Who is who?

Mum has been asking me to put up photos showing Alexa and Isobel at the same age. So here they are - do you know which photo is of Alexa???

Alexa's second birthday

On Sunday it was Alexa's second birthday. The day started with a trip to Kelly Tarlton's. Gran and Grandad and Lisa and Ethan joined us. Alexa was probably more excited at playing with Ethan than viewing the fish. She loved the whole thing. When asked about her trip she mentioned the man who jumped into the tank at the end of our visit and fed the stingrays.

Back home we had lunch then began wading thru the mountain of presents. Alexa was pretty happy with the spoils including Pooh Bear pj's, a floating Ark with Captain Pooh and blocks, a tea set and a trike.

I had a fun day Friday making Alexa's b'day cake. I had hired a cake tin and my first attempt was a dismal failure as the mixture - a gluten free cake, stuck to the tin and Pooh's face was pitted and marred. After regrouping and a quick trip back to the supermarket, I followed the instructions to the letter and using a normal choco cake was able to produce a Pooh face. I had fun icing it, adding licorice for the eyes, nose etc. I used some of the gluten free mixture to make a balloon. This meant Gran could also enjoy some of Alexa's b'day cake. Phew it was hard work, but fun. I was pretty happy with the end result.

Two sisters

A very proud big sister. She is possessive of Bell and gives her lots of cuddles and kisses. I'm sure she can't wait until Bell can play with her.

My first concert

We attended the Winery Tour concert on Tuesday 5th Feb with Anika Moa, Goldenhorse and Brooke Fraser playing. It was brilliant!! Anika Moa has a great rapport with the audience and had us all giggling along with her, she did a great rasta version of youthful. Goldenhorse weren't so great at the ad libbing, the lead singer seemed nervous but the music was fab and eventually we got up for a boogey, Brooke Fraser also good with a stunning version of Sound of Silence - which John picked at the first few notes. We were there with Lisa and Steve, John, David and Isobel. Anne had packed us all a divine dinner of nibbles, yummy ckn sammy and a naughty dessert. We sat on our picnic rugs with lots of food, plus Ascension wine and a few beers. Isobel enjoyed the late afternoon sun as well as the music. She did however find Goldenhorse a bit loud, so we tried to cover her ears with a cloth.

What to do on a rainy afternoon?

Watch tv in my sisters chair!


Isobel is regularly sleeping through the night now. She goes down around 8pm, I wake her at 10 for a dream feed, (the idea being that she drinks but is not woken up too much so she goes directly back to sleep) then she sleeps usually until about 6am, occasionally to 7. It is wonderful to have a full night’s sleep and I am feeling much better for it – although it is sometimes hard to stay awake until 10 for that dream feed.

She is now 12 weeks old and has hit another milestone as I migrate her from her 0-3m old clothes to the 3-6m size. She is a big baby (about the 75th percentile at last weigh-in) and so is moving into the next size on time, unlike Alexa who was very light. It is fun getting out Alexa’s old clothes, remembering her in them and being surprised at how small they are. I will endeavour to show you a pic of Alexa and Isobel in the same outfit so you can see the difference between them.

Isobel is enjoying chatting with us now. Babies have an innate ability to gurgle making noises of ‘g’ ‘gn’ etc in the gaps when you stop speaking, so it is as if they are having a conversation with you. It’s a lot of fun, plus you get some lovely grins too! She is developing her neck strength as well and can hold her head up well. When wrapping her for sleep, I hold her against my chest upright and she will hold her head up like a meercat looking left and right for something to hold her interest.

Home Improvements

We have been doing some improvements to our house to make the most of our backyard and the great summers we are having. We have just put these french doors in - trying to keep the look as close to the era as possible. Then in the next few weeks we are adding a deck to give us a kitchen - lounge - outside deck flow. It will be great and will really add to the attraction of the house come time to move. Until then we will get a lot of use out of it, with a BBQ to the side I can see us having dinner out there rather than inside the house.

David has been doing a lot of work on the garden. We are reaping the benefits now with lots of chillies, peppers, tomatoes, cucumber and broccoli as well as lovely peaches from our peach tree. I am not a regular user of chillies in my cooking, but with so many in the garden I have looked up recipes and tonight am making green chilli chicken curry.

Surfer girl

The weekend before last we had some strong winds so we headed up to Omaha to see what the wind had done to the waves. It was good surf and Dad spent most of Saturday out on various boards surfing and swimming. By the end of the day he was shattered! Alexa helped out by waxing Dad's board, then was practising her surfing moves on the borrowed yellow board. She loved the big waves and was happy to wade in with someone and jump the waves, and loved the feeling of being sucked along as the waves receded. We have bought her a thicker wetsuit type of outfit that means she doesn't get as cold so quickly so can enjoy it more.

A visit from Gran

As Grandad is away travelling in the South Island, we were treated to a weekend visit from Gran last weekend.

She came up on Friday and together we went to pick up Alexa from daycare - Alexa was very excited and immediately ran to Gran for a cuddle. Alexa has also passed to Gran a lovely cold that has left both of them low with runny noses and coughs. Dad has also got a nasty tickly cough that he thinks was another gift from Alexa. Bell and I have been lucky enough to avoid this malady thus far, and i will be steadfastly having Vit C to avoid it too! Isobel was very happy to have Gran in attendance as it meant another pair of hands to cuddle her and someone else to talk to. She has been snapped her smiling at Gran.

Isobel at 2 months

Isobel is such a wonderful baby. She is generally relaxed and contented - lying in her cot happily looking around and then drifting off to sleep again. She only cries when she is hungry or letting us know she is tired. She is also at that delightful age where she gives you the most wonderful smiles when you talk to her and it makes you feel very special. She is getting used to the bundle of energy that screams around in her vicinity and is looking less shocked at Alexa's high pitched yells. I really enjoy the three days a week that Alexa heads off to daycare as i get a chance to do the housework and any other chores, plus can enjoy some play time with Bell. It is a luxury to have this time and I am making the most of it now as I will not always have this space.

Here are a couple of close ups, plus a shot of her asleep in her cot with her two Peter Rabbits in attendance. They are also used to prop her on her side. The photo on the bean bag has her favourite toy to one side - a caterpillar that travels with her when she is in the car. She can just grab it's legs and loves the challenge of grabbing it and sucking it's leg or hat.