Things are going swimmingly

I took some time off on both sides of this bank holiday weekend, partially to spend more time with Kaleb, and partially to get as much unpacking done as we can.

So far, its going well. We've put a couple of bits away somewhere instead of just shuffling boxes around, and the conservatory has more room to walk around in which is nice.

We took Kaleb swimming too for the first time, as the designated baby/parent session is during the day while I'm usually at work. It took a little pre planning (mainly ensuring Kaleb had a feed an hour before we went in), but we got there in time for the start of the session, and slowly took him into the water.

Holding him, I sat down in the shallow end so his feet got submerged, then shuffled along until he got further underwater himself. His reaction was fairly neutral throughout. He didn't giggle and smile, but didn't cry at all either, so at least he doesn't hate it. I got him floating too; holding his head and bum, letting him lie on the water, then let go of his bum so that floated and I only held his head. Right before we got out, I let go of both for a moment so e could float on his own. A fairly successful session, the only crying I can remember was when we tied to dress him afterwards.

The second day was also swimming. It started earlier (and we woke up later) so we got there at the end of the session (it is general swim after so it didn't matter). Kaleb was more active this time, kicking his legs as I held his head so he could float. It did mean that he dunked his head under when I tried to get him to float on his own, but he was fine after a little cough and a cuddle (the latter being probably unnecessary as he didn't seem bothered by it at all). We got a couple of smiles out of him too.

Hopefully we'll be able to go swimming with him more often, we may have to find some time when i can come along too around work, probably in the general swim session.

I did spend the last two days thinking it is the weekend, so it is nice to have it only just starting. I think we'll be able to focus on unpacking a lot more now, and hopefully make some more good progress.

The land of nod

One of the common themes or memes about having kids is the lack of sleep parents get. Another is how horrible it is to change nappies (it isn't), but that's another topic.

I get the feeling that, if this child induced lack of sleep is as bad as is made out, we have been very lucky with Kaleb not keeping us up too often. I think the worst we've had is a few nights where he woke up in the middle thereof and didn't sleep again for an hour or so, but that is rare in comparison to a 'usual' night.

Within the last month, he started to only wake once after midnight for a feed before the morning. For a while, this was sleeping through till 5, but a couple of nights he woke at 2 instead (before having a long sleep, past 5).

The timing of this one walk in the night seemed to spend on when his last evening feed was, so we started aiming to ensure he had a fairly late feed, a bit after 11, which would usually last him till 5.

For the last three nights, however, he has had his late feed as usual, but slept through till the next morning, waking around the time I get up for work. This has given us a solid six or seven hours sleep through he night, which we are pretty grateful for. Here's us hoping he continues to let us have some sleep too for the future to come :-)

Wedding

Last weekend, me and Liz went along to the wedding of two of our friends from uni.

We had a lovely time, with my dad driving us down and looking after Kaleb during the day. The service was nice, some interesting music played throughout. I wondered when the lords prayer had changed from old English to modern English. The bride looked lovely, and the groom was calm enough at the start to give me a hug.

We then went over to the reception venue, giving Kaleb a feed before dad took him to butlins nearby the visit his uncle who was holidaying there. I had an interesting kiwi drink before going into the dining area for dinner. Food was tasty, particularly the home made ice cream. Plus it was nice to have an un-interupted meal, which has reduced for us somewhat since Kaleb was born.

After the meal and speeches, dad had come back with Kaleb wanting a feed, and not happy with the bottle we left for him. We then brought him in to see everyone while the music started, and he became as popular as ever. The groom likes it when babies grip onto your fingers, and got accused of being broody.

We stayed a bit longer, having a little dance, before getting ready to head back. Saying our goodbyes to everyone, we fed kleb before driving off home. I heard YMCA playing before we left and was almost tempted to run back to dance along, but we were just about to leave and had a long drive ahead of us. All in all, a very enjoyable day, and I wish all he best to the new couple

Time and time again

I've mused about time and our perception of it a couple of times on this blog before. Sometimes thinking it for a by quickly without really noticing it, and maybe about how I felt I had a bit of spare time and not much to fill it with.

Luckily, the latter is no longer a problem. Between moving and looking after Kaleb, my hands have been pretty full. My only complaint here is that unboxing stuff seems to be taking ages, and I would rather be playing with Kaleb, which is a lot of fun.

My other observation, that time seems to pass by quickly, has also changed somewhat. While Kaleb has only been here about 2 and a half months, it feels longer. And the time spent together doesn't seem to zoom by quite so much, which I am happy about :-)

Injections

As Kaleb turned two months, we took him along to the doctors to get his injections. He had two at the hospital, the first being a Vitamin K injection just after he was born (the first time he cried actually), and the second time was a BCG injection (he didn't cry that time). So going into the doctors, his reaction could go either way.