Finally getting a handle on things and then...

yes, one of the neglected areas is the hair cut dept.

So we're finally getting settled into Sydney and getting into a routine with little Alex. We've been on a rocky sleeping routine for months with all the moving countries, changing time zones, sharing a bedroom with his parents and general upheaval. At night Alex would often struggle to fall asleep on his own and would wake up once or twice in the night - and of course wake us up in the bed next to him. During the day we would find ourselves rocking, singing "row row row your boat" and generally patting and jiggling the little man to sleep twice or three times a day - the result of which was usually at best 30 minutes of blissful sleep followed by wailing and general mayhem. Frequently it took longer than 30 minutes to get him off to sleep in the first place.

but not any more

oh no...

These days he goes quietly off to sleep each night and sleeps through until at least 6am with barely a mummer or a gurgle (and other parents will know that 6am is the equivalent of a sleep in till 10 in baby terms). During the day he will frequently sleep for an hour and a half twice a day. And when he wakes up, he just sits up, finds some toys in his cot and quietly chats to them until one of us goes and gets him.

Now, this didn't happen over night. It was a bit of a battle, there were tears, some of them from bubba. I had some fantastic tips from my friend Nicole, all of which worked perfectly (thanks Nic). But we got there in the end and suddenly, we had free time! We could actually watch a whole film in the evening. I could actually get stuff done during the day!

So what did I do?

Decided to go back to work.

Really... what was I thinking.

Well, I would tell you more but I'm tired and have to get up to go to work tomorrow morning. grumble grumble...

Am I creating a future couch potato?

I started work on Monday - after 13 months of not working... more on that later. The day before I returned to work I went to the baby shop to spend the voucher grandpa had given Alex for Christmas. OK, you might call it a guild present but I came back with this very cute and kind of stylish toddler sized rocking chair. He wasn't 100% sure about it when it first appeared in the lounge room it didn't take long for him to become a fan. in fact, one morning after i'd left for work he crawled over to his chair, climbed in, made him self comfortable and started watching TV. Not exactly a habit I want him to get used too but the photo Haydn sent me was so cute and really made my morning at work. I think my new workmates were a bit sick of seeing it.

I think he looks like a little old man with his knee up here

In fact, even as I type I'm watching Alex get into and out of his chair and rock it while he does. I think that classifies as a hit, and as a bonus, it's a baby friendly thing that actually matches the rest of our furniture. And yes, there is a baby foot stool to go with it. Hilarious!

Flying the coop already

Back from daycare - clearly traumatised

Today Alex had his first day in daycare. His first day away from both mum and dad in 372 days (aka his whole life so far). It was only the second day I'd ever been away from the little man for more than a few hours. 

We'd researched and visited lots of childcare offerings near home and Haydn's work, we'd planned the day carefully, we'd practised by visiting the centre for the past two days to get us comfortable with the place - yet still I found it a traumatic experience. Notice I found it traumatic, Alex apparently didn't have such difficulties adjusting. Apart from a brief cry after I left - quickly overcome by discovering a new toy in the sandpit, and a few incidents with particularly scary bubbles Alex handled the whole affair very well.

He even managed to sleep, in a strange place, with a bunch of other babies snuffling and wining next to him, with noisy kids running around outside the room, for an hour and a half! An hour and a half! I can't get him to sleep that long in a silent room, with his favourite comforting toys and me tiptoeing and holding my breath outside.

Perhaps the whole situation was so traumatic for him that all he could do was sleep and hope the nightmare would be over when he wakes, perhaps the staff from the daycare centre always tell you that your child handled their first day better than most, and tell all parents that their children hardly cried even though they'd actually been in tears for hours, perhaps they'd say anything to stop you removing your child and depriving them of their extortionate fees. Perhaps I had far too much time to think about all this while Alex was happily playing with his new friends. 

The big day approaches

Well, actually there are a few big days approaching, and one is happening today. This morning Haydn (aka Dadda - Alex is pretty good at telling the difference these days) started his new job.

It's great news really, a good company, interesting job and it only took him a couple of weeks to find it which is good for the bank balance.

But it's also the official end to our lovely, luxurious, long holiday together and back to reality. I realize most new families don't get the opportunity to spend such a solid block of splendid, sunshiny time together, without the pesky interruptions of a job and all that real life stuff. Most babies don't get the pleasure of undivided attention from both mum and dad (and various nannas, cousins, aunts and uncles) for close to 5 months. And we SOOOO appreciated it.

I know it's a cliche but all good things must come to an end eventually and more adventures lay ahead. The fact is we won't have as much time with our gorgeous bundle of joy over the coming months, so the time we have together will have to be that bit more special.