Immunisation

Poor little Zoe has been suffering somewhat following Tuesday's immunisations; she has two large red rashes/bruises on each thigh where she was injected, and has been much more cuddly than usual [a not unpleasant side effect for me]. I had been warned by other Mums that it 'gets worse', and now I know what was meant. I remembered to give her a dose of children's paracetamol yesterday, which did seem to perk her up [or at leat provide enough relief to let her get to sleep].

And here's a post in English....

The previous post was a summary for my friends in Belgium, who I lived with many many years ago, and who have been dilgently wading through these musings. Don't be too impressed about my ability to ecrit en francais either- there's a lot web tools that make it ridiculously easy to translate text, although you do need to be vigilant.

We had the last of Zoe's bi-monthly immunisations today, which is a relief. She was, as usual, very brave, and regained her composure quickly. We go to the monthly clinic [the wait seems shorter than at the doctor's], and I was moved to tears today by the cries of a couple of the baby babies.

Feeding of solids is not going too well, if success is judged by the volume of food that she is consuming. I am trying to give her something each day - pears at the moment - although the timing is a bit erratic. I'm not too bothered by her ambivalence, but if it was anything else you'd be tempted to give it away. It's not that I'm keen to see her eating, but I do want to make sure that her iron levels are boosted or maintained, and, dare I say it, I'm planning to do that by eventually introducing meat. [Sure, it makes this vegetarian mommy a bit squirmish, but at least I won't be tempted by the leftovers!].

Zoe continues to do cool stuff, like sitting up unaided on her play mat for good lengths of time [best not to sit her too close to the coffee table], and is quite comfortable on her tummy, but gets frustrated at not being able to get what or where she wants. She is also babbling away quite noisily, stringing lots of sounds together, which is exceptionally cute. She is also very tactile, fingering all sorts of fabric from blankets to bibs to furniture and clothes, with an especial liking for those with patterns and texture - I have a pair of camoflague pants [I avoid wearing them in public] with zips and lots of pockets, which keep her amused for, oh, at least three minutes [which is a lot of time in baby's world of endless distractions].

Un petit sommaire pour mes amis en Belgique

Zoe est maintenant de six mois. Nous avons commencé les solides, hors dont elle crache toujours mais semblons parfois apprécier. Nos nouvelles marquantes sont que nous avons acheté une maison dans Ballina. Elles ont besoin d'un bon nombre de travail, et sont sur un complot de terrain très petit, mais elles sont dans la distance de marche des magasins et le fleuve et beaucoup de parcs, y compris ceux où nous pouvons exercer notre chien.

Dans autre nouvelle, Ewan a eu une opération de genou il y a deux semaines [ pas aussi sérieux que Francois-Xavier's - j'espere qu'il est bien] and a été à la maison depuis. Ceci lui a donné une chance de développer sa confiance avec Zoe - il s'est inquiété de sa cette semaine tandis qu'I s'occupait de l'université pour la moitié par jour.

Nous avons eu une promenade de famille aux courses de chevaux a Ballina. C'était amusement à obtenir habillé vers le haut, pour prendre un pique-nique, et aller reposez-vous au soleil et observez les chevaux et le peuple. Zoe l'a trouvé trop bruyant, mais sa disposition facile a signifié qu'elle ne s'est pas plainte trop.

La photo est de Zoe et de ma soeur Sally, qui est de 8 mois d'enceinte avec son deuxième enfant.

6 months old

Has been a flurry of activity in our house in the past week: negotiations to buy 'our' house progressed - then stalled - and are back on track again; Ewan had his knee operation, which included an overnight stay on the Gold Coast, with a shopping expedition for Mum and bub. A family outing to the Ballina Cup, with picnic blanket, beach umbrella, thermos for tea and Great Aunty Pat [GAP] was great fun on Thursday, with perfect weather - only challenge was the noise of a huge crowd and constant loudspeaker announcements, which over stimulated, and occasionally scared, poor bubba Zoe. I'm disappointed I didn't take a photo of her in her pretty pink races outfit [thanks Aunty Sheona!].

We also bought a highchair, which she has been practising sitting in - see attached photo of Zoe playing with the feathers on GAP's fascinator.

A visit to Anne, our early childhood nurse on Wednesday for her 6 month [yes, already!] developmental check went very well; in the wave of information it was suggested we start on a teaspoon of rice cereal once a day for a few weeks. I've translated this into a teaspoonful of oatmeal, that I understand is much more nutritious, which I have only managed a couple of times. Ewan gave this to Zoe the other night [rather than the recommended 930am...sometimes the days just get away on me], and she seemed to enjoy it so much that we wondered if she was wanting more. Had a bit of trouble with the 'porridge' last night, because I tried to mix it with breastmilk, but will persevere. Was also some advice about dropping the number of feeds, which saw me expressing into the bathroom sink at 330am the first night, and which has therefore, been filed away for actioning at a later date. I can only cope with these changes one at a time ;-)

Happy baby

Home ownership

We just bought a house! Although we only spent 5 minutes looking through the place, we've today agreed to buy a small house on 'the island' in Ballina. Here's a link
http://www.raywhite.com/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=depi&id=103411754&fmt=&header=&t=rw-hos&s=nsw&p=10&tm=1157328538&c=93694661

There's plenty of money to spend on it - it is fair to say that the place is in 'original' condition - but [hopefully] the bones are good, and the location is excellent. Ewan's not so sure that this is the one - I think he is a little worried about how much work it might need, how close the neighbours are, you know, just worried - but I used my casting vote to get the place. Although we've been looking for months, it has all happened so quickly. I'm excited.

Feeding

Since we're almost 6 months old [24 weeks], I decided to try Zoe with a little solid food, after doing some [internet] research on the what and how of introducing solids as a complementary food. Last night, Ewan gave her a couple of small teaspoons of mashed banana, an experience I think she enjoyed. I also shoved some into her today... just because I could. Then I decided that we could wait a few days before trying again. What a mess!

Another milestone today - Zoe rolled over by herself! After several days of throwing her hips high and sliding around and down - which I took as a sign of wanting to be more mobile - she managed to roll herself over [away from the toys] on her mat on the floor. Unfortunately, I was in the bathroom cleaning my teeth, and only heard her surprise. Her arm was still stuck underneath, but I made sure she realised how proud Mumma was!

Will post some more photos this weekend - I know they make the posts more interesting ...