Charlie's First Haircut

Last week was a momentous one for Charles. He has gradually been losing all the dark hair he was born with, except for the hair on top which has been gradually lightening except at the ends. The result was the classic baby combover, which quite frankly did nothing for him. So last week Andrea treated him to his first haircut. Just a trim but the transformation has caused quite a stir at coffee group - he is now well and truly a blonde and his "short back and sides" makes him look quite different.

Here are a few pics of Charles with his new 'do.

Jolly Jumper

Charlie has inherited Cousin Lucy's Jolly Jumper (thanks Suzie!). He loves it and thinks he is the most clever thing. I am not sure how secure the door frame is that we have it on at the moment (there are no other choices that I can think of) so he has to be supervised with someone holding the chain in case it comes off (Lord knows what help that would be).

That does kind of detract from the 'convenience' factor though. We will look into a solution at some point I am sure.

A couple of photos

Celebrity Look-alike

Charles has taken to putting on rather a funny face which we think makes him look like...

Anyway, see if you can guess which photo is of Charles and which is Wallace and Gromit.

Meanwhile, Andrea has decided that Sam could give another celebrity a run for his money...

Bring on the Ladies!

Last weekend we took Charles to the Parent and Child Show at the Ellerslie Events Centre (I forget why now). We picked up a few accessories for summer, including a snazzy pair of Baby Banz! Charles couldn't wait to try them on and made us take a photo of him wearing them as soon as we got home. He thinks he is pretty cool!

During the week, Andrea picked up a cool retro kiwiana hat as well, so he is all set for summer (especially given all his hair is falling out and the next lot looks quite fair).

Look out all the lady babies if you ask me.
It was Andrea's birthday on Friday, so the three of us went to Prego for lunch on Saturday.  Charles tried his ensemble out on the Ponsonby crowd.  We think they were rather taken!

Rolling On

Just like a Rolling Stone (or some other equally round thing), Charles has a new trick!  He is rather proud and fond of this one, though it does have an annoying side-effect (self imposed tummy time!).

We think it is early for him to be rolling, though he is rolling from his back onto his tummy rather than the other way around (which is apparently the more common way).  Hmmm, it's not like a Moore to be contrary.

The result, of course, is an interactive game!  He rolls on to his tummy, gets rather annoyed and 'requires' someone to come and rescue him.  As soon as he is on his back again, over he goes!  Hours of fun (and a lot less house work done).

Andrea managed to catch a few action shots.

Finally, here is a lovely photo we captured while Grandma was staying with us. Charlie was quite taken with Grandma and really enjoyed story time!

Some Photos

It's been a while. Here are some photos from the last couple of weeks! 

A few from helping Evil Aunty No 2. and her partner in crime Andy move into their new home (complete with chickens!) where Charles' cousins (Emma, Danielle and Lucy) helped occupy his time while we did all the work (as you can see, it is thirsty work). We have also been lucky enough to have a visit from Grandma and Papa Charlie who have been up from Wellington.

Take care all.

For my latest trick!

All that hard work on the tummy time mat is paying dividends. Charles thinks he can already hold his own head up (though you do have to be careful as he tends to throw his entire body off balance rather regularly).

Good dedication to his training regime is paying off. We have no idea where he got that from - Sam has been to the gym exactly twice since he was born (Charles, that is!!  I know what you were all thinking)! Must be Mum's influence. Hopefully he gets her conscientious study habit later in life and makes it big.

The second photo is included as Sam insisted on taking his camera along to Charles' first cafe brunch with Evil Aunty No. 2 and her partner in crime (including sneaking an alternative lens into Andrea's handbag!). This was about the best we could do to catch the occasion. Being a city lad, it takes a lot to impress Charles when it comes to Auckland eateries and this establishment obviously didn't cut it.

Tummy Time

By popular demand, here are a couple of photos of Charles enjoying (or tolerating) tummy time!  As you can see, he is rather accomplished at it.

We don't think he is admiring himself in the mirror in that last photo, but something has obviously taken his fancy.

A Couple of Aunties

Well, actually,....... technically,........ truth be told,......... there really is no denying,............

One of them may be a Great Aunty. Don't worry, we won't tell if you don't Great Aunty Karen!

Can anyone guess what happened about 30 seconds after this photo?

Charles Meets Nana

Or Great Nana to him! We finally got him up to Orewa to meet his Nana and Great Uncle Neil (no photo sorry!). They got on really well so there may be another baby-sitting option. He's really easy, honest!

Truth be told, we think he knows when he is in the presence of others and he turns into a perfect angel. We took him to the rugby on Saturday and he slept all the way through. No-one from work believes me when I whine about how little sleep I get! Maybe he gets worried that we will leave him with them...

You Can't Tell Me That's Wind!

Charles is worried that we may be starting to lose interest (we aren't really) and therefore thinks he needs a new trick to keep our attention.  Well, it is a pretty special one -  he can smile!!It is wonderful to get feedback and is actually quite emotional.  Newborn babies smile when they get wind, but this certainly isn't that.  If we choose our moments well, he can really beam up at us with this huge smile.

Mum gets them too (I didn't quite nail the focus, but you get the idea)

Bath Time!

A short post tonight.  Here is a shot of Charles in the bath.  He seems to like the bath, though he is probably already too long for the one we have borrowed so far.  Do they even come in different sizes?  I guess we will find out shortly (so to speak).Charles insisted on the bar. He is surprisingly modest for one so young.

Also, continuing good news on the weight gain front (well, if you are a retailer of baby clothes at least).  Charles had a weigh in with the Paediatrician today and now weighs 4.27kg!  He has put on 570 grams in two weeks which is 200 grams above average.

What have we created??

Andrea's Secret Weapon

Andrea has a secret weapon which seems to be unbeatable at settling Charles!

Grandad Wilson is a regular visitor in the Moore household and Charles loves cuddles and being sung to.  Favourites so far include 'Shenandoah' (I googled it and got the name of an American National Park - I hope it isn't some subversive song) and 'Three Little Fishies' (I think that one is probably ok). 

Here is a lovely pic with Mum.

Can Noise Control Confiscate a Baby?

Oh boy, what a week.  Charles is struggling to get into a pattern with his sleeping.  Well, truth be told, he isn't really the one struggling.  I think he is happy as Larry staying awake all hours.  His parents on the other hand are certainly struggling.

On one side of us we think are neighbours who are students.  Or in a band.  Actually, we think they may be students who are in a band.  In any event, they are loud and they have loud friends. On some occasions they would make a great case study for one of those 'it's how we are drinking' ads. 

Well, on a couple of nights this week we have tried to get tough.  Charles really needs to learn that he shouldn't expect to go to sleep either latched on to Andrea or lying on his Dad's chest.  On each occasion it seems to turn into a battle of the wills, and I am constantly waiting for a knock at the door from noise control following complaints from our student neighbours that they can't hear their drum kit. Or their stereo.  Or each other (I'm not sure whether that would be such a loss).

What we would like is more of this

and less of this

Sorry, we don't yet have a photo (or, more appropriately, a recording) of him at full blast.  

Baby Puke is Slimy

In late breaking news, we can report that baby puke is slimy (and travels very well).  It hasn't, however had what I like to call the 'Emma Effect'!

Happy Due Date

Another quick post to mark that today is Charles's official Due Date! He was three and a bit weeks early so, having had him home for a while we are now at the point when we were expecting to become parents.

He seems to have 'woken up' in the last couple of weeks and now has some consistent awake times (usually between about 11pm and 6am). I'm not sure what it is that he wants to do at that time as it is very dark, but he certainly doesn't seem that interested in sleeping.

Andrea and I have had to develop some strategies for catching up on sleep.  Andrea tries to have a nap during the morning when Charles finally gets tired.  I take micro-naps each time my boss tries to talk to me.  So far it is working out well.

Andrea was expecting to have four weeks of maternity leave before Charles came along, so she is thinking he should forfeit his first three weeks of wages when he finally gets a job. That way she can have a holiday then.

We are also getting more confident at venturing out of the house with him, so we can now start visiting folk (and more importantly purveyors of caffeine containing products). Not that the weather makes that very appealing at the moment. I am sure it can only get better from here...

We were very lucky to have a visit from Charles' Papa Charlie last week. He was up for work and came to stay with us for a night. Here they are getting to know each other. I think they look like they will get on really well!

Back to Birth Weight!

Charles had his second weigh in on the paediatrician's scales on Wednesday (yes, I know we are slack).

Well, he is back to his birth weight!  We are very happy as we have been very focussed on his weight gain since we brought him home (I think it is his lack of ability to say, "thanks folks, I think you are doing a bang up job").  Topping up after every feed (well, perhaps every second feed) seems to have done the trick.

We are not sure whether we are expected to keep up with the expressing and the top-ups.  We have another visit from the mid-wife on Monday and guess we will find out then.  In some ways, the topping up is good because we can be absolutely sure that we are getting food into him and we would hate to go backwards having made all this good progress.  On the other hand, it is a bit of a pain having to sterilise all the paraphernalia that goes with expressing and topping up, and we are not sure we want to get Charles into the habit of taking the bottle on a regular basis.  I guess we will see.

In slightly more worrying news for Charles, the paediatrician has issued the invoice directly to him.  We have had words with Charles about how he should go about paying it as we want to ensure he understands the value of money and that it does not grow on trees.  We are thinking that if medical insurance does not cover it, he may have to get a part time job.

All Clean!

Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find interesting topics to blog about real soon. After all, there is an election coming up. Ok, perhaps not...

Anyway, in real news, Charles loves his baths (which is lucky because he has to have them at least every 4 days (just before visits to or by people of authority). We have learnt to ensure that his towel is nice and warm and there is no mucking around in getting him dressed. We honestly thought we had broken him after his first bath. I guess the positive was to know that his lungs must be fine!!

As you can see, he looks at us with this 'not quite sure' look.  He really is very accommodating. 

Finally, just because we can, a nice pic with Dad! This is evening - a time when Charles likes to be awake. That ends around 6am. We don't have the heart to try and adjust that just yet. Not sure how long that will last.

The Biggest Gainer!

Charles is competing with Grandma to see who can put the most weight on.  It is amazing what you can do to babies without them getting too indignant!

Charles Samuel Moore

Charles Samuel Moore was born on 8 July 2008 at Auckland Hospital.  He weighed 8lb 2oz and was three and a bit weeks early! Probably lucky given his size.

As most know, he decided to create a bit of drama to mark his entry into the world and spent his first three nights in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU).  He had a little trouble with his breathing and the doctors think he had a chest infection of some sort.  The poor thing had to have IV antibiotics for seven days and it wasn't until 15 July that we finally got him home.

All seems to be much better now and he is progressing very well.  He is really taking to breast feeding and is putting on weight.  He does like his sleep though we'll see how long that lasts!

So far we have had two visits from the midwife team and they have been very reassuring of our rather rudimentary parenting skills.

Thank you to all who have been so generous in the last week and a bit.  We have been blown away by people's generosity and also patience as we get ourselves sorted out.  We are a little disorganised (to be fair we did think we had another three weeks to get sorted) at the moment, but we will send a personal thank out in the next week or so.

As is the point of these blogs, attached are a few photos from Charles' first week.  We'll post a set with a little less of a medical theme next time!

We would really like to thank Lynda Batcheler and AOC and Simon Rowley and the staff at NICU (especially night nurse Kelly) and Auckland Hospital.  Even though in the scheme of things Charles wasn't all that sick, it was a very stressful time and all concerned made a huge difference.

Thanks also to both of our families who have spent the last week and a bit running around after us and generally looking after us.  We owe you.

1st Post!

Well, here we are then.  Welcome to WhanauMoore - the blog for the ever expanding Moore Whanau.

We'll post updates (occasionally) and try to keep anyone interested updated on our news (for example, today Sam had a cheese toastie for lunch.  He made it himself!)

Somewhere nearby, there should be a picture (sorry, we don't have one of the toastie).  We needed to practice with this fandangled interweb thingy.  It was taken in... wait for it... Sydney!  Our last weekend away (hopefully not ever) for a little while.  We had a great weekend, catching up with Alice and her husband Kim.  It was fantastic to see Alice (who we haven't seen since our wedding) and meet her husband.

Look - another photo. Just because we are getting the hang of this (and to prove that we can still stay up after dark).