Carter smiles and Lincoln sinks

Breaking news... just got a message from my best mate whose wife has gone into labour - GOOD LUCK!  Another little fella' for Lincoln and Carter to play with (or to drag away from Belle!)...

Well Dad is back at work now (and has just turned down a week long interstate work trip) and things have begun to resemble some form of routine (although the grandparents are still here and are doing a great job of helping Mum out while Dad is at work).

Carter started smiling on Wednesday (20 Oct); it's easy to forget how much your baby's smile can light up your day! While he has been doing falling-asleep-smiles for a while now, these are proper, mouth-wide-open happy expressions...:

Carter smiling for the first time

Linc walking across the floating mat to Dad's waiting hands

Linc has also started swimming lessons. He had his first trial run yesterday and seemed to love it (although got a bit cold out of the water!). He even had his head dunked right under the water by the trainer (way deeper than Dad was prepared to do!)...

Carter's umbilical hernia

Carter's very own umbilical hernia (it pops out a lot more when he is straining his belly muscles)

Carter has had quite a 'sticky-out' belly button since birth - but it hasn't really gotten any smaller - so a quick consultation with Dr. Net results in a high probability that Carter has an umbilical hernia. We'll make an appointment for him to see the Doctor asap but, if it does turn out to be a hernia, it is unlikely anything will be done. They are very common and usually fix themselves over time. An umbilical hernia is a small defect in the muscle wall which allows some of the intestions to pop out (yum!)...If by the age of 4 years old the hernia is still present, a small operation is undertaken to fix the defect.

Lincoln at Batehaven

Carter and Linc relaxing on the bed

Carter (5.5 wks) and Lincoln (almost 21 mths)

Photo of Carter at 4 weeks old

A bit of everything...Carter 4610g 8 Oct

From the beach to the snow, the family has ventured near and far through this big brown land. Linc watched his 2nd Bathurst 1000, and got a lot more out of this time (last Bathurst he was only 9 mths old!) – nice to see Lowndes and Skaife win a really exciting race. But before we go into our adventures, a bit about how Carter is growing...and there is one word to describe it...porker. He weighed in at 4610g which was an increase of 910g in 16 days (average is about 150g per week)... While Dad is a bit dubious about the figure considering we used a different set of scales, it would still be fairly close to that figure.

The family also took a day trip (which turned into an overnight trip) to Batemans Bay, and stayed at a lovely resort in Batehaven (with an outdoor spa, which Dad loved!). Linc still isn’t a big fan of the beach – he doesn’t like the sand – and got quite distressed when Dad buried his feet...! Dad took him into the water up to the ankles, but unfortunately due to these weird wave things, it turned out being up to Linc’s knees; he didn’t like that very much either... that was our only foray to the beach, as overnight it poured with rain, and didn’t stop the next morning. So the family headed home at a snail’s pace just in time for Linc and Carter to see Ma who is visiting from Victoria.

A very tired Linc posing for a photo with his brother at Batehaven

Carter in his 'happy place'

And the snow? Yep, 40 km from home, in the Brindabella Ranges, Linc got his first taste of the snow today. He didn’t much like the feel of it, but he was quite amazed at the snow flakes falling from the sky. How good is it to travel 2 hours to the beach one way, and 40 minutes the other way to the snow!

Mum and Linc in the Brindabella Ranges

Carter's first cold, and the family's trips to Floriade and the Zoo

Carter smiling as he drifts off to sleep

Poor little Carter has caught a cold. Dad caught it also. And Lincoln... Luckily Dad reckons it's not a bad cold, but then again his immune system probably took care of it easier than little Carter's will. Lincoln is battling through it without too many issues, but still gets a bit grumpy. Mum took Carter to the Doctor, but there is nothing they can do at this age as they really don't like prescribing antibiotics when they are less than 1 month old. So, it's left up to Carter to overcome this bug, and so far he's doing ok.

The family went to Floriade yesterday and to the National Zoo and Aquarium today for Grandpa's birthday. It was a lovely time, but both trips were reminders of how much more effort and stress everything is now we have two kids (even though Carter was simply magic on both days and just slept for the majority of the time). Lincoln went on the big slide at Floriade, and even went on the Ferris Wheel (although he was a bit apprehensive once it started rising way into the air!). He loved the White Lions at the Zoo, and the Tiger, but absolutely loved the Goose, which kept trying to charge at him!

Lincoln enjoying a beautiful spring day at the Zoo

Saying hello to the Bengal Tiger

Teasing the naughty geese that kept charging at him and his Dad

Enjoying (mostly) the Ferris Wheel at Floriade

Carter sleeping beautifully at Floriade

Mum and Lincoln on the giant slide at Floriade! And while Linc looks terrified, he just kept on going back for more!