Sunday 26 February 2006

These photos were all taken in the past week.

The one of her in her chair is how she spends a lot of her waking time. Her legs are constantly moving and it's no wonder that she's not really putting much weight on! The outfit was given to Lauren by Sandra, Gareth, Imogen & Marissa Prandle.

The next photo shows Lauren having her hair brushed by her Daddy - hence why she is gazing at him! This outfit was given to her by Sheila & Alan Jeffcoate. The All Black outfit was given to Lauren by her Auntie Paulette and is a little big for her. Still she'll definitely be an All Black supporter. The final photo is Lauren having a bubble bath with her Daddy - this was her second bath with bubbles and she loves them. This time she'd just woken up and for some reason just wouldn't let go of her dummy! Again she's staring lovingly at her Daddy.

So this week has been quite a long one. Lauren had her second lot of immunisation jabs on Monday morning and was a grizzly baby for the rest of the day. It didn't help that she's also had a cold and was pretty poorly Monday & Tuesday. Wednesday morning started with a smile, so she was obviously feeling a little better - but by this time Dave & I had started to feel a little unwell! I lived on Vitamin C tablets and have managed to keep the cold at bay - Dave has suffered quite badly and hasn't really done very much. Lauren is much better now - she has a cough still, but is improving daily. Unfortunately for me, she's got out of her routine and is waking at about 2.00am for a feed! Dave is back at work tomorrow, so this week will be spent re-establishing her routine and letting me get a proper night's sleep. On Thursday she saw the Plunket nurse for her 3 month check-up and has put on 300 grams in the past fortnight - she weighs just under 5.3kg, and is 62cm long. Otherwise we've spent the days going for walks or just relaxing and letting everyone recover from their colds. No plans for this week, other than getting a decent night's sleep!!

Sunday 19 February 2006

These photos were taken of Lauren this afternoon - finally managed to get ones of her smiling! She is giggling a fair bit now - especially when I dance with her - favourite song is Green Day's 'Jesus of Suburbia', although the 9 minute version is a little long for her!

She has been a really great sleeper this weekend - waking at about 5.00am for a feed and then sleeping again until about 9.00am - a couple of naps during the day and then going down at 7.30 - life is really good. She's entertaining herself by playing with her babygym or with her hands. She's responding to my attempts at singing to her with smiles and laughter - yep my voice is that bad!

She is 3 months old this week - time has really flown. She has her second lot of immunisation injections on Monday and Dave is wimping out of coming to the doctors with me - he says he doesn't want to see her injected. His third operation went well - in & out on Thursday and was walking without crutches on Friday pm. We were able to go to the pub yesterday and I made sure he was back on nappy duty today! Lauren also has another appointment with the Plunket nurse on Thursday, so hopefully she's continuing to put on weight (& no doubt she's growing in length too!).

Sunday 12 February 2006

These photos were taken today - she's almost outgrown her moses basket, which is meant to last her until she's about 4 months! The Plunket Nurse saw her on Wednesday and she's put on 300 grams in the past fortnight, which is quite good. However she's also grown another 2.5cm, making her 61.5cm - she's nearly grown a cm a week since she was born! So most of the weight gain is actually length - she's going to be tall!

She's also had a "dribble rash", under her neck, which is near enough clearing up now, thanks to some steriod cream. Otherwise she is good and is progressing each day. I think it's only a matter of time before everything starts being put into her mouth - she's constantly sucking her fingers, and is now just starting to grab things.

She also giggled yesterday for the first time - but already seems to have forgotten how to do it, as she hasn't giggled today - just smiled most of the time!

Monday 6 February 2006 - Waitangi Day

Well here are two more photos of Lauren - the one in the green outfit was taken on Thursday morning, and I think she lasted about another 5 minutes in it, before throwing up! The pink stripped outfit was given to Lauren by Sheila & Alan Jeffcoate who live next door to my parents - she lasted a little longer in this one. The striped purple cat in the picture is her favourite toy - she loves it.

Lauren noticed her feet for the first time today (God know how she's missed them before!) - she was fascinated by them and just stared and stared - I doubt she realises that they are hers! She's been very active all weekend, and today she's just wanted to sleep, which has been nice for Dave & me.

On Saturday we met up with friends of mine who are over from England on their honeymoon - Mike & Sue Dixon. I forgot the camera, otherwise there would be photos! We had a great time and Lauren was superbly behaved - she just played with her toy, or her hands! Shame the same can't be said for her father - he stayed on at the pub when Lauren and I left, and got home rather the worst for wear - he fell asleep on the deck - I covered him with a duvet & left him to it!!

Wednesday 1 February

This is Lauren hard at work - there's a mirror on the bottom of the orange toy and she's had a great conversation with the pretty girl who's been smiling back at her!

She loves her playmat and really concentrates on hitting her toys - I think it's just fluke though when she makes one toy hit another one - that's just too complicated for her brain to work out!

It's amazingly hot & humid today - thank god it wasn't like this 3 years ago - would never have had the perfect wedding! Lauren seems to be sleeping a lot during the day and is more active in the cooler mornings & evenings (not that they are particularly cool though!).