It's all about the water

Naia is nearly five months old!

Our little waterbabe enjoys her bath every night, especially the splashing part.

Just check out that grin!

 

She loves the water so much, she's just started "swimming" lessons.

 

Her first lesson was probably the most fun we've had yet.

 

(Naia is chewing on my hand in this video as it was that or drinking the pool water...ewww.)

 

 

We even find places with water for our weekend outings as a family...here we are saying hello to some ducks up in Matakana.

 

All this water play takes energy. Our little growing girl has started eating some fruits and vegetables...mmm mashed kumara...

 

Of course, it can't really all be about water. Other favourite activities include reading (and chewing)...

 

And jumping...

 

And talking...



Four months already!

It's been a busy few weeks, but in truth I have no idea where the time is going! Naia is a busy little girl. She rarely stops moving when she's awake...constantly "running" with her legs. Heaven help us when those legs can push against the ground and she is mobile!

She's getting really good at tummy time now.

She even loves reading while lying on her tummy!

In the midst of all this activity, she finds time for some relaxing too, such as at the osteopath...

...and in the bath...

We made our first trip to the zoo. I think we went mostly for the adults, but Naia really seemed to love it.

Naia hates daytime naps, but when we can convince her to sleep for an hour, she rewards us with a great big smile when she wakes up.

On Fridays we've started going to Mainly Music, which involves loud boisterous music with lots of noisy children. Naia absolutely loves it, in part because she loves music and in part because her daddy goes too and she gets to rock out with him.

Our little baby girl is growing up so quickly. Just check out her grin as she tries out her new high chair. It won't be long before she's starting real food!

And just for pure cuteness...

The many expressions of Naia

The big event of this week was getting a passport for Naia. At first mummy and daddy thought, how hard could it be to convince Naia to stare straight at the camera with a neutral expression? Three hours later...

(We gave up and got a professional to do it!)

For my first Mother's Day, we bundled up the bean and went out to Muriwai (on the west coast) for a picnic and a walk on the beach.

 

Naia now loves walks in her buggy...

 

...especially when she is all snuggled up with her toys (though apparently her startle reflex is still going strong!).

Naia also gets lots of daddy time in. She's so tiny in his arms.

She's still our water baby. We finish every night with a bath (and the more water splashed on the floor, the better) :).

3 months old!

It's been a big week.

Naia greets each morning with a smile now. What will the day bring?

She's learned to hold her toys and shake shake shake :).

 

She made her first visit to a sailboat. It was too windy for time on deck, but she loved being down below. We think the gentle motion was soothing for her. This is good news for her sailor parents! (Thanks Sunny and Devon!)

She spent a lot of time practising being just plain cute (especially in her gorgeous new knitted hat!).

 

And then she celebrated turning 13 weeks old by surprising Mum with a new trick.

It was all rather exhausting. Thank goodness for naptime with Daddy.

A new blog for our baby girl

We want to share photos and videos of our baby Naia Bean, especially for those of you that don't get to see her every day. She's changing so quickly! So, to start things off, here are a few videos that we took early on.

Five weeks old and sleeping peacefully (this may not seem that exciting, but if you know how much time we spend trying to convince Naia to sleep during the day, you'll appreciate this video's stillness and peacefulness!)...

The next day, wide awake and playing with her "cats"...this has been her favourite toy from the moment she first saw it.

Seven weeks old, and our baby girl (whose name means "dolphin") loves being in the water.

For some reason, we didn't take any videos for a few weeks, but here's the latest from just a few days ago. Sorry it's so long...I need to learn how to edit videos down! We have lots of fun at playtime 😊.

We'll post more videos (and photos) whenever we get the chance (i.e. when Naia lets us!).

PS Mike suggested I explain "bean". Naia's nickname when I was pregnant was "Bubsie", but when Mike saw her on the first ultrasound scan, he said she looked like a bean. The name stuck. At first she was Bubsie Bean, and that has morphed into Naia Bean since she was born :).