DECEMBER 2003
Well, things are progressing well. Callum has regained his birth weight and is now piling on the ounces and by the end of the month weighed in at almost 12lbs.
He has still got his big appetite and I am glad to say that I am still managing to stick with the breastfeeding... although I will admit that I have discovered the relief that can be achieved by giving him a 'top-up' formula feed on some of the days when he is having huge feeding sessions. I was reluctant to do this at first, but I have come to realise that it is not a weakness, and that it really helps the both of us - he was sucking me dry!!
Another advantage to Callum being quite open to having the occasional formula feed from a bottle is that Grandma and Grandad can baby-sit him already, rather than waiting until I can express milk off (when he eventually leaves me some spare!). Not that we want to get shut of him already, but it does mean that we can get caught up with our housework/Christmas shopping etc., anyway, Grandma and Grandad have been itching for some 'selfish time' with him! Plus I can express some of the feeds he has missed so that we can build a back-up supply.
The colic has eased quite a lot now. We are very grateful for that as we felt so helpless for not being able to do much to ease the discomfort. Callum does still like to get settled on his Daddy's tummy though!!
One shock we have received is that he has started teething already! We first became suspicious at around 5½ weeks, and it is now quite clear that the front two teeth at the bottom are starting to peek their way through. The front two at the top don't look like they will be too far behind, along with possibly a couple at the back!! Poor kid, too young for teething gels, and cannot yet manage teething rings/keys etc as he doesn't have the co-ordination or the mouth size!! He mostly tries to get relief by just chewing his fist. Now, what was I saying about breastfeeding....!!!
Christmas was quiet, spent with family and friends. It was just great to finally be a family at this time of year. I can't wait until he gets older and gets excited about Christmas... I've always loved this time of year, and always get Shaun up at around 5.15am on Christmas morning. I hope Callum is an early riser every Christmas, if not, I will have to 'accidentally' wake him up!!
I resisted the temptation to buy Callum a Santa Suit, it was difficult, but I did it. Imagine my happiness though when we opened one of his Christmas pressies and found a Santa Suit complete with hat - it was from some friends of ours (Sue & Rob). No problem deciding what he should wear from that point on. You can see a picture of him in his Suit in the Photo Gallery.
By the end of the month the amount of sleep we were getting had improved. Although he still didn't settle until around midnight-1.00am (Dad has to get up for work at 4.30am!!), he started going around 5 hours minimum before waking for a feed, but on one occasion he went as long as 7 hours, although he was 'chuntering' in his sleep for the last couple of hours which kept waking me, but still, it was an improvement! I don't think he appreciated his reward the following morning though - a visit to the doctors clinic to have his first round of immunisations! He mainly reacted to his injections by just being very sleepy for a few days, although he did have a couple of spells where he was obviously unhappy with himself and generally a little unsettled.
His 'coo-ing' and 'gurgling' is coming on a treat now, and still keeps us amused. He has also learned to smile. No matter how difficult it can be at times raising a new baby, it's all worthwhile when you see that smile. He now spends a lot of time smiling and 'laughing' - it's great to get some feedback from him, at least we know we must be doing something right as generally speaking he is a very happy baby (unless he wants feeding, or his gums hurt, or he's tired... etc. etc. the smiling may start, but the crying doesn't stop!!).
Our little boy is growing and changing so quickly. In many ways this is great because we are always seeing something new in him which is all part of the excitement of being a new parent. However, I've waited so long for my baby, I don't want him to grow up too fast. I want to be able to get as much 'baby-time' as possible. I suppose I can't keep him as a baby for long - anyway, at least it shows that we are looking after his needs ok.
Amanda
