Alec: the first two weeks

I realise that, by rights, I shouldn't actually have time to write a blog now that I have a two and a half week old baby. But the truth is that we bought him in the Shop of Quiet and Peaceful Babies and, so far at least, he has not proved nearly as much hard work as we expected. Alec is an eater and a sleeper. If he is not eating he is sleeping, and if he is not doing either of those two things then he might just be looking around and taking in the world for a bit before reverting back to one of the former activities. He doesn't cry unless he is hungry or perhaps a little bored, and although his waking hours are increasing more and more every day, so far he seems very content with the little life that he has been given. Neither are we sleep deprived (I know! Ignore what all the books tell you!). Because, with the exception of our first night at home from hospital, when everything was new and strange to him, we have not endured any sleepless nights. He sleeps from around 11pm until 4-5am when he wakes for a feed and then goes back to sleep until 8-9am. This is not a brag - I'm fairly sure that we have little or nothing to do with this blissful situation - and I am only too aware that this could all change at any moment. Babies are not known for their predictability. But for now, we are extremely happy parents, very much enjoying getting to know this tiny little human.

I can't say that we've done anything dramatically exciting during these first couple of weeks that would be of interest to anyone. But we've been getting out and about a bit, with a few walks nearby, a trip into Geneva for a walk and some lunch, a few errands here and there, and our first visit to CERN on Friday. Parenting seems to be all about timing and planning as far as I can tell. If I want to leave when he's wide awake he will grumble and be put out. But if I feed him before we leave the house he will be sleepy enough to be bundled up into his snowsuit and put in his pram, where he'll happily sleep for the next couple of hours, completely oblivious to the lovely places you are taking him. He has more or less slept through all of our outings so far, including the visits to see friends and their babies, some of whom have tried to persuade him that crying is the way to get what you want, but he is having none of it.

So, in summary, here are some of the things he likes:

Sleeping

Sleeping on Daddy

Sleeping in the sling

Sleeping on Mummy

Cuddles with Mummy

Bathtime

And some of the things he's less keen on:

Being bundled up in a ridiculously over-sized snowsuit

Being bundled up as a starfish

Apologies for the photo-heavy blog post this time, but it beats giving you the lowdown on the minutiae of nappy changes, breastfeeding and sleep cycles. For the record, babycare is, as Andy feared, mostly characterised by 'poo, milk and vomit'. But these delights are also served with a liberal sprinkling of laughter, cuteness and sheer awe, so it's not hard to enjoy the whole experience.

Tomorrow, we are off to La Thuile for our first nights away from home. Andy is giving a talk at a conference there and Alec and I have decided to go along for the ride. It might seem terribly bold to be taking our newborn away so early on, but it seemed preferable to me being left behind to deal with all the vomit and nappies by myself for a few days. And really all Alec desires in life is milk, somewhere cosy to sleep and not to be bundled up in inappropriate clothing. Although, unfortunately for him, La Thuile is in the mountains so both the over-sized snowsuit and starfish blanket are coming along too. Tune in next time for news of our inevitable decline into inconsolable crying episodes and sleep deprivation.