2012

Wow... Everybody keeps telling me that time will fly and it is so true: Stella is almost 4 months old: I can hardly believe it! We've just had a beautiful Christmas with Geoff's side of our family... Stella got treated with many beautiful gifts from family and friends...most of all, I feel that we are so blessed to have our little one with us this year, where last year at this time we were only just getting used to the idea that we were finally going to have a baby! So much has changed since then. It is all pretty fantastic! :) ...and now we are officially in 2012 & we are so excited about the year ahead of us!

Geoff and I have some special little names for Stella:
Geoff mostly calls her "monkey pop" , "tsatsongololo" and "kookaburra" and I mostly call her "noentjie" (she is so 'nu-nu' so she's my little 'noentjie'!) and "bubzi". We also have a tendency to add 'pop' onto most things we call her (eg: noentjie-pop / angel-pop etc)

Geoff and I have been reading books by Aletha Solter and implementing some of the principals of her philosophy of "Aware Parenting"

link here

link here

At first it was quite challenging accepting Stella's need to cry... but it is such an amazing thing to get to the other side of the crying - when her eyes are clear & there is such a peace that comes over her - whether it's an awake or a sleepy peace. It is beautiful to see her tears wash away the stress & tensions she accumulates from all her learning & the stimulus she's exposed to.

It is a cathartic experience for me to see & support her through the tears. It is so important to me that she will always know she can come to us with anything at all, big or small, without being judged - rather that she always feels supported & loved in whatever she feels... I trust that this is a good way to start our relationship with openness & honesty. The main thing I am trying to always do is trust my instincts - if it feels wrong, it probably is. It distresses me when Stella cries and I cannot leave her to be on her own in it: my instinct is to hold her & support her in what she is feeling, so that is what I am doing.

I love being Stella's mother. I love watching her grow & learn new little things every day. I am savouring the moments I have with her & grateful that there are so many of them.

Here is a photo & video update from the last few weeks:

Visiting Aunty T (photo by T'Neal)

 

A visit to Longbeach

Visiting Daddy at the shop
(photo by Robyn)

Stella on her rainbow mat.. lying on one of her cloud pillows -
Makes her look like she's got tiny wings :)

Camp Ross - Fish Hoek Beach

Stella and her Granny

Hylton's breakfast @The Galley

Stella fell asleep in her carrier while Mom was surfing

Stella wedged between a pillow & the couch...
a lovely day-time sleep spot!

Christmas (photo by Robyn)

Christmas: Stella with Granny (photo by Robyn)

My little angel deep in dreamland.....

Christmas gift opening time!
Christmas Day.

Daddy with Stella & all the Christmas presents...

Mommy opening Stella's presents for her...

Fluffy blanket from cousin Marie (*Stella wrapped herself in it!)

Christmas Day: First swim in a swimming pool

Banging out some beats in Daddy's studio :)

Stella's new thing is to grab both her feet
with her hands - adorable!

Stella and Daddy @the Bluewater Cafe

A great way to bring in the NEW YEAR!

Sunshine!

During Stella's particularly difficult (lots of crying & fussing) 12th week, I found out about 'Wonder Weeks' and 'Sunshine Weeks' from my kind acquaintances on the Baby Center Community and here. An excerpt to describe what's going on during these times:

Recent research has shown that there are predictable times during the first few years of a child's life when the child may be more demanding (fussier) than usual. These fussy times have been called the 'Wonder weeks' by some writers, because it is during these more difficult weeks that babies are making big steps forward in their development.
Once they have taken one of these big steps in their development, they may have times when they are less demanding. These times have been called  'sunny' times. [...]
Reminder: Even though 'wonder' weeks can seem like difficult times when babies are clingy and unhappy, they are very special weeks because the babies are making a new big step forward.

In the first year of life, the stormy times seem to happen around

• 5 weeks
• 8 weeks
• 12 weeks
• 17 weeks
• 26 weeks (6 months)
• 36 weeks
• 44 weeks
• 53 weeks (around 12 months).

The 'sunny' weeks can also be more or less predictable. The 'sunniest' weeks tend to happen around

• 6 weeks
• 10 weeks
• 13 weeks (around 3 months)
• 21 weeks
• 31 weeks
• 39 weeks
• 49 weeks
• 58 weeks.

 She is now 3 months old and half way through her 13th week... She seems to be trying to put everything she can into her mouth & I suspect she may be showing the early signs of teething. I love her little gums without teeth in them & Geoff and I both wish we could slow time down considerably so we can keep her just as she is for a little longer!

Our happy little Baba

We've had some lovely Summer sunshine.... but Summer does not want to stay! We had a massive rain storm & it's gone frezing cold (heater is back on in Stella's room) on the 14th of December!!! Come on Summer: Stella has pretty outfits I want to dress her in! {*example above}

We've been visiting a lot at the shop again this past week... Stella seems to love all the busy bustling around her & meeting all the people that come and go. Everybody thinks she's gorgeous & the comment I hear most is 'she looks just like a doll!' :) It is strange to me that some people will speak to her and completely ignore the fact that I am there....it is bizarre!

Stella is making lots of sounds & had long sound conversations with us. She often 'says' something that sounds like 'hoooh yeahh' (oh yeah) and 'heeeeh loow' (hello)

I feel my heart constantly expanding with love for our little girl & am amazed that there is always more room for more and more love. It is truly amazing to be a mother... our child is amazing... Geoff is an incredible father and husband. I feel so abundantly blessed.

Stella & Daddy at work

Anja gave Stella these beautiful silk crochet booties ♥

We are doing lots of nice walks down to the vlei!

Geoff showed Stella her first Christmas tree
(2 December 2011)

Stella's new 'trick' is to get her legs up to the cross bars
where they stay for a little while until she flops back down :)
*see pic above for 'flopping'

Stella LOVES her texture-block! She brings it up to her face
with her hands as well as with her feet!
{here she is in her car seat with it &
she has her foot caught in the flower rattle bit}

Here Stella is with her block at home - balanced between
the couch & cushions, she's trying to sit
(but she's still a bit flopsy!)

Happy happy on her changing mat at T'Neal's house

Our beautiful baby girl x x x

12 Weeks

Stella is growing beautifully! We had a clinic appointment last week & Stella weighed 5.9kg and measured 62cm! She has put on 1.5kg and grown 6cm from her birth length.

We've been spending lots of time on the beach & visiting friends...

Geoff took Stella to see the sea after his swim

We went to breakfast with the family at Fish Hoek beach for Ren's birthday:

Myself, Joyce & Katherine

The funny expressions side of the table!
Geoff, Colleen with Stella & Ren

We have been spending lots of time at Geoff's shop in Kalk Bay... Geoff loves to walk around with Stella and introduce her to everybody!

Stella visits Daddy at work where there are
fantastic chairs for little people :)

Last Friday we went to town on a fabric hunt! We visited OnSite where our architectural elements for our house plans in Stillbay have just arrived. We went to one of our favorite lunch-spots, Karen's amazing little gem (where Michelle Obama luncheoned by mistake and loved it), The Kitchen for sandwiches with all the trendy townies :)

Stella soaks in the atmosphere at The Kitchen

Stella is getting stronger and stronger every day... She loves her play mat time with all her toys: her favorite toys are her giraffe with the rattle & neck that stretches and then vibrates back into position, and her play cube which has a mirror and lots of textures to explore. She's still not mad about tummy time but she's getting better at staying tummy-time for longer stretches..

Our beautiful blue-eyed girl

Baby Gym time!

Geoff and Stella: my beautiful family

Innocence

in·no·cence

noun

1. the quality or state of being innocent;  freedom from sin or moral wrong.

2. freedom from legal or specific wrong; guiltlessness.

3. simplicity; absence of guile or cunning; naiveté.

4. lack of knowledge or understanding.

5. harmlessness; innocuousness.

The dictionary definition is so clear... Innocence is something that most people really value as a state of being.. the feeling of being innocent is a great feeling: knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have done nothing wrong - that you are "free from sin or moral wrong". It is the feeling of freedom: freedom from having to concern oneself with anything other than the simple truth about how things are perceived when there is no agenda... simplicity: lack of complication.

The innocence of children creates an overwhelming feeling within me to love and protect. Experiencing my own baby and her innocence is so amazing - I love that she naive - that her needs are simple. If she's hungry, uncomfortable, overstimulated or tired, she will let me know so that I can meet those needs. She is an easy baby. I am very blessed.

Stella's existence beyond simple needs is a joy! All her mind and body need to do at this stage is to learn. She's learned to feel happy and to smile.. learned to laugh (although that seems to have been a debut with no follow-on for now!)...she's learning to grab things & hold her head up straight for longer periods of time. She's learning about the sun and sleeping during the night.. the sounds around her.. her own voice..mine & Geoff's.

Being pregnant is a very different experience from having a baby. The selfish days of only having to care for myself - for every aspect of my physical being to maximise my baby's chance of being physically healthy and well, have morphed into a feeling of extreme and seemingly constant exhaustion. Someone said {with regard to breastfeeding} that a baby 'sucks the water out of your blood' . This goes beyond the physical & is a pretty accurate description of the physical and emotional sacrifice one submits to a child. Looking back & knowing what I know now, the mental and emotional preparations for being a mother feel now as though they were completely inadequate. Admittedly, this is most likely because I listened intently with both ears & really understood with half of one. It was not possible to prepare for something that changes one's life so radically - until one experiences it. I can say though that I am extremely happy.

Enough musing.... Stella is 9.5 weeks old now & her hair is growing longer each week! She is so adorable & I have to restrain myself from buying loads of toys to hang from her baby gym!!!!

We have been going down to the beach in the late afternoons on nice days....

Here are some recent pics:

With Daddy down at the Kom

Dress-up time for Daddy's birthday!

Daddy's birthday dinner at WangThai --
What's on the menu, Stella?

Visiting Robsie

Walking on LongBeach with Daddy

Enjoying the sunset at LongBeach with Mommy

Daddy takes great pics of our beautiful girl!! x

And here's our latest video:

Stella Laughed!

Geoff and I went away for the first time with Stella this past weekend.. I was a little nervous about what to pack, so I 'overpacked' and in the end I wasn't short of anything (except for trousers for myself! I only had the jeans I was wearing & loads of tops!). Joyce came to hold her granddaughter and allow us time to pack on Thursday morning... I took some pictures of her in her cute little birdie outfit:

We drove as far as Stillbay on Thursday to go and visit Jackson & Meshell and introduce Stella to them...
Geoff took Stella on a beautiful walk to the milkwood forest:

In the morning we put Stella in a fancy chair in our room to take some photos of our little princess:

I took the opportunity of travel time & other quiet time to work on Stella's baby blanket that has been in progress since I found out that we were going to be having her in our lives.... It still needs about twice as many hexagons as I've crochet-ed, but I'm getting there slowly but surely!

Stella laughed for the first time last night -- her first proper, from the stomach & in response to something laugh :) ...and we managed to catch it on video! :

The video shows Stella's Nanny holding her & her Bumpa making her laugh... well done Bumpa!!!!
(Listen out for hiccups in between!)

Colleen shared a link with me about a baby's first laugh & how it is celebrated by the Navajo people.

Here is an excerpt - FIRST LAUGH CEREMONY:

The Navajo have a tradition of celebrating a child's first expression of joy[...]. The Navajo believe that prebirth baby showers are premature and can bring evil to a child. Instead, they celebrate a child at its first laugh. The child is thought to assume the personal characteristics of the person who makes him laugh. [I was told] that for this reason, they always try to keep stingy relatives away from the small babies. [...]

The Baby and the Holy People
In Navajo theology, babies share a special relationship with the Holy People. Before each child is born, he sits with the Holy People and is granted a certain amount of time on Earth. Reluctant to leave the holy ones, babies must be coaxed into the world with songs. Infants are thought to share a special language with the Holy People, which is why they are unable to communicate with us. Gradually, as the child learns to talk, he becomes part of the human community and relinquishes this connection to the Holy People. Each person then spends the rest of his or her life trying to recreate the intense bond of infancy. Traditional parents do not trim their child's hair until he has a strong vocabulary because the hair is thought to be an extension of thought, and disrupting these early thoughts may prematurely cut the connection with the Holy People.

A medicine man [said] that when a baby laughs for the first time, he signals that he is ready to learn to speak. Thus, in [...] interpretation, the child states his readiness to enter the human world, and the Navajo celebrate by welcoming him to the mortal community with a First Laugh Ceremony. Source
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