Into day care

With Juliette back at work since last Friday, Logan is now in daycare (at the Early Years in Kaiwharawhara).

He had four "settling visits" since we got back from Nelson, and his first proper day was Friday. The settling visits went okay, although with one of the last two, when we left Logan at the day care (to see how he'd be without us there), he had a meltdown, so we ended up rushing back to pick him up again.

On Friday, we dropped Logan off at 7:30, and then took Juliette to work. He was crying when Juliette called later in the morning, but the carers said he was otherwise okay. Unfortunately, the teacher who is to be Logan's primary caregiver -- Jenn, whom Logan's really bonded with -- was away, and there were a number of temp staff (who Logan had never met before) covering for others who were sick. Coupled with the noise and lots of other children, Logan was a bit unsettled, so the day care called me to come and 'rescue' Logan at around 12:30. He was still a bit grizzly when I got there, and almost fell asleep in my arms. I took him in to Juliette's work, and he was all smiles and giggles -- somebody suggested he'd just been putting on an act! I took him back home, fed and milked him (including him kicking half a jar of parsnip-pumpkin-and-carrot on my trousers), and he was settled enough to go out again to collect Juliette from the train and do the food shopping.

Today, we dropped Logan off at 7:30-ish again, and Juliette at her office at 8:15 (I'm still at home, recovering from my surgery). Juliette called them around 11, and he was doing well. I picked him up at 4, and was told that he'd had a wonderful day, they'd found some toys he liked and that they need to move him away from other kids who are crying (because that sets Logan crying).

Lunch with GG and Great Aunt

Logan got us up twice last night -- including at 1am. We think the strange room is a bit unsettling for him, but he's okay when he cuddles up with mummy. He did, however, sleep through the thunderstorm we had last night.


Any way, we ended up sleeping in till about 10am before getting ready to go back to Nana's for lunch. We did think we'd visit the market, but in the end we were too tired and, as Juliette said, we'd only be tempted to spend money.


We tried giving Logan his bottle before we left, but he wasn't particularly interested. But he was very interested in the pumpkin and sweetcorn we offered him, devouring the lot. He's getting very good when it comes to solid food, particularly when it's stuff he likes.

About 12:30 we left for Nana's, about a 10 minute drive away. Nana and Elizabeth had put on a smorgasbord lunch. Logan had his bottle, and we talked for hours (though Nana and I fell asleep in our seats). Elizabeth got to have a cuddle with Logan and played with him on the floor. Logan showed off by doing rolly-pollies (three times!). I think I'm going to be spending the next few days babyproofing the house when we get home.

We stopped off at the supermarket again on the way to the motel. Logan was pretty tired, though fighting sleep the way he does when he needs to sleep but wants to stay up and play. Very cute, though not at 3:00 am.

Anyway, Mummy and Logan are tucked up in bed, fast asleep. We're going home tomorrow, on a 4:00 pm flight to Wellington, but we'll pop round and see GG and Elizabeth before we head to the airport.

Big Trip for the Little Guy

Logan's biggest trip away from home began with a 8:00 am flight to Nelson on an Air New Zealand Q300. It was a short trip, thanks to some tailwinds -- only 25 minutes from wheels up to touchdown, but Logan was great the whole way. No crying, no worries. He even fell asleep in Juliette's arms in the last minutes before landing.

After landing, we picked up the rental car (a Toyota Yaris -- not bad, but I miss the Mitsi), and headed into Nelson city. We parked at the Millers Acre Centre car park -- $2 for 3 hours parking! -- and went and had breakfast at a nearby coffee shop, La Creperie.

Afterwards, we still hand some time to kill before meeting Logan's Great Aunt Elizabeth for lunch, so we went for a wander down Trafalgar Street, trying to find a bead shop that Juliette wanted to visit. Fortunately, they'd moved from where Juliette had thought they were, and were actually a lot closer to where we were.

After that, we casually wandered back towards Millers Acre and got a table at Oasis cafe (where we were meeting Elizabeth for lunch) at about 11:45. Elizabeth arrived shortly after 12 and we had a lovely lunch together. Logan slept through most of it, but woke up in time to get a cuddle from his great aunt.

After lunch, we headed off to check into our motel, the Balmoral Motel in Tahunanui. It's a very nice motel, looks like it's been recently refurbished. They've even provided a port-a-cot for Logan to sleep in.

We dropped off our things in the room, then headed back out to say hello to Logan's great grandmother ("Nana" to Juliette, but "GG" to Logan and her other great-grandchildren). Logan played on the floor dressed only in his nappy (he hates wearing clothes) while we had a cuppa with Nana.

We only stayed an hour -- we're having lunch with Nana and Elizabeth tomorrow -- and left about 4pm. We found a supermarket and got some supplies in, before heading back to the motel for an early dinner and bed.