Two Weeks

Well I have made it through 14 whole days. Not much new or exciting happening at the moment. My routine is pretty steady: sleep most of the day, then when it comes time for mum and dad to get some sleep I use my special unsettled and grizzly techniques to keep them up for just that little bit longer.
I have been putting on weight I am at 3394g now, not quite big enough to use the harness. Thinking that both mum and dad are looking forward to taking me out for a day trip. There should be a growth spurt soon. So my little chubby fingers and double chin may just disappear overnight.
We took a walk down the road to the maternal and child health clinic. The lady there was very nice, said that everything is going normally.
Apart from that, sleep eat and poop.

Belly Slug

Even though I slept through the event and so did Dad, Mum discovered that my belly slug has finally left home. It really is a non-event for me, but Dad seems quite excited by the whole thing. I think he is still wondering if an innie or outie will be the result. Kinda hard to tell at this stage. There are still a few bits and pieces that the belly-slug left in it's burrow.













I know the picture looks a little disgusting, but it doesn't hurt me.

See I slept through it...

Photo Update - Hats

Let me put this a delicately as I can, hats are not to be worn indoors, especially for males. However, it would seem that my parents just haven't got a clue about proper etiquette. Regardless I was put through the shame of having hats placed on my head for several minutes whilst I was inside. The results are below..

Here is me in my animal spirit bear totem hat... Dad just wasn't in a very photographer-like persona, so the whole arm reaching like a grizzly's claws and mouth wide to catch the salmon as it leaps from the water didn't come out very well...











My Aunty Ann, Uncle Ian and cousins Rhyannah and Kiera sent me this great little tiger hat. Like most cats, at the time of this shot I was feeling quite bored by the whole thing. But that never stopped me looking good.










Finally here is a number that mum made for me. I was meant to wear it home from the hospital, but at the time my head was too small. I am yet to use this one outside.

Photo Update II

Almost friends with Pip. She can sit within paw's reach for longer than a couple seconds now. Although when I make too much noise she tends to run away pretty quickly.

Getting more used to having my eyes open during the day. Think that my eyes will be blue/gray, they are still quite dark, but that wont be for too much longer.

MCH Visit

Had a visit this afternoon from the Darebin council's Maternal Child Health Service lady. She didn't have much to say to me, but mum and dad had their ears chewed off for nearly an hour. Everything seems to be going well. The lady left a few leaflets and told my parents about the New Parents Group meetings they can go to. The other new is I got weighed again today. I am now a hefty 3.23 kg!! I am gaining weight like a professional eater. 90g a day (or nearly 3 ounces) since my crash diet for two days after birth.
Not much else happened, although I did give Dad a very messy surprise this afternoon. So much so that we got naked and had a shower. It was nice. Didn't like the water on the face, but the warmth of the water on my belly, top of my head, and being close to dad was very nice.
More pics in the next few days.

Almost a week

I must be doing something right, both mum and dad seem to be coping ok. I like the way they have arranged the evenings with dad and the mornings with mum, the rest of the time they appear to just get it done. I am not sure how they decide, I will try to convince them of the fairness and fun of jelly wrestling.
I gave dad a surprise this morning. That will teach him to change me before I am done with my business...
On a less icky note, the cat still hasn't completely defected to my side yet. I think there is even a little hunger in those eyes.

The newest part of my repertoire is a starfish impression...

5 days

Well it would seem that my parents are starting to get used to the new routine. Dad and Mum have a tag-team system going with the feeding. I am eating and sleeping and not much else at the moment. I reckon I am above birth-weight now, but only a measurement will tell for sure. I think that my parents are starting to learn my language, it is taking them less time to find out what is wrong, what I want and I get more time being quiet and comfortable. Although I must say that I do not like baths... the warm water over the head is nice, but the whole naked floating in water thing just does not work for me yet. Getting warm and rugged up again after is pretty good though. My belly feeding tube is looking pretty gross at the moment. I think it wants to stay with me for a little longer. Not sure if Dad is going to keep it to weird me out when I get older.

P.S. Mum and Dad's bed is way better than mine at the momentp.p.s Ha!! my plan was a success. By lulling the parents into a false sense of security by being both cute and asleep, I was able to plant a liquid surprise into the sheets. Well, they needed a wash anyway.

Photo Update

Portrait from computer camera

Erik and Dad snooze on bed

MWH Midwife part 2

The midwife came to see me this morning. I was busy lying on Dad's chest having a cuddle. Mum was checked by the lady and everything is going smoothly. I got naked to be weighed, and I'm now sitting at a healthy 2920 grams, only 30g (1 oz) short of birth weight. So it would appear I am getting enough to eat :) Still not heavy enough to move out of the ultra-midget/big-gnome weight division, but that is only a matter of time.

Family

Yesterday was pretty full. I had a long list of things to do and barely got started on them. The list was something like this:

1. sleep
2. eat
3. poop
4. stare around
5. kick
6. wriggle
7. entertain
   

I spent most of the day working on the first two, item three I managed to fit in between 1 and 2, but the rest were just too much to get much done. There was an added item on the agenda. I hadn't planned on doing this for at least another day or so, but I went outside! The sun was nice, the breeze a little chilly, but being in dad's arms made the cold bearable. The neighbours next door got to see me for the first time. They must have been admiring the outfit I had hanging in the window to dry. Although because of it's huge size (000) it would have been hard to miss anyway. I really should write to the gnome tailors about standardising clothing sizes. Some of the 3-zero I swim in and others are just right.

The other exciting thing was getting a visit from Uncle Scott. I was feeling a bit sleepy from all the hard work earlier in the day, so I didn't give him too much attention. I think mum and dad were happy to see him. There were lots of laughs. He brought me a present too... a new hat! Yay! I like presents :)

Home Visits

The midwives came to see me. Think they were just checking if I was as beautiful as they had heard from the other midwives. Apart from the heel-prick test, which was not comfortable, and getting completely naked to be weighed, everything went well.
Although I should patent and sell my weight loss secrets. 170g weight loss in 69 hours. You too can fit into that outfit you always wanted. Although what I do is either poop or vomit, then I can get a new outfit.

The photo shoot went for slightly too long. A cat that wants down and a baby that wants more food. A nicer one is still to come.

Two Nights

I have now been home for 2 nights. The first was a mess. I kept mum up all night making sure she didn't get more rest than me. The plan was to keep them both awake for as long as possible. Which was a resounding success. After trying all the tricks they knew to settle me, a frantic, panicked call to the maternal health nurse, the parents discovered they had been doing it the right way and it was just me being a 3-day-old. Dad was the first to fall, going out for the count at 1:20am. The resilience of mum, however, was too much, I eventually let her get some sleep at 2:30am. I even slept for more than 15mins, a good 2.5 hours This gave mum some time to actually get into bed and lie down before I woke her again. Well that would have been the plan if she hadn't cottoned on to it and woke me instead! The horror! The shock! Mmmm... the milk....

The other creature in the flat, my notes show its a cat, is still not sure how to deal with me. But normalcy is coming back. Pip woke dad up at the usual time even though she had already been fed. We aren't friends yet, but that is probably only a matter of time. Here is a pic of Pip's reaction to my voice.


When we can get one of everyone together I'll put it up here.

A tiger growls

A quick vid of me demonstrating the super secret technique Gulping Fish Turns

Welcome to the World

Erik Rupert was born at 4:11pm on 15th June 2010. Due to fluctuations in the strangeness of time during the event, his parents were both confused about just how long things took and even what day of the week it was. However, a small and healthy baby boy with the aforementioned names greeted the world with a squeal.

Weighing in at a massive 2.95 kg (6 and a half lbs for those of you using the other measurement system) he was placed firmly into the best suited category. With a top to toe measurement of 51 cm (20 inches) there are bound to be some gnomes suitably jealous of his height.

After a few days of rest, this blog came into existence as a means for communicating the events of early life, and maybe more.