Three Months of Handsome

Two Weeks Old

One Month Old

Let me just start by saying that I love Cyril and his little fat rolls more than you could ever imagine. What started as a somewhat tremulous relationship has turned into a bond so deep it truly could never be broken, unless of course he decided to start waking up every hour again, I might not be able to forgive him for that. All jokes aside, we really do have on handsome and contented little baby, the majority of the time. I say that because yesterday I was having lunch at Booths and I put Cyril in his Moby wrap because I could sense he was getting tired. What most people don't know is that Cyril fights sleep for a minute or two before falling blissfully into dreamland. When I say fight, I mean FIGHT! Fist banging, nail scratching (because I'm still too terrified to cut his nails), screaming at the top of his lungs, and let me tell you he has some seriously strong lungs, kind of fight. For those of you who don't know Booths is a really loud and massive cafe, which is precisely the reason Jo, Robyn, and I choose to dine their with our babies, because let me tell you the service is painfully slow. Despite the constant murmur of chatter, Cyril managed to quiet the entire cafe as people around me began to stare wondering what form of torture I was inflicting upon my baby. Fortunately, a few butt pats and some vigorous rocking later he completely passed out on my chest, phew!

Two Months Old

Cyril and I have quite the social schedule these days for those of you that are curious:

3 Months with his girlfriend at Bumps & Bundles

Monday- Swimming lessons at Orton Grange followed by lunch and a walk with the girls and dogs
Tuesday- House cleaning, napping with Cyril, and walks with Hobson
Wednesday- Next week we start buggy fitness in Penrith, I'm hoping I can rediscover my abs!
Thursday- We had baby massage but it was getting to be too much, so now it's lunch at Booths followed by Bumps and Bundles, a social group, in Penrith.
Friday- Either baby sensory or baby sign language, still deciding

Saturday & Sunday- Cuddles with Daddy/Papa (still not sure what he'll be called, any opinions?) Mama and Hobson. This Saturday we're going to Saint Bees on the west coast of cumbria for some beach time, a picnic, and rock climbing because the weather is supposed to be gorgeous.

Now, I'm not sure if it's all the social groups and stimulation I provide to Cyril or what but he is one alert baby, I mean when he is awake he wants to talk, laugh, practice rolling over, hit the shit out of his toys, kick Hobson if he gets too close, and of course scratch his eyeballs out because poor Mama isn't the best at grooming him! He is also a champ at tummy time, with his back muscles I am convinced that if he doesn't become a pro surfer he will be an elite athlete of some sort, as Josh says when I ask him why labour was so difficult and long for me, he always says, "Tat, for christ's sake, he was born full grown, he already has teeth and is practicing acrobatics not to mention he was a whopping 9 pounds!"

Another positive is that Cyril can swim like a fish, he now loves the pool and doesn't even blink when I dunk him under the water, and the best part is that when we get home from swimming he is EXHAUSTED, which means mama gets to have a glass of wine while he drifts soundly into his sleep for the night.

Which brings me to my next point, he sleeps like a baby, except babies don't really sleep, so he sleeps like his Daddy/Papa does when he's had one too many pints of cider. The majority of the time he sleeps from 7pm until 7am with a 10 minute feed around 3am. Unfortunately I find it impossible to fall back asleep after I feed him at 3, Josh told me that I need to go downstairs and have a drink on those nights. I finally have his naps sorted as well and you know what for a baby that completely baffled me when he first arrived I really think I'm getting the hang of this whole mother thing. We're starting to understand each other and I think part of that is due to the fact that he has a routine now. As Josh tells me, "You're the most laid back control freak I've ever known." I'm not really sure how you can be laid back and a control freak but I would describe myself in that way as well. For example, Cyril and I have a routine, although somewhat loose, it's still a routine:

Between 630 and 730 Cyril wakes up for the day, I let him have a kick on his playmat while I prepare his milk and my coffee. If he's content I wash and sterilise the bottles and prepare everything for the day, I'm so adept at this that what once took me close to an hour to prepare now takes me a mere 15 minutes.

Depending on when he wakes up, he gets 6 ounces between 7am and 745. He's not one for breakfast so I sometimes need to re-focus him on the task at hand, if he refuses to eat it's tough luck he then has to wait until the next feed, which he doesn't have a problem with, obviously if he was screaming for food an hour later I would give him a top up.

745 we walk Hobson, and now that he's in his big boy pram he loves to look around at all the farms, just like his Grandpa Karas does. While we walk I like to sing, "Old Grandpa Karas had a farm, E-I-E-I-O, and on that farm he has a dog named Lucas, E-I-E-I-O ...

830-845, Cyril begins to pull his ears, yawn and rub his eyes, signalling to me that if I don't get him upstairs right away he's going to throw a bitch fit. Dodey (Binky for all you Americans) in his mouth, a gentle rock and a lullaby from mama and he's in his crib fast asleep by 9am at the latest. I then allow him to sleep as long as his little heart desires which is usually 45 minutes to an hour. This is when I clean the shit out of the house and probably the reason I've nearly lost all my pregnancy weight, for me cleaning comes before breakfast because I hate clutter. I've had one too many mornings without breakfast, and come to think of it I only just managed to squeeze in a bit of lunch every now and again.

10-1045 he has brunch, which he usually guzzles down.

Depending on our schedule he has a swim or some form of playtime before he gets cranky around 1130.

1130-2 is when he has his long nap, and if I'm home I usually join him. If we're out the only way I can get him to have a snooze is the moby wrap otherwise he's too alert and looks around at everything and then he gets way overtired and cranky and I usually end up with a bloody chest thanks to his claws!

2-215 Afternoon snack followed by some form of play, walk, swim, etc

430-5 Another nap

500 He basically has a Sunday roast every night because he usually downs 2 bottles or 12 ounces before bed

530: Bath, massage, pyjamas, story (If he's not too cranky which he usually is) more milk

7pm: Bedtime

Someone just discovered he has feet!

And then we begin the entire routine again. Now this schedule is pretty loose but to be honest Cyril created this routine and it really does make him a contented baby. I had some help from Gina Ford, which a lot of people hate, but it has helped me understand Cyril. I know when he's hungry, tired, bored, or overstimulated. At first, I didn't like the idea of a bath every night because let's be honest Josh and I really only bathe a couple times a week, if that! However, Cyril loves his bath and massage and it completely calms him down before bedtime. He also doesn't really cry that much anymore, maybe only 20 minutes total in a day and I think it's because all of his needs are being met, including sleep. We're also unconventional in that we moved him into his nursery at 7 weeks, but we were both keeping each other awake, and now he sleeps soundly which I heard helps their brain development, and if he's going to be the professional athlete his body requires, he needs all the brain help he can get, hehe. However, if he wakes up between 5 and 6 and doesn't want to go back to sleep I let him join me in bed, I just can't get enough of his cuddles! If I knew it wouldn't be detrimental to his future sleep habits I'd let him sleep with me every night, but then I'd be one exhausted mama because I'm too paranoid I'll accidentally roll over on him to get any quality sleep when we sleep together!

I suppose I'm laid back in that I don't get worked up over every little thing, and a little pee on the floor doesn't bother me. I'm also extremely patient with him, which I think all mothers have to be with their babies. I've also been really flexible with everything, when breastfeeding didn't work, we switched to bottles, when he got bad nappy rash, I tried disposables (we're back to reusables now), when he wakes up at 3am I don't fret, I think, one day I'll look back and crave these peaceful moments in the night when it was just the two of us, his face cuddled into my chest. Now let's be realistic if he was waking up 4 times at night again I might not be so kind ;) I try to live every moment with him to the fullest because time is going by way too fast.

Lastly, I want to applaud all the mothers in America who go back to work after 3 months because I would be a blubbering mess if I had to drop Cyril off at daycare right now, the separation anxiety would kill me. Don't get me wrong there are days when I think work sounds really good but the majority of the time I am grateful that I get to spend 9 more months with my baby boy.

This week I'd like to give a special shout out to one of my best friends, Courtney Grace on her marriage to Eric Gass.

And to my brother Matthew and Fiance Ami, on the arrival of their gorgeous baby boy, Huckleberry River Karas, arriving 5 weeks early and weighing a whopping 5 pounds 12 ounces!