Family Newsletter #10

Hi family,

It's been 4 months, 2 weeks and 2 days, and today Pemi finally doubled his birth weight! What went into all this growth? A lot of milk, that's for sure, but not only.

For the first 100 days of Pemi's life we lived in a parental leave bubble. Summer days meant we had long evenings, ate all our meals in the garden, and Pemi woke up to sunny skies everyday. Every day was different: when he would eat, when he would sleep. Yet, we easily fell into a rhythm struck by the Pemi clock.

When he was born he was so small: a constant cycle of eating and sleeping occupied all his time. He was busy growing, getting stronger, and suddenly, I don't know when or how, he was awake. His eyes moved inquisitively around, he listened to our voices, he kicked his legs with anticipation.

And as his curiosity grew, so did the radius of our bubble. We started going on longer and longer outdoor trips - we called these Weekend Adventures with Pemi. We shared some of our favourite places with him: he smelled the seaborn wind on the south coast and felt raindrops on his nose in the Lake District.

Then on day 101, Pemi's first big travel adventure began. We went to the Cotswolds for a week with Andrew's family, and then we were off to Nice, chasing Andrew on his 100km journey, and finally visited Jasmine's parents in Italy before enjoying a blissful 10 days in the Swiss Alps.

Pemi changed so much in this period. His days picked up a rhythm: longer stretches of sleep at night, with shorter and shorter daytime naps. Suddenly there was so much awake time to experience the world! Instead of taking him for walks in the wrap when he needed a nap, we now took him with us during his wake windows and he gazed intently, studiously at the trees, the skies, the lines of the horizon.

Now, phase three begins. Andrew and Jasmine are both trying to balance being back to work and trading Pemi care.

So, what is Pemi doing with that whole 3.1 kg (6.8 lb) that he has gained in the last 4 months? He is giggling and gurgling, joining conversations with a whole range of sounds. He is kicking his legs vigorously (which according to the Health Visitor is why he's so lean), and trying to roll over. He's building core strength to sit up, and, perched in our arms like a meerkat, he turns his head around to intently study his surroundings. He will put everything his hands chance upon in his mouth, and will eagerly grab everything within his reach.

We can't wait to see what else he's going to learn next (more foods and moves are coming soon), and to share the journey with you all. Love,

Andrew, Jasmine, and Pemi