Grandmothers

Aren't grandmothers wonderful? In honour of Mother's Day (or mothering Sunday as it was called) I have included a few photos of David with his grandmothers for posterity. David loves his Gran and his Nanna.

It was interesting that when we were in Perth David obviously recognised his Gran from her stay in Sydney when he was born and from Christmas. Have a look at the photo of him pulling on her trousers with a cheeky grin as if to say "Gran, why don't you pick me up?"

I don't think that I mentioned that for the last week David has been "walking" around the ottoman, chairs and couch in the house. He is getting better (by which I mean quicker) every day. He can reach everything on little tables and the chairs. It is amazing just how quick and strong his hands are - Gran calls them his grappling hooks, with good reason.

Another weekend - and mother's day

Well, it has been a few days since I updated the blog, so I thought I would just add a few things while I wait for David to go to sleep. Firstly, today is Mother's Day and we went out yesterday to celebrate. We went shopping in the centre of Sydney - David's first time - and had yum cha for lunch in China Town. David bought Mum a present - a beautiful silk scarf and some casual 'trainer' type shoes for around the pool and park. We have to see whether David likes to eat the scarf too much - this might mean saving it for later.

Daddy also went shopping and bought lots - one of his periodic shopping sprees. Trousers, shirts, T-shirts and casual trainers too. David loved every minute of it, and when he got restless, we held him up and showed him the shop, which he also thought was great. He had a bottle in the restaurant, and rather than eat avocado, went to sleep. A lovely day out!

Today I put the base of the cot down - and you can see why in this photo. We had a quiet day at home and Daddy cooked Mummy a lovely brunch - a beautiful omelette full of good things. Mummy also had a nap in the afternoon, when David had a sleep. Thanks to both of you!

The other photo is David's first time in a shopping trolley. We just tried him for a short time, after unloading the shopping. He thought that it was fun! If you look carefully, you can see how he has pulled his mouse bootees apart on one foot. I have mended them subsequently, but I think that they are too small for him now.

The latest thing is pointing. Daddy taught David to point by copying Daddy, and now he does it all the time. Sometimes we touch index fingers, which David thinks is funny.

What a big baby!

Another update on David's weight. I took him to the sister at the Chemist yesterday (Tuesday 9 May) and he weighs 9.06kg, height 70cms. So he is growing.

These are a few more photos from the trip. The first is traveller David, with his dad in the Qantas Club in Sydney, before we took off to Perth.

The others shots are action David, crawling and getting things off the bottom shelf in Gran's kitchen in Wagin. We didn't mind the teapot - but David playing with the museli and coffee was a bit more messy! You can see David get his eye on something and then aim for it with a great deal of determination.

Teeth, Standing and travelling.......

Well, we are back after 10 days in Western Australia - mostly Wagin to visit Gran and Uncle Steve and two days in Perth for Jason & Lisa's wedding. I went across with David and Paul joined us for the wedding on Saturday and relaxing on Sunday. Gran came up to Perth to babysit David for the wedding on Saturday evening, and went home on the bus on Sunday. Paul really just went for the wedding - no sooner there than we were leaving. Great to see Lisa and Jason married, but not really time for anything else.

Lots to report! David has cut a tooth and it looks as though there are two teeth coming through at once. Not too many problems with the actual cutting, although David is a bit grizzly and looking for more cuddles lately. He is also now dribbling a lot, as the teeth are coming through.

David is now crawling very well and very quickly. He is also pulling himself up to stand and starting to move around a little when he has pulled himself up. This is the new development and happened in Wagin, so Gran has seen it. The footstool was exactly the right height for it. He is very good at it already - he aims for something and then crawls over, and pulls himself up. If he is too far out, he reassesses and then moves closer and tries again. Once he is up, he can take a step, or get down, although not necessarily elegantly. As a result, David is very very pleased with himself!

Here are some photos of David doing the standing up thing. In all of these photos he has got himself up and into this position. The slippers are little blue sheep and were a present from Uncle Steve from Williams.


David had a great time with his Gran and his brother Steve. The cat, Ted, took one look and stayed at Steve's place and didn't come back for five days! Amazing just how scary a baby can be. David slept well in Wagin and mostly in Perth. He had his little bed in Wagin and survived the cool nights. He was in a portacot in Perth in our room and slept less well.


David is eating three meals a day, all pretty small. His favourite at the moment is oat porridge, plain or with a variety of fruit added, and plain avocado. He has also now tried sweet corn and pumpkin, but not liked plums (too tart we think) and has rejected carrot - not sure why. We have tried David on a few bought baby foods - not with too much success. The best so far was apple and oat porridge, pretty much the same as I make, but with a touch of vanilla and cinnamon.

David also travelled exceptionally well - especially considering on both flights we were delayed for lengthy periods on the ground after boarding - for 45 minutes departing from Sydney and for two hours on the return from Perth. That's right - the plane to Sydney left 3 hours late - boarding an hour late and after waiting for two hours in a hot plane on the runway. Problems with the airconditioning. We ended up stripping David down to just his singlet suit too keep him cool. David took it all very well and enjoyed himself and charmed a lot of the passengers and air crew. Out of three hours at the airport and six hours on the plne, he only slept for 45 minutes, so I was glad to get him to sleep fairly easily last night at 11.30pm (or 9.30pm WA time).

The last photo is David playing with the gas heater in the kitchen in Wagin - not on of course. A good thing to bang on with his hand.