Cooper David Garcia is here....

[rebecca]

Hi there everyone,

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted, or read any threads, not been able to get access to a computer and have been a little pre occupied with our new little addition..yep that is right..our son is born..

Cooper was born on the 16/2/2005 at 4.05am...he was a little early... I ended up having to be induced at 38 weeks and 1 day as apparently he had stopped growing and the doctors thought it better to get him out than leave him in...I was terrified...28 hours later and trying to have a natural birth and our little man arrived... 2.965kg and 49cm long (6pound 8 ounces)...he is so adorable and we love him lots....

Things are going pretty well for us...feeding well and sleeping like most newborns do..he goes down pretty well at night and only wakes every 3 hours in the night..the day is a little different though, but that is ok cause we can deal with that alot better than at night...He is now 5 weeks old and weighs a healthy 4.1kg and has started smiling and cooing since about week 3...although it is alot more noticeable now....

I have definetly missed you all and chatting and viewing the latest threads...as we do not have a computer at home..I am not able to get online that much, but will try to get to one once a week so we can all still keep in touch...

New mum question for you all while I am here....how do I know how much stimulation/play to give Cooper and at what ages do I introduce toys etc....I do not want to over stimulate him or under stimulate him and want to try and keep him active and able to play with age appropriate toys....also...do any of you mums out there have Baby Einstein DVD or the other one which I have forgotten the name of which you play to your bubs?????

Well, best get back to Cooper...Hope that you and your little ones are all well and I will log on again soon

Lots of Love
Bec and Cooper
MWA

[mamafelix]

Congratulations Bec!

I was wondering how you were going, sounds like you have a lovely little man and everything is going well!

I wouldn't worry too much about over or under stimulating him at the moment, everything is so new for them... I found that the things that Felix was the most interested in were common household items rather than the nice toys I bought him... sigh...

[razzle]

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/13/13_1_14.gif Congratulations Bec!! And welcome to little Cooper David!

I was wondering about you the other day! Glad to hear everything went well for you. As far as playing with Cooper - just do what feels right, you can't spoil him at this age! I found that Eloise liked toys that made a bit of noise like a gentle rattle or a little bell. Nice bright colours are good, and simple shapes.

Keep well and give a big snuggle to you new little man!
http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_4_109.gif

[Nickster]

:p Congratulations on the new addition, bec! How wonderful for you!I take it he's your first, I'm only new to this site, so I don't know.
I have babygenius dvd from abc shop, and my 16 week old couldn't care less about watching it! I started showing it to her at about 3 weeks, and she would appear to watch it for about 30 seconds, before deciding that the lamp above the entertainment unit was more exciting. Nothing much has changed, she still isn't that interested in it, however she loves watching football and cricket with her dad!
It doesn't matter what you do, it's like that ad on the TV, regardless of the expensive toys you buy, the baby prefers playing with the box they came in!
Having said that, she does love her musical activity gym, especially when daddy and mummy sing along with the tunes it plays!
Anyway, get plenty of sleep, don't fall into the trap I did and do housework when bub is asleep. Sleep and bub are no. 1 priority, everything else can wait.

[xkwzit]

Hi Bec (and Cooper)
Congratulations and you sound like you're both doing GREAT.

I asked my pead about toys at our 6 week check up and he said something along the lines of "why bother with toys - she'll learn much more by watching you, listening to your voice, looking at different things with you, rather than having toys".

When he's older, he'll express an interest in things, until then - don't push it, just expose to as much different stuff as possible (different places, music, sounds, smells).

Cheers

[rebecca]

Thanks everyone for the kind words and well wishes.....and also the advice....
Hope to hear from you all very soon....and keep updated on all the latest info

Have a great Easter!

Love Bec and Cooper

[Elfin]

Hi Rebecca

Congratulations on the birth Cooper and nice to see you back here even if it is a quick visit.

I agree that you are the best toy that Cooper can have. Sing lots of songs, nursery rhymes and read him some simple books, you can't start to read too young. Just follow his lead when he is sick of it just stop.

In terms of toys, my kidlets liked their activity gym, musical mobile and soft squishy kinds of toys. My daughter particularly loved this lamaze octopus which had a different plastic shape on the end of each tentacle. I found when they were little, small toys that they could hold were the best.

Easterlily :)

[H&B'sMum]

Congratulations Bec, I was wondering about you the other day....and here you are. I have to say Cooper was born on a great day (my birthday too!!!!!!!!!!) lots of pool birthday parties in the future.
Sounds like you are both doing great. I'm sorry you didn't get the birth you wanted but you did get the end result.
We miss you on here, hope to hear from you soon.

[jakobsmum]

*~*~*~*Congratulations!!*~*~*~*

Welcome to the world Cooper!!

Was just thinking of how you were going when I received your pm. Thank you for sharing you story with us.

I used to put Jakob in his rocker that had toys on it. Cooper will give you clues as to what toys he will like. When Jakob could hold something I gave him a rattle, when he had tummy time I would give him an activity board and so on. You will know when he has had to much play as his tired signs will start. Grizzling, jerky movements etc.

Take care and enjoy this precious time, before you know it you will be celebrating his 1st birthday! Give him a big kiss and cuddle for me xoxoxo