It's a Doozy!

It has been awhile since I've done a blog post, and February was a busy month, so get your cup of tea ready and settle in for a lot of pictures!

Don and Georgia arrived in early February and our time with them was a good mix of relaxing at home and touring the countryside. We did a road trip up to Taranaki to see a working dairy farm, and then drove to Napier, stopping in Taupo on the way. Both Taupo and Napier had beautiful gardens to enjoy.

In Napier, we visited the Mission Estate Winery, established by a group of French missionaries in the mid 1800s.
Madeleine continues to be a wonderful little traveler. She loved having company in the backseat for the many hours on the road, explored our hotel rooms and holiday houses to the max, and ate like a pro at all the cafes and restaurants.
Back at home, she had fun destroying the towers that Grandpa Don built for her.
She made music on her new xylophone.
And she didn't let her silly hairdo (thanks to Grandma, of course) keep her from poking her head outside to see what was going on in the world.
I took Georgia on one of my favourite walks from our Point Howard house - it follows the waterfront for a little bit...
... and then leads you uphill through a beautiful canopy of fern trees.
Georgia came with us for Madeleine's 9 month visit with the Plunket Nurse, in early February.
Madeleine weighed in at just over 22lb. I don't remember her height - it's not nearly as exciting as her weight.
Both Don and Georgia came with Madeleine and me on separate occasions to our Tuesday playgroup. They got to see Madeleine and all her little buddies singing songs, playing in the sand, and having afternoon tea (snacks).
We all went to Makara Beach one day and enjoyed the beautiful views. This expanse of ocean is the Cook Strait and the land in the distance is the top of the South Island.
A sweet Daddy and M moment.
Every Saturday a fishing boat selling freshly caught fish docks near Point Howard (the hill with houses in the background). Some days it is so busy that there is a long line of people waiting all the way down this wharf.
They always have a sign up telling you the fish to choose from - we bought a big Warehou the day we went.
They fillet the fish for you, right on the boat while you wait.
One of the highlights of the last month was Madeleine and I getting baptised at St Alban's Anglican church. It was a beautiful sunny day, and Madeleine did extremely well (so did I). It was lovely to share the special day with Don and Georgia.
The Anglican church baptizes by sprinkling water on your head, and then marking you with a cross on your forehead.
Another big event of the last month has been our move to yet another house. The landlord of our previous house decided to sell, and the buyer wanted to live there, not rent it out. We were very sad to leave that house and it was hard to find anything that even came close. Our new house is less than ideal, but the location and cheaper rent are two good things about it. It is in a small oceanside community called Eastbourne (also where St Alban's is located), and since we aren't at the top of a narrow windy road up a big hill anymore, I will be able to run and walk with M a lot more easily.

Believe it or not, I may actually post more pictures of little M soon... she is already TEN months old, and I haven't even touched on all the cute things she is doing these days.

Summer Birthday

This past Sunday was my birthday and it was wonderful to have family here to celebrate with me. We are having a great time with Steve's parents, who are here until next week. I will post more pictures soon of our time together, but for now, I just wanted to post a picture of these lovely birthday flowers that were left on my doorstep yesterday. A special delivery from my dear sister! Thank you, K!

Just more January

This past weekend was the first ever go-kart race on Point Howard. There are a bunch of kids on our street and they all got together to put this on. They built the go-karts with their parents and geared up in everything from wetsuits to leather jackets and helmets for the big day. It started at the top of the hill, which is right near our house, and they zoomed down the hill to a flat section. That portion of the street was closed, and there was a sausage sizzler afterwards, and even a little trophy for the winner. It was pretty fun to watch, and luckily none of the crashes required medical attention. All the go-karts remained in one piece until the very end, when the mums and dads all took turns - that's when wheels went flying.

Madeleine and I were having fun cheering on the kids. She had just woken up from a nap (okay, I confess, I might have woken her up so we could go watch...).
Madeleine is not a very snuggly baby - she stopped resting her head on our shoulder as soon as she could hold it up herself. I relish the cuddles I get when I nurse her and she gets all sleepy before bed. Poor Steve only gets the occasional snuggle when she is really tired, or maybe not feeling very well. Still, he doesn't stop trying to get her to rest with him on the couch. Most of the time she just props herself up and grabs at everything in reach.
Here is little M after her nap yesterday.
She likes to help Daddy bring the washing in... she hasn't tried crawling around on the grass yet - I think she's always too busy picking at the little white flowers.
We are counting down the days until Grandma and Grandpa Gibson arrive in NZ! They get here next weekend, and will be staying with us for three weeks.

Crawling...

After more than a month of almost crawling, she has finally done it! She is relieved, I think, to finally be able to get to where she was wanting to go. She had been clearly frustrated at times that she couldn't propel herself forward towards the toy or power cord she was eyeing. Even though she usually reached her target anyway by a combination of rolls, turns, and backwards scoots, crawling forwards is clearly more efficient, and any daughter of mine is bound to love efficiency. Unfortunately, she's also like me in that she isn't incredibly patient. Exactly a day after mastering the forward crawl, she started holding onto the edges of a shelf or table, trying to pull herself up, and whining when she couldn't do it. I tried to tell her to take it slow, but that doesn't seem to help.

Enjoying the views of Wellington from the top of Mt Victoria, during Uncle Chris' visit.
Steve and Chris did the Tongariro Crossing in early January. It is a 7-8 hr hike that starts and ends in different locations, and since the weather was looking a bit unpredictable that day, I volunteered to be the chauffeur for the day.
They ended up having beautiful weather though - once the morning fog and cloud lifted, the sun was out and they had great views from the top.
Madeleine and I hiked up from the other end and met them at one of the huts. It was a long, steady climb for little M and me...
... so I let Daddy have a turn with the pack on the way down. Madeleine loves her new backpack carrier.
While exploring the beach with Chris one day, we saw these interesting "sea wave" clouds, which Steve quickly identified as Kelvin-Helmholtz instability clouds. Naturally, that was what I had thought as well.
Daddy and Madeleine enjoying one of her new Christmas books.
Madeleine, looking her usual messy self after spagetti and yogurt for dinner. She goes straight to the bath after dinner!

Happy New Year!

Our life here has been far more exciting lately than it normally is - I wish it was holidays all the time! With my sister and Steve's brother both here, we have been making the most of the sunny weather and getting out to see the city and surrounding areas. Uncle Chris arrived on the 26th, so we went to the beach that afternoon for a sausage sizzler (bbq).

We all enjoyed a pancake breakfast on the deck one morning.
We hiked up the Belmont Trig to take in the views of Wellington harbour.
We also hiked up to the top of Castlepoint's big cliff and had a picnic lunch before going back down to explore the beach and lighthouse.
We've been getting lots of use out of our new baby backpack, and Madeleine seems to enjoy the ride. The main issue is keeping the sun and wind off of her, and remembering to take the head cover off for pictures...
On the 30th, we all flew to the South Island to spend New Year's in Queenstown. We had some spare time at the Wellington airport so we set Madeleine on the luggage scale (she weighed in at 9.8kg or 21.6lb). We realized that the flight back to Wellington was her 10th flight already - no wonder she's such a good little traveller!
In Queenstown, we did a full day (12 hr) tour to Doubtful Sound on the 31st. The journey to and from Doubtful Sound took longer than the tour itself, but it was beautiful scenery the whole day. Both ways involved a 2 hr bus ride to the town of Manapouri, then a 1 hr boat ride across Lake Manapouri, and another 45min bus ride across the Wilmot Pass to reach the boat that would take us on a 3 hr tour of the fjord called Doubtful Sound. Madeleine did really well the whole day, either sleeping or talking and looking out the window.
The mountain and sea vistas of Doubtful Sound were beautiful and we had perfect weather for the entire day.
Madeleine mostly stayed inside the boat, where there were tables and big windows all around.
On the way home, we got to go to the Manapouri Hydroelectric Power Station. The bus drove us down a 2km long tunnel to get to the entrance (193m underground!), where you can see the tops of the 6 turbines. 80% of the power generated goes to an aluminum plant on the South Island.
We had New Year's Day in Queenstown to explore the city.
We walked around the gardens, which are on the edge of the lake.
And we took the gondola up to a lookout over the city and lake.


We flew back on the 2nd, and spent the next couple of days relaxing at home. Kristin made a Pavlova - a traditional Kiwi dessert that she had always wanted to make. We were very willing to be her guinea pigs, and it was scrumptious.
We took Kristin to the airport yesterday, and she is now on her way back to Canada. Chris has another week here before heading back to Ontario. It has been so fun for us to have them here, and Madeleine clearly loves the extra attention.
She is a great traveller, but she always loves coming back home. She especially loves having real baths again. She has also finally gotten her first tooth! The little white fang is poking through on her bottom gum, and except for a few rough moments in the middle of the night, she seems to be coping pretty well.