Photos from Recent Camping Trip

We have recently been on a 2 week camping trip to Kalbarri and Francois Peron NP (near Monkey Mia). Here are some photos.

Kalbarri coast

Kalbarri coast

Kalbarri at sunset

In Kalbarri Gorge

At Nature’s Window

Track to Big Lagoon Campsite, Francois Peron NP

Big Lagoon campsite

Big Lagoon at dawn

Fishing

Cape Peron

Harold Bight

Skipjack Pt

Skipjack Pt

Bath time

Bath time

Ouch

Well, I think it hurt me more!  Our little man was 8 weeks old on Monday and as a result we had to make a trip to the GP to have his 2 month immunisations.  Expecting an emotional mum, Tim took the morning off work and I was instructed that he would take Ryan in for his shots. 

We had to see the GP so took the opportunity to ask about Ryan’s red cheeks and dry skin.  He has a mild excema and was prescribed a mild cortisone cream to clear it up (apparently this is for my benefit more than Ryan’s).  Howver, having the script was the perfect excuse to leave the premises and go across the road to the chemist, leaving both my men with the nurse and her drawer full of needles!

I got back to the surgery and asked the receptionist if he had cried.  She said she hadn’t heard him so I went and checked, only to be told by Tim to leave straight away as he was about to be done. I wallked outside and stood next to the busiest road with the loudest traffic noise.  When I walked in 5 minutes later there were no tears.  Apparently as the first needle went in Ryan was fine, but as the fluid was pushed in he cried.  He cried for the second injection but it couldn’t have been too bad because he was asleep by the time I saw him!

We then walked around to the Community Nurse and weighed him. He is now 5.64kg (12 pound, 4 ounces).  He measures 59cm (1.9 feet – how cute!).  He started out in the 50th percentile in terms of weight for his age and is now in the 75th percentile.  There is certainly no problems with the amount of food he is having!  I think in the last week though he has started to fill out a little more and the food isn’t all going into his chubby cheeks.  Hopefully he won’t become too much of a fatty though as we are already affectionately calling him our little Buddha!

Some babies can have a reaction to the immunisations and develop a fever, but our little man was fine all day.  He was very sleepy and had a couple more pooey nappies than usual,  but that was much preferred than worrying about a fever and having to give him Panadol (which was on hand just in case).

He is starting to smile quite a bit and in the last few days has developed his sense of touch, figuring out that the cloth washers to wipe up his spills have a funny texture, as does his bib. He has managed to flip his bib over his face a couple of times and then cries when he can’t figure out how to get it back off his face.  I’ll try and post some pics to his blog if I get a chance in the next day or so if he lets me.

What a cutie!

Time to write a post

Ok, so here is a quick post because for the first time in 3 weeks I have the house to myself (mum and dad have gone for lunch with a client of Dad’s) and Ryan is asleep.  Rarely have the two events happened at the same time – except for very early on when all I wanted to do was sleep when I had a spare minute. 

Ryan is now 3 weeks and 2 days old (not that I am counting – much!).  He has settled well into his new environment and has got into a reasonable routine.  Generally we find that he has a feed every 3 hours during the day and 4 hours at night.  Obviously it’s not always perfect but generally he is a good sleeper at night.   He is not so wonderful at sleeping in the afternoon from about 2pm ish, but he is not unhappy during this time.  He just lies in his bassinette and gurgles away or has cuddles with Nanna or his mum.  At first it worried me that he wasn’t sleeping, but given he is happily lying there, I would prefer he be awake at that time and sleep at night, so no complaints from me!

He is feeding well – predominantly breast-feeding, with Tim giving him a bottle of expressed milk generally around the midnight/1am mark which allows me to have a decent sleep.  At times we also give him a little bit of formula as a “top up” if he’s hungry, complaining and has already had a decent feed.  We think we are quite lucky that he will take either breast or bottle.  It means we can be flexible. 

For those of you that don’t know, Ryan had a little tongue tie at birth.  Basically its the little bit of skin under your tongue that attaches to the bottom of your mouth.  His was too short/tight which meant he had problems attaching to the breast and it may have led to speech problems in later life.   The paediatrician diagnosed this as soon as Ryan was born and said to keep an eye out for it and said they would check how breast-feeding worked after a few days.  We did have a few problems with breast attachment, so at 3 days old Ryan had a “frenectomy” where the “frenum” (or piece of skin) is cut with surgical scissors (without anaesthetic). The result was immediate and feeding was no longer a problem.  Apparently when Ryan had the procedure done he didn’t even whimper and not even a drop of blood was shed.  The paediatrician and mid-wife collected him and took him to have the procedure done, not really asking if I wanted to be there to watch – the implication was that it was best for me not to be there.  I think they were right, I probably would have freaked out!  Anyway, long story short, while we had 3 days of tongue tie Ryan had to take a bottle a few times so he’s now flexible about how he feeds.

Ok, a long ramble about the trials of feeding the little man, so I’ll save the sagas of nappy changing and bodily fluids for another post.  Couple of points of humour/interest on the topic though:

• Tim was the first to be pee’d on
• Tim was the first to change a pooing nappy while Ryan hadn’t finished
• Babies can do number 1 and 2 at the same time
• Babies have no manners and Ryan can fart like a trooper
• Ryan’s belch can wake the neighbours
• Projectile vomit can reach from the change table to a white top

To keep you interested here’s a photo taken yesterday on his swing.  He’s still a bit big for it, so only spends a few supervised minutes in it (plus the music drives me mad!!).

Ryan in his swing

Ryan James Sercombe – the journey begins

There were many people that didn’t think that the day would come when we would be celebrating the fantastic news of a new arrival in our family.  In January this year we announced we were getting a puppy.  As most people now know, Coco has become like a baby to us – and both the Dowling and Sercombe families thought their chances of us having a family were over with the arrival of Coco.  Not so…..

We’re very excited to announce that on Monday 22 September at 11.58am, Ryan James Sercombe was born by cesarean at St John of God Hospital in Subiaco.

It’s now almost 3 weeks since Ryan was born – yes, it’s taken a while to get into a routine and be able to get time to post this.  We are absolutely besotted with “our little man”.  Of course he demands a great deal of time and attention, but he rewards as ten fold with the joy that he brings.

We’ve been inundated with requests for pics and updated information on Ryan, so in response to your demands we have dedicated a blog just to him.   Check out the latest photos at: www.ryansercombe.wordpress.com

 

 

Puppy Love

During the week we received an email from Coco’s breeders.  At 6 weeks of age she had received her vaccinations, was weaned onto puppy palony and they wondered if we wanted to “take possession” of her 2 weeks earlier than expected.  Well, of course we did – what a silly question!

We’d already bought a heap of puppy goodies in preparation for the impending arrival, the only thing we were missing was a bed for Coco to sleep in.  We were going to pick our baby up from Australind (where the breeder’s parents lived), so we dropped into Better Pets and Gardens and bought a bed on the way.

We picked her up at 11.30am on Saturday 2 February and it was love at first sight.  She sat on my lap most of the way to our first stop (about 45 minutes away).  We stopped at a “potential” camping ground – a good excuse for a puppy wee stop too.  The campsite was near the water with a sandy foreshore.  As soon as we let her out onto the ground she starting digging in the sand furiously – just like a real dog!  We were so proud.  It was actually quite funny.  She then had a drink and managed to stand in her collapsible water container.  Sand and water don’t mix with little puppies and she was filthy!

The rest of the trip home was uneventful with Coco sleeping under my feet, with the air-conditioning blowing full blast on her.  We got home, she investigated, we played some games and she fell asleep. We repeated the cycle a few times (with some photos interspersed) and then it was off to bed.  Despite Tim’s attempts at convincing me that she would be best to sleep in the bathroom, I insisted that her first night with us she should sleep by the side of our bed.  Well, almost every hour on the hour we were woken by one thing or another. Normally a little whimpering, or otherwise it was the pulling of her nails on the carpet. 

About 6.30am Coco and I played with her monkey (her favourite toy at the moment) – me from the bed and her lying in her bed.  After about half an hour my arm was sore and I figured it was time for Tim to wake up. Given we were washing the sheets, I put her into our bed and she loved it.  We played with a few of her toys and then she tucked herself into the top of my pillow and promptly slept for another 2 hours.  Gotten sod – keeping us awake all night and then when we were ready to play she fell asleep on us!

Sunday morning we met friends at a local cafe where they allow dogs to sit with you outside. Coco had a great time and made heaps of friends – small children, women and old men.  What an interesting group of people who love a small fluffy white dog!

We then went home for some house-cleaning and an introduction to the Dyson.  Coco wasn’t a big fan, but she wasn’t too bad either. Then it was time for a nap before Harrison and his parents came to visit.  Harry is 3 years old and thought Coco was great.  They played chasey and tug and had a ball.  After a couple of hours of fun, she was completely pooped.  I’m writing this now as she is sleeping soundly in her bed (something she didn’t like yesterday but seems to love today).  About 30% of toilet visits have been on paper so far, which I guess isn’t too bad considering she’s only 6 weeks old.

As you will see, we’re taken heaps of photos of our new addition.  We are both absolutely besotted, although Tim is trying to appear indifferent.  I’ve seen him sneaking cuddles and patting her while I’m not watching!

I am not sure how I will cope tomorrow when I have to go to work and be separated from Coco. I can’t believe how much I love her!  Tim will be spending the day working from home (lucky sod) with an hour or two on her own. Then progressively during the week he will work from home for part of the day.  Anyway, more updates as our baby grows!

 

It’s a dog’s life…

Well here she is. Introducing Coco!!! She was born on 18 December 2007 and lives with her mum in Manjimup. We are “taking delivery” on 16 February, only 3 weeks to go. Her “human mum” Nadine is sending regular photos so we’ll update where possible. Plans are underway for doggie doors, Tim has puppy proofed the courtyard and Mel has gone shopping!

Coco’s mum is a Maltese and her dad is a Maltese x Lhasa Apso.

We hope you think she’s cute -we do!

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Lane Poole

Driving down to Lane Poole on Friday afternoon we realised that it was approximately a year ago we had travelled down the same road for a weekend of camping with Simon, Carmel and Harry.  It was the intro to Chocolate Scones (aka Rocky Road), and this time it was an introduction to camping for Fleetcare’s Financial Controller (and my friend) Jess, her husband Jason and Brianna.  James and Lucy, our “normal” camping buddies joined us too.

We left Perth Friday afternoon and arrived in plenty of time to set up the camper, light a fire and cook some dinner.  James and Lucy joined us Saturday morning for a cup of coffee then it was off to Stringers, a car shuffle and then a paddle down the river.  Lucy is 28 weeks pregnant and while she is in denial that she is about to become a mother, she is still quite active.  It’s just a shame her kayak wasn’t very stable, as in the first couple of hundred metres she managed to fall into the river not once, but three times!  Admittedly she was trying to help another group – who promptly left her to her own devices as she was bobbing in the water trying to right the kayak.

After swapping her kayak for James’ we were off again.  The river was flowing quite quickly and we made good time.  The mud map provided was quite useful (if we’d followed the instructions) and pointed out when to take the left or right course, also pointing out rapids where we would need to portage.  Unfortunately, we were going much faster than expected and at one point thought we were in an innocuous part of the river when in fact we were going down a grade 2/2.5 rapid.  Lucy and James had stopped to take a look at the rapid and agreed to portage, Tim and I decided to brave it (again, we thought we were in a different spot!!).  Well, we were going quite well at one point…. then started to head straight for a HUGE rock in the middle of the rapid.  I am not sure what happened after that, but we ended up at the end of the rapid, kayak upside down, Tim and I floating around looking for our paddles and very very wet.  Did I mention it was overcast and about 15 degrees?  While the next hour or so was quite cold with limited opportunity to dry out, the paddle was quite scenic.  We had a great time.

A nice dry off followed by a yummy lunch and an afternoon snooze, and then Jess, Jason and Brianna arrived. As virgin campers Tim helped Jason set up the tent while Brianna had the important task of holding the tent pegs.   They were soon set up and I introduced Jess and Brianna to pit toilets!!   Brianna was also introduced to toasting marshmellows on a campfire – a bit hit with those young and old.  Later in the night after dinner James set out leading a nightime walk in the search for possums. When mentioning a possum search to Brianna I had forgotten that possums aren’t quite as rampant in WA as in Qld, so we didn’t manage to see any.  We did however see a kangaroo and Brianna took great delight the next morning in pointing out that it must have been near the campsite because she could see it’s poo “and it’s fresh!”

All slept well – and we should have given the wine, port and chocolate consumed and the morning saw better weather than the previous day.  Tim and James headed off for another paddle (avoiding the nasty rapid this time!!) while the rest of us hung around camp.  Before we knew it, the time had come to start packing up (in between a game of croquet) and head home.

A great weekend was had by all.  Next stop – Sandy Cape at Jurien Bay in 2 weeks time!

We bought a boat

Ok, well it’s not quite a boat, but we did buy a kayak.

Prior to buying the camper trailer we knew that we wanted a kayak.  The only question was which one.  We had spent a fair bit of time researching while the camper was being built, however hadn’t got around to actually making a final decision.  We had minimum criteria, and so when Anaconda had a 20% off sale on kayaks this week….. well, who am I to resist a sale!

We spent the morning with Thomas (our resident German at work) and Barbara (Thomas’s friend) paddling on the Avon River.  It was a beautiful day, lovely sunshine and minimal wind, perfect paddling conditions.  Tim and I were quite fast in our speedy little double kayak – we didn’t have to paddle too fast as Thomas and Barbara were a little slower in their single man kayak -thankfully.  A nice little introduction to kayaking without too much pressure to be fast!

Next weekend (weather permitting) we are off to Lane Poole National Park with camper and kayak.  I think we have quite a contigent coming including James and Lucy, Simon and Carmel (and Harry of course), and camping virgins Jason, Jess and Brianna.  Weather report for this weekend has come through tonight as rain on Saturday on the news, but BOM says it will be clear.  Fingers crossed for good weather.

Latest Update – Oct 2007

Well, it’s been a while since my last post.  We have moved into our house in Innaloo, had a holiday in the Northern Territory, started to unpack, celebrated AFL and Rugby League grand finals, Bathurst and we’ve finally unpacked the last box.  Phew – we’re exhausted!

This weekend we started on the garden while unpacking the study at the same time and doing a bit of shopping/chores in between.  It is a great time of year to start working on the garden – it’s stopped raining and it is not too hot just yet.  I came home from work early Monday afternoon (public holiday and I worked!!!) and started to rip out all the crappy plants in the garden – it really looked quite ordinary.  I must say, it looked even more ordinary with just dirt in the garden beds, so we went out Saturday morning to get started on making things look a bit more respectable.

We have used Euro pavers as edging for the garden beds. They look quite nice, but we discovered that they are really meant to be used as pavers than edging so had to figure out a few tricks to make them look ok. Saturday afternoon was spent on our hands and knees mixing PaverSet and placing the pavers in the right spot. As it turned out, Tim ended up having to pull up some of the existing pavers, cut up a tree root, and fiddle around to flatten everything out. Sort of got side-tracked for a while fixing that up!

Sunday morning saw us head off to the local nursery (equivalent of Hawkins in Brisbane) to find the type of plants we liked, then on to the cheaper alternative nursery down the road.  We were given this advice by the girl from Soils Ain’t Soils on Saturday (where we got the Euro Pavers).  Saved us a $ or two, but Mr Tight Bum couldn’t believe how much we spent on plants (not sure he realises how many more we actually need to get!!!).

Tim decided that he wanted a “native” garden.  When I asked him what that meant he didn’t really know.  Al he knew was that he wanted a Kangaroo Paw and Blackboy.  Great! So, we have gone for a cottage/wildflower come native type garden.

We watched a bit of Bathurst and then I spent a couple of hours unpacking the study, while Tim tackled a few chores in the garage.  Our new neighbour has a spare car parking space and has said we can use it to park the camper. Until yesterday she had her son’s car their, but once it moved it look us less tan 24 hours to move the camper down there. Now I can park my car in the garage easily and we can put some things on the wall. 

The garage currently has a front roller door, no side wall (but the shed blocks out a bit of the weather) and no back door.  We plan to get a new roller shutter at the front, move the old one to the back and fill in the gaps on the side to make it a fully enclosed garage.

Well, enough of our weekend. Not particularly exciting, but busy. The weather is supposed to be 29/30 degrees next weekend, so I would like to go away and use the camper. Tim reminded me it is school holidays so perhaps we will do more chores.   We are heading down to Lane Poole again the following weekend (19th/20th) just for an overnight.  Joining us will probably be James and Lucy, Simon, Carmel and Harry and first timers ‘old’ Jess (from work), Jason and Brianna. Should be nice to have a few people around.

Photos of the Darwin trip to come soon – sorry still organising them!