My First Easter

Zara's first Easter weekend was spent in a rather chilly Wakkerstroom. We left at about lunchtime on Friday - to try miss the bulk of the holiday traffic - and to coincide with Zara's "long sleep". She was as good as gold - despite the hold up on the road due to road works, resulting in an extra 30-40mins in the car. Shortly after arriving, unpacking and lighting the fire, we went for a walk.... all around the area there are huge fields of cosmos which looked absolutely beautiful. I have never seen so much cosmos before and as cosmos always reminds me of Easter this was truly fitting for the Easter weekend. On Saturday we went into the village for the Easter Festival - the town was buzzing with visitors, we even bumped into some Jozi people we know..... On Sunday, the Easter bunny happened to find out where we were and low and behold we found some Easter eggs hidden in the garden! Poor Zara is still to little to enjoy them so I had to force myself to have her share so that she could also enjoy them at her next meal ;~) Monday we had another lazy day relaxing before heading home again on Tuesday.

The one toothed Angel

After weeks of constantly being asked if Zara is "teething" due to the copious amounts of drool pouring from her mouth, last Thursday I was finally convinced that yes, indeed, there may be a tooth in sight. We were on our way back to Hilton after visiting Grandpa at the hospital when I noticed at white line, pretty much like a tooth....Wow! could this be, all of 5 and a half months old???

Later that afternoon, she had a bit of a temperature but nothing too hectic, so I was now pretty sure we were going to be boasting the new tooth to all the family in Natal. On Friday morning I had a look again but the tooth was GONE! I know that this can happen - apparently teeth can come up and down for weeks on end before they eventually cut through. So with all the other goings on we soon enough forgot about the "almost tooth". Then on Monday when she had a bit of a runny tum and a bit of a temperature again, I suspected that this may be the allusive tooth again. Not wanting to get too excited, I didn't say anything to Chris and just let her be. The this morning I had a look in her mouth and low and behold there it was.... the very first teeny tiny tooth!

Well done Zara! You are just too clever and have you have truly been so good humoured about this, I can only hope you'll pop out all your teeth as easily as this first one.

(maybe the amber teething necklace she has been wearing for the past few weeks really does make a difference????)

Once a girl.....

Once a girl, always a girl....

Today I bought Zara a pair of shoes. While I was standing in the queue to pay for them, she was already tugging at the bag trying to pry them away from me. Then while in the car I gave them to her to keep her entertained but when we got home, she was fast asleep but definitely not letting me take them away from her. So much for diamonds being a girls best friend - I think it's more likely going to be a case of following in her Mom ,Grannyannie & uncle, Dion's footsteps, with sure signs of a shoe fetish setting in.

Sad Farewell

Today we went off to save our "goodbyes" to Chris, Serife and baby Teo. Serife and I met through preggi yoga and got re-acquainted after our babies were born through Sharon's bumps & babes mornings. Teo is 3 weeks older than Zara..... Serife and I sometimes took the kids walking around Zoo Lake and recently Teo and Zara have been able to "socialise" with each other. This afternoon it was so sweet seeing them interacting with each other, holding hands, feeling each others gums/teeth etc

Sadly (for us) they have chosen to relocate back to London. It will be much nicer for them as a family as Chris will have far less traveling to do, and in turn have a lot more time with his family, however we are going to miss them a lot!

Noo-Noo Bear

We have certainly arrived back to a very icy Jozi! It is the middle of March and the max temp today was approx 11 degrees!! Not really expecting such cold weather at this time of year, I had next to nothing to choose from to get Zara dressed up to brave the cold wet weather, luckily, she is not a huge baby and still fits into her 0-3mth clothes so soon enough my little "noo-noo bear" was as snug as a bug in her "bear skin baby grow" - perhaps I should go get some winter woollies as it seems winter is on its way already....

Cardinal Zara

This past weekend we were down in Hilton with Granny Heather, while Grandpa is recovering from his emergency triple bypass. We also managed to visit the "van Gelder clan" too. It was Sydni & Maxine's birthday party..... the weather was wet but the kids all enjoyed themselves especially as it didn't really matter as they were already wet from the foam slip & slide Greg had going. It was great to see all my family too, especially my dad who has made a great recovery from his bypass and valve replacement 7 weeks ago.

Mark found this doll's hat and plonked it on Zara's head - we all started laughing, and Grannyannie commented that she looks just like a cardinal....once again Zara knew she was the source of amusement and was quite pleased with herself for providing the entertainment!

OOPS another Grandpa sick

We were most horrified to hear Grandpa Hilton had taken ill this past week. Having not "felt himself" and a little short of breath, he made an appointment to go see their doctor. Unfortunately he didn't make the appointments as during the wee hours of Monday night Heather rushed him to Howick Hospital with chest pains. They then transferred him down to Pmb Medi Clinic who sent him on to St Anne's Hospital. After having an angiogram done, he was wheeled in for a triple Bypass on Tuesday morning! All this a mere SEVEN weeks after my Dad's double bypass & valve replacement. So off we were down to Hilton..... Chris, Zara, Mike and I left early on Wed morning so that we could be with Heather as soon as possible. That afternoon we went to see a very weak Grandpa in ICU. Laura suggested we give Grandpa a pair of Zara's shoes as a "good luck charm". She had done that for her own Dad when Meg was a baby and he had had a stroke. So on Thursday morning when we went to the hospital armed with booties and a photo to put near his bed. The ICU Sister was very accommodating and had them stuck up on the chart trolley at the foot of the bed in no time. She also kept telling Graham that they were there.....On Friday night Laura arrived with Gareth & Meg and while she and Mike went to the hospital we stayed in with the kids playing cards etc. On Sunday we left after seeing a much stronger albeit still weak Grandpa just before he was due to be transferred out of ICU - hooray to making great progress, we now look forward to seeing both Grandpas fighting fit in no time.

Up to date......

Zara is now 5 & a half months old - where has the time gone.

We are loving her more and more each day and she certainly has quite a personality! She has us in fits of laughter at times. She is such a happy little girl and I think she actually knows when she is being funny - she looks very pleased with herself when we laugh at her. Recently she has been lifting her arms to us when we go to pick her up and babbling non stop. Chris says she is starting to get "momalitus" but I think its still a bit early for that..... She loves blowing bubbles and giving a big sighs. Yesterday she made such a big sound that she actually startled herself, not knowing where the voice had come from. We are also very lucky that she is quite content to lie under her gym or in her donut playing by herself. Her tummy time is also coming on quite well and the other day she needed to move towards a toy so she lifted her bum and slithered forward like a worm. In the sitting position she is able to balance for a few seconds at a time. She has also discovered the TV!!! Chris tells me that her favorite things to watch are rugby and Bloomberg - hmmmmm. In the hair department - we are starting to make some progress... I was very sad when her gorgeous red "locks" fell out, now only time will tell if she'll have Dad or my hair

Being the Mum and photographer in chief its not always easy to get this all down on "film" so for now you'll just have to take my word for it!!!

Now that we have got you all back up to date with our lives, hopefully there will be no more computer glitches or sudden trips away..... Hope to hear from you guys too..... its always nice to have a few comments to keep in her memory box along with all the posts which in turn double up as a journal of her life and milestones.

Those Toeses

Zara supposes her toeses are roses...... or maybe they just a good teether?

She has definitely discovered her toes. They are possibly the most fascinating discovery she has made yet. With toes like hers, she is entertained for ages at a time, sometimes she gets her big toe in her mouth a has a good suck on it - never mind becoming a thumb sucker we may just has a toe sucker on our hands.

I think its just too sweet and must admit watching her play with her toes has kept me entertained too.