Keeping M Busy...

Summer holidays are coming to an end next week, and all our regular music and play groups will start up again. Without these activities to structure our week, and with the addition of Ross, Madeleine has required a bit more attention than usual. Fortunately, my parents and Steve have been up to the task and have managed to find many ways of filling her time. 

She has enjoyed taking her dolly and stroller for walks on the waterfront...

 Helping Grandpa with the gardening...

 Making friends with the local cats...

 Towing empty cardboard boxes...

 Baking with Grammie...

 Licking the spatula after the baking is done...

 Taking her little green frog for a walk...

 Opening gifts...

For Madeleine, one of the best things about Ross' arrival has been the chance for her to open gifts. Friends and family have been so generous with gifts for Ross, and sometimes something special for Madeleine as well. She gets to open both Ross' and hers, and this was her expression on discovering the music that came out of her new little wind-up music box.

2 weeks old

Our wee boy is 2 weeks old today! He was weighed by the midwife on Monday this week, and was up to 4.3 kg (almost 9lb 8oz), which means he gained 500g in one week. He is starting to fill out a bit, but still seems very long and lean to us. 

Madeleine continues to love him, and often lies next to him and says "hiii babyyy". She hasn't tried to say his name yet, just "baby".

He spends most of his day sleeping, and continues to be a very settled baby. I'm quite sure that by this age, Madeleine had her fussy periods each evening, requiring us all to bounce and carry her. Ross still rarely cries, and mostly squawks and squirms when he's unhappy.

We gave him his first bath a couple of days ago. We were both surprised and happy that M didn't mind sharing her bath with him, and didn't even try to splash him. She emptied a few containers of water on his tummy, but he didn't seem to mind too much. Unlike M, who screamed during her bath for the first few weeks, Ross was relatively calm. He certainly didn't love it, but he didn't protest too much.

 Cuddles with Daddy after his bath...

 Cuddles with Grammie while watching Downton Abbey...

Wide awake this morning...

4 days old

Ross is already looking older to us. Admittedly, washing his beautiful locks of hair did help immensely, but he's also starting to make more and more little faces and expressions. He is still sleeping most of the day, but has moments of being so alert and wide awake, taking in everything around him. He is nursing like a champ, although it has taken him awhile to learn to open his mouth wide enough for a strong latch. 

While some people (probably most) seem to have shorter and "easier" labours with their second baby, this was certainly not my experience. I started having contractions Monday night, and spent the night timing them, writing, listening to music, and getting excited for the arrival of my baby. But by the wee hours of the morning, it was clear that they weren't getting any stronger or more regular, and I eventually fell asleep for a few hours. They returned Tuesday morning and I spent all day Tuesday feeling too uncomfortable to sleep. Finally by Tuesday evening things picked up and we were sure we would have a baby that night. But by 11pm that evening, it was clear that things were actually slowing down again. I managed to get a few hours of sleep when I was woken at 3am with very sharp pains. We met the midwife at the hospital at 4am, she broke my waters (which had meconium in them), at 5:20 I started pushing, and at 5:35 I had my little boy in my arms. I used the entenox (gas and air) for a little while, but mostly I got through each contraction by standing at the side of the bed, holding Steve's hands, and imagining that I was on a bicycle sprinting towards a finish line.  We spent that day in hospital and Ross had the routine hip check and hearing test done. He was required to stay one night for observation, due to the meconium, but it was a peaceful night for both of us, and I thoroughly enjoyed sleeping on my stomach again. 

Here are a few more pictures from the last few days. 

Madeleine got a new stroller from Grandma Georgia and she absolutely loves racing around the house pushing her little doll.

Ross Nikau Gibson

Hello all, Steve here.  I'm very happy to announce the arrival of our son, Ross Nikau Gibson.  Arriving exactly on his due date, little Ross made his grand entrance at 5:40am on January 16th, weighing in at 8lbs 9oz.  His name is given in honour of my grandfather, who passed away a few months before I was born.  Nikau is the name of a native New Zealand tree (pronounced nee-cow).

He and Annemarie are both doing great, despite a long and drawn-out labour.  They are spending the night at the hospital because Ross needs some extra monitoring after swallowing a bit of meconium during the labour.  We're expecting them to come home tomorrow morning.

Just a few pictures for now (with of course more to follow in the next few days). 

Still Waiting...

Much to my surprise, this baby has still not arrived! My mistake was expecting it to be early, and now, even though I haven't even reached my due date (the 16th), I feel like I'm far past what was expected. Madeleine was five days early and my midwife gave me some false hope by predicting another early arrival this time. Nonetheless, I feel basically fine, just a bit too big for comfort. Below is a picture from 38 weeks.

Madeleine was lucky enough to get some of my pomegranate the other day, and she had a great time picking all the seeds out.

It was a very serious affair for her.

My parents arrived on the night of the 4th, so we've now had a full week with them here. Madeleine took about 10 minutes to warm up to them, and now enjoys the chance to actually choose who does what for her.

We've been enjoying a walk on the hills near our house, and despite doing the hour-long walk quite frequently over the last week, the baby is still inside.

Madeleine is enjoying lots of Grammy and Grandpa time and we're already feeling spoiled with their cooking and help around the house.

Merry Christmas

A couple of weeks ago we picked out a Christmas tree and decorated it with some lights and the few decorations we have here. Every morning Madeleine eagerly asks for the lights to be turned on. She has been really gentle with the tree, and since all the ornaments are paper or fabric, it's fine if she pulls them off. 

 

The Play Centre that we go to each week recently had their last session until February, since Christmas also marks the start of summer holidays here. It included a Christmas Party for all the kids, and Father Christmas even made an appearance. You can see Madeleine standing in the middle below (pigtails, navy shorts, pale green top). She wasn't afraid at all but then again, no one was asking her to sit on his knee. 

The morning tea for the kids was at this big table...

... and long after all the other kids had finished and gone to play, Madeleine was still munching away, finishing off the trays of food.

Last week, we went to the Wellington Zoo with our friends Emily and Jac. Madeleine can finally keep up with Jac (who learned to walk and run quite early) so they have a lot of fun together.

We also went to a barbeque at Matt and Emily's house, before they left for holidays on the South Island. Madeleine and Jac had their own little table for dinner.

The food was delicious and it was nice to have Emily's parents there too, who are visiting for 6 months from Wales.

On Christmas Eve, we skyped with Gibsons during their family gathering, and Madeleine got to open the gifts that they had mailed to her. She loved getting her new little doll and she quickly turned it around to show everyone on the computer.

Madeleine and I walked to church that afternoon for the children's nativity play, while Steve stayed home to do some work on his thesis.

On Christmas Day, we opened the gifts still under our tree. We gave Madeleine a little workbench, which apparently also serves as a good seat or stool.

I gave Steve a little remote-controlled helicopter. I'm not sure who is having more fun with it - Steve or Madeleine. She's constantly asking Daddy to fly it again and again and she loves to hold the remote control. But then she gets quite scared of it when it comes close to her, so it can be a little stressful for her.

Here she is doing her hand gestures and long speech about how the helicopter works - she's got it all figured out and gets very animated when talking about it.

The last few days have been incredibly hot, humid, and windless here. It's rather unusual for Wellington, and I have to admit, it's rather uncomfortable for me considering I have a little internal heater going at full steam right now. I am now full term, at 37 weeks, and aside from the heat, am feeling pretty good. We walked down to the beach yesterday afternoon and took a dip in the harbour. It was still pretty cold, but felt lovely on such a hot day.

Merry Christmas to you all!