Away to Hervey Bay

It has been so lovely being in Hervey Bay, Daniel sickness and all. One of the most special things is seeing Maddie and Daniel together. Maddie just loves going up to Daniel and giving him a cuddle. She is so gentle with him and patient with him when he 'lovingly' grabs her hair or tries to 'lovingly' poke her eye. Daniel is so lucky to have 2 wonderful cousins. 

Both Maddie and Daniel look so similar!

Maddie has loved joining Daniel with doing some 'baby' things like lying down on his ply mat next to him and playing with his mobile toys. It is very sweet to watch her interactions with Daniel. 

On Boxing Day the cricket was on, of course. So inbetween sleeps, food, playing with Aunty Jen and Maddie Daniel was getting educated about cricket with Daddy.

While we're up here, James and I planned to go on a trip to Fraser Island for a special seafood dinner. We're going to leave Daniel with Julie and Malcolm which will be great. To make sure that he will take the bottle we did a practice run. He was a good boy and drank it all.

 Daniel has done pretty well to adjust to the heat. He was a bit unsettled the first night we were here (maybe to do with the heat, but maybe the start of his cold). He has also had a bit of heat rash and one of his legs has a rash between his leg rolls. We bought some more Moo goo to put on it and it has improved a lot. He has spent most days at home just in his nappy to try and stay cool which he loves! He really enjoys being naked.

One day when Daniel was sleeping Maddie and Julie made some playdough to use. It was so cute to watch Maddie 'helping' Julie. she had a small piece of playdough that she was working on while Julie mixed the bigger batch. The flour did end up mostly in the playdough but Maddie did enjoy putting it to her nose to smell, resulting in her being covered in flour.

Whilst up here we decided to buy Daniel a new hat. His head is just in the 4th percentile so it is pretty little - smaller than Oscars and consequently none of Oscar's hats fit. Because we were going out and in the pool, etc. I wanted to get a hat with a wide brim that fit his head. So we bought this new hat.

He looks pretty cute in it!

We have been to Enzo's for brunch which was lovely, even though it was extremely hot! We met up with James' cousin Jane and her family which was lovely and Daniel got to have some cuddles with her.

Maddie again had some cuddles with Daniel which by now he was starting to warm to. 

It was really nice to sit and have a good chat with the family, even though Daniel wasn't coping very well with the heat. We are hoping to head back there on Saturday morning. Hopefully it won't be as hot so we can enjoy it.

Each day we have seen Jenny and Maddie (besides today) which has been great. As I said at the start, it is so lovely watching Maddie with Daniel and I love how much Jenny loves Daniel too (it must be something about the name). Whilst sitting outside we got some very cute photos of Daniel and Maddie together. You need to be pretty quick with the camera with Maddie as your photo opportunity is her saying 'Cheesehi' with a wave. 

A smile with the cuddle

I LOVE this photo

Daniel trying to have a piggyback on Maddie (it looks like he's pushing her down the stairs, but he isn't).

Daniel has started a new game when he has finished feeding. Or more, James has started a new game. When cleaning up, James loves rubbing the cloth on the table between Daniel's hands. He thinks it is just so funny!

Another game that Daniel loves playing with Daddy is like hide and seek but with a towel.

I think Daniel (and James) has just loved having James around. He has enjoyed having cuddles with him, having his nappy changed by him, being fed by him, going for walks with him. It is so special for him to spend quality time with James, and for James to spend it with Daniel. I'm also very glad that James has been around when Daniel was sick. It has been so good to have that extra set of hands and to have him look after Daniel so I could catch up on some sleep.

For New Years Day we went out to lunch with Nan, Jenny, Ryan, Maddie, Malcolm and Julie. It was such a lovely day for it! It was also a good time for Daniel to hang out with Nan. He was very good again with his timing. He had a milk feed at home and then had his solids at lunch. He is now eating: sweet potato, potato, beans and carrot. We are trying to encourage avocado but that is a work in progress. He is also having apple and pear for breakfast with porridge. He definitely loves his food!

Nan with Maddie

Jenny, Julie and James

Boompa with Daniel

Nan with Daniel

5 years of knowing this guy

Smiles with Nana J

Before we came up here we had bet that Daniel would be on the move before we headed home. He hasn't yet pieced together how to crawl but he is definitely working on it more. His feet are so strong and move so much! Yesterday I was watching him while he was on his mat. His feet were working so hard, but his arms were staying still. He had managed to move his feet so much that his mat bunched up behind him. I had to laugh.

Here are some videos of him trying to crawl. He is better now at getting his arms up too but he just hasn't worked out how to move all things at once. Hopefully he won't piece it together soon, although it does frustrate him more now.