The Life of Lauren - continued on tumblr.com

Hello all - it's become a little difficult to keep up with the regular blog entries with me back at uni and Nicola racing around after Lauren. So for the time being at least we've moved across to Tumblr.com which is a "micro-blogging" site...basically it means we can just put tidbits up when they happen which makes life a lot easier for us.

So until further notice, you can follow the exploits of Lauren at http://laurencatherine.tumblr.com. There are some great pics and video of her there so go and check them out.

Lauren is also on Twitter and can be found at http://www.twitter.com/LollyGirlinOz.

Lots of love
Nic and Blair

Hands...continued

Yes, I’m still talking about hands but for a number of reasons this time. Not only has there been a lot going on with our little lady’s hands over the last couple of weeks, she’s been held and cuddled by a few more hands than usual. So where do I begin….

Lauren has realised she has two hands!
Great news - our daughter has realised she has two hands. She has also figured out that the left side of her body does exist. When we were in NZ last week she liked to hold her own hands, pull her fingers and generally look like she was trying to see if they were attached to her body. She also grabbed a couple of toys with each hand and held them very briefly. She started off by holding and moving them and then letting go as if she’s not sure whether she’s actually doing it but it’s pretty cool to watch. It’s amazing how quickly they learn and the concentration on her face sometimes is quite amusing. By the time we were back in Australia she had figured out what her hands are for and is now grabbing the hanging toys on the play gym and trying to put them in her mouth.

They must taste good
Laurens other new obsession with her hands is trying to fit them in her mouth. Not very ladylike I know and I’ve told her so, but she doesn’t seem to care and completely ignores my advice (and she’s not even 4 months old!). I figured they must taste good as she loves to lick and suck them and so I’ve left her to it.

Lots of hands in NZ
At 15 weeks of age Lauren hopped onto a plane to New Zealand to introduce herself to all her kiwi relatives and friends. The flight went well and as usual she was very well behaved and only cried when she decided to do a huge poo just before we landed. Fortunately we had Daddy with us and he dashed to the loo to change her. Besides that she took it all in her stride and was greeted by two very happy grandparents in the arrivals lounge.

The following day (Saturday) all the relatives came round to meet her – I won’t list everyone but have a look at the photo’s to get an idea of how many relatives she got the chance to meet. Again she was on her best behaviour and played, cuddled and slept in everyone’s hands for the afternoon.

On Sunday we had a quiet morning, I think Lauren was a little tired from the journey and busy day before. And then the visitor train began again, this time with our friends in NZ but Lauren took it all in her stride…mostly.

Daddy flew back to Oz on Monday and we stayed until Thursday. It was great to have some extra hands during the day to help with Lauren. Gran and Grandad did a great job of playing, pushing the pram and settling Lauren and I actually had a chance to read my book. So we left very happy on Thursday.

Since our flight to NZ had been relatively easy, I wasn’t concerned at all about the flight home. Unfortunately the flight was delayed which meant all my plans to feed her during take-off and landing went out the window. Fortunately Lauren was content to suck on her dummy and we only had two screaming moments on the plane…I’m now one of those people on the plane that everyone frowns at!

Hands covered in poo
We have also had our first poo-up-the-back experience since returning from NZ. Unfortunately for me, I hadn’t noticed when I went to change Lauren and so I pulled up her top and my fingers emerged covered in brown sticky stuff. I’m sure it won’t be the last time but needless to say it wasn’t an experience that I’m in a hurry to repeat.

The only other thing we did was complete our baby course at the hospital and so apparently I’m now fully equipped to face the next 20 years! It was great to do the course and it has really helped. We also met some great other mums and bubs who we’re going to keep in touch with and so that will be great. Although all the other bubs are boys and so Daddy is a bit concerned that Lauren has no girls to hang out with but being my daughter she’s bound to be a tomboy anyway!

Oh, and Lauren has started chatting to us. We were told to mimic her noises which we've been doing and it's encouraging her to chat away. We managed to capture this on video and the clip for it is available here.

Well, I think that’s it for now. You can see all the photos of the last couple of weeks here. And remember if you want to follow Lauren on Twitter her ID is @LollyGirlinOz.