Another great joy arrived in my life on February 5. Holger Nygaard IV. The fourth with that name, and the only name change is that I have decided to add a Swei, IE his mothers surname as his middle name. He was 52.5 cm tall when he arrived, and his weight was 3460 grams. (2+ months on, he's pushing 6500 grams, I think ). He arrived on cue, after a few hours of induced labor.
A nice little boy, who has given his parents many moments of happiness and joy. He's a fairly unassuming chap, he hardly ever cries, he does not suffer from colic, and he is able to sleep for up to 5 hours on a regular basis. He's a happy, curious and smart little boy.
It's not a secret that we are still living with Rebeccas mother the most of the time. She's not feeling too well, and she needs to be looked after. Moreover, she looks after the little one, which is her first grandchild. That makes it easier on Rebecca, which returned to work after 60 days of maternity leave.
In Taiwan, it's quite normal that mothers here don't get much in the way of maternity leave, and yes, it's a bit of a challenge to keep the breastfeeding going. We ended up importing a pump from the US, as the local models are shite. I will spare you for the photos, however it would appear to be working. Now the only challenge is to get Rebecca to use it more than 2 times per day, however it's merely a question of reminding her.
Babycare here in Taiwan is a little bit different from what I am used to. Back home in Denmark, babies sleep outside all year round. Not so here, where babies are kept inside. Not only are they kept inside, they are also wrapped up tightly. The wrapping of babies works well the first weeks, as they tend to calm down when wrapped, however I started to discourage the practice when the little critter turned one month, I think that he needs space to move. I can live with him not being outside that much. The air her in Taiwan is in general dirty and humid, you have centipedes, mosquitoes and snakes - not a place you would want to put your kid outside.
So what do we do with the young man when Rebecca is working? Quite simple, we put him up with a nanny who lives next door. She seems fairly experienced, she's managed to keep him without using diapers (whatever her secret is), and the only mishap was when she added milk powder to the pumped out mother's milk we are suppling her with. It caused the young man a bit of stomachache, however once we discovered that and got it corrected, no worries whatsoever. She's also carrying him a bit around, this week when Rebeccas mother was getting some surgery performed and stayed at the hospital. The nanny decided that it was too dangerous for the little one to stay with daddy alone, so he stayed with the nanny. She took him up to Yangmingshan north of Taipei with some friends, and they seem to have had a nice trip. 
One thing I have always wondered about in its banality is that the first months go so fast. Holger has already changed a lot in the some 75 days he has been a part of our lives. The first year of a childs life are the most interesting IMO as they change so fast. As thy get older, the changes become more gradual, until you suddenly feel that time is standing still. It still moves and new challenges pop up, however not much compared to the first months. Holger has gone from sensing very much to becoming a very responsive curious and smiling little boy on what? 2 months. Wonder where he will be in another 2. Isabel's first months is a decade back, and I missed most of Eva's, so it's a journey of discovery for me too.A great boy, he came on time, has been easier to care for than we thought to be, and he has brought nothing but joy into our lives.
