Eight weeks

(21 May 06)

A MUCH longer entry this week - I wouldn't want Auntie Steff to feel like she was being deprived of my endless ramblings just because I've been busy :P I have also stolen precious Wombat-sleeping-time from my thesis to update my website. I still have to write the product reviews, and after that, my next time-waster will be filling in the missing two weeks between Wombat's birth and my first update - I am sure you will want to know all about it some day, so I'd better get it written down before I forget it.

Wombat, you are getting much stronger this week and have become more interactive, tightening your grip to hug me rather than just lying on my shoulder. You can now hold your head up straight without support, though it still gets rather wobbly when you are tired. You are even pushing up with your legs and taking some of your weight on them! Anyone would think you were trying to walk before you can crawl :P You haven't actually rolled over on your own yet, but you are trying and have come close (EDIT: yes, you have - did it this afternoon - were very proud to be suddenly lying there on your tummy!). I am thinking the next step will be to put perspex sides on the change table so you can still lie there in safety while I am folding your next nappy or otherwise distracted.

Speaking of change tables and folding nappies, that has become one of your favourite jokes. You will be lying there having some "nakey botty time" in between nappies, and I will turn around to lay the clean nappy on the bed while I fold it. Suddenly I will feel a warm sensation on my backside and realise I have been perfectly targeted by my little Wombat! That has happened twice now, and the huge smile on your face when I have to change my peed-on clothes shows that you know what you are doing - I guess it makes up for all the times in the day when you have to put up with me dressing and undressing you!!! All those mothers with baby girls just don't know what they're missing :P

You have started vocalising very well - you will copy what Daddy and I say - especially "Hello" and "Hi" - you don't have the pronunciation perfect yet, but the tone of voice is exact... and you gurgles away to youself in full sentences. As Daddy says, the content isn't there yet but the sentence structure is all in place: "Goo? Goo goo go gah. Goo goo GAH go. Goo Google go. Ooooh!" It's terribly cute to listen to... and if I say "What a BIG smile," and Daddy repeats "That's a lovely BIG SMILE," you will say something like "EEEG IIIIIIILE"... I know all parents hear their baby talking where everyone else just hears nonsense, but it's fun to play.

You have been discovering your hands this week as well. You will stare in fascination while I show you all the things that fingers can do - open wide, close into a fist, open one at a time, wiggle, wave... and then I will see you practising the same movements. You haven't quite worked out how to stick your thumb out yet, and it keeps folding inside your fist, but that means you sucks on your wrist instead of your thumb which is probably better for your future teeth development!

You have one little tooth bud starting to show already - I'm not sure I'm looking forward to that particular milestone - it's not the teething problems I mind so much as the being "chewed on" bit... Daddy was looking at teething toys yesterday and was telling me about a nice "Big Bird" toy that you could chew on... I reckon Mitch may have to watch out in the future if we get you that one - you may get used to the idea of chewing on birds!

Mitch bit me & broke the skin for the first time this morning - nothing serious at all, but it was a shock... (For those who don't know, Mitch is the long-billed corella that Daddy rescued from the gutter 3 or 4 years ago after seeing him get hit by a car - his wing is permanently damaged and he has been my much-loved but frustratingly noisy pet ever since). Nana is worried about psittacosis, so she has insisted on taking over Mitch's daily care, but sometimes Mitch won't cooperate with her - he refuses to come out of his cage and will sit there screeching until I come to take him outside... then he will attack me for neglecting him! Nana looks after him very well, but she doesn't give him the same cuddles and grooming that he is used to. I try to catch up when I have time, but being Autumn, he has a lot of uncomfortable pin feathers that need attention, and he wants to spend 10 minutes chewing on my fingers before settling down to enjoy the process - which is a problem when I only have 10 minutes to spare for him. He is being so cute at night though - I will try to get a picture - he climbs under the sheet covering his indoor cage and bops around under there, poking his beak out to say "Peek a bird!" When you cry, Wombat, he makes little soothing noises - I think he respects a creature that can make more noise than he can!!! When we first came home from the hospital, you totally ignored Mitch's screeching, being used to hearing it in my tummy... but now you are getting older, when you are overtired and I have had trouble getting you to sleep, Mitch's screech is guaranteed to wake you up again, which does place an extra stress on our relationship - especially if I give Mitch some attention for being a good quiet bird and he screeches at me and wakes you up the moment I walk away from him!!!

Darling Wombat, you have also started laughing this week... lovely little giggles they are... we can't help but laugh with you! You and Daddy are having a sleep-in together this morning, as you were awake several times during the night (Mummy would rather grab the chance to have a shower and breakfast than sleep!!!)

Mummy's new dicovery is that reading while breastfeeding is totally forbidden! Daddy passed me an interesting article on a new Rotovirus vaccine in Scientific American the other day, and while I was feeding, I went on to read several other articles. Wombat, you were most upset. You like to gaze adoringly into my eyes while you are nursing, and if I am not looking at you, it just isn't the same. It took you several hours to forgive me and smile again! Mummy is allowed to think about other things, but she has to smile while doing so... if she forgets and looks serious while contemplating the state of the universe... her thesis... or the shopping list... she will look down and find a very anxious little frown staring back up at her... "Why won't you smile at me Mummy? Don't you love me any more?" I get the same response if I forget to talk to you when changing your clothes or dealing with your hiccups etc. It doesn't matter what I say, you just like to know you are the centre of my attention... Poor Wombat ;) It's not much too ask - after all, before I know it that adoring gaze is going to turn away to seek new objects of affection, so I must be sure to bask in its glow every moment that I can!

On Wednesday we went for our big trip into town to meet the priest who will baptise you. It was your longest journey in the car so far, and you were a very good boy and slept most of the way. The sun through the back window is a huge problem, though. We really need to find some way to shade your face without blocking visibility. You woke up crying after we'd been driving for about an hour and a quarter, but we were nearly at Brighton Le Sands where we had planned to stop anyway, to show you your first glimpse of the ocean. It was a bit breezy there, but you were wearing two of your little cotton suits and I put on your pixie hat and wrapped you in a rug so you were warm enough (I had my camera with me to take pictures, but forgot and left it in my bag!) Then we carried you across the sand and down to the water's edge. I gave you to Daddy, who waded into the water a little bit (in his boots!) and lowered you down so you could touch the water. The wavelets there were only tiny - about 5cm high at the most, but of course, as soon as you had your hand in the water, there was a little swell and your cuff got wet - on both suits. You stopped crying when Mummy wrung most of the water out, but continued to whinge a little so we took you back to the car. There was a SriLankan couple there with their young toddler, the father neatly dressed, the mother in a pink silk sari. They were taking photos of each other with their child, and the ocean & airport in the background. The father looked across at you, Wombat, and asked "How old?" When we said 8 weeks, he replied gently, "Too young!" and brushed your cheek with his finger. I thought he was very sweet :) While I changed you into a clean suit, Daddy offered to take a photo for them so they could have the whole family together. There wasn't time to feed you (as I had hoped to) after all that adventure, so we tucked you back into the car seat and off we went again, with me sitting in the back next to you so I could shade your eyes with my hand. When you started making sucking "feed me" noises I offered you your new dummy (though the politically correct term these days is apparently "soother") which you mouthed a few times before falling asleep. You were quite happy when we got into the city, so I tucked you into your carrier and we walked down to the church.

People in Sydney are so boring and closed in - no-one even looked twice at the beautiful embroidery on the carrier!

There was an old man in a checked shirt and wooly cardigan outside the church, sweeping away the autumn leaves. His broom had purple plastic bristles. At first I thought he was fighting a losing battle as for every leaf he pushed off the sidewalk into the gutter, five more would fall. Then I realised that eventually the tree would run out of leaves for the year, and he would have stopped them from piling up and becoming slippery - so although it looked like a hopeless endeavour, he would be the winner in the end - losing the battles, but winning the war!

The priest, Father Kervin, is lovely - a rounded face, neatly trimmed beard, and a very gentle voice and attitude. He went over the details with us and gave us a book on baptism to read and keep, but our meeting was brought to a rather abrupt end when you decided, Wombat, that you had been sucking patiently on your soother for long enough, and that you wanted feeding and you wanted it NOW! I tied on the carrier and we tucked you back in, which calmed you down again... as we walked back to the car, you were craning your head back to look at all the tall buildings. We ducked into the church itself for a moment and I touched your forehead with a drop of holy water from the font as a little blessing - you immediately started wailing so we left again straight away. (I think you thought - Oh no! not more water! Mummy will want to change all my clothes AGAIN!!!)

Back at the car, I left you in the carrier and sat down to feed you. It does a lovely job of shielding you so you can nurse in privacy - you sure were hungry - it was nearly 45 minutes before I could tuck you into his car seat and we could head off home. You loved the drive across the Anzac Bridge, Wombat - you really like high-contrast stripey things, so the black cables against the blue sky were fascinating to you. Then it was peak hour on the freeways, so it was a long slow drive back to the country. It was such a relief to get back here to the fresh air after all the foul smells of the road - we waited next to one bus at the lights that simply stank of diesel, and at other times we kept having to open and close the windows as we crawled along to keep the air in the car breathable!

I rang the Church's Courtyard Cafe later in the week, and confirmed that there was no way they could stay open after 2pm as it is staffed by volunteers and that's when they go home, but I was told we were very welcome to meet there and have our small celebration before the ceremony. I am doing the invitations this week (design is done, just need to print and post them) but we are planning to get into town with you about 1pm, feed you in the car first, and then get down to the cafe to meet people about 1:30, heading home soon after the ceremony. It may not give much time for socialising, but it does mean a less stressful day for you, young Wombat, and you are the most important star of the show :)

LOL... I haven't finished yet, but I'll understand if you stopped reading several paragraphs ago...

Surprise, surprise, Wombat, you do seem to have outgrown your christening gown which I made for you from my wedding dress fabric while I was pregnant. It is the same pattern that I used for K's, and while the neck on hers was tight and needed an extension on the buttons when she was three months old, at two months old yours doesn't even come close to meeting across your back - there's a gap of at least 5 centimeters! I had thought of attaching ribbons instead of buttons, so I could tie it in place, but I will see how tight the armholes are closer to the day! The long lace coat still fits you, though!!! (I was worried that it was going to be too big, as I had to 'shrink' the pattern for Kaelyn, but I went ahead and made it full size for you just in case... glad I did!) Yesterday Daddy bought you a plain white sleep suit, so the plan is to dress you in that with the lace coat over the top. I think it will look just fine - more masculine than the gown looks, though that would have been fine for a smaller, less boyish looking baby! I have finished the embroidery on your chasuble (the bib-shaped white garment which is your symbol of new life) and just have to sew the pieces together now. I am hugely pleased with how that turned out - sewing with metallic thread is never easy :)

Last point before the photos * "phew" I hear you say* - my thesis. Basically, when I am working on it I am quite optimistic and confident in its direction, but when I go for a few days without touching it, it starts to loom large and stressful as an impossible achievement. So, although I have really enjoyed the entertainment of wasting a little time on my website (and writing this huge - nearly 3000 word - essay for you today) I really need to keep such self-indulgence to a minimum, for my own peace of mind! There is still such a huge amount of work to do, and I am constantly running behind my schedule of when each element should be completed. However, that is nothing unusual for me, and I did need to take a little break, even if I do feel guilty about it! You have been taking long Wombat naps during the middle of the day this week, and staying awake (and getting overtired and cranky) late into the evening... Only time will show what next week will be like - especially as you have to have your 2 month vaccinations on Thursday *ouch* With a concerted effort I will catch up, so wish me luck and good concentration skills :)

and finally... the thing you've been waiting for... the photos!

First, my favourite Wombat and Mummy photo so far - it doesn't really show, but you are hugging me quite hard here - I was trying to get you with your head up to show how strong your neck was getting, but you didn't want to play for the camera...



Daddy prefers this one, because I am smiling!



Here you are in your very last 000 suit, now retired to wait for the next little boy - as you can see, you're certainly "busting through the seams"



We had unexpected visitors yesterday, so here you are, Wombat, with Daddy's cousin-by-marriage, Carmel... (aren't you cute in your pixie hat???)



As Daddy was saying goodbye to the visitors, his 20 year old cat, Morgana, decided she wanted to be in her favourite spot - she spent day and night on his shoulder when she was a kitten, and even now she is most comfortable up there! I am glad to finally get a photo of it, even if it is from a distance - I was keeping you inside, Wombat, out of the cold wind...



Here is Daddy having a Wombat chat while Mummy escapes for a shower - you love looking at Daddy's striped shirt!



How's this for a smile? You have a new Wombat toy this week - Spiny Norman has taken a backseat, as I went and dug Eeyore out of my box of soft toys (we got him in a showbag years ago!) I thought he would be better for you at this age as he has lots of 'graspable' bits - he fits better in your hands and you can hang onto an ear, leg or tail... he proved to be an instant success :D



A Wombat has to know where his donkey is, even when he's sound asleep...



This is the embroidery on the chasuble...



and FINALLY FINALLY... here is Mitch tonight, having forgiven me because I am bringing him inside where it is warm, and have picked a pile of green branches for him to chew on (as a bribe to keep quiet and well-behaved - it's working so far!) :D