China Moon: Hello Stranger!

Hi guys,

So sorry for the lack of updates – I know it’s slack of me…but life has been pretty busy as you might imagine.

We have stayed underground a bit, just trying to get Oliver into some sort of a routine he is comfortable with, work on him sleeping a bit more and a bit more regularly (mixed results so far!!), and work out how this whole parenting thing is supposed to be done (mixed results again!).

The days just seem to go by in a blur of feeding, trying to get Oliver to sleep, washing, playing with Oliver (the fun bit!), stressing about not getting anything done around the house/in our lives in general (the organised me is not coping well with so little time to get things done), trying to keep the house/our lives in some sort of order (unsuccessfully), and trying to grab some sleep (very mixed results).

Before we know it, it is bin night again and another week has rolled on by….wow life is going fast at the moment.

Our little boy is growing and learning and developing at a great speed – it seems like he is learning something new every few days. We are in awe of him and how much he has caught up on in the last 10 ½ weeks we have been together (is it really only 10 ½ weeks?? Wow, it seems like a lot longer than that!). He has gone from a little baby who could not even sit up and didn’t know what on earth to do with the toys we gave him (he would just stare at them and wouldn’t even try and touch them) to a little boy who crawls (well, kind of crawls) towards towers of blocks that Daddy has made and then delights in smashing them down (such a boy!).

He is so curious and explores everything…perhaps that’s why he doesn’t want to sleep – there’s just so much to look at and touch and put in his mouth and explore!! Current favourite items are Daddy’s shoelaces, and power cords….time to babyproof! He continues to love to “dance” (Daddy is trying to teach him to grapevine…good luck daddy!) and will do anything to be up on two feet rather than sitting on the floor.

We had a follow-up with the Paediatrician this week and Ollie has put on 1kg since we got home…he’s gone from a fairly skinny thing into a little chubbalicious bubba. He now has some lovely fat rolls around his legs, and a good covering on his tummy. Even so he is only 9kg now (compared to the 10kg we were told he was 4 months ago!!). He hasn’t gained any height as yet and is a very small baby for his age…small, but perfect.

We have sent the arrival of two razor sharp teeth (middle, bottom), which given half the chance he enjoys using on Mummy and Daddy’s nose…ouch! Much to our delight, he is also finding his voice (we had a silent baby for the first couple of months and were getting pretty worried about it). In the morning I love to lie in bed and listen to Ollie making Ooh and Aahh sounds, and the little squeal of delight I get when I pop my head over the side of the cot to pick him up makes my heart melt.

P and I are being treated to great big smiles and sounds of delight when we re-enter a room these days – it’s just adorable. Ollie’s face lights up and he shakes his little head back and forth with glee. Such a darling little boy.

Last week we managed to take a day trip to Mt Tamborine and go on a bit of a bushwalk – this did P and I the world of good, and Oliver seemed to tolerate being out and about for most of the day pretty well. In general he is a pretty adaptable little boy…but it all depends on how well he has slept. Like all of us, he gets pretty cranky if he’s tired…and you do NOT want to get between this boy and his food!! Meal times are serious business, and you interrupt them or cut them short at your peril!

We are totally in love with our darling little boy (especially today ‘cause he’s having an afternoon sleep for the first time all week!!). We are slowly starting to get to introduce him to people, although he still does get pretty overwhelmed at times so we’re trying not to overdo it…..in the meantime, here are some recent photos of our precious little Emperor, who turn 11 months today.

T xxx