Capturing a smile

Stella is smiling more and more each day, reacting to us talking to her in silly voices! She was a bit unwell yesterday and had a trip to the doctor. Diagnosed with a sore throat (which Mark and Sarah both have too), we've been giving her Pamol and lots of cuddles and she is now a bit more settled.

The Weekend

It was a busy week with 6 week check ups for both Sarah and Stella. Stella also had her first immunisations and was only unsettled for a few hours that evening. Our friends Polly, Sean and Jack popped in, Jack gave Stella a lovely big kiss which was almost captured on camera! Also managed a walk on the beach with Mark and enjoyed a beautiful clear Sunday afternoon after a week of stormy weather. Here are some shots from the weekend.

Tummy Time

The Plunket nurse visited for the first time today, and Stella produced a wonderful gummy smile for the nurse right on cue! She now weighs just under 12lbs and has been tracking at around the 75th percentile for baby girls her age. Plunket are great advocates of 'tummy time' making brainy babies, who are we to argue so we have been trying Stella out on her front little and often throughout the day. She is getting used to it but we had to laugh when she fell asleep during one of our early attempts. Each time she seems to enjoy herself more as she gets used to it and it is great to see her lifting her head and moving it from side to side.

Sleep

Like most new parents, sleep is our new obsession. In particular, how best to get Stella to sleep so that we can get some too. Heat and motion seem to be the key ingredients so we are getting a lot of use out of Diane & Gowan's front pack - a fantastic way to soothe baby (hasn't failed once - yet) and also get things done like eating breakfast! The other shot is of Stella looking like an angel in Granny Ruth's knitted bonnet which is perfect for keeping out the cold air during the walks we have started to go on. The motion of the pram sends Stella to sleep almost immediately - shame it is too cold to take her out at midnight when she won't settle! We are however getting more sleep now than in the early days and brain function is slowly starting to return.

This Morning

Here is a pic of Stella just taken this morning. With the cold nights, she hasn't been enjoying being in the big cot (perhaps she feels the cold like her Mum). At night we now sit her carry cot (which usually hooks into the buggy frame) into the big cot so that she is nice and snug, as well as rugging her up with one of her knitted cardies. This seems to be working, and she is sleeping for a bit longer between feeds at night and not needing to come into bed with us to warm up!

Fun in the Bath II

Stella is now one day shy of being a month old! Last Thursday she weighed in at 11lbs, having put on a pound over the week. We still haven't been out much so most of our pics are taken inside. Today's big activity was having a bath which she seems to enjoy. She has just started sticking her tongue out when we talk to her sometimes which we think is very clever! Her hair goes really curly when its wet and we think she is looking more gingery as the days go by so will be interesting to see what colour her hair ends up! (Red hair runs on both sides of the family). Its always fun deciding what to dress Stella in as we have been given so many lovely garments. Today she is in her very trendy Baby Gap penguin top (care of Nikki & Sven in the States), some orange flares (care of Holly - daughter of Sarahs workmate Karen) and last but not least, a beautiful white cardigan knitted by Granny Ruth (Mark's mum).

The Beginnings of a Smile...

Stella is becoming more and more responsive each day, we think we are managing to coax out her first smiles and even captured this one on camera...

First Trip to the Beach

Yesterday, Stella had her first visit to the beach with Sarah and Nana K which she managed to peacefully sleep through! It was a beautiful crisp day so we bundled her up for the short walk (short due to Sarah still healing from the caesarean). All went well and we managed a coffee in one of Takapuna's many cafes afterwards.

Had to add in one of Mark's favourite pics which he has named 'The Boxer' taken after a bath the other day. The towel around the head reminded him of a boxer going into the ring for a fight and she has her fists up too!

Hanging Out at Home

We've had a very quiet week this week, stayed in, slept etc. Yesterday Stella weighed in at 10lbs and is working her way steadily along the growth chart which is pleasing. Here are some pics from the past few days, all with eyes closed as that is the time when we think to pull out the camera!

The cream cardigan she is wearing was knitted by Sarah's Granny before her alzheimers set in, it was carefully wrapped in tissue paper and kept in Nana K's camphor box for more than 10 years with a beautiful note written by Granny to be read when Sarah's first baby was born.