All Fun and Games

I have been meaning to blog for a while now, but just keep getting caught up with other things, or being too tired to get my computer out and type. Better late than never I guess.

Daniel is growing up so much! He is becoming more engaging, responsive, entertaining and is moving more (this is not so much a good thing :p).
In the mornings I have been putting Daniel down to play on his mat still and when he starts to get more unsettled I have been giving him his little keyboard to play with. He really enjoys watching the colours and hearing the music. It's great to see him develop that skill of watching the different colours (although here he is distracted by the camera) and also for him to be able to hit the keys, rather than me needing to do it (although I do tend to play with it too because it is fun).

Another new thing that Daniel has learnt is how to move. Not just move his arms and legs, but move his whole body. He is really good at moving around in a circle and I often watch him move 360 degrees in the mornings. He is very slow with it though which is a good thing (so the video needed to be split into 2).

It is wonderful to see his independence grow. Things like wanting a toy so he will move around to try and reach it.

Then when we were at Mum and Dad's last Thursday night I was chatting with Jenny while Daniel was lying on his mat. He decided that he wanted to join the conversation so he started to crawl (more face-plant) over to us. He probably moved around 30cm before I got out my camera. We were trying to entice him to come over by using his toy iPhone but his loving cousin Oscar decided to 'help' by giving him the phone because he was getting frustrated trying to move. (I still love watching them interact together. Oscar is so loving toward him). As you can hear, I am not encouraging him to start moving as I do enjoy putting him on the ground and knowing that when I get back from doing something, he will still be in the same place.

Helpful cousin

Oscar also loves running around the circuit at Mum and Dad's place. It will be fun when Daniel is old enough to chase him (will give the rest of us a break from doing it). Daniel loves watching Oscar run past him, again and again and again. 

Waving as he runs past

James decided that Daniel could be trained early on in how to chase Oscar so he helped Daniel out. It was very cute to watch!

It is so lovely watching the boys play together and I can't wait for him to go up to Hervey Bay again to play with Maddie too. 

The other play time is feeding time. I'm finding it hard to know where to draw the line between enjoying feeding time, so being able to get messy, and when to be serious and needing to eat properly to develop good habits. Daniel loves his rice cereal! It is polished off in 15mins. He even wants to eat the bowl and spoon.

He knows to open his mouth when the spoon comes near which is great.

And he is very proud of himself when he has swallowed the food.

He is still learning how to sit in his high chair. Sometimes he is very good at it, and other times not so good.

Needing to teach him to not put our feed on the table

He has started a habit of just sucking on his high chair, no clue why. Maybe he is very hungry and just can't wait for us to give him the food. Maybe he is just liking the feeling while he is teething. Anyway, we decided to see if he would play with his food when it was on the table - put his fingers in it, put his fingers in his mouth then to eat it, etc. Instead, Daniel decided to eat it straight off the table.

It was very cute and funny to watch!

We have also tried him with carrot, which he isn't very sold by. He will open his mouth to it, but then either spit it back out, or just let it sit in his mouth. His first mouthful was very cute. He had it, scrunched up his face and then did a little shiver.

I can trick him though by giving him a spoonful of rice cereal and then giving him some carrot. He then happily eats it. Funny boy. I am trying to work out if I should mix some milk or rice cereal with it, but we are keen for him to have the vegetables plain to enjoy the flavours. Today I made him some sweet potato puree so that will be for lunch tomorrow. We gave him a little bit on our fingers and he happily ate it so we will see how he goes tomorrow. Then when we're in Hervey Bay I hope to make something for him to eat up there, as well as having his rice cereal.

The other fun thing is that Daniel went into James' work place yesterday. We had lunch with Mum and Dad at the Sheraton (because they had a 4 for the price of 2 voucher) so because James and I like it so much we went with them. Daniel was very good at lunch, he even had his own carrot (very messily) and then he had a nap. After lunch Daniel and I went for an adventure to see where his Daddy works. James woke him up in the lift so that he could meet people. He enjoyed sitting in Daddy's chair and loved meeting his work buddies, especially giving high fives to Mario.

I wonder if he will work in an office like that when he grows up, or if he will work somewhere else. I know I couldn't work in an office! I much prefer my classroom and staffrooms.