Alder's Tone

First off, Daddy: He's more than a little bit tired, going back to work straight after Junior arrived home, and then being on-call constantly, on site 6 or 7 days a week, up to 13 hours at a time. But, woe is me, I'll have a fantastic amount of time off shortly to make up for it.

Mummy: Brave face on everything, particularly when it comes to Daddy's time at work. Saying to the outside world that everything is fine when it's not, my time away is having a significant impact that is being hidden. She's getting used to me not being around as much as I should, but with the contract ending at the end of this month then I'll have all the time in the world to make amends.

Time flies...And finally, Baby: Ups and downs, particularly when it comes to sleep patterns. Those first couple of days in hospital were hard for him, having a distraught mother trying so hard not to wake the others up. Being home made an immediate difference, but then Daddy was on hand too, so he made the most of it. Four weeks in and the awake:asleep ratio starts to tip quite heavily. That old wives tale about "growing while they are asleep" is a load of old tosh. He's awake more at 4 weeks than at 3 weeks, but put on more weight than in week 4 than in week 3. Less sleep, more weight gain. How does that hold up to the theory?

So while we're on weight and growth, he's doing quite well on that front. He's got clothes that have been worn the once, not at all and is heading for staying that way unless we change him twice a day, and even a suit he had no chance of ever getting into because it was 3cm too small when he was born. Or he was 3cm too big, depending on how you look at the glass. As the weeks progress we've come to the conclusion that clothes sizes are utter mince. "0-3 months / up to 12lb". He's at 10lb at 5 weeks old, and increasing at a good few ounces a week, so this means by 8 weeks or so he'll be too big for those 03- months clothes, yet at the 50th percentile for weight (ie bang in the middle) does this mean he's too big or the clothes are too small? Safest way is to just not look at the labels at all, just wear stuff until he's too big for them. So I'm going in with a pair of scissors tonight to remove said labels.

First visit to see the doctor yesterday: All well. First jabs (jags in Scotland) in 2 weeks time. Hmm, that'll be an experience.

Mummy and Daddy have come to understand each other's tolerances a little better as time has marched on. And we seem to compliment each other quite well (your hair looks nice today dear). While I'm more inclined to let Junior be when he's clearly not unhappy but screaming, MOTS is more likely to give in and pick him up. That's the daytime, and it's quite the opposite at night, with me having little patience and MOTS being perfect with him. It's handy, because it means that when I get home I can take over until bedtime, but I still feel guilty about not being around for most of the "night shift". Which I'm poor at anyway.

Sleep - our first overnight 8 hour stretch between feeds at exactly 6 weeks old - WHOO-HOO, bring out the bunting, get dolled up, it's party time!

And finally.... father and son were having a bonding moment this week, and the boy was quite happy and content just looking up at me. MOTS made a comment about the look of "complete adoration and absolute trust on his face". And that was almost a "moment" of liquid spilling.

Health, wealth and happiness. Two out of three aint bad. Which reminds me, I need to check the lottery ticket, we could have all three!