Wednesday, August 31, 2011

The bumbo...

In my last post I mentioned that we got Ethan the bumbo... he loves it and it means he can sit up to his hearts content without me or Jason holding him there. He still gets tired in it as his little abs need to work hard but it was a good purchase.
Our back yard gets quite sunny in the summer, so Jason got a couple of new umbrellas on the weekend, can't wait until Ethan can use his little table!
The weather has been getting really nice, so Ethan and I play outside a lot more these days... Here he is during tummy time... as you can see from the bottom right photo he sometimes get plain tired and just face plants the mat!
After losing most of his hair in the weeks after the birth Ethan finally has enough hair to style haha... here is his little mohawk.
There's not much more news from here. Till next time.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

3 months on...

Sorry for the late post on this but on Tuesday Ethan passed the three month milestone! Wow where has the time gone!!!! What a three months it has been. Ethan is an adorable, delightful little boy and we really could not imagine life without him now. He is starting to play with all his toys, he giggles with us (and at us), smiles and 'talks' to us all the time. He always looks so serious in his photos though but he really is not like that.However, with all the good there is a few tough bits...in the last couple of weeks Ethan has changed his sleeping patterns again, well changed is not the right word really, he has regressed somewhat and is now waking 2 - 3 times a night and being a bit harder to settle. It may be a growth spurt (not that he needs it at all) so if so, it should settle down in a couple of days (I hope because I am one tired mumma right now with no day or night sleeping). The great thing is no matter how little sleep Ethan has he is still very cheerful, and still very rarely cries. The only time he cries is when he is really hungry and I am unable to feed him... i.e. on the way home from the supermarket!

Ethan and I went to the Pregnancy, Baby and Toddler expo recently and apart from it being like bumper cars with baby prams we picked up a few essentials for summer... including his sunnies! See below, he is one cool dude!
All Ethan wants to do these days is sit up... check him out!
As he is not able to hold himself up in the sitting position yet I find I am spending HOURS helping him sit up because its his preferred position right now... so because I need some of that time we have bought him a Bumbo seat... (from the website):

"The Bumbo Baby Seat is an original, award winning baby seat. Its unique design allows your baby to sit unassisted, supported safely and comfortably. It enables your child to confidently observe its surroundings, whilst also acting as an ‘extra set of hands' for parents. Designed for infants from three months to one year, the Bumbo seat is uniquely designed according to the baby's posture."


We pick it up tomorrow, so I will post some pictures soon for you to get an idea of how it works!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

7 years!

So yesterday, 22 August, was Jason and my 7 year wedding anniversary! Wow, how time flies!!!
We had decided to not do anniversary presents, so Jason came home from his week away trip with work with a gold locket as a "non-anniversary" present! Its lovely and I am still trying to pick my favourite photo of my boys to put inside it!!!

Our wedding day was such a lovely day and I love looking through our photos remembering how special it was. To see a couple of these awesome photos head to last year's blog post: 2010 6 year anniversary

Happy Anniversary Jason, my love for you grows stronger every day!

I leave you with one of Jason's favourite photos of our day!


Friday, August 12, 2011

A week in the life of the Papps...

Now that Ethan is 11 weeks we have settled into some good routines I thought it would be useful to outline our week so you all have an idea of how things are for us.

Usually we wake up anywhere between 5.30am and 7.30am. This is the beautiful sight that awaits me:
Ethan sleeps in a "wrap me up" suit. Which we call the little baby straightjacket. Essentially it acts like a swaddle but allows their arms to be up by the side of their faces, which is a natural position for babies. He sleeps really well in it as well. Not sure what we will do when he hits 11kg (the largest size for the suit).

Depending on how hungry Ethan is we either feed first then he and Jason cuddle in bed, or Ethan comes straight into our bed for a cuddle with Jason and then feeds later. Three to four times a week I head out for a jog while Ethan and Jason have cuddles, talk to each other and laugh in bed.

Jason then has a shower and Ethan and I make Jason's breakfast and lunch. While doing this, Ethan sits on the bench in his bouncer.
Once Jason has left for work for the day Ethan and I choose his clothes for the day, and have a little play. Then its time for his first sleep of the day. This sleep is only ever 30 minutes, if I have run that morning, I use the time for a shower, if I haven't run then I jump on my wind trainer for a quick spin.

Once Ethan wakes up, its play mat time. We do tummy time, baby aerobics, sing songs, and dance together. Ethan is now getting very strong during tummy time:
After play mat time I try to catch up on a few emails, photos and blogs with Ethan in the bouncer. I also try to send Jason a POTD (photo of the day) so that he doesn't miss Ethan too much. Here is a recent example:

Ethan then has another feed and then its back down for another nap. During this nap I try to get dinner ready, do some washing or housework.

When Ethan wakes the cycle of play/feed/play starts over again. Its usually around this time of day that I take Ethan for a walk. This will also send him off for his third sleep of the day.

At this stage we have 4 * thirty minute sleeps during the day. I would love more, but that's what Ethan does! Its hard fitting all my jobs into those 30 minutes at times!

Jason gets home around 5pm and he has a chance to play with Ethan for 30 minutes or so. Its usually straight into the jolly jumper.

"What's these things on my feet mum?"
Here are a couple of short videos of Ethan in the Jolly Jumper:





After playtime with Dad, Ethan is back in his bouncer while Jason and I eat dinner. After dinner, Ethan has a bath or shower with Jason. Then I give Ethan one last feed before bedtime and anytime between 6 - 7pm Ethan is down for the night. Sometimes we get one wake up about 40 min after we put him down, but it is quick and he is back to sleep in no time.

Ethan then has two nighttime sleep patterns:
  1. The first is my preferred, its a 3 or 3.30am wakeup for a quick feed (20 minutes to change, feed, burp and settle) then back to sleep until anytime between 5.30-7.30am.
  2. The second sleep pattern (probably 1-2 times a week) is not as "friendly". Ethan wakes anytime from midnight to 1.30am, and then again at 5am.
So that is a "normal" day for us. There are of course variations to this, on Monday's Ethan and I go supermarket shopping. Here he is in the trolley:
Some Tuesdays Ethan and I walk to the local community health centre and get him weighed and measured.

Thursday is our busy day of the week, in the morning we head off to Mothers Group. Ethan's friends (with their mothers names in brackets) are Zoe (Chelsea), Jacob (Natalee), Jake (Lisa), Amelie (Alyssa), Emily (Karen), Matheus (Lindsay) and Stella (Sarah). We usually sit and chat for a couple of hours, with each of us taking turns bringing snacks and treats. In the afternoon Ethan and I; and Zoe and Chelsea head off the Gymbaroo. Gymbaroo is all about early childhood development.

On Friday mornings Ethan and I head off to post natal/mums and bubs yoga for 75 minutes with a number of our mother's group friends. After yoga we all have a coffee or tea and chat about our babies.

On Saturdays and Sundays Jason, Ethan and I tend to take long walks, whether its at the beach, at Trigg bushland reserve, around the local streets or at the Mall (if it is raining haha).