Freya's first Christmas's

Our first family Christmas...Freya's present to her parents was to let them have a lie in until 7:30am. Freya got some lovely Christmas presents of books, a picture, and a music set with maracas, castanets, Tamborine, triangle etc...so lots of noise was had. After opening her presents we skyped with nagymama, nagypapa, uncle Andy, cousins Andrea and Annabel in Scotland, who were still having Christmas Eve. 

Freya opening her presents

We headed over to our neighbours for a delicious brunch, then in the afternoon we headed around to some friends for a bbq. We had perfect wellington weather. 

Brunch...yum

Family Christmas photo

Freya in her summer dress

Then at 6pm we headed to the airport to fly to the US. Freya did really well and managed to get some sleep in the bassinet on the plane, and mum and dad got a few hours as well. After a night on the plane we arrived in the US on Christmas Day....so at 7 and a half months Freya has had 2 Christmases due to time differences and datelines....

We are looking forward to catching up with the Lymans over the next week in Phoenix. 

Freya-proofing the house

As Freya starts to pull up on everything it is time to get our act together and start to baby-proof the house. Aaron, with the help of his dad Ralph, have built us a set of cupboards for the book shelves to sit on top. Today we finally carried it up to the house and assembled it.

Aaron and Ralph cutting up the wood

The finished cupboards with the bookshelves on top.

Freya checking out the cupboard

First step....now we have to put locks on the cupboards....

7 months

Summer is here and we are spending lots of time outdoors. Freya is enjoying exploring the garden, with regular visits to the playground, a few walks, bike rides and we finally took her to the beach and played in the sand and dangled her toes in the cold sea.

At scorching bay....

Despite a couple of colds and a vomiting episode, Freya continues to thrive and she was 9.24kg at her weigh in this week, 69 cm long, 45 cm head circumference. Physically she is getting stronger and better at crawling, still mostly commando crawling...but occasional knee crawling. Sh can sit up very well now. She is also starting to pull herself up on people and a few objects. Today she learnt to climb up the stairs in the back yard. Aaron and Ralph are busy building a cupboard to start the baby proofing process in the living room, to put some stuff away behind doors. Judy and Ralph are here for a few more days. Freya is enjoying playing with her granny. 

The Lymans 

Freya sitting in her toy basket

Thanksgiving with the Lymans

Grandma and grandpa Oregon have come over to meet Freya and celebrate her first thanksgiving. We had a traditional Turkey, stuffing, potato and sweet potato, but we added a kiwi twist of pavlova for desert. Freya didn't partake in dinner, but she did sit with us while we ate, before heading off to bed. She tried a bit of Turkey and mashed potato the next day.

Judy and Ralph have come over to New Zealand for a couple of weeks to get to know Freya and to see a bit more of the country that they didn't see last time. Freya has been enjoying playing with grandma. Freya has been learning to do a few new tricks, sitting up and transitioning from crawling to sitting and back again....we have had a few face plants as she got the hang of it. She has also pulled herself up a couple of times...but is still very wobbly on her feet, mainly because she tries to stand on one leg, or cross her legs. 

Playing with grandma Oregon 

Dancing with grandpa

We have had a couple of colds lately, but other than struggling to breathe at night she has been pretty happy during the day and continues to play hard as usual. 

6 months

Can't believe Freya is half a year old! It has been a quite a ride....but we have definitely reached a fun part. Summer has also arrived with some great weather (some days). We have been spending a bit of time in the garden and also the local playground. As well as daily walks, Aaron has started to take Freya for short bike rides in the trailer.

Walk In the backpack

She is loving her swimming lessons and went underwater the other day. Freya is very active and her crawling is changing, as she gets up on her knees and is trying to pull herself up. She loves chasing Mifi and climbing on and wrestling with her dad. She will be getting to spend more time with her dad now as last week he finished his uni course. Yay! 

Up on her knees, rocking back and forth.

She is full of surprises, managing to unscrew the lid of a water bottle that she was chasing across the floor the other day. She ended up lying in a puddle of water. She is certainly keeping us on our toes! 

New tricks!

Well Freya is very active...still commando crawling and lots of jibber jabbering to her toys and mum and dad. The weather has been getting better and we have been out trying a few new things. She loves going on the swings at the local playground...although she isn't too sure about the slide yet. 

Playing on the swings and slide at the local playground

We've also been for a few walks in the proper back pack. 

And finally her head is big enough for a bike helmet and her dad can't wait any longer...she went on her first trailer ride. Her mum also got back on a bike for the first time in ~8 months, which felt strangely normal - bit like riding a bike! 

Freya has also discovered a few other things too...like grabbing the cats tail...poor Mifi wasn't impressed...And the other day she embarrassed her mother by managing to open another woman's water bottle and creating a big puddle in the middle of the floor... Nothing is safe around here now. 

She hasn't, however, managed to learn how to sleep better yet! Need to work on that once her dad has finished his course next week. 

5 months

Freya is 5 months old. She continues to grow (8.42kg and 65.5cm) and is learning lots of new skills. The last couple of weeks she mastered rolling over from her back to front, and her commando crawling is getting more efficient, she can even turn around when she meets an obstacle. She just loves exploring, especially under things.

Where's Freya?

She has outgrown her car seat and her bassinet, so now has a big kids car seat and has moved in to her own room and is sleeping in her cot (occasionally). She also got her first pair of shoes, with cool dinosaurs on. 

New car seat

New shoes

A week and a half ago we started her on solid food. Well at least trying them. She was excited at first, but then preferred to chew on pieces of apple and pear, rather than eat the smooth purée, probably because she was teething, but we couldn't feel anything until a few days ago and finally she got her first tooth yesterday. Conveniently the same day that the nurse gave us a tooth brush and tooth paste for her. 

Pumpkin purée! Probably more around the face than went in...

Brushing my tooth for the first time

Bay of Islands family holiday

We finally braved going away with Freya. After what has seemed a long winter we headed up to Northland for warmer climes. So Freya went on her first plane flight. She did really well and ate and slept most of the way. She also went on several boat trips during the week...lots of firsts.

 

Waiting for take off

On the Russell-Paihia passenger ferry

We stayed at a friends Bach in Russell, in the Bay of Islands. Normally it is very busy in summer and although it was school holidays it was pretty quiet and not that many tourists. We did quite a few short walks in the bush, on the beach and visited some historic places. Russell used to be the capital of New Zealand, so lots of interesting history. We also went to Waitangi for the day, a very important place for New Zealanders. 

The strand in Russell

Flag pole at Waitangi

View from the Bach across to several of the island at dusk

We also spent a lot of time just hanging out and relaxing at the Bach, enjoying soaking in the spa! 

In the spa

Next time it would be nice to get in the water (bit cold at the moment), and out to some of the islands and explore. But we survived our first family holiday and learnt a lot about travelling with a little one...

Crawling, rolling and chitter-chatter

Freya is on a mission. She rarely stays still (which to be honest started in utero when I developed a large bruise from all her kicking). She has been attempting to crawl or at least inch-worming forward for about a month, but she now has a pretty good commando crawl. The only problem is that she can't turn (or turn around) so the walls and furniture keep getting in her way and has had a few marks on her forehead from bashing in to things.

The wall got in the way...

Trying to roll over, but in this case the pole got in the way

She rolled over from front to back quite a while ago, initially by accident, today however she finally mastered the back to front roll. So now we are really in trouble. Up until yesterday we could at least put her down on her back and she wouldn't move.

She is also chatting away, especially when she is playing with her dad in the morning. The sounds are getting more complex and louder. Aaron is convinced she said "dada" the other day. It is great to see her changing and learning new tricks all the time...

4 months....

Freya is 4 months old. She is a very busy little lady....busy inch worming/commando crawling across her activity mat and the floor chasing after her toys. When she isn't shimmying forwards on her tummy she loves to stand up and do a little dance/jig. She has strong legs, but her balance isn't quite there yet. She is getting better at sitting.

She still loves going for walks in both the sling and her bike trailer buggy, in fact it is the only way to get her to nap during the day. Fortunately the weather has been improving, with some nice sunny days.  She is also very social...with several catch ups with friends most weeks, and she regularly comes in to work with me to check on the students in the lab.

Today she had her 4 month check. Despite her recent bugs and illnesses she is still growing well. She is now 7.7kg and 63.5cm long, 43cm head circumference. Soon she will have grown out of her 6 month clothes....crazy! 

Off the mat chasing toys. She started at this side of the mat.

Practicing sitting in my chair

Looking cool in my new sunglasses and a sun hat

Father's Day

We have no special plans for Aaron's 1st Father's Day. In fact Aaron is going to uni to continue with an assignment. However, this is a short blog to thank Aaron for being such an amazing dad to Freya and for looking after me the last year and especially the last 4 months. 

Aaron gets up between 5:30 and 6am every morning to play with Freya and let me sleep. He always does bath with her and takes turn rocking and shushing her to sleep. When he isn't at uni he takes her for walks to give me a break. He is also learning to cook 😉. The last 4 months have been a team effort and I wouldn't have coped without him, especially the last month. 

Freya and Aaron, do you see the similarity? Some days...

Exhausted after a busy morning playing on the activity mat..fast asleep by 8am

We have had a rough couple of weeks (sounds familiar - sorry to sound like a stuck record). Freya has had a viral gastro bug which aggravated her already gassy tummy. Now she has something else....not sure what, we are waiting for test results. Hope it isn't anything serious. 

Maybe next year I won't be so exhausted and we will do something special for Father's Day! 

Out and about

We have had a few glorious cold, clear and calm late winter/early spring days lately so we have been making the most of it going for some nice walks around Wellington. Our buggy that we had on loan got a flat tyre and Freya was getting a little big for the carry cot. So we have started using our bike trailer as a buggy until she is big enough to be towed behind a bike. It is very light and easy to manoeuvre, but a little wide at times for some of the narrow wellington pavements.

The trailer in buggy mode

Testing out the trailer/buggy in the botanic gardens

The camellias, rhododendrons and magnolias are out...

We headed up Mount Kaukau on the weekend. Freya is getting pretty heavy in the sling, so it was hard work going up, and a little tricky coming down with the front pack as I couldn't see where I was putting my feet. Anyway we made it unscathed. The views looking down on the city and the harbour from the top were worth the effort!

Nearing the top

The top of Mt Kaukau. 

We also headed up the Catchpool valley for a picnic at the Orongorongo river. We tried Freya in the sling on the back, which worked pretty well and was much easier to walk. 

Asleep in the forest

Freya's first picnic

Looking forward to summer and more outdoor adventures with Freya. 

3 months

NWell we have moved on from counting in weeks to months. Freya is changing so much. She is very active and loves to stand up and we have bought her a jolly jumper to play in. She is desperately trying to crawl...although at the moment she is just turning around in circles rather than making any real progress forward or backward. She has also discovered her hands and grabs at her toys hanging over her play mat. She enjoys listening to her musical toys and her mum and dad's singing...😉

Freya in her jolly jumper

Hanging out in her bouncer with musical teddy

She just had her 12 week check in with the Plunket nurse and she continues to hug the 90th percentile with her weight...weighing in at 6.68kg (15 pounds), and measuring 61cm length and 42cm head circumference. So she is a "bonny" baby! Just wish she would sleep as well as she eats... She is still not sleeping much during the day, just a couple of 40 minute naps, while at night she sleeps between 1 and 3 hours...but usually around 2 hours, which makes for a rather disrupted night. 

We have had a few new firsts in the last few weeks... Freya was looked after by our neighbour Marlo while we went out for dinner for our wedding anniversary, she has been to the Roxy cinema for the mums and bubs movie. This weekend she will experience her first party, when we have afternoon tea and cake for Helen's birthday and Freya's 3 month milestone.

I am not sure where most of our time goes....we have been catching up with our antenatal group and other friends with babies. We have also been getting out most days for buggy walks around the neighbourhood. We have been doing a baby massage course and we have also been swimming every week and Freya is getting more confident in the water...but still hates to get out and be dressed again.

Having a foot and leg massaged