Lessons

It’s amazing what you learn as a parent. I’m not talking about the art of how to look after babies and toddlers, I’m talking about the stuff you learn or relearn as you teach your child about the things they see in their life. For example, I would never have been able to name the different types of trucks on the road if Henry wasn’t so interested in modern day machinery. Now he is beginning to show an interest in dinosaurs which is forcing me to learn about velociraptors, the brontosaurus, whether they were plant or meat eaters, how big they were, how long ago they lived and much more. It will be interesting to see what things Miss Milly will want to know about, at the moment she is all too keen to box and whack her toys as they hang on mobiles in front or above her. Anthony “The Man” Mundine had better watch out.

Domestic goddess

I can’t stop baking. Cakes, cupcakes, breads, biscuits, muffins – sweet and savoury. Henry helps with the pouring, sieving, whisking, beating, and mixing …and of course the taste testing. We are lucky he is such a good eater and willing to try most things.

Milly is now 11 weeks old. She is smiling more and more and loves watching Henry play – she always has a super big smile for him. She is sleeping well at night between feeds, and on a couple of occasions has even skipped a night time feed.

A big thank you to Elke Kremer who gave Milly the giraffe. Happy Birthday Elke!

It's all in a name

When we found out the sex of our firstborn we came up with a very short list of two boys names. We picked Henry because it was old fashioned, rarely used, couldn’t be shortened, and we couldn’t think of any nasty nicknames that would come out of it. Since having Henry a little over two years ago, it appears that celebrities are choosing the name which is now making it popular. Supermodel Heidi Klum and singer Seal, Australian actress Deborah Mailman, and now ‘Pretty Woman’ Julia Roberts have since all named their sons Henry.

Hair, there, everywhere

What do we do with Henry’s hair? It’s lovely and blonde, thin and wispy. It curls at the ends and he has a couple of ringlets at the back. We love that he looks like a free-spirited child or a bit like a surfer. We get lots of comments about his hair. Friends and strangers all say how much they love it. The only negative opinions come from my parents. When my dad visits he always leaves telling Henry (jokingly) when he next sees him maybe he’ll have had his haircut; and whenever my mum visits she always makes several disapproving remarks about the length of his hair and the need to get it cut. Of course this just makes us more determined not to cut his hair. We love his hair as it is and he isn’t fussed about cutting it either. In fact we know there is no way he would find getting his hair cut an enjoyable experience or sit still for one. I’ll even admit I don’t want him to lose his curls or his blonde ends. I’ve been told by a few friends and other mums in the playground there is a kid’s store that has a hairdresser just for kid’s haircuts, but I’ve noticed all these kids have the same haircut. We fancy something different. So for now it remains as it is. The plan is to bring Henry to my hairdresser at the end of my next appointment and he can see me get my haircut and hopefully he won’t feel too threatened by a pair of scissors near his face and he’ll get some of his hair trimmed.

As for Milly, the great news is the hair she lost is growing back quite quickly, so we can finally say goodbye to her being mistaken for a monk. Milly also had her 8-week check up at the Early Childhood Centre last week. She now weighs 5.3kg, and is 58cm long. All the things she is meant to be doing developmentally she is doing and no one has any issues other than me who is still grieving for chocolate and isn’t enjoying the smell of baby’s vomit.

He and Me

Karma. I was just boasting to a pregnant friend the other day about how little washing I did when Henry was a newborn because he wasn’t a baby that vomited and pooed all the time, therefore requiring many changes of clothes for himself and me. Milly is not such a baby. Karma. She likes a vomit or two and sometimes her poo’s are so explosive they burst out the top of her nappy and can be found smeared up her back and over her torso. Not bad. Karma I say.

Milly is also a noisy little thing. She grunts, snorts and squeaks while awake and asleep. She likes to snuggle, loves being bounced on the fit ball or rocked in her rocker, and instantly falls asleep when we go out for walks or a drive in the car. She has also started smiling at us.


Henry still has a big sleep in the middle of the day and I haven’t quite got them synchronised yet so I can get a rest as well. However, their daily routines are such that one sleeps while the other is awake, so they both get one-on-one time with me – that is until around 4.30pm when they are both awake and wanting attention and I’m knackered and just trying to get through the remainder of the day until Michael comes home. But I feel like I’m getting enough sleep at night.

Henry is slowing starting to show an interest in Milly. He can’t quite say her name properly, it comes out as “Me”, which is funny because he can’t say his own name properly so refers to himself as “He”.

In other news, both Henry and Michael have been recovering from colds and me from mastitis.

And Milly makes four

We can’t believe Miss Milly is already one month old – where have the last four weeks gone? We couldn’t be happier with our little family and feel like the luckiest parents in the world for having two beautiful children.

Milly is quite a different looking baby to Henry. She was born with dark hair, which is slowly falling out on the crown of her head, giving her a hairstyle likened to a monk. She also currently has blue eyes. She is feeding well, and sleeping well between feeds. In the first few weeks she suffered from colic/wind. The Early Childhood Nurse who visited us for our first week check up suggested I remove spicy foods and/or caffeine from my diet to see if that made a difference. I told her I didn’t drink coffee or tea so caffeine probably wasn’t the problem. The nurse replied that chocolate has caffeine in it. Naturally I tried giving up spicy foods first, as I wasn’t ready to give up my daily hot chocolate or other indulgences. But alas, it has been proven since giving up chocolate Milly’s colic discomfort has all but disappeared. When she is older, I’ll be reminding her of this sacrifice.

Henry is pretty indifferent to Milly’s presence. He acknowledges her at bedtime when he goes through his ritual of giving everyone a kiss goodnight, and occasionally he likes to touch her or pat her, or watch me give her a bath. Other than that he is just going about his daily business and isn’t showing much in the way of jealous behaviour. He doesn't wake from her cries and she doesn't wake from his squeals.

As for me and Michael, we don’t feel too sleep deprived. I express milk for Michael to feed Milly in the evening, so I can go to bed early and get some sleep. Although now we have two kids to look after and it can be exhausting, overall it feels easier because we aren’t the nervous new parents we were two years ago.

Milly Jane Dorothy Hobson - the birth story

With Henry I was nine days overdue, had an induction and experienced a 14 hour labour that didn’t progress; reason being Henry was still high in my pelvis and didn’t want to or couldn’t drop or become engaged. The end result was an emergency caesarean.

In the final week of this pregnancy we learnt that this baby was also carrying high and had not dropped into my pelvis. This lessened our chances of a normal delivery, as I would need to go into labour naturally, as once you have had a caesarean obstetrician’s don’t induce labour as it risks rupturing the past scar. So we had to book into the hospital for a caesarean on the chance I didn’t go into labour on my own. The hospital told us we were scheduled for 7.00am on Thursday, 19 April 2007 and to be there by 5.45am.

So in the early hours of the morning we arrive at the hospital and are taken to the delivery ward. A midwife gets me to have a shower and put on a hospital gown. The anaesthetist comes in and tells me he will do a spinal block and goes through the risks etc. I suddenly feel quite nervous about the whole thing and I’m really being read my last rights. A hospital orderly shows up and its time to be wheeled down to theatre and Michael is taken away to get changed. When Michael reappears he is dressed in blue surgical gear and wearing a big sticker saying “DAD”. We are told this is so he isn’t confused with the actual doctors and nurses and isn’t handed a scalpel by mistake.

Everyone in the operating theatre is really nice and introduces themselves and tells us what role they play in the op. I get put on a drip and then receive the spinal block, despite shaking uncontrollably through nerves (thank goodness for all the breathing techniques I learnt in prenatal yoga, they helped settle my nerves and I relaxed straight away) – the spinal block injection didn’t hurt a bit. From the shoulders down I feel numb and am vaguely aware the operation has started. I’m feeling quite spaced out and light headed and the anaesthetist pumps some drugs in my drip to stop me from passing out. Michael is looking at me and not over the blue sheet separating us from the actual operation. He tells me later he thought at one stage he was going to faint, especially when he saw the table with the scalpels and scissors etc.

My obstetrician tells me they are about to pull the baby out and I'll probably feel a tugging sensation. Next thing we hear a small cry and are shown a baby girl. I'm a little shocked. One that it is a girl, and two that we have another baby (with all the drugs flowing through my veins, for a split second I had forgotten why we were there). The nurses clean her up, Michael cuts the cord and we get to hold her while I'm stitched up. Michael then gets to spend the next hour with her while I'm taken to the recovery ward for monitoring. As it turns out my blood pressure and oxygen levels remain low for the rest of the day and I have to wear a lovely nasal device on my face (thanks to Michael for posting those flattering photos).

So for those who like to know, details of little baby no.2 are:

Weight: 3.625kgs (8pds)
Length: 54cms
Head circumference: 34cms

We are now at home and so far so good. Milly is a good sleeper, doesn't make much of a noise, wakes for a feed, barely wakes to be changed, and settles easily - but it is early days.

Thanks to everyone who has sent cards, pressies, and well wishes.

Birthdays and baths for bubba and the boy

In successive days Henry has become a big brother, and also managed to have another birthday. To help him cope in these busy times, we made him a cake.

The construction site that is a cake, that is a construction site. If he didn't enjoy chocolate so much this may have presented Henry with a dilemma of sorts... do I play with it or eat it ? He managed to do both fairly adequately.

Milly and Nanoo.



The first bath.

Milly Jane Dorothy Hobson

A little sister for Henry, and an adorable daughter for us arrived at 7.23 this morning. The name was settled on shortly afterwards. More details will follow in the coming days but for now here are a few photos from the day.

Not long to go now...

Next week promises to be a big week - little baby no.2 is due on the 17th, and we celebrate Henry's second birthday on the 20th. Family members are already planning trips to Sydney to visit.

Having now finished work it has been great spending one-on-one time with Henry and getting to share some quality time together. He doesn't yet fully understand the impact a new baby will have on his world, but he knows the changes to the car and the unit, and the frequent visits to the doctor are for "bubba".

Thanks to everyone for their well wishes. Next posting should be the 'official' announcement.

Summertime fun (mostly)

The past five weeks have seen us on all sorts of adventures (mostly good).

Adventure One: We had a weekend visiting Nanoo at Lake Macquarie. This included a trip to Peter's place where Henry got to sit on a tractor, help drive a lawn mower, and feed a pony and some goats. It was a very hot day and what better way to end it with a nudie run through the sprinkler on Nanoo's front lawn. The next day Michael had an ocean swim to do nearby at Caves Beach. Henry had a great time playing with Nanoo in the surf, and Michael came 3rd in his age group in the swim.

Adventure Two: We have a bus stop outside our unit block. Buses often start their journeys at the stop and if a driver arrives early he usually just parks and reads the paper until departure time. One early evening Henry and I where waiting outside for Michael to come home from work when a bus pulled up outside. Henry ran up the street to get a closer look at the bus. Being heavily pregnant I was slow to catch up with him and when I did he had already climbed up the steps of the bus and was sitting in a seat shouting "Mamma, bus". The driver was very nice and as the bus was empty he let Henry sit in the driver's seat and pretend to drive, he also showed him how to open and shut the bus doors. A great treat for a little boy who loves buses, trucks, cars, planes, trains etc.

Adventure Three: We had to take Henry to the emergency ward at the Royal North Shore Hospital as he had been vomitting for four days, was extremely lethargic and listless, and we hadn't been able to get much if any food or drink into him. Over the four days he had lost 1.5kgs. Upon blood tests results and observations he was admitted into the Children's Ward where he and we spent the next two days and nights. He was placed on an IV drip to replenish all fluids lost and get his blood sugar levels back to a decent level as they had dropped considerably. A stool sample revealed he had the Rota virus, which is a strain of gastroenteritis. Henry is now back at home, appetite returned in full and looking at him you wouldn't even tell he had been sick.

Other news: Only 4 weeks to go until the arrival of Little Baby No.2. I finish up work this week which leaves 2-3 weeks to get our home organised and ready, and if I'm lucky put my feet up and have a rest. Henry is quite the little domestic helper and likes to assist with all chores, ie laundry, dusting, putting things in the bin, and putting his toys away. I hope he's just as helpful when Little Baby No.2 arrives.

Baby names

We ran through our shortlist of baby names with Henry the other night to see if he had a preference. He just nodded his approval to all of them.

We then asked him if the baby is a boy what should we call him. Henry replied, "Big". Which just so happens to be Henry's favourite word at the moment. We then asked what name we should give the baby if it is a girl. Henry's answer, "Bubba". So there you have it.

Peek-a-boo

It has been a busy month of work, child care duties, ocean swims, visits to the obstetrician, and pre natal yoga. We've also managed to catch up with friends and even see the band "The Killers" on a rare night out.

It's been a rough week for Henry boy. Up until now he hasn't shown any distress over getting new teeth, but this week he (and us) have been put to the test. The only teeth he doesn't have are his first molars and one of them looks like it is about to make its debut. He has had moments of awful pain and a few nights of not sleeping through. We think he's turned a corner, as he seemed a lot better today. Although we can only see one of the four teeth he is yet to sprout, so naturally concerned he and us will be going through this another three times.




Little baby no.2 is growing. Regrettably I said to our obstetrician that I thought this baby might be smaller than Henry, as I didn't feel as big. Our obstetrician quite politely reset my expectations and said it was unlikely and I should expect another 9 pounder. I have to admit this week it feels like my tummy has doubled in size and I'm preparing myself for an uncomfortable remaining three months.



Friends are already speculating that little baby no.2 is a girl. This is based on whether they think my tummy is high or low. I don't believe in these myths and don't have an inkling on what the gender will be, but we have now come up with a short list of names so feel prepared and excited at the uncertainty.

Blog photos are courtesy of Ed and Jasey, who continue to take the best photos of Henry. We are now considering making them Henry's "official" photographers.