Little Miss Cranky-pants!

She may look gorgeous - and she is, but boy does she have a strong will! Erika has decided in the last couple of days that if she doesnt get what she wants - FAST - then she is going to scream until she gets it...LOUD! Its a bit of a shock to her dad and me as she has been so easy going up until now. In her defense she has been feeling a bit sick because everyone got a tummy bug and were sick after xmas, and we are hoping that the loud crying will pass with the tummy bug... shes also decided that there are some people that she just doesnt want to talk to and she screams if they talk to her. This pic is one of her happy moments :) :) :) Even when shes sick she manages to charm the pants off everyone.

Xmas time fun with Mum

<-Sitting on mums knee having xmas at Grandads house next to cousin Dylan who is almost 4yrs old. Erika is wearing her flash new shades that she got from her Aunty
-> Under the tree at Aunty Andries house posing with Mum, Andrie and cousins Ryan (14 months) and Dylan.

Showering our baby with love...

Erika and Deen take a shower. Erika is 4 and a half months old and although she may not be entirely comfortable in the shower (shes a bit unsure) she doesnt cry and is interested in where the water comes from. She doesnt seem to mind the water splashing on her face and is quite happy to have her hair blow waved dry with the hairdryer after her shower!
Sometimes she showers with Mum - this photo was the first time showering with Dad.

My First Xmas

We wish you a merry christmas from our family to yours!

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' ........

SHE ROLLED!!

Clever little Erika rolled over today at daycare from her back to her front and the ladies at her daycare were so proud! They think she is so strong. Actually - she is so vain that she rolled so she could see herself better in the mirror :) Hope her Dad and I get to see her do it soon. At daycare they think she will crawl soon! Bloody hope not - our house needs baby proofing before she gets mobile!

Sleepy Time babies....

There were 3 in the bed and the little one said roll over, roll over - so they all rolled over and Mum fell out... : (

Erika and Dad having a lazy morning... (Erika is 3.5 months in this photo)

Peacefully snoozing together :)

Its.....................SUMMER!

And its bloody hot 'n' humid!

Erika has been given an early xmas present and its a pretty little dress that she looks beautiful in. Thanks Renata :)

The photo was taken this morning just before heading off to Kimba Corner daycare for her last day. She had only just woken up... such a happy girl in the mornings. On Thursday she starts at Absolutely Positively Kids where she can be closer to Mums work during the day and can be fed by Mum instead of being bottlefed by the daycare ladies. Her carers at Kimba Corner are very sad to see her go...

Erika is beginning to gain coordination of her hands and sometimes manages to put her dummy back in by herself. It seems that she is starting teething as well - she is drooling and chewing everything, but there is no indication of teeth coming through yet. It looks like she may be sitting soon, her balance is becoming more steady and she tries to sit all the time, even in her car seat.

Shes growing up SOO fast.

Big Daycare Girl

Erikas hair is getting long enough to tie up now and she looks so cute when its up! She is talking a lot now - cooing and gurgling when you talk to her. She smiles easily and her smile is beautiful!

I have decided to move her from the daycare centre she is in to one just round the corner from work so I can go and feed her myself instead of expressing... it should hopefully make things easier for me, and I get to spend time with her. Its not so far out of the way and the big bonus is that the new daycare centre is cheaper :)

Bub is spending lots of time with our friend Renata now - she is learning Italian with Luca and Malay with her Daddy. She might end up multi-lingual! Cool! There are also Spanish speakers at the new daycare centre - so she could end up speaking languages that her Mum and Dad dont understand - actually not much different to now. I already dont understand her babbling.

She loves to look at faces and even a photograph of a face makes her smile. She also likes to look at herself in the mirror - I keep her change table next to a mirror and she talks and smiles to herself while I dress and change her. This pretty photo was taken on Friday 25th November before we left to go to daycare. So cute! She wasnt impressed that I had laid her back down on the floor - thats why she was frowning. Erika thinks she is such a big girl that she can sit up now, but she cant. She struggles to sit everytime I put her down by lifting her head and shoulders off the ground (straining away) but she has no balance yet. So even if she had the strength to sit, she would fall over. Funny girl :)

Clever Girl!

Erika started daycare yesterday and stayed for the whole day.

She did really well - such a content wee girl!

She was very tired and a bit hungry when I collected her, but she slept right thru the night from 8.30pm til 7am (when I had to wake her up) and she has now managed to slept right through the night for 3 nights :) :) :) YAY!

She is very alert and responsive but she is fairly quiet - coos softly unless she is hungry or tired when she gets a bit more vocal. She watches everything and smiles so easily. Erika looks like she is always ready to break into a smile. Happy little girl.

She is staying home with her daddy tomorrow as he is off work for a couple of days, so we will see how they both get on :)
Good luck Dad!

Beautiful smiles...

Well she sure is getting beautiful! Her smiles light up her whole face :)
Our Plunket nurse visited home this week and weighed, measured and checked Erika over.
She is now 5.2kg and thriving. She has grown to 58.5cm tall with a head circumference of 38.5
She is still fully breastfeeding but we are putting her on bottles during the day to ease her into a daycare routine. She is due for more vaccinations next week and we will chat to the doctor about some very dry skin she has developed on her forehead, cheeks and knees. Not sure if it could be an allergy or maybe something else. Her vision, hearing and general development is good.

We stayed at her aunties house in Pokeno for a few days this week and her Daddy missed her very much :(

As you can see from her photo - she really is a beautiful baby (very biased - I know).

fun with dad

today erika started her day time bottle feeding to prepare her for day care. it's the first time in 1 month since her last bottle feed. today was daddys turn to feed her. she had her first feed at 11.30am for 90ml then sleep.. good 2-3 hrs sleep. then again at about 3.30pm she had her second bottle. this time it's 140ml ..wow!!! she went for a walk with her mum, slept the whole way as she usually does in her pushchair then had a lovely hot bath and fell asleep trying to have her dinner :) mum and sometimes dad..but always mum:) waiting for her to wake up at 2am and then 6am like she always do..

My favorite picture

Here is our gorgeous girl at 2 weeks old, sleeping in the sun in her hammock.

Welcome to Erikas Diary

We have decided to create an online diary for Erika so anyone who wants to see her progress and find out what is happening in her world can come to her site and check out whats gossip.
We will endeavor to post any significant events and recent pictures on here and if you want to you can add to her page!
Right now Erika is 10 and a half weeks old and is beautiful! She is very strong and has held her head up since birth. She is smiling and cooing - but is a bit stingy with her smiles. Shes very alert and doesnt cry much. Shes starting to get a bit clingy to her mum and is beginning to cry when other people hold her - including her daddy! She likes routine a lot and gets very unsettled if we take her out all day. She doesnt sleep well when she is out, and so gets grumpy and overtired at the end of the day....like tonight! Shes still fighting sleep at 9.30pm.