bubbanoble: January adventures

Daniel seems to have grown and developed a lot over this past month (I seem to be saying that each month, but still). Here is a glimpse of what has been going on.

There has been a lot of cricket on which means it has been on tv. Cricket is probably the most watched thing on tv for Daniel. He will sit down on the couch, point at the tv (whether it's on or not) and clap his hands. This means he wants to watch the cricket. After being at the game for the Ashes, James and I thought we would teach Daniel the mexican wave.

He was pretty cute with it, but didn't fully grasp the concept of it.

Mum and Dad took Oscar and Daniel for a Nana and Poppy adventure to Walkabout Wildlife Park. They all apparently had a wonderful day with lots of walking and patting animals. It is just so cute how Oscar helps direct Daniel (not always, but at times). Mum and Dad caught this on camera.

Hooray for holidays and Nana and Poppy adventures. It was a good opportunity for me to get into the study and organise what I could (then wonderful James did the rest on the weekend and the study is now my happy room re: neatness.

Daniel is still not really a fan of playdough. I just love this video that captures his facial reaction to touching it.

Daniel enjoys playing in his cot, particularly after I walk in to get him up after a nap/rest. He will often flop back down on the mattress and start to 'snore' ("shhh, shhh, shhh") then he will stand up and repeat the process. Some days we are hanging out in his room for 30mins playing this game.

"Sleeping"

"Up, up, up"

Daniel has always seemed to have a love of music. Most of the day he listens to music in the background while playing with his toys. At church he loves it when the band plays. Lately he has been enjoying his little keyboard and the music that it plays. It is very sweet to watch him enjoying it.

I do hope that music remains a big part in his life and that he enjoys learning instruments as he gets older.

With all the cricket on tv and watching Oscar play with his cricket bat and ball when at the Howie's place, Daniel has made his own version on cricket. One day he pulled out his coke bottle and his large ball. He started hitting it around the room. Then he started giving me the ball to throw to him and he would tap the coke bottle on the ground, like the crickets do their bats. I think cricket is a sport he will enjoy as he grows up.

Daniel just loves riding his bike. Each time he sees it, he asks to go for a ride. At Nana and Poppy's place, he enjoys riding their bike too.

A couple of weeks ago Jens and I organised to go and visit Lachie as it had been a long time since we had caught up. With him living at Dee Why we decided to venture to the beach, which Daniel and Oscar just loved. It was a great day playing in the water, finding hermit crabs, drinking milkshakes, making sandcastles, eating fish and chips and just generally catching up with Lachie.

Daniel attempting to destroy Lachie's sandcastle

Auntie Jenny showing Daniel the hermit crabs we found

Looking at the crab

Jenny was excited

Hanging in the water

Walking away from the waves

Fun with Lachie

Digging a hole

Oscar helping Daniel in the water (until the waves were too big and basically push Daniel over)

So cute!

After a lovely morning at the beach Daniel was very tired and fell asleep on the walk back to Lachie's place. Thanks to Jens for carrying Daniel in the ergo.

Oscar and Lachie walking back

So sleepy

Gone!

One hot afternoon I decided to take Daniel outside with a bucket of water, like I had previously done, so he could play with the water. Fully clothed, my little man decided that he would climb into the bucket. Who would have thought that a bucket of water would be a pool. He loved it though.

I stripped him down to this nappy and loved running around, getting in and out of the bucket

Daniel just loves helping vacuum. He gets upset when I use it and he isn't helping. He has started improving the movement, not just standing in the one place. Hopefully he continues to love vacuuming as he gets older as it would be nice for him to enjoy helping clean up.

In the mornings Daniel enjoys playing in his cot for a bit until I get up to him (often at 7am). Lately when I have gone in, my cheeky little boy has changed the look of his pjs. It really does give me a laugh when I walk in.

Brushing teeth is something that has started to be a bit tricky. He likes the concept - will go 'sch, sch, sch' to mean 'brush teeth' but when we start he will turn his head side to side and close his mouth. One strategy that works is to tickle him so he opens his mouth and laughs. Another strategy that is a bit hit and miss is to help brush our teeth. It can be a bit painful for us (as he will just push the toothbrush into our mouths) but he is pretty good.

We have been catching up with good friends lately and we went to visit Zoe and her 10 week old bub, Poppy. She is so cute. It was lovely to sit and chat with Zoe and Daniel enjoyed playing with all the toys without older kids telling him that he can't play with different things. He was so cute to watch. Zoe put Poppy in a swing and Daniel had to keep checking on her. He would go out on the verandah, play with something for a couple of minutes then run back in and check Poppy was still there. I still hope he will continue to love little bubs, particularly when Squeak comes.

I continue to love watching Oscar and Daniel together. One evening we went to the Howie's place to hang out. I needed to get Daniel ready for bed and Oscar was such a wonderful help.

Say cheese

He went and got Daniel from the other room and brought him to me so I could change his nappy. Then while I was putting Daniel into his pjs, Oscar went and got his pjs. Then when I was brushing Daniel's teeth, Oscar helped make Daniel laugh so it was really the easiest brushing teeth experience. Then we went upstairs to say prayers and Oscar came up too. It was so sweet to sit there on the bed and have Oscar pray and then ask me to pray on behalf of Daniel. Then Daniel gave Oscar a cuddle and kiss and went down without a fuss. I just love these boys!

We have recently bought a table and chairs set for Daniel so he can do drawing/playdough/etc. while sitting at a table his level. He just loves them both - both the indoor ones and the outdoor ones.

Climbing onto his chair

Reading books

Trying the outdoor setting

Focussed with his drawing

Daniel is also very creative with making up different activities. One of these is to crawl under the table and make it like a tunnel (repeatedly).

Loving it!

Squeak is continuing to grow well. Each obstetrician appointment is a quick one with all things looking good. I am feeling rather tight and Squeak does enjoy pushing up into my ribs, but things are going well so hopefully that will continue.