i am so leetle.

Elliot's tiny fingers with perfect wee fingernails. They won't stay this size for long, so we're enjoying every moment marvelling at this little miracle. His umbilical cord stump fell off on Saturday - that's right - Elliot Unplugged.

We're enjoying every minute of Elliot as a newborn while it lasts - we sometimes just stare at him as you would TV; we call this the BabyChannel. We know that it will only be too soon before he'll be too big to hold.

He's quite a bit different from Aiden already. I know that's stating the obvious, but for some (misguided) reason, we expected that the newborn experience will be similar to Aiden. Feeding and sleeping are quite dissimilar - Elliot sleeps more than Aiden did, and waking him up to feed is close to impossible. Waking techniques we've tried: changing diapers, wet towels on the face, tickles on the cheek, little arm & leg aerobics - all methods are to no avail. This means that feeds are at his leisure - he slept through last night (we're not complaining - 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep was great.)

But it also means irregular feeds, although we noticed that this only happens in the late afternoon/evenings where he falls asleep mid-feed and wakes up an hour (or 2) for his next feed. Morning & afternoon feeds are slightly more predictable, at 3.5-4hrs apart.

Elliot isn't latching on as easily as Aiden did, so it requires more patience. We took for granted that it would be as easy (if not easier) than Aiden.

We're hoping his things might change as Elliot grows a little older - Elliot is after all just over a week old.


The romper Paul and Kim gave us for Aiden is back in service. It was only worn a handful of times before it was outgrown, and so it's nice to see it again. Given the amount that Elliot is feeding, it's likely, should he ever make the All Blacks, he'll be in the front row.

Elliot spending some quality time with his Grandpa Ian.

finally, a name

Introducing... Elliot Urquhart Naylor.

a for aiden

More and more words tumble out of Aiden's mouth each day. He wowed us yesterday reciting the whole alphabet, and he can sing along to some of his favourite CDs. He's been remarkably good with his wee brother, today he brought one of his CDs over to show the baby. That little effort to connect with his brother gave Mae and I the warm fuzzies.

It's also neat to see Mei and Ian with the new baby. They have been great with him and Aiden.

you want to name me what?!!

I'm shocked I tell you. Shocked! Come back when you have a better suggestion. In the meanwhile, I'll just be over here on this comfy red cushion.

snowpea!!!

"Snowpea" arrived early this morning. We still haven't decided on his name, so we're still calling him by the nickname we gave him during the pregnancy. Labour was about 3 hours, with only 5 minutes of pushing. As a comparison, Labour with Aiden was 13 hours with 30 minutes of pushing!!! I almost missed the birth as I was filling out some paperwork when active labour started.

Mae gives the thumbs-up for launch. This photo isn't really indicative of the labour process, things were progressing much faster than anticipated, so there was no time to epidural, instead Mae received a Spinal injection, but it was enough to relieve the pain and allow her to concentrate on pushing.

Snowpea arrives! 3.58 kg (close to 8lbs). Mae looks amazing for someone who has just delivered.

Initially he's not that impressed by the world. It's too bright & cold and there are doctors checking on him every so often.

But he soon calms down.
He's got a little more hair than Aiden had at birth, and it's jet black.
Anyone recognise any family resemblance?

Aiden's curious about his little brother. I made sure to read him Za-Za's Brother for his bedtime story tonight. I'm not sure how much has sunk in, but the real test when Mae and the baby come home.

He's a cutie.

ian & mei's anniversary

Happy Anniversary in advance!

We celebrated my parents 36th anniversary today (2 days in advance) with them, Mason, Anita & the twins.

Had a delectable meal at Chef Chan's - his signature roast chicken didn't disappoint, neither did the tender peppered beef, the sauteed eggplant and the wasabi prawns. Uber yummilicious. Being pregnant just gave me more reason to eat; I clearly wasn't hungry by the time I went through my fourth prawn and third slice of chicken.

Bradley and Erica seemed quite keen to play with Aiden although Aiden was a little clueless. He did however beam from ear to ear when Bradley and he walked hand-in-hand - a Kodak moment that passed too soon before I could whip out our camera.

And Aiden impressed us with his longest sentence to date today:
Baa baa black sheep...yessser yessser, tree bags fool. (i.e. the 1st, 3rd and 4th lines of baa baa black sheep).

more chatter

Aiden's been picking up words and phrases much faster than we anticipate - and using them in context (as opposed to just listing them off-hand).

As any proud parent would, we're listing his new words & phrases to date:
1. armadillo
2. an-ti-fy-er ("ampliflier" - there's one stored in his room)
3. i see you! (this is when we play peekaboo or hide-and-seek)
4. keep this / put back (when it's time to put his books, toys and CDs back)
5. capsicum (to Andy's delight, Aiden holds the capsicum like one would a rugby ball, wrapped under the arm)
6. dink ("drink") water / milk
7. Aiden's / Mummy's / Daddy's + book / food / clothes (he likes identifying what's his and what's ours e.g he'll point and say "Aiden's book" followed by "Daddy's book", distinguishing the two)
8. chain CD (i.e. "change the CD, i don't like your choice of music" such a harsh critic at his age. sigh.)

not popped yet.

Our estimated due date is drawing to a close, with 1 1/2 hours to go it looks unlikely Mae will deliver today. We had another doctor's appointment today and the estimated weight of Snowpea is 3.6kg - almost exactly the weight Aiden was. If we make it to next week without any sign of Snowpea, the doctor will discuss whether snowpea will need to be induced.

counting

we've reached one milestone - this is the 100th post to our blog, but the main milestone we're expecting is still keeping us guessing.

Mae's estimated due date is in two days but there are no signs that anything is happening any time soon. Aiden was 4 days late so if snowpea is late by the same amount, he'll arrive on Mei and Ian's anniversary which would be nice.

Of course if he arrives on his estimated due date - Friday the 13th, perhaps we can name him Jason.

like father, like son

I love this photo of Andy & Aiden squishing their noses against the kitchen door as they played peekaboo. Spot the family resemblance.

nan-kew

Recently Aiden has taken to saying "Nan-kew" when he passes us stuff. It's his cute version of "Thank You" but the way he delivers it, he could mean "Here, get rid of this". Nonetheless cute.