Two weeks later, time has arrived to share my first observations of Peter – my newly arrived son. Most of what he has done during this time is pretty much sleeping, crying and eating. Yet every now and then he also remains quiet for a couple of minutes, observing the world around with seemingly fascinated eyes.

The first time this happened was actually on the very evening after we brought him home. Quite exhausted ourselves after the long and eventful day we were relying on our previous knowledge of what new-borns are supposed to be like during their first couple of days: sleepy. This is indeed what we had observed with both Maia and Ivan before, somewhat unfairly in a way, because they seemed to sleep all the time while their mom was still with them in the hospital, and then suddenly wake up to crying life the moment she would return home.

There was no stay in the hospital this time, not in England. So there was a good chance that Emese would be able to take some relaxing sleep after the delivery. This is when I took Peter up to his newly arranged cot in our bedroom. It was a lovely late spring evening, with the sun still shining bright as late as 8.30 pm. Its warm orange red light was all over reflecting in the greenery of our gardern. And there was the wind, moving the branches, the leaves, and the grass, in a somewhat surreal motion.

Peter’s cot was positioned in the upfront part of the room, half surrounded by windows, and offering a great panoramic view of the top branches of the trees. I even ducked quickly to check what he would actually see. Then I carefully placed him on his back. Wide awake I could see him watch the endless movement of the colourful trees. He remained like this for at least fifteen minutes.

Peter has had this quiet observational moments ever since then. Most recently I watch him do it today – relax in my arms and stare around with great curiosity. But he is not in my arms often – someone else in the family holds him most of the time. His mother.

Breastfeeding

In line with what is already a well established and deliberately pursued practice, Emese keeps him close most of the time. Unlike some of our friends who opted for different kinds of pre-scheduled feeding times, she has ultimately chosen the self-regulation method. Which means that during most of their first half year or so she is available to breastfeeding 24/7.

Or almost. During Peter’s first nights when milk was not really there yet, Emese had some painful moments when she had to turn him away. I remember taking the quiet of night for some writing when all of a sudden just after 3 am she arrived down the stairs with a small crying pack in her hands, handed it over to me, and said: “Your son needs you, Pavel!”

But such moments are quite rare after day three. Where there is milk, there is peace, the wisdom of the house reads. And indeed, thanks to Emese’s choice of feeding programme it is seldom to hear Peter cry.

And when that happens, it usually means that Emese has dared to take some time off him. In the shower, preparing food, out in the yard, ironing his clothes. These are the occasions during which I would normally spend time with my second son.

What is Peter like

For one thing, Peter is very strong. Already on his first evening I noticed how much more difficult it was to operate his tiny legs and arms while trying to plug them into sleeves. It would appear that his limbs are hard and immobile, sticking usually in the least suitable direction, and making the dressing up process quite a hurdle.

And the dressing down as well. Whenever need comes upon Peter it comes abundant, if you know what I mean. Funnily we had noticed this already in the hospital where he had been releasing the black mechonium from his bowels for over 15 minutes uninterruptedly, catching by surprise the midwives and other hospital staff.

This mode somehow persisted after him switching to normal defecation. After the initial two days period, his calls became instantly regular and quite powerful. To the extent that every change of his nappies would normally involve changing his entire garment as well. And that is when I realized that his arms and legs were quite stiff and not easy to move around.

Other than being quite an athlete, Peter has a dry skin. We noticed it immediately, and received the explanation that it may be a result from him being slightly overdue. But within a day his skin started pealing off and looked quite bad. This is when we began treating him with olive oil. Originally we were using the one from the kitchen, until it occurred to me that perhaps he could do with the not-so virgin one. In any case, this gave rice to jokes by Maia that her littlest brother “smells like salad”.

In addition to being dry, Peter’s skin seems somewhat darker in complection than anyone else’s in the family. It is difficult to judge at this early stage, as he looks mostly purple or pink under his clothes, but I would not be surprised if he turns out to be one of those who my mom would say were “born with one extra sun bath”. Lucky because their skins are generally less vulnerable to sunburns.