2 and a bit months. 2018.

I've been really slack on the blogging front. Because, baby. Also I lost the charging cord to my laptop.

My wee man is 10 and a bit weeks old. If you follow me on insty, you will have been well and truly spammed by photos of him, and will see that he is very cute. We are besotted. We are working him out. Well, mainly me, as my partner has gone back to work.

We man started smiling at 6 weeks and 2 days, after an early morning feed. His preferred time to be smiley and cute is in the middle of the night/early morning. He has started laughing and cooing. I know the difference between his tired cries, his hungry cries and his generally annoyed / fractious cries. We have had our first vaccinations; he cried but I managed not to.

Feeding wise, we were going well and weaning the formula after help from a lactation consultant, but wee man went through a growth spurt and got hungrier. He resents the boob when he is hungry and the milk won't flow freely. Hence, he is happier and I am happier if he is fed, and to do that, we give formula to fill him up after a boob. A bit of both. Why is there not more education about mixed feeding, I wonder?

Sleeping wise, he is doing some good chunks, we had a chunk of 7 hours after a particularly epic evening Witching hour.

We took bubs to New Zealand last week, to meet my fella's extended family. They were suitably enamoured and got some nice smiles and cuddles. Wee man met his 88 year old great great auntie. Getting the passport photo was not a simple undertaking, but we got there in the end. We stayed near a shopping centre, there was a Santa photo stall without a queue so we carpe'd the diem.

I have physically recovered well after my c-section, and I have gotten right back into crossfit. Wee man sits in his capsule in the corner and mostly sleeps. He is much more settled out and about than at home. The more hubbub, the better.

I am carrying 10 extra kilos from the pregnancy. I tried a weight loss program, but it was too hard at this stage. It will take a lot more than general healthy eating and exercise to shift the pooch - I hold onto body fat like a sloth and I would be the last to die in a famine. After I finish breastfeeding, I can give the weight a good nudge. I am embracing elasticated waists, flat shoes and no makeup.

I am enjoying the cuddles and the being still and drinking him in. It's precious time. It's long awaited. We are looking forward to our first Christmas as a family of three.

It's a time to reflect on the year. I looked back at my posts from 2017, a year ago. That was a hard, lonely, frustrating and sad year. After a lot of anger and "why me", I finished it with a desire to make the best of whatever eventuated. I was tired of longing.

As remiss as I am to write off or laud whole years, I can say that 2018 has been wonderful. My son. An engagement. Our new house has been built and we can move in next month. I got a new role at work. I get emotional thinking about the challenges past, and feel incredibly, utterly grateful for all that this year has brought. A part of me is terrified that something will be ripped away from me, but I try and keep that part at bay.

I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and a wonderful 2019. I hope you are happy and safe.