Like Father Like...

Bank holiday weekend ahead. Two barbecues, golf and maybe a trip down the coast all beckon. Then four day week and off to Cornwall for a weeks holiday, his first. With any luck our country might actually see the sun at some point this summer, not long of it left either.

He's still waking in the night. As the end of the working day looms I find my eyes getting so tired, I like many parents long for an uninterupted nights sleep and a lie in but in reality I know thats all gone for some time now, must not start to crave it !!

Broken nights again. Its like a flashback, your body just recovering, your mind actually functioning again and then cries in the night, your back to square one. We got up last night and as we fed him we could hear his little stomach rumbling, was heartbreaking. We have upped the feeds accordingly to compensate and are trying to hang on a little while longer before we start on the solids. Apart from eating more, he's still totally happy so we will try and do as the books say and hold off till as close to six months as possible before the blender kicks into action.

Didn't have to hold my breath for very long. He has started to wake up at 4am every morning the last few nights, wanting more food. I guess this is the beginning of the road to solids. We are hoping it'll be a slow road and we can hang on till he's 6 months old or we get back from our trip to Cornwall in the first week of September.

Had a great weekend, played golf for only the second time since his arrival and will beplaying once more this coming Satuday too! Watched the Olympics which is just fantastic and then on Sunday did a photoshoot of a friend and her baby and have been commissioned to do some paid work on her partners company websites. All in all a very successful and enjoyable weekend. And whats better, the following one is a bank holiday!

I've been very slow in updating this page recently. I would like to say i've been too busy at work but I haven't. I think I've just had a slow down for a week. Its certainly not that he isnt doing as much, he's still trying to turn over and still as happy as larry, so everythings good there. I guess we have found a routine at the moment and he has settled nicely into that. There are some big things coming up like teething, underwater swimming lessons, crawling and weening so there'll be plenty to talk about in detail soon.

It's almost like a lull in a storm or a deep breath before the next push. I know its coming so I should enjoy the moments as they are now. Gives me time to appreciate being a father and actually take stock of the past four months that have seemed like four days.

So deep breath.....

We now have littered around the house various books on teething, preparing your baby for food and preparing food for your baby. Also I have noticed small containers appearing at an alarming rate. They seem to be breeding in a small cupboard and bursting for freedom at every opportunity. I'm told that we will not be trying to get him off the bottle and onto solids until he's as close to six months as we can make it, this date is totally dependant on him and how often he needs feeding. If he starts waking every few hours because he's hungry then I guess that six month figure will be dramatically shortened. All the talk now is of freezing mushed up food in ice cubes, I'm just dreading droppping one in a nice cool gin and tonic and seeing it turn orange, on the other hand it could create a whole new range in cocktails.

We are going swimming with him tomorrow. He's had his final jabs, the day after the government decided to withdraw mercury from them but had none of the new ones released. We are totally at the mercy of the health service when it comes to this sort of thing. What can you do? So he had his jab, was his grouchy self for a bit but seemed fine the day after, so a family outing beckons to our local pool. We want him to get used to the water at an early age, not least because we have booked him into one of those underwater swimming classes in September, waterproof cameras are at the ready !

He rolled over yesterday. There we were sitting having our quintissential English cup of tea and the next thing we knew he was on his front wriggling about, lifting his head up and looking around. I think he was as surprised as us, neither of us knowing how he did it. A few seconds on his front and realising he couldnt get back was all it took for him to get upset and for us to return him to his customary position. No instant repeat but another small step in the evolvement of our man.

My sister had a baby girl yesterday. So now I have a neice and he has a cousin.

We were bought a bouncer for our boy this weekend, a delayed Uncle's birthday gift. You clip it onto a doorframe and strap him in (the baby, not the Uncle as was suggested) and pull the bungee rope and whoosh off he goes. Giggling and laughing as he bounces all over the place. This lasts for about five minutes till he gets frustrated with not having the strength to bounce himself up and down, then he kicks off and wants out as soon as possible. Its got potential though, great potential.

On an aside, he has taken to watching intently whilst I eat. The first real sign of teething and his desire to move up the food chain and out of the just milk gang. He doesn't watch his Mother, just me. I feel quite guilty when I cant give him anything. He has the sad dog eyes, when noone gives the family pet scraps off the table. Very strange.

Well that was a weekend and a half. What news of the boy, well as I spent three days away from him, I was pleased to find nothing new upon my return, apart froom his excitement at seeing me again. Lovely. Bought him a new soft toy to play with as part of a father's guilt for being away.

Jersey is lovely, some lovely golf courses, beautiful long sandy beaches and friendly people, went on long cycle around the island, exhausted at the end, though the lobster more than made up for it. Got drunk and discovered all the bars and clubs, let my hair down (if I had any) and generally relaxed and had a great time.

Still glad to get home to the little one though.