Look At Me!

It's been 5 weeks and 2 days and weigh in time for baby Rhys. So off to the weigh in place with Mummy (Daddy at work). He's piling on the ounces and came in at 11lb 8oz, just above the average for his age. So he's doing really well, he wolf's his food down as if he's been starved all week. He's grown out of most of his first born clothes and will be wearing mine in no time.

Rhys and Mummy have been out all day today, not in the pub like the old, no kids days but out shopping and having it large with Mummy's friends. I had to make my own dinner again, I had to make when Mummy was giving birth as well. I can't get that boil in the bag rice to cook properly though, it's always crunchy when I do it. Anyway, Rhys and Mummy back from night in Jo & Neils. Susy has kindly bought Rhysy a New York Yankies kit from her trip to NY recently, happy days, ta luv....

Rhys would really love to go to the home tie of Liverpool V Barcelona. I can't get a ticket due to the usual agro. If anyone has one, Rhys will pay top price and we'll even throw in a carton of his fave SMA Gold Blend!

Me and Rhysy off to the shop now, then we are going to Nanny Myra's. It was her birthday in the week but we forgot Rhys's dummy and as he was hungry he started whinging after being there only a few minutes. So we're off to make up for lost time later and wish my Ma a very happy birthday.

Rhys has seen almost everyone we are close to now. Over the past few days Rhys has been to meet both of my Nans, Elaine and Grace came round to see us, more of Mummy's pals from work and we had a suprise visit from Em's cousin Hailey who works as an Air Hostess with Emirates. So it's rare that she gets home and when we went to Nanny Bett's in the week, Hailey, Cal, Em's aunt Sue and Shirley all called round. You can imagine the noice!
More lovely gifts for Rhys and as ever, he was passed around without any complaints. The most popular word to describe our baby is 'content'. He can be with anyone and as long as he's not hungry, he's very very happy.

  
The Christening
We are starting to think about putting together the plans for Rhys's Christening now. It is going to be in the summer, June or July maybe. All Rhys's friends and family will be invited and it will be a fantastic day. Does anyone have any thoughts on a venue?
We are thinking about the Holy Rosary Club just by where we live, where we had our Engagement party. It's not great for kids though, somewhere with a bit of a play area outside would be more suitable. We will make some enquiries next week when I'm off and take it from there....
As soon as we put something together, you will hear form us....

Last night was the first time we went out without baby Rhys. Grandad Bob and nanny Betty kindly offered to baby sit. This won't be the last time I can assure you!
After calling the local Chineese restaurant at least 5 times and just getting a nervous 'Hello' in a Chineese accent I thought something wasn't right. Uncle Philo text'd me to tell me it was still being refurnished. It's been weeks now, it's the smallest restaurant you've ever seen, what can they be doing in there?

So off we went to another one. I don't think Rhys even noticed us being absent for the hour and a half we were out for. He was on his best behaviour anyway which was great. We are starting to bottle feed him before bed time now so he gets a better sleep. he's been putting in 4-5 hours after about 5-6 ounces of his favourite SMA gold. I might ret this myself, it's cheaper than Stella Artois.

Mummy & Daddy above before our first night out for months!

Last week we had a few people round to celebrate Rhys's 1 month birthday. It was mainly Em's family, Grandad Bob, Robby and I went for a few pints first and then back home for a late dinner. We had our first bottle of champa's for months too and we all had a great night. Rhys continues to be very well behaved. Check out Mummy's blue fleece!

Baby Rhys really only whinges when he wants something, normally feeding or winding. We're very lucky. He almost never cries. We've taken him off that Infacol stuff as it didn't seem to be making any difference. He's still suffering from wind but he's getting better at bringing it up. He paniks sometimes when he gets strong wind pains and last week, just at bedtime he was histerical and screaming. We did everything that normally works but still he was screaming. In the end we had to put him in his car seat and drive around for an hour, not ideal at 2am but it worked and Rhys slept very well when we got home.

It's been a busy old couple of weeks, back in work and there's not much time to do anything else. Rhys is growing by the day, he's 22 inches long now on his month old birthday. That's nearly 2 ft tall already!
That means in 2 months time he will be 6 ft, is that how it works?

I've been telling everyone who asked and some who didn't about our little Rhys. Mummy is doing really well looking after him while I go to work. Nanny Betty is visiting daily and giving us loads of help. 
My first week back was hard work, getting back in to a routine. Rhys is still awake or in fact just waking up if I get home really late. 10pm is when he peaks, kicking and punching, just in time for our bedtime!

Rhys's hair is starting to come out now at the front a bit. He looks like Phil Collins in the 80's. And yeah, I've heard all the jokes about the hair lines and me nicking his hair etc. Mummy is afraid to wash his hair in case it all comes out, it's really sad, it willgrow back though (unlike mine apparently). 
He has got spots as well so he looks mean at the moment. We have some cream for him and he will be looking handsome again very soon. The spots are caused by drinking milk or something or sweating I'm not sure. They itch him though and with his wind pains he can get pretty upset at times. He's cool though, he's smiling more and is totally alert to everything going on. It's bed time now so I better go and help out before Mummy gets on my case!

More pics, a review of his first mini party, the Barcalona game, more visitor news and everything else that I've missed coming up this weekend when I catch up proper....

Newcastle v Liverpool was on live in the pub, great news until the geordies took the lead. One of their cheating players through themselves over Risse's foot and got a penalty. He scored it too, Reina messed up their first goal, Liverpool lose and drop more points against a small club.
My first (of many) trips to the pub

Rhys thoroughly enjoyed himself in the pub, he just slept through it. Mummy and I had a quick meal and I managed a couple of quick pints. Rhys can't wait to go again he tells me, he's even more enthusiastic about it then me.

Uncle Philo wasn't happy with the score. I said it's all down to the return of Sissoko, he's a liability. I didn't see him on his feet much during the game, just throwing himself all over the place and rolling around in the mud. Top player (according to Philo and pretty much everyone but me. Watch him next game and count the number of fouls, poor passes and errors he makes, it's incredble).
Anyway Philo, get the beer in lado....

Well, home from the pub, telly is proper crap, only one full day before I go back to work, OH NO!!!!
Tomorrow we go visiting and hopefully we crack open one of the many bottles of champagne we have collected for the birth of Rhys. Our little boy is 3 weeks old in a few hours time, we are both incredibly proud and happy parents!

Mummy & Daddy

We are getting in to a nice little routine now, Rhys still sleeps for most of the day and generally wakes at 10pm, this is when he is most awake and alert. We've been getting him asleep for about midnight and he has a feed about 3ish then 7ish so it's pretty cool really.

We went out in the car this week and visited Nanny Betty's to see the dogs. Jean was there and Rhys managed to poo up his back while she was holding him, nice one Rhys!

Rhys and the dogs where pretty disinterested in each other. The dogs were far more keen on food and sitting in front of the fire.

It's been proper cold this week and snowing. Everyone seems to have a cold, including me. Mummy and Rhys don't thouh thankfully so I've been doing lots of sleeping. Em's pal Clair who is expecting and due next month came to see us on Thursday, she was asking lots of questions and preparing herself for the coming weeks, at least Em can help her by relating to everything she has been through. She's looking forward to it all.

Nanny Betty continues her visits and helps us out, Fri night we went out to Carly's and Eve's as I'm bored of staying in. Rhys was asleep most of the time. He's been getting bad pains we think, wind. He cries but there isn't much we can do apaprt from hug him and move him around until it passes. We've been giving him Infacol which is starting to have an affect now. I'm back in work on Monday after three and a half weeks off, the longest ever!
It's going to be strange and probably tiring but all seems well there so it should be a comfortable transition, fingers crossed.

We're off to the pub for lunch today, horayyyy!!!!!!!
I'm taking my camera, I like the pub....

We went to Asda today, where better to spend your day?
There's even a special shopping trolley for kids in those car seats which took us some figuring out. We got there in the end and off we went. It was Mummy's first day out of the house but she generally hid while I took photo's of Rhys in all my favourite aisles (the beer aisle, champagne section and the wine dep't).

It's really cold out, Rhys just sleeps though, he started a little cry in Asda and I thought shit, what do I do, Mumm had gone to the other end of the shop for something. He stopped though and I was relieved. We had a chat with Emmas Aunt who works in the Pizza section, Karen who was over the moon to see little Rhys and Emma. The lady who works on the chicken wing section was also really pleased to meet baby Rhys. Rhys seemed equally pleased.

Betty came to see us later on and had a cup of tea. Our old mate Elaine is coming to see us next Monday, I'm back in work that day though.

Rhys is getting more and more active, his arms are flying around and he can punch the dangling scarey animals that hang in front of him in his rocker.

We've started to give Rhys a dummy when he starts to whinge a little and what a massive hit!
He just sucks away and settles right down. Mon' night was the best sleep we've had so far. The night before he was sick again as he just eats too much, he goes crazy. He slept from midnight to 5am and then after a feed slept until the midwife woke us up just before 10am this morning.

Rhys got weighed today and came in at 9lb 5oz, up from 8lb 3oz 11 days ago. He's in good shape and growing really quickly.

We're off out now, the Picture Shop then Nanny Betty's for some lunch and for Rhys to meet the dogs.

A fantastic score for Everton, boring for us Liverpool supporters who want to win trophies. So boring that Rhys nodded off and slept through the game. Check out his first Liverpool kit in the pics, thanks again to Robbie & Clair for buying this and his cap and boots to go with it. Good stuff.

We watched the match together with Robbie and Clair. Robbie was clearly thirsty, nailing 8 bottles of Budweiser in 90 mins, what a bloke!

Sat night was a late one thanks to little Rhys's sleeping patterns. We tried to settle from 9pm and Em finally got him off to sleep at 4am. He was sick at some point while I was winding him, he just kept on feeding and feeding, for almost 5 hours on and off!
He was ok in the end, I think we could be putting him to bed while he still has wind, it's a guessing game though. I'll try sticking at it longer tonight. He doesn't seem to like his cot as well, he'll sleep anywhere in all sorts of bright lights, noices and activity but when it comes to cot time it's a no no. Fingers crossed for us tonight!

Sunday Rhys and I went to Mothercare, our first shopping expedition. It was cold out but Rhys appreciated the fresh air and the queues in the shop. We then went to Nanny and Grandad's for Grandad Les's first glimpse of the little man. We had a cup of tea, Rhys slept through unsuprisingly and I nicked a few choclates while evryone was out of the room (Carly, I think you bought them, thanks...).
Nanny was really pleased to see Rhys and was suprised by how big he has grown in just 2 weeks. He has been great all day, sleepy and the odd feed, all is good.

It's ben two weeks since Em and I went in to the hospital for the Big Day. We're all settling down really well and enjoying ourselves. Rhys is eating more and more, just milk though, he's not keen on anything else just yet. We didn't do much on Friday, it's getting really cold so Em had me washing the windows, the outside bits.

We had more visitors, Em's pals from work, Jenny and Cath. They kindly brought Em some clothes and Rhys some flowers and wine. Em had her first half glass of wine last night and enjoyed it. She was staggering around the living room and everything, I had to carry her and Rhys to bed! (only joking, Rhys took himself).

Nanny Betty came down with some shopping for us and Auntie Carly and Eve came around for a while. It was really nice to see you all and Rhys enjoyed your company.

Uncle Jamesy has a new lady friend, congratulations mate, I've put a pic on for you, sorry it's the back of your head but you did say you wanted your best side.

Uncle Captain has been invited to join Rhys's gang, Jamesy has access too now.

Good sleep had by all last night, big match tomorrow, Liverpool v Everton so we're all looking forward to that, come on!!!!

Well, after loads of arsing about I finally got the pram up. Rhys was oblivious to it all and just slept. After we dressed him we got off to the shop. We bought a newspaper to add to the pile that I haven't got round to reading yet. We then hung around outside the off license an caused some hassle with the rest of the Old Roan Hoodies.

We decided that it was a bit cold and came home. Mummy is having a well earned rest so I've just fed the little fella twice and changed him twice but he's in the 'I'm not settled mood' so it's back to it for me, catch you tomorrow when we go out in the car somewhere....

Well we've got through the first week and it's brilliant having Rhys around. We're all getting used to each other so quickly, Rhys is becoming easier and easier to read and understand. Mummy is doing well to and Rhys and Em are very close. Emma has a special touch and is always able to settle Rhys down, even after I've changed his nappy or clothes. It's Monday, Rhys's Great Grandmother visited in the evening with Grandad Bob. It was very nice to see Em's Nan. Rhys is asleep lots today, just the odd waking moment for a feed. Em's Mum calls again to help out, that's every day now and she continues to be very supportive and gives us a break. Thanks Betty.

Tues & Wed, lack of sleep. Two tough nights, Mon night was about 3am before Rhys settles, Tues night it was 4.30am. It makes a big difference and Mummy and I get a few hours during the day. I've missed daylight for the past couple of days, I'm loking forward to a good nights kip again. Tues night we changed the little boy 3 times and fed him at least 5 times. Wed morning I get up at 8am and read the baby book Rob & Clair got us for Christmas. It helps and we are doing almost everything it suggets. It's normal for Rhys to behave in the way he does and we need to get him in to a routine, bath, change, feed then bed. Tues was Grandad Les's birthday, I called down. Liverpool play West Ham away Tues night, Rob calls down at half time while we and Uncle Philo watch game. Rob and Clair have kindly bought Rhys his first Liverpool kit which is fantastic. We put his hat on at half time and 10 seconds in to the second half, Kuyt scores a great goal!
Final score West Ham 1, Liverpool 2. Excellent!

Thursday, that's today, I've caught up!
Midwife came this morning and did Rhys's PKU test. Rhys didn't even flinch, he just lay there, asleep (what a suprise!).
I went out last night for the first time, Beano is moving to Australia on the 8th Feb'. His missus and kids are there now. Dowie, Dow's Da, Philo, Beano and his Da all there. I took it easy on the beer, I'm on nappy duty so don't want to end up with Chicken Dansak all up my arms. Have you seen/tasted Chicken Dansak, it's lovely, from Al-Amins on Warbreck Moor. Well, Rhys can make one just as good, and Wed night he manages to get one all up his back half an hour after I change him!
Betty had a day off yesterday and we all missed her. I am going to take Rhys out today for the first time proper. I'm going to get his pram and go the shop. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm not sure what I'm going to buy yet.
Carly, Rhys's Aunt bought him lots of clothes and a nice little baby box. I've started to collect his things from when he was boen, his name tags, cards, tags off his presents. I've ordered a newspaper for the day he was born, I did buy one on the day but threw it away so I'll have a brand new one soon. Has anyone got any other ideas on what I can put in his box?
His cord fell off on Suday, that's in there too.
He's got loads of wind just now and looks like he's in pain, the poor little boy. I'm going to change him now. More pics will be here later....
Bye for now...

Rhys's first weekend in the big wide world and there's no Liverpool playing (thanks to the Fat Spanish Waiter fielding a naff team against Arsenal), what a shame!
Saturday was excellent, we all had our best sleep yet last night, what a difference it makes, we all feel full of energy and spend the day watching TV mainly. We had loads of guests in the night, Rhys welcomed Joanne Hardgreaves and he finally met Great Aunt Jean and Second Cousins Simone and Grant. We had a drink (sorry, Em didn't again) and Rhys enjoyed himself meeting his pals.
Uncle Philo and Aunty San popped round Sat' afternoon to meet the little fella too. It was good to see them, Phil has text'ed me every day asking how we all are and brought him a fantastic looking Silver train set. Rhys is going to collect money in it then give it all to me for beer money, good lad!

Sunday, another top sleep had by all, this baby business is easy, what's all the fuss about?
Rhys has developed a great new trick, every time I change him he wee's on me. 4 times in a row he has caught me out. I wait, i check if he coast is clear the shoot in for a quick change. But he's got his timing spot on, as soon as he feels that fresh air it's fountain time. The poor little fella managed to wee in his face, what a mess, I'm going to have to put a little peg on it I think, what do you think???
Diane, Keith, Paul, Linda< Rob and Clair all visited today, yet more gifts and cards which is very, very generous. Rhys now has a wardrobe full of clothes, loads of baby gifts, 41 cards, toys and I've got a decent beer fund, all is well.....