Newstocks

First steps

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It doesn't take long for Aidan's clothes to get from the dresser to the washbasket!

Overslept

So when our alarm went off at 7am this morning, I accidentally hit the “off” button rather than “snooze”.

I knew I’d done it, but let myself dozily slip back into sleep, secure in the knowledge that our other alarm – Aidan – would be waking us up imminently anyway.

Of course, this was the morning that he chose to sleep in until 8am.

Birth order of children

I'm not a big fan of "funny" email forwards, since my (odd) sense of humour isn't shared by most of the people I know. This one did make me laugh, though.

Maternity clothes

1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

Preparing for the Birth

1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don't bother because you remember that last time, breathing didn't do a thing.
3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your eighth month

The Layette

1st baby: You pre-wash newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.
2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?

Worries

1st baby: At the first sign of distress - a whimper, a frown - you pick up the baby.
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your three-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing

Pacifier

1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

Diapering

1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.
2nd baby: You change their diaper every two to three hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

Activities

1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour.
2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.

Going Out

1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home five times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

At Home

1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

Swallowing Coins

1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays.
2nd child: When second child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for the coin to pass.
3rd child: When third child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!

Happy Birthday, Aidan!

It’s hard to believe, but Aidan was one year old today.

On one hand, the last twelve months seem to have flown by. On the other, I can’t remember what life was like before him. What did we do with all that time at the weekend?

I took today off work so Mandy, Aidan and I could spend the day together as a family. This morning we went to Baby Gymnastics in St. David’s for the first time, which was a huge amount of fun. I may even have enjoyed myself more than Aidan, rolling around on the mats and playing with him on the equipment. Lunch was at Mulligans, gazing out over the ocean and St. George’s golf course while Aidan happily wandered around and played with Mandy’s keys (much more interesting than any birthday present). Then this afternoon we had a mini birthday celebration for him with some of the kids from Mandy’s swimming classes (with cake, natch), followed by a barbeque with Granny and Poppa.

Aidan didn’t get a huge pile of presents, and I’m glad. I hate to see kids getting showered with gifts at birthdays and Christmas, barely glancing at each before rushing on to the next. That said, both Mandy and I are feeling guilty that the one toy and four books that we got Aidan really wasn’t enough. I think we’ll probably pick something else up for him on our next trip to town.

We didn’t get him a birthday card either. The Oatleys aren’t big on sending cards on special occasions anyway, and since moving to Bermuda, I’ve all but given up the tradition too. Most of the cards sold here are American, and thus unimaginative, unfunny or sickly sentimental. I really wanted to send Aidan a “Happy birthday son” card, but couldn’t find anything remotely suitable. Next time I go to the UK I’m going to have to stock up, I think.

Nevertheless, Aidan seemed to really enjoy his day, and wasn’t at all grumpy or fussy. And with another pool party with some of our friends planned for Saturday afternoon, the celebrations aren’t over yet!

Bioshock

Recently finished playing Bioshock. Beautiful graphics, amazing atmosphere, above-average story, but still not as good as all the rave reviews would have you believe. The lack of a death penalty, the sameness of all the enemies, a final boss fight that was easy even on the difficult setting, and a baffling closing cinematic sealed my disappointment. Worth playing, but not as memorable as classics such as Sacrifice and Far Cry.

One small step

When he was born, Aidan was pretty much immobile.

First, he learned to lift his head – just a little, initially, then more and more. Next, he figured out how to roll over and sit up. Then he began to crawl – hesitantly at first, then more confidently. Then he discovered how to pull himself into a standing position. Next, he began to stagger along while holding onto the furniture, or when someone held both his hands and walked with him.

Several weeks ago, Aidan started walking when only one of his hands was being held. He also started standing unsupported for a few seconds, sometimes longer if he was distracted and didn’t realise what he was doing. At first, he would drop quickly back down on his bum. More recently, his descents have been more controlled. The other day he did a good impression of a ballet dancer, slowly bending his knees outwards as he went from standing to squatting, then straightening them again as he stood back up.

Yesterday, he hit the final milestone, taking his first step forward unassisted. He did it once with granny, then again with mummy, then twice with me. Taking Aidan’s hand in mine, we began to walk down the hall, then I counted down from three and let go. Aidan stopped, standing unsupported, then took one step forward. After the applause and cheers died down, he slowly sat down.

Going from that first step to running down the hall is now just a matter of degree, it seems to me. Time for me to start growing those eyes in the back of my head.

“Ca–!”

I think Aidan’s first word is going to be “cat”.

He occasionally mutters “mumumum”, but does so indiscriminately. The chance of him saying “dad” seems as remote as ever. But whenever Aidan sees one of our three cats – Dark, Stormy or Black – the reaction is immediate.

“C–! C–! C–!” he’ll stammer, or occasionally, “Ca–! Ca–! Ca–!”. He hasn’t quite managed to put the final “t” on the end, yet. But I’m sure it can’t be much longer before he does.

It’s not surprising, as Aidan absolutely loves our cats. The feeling isn’t always reciprocated, however, largely due to Aidan’s tendency to grab a fistful of fur or an ear whenever one of the cats let him get close enough.

A couple of weeks ago Aidan was stood wobbily next to one of the kitchen cupboards when Dark brushed past him. Excitedly, Aidan grabbed Dark’s tail, hard. With a yowl, Dark raced off, pulling Aidan with him, who whacked his head against the cupboard as he fell.

Aidan has been a little more cautious since then, but it didn’t stop him cornering Dark in the bookcase the other morning, while the cat was trying to take a nap. Aidan ended up with a couple of claw marks on his head for that mistake. Surprisingly, that was the first time any of the cats had actually taken a pop at him. Generally, they’re amazingly tolerant of his rough treatment.

Perhaps I should try to teach him the word “gentle” next.

Broom boy

Aidan is peculiarly fascinated with brooms. It began when he started using the broom out at granny’s to help him walk (with one of us holding it to keep it upright), but now whenever he sees one, he has to have it or the tears quickly follow. He’ll amuse himself for ages sitting near the end of the pole and passing it back and forth over his head.

Actually, any implement on the end of a long pole seems to hold a similar attraction. The other day while we were having lunch at Barr’s Park, he was just as intrigued by the rake one of the gardeners was using as he was by his broom.

Who needs toys when everyday items are as exciting as this?

Forward-facing

A week or so ago we realised that Aidan was getting too big for his old, rear-facing car seat, so we had to replace it with a new, forward-facing one. It’s black and burgundy and looks very sporty.

Installation was straightforward once I figured out the crappy diagrams in the manual, although we’ve had to leave the tether strap from the top of the seat unattached. The anchor point in our Liana is right next to the place where the boot latches, so with the strap attached we wouldn’t be able to get the stroller in. Yeah, great design, Suzuki. The base of the seat is strapped in good and tight, however, and I figure that with the speeds that we drive at in Bermuda, it’s no biggie.

Aidan hated his new seat the first time he rode in it, but he’s now used to it. I thought he’d find it much harder to fall asleep in than when he was facing backwards, but thankfully that’s proven not to be the case. The only problem is when he decides that he doesn’t want to get in and does his “arch-my-back-and-go-rigid” trick. Previously, he couldn’t really go anywhere, but now he can slide down into the gap between the front and back seats, which makes the struggle to strap him in just that little bit more difficult.

Calling a spade a spade

Efforts continue to teach Aidan to say “dad”.

Me (patting chest): “Dad! Dad! Dadadadada. Dad!”

Aidan: (blank look)

Me: “Dadadadadadadad!”

Aidan (catching on): “Geek!”

Me: “No! Dad! Dadadadad!”

Aidan (grinning broadly): “Geek! Geek!”

Satisfied at his ability to identify his father, Aidan then crawls off, happily exclaiming “Geek! Geek!” as he goes.

Sandcastle competition

Yesterday we took Aidan to the annual Sandcastle Competition at Horseshoe Bay beach. As usual, there were lots of great entries, particularly from the professional sandcastle- building team that was in attendance again.

I'm not sure Aidan really appreciated them - but he certainly had a whale of a time crawling along the beach by the water's edge and getting all wet and sandy. Mummy even took him swimming in the ocean for the first time, but there was a lot of surf and I don't think he enjoyed that quite as much!

Getting around

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to produce a video of Aidan that was a bit more fun that most of the ones I've done so far. This was the result.

I'm very proud of the way it turned out. Hope you have as much fun watching it as I did putting it together.

Sea legs

Last weekend, we took Aidan out on Thistledew for the first time, to cheer along Victory in the dinghy races. He was quite happy on the water, finding his sea legs in no time at all!