Home Alone with Mama

Otis is finding himself in the day to day company of happy yet tired-looking woman who seems unable to stop herself from cuddling him and talking in strange tongues at him.

Otis has been very lucky to have been given the most wonderful little outfits, hand knitted by loved ones. Here's one made by cousin Flora,

matched beautifully with this purple cardi and hat combo  from Granny Veck:

and smart booties from Alex and Cat!
 In other news, Aunty Paula came to stay (read: save the day) for a few weeks and we were out and about sight seeing and making the most:

Once a week or so, Otis chats to Nona and Tata in Australia,

 who are expert in speaking baby gaga:

Aunty Julie

 Otis loves receiving visitors and most recently 
he's been with Papa G Veck, Julie and Josie and co.











Otis also took his first long car ride last weekend, all the way to Portsmouth to visit Papa. Of course we had to make a pit stop on the way...     

    
















 

 ... and it was all cuddles and lots of snuggles with family for the day.
















Out walking with Granny Veck:  

Back at home with Mama again:

Someody's learning to smile!

Little man has just started to show us his smile! How very clever he is!

In other news, Otis has put on 1kg in the last two weeks and is looking lovely and squishy.

To infinity and beyond...

 

We are very proud to present Otis' first mission into space.

 

A week in the life of Otis

It's been a monumentally epic week all round, learning all of the things which nobody tells you before you have a baby! Lots of first times for Otis which you'll see in the video, and just starting to feel able to have visitors now.

It seems that Otis loves hanging out by the fire, having baths in the sink and being carried around in the sling. Otis definitely doesn't like having his nappy changed or having vests clumsily and badly pulled over his head by his Dad.     

Back home at last

After a bit of a long stint in hospital (3 nights) we have finally got back home to our cosy house near Bath. Otis has immediately relaxed more and is sleeping well and entertaining us constantly, just by looking around and being extremely cute!

We didn't really want to spend any time in hospital, and the majority of the birthing process happened at home with the amazing assistance of our midwives and a lovely birthing pool lent to us by friends.

A few complications with getting the little man out led to us popping into an ambulance and going for a bit of a change of scene. Otis was then born with the expert assistance of a very quick and skilled doctor with lightning reactions. Unfortunately Otis got a bit of jaundice and so a few days on the blue light mat were called for.

Our hospital stint saw me becoming yo-yo hunter gatherer husband - fighting the evils of the hospital food with homemade dinners and sandwiches, and collecting treats to keep everyone happy.  Babs coped amazingly well despite being desperate to get home and made the most of the expertise by getting lots of help with feeding, and general advice from the midwives. Luckily for us, we had Otis TV to watch and keep us happy!

Trying to wake Otis for a feed was tricky but also quite funny!