Jack and Katrina's Place

Jack is back at work now and Katrina is settling into a routine with Guy. He has been hard to settle at night, (lots of screaming) The problem seems to be wind as he feeds frantically like a little bobby calf and then needs to be picked up and burped repeatedly. After some advice from Plunket we are trying things like feeding him just before he gets really hungry, and feeding him with Katrina lying down which seems to ease the flowrate. Not sure yet but last night was lot easier on everyone.

Jack's brother Roger came to visit this weekend, and had a great weekend with his new nephew. Roger is a landscape gardener in Sydney and on Sunday afternoon he sorted out a drip feed irrigation system for our Garden. In a few weeks I'll be able to put photos of the azaleas and rhododendrums up I hope. What a useful uncle! Also in the last few days, our friends and next door Neighbors Don and Carolyn came over, to see who was causing all the lights to come on at 0300am.

Margaret has been with us for a week now, keeping the meals coming and the washing dry. After several visits to Midwife and Plunkett, the care and feeding of little Guy is becoming easier. He is feeding very well, and in 6 days last week put on 410 grams, which is the best part of a pound. He is now over 8lbs and growing well. Katrina seems to have got the knack for breast feeding, but the hot summer afternoons have been tricky, making Guy thirsty and sleepy at the same time. While the weather has been so nice we took the oppurtunity on Friday night to have Fish n' chips down on the South Coast. As this is actually not just the Guy Douglas Curry Stanton website, here are some non-baby photos taken just before sunset. (Guy was asleep in the car seat) The captions don't always line up but here is, The South Coast, Jack and Katrina, Margaret the Granny, and Margaret with Katrina wondering what to get her for next Christamas and deciding probably some new sunglasses! : )

On Friday, Katrina's work colleagues were holding a meeting in a venue near our house, so Guy got on his snazziest T-shirt to meet them.

Then Katrina gave him a big morning tea feed.

...which is why he was still sound asleep when he visited Katrina's Boss and the Radio Spectrum Management Team at Wilton House.

On Saturday afternoon while Katrina and Guy took a nap, Roger Margaret and I walked up Mt Kau Kau. Awesome summer day, but note the fog lurking out in Cook Strait to the South. Just for fun I discovered that ....

... by pushing a button on my digital camera, I can see what the same scene looked like 50 years ago!!! Magic.

Guy seems quite happy to sleep in the big cot after lunch now.....

...although mum and dad would be happier if I closed those little eyes and actually slept.

In Good Hands, Rob's actually.

Time to meet Uncle Rob, Jack's younger brother the Police Constable.

Tuesday morning with my Granny.

What a big weekend. Firstly Margaret (Jack's mum) drove down from Auckland to house-sit for our neighbours, and more importantly to be the on-site 'Granny the Nanny' After a lovely afternoon getting to meet her first Grandchild, Margaret has taken over providing the meals and household assistance. Just in time because Guy decided to test Katrina's resources by first reducing his food intake steadily for 24 hours, then suddenly having a feeding frenzy to catch up. Poor Katrina was so very tired, and Jack too while he tried to shore up Katrina. But with Margaret to keep the adult meals coming we got through the weekend and on Monday night had a wonderful extended family meal with Jack's Brother Rob, Krista, and Cousin Andrea and a very happy Guy. We have been blessed with a warm settled weekend. At least the lovely clear sunrises are some consolation for the 04:30am feeds. Here are some photos from the weekend.

How to tell if your baby is hungry!

Summer Baby.

Compare with Tuesday Jan 03 and spot the difference.

After throwing his breakfast around the inside of the bassinet, Guy had to get used to the big cot. (Sorry Lois, I've cleaned your bassinet!) The buzzy bee cushion captivates him when he wakes up.

Guy getting some sleep before meeting his Granny. Getting more relaxed in the big cot.

Bath times are still fun for all,

Guy and Granny meet for the first time. Margaret drove down from Auckland on Saturday to help out with things for the next week. Just in time as it turned out.

The lovely mobile from Aunty Sue and Bruce.

We've got to the end of the week, and there is much to be thankful for. In particular a big thank you to all our friends and relatives who have sent so much love our way. Thank you for the visits, the presents and just the tremendous amount of support we have received. This week has been more demanding and more rewarding than I could have imagined, but the support of friends has made it even more memorable. Katrina has kept a register (of course) and next week with 'Granny the Nanny' to help we hope to get time to write some thank you letters. Have a safe long weekend, love Jack Kat and Guy.

After a relaxing bath, Guy enjoys stretching out.

After a bath, watching the sunlight on the curtains wrapped in Emma's lovely puppy towel.

After breakfast, Guy takes in the world.

It's lighter in colour than my hair, closer to Katrina's ginger bread brown.

Here's a slightly 'different' photo. Guy has wispy light brown hair that has kept growing.

Hope you The last few days of concentrated feeding and visits by the midwife seem to be working. Guy gained 125gms over 48 hours to take his new weight to 3250gms. His average feeding time has gone from 10 minutes to more than 20, so he is getting more to eat and growing well, while sleeping lots. We are adjusting to the routine, and getting more sleep so everyone feels better. Yesterday was wild and wet in Wellington, low grey clouds swirling around the hills. This meant all the photos I took were complete rubbish, low light or flash. Today it has come out cool and clear from the south, so after a quick trip to the office to keep the world safe, I am going home for the evening bath and feed. Hopefully some more photos tomorrow.

Back into the swing of things today, with the feeding cycle more clearly understood. Actually Guy's cycle is a bit like his Daddy's one. Wake up early have something to eat, have '2nd breakfast' then elevensee's, then late lunch, afternoon tea, dinner with the 6 O'clock news, supper with the late news, and a couple of mid night snacks. Once we understood that, 'he should eat they way you shouldn't!' it was much clearer. With all the food in his belly, guy has been sleeping lots, here he is having a power nap, but then when he wakes up his big eyes he's really alert. After a feed he snoozes with Katrina for a while. I think Guy gets his elfy ears from his mum. Bath time in the sunny afternoon is fun for everyone.

While the thrill of meeting our little man still lingers, the work has really started. After a few days of decreasing feed volumes and intervals and increasingly unhappy baby, the midwife paid us an evening visit and showed us how to REALLY feed him. She woke him up and fed him until his tummy was hard and smooth like a little rugby ball. Turns out little babies like Guy are a bit tricky to get started. They feed just enough to keep going but not enough to grow, and if you don't catch them early thay can sort of hang up in this low appetite, low energy state. Oddly enough jet engines are the same, the smaller they are, the trickier they are to start and keep going. Like low time pilots we didn't detect the incipient problem, but fortunately the midwife is on the case.

The short summary is we're working hard now. While we enjoy the company of visitors, like visits to the flight deck, please keep them short and remember the crew are working! :)

First Family Portrait (Credits to Wendy)

Aunty Wendy took the first family photo in which everyone was properly dressed!

In the afternoon Great Auntie Valerie came to visit.

Hey Mum, remember when I used to this on the inside?

09:28 Sunday 15th January 2006 and I'm exactly a week old.

... and then we had a bit of a wrestle.

Then I told dad a few stories of my own...

I listened carefully to everything he said...

Daddy and Guy having a long chat.

Sorry.. I just can't think of a caption for this. None required.

Hi to Special Auntie Ruth, who tried twice to call Katrina while the midwife was here, and then this happened,, which sort of explains why Kat couldn't come to the phone right now.