Dan and Lyd's excellent adventure

heres more

2009-03-03T19:55:00.003+10:30

Ok for those who want to know...an amelie update

2009-03-03T19:50:00.002+10:30

2008-11-11T14:55:00.001+10:30

Sorry its been so long

2008-11-11T14:38:00.004+10:30

I used to keep a journal as a child, and because I was so irregular at writing it, but used to feel guilty about it, as I look through it pretty much every entry began with 'Dear diary, sorry its been so long but....' So...

Sorry its been so long, but....

Well no excuses, I'm not particualrly good at keeping up anything with regularity but life has been pretty crazy. Anyway here is some picture. Amelie still isn't walking, one of the babies at church (who is only 10 months!) has beaten her to the post!!

And some more

2008-07-23T12:36:00.003+09:30

Some new pics

2008-07-22T12:11:00.003+09:30

Amelie and Chloe eating grass

2008-05-27T16:57:00.004+09:30

I had Amelie outside the other day while I was hanging out the washing. It seems she and chloe have a mutual love of eating grass... lets hope this is the only type of grass she has an affinity for...

2008-05-03T22:04:00.003+09:30

Here's the snorting thing

2008-04-23T12:14:00.002+09:30

Since last we met

2008-04-23T11:19:00.003+09:30

Well its been a while, so here is a bit of an update... This month we headed of on holidays. We spent a week visiting relatives and friends from the gold coast to Glen Innes. It was great to see everyone we did and Amelie was pretty good with all the hours in the plane/car.... we need her to be practiced up for Europe next year!

We then traversed NSW to meet up with the Batkins, Fiddes', Pennells and Coplands for our family holiday week in Nambucca heads. Being the awesome dedicated photographer that I am, I managed to leave my camera with my parents, so no holiday pics (other than those we received from Jo and Theresa, the ones here are Jo's- thanks!!) But overall Good Times. I managed to achieve my two holiday goals of a)reading a entire novel, and b) completing a jigsaw puzzel (don't ask me why, I just wanted to!)
And of course lots of good laughs and chats and food!

Amelie seemed to do pretty well with the whole situation, and all the kids prepared her a little for childcare, which she is now in a day a week.

At the moment my parents are down, Amelie is occupied and I am currently supposed to be making headway on my thesis, but thanks to the sickness we all brought back from Holidays (Thanks Cam and Jo!!) am having trouble focusing myself....hence the blogging!

Amelie is also now sitting up, doing this weird responsive snorting thing (I'll post a video later), and waving on occasion.

Festival of Arts

2008-03-05T13:37:00.003+10:30

Last friday we all headed in to the opening of the festival of Arts. Amelie didn't have the staying power and started nodding off while we were waiting for the performance to start. She woke up during it though...the electric violin and huge bass completely freaked her out.

check out my feet....

2008-02-26T18:31:00.002+10:30

Amelie flagged out after playing with turdle

2008-02-26T18:26:00.003+10:30

Amelie was playing in her cot this week and I came in to find her fast asleep.

This is us this morning hanging out...

2008-02-21T19:05:00.004+10:30

Amelie eating

2008-02-21T18:34:00.003+10:30

I didn't get any footage of the first meal, but here is amelie with her second- I don't know why they call it 'solids' there's not really anything solid about it at all! For entree she will be having bananna and farex with yogurt mash, followed by a main course of bananna mash with yogurt and farex, and finally a smooth desert of yogurt with undertones of bananna and farex...have any of you parents eaten farex... How is that even food at all?? This week she'll be widening her repetoire slowly.

Amelie is coming along pretty well, she has just transitioned into size '0', is weighing about 7.2kgs, is 69cm long. She isn't sitting or rolling really yet, but loves walking if you hold her hands. Her favourite thing is Chloe, she always wants to walk over to her and giggles and laughs when she gets close. Then she grabs handfuls of chloe's fur- which chloe has been very patient with. When Amelie starts crawling we might need to get a play pen for Chloe's protection.
Dan and I are doing pretty well, both back at uni and working lots. Amelie is great, she comes with me to pretty much everything (except uni). She's a great team member!! Although we are very greatful to all of of our friends who are willing to look after her and give us a break when we need it...

Working towards crawling

2008-02-05T17:10:00.000+10:30

Chloe having a taste...

2008-02-05T17:04:00.000+10:30

Chloe and amelie get along really well so far. Chloe is very relaxed around her and Amelie loves watching chloe, and has just started trying to touch her. Today when I was taking some photos I think chloe got close enough to lick amelie... she just started laughing.

5 months and about time for an update

2008-02-04T21:41:00.000+10:30

Hey everyone, sorry its been a while, January was a crazy month. Amelie had her first long road trip to Melbourne. She was really good until about the last hour when it all got just a bit to much... but hey driving that far would be boring if all you can really see is the back car seat!
Amelie is now 7.3kgs and 69cm... still very tall. She loves standing (with a little help) and moving and while in Melbourne made her first attempt at steps...well she was being held up by Rel and Dennis at the time, but still it was cool. She also has started grabbing food off me and putting it in her mouth, and yesterday took the bottle off Daniel and started feeding herself....very cool but I'm trying to hold off solids for another month, mainly to avoid the mess!! She is having tastes of various things though; curry, olives, coldrock...you know just the basics! She always comes back for more, just like her mum!

More Christmas

2008-01-04T16:19:00.000+10:30

Amelie got to meet her cousins grace, Levi, and Jonah (and her unlce and aunt Luke and Es) for the first time on Boxing Day. She also met Dan's parents (officially known as mia and poppy).

We got to spend a large portion of our week swimming, and Amelie loves the water. She didn't even flinch when I dunked her....

more present opening

2008-01-04T16:09:00.001+10:30

Christmas Pics

2008-01-04T15:58:00.001+10:30

Christmas was a crazy time, flying over to Sydney during lunch on christmas day. When it came to presents at first amelie didn't really get the idea, but after a while and a nap she got into the spirit of things and ripped at the paper on her presents....

Amelie at the botanic gardens

2007-12-17T22:06:00.000+10:30

Heres Amelie at the botanic gardens...ok not the greatest photo but its hard to hold a baby in one hand and get a photo with the other.
Amelie also got to see ducks for the first time...there was a whole family of them and they cam up close so she could really watch them.

Just liked the photo

2007-12-17T22:03:00.000+10:30

Sleeping runs in the family

2007-12-17T22:00:00.001+10:30

Amelie seems to have her uncle Aarons gift of sleeping in any position...

I'm the tallest baby in the world

2007-12-17T21:50:00.000+10:30

Amelie has discovered she loves standing. She can be screaming and if you hold her up to stand she'll stop and start grinning, in this 'I'm so impressed with myself' type way.

Just being cute

2007-11-30T12:53:00.001+10:30

Amelie hits the beach

2007-11-30T12:44:00.000+10:30

It was a little cold and windy by the time we got there, but Amelie didn't seem to mind too much

Trying to get the smiles

2007-11-16T16:57:00.000+10:30

Daniel and I seem to spend much of our time now trying to get Amelie to smile and giggle. She does it a lot, just never when we are trying to get photos...

ok this is a bit of an experiment

2007-11-16T16:13:00.000+10:30

Here's Amelie hanging out in her cot... ok if this works I'll be sure to get some more interesting footage but I'm sure granma will enjoy even this!

8 weeks=needles

2007-10-27T11:21:00.000+09:30

On Thursday I took Amelie to get her first round of immunisations... I guess I assumed that they would give all the medicine in one needle, so was quite shocked when the nurse pulled out three. I mean its pretty hard for most adults to face one needle, let alone three. But Amelie was a champion, only cried for a minute or so. And to be truthful while most mums freak out a little when they first hear the'I'm in pain and I might be dying..' cry (according to the nurse), I actually found it really cute!! Anyway it turns out Amelie is a bit of a giant... she's now 62cm...yes thats a massive 4cm of growth since her 6 week check up, putting her in the top 5% of her age group for a girl. It must be something going around because every baby I know seems to be about that size.

And of course there were friends to meet

2007-10-27T09:45:00.000+09:30

Amelie got to meet lots of people, but being a terrible photographer I constantly forget to take photos. But here is one of her visit with Aunty Kate...very proficient at the baby holding thing! And one of her meeting Eli for the first time.

Amelie and Nanna

2007-10-27T09:35:00.000+09:30

We also made a trip so Amelie could meet her scottish great-grandmother (on Dan's mum's side), Nanna. Hopefully we'll be able to head north about Easter time next year so Amelie can meet the rest of the family.

meeting the family

2007-10-27T09:27:00.000+09:30

One of the big benefits of getting to sydney last week was of course getting to introduce Amelie to a whole bunch of people. Here is some shots of her meeting her Uncle Aaron and her cousins Conrad and Caleb... Aunty Joey was also there, but escaped the photos (except one really bad head cut in half shot clearly taken by me!!).

Leaving on a jet plane

2007-10-25T19:15:00.000+09:30

This last week we took a trip to sydney for the wedding of Stu and Katie. This of course was Amelie's first time on an airplane. She was awesome..slept the whole way in the baby carrier.

Amelie vs Turdle

2007-10-25T18:54:00.000+09:30

Recently some guys from sydney came to town and gave us Turdle. It seems Amelie and he had some issues and it turned into a bit of a smack down... I think Amelie won and they are getting along better since

7 weeks yesterday..

2007-10-16T13:58:00.000+09:30

6 weeks and still growing

2007-10-16T10:30:00.000+09:30

Amelie went to the doctors for her 6 week check up last thursday, and she is now 5.1kgs and 58cm or what I would like to call the awkward between sizes phase. For example 000 clothes generally go up to 56cm, but 00 is for more like 64cm. Likewise huggies newborn nappies are up to 5kgs, but the crawler nappies are from 6-11kgs....what about the poor kids lingering in the gap between 5-6kgs? I don't know about you but to me there is nothing worse than a pair of undies that don't fit properly! But she seems happy enough.

My new threads

2007-10-04T12:52:00.000+09:30

This week an NYI team from Sydney stayed with us, so i thought what better opportunity to show off my new threads that I can now fit in. For those who don't speak German, the orange shirt says 'yes, it must be this loud'- thanks Aunty Andrea!! It was also my first experience with jeans. I know I don't look happy but it was just that dang rash... which cleared up a little a few days later.

OK! That's it!! I can't take it no more....

2007-09-28T21:24:00.000+09:30

...one more step closer and I am going to give you a knuckle sandwich!!!! ....mmmm....ahhhhhh......goooooooo.......mmmmmmmm........'sukka''sukka'.....actually....'sukka''sukka'...... scratch that,.... i might keep the knuckle sandwich for myself........ it ain't half bad actually......'sukka''sukka'.........
........carry on.......

Diagnosis: crazy obsessive first time parents

2007-09-28T21:12:00.000+09:30

So amelie developed a rash this week, all over her face and head and well it was really ugly, so like all good parents we called a doctor out to the house to look at it...sure it was a sunday afternoon but you never know what a rash could turn into...chicken pox, measles....I've heard about reoccurances of small pox these days....Anyway the doctor came and told us it was completely normal 'hormone rash' or 'milk rash'.... it looks bad but doesn't seem to bother her any. Heres a photo of some of her smiles (inspite of the rash!)

Filling my days

2007-09-28T20:57:00.000+09:30

I(Lyd) am currently still on maternity leave. My days generally revolve around the 3.5 hr feed cycle that amelie is on with very small activities taking up the spaces between feeding and settling amelie, for example feed-settle-shower-feed-settle- unstack-and load the dishwasher-feed-watch Oprah...and so forth. Today I put amelie in the bjorn baby carrier while I cleaned up a bit and then she hung out and watched some Dr Phil. She seemed to enjoy both activities.

Amelie turns a month old

2007-09-28T20:39:00.000+09:30

Yesterday was Amelie's one month birthday... ok there was no cake but still a milestone none the less... one month of surviving the clumsy handling of learner parents, baths where her head accidently slipped under the water, a mum who falls asleep during those late night feeds (anyone remember those microsleep adds with Dr Karl?), being squirted in the face with breast milk, almost falling off the lounge when Dad left her hanging on a cushion....and I'm sure many more near misses.

Amelie's health report

2007-09-20T11:48:00.000+09:30

Amelie is going great according to our nurse. She now weighs 4.32kgs and is 53.5cm.... Exciting is that she started to smile last week. We thought is was just wind or normal baby random activity, but she turned on a show for the nurse who said it was definately smiling and she was very impressed.

What's wrong with this picture?

2007-09-18T13:26:00.000+09:30

This morning dad dressed me...to his credit he normally gets it right... but this morning something was up.... I'll give you a hint my feet normally don't face backwards! Granma was the one to uncover it and luckily I got changed before the community nurse turned up for a check up!

Amelie turns 3 weeks

2007-09-18T13:18:00.000+09:30

Monday was Amelie's 3rd birthday (3rd week that is), she celebrated by sleeping right through it and wasn't too happy with me when I wanted to take a photo.

2007-09-16T09:01:00.000+09:30

It had to be done... my very first gigging shoes!

2007-09-14T12:23:00.000+09:30

We were at harbourtown on Wednesday and Dan came back with a purchase for Amelie, soft soled cons on sale... they don't quite fit yet but soon...

Annoying habits

2007-09-14T12:15:00.000+09:30

Over all Amelie is proving to be a fantastic baby, very regular sleeper/feeder and barely ever cries. The only habit she seems to be developing that is rather annoying is saving up her largest poo of the day for 5am, just after I take off her nappy and lift up her legs to wipe her bum...its like she sees my clean pjs and says 'well we just can't have that...ready...aim...' so for the last three nights both her and I have had to have a full outfit change at 5am... but I am getting quicker with the intercept!

The Thinker

2007-09-10T09:54:00.001+09:30

Okay I'd like to think she was deep in thought...but really only deep in sleep. And here is Amelie with the first teddy she has taken to.

Trips to Granma and Granpa's

2007-09-10T09:35:00.000+09:30

While Granma and Grandpa have been in town they have been staying over at Henley beach, which has made for some great days out, especially with some of the very warm weather we have had lately. Of couse Amelie sleeps through most of our outings, but she did seem to be enjoying the sky this one particular day.

Little Feets...

2007-09-05T21:38:00.000+09:30

We'll,... this is Dad's first post. Everything is going awesome and we have no real complaints aside from the expected (no sleep, "why is she crying?", "really? but I just changed her 20 mins ago", "no, her name is not emily. It's Amelie... like the movie"). Already I feel like she should not be allowed to date anyone ever.. but, I'm sure everyone's Dad feels the same way.

Here are some little feet and hand shots. Simon called her 'foot' before we had a name for her, so I thought I would post some photos. (complete with dirty mark on her foot. Darn!)

Does anyone know how to get some of those ink handprints/footprints from a baby? I thought of maybe using watercolour paints, but it may not be dark enough... If I use anything stronger I might end up making a mistake like george in Seinfeld with the wedding invitations... and I am determined to not seriously injure my first child by doing anything stupid. (It's gonna be tough, I know). Any ideas?

Father's Day

2007-09-04T15:48:00.000+09:30

Here's some shots from Daniel's first Father's Day... us heading to church, Amelie sleeping through her first sermon- the DS was preaching, and us heading out on our first big outing with the baby back pack to Grandma and Grandpa's place for Lunch.

Amelie comes home

2007-08-31T14:17:00.000+09:30

Amelie came home on Thursday afternoon after getting a clean bill of health from her paediatrician, getting held by Mem Fox during an interveiw, and pooing all over the place for Daniel whilst I was elsewhere (so far she has conveiniantly timed most of her poos to fit when Daniel is looking after her!) resulting in an unexpected bath. It was great to get her home, although its strange that she is all ours. Chloe met her and was very well behaved. And we even survived our first night together without midwife assisstance.

Day 2

2007-08-31T13:42:00.001+09:30

Heres some pics from day 2 at the hospital, including Amelie's first bath- conducted by Daniel, Amelie's signature 'I'm a rockstar' move (I've taken to saying 'yes I see that hand' with an appropriate televangelist accent every time she does it), and a photo of the veiw from my window.
Day 2 consisted of Amelie being tough during some injections, charming lots of visitors, having a first bath, and a visit to the physio...for mum's abs!

Amelie's first week part 1

2007-08-31T12:29:00.000+09:30

Sorry this has taken a few days. Amelie and I just came home yesterday but all is well so here is the update of what happened this week.

Sunday night we went into hospital to be induced. Daniel was able to head home and leave me there to sleep. In the morning there was not much action so at 10 they said I could go for a walk up to O Connell street if I wanted (the cafe drag in North Adelaide) so long as I was back in 4 hours. Little did they know Amelie was going to be born before that dead line. Pain started about 10:30, luckily I had told Dan I thought the walk was a bad idea...would have lead to a little labour with my latte!
Anyway pain and more pain later our little girl Amelie Kate was born, 3.69Kgs and 51cm at 1:57pm.

Ok there are just no words adequate to describe the experience, but yes there was yelling, with my german doctor telling me the german word for labour literally means pain (by which she meant suck it up you've got no choice now!) and a number or midwives saying 'just breath through it'....ok right that obviously wasn't working too well but they tell you you're doing well anyway. I did ask for an epidural but by the time they got the drip in my hand and rolled me on my back to put in the aneasthetic it was time to push...so no epi for me! The gas made me woozy and gave me something to bite on but I'm not sure it really helped with the pain. Anyway certainly the hardest most amazing experience of my life!!
All thanks to the wonderful midwives and staff and Women and children's Hospital...really first class care the whole time we were there. Great views and great food as well. My favourite bit was the male lactation consultant (he was really helpful but it is funny with this guy saying 'just let me get my breast to demonstrate') I desperately wanted to ask exactly how one becomes a lactation consultant!! Oh and Amelie got to meet Mem Fox and be part of this media thingo on reading to babies resulting in a very brief glimpse of her on channel 9 news and a photo in the paper with a few other new borns.

Anway we brought her home yesterday, and it's all been very exciting, scary, thrilling, tiring....

Still waiting

2007-08-22T12:19:00.000+09:30

Today is our due date...really with something like 3% of babies being born on said date I really don't know why they bother!! Not a very good accuracy rate if you ask me!! Anyway they have given us a date to count down to as the midwife says I'll be induced come Sunday night... that created a scary silent moment for Daniel and I sitting in her office, I think having a definite end point just makes it all very real... yes you would think that reality had set it by now, but I'm discovering that reality is something that unfolds itself, bit by shocking bit.
Anyway for the sake of interest heres a photo of me at my most fat, heading off to a musical a couple of days a go.... which, for Copland's interest, Alex was in...

Dan may be annoyed about this...

2007-08-02T16:43:00.000+09:30

A photo of our already family member Chloe, discovering the backyard where she will dwell once the next family member arrives... oh and for those who remember Idgy the fish..he passed away yesterday after 3 and a half years of faithful service

making the place ready

2007-08-02T15:47:00.000+09:30

A fortnight ago mum and dad came down to help us get everything ready for the baby, so here's some photos from our renovations

well heres the news

2007-08-02T15:27:00.000+09:30

Okay so after several phone calls I decided it was time to follow the lead of others and start our blog. After all what else do you do when you are baby focused, fat, and sitting at home, sick with a cold? Somehow working on that last assignment for uni just doesn't cut it. Besides living interstate from friends and family, I love catching up with whats happening via your blogs!

Of course at this point I'm writing not to announce the birth of our baby just yet, but to universally deny that the baby has arrived. No, to all those who have brisvegas connections, our baby is not yet born, we are still waiting... but good to see the rumor mill is up and running! At this stage we have three weeks to go (although I'm currently trying unsuccessfully to trick myself into believing its actually 4 weeks away) and no indication of her coming any earlier. Of course I'm all packed just incase...

For all of those who believed the above rumors generally be assured of two things that will let you know it has happened, one; Dan will be very excited and will undoubtedly ring/sms everyone in both our mobile phones (in my case that may include several people he doesn't know and whom I barely know but have the numbers of)

and two; Dad will email everyone in his address book (including many people who don't know us) our news (followed by photos ASAP) we know this from his history of grandchildren arriving.

Anyway for now I've decided that the modern form of nesting doesn't involve cleaning, but shopping and reading copious amounts on baby care, over and over again. Currently it is the only thing I am motivated to do, but after a spree of lay buying I'm all finnished, so I try and placate myself by browsing and food shopping. At this point with the waiting I envy Copland and Theresa's approach of just not knowing til the last minute!

Otherwise all is well, other than occassionally turning into a raging hormonal psychopath...

PS Dan is not a fan of the blog, he thinks its a bad idea and says there is already enough boring rubbish on the internet...but I say whats wrong with a little more...he'll come round!