It’s like we are living in a sci-fi movie with the deserted streets and closed shops and restaurants… Coronavirus has changed our society and the way we live within days (or weeks if you’re in the UK with a government that’s been slow to react). This is the first week of lockdown in London. I admit I’m struggling to prevent anxiety creeping in but for me the best medicine is spending time with my kids -luckily, since there’s no escaping them now haha! They are of course completely unaware of the worries of the world and their innocence and excitement about little things is heartwarming. So for now I’m deliberately closing my eyes to what’s happening outside my home and am focusing on my little people and keeping them happy. It’s enough to check the evening news for the latest virus updates – live updates just feed the anxiety! I refuse to remember 2020 as the year of the deadly virus but the year my son was born! <3
Our baby Noah is already two-months old. He gets a little less attention than what his big sister did as our only child, or even now to be honest. Maia tends to take centre stage because she’s a very active, attention loving two-year old. But I’m making sure he won’t just be the “little nugget in the corner”, as we’ve joked, but gets all the love and cuddles he deserves. Noah is growing and developing fast and hitting new milestones every week. It’s exciting to see Noah’s personality come out little by little, but mostly he is still a mystery to us. I’m not rushing to get him into a sleep routine nor am I insisting him to always sleep in his Moses basket – I want to enjoy the baby cuddles and naps together while I can! After sleep training I’ll be stuck with the routine and I’ll miss this time (although I’ll no doubt be enjoying the sleep). Maia is still has a two-hour nap in the afternoon and that quiet time in the house is often the time I nurse and cuddle Noah (in peace), or we go out for walks. March is a beautiful time of the year in London and despite the cold spring so far this year, the nature is in full bloom!
Noah is a happy and content baby, most of the time. For short periods of time he is happy on his own, observing what’s happening around him and what he’s big sister is up to, lying on his play mat or sitting in his Baby Björn Bouncer Bliss. He can’t bounce himself yet but he has good views from it. Maia likes bouncing him too, which is helpful until she tries to catapult him off! I haven’t bought many things for Noah apart from clothes because we still have all of the baby equipment from Maia, but the bouncer is new and it’s been a great purchase! For Maia I bought the Mamaroo rocker but she never really loved it and so far Noah isn’t liking it either. Because it’s heavy and needs to be plugged into a power socket it’s of course stationary and stays in the corner of our playroom, which isn’t very convenient in a 3-story house! The Baby Björn bouncer is light weight and easy to carry around the house. It can be used from birth and is very ergonomic which is why I think Noah likes it so much. He even has little naps in it (the bouncer reclines).
Noah still prefers cuddles and being carried around, especially when tired, but not to the extent Maia did and I haven’t had to have him in the sling to get my teeth brushed! He’s getting a bit more interested now in toys hanging off his baby gym but what brings a smile to his face is when we play with him, making funny faces and chatting to him.
Poor little guy had his second cold soon after the first and the stuffy nose and runny eyes made him upset and disturbed his sleep but we are finally cold free! Unfortunately before he got better he passed it on to me and the end of February was quite grim. It’s awful when your kids are sick but it’s even worse when you’re sick yourself because the mum duty does not end! Luckily we had grandparents visiting and helping out so I could get some sleep and finally recover.
I think Noah’s digestive system is more developed now too and I haven’t had such hard time winding him after feeds. Burps come up easier and quicker and I haven’t used Infacol anymore unless he really seems to struggle. As a result, Noah isn’t sick as often anymore and we’ve had several vomit-free days which has been a relief to me. Night feeds are quicker too because I can focus on feeding and resettling him without having to spend ages burping him or mopping up baby sick and changing his (and my) clothes. He rarely has a poo at night time anymore which is also helpful and reduces the number of nappy changes and also means I get to go back to bed quicker!
Speaking of sleep… No change from a month ago. A good night is waking up twice, around 2am and 4am, to feed and after 5am he is mainly awake next to me in my bed, on the boob or cuddling. His longest sleep is 3-4 hours in the first half of the night so I’ve started going to bed earlier and earlier myself to benefit from that. He seems to sleep a bit better after a bath so I try to bath him every other night. I would love to bath him every night because he really enjoys it but my evenings are already so busy with Maia’s bath and bedtime routine, our dinner, feeding Noah, and tidying up the kitchen and putting Noah to bed, that I rarely even get a chance to sit down to relax or to spend time with my husband before I go to bed! When he grows older I can bathe them at the same time which will make it easier (or harder?!).
Noah was born with a lot of golden hair which is now turning white at the root! His hair is so thick it gets dirty quickly so I’ve started to wash it with baby shampoo. You should have seen his face as he was enjoying the shampooing! ❤️ He likes his baths in the Shnuggle Baby Bath he inherited from Maia. It’s easier to bathe him now that he can hold himself up better and isn’t as small and fragile as when he was first born and I can hold him with one hand and wash with the other. He likes to kick his legs to splash!
I also use the Sleepyhead snooze pod for naps because I can easily carry it around the house and do chores while he sleeps. He loves the blanket I knitted for him and I usually wrap him in it – it must smell like me (or milk). Maia tends to make so much noise though that his naps in the sleepyhead are short and distracted. He naps the best in the pram and now that I’m trying to limit our outings due to the coronavirus I’ve had him sleep in the pram on our balcony. I’m still using the baby monitor for Maia so I don’t like leaving Noah where I can’t see him but we’ve ordered a second one so I can soon start putting him down for naps in the bedroom – in theory at least! Let’s see what he thinks about it. He’s favourite sleeping place is, surprise surprise, in my lap.
Noah is getting big and strong and he can lift his head quite well now and turn it from side to side as he follows us with his gaze. He’s discovered his hands and arms and has started patting toys within his reach. Noah has also started vocalising and is making cute little sounds to his sister’s amusement. So a big change from the sleepy milk-loving bundle whose eyes were rarely open! We were meant to start Baby Sensory classes next month but as of now they are cancelled due to the virus which is understandable but a real shame. I think he would enjoy the sensory activities so I might Google some ideas to do at home. We are also signed up for Water Babies for the summer but time will tell whether we will get to go or not…
It makes me sad that we can’t see family now and they are missing out on Noah’s first months but the most important thing now is to stay safe and healthy. Hopefully this situation will be resolved by August and we can fly to Finland to show Noah my home country. We have booked a summer cottage on an island and I was looking forward to spending family time in the nature… Fingers crossed it’ll happen! For now we are making the most of video calls and send daily photos of the kids to grandparents.
I do feel very fortunate to have my husband and our kids to be isolating with. Our house us not a bad place to be stuck in either and I’m so grateful for our little garden! My life has been so domestic anyway, that this isolation has not had a huge impact on it. I’m actually quite enjoying having my husband around now that he is working from home as it means more family time.
On Tuesday Noah had his first round of immunisations. Normally they are done at 8-weeks but I didn’t take him there last week because I was alone with the kids and didn’t want to take Maia to the GP surgery unnecessarily to collect germs. Babies also tend to get poorly after the shots and I was worried about how I’d cope with them both if Noah got very sick. This week our nanny is back and she was able to look after Maia while I took Noah to see the nurse. I was worried about taking him to the surgery because of the coronavirus so I called them in advance to ask about it. I was advised to stick to the routine immunisations schedule as they are very important but instead of going to the drop in baby clinic to queue I was given an appointment at another surgery which is currently closed for face to face appointments. Apparently they only take babies in to minimise the risk of any infections. This gave me enough comfort to take him there.
Noah got two injections and one vaccine orally. He cried a bit but settled quickly on the boob. He also took the Calpol (paracetamol) like a champ. I kept giving him Calpol every four hours and it kept the temperature under control. For the next 48-hours he was a bit fussier and slept for shorter stretches but otherwise he was fine. Phew. Next round in four weeks.
I had planned to have Noah christened this summer when our family will have summer holidays and could come visit us but now I’m not sure if we can do that. For now all gatherings are forbidden and we aren’t allowed to even leave our homes let alone to travel across the country. Next month’s family get together in the countryside is also cancelled and presumably the Royal Ascot in June will be as well (we have tickets to go with family). So many things are on hold… But I try to stay positive and take it day by day. This too shall pass and we have many things to be grateful of.
xoxoxo,
Sini