Three weeks old today!

It's hard to believe the Little Prince is already three weeks old! It's been a glorious babymoon, and he is the most delicious baby.

But just in case anybody thinks having a newborn in the house has been a bed of roses I'll just record a few of the challenges here! Our little one is hard to settle, possibly because it's been a very noisy entry into the world with school holidays and four very loud older siblings. Whatever the cause, the Little Prince is prone to spitting up messily and complaining loudly if he's not being held, preferably with ready access to his milk supply.

He's still a bit of a night owl, preferring to have a longish four hour plus sleep during the day, preferably just when I'm ready to go out somewhere. A long spell during the day has given me the opportunity to catch up on some paperwork and get some housework done - the slow cooker has been our saviour because I can start dinner in the morning, and still have time to catch up if we're not finished by lunch time! (And, for the record, I successfully cooked a chocolate self-saucing pudding in the slow cooker this week - a very popular recipe!)

Being a boy, he goes through a lot of nappies. We're using cloth nappies 24/7 this week after finishing off Auntie C's donated newborn nappies and a packet from the supermarket. The Little Prince is now wearing medium/large size nappies and has no objection to pretty pink, but even my enormous cloth nappy stash is struggling to keep up with the demand in addition to the usual laundry created by a large family (back to school this week so with sports uniforms now added to the mix) and the extra washing required for a slightly messy baby. Oh, and did I mention the extra washing created by the lovely over-supply issues?

We've had colds, coughs and threatened mastitis in the house this week, so our tolerance levels have been a little low - it probably wasn't the best week for Possum to start a pamphlet delivery job! But we've made it through another week and each week's still a joy with such a wonderful family :).

Homespun baby

Finally, a photo of Grandma L's shorties getting some good use! These are fantastically comfie to put on, and are just the right weight to keep a little man's privates aired in the warmer weather without getting the bedclothes damp.

Brothers!

Possum lying down on the job, but the Little Prince seems content enough.

Bonding time with the Ginger Ninja.

And a gratuitous baby shot to show how fast he's growing! Thanks to Grandma L for the cute romper!

Another day...

Ginger Rose is very conscientious with her dolls, when she's not leaving them around to be trodden on! We went on a picnic earlier this week and Sophie (pictured above) was left "dead" at the bottom of the slide, while the baby kittens were abandoned nearby. But that's the exception - she really is very kind to her toys.

The Little Prince has daily sun kicks to try to clear up some nasty thrush - well, and because it's fun!

Ginger Rose is SO happy to have her new Teeniest Pet Shop toy with little kittens. The sweet little kittens, about 2cm tall, lasted for four whole days before she lost one!

Isn't he growing up? And the older children are getting to play with him more, which is a big help - especially at dinner time!

Sisters!

Briar Rose is such a wonderful big sister!

Transitioning to being a middle child can be tough, but Ginger Ninja and Briar Rose are doing a great job reminding Ginger Rose that she's still precious!

Fortunately Ginger Rose is mostly happy to watch Briar Rose's choice of movies.

And while we're talking about sisters, I have to say a BIG HUGE ENORMOUS thank you to my wonderful little sister who has looked after me so well with this baby! She's not only provided mountains of baby clothes, wraps and the sweetest little nappies, but has even provided me with two out of the three tops that respectably cover my post-baby bulge!

I hope my daughters can have such a close relationship as they grow up!

Grandma L boosts the stash!

Wow - when Grandma L knits up a storm, she really knits up a storm! We have no less than THREE different types of shorties to add to the nappy stash AND two gorgeous co-ordinating jumpers to go over the top! I need to do a quick wash and lanolise then should be displaying them on the model himself shortly!

2 weeks old!

Ginger Rose came home from an overnight visit to Grandma L's looking exhausted, grubby and very very pleased with herself! She had a great time, but was pleased to be home.

It's hard to believe that the Little Prince is already a fortnight old! This will be the last week he fits the gorgeous XS sized Bubble Bubs nappies on loan from Auntie C - and while they still fit, they definitely don't last for long! He eats a lot and puts out an equivalent amount!

He's already so grown up - he sits up and looks around very attentively, and is turning into such a little snuggle pot!

A day on our own

Our cat's got his usual high dependency syndrome with the birth of a new baby, and is refusing to eat without coaxing and insisting on being allowed to enter or exit the house through whichever entrance or exit takes his fancy at whatever time he likes regardless of his humans' sleep requirements.

While the rest of the family were away, the baby and I played! We got into some nice summer gear to go to the library, but as soon as we arrived at the shops realised that the sweltering weather had changed so switched into a nice warm top and pants.

Then we arrived home to more sweltering weather, so the Little Prince took a brief nap outside while I played with the washing.

We stripped off again for the afternoon, but it's cooled down again now. Baby is shown wearing a PP pocket nappy in a classic Pooh print - very cute, but not a good fit yet hence the bowed leg effect. We'll try again next week!

RIP Coda, 26.12.93 - 6.10.07

Our beautiful dog, Coda, died last Saturday. We knew he was getting old because he was developing a very distinguished silver muzzle and sore hips, but we didn't think he was ever really going to die.

He has been such a wonderful member of our family. He always wanted to be in the thick of things. With each new baby, once he knew what was going on, he'd be so gleeful as the solid food stage started (he was always best friends with any toddler carrying food!), then resigned as they learnt to crawl and pull on his fur or tail, then patient as he taught them how to throw a ball for him.

He was very tolerant with Ginger Rose, but really started to slow down in the past year. I'm so glad he was here to see our new baby, but was so expecting him to be here to watch this little one start solids too.

He died under a blossom tree in our garden, with Ginger Ninja right beside him watching over him. We carried him back to his bed, and Briar Rose made him a "Best Dog Ever" crown and brought him flowers. We buried him next to the rowan tree.

I never realised how empty our home would feel without him. Coda, we miss you more than we ever imagined.

Day 12

Our Little Prince is growing up so fast! Look how he's grown into his nappy cover!

We had a busy day today - to reactivate our car radio we needed to take it to an authorised dealer, who wanted to keep it for a day! All because when they replaced the radio they didn't think to record the activation code or the serial number - too frustrating! So, dh decided it would be best if I turned up with all 4 children (Briar Rose is still visiting Grandma E) in an attempt to hurry them along!

As it happens, the service manager was charming and became a grandfather for the first time 4 weeks ago, so was very impressed with our Little Prince, and made positive comments about me breastfeeding in their waiting room :) . But it still took over an hour to re-start the radio, so we had a lovely walk into town where I collected the latest Jamie Oliver cook book.

We needed the radio activated because Dh is driving to Sydney to collect Briar Rose and take all the older children (including Ginger Rose!) to visit Grandma L for the night. We really hoped I'd be able to come along to show off the Little Prince, but as he's not yet 2 weeks old, we thought discretion the better part of valour this time!

Ginger's Roses

Ginger Rose just loves picking flowers, and has been overjoyed to find some roses in the garden lately.

Today she picked one for herself, and one to share with her friend, Bronte.

It was a bittersweet day - Baby is old enough to be discharged from the Community Midwifery Program, which sadly means saying goodbye to the wonderful midwife who's held my hand through the last six months. We will really miss seeing her!

On the bright side, Baby has gained 480gm in 4 days so the breastfeeding is working!

Baby's first outing

We took a trip out to the local markets today. It was variously windy, chilly, sunny and hot, but Baby was no trouble at all and took to the stroller quite happily once Ginger Rose abandoned it.

Somebody bought each of the older children their very own very loud bird whistles, and they found a very sweet pup happy to listen to them. There were so many dogs at the market, which I found a little painful as they reminded me of Coda, who died yesterday.

A week old!

All the children have been thriving on Grandma E's love and attention. We have been so truly blessed with our friends and relatives. This weekend, three different families have dropped by to bring us fresh fruit from the markets (fortunately, they've all brought a range of different things!). Ginger Rose is shown eating an Italian sweet bread brought from the markets by Nana R and Grandad B.

Possum spent his entire pocket money savings and all of his birthday money on an MP4 player. He's incredibly pleased with it, and I'm amazed at how quickly he's mastered the technology - including networking it.

Ginger Rose caught in the act of misappropriating Ginger Ninja's new toy!

Lovely longies!

And an extra special thanks to my wonderful friend, N, who sent these very snuggly cuddly hand-knitted longies all the way from Canada! They did a great job over an exceedingly wet flannel nappy - I had no idea he was totally soggy!