Eight weeks

Araminta was eight weeks old yesterday and to mark the occasion she slept through the night! She went down at 10 pm and woke up at 4.50 am. It’s still an early start, but given that she fed and then went back to sleep for another couple of hours, not too bad. I have to admit that (because she grunts in her sleep) I got up to check on her a few times. Jeff got unbroken sleep though.

Here she is on her daddy’s lap.

Look at that smile, we are seeing it more and more.

Here she is smiling at Flower.

Flower is a big hit. Araminta talks to Flower while being changed.

Grand-dad and Grandma in NSW sent Araminta a lovely Australian present – a kookaburra. This is so soft.

She was quite taken with it and chatted to it for quite some time.

We are hoping that last night’s effort was not a once-off, and that tonight she will sleep through again. How lucky do you think we are going to be?

Saying good-bye

Araminta had one last play-date with her little friend yesterday, before they emigrated to Canada.

Unlike the last time they ‘played’ together, this time she was quite interested in him.

Last night she slept for 6 and 1/2 hours! Which was wonderful. She then spoilt the effect by regurgitating her entire feed onto Mummy and then having a nappy blowout in Daddy’s lap while Mummy was cleaning up – not fun at 3 in the morning!

She’s turning into quite a cheery little thing who loves her bath. Today she tuned into her pram toys for the first time.

Look what Mummy made

I cross-stitched this little design onto a T-shirt for Araminta. I think it’s come out really well.

This postition lasted 5 minutes before she wanted to be picked up.

Here is a close-up of the shirt itself.

This was lots of fun to do. I can see more of these things happening, if I get some time…

An evening out

Thursday night was the beginning of the college’s graduation weekend and was marked by the alumni dinner. As staff we were required to attend and of course Araminta came too.

It was unseasonably cold, so we dressed her warmly in this little outfit that she has almost outgrown.

For the most part she was pretty good, and only cried a few times. Our friend Claudelle was the official photographer for the night. Here are two photos she took of Jeff with Araminta.

She was fighting sleep at this point and fell asleep a few minutes after these pictures were taken.

More pretty things

Araminta received some more presents in the mail this week. This beautiful dress came from Jeff’s cousin and her family.

One of Mummy’s internet friends in the USA sent her this lovely parcel.

Along with some tea and liquorice for Mummy. Another one of Ruth’s internet friends sent her these lovely shoes.

They came all the way from New Zealand. Melissa makes (and sells) baby shoes and clothes out of vintage recycled material. These were a table cloth I think.

Lastly but not least, honary aunty Kerin sent a lovely package of prezzies for Araminta, highlights are:

Very cute denim skirt and

Gorgeous top and pants.

No pictures of Araminta today, she spent most of the day sleeping. This means that she was late going down tonight 9 pm. She’s pretty good at night only waking once or twice and going straight back to sleep after a feed so we are lucky in that respect.

Looking good

Araminta had her 6 week check up with the doctor today. She was very well behaved, she didn’t cry and was quite genial.

I thought I’d post a few more pictures of her here. On Sunday Jeff’s department took us out for lunch. I dressed Araminta up in a cute little outfit given to her by one of our friends here, the socks come from a friend in the USA. I’ll post more pictures of that parcel in a later post.

Yes, that is a smile you are seeing.

Her Great-Aunty Linda (Ruth’s mum’s sister) sent her some hand-knitted booties

They are beautiful.

This is what she wore to the doctor’s this morning.

One of Mummy’s internet friends from Ireland sent it to her – it’s customised just for her, there’s also one with an elephant on the front, but that got spat up on before we could get a photo. The quilt comes from one of Ruth’s friends in the USA.

5 weeks and 6 days

It’s been a while since we updated. Araminta’s had a really bad case of baby acne which hasn’t been conducive to taking pretty pictures, it’s starting to clear up now though.
She has started to smile more in the last 2 days, which is lovely, she’s generally quite a happy baby.

We are finally in a routine which is giving us both more sleep at night, and Ruth more time during the day, Araminta is also a lot happier now that she isn’t so tired too.

The girl has her 6 week check up on Monday and she needs to have more vaccinations this week too. She was vaccinated for TB and polio before she left the hospital.

Here are some photos of Araminta, on the quilt that one of Mummy’s blogging friends made her. She is wearing clothes that used to belong to her cousin E in Brisbane.

Sorry, that one’s a bit out of focus, but she’s still cute.

Cute isn’t she, and don’t you just love the quilt? The cloth nappies that she wears make her seem all bum, she’s like one of those bowling pins that you can’t knock down.

Interestingly, I’m finding that some of her little outfits can’t be worn with cloth nappies, they don’t have enough fabric in the backside.

Summer?

It is unseasonably cold at the moment. This means I get to put Araminta in things I’ve knitted.

I love this yarn – it was hand-dyed for me as part of a swap that I participated in two years ago (2005) using food colouring and the microwave. I also crocheted the blanket she is lying on.

She frequently sleeps with her hands tucked under her head, or clasped together.

Araminta received parcels on Friday from Deanna and Don (friends from Brisbane) – a GORGEOUS red and white dress for church or special occasions; and a lovley little pink dress from her Great Uncle John (Ruth’s uncle). They are both size one, so it will be a while before you get to see her in them.

We’ve had a rough few nights and are all a bit tired. Poor Jeff is preparing exams for his students at the moment. Tomorrow is quilting guild day and Araminta is going to go with Mummy. The ladies at the guild have been anxiously awaiting her arrival, so I will dress her up cutely and show her off.

More gifts

Araminta is being very spoilt by all of Ruth’s internet friends. The generousity of people I’ve only met online and never in real-life never ceases to amaze me. These two tie-dyed babygros came from a friend in the UK who dyed them herself.

Here she is in one of her new outfits (with the new booties and soft toy that also arrived this week).

Close-up

She’s gaining weight well and is now 4.1 kilos (9.02 pounds).

She went out to dinner last night for Jeff’s student’s graduation banquet and was very well behaved.

An embarrassment of riches

Araminta has been a very spoilt girl this week. She got three parcels in the mail. The first one came from Aunty Fiona in Australia, she sent us some of cousin Esther’s clothes that she had grown out of. They are very cute and we can’t wait to put Araminta in them.

The second parcel came from one of Ruth’s internet friends in the USA.

It’s a zebra sock monkey, a very cool hand-made bib and knitted booties, Mummy LOVES the booties.

Araminta is fascinated by the zebra

She is starting to focus on things now and is showing an interest in the world around her.

The third parcel came from one of Ruth’s internet friends in the UK – we did a fabric swap and Kate included these two outfits in the package for Araminta.

The pink and blue really suit her. Kate dyed these herself.

I’ll post a picutre of Araminta in her new outfit in the next post. It still needs to be downloaded from the camera.