Massimo’s brother has a name!

Yes, we have finally decided that Massimo’s little brother is called Luca Roberto Hope-Mason.

Luca had lost 200g (7 oz) of his birthweight after the first three days but by his eighth day he had regained it all. He has since put on another 200g. I think it safe to say that he is thriving! Massimo is also growing well, however maybe a little too well. Having reached 18.3 kgs (40 lbs or just under 3 stone) and as he is beginning to look a little chubby, his dietician has agreed with us that he needs to go on a little diet. He has become too heavy for us to take him up and down the stairs.

Since my last entry we have had quite a hectic time in the Hope-Mason house. Max came home on Monday, in top form. Monday and Tuesday were quiet days although Julia, the Speech & Language Therapist, popped in for a very brief visit. Having been in a grump with us all day, he managed to flirt and produce many smiles for Julia! On Wednesday afternoon, Max’s wheelchair was delivered. It is really an oversized buggy and although Max sits in it well, we find that its sheer size seems to attract many stares. Also the basket underneath fits nothing more than his portable suction and emergency bag whereas his Jeep buggy used to take everything including the kitchen sink! This proved to be a problem when we went shopping for a dinner party on Friday morning and by the time we had loaded the heavier stuff on the buggy it became nigh on impossible to push!

On Thursday morning Max was really quite distressed and eventually we decided to put him back to bed with a dose of Paracetamol. This worked wonders and he slept for a further three hours whilst Tania (from Christopher’s) was looking after him and Jemma, Luca and I went to Wandsworth Town Hall to register Luca’s birth. When Max eventually woke up after our return, he was much, much better. I had been worrying that his grumpiness was a sign of a hospital visit in the pipeline, but in the afternoon he seemed as well as ever. As it was Justin’s office Xmas party on Thursday evening and I had assumed I would still be pregnant and be able to go, I had organised for respite and Annette arrived on Thursday afternoon at 5 pm. Due to the breastfeeding issue and Luca not being in a routine yet, we decided that Justin would go to the office Xmas party and as Annette had kindly agreed to look after Luca as well as Massimo, Jemma and I could go out locally for a quick meal. Luca dutifully had a big feed at 7 pm, so I was more than happy to go out. Jemma and I had a lovely Italian round the corner and came home to find that both boys had been extremely good in our absence although Max wasn’t asleep yet (not surprisingly considering his 3 hour nap in the afternoon) and had kept poor Annette on her toes all evening!

On Friday we were due to have Lucy and Marco, Jamie, Saskia, Pollyanna and Douglas over for our annual Cousin’s Xmas and Secret Santa bonanza. It took Jemma and I until just after lunchtime to get out for a quick last minute shop at Sainsbury’s but we did manage, just, to get the children fed and ready for bed and our share of the dinner cooked and ready for the evening. Sheila came to take over with Max and Luca at about 6 pm. A good evening was had by all.

On Saturday, Jemma and I went to Covent Garden with the children, especially for Massimo to meet his second cousin, Daisy. Daisy had never met Max before but had been given regular updates and pictures ever since he was born, and she has made sure that everyone she knows has seen one. Recently she’s also told everyone that “Max now has a baby”! They adored each other from the minute they met and gazed at each other adoringly whilst the grown ups had tea. On Sunday we took the kids to the Northcote Road for a little Christmas shopping.