Six Months

Alexa has reached her half year! She is now rolling (she is very proud of this too), eats b'fast and lunch (and therefore does real poos!) and is just starting to learn how to play boo.

Oh dear I have just read the above and realised I am rhyming - all done without trying.

Smiles are still rare and therefore well earned. She doesn't tend to smile at strangers, but rewards faces that are more familiar, and Dad and Mum get lots of them. In these photos I am trying to get her attention while unobtrusively holding the camera away from my face - otherwise she just looks curious.

We are busy in final stages of preparations to leave the UK. We have a tenant moving into Turtle House on 18 Sept so have to pack up and head to Shaun & Kirsty's until ready to travel. This is a little earlier than expected so we are fairly busy doing odd jobs, notifying people and preparing our stuff. For those of you who have gone through this before will know they are thankless and dull tasks. We are also trying to do some planning for our travels - booking accommodation where we can, and trying to identify campsites in France that are still open.

Visiting Ben

Last weekend we bundled ourselves into the little red electric sliding doors for our last outing. Off we went to Hammersmith to visit Ben, Tim & Lisa. Ben is about 8 1/2 months old and I love visiting as I can grill Lisa about what to expect in a few months times and any tips on what to do, what to get and what to avoid.

This time we were treated to a truely Kiwi breakfast (albeit at midday) of french toast with banana and bacon. Yummy!

Alexa loves visiting Ben as she is fascinated by him - last time she spent the whole trip staring avidly at his newly learned caterpillar crawl. This time they 'played' together each grabbing the same toy off each other. I thought Ben would have the upper hand having greater hand dexterity and strength, but our little girl had determination on her side - plus an easy going Ben.

Feeding

Alexa has entered the world of real food! Yes that’s right. Last week, after a small weight loss that had our health visitor concerned, we were encouraged to begin Alexa on solid food. David has been claiming she’s ready for some time as she has expressed intense interest in what we eat – I say its just interest in what we are doing. However, finally my ice cubes of frozen food, which I had been preparing weeks ago, were put to use. We started with butternut squash and have quickly moved on to carrot, broccoli, sweet potato and brown rice. The advice is to give 1 – 2 teaspoons and to expect it to be very slow and most food to be pushed back out. However Alexa gobbled down the first tastes and in 3 days was having 3 ice cubes of food and looking for more. Here she is having a broccoli, pumpkin & rice combo. Over the next few weeks the aim is to rapidly introduce as many new foods as possible, including meat so she is getting a nutritious diet from the solid food.


Activity wise she is doing so well. She sits up by herself quite happily – with the odd tumble when reaching too far. I can pop her on her play mat for an hour or so and she will play with her toys, talking to them, chewing, and practising putting them further and further away and picking them up again (hence the odd tumble). She’s also becoming more aware and will now look for a dropped or fallen object rather than immediately forgetting it.

She’s not what I would describe as gregarious in nature. Although very calm and contented her smiles are rare and mostly reserved for those she knows well, even Mum and Dad don't always get the response we expect! More often is an intense stare of concentration and scrutiny. Here she is with Peta studying a brochure with interest.

Homeward bound

Yes that's right. After over 5 years in London David and I have decided to return home to New Zealand. It has been a hard decision - but the call of our families (plus kiwi outdoor lifestyle & scrummy food) proved too much. Our tickets are booked and we are now midway through the painful process of departing. There is a lot to organise - tenanting Turtle House, selling items, moving the rest across oceans, planning our holiday en route (the fun bit!), planning our March 06 wedding and then there is settling back into Auckland to think about. However we are well underway and starting to feel like most of this is in order.

Our travel plans have been laid with all flights now booked. We start off with 5 weeks camping through Cinque Terre in northern Italy, Southern France, along the Pyrenees & finally north western Spain. Then we fly back to London and on to Morocco for 2 weeks - No we are not camping there! We have been very lucky to meet, through a colleague at work, a Frenchman who owns a Riad (a traditional Morroccan house with an internal courtyard) in central Marrakesh which he and his brother have turned into a boutique hotel . He was horrified at the thought of camping - even though we were adamant that we wouldn't - and has kindly offered up all sorts of useful advice in terms of must sees and of course where to stay during our 2 weeks. After this we are back in London for just one night before departing via Singapore for home.

The blogsite will not be updated quite as frequently as you're used to during this travel, but we will certainly try and post the odd update along the way (the photos will have to wait until we arrive back home).

Oh when does this all take place? Well, our first adventure begins 11 Oct with flights to Genoa. Prior to this we expect to be moving out of Turtle House and into Chez Twilley (courtesy of Shaun & Kirsty) around 25 September. The date of landing in godzone is 8 December.

We look forward to many "leaving do's" in the short term, and "arriving do's" in the longer.

Playtime

This week has been fairly frantic and it seems like our Welsh holiday was so long ago. Today we headed into town with Dad for a spot of shopping at an outdoor centre then I went on to Canary Wharf and visited work. Alexa seemed happy being surrounded by strange faces – a frown of concentration initially (very typical Alexa look), then smiles and then to my surprise as I was holding her she began playing a new game where she flung herself upside down to look at her friends then back to cuddle into my chest. She was very proud of herself and gurgled happily at herself and her new game. I even got a real giggle (laugh out loud type) out of her after her bath this evening – the first one I have heard.

Alexa balance has grown from strength to strength in the last two weeks. She sits up well now – only tumbling in her over eagerness to reach a toy. I can leave her propped up with pillows around her to play with a couple of toys on the mat that my mum made. It is a beautiful mat – colourful and very practical with a plastic base. At times Alexa is more interested in this than her toys. Here she is playing with the mat, in pic two I am asking her what she is doing, in pic three she is waving the mat enthusiastically.

This weekend we are off to Isle of Wight for a day (hopefully) by the beach then Sunday watching Dad play cricket at Ventnor. It’s the first game back since spraining his ankle and he is keen to have a wack. Meanwhile it is a good chance for us to try the new lightweight (2.9kg) 3 person tent bought to allow fit Alexa & her travel cot.