Let the broken down record begin!! How is my Addison 1 month old already?! I can't even believe how quick time is flying in - I still feel like it was yesterday we were frantically googling baby names in between contractions! and here she is - (a whole 7 weeks now by the time I post this blog! sorry if this post is a bit disjointed, I've had to write it in about 7 different sittings since newborns really don't give you any time to yourself!!)
So it was time to dig out the monthly vests - hooray for her not being a boy and us being able to reuse these same ones we bought for Ella! haha!
There are so many times when I look at Addison and think I see similarities between her and baby Ella, but as I compared these two pictures of them at exactly the same age I see they are actually very different!
Full disclosure - that cushion behind baby Ella is a lot larger than the one I used in the top pic with Addison so that may be distorting things a little and making Addi seem like more of a beefcake than she is!! but she does definitely have more rolls than Ella did! So what Ella was lacking in hair Addi makes up for in chub! Ella did have a big mop of hair like Addi when she was born and then she lost it all and turned into a little baldie, so we thought the same could happen for Addison but since she still has hers at this point I'm hoping it's here to stay!
Let's get a close up of that little cutie pie! Her mouth and jaw line are all Ella - even two different people have commented on their same jaw lines this week! and she does have super blue eyes just like Ella too but the rest of her face is a mini Byron so lots of people have been telling us.
We let Ella pick that Jellycat giraffe for her before she was born, we are hoping she will fall in love with it just as much as Ella loved her Jellycat monkey/monkeys!
Of course Ella wanted in on the action! I feel like Addison wasn't so sure about sharing the limelight!
and just to keep it real - this is how she felt by the end of it!
So what is Addison like at one month old?
Here are some of the things she loves:
Hairdryer/vacuum cleaner/washing machine and my Kitchen Aid! We found out this one by accident the other night when she was being a bit fussy, I was about to bake and so Byron came into the kitchen and flipped my mixer on and she was instantly calm! When we turned it off for a second for me to attach the mixing bowl to it, the tears returned, and then we turned it on again and silence!! It's pretty magic! I have high hopes it means she will love baking just as much as me! or as one of my friends pointed out she was probably very used to hearing that sound in the womb!
So if I ever need to unload the dishwasher or do something for 5 mins you can bet one of these appliances will be keeping her entertained!
Music - She definitely loves music! Twinkle Twinkle is her fave song for us to play her, we have tried several others and nothing stops the crying like Twinkle Twinkle!
When she's being fussy about feeding, I will sing Hush Little Baby which seems to calm her down and when even that doesn't work I play her any song by the band The Paper Kites - I listened to them constantly when I was pregnant with Addi and I'm pretty sure she remembers all the songs because again this really calms her down!
She also likes it when Daddy sings and does 'what shall we do with a bouncing baby' with her.
Feeding! She loves her milk way more than Ella ever did, and for those first few weeks after she was born it felt like literally all she did was feed around the clock! Every evening from about 4-10pm she feeds hourly, but it seems like she tanks up for the night ahead and then has been known to sleep through only waking once around 4-5am for a feed so that's pretty good going for a newborn!
Sleeping! She generally has a feed and then instantly falls straight back asleep until she wakes up for another feed! I forgot how much of the first few weeks of a newborn life are just spent sleeping away!
The bath - she really seems to enjoy being in the water, even her first one she loved! (we remember Ella screamed the place down during her first bath) so I can't wait to take her swimming soon too!
This was her very first one a few days after we got home - Ella couldn't wait to join in on the action with her!
Whilst she loved being in the bath, she wasn't so keen on getting out to the cold room temp air!
Things she hates:
Being stationary! Don't dare stop at a red light when she's been asleep in the car, or stop walking when you are carrying her in the sling because she will make known how cross she is about this! Yes, she always has to be on the move! when she is she is a perfect little sleeping angel, when you forget and you stop she is definitely not!
Being put down! Seriously - in the day if she is not sleeping on me or feeding or being held then she is crying and grumpy! She will sleep away for hours on me but if I try and put her down in her Moses Basket then those little eyes pop open instantly! the rascal!
She is not always a fan of big sis smothering her and always being in her face! this time she wasn't so keen on letting her join in the jungle gym fun!! haha, but I'm sure this will change as she gets older! (and hopefully as Ella learns to calm down a bit)
but they definitely have their cute moments together too!
So what else happened in her first month? Daddy had a week of paternity leave which was so lovely! It always co-incided with amazing weather! I've had lots of people say I can't believe you were up and about leaving the house and doing things so soon after Addi was born, but in Scotland when the weather is good you just have to because you never know how long it's going to last!
On Tuesdays Ella has an all day at nursery and so we decided to sneak off for some lunch at the Terrace Cafe by Floors Castle - it's one of the only places you can dine Al Fresco where we live and we wanted to make the most of that sunshine! We got placed right in front of that awesome Wisteria wall! I was loving it!
and we got to admire their beautiful gardens from our table...
and Addi slept the entire duration of our lunch so we were feeling pretty smug about that!
We also spent an afternoon at the playpark in Hawick - so Ella could show us how good she is now at riding her bike independently! I gave Addi a really big feed before we left and had planned it perfectly so that she wouldn't need one while we were there, and then as soon as we got out of the car (only after 30 mins) she wanted a feed! I am remembering that you can't really plan anything with newborns because they always seem to do the opposite of what you want!
As I said before, we chose Mae as Addison's middle name because it felt like everything was just blooming as she was born. I loved these forget-me-nots...
and the wild garlic flowers...
and of course these stunning cherry blossoms! I also feel like Addi brought the good weather, since it had been so dire up until the week she was born! so you can thank Addison for that happy little heatwave we had in May!
It is really hard to capture pics with a newborn in those first few weeks when they're always in their pram or their car seats but Ella was desperate for this one to be taken! I love Addison's little hands up at the side of her face!
The rest of the month was all about visits from friends...and lots of cuddles!
and lots of visits from family!
Granny came for a whole week, which was amazing! She did every load of laundry, prepared every meal, and would snuggle Addison every morning so that I could get dressed and shower in peace! It was dreamy! and she took Ella to and from nursery every day which was just as cute for the two of them to have that little 1:1 time as it was helpful for me! Mostly she heaped a ton of love and attention on Ella which was just what she needed, after she had been somewhat neglected those first few weeks as we all adjusted to just how much of your time a newborn demands!
We even fit in some of our favourite things to do, like exploring beautiful gardens at Abbotsford...
and after stirring because I stopped to look at one too many flowers, the dummy helped Addi drift back off again until we left!
Auntie Mara joined the fun that weekend...
and we took a roadtrip to Newcastle because it happened to be my mom's birthday and we wanted to spoil her with the best afternoon tea I've ever had at Jesmond Dene.
It was seriously amazing! Check out the pink glaze on that rhubarb and custard tartlet!
and it definitely helped that the sun was still shining!
We even got to explore Jesmond Dene Park after and see all the beautiful rhododendrons out in full force!
As one Granny left, another one arrived! Byron's mom and her husband Chris came for the following week, and quickly got caught up on Addi snuggles!
Byron's grandparents were also visiting the UK from South Africa and so spent a week with us, it was a lovely week filled with more flowers, ice creams...
and a whole lot of snuggling! Gran had the magic touch at settling Addi during some of those fussy evenings of hers!
Meeting Grandpa for the first time...
I feel like this picture doesn't properly capture just how blue and beautiful her eyes really are! The hair is still there, and I'm so happy about that! Fingers crossed it's here to stay now!
and here we are - finding our new normal as a family of 4! It looks like lots of bags under the eyes (mostly for mom and dad) and lots of getting ready to leave the house 2 hours before we actually need to leave (that is no joke!) but a whole lot of joy that we wouldn't trade for anything!
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