playing so nicely

With the 10 month age gap between Riley and Zara it was nice to see how they will soon be able to play together. Riley is desperate for Zara to get mobile and is therefore often trying to get her "up" to walk with her but today they just sat nicely on the mat and shared Zara's toys. Not to worry Rileykins, soon soon soon Zara will be all over the show and you girls will have a very merry time together!

and how we've GROWN

Once again, Zara & I are in Durban (while Daddy is off to celebrate his 20th school reunion...) and today we got to see Riley Lindsay and Rebekkah Armour again. Each time we have got together, Kelly has had us take a photo of our babies on Riley's "donut". With Zara being 8 months old and Riley and Becs 6 months old, I think this will possibly be the last time we get all three on the donut together - not to mention still and quiet. I am pretty sure the next time we see the cousins, these monkeys will be crawling all over the show!

Hitting the bottle early....

Tonight Daddy let Zara get her first "taste" of beer. Having only had about 3 (milk) bottles in her life, she certainly knew exactly what to do with this one! With sheer ease she put the bottle to her mouth and then there was no getting it away from her...... OH DEAR - what have we started ;~)

Mommy's little helper

Not only have I had to cope with a sick baby this week, but with Miriam being on leave for two weeks, I have been trying to keep up the general housework and most importantly the washing! This morning while I was hanging up the washing, Zara was getting annoyed at being left alone so I had to bring her out to be by my side..... With the remainder of the wet clothes over my shoulder and Zara in the wash-basket, together we got it all out to hang.

I have always admired Lara and Sue etc who battle on with no helpers overseas but now with the additional work that comes with having little people in the house - wow you girls ROCK!!!

On the mend again

Well after 10 days of shear hell, Zara is finally on the mend again.

It all started with that slight fever she had last Sunday when I took those photos of her and I was sure she just had a common cold.... the fever persisted for a couple of days and the poor little mite was just not herself. On Thursday it seemed like we had turned the corner (just in time for our trip to Wakkerstroom) and she was her normal cheerful self again. In fact, she was in such a great mood we went to visit Dad at work!

On Friday night, when we arrived in Wakkerstroom, she charmed Granny & Grandpa Hilton with her smiles and laughs. Then, during the night she just didn't seem to settle and I put it down to the change in environment and a pretty chilly Wakkerstroom. Again on Saturday she tried her best to be charming, albeit from a distance, so we put it down to the common 8mth old "momalitus"! By mid afternoon, we seemed to hit rock bottom as her fever spiked to 41. With Sharon's advice, Chris and I gave her a few cool baths to try bring her temp down and then kept her skin to skin on me with a cool face cloth on her head. Being skin to skin, allows my body to absorb her fever. She slept on and off for most of the rest of the weekend. I had to hold her all the time-as each time I thought she was a sleep and tried to put her down, she would have none of that and start yelling.

On Sunday evening when we got home we took her to the emergency pharmacy - they said it could be anything from teeth to a bladder infection..... On Monday, still feverish, we went off to the homeopath. He gave her the once over and also thought it must have been a cold, assuring me that whatever bug it was, it was on its way out and within the next day or so she would be right as rain. As if on cue, late on Tuesday, her fever broke completely and although still a bit clingy was certainly more herself, even cracking a smile or two.

Wednesday morning, I went back to gym, came home dressed her and put her down for her nap feeling quite excited about our weekly outing to bumps & babes. Within 30mins at Sharon's, Zara was really miz again - but there was no fever and yet nothing seemed to settle her. While Sharon was holding Zara I noticed some spots on her neck - at first we thought that maybe it was from where her necklace had been but after further investigation we saw her back and tummy were also covered. After a quick look in the books we decided it must be some form of measles...... so back off to see the homeopath - he confirmed our diagnosis. He says that its highly unlikely to have been rubella as her fever was way too high.

Having done some Google research when I got home, we have established that it is Roseola - baby measles - very common in babies her age, and almost impossible to diagnose till the spots present them selves as all the other symptoms are "cold/flu" flu like. Poor little Zara, if only it was easier to diagnose prior to the eruption of spots..... But as you can see, now she is a lot more cheerful and we are looking forward to happy weekend together!

Our brave Firefighter

On Saturday afternoon, we noticed a small fire in the land across from our house in Wakkerstroom. The guys were trying to burn some firebreaks.....but without a watertank. Chris, kept looking and at what they were doing and telling us that it was going to get out of control. Within minutes the wind picked up and also changed direction which was cause for much concern and naturally could have lead to some big problems. Last year during the firebreak burning things went horrible wrong leading to the vlei being severly burnt. Luckily our brave little firefighter was quick on the craw and out the front door to get the hose to try be of some assistance. Soon enough, and with a spot of good luck, they managed to get things under control and put the fire out.

8 months old

It is hard to believe Zara is now 8 months old! In many ways it seems as if we have all been together forever and yet in reality -two thirds of a year - is merely a drop in the ocean of what life has in store for us as a family....

Our little princess is easy going and generally an extremely happy baby - proof of this is the majority of the photos in this collage were taken today whist she was feeling pretty poorly with a fever 0f 38.4. We are pretty sure this is more than likely the next set of teeth making their presence known.

Many of you have been hinting for some "up to date" photos so, with this in mind, as well as Zara's 8 month birthday, I decided to grab the opportunity to dust of my camera and take some photos myself. The other photos in this collage were taken yesturday by Elize.

As far as her developmental progress goes, Chris and I are constantly amazed to see how she changes on a daily basis. She has been sitting for a while now and every now and again is able to get back up when she has toppled over backwards. She has discovered how to knock two objects together and can keep her self amused on her donut for ages tinkering with her toys. Her favorite "trick" is putting her dummy back in her mouth. Although she has been doing this for quite some time, her sense of humour is coming through as she purposely puts it in upside down just to get a reaction from us.

This past week, she started lurching forward on to her tummy from the sitting position. Problem is~she then gets stuck.... she hasn't worked out that this is all part and parcel of getting ready for crawling
(long may the "no crawling" last ;~>!)