Ready for Winter

This week I dug out some of Madeleine's winter wear since it is definitely getting colder, both inside and out. Every year, around the month of May, I find myself amazed at how cold I feel here in NZ, and I ask myself how many more months of winter are left? Winter here means wiping condensation from the windows every morning, wearing at least three layers (indoors and out), and always having slippers on. The lack of good housing is such a widespread problem here that Steve's work was actually advertising a seminar for new migrants, entitled "How to Keep Your House Warm in Winter".  

Madeleine is getting a lot of use out of her new sweater, knitted by Grammie Jean. The toque was a gift from some of our Ottawa friends, Wendy and Lenke, and it fits her perfectly.

The buttons on her new sweater are a sheep, a cow, and a horse - very cute - but I'm having a hard time convincing Madeleine that they are not edible.

These stacking rings are one of the toys we got from the local Toy Library, where you can borrow toys for two week periods. She loves these rings, and is so proud of herself for getting them on that she stops to clap for herself after each one.

She spends a good part of each day reading her books - she can even read them upside down. She points to the words and babbles away with great animation. She's not as interested in having us read them to her though and she won't sit on our lap or even sit still next to us. Instead, she crawls away but keeps an eye on us, and looks back at the pages every now and then, clearly still listening.

This is how Madeleine feels when I don't let her play with the camera.

And finally, who do you think the following three pictures are of?!

People often tell me that they don't really see either Steve or me in Madeleine, so I was curious and had my parents send me some pictures from when I was around Madeleine's age. I think there is a definite resemblance! It will be interesting to do the same with some of Steve's baby pictures.

Happy Mother's Day

This was actually my second Mother's Day, but last year Madeleine was just one day old, and motherhood felt very different than it does this year. I had hoped to get a cute picture of the two of us, but Madeleine was feeling particularly squirmy and not very smiley, despite various songs and funny faces from Daddy.

It was a lovely day - church in the morning, then a local market, big afternoon naps for all of us, and some reading on the couch for me while Steve and Madeleine braved the supermarket.  They had a great time apparently, despite M dropping a bag of pasta in an aisle and then screaming (briefly, Steve assures me) at the checkout.

Madeleine loves to pull out whatever I leave in the bottom of the stroller - this day it was the apples from the market. 

Happy Birthday, Madeleine!

From Day 1...

... to now!

We celebrated Madeleine's birthday on the weekend with a skype party with Grandma and Grandpa Gibson and Great Grammy Inez. She got to show them her new highchair, her first balloons, and her first taste of chocolate, which she loved. We skyped with Grammie Jean later in the day and again with Grandpa Mark the next day. Madeleine is certainly an experienced skyper! It's hard to imagine living so far away from family without getting to see and talk with them every week.

On Monday, her actual birthday, I took her to the zoo to show her all the creatures big and small. We spent the most time watching the chimpanzees and giraffes, but I have to admit that I think she was most taken with the iguana that simply stared at her.

Her new highchair arrived a couple of weeks ago and the box has been lots of fun for Madeleine to play in. She loves crawling inside to peek out the window, and when we crawl inside to look out, she comes over and gives us a big slobbery kiss. 

Now that she's one, she thinks she's ready to start some more technical reading, such as the Fundamentals of Optical Design - one of daddy's favourites.

Needless to say, she has brought so much joy to us this past year. We are so thankful that she has been healthy and happy, and every day she makes us smile and laugh. We don't have any more Plunket follow ups until she is 18 months, but I did sneak a weigh-in for her when I went to visit the Children's Ward last month, and she was 24lb. Part of my reason for visiting my old work, was to hand in my resignation letter. As much as I love being a nurse, I am so happy to be able to stay home with Madeleine.

She has only taken a few more steps on her own since the famous "first steps" but she loves walking around the furniture, walking from room to room with her walker, and walking with just one of our hands. She is very chatty these days with lots of stories to tell, but none of them have any real words yet.  She is a busy girl, good at playing on her own (until she gets hungry or tired), and still a fabulous eater. So far the only foods I have found she really doesn't like are carrots and kiwifruit. I don't tell many people here that she doesn't like kiwis!

WWI Air Show

This past weekend we went to an air show of World War I planes, just outside Masterton in the Wairarapa. It was put on by a company called 'The Vintage Aviator Ltd', which restores and manufactures WWI aircraft. The company is actually owned by Peter Jackson and the craftsmanship of the airplanes is really impressive. They had at least 20 planes - both German and British - on display and more than half of them were flown as well. The day started off grey and rainy, but by the time the air show started, the sun was shining and the sky was blue. 

Madeleine loves to point these day - at anything or nothing, or simply when she is making a very important speech. At the air show, she did a lot of pointing upwards, but that didn't necessarily mean she was looking upwards.

We were a bit worried about the noise level for Madeleine, but it wasn't that loud; WWI planes have more of a putt-putt-putt sound and don't go very fast. The loudest moment was when the one and only WWII plane on display, a P-40, did several impressive flybys.

When the WWI planes were in the air they sometimes did some mock dogfights and loop-de-loops.

First Steps!

Last night Madeleine took her first few steps! She hasn't been eager to try it again today, but maybe she's just waiting for Daddy to come home this evening.

Happy Easter!

It has been a beautiful sunny Easter weekend here. We stayed around home and enjoyed having four whole days together. Steve worked on his thesis a bit every day and we went for walks, played with Madeleine at the beach, went out for dinner, read, and watched a couple movies. Here is Madeleine after church on Sunday, in a cute dress from Grandma Georgia.

She loves playing in the sand, but is still at the stage of wanting to put everything in her mouth...

She's becoming more and more of a little climber, and quickly made her way over this piece of driftwood.

One of the things we really like about our new house is that this beach is just a few minutes walk from us. There is also a paved walkway along the waterfront that has been great for walks and runs with the buggy.

A New Toy

Yesterday we gave Madeleine an empty vitamin bottle filled with dry split peas, and it quickly became her new favourite toy. In fact, she carried it around with her all day, everywhere she went in the house, and I started to worry it was going to be her chosen toy - you know, like the blanky or cute little stuffed animal that some kids cling to for comfort. But thankfully, she was able to go to sleep without it. 

Despite wanting to hold onto it at all times, she was willing to play the "give and take" game with it - where she offers it to you, and then promptly expects you to offer it back.

And I couldn't resist posting a picture of her sleeping pose - she often starts out this way and then ends up on her tummy, bum in the air.