The last couple of weeks have been a haze of baby cereal, purees and bib washing. Samuel is now very happily eating cereal and apple/pear for breakfast and veggies for dinner, with some berries for dessert (because everyone should have dessert). All pureed of course, and most of it smells surprisingly good. Clearly the days of ‘dog-food scented’ baby food are over. Given the appetites of his parents, it should come as no surprise that he enjoys all of his meals, and has even been known to bang the table and shout for more! Good to know that we have a little foodie on our hands….

WARNING – CONVERSATION MOVING TO POOP! One of the more interesting results of the move to ‘solids’ has been nappy change time. Sam has now perfected the art of ‘the squeeze’, as his face turns red and he lets out little grunts each time he has ‘a moment’. We have been caught out twice by unfinished business on the change table, and more than once his newly solid poops have resembled a plaster cast of his bum crack! haha All the fun of the fair…

Aside from the new nappy habits, we have also made a few additions to the skill-set. Sam can now:

• Roll from front to back. Continuously. When he feels like it.
• Knock over a tower
• Refuse to bend his legs to sit down. We like standing much more.
• Hold his breath and close his eyes before Humpty Dumpty has a great fall at the swimming pool.
• Use his door bouncer. Unfortunately his feet can’t yet touch the floor so it will be refered to as the ‘door hanger’ for now!
• Blow (lots of) raspberries. Not so fun when he has a mouthful of food!
• Fit into some 3-6 month clothes!! (N.B. Apologies to those of you who bought 3-6 month clothes for him & haven’t seen pics of him wearing them yet. He’s getting there!!)

We are lucky in that Sam has been a really great sleeper. Compared with some of the stories I hear at mums group, one 4am wake up is a walk in the park. That all changed last week when Sam picked up a viral infection which knocked him out for a few days. We took him to see the doc and heard the expected “so much of it going around, they’ll all get it, not much we can do” line, so I was surprised when during a conversation with my Mum she said “oh he’ll be teething, you got sick every time you had a tooth”. Of course my response was “Don’t be daft, he’s only 5 months old…and how can a horrible chesty cough and a fully stuffed nose be linked to a tooth?”. Well shiver me timbers what do you know…on day 5 of the cold Mr Tooth Number 1 pops up to say hello. To say Mum was proud of herself would be an understatement… So that’s it, we now have two teeth, and sharp little things they are too! I have the formula ready to go as soon as the biting starts, but hopefully he won’t be too mean to me. Eek.

In other news, I have recently caved and am failing miserably with my ‘keep him away from the TV’ strategy. Given that he spends a lot of his time on Skype looking at a screen chatting to his grandparents, it’s a bit hard to distinguish between that and the TV, so whenever it’s on he’s mesmerised(I’m blaming The Nanny Nomi Show). I decided to roll with it, and we (hhmm maybe me moreso for now!) are avid fans of the Zingzillas, Brum, and In The Night Garden. Having seen the latter at a friend’s house I swore blind that I would ‘never have that on in my house’, but it’s true….your brain does start functioning on that level and sometimes after a day in my new job there is nothing more welcome than something that entertains Sam and doesn’t involve any participation on my part. Reality check #235….it really is so much more taxing keeping him entertained all day than I ever imagined it would be.

All the talk at mums group now revolve around sleep routines, ditching the dummy & how much they should actually be eating…so much to learn, and so many mistakes to learn from! I have decided that there are too many confusing messages so we’re just going to wing it!!

So that’s us for now…next update at 6 months. Wowzers, already??

It’s been great watching our little man learn how to grab things, choose between toys, play on his mat and just generally hang out.

Sam is more content to sit in his chair and watch us do stuff like cook, or eat dinner, which means we can also be a bit more normal. It’s amazing how much you take for granted the simple things, like being able to eat dinner at the same time.

The little guy has a whole stable of new sounds to make, especially when he hasn’t got your attention and wants it, he has started blowing raspberries and loves spending time on his tummy on his mat. Day by day he’s surprising us with new sounds, new actions and just generally letting us get to know the little personality that’s starting to form.

One of the most exciting things Sam has done over the past couple of weeks is go swimming. He seems to love the water, which is great, seeing as both his mum and dad are water babies at heart. (ALI EDIT: poor little man is doomed when swimming teacher Nanny Nomi gets hold of him so we had to get in there first!!) He loves playing Humpty Dumpty and has started trying to blow bubbles. He doesn’t much like being on his back, so he might not set the world on fire as a backstroker, but for the moment we’re just glad he’s anticipating when his dad is about to drop his head under the water. It looks quite funny when he’s about to go under, taking a big breath and scrunching his face up tight. We’re looking forward to taking him regularly.

Things Sam can now do:

Distinguish between the silly daddy in the mirror and the silly daddy above him. His spatial awareness is almost as good as his dad’s already.

Recognise himself in the mirror and get all bashful.

Reach out and stroke mum’s face when he’s relaxing in her arms.

Squeal loudly when he wants your attention.

Giggle. Although the first time he did it we were so shocked we made him cry with our excited reaction.

Things we love that Sam does:

Insists on holding onto your fingers as he’s falling asleep.

Grabs hold of your collar while you’re holding him, for added support (or maybe to make sure you can’t put him down easily, we’re not sure).

Blows raspberries, well, tries… At the moment most of his attempts result in a B-WEH sound. Occasionally he’ll connect with a proper raspberry, usually when he’s about 10cm from your face and can guarantee you’ll cop a face full of Sam saliva.

• Sucking his fingers
• Talking while his fingers are in his mouth
• Lying on his tummy on daddy’s chest
• Giving us a huge smile when we fetch him after a sleep
• Daddy coming home

New things Samuel can do:

• Almost choke himself with his fingers, and subsequently make himself puke
• Suck his thumb while mummy isn’t looking
• Sleep with his arms out of his wrap (we’re practising with one arm at a time…it’s a slow process!)
• Stand up big and tall with his strong legs while mummy only just holds him
• Keep hold of things that mummy and daddy help him grip, and sometimes even grip them himself
• Bash the owl and grab the birdie that fly above him when he lies on Grandad John’s mat
• Sit up in his Snug chair
• Spit his dummy straight into mummy’s muesli
• Get through mums group without grizzling
• Grow out of clothes!

Oh, and a new thing mummy & daddy have done – booked to visit England! We will be in Europe from 8 July to 2 August, so see some of you then!

Strangely, since I left the UK I think a lot of my relationships have grown stronger, especially with family. We only talk about the things that matter, and forget about the things that don’t. I have a better understanding of what a mum means when she says she would give anything to see you happy, and more of an appreciation of what it would take to raise two children at the same time. I also don’t know what I would do if Sam ever said he wanted to move to the other side of the world!

What a lucky little bean I am.

I was worried that the bed might leave him feeling a bit too exposed, seeing as he has been able to touch the sides of his moses basket lately. Oh no, not Sam. Zonked.

Hopefully this means I’ll get a bit more undisturbed sleep. A night with Sam in the room generally involves

1. grunts
2. snores
3. farts

which don’t make it easy for us (well, actually me. Lask would sleep through an earthquake) to sleep through. As much as I love his little noises, when he’s happily played with me from 4 – 6am the morning before, I’d rather sleep.

This graduation isn’t the only change we’ve noticed. In fact I’ve realised that new things really do happen every day. One day he won’t notice something, and the next it’s all he looks at. One day his head is floppy, the next it’s super strong. He’s already growing up fast.

Everything is going well. We’re getting ready for the next round of jabs, which none of us are looking forward to, and I seem to be spending more and more of my time pulling delightfully long boogers out of Sam’s blocked nose. Is it weird to feel a sense of achievement when one comes out? Everyone was right, it really is different when they’re your own :o)

On a lighter note we’re hoping to get Sam in the pool soon. We have bought the required ‘catch all’ swim nappy in the hope that we won’t cause a mass pool evacuation, and are just about ready to go. I’m really enjoying my mums group outings each week – we survived our first mums and bubs movie session (although I’m not sure I would bother going to see anything that actually required concentration to follow the story) and it’s nice to keep getting that reassurance that whatever you’re going through, you’re never the only one.

Sam and I are still enjoying our days in the house when we get them, with more and more chats, learning to grab hold of things, and him watching me attempt to make a healthy meal for lunch out of what I can find in the fridge. But we are going out more and more, meeting up with friends, and keeping up our walks with Lask when he gets home. Weekends are proving a little tricky – Lask and I both see those 2 days as an opportunity for us to to do things for ourselves so we end up playing the Sam juggle! We’ll get there eventually!

To celebrate his coming of age, Samuel has spent the day chattering. He especially likes Daddy time before he heads to work each day..those two can have some conversations. He is trying really hard to hold his head up so that he can sit in his new seat, but he’s still a little bit smaller than the other kids his age so we’ll be trying again in a couple of weeks. We are liking baths more and more and Daddy is enjoying teaching Samuel to splash(generally involves getting lots of water over Daddy while Samuel looks on bemused).

We read, in a few of the trillions of pamphlets, books and websites that get thrown at you, that the time between three months and teething should feel like more of a routine and allow you to predict a little easier when the naps and feeds will be. So, predictably, Samuel has spent the first day of month 4 refusing to sleep, wanting to feed every hour, and insisting that he never be put down. Ever.

We are happy to take the rough with the smooth, because smooth Samuel is the cuddliest bundle of joy that we could have imagined and we are very much looking forward to what the next chapter brings.

Yes, it’s fair to say that Samuel J Lasky has inherited his Mum’s love of a chat. No holding him back when he gets going, and his first sentence was officially “Agoo ngug ooowaa”. What talent.

We have made a few new friends at Mum’s group, which is great for me and for Sam. There is a range of ages – Sam is one of the oldest but also one of the smallest! One of the little girls, Stela, was born at 26 weeks, so she is super tiny. Having Sam at 36 weeks was stressful enough, I can’t even imagine what that was like… Yesterday, a few of the littlies laid down on a mat together. Sam was OK while he was on his own but it wasn’t long til the situation deteriorated. He was joined by 3 others, and therefore 6 more flailing little arms, and Stela didn’t wait long to bop him on the nose! When she tried again and her hand landed on his mouth he simply proceeded to suck her fingers!! It has to be said though, Sam will suck anything. Lying next to him one morning I went in for a kiss and he started sucking my nose. Hard! Funny boy…

It has been a busy few weeks. Nanny Nomi and Graham came to give us a hand with Sam and managed to keep themselves pretty occupied at the same time. After a lot of walking, bike riding, and a soaking in the Blue Mountains, they headed home with mixed emotions, but it won’t be long til we’re visiting so that keeps everyone smiling.

We also celebrated Grandad Lasky’s 60th birthday this month. Sam’s first trip out to a busy restaurant, and thankfully he coped pretty well. I always swore that I wouldn’t dress my child up but that promise fell apart pretty quickly when I spotted a certain suit at the shops. Couldn’t resist, and it’s safe to say that he made an entrance!

It’s been a strange month for me. Once Lask went back to work and Nanny Nomi left it was back to normal and time for Sam and I to get used to being on our own. He is generally sleeping really well through the night, from about 8pm-4am, but then refuses to go down for much more than half an hour at a time during the day. I really can’t complain as the night sleeps allow us to get some kip, but it’s impossible to get anything done in the daytime, and it’s hard to keep him happy if we go out. Thankfully he should be able to entertain himself a bit better soon, so I can leave him in his rocker with his toys while I get through some jobs. He is very alert, loves to look around and take everything in, and is starting to grab at things… Look out hair!

Yep, this has been the fortnight of visitors. He has loved meeting everyone, when he was awake of course – a few people came and went without him even knowing about it! And we have been very lucky that friends from overseas have been able to fit us in while they’ve been in Oz(big hello to Nicole, Hannah & James). Others are more persistent of course, with my Mum & Graham landing and refusing to leave for 3 weeks haha

So what else has happened. Well Sam has continued to be a fan of food – he has grown (via two slightly chaotic and loud growth spurts) from 2.78kg (6.1lbs) at birth to 4.5kg(9.9lbs) in 8 weeks so all going well. His legs have changed from string beans to little chubby chunks that we can just fit his nappy round. He has also grown to 55cm long, so all is going well. To be fair, with parents like us he was never going to have a problem with eating.

We had the first round of immunisations last week and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a face turn so red. But he was a brave little man and the tears only lasted a couple of minutes. Not sure if he and that doctor will ever be friends tho. Dreading the day when he actually knows what the needle is and cries before it  hits…we’ll deal with that when it comes I guess. The up-side of the jabs is that Sam can now begin his journey as a social animal. Playgrounds here we come! We have also been to two mum’s groups, which I have unexpectedly loved – if nothing else it’s reassuring when you ask “Is this normal?” and every other tired head in the room nods “yes”. I don’t really have friends in this area with babies so I’m hoping this will be a good way to start.

We have been moving with baby steps when it comes to getting out of the house, only really venturing to the doctor or the supermarket. So yesterday was a huge adventure when we all headed out to the Harbour Bridge and climbed to the top of the pylon. It totally knocked Sam’s sleeping patterns out of whack and I don’t think we’ll do it again before we recover a little, but it was definitely an achievement all round.

Sam can now:

• Hold his head up really well
• Kick his legs into Mummy’s tummy really hard
• Sleep from 8pm-4am (most nights!!)
• Do one really huge poo a day, very loudly. His favourite location for this? The car seat. Hence 3 car boot changes so far :o)
• Coo (roughly translated as something that sounds like un-goo)
• Smile when he is happy
• Focus and move his eyes from side to side following things
• Also cross his eyes. Requires a ‘Control/Alt/Delete’ reset action

The long sleep at nighttime means that Sam now needs a lot of attention during the day, so we’ve been very grateful to Nanny Nomi for helping out. But we’re slowly getting the hang of it all and Daddy is enjoying his last week off work. Don’t get me wrong, we have some times when nothing seems to go right and they are tough, but we are both still very much in love with this little boy, who we are getting to know better every day.