Kerrrr-CHING! Celebrating the Year of the Tiger with my family.

We survived a 7 hour car trip to spend Christmas in Griffith with Paul’s family, the first in 6 years.

Where has my baby gone?!

I look back at all the photos we have taken (of which there are many!) and can not believe the change that has taken place. My little sleepy newborn has been replaced by a longer, heavier, chubbier, alert, baby boy! It makes me feel a little sad that he is growing up so quickly.

There are so many milestones he has reached in the past few months:

* Rolling - Last week he started rolling from his back to his stomach. Over and over and over. Unfortunately he is yet to master rolling back so often gets stuck, and hence, annoyed. This development is fun and cute during the day, but not at two in the morning!

* Sleep - C has been giving us what every new parent dreams of – a full night’s sleep! I love it, but I miss not seeing him for so long. He must miss us too as every morning we are greeted with big smiles and giggles. Of course, to keep us on our toes the great sleeping sometimes goes out the window (see point 1 above).

* Travel - Like his parents, C is becoming a seasoned traveller. Well, to Griffith anyway. He survived his first plane trip at 9 weeks and a 7 hour car trip over Christmas. He survived being mobbed by extended family and friends. He has been spoilt rotten and there is barely any room in our small apartment for all the gifts he has received.

* Swimming - I never thought I’d take him swimming so early on but the girls in my mother’s group gave me the confidence to just do it and he has taken to it pretty well. There’s always a slight look of concern on his face but he never cries and kicks his little legs as we move him through the water.

* Laughing – There are two things that almost guarantee a big laugh from our little boy: tickling his belly with our faces and dancing and singing in front of the mirror! I love it, best sound in the whole world (along with his “talking” of which he does alot of - “just like his dad” according to my parents!)

We are already getting questioned by others about when we will be having our next baby. What the??!! I’m only just getting the hang of looking after one!

Just my luck - I move back to Australia and one of my oldest friends is moving to Europe! I am very jealous but very excited for you Mary, you are going to have a great adventure and who knows, you may bag yourself one of those hunky Swedish men Just make sure he’s willing to move back to Oz with you!!

Contact lenses don’t come cheaper than at this place and at the moment, they have a great deal where you will get a month’s supply free if you purchase 3 months worth of lenses. Love a bargain!

Based in North Sydney, Invision can provide you with all your optical needs - Tony and the girls will take good care of you!

Your birth was everything I could have hoped for. It was so much more painful than I ever could have imagined but with your dad’s support, I achieved the drug free, water birth that I wanted and you came into this world at 8:55pm on August 27 2009 with a head full of black hair weighing 3.34kg. We spent the night together at the RPA birth centre and until I was transferred to the post-natal ward the next day and visitors were allowed, it was just the three of us – our little family. It was exactly how I wanted it to be.

You slept a lot during your first week at home and only ever woke for a feed. We could put you down awake and you’d happily settle yourself to sleep, without making a sound. You weren’t much of a crier and so well behaved when we had visitors. You slept in our room for the first 3 weeks and kept us awake at night with every little noise you made – we hadn’t worked out that they were your sleeping noises and often we would sit by your cot wondering what to do. At first, we couldn’t bear to leave you alone in a room by yourself so you slept in your snuggle bed in the lounge until we were all ready for bed.

By the second week, you’d become more alert, making sounds and smiling every now and then – especially when we put you under your jungle gym and played your nursery rhyme CD.

Your dad returned to work during the fourth week and misses you so much – he rings often during the day to see how we are going. We started finding a bit of rhythm and routine which makes it so much easier to get things done around the house while you sleep.

Your smile and giggles and gurgles makes all the sleepless nights worth it. In the fifth week, you started smiling back when we talked to you and this week you have been smiling and giggling constantly when I sing: “Fatty fatty boombah, where is your boombah?” - which doesn’t even make sense but you love it. It has been astonishing how you have progressed from a few smiles here and there to constant obvious interaction with us this week. You “talk” to us and we love it.

Everyone who meets you comments on what a beautiful looking baby you are. I know we’re biased but I don’t think they are just being polite. You are growing every day. Your eyelashes are getting thicker, longer, darker. You are learning to move around. I once left you on your jungle gym and when I came back you’d shuffled 90 degree on your back. I put you on your tummy to take photos of you on the couch and before I knew it, you’d shuffled over the edge and I caught you just as your head hit the floor. It was your first accident, one of many I’m sure, but it broke my heart to hear you cry. Now I watch you like a hawk.

Your dad gives you a bottle of expressed milk every night at around 10-11pm so I can get a slightly longer stretch of sleep before doing the graveyard shift. Getting up in the middle of the night is tough, but in those early hours when it’s just the two of us, I am reminded of how much you are worth getting up for.

So here is me, huge belly and all with only another 4 weeks until Baby G makes his appearance. He is facing the right direction inside (i.e. down) and I’m hoping for my own sake that he has a small head.

This fetching singlet & leggings combo is pretty much what I have been living in for the latter stages of my pregnancy, usually with whatever top that still fits thrown over and my Banana Republic long cardi-coat to hide other lumps and bumps.

I am getting tired much more easily now, need to cross my legs when I sneeze and waddle when I walk.

We also picked up our pram this week - thanks to Nonno and Nanna G for their generous gift:

It took us a while to decide on which one as there are so many choices out there, but in the end the Bugaboo Bee won us over for a number of reasons:

* It’s so small, lightweight and easy to steer - I can do it with one hand, with my eyes closed and sitting down on a seat
* It collapses and opens in one go, without having to take any attachments off
* It can be used from birth, without having to purchase a separate bassinet
* It looks way cool!

I can’t wait to give it a spin although I did put my foot down at Paul’s suggestion of filling it with books and taking it for a walk around the street.

At 32 weeks I am still feeling pretty good - the only niggling issue is the cramps I get in my fingers in the middle of the night. Apparently, this is called Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and feels like what I’d imagine arthritis to be like. Hope I am never unfortunate enough to develop that. The bubs squirms around inside alot and the movement is different to the usual thumping kicks, leaving hard lumps and bumps that can be felt from the outside which I assume are his body parts!

We also got a 3D scan done of the little one. Most of the time he looked like a little alien but it was pretty cool to see something that resembled a baby when he did co-operate and showed us a bit of his face. I think he looks like his dad, the Asian genes don’t seem to even get a look in!

This long weekend we were blessed with the most glorious weather and rather than hang around Sydney, we headed out to the Royal National Park to do part of the coastal walk. I love going for long walks and ones which involve views of the water are my favourite.