New Year's Eve

Here we are at the end of 2009. It is New Year's Eve and we're reflecting on the many important events which took place this year. The biggest events were buying our house, Cristina's happy pregnancy and her unfortunate maternity leave battle at work, being burgled in our old rented house back in January 2009, being visited by Cristina's parents Rafael and Conchita and the most important and wonderful event being James' arrival.

Just to catch you up on December...earlier in December we had quite alot of snow in Reading. James saw his first snowflakes!

On the 19th Ed came to pick the three of us up in Reading and brought us to Wisbech to spend 2 weeks over Christmas and New Year's celebrations. The roads were a little scary, but Ed/Jish was a champion driver and we had a safe and pleasant journey. This was James' longest car journey so far.

Once in Wisbech, Cristina still had to take a test called the "Life in the UK Test" in order to apply for permanent settlement in the UK. The test was to prove that I can read English!! However, you have to learn a lot of trivial facts as well as more important ones about the UK and so, it is a stressful test. It is quite hard to pass (you must get 75% correct) unless you study the materials closely. David/Grandad drove me to Norwich (2 hours away!) to take the test. I had to stay away form James for 8 hours which was very hard. Plus, holding off on breastfeeding him for that long was actually painful. The good news is that I passed the test and have sent off my application for settlement to the Home Office. Grandad had to navigate some treacherous roads. On the bright side, we spent the drive admiring the beautiful landscape of frosted trees, perfectly white snowy fields and the gorgeous skies with low winter sun shining on.

We have had a wonderful first Christmas with James. James was a very good boy this year and so he was visited by Father Christmas in person! You have to watch the slide show to see:



James has received many gifts, cards and good wishes from friends here in the UK and all over the world. He is a lucky little chap. We were able to Skype with family in Knoxville on Christmas day. We spent Christmas day at Granny and Jish's house with Tia Helen, Great Nanna and Great Grandad. We all had a terrific Christmas meal topped off with a delicious Christmas pudding. Then on Boxing Day we went to Grandad and Anne's for another meal and more fabulous presents!

James is fascinated with the Christmas tree, lights and ornaments. He has had a growth spurt while we have been here, demanding alot of milk and even growing too long for some of his clothes. He is even more alert now and plays with a toy with you. He interacts more, smiling lots and laughing from time to time. He "talks" every day experimenting with noises. Now that he is 4 months old we have started giving him a few spoonfuls of rice cereal after his milk once a day to get him used to the idea of eating from a spoon. So far he likes this new game, although he doesn't manage to actually eat very much of the cereal.

Tonight we will ring in the New Year. We wish you all a very happy 2010!

He's a Bonnie Boy

James had his second series of vaccinations today. Poor little man was so unhappy. He was sleepier than usual all afternoon, but had no adverse reaction. He is happier now, this evening. The nurse who administered the vaccines called him a bonnie boy, and that he is. (i double checked and bonnie does mean hearty, healthy or handsome).

Andrew has edited some older footage to make this latest film of James and his favorite toy, Jorge la Girafa (George the Giraffe). We hope that you enjoy it.

James' Favourite Toy from Andrew Charlton-Perez on Vimeo.

We glow in the dark

We have had some fun with James and his new glow-in-the-dark outfit. We think that he looks like a little wizard. We didn't take him trick-or-treating this year, but it is only a matter of time.

Last week James laughed out loud, an unmistakable chuckle. Of course, he was laughing at his giraffe Jorge and not at any of our clever jokes. We can't wait for him to giggle all the time, but he is making us wait. Andrew says that it is like fishing in that you can't want it too much or it won't happen.

James is also grabbing his toys. He appears to cuddle his bunny rabbit Nat when he sits in his vibrating chair. He grabs the jungle animals which hang above him on his playmat. He loves to be under there and he seems to want to talk with the animals. He is starting to make noises other than crying noises that is.

Starting our 3rd month

Random arm motions are beginning to find purpose. James is able to grab his toys more purposefully now. He loves his gym which has jungle animals (monkey, giraffe, elephant, parrot or Lola lorita as we call her) hanging from criss-crossing arcs. Lola has crunchy or crackly sounding wings. We use the mat for on-his-tummy exercises but he tires of that quickly. We want him to get exercise lifting his head, but we're not quite there yet. James has some good neck control when he is sitting up.

I wanted to post some photos of him in his "little sherriff" outfit which he is quickly outgrowing. He is growing longer all the time! He is tipping the scales at 8 lb 12 oz this week.

James is also making lots more noises, not just crying noises but talky sort of noises. James alsi snorts alot when he complains which is very funny and cute. He loves being sung to. Andrew and James' abuelito el papa have great success in putting James to sleep with their crooning.

Some new video of James

Password is play

Playtime with Eduardo from Andrew Charlton-Perez on Vimeo.

we are 2 months

here james and i are on the sofa. i am nursing him as i seem to be doing most of the day. so i am typing this post with one hand; forgive the typos. he is growing more lengthwise than widthwise, but he is gaining weight so we are happy. he is a healthy boy.

james and i survived his first vaccinations when he turned 8 weeks old. he screamed properly when stuck, but was fine within a minute. i was sad for him. we are participating in a vaccination study (voluntarily) and we were randomly assigned the control group. for the week after the vaccines are given we have to fill in a card with his temperature & other observations.

james smiles now at us and his toys. his smiling face is the most beautiful sight i have ever seen. he has good head control and is a strong baby. he sleeps well, though he wakes twice to feed at night.

i went for a swim tonight and look forward to taking him to swimming classes next spring.

i must echo Andrew's thoughts on the experience of james' birth and his existence. james is making a kinder gentler and more patient person of me. through my sleep-deprived haze i see only the best most wonderful baby boy in the world and count myself lucky to be his mother.

The wind and the pillows

It seems like such a short time to us that we last posted some updates here, but its over two weeks ago. Time seems to have flown past and I've only a few days left of paternity leave left. To be honest, I'm dreading the idea of going back to work next week, but needs must!

James seems very well, although we have had some tough nights most recently. We think we've figured out that the problem is an excess of wind, an apparently common problem, and we are working on solutions including regular doses of infacol. It's sometimes quite heart-breaking to hear James cry and cry and not be able to do too much about it other than try to soothe him and work out the wind. I think both Cristina and I are getting better at the various tricks needed to help him out though.

We've had lots of visitors, which has been great since we aren't able to be too much out and about ourselves. It's really nice to see friends and to chat, even if we do dominate the conversation with tales of bodily movements! Some random pictures of our visitors and of us enjoying spending time with James are in these two slideshows:





Otherwise we all seem to be doing well. James has had two visits from the health visitor who checked out his hearing, weight and general well-being. Cristina and I were both extremely nervous about the 'weigh-in' as it seemed to us, but James (although still very much a feather weight) is on an upward trajectory. Over the next few weeks he'll be weighed a few more times to make sure that he is continuing to have a positive derivative (as Papa would say). Our health visitor Donna seems very, very calm and helps us a great deal with all of our questions and concerns.

I won't make this post too long, since I know Cristina is keen to add her thoughts soon too. I'll close with a short video that I've spent way too long making with iMovie. The pillows of course are what we both need lots during the day to catch up on all the missed sleep :) (The password for the video is easlis)

Easy Listening from Andrew Charlton-Perez on Vimeo.

Now we are one week

Last night James was one week old. We came home from hospital on Monday and have spent the last few days (and nights) all getting used to our new lives and surroundings. James is generally a happy boy and Cristina is recovering well from the c-section and feels much much better being at home amongst her family.

James has had a week of firsts. In the hospital he met his abuelos and his granny for the first time and was an angel for both of their long visits. Since arriving home, he has met both his auntie Helen, who stayed with us for a few days and his granddad who came for a visit on Wednesday. If he could type (surely only a matter of time) he would also like to thank all of his friends around the world for their presents, cards and thoughts. It's great to have so many friends when you are only one week old. James also played the lottery for the first time - and won (although only £10). On Thursday Helen and I went to the registry office and James is now an official person!

James has also been for his first few walks in the outside world, one with Mama and Papa captured here (thanks to Auntie Helen for the camera work!) and has listened for the first time to England losing a cricket match to Australia (this happens a lot son, but it makes the unexpected wins even sweeter).

We are all working hard to establish some kind of routine for our new life, Cristina is feeding James a lot and he seems to be a pretty hungry boy. Sleep is of course at a premium :) We are extremely grateful that Rafael and Conchita (Cristina's parents) and my sister could be here to help us during the first few days. We've been able to spend so much time with James because they have calmly cared for us all and I will be forever grateful to them for that.

My job in all of this (apart from spending too much time writing blog entries and playing with iMovie) is to soothe James when he is unhappy and to do lots of nappy changes. I think I've been suprised how much I've enjoyed all of these things, caring for and cuddling James is a really beautiful experience. Apart from lots of walking around and rocking him to sleep I've come up with a couple of other tricks to soothe James.

Firstly, amazing as it might sound, James seems to like my singing....a lot. Cristina and Helen found this hilarious, and I guess it must be something to do with low vibrations and all that. Particular favourites are Don't Stop Me Now and Total Eclipse of the Heart so I guess classical maestro might be off the list of future careers. I just wish I knew more of the words.

Secondly, James really loves to be cuddled and lay on my chest close to my heart beat, as I mentioned in the previous blog. I still haven't gotten over how fantastic a feeling this is. It's probably just his weight on my chest, but my heart feels more like a muscle than it ever has before. It feels three times the size it does before and particularly large when we're cuddling. I don't know if men get a boost of oxytocin from the birth but I feel more loving and more loved than I ever have at any time in my life. My wonderful, gorgeous wife is of course a big part of this.

Rafael James Charlton-Perez

Finally a moment to breath and to think and to write about the amazing, scary, wonderful experience that Cristina, I and James have just been through. On August 27th, Cristina's waters broke and we began the first of several trips to the Royal Berkshire hospital to assess what was happening and to ensure that Cristina and our soon to be son were OK. After a 5am trip on Friday 28th, we returned home and tried to rest, although by now Cristina was experience some early labour pains. Unfortunately these did not become full labour and we returned to the hospital on Friday morning at 10am to have her labour augmented (basically a hormone drip to encourage contractions).

Once attached to the drip, Cristina experienced very strong labour pains. I was truly amazed (although not entirely surprised) at her ability to tolerate the intense pain that she felt from the strong contractions that she experienced. However, after many hours attempting to labour like this it became clear that our baby was under great stress and that a c-section would be necessary. Very rapidly we were rushed to theatre and James was delivered within 15 minutes at 23:14 weighing 6 lbs and 2ozs.


Following the operation, a quick cuddle and feed with James, Cristina was very sick perhaps realted to the necessary very strong pain killers. For the rest of the evening a spent my time worrying and watching Cristina and holding and soothing James'. This period and the final stages of labour were one of the most awful and stressful experiences of my life. I hope I never have to experience the sensation of watching the two people I love most in the world so sick for so long again.



However, despite being extremley tired and very sore Cristina now feels enormously better after two days of help and care from the fantastic staff of Iffley ward. I've spent most of the last two days in the hospital with Cristina and James who is feeding and sleeping well. We hope that Cristina and James will be able to come home soon to be with us all (including Cristina's Mum and Dad and my Sister Helen).


After two days of fatherhood, I'm so far exilherated and exhausted. Before James' birth I hadn't thought a lot about either the practicalities of fatherhood or how I would feel when James was so small. Since Cristina was so well prepared, had so much experience and was so excited about his birth, I thought I would be able to take my lead from her. Soon after Cristina finished James' first feed it was obvious that I needed to hold and care for him while she recovered from her operation. Although I frankly had no idea even how to hold him, after lots of mistakes and bumps I think I managed to comfort and warm him for several long hours while Cristina recovered. Having been rather thrown in at the deep end I've loved holding and soothing James for the past two days when I've been able to be at the hospital. Cuddling him on my chest this morning while Cristina rested was a truly transformative experience; tender, loving and joyful.


My final message is to James (who I hope will read this post in the years to come). Please don't be upset if you see your silly father in floods of tears over the next few days. All of my friends will tell you that I've always been a bit emotional. Right now (as I type) I can't think about Cristina and James without getting a lump in my throat.

Cristina I'm sure will have her own thoughts and recollections of our experience and I hope will post them soon once she arrives home.

For now our love and thanks for all your support.

(Posted by Andrew from Cristina's account)

Waiting

Well, things seem to be ready here for the reason for this post to arrive. We've spent the last few weeks trying to get the new house as ready as possible for the new arrival. Prospective Granny Chris and Ed came to help us put up curtain rails, and to give Cristina a surprise party for her Birthday.





The next weekend prospective Grandad David and Anne came to help us paint the new nursery a brilliant shade of yellow and lived to tell the tale. Now the most experienced prospective grandparents Rafael and Conchita have arrived from Knoxville to help us in the last few days. We've had two really nice evenings eating and chatting and waiting for something to happen. As you can see from this video (thanks to our new present!) my attention is somewhat drawn elsewhere. Won't be long before someone else joins us to fill the final bedroom.


I feel totally overwhelmed and excited about the whole idea of having a new person to share our lives. If I'm honest, despite my best efforts, nothing else really seems important this week. At the same time I also feel unbelievably ill prepared. Cristina seems to think that the baby is moving downwards, so I guess we'll know which it is soon enough........

A blog for our baby

It's July 13th, 2009 and Cristina and I are settling in to our new house (moving in date July 5th, 2009) and preparing for one of the biggest and best things that are likely to happen to us for a long time - the arrival of our first, still to be named, baby. Some of our friends have been very clever and used blogs to document the first few weeks, months and years of their babies' lives and so we thought we would have a try too.

On this blog we will be recording and publishing little snippets of what happens to our son/daughter. We also want to encourage friends and family to add their thoughts and comments. We plan to keep a record of the blog to show to our little one when they are old enough to understand.

I guess the best place for us to start is with a baby scan, taken at 20 weeks which was at the beginning of April.

Since then we've had a brilliant and anxious time thinking about all the exciting and scary things that having a child will bring. I certainly can't wait to get started and I think that Cristina is ready to feel tired in a different way too. So far I've not managed to do many 'Dad' things (apart from road-testing the baby monitor tonight) but this weekend Cristina and I and my Dad and his wife Anne will be both painting the nursery and going to buy a buggy.

The baby is due to arrive on August 18th, so check back nearer to the time for the big reveal.

ACP - 13th July 2009