4 months

Just back from 2 1/2 weeks in Vancouver.. The boy was charming but a bit more prone to squalls (up to 45 minutes at a time of screaming) than he had been before. Hard to tell if he's in pain or just overtired, but it's very hard to hear, all we can do is hold/rock/sooth him to no real avail.. he may be teething - he has some of the signs -but no definitive way to tell.

He is incredibly strong, learned how to roll from back to front and back again - quite early according to The Baby Tomes - although he is now content just to do half rolls. We saw a baby out there that was 6 months, and Jack is definitely stronger in standing (supported of course!) and starting to sit. Hard to know which if any expensive baby toy we should buy next - there are a couple of things that would allow him to sit upright and play with toys which might keep him distracted for a while, allowing us to sit back, read the paper, tidy, cook, etcetera.

Martin has been off work since June 1st, and it does make a big difference in the amount of 'work' I have to do, although I think Jack is still a bit Mummy-focused when he is tired and upset. I am somewhat cautious about the word 'work', hence the punctuation- looking after the boy is long, and repetitive and occasionally back-hurting (although I am Much stronger now than before) but it is certainly not like other work.

I don't know how people do it/did it with no washing machine, having to cook/clean, look after older kids. Right now one of us pretty much has to be busy entertaining the boy, he doesn't have a lot of patience to play by himself.. It's so hard to tell what is down to the baby's personality/temperament and what is down to the parents. It seems like there is this interaction between baby, parents and parenting theory. I know that some of my friends let (are able to let?) their babies sit/lie play by themselves a lot more, but I don't know if that is just because the babies are very easygoing, or if they are easygoing because of their parents' parenting approach... I saw a reassuring show on the Knowledge Network about temperament, which seemed to suggest that it is innate rather than learned.

Jack seems to be in the middle- some babies we know are always happy, good natured, others are very fussy and needy- one poor friend has a baby who is still nursing every 1 to 1/12 hours at night at 9 months, another has a similar situation with a one year old. Jack had been down to feeding every 4 or 5 hours, which was bliss, but he is now back up to every three hours. I am two-thirds of the way through the 6 month exclusive breastfeeding stage, and look forward to a time when he is no longer so dependent on the breast.. Although it is lovely sometime nursing him at night while the city sleeps - he gives me lovely blissful smiles, like we have a secret that no else can share.

This blog has turned into more of a detailed description of what the boy can do, rather than my opinions/rants etc. I guess one new realization that I have come to is that while pregnant I disliked the attitude that there was a 'correct way to be pregnant, and got annoyed by those who were very proper/judgmental in their approach; but now I realize that I was falling into my own judgmental trap! It's so east to preach 'to each one's own', so hard to follow it.