David's first birthday

Can you believe David is 1 year old already? We celebrated his birthday with a very relaxed picnic with family at Corsair Bay at the weekend and then his first visit to Willowbank Wildlife Park with some close friends on his birthday. The kids loved seeing the animals at Willowbank - it was so successful we intend on getting a family pass for the year!

David trying to convince the deer to come closer; Maia getting up close and personal with a wallaby.

Maia and Rose on the tractor in the farm area at Willowbank; Reuben and Mel and Mrs Sheep.

Looking at the animals; Birthday lunch for David at Corsair Bay.

It has been a month or two now since I've been back at work two days a week, and David seems to be well settled - he gets to hang out with Rose and Maia on Tuesdays and his dad and oma on alternate Mondays, lucky boy!! I'm really enjoying having two days of work - it feels like about the right amount of time.

Dedication and get-away

We recently dedicated David at church. It was great to be able to have family and friends share this time with us. For those that couldn't make it, here are some photos:

Cath read from Psalm 1, which was quite special:

"But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in season , whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper".

We also recently spent a great weekend in Akaroa, complete with gorgeous weather (much appreciated after a long bout of miserable rainy weather). Going on holiday seems to be getting easier with David getting older, and we had some lovely family time together.

David is beginning to enjoy the playground - particularly the swings, and is loving some of the cool toys we've been getting from the toy library, including the 'mouse-mobile'! With the spring weather beginning to arrive, we've been able to get him out and crawling around on the grass etc and are looking forward to time spent outside over summer.

Some more photos:

Still hibernating

Not much to report apart from the littlest one's latest developments, but thought I had better post a few photos for the aunties in london!

David is at a lovely stage: he is crawling around the house at high speed, collecting bruises and cuts on the way as he experiments with pulling himself up onto everything. He's getting pretty strong on his feet and we often find him standing in his cot with a big grin on his face when he's woken up from his sleeps.

He's getting more experimental with making sounds, and even said 'mama' the other day, although I think it was accidental. I claim it still shows that I'm super important to him in his subconscious or something somewhere in there!!! He's also learnt to wave bye-bye which is supercute.

We've taken him to the pools a few times and to the local playground (which he didn't seem particularly enthralled with... perhaps still too young).

And life goes on

David is now mobile! He has developed a crawl-like action (pushing up on both hands and then propelling himself forward by pushing off his knees and/or feet) in the last couple of weeks that gets him quickly to all corners of the room. He's mysteriously attracted to all things electrical -cords, heaters, and remotes etc- and to Reuben's telescope. It's very strange making that transition as parents to suddenly having to 'discipline' him when he touches things he shouldn't and so on. It looks like it's going to be a while before he really understands what we are saying to him though so try not to take it too seriously...

We have recently enjoyed a few meals out at restaurants again which feels quite momentous and noteworthy because of the momentary halt in proceedings with a new baby. We are very grateful for family members babysitting for us! One such dinner was Reuben's mid-winter work function which was a 'Winter Wonderland' themed event at the Antarctic Centre, hence the outfits! We also had a great meal recently at French Farm Winery (near Akaroa) with homegroup where David had his first taste of meat - duck liver pate! How is pureed kiwi 'bif munce' going to compare after that?!

Some lessons we have learned recently:
1. car + snow + crying baby + [BIG puddle + car stalled] + half cooked chicken = problems

2. car + gale force southerlies + crying baby + football game = problems

It seems what could otherwise have been an amusing incident becomes slightly more fraught with a crying baby involved!!!

Not much else to report at this stage - we're just hibernating our way through winter, but here are some more photos for those who are interested:

Home sweet home

We're very happy to be back home in Christchurch again, although it's certainly a LOT colder!!! The chilly weather is encouraging indulgences in roasts, soups, casseroles and other winter fare as we catch up with family and friends. Reuben is enjoying the rather fresh bike rides to work every morning in the frosts (photo on left taken by Reub last week), while Katie is appreciating the joys of staying home in the warmth!

With regard to David, the weeks of grizzling, drooling and rosy cheeks have finally resulted in some teeth! We discovered them the other day after a determined inspection (it is quite a procedure to gain clear access for viewing with a persistent little tongue carefully guarding the crucial area!). Now they are coming through more and more as the days go by, and we think the top ones are probably on their way. It's kind of a relief to know that he has indeed been teething and not just being a grump for the sake of it (you do wonder sometimes!!). We've managed to capture the pearly whites on camera for your viewing pleasure although you may have to click on the picture to see them properly!

We're starting to see the first convincing signs towards crawling, with early attempts to get up on his knees. He's managed to push himself backwards a couple of metres doing this, which is quite exciting to watch. No doubt we will be tearing around the house trying to keep up with him in the not too distant future!

He's also loving bath-time with dad (and his friend ducky), having a good splash around every evening. However he's not so fond of the process of getting dressed afterwards - far too much fussing for his liking!!

Bay of Islands - Anzac Weekend

We're just back from a fantastic four days in the Bay of Islands together. We stayed in a cottage overlooking Paihia, and managed to visit a lot of the historic sites in the area, specifically Russell, Kerikeri, Te Waimate, and Waitangi. We also spent a leisurely day on Monday making our way back to Auckland via the east coast, passing through Mangawhai, Goat Island, Leigh etc.

I (Katie) spent a lot of time in the Bay of Islands area when growing up as my dad was the project manager for the restoration of both Pompallier Mission at Russell, and the Stone Store at Kerikeri, so a lot of family holidays and long weekends were had in the area. It was therefore quite special to go back again, and also to share it with Reuben.

It absolutely POURED most of the day we were at Russell, and we returned home very bedraggled and wet at the end of the day! But we still had a great time - we caught the ferry over from Paihia, and then started things off with a coffee overlooking the bay. We then spent most of the morning at Pompallier Mission (where the french catholics set up base and printed bibles (in maori) to give to the locals). The afternoon was spent walking -in the rain- around the village. We bought this cute-as woollen hat from a market stall for David, which he seems to like judging by his smile!

On Sunday we drove to Kerikeri and bought some local produce from the farmers market before looking through the Stone Store and adjacent Kemp House - the oldest stone building and wooden building in New Zealand respectively. Hearing a lot of the local history from some of the very knowledgeable guides was great, and added a little more insight into how things were at the time these buildings were built.

On the way back to Paihia we visited Te Waimate where another mission station was built - this time by english protestants. (Yes, apparently there was a little friction at times between the french catholics and english protestants!).

On Monday we spent the morning at Waitangi before starting the trip back to Auckland.

A month in Auckland

Well, we're already halfway through our month in Auckland!

We're staying in a great Art Deco flat on the brink of Newmarket, close to all the important amenities: cafes, the Domain (for great walks with the buggy), Plunket... and clothing shops galore! Steve and Ange (Katie's brother and sister-in-law) are relatively close by, so we've been able to spend lots of time with them and Zara, and the latest addition, little Annabelle (see photo on right).

While in Auckland we've had a few episodes of (what we think is) teething discomfort, with cheeks so red they almost glow in the dark, and a lot of grizzling and dribbling, and gnawing on anything near the mouth. Otherwise he's pretty settled in his new home away from home. He's been building up a bit of a repertoire of flavours with the great solids adventure - avocado and banana are rapidly becoming favourites.

We're enjoying the respite from the onset of Winter down in Christchurch with consistently warm weather in Auckland, although it's rained nearly every day we've been here at some stage or other!

The photo on the right is of David with his great-grandmother!

Easter in the Sounds

Once again we made the pilgrimage to the Marlborough Sounds for Easter with the extended Bouman family. Last year, David made himself known with the last throes of morning sickness. This year, he was ever more present! While babies don't really allow for a relaxing holiday, we enjoyed the time away and were able to appreciate the beautiful scenery that is the Sounds.

We had a fantastic holiday home that we managed to all fit in (with the aid of an extra cottage on site), with beautiful views. This photo is sunrise from the kitchen window (yes, I was up at sunrise, but it was about 7.30am!!)

Easter Sunday was very special with a dolphin encounter - we came across a pod of hundreds, complete with mother and baby swimming in synch side by side, right next to the boat. It was such a beautiful sight, made even more breathtaking when they started jumping fully out of the water in front of us.

We also walked some of the Queen Charlotte track together on Easter Sunday - from Punga Cove through to Furneaux Lodge, while Mike and Scott finally managed to catch our dinner (bad fishing all weekend!).

Photo of David with Opa and Birthday Oma

Milestones

Well we've had a few milestones with David in the last few weeks. Those that aren't so keen on babies might want to reach for a puke bucket now - we are completely enamoured and will now proceed to tell you all the details!

Latest developments: he has just started purposefully rolling over from his back onto his tummy - very cute to watch; he has started eating "solids" (not actually very solid at all, but food nonetheless!) and is loving it; and he has moved from his bassinet to his cot. He has also been attending DA (dummy-aholics Annonymous) and has been dummy-free for 2 weeks now! (he was getting a little too attached to the thing, which is a pity really, because we quite liked the effect it had on crying (ie it stopped!)). He has also started making a really cute noise - what can only be described as a crow. You will realise how significant this is if you have heard him grunting away - crowing is a much nicer sound!! All very exciting and a bit of a reminder that they really do seem to grow up very fast. He is a whopping 7.8kg at 4 1/2 months, and has the biggest smile to match!

Partners in crime: this photo is of David with his friend Reuben (Nathan and Mel Runacres' son). Perhaps a hint of future mischief in their eyes??? Their fathers were thick as thieves when they were children too so it would be a continuation of tradition :)