he seems to have curious cranky spats where chris and I look at each other with the “what does he WANT?!!?!” that all parents must go through. I’m wishing he had little gauges or buttons that told us how full he is, what his gas level is, and just why the heck he is grumbling. Maybe that comes with the Kahu 8000XQG model. However, with his new cry, has also come his first proper happy baby talk noises. He prefers to talk only to himself, and usually when he’s happily batting at monkeys and elephants in his play gym. Which is also another landmark – we *think* he can consciously bat at things, or at least in the general vicinity. He’s also much aware of the world around him and follows things with his wee little beady eyes.

We have also made the ceremonial occasion of the first “Losing of the Sock”. We think it’s somewhere on Lambton Quay. A recent outting to finish off the xmas shopping made me realise how much babies become public property. The odd smile or the “Wow what a tiny baby” and of course the “How old is he?” is ok, but I’ve found people love to tell you all about their own kids. I had a very sweet lady harangue me for 20 minutes about her son (who is now 34) and gush over Kahu to the point of tears. Nice to have your son so admired, but I really didn’t need to know about a random stranger’s episiotomy and her son’s shirt size.

On a very humorous note, we were watching Judge Judy this week (yeah yeah, I know, the crap you watch when you’re trapped on the couch with a baby attached to you) and there was a couple who talked about their son – no joke – Kray On (though the spelling is left to the imagination).

It was a tough week for us as I managed to get campylobacter (food poisoning) and was pretty sick until I got antibiotics. It was to the point where even sips of water would give me major intestinal cramps. So why am I telling you this? Because I realised how lucky we are to have Kahu able to take a bottle when needed. I was so sick that my milk was rather crappy I’d imagine, so bub was very hungry and fussy. It was great to be able to top him up with formula and know he was getting enough (and to stop the crank). A good bit of advice for new mums is to make sure your baby can take a bottle and either have a store of expressed milk or formula for occasions like that.

He’s also having a bought of dry skin. Normally not a big deal, I’ve been just lotioning him up and rubbing at it with a washcloth. But alas, in a strange turn, I’ve scratched off what I thought was his Barr mole birthmark! With a wee gasp I looked at his head and realised it must have been a deceptive scab. He still has little dots of blood that were left over from the massive bruise on his head, but even the doctor had written down that this was a birthmark. So, being the freak that I am, I have saved the “birthmark” in a wee plastic bag… next to the umbilical cord… and his first fingernail clippings. And here I was worried we’d have to get it removed as a skin cancer risk.

Kahurangi gets to meet his other Grandma tomorrow, which he’s very excited about. And there are another set of arms to send him to, which I’M excited about.

So life goes on with most of the day involving boobs, poos and lots of dazed watching of tv. Not much to expect from my brain – I tried to make a phone call with the remote control, but hoping to get off some personal emails sometime this month. Wishing you all a fond adieu.