Nearly There...

I feel like I have been counting down to this week for a long time, and now it is finally here! Madeleine and I fly to Vancouver this Friday, so we are (well, I am) starting to think about packing and getting very excited to see our families.

Here is Madeleine wearing her Daddy's favourite shirt (with a tractor on it) and her Daddy's favourite toque.

We went to the Botanic Gardens in Wellington this past weekend, and enjoyed some very Spring-like weather.
The yellow tree behind us is a Kowhai (ko-fai) tree, and they are all in bloom right now. The yellow flowers attract all sorts of lovely musical birds.

The magnolia trees are all in bloom as well, and are so beautiful with their big flowers and bare grey branches.

I was hoping to catch all the tulips in bloom, but it looks like they aren't quite out yet. They planted tulips in the colours of various flags, in honour of the Rugby World Cup which is going on right now. Rugby is by far the most popular sport here, and the fact that NZ is hosting the world cup is a big deal. Here is the Canadian flag, unfortunately not quite in bloom yet.
The one patch of tulips that were in bloom were so beautiful!

Miss Madeleine is now 4.5 months old, and had her 5 month immunisations today - a bit early since we are going away. She continues to be in the 90th percentile for her weight, at 16.5lb and she has grown nearly 4 cm in the last month, which would explain why I haven't had to roll up her pants quite as much lately. She continues to sleep 12 hours straight each night, and her naps have improved a bit. She is constantly drooling, putting everything in her mouth, and loves chewing on her toys (or our fingers). She kicks and squirms, and sometimes rolls almost onto her side, but isn't rolling over yet. She babbles away, and has bursts of laughter that are very unpredictable, and very cute. We are so excited for her to meet all her grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousin!

4 months!

Sometimes it's hard to believe Madeleine is already 4 months old, but when I wake up to the sound of her babbling away to herself, I am reminded of just how much she has changed and grown. She is noticing her surroundings more and more each day, and is now quite interested in grabbing her Sophie giraffe, or another toy, and chewing away.

Growing up is tough work though, and sometimes she just can't make it to bedtime in the evenings, without a little snooze in her chair. She must get that from her mummy. She loves sucking her fingers (not her thumb though) and it is the best self-soothing strategy she has learned so far.

Hiking in the Woods

This weekend we had beautiful sunny weather, so we went for a hike up to Mt Lowry, on the hills behind our house. We also wanted to try out the Ergo baby carrier - a gift from our friends in Ottawa. We took turns carrying Madeleine, and she seemed quite content during the hike, and the carrier is really comfortable to wear.

Madeleine enjoys tummy time best when there is something fun to look at in front of her - like mommy with a camera, or herself in a mirror.

And here she is playing with a cool new toy from her friend Helena in Ottawa.

Just a few more...

Madeleine, getting ready for take off...

Enjoying one of our warmer days...
Listening to Daddy serenading her...
Smiling and dancing to the music...

Chatty M

It feels like Madeleine has changed a lot this past week because she has suddenly started babbling almost all the time. Anytime we put her on the nappy changing area, or on the floor to play, or even mid-feed, she just wants to talk, talk, talk. It really is so cute, but it does mean that she takes a lot longer to nurse. She was 15lbs at her last weigh-in (at 3.5 months), and thankfully, aside from a couple middle-of-the-night feeds during a growth spurt, she continues to sleep through the night. She is also becoming much more interested in toys (although they still can't compete with her own hands), and here she is noticing the little knitted bunny from Grammie Jean.

And the knitted teddy...

She has kept toasty warm in a sweater and scarf from Grammie Jean - the scarf also serves as an excellent drool-catcher.

Exhausted from all the pictures...

It's not the best picture, but we realized there haven't been many times when we take pictures of her bare legs and arms and their many rolls. The winter has been pretty cold, and she is almost always bundled in several layers. This weekend, however, we've had a dose of Spring, and we took advantage of the warmth to show off her chub.

Sockless! Spring must be on its way. She is almost always sucking on her fingers these days, with a constant stream of dribble falling onto her shirt or bib.

But today, she noticed that she has feet! She was quite intrigued by them - or maybe it was the cute black and white socks she had on.
She is full of smiles and loves certain songs, especially one we learned at playgroup about zoom zoom zooming to the moon. Her giggles are slowly becoming more common - they are so cute, and we are forever searching for new ways to make her laugh.
We got her visitor visa approved this week, which she needed to be legally allowed in and out of NZ. She and I will be flying to Canada in less than a month now, and I'm getting excited for the trip. We will have a total of two weeks in BC and three weeks in ON, and will still be back here in time to enjoy summer.

Madeleine's First Snowfall

The so-called "polar blast" has continued, and today we even had snow falling at our house! Steve said that as soon as it started snowing at work, everyone started packing up to head home. The newspapers are full of "survival tips" and one story today suggested everyone wear socks over their shoes if they needed to walk on slippery streets, and eat soup and have hot drinks to keep warm.

We took Madeleine out to see her first snowfall, but she seemed less than impressed with it all.
The weather forecast is for another day or two of colder temps and storms, and then return to normal. It's a strange sight to see our fern tree weighed down by snow!

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.