Andrew only has one day left of his 6 weeks of parental leave, and I officially drop back to 3 days a week at work next week. This means that next week Nathan starts childcare 3 days a week. The day we have agonised about is coming, and both Andrew and I are still agonising over our decision to put Nathan into child care. Neither of us want Nathan to go into child care, and I don’t really think he is ready for it. Part of that reason is because Nathan still is learning how to go to sleep and won’t do it on his own in the cot yet, part is because we have quite an alternative parenting style to most people and I don’t want to confuse him or have him in situations where he won’t be able to be comforted when needed because there are 4 other babies being looked after by the same carer, and part is because he’s our baby and still changing so quickly and neither of us want him to grow up while we are away from him. I guess that the bottom line is that we decided to have a baby, and we think it’s our responsibility to bring him up and it shouldn’t be left to some stranger to do it for us. However, we live in Sydney and have a mortgage and I thought that we wouldn’t be able to survive on one wage in order for someone to stay home. I was also feeling responsible for a project I do at work that is due to be finished by the end of the year and felt compelled to return to work to get it finished. I never thought I’d be interested in being a stay-at-home-mum either, but interestingly I feel quite differently about that now! I’m not saying I’d never want to go back to work, but I would like to spend a bit longer looking after Nathan! Andrew is currently suggesting that I take next year off to look after him, and to rethink my career (I feel the need for a change right now). I’m just waiting to see how 3 days a week of work will go before making any decisions on that front.
Anyway, back to Nathan’s development. He’s crawling properly (and quickly) without the little jump that was a part of his crawling style before. He’s also standing very well now, even when supporting himself with just one hand. He still wobbles and it will be a while before he will be able to stand unsupported, but he’s standing at every opportunity. He will also take steps if encouraged, and now that he has a Wheelie-Bug he will walk along behind it (with either Andrew or I making sure that it doesn’t move too quickly for him). He’s also turning pages when we read books, and loves knocking down Leggo towers that Andrew builds. Actually, it’s Quatro that is made by Leggo but don’t seem to be available in Australia anymore! Nathan has really discovered birds too, and just stops and stares at them whenever he sees any. And finally, he’s now had his first bad cold and has been sick with elevated temperatures, conjunctivitis, coughing, sneezing, and being so congested that he’s found it difficult to breathe while breastfeeding. Thankfully he’s well on the mend now, even though his cough and blocked nose persist. He got weighed at one of his appointment with the GP, and he weighed in at just under 8.5 kg (fully clothed).
Sounds like things are going well. Good luck with nathan starting childcare and you deciding what you would like to do about work. You have done such an amazing job and I hope the child care centre you have chosen will continue your routines, as much as possible.
My kids love lego too. We don’t have any quatro (which you CAN still buy, normally at myer). But we have primo, which is for babies and has even bigger bumps and holes than the quatro! Great stuff. Felix loves his duplo now.
K x