We went to the zoo on Boxing day, which was good fun. Afterwards at the cafe they brought over a page for Marcus to colour in and he had great fun!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Christmas 2008
Christmas this year was a bit hit and miss. Marcus loved it - he had a ball and it was his first really big christmas. Unfortunately, I was very sick. I've had shingles over the last week so have been really sore and, worse of all, the worst of it was on Christmas Day. Luckily we had David and Rhonda up for a couple of days and they gave a positive light to the week.
Here's a few photos from the day.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Eating real food
Oli has recently started to eat real food and is feeding himself, which he loves. Like his brother, he loves his veges (at the moment anyway).
Playcentre Xmas party
Today was the Playcentre Xmas party. Marcus was very happy to get a gift from Santa!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Just where have the last 8 months gone?
Oliver is 8 months old already and seems to have all of a sudden reached those milestones that indicate he is quickly moving away from being a baby and towards being a toddler. He is commando crawling, usually in hot pursuit of Marcus's toys which Marcus promptly shifts away as soon as Oliver reaches them. Any attempts to move on his hands and knees still result in him going backwards and getting stuck under the couch or in the very same corner of the lounge Marcus always got stuck in. He is eating 3 meals a day and so far likes everything accept tomato. Since Labour weekend he has been learning to sleep through the night without any comforting visits from Mum. It has taken a while and many, many cuddles from Dad during the wee small hours but he does seem to be getting the idea now. He can sit up by himself for short periods and now has his bath in the big bath. He has 8 teeth already and the constant dribble suggests the next few aren't far away. He is a very sociable wee guy and loves to laugh and be in the middle of the action. He holds his own with Marcus, pulling his hair to let him know he is around and only very occasionally having to cry to catch Mum's attention when his big brother is not sharing the toys or playing too vigorously.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Some more photos
It's been a couple of months since we've put some stuff up so we'll be busy over the next few days. First off is a photo of the boys from yesterday, playing in the lounge. Oli spends a lot of his time crawling slowly after Marcus' toys. By the time he gets to them Marcus realises what's going on and takes his toys away! But he always makes sure he puts one of Oli's toys in front of him so he has something to play with.
Here's Mum and son from last weekend.
Over Labour weekend Marcus and I did a lot of gardening. One of the things Marcus was really looking forward to was planting some sunflower seeds. Here we are on the deck planting the first of two pots with sunflower seeds. Hopefully they start to come through soon! And we're also wearing our new hats we bought for the summer.
Here's Mum and son from last weekend.
Over Labour weekend Marcus and I did a lot of gardening. One of the things Marcus was really looking forward to was planting some sunflower seeds. Here we are on the deck planting the first of two pots with sunflower seeds. Hopefully they start to come through soon! And we're also wearing our new hats we bought for the summer.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Brothers part two
Marcus plays really well with Oli and loves being around him. Oli adores his older brother and watches his every move. It's lovely to see, although I can see when Marcus is climbing all over me and jumping all over me that Oli is taking note and getting ready for when he can do that himself!
Eating real food
Last week Oli hit a new developmental milestone - his first real food. At the moment it's a couple of teaspoonfuls each day of something different - so far either mashed pear, mashed pumpkin or mashed apple. He's taken to it really well and is loving it.
Today he hit a new developmental milestone - he has unfortunately got his first cold. He's not looking too impressed with it and seems to cope with sickness as well as his dad and brother - not very well!
Today he hit a new developmental milestone - he has unfortunately got his first cold. He's not looking too impressed with it and seems to cope with sickness as well as his dad and brother - not very well!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Ready for solids
Oliver watches our every move when we drink and eat. He's started reaching out for our plates, forks and cups. He's ready for solids! We'll start this weekend with some pear and pumpkin so it's a big stage in his development!
Surveying the neighbourhood
Yesterday's big adventure walk involved a 60 minute walk from home. We went up to the top of Jackson St, on the path to Volga Street, to the end and then up Mt Albert Rd to the top of the hill. There are some roadworks up there that we can see from our house which Marcus wanted to look at. There was a digger across the road we looked at also. We then spent the afternoon in the garden so it was a big outdoors day.
Growing some teeth
Oli now has his first teeth. The first one came through two Sundays ago and the second one came through last Sunday. Two down, eighteen to go.
His development is really good, he's happy and perky and jovial. We just want him to sleep more!
His development is really good, he's happy and perky and jovial. We just want him to sleep more!
A big adventure walk
Recently Marcus and I have started a new Sunday routine - the big adventure walk. Last Sunday we did our first one, a 70 minute walk off a trail off the wind turbine. It follows the road down, probably about 1 1/2 kms, and then we went back up the road. It was great, with great weather. We both had a great time and it tired Marcus out! We're now going to try and do one every weekend, so he can see more and more of Wellington. He's at his happiest when we're doing things outside.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Family portrait
Last month my parents came down and visited their 8th grand-son. It was a great chance for us to get a family photo! Oli last week turned 4 months and is developing well. He's as lovely as we've said previously, doesn't sleep much, as we've said previously, and is loved by his brother, as we've said previously! Marcus is great and developing well - his reading is surprising us every day - we bought the book "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish" last week and he could read about three quarters of the words in it. How much he comprehends I'm not sure but he's doing well.
They're both gorgeous and doing really well.
They're both gorgeous and doing really well.
At the park
Last weekend the weather was fantastic in Wellington. We spent well over an hour at the park and Marcus had a great time going on the blue slide, then running over to the big slide (those who know Island Bay park will know what I'm talking about) and rolling balls down for us to chase and then going back down the blue slide to start it all again!
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Simple Pleasures
Sometimes it's easy to forget with kids that simple things are the best. A couple of months ago Marcus asked about being able to go out for a night-time drive - he always likes to look at the lights out from our house at night and wanted to go for a drive in it. So we told him in June we could. We went for our big night-time drive tonight. We went out for 30 minutes up Mt Vic to see the lookout over the city. He absolutely loved it - it was one of the most exciting things he's done in a long time.
Friday, May 23, 2008
What a week.
This week has been a hard one. We've all succumbed to various illnesses, some of us more than once. Last week Oli and Marcus had colds. This week I got the cold quite badly and had to take a couple of days off work. By the time I got over it, I got a dose of some sort of food poisoning or stomach bug. It might have been related to Marcus' bout of vomiting on Tuesday/Wednesday - 8 times in 6 hours. He's been pretty lethargic the rest of the week, as am I!
On the up side, things are going well more generally. Oli is doing all he should although not sleeping as well as we'd like. Even Marcus slept a bit better at this age. But he's definitely growing, getting bigger every day. He watches his big brother intently. And Marcus is doing well. He really enjoys Playcentre and loves playing outdoors all the time. He doesn't like watching tv and would rather be outside throwing his trains around!
On the up side, things are going well more generally. Oli is doing all he should although not sleeping as well as we'd like. Even Marcus slept a bit better at this age. But he's definitely growing, getting bigger every day. He watches his big brother intently. And Marcus is doing well. He really enjoys Playcentre and loves playing outdoors all the time. He doesn't like watching tv and would rather be outside throwing his trains around!
Marcus WoOdhead!
Last week we got Marcus some new letters. This pack of magnetic letters has lots of double ups which is great. He pulled them out today and proceeded to spell Marcus Woodhead (although he also enjoys spelling out sucram daehdoow and getting us to pronounce it).
He's also rediscovering lots of old books, which is great and he can read some of them, which helps distract him from us - sometimes.
He's also rediscovering lots of old books, which is great and he can read some of them, which helps distract him from us - sometimes.
Marcus and Ayesha
Last weekend Ayesha came around (and her mum and dad). She was born about a week after Marcus so has always been part of his life. They spent a bit of time playing together, which was very cute. Her visit helped Marcus to rediscover his very noisy hammer toy.
Oli
Many people tell us they think Oli looks like Marcus. We disagree. Marcus looks very much like my (Karl's) side of the family and Oli looks very much like Shelley's side of the family. There's a number of things about them that are very similar - body shape, lack of sleepness, and nose.
And they're both very cute!
And they're both very cute!
Marcus helps with the dishes
One of Marcus' favourite activities at Playcentre is washing the trains. One day at home he decided to wash the trains and at the same time do all the dishes on the bench! It's a good sign, but I think by the time he's able to actually do the dishes he won't want to.
Marcus and Oli
When Oli is in his bouncer Marcus loves to go up and play with him and around him. He likes to point to Oli's "little feet" and "little hands" and "little nose" and "little ears"! He keeps asking when Oli can play with him.
Having a bath
We've been managing to bath Oliver in the laundry tub. However, he's now getting too big and he'll have to move to the baby bath we've got. At 10 weeks he is also now approaching being too big for his moses basket and will have to go into his cot. It's amazing how quickly this all passes - maybe the lack of sleep helps to make it go faster!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Mum and son (5 weeks)
Here's Shelley after getting Oliver to sleep earlier today. Today Oliver turned 5 weeks old! That means I only have one week of parental leave left.
Today's big adventure was a family trip on the cable car. We parked in Kelburn, took the cable car into town, went to the library and Kirkcaldies (so I could buy some ceramic balls to use for blind baking to make a couple of tarts) and then back up the cable car. It was Oliver's first trip in his buggy and it went well. For Marcus it was a trip on the cable car so it was a great day!
Today's big adventure was a family trip on the cable car. We parked in Kelburn, took the cable car into town, went to the library and Kirkcaldies (so I could buy some ceramic balls to use for blind baking to make a couple of tarts) and then back up the cable car. It was Oliver's first trip in his buggy and it went well. For Marcus it was a trip on the cable car so it was a great day!
Marcus and his brother
As I've said before, Marcus really loves his little brother. He'll give him a kiss several times a day, and at least once a day asks to be able to hold Oliver.
Playing games
One of my jobs while on parental leave is to hold Oliver when he goes to sleep - he's in a phase where during the day he only really stays asleep when one of us holds him. I cope with this by playing computer games! Marcus often joins me - he prefers it when I play Pacman!
Marcus, April 2007
This photo captures who Marcus is at this point in time - an active, energetic boy who loves playing with his trains. The green walls help to represent his love of going outside exploring and having adventures!
Mum and her boys
Marcus likes to do lots of things with his little brother, including having him in his room. Here's a lovely shot of Shelley with Marcus and Oliver.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
One month old
Today Oliver is one month old. He's doing really well and everything is going as it should. He was weighed today and is about 4.7kg, so putting on weight really well. He's definitely growing and becoming more alert every day - we've even had a couple of smiles! Our biggest stress is sleep, or lack of. This isn't new as we've got pretty much the same issues - not a big day sleeper and only goes to sleep on us.
Something that is different to Marcus is that Oliver doesn't appear to have colic - those who were close to us know the issues we had with Marcus' colic, which kept us up a lot. The signs were there at just after two weeks for Marcus, and there are no signs of it with Oliver.
Marcus is absolutely fantastic around Oliver. He's very loving and thinks of Oliver's needs a lot. He likes to give him cuddles and to hold him. Our biggest challenge is to make sure we give him plenty of attention also.
Something that is different to Marcus is that Oliver doesn't appear to have colic - those who were close to us know the issues we had with Marcus' colic, which kept us up a lot. The signs were there at just after two weeks for Marcus, and there are no signs of it with Oliver.
Marcus is absolutely fantastic around Oliver. He's very loving and thinks of Oliver's needs a lot. He likes to give him cuddles and to hold him. Our biggest challenge is to make sure we give him plenty of attention also.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Marcus helping with cleaning
One of our big worries was how Marcus would respond to another bips in the house. He's been absolutely fantastic. He refers to Oliver as 'our baby'. Here he is helping me to clean the buggy that he used to be in. Today he gave Oliver a couple of kisses. He calls himself big bips and Oliver little bips. He gets upset when he and I go out without Oliver and mum. And, as with any 3 year old, as long as we don't ignore him he is well behaved.
A big challenge is keeping him occupied and challenged - the yellow pages no longer cuts it. We used to be able to give it to him and he would happily read the page numbers up to 1,206 and then backwards again!
A big challenge is keeping him occupied and challenged - the yellow pages no longer cuts it. We used to be able to give it to him and he would happily read the page numbers up to 1,206 and then backwards again!
Talking to Angela and Paul
We're starting to introduce Oliver to more and more people. The other day it was Angela and Paul, and that was pretty easy thanks to Skype!
Dad and his boys
Something I'm very lucky about and very grateful for is that my employer, the Ministry of Education, allows me to take six weeks leave to be at home after Oliver's birth. This is about the length of time it will take Shelley to recover from the operation. My main focus is to keep Marcus busy. It's really enjoyable, but also REALLY tiring!
Oliver's birth-day
Oliver was born on 13 March. These are a couple of our favourite photos from the day - a nice close-up of oliver and Marcus meeting Oliver. One of Marcus' big fascinations with his little brother is how little everything is - in this photo he's asking about his little hands. It's really sweet.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
5 days old
Things are going well. Oliver and Shelley came home on Sunday and they're both doing well, although Shelley could do with a bit more sleep! Oliver is sleeping well and eating well and doing all the things he should. Marcus is coping really well with it all and I think is enjoying having me around!
Just realised I emailed and didn't post about his birth, so : vital details - born on Thursday 13th March via caesarean, 4.080 kgs (about 9lbs), at 9.33am. All went well - delivery was fantastic and maternity afterwards was stressful - they are really rushed and overworked with the baby boom that's underway.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Some changes
There will be some changes to the blog. As you can see, it's changed names. With the arrival of number two tomorrow, we wanted to broaden the site to cover news in general about what we're all doing. This will be less about Marcus and more about all of us. I'll probably also do some changes to the appearance and stuff. And (as I always say) I hope to put more posts up!
Anyway, off to bed. Hopefully I can sleep tonight - we're off to the hospital at 7am tomorrow for the arrival of number two bips. I'll explain a bips later...
Saturday, March 01, 2008
19 trains!
Marcus is pretty excited - he has 19 trains! We haven't set up the high chair for a little brother, we've set it up for him to play with his trains on!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Naming rights
In two weeks another addition to the family will be made (we're booked in for 13th March). I've found keeping one blog up to date a bit much at times and there's no way I'll be able to do two! So I will need to change the title and the address of the blog - any ideas for what the new name should be. It'll be either about the two boys, or maybe about us in general and all we're up to. Although I'll try to not bore you with tales of which part of my body has fallen apart in a particular week (this week it's my back, and the cornucopia of drugs has resulted in my stomach giving up as well). So, any suggestions for a new title?
The winner will be invited around for some sticky date pudding (bring your own cholesterol-fighting drugs).
Three years old
He was spoiled rotten. He got lots of books. The number of Thomas trains he owns went up from 11 to 19. He got some more Thomas tracks. He got more play dough. He got some magnet trucks, diggers and cars. And he got a big new bedroom!
We had a great day. I took the day off work and for a special treat, we went on the cable car (his request!).
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