No longer classed as a "Newborn"

Well all too quickly, Madelyn reached that 12w milestone and progressed from newborn to infant and could almost pass as a 6m old going by the size of her. Until she tries to put a toy in her mouth and drops it, or misses, or until she is plonked down on her bottom and rapidly slides to the horizontal position that is. People are constantly gasping in disbelief when I tell them that she had only been in the world for 3 months last Thursday.

Madelyn continues to be the model baby, adored and loved by all who see her, with her happy and easy going nature, she is just perfect. She really "sings" now and loves to chat and gives us a real cackle when we chat back. She especially loves to be told she is cute (she gets a huge giggle out of that!) and makes everyone laugh with her. She still loves her milk (as can be seen by the ten rolls of fat on her legs - don't worry darling, while you're this young it's cute to be chubby and if yo're anything like your big brother those leg rolls will disappear by your 3rd birthday). She has been a tiny bit unsettled this past few days, possibly from a sore throat that Austy gave to me and maybe we gave her, or perhaps even teeth on the way (Austy got his first two at 4 months and she has been saturating her clothes with dribble and chewing on those fingers alot this week, so who knows). But her unsettledness isn't bad at all, and for any other baby you'd just think it's normal baby behaviour, as hardly any baby I have ever met cries as little as she does. She got all her tears out in those first few weeks by the looks of things.

Developmentally, the grasping is getting so much better now, and she loves her playmat or the rocker where she can grab onto dangly toys, or better still when I pick her up and there is all that hair to pull out - her favourite! She is still far from rolling (but I am happy with that, Austy took 7 months to roll and I kind of prefer it when you know that the baby will be where you left it when you have to duck out of the room to help a three year old go to the toilet!), but she is really strong in her back and neck. She can push up well on her tummy, and tries to sit up sometimes when laid on her back in a semi reclined position (like on our bed, propped against pillows). I have been too slack to take her down to CYH for her monthly weigh and measure yet, but I assure you she isn't fading away, but starting to really fill out those 00's and it won't be long before a wardrobe switch is required again. I'm still squeezing her into the size small nappies I made her, but really should get to the sewing machine and make her some roomier mediums so those chubby legs of hers have room to move.

Austy still loves her to bits, but has been heard telling me to put her down, or telling her to shhh sometimes when he's watching TV. He is really getting into his singing, and at music last week we had to bring a "statue" that he had made. Of course we had to make a monster (he has a serious addiction to the Disney movie Monsters Inc.), which in the end I had to finish with the paper mache part since he thought the flour water glue I had made was delicious. However he throughly enjoyed the painting part and got right into sticking on the spikes and glitter! He's not much of an outdoorsy type as yet, we try to encourage him to get out and play in the sand pit or kick a ball around, or even ride his bike, but he still prefers "Cutting and sticking", listening to music in his room (often bundled up under the quilt I made him, singing along), playing on the computer or acting out scenes with his little people. This last activity is one of my favourites, it's an insight into how he sees the world, and wonderful hearing all the different voices he puts on as he acts out things we have done or things he has seen.

He watched some swimming on TV last week too, and told us that he wanted those people to teach him, so they could show him how to swim fast and he could get a medal. His poor swimming teacher was devastated when we told her, but watching the swimming did give him the courage to jump into the pool without holding her finger (albeit with a tiny push from me *blush*).

Photography

I know I should have put them here, but as photography is a secret hobby of mine (I really need to get myself a DSLR one day but until then I am just a secret hobbyist!!) I put the photos I took of the kids today on my hobbies blog. I couldn't decide where best to put them, here or there... You can see them here. Be warned, there are a few!

I really should do an update here too but am having too much fun with photoshop (thanks Dad) and the photos I took today (thanks to Astrid giving me a bit more confidence after she had me photograph her wedding on Saturday).

Just a quick few lines on Maddy - she is now over her delayed grizzle reaction from the needles and back to her super happy, giggly and contented self. We are all in awe of how she can just go with the flow, hardly cries and is super snuggly. She was dragged around on a hen's day bus tour of some wineries in Maclaren Vale one weekend, then dragged along while I shot the wedding the next. Poor girl got dumped in the corner while I snapped away playing paparazzi, and since she doesn't really demand her feeds (just shows me in other ways that she's hungry) I managed to spread them out a little more while I took photos and to fit them in around the wedding ceremony. The little girl was an angel! She fits in so beautifully, and we are constantly wondering how on earth we got so lucky! She's even a better sleeper at night than Austy was, which we thought would be hard to beat as he was pretty good, but she delights us with a full night of sleep every night from about 9:30pm until 8am. Darling girl!

Two months young

That's right, our little girl is two months old... already! And of course, she's growing like a little weed. Her two month statistics have her at 61cm and 6.72kg. Our little hephalump girl. But she is healthy, and happy. So very happy. She has been delighting us with the most gorgeous smiles, little giggles and quite a converstaion. She's just the most beautiful little girl, such a pleasure to have in our lives and you can tell we are just enjoying every moment, and wishing that time would just slow down a smidge so we can take it all in.

I don't remember the last time she had colic now, it is just a distant memory, and as long as I give her the two hour feed she wants at night (yes, TWO HOURS!), the gorgeous Madelyn gives me a wonderful sleep, every night. She is even starting to stretch that out past the 7am mark and waking with her brother at 8am or 8:30am some days. So nice to feel normal again. It just makes it a little hard to have kid free time since I spend the evenings feeding after putting Austin to bed.

She has discovered that her swing is actually a good thing - thank goodness as Andrew was worried we had wasted our money when she would only last five minutes before screaming her little lungs out to be picked up again. I think since she has been able to focus on things alot better she really enjoys watching the butterflies spin around which eventually lulls her off into sleepy land. She like Austy's rocker too - the one he never liked until he was at leats 6 months old, and that was only because I'd sit him outside in it. That was actually why we bought a swing, because the rocker was useless as a settling technique. She likes to play in it though, and loves to bat at the brightly coloured toys we hang on the toy bar.

Austy has been delightful too. Of course we still get normal 3yr old mischievious behaviour at times, but lately he has been so good, and also great to chat with. Today I sat down at a local shopping centre with him for a coffee and a babychino, and he told me out of the blue: "When I get bigger I am going to be a dontist and fix people's teeth". I looked at him puzzled and asked "You mean a dentist?" He said "No, a dontist - they are really good dentists" "Oh, you mean an orthodontist!" he giggled, and agreed. "When I'm bigger, and I'm going to work in THAT orthadontist shop and make him go somewhere else" he said, pointing to the balcony of the Orthodontist upstairs.

We recently rewarded his wonderful behaviour and good listening ears with a family trip to the beach, where he went on the bumper boats, the carousel, water slides and swam in the ocean, while I carried a sleeping Madelyn in the sling I made when Austy was a baby. She wasn't so impressed with the wind, so snuggled in and dozed off. So cute, I wish I'd made Andrew take a photo...

He had a great time with his Dad with me watching on, and I decided that my sling worked much better than the bought ones I used with Austy and vowed to make a new one, this time in pretty girly colours. I'm not sure if it's just because she is younger than he was when I started wearing him in a sling, or if it's just that my preferences have changed, but I love the stability the mei tai type carriers offer when I am bending down to kiss a little bump on Austy's head or crouching down to hear what he is saying.

He loves role playing at the moment, and the little people he happily threw out of their trucks and cars when he was younger are now his favourite toys. He wanders around the house talking to them and making them talk to each other, acting out everyday things like going to the shops to buy a cheesy roll. It's amusing to watch, but also quite enjoyable because he will do this for hours, keeping himself occupied and content, leaving us free to do other things (which for me is either feeding Madelyn or sorting the never ending washing piles). And today he delighted us by making them all jump back into their box at the end of the game. Bliss!

Unbelievable - just three takes!

Austy hardly ever sits still, and many of the photographs we take of him have him blurry as he runs out of the shot, or else his eyes are shut or wide as that's how he puts on his phot smile - a blink, then open wide eyes and a little cheesy grin. It's hilarious to watch... but frustrating!

So when I had to take photographs for the children's passports (getting ready for our trip to America at the end of April for my Masters graduation) I was surprised today that I only had to click the shutter three times. It's amazing what you can do with a few carefully thought out sentences. I told him that he wouldn't be allowed into America without this photo because they needed to know what he looks like in case we lose him in disneyland and we need to find him again. If he didn't stand still for the photo, I'd have to leave him with a babysitter while we took Maddy to America without him.

Okay, so it's a bit mean, but hey, how else are you supposed to get kids to pose for a passport photo with all their rules and regulations (certain size, mouth closed, looking straight at camera, etc.). It's hard enough just getting a photo of a 3 yr old at all sometimes.

Now Madelyn... I think I'll have to try again tomorrow. She has to look straight at the camera too and have the plain white/cream background and nothing obscuring her face. It would be alright if she looked straight up at the camera when I laid her on a white sheet on the floor, but there's always something more interesting to look at on the side. Or she closes her eyes and goes to sleep. Or puts her fist in her mouth. Or she opens her mouth and cries. Unfortunately 6w olds don't take instructions well.

An update on the kindermusik - today was Austin's first proper class and again he had a great time, although there was more "acting out" and imagining things thamn musical activities today, but all of the activities had music background and singing involved. Austy was his normal confident self and got straight into it, despite me sitting at the back of the room today, and not joining in. I really had to restrain myself from jumping in there and helping him with things, so this is probably going to be great thing to teach me to pull back a bit more and just let him go and learn for himself. The other mums were suprised at how confident he was, especially for a firts timer, as their children had been going for several terms and still didn't participate in all the activities or sing along. As we left, I overheard the teacher telling her husband who had joined her for their lunch break: "That boy has only just started, and you should have seen him - he was singing ALL the songs!" And they aren't songs I have taught him either - all brand new to us both. We have ordered the home materials to do it at home together too so no doubt he'll know all the words in just a few weeks.

Surviving the heatwave

The past two weeks have been super warm with every day above 35, and the past 6 above 40 degrees celicuis. Not nice, especially with a newborn, even worse when they cut the power two days in a row to conserve energy... Maddy had a cool off in the hand basin, then I found Austy there minutes later.

And poor Austy is feeling a little penned in too we think as he has been getting a bit naughty on the days we stay at home to avoid the heat. It looks like it won't cool down until around Sunday - a whole week away, but I have found when we do manage to get out, Austin gets a bit of a break from the same four walls and he is happy to sit quietly and play with his toys or watch a DVD when we get home. Here he is at the Museum of South Australia, his first ever museum visit and at a great time, as they had a dinosaur babies exhibit on and some school holiday activities. Despite the lady at information telling me I wouldn't want to go out to the activities with a new baby, and Austin was too young for them anyway, we ventured out for a look. I'm glad we did as he had a ball with the older kids, "breaking a dinosaur egg" to find a dinosaur baby (which I had to help him finish or we'd still be there), and then taking a little brush to uncover some bones in the sandpit.

There were other activities there that he would have enjoyed but it was quite warm in the outdoor tent and Madelyn was starting to stir so I stopped him there and we went inside to the exhibit. I think he probably would have been happy with just the activities (and it also would have been cheaper since I had to pay for me to take him in!) but I thought I'd show him the dinosaurs anyway. I don't think he's quite old enough to understand the whole concept of dinosaurs and their being extinct but he did enjoy uncovering the different types of dinosaur eggs in their "nests". Madelyn was an angel and slept through most of it so I really got to spend some quality time with our boy and it really made his day. We walked back to the car and she decided to wake for a feed, so we sat in the park and he played with the dinosaur puzzle I bought him as a souvenier for being so good, while I did my motherly duties for Madelyn.

The Tour Down Under was also on in Adelaide, and Austin went with Andrew to see the start of the first day, and then to the park with all of us for the start of the last day. Unfortunately I forgot the camera for our day at the park, but it was hilarious watching Austy's face as he sat on Andrew's shoulders watching the bikes go past. Preceeding the cyclist were police motorbikes with lights flashing and sirens wailing, which I think was the highlight for the boy. The cycles were over pretty quickly in a blur of bright colours but the council had put on a free community event with activities specifically for the little ones, including story telling, pony rides, jumping castle, face painting and a craft station. We invited Austy's friend James (and his mum Emma, and sister Eleanor) to join us and the two boys had some great fun together while Emma and I got to chat. Maybe Emma will send me her pics so I can blog them later. The boys were the lucky last to get their face painted before they packed it up, and both were easy to guess what they would choose to be. James was a pink butterfly of course, and Austin (who we managed to convince to be a tiger at James' birthday party instead of the pink cat he always asked to be at childcare) saw someone with sparkles and asked to be a sparkly cat. You can sort of see him here in a blur (he hardly ever sits still!) while I captured Maddy's smile on camera. He'd had a sausage sizzle after the face painting though so all the paint around his mouth was most likely swallowed! The pic in front of his favourite DVD "Monsters Inc." is a bit easier to see.

This week saw the start of the school term so I started some weekly activities which should help keep Austin amused and keep me busy so I don't keep getting to the end of the week and wondering what on earth we did and where that week went. Keeping busy seems to help me get moving in the mornings, and actually achieve something. So Fridays are now playgroup days, where Austin will become familiar with the kindy he will be attending at the end of the year and I can meet other young families. The playgroup teacher is fantastic and really enthusiastic with the children, and Austin enjoyed having lunch at the kindy tables, and songs on the rug before home-time. They had so many fun workstations set up too and Austin loved exploring them all, including building toys, waterplay, glueing and playdough.

Saturdays are still swimming day, and Austy's favourite teacher Tabitha was back last week (this is the teacher he wanted to name our baby after whether it was a boy or a girl!) so he was very excited and had his listening ears on all lesson, earning a certificate for "Free swim with floats". This week he scored another one, "15m swim with floats". It won't be long before he'll be swimming unaided either, we have let down the second chamber in each of his floaties for swimming at home and with the daily swims, he'll be a fish in no time!

And Tuesdays are probably going to be Austy's most favourite day of all. We start his first class of kindermusik on Tuesday after our introductory class before swimming yesterday. We were in their "Our time" class this week as an introduction because that class (which is for 18m - 3y) involves the parents as well and a softer approach to getting him to start since I had to do the activities with him. He couldn't stop smiling the whole time, and has been looking forward to these classes ever since I told him we would start this year while I was on maternity leave. It was his choice - music lessons (kindermusik) or "acrobatics" classes (kindergym) and he didn't have to think for very long to decide he wanted to go to music. He has always loved music in every form or style so I think he will be in his element with the kindermusik. He didn't want to leave on Saturday, and had fun chasing the littlies around at the end of the class, hugging and playing with them. His class (Imagine That) is for 3-5y so he will be the youngest there rather than the oldest but it will also involve some drama type activities which I am sure he will enjoy. I will only need to be involved at the end of the class which is probably just enough involvement for Austy, and also leaves me to look after Maddy for most of the class and get her settled in time for me to sit down with Austy at the end.

Now, what has Madelyn been up to? Other than growing and growing and growing (her 6w weigh and measure showed her at 59.5cm and 5.98kg), she has become alot more alert and settled. We are happy to announce that night times aren't so scary for me anymore (although Andrew goes back to work next week so it might be a different story then!). A few times Madelyn has actually self-settled in her cot once fed, wrapped and content. Other times I still need to hold and rock her, but not until midnight anymore, and she is feeding better and not getting so much wind pain in the evenings. Add to that the enjoyment of 7hrs of unbroken sleep for most of last week (except last night but I think that was due to the heat and our light dressing and just a sheet on her which meant she woke once because she was thirsty and twice because the room got cool and she didn't have a blanket on). She is becoming much more enjoyable (not that we haven't adored her from the start) and I am coping a bit better now too as a result.

She faired the heat better than expected, and has also started to laugh and chatter to us. It's so cute, and we love how interactive she has become. She is fascinated by the world around her, lifting her head up all the time to have a good look. She has started to really "cuddle" when she's held, wrapping her arms tight around our shoulders as we pat her back. The only dissappointing thing to report this week is that those blasted mozzies have attacked her! She has a couple of bites on her cheek, a few on her head and about six on the arm that escaped her wrap the other night. We have hardly seen a mozzie in the house but they have been in her room when we've seen them and only one or two. Luckily they don't seem to bother her much, and she hasn't broken out in huge welts like Austin used to. I feel bad for her anyway as I'm her mum and am meant to protect her from these things...

Next week we have some 6 week appointments so more on Maddy's development then.

1 month already

Little Maddy isn't so little... she's already off the charts for length and weight and almost out of her 0-3m clothes. Not surprising really since her favourite pastime is feeding! She's rewarded my efforts with a few little smiles this past week although there's still a lot of crying happening as well.

Here are her stats for the month.

Weight: 5.64kgs (whoa!) up from 4.1kgs

Length: 58cm up from 51cm

Head circumference: 36cm up from 34cm

I'm obviously not starving her!! And as you can se she gets plenty of love!

Lizzie and Austy cuddle Maddy

... although she wasn't quite as pleased as they were!

Almost human...

I can't believe it - our little girl gave me a decent sleep last night, going down at 10:00pm (eventually, after several hours of crying and feeding) and not demanding another feed until 6:00am. Good thing Andrew convinced me that everything else can wait and we went to bed at 10:40pm. I'm amazed - she's not quite 3w old, too!

She's a bit of a chubby chops, and obviously loves her milk. I'm a bit of a jersey cow too so when I make milk, I make it in bucket loads. As a result she is stacking on the weight and at an outpatient clinic check on Tuesday (we went to ask why she is soooooo unsettled every night and see if they could help) we were told she'd almost gained a kilo since birth, weighing in at 4.8kgs (up from 4.1), which averaged out to a 57g/day gain since she left the hospital. They expect 20g/day and she's almost tripled it! So I daresay she will continue to top the charts like her brother did.

Unfortunately we've been hearing a lot of this... every evening for hours on end...


...which was the reason for her check-up. But apparently it's quite normal, we were just spoilt that Austy wasn't like this.

Talking of Austy, he continues to adore her and ask for cuddles one hundred times a day.

Luckily Madelyn sleeps well in the mornings, which gives Austin some Mummy time. Here he is on Tuesday having a marvelous time painting in one of his Daddy's yard tees. A smock is on order as soon as we can start getting Maddy to bed at a decent hour on a regular basis so I can find the sewing machine again. He asked me to make him one on Christmas day when he opened the easel from us. We managed to convince him that using the chalk and duster that Santa gave him would be just as much fun until I came up with the idea of adjusting Andrew's tee-shirt with a few pegs!!

And more news on the Austy front, the poor boy had his first sting yesterday... For some unknown reason our car battery went flat and while standing on the front porch chattting away to the roadside assistance man, he grabbed at his ear, pulled something off and threw it on the ground. About 30 seconds later he started to grizzle, which quickly worked up into a pained scream. I took him inside and put ice on his ear lobe which was already bright red and blowing up like a balloon, while Andrew and the roadside assist man were on the hunt for the culprit. I managed to get out of Austy that it was black, and big and had wings, but mostly he was upset about why it bit him, and for that my only answer was because it was being naughty. All this happened while Maddy was having an unsettled period so between the two of them it was quite loud in our house with me flitting between the two of them and cuddling both simultaneously while trying to hold ice to Austy's ear which looked quite painful with two stinger holes.

Andrew quickly found the source of the problem - a wasp nest under the window ledge to Maddy's room. Right where Austin was standing at the edge of the porch and just centimetres from Austin's head height. We don't know if he had touched the nest, or just had bad luck being the height he is, which might have threatened the wasps. Andrew removedd and sprayed the nest and went to the chemist for more panadol and cream. Austy was afraid to go outside again so when Andrew was sure the wasps were all gone he got Austy to come and tread on the nest and he squirted it away with the hose so now he knows they can't get him any more.

I got my belliance back!

Those were the words Austy used this morning while talking about swimming with Daddy yesterday afternoon. We are sure he means "confidence" but hey, I think his word for it is cute, just like when he couldn't remember the word for radio at about 20months and asked to "turn Daddy's moment on". What's more, he told me that his "belliance is here to stay and it's not going to go away again!"

So what was he on about? Well ever since he went to the toddler class at swimming and not the baby classes where I was allowed in the water with him, he has clung to the instructor, terrified to swim by himself. He had been swimming without holding on from about 12-18m but then his "bellience" dissapeared somewhere when I was no longer in the pool too.

But look at this....

His belliance is certainly back...

He swam to the edge all by himself!

Miss Madelyn is here!

Our darling daughter was just as stubborn as our mischievious son when it came to evacuating the womb! She was due on the 14th December but when I had my last check up at the obstetrician's office a few days later, we discovered she was nowhere near ready to pack her bags and get out of there. The ob feared she was going to be bigger than her brother who we had some dramas in getting out so the evacuation orders were in place for Friday the 19th.

I went in on the Thursday night to have gel tape applied and get things happening. Andrew went home at 11pm to get some sleep and I tried to sleep as well. Of course, I couldn't. Knowing my baby would be there the next day, and wondering if anything was going to happen overnight, worrying whether the labour would be as long, hard and as scary as last time were all factors that got in the way of the much needed zzz's. Then just as I did drift off, someone would press a buzzer or a baby would cry and I'd be awake again. I tried to tire my eyes a bit by handstitching the binding down on the baby quilt I'd brought in for that very purpose, but even that didn't work. I think I got maybe 2hrs of broken sleep all night, giving up when I woke at 5:30am and the midwife came in to do my obs.

My obstetrician came in and broke my waters at 8:15am and Andrew returned at about 8:45am and we wandered the grounds of the hospital for a bit, enjoying the beautiful day and waiting for contractions to start. They did, and got nice and regular quite quickly and a "show" an hour later gave me hope that my body knew what it was doing this time (none of that happened last time until massive doses of syntocin were given!). I wanted to avoid the syntocin at all costs as I knew that meant ultra pain and contractions on top of each other for several hours (going from past experience). So I was quite pleased that the contractions were good enough for the obstetrician to leave me alone for a while. She then got caught up delivering another baby so I was silently cheering as while she was busy, she couldn't hook me up to a syntocin drip!

Unfortunately she did eventually get to me though at around 2:30pm, and decided my contractions weren't close enough together to do much in the way of getting that baby out. So the syntocin came. And so did my tears... until I got a grip and decided just because I needed the syntocin again it didn't have to turn out the same way, and who cared if I needed drugs, all I wanted was for this baby to be healthy enough to room in with me. The ob started the drip on the lowest dose just like last time and left me to see if contractions would get closer. About an hour after she left, I started being sick, feeling like I could cope no longer and got teary again ordering an epidural (I figured nothing else worked with Austy so why bother!). The midwife I had was wonderful and positive throughout the whole labour, perhaps realising how scared I was the second time around, knowing what I was in for, and having had a bit of a hard time of it last time. She told me it was likely to be "transition" and got the baby stuff ready to encourage me. I told her it wasn't transition as it got to that point last time and nothing had happened - it was just the synto doing it - and I still had hours to go. She wasn't convinced, so told me to wait for the obstetrician before we made the epidural call!

My ob arrived and checked to find I had dilated 5cm in just an hour and it wouldn't be long before I was ready to push. She suggested I use the gas and since the anesthetist was nowhere in sight I gave it a shot. I couldn't believe what it did to me - the midwife told me it was on a low dosage just like I had asked for with Austin, but a few deep breaths and I almost passed out, scaring the life out of Andrew, and I couldn't move or talk for a few minutes, easing his anguish by responding to his frantic "Joy! Joy! Are you okay?!" calls with a very slow and slurred "I'm gooo-ooone..." That was it for the gas - the ob told them to take it off me as I was too relaxed!

She went off for her hairdresser appointment with her three kids in tow, and then as soon as she got out of the car, her phone rang to tell her to come back to the hospital as I was ready to push. She didn't muck around as she knew the pushing stage was super fast with Austin. She just had to get her husband there to take over with the kids and then she could come back to deliver my baby. Luckily, having not had an epi, I was much more exhausted than I was at that stage with Austy, so the pushing took a little longer giving her time to get there.

Our beautiful little princess, Madelyn Anneliese arrived at 5:05pm, weighing exactly the same as Austy (9lb,1oz) and measuring 51cm (1cm shorter than Austy) and having a head circumference of 34cm (1.5cm less than Austy). She seemed a bit smaller than him so I don't know where she put that weight. Instead of back fat like he had, hers was deposited on her rolly little thighs. So cute! She had also had the cord around her neck, although not twice around like Austin's so she didn't have to have it cut before she was out like he did.

As they took her to the table to be rubbed and wrapped, we both just stared in silence with our jaws dropped waiting for the cry that never came with our son until he had been whisked off to the SCN and out of my sight. And then suddenly she became nice and pink, and there it was. "Waaaaahhhhh aaaaaahhhh aaaaaaahhh!!" I can't tell you how wonderful it was to hear that sound! They handed her to me and I asked if she was going to be okay to stay with me. They told me she was, and I beamed at Andrew, realising that not only did I get my healthy little baby, but I managed the birth relatively drug free (except for the syntocin and those few puffs of gas), just as I had hoped for with Austy.

My recovery was quite quick too, I felt more like I had done a few push ups (thanks to holding onto the bed too tightly while I pushed) rather than had a baby. It was a huge difference to last time. She fed straight away (and for most of the first night until the midwives dragged her out of my grasp at 12:30am so I could have a couple of hours sleep until I rang the buzzer at 3am and demanded her back!). She loves her milk as much as her big brother does, and is certainly thriving on it!

Madelyn's personality is a lot different to Austy's at the same age (except for the milk guzzling and needing milk NOW!!!). She sleeps a lot during the day, but still wants to feed all night. With him, he was brilliant at night but awake most of the day staring at everything going on around him, taking everything in. She couldn't care less - give her a full tummy and a nice snuggly wrap and she'd much rather be in dreamland! She does get a fair bit of wind pain at the moment which upsets her a bit, but it's probably from the way she guzzles at the breast like she's never been fed and will do it again just 2hrs later.

Austy is thrilled to bits (as are we) and tells us often that he is glad she came out of Mummy's tummy, always asking for cuddles. He just adores her, which is wonderful to see. While the tantrums have stepped up a notch and the "listening ears" seem to spend more time switched off these days, he is always very gentle with her. We feel so very lucky to have two beautiful children, and one of each at that!

Oh and just look at how similar they look - it's unbelievable. Both photos were taken on their first car trip, on te way home from hospital. Austy is on the left, Maddy on the right.

Austy is THREE!!

How fast does time fly when you have kids?! It still seems like only yesterday that I held my boy for the very first time and am now about to do it all again, so I thought I had better get around to updating his blog before he shares it with his new baby brother or sister.

In the lead up to his own birthday Austy had a couple of other 3rd birthday parties to attend, one for his best friend James:

and on the same day we headed to anbother party in the afternoon, this time for Lizzie:

He had a great time at both parties and although exhausted and on the verge of a tummy bug that showed itself all over our rug that night (yeuckkk!), he was very much looking forward to being a big three year old himself.

He had already toilet trained himself about a month before he turned 3, as Andrew and I had a couple of weeks off work with teh October shutdown, and he decided on the first day of holidays that he didn't want to wear nappies anymore. We were silently cheering as we'd pretty much had him toilet trained during the day not long after his second birthday but with the news of a new baby on the way he went backwards and decided to wear nappies and be a baby, perhaps realising that the limelight wouldn't be all his in a few months time. But as the due date drew nearer, Austy has embraced the "Big Brother" gig and just can't wait.

So for his third birthday, we decided to throw him a real kids party rather than the standard family gathering, hiring a jumping castle and making kiddie cupcakes with butterflies and caterpillars on them (he chose them) and playing a couple of party games. The jumping castle was a big hit with everyone, and it was gorgeous to see his litle face light up and break into a ginormous smile as the man set it up out the back. Unfortunately though, since we'd decided to save our gifts for his actual birthday, the tears came when the man came back to take it down - Austy thought we had given him the jumping castle for his birthday!! He told the man he couldn't take it because it was his and kept yelling out "Stop, I don't like it - it's MINE!!" So we had a little chat and I asked Austy if the letters on the front of the castle were Austin's name. He looked at it and sadly said to me, "No, that doesn't say Austin". I told him it was the man's name because it was his castle and we were very lucky that the man let us borrow it for the party. So Austy politely went up and said "Thankyou man, for letting me borrow your castle, I had lots of fun!" then walked inside to play with his new toys. He is such a beautiful natured little boy (when he's not throwing tantrums!) and I am so proud of the child he has grown into.

For his birthday from us, his main present was a bike. His first ever bike as we had no room to ride anything at the old house. He was so excited when he firts got it, but since then the novelty has well worn off... he won't give it a chance to learn how to ride and wants to be pushed everywhere which is a little hard at the moment with my bump in the way.

So what can Austy do now he's 3?

* Counts to 20

* Goes to the toilet all by himself (although sometimes he puts his jocks on with two legs in one hole...)

* Dresses himself
* Builds great castles with his duplo

* Amuses himself for hours with his playdough

* Plays some educational computer games by himself

* Chats constantly to everyone he sees

* Remembers his manners

* Says "Gday" to guys, and "Hello" to girls (no idea why?)

* Really good at reasoning and will develop his own theories based on little things he's heard

Happy birthday gorgeous boy - we hope that the next year brings you lots of fun and new experiences, and we just know that you will make the best big brother ever!