Genevieve, Smile for Daddy!

One of the things we've been slack in not telling you is how interactive Genevieve is getting.

I'm sure we're going to capture plenty more in the future, but this was the first photo where Genevieve was smiling at me, based upon me talking to her and her reacting.

That all sounds quite scientific - let me put it a simpler way. When you speak to Genevieve, she will often smile back at you. It's adorable!

(And to all you oldies out there - it isn't wind... she's actually smiling. You can tell quite easily)

But of course, this interaction goes both ways. She is starting to see what she can get, and when she can get it. This is most evident at sleep time. The swaddling generally means that she will sleep for much longer, but she really does hate it before she actually nods off. So she'll fight and fuss and often wriggle out of it - even Daddy's special super-sarcophagas wrap. She'll sometimes just grunt and burble as she's doing this, or at other times she'll cry. But once she's out, it's generally a cry until either of us go in to her. Once we get in there, or often is she can hear us, over the wailing, coming in through the door, then she's much happier.

And at other times during the day, it's becoming more obvious, she's starting to cry for our attention. From one perspective, it's rewarding that she needs us and, in a way, loves us. But generally, it's something that does test you. Not just in the fact having to go to her, but also when deciding how often you do, and how long you should wait until you do.

Still, when you do, and she smiles at you, it's magic.

Our first big trip

When we went up to tell Naomi's father (John) and step-mother (Gael) that we were expecting, they also let us know that Nai's step-sister, Stacey, was engaged to Dimitri and they were planning their wedding for a weekend towards the end of April. That seemed like a world away, but we decided that this was something to plan for and set some goals, that we would attend, as would Genevieve as we had been told that she would be expected to be there.

So I got home on Thursday from work, had a quick change of clothes and we drove the 3 hours up to Wahgunyah (just on the Victorian side of the Murray from Corowa). We were in an OK motel, built right on the edge of the river.


One of the key pieces of equipment we needed to survive this weekend was Genevieve's 'portacot'. It sets up in a few minutes, and it also has a folding change table that clips onto the top, and it worked a treat. The sink just managed as a bath, but other than that, it was all good. We gave Genevieve her first interstate trip by walking over the bridge to Corowa to take a look around, before lunch and then starting to get ready for the wedding at a local winery only around five minutes drive away.

We'd worked out what little Gen was going to wear. As usual, we'd purchased very little of it - just the undergarments. We are constantly amazed by people's generosity and how funky Genevieve's wardrobe is as a consequence.The wedding day started out quite still and sunny, however by the time the afternoon came around it was freezing, with a bitter breeze so Genevieve's outfit was augmented by a white polarfleece jacket, and mittens (ermmm, actually socks, but we won't tell anyone if you don't!). Many people would love to have traded places with her, as she did look pretty warm.





Of course, eveyone's focus was on Stacey, and she and the bridesmaids looked wonderful in Gael's amazing creations. But... there was one other girl who was getting her own (slightly less amount of) attention. Stacey hadn't met Genevieve yet, and as you can see from the photo, Gen will be able to say she always cries at weddings! Thankfully, she didn't cry during the wedding, and in fact, she slept through the whole ceremony.



She was very happy to get inside and out of the cold and after being introduced to many of the guests, she was after a feed. We'd been sampling some of the winery's produce, so I suppose it was fair that she get a drink of her own. So once people moved into the dining room it was her quick chance for some food.






And of course, after the feed comes the change so here's me, dressed in my best, giving her a quick change (in a very thematic venue) before we went in for a feed of our own.

She was extremely well behaved, although by the end of the night, she was pretty happy to get home, into her makeshift portacot bed, for a good sleep.

The rest of the weekend was quite enjoyable, checking out some of the local sites and catching up with family and a few old friends. We're now pretty confident that we can take her anywhere without a lot of hassle, although a slightly larger car wouldn't go astray (and is coming soon).

Time for a manicure

It's difficult not to get annoyed with the number of scratches I've been receiving from a wayward Genevieve hand - in particular during feeding (no, I don't feel the need for further detail there).

I thought it was time that I put a stop to that and give her a decent manicure, with some specially purchased scissors. We got the scissors because the first time Cory cut her fingernails, he managed to make one of her fingers bleed. So it was somewhat cautiously that I gave it another go.

We had much greater success this time (it was actually quite easy) so her nails are now trim and look great. (They're actually quite strong, so I'm sure she'll be glad of that in years to come).

Feed - Settle - Feed

One of the routines that seems to work pretty well for us is for Naomi to feed the little girl, then palm her off to me to further settle her (and hopefully put her to bed) while she will quickly prepare something for lunch.
It doesn't always work out, but it's always worth the try. In this photo, you can see that I'd managed to settle Genevieve, but I hadn't quite had the time to put her in her cot. So Naomi thought it best to place my lunch within easy reach. Dunno if she is really much of a 'stable table' - especially if she has hiccy-ups.

Hey...what's that?

Genevieve is now starting to take more of an interest in the world around her and can focus on things for short periods. She now likes looking at her mobiles and other toys. This will keep her amused for just enough time to allow me to hang out the washing or unpack the dishwasher.

She has also managed to grasp objects as well. She has a pink teddy that she looks at on her change table and she grabbed that the other day and shoved its leg in her mouth. I think it was a bit of a fluke but she has managed to do it twice now.

The 8 week jabs

Today was the day that I had been dreading since some of the mothers at Mother's Group talked about their experience.... it was immunisation day!

First she was weighed and measured - she is now 56.5cm and 4.5 kg so she is 50th percentile for length and 25th percentile for weight which means she has been consistent in growth from birth.

Then poor little Genevieve had to get 3 injections - 2 in her right leg and 1 in her left. They are given pretty much all in a row to get it over and done with. I had to hold Genevieve while Wendy, the maternal nurse gave the injections. Genevieve screamed and went purple with fury as the injections were given but once they were over and she was put straight onto the breast she was fine and it was all forgotten. I was surprised how well she handled it but even more surprised at how well I coped. The last time she got a needle and cried - I cried more than she did....

I had to watch for any symptoms for the following 24 hours to see if she had any reaction the vaccine but all was fine and she was a real trooper. Well done Genevieve!

The family's first sporting event

You can blame Triathlon for this one. After Nai introduced me to Triathlon last Summer, we found that doing a few 'fun' runs was both achievable (neither of us are great in the running stakes) and of course helped with the training. We also factor in that many are charity runs, so it starts to sound like a good idea.

Progressively, the distances have got longer until today, we did the Run for the Kids (which made $400,000 for Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital) - which for me meant a whopping 14.7 km! Naomi did the shorter 4.5km course but hey... I didn't give birth only 8 weeks ago, so a far more impressive achievement. Nor did I push the Genmeister in her jogger for the distance - that was Naomi as well. This photo is the lovely Genevieve sporting her jogging outfit - yep... rugged up to the nines, safely secured in her three-wheeler.

We took the train to the event (with my mate Joe and I starting out around an hour before Naomi and Genevieve), but we walked the 2.5km home, which helped with the soreness. Still, if you look at Genevieve and I in this photo, you can tell that I'm pretty tired.

Next run is the Mother's Day Classic (for breast cancer), which after her acheivements today, Nai thinks she'll do the full 8km distance. I will too - but this time it'll be me pushing little Genevieve along.

Getting out and about

As the weeks have gone by I feel more comfortable with Genevieve and her needs and routines etc. We've been able to get out and about a little bit more. This is great as we've been able to catch up with other friends with babies and older kids, as well as those with dogs.

One thing that has (of course) made this a lot easier is the fact that I'm driving again. It all came back to me (like riding a bicycle, which I will try soon!) and I was no more anxious on the road than I used to be.

In this photo we went a picnic in the park with Mel and Andrew, Tania and Mark and all the kiddies (inc the two in-utero). Genevieve's having a drink, as am I (there's a nice red to the right of the picture)

Welcome to my world

Wake up (from someone's waaa, ah-waah, AH-WAAAAAH). Bare my breasts to the world - again! Change an overflowing nappy. Just what colour would you call that? Try to settle the screaming. Perhaps another top-up feed? Oh... put the washing on. Damn... I forgot to have a shower. Yesterday I didn't have lunch until 3:30. I'd better get out of the pyjamas before Cory gets home. What was that I just stepped in? We're having a pretty good day - that means we'll get to go for a walk. Damn - it's just started raining. I hope Cory finds the smell of milk-vomit becoming. He's just arrived home... "Hi babe! Genevieve wants a hug"... Now... RUN!

BIG Bathtime!

Pretty early on, Genevieve realised that bathtime was an incredibly enjoyable experience. We've learned that it a great way of settling her, and part of our standard evening routine is a bath around 8pm, before a feed and a nap before a final feed at 10pm and a decent sleep.

While in her bath, Genevieve kicks and 'swims' around as best she can. We'd love to take her for a real swim, but unless the water temperature is quite warm, she's not that happy.

So today, we have her a try with Mummy in the real bath. She seemed to really enjoy it, so it's something we may repeat from time to time. After a few minutes, we thought the whole family should enjoy the experience (ok... not dog or cat - but the 'human' members of the family). She really did like it, until the warmth dropped from the water and then it was suddenly time to get out.

We like FuzziBunz, Tunz!

We try to be environmentally responsible where we can. One thing we were quite concerned with was using disposable nappies, given the amount that babies reportedly go through in their nappy-wearing years. So we looked at alternatives.

We saw quite a few alternatives to traditional cloth nappies at the Baby Show, however the ones we thought looked the best, as well as the fact that we received a few favourable reports from others, were FuzziBunz. Although there were just a little bit more expensive than the other brands, they looked better and appeared to be better designed and better fitting.

Now that we've been using them (almost exclusively) for six weeks, the verdict is they are definitely worth the money. (And it'll only take a little more than this six weeks to cover their cost in disposables - or do what we did, and ask people to contribute to their cost for their gift at your baby shower).

Yes, you do have to wash them - but other than putting them first on an extra rinse cycle by themselves, they just get put in with the rest of your washing so it's no bother. They dry quickly, they fit well, they do the job. And they look good too!

The many faces of Genevieve

I came home the other day to find that Naomi and Nana had taken quite a few pix of the little girl. It really showed the variety of expressions she now uses. It is quite amazing when she smiles - and she does, a lot of the time, as she's feeding, so it's a bit difficult to take a picture of that one. But she's certainly Mummy's girl, as she does love her food.






She is also quite communicative, and you can get a good understanding of what she is feeling by watching her, even if she can't yet tell you. She's doing the 'poking tongue' action pretty regularly - watching you and copying what you do. That is aparantly one of the precursors to learning how to talk. So Naomi has been saying "Dad dad dad" to her. Now I believe this is so that she comes crying to me - but this is also supposedly due to the fact that "Dad" is easier to say than "Mum".



Most of these pix were taken within seconds of each other - although some I've roped in from previous weeks. So if you come at the right time, you'll get a whole heap of action. If you come at the wrong time, you'll just get a heap of sleeping or wailing.








If you haven't come to visit in some time, then I'd heartily recommend you do. She really is a charmer! (Already... YIPE!)









Sometimes you do wish you could understand what she was thinking. Homer's brother's baby language converter would be great! (Or was that a dog language converter? Hey... they've had so many episodes, it's a safe bet they've had both)







This one is most likely about wanting more food - less chit chat. Even when she doesn't want any more, she's always pretty happy if it's still in front of her (which is not always that practical).











Peace Out!
(and what exactly does that mean? Am I showing my age there? Or just watching too much Biggest Loser?)