Geoff and Gina's Little Addition

Thursday, February 9, 2012

5 months old..

Stella turned 5 months old today -- It's amazing, when taking each day at a time, how very slowly time goes..and when one looks back it's flown by!

We started Stella on rice cereal mixed with breast milk on the 27th January (at 4.5months old) as she was showing all the signs of being physically and developmentally ready to start with some solids.. It took only a little getting used to but she really seems to be enjoying her new food!

puree on it's own is too strong for Stella's taste buds

T'Neal leant me her copy of 'Feeding Sense', so tonight I made 'first veggie mix' with butternut, sweet potato and courgettes. {I felt like a true 'house wife', barefoot in the kitchen - cooking dinner for baby & guests whilst cleaning the kitchen & entertaining baby all at once!} She shuddered with disgust every time she tasted her veggies & I realised that the texture must be wrong. I pureed it to a really fine texture & mixed it with some cereal and breast milk & she ate it up like a little champion! :)

Stella's sitting is coming along beautifully now. She can sit for long periods of time and play with her toys. It's really great as sitting is allowing her the opportunity to watch me while I do other things so she's 'self-entertaining' a little bit more than before. She still has the odd topple over (and has has had a few cries as a result of knocking her head on the topple so I'm being very careful to prop pillows around her to try and prevent her from getting hurt)

Sitting on her own on the rocks at the Kom

Bath time has been an extremely fun experience since Stella learned how to splash!! (She learned to splash one hot day when I decided to put her into her bath to cool her down from the heat-wave)... she can even sucks her toes in the bath!

Sucking her toes in the bath

She's been spending lots of time with dad & they've even done a trip or 2 out by themselves... Geoff has mastered bathing her on his own - hair-wash and all! :)

Nanny & Bampa werein Cape Town for a few days...

We spent 3 nights in Mosselbay at Nanny and Bampa's flat. Stella had lots of fun being entertained by them for the few days!

At breakfast with Gogo

At Nanny and Bampa's flat

Stella suddenly feels so much bigger to me... like she's not a small baby any more -- I had her at Dr.Tessa who said at 4.5 months that she measured as tall as a 6 month old! She also said not to worry about Stella's cough as it is most likely a 'fake' one that babies do when they discover they can cough -- this evidently is common around 5 months -- I find this hilarious! :)

Stella LOVES to bounce up and down. It gets quite tiring on the arms, but it makes her so happy! ...We've been letting Stella play Geoff's piano & keyboards...

And here's a picture update since the last post:

Stella has connected with her Hamley's bear from Kim & Raj...she really loves him!

Stella hungry? ;)

Stella and her Daddy

Stella in her car seat... we try and go somewhere every day
as she loves being 'out and about'

My beautiful, happy little Noentjie!

pretty with her little clip

Perfect light... Geoff plays his guitar for Stella...
one of my best pics so far!

...and then a bit of cuddle time after a swim at Robyn's house

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Sitting

As the title of this post suggests, Stella is sitting! ...albeit not for long periods of time before a slow topple - left, right or backwards - but she is sitting on her own :)

All dressed in her party gear (for Pete's 40th), we went down to Danger Beach for Geoff to have a swim.... we had a wonderful time with her sitting on a towel on the sand! :)

I've been pondering our labour and birth experience quite a bit this week & I am really pleased to find that I I no longer find myself dwelling on & feeling traumatised by the events leading up to Stella's breathing her first air. Time really does heal. The more I get to know this amazing little person, the more I really am grateful that she is here - however she was to arrive! I read a bit about 're-birthing' : the healing of a traumatic birth experience from the baby's side & from what I've read, I don't think (in my un-educated - only intuitive experience) that her birth was something that traumatised her - She was so amazingly 'solid' throughout the whole experience. I just love that her heart beat remained even & that she was born so healthy and well. She continues to display immense stability in the way she handles situations.

Nobody can ever take the experience - the moment of seeing her for the first time: BORN! - away from us! I've re-lived it so many times in my mind & it really is one of the happiest sparkling lights in my collection of major life experiences.

All the time that we are able to spend with her - watching her every development - is so appreciated as special! Stella already has such a special relationship with her daddy...

...and I am just mad about my absolutely beautiful little girl! Everything - even crying - is loved!!!! I knew I would feel many of the feelings my mother must have felt as a mother of a little baby: Stella and myself are both first-born which really allows me to appreciate and understand the undivided 'alone' time that she spent with me as a new mom, with no other children to care for at that time. I was too little to remember my brother not being in my life, but I remember my sister coming home from the hospital with my mom; I remember feeling like all mom's time was spent on my sister...and I remember that I enjoyed 'being helpful' to my mom with the 'new baby' (I even remember coming up with some ridiculous names for her!!)

I cannot begin to describe how happy I am... how in love with my family I am.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

4 Months Old

Stella will be 4 months old tomorrow. I just can't express how proud Geoff and I are to have this wonderful little person in our lives. She is so beautiful & she is starting to interact so determindely & purposefully: it is quite mindblowing!

She really is learning new things every day... In my last post she'd just discovered her feet - this week's new development is that she has started 'bashing' her arms up and down. I think she has great fine motor control and can zoom in on and hold things with her little fingers with remarkable prescision. This is a constant source of amazement to me...that in her 17 weeks on this planet, she can already decide she wants something, reach out for it & feel what it feels like to touch. She loves to bring her hands to our lips for kisses - she smiles and sometimes laugh when we kiss them :)

I've been holding Stella right in front of the Christmas tree and letting her feel the (plastic) branches & tinkle the bells... she can do that for ages - it is so fascinating to her - and to me to watch her! Today we lay on the bed for an hour and a half playing games (such as 'this little piggy') and she laughed with joy at some of our games. What pleasure!!!! She seems so hungry to learn. We have also been playing the 'Horsie' game --

Holding Stella on my knees:

"Stella's horsie goes: 'walkie-walkie-walkie-walkie-walkie'" > bouncing my legs at walking speed

"Mommy's horsie goes: 'trot-trot-trot-trot-trot'" > bouncing my legs a little faster

"...and Daddy's horsie goes: 'gallopy-gallopy-gallopy-gallopy-gallopy'" > bouncing legs fast

Stella has also made great progress in rolling over & is enjoying 'tummy time' much more than before...

Here's a photo update since the last post:

Beach time!

We love spending time together at the end of the day

Happy in the baby carrier!

A little break before walking back

Hands remain a constant source of fascination

Our beautiful blue-eyed girl!

Bath time

A rare family-portrait moment

Geoff, Granny & Stella

Enjoying a beautiful Summer's day

Feet in the pool with Robsie

Happy moment at the shop! :)

Sunday, January 1, 2012

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

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: