Saturday 24 December 2011

(Day 23) Christmas Eve


Christmas Eve and you must be really excited to see Santa because you don't want to sleep!

We wake up for a 3am party on the change table and you happily wait to be fed and entertained! The night is spent texting Bec (who is also awake every couple of hours with baby Sophie) and trying to keep Mummy's eyes open by watching baby shows on Austar (which was installed in anticipation of just these such nights).

Just as you go to sleep at midnight, your brothers and sisters decide that Santa must have come, and at 1am the house is alive with whispers and lolly eating as Sam unwraps his Santa treats and wakes the girls up to do the same. 2am and Mummy is finally back to sleep. 3am and we are up again.

Merry First Christmas baby girl!

Friday 23 December 2011

(Day 22) Me and my Mummy



On our way out the door and Mummy can't help but kiss you just one more time

And maybe one more...

Or just one more

Those perfect little cheeks

That sweet little face

Your gorgeous baby lips

Even when you cry, you are positively and absolutely stunning.

Mummy tickles your little toes and holds your tiny fingers, wondering what you are going to look like as a little girl, and what kind of woman you are going to grow up to be. But just savouring every little moment with you, because you are going to grow up so quickly and right now you are the centre of our whole universe.

And there are no words to tell you how perfectly loved you are.

Thursday 22 December 2011

(Day 21) Playing with Sam




I don't know who is more fascinated...

You with your big brother Sam


Or Sam with you...

Wednesday 21 December 2011

(Day 20) Me and my best friend




This is you and your bestie Sophie Kate. You are going to be best friends. It has been decided!

You and Sophie were conceived in the same week.  

We tried to keep it a secret for a little while when we both got pregnant, but as it turns out, we were both very bad at keeping secrets. You kind of already knew Sophie even when you were in our bellies. 

Both of you gave your Mummies morning sickness at the same time, and then you grew very big together. 

You would kick Sophie's mummy when she rubbed my belly, and Sophie would kick your mummy!

You both enjoyed lots of Tim Tams, hot chocolates and lemonades while you were swimming in our bellies, and when you were too big to swim and were crammed tight in there, you both got to listen to long conversations about exciting things like heartburn, braxton-hicks contractions and increasing bra sizes (lucky you!)

You were there (though I am not sure if you remember) curled up very tightly inside me, when Sophie Kate decided to make a surprise entrance into the world four weeks early, and Sophie got to borrow some of your little clothes, a long time before you would come out to try them on.

Then Sophie got to meet you five weeks later, when you decided to come out late!

You and Sophie are very different. She has the thick, dark hair that we thought you would have, and you  have skin like peaches and cream, like we thought Sophie might have.

 She is a cuddly, chubby and boisterous little girl.

You are tiny,delicate and deliciously kissable.

She squirms and coos and kicks about. Quite often while you are trying to get some sleep.

But together you are the two most perfectly gorgeous baby girls in the whole wide world.

So naturally you are going to be the best of friends xxx

Tuesday 20 December 2011

(Day 19) Fast asleep


Fast asleep on my lap!

At least one of us is sleeping, my beautiful girl.

It still amazes me that no matter where we are, if I am there you will fall into deep sleep - no matter what position you are in!

Monday 19 December 2011

(Day 18) Your big brother


With two big sisters it is almost impossible to get alone time with your big brother. But this morning Sam sneaked into our bedroom before 5am for quiet cuddles.

Being a boy (and the youngest) he didn't share too much in the baby excitement throughout our pregnancy. 

He adamantly protested whenever we mentioned that we might try for a baby. He was the only one not jumping up and down with excitement when we announced that I was pregnant. Sam tentatively touched my belly as it grew, but was sufficiently freaked out when 'the belly' kicked him back that he didn't want to do it again. At the end of my pregnancy, as the braxton hicks contractions increased in frequency, Sam admonished Daddy for getting me pregnant, announcing "it is your fault! I told you not to have a baby!".

He stood his ground right until the last minute, hanging back and refusing to hold you when everybody else was lining up for cuddles. 

But then we placed you in his arms, and you looked up at him like only a little sister can, and like any good romantic story he promptly changed his mind.

And decided that you were the most beautiful little girl in the whole wide world.

Sunday 18 December 2011

(Day 17) You held your breath!



Some days you do things that absolutely astound us!

It has been a long nine years since we had a little baby in the house and we forget the little things that make up a baby! 

Today you were in the shower and held your breath until your face and head was bright red. It was not intentional but Daddy had put the top of your head under the water and you must have thought you were going for a swim! 

We can't wait to take you to swimming lessons - at least we know that you can hold your breath!

Saturday 17 December 2011

(Day 16) Spot the baby



When your big sister Bella was just a little baby, we took a photo of her next to her tiny little doll (which was the same size as her at the time) and Bella wearing the doll's hat, which fit perfectly.

For years to come, as she grew, we marvelled at how tiny she was in that picture, and how much she had grown

So this is your picture with your big dolls...and one day we will marvel at it

...and how big you are

...and how tiny you are in this picture

Friday 16 December 2011

Thursday 15 December 2011

(Day 14) The coolest thing


At the moment Aunty Erica just loves vampires

And living dead dolls

And heavy metal that isn't too heavy, but is kinda rock music, but you can dance to it

And mangoes with lots of cream

And cream straight out of the can... whole containers of whipped cream, if she can get away with it

But at the moment she is just obsessed with your tiny little fingers and toes...it is just the coolest thing!

Wednesday 14 December 2011

(Day 13) Bath time


Water is one of your favourite things.

At the moment, Mummy is your very favourite person. 

If you are hungry, you want Mummy

If you are wet, you want Mummy

If you are scared, you want Mummy

At the moment, everyone else but Mummy is...well...not Mum

But a magical thing happens in water. If Daddy takes you for a bath or a shower, he is your favourite person in the world. So Daddy takes you in the water as much as he possibly can!

Tuesday 13 December 2011

(Day 12) Drunk on milk


There is that unmistakable look on your face - drunk on milk. 

Monday 12 December 2011

(Day 11) The baby that never sleeps


I love this photo as it is a perfect portrait of you as you are now. 

The baby that never sleeps.

Sunday 11 December 2011

(Day 10) Elusive sleep


It is amazing just how much you sleep.

And just how little I sleep.

At the moment feeding is the centre of our lives and takes up 99% of our time. And then you sleep. 

It seems that you know when I need to do something that is a vital function (i.e. have something to eat, go for a shower, take a nap) and then you are wide awake

Otherwise, when I am anticipating that you will be awake very soon, and wait for your next feed, you seem to pick this time to sleep for hours and hours.

One day we will be in sync and maybe I will have a day where I have had time to have both a shower and a meal (and maybe some sleep?) but that day isn't today :-)

Saturday 10 December 2011

(Day 9) Honorary Aunties #1


One of the very best things in the world...honorary Aunties.

As older (ahem...'non-teenage') parents, we are lucky to have some of the most beautiful, funny, intelligent, loyal, and just plain kick-ass women in our lives. 

Women who will laugh when nobody else gets your jokes (Aunty Shal)

Women who will go to the gym with you for two hours a day every day for six months when you are on a health kick (Aunty Jeana) 

Women who will reply to your 101 texts in the middle of the night when you are kept up by a newborn baby, then bring you breast feeding supplies in the morning (Aunty Bec)

Women who understand that some days call for long phone calls, emergency chocolate therapy and soy chai latte's (Aunty Sarah)

And women who will offer to take all of your children off your hands when you are moderately sleep-deprived and ready to rip your hair out (all of the above)

How very lucky you are to have such amazing women in your life.

Friday 9 December 2011

(Day 8) First meeting Aunty Erica


From the first minute that we found out I was pregnant, Aunty Erica wanted to know everything about you. 

How big were you? 

What did you look like?

What day were you going to arrive?

Would you call her Aunty, or just Erica like Bella, Aidan and Sam did?

How many weeks were in a pregnancy?

How many more weeks do we have to wait to meet you?

Alongside Bella, she counted down the days on a calendar, Googled video's of babies moving inside the uterus at 5 weeks, 8 weeks and 16 weeks gestation, looked up pictures of plums and apples and watermelons to compare 'what size you were now'... and in the last month of my pregnancy, asked me a billion times to please remember to let her know straight away when you came out!

And when she met you for the first time she held you like she had been waiting a thousand days, and for the first time in nine months, Aunty Erica had run out of things to say :-) 

Thursday 8 December 2011

(Day 7) First time meeting Nonna


Your first meeting with Nonna.

At first I don't think that Nonna believed that I was pregnant again. I already had three children. Our eldest was 13 and our youngest was 9. I had spent the last four years working incessantly, and studying myself into the ground. Long days at university, long nights doing crisis work and working towards hopes of a future Phd. You could be forgiven for thinking that our family was complete. 

But seeing you on your first ever meeting with Nonna it was perfectly clear - now our family was complete.

Wednesday 7 December 2011

(Day 6) Five days old, with your own tattoo


You are five days old today and already your name is tattooed on your Daddy's arm for the rest of his life!

Daddy has wanted to get a tattoo for a long time and has been drawing up designs since we found out that we were pregnant with you. We could never decide on a name for you. In our democratic household, we had numerous votes, re-votes, openings for new nominations...and at one point were in fear that you would be forever called 'baby'. But the minute that we decided on Layla-Rae, Daddy was down at the tattoo shop. 

Now that is love. 

Tuesday 6 December 2011

(Day 5) Such big eyes!


Such a rare moment when you are awake and not feeding! You are on 24 - hour baby time at the moment. Day is night and night is day. Most of your day is filled with sleeping, eating and more sleeping and eating. That means you get to spend most of your time with Mummy, but Mummy is most often half asleep too! 

You have the biggest eyes, and your skin is so soft and still peeling from being inside Mummy! In another minute you will be hungry again, but for this moment you are quietly peering around at this whole new world around you.

Monday 5 December 2011

(Day 4) So tiny!


It is a constant marvel ... how tiny you are!

Your tiny little hands are the size of half of one of Mummy's fingers (or maybe a quarter of Daddy's!). Your head fits into the palm of Daddy's hand.

You are so little that even though you were born 5 days overdue, you are fitted-out in premmie clothes, and even the smallest size of newborn baby clothes is swimming on you!

Sunday 4 December 2011

(Day 3) Sisters


How lucky are you to have two big sisters?

 Only a few days old and they are racing each other to change their first nappy! You are a bit oblivious to the fuss, though Aidan and Bella are intently focused on the task at hand... 

How many other firsts are their going to be in your life where you have two big sisters there to hold your hand? 

Saturday 3 December 2011

(Day 2) First cuddles





Could you be more loved? You are barely a few hours old and there are family and friends lining up out the door to hold you, cuddle you and welcome you into this world.

Your big brother proudly declares " I do not want to hold IT" but two seconds later he is spotted secretly kissing your little fingers and looking at you like you are the most precious thing in the whole world.

Today there is nobody on this Earth as loved as you.

Friday 2 December 2011

(Day 1) And then there was Layla...


Your birth was not what we had wished for you. We had all good intentions, but after a long and painful day, your poor little head suctioned by the vacuum extractor, and exhausted from being stuck in the wrong position for a many long hours, you are a little bit worse for wear. 

There are many tears from Mum, Grandma and Nina in the labour room and Daddy looks like he might need a good lie down. The emergency breathing equipment and team of paediatricians, midwives and doctors quietly leave the room. You didn't need any of them. You are here and you are perfect. 

We had been a family of five for nine years ... and then there was Layla