the nutty professor ;-)

Yesterday we hosted our weekly "Babes Club". Our activity for the afternoon was to make things from pipe cleaners... the moms all had a good time making bees, snails, flowers and spiders which the kids then took off to swim. Today when Zara saw some spare pipe cleaners she asked me to make her some glasses - she then wore them for a while whilst playing with her toys...

we just love Noddy

For the long weekend, we went down to Durban. Zara and Riley took to each other instantly and soon discovered their common love for Noddy. A good deal of the first afternoon was spent reading Riley's Noddy books together...

nebulising...

Poor Zara has had an allergy cough since the allergic reaction she had while were on holiday in Ballito. The cough and excema flared up a few days after the rash cleared up and the cough particularly didn't seem to worry her too much until she got flu two weeks ago. Chris is fed up with the coughing, so, I took her to the physio again this week. After checking Zara three times, she assured me that the lungs are CLEAR - hooray!!! but that the allergy cough could take quite a while longer to clear... I was also advised to nebulise her at least once a day for the next two weeks as this could help clear it all...

Knowing how much she hates having the mask on her face, I didn't really want to put her (or me) through the trauma. However, last night I had a brain wave and let her sit on my lap watching "beebeeies" before bath time. The distraction worked like a charm and there were no tears!!!!

Fingers crossed for tonight's session ;~)

after the "party!"

This is how I found Zara this afternoon when I went to pick her up from her afternoon nap...

I had taken her dress off before nap time as she had spilt some water on herself during lunch, but I had very definitely put her in her grow bag (as I do everyday in winter) to keep warm. She obviously was not quite ready for her sleep so she kept herself entertained with all her soft toys in the cot. The toys are usually sitting neatly at the top and bottom of the cot so she can see each one. The little soft lamb that's at her head, usually sits on the edge of the cot "looking over her" appears to have become a pillow. As you can see, she even managed to undress the Barbie doll. Poor old Noddy was tossed out the cot with "his" dummy and Barbie's dress. She also took off her grow bag and put it down next to her and also managed to get her arm out of her vest before finally "collapsing".

Its moments like these that I wish I could have been able to watch her playing...

When I went into her room, she was still so fast asleep: I managed to take the photos, sort some books out and finally pick her up and cuddle her a little before she finally woke!

climbing

Today Zara and I were playing outside with Mirriam when she decided to "tackle" the jungle gym on her own. Although she is fully capable of climbing up the slide and then sliding down - due to winter and being fully clothed and therefore having less grip on the slide, she hasn't done it for a long time and has therefore preferred using the little slide she inherited from the Atkinson cousins instead. Mirriam and I were actually chatting when I turned around to see her climbing the ladder next to the slide. She negotiated each rung with caution and then st on the platform as pleased as punch. On her third go, I ran to get the camera, so at least Mirriam was there to catch her if need be...

Guess we going to have to keep a watchful eye for more climbing antics as her confidence grows!!

a few of my favorite things...

This morning whilst I was drying my hair, Zara kept herself entertained with a few of her favorite things... Not too sure which of the three has a higher status over the other as they appear to all be her favorites. Noddy, who of course goes everywhere and a book (I have "read" humpty dumpty great fall" so many times I can't even begin to count) and in true girl style there is also the telephone - just in case someone decides to call...

Cheeky Chops

"a picture paints a thousand words"

Noddy...

Zara has been absolutely besotted with Noddy so today we took her to watch the Noddy production at The People's Theatre in Braamfontein. She was very good and sat on either my lap or Chris' lap for the entire show, which was an hour and a half long. We bought her a Noddy doll and she held on to him the whole time too. At one point it all got quite noisy and she said "big fright, Mommy, big fright". I thought it might be the end of her concentration but I just cuddled her and she settled down again. I must say that I was a bit disappointed by the "modernisation" of the show and would have preferred a truly traditional play but Zara thoroughly enjoyed it all and that's what counts. Tonight after her bath, she was still enjoying her Noddy doll and even brushed his teeth whilst I brushed hers...

Babe in Boots

Today Zara insited on "wearing" my boots... I think the pictures tell the story rather well

Story time...

We had Lyn and Peter W for dinner last night. They had been to Kruger for the week and had a free nthe ight in Jozi so we fetched them after the rugby so that they got to see Zara. We tried to explain that Lyn was Grandpa's sister but I think that was a bit much for her to really understand. Never the less, Zara was delighted to have Lyn read to her before bedtime... We then got to hav a lovely time catching up!

Belle of the Ball

well we thought so anyway...

On Saturday, we went to a wedding and naming ceremony so I decided to take the (possibly only) opportunity to dress Zara in the dress and coat she inherited from Emma Mae. If memory serves me correctly it was sent from America by the Smeetons and I am sure you will agree that its really is just the sweetest outfit...Thank you Thank you Thank you

Zara and Samuel...

Life in the rat race has prevented us from seeing as much of the Katz' as we would like but this weekend we finally managed to get together. We went round to Shaun and Eleanor early evening so that the kids could play together. After supper, they had a bath together and then off to bed. Shaun made a divine Paella for supper... Its really great to see how nicely Samuel and Zara played together and this has made us realise we really need to make more of an effort to get together.

Baking cookies

Today we had a lovely afternoon hosted by Theoni, Zach & Sherene.

The activity of the day was making cookies, decorating and then best of all, eating them.

...no need for dinner after that...

Little Miss Model

I finally decided to dust the cobwebs off my (proper) camera and attempt a "pro" photo session with Zara for her 18 mth birthday, which was 2 weeks ago. Where has the time gone???

My last attempt was for her 1st Birthday and was not really that successful! She wouldn't sit away from me, so every time I got her in place and turned back to the camera she was right there behind me and back on my lap. This time, I managed to keep her entertained and the last "trick" up my sleeve was a call to Daddy... note the concentration as she listened to Chris on the mobile.

These I think photos epitomise the munchkin who we adore so much...

Easter in Wakkerstroom

What an AWESOME weekend we had in Wakkerstroom. Its a really small town, so when you forget to pack nappies there is not much that can be done till business hours or a drive to Volksrus about 30 mins away...

However there is so much to do... We enjoyed riding our bikes, going for walks, drawing, painting, reading, looking for crabs and frogs and just general R&R...

On Saturday there was the annual Easter market where we enjoyed delicious pancakes (and yes so did Zara) and also took Zara to see the farm animals. She loved the little bunny and baby chicks but was a little bit hesitant to sit on the horse. Eventually after sussing him out and getting me to sing some "horsie" nursery rhymes she was happy to sit and stroke "Bubbles'" mane.

The Easter Bunny also made a delivery to the Wakkerstroom garden and whilst enjoying a few chocolates she also enjoyed opening the presents he left for her. Quite a clever bunny to think that winter is just around the corner and Zara got some pj's, a woolly hat, top and bubble bath.

In the evenings it did cool down quite a bit so Zara was fascinated by watching her Dad make a fire. She was very good about staying away from the fire and in the mornings when she came through she would warn us that its "shisa - tot" pointing at the fireplace.

Knowing how her cousins enjoyed swinging the gate, we took the liberty of teaching her . She almost got the swing of it and was really chuffed with herself.

I think, having no commitments to rush off to, and just having the freedom to run around the garden and come in one side and out the other side of the house combined with plenty of fresh air was just what we all needed...

Zara meets a crab

While we were in Wakkerstroom this weekend, Chris found a small crab in the garden. in fact I very nearly crushed the poor thing with the pram. Chris fist picked the crab up and tried to encorage Zara to come look. Being a real girl, she declined to come too close but did observe the crab from what she considered a safe distance. She wouldn't go near Chris while he was holding the crab so I had to hold it and when we had finished looking, we put it in the flowerbed so that it could hopefully make a safe escape.

(thank goodness it wasn't a FROG)

Moms and Babes...

A couple of us Moms have decided to have a weekly get together so that the kids can have an fun activity, the Moms can have tea and cake and we actually get to see each other regularly. The second get together was hosted by Nicole and Jazmine, where Nicole bravely encouraged a painting experience... At one point, Zach decided that Zara could be his canvas and she quite happily let him paint on her. She also decided to give herself some lipstick. Needless to say there was paint all over the show and it was time to hose the kids down...

Little Miss Independant...

For a while now, Zara has been feeding herself...

She will have no help from any of us until the very last mouthful that is virtually impossible for her to get onto her spoon.

It started off as quite a messy affair but she has made such good progress and her "hand to mouth" co-ordination improves with every mouthful (every now and again when she is really hungry and cant quite get the food in fast enough she holds her bowl out saying"help you")

Kindermusik

Zara and I started Kindermusik at the beginning of February. The Kindermusik programme is based on the belief that "Music nurtures a child's cognitive, emotional, social, language and physical development". Even though Zara was only 16 mths old, the teacher, Estelle, advised us to rather put her in the older group, this means she is the "baby" of the class. The other toddlers are closer to 2 and 3 years old... I was a little concerned by the age gap but she has really thrived and has surprised me at how well she responds and how quickly she learns from seeing the bigger kids doing the activities. These photos were taken by another photographer at the "Valentines" class...