Age = 9 months 10 days

Linus has learned a new face, thanks to his Granny. It’s a cheesy grin with his eyes squeezed almost shut, and it’s absolutely delightful!

Age = 9 months 9 days

Linus seems to be enjoying his new-found mobility. His latest move (now that the crawling has been mastered) is pulling himself up onto his knees. It’s very cute, but I’m afraid I’ve yet to get a photo of the feat. The only real problem with this move is that after strugging and grizzling and manoeuvring up to this triumphant position, he’s not so smooth on the descent – it usually involves a thump, a cry, and a cuddle

He also surprised us the other night by pulling himself to standing in the bath. The bath was only about 15cm deep, so I don’t think there was significant weightlessness involved… perhaps the nudity made him feel unencumbered and empowered?!

Linus has always been quite strong in the legs and keen on standing and walking with a bit of help. It’s tempting to say that he’ll be standing or walking any day now. But no. Because we’ve all been saying “He’ll be doing it within a week!” and “He’s right on the verge!” and “He’s nearly got it!” about crawling for two months, and that’s only just come to fruition. So I won’t be holding my breath on the walking.

Age = 9 months 3 days

After what feels like months of rocking on his hands and knees, moving from tummy to sitting, and grizzling because he can’t get to where he wants to go, my boy’s finally got crawling sussed! He hung out with his little friend SO on Saturday, and maybe watching her crawl around made it all sink in, but yesterday he crawled a few times, and now this morning he’s unstoppable!

It’s opening up a new era for Mummy and Daddy… everything within a metre of the floor is now suddenly within easy reach of Bug, so the serious child-proofing has to begin. Chemicals have been in a high cupboard and the fireguard‘s been up for a few months, but now all the less fatal hazards have to be dealt with. A couple of days ago I put in a bunch of electric plug blockers, and this morning I’ve boxed up the wires behind the TV (he seems to love finding all the wires in the house!).

My hope is that he’ll be a happier boy now that he can move around at will. He’s been grizzly of late, so I’m hoping I’m in for a month of (busy!) bliss!

Age = 8 months 30 days

What’s Up?

The biggest change in all our lives over the past couple of weeks is a biggy – I’ve started work!

I wasn’t looking for a job, but one popped up in my email (via the Seek job search website) and it was so ideal for me that I had to apply. The job description is exactly what I’m good at and like doing; the contract is fixed-term so that if I don’t like being back at work I don’t need to feel guilty if I decide not to hang in there long-term; it’s part-time only (17 hours a week); and it’s a foot in the door with two huge Dunedin employers – the University of Otago, who is the employer, and the Dunedin Hospital, where the offices are located.

So What’s The Job?

The job is Data Administrator for the Child and Youth Mortality Review Committee, a nation-wide Ministry of Health team that operates (in Dunedin) within Paediatrics section of the Dunedin School of Medicine. The database is intended to record details of every death in NZ of under 25-year-olds, with the aim of working out how such deaths can best be prevented. As such it involves a lot of quite harrowing work: the name of every child who dies in New Zealand – usually including their cause of death, a police report, or a coroner’s report – will be entered into the system by me.

It’s a fascinating opportunity for me to be in a completely different working environment from my previous jobs. I’ve worked in corporate and local authority jobs centred on engineering; now I’m in a healthcare and academic environment. It doesn’t get much more different than that!

What About Being A Mum?

I was in theory happy to stay at home full-time with Linus and be a Mum, and we don’t particularly need the money that my job will bring in. The main reason that I feel I need to work is that I’m scared of what would happen in five or ten years’ time if I decided to return to the workforce after an extended absence. I believe that I’d have to basically start my career from scratch, and I doubt I’d handle such a demoralising situation very well (I’m quite the whinger, dontcha know!).

What About Linus?

Linus is happy as a clam. He’s getting looked after by his Nana during the two and a half days a week that I work. Nana has always been closely involved in looking after Linus, and knows all his routines and quirks (she’s an expert at getting him to sleep!), so the change hasn’t been too traumatic for Linus (fingers crossed!).

This new arrangement also means that Linus gets to spend a lot of time with RR, the four-year-old Nana looks after a few afternoons a week, and they seem to be really enjoying each other’s company. (They’re so cute together; they have great big long nonsense conversations in the back seat of Nana’s car!)

Linus is often getting three small-ish meals of solids a day now, but Nana (SAINT Nana!) brings him in at lunchtimes so that I can breastfeed him. I have no intention of weaning him earlier than planned just to suit my job.

Can We Have An Irrelevant Photo of Linus Now?

Absolutely!