Auntie B is here!

I drove to Wellington after work last night and collected Brenda and Kim from the airport as they are attending a friends wedding here in Palm Nth tomorrow. Went to the Cobb bar at 2.30am to catch up with the end of the Hens do. Alex thinks his Auntie B is neat!! She’s chased him, spun him around, turned him upside down, thrown him on the beanbag, tickled him, played peek-a-boo, built blocks, played ball… he loves it! Bet she’s tired!! We all went to Aqaba for lunch (even Alex) and ate chips (with tomato sauce of course!). Alex kept trying to escape out the door every time he was out of the highchair but used his grin to full effect to charm the other diners. Auntie B does tend to drive him to drink though...

Full of Beans!

Alex was standing in the middle of the living room today and just started jumping!! Two feet off the ground at the same time! Lands ok and grins his wee head off. There are a few moments of mistiming and it becomes more like a skip and then a fall but in general, he’s bouncing! I think he got it off Baby Bop on Barney…

A bonus Nan day

Alex’s caregiver was away today so Alex had a lovely day with Nan in Dannevirke. Kept saying “chair” and sitting on the wee kiddies chair Nan has from when I was little! Nan and Hattie came back to Palm Nth with us and are going to stay the week because we have important visitors this weekend…

I'm such a bad Mother!

Alex had a big sleep for his morning nap this morning and only woke at 1.15pm. Unfortunately we were supposed to be at my cousins at 2pm for afternoon tea so I quickly gave Alex his solids, packed a bag and bundled him in the car. Went round to Jens and fed him on crackers and water then went for a lovely walk down the river. Got home and that evening Alex started grumping. I said “What’s wrong Alex” and he promptly went over to his mat where he normally has his bottle, and lay down looking very accusingly at me! I’d forgotten to give him his bottle at lunchtime! Clever boy for getting the message across to your silly mother!

Pint Sized Monster!

Went to Plunket here in Palm North and Alex is growing nicely. He now weighs 10.6kg and is 79 cm high. He gets measured against the wall standing up now. He had great fun exploring the Plunket rooms and all the toys!!

Happy birthday Paula!

After work I picked up Alex from day-care and drove to Dannevirke to go to Paula’s 7th birthday dinner. Alex had lots of little playmates as not only was Johnny there, but Reagan also (both 2)!! It was hilarious watching 3 wee boys chasing each other around the place like a conga line. There were a few sharing moments with the bottles as Johnny got a bit concerned that he had his but Alex didn’t have one. We stayed at Nans for the night.

Lazy Sunday afternoons…oops! … mornings…

We had visitors for morning tea today when Grant from work and his fiancée Jenny came round. They brought their wee dog Lilly and Alex, Grant and Lilly had great fun tearing round the lawn with the ball they brought for Alex. Was a lovely sunny Palmy day – neighbours were all out in their yard so we got to meet them all!
Went around to Dave and Glenys’s for a BBQ for dinner and to catch up with Adrienne before she returned to Melbourne. Cohen was there too – Alex and Cohen had great fun on the drumsticks and destroying the toybox!!

Fish and Chips with Tracy

Tracy came round after work tonight and we bundled Alex into his stroller and walked around to the local Kelvin Grove fish and chip shop. the chips would only get a look in if Mummy put a dab of tomato sauce on each one – yes, it was Watties! Alex performed nicely for Tracy that evening on his piano and with his cheekiness.
When I was in the kitchen cleaning up, Alex pulled the chair away from the dining room table, climbed up onto it and sat watching me! Clever boy!! He got told off when he stands on the chair though!

Jumping on the Beanbag!

Beanbags are so much fun!! Alex finds it hilarious to run up to the bean bag and jump onto it. Wasn’t quite so funny when he launched himself with full exuberance and mistimed – result was a spectacular SPLAT onto the carpet! He did pick himself up without a tear!

We also had a wrestling match today with Gus the bear,aided by Mummys new vacuum cleaner!! All while trying to brush his teeth!!

Go the All Blacks!

Had the TV on World cup rugby most of the day today – I’m glad TV3 has the screening rights and not Sky!!
Alex has worked out how to
1) turn the TV on and off
2) flick between TV and video
3) put the volume right up
4) get into the TV cabinet and turn the video on
We did manage to watch a little bit of rugby and I now have my fingers crossed that the TV tube can survive the duration of the world cup with the treatment Alex is giving it!!

We are now officially going it alone!!

That’s a bit scary huh. As of today, Alex is in full time daycare with only his Mummy to look after him. He went to playgroup today with Sharlene and he did me my first painting to go on the fridge. He found the paint felt a bit funny in his fingers. Sharlene finds it quite amusing how well he responds to music at his age.

Bye Bye, Dannevirke!

It was Alex’s last day at daycare in Dannevirke today and his last afternoon with Nan. He got his scrapbook with his profile of all he had been up to over the months he has been going there. Sounds like he has formed an attachment with an older woman as there are lots of mentions of him hanging out with Holly who is 3! I drove to Dannevirke after work. We had dinner at Nans, Alex chased Hattie for the last time and then we drove back to Palm Nth to begin our new life in our new house! How exciting!

Handover Day

Today Alex went to his new daycare in Palmie for the first time as a “break-in” day. He is going into home-based care with Sharlene who live round the corner from us – she has a max of 4 kids at her house so I’m hoping he will have a more relaxed daytime routine. Nan accompanied Alex to Sharlenes house to give her all the good tips on how to deal with the wee fella. He slept well and responded well to Sharlene so that’s a relief!! Back to Dannevirke at the end of the day.

76 Trombones led the big parade!

Alex and I went up to Napier to watch the Central Districts Band competition. We didn’t get to go in to watch any of the concert performances as I couldn’t trust Alex to sit still for that long but we did lots of socialising outside! Watched the Street March and Alex loved it (phew!)! He kept pointing to the bands and found it weird how this 1 big mass that moved down the street then turned into people after the music had stopped! Went shopping with Patsy’s Mum and made purchases at Pumpkin Patch… We then drove back to the new house for the night, picking up Nan from Dannevirke on the way through.