So Kinsley is low key obsessed with two things - 1.Waving to people 2.Touching peoples teeth and its funny because these came on so fast! Basically she sprouted her first teeth then has become fascinated with everyone elses, she grabs your face until you open your mouth and she then proceeds to pick, prod and feel round like a dentist haha! Then she learnt how to wave and now thinks its the coolest thing on the planet and does it to everyone ha! Its so bloody CUTE.
I have been teaching her to wave hello and bye bye for a while now and one day we were sitting in a cafe with our family friend and Kinsley was happily playing in her pram when an old man and his wife sat next to us and he waved at Kinsley and she full on waved back! I was like omg did that just happen!? Sure enough everytime she looked at him and he waved at her she would do it back with the biggest grin on her face haha, and now she waves to waitresses, cars and sometimes even her toys on the shelf haha. The first time she waved goodbye to aunty she welled up hehe, such a cute moment! (Oh her third obsession her singing baby shark toy from Nana & Poppa!!)
This age developments come in hot & fast (Just like Nana and Poppa do when they visit hahahah!) this time they were only here for like 48 hours so Kinsley had to show off with her splashing, super fast rolling to get to the other side of the lounge and how she talks heaps and then she decided to save up all the next ones for the next visit. In the last two weeks she is really on the move (not crawling yet but shes starting to try and figure it out). She does heaps of baby push ups and is starting to try and push up on her feet (vs the penguin all the time haha!) and she turns so fluidly now to get things she wants or when you move to another section of the room so she can see you, shes very elegant when she does it too haha straightens her leg and points her toes (do we have another Fels dancer in the making?) She also LOVES books she gets them infront of her or holds them up and turns the pages like shes actually reading them (giveaway is that sometimes they are upside down hahahaha) but she knows what pages she likes to look at the best! I am finding the touch & feel books perfect at the moment as she explores each page and looks closer at the images and where could feel different - Its actually INSANE how smart their little brains are!
How weird is it that as a mama you get worried something is wrong when your babe sleeps through the night!? Like K had been super upset and terrible sleeping, waking screaming and then being consoled for hours to get back down and then one night she slept 7-5:45 and then we woke had milk and she went back to sleep!? I sat there as Nic went to work questioning myself like omg why's she sleeping so much is she ok..you cant catch a break as a mum haha always something to keep you on your toes. So we had that horrific week of sleep (I've realised it always coincides with mid leap for K) but then we have come out the otherside and she is now consistently (touch wood haha) sleeping REALLY well (close your ears mamas who have been up all night aka Meeks ha!) She sleeps for 10-12 hours each night (wakes a few times but just rolls over or gets herself comfy again) and drifts back off. As ya'll know we decided to keep her dummy for sleep time even though people say its a nightmare as they get older but she uses it to put herself to sleep initially and then isn't phased once it falls out (sometimes at 5am ill pop it back in as it relaxes her so she doesn't want to fully wake up haha cause that's too early for mama to start her day :P) Her day sleep has gotten a lot better too generally we have a morning nap then an actual lunch sleep (or long nap haha).
Kinsley actually decided to sleep through swimming on Friday morning (I refuse to wake a sleeping babe unless it's the last nap of the day as bedtime is my strict routine side haha!) so we went on Saturday instead which was actually perfect as we invited aunty to come and swim in the water with Kinsley and dadda had his first Saturday morning off in ages so he got to watch for the first time 👏🏻😍 The best swim team and we left super proud parents because Kinsley got her first 19% progress as a tadpole!! She was submerged under water and loved it haha and kicks all the time now yay! Aunty was a bit scared being the one to put her under water hahah but I was like it's cool you play bad cop 😂 (bitch I know mwahahahaha) in the end she loved it so it backfired haha. was such a cool morning and I am loving seeing how confident she is becoming in the water (and she has so much fun!) I personally think its such a big thing living in NZ to be able to be confident in the water and a strong swimmer especially being as my family lives and breathes west cost waters!
Entertainment and learning comes in all variations for babies we need to remember that everyday (even boring) things for us is all new to them so don't overthink playtime and explore beside your little one as its so cool to watch them digest and take it all in! I try to expose Kinsley to everyday activities and items around the house at least a few days a week but make it fun by including her not just popping her close to watch (also means this mama gets daily admin done haha so win win - I have found shes not too keen on folding washing though- not that fun 😂 I know hun 💁🏼♀️). For example last week we decided to make dadda some muffins as hes been working so much, Kinsley sat in her portable high chair on the bench next to me and was fascinated watching me sort ingredients. So I seprated each one into a bowl in front of her so she could see and watch (not touch just yet haha) and she has her own set of measuring spoons that she chews and bangs around onto the bench and bowls. She loved it and I had so much fun showing her the process! One day she will be able to help properly hehe 😍 I also talk her through what I am doing and she chats back (no idea if she agrees or disagrees with my methods though lol).
I have been avoiding allergen foods - what your not meant to do haha but only because we don't have any family allergies (helps with bubba) but mainly because I want Nic home with me incase something bad does happen. We have done dairy as she is formula based and introduced cheese and yoghurt but still not eggs, fish or peanuts. Well we did one this week haha - we started with peanuts! Day one we popped a drop of smooth peanut butter on her lip and let her lick it to test if her skin reacts (it should if severe allergy). She wanted more hahaha stuck her tongue out like a cat for milk 😂 I mean we did give her pics 💁🏼♀️ then day two about 1/4 teaspoon on her porridge and then 1/2 the following. We kept a close eye on her and things like her skin and gut movements etc (kept all other foods normal) but lucky for us she didn't have any reactions whatsoever. Now she generally has a little bit on her own spoon that she "feeds herself" with each morning as a treat (also recommended to keep it in their diet being an allergen as otherwise they can develop later in life). Uncle Jay actually caught some fresh snapper on the weekend and has popped some in the fridge for Kinsley so this is next on our list starting today (Im brave enough to do this by myself haha but will still feel anxious the whole time ha!)
We also FINALLY started finger foods (yes i am so scared of choking #pureeforlife ha!) we actually did it first with Meeks and Harry (his first time too lol) and our friend Stevee & baby Georgia, they are the queens of finger foods and are miles ahead of us on actually feeding her like a proper person not a puree baby hahah! So she steamed some broccoli for us and helped us which was so cool as it calms the nerves for sure! So now I am more confident to keep this going and try various things - we have also played with grated cheese, Squashed mandarin and some pumpkin and apple puffs (not much actually gets swallowed haha but she is doing well with getting it in her mouth at least haha!).
Ok so last time we chatted I was doing daycare visits and getting my ass into gear with sorting it all out for later in the year - Well we did it haha! And Kinsley got accepted into the daycare that we LOVED so come October she will be there when this mama goes back to the corporate life! I will be back working 4x days so will have one day a week that will be mama and Kinsley day still yay! We will be Hobsonville based as super close to family who will help out with pick ups etc which is also amazing! I have actually started working remotely again to slowly get my head back in the game (and some money in the bank haha) and I pop into the office for around 4 hours each Wednesday for meetings and Kinleys great nana comes and looks after her. We had our first day this week and it was so cool seeing them both so happy after spending the day together! Its so awesome that she has great grandparents and I love that they have their own connection. It also was semi exciting being away for a few hours where I drunk my coffee while it was hot and had lunch as soon as i was hungry haha mums will get that this is actually BLISS :P
We finished the week off brunch'n and spending the day with Uncle Broccy & Aunty Lu, Kinsley loved waving to Aunty Lu but didn't give Broc a wave until the very end of the day when we said bye bye the little sass pot haha, she just kept smiling at him chewing her fingers! We had the best day (icecreams at the farmers market, walk around the point and lots of laughs) and are so thankful that these two are such a big part of Kinsleys life and have been ever since she was growing in my tummy hehe! Its so special and makes me warm and fuzzy everytime I think about it!
Anyway enough from me!
Chat soon
-A x
PS - We now have all the image from our family photoshoot with Honeyzest Creative gahhhh everytime I look at them I just feel butterflies they are so so beautiful! I have tried to just pick a few more to share with you all haha so will pop below and you can scroll through them (that way I can load more haha!) Make sure you book one in THE BEST memories!!
Tips for the week:
- Heuristic play box with everyday items get out without other toys a few days a week and let them explore, play and learn. super easy and exciting for them at this age where they analyse and asses everything! K's favourites have been the measuring spoons, plastic chain and silicone straw!
- If you are a safety sleep mama like me prepare yourself for when you decide to attempt without it haha because its super freaky when they decide they want to sleep on their tummy eeeek! We had been leaving Kinsley out of it at night this week because you could see she just couldn't get comfy so it was actually almost waking her or making her stir. When we tried without it she slept so much better being able to freely get from one side of the cot to the other (now that she is rolling and pushing up etc). But then 5 days deep and she decided to sleep on her tummy using bunny as a pillow (my heart was in my throat and I kept pacing being like I need to roll her back) but she seems to only do it for an hour or so then rolls back to her side or back (now that its happened a few times I'm ok with it as I have seen her get back etc but shit it was scary haha!) It did look so adorable her using bunny as a pillow though (heart melt moment as we all know how much her bunnys mean to her <3)
- If your child decides to spoon strike like mine and you don't want to battle or trick her for 3 meals a day haha (exhausting!) then a smoothie for breke is a life saver. I mixed up berries, banana and steamed (so it was soft) pear and popped it in the nutri bullet with quite a bit of water (so its not super thick) and she chugged it out of a silicone straw (similar feel to her water bottle).
- If you are all about that matching your mini life (like me) then I highly recommend you check out the super cute mama & mini scrunchies from Tiny & Co. We rocked ours for the first time and got so many compliments, they are super cute!
