Having a giggle ...

I shot this video this morning after noticing that Kanthika was highly amused by the sight of me sweeping the living room - can't think why, probably because he's never seen me do it before :-) The little guy is just over 7 months old now and getting more interesting by the day.

In between eating, drinking and sleeping he's managed to grow a couple of teeth so that adds another task to our daily routine - brushing. He didn't enjoy that so much the first couple of times but today was quite happy to open wide and let me brush everywhere. When I went to buy the toothpaste, I was amazed at the number of flavours available - the most interesting one was 'Banana'. I went for the much more boring 'Mint' flavour because it was sugar free. Anyway, I am not sure how much toothpaste Kanthika is going to ingest over the next few months but at least the toothpaste shouldn't cause his teeth to decay!

Big smile ...

Big smile
Originally uploaded by akbandara.

Although the little guy has been smiling at us (and sometimes by himself) for some time now, it hasn't been easy to get a picture of him doing so. Everytime we get camera out he starts to look very serious again so it was really great when I managed to snap this pose. He seems to be getting used to having his picture taken now so we are looking forward to having more examples of his smile in our albums soon :-)

On a roll ...

Rolling Over
Originally uploaded by akbandara.

The days seems to be just flying by and it's hard to believe it's mid-summer already. England has had one of the wettest June/July periods for a long time but luckily most of the rain seems to be in the day time when I am at work :-)

Kanthika is over 3 months old now and starting to become a lot more active. Today saw a major milestone when he managed to roll over by himself. He;s been trying to do this for the past week or so now and always needed a little bit of help from Uthpala or myself until today. However, just after lunch we put him down on his play mat and he suddenly rolled over in one go - I think he was as pleased (and surprised!) at we were at seeing the world from a different perspective all on his own. I can see him having alot of fun with this, although he can't roll back on his own yet so we're going to have to keep a close eye on him.

3 months up ...

Uthpala & Kanthika
Originally uploaded by akbandara.

Time certainly seems to be flying by. Kanthika is now 3 months old and is getting bigger (and louder!) by the day. Here is sitting on Uthpala's lap which seems to be one of his favourite places :-) ... It is getting a little harder to keep carrying him around as he gets heavier and also sometimes he can cry out so loud that it is a little hard to stay in the same room with him. Nevertheless, these occassions are thankfully few and are rarely without cause - wet nappy, empty tummy, boredom are all valid reasons in his book. My parents are taking a short trip over the coming week so Uthpala and I are getting some practice at coping on our own. So far so good, although we have to take the little guy for some immunisations on Wednesday so things might be a little challenging afterwards. The last time we went to the Doctor's for this, he was rather upset with us for letting the nurse jab him not once, but twice (there were two separate vaccinces to be given), with us standing right next to him. Hopefully a repeat of the same this week won't shake his confidence in our parenting abilities :-)

Hanging out with Thatthi ...

Hanging out with Thatthi ...
Originally uploaded by akbandara.

Kanthika is almost two months old now and things are starting to get interesting - for him and us. He is becoming increasingly curious of his surroundings and enjoys grabbing hold of his rattle toys whenever he can. For us it is amazing to see him figure out little things and develop day by day - his latest thing is making the odd cooing or gurgling sound when we talk to him.

This picture was taken when we went for a walk around Willen Lake (which is close to our home in Milton Keynes) over the weekend. Unfortunately, despite the sunny weather the temperatures near the water were pretty low and Kanthika wasn't able to stay outdoors for too long. So we took a break in one of th cafes and just hung out for a while watching some braver souls water skiing.

Tomorrow is a big day for the little guy with his next round of immunisations due. His first injection was the BCG vaccine which he hardly noticed, but we are told that tomorrow's ones will be a little more painful because they are intra-muscular. Hopefully he won't be too distressed by the experience though.

I think I'm full ...

I think I'm full ...
Originally uploaded by akbandara.

Kanthika is 1 month old now but somehow it feels like he has been a part of our life for much much longer. Uthpala and I are finding that our days and nights a getting a litle blurred as we work our way from feed to nappy change and 3-4 hours of sleep. The little guy is slowly getting into a routine and sleeping solidly between feeds more often now so things are not so bad. This picture was taken just after one of his feeds and as you can see he might have taken in just a little too much :-)

It's all being put to good use though since he is growing by leaps and bounds. Already he's outgrown his first set of clothes and I noticed today that the second batch can't be considered 'too big' for him. Given that we were a little worried about how small he was at birth, this is great news.

Uthpala's mother has now gone back to Sri Lanka but my parents are still around to help us out as necessary. Our first 'fully solo' parenting experience is going to be in a couple of weeks time when we have to take Kanthika to the hopsital for his first vaccincation while my parents are away visiting some friends. Hopefully it will all go fine!

Kanthika Hasantha ...

We've known that a new chapter in life is on the horizon for the past 9 months, and finally on 27 March 2007 the moment arrived and our son was born. Kanthika Hasantha Bandara was born just before 11am at Milton Keynes General Hospital and has understandably become the centre of daily life for Uthpala and myself.

We are slowly getting used to a new routine where sleep has to be grabbed in 2-3hr slots whenever and wherever we can :-) Nevertheless, it is going to be quite a while before we can say we are 'in the groove' of parenthood. At the moment, every new experience, be it feeding, changing nappies or comforting our son when crying can be a challenge but nevertheless it is all an enjoyable experience. Needless to say our lives will never be the same again.

I have another week or so of paternity leave to look forward to getting know the little guy better and also helping Uthpala adjust to our new responsbilities. Thankfully we have parents staying with us at the moment so help is at hand whenever we need it.

Watch this space for news and developments - I can guarantee there will be lots!

Pausing for breath ...

After a long time I get a moment to make a post here. It's going to be a short one because life is very busy these days. It is funny how the impending arrival of a baby has a tendency to turn you life upside down! :-) Expected delivery date in less than a month - watch this space for more news.