Elf is going back to work in 3 weeks so we are now considering the issue of child care. I'll be looking after Marcus 3 or 4 mornings a week, Elf will be working 5 mornings. We are going to enquire at the creche run by Collegiate girls school down the road in South Hobart - it is likely to be expensive, but good quality and close to home. Its on the way to work for both of us, and just 10 minutes walk. I will try to do a little work from home in the mornings, but as Marcus grows up he is more demanding during the day. The compensation for this is that he sleeps well at night.
We feel we are communicating with him a lot more now. He's quite chatty and we are getting a lot more smiles. But we have also had some horror days/nights when his tummy is gurgling, causing him a lot of pain from either wind or reflux, and all he is able to do about it is cry. We've tried various formulas and various teats (Marcus hasnt attached to the breast well so we feed him a mix of expressed breast milk and formula from a bottle).
It can be an emotional rollercoaster - its a cliche but true. When things arent going well with Marcus, I find that while I don't ever lose my temper with him, everyone and everything else is liable to get under my skin.
Elf has bought a copy of "Baby Love" which has been recommended to us - so now we are having conversations like "it seems to work, but The Book says no.." and "I know we said we'd do it this way, but I just read in The Book..." Apparently its bad for adults to put the dummy in their mouths to make it "clean" - I am doing this habitually and must now somehow stop myself.
Claude had brought in two rats in the last 3 days - one of them gave him a nasty bite - the first sign we've had yet that he doesnt use chloroform or something. He catches big rats sometimes and they don't even mess up his fur. Giz has been losing wait, and very miaowy, always hungry. Turns out he has hypothyroidism, and that's turned his metabolism up to 11. We're now giving him bigger meals and he'll be having a little pill beforehand every day for the rest of his life, but he's already much happier.
