Monday 8 December 2014

Luka Anya - 11 months old


I'm very late with this one sorry!
I've been flat stick the last month and a half with birthday prep :-)
Plenty of DIY projects that have turned out amazingly! (if you follow my instagram @shaleyabrett you'll see the amazing piñatas Andrei and I made)

Luka's growth this last month has amazed me. She's started walking!
At first she would only stand in one spot for short periods; then longer periods until one day she took a few steps and fell on her bum hehe :D
Since then it has been more and more steps taken and I love it when she walks over to me, Andrei and my mum plus anyone else who asks her to walk over.

Summer is finally here in NZ and I couldn't be happier!
The long sunny days just make me so happy (apart from the humidity). Last Summer I didn't get to enjoy it as much as I was heavily pregnant, hot, exhausted, nesting and couldn't walk far as I either needed to pee or it was just uncomfortable.
Plus with Luka being born on the 27th I spent most of our days inside as I was a little cautious/scared being a first time mum.
So this Summer I plan to go out and about with my baby as much as possible and get her experiencing the beach and swimming and so many fun activities :-)
We went to a local farm yesterday for a picnic where she got to see the usual suspects (horses, sheep, cows, goats etc); it was very successful!

Hmmm mentioning that Luka's birthday is two days after Christmas I decided that the 25th will spent differently.
Instead of celebrating with tons of food and gift giving, this year I'll be going to donate a small part of my day visiting those in need, lonely, disabled and/or elderly.
Christmas is considered the most loneliest time of the year for some so I feel more than happy to contribute some time to the community.
I feel having two big celebrations in one month and so close together wont be very good for Luka growing up as she may start to expect the gifts only rather than the company that follows. So I'm going to try and teach her the art of giving back and paying it forward :-)
I'm not too keen on raising a spoilt brat if you know what I mean.

So anyway, here is an update of Luka :-)

A very rare smile photo of Luka from her preschool photo day


"Why so serious?"
 

Weight: We weighed Luka a few weeks ago and she tallied in at around 8kgs!
She's filling in size 1 clothes and shoes and is still in crawler diapers.

Sleep: She's still waking twice, sometimes more, a night mainly for comfort. And around 4 or 5 am she comes into bed with Andrei and I for another hour or so of sleep.
The other night she had one of those night terrors, so I just had to keep holding her and talking to her until she stopped screaming. It was so sad and the first time that had ever happened, there's not much you can do apart from cuddling them and talking to them softly.
I'm still looking forward to a full nights sleep eventually...

Diet: Luka is pretty much on a normal human being diet, apart from drinking cows milk.
She barely touches the bottled or pouched baby food so she has what we're having, and it works!
Her faves at the moment are cucumber and cheese sticks, strawberry and banana yonanas, strawberries, pineapple, the fluffy part of popcorn (I bite of the choke hazards), broccoli and gravy or cheese sauce and loads more!
She drinks water, sometimes fruit juice, and is still having breast and bottle.
I'll be thinking of weaning her off the breast completely next month as I don't have much of a milk supply anymore.



Love sucking on wet flannels!

Mmmm strawberry!


Strawberry ice cream om nom nom!!!


Social: Luka is still attending pre school and loves it still. I've heard she's quite an independent playtimer and likes to do her own thing. In saying that she loves playing with other kids as per the below pics of her and my friends 1year old boy Lucas :-)
She also loves to be 'shy' around people when we're approached on outings.

Kisses for Lucas awww!!!!

Cuddles :-)


Likes:

  • Get into EVERYTHING
  • Standing up and walking around
  • Morning snuggles with mum and dad
  • Being naked
  • Outdoors
  • Splashing in the water (haven't taken her swimming yet but we have set up her paddle pool a few times)
  • Putting strange things in her mouth I.E. rocks!
  • Having her neck tickled
  • Preschool :-)
  • Playing peek a boo
  • Watching Sticky T.V and Sesame Street

  • Andrei getting stuck in with the heart shaped piñata!


    We made an extra, a diamond, just because. Aren't they pretty?!


    Milestones: WALKING! That seems to be the biggest one at the moment :-)

    Postpartum: With my milk supply bringing in pretty much nothing now it has made me put on a bit of weight.
    But like I said in my last post, I won't be really focusing on that till next year when I have all these birthdays and trips out of the way (I have Luka's, my sisters and mums as well my own birthday just days after each other, Capricorn's, and as well as our trip to Brisbane) but I'm going to start slowly by changing my eating which hasn't been great as of late. I've been eating a lot of chocolate....woops!
    And with Andrei and I doing the birthday DIY late at night after Luka goes to sleep we need a little pick me up, and I don't drink coffee, so chocolate it is!
    Obviously like I've mentioned my milk supply is almost no more, which I'm ok with. I've done a year of breastfeeding almost and I couldn't be more proud of myself!
    I also went out a few weeks ago to my work Christmas party, it was so much fun! Great food, company and it was Alice in Wonderland themed, I went as a toned down Queen of hearts :-)

    Some silly selfies before heading off to my party
     

    One more thing before I go.
    After our trip to Brisbane has been and been blogged about I have decided to stop blogging.
    It takes a lot of time and energy to do it and it's a lot of time and energy I'd rather put elsewhere.
    It has been great to use this as documenting my pregnancy and my first steps and experiences as a mother, and who knows I may come back when I'm pregnant again!
    So after all that I'll be printing off the pages I've written and will leave to Luka until she's older :-)

    Until next time!

    XOXOX