It's almost a week until Christmas. It will be Charlotte's first and Isabella's 2nd Christmas. My Christmas presents are already here and what better presents to have than my 2 beautiful girls! I am really blessed to have both of them and can't imagine my life without them. I look at Charlotte and she makes me clucky all over again. But I don't want to push my luck and 2 really is enough. Though I can't stop wondering what the next one will be like.

Last night, I was playing with Charlotte, and for the second time I heard her give a proper laugh, not a coo. The first time was when she was sleeping and dreaming, so that doesn't really count. She has such a cute laugh. Makes me feel tickled all over.

Isabella is growing at lightning speed. Everytime I look at her, she seems to grow another inch. Her vocabulary is increasing everyday. She is communicating with us much better and already has 2 and 3 word sentences. She knows what she wants and clearly states them. For example, if she wants to swim, she'll say "schwimming", and for the sand pit "saan". She even knows how to say Playdough. Isabella is clearly and outdoorsy person. She loves being outside and learning about what's out there. Today, we'll go to the museum. I'll try and remember to take my camera with me so I can take pictures of her. Stay tuned for the update! Oh.. and a Merry Christmas to all!

Wow.. how time flies. Charlotte is already 12.5 weeks old... almost 3 months old! She has grown heaps. Not sure what she weighs now.. keep forgetting to weigh her at the chemist every time we go shopping. Will have to remember next time.

In general, Charlotte is sleeping much better these days. Usually waking up once or twice during the night. Almost had her sleeping through.. but this week, it has been a little up and down. Still, can't complain, she is still a better sleeper than Isabella was at the same age.

Charlotte is smiling heaps, and loves to look at herself in the mirror. Have also started putting her in the jolly jumper to make use of those strong legs of hers. We take her out of it when her head starts to hang from her still developing neck muscles. Still she enjoys being in it as it is something new. We have also put her in her Bumbo seat once or twice, but her back muscles need a little more developing.

Here's Charlotte in her Bumbo

And here in her Jolly Jumper

Christmas is fast approaching. Already we have a heap of things for Isabella. And since she has so many things already, there is no need to really get anything for Charlotte, as she will have lots of things from Isabella, all still in good condition.

In preparation for Christmas, I have already made up some photobooks for presents, and of course our traditional personalised Christmas cards with our family photo. This year, we decided to also use the photo we had done with Santa from the local shopping centre. As it is a surprise cards for some of families and friends, I will put the pictures up later... that is, after Christmas. Don't want to spoil the surprise.

Not a very happy Jen today! It's now 6am... yes you guess it, and I had a pretty crappy night. Woken up by baby almost every 2 hours, and on top of that, I had difficult trying to get to sleep with a combination of my itchy chest from my cold and hubby's scratching from his eczema. Aaaaah!

Well, Charlotte is now 8 weeks old. She still has some reflux, but generally it has improved a bit. She is also starting to smile when you talk to her. Her head strength is also pretty good, but occasionally she still looks like a drunken person with her head wobbling at times. I am still waking up an average of 3 times a night. And on average, it's not till 11pm before she starts to settle for the night.

I am still finding it a little difficult trying to juggle 2 kids under 2, but have settled into some sort of routine at least. This week though I have been a feeling a little more fatigued than usual as a result of getting a cold. I think I got it from Isabella, who got it from Scott. So far, I think this is the 4th time I've gotten a cold in the last 12 months - 3 were during my pregnancy with Charlotte. As a result of this cold, I've lost yet another kilo. At least there was some good out of it. Ha ha.

Not to make anybody feel bad, but as of today, I've finally reached my pre-pregnancy weight with Isabella. Yippee! This breastfeeding thing is fabulous for loosing weight. Makes me think that when I am finished with breast feeding Charlotte, it might be worth continuing to express to keep my weight off. Sounds a little extreme, but it's easier than dieting. Currently, apart from my usual meals, I also have ice creams and cookies a little more than when I was pregnant, and I've still managed to keep the weight off. I'm not sure what it does to my cholesterol level though. I wonder if breastfeeding keeps my cholesterol lower as well.. Hmm, will have to look that one up. By the way, do you know that there are breast milk banks?

Anyway, that's all for the night. Am so tired now. It's 9pm. Will try my luck at putting Charlotte down early tonight. Fingers crossed!

Charlotte is now 5 weeks old. How time has flown since her birth. The first 3 weeks especially went super fast with the recovery from my caesarian surgery and adjusting to life with a toddler and new baby. Life is getting a certainly super busy now. I have no idea how other mothers with more than 2 children cope. I find every day a challenge, but I suppose I get a little better at organising things each day that goes pass.

Since Charlotte was born, she has suffered from infant reflux. After every feed, she often spills. We have tried splitting her feeds with lots of burping in between and keeping her upright as much as possible, but she still spills on most occasions. On a visit to the child health nurse, we were told to try using a peristaltic teat by Pigeon. We finally got it today, and have used it 3 times so far. I am not sure if it is just coincidence for now, but she seems to be more settled and has slept a little better following her feeds. I guess I'll have to update you at a later date. Anyway, it is 2am now, and I've just put Charlotte back to sleep following her night feed (half of this entry was typed with one hand whilst rocking her to sleep). So now, time to express and get back to sleep. Catch ya later!

Welcome Princess Charlotte!

I would like you all to welcome our Princess Charlotte to this world. Today she is 6 days old. She's a beautiful girl just like her big sister Isabella. So far, she sleeps most of the day and wakes up a little longer during the evening and nights. But she lets mummy sleep during the day. Can't complain I suppose, at least I am getting some sleep. I feel so blessed to have 2 beautiful daughters.

Isabella has already shown great maturity and everyday she surprises us with great developments. In the few days that I was away at the hospital with Charlotte, on return, I am so awed by how much she has grown. She loves being a big sister and loves seeing Charlotte and giving her lots of kisses and hugs.

Anyway, I know this is short, but for now, I just wanted to write a short welcome for Charlotte, and when I have recovered a little more, I will write again soon.

Hugs and Kisses to my beautiful Girls, and big smooches to my wonderfully supportive loving husband!

Updates

My little miss princess has been growing so fast. She is no longer crawling. You can see the glee in her face when she walks, how proud she is to have achieved such a milestone. When we go out for walks or to the shops, she refuses to be held by the hand, instead insisting her independence by walking on her own.

Whilst Little Miss has been insisting her independence, the amount of tantrums have also risen. There are times she refuses to hold my hand, and refuses to follow by herself, and she squats down to scream and cry because she something didn't go her way. The first day she decided to walk by her self in the shopping centre, I got caught without a pram and at 38+ weeks pregnant, had to carry my Little Miss Cranky to the car. Had to talk to her and bribe her a little with the reward of some hot chips I'd bought for lunch. Not having those yummy chips straight away made her very miserable. Here's the start to dealing with more tantrums for us.

Apart from that, Isabella's new word has been something that sounds like "Angus Star". Whatever that means. We've never said anything that even resembles that word. But just about every 3rd to 5th word that comes out of her mouth sounds like it. She is such a chatter box now, there is hardly a quiet moment from the time she wakes till she sleeps. Still, she's my little princess, and every time I look at her, I can't help but squeeze her tight and cover her in kisses. I'm sure time will fly so soon, that it won't be long before she gets to a certain age where she'll refuse to be kissed all the time. So, I'm fitting them all in whilst I can.

Mega Nesting

Today was an extremely busy day for me and Scott. With 2 and a half weeks left before my booked caesarean, I needed to get a few things and I'd wanted to get done a while ago. Here's what we've done today.

- 4 loads of washing

- vacuuming

- changed 2 sets of bed sheets

- hang up some professional portraits

- organised and cleared the spare room

- cleaned out 2 sets of baby car seats

- sweep out the garage and drive way

- cooked dinner

Phew...! Luckily, considering all the stuff that needed to get done, Isabella was a really good girl mostly occupying herself throughout that time. We thought she'd be grumpier due to the lack of attention, but she showed the opposite, proving to us that she is growing up fast. Our little girl is definitely not a baby anymore, especially when you look at her standing up and walking. I love my little girl! She's the cutest, bestest daughter I could ever have wished for! Love you sweetie! Mwah.. mwah.. mwah!

Pushing the boundaries

Isabella isn't 2 yet, but already her cheeky personality has emerged, and she is hard and fast trying to push the boundaries. A few things she is doing at the moment is hiding food next to her legs in her high chair during meal times; throwing food on the floor when she is finished; being more physically retaliative and also trying out the crying game when she doesn't want to sleep.

I think the crying game isn't working for her and she is quickly loosing that battle, as we were quick to wisen and didn't give into it. As for the other things, hmmm.. hopefully, she'll move on from that. The question is, what will she do next and will it be worse?

Ouchie!

Silly me. A few weeks preceding Isabella's birth, I had tripped outside a shopping centre and hurt my pubic symphysis joint. At that time, it felt excruciating like I'd fractured it, eventhough I knew I hadn't. That was an accident.

This time, I was in the city, and crossing the road and the lights had just gone green. I thought Scott was going to run for it, so I did too... except, when I looked back he hadn't, and I wished I'd been smarter and waited too. Why, because eventhough it was only a short dash to cross the road, I'd re-injured my PSJ. After that, I felt I could hardly walk, as each step was excruciating. Still, we had to attend Isabella's allergy appointment, and then walk from there to the car park. Luckily, the pain subsided a bit the more I moved. I also had the pram to bear my weight, as I walked at a snail's pace.

Yeah... talking about slow-movers in the city before. I think I was even slower than that. The people behind us must have been annoyed. Oh well, at least I had good reason. Anyway, I managed to get through enough pain to walk a little further to enjoy some Singapore food at Little Singapore. I'd been to the one at Sunnybank quite a few times, but this one in the city only had a few choices compared to the original one. Still, beggars can't be choosers, and it was nice to have a little taste of Asia. After that, I dragged myself to the carpark to head home. On the return trip, it was I who fell asleep as my husband drove. He thought it was funny that I had fallen asleep before our toddler daughter. Well.. all I can say is .. it was hard work walking (however slowly) with an injured PSJ.

We're off to the city

Today, we are off to the city for a couple of appointments. We don't often go to the city centre these days. The parking is expensive. There is public transport, but it takes almost an hour to get there just one-way. The shopping no better really than the average shopping centre. Pollution is more rampant compared to the suburbs, when you consider the concentrated traffic between the buildings and smokers aplenty! There is talk of the Queen Street Mall going green in the future with more plants, etc and also as far as I know and hope... no smoking.

Now that most places are no smoking indoors in Brisbane, when visiting the city mall, walking through it's walkways has become a dodge-the-smoke and hold-your-breath experience for me whenever I go there. Of course, it has also been a task to dodge the slow movers. There are always slow people in front of you where ever you go, who are clueless to the people behind them who walk with a purpose. And they always seem to be in the middle of everything. Do you think they should create a walking lane/zone just for slow people?

Also, in the city you see some of the less fortunate that aren't quite so obvious when in the suburbs. The homeless in the city, some of them look like rubbish pickers with their fluorescent reflector vests, selling the 'Big Issue' magazine - never really bought one, so not sure what is in it. Usually, we just give them a few dollars here and there when we go pass them. Sometimes we're selective. I know.. I know.. homeless is homeless. But if they look like they are more hardworking, standing up to sell their mags, and appear as if they are more likely to do something positive with the money given rather than splurging it on a pack of 'smokes', I'm more likely to help those people, than those who look like they couldn't be bothered to work to sell their mags and look like they are smokers. But mostly, I just feel sorry for them, try and remember how fortunate and blessed most of us are, and just give without trying to analyse it too much. After all, we want to teach our kids to be kind and giving, and mindful of what they have. We want our kids to grow up with a sense of helping people.

Anyway, what we are really going to the city today is for Scott's work and then after that we have an appointment at the Allergy Pathway clinic for Isabella. As some of you will already be aware, Isabella developed eczema from 3 months of age. After several months of trial and error of different potions and lotions, we finally sought the help of this alternative therapy that strives to manage peoples allergies and intolerances. All sounds a bit hocus-pocus, but of those we have tried, this really seemed to work. After a few months of it, Isabella's eczema continued to improved and now, she only has traces of eczema you can see. I'm not going to go on about it, cause it would take me the whole day and I'm not very good at explaining things, but if you are interested, check it out at Allergy Pathways

We're back!

Hahaha.. I know, it's been such a long time since my last blog. It's clear I'm not a daily blogger. Isabella and my 2nd pregnancy has been keeping me busy. But now that Isabella is getting more independent, I've finally had a bit more time to dedicate here.. I hope. Then again, it might all change in a month's time when baby number 2 arrives.

I know I mentioned in the previous post that I thought Isabella was going to be a walker soon. Well, she certainly took her time. It has only been this week that she has f-i-n-a-l-l-y gained enough confidence to walk by herself. Of course she was walking before, but it has always been with us holding her hand or her walking with her walker. I'm so proud of her. It has been such an achievement for her to finally walk on her own and she is so happy of her new found freedom. We've been walking her around the house and in shopping centres. She just loves it! I'll have to try and capture her walking on video when I get a chance soon.

As for baby number 2, I feel as though I could already pop. But I still have more than 4 weeks to go... sigh. I finally finished packing my hospital bag yesterday. Second time around, much easier. You remember what you needed last time and what you didn't use. I'll also be packing a little present for Isabella from the new baby when she comes to visit us at the hospital. Just a nice little thought to make her feel special and that she hasn't been replaced, but that she is now a big sister!

Ok.. let's see if I can keep this blog going. See you next time!