He’s starting to fatten up!

It appears that our little monster is beginning to fatten up a little, which is a good thing, of course!

Jack has always been on the tall side for his age, according to the charts that the NHS give you. He’s not the tallest baby in human history, but he’s getting there. Anyway, we’ve noticed that he’s been a bit thinner than some of the other babies that we’ve seen since he’s been born, but he’s not too thin that would cause a concern or anything.

The straps on his nappies have had to overlap in order to keep the nappy tight against his skin, otherwise the poo and wee will squeeze out like tomato sauce from a bottle. But recently, the straps are getting a little further apart, indicating that his belly is getting a bit fatter.

His legs too are starting to fill out a bit – proper meaty little Rugby-player thighs already.

Just thought I’d share that with you.

Zombie Brett strikes again. And again, and again…

I know I have mentioned this whole zombie sleep-walking thing before, but it hasn’t really stopped. I’m sure that Claire thinks I’ve lost the plot entirely, but other than being annoyed at myself for doing it, I can’t really do much about it. Sometimes it’s funny, especially in the morning telling Claire about what I’ve been up to!

As I said before, I used to do this sleep-walking thing when I was at university and came home for the weekend. But since Jack’s came along, I have started to do it again, I thought because of the lack of sleep I was getting. I thought when he went into his own room, I’d be ok again, as I’d be getting more sleep… yeah, right.

What I do, is that I get up in the night and begin hunting around for Jack. Then, when I start to worry about him not being there, I wake up and realise that I'm being a dope and simply get back in bed and I fall asleep straight away.

Last night in particular, I got up around 3ish and was looking on top of the bed for Jack. I mean, actively hunting around for him, lifting folds of the duvet, sliding the doors to the wardrobe open and everything. In the past, I have been known to look inside pillow cases, as this seems to be the most logical place for Claire to put Jack in the night, of course. I even thought in the night that Claire was looking for him too, and I thought I had found him and so I asked Claire if she wanted to take Jack. Saying something aloud, must have stirred me a little, and so if I dreamt that Jack was there, then he instantly disappeared, making me worry a bit more, hence waking me up properly. On waking myself up properly, I soon realise properly what I’m doing and just shrug it off and get in bed.

I think the other night, I even tore one of the pillow cases trying (whilst fast asleep) to find the baby.

Claire is of course, mostly oblivious to all of this. She sleeps through almost everything, and maybe it’s a good thing that she does, as I’d spoil her night’s sleep as well as mine!

Claire thinks I am worried about Jack, and this is causes me to have these dreams/nightmares/episodes. Maybe subconsciously I am, but I don’t think that I am particularly. Well, of course I’m worried about him and don’t want anything bad to happen to him as a whole, but I think that any parent will say that. I know that if Claire was worried about him, then I’d know about it, and I think that is what makes me realise in the night that it’s just me that wandering around again, as she’s fast asleep – if there was something to worry about, she’d be a touch more concerned.

“It’s like he’s a real person and everything..”

Over the last few days, I have noticed something about Jack – he’s starting to appear, certainly to me anyway, like a mini-person…

I admit, that sounds like a daft/stupid/obvious/dad-like thing to say, but I’ll try to explain.

When we’ve been over to people’s houses to see their new babies, they’re exactly what it says on the tin… a baby. As in, it cries and poos. Lots.

But Jack has already started to develop his own little personality, making him appear more and more grown up each day. When I say personality, I don’t think he’s developed a taste for a particular genre of music, or love of the arts, or anything, but more that he seems to have developed a ‘happy mode’, whereby he’s up for a giggle, or to be thrown up in the air and caught (gently!!) that he finds amusing, but then later he has a little mood swing, like we all do, and he’s hungry and determined to get some milk, almost like a ‘grumpy mode’, and we’re able to see when he’s in either of those and we are (I should say ‘I’ here, as Claire has been like this with him for ages!) starting to be able to expect and adjust his behaviour with how we treat him.

Hhhmmm, maybe I shouldn’t have tried to explain that, as it might sound like I’ve been living in a cave for the last 16 weeks and have been ignoring him, but the point is, that he’s growing and learning to do stuff and it’s quite an amazing process to watch in such detail.

He’s started to get a bit good with his hands and is able to use them to full force to tell us that he’s full and doesn’t want any more milk, but clamping his hands around either side of the milk bottle and trying to throw it directly away from his face to stop the milk-flow - this is in addition to using his tongue to purge any reside milk in his mouth that he doesn’t want.

One last thing with regards to this whole personification thing going on in this blog post, Jack is getting to be a right little telly-addict…! It’s easy to see why people seem to shove kids in front of the TV to shut them up, as he’s quiet in a second almost, even from the hurricane of all crying-storms! Especially so when he’s watching one of his Disney Baby Einstein DVDs! However, on the other hand, it’s a bit too easy to do that and then it’s a bit of a cop-out instead of playing with him and his toys.

Incidentally, Claire has just walked in the room after printing out a few more of the photos for her album and she’s just said that it’s amazing how much he has grown, compared to the wrinkly, shrivelled-up, yet hairy, little baby that we brought home from the shop.

Swimming in the ‘tub!

On the bank holiday weekend, we went to my parents’ house for a BBQ, with my sister, Emma, and her other half, Vincent.

Before we left the house, Claire asked if I thought it was an idea to take my swimming trunks, as well as Jack’s swim-nappy and us both get in the hot tub over there. I’m not normally fussed about hot tubs, but it sounded like a good idea, as when Claire, Jack and I went swimming in Ely before, it wasn’t as warm in there as Claire had sold it to me.

We almost forgot about the whole thing, but I soon got my milk-bottle-white legs out and my not-so-hairy chest, and donned the shorts in true summer style… all for Jack’s benefit, of course.

Once we were in, Jack loved it in there, as it was already set to be about 38 degrees C, which was a stroke of luck – we normally run Jack’s bath to be about 37, so he probably didn’t notice the difference.

Actually, it worked out really well, as being a hot tub, it was plenty big enough for the pair of us (and there wasn’t any other screaming and crying kids in there distracting him, like there are in the pool) but it wasn’t too big that it was an effort.

My mum had bought these little plastic toys that suck up the bath water and when you squeeze them, they shoot out the water, so we brought them along too, seeing as we’re technically in a bath. Needless to say, it wasn’t Jack that found that they could reach his grandma sitting a good distance away. Ahem.

The kiddies’ pool that Claire takes Jack to in Ely gets deeper towards the end, but even a short-wheel-based person could stand up straight in there, which is fine if you’re a nipper, but the adults all get cold, as it’s difficult to stay under the water so you get cold really quick. Minor point, but… you know.

Anyway, My family assumed the role of the paparazzi in my absence and so I also got a taste as to what I’ve been subjecting visitors to our house with!!

The weather was just brilliant though – easily the warmest day we’ve had so far this year. Just glad that it was over a weekend, and not during the week when I get to see how nice a day it is from inside the office at work.

15 weeks and 15 pounds!

Claire took Jack to the weighing station again today, and he’s now measuring 15 pounds and 3 ounces!

He’s also 15 weeks old this week, which is crazy in itself!

He’s getting funnier and funnier to be around and he’s really focusing his attention on us, particularly with Claire, and is reacting to things that you do.

Jack has also had two nights where he’s not screamed the house down too! Amazing I know, and it’s a bit of a relief to see that he can have at least a couple of evenings without another war ripping out. He’s been sleeping well once he’s quietened down, but the last couple of nights he has been happy through into the evening and has even been going to be before he’s fast asleep and has been getting to sleep by himself.

Having said that, I am also having to actually wake him up in the morning so that we can all get up and ready before I leave for work in the morning. Our routine seems to go a little like this…

• 05:50 Claire wakes up and subsequently wakes Brett up whilst trying to be quiet.
• 05:50 Claire gets up out of bed to go downstairs to start expressing booby-juice for Jack.
• 06:10 Brett has been laying in bed for 20 minutes trying to work out what day it is.
• 06:10 Brett gets up and goes straight in to get Jack up.
• 06:15 Brett tries to change Jack’s dirty nappy, but Jack usually has other plans, including kicking his legs as though he’s on a marathon.
• 06:30 Brett brings Jack downstairs to the lounge where Claire is usually finished pumping by now, and has transplanted the milk into a baby bottle for Jack.
• 06:45 Jack has finished his milk by now and has a few minutes to chill-out and try to stop him from chucking it all up again (which he’s done a few times recently)

From here on, Claire is on-duty with Jack, leaving me to get ready for work. Usually, I manage to leave on time, normally with Claire and Jack in the kitchen, him being in his bouncy chair running and kicking away sporting a great big smile on his face.

During the last few minutes before I leave to go to work, I can hear Claire singing some very random songs and nursery rhymes to Jack – so much so, I ended up having the words to ‘Row, row, row your boat…’ firmly fixed in my head again for the whole day, the other day. (Including the extra verses that Claire has made up too…)

Over 100 days old already!

Speak to any parent and it seems that they’ll tell you that time flies by, especially when used in the context of their children. Well, I suppose Claire and I can categorise ourselves as ‘one of those people’, as Jack is over a hundred days old now, which seems inevitable but almost unbelievable in some respects.

The round figure of a hundred days seems like a milestone that we weren’t looking for, but it’s one of those that appears when looking back – if that makes sense? Jack is growing lots and putting on more weight as the weeks go by, but he’s also learning lots too and is smiling, laughing and interacting more each day.

What a day!

Today has been one of those days for me. I have been rushing around doing stuff, and the day has just disappeared!

Giving Blood: One of my first jobs for today was to go and give blood in Chatteris – I have been giving blood for a few years now and have clocked up my 11th or 12th bleeding-session now, which is good. I do try to go every three months, but haven’t been for a while, as the last donor session was when Claire was overdue to give birth. Despite what people think, it doesn’t hurt much and the sense of helping someone, somewhere is quite rewarding. And, I managed my own personal best of just 4 minutes, 33 seconds to donate the blood. Must try to beat that next time! Also, I always manage to see someone in there that I know, which passes the waiting time considerably! But I would really recommend making an appointment though, as turning up is ok but you have to wait! I didn’t make an appointment this time, and really wished I had!

Jack’s Jabs: The next thing to tick-off on the list, was to take young Jack to the doctors for his second round of jabs! I think Claire thought she’d get out of taking him this time, especially after the first round a couple of weeks ago! We timed the waiting room really well, beating all other mums and dads in there, and ended up waiting about five minutes or so. When we got in there, the nurse soon jabbed one leg, (loud screams) and then just as he calmed down, she jabbed the other leg (again, loud screams). He was a really good boy, considering that the needle was literally about half an inch long and went straight into the side of his leg, which isn’t much bigger itself! Needless to say, he cried a bit in the waiting room (we had to wait 15 minutes afterwards in case he yakked) but the car-ride home was… loud.

Laughing-boy Jack

The other day, I said something to Claire about Jack’s new trick which is giggling when being tickled, but she didn’t believe me. But then trying to make him laugh again that evening was a no-no.

Anyway, I got home from work today and Claire laid Jack on the bed upstairs and I was with him playing and tickling him and he suddenly burst into laughing! I wasn’t trying to make him do it, he just did it!

He did it a few times when I was tickling him shoulders and around his neck! Claire really wanted to make him laugh but couldn’t!

Made us smile anyway. We thought about trying to get it on camera to put on the website, but he’s asleep now, so maybe another day.

New way to stop Jack’s 7pm upset?

So, it turns out that Jack is much more like his mum than we thought!

Jack went into his usual 7pm crying session and continued to cry and cry, despite us both trying to calm him down. We tried all of our normal tricks, but he wasn’t having any of it. Bathing him used to be a good ‘un, but he’s become immune to that recently.

By chance, we found something that he finds… soothing!?!

Claire needed to do some hoovering around upstairs and as soon as Claire came anywhere near Jack’s room, he stopped crying and started to look at me through his teary eyes, as I was hanging over the edge of the cot trying to calm him down.

To test the theory again (in the name of science), we brought the vacuum cleaner into Jack’s room and he simply stopped – switched it off again, and he started to cry. Back on, and he stopped. Strange.

Blog Writing, Made Easy!

In terms of actually writing these blog posts, I have recently found a new tool that has made this all much easier! It’s called Windows Live Writer (part of the Windows Live Essentials tools) by Microsoft, and it’s everything that I have been wanting without me knowing about it!

I used to write the blog posts in Microsoft Word for it’s spell checker facility and then copy and paste the text into Adobe Dreamweaver, as Dreamweaver is an HTML-editor and since blog posts are essentially HTML, it’s easier to format the text, etc. I would also have used Adobe Fireworks to modify or scale any images I wanted to use, to make them small and lightweight enough for use on the web. Back into Dreamweaver to apply the changed images, and then once that part was finished, I would then upload any images to my webspace manually and then go back into Dreamweaver and re-link to use the online versions of the images.

Then… I would make sure that everything looked right, and then copy the raw HTML from Dreamweaver into the hidden part of this blog site when I had logged in. Then, I’d re-read it (sometimes), add category tags, change minor little things here and there, before pressing the ‘Publish to Weblog’ button, which makes it live.

Until now.

Windows Live Writer takes note of which blogs you publish content to, namely this one, as well as any settings for it, such as the web address, username and password for it, and then it goes off to your website to find out what it needs to let you do everything inside of Live Writer! When I say everything, I mean everything.

Right now, I am working on my computer in my house, on Live Writer. In here, I am typing in the font that I would expect when published online, and can add things like images, photo albums, etc and I can also preview it on my PC too. When it ‘previews’ a blog post, it actually shows you everything that you’d expect to see when it appears on the internet, namely the header, navigation and so on. Great – previews. Wow… No, there’s more.

Inside here, I can also set the same tags that I have configured inside my blog, which makes navigation in a particular topic much easier now that I’ve turned on the Navigation box (top-right of this page). I can also publish this directly to my blog site and it appears instantly, without me needing to log in! OR, I can publish it in Edit Mode, which means that it will send up what I have written already, but not make it ‘live’ online until I press the aforementioned ‘Publish to Weblog’ button. Fantastic.

It does loads more stuff too, but these are enough to mean that I’ll carry on using Live Writer – I have also installed it on Claire’s laptop, so I can use that to make blog posts too and whack them up in exactly the same way.

The only downside was the installation – I wanted Live Writer, and when you download it from the Microsoft website (for free) it downloads pretty much all of the Live Essential tools – none of which I wanted – and then you pick which ones you want to install. It also tries to install the MSN toolbar as part of the process, and you have to actually un-select it from the list. None of these points are a pain, but I just thought I’d point this out really in case anyone wanted to try it.

The Family Swimming Trip

Claire, Jack and I all went swimming this morning together for the first time, which was great.

We went to the swimming pool at Ely, as there’s a baby-pool there which is warm (apparently anyway!!) and wasn’t too deep at any point. Jack was floating around with either one of us holding his head out of the water, whilst he splashed and kicked away.

At one point when we first got there, we think he fell asleep in the pool, as he looked comfortable enough! I don’t think he slept in the car on the way there when he should have, and was looking a little tired before we started. And then later he got a bit grumpy, so we had to cut it short after about 3/4 of an hour in there.

Our friends down the road turned up there too with our God-daughter and her little baby brother, but just as we was about to leave, which was a shame. We saw them to say hello but didn’t get any splash-time. Maybe next time.

Sold the car…

So – as the title suggests, we’ve sold the Focus that I mentioned before, in the attempt to go and buy a bus to cart the wife and child around in.

I had to drop the price a bit lower than I had originally hoped, as looking through the Auto Trader website, there are currently 10 Ford Focus for sale in a 10 mile radius of here, and all were about the same price that I had it on for originally, which was £4250, but all were about the same age or older, but all were a lesser specification than my car. I wanted to drop the price a little, to make it stand out from a group really.

Ironically, just as we’ve done ‘the deal’ for the chap to buy the car, a man from down the road knocks on the door, asking if the Focus is still for sale! Doh!

We’re going to go to Peterborough shopping to see what we can get for our money – we’ve spoken to lots of people now who have either recently bought a new car for themselves, or know someone who has, and the general feeling is that it’s a buyer’s market out there and that the garages are keen to strike a deal at whatever rate. We’ll see… and with money in the back-pocket, we’re in a much better position now to haggle on the price.

I’ll keep you posted.