Three becomes Four... month one

It's been 1 month since the arrival of Mr.E and what a month it has been!  We were lucky to have a lot of help in the early days with my sister and her family, then my mom, visiting from the US.  It also meant that Mr.E was a Man About Town at just days old!  We went to The Rocks, dined at the Lowenbrau, checked out Sydney's icons: The Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House, visited Featherdale Wildlife Park, played at Blaxland Riverside Park, soaked in the sun, surf and sand at Balmoral, and enjoyed a warm winter day at Newport Arms.

At Balmoral

At 3 weeks, Mr.E saw his first movie: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. While it wasn't too scary for him, it proved too scary for me!  I dreamt I had snakes crawling all over me! http://www.eventcinemas.com.au/babesinarms

My first movie

It's a Hard Knock Life... at Two!
And especially when you have a new baby brother.  It's hard to tell if it's just 'being 2' or if MissE is still adjusting to our new family, but some days have just been plain hard!

Big Sis MissE

• We restarted toilet training from zero.  At least MissE is no longer running away, crying, when we ask her to sit on the toilet.  She gives it the old college try... sometimes!
• We are again getting night-visits from MissE every few days but now instead of going back to sleep in our bed, she stays awake, poking and talking to us.  We know it's because Mr.E is sleeping in our room.  Luckily, we left the child lock on her door from six months ago.  Unluckily, it's useless.  The tiniest bit of pressure and the latch easily slides open which means MissE can open the door.  Problem is currently unsolved.
• She's also become very sensitive lately.  We have to watch our tone when speaking to her because nothing pulls at the heart-strings more than seeing her drop her head down, pout her bottom lip, and sulk off to be by herself.

One thing is certain, as long as we set aside some 'girl time' (just MissE and me) once a week, everything is A.O.K.  MissE has been asking for some time to have her nails painted like mama.  As a reward for good behaviour (no tantrums for a whole day), I painted her toes.  She was so chuffed, she would (and still does) take her socks and shoes off to show everyone and anyone.

MissE's first pedicure

Her favourite colour: PURPLE

See how much I've grown!
Mr.E now weighs 10lbs 4oz and is 23 inches length.

Introducing... Mr.E!

Special Delivery
Our little bundle of joy arrived recently after 13 hours of labor.  It was an entirely different experience from his sister who arrived in 4 hours.  Timing wasn't great: Mr.H was in the midst of a flu, I caught a cold from Mr.H's flu,  and my sister and her family had just left for Port Douglas for 5 days, leaving us without someone to look after MissE, who was also starting to get sick.
So, of course, my water broke on Friday night.  On Saturday, "bump" was monitored at the hospital.  I was sent home with the hopes that labor would begin naturally.  Saturday night, I started to have contractions but by the morning, they were again irregular.  Sunday brought us back to the hospital for "bump" monitoring and again we were sent home for a good night's sleep before being induced Monday morning...
However, at 2am, my contractions were 5 minutes apart and increasingly painful.  Luckily, Nanny was available to look after MissE.  Once at the hospital, I immediately requested gas as the midwife prepared the room for delivery.  Unfortunately, Mr.E was more than happy to stay put for some time contrary to what his parents and the midwives were expecting.  After a few hours of little change and the sun rising, we changed tactic and I hopped into the bath.  Slowly the contractions became more intense but I still felt no urge to push.
As the early afternoon started to creep in, and I was beyond pruney, I left the bath.  A doctor was called in to check my status and we quickly discovered that Mr.E was posterior, meaning his back was facing my back (like father like son), and he was going to be quite large compared to his sister (7lb 8oz).  Although the doctor did her best to turn him, he was not going budge.
Soon, gas was not enough and I was given morphine.   Hello!  Where have you been?  I was able to sleep inbetween contractions and it was just enough to help me relax and allow Mr.E to move into position, but still posterior.  Finally, I needed to push!  An hour later, we finally met Mr. E... who is just perfect!

Introducing Eden Maxwell

July 18, 2011 at 2.23pm

3.88kg or 8 lbs 6 oz

51cm or 21 inches

His Name
Eden, is of Hebrew origin, meaning "delightful" and also "place of pleasure".  Obscurely, there is reference to an Eden in the Bible: 2 Chronicles 29:1212 Then these Levites set to work:
from the Kohathites,
Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah;
from the Merarites,
Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel;
from the Gershonites,
Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah.
We liked that it was both a traditional yet uncommon name, and that we now have a MissE and Mr.E.

His middle name was chosen as a nod to his Tai Pau (great grandmother)'s maiden name.

Meeting MissE
MissE loves her baby brother.  She is a 'little mom'; she loves to give him cuddles and doesn't like to hear him cry.

MissE is still 'adjusting' to life with a baby brother.  While she isn't jealous, she tells us that she "is not a big girl but a baby" and we are no longer potty training.