Latest news after Melbourne

Hello! Well it has been a while since the last post on the blog - we have been to Melbourne for two weeks, then there was Easter and this last week has just flown by. (this photo is of David crawling in the loungeroom in Melbourne) David survived without chocolate, and has a lovely duck hatching out of an egg, knitted by Marion Broughton. We drove the new car, with business meetings in Wodonga on the way down. On the way back, we took our time and avoided a lot of the Easter traffic by taking the scenic route back - through the Snowy Mountains. We stayed at Coorong and Tumnet rather than Albury or Gundagai

David is now definitely crawling - he can cover quite large distances quite quickly, and this will only increase. David also has been doing push-ups onto his toes since the beginnning of April, not just onto his knees. Today (Saturday 22 April) I saw him make a good attempt to pull himself up on the leather chair here in Sydney - he failed, but it is only a matter of time. The play pen is assembled and being used in our lounge/living area - and you can see it in the photos. David seems to still enjoy it - especially when I get in there with him.

However, in Melbourne he did slow down slightly, because he has also discovered the joys of sitting still and playing with things. Going with this is also the "kerplunk" slow motion fall - so I try to keep either a aclear area or surround him with soft things when he is sitting so he doesn't hit his head when he falls. This can be pillows, or sometimes soft toys. Despite this, sometimes he thumps himself in the head with a toy, or crawls into the cot or playpen.

We had alovely time in Melbourne. David experienced cooler weather, particularly nights, for almost the first time. Melbourne got down to around 8C one night and I think that may be his coolest night to date! David is now sleeping in his sleeping bags (which I made) and the wonderful things is that they go with him when he moves. A success story. The days were cooler and David actually got to wear jumpers and long trousers. The photo shows him in his corduroys. I had to buy socks for him in Melbourne as I forgot to take any.

Nanna and Grandad loved having David to stay. Nanna fed David on a number of occasions, both solids and his bottle. Grandad nursed David and put up with David wriggling and making lots of noise, and fetched David back when he was crawling off too far. David is looking a lot less fragile and more like a boy, and I think both Nanna and Grandad were getting more used to him. David also sat up at the table at mealtimes in his little colourful chair and ate with us quite often. He is having three meals of solids a day, but still not very large meals.

David saw all the family again, including Aunty Gaye and Uncle David and cousins Elizabeth, Jennifer, Michael and baby Matthew. Matthew and David are about the same size now and the 8 week age difference is not really noticeable. I suspect that it will have gone entirely by 12 months of age. Matthew is a bit more mobile and has three teeth now! Nanna thinks that they are both beautiful, and quite different to look at. I agree. It is wonderful that they are both individuals already.

In this last photo, David seems to be talking to Matthew - probably saying "It is alright for you, you have lots of hair and a hood. They have made me wear this hat!" Needless to say, David soon worked out how to take his hat off. We do have family photos of him, though wearing it for posterity.

We went to the Garden show in the Domain in Melbourne while we were there. Lovely - the Exhibition Buildings have been restored and looked lovely. David loved it and looked at all the people and talked to lots of people. When he got restless, Daddy carried him for a while and that was marvelous, too (but tiring for Daddy). Daddy pushed the pram, so Mummy could look at the exhibitions and go into the stalls. Thanks Daddy!!

Yes, David is in the pram - he is just asleep.