Yep I'm a dad again.
Two weeks ago our beautiful daughter was born.
Suddenly I have to remember everything that I forgot two years ago !
How to handle babies, they are so small and fragile compared to her brother who is now two and a half.
We've already been out and had fun with a double buggy and even managed a wedding with both of them.
So I have lots of blogs to write including reviews of new products to help
I might also need to read my old entries to remind me on how I did everything before :)
Short blog today, but more coming real soon
Wednesday, 26 November 2014
Thursday, 21 August 2014
2 Years on
So I've been rather bad at updating this blog. I think the last post was 18 months ago !
This is mainly as life as just taken over.
My son was two in June and growing up fast !
We've moved in to a new house and we are expecting our second in November (child, not house)
So between working, doing up the garden and the house, and spending time with my family I haven't had much time to update this blog.
However as we have a second on our way and I can see people are still hitting the blog, I've decided to post some more updates.
As I've now had two years experience, I'll now be focussing on certain aspects in each blog.
hopefully this will assist someone else in a similar position.
A quick update with how I've coped generally in the first two years though.
I'm a lot more confident with Jake now and happily scoop him up in one arm and throw him over my shoulder. He weighs a lot more than he did 18 months ago ! (My arm has got a lot stronger) Although as he is running around everywhere and does actually hold our hands when he needs to, there isn't too much need for picking him up throughout the day.
The only thing that I can't do with him is if we go to some of the soft play places where Jake can climb higher and easier than I can manage, so I can't really keep up with him, but everything else is easy.
So looking forward to number two I don't have any worries about how I'll cope with the new baby, it will just be fun with both !
This is mainly as life as just taken over.
My son was two in June and growing up fast !
We've moved in to a new house and we are expecting our second in November (child, not house)
So between working, doing up the garden and the house, and spending time with my family I haven't had much time to update this blog.
However as we have a second on our way and I can see people are still hitting the blog, I've decided to post some more updates.
As I've now had two years experience, I'll now be focussing on certain aspects in each blog.
hopefully this will assist someone else in a similar position.
A quick update with how I've coped generally in the first two years though.
I'm a lot more confident with Jake now and happily scoop him up in one arm and throw him over my shoulder. He weighs a lot more than he did 18 months ago ! (My arm has got a lot stronger) Although as he is running around everywhere and does actually hold our hands when he needs to, there isn't too much need for picking him up throughout the day.
The only thing that I can't do with him is if we go to some of the soft play places where Jake can climb higher and easier than I can manage, so I can't really keep up with him, but everything else is easy.
So looking forward to number two I don't have any worries about how I'll cope with the new baby, it will just be fun with both !
Thursday, 20 December 2012
6 Months
So I've realised that having a baby takes a lot of time up !
Hence why my blog has not been updated for a while.
So Jake is now 6 months old and I'm not sure where all the time has gone.
He has grown so quickly over that time, he is nicely in to a routine now which means that we wake him up in the morning to take me to the station (with my wife), then I see him again when I get home twelve hours later.
At this point he normally has some food, has a bath and then shortly after heads to bed.
This means I don't get to see Jake much in the week, but I do try make up for it on the weekends.
I have not had the confidence yet to bath him, as the bathroom hasn't got loads of room, so not easy for us both to be in a position to hold him in the water.
Jake is moving more now and can roll from front to back when he wants, but not from back to front. I think this is actually useful at the moment as it means he can't roll into danger if I turn my back. Although I don't think it will be too long.
I still use my standard method to pick him up with one thumb tucked under his armpit, using the hand to support him. Then use my bad arm to support the weight. After years of trying to keep my left arm relaxed and straight, I've now got to start to strengthen it more and keep it locked in an L shape to take his weight, and I notice each day he feels heavier !
Over the last few months I've got a lot more confidence with how I hold my son and move him around. He is still light enough that I can just hold him with one hand against my hip, so when my arms tire I can change positions and he is still comfortable.
Changing Jake is still fairly easy, although now eating food, the nappies are smellier ! Plus I have to keep an eye on his feet not kicking in the dirty nappy. Although folding the old nappy over is a handy trick. He is still well behaved for me when changing nappies although kicks me more when getting him dressed. He loves to kick my stomach, or maybe its a hint for me to lose weight !
The few issues that I have is changing his vest over his head. He doesn't like it much, and it's hard for me to sit him up and put a vest over his head quickly, but its something I'm working on.
Also getting him in and out of certain seats can be tricky. The high chair we have is fine, as is the car seat. But some of the small seats, and bouncer are rather awkward. But then that's what the wife is for. :)
As I'm more confident, I know that I can safely get Jake out of any of the seats if need be, just might be slightly uncomfortable for him.
The last six months have been great. My son is amazing, and watching him grow and learn is just the best thing. My wife is also awesome for being the best mother and wife in general, but being supportive with me overcoming my worries of how I'll cope.
Hence why my blog has not been updated for a while.
So Jake is now 6 months old and I'm not sure where all the time has gone.
He has grown so quickly over that time, he is nicely in to a routine now which means that we wake him up in the morning to take me to the station (with my wife), then I see him again when I get home twelve hours later.
At this point he normally has some food, has a bath and then shortly after heads to bed.
This means I don't get to see Jake much in the week, but I do try make up for it on the weekends.
I have not had the confidence yet to bath him, as the bathroom hasn't got loads of room, so not easy for us both to be in a position to hold him in the water.
Jake is moving more now and can roll from front to back when he wants, but not from back to front. I think this is actually useful at the moment as it means he can't roll into danger if I turn my back. Although I don't think it will be too long.
I still use my standard method to pick him up with one thumb tucked under his armpit, using the hand to support him. Then use my bad arm to support the weight. After years of trying to keep my left arm relaxed and straight, I've now got to start to strengthen it more and keep it locked in an L shape to take his weight, and I notice each day he feels heavier !
Over the last few months I've got a lot more confidence with how I hold my son and move him around. He is still light enough that I can just hold him with one hand against my hip, so when my arms tire I can change positions and he is still comfortable.
Changing Jake is still fairly easy, although now eating food, the nappies are smellier ! Plus I have to keep an eye on his feet not kicking in the dirty nappy. Although folding the old nappy over is a handy trick. He is still well behaved for me when changing nappies although kicks me more when getting him dressed. He loves to kick my stomach, or maybe its a hint for me to lose weight !
The few issues that I have is changing his vest over his head. He doesn't like it much, and it's hard for me to sit him up and put a vest over his head quickly, but its something I'm working on.
Also getting him in and out of certain seats can be tricky. The high chair we have is fine, as is the car seat. But some of the small seats, and bouncer are rather awkward. But then that's what the wife is for. :)
As I'm more confident, I know that I can safely get Jake out of any of the seats if need be, just might be slightly uncomfortable for him.
The last six months have been great. My son is amazing, and watching him grow and learn is just the best thing. My wife is also awesome for being the best mother and wife in general, but being supportive with me overcoming my worries of how I'll cope.
Thursday, 16 August 2012
8 Weeks on
Hey,
I'm back !! :)
And so much to talk about. Just had so little time with work and looking after my son.
So yesterday my son Jake was 8 weeks old. Time flies !
He's doing well, sleeping most of the night and started talking...
Well I say talking, making more noises than just "Waaaa".
Although I admit when he first was going "Mwaaa" it was very cute !
(That can become less cute after an hour.. )
So back to the point of this blog..how am I coping !
Well at the start I let my wife do everything. She is amazing - have I told you that before.
I was a bit worried about holding , carrying etc, so at the start she passed him to me sitting down etc.
But then I learnt ways to pick him up with one hand (from the ankle right?) and I became more confident with handling him.
Feeding is fairly easy - I don't produce milk, so not much I can do.
Although I have fed him with the bottle a few times and he's fine with that.
A half doughnut cushion is great to position him and then use my hand to feed him, and my left hand to just make sure he doesn't fall.
Winding him is a bit harder, but I can throw him over my shoulder okay.
Changing is also fairly easy once I got used to it.
The changing mat on the cot is a must, great hight to change him. And because it is the same place I change him, he has learnt the routine and is very calm when I change him.
I tried with the leg ties I mentioned previously, but to be honest I seemed to get myself and his feet more tangled.
I might try again with them, but at the moment I'm coping without them.
He seems to stay still for me when I'm changing his nappy or clothes. Either a good baby or being nice to me !
He's been out a lot in the 8 weeks he's been here
to pubs numerous times (taking after his Aunt !)
To a friends wedding where he was good all day and night. Even let me have a drink or two
And 2 weeks ago we took him to the Olympics. that's a whole other post, but we had a great time.
So far everything is great :)
I'm back !! :)
And so much to talk about. Just had so little time with work and looking after my son.
So yesterday my son Jake was 8 weeks old. Time flies !
He's doing well, sleeping most of the night and started talking...
Well I say talking, making more noises than just "Waaaa".
Although I admit when he first was going "Mwaaa" it was very cute !
(That can become less cute after an hour.. )
So back to the point of this blog..how am I coping !
Well at the start I let my wife do everything. She is amazing - have I told you that before.
I was a bit worried about holding , carrying etc, so at the start she passed him to me sitting down etc.
But then I learnt ways to pick him up with one hand (from the ankle right?) and I became more confident with handling him.
Feeding is fairly easy - I don't produce milk, so not much I can do.
Although I have fed him with the bottle a few times and he's fine with that.
A half doughnut cushion is great to position him and then use my hand to feed him, and my left hand to just make sure he doesn't fall.
Winding him is a bit harder, but I can throw him over my shoulder okay.
Changing is also fairly easy once I got used to it.
The changing mat on the cot is a must, great hight to change him. And because it is the same place I change him, he has learnt the routine and is very calm when I change him.
I tried with the leg ties I mentioned previously, but to be honest I seemed to get myself and his feet more tangled.
I might try again with them, but at the moment I'm coping without them.
He seems to stay still for me when I'm changing his nappy or clothes. Either a good baby or being nice to me !
He's been out a lot in the 8 weeks he's been here
to pubs numerous times (taking after his Aunt !)
To a friends wedding where he was good all day and night. Even let me have a drink or two
And 2 weeks ago we took him to the Olympics. that's a whole other post, but we had a great time.
So far everything is great :)
Wednesday, 1 August 2012
Olympics
So a long time ago before Jake was born we decided to get tickets for London 2012.
I managed to get 2 sets of tickets for myself and my wife. The first set were for the basketball and the second for a day in the stadium watching the Athletics.
When we realised that Jake was going to be born and he would only be 6 weeks old then we thought we'd have to stay at home and not see any of the Games. However as we had been going out a lot and he was a good baby, we thought we'd give it a go.
The first fun was the train, realising that I now need to look for all the lifts everywhere which was not something that I was used to. And the amount of prams often meant I had to let the wife use the lift and walk up the stairs.
For anyone who went to the games they know that the Games Helpers were amazing and very helpful.
The day we went was in the first week and therefore the stadium itself wasn't open which actually was useful as there were 80,000 less people there in the park.
Plenty of changing facilities and there were enough seats that my wife could feed Jake so it was great.
For the actual Basketball games my wife wore the baby carrier as this was a lot easier than trying to hold him all the time. Although for the second match there were spare seats that we could use, save walking up 50 steep stairs.
Atmosphere was great, and I think Jake loved it too !
I managed to get 2 sets of tickets for myself and my wife. The first set were for the basketball and the second for a day in the stadium watching the Athletics.
When we realised that Jake was going to be born and he would only be 6 weeks old then we thought we'd have to stay at home and not see any of the Games. However as we had been going out a lot and he was a good baby, we thought we'd give it a go.
The first fun was the train, realising that I now need to look for all the lifts everywhere which was not something that I was used to. And the amount of prams often meant I had to let the wife use the lift and walk up the stairs.
For anyone who went to the games they know that the Games Helpers were amazing and very helpful.
The day we went was in the first week and therefore the stadium itself wasn't open which actually was useful as there were 80,000 less people there in the park.
Plenty of changing facilities and there were enough seats that my wife could feed Jake so it was great.
For the actual Basketball games my wife wore the baby carrier as this was a lot easier than trying to hold him all the time. Although for the second match there were spare seats that we could use, save walking up 50 steep stairs.
Atmosphere was great, and I think Jake loved it too !
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
I have a son !
I've been so busy I haven't had time to do a proper blog.
But I want to let readers know that on Wednesday Morning 20th june.
Our son Jake was born.
Sorry for the lack of posts, things have been very busy. (although I post dated this blog posting)
Will post more soon
But I want to let readers know that on Wednesday Morning 20th june.
Our son Jake was born.
Sorry for the lack of posts, things have been very busy. (although I post dated this blog posting)
Will post more soon
Monday, 11 June 2012
Just waiting ......
So 5 days left before the due date. (Arghhhh!!!!!!!!!!!)
Getting very real now, specially when my wife gets the odd stomach cramp.
I'm patiently waiting and not stressing at all ! (well.....) , my wife though is bored of sitting at home and just wants it to arrive.
Won't be long ! :)
Anyway I thought whilst I've got a bit of spare time I'd write about two useful things I have. Well they look useful, have to see in practice if they are.
Firstly I got a changing mat with sloped edges rather than straps. One from Mother Care that fits over the cot did the trick, although the colour choice is rather poor. The mat sits on top of any decent cot/cot bed and has a strap to hold it securely. the slopes are also quite steep so a young baby is unlikely to roll off.
I've decided to start with this one as being quite high up I think it should make it easier when changing nappies. also if I find I have a little wriggler then I can always buy one with straps in the future.
The other thing I ordered were Eazy Feet. This is a small neoprene gadget that fits over the babies feet and allows you hold both feet up with one hand whilst you change the nappy. Think of them as material handcuffs for baby feet. They aren't available in shops, but the inventor still has some stock left. They are meant to be useful for two handed people also !
I'll let you know soon when I'm covered in baby poo if they are useful !
So everything is sorted now, we just have to relax and wait....
Useful links :
Eazy Feet - Email inventor at lisa@lisney.net
Mothercare Universal Cot-Top Changer
Getting very real now, specially when my wife gets the odd stomach cramp.
I'm patiently waiting and not stressing at all ! (well.....) , my wife though is bored of sitting at home and just wants it to arrive.
Won't be long ! :)
Anyway I thought whilst I've got a bit of spare time I'd write about two useful things I have. Well they look useful, have to see in practice if they are.
Firstly I got a changing mat with sloped edges rather than straps. One from Mother Care that fits over the cot did the trick, although the colour choice is rather poor. The mat sits on top of any decent cot/cot bed and has a strap to hold it securely. the slopes are also quite steep so a young baby is unlikely to roll off.
I've decided to start with this one as being quite high up I think it should make it easier when changing nappies. also if I find I have a little wriggler then I can always buy one with straps in the future.
The other thing I ordered were Eazy Feet. This is a small neoprene gadget that fits over the babies feet and allows you hold both feet up with one hand whilst you change the nappy. Think of them as material handcuffs for baby feet. They aren't available in shops, but the inventor still has some stock left. They are meant to be useful for two handed people also !
I'll let you know soon when I'm covered in baby poo if they are useful !
So everything is sorted now, we just have to relax and wait....
Useful links :
Eazy Feet - Email inventor at lisa@lisney.net
Mothercare Universal Cot-Top Changer
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