All fun and games (plus good check ups)

This week at swimming I had such a proud Mummy moment. Daniel is just doing so well at swimming. I think it has helped that most of his lessons have been 1:1 but I'm definitely not complaining! This week at swimming, Daniel's teacher was so pleased with him! He started to blow bubbles - all on his own accord, partly by accident but also knowing that he can do something with his mouth in the water (besides drinking it). We have been focussing on trying to kick while swimming and this week Daniel started to do some independent kicking - he seems to be piecing it together. When we did Humpty Dumpty, Daniel sat on the wall until we said 'Under - 1, 2, 3, mmmm' and he leant himself into the water, face under and kicked to me - all on his own for the first time! I was so proud of him! He is more comfortable so claps his hands during the songs. Although we are still working on the hello song. But I was still so proud of him. He has come so far in just 8 or so lessons. It probably doesn't sound like much, but still. I wanted to share. I can't wait to take him into the water at Hervey Bay and show James all the tricks Daniel has learnt.

We have continued to enjoy playing with the ball. He now loves throwing it from standing and his 'ready to catch' stance is just the cutest! His direction with throws is quite coordinated too which is great. I hope that Daniel continues to love sporty things as he grows up.

 

Daniel, are you ready to catch the ball?

This week we have been hanging around at home a bit and Daniel has continued to enjoy playing with his toys. He is starting to have chats on his telephone - picking it up, holding it to his forehead and saying 'hi' and then talking in his Daniel language. 

His bucket head joy has continued but we have progressed to moving around with it on. On Wednesday you needed to have a helmet to drive the car around. Pretty cute to watch (and he was pretty pleased with his invention).

Last night at Mum and Dad's place (last time before they head over to Europe - jealous!!!) Daniel had fun playing with Auntie Jenny and Oscar. Oscar just loves picking on Daniel, and fortunately Daniel just loves it too. Teddies being thrown at him, Pingu chasing, 

Sneaky Pingu cuddles while Oscar is distracted

puppies on the head. Anything Oscar does, Daniel just loves watching.

Auntie Jenny decided to try teaching Daniel how to put a puzzle together and he was doing ok for not having playing with puzzles much before. That will be fun if he likes puzzles like me. We'll have to wait and see I guess.

Daniel has started to be able to show us what an elephant does. Arm and sound included. Again, something that I have just done with him and he has now picked up. They really are such sponges!

Here are just a couple of photos that I thought were very sweet which I took while he was having lunch yesterday.

You need to make sure you get all the food out of the bowl Mummy.

 
Yesterday I had my 2nd appointment with Dr Booker and he was happy with how things are going. My blood pressure is good which he is happy about. He had a look at Squeak on the ultrasound again for now it is starting to look like a baby, not just a blob like last time. You could see its head, spine, arms and legs moving around. Very cute. I'm so glad that it seems to be going well. So my next appointment is in 6 weeks - and then we would have had the proper ultrasound and have those cute pictures for you to see. 
I think I am now past my nausea (touch wood!) which is good. I really didn't enjoy that period this time. Hopefully more energy will start to come back now too as I am in the 2nd trimester.

Development

Daniel is just so fun at the moment. I am honestly so in love with him - even when I'm tired, frustrated, watching him learn, watching him have a tantrum. He is just so cute and his personality is just shining, we really are loving watching him grow.

He has said his first word (in context). Last Friday 6th Sept we noticed that he was saying "up, up, up" as he was climbing up a friend's stairs. He then says it when he has finished eating and we got to lift him up out of his chair. So his first word is up, not Mum or Dad, up. 

This post is mostly going to be photos and videos of Daniel and things that he has been doing. I hope you enjoy them.

It was lovely having Boompa come and stay with us for a few days. Daniel didn't take very long to feel comfortable with him which was so good to see. We really must try and Skype more with James' family, but luckily we are heading up to Hervey Bay in a couple of weeks so he will get to spend a week with Nana J and Boompa, as well as Aunty Jen, Uncle Ryan and Maddie which will be great! Daniel had some lovely times with Boompa. He got picked on by being pegged.

And enjoyed reading some stories with Boompa too.

Another special moment was when he was using his walker. Boompa put his finger on the ground as a stopping spot. Daniel stopped by banging into Boompa's finger, then crouched down and put his finger down on the ground too. Then stood up and walked away again. He then repeated it. Totally copying what his Boompa was doing. Very special to watch!

He has also had a lot of moments (though short moments) with Chilli. I must say that Chilli has really surprised me with how patient she is with Daniel. And he just loves her. His face lights up each time he sees her and he is quite gentle when he goes to pat her.

Daniel just loves stories. He is quite content to sit and look at his books on his own and also loves reading books with other people. I love it and hope that it will continue as he grows up. I know that some boys have no interest in books as they go through school, but some others also love them. Hopefully he will be the latter.

So much concentration while reading 'I'm a little teapot'

One of my most special moments at this age is Daniel coming to read a book. I love it how he crawls over to you, he climbs up into your lap and sits there, snuggled in. It honestly is one of my favourite moments!

I love too that a couple of his favourite books seem to be Noah's Ark and the Lost Sheep

He is also increasing his imagination by pretending to eat different food (or in this case butterflies). He will either lift the book up to his face to 'eat' or he will pick it up in his fingers and 'put' it in his mouth.

Even now he is pretending to give me something to eat and then I am giving him something and he is pretending to eat it. Fun! I can't wait for more imaginative play!
 
Daniel's walking is increasing too. He is taking more steps at a time, still wobbly but more confident. He is even able to stand up without using anything to help pull him up. Very clever boy!

He even started to walk while pushing his clown. He was rather proud of himself.

But he still loves using his walker to run around.

Another thing that I adore watching is when Daniel does what we call his crazy crawl. He will flop his head from side to side while crawling. It just looks so cute!

On Friday we went for a drive to visit my cousin Nat and her new baby Owen, as well as seeing (big) Daniel too. Owen slept for most of the time which meant that Oscar, Daniel and Daniel had a great time to play together (well Daniel watched the others). We then got to meet Owen and he is a cutie! Just 10 weeks old. Daniel was quite good with him, giving lots of gentle pats, but also gave quite a few waves bye when I was holding him. 

Me with Owen

Daniel saying hi

And saying hi while Auntie Jenny has a cuddle

This is apparently how you use a swing.

Being AFL grand finals time, our AFL ball has come out a lot more - but by Daniel, not just us. He is getting pretty good at throwing the ball to you and just loves 'catching' it too. We need to work on his handballs though as they are throws at the moment but I guess he is only 14 months old ;-)

Daddy is definitely the fun one though! He comes up with fun and crazy games to play, sneaks him food while preparing lunch, etc.

One such crazy game!

Daniel just loves spending time with him. Yesterday he was mesmerized watching James mow the back lawn.

Doesn't his face just melt your heart? It does mine!


Squeak is going well, atleast I think it is. I'm still feeling nauseous at times and I think my stomach doesn't really like herbs at the moment. We had rosemary in lamb pot pies and I couldn't eat it. Then last night having my hummus and tabbouleh roll, not so great with the parsley. Hopefully that will pass soon. I am 13 weeks today. I go to see Dr Booker again on Thursday so hopefully all will be good news at that appointment.

12 weeks

13 weeks - not much difference

 

Adventures

The past couple of weeks Daniel and I have gone on some fun adventures with the Howies (which we both love).
2 weeks ago we decided to head out to Brooklyn and decided to see if the Howies wanted to come. That they did. We all piled into my little car and headed down the freeway. Oscar's first stop with Howie was the playground. Jenny and my first stop with Daniel was to get some fish and chips. Very yummy! After eating our lunch. Daniel joined Oscar in the playground. He absolutely loved exploring the different equipment.
A highlight was the swing. Oscar was kind to share it for a little bit. He helped teach Daniel to hold on.

Daniel then went for a walk with Auntie Jenny so that Oscar could have a higher swing.

Daniel loved the swing so much he wanted to get back on. This time it was a swing with Mummy. Oscar was kind enough to push us.

Then Daniel wanted a turn at pushing. He has a bit of a way to go before he can push swings well.

He then went for a short walk over to the play equipment. He is slowly becoming more confident to walk while holding one hand.

He just loves the slippery dip! But he thinks that you climb up it... not slide down it.

But with help he will happily slide down it.

He did a bit of boat steering - he just loves wheels.

And he is very good at climbing stairs (even though I have no idea where he learnt how to climb them!). He confidently climbed up the stairs each time.

Trying to climb up the rope ladders though might have to wait a few years. It was a bit hard to do. He more so got stuck between the ropes.

To finish off the day he had a play on the see-saw and just loved bouncing up and down.

He even started to bounce on his own.

Sunday was Father's Day! James' 2nd one. We started the day by letting Daddy have a sleep in. When he woke up, Daniel gave James his card and present. He enjoyed helping open it.

Reading the card with Daddy.

Helping open the present

Looking at the cover of his book

Looking at the book with Daddy

Daddy liked his present

Daniel then enjoyed looking at the book on his own. It is a book about I love Daddy because... 

We then headed to Chargrill Charlies for lunch at the park. Daniel wasn't keen to share his food with James, no matter how much James tried.

After lunch Daniel had fun crawling around on the grass and playing with James and I.

My boys

Tickles!

Cheeky boy wanted to climb back into his pram. He confidently stood on the step.

Then we headed home and Daniel had a nap (so did I) while James went to band. It was a lovely day with my boys. Pretty crazy to think that next year there will be 2 bubs!

Then on Thursday Jens messaged me seeing if Daniel and I were up to anything. There was no mothers' group on so we were free. We decided to go for an adventure to the beach! This was Daniel's first proper trip to the beach. He has been to the beach in Hervey Bay but not in his swimmers. He had also been to Whale Beach but it was a very cold and overcast day so we didn't stay long, nor went into the water.
He LOVED it!
We started by eating lunch while our feet played in the sand. His feet we're so happy in the sand.

But when Daniel got down to the water he was very keen! Jens took him down and he just wanted to get in there!

Let me go in the water!

I'm coming

"Oscar, can you stand next to Daniel and smile?'

Off I go!

This water is great!

After playing in the water a fair while, going in pretty deep, jumping in the waves (which he loved and laughed at) we went back up to the beach tent so the rest of us could have some lunch. Daniel started to play with his sand toys - using the spade like a spoon and pretending to eat. So cute!

If you can see in the photo, Daniel's skin looks quite red/purple. The water was quite cold, and even though it didn't faze him, it did seem to show up on his skin. It took a while for his skin to return back to normal colour. Poor bub!

Daniel then started to venture in the sand. He moved over to where Oscar was playing in the sand.

 And then started to use the spade to dig the sand and the cups to 'drink' the sand.

Then we had a bit of entertainment with Oscar pretending to be a monster and dinosaur using the tent shadow. Daniel just loved watching it (as well as Auntie Jenny's 'scared' reactions).

Where did he go?

After lunch we went back down to the water. Oscar enjoyed running in and out of the waves. Daniel would have loved to join in, but as his body had returned to normal colour and temperature, we just played on the sand at the edge. I think we will have to do lots more trips to the beach both at Hervey Bay and during Summer here. I do love that Daniel just loved the beach though!