Béla, week 14 (a little bit late...)

This past week we were rather remiss with picture-taking. It's not that we didn't do a lot, it's just that we often didn't have our camera with us. Thursday I was ridiculously productive, going to the foreigner's office to get Béla's visa in his passport, so that he's allowed to stay here, then going to the childcare bureau and signing him up for one of the city-sponsored day care centres for when our parental leave is over, and then going to yet another office with all my paperwork in tow to finally get a German driver's licence. (Jeremi switched his licence over a couple of months ago, but I had to get a letter from the BC licencing bureau stating that I'd had a licence there earlier than the issuing date of my current licence, so that I didn't have a probation period with my new licence.) That was a lot of bureaucracy for one day!

I also went out for lunch with a friend (with a baby) on Wednesday, and on Tuesday went to visit a colleague, Silvana, who's also on parental leave, after adopting a baby at the beginning of October. Her little girl, Paula, was born three months premature, on July 15th, so while she's officially 1.5 months older than Béla, her due date was more than 1.5 weeks after his. She's still pretty tiny, and Silvana's worried about infections still, so they don't go out so often. No problem, I said, we can come see you. And Béla was his usual self, charming and friendly, smiling, falling asleep in my arms for a little nap, until suddenly, he became a monster. I'm still not sure why, but he screamed for 45 minutes straight. Nothing I did would calm him down at all. He didn't want to eat, he'd already had a good sleep, he was just incredibly angry. This is really unusual for him, and Silvana was asking me what I usually do, and I mentioned that if he doesn't calm down when I walk around carrying him, sometimes I'll go up and down the stairs a bit. Then she was feeling so sorry for me, imagining me walking up and down the stairs endlessly with a screaming baby. What must the neighbours think, she said. I tried to explain that it really wasn't so bad, and he's usually a really easy baby. She's also used to a tiny and rather weak baby, and couldn't believe how loud he cried. It hurts my ears! she said. I tried to tell her that this was normal - he's not an exceptionally loud baby, but when he screams, it's hard to miss. In the end she had her husband drive me home, because she wouldn't let me leave with a screaming baby. It was a terrible, stressful afternoon, and it made me never want to leave the house with him again. But then, I got up the next day and went out for lunch with a friend, and it was okay.

We also had a really busy day on Saturday. Kerrin, a woman I met in my prenatal class, and who I've been meeting with about once a week to go for hikes, had invited me over to make Christmas cookies. The idea was that with four parents and two babies (her daughter is 9 days older than Béla), we should be able to get some cooking done. It was so much fun! Béla and Hanna (her daughter) hung out with each other and their dads (mostly), while we baked, and occasionally swapped jobs to feed the babies. Unfortunately we didn't bring our camera with us, so there are no pictures of them competing to see who could hold their head up the longest while on their bellies (Hanna won, but to be fair, Béla's head is a lot bigger), and who could poop on the most outfits in one day (it was a tie). But at least I took a picture of some of the cookies when we got home! Mmm... Very tasty.

And Saturday night we went out for supper with our friends from the Spanish Stammtisch in Jena, including Valentina, who had just submitted her thesis, and her boyfriend Raul (who used to be in our German class), who was visiting from Barcelona for the weekend. And after a great supper, I fed Béla one more time, and sent him home with Jeremi, and then went out without a baby. It was fabulous. (And of course, we have no pictures at all.)

But finally, some pictures that we do have! It's incredible seeing how much better he's getting with his hands day by day. This rattle is now his favourite thing to play with, as it has lots of handles, and it's nice to chew on.
And, as promised, a picture of Béla going for the jugular of his sweatersaurus.
And finally, because I realized that I didn't have many pictures from last week, I tried to take pictures throughout the day on Monday, to document a day in the life of our little man. Here he is upon waking up in the morning, when he's invariably happy.
Most people in my family think he looks like Jeremi's dad, but I think this is only because they don't know his male cousins on the Woods side. Look at this picture, and tell me he doesn't look like David or Mike (and it's not just the dimples!).
Starting the day with a quick feed...
...and then sucking on his receiving blanket for a while.
Going to change that full diaper...
...and then hanging out on the activity mat for a while. Here he is after throwing himself onto one of the cushions set up so he can practice sitting.
And, briefly, actually sitting, supported by his gorilla-like knuckles. (There's also a drool-bomb caught mid drip, if you look carefully.)
And, his favourite, practicing standing, while playing with the dangling items from his arch from a different perspective.
Then we moved to the kitchen so I could make lunch. He settled down in the chair we have in there to play with his rattle while I cooked.
Once lunch was ready, we settled down to read a book while waiting for Jeremi to get home. (He's actually home at this point, and is taking the picture.)
Then Béla laid down on the chair for a while while talking to us, as we enjoyed our lunch.
Or at least Jeremi enjoyed his lunch...
...while I held him for a while. (I got to eat after, once Jeremi was done and could take the baby.)
After lunch Jeremi tried on a silly hat...
...while Béla sat on cousin Itt.
And then he pooped all over, necessitating a diaper and outfit change.
And now there were little dogs on his feet! (As an aside, Jer doesn't usually come home for lunch, and I usually go out during the day. This day wasn't entirely typical.)
And then Béla slowly fell asleep...
...and woke up some time later, happy again! Feeding and changing followed yet again.
Then he hung out on a chair in the spare room (which will be his room one day, if he ever stops sleeping in our room), while I hung up laundry. This is made more interesting by the fact that I generally sing and/or talk to him all day long.
Then there was some more active time on the mat...
...and then back to the kitchen to work on supper! The wool blanket now gets chewed and sucked on.
Then Jeremi was home from work again, and while we were getting supper ready we were wondering if the snowsuit we had for him would fit, as we'll likely have to use it when we go to Canada. And so he tried it on for the first time, and was adorable. (And yes, it fit.) Look at the little dogs poking out the cuffs!
After supper he was a bit fussy, so his dad played with him and walked him around...
...until he managed to get him asleep in the sling. Then we could head out to the English Stammtisch, which meets at a bar nearby on Monday evenings.
Here they are hanging out, splitting a beer.
And then back home, and to bed. Jer's giving him a bottle of expressed breastmilk here, as he does pretty well every evening. I try to pump at least one bottle a day, so Jer can feed him in the evening, which lets me do things like go out to yoga, but also lets me cook supper or work on something else while the two of them hang out.
Usually at this point we just put him in his little bed between us, spin his mobile a few times, and he falls to sleep. Monday he didn't feel like following this pattern however, and there was a lot more walking and singing involved than usual. Finally, he fell asleep, and Jeremi was soon to follow.
And there you have it, a day in the life of Béla!