more pics

Here are a few new pics of my little man - he is growing soooooooo much and sooo fast. He has slowed down a bit which is good, otherwise he would be bigger than me in a few months.

The pic of Oliver with the little girl (Amelia with her dolly 'Lucy') is too funny - I guess he just isn't into girls at the moment (I guess that by the punch to the face). Amelia is so little and dainty at 6 months next to my big man who is just 10 weeks. He is actually bigger than she is - but she is a little 6 month-er!

living in a hot country means.....

...you must wear your sunhat and sunnies whilst doing a high five at all times, and when you are old enough sunscreen!

Slip, Slap, Slop or whatever it is!

some things I have learnt/am learning

Soooooo the last 9.4 weeks of my life have changed considerably with the arrival of our little man, who I love to pieces but who has taken me on a roller coaster of emotions, worries, joys, laughs and cries!


So here are some things I have learnt:

- Having a baby is hard but rewarding work.

- Watching my baby do things for the first time, such as smile, giggle and talk (or should I say coo) are priceless! (No, this is not an add for Mastercard!)

- I don't have as much patience as I thought I would have.

- Hearing my own baby cry is hard!

- It's ok to let my baby cry a bit - it's not always easy but it's ok (as least in my opinion).

- Cuddling my little one is one of the best things ever.

- I didn't realise how much a little person could steal your heart.

- I have tried to get out and about since we brought the little man home - even though it can seem daunting at the times, it's worth it and helps my state of mind.

- Less sleep = emotional tired Mum.

- More sleep = happy Mum. Thankfully I am getting a lot more of this at the moment ;)

- Taking naps in the day is important and makes me feel much better.

- Going for walks when I am at the end of my tether helps the body and the mind.

- It's ok to let my housework slip - even though SP and I do it on the weekends I don't bust a gut to get it done during the week - not yet anyway.

- Being a 'Mum' is a spin-out.

- EVERYONE has advice on parenting - some good, some not so good, some confusing and a LOT contradictory.

- Because of above I have learnt to trust my God given instincts and to ask people I trust for advice. Otherwise it is too overwhelming and you can stop trusting yourself and end up in a sea of advice not knowing which bits to listen too and which bits to ignore!

- It is possible to capture lots of great moments on camera and video. You may have guessed that if you have seen my previous posts and my Facebook page.....

- It's possible to miss lots of great looks and moments so I have my camera/video ready at all times ;)

- I like routine and I try to have a plan, but if it doesn't work out I am learning to go with the flow a bit more.

- An overtired boy is much harder to get to sleep.

- Consistency seems to work - at the moment anyway.

- Once I think I have something 'down' it can very well change the next week - and I have a feeling this will be life with a baby/child!

- I didn't think it would be possible to love my little man more and more each day - but I do!

I am sure there is a lot more than this I have learnt but this is it so far! We are learning together - let's not forget that life on the 'outside' ain't easy and takes a bit to get used too!

elvis* has left the bath!

* I don't think Elvis had a goatee but hey ho - he should have!

my little heart breaker....

help! and pics

I need help! but first look at how adorable my little boy is:


My darling precious baby boy whom I love to bits and who is almost 8 weeks old is driving me nuts when it's nap time and (sometimes) bedtime!

I feed him and have play time with him so he is up for about an hour and a half and then I normally rock him for a bit until he is sleepy and then I put him down - he then might lay there for a little bit and he looks sleepy and then not long later he starts crying! Occasionally he will go straight to sleep but more often than not he cries. So this morning it took me almost an hour to settle him - I let him cry for a little while but he got so hot and sweaty and upset that then I feel bad for leaving him. I ended up just going in and rocking him for a while and then put him down and now he is asleep. I really want him to learn to settle but maybe I am expecting too much too early but he seems to have gotten worse with going to sleep in the last 2 weeks.

Then when I finally get him to sleep he wakes up exactly 45 mins later! Then I try patting him and giving him a dummy but it doesn't work! Oh what to do what to do!

I thought I would have more patience for this kind of thing than I do - I am surprised at myself for how frustrated I get, which I am sure doesn't help!

Anyhoo - he isn't a whiny baby it's just at sleep time I am not sure what to do with him and it takes me longer to get him to sleep than how long he is actually asleep! I feel like not fighting it but then he just gets over-tired and I want to try to do the best thing by him. I am sure this is normal I just don't know what else to try - do I keep him up longer or for less time/ do I let him cry more/ do I just get him up even though I know he is tired/ do I rock him to sleep (which I don't really want to have to do)! You get so much conflicting advice so you end up not knowing what to do and which advice to take. I have been reading Babywise which has some good advice but I am not taking it all on board - and in an ideal world when you have fed and played with baby - baby does go for a nap but it's not as easy as that!

Any advice?