Noah at the Beach

Christmas Lunch

Abbey posed Noah amongst his Christmas toys

Uncle Brian making Noah laugh

Merry Christmas

Noah's Special Christmas Decorations

It's 12.15 right now and as is the tradition we have had my family for Christmas breakfast. We have done this at Megs house ever since Jake and Abbey were little so we could see what Santa brought - this year it was our turn because of course it's Noah's first Christmas. We handed out our Kris Kringle presents for the adults and then the kids 'helped' Noah inspect his stocking from Santa - as you can imagine he was very spoilt. Let's just say he's already got more books than he can read in a lifetime!!

I made a yummy breakfast (even if I do say so myself) - actually everyone who ate it thought so too. Smoked salmon and Camembert frittata followed by vanilla, rosewater and strawberry cinnamon pancakes. We were supposed to have breakfast trifle made with yoghurt and muesli and berries but unfortunately Rob tipped it down the stairs - every Christmas meal has to have one disaster and that was it. It worked out ok in the end though because even without them we had plenty of food. Noah had his first solid breakfast - some yummy rice cereal which he really enjoyed.

Right now Noah is having a nap before a visit to Aunty Fay and Uncle Brian's, Rob is having is annual beach run with his Dad and joined by Uncle David this year too. This evening it's the De Roach Christmas dinner at John's house and it's going to be a beauty with Pa, Bron, David, Les and Sean all here from Melbourne.

Noah enjoying the paper more than the gift as we expected

Noah with his stash

Jake and Abbey relaxing in the hammock

Noah and The Nanna

Noah's first solids - yummy - but he seems to be enjoying his hand too

Getting tired from all the festivities

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Hanging out on the floor with Daddy

This is what Christmas is all about - fun family times.

Noah and his honorary Nanna - Bev

Happy 5 months Noah

Dear Noah

Today we celebrate 5 months since you came very suddenly into our lives. You are such a big boy now - it's unbelievable. You are literally changing before our eyes - in fact as I write this I'm fairly confident you are pushing through your first tooth. It's exciting of course to see all these changes but in some ways I'm not ready. It seems like you only just started smiling and we've gotten used to your gorgeous gummy grin - I can't imagine seeing a little tooth (of course it could still be many weeks before that happens anyway).

We hardly ever have reason to call you grump-a-saurus anymore but you do have your moments. You're a bit like mummy and when you decide you wants something you must have it immediately - if not you scream the house down. You've definitely decided facing backwards in the car is not your thing but unfortunately you are about 400grams lighter than is recommended - we might cheat and turn you around anyway - you're a kid that wants to see the world.

You are really getting to know your body now and hardly ever have your fist out of your mouth. As of yesterday you are a rolling machine and you think you are quite clever. Daddy and I put you on the rug on your back and next minute you were on your tummy. We kept rolling you back and you kept doing it again but we never actually saw it happen. When you get on your tummy your little legs really want to crawl away, when your upper body catches up you'll be unstoppable. You're really strong and sometimes like to pull hair. Speaking of hair - yours is starting to grow and it looks quite dark. It's such a fun adventure watching all these things happen and wondering - will you be blonde or dark, will your hair be straight or curly?

Every day so many new things are happening - today you tried drinking out of a sipper cup with handles and were pretty chuffed with yourself until you choked and had a big spew. You fell asleep in the swing today with your new baby sunnies on - so much cuteness.

You are completely in love with your Baby Einstein DVD's and even though the health nurse told me I'm damaging your brain - I think you'll be ok.

There are so many weird and wonderful things I'm discovering about you everyday and I'm loving every minute of it. You and Daddy are such great mates and it still melts me to see you together - he really makes you laugh and he calls you his funny monkey.

Happy 5 months Noah, Love Mummy

3 sleeps to go....

Christmas is almost here and tomorrow Noah is 5 months old - I can't believe how fast it's all going by.

Rob and I are on holidays now and having a wonderful time.

Last week was absolutely mental. After returning from our relaxing weekend in Busselton it was straight back into house mode. Monday the paving was finally finished and then we spent the next few nights cleaning up the mess (why tradespeople have to leave such a mess in their wake I'll never understand). Rob heaved bricks and we swept for hours filling in the paving with sand (a job the pavers should have done - we won't be recommending them to anyone!!). Thursday the new shed arrived so Thursday afternoon and late into the night we were moving everything into the shed and emptying the store room which is about to become a playroom. Right up till we left for Rob's work Christmas lunch on Friday we were working on the house. It's looking really good now though and we're very happy we decided to bite the bullet and get the bank to pay for it!!!

The Oceanica Christmas Party was at Salt on the Beach (Formerly the Oyster Bar). It started with fruit and champagne on the beach and then we headed up to the restaurant. It was a beautiful day overlooking the sparkling ocean with good food and great company. Noah was a complete angel and slept through most of lunch allowing us to relax and enjoy our first day of holidays.

Friday night we hosted a BBQ at our place for Rob's Dad, Uncle and Grandparents. Uncle David and Pa and Bron have all come form Melbourne for Christmas and to meet Noah. Noah is very lucky to have 3 great grandparents. To see 4 generations together is really amazing.

Yesterday we went to Church (Mum and Holly and Jake and Abbey too)- for me it was a long time between visits and I don't think Rob had ever been before. It was really lovely to hear the Christmas service and sing all the carols plus kids from the church did some performances which were really cute. We have agreed to expose Noah to church and allow him to decide for himself as he gets older. After the service the church hosted a Christmas festival for all the kids with Santa arriving on a fire truck and heaps of fun things to do.

Today we're doing the last of the Christmas shopping and then it should be mostly relaxation from here on in. We already spent heaps of time over the weekend just laying on the floor playing with Noah and he has been full of smiles and giggles. We hope to spend most of our days doing that sort of thing and a few trips to the beach. I love Christmas!!!

Recent Photos

Having a bottle in the Myer cafe with Nanna Mal

Visiting Santa's Wonderland in Myer

Enjoying Jake and Abbey's School Christmas Concert

Discovering Mummy's love for books nice and early - now he just has to learn to turn it up the right way!!

Hanging out in Busselton - don't you love the hoodie

Relaxing in Pa De Roach's spa

Last swimming lesson of the year but the first time doing it with Pa

Hanging out at the Oceanica Christmas Party - excuse me is that a reindeer on my butt??

Sleeping, Blogging and Partying

Right at this moment I'm torn between my desire to blog and my desire to sleep - as you can see blogging won. Noah is asleep at the moment and I'm praying it lasts for at least 2 hours (hee hee).

We had an absolutely fantastic weekend in Busselton for my Uncle Roger's 70th birthday - despite what you may think it was a really lively party with great food, lots of impromptu Karaoke and plenty of laughs. Best of all Noah slept peacefully in the corner in his pram for the entire evening.

Rob, Noah and I stayed with Mum and Dad and my godparents in a lovely house a block from the beach and two blocks from town. It was so nice to spend quality time like that, with them all enjoying a big dose of Noah. He was so well behaved as well and slept perfectly both nights in the port-a-cot.

Unfortunately since we got home the sleeping through the night has not been happening and he's been a bit grumpy during the day as well. Nowhere near as bad as before but not the perfect baby we had for about 10 days either. I'm convinced he has a tooth coming through but it's so hard to know. Sometimes they look like they're about to break for weeks and weeks before anything happens.

We're gearing up for Christmas and the onslaught of family from Melbourne. Our tree is looking lovely and the presents are nearly all bought and some are even wrapped. I'm so excited about Noah's first Christmas even if he has no idea what's going on it'll still be a really special celebration.

Happy Shopping and I'll post some pics soon XX

Time on my hands

Here I was thinking I would never have time to blog again and then Noah the perfect baby arrived and suddenly my world is being restored to order. The former chaos of our home and lives in general is abating and I feel back in control.

Noah is continuing on with his amazing transformation and has now slept through 4 consecutive nights - of course I fully expect this can change but I'm enjoying it while it lasts. He is so happy and an absolute pleasure to be around - he just giggles and smiles all day long and has even fallen into a good nap schedule.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

Noah rolled from front to back today - what a star.

Comments

OK it's time for all you 'lurkers' (that's an actual internet term for people like you who hang out in the background of blog sites but never make themselves known via comments) to start leaving comments. It doesn't have to be a long inspired comment - just say hi and let us know you're having a look. I read about a dozen other blogs all of which have quite big followings and therefore lots of comments are left. Now I don't expect my humble little blog to get hundreds of comments like these other ones do but just the odd G'day and possibly even some feedback would be nice. I'm aware of lots of people that follow our blog quite avidly which is lovely but it would be nice to see some little messages from you all when I log on - besides when Noah grows up and starts read this you don't want him to think you didn't care about him do you??!!

It's easy - why don't you start right now - Click on the comments bottom at the bottom of this blog and we're in business.

Much love to you all.

Sleepy Head

In light of Noah's recent personality transplant I had been wondering whether I would now be visiting Ngala under false pretenses. However although he is a joy when he's awake now his sleep patterns and ability to self settle have remained somewhat of an issue so I thought Ngala would still be of assistance in that area.

Now today I wake up at 7am to discover my son is still sleeping 11 hours after going to bed and I didn't hear a peep from him all night.

Miracles are in the air - I think my Christmas delivery came early.

Baby Love

We have been to see Lance and Sarah and their beautiful baby boy Xavier this afternoon. Of course he is just perfect and we're totally in love. It's amazing to look at him and remember that only 4 short months ago Noah was that tiny - it doesn't seem possible considering what a bomber he is now. They are all doing well and reports are that Georgia is pretty smitten with her new baby brother - especially because he came bearing gifts!!

We don't have any pictures of Xavier and family yet but as soon as we do I'll share them with you all.

It's a Brand New Day

I'm way too busy to blog but I couldn't resist having a chat with you all. You will not believe what has happened to Noah. I swear to you he woke up on Wednesday with a new personality. Gone is the baby who screams for no apparent reason day and night and in his place is a little man happy in his own company full of smiles and giggles. People talked about the 'click' moment when this happens to some babies but I did not believe it could be so sudden and so dramatic. Today is day 5 and we're still quite tentative (we don't want to jinx ourselves) but so far so good. Mummy and Daddy are so full of happiness we are literally bursting at the seams.

On top of this amazing week with Noah we are smack bang in the middle of our yard renovations which are coming along beautifully. While they're happening though our house looks like a war zone. Everything from the shed (which we ripped down) is in and around the house, all the camping gear is lying around waiting to be cleaned and re-stocked ready for next time. We are half way through putting up the Christmas decorations and they're scattered around the house too. It's way to much for the neat freak in me to take but hey life is good so I'll try and go with the flow.

This is what's been going on every night this week after work. Rob has been ripping up pavers, moving sand, digging trenches and laying retic. Some nights it's been going on until 11pm. But it's all worth it because Friday and Saturday the paving got done and even though it's not quite finished it looks awesome.

The paving guys getting started

Babies, Babies everywhere

Our dear friends Sarah and Lance welcomed a son into the world at 7.01pm last night. Xavier Anthony weighted 3.65kgs (88.1lbs) and measured 50.5cm long. A beautiful little brother for Miss Georgia.

Between now and the end of March we have 7 friends and family members that are due to have babies. So exciting - lots of new friends for Noah to grow up with.

Judgement Day

Here's what's happening when I tell people we are off to Ngala for a week.

Young people with kids - the response is overwhelmingly supportive and in fact I'm discovering so many people that we know have even been and done it and say it really helped. (Lots of them had kept it quiet though for fear of being judged a bad or incompetent parent)

This leads me to the other response I'm getting - mostly from the older generation. It seems that their view is that sleep deprivation and crying babies are what parenthood is about and we should just get on with it and sit tight until Noah improves (hopefully) in due course.

Here's the first thing - I don't need judgement - I'm already being hard enough on myself that it's come to this. I feel like a failure.

Secondly - only myself, Rob and probably my mum (because she cares for him and spends time with him up to about 20 hours a week) really know how extraordinarily difficult and unsettled he can be.

Don't get me wrong in a lot of ways he's improving - he smiles and laughs and can actually be left to look at toys or play in his bouncer for half hour stints now without much interaction from me. The trouble is he absolutely cannot go to sleep without being rocked in some one's arms and even then it takes several attempts to put him down before he stays there without screaming. Some days while Rob is out at work Noah cries and screams for anything up to 6 out of 9 hours. He throws full blown tantrums and my chest is covered in the scratch scars to prove it.

I think the Ngala experience is definitely going to be worthwhile even though it is a big time commitment this close to Christmas (the timing could certainly have been better). A week of only having to focus on Noah and not housework and laundry and cooking will be a treat in itself. The whole point though is for me to work with someone to get Noah to learn to self settle and to get him into a sleep routine which we can carry through at home. The nurse will be my constant support and will help me push past the crying (Noah's not mine) instead of always giving in like we do at home.

Busy or Crazy????

OK so Christmas is coming (along with 100 relatives from Melbourne) plus Noah and I are off to Ngala for a week - that's enough, as you would imagine to make life pretty hectic. But no we're suckers for punishment we are also ripping up half our backyard to install reticulation and have about 35sq metres of paving done plus having a new shed installed. Life is crazy - forgive me if I don't blog (although I may end up needing to vent) or if I don't call or catch up. We'll see you on the other side of the Christmas/Renovation fog.

Rock-a-bye-baby

First of all Noah had to go to sleep school - which I'm afraid he failed miserably. Now I'm off to parenting school. From the 15 - 19th of December Noah and I will be staying at Ngala(http://www.ngala.com.au/content.php?page=20).

In the words from their website the reason for this stay is - Overnight Stay provides the opportunity for families to set aside four days and nights to explore issues associated with their children’s development, family relationships, communication, sleep and other parenting concerns.

In other words they are going to teach me how to be a parent - a bit embarrassing for someone who spends their days looking after other people's kids!!

The Beach House

Noah loving the ball pit

Noah and Nanna relaxing on the bouncy castle

Mum, Noah, Declan and Reuben on the bouncy castle (I take Mum everywhere these days!!)

Movember

By popular demand here is a picture of Rob in full moustached glory

Noah obviously finds it quite funny

Camping Photos

Starting to unload the car - it was absolutely full to the brim. We camped next to this hikers hut but no cheating - we were all in the tent!!

Noah relaxing while Mummy and Daddy do all the work

Up goes the tent

Noah in his winter woolies - it was really cold at night

Noah on the port-a-cot change table in the tent - looking up loving the view of the trees

Noah's view

The first night we huddled under the shelter due to the rain

Under an enourmous Tingle tree - how cool is the hollowed out base of the trunk

On the treetop walk - it wobbled a bit much for my liking but I made it around even with my knees shaking

Lunch at a lookout over Mandalay Beach

Noah in a happy moment on the step of the lookout

Day two heading out of camp for a walk to the nearby falls

The real shot of how Noah spent most of the weekend

Stunning Fernhook Falls - the noise and volume of water was amazing