Camping

We recently took Newbie on his very first camping trip.  Geekling is an old hand at camping and really enjoys it.  A think a few folks thought we were mad taking a baby camping but it was fine overall.

Newbie enjoyed being out on a blanket under the trees, and slept just fine in his portacot in the tent.  It was going to be cool so I bought flanelette pajamas before the trip, and we took a snuggly baby sleeping bag (grobag style) as we can't use a blanket or doona in the portacot.

He flat our refused all packet purees we'd packed, so the little guy lived on rice cakes and baby rice rusks, a lot of extra breastmilk and little tastes of our food.  His temporary diet didn't seem to phase him though.

We camped at Lake Monduran Holiday Park.  There was fishing nearby, and hot showers, toilets and a pretty impressive camp kitchen.  While it was pricey for camping, we really enjoyed it and will probably return soon.

Time flies!

Time flies!

Newbie is now 7.5 months old.  We've had plenty of fun and adventures, and Geekling is still doing an outstanding job as a big brother.

We're now facing the big decision of where to send Geekling for primary school next year - eeek!  Its a tough call as we're thinking of moving house in a year or so, and would like to pick a school that will still be close by or on our usual morning commute, as well as having a good daycare centre nearby for Newbie.

Here's a rare picture of me with both my boys on Mothers Day - I'm usually the one holding the phone/camera.

3 months

Its been 3 big months!  Newbie is a very easygoing baby, and a much easier baby than his big brother was at the same age.  I'm not sure how much of that is due to differences between the babies and how much is difference in our attitudes as parents - much more relaxed and confident this time around.

Geekling is still doting on his little brother, there's been no hint of jealousy at all.  We're thrilled the novelty hasn't worn off yet.

As Newbie is nearing 4 months old, we'll be looking at delving into solid food soon.  I haven't committed to a date or a plan for introducing food at this stage.  Unlike his brother, he doesn't seem to be showing obvious signs of wanting food just yet, he's still sleeping well at night.  But it won't be far off, and many of the mums in my October 2013 Due In Group are already introducing foods.

He's here! Introducing Newbie

He's here!  Well, actually he's been here for 3 weeks now.  I just hadn't gotten around to blogging about it (or anything else for a while).

Introducing 'Newbie'.

He looked just like his big brother at birth but a day or two later he started to look a lot like me as a baby, whereas Geekling looked just like his daddy.

Geekling is so very sweet with him, and so excited to be a big brother.  He loves to help burp his little brother, wet cloth wipes with the squirt bottle for nappy changes, read and sing to Newbie, kiss cuddle and hold him.  We haven't yet seen any jealousy or negative emotion towards his new sibling at all.

Hubby and I are a lot more relaxed as second-time parents, and I think that's helped relax Newbie a bit too.  I'm getting a reasonable amount of sleep, my boobs are doing fine and I am generally feeling much brighter and happier than I was after Geekling's arrival.

Slip cover for my glider chair

In getting the nursery ready, I had to decide what to do with my old glider.  While it works just fine, the vinyl was worn and flaky, and it looked pretty awful.

Before photo

Getting it reupholstered was going to be hideously expensive.  We considered selling and buying a cheaper feeding chair but we likely wouldn't get much money selling it given how bad it looked.

I stumbled across this glider makeover on Pinterest.  Its a much neater job than mine as the blogger has reshaped her glider beautifully to allow a nice, boxy designed cover to fit.

I bought a cheap single bed sheet in a nice dark colour and got chopping.  I made a fitted-sheet style cushion cover for the seat as it does not detatch but flips up, them sewed two larger pieces for the backrest and a fiddlier piece for the arm rests and front-skirt.

Here it is - Its not as neat as the other blogger's but its a grand improvement!

Queenslander!

Geekling is a proud Queenslander, particularly around this time of year in the middle of State of Origin football season.  For those not familiar with the game, Queensland players wear maroon and for every year Geekling has been alive and several before it, Queensland have dominated their New South Wales opponents who wear light blue.  

Geekling knows his maroon football jersey is a Queensland jersey.  But he also seems to think that the colour maroon is called "Queensland"!

These are last year's photos.  I must get a photo of Geekling in his jersey next Wednesday for the final and tie-breaking match of this year.

Its a BOY!

7 weeks ago we were told during a routine 20 week scan that our Newbie is a girl.  The sonographer was certain.  But just last week I had to have a further scan as I had been experiencing some pains, and our little she is actually a he!  We're having another little BOY! There was no doubt about it, the new sonographer showing me some very explicit images during the scan!

Luckily, we hadn't gotten rid of Geeklings old clothes and hadn't spent much on girls clothes and decorations.  I've packed away the girls items and am unpacking Geekling's old things.

Telling Geekling he was getting a little brother rather than a sister wasn't too bad.  At first he thought we meant he was getting one of each, but he now understands he's getting a little brother - a boy just like him.  He is no more or less excited than he was to be having a sister, I think he's just thrilled to have a baby.