Livia Madeleine and Aidan Luca Flaim

Some Livia' luvin

2009-11-18T20:33:00.004+10:00

Livia just loves to play with Aidan - sometimes we have to try to curb her enthusiasm a little, as her games can be a little rough. My blood pressure rises every time I have to nip out of the room for even a second - since she still seems to want to poke out an eye, or give what appears to be infant CPR. But here are a few sibling shots, after I was brave enough to put the two together on the couch.

Kisses...

Cuddles...
Showing Aidan where his mouth is

And where her toes are!

Hip Hip Hooray!

2009-11-09T12:23:00.012+10:00

Aidan

Age: 13 weeks
Weight: 5.1 kgs (11 lbs 5 oz)
Length: 59 cm (23.23 inches)
Average hours of sleep: Up to an 8 hour stretch at night - getting there! The trick is which 8 hours.... Three fairly predictable daytime naps.
Latest tricks: Miles and miles of smiles! First trip to the emergency room at Royal Brisbane Children's Hospital. Narrowly escaping needing a lumbar puncture. Lots of thumb-sucking. Quite a bit of cooing.

Livia

Age: 2 years old !
Weight: 11.5 kg (25 lbs 6 oz)
Height: 83 cm (32.7 inches)
Average hours of sleep: 11 at night (although it can be less since it gets light now at 4.30am!), a single 2 or sometimes 3 hour nap at lunchtime
Latest tricks: Collage! Lots of interaction with Aidan - turns out he's a good partner for Row Row Row Your Boat

Poor old Aidan has had a tough couple of weeks. He caught a cold 2 weeks ago, which really put him off his food - one night he even went 12 hours between feeds! Bliss you might think, except that instead of us sleeping, we tried several times to get him to feed. He rallied though, and didn't seem too bothered by the snotty nose and phlegmy cough that hung around for several days afterwards. He had nearly recovered from that, when last Friday, he came down with a high temperature. It stayed high on Saturday, and when it got above 39, we took him to the after hours medical centre, who sent us on to the hospital after a temperature measurement of 39.7. Despite the fever, he seemed pretty perky, and was feeding well, so he managed to avoid the lumbar puncture to rule out meningitis. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to avoid two attempts at a suprapubic aspirate (translation: a needle stuck into his lower abdomen to obtain a clean urine sample). Since neither worked, we ended up sitting him on Chris without a nappy, while I held the specimen cup. Within a minute or so, he produced the goods, and when the results of that and the blood tests all came back negative, we were permitted to go home (having been told earlier in the evening we'd definitely be admitted). By the morning, he was fever-free, and passed his hospital review with ease. So now we are just trying to catch up on missed sleep (it was 1am by the time we got home from the hospital, and someone forgot to send Liv the memo to let us sleep in).

Speaking of our little lass, Livia's birthday was this last week (although we will hold her party at the end of the month, when her Nana and Poppa are in town to help celebrate). We had a pretty quiet day - we went to a TinyTots gym class, followed by a trip to see Daddy at work for a Babycino (foamy milk with cocoa on top) and a carrot cupcake as a treat. She loved opening her presents and really got into the Hip Hip Hooray part of the Happy Birthday song. She was a bit freaked out by candles at first, but after a few times was able to give a halfway decent puff towards blowing them out. Here are a few highlights, but more photos can be found on the November Facebook or Picasa pages (see right).

Babycino bliss

Hip Hip Hooray! (With Great Granpa's Teddy Bear card)

Admiring the homemade T-shirts from Aunty Celia

Is this how I put it on?

Right before opening Aunty Bryna's prezzie

She's really getting into art, and now craft as well - she brought home her first collage from daycare recently.

She also really loves to use Aidan as a prop in her action rhymes, as you can see from the movie. He's pretty laid back about it, but I do have to intervene when she wants to sit on his knee. Nearly 12 kg versus just over 5 kg does not a fair match make!

Our little thumb-sucker

2009-11-02T12:56:00.002+10:00

Aidan has now found his thumb! And is quite happy seek comfort with it, especially following some sibling lovin' (bordering on baby-bashing).

He's also quite the chip off the old Chris.

And the littler one said....

2009-10-21T19:29:00.003+10:00

Aidan

Age: 11 weeks
Weight: 4.9 kgs (10 lbs 13 oz)
Length: 59 cm (23.23 inches)
Average hours of sleep: Up to a 7 hour stretch at night. 3 daytime naps, usually.
Latest tricks: Rolling from tummy to back!

Livia

Age: 23.5 months
Weight: 11.1 kg (24 lbs 7 oz)
Height: 83 cm (32.7 inches)
Average hours of sleep: 11 at night, a single 2 or sometimes 3 hour nap at lunchtime
Latest tricks: Baby gymnastics. Eating beetroot, spinach, asparagus. Word explosion - lots of sentences.

Aidan has learnt to roll over from his tummy to his back! He's done it a couple of times over the last week, but today I managed to catch it on camera. Livia first learned to roll over later - around 17 weeks, but she started with rolling from back to tummy, which is harder.

He's still quite the mini-Chris, as you can see. Here are a few shots in Dad's arms, including one of the first smiles.

Meanwhile, Livia has started going to TinyTots Baby gym classes. They have a big room with padded mats on the floor, and a big room with all sorts of play equipment. She is a bit shy around all the other children, but she loves playing with the hoops and balls. Once she gets warmed up, she also likes to run around and dance on the mats. The instructor, Bec, is great, and really works hard to get to know all the kids.

We have also pieced together a little cat costume for Livia. Check her out! Now, I had better go and start thinking about someone's 2nd birthday party...!

Strepping down

2009-10-04T18:27:00.005+10:00

Aidan

Age: 8 weeks
Weight: 4.3 kgs (9 lbs 8 oz)
Length: 54 cm (21.25 inches)
Average hours of sleep: A bit more alert now, and will often (but not always) go for 6 hours uninterrupted at night, usually from 10pm-4am.
Latest tricks: Starting to smile!

Livia

Age: 23 months
Weight: 11.1 kg (24 lbs 7 oz)
Height: 83 cm (32.7 inches)
Average hours of sleep: 11 at night, a single 2 or sometimes 3 hour nap at lunchtime
Latest tricks: Watering the garden, starting to count and do ABCs.

Unfortunately, Livia and I have been a bit sick this last week. She's been bringing home loads of bugs from daycare, and sharing them with the rest of us! I've had tonsillitis this week (supposedly strep throat, but we're not too sure since my throat still feels like I've swallowed broken glass and it's been over a week now), and Liv has also been on antibiotics. But the fellas have been a lot better off thank goodness. Although if Aidan could talk, he might not agree - he just had his first lot of jabs. Chris did have a cold, but didn't get a lot of sympathy from the rest of us.

We're in the middle of clearing out our balcony to turn it into a little playground for Livia. Seeing as it is trickier than before to go out as often, we'd like to have a few more outside activities for her that we can do at home. A bit of a challenge in a two bedroom upstairs apartment! So far, we have focussed on the clearing out bit, but we did get her a clam shell thing that we can use as either a sandpit or a paddling pool. That isn't set up yet, but we do have a few shots of her watering the garden with her new watering can.

Six weeks!

2009-09-21T13:38:00.006+10:00

Aidan

Age: 6 weeks
Weight: 3.7 kgs (8 lbs 2 oz)
Length: 49.5 cm (19.5 inches)
Average hours of sleep: a lot! Longest stretch is now 5 hours at night, apart from during a growth spurt, in which case it is 2 hours
Latest tricks: More of the same, still waiting for the elusive smiles

Livia

Age: 22.5 months
Weight: 11.1 kg (24 lbs 4 oz)
Height: 83 cm (32.7 inches)
Average hours of sleep: 11 at night, a single 2 or sometimes 3 hour nap at lunchtime
Latest tricks: Lots of swimming! Putting two or three words together and simply 2-3 word sentences e.g. 'I love you', 'How are you?' and 'All fall down'.

Wee Aidan is not so little any more! He's gained around 700 grams (more than 1 1/2 pounds) over the last two weeks, and we can really notice the difference. While still not exactly chubby, he actually has cheeks and even a few dimples (as distinct from wrinkly skin from not enough fat!). The longest stretch of sleep at night is also gradually being extended - we're now up to 5 hours, usually from 9pm to 2am, or thereabouts.

Meanwhile Livia continues to enjoy cuddling him, and often goes looking for him during the day to say hi. If we tell her he's asleep, then she will shush us. If we change his nappies, she lies down next to him and puts a nappy on herself. If we are burping him, she comes to tap him on the back to make him go 'pop'.

As the temperatures rise, we received a timely offer from a neighbour to use their pool whenever we like. Here are a few photos from our first few trips (more found in the September photos):

Aidan's Due Date Day!

2009-09-04T10:24:00.000+10:00

Aidan

Age: 1 month
Weight: 3.0 kgs (6 lbs 9 oz)
Length: 49.5 cm (19.5 inches)
Average hours of sleep: a lot! Longest stretch is 4/4.5 hours at night
Latest tricks: Feeding, sleeping, pooing, peeing, puking and... growing!

Livia

Age: 22 months
Weight: 11.0 kg (24 lbs 4 oz)
Height: 83 cm (32.7 inches)
Average hours of sleep: 11 at night, a single 2 or sometimes 3 hour nap at lunchtime
Latest tricks: Finger puppets, doing dishes, watering plants. Saying no... a LOT, and quite a few more back-arching tantrums.

Today is Aidan's due date - and he is 30 days old! I can't quite believe how it all happened, but looking back, I'm very happy at the way things turned out. Thankfully, despite being premature and very small even for a preemie, Aidan didn't have any complications, and is growing fast! He seems so easy to look after, especially compared to a toddler! Also, it seems like he isn't against taking a dummy when he is a bit fussy (unlike his older sister). We try to use it only sparingly, but it's a nice thing to fall back on.

He's still pretty small. Aidan weighed in this morning at 3.0 kg (6 lbs 9 oz)and 49.5cm (19.5 inches). If he had been born today with those stats, he would have been 10th percentile for weight and 40th percentile for height (not unlike his old man I suspect). However, since he competes in the one month old category, he is not even on the charts! Still not quite measuring up to Livia at birth, as you can see (identical onesie in both photos):

Meanwhile Livia just keeps on learning more and more new words. She loves the complicated ones now - abracadabra, happy birthday, and 'wassup! are her new favourites. She has settled really well into daycare, and is out the door so fast on those days (Thursday and Friday). We may drop her down to one day later on, but for now it's nice to have a couple of toddler-free days. It means I can spend more one on one time with Aidan (and the place gets vacuumed!). Livia is now very much in the middle of the 'no' period, so we are learning to rephrase our questions... 'which skirt do you want to wear - this one or this one?', instead of 'do you want to wear this?' or 'shall we get dressed?'.

And as for me, I'm pretty happy not to be pregnant any more! I have so much more energy. We've had so many lovely meals cooked by friends for us, I haven't even had to do much cooking (although we have been having a lot of fun with a new bbq and breadmaker in the house!).

There are tonnes of photos of Aidan and Livia on Picasa and Facebook (see under Links to Photos in right hand column). Best to take a look at them there! From now on, they will be organised by month.

Updates for now

2009-08-17T10:27:00.001+10:00

Aidan Luca Flaim arrived unexpectedly early on Wednesday August 5, 2009 at 3.48pm at the Royal Brisbane Women's Hospital. He weighed in at a featherweight 2.025 kg (4 lbs 7 oz), and measured 44 cm in length, head circumference 32 cm. Aidan made great progress without having to go to the Special Care Unit and Mum and Aidan got to come home on Day 3. On Day 4, Aidan was back to his birthweight, and between Days 6 and 9, he was gaining 100 grams (3.5oz) a day!

It may be a while until we get back to updating this blogpage on a regular basis, but new photos/movies are posted several times a week on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=114180&id=618921813&l=ed0961627b
and picasaweb: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/theflaims/AidanMonth1#

New table and pigtails

2009-08-01T18:29:00.001+10:00

Today we bought a cute little toddler table for Livia... and tried out a new 'do'. Check them out below...

Nana bathing Liv

2009-07-22T12:49:00.000+10:00

Liv's Nana came over from Hamilton recently and joined us for a week (while Mum recovered from a cold). Nana stars in the kanga photos (see previous post), but also took over a lot of the bathtime duties...

Aunty Antics

2009-07-18T05:01:00.000+10:00

A few weeks back, Liv was treated to a visit from her two Aunty Bs. They both stepped up to the task of entertaining, as you can see from below.

Liv with Roos

2009-07-11T13:02:00.001+10:00

Age: 20 months
Weight: ????? (the scales broke)
Average hours of sleep: 11 1/2 at night, a single 2 hour nap at lunchtime
Latest tricks: Two days a week of daycare (3 weeks in), painting, roo-chasing, knows when she has done 'poos', canines coming in

With Nana in tow, we took Liv to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, where the biggest drawcard was in fact, the 'roos'. (Koalas are a bit more sleepy, and they aren't as easily accessible.) In theory, you can walk freely amongst the roos, but with a toddler, there's little freedom for the parents. One is required to be close behind Liv, making sure her high-pitched squeals don't excite a kanga-frenzy. Here are some of the highlights:

Liv with Nana and Poppa (from Modesto)

2009-06-29T19:07:00.000+10:00

For all you avid Livia-lovers, apologies for the long delay in posting. We've been busy with visitors and visiting! Mid-May saw Livia's US Nana and Poppa visiting for 10 days, and here are some of the highlights...

Reading books with Nana
Bath time with Poppa

Cleaning teeth with Nana

A big cheesy grin at the playgroundOff for a walk around campus

Taking a stop at Chris's building - Livia shows us what she thinks of bioengineering

Back home, playing with Poppa and the new cars

Reading books with Poppa

Bee with Liv

2009-05-09T16:24:00.000+10:00

Age: 18 months
Weight: 10.2 kg (22 lbs 7 oz)
Average hours of sleep: 11 1/2 at night, a single 2 hour nap at lunchtime
Latest tricks: FINALLY a few steps unaided, swim lessons, more words (bee, park, pasta, potatoes, apples, ta, amen), more signing (swings, kisses, amen)

As a treat for her 18 month birthday (OK, actually, because WE wanted to), we got Livia a Bee Wheelybug. These great little ride-on toys are locally made and have been Toy of the Year a bazillion times in Australia. We'd originally wanted to get her the ladybird one (see here: http://www.wheelybug.com/products.html) but she made up her own mind in the store.

B with Liv!

2009-05-04T17:07:00.000+10:00

Aunty Bridget (aka 'B') from NZ came for the long weekend, and to celebrate, Livia took her first few faltering steps unaided. Although we have not captured it on video yet, here are a few pics of other things we got up to...

Chillin' with Aunty B before dinner
Walking (slowly) down by the seashore

A change of photographer
Icecream, guess who's the preggy one?

Liv samples a new food
And immediately lets us know what she thinks! (She's signing 'more')

The bump, aged 22 weeks

Anzac Day Animal Fun

2009-04-25T20:07:00.000+10:00

This Anzac Day, we decided to head out to a nearby Nature Centre, complete with a barnyard petting zoo. As you can see, the pigs were a definite hit with Liv, although she enjoyed getting up close to the birds, and watching the 'roos' bounce around.

Checking out a cockatoo

The wallabies got fairly close to us...

...although the kangas were a little more shy, preferring the far side of the enclosure.

This wild animal, not native to Australia, was a lot less exciting for Livia.

Them big wheels keep on turnin'

2009-04-11T19:54:00.000+10:00

Liv's finally starting to get the hang of using her feet for something other than chewing.

Turning though, has not yet been mastered

For a first attempt at standing unaided, not too shab

Blowin' in the wind

2009-04-11T19:23:00.000+10:00

Age: 17 months
Weight: 10.0kg (22 lbs 1 oz), pretty much on the dot
Average hours of sleep: 11 1/2 at night, a single 2 hour nap at lunchtime
Latest tricks: more words (pretty) more signing (more), standing up for about 10 seconds, cruising, walking with her toddle truck unaided

On our very first Australian beach experience, we were blown away. Almost literally, that is, as you can see and hear below.

A first attempt to bury Dad in the sand

Why are we here?

The wind reveals Dad's toned abs (and soon to be hunch-back from all the walking practise)
A taste of sand does not impress...
...but these sure do!

A few random pictures from this week...

2009-03-22T17:51:00.000+10:00

The source of all unhappiness during these last few weeks (back left molar)

Luckily, naps have not been affected

Meanwhile, the new little bump is beginning to show (16 weeks)...

... mostly from the side though

One of the more unusual mispellings of our last name

Hair today

2009-03-13T18:08:00.000+10:00

Age: 16 months
Weight: 9.6 kg (21 lbs 3 oz), possibly a smidge more
Average hours of sleep: 11 1/2 at night, a single 2 hour nap at lunchtime
Latest tricks: more words (dog, die?) more signing (shoes, duck), the occassional pull-up to standing, walking on all fours

The hair had been getting a bit unruly, so we took Livia for a mop-chop a few days ago. She sat quite happily in the specially-designed car, but seemed against the whole idea of scissors going near her head. Luckily Mum (more specifically, the supply of grapes and raisins in Mum's hands) were able to keep her distracted long enough to get the trim done.

Afterwards though, I thought it looked better how it was originally, a bit shaggy perhaps, but on the plus side, the long fringe hid the birthmark better.

Liv - before the big trim

... and after

Phone fun

2009-03-06T18:38:00.000+10:00

Liv just loves talking on the phone (or the remote, or a even toy car!). Luckily this mobile is locked, otherwise we'd be spending a fortune on random phone calls!

Hello?
Guess who I just spoke to?

The Queen!

Just kidding, jokes on you, mum!

You gotta love me when I'm this cute!

'Liv'ing Art

2009-03-06T18:16:00.000+10:00

Age: 15 months
Weight: 9.6 kg (21 lbs 3 oz) and you can tell!
Average hours of sleep: 11 at night, a single 2 hour nap at lunchtime
Latest tricks: stacking cups, drawing with crayons, talking (banana, door, eye, arm, gentle, dad, mum, meow, uh-oh, woof, ant) and signing (hello, up, elephant, caterpillar, bird, milk, finished and i want that). Yup, all that and more in the last 3 months!

A big parcel from Livia's grandparents in the US arrived recently and its contents included some art supplies! So today we decided to see what our budding Livia-nardo could do:

Our little maestra in action

Masterpiece complete!

And we're back!

2009-03-03T16:52:00.000+10:00

Whew! It's been quite a busy time for us all since we last posted. In short...

New job: Chris got offered a job working on needlefree vaccine delivery. I'll spare you the details, but it meant...
New location: ...namely Brisbane. We packed up and shipped out of Oxford within a matter of weeks, preferring as we did to spend any down time in a slightly more balmy climate. On the way, we spent Thanksgiving in the USA, followed by several weeks in New Zealand organising Chris's visa, among other things, finally ending up in Australia on January 9, only to find out that we had a...
New baby on the way: due late August/early September.

There's no way we can make up for four months of news, so we won't even try. Instead, here are a few of our favourite shots from that time. Apologies to all those facebookers who have already seen these. New ones will be coming soon!

Liv knows who's in the driving seatFirst encounter of a feline kind
Sparkling!
Playing around in the paddling pool
Rebel ballet dancer with the Vans shoes

Liv to Party!

2008-11-16T04:08:00.000+10:00

Age: 52 weeks
Weight: 8.75 kg (19 lbs 5 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: the usual half-day
Latest tricks: having (and eating) her cake

A certain someone turned 1 this week. It was a bit of a non-event, since we are so busy preparing to move down under. However, Liv did learn to eat cake, and she seems to have inherited a sweet tooth - probably from both sides of the family tree!

Clap your hands say yeah

2008-10-26T19:12:00.000+10:00

Age: 50 weeks
Weight: not sure these days, probably 8.8 kg (19 lbs 6 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: much better now that Daddy is back!
Latest tricks: clapping

Here's a few pics of the latest milestone

Namaste

Wave your legs in the air, like you just don't care: a very common sleeping position for Livia

Random pictures from summer

2008-10-12T18:06:00.001+10:00

Stats not applicable as ALL the photos are from a while back... just thought I'd upload them so that Liv's groupies (you know who you are - you are probably reading this right now!) have a few new photos to savour.

Liv is charmed with Warren's fake sneezes, Lani's seen it all before

Liv is happy to be surrounded by all these new friends.

When will Liv learn that eating her own feet is non-nutritive?

Hmm, maybe Liv isn't yet ready for slides...

...but there's nothing like a walk with Daddy strapped to her back!

Pensive time with Nana Betty

Cuddles with Aunty Manda

A bit of rocking and a bit of singing makes a happy Liv

More chilling out at Brunners Lodge, Leavenworth

Liv and Jan become acquainted

(Two months later) On the top of the world...well, Daddy anyway

Back down closer to ground level (where Liv is a smidgeon taller than Mummy)

Woah - is that me I see reflected here?

More Daddy and Liv time

Liv to Fly!

2008-10-08T04:15:00.001+10:00

Age: 48 weeks
Weight: 8.6 kg (18 lbs 15 oz) and holding
Average hours of continuous sleep: 11 hours - grr 6am wakings
Latest tricks: 7 hours at daycare!!!

Last weekend we popped on the train for another foray into London. This time we met up with friends Lisa and Bryn, and did a loop on the London Eye in what might have been the worst weather yet this year. On the plus side, the queue was short. On the minus side, check out the less than stellar view we had of Buckingham Palace:

Despite this, Liv was enchanted with the ride

Now I realise how tall Bryn actually is

What a view from up here!

Back at 0 above sea level, it's smiles all around

Liv and friends at the park

2008-09-29T03:53:00.000+10:00

Age: 46 weeks (where did the time go!)
Weight: 8.6 kg (18 lbs 15 oz) - dropped a bit more, due to the flu (daycare induced)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 12 hours
Latest tricks: 6 hours at daycare without Mum!

Alex pauses for about 10 seconds to eat some grass...

...although the Mums keep a close eye on him

Meanwhile, non-crawling Poppy and Livia keep each other entertained

Livia seems surprised we can see her as she tried to blend in with the blanket!

Who is your favourite person, Liv?

2008-09-08T04:59:00.000+10:00

Age: 43 weeks
Weight: 8.7 kg (19 lbs 3 oz) - dropped a bit due to a cold, not that you'd notice it
Average hours of continuous sleep: 12 hours
Latest tricks: Mum ma ma ma mum

Says it all really...

Liv-ing wild at the Wildlife Park

2008-09-02T04:30:00.000+10:00

Age: 42 weeks
Weight: 8.8 kg (19 lbs 6 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 12 hours
Latest tricks: Making sounds down a paper towel tube (not your usual milestone I know, but it makes her happy)

This weekend we celebrated Chris's 30th bday (well OK, the 5th anniversary of it). To mark this occassion, we rented a car, and did a couple of trips out beyond the ring road of Oxford to places not reachable (or not practically so) by bus/cycle/train/other form of non-car transport. Despite a false start (we managed to drive the same stretch of motorway three times before figuring out the right exit) - all to avoid a partial toll road (it turned out the toll was all of 5 pence/10c) - we made it to our first destination, the Cotswold Wildlife Park, still smiling. Here are some of the highlights...

Boogie-ing with the bantams

Liv does her sleepy tortoise impersonation

Taking a peek at some little critters

Tacoma Tales and Aunty Ali's Wedding (delayed posting)

2008-08-25T18:01:00.000+10:00

I won't even pretend to know the stats for these weeks. Instead, the pictures (and limited captions) will have to do all the talking. More pictures from the Flaim-McMillion wedding and Tacoma are found here.

Granpa Frank and Liv get reacquainted

Liv meets Lia (Pang) - see here for a whole bunch of wonderful photos from this encounter

Aunt Ali and her new hubby Luke

Flaim or McMillion? JoAnn and Liv contemplate the question...

Liv in London!

2008-08-25T04:26:00.000+10:00

Age: 41 weeks
Weight: 8.7 kg (19 lbs 3 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 12 hours, but sleeping less during day
Latest tricks: Shaking rattles, not just chewing on them

Yesterday, we headed off to the Big Smoke to meet up with our friends Juanita, Andy and Sophia. Despite a false start (the train pulled away in front of our disbelieving eyes), the rest of the day went without a hiccup - Liv was happy and content all day, we had an unbelievable lunch at Le Pain Quotedien and the weather wasn't too shab either. Photos from the day are here, but the best are below.

Liv and Juanita in Hyde Park

Sophia winning the running race (she's been watching the Olympics) although full credit to Chris for the lunge at the finish line (and no credit for the camerawoman for cutting off the fellahs' heads)

Think it might be nap time

Liv(e)ly Bath Time

2008-08-21T03:48:00.000+10:00

Age: 40 weeks
Weight: 8.6 kg (18 lbs 15 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 12 hours after combatting jetlag
Latest tricks: Standing (supported)

Liv has now been on the outside for as long as she was on the inside! To show us she's now a big 9 month old, she started standing, although not without a spotter close by. Or a conveniently located couch to rest her tum on.

We have also posted some photos and movies from bath time, which is always a crack-up for her.

Flannel fun

Some well-placed splash prevents this from being R13.

Daddy decides bath time is over when Liv tries to drink her bath water.

Turning pages and lots of laughs

2008-07-20T18:20:00.000+10:00

Age: 36 weeks
Weight: 8.3 kg (18 lbs 5 oz) - no change?
Average hours of continuous sleep: 12 hours and we remain grateful
Latest tricks: Turning pages (see movie one)

After months of playing a fairly passive role in the whole book-reading experience, Liv now contributes importantly by turning the pages (as distinct from trying to eat them).

She also finds something (not entirely sure what) exceedingly amusing about swinging the cords to the blinds back and forth. Daddy seems fairly captivated too.

Next time, the camerawomen will try to get Daddy's face from the nose up too.

More raspberries...?

2008-07-18T22:04:00.000+10:00

Really don't know quite where she got this trick from. You can imagine the looks I get when she does this while we are standing in line at the supermarket.

I would like to add that I have NOT edited the sound at all. She did this for about 10 minutes, and ended up with a face full of spittle.

Lazy days

2008-07-14T05:44:00.000+10:00

Age: 35 weeks
Weight: 8.3 kg (18 lbs 5 oz) - oh my goodness, no more BabyBjorn now
Average hours of continuous sleep: 12 hours and we remain grateful
Latest tricks: High fives

The title of this post reflects not only Livia's parents lazyness in updating this website recently, but also that of the wee lass herself who (despite being the first out of her baby buddies to roll over) seems to be quite content to watch her friends crawl and dance circles around her.

We've also been a bit lazy in terms of taking new snaps (don't want to get photo-fatigue before our big trip), but here is a good one from a few weeks back.

Liv and her friends

2008-07-03T06:41:00.000+10:00

Age: 33 weeks
Weight: 8.0 kg (17 lbs 10 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 12 hours and we remain grateful
Latest tricks: Sitting, sitting and then more sitting (not a new trick really, just one that she does ALL the time!)

Liv and Siena stay still for a full 3 seconds

A tired Liv underwhelmed despite the best attempts of Jonathan and Jean

Livia: a sphere of happiness!

Livia caricature

The moment of tooth

2008-06-24T06:46:00.000+10:00

Age: 32 weeks
Weight: 7.8 kg (17 lbs 3 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 12 hours
Latest tricks: Growing teeth

Liv is now sporting two new accessories in her lower jaw. We catch glimpses of them now and again. A far more certain method of detecting them is to place a (scrupulously clean) finger there. Or, you could try a bare exposed nipple. Then you feel it. Visual proof to follow.

Liv swings while Poppa snores

2008-06-16T05:16:00.000+10:00

Age: 31 weeks
Weight: 7.7 kg (17 lbs - what are we feeding her!)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 12 hours, no change, we're all happy
Latest tricks: Playing on the swings and testing out their flavour

This week, Livia's Poppa came to visit for a few days. Poor guy - looks like he's worn out from all that childminding!

Oranges and carrots

2008-06-12T05:09:00.000+10:00

Age: 30 weeks (oops skipped a week there)
Weight: 7.6 kg (16 lbs 12 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 12 hours, no change, we're all happy
Latest tricks: Babbling (unfortunately da da da not ma ma ma)

Our little one had her first picnic in the park. As the observant among you may have already noticed, Mummy forgot to bring a bib. That mistake shall not be repeated.

Incidentally, this footage was captured on the cellphone - gotta love technology!

So, who do you want to change your next pooey nappy Liv?

Liv in Paris

2008-05-29T23:24:00.000+10:00

Age: 28 weeks
Weight: 7.5 kg (16 lbs 8 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 10 hours...in a wardrobe
Latest tricks: Travelling the Eurostar

The last weekend of May saw us board a train... then the underground... then another train... then another underground... et voila, there we were in Paris. We were fortunate enough to have our good friends Juanita and Andy, and their toddler Sophia join us. The two little mademoiselles and their parents had a great time - highlights included walking around Montmartre and the Jardin du Luxembourg, a trip to Mariage Freres (speciality tea shop), a dinner out with free babysitters and, mais oui, les croissants, les eclairs et les pains aux chocolats. More photos are here.

Admiring the view over Paris from the Sacre Coeur...

... as well as the carousel in the Jardin du Luxembourg

The closest we made it to the Eiffel Tower, Liv looks underwhelmed by it all.

Sophia shares her Mummy for a nice photo

Liv'ing the high (chair) life

2008-05-19T05:42:00.000+10:00

Age: 27 weeks
Weight: 7.45 kg (16 lbs 7 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 12 hours
Latest tricks: Exhibiting Dad's sense of humour

This says it all really...

Aunty Ali arrives (and 6 month birthday!)

2008-05-11T03:40:00.000+10:00

Age: 26 weeks (6 months)
Weight: 7.4 kg (16 lbs 5 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 9 hours and holding (or so we think, she tends not to wake us, just chatter to herself)
Latest tricks: Sitting up - in the stroller, in the highchair, in a punt, on her Aunty Ali!

This week saw another Flaim in the household - Chris's sister Ali arrived from Seattle, providing us with the opportunity to exploit her as a free babysitter. Liv happily accepted the newest member of her entertaining squad, as you can see below.

Naked kick time was never this much fun

Liv shows off her baby banz

Chris shows off his punting skills...

Ali's a quick learner, Chris pantomimes the moves

Her royal highness enjoys the view from a nice shady spot

What a comfy couch!

Family photo op

A sotto voce rendition of goodnight moon

Ali in danger of losing some hair

Liv to eat (and play)

2008-05-03T05:13:00.000+10:00

Today we tried Liv out on a few foodstuffs: yoghurt, broccoli and carrot. The main aim of the exercise was:
1) to have her play and experiment with food
2) to have her get used to the high chair
3) to not get food all over our apartment

Numbers 1 and 2 were pretty successful, number 3 not so much...

Oh, and before you call the puree police, we're opting for Baby Led Weaning, hence the pieces of food and self-feeding approach.

We also had a few of Liv's baby buddies over for tea and cakes - here are the highlights (and in some cases lowlights) of the event:

Siena and Livia happy sharing the baby gym

Siena and Livia not so happily sharing the baby gym

It's all fun and games before... whoops!

The whole NCT group reunited (only took 6 months!): Ceci, Siena, Liv (still pissed about the eye thing), Alex and Poppy

Alex tries to grab Siena's toy...

...but Siena successfully fights him off! (Or maybe Alex heard about Siena's fighting tactics from Liv)

Ceci, Gaby and Brigitte

Liv'ing room antics

2008-04-29T04:43:00.000+10:00

Age: 24 weeks
Weight: 7.2 kg (15 lbs 14 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 9 hours and holding
Latest trick: Just being extraordinarily cute

A new toy

Look - no hands!

Fun with dad

Presumably something more interesting on other side of room

Weekend play

2008-04-21T05:10:00.000+10:00

Age: 23 weeks
Weight: 7.1 kg (15 lbs 10 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 9 hours!
Latest trick: Going to creche with no signs of separation anxiety (unlike her nervous parents)

The foot makes a reappearance...

Stripes and more stripes

Focus... focus....

Cuddles with mum

The breast intentions

2008-04-13T03:53:00.000+10:00

Age: 22 weeks
Weight: 7.0 kg (15 lbs 7 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 2-3
Latest trick: Feeding like a newborn

Whew - what a week! We always knew it was going to be a little tough, since Chris was going to be away at a conference, but we never predicted the full scale of things!

It all began at 5am on Monday morning when Chris found out that his flight (from Terminal 5 at Heathrow) was cancelled. Although this was more than enough to entice him back to bed, a more motivated colleague phoned with the news they were rebooked on the 11am flight. So, Chris put in the hard yards anyway, got to the airport by 7, and spent the following 6 hours there, being as they were rebooked on the 1pm flight.

Meanwhile, back in Oxford, playing the role of solo mum, my day went pretty well... until that night I came down with a raging fever and swollen inflamed breast - mastitis! Then my number 1 priority became to feed feed feed the little one (since I'm pretty sure it was a clogged milk
duct that brought it on). Luckily by the next morning the fever was gone, and once I discovered Nurofen (Advil), things got a whole lot better, despite the sleep deprivation that a regression to a newborn feeding schedule brought about. To top things off, Livia had been battling the nighttime bedtime routine - well the final step of it anyway (i.e. actually going to sleep). The upshot of this is that she now has tinfoil lining her bedroom window in order to convince her it really is night time. So far, so good. Oh, and a tyre on her buggy went flat, so I've been shlepping her around in the old Mothercare tank we have (which at the very least means I get a good workout!).

Needless to say we did not manage to take many photos of Livia this week, so here are few more from our trip to Cambridge...

Who's your Mommy and Daddy?

2008-04-06T22:01:00.000+10:00

Age: 21 weeks
Weight: 6.8 kg (15 lbs)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 8-9
Latest trick: Pulling Mum's hair and glasses

Beautiful weather last weekend lured us to the park, where we took a few shots of Livia with the Spring daffodils. Click here for more photos from Month 5.

And then for a surprise this morning...

Easter in Cambridge

2008-03-30T04:58:00.000+10:00

Age: 20 weeks
Weight: 6.7 kg (14 lbs 12 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 9***
Latest trick: Foot in mouth (literally)

Last weekend, Liv had her first visit to Cambridge - no, not to sign her up for an undergraduate degree yet! While her parents caught up with friends Andy and Juanita, Livia had a number of new experiences...

Snow. It began in Oxford, as she got shuttled to the car, and continued on for a few days in Cambridge. Liv's opinion: better viewed from the warmth of inside.
Toddlers. Sophia (20 months) was the perfect hostess, sharing loads of toys and cuddles (see below). Liv's opinion: where do I get me some of those leg things? And how do I make them carry me?
Feet. Suddenly one day, during a nappy change, Livia discovered she had some new built-in toys. Liv's opinion: don't know why they are there, or where they come from, but they taste quite nice.

Having Liv sleep in the same room was also quite an event for us! Turns out, she's got the Flaim noisy-sleeper gene. A cacophony of snores, chattering, coughing and cooing contributed to our less than optimal sleep experience.

*** To clarify, this is the time between her 9.30pm feed and 6.30am feed. So technically, it's more like 8.5 hours. Standard deviation 1 hour.

Lady of the Dance

2008-03-22T23:55:00.000+10:00

Age: 19 weeks
Weight: 6.5 kg ? I'm guessing here, will find out for sure on Wednesday
Average hours of continuous sleep: 9 again
Latest trick: River-dancing

St Patrick's Day must have reminded Livia of her Irish roots. Her agent has allowed us to show a small segment of movie demonstrating her River-dancing skills.

To everything there is a season (Turn! Turn! Turn!)

2008-03-17T02:00:00.000+10:00

Age: 18 weeks
Weight: 6.4 kg (14 lbs 1 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 9 and holding. We're happy. She's happy. Not asking for anything more here.
Latest trick: Turning pages

OK, I'm not really claiming that our 4 month old daughter can turn the pages, let alone figure out what on Earth reading is (yet another thing those jokers she has for parents do to 'entertain' her). However, this is the most interest she has shown in books so far...

And the little one said... Take II

2008-03-09T21:35:00.000+10:00

Age: 17 weeks
Weight: 6.3 kg (13 lbs 14 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 8 on a good day, 5 on a bad
Latest trick: Rolling over fully (and letting her parents catch her on camera)!

Actually, she achived the rolling over part at age 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days... but it took until today for us to capture it on camera! She always finishes the manouvre in one of two ways... a giant burp or a puke.

And the little one said...

2008-03-03T06:00:00.000+10:00

Age: 16 weeks
Weight: 6.2 kg (13 lbs 11 oz)
Number of hours of continuous sleep: 8 (she's had a cold)
Latest trick: Halfway rolling over

Berry good!

2008-02-24T19:48:00.000+10:00

Age: 15 weeks
Weight: 6.1 kg (13 lbs 7 oz)
Number of hours of continuous sleep: 13!!!
Latest trick: Blowing raspberries

After months of watching her parents make fools of themselves, Livia finally caught on and has started blowing raspberries. It took a while (she's a bit shy of the camera), but I managed to get some footage of her in action - make sure you play this with the audio!

Phil and Ted (and Livia)

2008-02-17T20:10:00.000+10:00

Age: 14 weeks
Weight: 6.0 kg (13 lbs 4 oz)
Number of hours of continuous sleep: 8
Latest trick: Poking out tongue

Livia's new friend arrived this week - a Phil and Ted's Sport buggy! With pneumatic tyres, easy folding and an attachment for Baby Number Two, this bright red three wheeler buggy is a big improvement on the dull-as-ditchwater-charcoal-and-black secondhand Mothercare tank that we shlepped around up until now. It also elevates us into the cool baby status, along with the likes of Brooke Shields and Gwyneth Paltrows young'uns.

Liv to Play!

2008-02-04T00:02:00.000+10:00

Age: 12 weeks
Weight: 5.6 kg (12 lbs 5 oz)
Number of hours of continuous sleep: 4-5 (jetlagged still)
Latest trick: Baby gyming

After five weeks of constant attention and many playmates, being at home all day with only mum was dead boring. The solution… a Baby Gym!

Liv’ing off the fat of the land

2008-01-27T20:05:00.000+10:00

Age: 11 weeks
Weight: 5.5 kg (12 lbs 2 oz)
Number of hours of continuous sleep: 4 (jetlagged baby!)
Latest trick: More leg folds than a sumo wrestler

It seems our little lightweight has graduated to the welterweight division. Our once 25th percentile baby is approaching the 50th percentile curve!

On vacay

2007-12-24T01:42:00.000+10:00

Age: 6 weeks - 11 weeks
Weight: 4.4 kg (7 lbs 2 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 6 and holding
Latest trick: Smiling at last!

Liv's six week birthday saw us board a plane to New Zealand. Nearly 36 hours later, we actually arrived in New Zealand. The welcoming party consisted of one very excited Nana Jude and Poppa Terry. The former, it should be noted, was mostly focused on welcoming the newest member of the family, and once the bub was handed over, turned on her heel and happy headed out the door!

The following three weeks saw us enjoying family time in Hamilton and Waihi Beach (for pictures see here)
and following this, in Modesto, California (pics here). The photos will have to do the talking!

Liv'ing dangerously

2007-12-17T01:31:00.000+10:00

Age: 5 weeks
Weight: 4.2 kg (9 lbs 4 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 6!
Latest trick: Being burped on a Swiss ball

Chris takes the new responsibilities of being a Dad very seriously.

Liv with Dad

2007-12-10T01:13:00.000+10:00

Age: 4 weeks
Weight: 3.8 kg (8 lbs 6 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 5
Latest trick: Daddy time

From matching blue eyes (and bald spots) to sleeping with their mouths open, Livia is a chip off the old Chris. Incidentally, I hear this is pretty common - nature's way of assuring the men-folk that the little critter keeping them up all night is in fact their offspring.

Livia Visage

2007-12-03T04:25:00.000+10:00

Age: 3 weeks
Weight: 3.6 kg (7 lbs 15 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 5
Latest trick: Eyes open for more than a few minutes

A few of Livia's different 'faces'...

Playful

Thoughtful
Cute!
Hungry? Angry? Overtired?

Splish splash

2007-11-26T04:17:00.000+10:00

Age: 2 weeks
Weight: 3.4 kg (7 lbs 8 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 5
Latest trick: Bath time!

We couldn't have a baby blog without some nudey shots, although these are fairly tame.

A little kiwi

2007-11-19T03:31:00.000+10:00

Age: 1 week
Weight: 3.3 kg (7 lbs 4 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 4
Latest trick: Getting her passport photo taken!

After about 50 attempts, we were finally able to convince Livia to keep her eyes open, mouth shut, look in the general direction of the camera, hands out of the way and not cry AND capture the Kodak moment. She's now well on her way to becoming a little kiwi.

She also did her first test drive of the Baby Bjorn - a spin around Christchurch meadow (hopefully when she actually learns to drive, she'll open her eyes).

Liv at home

2007-11-13T20:02:00.000+10:00

Age: 2 days
Weight: 3.16 kg (6 lbs 15 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 4
Latest trick: Feeding

Due to a wonderfully fast recovery (despite almost zero sleep), Mum/Mom and baby escaped from hospital a few days early. Mostly just so Dad could do some night-time nappy changes!

Here's a video from when she first arrived home (couldn't figure out how to rotate the image, so you will have to look sideways):

And when Daddy was learning to burp her:

Delivery de Livia

2007-11-12T06:12:00.000+10:00

Age: 0 days
Weight: 3.2 kg (7 lbs 2 oz)
Average hours of continuous sleep: 1.5 (but never when mum is sleeping)
Latest trick: Being on the outside!

At last my EDD (Expected Due Date) rolled around and Livia decided it was time to see the world for herself (either that or finally the right concoction of hormones triggered the onset of labour). As the clock struck midnight, my waters broke. The atmosphere of the moment was somewhat more subdued than you would think (given my previous posts where ALL I could talk about was giving birth) for a couple of reasons:

1) It was hard to ascertain whether the clear liquid was amniotic fluid or just plain old pee
2) Chris wasn't particularly interested in waking up - especially since I wanted his opinion on 1)

In any case, I eventually roused Chris, he rang the midwife unit, and they told us to wait until the contractions were 5 minutes apart and advised us to sleep. Given that this might mean at least several hours for the 'average' woman with a first baby, I don't think they expected to hear from us for quite some time.

However, never underestimate the efficiency of Healy women contractions. As we got back into bed, I felt an interesting sensation in my lower abdomen. This must be... a contraction! Yes! Finally! Things were underway for sure. Chris jotted down the time and we tried to snooze some more... but wait! There was another... and it was only 6 minutes after the first one! Sleeping was looking increasingly less likely, as we eagerly anticipated the next... which was 5 minutes later... the next one was 4 minutes... then 3 minutes...then 2 minutes... yikes. Things were happening so fast! The next hour or two passed very quickly - what with contractions every 2 minutes, the arrival of the midwife and the transferral to the hospital (due to meconium in the amniotic fluid).

By the time we arrived at the hospital, the whole labour thing was getting old. I'd had no chance for any form of pain relief, the contractions were stronger than I'd ever imagined, yet the midwife had indicated that my cervix was only thinning (i.e. not yet even dilating). I was totally demoralised, thinking I had the lowest pain tolerance ever. Then things got really crazy.

In the delivery room, the midwife checked my progress - turned out in a matter of minutes I'd gone from 0 to 10 cm dilation (no bloody wonder with those contractions!). Then I really got thrown a curve ball - the baby was breech. And very unusually so - with one leg straight up and foot by her ear, the other tucked under her bum (presumably this is what the midwife felt when she was expecting the head!).

At this point, there's suddenly about 10 people in the room, a consent form being waved in my face and a disembodied voice informing me of the complications that could arise from a c-section delivery. Yet apparently, despite the risks of injury to sensitive body parts like my bowel and bladder, the c-section is what they are recommending... IF there is time. I peak out from behind my tightly clenched eyes, sign the form and... we're off... to the operating theater.

Things improve at this point, for several reasons, the main one being I finally get some pain relief. Gas and air, it should be noted, is lovely for taking the edge of things. Of course, the spinal block, well, did just that: completely blocked all sensations below my ribs. What bliss. Chris reappears and suddenly it's all go down below. Within a few minutes, the baby is pulled out and whisked away, and then things really calm down. The bits of me that had just been surgically separated were returned to their original locations, more or less, and then the whole lot sutured in place.

Then I finally get to see Livia... and here is what I saw, abour 15 minutes after birth:

Oh yes... that is a foot. Turns out, she'd been breech so long, her right leg wouldn't go down - although this has thankfully corrected itself over time. During the whole sew-Sarah-back-up process, Chris snapped a few more pics, our favourite is here:

Kinder surprise

2007-11-01T01:05:00.000+10:00

When is this baby coming? For some reason both Chris and I were convinced she'd come bang on 37 weeks. Why we thought this I'm not entirely sure, but clearly we were mistaken!

So far, noone out of the nearly-bursting November-due-date moms-to-be crowd has popped their sprog... although watch this space!

Meanwhile, it looks like we'll be playing the waiting game a little longer!

Updated bump

2007-10-20T18:38:00.001+10:00

The latest and greatest pics of the bump (Week 37)...

Question of the week...

2007-10-18T17:11:00.000+10:00

Q) What do you get when you divide my belly circumference by the diameter?

A) Pi

Funny nerdy baby joke

2007-10-07T22:08:00.000+10:00

Got this from my godmother...

A little boy goes to his father and asks "Daddy, how was I born?"

The father answers: "Well son, I guess one day you will need to find out anyway! Your Mom and I first got together in a chat room on Yahoo. Then I set up a date via e-mail with your Mom and we met at a cyber-cafe. We sneaked into a secluded room, where your mother agreed to a download from my hard drive. As soon as I was ready to upload, we discovered that neither one of us had used a firewall, and since it was too late to hit the delete button, nine months later a little Pop-Up appeared that said:

"You got male!"

Womb service

2007-10-02T00:30:00.000+10:00

Anotha' day, anotha' inch or two around my girth. Yet, despite my fears as I passed over the sample to the midwife on Friday, there was no detectable glucose to implicate gestational diabetes as the cause of Baby Flaim's apparently gargantuan proportions. In fact, she may not be all that big in the end - it's just that her Mum feels like a complete blimp. Judging by her kicks and wriggles, she appears to be aware that her accommodation is getting cosier by the day - fingers crossed that will encourage her to get a move on before her EDD!

Meanwhile, in preparation for the B-day, Chris and I recently took a lesson in Massage for Labour (trans: Daddy got a lesson in Massage for Labour and Mummy got to be massaged for an hour). Guess who booked and organised that one! Also tried out a Hypnobirthing CD this afternoon, which had me snoozing after a mere 5 minutes. Whether all this helps on the actual day remains to be seen...

Class action

2007-09-25T18:47:00.002+10:00

The last two Monday nights have seen us heading up to the JR hospital for our two instalments of antenatal classes, care of the NHS. Week 1 kicked off with tour of the delivery suite. Since last years Christmas babies are being born right now, there was only one room free! Which just so happened to be the "birthing pool" room. I think Chris could imagine himself reclining in a what is essentially a jacuzzi for a few hours while I squeeze the baby out. However, this didn’t hold his attention for too long; after a cursory check over of the facilities, Chris spent most of the time with his ear to the wall, listening for the howls of women in labour. He was quite disappointed to not hear much at all!

Following this, we had a 2 hour class on the birthing process, which included 5 free puffs on the gas/air mixture before we talked about mucus plugs, the colour of babys' poos, and other fun stuff. We were also told to study the birthing position poster, which looked like a page out of a fat camp Kama Sutra manual.

Week 2 started out well with all sorts of ‘alternatives’ to inducing labour: pineapple, curry, raspberry leaf tea, clary sage oil etc, but rapidly deteriorated into a show-and-tell of assisted delivery tools are used today to ‘help’ the baby out (trans: various medieval torture instruments inserted into mom to pull/suction out the little tyke inside). Then we segued into breastfeeding techniques (involving a woolen booby) and nappy contents – more show-and-tell but with peanut butter and marmite. I leave the details to your imagination.

To heir is human

2007-09-17T23:27:00.002+10:00

Since I last posted, there’s been an addition to the Flaim family – the arrival of Miles Flaim Kenyon! He was born at 2.55 pm, Thursday 13 September at Cedar Sinai Hospital in LA. The little lad weighed in at 7lbs 13 ozs and measured 21.5 inches. We heard the little tyke give a bit of a gurgle down the phone last night.

Meanwhile, we had a fantastic time on our whirlwind trip to Scotland – apart from the time spent in the car! I must be a lot more fidgety now - sitting still for several hours is no fun at all! I can practically feel the skin in my legs stretching from venous pooling. Also, the be-she-moth is still growing in utero at an exponential rate. Previously I speculated about being confined to Oxford from now on; now it's a commitment.

Anyway, I digress. Kate and Steve's wedding was incredible; Kate was the storybook radiant bride, Steve the handsome groom.

Photos from the weekend can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/sarah.healy/KateSWedding

From here to maternity

2007-09-12T00:10:00.000+10:00

I can’t quite believe it. Neither can Chris. I’m STILL getting bigger. And there are a fair few weeks to go. Not that I want the baby just yet. I just think I might be reaching the limit of my skin’s elasticity.

Other than the fear of giving birth to the hugest baby ever, everything is going fine. Acupuncture and the occasional massage is working wonders on my back, and I can still sleep fairly well, despite the feeling of a basketball being strapped to my tummy.

One more pre-baby mini vacation: a trip to Edinburgh for a friend's wedding. After that, my destination of choice may become the couch for several a weekend.

Every pregnant woman's nightmare

2007-09-09T22:49:00.000+10:00

Updated bump

2007-09-06T16:58:00.000+10:00

Same t-shirt as in Italy... just stretched a little more tightly!

What's growing on?

2007-09-05T21:41:00.000+10:00

So now we’ve reached the ¾ mark. It's still quite a long way to go until B-Day, but I guess you could say we’re in the home stretch (no pun intended). Every day now, I get frequent reminders that there is a wee creature in there, alive and kicking (with the emphasis being very much on the kicking). Right now, for instance, it appears that she is reaching back to her Celtic roots and doing the river-dance… on my bladder! Maybe it is because I’m hungry (and therefore she is hungry) and this is her way of making sure I go and get food. Typical woman – she knows how to get what she wants!