Samuel's Page (part 4)

This page is to keep people updated on our new baby. We were devastated with the stillbirth of our last baby, Annabelle, and we are thrilled with the news of our expected new baby. We have 3 older children also. Greg was 20 in June, Tash is 13 and Nick is 12. Annabelle would have been 2 this April 2004. Samuel will be growing up on our new property at Collinsvale called Croesus. Samuel is to become a big brother in April 2007.

Part 1: before he was born,  Part 2: Being Born and Hospital, Part 3: from Sept 17 to December 21st (3 months old)

Part 4: 3 to 14 months,  Part 5:  14 months onwards

If you want to join me on a chat forum we have created our own free to join forum. I was on several forums which over the years became a pay to chat service and many of my friends dropped away. So I am now here... The Den (Angelicdragon's Den). My username is of course Angelicdragon. you can also email to judy@webbed.com.au

Weight/growth chart (Metric measurements are the more accurate, imperial is closest figure by charts)

The pics below may be a bit big, sorry.. please allow time to download them. 

This is the last entry on this page. We will close on the sad news and hope for better news in the New Year 2006. Tune in to the new page to see Samuel's Christening, meeting Santa Aussie style and celebrating Christmas 2005.

November 1 2005. Miscarried our baby to be. 

Other than that everyone is well. Samuel has a new toy.. he watched me clean the toilet one day so now his obsession is to clean the toilet. If he can't get hold of the toilet brush then he has decided his feet with socks on will do just as good a job. The other two pictures are of Samuel with Roberts brothers dog called Rani.

Sam cleaning the toilet.

Sam taking time out with rani

Sam giving Rani a hug

Samuel and his cousin Harry who is 6 mths old

October 24 2005. Not good news. The test at the Drs today was lighter and so not holding out any hope for a new baby in June now. The Dr took blood as well but I am pretty sure the results will come back as not good. We also got another script for eye ointment for Samuel as his right eye is infected again. Every time he gets a cold his eye flares up.

October 19 2005. News to date. Samuel is going to be a big brother. So far I have done 3 pregnancy tests, yep it will sink in soon lol. I see the Dr on Monday for confirmation and referral to my OB. Baby is due end of June.

Test dated 20th October 2005.

October 17th 2005. Samuel has had a haircut. When he was having his bath last night I found a live head louse in his hair. It didn't live for much longer. After his bath I tried to get out al the eggs it had laid but as his hair was so long and fine it kept getting in the way of getting out the eggs so in the end I had to cut all his hair. He is now egg free and looking a lot older :( No more curls :(

from this to...

this...

October 7th 2005. Samuel is now about to turn 13 months old. He weighs in at 21lb 9oz ( just under 10kg) and is 76cms in height. He is VERY VERY active and from when he wakes til when he has a daytime nap he is on the go al the time. He finds it hard staying on one task at a time. He is just a non-stop ball of energy.

September 16th 2005. Samuel has his first tummy bug. He threw up for the first time ever and it stunned him . He just stared and couldn't believe all 'that' had come out of his mouth and then he started to cry. He settled down when we cleaned him up and got fresh clothes. He went to sleep playing in his activity centre. He has not been wanting his usual feeds, he is still breastfed, and has been off his food too. We both had a long sleep on the couch during the afternoon and he woke happier but still not hungry. he got the block trolley in the pic for his birthday. 

September 10th 2005. Today we had a triple party. Robert's 45th birthday BBQ (in the rain) kicked off at 11:30am. Samuel's 1st birthday party followed on then we had a small gathering for a house warming. We will have a more official and bigger house warming once we are more settled and the weather warms up.

The birthday cake for Robert and Samuel.

Robert's side of the birthday cake.

Looking across the cake at Bob the builder for Robert and Winnie the Pooh for Samuel. Bob the builder was sort of obvious for Robert who has been doing a lot of building lately.

Samuels side of the birthday cake.

Looking down on the cake from above.

Samuel wants the candles but doesn't realise they will burn him if he touches them.

Ohh yumm. chocolate fudge mud cake. Mummy's hand catches crumbs.

A plate comes in handy to catch the crumbs.

Face down in his plate.

A face full of happiness and joy.

It all got too much and once he was asleep in my arms I put him in the bouncer which we now use for Taylor. He slept for another 45 mintues.

Samuel was getting a bit sad looking out at the rain. he had spent 2 days outside and the rain meant he couldn't go out.

Samuel loves his activity center now he is old enough.

Sam loves giving Taylor kisses. Taylor is 7 wks old here. She is the baby of friends.

Sam eating chips that his brother gave him.

September 7th 2005. Samuel is about to turn one. Where has the last year gone. He has just grown up so quickly. As well as walking he now tries to run. Samuel also now has 5 teeth. his 5th tooth cut through on September 1st. His next tooth is trying fast to come thru. We finally managed to clear up an eye infection that he had. In the end Samuel ended up on Amoxil as well as being changed from chloromycetin drops to chloromycetin ointment. Samuel has a few favourite toys and one of them is his wooden tractor.

We had a friend up over the weekend for 3 days using a small digger to do some earthworks like the driveway and a tank stand and a path around the shed. He has a little boy as well and took Samuel with him on the digger for a while. It has a safety harness so he was secure. Samuel loved it and kept wanting to go back on the digger. It was one of those rare sunny days you get when winter is trying to leave and spring step in.

August 22 2005. Samuel is 11 months, 1 week and 1 day old. He started walking today. It's like he woke up and thought to himself I can walk and so did. He is off everywhere.

Ready to walk into Nicks room to look for mischief.

August 19 2005. Our little boy is not well. the last 2 days he has had a very bad cold. His breathing is congested and he is not a happy little boy. He is on panadol (to lower his temp), Demzin (to dry his cough and break down the congestion) and Drixine (to reduce the nasal congestion). He is also having nice long naps which hopefully will help him get better. When he is awake he is in climb mode. he climbs anything and everything and if he can't reach his leg up he drags his little chair over and uses that as a step. He can take up to 6 steps now so it won't be long before he is fully mobile. Still eats anything which is good. He loves his little couch which you can just see the corner of in the picture. It folds out to make a little bed. He still won't watch TV, he likes to keep busy. Right now though he loves cuddles. I guess he is like anyone else, love a hug when you don't feel well.

Sound asleep in his playpen by the window. The pillows are to raise his head to make breathing easier due to all the congestion.

August 11th 2005. Our first snow fall in our new house and Samuels first experience with snow. I think the following four pics are self explanatory lol.

August 3rd 2005. Samuel is nearly 11 months old. He stands quite well by himself and if he thinks you are holding onto his jumper at the back he can take a few steps. His room in the new house is nearly finished. It is pretty much like the room he had ready before he was born. He never got to sleep in it though due to Greg returning home and Tash moving back into her old room.

Eating a corn cob. When I cook corn I now have to cook one just for Samuel or he goes around and takes it off someone elses plate.

Samuel and I in his new room.

Samuel giving mummy hugs.

July 7th 2005. Samuel had his 9 3/4 month weigh in today. Right on target for his chart. I had his right hip checked out and he has the same 'sloppy' hip as me and Tash. It means he has greater inward rotation of his right leg causing his foot to turn in. When he sits he sits like I do instead of cross legged his foot turns outwards. Somehow we have to stop him doing that. He is currently trying to cut through tooth number 5 although I have no idea where but his patter is similar to when he cut his first 4 teeth. We have been painting up at the new house for nearly 2 weeks now with days of up to 10 hrs. He has been really good and even tries to help.

June 28th 2005. We spent a night at lake Dobson. Just the three of us. A photographic essay of the many faces and expressions of Samuel follows.

Samuel was reading a Richard Scarry book with Robert.

Ok so reading a grocery catalogue was much more fun, the pages make more noise.

Sitting in the sunlight and showing the gap between his two top teeth.

June 16th 2005. Samuel was 9 months old on the 14th. Wow has that time gone fast!!! Today, even though it is winter, it was beautiful and sunny so Samuel investigated the grass on our front lawn.

June 6th 2005. Samuel enjoyed his time up at Wellington Ski and Outdoor Club at lake Dobson in the Mt field National Park. It was so cold on Sunday morning the lake was partially frozen. Robert took some pictures below to show. We took Samuels new Winnie the Pooh walker up and he enjoyed being able to get around. He could only make it go backwards though. On the way home we called in at Croesus (Our new house) and he tested it out while I swept all the sawdust off the floors. Samuel used his walker as a bulldozer and ran over my carefully swept up piles of sawdust. He fully mastered the use of the walker in the large rooms lol.

Samuel testing out his walker. He figured out how to pull the toys off to eat them.

Samuel eating an oatmeal and coconut biscuit.

Up at Mt Field Samue met his first possum and pademelon. A pademelon is like a miniature wallaby. We managed to get a picture with the possum but the pademelon is still a baby and spent most of its time asleep in a knitted hood. Tim is the guy in the picture and is their carer along with his partner Anna.

Me, Samuel, Possum and Tim.

Lake Dobson from the hut veranda.

Lake Dobson from through one of the windows of the hut.

June 3 2005. Last night we got Samuel his first car and also a walker. the walker is a disney winnie the pooh. We'll take it up to Mt Filed this weekend so he can cruise around without getting too dirty on the floor. He got really excited when he first saw the box with his Big red Car.. ( the Wiggles)  and had such a look of delight on his face when we sat him on it.

His fourth tooth came through yesterday. He now has 2 bottom and two top teeth. He is inclined lately to want to sleep in bed with us. Frankly I am of the opinion if it means we all get some sleep then it can only be good for now.

May 31 2005. Who would believe it is winter tomorrow. Samuel today was sitting at the open front door looking outside. He had been standing there but when I got the camera he sat down. He has been eating a larger variety of food and we have had to put the fruit bowl up out of reach. He doesn't get lots of fruit out, he will just eat one at a time, but I don't want him getting an apple or pear and start by himself without someone to watch him in case of choking. At tea time he helps eat the food off our plates. Last night he helped his dad and then his Poppy eat their cobs of corn. 

Samuel is getting more confident at standing and will let go and stand by himself for a few seconds. He can also go between objects with a gap in between them. For example between the couch and the chair. Crawling on hands and knees is now preferable to belly crawling. His next top tooth is almost through.

May 22/23 2005 What do you do between 2am and 3am when an 8 month old won't sleep??? Update his web page of course!!!! We have tried the CIO (crying it out) routine but Robert gets too 'upset' or should I say angry when Samuel cries. So here I am while Samuel plays and hopefully wearing himself out. The below pictures are... one of Samuel and his kitten Murphy that Nic took. Nic took Murphy along and put her in bed with Samuel to take the picture. The next one is Maddison and Samuel. Maddy is 9 days older than Samuel. The next one is trying to get Samuel used to balloons. He has never ever seen a balloon but while at a friends place he saw one and was scared. I blew up a disposable glove like a balloon and he ended up crying when it was placed near him. He would put his hands up over his head to get them away from the balloon. The last one is one I could not resist. Robert and Samuel were watching TV and Samuel was smiling away then put his chin in his hand as if he was bored. Samuel can now crawl on all 4's although he still prefers to army belly crawl. I have planted a garden at our new house and Samuel delighted in helping. He taste tested the dirt several times to make sure the spring bulbs would like to be planted in it. He sure is a boy!!!! Dirt and mischief. 

There are many mums I have got to know lately who are worried about their babies sleeping on their tummies. Unfortunately it is a sign that they are growing up and getting more mobile. Once Samuel was able to roll he would roll onto his tummy, his side and every which way in his cot. Greg who is now nearly 21 would ONLY ever sleep on his tummy even from birth. It is recommended Babies sleep on their backs but if you have a baby that rolls, unless you are going to stay awake al night to roll them back.. well don't worry.

Here are two pics of Samuel we took the other night.

Tash put gel in his hair and made a curled mowhawk lol. He has only had this Tigger suit for a few weeks but already is outgrowing it. When it comes off today it is into the wash then put away wit al his other smaller clothes. He is learning to crawl on all fours instead of belly crawl.

May 11th 2005. Robert weighed Samuel yesterday at the post office. They have pretty accurate scales, they need to be... he is still around 8.9kg so still not up to 20lbs yet. His growth in weight has slowed down dramatically. Then again when he is awake he is never still and he doesn't nap much during the day. I will take him for his growth check tomorrow. We had to drop the base in his cot down to the toddler level. he may not be putting on weight but he is getting taller. The top rail was level with his elbows and he was trying to lift his leg and try to climb out. 

May 3rd 2005. Samuel is now on the move. He can grab hold and pull himself up to stand against anything and take steps along whatever he is holding onto. Samuel currently has a cold and is miserable with it. I also have a cold so we are sharing lol. Most unusual for our little boy to be grizzly. If you hold onto his hands he will walk across the room to wherever or whoever he wants to go to. He is growing up way tooooo fast.

May 5th 2005. (05/05/05) Showing off his two bottom teeth.

Taken on May 3rd. Note the dirty feet. We had visited a hardware store to get paint.

Samuel wearing his cousin Ailsas' crown for her 18th Birthday.

Samuel and his cousin Ailsa on her 18th birthday, April 22 2005.

Sound asleep on Mummys' knee Thursday night at Nannys' house.

Sitting in his high chair playing with his plastic stacking cups.

Samuel wearing his brothers new army camouflage hat/beanie.

Samuel proudly standing up after grabbing onto mummys' knees.

Showing off his bottom teeth.

Such a cheeky grin.

Cardinals red and white. Thank you Jessica .

April 17th 2005. Samuel is now 7 months old. Just in this last week he has learnt to go from rolling to crawling army style (flat on the floor belly crawl) and to sitting up by himself. He has 2 teeth, first one on February 25th and the second on March 29th. On a downside he no longer seems to like sleeping during the day and as for sleeping al through the night... that is a thing of the past. He now goes down anytime after 10 pm instead of his 8:30 - 9pm HAVING to be in bed. He still gets as tired just refuses to go to sleep so ends up crying and upset and overtired. then he wakes at least twice. Around 2am then 5-6am. Increasing food intake has not increased sleep. he eats vegies, cereal and anything we are eating. Today for example he ate the meat filling out of a meat pie and this evening had a half glass of ruby red grapefruit juice. I am trying to wean him onto formula and bottle feed but he does not like it and won't go along with it. I don't want to stop breastfeeding until he is 12 months old but I keep getting mastitis. 

Me and Samuel taken on March 18th 2005. After a hair cut and colour change.

Gregory (20), Natasha (13), Nicholas (12) and Samuel (nearly 6 mths).  March 10th 2005. My Four on earth.

March 10th 2005 age 25 weeks and 2 days. Samuel had his 6 month check today and passed with flying colours. His weight has slowed down but the clinic sister said that as he gets more active he burns up the food quicker. 

March 1. 24 weeks old now or 5 1/2 months. Samuel has discovered his toes and thinks they are great fun lol. He tries to fit both big toes in his mouth at once and usually by the time I get the camera turned on he has moved again. As for getting a pic of his new tooth... I do try but he won't let it be photographed clearly. Samuel is also getting a lot better now at staying sitting up. He loves playing with his toys better now too. He loves his little bear. I will include below a  bear play session. Poor teddy gets a hard time being tossed around and chewed on. He did have a blue towelling robe on with rabbit ears but Samuel prefers him without the robe.

February 25th. 23 weeks and 3 days. Samuel has his first tooth. He had been restless on Thursday which I put down to us being at the house site nailing insulation up under the floor beams. Friday morning he was ok but around 11:30am suddenly started screaming in pain. Being as we were outside at the house site again I thought maybe he had an insect bite or a grass seed in his suit but after stripping him off i could find nothing wrong. In the end I bought him home and he slept all afternoon. 5pm we had to head back up so I could cook the BBQ for everyone for tea and after we got there and I was sitting down with he stuck my thumb in his mouth and I could feel the sharp point. That explained the 10 minute screaming/crying episode of the morning. Samuel also has his first bout of sunburn. Even though we kept him in the shade the whole time he got his face, feet and arms/hands slightly burnt. He hasn't complained at all.

Samuel and his cousin Stephanie

Samuel and his sister Tash.

February 18th. Samuel had his first chocolate biscuit today. Also he has his very own kitten now, a little calico X Tabby called "Murphy". 

February 13 2005. Samuel is now 21 weeks and 5 days old. He has a cold, very snuffly and runny eyes and sneezes. Today was the first time he has rolled over completely. he has been trying now for a few days but today he finally did it. Samuel is also tolerating food a bit better. Today he had apple with porridge. He can sit for a short while unassisted. 

A bit of video for a change. This was taken at 2:00pm on February 3 2005. (Judy's 41st birthday) At this stage he had been bouncing (and getting better at it) for nearly an hour. Please note this video is 276kb and may take a while to load. To replay move mouse over image click the right button and press play.  You will need DivX to play it (the free version is fine). the voice you can hear is Lita, our next door neighbour.

Latest pictures. February 1 2005. Samuel still isn't rolling over and is still persisting in trying to sit up first. In some of these Samuel is wearing an outfit he got from his "Aunty" Cati in Washington and is reading a book she also sent over with Eeyore looking on. 

January 20th 2005 Some pics from last night at Nanny's and grandfathers'. Cathy is over from Perth to help her mum move house so she came over for tea. Cathy is married to Scott, one of Robert's younger brothers. The playpen is to stop Samuel wriggling into places out of bounds. The Eeyore pillow is from Yvonne, Litas' twin sister in England. Thank you Yvonne :)

Samuel and his grandfather, Bill Mills. Robert's dad.	Samuel and his nanny, Robert's mum.  Kaye Mills
Oh these tiles are cold on tootsies.	Samuel and his Aunty Cathy, from Perth W.A.
Samuel in his play pen.	Robert at age 1, 1961.

January 15th 2005. A year ago today we found out we were expecting a new baby.. today that baby started being able to move around on the floor on his playmat. Samuel can't quite roll over yet but he no longer stays put in the same place and is quite adept at wriggling his way OFF the mat. Also if you hold a toy up in front of him he will now reach out and grab hold of it first go. No more aim and miss attempts. Samuel had his second lot of vaccinations and polio vaccine oral drops on Friday, the day he officially turned 4 months old (January 14th) The vaccinations now include prevanar which is supposed to stop pneumonia, some chest infections and ear infections. All up he had 3 injections 2 in one thigh and one in the other. He screamed and his face turned beetroot red. I did feel so sorry for him but it is for a good cause. By the time we were out to the reception desk he had stopped crying and 10 minutes later he was his normal happy self and smiling. I took a photo of him this morning with our neighbour Lita who is like a grandma to him. Samuel is getting quite chubby and he is such a happy, content baby. He is back on track too sleeping usually 10 hrs a night.

Samuel and his 'nanny' Lita. Our next door neighbour.

The above two photos show the bunkroom in our ski hut (Wellington Ski and Outdoor Club, Lake Dobson, Mt Field National Park). It is bench style bunk bed shelving and can sleep up to 40 people. We stayed there for 2 nights, December 31 2004 and January 1 2005. Samuels first trip to stay there and he coped very well and it never interrupted his sleeping pattern. The mountain air agrees with him.

The photo below was taken just after new years day as by the time we get around to getting Samuel Christened the family robe won't fit him so here is his staged portrait lol. Samuel at 16 weeks.

January 4th 2005. Samuel is now 16 weeks old. At times it sounds like he is trying to saying mum when he either wants feeding or is all cuddled out and wants rescuing. He will look around until he can see me going mmuuummm mmuummmmm  until I pick him up then he smiles. He tries very hard to sit up and strains forward even when sitting in his car seat which is still in the newborn recliner position. He can shriek with laughter and shriek in anger and frustration too. Samuel loves trying to chew on his teddy bear and will get frustrated with Teddy when he won't stay in the right position to be chewed lol.

Ailsa, my niece,  and Samuel	A friend of ours from Virginia USA, Bette, who was over here briefly.
Samuel in his Jolly-Jumper with me.	Smile .. me and Samuel Christmas 2004
What is this silly halo thing for?	Ahhh I see.. look  like an angel halo for Christmas.
Samuel and his favourite toys	Sitting up just before Christmas.
These two show how much he has grown from 5 days to 14 weeks.	Sleeping, a brief catnap in his bassinette.
Sleeping in the car seat.	In his car seat for the first time on the way to Launceston, a 2 hr 220km trip.
Sound asleep with mummy.
A make shift bed in Launceston overnight. the drawer from the wardrobe.
Samuel and Rose.
Samuel and his Poppy. My dad	Samuel and Josh, Rose's son.

judy@webbed.com.au

© Mills Family 2005