And so 2014 begins! The last few months have flown by with just so much to work through, lots to do, and many, many balls in the air. Really hoping that this is now the start of a much quieter year - on all fronts, but especially for the Nate-star. He continues to do really well, and we're hoping that the next few rounds of hospital appointments follow the same trend. Here are some more shots of him from over the Christmas / New Year period.....
I like to stand (and hold court at the same time!)
Playing with Donald
Having a giggle with Mummy
Flying my plane with some backwards stepping
Current favourite toy - spins and makes (repetitive) noises :-)
His big reveal after a game of his favourite, 'where's Nate'!
Here are some promised photos of the house progress, although everything has pretty much stopped with the Christmas / New Year break. We are hoping that the rest can be completed throughout January, although the list of things for the builders/tradesman to complete, still feels pretty long. We also haven't really begun to unpack much beyond the kitchen - everything is still pretty much in the garage (as you can see from the below photo) - because the internal painting is not complete enough yet for us to move things into wardrobes and storage cupboards etc. So it's still a little bit like camping, albeit glamour-camping with a fully spec'ed kitchen and bathroom :-)
New pergola up, still to be painted properly, fireplace still to go in
Looking back towards the house
Looking around the side
Formal lounge area with a fair bit still to do!
Kitchen is all in, and gorgeous
Looking down the hallway
The garage, and this isn't even the half of it!
And the piece de resistance...check out Nate-star's room!
Nate-star's completed digs :-)........
...where lets hope he sleeps peacefully!
New Year's Eve was a quiet night for us all. Nate, the girls and I shared some take-out, and then a New Year toast with Mum and Dad later in the evening. Robin was on a plane en route to the UK to see his father who is very unwell, and he arrived there New Year's Eve UK-time. The original plan was for Robin to be away from the 7th till the 31st, but this has been brought forward with Robin now away until the 23rd of January. It's fantastic that Robin is now over there with his Dad and his family, although challenging with his Dad being so terribly unwell.
A shot with Daddy before he flew out
Sending him on his way
With Mia (Dad, you better grow some more!)
Nate-star hanging out with the gramps at the house. Doesn't look too worried without Daddy around yet, but it's early days!!
Morning cuddles with Mummy
Daddy sent across a shot of him as a wee one. Check out the baggy pants :-). I think Nate-star will 'out-cool' Daddy in the style front, but i must admit Daddy was a cutie!
Daddy also sent an mpeg of Nate's other Grandad (Robin's Dad, Roy) back in the UK. Here he is in action back in September 2013, doing what he loves. A very talented man. Wish we had the opportunity for Nate and Roy to easily meet, but instead he gives Grandad his gummy smiles over Skype :-)
January the 9th has just past, and Nate is now ten months old (eight and a half corrected). In fact, we'll soon need to start planning his first birthday party :-). We'll probably opt for a little bit more fanfare than my recent 40th (which came at a bad time on the renovation front), but was a lovely evening shared with my folks, Grandy, Chris and Norm, and Mike and Claire.
Developmentally Nate is doing really well. He continues to get stronger, and while delayed, is progressing nicely. His latest trick is a spot of sitting :-). It's short durations at this stage, and he can't transition himself to or from this position as yet, but we are sure he soon will!
Nate-star's new trick!
Nate now has two teeth on their way through, and he weighs in at 8.44kg (roughly around the 40% percentile), with a length of 71.5cm (roughly the 60% percentile), and a head circumference of 46.5cm (the 90% percentile), so he is slowly growing into his larger head :-)
Here are some of our more recent video's of him in action......
Some photos from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, although not nearly as many as there should be. In all the excitement of Nate's first Christmas, Mummy being sick, house cleaning from build dust (again!), Daddy organising the BBQ turkey, Granny and Grandaddy helping with wine racks, shopping, and vegetable prep - we forgot!
Our Cadbury-purple coloured Christmas Tree!
But we had a lovely afternoon with the girls, Grandy, Chris and Norm, Granny and Grandaddy, and the three of us. Nate scored a LOT of loot, as did the girls. Hours of entertainment to come! Thank you to everyone for thinking of him, he was well pleased!
We also had a toast for a new baby in the wider Ryan family - little Sophie Margaret born on Christmas Eve, to my cousin Michael and his wife Claire - a future playmate for our nine and a half month (eight months corrected) Nate!
We paid the price though, for a day of great excitement for Nate (read over-stimulation) - the little man took a LONG time to wind down enough to get to sleep :-(. Lucky for us, he's usually so chilled out, so thankfully that was well out of character. Although while we are on the sleep subject, his new rolling trick is proving to be a pain-in-the-butt in his cot, he delights in rolling on to his tummy and then gets wedged against the side and stuck. Cue cries for rescue. Still at least he's getting a strength work-out at the same time! (now if only the same could be said for mummy :-)).
Hanging with Daddy on Christmas Eve
A spot of telly
Grandaddy has really nice blue buttons :-)
Laughing with Grandaddy!
Cuddles with Grandy (Grandaddy's Daddy)
Propped in my new Nate-star bean bag!
Flying my 'walker plane' on Christmas morning!
Formal attire for Christmas Day - Nate in bow tie :-)
Been awhile since I last blogged....it's been busy! To say the least!
'Moving in' was a bit of a challenge! What was supposed to be an easy move in spread across Wednesday to Friday, turned into a last minute call on the Friday morning to delay the move yet again. We ended up spending a couple of nights commuting from Mum and Dads at Waiheke, as our house was just not viable option to bring a baby with respiratory challenges into. Dusty and masses of internal painting still to do. We eventually made it in on the Sunday afternoon after a team of painters gave it a nudge on the Saturday and Sunday, and after Nate had made the most of a few days being spoilt by his Granny and Grandaddy!
So we're now finally in....and Nate's birthdate is sealed in the concrete path cementing our new home!
Nearly two weeks have passed since then, and things still seem pretty hectic. There is still quite a bit to do - some of which are variations like formal lounge shelving, master bedroom window seat framing and glazing replacement (ok, so there were one or two (or twenty!) variations along the way) - and some of which is part of the original contract, like finishing the exterior painting, pergola, exterior fireplace, planter boxes and porch entrance, interior fireplace, formal lounge, some interior painting, re-staining the internal floors darker, re-work on the internal stairs, and loads of other little finishing touches.
I don't think we'd say it's been 'smooth', and the stress levels have at times been pretty high. Still I guess you expect some challenging situations with a build of this significance, and its fair to say that that is what we've had. And while we won't be completely finished this year, we are getting closer. The days where builders appear at the curtain-less windows at 7am are definitely numbered?! In fact, parts of the house are now starting to look really really good :-). Bring on the finish, we say! I'll definitely post some more photos over the next week or so, so you can see the progress.
But on news that really shouldn't wait......
Nate made a major milestone about two weeks ago!! He has finally clicked on the rolling front and can now roll on his mat, in his cot, and on his change table. In fact everywhere! It's a relief to see this happen, even though it is clearly delayed in its nature - he is 9months old, or 7.5months adjusted. Here he is in action and this is pretty much the first time he rolled continuously.......
And here he is hanging with his big sister Mia on his work out mat...both looking gorgeous :-)
And below is his first time feeding in his high chair, in our very messy (still unpacking) and unfinished (still no splashbacks) new kitchen. A his weigh-in this week at 9months 1week (or 7months 3 weeks adjusted), he weighed in at an impressive 8.2kg with a length of 71cm. That's about the 35% percentile for weight, and about the 60% percentile for height,so he is making really good inroads. Not bad for a baby born on the 4th percentile for weight :-)
He is also loving rolling around in his cot like a squirmy baby, before he crashes out.....yesterday I found him with his head right down the bottom of the cot, legs facing the other way! He's loving his new exploring!
And here are some shots from his last conductive session...check him out working SO hard. Little trooper!
Kicking the ball!
Trying to be on all fours!
Practising sitting!
Here he is hanging out with Daddy and Donald in one of our new lounges (excuse our crappy old furniture - family heirlooms these ones - finding time to go furniture shopping is our new year resolution!)....
And last but not least, trying his new walker toy.....lets hope the wheels are kind to the new wooden floorboards.....oh well, as long as he's happy (one smitten mummy and daddy!). Xx
Rachel has just sent us a teaser pic of some of the Auckland based Super Power Babies, so now we have something to share! Nate is bottom left, showing off his superpower head-holding in tummy time :-). Gorgeous!!
He had quite a few photos taken in different positions, and in two different outfits, so we're hoping the book picks up a couple of the amazing shots taken. But there are some absolute cuties here......
And the house continues to make progress.....we moved some of the beds from Robin's storage locker today, tomorrow we move most of our valuables, and then on Friday movers come in to pack up the kitchen and move all the big stuff. So Friday night we are in for good!!!
Some may find that hard to believe from the progress shots below!?! The wet weather this week hasn't helped that!
However the Alarcon team assure us that most of the internal will be complete in the next couple of days (bar some automation, light adjusting, wallpapering, splashbacks etc), and then the external will be completed over the next week or so (painting, pergola, fireplace, paths, exterior stairs etc).
But really exciting to be finally moving home.....soon :-)
Hallway staining done, skirting etc still to happen
Informal lounge stained
Kitchen now awaiting island bench and splashbacks
Formal lounge stain complete
TV cabinet being built in informal lounge
Window seat in formal lounge
Girls bedroom lights & carpet in
Master bedroom - carpet in, window seat underway
Master bedroom light
And hot off the press! Nate has made BIG progress this week - his kneeling at his toy box has got much better with his back now straighter and stronger, AND he can now roll from his back onto his tummy :-). Happy days! I've posted one video below, but will add another one of his kneeling (to this blog update) once I capture it. Enjoy!
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