I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

The Christmas holidays began cold, snowy, icy and extremely icy for us stuck on top of the north facing side of South Hill. Whilst the rest of Godalming went about its business once the ice had thawed out in the sun, we remained in the shadow of the hill unable to drive anywhere. The one occasion that we did try to venture out, we managed to get 50m down the hill before abandoning the car after seeing others sliding back down the hill drifting left and right when trying to ascend. When Daddy thought it was safe to bring the car back again, he got stuck on an icy slope 25m from the front door, wheels spinning, clutch burning, engine screaming but car going nowhere.

As a result of the ice we could not get the car to Waitrose to do all our Christmas dinner shopping. As a last resort, on Christmas Eve daddy took the massive backpack that mummy went trekking around Peru with down to the supermarket, filled it up with food (which unfortunately included lots of potatoes) and walked back home up South Hill. Just as well that he had a bit of practice at lugging heavy loads up that hill by carrying the Christmas tree the other week!

Thankfully by Christmas Eve afternoon, it was safe for Pops, Grandma and Uncle Ads to set out from the West Country and head east to join us for baked potatoes and cooked ham. Then on Boxing Day we were joined by Uncle John, Aunty Lea and cousin Zaak to take the numbers in our household to 9.

Noah and Zaak very much enjoyed meeting each other for the first time and when Noah went for his naps Zaak would ask 'where's baby Noah?'. We think that the pair of them will be very good friends.

Christmas Dinner

Daddy was in charge for Christmas dinner this year. On the menu: roast turkey, nut roast, roast potatoes, sausage meat, pigs in blankets, Yorkshire puddings, peas and sweetcorn, carrots, red cabbage, brussel sprouts, parsnips, sage and onion stuffing, lemon and parsley stuffing and gravy. Needless to say a huge responsibility...perhaps taken on naively. Grandma had undertaken some great prep work by making two types of stuffing, red cabbage and lots of other food. Daddy was aslo ably assisted on the day by Uncle Ads. Pops assisted with the parsnips. Mummy made biscuit name places.



A resounding success!

After dinner, presents were opened. Noah had a particularly successful Christmas and now has a fine new wardrobe and some fantastic toys to play with.

Noah has very much enjoyed the festivities. He has loved having the Christmas tree up and being rocked and sung to in front of it. His favourite way to be carried at the moment is to sit looking forward and upright. He also likes to fall asleep in this position! He has loved having cooing conversations and smiling at everyone. In particular he finds his daddy very funny!

All snuggled up!

Noah, now 9 weeks old, weighs 13lb 7oz and is around the 91st centile.



Noah is now much more snuggy and comfy in his cot now that he has a little baby pillow (a special one recommended by the osteopath).

He also has a new blanket which was kindly knitted for him as a gift from one of mummy's clients from work. The lady knitted it during the breaks that she had when she was at her 5 day employment tribunal hearing! It is a very skillfully knitted blue blanket with a little padded kitten design and trimmed in white.

Oh Christmas tree oh Christmas tree, how lovely are your branches...

...although still a bit lacking in decoration, particularly the absence of a star/angel at the top.

Mummy made lots of Christmas bicuits this week to add to the tree decorations. One problem is the edible nature of these and they have now been polished off...primarily by daddy...although mummy's friends, Sara and Helena also helped. Mummy may have had one or two herself...just the broken ones of course which weren't good enough to go on the tree;)

This weekend Noah has been smiling lots, has been working on his giggles and is still loving his evening bathtime when he practises both!

This weekend has been full of smiles and another little laugh from Noah for mummy (as a result of the 'fun in the mirror' game again). Daddy get smiles and has been trying very hard to get a laugh but his jokes need work...yawn!
It is the first weekend in December and therefore the count down to Christmas. Noah, daddy and mummy went for a walk into Godalming to see the Christmas lights.

On Saturday daddy did The Grim Challenge which is an 8 mile run/trudge/wade through mud and water on an army vehicle testing track near Aldershot. Daddy completed that challenge in 1 hour 9 minutes and coming 257 out of 2710, although daddy keeps pointing out ' Technically I really came 254 though because I had the same time as three other people' and 'I would have gone quicker had I not started 8 minutes after the start of the race'. To see daddy knee deep in water follow this link: http://www.prosportphotos.com/cgi-bin/show-image-page.cgi?image=MK3_6631.jpg&image_dir=..%2Frunning%2F2009%2Fgrim-sat%2Fpond%2Fimages&show_arrows=0&event_dir=..%2Frunning%2F2009%2Fgrim-sat%2Fpond&template=..%2Fauto-html%2Fcgi-template.htm&order_buttons=..%2Fauto-html%2Fgrim-image-bundle-magazine-09.htm&magazine_event_name=grim-09&event_title=Grim+Challenge+-+Saturday+5th+December+2009&page_title=ProSportPhotos+-+Grim+Challenge+-+Saturday+5th+December+2009&first_image=1&last_image=1000&chapter_title=Grim+Challenge+-+Saturday+5th+December+2009&x=74&y=131

Having completed The Grim, on Sunday daddy set himself another challenge. Carrying our 6ft Christmas tree back home and up South Hill from town. Daddy is keen to point out 'it was 6 1/2 foot' and 'it was bigger than me [him]'. Mummy and Noah were very impressed.

We have now introduced a regular evening bath time for Noah which he simply loves. We turn the bathroom into a relaxing sanctuary for Noah. With the lights dimmed and the big bath filled up nice and deep, Noah loves to wallow and float with daddy in the bath and holding him. Afterwards Noah retreats to the bedroom in a nice fluffy towel where he then has some nice warm milk and his bed time leg massage which sends him off to sleep.

Today mummy held Noah and rocked back and forth towards the fully length mirror whilst singing 'weeeeee'. Noah found this very amusing and as well as smiling gave mummy a little laugh (or at least his best efforts towards one at the moment).

Noah also had a bit of 'tummy time' on his Monkey Island mat in the morning and also the afternoon. This morning he did a good display of a bit of crawling action on his tummy. However this afternoon he could not really be bothered and preferred to suck his hand instead.

7 weeks!

Despite having to get the train all the way from Bishop's Stortford and back, Auntie Lara and Grandy came to visit on Monday. Noah had lots of smiles for Grandy.

Auntie Lara learnt the skill of 'putting the baby in his moses basket without waking him'. Mummy intends to draw on Auntie Lara's newly learned skill in the future.

We had a lovely afternoon with a bit of 'tummy time' and the loveliest surprise of all was when Grandad turned up unexpectedly for cuddles as he had business in the nearby area.

Noah has also started appreciating the Arts, as he admires the painting that daddy bought in Cornwall when daddy was a teenager.

Yesterday was a little chilly so to keep warm Noah wore a little hoodie which daddy bought 'the Baby' before he was born. Right now Noah is having a little nap...after resisting many attempts by mummy to put him in his cot, he eventually drifted to sleep while mummy gave him a leg massage...zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Noah was 6 weeks old this week and, for a 6 week old, has had a very busy week.

Last Sunday Noah met Auntie Lea and Uncle John properly as they popped in to visit on the way back from London. They had spent the weekend in London to celebrate their anniversary and John's 30th birthday. Noah is looking forward to meeting cousin Zaak on Boxing Day, if not before.

During the week Noah and mummy went to the Dr to have 'The Six Week Check'. All is well and the Dr described Noah as ' very robust'. Noah was weighed and is now 12lb 2 1/2oz (his birth weight was 7lb 14). He is 59cm long (so has grown 4 cm in 3 weeks).

On Wednesday Grandy came down and Noah and mummy had lots of fun. On Thursday Auntie Lara joined the party! Noah loves his Grandy and Auntie Lara visiting and has been smiling lots. Noah can now turn his head and focus on his hands (he looks puzzled as to what they are). He also has found that his left thumb is quite nice to suck!

Friday night was the start of the weekend! Yay! But why go out for a night on the town when you can stay in and play on Monkey Island with daddy!

On Saturday Grandma and Pops came to visit. Noah smiled so much at Pops and was very pleased to see him. Little did Noah know that Pops was plotting to wake him when he drifted into a very peaceful and long afternoon nap which can only be described as the 'Kelland Kip' inherited also by daddy. Pops shortly joined him...waking only occasionally to put in his requests for the Christmas dinner that Grandma and daddy were planning.

This Christmas is going to be mummy and daddy's first Christmas together and this year, of course, will be Noah's First Christmas. We are spending Christmas in Godalming and will be joined by Grandma, Pops and Uncle Ads. The Martiniussen side of Noah's family tree will visit the day after Boxing Day. Overshadowing the event of the turning on of the Godalming Christmas lights was the drawing of SECRET Santa! Kellands...note the emphasis on SECRET!

Later on Saturday evening daddy, mummy and Noah went for a walk into Godalming. It was cold and rainy so Noah and mummy wanted to wrap up warmly! Auntie Lara bought Noah this outfit and it was the perfect thing to wear (even if his arms and legs don't quite reach the ends yet!)

Out of the Number 2s!

The weekend started very well with Noah briefly meeting Auntie Lea and Uncle John on Friday evening...well at least they met him as he was asleep at the time.

On Saturday Noah, mummy and daddy went for a nice walk into Godalming, just about missing the rain. Noah wore the fashionable combination of a new grandma knitted hat and Auntie Pauline knitted jacket. Daddy spent a long time in the sweet shop and the party shop.

The long saga over the carry cot has finally ended and we now have a fully operational travel system in our chosen colour of mulberry.

Noah has also grown out of his 0-3 month clothes and has moved swiftly into the 3-6 month range, which is a slight problem as we only have 3 outfits currently in stock. Daddy accidentally saw to the fourth one we had by dropping 3 glasses beside it. An urgent online shop is required.

On the nappy front, we are out of the size 2s and into the 3s.

Today is Sunday and this afternoon Noah and Daddy enjoyed spending some boy time together.

11lb 11.5oz!

Yesterday Noah and mummy went for their first walk on their own to the Mill Medical practice to meet the health visitor. Noah was weighed and came in at 11lb 11.5oz which at 5 weeks old and a birth weight of 7lb 14oz means that he is having good hearty meals and has tendancy to over indulge as evidenced in this photo.

The health visitor plotted Noah's weight on the chart (see the faint 3 dots). It looks like he has been having a growing spurt since the day he was born. It certainly seems like that from mummy's perspective!

Noah and mummy walked back home very happy and then Noah lay in his bouncer where he had a little chat with mummy about the day's events. Mummy was especially happy when Noah gave her a little smile (unfortunately mummy was not quick enough with the camera)!

Christmas Potatoes

We've been taking Noah for walks in the travel cot over the weekend. Below is a picture of him fitted out in an outfit knitted by Grandma. Today we spent about 3 hours out of the house which was good, during which Noah had his first feed away from the house at Costas.

It's amazing how much he is changing. He's beginning to take in more and more each day and pushing his head up off my chest as high as he can, kind of like a turtle.

Christmas at ours this year so big responsibilty on my shoulders to get the Christmas dinner right. Let myself down last year with the potatoes and had to be rescued by AP so determined not to let myself down again this year. A little low on confidence with my roasties as I still haven't got on top of our fan oven. Seems to cook everything far to fast so thought I'd have a practice today and decided to cook the roasties in the top oven (no fan). The majority turned out reasonable so might have to play the numbers game at Christmas.

More Stats

We had a visit from the Health Visitor (HV) this afternoon. She measured Noah's weight, length and head circumference and also checked his hearing. These are the results which have been taken at 20 days old:

Weight: 9lbs 14.5oz

Length: 55cm (22in.)

Head Circumference: 37.5cm

Hearing: Both left and right ear are fine.

Both Ursula and Noah are making an excellent team and his weight gain is extremely healthy. The HV is totally happy with the way things are going and the next appointment will be in 2 weeks time.

We gave Noah his first bath yesterday. we were expecting Noah to take a disliking to the water but he actually enjoyed himself. No problems getting in. Towelled him off and we now look forward to giving him another bath tomorrow.

Lesson 1: Sleep when baby sleeps

Hello, this is Ursula. I have not written for a while since have been somewhat preoccupied! Noah is doing very well in our world and in particular loves eating. He still does not really like his bed and we have to get him to sleep in ours first or in our arms and then sneak him into the cot without him noticing. What would Gina Ford say! Noah makes lots of noise even when sleeping and it can sound like there is a New York city traffic jam in his cot. Daddy has been back at work this week but has Fridays off at the moment which is lovely. Daddy is really getting the hang of the 'sleep when the baby sleeps' thing. I am not sure who looks cosier! Bye for now! Ursula x

Registered

Noah Kai Kelland has now been registered. We had an appointment this morning and Noah's behviour was impeccable. Slept throughout. Managed to get a bit of shopping done in Guildford before Noah got hungry.

Yesterday we took Noah out to the shops in Godalming for the first time in his carry cot. He seems very happy in the cot which is good news. It was also Daddy and Mummy's 9 year anniversary since we started going out so Mummy made a cake.

It's Daddy's last day on paternity leave today and will be back at work tomorrow.

Top Tips for Babies

Hi Guys! It's Noah here. Mummy and Daddy are sleeping so I've crept onto the computer and hijacked their blog. I've only been alive now 10 days but I'm already picking up a trick or two.

No.1 Make Daddy work. At night time it's fair game to play up a little and this is what I do. What Daddy tries to do is hold me in his arms until I go into a deep sleep. When I'm in this supposed deep sleep he slowly walks me to my cot. He gently lays me down and then he works as quiet as a mouse to tuck me in. Just when he thinks I'm almost there..........I open up one eye slowly and then the other. He then realises I'm never going to go down and then starts all over again.

No.2 Don't take anything less than getting the best nights sleep possible. Sometimes, Daddy does manage to get me down on my cot for a few minutes before I realise that I'm in my cot and not in the best possible place to get my beauty sleep. Now the key to getting to this place is Mummy. To get to Mummy, what I do is start squeaking a little in my cot and kicking my legs to get Daddy's attention. Then he comes over and picks me up and I begin to try sucking on his arm as if I to want to feed. Of course I don't want to take anything that Daddy's offering me but it makes him think I'm hungry. I then get passed to Mummy and take up my position in the middle of the lovely double bed. Mummy and Daddy have just enough room either side of me to place one buttock on the bed with the other hangin off the edge. At this point I may take a suck or two or even just smile. It doesn't matter because I look sooooo cute they daren't move me.

No.3 Play time during nappy change. Yeah I did this a lot last night. The timing is crucial on this one. Simple really, I wait for Daddy to remove the dirty nappy and then a shoot my fountain straight into the air making everything wet. I'm actually aiming for Daddy's face and one day I know I'm going to get it. I did this the other day too when Aunty Lara was over. More recently, just after Daddy has taken off my dirty nappy and cleaned my bottom, I've pooped again!

There's lots and lots of fun to have with my parents and I'll keep you all posted.

Gagagugu for now.

Noah and the Big Wide World

We took Noah out to see the big wide World this afternoon. Well, maybe it was just our garden but it was a big step for the little man. I probably built this up to be bigger than it actually was and in fact Noah probably didn't even realise he was outside (slept through the whole thing) but it felt good to fill the little mans lungs with fresh air nonetheless.

He seems to be sleeping for longer periods during the day today and is a joy to look after.

Daddy's Back in Play

Feeling a lot better after the tummy upset. Great to be able to hold and look after my son again. Night time feeds are going really well with feed times every threes hours.

We have received some great gifts from friends and family which we really appreciate. We now have a guard dog. Meet Gerrard below.