25 November 2007

Real naps....

Apart from Noah being off sick a couple of days this week, it has been fairly uneventful, nice weather, quiet evenings (which after the busyness of last week were very welcome) and some enjoyable family moments.

Mark took Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday off, and I took Thursday off and Noah was actually in pretty good spirits. He's on a course of antibiotics (starting just as I finished mine) which we're hoping will do the trick. I have been feeling decidely shady again this weekend only 3 days after finishing my antibiotics so who knows what that's all about! Luckily the sun has been shining all week so it is fairly easy to forget about not feeling 100%.

Today I counted up the signs that Noah knows and got to at least 20 which is awesome (and that doesn't include the animal sounds he makes rather than bothering to sign).










This weekend has been quite quiet, we've done a lot of odd jobs around the house so we've a definite feeling of accomplishment. We've spent a fair bit of time outside, watering the garden, weeding, playing in the sandpit and (trying, albeit fairly unsuccessfully) to get Noah into his paddling pool. He's a funny one when it comes to new things, it took him about 3 times before he he was happy to go in his new sandpit which today he played in quite happily, so probably in a couple of weekends he'll be in the pool before we can stop him... all in good time. We have learnt from experience that there is no point forcing him into situations he's not comfortable in as he only gets upset and doesn't enjoy them anyway.

The funny thing is that when it comes to something that HE instigates it is an entirely different story as his favourite past-time at the moment is jumping on our bed. It is heart-stoppingly scary for Mum & Dad as he has no fear and flings himself around without any thought for where he is landing (i.e. no concern for hitting his head on the headboard or falling off the bed completely). At daycare they have a great area for when the weather is inclement that has crash mats etc and I have had to drag him away from there almost kicking and screaming when I've gone to pick him up as he is jumping around having so much fun that he doesn't want to leave.








 

We had the privilege of a starling finding its way into our roof space overnight on Friday night (lucky us!) and the noise of it on the ceiling was enough to wake both Mark and I up in the middle of the night (we actually were a bit worried it might have been a rat when we were half asleep), so yesterday whilst Noah was asleep Mark braved it up the ladder in the roof space and we scared it off and rearranged the pink batts so hopefully that has been somewhat of a deterrent, fingers crossed.

After last week was a funny week of not wanting to go to bed in the evenings, Noah has had some fantastically long daytime naps this week (i.e. 1.5-2hrs), which could be as a result of feeling unwell, or alternatively might be his way of saying 'Hey Mum and Dad, I'm ready to cut back to one sleep'. Either way, having one long sleep in the middle of the day has meant he is much more ready for bed and we've had smooth bedtimes as a result.






 

I've been wanting to add to Noah's music collection (even if it is through copied CDs from the library..sshhh don't tell) so we can sing some songs on car trips and have music on in the weekends to sing along to. Last week I borrowed the Wiggles but he really wasn't into it, and far prefers the classic nursery rhyme type tunes, and both Mark and I were surprised at how many words we also knew from some of the tunes we grew up with too. Today I made up some actions to 'We're going on a lion hunt' which Noah thought was great fun so with a bit of repetition I think he'll be keen to join in.

Can't believe it is a month till Christmas.....next weekend we're all going to put the tree up together which I'm really looking forward to so watch this space!


18 November 2007

Where's Daddy?

This week I (Daddy) was away in Auckland for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday on a course to make me a more effective sales person, and I can honestly say I loved the course. You may have heard of it – The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen Covey). The course outlined 7 habits (3 within, 3 external and 1 follow up) that used correctly can make you a better husband, daddy, friend, colleague etc etc.

This obviously left Meghan and Noah home alone for the week, and from what I’ve been told they survived pretty well on their own.

Noah had his MMR jabs 10 day ago and amazingly seemed to come down with something right on 10 days after the jabs (precisely what the nurse said can happen to 1 in 5 kiddies??) He basically decided that he didn’t want to go to sleep at night and developed a rather nasty little cough. This was along with Meghan who also was feeling terrible (4th, 5th……who knows how many times this year, poor soul!!) and ended up on her 2nd lot of antibiotics in 2 months?

The night I left to fly to Auckland, Noah took over 45 minutes to get to sleep but I had no choice but to fly up to Auckland that night, and having stayed a little later to help Meg I nearly didn’t make the flight due to the main route to the airport being closed, and got there 7 minutes before the flight took off…..I had to run to the gate!!

However, Noah made it through the week, and Meghan coped really really well. You realise how important it is to have two of you around to get the basics done as a family….and the next time I go away we may have to put a call out to the family to help us to look after little one to help ease the load.





I got back on Friday night and think we were all just happy to have a weekend together. And what a weekend it was…..the weather was incredible (a southerly with no wind! which meant it was also really hot). Saturday was spent shopping (as usual) and a new haircut for Noah. (check out the photos…..he looks so grown up). I went to the football last night (Wellington vs Sydney) in a corporate box (thank you Meg for letting me go) whilst Meg had a chilled night at home with a glass of wine and some salmon.






We’ve hardly seen Meghan today (Sunday) as she has been doing team leader hospitality duties at church. So this morning was a boys trip to the ducks at the botanical gardens, and then the park on the way back and lots of raisins to keep him awake…..Mummy got home at 1pm and we all decided that a visit to a model railway expo was the go in town. Little did we know the Santa parade was on in town….a pleasant surprise!!! So after 20 minutes of elves, nativity and Mr Claus we managed to get to the model train expo which was a bit of fun, and Noah definitely enjoyed it. Meghan was back to church in the evening, so me and Noah watched a DVD (Planes, Trains, Cars and Boats) and enjoyed bath time.




New things this week seem to be his pronunciation of words….”Murphy” is nearly there….as are a few others (even the word Mummy is finally happening, which comes out My Mummy – Meghan is loving it!!!).

11 November 2007

Tending to the garden





Here is the best of the pictures taken from our bedroom window on Guy Fawkes evening, it was a lovely evening and even better to know we can get a view without even leaving the house in years to come!
Well one thing is for sure, we have certainly managed to interest Noah in the garden (or the watering of it at least). He is very keen to get out his little watering can and help - if the garden doesn't grow it'll be because it has drowned in over-watering, not for the lack of it!





We have had a quiet weekend which is just as well as I have somehow developed a nasty chesty cough which has made me feel pretty average. Mark kindly took Noah out to do the shopping and pick up our new coffee machine (well the upgrade replacement coffee machine that Harvey Norman kindly came to the party with after a part came off ours again for the 2nd time in 4 months). I was able to rest up a little as a result which was much needed.

Last night was a great fish n chips meal in (thanks to Jules) who also brought us round another supply of grapefruit (good Vitamin C for me!) and a beautiful bunch of flowers as you can see from the photo.





This morning Daddy aka Mark went out for a bike ride whilst Mummy and Noah washed the car - lots of fun and Noah was a great help, his rainjacket and gumboots came in very handy for not getting completely soaked! Then we had a wee bit of fun in the new sandpit, although like most things Noah took a bit of convincing before he would get into it!





It was warm enough this afternoon to get Noah into shorts and have the doors open which was lovely. Noah's new thing for this weekend has been trying to climb - onto the sofas and jumping on them too. He's also been bum shuffling down the stairs (which is a bit safer than just launching himself feet first at them which is what he has been doing up till now).

The good weather also brought plenty of helicopter spotting for Noah which he really enjoyed - I don't think he realises quite how lucky he is to be able see them so often, it certainly helps that Mum & Dad have a keen ear out for them all the time to be able to rush Noah outside the minute we hear one! Tomorrow we have a checkup at the hospital but we're expecting that to all go smoothly and we also have Noah's 15-month Plunket checkup as well. Mark is going to Auckland for 3 days this week so it'll be the usual challenge of trying to manage getting to daycare and home again on my own with no major dramas, and hopefully I'll be feeling better too.

04 November 2007

Signing frenzy



 


This week has seen Noah develop in leaps and bounds in his signing capabilities, he now has milk, eat, finished, more, nappy, pardon me for general signs as well as giraffe, elephant, lion, monkey, hippo. Nappy is his newest sign and he has just learnt this over the last few days, and signs for us to change his nappy once it needs changing and has beaten us to his bedroom to get out a new nappy and to lie down ready for changing - amazing! He is definitely very aware of what goes on in his nappy now as we have started taking him to the bathroom afterwards and flushing the contents of his nappy down the toilet. This has had an amusing side effect with his first discernible phrase 'Bye bye poo poo'.

Noah's wound has thankfully fully healed now with no further issues, and his 15-month injections passed by uneventfully as well, and now won't need further immunisations until four years old!

We have had a lovely few days with GeeGee (Great Granma) to stay for a couple of nights, a particular highlight was Friday, lunching at Te Papa and having a quick look around before catching up with 3 antenatal friends and their babies (who are now toddlers like Noah!) It was great to see them all and especially to see how much all the children had grown in the past few months since we last got together.











We were also very blessed this week to receive a whole lot of toys through a friend at Mark's work, namely some gorgeous wooden toys (train with carriages, tractor and bus), a whole icecream container of Matchbox toys, a blackboard easel and a miniature table & chairs set. Noah has had a blast playing with them all as the photos testify.

Saturday we splashed out for another brunch (third weekend in a row!) at Chocolate Frog Cafe at the garden centre, accompanied by the obligatory plane spotting every few minutes, and purchasing some courgette and capsicum plants with a bit of advice from Granma. Granma and I also enjoyed our first harvest of rocket lettuce for dinner on Friday night, the peppery nutty taste is a delight to the palate! Unfortunately, once again we didn't get any photos of Noah with GeeGee, in our defence I think we got so caught up with enjoying the moments together that we clean forgot about the camera.

Today was a quiet morning at home before we went out to Te Papa again for a look-see, Noah particularly enjoyed visiting the ducks and playing in the fossil pit.








There were almost too many photos to choose from this weekend, so I'll let them do the talking and sign off for now.......




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