Smiles for the bug

Like most babies I guess, Max can be a bit temperamental at times. Often he just won't stop crying for us and we can't figure out why, and so one of our techniques for cheering him up is to change his nappy. We have a colourful bug-like toy hanging on the curtains just above the change table, and from the moment we put it there Max has been fascinated by it. Changing him and letting him stare at the bug for a few minutes is almost a sure-fire way to make him happy, and it often works so well that he gives out big grins for the bug, while just a few minutes beforehand he has been screaming at us.


I don't know exactly why the bug makes him happy but the people who feed him and love him and look after him get screamed at. But to be fair he is giving out smiles to us more frequently these days as well, and the bug will only keep him happy for so long before he screams at it as well, so it probably evens out.

One of the Biggest!!!

Today is young Max's 6 week birthday. We all know the best way to celebrate that is to go to the Doctors for your 5000 km check up.

There seems to not have been a repeat of the unpleasantness that accompanied us on our last visit to the Doctors. No need for female incontinence pads this time. Jo took Max around to the doctors in the baby carrier and not the cumbersome pram.

So enough of the fluff and onto the gritty statistics. Max started off life at hefty 4.1 kg 9lb 1oz and then at three weeks and 6 days was 5.7kg or 12 5 1/2 oz and today he weighed in at 6.45 kg or 14lb 2 oz.

He is also stretching out at birth Max was 51 cm and is now 58.8cm!

The doctor said some babies struggle to get this amount of growth in 6 months let alone 6 weeks!!!

Let it be said that Jo's and my biceps seem to be on the increase and I think I know why.

Hopefully he may slow down a bit soon or I may do in my back by the time he is 2!

Something in the Water

I know it is very common to have the same things happen in your life as your friends as that is the stage in life you are going through. But we have just been overwhelmed with friends that are having babies.

There have been 3 born in just the last week. A warm welcome to the planet earth for Rosie who was born to Tim and Merryn. We got a sms at 4.44am last week from Caine and Sally welcoming young Eli to the mob. Then yesterday afternoon I got a message from Dan and Lydia welcoming Amelie to the group.

It is very cool to see and we hope they all settle in well and that everything goes well. It just means more friends for Max.

Hangin wit da homies

We were halfway through changing Max from his sleeping clothes (which included the beanie) into his church clothes when we realised what a cute little gangsta he makes. Don't you agree?

Road Trip!!!

On Friday night after a top up feed we headed out on the highway and for the first five minutes Max was not too impressed with the whole deal. We then realised that we had not yet turned up the stereo, but once we gave the boy some tunes he was all sweet. We are not sure how awake he was but he stayed like that all the way to Toowoomba.

We had not had tea yet and decided to try Weis Backdoor which is a rather unfortunate name for a takeaway but it is owned by the people who run the Weis buffet restaurant. Here is an interesting aside: the Weis ice cream company is pronounced one way and the Weis buffet is pronounced completely different. We got there just before closing and asked if we could still dine in which they allowed us to do. Jo's seafood lasagne came out first and I took Max and when my salt and pepper squid came out the lady offered to take Max while we ate!!

We left soon after and then Max decided that since everyone else had just eaten he was not going to the be the only one like that. We pulled over and gave him a feed and went on our merry way.

After a pretty good night and Max checking out his new surrounds we ducked back into Toowoomba so Max could see his great grandparents the Carters. We had a pretty good visit and they got to see their newest great grandchild.

We got back home and all had a very good nap. Max and Jo slept for about 3hrs each which was a pretty good effort. We did not have the chance to make it into Millmerran for the annual sheep races but with with the recent rains the track was rated as dead.

On Sunday morning Max went out to Yandilla church and got to meet his Ma for the first time and the rest of the congregation. Max quite liked the music but every time it stopped he would have a scream. But once the music started he was all happiness and light again.

This afternoon we had a bunch of visitors including the Uebergangs and his great uncle Mike and aunty Mary, and great uncle Shane and aunty Cynthia.

We have had a great time hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Pfeffer.

We head off in the morning to face Brisbane again.

Grins or gas?

For the last few weeks Max has been occasionally and randomly doing these adorably cute grins, usually just after feeding while I'm waiting to see if he wants any more or has had his fill. Sometimes he even pulls one while still attached, and then promptly loses his hold and can't suck anymore. Although they are very cute, since he usually has his eyes shut I don't really count them as proper smiles, since it's more likely just him trying to push out some gas or something like that.

However, in the last couple of days Max has been looking right into both Cam's and my eyes and deliberately giving off the widest of grins while we smile back at him. I'd love to post a photo of him doing this but as yet it's still a bit too unpredictable to catch on camera. You'll just have to take our word for it that these grins transform Max's already cute face and make it even more adorable and gorgeous than usual, and it's impossible not to give him an answering grin in return. So it's smiles all round at the Batkin household these days! (unfortunately not 24/7, but we're getting there.)

Movin' to the Country Going to Eat Me A Lot of Peaches...

Well when I say moving I don't really mean it for very long. I also don't think that we will be eating peaches at any point either. I will update you all when we get back. This weekend we head off on our first weekend away. We are heading up to Jo's parents place near Millmerran. We are not too sure how Max will go with a 3 hr drive but Jo is driving anyway so it should be all good.

I must admit to you all that the Dad jokes seem to be coming on thick and fast these days. It is a little scary really.

Max will visit his great grandparents in Toowoomba on Saturday before heading off to church at Yandilla on Sunday. I am sure Sunday will also see an influx of visitors to check out the newest addition to the mob.

We will head back around 8ish on Monday morning so I can start my afternoon shift.

We are looking forward to showing the young fella off to anyone who is close by and wishes to visit. It is 5 bucks for a gander and 10 bucks for a hold. Max does need to find a way to earn some money for my first fathers day pressie!!

It Seems Like Only 4 Weeks Ago...

That's right ladies and gents tomorrow morning sees it being 4 weeks since Max joined our family in a very tangible sense. I think he fits in pretty well. He hasn't crushed our crazy go getting lifestyle too much. The other night we even managed a decent session at an all you can eat rib joint. The other 2 babies at the restaurant were older than Max and interrupted their parents meals quite a lot. I am proud to say that Max already understands priorities and respects his parents wishes as well.

Overall it has been a pretty good 4 weeks. We have had some rough moments and some moments where you question if you are doing the right thing like having his tongue tie cut. But I think it could have been a lot lot worse than what it has been. A lot of people say the first 4-6 weeks are the worst so things can only improve from here really.

Jo and Max went down to the local child health clinic today and Max got weighed. In the reverse of the biggest loser we are really glad that Max gained some weight. Max started life on the outside at a very healthy 9lb 1 oz or 4.11 kg and 4 weeks later comes in at a arm numbing 12lb 5 1/2 oz or 5.7kg.

We haven't checked that out on the growth percentile list or anything like that. But the nurse at the clinic said it was a decent effort. We were wondering why his nappies that are weight rated up to 5 kg seemed a little tight in the caboose.

If anyone would like to bid on 2 boxes of unopened newborn huggies nappies just leave a comment!! We may deliver!

Like father, like son

Max has started to have more awake time lately, so Cam and I get to have some fun playing with him. He doesn't smile or laugh intentionally much yet so it's hard to tell if he enjoys our games, but at least we have fun. Cam is clearly enjoying himself in these shots, but I'm not sure whether Max is liking the attention and having fun as well, or is just mildly amused and refraining from crying while he sees where this is going.

It's like looking in a mirror, but who is mimicking who?

Getting Sleepy

Last night young Max decided that 9.30 at night was the time to be wide awake and sitting down or being patted off to sleep was for wimps and staying up was what cool kids do. It was a one on one battle as Jo was already in bed.

After a hour and a half of all the usual tricks I had enough and was tired after working a night shift. I used all the tricks in my arsenal. I put Max in the car and we went for a drive with the heater on. Who can resist falling asleep when they have a very full tummy clean pants and warmth. I wanted to seal the deal before I ended up driving to Coffs Harbour with a screaming child. I put some Ben Lee on.

No 3 and half week old child can resist so much against them. So with 7 minutes of driving under our belt and no screaming being heard for 3-4 minutes I pulled over and Max was out for the count. He was captain floppy arms. Which meant he was out cold and we could return home!!

Triple Trouble

Today was a grand day indeed as young Max and his lovely Mum ventured out to Aunty Amy's to visit the cousins. Here are some photos courtesy of Amy and Kurt to show you what happens when you put this many small children together.















I think the kids are having a competition to see who can hold their breath the longest. I think Max may be winning. If it is not that I think a very real possibility is that he could be doing some very rude things down the south end of town.



In this shot I think the kids are playing "What's the time Mr Wolf" and Mr Wolf has just turned around and they all had to freeze.















I think in this one Max is dobbing in his cousin for doing something bad but clearly pointing at her and saying "She did it!!" the other cousin is clearly shocked at what is going down. I like the fact that he has raised his hand like when you were at school.

If you want to post your own captions please leave them in the comments section.

No Longer Tongue Tied!!

We just got back from the doctors and it is all good!! The doc checked out Max's mouth and confirmed the cyst that was getting bigger was a blocked saliva duct. Good work Uncle Kurt!!

The tongue tie was also a issue and they quickly took Max away and did both at once. When he came back to us he was crying a little. He cries at home much much louder than that. He had a feed straight away which helps heal things as well. He had a very good mostly uninterupted feed which is different to normal.

So the difference in Max's feeding was almost instant. Hopefully the amount of gas he gets will also decrease a bit now that he is feeding better as well.

Thanks to those that prayed.

On A More Serious Note

If you are of the praying kind as Bono would say can you think of Max and us onThursday at around 1115. We need to take him to the doctor to get a couple of things looked at.

The first thing is Max is tongue tied which means he has a extra bit of skin under his tongue which means feeding is a bit hard for him and he also can't stick his tongue out. Which may explain after all these years why I really struggle to stick my tongue out. It supposedly is quite common in boys and is no real big deal but can affect how well they feed and how easy that may be. Max is getting enough we think but it seems to take a very long time and he likes to scream in frustration a fair bit.

The other issue we hope to have a look at is a bit more of a mystery. From the second Max started crying when he was born we noticed a small white dot beside his tongue. It hasn't ever gone away and in fact it looks like it has increased in size. The strange thing is none of the midwives or doctors in hospital seemed to know what it was. Our local GP also did not know and was not all that concerned. Uncle Kurt the proud father of the twins who also happens to be a dentist had a wee look and thinks that it may be a blocked saliva duct. But we will get the tongue tie guy to check it out and hopefully come to the bottom of the riddle of the small white dot.

We will keep you all up to date after we go to the docs.

Hello Ladies

On the weekend we took a big step for parents of a 2 week old baby and went to a wedding. It was pretty hard to know to go or not as we received the invite about a month or so before Max arrived. We had no idea who we were taking to the wedding with us or how they were going to behave.

We tried to get feeding times in order so once we were at the ceremony Max would not want a feed. Unfortunately he clearly was not the one who had all he could eat before we left home so Max and Jo saw the ceremony from afar in the prayer chapel at the rear of the church.

As soon as the ceremony finished Max decided he had enough and was ready to meet lots of new people and was happily getting cuddles from lots of the ladies. I am not sure if his current level of success will continue to later on in life. It may have to do with the cool little outfit we got Max.



The ceremony and afternoon tea were both very lovely and fitted the happy couple very well. It was also a good chance for lots of people to see Max in one fell swoop.

We had a couple of hours between the afternoon tea and the reception. So this was a good chance for some to grab a quick nap and to top up Max's belly.

Once we got to the reception he behaved himself pretty well. Our hosts made us feel very special and made sure that there was a space near our table where we could feed and the pram could park out of the way. We were able to share the table with Pete and Rachel and their 8 week old son Ethan. It was very cool to catch up with them and compare notes.

Once Jo sat down at the table Max got through the rest of the night. We managed to eat together including dessert. I thought the speeches and the cutting of the cake were the perfect time for Max to exercise his lungs but he continued to sleep like the proverbial.

Once he started to stir we decided to make a hasty retreat to home so Max could settle in for the night and have a good feed.

It was a really good day out for all. Thanks to Jade and Andrew and their families for inviting us and including us in their special day.

Gifts From A Long Way Away

We are a very fortunate family. We have received so many good wishes and prayers and cards and gifts from pretty much everyone we know no matter whether they be close or far.
One such expression of that came yesterday from some close friends of ours in Pana Illinois. I would describe them as being pretty much as close as family. I say that because the amount of favours we have asked for over the years you would only do to family. They have been very gracious and helped us out every time.

Kenna and the rest of her awesome family were the ones who sent on the personalised M&M's for our wedding and helped make our wedding day very unique and special. They have also helped us out with many other things over the years including keeping us supplied with Peanut Butter M&M's.

Yesterday there was a knock at the door and post lady had a tidy tiny box all the way from Pana. It was not a huge box but had so many goodies inside. It had the peanut outfit and heaps of other all in ones and lots of cute t-shirts and shorts. It also had some of our favourite candy for Jo and I and a blanket and a hat that is a little too big for Max at this point.

This morning we dressed him in a very cool t-shirt and overall combo sort of look. They are a bit big for him just yet but by the time summer comes around he will be one cool dude.

The Peanut Rides Again!!

As many of you would know before we knew Max was a Max we referred to him as the Peanut. Everything would be blamed on the Peanut. Not even stuff to do with Jo if I was in a mischievous mood I would attack Jo and then explain the Peanut told me to do it.

During the 9 months of waiting I got bored and started looking at funky outfits from around the world for babies. The problem is most of the ones I liked were about 30 quid from England. But I did find one that was right up our alley.

It had to come via some awesome friends in Illinois as they would not send direct to Australia. But after Max's bath this morn we gave him a bit of a try out in it. It is designed for a 6-12 month old American baby. But I think he fills it out ok.

By the way we have not doctored his hair colour in this shot it looks really red. We think it was the flash.

Big Day Out!!

This morning we had to drop Jo's car off for it's service at the dealer. The dealer is about a half an hour away from our house but is close to Jo's old office. We took the opportunity to show off Max to our colleagues.

Max was dressed in some flash clothes for such a occasion as this is normally setting yourself up for disaster. This time was no different. Before we left Max decided he didn't like the hoodie he was wearing so he sabotaged that plan by regurgitating his breakfast on it. As he was being secured into his seat he made some very nasty noises from the south end of town. So thankfully we had a spare jacket for him in the car and we changed his nappy in the front seat of the car once we arrived at Jo's work. We had a good visit with all of Jo's colleagues. Max was really well behaved and hardly made a squeek. We took his happiness and good behaviour as a opportunity to make a move before he changed his mind..

We arrived at the BCEC with a plan of hanging out in the cafe whilst a email was sent out to the relevant ppl and if they had the time would duck on in to say g'day. The plan was also for Max to have a feed first. I quickly forgot the plan and had a friend at the infodesk send out the email. Max was pretty good but then as people still turned up he decided he needed a feed. So that took a while. We decided to stay and have lunch in the cafe as the food is pretty good and I get staff discount. While I was waiting for my meal I ducked Max down to some friends that did not get a chance to see him previously.

When we walked into the BCEC a former workmate also arrived and said g'day and she has a 3 month old. She visited the same people I did. When I got downstairs the ladies asked about our pram. It seems the other lady had a bit of pram envy. We have a cool pram made by steelcraft called Strider it looks really similiar to a pram called a bugaboo. It seems that the former workmate thought ours was a bugaboo. The bugaboo retails for $1499.95 but the strider is $399.95. I tell you before we had Max I had no idea that you could spend so much on a pram. We just discovered the strider when we went shopping and it had so many features we wanted including good solid wheels and also light and could fit in our boots. I had no idea that we were making such a bold statement.

When we checked out the strider online for negative feedback we looked at forums for prams on parenting websites and it is amazing what prestige thing having the right pram is. It's just so crazy.

As we still had time to kill waiting for the car we went to a factory outlet near the dealer and we saw 2 other striders. We had a chat and compared notes about how good they were. It's sad my life has come to speaking to other people that have the same pram. We also managed to buy Max a really cool outfit for a wedding we are going to this weekend. I didn't grab Max a pair of Chuck Taylor gym boots which was the main reason for us heading out there. There is still time another day.