8 weeks old

8 weeks today - and life with Linc has been a bit of a roller-coaster. He's officially suffering from colic, but it seems to come and go with some evenings being much, much worse than others. His sleep is getting back up to 7 hours in the night, but then some nights it's 3.5 hour stints, so no night time sleeping routine just yet. Dad is flat out at work, even though getting in at 7.30am and leaving at 4pm (with no lunch break) should see him pulling ahead, it ain't quite working that way. However, Mum is doing well, entertaining visitors on some days, and going out visiting on others - and no addiction to 'Days of our lives'...(yet)... but on the downside her blood pressure appears to be creeping back up - so it may be back to medication just like before she fell pregnant.

Linc is talking more and more everyday - at the moment ah-goo is a big achievement! Lots of smiles now, even smiles for Gran Nicholas which was nice. His favourite song is officially 'In the Deep Blue Sea' from the Baby Einstein series. Dad even managed to capture some video of Linc smiling when Dad started singing it!!!

The family has their first holiday coming up on Good Friday (April 10). We are all heading to Briars Country Lodge Resort in the Southern Highlands (Bowral) to meet up with Shane and Erika (and Linc's mate Anthony) and Marty and Nerissa (and Linc's mates Isabelle and Jeremy)!! And the weekend after that Dad's aunty is making the big trip over from Adelaide to meet Linc before she heads off to England for a couple of months - so we're all very much looking forward to her visit!

How to sterilise dummies...

-Put dummy in saucepan.
-Place saucepan on hot plate and turn hot plate ON.
-Gee, these water restrictions are really tough, aren't they...but we all have to do our bit!
-Um, what's that smell?

4370g 19 March

Today Lincoln had his 6 week checkup (he's 7 weeks this Saturday) and all is well.

Height is 56 cm (from 48 cm at birth), weight is 4.37 kg (9 lb 10 oz) and head circumference is 38.8 cm (up from 35.5 cm at birth).

Unfortunately he's got a blocked tear duct, but that is apparently relatively common and should sort itself out by 12mths (otherwise surgery may be required).

Lincoln's big smile

Well apparently this phenomenon has been naturally occuring for some time now-not that Dad has seen it-but today, Linc had a BIG smile - right when Dad happened to have the camera in hand! Mum was out doing a quick dash for some more newborn nappies (the 4kg to 8kg nappies are just MASSIVE) and Linc was having a great time in his brand new Maclaren rocker which we bought on the weekend (thanks for the test-drive Marty and Nerissa!) and then there it was - a big smile to signal how much fun he was have hanging out with his Dad and the elephant, hippo and rabbit hanging above his rocker!!!

6 weeks old

The 'firsts' keep coming with our little man. This 'first' is where he actually fell asleep in the bath! Also of note is that he slept for 8 hours last night - which is just amazing. But he had a big day yesterday starting off with a trip to the mall, a visit to Aunty Kate and Uncle Steve's place to wish the twins (Bren and Rach) happy birthday, then off to party on at a 30th a few houses down the road... Let's hope he sleeps well tonight - because remember, it's such a hard life for a baby!

Never before seen photo of 1 hour old Linc

It's hard to believe 6 weeks has gone by since Linc was born. But it's easy to forget what he looked like just after he was born! This exclusive photo, taken only 1 hour after his birth, is a great example of how quickly a newborn's facial features change to become a real little face! It was taken by Dad (on the iphone) during bonding time (and whilst Mum grabbed a quick shower).

Life back into a routine

Although the title of this post may suggest life is beginning to form into some kind of routine - it's not - apart from Dad being back at work (which is hard for Dad as he just wants to spend time with his little fella')! Linc has decided to wake up most days this week when Dad is getting ready for work (only about 1.5 hrs after his last feed, and when Mum is trying to sleep) so that has been: nice so Dad can see him before he goes to work; but not nice for Mum who just wants to sleep!

Last night Linc did a 6 hr sleep (YES SIX HOURS) in a row, then did another 2 hrs, and throughout today has only been having small sleeps here and there. And tonight he's very grumpy because he's so tired...So things are still a bit all over the place at the moment, but Mum and Dad are both loving being parents! Just the little things like Mum bringing Linc in to Dad's work today for a coffee. Dad was just over the moon to be able to spend time with his little man during the day (and show him off to the colleagues yet again!)... This photo was taken a few days ago and he looks almost genuinely happy (plus he looks very smart in his red suit!). The smiles are getting a bit more common, but it's still difficult to tell a wind/falling asleep/feeding smile from a genuine happy smile.

A day with friends

Yesterday the whole family went and visited Marty, Nerissa and their two munchkins, Isabelle and Jeremy. Linc was very excited, and showed it by snoozing most of the day, which was actually quite nice as Mum and Dad could be grown-ups again and talk about the global economic crisis, the cyclone off the coast of FNQ, the state of affairs in Africa....okay, so maybe not - it was more like...breast feeding, settling techniques, burping, wind, sleep deprivation, toilet training etc. etc...! How life with friends has changed!

Creative Image Photography shoot

Today we got our photos back from Steve at Creative Image Photography. They are really good, and are a fantastic record of Linc with his newborn look. Here's just a few:

4020g 5 Mar

We weighed Lincoln yesterday and he has put on 440g in two weeks. He now weighs 4.02kg (approx 8lb 14oz) and has grown in length from 48cm at birth to around 55cm.

Linc just loves getting weighed...

And then there were tears

Crying we've gotten used to (well, as much as is possible). It's just the sound, so it doesn't tend to tug at the heart strings as much as when tears are involved (but it's still not nice). But on Sunday, Linc's lacrimal glands started producing the fluid that bathes the eyes - tears. So now when he cries, his little eyes well up with moisture - just like a big person... only smaller.