Monday, March 31, 2014

No interviews please!






Here's a clip of Leo at 3 months old telling us he doesn't like being interviewed on camera!

For the extended version (3 mins) click here: Leo at 3 months

We were trying to squeeze some chats out of him - but we were out of luck.

It was a big change from the night before when I was changing his nappy at 3 am and he was wide awake and had plenty to say.

Romain is chanting the Haka because Leo's tongue is ridiculously long and we thought maybe he could either become an professional Haka performer or join a Kiss revival band.

Some info for future reference:

His colic has passed - probably gradually disappeared starting about 4 weeks ago, and now it has fully gone.  So I've started eating dairy and citrus again as of about a week.

He was sleeping for 5 hour stretches at night for about 4 days before we arrived in Kosovo (9pm 2am 7am 11am), but the move has thrown him out of whack and now he is back to feeding every 2-3 hours again at night.  Same thing happened just before he got sick with his head cold about 3 weeks ago, and it took him about 2 weeks to find his rhythm again.

The eczema on his belly - most probably caused by the sweet almond oil - has lost all its redness but it is still a bit dry and scratchy.

His cradle cap has almost gone - it was never very bad at all in the first place though.

His eye has stopped getting gunky since we arrived in Kosovo - so hopefully now no-one will have to stick needles in his tear ducts!!!

He's started chatting to us (which is what we were trying to catch with this video) - this probably started about a month ago, but has increased heaps since he has arrived in Kosovo.  He probably has a lot to tell his Dad about what happened in the month they were apart.

He hates tummy time.  I'm putting him on his belly for 3 x 5 minute stretches each day but he just screams the whole time with his face mooshed into the rug.  It is a good way of clearing out his nose though.  It is not doing very much to improve the flat spot on his head from sleeping.

He loves standing up while we hold his arms and wants to do this all the time since he's arrived in Kosovo.

He hasn't found his thumb yet, but likes to suck on his fingers and mostly his fist.  His fingers are pretty fascinating to him these days.

His eyes are still very blue, but maybe I've noticed a slight change in the past couple of days...


Sunday, March 30, 2014

March Family Portrait

We snuck in our March family portrait this afternoon.  The local hero Skanderbeg was also included as  an honorary Fraussie.  It's a selfie, so maybe Leo wasn't given the prominence he deserves.  But not bad all the same.


Newborn!!!

Leo is 3 months today!!!

Which means he has officially graduated from 'newborn' status to being an 'infant'.

So to celebrate this excellent milestone, he got his cammo gear on and we rocked on down to the famous 'Newborn' monument in Kosovo (constructed at the time of independence) which has also recently been given a cammo make-over.

Romain and I were feeling pretty hard-core ourselves:  given that we are on nearly all-day water-cuts these days, we had bucket baths this morning.  We look better than we smell.  Pee-eeew!




And of course, Leo recently joined the UN Peacekeepers, in preparation for his deployment to Kosovo.

Leo:  the man with the plan.


Or - alternative caption:  The UN is downsizing its troops in Kosovo.



true grit!

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Rain Dance




Hopefully today's lunch time shower will break the drought and water-cuts we have been having since we arrived.

Leo is pretty excited about it anyway!







Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Chubby Leo

This is me with Leo at 11 weeks - pic taken 3 days ago.



He had his (almost) 3 month check-up today and these are the specs:

Weight - 6.040 kg
Length - 59 cm
Head circumference - 40 cm

His measurements are pretty much spot on for a kid his age, although he might be a bit chubbier than average - but it is true that he is a greedy guts and does like to eat a lot.

who are you calling chubby??

Monday, March 17, 2014

Cheeky Monkey

This cheeky monkey is ready for some games.  But he doesn't have a playmate.


Hang on a tic.  Who's this???


It's MONKEY!


But what the hell is he doing up there??




Come down MONKEY!


Gotcha!



Yeah!






Sunday, March 16, 2014

Scarface

Scarface is sleeping with the fishes.



Leo scratched up his face pretty good a couple of days ago.  You can see it in this pic, but it is already starting to heal.




Anyway, it made me bite the bullet and chop off his nails.  I've been avoiding it because I'd like him to grow up with 10 fingers.  But I'd also like him to grow up without bits gauged out of his face too.

He still has all his fingers!



Friday, March 14, 2014

Video of Leo's First Day!


In da hood


This is Leo today, about to go for a walk around the castle.  It is a beautiful day - probably nearly 20 degrees and sunny.  We were the only visitors in the castle grounds but there was a lot of activity - men were working in the gardens laying new soil, there were a couple of ladies looking after the castle ponies so we went over to say hello and the renovators were hammering away at the facade - looks like they are going to be there for a while.  Leo slept through most of it.


Thursday, March 13, 2014

A visit from the Cousin Chloe and the Great Grandparents

Cousin Chloe and Tati Christelle came for a visit today.  Leo and Chloe's Great Grandparents took advantage of the fact that they were both under the same roof to stop by for a cup of tea and some cuddles.


Leo taking after his Great Grandpa and getting into the argyle action


Pepe with his hands full

Chloe reaches out to Leo, who seems a bit ambivalent.

Kisses from Great Grandma - in a different jacket (she made both for him)
because he regurgitated milk all over the other one.

Another little mate for Leo was born 3 days ago in St Amand
 - this is the card we made for her this morning.



Leo and the Diggaboogas


Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Snuffleuppagus

After 3 days of Leo snuffling and struggling to breathe through the night - which meant I had to suck snot out of his little nose with a tube (he smiled while I did it!) - he is finally getting better today.

It is so nice to see him sleeping peacefully.  But a bit disconcerting now that he's breathing normally again and I can't hear every breath he takes!


Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Pics from the archives

I am just going through the camera chip to get rid of some old photos (they go back to Vanuatu!) and came across these pics from Leo's first day:




It is really hard for me to get my head around how much he has changed in 2 months!