Dad's diary:
week four
diary - week one
diary - week two
diary - week three
A couple of days off at the start of this week, so I will only have to work a short week. I am writing this on Tuesday afternoon. Joseph is having his afternoon nap in the room next to this one, allowing Deborah to pop into town. After his last feed Debbie put Joseph in his Moses basket but he was soon bawling. We left him for ten minutes or so, then Deborah gave him another short feed and this time he has settled down. Deborah hates to hear him cry and her instinct is to pick him up immediately. I just sat here and turned the music up.
It is difficult to hear him bawl though. Do they have to be so loud? It seems a miracle that they don't damage something the way they cry. I guess that in evolutionary terms babies have always had to cry loudly so people knew where they were: on the Plains peopled by prehistoric man they were more dangers around, and babies have yet to evolve a quieter means of getting attention even though their parents and safety might only be two feet away.
During the last four days we have begun some mini-routines. I have Joseph in the morning, with the plan that he is awake until 9, when he sleeps until 10am, then is wake form 10 until 11.30. It is a lovely hour or so for me to have Joseph in the morning. Today I took him for his walk around Weston at 9a.m, knowing he would be guaranteed to sleep. Now I have a baby in tow more people say hello or smile at me and in the Greengrocers Joseph is the star.
The going out early was good for me as it woke me up and made me feel I'd done something. Once or twice over the last few days I've felt a little frustrated; you get to four o'clock and you realise you haven't done anything at all all day. So respect to Deborah and all the other women who look after children 24 hours a day.
Yesterday afternoon we went down to Wells again. Mum and dad would have visited here, but going to Wells gives Deborah a chance to get out. Besides, it was easier for Jeff and Becky to visit in Wells. Jeff had not seen Joseph since the day he was born, so nice to see them all. Sam, of course, is now no longer the youngest of the cousins. Having been sedated into a deep sleep by the car journey, Joe spent most of the visit asleep (again).