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 ;~>!)

My new chair

Today I dragged Chris and Zara off to the baby expo held at the Dome.... Our main purpose was to find Zara a high chair..... Chris was actually a lot more patient than I expected and in the pursuit of the "perfect" high chair we landed up buying: baby ladybug sunnies, a babygro, bendy spoons and forks as well as the high chair.

According to the assembly instructions, it would only take an adult 30mins to assemble.... ;~)

so we wont tell you exactly how long it actually took but the end result was great and Zara was so chuffed to have her very own chair! Later that evening, we had a good test run with Zara enjoying fresh mango slices, cucumber and banana for supper.

just in case

This afternoon I went in to check on Zara during her nap to find her with one dummy in her mouth and the other in her hand...... lucky for her there was a second one just in case?

As you will see in the photo, she also loves to have one hand hanging out of her cot....

Voila - now I can sit!

As you can see, Zara is now sitting so nicely! This has certainly given her a new perspective on life. She is so pleased with herself as I am sure you can see in the pictures....

Finally, she can now play with her friends - as seen in the picture above with Zach. Zach has been sitting for 2 months already so this is old hat to him..... he is so confident in his sitting that he kept leaning forward to Zara and grabbing her head. In true girl style, she merely sat there fluttering her eyelids at him. Sad to say though... Zach beware, girls start plotting their revenge from an EARLY age.....

Seven Months Old!

Today is Zara's 7 month birthday!

This morning when I went to pick her up from her morning nap, she had her dog pulled over her face - clearly she didn't want to be disturbed and was just loving her dog - Thank you GrannyAnnie - so with just time for a photo before bumps and babes, Mum just couldn't resist!

I had Zara weighed today. She has certainly had a massive growth spurt since our six mth check at the Paed....

6 mths 7 mths

6.480kg 7.025kg

64cm 71cm

...that's a whopping 500g plus 7cm! No wonder I have been so exhausted... ;~)

Big Girl Food

Zara is now 6 and half months old... where has the time gone? We have decided to slowly start introducing her to the world of solids - up until now she has been lucky enough to be exclusively breast-fed and according to her Paed, between now and 12months is the time to slowly start introducing different textures. According to her, everything babies need nutritionally is in their breast milk/formula until 12months old. She recommends only fruit and veg until 12 months and says what they get from the fruit and veg is purely a start into the world of new textures, shapes and colours to their diet. In the case of formula babies, they get introduced to new flavours too. I have read about a "new technique" called Baby Led Weaning. The basic principles are to give them food in the original state and not always mashed up, this is reported to help the transition to solids - so I guess there is no harm in trying it out.....

I had hoped that Zara would be sitting on her own properly before starting her on solids but she is ready for her grub so whats a week or two before she sits "properly" in the greater scheme of things?

So, first things first.... our introduction in to real food was a with taste of Avo. Now because this is decidedly slippery I did have to mash it a little it and then fed it Zara using my fingers. I must admit I was also a little nervous about choking hazards but with only two teeth, it is amazing how well she manages to suck, shred and "chew" on the sticks of food in order to eat them... Other foods I have offered are cucumber sticks, dried mango, celery sticks, hummus.... so far so good. She certainly appears to be ready and smacks her lips together when she is offered her food (there has also been a bit of shouting when I have "selfishly" not offered her something from my plate).

Learning to sit

I think the pictures tell it all..... but whether it in a box or on Mum's lap, at the moment Zara is able to balance - un-supported - for about 10-20 seconds but then with all the concentration needed and the short attention span of a six month old soon enough she ends in a topple to the side. I have no doubt that within the next week or two Zara will have mastered the art, thus reaching a major milestone in her development - you go Girl!!!

The Atkinson Cousins

Tonight is Sue's last night in SA - so we all had supper together at our place. When it was time to bath Zara, Gareth and Emma were eager to join in..... before we knew it Meg was in the bath too and all the junir Atkinson were having a whale of a time splashing about!

Visit to Dr Lucic

Today we went for our routine 6 month visit with our Paediatrician - Dr Lucic

As expected, all is well and Zara is growing nicely. She commented on how responsive and happy, always smiling, Zara is! Chris was a little worried that Zara is too small but weighing in at 6.480kg, 64cm tall, she said that Zara is "petite", registering on the 25th percentile. Her hernisted belly-button is fixing itself nicely too.

She says although she is slightly petite, she is perfectly symmetrical and doing everything a baby her age should be doing! Well done Zara!!! Who would have thought, that just this time last year, your 12 week scan results gave us a completely different idea on how you would be....

All the way from America

Hard times can also bring good times.... Sue has decided to come out from America to see Graham & Heather! Although the circumstances are not the greatest we are all so pleased we will get to see her. More importantly though is, that Zara will finally get to meet her "Aunt Suzie"! All this, on her SIX month birthday!!!

As if seeing Sue is not a spoiling enough, Zara has been given the most wonderful clothes from America - she certainly looks set to be a well dressed babe this winter - Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

So, the plan is for Sue to spend a night or 2 in Jozi. I will then drive her down to Hilton for a week. While Sue spends time with her folks, Zara and I will go on to Durban to see my family. Chris will then join us in Durbs, we'll go up to Hilton for 2 nights and then bring Sue back to Jozi to see the rest of the family.

While in Hilton, one of the most important things "Aunt Suzie" has been teaching Zara is : "we don't eat books, we read books" It has been amazing to see, at this age its an automatic reaction for a child to put everything in the mouth. But soon enough it seemed that Zara was certainly getting the message and she stopped trying to grab the books to her mouth all the time. It is now up to us to keep reminding her...."we don't eat books, we read books" and with all her family being such avid readers we hope she will come to love reading and respect her books as we all do.

Riley and Zara

Riley really seems to have taken to Zara during our latest visit to Durban. She even wanted to hold her... very short and sweet but a cuddle and then off to play again. We look forward to when they can really start playing together.....

Baby Art Moulds

While I was still pregnant, I spotted these baby mould kits at Toys r Us in Sandton. The two kits on offer where for a belly mask and then for a foot/hand cast. We looked for the foot/hand kit in Durban over Christmas with no luck - now with Zara's 6 month birthday pending, I thought it would be nice to make a cast / mould of her hand and foot as a keepsake at this "milestone" in her life. Off I went to the branch where I had originally seen the kits and as my luck would have it - no longer in stock!!! As you know, I don't give up that easily and after a bit of a hunt I managed to get hold of the supplier and she delivered a kit to me. The next curve ball was knowing how "unhandy" Chris can be but my back up plan was up coming trip to Durban and I knew Mark would be a great help to me....

So, on Saturday morning I got the men involved and we started the procedure. Everyone was rather sceptical as to how this would/could/should work.... I must say the instructions were not the easiest to follow but with a bit of patience, perseverance and delicate concentration, we managed to get a perfect foot and hand mould. Now it was time to see if this would really work - mix the plaster of paris, pour it into the moulds and wait for it to set....

We assume that the mould is the same mixture dentists use to make a cast of our teeth. Chris and I were too nervous to break the mould away from the cast so we left the delicate procedure to Mark's steady hand. The combination of the mould and plastir of paris has given every detail, wrinkle and crease in the casts....AGH SWEET MAN!!!! All I need to do now, is find a way to frame these for Zara - Thank you Markie!!