Nicolas is now 3 months old

And he is much cuter then when he was newborn! I look at photos at when he was first born and he looked awful! His skin is a much better colour now and his head is no longer swollen. His face is more in proportion and he has eyebrows (very feint ones) and eyelashes and is generally looking much cuter! He is SO much more alert now and he smiles and coos all the time. The newborn stage is actually not so nice when you look back on it. They are just sensitive little shriveled blobs! They are so unresponsive and fragile in the beginning and you have to be so careful when handling them. Nowadays we can pick Nic up, plonk him down and hold him any old way. His neck is nice and strong and he likes to sit up and face the world. And its just SO nice getting a response from him... the smiles and coos and gaas are just so addictive. I never thought I'd be the coo-ing type of mother who would talk in baby language for long sessions... but I am! I never get tired of interacting with him - he is just SO cute when he is in a good mood and smiles away and talks to you.
He knows exactly what he wants too. Like he refuses to breast feed during the day anymore. He only does it at night now. So we give him breast milk via a bottle during the day. I think its easier for him to get the milk - lazy bugger.
He also isnt happy to lie on his back anymore. So dumping him in his playpen under his mobile while you want to do something no longr works. He wants to be where the action is. ie in the kitchen while we are cooking. Or on our laps while we are chatting with friends.
He is still very happy in his pram though. And he LOVES going for walks and being outside amongst the birds and the trees. He does all his day time sleeping in his pram - its such a great pram, well its a whole travel system. The carry cot fits into it, or the car seat. Very handy. Thanks Vicky - we think of you everytime we use it! His day time sleeps are becoming less and less - he sleeps on average about 3.5 hours during the day. And then he sleeps from 7pm to about 7:30am at night. Waking up at least twice for a feed in that period. His first feed being around 1am or 2am usually, so he does sleep for 6-7 hour stints which is great. We are working on ways to get him sleep for longer so lets see if they work.

He can roll over from his tummy to his back now. He did this already at 2.5 months which we were very impressed with. And he can hold himself up while on his tummy pretty well. Check the video!

I've been going to a couple of baby groups which are great. Its so nice to hear what others are doing in the same situation and to compare babies. Nicolas is always the best behaved. And the best looking. And the best dressed. Yesterday we had an unofficial baby massage class where a couple of the girls shared their knowledge on baby massage techniques. Nicolas wee'd on me 3 times during the session!


Sara, our nanny is turning out swimmingly. She's here monday to friday 8am to 6pm, although she gets a lot of time off when I take Nic places. She has a room on our compound so all very handy. I just sms her when I get home and she comes and carries Nic inside for me! She also works Saturday and Sunday mornings so that we can go for runs or rides. As soon as we get home she is free. We like to have Nicolas as much as possible to ourselves on weekends.
Sara is REALLY good with him. She constantly points out things and gives him things to hold and to look out. She talks to him a lot and takes him on walks. He loves sitting on the terrace in her lap watching the dogs!
I do feel bad about how much I leave Nic with her. But then I remind myself that plenty of mothers do it when they return to work. I have been working quite a bit lately, and going to the gym and for runs and to yoga of course.
What I especially like about Sara is that she doesn't hog him. She hands him straight over when I get back and goes and cleans his room, or does the dishes, or sterilises the bottles, or chops some veggies, or some other useful task. She also encourages him to smile at me and notice me whenever she is holding him - these small things are important I've realised!

I do feel VERY spoilt having a full time nanny. And I appreciate every moment of it. I'm pretty sure it wont be this easy with our next child. Theres no help in bloody first world countries!

Oh yes, before I forget... a funny incident with Nicolas. He was just 6 weeks old (which seems like a lifetime ago) and I'd dropped off my mum and dad at the tea farm for the day. I was on my way back when my car broke down. And I was in the middle of a real african town - Banana Hill: Terrible road, muddy pavements, shack upon shack lining the roads, dodgy little kiosks selling everything but the kitchen sink, matatus blazing past and hooting loudly, people milling about everywhere. Goats, donkeys and stray dogs all digging in the piles of rubbish. And there sits me, a mazungu woman with her baby, broken down on the side of the road! I must say I didnt even feel scared. In SA I would have been petrified. Although in SA I would never have been driving through a township in the first place. And it was BOILING hot. My car just died on me, so I couldn't even run the engine and use the aircon. And of course Nicolas started to cry, he was cooking in the back of the car in his car seat. And he was very thirsty. So I had to breastfeed the little guy. Right there for all to see! It was too hot to cover him too. And uno the funny thing, people didn't even stop to stare! They just walked on past. No one even approached me. So Nic and I just got on with our thing and waited for the tow truck and Benedikt to come and rescue us. It was only about an hour or so that we had to wait for. Guess the whole incident made me more relaxed about breast feeding in public in the end!