Darian's 4 month check up

Ok, so I've been really slack in keeping up to date with the blog, nothing unusual about that, but in my defence I've been back at work for almost a month now and well, it's harder than I imagined. Leaving my little man at home everyday and only getting back in 10-11 hours is the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my entire life. If only we were all blessed to have the opportunity to stay home with our little one's, alas, bills keep coming in, mortgages need to be paid and well, I think I need to work to keep my brian working.Last Monday we had Darian's 4 month check up at Plunket. He now weighs 7kg's and has only grown 1cm, so he is now 62cm. Somehow I don't think that's accurate, but who am I to argue. So he only falls into the 25th percentile (lengthwise) for kids his age. It isn't to disconcerting because he is healthy & well and is growing & developing so well. He is very friendly and loves looking at faces and "talking". The other day (Sunday) he said "Ma-ma" for the first time, I know he hasn't connected the meaning of the word to me yet, but it's nice that he said that first, before "Da-da" or "Ba-ba". He says it over & over now and it really makes me feel good! He is becoming very aware of his surroundings now and loves staring at himself in the mirror and smile and frowns at his reflection. He is keenly aware of when we leave the house now and when we get home he gets really excited and kicks and coo's and when we put our arms out he almost jumps into our arms. He is still battling with teething and we've tried it all, teething gel on his gums, Amber beads on his neck and homeopathic drops in his mouth and I do believe they're working because he gets relief and well, it would be worse if we didn't have those. He gets really cranky when he feels them but is quickly back to his normal self once we've given him some relief. He loves his teething rings and bites EVERYTHING. He goes through about 6-7 bibs a day due to the drooling. He is still thumb-sucking but because of the teething he bites his fingers so we resort to the dummy (pacifier) so that he doesn't hurt himself. We've also started him on solids (as of last Monday) and he loves his food. He is getting so good at eating and feeds well (excpet when the fingers go into his mouth and there's food everywhere). He loves his fruit, peach & Apple is his favourite and also pear & banana. He also loves the carrot, pumpkin & kumara (NZ sweet potato) mash and is not too keen on broccoli, we've learned, but eats it anyway. He is still having night time breastfeeds and is on formula during the day.This week we got him enrolled at the daycare (First Steps Parnell) near my office. His official start date is October 15th. We were not very keen on having him start so early, especially as my mum only goes back to SA in November but the daycare had no vacancies later on in the year and this was the only one they had and as I work in the city I did not want to enrol him in a daycare close to home. Traffic and work hours wouldn't work around his daycare operating hours so we resolved to having him closer to me. I am very happy about that because it means that I am 5 minutes away from him if he ever needs anything or I have to pick him up urgently, and it means I don't have to amend my work hours (they close at 17:45 and I finish at 17:30). The only con to this whole arrangement is that he will be stuck in traffic with me all the way home in the afternoons and in the mornings, which aren't as bad as the evenings (yesterday it took me exactly an hour from the office to home - door to door). But I am very happy with the daycare facility and the carers, and I know he will be well taken care of. It breaks my heart to have him in daycare so early (he'll be 6 months) but we don't have any other choice and I know it will make him a better person, more social and more interactive, and most importantly his development will increase exponentially while he is in daycare, instead of being home with me or a nanny.So here we are, 4 months have flown by so very quickly (19weeks to be exact). I still look at his pictures from day 1 to now and I can't be happier with my little boy, he is such a blessing to both Cameron & I, and we are so very much in love with him. He makes our lives that much richer & happier, and we're enjoying every single minute of him.

Back to work

Well, it's official. I am back at work! It hasn't been easy for me to adjust, although Darian seems not to have noticed. I finally know how Cameron has been feeling these past few months. The first day back, I was welcomed with a desk decorated in balloons and welcome back banners as well as cake for the office. Everyone seemed pleased that I was back, which is a good thing I'm sure! And I was bombarded with questions like, "how's baby", "how old is he now", and "why are you back so soon". Even though it was weird that no one asked to see pics, I soon realised they didn't need to. My friend from work, Nevenka, had put up pics of him all over the office from the day he was born. So everyone already knew what he looked like. He's birth was even announced on our staff intranet the week he was born. So everyone was kept well informed. I feel like I've barely spent any time with Darian these past few days. Monday & tuesday I was at home so on Wednesday I didn't feel it too much, although I called home 4 times just to check on him. The day went relatively fast but when it was time to go home, you couldn't get me out of the door quick enough. When I got home he was wide awake so I got to play with him a while before putting dinner on. He went down for the night at about 8pm which was perfect. I could then do what I had to do and was in bed by 9pm. But at 4am he was wide awake. We tried everything to get him to sleep again but nothing worked so Cameron & I took shift until 6am to watch him while the other slept. I managed to get through the day but when I got home it's like he didn't even remember me. He was so tired and uninterested so I gave him to my mum while I made dinner and before I was done he was fast asleep. That was very disappointing for me. So today (Friday) Darian wakes up at 5:28am, 2 minutes before my alarm goes off and I think, screw it, I'm spending time with my baby boy before I do anything else! He & I played until 6am when Cameron got up then he watched him while I got things ready for the day and then I took him with me to the kitchen while I prepared lunches and breakfast and at about 6:30am I took him to my mum so I could get ready for work. BUt by the time it was time for us to leave (about 7:30am) he was going off to sleep and that was that. It is not easy getting back into the scheme of things when my heart is still at home with my baby boy but as I've been told, women all over the world have had to do it so I will to! It will be hard but I'll adjust! I'm grateful though that my mum is still here so she can take care of him while I'm back at work. He will be in day-care when she goes back to South Africa and we've already booked him into daycare. So he is scheduled to start on Wednesday the 7th of November for a few hours over that and the following weeks, just so he can adjust, then full time on the 3rd of December. This week I also celebrated my 29th birthday. For the first time in my life I was not very excited over my birthday, I guess because starting work the day before and leaving Darian were the only things on my mind. But my hubby made it special and made my day! We went for lunch at Billfish on Auckland's Viaduct and enjoyed a lovely meal together. My friend Leigh from the office gave me some gorgeous tulips and a wonderful birthday card which was so very sweet, especially as I didn't think she would remember considering I was only back at work for two days. We will be going out to celebrate this weekend with friends so I am looking forward to that.Well, that has been my week so far. It's now 12:45pm and I cannot wait to get back home to my little boy, just another 4 hours to go!