Sunday 26 November 2006

Some photos taken this week - although not actually in the order they were taken!

Whilst Dave & I were trying to clear up on Saturday morning prior to the party, Lauren decided to hit her feet on a sooty chimney brick - so we grabbed a piece of paper and made the imprint. However, we doubt that it will stay, so took a photo and added the ruler - her feet are 11cm long (in case you can't read the ruler!)

The photo of Lauren in the bath was taken this evening - she is playing with her birthday present from Charly & Greg - it's a cool plastic Winnie the Pooh boat that floats and has lots of bits to keep her little fingers occupied. However, not long after taking the picture, Lauren returned to her favourite "play thing" which is the plug, and pulled it out, so she only had a quick bath tonight!

The photo of her in an orange t-shirt was taken on Wednesday at the local park (One Tree Hill), where Auckland Council have been holding an activity event for under 5s - all different tasks for them to do - most of them are too advance for Lauren, but she plays peek-a-boo with the yellow cones.

The bottom two photos were taken at Lauren's party - the cake is pretty obvious - it caused me heaps of stress whilst making it Saturday morning, but everyone was very kind and said it looked fine and tasted good, which was the main thing! It was an orange cake and when the icing on the sides started falling off, I stuck marshmellows on it! The brown bits on the top are chocolate drops! The other photo shows Lauren in a shell which her Auntie Paulette & Uncle Julz had given her - there are actually two shells - one of which will be filled with sand and the other will be the lid, or filled with water for her to play in. As you can see, we filled it with the rest of her presents!

Lauren's party seemed to be a success - I spent most of the time rushing around, and it wasn't until later when Lauren was in bed that I managed to sit down - by which time most of our friends had left! None of us can believe that Lauren is already a year old - she has really grown up and seems to change daily. She's trying to copy words that Dave & I say - "gga gga" is her version of "good girl" and is only said after we say it to her. She is also aware now that when her toys roll under the couch they haven't disappeared, and she tries to get them back. She now has 3 top teeth and 3 bottom teeth, and generally is very happy and smiley. She gets frustrated when things don't go her way - especially with the walking/crawling - she wants to walk holding onto my fingers, which I'm trying to discourage a bit! She knows when she's had enough food - the rest gets tipped onto the floor! She's starting to exert her independence, which is really lovely to see and I'm try to laugh and smile rather than get frustrated! Dave & I feel very lucky to know Lauren and to be her parents.