Six months...

Tomorrow Grace is six months old - I am posting early as it will be Friday, which is daycare and work day, and the evenings after a daycare day tend to be a little busy!

Rupert is away in Australia at the moment for a week. If ever I needed a reminder about what a great husband and father he is, this last couple of days have been that reminder. I really miss him. He does so much for us and when I am tired it's just nice having someone here to hand off to.

So...six months. It's really a milestone isn't it? And despite being a rather weary Mum today, I can honestly say the last six months have been the best of my life. She makes me laugh, she melts my heart with her smiles and cuddles, she amazes me with how much she is learning. I look forward to seeing her grow up, to become her own wee person. She will challenge and frustrate me in the future I am sure, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

I love seeing my parents with Grace - it's just so nice to see them enjoy her. And next weekend Rupert's parents are coming up from the South Island to meet her for the first time, so that will be really special too. And the special bond that Rupert and Grace have just makes me happy - I always knew that he would be a fantastic father, and to be able to finally give him that opportunity is something I will never take for granted.

As you can see from the photo Grace has discovered Katie! Much rolling and wriggling is done by Grace to get close enough to touch Katie - at which point Katie sighs, stands up, walks about a foot away, and lays down again. She might want to move further away when Grace starts crawling!

I've decided to keep this blog going until her first birthday - and then I am going to print it all off and bind it up for Grace to read when she is older. It will be my gift to her - to show her how much she was wanted, and now that she is here, how much she is loved. Happy six month birthday wee Gracie!

Winter...

I really hate winter. Just hate being cold, hate the rain, hate the lack of sunshine.

On Thursday it was month end - the big day for me at the office...and while Grace had a snuffly cold, she didn't have a temperature or anything else, so Rupes took her to daycare while I went to work early. When he picked her up they said she had started a temperature in the afternoon, so he took her straight to the doctors - we'd been told bronchiolitis was going around, and sure enough that's what she had. It was a long night - checking her every 1-2 hours to make sure she was breathing ok - otherwise we would have had to rush her into hospital for oxygen.

Thankfully, the humidifer, ventolin and nose drops seemed to do the trick and while she still isn't 100% she is certainly better. I am keeping her home all week, just to give her time to recover. I might need the time to recover too - Rupes is away Wednesday and Thursday and he is the MASTER settler in this house - particularly in the evenings when she is a little overtired. I think I will be just going to sleep when Grace does at night!

The funny thing is that even when she is not well, she is still mostly very happy, which is lovely and does make life a little easier. Today for some reason was a tough one - I think her cough woke her up a few times so we had lots of short naps and grizzly wake ups. In development news, lots of rolling over - and rolling back again now, as well as trying to turn the pages of the books we read to her. Oh and she is definately ticklish and her chortle is enough to make the most hard hearted laugh! I put her down on the mat and within a few minutes she has rolled over and wiggled herself right off it - I think I am going to have my work cut out for me. She is having a taste of solids each lunch time - so far pureed pear and today's delight was sweetcorn and pumpkin. She's not too fussed about it quite yet - so just a little each time.

So...that's Grace. Happy, laughing, cute and funny, occasionally challenging and unsettled, mostly healthy but sometimes just under the weather. And in winter - aren't we all?