Polar Blast

All of New Zealand is getting hit with a "polar blast" this week, resulting in below-freezing temperatures and even snow at sea level. This morning we woke to snow-covered hills around us, and apparently it snowed in many parts of the city as well. This hasn't happened for nearly 40 years, so it is pretty big news for people here.

These are the hills north of Lower Hutt, which are usually green. The storm is supposed to last through the week... sad to say that the first thing I think of is: how will I dry my washing?!
The cold weather brings other unpleasantries as well... Yesterday, Steve put on his shoe, but felt something in it, and quickly took it off to have a look. Here is the Tunnelweb Spider that had made a web in his shoe overnight (after I maimed it)! We have only seen one before - when my parents were here visiting - and they are by far the biggest spider we have seen in NZ. Apparently their bite is not poisonous, but looking at those fangs, I wouldn't care to find out for myself.

Friends and Bedtime

Madeleine is starting to enjoy toys more, and Douglas the Horse (or so his tag says) and Owl have definitely captured her interest lately. Here they are keeping her busy during tummy time.

She is also becoming more interested in listening to stories and looking at books, which is good for Daddy's bedtime story.

Out and About

Madeleine and I manage to keep pretty busy these days, often simply with going for walks in various places. Last week, we took advantage of the beautiful sunny winter day to walk along the waterfront in Wellington. The suburb is known as Oriental Bay, and is one of the most expensive areas in the city, with beautiful big homes on the waterfront.

Boatsheds at Baleana Bay - a bit further along from Oriental Bay.
Ignore the ever-present clothes drying rack in the background, and look at the cute little dimples on sweet Madeleine. She loves to smile, but usually it's when I'm looking right at her; if I hold a camera up, it's all seriousness as she stares at the camera. So our smile shots are usually from weekends when there are two of us to capture it!


Her hair is still pretty long and crazy. I think it is starting to thin and fall out, so it will be interesting to see what it becomes. Right now she has what I call "see-through hair".


Here she is, all bundled for an outing. This hat was given to her by one of my work friends, and it is a really light merino, and is the only hat she can tolerate wearing.
One of the many Mum and Baby events in the area is the monthly "Buggy Walk", organized by Sport Wellington, and sponsored by a coffee company. They choose a different location each month, and serve hot coffee before and after the hour-long walk. There are usually anywhere from 30-50 Mums with babies of all ages. This month we went to Queen Elizabeth Park up the coast (near where the famous Happy Feet penguin was rescued), and it was a beautiful day for a walk. I often go to these events with some of the Mums from our antenatal group, so we sit and chat over coffee afterwards.
Madeleine was 3 months old this past weekend! She got her second set of immunizations and did really well afterwards. She weighed in at 6.7kg and measured 60cm long. We moved her to the cot in her own room this past weekend, and she has adjusted wonderfully. She seems to really like the room to spread out, and she continues to sleep 11-12hr at night. We decided to make the move to her cot while she was still sleeping well. I've been warned that even babies who sleep through the night at this age can regress as they develop, so we're not expecting it to last, but we sure are hoping it will!

More Pics

Here are some more pictures of Madeleine from the last couple weeks. She continues to do really well and is starting to get a lot more chatty at times. She reacts to our smiles, faces, and stories, and even giggled for the first time last week. She is sleeping 11-12 hours at night and is full of smiles in the morning. Her daytime naps are getting shorter though, and she often only sleeps for 45min at a time, but we can't complain!

Our Week

This week we finally got Madeleine's Canadian passport and citizenship applications sent away. On Monday, we had her passport photo taken, and she was interested enough in the white screens and bright flash to stay calm for the entire process. Needless to say, it's not her cutest shot, but it certainly meets the requirements. We should get her passport in a few weeks, and then we can apply for her NZ visitor visa, which will require her to have a medical. Thankfully, they don't require bloodwork, urine samples, or chest x-rays for babies.

The local and national headlines this past week have all focused heavily on the "arrival of winter" - several cold and blustery storms have come over the country, and it certainly does feel colder. The storms have brought some beautiful rainbows though, like this one that I saw from our house.
Yesterday we had an unexpected visitor to our house. Barry, a 78 year old Kiwi now living in Australia, came to see the house he lived in until he was 10 years old. I saw him walk down the driveway, so went out to meet him, and he got quite emotional as the memories came back to him. I invited him in to see how the house has changed, which he thoroughly enjoyed, and he shared all sorts of stories with me. The toilet was an improvement from their "dunny" down in the bush, there was another bedroom in the now open-area lounge (to accommodate the five of them), and there was a woodburner in the middle of the lounge. There was no deck, and he said most of the bush and forest were 'new' - it had been mostly gorse and the kids regularly played in the now overgrown gully. It was fun to hear his stories, and he asked if I would mail him some of the pictures I took of him and the house.
It may be cooler, but we still get some beautiful clear days, so today Madeleine and I bundled up and went for a walk on some of the trails near us. We stayed nice and warm, and she even woke up for half of the walk - partly to let me know she was getting hungry, and partly to watch all the new surroundings. On our way back down the track, we came across a retired couple who were clearing a grass weed from the side of the track, to let the natural bushes grow better and live longer. The woman admired Madeleine, but quickly said "oh, it's too cold to have a little bubba outside!" I assured her we were quite warm.

Picasa Album

There are now over 80 pictures in the original "Madeleine" Picasa album, so I decided to start new albums for each month. Here is a link to the new July album, which I will add to as the month goes on.

Madeleine - July 2011

2 months

Our little munchkin is 8 weeks, or 2 months old now! It's hard to know when to move from counting the weeks to counting the months - either way, it feels like she is growing up so quickly. Last week I realized she would almost fit some of the cute onesies we were given, so she got to do a little fashion show... Aunt Kristin had sent us a CBC onesie, and at some point we will have to take a family CBC shot.

And Uncle Chris sent a cute Star Wars onesie, which Madeleine must have mistaken for a burp cloth, because shortly after this she spit up all over it.
It has been noticeably colder this past week or two, even though the days are now starting to get longer. A few strong southerlies blew in and the Antarctic winds always put a good chill in the air. Still, Madeleine and I get out for walks at least a few times a week. Every Monday we get together with the girls from our antenatal group, and go for a short walk and then have a coffee/lunch at a cafe. Even though we are all just brought together by having babies, we seem to get along well, and it's nice that so many of us are keen to meet up every week.

Madeleine is starting to have more of a routine to her day. She tends to fall asleep for the night quite late, like 10pm, and then often wakes for the day around 10am. She is usually only waking once in the early morning to feed, so this is definitely a welcome stretch of sleep. During the day, she naps well in her bassinet, and usually sleeps for a couple hours. Of course, the days that we are out doing errands, or going for walks or coffees are always different, and I think she is more settled when we have 'home' days. She is smiling a lot now, and watching us intently wherever we are in the room. She holds her head well, and absolutely loves being on her nappy changing area.

My parents left almost two weeks ago, but it honestly feels like ages since they were here. We are doing fine on our own, although it has made us appreciate (even more) how much they did for us. They had a wonderful and well-earned relaxing holiday on the island of Rarotonga, and are now home in B.C. We are starting to think more about our travels home in October, and found out today that since Madeleine is not a NZ citizen, we have to apply for a visitor's visa for her. We are also in the process of applying for a Canadian passport and proof of citizenship... so lots of paperwork!

Here is the view from our house at sunset last night. Even though moving while pregnant was a pain, we are so pleased to be in this house. It has been so much warmer than our old house, and we have some lovely neighbours here as well. Plus, there are several nice bush walks on the hills behind us, and some are even suitable for strollers, so it has been really great for getting out with Madeleine.