4 months old (not so little) boys

Sam and Lucas hit 4 months yesterday. Meeks took them up to the Chemist to be weighed and they come in at a hefty 7.1kg for Sam and 7.8kg for Lucas.

The boys are coming along very well and are full of smiles at the moment ... well full of smiles when they're not crying. The best time to get them is in the morning when they first wake up. Generally they're not that hungry and just wake up for a bit of a chat and lots of big grins. So very cute. From 4pm to about 7pm when they go to sleep it is a different story though. Normally they're grumpy and tired and cry a lot - very difficult for poor Meeks at the end of the day.

Balancing Park - with the family

Mitch liked Balancing Park so much last week he wanted to go back and this time brought the family. So there was more balancing to be had ...


After the worries of last week it was good to have Sam at home all weekend and happy.

Sam is better again

The tests came back all clear. Sam has kicked the infection which is great news. He will still have an ultrasound next week to confirm whether or not he has scarring on his kidneys. For now though, it's great news because he doesn't have to spend the weekend in hospital on an intravenous drip. Praise God!

Sam unwell again ... maybe

One of the tests (urine test) performed while Sam was in the hospital last week indicated he had an infection. Meeks got called back into hospital for a second test on Monday which showed the same thing, despite the fact he is visibly in good health. A couple of visits to the paediatrician haven't really resolved anything so he had another lot of urine shipped off to be tested this morning. If this test shows he has an infection he will need 48 hours of intravenous antibiotics in hospital. If it shows he doesn't have an infection, it would seem to indicate that he had an infection which his body fought off. He will still need an ultrasound to confirm that his kidneys don't have any scarring as a result of the infection. If there is scarring he will have to go off to the Children's Hospital for an operation which I don't really know the details of.

It is all a bit scary, but I'm comforted by the fact that the paediatrician says he seems to be in very good health by every other measure and he is certainly growing well and eating well and happy.

Please pray for us and little Sam!

Balancing Park

Mitch and spent a bit of time in a park we haven't been to for while. There is a raised path around the park made from logs which Mitch enjoyed balancing on.

When he fell off, which happened occasionally

He climbed right back on again (notice the oh so cool, undies poking out the top of his jeans!)


There were a few other fun things to play on ...

Noisy boys

When Mitch was a little baby he didn't make a whole lot of baby noises. There wasn't a lot of gooing or gaaing or cute squeals or any of those noises babies make. Lucas and Sam, on the other hand, are very noisy little boys, Lucas in particular. They both love to have a chat, whatever the hour. We're not sure if it is because Mitch mostly had a dummy whereas we have tried not to use one with Lucas and Sam or they are just reacting to having Mitch around who, despite his late start, is a total jibber jabberer now.

Yesterday morning Lucas woke up at 6am-ish and rather than crying, just talked to himself for about 30 minutes. Sometimes when Lucas and Sam are in their beds and they're meant to be going to sleep they will lie there and both make noises. It's almost like they are talking to each other. I can imagine in a year or two they will be talking to each other and Meeks and I will be going in telling them to be quiet and go to sleep!

In other news, Sam seems to have recovered from whatever it was that ailing him and all his plumbing has returned to normal service which is great ... but smelly!

Sam in hospital

Sam and Meeks spent last night in hospital after Sam was admitted because his bowels were playing up. It was an unwelcome scare for us, but fortunately the tests they did ruled out the dangerous things it could have been. So Meeks and Sam came again home this morning. He has to go back next week and visit the doctor again for another check up.

The doctor was concerned it was something called Intussusception. Fortunately a ultrasound ruled that out late last night and he stayed in overnight so they could observe him. Meeks stayed in the hospital overnight with Sam, while Dave stayed at home with Lucas and Mitch.

In use on Yahoo

Often I get asked where the photos I take and sell on iStock end up. Well, today I was informed that one of them was used on the Yahoo home page. It was illustrating one of their front page new stories. The nature of internet news means that these things are very transient, so I took a screen shot of it for my "CV". Here it is:

The non-greyed out bit is my picture and just happens to be one of the pictures in my portfolio of me, not that you would be able to recognise me from that angle :)

Auntie Krissy and the boys

It was Auntie Krissy's last night in Sydney so I took some photos with her and the boys.

Firstly with Sam


I love the composition and textures in this one!


Then with both boys


And with Lucas

Grandad's Birthday

We had lunch over at Ganny and Grandad's house on Sunday for Grandad's birthday. Here are a few shots from the day.

Ganny got to play with the boys


Uncle Rob got a cuddle too
Meeks and the boys
The birthday boy
Mitch doesn't care whose party it is as long as there is cake!

Sleeping through - Take 2

Lucas slept through the night last night. Whoo hoo! He was fed at about 9:30 and slept through till ... well he was still asleep when I left for work at 7:30am. Sam unfortunately didn't. He did a poo and woke up at 4:30am or something, but still a good effort. I suspect if he hadn't done a poo he might have slept through too.

We had lunch at Ganny and Grandad's house on Sunday for Grandad's birthday and last night Krissy came over for a farewell dinner and game of cards. I have lots of photos from both events, but haven't had time to process them yet. Hopefully will do so soon and put some on the blog - stay tuned!

Bumbo buddies and a little tiger

Meeks bought Lucas and Sam a Bumbo chair each. They're little rubbery seats that help the boys sit up. She described them to me as "purple" over the phone. Upon viewing them I suspect "violet" or "lilac" is a closer description. Either way they were on special so we bought them. Now Lucas and Sam are Bumbo buddies.


Coles Asquith (formerly "Country Coles") has been refurbished and they were having their "official" reopening today. There were tastings and face painting and MItchy decorated a cup cake. You could get your picture taken with Dora and Diego as well, but the queue was too long. Mitch got a bit of face-painting and turned into a little tiger!


Mitch has developed a new cute but exhausting habit. He is always asking "Why?". He doesn't understand the answer you give so he just keeps asking "Why? But Daddy why? But Daddy why". Cute, but exhausting.

Sleeping through ... almost

The boys slept from about 10pm last night until about 5am this morning. A pretty good effort. It did however mean waking up at 5am, so we're a bit tired. They would possibly have slept longer except Mitch woke up and called out because his nappy had leaked and he was cold and wet. Fair enough, poor little guy!

Mitch has gone to the Aquarium with Aunty Krissy today which will be great fun for both of them hopefully. Kris is out from the UK at the moment but goes home next week. Hopefully I can get some photos of her with the boys. So far I haven't had much luck.

Mitch had another really good swimming lesson on Wednesday. He was pretty much floating on his back by himself and was almost swimming without a bubble. He has come such a long way since those first couple of weeks when he screamed and screamed. He looks so cute in his little swimming costume and cap and goggles. Kris got a photo of him, I haven't had the guts to take a camera with me. We'll have to get Krissy's photo of him.

Are you my brother?

Lucas and Sam have just become aware that each other exist and they are fascinated by each other. It's funny when the look at each other and smile. I managed to capture some photos of them interacting today.


And one of them side by side:

That's Lucas on the left and Sam on the right (from your point of view, not theirs)

Feet

I finally had the change to make a new photo today, one that Meeks had the idea for and I just had to work out how to do it. Not sure if this is the final configuration, but when we make up our mind it's going to go on the wall in a big frame.

Our feet! Dave, Meeks, Mitch, Lucas and Sam


Makes me realise I have very skinny feet!