Posts in Category: Anastasia

Progress in May 2011

Wow. What a difference a good day makes.

We had a particularly good day on a Wednesday a couple of weeks ago – the best day we have had for so long. Isaac had next to no colic, we relaxed, Anastasia had fun with animals, we ate delicious seafood, everybody slept well, we got to watch a whole movie in one go. It made us feel fantastic. In fact, despite a number of significant crying episodes since it felt as though we turned a bit of a corner on that day. Wednesday, 18 May 2011. It’s a date for us to remember in perpetuity.

What made this day so great?

  1. Bateman’s Bay
  2. To begin, we were staying at Bateman’s Bay in a very nice little holiday apartment at a place called Parker By The Sea. I would heartily recommend this place – the apartments were gorgeous, modern and well kitted out. The kitchen was fantastic. The bedrooms were nice and large. The whole place just had a great feel to it. Our apartment had the master bedroom downstairs, where we slept with Isaac, and two bedrooms upstairs – one with a queen bed and one with twin singles. We let Anastasia choose which one she would sleep in and she chose the queen bed. She looked so small sleeping in the middle of this enormous bed but she loved it. She slept more soundly there even than she would normally at home.

  3. Birdland Animal Park
  4. Not the famous jazz club, or I might have gone as well. As it was, I stayed home and read books while the girls went to the animal park, which is part wildlife vet, part tourist attraction.

    Anastasia had a ball – she patted wombats, looked at wallabies and even had a snake draped around her. In fact, she enjoyed the snake so much she went back to it and had it placed on her several times.

    At Birdland Animal Park, Bateman's Bay

    At Birdland Animal Park, Bateman's Bay

    At Birdland Animal Park, Bateman's Bay

    At Birdland Animal Park, Bateman's Bay

    At Birdland Animal Park, Bateman's Bay

    At Birdland Animal Park, Bateman's Bay

    At Birdland Animal Park, Bateman's Bay

    At Birdland Animal Park, Bateman's Bay

    At Birdland Animal Park, Bateman's Bay

    At Birdland Animal Park, Bateman's Bay

    At Birdland Animal Park, Bateman's Bay

    At Birdland Animal Park, Bateman's Bay

    At Birdland Animal Park, Bateman's Bay

    At Birdland Animal Park, Bateman's Bay

    At Birdland Animal Park, Bateman's Bay

    At Birdland Animal Park, Bateman's Bay

  5. No colic
    Aside from one session of crying for about half an hour or less when they were arriving at the animal park, Isaac had basically no colic all day. In fact, during the afternoon he was particularly delightful – smiling and gurgling at us.

  6. Excellent seafood
  7. Thanks to a most excellent tip received from our friend Bianca the last time we were in Bateman’s Bay, we returned to the 3 Fish Cafe in the main street of Bateman’s Bay. An absolutely delicious mixed seafood grill consumed while sitting in a little park looking out over the water. A pretty much perfect lunch.

  8. Anastasia slept for at least 3.5 hours during the day
  9. That pretty much explains itself.

  10. Free time and good sleep
  11. Because Anastasia slept so well during the day and because Isaac had a good day, Tegan and I had lots of free time. We got to read books, watch Masterchef and even watch a movie (Mao’s Last Dancer – we liked it) after Anastasia went to bed. And then everyone, including us, slept well overnight. It was glorious.

  12. Did I mention, no colic
  13. It was just so good.

Anastasia at two and three quarters

Anastasia at 2 and three quartersWe are enjoying watching Anastasia grow and develop into a little girl.  We love seeing her personality emerge and her understanding of the world expand more and more.  She brings us so much joy!

A few of her favourite things…

  • People
  • Anastasia is a gregarious little soul who loves her people!  Anastasia loves going to creche at church on Sunday and during ladies Bible study, often asking to go during the week. The carers at childcare have told us that Anastasia is a happy, confident little girl who is very affectionate. She does seem to enjoy her time there, particularly ‘Music with Miss Jess’ on Mondays, and is invariably in a wonderful mood when we pick her up. She has formed consistent friendships with several of her classmates at childcare but she remains most closely attached to her family.  Anastasia loves seeing, playing with, talking to and praying for her family.  When looking at the family portraits taken over the years, Anastasia will excitedly announce, “That’s my family!”

  • Baby dolls
  • These have been a constant favourite since she was about 10 months old.  Where other toys have featured as favourites for a while and then been returned to the toy box, Anastasia has retained her delight in baby dolls.  She plays with them at home, at crèche and at childcare.  Isaac’s arrival has prompted an even greater range of activities, with baby dolls being tucked into bed, rocked to sleep and patted to calm their crying.

  • Acorns
  • After going through a phase of picking up sticks and rocks everywhere we went, Anastasia wholeheartedly transferred her affections to acorns.  The lovely oak trees across the road have provided a ready supply but familiarity in this instance has not bred contempt!  We find collections of acorns in the base of the pram, in Anastasia’s handbags, her pockets and jewellery box, in her toy sink and under the couch in her room.  We must have thrown out kilos of them!  Thank goodness the season won’t last for too much longer…

  • Toy trains
  • Tim and Anastasia playing with her (their?) train setTim was diligent in expanding Anastasia’s toy train collection in the months leading up to Isaac’s arrival and she now has quite an impressive collection.  Tim and Anastasia have spent a wonderful time creating an amazing variety of track designs and sending the trains around them – I’m not sure which of them has more fun!

  • Music
  • This has always been a favourite with her, only now she is much more vocal about what she’d like to listen to.  In the car we often hear comments on the music being played from the rear seat: “What’s this music called?”, “I don’t like this music.”, “I like this music – this song is cool!”.  The Peter, Paul and Mary we used to play for Anastasia has largely faded in popularity, although she is still intrigued by identifying songs that we played for her “when I was a baby”. Dora the Explorer songs are always popular, but the surprising favourite is Bjork’s ‘It’s oh so quiet’.  ‘Lah-Lah’s Big Live Band’ has been a recent and very popular addition to her collection and we have very much enjoyed dancing along in the living room with percussion instruments in hand! Yo-Yo Ma still provides the soundtrack for each evening’s descent into sleep with Bach’s Cello Suites; Anastasia described this to us the other day as ‘quiet’ music.

  • Books
  • Anastasia has always loved books and her love of them has only increased.  She loves looking at books and being read to and has recently begun pretending to read herself.  She delights in ‘reading’ to us by reciting one of her favourite books – “The Big Night-night Book” by Georgie Birkett – from memory.  Lately she has started ‘reading’ to Isaac, sitting next to his bouncer and telling familiar stories from her own books. She is starting to recognise numbers and letters and often gets frustrated when she cannot read for herself.

The Big Night Night Book

Family portrait

Family portrait with new babies
New babies all around: we have Isaac and Anastasia has Isabel, who was her present from Isaac when she was born. This was taken when Isaac was five weeks old.

In the rose gardens

Anastasia in the rose garden

Anastasia and I had a fun time in Canberra yesterday while Tegan went to a high tea at the Hyatt. We went to the lake to watch and feed the swans, had hot chocolate and a brownie at Pork Barrel and checked out the rose gardens opposite Old Parliament House. Anastasia had to be convinced that she wasn’t actually allowed to pick roses and take them home, as she originally announced she was going to do.