happy first birthday hamish!

       

we hope you have a fantastic day and enjoy your party with your family and friends!

we have been a bit slack on keeping you all updated but that’s motherhood for ya! between working part time, housework, looking after my little man, looking after my big man and cooking up bulk baby food it is hard to find the time….. but we wouldn’t have it any other way!

sleep
hamish is still a good sleeper and will snooze for atleast 10 hours every night… although when sick he does like to cuddle up to mum and dad in the big bed… sometimes he loves the cuddles so much he will sleep right in ben’s back… he doesn’t want to be far from his daddy!

food
still no problems with food here!! in fact, hamish has a tendency to eat anything he can get his hands on! the boy is growing fast and getting heavier by the day… and one of his favourite foods is sushi. he once threw a tantrum when we tried to give him custard at the japanese restaurant – he wanted more sushi, and he wanted it NOW! his palate has become accustomed to lots of different foods from lots of different countries and he loves it all!

walking
not quite walking yet – but nearly there! crawling has provided much entertainment in the household… hamish could often be seen crawling down the hallway squeeling his head off – he was so proud of himself. our major problem was when he discovered the doggy door. on many occasions you could see ben and I either side of the little round door having to pull hamish through as he had got stuck ¾ way through!!!! gee, we can’t wait for when he starts walking!

teeth
hamish currently has 8 teeth… all the better to chew all that food with!!!

child care
hamish attends child care 2 days a week and has learnt to love mixing with all his child care friends… the first 2 months of child care saw him catch every bug imaginable from all the other kids – colds, coughs, ear and chest infections, diarrhea, croup, gastro, bronchiolitis and even hand, foot and mouth disease! by now his immune system should be as strong as steel, so we should have no problems when starting school…

toys
hamish’s favourite toys at the moment are his computer mouse, pens and spoons. you can put an expensive toy infront of him, but he is just as happy raiding the utensil draw or pulling the teatowels out of the cupboard.

charlie
well hamish and charlie have become partners in crime. together they are inseparable – charlie even will sleep at hamish’s feet when she gets the chance. if hamish has finished with his food he will usually give it to charlie, and if hamish is feeling upset charlie will bring him a toy… we often have to stop charlie from trying to give hamish too many ‘kisses’ and stealing all of his plastic toys… mmm, plastic…

clothes
we have reached the age where lying down to have your nappy changed and to get dress is over! ben and I have had to learn how to manouvere clothes and nappies while hamish is standing, sitting up and rolling all over the floor… ben has also learnt the hard way what happens when you don’t dress hamish quick enough and he ends up relieving himself on the carpet…. he he

talking
some days the little one just doesn’t stop talking… he can spend the whole day saying ‘hi dad’ and usually his dad isn’t even around! we have had the usual words ‘mum’ ‘dad’ and even the occasional ‘hewwo’ when he picks up a phone. it is hilarious to hear his words and tone when the puppy is barking… if charlie is being too loud she will get a stern telling off from hamish! bargh!

the last 365 days have been a learning curve for us, but we have enjoyed every moment… even the middle of the night wake ups! our little hamish means the world to us and has provided us with many memorable moments…

now, don’t even think about asking about baby number two!!

hamish’s first blog entry…

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X NMN N

 
- while sitting on claire’s lap – 7 months old

six months old and counting…

          

 where has the time gone?

it’s hard to believe that the little one was giving me grief in the labour ward not so long ago!

but our little hamish is such a good little boy… he always has a smile on his face and a chuckle that brightens your day! his interaction with us grows every day and our ‘conversations’ are getting quite interesting! he completely understands what he is trying to say but we have no idea! his first word has been ‘hi’ and ben has been trying to teach him to wave at the same time! little H sometimes gets our attention by squeeling at the top of his lungs… and of course, we laugh, which makes him want to keep doing it over and over again!

as i write this hamish currently has 2 teeth… and they are sharp! trust us… he normally grabs our fingers and shoves them in his mouth for chewing purposes! infact he grabs anything to chew on. I am actually thinking about making my own rusks as we are going through them like crazy! but it’s not what you think… charlie has a keen eye for the wholegrain treats, and if hamish drops one or even waves them around in the air charlie is there to collect…

and i think everybody knew that hamish wouldn’t have any problems with starting solids… boy does he love his food! there are some weird and wonderful food combinations out there but they are all devoured on the spot! we actually get ‘grunted’ at if we are not spooning it quick enough! and of course, charlie is there to eat any leftovers or try and lick his bib clean!

charlie has been promoted to chief bodyguard of the little one. we are always notified quickly and loudly if hamish starts to cry – and she is always watching over him… it’s like having a monitored alarm system for our child! charlie loves her ‘younger brother’ and the love is reciprocated – hamish lights up whenever the puppy enters the room! hamish makes this fake cough sound which we originally thought was to get our attention, but now we are wondering if he is trying to mimic charlie’s barking!

bathtime is very eventful… hamish absolutely LOVES his baths and kicks so much that the bath water is running down the walls! ben, the chief bath washer, usually has to change his clothes as he his saturated, and charlie gets so jealous watching him that she has to get thrown in after hamish has exited! thank god the drought has not limited bath times as we would have some very upset people and animals in our vicinity…

hamish still has his power naps during the day…. but thank god he sleeps through the night! each morning he wakes in a new and awkward position in the cot and we question what the hell he has been doing during the night! but hey, with him getting atleast 10 hours of sleep a night we are sane enough to have a laugh!

and you better lock up your daughters! hamish is on the move and rolling around on the floor as his mode of transportation. the back part of his body can crawl, but he just has to manoeuver the arms into pushing himself up! he will be crawling and walking before you know it…. which our backs will thank us for, as carrying around a child who weighs about 8.5kg is making our chiropractor a lot richer!

now about the lack of hair…

excuse me….

… but can you not see that i am working!

what ‘cha talking about willis?

mr fartypants is now 3 months old…

   

and our little boy is turning into such a little man!!

 

we have all been on such a steep learning curve over the past 12 weeks, and there is so much more to come! we have learnt that it takes 3 times as long to leave the house now, we have learnt that when he is hungry there is no time to dilly-dally, and we have learnt that a 10 week old baby really couldn’t care less if they get christmas presents or not!

 

hamish… has such a happy personality that is shining through! he loves his daddy giving him baths, loves watching tennis on the tv and loves listening to his parents sing nursery rhymes badly! little H is at the stage of smiling and giggling all the time, and tries to ‘talk’ to us at any chance he can…  He loves swinging in his indoor swing (which thankfully has rocked him to sleep on many occasions) and enjoys sitting in his reclining high chair so he can see what everyone else is up to…. hamish really is a placid and happy little boy, which i thank god for every day, after knowing what kind of monster ben was when he was a baby!!! J

 

breastfeeding… would have to be one of the hardest things to learn with newborns! they don’t know what they are supposed to be doing, and you think you know what to do but you really don’t… not to mention the sore, cracked, bleeding nipples and stuffing ice packs down the front of your tshirt when the milk comes in! you read about how it is such a natural thing but I can see why a lot of women give up in the end as it is a hard skill… by about 7 weeks hamish and i were going along like clockwork and we could never have got there without ben. that’s right boys – if you thought it was all up to the mum then think again! i wouldn’t have been able to master the skill without ben’s support, reassurance and assistance… thanks sweety!

 

sleeping…. aah, sleeping. I love it, I just don’t seem to get a lot of it anymore! hamish is not as bad as some babies, but working as a team ben and i manage to get through the night shifts with quite a few hours between us…. bubs is quite a good sleeper at night, but does enjoy mainly power naps during the day. so my day exists of trying to clean the house, cook dinner and check my emails all in 20 minute shifts!

 

charlie…. loves hamish. she wants to be near him all the time, tries to give him ‘kisses’ and always gives him her favourite red ball when he is crying. charlie is definitely the big sister and behaves like his bodyguard a lot of the time, although jealousy still rears its ugly head when they both want to sit on daddy’s lap! some of hamish’s christmas toys have mysteriously disappeared, as has his bibs and socks which we occassionally find in a stockpile behind the couch. not pointing my finger at anyone!!!

 

immunisation…. is not fun. we have already endured one bout of needles and it breaks your heart hearing him scream after being hurt. he looks at me with those big eyes and is probably thinking ‘what did i do wrong mummy? why am i getting hurt?’ but it is all for the best in the end. i get anxious when hamish has a blocked nose now, how would it be if he were to get quite sick…

 

so in the next 3 months we are looking forward to starting solids, the first tooth and getting many more smiles, laughs and cuddles… will keep you up-to-date! 

a proud daddy…

every night ben and hamish have their bonding session on the couch…. and sometimes ben plays x-box.. not tonight though – hamish has other plans!!!!

celebrations…

   

today we have reached a milestone! yes folks, today claire fit into her pre-pregnancy shorts! there were celebrations….

and more celebrations on the weekend when little hamish (also known as mr fartypants or little H) turned one month old!! that’s right – it has been 4 weeks since our little ‘peanut’ entered the world… and there have been so many wet and dirty nappies since then!!

a few things have made me wonder though….

why must he always dirty his nappy EXACTLY five minutes after we have changed him and done the last press-stud on his outfit!

why does puppy have to sit on the bottom shelf of the change table every time we change the little one’s nappy? even at 2am she will still come with us – and then barks because she can’t get off the shelf!

why does my son have longer and better eyelashes than me? surely boys don’t need them to look so good – hang on, maybe one day they will lure the ladies!

how is it possible to wee all over your clothes but still manage to leave the nappy completely dry?

finally, why do three generations of women on ‘bold and the beautiful’ look the same age? think i am watching too much daytime tv….

but seriously, we are all having a fun time and learning to read hamish’s behaviour and noises… and we are finally starting to establish a routine. charlie has become a protective ‘big sister’ and barks at anyone that comes near her ‘little brother’. ben is back at work and surviving, surprisingly, with the lack of sleep he is getting! claire is healing well and will be able to get back behind the wheel of a car in 2 weeks time… then there will be many people to visit, mother’s groups to attend and finding babysitters who can look after peanut while we catch up on some zzzzzz…… he he

we’re home

Yay! We are finally home. It’s been an exhausting week, with lots of crying, breast feeding, and nappy changing. It’s only now that I realise that I might enjoy going back to work just for the break. We’ve had heaps of friends and family come in to the hospital to visit the new person in our lives. Thankyou to everyone has helped along the way. Thanks to the people at Burnside hospital too, they were absolutely fantastic and I couldn’t recommend a better group of people to be with when having a child.

Charlie doesn’t seem to be too impressed with the new addition to the home. There have been a couple of occasions where I have had Hamish on my lap and Charlie has decided that she wanted to sit there. Several times I have had to save Hamish from a Charlie bum in the face. Hopefully over the next couple days she will calm down and realise we’re all one happy family. The neglect of us not being around for a week probably has something to contribute to it.

Probably the scariest thing for the week was when they asked us to do a speach at the all day class at the hospital. I hate public speaking at the best of times, so i was totally freaked out. Turns out that being washed out after having absolutely no sleep for a week makes public speaking piss easy. We had quite a lot of fun making the people in the class turn green.

Now that we are back, here are a few photos from the week. Click on any of them to see the full picture.

introducing hamish oliver

Hi everyone,

Well the time has finally come. Claire and I now have a bubbly little boy named Hamish Oliver. Apologies for not returnining everyone’s phone messages, I’ve been providing the critical nappy changes and burping duties while Claire gets her body back into one piece. Word seems to be getting around that the event is complete, and so thankyou to everyone for all the lovely flowers and presents that bubs is receiving.

For the rest of this, click on any of the pictures to view a bigger version. I’m hoping to add more over the next couple of days in between feeds, baths and burping (hehe… and that’s just for myself).

Here’s a quick rundown of the events leading up to today. Tueday we had an Obstetrician appointment, at which there were some questions raised about Claire’s blood pressure. The pregnancy caused a couple of spikes which weren’t able to be controlled by medication, so the doctor decided to move ahead a week early with the birth.

Packed after work, we headed down to the hospital at 8pm where they started the lovely procedure of inducing Claire using a gel. The next 12 hours were spent into the labour room waiting for the gel to work and the action to begin. Unfortunately the chairs and bed in the room were incredibly uncomfortable, so it’s no surprise that we didn’t get much sleep. Oh, and I just remembered the SCREAMING PREGNANT WOMEN GIVING BIRTH in the rooms next to us… Why they don’t make these rooms soundproof I do not know. There was one point where Claire turned to me and said “do you think we can get out of this???”. Exactly what I was thinking, but I didn’t have all that much hope that it would be possible.

The next morning, they started a hormone drip to get things moving. From this point on the next eight hours involved lots of pain and drugs, and STILL more waiting. Honestly, where the hell is the eject button for this child?

Eventually, after going through an almost complete labour, Hamish’s head got a bit stuck and he wasn’t able to completely get through. About 8pm the Obstetrician decided that enough was enough, and that Hamish was getting a litte too stressed. I was told to get into scrubs and head up with Claire to surgery, where a surgery team were waiting for us, ready to do a c-section.

I’m not quite sure what happened in the next hour. I was spending far too much time trying not to be sick, and helping Claire who was also trying not to vomit into her oxygen mask (something that would have been quite funny — but totally wrong).

After at 8:15pm, with no sleep in 36 hours I was handed our little bubs. Unfortunately what the photo doesn’t show is the massive cone this child had for his head (Bashing on a cervix for the better part of a day tends to do that). It can be seen slightly in the photo before, but within 12 hours had almost completely disappeared. So he was blue, gunk from the uterus was dripping from his arms and legs, and he had a cone head. It was a lovely sight that I hope not to see again. It reminded me of a scene from the movie “The creature from the black lagoon”.

Because of the stronger drugs that are used for a C-section, Claire had to stay in recovery for a while, but Hamish and I were able to sneak out and down into one of the only spare rooms in the hospital (Room 9… sound familiar M&J?). Apparently pushing out a child is all the rage these days, so we had to wait overnight before we got a normal room.

While we were waiting for Claire to arrive, I had a chance to go camera crazy and get some shots of the little one.

Eventually the drugs wore off and Claire was able to come down from recovery. Considering the ordeal she had gone through, she seemed rather calm and happy. The rest of the night was spent looking after Hamish, although for some strange reason I cannot remember anything at all. Maybe it’s because I was passed out on a couch in the hallway, totally shirking my responsibilities as a parent for the comfort of sleep. In my defence I think a truck could have ran past me and I wouldn’t have waked up… no sleep for almost two days does that to you.

Finally, a couple more photos of mum and bubs. I think this was from yesterday, or maybe the day before. Who knows… The days are all quite a blur at the moment. I went home to feed and play with Charlie, our neglected hairy child who is really pissed at us not being home at the moment, and inadvertantly fell alseep on the floor in the lounge room. That too I can’t remember much of, except I do recall being woken with a wet doggy tounge in my ear. Yuch.

So that is how the story goes. I’m collecting more photos for the blog, so if you happen to take any of bubs over the coming days please send them through. Now time for another night of crying, feeding, nappies with black sticky poo in them, and the feeling that I am totally out of my comfort zone. Ohwell, it’s worth it for the little one.

P.S. Birth note in the paper on Saturday.

P.P.S Just realised I forgot all of the specifics. A Boy, 8 Pounds 0 Ounces = 3.62kgs, 51cm in length, 36cm head circumference (like you needed to know that…), born at 8:15, on 15th October.