Feed me

Feed me
Originally uploaded by dyrlac.

Today we managed our first bottle feeding. Here I am, displaying an unfortunate amount of chest hair and general dishevelment, giving Nat a bottle of delicious eau-de-Deirdre. This development means both of us can go to the football, while Granny looks after him. Hooray.

Fashion Shoot

Babies are like dress-up dolls, only squirmier. Here are some recent outfits Nathaniel has put up with over the past week. Click on the picture to get a larger image.

In certain circles, wearing a Burberry cap tells the world that you're looking for a brawl. Given FFC's recent form, this is perhaps justifiable in SW6. Nat is ready to rumble.

Grandma picked up this shirt from a friend. Someday, I will learn how an Nascar-sponsoring air filter company from Henderson, North Carolina and a Canadian courier service got the same name.

These were the large pantaloons from just a couple of weeks ago. Now they almost fit. As of Tuesday 26 October 2004, Nathaniel is 10 lbs 10 oz, and 26.5 inches long. A gain of 41% in weight and 30% in height. He is now 40 percent of his mom's height.

Grandma & Nat

Grandma & Nat
Originally uploaded by dyrlac.

Grandma (aka Doug's mom) came to visit us this week. We've had several adventures, including a trip to Peter Jones to look at dining room tables. Sadly, we neglected to bring enough money to take one home. Nat made his disappointment known, so we had to go to the toy store.

Here Nat is demonstrating his enjoyment of a warm chest. Grandma takes the opportunity to say hi to Kay.

The Grunter

Doug, Nathaniel and I are slowly evolving a routine with each other. He is a fantastic baby at night, generally sleeping for solid four hour periods between feedings. We spend the morning getting all of us showered, dressed and fed. That now seems to take three to four hours, rather than the half hour it took pre-Nathaniel. He is generally awake for a good four hours during the morning to early afternoon period. We pass him back between the two of us, talking and cooing to him, singing along to CDs with him (this morning it was Johnny Cash), then showing him "stimulating" toys or drawings, or dressing him up in cute outfits.

But mostly it involves convincing him that while he is awake there are other things to do besides feed. He finds breast feeding to be the most rewarding part of his day. It gives him food, warmth, attention, and I think mildly soothes the gas problems he has started developing. He could quite contentedly feed the whole time he is awake. This is the typical view I have of my young son as he demands a feeding.

And this is Nathaniel post-feeding.

He will usually sleep for a few hours during the afternoon, at which point Doug and I try to get to our email or phone calls or something else. But the house feels very quiet and empty when he is asleep. We usually try and get him up in the evening again so that he can get into bed around 10 or 11 p.m. But we usually inexpertly mix up the timing though so that both me and Nathaniel are attempting to eat at the same time, which doesn't work out too well.

Nathaniel has also started trying to communicate with us. We like to call him Mr. Grunty. These communications are generally related his feeding, with a contented little coo signaling his satisfaction and a deep, long, dissatisfied grunt meaning that there is some latching or flow problem. He also seems to struggle with a bit of indigestion and gas, which means he grunts his way through his nighttime sleeps, trying to work all the extra air down through his system. But the best noise he makes is his contented little chuckle. He only does it in his sleep, but we get hours of amusement listening to him laugh to himself during one of his naps.

Officially Nathaniel

On Thursday, we registered our young son at the Kensington and Chelsea town hall. Yes, our hospital choice meant that our little son gets his start in the poshest of posh London boroughs. We had to answer a few questions regarding our names and birth dates from the town hall official and then voila, he was on the books.

They never even asked to see any paperwork (Doug and I being who we are we and well versed with various English bureaucracies already, came loaded with everything from passports to marriage licenses to bank statements). Then we took him for his first visit to a toy store, where I bought every brightly colored "educational" style toy for him. I am constantly expressing doubts to Doug about whether we are providing enough intellectual stimulation for him. So I have festooned his crib with mirrors and musical bugs and Doug keeps printing out black and white graphics for him. Of course all my worries about intellectual stimulation go out the window when Sopranos or The O.C. is on and then I wonder if he will quietly nurse long enough for me to get my trash TV fix.

Emails for All

We are now a gmail-wired family. New emails for everyone are as follows:

Doug
smith dot douglas at gmail dot com

Deirdre
deirdre dot davidson at gmail dot com
(This was very unfair, I still fume)

Nat
smith dot nathaniel at gmail dot com

All of us
davidsonsmith at gmail dot com

Site Update

This blog was getting a bit top heavy, so I've put a one week age limit on the posts that appear on the front page. If you want something earlier, go to the archives, just below the "Previous Posts" section of the sidebar.

Party Time

Party Time
Originally uploaded by deirdred75.

Nathaniel got his first chance to party Sunday evening at his Aunt Kate's and Granny's birthday party. Kate was celebrating her 19th bithday and Granny her 50th-two great milestones. Although the Davidson family was not all together, it was the first time I had been there for my Mom or Kate's birthday since I headed off to college. We feasted on steak fajitas, champagne, and chocolate cake. As for our young addition--he proved himself an astute party attender. He slept all day so he was fresh and rested for the party itself--then promptly zonked out when it was clean up time.

Black & White Army

Black & White Army
Originally uploaded by dyrlac.

Dad & Nathaniel watching the Crystal Palace - Fulham match. The match was absolute 'bish, with bruiser Ian Pearce being sent off in the first six minutes, so Fulham had 10 men for most of the game. As has happened distressingly often this season, the defense got leaky, and even Eddie van der Sar couldn't stop everything.

Insiders will note that I was not wearing the jumper of victory, whose powers are somewhat lacking in televised away matches.