Devon at 4 months

This weekend Devon turns 4 months old! Where does the time go. We haven't been up to much apart from looking after Devon (although Nick did pop to Sydney the other weekend - and I'm sure he'll write a blog post about it eventually).

Devon is now so much more fun to have around, he laughs and plays and can grab toys with his hands. He's also discovered his feet, and likes sucking on his toes. His head control is much better now and he likes to sit up in our laps or in his bumbo seat.

He seems fascinated by other children, we went to a eight-year old's party the other day and he was totally absorbed by the children playing. So I took him along to a baby rhyme time session at the local library yesterday and he loved it!

We are getting Christmassy around here, even though it's getting scorching hot we wanted this year to be special as it's our first Christmas as a little family. So we have put a tree up and got a few presents together. My parents are flying back to the UK to be with my brother and his family so it will just be the three of us.

We'll be having a nice relaxed simple day with presents, Christmas tunes and movies and a cold meats lunch.

Devon at 3 Months

Here's some photos of Devon who is now 3 months old! *Apparently* it gets easier after 3 months! We'll see!

Devon is a gorgeous little boy, and mostly all smiles now (getting a smile for the camera is like getting blood out of a stone though).

He does wear me out during the day as he needs a lot of attention and stimulation at the moment. He's also not too keen on the day naps, which makes him cranky in the evenings sometimes and doesn't give me any breaks!

Because I'm not going back to work anytime soon, I haven't tried to impose any kind of routine on Devon. But I think he is slowly working out his own routine. Bedtime is always once the sun has set, about 7-8pm, and he's awake around 5-6am (with the sunrise). He's still waking 1-3 times a night but is normally quick to resettle. I am a strict 'sleep when the baby sleeps' follower so those are my hours too!

I'm still breastfeeding, which seems easy now and I can't see any reason why we won't carry on. Anyway Devon is still refusing a bottle or dummy! I'm happy Devon gets to be breastfed, as there is no question it is best for him. But I am sad Nick doesn't get that bonding experience with him from sharing feeds. And it would be nice to be able to slip away for some yoga and me time every now and again!

Since Nick's parents went home and Nick went back to work, I've had the luxury of my own car so Devon and I have been going out and about more.

We have started attending a mother & baby group on a Thursday. It's fun meeting other new mums but I can't help notice how easy going some other babies are - sitting in their mums laps quietly for 2 hours! Devon gets bored and starts fussing within ten minutes! I reckon it must be a sign of intelligence, needing so much stimulation!

I've also become one of those mums who frequents shopping centres during the day - I get to walk up and down for some exercise and it's air-conditioned and out of the sun. And if Devon plays up and fusses he is by no means the only baby crying in there!

Another Bibbulmun Track Hike

Last weekend I went out for another hike on the Bibbulmun track. This time it was an overnight hike. About 5.5 miles in from the Brookton Highway, to the Canning camp hut; then back out the next morning.

The Scouts were doing an unaided 24 hour hike towards earning an Explorer badge, so the scouts set off on their own and we followed a half hour behind, and gave no assistance when camping. There were no issues at all, so all was well.

The only issue that did occur, was the Ticks! I only had three take hold, but the other two leaders with me must have had more appealing blood, as between then they picked up about 25.

The head nets were definitely required.

This was my set-up for the night. A basha and the inner from our two man tent suspended below it. It wasn't perfect but I didn't have time to buy a proper mosquito bivvy.

Red tree sap.

Rory removing a tick I think.

Nick's Parents Come to Stay

These past three weeks Nick's parents Jane and Dave have been here, visiting from the UK. It has been 10 months since we waved them goodbye at Heathrow, and of course they got to meet Devon, their grandson for the first time!

It has been lovely having them here, showing them where we live, and it's been such a help having extra hands around the house.

The day they arrived Devon was not having a good spell, he seemed to be either crying, eating or sleeping and not a lot else. But within a couple of days he grew into a different baby, giggling, laughing and looking all around him so I think he was having a little growth spurt or something.

We tried to get out and about doing touristy things for the first two weeks whenever the weather was nice, visiting Caversham Wildlife Park, Perth, Fremantle, Mundaring, and having  barbeques and picnics.

During the last week, we rented a holiday home in Dunsborough, three hours south of Perth. We could see the sea from the living room sofa, so we spent a lot of time sitting around, drinking tea and watching the world go by. Plus with Devon, we couldn't do too much exploring as it got usually got a bit overwhelming for him. Unfortunately he is not really a fan of the car seat, and although he usually falls asleep we had a couple of instances where he would wake up and scream and scream because he wanted to be picked up and we'd have to pull over to calm him down.

Little Devon is now two months old! He really is a different baby now from 4 weeks ago. I see newborns out and about and I can't believe Devon was ever that small. As it turns out, although he was below average weight at birth he has now turned into a bit of a chunk and is now well above average. He has outgrown another set of baby onesies and is now in 3-6mth clothes! Must be all that nourishing breastmilk!

I'm still breastfeeding, which I love, but I do find it quite demanding. We have only had limited success getting Devon to take my milk from a bottle which means I can't really be apart from him for any significant length of time, as he feeds on demand and not really on any set schedule. Not that I mind that much, it will only be a few more months before he starts solids anyway.

Devon's sleep schedule is just as unpredictable, he will sleep 7hrs one night (it's heaven when that happens!) then be up every hour throughout the next night.

But looking after this little urchin is definitely getting easier and easier, as we all get more familiar with each other and Devon's personality starts to emerge. We just love watching him learn about the world.