Nana Jersey's visit

My mom came for a 2 week visit and arrived just before mother's day (in the UK/Ireland). We spent the Saturday looking through all of the goodies she brought over- clothes, toys, food... and let her get some cuddles in with the boys before heading to bed early to try and beat the jet lag.

Sunday was mother's day so we went to early mass and then headed to St George's market for a bit. Liam got his face painted like a tiger- he loves having his face painted! Ollie made us a tasty mother's day dinner and we exchanged some cards and gifts.
My mom was a great help over her stay- especially with Liam. I feel bad that Ollie and I haven't been able to give him as much attention since Cian's arrival. I also dropped Liam down to 3 days in daycare so he's now with me on a Monday and Wednesday. So she really entertained him while I took care of Cian- nursing, pumping, nappy changing and all that fun! Every night mom would take Liam up to bed and spend an hour telling him stories- they had the best time together.

We had a few trips out to the park and indoor play areas. We lucked out with good weather for most of her stay.

We also got a lot of organising and cleaning accomplished which had become a low priority since Cian's arrival. She was also able to sample some of my homemade cooking and baking which is pretty darn good (if I do say so myself).

Nana and Liam enjoying some ice cream in the sunshine...
Pudgy little man...
Nana with her two boys.
Thanks for all of your help mom. Liam still asks for you each night. I'm going to get this picture framed and put up in his room.

Our busy weekend

I had some friends up for afternoon tea on Saturday. I made a victoria sponge, lemon & poppy seed muffins with a cream cheese filling, raspberry and oat muffins and carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Everything was super tasty.
Close up of my victoria sponge...
My super yummy carrot cake cupcakes... mmmm....
Sunday was beautiful and sunny so we decided to head to the park for a picnic. It was jammed full of people enjoying the 20C weather. Here's the little man enjoying the fresh air.
Liam got a 'poke' (an ice cream cone) which he devoured in no time...
Enjoying his ice cream with Nana...
Liam laughing hysterically... big proper belly laughs.

Cian pics...

I ordered Cian's announcement cards from Tiny Prints and my mom brought them over from the states for me. They are really cheap when you covert from USD to GBP and I am SO pleased with how they turned out. The colour is lovely and Cian looks like a wee angel... that reminds me I have to leave my feedback for Tiny Prints. Everyone has been complimenting us on them- especially here. Announcement cards aren't the done thing here and they are pretty special.
Some cute photos from the last week...
Doesn't he look like Liam in this post...

1 month!!

Well our little man is already a month old! He had another check up with the health visitor at 4 weeks and is gaining like a champ... up to 11lbs! Liam was 11lbs 4ozs at 4 weeks and considering that he was more than 1lb heavier than Cian at birth, he's certainly doing well and thriving! I'm still struggling a bit with breast feeding. Unfortunately I'm not producing a lot of milk and this means he needs a top up at each feed with a bottle. He's latching and nursing well, I'm just not making enough for his hungry tummy. I'm okay with it and will just continue nursing and bottle feeding- I know he's getting the best of both worlds.
I forgot how significant the milestones are at this young age. He hit a month and started smiling like crazy, cooing all of the time and staying awake for longer periods throughout the day. He's such a sweet boy. He has a pretty laid back/relaxed personality- it's probably because we are so much more relaxed with him.
He's sleeping pretty well for us at night. He normally goes down for 4-5 hours from 10pm and then another 3 hours after his 2-3am feed. I'm still pretty exhausted, especially with Liam to run around with. I'm happy that my mom is here for 2 weeks. She's really going to entertain him!
Brotherly love... Liam loves to hold his wee brother especially when I have the camera out!

Out and about

We went to the park the weekend before last to enjoy some warmer, drier weather. Liam got a bubble wand from my friend Anna and he couldn't wait to get his bubble on.
For some reason Liam thought it would be a good idea to pop the bubbles with his mouth... ick!
Cian enjoying the fresh air in his pram...
Liam and his daddy kicked around the football. He's getting pretty good!
We try and get outside whenever we can to tire out the boy!

Almost two weeks old!

We had our 14 day (well 13 day since it's St Patrick's day tomorrow and it's a bank holiday) visit with the health visitor today. She's lovely and did a full check up of our little man. He's gaining weight and cms like a champ. He's up to 9lbs 6ozs and measured at 58.5 cms long. Considering he was 9lbs 2ozs on Sunday when the midwife discharged us, this is pretty impressive. I wish I could say things are getting better with breastfeeding, but they are pretty much the same. He's just such a hungry baby that I have to give him a bottle to quench his thirst first- he throws a fit if I try and put him on the breast first. I've been expressing loads so most of his bottle feeds are at least half breast milk. My current strategy is to get him 60-90mls of bottle (breast milk) and then try and get him latched on. It's working okay, but he's only feeding on me for a maximum of 10 minutes which isn't helping with my milk production or his latching. I'm just going to continue with this strategy and try and get him on the breast more each feed so that hopefully he'll be breastfeeding exclusively. I feel like a dairy cow at the minute with all of the pumping.

He's sleeping pretty well. We've had a few nights of nearly 5 hours already! I don't know how long that will last but I will stay optimistic.

Right, some photos from the week...
I just thought this was a cute photo...
You can see his full lips here... very kissable!
Sleepy little angel...
Liam has been asking to get photos with baby Cian each day. He loves holding his little brother.
Cian was tired of the photos...
Cute little feet. I forgot how tiny and sweet newborn feet are... Liam's are big and smelly these days. Cian has webbed toes- his second and third toes are slightly webbed on each of his feet. Apparently this is good luck?
Cian is a very alert baby. He spends a few hours each day staring at us and looking at the lights or the little hanging toys on his swing.

When Liam met Cian...

Since I had such a short stay in hospital this time, Liam didn't come down to visit. Instead, Oliver took Liam to his Granny's house and we had our first meeting there. Here's Liam meeting Cian for the first time and letting him hold his favourite bear, blanket bear...
Going in for a kiss...
Holding his 'wee hands'...
Liam thinks his little brother is the best and is very gentle and loving with him. He's still a bit noisy and will jump on the sofa when Ollie or I are holding Cian which winds up disturbing his little brother. He's acting out a bit at school and had an accident the other day- the first in months. I know this is all fairly normal and hopefully keeping his routine during the day (going to daycare, etc.) will help him get through the transition. It's really difficult to try and maintain patience when you are exhausted and just want a bit of quiet. Both Ollie and I have been guilty of shouting at Liam when he gets extra excited, acts out or is difficult. We're trying to use more reasoning at gentle voices to discipline him. I'm trying to get him involved in helping with Cian. Hopefully this change becomes easier for him each day.

Cian got Liam a present for being such a great big brother... spiderman costume and Liam loves it!
Liam is very keen to help out and hold his little brother. This is his first attempt at holding him. The novelty wore off quickly and he wanted to get up after a minute...
More Cian pics to follow!