Making progress / our perfect boy!

It's only 9.30pm but we can write the blog already cos for the 3rd night in a row our perfect wee boy has gone to sleep at 7.30pm and still hasn't woken up. This morning we made a trip out in the car and Curtis slept most of the time. This is good news for me (Steph) as I can now drive again after the c-section. It was then a very relaxed and chilled out day for the wee fella who didnt have an awful lot to moan about and was a real pleasure to spend time with....I think it was his smiliest day yet and with a few gurgles, giggles and squeals too. We even managed to nip over to see Nicola and her baby Anna across the street without fuss. I also introduced Curtis to the sounds of 'Rio Mania' today as part of his music week and he seemed to rather enjoy, or at least not complain about me using him as my salsa dance partner for several tracks. I actually felt sad to be putting him in his bed at 7pm as he's been such good fun today I wanted him to stay awake....but after his bathtime splash about and a few tracks on his lullaby CD he was soon off to sleep zzzzzzzzzz...

Curtis Blair Witch

Well the cotbed is a success. He fell asleep at 7.30pm and steph had to wake him at 2am to feed him. He went straight back to sleep and woke up hungry again at 5am. Like clockwork, he woke crying as usual at 7am and night time became day time.

We wanted to take a picture of him in his new cotbed and his sleeping bag but as he is asleep we didnt want to wake him. So we had to settle for this Blair witch project style night time video which does not really show anything but is quite spooky. Dont worry there's no suprise scary ending.

6 Weeks Old Today!!!!!

In some ways it seems much longer in other ways its gone by in a flash but the calender says Curtis has been here for 6 weeks.

The day started early with a 9.40am appointment for Steph and Curtis's 6 week check. Curtis was a bit thrown by this change in his routine and protested considerably. Normally at that time he's had his breakfast and is settling down for a quick nap. Today however he was thrust into his duffle coat and rushed down the road to the doctors. He still managed to create enough of a fuss that we arrived 15 mins late even though the surgery is less than 100 metres away at the end of the road. Good news all round as everyone got the all clear from Dr McDonald.

Later after much persuation we managed to get Curtis to agree to come shopping with us. So we headed for silverburn shopping centre. Its was great as he feel asleep just as we arrived and steph was able to go shopping for herself in peace like real people do.
luckily enough, as its also where I work, we were able to sneak in there when he started to get hungry. Although I dont think Vision Express had it in mind when they designed my room, it made a good place for feeding and changing. It was all going so well until Curtis through up the entire contents of his stomach over himself, Steph and my test room. After that it was time to go home.

We have been managing to get Curtis to go to sleep earlier the last few nights and tonight was the best yet, 7.30. We ll wait and see if that throw out his night time sleeping. And for the first time he's sleeping in his cot, not in his Moses basket.

11lb 7.....

Health visitor came again today and did a few more tests on Curtis which he past with flying colours. Im not to sure how suffisticated her eye test equipment was though. Dont think i'd get any with waving som coloured beads infront of people some 10 secs then saying they were fine. But he was weighed again and he's up to 11lb 7. Now slightly above the normal growth curve.

Kenny came round today with some funky new clothes for the little man and flowers for steph. He also managed to catch Curtis in a relatively happy mood.

Unlucky for Ryan though as Curtis was kicking off when he came round. But ryan brought us a cool Sports buggy that his sister no longer uses. ITs gonna be great for local trips but a bit to big to fit in the car. Cant wait to test drive it. Its a funky 3 wheel model.

The Little Boy Who Never Wakes

In stark contrast to yesterday (and with more than a sneaking suspision that he's trying to make us look foolish for yesterdays blog title)..... Curtis slept all day today.

In fairness he seems to do this every so often to catch up on the sleep he has lost. Even though he has slept all day he has even settled for the night at 8.30pm.

This week Curtis is being introduced to the world of music. Saturdays introductory choice of "disco" proved unsuprisingly unfavourable. However day 2 showed an upturn in fortunes with the introduction of Simon and Garfunkel, 'Feeling Groovy' a particular favourite.

Bath time took a new twist today. This photo may look familiar to Nanna and Tiad.

Oh and how cool is this little man with his top jeans and trainers.

The little boy who never sleeps (well, not in the daytime anyway!)

Boy oh boy.....I thought babies slept a lot, that's what the books all said...they sleep, I was told for about 17hrs each day. So, let's see...Curtis slept from 9.30pm last night until 1.30am when he woke for a feed (thats 4 hrs sleep), then he woke again at 5am (another 4 hrs sleep), then awoke at 7am for a feed (2 hrs) then stayed awake until 9.30am and slept till 10.15am (45 mins). Theoretically from this point on if we had a textbook baby we should expect him to nap for a further 5 hrs during the day and evening until 9.30pm tonight. Nope, not this wee fella. From 10.15am this morning until 9.30pm tonight he has slept for about 1.5hrs and that was split into 3 short restless naps, all punctuated by short burst of tears in his sleep. He does have sleepy days as some of you have witnessed but these wide awake days are very common.

Sadly today he was increasingly unsettled and unhappy as the day went on, crying in his sleep and never wanted to be left alone. I tried to leave the house to go and visit Claire but there was just no settling the wee guy in the pram long enough to get my coat on. Again, unlike the textbook babies he hates his bouncy chair and his playmat so neither of these can be used to entertain him...instead on days like this he wishes to be held all day and starts a very sad cry if he is put down somewhere to sleep. We really must get to grips with the instructions for his papoose. If he does sleep he looks to me to have nightmares...and often wakes up in tears with bottom lip quivering and quite unhappy. It's all quite tiring to deal with of course but the good news is....it's only the parents that remember these days...when Curtis is older he'll have no recollection of this...although he will now of course be able to read about it on his blog!

Very few photo opportunities today ... but I did get a couple of cute pics this morning during 'tummy time', and I took a short video of Curtis finding a new use for his socks. [sorry - it won't upload, will try again in the morning]

One Man Band!

Yesterday I only had time to upload photos and clips as the wee man was having a wide awake day and gave me little time to do more than entertain him. Several times he tricked me into thinking (and hoping!) he was sleepy by half closing his eyes and momentarily dosing off only to snap into wide awake mode just as I planned to have some food or sit down. It was nice though that he was alert and interested in playing and chattering away but I was glad when he finally went in his moses basket at 9pm...midn you, he lay there wide awake and talkign to himself until afer 10pm as usual.

This morning I'm posting the blog early as it seems that today will be the same. Just now he's lying in his pram awake although he's been up since 8am. Well this mornign saw a new avenue of entertainment for us and sets us to thinking of a future weekend job for the we fella. Again, as he kicked about on his changing table whacking cassidy cow in the face, I decided I'd take the musical theme a step further with his jingle socks and a rattle. I'm sure his grandad Ken will be mighty impressed with his musical abilities at such a young age. Reminds me a little of that guy we saw on Buchanan Street when my dad and Wanda visited last April. Hey Curtis, there could be a spot for you on Buchanan Street yet! We hope to get his repetoire of tunes extended a little in time for his visit from Grandad Ken in March. Watch this space!

A day in pictures and video clips...

Super snoozin and lots of fun!

After reading a chapter of Gina Fords 'contented little baby' routine book this morning I planned to follow the 5 week old baby routine during the day as we seem to have the night times sorted. I was just curious to see if it would be better for Curtis. I fed him at 7am then again at 8am and soon after he fell asleep. As set out in the book I woke him from his slumber at 9.45am ready for a 10.30am nappy change and feed but he was having none of it and wasn't happy at all. I looked at his sad little face and decided then that he can continue to dictate when he has his daytime naps and awake times so long as he never sleeps more than 3 hrs at a stretch (as this may deter him from sleeping at night). He stayed awake for a quick feed and change but then slept till midday which gave me time to thoroughly clean and tidy the bedroom and wash some floors. I even had time to send some text messages and have breakfast twice! Wow, did I feel better for seeing some clean bed sheets and some tidy space about me. Curtis woke very happy from his longer nap too and was clearly more alert.

As usual it was nappies off at the changing table and lots of coo-ing, grunting and excited little screams from the wee man. I made a change however and removed the zebra!!! I thought it's maybe not best for his devlopment that he spends most of his awake time staring at the same picture. This worked at treat as he paid me much more attention and we had several little conversations including some very funny high pitched squeals and squeaks from him and a few giggles. I then put him on his front for 'tummy time' to help him strengthen his neck and arms. I always feel bad doing this as he ends up slumped on his face some of the time but today he held his neck up quite a lot and even dragged himself an inch or two along the mat. Then I put a toy down the side of the table to encourage him to become aware of his hands and this worked wonders. Poor ol' cassidy cow..a fantastic present from nanna and tiad was punched in the face numerous times each time rewarding Curtis with a jingle bell sound or crunch...he appeared to love this but I figured it was time for a feed when he began to suck Cassidy cows face. This was his longest playtime yet lasting about 50 minutes. I guess he knows best when he needs to snooze and when to be awake!

Despite grey skies I was set on going for an afternoon walk so wee man could get some air and I could continue towards get my pre-pregnancy body back....however I came back almosttwice as heavy as everything was drenched in good ol' Glasgow rain. We walked through Queens Park and along the shops in Shawlands for 1.5hrs but I really can't tell you much as everything was seen through very rain spattered spectacles. Roll on summer!

5 Weeks Old Today....... and 11lbs

Curtis weighed in at 11lb this morning when the health visitor called. He has again been the smiley cheerful guy from yesterday, although we had to spend much of the morning indoors so that I could clean the kitchen. I planned to keep on with tidying but felt bored of being indoors so got Curtis ready for a walk. The little jacket he'd been wearing was looking a bit tight so out came his super cool grey duffle which nanna Valerie had bought for him. Check out the photos...how cute is he???

We then wandered round to Queens Park which is just near to my flat so luckily we were able to pop in to see auntie Lisa en route who was only too happy to join us for a stroll. Just as well as it took two of us to push the pram up some of the steeper slopes in the park. I didn't take any photos as Lisa and I were as usual too busy chatting but hopefully I'll find some online of the park.

Lisa then came back for dinner before going out for the evening and Curtis greeted his dad's arrival back from work with screams and tears. The difficult breastfeeding problem still remains for us and although we managed to overcome it at most feeds, his tea time feed resulted in much choking, coughing and subsequent trapped wind...which just wouldn't budge. The poor guy was so upset and must have been in soem pain as even the zebra couldnt console him....a quickly run bath however resolved the problem temporarily and and distracted him completely....and he really delighted in splashing about. Curtis then stayed awake as usual till about 9pm. He was put in his mosese basket half asleep and steph decided to get an early night too ...but was put off by the wee man who decided to lay there staring at the chandelier and making noises till 10pm...I never realised babies were such noisey sleepers at times! He does this through the night too...see video clip below (Gareth will add this later!).

19th Feb. Oh it’s such a perfect day…I’m glad I spent it with Curtis

Woke Curtis up for his final night feed just before 7am and decided we’d venture out for a walk to Jamies house today. We needed to be back for midday so this would be an interesting experiment. By 10am we were ready to leave and found a lovely crispy morning awaiting us as we wandered through Maxwell park down and along to Dumbreck (Jamie lives in the posh part of town!). Again we went passed some fantastic building including the church and sherbrooke hotel and my favourite house ‘somersby’. We arrived at Jamies in 25 minutes and it felt great to be the one doing the visiting rather than being stuck indoors. As Jamie and I had a cup of tea Curtis decided it was his tea break too thus begun first feed out of the house. Perched on the dining room table on one of Uncle Dan’s (very expensive) feather pillows Curtis was just the right height and all went well…I’m sure Dan won’t even notice the few drops of breasticle milk that was spilt! Jamie’s cleaner arrived and oohed and ahhed at Curtis which he was very delighted about and offered us all some of his current semi smiles along with big bright smiley eyes and a hint of a giggle. He was a real delight to be with today and this mood continued as we ventured back home and then to Lisa’s where we met the scottish gas engineer who arrived to fix the boiler. A quick feed and nappy change in Lisa’s room and then a trip round to Mica’s was next…which the wee guy loved…he marvelled much like I do at the huge shelves stacked full of every domestic, decorating and kitchen product you could desire. I struggled to get back to the flat carrying both a 5ft long window blind and Curtis in my arms but he seemed to see the funny side and appeared to chuckle the whole way which made it worth the struggle. Lisa then arrived home and we went off to Morrisons where we made use of Curtis’s big pram to carry the shopping home. Lisa made us tea and Ryan came to visit so it was a fun packed day all round. Being out of the house all day was great for feeling part of normal society again and really brought home the convenience of breastfeeding. Snaps if the day include Curtis trying on Lisa’s sunnies and some of the houses we saw…well that I saw….Curtis of course gets to see little more than treetops as shown by the Curtis eye view photo taken in the park.

In the evening Gareth and Curtis watched their first Liverpool match together with the wee man wearing an appropriately coloured top…just like his daddy! Liverpool won 2-0 against Inter Milan in the European Champions League, so all in it was a pretty perfect day.

Maxwell Park Revisited.

Would you believe yet another sunny day in Glasgow....... and Curtis got to enjoy it with both mum and dad at home today.

In the morning Our friend Kathleen came round to visit. In keeping up with tradition we took her picture with Curtis in the only room in the house which hasn't yet benifited from our lengthy renovation work. It was great to see Kathleen having not seen her or Bobby for 3 or 4 months. She brought great presents for us and Curtis and some food so we didnt starve whilst coping with the little one.

After that was another trip around Maxwell Park where all the little plants are just starting to flower. As per usual Curtis slept through most of it Occassionally opening his eyes to see the branches of the trees pass by way over head.

Instead of heading home it was such a nice day that we decided to walk further down the street, where we discovered the most amazing houses. We had no idea there where houses like that at the end of our street. They're like big castles.

All that fresh air was enough to KO Curtis at least until he was hungry again. In the evening Curtis was lucky enough to get a visit from his auntie Lisa who came round for a cuddly and to sneakily steal as much of Curtis's heat as possible because her boiler has packed in.

Sunday Stroll and teary goodbyes

Last night Curtis continued his feeding frenzy resulting in a bit of a drought in the boobiejuice department so we had to resort to a wee 2floz of formula to finish off his last feed. Whether it was this or a genuinely tired boy...he slept through from 11pm-5.30am! He didn't exactly wake up at that point but was taken out of his moses basket asleep by Steph and put on to feed - which he did in his sleep, he then burped and got his nappy changed, all whilst still snoozin. 1.5hrs later Steph again lifted him for a feed intending this time to wake him fully but still he slept through this and having his clothes changed!! A walk around the flat and a cuddle from Nanna and Tiad and a trip out in the pram still didnt wake him. Later we put the cotbed together right near to where he slept and still not stirring...he finally roused himself at 3pm...just in time to ensure we four had to take turns holding him and eating our sunday dinner...kids eh!

Our sunday stroll took us to Maxwell Park...we knew this park was nearby but had never been and were delighted to find it was bigger than we thought and a real find...even some parts we thought we could rollerblade on...but for now we tested the route with the pram. Molly was delighted to find that there was a huge duck pond there...but sadly she'd spied it just seconds before tiad did and his calls of 'Molly no!' were only met with the sound of Molly jumping straight into the mucky water, we had no chance of preventing her. Weighed down by all the mud she was unable to clamber back out again so Tiad had to grab her by the scruff and drag her out. She was covered from head to toe.

So when we got home it was straight into the bath to try and get rid of all the muck before starting the journey back to Ireland.

Before Nanna and Tiad headed back there was just enough time for Tiad to prepare a yummy roast chicken dinner and Nanna to do all the washing, load up the dishwasher and get a farewell hug from her new favourite man.

It was a sad farewell to Nanna and Tiad but yet again little Curtis showed his appreciation to Nanna for looking after him. He went out and bought a card and a lovely picture of his Nanna holding him as a thank you. Thanks to Nanna, Steph has felt much more rested this week and much appreciated the moral support of making her first trips out with Curtis to one of the local cafes and the supermarket, as well as the extra help in the flat and especially the help with looking after the wee fella...nanna being responsible for many an expelled burp..not personally of course...but in helping the wee man get rid of his painful windy burps!

Tonight as we finish the blog we are settling Curtis down for the night after his bath and are hoping for another good nights sleep.

Holy moses baskets!

Although the health visitor didn’t make it in time to weigh the ‘wee’ man last week we can see for ourselves that he has continued to grow rapidly. Last week we measured his length at 20” and one week later he is 22”…seems strange to think he’s grown a whole 2 inches in front of our eyes! This will explain why he seems to be working his way higher and higher up his moses basket. We though that he was pushing himself up each night but it seems not – we just measured the mattress which we see is only 24” in length…so the ‘wee’ fella is just running out of space. Today on his one month birthday we’ve had to get the cotbed out of the cupboard and will put it up tomorrow…I think he’ll be in it within the week!

Today Auntie Lisa and her mum Elenour came to visit and clever Elenour noting it was Curtis’s one month birthday brought him his 1st ever birthday present…he quickly utilised his new skill of grabbing things with his hands and assisted steph in opening it to reveal a gorgeous wee white bear. Thank you Elenour xx Later Uncles Jamie and Dan came to visit along with their dog Milly. Unfortunately Curtis was on a bit of a feeding frenzy today and didn’t get to see much of them but did manage a wee cuddle with Dan before they left.

Curtis is looking really chilled out these days and in the past two days has begun to make a new range of noises – all usually directed at his beloved zebra which stares down at him when he’s on the changing mat, and has also begun to grab at peoples clothes when cuddling them and even decided this morning to grab hold of his nannas bottom lip for 2-3 minutes whilst being held - adoring nanna Hughes didn’t complain one bit at this of course. The wee man has already got both his nanny’s quite besotted.

Happy Birthday Tiad

Its my Dads birthday today and he celebrated by coming to see us, and he brought molly with him too. Curtis will at least be used to dogs. He has know met Alice, 4 puppies, Millie and Molly.

After all his extra homework Curtis made no spelling mistakes on Tiads birthday card. Handwritting is still a bit dodgy though.

Also Curtis slept his way through an entire shopping trip around Morrisons. That would have been unthinkable a week ago. Hoorah for chilled out Curtis.

Curtis goes Shopping

Steph woke up to a lovely Valentines treat this morning. Thoughtfull little Curtis obviously really appreciates all her hard work in looking after him. So he went out all by himself and bought her some flowers, a picture frame and a valentines card. His writting is unfortunatly still a bit messy and spelling isn't great so I think he's going to have double homework tomorrow.

I got a great suprise aswell today at work when Steph, Mum and Curtis arrived unexpectanly as a valentines day treat. Curtis hasn't been to see me at work before and all the other staff gathered round to stare and cou over him. He was in his element. Never one to miss a comedy moment tho, had to put some funny glasses on him and take a photo. Us opticians ehh... a laugh a minute.

Snoozin

Continuing the theme of the last few days, Curtis decided he was going to continue to catch up on sleep he had previously been missing out on. So a relaxed snoozy day was had by Steph Curtis and Nanna.



A trip round the hidden gardens of the tramway wasnt even enough to waken him from his slumber.




Later in the evening we were treated to a new superman impersonation. His little neck is getting stronger and he can lift his head right up by himself.








Looking at some of the old baby photos my mum brought, there's maybe slight resembelnce but lucky for curtis he's a

cuter baby than I was.











Unlucky for Curtis he'll never be quite as cool as me in my funky retro hat coat, red trousers and shoes.