- 12:27 PM
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Happy six month birthday Louie my boy. You have grown up with ease and grace, and now, so must I. It is time to shake off First Time Mother's Syndrome.
From here on in I'll try:
* to let you be grizzly/wriggly/grumpy/quiet without Googling "my baby is grizzly/wriggly/grumpy/quiet"
* not to photograph every little thing you do all the time and instead;
* to spend more time watching you grow, learn and be
* to keep discovering the world alongside you
* not to worry when you change the rules
* to enjoy you, at your pace
* not to let the grizzles get to me
* to continue doing all I can to ensure you are happy
* to stop at least 80% of the pointless worrying
* to let the guilt go
* to be more confident in my decisions
* to listen to and trust my instincts
You are total amazingness Smoosh. I love you more than you will ever know.
- 10:34 AM
- 0 Comments
I looked down into Louie's sleeping face tonight, holding him for the 20minute upright time after his bedtime feed (the rules, the rules!) and suddenly I thought back to the night you and I re-met up in Nepal. We went to a bar in Kathmandu, just the two of us, Kate stayed behind. We sat and drank cheap Nepalese Whiskey and talked and talked and talked and I felt like I'd come home. Like I'd not talked properly in the two years we had been apart. It was like talking to the very best version of myself. Anyway, it felt alive, exciting, familiar and so right. That's the thing that beats on in Louie and makes me wonder at the wonder of it all.
- 11:25 PM
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Shit! We bought a house! We move next weekend! Argggggh, so much crap to pack in so little time! I tried to convince Andy that now was a good time to declare ourselves minimalists but he saw right through that attempt to wheedle out of packing. Seeya Auckland!
- 7:27 PM
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Mum and I in Santorini
1. That you’ll sit for hours in the dark on a Greek beach, wearing a head torch, all in the name of finishing an epic game of Scrabble.
5. That you introduced us to fine foods at a young age...even if Brie and tonic water was all there was in the fridge.
7. That you give Andy hugs and have always made him welcome and part of the family from the beginning.
8. That you accidentally watch slightly dodgy videos with Andy and both feel mildly uncomfortable.
13. For your love of the sea and how you always look back at least once when leaving it.
14. For how you scan cafes/restaurants/beaches/plazas to find the best spot, not EVER settling for an inferior position and often moving several times to maneuver into that ultimate possie.
15. The way you hold your coffee when you are really, really happy people watching.
16. That you dropped everything even though you had a full lodge and drove to Auckland when you heard Louie was coming.
19. That you were always the last one to go to bed throughout our travels in Nepal, talking and drinking with others long after us kids had gone to bed.
20. That you are considered a MILF by my 27-year-old lezzy mate!
21. That you didn’t know what a MILF was!
22. That you are considerate, kind, practical, smart and very generous.
28. That no matter where you go and for how long, there will always be coffee making facilities packed in your bag.
37. That you laughed and forgave me at age 8 for flashing my knickers to the next door neighbor boy, even though his mum was disgusted.
38. For your love of travel, new places and adventure – one of your gifts to us.
39. That you changed my nappy, burped me and got up all through the night to feed me – I get it!
40. For your belief that waistcoats made out of an old dressing gown were a good idea for the whole family.
45. That you got married in a red mini-dress.
49. For being a little fearful yet always brave.
50. For showing us what a successful marriage looks like.
52. For never putting pressure on us to be anything other than ourselves.
54. That you have a pair of outrageously inappropriate red vinyl heels, just cause everyone should have a pair of outrageously inappropriate red vinyl heels.
56. That you love my favourite book as much as I do.
57. That you did a belated O.E aged 40 something – Animal Aunts, English Pubs, Combie Vans – before either of your kids had done theirs!
58. That you always work so hard and are so successful at everything you do.
59. For wanting nothing more than your family around you on your 60th birthday.
60. For being awesome.
Love you ma x
- 3:50 PM
- 1 Comments
You LOVE books, it's hilarious, you seem to read along with me and laugh at the punch lines. And you LOVE your dad playing the guitar to you, totally riveted.
You seem pretty happy staring at your hands in your cot, batting at toys in your bouncy chair or just hanging with your mumma. Sometimes I worry if your days are too monotonous...are you bored? I don't know what I expect you to want...a night out with the fellas? But I just want to make sure I'm doing the right things with you, helping you to learn and develop. After all, you're a graduate now. What am I supposed to be doing daily with a three month old?
Any clues lovely readers??
- 8:50 AM
- 1 Comments
When I was around 16 weeks pregnant I joined a free, online parenting community to receive the email updates telling me about the development of my unborn child ("your baby is now the size of a cantaloupe" etc). I also browsed the members forum, reading about other mums expecting in February 2012. Soon I was mildly engrossed in these strangers pregnancies, 'Lazy_Lou's' breach fears, 'Sugarmum's' fury at people commenting on her belly's size, 'Made_in_NZ's' discovery she was carrying a much wanted daughter.
I didn't contribute anything myself until I found out about my low platelet count. In my concern, I turned to the forum to ask if anyone else was experiencing it. I found a wealth of first hand information from one member, a second-time mum whose platelets also tested dangerously low when pregnant. The others welcomed me warmly to the forum and at 37 weeks pregnant, I became part of the group.
After Louie was born was when I discovered just how valuable that group of strangers is to me. We are all going through the same thing, at roughly the same time, we share our experiences; sleep patterns, settling concerns, feeding issues. We ask highly personal questions about sex, body image and our girlie bits post birth. We vent; about our partners (not mine!), mother-in-laws (not mine either!) or inconsiderate friends (not mine again I swear!). There is always somewhere to go, even in the middle of the night with a unsettled baby, to seek advice or just to get (and give) support. "Aw hun, you're doing amazingly, just take a deep breath and know that he will sleep at some point!"; "Have you tried......." or even just "Hugs xxx".
And there's been support needed for bigger issues than an unsettled baby; a partner battling cancer, a baby boy born with Downs Syndrome, a forum member suffering an undiagnosed illness...we possibly know more about each others fears, worries and concerns than many of our 'real' friends do.
'February Mums 2012' is now meeting up in 'real time' coffee groups all over the country, bringing the babies together and putting faces to the online names. They are bunch of caring, nonjudgmental, funny, down-to-earth mums and I'm delighted I ditched my solitary ways to join them.
Picture: Louie (about five weeks, fifth in from the left) and his February Forum friends
- 8:19 AM
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Your first sleep in your cot!
You slept for five hours!
Long may it continue little man!
* it didn't.
- 8:59 PM
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But finally, we've whittled it down to one town and one smaller town, both in the same area. We're spending weekends traipsing about with Louie who is amazing and sleeps in between houses, doesn't mind being left in his car seat in strange kitchens while we shoot around prospective homes and lets us know when he REALLY doesn't like a house by his little furrowed brow. Actually, he always has a little furrowed brow. No sure things yet but going back this weekend to view 7 homes. Fingers crossed.
- 11:10 AM
- 0 Comments
You're loving showers with your dad, you don't even grizzle when he puts your whole head under the water. And so far no poo-splosions in there! Although secretly, I'd kind of love it if you did.
You have to have your towel heated or you complain bitterly to management. And a nice apricot oil massage is appreciated. You detest getting dressed, you are happiest in your b-day suit.
Today we went to your third Plunket visit where you passed everything with flying colours - I was pleased to see you are growing into your big head, you are only in the 75th percentile for large heads now instead of the 90th! The nurse said you are putting on tons of weight and feeding efficiently, getting bigger and stronger which is easy to see - you are bursting at the seams and starting to look like a member of a boy band wearing tight tees and pants.
And then we had to go and pick up a cot for you because you're almost touching the ends of the bassinet. Tonight might be the last night you sleep in it, you are in there now, snoring away happily. Slow down my baby boy, slow down, I want to enjoy every day, every stage of your life and it's already feeling like it's rushing by.
We went to our first SPACE kids session last week and there were 2 week old babies there and I'd forgotten you were that big, forgotten how it was when you could almost curl up your whole body under my chin, when your little eyes were puffy because they were so new. Now look at you! You are my little meerkat with your strong neck peering around at everything with a serious, enthralled expression. Thrashing about if you are held in any position except outward; the best way to see the world (much to your expensive-Manduca-buying mamma's dismay).
Ahhh. I've heard all the mothers say it and it's true "enjoy it, they grow up so fast". Flash in the pan, it's all just silver moments of gloriousness and then they're gone, one after another.
Louie 10 weeks
xxx
- 10:14 PM
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Excuse the smug post but geeeez I'm ridiculously lucky. Last week I decided to take Louie 'home' to mum and dad's for four days to catch up and have a rest. It's a blessing to stay with your parents when you've got a wee one, home cooked meals, more hands to help with bathing/dressing/soothing, the reminder that you're still someone else's baby. But it's even better when your mum and dad own a luxury lodge!
Louie enjoyed five star views from his bassinet while I snuggled deep into my feather bed topper-pad and enjoyed cups of tea and sleep-ins.
Louie's stuff fitting in perfectly with the furniture...
Louie fitting in perfectly with the furniture...
Chilly, clear days from the balcony.
The youngest and the eldest of the family checking each other out.
Mum (Nonna)
Cousins
Uncle Malcolm
Cousin Hunter
Chef Dad on his night off "throwing something together from the left-overs". Ummm right. *why I don't cook for my papa*
You guys rule.
We loved it! Thank you xxxx Em & Louie
- 11:58 AM
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If I'm going to keep at this blog, I need to figure out what I'm going to write about. To do that I need to figure out what I'm interested in, what moves me, what will keep me writing. Tricky.
I could use it as an exploration kind of tool, a way of rediscovering 'who I am', what I'm about. Seems kind of self absorbed.
I could post the trillion kilobyte worth of pics building up of my main man Louie. Who is interested beside me and The Wrinklys?
I could come across all savvy and cute and highlight the little corners of our lives that I deem blog worthy.
Very tricky.
So. I'll do all of the above and try to not give a flying fuck about any of it being read. Or maybe just by one little person, because ultimately I'd like to say to Louie in 10+ years time - or when I deem it appropriate for him to read his mum's swear words - "hey kid, here's some ramblings I kept up with when you were new and we were figuring each other out, when I was falling deeply in awe of you, when I gloated to cyberspace about your 'firsts', posted embarrassing pics of you. It's also a bit about me and who your old mum is. And your dad. Your first house. What was around you. I thought you might like to know".
I could use it as an exploration kind of tool, a way of rediscovering 'who I am', what I'm about. Seems kind of self absorbed.
I could post the trillion kilobyte worth of pics building up of my main man Louie. Who is interested beside me and The Wrinklys?
I could come across all savvy and cute and highlight the little corners of our lives that I deem blog worthy.
Very tricky.
I'm pretty sure you'll be horrified.
- 11:05 PM
- 2 Comments
I'm falling so hard for this little guy, every day I just seem to expand in my capacity to love him even more. And it's not like everyday has been easy, it's tough this parenting gig. Many times over the last 6 weeks I've been in tears, beside myself and had to ask for help but all those people that told me "it gets better" were right. It doesn't just get better, it gets insanely magical at times.
Right now he is snoring on a sheepskin rug beside me in bed. He looks like a little prince.
- 11:14 PM
- 2 Comments
Thirteen days you, little Louie C, have been with us, a lifetime in more ways than one. What did we do without you?
You are the sweetest little boy. You have such a concerned look on your face most of the time, like you are quite bewildered and a little worried about this world. I think you sometimes look like a balding primary school headmaster who loves his job but finds kids these days a little overwhelming. Then other times, after a feed, a bath or kisses on your belly, you relax and your little brow uncreases and you look beatific, like buddah, with moonlit sky eyes.
You love your bath, your little chin points up to the ceiling and your eyes close and it is like you are luxuriating in the attention and warmth "yes, yes...that's good, a little more water dribbled over my head please".
You are too little for most of your clothes, they bag up around your neck and drive you crazy. You love being swaddled but you are a total Houdini, managing to get at least one hand out within 10 minutes of your Dad's tightest swaddle.
You don't like cold cloths on your bum, having your nappy changed, tight singlets pulled over your head...who can blame you?
We are yours completely. Won over by all of the above and everything else you are. You are amazing.
- 3:24 PM
- 0 Comments
Our baby boy is here and funnily enough, he wasn't a Joe after all!
Louie Coombes was born on the 16th February at 7.27pm weighing a respectable 3.5kg. He is simply amazing and we are smitten.
A fast, intense labour without drugs - not that I didn't 'call' for them! So glad he is here and seriously gorgeous, I am so in love. Andy is too and we can't believe we are now three!
Welcome my beautiful Louie C.
Louie Coombes was born on the 16th February at 7.27pm weighing a respectable 3.5kg. He is simply amazing and we are smitten.
A fast, intense labour without drugs - not that I didn't 'call' for them! So glad he is here and seriously gorgeous, I am so in love. Andy is too and we can't believe we are now three!
Welcome my beautiful Louie C.
- 1:08 PM
- 3 Comments
I have officially started maternity leave today. I'm tired and pleased to be able to relax in our cool wee home - summer has started in NZ and it's hot but somehow our house gets any breeze that's going. Bliss.
I'm tired and a little worried. I have a low platelet count which has been dropping throughout pregnancy and has recently dropped enough for me to be referred to an obstetrician. My appointment is hopefully sometime this week. My midwife isn't too worried which is reassuring but things that are routine to health professionals (a possible transfusion, no option of an epidural etc) are sort of a big deal and even if they are to be how my labour goes, I want to go into it as positively as I can. For me that means knowing as much as I can, preparing, trying my best and being open-minded to what will be. I'd just like to find out what could happen so that I can be prepared. I'm the sort of preggie girl that has watched every episode of 'One Born Every Minute' simply to get used to the different procedures, emotions, environments and interventions so that nothing will come as a shock!
So stay put my little Joe so we can figure this little hiccup out. I'm so glad it isn't anything to do with you my boy, you are rib-kicking healthy as far as all the scans and check-ups go, you are measuring perfectly and an active wee thing. I've recently started to imagine your face. And your dad is SOOO impatient to meet you. xxxem
- 1:00 PM
- 1 Comments
We had a Baby BBQ on Saturday - we pitched it to our mates as the last time we'd see them together without us being mildly manic and covered in baby spew. They agreed to come.
Hannah was amazing, we had it at her house and she cleaned and cooked and pushed me out of the kitchen the whole time, leaving me to catch up with everyone. The rest of the in-laws were awesome too, BBQ-ing 70 burgers, cooking fresh snapper etc. My bro and his family came up, a friend flew in from Berlin that afternoon (not especially for the bbq although I like to think so), my ma managed to take a sneaky day off to drive up and spend a few hours with us...it was pretty special.
Friends brought their favourite books for Baby Coombes and wrote in a book for him, guessing his weight, date/time of birth and his name, which nearly everyone got right seeing as it's the worst kept secret in the world.
So little Joe Henry Coombes, it was a gathering in your honour and a whole lotta love was felt. You've got some preeetty cool dudes waiting to meet you (although those few that guessed you'd be 15 pounds or named Bullstrode will have to win back your respect).
xxx
Hannah was amazing, we had it at her house and she cleaned and cooked and pushed me out of the kitchen the whole time, leaving me to catch up with everyone. The rest of the in-laws were awesome too, BBQ-ing 70 burgers, cooking fresh snapper etc. My bro and his family came up, a friend flew in from Berlin that afternoon (not especially for the bbq although I like to think so), my ma managed to take a sneaky day off to drive up and spend a few hours with us...it was pretty special.
Friends brought their favourite books for Baby Coombes and wrote in a book for him, guessing his weight, date/time of birth and his name, which nearly everyone got right seeing as it's the worst kept secret in the world.
So little Joe Henry Coombes, it was a gathering in your honour and a whole lotta love was felt. You've got some preeetty cool dudes waiting to meet you (although those few that guessed you'd be 15 pounds or named Bullstrode will have to win back your respect).
xxx
- 11:13 AM
- 3 Comments
Christmas Day
Amanda and me
Kate and me
New Years
All 32 - 33 weeks. Loving comfy, floaty summer dresses but it's raining today...boo.
- 11:05 AM
- 0 Comments
Names are being added to the kitchen blackboard and I glance at them as I wander past to make (more) food. I'd love feedback, we're totally stuck.
Emx
- 12:09 PM
- 0 Comments
We made it to past midnight, kissed Dan & Tessa then scuttled out of the Phoenix Foundation gig, home to hot chocolate and biscuits. We attempted to make new year's resolutions but we must be damn near perfect 'cause nothing came to mind. There's the usual (get fit-learn more-be kinder-etc) but my heart isn't in it. Like Tessa said, there's plenty more days in the year to make resolutions, I'm just going to skip it tonight.
2012 is going to be newer than most new years for us. It's your year. I'm looking forward to meeting you little one. You were very quiet at the gig, listening very hard. Hopefully the CD will work just as well when you're here, on the outside, and grumpy.
Happy New Year. I love you my sweet boy.
Your Ma Emma xxx
2012 is going to be newer than most new years for us. It's your year. I'm looking forward to meeting you little one. You were very quiet at the gig, listening very hard. Hopefully the CD will work just as well when you're here, on the outside, and grumpy.
Happy New Year. I love you my sweet boy.
Your Ma Emma xxx
- 1:30 AM
- 0 Comments
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