Mrs Daddy

There are occasionally stressful moments in raising children. I shouldn't really complain, because Ella was an angel and Katy shows every sign of becoming one, but the most stressful (for me) moments with Ella was trying to get her to take a bottle. We started with her at about 4 months, it worked for a while, then stopped working. Meant that once Nat was working again and I was in charge at home, there was never any guarantee that we could last the morning. Or the afternoon for that matter.

So, with Katy we decided that we would bottle feed her once a day from the start. Of course, Nat & I had different definitions of "start". I thought we would start as soon as we came home from hospital, but nat wanted to hold off a bit. (To be honest, I don't think she's that enamoured with the concept milking herself using a machine.) A bit turned into a bit longer, but finally we managed to pluck up the courage to give it a go on Sunday night. I was a bit stressed about this -- haunted by the screams of Ella I guess -- but Katy gulped it all down (see photo). And, just to prove it wasn't a fluke, she repeated the performance again tonight. Won't be long before Nat decides she wants to go out to dinner with mates every night.

Looking Back

It's funny that we can't remember the specific details of the initial weeks with Ella - how much breastfeeding is demanded and the constant interruption of sleep.  I don't think Katy is as good a feeder as Ella considering they both started out at 3.6kg.  At 2.5 weeks of age Ella weighed 4.1kg while Katy only managed 3.7kg.

Andy's sister Cathy was saying the other day how it's very difficult to distinguish their children apart in early photos.  I don't think we will have that problem...

Ella and Katy at 3 weeks - 

 

See ya

The Olivers flew home yesterday (Ella was very jealous they were going on a big plane!)  They did manage to see snow - one of the aims of their trip to Canberra.  Nathan wasn't too keen on the cold while Ashley had a great time.  Unfortunately there wasn't enough snow to make a snowman - perhaps on the next trip over.

It was great having them stay although I'm quite tired and sick now. Ella had a fantastic time playing with Ashley and Nathan and there weren't too many fights! It also good for us to see how much easier it will be in 11 months time....

Today

Although it was a top of 13C today, it had a real wintery feel. We woke up to fog and grey skies. In fact Black Mountain was still shrouded in cloud at midday. The sun did eventually shine by late afternoon just in time for the sun to set.

Ashley, Ella and Nathan visited Questacon this morning. Nathan was captivated by the waterplay area and despite having a waterproof smock on got completely soaked. Luckily for Nathan mini Q has clothes dryers.  Ashley showed an interest in becoming a vet by donning a white coat and curing the stuffed animals ailes  by feeding them pizza from the play cafe next door!  Ella was attracted to the construction area, spending a significant amount of time taking the plastic bricks up and down the escalator. She also highjack one of the stuffed dogs and took it exploring in the jungle gym, which was also a hit with Ashley and Nathan.

 

Chicken

Chicken, aka Katy is now nearly 3 weeks old.  Her nickname Chicken stems from the fact that she loves keeping her arms and legs curled up close to her body.  This position makes it very difficult to dress her and as a consequence her sleeves flap around without her arms in them. Chicken is feeding better and sleeping for longer periods which is nice - a long way to go before a decent nights sleep though!!  Ella is still loving her new sister although she has regressed to crying at any opportunity which is very unlike her.  It's really tiring trying to keep her happy/not upsetting her as well as comforting her and/or trying to figure out what the problem is.  People have told us this may go on for up to 6 months - I hope that's not the case....

 

Commonwealth Park

The Saturday orienteering was at Commonwealth Park this week.  Ella, Ashley and Katy completed the blue course together.  They warmed up by playing in the mountain of leaves with many other little people - Annabelle, Emily, Max to name a few. It was a nice morning to stroll around the shores of Lake Burley Griffin soaking up the sights of Canberra.  The blue course took somewhat longer than normal due to the fact that it past by the stone castle playground - hence the girls veered off the course to explore the playground for 15 mins or so.

Preparing

Our good friends from Perth Annwen & James with their children Ashley (3) and Nathan (1) have come to stay with us for a few days.  In preparation for their arrival we needed to rearrange the house a little which involved moving Katy into our room and placing a double mattress on the floor into Katy's room.  Ella thought the mattress made a fantastic trampoline....