John's Blog! - Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Part 1 - pre Christmas stuff

Since we got back from NZ, Abby and John have started a little project. John received a sea monkey kit for father’s day as something they could do together. Abby helped to purify the water, put in the eggs and keep an eye out for signs of life. As they are pretty fool proof I am happy to say we now have a family or 3 of sea monkeys, although it is a bit disconcerting cooking while you have sea monkeys shagging in front of you. We now have some little sea monkeys on the way.
John also decided to make a house for the possums outside the kitchen window (one has turned into 1 mum and 2 babies) and Abby helped stain it but I think the cats scared them off and they haven’t moved in yet.

We had Maree and Sean’s wedding in Leongatha a couple of weeks after we got back and although the weather wasn’t the best we had a great time. Maree looked beautiful and they had some fantastic speeches. Both dads and the groom had to compose themselves throughout their speeches and hold back the tears and the matron of honour had written a very funny, heartfelt poem which had us all in stitches. John had taken part in the stag party which had involved a mankini for the groom and horse riding – and yes, at the same time. All I can say is that Sean felt sorry for his mate who was holding the stirrup steady while he was getting on the horse haha.

A few days after the wedding, John’s sister Sue came over from Dunedin for a visit so we spent some time visiting places like the Vic markets and Southbank at night with her, while during the week she travelled into the city on her own and took in the sights. Abby was very excited to see her after she went back home she kept asking us where Sue was.

Lachie had a check up at 5 months and no surprises, it was confirmed that he is huge. His height was 70.7cm which was off the growth charts and his weight was 9kg which was just on the 97th percentile. Looking back at Abby’s book, she reached just over 8kg at 8months. Just before he turned 4 months, John and I wanted to drop the late evening feed at 10.30pm as he was on 6 three hourly feeds. Lachie had other ideas and wanted to go to a 4 hour routine so bless the little thing, he compromised, and in one day he dropped 2 feeds and went to 4 four hourly feeds at 250ml a pop. You should see him go – he can drink a full 250ml bottle down in 5-7 minutes no problem.

We are thinking that perhaps we should have stayed in NZ so he could play rugby as he’s got the thighs for it. In October at only 3 months he had grown out of his capsule which I returned to the local council, and put him in our car seat. In November he grew out of his bassinette so he went into the cot. As it was getting hot, we moved him from downstairs, which is the same level as our bedroom, to upstairs into his own room. Each bedroom upstairs has ducted air con and he has been much happier up there. And John has been loving having a permanent study. Aside from all that Lachlan is a VERY laid back boy who can lie on the floor for hours and you forget he’s even there. He hardly makes a peep, although now he has just started rolling over onto his tummy at will but gets upset when he can’t roll back to his tummy so we hear some very high pitched squeals.

Abby has been making leaps and bounds in her learning. She can count to 14 and can recognise numbers in the 20’s and she also knows all her big and small letters. Only thing is that she insists on spelling out everything she sees like number plates and words in books, magazines – even to the point of giving examples for each letter. She has her favourite place mat which has THYME printed on it and every meal time has to tell you “T – turtle, H – house, Y – lellow, M – milk, E- elephant”. I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard that. She is convinced that these letters don’t start any other words except for these. She is now talking more in sentences than fragments and is showing good comprehension, such as, if asked how did dad hurt his arm she replies ‘Daddy fell off motorbike’ hehe (John managed to stack our friends new adventure motorbike while playing off road somewhere). Abby and Lachlan get along really well. Abby spends all her time trying to make him laugh and he stares at her, watching her every move, barely containing a giggle.

John was invited by a friend to go see the V8 super cars at Phillip Island. They had been given 2 tickets and it was the last race of the season and this meet would decide who won the championship for the year. They didn’t realise how great the tickets were – in the grandstand right on the finish line and access to the pits. Steve wore his Ford t-shirt and felt a bit weird asking Larry Perkins for a pic while wearing it so he just loitered by him while John took a pic instead haha.

And finally I have been put in a mum’s group. I had my first catch up with them the week before Christmas. And although they have been meeting for 3 months they were very friendly and welcoming – even not minding the fact that Abby has to come along. I’m really looking forward to seeing them all again in a few weeks.

Sea monkey project begins

Step 1 - purifying the water

Step 2 - adding the eggs

Checking for signs of life

We have sea monkeys

Mum and her brood

Staining their new house

Maree and Sean

Lunching after the markets

Peet and Lachlan

Abby

How good is the jolly jumper

In my new bed

Me and mum

My first solids experience

On my mat

Say cheese

In the pits

Kelly in action

Steve loitering around Larry

Todd Kelly's car

1/1/2008 10:20:48 PM (AUS Eastern Daylight Time, UTC+11:00)

Comments [1] Baby

Part 2 - Christmas etc

Hope you all had a great Christmas and new year. Ours was mixed bag weather wise. Only got to about 20 on Christmas day but from boxing day onwards, it was in the mid to high 30’s and has so far climaxed over NYE and NY day to reach 42 and 41. So we had to can our plans to go to Mooroopna for the NYE mardi gras and have been holed up at home in the air conditioned house. Although seeing as it only got down to 27 outside overnight, the house didn’t really get a chance to cool down so it feels hotter inside today than it did yesterday. We are just waiting for the cool change to arrive that has been forecast for the early afternoon.

Abby was interested in Christmas this year and Santa. She had a photo taken with Santa and while we thought she might get frightened, she was chomping at the bit to see him. All she wanted from Santa was chocolate as she doesn’t get it very much.

A few days before Santa’s arrival we got the kids out of bed and took them to the Boulevard in Ivanhoe which is a residential street in Melbourne and is regarded as the best display of Christmas lights in the city. The residents put a lot of effort in and have thousands of people pass through on foot and by car every night to see them during the 10 days leading up to Christmas. They even have to change traffic conditions for the period and by foot you can spend a couple of hours walking up and down both sides of the road.

Mum and dad arrived Christmas eve and we got into the spirit with the televised carols by candlelight from the city. The next morning Abby had a ball. It was very sweet when after she had a opened a couple of small things from her stocking, she was concerned Lachie hadn’t opened anything yet and wanted to give him one of her presents to open. She was also so intent on playing with each toy after she opened it that when we told her she had other presents to open she said ‘No – no presents”, and would get upset if we passed her one to open. As it’s mandatory on Christmas day, we ate too much felt rather full so we all had a rest after lunch and then mum and dad had to go home.

The next day was my birthday so some friends came round and we ate and drank until we could eat and drink no more. My body is regretting that I can tell you. So the usual New Year’s resolution of eating better and moving more has been bandied about but no promises have been made........

Meeting Santa

Patting Rudolph

Ready to go see the lights

Buskers on the Boulevard

Decorated front yard

Another front yard

Christmas day

Present for Lachlan

Abby loved her train set

All tuckered out

Enjoying a rest

Chilling with dad

At the end of a long Christmas day

1/1/2008 10:19:02 PM (AUS Eastern Daylight Time, UTC+11:00)

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Part 1 - Before the trip & Wellington
Hi all. We’ve been away on holidays and I’ve got quite a few pics to put up so I’ve just added 4 entries so there isn't one huge novel. So here is the first instalment.

The weekend before we left for our trip to NZ for a wedding, it was the AFL Grand Final and mum and dad drove down from Mooroopna to watch it with us. John had the afternoon booked at a mates place from work. The right team won and we had lots of yummy food to eat so all in all it was a great day. Go the Cats!!

A few hours after Mum and Dad left, our friends Peet and Jess flew in from Holland. Peet had just got a contract in Melbourne which we were pretty stoked about as we haven’t lived in the same city as either of them for a very long time. It was also good timing as they could house sit for us while we were away.

The Monday morning we flew out we had to get up at 4.00am, pack the kids and our 25 bags (that’s what it felt like) in the car as well as squash Jess in the between the two car seats in the back. What a circus. But once we had checked in we were able to relax (as we weren’t overweight). Lachlan was great on the plane as he pretty much slept for most of the flight. Abby on the other hand protested immediately at having to put on her seatbelt. So we had a few fun and games there for a while but things settled eventually.

We arrived in Wellington and once I stepped outside the airport I remembered immediately one of the reasons I had wanted to leave in the first place. Wind. And once we got up to Anne’s place we were up in the clouds. It was great to see Anne and her little baby Amelia who was born 3 days before Lachlan. Although it did just emphasise what a monster Lachy is :-)

While in Wellington we got to catch up with a lot of friends plus our old antenatal group. It was amazing to see how grown up everyone was. Thanks to Christina and Bernadette for the pics they sent through.

We decided not to drive past our old place as we knew it had been bought as an investment property. Seeing as we had put so much effort into the place, we didn’t want to see if any of our hard work had been torn out or was not being cared for.

We caught up with old work mates

and friends

The Cheritons

Cheeky girl

Squidge & Brittany

Abby catches up with old mates Logan & Jesica

as well as Samuel & Sasha

The whole gang

10/31/2007 3:27:37 PM (AUS Eastern Daylight Time, UTC+11:00)

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Part 2 - Queenstown & the farm

After a few days in Wellington it was time to move south to Queenstown to stay with John’s dad and his partner Jan. We love it there as it’s so relaxing and beautiful. This was my first time arriving in Queenstown by plane and it was just spectacular. Rows and rows of mountains capped with snow and the actual basin Queenstown is in is breathtaking with the Shotover River and Lake Wakatipu - quintessential NZ. The day after we arrived Abby had a ride on Jan’s horse Vinnie – Jan has been having dressage lessons (with an Australian dressage champion no less) and while he is usually quite feisty he was pretty buggered and docile by the time Abby jumped on. After that we drove up to Coronet Peak which has an amazing outlook over Queenstown. There is a photo below with John’s dad’s property marked on it. Although it was mid October, they had been having fresh dumps of snow - it even snowed a few nights we were there – so Abby had her first encounter with snow.

John must have felt like a country boy again, as rabbits were playing on the front lawn and he felt the need to shoot them (yes he still has a valid NZ licence). Thank goodness Abby was in bed is all I can say, so I didn’t have to explain what was happening to the cute little rabbits. Quite ironic, John’s sister Sue pointed out, seeing as his favourite story when he was little was Watership Down. I have to admit John has amazing eyesight. He can spot something ‘shootable’ a mile away.

Another bit of excitement we had - Queenstown had some pretty big earth quakes. The first hit at about 1.30am and measured 6.7. I slept through it unlike John and most other people. Shops and clubs all over Queesnstown had damaged goods. But I certainly felt one of the aftershocks at 10.30am the next morning which was 6.4. The whole house shook and Jan wasn't sure if it was the wind or not, but I didn't mistake the rumble that goes with the shaking wall units etc.

A week later we were on the move again, and stayed the night at John’s brother's farm at Te Houka, just out of Balclutha. Abby was reunited with her cousins Hamish, William, Sophie and Bridget and they all got to meet Lachlan. Abby had an absolute ball there, feeding lambs, chasing chickens, feeding pigs and splashing in puddles. It was hilarious watching her bounce at the knees while she fed the lamb and laugh hysterically while the lambs chased her. That night John and his brother got on the red wine until about 3.00 in the morning which John suffered for the whole of the next day……..

Abby & Vinnie

Going for a walk

First snow experience

The 'X' marks Johns dads house

Johns Arty Pics I - 'Track to the river'

Johns Arty Pics II - 'Boat in paddock near mountains'

Feel the serenity

Brrm Brrm

Abby and her biker bitch

To the lambs with cousin Sophie

Hamish and Sophie with their lambs

Looking like a local with William

Woolshed

Feeding Sophies lamb

Pigs

Puddles

Poor chickens

Bridget & Abby discuss 2 year old morning hair

10/31/2007 3:26:05 PM (AUS Eastern Daylight Time, UTC+11:00)

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Part 3 - Dunedin
…….Yes well the trip to Dunedin was only an hour but it feels like a lot longer than that when you have someone barfing into an ice cream container beside you while you’re driving.

We arrived at John’s sister’s house Thursday afternoon and John tried to sleep off the effects of the previous night. It was great catching up with the Naylors – especially as Sarah and Rosie are great at amusing the kids :-)

Abby became acquainted with Sarah’s pet rats and the family dog Maggie which Abby decided was ‘Licky dog’.

Saturday was the day of Like & Leah’s wedding. When I reached the room for the ceremony John showed me the little pin Mike had made for all the groomsmen – it was tiny little spanner, each with their name engraved on it. Mike is a mechanic and he even had his wedding band made into the shape of a nut. That’s nice, different, it’s unusual as Kath and Kim would say. Well there is nothing like a wedding to make you feel all warm and fuzzy about being married. And everyone had a great time at the reception. We even thought we would let Mike get some practice in holding a baby just in case they finish ‘practising’ themselves :-)

In fact Lachlan charmed everyone by not crying the whole time and giving them great big grins all night. He was passed around for a while which meant John and I got the opportunity to have a bit of a boogie on the dance floor.

The next day was a beautiful day in Dunedin and we had a morning tea with the Naylors and Sue. It was very hard to leave but we said our goodbyes and headed back to Queenstown. Now a lot of planes fly in and out of Queenstown and you can hear them from John’s dads place. It was while here at Christmas time that Abby took a liking to planes. She even has her own little toy matchbox plane she takes everywhere with her. We have now found out that she may understand what tomorrow means. She heard a plane overhead and as usual got quite excited. John said ‘We are going on a plane tomorrow’ and nothing more was mentioned by John or Abby. 6.30am we get a wake up call of Abby coming into our room and the first thing she said was ‘Going on a plane’. Obsessed I tell you.

So it was with great reluctance we said goodbye and boarded our plane………

One of Sarah's pet rats

Playing with aunty Sue

Sarah & Lachy

The nervous wait

The happy couple

John's pin

Mike & Lachy

Enjoying the Dunedin sun with Tom

Maggie 'Licky' dog

Liz & Abby

Kids with Sue, Rosie & Sarah

Not happy to say 'Cheese'

Causing mischief

'Helmet'

10/31/2007 3:22:19 PM (AUS Eastern Daylight Time, UTC+11:00)

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Part 4 - Home again
Our flight home was uneventful. For some time both the kids were asleep which was fantastic and for a change all 5 pieces of our checked luggage came out in the first few minutes – woohoo! Jess, who had been house sitting for us, picked us up and told us how it had been 33 degrees in Melbourne the day before. Even in driving back from the airport we noticed that already everything had begun to lose the green look. Both days on the weekend were 29 degrees – just magical weather. So summer PJ’s, sheets and clothes have been pulled out of the wardrobes.

Outside our kitchen window is a bird’s nest in which we have occasionally seen a possum. On the weekend we saw it again – a cute ring tail possum with a baby. John managed to get some pics before Sam, our cat, went up for look and got a claw to the nose before the possums ran further up the tree.

This weekend John and I have Maree and Sean’s wedding to go to in Leongatha which is about 2 hours east of Melbourne so we are looking forward to that.

S

M

I

L

E

N

O

W

Preferring colour now

Not happy at having to leave

The flight home

Possum

Digging for peg treasure

Abby 'helping'

Abby's favourite shoes

10/31/2007 3:21:11 PM (AUS Eastern Daylight Time, UTC+11:00)

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Yes we are still alive...
Hi all. Well a lot has happened since the last couple of months since the last entry.

Lachlan was 11 weeks on Sunday and is growing at a great rate of knots. Each week we had him weighed he had put on 250g and in 6 weeks had grown 3cm. In the 2 weeks after that he put on a whole 1kg and grew 3.5cm!! The nurse kept re-measuring him just to make sure. Although he has very chubby cheeks the rest of his body isn’t too Buddha like so the nurse wasn’t concerned with the weight gain. He also started sleeping through the night last week which John and I are VERY grateful for. He is smiling all the time now and has started ‘talking’ which is very cute to watch as he has such a focussed look on his face when he does.

About 3-4 weeks ago Lachy got pretty sick. Started out with a bit of a cough but ended up becoming bronchiolitis. This usually only occurs in babies and those usually under 6 months. So we had to take him to the doctors every day so his breathing / lungs could be monitored. We didn’t have to take him to hospital but were under instructions to watch him closely so if his conditioned worsened we would call an ambulance. It also meant he was very tired and instead of feeding normally we had to feed him small amounts at half hour intervals so feeds would take an hour and a half.

At the same time Abby and I were pretty sick too so once Lachlan had the all clear from the doctor, I packed up the car and went up to Shepp to visit the folks for 8 days. Mum was a star, helping out with both the kids and looking after me too :-)

. John got to have uninterrupted sleep and get a lot of things done he had wanted to do for ages.

Abby attended her first big birthday party in August - the 5th birthday of her friend Genevieve. It was held at the golden arches of McDonalds and was a princess theme as it seems most girls of 5 love being princesses. Abby was the youngest by far and it was a struggle to find a costume to fit her. In the end we found one for a 3 y/o and the length was ok. Apart from the crash tackle she got from the excited birthday girl on arrival, Abby had a great time and decided she loves McNuggets. I even ran into a couple of people I used to work with over 10 years ago!!

Abby is loving her 2 mornings of crèche a week. The only problem I have with them is they decided to teach the kids how to take the lids off jars. Why would they do that? The whole time we were at mums, she was in the pantry, taking the lids off the Vegemite and jam. Unfortunately this newly acquired skill has been turned to door handles. She can now leave her room at will which is a bugger. This has meant 6.00 – 6.30am wake up calls for John and myself – usually caused by our light being turned on. She used to just lie in bed quietly until we got her at about 7.30am. We have put some toys up in her room and asked her not to come out until one of us goes up to get her but she ‘forgets’. Abby is also Wiggles MAD at the moment. She can recite the lines of her Wiggles movie as she watches it which is a bit scary, but very useful when you need to distract her for a while.

Saturday we went on a family outing to the Melbourne show and the weather was just spectacular. Abby got to ride on the train, pat some goats, sheep, calves and chickens as well as see some rabbits, puppies and some dog trials. She also went on a few rides and knocked back a few chocolate koalas. We were all a bit exhausted and considering how tired she was, she wasn’t too bad on the train ride home. Lachlan was the model child thank god.

Well we have a couple of weddings to go to over the next 6 weeks and one of them is in Dunedin so we are taking the opportunity to visit Wellington for a few days. We are hoping to plan a very informal get together at Anne’s place so will get out the details to you Wellingtonians when we have made some plans. I am really looking forward to the trip and catching up with John’s family down south. Only 11 sleeps to go!!!!!