Laughing Baby

Another photo from our Queensland trip...she started laughing at us for no reason on this particular night when we were staying in Noosa. I guess sometimes Maya just thinks her parents are pretty funny?

First Food

While we have been exposing Maya to different tastes and foods for the past few weeks (paw paw, rockmelon, honey dew melon, mashed chick pea, even a seaweed rice cracker!), she just had her first 'real' food 2 days ago: baby rice cereal, mixed with breastmilk.

I also fed the munchkin some mashed banana, but she made a funny face and wasn't as keen. I've been told to start with one taste first, and then gradually introduce others, but got so excited about the cereal that I thought I'd try the banana as well. Today, at a friend's house, she tried vanilla yoghurt mixed with honey dew; but again, she wasn't so sure (I think Maya is more interested in eating the actual SPOON than the food as such).

And has it improved her night-waking?...too early to tell, as she's still wanting breastfeeds every 2-3 hours at night. Hopefully it's not a myth that when babies start solids they sleep better? I've actually become quite used to the night-feeding business, and feel rested enough (I always have a good sleep-in in the morning while Noah feeds the animals), but some kind of change may need to be made soon, now that Maya is almost 6 months old!

Queensland Trip

Maya is becoming quite the seasoned traveller, at the tender age of (almost) 6 months. We just made a trip to North Queensland, for Noah's research, as well as for visiting my family. First stop was Brisbane, where Maya met her second cousins (?) Melissa (my cousin), her husband Tamio, and their son Kai (2 years). As you can see, Maya loved Kai and thought his shirt particularly tasty. Noah left us in Brisbane to drive up along the coast, stopping along the way to do his interviews. Maya then made her first flight with me to Townsville, where she met her great-grandmother Marian (my mother's mother) for the first time! Maya loves to listen to great-grandma sing and especially likes to 'play the piano'. We three girls had a wonderful week; hanging out together and just enjoying the baby. During this time, Maya learned how to almost roll off the bed (luckily great-grandma had a waterbed with padded railings!), and put her feet in her mouth - not necessarily at the same time. Noah then met us in Townsville, we drove to Cairns for more research, and there Maya got to meet her great-uncle David (my mother's brother) and her great-aunt Sue. From Cairns, we then headed south to Townsville again for a couple of days, then Airlie Beach and a visit to Noah's good friend Andy (who is also building his own house in the forest!). And from there, we made our way slowly back down to Northern NSW. A big trip all up, but Maya was great in the car - though frequent stopping was required to keep her happy and well-fed! But...while good times were had, we were happy to be home and sleep in our own bed.