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| Oyster Catchers at Huia Bay |
Elsie Bear
Angel Child! This week someone stole our Elsie and replaced her with an angel child. Elsie is spending much more time relaxing on the floor which is great! Sometimes we're even getting smiles during tummy time - which is still very short-lived but getting longer all the time.
Elsie had her vaccines on the 7th of June and I managed to persuade the nurse to let me weigh her. I was so pleased to see that she was 6.625kg! Which is amazing as she was 6.1kg when weighed in New Plymouth only a few weeks ago. This would explain the crazy all night feeding frenzy over the last two weeks. Growth spurt!
This week I fed her some banana (as she had grown so much I thought perhaps she'd like some solids!). I was in the kitchen and she seemed really interested in the banana so I thought that I may as well take advantage. I cut a wedge and she held it and sucked it. She seemed to quite enjoy it - but then again she enjoys sucking wooden blocks - so it's hard to know if flavour has anything to do with it. She bit off a large piece and looked a bit shocked herself. I got all worried that she was choking (Joel is she breathing!) then when she started gurgling away again I got all excited and thought she had eaten it. But I found it a few minutes later more than a metre away on the floor. Obviously she's quite a good spitter. And stealth. I only cut off about 2cm of banana initially. Unbelievable how much mess it made! It kinda put me off pressing forward with weaning for the time being. Must buy more bibs.
Otherwise it's all about the drinks this week - well anything in a crockery cup or a glass. Elsie is fascinated by it - reaching for it and wanting to put it in her mouth. It's all lovely learning and development until it happens to be a glass of wine or a beer (see later). Are we bad parents for letting her 'explore' the top of the bottle of Pinot Noir..?
Day time naps are much improved. Well they are still only 40 mins but she's taking all of them in her bed and going down without it being too traumatic. We're counting this as a success.
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| Elsie with her Aunty Yvonne |
Joel and I
Still busy catching up with folk this week. But we found time to enjoy another sunny day at Cornwallis beach. The light was really beautiful and the water was like a mill pond. I know we are in a sheltered bay in a harbour and all (as Joel impatiently pointed out) but I still can't believe how glassy and still the water was. Eerily quiet for a beach - no wind, no waves.
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| Sunsmart at Cornwallis Beach |
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| Native Delights |
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| Tasty Hand |
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| A Strangely Flat Beach |
Bones and Yvonne came to stay - Yvonne bringing half of the Paihia harbor with her; kina, oysters and smoked fish. Bones and Joel had some good luck fishing pulling in a few gurnard.
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| Joel's Gurnard (note this is a tabloid not a broadsheet!) |
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| Seafood Feast with Bones and Yvonne |
Yvonne brought her massage table so on the Friday when it POURED with rain Joel and I had a long soak in our huge bath followed by a lovely long massage. Yvonne gave me the best massage that I have ever had. I spent a lot of the day in my bathrobe. Go the Huia Day Spa!
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| Loving the Glassware - Huia Day Spa |
Bones and Yvonne headed off over the weekend so on Sunday Joel and I checked out the French Bay French Market. It wasn't particularly French with stalls selling Spanish paella, Greek sauces, Middle Eastern dips, Italian pasta, weird NZ silica and some bric-a-brac, sorry, brocante (none of it French). Okay, there was one crepe stall and a French bakery stall but it had absolutely no bread left - not even one baguette. What was authentic was that we were served the first bad coffee that we've had in New Zealand. Ooh la la burnt coffee on a Sunday morning. It made me nostalgic for Europe savouring the flavour of the scalded milk and wondering if underneath the plastic lid there was a skin formed on the milk...
Having said all that it is an absolutely beautiful spot and we had another(!) warm sunny morning. We made the most of it hanging out by the water drinking bad coffee. It was really enjoyable!
We're finding ourselves getting almost panicky to 'make the most of it' whenever the sun shines. Firstly because in NZ it's likely to be pouring with rain in another half hour and second because it's only about 10 days away from the shortest day so we feel sure that our luck must be about to run out and that proper Winter weather will set in soon. Fortunately it hasn't yet.
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| Elsie at the French Bay Market |
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| Mmmm Bad Coffee |
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| Nice Spot for a Market |
Having been unsuccessful with bread at the French market we stopped in Titirangi on the way home to check out an Italian Bakery that I had noticed. I went in and asked for a loaf of ciabatta. 'What's that?' the lady behind the counter asked me. Oh dear. I came out with a decent sour dough stick though I'm not sure that this is Italian. Look I'm trying really hard not to be a wanker but come on! Ciabatta! Italian Bakery!
We called on Kit and Lissa on the way home. I got to have my first cuddle with little Maia (I have been waiting very patiently..). Such a cherub. She is an amazing little thing - she is sharp as a tack - looking around, interacting, smiling. I swear she wanted to reach for a toy - if she could only control those arms!
Elsie continued her fascination with glassware by attacking this beer bottle
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| Bad Parenting 101 |
In the Kitchen
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| Gurnard of Course! |
I jumped right back on the horse and made another carrot cake. I stuck with the recipe that I had thinking 'better the devil you know' but reduced the baking powder and baking soda down a bit. It came out like a steamed pudding. There's moist and then there is downright weird. I was tempted to serve it with custard! It tasted good though and the carrots weren't green. Sigh.
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