Let the crawling begin

Erin is 8 months old today. Over the past weeks she has been getting places without crawling. Sort of standing on her feet with her hands on the ground and then sitting on one bum cheek. Today she crawl properly and Brendon was able to watch her doing it on skype. Technology lets him keep track of the milestones she reaches even though he is far away.

Erin continues to do well with her development. She loves Owens toys more than her own, especially the cars and trains, and takes great joy in destroying his built train track. He on the other hand finds this very disturbing and rushes over to get her a toy of her own. He learns quickly.

At the moment Erin has 3 teeth on the bottom gum and 1 emerging on the top gum. Only 16 more to go. Owen got his first tooth at 7.5 months.

Sleep is enjoyed by the whole household at this moment in time. Erin goes to bed between 6 and 7pm. She sleeps until around 2 or 3am then has her milk. She wakes between 5 and 6am and then the day is full on.

Mealtimes are more enjoyable for all concerned. Porridge and fruit for breakfast, vegetables for lunch, a meat dish of some sort for dinner. In between there is cracker bread and bread crusts. She gets most upset if we are all eating at the dinner table and she isn't included, even if she has just had her own dinner.

A little off today

Erin has not been her usual self today. Moaning and groaning and generally being miserable. At first I thought it was more teeth. Then her temperature shot up for a couple of days to 39 degrees and I suspected Rosella. At bathtime on day 3 of the start of the temp she was covered in spots. Brave little bunny, she had Rosella. Two nights she slept in a sleeveless onesie next to me on the bed and rolled around groaning from discomfort. I gave her as much paracetamol as she was allowed and one time when I sponged her down she didnt even flinch from the tepid water. Glad she is on the mend now. In time to still get some work in before my exam on Tuesday!

Another day another tooth

Erin has 3 teeth now. They are all on her bottom gum. She has been chewing furiously and has a stash of Bonjello and Teetha which she objects to taking. I have to pin her down and squash her little cheeks together to get her mouth to open. 80% of the powder reaches its location, the rest is all over her face.

More controlled

Today I noticed that Erin can go from the lying to sitting position in a sideways movement. I think she watches Owen and wishes she could be more mobile. She is forever watching his every move and trying to get over to things as quickly as he does. It is a race against time.

A full nights sleep

Joy has come to the Morris household. Erin slept through the night for the first time. I was really shocked and got up at 4am to check if she was still breathing. She continued to sleep soundly. I on the other hand could not get back to sleep and so my day began really early.

A trip to SA to meet Granny Lynne

The car was packed and we were off to the airport in Dusseldorf to start our 24 hour journey to SA. First it was a 2hour ride to Germany, then a 7.5hour flight to Dubai (landing at 3am our time!), a transit time of 3hours, then an 8.5hour flight to Durban. After that a 1.5hour drive to Eshowe. The first flight both cherubs did not travel very well but on the second flight Erin slept the whole time except to wake for her feeds.

First vaccination!

I was transported back to my squeamish days when I had to take Erin for her first vaccination. The needles and her cry for 15 mins afterwards was distressing. Erin has put on 2.815 kgs since her birth and now weighs 6.995kgs, is 62cm in length and has a head circumference of 41cm. The nurse was very happy with her cooing, interaction and lying on her tummy. She did suggest Erin has a bottle of formula for her last evening feed to help her sleep through the night.

Second vaccination

Time flies and again the trip to the clinic for the second vaccination was done alone. Erin was very good and did not cry as much this time. She has really grown in both directions - weight 7.930kgs (increase by almost 1kg since the last visit), 67.5cm in height and 43.5cm head circumference. Something has to be said about mothers milk!

Daddy on duty

Brendon was on duty while I was having me time with Owen. I thought there would be some quality bonding going on with father and daughter. The only movement there was was going from partly horizontal to fully horizontal! It's a tiring job being a daddy.

Erin the model.

Erin got so many pretty clothes from people that I decided to take pictures of her in her new outfits before she out grew them. She got a really beautiful pair of pink shoes but when I first tried them on her they were too small. The second time I tried them on her they were too big! She can use them in future for her dolls.

Tummy time

Everyday Erin gets to go on her baby gym and have tummy time. Most times Owen is very keen to join his sister in her daily activities. He is rather energetic and I have to watch that he doesnt squash or hurt her.

The Morris Family

Our family :-)

First visit to the clinic

Erin had her first visit to the clinic today. It has been one month since she was born and has already put on 1.165kg. She weighs 5.345kgs, is 57cm in length and has a head circumference of 38.2cm's.

1, 2, 3

Erin is growing really quickly now. By 3 weeks old she changed from a no. 1 to a no. 2 nappy and now at 5 weeks old she is on a no. 3 (4-9kgs) nappy. We went to the clinic for her first check up and she now weighs 5.345kg's, is 57cm's in length and has a head circumference of 38.2cm's. She has picked up 1.165kg's in one month. She is sleeping well at night (4 to 5 hours before the next feed at night) and during the day (3 to 4 hours before the next feed). The number of times she is awake during the day is increasing and this makes an enjoyable social time for whoever is holding her. She has started smiling too. She is so beautiful to look at but then again I am a biased mommy! Owen continues to love and kiss and prod his sister and is very concerned when she is crying. Erin is not a huge fan of her dummy and needs it for wind-down or a grip. She prefers to sleep without it. Fine by me.

Erin has outgrown her pram cot which was small and dark for the first weeks and has moved to a bigger bed that is next to our bed. She has her little musical dragon to keep her company at wind-down. Grizzle hour is from 6pm-10pm which is not pleasant. The daddy has offered to take this duty over from the granny and I am not saying no! There is no crying involved but wriggling and furiously sucking her dummy and wanting to be held a lot.

Our family is now complete. I had to take a picture of each members shoes as it was so cute adding Erins pink pair to the line.

While the granny has been staying here it has been pancake day every Saturday.

Erin gets all the love

Erin is a super loved baby. Each week granny Lynne in Eshowe gets a skype webcam call to updated on the progress of Erin. She oohh's and aahh's at her. I am so pleased to be able to share some of the happy moments with her when she is so far away. Granny Lynne gave Erin the pink pig too. We will be visiting granny Lynne in August in South Africa. Erin will be 4.5 months old then. The perfect age for smiles and gurgles. Granny Lynese was once again imported for 5 weeks to be on granny duty. We really appreciate having a capable granny so close to us. Erin gets lots of loves from granny Lynese, who is happy to do the jobs that Brendon & I find less attractive. Erin received cards, emails & gifts from around the world with well wishes and welcoming messages.

Erin at 2 weeks

Erin eats well, sleeps well & poo's well! She is very quite but lets us know when she is not comfortable. Bath times are great when she is in the bath. It's just getting naked before the bath and getting out the bath that is a bit of a noisy affair. She is not too keen on her dummy as it is not the real thing. Breastfeeding continues to go well and I predict in no time we will have another plump little cherub living in our house. The pink pig is resident in her cot in her room and piglet keeps her company in her "wieg". Piglet has gone AWOL a number of times but that is because big brother Owen decides piglet needs to live amongst his toys. Owen loves his sister and after the 2 weeks of ignoring all except daddy, granny and the maternity nurse insists on holding his little sister and smothering her with kisses and cuddles. Mommy is slowly becoming a hit with him again too.

More Visitors

And they keep coming with gifts in hand.

Erin Gets Visitors

Thankfully a week has gone by before the phonecalls started with people wanting to come by to meet Erin. Before this I was quite happy reclining on my bed and being waited on hand and foot by the maternity nurse. Erin (and Owen) got gifts and in return the guests got tea and pink & white muisjes (aniseed balls) on a sort of crisp biscuit. Owen was over the moon about all the visitors and made sure that he got to sit in the middle of them and eat his muisjes.

Day 6 - The Heel Prick & Hearing Test

Today Erin had a hearing test which she passed and a heel prick. The blood from the heel prick is used to test for 17 disorders that are hereditery. Some of the disorders incl. those of the thyroid gland and sickle cell anaemia. Little Erin was not happy to have the blood squeezed out of her foot even though her foot was warmed up with a hot water bottle. She wailed and wiggled the whole time.

The milk is here

Thankfully last night the milk arrived. Erin was in milk heaven. She slept so well and I even had to wake her after 4 hours to have a feed. What a delight to be able to sleep again! We had a good day today. Erin is much more content with food in her tummy. She had another bath but has developed a reaction to what we think is the bath soap so now we are going to try Owen's natural products to see if this is the case.

She picked up 60grams and is still plump and pink. The midwife came around for a check-up and was very happy with her colour. She has not turned a shade of yellow either. Her pooh's have changed from sticky tar black to runny bright orange. The pampers no. 1 nappy's are great as they have a urine indicator stripe on them that turns blue when wet or soiled. What a joy to be able to know immediately if there is anything in it. I always check anyway just to be sure. I continue to feed Erin every 2 hours (due to her 7% weight loss) until tomorrow when I move to 3 hours.