I really love being a stay at home mum. Its a dramatic change which happened literally overnight, but I feel I'm into the swing of things now. Cami is such a beautiful, happy little girl she makes each day a pleasure. I've been busy with all our wonderful guests (more on that in a minute), a weekly meet-up with a group of other mums who are all ex-pats whom we met through our birthing course, I just finished a 3 week baby massage course... the days fill up so easily and the weeks just fly past.
Cami is absolutely awesome. Seriously. She is amazing. There were times during the first 6 weeks of her life when Joel and I would look at each other and ask "is this what it's going to be like now? Did we get a dodgy one?" and we were only half joking. She is sleeping beautifully at night, and any parent will tell you that if you get a 'decent' amount of sleep at night then you can cope with most of what the day will throw at you. There's a reason sleep deprivation is used as a form of torture! We have a great night time routine with Cami now and she sleeps from 7pm until around 5.30am, with a wake up at around 2 or 3am for a quick feed. Joel usually brings her in to bed with us at 5.30am, and then after a feed he takes her downstairs with him while he gets ready for work while I get an extra 45mins or so of zzzz time (so precious). Then Cami and I usually snooze until around 8 if I'm lucky and depending on what mood she's in!
I know how lucky we are and that for many parents of a 3 month old that kind of sleep routine is just a pipe dream, so we're really appreciating our clever little sleeper! I think it has helped for us to create a definite ritual/routine which we do almost exactly the same way every night - bath at 6.30, swaddle her tightly in a wrap, top up feed (even if her last feed wasn't that long before), and down to sleep by 7. She may stir 2 or 3 times after that, but usually just plugging her dummy back in does the trick and her gorgeous little blue eyes roll back in her head and she's off to la la land again immediately. I also think moving her into her own room really helped, it makes the night feeds much more efficient and effective, rather than us both dozing off in bed mid-feed, this way although I have to get up for the feed I know she's getting enough milk, and I can sleep so much more comfortably when she's not in the bed! The rocking chair I upholstered is getting heaps of use for those night time feeds in Cami's room.
Cami is smiling all the time, in the last couple of weeks she has just started to grasp things and hold them, sometimes bringing them to her mouth. She is really interacting heaps with loads of eye contact and lots of adorable little noises and squeals. She isn't rolling yet, or laughing but I don't think those things will be far away. She's losing quite a lot of her newborn hair which was quite dark and she seems to be growing a new crop which is more blonde. I wonder if she might be a beautiful little strawberry blonde girl like her Auntie Sally. We'll see.
My parents came to see us for 2 weeks and just left early this week. It's still a little raw for me actually, I'm sure you can understand why. Seeing Mum and Dad with their first grandchild was so incredibly special and beautiful. Mum especially just adores babies and children and she slipped into 'Grandma' mode effortlessly and perfectly. She was wonderful with Cami, very hands-on and took every possible opportunity for cuddles and time with her. No nappy was too pooey, no grizzle too daunting. Dad loved his Cami cuddles and kisses, I absolutely loved seeing them together. Watching Mum and Dad say goodbye to Cami at the airport to fly out for the rest of their trip in Europe broke my heart a bit, and to be honest it hasn't quite mended yet. Cami is changing and growing so much, and she's such a special little girl, it weighs heavily on my heart that she is not able to see all her wonderful family all the time, and they can't drop by for cuddles. Thank goodness for Skype and our fantastic family who are going to so much effort to see us and stay in regular contact. We've been absolutley blown away by the generosity shown by everyone with sending their messages, cards and gifts. Cami is such a lucky little girl to be welcomed into the world with so much love and care. It makes Joel and I feel very humble indeed.
In the coming weeks and months we have loads to look forward to. Joel's sister Emma arrives next week to stay with us for a week. She's so excited to meet Cami it's wonderful of her to take a week out of her European trip to come and see us. Not long after that Joel, Cami, Cooba and I are off to the south of France for 2 weeks with some friends for a holiday. We're renting a villa in a little town called Fayence, about 20km inland, north of St Raphael/Cannes area. We're going with Mari, Kev, Oscar and Elliot, and Aud Trude, Kristian and Oliver. Can't wait! After that Sally is coming to visit. So lots on the agenda and an exciting few months ahead.
with Mum and Dad in Oslo (overnight trip to get Cami's Aussie Passport)
Beautiful smiley girl
First cuddles with Grandma and Grandad
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