So how to sumarise almost 5 months?

Suffice to say:

• We’ve gone from smown, to smile, to cough, to eh eh, to da da, to roar.

  We’ve survived Jacob’s first trip overseas (Caulfield is overseas right?)

  We’ve made it through the 44 degree heatwave with not even a whimper.

  He’s learnt to put himself to sleep

  Started eating solids (surely mashed up food does not count as solids)

  Outgrown the sink

  Managed to propel himself backwards

  Grown hair (this is a sore point with me!)

I’ll let Jacob speak for himself:

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Also, I’ve uploaded 5 months worth of photos which are broken down into 5 galleries:

January 2009

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December 2008

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November 2008

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October 2008

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September 2008

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Smown - half smile meets frown

Jacob has now graduated from frowning to smowning, according to the Oxford English Dictionary the smown…..

Smown \Smown\, n. [CF. Paul. smoun, Sw. smown. See Smile, Frown v. i.]

1. The act of trying to smile whilst frowning; a peculiar change or brightening of the face, which expresses pleasure, moderate joy, mirth, approbation, lack of poo in the nappy or kindness; — opposed to frown.

2. A facial expression characterized by turning up the corners of the mouth; frowning and dripping milk from the corner of the mouth - usually shows pleasure or amusement;

[syn: smile, smiling, grin, grinning]

Sometimes it looks like he’s smiling but Lara is convinced it’s just his fillin’ the nappy face, still I’m sure he’ll  get there very soon. He’s doing extremely well for 6 weeks old and continues to eat,

I've got more hair than my Dad!

sleep, poo, coo, frown and now smown.

Whilst he’s still not into fine dining or haute couture he does like a Chateau de Mama 08 (not exactly an 87 Petrus)  and this season’s Bonds BabyGrow in Blue. Indeed he’s so into his Chateau de Mama that he has now developed baby jowls and little podgy thighs – most people probably think that is cute (which it is) but anyone with kids will know that chubby thighs means one more place for stuff to get stuck ……. you know what I’m saying!

In other news, he started shedding some hair which I jokingly thought about gathering up to weave into a baby toupee -only to find out that there is actually a website called BabyToupee.com who sell joke wigs for babys. Yeegads! I’ve actually found all sorts of weird baby stuff on the internet……

Weird baby Outfits such as the Baby Car Freshner Outift the Baby Chicken Outfit or the Baby  Lobster Outfit

(I had a chat with Jacob about it and he’s expressed an interest in the Baby Mop Outfit which would allow him to stay warm and clean the floor at the same time. )

We’ve also been looking at 20 Baby Products Great For Traumatizing Infants as well as Bizarre Baby Products and we’re happy to accept any gifts from these sites

It’s been a busy few weeks for the wee fella, with lots of visitors:

his Great Auntie Ilona and Family came to visit from Canberra

his cousin Cassie came with JR from Sydney

he attended his Grandparents Wedding Anniversary

his meshuganah Caulfield “Auntie” Deb and “Uncle” David came to visit (note, not really relatives but I love the whole Uncle/Aunt thing that kids are sometime oblidged to call friends of their parents – plus the Opats are like family!)

More soon, meanwhile here’s a general gallery:

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And some pictures of the Nichterlein Family Visit

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Call that a frown?

and what a week. I’ve finished my leave and started back at work which has been a bit of a shock to the old system; being up at the crack of dawn has it advantages:

1. I get into work ridiculously early and get a lot done – Facebook, MSN, Skype (Millsy I am only kidding!)
2. I get a seat on the train so don’t get stuck like a sardine between the terribly bad busker with the halitosis/trumpet and the crackhead smoking ice.
3. I get to experience the fine winter Melbourne mornings; this morning this entailed clearing 2 inches of ice of the car at 6.15am rather than being in a warm bed.

After a hard night at the Milk Bar.....

Unfortunately it also has disadvantages:

1. Not spending the whole day with my wife and son
2. Being in a Zombie like state by lunchtime even after 15 cups of coffee
3. See point 3 above.

Still, it pays the bills so mustn’t grumble.

Lara and I are both discovering a new found appreciation of the powernap, indeed the quote by Leo J Burke that

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one.

has never been truer. Jacob has started his PH.D in sleep with a specialisation in Ooops my hands have popped out and startled me awake - do babies not understand that the hands are part of their bodies; the thought process seems to be:

“Oooh I’m asleep dreaming of milk – happy and content.”

“HANG ON, WHAT THE $%# ARE THESE? 5 fingers and a wrist…hmmm that;s strange? Don’t know… errrr.. I know, I’ll cry. WAH WAH OINK ETC”

And so it goes on…

So getting back to the week that was, Jacob finally got his new blinds set up and his room is looking pretty sharp.

My Pirate Blinds – Shiver me timbers ARRRRR!

Unknown to Lara and I, he even managed to sneak a girl in there – he says they just talked about milk but I’m not convinced. (The onus is on you Ruby Krug of the Caulfield Krugs!).

Anna came down from Woy Woy with Asher and Charlie and we had a “Meet the little cousin” day on Saturday then a Sister’s Day today- AFAIK it’s all secret women’s business. As mentioned above the Krugs made the 12 hour flight from Caulfield to stop by on Friday and so did Limor and Lisa. (Thanks for the Muffins!)

Onwards and upwards…..

Here’s this week’s gallery, which we’ve titled Arty Farty due to someone messing around with the settings on the camera and getting obsessed with a certain someone’s fingers.

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So, it’s Sunday morning and miraculously I have managed a whole seven and a half hours of sleep and Lara has managed almost ten – hence the update to the website!

It’s been over a week since we came home and Jacob has now developed an impressive array of skills, these mainly consist of:

• Pooing / Pishing - including the dreaded Arc de Pish (also known as “Watering My Mum/Dad’s Face“
• Sleeping – which he seems to have mastered well, except when he decides that his fingers just have to be in his mouth and so startles himself awake.
• Frowning - without a doubt Jacob’s most well honed skill; indeed if there was an Olympic Frown Contest, our son would win.

Let me illustrate this with the following shots:

It’s almost as if he’s trying to emulate the infamous Blue Steel of Zoolander fame; here’s a side by side comparison:

Jacob Cina

Derek Zoolander

See the resemblance?

Perhaps the frown is because my parents have come to the end of their trip and gone back to Glasgow We’ll all miss them but will hopefully see them soonish – it’s only 12,000km after all.

In other news, we’ve had some major renovations going on this week and now have new blinds up and, more importantly, a new usuable sofa. (the old one was past redemption.) So feel free to pop round and recline whilst admiring the blinds and cuddling Jacob!

Until next time.

Edit – Oops, I forgot the gallery.

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Thanks to everyone for joining us and making it so special and a huge thanks for all the gifts! A special BIG THANKS to Anna Goulston for coming all the way from Sydney – we really appreciated it and were so glad you were there.

I’ll write more later, for now enjoy the photos.

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We missed two days of posting onto the website due to a combination of no sleep, no feeding and me running around cleaning up the house before Lara and Jacob finally came home. (Surely I’m not the only man who makes a mess whilst his wife is away?!?!? )

I’m still not sure how but somehow during Lara and Jacob’s 6 days in hospital they managed to go from one small bag to six fairly big ones… which yours truly had to take down 2 lifts and maneuver into the car. (It’s a talent of Lara’s which I am hoping Jacob will not inherit). I guess part of it is all the stuff they give you in hospital – booklets, pamphlets, health cards and what they refer to as bounty bags and I refer to as hook them whilst their vulnerable bags.

At 3pm we raced away from the hospital with Lara feeling like she had just come out of years in some weird mental institution to her first glimpse of a strange and alien world (we call it "the outside"):

"What are those green things Paul?"

"Trees, Lara"

We got home after both fretting about "Is he safe in his car seat?" and gave the wee fella a tour of the premises and his new house. Either he didn’t like it or he has the Cina Genes because he promptly gave himself a warm little not so little housewarming present necessitating a bath.

More soon as it’s 1.38am and my hand is all patted out .

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P.S. Comments are now fixed so feel free to leave one!

In other news, Jacob has a wee posse of very young female admirers – Gali and Maya visited and Gali was more than slightly keen. Unfortunately for Gali, he has had his first wedding proposal from none other than Ruby Krug of the Caulfield Krugs. Lara and I think she is perfect marriage material for our son but we just aren’t too sure about her parents…

We’re both exhausted yet somehow my amazing wife manages to keep going and I’m even more in awe of her than ever.

The Brit Milah בְּרִית מִילָה (circumcision) is at 9.30am this Friday, 11th July at Rena and Alex’s House – text or email for more details.

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Lara and I both got some rest so are feeling closer to human (whether we will ever be fully human again is another question) and she is up and walking about. However, she chose to ignore the the doctor’s advice about resting/relaxing and watched the Collingwood match – definitely not relaxing and more than likely very depressing Still a 29-point upset win over Sydney is not bad going!

Today Jacob had his first set of non Grandparent visitors, and continuing on from above, we would ( ok, Lara would) especially like to thank Limor, Dave and the boys for the Magpies booties and bib – I was hoping he’d have a chance in life but it looks like he’ll be following in his mother’s footsteps with extremely poor taste in AFL. Not even 36 hours old and he is already a Magpies fan

More soon as we’re all a bit tired.

Lara, Paul and Jacob (now also going under the brand name of Jake, JK, wee man) xx

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We went in at 7.30pm last night and Jacob was born at 11.45am this morning (4th July / 2 Tammuz 5768); weighing in at 3.64 kilos (or 8lb in ye olde system) . He’s gorgeous with black hair, a loooooooooooooong body (wonder where he gets that from?!?!?) and the softest skin either of us has ever felt.

We’re all doing well, Lara is back on the lollies which must be a good sign. I am stunned and in absolute of awe of her – she was amazing.

We’ll write more once we have slept but for now a huge thank you to everyone who has called/texted/cried/awwwww’d/emailed etc. Feel free to visit and enjoy the pictures.

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View Larger Map

According to the official blurb:

The hospital visiting hours are: 2.30pm – 8.00pm.

If these times are not suitable for particular visitors, other arrangements may be organised with the nurse in charge. Children visiting the hospital are welcome, but we ask that they be accompanied by an adult at all times.

Visitor car parking is available in the new multi-storey underground carpark accessed as per the map below. (Click to enlarge)

Or you can click to [download#1#nohits] which gives you the full “Help, I can’t find the hospital guide”.